#xen flora

[shmorp-mcdurgen]

Oughgh I need to figure out how to do more Half Life horror content. That universe is RIPE for cosmic/body horror and I need to find a way to scratch that itch for me

[sourcetwo]

smth i do have lying around that i still quite like is how i wanted to make up some specbio for xen flora during the period of two weeks where i really wanted to make a gravity falls journal style thing that documents xen flora and fauna (i still wanna do this! i think its still a cool idea! i just lost my motivation a while back and i want it back but my brain is too far down tf2 rn)

[deku-pipe-link]

There's a scrapped ending to the original Portal in which it's revealed that the facility is in Xen. Which when combined with how in Portal 2 some of the chambers are overgrown with plants and whatnot, in that scenario it would be Xen flora creeping in instead.

[owlhead650]

"The Devil of Darchlight Caves"

1012 word essay below discussing Erin as a character in Rejuvenation.

I find it interesting that in v13.5 Erin's first major appearance is in her Darchlight Form, as a devil. This is different to how in V13 her first appearance featured her normal design. It could be that this form, the one said to be 'the true reflection of your soul' is how Jan wants us to see her. Erin declared herself the devil who defies Vitus, a man that sees himself as God. Conventional myth portrays the devil as a prison warden keeping sinners trapped and punished. The devil also normally hates God, despite only punishing people God wants him to. Erin is a much stronger character than the classic devil, rather than punishing those God considers evil or unworthy she accepts them. We see this when she encourages Kanon to embrace his individuality and to reject the idea that he's less than human and only exists to serve. Rather than punishing people Erin liberates them.

This aligns perfectly with how she behaves in Darchlight Caves. The first thing she does is help Florin, Flora and the Interceptor escape confinement witin the glass boxes. During the rest of this sequence of the game we see her wit and cunning as we learn more about Bladestar and decide what to do with this information. I remember in v13 I exposed Flora during that playthrough, but I didn't make the mistake of sharing information with Cassandra because Erin beforehand warns: "Analyse the information, then make a decision. Don't you ever do it the other way around." To my memory that's how it was worded.

Erin's backstory also parralels the devil. She at first obeyed Vitus and basically acted as a spy in the drama between him and Anathea. She was basically parentified and forced to help mediate an unhappy marriage between two adults who weren't mature enough to settle their differences the correct way. Vitus superficially apologised for this and said it was because she was the eldest daughter. This is somewhat similar to how the devil was once a beautiful angel that served God but later wanted to be greater than God and was cast into hell as punishment. Erin eventually reached her breaking point and defied Vitus. She fought him with her archetype powers and was eventually dragged to the basement. Vitus banished her to the unknown dimension and left her there to be forgotten, along with the twins Alice and Allen, which is fundamentally the same as how the devil was banished to hell.

I would also like to comment on how Vitus and Erin fighting with their magic powers until Erin got dragged into the basement is essentially a glorified version of a father beating his daughter, physically disciplining a child and abusing them. When you examine the incident from a grounded domestic angle, that's all it is. Really of all the atrocities Vitus commits as Indriad, his treatment of his children is really the only one I feel personally motivated to make him answer for. I was delighted when I saw his name on M2's (S)hit list.

In future versions of the game I look forward to seeing how she handles the confrontation with Vitus/Indriad, most likely taking place after the Xen raid. Although Erin is resolute and clever, Vitus is still her biological father and the memory of his abuse and power over her isn't so easily forgotten. Defying her creator won't be simple and it will definitely be frightening. The renegade route parralels the paragon route in some ways, like how both routes featured a battle against Talon on top of his tower but in two completely different contexts. I'm excited to see how the confrontation with Vitus plays out on both routes.

I'm expecting Erin to triumph in either scenario, but the overall meaning of the outcome could differ. I wonder if we'll get to see a karma beast design for her like how we saw one with Talon. Talon turned into a Flying/Poison type bird monster, I think it's rather obvious what Erin would turn into. Her personality is subtly befitting of a dark type already, and if we want to take the devil motifs to their logical extreme then she should be a Fire/Dark type that looks like it crawled out of Dante's Inferno. The Infernal Field would be perfect for this battle. It's message is:

"The souls of the damned burn on."

