To have a face is to have personhood. So by making Bell wear a balaclava, Bell's personhood and identity is denied.
Bell's balaclava therefore serves two purposes. In universe it serves both as a tool to sever the connection between Bell and their former identity and to dehumanize them to the rest of the safe house crew. Getting attached to Bell is dangerous and it's easy to get attached to something with a face. By removing Bell's face from the equation with the Balaclava it becomes easier for Park and Adler to avoid becoming attached to Bell.
Out of universe it allows the player to imagine however they want Bell to look like without having to add actual character model customization to the game.
Sometimes I catch myself wondering when Bell would be wearing the balaclava, and when would they not? Like I’m sure in “brick in the wall” the entire mission would HAVE to be without it, right? And in the Lubyanka building, did they just wear the balaclava until they reached the bunker? Like try to sneakily enter the tunnels with their face completely covered? And were they always wearing the balaclava around Perseus, and that’s why nobody recognized them when they went into the Lubyanka building?
I found a draft that I had started about 2 years ago with the prompt of jealous!Adler and Bell during a side mission. I’m wondering if I should keep writing it? Any interest in that?
In Bo6 they kind skated over Alder and Woods’ friendship and I wanna see more. Could you write a little fic of them interacting?
Hey anon! Thank you for this request!! 💙
This was so very interesting. Both of these guys have these huge emotional walls up. I imagine friends are a challenging thing for both of them to make and keep. Not exactly the type to talk about their emotions. Which is great I love when everything is just under the surface. I think I'd like to write another one of these from Adler's perspective to see how it goes.
Frank lit a cigarette and stared out at the dark water. He often took to doing this at night when the Safehouse began to quiet down. He thought about his team. Felix and Sev had been arguing earlier, but he could now hear their laughter travel from the kitchen.
He was sure Troy was upstairs reading over a letter from Terry, working over his next move in their correspondence chess game. The same move he'd been mulling over before they had to cut and run. The soft sounds of the TV news must have meant Case was on the couch likely dozing off. The guy pushed himself too hard.
Frank stuck the cigarette between his lips and rubbed the tops of his knees or what was left of them. It had become a habit of his, one he didn’t like too much when he realized he was doing it. Reminded him of some of the old guys he had met over the years. Always talking about their aches and pains.
He was sidelined sure, permanent desk duty yeah, but he didn’t feel like an old guy. Neither he nor Alex had ever seemed old to him.
An ache clenched at his heart as he thought about Al. Al would never be an old guy. They would never be those crusty old vets sitting at the VFW drinking beers and talking about the good old times.
He pressed his thumb against one eye and reached across the bridge of his nose with his forefinger, the pad of his finger against his closed lid. He dragged his fingers across his skin bringing them together to pinch the bridge of his nose.
Footsteps on stone behind him, he quickly moved his hand away from his eyes to pluck the cigarette from his mouth. He knew from the confident footfalls that it was Adler.
Adler already had a lit cigarette dangling from his lips.
He cradled a mug in one large hand which from the smell of it contained some of Felix’s stew.
“Figure out Felix’s mystery meat yet?” Frank joked.
Adler stirred the contents with his spoon and inspected a white chunk.
“Best guess is rabbit.”
“Probably a good guess.”
“Let’s just say I’m not about to ask him to confirm it.”
Frank chuckled at that.
Adler tucked his cigarette between two fingers and picked up his spoon again. Steam trailed from the mug only to be quickly swept away by the sea breeze. The silence between them lasted until Frank’s cigarette was just a nub. He stubbed it out on the railing and flicked it away. Then he winced. Another bad habit. He remembered the last time he visited David the kid had given him a lecture about recycling and putting his cigarette butts in the trash instead of tossing them on the ground. He even showed Frank some cartoon about it. A blue guy fighting pollution… or something. If it made the kid happy he was willing to do it. He wondered if Adler's kids watched the same show. Adler certainly didn't care about where he tossed his old cigarette butts.
Adler finished his stew and went back inside without a word. Frank thought he was alone again, but before long Adler was back carrying two beers by the neck between his fingers.
He handed one to Frank who popped the cap off against the railing and took a swig. Then he examined the label on the bottle.
“Gotta clear our names so we can get back to the States and get some real beer.”
Adler nodded and tapped the neck of his bottle to Frank’s.
“Drink to that.”
A silence passed between them. That was one thing Frank liked about Adler- he never needed to just talk. He was comfortable with quiet. Some guys jabbered on and on. Talking about nothing. Filling the air with words so they wouldn’t have to sit with whatever they were dealing with in their heads. He tried to picture himself and Adler at the VFW sharing a beer and laughing about the old times. Maybe it’d happen. Never in a million years did he think it'd be the two of them that were left. Everyone else was gone, but not them.
“See you dusted that old thing off,” Adler said pointing with his beer hand at Frank’s bandana. It pulled him from his thoughts.
He touched the cloth that covered his forehead.
“Yeah, helps me keep my head in the game… Or something.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he noted Adler adjusting his sunglasses. He rarely ever took them off, even at night. Frank had always suspected they might be corrective. But either way, they all had their things. The objects that made them feel more like themselves. And maybe acted as a barrier between them and the rest of the world. It was how they could stay so tough in tricky situations. Keep their cool.
“Guys like us can never leave this.”
“Nope,” Frank agreed.
Adler cleared his throat before lighting another cigarette. He was always a chain smoker and, of course, most guys liked to have a cigarette with a beer. But he knew Adler well enough, worked with him long enough that even though he put up a front he had his tells. They were just harder to see in him than other people. Frank knew he was stalling.
“Something on your mind?”
Adler let out a soft hah!.
“Come on you’re not exactly as mysterious as you like to pretend.” Frank nudged Adler’s side with his elbow.
He cleared his throat again.
“Just wanted to say thanks,” Adler said more to the sea than to Frank. The confidence in his voice never faltered. Always the arrogant bastard. Frank had to admit he liked that about him too.
“For what?” Frank asked with a laugh. He knew the answer. Adler was grateful Frank believed him. Not just to help him, but it made a difference to know there was someone in the world who had his back. Even a guy like Adler needed that comfort sometimes.
“You’re not gonna start getting emotional on me are you?” He asked.
Adler chuckled in response. Then he stabbed out his cigarette on the railing and flicked it over the edge.
if you need some inspiration, I have a few base on some moodboards I made. I got two idea if you are done for it. Both AdlerBell. One is a phantom! Au while the other is a FoxShifter! Adler au.
I’m having a huge urge to start writing again, but I wanted to know if anyone would like me to try and continue any of my old fics that I stopped writing, or if there is any new prompts you’re interested in reading? I’m very open to suggestions 😄
