Can’t let the world starve, can I?

The previous ask this is referring to.

I don’t think so, first Soap would need to be able to forgive Ghost for his mistakes, reflect on what went wrong, on what he needs and then be willing to actually have difficult conversations about it where he’s direct and specific about the things that hurt him, which are all things that caused this mess in the first place because he’s not there yet.

Second, Ghost would need to be open about a conversation like that and after giving Soap grace for the first couple of days or so, trying to understand him, he learned he never really knew the other in the first place (for ex. instead of reflecting on the situation, Soap just shittalks Ghost without giving him any form of understanding himself) and I think that’s the point where it switches from his desire to still fix this into red hot anger, and no one can tell me that this man does not hold grudges.

The trust between them is severely broken and I don’t think Ghost is capable of forgiving him to the degree that he can actually trust him again. Ghost didn’t know what he did specifically to hurt Soap until he broke up with him, and not being able to trust the other person to immediately tell him these things, for them to expect him to constantly walk on eggshells when he’s stumbling through the dark trying to support the other, is not a relationship he wants to encourage. Sure they’re both professionals, Ghost has never stopped trusting this man on the field, but when it comes to any interpersonal relationships he won’t even give Soap the chance to get emotionally close to him again. (Of course, as much as he pretends it doesn’t, it affects their performance on the field as well, Ghost for ex. has become a lot more reckless, to the degree that I am considering that he might get medically discharged because of an injury he could have avoided)

Ghost is also mentally relapsing a lot, going back to thinking he is not worth companionship anyways, the people he loves will always get hurt, that he will always end up hurting them as much as he tries not to, that he is too broken and generally not good enough. Which is bullshit, but that will take some time for him to untangle again. But instead he isolates himself and focuses on work, on being the weapon he was made to be, the only thing he thinks he’s good at.

Which is why him losing that too because of his own recklessness would be so, so juicy :]

I can only imagine them working it out like… years later, after the anger has cooled down and each has continued their own journey for a while, but even then, not as a commited relationship and more in the form of old friends.

Thank you so much for this ask, I am really enjoying answering these <3

This is a really sweet ask, thank you! I am always surprised when people are interested in my thoughts and musings when it comes to character storylines.

As a disclaimer/for some context: the main reason I had Soap break up with Ghost was to cope with the end of my own relationship. I like to make my own big feelings the blorbo’s problem and process them through that. So it was less of a purely character motivated decision and more self-projection and -indulgence.

Which is why Soap’s reasoning is pretty vague, I have never written it out or anything since what was important to me was the aftermath from Ghost’s side. But it’s a combination of things, a huge factor being that Soap’s a lot younger and jumpier than Ghost is and their very different life experiences lead to different levels of emotional maturity, communication styles and commitment. (For ex. I headcanon Ghost to have years of therapy behind him, otherwise I could not see him stable enough to return to the field. With that he learned a lot of skills and information about himself that Soap just doesn’t have access to yet. Adding onto that is the fact he does not date, and has no interest in such, when he is in a relationship with someone he will do everything in his power to make it work, for better and for worse, Soap is a lot less intense when it comes to that and more likely to just move on.)

They were on leave together for the first time and the change in life situation lead to them having to get to know each other all anew again with all the hurdles that come with that. Civilian live is stressful in it’s own right, especially for these two idiots. That leads to a lot of arguments and misunderstandings between the two since Soap struggles severely adapting to that life. Ghost does not yet know what kind of partner Soap needs in these times and tries to figure that out which ends up doing more harm than good, whilst Soap doesn’t know what he needs and also doesn’t really share much of what is going on with him.

It ends up in both of them getting hurt, but where Ghost sees it as a situation of “We need to get to know each other all anew and figure this out together.” Soap sees this as a “We’re incompatible.” and breaks up with him. Soap had also started building up a lot of resentment during that time due to the lack of productive communication after situations where Ghost accidentally hurt him.

During their break-up a lot of that information finally came to light, where Ghost failed at being the partner Soap needed, Soap assumed the worst of Ghost’s attempts. (Which is what this convo between Ghost and Price was inspired by)

This is also inspired by the break-up, showing Ghost being able to sleep even less than normal.

And this comic, of course, going a little bit deeper into Ghost’s emotional turmoil.

Besides that I can offer you this cute memory of Simon kissing Roach.

And of course I need everyone to know that this version of Ghost owns an English Mastiff called Bunker. She is his one true love, and was Price’s suggestion.

Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to ramble about this, it was a pleasure <3