Makallen

Makallen is the slash ship between Vladimir Makarov and Joseph Allen from the Call of Duty fandom.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
In 2016, American Private First Class Joseph Allen is hand-picked by General Shepherd to join the elite Task Force 141. Allen’s first mission with 141 is going undercover in Vladimir Makarov’s Russian Ultranationalist terrorist organization, the Inner Circle, under the alias “Alexei Borodin.” During a couple mission briefings with Shepherd, Allen refers to Makarov as “the prize,” and Shepherd calls Makarov Allen’s “new best friend.” Upon fellow 141 members Captain John “Soap” MacTavish and Sergeant Gary “Roach” Sanderson returning from their mission of obtaining the ACS from a Russian base in the mountains of Kazakhstan, Allen is given his orders.

Allen is selected by Makarov to participate in the terroristic assault on the Zakhaev International Airport. The Inner Circle perpetrates a massacre of civilians to kick start World War III. Near the end of the mission, Makarov lets it be known that he knows “Alexei Borodin” is actually an undercover American. As they’re preparing to escape the scene in an ambulance, one of Makarov’s men, Anatoly, tells him they’ve “sent a strong message with this attack.” Makarov helps Allen into the exfil vehicle, only to shoot him at close range, telling Allen, “This is a message.” Allen falls and lies on the ground, bleeding out as Makarov drives away. Allen’s body is left behind for FSB forces to find. With this, implicating the United States as the attackers and thus igniting World War III, Allen becoming a victim of conflict between Shepherd and Makarov.

Quotes
"This man Makarov is fighting his own war and he has no rules. No boundaries. He doesn’t flinch at torture, human trafficking or genocide. He’s not loyal to a flag or country or any set of ideals. He trades blood for money. He’s your new best friend. You don’t want to know what it’s cost already to put you next to him. It will cost you a piece of yourself. It will cost nothing compared to everything you’ll save."

- Shepherd to Allen, about Makarov, mission briefing.

"This is a message. [Makarov shoots Allen] The American thought he could deceive us. When they find that body… all of Russia will cry for war."

- Makarov knew of Allen’s true identity.

Fanon
Makallen is a hero/villain rarepair within the Call of Duty fandom. As of presently, fans feel as through the pair is no longer considered a crackship. Makallen has been around since 2009, although the pair didn’t truly begin to gain some traction until the release of the 2022 game Modern Warfare II, the reboot to their original 2009 game. While Makarov and Allen don’t appear in MWII (Makarov is mentioned by name however), due to the popularity of it, people have gone back to the original game.

Makallen began as joke ship and divulged from there. Due to the lack of canon content between the two, it is heavy in fanon content. AUs are often created in which Allen lives, featuring Makarov keeping Allen as some sort of “pet” and/or prisoner. In these types of works, the two men form some kind of connection/attraction to each other over time, Allen becoming something Makarov cares about, and vice versa. Consistently Makarov is possessive/protective of Allen. They’re also somewhat codependent. In most works, Allen wears a collar to mark his position. Early into their relationship, fan works portray them having a lot of trust issues with each other. Over time, Makallen evolved into a deep poetic domestic ship, while still keeping the master/pet dynamics.

On AO3, Makallen has 5+ works in its romantic/slash tag. It has no platonic/general tag.

Fandom
FAN FICTION