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oh, canon. foiled again.
I'm writing Firefly fic (I know? Isn't that crazy? It feels so good!), and I glanced at the Firefly Wiki to try to figure out how old Mal would have been during the War. But I did the math and the first thing I figured it out is this: do you know how old he was during the actual show?
49.
Okay, there is no way on God's green earth that I buy that. Do they honestly expect me to buy that? Nathan Fillion as 49? Here's what the wiki says:
"Malcolm Reynolds was born on September 20, 2468. This is taken from the Serenity movie when the Operative is viewing his file. This date has significance in that September 20, 2002 is the day Firefly premiered, and September 20, 1968 is Firefly writer/producer Ben Edlund's date of birth. "
Okay, I adore Ben Edlund (fun fact: did you know he was the one who came up with the idea for Bad Horse?); he's written several of my favorite Jossverse/Supernatural episodes, and I think the guy's a genius. I love that they gave him this short of shout-out in the movie. However, that's all it is. A shout-out. I don't believe that's canon.
So I figure that means that I get to completely disregard that, much the way we get to completely disregard the various canon contradictions about Buffy's birthdate.
However, I am very interested in how old you think he is during the War. The War started eleven years before "Serenity" (the pilot episode, not the movie) and ended five years later. I always sort of imagined Mal as this fresh young kid going off to fight for glory and freedom and all that stuff. But I do want to be realistic about his age when he went off to fight. I'd love your opinions. Any thoughts?
Also, I just want to give a shout-out to my icon. "Out of Gas" is my favorite episode of Firefly by a whole heck of a lot, and this icon makes me ridiculously happy.
"Let me show you the rest. And-and try to see past what she is and onto what she can be."
"What's that, sir?"
"Freedom, is what."
"I meant, what's that?"
"Oh, yeah, just step around that. I think something must have been living in here."
I DIE.
49.
Okay, there is no way on God's green earth that I buy that. Do they honestly expect me to buy that? Nathan Fillion as 49? Here's what the wiki says:
"Malcolm Reynolds was born on September 20, 2468. This is taken from the Serenity movie when the Operative is viewing his file. This date has significance in that September 20, 2002 is the day Firefly premiered, and September 20, 1968 is Firefly writer/producer Ben Edlund's date of birth. "
Okay, I adore Ben Edlund (fun fact: did you know he was the one who came up with the idea for Bad Horse?); he's written several of my favorite Jossverse/Supernatural episodes, and I think the guy's a genius. I love that they gave him this short of shout-out in the movie. However, that's all it is. A shout-out. I don't believe that's canon.
So I figure that means that I get to completely disregard that, much the way we get to completely disregard the various canon contradictions about Buffy's birthdate.
However, I am very interested in how old you think he is during the War. The War started eleven years before "Serenity" (the pilot episode, not the movie) and ended five years later. I always sort of imagined Mal as this fresh young kid going off to fight for glory and freedom and all that stuff. But I do want to be realistic about his age when he went off to fight. I'd love your opinions. Any thoughts?
Also, I just want to give a shout-out to my icon. "Out of Gas" is my favorite episode of Firefly by a whole heck of a lot, and this icon makes me ridiculously happy.
"Let me show you the rest. And-and try to see past what she is and onto what she can be."
"What's that, sir?"
"Freedom, is what."
"I meant, what's that?"
"Oh, yeah, just step around that. I think something must have been living in here."
I DIE.
no subject
Also, I love that this entry is about this, because I have a Very Developed Opinion on the matter of Mal's age, and it is: there has been talk on several Firefly boards I've read that 49 is indeed a very silly age for Mal, but! If you switch the last two digits of the year and make it 2486, this makes him 31 during the show which is clearly much much better. POOF. The magic of fanwank!
(I remember one awesome person saying that since this is so much more likely, the 2468 is not only a shoutout but also an intended typo on the Alliance screen, meant to symbolize just how little they understand the Independents. Improbable and cracky? Sure. But that's the ~beauty~ of it.)
no subject
If you switch the last two digits of the year and make it 2486, this makes him 31 during the show which is clearly much much better. POOF. The magic of fanwank! Ha! I love you for this!
(I like your parenthetical wank, too. It's fun.)
no subject