#gordon where's your passport

[3liza]

ignoring every single other way this is a terrible fucking idea, the "more readable" dyslexia font is a literal eyesore, as in it makes all of this 10x harder to read for me and i think a lot of other people. hey man i thought someone might want to know everything wrong with me for whatever reason so here's a list of my various triggers and weaknesses and ways to exploit or injure me, and here is a copy of that list in case you throw the first one away

[vasilisk-vp]

⚠️ CW EYE STRAIN ⚠️ CW AMPUTATION ⚠️ CW BLOOD⚠️

im in my hlvrai era B-)

[can-i-see-your-passport-please]

Gordon voice I hate Benrey so much if he leaves my line of sight I'm gonna start crying

[oakdll]

There is something genuinely haunting about HLVRAI. Like it’s a comedy series, but there is some genuine terror in there.

Dr. Coomer’s clones, the way he will suddenly break from his robotic self into a nihilistic creature that somehow knows the secrets of Black Mesa, it’s scary. In Episode 4 when they reach the surface, Gordon asks why they can’t just climb the walls and escape, and Coomer replies in the scariest voice: “There’s nothing there. There’s NOTHING there.” His face contorts, his mouth opens further than normal when he talks, there’s a shrill ambient tone playing over his speech, it’s fucking terrifying.

Especially the Coomer clones, those are MORTIFYING. When Gordon is attacked by all the Coomer clones, the real one says: “I’ve been outside Black Mesa, Gordon. There’s nothing there but YOU. I know there’s a world in your dreams, and I need to go there. There’s an opening in your suit and I want in.” The way he talks about how he feels the pain of all of his clones is haunting. “Gordon, every time you go to sleep I can feel my body torn apart, atom by atom. It’s agonizing, Gordon… I’ve seen outside of Black Mesa, Gordon… There’s NOTHING. But I know you. There’s a world outside here, Gordon, and I need you to take me there.

I know I’m just quoting Coomer at this point, but his lines speak for themselves. He literally says with the most nonchalant voice: “Well, clearly crawling inside of your HEV suit and wearing you like a puppet didn’t work, so..” This is genuinely a horror series.

Benrey is also a terrifying character. He’s always so non chalant and comedic, but something about the way he mindlessly insists on Gordon showing his passport, the way he repeatedly comes back to life is chilling to me. Throughout the entire series, from the very beginning he has seemed more like a “thing” than a human. His motivations are so stupid but he has such a relaxed confidence that he can survive anything, it’s haunting.

He has his own rules for the world that are forever changing, never static. There are times where he berates Gordon for killing living creatures right after killing innocent people himself, it’s like he’s a child with no sense of morality given a gods body. I don’t know how to describe it, he is just so frightening to me.

Like the scene where he says that he added Gordon’s death to the All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 Wikipedia page is fucking hilarious, but it also gives off a haunting impression that he knows that Gordon is going to die and is preemptively adding it into history. When Gordon denies that he’s dead, Benrey says “Well, it’s not the end yet, so you can’t say anything.” Which is a TERRIFYING line, and the only reason it’s not talked about more is because he’s referring to All Dogs Go to Heaven 2. I love this series

Edit: While rewatching the finale, there’s a scene I forgot about that should definitely be included in this post. When the group is traversing the alien world, they find a dead guy in an HEV suit and Coomer says: “Look Gordon, it’s you!” Something about that is so scary to me, it’s like Gordon is watching a version of himself that died because of Benrey, it’s so scary for no reason

Also another Coomer quote: “Gordon, if you found out that everything around you wasn’t real- was FAKE- what would you do?”

[freemanslimbo]

 Benrey brushed the hair out of his eyes, eyes which darted around the chamber before he had a moment. It was almost like a lightbulb popped up over his head, as a smirk cracked his face and he pointed at a unblocked door

There's our way out

Benrey, look... Gordon struggled to get up as he clutched his shoulder

I fucked up this experiment, I don’t know what to do. This was my life’s work, I-I… I can’t go on after this

Gordon leaned against the wall, this crisis washing over him

If Joshua could see me like this, he’d-he’d…

This Joshua?

Benrey was suddenly holding a picture of Joshua and Gordon in 2016 on Joshua's first birthday

Yes, where did you…

Found it in your locker, next to your passport and your driver’s license

And you were snooping in my stuff because…????

It’s security’s job, Gordon.

Alright, let’s get the fuck outta here.

Gordon and Benrey went over to the unblocked door that Benrey had pointed out earlier. Gordon limped over shrapnel and debris

[year2000electronics]

i feel like benrey’s weakness/fear is Exclusion. he likes being part of the team, being part of the game. he just wants to play games with people so Not Being Allowed To Play is the one thing he doesn’t want. i think that could be a rising point of contention between him and gordon WRT the betrayal because benrey probably knows this is a video game and it’s lame gordon is acting as if this is his real life. c’mon man. and gordon constantly trying to exclude benrey from the team even though he’s on shaky good terms with bubby would have him HEATEDDD.

coomer has his clones bubby has his prototype but benrey has His Friends. his big monologue is about having friends he goes “these are my friends i met online”. hes a social animal. but he’s also a social animal like a cat where he just likes following you around and staring at you.

i feel like gordon projects “you are other, you are different, and once i finally find the hole in your disguise the science team will finally listen to me and get you out” onto benrey because of his rising nervousness that the team might find out he’s been lying to them but benrey might also be projecting some of HIS stuff onto gordon. i mean think about it. everyone has their id everyone has their passport except gordon.

[decks-writing-blog]

Gordon Swap Chapter Eleven: He Didn't Know

Chapter One

Previous Chapter

~

Watching alternate-Gordon argue was mesmerizing. He was loud and brash, gesturing with his hands – or hand and stump – as he spoke, raising his voice more than was probably needed. When he got upset he made sure everyone around knew and made them listen, even awkwardly drawing his gun again and this time firing it – thankfully it wasn’t a danger to Benrey. Probably Gordon should interfere again but even more than the explosive interaction other-Gordon had had when reuniting with the rest of the team, it was hard to look away. And this time there wasn’t anything that needed to be explained, making it even harder.

Having a voice wasn’t necessary. Gordon got on just fine without one. He’d had plenty of chances to partake in experiments that might give him a voice much like how he’d been given hearing, but he’d always declined; sign language was fine. Never before had he had doubts about that. This guy though, he could hold people’s attention. It’d be a lot harder to dismiss him by merely turning away and would take quite a bit of effort to talk over him. Gordon had seen that before obviously in other people, Barney was like that too sometimes, but it was different when it was a version of himself doing it.

How many things were different and had gone differently in their lives to lead to this Gordon being like this? Presumably he’d been born with the ability to speak and hear. A pretty big difference that had no doubt led to lots of differences, big and small. How had it all led to him traveling with companions post the Resonance Cascade instead of being alone for so, so long? Gordon wanted to ask but… interrupting heated spoken arguments was difficult. If their situations were reversed, it would’ve been easy. Also, what questions would he even begin with?

So he just stood and watched them argue, fascinated by the open frustration playing across his alternate’s face. The fact that a strong reaction was obviously what Benrey wanted and thus being calm or just ignoring him would probably make him give up eventually seemed lost on him. Or actually, no ‘probably’ about it. Benrey had tried getting similar reactions out of Gordon but upon being rebuffed enough times had sulked off. Someone should tell other-Gordon that.

Eventually… “You know what? Fuck you. We’re here on an important world saving mission so we don’t have time for this shit. Goodbye.” With that, other-Gordon raised hand in a dismissive wave and as he turned and did the wise thing of walking way.

