Jayne and River

POSTED BY: DRJEKYLL
UPDATED: Monday, June 16, 2014 19:38
VIEWED: 9896
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CREDOS

Saturday, May 31, 2014 4:07 AM

I don't necessarily think that Jane's relationship with River has to be anything more then platonic, what's wrong with a seasoned merc developing a respect for a younger kindred soul? Jane was made in to the man he became, River was surgically adjusted. Neither, I believe, would have chose the life they found themselves living, but through shared experiences discovered kindred spirits. There may even be a feeling of responsibility from Jane to River, and older dog showing a younger the tricks of the trade. Again, just my take on it. :)

EBFIDDLER

Saturday, May 31, 2014 9:27 AM

I can easily see Jayne and River gaining respect for each other, especially if they're put in a situation in which they have to work together, in which they have to cooperate to get something done. I don't see this extending to a romantic relationship, but that's just my point of view. (I just don't see it. Big age difference, significant for someone River's age; different backgrounds; and the biggest hurdle from my point of view is the way they think. River's a genius, very cerebral. Math, theoretical physics, all that. Whereas Jayne's interest in mathematics extends to calculating his share, as we saw in Serenity the Pilot.) For those who enjoy the pairing, I recommend Two Gorram Days by Dyce, over at fanfiction.net. It's very well-written and captures the characters quite well, and I enjoyed it alot even though Jayne/River is not my thing.

STEAMER

Sunday, June 1, 2014 4:07 AM

Ick. Just ick.

(Which coincidentally enough rhymes with 'sick', which is what the River/Jayne pairing makes me. )

I get into these discussions for two reasons: 1) to be reassured that other people actually do feel the same way about Rayne as I do, and 2) to make the point that unlike Spike and Buffy, you really could not detect any hidden fluffy feelings between River and Jayne. Throughout the show and the movie, it was clear to me that Jayne hated River's guts because of what she could do, to him especially. River, meanwhile, no more than tolerated Jayne, and then only because he regretted what he did to her and Simon. But romantic feelings? No. Just no. I couldn't see that at all, and considering the vast age disparity, it's just as well. A mentally crippled teenage girl and a twisted-man-ape-gone-wrong-thing just doesn't do it for me.

(Rayne, Rayne, go away, keep the power-hungry maniac at bay. :P )

I vastly prefer River/OC in fanfic; I even asked Summer Glau at Dragon*Con a few years back what she thought of River finding love. Thankfully, she said nothing about Jayne; but in a tone of voice that suggested I was nothing more than a twisted-man-ape-gone-wrong-thing myself, she opined that she would have liked to see River get her own ship and run her own business which would be her first and only love. Oh well.

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Tuesday, June 3, 2014 5:14 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by STEAMER:
Ick. Just ick.

(Which coincidentally enough rhymes with 'sick', which is what the River/Jayne pairing makes me. )

I get into these discussions for two reasons: 1) to be reassured that other people actually do feel the same way about Rayne as I do, and 2) to make the point that unlike Spike and Buffy, you really could not detect any hidden fluffy feelings between River and Jayne. Throughout the show and the movie, it was clear to me that Jayne hated River's guts because of what she could do, to him especially. River, meanwhile, no more than tolerated Jayne, and then only because he regretted what he did to her and Simon. But romantic feelings? No. Just no. I couldn't see that at all, and considering the vast age disparity, it's just as well. A mentally crippled teenage girl and a twisted-man-ape-gone-wrong-thing just doesn't do it for me.

(Rayne, Rayne, go away, keep the power-hungry maniac at bay. :P )

I vastly prefer River/OC in fanfic; I even asked Summer Glau at Dragon*Con a few years back what she thought of River finding love. Thankfully, she said nothing about Jayne; but in a tone of voice that suggested I was nothing more than a twisted-man-ape-gone-wrong-thing myself, she opined that she would have liked to see River get her own ship and run her own business which would be her first and only love. Oh well.

You don't find a little knife-play to be an undercurrent of sexual tension?

BYTEMITE

Tuesday, June 3, 2014 9:04 AM

(I guess we're doing this now...)

Quote:
You don't find a little knife-play to be an undercurrent of sexual tension?

Tension, yes. Sexual... Maybe on Jayne's side. And only because Jayne has some irrepressible libido towards just about everything and everyone, heck someone even said they thought there might be sparks between Jayne and Simon.

Jayne and River never get their faces near each other, there's no light touches just to touch, there's no soft looks when they think no one's looking. They don't even have that fake belligerence and fake lack of understanding but they actually know each other very well that Mal and Inara use as a front to hide their feelings.

