Favorite non-canon ship? by Romanceguru

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Favorite non-canon ship?

POSTED BY: ROMANCEGURU
UPDATED: Thursday, March 10, 2011 20:51
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Sunday, July 30, 2006 3:22 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Romanceguru:

I was like you, Jayne & River as a couple was the furthest thing on my mind after I watched Firefly & the BDM. That all changed when I read this series. Little Moments by Michmak http://www.fanfiction.net/u/234521/ If you decide to read, start with Expert.

I'll have to give this a try, since I hadn't heard of it until now. I confess I haven't read many Rayne fics. I've tried some but got frustrated with some characterizations, or the way Simon is treated. I usually read fanfics of all pairings with a grain of salt because, no matter how much I may or may not believe in a pairing. I'm mostly in search of a well-told story with believable characterization. Which is why most Rayne stories I've stumbled upon (and some Mal/River too, and even many canon pairing stories) haven't done anything for me, because I always felt some characters were off at some point, they did something I couldn't see them doing, or there lacked some point to the story, or the transition in emotions was rushed, etc.

I do read Rayne from time to time (I'm not one of those who believe there's only one true OTP and all else is crap) and have stumbled upon a story or two that I appreciated (I mentioned Angel on fanfic.net, which is turning to be quite interesting, and I can see something developing between River and Jayne there because of the way the characters are being written and the circumstances they're presented with), but I've also read a few that made me cringe. I guess it's a matter of taste (and some luck in finding the good ones).

I don't usually 'get sold' on a particular pairing because of a particular story. I can get sold to THAT story, though. And love it. But that won't make me a shipper of A or B. I like a good Mal/River story, for example, my little guilty pairing, but I don't read everything out there with this pairing, especially stories where River suddenly becomes a seductress... That's just wrong, in any pairing.

I can buy a pairing on a particular story, even a pairing I'd never consider, if the story is good and the characterizations ring true, or at least some things you wouldn't normally expect are explained. I guess that's why I like the long multi-chapter stories, because they give the author time to explore the changes in the characters and these relationships.

And I really hoped more people would wait before throwing River into a relationship, with whomever it may be. After Miranda, she may be on the mend, but she did loose two years of her life at the Academy, not to mention she wasn't the most social cookie in the jar. I'd just like it if people moved a bit more slowly, gave her space and time to grow and know who she is and what she is, before making her fall in love. But many authors seems to think that, the moment she turns 18, she's ready for a relationship and let's have her fall for A or B or C. Granted, I do read fics of the kind, and though I may like them (sometimes very much, since there are some great authors out there), I'd like to come across a story that didn't have River in a relationship until she was 20 or something.

This is why I really like a particular Mal/River fic, called Tears of the Fallen (and it's prequel, You Can't Go Home Again, which sets the seeds but doesn't go further than just a friendship), on Fanfic.net, one of the first stories in this pairing I read. It has an older, more balanced River, one who has matured, who has gone from a traumatized teenager to a talented young woman.

If you can point me to a Rayne fic that doesn't have Jayne falling for a childish or too crazy River (and who doesn't have River refer to herself as 'she' or 'girl', for Gods' sake!), please let me know and I will give them a try. Cross my heart. :)

Besides, I guess my preference for Mal/River also seems to stem from the fact that, though I love Jayne (Adam makes him so likeable!), I wouldn't want any 18-years old daughter of mine to date him, despite some of his qualities, like him being a family man and someone who can braid a woman's hair and be sure of his masculinity. :)

Quote:
Originally posted by Romanceguru:
If you watch the series closely, you can see that while Jayne is fearful of River, she does not seem to be afraid of him.

No, she does not seem to fear him. After all, in Ariel, she seems to talk a lot in that riddly way of hers about his betrayal (or at least that's a common interpreation of the whole stolen Christmas speech). And I know Jayne is apologetic and behaving a bit better towards them (someone mentions it in Trash, I think. Simon?), but that doesn't hint at me of some crush developing, especially on River's part. She is playful, though, during that 'Jayne is a girl's name', but that does not a crush make.

As for Jayne, well, in Serenity he wanted River out of the boat, was quite vocal about it, and she did knock him out twice, so I don't think he was very happy with him. So, if there is a belieavable relationship between them, I don't think it'd be one with basis on whatever interactions they had before but based on their growth post-Serenity.

As you say, River may not be quite so crazy (though most Rayne fics I've read, probably the not so good ones, set post-Serenity, continue to have a very disturbed, crazy and 'referring to herself in third person' River. Yes, that's a pet-peeve of mine) and Jayne seems to have finally found something he would do without payment, something he thought right, so that is great step for him.

"People tell you things all the time, without talking. The way they move, the way they aren't talking." - River Tam

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Sunday, July 30, 2006 3:59 PM

ROMANCEGURU

I have read a multitude of Rayne so I cannot particularly recall one’s with the specific stipulations you have. I have seen every approach done (waiting till she’s older ect…)

I agree with not liking seductive River, it does seem OOC. I started my first Fanfic, a little ways back, to make River more ‘girl” and less temptress. I am a beginner, and have no delusions I’m as good as some of the more experienced writers. The story is set is post BDM, 9 months out. I do have her refer to herself in the third person, but only when she is upset or during flash backs. First Love: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2975443/1/

Try Mik109 Choices series: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2868211/1/
It’s a little dark and angsty to start, but she is very through and it is very well written. Again, may not be your cup of tea.

