#anyways. i love sunkist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[cara-carabowditbowdit]

crazy ms paint hlvrai drawings ive done recently :]]

[thegirlsarethriving]

just finished undertale. ok i see the vision. i now understand yall's Sans-to-Benrey obsession pipeline. and the Papyrus-to-Tommy Coolatta pipeline

[jodahpologist]

I dont think ill ever get castaway’d because like A. most people who get castaway’d are getting marooned by an angry captain and that is NOT happening to me and B. I would just swim back to the ship otherwise but like.

IF i did ever get castaway’d? on my god id be so fucking cool. Like first of all i’m killing it on the island. Two three days tops for me to build a seaworthy raft but by that point I know I gotta wait it out. I stay on the island one month just to really get the people going really get them concerned and wondering where I am.

because People start looking into my life and they dont like what they see but it makes them NEED to fuck me. Like they start looking into my life and they think maybe I WANTED to get castaway’d. They think maybe the money I owed Two Step Pussy was a little much and I was getting hot under the collar. They look into my multitude union dealings and they realize they are not over the board (castaway humor i use now). And I come back and I’m fucking sexy too.

Cause like I go and I bang out a sea worthy raft in an afternoon thats lightwork for a girl like me. But I already KNOW I’m staying a full month so I’m in the fucking iron temple every day. I’m hitting back butt biceps and tits twice daily and I’m fucking throwing weight around like I’m moving columbian. End of week one and I’m three inches taller because I built a makeshift Catherine wheel out of palm trees and wild boar ligaments and I’m fucking streaaaaching my spine. I come back i’m 6’7 220 with double ds and a fucking beautiful Sunkist tan.

They ask me what happened on the island and I just start screaming but I look wistful while i do it like maybe i miss the island maybe i loved the island maybe i cant adjust back to normal life. Whenever someone is mean to me I say “I wish i never left that island” or “my beautiful sea wife (the island) would never have done this to me” and like yeah its not great but its fucking a rad excuse. don’t explain my trauma to me.

anyways robinson cursoe was a pussy is what im saying. i would simply win those.

[saltygilmores]

Thoughts While Watching Gilmore Girls, 3x9, A Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving, Part III--"Lorelai Mourns Her Breakup WIth Dean--WTF Is Wrong With This Bish, No Seriously, Someone Needs To Study Her in A Lab Or Something" OR "Doofus In A Green Apron And the Woman Who Loved Him" Or "Supermarket Seduction: The Lorelai Gilmore Affair"

I'm kinda obsessed with playing Brand Name I Spy whenever someone visits Doose's. It's kinda fun to play Stars Hollow Anthropologist and figure out how these curious creatures live, what products they subsist on. In this scene I spotted (deep breath) Whiskas Cat Food, Ring Pops,Alpo and Pedigree Dog Food, Barilla Pasta Sauce, Princella Canned Sweet Potatoes, A1 Steak Sauce, Carnation Canned Milk, Sunkist Orange Soda, Dole bananas, Planters cashews ,Lindt chocolate, Dentyne Ice Gum, Uncle Ben's Rice, some kind of Ragu instant meal, Ocean Spray pie filling, Symphony chocolate bars, Vaseline and a variety of lotions (for which Jess is grateful), Band Aids, Stove Top Stuffing, Campbell's Soup, Gatorade, Mylanta, Pepcid, Ponds cream, Advil (both regular and a fruit flavored Children's variety), SO MUCH TYLENOL, Snuggle Detergent, Bounce Fabric Softener, Q Tips, Bactine, Neosporin, Quilted Northern wet wipes, Chapstick, 2 ginormous boxes of Kraft Instant Mac & Cheese, a WHOLE LOT of First Response pregnancy tests and ovulation kits (every one of these brands is still in existence 22 years later, btw) Aaaand last but not least: Kirk, A grown ass woman with a sick obsession over her daughter's teenage ex boyfriend, and a doofwad wearing a green apron.

The way those pregnancy tests are so fucking prominent in the background is sending me into orbit. Who is even getting laid in The Hollow besides Babette/Morey and Miss Patty, and they're past menopause. Things Doose's Market does not sell: Condoms Things Doose's Market does sell: Cigarettes (there's a "We Card" placard on the register)

The WB network was truly the place to be for product placement in the early 2000s.

SHE'S GOIN IN FOR THE KILL! da dum da dum da dum dadumdumdumdumdum

The two of them making eye contact across the market. PLEASE!

Dean: OH SHIT. SHE'S HERE. GO LIMP, FORRESTER.

The way she looks at him! I ship them so hard! I also ship Dean's face with the business end of a speeding train!

What kind of slave driver is Taylor Doose for making Dean work on Thanksgiving? Please make him work every holiday, Taylor. His family won't miss him. (I know that here in the US quite a lot of supermarkets stay open on Thanksgiving, at least for a half day anyway, but like, why isn't Taylor working? He's probably taking a Thanksgiving holiday in Hawaii with the money he's embezzled from all the town fundraisers. Broken bridge my ass). Dean says he's getting paid time and a half for working the holiday, so I will not be calling the Connecticut Board of Labor on Taylor. Luke, meanwhile,continues to pay his nephew in acorns. For what the DALA is worth, it really leans creepily one sided. Lorelai's always coming onto Dean with Dean looking bewildered with the milf seduction. Well, maybe not in this scene from season 4, he was pretty into it by then.

