#even if they cause rescas day

[xx-hb-xx]

And of course the second part for those who know the song..

late to the party but here is a contribution to celebrate hl2’s 20th

[ufolliegy]

Rescas and Passport. Not based on any preexisting characters. at all.

a bit about them under the cut

Rescas

A disgraced theoretical physicist. Pre-War Rescas was blacklisted from the sciences after causing an unfortunate lab accident that left many of his Cybertronian brothers dead. Now he fights alongside the Autobots, trying to prove himself as a respectable bot of science.

Bad luck seems to follow him wherever he goes. Some bots even warning others to steer far and clear of him, calling him a bad luck omen.

Rescas is also a monoformer. He used to have an alt mode, but due to unforeseen circumstances, it seems like his transformation cog has recently stopped working. weird.

Passport

What’s there to say about Passport…He’s a low ranking Decepticon grunt.

Before the war he worked as a security guard at one of the largest research facilities on Cybertron. He would spend his days pestering faculty about meaningless rules (ones he���d made up on the spot) and slacking off with the other guards.

Now a Decepticon, he doesn’t care much for the cause. He just wants things to go back to how they used to be. He just wants to go home and play games, man.

[portalpilled]

my half life headcanons are so silly cause i think freehoun is a thing but not in hl2

like i think pre rescas they were totally a thing, but after the events of hl1 and gordons put in stasis for 20 yrs, in his eyes its only be like. what a few days? a week?

and hes still trying to process all of this shit and when he remeets with barney its kinda like

barney wants to rekindle what they had but gordon personally feel like hes lost all humanity in himself, especially with how everyone sees him as almost a god among men

so i think like at first it'd kinda go well but every once in awhile barney would say something that would be a little too much of 'oh you're the one free man' rhetoric and itd make gordon feel detached from the one guy who he thought saw him as him and not The Gordon Freeman.

Which i think is a nice way and parallel between them, considering barney in hl2 kind of represents humanity and the human spirit considering all of his antics in the series have been about helping others (hell even in blue shift).

where you have gordon who feels detached from humanity and barney who literally represents humanity, them being exes would be like, gordon actually being detached from humanity idk i think its cute

thx for listening heres a doodle

[gordon-freeman-phd]

man, i wonder what the emergency handbook for the presumable school system that is in black mesa looks,

like there has to be some sort of school given how far black mesa must be from the nearest school and theres more solid evidence given that eli says he got alyx out of black mesa, And since its been about 20 years after the resonance cascade and alyx is 24, that means that she should wouldve been between 3-4 years old, meaning she wouldve been in preschool, so schools, bare minimum day care, must exist

so back on topic, the emergency situation set up, brcuz ignoring something as catatrophic a the rescas, there are many dangerous things inside black mesa that the school system would have to account for, such as poisonous gasses getting thru the air ducts (and past any of the other fail safes) explosions from whatever materials there are, radiation leakage, acidic liquids potentially reaching the school, air disasters given the actual airport black mesa has, tram system failures, aliens escaping and wrecking havoc, nuclear meltdowns, space rockets falling and hitting the school, the damn breaking and causing water issues or flooding issues, hell if the schools under ground they may even have issues with thr air cycling systems breaking, like so damn many emergency situations tjat i cant even begin to imagine given my lack of knowledge of science related disasters and the specifics of the facility,

so the hand book must be miles thick, and the amount of paperwork parents would have to sign and aknowledge beyond normal schooling stuff to even bring families on site rather than send them off somehwere else,

so in regard to the rescas, the scientists clearly knew of its existance and potential hazards (barring the alien invasion) so what would the teachers know of it, frankly how much can the company really prepare the teachets for since they lilely wouldnt have full clearance on everything in the facility, would they instead have training on how to react but only codes attached to each one rather than actual knowledge of the threat itself (this is likely imo) so in thr case of the rescas, something that seems somewhat less classified, i imagine a "simple" evacuation procedure would occur, get to an evac point, wait for air lifts or some kind of large transport vehicle to move the kids, how many faculty would be required to stay behind incase of a missing unaccounted for headcount to search? would security guards do that or just be support, would a fire fight team also be there since the rescas seems to involve a lot of fires and explosions? but looking at the rescas as we know it happens, would the teachers have last minute changes to their regular evac points given the fact that the hecu would be involved in this contingency and they need to kill everyone so having the kids and teachers all in oen place would be conveinant, or would the regular evac point be fine they just wouldnt send evac teams, how would they account for parents wanting to take thwir kids themselves incase of a facility wide evc order? do parents know where the evac point is?

