Firefly Supergirl (a.k.a. You Can't Take the Sky From Her)

shadar wrote:

Anon wrote: "We have done the impossible and that's makes us mighty." (Mal

Great quote, and appropriate, given it comes from my favorite TV show.

And as the Operative said at one point: "You are a man who has done fine works."

Chiwetel Ejiofor, as the Opertive, was the most perfectly cast actor ever. Between he and Nathan as Mal, it doesn't get any better.

Makes me want to dust off a partially completed story set on board Serenity where Inara turns out to be a lot more than anyone guesses. It starts with her bringing her shuttle back to Serenity -- only to have Kaylee discover that the engine was shot out and fried down on the planet. Inara lets Kaylee in on a secret, and gets her to swear tht she won't tell anyone else on the ship. Subsequently, the crew escapes some hazards that they should not have been able to survive, with only Kaylee knowing that Inara is the one who saved them. She and Inara might share more than a mere friendship, although I'm not sure about that yet.

This is a hard story to write given the richness of Whedon's universe, which is why its on the shelf, but might be worth it if we have more Firefly addicts here?


Shadar

pansardum wrote: I only recently got addicted to Firefly (watched through the series last month), but must admit it was too long since I last watched the movie.

I think a story set on Serenity could be a fun read. But as you say it can be a hard story to write, keeping the characters true to the series. I would think the obvious choice would be to bump up Rivers abilities but it could be a nice change if someone else turned out to be more than meets the eye. Even Kaylee could be fun seeing in a super powered state.
Though I must admit I really like the actress playing Inara, definitely doesn't hurt that she played the queen in V and a 'false god' in Stargate SG-1. Two really powerful women.

A side note: can anyone really keep a secret from River?

The Highlander wrote: A guy called Ratlaf wrote a Serenity female muscle growth story a couple of years ago, where Kaylee ends up becoming immensely large and strong. Unfortunately he disappeared a while ago, I've got a saved copy of the story but it needs to be re-formatted.

shadar wrote: Good point... River would know. And making Kaylee super is interesting too. But Inara is more mysterious. I always thought it was interesting that Whedon and I came up with the idea of Companions independently. In both cases, they are whores who are so much more. Velorians in my case, but exquisitely trained with secret skills in Inara's case. What is it about high-class and respectable whores? Should be n oxymoron, but it kind of works for me too.

The thought was to reveal that Companions are in fact influencing forces across known space, and not just with the skills that people pay them for. In reality, they have a far larger mission, and they've been genetically enhanced in ways that no one suspects. Being that they are respectable in the Whedon universe,and have access to people of all social levels and can travel with total freedom and impunity, even into dangerous territory, without arousing suspicion, what if they were pulling the strings behind the scenes?

Inara is one of a handful of Companions who have been extensively "engineered" to be the Operatives of the Companion House.

Serenity and its crew are a great disguise for her true mission and abilities. Serenity and her crew were intended to be sacrificial. Who would miss and old Firefly class ship and its crew of privateers.

The problem is that's Inara has fallen in love with that old ship and its eclectic crew, especially Mal and Kaylee. And that becomes the source of conflict in her life. She now has to secretly protect them while also doing her missions.

Anyway, that's the general idea. But capturing the characters and language properly is really hard. I've read enough Firefly fan-fiction to realize that most authors fail at that. Whedon writes unique dialog, and he encouraged the actors to improvise. Not sure I've got the skills to pull it off, but it would be fun if I could.

Shadar

pansardum wrote:

shadar wrote: Sounds like most of the interest is to see Kaylee get super.

Is that the consensus, or does anyone see merit in Inara and the Companions as being part of some "power behind the power" thing?

Shadar

Just playing around with ideas. I would like nearly any scenario in that setting.

