Do you have headcanons/A Vision for what a Saylee future established relationship would look like?
this post. LMAO. simon would have been B by season 3, s4 at the latest, i know and perceive this. (it’s a little bit of imperfect parallel bc kaylee is not pining Quietly/suppressing Anything, but she is Pining and i also think probably would have taken a step back for a while.)
okay to add onto that before more specific saylee headcanons:
(this got long hence the cut)
the thing we need to remember about simon tam is that he is not normal lol. (mostly a joke but) this will become more about saylee in a minute.
like i DO think he loves river in a way unique to her specifically and that his academy rescue was a show of very deep unconditional sibling love.
but i also think simon is a very all or nothing kind of guy in general. no matter how angry he was with his parents about their (non) reactions to river’s letters, it doesn’t seem to have occurred to him to drop them until they dropped him bc he couldn’t give up on river. like it’s not Just that he loves river specifically unconditionally (though that too!!!) it’s that he fundamentally is incapable of abandoning someone he loves. and it seems like in the flashbacks he was still in Convincing mode, especially if we look at the shooting script for safe - it really seems like he just. thought he could get them to come around.
and sure he takes some time to adjust to life on the rim and on the ship and doesn’t entirely know what he’s doing with the crew or what his role is… but he also is in line with mal’s definition of crew loyalty pretty much right away. he’s trying to Help in the train job even though he has No Idea what he should be doing bc well. this is what he does now! and he is the first one to voice a suggestion for a rescue mission mal in shindig at like, the drop of the hat. and sure everyone is on board but like! it’s significant the writing had him say it first!
ANYWAY all this to say, once he knows he loves kaylee and doesn’t feel anything is in the way of that it’s at 300% that is just Who He Is to the degree it’s almost a little overwhelming for kaylee to be on the receiving end of.
a timeline vision except some parts are really vague and some parts are really dramatic and it did accidentally turn into a romcom by the end
(i should acknowledge this is like, focused on Them specifically/their Relationship and in my ideal reality there should be Plot going on in all of this and both of them should be having individual character arcs of their own)
i think for the first little while they’re Sort Of together it’s kind of confusing and unofficial because like… lowkey they seemed like, on that path already by the end of the show proper’s run? like in the message i can only describe what they are doing as a test-run date of sorts (that simon fumbles horribly lol but it’s cute until it isn’t!), they really really seem like they almost are going to kiss in objects before book accidentally interrupts? and just like the casual intimacy of the opening couch scene… anyway. i think that would have continued to the point where people do think they’re dating but they’re not really denying or confirming it.
at some point kaylee starts to get frustrated bc she Does want to have a clearer understanding of Where They Are and simon like, wants to be able to give her that and has mostly gotten past the thinking he had to Only being focused on river at all times. and he almost gets to the point (after a talk with,, wash maybe??? since he is friends with kaylee and friendly with simon and seems like he’d be amenable to the conversation. or inara! i’m just feeling more simonwash friendship 2k26) where he is like Okay Let’s Do This. but something dangerous happens to remind him he is still a Wanted Fugitive being Actively Hunted and could have to leave pretty much all the time and is putting her in danger so instead. breaks whatever they do have going on off. tries to do it very gently and his wording is better than it could have been? still very awkward. and it doesn’t really matter bc the content of what he’s saying sucks for her. (yes he thinks he’s protecting her/saving her the heartbreak yes he is being an idiot yes he is taking a page put of mal’s well-meaning but slightly paternalistic book yes river thwacks him for it.) this is end of season one-ish stuff i think.
kaylee is obviously mad/hurt for a while. (thinking a range of weeks to months because she needed some time to be allowed to actually be angry at simon instead of the one episode resolve and it’s just jucier and more interesting if there’s some fallout)
. simon wants to make it better but doesn’t know how because all his reasons for it still apply and he doesn’t feel like he can take it back or say anything will change,, but. sadness
and honestly this period of time is just awful for both of them because they were also like. friends. i am a firm believer in the saylee flirty strangers to awkward peers with awkward crushes to slightly less awkward friends to best (by some measure of the word! you can have more than one in my personal belief system) friends to accidental situationship to pseudo-exes to lovers pipeline. and like… the romantic stuff is rough but at heart they now also both are literally just missing their friend that they had before and now feel like they can’t really talk to.
