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a-substantial-trash-pile · 1 year ago

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Studio TV Solutions presents Half Life VR but the AI are Self-Aware (2020) [not a real movie]. A movie with a totally improv’d script starring a moltey crew who are sure to give you a rip-roarin’ good time!

anyway hi new au just dropped. i’m calling it HLVRAIM. it’s HLVRAI but it’s a blockbuster movie and the science team are played by actors. i have many thought on backstories n stuff that i will stick under a “read more” here otherwise this post will be hella long on people’s dashes. 👇👍 pls care about this i thought so hard and much

Half Life VR but the AI are Self-Aware was put out by Studio TV Solutions in 2020 and destroyed the box office with how fun it was and how well the cast played off one another. The cast was given a general outline for the script with the goal for it to be mostly improv.

Gordon Freeman: Mannie Flores (Dominican American, age 28, he/him) - Popular Youtuber/Twitch streamer (“Radi0Mann”). Got offered the role in HLVRAI thanks to the creative things he’s done in his Youtube/Twitch career. This is his first “official” acting gig. He was pretty starstruck at first, but then as he got to know everyone, he realized they’re all a bunch of dorks (affectionate). - Started off as a gaming channel, but then started branching off into various creative endeavors as he got more popular. He still plays games too though. - One of the things Mannie did in his internet career that hit the mainstream was when he wrote, directed, starred in, and filmed his own movie in just 2 weeks because he failed a bet with his audience. Except the movie was actually really good and funny and heartfelt (i want to say it was about “a man who got left behind on earth after everyone else was raptured because god literally forgot about him”, but i think the concept might’ve been done already). - Met Benji through HLVRAI. They hit it off and now they’re dating. They tried to keep it secret for a while but Mannie had a slip-up during a stream that sort of blew it out of the water.

Benrey: Benji Song (Japanese/Chinese, age 30, he/they) - Started off as a film sound designer in the industry, then through a series of silly willy little events—possibly even shenanigans—got roped into a role in a passion indie film that became wildly acclaimed and flung him into the spotlight. Been an actor ever since, but isn’t the most proactive in taking jobs much to their agent’s annoyance. People never know where he’ll pop up next. Sometimes Benji will sneak in sound designer work behind their agent’s back. - Honestly likes background work more because everyone’s got these expectations of them as an actor that they feel pressured to meet. But he’s also afraid of disappointing people. He’s working on it. - Met their partner Mannie through HLVRAI. Totally was a fan of his streams/videos beforehand though. When they mention that, Mannie gets flustered. - Does music as a hobby. Electronic stuff mostly—enjoys mashing together all sorts of sounds and trying to make them work. After HLVRAI, Mannie’s streams gets cool new music that’s made by somebody going by “johnwicklover1994.” wink

Harold Coomer: Hau’oli “Hau” Kaleo-Kirchhoff (Hawaiian/Samoan, age 66, he/him) - Old musician who’s supposed to be retired but once in a while will release a song or even do a concert (but nothing crazy). - Hau’oli is pronounced [hh-ow-oh-lee], but he also goes by “Hau” for the haoles’ sake. :) Kaleo is [kah-leh-oh]. also Hau’oli sounds a little bit like the name Holly so that’s a fun coincidence i didn’t realize until later. - Most of his music is chill island tunes but he has been known to dabble in rock and jazz. - Married to Mose (been together for 30 years and counting).

Bubby: Mose Kaleo-Kirchhoff (German, age 69 [nice], xe/him) - Veteran actor—been in the acting industry for a long time. One of his more well-known roles was in a popular sci-fi series. - Married to Hau’oli (they got married the moment it was legal). - i went with a name that started with “M” cuz when Gordon first asks Bubby for his name, xe’s like, “mmm Bubby.” and i headcanon it’s because Mose was about to say xir own name and had to swerve last minute and the thing his brain resorted to was Bubby lol.

