#but ir portrays gordan as very cold and analytical

[voidless-being]

So I’m thinking about half life, because I think that’s all I’m capable of doing at this point, but more specifically I’m thinking about Gordon’s friendship with the security guards. How throughput Black Mesa, fellow scientists and researchers, the people he would most likely be working with on a daily basis, refer to him as Mr. Freeman. And they clearly respect him, trust him, otherwise they wouldn’t be relying on him to save them, but I don’t know how much they actually like him. Before the test they are cold and dismissive, and part of that is likely due to the stress of the experiment, knowing that higher ups are watching it with a close eye and need it to go well, but I think part of it is that none of them are actually all that close to Gordon. But the security guards refer to you be first name. To them you aren’t Mr. Freeman, your Gordon. And how this applies to pretty much all the security guards, even though many of the are likely stationed much too far away from Gordans work to have met him normally on the job. Which means that what likely happened is that Gordon got close to the guards that he sees every day, the one who works at the desk, and the one who lets him into the lab. Most scientists likely ignore them, let them fade into the background, only talk to them if they need something. But Gordon doesn’t. He greets them every day, tells them thank you when they help him, and slowly they start to bond. They become friends. And then Gordon starts to get invited to drinks after work with the guards. Gets invited back to the dorms to hang out with them. And so he starts to meet all of the security team, not just the ones he works with. And then I think about how part of why Gordon was able to do so much and get so far is because he was fitter than the rest of the researchers, more capable with a weapon, just a bit better at fighting. And I think about how much of that is likely due to his friendship with the guards. Maybe they would tease Gordon about all of the sciencecy nerd stuff he does all day, and invite him to witness their own expertise. They would take him to the shooting range and show of their own skill, compete with each other. And then show Gordon how to do it, help him train too. Maybe they are active on their off days too, maybe they like to hike, or swim, or bike, or rock climb. And as they invite Gordon to more and more of these outings, Gordon comes away just a little bit stronger than before. Getting Gordon buff was never the intent of course, they were just hanging out as friends, but I think that this friendship is what allowed Godan to survive post resonance cascade. How Gordon was chosen by g-man because he is whip smart and strong, but also because of the same kindness that led to this friendship in the first place. Despite how lonely Gordon feels escaping from Black Mesa, he never could have done it without the help from the people around him, risking their lives in an attempt to help him just a little further. And I think that his ability to spark this cooperation in people, his kindness driving him to get help for all these people, is what allowed him to succeed, just as much as anything else.