Puke.

Lorelai: I'll give you time and half. in my bed.

L: Dean, Wait... D, slowly turning around clutching packs of Dentyne gum: Yeah? L: I...LOVE YOU. Nah just kidding. We know it actually gets a helluva lot weirder than that.

The look on Doofwad's face says even he knows you're full on delulu. She makes a speech to Dean about how when you live in a small town you shouldn't shit where you eat, metaphorically speaking. I mean, after all the times she's had to scramble to find alternate dining establishments because she had a spat with Luke, she should know. Lorelai wants Dean to know that she's done hiding from him. Uhh...

Dean just got the memo that he was avoiding Lorelai.

For as long as I live I will never let you live this line down, Lorelai Gilmore. Salty Gilmore's Gravestone will read: Here Lies SaltyGilmores March 24th, 2022-???? She Recalled That In The Thanksgiving Episode Lorelai Gilmore Told Dean Forrester That They Weren't Broken Up Yet

Dean: Okay, whatever you say, DeLuLu Lady.

Get yourself a partner who looks at you the way Lorelai Gilmore looks at the local teenage bagboy.

That was pretty intense, Deano. Take a deep breath, it'll be okay. Just head over to the lotion aisle and then make yourself comfy in the break room. Lorelai exits the market to meet Rory, seemingly drained, and shaken by the events that just transpired. When Rory (who is now avoiding entering Doose's Market herself in this neverending game of Business Boycott Roulette) asks how it went, Lorelai can barely speak, as if moments ago she had just done all the heavy lifting for her own relationship and not Rory's. Truly twisted stuff, I'm telling ya. (by the way thank you to @ernestonlysayslovelythings (AGAIN) for pointing out that Jess' green coat makes at least one more appearance. I'll have to postpone the Coat Funeral/Ritual Burning To Ward It Of Evil Spirits)

[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

[1-1sundial]

just realized tumblr finally gives me a place to share my hlvrai conspiracy theory.

first of all, let's examine this diagram:

i think there's no debate that Dr. Coomer belongs in the top left here.

Gordon also definitely belongs in the bottom right. he is the most normal one in the group, and the only weird thing that happens with him is his arm turns into a gun via potion.

Bubby is in the top because of his cybernetics, and him being created by black mesa. he is in the right because frankly, i think he's acting the same as anyone in his position would be acting. everything he says that's strange is just him being familiar with the weirdness of the science team.

Tommy on the left makes sense, but i need to explain why Tommy definitely belongs in the bottom.

Tommy is the G-man's son, yes, but presumably he's the G-man's adopted son, given he says he's an orphan.

Tommy knows how to make a magical dog, and knows the intricacies of the black mesa sweet voice, but that's all stuff that you can probably just learn.

Tommy never mentions he has clones or prototypes or anything; Gordon notices one such scientist who looks like Tommy, but when he asks Tommy if he has clones, Tommy ignores the question and it never comes up again.

most importantly, however, Tommy is not immortal.

Dr. Coomer and Bubby both have the bit where they take lethal damage and temporarily turn into a corpse and then a few seconds later they come back and they're fine. but at no point during the main hlvrai series does Tommy die on screen. presumably he, like Gordon, manages to simply survive everything that black mesa throws at him. he gets blood on him all the time but there's healing stations, and most of it is probably not his own blood.

there's only two possible exceptions to this. the first possible exception is when Tommy falls down a pit during a parkour section, but reappears at the end. he justifies this by saying that it was actually just a big slide, and he looped around and came back up. honestly i believe him.

the second exception is the literal last thing that happens in the series, after the credits roll, but before Dr. Coomer's parting message. Tommy is talking about how much he loves his dog, Sunkist, before he gets punched in the back of the head by Bubby and ragdolls forward. this is the last time that Tommy appears (not including the ACAB stream or the commentary but that stuff might not be canon) and my conspiracy theory is that this might have killed Tommy, because Tommy was never confirmed to be immortal.

he's just a normal human guy! a 36 year old child! how could he survive a sudden unexpected punch to the back of the head from a cybernetically augmented resonance cascade survivor? that punch might have killed him. you could hear him flatlining. he might be dead. anyways bye thank you for reading.

