#(only reason he doesnt kill him is because alyx said not to)

[this-should-do]

Sorry I really wanted to ask this-

Shephard Swap AU? (Mitchell is put in infinite stasis, Adrian ends up Abluquerque for the HDTF story, their experiences in Black Mesa are kept completely the same)

I wanted to ask, what *you* think would happen/change because of this, seeing as this type of AU really fully hinges on your own interpretation of Adrian Shephard.

Ya know if you want something to ponder about..

Bro i fucking Love pondering shit so absolutely do not apologize for askin this, cuz its a real thinker and i spent like 3 or so hours straight writing it lmao it could be better but this is a first draft and im not editting it cuz im lazy

So obviously, this is already a challenge because the plot of hdtf is just,,,, one of the plots of all time. its contrived and relies on A Lot of asumptions and a mischarcterization/understanding of gman and how and why he does what he does. granted we dont know much about gman but the gman in hdtf is just strange? i guess, hes definately far more hands on than valve writes him, but also im realizing that gman is far mroe hands on in adrians story, actively helping him (something he doesnt do for gordon and barney is just not even on his radar), so i guess it sorta makes sense that adiran and mitch have theri stories intertwine like they do, might even be a part of the reason that berken tied them together like that since gman play such a pivotla role in mitchs story (i doubt it honestly but we can give him this for funsies)

so assuming were all familiar with the plots of both hdtf and opfor wers gonna start with why ours boys are getting switched

so in hdtf, gman has mitch on standby getting power to that he can be a distraction in the future at some point so gordon has an easier time to do things?? (even tho the point in time hes a distraction is when the combine literally cant get to gordon becuz hes in a week long teleport but whatever) all becuz he said sum funnywords? but also the perpetual prescence of gman in the flashbacks implies that mitch has been a fascination of gmans for quite some time,,,, weird

so what were gonna do is apply that fascination to adiran in the first place as well, and adiran who already did a buncha cool shit (which mitch did not do which makes him lame to gman) is gonna be gmans backup for if gordon needs help in the future (i say if becuz im interpreting gmans time onicience as a 'he can only guess which path this universe is gonna go down', cuz his dialogue about him having to convince his employers that alyx is gonan be worth it, and with hla the him we see is a him from the future ona particular path changing things up on purpose)

but plot twist gman didnt really want him doing all that shit becuz it fucks with his plans so he brings adam back (int he hev suit not for deception purposes but to make sure that he stays alive long enough to adrian who has had no prob killing entire groups of blackops and adam got his ass handed to him already by mitch) to kill adrian with the promise of killing Corporal Shephard (intended to be adrian), but adam ends up killing the shephard he wanted to (mitch) and gmans like fuck damn okay not what i wanted but i guess you did what i asked you to, but anyways next assignment you gotta help the important shephard stay alive, (gman makes mitch deadnt as insurance to make sure adrian stays in line later down the line or whatever, honestly he doesnt need mitch alive but this is what ive got in terms of putting mitch in stasis)

so at this point adrian gets a deal with gman to be allowed to make it out of black mesa becuz hes so poggers its be sad to see a life wasted, hes just gonna owe gman a favor later

so act1 plays out much the same wiht adrian at the helm, he wakes up in the hospital, meets up with nick and is sent on his way to find colonel cue, meets up with adam who has been sent there to make sure adrian doesnt start blabbing to people about what they saw in bm (but also secretly to ensure that adrian hates freeman cuz he would def know what happened to mitch when adrian mentions/ asks after him, and adams gonan for sure lie to cover his ass and be able to do his "job", this causes adrian to say sumthign along the lines of "goddam, sunovabitch i shoulda killed that orange cremesicle lookin ass when i had the chance" thus keeping eveything setting up for the whole name of the game) cuz that was one of gmans concerns about letting adrian go in the first place, which still confuses me cuz lots of people knew stuff in black mesa and got out just fine but also whatever. and from here it really doesnt change at all, adrian eventually ends up captain of the avalon vale, and off they sail

so now act2, also goes p similarly, adrians been on a warpath fucking up combine cuz damn, another overwhelming set of aliens to kill, better get to it, so now hes off teh go fuck up the "weapons" factory up in alaska, turns out its a bunch of slave children making the worlds first cremators all being headed by headdipshit boris. now adrian does not like this, he instead of talking to boris just straight up shoots him, like "fucka you, u suck", takes the kids (including sasha) and proceeds to destroy the entire facility back in line with mitchs descion making.