He was right! They were here for a very important mission. Now was not the time for Gordon to get lost in his fascination with his alternate self. Shaking himself mentally, he jogged to catch up and fell into step with his alternate. A slight tap on his shoulder and a point had him going in the direction the Vonnegut had pointed Gordon in upon stepping through the portal.

Barney jogged up to join them, coming in on other-Gordon’s other side. Leaving the rest of them to follow as they pleased.

“Hey, you can’t walk away. You need your uh, passport to go that way,” Benrey called after them.

Other-Gordon started to turn to respond. Gordon quickly tapped him on the shoulder again, getting his attention. He lifted a finger to his lips. Don’t respond.

He stared for a beat before answering in a hushed voice. “Uh, yeah, good idea… I think. I should ignore him even if um… he’s a bit harder to ignore now because of the whole… you know? Do you know why he’s so big?”

Gordon shrugged. None of the others had asked and he couldn’t so he had no way of knowing. They could pause now to do it but between stopping to observe this fight as well as the earlier one – needing to talk with Barney had saved him from getting as distracted there at least – they’d already spent far too much time standing around.

“Where you guys headed anyway?”

A look back revealed that Benrey was following, apparently he was with the group again. He’d phased partially through the ground as he did it, perhaps so he could stay low with them. Gordon had seen that earlier so it wasn’t surprising. It was another interesting mystery that there was sadly no time for yet.

“We’re uh… still going to the tower,” Tommy answered.

“And the Vonneguts are apparently helping us get there faster,” Bubby added, still sounding skeptical about it. An understandable reaction.

“They’re our new friends.” Coomer however sounded perfectly pleased with that idea. Good for him.

With the return of their original Gordon and Benrey present once more, their group was finally whole again. Other-Gordon obviously wasn’t as pleased about that as he could’ve been, understandably so after being betrayed. But Gordon was pleased with this development. It sure beat being alone and he got to see just how his alternate self interacted with them. Maybe a bit of a weird thing to want to see but with how many times other-Gordon had come up in conversation beforehand, it was hard not to be curious.

~

Unfortunately their time outside was brief before they were going through another portal leading to another Vonnegut run facility. Not that Gordon didn’t want more exposure to the aliens and their technology, just that knowing how much closer they were to the tower and thus how much further they had to go would’ve been nice to know. No choice though, they just kept going.

Their marching order, stirred by Benrey’s return, settled with Gordon, his alternate, and Barney in the front. Bubby, Coomer, and Tommy stuck with them to varying degrees but were always close behind as they’d been since Gordon had met up with them. Leaving Benrey, his size seemingly different every time Gordon looked at him, at the back or to the sides, just hovering around in general. Seemingly he was here to stay.

Naturally him staying caused unrest. Every chance he got, he poked at other-Gordon for a reaction. How obvious his desire for attention from him specifically was impossible to miss. He got it too because despite Gordon’s best attempts to keep his alternate focused, other-Gordon responded fairly often. Seemingly he couldn’t stop himself. Social interactions were something he just did without thought or effort required.

Eventually, things settled a bit more. Not completely calm but other-Gordon didn’t seem as primed to have another big show of frustration, rightful or otherwise. He was flagging, losing his spot at Gordon’s side. Given that, upon Barney suggesting they stop after the third big ambush in fairly quick succession, Gordon acquiesced to it. Earning a, “Wow, we actually get to stop to eat for once, it’s a damn miracle,” from Bubby.

And eat they did. Barney and other-Gordon had a whole pack of proper food they shared. All Black Mesa branded astronaut food but it beat vending machine snacks by miles. It was enough to get everyone more focused on eating than chatting for once, resulting in several minutes of almost quiet, a rarity in this group. Benrey didn’t eat, but he did seem content to just sit and watch, only making the occasional comment to other-Gordon.

“Why the fuck are you so big anyway?” other-Gordon eventually snapped at him.

“Just am. Why are you so small, huh?”

“I’m not small.”

“From his perspective you are pretty small, Gordon,” Coomer said as he lowered his now empty wrapper.

“Yeah and from the perspective of the universe, especially if we’re bringing the multiverse into it, he’s small. Relative size wasn’t what I was asking about. He was normal person sized before and now he’s giant. Why?”

“Something to do with Xen, I think,” Bubby answered as he shifted to look up at Benrey too. “’Cause he got this big when we got here.”

“So you’re another Xen alien then?” Barney asked.

Benrey shrugged. “I dunno, maybe.”

“How do you not know?” other-Gordon asked, mirroring Gordon’s thought almost exactly. It was nice to finally have someone with at least some of the same questions as him who could also ask them.

“Just don’t.” Alas, it seems they weren’t getting an answer though.

“Really, you don’t know? Or are you lying to be annoying?”

“I can’t lie, remember?”

Other-Gordon half sighed, half groaned. “Whatever, I don’t really care anyway.” A lie? Or was he just that upset with Benrey to not be curious about it? “The more important question is do you have to be that fucking big?”

Tommy cut in with, “Yeah. If you were smaller, you’d have an easier time hanging out with us again, right?”

“But being big is cool. You guys should try it sometime.”

“Yeah Gordon, you should try it sometime.” Coomer spoke as if he thought it were an actual option. Probably a joke but of all of them Gordon had the hardest time reading him.

“Sure, if I ever get the chance, I’ll try it. But that didn’t answer my question, do you have to be that big or can you shrink down to a more normal human size like you were before?” Other-Gordon waited for only half a beat before something seemed to occur to him and he quickly continued, leaning forward a little as he did so. “Because I bet you can’t. It’s probably too hard for you, huh? You’re too weak to be able to control whatever it is you’re doing that much.” Trying to goad Benrey into shrinking if it was possible and opening up an opportunity to mock him if he couldn’t. An obvious bait but given Benrey’s teasing of him it was deserved.

Benrey thought for a few seconds before reply. “’Bet’, huh? What’cha wanna bet?”

“Uh…” Other-Gordon’s fault for using the word ‘bet’. He should’ve known better. Tommy, sitting on his other side, whispered something to him that made his face scrunch up. “What? Why would I even have a Beyblade with me?”

Tommy sat back with a sigh. “I was hoping you would so uh… if he won, he could let me borrow it or maybe carry it for him. ‘Cause um, I miss mine and I’m still mad about the soldiers who said they’d give me one but didn’t.”

“Dude, if I had a Beyblade and you wanted it, I’d just give it to you.”

“Aw, thanks, Mr. Freeman. It’s the uh, thought that counts, right? I hope we get to go home soon.”

“Return to the bet idea, assholes,” Bubby cut in. “I wanna see one or both of you do something stupid.”

They’d all finished eating now so they should get a move on instead. But Gordon wouldn’t mind seeing one or both of them do something stupid too, especially since it was his alternate who’d started this particular interaction. So he stayed seated for now. Just another minute or two couldn’t hurt.

“How ‘bout a kiss,” Coomer suggested. “If Benrey proves he’s capable of returning to a normal person size, Gordon owes him a kiss. And if Benrey can’t then he has to forgive Gordon for not having his passport.”

“Deal,” other-Gordon and Benrey said at almost the same time.

In the following silence, Barney leaned in to whisper to Gordon. “These lot are kind strange, huh? Other-you told me ‘bout them but in person, it’s something else entirely.”