[gorbongweedman]

thinking about the fucking. sweet voice and how specifically benrey has it (coomer too but coomer is like. cybernetically enhanced. he gets his sweet voice container implanted because itd be more silly and intimidating to have glowing crimson bubbles floating around you as you beat the shit out of a guy. and Sunkist because Sunkist is the perfect dog.

anyways. obsessed with how something as personal as sweet voice - literally like. wearing your heart on your sleeve. i think thats the right metaphor colloquialism whatever it is.. and like its Benrey who has it. and hes like open about it and hes cool with the entire science team and uses it a lot pre Arm but the. POST arm he uses it a lot less - withdrawn and he talks less and. that one scene. the lots of blue means i hate you. when like. no wait. that's not how that works.

like its been explicitly stated that blue = calm in canon and thats been shown too and. the lot of blue to get gordon to stop attacking him and. how much of that blue was "calm down" how much was "leave me alone" and "stop attacking me" so actually the 'i hate you' comment can both be a lie and truth when benrey. obviously has that one sided at least crush but ALSO emotion confusion between i love you and calm down please don't hurt me and why is your arm shit mixes into what is interpreted as hatred and. I'm so normal about this scene

[pinkobsessedfreak]

a collaborative effort between @sunnyspiders and myself:

the dead poets favorite soda flavors (we may be insane but here goes nothing):

neil - pepsi. even as the trademark gay soda (according to sunny himself), it works for neil. sweet and... sweet. that's neil.

todd - sunkist/the good orange sodas. you know the ones. they taste like the sun. (bc todd is more anaologous to the sun and neil is the moon, i think. maybe? who knows? i don't.)

cam - sprite. clear and simple, but still enrapturing. like cam! anyway (mcdonald's sprite. that's all i gotta say)

pitts - dr. pepper. on the right side of cherry flavored but still hints of other things. it gives off mysterious tall boy vibes and i feel like he'd like it (bc its red too) idk

meeks - mountain dew. no i will not elaborate.

knox - root beer. i don't like root bear but sunny does. sunny says it gives off knox vibes, and yk what? slay.

charlie - sierra mist. outdated and discontinued, even though i liked it while it lasted. i forgot this was supposed to be sodas they liked and not sodas that represented them. oops. i love you charlie. maybe. idk. again, who knows? not i.

[merklins]

Mad Science Team headcanons

-Doc's goggles are not only for hiding their expressions better, but to tone down the mantis shrimp vision they got from the slip in the goo! Without them he's more easily overwhelmed, unable to focus, and he can even end up with some terrible headaches. Their team has a routine locked and loaded to help if her senses ever get to be too much

-Polite Benrey regularly wears a set of glowing cat ear headphones that can change colors. In a crunch they can [] his need for glowsticks, but he mostly uses them to convey his pronouns to his friends!

-Sunkist was the first project Doc ever worked on with Tommy! She was still in early development when he joined the Restricted Research Department, so Tommy was excited to have someone that was interested in helping. Harold or Bubby would have done it if he asked, but Doc's passion and curiosity were UNMATCHED!

-Bubby loves puzzles. Not the ones that make pictures, those are Harold's preference. Bubby enjoys the mind numbing, overly complicated puzzles. One of the first he introduced Doc to during his recovery from the goo was a 7 by 7 Rubiks cube. He convinced Harold that it was for some kind of test of character, but he was ECSTATIC when Doc's eyes lit up at the sight of it! The two of them spent the next hour engulfed in the puzzle as Doc excitedly worked away at it and Bubby watched with a HUGE grin. They're puzzle buddies now. Harold is going to [] someone if he finds one more communal drawer, door, or box sealed with an impossible lock.

-Sunkist was inspired by big, fluffy, double coated dogs, and his undercoat subtly reflects with the same colors as his sweet voice! Everyone loves the idea until spring comes around and two of their electrically charged scientists are covered in rainbow fur.

-Doc got Joshua after the "Resonance Cascade" killed his science team. The Resonance Cascade was entirely their fault, and the aliens would have appeared anyways, but it was G-Man's fault that the team died during it. She was so unbearably lonely during her attempts to bring her family back that she took in the headcrab as a companion. They've seen enough horror flicks with mad scientists to know that loneliness is where it all goes wrong, so now they have a friend! A friend who would rather eat his brains, but a friend nonetheless. When his team is finally revived they are surprised for sure, but they took a liking to Joshua after a while! Bubby will always be the parent who didn't want the pet but loves it regardless. Much to the [] of the team, Benrey walks around the lab with Joshua resting on his head. Joshua is a very good headcrab.

-Even though he keeps his Black Mesa uniform, Benrey pops the little collar he has to match his team. Since the very moment he did that someone has been VERY passionate about making him a new outfit to help him stand out from the other security guards.

-Originally Doc had a normal ground-level room in the lab like everyone else, but after perfecting his metal arm attachments he insisted on making himself a loft space instead. The lab doesn't have a loft, or so Harold thought until he saw Doc climbing into a gap in the ceiling like a spider. Within the metal beams, pipes, and other structural supports, Doc actually found themself a large hidden space! It does have a clear entrance, but it's a bitch to get to without the gadget she wears. Harold let her keep the loft space because of how incredibly comfortable she was able to make it, but the room in the lab is still Doc's so that they have an easily accessible place to sleep too.

-Harold and Spork would get along great. I don't have a clever elaboration for this one, but I know it's true.