In a worst case scenario like a fight between Erin and the Renegade Interceptor I think this field effect would suit her karma beast transformation. Before Karma turned Talon into a monster we had a trainer battle against him in which he used a Tornados and other strong flying types. I think that Darkrai and the Dimensional Field effect would be powerful buffs that could turn a fight against Erin into an incredible ordeal for the player, even some of her current pokemon like Absol have abilities and moves that the field empowers.

Returning to my more narrative focused predictions, we must consider how Alice being possessed by Vitus will influence events on the Renegade Route. In Paragon her new "Queendom" rose and fell within a day, but that's only because her siblings quickly mobilised to deal with the situation. In the Renegade route we never saw that incident resolved and Melia was swapped with M2, distracting Erin with other challenges. She considers Kanon family and managed to free him, will she achieve the same with her sister Alice? Or will Erin fail to liberate her and instead embrace a darker interpretation of her role as the devil? Erin has a logical mind but her temper can inhibit it. Maybe on the Renegade Route despair at the devolving situation will drive her to fixate on punishing evil rather than helping the innocent.

No matter what she does in either route Erin will always be the cunning, quick witted, candid and beautiful tactician that massively improves Rejuvenation's narrative and cast of characters. If you actually read my whole essay here's some extra pictures as a thank you.

I wouldn't mind going to hell if she's the one running it.

I can't be the only one who looked at Flora's sprite in Darchlight Caves and saw her in a Jotaro Kujo outfit. The true reflection of Flora's soul is that she's like a jojo character I guess. Go on, punch Cassandra for ten pages. Scream ora ora.

Florin is literally such a good boy that his soul is that of an angel. His design was a bit simple but I enjoyed doing the toga he seems to be wearing.

My personal Interceptor oc Asopo. I want to give him as many variants as Melia has, which will take time but I'll get there. This is his darchlight form. I saw how many Darchlight forms turned people into fantasy creatures/characters from general media. I decided that making Asopo a merman would fit in with the other Darchlight forms while being a nice nod to his backstory. His hair in this form is meant to look like the black void of space with some white stars in it. He has a celtic bracelet on his arm and a badge on the cloth that looks like The Core. I gave him that yellow cloth because I didn't feel like drawing him shirtless with nipples.

I hope you liked this artwork and essay, it's probably my most proud work I've put on Tumblr.

[stunkers]

Bunch of old hl art I still like that I don’t think got posted here…. I wanna try and find some more of my ceramics stuff I made a couple pieces based off of xen flora and I can’t find them anywhere ☹️

Also the art on the top right is a piece I did for the City 17: zine for Ukraine go check it out!

[lesbianhalflifeposting]

There's something erotic to me about the Xen Flora we see in Black Mesa and to a lesser extent Half-Life: Alyx. The way that it overtakes everything in its path, irregardless of material or construction. The merging of human flesh and alien substance. The transformative effect that it can have on anything it comes into contact with, living or dead. Do you get it?

[shurikensgang]

”Yeah, Xen has a rather unique set of flora and fauna, since they all came here from different universes.”🗡️

*One of the vines brushed against Azariah, and immediately wrapped around its arm, lifting it up. This vine wasn’t part of the tree. No, it was attached to some sort of creature. It kinda looked like a red stump with teeth.*

-🥽

"uhh this plant isn't carnivorous is it?"

It looked down at the stump.

[tlozypaka-tina]

Rejuv v13.5 teaser observations and theories! (Before public release)

First of all, I want to put out there I was not a Beta tester so I don't know how right or wrong I am about any observation made here. I could be overthinking things! But that's half the fun in theorizing!

Second of all, I implore every single one of my followers who happen to see this post but haven't played Rejuvenation: This huge post will contain HEAVY SPOILERS for v13!! I don't want to ruin your experience of the game so please try it out once 13.5 releases!!

Anyway time to word vomit an essay:

Prelude: Abbreviations and concepts to be used later on.

OA: Original Aevium. Before the reset (Revealed as of v13)

(to be added)

Part 1: Trailer themes and iconography.

Archetype symbol: The center of it all.

Core symbol/Interceptor: Appears at the end. The colors associated with the Core are Blue (Active) and Orange (Inactive)...which can be seen when the butterfly flies away at the midpoint. Something to keep in mind.

EDIT: The butterfly in question! Could be attributed to "Butterfly effect".

Karma (?): 1st image is the Karma indicator in game, 2nd and 3rd are trailer images with different details added and removed. 3rd one is speculation and could have different meaning.

