#riley rambles about art | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

scarletevening · 2 months

Text

KNEW AND NEW [ SIMON 'GHOST' RILEY ]

cw: suggestive, ghost's pov/ journal-esque, sexual tension, perverted thoughts, military inaccuracies, might be ooc/ not british enough. this is part three to a series. part one. notes: more in pt.2 later hehe. bro academic trenches once again, this time it was like a 1 v. 6. words: 1,081.

Apparently, medical files were just as easily tricked by pretty brown eyes as you were. Because last time you checked, which was definitely not two or three minutes ago, Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley was not stated to have any tattoos.

Blinking in surprise, you watched as the hunk of muscle dashed at the other figure across the sand, white mask reflecting the light of the sun as he moved.

Eyes sharp, shoulders relaxed, lunging forward, I meet Johnny’s eyes as I grapple his shoulders and shove him to the ground, a laugh sounding from the man below me,

“Unfair, L.T.!”

My lips tease a smirk, growling back,

“Don’t think so, Sargent,”

He laughs when I release him, helping him back up to his feet. Usually, I wasn’t one to skimp out on training, but I’d much rather waste my time listening to Johnny ramble on about the dog he’s been thinking of getting than doing any more combative training.

His eyes fall behind my face, his elbow coming to nudge my arm as he grins,

“Y’know L.T. I think me and that medic—”

“Quiet, Johnny.”

I warn, watching as his eyes go wide, the devil’s grin gracing his lips as he raises his arm and waves at her. I take a sharp breath, groaning as my hand tightens into a fist.

“Hi Soap, Ghost.”

She smiles. I could feel it, even though my back was facing her. I sigh, hoping she didn’t take it the wrong way as I glance over my shoulder, turning slowly,

“Mornin’, Doc.”

“Heya, Bonnie.”

Johnny grins, standing closer than he needs to before you. He knows, he just won’t say it. I glare to my side, staring down at his half-shaved head. It was impossible to keep my eyes away from her, her damn brilliant smile, eyes curving into half-crescents as they looked up to meet mine.

My eyes shift back to hers, my stomach turning at the way she giggles and smiles at Johnny, at fucking Soap. How her hands rest on her hips, her hair springing out from around her head as she was mid-shift. He didn’t notice.

I did.

Her eyes were softer, her face a litter hallow as she sucks in her cheeks. Her eyes glittered with the reflection of the orange and red sunset, rounded as they watched Johnny attentively.

“Aye, Doc,”

The words came out of my mouth before I could think of stopping them and when her eyes met mine I couldn’t do anything but stare, whatever else I was going to say slipping away from my tongue. she look at me, looks to my arm, to my tattoos, to the empty spot on my bicep. Her eyes follow every detail of the ink I need to get touched up, yet she glories it like art. I suck on my teeth, spitting out my question like a reluctant apology,

“What’re you doin’ out ‘ere?”

There it was.

Bloody hell, the way her fuckin’ lips turn up in a sheepish smile, glancing up at me, her eyes bouncing around nervously. I can’t help but smirk, the skin wrinkling around my eyes as I shift my feet,

“Oh, just walking around,”

Her voice was so soft, so sweet, untouched by violence and filth of war. I nod blandly, unsure of what else to do under the probing eyes of the slippery bastard beside me.

She smiles again, swaying her hips like she always does when she to awkward to figure out what to say next.

“How, uh, how’s your training?”

The question was obviously for both of us, but her eyes never peeled away from mine. I couldn’t look away either, enamored by the way her eyes filled with curiosity, her cheeks round from the small smile on her face, blushing from either the sun or something else.

I was praying on the latter.

Her eyes glimmered in the sun, fluttering between mine and Johnny’s face as the prick babbles about training. He didn’t matter, she did, an astral beauty whose face never left my damn mind from the moment I met her.

A rose too beautiful to touch, wrapped behind the protective case of her scrubs and white jacket. Too beautiful for a man like me, who spills blood and guts, who would stain her fragile petals.

“Enough, Johnny, get your ass back on the damn field.”

I growl, my eyes meeting his in a sharp glare as he smirks at me. I watched as he pulled her into a hug, my hands tightening into a fist in my pockets as she smiled up at him.

He’s fucking playing with me, laughing with her as he sways with her before pulling away.

I shove the bastard over,

“See ya’, Doc.”

“Bye, Ghost! Soap!”

She grins, her lips a perfect present on her gorgeous face. I turn away before I let my blood rush, my eyes closing as my eyebrows twitch. Soap talks on about something, not that I’m too keen on listening to his English interjected with nonsensical Scottish phrases.

Even the way she walks is graceful, with each step, she’s mesmerizing, like a siren’s song. Yet here I am, a fucking mile away from being anywhere near capable of speaking to her.

My breath felt heavy when I let it out of my lungs, desperate for escape for longer than I realized. Johnny knocks his shoulder to mine, a grin on his face as he looks at me. I groan, rolling my eyes as we lock up for another match.

⚬

Drinking with straws was more common than I had originally thought. Or maybe, my observation didn’t include enough people, since one person probably doesn’t make an accurate statistic.

It was like that night, Two weeks ago when we all had drinks. Two weeks ago when I first saw the way the apples of her cheeks made her eyes squint with each drunken laugh. Two weeks since I saw her wrap her lips around my fucking cherry.

All I could focus on was the way her lips moved when she spoke, how her eyes met mine and how the noise of drunkards around us at the pub dissipated into the hypnotic song of her voice.

Every time I saw her, the way she licked her lips while she searched for her chapstick in her pocket, the way her hips swayed side to side as she looked at the clipboard in her hands.

God, she was fucking addicting to look at, let alone interact with.

The way she knew—yes, fucking knew because there is no way on this bloody Earth this woman pouts so sweetly with her eyes so fucking attractive and she doesn’t know it—she could sink her sweet teeth into me. And I would happily let her.

⚬ ☠︎︎ ⚬

i don't like this one at all tbh. but, hopefully the next one will make up for it. anyways hashtab situationship goals. taglist: @141trash, @thriving-n-jiving, @agorophobicreader, @murder-hobo

EYES THAT HOLD SECRETS

directo

167 notes · View notes

horrorisunknowntoyou · 1 year

Text

Tone indicators.

Simon "ghost" riley x gen reader

Spoilers for MW2, especially the mission 'alone'.

Trigger warnings: gun shot, injuries, self blame and mentioned of childhood abuse.

You were... quiet.

Too quiet in fact.

Through out your whole time being in the military, you kept yourself distant from people. You were highly selective in who you could befriend and trust.

It wasn't your fault you were like this, growing up in abusive, neglected household. And having to be consistently be on alert and deciphering your parents moods etc. It taught you some skills to see through people lies and bluffs. You knew to be observate to every little thing a person does. And if they did one thing you didn't like, you immediately kept your distance away from them.

However as mentioned earlier, there was some downsides in these skills you obtained...it was hard to make friends within people your age.