-Polite Benrey inexplicably has sweet voice. He was the reason they even knew it existed and gave it to Sunkist, but they still have no idea why he can do that. Benrey doesn't have an explanation for it either , but he also doesn't care to find out more, so they all accept it as a Benrey thing and don't hassle him about it. The whole team has started calling it "Black Mesa sweet voice", so that anyone who catches wind of it will assume it's a typical Black Mesa project and leave him alone.

So many more thoughts too, but this post is getting long and I have places to be, so. Ten for now!

[theevilicecreamsoda]

begging pleading you should Really talk about The Him. i didnt think other hlvrai wof truthers existed but you're so right. the gordon design ever

TEEHEE :33333

Alr alr he’s a Mud/Sand and basically the story kinda separates from canon at some point (before Gordon’s hand is cut off) and Gordon finds his escape out of BlackMesa but loses the Science Team in the conflict. He has a bounty on his head due to… ermmm the killing. Me and my friend have only written to the part where the bounty hunters have lost him out in the desert due to Benrey running into them. Btw Benrey is following Gordon cause he doesn’t have his passport. I’m thinking about a situation where Benrey asks the bounty hunters(who are starscream and knouckout from tfp :333 but like dragons) about their passports cause Gordon’s like “What about them!? They don’t have any passports!?”

And they pull out the passports and Gordon’s like “THEY DONT EVEN WORK AT BLACKMESA” :3333

ALSO ALSO about Benrey

He’s a Rainwing and hes so so so so sillay but also hes like an animus but… not. He alters the world around him(like with the passport things) without him consciously doing so. It just happens. He just causes it. I also think he’s got some orange spots and loves freaking out Gordon :333

Also the skeleton :33 appears and like i think the bounty hunters kill benrey and Gordon’s like “damn” cause this is before erm :333 Gordon hater arc and the skeleton appears, like a rainwing skeleton had to create one but it was super siper fun, anyways teehee :333

Oh also the story follows about roughly the same structure as the original hlvrai but a bit different.

ALSO ALSO Tommy

Tommy, He has firescales and I think slight animus to reflect on him creating sunkist and his sticky trigger finger. Also firescales works differently. I think firescales skywing have semi control over their firescales but sometimes it burns out or burns too bright with emotion or something else. OH OH he’s also a skywing :3

Sunkist, He/She cause I confused that dogs pronouns and i love both he/him and she/her sunkist idk dog pronouns kinda cool. Anyways, I’m not sure if she is actully a golden retriever or maybe a huge ass silky/feathery wyvern(i would have them draw him to actually like convery this idea

Gman, He’s like Benrey he shifts the world around him but like… he knows what he’s doing.

Dr. Coomer, he’s an ice/hive :3333 giving him punching gloves cause idk why but like when hes drawn with boxing gloves it remidns me of the time I created Miku with punching gloves in gang beasts. I love Miku with punching gloves, literally so cool I think about her a lot.

Bubby, Ice/sand, kinda like Dr. Coomer I don’t have much on him yet ☹️

Forzen, haven’t planned on adding him yet but will be added at some point. probably and Icewing or something idk his name reminds me of frozen. Maybe an ice/night

Darnold, I think he’d be a rainwing or skywing or maybe both cause of his orange and the soda im now thinking about orange soda fukcing rotating orange soda in my mind like… yeah thhis is so so so cool, like forzen, not yet planned in the story but will be added :33

The story is still very much a draft but I am having a lot of fun :3333

[gmanwhore]

A thing for "Yellow Brick Road to Hell" (I thought of a better name for it slay)

Tommy scratched Sunkist behind the ears, and smiled.

"Hi buddy. What a good dog, perfect dog..."

Tommy couldn't help but smile as Sunkist wagged her tail happily. She didn't need anything from him except what he could comfortably give. She didn't demand anything. She didn't need his help to function, she was just a good girl who needed food and love and walks. Sunkist was Tommy's last person he could relax around, and it was ironic that she wasn't even a person.

Thinking about it, neither was he. He was plastic, his skin long ago hardened but still somehow able to shift and move fluidly to show off his bones. His fingers brushed his own chest where his ribcage was forever exposed. He didn't know if this made him feel scared or just nauseated at the fact he could just look down and see his heart beating and his lungs moving. The exposure was...fine, he guessed. It was such a small problem he had.

Sunkist woofed, bringing him back from his thoughts into what he knew as reality. He continued to pet Sunkist, rubbing his hands all over her thick, soft fur.

"You are just sooo perfect, you know that Sukist? The most perfect dog anyone could make ever. The biggest, sweetest, best puppy anyone could ever have."

He kissed the top of her head, then wiped the fur away from his mouth.

"Ok, I gotta go visit dad. You be good!"

Tommy smiled, then left his house and walked down the street. Bubby's lights were still on, and there were clangs and bangs coming from inside. He probably was still working on his rocket. Bubby wanted to leave so badly. Tommy felt the same but his dad and Dr. Coomer and Dr. Freeman and Benrey all really needed him here and he couldn't risk leaving them ever. What if everything went wrong because there was no one to calm everyone down?

