Big Damn Scribblers Question: Do you fudge the timeline? And what about alternate timelines?

POSTED BY: KayleeGirl
UPDATED: Wednesday, March 21, 2007 19:12
VIEWED: 9080
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MYCOUSINISAREAVER

Sunday, March 18, 2007 11:15 PM

Just my two cents. I would say as long as the difference isnt so obvious like you try to pretend six years happens in six months, then it should be up to the writers discretion to alter it a tad for the purpose of their story.

KAYLEEGIRL

Monday, March 19, 2007 12:13 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by nbz:
Christmas would probably coincide with the Ariel episode.

I do however have an issue with christmas fic, and I am probably gonna get slaughtered for it. The devil is in the details.

Simon and River are probably buddhist. Their parents are. So is Inara.

Having fic say otherwise can throw me right out of a story even if it is lighthearted like most xmas ones are.

Next thread I start will have to be one on the religions of the FF verse. That said...

I didn't really say who believes in what in my story -- didn't need to really. The basic idea was just that Kaylee wanted to cheer up Mal and everyone else after Inara left. (Even though he's lost his faith in religion, it certainly doesn't mean he wouldn't take comfort in the nostalgia of a holiday he'd celebrated when young.)

I was also thinking (as I have done for years) that people have needed some kind of celebration of light and love during the dark season, be it winter or just a long dark teatime of the soul spent out in the black. One of the attractions of the Serenity crew is that while they may be of different backgrounds and beliefs, they all reach out to comfort and protect each other except for, well, Jayne...

If I'm gonna dream, I'm gonna dream big.

GWEK

Monday, March 19, 2007 12:17 AM

With respect to the timeline, I think there's definitely a little room for fudging. Joss and Co. don't strictly adhere to a timeline, so why should we?

www.stillflying.net: "Here's how it might have been..."

NBZ

Monday, March 19, 2007 12:22 AM

Your story was not the aim of my rant. :)

I did read yours and I liked most of it, if I remember correctly.

If there is a celebration no doubt they will all participate. In Serenity, the pilot episode, when Book says grace, all of them (except Mal) bow their heads.

Bringing this back to the topic at hand, I think putting the stories into the timeline can make them better - but not always. It depends on what the author wants to show.

Just after Ariel - Mal is disapointed (only Jayne , River and the readers know why). The year after - they have dead crewmembers since last year... annual celebrations make you think of what has happened over the past year, and that can lead to some good stories.

JAMESTHEDARK

Monday, March 19, 2007 11:31 AM

I've never had a problem with the timeline, because the stories I write happen long after the series (I'm currently four years after), and on a different ship. What I remind myself on occasion, though, is that the season can be whatever I want it to be, because each planet in the solar system can be at a different season at the same time. While it's August and Summer on Londinum, it might be cold as hell and winter on Beaumonde.

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I ain't lookin' for help from on high. That's a damn long wait for a train don't come.

98% of teens have smoked pot, if you are one of the 2% that haven't, copy this into your signature.

LEIASKY

Monday, March 19, 2007 3:24 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by KayleeGirl:
Is anyone out there doing alternate timelines of Firefly? You know, like writing an alternte BDM to keep Wash and Book alive? Or alternate Firefly, like...what if Kaylee didn't become the ship's mechanic? What if Wash and Zoe didn't marry? What if Simon had been raised in the government academy and River had to rescue him?

I don't tend to like them at all. What made the series special, to me, was the dynamic of where everyone was at the time of the series start. And how they dealt with those issues.

I don't like AU's very much at all. They almost always have a take on the characterization that I never in a million years believe. AU's, I've noticed, are typically written to satisfy an authors pairing choice - which is rarely one of the few we could consider 'cannon'.

"A government is a body of people usually notably ungoverned."

STEAMER

Tuesday, March 20, 2007 7:16 PM

Well, here's how I see it.

