It always baffles me when people are so mad about how ao3 operates as an archive and not, like, as an algorithmically driven recommendation machine or as a moral measure of appropriate writing or as a social media site or as anything else people want it to be... It's an archive. It hosts text. That's the sole summary of its job. If you don't like it, you don't...have to use it?
If you want a stricter hosting site for fanfic, ffn exists. If you want something that has an algorithm, pick any social media site nowadays...even tumblr recommends stuff to you now. Ao3 is not going to be your arbiter of fandom discourse nor will it enforce your personal opinion on certain topics because that's a really weird thing to ask of an archive and its staff, and that's straight up not what the site is for. That's like walking into a library and asking snidely why the librarians aren't stopping you from reading the books there. If it makes you mad, there are other fanfic hosting sites that aren't archival-model-based.
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Every year around Easter Ghost hides somewhere on the training grounds. If you find him you get half of his leave.
Soldiers all around go fucking feral, Ghost never takes any leave and there's rumours that start around Christmas of how long you'd be able to go home. Weeks probably aren't enough maybe a few months? Some are sure it's at least a full year.
Except of course no one ever finds him.
He's the Ghost and if he doesn't want to be found he isn't. He's just taking the piss, enjoying how the event has people riled up for weeks. He's not one for practical jokes, but this has him cackling.
Enter Soap, the FNG, the man who brings Ghost to his knees. They do their whole song and dance, and come Easter Ghost is hugging his boyfriend before preparing to hide.
Soap promising with a cocky smile that he'll find Ghost and they are going to use that leave for a nice holiday. Which Ghost smiles at, his sweet naive Soap, as if he's gonna hand him a win just because he loves him.
Imagine Ghost's shock when a few hours later he spots Johnny from his hiding spot. He's still high in a tree but the other man is walking directly in his direction and after a few moments he looks up.
Once Ghost is down the tree, still incredulous, but also very much in love, he asks Soap how he did it.
"Let my heart guide me, L.t." is the answer he gets which he calls out for the bloody nonsense it is.
Takes him all the way back to base to make him talk. And even then Johnny just hugs him, reaching around putting a hand in his back pocket (not unusual) and digging around (definitely unusual). Producing a small piece of technology.
"You fucking tracked me?!" his jaw nearly drops at the realisation.
"Aye, slipped it in this mornin' when we hugged."
"You little shit." is all that his brain will allow, mostly hung up on the cocky smile on Soap's face. The same as this morning.
He should be fuming. His proud record broken, he actually has to make good on the promise that so far has been all but hypothetical. Price will be in hysterics about the amount of paperwork that comes with it.
But he can't find it in him to care. He's mesmerized at Soap outplaying him. Drunk on the weird sense of pride that Johnny is so observant and skilled. Most of all he's blown away by the fact that he never even considered the possibility. It would be easy to blame hubris here, but that's not the reason no-one ever pulled a similar stunt.
No, Soap was able to do this because Ghost let him get close. Because he trusts him.
The Ghost that met Soap a few months ago would've panicked at this point. Soap had not only seen his weak spot, he clearly was also cunning enough to use it to his own advantage.
The Ghost that has been loved by Johnny for months now doesn't. Because he trusts him. And because he's proud. And because the rational part of his brain realises that any enemy agent would never have exposed their advantage for a game.
"If you ever do anything like this again-" he doesn't need to know where he wants to end that sentence, but Soap's interjection saves him the trouble "No worries, I like meself alive too."
He'll still have to be careful next year. After all he found a worthy opponent and he can't just make it too easy on him. Probably can not let Soap touch him before the game. Maybe not even the night before. Just to be safe. A fortnight should do it. But that also means a fortnight of not touching Soap...
But he can consider that later. For now he and Soap have a holiday to plan.
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