Annomimi - Kapitan

HELLO??? OP, WHAT WERE YOU ON WHEN WRITING THIS??? I LOVE IT

park, paired with bell! reader. this is based off an anonymous ask i received this month who just wanted a short drabble of this. this is meant to be with a female reader but i feel like i left it neutral enough anyone can read it. adler with reader is there too if you squint.

you hated adler for what he did to you.

he wore you down, molded you from inner thigh to neck; ankle to wrist; knuckle to knee. your life before him might’ve as well been nonexistent, just constant blurs and the struggle to recall your own mother’s face. he stole years, months, and days from you.

hang your head, knees to your chest as you nearly gave out on the world's seemingly shittiest couch or gurney in berlin, every touch and sound a million miles away. your body's newfound love for benzos left you weak and shivering, even with the heater on. followed by painful stomach aches and hallucinations of adler's hand on your cheek or nape of your neck. cigarette smoke from park became a pleasant sensation, keeping her keen eye on you and pressing soft fingers to your pulse every few minutes before she would continue examining whatever was in the boringly beige manila folder. you'd wish someone would ask how you're feeling, just so you could beg for them for something. you were unsure of what you wanted exactly; maybe to o.d. the next time they shoved a needle full of god knows what into your blossoming bruised arm? more of park's hands on you? more of adler's?

"stop that." you weren't aware you were harshly digging and scratching at your arm until she had said something, which felt like more like an echoing command from god rather than a caretaker's "gentle" ask.

of course, you didn't stop because what was park even talking about? in your head, you weren't doing anything, arms crossed and hands still, knees pointing towards her in that flimsy blue gown. she'd have to hold your hand until you fell back under, not cruel enough to restrain someone who was clearly high off ketamine and whatever else mk-ultra supplied the team with to keep you in control. her hands were soft and to you, she smelled like what hybrid violas looked like.

you couldn't pinpoint it but it was grounding enough that through half-lidded eyes, you'd just trace the curves of her face. you felt the same way about park that you did adler but you were gentler in mercy towards her, wanting something more and unidentifiable from her—maybe even as much as you wanted her hands on you again, same as the day as she had to preform cpr on you, ribcage crunching under the hands you mistook for loving and careful.

At first playing the new black ops I thought it was kind of out of character the way adler was behaving. He has been quite goofy and light hearted and then I realised it actually makes perfect sense. Nearly every interaction adler had in Cold War was through bells eyes. To adler, bell is the enemy. Of course he was naturally serious and kind of blunt with bell, he knows what bell is, and he doesn’t like them. But in black ops 6, adler is surrounded by those he considers allies. It kind of hurt tbh because it just makes the ‘betrayal’ of Cold War hit so much harder. Bell never saw the true adler because they were an outsider. They didn’t know that of course, but adler did which is why he kept his distance emotionally 🤧

I like to think that in some weird, fucked up way, adler did start to like bell and develop a soft spot for them, but he remained wary, and life just worked against them

#I think it is completely safe to say that they MIGHT be fucking #but holy sh*t, what an analysis #I love your brain, OP

Frank Woods and Russell Adler

Long ass post of me talking about the relationship between these two

So I didn't really pay much heed to their relationship until now; it just felt like two characters that were given a few connections here and there to fit Adler into the Black Ops universe.

But the more I looked into them, I find a lot more going on between them—enough for me to believe that aside from Mason, Adler might be the closest person Woods has in his life.

So how did it start?

We learn that Woods knew Adler since Vietnam (presumably during MACV-SOG operations, which both Woods and Adler headed). Their relationship isn't exactly highlighted in Cold War, but there's a lot of subtle yet notable interactions between the two:

This little bit brings me so much joy

[Credit to @flyingraijinn]

In the first cinematic, where Russell gets questioned by the officials if his plan was necessary and he responds that they don't have to listen to him—guess who's the first to jump to his defense?

Though this one's subtle, I find it important. Adler keeps Bell within his or Park's sights almost at all times, but the one op where they can't, who does he trust to go with Bell?

Though I doubt Woods knew about Bell, I feel Adler trusted him enough to handle them should they go berserk.

Right after, when the jig is up about the greenlight nukes and Hudson spins the blame on Adler for not apprehending Perseus before, Woods doesn't even need to be told to square up and beat this bitch up a second time

❌️ Woods was stopped by Adler ✅️ Woods let Adler stop him

The last bit, even though it's not canon, I wanted to call attention to

[Skip to 2:46]

It's them! They fucking lied to us! That true, Bell?

Though Adler was already suspicious, its Frank's words that prompted him to finally question them. Maybe I'm reading into it too much, but it seems like it was Woods that made Adler pause and question if, just maybe, he'd failed.

You wanna load up the body? Fuck if I care. Leave it for Perseus to find.

