No, I caught that point, it was obvious he was using Kaylee's name because he didn't want to say his own. I gave that as an example of firstly who Inara is closest to on the ship (Mal, and Kaylee), and secondly Kaylee being the first thought Mal had when he was talking to Inara, ergo, their links to each other.

Kaylee's interaction with Mal and Inara can be read either way, in my view, platonic or romantic. I wouldn't personally agree that Kaylee wants to be glamorous and posh -- she admires Inara's clothes and lifestyle, but she is happy and content with who she is, happiest in the engine room and choosing the life she has. But perhaps she does, and I just haven't picked up on it.

You're right in that I made an omission in not talking about Simon/Kaylee in this essay; I did that because I did not set out to disprove any pairing, only to give my reasons for shipping my OTP. I don't see my omissions as rejecting Simon/Kaylee; I don't reject the pairing. They get together in the end. I know my 'ship is not canon, bar the Mal/Inara parts and the friendship between the three. I know that Simon/Kaylee is canon, and seeing their interaction onscreen makes me squee, because they are adorable. I don't write them together, I don't read them together, because I don't go to fanfiction for canon pairings, I go to it for what I didn't see in canon. In fanfiction, I ship Simon with River (a squick to many, I know) and Kaylee with Mal and Inara. Canon and fanfiction are separate entities, to me.