Sounds like you will be. A Shepherd with a gambling problem sounds fun. A few years back I played a bard named Geoff, whose gambling problems ultimately led to his and half the party's demise. Have fun with your character.

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Tamara, thanks for the site information. Amazon reports that as of yesterday Serenity was their #4 seller, and Firefly their #5 seller. Not too shabby.

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It seems to be trucking along. Only time will tell if it matters or not.

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I finally saw Serenity last night. Well, half. I fell asleep at some point after Book's meaningless death. Will be watching the rest ASAP and processing.

I thought I was ready. I thought I might appreciate it after the storm died down. I--I don't know.

Maybe I could remedy that by rewatching FF, before giving Serenity another go, but I sort of wanted to see if I could approximate the experience of someone who didn't know or care about the characters, going in. Of course I can't. Half of my reactions were along the lines of, "Mal seems different. When did Simon get competent? Jayne is still--thank Joss--Jayne."

That said, not having watched Firefly since its first run on FOX, in the US, I am pretty sure if I'd never seen the series, I'd not have had any idea that Book was even a part of the original story. I'd think he was a red-shirt cooked up for the movie, alone. Tsk.

That said, the film did not leave me cold--which is probably the biggest reason I waited so long. I'm over FF, but that doesn't change how I once felt about it--if that makes any sense. I started out taking notes, and when they first brought the ship into view, I was feeling all jaded and started to write down, "What is this--ship pron?" only to then get chills, and moist eyes, despite myself, and before I put down the question mark.

Maybe I'll have more, once I've watched the film in its entirety.

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"What is this--ship pron?" only to then get chills, and moist eyes, despite myself, and before I put down the question mark.

You're not the only one who gets chills there. It's not The Ballad of Serenity, but it's a damn fine theme....

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[link]

At what point can one fandom_wank this stuff?

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Some people do get ...ambitious, don't they?

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See, I always thought Simon was competent. He was totally out of his element, stuck in a world he didn't fit into and didn't want to learn to fit into, and he was incompetent at the things the crew tended to do most the time. But he wasn't an incompetent person - despite being a lousy shot and mostly unwilling to shoot people. Even aside from his being a good doctor and handling medical emergencies, he was pretty good at almost everything he tried to do (except shooting and talking to girls). When he decided to start thieving, he was brilliant at it. When he discovered Jayne's betrayal, he didn't fall apart like a pansy and run to the Captain for protection, he handled Jayne himself, and brilliantly. When Early dropped in out of nowhere, he handled that, too, as well as anyone could have handled a psycho with a gun. Better than Inara did, in fact, despite all her training in psychological manipulation. As Mal said in the pilot, he's not weak, either. It took courage not only to do what he did for River, but to stand up to Mal, which he did often, and to make Jayne back down when he finally has to. He has great strength of will. I guess I'm the only one who didn't have any problem believing the movie's little retcon of how Simon got River out, but that's the Simon I always saw: a brave, young man, who's accustomed to being good at everything he does, floundering in an strange environment where he's the only one who doesn't know how things work. I liked watching him deal with that; he's an interesting character. He had his idiot moments, but so did they all.

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You're not the only one who gets chills there. It's not The Ballad of Serenity, but it's a damn fine theme....

It wasn't even the music. I think it was the ship, which is so not me. I'm getting misty thinking about it now.

I guess I'm the only one who didn't have any problem believing the movie's little retcon of how Simon got River out, but that's the Simon I always saw: a brave, young man, who's accustomed to being good at everything he does, floundering in an strange environment where he's the only one who doesn't know how things work. I liked watching him deal with that; he's an interesting character. He had his idiot moments, but so did they all.

I didn't have trouble believing it, so much as I thought, I wish he'd been more like this in the TV series. I didn't like Simon in the TV series. I really liked him a lot, in the movie.

I watched the rest, today. I'm glad I was spoiled for Wash's death. I know I would have been irrationally angry. It still makes me angry, but not rage-filled.

I found myself with moist eyes (though no actual tears) a few times. It surprised me. I really don't care about "Firefly" any more, but I did love the characters, so it hurt to see them hurt.

I hated the tombstones. I thought they cheapened the grave site scene--visually, that is. It just seemed silly to see goddess-like Zoe, approaching this TV Wash. It took me out of the moment, and made me think of Harry Potter, where the pictures on books and stuff talk and move.

I liked Inara better. I miss Book. I wouldn't want to get more of Book's backstory through the operative. I wish Wash had died another way. I thought that was a cheap death. I'm glad Mal has something to believe in, now.

Mr. Universe was just Warren (with a side of Andrew, Jonathan, and possibly Willow) with a less sophisticated Buffy Bot. A necessary plot device, I guess.

I'm not sorry I watched Serenity. I was afraid I would be. I think it wrapped it up for me, though. I don't want Joss to touch the 'verse again. I mean, I know it's his to touch or not, but I don't want it. It's sort of how I felt about him and Buffy, after the Angel episode, The Girl in Question.

I am glad Kaylee and Simon got together. This time, he seemed different. I wouldn't have believed it on FF.

This is so random. I'm sorry. Will be back with more thoughts once they're actually in solid form. Or maybe not.

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I hated the tombstones.

Everyone complains about the deaths, but while they were shocking, for me they made sense. The tombstones are just awful, especially Book's since that's so wrong for his character. The dress mostly makes up for this for me.

I have a friend who would be just thrilled with the Simon commentary here. She loves Simon and wants to be his little sister. Hmm...cut and paste.

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