You would watch other soldiers talk to each other from a distance, laughing, telling stories, family life. And honestly you wanted that...you didn't like being alone but no one liked how you were.

Even yourself.

But that changed when you met a man with a skull mask. Your presence wasn't obvious, you were mostly ignored until something with your speciality came up, like an art kid with a drawing assignment in English class.

But, you soon befriend the quiet man, it took alot of time but he soon put his trust in you. Gently lending a hand to you or sitting next to you without a word and letting you ramble about nonsense.

In all honesty when Simon first saw you, you had this eyes that reminded him of a lost puppy. In which he promptly gave you the nickname K-9. Because of your alertness and observation skills in people. But he mainly just referred to you by name.

And since then you two became inseparable.

You two would be paired in missions at times, sometimes during meetings or small things you would tap on Simon's hand or shoulder to alert him of something. Either they be lying, or something wasn't right.

For example

1 tap = hey, or look

2 tap = be alerted, something not right.

3 tap = this is bad.

4 taps = person is lying.

Etc. You get the jist of it.

So when you two were assigned to the mission of working with Mexican special forces along side soap you didn't bat too much of an eye towards that. But there was something in the back of your head that just didn't feel right.

During this you got to know Alejandro, Soap and others, you had alot of fun joking around and talking to them. They were like family.

And after you guys completed the mission involving the missile, a sense of dread chilled down your spine. Your chest felt heavy, Graves tone felt off...

Something was not right.

How could you not seen this sooner?

We're you blind sided?

Did you second guess yourself?

Ghost gently tapped your hand to see what's wrong as everyone walked to the gate. You quickly grabbed his hand and tapped 3 times.

Graves noticed this as they were in a middle of capturing Alejandro. He pulled out his pistol and shot y/n.

" your too alerted for your own good. " He says firmly almost mocking you.

" Y/N!"

Ghost, immediately grabbed you and hid behind a truck, his palm pressed against your wound. Soap in the other hand, fired back at the shadow company, jumping over the railing and heading down town.

Ghost had to cover your mouth letting you bite down on his thumb due to the pain and to not make any noise. Once the coast is clear he went off the other side of the road.

He went inside one of the homes, setting you down on some kitchen tiles.

"how you hold'n on? " Ghost says at you.

"physically I'm alright, but mentally no." You mumbles, as you went over to a table and with your knife, cut a piece of the fabric off to use a make shift bandage for the time being as Ghost tries to contact Soap.

Once you stop the bleeding, you looked over to Ghost. "Johnny is alive?" He nods, as your peered over to him " Simon...I'm sorry I should have noticed sooner...I'm- I'm so sorry.."

Ghost sighs, "There's nothing for you to be sorry for. Don't blame yourself."

"but-"

"Enough. First thing first, is we meet up with Johnny and figure this out." He lends his hand out to you. " Come on, I don't want to loose you in this"

You nodded and follow his suit, finally getting yourself connected with Johnny.

As you three make yourself unnoticed by the shadow company.

" y/n, how you holding on? " Soap asked.

" fine, for now...Graves didn't shoot any major organs. How about you? "

"messy."

You snickered at his comment, as you made way through a bloodied home, checking for supplies.

" good to know, you can still laugh during times like this" soap commented.

You just rolled your eyes, " what else can I do?"

---------------------

Eventually, you and ghost found an church.

"Tell johnny to meet us here, for now, we need him alive." You gestured.

Ghost nods, " Good idea, I'll take sniper position, I want you on look out, alright? Don't push yourself. "

" aye, aye captain." you playfully salute to him, as you can feel him rolling eyes at that comment.

As Ghost takes position, you kept an eye out, mainly listening to Ghost and Soap's banter. Once an awhile joining in. But soon Soap noticed your speech was off abit.

"Ghost, something is wrong with y/n you need to check on them."

"What?"

" Their speech, it's slurred...sounds like their drunk. It's best to keep them beside you. "

"slurred? Bloody hell. "

Ghost immediately heads down, and grabs you by the shoulders and shake you awake.

" y/n hold on! Johnny is near and I need you awake, this is no place to close your eyes, You hear me?"

You nodded, rubbing your eyes, soon the shadow company started to barge in. Ghost immediately helped you up to your feet.

"we need to hold it down till Soap comes and get a vehicle out of here. Do you think you can hold on till then? "

" yes sir. "

"atta (y/g)," he pats your back " let's get moving, they aren't asking for forgiveness are they? "

You smile, " no sir. "

------------

You shot at the shadow company, making your way outside, seeing soap outside the gate steps.

" Ghost! Soap's here! "

Ghost nods, shooting the rest of the shadow company inside, and runs over to some crates and jumps down. As you made over, he catches you and sets you down.

"Soap! We need a vehicle, on me-!" He says as he steps down the wet concrete steps. Running and taking cover, making sure both soap and y/n are following behind.

" stay sharp, they know we're here and they know it's us. They'll send more." Ghost informs soap.

As more of the shadow company appears in the plaza, gunning them down.

As you ran across the plaza shooting at the shadow company, you see a truck up ahead.

" trucks with lights on, up ahead! That's out exfil! " You alerted the other two men. " There's not much space, but I can still fit in the middle! Hurry!"

Ghost, jumps in taking the driver's seat, as soap takes in shotgun.

You never been so glad to be in middle seat for once.

"alright Johnny- you made it..." Ghost says out of breath. You smiled at soap, nodding in agreement tired at this point.

" we made it. L.t..."

soon shots are fired on the truck, glass shattering in the back. Ghost instinctly, cover your head down. Both to cover you and to look behind them as he reverses the truck. Immediately stepping on the gas and hauling ass out there.

--------------

Once at Alejandro's base, the twos boys, made sure it's safe. Once case was clear, Ghost gestured you to come over.

The two men talked to Rodolfo their plans to break out Alejandro and " los vaqueros".

In the meantime Ghost, tells you to keep watch of the base, and to rest a bit. You needed it.

You wanted to argue but by then you were too exhausted and nodded. Before they leave for the prison break, Ghost walks over to you and pressed foreheads together, his hand on the back of your head.

You smiled as you were laying on a pile of hay.

"Love you too, Ghost I'll be okay.... " Your hands gently pressed against his cheek.

"You worry me too much." He mumbles.

"Of course I do." You mumbles, closing your eyes.

"Rest well. " He gently lets go, and walks out to follows the others outside.