and also on the topic of the wide variety of emergencies teachers would have to be prepped for, how do they drill for all of these? particularly the non evac ones since that wohld be able to cover many situations, i imagine not every situation can be covered by the same thing if its non evac, or would they just balnket evac for everything just to be safe but instead the evac points in practice would just change depending, (frankly why wasnt there a contingency plan in place for a rescas in the first llace if it was such a high list concern with the type of equipment secC is working with, seems like an issue, or is all their contingencies relying on communication so heavily that since it went down they couldnt follow procedure, this seems possible given elis line about the lack of comms)

many such questions

[shmorp-mcdurgen]

do you have any more barney calhoun headcanons

Yeah! i'll do some pre-rescas hcs-

-He's scared of elevators but refuses to admit it

-Hates his job. a lot. Always gets shit from scientists and higher ups, gets told to do things that aren't a part of his guard job, and overall just feels claustrophobic and uncomfortable in the BMRF. Gordon kinda helped these feelings after he was hired, but Barney still wishes he were anywhere else

-Doesn't show his emotions very much, and always speaks kinda monotone, making him seem rude even when he isn't meaning to be (and making him sound even more rude when he is)

-Is friends with a bit of his co-workers, especially Otis. plays poker with them on weekends or more accurately when they finally have days off.

-When the resonance cascade happened, he reacted. not as much as you'd think. It was almost like he was expecting something bad to happen at some point and just wasn't surprised. still tried to help as many people as he could during it though

-Has had to call other security officers for help getting himself or Gordon (or both) out of the ventilation system multiple times

-Gordon and Kleiner are the only two scientists Barney respects. (cause they're not assholes) He'd add Gina and Colette to that list if he interacted with them more.

-Stands up straight even when not at work just because he's so used to doing so on duty

[randomgooberness]

WHATS UP. SORRY THIS COMIC IS 15 IMAGES LONG LMAO I HAVEN'T USED THE NEW POST EDITOR YET SO THIS IS FORMATTED BADLY. Here's a scene from the hlvraifm au! It takes place not long after the scene where Mind was mean to Gordon about breaking his knee GFDHFDKSJ

THE BASIC CONTEXT HERE IS: Gordon shot at the skeleton that only He Can See, and Mind was already at his breaking point because his withdrawals were setting him off- so nausea with the sudden rage and screaming meant he got sick. He and Gordon have a talk! It doesn't go well(at first)!

If you want to see this conversation resolve itself, the rest is written by me and @shineyfish under the cut! Just read the warnings lol

WARNING: THE REST OF THIS SCENE CONTAINS SOMEONE TAKING DRUGS. IT IS CONTROLLED BUT STILL UNADVISED! It should be obvious but we do NOT condone it LMAO

"Just- just forget about it."

"No, I-! I-I want to know- I want to help-" Gordon said, scooting closer. "And- and you're sick, too- is that what you're mad at me for? That I- that I didn't notice? I-I don't know what even caused it you and I are the only ones who haven't drank the fucking...gross sewage water- but we can- man, I-I'm sure we can take another rest day if we need- or- or I could try to carry you? Dr. Coomer probably could, too-"

Mind was shaking, shuffling backward a little. His eyes were wide as he stared at Gordon, expression filled with fear.

"I'm, I'm good! Get the- back away, please. I need space."

If he wasn't paralyzed with fear he would run. He would run so far from this place, aliens be damned. He needed to get out of here alive. He needed to get out. 

When he said he wanted more answers about him, he didn't mean like this. This just gave him more questions, and made his teeth hurt. 

"I'm just in pain. A lot of fuckin' pain. I can keep going."

Gordon backed up, looking down guiltily. 

"Shit- sorry," he muttered. "...I... I-I dunno if you're...if you've got like, a fever- or how I'd check right now- but-" 

He paused and furrowed his brows. 

"...no...no your suit would treat you for that. Your suit would give you medicine if you got a virus or something- so you're..." 

He blinked, tilting his head the other way now, looking at Mind again. 

"...The fucks going on with you, man?"

Mind’s breath hitched. Shit.

"What are you, a fuckin' cop? Get off my ass about it, I don't need to tell you anything."

He wheezed again, raising his hand to his mouth. God, he felt horrible. Everything ached. He needed something. Pills, morphine, god he will take getting into a fight with someone just for the adrenaline at this point. 

"God I hate this."

Gordon stared at him, worry in his expression before his brows furrowed, and he huffed out his nose, pursing his lips. 

He looked away and opened his mouth to speak, failing a few times in a row, as if he were trying to say something more calm and nice, before looking right back at Mind, lips drawn back in a snarl. 

"You DO need to tell me!" He snapped. "So I can fucking HELP you! You just THREW UP and you expect me not to fucking do anything!?" 

He made an angry, and pained noise, turning his hands towards the ground so they could push him up onto his feet- which made him hiss in pain, but he stood, staring down at Mind with gritted teeth. 

