Where did Mal get the money for Serenity? by ncbrowncoat

ANGELUS ARCANUM

Where did Mal get the money for Serenity?

POSTED BY: NCBROWNCOAT
UPDATED: Monday, June 14, 2010 04:40
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Tuesday, February 19, 2008 7:51 AM

This question came out of the Destruction of Shadow thread (thanks guys, I got more info and opinions that I thought I would!).

I have a theory but because I have to go back to work, I'll post it this evening.

Have a good time!

http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/

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Tuesday, February 19, 2008 8:35 AM

FARFLY

I suspect that buying a used Firefly isn't any more difficult than my buying a brand new 66 Chevelle 396SS when I was out of work. Car (or space ship) salesmen only care about the sales commission, not whether you can afford it.

Or maybe Mal was just a great Amway salesman?

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Tuesday, February 19, 2008 3:05 PM

NCBROWNCOAT

Well, you have to pay something down at least, even if you finance it. And of course the salesman would take his commission.

I say no to the financing. Mal is a Browncoat, and not too friendly with the Alliance, much less Alliance bankers. I don't think any banker would lend him the money unless he had a substantial down payment and the proven ability to make the payments.

I work at a community bank and especially now your credit has to be sterling and your credit report blemish free. For a commercial loan the requirements are more rigorous, or you need a cosigner with assets. The only person who could cosign would likely be Monty.

Others have mentioned that Mal and Zoe could have worked as cargo hands, mercenaries etc. They could have even worked for Monty as he seems to have much more experience in hauling.

I don't think so. It would take years for Mal to gather up enough money to even buy a clunker like Serenity. Then he'd have to fix it up.

Others have suggested that maybe they had a rich job or Mal got some sort of back pay or settlement for the destruction of the ranch at the end of the war. I don't think so. He wouldn't touch money gained that way.

My best theory is that Mal got the money from his Ma in a roundabout way. I think I'm giving away a future fic here but here goes.

Mal's Ma is a very astute businesswoman. To run a ranch with more than a dozen hands suggests that the Reynolds ranch was of some size. With a ranch comes a bank account. At least one and maybe more than one.

Cattle would be sold, supplies bought,and salaries for the hands paid and the credits had to go somewhere. Having that amount of cash on hand would be tempting even for the most honest hand.

So the ranch had a bank account, most likely frozen at the beginning of hostilities. At the end of the war, the account was unfrozen, with of course a fee taken by the bankers or they wouldn't be bankers.

It was just enough for Mal to start looking for a space ship to take him to the Black and think about refitting it and hiring a mechanic and apilot. It likely took every credit Mal had, hence the need to find work as soon as Serenity was space worthy.

We don't have canon on this so lots of ways to buy Serenity are viable. What do you think?

http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/

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Tuesday, February 19, 2008 3:15 PM

NBZ

I would go for "he stole it". No, not the ship - the money.

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Tuesday, February 19, 2008 3:53 PM

MOLOTOV

I find it much more easy to believe that after the war, Mal put all his chips in for one big desperate job, in hopes it would secure him a way to stay apart from the alliance for the rest of his life.
I'm also fairly certain Mal would have paid cash, as having a bank account is a great way for the alliance to get a trace on any former independents, especially since he didn't change his name after the war.

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Tuesday, February 19, 2008 6:27 PM

GROOSALUGG

Well, since this is in the "Angel" forum, I'm gonna theorize that the Ariel branch of Wolfram & Hart gave him the money...

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Wednesday, February 20, 2008 9:41 AM

NCBROWNCOAT

I don't know how that happened...maybe terrifin' space monkeys?

http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/

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Sunday, June 13, 2010 2:56 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Could be any number of ways.

He might have been in on some not so petty thieving , during the war, though the pre-Serenity Valley Mal doesn't fit the bill. All of honor and what not, as Tracy put it.

Could be there was some ( and I shudder to think ) Alliance " Marshall " type plan, where $$ is given to enterprising ex Browncoats to help get them back on their feet and join the economy as a part of the productive work force.

That, or he could have gotten some $$ from his farm, back on Shadow. ( Not real up on the status of his family, who's still alive, if they still have the farm, etc.. )

" Being correct does not excuse a violation of form " - Ducky, NCIS.