Tommy Coolatta: Luis Tanglao (Filipino, age 37, he/they) - Child star who dropped out of the industry when he hit his teens and then came back years later as a comedian. He has material about how fucked up being a child star was. Will only take acting roles if it interests them. - They don’t care about how the public/media sees him. He’ll speak his mind and call out BS when he sees it. Interviewing them can be a war zone. - Hosts a popular podcast with some buds they discuss things like video games, their lives, news, etc. Just shooting the shit. - Sunkist is their actual dog and she modeled for the png photo that was used. Her name is actually Biko. She is a very good girl. <3

Darnold Pepper: Sage Haven (African American, age 40, he/her/they) - Famous cooking show host who gets offered roles in movies. Got popular by how unconventional her meals and cooking methods are and how funny he is. - Has had multiple food/cooking/baking shows over the years. Every competition-based one they’ve had focused more on good vibes, fun, and encouraging one another rather than drama. One show involved people competing to see who could make the best full course meal with the catch being they could only cook everything in a microwave. Many microwaves perished. - Changed their name to Sage Haven during their transition. They chose it because it reflects his passion and also is a play on the phrase “safe haven”, which is what she wants to be to others. - He has an adoptive daughter named Kit. She helped them think up bits and jokes. She also had to help explain what Half-Life was.

haven’t gotten to gman and forzen’s actors yet unfortunately. thinking gman’s actor could be a talk show host? because that would be funny. anyway thanks for humoring me on my shenanigans. bye

#hlvrai #frenrey #gordon feetman #benrey #tommy coolatta #dr coomer #dr bubby #darnold pepper #hlvrai boomer #hlvrai au #hlvraim

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anons-has-hlvrai-aus · 1 year ago

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@snowyvoid

Okay so I think I have enough I can say about the this AU’s fic without massive spoilers other than vague implications about the sort of event that will transpire (not that this is saying much since the story is only a chapter in and we haven’t even gotten to the part where Gordon finds out he’s an alien now but I digress) but just in case I’ll put my whole stream of consciousness ramble under a read more. And I really do mean stream of consciousness, I apologize in advance if everything seems scattered. I am not very good at explaining myself in essay length posts, and I’ve lost so many good talking points on this post from shitty Internet that I don’t have the energy for more edits.

(Also please remember that in the context of HLVRAI and by extension this story that The Player is not specifically Real Life Wayne.)

Gordon Freeman in the Metamorphosis AU is a complicated person.

So let’s start with this: he is a husk whose personality and backstory are wholly influenced by the actions of the player, enough so that his behavior after the game has ended is reflective of the Player’s play style. It is something he is actively aware of, and it is something he cannot control.

It is BECAUSE Gordon is sculpted by the player that it’s hard to say they’re very different from each other outside the fact that one is a real person and the other is a reflection of the ‘real’ person’s actions. The Player could turn off the game and leave it to its own devices. Gordon doesn’t GET that choice, he’s stuck there with the consequences of the Player’s actions, and everything that happened to him is now reality.

The only reason there is a Post Game for these characters at all, and the only reason the theater and the heist happen and are canon to this AU, is because Gordon Freeman had to break the Player’s computer and demand the ending HE deserves now that he has control of himself, he deserves to enjoy that freedom. It’s one thing if it was just the Science Team, but now that Gordon has control it is his problem too.

And his very first action, his first taste of control, gets him what he wanted.

But without the Player, he now has to make his own choices. Gordon Freeman is a human whose only reference for how humans behave is based on how he was trained. And he acts on those impulses crafted by the Player’s inputs: He swears a lot, he is anxious about EVERY situation because the player never really gave him time to fully develop his personality for a ‘zero-stress environment’ (pre-ResCas can’t even count because Gordon was made to be stressed about being LATE for WORK), and most importantly he believes himself to be in the right.

Gordon Freeman was the vessel of the Player, and the Player was ALWAYS right, even if the ‘right’ decision required being convinced to do so beforehand.

The Player MUST have had a good reason to keep the truth of his reality a secret to all his friends, so Gordon does too. He even comes up with rules to justify his action.