"You're fucking hiding shit and it's setting us back! If you- if you can't trust me how the fuck am I supposed to trust you!?"

That made Mind shut the fuck up. Very suddenly he was Listening Intently, shoulders raised and curling in on himself.

He felt sick again. How his stupid body could even do that to him after already throwing up was a wonder and a curse.

His voice was very quiet when he answered.

"You wanna fuckin know so badly? Fine. I need Oxy, I haven't had pills in days and was banking on the stash I had here, but someone must have fuckin' snitched, cause I couldn't find shit in my locker. Everything hurts and aches, I feel sick and gross and I have had a killer fuckin headache since the stupid rescas even happened."

He growled at Gordon slightly, defensive.

"I wasn't gonna bring shit up because it doesn't matter. I've dealt with withdrawals before, I'm not useless. I know what I'm doing."

Gordon flinched, and blinked at him. 

"...Ohhh. Oh shit-" He said, looking to the ground. "...Ohhh fuck that's- not good! Okay- well, thanks for telling me-" He paused. "...Your suit has morphine, y'know."

Mind's expression withered.

"I am... I am very aware. I'm apparently not in enough pain for it to give me it."

God, he was not having a good time here.

"...Uh," Gordon played with his hands. "...I...look, I-I've never really- gotten the time to look at the blueprints for the HEV suit other than the uh. medical module- mostly so I could uh- know what the fuck it was doing- I...I can see if I can...trick yours into giving you a little? If it'll help?"

Mind yawned again, but his eyes went wide.

"I don't know if I fully trust you to do that."

He weighed his options though, and man he really needed something.

"... Sure."

"...Alright, cool, uh-" 

Gordon moved to scoot closer, before pausing. 

"...Do you still need space, or?"

Mind didn't answer, instead just moving closer to Gordon himself. Being in the same position was starting to kill his muscles.

Gordon sat there, still playing with his hands. 

"...Uh, y-you need to turn around."

He did so without complaint!... Towards Gordon. He was hissing practically the entire time about his joints.

Gordon let out a small, good-natured chuckle. 

"Thanks," he said, before tilting his head at the module. Four screws...

Ideally, he really, really would've liked a screwdriver right now. But he didn't have one. 

...He did have a combat knife he found off of a soldier, though-! 

Twirling it in his hand a few times, he looked at the screws, lined up the tip of it, and made a noise of triumph when it fit! He didn't fucking expect that! Oh my god- why did it-? Nevermind. Didn't matter, he got right to work unscrewing the cover.

"What is that noise for, what did you do-"

Mind was so incredibly uncomfortable with the position he was in. He did not like having potential enemies out of his line of sight, but he couldn't complain about shit or he wasn't getting that sweet sweet relief.

"Nothing- nothing I just- didn't expect the-" Oh, don't tell Mind you had a knife against his back. "Don't worry about it, we're making progress." 

He took off the cover, and if Mind could see him, his eyes would light up a little at the sight. He stuck his tongue out as he focused, trying to be quick for the guy but genuinely fascinated by the machinery. Black Mesa sucked, but the soldiering of the wires was amazing. 

After a few moments, he found a small screen, and an even smaller keypad- annoyingly small. He made a noise of frustration as he decided to use the tip of the knife instead of pressing them with his gloved, giant fingers. 

"Shit...The manual override is locked with a passcode," he muttered. "Uh...Hmm. Okay, gimme a sec, I'm going hackermode."

Mind snorted, trying to keep himself from shaking too much.

"What the fuck do you mean by that-"

"It means I'm trying to crack the damn passcode. Sorry, this might take a WHILE, it- wait what." 

He paused, before letting out a long, long sigh. 

"Was the passcode SERIOUSLY 1234?"

Mind Cackled.

"THERE IS NO WAY THAT IS THE PASSCODE. YOU'RE FUCKING WITH ME."

He was in so much pain. And the number holding him back from pain relief was the easiest to guess thing in the world.

"That doesn't even surprise me! Knowing this place, it's probably the code to other things too."

"Let's- lets use that code for everything, now. Fuck it!" Gordon laughed, a grin on his face. 

There was a few rounds of beeping, before he let out a sigh. 

"...Okay, uh- th-the suit uh, has the automatic amount to um- it's automatically a decently high dosage for uh, your weight, I think? It should be the same amount I was given, but uh, I-I'm worried about...it messing with you too much. Are you sure you'll be alright? I can lower the dosage," 

The expression Mind made at the thought of lowering the dosage was something to behold. It took everything in him to be casual about this.

"I can handle it. I don't think this thing accounts for muscle and joint pain, and if it does the threshold is incredibly fuckin high."

"...Okay, man, but uh- let me know if you need me to- I-I dunno. Lemme know if we need to stop for the day cause you feel too fucked up, okay...?" He said. "...Are you ready?"