A/n: I'm so sorry if this sucks lmao, but I genuinely tried! I hope you like it either way! :D

#simon ghost riley x reader #simon riley x you #simon riley x reader #ghost x reader #call of duty x reader

2K notes · View notes

bravo4iscool · 1 month

Note

Hii, this this the person talkin about chubbier Simon! Give me a sec and let me set the stage for you,

Simon Riley x 141!reader whos on military leave to cope after a particularly hard mission. Reader finds a way of coping and expressing their love to simon through the art of cooking for him constantly. (i come from largely a guyanese and indian family so everyday theres always good food on the table) So we all know this man can eat ALOT (he needs to maintain his girlish figure after all😌lmao) So i can just IMAGINE him eating all the stews, curries, roti and rice (or whatever culture/country reader comes from)he can get his hands on! He would have such an appreciation for food from working in the military so long and having limited food he could eat. So going from a man of pure slabs of muscle to slabs of muscle but WITH softer abs he gets a little self conscious but he sees the benifits that hes getting alot with a great meal everyday and how his reader ogles him everyday hes starts to like the change. (Theres actually more benefits for having muscle and fat than just pure muscle!! When you see bodybuilders with just pure muscle the muscles in their whole body are constricted causing cramps and alot more muscle pulling in day to day life compared to heavy weight lifters who many not look as muscular but can lift much more while still having a strong core and overall more power)

Sorry to ramble and run but this has been rattling my brain. Have a great day and remember to drink water♡

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS OMG!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS ASK!!! i‘m sorry i wasn’t able to answer it any sooner, i‘m in my last three weeks of school and it‘s kinda stressful🥲. i hope you can understand…

as someone who is russian-german i totally understand the whole food thing😭 (thats why reader will be russian-german lol. it‘s the only culture i really know about the food and all that (at least i think i know about the food🧍🏼). also, i do not know the english names of the food so i‘ll be using the terms i know.)

i hope you like this!!

(masterlist)

REQUESTS/ASKS OPEN!!!

„y‘cooking too good f‘me,“ simon mumbles as he puts his arms around your waist and pulls you into his chest. „‘m loosing all my muscles.“

you chuckle and turn your head to look at him. „that‘s not true! you‘re just developing a little more fluff.“ you smile and turn again to focus on the food you‘re preparing. „besides having muscles with a layer of fat is way healthier than just muscles.“ you can feel simon nod with his head rested on yours.

„what‘re y‘makin‘?“

„pelmeni,“ you answer, skilfully sticking the dough together so the meat would stay inside while you cook them. „i haven‘t made them for you till now.“

simon lowers his head so it‘s beside yours and examines the dough and meat in front of you. „thought we a’ready had ‘em two weeks ago?“

you shake your head and lick your bottom lip, trying to concentrate. „that were manti simon. they are made like…mochis. pelmeni are cooked in water.“

simon doesn‘t say anything and buries his nose in your neck. „t‘boys will laugh a‘me when we return,“ he mumbles as his lips ghost over your skin to leave little kisses.

„they won‘t,“ you protest and slightly slap his arm. „if anything they will be jealous!“ you dust your hands off and turn around in his arms. he looks at you and you start to frown. „you are not…insecure, are you?“ when simon just blinks at you without answering you take his face into your hands.

„you, simon riley, do not need to be insecure because you’re eating good. you’re not getting fat or losing muscles. if anything, you’re only getting healthier because the army food is total garbage and you’re finally getting some real food,“ you try to explain, withstanding his gaze the whole time. „don‘t beat yourself up over stuff like this.“ your voice is gentle as you caress his scarred face with your thumbs. „you deserve something good life. let me be that something.“

silence follows after you‘re done talking and you could swear you saw a tear in simon‘s eye but then he blinks and it is gone. „i don‘t deserve ya,“ he whispers, pulling you close again. „i don‘t deserve ya…“

„oh, but you do,“ you smile as you pull him down to press a gentle kiss on his lips. „you do deserve me and you also deserve my food.“ you put your arms around his waist and hug him. he does the same, keeping you close to him. he rests his head on yours and closes his eyes. he just wants to savour this moment…

#writing #ao3 #fanfiction #archive of our own #story writing #call of duty #simon riley #cod #ghost #simon ghost riley #simon riley x you #simon riley x reader #simon ghost riley x you #simon ghost riley x reader #ghost x you #ghost x reader #dad bod simon #dad bod simon riley

115 notes · View notes

lazybutsmexy · 1 year

Text

Masterlist

Writing blog for One Piece and Haikyuu: x

Archive of Our Own: x

Rules: x

All x reader writings are gender neutral unless specified.

If you ever make art inspired on my works, @ me so I can see it and reblog it!! 🫶♥️

Edit 04/26: if you have trouble accessing any links, you should be able to find each individual work by searching for the name in the search bar in my blog. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Call of duty

König (my beloved)

Smoke break - x reader | light angst, fluff, comfort, protective König | you are a bartender and your stalker creeps you out. König catches on and fixes the problem.

A glimpse - x reader | light angst, fluff, comfort, injured reader, a bit of pining on both sides | you get injured in a mission, and König feels he could've done better.

The sound of your voice - x reader | light angst, fluff, comfort | Konig feels self-conscious when telling you about his current obsession, but his voice is like a balm to your tired mind.

Jealous König drabble - x reader

König comforts you - x reader

Cheater - x reader (platonic)

Alejandro Vargas

Choices have consequences - x reader | light angst, culinary crimes, mention of food insecurity | Alejandro made a passing comment about your food that you didn't like one bit, so you humble him.

"V" - x reader | pure tooth rotting fluff, pillow talk, marriage talk, you're both so smitten ugh | Alejandro and you discuss the idea of getting a matching tattoo instead of rings.

Are you looking for a wife? - fem!reader | fluff, injured reader, medical drug use, stoner talk | Whenever you get ketamine as pain relief, you lose all thought-to-speech filter.

Heart-Stopping - fem!reader | tiny angst, fluff, medical innacuracies. mention of violence/injuries, pregnancy announcement, crack-ish | Only Alejandro can kill Alejandro. You may easily give him a heart attack, though.

Simon "Ghost" Riley

No better than a Victorian man - x reader | suggestive, Simon being a tease | You like to look at your lieutenant, especially when there's barely anything to look at

A bedtime story - GN!reader | platonic | you have no choice but to keep LT's secret for a relaxed, soothing sleep to you grave.

Ghost x chubby!reader headcanons - x m!reader

Tea - GN!reader | angst, hurt no comfort, character deaths | Last minute confessions.

Ghost x reader x Soap

Bird Hunting - x fem!reader | angst, hurt, kidnapping, drugging, sexual harassment, violence (warnings will update as series progresses)

Rotten Apple - x fem!reader | hurt/comfort, referenced past child neglect, abusive/narcissistic parents | Set after the events in BH | Sweetened apples turn sour when rotten apples are around.

Emotional Support Bird - x fem!reader | fluff, domestic, Soap and Ghost share a braincell | Canary rambles about a ln emotional support dog she saw at the market. Ghost and Soap have an idea.

Emotional Support Bird Pt.2 - x fem!reader | fluff, hurt/comfort, Ghost x Canary centric - Soap is only mentioned here | Ghost has a nightmare, and Canary an idea.

Emotionally Supported Bird (Pt. 3)- x fem!reader | fluff, hurt/comfort | Canary knows exactly where to seek solace in the middle of the night.