Even after the main game, when Adler is captured, of course he's the first to go look for him

And the one to find him

Even in the field when Adler's on an op, he's in the background keeping an eye on him

And goes back to Hudson to report on him when he goes dark

Now, onto BO6, where their relationship is pulled into focus:

First, we have the starting piece that sets BO6 in motion

Woods doesn't take shit talk pt.2

Yes indeed that is Frank Woods defending a wanted fugitive that is, as far as they're concerned, responsible for his state, even as pos Livingstone is actively grilling them.

Then this <3

If I'm not wrong, this is the first time we see Adler genuinely not be an asshole

And then the second time

The fact that he'd let Woods despise him just to keep him safe is 🥹

And a third time, when he rushes to his aid despite the burning house around him

Now, how is this possible? Why are they so close? In fact, you'd think Woods would hate Adler the same way he hates Hudson—the authority, the methodical nature, the secrecy—you'd think it was a no brainer. And so did I, for a long time.

So it surprised me when I heard Woods speak so highly of Adler, not even having the slightest of doubts against him:

[Skip to 1:40]

Adler? Turn against his brothers for cash? Are you kidding me? Those threads he loves, they ain't cheap now. Listen, I know he can be a goddamn psychopath, I get it. But he's on our side. He's just got his own way of doin' things.

And even when Harrow was interrogated and she told the truth about her parents, Woods vehemently refused to believe her. Even as far as questioning the victim's own memory and calling her parents traitors.

So why does he place this insane amount of trust in Adler?

Well, he gives us—Case—the answer.

I've known Adler since 'Nam. Give it twenty years, he'll grow on you.

Russell fought with him in Vietnam.

No shit, yeah. But remember how tight knit Woods was to his fellow soldiers. He even cried when the young recruit died in the first game.

So of course, fighting alongside Adler in a hellhole would've brought them closer together.

You keep believin' in the ones who got your back, go to battle for you. Adler was one of those.

Of course Adler had Woods' back; it's Vietnam, you're not surviving without having your team's back. It's not a stretch to say they went through life and death moments that they survived solely because of each other.

But another large part of why I believe Woods respects Adler is because he's, surprisingly, a lot more similar to Woods than meets the eye.

Think back to Break on Through. All the memories that Adler has Bell relive. His memories. Who else but him could describe such scenes in detail? He was the one that survived the helicopter crashing into the trees. He was the one that treaded through trenches in the night dodging a field of VC. He was the one that took out practically invisible snipers gunning for him from the trees. He was the one that cleared a village of the convoy and defended American troops under fire. He's the soldier that survived all that.

He's a killer; a monster, make no mistake. A monster that wasn't always assigned behind a desk holding the title of an officer—hidden behind a mask of nonchalance and charm. And Woods knows that monster. Woods respects that monster.

Adler's persona is ultimately an act. He appears uncaring and practical, but his true nature always slips through. He doesn't get along with Hudson, nor with Park's pragmatic nature. He makes split second decisions not on logic, but his instincts—hell, sometimes even his wishes. He gets vicious, loses his cool, and is unrelenting in his goals, refusing to be deemed some washed up old man. That's the true Adler peeking through—forever embedded yet somehow hidden in the lines stretching across his face, only ever showing its ugly head when he's pushed to the limit.

Who else would know it better than Woods, from a place where you survive by being nothing but vicious?

As for Adler, he too tells Case why he holds Woods close when he seems to do so for very few:

He's loyal.

Russell values loyalty: when he leads people into the eye of the storm, he needs loyal men following him without question. It's why he gave Belikov no choice but to get him the keycard, expected Sims and Park to fall in line and help his ass, made sure Bell obeyed him like a dog; it's why he even orders Case around like one (more on that later). He's a natural born leader that needs people with him and all the decisions he makes, questionable as they are.

And when he's taken to playing the villain with such commitment, to still have a friend that believes in him and his choices—a close comrade he's known from his oldest and darkest days on the job? He'll allow him into his heart, if even just a little.

That or theyre fucking idk

immortal tragic soulmates au but the twist is that you're the immortal one and Ghost is the one that keeps dying and being reborn, and no matter how hard you try to avoid him for his own safety, he always finds you and aggressively pursues you in every life despite having no memory of his former lives

hesh: he was my brother.

Listen, I know why people like to have Adler and Bell get their own happily ever after where they can be domestic and in love or whatever. I understand the appeal. But man I NEED more of adbell being fucking weird and violent. The line between hate and love is incredibly thin further blurred by all the shit they did to bell's brain. They're enemies but also allies, then enemies again and allies once more. They're old friends, they've only known each other for a few months, they went through hell in Da Nang together, Bell has literally never been to Vietnam, Bell's a highly skilled professional Adler trusts the skills of, Adler literally does not think of bell as a person. And all of these are all mixing and overlapping. Give me the dubiousness of how much of Bell's attraction to Adler is genuinely his own versus how much of it was either accidentally or deliberately imprinted into his brain! If Bell has Adler's memories of Vietnam then part of Bell's personality and psyche is actually Adler's. And if Adler is attracted to Bell then this begs the question of whether or not Adler is actually attracted to Bell or rather to the reflection of himself within Bell?