"Gordon. Please just give me it."

Mind sounded a little out of it.

Gordon stared at him for a moment. 

"...alright man." 

He pressed the confirm button, and watched Mind carefully, making sure he had no adverse reactions.

Mind let out a shaky breath, honest to god about to cry over this. Finally.

It took a minute for the morphine to kick in, but the second that he could feel it he visibly relaxed, pupils dilated. It wasn't as high as his normal dosage for shit like this, but it was close enough to get rid of the pain, and for that alone he was thankful. If he can get through a bit more of Black Mesa without feeling dizzy or sick, he'd be golden.

"Thank you."

Gordon felt himself swallow and looked at the ground. 

"...Right, yeah, of course-" He said. "...Sorry it took me so long to notice you were going through it, man." 

He started to put the cover back on, screwing everything back into place.

" 's fine, wasn't exactly jumping to tell you 'bout it."

Mind seemed... Chiller, honestly. A little disconcerting from his previous demeanor but that's drugs for you. 

He was tapping against the ground now, mostly just to do something with his hands.

"...I can get why. I-I'm a little worried, but I'm not going to judge you, or anything." 

He let out a sigh once the panel was back on, tight as he could get it, and he rubbed at his face. 

"...Are you still mad at me?"

Mind stretched a little, shoulders popping.

"Nnnope. It's just a clip anyway, we'll probably find like... A million more from the military around here."

"Wh- really?? Just like that??" Gordon blinked a few times, tilting his head. Mind turned to face him, a little confused.

"Yeah? Told you, man, 's just the clip I was pissed off about."

"...Okay, that's...alright." He let out a sigh, before struggling to get up again. He grimaced, still not liking walking on that knee. He took a moment to adjust, before stiffening, staring at something behind Mind, who looked over as well, seeing nothing.

After a few moments, Gordon shook his head and whispered something to himself, something about not questioning your own insanity. 

"Let's try to catch up!" He said, eyeing the pipes the others had walked on, and climbing on.

Mind stood up, shaking his hands out a bit as he did. 

He looked at the pipes with a grimace.

"Y' sure you can climb that with your fucked up leg? Don't think the HEV suit can protect you if you fall into the radiation pit."

“I’ll just take it slow,” Gordon huffed. ”Fuck it, right? We’re both drugged up enough, we can figure it out.”

[this-should-do]

OUGH the tags about the toxic love story, I NEED to see ur toxic Barney and Gordon PLEASEUH

bestie im afraid that i dont particularly have anyhting to show rn, most of it is just words in my head, at most i have the last drawings at teh end of this post that are in reference to a sequel to a story me n a friend are wanting to write lmao but yeah, i love mkaing shit up about characters that have littel to no development in canon

to sum up, barney has ISSUES from before the rescas that cause him to latch onto gordon BAD and he never quite fets over it during those 20 years becuz trauma really prevents you from processing shit especially when ur arney who just refuses to take the time to actually tink about his issues outside a horribly self demeaning and sabotaging way if he isnt actively repressing them, so tehn when gordon shows back up (with his own issues well talk about in a minute) he reignites a bunch of feelings barney had but they get buried under 20 years of resentment and dissillusionment as well as the feeling that are reignitied are twisted and fucked up by rosetinted lenses about who gordon was so when gordon shows up with his brand new issues as in from the last day of just the rescas plus the newer issues of hte past 5 minutes of being luanched into a future where everything is different frmo what he knows when he is a man of staticness and immutable reality tethering him to proper functiong, he just cant handle it so when he isnt acting like a machine to cope with war hes trying to act like things are the same as they were before and in his hurting lowkey tries to force others he knew (particulalry barney cuz they were very close before the rescas, though they had not reached a confession state yet) to act liek they did before without meaning to by way of only responding as a person would when they perform to standard, otherwise he tends to shut down mentally, always counting and documenting when things are different without meaning to int turn the way this behavior affects barney is that becuz barney is a guy who tends to force negative feelings down and always try to be funny while simultaneously keeping everyone at arms distance, forces himself to playthe role of himself 20 years ago to his own harm while constantly flipping between keeping gordon at arms length (which hits the counter gordon has for howt higns are different without him even realizing it becuz ona surface level barney is acting the same, leading to a faster breakdown of his part) and jealous possession of gordon and wanting to keep gorodn to himself becuz in his brain he knew and cared for gordon more than anyone else and that he was first and gordon is HIS friend and his person to love (this also sets of gordons counter in a different way becuz its still not quite how barney was before, but thats to be expected nobody can act as they were before perectly even someone as adept at pretending ot be anyone but himself as barney is) however by constantly trying to keep up the old him persona, he feels unloved as himself further cementing the idea that he ash to keep up the act otherwise gordon wont love or care for him which further spoils gordon in his own mind despite his unhealthy attachment to gordon who had been a piece of the past to hold close to himself for comfort over 20 years, making their relationship very muddy this is all of course ignoring the pain that preceeds a state where this dynamic would occur , meaning thetime during the games before a peace time, where 99% of the time gordon is locke dup nerneath his Freeman persona which upsets barney who has to deal with all the rough edges he forgot about plus more so he starts to resent gordon not just for in his eyes abandoning him but also for not being the same as he remembered, a similar but different struggle to gordon, which inturn causes barney to lean into this distant but casual persona we see in game, perceptively frineds enough that people can tell but no where near what you might expect someone who was such close frineds with someone who disappeared for 20 years might act

