🍎🩸

but are the bugs inside?

do the bugs torment you

No, because I am inside

HL:VRAI hcs because I'm writing a fanfic and struggling

Every single one of the science team isn’t fully human.  Dr Coomer has Power Legs™, “Bubby” is an experiment, Benrey is an eldritch deity or otherwise powerful being, and Gordon Freeman is the Player.  Tommy Coolatta is no exception.  The adopted son of a being who can manipulate time and change the past and present?  Of course his father gave him some abilities, as Tommy can see through time itself, referencing “previous runs”.  I firmly believe that there’s something about Black Mesa that draws in the odd and inhuman.  The only person that I would classify as fully human is Forzen, although he shares Benrey’s ability to possess other bodies similar to his own.  Considering how Forzen references things that none of the other characters know yet, there is a possibility that he and Benrey are still in contact, despite no longer liking each other.

As Tommy has likely been in or around Black Mesa most of his life, he wouldn’t understand that most people don’t have supernatural abilities.  As such, he brings up what happened in the “last run”, confusing any normal humans around him.  The scientists he works with know that Tommy just does that sometimes, and if they bring it up then that government guy will take them aside and make them disappear.

Tommy is rich.  He is in the upper class.  He makes at least 200k a year, if not more.  Forzen likely grew up poor, because no rich person would join the military willingly.  The US Marines, which is what Forzen is part of, pay less than half of what Tommy makes.  Because Forzen is likely legally dead, and thus can no longer make any money, he moves in with Tommy.  Tommy lives in his own house, of course, although his father worries about him enough that he might as well live there too.

Forzen is a very rude man, as well as a liar.  He is not shown to have tremendous intelligence.  There is a high possibility that he is related in some way to Benrey, as he is fully capable of returning after death without anyone noticing it.  This is an ability specific to Benrey (and Forzen), as each time “Bubby”, Coomer, or Tommy dies, their return to life is either noted (if on screen) or given an explanation (if off screen).  This is separate to their death, as Benrey’s death is almost always acknowledged.  Forzen, however, has never had his death acknowledged, other than after he disappears for the last time, as Benrey says that he killed Forzen.  Forzen shows a very low interest in remaining alive, indicating that he may be severely depressed.  Due to his desire to graduate, it is indicated that Forzen is in his twenties, although there is still a possibility that he is older or younger.

Tommy’s abilities can appear in ways that he doesn’t notice, such as moving out of the way just in time to avoid danger.  This implies that although Tommy is aware that he can see alternate timelines, he is unaware of his other abilities.  Of the science team, Gordon Freeman dies the least, followed by Tommy.  Tommy is a level 1 autistic man, which means he is fully capable of functioning without help.  He is unable to understand more complex questions without an explanation, and frequently takes jokes as the truth.  He also drinks a, frankly, concerning amount of caffeine with noticeable side effects.  These include confusion, increased thirst, and nervousness.

This combination provides multiple fanfiction ideas, including but not limited to:

A misunderstanding between Forzen and Tommy, where Forzen lies, saying that he hates Tommy.  Tommy is heartbroken.

Tommy goes to the hospital for caffeine overdose, which he should’ve done much earlier.  Forzen panics.

Tommy rambles about how he made Sunkist.  Forzen has a gay panic.  Alt, Forzen does one of those military obstacle courses, and Tommy has a gay realization.

Classic A fell first, B fell harder.

Angst, including Forzen opening up and crying on Tommy’s shoulder about what he did as a Marine.

Fluff, including Forzen and Tommy playing a rpg together (I recommend Sun Haven or SDV!)

The classic enemies to lovers, in which Forzen does his best to finish his job, despite being legally dead.  Tommy, due to his inhuman abilities that he is unaware about, avoids every trap.  (Either 18+ if you want to make this angst (Edit: for gore. No sex), or PG for cartoon violence)

Legally required “there was only one bed” troupe.  This must be fully PG, because Tommy doesn’t know about sex.

Classic au switcheroo.  Tommy is the big bad now.  Forzen is the Player.  Cue heartbreak and angst as Forzen has to kill Tommy.

As always, feel free to add more!

The grand hall echoes with the ticking of thousands, maybe millions, of golden clocks.  Glowing eyes watch Forzen from every angle, watching from between the gears of the clocks or in the shadows of the entity sitting on the throne.  The hands of the clock reach out for Forzen.  Shadows reach towards the entity crowned in light.  It’s made of darkness, something that has never seen the stars.