True, they were odd even in comparison to Gordon and Kleiner who were normally the weirdest people in any given room. It was interesting being normal for once. They were fun though. Gordon liked them. … It would’ve been nice if he could interact with them more the way other-Gordon was. Back and forth banter, instigating interactions. There was an edge to some of it because other-Gordon was still rightfully unhappy but he otherwise fit in well with them. He was like the straightman to their comedy antics. As a group, the five of them felt so much more complete with him present.

Gordon had been an outsider from the moment he’d started traveling with Benrey and was even more on the outside now. Barney’s presence alleviated that some but only a little. He could get up and leave and no one other than Barney would notice. Barney would also probably be the only one who would even care.

Shaking those thoughts off, he looked back up at Benrey. He’d closed his eyes in concentration, placing his hands in this lap almost as if he were meditating. He was shrinking. Slowly but surely he eventually returned to the size he’d been before coming into Xen.

“Fucking, damn it,” other-Gordon said as Benrey stood.

With what could only be described as an evil cackle, Benrey walked over to him. His motions looked stiff though as if he were physically uncomfortable. “Now you owe me a kiss, huh? Passportless boy.”

“Fuck you, man.”

“You gotta do it, Gordon,” Bubby said. “Betting he couldn’t do it was your dumb idea in the first place.”

“Yeah, Mr. Freeman,” Tommy added. “You said ‘deal’ when Mr. Coomer suggested it. So you have to.”

“Yeah, because I thought… whatever.” Other-Gordon stood. “I had to take the chance to get him to leave me alone, right?” He glared at Benrey, now almost a full head shorter than him.

“Kiss him, Gordon, kiss him.” Coomer stood, balling his hands into fists, eager to witness the chaos he’d sown.

“I’m waiting.” Hands behind his back, Benrey tilted his head up towards him. “Or are you a deal breaker as well as a…” He cut off as other-Gordon kissed him on the mouth.

It lasted several seconds. Sitting right in front of them, Gordon had a rather good view of it. Bubby stood to get a better look as well, his eyes wide under his glasses. “Didn’t expect that.”

Finally other-Gordon pulled back. “There. And you can’t say I skimped out on it either. So let’s just get a move on already, huh?” Pushing his glasses back up, he turned and walked away.

Benrey stared after him, blinking in surprise. He opened his mouth as if to say something but nothing came out. Seemingly he’d finally been stricken speechless. Interesting.

“Wow, that was quite something, huh?” Barney said with a chuckle as he stood too.

Gordon followed suit. Part of him was tempted to say something because it had indeed been quite something but they’d already wasted so much time and he was just letting them waste it. He really needed to stop doing that no matter how intrigued he was by his alternate. So he turned and jogged to catch up with him instead.

~

Thanks to all the practice Gordon had had while alone and now with so many fellow combatants helping – multiple of whom where superhuman, even if Benrey still didn’t participate much – it was far better than it would’ve been if this swap mix up hadn’t happened. Gordon was almost ready to thank the soldiers who’d ambushed him for making it happen and might actually do so if they ever showed up alive.

The hard fought for competency as well as the help primed Gordon to be cocky in battle. Which was further encouraged by other-Gordon’s, “How are you such a fucking badass?” after a particularly tense battle. Impressing others wasn’t a top priority but it did always feel good – even if it was with a skill he’d rather not have – and it being his alternate in particular, filled with him with an odd energy he wouldn’t have known how to convey if someone had asked him to.

With that being the case it was only a matter of time before he got a little too cocky. The HEV suit could protect him from a lot but the concentrated fire from multiple aliens while he stabbed his crowbar through the eye of one of the big beefy fellow a well aimed grenade had knocked over was a bit much. He felt like a badass doing it but as he wriggled the crowbar, covered in brain matter and eye juice, free the HEV suit’s speakers buzzed; out of power. Energy orbs drained it faster than the big guys’ homing insects or even bullets did.

He stumbled back towards cover but it was too late. As always it was like getting hit by a bolt of electricity. Without power, the metal of the suit still dampened the energy, making the pain of it passing through him less severe but more spread out. Already low on medi-gel, three was all it took to send him stumbling as his vision went dark at the edges.

Not dying yet though just hurt bad as blood welled up in his mouth – an unfortunately familiar taste, making him need to cough but he didn’t seem quite capable of doing so. … “User death imminent. Seek medical assistance.” Damn that voice even as it faded under the ringing in his ears. Right before entering this room would be a good place to reset to.

The intense pain and coppery taste of his blood lingered as a hand grabbed his shoulder and rolled him over. And then all three were gone and he was standing in the hallway, looking at the door that lead to another ambush as well as what looked like a handful of generators. Probably he should go right back in and be more careful and cautious this time but it had been a while since his last death so surely they could…

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” other-Gordon said, sounding quite upset. “What the fuck just happened?”

Gordon turned to face him. Did he not know?

“We were just in there.” He pointed to the door. “And, and you were dying, the HEV suit said it and everything. We were ambushed again. But now we’re… here and you’re fine, I think. Am I high or going crazy? Please tell me all that just really happened. Or maybe that it didn’t because what the fuck?”

He didn’t know. Gordon had been assuming his alternate not only had the same power but had experienced it. His team had been with him from the start though and thus in hindsight that wasn’t too surprising. It was possible he still had the power but he’d never died and thus didn’t know of it. He didn’t know what dying was like. The pain, fear, and suffering before the disorienting reset of everything being fine again. Physically anyway, the emotional trauma and memory of it remained.

With Gordon too stunned by this revelation, it fell to Tommy to respond. “He just kinda does that when he dies.”

“Kinda does what? What does that mean?”

“Time resets when this Gordon dies.” Coomer gestured to him. “He said he thinks it’s because of the Resonance Cascade.”

“Wait, what?” Barney looked between Coomer and Gordon. “Is that real?”

Gordon nodded.

“Holy shit that’s… wow. And you died? Just now, in there?”

Another nod.

“And now we’re back here,” other-Gordon said. “That’s… interesting, I guess. Horrifying too, kinda.” No ‘kinda’ about it. But he didn’t understand that because of course he didn’t. He didn’t know what it was like. He’d never died.

“Oh.” At some point when Gordon hadn’t been looking, Benrey had sized himself up again. He now barely fit in the hall. “Is that what’s been happening? I just thought we were all teleporting occasionally for some reason.” And had apparently been okay with it enough not to mention it. But given everything else about him, that kind of weirdness was basically to be expected.

Bubby glowered slightly as he crossed his arms. “So me and Barney are the only ones who don’t remember this shit?”

“I don’t remember clearly,” Coomer said. “I have only have haunches. Watch out not-Gordon! Don’t hang out in the open for too long during fire fights, it leaves you open to enemy fire. Try to find cover if you can. What killed him? Apparently enemy fire. A terribly tragic surprise.”

“Does Mr. Freeman reset time when he dies too?” Tommy cut in. “I mean like, they’re the same guy and if it’s from being in the room with the Resonance Cascade, he should, right?”

“We could test it,” Benrey suggested. “Might be fun, huh? Maybe it’ll bring your hand back too.”

Other-Gordon took a step back. “How about we don’t test it? Not purposefully anyway. If I fuck up and die we can test it then and only then.”

Coomer chimed in with, “But Gordon, don’t you want to know if you can’t die? Or I suppose, assuming it’s the same, you can die but you’ll come back. Don’t you want to know if you can transcend death?”

“And if you don’t come back,” Tommy said, “the other Mr. Freeman can reset to bring you back that way. So uh… really, it’s not that much of a risk at all.”

