i don't feel like i've talked about it enough but the scene between simon and kaylee at the end of jaynestown is one of my favorites in the show and movie put together and i am NOT joking about that. it would easily go in my top 5 scenes if i had to list them out. and it's not even just bc simon is my fave or bc simon and kaylee together are <3 to me; or well. okay it IS that but for reasons that go beyond shipping in a way i am struggling to articulate lmao.
i just feel like the media we have right now exists in these like, really polarizing states where either no one has healthy communication ever or people overcommunicate to the degree it sounds like they memorized and rehearsed the DSM-5 regardless of how true that would actually be to character. (which is to say: not usually.)
and this scene at the end of jaynestown is just.... idk it's such a really beautiful depiction of two people who don't entirely understand each other but want to TRYING, like actively putting effort, into bridging the gap. it's kaylee going "sometimes i don't get you and why you act this way" and simon not like, saying she has no reason to be confused or upset based on their conflict from the day, but genuinely trying to explain his own perspective so she CAN understand because that's what she's asking and. idk. it's really simple but very sweet and powerful to me.
and okay this is becoming about shipping again sjikjskmj but this is, i feel like, reflective to the larger degree of why i like saylee so much. i understand why some people might not love the ship; i think in other contexts, if written or portrayed differently, i might struggle with a lot more. but i think a lot of people have natural resistance to miscommunication as a trope, and while i think that makes sense to a degree - it's very prevalent throughout media in ways that do not always feel natural or earned - i actually find it works (for me) really well with simon and kaylee. it makes SENSE that they have repeated instances of communication they have to work through; they come from such different cultures and have such different like, ways of thinking and modes of behavior. my resistance is to miscommunication when it feels unearned; but all of their miscommunications actually feel very natural and realistic with that in mind (especially when put in relation to a larger arc you have to imagine because it unfortunately did get cut off… )