at some point it just,, eases up the way things sometimes naturally do? kaylee and simon are also in the unfortunate situation where they are in a confined space where they have to live and work together still lol. she eventually gives up on trying to literally not talk to him at all because that was Absolutely a phase for a while. they start having casual conversations As friends and being able to work together without mal getting a migraine again. at some point they are working together and simon manages to apologize for having let things be ambiguous between them when he wasn’t sure bc it’s not like he didn’t Know he was a fugitive before. it’s just that he feels comfortable with her and likes her and with the chaos of Everything about his new life it was easy to be drawn to that. sweet friendship hug at the end of this yayy. and a close-up on simon’s face as he watches her walk away…
…. cue simon’s turn to be pining very very quietly to himself for a while but he can’t say it because nothing’s still changed and he doesn’t want to hurt her more but they do start to be friendly again
(somewhere in the simon pining i need a simon saffron odd team up where she Does Her Thing and accurately assesses his feelings for (her words) ‘that cloyingly cheery mechanic girl’ and him steadfastly ignoring her as she makes fun of him the rest of the b plot.)
okay hear me out: we are in the season 2a midseason finale (sh. i am normal). a bunch of dramatic stuff is happening. for this to work simon may also have to think river is dead (she isn’t, don’t worry about it) (he is obviously also not in a good headspace at this point) there is some big fight with alliance officials that have found them and at some point simon looks around and realizes it’s happening Because Of him and then very specifically sees kaylee in danger and is just like Okay and offers himself up to be taken if they’ll leave the rest of the crew alone, so they arrest him. the whole vibe as he’s being cuffed is very “i’ll be okay dw” with a smile that says he very obviously knows he Will Not be okay. etc
kaylee, naturally, freaks the fuck out because of course she still Cares even if even since being friends again she’s tried to distance herself a bit. the feelings don’t just Go Away and she feels incredibly guilty bc she knows it was for her. jayne has to quite literally hold her back as simon’s being dragged off
anyways by like the next episode kaylee is storming onto the bridge Demanding they go rescue him. is frantically ranting as mal zoe and wash all repeatedly try interrupt until finally mal is like “Literally What Do You Think We’re Doing Right Now” and is like motioning to their route
eventually simon is rescued, river is alive (yayy) and simon and kaylee kiss upon rescue pretty mutually, which is awkward bc a) they’re both pretty injured from Plot, b) they should probably talk about some stuff c) the rest of the crew is right there. simon’s a little too out of it to be mortified
they talk and kaylee’s Does express she needs him to be In It and willing to actually Say they’re in a relationship. he just has a huge grin on his face the entire time as she is rambling nervously and is like. “okay sounds good”
there’s been a lot of learning and he ultimately just does kind of realize he can’t Uninvolve her from the danger and her life is dangerous anyway and all they can do with their lives is live them.
and they are dating through the reast of season 2! yay!
they spend a lot of time with each other but tney also spend a lot of time with river and each other bc kaylee and river are also friends so it just kind of makes sense.
a sidenote of this is that it’s very very important go me there is never any “river is getting in the way” or weird jealousy. kaylee very inherently understands that they are a package deal and she just doesn’t Tolerate it she Likes it and Loves them.
at some point in this period simon actually casually describes kaylee as a prodigy with machines and she’s like ???? more kaylee being a wild genius appreciation is also important to me
i think they are pretty solidly dating for most of season 3. and (along with actual plot stuff lol going on lol) there’s still a Learning Curve because they’re still two different people with very different modes of being and ways of thinking sometimes. so there’s that stuff but they’ve kinda gotten better at it bc they’ve just realized that this is part of what their relationship entails and that every relationship has something or another. a lot of what they start to work through becomes very logistical boring stuff that sometimes literally just happens in throwaway lines “hey so the engine room is hot as hell and sometimes i can’t sleep in there sorry” “hey i need you to take breaks from whatever medical research you’re doing rn and pay attention to me.” etc. kind of shit.