Ghost x Soap x K9handler!reader

The Mission - x K9 handler!reader | fluff, K9 Dolly's POV mostly | K9 Dolly is sent on her first solo mission.

John Price

Salt and pepper - x gn!reader | fluff | The realization of age hung heavily on his shoulders. Luckily for him, you're more than ready to share it with him.

141 x reader

Lucy - x fem!reader (platonic) | crack | an interesting story behind the origin of Y/n's callsign.

Affectionate reader - x GN!reader (platonic) | fluff | headcanons and a little drabble on the Task Force receiving and enjoying your affection.

Affectionate reader Pt. 2 - x GN!reader (platonic) | angst | The team loses it's spark (you)

Affectionate reader Pt. 3 - x GN!reader (platonic) | hurt/comfort | it's the team's turn to show you affection

Incorrect Quotes

Father Figure

Gummy worms

Dilf

Farmers' market

(Un)forgettable

Relatable

Brothers

Mystery

Couples' advice

Valentine's Day blurbs

WIPS ← check here for your request!

637 notes · View notes

minzis · 5 months

Text

Because It Was You

Art Credits: Victoria by Fritz Schaper

•┈୨A Simon Riley One-Shot୧┈•

✦❘༻Summary: Stuck in a sense of saudade Simon finds himself unable to come to terms with the reality of you slowly falling out of love with him.

✦❘༻Tags: Pure angst <3 2.3k words.

✦❘༻Author’s Note: I listened to “Waiting Room” by Phoebe Bridgers while writing if you’d like to listen as well! I just aim to hurt people as much as possible because what is life without deliciously hurtful angst :3

•┈୨♡୧┈•

Ghost knew he wasn’t that good of a man, he always felt like you were just to good for him. A pretty face and a pretty voice, everything about you was beauty in its purest form for him. How he managed to have you in the first place alone was astounding, a miracle in his eyes. You were everything he was not, a sweetness so sweet it was like a daily sugar rush. Him not deserving you was the only thing that ever plagued his mind. How could a woman like you love a man like him?

The type of woman they put on the cover of vogue, the type to have poems written about and for them. So for a beauty to haven falling for the beast he did everything he could to make you happy. No matter what you asked he’d have it done because if it made you happy then it made him happy.

You called him having a bad day at work? That’s okay he’ll just bring you a handwritten card and the food you talked about craving last week! Your sick he’ll bring every medicine there possibly is excluding the one you said you didn’t like cause it made your head hurt. Even if it was late at night he’d make the drive because it was you.

You felt lonely while he was away, that’s fine he got you two little puppies. You named one Grim after the first time you met joking he looked like a Grim Reaper. He laughed over the phone when you rambled about names he said he didn’t like it but truly he liked whatever you did. If you liked blue he loved blue and if you hated red then he despised red. His world moved just to circle around you every day and night felt like it was for you.

He never bought you flowers he always got you plants because you said they lasted a lifetime like the one you planned to spend with him. Apartment cluttered to the point you might as well call it a Garden House. His shelf littered with little things you had given him. “It reminded me of you,” you’d say with the cutest smile he’d swear he had ever seen, it was humbling.

Picking you up from work in the rain or snow since the day you said you were often scared to drive in it yourself, if he couldn’t pick you up himself he’d send a driver. There were many times where he couldn’t always be there so he tried what he could do to make it feel less empty. Outings with friends using his card insisting it was nothing compared to the millions of things he’d do for you. Gentle messages awkwardly formed but enough to show he still cared despite being thousands of miles away.

He liked to think he noticed fairly early at least subconsciously but maybe he ignored it cause it might hurt less then. The look in your eyes faltering ever so slightly as you looked at him. Maybe he knew before you did in many ways more then one. What could he do? What had he done that was so wrong? Should he have looked at you more? Hadn’t he loved you enough?

If you still came home every night to him it was enough, it should’ve been enough but he couldn’t help but want more, crave more. He knew how selfish it was but he didn’t care because it was you. It always was you and always would be you. It killed him, truly killed him in ways he didn’t even realize. How could he ever love if it wasn’t you? He didn’t know how, you taught him how beautiful love could be and how destroying it could be.

You’d come home with a bright smile hug at him the same as you always did but it never felt the same. Not once he knew but maybe it was some childish fairy-tail his love was enough for both of you. They always warn you not to trust strangers or watch for cars before crossing the road. But they don’t teach you about the pretty girls with soft voices from the heavens as if to answer the prayers he made. They don’t teach you how to let them go and to stop loving.

He felt stupid for beating at what would be considered a dead horse, he couldn’t help but try though couldn’t he? He knew you’d never cheat that just not who you are. But he also knew you cared too much for him even if it meant sticking around when you didn’t want too. He knew you were just too good of a person to break his heart like that and he took advantage of it even though it felt horrible it didn’t feel as horrible as losing you.

But seeing the sullen look on you face everyday pained him more then he thought it would. He felt foolish and stupid like the times Johnny would rant about love and how he knew Simon would eventually find someone. He told him he never would, because who could ever love someone like him? He didn’t tell him the other half though seemed deeper then he wanted to go with him.

He tried to do more no matter what it costed him, if he could give you everything he would’ve without hesitation or a single doubt. More calls, more gifts, more affection words he had to choke up because he knew it was only to tape up his tattered heart. He knew every stitch in the book but how was he supposed to stitch up a breaking heart?

He’d take you on dates the day after he’d return from deployment almost like insurance it’d make you stay longer, love him longer. But it never seemed to do what it did before, yeah you laughed and smiled but did you mean it? Did you mean it when you said you loved him? He wasn’t sure anymore, he had always been good at reading people from a glance but he lost that power at times when he had to look at you. Then again he probably chose to unsee what he seen every time he dared to stare long enough in your eyes to realize he was losing you.

It wasn’t a future he had foreseen coming one, one he hadn’t planned an outcome for. He never wanted kids before but with you he felt like he could try, it felt like a life he could have. A version of life in where he was happy with what he had. He never truly had a plan for the chance you would leave him one day, under the belief his love could be enough. You had been together for over a year or two now so he let his guard down, he let himself be vulnerable for the first time in a very long time. It was very apparent the life he planned with you wasn’t going to happen since the first day you leaned back from his kiss.

Restless nights he spent out on deployment in fear when he came home you weren’t going to be there. A feeling that resonated deep in his bones that you were going to up and leave. He hated it all every second he felt helpless like the same child who was still scared of ghosts. It all caught up fairly quickly with his work, he was either ferociously vicious or barely stumbling through the day. It almost got him killed on more then one occasion.

He couldn’t ever bring himself to tell you whenever he got injured cause deep down he knew you’d just feel even more guilty then you already did. Sure you hadn’t done anything but you had done more by doing nothing. He was either getting more injuries or racking up an inhumane amount of kills. Kills that were unnecessary and downright cruel but he hadn’t cared when it was the only outlet he could find. He felt sick with himself spending hours at the sink scrubbing his hands before he dared to ever touch you with hands like his. The blood never came off though.

