Dear Joss,

You have put me in dire financial straits.

It's all due to Firefly, really. I watched two episodes, and knew I needed to buy the DVDs for myself. Since then I have bought:

-the Firefly DVDs
-the Serenity DVD
-the Buffy DVDs
-the Angel DVDs
-the Firefly comic
-Fray
-Tales of the Slayers
-Tales of the Vampires
-the Tru Calling DVDs
-the Serenity RPG
-the Buffy RPG (and a supplement)
-five books on all things Buffy
-the Farscape DVDs
-the Battlestar Galactica DVDs
-Buffy season 8
-Runaways (by Joss Whedon)
-Runaways (ALL the earlier issues)

This is having a severe effect on my bank account.

And it's all your fault!

Dear Joss,

Imagine if you will the typical Jerry Springer white trash scenario. A young wife lives in a trailer in the middle of nowhere, she has no job, no money, and she's alone because her husband has just left her for her best friend. Sounding Springer yet? It was my life, circa fall 2002.

My home may have been mobile, but I wasn't. I was depressed, bored, and too anxious to go anywhere. I would wake up at 6:00 in the morning, and not go to bed until 2:00 a.m. Remember that scene in the movie Fight Club where Edward Norton says "When you have insomnia, you're not asleep...but you're not really awake either". That pretty much summed up how I felt at the time. Not alseep, not awake. I wasn't allowing myself to feel the pain I should have been going through. I was numb, a complete emotional zombie. I could have gone on like that for years.

And then something amazing happened. It was early morning and I was in my usual place on the couch, flipping channels. I came across a Buffy rerun on FX. The episode was 'The I in Team', and it was the first episode of Buffy I watched all the way through. I was hooked, utterly and completely. I tuned in every day to FX for their back-to-back Buffy reruns, and after the second episode was off, I would take a shower, and leave the house. I looked for work, I went to see friends I had cut off in my fuge state. I visited my parents, I went to bed early. I myself still don't know how it happened, and don't care. I've heard you talk about how putting Buffy in Pain made the show better. Something in me (that zombie part of myself, most likely) latched on to Buffy. She was a reflection of my own pain. I mourned the loss of my marriage simultaneously with the loss of Joyce. I spent that New Years eve alone with Willow's grief and rage in "Two to Go" and "Grave", which was being rerun that night. It changed my life. It was Xander's display of unconditional love that did it. From my well-worn spot on the couch I cried, joyfully. Ifelt.

Since then my life improved more than any life could. I moved away from Jerry Springer land, I got my divorce, and started a whole new life. I no longer live in a house that moves, I no longer sit on the couch, waiting for my life to start.

It was me that did the work, but it was Buffy that got my ass off the couch. So for that, I could never thank you enough.

Now when are you going to do an episode of Battlestar Galactica?

Genius must always be recognized and appreciated. You, Mr Whedon, are a creative genius the likes of which does not grace our world very often. Of course I don't always agree with your views, and I would love to have a debate with you about such things as the existance of God and the finer points of feminism. But mostly I'm a nerd, and I would geek out just getting to talk to you. Here's hoping you read this some day.

Mike

Dear Joss,

Thank you, first of all.
Thank you for Mal, Zoe, Kaylee, Wash, Jayne, Simon, and River.
They all have stories, have insight that we can learn from.

In fact, just yesterday, the way I roleplay, the way I get into the mind of Mal helped me...help somebody else.
( Just a short, but yay explanation! )

Joss,

I'm confused? Why don't we have a sequel or a spin-off or firefly back on the air? Is there something I'm missing? You're not alone! You've got an entire army here to help!

Here's what I propose.

You must have at least 500,000 solid dedicated browncoats across the globe. As browncoats we wish nothing more than to be taken a little further down the path. We just want to see something, anything. Give us a movie about Book's backstory, give us a mini-series, give us an epic war story prior to unification and we'll give you everything you need to get there.

500,000 devoted browncoats is a hell of a base of support. If you set up a paypal account and called upon browncoats of the world to fund your next movie or to buy the firefly rights from Fox not only would I personally contribute a few grand but I guarantee that you'd make enough money to do a sequel or at least make a damn compelling offer to Fox for the show's rights.

Imagine the publicity that would raise. This would be the first fan-funded film, TV show, mini-series etc... ever!!! Such a thing is unheard of and would give your 'verse the attention it so rightly deserved in the first place.

If each of your beloved browncoats can contribute or raise an average of 100 dollars you'll have 50 million dollars.

I say go for it. Make a donation website and set a group of goals and a timeframe of 2 years

If at the end of two years we raise:

5 million: we get a three set of graphic novels. One explains Book's backstory, One features Mal and Zoe in the war and one shows the P.S. (Post Serenity) adventures of the remaining crew.

10 million: we get a regular comic book series. With 10 million you could easily hire a team of writers and artists to develop a comic and start production.

20 million: you go to Fox and tell them you will fund a miniseries for them to air. They assume no risk aside from putting it on the air. Surely by now some of the execs realize how big Firefly could have been had they not screwed it up.

30 million: we get a sequel. I know Serenity was closer to 39 million but you already have most of the props and you won't need to do as much marketing because the fact that it's fan financed will do more for spreading the word than a 50 million dollar advertizing budget.

50 million: you put a huge sack of money on the table and tell fox "I want my gorram show back." then you take it to sci-fi or wherever and start us back up with the whole cast. Don't worry, we'll just pretend the whole killing book and wash off was a bad dream. Or maybe you can work in a new "we cloned wash and book" story line. Firefly will be a huge hit if it goes back on the air with new episodes. You'd get at least a 3 share if you got a good spot on the Sci-Fi channel.

now this is completely on the outside of reality but lets assume we raise 100 million dollars. For that amount of money I say we turn Serenity into a trilogy AND we get our gorram show back.

