#the betrayal and then the clones killing Gordon and then being brought back to the beginning. even more flowers. one less arm | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

qhazomb · 3 years

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I keep pinballing between monster Gordon designs in my head, and the most common contenders have been and owlbeast form like from The Owl House (bc him fluffy), that one humanoid design where his hair is super long and floaty and full of eyes, or a spiky dragon with near geometric scale spikes (bc the irony that his monster form is all sharp and pointy but his human form and personality are so soft and cuddly)

Bubby is usually the fire type of the group, so i always imagine monster Gordon with magma or plasma? Plasma maybe better, fits a celestial theme.

ooooh, that’s neat! i like the idea of monster gordon with plasma and lightning powers might have to incorporate that with the one i’m picturing. imagine electricity arching between his mane tendrils and whiskers and stuff, which signifies that something is about to get plasma breath’d also OOPS THIS PROMPTED ME TO SHARE A LOT OF THOUGHTS SO THIS GOT LONG, putting the rest under a read more ha ha

another thing about the monster gordon au i’ve been thinking about is that he’s not a straight-up cosmic entity like i picture benrey being, but more of just an alien from another dimension, like the critters from xen (he’s not from xen, though. whole ‘nother place entirely!) in this au, i still have gordon and benrey having known eachother as children, only this time gordon was the lil monster kid living in the woods, of course. and also, kid benrey actually saw his monster friend get carted off by black mesa! he saw the company’s logo on a vehicle or equipment or something, and never forgot it. benrey and his folks move to new mexico when he’s like, 13, and ends up befriending their new neighbor- a twenty-something guy named tommy. eventually, benrey learns that tommy’s working for this lab called black mesa, and when he sees the place’s logo he’s just !!!!!! and immediately decides he needs to try and get in that place. he doesn’t know shit or fuck about science, so trying to get a scientist job there is out. but maybe they’re hiring for like, a janitorial or security position? he’s pretty fit, and knows how to mop a floor and shoot a gun. so he goes for that. gordon still completely forgets his human childhood friend, though, awww. though that might be partially blamed on some of the experiments conducted on him. speaking of his time as a research specimen, he actually had it a tiny bit better than benrey did. didn’t take until he was in his teens before a much more caring scientist showed up to make sure he had good mental, emotional, and physical enrichment. and instead of that scientist being tommy, like for benrey... for gordon, it’s coomer. dad coomer momence :) they find gordon much more willing to cooperate after he imprints on coomer, too. and also take note of how active his curiosity is, with the alien asking so many questions and looking for so many answers for about how things work, especially when he hits his teens. somewhere along the line, some ‘mesa higher ups decide to let this xenoguy indulge his apparently scientific mind, and give him a job (he’s still required to check in for tests on himself, and not allowed to leave the facility, though). even tho he’s not an eldritch horror, he’s still got shape-shifting powers, and takes on a human form, both because all the spaces he’d work in were made with humans in mind, and to reduce the number of weird looks from literally everyone outside of sector E. and because he looked human, benrey didn’t recognize gordon at all, but also couldn’t shake this weird vibe he was getting from him. vibe increases after he sees this guy heading to do a dangerous test without one of the fancy hazard suits (being near-indestructable, he doesn’t need one). just before they get to where the test chamber is, and benrey asks him again why he doesn’t have a HEV suit if he’s really supposed to be here, gordon yells “BECAUSE I’M NOT FUCKING HUMAN, OKAY?? Now will you PLEASE let me go do my fucking job, I’m running so god damn late, christ...” the “not human” part is emphasized by gordon briefly showing a glimpse of his true form. which benrey instantly recognizes. ...aaaand then feels bad about the “i need to make sure you’re nice or not, everybody here’s afraid of you” thing. in this case, some of the other employees in sector C were afraid of gordon, as they knew what he was. benrey was a new hire and didn’t (obviously) and didn’t get why some of the scientists and guards were acting nervous around this seemingly friendly (if short-tempered) guy. but now he does. as well as why gordon looked a little self-conscious about it when benrey brought it up. whoops. even though monster!gordon doesn’t wear a HEV suit, he still has trackers that the military use