Justified Fiction: "Tin Star Salvation"

[halfshellvenus]

Title: Tin Star Salvation
Fandom: Justified
Author: HalfshellVenus
Characters: Boyd (Gen)
Rating: PG
Summary (S1): By all accounts, Boyd should have been dead.
Author's Notes: For the writerverse prompt of "Luck Has A New Look," and for this 5_prompts picture entry:

Comments

[colls]

Wonderful!

[halfshellvenus]

Yay! Thank you!

[vanillafluffy]

This is a great look at one of my favorite aspects of Boyd. I loved his arc in S1, I understand how the tragedy of it shaped him for things to come, but part of me wishes he'd stayed righteous and exacted his own version of divine retribution of evildoers. (Although that's not so different from what he's still doing, his motives are a lot less pure.)

.

[halfshellvenus]

I like to imagine how Boyd might have turned out differently, had he stayed on the side of good. I wrote a Justified Zombie AU (really) that painted him a little lighter based on the S2 robbery storyline going differently-- one in which Boyd disentangled himself from that scheme in time, and kept working at the mine. It seemed as if S1 held his major chance to be someone different (and that his father's death freed him to consider it), and that S2 had possibilities as well, had that robbery not happened. Even with his flock gone, Boyd was still determined to stay on the side of the law, for a time. But the path of least resistence won out.

He's such an interesting character-- I'd love to see him swerve back in future episodes, rather than always pushing darker. I don't think he'd stay on the side of right, but that potential is so tempting.

[nikki6]

Really enjoyed this. I've always loved the Raylan/Boyd dynamic and how no matter what, they seem linked to each other. Loved this line,

"Raylan was known for his deadly aim, and Boyd had felt the reality of it, as far as he remembered."

Thanks for sharing,
Nik

[halfshellvenus]

I'm so glad you liked it!

Raylan & Boyd's interactions are the most fascinating part of the show for me. Raylan so easily could have been Boyd, and at times it seems that Boyd could choose a path more like Raylan's (and oh, how the show tempts us with those brief periods where he does).

This moment in S1 was one of those times the door opened for Boyd to be different, and all of the things that managed to shut it were the worst kind of bad luck. His hope was genuine, and it's nice to dwell on it a little without thinking about what comes after.

Thanks so much for reading and commenting. :)