He sighed shaky hands wrapped around the edges of some shitty sink in another safe house he couldn’t remember the name of. Fingers clung at the edges of his mask tugging it off. He stared in the mirror for what felt like hours at a face he couldn’t recognize anymore. He was almost glad you fell for this face and not the horrid mask. The thin layer between who Simon and Ghost was, he already knew Ghost was unlovable but he had hopes for Simon.

He tried to be a better man with substance one deserving of your time and love. But you didn’t do that, you had loved both parts of him he tried so hard to separate. He began to hold the belief that every part of him he wrote off could possible be loved. Parts of him you called imperfectly beautiful because even if he had come home deeply stained in blood he was still good. And you made him feel that way for a longtime so the thoughts of losing that were never going to go over well.

Reckless and dangerous was what he had become while away. It scared the team the little regard he had show on multiple occasions after endangering his life like it meant nothing. Simon had always been careful purposely with each step he took so for him to make a mistake at all seemed alien almost. Despite his protest Price decided to dismiss him for a few months in hopes it would clear whatever he had going on.

He started at the door what felt like hours but before he could open the door himself the door swung open. “You’re home early,” your tone was angry causing him to stiffen under your sharpened gaze. He expected more but you just turned back further into the house leaving the door open for him. “Price called,” you stated eyeing him as he inched his way into the kitchen. His eyes softened seeing you turning back to the stove stirring the pan, his favorite meal. Despite your anger you still made him his favorite damn meal.

He really wanted you to stay.

“He said you almost died Simon,” you spoke softly and he hated how disappointed you sounded. He couldn’t bring himself to speak unable to find the words that would carry enough apologies. A loud silence filled the room as he remained still staring at your back. This was fine it was going to be fine.

“Simon baby I can’t keep doing this,” you spoke breaking the silence.

“I know love, I’m sorry,” his breathing hitched in between his words.

“You can’t keep saying sorry and still going out there recklessly,” you rebutted curtly. “I don’t know what I was thinking, hell I don’t even know if I was,” he answered with a softness.

“I love you I really do but I can’t keep living out of fear everyday because of your stupid decisions,” he nodded his head understandably but for some reason it only seemed to upset you more. “I know-” you cut him off angrily. “No you don’t know cause if you did you wouldn’t keep doing this,” you motioned with your hands.

“For fuck sakes Simon how am I supposed to live worried everyday cause you run out there like you’re invincible, how am I supposed to live knowing that?” you called out desperately to him for some explanation in words but all you were met with was silence.

“Forget it let’s just eat,” you grabbed at the two plates placing them on the dinner table one in-front of the other before half-hazardously sitting down. His eyes followed your movements silently coming to terms. He wasn’t sure what to say or do when nothing was going to fix what was only going to further worsen things.

He didn’t know what to do when everything he knew about love was from what you taught him. You hadn’t taught him how to stop loving you though. He wondered if he could love anyone else like he did with you. Didn’t know if he had it in him to love that strongly again. He was grieving a loss that had long been coming. From the look on your face, fork dancing around the food, he could tell you no longer wanted to be here.

He prayed every night with tears in his eyes that this day wouldn’t come. He asked the gods for forgiveness in all the things he had done wrong. For them to just let him have you and he’d never ask for anything again. He’d live in a hellish purgatory for an eternity if he just got to be happy in this lifetime it would have been worth it.

Maybe in the next lifetime you’d choose to love him again.

He knew it was for the better, he couldn’t keep you chained like this when you can’t help your heart, just like how he couldn’t help his. It’s funny how cold the air had felt before but it managed to be so warm around you. His shaken hand gripped at the ring box in his pocket he long should’ve returned and like the calm before the storm he finally spoke,

“I want to break up.”

#minzis suga #cod x reader #simon ghost riley #ghost x reader #ghost #ghost angst #simon riley x reader #simon riley angst #cod x y/n #cod x you #ghost cod #cod angst

138 notes · View notes

rileyclaw · 2 years

Note

Hi I really like your art and if you don’t mind, what does your coloring process look like?

!! thank you so much!! And yeah I don't mind sharing at all!!

I'll use this lined drawing I did this past weekend but never really finished- with a basic background and semi-clean linework!

(One extra note is that I never really use "pure" white - I always choose an off-white! It makes the colours more cohesive that way?? At least I think so. like if you zoom in the white of Amity's eye is just a much paler skin colour, the whites of her shoes are pink, etc)

Maybe it's a lazy process, but it's mine! ! I dunno if it, helps you at all but I'm always happy to share what goes on in this brain that manages to spit out art a couple times a week

#anon dw you didnt seem pushy at all!! i was just in class so I couldnt answer right away #riley rambles about art #riley talks #art help #my art

620 notes · View notes

beloved-blaiddyd · 2 months

Text

“You might've heard of me as a textbook writer on Tome Mastery: A Guide To Advanced Reason Spells. As you might have guessed, I'm also a Blue Lions alumna... That, and I am the current chairperson of the Department of Reason Magic— so I'm plently capable to guide you around the Officer's Academy!"

"Sorry, I'm newly promoted. I nearly forgot that I'm no longer just a professor.”

“But before that, I need to know a few things... You must be...”

18+ years of age. [Minors: Do Not Interact];

And respectful of different ethnicities and other walks of life [Racists/Homophobes: Do Not Interact]

“... to enter and read its contents. I can't guarantee your safety otherwise. Oh, and I'm a rather busy woman, and I don't tolerate nonsense either. Perhaps it comes from being a tactician in the last war. If you have any questions, send a letter. I'll accept inquiries about..."

Greetings and other formalities;

Profile analysis [character brainrots/fic ideas];

and news updates & relevant fun facts about the library to share [irl and fandom related]

“However, I will promptly BURN your letter if it involves...”

Carnal desires [NSFW thirst asks. I'm ace and uninterested in matters of the flesh. Please send that to another fellow fan instead.];

and childish and irrelevant content [copypastas and overall spam is not tolerated.]

“That is all. If you believe I'm rather strict, that stems from years of experience handling groups of people. Failing to lay down groundwork tend to incite attacks on boundaries among members.”

“... Three thousand five hundred men have died because of this on the Fodlan Wars. Let's not repeat those mistakes.”

How to send asks...

For anons: please make up a realistic fake name. It's for the sake of the theme. Example:

Dear Brynlee,

I can't stop brainrotting about Zhongli like what if he's a prince- prince au zhongli with princess consort reader go brrrrrrr like wtf i can't stop thinking about morax girl i need help

Ms. Sophia Pendragon

I won't entertain "can I be 🗣️ anon" asks. This will let me know if an anon read the rules. Plus, I prefer using names rather than scrambling to find emojis instead. I quit my old one despite being a decently "successful" blog because anons do not respect personal boundaries on my asexuality despite it being explicitly written down. This is just an act of self-preservation.

