You know what I like even better than historical fiction? Historical fiction IN SPACE!!!!!!!! The series "Firefly" and companion movie Serenity are basically about a band of former Confederate soldiers (imagining that the Civil War really had just been about States' rights to secession and not slavery) in the Wild West, only in the future and in space, doing whatever is necessary to get by and stay away from Federal authority. This works well and they survive mostly on mild piracy, smuggling, and occasionally legal transport jobs until they take on a passenger who happens to be the number one wanted man in the galaxy, after smuggling his brilliant but deranged sister out of an evil government lab (one of the slightly less historical parts).
Based on that description it could have been a really dumb show, however it is extremely well written with fantastic and densely textured world-building and a tightly constructed plot. However, the real strength of Firefly is the characters, who are nuanced, interesting, realistic, and pretty entertaining. I was trying to find a short clip that sort of captured what was really great about this show, but I found I couldn't find just one, so instead here is one for every major character.
Mal (somewhat NSFW)
Kaylee
Wash
Jayne
Zoe
Simon
River
Shepard Book
Of course, the other great thing about Firefly is the whole aesthetic. It's this very bizarre, yet somehow coherent mash-up of Western, modern, chinoiserie, and Fifth-Element style futuristic that ends up with a Western Steampunk feel. This outfit is a version of that wearable for class and a day of running around. Of course Steampunk means brown and other earth-tones and I added some cowboy boots and a wide belt to give it a more Western feel. Eventually I will figure out how to mod this sure so it fits better.
Shirt:
Tee Fury
Belt and tights: Torrid
Skirt:
In the Starlight
Earrings: Target
Boots: ebay, by L.e.i.
I wore theme-appropriate makeup, specifically the eyeshadows from
Geek Chic' Big Damn Heroes (Firefly themed) line, specifically: Inevitable Betrayal on the lower lid, Very Fine Hat as an eyeliner, and Captain Tightpants in the crease.
6 comments:
LOVE LOVE LOVE Serenity/Firefly!!!
The first picture actually looks like a movie screenshot. Outfit, umbrella, background - wow!
Western Steampunk describes it very well. :)
The eyeshadow matches your eye color perfectly.
Thanks for taking the time and writing about Firefly/Serenity and sharing these pics. :)
You forgot about Inara.
And I don't know that I would characterize the Browncoats as being akin to the Confederacy. (And for the sake of geeky clarity: only two of the Serenity crew are Browncoats: Mal and Zoe.) I would say they had more in common with nations that got "absorbed" by various empires. Hawaii, for example.
I keep intending to watch the rest of Firefly- a professor showed a clip from it in a philosophy class I took a few years ago, but so far I've only managed to catch episodes on TV when I visit my parents (who have more than three TV channels, unlike me). I love what I've seen so far, although I had no idea it was referencing the civil war.
Your outfit is great- I like the combination of the belt and skirt a lot. Your make up is lovely too, especially the color of the eyeshadow. ^_^
Sal - Success! I'm glad I meet with the approval of another Firefly fan :)
Spekkio - I didn't exactly forget about Inara, I just couldn't find a good character moment after an unreasonable time trying. Most of the cooler things she does are hard to extract into a single clip.
Politically the similarity between the American Civil War and that in Firefly is ambiguous and somewhat weak, but I feel like the political aspect isn't really the focus of the show. Socially the world of Firefly borrows heavily from the the post-Civil War American West, with former Browncoats filling a lot of the role played by former Confederate soldiers who went west to escape the crashing Southern economy and to some degree Union control. It's not an exact comparison by they are inspired by and draw parallels too that point in history. Some minor characters are even real historical figures from the civil war, such as Jubal Early (I also couldn't find a clip of Simon talking to Jubal about how his sister is a ship, how weird is that?).
Aristocratic Elegance - Do it! You won't be sorry.
AWESOME! You look so cool .... my Ed is a big fan of Firefly and he's going to flip when I show him your post. Good job and well done, dear friend.
I've never heard of Firefly! Based on your description it sounds well worth checking out. Mr. Kitty would probably really love it. The Western Steampunk look is fun. And the parasol rocks!!
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