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Despite a love of science fiction and a dream of working for NASA, Kayleigh Dray struggled to see any women on screen who reflected her experiences. Then, she stumbled across Firefly and discovered the optimistic, scrappy, kind, sex-positive, and utterly authentic Kaylee Frye, who shows that women can be both hopelessly romantic and totally practical.
Show Notes
Join Stargate's Chief Master Sergeant Walter Harriman to learn the ins and outs of the hotseat of the control room in this immersive roleplay and cosplay experience!
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Tickets and info are available now at www.thecompanion.app/events. Sign up as a member (paid or free) for a discount code!
Despite a love of science fiction and a dream of working for NASA, Kayleigh Dray struggled to see any women on screen who reflected her experiences. Then, she stumbled across Firefly and discovered the optimistic, scrappy, kind, sex-positive, and utterly authentic Kaylee Frye, who shows that women can be both hopelessly romantic and totally practical.
Read by Rebecca Davis and written by Kayleigh Dray. Theme song by Lofi Geek.
Read by Rebecca Davis and written by Kayleigh Dray. Theme song by Lofi Geek.
Cayce LaCorte’s viral TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@book_mama/video/6930669280841305350
The original article on The Companion: https://www.thecompanion.app/2022/03/23/stargate-janets-death/
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Thank you to our production team which include Nick Hayward, Lawrence Kao, Tommy Terry-Green, James Hoare, George Mole, Ben Herbert, Hattie Smith, and Chris Smith.
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What is Audio Articles – Longreads from The Companion?
The Companion's Audio Articles are recorded and produced versions of some of our deep dives, untold stories and interviews that we don't think you'll find anywhere else.
You're listening to the
Companions audio articles, a new
series that features our best
stories on the companion. I'm
Rebecca Davis. I knew there was
a reason why to this day I
continue to see Kaylee from
Firefly cosplay at every
convention I attend. But it took
a different Kaylee's
heartwarming and important
letter to her daughter to really
help me realise what all that
fuss was, and is about. One day
we'll watch Firefly and talk
about Kaylee. A letter to my
daughter by Kayleigh Drey.
dearest little one. I was born
into a world that I didn't quite
fit into. For a long time, I
looked up into the skies wished
upon all the stars that I could
see and dreamed of becoming an
astronaut. My destiny I decided
was out there in the Great Dark
vastness of space. So I sunk
myself headfirst into the Sci Fi
genre, seeking out new life and
civilizations with the USS
Enterprise. channelling the
force in a galaxy far far away.
And locking that all important
last Chevron on a gateway that
promises me hurtling to the
other side of the universe. I
was a dreamy and distracted
little thing, and not exactly
made from Starfleet material. In
fact, I was more your typical
before in any teen movie
makeover. thick glasses big feet
perpetually messy hair braces
that glistened whenever I spoke,
my nose was forever in a book my
head forever in the clouds, and
my feet forever tripping over
themselves. There's a reason my
PE teacher ordered me to
practice throwing and catching a
ball in isolation. Still,
though, I believed I had a place
among the stars, until my
frustrated father informed me
less than kindly that an
extremely short sighted and
clumsy little girl like me would
be bottom of NASA's hiring
lists, that my lack of
coordination or athleticism
wouldn't exactly cut it in the
Air Force either. That my sweet
and softly spoken nature, in
fact, wasn't going to cut it in
any sort of military setting,
that my penchant for bright
patterns and candy colours was
as opposed to the utilitarian
uniform seen in the world of sci
fi as possible that my dreamy
romantic outlook on life might
cut it down here on Earth, but
that it had no place out there
in the vastness of space.
Because people like us, the kind
of people who relied on free
school dinners and childcare
credits, shared a box bedroom
with our siblings and lived in a
teeny weeny flat above a Chinese
takeaway. We weren't the kind of
people who could ever hope to
make it into that world. Unless
he allowed, I joined the Army,
let them break my personality
down and rebuild me into
something different. But I
didn't want to be something
different. I said face falling,
then be realistic. He told me.