Alright, now that I've established the most prevalent images that constantly come up in the trailer, I can start discussing the contents themselves and what the overall theme seems to be.

A big point in the trailer is the diagram depicting a pathway and connections, which all seem to be connected to an entity. The first 4 characters we saw are our core friend group: Ren, Aelita, Venam and Melia. There are 2 types of dots present in this first instance alone: A simple black dot, and a dot with extra layers. The simple ones are assigned to Aelita and Melia, while the other ones to Venam and Ren. Is this coincidental or is foreshadowing something??

I can only conclude, aided with the name of the update being .karma files, that the Main theme of this trailer is Karma and Connections. Are the consequences of our choices and actions going to finally unravel?

Part 2: Characters present, points in common.

The Theolia family (except Maria/Marianette)

Amber, Kenneth, Kreiss, Talon, Venam, Alice* and Allen* (Gym leaders)

Tesla (Elite 8)

Spacea and Tiempa + Kanon, Melia and Jenner (Stormchasers)

Hazuki is the only Protector of Aevium present of Nymieras' time.

Ren (Outlier 1 in these subgroups)

??? (Outlier 2)

Mr. Luck (Outlier 3)

Part 3: Missing faces and inconsistencies.

Ren's positioning in the trailer makes it so he is the only character in the trailer without a title on the upper right corner.

Mr. Luck. What does he have to do with all of this? All of them?

No team Xen admins...at all. Not even Madame X.

Gym leaders missing: Martin, Crawli, Valarie, Adam, Saki, Lavander, Texen, Flora/Florin, Spector, Narcissa, Souta, Ryland, Erick.

Damian and Alexandra.

Nymiera.

Elite 8 + champion missing (except Tesla).

No interceptor hosts or Ana.

Nim absent.

No signs of Nancy.

Garufa inc. is supposed to be defunct at this point in time, yet the interface we access to see all these files is from garufa inc...

Of course, the characters omitted could be simply because of space and the briefness of the teaser, but then the question would turn into: what do the characters that were included have all in common?

Part 4: Elephants in the room - Jenner, Melia and Corrupted File.

We got 3 hidden details as sneak peaks for 13.5! Seems to be 1 new character and 2 new looks for existing ones: those being Melia and Jenner who look....quite different.

Looking at all official art of Melia as of v13 (redesign of second iteration omitted but the hair is the same), it seems her new look could fit in after her 3rd iteration (going to the past arc, or the stormchasers arc, whatever we wish to call it) but before her awakening and current attire (4th pic) although the way the sidebang is positioned and her clothes are....off.

It doesn't quite feel like the Melia we know- the only time she has shown her shoulders has been in her 1st iteration, when we met her, afterwards her outfits are more conservative and white is the dominant color. This time, it's black.

Of course, this is a sneak peak of the outfit so we don't know anything else, but it's curious to see such a drastic change...also, it seems to be longer than her stormchasers fit, but shorter than her current version.

EDIT: This doesn't take in account the fact that Zumi's artstyle and way of drawing Melia's bangs may have evolved, but as an artist myself, I do find the choice veeeeeeeeery curious.

My friend Vance pointed out that she both looks a bit like Amber and that her expression resembles Melanie's VS battle sprite. Hm...

EDIT: The comparison!

Also! @spar-kie has pointed out that Melia is wearing eye-shadow in this image! That's definitely out of character for her!

As for Jenner, a recent ask answered by Zumi threw into question the possibility of this being a Past!Jenner...so is this an alternate version of him, or a change in appearance after he was trapped in Nim's pocket dimension??

As for the mystery character...I can't say anything about them because the name tag is glitchy, has an error and there is no picture to give us and inkling of who they are. Regardless, they seem to be very important this version for it to be teased this early.

Part 5: Crack theories and conclusions

The trailer is from the perspective of the Interceptor accessing the information from Zeight as it was teased at the end of V13. Would fall in line with the way the characters are shown as Data and Files. They are also the center piece that connects all these characters together and fits the theme of Karma and Connections.

Related to above...but different. The information shown is from OA, not current Aevium, which is why the trailer is Glitchy and has a corrupted file...maybe a character that shouldn't exist persists in Zeight's data despite the reset? Would also explain why Melia and Jenner look different as they may have had different fates in the OA. (Observation made by my friend Vance!!)