He saw no one on his walk, which made sense. It was really late at night and no one would be out and about. He still looked at every house as he passed. Dr. Freeman's lights were off, but he didn't turn them on often because he hated seeing everything. Tommy hadn't actually seen him in a few days so maybe he would check on him once he visited his dad.

There was a single light on in Coomer's house, and Tommy knew exactly what he was doing. He was pacing his room, trying to keep his mind settled. Coomer had a hard time with everything, but he was just trying to keep everyone safe. That's why he told them that none of them could leave. Tommy made a note to bring Coomer a gift basket tomorrow as a thank you.

Benrey's light were on. He didn't turn them off anymore. Tommy suspected that Benrey didn't care anymore. Anyways, it was easier for him to blend into the light now, as he just glowed like the sun. It was very pretty but also made it really hard for Tommy to look at him properly because he was so bright. Benrey also had a lot to deal with and also since Tommy and Benrey were brothers Tommy had to be there to help him. He'd have to visit Benrey tomorrow though because it was already late and even if his dad didn't talk long he still needed to check on Mr. Freeman and take Sunkist for a little walk before he went to bed himself.

He finally reached his dad's house. The lights were never on here. It was the biggest house on the street, but it looked more like a black hole then a house. Tommy liked it, though, because it was always a place he could just go and relax. Even if his dad was there it was calm and quiet, just like floating through space. Tommy smiled at the thought and opened the door.

"Dad? It's Tommy."

There was no responce, so Tommy went further inside. He eventually found his dad sitting cross-legged on the couch, his eyes closed and his head bowed.

"Hi dad. How are you?"

His dad looked up. What would constitute his chin was covered in the black...whatever it was that they all dripped.

"Ah, Tommy...forgive me for my rudeness..."

Tommy shook his head and sat with his dad.

"No, it's ok. You're ok."

He handed his dad a tissue, and he cleaned himself up.

"Thank you so much....for this. For the visits. I am...so grateful."

Tommy leaned on his dad's shoulder, and his dad put his arm around Tommy.

"I like visiting you. I get really lonely, it's nice to talk to someone."

"May we...not talk much tonight? My throat feels...clogged."

Tommy smiled. He hadn't wanted to talk much anyways.

"Ok. We can just relax."

The two then proceeded to sit on the couch together for what seemed like hours, just staring at the wall. Tommy didn't think at all the entire time, he just let his mind slip away and just relax. He didn't want to think anyways, thinking too much made him anxious and made his stomach all bubbly and he hated that. He just used the moment to not exist.

His dad also had drifted off but wasn't asleep, and Tommy couldn't snap him back so he just gave his dad a hug and left, heading to Dr. Freeman's house. His footsteps were very loud on the pavement and he didn't like it, it made him feel like he was being followed. He kept turning his head to the left to compensate for his missing eye. No one was in the street but him.

He knocked on Dr. Freeman's door, and the man came. He looked much more ragged them usual.

"Tommy? Why are you here so late?"

Tommy shifted uncomfortably. He felt really bad for Mr. Freeman but at the same time he hated looking at him because he wasn't anything like Tommy's Dr. Freeman and it almost disgusted him which made him feel even worse because that wasn't this Freeman's fault it was just how it was.

"Oh, uh, just wanted to check on you. You haven't come outside for a few days."

"I just haven't been feeling like talking to people, that's all."

"Alright."

They both stood in silence for a few minutes. Freeman slowly closed the door, leaving Tommy alone. Tommy couldn't move. He just stood there. Once his body decided to work again, he went home. As soon as he closed the door behind him, he broke down into tears and didn't know why.

[dogvhs]

I tried to send this as an ask repeatedly but when i tried to do anything with copypaste and the indent feature tumblr violently shit itself to death. Anyway I love your hlvrai fics and wanted to send something for the DVD Commentary ask thing! This excerpt from Atonement and Enticement makes me smile, and it planted the seeds for some lovely scenes in future stories. I'd love to hear more about it. (Also I think honeysuckle is a vine and not a bush but Tommy is allowed to get a thing wrong. as a treat) - needsmoreexplosions/blacktobackmesa

"I like the pattern," Tommy murmurs absentmindedly, nodding in the direction of the basket. "Those are cosmos, right? My favorite flower is- I think they're a, uh- a type of bush, maybe not actually a flower at all, but my favorites are honeysuckle. There was a massive wall of them, right outside my- my house as a kid, so... they always make me think of home, of dad, and summers w-with him and Sunkist—" she cuts herself off, looking to the side and scratching at the back of her neck. "Sorry, I— I completely forgot where I was for a second."

"Like hearing you talk," Benrey replies. "Could hear you talk forever..." They trail off with a yawn, resting their back against the sink cupboards and eyes drifting shut.

"Stay awake, bud," Gordon chuckles, nudging their knee with his until they begrudgingly sit back up. Both Gordon and Tommy burst into laughter when Benrey immediately leans forward and rests their head atop folded arms on Tommy's lap.