It's never going to happen for
you. Little one, I'm not going
to pretend that those words
didn't hurt. I stopped trying so
hard at science and mathematics.
Not seeing the point anymore.
They never came naturally to me.
I always had to work at them and
threw myself into the humanities
history, religious studies,
literature and art. I especially
loved any and all creative
writing assignments, as they
allow me to escape the world via
another means. I can't tell you
how many versions of myself I
tried to pin into stories set on
far flung planets, too many to
count. For years, I felt
compelled to hide my love of sci
fi as it didn't feel as if I had
any right to it. There were no
Kaylees or Kaylee-esque
characters at least for me to
dream alongside. There were no
bright eyed romantics wearing
pinks and yellows and purples
out there in the big wide verse.
There were no softly spoken
avoidance of conflict to
identify with. Or so I thought
anyway, while I was writing my
university application, I opted
for English and Creative Writing
naturally, I was flicking
through the channels and I
stumbled across a show I'd never
heard of before. Firefly little
one, the episode was half
finished. In fact, I was about
to keep scrolling to the next
channel. But then it called to
me by name. Kaylee and just like
that, my fate was sealed.
Because right there on screen my
darling girl was the
multifaceted woman I've been
longing to see reflected back at
me ever since I was tiny.
Yes, it's shiny. I like to meet
new people. They've all got
stories
to stop from being cheerful
please, I don't believe this
apparently verse stop being
cheerful. Sometimes you just
want to duct tape her mouth and
Dover in the hole for a month
I love my cat
Firefly's Kaylee, Jewel Staite,
was utterly unlike any sci fi
heroine I'd ever come across
before. She was kind and
thoughtful and perpetually
cheerful. She sewed teddy bear
patches onto her overalls
twirled a rainbow printed
parasol when the sun shine too
brightly, and nevermind it a bit
when she got covered in engine
oil. She was a self taught
mechanic with no expensive
education behind her. And she
was by no means a natural
warrior. In fact, in war
stories, her instinct is to hide
when she is cornered by three
armed men. Indeed, it's only
down to the intervention of
Summer Glau's River, that Kaylee
too frightened to shoot even to
save herself survives the
interaction. This is largely due
to the fact that Kaylee is the
heart of the ship. She is driven
by kindness, no small thing in
this brave and terrifying new
world in which we find
ourselves. As state puts it, her
character is wholesome, sweet
and completely genuine in that
sweetness, adding she loves
being on that ship. She loves
all of those people. And she's
the only one who loves all of
them incredibly, genuinely.
Essentially, Kaylee is probably
the last person you'd expect to
find a board of Firefly class
transport ship manned and woman
by smugglers companions and the
Alliance's Most Wanted. She's
also more importantly probably
the last person you'd expect to
find keeping his engine running
sweet as a nut. Still, though,
Kaylee, along with all her
lovable quirks, becomes an
invaluable part of the Firefly
family. And much like myself
here on boring old earth that
was, she soon finds herself
pigeon holed by one of the
important male figures in her
life. Something which we see
firsthand in Shindig, when Mal
catches her staring moodily at a
very pink ball gown in a shop
window. I like the ruffles.
Nora gets to wear whatever she
wants for you to do in that rig.
Plaza on the engine room. Be
like a sheep Walker on its own
legs.
While my father was pretty
unyielding in his theories as to
what I should and shouldn't be
dreaming about. Mal sees the
error of his ways. He buys
Kaley, the frippery she has been
dreaming about and gives her an
all important task, accompanying
him to a lavish ball,
questioning the buffet table and
wearing her beautiful dress for
all to see. And while some do
their best to make her feel
unwelcome, it's not long before
she's holding court in the
centre of the ballroom and
dishing out engine advice to a
rapt audience. I'm not saying
the 8004 It's
hard to repair just ain't worth
it. It's a fine machine. You
just keep it to cyber Sir the
extenders embrace I've been
telling them at 10 for years,
those tender snap off no matter
how good the engine cyclic Miss
Kelly, I wonder if I could
request because
here's the thing with Kaylee,
she can be both a mechanic and a
hopeless romantic. She can be
anything she wants to be so long
as she's given the opportunity.
