Mal's backstory

POSTED BY: BYTEMITE
UPDATED: Thursday, March 24, 2016 01:39
VIEWED: 20506
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BYTEMITE

Thursday, February 28, 2013 4:35 PM

Quote:
Then many veterans from Mal's planet would be like Mal. And many veterans from Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Dresden would have gone Mal-ish on the USA. But they didn't. Mal ( & poor Zoe ) seem all alone.

Not so sure about that. The Ballad of Serenity Valley (the theme song of the show) supposedly also exists in the show's canon 'verse, which means unless Mal himself wrote it, someone else is pretty sad about Shadow being destroyed and the loss of Serenity Valley.

Another example when Zoe joined the Dust Devils, there had to be people there to JOIN.

And what about Monty? What's his story? He's got a big heart it seems, but it also seems like he's had to turn to crime after the war ended and maybe didn't have a place to go home to.

BYTEMITE

Thursday, February 28, 2013 4:37 PM

Quote:
Agreed! Something happened to Mal, that didn't happen to Zoe, that pre-dates their first meeting (which we presume was in the war -- although I've read fanfics where they knew each other before the war, too). I've worked something of that kind into my headcanon backstory for Mal, but I most certainly won't reveal it here! ;-) No, it will be revealed in good time in my fanfic, where it has already been hinted at. (It was also hinted at in the series.)

I do agree that something at least made Mal join the war effort, though I don't necessarily think anything other than what we know had to affect Mal after the war to make him the way he is.

Also I have guesses about your fanfic. :)

EBFIDDLER

Thursday, February 28, 2013 5:01 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
Quote:
Then many veterans from Mal's planet would be like Mal. And many veterans from Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Dresden would have gone Mal-ish on the USA. But they didn't. Mal ( & poor Zoe ) seem all alone.

Not so sure about that. The Ballad of Serenity Valley (the theme song of the show) supposedly also exists in the show's canon 'verse, which means unless Mal himself wrote it, someone else is pretty sad about Shadow being destroyed and the loss of Serenity Valley.

Another example when Zoe joined the Dust Devils, there had to be people there to JOIN.

And what about Monty? What's his story? He's got a big heart it seems, but it also seems like he's had to turn to crime after the war ended and maybe didn't have a place to go home to.

As Two so rightly points out, losing the war and losing Shadow could have happened to many people, and they are not Mal, and do not all behave as Mal does. But Mal is not simply a product of what happened to him. He also is the way he is because of how he reacts to what happened to him. And the way he reacts doesn't have to be the result solely of traumas that occurred in his youth. He might react this way because it's part of his personality, in his nature. Or he could have been taught to react this way, either actively ("this is what you have to do to survive here, son") or passively (sees adults in his community reacting to stresses this way, imitates their behavior without conscious thought). Doesn't necessarily have to be a catastrophic occurrence in his youth, although it could be.

And as Bytemite points out, there are people in the 'Verse who reacted just as badly as Mal, or even worse than him, to losses of the war and Shadow.

BYTEMITE

Thursday, February 28, 2013 5:05 PM

I mean Badger could be bitter about it, I'm not sure he even fought, but Persephone supposedly supported the browncoats. Some of his irritation with Mal and Zoe may be him projecting on them, blaming them for losing.

TDBROWN

Saturday, November 16, 2013 10:02 PM

Just a small observation, based on experience....

My Grandparents had a ranch in Oklahoma, and they had an average 4-5 hands at any time during the 40s and 50s. My point though is that Ranch hands are transient. So when Mal says he had 40 ranch hands raise him as a kid, he probably meant "All together, over time".

GWEK

Sunday, November 17, 2013 1:43 AM

I like to think that Mal's dad was a charming young drifter and ne'er-do-well who seduced him mom, left her pregnant, then moved on. Had the series continued, of course, he would have returned, in cahoots with (and possibly married to) Saffron, preferably played by Bruce Campbell.

BYTEMITE

Tuesday, November 19, 2013 10:18 PM

Father issues with someone who abandoned Mal and his mother could explain Mal's attitude towards Wash and Zoe hooking up and his opinion of Inara's clients.

And I could just imagine Saffron trolling the bejesus out of Mal by showing up on his father's arm.

All the same, Mal never says anything about a father in the series, movie, comics, or any of the other supplemental information. Could be Mal just doesn't know, which could be consistent with either a deadbeat or just plain dead. It's kind of a mystery though, and narratively speaking, mysteries are fun. I'd actually like to see Mal's backstory tie in with some kind of Alliance conspiracy and the Unification War, since that itself would relate to the myth arc and River.

EBFIDDLER

Wednesday, November 20, 2013 6:54 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by TDBrown:
they had an average 4-5 hands at any time during the 40s and 50s. My point though is that Ranch hands are transient. So when Mal says he had 40 ranch hands raise him as a kid, he probably meant "All together, over time".

Good point. Wouldn't have had to have had 40 ranch hands all at once. Although I'd imagine some of them would stay for more than one season, and there probably were a few who were constant fixtures throughout the years.

EBFIDDLER

Wednesday, November 20, 2013 6:56 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by GWEK:
I like to think that Mal's dad was a charming young drifter and ne'er-do-well who seduced him mom, left her pregnant, then moved on. Had the series continued, of course, he would have returned, in cahoots with (and possibly married to) Saffron.

Oh, hahahaha! I love this! If he returned with Saffron, of course he'd be married to her, because who in the galaxy ain't?

EBFIDDLER

Wednesday, November 20, 2013 7:01 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
Mal never says anything about a father in the series, movie, comics, or any of the other supplemental information. Could be Mal just doesn't know, which could be consistent with either a deadbeat or just plain dead. It's kind of a mystery though, and narratively speaking, mysteries are fun. I'd actually like to see Mal's backstory tie in with some kind of Alliance conspiracy and the Unification War, since that itself would relate to the myth arc and River.

Once again, Bytemite, I think you're sneaking looks at my hard drive or something, the way you guess at the story arcs I want to play out in my as-yet-incomplete fanfics. Either that, or your uncanny use of logic and character insight has graduated into full-blown impossible prediction levels! ;-)

Maybe this is the kick in the seat I need to get out of fanfic stasis and start writing again.

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