Other-Gordon grimaced but before he could say anything, Bubby cut in again. “Fuck it, I’ll test it.” He was already drawing his gun too, raising it towards other-Gordon.

Gordon was ready this time though and rushed forward and didn’t just push the gun down but deftly twisted it out of Bubby’s hand. At the same time Barney said, “Whoa, you can’t do that.” He’d reached for his own weapon but, Gordon having handled it, didn’t pull it.

“Were you really about to fucking shoot me?” Other-Gordon backed up a bit more, placing his back to the hall wall.

Bubby sputtered as he reached for his gun but Gordon pulled it away from him, pushing him back. “It was a joke. I wasn’t actually going to… Okay, maybe I was thinking about it. Not that I’d even fucking remember so there’d be no real point in it. So I wasn’t going to do it this time, I swear. I was gonna fire past him. Give that back, it’s mine.”

Gordon handed it to Barney instead. He was willing to forgive a lot and it wasn’t the first time he’d steered Bubby away from committing violence. But dying hurt and was scary and so, so awful. Regardless of whether or not other-Gordon came back through resetting time himself or from Gordon doing it, didn’t matter. He’d remember it either way. And even if Gordon was jealous of him for having never died, it wasn’t something he’d wish on anyone. He didn’t deserve to go through it.

“Bitch.”

Ignoring Bubby, Gordon turned and approached his alternate. His lifted his hands but… paused. What could he possibly say? How did he tell his other self how lucky he was to not know if or how the Resonance Cascade had affected him? Or how lucky he was for having companions. Even if some of them weren’t the greatest people around, it was better than being almost completely alone for the first half the journey, dying over and over again because Gordon was just a physicist who’d barely known how to use a gun at the start of this.

“I think you made him mad,” Coomer said. He was right. Gordon actually was a little bit mad about that ‘joke’.

Bubby mumbled an inaudible grumpy reply as otherwise the silence held. Barney stood to the side of Gordon and his alternate, ready to translate when/if he found the words. Should he even say anything? Admit to being jealous?

Finally it was other-Gordon who broke the silence. “Uh… thanks for that. Also, are you like okay, dude? Because you’re looking at me like… I don’t know. You wanna say something, maybe? But you’re not so… you good? Also you literally just died and that’s fucked up.”

No. He was wasn’t okay or good. Traveling with a chatty jovial group made for a good distraction and had lifted his spirits quite a bit in part because it had him dying less, making everything easier to bear but that didn’t make him okay. There wasn’t time to mope though. If he curled up and cried about it, not only would too much time be wasted, he wouldn’t be able to pull himself back together enough to keep going.

So instead of answering, he lifted his hands a bit higher and firmly planted them on other-Gordon’s shoulders. Hopefully it was reassuring and carried the unspoken promise that he wasn’t going to let other-Gordon suffer the pain of death if he could at all help it. He then turned and started for the door. There was no time to waste. They had to get a move.

“Damn, I thought you two were about to kiss,” Benrey said.

Rightfully ignoring him for once, Other-Gordon followed, putting himself on level with Gordon, Barney on his other side once. “Was that a ‘yes’, you’re okay, or ‘no’ you’re not okay?”

Gordon wasn’t going to answer. Barney did it for him. “I can’t really tell either. We could take a break if you need one.”

Before anyone else could say anything, the air around and above them crackled as hostile aliens began teleporting in. Gordon would be more careful this time, less caught up in the group’s high energy. Hopefully by the end of it, the question of whether or not he was okay would be forgotten.

~

Gordon’s burning curiosity about the aliens’ technology was somewhat satisfied every time they ran into a part of the facility that required the use of said technology for them to traverse. The Vonneguts of course did most of the work but Gordon and company were allowed to look and touch. It never lasted long but it was damn cool for how long it did. This machine was bigger than all of those and at the end of line. Presumably activating it would include another portal, taking them even closer to the tower.

Eager to see and forever not drawn to the idea of slowing down or stopping, Gordon wanted to go through right away. He wasn’t alone though and they’d been walking for so long. Long enough that even Gordon was feeling at the end of his rope. And thus, sadly, it was time to stop and sleep. Conveying that to the Vonneguts eager to push them onward was surprisingly not too difficult once Barney produced a pen and notepad to help communicate with via drawings.

They ended up in a secluded room that was most likely a spare storage space, judging based off the barrels stack in one corner that made up the only objects in the room. Not exactly comfortable but far enough removed to be somewhat safe should any balloon guys teleport in to mind control the Vonneguts. Only one entrance also meant it was defensible should such an attack occur. Getting teleported in on directly was still a concern of course but Gordon was going to make sure they set a proper watch this time.

Benrey was still with the group. By far the longest he’d stuck around for. He’d even shrunk down to a normal person size for the first time since their earlier rest. Meaning he could sit with them as they settled in their loose circle. Other-Gordon mumbled a mostly inaudible complaint because Benrey of course chose to sit next to him, the reason he did it probably.

“Hey, uh, what happened to you hand? How’s it still missing, huh?” It was the third time Benrey had bought the hand up. Did he really think it was going to grow back? Probably, right? He’d assumed Gordon’s ‘missing hand’ had grown back before they’d figured out the swap and hadn’t seemed to think that was particularly odd. Maybe whatever he was grew back lost limbs and no on had told him that that’s not how it worked for humans.

Other-Gordon groaned again. “No, we’re not having this conversation again! Shut up.”

“Instead,” Tommy said, “we should talk about um… this place. I’m not sure how much of it is up to OSHA regulation standards. Some of it looks like it might be but it’s all so alien and stuff so… I don’t know. It’s hard to tell. What do you guys thinks?” What an odd thing to think about.

“I’m pretty sure OSHA doesn’t operates in Xen,” Bubby said.

“They might,” Coomer replied. “Or they might have their own OSHA with different regulations. So the question is ‘are they approved by alien OSHA?’ In which case what are their regulations?”

And thus while they had their pre-bed snack – it hadn’t quite long enough for this to be another meal – the three of them discussed the hypothetical alien OSHA. Gordon only half paid attention to it. Much more pressing on his mind was that tomorrow, hopefully, they would be fighting the thing sending the aliens to kill them. With infinite retries on their side, they were guaranteed to win. How hard it was going to be though? How many times would Gordon die? Blessedly he wasn’t alone. If he’d been alone for this… who even knows how much worse it would’ve been?

This swap thing was the best thing that could’ve happened to him. Other-Gordon had been with his friends from the start of the disaster. Lucky him. Even with the betrayal and cut off hand, Gordon would’ve preferred his situation. Did he even know how good he had it? Gordon would have to try to keep him safe from figuring it out.

Eventually the conversation wound down as it was decided by Tommy that the alien OSHA, “probably exists and approves of this facility. It makes sense, right? If they didn’t approve, this place would be shut down by now and it’s not. So they’re good to go.”

“Now,” Bubby said, “the next question is do they have an alien Wikipedia?”

Coomer perked up to answer but was cut off by other-Gordon’s, “Nope, we can discuss the possibility for alien Wikipedia tomorrow. It’s bedtime. Before that though,” he scooted over a little so that he was facing Gordon instead of sitting next to him, “we gotta talk. ‘Cause you’re me, you know?”

Gordon did know. While walking they hadn’t had many chances to discuss that, especially since needing Barney to translate made it more difficult in general. The frequent interruptions to kill aliens made it even harder. They needed sleep but a quick chat beforehand couldn’t hurt, could it? So… “Okay. Let’s talk.”

“He’s cool with it,” Barney relayed as he shifted a bit over too.

