She’s barely two weeks old and already looks like she pays rent.
Rosy cheeks. Wrist rolls. Chubby fists that curl like dumplings. König holds her like she’s the rarest thing on Earth—which, to be fair, she is.
She fits in the crook of his massive arm, snug like a loaf of bread. He sits shirtless on the couch in the soft glow of the nursery lamp, murmuring to her in sleepy German as she kicks her fat little feet against his chest.
“Schau dich an, meine kleine Kämpferin… schon so stark.”
He says she’s strong. You say she’s just heavy. Your back is in pieces. Your arms ache. Every time you lift her, she grunts like a baby sumo wrestler.
But König?
He’s in awe.
“Look at her legs, Liebling,” he whispers, gently patting her chunky thigh,
“Look at these! She could crush a man.”
You groan from the bed, eyes half-shut.
“She’s going to crush my will to live if she doesn’t let me sleep.”
But you’re smiling. Because König’s entire world has collapsed into a 7.8 kilogram bundle of chaos who hiccups like a tractor and sleeps like a rock on his chest.
He sings to her sometimes. Off-key lullabies, whispered dreams.
“Maybe she’ll be a boxer,” he says one night. “Or a wrestler.”
“Or a professional eater,” you mumble. “She took out 9 ounces and still looked hungry.”
He laughs. The baby squeaks in agreement.
König pulls her close and gently brushes his nose against hers.
“Whatever she becomes,” he whispers,
“she will know that her papa thinks she is the strongest girl in the world.”
And in his arms—safe, soft, and ridiculously overfed—
She already is.
This idea spawned from the thought:
What if Price knew Simon before Ghost? That's why he said "It's good to see you again Simon." during the whole mask scene. To me, Price is a guy that puts a lot on himself. So... this came out.
are you good at character analysis? I wanna know what your analysis would be for Gaz, I’m trying to figure out his story since he’s my favorite out of TF 141
KYLE GAZ GARRICK
BASIC OVERVIEW — BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Kyle “Gaz” Garrick is a British Black man who enlisted into the British Army around 2008 or 2014 (unfortunately, the developers have inconsistencies). His operator biography states 2008 while the official activision website in a blog post about MW2019 states 2014, however it does make sense for him to enlist in 2008. He would have been at least sixteen years old which is the minimum age requirement to enlist. I would like to quickly throw in that Gaz is indeed older than Soap, as this is a misconception that I surprisingly see a lot! Gaz’s blood type is B- and he currently ranks as sergeant (which according to the official British Army website, it typically takes at least twelve years in the service, however it implies it also depends on the person’s abilities).
Gaz spent four years in the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment. During these four years going through a multitude of tests and challenges before passing selection for Special Air Service (SAS). The activision blog says during MW2019, it’s his sixth year serving as a sergeant. However, as Gaz had been selected for TF141, I believe their ranks have paused in time. Gaz has mostly spent his time in anti-terrorism in his military career. He’s an expert in demolitions, VIP escorting, weapons tactics, covert surveillance, and target elimination. He’s been awarded multiple medals, and earned his Parachute Wings whilst spending time at Camp Lejeune in the U.S. whilst collaborating with Navy SEALs. Kyle is a master of evasion and deception, being the only candidate in his entire class to escape capture from the facility and evade detection during resistance training.
When Gaz first meets Cpt. Price, Gaz is currently assigned to an SAS specific counter-terrorism program in the UK who collaborate with the police, which is another misconception that Gaz was a police sergeant at one point (he was not! I believe some people think this because at E3, Gaz was wearing a police baseball cap).
CHARACTER OVERVIEW
Like true to the original Gaz, he is Price’s protege, being his student. Gaz is overall a serious and hardworking man, loyal and unbreaking. He knows when to joke and he knows when to reload. However, Gaz is not perfect and he does lose his cool (we see subtle development with this later down the road). While being loyal, Gaz does not hesitate to question Price’s choices and actions. We see this multiple times during the series, the most prime example being in MW2019 when Price and Gaz are interrogating The Butcher with Yegor. The Butcher taunts Gaz, causing Gaz to lunge and Price to send him off to fetch.. “The package”. The package being, The Butcher’s family. The reboot games, you have choices, so I’ll give the very basic run down.
You have the option to opt into the interrogation or to opt out of it. If you opt out, Price bursts out of the room with the information (if you go near the door, you hear The Butcher’s family sobbing). If you opt in, you have so many options. At the end of the day, Gaz is mostly silent and follows orders from Price. In the police cruiser scene, Gaz questions Price in the car—he did not expect to be using women and children as bargaining chips and he makes that clear, and this is a big teaching moment between Gaz and Price. We have to remember that Gaz is young and considering everything, inexperienced to an extent. Price makes up for that inexperience, teaching him along the way. During the interrogation scene, Price makes a remark: “We’ve taken the gloves off.” This is because Gaz lashed out. Later in the car, Price says “When you take the gloves off, you get blood on your hands, Kyle. That’s how it works.” after Gaz questions him.
CONCLUSION
Overall, Gaz is a very complex character and I enjoyed watching his development during these games. I’ve seen people claim Gaz is boring or plain, but I genuinely do not believe that to be the case. Gaz, in my opinion, is also the most relatable character. He’s young, ambitious, and determined. He’s charismatic and efficient. I don’t believe a character has to be extremely traumatized, or look very very unique to be a well-crafted character and Gaz is a great example for this.
Gaz is just a man who enlisted; someone who is smart and well-rounded (as much as an SAS member can be), he’s quick on his feet and he molds into group work fantastically. He’s extremely versatile and is a quick learner—and wants to learn. He has his flaws that make him human. Gaz develops great self control, is level-minded and is able to think for himself. A great student questions their mentor in everything and you see this with Gaz.