now act3,,,, is a doozy,,, cuz adrian is a far different man than his brother (frankly they wouldnt even call himself a man, he is nobiney lmao) so when gman shows up and tries to prey on his dislike of freeman for killing mitch to get him to kill freeman, adrian is older and obviously less intent on killing some guy that is not combine, even if he doesnt like the bitch, so gman pulls out the old "well fun fact, i can bring u rbrother back if u kill freeman" (this is valid cuz its int eh same vein as hla ending) so adrian is like ",,,,fine" so he sets off, however he doesnt team up with the combine on this one, cuz he really, really doesnt like the combine and also doesnt have a weird edgelord "well wed do the same thing as them if we could" thing going on that i guess would lend him to being willing to team up with them like mitch does

so now adrians off to kill freeman, but this time teams up with the resistance to get a chance at getting close to gordon, by earnign thier trust, cuz chances are if theyve been killing combine for 20 years, theyre gonna hve come in contact witht hem at some point, this also functions as bolstering the reisitances numbers, helping meet the distract the combine from gordon quota that adrians is meant to serve, to do this he eventually gets sent to bmeast to meet up with eli to discuss numbers and shit or whatever, which places him near gordon but is just a near miss as they arrive right around the time of the combines raid, so adirans gets a chance in the confusion to go after gordon without looking sus and immediatley being blamed for killing gordon.

this sets off a similar chain of events to og hdtf, goes thru ravenholm, galavants across the countryside, gets to those rebel outposts or whatever and gets info under the guise of helping gordon so they tell him where to go, eventually makes his way to nova prospekt, is too late to get to gordon but is there fast enough to kill neoguh combine to ensure gordon adn alyx can get into the teleporter (ie making gordons way easier), so now hes gotta fight his way out, still ends up washing out into the ocean, but instead of being captured by rebels hes saved by them, he wakes up in that prison theyre holed up in, and goes to send a message to adam and nick cuz he misses his besties (adrian does not end up making it a polycule, but adam and nick still date) and wants to meet up with them again to regroup cuz adrian is fucked up to the most after all of that. (i am not having gman show up to plot explain shit to adrian cuz i think thats stupid)

now at this point adam is looking at adrian and is like, damn this is all my fault that hes gone on this suicide mission to kill a guy who didnt even do the crime, and this time round adam is going to be the bigger man and say "hey man, i was the one who killed ur brother, u dont gotta be fighting two wars at once" this causes adrian to just fucking loose it honestly, damn near kills adam but thankfully nick is there to buffer, and once seperated adrian just sobs, and this time adam and adrian get to talk shit out, adam also kinda says that he saw gman take mitchs body so he might still have him somewhere, so now were like wait shid is mitch still somewhere, this eventually si confirmed by the vortigaunts who can see that oh yeah these bitches have been fucked with by gman also ur brothers alive and gmans got him in his clutches

so since adrian technically did his job gmans not gonna come after him all that much, specially since adrians gonna continue to fight with the resistance to help freeman so hes doing overtime at this point

so eventually he still goes to borealis, but this time in a timely manner since he finds out about it thru the resistance, using the avalon vale, but also with an ulterior motive to a) kill that sunuvabitch gman and b) get mitch back adn thats the end of the game !

honestly, it would make more sense to not have gman force adrian to kill freeman but i decided to keep it that way so that its still hdtf, but honestly, it seems more likely with adrian there that gman would tell adrian to go help out the resistance, but we can write that option off as gman being a messy bitch lmao

[kraviolis]

chapter 4 of the hl:a soundtrack coming out got me thinking abt this au i made for hl where the basic gist is “gman learns what the magic of friendship really is” (i wrote a lot abt it in discord and im gonna just c+p it here sjhkdfgksdf)

basically, post-canon au, gman gets his eldritch powers taken away and has to team up with alyx and gordon to find the motherfucker who took em because in the wrong hands they could destroy the universe and gman has to learn how to humble himself. or maybe gman just gets "let go" or takes basically like a forced sabbatical.

i just want gman to get "humbled" by gordon's crowbar and then actually become friends with him and alyx, basically.

also thinking abt like.... the whole situation with "post canon". with 19 year old alyx traveling 5 years into the future and destroying the borealis and eli being alive. just thinking about how interesting it would be if alyx was just suddenly 5 years younger and the last thing she remembered before being put in stasis or whatever was saving eli. and she and gordon can bond over playing catch-up (though her version is far less extreme) and gordon has to build up that friendship again. and she and gordon are still linked thru the vortessence, as it transcends time and space, and thats how gordon was able to get her back, albeit not the alyx he knew.

just really like. imagining an opening that sets up the world building. it's been 4 months since they destroyed the borealis and got alyx back. eli is alive. they're slowly rebuilding the world, starting with opening communications across the world. it's taking a while-- eli, alyx, and kleiner are all working hard to get a bunch of satellites into orbit to be able to contact folks across continents.

