The Aragorn and Legolas of Firefly

[yubsie]

So, I've been thinking WAY too much about why not many people ship Mal/Zoe. Especially when you consider that I DON'T EVEN LIKE THE PAIRING. :p



The more I think about it, the more I realize that there should be all sorts of fic about them making me go "ACK!". The fact that the pairing that weirds me out the most is a het pairing between two characters that interact a lot in canon is another story entirely, of course. That's the thing thought... they interact a LOT in canon. Usually that's an invitation to lots of pairingfic. So while talking to Tess, we came to a realization.

All the interaction they have isn't shippy, it's slashy. In other words... if Zoe were a guy, the fans would be all OVER the Zoe/Mal pairing. They're warbuddies, brothers in arms. That's one of the CLASSIC relationships that slashers keep going back to time and again. Probably the ultimate slashy moment for them is in the Serenity comic. When Mal is talking about how his gun saw him through the war, and it's one of only two things that did and stuck with him after. He gives Zoe one of those "significant looks" that slashers are always going on about. (WHY AM I SAYING THIS? I DON'T EVEN LIKE THIS PAIRING!)

Now, obviously there are some obstacles to the pairing. Not the least of which is the fact that Zoe is, y'know, married. I've never seen a canonical marriage stop anyone from pairing up two characters though. Especially not two male characters, that just gets the in denial argument. (WHY AM I WRITING THIS? ZOE/WASH OTP!) I figure the bigger obstacle is probably the attempted kiss in War Stories. It's easy to write off a canonical marriage, but when there IS an attempt at a kiss that screams "OMG, WHO AM I KISSING? NO WRONG CAN'T!", that's a little harder. Still, I've never seen a little problem like that stop determined shippers though. :p

So I figure the reason there aren't more Mal/Zoe shippers (a state I'm actually VERY okay with :p) is that they're slashy. The het fans are used to looking for the more convential shippy interactions, rather than the patterns that slash fans latch onto. As for the slash fans, well, Mal is a man and Zoe is a woman. They're not going to be looking either.

Y'know, I do two things in this ramble that I hate. I'm trying to rationalize Mal/Zoe which I DON'T EVEN LIKE, and I'm treating slashing like it's inherently different from het shipping. Still, I'm pretty sure that if Zoe were a guy, Zoe/Mal would probably be the most popular non-canon pairing in the fandom. And I'd be getting more poor brain exploded much more frequently, because that pairing WEIRDS ME OUT. :p

Wow, that was an awful lot about a pairing I hate. :p

Comments

[barbiejedi.livejournal.com]

All the interaction they have isn't shippy, it's slashy. In other words... if Zoe were a guy, the fans would be all OVER the Zoe/Mal pairing.

Oh god. It makes so much sense. *is in awe of your deductive skills*

[yubsie]

It's actually kinda FRIGHTENING how much sense it makes. :p

[chibifrieza.livejournal.com]

I AGREE. *_*

Scary. But you're so right.

The River/Jayne thing? I've never seen fic for it, but it actually crossed my mind last time I watched Serenity. The psychology would be incredibly bizarre, though.

[yubsie]

A pairing that so doesn't actually work shouldn't make this much sense. :p

Oh there's a TON of fic for it. It's probably the #1 non-canon ship in terms of popularity. I'm slowly training myself to NOT CLICK. :p

[jemmadove.livejournal.com]

There's really no room for Zoe/Mal since she and Wash are just so darn perfect together, and, yeah, canon-ed, but at least it could make sense.

However, I've heard about a popular thing being River/Jayne which makes no cotton-picking sense, because she just freaks him out too much, I think. :P And I've even heard about working an incest angle with Simon and River being somewhat popular. o.O I don't like slash, but I can -kind of- understand it... but I think the drawn should be drawn at incest, people!


Having said all that, I should probably admit that I don't even read fanfic ever. XD (Alan Tudyk mentioned that he read some once and it frightened him greatly XD)

[yubsie]

Zoe and Wash are too perfect for anything else to work, really. They're one of the very few ships where I say "OTP" and really MEAN it that way. Because fdjalfjdafkjdsfjdsfkljdsjafds :p

River/Jayne is probably the most popular non-canon ship. ANd it SQUICKS THE HELL OUT OF ME. River is just too messed up to be getting into ANY relationship. She's not capable of CONSENTING to such things.

[jemmadove.livejournal.com]

I think eventually River could possibly maybe have some kind of relationship with someone - maybe - but definitely not with Jayne.


Mmm.... Jayne.

[yubsie]

I figure she gets paired with Jayne based on leftover shipping. :p

[jemmadove.livejournal.com]

Also fdjalfjdafkjdsfjdsfkljdsjafds is the best reason for anything evar.

[yubsie]

The adorableness causes me to lose coherence. :p

[hm-yrie.livejournal.com]

You know, I bet that's why I can see the ship. (I SHIP ZOE/WASH FOR THE RECORD). I think like a slasher when it comes to body language and looks, but most of the time I tend to be a het shipper. It surprised me that no one really writes Z/M, especially now that Wash is technically dead.

Then again, no one writes about a number of the canon ships I like. Then again, 90% of the canon ships I like are obscure, secondary character ships so that may be part of my problem. :p

Z/W FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[yubsie]

They are really very slashy, and the pairing weirds me out but they're still slashy... People don't tend to write very far beyond Wash's death, of course...

But yeah, it's all about Zoe/Wash and other pairings tend to hurt my brain. :p OTP!!!!!

[hm-yrie.livejournal.com]

Somehow, I missed the title of this entry and now I have just burst out laughing in a public place. *headdesk* Aragorn and Legolas of Firefly, indeed! *dies of laughter again* brilliant!

[yubsie]

It was Hannah's idea. :p

[helplessdancer.livejournal.com]

Huh. That really does explain it. If Zoe wasn't married to Wash, you'd have Mal/Zoe shippers fighting with the Mal/Inara shippers, [*coughH/RandH/HshippersfromHPcough*] But Zoe/Wash is OTP.

[yubsie]

I suspect even without the marriage though, they wouldn't get shipped as much as they would if Zoe were a guy. Because a little thing like marriage has really never stopped shippers before. :p

But Zoe/Wash is SO much OTP, really. :p

[helplessdancer.livejournal.com]

And my brain went faster than my typing. :p That's what I meant.

And heck yes. I actually can't think of another pairing that's more OTPness.

[yubsie]

I can't either. Of course, I've only ever had two REAL OTPs, and they're one of them. Which is why I yell at Tess so often. :P She's killed a lot of my ships over the years, but never one that I was so emotionally attached to. :p

[hm-yrie.livejournal.com]

helpless dancer, you've got the coolest icon!

[admiraljello.livejournal.com]

I need to fix this consistent Zoe/Wash OTP stuff.

Zoe should die.

There, my duty is completed.

[yubsie]

Hi Jello :p

[admiraljello.livejournal.com]

I deserve that. I'm practically a stranger on LJ. :p

Hi Lady Ewok!

[miana-dude.livejournal.com]

I think I'm more surprised to not see any Simon/Inara or Simon/River shippers.

Mal/Inara all the way!!

Though I would love to see a Atherton/Saffron fic. THAT would be priceless!

[yubsie]

You haven't seen Simon/River shippers? Why am I the only one who constantly finds that stuff?

Atherton/Saffron would be made of SO MUCH AWESOME.

[hm-yrie.livejournal.com]

Atherton/Saffron...now THERE'S an OTP.

[yubsie]

Tee hee!