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Ghost can not only do a perfect handstand and *walk* on his hands—he's mastered the art of *running* on his hands, as well.

Multiple recruits *have* pissed themselves due to this.

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modern warfare 4

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how do you manage to write Ghost so well? do you have tips? I’m kind of struggling to get the characterization I want and your depiction of him is so rich

it's partly just that i've written him sooo much. i have a very detailed mental image of him. writing an outline of the fic beforehand is also very important to me, and i often use that as a time to write full paragraphs including what he looks like, his psyche, his internal sense of self, etc.

it's also important to write not just long or multi-chaptered fics for him but also short micro fics that will help you better understand his character. i have a whole anthology of micro fics on ao3 that are usually around 1000 words (some just under 2k) and those really helped me develop an instinct for writing him. i can hear his voice in my head now when writing him, which helps a lot. also, writing an outline in advance can also help you when you're trying to decide what Ghost would do in a particular situation.

i also used to make lots of posts about things like his hobbies, interests, little memories from his childhood, etc. it's tempting to just focus on his relationship with the 141 or reader when you're writing him, but if you don't include those other details, his character will feel flat/dimensionless. you want to remember that he's a person outside of just the romance.

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Soap didn’t cut his hair while way. Ghost hopes he never cuts it again <3

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early this is a formal request for that essay and your read on barry’s choices. his physicality as an actor is soooo 🧡

ok this is gonna all sound so pretentious and i pre-apologize for that, but- i think the thing about barry is, at least in my mind, he is first and foremost a stage actor. dude loves the stage, and the stage loves him back because he's good at it. every acting choice he makes is equally for the front row and the cheap seats. you said it yourself, he's got a fantastic physicality.

for example- that man swings his shoulders the way other people would swing their hips, and it gives him a really distinctive walk. it's eye catching without being so over the top that it's scene stealing. it makes him stand out while on a stage with other actors. let's be real, i think if you set up a shadow screen and had barry walk in front of it, we could tell it was him just by the way he moves.

lookit him swing those around. good lord. he's got an iconic walk in the same way some runway models do. it's kate, naomi, and barry.

now, fun fact about y'girl- for the briefest of summers, i was employed by an unnamed organization to wear a mascot costume and go to conventions in sed costume. part of this job entailed taking a course on proper mascotting, and one of the most memorable points from those classes is to always be moving, even just a little bit, so you don't look dead. that is a thing i think about all the time when i look at barry's acting choices, and again, i think it's a stage actor thing. he's keeping the scene alive even when he's just listening to someone else speak. by still moving (even just a little) he's engaging with the scene, giving people something to look at.

like, playing price in this bottom gif, he could've just sat back in his chair and listened to laswell talk, but he didn't. he did that little forearm walk across the table. if he were on a stage, he'd be bringing the focus in to their interaction, narrowing the audience's attention to their table by being active in the scene.

also i have to throw in my favorite 'mascot trick' to use, the side to side sway. do it right and it gives a character a bit of life, do it wrong and people think your feet hurt.

all he's doing is talking on the radio, but because he's shifting his weight from foot to foot, it makes a typically dull looking scene more dynamic looking, which is what an action-packed fps game wants.

and let's not forget how much this man loves to use a head tilt to emphasize a point or an emotion. it's like physically adding italics or an underline to what you're saying, and another trick he probably picked up doing stage acting.

i could go on.

another thing about barry is he's tall. 6'3", i think, which means he navigates the world a certain way. most people he's acting with are going to be shorter than him, and he's got this uncanny superpower of making himself seem smaller when he needs to (like forearm walking across a table so he's hunched over), and rising back to his full height when it suits him (rocking forward on his toes). i've noticed he tends to tuck his chin to his chest when he talks to people shorter than him (something he does irl, according to a friend who met him once) and it's a pretty decent way to make himself a little smaller without full-on hunching over.

in fact, he does the opposite of hunching. as you can see in both of these gifs, he also tends to pair that chin tuck with a little lean back, which keeps him from talking down his nose at people. he's better able to make straight eye contact with a scene partner without just fully squatting, plus, again, it's a bit more dynamic to look at than just a chin tuck as he speaks with someone.

the point is, this dude moves. a lot. all the time. so when he stops moving, when he's perfectly still, it's jarring. unnerving, even. it gives you a heightened sense of anticipation, tension, and depending on the scene, possibly fear. you always know that Something Is Up and you need to be paying close attention when barry's character has stopped moving around.

sorry if this was disjointed and convoluted but man oh man do i think barry sloane is a really engaging actor to watch. in my (absolutely biased, completely untrustworthy) opinion, that dude shines in even the dumbest of projects. he half asses nothing, and puts his entire pussy into every role. it really does make for a compelling watch, no matter whether he's on stage or on a screen.

