Fuck It, COD Blog

Idk either, pfp by yxcaro

[vozart]

happy holidays

[lemonwrap]

[lemonwrap]

So everyone’s seen “Soap has ADHD” headcanons, right? Well, I have some ideas too >:)

- First off, Soap isn’t constantly ditzy or distracted!! In fact, he’s often very focused, especially on the job. Soap is great at sniping and demolitions because of the split second calculations and laser focus needed, and he thrives in high-stress environments, loves the rush of it all. It’s only off the field where he tends to get fidgety and distracted, because there’s no rush of pure, unadulterated adrenaline and nowhere to direct his energy. That’s when he starts to struggle, and personal leave is like pulling teeth for Soap.

- Soap deals with any energy or emotion he has with action and exercise, because he needs an outlet. Angry? Go to the gym and spar. Nervous? Go practice your aim. Sad? Go for a run. Happy? Go to the gym again, but this time lift weights instead of throwing recruits around.

- He’s dead set on improvement, whether it be Gaz’s time or a PR, and he’ll train until he physically can’t, so fixated on getting a number that it’s a little worrying at times. Price has ordered him to get the hell off of the shooting range and go take a break multiple times, and Soap has endlessly practiced until he could beat his own personal records—then started again, because he needs to beat the new record, too.

- Soap isn’t constantly talking, and he knows when to stop. He can chat up a storm, sure, but he’s very aware that it can be irritating or inappropriate in some contexts, so he’s learned to hold his tongue. He can get excited about things he’s interested in and knows a plethora of trivia, but he always keeps that kind of thing to himself.

- Soap is socially adept. He’s smart, cheerful, and handsome to boot, so of course people are drawn to him like moths to a flame—but the problem with flames is that they burn.

- Soap knows he burns a bit too brightly, and he learned the hard way when he was young that not everyone can deal with that. It stung, and Soap tried to squish himself into a box to fit in, but now he regards himself with more respect. It’s not that Soap is too much; it’s just that most people aren’t enough. Pretty much only the 141 can match him and his intensity, and Soap has never fit in so well with a group of people before.

- Soap’s mind races almost constantly, but he’s put a lot of work into filtering out the useless thoughts and focusing on the important ones. He thinks so fast that sometimes he can’t describe how he came to a conclusion or got an answer, he just did. He also jumps from topic to topic with little to no bridge between them, and then gets frustrated when others don’t immediately understand how he got from point A to point C, because wasn’t it obvious?? He always got bad marks in math class when he was asked to show his work.

- Soap isn’t forgetful, and he makes sure he isn’t. If possible, he writes down every pertinent detail in his journal, then reviews multiple times to confirm he knows the ins and outs of everything.

- Soap lives up to his name—he’s clean. He puts in effort to keep himself, his space, and his belongings neat and clean; he just doesn’t realize that most people don’t have to put in so much to get the same results. The mess gets out of control quickly, so he has to stay on top of it. (Soap thinks that quote about one’s environment being a reflection of their mind is bullshit, since his mind is cluttered but his room and gear are spotless).

That’s all for now! Until next time ;)

[ivyscribblez]

thinking about the reboot mw games collectively and it’s so sadly unfortunate because like. when put up against the other two, mwiii fails so visibly.

first of all you’ve got their thesis/emotional core, right. for mw19, it’s all about the personal motivation of being a solider, the cost of war on an individual. what it means to fight and discovering the importance of what you’re fighting for. for mwii, it’s about trust. the importance of knowing that your team has each others backs, the weight that it has between individuals. what happens when that trust is broken and how it’s found again through vulnerability, because that’s how you truly know you’re there for each other.

and then there’s mwiii..? you should let your sergeant kill a prisoner illegally so said prisoner, when he breaks out of maximum security prison, doesn’t kill your sergeant 4 years later? you should illegally kill people who piss you off (shepherd)? sure there’s the whole “never bury your enemies alive”, but where does that come in to play outside of the soap/makarov interaction? it’s definitely not a valid reason for price to kill an american general in his own office. they could’ve used it for graves if they wanted to take it a step further, but no— graves doesn’t betray the team again, for whatever reason. we’re expected to consider him just a much a member of the team as anyone else, and the narrative treats him as such outside of a few bristly reactions to his involvement.

