#the background on the back of the booklet is black n i dont think i Quite got the plant (wheat? winter wheat?) perfect. the contrast is

[arsenicflame]

A transparent Virtute for you, scanned from the back of the Winter Wheat booklet <3

(As a bonus, here's the one from the Vivat Virtute website too, I love her so much.)

[security-chief-calhoun]

Here's my S. C. Calhoun essay-

I just want to give a heads up that all of these HCs revolve around the HC of Calhoun being gradually Eldritch. This is mostly talking about his powers/other small fun facts.

Powers:

-He was chosen to become Eldritch, parallel to Gordon/Adrian being hired by G-Man. Maybe he was in a bad accident or something and his future boss came down and talked to him. He was given the choice to become a supernatural being with abilities to “protect others and bring others to follow that claim (< future security team)”, or he could simply die to his wounds. It’s obvious what he chose. He woke up a week later after the initial meeting/accident.

-He did have a significant other and a close family, but becoming Eldritch made anyone who knew him no longer recognize him, everyone thinking he died in the accident he was in. This with a few other events made it easier for Calhoun to simply watch everything with a calculated look, and not to become too attached to anyone (at least till Gordon arrived). This was a serious blow for early S. C. Calhoun’s psyche.

-He found his mind reading while talking with a coworker/subordinate, “hearing” another voice as the worker spoke. It confused Calhoun the first few times it happened, but he eventually learned how to control it (albeit with a lot of trial ‘n error). He now uses it when talking to anyone, as long as he isn’t disassociating, making sure he knows a person’s ulterior motives. It does look like he’s disassociated when he uses his mind reading though.

-He learned he had teleportation when he was just meandering in his room/workplaces one day (maybe at the start of/right before BM) seeing if he had anything else other than what he knew at the time. He got frustrated at one point and felt himself yanked out of his room. He passed out due to the sudden force. When he came to, he realized he was in Xen and was royally scared. He tried calling his Higher-Ups, but nothing came through. He eventually found his way around Xen, using his teleportation powers to move around. (I like to think he has to actually aim where he’s going, like with his hand or a certain motion) It took about a week to get the basics of his teleportation down, but he was able to get back to Earth after finding his new pet. 

-He didn’t know he could teleport others until he was well in Black Mesa, Calhoun now mastered his self-teleportation powers. Calhoun accidentally made a subordinate disappear after they came into his office unannounced. Calhoun got the guard back quickly and erased the little fiasco from the man’s memory. 

-Any language he hears sounds like English, and sounds like the initial language when he speaks to the person with said language, even when he only knows English. This also works for ASL and Vortigese, though he certainly doesn’t explain how he knows the alien’s language when the BM incident plays out.

-And finally, stasis control. Calhoun found this skill out when he was working on some papers (I HC he doesn’t let others do certain work for him, even when it can be done by his subordinates). Maybe it was a heavy day, and he just wished for more time. He felt a change in his office, though nothing looked different. He opened his office’s door, and saw the dotted-void-background. Calhoun immediately ran towards a clock, and saw it was stuck on the same second. He sighed and went back to his desk, finishing up his work as he tried to quickly think of a way to get out of whatever he just put himself in. He knew he was Eldritch, but god wasn’t it confusing sometimes.

As soon as he finished the last piece of work, he saw a small booklet appear on his desk. It showed him how to use his time-bending properties (or at least the basics). This was one of few times in which his Higher Ups decided to help him control his powers. He mostly used it to stay on time, until Gordon (and/or Adrian) showed his worth.

  Smaller HCs:

-I forgot to mention this in my 1st post, but I do think he would have /some/ powers related to lightning, though nothing too large. Usually it would just show when he’s teleporting/ fighting with his bare hands (I don’t think he would know how to shoot lighting). It’s the same color as his eyes.

-Calhoun -I don’t think- needs to eat/drink anymore, but does it out of habit & familiarity. It’s something that helps him keep calm when he is a bit stressed. Plus it keeps the human look to coworkers.

-And of course he still has emotions, it’s just that they’re just very hard to bring out. They are not completely muted, though his in-humanness does damper them a good bit w/ the including of the years he’s been alive numbing him to humanity. (So if you see Calhoun with any other emotion than his bored/casual grin -or even a smug look-, you might want to run for the hills)

Thank you for coming to my TED talk byeee-

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dang you didnt have to pop off so hard but you DID and i LOVE IT your mind,,,again i love ur idea of barney slowly becoming an eldritch being over time!! i hc calhoun likes to eat too, despite not needing to, but i dont think he’d have a v big appetite so he often nibbles 

if you see calhoun with wide awake eyes you know you did something wrong/something bad is gonna happen!!