obsessed w how bitter and upset duke is w Bruce in this arc. and he has every right to be! he knew Bruce almost personally at that point, and his parents were joker gassed in a recreation of the wayne murders in an effort to get to batman. they were collateral damage and duke had been suffering pretty much alone as a result. his whole ideology is that robin doesn't need batman but on a more personal scale, you can see why he thinks that! when he needed Bruce he wasn't there, when he needed batman he wasn't there either. And he'll fret like he didn't care like it didn't matter but it DID
Ik I talk abt this panel often but that's bcs KTZZZZ ITS SO CRUCIAL TO DUKES CHARACTER!! He becomes completely self reliant, isolates himself he can't wait on batman to save the city, can't wait on batman to find his parents or wait on batman to save him, he's all he could rely on, and that self-reliance later grew into an almost cynical worldview. it's why his whole "emphasis on the word 'we'" thing at the we of WAR meant so much. he had hope in not just his own beliefs but in others' as well.
ANDDD it's why his and bruce's dynamic drives me up a wall but that's another post for another time..
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I haaaaate when ppl treat ford being upset over his identity being taken and his house getting turned into essentially a mockery of his research was completely unreasonable
like, was stan doing his best with a terrible situation? absolutely! would ford kicking him out be an actually fair option? fuck no!
but he's been in this dimension for probably 12 hours. god knows the last time he's slept. he'd been nearly dead prior to going thru the portal and now has to deal with the fact that he's lost everything. he doesn't even have his own identity anymore.
I honestly don't even think half the shit ford says to stan is truly about stanley or ford's opinion of him, so much as it is about his own issues and how weighed down with guilt he is.
I think its worth noting that ford only ever says mean things about stan when he's pissed off- when he's not angry, he's much more willing to actually discuss things and try to find common ground (such as when he invites stan to play d,d&d).
it honestly comes off more as him not knowing how to communicate anger outside of hurting people than it does genuine malice towards stan. and also I don't think ford ever really internalized that stan was homeless in the duration of the show
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less a continuation and more of a thought bubble but ghost would hate price in this au
when he pulls him out of the gulag, so many of soap’s new behaviours click into place. things that never made sense to him as a natural progression of who soap was, that aren't just a product of walling himself off and turning his heart to stone
his soap never smoked. always complained when ghost lit up about the damage it did to the lungs, how it would slow him down in the long run
his john, always trying to be the best soldier
that's why seeing him suck on a cigar like it's second nature is so jarring. even more so when he'd only take a few puffs; enough for a taste and to make smoke coil through the air around him. always the same brand, always left to burn down in his fingers
then ghost sees him gift his cigar box to price, something that took pride of place on his desk practically before the man clears medical and seeing the way they both relax as he sets a match to one makes him realise
in an effort to run away from soap, john had tried to mould himself into price
god forbid ghost ever reads soap's journal. he's heard the "what the hell kind of name is soap” story from him, of the first time he'd ever met the captain and if he ever saw his words echoed in john's hand? saw just how far the man had wormed his way, so deep into him that he was speaking with his tongue?
price's monologues, making himself larger than life all in an effort to make this shitstorm feel more grand than just another war they're all trying to live through, acting like he’s being profound when he’s really just dodging anyone that questions him
letting price take roach out from under his wing like soap didn't identify with the kid the second he saw him, all of his self-deprecative habits hitting tenfold as he blames himself for every stray bullet; as if price could've plucked them from the very sky
the way soap steps back without a word of protest to let price command the team he handpicked and price just accepting? like his years of leadership mean nothing, like john means nothing after trying so hard to follow in his footsteps, just to be tossed aside
the rage ghost would feel at his indifference, as if soap’s behaviour is to be expected and not a series of red flags. add the nuke mission and his actions during and after shepherd’s betrayal? ghost would despise him
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it’s like. for a guy who is such an active, gleeful participant in fucking shit up. like, the number one thing he wants to do is be at the forefront of when things get messy. he wants his face plastered on it, he wants to be the one who gets to hurt everyone, he wants to make sure everyone, and especially the doctor, sees him doing it. to then have the drums also there, always there, so loud that they’re all he can think about when he’s dying, that he doesn’t know what he is without them. there’s a powerlessness at the core of it. this thing that was done to him as a child, in secret, that no one ever believed him about, that he doubted being real despite it constantly ringing in his ears. it just won’t go away. it can’t go away. he can conquer earth and the doctor and he can’t make it go away. there is no longer a version of him that doesn’t have this violation woven through every part of his life.
it really is just horrifying.
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