"Haven't seen a ton. Almost none in person," Benrey mumbles. "But there was one I remember super well. They're called bleeding hearts. Saw them in a magazine one of the other guys left in the break room. Thought they were nice, wondered if the colors were that bright in person..." they pause to look between Gordon and Tommy. "You think when we can, we can go someplace and see 'em? Wanna... wanna see those, and more. Wanna see honeysuckle, and— what's yours, Gordo? Your favorite?"

"Yeah, we can go, and uh... man, I've never really thought about it, I guess."

"Tellin'- tellin' me no one's ever asked for your favorite? No one's bought you flowers, man? Unbelievable. If I was dating a dude this handsome you'd have to stop me from bringing him flowers every day." Benrey cackles when their words make Gordon go bright red, but they have mercy on him and move on. "Guess I'll just have to be the first and pick some up for you. You and Tommy."

Tommy laughs around a kiss laid on their forehead. "I don't th- think you'll find mine in any shops."

"No?" Benrey hums in consideration, nestling a bit further into Tommy before turning their gaze back to Gordon. "So, what're yours? If you had to pick?"

"Mm... hydrangeas. There were these big bushes outside my apartment in Seattle, and someone must've always been looking out for them, they were well taken care of. They were this super bright blue, and I remember—" Gordon laughs. "I remember scooting a chair close enough to the window while I worked on papers and shit just so I could look over every now and then and... watch 'em. Probably sounds pretty stupid."

"It's not stupid. I think it speaks to what you're like," Tommy begins softly. "You'll g- you'll go out of your way to notice the small things: things people would walk by without thinking about, but you find something in it worth paying attention to, you'll take the time to appreciate them... there're lots of things like that, that you do, I mean. Pretty incredible..." their last words leave their lips in a sigh, and Gordon's heart grows to feel fantastically light in response. It's not another second before he's pulling them towards a kiss, but he stops at the last second.

"I, uh- I should probably brush my teeth before w- holy shit, I get to brush my teeth." The other two laugh at his excited realization while Gordon jumps to his feet and grabs his toothbrush from the medicine cabinet, quickly overlaid with a healthy amount of toothpaste.

Thank you so much @needsmoreexplosions for seeing that post and sending this in! The post in question is here. This is going to be so, SO long, and I am so sorry. Like, GOD, I've written so much— please know that even though you sent this in, you're never obligated to read all of this, LMAO.

Okay, so! The purpose of writing this was a cool down scene after a brief spike of tension in the form of Gordon stressing about Black Mesa coming after Benrey. I've always loved plants, and I love that flowers have their own language. I didn't really use a lot of that here, but it's why I had the idea for them to talk about flowers in the first place, hehehe.

Their conversation here starts as a way for Tommy to take Gordon's mind away from the previous stressors, and the cosmos on his laundry hamper's the first thing she sees, so that's what her brain jumps to. It's a pleasant, easy topic to shift to, and I thought it could serve another purpose by providing little glimpses into how the three of them think about/are attached to the world around them.

For Tommy, she holds onto fond memories closely and returns to them for comfort. He sometimes has trouble discerning what's comforting for himself versus what would be comforting for other people, so relays memories of objectively good things, like childhood pets and favorites, both as a self-soothing thing and to try and serve as comfort for the other person. It's helped him ease into conversations before: by telling the other person what this topic of conversation made him think of, it encourages them to share their thoughts, and Tommy loves to listen.

For Benrey, there's so much they want to know about, and now they're out, Black Mesa is nothing but rubble, and the future they distantly wished for is now entirely possible and real for them. It's overwhelming in the best possible way. Benrey thinks about all the things they've heard about in passing, all the things they've only seen the briefest glimpses of, and wants to see as much of it as they can. A lot of the ways they look at the world is through this sense of fascination, of wonder, because a huge, huge part of it is completely unknown to them.

For Gordon, one of the few things he prides himself on is being resilient. He's proud of being trans, because he grew up in an environment that pushed back against him with everything it had, trying to get him to conform and be confined to what he was "supposed" to be. He's proud of getting through MIT because of the insane amounts of work that went into getting his degree. The trauma is still raw, but one day, he'll be proud of himself for surviving Black Mesa, and proud of himself for his family surviving with him. His fondest memories are ones where he is resilient, where he survived even if everything else wanted him not to, so a lot of his memories hinge on his struggles, both on the good and the bad sides of it.

Beyond that, this scene is a little surface-level glimpse into how their thoughts work, both in regards to themselves and each other. Their relationship is still a new one, after all, and it's been put through so many trials in the course of getting out of Black Mesa. The three of them are feeling things out, trying to understand each other.

For starters, one of Gordon's biggest personal "arcs" in parts of this fic and other fics in this series is him grappling with self-hatred. It's severe to the point where it bleeds into his thoughts, his words, his actions, so on. He'll let himself be emotionally open, and then immediately backpedal by brushing his own words off as unimportant or stupid.

Tommy's relationship with Gordon began by taking care of him, and they continue that by looking out for him, by being quick to jump in and reassure him. Hell, they got together when Tommy was desperately trying to keep Gordon alive, and at one point in chapter 7, his self-hatred is a direct obstacle in that goal, so at any chance they can get, Tommy will step in and defuse anything that feeds into that mindset.