I’m trying to find a good Mal/River that might convince me of the ship (mostly because I see his heart with Inara). So, I’ll put your recommendation on my list.

Quote:
As for Jayne, well, in Serenity he wanted River out of the boat, was quite vocal about it.

You may disagree, but I really think this was rehashed for the film. A lot of characters back tracked their behavior (e.g. Simon/Mal) in order add more tension. I really think a lot of the issues some of the characters had with each other were solved, or had lessened during firefly.

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You're afraid we're going to run out of air, that we'll die gasping. But we won't. That's not going to happen. We'll freeze to death first.

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Sunday, July 30, 2006 4:09 PM

SHINYYUKARI

I have a weakness for Inara/Kaylee. I've dubbed them my secret OTP because I love the relationship they had in the series. There's not really a lot of fics with them though.

"Well next time you be the bait!"~Andy Hurley
"Okay! Everybody not talking about sex, in here. Everybody else, elsewhere."~Wash
Browncoats are the coolest fans I've ever seen.

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Sunday, July 30, 2006 5:12 PM

PHOENIXROSE

You think you know--what's to come, what you are. You haven't even begun.

Oddly enough, the most convincing piece of Rayne I've ever seen was a fanvid. It's set to a song called "The Girl of My Dreams is Giving Me Nightmares" and it was quite funny and very well done.
Still, if I wrote a long story arch, I think the eventual pairings would be Mal/River, Jayne/Zoe, and Simon/Kaylee. There might be rocky patches in the relationships (well, of course there would) but I think that's how it would come out in the end. That's just me.

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Thursday, March 10, 2011 7:33 PM

BLACKRABBIT

Quote:
Originally posted by Xeyra:
Quote:
Originally posted by MRSU:
Now to Mal and River: they are kindred spirits in a way, both suffering and lost, but strangely I see River as the strongest here, helping Mal to find a way out of the woods. In a way she's much older than her years, even though in some ways she's still girlish. And she has light inside, despite everything that happens, light which was lost in Mal. I can see them/read about them as friends, with platonic relationship, just as fine.

I like to think of River as Mal's lost hope and innocence, and Mal as River's rock, whether you look at it through a father/daughter or romantic angle.

I loved River's relationship with Mal in the Red Run fanfic, which is sadly now gone from this site, because it was such an interesting one even though it didn't have an inkling of romance in it. I just love their dynamic together. Then again, I came to Firefly through the movie, where they interacted a whole lot more there than in the series. But what interactions they did have in the series were all very telling of the bond that might grow between them, whether you see it through a friendship or romantic perspective.

"People tell you things all the time, without talking. The way they move, the way they aren't talking." - River Tam

I liked their interaction too in "Red Run". Of course, I might be biased. Given that I wrote it. Thank you for your words all the same.

I think I could have written a better story if it hadn't all been stream of consciousness and completed within a month. Of course, when I came back to it a couple of years later, it was hard to hit that groove again. When I go back and read it myself now, I find myself saying "Did I actually write this?" Doesn't even seem like I wrote it.

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Thursday, March 10, 2011 8:51 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

Noone's going to like this, but I don't rightly care.

I don't like River/anyone, unless its River/fellow touched person (male). If River is written as still touched in the wits, aka whimsical in the brainpan, which are the only stories that are interesting to me, then I worry about consent issues and feel really unethical about her and Jayne or her and Mal rutting, it feels inapropriate to me. But if River is written as suddenly-stable-or-normal-after-Miranda then I get bored. If she's stable and "normal" for all intents and purposes I don't have an ethical problem with her getting together with Jayne or Mal, I just find it terribly dull and boring. But that being said everyone has a right to write whatever kind of stories they wish, its the right to free speech. And I have a right not to read it. On FF.net where I read people are usually good about clearly labeling stories so people can choose what they wish to read, that way all you Rayne people can read those ones and I can avoid them.

As for other matches I'm flexible, except when its same sex slash, I don't like those, not my speed. So I like the conventional pairings of M/I, S/K W/Z, but I also read Jaylee (very realistic in my opinion), Zoe/Jayne (post bdm) with some time having passed, or AU Wash/? (I've seen a couple of stories where Zoe dies in the bdm instead of Wash, they are interesting). I'm also open to unconventional pairings like Simon/Inara (hey why not, they have a lot in common with their core-bred background, need to cling to something of their old lives), Jayne/Inara (I know its rare but I read one once that was interesting). I usually don't like Mal/Kaylee because it feels weird, they're more like uncle and niece or big brother and little sister so I usually stay away from the pairing. The only time I'm willing is if the author successfully and realistically makes the transition from Mal thinking of Kaylee as Mei Mei, to him thinking of her as Bao Bei, its difficult but I did once see a story where an author did a fairly decent job of it.

I'll also read OC pairings, you know like Mal/OC, things like that

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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