Tommy as Forzen knows him is just a man with odd eyes.  He’d called it scleral icterus, but Dr Freeman, the man in the mixology department, said that it wasn’t.

Now, the entity speaks, and truth molds itself to its words.  Time is guided by its hand, raised in punishment.  The gentle hand of it reaches out to Forzen, pulling him closer.  Eyes once yellow now see through any lie told.  Forzen wants to throw up, to tear out his brain, to wipe any memory of it from his mind.  Forzen wants to kneel before it, to worship it, to stand in its presence until Time finds him.  This must be God.  This must be the Devil.

The entity looks humanoid.  The entity bears no resemblance to anything, living or dead.  The entity loves Forzen.  The entity wants him dead.  The entity has no face.  The entity has the most beautiful face Forzen can imagine.

The man’s life melts away in the presence of this deity, this mind-bending entity.  He has no purpose but to serve it.  He’s always served it.  Whatever it desires, the man will do.  Hands that once were brown reach out, begging to touch the entity for even a brief moment.  Hands that shine with gears and liquid gold fall back upon the entity looking upon the man.  The only thing in this void of ticking and watching is the entity and the man.  He sees through the entity’s eyes, how puny his body is.  How pathetic he is, to think such a beautiful thing would ever want him.  How kind the beast is, to desire his slavery.

They’re part of everything.  They can see through Time’s lies, they can see the world as it should be, they can see what never was.  They don’t want to separate from themselves.  They want to get their freedom back.

The man staggers away from the entity.  It peers down at them.  The man is sick.  The man is lovestruck.  The man is running away.  The man stays still.  The man needs to escape.  The man needs to join the entity again.

Doctor Hayden Bubby laughs as the prone man fights, twitching on the ground.

Professor “Coomer” points his gun at Dr Bubby.

Mr Darnold wants to scream at the two.

Officer Benji Reymond watches as anarchy breaks.

The man is dead.  The man holds a gun to the entity.

Forzen won.  Tommy lays in a growing pool of his own ichor.  Yellow tinted eyes look up at Forzen with a mix of disbelief and sorrow.  A burned hand reaches up to touch the hole in his chest, the hand coming away stained with gold.

“...Tommy?”  Forzen rasps out, dropping to his knees.  He tosses his gun aside in favor of holding his friend close.  Forzen feels numb as he watches ichor drip onto the tiles.

“It’s okay, Mr Forzen!”  Tommy smiles weakly, reaching up to pat his friend’s face.  Gold is smeared across Forzen’s cheek where Tommy touched him.  The military man breaks.

“I-I didn’t mean to!  I, I just thought…”  Forzen’s face feels hot as tears drip down to mix with the ichor.  He holds Tommy close, knowing there’s nothing he can do.  He’s seen too many good men and women die to be fooled.

“It’s okay.”  Tommy repeats.  “You didn’t know.  You never knew.”

As Tommy goes limp, Forzen screams.  He screams until his voice cracks, then screams more.  He calls for whoever made fate to kill him too.  He weeps until his voice is lost as well.  There’s no coming back this time.  The entity known as Tommy isn’t coming back.

@inkzectz here's a poorly made tomzen angst fic because I've hit block in the longer, fluffier one

Me making my way to the kitchen from about 10 feet away

I regret having hands to draw, your lordship.

wormaids. they're like mermaids but they're 1/3 human, 1/3 fish and 1/3 earthworm

the worm is the middle third

I might be severely depressed, but I can't die until my dog dies. I'm going to live until I'm 200 at the very least :)

Vice.....

The bun jumped onto the seat and immediately fell off and went to cry under the couch 😔

I have been put in challenge mode

It is very inconvenient

That's such a good shirt though??? I would 100% wear that as a comfy house shirt.

Hold on I gotta go look up various shopping websites...

Going through my folders of old art and i found this doodle of benrey from 2022 that I dont think i ever posted. a shame since I really like how I drew him here.

It makes me so upset when a comic takes this perfectly fine man and makes him a teenage twink. That man was an attractive assassin. He was training when he was a teen. Why is he a twink, webtoon.

Let me have my damned man. He can become a force of nature as a bear.

I don't want to see more twinks. Every single male protagonist looks the same. I wanna see every single male protagonist look the same, but as a bear.

Yeah, I get that nobody expects the twink to kick ass, but still. Let the bear have more than two frames before he goes back in time or gets reincarnated.

(This post was inspired by me scrolling through recommended webtoons and seeing the exact same twink over and over. And also I'm still mad that the mad demon became a twink, that man was FINE)