so essentailly they are contantly doign things unintentionally or not that hurt the other or make their own self hurt, or having an unhealthy attachment to the other lmao now i also have more about their relationship that develops in a story me and a friend are rying to pull together, but that part of it wouldnt happen for sosososoos long same for the stroy it self being published lmao, but just know that it relies on barneys obsession and selfishness and possessiveness over gordon and having to deal with someone else being close to him when he couldnt be there after losing gordon a 2nd time vis a vis epistle 3 shenangians

[newtafterdark]

Was diving thru the metalhead au tag again (the au lives in my brain rent free, even if it is dormant) and noticed something in the art.

Gordon's prosthetic is different. Is that a fun design thing or is it a Plot ™️ thing? Like did smth change about how he forst lost it or does he get injured again or infected-

I am v curious, sorry to bother ^^

It's no bother at all! I love talking about that AU even after all this time. After all, my buddy Syber and I have been adding more things to the plot after I stopped writing the fanfic & the art (though I might return to both in the future). Because it's been a while since I talked about that AU, let me type out exactly how we got to Metal getting a new prosthetic, because yes, something did happen that caused him to need a new prosthetic. It was a kaiju fight.

After the plot that I originally had planed for the fanfic - aka. the ResCas happening for Metal's universe & Xen flora & fauna mutating because of the kaiju remains still on his world, as well as Ben regaining his memories & figuring out that he's a kaiju - Metal & his Science Team would start working at PPDC full-time.

During that time Metal also gets in contact with the universe where the Freemanverse AU happens… and becomes somewhat of helper between them and his own universe, as they want to help rebuilding things, as well as fighting the Combine.

And well… they do need weapons. But the PPDC can't give them those. Who in Hong Kong would have no issue exchanging weapons for perhaps untainted xen creatures? Hannibal Chau.

So Metal, Mind & Eddie have to deal with that man and his crew for a long time, if they like it or not. One positive things is Chau's right-hand-man, Ed, Metal's version of Eddie. At that point Ed basically runs Chau's company, as Chau is not handling his kaiju blue poisoning well - which canon to the PR comics, where Chau actively starts cloning kaiju for parts.

Even though the scientist Chau hired assured him that the clones were brain dead… they weren't. And one late summer-time evening 4 kaiju clones erupted from Chau's basement.

Metal and his team were dispatched to deal with those, which they did. Some better than others, as Metal's Jaeger got its arm torn off by the kaiju, frying the nerves in the arm that had already lost a good chunk before.

This whole mess ends in Ed being gravely injured in the chaos, furious that Chau did this behind his back, Chau meeting his end by Ed's hands… and Metal despite his state rushing Ed to the PPDC medical wing by carrying him in the arm that still works.

It's Dr Coomer who offers to operate Metal, basically giving him a spine replacement, as well as the shoulder blade and entire arm. After all, he did the same for Ed when that man barely survived a mutated-ant-lion attack and lost both of his arms in the process. (Kind of.) Metal agrees to it, of course.

The initial prosthetic didn't have a gun inside… but the new one transforms the entire arm into one, if triggered by large amounts of fear or anger. Metal's normal anxiety levels don't activate it, thankfully.

Also, the arm can be removed at the shoulder joint with a combination of pressure and pulls that only Metal and the Science Team (later also Ed) know how to do.

Even with his previous one, Metal often went about his day without it on. With the new one, he leaves it off mainly during some nights, especially when the phantom pain hits.