Jayne and River look at each other like strange annoying bugs they don't quite understand and they're pretty sure they don't want to understand. At best they have another reflection of the brother and bratty kid sister relationship as a contrast to her sibling relationship with Simon, like when she steals a roll and he glares at her, it's very familial. At worst they make threats and sometimes one gets stabbed and sometimes one almost gets arrested.

Crazy or not, River can do MUCH better than Jayne, and it's not really that fair to her to just match her up with the only reasonably young enough guy on the ship who's left over because everyone else is matched up or celibate. The girl's a genius, and she's psychic. She could find better matches in the hour or so she might get off ship.

Not to mention, I get the feeling that the latest comics introduced Bea as a potential interest for Jayne to intentionally try to head off all the Jayne/River.

Ultimately, the main problem with the pairing - besides the fact that kind of chemistry just isn't there at the moment - is that a heavy romance isn't really within the scope of their character archetypes. River is the beautiful mad oracle, whose plans can bring doom as much as fortune, and she acts much like a plot device into the bigger machinations going on in the verse. She directs our knight errant wandering crew at all the dark corners and conspiracies like a wrecking ball. Jayne is a gun-toting grenade loving cigar smoking muscle-bound hard ass whose main distinction from Mal is that he's a lot less moral, a lot less sensitive, and lot more violent. His vices and flaws are what makes Jayne "cool" to a lot of people. He's already happy just making coin and going to prostitutes, he doesn't NEED love. Giving Jayne and River mushy romance arcs actually diminishes the impact of their characters in the narrative.

All that said, River does have a vision in a short story that Jayne apparently gets into a relationship with SOMEONE, so it's not impossible. If someone wants to do some Jayne/River, that's fine, but they'll have to lay the groundwork pairing them up in their story themselves. Threatening to show someone their junk to prove they're a man and then an instance of said junk getting nearly ripped off during some triggered secret super soldier programming nonsense doesn't say wedding bells to me just yet.

BYTEMITE

Wednesday, June 4, 2014 1:01 AM

Also:

Quote:
she opined that she would have liked to see River get her own ship and run her own business

I second this. I really want to see either River or Zoe get their own ship, because they're total badasses. River's more stable now, I could see her as a self-made space pirate eventually.

Plus, might make for some good plots. I've always thought River is more powerful the more vague and cryptic she is. Now that she's thinking clearly her powers are balanced by her tendency to outfox herself. Meaning plenty of chances for her to get herself into trouble.

BYTEMITE

Thursday, June 5, 2014 2:55 AM

Quote:
I can't see River ever having a 'normal' monogamous relationship, mostly because of the damage. Which is permanent, unless someone figures out how to regrow brain tissue.

I thought this too, but the comics seem to have decided that she's mostly better but still quirky now.

If the story moves on, even if it makes a plot hole, I have no choice really but to move on with it.

SHINYGOODGUY

Friday, June 13, 2014 1:45 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
Quote:
Originally posted by VeraSamuels:
Also Jayne has to be a good 20 years older than River. And she's 17 going on 18. That's....worrisome.

Not for Jayne it isn't.

Or maybe it is. Despite his crude nature, he doesn't ever make any real attempt to become more familiar w/ Kaylee OR River. None that we see, at least. Oh, he makes a couple of causal comments directed towards Kaylee, but who knows.

I always thought of Jayne's remarks toward Kaylee as a big brother teasing his little sister. I always think of the scene in the pilot, after Kaylee was shot by the Fed, when he was watching outside the infirmary while Simon was operating on her. He genuinely likes Kaylee.

I always got the impression that Jayne respected strength of character, people that stood up to him. Mal, Zoe, eventually Simon proved his worth and by the BDM he was sharing a drink with him (during Mal's Misbehave speech). I don't see him sexing River, just like I don't see him sexing Kaylee. Those are his little sisters, more importantly, they're part of the crew now.

SGG

THGRRI

Friday, June 13, 2014 8:32 PM

If River were to save Jayne from his pending and inevitable doom, Jayne might start to change his perceptions about the benefits of watching each others back. It is the bond of being in the trenches together. That may have happened after Serenity. Without River closing the door from the outside they would have never made it. It is what Saffron referred to as the war buddy bond. She said it is a hard nut to crack when addressing Mal in the episode Trash.

Firefly - Serenity

si shen

VERASAMUELS

Friday, June 13, 2014 11:12 PM

Jayne already been seen watching the backs of members of the crew before the BDM.

Devout Keeper of Jayne's Lunchbox

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