" ...the whole point of swearing is that it ain't appropriate. " - Kaylee

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Sunday, June 13, 2010 4:10 AM

ZZETTA13

It is my understanding that he stored a sumable amount of wealth pulling the gold teeth fillings out of the mouths of dead Alliance soldiers ( just jokin)

Since I’m not up to par with many of the FF fans here, just a guess would be that maybe his family was forced to sell off a portion of their ranch after the war, or maybe Mal had stores of hidden currency place on other planets ( like Jesse James had after the Civil War).

Also, like was said in OMR, that the parts themselves were worth more than the sum of the little transport . How much could that broken down, unspaceworthy , heap of flying metal be worth at that time?

Good thread!

Z

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Sunday, June 13, 2010 4:33 AM

NCBROWNCOAT

If you all remember, Mal's home planet is now uninhabitable and everyone on it killed thanks to the Alliance so I don't think the farm was sold to any one.

I still hold to my original theory that Ma Reynolds had a bank account some where that was unfrozen. And I still have to write the fic.

http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/

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Sunday, June 13, 2010 4:35 AM

NCBROWNCOAT

Darn Sunday double post/

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Sunday, June 13, 2010 4:37 AM

ZZETTA13

Quote:
Originally posted by ncbrowncoat:
If you all remember, Mal's home planet is now uninhabitable and everyone on it killed thanks to the Alliance so I don't think the farm was sold to any one.

I still hold to my original theory that Ma Reynolds had a bank account some where that was unfrozen. And I still have to write the fic.

http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/

NCB

I wish I knew better the results of the post-war verse. I don’t. Thanks for the info.

Z

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Sunday, June 13, 2010 4:43 AM

NCBROWNCOAT

If you listen to the song it tells you what happened to Shadow, "Burn the land, boil the sea ..."

There's a thread somewhere with a discussion about how the Alliance destroyed Shadow. If I remember right, the general cncencous was that the Alliance nuked the planet as a lesson to those darn Independents.

http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/

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Sunday, June 13, 2010 4:51 AM

BYTEMITE

According to my sources, a Firefly costs the equivalence of $2,500 dollars. In the future, since the technology is already well established, it's like buying a small commercial fishing boat, something not-too-pretty and already well used.

And I also agree with the idea that Mal's mother might have had a little money set aside off world. At that point in time, Mal is still rather naively optimistic sounding when he describes to Zoe what he imagines life being like in the black. I don't think he was expecting they would have to support themselves with crime, and so it's unlikely he obtained the money via crime.

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Sunday, June 13, 2010 4:51 AM

ZZETTA13

Actually, I don’t know why, but I always thought that the song was a reference to the old “Earth That Was” and how humankind destroyed their original home ( like that would stop us from doing it again right?)

Bite

2,500 $$?

You mean that I bought a FF keychain for 10 when I coulda been flying around in a real one for 2,500 and change? I’m headed out to the junkyard. Are Jewel and Alan available for repairs……?

Z

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Sunday, June 13, 2010 5:01 AM

NCBROWNCOAT

Quote:
Originally posted by Bytemite:
According to my sources, a Firefly costs the equivalence of $2,500 dollars. In the future, since the technology is already well established, it's like buying a small commercial fishing boat, something not-too-pretty and already well used.

And I also agree with the idea that Mal's mother might have had a little money set aside off world. At that point in time, Mal is still rather naively optimistic sounding when he describes to Zoe what he imagines life being like in the black. I don't think he was expecting they would have to support themselves with crime, and so it's unlikely he obtained the money via crime.

And it looks like he would have had to make extensive repairs to that "old boat" (said with affection) to get her space worthy and Mal would also need money to hire Wash and a mechanic.

BTW has anyone over here listened to Marion Call's brilliant musical tribute to Firefly, "Gotta Fly"? I love that album (CD, download or what ever).

The song "I'm still a Geek" really describes me but all her music speaks to me in some way even the non geeky songs.

She's on a lower 48 tour right now called 48>50 Tour and if she's in your area, please go out and support her. She'll be at Comic Con and Dragon Con too this year.

http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/

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Sunday, June 13, 2010 7:08 AM

TWO

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

Quote:
Originally posted by ncbrowncoat:
BTW has anyone over here listened to Marian Call's brilliant musical tribute to Firefly, "Gotta Fly"? I love that album (CD, download or what ever).