[toonbly]

Ok, I'm new to tumblr and your page. But, I know that Eddie might be from freeman's mind but if the scientist looking one pre rescas freemind cause they look similar? Thank you and have a wonderful day

oh theyre not freemans mind characters at all!!

see like. i rewrote a LOT of freemans mind for RP stuff + for a hlvrai ask blog im doing (which is where the "Nathan" name comes from) because of the shitty things in FM (abelism, usage of slurs, homophobia, fatphobia, etc.) and it just kinda. evolved into its own thing??? so i just said "yeah this isnt even freemans mind anymore im just gonna take the way i wrote this guy and use it to make an oc" and thus nathan was created! eddie is a complete blankslate in FM so he was an OC from the start anyway and i liked the way i wrote him and designed him and just used him for a different project too!

nathan and eddie are characters for a webcomic im working on called tip the ferrymen! theyre also tecccchnically used in my hlvrai ask blog Cascade Crowns? but their personalities in ferrymen are EXTREMELY different from how they are in CC so

[watermelonselfship]

❣️➿♠️🕔? :)

Okay buckle up this ones gonna be a long ride.

❣️: Reminds you of your F/O

NFWMB- Hozier

When I first saw you The end was soon To Bethlehem it slouched And then it must've caught a good look at you

I am. Obsessed with the absolute badass Barney is as a resistance leader. Managed to survive for 20 years, work as a double agent right under their noses, then fought openly in the most dangerous parts of the resistance thinking that the only hope for humanity, and two of his good friends, were dead the whole time... Nothing can fuck with him. You get this man focused on a direction and point him at it, and he's going to tear down everything in his path to get it done. Love that for him.

➿: You imagine mutual pining to

Sick of Losing Soulmates- Dodie

Cause I'm sick of losing soulmates So where do we begin? I can finally see you're as fucked up as me So how do we win? Yeah, I'm sick of losing soulmates Won't be alone again I can finally see you're as fucked up as me So how do we win?

Up until the train scene, one of THE biggest reasons that neither Raymond nor Barney address their feelings is because they're both SO scared they're going to lose each other. It's not unrealistic- they're living in a post apocalyptic warzone, as active agents of resistance against occupation by what feel like godlike forces. They've both lost so many people over the course of their lives, it makes sense they're both scared to lose each other. So they don't address it, they don't ask. They don't know a way to address how they feel and not risk how bad its going to hurt if (or they believe, when) the other gets killed.

Eventually, it IS addressed, but that fear... that's the essence of the pining. Love it.

♠️: Describes your relationship

Love Someone- Lukas Graham

There are days I wake up and I pinch myself You're with me, not someone else And I'm scared, yeah, I'm still scared That it's all a dream

Barney and Raymond both are insecure guys tbh, and they've lost SO MUCH. Raymond in particular has this extreme fear that Barney actually only has eyes for Gordon with their history, and has that point of jealousy at first before he realizes that Gordon is Just Some Guy and I fix the problem with polyamory. Eventually, they realize that they chose each other, and did it on purpose. They stop being so afraid to lose each other, especially as things in the world improve.

🕔: Makes you think of the first time you met (in canon)

Since I answered this one from the exact point in a previous ask, I'm gonna move the timeline forward a bit, to the first time Barney and Raymond are having like... Friendly contact! Which would probably be the bar scene I'm writing. That would be:

Monster- Adventure Time

I know we'll never grow old together 'Cause you'll never grow old to me You're the pink in my cheeks And I'm scared 'cause that means I'm a little bit soft

Barney comes to the relationship with his walls as high as they'll go. He's survived the rescas, he's survived the 7-hour-war, and he's been working undercover in Civil Protection for who knows how long now. He's used to having that distance, having that degree of separation between him and the people he's getting to know, to protect himself when it all goes to shit.

And along comes Raymond, who's been through so much in his own right, and he's still so openly soft. And he starts giving Barney a space to be soft too. That moment of vulnerability over shared beers is what sparks their relationship, what first gets Raymond to fall for Barney even if he won't admit it.

That tenderness that Barney first feels, and promptly buries for a few years, makes him realize that under all these layers of protection, he still is soft. And that's okay. He can be soft with Raymond. And eventually, that blooms into their relationship! But it starts with that fearful moment of vulnerability, and grows from there.

[rosebloodcat]

More Android Gordon Chatting

As previously stated, I really like Robot/Android AUs, and I tend to go pretty crazy with AUs in general when I come up with them. So here’s part 2 of my Android Gordon/DBH AU rambling over Discord with @lady-lampblack

RoseBloodCat: Random Android Gordo thought: He can't have a dick-slip because, as a Nanny/Housekeeping model, he has no dick.

Gordon is either on the edge of his seat or completely unaware of the Android Rights stuff going on in Detroit. It depends on when the Resonance Cascade happens. If it's before it then he'll probably be following it all on the news. But if it's during then he wouldn't know about it until after. Both could be interesting depending on which one is used.

If he's at Tommy's house when it's going on, he's probably hyper focused on what's going on and what the reactions of the humans are. And how the police/government are responding. Because that would be something he'd feel really strongly about as a Deviant-in-Hiding. He'd be anxious to know if he could legally be seen as a person, or if he had to continue his charade of being Tommy's housekeeper/pet sitter.