The Player must have had a good reason to hate Benrey, so Gordon does too, even if he has to craft his own justification.

The Player must have had a good reason to shoot those people, so Gordon does too.

If the Player was always right, and if the Player is now gone, then that means Gordon is always right.

Now Gordon has to make important decisions, he has to keep everything in check. He can’t control the world around him, but he can control the actions of his friends. All the big events happen at Gordon’s house, because he can make the ground rules. The one or two times it happened elsewhere, something terrible happened, so obviously he has to keep the events at home to avoid total chaos. He has to control how his friends behave.

Dr Coomer, you can’t jump through the window for fun.

No, Bubby, you can’t just set things on fire.

Tommy, I love you, but you REALLY shouldn’t drink so much soda.

Darnold, I don’t think the Evil Flavor is a good idea.

The Post Game was (mostly) made with a happy ending in mind, because Gordon demanded it from the Player. The Post Game can handle whatever the Science Team throws at it, but it still isn’t enough. Even in a world that doesn’t really have consequences anymore (at least until Benrey shows up again) Gordon NEEDS to maintain normalcy and NEEDS to maintain control.

The Player was kind of a dick, so Gordon is too.

At least the Player does it intentionally.

Gordon believes that he’s doing the right thing by being controlling, and it’s going to bite him in the ass.

Gordon has his own contrived rules about what makes a GOOD person and a BAD person. He formed these rules based on how Benrey made him feel, compared to other people. Benrey was intrusive, he got in the way, and his playful teasing was interpreted as antagonistic to Gordon. Benrey was weird. Benrey was BAD.

Skeletons, Sweet Voice, shapeshifting, it’s all BAD.

But now Benrey is back. And now Gordon l has to deal with the fact that he isn’t human anymore, or maybe was never human to begin with. His two choices are that either Gordon is bad now, because Benrey and anything involving him is BAD…or that Gordon is still inherently GOOD because he’s the Player’s vessel, which means Benrey can be GOOD too.

So now you have an exchange: Benrey teaches Gordon how to control what makes him BAD, so nobody gets hurts. Gordon teaches Benrey how to be GOOD, by making him normal, because compared to the rest of his friends Benrey is just TOO WEIRD.

But Benrey was already trying to be GOOD. He waited outside Gordon’s house to not scare him, and he got the Food List so Gordon wouldn’t need to scramble to figure out dinner for Movie Night. He waited four years to have his backstory developed, and from there he believed that he and Gordon were friends. He can be nice, he can be helpful, he be a friend.

But it’s not enough, because Benrey is BAD. He needs to go through more hoops because Benrey fits Gordon’s definition of BAD. He has to be normal.

Gordon is horrible hypocrite: The Sweet Voice is BAD, but not if it’s Coomer or Sunkist doing it. Bootboys and anybody ever associated with them are BAD, except for Forzen and Adrian and the other guys trying to sue the government right now. Killing is BAD, but not if Gordon does it. Everybody needs to help Gordon if he has problems, but he doesn’t need to help you in return.

Gordon, despite being flesh and blood in the world he exists in, still shares the same apathy for other people’s feelings that the Player does for the people of this world. Because that’s what he knows.

In a way, Gordon knows he’s wrong about something, but to realize WHAT he is wrong about and WHY would require him to accept that he isn’t a 100% good person. And that the Player wasn’t a 100% good person, either. And that his idea of what is GOOD and BAD only fits his own desires, and that controlling his friends to be normal is kinda fucked up (you shouldn’t make your friends feel bad about being themselves, Gordon).

And Gordon is fucked up.

He knows he is fucked up, but he doesn’t make any substantial changes to himself unless it’s to act more human.

He went to therapy for his trauma with Black Mesa, but not for the trauma of being a Video Game Protagonist after the video game has ended.

It’s been four years since the ResCas, there are stories and character arcs that happened before the events of Metamorphosis AU that the readers will never get to know entirely, and yet Gordon is still the same.

But who else stayed the same? Who else doesn’t know what happened in those 4 years? Benrey. He slept and played video games the whole time, all this is new to him like it is new to us. And he is stagnant, just like Gordon.