The song "I'm still a Geek" really describes me but all her music speaks to me in some way even the non geeky songs.

She's on a lower 48 tour right now called 49>50 Tour and if she's in your area, please go out and support her. She'll be at Comic Con and Dragon Con too this year.

Marian Call's Concert dates are here www.mariancall.com/ She is in Texas this week. She will be in Hawaii, Dec 12 – 22, 2010. All over Canada in Oct & Nov.

Buy her autographed CD: http://store.quantummechanix.com/Got-to-Fly-Geek-Tribute-Album-by-Mari
an-Call_p_53.html

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

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Sunday, June 13, 2010 8:14 AM

FEARTHEBUNNYMAN

I think CharlieBZ had a fic dealing with something like this, wherein he borrowed money from some kind of black market type lender lady to fix up Serenity after the BDM. I figured if he didn't have money stashed away from before the war (and I like the Ma Reynold's bank account theory too) maybe he helped financed purchasing the ship that way - through a non-Alliance source, maybe with the promise that the proceeds from his first few jobs (which he probably expected to be legal) going to the lender....and then discovered the legal work wasn't frequent enough and didn't pay enough to do it that way, and so he gradually shifted into more criminal enterprises.

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Sunday, June 13, 2010 12:46 PM

MAL4PREZ

My take is that Mal briefly tries to make an honest living before seeing how things are stacked against Rim world types. His only way to continue existing is to establish some kind of independent way - say, by buying his own ship.

I figure that he sees Serenity and knows he wants to buy her and make her a home (Last scene in OoG). With that vision in his head he finds Zoe and talks her into turning to crime. In a way that sticks it to the Alliance, of course. After, he talks Zoe into contributing her share so they can get the ship running. (First scene in OoG)

In fanfiction-speak:
http://www.fireflyfans.net/sunroomitem.asp?i=18616

-----------------------------------------------
hmm-burble-blah, blah-blah-blah, take a left

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Sunday, June 13, 2010 1:16 PM

PIRATENEWS

John Lee, conspiracy therapist at Hollywood award-winner History Channel-mocked SNL-spoofed PirateNew.org wooHOO!!!!!!

Quote:
Originally posted by ncbrowncoat:

My best theory is that Mal got the money from his Ma in a roundabout way. I think I'm giving away a future fic here but here goes.

Mal's Ma is a very astute businesswoman. To run a ranch with more than a dozen hands suggests that the Reynolds ranch was of some size. With a ranch comes a bank account. At least one and maybe more than one.

Cattle would be sold, supplies bought,and salaries for the hands paid and the credits had to go somewhere. Having that amount of cash on hand would be tempting even for the most honest hand.

So the ranch had a bank account, most likely frozen at the beginning of hostilities. At the end of the war, the account was unfrozen, with of course a fee taken by the bankers or they wouldn't be bankers.

It was just enough for Mal to start looking for a space ship to take him to the Black and think about refitting it and hiring a mechanic and apilot. It likely took every credit Mal had, hence the need to find work as soon as Serenity was space worthy.

We don't have canon on this so lots of ways to buy Serenity are viable. What do you think?

Roger that. But it needs a Joss Whedon twist...

Perhaps Alliance vets raped his mom and killed everybody on the farm? Like a Clint Eastwood movie.

Or perhaps the Alliance had to pay war reparations?

Or Mal won the cash in a card game?

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Sunday, June 13, 2010 1:21 PM

PIRATENEWS

John Lee, conspiracy therapist at Hollywood award-winner History Channel-mocked SNL-spoofed PirateNew.org wooHOO!!!!!!

Quote:
Originally posted by Bytemite:

According to my sources, a Firefly costs the equivalence of $2,500 dollars. In the future, since the technology is already well established, it's like buying a small commercial fishing boat, something not-too-pretty and already well used.

15 years ago a used Learjet cost $50,000. High-time engines would need an expensive rebuild very soon. But good enough for a few dope runs. VERY profitable P&L.

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Monday, June 14, 2010 4:40 AM

ZEEK

I have a strange feeling that Zoe pitched in a good amount. I'm not sure if that's something I read/saw somewhere or if that's just an impression I get and sort of assumed to the point of believing it.

I could easily see Zoe selling all her property to partner up with Mal after the war.

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