Mal's backstory

POSTED BY: BYTEMITE
UPDATED: Thursday, March 24, 2016 01:39
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BYTEMITE

Wednesday, February 20, 2013 2:59 PM

So we know what turned him into what he is seven to ten years after the war. And we know about the ranch, and his mother the businesswoman.

But do you think he was rich? poor? happy/unhappy? Were his parents from the rim with affected core pretension, or from the core and moved to the rim and made a life for themselves. What about his dad? Dead, deadbeat, runaway, abusive?

EBFIDDLER

Thursday, February 21, 2013 5:20 AM

Well, Bytemite, you know what my backstory for Mal is, and I suppose anyone who's been reading Light and Shadow knows some of it, too.

Of course, there's lots of room for others to think differently, but here's my headcanon, with a few supporting pieces of evidence:

Rich/poor: Definitely well-off. It's said that Mal's mother had about 40 hands working on her ranch. This would be an operation of substantial size, as there are plenty of large ranches in the western US with fewer than 10 employees. Might not have been cash-wealthy, but this was no subsistence farm.

Core/Rim: Mal's mother came from the Core (to teach English on Shadow, a kind of "Teach for America" program) and took to life on Shadow like a duck to water, and decided to stay. Hence the poetry in Mal's educational background. Mal's father was a native of Shadow.

Father: Dead. Not deadbeat, runaway, or abusive, but died in tragic circumstances that affected Mal's life pretty profoundly.

Happy/unhappy: Mal's early life was happy, until the above-mentioned tragedy struck; and then even still, he was still upbeat, until the rug was pulled from under him at Serenity Valley and brought everything crashing down with it. It's more of a fall if he was not already closed-off and cynical beforehand, more of a shock, from which he takes longer to recover, if he even can.

Anyway, that's my headcanon. I'm curious to see what other people think!

RIONAEIRE

Thursday, February 21, 2013 6:07 AM

I'm pretty flexible about backstories really, whatever people want to write in fanfic is usually fine by me as long as it fits with the person we know.

As for Mal he tends to keep his past to himself most of the time, I think maybe he figures it isn't relevent, maybe remembering it makes him too sad and bummed out.

Things we know: Mal grew up on Shadow on a ranch run by his mother who had many hired men working said ranch. At some point Mal became involved in the unification war and moved up the ranks. His disposition as indicated in the first scenes of the show would be that of someone who could inspire and lead others, give them direction and faith in what they're doing. We see Mal has a Christian background (whether he grew up in a Christian household or came to it later we aren't told,) we know its a part of his life at least during his war years. We know his warriors respect him, based on the stories and interactions related to his wartime service. We know Shadow got toasted during the conflict so we know his mother and ranch are history.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

BYTEMITE

Thursday, February 21, 2013 6:18 AM

Yeah, Light and Shadow is fun, and I pretty much agree with your assessment, though Mal's dad might be core and his mother rim, or maybe both are core.

But I also think Mal's dad died. I think most of Mal's trauma came during and after the war and that's the primary negative influence on his interpersonal skills. I don't see an abusive childhood as contributing to that. Although there is a certain stoic closed off way Mal has about dealing with his problems/emotions/affection that he might have learned from family.

Not to say that Mal doesn't potentially still have abandonment issues about it, even if his dad's dead as opposed to deadbeat.

PIRATENEWS

Friday, February 22, 2013 12:56 AM

Is it possible Mal's dad was murdered by the Alliance during the war, either as a Browncoat or collateral damage?

Or perhaps his dad fought for the Alliance, before dying in battle...perhaps the Battle of Serenity Valley? (brother against brother, father against son?)

That would explain his extreme hatred of all things Alliance, culminating in Mal literally overthrowing the Alliance in the Battle of Serenity 2.0 (A Big Damn Film By Joss Whedon TM).

BYTEMITE

Friday, February 22, 2013 3:30 AM

Oh Riona, somehow I didn't notice your post, must have been working on mine.

Quote:

I'm pretty flexible about backstories really, whatever people want to write in fanfic is usually fine by me as long as it fits with the person we know.

True.

We do have some hints that Mal's mother taught him to dance and also taught him literature and poetry.

But that could be that his mother or father were from the core, or it could be his mother wanted him to be "cultured."

BYTEMITE

Friday, February 22, 2013 3:34 AM

PN:

Quote:

Is it possible Mal's dad was murdered by the Alliance during the war, either as a Browncoat or collateral damage?

Very possible. Or before it, seems his dad wasn't around on the ranch. Unless they had a gender role reversal where his mother ran the place and dad did all the cooking. Which, considering Joss... Maybe not that surprising.

It's interesting how we assumed that because Mal mentioned his mothers ranch, we assumed that meant his dad wasn't around. I never really noticed that before now.

But, actually, still kinda think his dad really wasn't around.

In Shepherd's Tale, there were some proto-Independent types I think 16 years before the war started. Mal's dad could have been involved.

My personal theory is that Mal's dad was from the core, and upper-class, but unconventional and rebellious against Blue Sun and the government, and it got him killed.

BYTEMITE

Friday, February 22, 2013 5:55 AM

Could be. I also interpret that as maybe meaning he's lost whatever niceties or softness he might have had too. Like the capacity to express affection, because he's a pretty ornery guy after Serenity Valley. Either one works though.

I think that the absence of Mal's dad and his involvement with the hands on the ranch probably did teach Mal leadership.

TWO

Friday, February 22, 2013 2:10 PM

Meet Mal's Father in Serenity Tales: The Black by Bill Mudron.
Mal disagrees with his Father and it wasn't because Mal wears suspenders while his Dad and the Alliance wear belts.
www.webcomicsnation.com/serenitytales/st_the_black/toc.php
Father and Son cleaning The Gun by the campfire

The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

BYTEMITE

Saturday, February 23, 2013 4:50 PM

I've read that comic before over on the site Serenity Tales. Good, although I'm pretty sure that song was written in canon after the Battle of Serenity Valley.

The Notes on a Fridge from the same site are hilarious though.

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