You see Gaz struggle with morality in the series in a sea of characters who kill and do things without a second thought. We see him question things, we see his emotions and his extreme reluctance. We definitely see some development down the road as Gaz becomes more ruthless, but he never quite forgets his humanity in a way, compared to Price where he can easily disconnect humanity (ex. Calling The Butcher’s wife and son “the package/leverage”).
Along with this, we see him struggle with the rules in place. I also think this is why Gaz and Price’s dynamic is great. There are rules for a reason, and both Price and Gaz know when to break them—but Gaz learns that breaking some rules doesn’t always happen for the most heroic of actions (again, Price’s quote about bloodying your hands after taking the gloves off). Gaz wants to save people and keep the peace, we see this in Piccadilly during the terrorist attacks and the aftermath scene with Price where Gaz lets the Captain know that he and his unit had actionable intel on the terrorist cell who committed the act. Of course, we see later down the road that taking the gloves off removes all limits, not just some of them. We also see a glimpse of Gaz’s conflicting feelings when 141, Farah & Alex, as well as Laswell learn about Hadir and his plans, as well as when Farah’s forces are deemed a terrorist organization.
I think I rambled on a lot about him, hopefully this is understandable!
Sources: price & gaz activision blog intros (2019), inconsistency in enlistment date, cod fandom wiki, gaz scenes mwi & mwii, official british army website.
summary: din comes back from a hunt while you’re sleeping. he has something to confess.
author’s note: this was a request from the list i had reblogged last weekend!
you’d been entering your REM sleep when he crawls into bed.
it’s a subtle shift but it’s enough to stir you awake, a slight intake of air sounding in the darkness. the joys of a ship like the apricus allowed for a large enough bed for the two of you to comfortably sleep in. and while the romantic aspect of your relationship with din was fairly new, sleeping in the same bed was not. sometimes, traveling across the galaxy meant sharing close quarters even before you’ve felt their kiss or memorized the contours of their face in the darkness.
din’s bare chested, tepid, and freshly showered. he smells of bar soap and a spice you’ve grown to love since knowing him; it’s an essential ingredient in the shampoo he used. sometimes when he is away for far longer than you’d like, using his toiletries is a little way of feeling less homesick for him.
a warmth blooms in your chest when he pulls you close and covers the two of you with a thick, woolen blanket he’d bought for you on his travels. with your back against his chest, you can feel every rise and fall of his breath - every beat of his heart. you make a small noise to indicate you’re awake, but not at all disturbed by it.
din’s only been away for four days which - at first felt like eons - but now seems like the most wonderful gift you could receive. still, it doesn’t make the lonely nights any less cold when he’s gone. so to feel him here, safe and at home, lessens the anxiety you’ve been harboring.
“‘m sorry i woke you…” he mumbles in your shoulder, inhaling what he finds to smell so lovely. you really don’t think you smell much like anything, but he lets out a sleepy moan of satisfaction nonetheless.
you bring a hand to thread in his curls and rub your thumb at his scruffy jaw. “don’t be. you know i prefer to be woken when you come home.” your voice is like a cloud - drifting and fluffy; full of something unpredictable because of instability.
din’s arms wrap tighter around your waist like you’ll dissipate into the realm of dreamscape. his nose slots behind your ear and he kisses the shell of it before he whispers -
“i can’t fathom the idea of my life without you in it…”
it’s sung sweet and softly, tickling at your spine. your fingers threading through his locks of hair still, but the empty palm at your side presses against the hand at your waist. you turn in his grasp, aware that the night will shroud his face from your vision.
he trusts you, without hesitation, and allows you to shift your knee between his legs so you can entangle with him comfortably. the two of you are nose to nose, oxygen mingling in the space between you.
“what brought this on?” you ask, running a finger across his brow bone where you can feel worry lines begin to form.
din is silent, considering his next words carefully. “there was a couple that gave me lodging while i was gone. the wife was ill with fever…” he pauses and you can almost hear his heart skip with disdain at the memory. “she passed my last night there. and the husband…he…”
he shakes his head, clearing an image you suspect he’d rather forget.
“it never gets easier to watch someone mourn their loved ones. but now that i…” he stops, his sentence halting so quickly that you can almost hear the gears in his head shift.
strange. din is methodical in everything he does - even storytelling. but now he struggles to form his thoughts like an inebriated person; it’s far too careful to avoid suspicion, though that’s exactly what it ends up doing.
“din?” you whisper. “now that you what?”
he lets out a great sigh. “now that i can understand how terrible the pain must be.”
oh.
oh.
you still, allowing him to continue without spooking him into shutting down. yes, you think, please tell me. please, please, please.
din cups your cheek and brings your forehead to meet his with a keldabe kiss - an honor, sacred in its purpose - despite the fact that his lips are exposed.
“i think i’m falling for you.”
the confession is drawn out and rough around the edges, din’s voice cloaked with an emotion he’s never experienced in his life. his bravery to expose himself like this - to be so honest and raw - brings tears to your eyes.
you find yourself allowing a few tears to escape, the avowal leaving a brittle and beautiful taste in the atmosphere. you smile and sniffle, blushing when din reaches out to wipe the tears from your pink cheeks.
“i love you,” you tell him in a whisper that cracks. “i love you so much that it hurts.”
din presses his lips against yours and you let him, sinking into his arms more than you thought possible.
“i love you, sweet girl…” he mumbles between kisses. “i’ll always keep you safe.”
