With Mal I think I just have an irrational antipathy to Nathan since I react to all his characters the same way.

I don't really read Firefly fanfics unless they're posted by friends anyway, I just like River/Jayne a pure aesthetic/funny way, it's the waif girl/brawny brute thing with a little spice of genderfuck - I admit it's something of a trainwreck, then again I like trainwreck. If you're curious curtana wrote some (at her fiction journal, they're probably filtered so you'd want to friend her) - and there were some a long time ago at 30_kisses, I think I have a link at my journal somewhere.... there it is!