Coomer stood walked over to looked down at them. “Gordon, I want a bedtime story.”

Other-Gordon sighed. “Okay, sure. Let’s figure out a watch schedule first, then I’ll tell you a bedtime story and then me and other-me will finally have a proper chat.”

~

Next Chapter

[brianwashere]

if your requests are open, could i have benrey with a s/o who's also part of the science team ? i love your writing and thank you !

Uhhhhh YURRRRRRRR. Benrey Benrey Benrey. Love that little freak (affectionate). I wanna put him under a microscope and study him.

Alrighty I did HCs bcc it just felt right and I wanna work through my inbox.

You uhhhh need a player 2?

-you first met bcc you were a scientist and when you checked in he asked for your passport.

-you were confused, but luckily you got the company email so you had your passport on you

-xe was immediately enamored by you

-less in a “man I love him” and more of a “man he remembered his passport. I should give him my PlayStation tag.”

-so it nervously asked for your PlayStation tag

-you had to explain you were an x box user

-he nearly considered losing interest in you then and there.

-anyway

-you’re good buddies with Gordon, you’ve even met Joshua

-so when you and Benrey start dating he’s pretty off put

-he expressed his concern to you but he never even brings up breaking up with Benrey bcc it’s your life and obviously Benrey makes you happy

-even if they’re very very weird

-Coomer and Bubby knew from the beginning that Benrey liked you—he didn’t tell them—they just knew

-they just watched it happen and said not too subtle things

-“oh young love, don’t you remember those times, Bubby?” “I can’t even remember what I ate last night.”

-Tommy was very similar

-“oh look at that, Benrey’s sweet voice is red and pink around you! Red to pink means ‘I think you’re pretty neat!’ :DD”

-even Sunkist knew what was up

-before you got together he’d catch you as you walked into black mesa and say “I don’t think you uhhhh now where you’re going there, pal.” And he’d walk you around black mesa, purposely misleading you so they got to spend more time with you

-when you do get together it’s probably a very awkward and confusing confession

-Benrey’s like “so uh…I need a player two”

-“Benrey, I already told you I have an x box…”

-eventually you two get there though

-Benrey constantly uses sweet voice around/on you (if you’re ok with it, obviously)

-it’s xer love language

-when you first see him in a form that’s not his human-ish one you’re obviously alarmed but after the initial shock you’re very curious

-you are a scientist after all

-it actually makes xem feel really good about themselves

-it is startling to wake up in the middle of the night and see some humanoid figure in the top corner of your room with 30 fluorescent eyes all staring at you

-“you alright, babe?”

-“hm? Oh, yeah. Just watchin you..”

-you figured out they actually don’t sleep

-all in all it loves you to Xen and back

[sunriseovergotham]

one of those fucking uh. angel/demon aus where benrey is a demon and tommy is an angel and theyre just casually friends :) hanging out and shit. tommy listens to benrey infodump about video games. they dont talk much about their respective jobs (but when they are talked about, tommy is usually the one talking). tommy is technically gordons guardian angel but gordon has special fun hell-adjacent problems so he also got bubby and coomer to "protect" him (he herds them out of trouble on a daily basis. oh the high jinks.) tommy is the one gordon trusts most and with his life. benreys just a chill guy . doesnt know why gordons so freaked out all the time. benrey tags along on their adventures but mostly takes a backseat when it comes to actually helping, which drives gordon insane to no end. WHY even come along if you arent going to HELP????? AM I IN HELL????? DID I FUCKING DIE?????? and benreys like. well i dunno why ur so mad. maybe calm down a little? weirdo. yellin' at me 'n shit. didnt even bring your passport ([doctor coomer voice] its true! gordon did NOT bring his passport!)

[snowyvoid]

I love your haunted siphonophore posting so much it's really good. I think it really fits with how the science team and the game and benrey all sort of play off of each other with Gordon always ending up as the victim/'food' but there's a slight dissonance between all of them. Benrey comes back as a skeleton and for the first night he just walks around and talks like normal until after Gordon wakes up where it seems to become it's own creature that is more tethered to the gamespace (I know it clips out and fucks with geometry but it also feels like it starts to slot into the role of 'spooky skeleton to antagonize and frighten the player' instead of 'benrey is around and talking to people when he's supposed to be dead'). Or how the world seems to bend to fit the insane things the Science Team says (Sunkist, Chuck E Cheese, Passport, etc) but Coomer is still seperate enough from the game that he becomes frightened and angry when he realizes that his world is small and painted. They all kind of group up into one thing, which is basically an elaborate bait and trap for Gordon, but there's tension between the individual pieces and they all have unique perspectives on what's happening despite playing into the same greater thing.

Sorry I'm having a hard time capturing exactly what you meant into this I get what you meant it's just. words are difficult. But your hlvrai thoughts make me insane

no this is like. exactly what i mean. you get it.

the thing about siphonophores is that each component of the organism has its own mouths. like. one component will be the stomach, one will make the organism swim, etc etc, but they all have their own mouths. they all feed.

and there is always this kind of dissonance between gordon and the others, and yes obviously he is the one playing a video game, but i always felt like it went deeper than hostile AI being weirded out by the new guy. it felt more,,, natural?? i guess??? it all feels set up on a stage. aside from the fact that its a game and it is has coded events. the AI, the thing that is suppose to think for itself, still seems kinda. within its own limits. stuck within the body of the facility. (for example, coomer and/or bubby freaking out when they go outside of the skybox/into space).

but the dissonance between the science team and the game/facility is!!! oh my godddd!!!! i could write an essay on that shit. so interesting. and i love that the dissonance is often physically manifested. your hatred towards this thing that you hate is real and will be seen and will affect the world outside you.

like. you have this thing, a large container that has events and ideas that are built into it (the game, the organism as a whole, the haunted house), and there are different components within this container that have some kind of symbiotic relationship (good or bad) with the outside container (black mesa, the individual nervous systems of the organism, the rooms/ghosts/humans haunting* the house), and all of these individual components has a manifestation of its difference or hostility (the science team, the individual mouths, the opinions each component of the haunted house has on each other (i need to make another post about this)).

sorry that was probably really complicated. i just needed to get it out of me because its all ive been thinking about since i made that first post.

*this is within the idea that the hypothetical house is haunted by something. which is generally the idea i go for when in reference to sentient AI, the whole this house had a purpose and it changed, this AI had a code and it was faulty. etc etc. pretty sure ive already posted something about that.

weird little mspaint diagram with some other ideas i have not talked about. note; this is not scientifically accurate to siphonophores. i just thought they were a really good allegory. you are definitely gonna need to zoom in for this thing. but it is important to the explanation i guess.

i just find it really fun to put obvious differences between characters/living things and see where they come together. like the science team, gordon, and benry are all separate beings in their own way but they are like a family. blah. hope you enjoy as always this is a bit messy.

[blueboxphenomenon]

The Gatwick Incident, 1966

London. 20th July, 1966

On the morning of July 20th, 1966 flight 729 returned from Madrid to Gatwick airport, only to be forced to abort its attempted landing due to an obstruction on the intersections of runways five and two. The pilot reported the presence of a police box on the runway, prompting air traffic control to dispatch police. Police chased away four strangers, and the police box was collected from the runway. Control initially believed it to be the product of a practical joke. If only they knew what they were in for that day…

If you were a student in 1966 looking for a cheap gap year, Chameleon Tours were your best budget option. For just £28, Chameleon Tours offered people between the ages of 18-25 a package holiday to any one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe: Zurich, Rome, Athens, Dubrovnik, and Freiburg, Madrid, and Baden-Württemberg. It was a popular choice, with 50000 young people taking to Europe from Gatwick via Chameleon Tours, who operated four of their own planes from the airport.