As for Benrey, they sometimes struggle with being genuine. They're quick to misdirect anything that could come across as genuine concern/interest/what have you by joking around or doing something that'll get the others to laugh. This is something they start trying to correct in the moment, though, by going back and adding onto their previous thoughts or explaining what they said in more detail. Bit by bit, they're letting themself be open around the people they know they can trust with it.

Okay, final miscellaneous bits about this part to close off on! I liked showing all the different ways the three of them get exhausted. Gordon's plain stubborn about it, trying so hard to keep his eyes open and refusing to even think about being the first one asleep. Tommy gets rambly, much more prone to bouts of infodumping. Benrey just wants to find whatever's softest, curl up on top of it, and pass out at the first chance they get, heheh. Benrey also gets personally offended by the fact that none of Gordon's partners bought him flowers, both because it makes them wonder how they treated him and because a lot of Benrey's understanding of relationships hinges on what they've seen in media and from snippets of conversation with other security guards/talks with Tommy. It's a decently full picture of what love is and what it can be, but it's not a complete picture. Then again, who does have a complete picture of what love is? Benrey's learning to define that as they go, and it's working out well enough!

Oh, wait, wait, one last thing! There's little bits of each of their love languages in here! Benrey likes giving gifts, likes learning what people love and likes giving them things they know will be loved, which is why they hear Gordon and Tommy's favorites and immediately want to go out and find them. Tommy likes to listen, likes to make both of them feel heard, which is why she'll ask prompting questions and happily sit back to listen to Gordon and Benrey's answers. Then for Gordon, it's probably not too surprising, but he likes to give out physical touch! His first response to being hit with a wave for affection for Tommy is to pull her into a kiss, for one, and he's just a very tactile person in general: lots of hands resting on shoulders, hands holding hands, hugs, etc.!

Thank you so much for sending this in- it was really fun to talk about it!

[daychanelyt]

Since your act gaining no traction is quite pitiful indeed, I have decided to stumble my way upon your – accursedly empty, likely – inbox.

What were your inspirations for this blog?

Was there anything you desired to do, that wasn't quite accomplished properly in your eyes?

Anything that changed in the midst of chaos, that you wish(ed?) that had stayed on track?

Q1

Well- the inspirations were both the original Y2KVR as well as CCY2K. From not HLVRAI things I was drawing inspiration from Coraline as well as previous drafts of similar stories.

The story originally was going to be much darker and was going to move subjects of gender dysphoria as well as nature versus nurture before it just devolved to what the story was now. Half of it was my plan slightly crumbling at a couple of responses that forced me to stitch things back together. And another part of the plan falling apart was me being unable to draw what I wanted properly and that left me with the result of needing to overcompensate for that.

Q2

Definitely the story of Coomer and the mystery behind who he was before entering the program. It appears at the start before disappearing completely. I had a photo that would lead some people on and think that something was wrong but in the end it didn't come to pass.

The other thing was the whole swap concept. It was explained but it wasn't properly used because of how the story crumbled before, I couldn't just make my final battle what it was before. In the beginning Barney and Boper were meant to be much more mean and mysterious before the group figured out why in the final battle as they would join Bubby willingly and who was the major carrier of the trojan would be swapping between them like a twisted game of catch.

Another thing could be the pet game. At first I was thinking of making it a whole side arc with everyone having their own portraits and the pizza before it ended up being a mention just for Sunkist to appear. ( Sunkist was originally meant to be Tommy's weapon like in the OG series. )

Q3

Yes there were a few. Like my original concept for the Government man himself. He originally was meant to be kind and caring yet overprotective of Tommy to a big degree. Not saying he loved him but showing it through shielding him from even the slightest thing that could hurt him. But then everyone got the idea out of nowhere that G-Man was a bad dad and continued on saying it until I cave in and gave him a breakdown. He reached his understanding sooner than I originally hoped. ( Hoped it would be after they reunite at the start of the Deep Web arc. ) The overprotective aspect was brought back with the Restrictor of pain.

Speaking of G-Man

G was actually gonna get corrupted similar to Benrey. For those who followed INY2KP-VR on amino know how it would look like. To be honest I'm happy I didn't include that in with all that happened on the deep web. Especially looking back on it as I would need to draw everything corrupted- Anyway here is a picture of how it would look.

( god it looks shit )

Also I was going to make the L and 32 subplot come up in the final battle or at the end but... you should wait for the epilogue to see that happen ( IF I DO IT ;-; )

[foodfightnovelization]

Chapter 6: Analysis and Discussion

Here we are in Chapter 6, and Dex is making his way to the Copabanana through a seedy back-alley known as the Discount Aisle District. This area of the market goes unnamed in the actual movie- it just cuts to a darker, shady-looking area, but it makes sense this is obviously the personification of the discount aisle. We see Polar Penguin, an ice cream Ike, being shaken down by Cheazel the Weasel. And man, I love this character! He's snakey, he's sneaky, he's a parody of Peter Lorre's character from Casablanca, he has weird stretchy limbs and he's just kinda a charming rogue type of character. Like Han Solo if he was a weasel, a mascot for a brand of cheese, and lived in a supermarket.