Not too sure about keeping her powers as a secret though, It could remove a lot of the fun interactions with the crew. Mal, because the obvious tension in the series and the powerchange in their relationship. Kaylee's curiosity. Jayne's love for anything resembling a female.
And Wash must have a thing for powerful women...

shadar wrote: I would never forget about Zoe... but she's already powerful in her own way. She can outshoot and outfight most men. She'd handle being super without issue -- she'd take it in stride given she's already a warrior. But the bad guys already respect her and they'd see her coming and avoid her.

(Although Walsh might find this an interesting change in his wife.)

But Inara and Kaylee are in roles that are not normally viewed as being strong or warrior-like. Which is why they might be more fun to feature. Inara is the ultimate sleeper, given she works as a high-class whore. She could get up close to a bad guy without him suspecting anything. In fact, they'd go out of their way to buy her time and open their doors to her. A Companion is welcome everywhere, including places where Serenity and the rest of the crew could never go.

The bad guys aren't going to let Zoe get too close, and Kaylee is just a grease monkey, so she's hardly able to penetrate the protected walls of privilege and high society (where many of the bad guys hide).

Who would suspect a Companion of being an Operative? And if a few of her less desirable clients suffered fatal heart attacks while in the throws of passion, well, that's what they get for engaging a Companion. Companions have a rarified reputation for dazzling their clients, and every man has a weakness. I'm sure she would know how to push a man past his limits until something gave way.

As I see it, once the bad guys know about someone with enhanced abilities, they are going to stay far, far away. Inara's ability to slip under their defenses and reach the cloistered bedrooms of the rich and famous would serve her well, given those are the folks that Serenity and her crew would love to steal from and/or stop in their tracks before they can hurt anyone else.

Anyway, that's my vision, for what its worth.

Shadar

shadar wrote: Good points, Anon. The Guild could not be compromised by her, so she'd have to either stay under the radar or she'd be considered a rogue and she would lose her ability to infiltrate without suspicion. Once her true role is revealed, the Guild would be devastated.

That would add another layer of complexity, given I assume Inara doesn't want to destroy the Guild.

shadar wrote: As I see it, Mal learns fairly early about her "special" talents (and River knew right away), and Kaylee is on board, but Zoe, Walsh, Jayne, Simon and Book don't know for a while, although Simon suspects something unusual is going on. Each of them has a story regarding how they found out about her and how they reacted. At some point, the entire crew is in on the secret. Which they keep, given Inara is a HUGE asset to the ship. She has saved their butts more than most of them know.

Mal's already difficult relationship with Inara is going to get more complicated. Its one thing that she's a whore, but a superpowered one?

shadar wrote: I think Kaylee will take it in stride the best, as she'll simply see it as totally cool and a further reason to look up to Inara, who is already gorgeous and sophisticated in her eyes. Worldly and educated and all that. She'll be the first one to enlist Inara in helping her with a ship's mechanical problem that she can't solve on her own (high radiation or whatever). As much as Kaylee loves guys, I think she'll be a little in love with Inara too. One thing about Kaylee... she doesn't have any hangups. She's a pure soul, being that she's both innocent and tough at the same time.

shadar wrote: I think I'll try writing a single scene to explore the Firefly Supergirl concept. Just to see if it flies, so to speak.

In my thinking, this would be the original Firefly characters, including the mysterious Book and the Operative, etc. Inara is still on Serenity and things are smoldering but unresolved between she and Mal. The setting would be the end of the aborted TV series and before the Serenity movie closed off a number of story lines and characters. Reevers are still a mystery, etc. Wash is still flying the ship. Kaylee is pining for Simon. Zoe feels a tug of loyalties between Wash and Mal. Jayne is still unpredictable and his loyalties are questionable. River is a mystery that is slowly unfolding, although we know she can be a weapon when triggered (I'd bring that idea back from the movie).

shadar wrote: Anyone have a scene concept in mind that would tickle your fancy? It would be nice if this scene could become part of a bigger story. Possibly a multi-author story line.

Once we critique and review the experimental scene, we could decide where our continued Firefly universe is going to go. Biggest question is who is the Supergirl going to be. Zoe? River? inara? Kaylee? But only one in my thinking.