Fifty-thousand young adults left Gatwick for various European flights, and not a single one returned. One of those people was Ryan Briggs, who took a Chameleon Tours flight to Rome. Everything seemed normal to his family at first. Ryan caught his flight, and sent back a hand-written postcard shortly after arriving. However, that was the last the Briggs family heard from Ryan for some time. His sister, Samantha Briggs, implored the authorities for help, but was unable to get anywhere with them. She contacted the hotel at which Ryan was supposed to be staying, only to find he had never checked in. Police in Rome found no trace of a Ryan Briggs, and neither did Rome's international airport. Inspector Gascoigne was the first to take Samantha's worries seriously and, on the 20th of July, arrived at Gatwick to investigate. While airport security was dealing with the matter of a police box and four trespassers, Gascoigne was investigating the private Chameleon Tours hangar. That is where his corpse was later found, his clothes singed as though he somehow died by electrocution.

A police box on a runway, a missing young man, and a murdered police officer. You would think things were already as strange as they were going to get, but you'd be wrong. Two people arrived at Immigration and Customs attempting to report a dead body. They arrived with no passports, despite coming from the arrivals gate. One was a scruffy-looking gentleman in a frock coat and the other a boy with a Scots accent wearing a kilt. When interviewed by journalist James Stevens, Samantha Briggs would describe the scruffy-looking man's accent as "blurred," and referred to him as "a short man with a mournful face and dishevelled clothing." He seemed to her to be "incredibly well informed." Everyone seemed to call the man "Doctor," as though it were more of a name than a title. The Scots boy wearing the kilt went by the more conventional name of Jamie. Curiously, a white-haired man also calling himself "Doctor" was present with Sir Charles Summer in South Kensington at the time, seemingly involved with the on-going War Machine threat caused by the activation of WOTAN.

The airport manager, Charles Gordon, was called to satisfy the Doctor's demands to see a figure of authority about the body, and escorted the mystery man and Jamie to the Chameleon Tours hanger, where they found nothing more than a crate of plastic cups. Unamused by the Doctor's claims, Gordon tried to have trespassers arrested, only for them to escape.

It was around this time that Samantha Briggs arrived at the Chameleon Tours kiosk to make enquiries about her missing brother Ryan Briggs. She found the representitive entirely unhelpful but ended up meeting with Jamie, who promised that he had a friend who might know how to help her, and mysteriously asked that they meet later. It was Samantha that made an important discovery in the case of the missing passengers - Chameleon Tours had their customers fill out postcards before leaving on their flight. The postcards were collected at the kiosk, sent out to Chameleon Tours facilities at the country the flights were supposed to go to, and then posted back by Chameleon Tours to the families in the UK as if from the passengers. Meanwhile, Detective Inspector Crossland arrived in search of his missing collegue: Detective Gasgoigne.

Inspector Crossland was able to convince Charles Gordon to humour the Doctor further, and it appears some members of Gatwick staff were starting to come around as it was the manager's assistant Jean Rock who made the next key discovery. Having called around the various international airports to which Chameleon Tours were chartering flights, she discovered that Chameleon Tours only ever picked up passengers but never dropped them off. It was as though the passengers disappeared mid-flight.

Gatwick usually only monitors flights for around fifty miles before they drop off the radar, otherwise they would have too much traffic to monitor. It was not unusual that Chameleon Tours flights disappeared from their radars after fifty miles, as they simply weren't looking that far. Manager Gordon could not have expected to see what he did when he requested the RAF to tail the 1530 to Rome, however. As the Chameleon Tours flight to Rome reached the edge of expanded radar range, the RAF jet was seen to go completely out of control and crash into the sea, disappearing from radar. The Chameleon Tours flight then appeared to stop moving, something that could only indicate that it was dropping straight down. The plane then disappeared off radar.

The initial assumption was that the two aircraft had collided, dropping into the ocean. When rescue services found the wreckage, however, there was only wreckage of the RAF fighter jet and no sign of the 1530 to Rome. The pilot was found electrocuted in his seat. So where did the Chameleon Tours flight go? Where do all the Chameleon Tours flights go? Perhaps the plane did not drop out of the sky, but instead shot directly upwards beyond the scope of radar, into space. Maybe that sounds farfetched, but how else do you explain an aeroplane hovering in the same spot on radar but without leaving wreckage in the sea below? Admittedly, many wrecks are lost at sea, but then how do you reconcile the fact that the RAF flight, which went down at the same time, was found while the Chameleon Tours flight was not?

Let's break down what was happening. Chameleon Tours planes would leave from Gatwick carrying a cabin filled with young people. They would fly fifty miles out of the UK and disappear. The flight would then return without passengers. Postcards from the passengers, filled out before the flight, would be sent to the plane's supposed destination and then posted back to the UK to make it appear as if the passengers arrived safely. But to what end?

The reports of DI Crossland simply refer to "holiday fraud," and while there are no police reports regarding the recovery of the fifty-thousand missing people, they started to turn up on delayed flights for the rest of the evening, trickling back into society as if they hadn't gone missing at all. Twenty-five members of staff at Gatwick airport recall waking up lying on the concrete in the carpark, missing hours of time with no recollection of how they got there.

Some theorise that Chameleon Tours were a cover for a human trafficking ring and even though they were busted the whole thing was covered up so London's second biggest international airport could save face. Others theorise that it was a money laundering front involving simply moving the same group of people around to make the company look busier than it really was. More outlandish theories include Chameleon Tours being a result of C-Day and the computer WOTAN trying to wipe out humanity, a system of alien abductions replacing people with shapeshifting duplicates, and a government test of international security where they abducted real people and wiped their memories before returning them later.

Whatever the truth was behind Chameleon Tours, there are plenty of witnesses to the presence of "the Doctor" and it features one of the most convincing blue box sightings in history as it comes from a pilot.

[grapemoon]

Hello Gordon where is your passport 😀

Slowly turns tocamera with a knowing look

[can-i-see-your-passport-please]

@kaimukiwahine Gordon goes from "OH GOD NO I CAN'T BE IN LOVE WITH BENREY OFH GOD OH FUCK" to hyperanalyzing every interaction he has with Benrey (like "Is this flirting?? Is he flirting with me???? ohFUDCKHOFUCKOHGODAAAAAAAAA") to trying (and failing) to flirt with Benrey without being too obvious, meanwhile Benrey's just like "yeah it's normal to wanna kiss your best friend on the mouth and think he's one of the most beautiful people you've ever seen" and then SLOWWWWLY starts being like wait

We've all talked about how funny it would be if Gordon doesn't realize he's in love with Benrey now open your eyes to the idea of BENREY not realizing he's in love with Gordon

[panini-legs]

Brain gone. *POOF*

Here are sum Benrey drawingz 2 fill da void :))

[fallmutual]

hlvrai live action official cast!! (big long transcript under the cut)

[Start Transcript:

Holly: gamer212000 in chat asks, “Half-Life 2 VR But The AI Is Self Aware when?” Uh, didn’t’cha hear? They announced they were doing that in 2027.

Wayne: We’re doing the first one again.

Mike: We got actors this time.

Wayne: Yeah, we paid some actors. (laughs)

Holly: Yeah, we’re hiring, uh…uh…

Wayne: That’s actually a great idea for a bit.

Holly: Donald Glover.