These are all my current observations after analyzing the trailer like a normal person!! After one day!! There are things I haven't quite touched but I'll edit this post after I get home because there is a lot of things I want to improve and I need to let this thoughts into the world before I forget and this week passes by-

Feel free to discuss in the tags, by rebloging and adding into the post or replies!!!

I'm so excited for v13.5!!!

[brainthreeze]

hi! more stuff about finrey and the deep sea au!!!!!

note before reading this: go read the intro to this au!

the nihilanth is the big bad at the end of the game in this au, not benrey, though benny does end up being antagonistic at points

(quick side note: the nihilanth is probably going to get a complete fuckinv overhaul to make it more menacing and fit in more with the whole theme…. no giant space baby sorz..)

Xen has different “sections” most of it is water but there are air pockets and such, hence why there’s still “land” creatures from Xen (normal peeper puppies, headcrabs etc)

EMMET CALHOUN canon, and literally the only other remaining member of benrey’s species (the rest are dead blehghh). he escaped Xen a few years prior to black mesa capturing benrey. he ended up going undercover as human and actually applying for a security job at BM.

Benrey can still change size, noclip, shapeshift, etc.. BUT NO SWEET VOICE. instead he has the orbs on his tail, he can detach them and they’ll grow back (moreso just pop back into existence but egghghhhh) tehy have yhe same effects, and you can eat them lol :3

benny pulls all the bitches but the main one I’m gonna focus on will probably be evil Powerade (darnrey!) i think their dynamic would be really cute

after his tests, he’s sometimes allowed to roam around the facility, so long as he doesnt cause trouble.

also: the viewing window in his tank is at the top of the tank, the inside is very dark, littered with xen flora and fake rock structures, he has a sort of "den" almost, in a small cave near the bottom of the tank (its a very big tank) there's also an airlock near the window that he (and the scientists) use to get in and out of the tank, but he prefers noclipping through the glass. (this is very damaging esp because the room that the window is connected to doubles as Tommy's office.....)

note: ty to @cerereann for encouraging me to go through with making this shit in the first place muah muah best boyfriend

[ordinarymaine]

someone: you have to be sick to continuously think about barney and alyx's reactions to lamarr -- with alyx jokingly and harmlessly referring to her as an animal, showing how she's grown up with an earth infested and inhabited by xen flora + fauna and how its normal to her and all she knows, and how barney is still shown to be scared and hostile to it even 20 years after the fact, because it's still alien to him, because he was there when it first happened and likely still carries trauma from what he saw and experienced during black mesa

me:

[shmorp-mcdurgen]

so he adapted to Xen because he got the Xen Juice in him. okay that makes a lot of sense.

Yeah basically!

His body basically became "terraformed" for Xen flora, and he adapted because of it

[sourcetwo]

i swear like every two week i intensely focus on a different aspect of half life. recently its been the combine soldier hierarchy and combine units in general. next week i think i will observe xen flora and fauna

[jazz-kitty]

1, 2 , 7, 8 :3

1. favorite character[s]

ive already talked about kenneth and flora BUT! runner up is cera i think. i haven't seen her in a million years but that's okay. i think she's incredibly fucked up and i want to get her #OUT of her mental and also physical ice prison.

im preddyyyyyyy sure rn that angie is a fucked up cursed version of anju, but as "angie" she still made a servant. it just happens to be in the image of cella- taking some of her likeness & kind of her name- because even deep down the fragments of anju in angie still cares for cella. but i dont actually know. i think her dedication to angie is super fucked up and interesting though. angie doesn't care whether her meat homunculus made of illegal magic lives or dies, but cera is also so incredibly willing to lay down her life for her boss that somehow it works out. well. hopefully it stops working out bc i want cera to be able to live for herself but. AH! not much to say since it all happened like six chapters ago now sicne anyones even thought of cera but i still spin her aorund in my brain bc she's epic as hell. my friend said her ace was a morpeko :(((( thats so CUTE!!!

2. least favorite character[s]

i don't like saki or karen. what do you do when a character for most of their screentime is intended to be comedic relief and then you just don't find them funny. i feel like such a nerd but i just don't think they have jokes and theres not much else to like about them ToT at least as it stands. idk. even then i'll still draw both of them no problem i am not exactly a professional at disliking characters. my main issue with them is that they don't appeal to my sense of humor and if i'm drawing & writing them they do. so. problem solved?

erick is also kind of up there but he stays in his lane over in poison type gearen city [forgot the actual name] so he doesn't bother me as much. plus he has cat ears so he gets bonus points.

