Ship opinions, Firefly

[mari4212]

Last part!


Mal/Inara:

To start off with, I'll admit this pairing has some problems. Mal in particular is haunted by his past, and he has to deal with those issues before he can successfully move onwards. And there's no denying that both of them need to learn how to think before they speak, because at times they wound each other without thinking about it. And yet for all it's problems, I have a soft spot for these two. They care about each other deeply. I think Mal really does love her for her, and there's something about Mal that captures Inara. As with all the pairings on this show, so much more could have been done if we'd only had a few more seasons. They could easily go either way, and have either a beautiful relationship, or something more bitter than sweet.

Favorite: Simon/Kaylee

It took me a while to figure this out, and I finally went on selfish grounds. For the most part, Kaylee is me in space. Admittedly, she's me with skills mechanical and technological, and a slightly looser attitude towards sex, but she's me. And Simon would be the kind of guy that I'd like to date some day. He's intelligent, he cares about his work, he's devoted towards his sister, and he's cute. Okay, so he spends half his time sticking his foot into his mouth, but what guy is perfect? On less purely selfish motives, Simon and Kaylee just work for me. An important part of Simon, really the most important part of his personality, is how important his sister is to him. He is willing to give up everything he cares about, everything he's worked for, because of her. That spells out a few things to me. One is that he's devoted. If he does fall in love with someone, he will fall hard, and he will be as devoted towards that person as he is to his sister. Secondly, whoever he loves will have to deal with the fact that his sister is very important to him, and will have to be ready to love her too. Look at Kaylee. She does care about River in her own right, and I can see her being willing to care for River as long as is necessary. She knows exactly what Simon has risked for River, she accepts that River is central to Simon. On Kaylee's side, I think she really wants to feel cherished by someone. She has big dreams, and at times she idealizes the world Simon comes from, but she does love her own life, and I think she could teach Simon how to love it too. And I think that Simon could cherish her in the way she needs. He's shy and awkward at times, but when he relaxes around her he can do the sweet moments. And I'm babbling.

Least Favorite: Jayne/River

To stop some of the wild protests that I know will be coming, let me say first that this is my least favorite in canon. I like it fine in fanfic, as long as they can deal with her mental problems.

In canon, I can't see this working. River is so badly damaged, I can't see her in a healthy relationship with anyone. And if she ever does end up in a relationship, I have a hard time seeing her with Jayne. Jayne does not know how to deal with her, and I really don't think he wants to. She bothers him. She sees too much, she's unpredictable, and she's dangerous.

Besides, Jayne belongs with Jamie, aelora's original character. She's the only person I can really see him with.


Whew! Done with all of them. Anything else someone wants to see done?

Comments

[toniabarone.livejournal.com]

*stares* Jayne/River's an option?!! *starting to wonder if she ought not catch up on the series past the first ten minutes of "Ariel" after all*

Very weird fandom that is. *ignores the fact she ships Mal/River*

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

The series creator is Joss BYOSubtext Whedon. Everything's an option :)

[mari4212.livejournal.com]

I don't see it at all in the show, but this fandom can see anything. Much of it probably comes from the fact that everyone else is paired up. Mal/Inara, Simon/Kaylee, Zoe/Wash, Sheppard/God.

[ishie]

Least Favorite: Jayne/River

zomg how cud u?!?!?! im deefrending u immedatley!

;)

I'm hardcore Jayne/River, but I have to admit there is very little canon evidence for it, really, no matter how hard one tries to fanwank it. *shrug* That's what fanfic is for, right?

Jayne/Jamie is my favorite non-River pairing -- and I'm not just saying that to suck up to Ae! Jamie's stubborn enough to handle him and just starry-eyed enough to smooth over his rougher aspects.

Re: Mal/Inara, have you picked read any of the essays in "Finding Serenity"? There's a great article about Inara as the primal goddess/whore.

[mari4212.livejournal.com]

Re: Mal/Inara, have you picked read any of the essays in "Finding Serenity"? There's a great article about Inara as the primal goddess/whore.

