sword_logic | fic talk: S11 au part iii (Reply)

thoughts, explanations, etc. on the last part of S11 au — spoilers for part iii under the cut.

i think the biggest thing that stood out to me when i was writing was… god, i could not get them to kiss. nothing felt right, except for that one moment after the collapsed building, and once more after. and you know what? fuck it. i feel like i was quite clear that they find comfort in each other – physical, emotional, and otherwise – in different ways. i struggled with the tags on this fic for some time, because queerplatonic relationship doesn’t quite cover it, and neither does romantic friendship. it’s something between the two, and also outside them as well.

tucker’s frostiness towards wash was a difficult decision because the softie sap in me wanted everyone to be happy and friendly and happy, but ultimately… tucker has been through a lot, and he goes through a lot over the course of the chorus trilogy. i can’t imagine that his feelings on wash disappearing without a trace and then reappearing with a new (“”””new””””) freelancer in tow wouldn’t be unbelievably complicated, and i don’t want to undermine that. (hello, i am still mad about epsilon’s non-apology and tucker’s glib acceptance.)

hmm, what else. oh yeah, canon changes — with wash out of the picture, carolina and tucker would have gone to face off against felix and locus at the tractor beam! i’ve had that image in my head since i first watched S13, our two beloved turquoise-adjacent soldiers fighting together. i also handwaved the whole nuclear reactor scene because a) i didn’t want to deal with figuring out how it would have gone and b) i think doyle serves as a much more interesting foil to kimball when he’s alive. most everything else goes along with canon, though, aside from the differences i pointed out. i also had fun writing kimball and carolina and the odd intensity between them; i love their interactions in canon, and i’m really looking forward to going through the kimbalina tag on AO3 now that my self-imposed rvb fic ban is over.

the felix and locus fight is, i think, some of the oldest writing that i included in this fic. i had to make some changes for context and style, but it’s still largely unchanged from when i wrote it… i dunno, years ago, at this point. clearly, i still liked it enough to include it. i also could not, in good conscience, not contrive a scenario in which to yoink the “you think you’re the only one who’s good with knives?” line from canon. on that note, here’s a screencap redraw! i think i posted this on tumblr way in the long-ago, but here it is on twitter.

other “old” writing includes the introduction in the war room and meeting dr. grey, though that was edited a lot more heavily than the felix/locus fight. i think wash’s apology to tucker is pretty old too, actually, and some of the caboose lines. i struggled a lot with caboose’s voice (his humor isn’t quite my brand) but… heurgh, i tried. every scene with more than 3 characters was hard for me, but ultimately, pretty rewarding.

oh yeah! driving from the base of a 2,500ft mountain to its peak would actually take under an hour, even though that sounds a little ridiculous on paper. i used google maps and an area i’m familiar with to make sure that that’s more or less accurate, taking into consideration blazing upwards at max speed in an offroad jeep, which is why it took sam, lucía, et. al such a disconcertingly short amount of time.

additionally, i believe – i could be wrong, but i doubt it – that wash has never used a sniper rifle on-screen. he’s swapped liberally between BR55 and magnum, and i don’t think he’s used a DMR on-screen*, but his stringent avoidance of sniper rifles in spite of his stellar aim has always struck me as an interesting contrast to church’s insistence on having one in spite of his abysmal aim.

* tucker uses a DMR pretty regularly throughout the chorus trilogy, and i don’t think wash ever picks one up, but i’m shakier on this fact than the sniper rifle. the sniper rifle fact, i’m pretty much willing to bet on.

in regards to this post and borderlands 2, the theme i had in mind was the planet fighting back against the person trying to “tame” it. same general theme here: this is chorus’s fight, wash and maine were only ever along for the ride, not leading the charge. whether they knew it or not. (for those familiar with BL2, i specifically thought of the sidequests involving karima in the highlands as well as the crimson raiders as a whole.)

and to wrap this up, here’s what is probably my favorite snippet; i posted part of it a while ago, but i really like the full context of it:

"Scar?" Maine asks. His voice is soft.

An odd rush of shame swims through him. He rubs the knotted scar reflexively, fingertips bumping against Maine's.

"That was from the Meta."

Maine stills for a second, two, and then he slowly shakes his head.

"Me." Before Wash can protest, counter, anything, Maine goes on. "Meta aimed lower."

Maine gently raps his knuckles against the swell of muscle over Wash's heart. A soft, bold corner of Wash's brain wonders whether Maine can feel the heartbeat echoing in Wash's ears, hollow thudding amplified by blood loss. Like this, with Maine still bent down, knuckles still resting against his chest, Wash can pick out flecks of complementary color in Maine's eyes in spite of the sallow light flattening everything into drabness.

this came about specifically because i’d re-watched reconstruction with some friends, and noticed that the meta shoots wash in the shoulder at the end - not a particularly fatal shot. (and a screencap for good measure. i went with “aimed lower” because “aimed left-er” does not, uh, flow particularly well.)

i can’t think of much else to say at the moment, but, yeah. thank you.