Anne, that's about how I saw Wash, too. Tech school being flight school, in that case. The pollution on his planet that kept him from ever seeing stars makes it sound like an industrial planet, low-tech (comparatively) enough not to have non-polluting technology. Not on the Rim, maybe, but not in the Core, either. He had enough money to get into flight school, which probably isn't cheap, or else he was skilled enough to get a scholarship. He has done his share of crap work, which he wasn't very good at - fired from a fry-cook job, for example - so maybe he worked his way through school. I see him as from a blue-collar family, with his only real ambition being getting the heck off that planet. The only thing I don't really understand about him is why he doesn't seem to have any qualms about taking up a lifestyle on the wrong side of the law. Maybe his family was doing some shady deals all along, so he's kinda used to it?

Maybe his family was doing some shady deals all along

He struck me as the type who came from a family just not-well-off enough that when they needed to fix an appliance or something were the type to jump the junkyard fence and find what they needed. The whole family was probably good at stretching things to meet. Wash may even have done a little on planet smuggling at home in exchange for piloting lessons. His family lived as much by bartering as by buying things outright.

Just thought I'd pass along to everyone that the BDM is getting groomed to purrfection; and that the tests have been very positive!

Serenity...

Quote last night from AB over at the prospero OB.

One time when positive test results are good...

[link]

A fic that explores Wash's background, for those of you so inclined.

Does anybody know if there is a Firefly font out there for download?

I've never posted in Firefly before, but I wanted to share my recent experience.

I loaned out one of my Firefly DVD's. It was the first time I'd let any of them leave the nest, since I don't really know anyone I thought would appreciated them. But my sister was pregnant and homebound and looking for something to watch. She had already declared Buffy "too weird" (although she watched all of Seasons 1-3 before reaching this conclusion), but I figured I'd take the risk anyway.

It was a stressful experience, but today I got my baby back safe and sound. My sister's opinion, "A thousand times better than Buffy, but much too dark." This from a woman whose current favorite show is The Shield! She specifically cited Mal as being very dark and someone she had a hard time warming up to. Which made me think: in the beginning, didn't the network insist that Mal's character be lightened up some? Maybe they actually do know something about this TV business. Of course, they also replaced "Serenity" with "The Train Job" as the premier episode, so maybe not.

Hi, jstroix. So, no toaster, then? You have to try harder.

I don't recall whether or not they had to lighten up Mal's character. I'm a little baffled by people who think he's too dark, though. I mean, he's no Kaylee, but I can think of any number of lighthearted quotes and moments when he opens up, cracks jokes, or lets his fierce brand of optimism shine through. ("Still flying," for example, or "Looking to make a few good stands after this one.") But then, I love Mal with a bright and undying love, so I may be slightly biased.

Yeah, I don't know if it's in the commentary on the dvds--I think it's mentioned there, by either Joss or Nathan--but it has come up in interviews that FOX thought Mal was too dark, and lightening him up was something they did to keep the show on the air. Joss has also mentioned that for the BDM Mal went back to the dark character Joss had originally intended him to be. Nathan has repeated in many interviews that "this guy is SO much darker than me," so I think the observation is more than valid.

What I find funny, though, is that the person watching jstroix's dvds found post-lightening-up series Mal "too dark."