However, it happening at the same time as the Resonance Cascade could be super interesting/surprising too. Since he wouldn't know it had happened until he got out, and would have been blindsided by it all. He'd need to adjust to being freethinking for the first time in his life and actually being able to act on those thoughts and feelings without (major) repercussions.

It's like, do we give him the chance to adjust first? Let he learn how to deal with emotions and trauma first? Or do we have him speed-run his freedoms and emotions now that he isn't just another robot?

the gay (mango): I feel like him coming out of the rescas with the detroit riots happening while hes inside

I mean

A lot of bots are gonna have to break their programming with the aliens popping in everywhere unless the rescas is only centralized in black mesa

RoseBloodCat: True! Very true.

That would end up as a bit of a mix between the 2 options then, Gordon coming out of Black Mesa and being offered a place to stay with Tommy as the final clean-up from the Alien invasion is finished.

And then the news of the Android Freedom/Civil Rights movement appearing in Detroit and that tons of other androids had gone deviant under the stresses and couldn't just... Go back to the lives they'd had before.

Too much had happened to just sweep the fallout under the rug.

Plus, you know, there's possibility that Black Mesa's involvement got leaked so there's the fallout from that too, along with a good portion of them trying to cover up/refuse a thorough investigation into why it happened. Because shit like that can't happen without someone having to take responsibility.

Especially if it got out that they had used a Daycare Android in their Highly Dangerous alien testing. And that's not even getting into the trouble they'd find themselves in if the rest of their unethical science was discovered.

They might be able to partially cover/fix that by letting Tommy take Gordon as a Housekeeper, since they could then say that they'd "Gotten Rid" of the Android involved in the test. (Same idea as firing/relocating/dismissing a Scientist who'd screwed something up)

They'd probably try to avoid names too, just to further cover their asses.

the gay (mango): Not to mention the fact that the majority of the staff died from both aliens and government asses

RoseBloodCat: Ye

Pretty easy to cover up because of that tbh.

With most of the staff dead, it's pretty easy to just go "Unfortunately, most of the scientists and androids in charge of the tests that day were killed in the ensuing chaos from both the invasion and the military's attempts to fight back."

"Sadly, we may not be able to reopen or continue our work due to the losses suffered."

the gay (mango): So black mesa could claim the android involved didn't make it out

RoseBloodCat: Yeah, so long as they don't mention his name or android number, Gordon could get away (mostly) scott free.

the gay (mango): If someone asks for specifics black mesa can claim that records were lost and/or not recorded

RoseBloodCat: Yup.

I should draw Android Gordon sometime. Like, each version of him that would (possibly) be in the story/AU

Clean/Pre-test (in his uniform before the Testing shit), Post Test (Messed up clothes, possibly with Blood spatter) After Escape, (Clean Uniform, but now with accents that show he's not quite a normal Android anymore) and After Revolution (Where he's actually wearing normal clothes and is able to ditch his uniform)

the gay (mango): Does android lose his arm?

RoseBloodCat: I've been debating on that. Like It could be a good point to show that something is going haywire on the outside in regards to Androids, (or them just being dicks) Or they could not do that and just... Be awful.

the gay (mango): I mean androids are p looked down on in dbh even before the revolution

RoseBloodCat: Yeah...

the gay (mango): So soldiers beating up and dismembering a random black mesa android?  P in line w the universe

RoseBloodCat: Honestly? It really is. Black Mesa just seems like a magnet for assholes (with, like, a handful of exceptions) My brain is bouncing between Androids and Splatoon while I'm on shift. Plez send halp Or ideas. Whichever.

the gay (mango): I dont splatoon sorry

RoseBloodCat: Android thoughts are welcome too.

the gay (mango): What does coomer count as with his cyber limbs?

RoseBloodCat: Cyborg. Since he started out human and was augmented with tech.

the gay (mango): Fair But in a world of androids how is he viewed

RoseBloodCat: Probably as just... A human with fancy prosthetics.

the gay (mango): Fair What does bubby think of the annoying babysitter being an android?

RoseBloodCat: Not much at first. He knows Gordon's there to help with test, but probably thinks a human should be the one doing it an not the Nannybot from Daycare. But it's more from a professional stand point than a "I don't like Androids" one. Gordon doesn't have a degree in any field of research after all.

the gay (mango): Fair

RoseBloodCat: But it probably came off as that at first. When the test went kooky and he started out blaming Gordon for it. He was complaining about Gordon not doing it right and messing up the test, but he meant that it was because he wasn't educated for these things and not because he was an Android. But Gordon probably takes it to mean that. (That can be used for a comfort attempt from Bubby later, possible when someone points out that it sounded like Bubby hated androids or something.)

the gay (mango): Gordon juat feeling alienated cause bubby is an ass

RoseBloodCat: "I wasn't pissed because you were an Android, I was pissed because you weren't... Made to do this stuff? You're a fucking... Nanny, not a... Research bot..." Just- awkward comfort attempt.