When sending asks please note that this blog is following Three Houses' worldbuilding. Claiming to be a God or some Diety in the asks will certainly follow confused responses as majority of the cast believes only in Sothis. Modern inventions will likely confuse "Brynn" as well. That is all!

P.S: if you wish to talk to me as a creator, address me as Beloved/B rather than Brynn so I know when to break character. Ty!

Anon List...

Riley H. Goodheart

Steven Sterling

Bremen

Lia Tostyava

Reli

Crow

How the blog tags posts...

$ ooc: out of character/setting ramblings (casual talk)

$ brynn's manuscripts: for writing

$ brynn's papers: for art

$ support conversations: for ramblings and general interactions, both fictional and otherwise.

$ A-Support = _____: for mutuals/characters

$ C-Support = Mx. ____: for anons/new friends

$ S-Support = ____: for (romantic) self-ships...

- Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd

- Dainsleif

- Oda Sakunosuke

- Gepard Landau

$ auxiliary missions: ask games or participated events

$ abyss revisited: in-case-you-missed-it reblogs

$ traded tomes: fanfic recommendations

$ traded papers: fanart recommendations

$ traded news: important irl news or other fandom related posts

#$ table of contents #$ about the author == true #$ rules and regulations == true

23 notes · View notes

iravaid · 10 months

Note

(in reference to your reblog)

I would absolutely love an exhaustive breakdown of all of your decisions regarding ‘Simon Riley in Situations’

That series consumes me. Much like in the way that Simon was consumed by the desert. I have been fundamentally altered by it.

Oh my god, genuinely thank you so much for asking

This became a very long set of rambles that I have two split in two, possessed by the talk too much demons... sad! Here is the first part, the second part I'll tack on in a later reblog.

More below, I get a little bit Pepe Silvia in this, but oh well lmao

An Introduction

I’m going to preface this with stating that the comics are bad. On an artistic and writer’s standpoint, their net value is negative. I have read those six wretched issues at least seven times through and feel confident in that assertion. I have no idea why people think they’re actually good, in the face of muddy rendering and an overall displeasing art style, Americanised writing with poor panelling and pacing and dialogue, among other torture-porn related things.

That being said, there are moments of competency that shine through, past the early 2000s edge and casual sexism + racist stereotypes, which in turn irritates me because it does show there could have been a better story here. And Yet. But the comics have been a well of spiteful inspiration, first with Except You, and second with In The Desert (and perhaps more to come), and I do want to talk about that. (and I do know that the comics aren’t necessarily canon for the reboot Ghost, but like. C’mon. Work with what we’ve currently got. Even if my money is on Makarov in the reboot having something to do with Ghost’s past, considering the knowing look he and Price share upon seeing the photo.)

Simon is a character that has been doomed by the narrative since day one, and while it would not be a surprise if he survives MW3 on account of the company wanting to make money off his multiplayer counterpart, there is a certain compelling grief in knowing his fate was always going to be how it was in the original trilogy. Simon suffers: Simon dies; Ghost suffers: Ghost dies. There is no other way this story ends. And there is something about the cyclical nature of his life, and patterns to be found in a such a story, which I think are extremely fun to try and enforce, as well as emphasise. It’s this, among other things, that makes him a compelling character to me. Well – that and him being tall, built like a brick-shithouse, gravelly voice, wears a skull mask, has a strong sense of loyalty and compassion for fellow soldiers… (but that’s beside the point!!!!).

The things he went through in the comics had occasionally been so over the top that I need a moment to stand back and go ‘… really? Like. Really? After all that, you put him through more?’ after every reread. It’s not enough that his entire family was murdered but also his psychiatrist and superior officer, and so on and so on. But unfortunately, I have to reiterate that the comics have been a source of inspiration. ‘Simon Riley In Situations’ is an extension of this spiteful motivation to retell/improve upon what the comics were trying to do, as well as occasionally extrapolating on them, or even warping canon to better accommodate my own headcanons/the rebooted universe.

I love stories were a main/side character goes through an incredible change, to the point where they’re noticeably and irreparably different to how they were at the beginning of the story, for better or for worse. Examples that come to mind, currently, are Jinx from Arcane, Zuko from ATLA, Ahsoka in Clone Wars, Steve from Stranger Things. To me, the transformation of Simon into Ghost is something very compelling. The Simon Riley that’s about to fly to the states with Major Vernon is a man very, very different to the Simon Riley freshly recruited into the 141 by Shepherd. But fundamentally they’re still the same person, and that can be an important facet for a big change in a character imo.

I like using a lot of poems and songs and the occasional bible reference in my works. I know it’s fanfiction and maybe for some people that’s overdoing it, but I love it. I love how art informs and inspires itself, and I love using the inherent emotional and cultural connections attached to a specific work in order to enhance that of my own writing. I think it’s good practice, and maybe it doesn’t matter that it’s expressed in the form of fanfiction. I’m a better writer because of it, and that’s something of significance to me: I never studied English lit/creative writing at a higher level of education, so this is where it will be expressed.

Skulls, Death, and the Ghost

Skulls haunt Simon throughout the comics; in turn, Simon has been haunted by the Ghost he’s doomed to become for a very long time. Roba wears skull face-paint when torturing and attempting to brainwash Simon, Simon’s father used to wear skull face-paint when performing, Simon smeared toothpaste on his face when in recovery from Roba’s captivity and it resembled a skull, Tommy wore a skull mask to emulate his father, and Simon hallucinates skeletons/skulls at different points in the comics. Finally, when his family are killed and Simon goes on his revenge mission, he wears the same face paint as he did during Día de Los Muertos when Roba captured him. He claims that the brainwashing didn’t ‘work’ (as the comics put it), but here Simon is, wearing the same mask as his tormentors. I wanted to stretch that recurring imagery by adding the vocalist wearing the skull face-paint in chapter one of Except You. Something there about returning to form, or perhaps finally looking back to see what exactly is that thing who’s been lurking in the back of your mind. I describe the skull reoccurring as “morbidly familiar” in that this has always been Simon’s fate, and it doesn’t matter what he does to try and escape, because he will always return to it.

It can also be stretched to symbolise his close relationship with Death. Simon has ‘died’ a lot of times in the story. At first he believes he’s dead on a subconscious level (nightmares with Roba’ saying he killed him), but then issues 3+4 happen, and that belief escalates into a conscious conviction that he died on the concrete floor in Roba’s captivity; he died out there in the desert; he died surrounded by his family’s corpses on Christmas; he died the moment he killed Roba; he died for good at the end of MW2. Roba killed Simon, and Ghost put whatever ‘Simon Riley’ once was to rest in the funeral pyre of his childhood home. Ghost has always had to everything on his own up until this point: even give himself a proper sendoff. A part of me wonders if Ghost believes himself, on some level, to be the keeper of Simon’s memory and identity. That is what a ghost is, right? The thing that lingers after a tragedy.

