(art by Bill Mudron)

SAMPLE 'SERENITY TALES' STORY IDEAS

• Prequel stories set hundreds of years prior to the events of Firefly/Serenity -- depicting life on the fleet of transport ships fleeing Earth-that-Was, and exploring how the Chinese and Anglo cultures first became irrevocably mixed during that multigenerational 100-year + journey. (Also: Lay the groundwork for the conflicting schools of thought between these survivors that would lead to the War of Unification a few centuries later) (RELATED QUESTION: Were many of the planets in the new 'verse named after survivors' friends and family members?)

• Wash & Zoe's courtship on Serenity. (Off-the cuff explanation of "a leaf on the wind" being a lullabye sung by Wash's mum when he was a kid?)

• Inara's leaving of Sihnon. (The specific reason for her leaving would still be unexplained by story's end -- though it has something to do with the syringe she eyes briefly during the Reaver attack towards the end of the "Firefly" pilot episode.)

• Lil' Jayne.

• A slice of Book's life as an Alliance officer. (Many people theorize that he may've been an Operative. Who knows?)

• Simon piecing together the hidden codes in River's letters from "smart camp" during the course of a long, hot summer on Osiris.

• Kaylee's last week on her father's farm with her five brothers -- ending with her meeting with Bester.

• Mal & Co. tangling with another "mirror" crew (not a particularly "evil" crew, but just a very similar one competing for the same job/resource -- see Tim Minear's commentary for "Out of Gas".)

• Stories involving Li Shen (a beautiful, 40-year old Companion-school drop-out who runs the triad gangs on a moon orbiting Sihnon), the Sanchez Brothers (roaming deep-space salvagers) , Gossi (founder of one of the largest smuggling dens this side of Boros), Renshaw (an elderly lawman-turned-Browncoat who was a friend of Mal's poppa), Bix (an ex-Browncoat-turned-Parlaimentary-candidate on Londinium), etc....

• A few issues dealing exclusively with the political battles in Parlaiment that finally led to the War of Unification. (One of the politicians involved would be the same guy who eventually greenlights the terraforming experiment on Miranda.) A ridiculously detailed timeline of events regarding the War of Unification can be found here. These stories would deal with peoples' rights to free will vs. the Alliance's earnest attempts to keep the 'verse from tearing itself apart during a civil war (a war which could lead to the eventual annihilation of the entire human race if not avoided/ended quickly)

• Wash's funeral (filling the fortnight-long gap between the white-out from River's post-Reaver-slaying to the convo between Mal & Operative on Serenity's loading ramp) and Zoe's quiet mourning. (Relatively without drama, save for one well-meaning-yet-cryptic exchange between Zoe and Kaylee about the nature of relationships on the edge of the 'verse.)

• The appearance of a particularly unamused Mrs. Niska.

• Badger pissed off after narrowly avoiding being whacked by Alliance troops on orders from The Operative during the events of "Serenity."

• A new sort of animosity between Jayne and Simon resulting from Simon's relationship with Kaylee.

• Riots in the core worlds resulting from the Miranda 'Wave. The Alliance hasn't fallen, but people's faith in the Alliance's ability to govern has been irrevocably shaken. (Think Watergate/America, late 70's.) Revival of the Independence movement -- including many surviving Browncoats -- though this time with much more support from the dissenting population in the core worlds.

Serenity's crew is lauded as a new symbol of rebellion by the new and old Independents alike, making it that much harder for Mal & Co. to slip about the 'verse unnoticed as they go about their business. (Wash/Book/Mr. Universe in particular become martyrs for the new resistancce, causing Zoe to punch out a pair of revolutionaries wearing shirts emblazoned with Wash's face in a bar on Athens.)

Mal runs away from all this, having gone through way too much bullshit these past 6 years to throw what little he has away in order to join a new, even more idealistic campaign for independence. Not willing to sacrifice Serenity or her crew.

• Adapt a scene from an unfilmed script.

• Explore the inner life of The Operative. (Or his training by a younger, enlisted Derrial Book.)

• Continue the misadventures of bounty hunter Jubal Early as he floats in space after his encounter with the "Serenity" crew, lost in his own thoughts. (Ideally, this script would begin immediately after he says, "Well… here I am.")

• Create whole new characters (a la Tag and Bink) who move tangentially through established storylines.

• Do a "Firefly"/"Mosquito" crossover.

• Do an autobio piece about your own personal relationship with "Firefly."

• Do a photo-funny.

• Do something with puppets.

• Shenanigans with a Mal Reynolds ancestor on one of the ships midway through its decades-long trip to the new solar system.

• "Firefly Babies." [NOTE: For some reason this idea feels like it might work as a sprite comic.]

• Adapting "The Searchers" or "Rio Bravo" or another classic Western using "Firefly" characters.