Yes.

reblog if it's okay for your mutuals to message you and create an actual friendship, not just interactions

Tis the season to go all out

I know a lot of people think Mason and Woods might not know what happened to Bell, but how could they not? Sure Hudson would hate to tell them because he obviously knows the shit Mason goes through... but um they would have to know. Hudson would have to tell them. It's a major detail in the missions and he couldn't have them getting too attached to the Russian.

I like to think that Hudson told them before we even meet Hudson. Like they came into the mission knowing. They were pissed off obviously but they knew. Then the first mission with Woods rolls around and after he tells Mason all about what happens with Bell during the mission.

Woods and Mason are so obviously caught between a rock and a hard place. Like the way they look at Bell during that one briefing is just so heartbroken. They know they can't be too close with Bell, but he's just a kid to them. Like they know what's going to be the end of this kid and they know they can't do anything about it.

I feel like Lazar is the same way. Like to him, Bell is just some curious goofy guy who can be serious when needed. Like they all 100% bonded.

I think Sims might have started to warm up to him at some point too, but had to basically shut of his feelings when it came to Bell.

We all know Park was a fan of Bell and cared about his safety. Hell she never upped his dosage like Adler wanted. I'm pretty sure both her and Sims could've been in charge of that too.

Adler sees Bell as an even more fucked up version of himself and well a dog. They come at his beck and call. They have HIS memories from Vietnam. He created them in a sense as well. Like they are his little pet on his eyes.

Now when it comes to Hudson... I've always believed he never wanted to take part in MK Ultra with Bell. Like come on, he knows what Mason went through, but he has to follow orders. I feel like it's something that eats him up at night, knowing he helped do that to someone. Definitely ends with nightmares and when he's home, his wife is 100% worried. Hudson definitely ended up liking Bell.

I mean they did make Bell the best they could. That definitely includes personality wise. It probably also includes all his maneurisms like how Bell eats, how they speak (this includes talking with their hands or possibly sign language), and even how they walk. Like everything has been conditioned. Everything. Every possible thing that makes up a person has been conditioned into Bell.

I wonder if Hudson, since he is the interrogator, notices little things Bell does that are obvious (to him) that they're from how they used to be. Especially during the ending. Maybe even the little ticks or actions. Hudson probably knows Bell better than anyone. I mean you gotta think. Adler says Bell was immune to all types of interrogation, who would've done that? Hudson. He knows Bell better than Bell knows themself at the end of the campaign. Hudson knows that and it probably eats him up inside. He has morals. You can tell. You can tell by the way he words things, the way he jokes with Bell, even if it's monotone. He's trying to protect his own feelings during the whole game. It's so interesting to me.

Ok. I said gaz is cunty. He helps the 141 with sending hate messages.

(This post btw!)

BUT. So is ghost. Oh my god he’s so sassy bro,

Soap:“Was worried his face would melt off like all those other bastards”

Ghost:“Would be an improvement.”

—

Ghost: “English, mactavish.”

—

(The sass, and to his captain too 😭😭)

But like I said, he’s a dry texter; in person, that’s where he shines. (Or over the phone/ coms )

it does NOT matter who your are. You WILL be sassed if that’s what ghosts deemed you deserve, and unlike gaz, who will just ignore you in person (cold shoulder) with ghost? ghost, oh god he’s just so blunt.

And so he dose the talking for the 141 when they’re in beef with someone.

Price, godbless him. Is a man of action, he’ll give you a brief warning, and that’s it. And his insult game isn’t that good, I think although he’s smart. He’s not particularly Witty, for example when gaz says.

“appears you can do maths sir”

“Getting cheeky are we?” (No comeback.)

Gaz, like I said, silence. Cold shoulder, dirty looks that will put teenage girls to SHAME. But he won’t go past that, infact. He won’t talk to you at all. Will just flat out ignore you. And stare, untill you get uncomfortable and leave. And he will not accept apologies untill he personally is ready to (holds grudges like a BITCH) so he doesn’t shit talk to people he doesn’t like

And soap like I said will solve problems with his fists and cursing we see this with makarov when he nearly killed him in the flash back. (MW3)And when ghost pissed him off he replied with “away an’ bile yer heid”- cursing and blinding (MW2) do I think he’d get flustered while shit talking and just curse and attack If thier close enough. (Also he’s very easy to humbled)

Soap: “the fuck you think your doing?”

Graves;I’m up to doing my fucking job kid, maybe you should do the same (CLOCKED HIM)

So ghost tales charge in shit talking. Or just talking to hostilities in person (gaz dose over text) and he’s very good it at LMAO