It's something incredibly interesting to consider present-era Ghost. Does he still think he’s dead? Is he waiting for the rot to set in? Has he been so dissociated from himself for so long that he doesn’t know how else to function, and on some level is terrified of what might happen, should he in turn look back to face whatever is left of ‘Simon Riley’? Maybe Ghost can be interpreted as the one that came back ‘wrong’, and he’s waiting for other people to notice that there’s nothing left but a corpse. He has gotten very little help by way of therapy/counselling, and probably doesn’t have the tools nor language at his disposal to neither work through these things, nor know how to voice them in the first place. That’s one of the reasons I wrote Simon as not fully aware of the definition of ‘child abuse’ and how it related to him. He knows Nigel (his father) was a cunt and a wifebeater, but he doesn’t know those necessary psych terms to properly begin processing what happened to him both as a child and adult, because who could have taught him? He never got the chance to go to DBT or CBT, and that hazy moment of time with Dr Halloway probably wasn’t conducive to learning about things like CPTSD and trauma and abusive households. I tried to extrapolate this, with Simon’s internalised ableism also being a block to fully accepting or even processing those terms. He’s in a lot of pain, and he very, very desperately wants to move on, to return to how he used to be before all of ‘this’. Will talk later on about how the military factors in to keeping the status quo of ‘the Ghost’.

In tarot (love you tarot love symbolisms in it love when it’s used in media mwah mwah), the death card symbolises major change, rebirth, and endings and beginnings.

If anything, Simon Riley is defined by his deaths and rebirths, how he keeps forcing himself to change in order to survive a brutal narrative set for him. And Ghost, who bears a skull-face not dissimilar to the grim-reaper, perhaps wears this taboo symbol to ward off ‘evil’, or to use that fear in order to keep people at arm’s length, in response to these injustices done to him by fate and the machinations of people far crueller than Simon. He has been through a lot, and still he keeps moving, keeps completing missions and being a ‘good soldier’, because that’s all Simon knows. He’s like a shark in that way, or a well-trained dog: he was never taught, nor given the chance to learn, how to not be a soldier. This is something me and @narramin, affectionately refer to as hound-coding, which, god, really suits Simon. Will talk about it further on.

Roba Himself

Manuel Roba is certainly there. It’s honestly incredibly disappointing to see how this specific character was handled, how heavily the writers leaned into stereotypes to depict Roba – there’s a panel of him holding a burrito for fuck’s sake. This caricature of a villain is both lazily written, but also serves to reduce the impact he has on Simon. This man is supposed to be the primary antagonist, above Simon’s abusive father. He is the reason that Ghost exists, the reason the Riley family are dead, and can be considered the primary catalyst for most of the comics’ plot. And yet this man, and all that he represents in Simon’s suffering, is reduced to the fat ‘El Gordo’ with dialogue lines that are ultimately meaningless, a personal motivation that is only said in his dying breath without further exploration, and ultimately is a villain without any teeth. I think Roba has the potential to be a terrifying figure, one this kind of dark story needs in order to ensure that Simon’s suffering isn’t made a joke when compared to the one at the source of it all.

There are moments of competency and personality that shine through here and there. The pink deck chair in the sensory overload room, the ‘plant flowers over [the grave]’ line, as well as Roba choosing to make himself appear as the grim reaper himself as a way to express ultimate power over his captives’ lives (and, in turn, Simon killing Roba and choosing to don the skull-face could be seen as him taking that control back).

There is a set of panels, one from issue 5 and another from issue 6, that piques my attention when placed together (seen below). Simon has tried so hard to convince himself and others that he is fine, that Roba’s brainwashing failed, that he is not deeply affected by the seven months of torture and humiliation and dehumanisation. But then he comes back from the dead wearing the same face-paint as Roba. He refers to himself as death, as does Roba. That man has his claws deep in Simon, and Roba knew this, and he died with a smile on his face because of it. As quoted by his final words: in the end Roba is just one man. Killing him won’t bring back the Rileys and it won’t stop the pain Ghost is in (but by god is it Ghost’s right to put that man down for what he did to him.).

The following paragraphs will discuss the torture Simon was subjected to in Roba’s captivity and features discussion of the sexual assault he experienced, as well as being him drugged + detailed acts of dehumanisation. The section itself will be bracketed with a ‘-’, feel free to skip to the final paragraph marked of this section if you’d prefer.

In my writing I want to show a competent, terrifying Roba. He should be purposeful in how he goes about breaking these men down in order to build them up into the dutiful hounds Roba so obviously wanted. That’s part of why I think, and wrote, Roba having never touched Simon, he made sure it was his men assaulting Simon while he watched (for one reason or another). And when they were finished Roba would try to manipulate the situation into one being Simon’s fault and that Roba, and only Roba, could fix for him. Simon needed to see Roba as the one with the power to control all these awful things happening to him, and that his own obstinance is the reason he’s suffering. Roba would make an offer – if you listen to me, follow what I say, I can make this stop. I can stop them from touching you ever again. It’s purposefully and insidiously phrased, he’s trying to make all this seem like Simon’s fault for not ‘giving in’. In turn, the prolonged torture and dehumanisation would best be served as well-thought-out tactics.

I’m not a fan of how every other captive was noted as too ‘weak’ or whatever to hold out against all that Roba was doing to them, only for Vernon to say that his methods were ‘genius’ – not with a near 100% mortality rate it fucking isn’t. It would be interesting to explore a fic where Roba was actually competent enough for those aforementioned super soldiers to be a real thing (and we’ll make death proud of us touches on this very well I recommend this fic). But, regardless, I find exploring the ways Simon could have been dehumanised/tortured without succumbing to infection or shock or a sudden heart attack from the sheer amount of stress and trauma to be morbidly interesting. I’m a morbid person, so this tracks lmao (it’s regardless a matter of balance, though, because we’re trying not to fall into that Edge the comics loved so much). I also want to note that Roba rarely, if ever, called Simon by his real name. It’s always ‘English’ or ‘Mr. Death’. A name is a powerful thing to control, stripping a person of their name is a common dehumanisation tactic, one that even the military has been known to use in order to get all these individuals into acting as one mass. It’s also a sign of non-acknowledgement, in my eyes. Simon was not a person to Roba, not really, just a dog that needed moulding. In a way, Ghost referring to himself as ‘Ghost’ may also be a tactic to distance himself from Simon in order to cope with the Everything that’s happened to him.

The next point is just as important as the prior ones: what kind of effect would all this have on Simon in different stages of the comics? And what kind of inner monologue and mindset would he have in order to endure these awful, awful things? And how would he heal from it, considering how the events of the comics went down? He has no control over the situation as a whole, but I imagine that Simon is the kind of person to try and grasp for anything to have control over regardless – he’s exhausted but he still might try to lay in a way that keeps him protected or stills his roiling gut, he’ll occasionally still try to lash out against the narcos, he’ll try and joke with Sparks and Washington in order to help them cling to their humanity (as well as preserve his own identity as a protector, which I want to get into later). He especially utilises dissociation as a ‘tool’ developed from living under the same roof as Nigel Fucking Riley. It provided a very necessary reprieve, and Simon probably believes he’d been ‘broken’ by his father long before Roba ever got his hands on him. Simon at this point probably (maladaptively, in the long run) perceives his ability to dissociate from the body to be a way to control what he truly feels. He can get some kind of control over experiencing multiple instances of sexual assault, over MONTHS, by creating a clear delineation between the body and the person. I wonder if this laid the groundworks for the self-perceived split between Simon Riley and Ghost.