The Flower (Lili): :') love that

the gay (mango): Bonding momence

RoseBloodCat: Coomer and Tommy probably also said something to the effect of "An android shouldn't do this test." Too, but they were so friendly at the same time that it hit differently. Bobby's an ass, but Gordon didn't really notice that he's like that for everyone not just him.

the gay (mango): whos bobby Gordon is a child handler, he takes everything personally

RoseBloodCat: XD (Also, auto correct is awful whenever I try to write these names.)

the gay (mango): Honestly that's part of why i banished my autocorrect to the shadow realm

RoseBloodCat: Lol

[toonbly]

i am here to ask abt ur gordon and joshua headcanons. tell us abt Them and their relationship

WELL IM GLAD YOU ASKED *stops holding you at gunpoint*

HERE’S A GOOD BIT OF FREEMAN FAMILY HCS (some of which were provided by my good pal @/sunkizt )

Joshua’s always been this kinda shy anxious kid but once he gets to high school ( I like to think he’s like? 15 in the art I posted earlier ) he starts trying to impress his peers and fit in a little better with VARYING DEGREES of success

Due to the shit that happened at Black Mesa Gordon kiiiinda tends to be a little overbearing. He got THIS CLOSE to dying so many times after the Rescas, so now he wants to be as involved in Joshua’s life as heavenly possible. He’s not controlling or anything but he tends to butt in on Joshua’s business a lot and pesters him pretty often.

So yes Joshua and Gordon are basically the “Shy kid who wants to fit in with an overbearing and embarrassing parent who means well” trope

That said whenever he was much younger Joshua clung to Gordon like his life depended on it after the incident. He’s gotten better, but even now if Gordon is away at the store for too long or gets home from work late without calling it’ll make Joshua super anxious

Gordon’s the living embodiment of the “Are you winning, son?” image. He doesn’t understand a lot of Joshua’s interests but he certainly tries

This is more a Joshua in general headcanon than a Freeman family one but- Joshua is mute! He communicates via ASL!

Circling back to Gordon being a little overbearing- this defo causes a bit of a rift until they can sort it out. Gordon being overprotective can be a little much for Joshua sometimes, and it causes iiiisssuuuuueesss

Gordon never telling Joshua exactly what happened at Black Mesa certainly DOESN’T HELP. Like he doesn’t wanna dump all his trauma on his kid so it’s understandable why he doesn’t. But to Joshua it just seems like Gordon just thinks he can’t handle himself which to a teenager is really! Not good

They talk it out eventually, of course but not until after a really emotional and SOMEWHAT HEATED argument that results in lots of tears and them both just shutting off from the other for the rest of the night so they can cool down. They talk about it the next morning.

Gordon starts tryna be less overprotective- Joshua understands why he was doing it now and is less hard on the guy for it, but Gordon’s working on himself still tho bro because thats what GOOD DADS DO, BAY BEE

On a fluffier note- Gordon’s that dad who’s super supportive of all of Joshua’s “phases.” Like I like to think Gordon had a rebellious phase in high school (not necesarrily fullblown Punk- yes the mentality bc Gordon being an anarchist is CANON, BAYBEE, but he never dressed that way. It was more old flannels and ripped up jeans for him) so when Joshua has any alternative phases Gordon is IMMEDIATELY on board.

Gordon’s a shovel talk kinda dad. Joshua brings home a boy one day and Gordon gives him a very GENTLE shovel talk- bc yknow, Joshie can handle himself it’s alright. It’s less a “You hurt him and you’ll die” and more a “I’m trusting you to be good to Joshua. It’s no surprise that you love him, everyone should love Joshua, so be good to him.” sort of thing

JOSHUA ALSO GIVES ANYONE GORDON DATES SHOVEL TALKS. BUT THEY’RE LIKE FULL ON THREATENING SHOVEL TALKS. Like “Listen my dad fucking rules and if you break his heart I will BURY YOU.” The problem being that Joshua’s this baby faced 15 year old with freckles and he’s like 5′2″ cause he hasn’t hit his growth spurt yet so like it’s hardly intimidating

Joshua’s that one vine where it’s like “Hahah yeah cool party guys! Hold on I gotta go to the restroom- *grabs phone* MOM I NEED YOU TO COME PICK ME UP KIDS ARE DRINKING BEER-”

Joshua’s like. A nerdy jock. He’s into high school football but doesn’t play it himself, he’s more into nerdy shit like books and podcasts n stuff

He’s still drawing too! He’s gotten better at it over the years