old fandom, new tricks

[siegeofangels]

Presumably the Corps would keep records of what everyone's wristnames are and would avoid putting matches together if it was going to be a problem, so if Brad and Nate are wristname mates then there has to be some sort of workaround. 
(Putting aside for the moment how I am fundamentally opposed to the concept of wristnames, given that the vast majority of humans throughout [pre]history have not been literate or even necessarily kept the same names throughout their lives; I am in the end a sucker for soulmate tropes.)
Brainstorming:
- One of them doesn't have a wristname- One of them doesn't have a wristname until after they're deployed together- The name on Nate's wrist is Brad's birth name, or the name he *almost* had- One or both of them have a rank rather than a name on their wrist, because that's how they address the other (?)- omg what if Brad's wrist just says "sir"- what if instead of a genteel tattoo it's straight-up scarring (this does not help me plot)- is the wrist guard also usmc issue (yes)

I don't actually want to invert the trope here, I want SOUL. MATES. Help me brainstorm?

Comments

[tattered_errata]

I LOVE the idea of Brad's wrist just saying "sir."

[domarzione]

The details-oriented person in me suspects that "sir" or "ma'am" or "sarge" or any other rank or obviously military form of address might be a disqualifying factor in military enlistment. Especially because it would imply fraternization, which is illegal under the UCMJ. (It's not that they're both boys that's the problem in GK, it's that one's an officer and one's enlisted and that's never okay regardless of pink bits.)

On the other hand, in a universe with soulmates there's probably a set of laws that prevent soulmate-related discrimination. You can't not hire someone because their mark says something.

.... I'm not making this easier for you, am I.

[siegeofangels]

No, this is a good thing to think about! I think I'd go with it being like you said, where the US Gov can't discriminate on the basis of wristname (again pretending that that is a thing they'd do in the late 90s). Maybe with Brad having been told, like, every other week, that the fraternization is still not okay as long as they're both in the service.

And then the computer program they're using to keep these kinds of matches from happening doesn't flag it, because Nate's name isn't actually "sir."

[domarzione]

It would also possibly be pointed out by someone during the very first discussion about this decades before anyone from GK is born that "sir" and "ma'am" are not only used to address officers. They're used to address all civilians, too. Which means that someone with "sir" on their wrist might be meant for, like, the guy who asks directions and is told "it's thataway, sir."

But the DoD is the DoD and everyone with that kind of mark on their wrist is still getting reminded about the fraternization rules weekly.

[siegeofangels]

They can't keep him from every officer ever!

[tattered_errata]

he might not be a soldier at all, just a sub!

[siegeofangels]

WHERE IS THE LIKE BUTTON

[melannen]

Don't they all get nicknames in the Corps? What if it's just the nicknames (and they don't get the nicknames until after they're deployed. And sometimes your friends give you the nicknames based on what somebody else's wristname is, just to be a dick...)

[siegeofangels]

They don't have canon nicknames, but I do suspect that in a wristname universe everyone would quickly get a stupid nickname based on their wrist.

Nicknames would be useful, though!

[melannen]

Apparently fanfic has misled me greatly! :D

[siegeofangels]

Gasp, fanfic would never.

[domarzione]

Everyone's usually just called by their last name. Evan Wright used nicknames to avoid using the actual names of people who were not being portrayed nicely.