'Our Mrs. Reynolds' took place some time in mid-late October 2517. 'Trash' was, according to Mal, "'bout half a year" after that, figure maybe March or April of 2518, with the series ending in April or May. So if the BDM takes place eight months after the pilot episode, that might be enough time for Book to get settled on Haven, but not near enough for Inara to become so well established at the training house.

Now here's another little nugget of confusion.

A while back, I saw an image created for an RPG, showing River's Academy data file. It says her date of birth is December 19, 2500. The script for the pilot says she's 17 at the time, but that being the case, her birthday comes and goes well before the BDM and yet she's still 17 at that point. There's another field on that file saying it was created for the Operative's perusal on June 5, 2518. It just barely fits the 8-month timeline, but once again, that doesn't jive with the half-year figure given in 'Trash'. ('Course, I suppose we could say that Mal's brief death in 'War Stories' played merry-hob with his perception of time....)

All this considered, I think we have to take the timeline with a good-sized barrel of salt (and yes, I realise we have to do the same with that data file since it's just an RPG source ). My conjecture is that the BDM actually takes place later in 2518. Since that works well for one of the fics I'm working on, yeah, I take the occasional liberty with the timeline. As far as AUs go, I'm a canon kinda guy. The only time I'll write an AU is when the Powers That Be - or professional authors with the approval thereof - take my favourite characters and shamelessly assassinate them *coughStarWarscoughcough*. (It's also one of my many abhorrences of River/Jayne....)

Gorram shiny
Ruttin' verse
Funny words
And Chinese curse
FIREFLY

SPACEANJL

Tuesday, March 20, 2007 7:42 PM

What counts as AU in your eyes?

I'm writing a fic that is post-BDM, and starts off canon in pairing. But because it is post-BDM, the characters have to move on in their lives. So if Jayne then meets someone, does this make it AU?

Incidentally - Rayne

If we are confined only to the series and BDM for our storylines, it doesn't allow for a lot of character development.

MAL4PREZ

Tuesday, March 20, 2007 7:56 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Steamer:
So if the BDM takes place eight months after the pilot episode, that might be enough time for Book to get settled on Haven, but not near enough for Inara to become so well established at the training house.

This has been discussed in other threads... I don't see the problem with this part. Inara is already well established in the Guild - could have been Priestess in a House on Sihnon, which seems like it'd be no small feat. She'd be welcome and immediately respected as a teacher in any House, I say.

And the Book thing on Haven - he also might have known these people beforehand, and there was likely a big damn rescue/adventure the crew got into there, which would account for how friendly the crew is with those folks in a short time.

Quote:
A while back, I saw an image created for an RPG, showing River's Academy data file. It says her date of birth is December 19, 2500. The script for the pilot says she's 17 at the time, but that being the case, her birthday comes and goes well before the BDM and yet she's still 17 at that point.

Thank you fro bringing this up! This one has bothered me, especially as her age is needed for my fic. I have her turning 18 a few months after OiS, (I ignore the movie in my ficverse) and I don't see how it could be later than that! No way could she be 17 in the pilot and still 17 in the movie. Major fudging there!

Quote:
All this considered, I think we have to take the timeline with a good-sized barrel of salt

I'm totally with you on this. There is no solid, believable canon timeline to start with. A few fans have worked hard to put all the clues together, but it's not possible.

So it's hard to define what "fudging" is. I just do as I wish.

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I'm the president. I don't need to listen.

KAYLEELOVE

Tuesday, March 20, 2007 8:00 PM

I thought I read somewhere that Simon is typically a Jewish name...

Anyway, it would be fun to have a holiday on Serenity but wouldn't it be nice if Christmas happened right before Inara got off? I mean for sure Kaylee would find some mistletoe to put up and maybe just maybe Mal and Inara could be caught under it... Rest of the crew join in to haggle them into it, a nice little fight between them before they dare eachother into it, tee hee hee and couldn't just see Jayne sneaking up behind Mal to get in line next.

You know I think Jayne would be one of the most excited about Christmas.

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