Where? I'd love to read that.

zomg how cud u?!?!?! im deefrending u immedatley!

;)

;) back at you.


As for the Jayne/River thing, I love it in fanfic. I just can't see it really working well in the show without some serious changes happening. If River healed somehow, if Jayne softened over time, I can see it working out. This is the problem with such cut off canon.

[azarsuerte.livejournal.com]

Besides, Jayne belongs with Jamie, aelora's original character. She's the only person I can really see him with.

Hee! Gotta love those two, don't you? :-)

[toniabarone.livejournal.com]

*LOL* Well, that's true. Such a joy to have creator so indulgent of the fans that he makes it plausable to ship pretty much anything.

[toniabarone.livejournal.com]

*snerk* True.

[adelrya.livejournal.com]

I think Inara could really help Mal get over his past, but they're both too afraid to give up what they do with their lives now for a relationship to work. Inara doesn't like to complicate things...I think that's why she picked a profession that's so...superficial. There's no commitment, and what she does really isn't hard. Plus, she's been training to do it since she was 12, so she doesn't know anything else. Mal has a tendency to want to take care of everyone around him, and I don't think he'd risk putting Inara in a position where she could easily get hurt by him. But I love them all the same.

Kaylee/Simon - they're just too adorable. I love it when Simon puts his foot in his mouth around her, because he's so calm and collected every other time. *squishes them both*

River/Jayne - I agree that they wouldn't work. It's funny to think about, though. And maybe when River gets better, they'll work. But not now.

*totally wants a Firefly LJ layout now, but is entirely ll-illiterate*

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

Wait, you love Jayne/River in fanfic?

I've read a few that come close to doing it how I want (and my website is doing its vanishing act, so I can't pull them up to link to) but the slew of ones recced on the Cortex these past few weeks/months? Have caused me to run far away.

[mari4212.livejournal.com]

There's been some that do it well. I'm picky, so there are some things that have to happen first. River's problems have to be dealt with in some way, so that she can consent and have it mean something. And it has to at the same time stay true to where the characters are coming from. If they can show me the transition between tolerance into a deeper bond between the two, or at least let me see where it came from, I can buy it. And I haven't been paying attention to the ones on the Cortex recently.

[mari4212.livejournal.com]

Yes.

[mari4212.livejournal.com]

I think Mal/Inara does hinge a lot on the leap of faith. They have to be willing to make that leap and trust each other to help them work past their problems. words_in_flight is writing a very good story that works on that transition. Unfortunately, it's been a slow update process.

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

While the fact that she feels everything around her complicates matters, I think River is capable of her own desires including sexual ones and I always imagine her as the aggressor whomever I pair her with. Though admittedly I'm probably more willing to gloss over her canon mental problems than I really should be.

Now I'm curious as to which fics you've found that do it well to your standards/parameters.

After reading the first few batches off the Cortex I stopped reading the River/Jayne that comes up there, figuring really good stuff will make it onto someone else's rec list eventually and I hardly lack for things to read recently.

[mari4212.livejournal.com]

I can't list any off the top of my head. It's been a while since I read Jayne/River.

My thing with River is that I have a disabled sister with mental disabilities. Now, River is better off than my sister in many ways, she can talk and dress herself for one, but I still have that instinctive reaction that River is aesexual. At the same time, I do see her being the agressor in the relationship. Jayne's not perfect, but I don't see him ever forcing a woman like that. He just doesn't work that way. He'd kill someone if he thought it necessary, but he wouldn't rape them.

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I can definitely see how being much closer to a River type situation would put you a bit on edge around the issue.

(Sidenote: Your sister can't talk or dress herself? I am in awe of your family for being able to cope with that.)

I got myself webspace in large part so I had a place to dump recs so I could handily point people to fic, but not everyone's as obsessive as I am. :)

[mari4212.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my sister's very severely disabled. She's on the mental level of a one-year-old, and will be for the rest of her life. I've grown up with her, so for me it's just natural to take care of her.

The one thing she really has done for my family is to encourage us to accept others. When we've got her, we can't forget to consider others on their own terms.