Even Niska could be bought, don't give up on our 'verse!


Thanks,
Gabriel


p.s. I think it would be cool to list "The Browncoats" as Executive Producer for any of my above suggestions.

I remember the first time I ever heard of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, back when the WB ran radio ads. I scoffed. It struck me as so silly, so dumb. My tastes were far too good for such drivel. It wasn't until my friends duct-taped me to the chair and made me watch "Once More With Feeling" that I saw the error of my ways.

Now...

Now I sing "Rest in Peace" in the shower, and I'm well on my way to having "Once More With Feeling" entirely memorized (including "Mrs.").

Now I consider my seven-season Buffy box set my most precious possession.

Now I hum "Take my life, take my land..." on a daily basis.

Now I think that "My days of taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle" is, almost certainly, the funniest sentence I have ever heard.

Now I consider Spike the best character. Notice how there is no qualifier in that sentence. When I say "best," I mean best. Ever.

Now I look at Willow and hope for love, I look at Spike and know redemption is possible, I look at Buffy to find my own strength.

Now I ponder how a show can give me such strength, and at the same time make me feel so sad.

Now I know that whatever Joss Whedon produces has power, incredible power -- power to make us rise, power to bring us down; power to bring us to tears, one way or another; power over our emotions on a level never before achieved.

Now I know that without Joss and what he's done in this world, I might no longer exist.

And now I know I have to thank Joss from the very bottom of my heart, for Restless and for Hush, for Innocence and for Band Candy, for Objects in Space and for all the others, too numerous to name. For the pain and the bliss and the journey and the joy.

Joss, sir, you have my eternal thanks.

I’m very glad to have this opportunity to tell you what you’ve done for me. I truly hope you read it some day. Like many of your fans I love all of the ‘verses you have created. Over the years of watching Buffy, Angel and Firefly I’ve gotten very attached to most of the characters and I really miss them not that they are gone. However, that’s not the most significant contribution you’ve made to my life.

My mother passed away several years ago and I didn’t deal with it very well. I had a very, very hard time letting go and allowing myself to grieve. At the time I was dealing with family members that I hadn’t seen in years trying to demand that I make funeral & burial arrangements that were exactly what my mother had said she didn’t want, and that I didn’t want either. I was also encumbered by the fact that I’ve always had difficulty letting go and having a good cry.

I can’t remember exactly how long it was after that when I watched the Buffy episode, “The Body” but it had a profound effect on me. Even though the situation in the episode was quite different from mine, the emotions were incredibly similar. You captured the shock and coldness that I had felt, the weirdness, the surreal aspect of the whole situation so well. You captured the fantasy of having been able to save my mother that had run through my head so many times.

At first, while watching the episode, I was struck by those feelings all over again, as though it had just happened yesterday. I think it was Anya and her speech about not knowing what to do or how to act that really set me off. I started to cry and cry… like a hungry, angry baby, so to speak. I finally was able to let go and start to let my emotions and my grief and my anger out, and start to heal.

I’ve watched “The Body” many times since that day and each time I am struck by what an incredible episode it is. You amaze me with your ability to capture and convey emotion.

I am stronger and emotionally healthier today than I might have been, if that episode hadn’t come along at the right time for me.

Thank you, Joss. I truly appreciate all of your ‘verses and the ways in which they have touched me.

Joni

Dear Joss,
Two years ago I was confident that I would never find a show I loved more than Red Dwarf. And then, one of my friends insisted that I watch this western that was set in space...
From the moment I heard the line "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!" I was hooked. I bought the dvd, saw the movie, and decided that Firefly was definitely, finally, my favourite show of all time.
And then, last summer, I borrowed the first episode of Buffy from Blockbuster.
The humour was fantastic. The villains were excellent. And the heart behind it just blew me away.
The moment Spike told the Anointed One about his time at Woodstock, I realised my allegiance had moved from Firefly to Buffy.
And then I saw Angel...

Thankyou, Joss, for some of the most amazing stories I've ever heard.

-Maryanne

Dear Joss,

Thank you for The Gift. I lost my sister when I was twelve and she was nineteen. As I've grown into adulthood and discovered your work, that particular episode has helped me along more than anything else. I imagine those are the words she would say to me if she could.

melly

Dear Joss,

Your work is an inspiration, to all aspiring writers, myself included.
Right now, I'm collaborating with an author to publish a book series. Guess what?
We're both diehard Buffy fans.
We didn't know it at the time, but we found our connecting fandom, and we've been closer ever since. Thank you, Joss, for all the love you pour into your work, so you can teach us, and we can teach others, how to do the same.

( Dear Joss: the rest of the letter! )

Dear Joss,

When my life falls apart I can always turn to Firefly and feel a little safer. Thankyou for giving me something that reminds me how beautiful life can be.

Angus

Dear Joss, all I can say is 'Thank you' for all the entertainment you've provided in the past, and here's to looking at what comes next. Cheers!

Thank you.

Jessica Jones
-A fan since Buffy the movie
Cornell College

From my lj, written just after I saw the Serenity pre-premiere in Southampton:


Dear Joss Whedon

You're a sick, twisted man with a deranged mind who enjoys making people hurt, and I love you. Now go make more stuff for us.

Love/hate/delirium,

Me

Dear Joss,

When you originally came up with the concept for the Firefly episode The Message, did you realize what kind of craze you would start?( Read more... )