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any tips for writing Price? trying to write him but it’s hard

hmmm. so i will do my best to answer this. i think a lot of what's below applies to any of the 141, tbh.

obviously, not an expert.

if you haven't watched a playthrough of the games, i highly recommend it. pay attention to his mannerisms, listen to his speech patterns, and note how he interacts in conversations versus when he's in the background. i rewatch clips when i feel stuck on how to beef up his physicality or have trouble 'hearing' him.

also read @391780 's post on barry sloane. no joke, i have this saved and bookmarked. i re-read it when i need help blocking his body language.

study and dissect his core traits. what seems to motivate him, how he reacts under pressure, etc. this feeds back into watching the playthroughs and really tuning into his decisions and dialogue.

to me, that means price is: strategic, relentless, protective, possessive, convinced of his own indispensability (the world needs men like him—how is a reader character any different?), emotionally perceptive, hypocritical (unmatched ability to rationalize a behavior when he's the one doing it), charming (half-natural, half-practiced), etc. i could slap on so much more. mess around with dialing certain traits up. traits fluctuate depending on the mood/tone of fic.

i always keep in mind he's highly specialized and trained. he's a captain. he acts from a place of authority and is accustomed to wearing that mantle. he knows how people work, how to manage them, and how to appease or poke at them. a lot of leeway there.

and my number one writing tip, as always, read. i am a big fan of my pals @/391780, @/yeyinde, and @/ceilidho. while i love everything they share, their price x reader works are it for me.

i hope this helps. again, not an expert, just a fan.

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You say Price with midnight zoomies. I chant ''one of us, one of us,, and fly the neurospicy flag.

I absolutely think so. Yes, it's absolute projection because I can never have a formal diagnosis, and Price wouldn't have one either. But let's look at the facts, Non:

Hyperfocus: Price becomes deeply focused on a mission, especially when it involves threats like Makarov or Shepherd. His intense dedication and refusal to quit can be linked to ADHD. He's an overachiever in the military, but he joined young; he probably had big issues at school with that specific environment. He excels in the armed forces because it's set up for men like him.

Impulsivity: He takes extreme actions without full authorisation or consideration of political consequences, such as launching a ballistic missile to eliminate a threat. I think this is significantly tempered though. You don't get where Price is without learning to harness this part of yourself; one of the things he sees of himself in Soap.

Nonconformity and rule-bending: Price often works around or against official orders to accomplish what he believes is morally right or tactically necessary. He struggles with authority and rigid systems, and prefers autonomy and flexible environments. (Price to Laswell: I want this special taskforce all to myself to achieve these objectives specifically in my way.)

High energy/restlessness He’s constantly active; planning missions, engaging in combat, never standing still for long. Look at the heel-toe bounce, the pat-pat-pat. This man needs the gym, he needs an active lifestyle, or his mind will convince him is skin is crawling off his body.

Finally, I assign Price ADHD because I often feel people with ADHD are infantilised or underestimated. Fuck that shit.

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Ghost has a permanent thousand-yard stare

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Reblog and put in the tags: In terms of controversy, discourse, infighting, ship wars, etc., which of the fandom’s you’ve been was the most stressful? Which was the most peaceful?

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so i wore a pride flag pin to work the other day and the kids were all interested (obviously) (find me a classroom of preschoolers who are not obsessed with rainbows) (i'll wait) so they crowded around to see.

"aww!" they said, "it's a flag!!"

but the thing is: they're little. a lot of them don't really have a handle on all their mouth sounds yet.

such as, notably, that tricky tricky "L" sound.

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study on Ghost’s mask because goodness gracious

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time for some post-mission ghost I guess

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I’m gonna do it! I’m gonna do the dishes!

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your unreliable narrator fucking bit me

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It's too fucking hot outside