and look. i’ve gotta be real. they break up again at least once. shoutout @stonedtheology’s on and off saylee headcanon lmaoo. in real life i am a firm believer that most on-and-off relationships are not usually very healthy and both people would be probably better off not trying to force it with someone it hasn’t worked with before. however tv rules are different and i am not immune to the lure of human drama! also the first “break up” was kind of vague because the relationship was kind of vague so.
this could happen for any number of reasons but i do think at this point, considering some learning and evolution has happened, it shouldn’t be another simon fumbles moment. i Do think it makes sense for them to be like, still struggling with some of the ways they are different, but moreso the mental processing stuff at this point bc they’ve dealt a fair amount with the class stuff by now. i think it’s very like, about two very different but well-meaning approaches to an emergent situation of some kind. my pitch for this is at Some Point simon is having to do surgery on someone and they have a loved one (wife?) kaylee is waiting with and checking in on and just obviously feeling very connected to hee and all she wants is to be able to be with her husband so kaylee tries to convince him and there’s a thing of “i don’t understand how you can not understand the pain she is in” “i don’t understand how you cannot understand that i’m human and will get distracted if there is a crying woman in here and i’d rather she hate me and have an alive husband.”
this ^ specific fight is not like, Why the split happens but indicative of tinier cracks there have been that have just now boiled over. the vibe is ultimately more “i need to know you Hear Me and Take Me Seriously when we talk even it we don’t agree” (kaylee) and “i need to know that you’re not always going to Assume The Worst Of Me when i’m doing something differently than you would.” (simon)
i think the break-up this time is pretty mutual and (ironically, despite saying some Not Great things to each other) the aftermath is pretty amicable?? they’re both just like yeah i was not at my best there sorry.
,,, this makes it very clear to Most that they will probably get back together pretty quickly. ship’s got a running pool on how long it takes. river obviously wins. mal who “wasn’t getting involved in this” also does.
i do think this break-up is pretty short. they give it a couple of weeks and both are just. “okay so i actually hated that. let’s just be different sometimes and cover each other’s blindspots ig??”
idk what happens after that but by season 4 and onwards they are established and in love and simon’s biting people about it.
headcanons i don’t have a specific place in the timeline for:
if kaylee ever meets gabriel tam he is getting yelled at. if he tries to interrupt he is getting yelled at harder. this is at a public function. and it is about BOTH of her beloved tams tyvm. at some point gabriel is like “do you wanna do something about this???” and simon just shrugs. “no i think she’s got it.” river is outside but hears it in her mind and is very amused about it tbh.
at some point there is another ball episode (dw about how and why simon’s there without getting Made) and it’s a different situation but kaylee is still not quite in her element and and not understanding she is being made fun of at one point but simon understands the social machinations here and Does and glares at everyone involved until they go away and then asks her to dance. (i am in my fluffy indulgent era now okay)
at one point simon has to do CPR on kaylee and Everyone has a rough time about it. my personal preference for this is simon s2 pining era but could happen anywhere.
at one point she sees like a bracelet or something and is like oh that’s pretty! and then very immediately moves on. it’s highkey too expensive at the time but he Tries to remake it for her birthday. what he makes is ugly as hell. she loves it and makes him show everyone at dinner when that was Not the plan lmao.
they either have the kinkiest wildest or most simple vanilla sex ever and it truly just depends on the day and the vibe.
their favorite activity together is parallel play. but like. just all tangled up on the couch like they were in objects. once they’re comfortable with each other they are casually touching ALL the time. it’s not even usually PDA? it’s just like. the casual intimacy of it all. but anyway. couch time is important to them. kaylee’s got her legs propped up simon while he’s reading and sheMs fiddling with something mechanical or sewing patches on her clothes.