you know, the funniest thing about the utter lack of connection between the wash/carolina/counselor/maine's armor elements is, well, that's basically all that S11 au is about, and apparently that's overridden Actual Canon for me so hard that it barely even registers to me. mixed blessings? (???) but yeah, it's definitely a glaring hole compared to the threads that 13 does manage to bring together in a really pleasingly organic way.
for me, locus's obsession with wash works as an unreliable narrator/one-sided sort of thing rather than any Grand Narrative Parallel — it's always locus pushing their connection/similarities/etc, and wash refusing it. iirc, there's never a moment where wash starts the "we're the same" conversation; it's always locus going on about it and wash steadily replying to locus's insistence that he and wash are cut from the same cloth. i feel like locus was maybe intended to be the mouthpiece for an objective/doylist (lmao) Grand Narrative Parallel but frankly, that's not palatable to me at all (especially since wash straight up does tell him "i was a different person") and i feel like the "parallel" works best as a reflection of what locus thinks of himself and of wash. (and on that note, locus's whole "monster" thing didn't really work for me, either. though! i do like locus as a character much more this time around.)
as far as the merc prequel goes, my most emphatic thought is holy shit, that was fun. it was super fun! i think i caught myself smiling throughout most of it, i had a blast. the first episode in particular was such a treat to watch, especially that fight scene intercut with the dance floor. story-wise, though, i woke up this morning thinking "that was a neat story to tell, but what exactly does that have to do with felix and locus?" and, well, yeah. they could have swapped out felix and locus with new characters entirely and i don't think it would have affected how i see them at all. so, story-wise, interesting but not critical info? 7/10, not bad but could have been more related to locus and felix As Characters. magpie-brain-like-shiny-colorful-things-wise, absolute 10/10, that was so fun to watch.
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for me, locus's obsession with wash works as an unreliable narrator/one-sided sort of thing rather than any Grand Narrative Parallel — it's always locus pushing their connection/similarities/etc, and wash refusing it. iirc, there's never a moment where wash starts the "we're the same" conversation; it's always locus going on about it and wash steadily replying to locus's insistence that he and wash are cut from the same cloth. i feel like locus was maybe intended to be the mouthpiece for an objective/doylist (lmao) Grand Narrative Parallel but frankly, that's not palatable to me at all (especially since wash straight up does tell him "i was a different person") and i feel like the "parallel" works best as a reflection of what locus thinks of himself and of wash. (and on that note, locus's whole "monster" thing didn't really work for me, either. though! i do like locus as a character much more this time around.)
as far as the merc prequel goes, my most emphatic thought is holy shit, that was fun. it was super fun! i think i caught myself smiling throughout most of it, i had a blast. the first episode in particular was such a treat to watch, especially that fight scene intercut with the dance floor. story-wise, though, i woke up this morning thinking "that was a neat story to tell, but what exactly does that have to do with felix and locus?" and, well, yeah. they could have swapped out felix and locus with new characters entirely and i don't think it would have affected how i see them at all. so, story-wise, interesting but not critical info? 7/10, not bad but could have been more related to locus and felix As Characters. magpie-brain-like-shiny-colorful-things-wise, absolute 10/10, that was so fun to watch.