they have farms growing and the main base of operations for Black Mesa East have been moved to approx. where austria once was. gordon and alyx are walking the streets that are lively and loud and happy and he's talking about how the world used to be. alyx smells freshly baked bread for the first time in her life and they find themselves in the middle of what used to be a pub and is now... honestly its still a pub. just wasn't in use for a while, but it is now.

dusty bottles have been dragged out and sealed bags of flour and salt and containers of clean water were found in the basement and the woodfire stove is being managed by a vort. they stop for a while and have a drink and talk with other folks. gordon is withdrawn from everyone else bcus he's an introvert and also it's kinda hard to talk to people when everyone keeps staring at you and muttering your name like you're a saint and they're in a church.

barney shows up and gordon smirks as he offers him a beer, making him go "aw man, now i owe you another one." and they chat in their own little world and catch up because barney's been busting his ass trying to set up protections and training for citizens.

but gordon overhears some folks talking about the abandoned lab just outside of the town, untouched by the combine all this time. they also mention hearing strange noises. and gordon meets barney's eyes and barney just. sighs and goes "alright, fine, put those puppy dog eyes away. i'll let eli and isaac know. i assume alyx is comin' with?"

alyx is filled in and the three of them suit up to go check it out.

the entire lab is decrepit and everything is covered in dirt and dust and rust. gordon and alyx go on ahead while barney searches the place more thoroughly, trying to find supplies they might want or search the still-functioning computers.

they keep going into the lab and it just gets deeper and darker and gordon is struggling to chill out because its starting to feel more and more like black mesa down here. alyx hates the dark too and sticks close to him.

but then she finds something, seemingly important, and starts to check it out while gordon walks around and scouts the room. he hears a noise, a clang, and apparently alyx doesnt hear it. he follows the noise into a pitch black hallway offshooting from the room alyx is in.

he hears the noise again, a clanging thud, like a something falling against a metal floor. or something slamming itself against a door.

gordon readies his crowbar. he can see the door it's going to come from, the rusted metal creaking with each thud. it slams again one, twice, and then the door bursts open. gordon immediately sees a humanoid shape in the dark, thinks its a zombie, but realizes it's movements are too calculated to be mindless. its a person, he cant make out any details but that's a person down here-- a person that immediately scrambles back from the door just in time to avoid getting grabbed by a headcrab that lunges out of the room too.

gordon doesn't hesitate to take several steps forward, ready to beat it to death and save them, but he watches the figure quickly stand and slam their heel into the headcrab. he hears the snap of bone and the squish of flesh and sees the headcrab twitch, struggling to move, before they do it again. the greenish yellow blood splatters against the metal floor.

the headcrab doesn't get back up and the figure sniffs, adjusts their clothing in the same mechanical, calculated way that gordon struggles to place. its familiar but not enough for him to recognize just from body language alone.

gordon remembers his flashlight, then, and clicks it on. he sees the mess of a headcrab on the floor, a shoe covered in its blood, and slowly travels up to the figures face. his stomach sinks when he sees the back of his head, his usually perfectly-cut hair out of place and dirty. he adjusts his cuffs, his tie, smooths down his jacket lapels and turns around to look at gordon. his eyes are glowing in the dark of the hallway, pale blue and dreadful.

"ah..." the government man says, his eyes flashing to look gordon up and down. "mr... freeman. you seem to have... caught, me, at a rather... unfortunate, time."

and gordon... is frozen. this is so far out of left field that his isn't entirely sure if it's real.

gordon closes his eyes, shakes his head, and looks back up but the man is still there eyes blank and clinical.

"mr. freeman," he starts again. "you--"

the man is interrupted by another headcrab lunging from the dark. it latches onto the arm he raised and he grunts, wrestling with it for a moment. he slams back against the wall, the thud echoing loudly throughout the hallway. he manages to throw the creature off with a noise of pain, and before it can right itself and lunge again, a gunshot echoes and the headcrab falls limp.

"gordon!" alyx cries, running down the hallway. "why are you just standing-- ...there." she falls quiet when she takes in the other person with them, her brow furrowing and her eyes flickering across him, taking in every inch of detail and every observable weakness-- she does it with every potential threat.

"ah--" the government man winces, leaning heavily against the the wall, holding his arm. he's bleeding, red soaking into his blue suit, and gordon is at a complete loss of words. "ms. vance... what a... pleasure, to see you again."

and both gordon and alyx just stand there, staring, watching the man who has tormented them stand there and bleed red as if.... as if he were nothing but a human being.

"what. the. fuck," alyx hisses.