secondly i take a huge issue with how characters were handled in mwiii. literally everyone is here, and there is no reason for several of them to be. alex felt like a cameo— you see him actually on screen for maybe 30 seconds. farah’s missions feel forced for the sake of her involvement. not that farah shouldn’t be in this game, but makarov’s flimsy reasoning for targeting the ulf is so clearly an excuse to involve her. it feels very random and transparent as a decision to reuse her character because she’s familiar. again with graves— why is he here? i still genuinely do not understand why they decided to retcon his death. it was a perfect arc for mwii to kill him, and him being alive adds absolutely nothing to the story. he has nothing to do in mwiii and there is zero reason for his involvement other than “people liked him in mwii and he has a cool accent.”

within the 141, it’s mostly rehashing of the growth/personality that each of them showed in previous games. none of them have an arc, except maybe price if you’re willing to call the *post credit scene* where he commits cold blooded murder a completion of an arc. gaz, soap, and ghost are static versions of themselves that simply are just … there for most of the plot. they’re not out of character or ruined, but none of them individually have anything going on that can’t be tied back to price.

i think a lot of it comes down to the way they tried to shoehorn mwiii into the original trilogy’s storyline. people loved those games, and nostalgia sells. i don’t think it’s a coincidence that makarov was a big marketing factor for this game— and that’s not to say that mw19 or mwii didn’t abuse that either, but in execution you can feel the difference. price, gaz, soap and ghost are all their own characters miles away from their original trilogy counterparts. makarov… isn’t. he’s a poorly written villain riding on the success of the original trilogy— he’s scary because he’s *makarov*, not because he’s a real threat. it’s cheap. the knockoff “no russian” mission felt insulting. it’s a callback with no real impact in the story, just simply “look! remember when we did this in 2009 and everyone loved it?”

and all of it culminates into a shit ending with shock factor that it tries to make you feel emotional. i’m not sad over this character death. i’m mad, because it’s unearned and lazy. i realize it’s a lot to ask a multi-billion dollar corporation to actually put effort into their stories, but… it’s such a let down when the previous games actually had at least an ounce of passion. i’m just still so disappointed with this game ruining what could’ve been a really interesting and unique story.

[abyss-cat]

I could talk so much about this. The games were starting to pull away from the original trilogy's version of modern warfare and play more into things like proxy conflicts and backdoor deals (like Valeria smuggling the missiles and Hassan around). I really thought if it was going to borrow anything from the og games, it would be Makarov trying to setup a war between countries for his own benefit.

SHEPHERD is nowhere near as intimidating or the actual threat he was. Price killing him in the end was revenge for Soap, yes but there's nothing there about him originally trying to cover up his mistakes back in game before. OG Shepherd not only helped kickstart the war, but is responsible for wiping out the 141, when he's killed in game it's not only a revenge for him directly murdering Ghost and Roach, but to try and stop the war from further spiraling out of control, something that in the next game, doesn't actually help much. By basically making Shepherd and Makarov in the reboot more annoyances than terrifying threats it looses the real meat of the story, that people in power who only seek their own power are threats to everyone.

If you choose to play No Russian, (the game gives you the choice to skip), it's about 10 minutes of some of the most devastating gameplay. You have no choice, trying to shoot Makarov results in a game over.

There is nothing you can do to change this. Even the fight against the police that come to stop it, you're forced to fight back. And then you're shot and left behind. Everything that happened was for nothing, Allen's death kick-starts the war. The reboot removes this, removes the teeth and horrors from Shepherd and Makarov. Because without the loss of the Marines in the first game, there's no real reason for Shepherd to be aggressive. An asshole general that's willing to go through red tape maybe, but not someone who needed to be hunted down.

Everything is so static and by the end of the game you've what? Defused a few bombs? Chased people around? As much as in 2 where you're chasing Hassan around half the game it ends very nicely with his death and the destruction of the last missile. 3 you end up back where you started.

[egelskop]

some days i still taste the dirt

[stinglesswasp]

Self-care (bonus scene)

[robotbunnyart]

It's Real

[lemonwrap]

I love dog metaphors and motifs, and I want a brainwashed Soap AU where, after a while, Soap genuinely sees himself as a dog.

When Makarov first gets his hands on Soap, Soap has his dignity, pride, and mind fully intact, and he fights. Soap fights hard, and he fights well, but months of harsh conditioning that stretch into years will break anybody. 

After a while, Soap no longer believes that he’s a real human, let alone a person. He’s an animal, a creature, a dog that must obey, because what else is there to do?

He was a bad dog at first, growling and biting until he was muzzled and beaten into submission, but he eventually learned that it was easier to just obey his master. Makarov was his master. He was cruel and choked Soap with the leash he had wrapped around his throat, but he was a master nonetheless, and dogs obey their masters. 

And then the 141 recovers Soap, years after they thought he was dead and gone. They held a funeral for him, and although they never quite stopped grieving, life must go on. 