He’s out of that place, Roba is dead and whatever was left of the Zaragoza cartel is hopefully long gone. But where does that leave Simon, whose primary coping mechanisms are either feeling horrific, yawning numbness, or forcing all that pain and fear and humiliation into over-powering anger? All these things kept him alive then… but now what? He has been subjected to a horrific slew of experiences in seven months, over two-hundred days. How do you approach that kind of deal and unpackaging and addressing of that trauma? It’s something in and of itself would be a compelling story to tell, especially with his childhood trauma informing how he processes those experiences. Simon has been physically and psychologically changed by Roba, even if he tried to ‘resist’ – even though interrogation resistance training only lasts for so long.

Sometimes I wonder at what point did Simon realise they weren’t torturing him for information, but to make him into something that wasn’t human. At what point did he realise that there was a reason they made him crawl down the hallways on his hands and knees with a collar around his neck, or that they fed him dog food off the ground, or that he might have been kept in retrofitted dog kennels, in a long-abandoned dog fighting pit.

I wonder if there were times he wished he’d just let go and listen to Roba, and kill the people the latter wanted him to kill; just so that the pain would stop, and he could be more than this thing surviving on the concrete floor. Very interesting to consider, what with the comics implying that Sparks and potentially Washington were also drugged in order to force a dependence on them, as a way to further exert control over them. I’m not sure why Simon didn’t also experience this. Yet another Comics Cringe Moment.

Ultimately, when I see Roba I think of a Judge Holden-esque figure: an intelligent man who has taken a step back, looked at the violence of the world, and ultimately came to the conclusion that, 1.) It is in man’s nature to wage war and be violent, and 2.) It is Roba’s right to control that flow of violence. He had Simon, Sparks, and Washington, and others who came before them, tortured, brutalised, dehumanised, starved, assaulted, and vivisected with intents to brainwash them into his own personal soldiers/bodyguards. He wanted to perverse nature and control something that was never his to control, and I think a character like that should ooze calculated cruelty and a disdain for the optimistic/what he perceives as weak. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, in Roba’s eyes, and he wants to be the one holding the leash.

Dogs and Hounds

Speaking of dogs, let’s get into hound-coding. Dog/hound/wolf metaphors are used for characters in a plethora of ways: dogs and other canines are embedded deeply in a lot of cultures and that can be seen in how disparate a dog can be used in symbolism. The rabid dog that requires put down, versus the loyal-to-a-fault dog whose diligence will be its downfall. The dog that hunts you down relentlessly against the dog that protects and nurtures. Vicious and borderline obsessed, pursuing a singular goal with tunnel-vision; dangerous predator stalking you from the shadows; wholly dedicated to a sole purpose in life; kicked to the point where anger lines their teeth and they meet the world with a bite, because they’ll never let anyone hurt them again; a caregiver and teacher, sometimes even a leader that will look out for who they see as family.

With Simon Riley, I feel he is a hound, the kind that’s been kicked enough times to know to bite first and ask questions later – but can someone please be gentle? Please, can’t someone let him rest? Then the narrative slaps his muzzle and tells him the story isn’t done yet. Simon, off the coattails of escaping his childhood home as a teenager, finds purpose in the military and clings to it. So much of Simon’s identity can be tied to him being a protector, as well as a soldier; he’s proud of his achievements within the SAS, cocky, even. He is well trained in violence and well experienced, too; he’s risen above to make a reputation for himself as a tough sonofabitch within the SAS, which is pretty famously full of that type of person.

The dog can be moulded into a lot of different things in fiction, just as it has in real life. So can Simon, so can Ghost: he’s a character that has been subjected to extreme kinds of change, with some very clear distinctions between Pre-Roba Simon, During-Roba, Post-Roba, Post-Family Massacre, and Post-Jungle Raid. That’s one of the reasons why I think the dog metaphor, and its imagery, can provide very impactful parallels for Simon. What is a dog, if not loyal and loving? Didn’t we make it that way? And what is a dog, if not defined by the job it can fulfil. We made it that way. What use is Simon to the military, if he won’t do what he was trained to do. I wonder if he worries about that in between missions: losing his purpose and identity one way or another.

Ghost is a good leader; he knows how to direct a team and how to keep Soap calm during the chaos in Las Almas. I imagine he found sanctuary in the camaraderie that can be found in a military environment, compared to his chaotic homelife. He doesn’t necessarily have to be open about it, or all that externally happy. But it’s regardless a community that has provided Ghost with some form of support (ironic, again, considering it’s the military, but that is how it works). Like a pack animal, one might say.

His potential relationship with Soap, if people take it that way (I do and will be talking about it more later #peaceandlove), reminds me of the poem ‘bait dog’ among others, here's an excerpt from the end of it: “And she still flinches / When I reach to pet her / but she smiles / once I get behind the ears / you will not heal from everything / that does not mean / you will stop being loved.”, and I feel that’s a very lovely image when applied to Soapghost, y’know? Simon has been through a lot, and Soap is emotionally mature enough to recognise that and give him space, while still putting in that necessary work to bridge certain gaps. Kind of like the slow burn of getting a rescue dog to trust you, except it’s your human superior officer with CPTSD and an edgy comic book backstory. They will doubtless have issues and bumps in the road, but they’ll also have shitty jokes and a lot of patience to keep things buoyed. Love wins or WHATEVER.

Roba tried to make Simon into an attack dog, too. Treated him like one, and I imagine there was a point where Simon was starting to believe it. Then he gets buried alive and has to dig his way out. He has to drag himself through the desert (more to come on that) and survive months of recovery until he has a chance to return to the state he physically was. I imagine this time of injury was awful for Simon: he felt incompetent on top of the other churning emotions one would have after surviving so many months of All That. Simon, I imagine, has always defined himself by his ability to provide, protection or otherwise, as well as his own physical prowess. It’s what kept him and his family safe all this time. It also led to him being picked for that fateful mission. I think Simon is a man shown to be capable of that single-minded focus of a hound that’s caught the scent, especially when he spent months tracking down Roba in the jungle.

Simon is a dog constantly having to remember its teeth. There is a lot to be said about dogs that learn to bite back.

I have reached a character limit here but still have a lot to talk about, please hold (and tysm, again, for the ask)

#ask #codposting #simon riley #ghost mw2 #cod mw2 #call of duty #rape mention #shaking my fist at the sky every time i think about the comics. god.#This is LONG and it's not done yet... freak

64 notes · View notes