Benrey has an excuse for staying the same, Gordon doesn’t. Gordon had four years to meet people and change, but he refuses to do so because he changed so much when the Player was the one in control.

He can’t even fully enjoy his Post Game. The Player made it clear that they WOULD find a way to get Half Life 2 working with their AIs, and once that happens…Gordon will lose control again. It’s understandable, but trying to control everything will only make it more painful when he loses it all again.

Trying to maintain control makes Gordon unhappy.

Gordon is uncomfortable with his reality, and he keeps trying to change other people to be comfortable. Maybe if everything is normal (because Gordon at least knows what normal is supposed to look like) then maybe he will be happy, too, for however long he has before the Player returns.

Benrey is already comfortable with his reality, and any attempts to change himself should be to accommodate himself to life outside of Black Mesa, NOT to make Gordon feel more comfortable. But he WILL try to change, because he wants to be a friend now. And it will hurt him.

For anybody to get better, Gordon can’t be allowed to stay stagnant. He needs to become uncomfortable.

Gordon really, truly, fully believes that he’s doing the right thing by being controlling.

It WILL bite him in the ass.

Trying to make himself more comfortable causes more discomfort for his friends, and eventually somebody is going to have to tell him “You’re an asshole.”

And he’ll try to tell him what he knows, how they won’t have this happy ending forever.

And they won’t care.

An explanation is not an excuse. They are here for a good time, not a long time.

And Gordon will be uncomfortable.

And Gordon will have to change.

The Player could never be expected to change. They are a real person who has problems greater than some silly video game characters.

Gordon Freeman is a real person too, but the problems the Player couldn’t care to worry about are much greater for Gordon because he, a mortal man by the standards of his world, actually has to deal with the those problems. And he can’t. He doesn’t know how, he was created to become whoever the Player portrays him to be.

But he was still created to change. From the moment the title screen came up, to the moment the credit rolled, Gordon was changing.

He needs to change again.

He needs to learn that he’s kinda fucked up.

He needs to learn to accept this life, however short it is.

He needs to let his friends be happy and be themselves.

He needs to stop trying to control everything.

He needs to learn that he can be better than whatever the Player turned him into…that he can be kind and empathetic. Even if it all gets undone by the time that uncaring god returns, Gordon deserves a chance to change himself for the better.

And besides, even if it all gets undone…he can still change again.

And besides, who’s to say the Player will actually return again.

Gordon is fucked up, but he deserves to change for the better…even if that means getting turned into a funny worm on a string to get to that point.

Hi! You made a really good post about how Gordon should be written as more fucked up/morally questionable more often which I really agree with! Your post mainly focused on the perspective of hlvrai as a real functioning world, but even if you take into account the idea that he's a guy playing a video game he's...still kind of morally weird? Like he never tells ANYONE it's a game of his own volition, it takes Coomer trying to murder him and then spelling out that he knew before the finale for Gordon to admit it to him and the Gnome knew from the start. Providing the ACAB stream now seems to be noncanon, he never tells Bubby, Tommy, Benrey, anyone the truth of his existence. He is lying to them throughout the whole series under the pretense of 'not fucking up the ai' (said in the intro to the first stream) even when they begin to question their environment.

Then in HLAGE, he is clearly shown to care about the Gnome, but not enough to 'save' him. He still wants to complete the video game, he still wants to win, and even if he feels bad about it, he still goes through the motions of ending the challenge. The implication seems to be that he kinda views the Gnome as lesser/less tangible/less important than 'real' people and his affection doesn't really constitute viewing them as equals or worth putting in effort to save. Which seems to be an important trait, since based on the hl2vrai trailer it would seem he didn't come back for the science team like Coomer asked him to.