Hell, that's how she ends up
aboard serenity in the first
place. Indeed, as we see and out
of gas, she only ever clambered
into fireflies engine room for a
quick roll in the hay, or
rolling the nuts and bolts and
engine bolts I suppose. With
Bester the ship's first
mechanic. It wasn't until she
inadvertently solved a problem
that had left her paramor
stumped in fact, that Mal
realised she was the only person
for the job. I suppose little
one that brings us to another of
Kaylee's most standout
qualities. She's unabashedly
when it comes to talking about
her needs and desires. She is
quite possibly one of the first
empowered women I've seen in
that sense. Sex positive, yet
still allowed to retain a sense
of innocent naivete. It's
incredibly refreshing. You have
no idea how refreshing to be
given a female character that's
allowed to enjoy one
nightstands, talk about
masturbation and talk about
missing sex, yet still allowed
to be a hopeless romantic with
teddy bears stitched onto her
heavy duty overalls is the sort
of thing we've been conditioned
to believe as a juxtaposition
over the years that a woman's
worth is somehow linked to her
staying pure. But as Cayce
LaCorte made clear in her now
viral Tiktok on the matter, this
couldn't be further from the
case.
I'm raising my five daughters to
believe that there is no such
thing as virginity. It is a
patriot concept used to control
women and serves no purpose
other than making women feel bad
about ourselves. Just because
some guy randomly sticks his
penis in you at some point in
your life does not change your
worth. It does not change who
you are. It doesn't do anything
other than it happened. Sex is
important. It's a big deal. It
should always be a big deal. It
has nothing to do with your
first time and and it's just
it's just ridiculous. The hope
concepts ridiculous.
We'll talk about the toxicity of
purity culture when you're older
I suppose. For now though, I
just want you to know that you
are lucky enough to have been
born into a post Kaylee world,
that a multifaceted woman can
wear many hats that your mother
knows what it's like to dream
about an untraditional future,
and that she fully intends to
help you realise those dreams in
any way she can. Because you, my
darling girl are a tiny seed
with so much potential. If you
are cared for watered and given
the chance, you can grow into an
elegant Lily, or a festive
hollybush Or a magnificent oak
tree or whatever you damn well
please. One day when you're
older, we will sit down and
watch Firefly together. We will
talk about the fact that Kaylee
fixes engines for a living and
attends balls in gorgeous gowns
for fun, that she can be friends
with people with different
interests, that she knows how to
stand up for herself without
resorting to violence. That she
can wear oily overalls and silk
jackets and stomp about and
heavy duty boots whilst twirling
rainbow parasols. And none of it
means she has to change who she
is that she can talk about the
intricacies of space travel with
the best of them and still find
time to gossip and giggle with
her friends. That she can be
kind to others without fearing
it will hurt her own chances at
success. That she can have sex
for fun and fall head over heels
in love with the right person at
the right time for her that she
can be any number of
juxtapositions because life
isn't about fitting into neat
little boxes. It's about
scribbling outside the lines and
creating your own gloriously
messy, wonderful path to tread.
It's an important lesson little
one, and I'm going to make sure
you don't miss it. Because when
you look up at the sky and
dream, I never want anyone to
bring you crashing back down to
earth again. Instead, I want you
to feel empowered to do what it
takes to make those dreams a
reality. And I'm going to be
right there beside you. cheering
you on. Because I have a theory
of my own. Parenting is a lot
like flying or at least it's a
lot like flying if you follow
Mal's advice on the matter
not the first of all flying is
well I suppose you do since you
already know I'm about to say
I do what I like to hear you say
love all the math in the verse
you take a boat near that you
don't love shake you off to the
shore as a turn in the world
love keeps her in the airman
shall fall down tell you she's
here before she canes makes her
all
I love you little one. I can't
wait to watch you soar. The
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