The scene continues as Dex demands Cheazel lets Polar go, and Cheazel instantly drops him, hoping to make a quick buck off the Dogtective instead. It's mentioned he has some items he'd be interested in selling him, such as poker chips and watches and "other supermarket debris" and I like the implication here that all the things he's selling are people's belongings that they've dropped whilst shopping. In the movie, he opens up his coat to show off these items and says "Perhaps you desire a companion for those, heh heh, lonely bachelor nights?" and we see a sex doll in one of the compartments of his jacket. This is entirely left out of the novelization, which is good because showing a blowup doll in something intended for children is UNUSUAL. We also get another Casablanca reference here, with Cheazel saying "You despise me, don't you?" This is a quote from Peter Lorre's character Ugarte, who Cheazel is almost entirely a homage to.

Cheazel gets hit by a passing train, which Dex hitches a ride on to get to the Copabanana. Once he arrives at his club, he's greeted by Hedda Shopper who asks if he's still single (he is) as he greets Maximilius and enters. He then notices Polar Penguin from earlier step into the crowd, hoping to be let in. This is more or less the same as it is in the movie, so let's move on.

Polar gets let into the the club, thanking Dex for looking out for him, and we enter the Copabanana. Inside, we're treated to a description of "an upmarket canned fish Ike" who's apparently the maitre d', leading guests to their tables. In the movie this is Charlie the Tuna, mascot of real-world brand Sunkist Tuna, so this is once again just a case of the novelization having to avoid naming copyrighted products. Additionally, in the movie one of the guests following him is a Roman gladiator who falls into a cow's asshole and screams "Oh, I'm stuck in a butt, it's so disgusting!" No I'm not making this up, and it's been wisely left out of the novelization (or perhaps was added to the script after the novelization was written).

Dex sits at the bar and asks "Got Milk?" to the bartender, who replies "Do I look like a dairy queen to you?" Given it's not capitalized here, and she says "a dairy queen" where as in the movie she says "the Dairy Queen" this might be another instance of writing around copyright, but it's hard to tell.

Dex pours himself some more milk, and over at the bar overhears Kaptain Krispy talking about how his chips got stomped earlier. (Geez, they're REALLY getting a lot of mileage out of this bag of chips being stomped, it's been mentioned like three or four times already) Dex makes a pun about getting shitfaced- one of the few more adult jokes that seems to have been kept in the novelization- and Krispy passes out into a bowl of his own chips, as Chapter 6 draws to a close.

So this chapter was a little longer, not hugely different to the movie but there were some interesting tidbits here and there. I just checked and there are a total of 24 chapters (and 125 pages) in this novelization as well so it makes sense a lot of these have been fairly short- that averages out at about 5 pages per chapter. Anyway, see you next time for Chapter 7!

[kura-reviews]

Welch's Sparkling Grape Soda Review

At long last, Welch's Soda resurfaces. (It may have been around this whole time, but I haven't seen it in at least a decade.) This is a surprise pickup for me. I happened to notice this in a bargain display at Cub, 10 for $10, so I picked up a grape and a strawberry to try later.

Once upon a time, in the years of my youth, I collected codes from bottle caps of Welch's Grape Soda and got enough to get a free T-Shirt with the Welch's Grape Soda logo on it. I loved that shirt, but given the fact that it was about 15 years ago, it's long gone.

I did a brief search for photographic evidence that this existed, but I can only find a photo of myself wearing it in which it is almost entirely cropped out.

Since I can't let anything go, I spent about 15 minutes trawling old emails and the Wayback machine, and... I found the email confirming that I had collected the 6 necessary caps for a free T-shirt, but there's no archive of the active sweepstakes on either the Dr. Pepper site or the domain originally registered for the giveaway. Oh well.

Anyway, this is about the drink, not an old T-shirt.

I must say I'm not terribly impressed by the flavor. I think it's a different formulation than it was before, evidenced by the fact that it is no longer produced as a brand of the Dr. Pepper - 7uP group. The flavor can be likened to the children's Benadryl tablets I remember taking as a kid, or to a low quality Kool-Aid knockoff, but carbonated. The grape flavor is very flat and one-dimensional. It's not robust like a Fanta or a Sunkist. There's also an aftertaste that lingers, though I'm willing to attribute that to the HFCS. I would honestly reach for a store brand grape soda sooner than this.

Disappointingly, my rating is a 5/10. It's... fine? It's not disgusting, but it's not really worth drinking.

[melonsharks]

Flattery gets you everywhere! Tommy knows this very well and Forzen is no exception.

HELLO, this is a scene for Chapter 3 of DiagonalCrosswalks’ All Fool’s on Deck! Which is an absolutely wonderful amazing fic written inspired by my pirate au! She posted all three of the current chapters she’s written for it today and GOSH, I can’t stop gushing about it! For context, go read it! I’ll include the link in a reblog. It’s so much fun!!