oh my god!!!!! this!!! this!!!!! he is basically the equivalent of a god to these AI, he controls their ability to think and exist, and he just. god, i dont know how to explain it. it makes me think of monika from ddlc maybe, how she's dependent on the player, and the players want to interact with her. she simply Does Not exist when you are not playing her game. and you, the player (and the equivalent of gordon/the guy playing hlvrai in this metaphor), obviously cannot play the game at all times and keep the dialogue going, but there is. a need to do so depending on your opinions on monika. once an AI becomes aware does it become human and have human needs?? coomer very much so seems to have become at least contextually "human", feeling pain when the game gets turned off, basically being a tamagotchi, etc etc.

but even then does humanity denote whether you deserve to be treated with care??? i have way too many thoughts about all of this.

i feel like gordon/the player probably would not take everything that the science team says seriously. i mean, going back to the ddlc metaphor, after playing the game (if you did), did you ever go back after you finished it? or did you end up getting the proper ending and deleting monika's files? did you do all the things you were supposed to, because yes, obviously it is just a game. monika is not actually a sentient AI and cannot feel. she is just code written that way. and maybe gordon thinks that that's as far as the science team's consciousness goes. it's just a game, they cannot ACTUALLY feel pain, they're just coded to act sentient, etc etc. gordon (probably) does not actually realize the level of sentience and feeling the science team has. maybe he does put them into some nice little game after hlvrai, but then again. He'd probably just never open the game again.

the gnome is probably a prime example of the way a human would react if they were left inside of a game, aware but not existing, and left alone for years. the science team was really fucking nice to gordon despite their awareness.

this post is about the fictional player/gordon. this is not about wayne. obvious point to make but i feel like somebody may get confused.

the mentions of ddlc are very affected by the fact that i played that game when i was WAY too young and felt so fucking bad about leaving monika alone, which lead to me playing the game almost daily for months and never deleting her file (partially due to me not actually knowing how to delete files but. the other reason is more important now.) i have autism and it makes me care VERY much about inanimate/nonhuman objects. i feel bad for the science team, okay.

basically, gordon is morally grey because Oh My God he's an awful person to these AI, but also wouldn't you do the same thing? wouldn't you just close the game thinking "oh yeah that's just how the characters are coded. lol they'll be fiiiine" and not have any second thoughts? and is gordon a bad person for doing that same thing with a modded half-life? yes and no.

hlvrai is the AI forgiving gordon for leaving them alone, hlage is the AI hating gordon for leaving them alone. and i think thats why the gnome has more presence in (the players) reality? like, the gnome wants gordon to know and feel exactly what he felt. whereas the science team, obviously excluding the coomer and benry boss fights, never really thought to HATE hate gordon. the science team is monika from ddlc and the gnome is AM from i have no mouth but i must scream. (this point also connects to an idea i have about haunted houses/homes. a haunted house is a house that hates you, a home is a house that loves you. barely connect but. it's a cool idea to add i guess??)

bleh. i cannot put all of these thoughts in order, and it's really hard to entirely explain what i mean. i hope this suffices??? thank you so much for the ask though. i really appreciate being able to talk about my interests with others lol. in conclusion, i really want to make character designs for the science team after they have been left to rot for a while in half-life. maybe they would grow mold or something.

(post that was mentioned at the start of the ask)

#long post #like. REALLY long post oh my god I am SO sorry OP #but you said I COULD clog the notes with a ramble so uhhhh here’s your clog?#hlvrai metamorphosis au

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tiredsmashbros · 8 months ago

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🍔 TIREDSMASHBROS INTRODUCTION

howdy! i'm tomm / tsb / tired , the burger man

☁️ just a simple, silly dude who loves cheeseburgers too much, growing up in the heart of texas. an animated maniac influenced by western cartoon shows and indie + mascot horror games with a passion for complex storytelling. i'm a comic, furry, and a multi-fandom artist.

🔆 i use both he/him and they/them pronouns. i am a queer artist; demiboy + pan + aroace spectrum. i'm an adult, currently close to graduating college, and my birthday is on jan 10th.

🌿 i struggle with dyslexia, i apologize in advance for any minor grammar errors. additionally i process things a bit slow at times or am extremely busy irl, responding slow to responses + reblogs. i'd appreciate some patience, thank you!

🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔 ON MINI HAITUS DUE TO GRADUATING COLLEGE - WILL BE SLOW AND PRIORITIZING FRIENDS + MUTUALS STUFF ATM PLEASE DO NOT MESSAGE / DM ABOUT LIPBITE AND I WILL GET TO MENTIONS IN DUE TIME PLEASE BE PATIENT !!!

SHOWS / FILMS

my little pony, south park, animaniacs, looney tunes, mickey mouse, ducktales, felix the cat, bluey, total drama island, grojband, danvs, regular show, gravity falls, ninjago, teenage mutant ninja turtles, moomin valley, how to train your dragon, centuarworld, dragon ball, one piece, naruto, fullmetal alchemist, jojo's bizarre adventures, hlvrai, khonjin house, eddsworld, helluva boss, hazbin hotel, lackadaisy, trolls, better call saul/breaking bad, smg4, meta runner, murder drones, fairy oddparents: a new wish, popee the performer, the great gatsby, holes, the sixth sense, kingsman, matilda, beetlejuice, deadpool and wolverine, arcane

VIDEO GAMES

minecraft, five night at freddy's, cuphead, super mario bros, sonic, undertale, bendy and the ink machine, poppy playtime, baldi's basic, garten of banban, cult of the lamb, friday night funkin, pizza tower, parappa, amanda the adventurer, choo choo charles, epic mickey, rabbits, spyro, rayman, duck season vr, billie bust up, genshin, wuthering waves, god of war: ragnarok, red dead redemption, mouthwashing

BOOKS

scott pilgrim, warrior cats, garfield, charlie brown, ganbare nakamura-kun, heartstopper, goosebumps series, mashle, usagi yojimbo, promised neverland, beastars, show-ha shoten, gokurakugai, + above

MISC

dawko, matpat, fuhnaff, coryxkenshin, dashiexp, isaacwhy + the group chat, (yep) the boys, sam and colby, cg5, jakeneurton, peso pluma, welcome home, sherlock & co, a shit ton of musicals just ask me or check my spotify { tommfoolery }

🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔

SUPER MARIO BROS COMICS

DONE ↳ mario and luigi superstars ; sketch comic

DONE ↳ bowuigi rewritten ; sketch comic

SMG4 / SMG34 COMICS

DONE ↳ lipbite : prologue

DONE ↳ lipbite : chapter one

CURRENTLY WORKING ↳ lipbite : chapter two

DONE ↳ homo-mistletoe : chirstmas special

🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔🍔

TSB : SMG4 AU

🍔 my smg4 oc, TSB! a yellow, white, blue, burger-loving, cartoon individual with a propeller hat who's beloved for his silly, looney, and mania personality. stick around and attempt to uncover the mysterious lore hidden within this animated maniac! if you want to know more, check out his tags, comics, and spotify/youtube playlist !!

#tsb official ↳ all official art and posts made by me #tsb / emmet eggs + #pipedream + #tsari + #tsmg4 ↳ characters + ships #tsb askbox + #tsb theory + #tsb memes ↳ misc content ↳ official tsb reference sheet + official emmet reference sheet ↳ spotify playlist + youtube playlist

TSB LORE COMICS

comic ↳ strange, unpredictable, dangerous

ask ↳ " smg4, why don't you trust tsb with tari? "

ask ↳ outfit change with a television star

ask ↳ " can you give us a painting tutorial? "

1k event ↳ memories - part two

ask ↳ " so just dance with me baby "

ask ↳ " of course, i can paint with free will! "

bday event ↳ " it took me by surprise "

TSB LORE FANFICS

tari's bday ↳ " happy birthday, bluejay " [2k words]

1k event ↳ memories - part one [2k words]

TSB LORE ANIMATICS

bday event ↳ " the line " [5 mins]

💛 thank you for stopping by, and hope you have a wonderful visit !!

#tiredsmashbros #artists on tumblr #introduction #introductory post #intro post #im fancy now #Spotify #tsb official

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