Serenity/Firefly: Personal Shipping Guidelines

[butterfly]

Because it appears to be the thing to do at the moment.

Rule One:

Wash/Zoe=OTP. This is a rule that appears in every other Firefly Shipping Guide that I've seen, that Wash and Zoe love each other and belong together. I've never seen such near-unanimous agreement on a ship. Personally, I can't buy Zoe with Mal, ever (because of War Stories and the complete un-romantic (and hilarious) chemistry of their attempt at almost kissing at the end), even before she met Wash. I have no particular objection to Zoe falling for someone else after Wash's death, as long as it's believeable.

Rule Two:

Simon and Kaylee are not going to work out. They're incompatible personalities, and he's going to end up getting his heart broken by her. She's in love with some romantic ideal that isn't really Simon and she'd going to end up disappointed in him, in the long run. And it wouldn't hurt if she, just once, mentioned that she liked some things about him, too. All she ever wants to talk about is whether and how much he likes her. Never the other way around. That's a bad sign, generally.

Rule Three:

Mal and Inara will also not work out. But they will have killer sex for a while and then make fabulous snarky exs and end up way better friends after their failed attempt at a relationship than they did before.

Rule Four:

Jayne and Book are not allowed to be in romantic relationships. Book because of the Shepherd thing (and also, now, the dead thing, but that's a different story), Jayne because he doesn't kiss 'em on the mouth. Jayne is, of course, allowed to have sex with the people who want to have sex with him, but that's it.

Rule Five:

Mal should be coupled with one of the Tams in the long run. Pre-movie, I was all about Simon/Mal, but Serenity caused me to warm right up to the idea of River/Mal. With Simon, you still have the fun class-clash that came with Inara, without the disrespect for the other person's career, and with River, there's this odd, instinctive understanding of each other.

Rule Six:

No matter what kind of romantic relationship Simon ends up in, River will still be the most important person in his life.

Rule Seven:

Kaylee is very shipable with Inara and it would work out a great deal better than either Kaylee/Simon or Inara/Mal. They have respect, affection, and each of them have an appreciation for the idea of casual sex, so Kaylee wouldn't get weird about Inara staying a Companion.

Rule Eight:

Seriously, don't mess with the Wash/Zoe. She can kill you with her pinky.

Comments

[cain1999.livejournal.com]

Yes to all points! :p Although I believe that Zoe could kill with glare alone. She doesn't even need her pinky! :-)

Kinda pointless wonder on my side...worst case scenario...one of the Tams dies. Who would cope better? Simon if River died or the other way around? It's just...their lives resolve completely around the other with the occasional intrusion from the outside. It's hard to think of a life 'after'.

[ilanabean42.livejournal.com]

I very much agree on 1 and 8, and I quite like 6 as long as the CSI people don't get their hands on it, as I like River being very important to Simon in a completely and utterly platonic way. Oh, and I agree with 4 too, as why anyone would put up with Jayne as a signifcant other is completely beyond me. I'm generally apathetic on the rest, as I think Simon/Kaylee is cute but haven't considered the long-term potential, and I don't much care who Mal and/or Inara wind up with.

But a very emphatic yes on the Wash/Zoe, and especially on Zoe killing people with her pinky.

[coneyislandbaby]

*looks puzzled*

What in the world does CSI have to do with Firefly? Totally different shows and universes.

Please don't tell me someone's crossed them over?

*scared*

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

CSI in a Firefly context is a euphemistic abbreviation for Crazy Space Incest, or in other words sexual Simon/River.

[ilanabean42.livejournal.com]

*points* What londonkds said. I don't doubt that somewhere out there there's a Firefly/CSI crossover, though, or at least there will be someday. Fandom is scary like that.

[nic]

Gotta disagree on 1 and 8 although I am the very TINY minority (3 fics out there and that's it!!!) I see Zoe/Mal as having a bond that outlasts everything. Wash was Zoe's temporary perfection, but like everything perfect, it can't last. Whereas Mal has been there for her, and vice versa, through so much. They fit together. Now, as friends, but I see potential for future romance.

After all, everyone says to marry your best friend.

[fresne.livejournal.com]

Rule 2 – until you wrote it, I didn’t know it, but yes, that would be a very good reason for things to fall apart. Especially since 6 is totally true and I’m not sure how Kaylee would deal with that.

It does make me speculate, in an AU sort of way, what Simon and River’s relationship would have been like if not for the crucible of the Academy. Purely aside from River, not insane, there would have been no moment where all other relationships were burned away leaving only each other to cling to against the maelstrom, in a 1st level of Inferno kind of way.

And yeah, Zoe, pinky. Okay, my brain just tried to ship Zoe with Pinky of Pinky and the Brain. Nafff! And that’s just wrong.

I’ll stop now.

[castalie.livejournal.com]

I don't think I could agree more with Rule One - and incidentally with Rule Eight *g* Zoe/Wash is - or was - one of my most favourite canon het couples ever! They were so beautiful together - so solid, so strong, so loving so... so wonderful. I can't believe Zoe is alone now *sob*

I'm quite partial to Rule Five too - but more of the Mal/Simon persuasion. I'm not against Mal/River, it's just that I don't see it, know what I mean? But I do love the Mal-River dynamic, which added to the Mal/Simon one gives me some nice vibes lol

And love Rule Seven too *nods*

[bhadrasvapna.livejournal.com]

Now where do we go to make sure these are followed by every fanfic writer out there? Should we forward it to the PPC? Does Firefly even have a PPC yet? Maybe we should start one. Who's on board?

[esohpe.livejournal.com]

I don't believe that I've ever left a comment in your journal. But, ahh, god, I shall intrude merely because I don't have anyone else to talk to on the internet about Firefly, damnit. ;-D

1 and 8, yes, most definitely. In the couple of years I've been into fanfiction, Wash/Zoe has been the only het couple I feel I want to actively ship. And that's a big, new, scary idea for me, I can tell you. But I just love them so much.

I agree with 2 and disagree with half of 5 for the same reason. I find Simon totally asexual. I never saw him in a slashy context during the show, and I can't bring myself to read any of the fiction about it now. That's another thing about Firefly which has left me sort of floundering, because normally I'm all for jumping on the bandwagon but this time I'm just... not.

And I think, with the right author, Jayne could work. Though for the life of me, I will never see him with River. That would just be too weird.

I shall leave you alone now. Sorry about my random excursion into your journal. :-)

[jic]

Word.

(should I say something longer? Pfft. I'll see you later anyway.)

[annaalamode.livejournal.com]

Zoe/Wash 4ever!

The only thing I disagree on is the reason that Simon should not be shipped with Kaylee. To wit, Simon should not be shipped with Kaylee because he is very very gay. Gayer than Clark/Lex gay.

[danamaree.livejournal.com]

I think I agree with most of those rules.

Except, I really was fond of the idea of Jayne/Kaylee. Because I believe there was a hint (forshadowing) that Jayne really liked Kaylee in the series. And well, for some reason that worked for me.

[fannishnonsense]

Yep. Also I'm amused by the CSI discussion, since I'm one of those sick people that totally sees the Simon/River.

[thawrecka]

I agree with rule two but didn't realise I felt that until I read it.