Wayne: We’ve joked about doing like, let’s just do a stream where we do Half-Life VR again, like we just— We, we like, transcribe everything we said into a script, and we like, re-perform it, uh, and see how that goes. But let’s just pay some people that aren’t us to be in it, and see how that goes.

Mike: Live theater adaptation.

Wayne: We’re GOING HOME!

Holly: I wish that I knew— I wish that I knew anyone famous enough that would be down to do that.

Wayne (reading chat): “That sounds awful”? Yeah it does, and you would watch it.

Mike: (laughs)

Wayne: All of you would watch it.

Holly: (laughs)

Wayne: I don’t even need to ask you, I know you would. (laughs)

Wayne (reading chat): Yuri Lowenthal? Aw, man. That’d be awesome.

Mike: It’d be fucked up. As Gordon?? (laughs)

Mike (cut off): —yeah.

Holly: Who’s the guy who voices everyone in Dota 2?

Holly: Nolan North! Nolan North.

Wayne: Nolan North, yeah.

Holly: Nolan North will play, uh, Bubby.

Wayne: (laughs)

Mike: (laughs)



Holly: Uh, and…and Jennifer Hale will play Dr. Coomer.

Holly: We should get Lance Reddick to play Benrey.

Scorpy: (laughs) I’m seeing a lot of people say Adam Sandler.

Mike: (laughing) As Benny???

Wayne: (laughs)

Holly: No nononononono no. No no no. No! We just said—

Wayne: No, they’re just saying Adam.

Holly: —Lance Reddick is Benny.

Mike: Lance Reddick is Benny.

Holly: Adam Sandler would be like, I dunno, the VOX or something.

Wayne (imitating Reddick): Gordon, I require passports.

Holly (imitating Reddick): Mr. Freeman, I’m going to need to see your passport.

Wayne (imitating): Mr. Freeman, I’m going to need at least 200 Crucible Coins immediately.

Holly (imitating): Gordon, come home with me tonight and we’ll play Heavenly Sword.

Wayne: (laughs)

Baaulp: I want Gilbert Gottfried as Tommy.

Holly & Scorpy: (laugh)

Mike: Your call.

Holly (imitating Gottfried): I got a desk drawer full of Tic Tacs!

Wayne: (laughs)

Holly: (laughs)



Wayne (imitating Reddick): Gordon, you need to stop playing Gambit right now.

Holly: (wheezing laughter)

Wayne (imitating Todd Haberkorn): Howdy, sistah, we can use ropes!

Holly: Fuuuck.

Wayne: We get Todd Haberkorn.

Holly: Which famous actor would we pay to play Sunkist? The dog. The JPEG of a dog.

Baaulp: Vin Diesel.

Wayne: Yeah, we get Vin Diesel to play with the Wowozela.

Scorpy: (vocalizing)



Mike: Vin Diesel’s already in it, he appears!

Holly: Right, yeah, in the credits we straight-up have real Vin Diesel.

Wayne: We need someone to play Vin Diesel. We need another celebrity to play Vin Diesel.

Baaulp: He’s got— He’s gonna use all that Groot— He’s gonna— He’s got all that Groot experience.

Holly: Okay, so, we get Vin Diesel to play the dog, and we get Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to play Vin Diesel.

Mike: Okay.

Scorpy: That works.

Holly: (laughs)

Wayne: Where is my dog?

Mike: I’m googling “G-Man Half-Life movie” to see what the people think.

Holly: Uh, Don— Donald Glover.

Wayne: Usually my dog would be pissing in this field…

Scorpy: I want— I want Steve Harvey somewhere.

Holly: Steve Harvey can play…the, the marine guy, the soldier guy.

Scorpy: You’ve been a bad, bad, bad, bad boy.

Mike, Wayne, & Holly: (laugh)

End Transcript]

[hiraya-sa-dilim]

as someone generally unfamiliar with the franchise, some character writing stuff i liked in the batman (2022)

the rorscach fucking journal montage. all monologs are corny by nature but as the movie progresses, you see bruce's match him well, introduces him accurately instead of exagerating his character or misleading the audience just for a sense of drama as journal-writing scenes often do

selina on the phone call with annika and how she comforts her coming home. i can't tell if she was romantic with her but whatever the answer is it's clear selina loves her Immensely

when bruce looks away from the binoculars because selina was getting dressed. he looks pissed that he might be missing out on information, but he keeps his eyes away

selina being scared of batman during their first encounter. she fights with all she's got and when she fails, she doesn't try to bluff or distract him with seduction, she makes a defensive excuse and backs away with her shoulders up

selina less than a minute later pawing at his arm for the passport

bruce realizing he doesn't know what to say at some point and resorting to "you have a lot of cats." fucking pathetic and we love him for that.

bruce replaying the part of the recording where selina gets upset with him. man's Obsessed over how sorry he is that that went bad and is probably thinking up ways he could've changed things

bruce all prickly when alfred teases him for it

bruce "i don't want your cufflinks, alfred" wayne already having his hand out for said cufflinks. say he's not your dad all you like, but you're definitely his son

when martinez cheerfully greets bruce at the funeral with a "mr. wayne, owo!!" and you can See bruce judge the man for calling him a clown just a few nights prior for a split second

that scene in the police precinct where batman's losing his shit surrounded by a swarm of cops, God. he's the fucking batman and he's taller and stronger than everyone on there, he's mostly bulletproof too, but they surround him and they're the fucking police and it's fucking Scary for him and the audience

when batman stops at the precipice of the building with a scream and theres a close up of his face all "jesus FUCK i don't wanna die. this scares me and i don't wanna die." and when he crash lands he's Loud about it, expressive with his pain. and then he Limps away from the scene. this entire sequence would have been unnecessary if he handled it as batman all cool and smooth and hero-like, but bruce's vulnerability shining through the mask over base physical pain is a great way to show character

i want gordon to level up from going jeez, man to shit, dog every other sentence he says to the fucking batman himself in the next movies. man's not afraid of this costumed freak and the way he talks to him not just expresses that but makes way for comedy and chemistry, two birds in one. good of the scriptwriters for taking that shot

batman not at all reacting defensively to penguin telling him upfront that he's got it wrong and just immediately getting on with the case with the new information he has. he made a not exactly plot-pertinent mistake any high schooler would have made--an impossibility for protagonists in run of the mill superhero films--and then acknowledges it in the least macho i'm-better-than-you way. he was embarassed by it, but doesn't use violence or agression to cover up or silence the penguin

and Then batman and gordon wordlessly leaving the penguin to waddle. professional to downright petty in under five minutes. That's fucking funny, That's a great way to show duality

selina looking close to tears as she tells batman the truth, and not to emotionally disarm him. again unbecoming on a supposed femme fatale, but very real on a girl who's had to deal with injustice her whole life

selina just Loving Annika. she becomes intwined in batman's story, she did everything she did throughout the movie Because Her Friend/Lover Was Hurt and later on Had To Be Found And Rescued. she didn't need to recite that spiel about caring for people less important than police deputies and crime lords, and straight white men. the moment she sneaks out to steal annika's passport back, selina is already the most human out of everyone in the movie

batman's reaction to selina saying the riddler might have been doing the right thing. seeing unsureness under the mask and all that eyeliner is unnerving, because at this point in the film, they've already established that the batman and bruce are Supposed to be two different people

bruce attacking alfred with accusations the second the man wakes up. like let him at least maybe have a bite to eat first my dude, man's nearly fucking died. but that shows you how angry bruce is even though sorrow had been the most obvious emotion you see on him a few minutes before

