Happy birthday, Slod!

[out_there]

Would you believe it's slodwick's birthday? Man, I totally had no idea. I feel like that dodgy friend who shows up at the party without a gift...

*hugs Slod anyway*

***

Celli made me some icons. They so appeal to my dodgy sense of humour.







*giggles*

***

If I haven't mentioned it before, I love this show. I mean, absolutel *love* this show. Would happily rot my brain in front of it for years. I now understand the whole fannish hullabaloo about the series and it's untimely death.

Now, this series also makes me ramble at length. A short comment from Te about possible River/Simon sent me into a whole rant about family and what it should be and why I don't see those two as *ever* having a sexual relationship. Honestly, it's the type of sibling I'd like to be. (I don't think I am, though. I love my brother, but there are times when I don't actually *like* him. There are choices he's made, living with Dad for example, that I can't help but see as a betrayal to things that I value. It's just... it's like my father. I can't honestly say that I don't care for him at all, but I know that deepdown he's not a great person. He's highly flawed, and can be manipulative in a way that isn't good for me, and generally I'm better off keeping my distance and staying interstate. It makes things easier and far less complicated. Same goes for my brother. I get on really well with him when he visits, but it's best for me that I don't get too involved with him. I think Mum's basically the same way. It's bette for us to live interstate.)

Ummm... yes, topic?

Sexuality on Firefly. That was the thought of the morning. I like the way that sex is portrayed on Firefly. I like the fact that it's generally shown in a good, healthy light. We have the married pair of Wash and Zoey, who are obviously sexually active and have a damn good time. There's Inara who shows that sex doesn't have to be... "qualified" or "redeemed" by love. That you can have a good time (does anyone honestly doubt that she enjoys her job?) and that the obvious morals don't have to apply. Certainly, she has been called a whore, but the show also has not tried to change her or redeem her. She's shown as a mature woman, capable of making her own choices.

The other thing is that the crew so easily accept sex. They just accept the fact that it happens onboard as something utterly natural. That's what I like. It's not a big deal if you're partnered with someone, have a quick fling, or remain single and solitary. All three states are easily accepted by the crew as just a natural part of life. There's no easing away from mentions of sex, and likewise most mentions of sex are in context (apart from Jayne's crude coments for which he's reprimanded). It's not done for easy laughs; it's done because these are the characters and this is how they would normally speak about such things. I'm not quite explaning what it is that I like, but there's something there that I really appreciate.

Hmmm, another thought is how I see the crew. Now, this is purely my-non, it's not canon, it's just how I see canon. It doesn't mean I can't buy a fic between Jayne/Simon for example (like Tetchy which just rocks), it's just that this is how I automatically see the show.

Straight characters: Wash and Zoey (obviously), Jayne, Kaylee (even though there's mentions and comments which could let you slash them easy enough, I still have the gut instinct that they're both straight).

Bi characters: Inara (it's canonical, even if most her clientele is male) and Mal (just my gut instinct, nothing else).

Gay characters: Simon (which is mainly based on the fact that I just don't see him actually interested in any of the women sexually. Certainly you can argue that it's just good manners and restraint, and that he's completely straight, but that doesn't quite ring true for me.)

Non-sexual: River and Book. (I just don't think of either of these two being sexually active. Book because he's chosen the life of a Shepherd, and River because she's a child. She's been experimented on since she was 14, she's only 16 or 17 now, and I just don't see her as being sexually active.)

I'm intrigued that the show clearly points towards the possible pairings of Mal/Inara and Kaylee/Simon, and yet deepdown, I honestly don't believe in either pairings. *g*

Of course, instead I see Mal/Simon. Strangely enough, it's a slash pairing that I want to see, but don't honestly believe I will. Not because the show probably codes the characters as straight-by-default, but because of the way I see them. They're both men of strong principles and definite priorities.

Mal's highest priority is his ship and his crew. I think that his own sexual satisfaction is pretty damn low on his to do list. Regardless of how attracted he might be to Simon or Inara, regardless of how much he may care for either of them, I don't think he'd ever act upon it. He'd see it as a potential danger; that it would be dangerous for anyone to get too close to him, that it would effect the way he made decisions as a captain, that it would result in a mistake that could cost the life of one of his crew. Hence, even though I see him highly attracted to Simon, I don't think he'd actually sleep with Simon.

Likewise, I don't think Simon would sleep with Mal, either. Simon's highest priority has to remain his sister. He'd try to keep his life simple and he wouldn't allow himself to be distracted by a lover. River is highly important to him and completely dependant upon him. He can't allow himself to consider anything other than her safety and well-being. I also think that he liked his life back on Osiris and that looking after River is the one thing that maintains his belief that he did the right thing. I think he fears that if she isn't his top priority, it almost... cheapens the decision to give up his life on Osiris and it might make him reconsider his reasons for staying. I think he'd consider it almost a personal betrayal of River for him to allow anyone else to become a priority in his life, so I can't honestly see him taking a lover.

In other words, I have a slash pairing that I need very little canonical evidence to support. Neither of them show any overt interest in the other? It's just because they believe that they can't afford to change their priorities. If they show overt interest in the other? They're obviously deeply attracted to/care about the other. Either way, my pairing of choice is justified. *bg*

Comments

[celli]

I like the way you lay this all out. I would say that "my-non" is similar to yours, although I would move Simon to bi. I've read fics that contradicts those lists, and bought into them (even a couple of the River/Simon stories, although that's not something I would seek out), but...yeah. What you said. :)

Mal/Simon is a pairing I've seen since the beginning of the show. I'm tempted, very tempted to write a story for the two of them...I just can't quite put it together.

[out-there.livejournal.com]

I would say that "my-non" is similar to yours, although I would move Simon to bi. I've read fics that contradicts those lists, and bought into them (even a couple of the River/Simon stories, although that's not something I would seek out), but...yeah. What you said. :)

Heh. Well, when it's River/Simon, I can read the fic and enjoy it, but there's a definite suspension of disbelief thingy happening. I read it and think this is an author's version of Simon and River, but it never feels like the characters I watch on the show.

Generally, I can believe in fics that disagree with my views, if it's well-written, but they generally won't shake my impression of the characters as I'm actually watching the show. Like, I believe while I read, then I watch and don't believe.

The Simon is bi thing I could buy pretty easily. Likewise, it doesn't take much more than a featherweight argument to convince me that Kaylee's bi.

Mal/Simon is a pairing I've seen since the beginning of the show. I'm tempted, very tempted to write a story for the two of them...

*squees at the idea of a Celli story*

...I just can't quite put it together.

*nods* Me too. Saw it from the first episode I watched (which would be the pilot eps, the double eps of Serenity that were screened at the end of the season) but I can't actually come up with a scenario where it work.

It just... doesn't. I'm totally convinced of the way these two feel, but I can't come up with anything that would force them to admit it. I just can't see either of them admitting it, or risking their priorities over something as... (frivolous? unimportant? unjustified? I can't think of the right word...) as sex or romance.

I think the best that I'd be able to achieve is a gen-type story and even then the dialogue and characterisations are a little tricky to nail down.

[slodwick.livejournal.com]

No worries, doll. Hugs are always welcome! *hugsback*

[out-there.livejournal.com]

Yay!