Ghost is the most affected when they get Soap back. He frantically fumbles at the straps keeping the muzzle attached to Soap’s face, yanks the muzzle off, and throws it to the side, cupping Soap’s cheeks and repeating Johnny, Johnny, Johnny. But Soap doesn’t remember Ghost, and he doesn’t know what he did to make this man start crying as he crushes Soap in his arms or how to make it stop. He grovels and tries to put the muzzle back on as a show of obedience and good will, but the man gets increasingly upset. Soap just doesn’t understand. 

When Soap realizes Makarov is dead, he sees it as a transfer of ownership.

Days, weeks, months pass. Ghost reintroduces himself to Soap and keeps trying to talk to him like they’re equals, like Soap is a human too, but Soap doesn’t remember, and he doesn’t get it. He tries his hardest to please Ghost by obeying how his former master trained him, but he’s bewildered when Ghost doesn’t react favorably like he’d hoped. It simply doesn’t click in Soap’s head when Ghost repeatedly tells him that he’s still a person.

Soap thinks the world of Ghost, though, despite the man’s confusing orders. He refuses to muzzle or restrain Soap in any way, and he gives Soap things he’s never had before, like a soft place to sleep, food that isn’t bland, and physical contact that doesn’t hurt. Soap has to learn his new master’s preferences—but that’s okay, because Ghost is a good master. Ghost is kind and loves Soap, and all Soap wants to do is be good for him, no matter what.

Every dog needs a master, after all, and Ghost is all Soap could ever hope for. 

[stinglesswasp]

Overseas 🇺🇸

[ftmsimonriley]

im still thinking a lot about how ghost's comic seems to imply he was blackmailed into joining the 141 by shepherd and also that there's no mention of knowledge about that at all in soap's journal (or even knowledge of ghost's past at all. like all soap seems to know is that he's just some weird guy who's really good at his job)(unlikely that this was intentional but we're assuming it is here) so i'm just imagining soap finding out about it after ghost and roach get killed that ghost was involuntarily placed on his taskforce and is left with the fact that he was inadvertently helping shepherd while also never knowing if he had improved ghost's life to any extent. like obviously joining the 141 prevented him from spending the rest of his life in an american prison (or whatever else could have happened considering the fact that he had violated laws in 3 countries, but i'd assume breaking into an american army base and killing an officer would take priority) but also soap never will find out if he at least made the time between then and his death bearable or if ghost was just tolerating it

[abyss-cat]

Honestly there's some implications for this, been a bit since I played the game, but iirc from his journal, Ghost is never referred to by actual name and while "What kind of name is Ghost" is probably supposed to be a reference to the first game, it seems kind of strange to single that callsign out when there's callings like MEAT on the same page. So I tend to take it as Ghost was introduced only by that.

Unless I'm forgetting something, there's a strong possibility that Mactavish doesn't even know Ghost's actual name. (Also it's straight up canon that Shepherd basically trapped Ghost, he erased evidence of Ghost sneaking on to the base and literally says "You're mine now".

[abyss-cat]

Now that Nuremberg Codes is finished, probably going to add some chapter updates (and may post a poll) to other fics. The sequel (temp named Aftermath), is already planned and outlined, just needs the actual writing. But I do get to share some things about Nuremberg. I'm happy to answer questions as well.

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-

Ghost/G-09's coping mechanism was to somewhat ignore what was happening. In some ways dehumanizing himself to cope.

There's no supernatural reason for Colt appearing in Price's nightmares. It's simply a decision he feels guilty about and over time became an amalgamation of regret over past choices, personal fears, and the weight of the position he's in. In some ways having those nightmares also kept him sane. But these nightmares in some ways separated Colt from Simon.

Yes, the Riley's are still alive. Except for Brian Riley, he died due to cancer/long term damage of internal organs due to alcohol and drug abuse. As far as they know, Simon died in the mission to Mexico.

There were other experiments, including animal experiments (running under Greek alphabet batches). The A-J we see is simply one group.

Gaz being the reason they escaped is because he deserves it.

[boolger]

Fanart for @abyss-cat ‘s wonderful COD fanfic Nuremberg Codes (18+) 💖☀️

[abyss-cat]

This is so lovely and beautiful and I want to permanently pin it in my head! Thank you so much and I'm glad you enjoyed the fic!

[aidenlydia]

Their bodies used to know nothing but violence

[aidenlydia]

Been thinking about this a lot

[amikoroyaiart]

Caught in 4k

[transmascsimonriley]

couple doodles of the guys

[lemonelyyy]

carry him home