Origin of term 'Browncoat'? by plangega

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Origin of term 'Browncoat'?

POSTED BY: PLANGEGA
UPDATED: Wednesday, June 7, 2006 17:21
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Wednesday, June 7, 2006 12:57 PM

PLANGEGA

In terms of applying it to fans of the show? Does anyone know how it got started?

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Wednesday, June 7, 2006 1:00 PM

SILENCE

Joss started it.

**************************
One day.
One mission.
One army of Browncoats.

On June 23rd, we aim to misbehave!
http://serenityjune23rd.com/

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Wednesday, June 7, 2006 1:17 PM

SIKKUKUT

It's straight out of the show. It's a colloquial term for the Independents, presumably based on their military uniform. If memory serves, the drunk in "The Train Job" mentions that the alliance "sent the Browncoats runnin'."

He then notes that Mal's coat is kind of a brownish color... and so it is.

__________________
To err is human, but computers do it much faster.

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Wednesday, June 7, 2006 1:24 PM

PLANGEGA

Thanks Silence, that's what I was looking for!

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Wednesday, June 7, 2006 2:01 PM

OOKAMIKAWAHARA

Plangega
The other part of the Brown Coat term is that during the American Civil War, many Confederate or "Rebel" soldiers wore Brown coats or some variation of gray and brown. The brown color was usually a chestnut type brown. The confederate soldiers wore a rag tag assortement for their uniforms depending on what the local area could support for dyes, what was taken from arsanals at the start of war etc. As noted with other posts, Joss started it for both fans and the series. So thats kinda the back story on the term.
mata, Ookami yori

Sssh, be very very quiet, I'm hunting Alliance boys

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Wednesday, June 7, 2006 2:27 PM

PLANGEGA

Thanks guys-- I know the back story on the show itself-- what I was specifically wondering about was when it first started getting used to describe the Fans..... Silence says Joss started it, but was hoping I could find more source for this.....

Also, does anyone remember the web address of the first fan site that started while the show was still on? I remember going to a site and getting info on the postcard writing campaign but now can't remember the site!

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Wednesday, June 7, 2006 2:41 PM

PLANGEGA

never mind re: site-- I think i found it-- URL doesn't exist but I found snapshots on the wayback machine -- www.fireflysupport.com and it looks familiar

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Wednesday, June 7, 2006 2:51 PM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.

I am almost positive that this site, fireflyfans.net, was the first web presence for the show. I know it predated the official Fox site by about two months.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

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Wednesday, June 7, 2006 3:19 PM

SILENCE

well, this is where I first heard it.

http://www.serenitymovie.com/nonflash_site/crew.html

That's all the info I can give you.

**************************
One day.
One mission.
One army of Browncoats.

On June 23rd, we aim to misbehave!
http://serenityjune23rd.com/

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Wednesday, June 7, 2006 3:48 PM

MISSTRESSAHARA

Quote:
Originally posted by plangega:
In terms of applying it to fans of the show? Does anyone know how it got started?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plangega, you have to go waaayyyyyy back in the fff archives to find it but here (and the Prospero board) The Vets thought it was time the fans had a name since Star Trek fans had Trekk(ers-ies, take your pick) and Farscape fans were Scapers, so people started coming up with names and phrases and words. At one point I think we were almost called The Independents. Now keep in mind this was when it was first on the air in 2002 and I didn't lurk as heavily then, so I can't tell you the exact date. People began to vote for what they wanted and thus The Browncoats were born. Joss loved that we called ourselves that and supported it. So it was the fans here and on the Prospero board and other boards that the name came about. Hope that helps. If you want to find it you'll have to dig deep in the archives.

If I'm a bitch, then life just got interesting

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Wednesday, June 7, 2006 3:56 PM

PLANGEGA

Thanks MS!!!

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Wednesday, June 7, 2006 5:04 PM

PLANGEGA

Took some digging, but found it! In case anyone's interested:

http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=779

and this:

http://forums.prospero.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=foxfirefly&msg=1217
.1&search=y

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Wednesday, June 7, 2006 5:21 PM

MISSTRESSAHARA

Thank you for finding that Plang, I knew at one point someone was suggesting Independents which isn't a bad thing but it really doesn't capture the spirit of the show, and as for the others, they're best left forgotten. My that was a looooong time ago. Your patient to have looked it up. Vive le Browncoats.

If I'm a bitch, then life just got interesting

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