Characterising Kaylee

POSTED BY: nbz
UPDATED: Saturday, October 27, 2007 00:51
VIEWED: 25909
PAGE 7 of 9

You are right. we are almost on the same plane of thought. Slight differences, distinctions and what we consider important and it seems we come to different outcomes.

It is not about blame but about feeling guilty.

As an example I do think that post BDM, River will feel guilt over surviving when others perished. Mal probably the same after the War. He survived when those he ordered to do their jobs died. Maybe the same about Wash too.

If Simon was a bad person he would never feel bad for things he had to do. But he is a goody who could not even shoot Agent Dobson when his sisters freedom depended on it... I think he will feel a little bad over what it has cost others.

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Yup, definite guilt. Just like Kaylee will always feel guilty for not shooting those guys in War Stories, even though she has little reason (if any) to.

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"My way of being polite, or however...well, it's the only way I have of showing you that I like you. Of showing respect." Simon Tam, Jaynestown

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Now, I write mostly canon post-BDM fic, so I have got Simon and Kaylee in a relationship that takes its cues from the movie - ie, consummated physically. However, this does not mean that all the issues are ironed out. There is still tension because of Simon's need to care for River (who doesn't need quite the 24-7 she did, and gets a bit stroppy in her turn about it.)

In fact, I think Simon is the one who would start to think about long-term settling etc, before Kaylee does. I think he comes from a background with rather rigid ideas about what is 'proper'. If he allows himself to get drawn into a relationship, he may be keener to settle than she is. (Mal4prez, I note you quoted me, with rather better grammar!)

The big stumbling block is going to be whether Simon leaves 'Serenity'. He might want to be dirtside and doctoring, but River is at home on that ship. And so is Kaylee. If he wants to leave, he could find himself with both his womenfolk ganging up against him. And wouldn't that be fun? (I did tackle this, in 'Zen...'; Simon has the chance to take a hospital post, and discovers that he is the only one who would even think of leaving the ship. After all, it's both home and job to Kaylee. I can see her being quite insulted at the idea of just dropping it like that.)

The guilt thing is interesting - I think guilt is a luxury these people can't afford. Keep the demons caged, because the slightest hesiation could get you dead. Feeling guilty about all those you couldn't save would have to be well in check for a doctor, or he couldn't function. I think Simon's ability to shut himself off is a professional instinct that spills over, and could make him very useful.

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Originally posted by SpaceAnJL:
(Mal4prez, I note you quoted me, with rather better grammar!)

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Uh, I'm totally missing this! If I pseudo-quoted and failed to credit, oops! Sorry!

Merryk - After all these posts, I think we basically agree. Just viewing it from different sides or something like that.

NBZ - re Simon dealing with violence - someone had a fic going that they haven't updated in a long time *coughcough homespun coughcough rabbithole cough* whoa - excuse me! It had a nice bit of Simon faced with Mal's use of violence, and then the poor doctor gets his own trigger finger working and has to deal with the consequences. Boy, I wish we had more of that fic!

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hmm-burble-blah, blah-blah-blah, take a left

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in ariel his knee is wicked accurate...

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LOL! Yes, but he didn't actually kill him. Same in the beginning of BDM. I wonder if he actually got a Reaver at the end. Same with Kaylee. Do those two ever kill?

--
"My way of being polite, or however...well, it's the only way I have of showing you that I like you. Of showing respect." Simon Tam, Jaynestown

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Here's my message:

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Originally posted by SpaceAnJL:
My take on Kaylee -

She comes from a dusty, poor world (evidence - Mal calls it 'a rock' in OoG, and there isn't a job there for them. There isn't much work, full stop.) So, she has spent her life in a small town. I know other folks see her as being one of a large family, but I think she might be an only, so she takes the 'son' role in helping her father, in addition to being girly.

She's comfortable with herself to a certain extent, but she hasn't had experience of Core living, and sees it as glamorous. A small town girl hankering after the bright lights of the big city.

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Originally posted by SpaceAnJL:
See, now, Simon is a complete idiot when it comes to talking to Kaylee, because he so wants to get it right.

And she, of course, is overly sensitive to what he says because she wants him to get it right, too.

I don't think Simon comes from a place or a background with a great deal of displayed and open affection. If you take on board that idea of the Sinatic influence in the culture, then there probably was a great deal of pressure to perform and conform, especially as the son.

Kaylee, on the other hand, has never been under any pressure not to display exactly what she feels.

It's the cultural clash between Core and Rim worlds.

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Originally posted by MerryK:
Kaylee shortsighted? You know, that's probably one of the best one-word descriptions of her. She is always thinking of the here and now. When things are good, she's good, and when things are bad, if she can't find something good in the moment, she's down. She'd be down a lot if she didn't also have a knack for finding the good in everything. This trait reaches over into her relationship with Simon as well. She wants him to be willing to commit to a physical relationship right then, but she also wants an emotional attachment, and anything he says that hints otherwise puts her off.

But then, if Kaylee was long-sighted, and able to keep in check her desires and be cheerful all the time, she'd be a Mary Sue and frankly uninteresting.

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Originally posted by schooner:
I figured Tracy for "Simon lite". At first glance he's good-looking, brave (Cap'n old army buddy), loyal to his family, smart-ish, and running for his life; sounds like Simon to me. At the same time, Tracy's from a Rim planet background that Kaylee can relate to, seems to share Kaylee's basically cheerful disposition, and doesn't have Simon's baggage. I can absolutely see how a hurt and frustrated Kaylee could get a-flutter for someone who is close to Simon, but more approachable.

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Originally posted by mal4prez:
I see part of the problem - let me note that I tend to live in the pre-BDM verse, because I think Joss was forced into many shortcuts with the movie and, frankly, I don't like them all. I don't blame Joss, he had no other way to get us the story. So I don't disagree that S/K could become a thing, but I'm caught up in where they are in the series and the path they'd have taken to get together if there'd been time.

Anyhoo, I don't think Simon ever chose or intended to talk about himself all the time, and I'm sure that Kaylee is just fine to encourage it because she's all smitten. But Simon clearly doesn't have the basic curiousity about other people that would lead to him asking Kaylee about herself, not that we've seen. He doesn't have a - "Wow, she's incredible, I have to know more about her!" attitude. I think he will develop it in time, but he doesn't have it in the series, or even in the movie, till nearly dying gives him a push. Near the beginning, he was going to leave the ship, and wasn't at all responsive to her "Not that you ... spit" line. He was in his own world, worrying his own worries.

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Originally posted by nbz:

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Kaylee's obviously got high standards...

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Bester?

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LOL!

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Originally posted by wytchcroft:
fantastic

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