"that's a you thing." gordon's not afraid of batman when everybody else is, and having him defy expectation so bluntly (and bruce very briefly looking disgruntled) makes their exchanges hilarious

the scratch marks on the man on the roof's face (forgot his name). aesthetic as hell chef's kiss, but it's not the most damage selina could have done. she could have pierced his eyeballs or ripped his ears out instead, but he has scratches over the cheek and one eye. these are hurried marks you can make without thinking. she found him and instead of strategically doing him dirty for her needs, inflicts whatever pain she could give in the fastest time possible. see how mad she is over annika's death?

when bruce not yet in costume knocks on the door to the club and then just. sneaks in and locks the door behind him. no need for superhero skills for that one. it's something second-graders do for fun. on him, with everything you know about his skills and shenaniganerry long since in place, it's pretty fucking Funny

"do you know how hard you're making this for me? my own flesh and blood?" that is a serial rapist/abuser's line right there--YOU are giving ME a bad time here, How Dare You--and hearing falcone say that in this context (strangling his own daughter lol) really screams EVIL in the audience's face. subtle with how few words he needs and simple line delivery, yet on the nose. fucking disgusting and effective

some dude: "sir, he shouldn't be here, this is a crime scene." batman: "*looks at his security police officer to say i will throw a fucking tantrum if you kick me out and it's gonna be so embarassing you mark my words*" gordon: "he has fucking gloves"

batman--or maybe bruce--closing the door to the batcage again after taking the envelope. if he wanted, he couldve picked the bat up and freed it out the window. it's not immediately obvious evidence and even if it was, the batman can do whatever the fuck he likes. but he closes the door on the trapped thing. this is his professional, don't-get-attached, stay-emotionally-neutral code shining through no matter the circustance and also reflects how he has willingly trapped himself inside the notion of what he should be (vengance etc). neat!

i just. love the riddler's asthma. a natural and constant tool to show you how vulnerable he is even with all the murder going on. a bit on the nose all things considered but paul dano does it so well

batman's expression hardly changing but his body language spitting how RELIEVED he is at riddler saying "we" after the whole bruce wayne rant. hella in character, huge props to rpatz for all that Subtlety

riddler's "we're not so different with our shared mask kink, you and i" making batman freak the fuck out because holy shit, i don't wanna be this guy anymore. and again, you hardly see it, it's all in the eyes, not in the face

martinez, the most vocal among the cops over his disapproval of batman being there, half-heartedly shooing the man away from the evidence. the mumbled small talk. the Disgruntledness. alone in a room with some weirdo in a cape, he's Small and kinda Scared without his mates to back him up just in case he pokes the bear to waking. sweet and funny as hell

bella real going up to the front to calm the arena down. i think what she said about making a stand could be a little less direct, like instead of saying "the problem with This City" In Particular, she couldve went for a more general quip (maybe something along the lines of "i'm the mayor, aren't i?" or "hiding isn't what they elected me for" or some other cheesy but less This is gotham so decent response to crisis is more extraordinary than if this happened anywhere else as if a city-wide flood like this couldn't easily be an irl situation that forces leaders into cowardice or courage). but anyways, when she returns alone to the mic, you can't help but wish all politicians were like that.

actually, scratch that. this scene would work best if she just glares at gordon then goes off.

i also like how nobody stops to listen to her. for all her human spirit, no good intention is going to make a dent on instinctive fear and panic too far gone

the "Real Change" display thing blacking out screen by screen as batman fights with "vengeance" on top of it--battles it out with himself. ouGHFF

bruce panicking over how he almost died and selina sympathetically crying as she comforts him. look at all his fear! look at all her empathy and love! nothing to see here folks, just two dudes being human. 10/10

bruce's aa what the fuck not again let me rest for 20 fucking seconds look when selina gets pulled away just before he goes into where the fuck are my drugs, it's batman time mode. he's so tired of fighting and being relied on, so tired of being batman, but he pushes on because he cares for selina + believes being bruce isn't going to save anyone

gordon not even fucking touching batman to get him to stop beating some poor fuck to death. he just goes "hey, asshole!" or something like that and bruce resurfaces because it's safe to be himself around gordon. gordon won't let him get hurt even when he's not being batman. gordon is his friend.

everyone frightened of batman in the dark and the flood, and the orphan boy reaching for his hand first, because he's a dumb kid who doesn't kow any better. the mayor seeing how the kid is not immediately mauled or anything and saying fuck it, i can trust my people with this guy; they will follow my lead, and i will follow him. again, human fear is the primary factor in this scene, which makes everyone's decision to trust the batman so big and important

someone already said it, but this movie ends with batman in the mud among the people, not alone and looking down on them. he's still a head taller than them and goofy in the cape, he's still different, but he walks level with them on equal footing in more ways than one. powerful visual storytelling

bruce looking overwhelemed coming into physical contact with another human longer than it usually takes for him to hit someone. this injured girl trusting him is almost too much, but he pushes himself to hold her long enough so she gets comforted and assured enough to let go. it's difficult, obviously. and he goes through with it

when bruce stops to look up at the kid disappearing in the distance instead of doing the practical thing and move on to assisting the next rescuee. he has always cared for gotham but never actually let it into his heart--the exact same way he used to see himself and his associates. now all that's about to change. the sun rises on another bleak but nevertheless new day

the almost kiss between bruce and selina. 🥺🥺 he's begging please enable me to be weak and myself and not alone. now that he knows being bruce just might be his biggest asset to being batman, he allows himself to acknowledge that he Is a stray and maybe acting on that instead of denying it would be good for him. i still think this is more of an act of selfishness than strategy, though, which is such a healthy step in character development...

...and yet selina pulls away. we see that so far the greatest trait she has in all of this isn't her capacity for love, it's her decision to act on that love. for annika and her mother, initially, and now for batman (and maybe without knowing it, bruce). but now we see that maybe she hadn't been as fully in control of her choices after all. maybe instead all that love had been intinct, a pull she couldn't help but heed. and she knows letting someone she has grown to care for closer is going to stop her from getting on with her life finally out of the city that caused her so much pain. she emotionally cannot kiss bruce (and then say) goodbye. she doesn't even trust herself to speak when he asks her to take care of herself. so she nips what would have been a new beginning for them, and the further extension of her hurting, in the bud before she gets swept up in the current of her heart

not only do we see this whole new aspect to her character in her final scene, selina treats us to another by making her first selfish decision--acting for herself instead of for a loved one. that's how you make a well-rounded character: by giving them, even when their story ends, fertile potential for more.

AND overall, this selina kyle is such a wonderful subversion of the woman-sidekick-in-love trope. she is earnest, she drives the plot forward because of how much she cares, but all this goes out to her friend/lover and mother, not the hero. and when there is finally a chance to redirect that love to the one "s u p p o s e d" to have it, she steps away.

the little motorcycle race bruce and selina have when they could have both just kept pace instead of one-upping each other. completely unnecessary but it's one last show of friendliness between them. i could imagine them both grinning inside their helmets.

how they both pause at the crossroads to look at each other one last time. 🥺🥺🥺🥺

this has been a mostly closed reading from someone who's only exposure to batman was the first two christian bale movies and the ocassional mutual's post. couldn't tell if i would have enjoyed this movie more or less if i knew more about the franchise

overall, the writing in this movie isn't perfect, but i appreciate how the protagonists aren't paragons like in typical superhero movies. the batman (2022) makes a good study for character depictions of humanity and heroism and it's definitely an example i'll follow for my writing.