7. favorite friendship[s]

patty & cera have they ever talked? NO! have they ever talked about each other? NO! in a hypothetical situation, would it be kind of cute? YEAH!

for ones that r actually on screen though. i loveee neved & nastasia. even if it was just 1 conversation, i love their dynamic. the two most mature [AUTHORS NOTE: does not mean they are mature. just means they are not zetta geara or madelis] xen members havin a little chat and i'm TUNED IN!!!! and their shared affection for ren is so cute. they both know it's a bad idea and they BOTH tell each other it's a bad idea, and then immdiately just go Anyways, because they r BOTH going to continue caring about ren anyways. whateverrr. i think it's cute.

honorable mention delpha and adam. theyr eso sweet. they love each otherrrrrrrr they make fun of each other so much but they would kill someone for each otherrr <3

8. favorite family dynamic

florin and flora you're so. i talk about them too much. florin disowning flora after finding out she's in bladestar is soooo. oh my goodness! and then trying to get her the death penalty too!!! i think about how after florin says that he just wishes flora would trust him more- that he's there for her, if only she'd let him be- flora says THIS

its so. god dude. i feel like it's not just that flora was leading bladestar, but selfishly- florin cares more about the fact that flora never told him about it. and its soooo. oh my god. both of them care[d] about the other so much but are far too fucked up to ever be able to show it. flora feels like she's the only one who can ever get her job done- especially after rune turned her down- and she wants to keep florin SAFE by keeping him out of everything. and florin just wants to BE THERE for his SISTER!!! without understanding until darchlight cave why she's making it so difficult to!!! god!!! it's so evil how many times things could've gotten better and how many chances flora had to just let her brother love her and how every single time she refuses and florin gets pushed a little closer to the edge of a metaphorical cliffside. me when im in a lack of communication challenge and my opponent is flora who thinks letting her brother think she hates him and actively trying to get him to hate her is the simplest way to handle things. i hate rejuv

[thoundcarriers]

space!au gordon is a scientist of the black mesa, organization which explores new and unknown planets as the most experienced, the doctor is assigned to the planet Xen, the surface of which no one has dared to study before because of its very aggressive flora and fauna black meza calculated the scenario for the depletion of food and water, but did not foresee poisonous fumes of local plants which destroyed communication channels, and Gordon is left alone with the emptiness of space, except for the monotonous voice of the suit, constantly reminding of high danger Freeman tries not to lose hope and continues his research, trying to diversify them with trips out of the bunker unfortunately, during one of them, Gordon accidentally inhales a deadly toxin gasping for oxygen, Gordon sees the figure of a humanoid creature which with a smirk on its face (?) helps him switch the filters on the suit manually Gordon, clinging to the remnants of consciousness, tries to share clean air with the one who saved him the shadow makes it clear that it's not needed, and Gordon finally can faint to be continued? honestly I want to write a fanfic but unfortunately I cant write lol

[jazz-kity]

chess pieces - dark side

---

hmmm. ik the first one is probably about team xen's vision or whatever. madame x's vision. about like uhhh. update i dont know. whys she doing this again. why are we doing this again? ehhh whatever. but also the c is capitalized in clear so hmmm. maybe thats someone?

ik that THAT bitch is the "kitty kat" one idk their name i dont think they ever gave it to me. but regardless. Thats Them . meow :3

maybe all four of the thangs back there are like. that fuckass "kitty kat" person, the other person they were with, then two others i haven't seen yet? [probably never seeing the fourth, though...! cause theire defiled which i think is just chessguy's fancy talk for They Died]

im kind of too tired to think too hard about any of the others though i've got shit to do. broken chess piece is probably zetta and "zed" is probably a more fucked up clone of zetta that came prior to him? melia's bio dad maybe? idk :/

and also i'll kill myself flora & nastasia. fawkkkk. FAWKKK!!!!! four hundred page exposition journal from both of them. NOW.!

[stunkers]

I think it’s beautiful that these 2 beasts and animals of the like have a weird little mutualistic relationship. Head crabs get awesome armor and the xen slop gets to spread itself further and catch a ride. I FUCKING LOVE HALF LIFE ALYX QUARANTINE ZONE!!! I wanna make a qz flora field guide so bad pleaaaase