to hunt the science team down. the trackers are just, y’know, in him. and unfortunately, nobody on the team knows exactly where they were stuck in him, and he doesn’t wanna just go clawing himself open everywhere to find the damn things. so the betrayal still happens, though benrey is def not feeling it as much, cause like, he JUST found his old alien friend and was gonna bust him out!! which obviously he can’t do if the fuckin’ military gets a hold of him. but then, he also can’t bust gordon out if he himself gets killed by the military... so turning gordon in is the lesser of two evils. turn him in now, and then try to free him again later. that’s the plan. of course, the bootboys ambushing gordon aren’t at all prepared. they weren’t properly informed on everything about gordon, and for about this whole time, gordon’s been taking on a human form. said form being considerably smaller than his true one. gordon does not black out and get tossed in (the wrong part of) a trash compactor. he does still get pissed at bubby and benrey, though. but this time, he forgives benrey first, as the guy gets way, WAY more emotional over this all than gordon’s ever seen from him. showing off a ton of genuine guilt and regret over it, and also explains why he did it right away (even tho gordon’s still convinced he and benrey never met until the test). bubby mostly just seems scared shitless, oops. but gordo does forgive him before it’s all said and done. they still run into coomer clones and less-than-stable bubby prototypes (which are now just clones as well because reasons). bubby’s not a genetically engineered perfect organism, but a regular/realistic ‘test-tube baby.’ he’s still got a bionic heart, though. coomer’s still a cyborg, too, but not really a super-powered one. his robotic limbs are just advanced in that they’re as dexterous as his old natural limbs, and have artificial touch receptors. they’re also made out of materials that are sturdy as all fuck. they’re just a couple of dudes, as far as physical abilities go. their clones, however? still very fucked up. possibly a little bit more fucked up. this au is also another “not a game” one, and there’s a different reason for why coomer’s clones seem to have a weird connection with gordon/gordon’s brain. bubby’s do, too. those clones aren’t just clones, but also results of genetic splicing experiments. i’ll let you guess where the other non-coomer/bubby genes that were spliced in came from. go on. guess. i haven’t thought about what happens when they get to xen too much. probably just that they fight the nihilanth, since i headcanon that it was indeed still the cause of the xen portals, but benrey ate it to steal its sick boss arena. gordon however wouldn’t do that, as he doesn’t get pissed at any of the team to, y’know, wanna go final boss on them. still gotta be the big hero man (even when he’s not technically a ‘man’). after they get back from xen, tommy prob manages to convince his dad to convince his employers to NOT lock gordon up in a lab again, as it would both mean a lot to his best friend benrey (who is like a little brother to him), and because he’s become fast friends with gordon himself and thus cares about him. i’m also trying to decide if i still want mr. coolatta to be an eldritch being or make him human, too. kinda leaning towards letting him stay non-human, though this time tommy doesn’t have any of the ‘buffs’ i say his adoptive dad gives him in my other not-a-game aus. aaaand that’s all the thoughts i’ve had on this thus far!

#monster gordon #Anonymous

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maximumsnow · 4 years

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Chapters: 6/? Fandom: Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware, HLVRAI - Fandom Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Gordon Freeman, Tommy Coolatta, Dr. Coomer (Half-Life), Bubby (Half-Life), Benrey (Half-Life) Additional Tags: Canon-Typical Violence, Canon-typical swearing, Basically an au exploring what if HLVRAI followed Half Life a little more closely, Au where there isn't a betrayal in that one spot, Mainly was wondering what would happen to the others if they hadn't been in on it., Some things change some don't, Oh also this is sort of intended as a not a game au

Summary: Anyone who knows original Half-Life knows that the ambush happens in that spot no matter what. What would have happened if the ambush was as rough for the others?

It felt like time itself froze when Gordon walked in, arm raised in greeting. Seeing Coomer try to kill a clone was… honestly still unsettling even if he had a vague reason for it. However, something about this image was wrong.

Coomer looked directly at him and cheerfully said, “Oh, hello there!”

And that’s when his heart dropped.

This couldn’t be his Dr. Coomer.

His eyes dropped to the limbless Coomer lying on the table, but before he could look any closer, the presumed clone started speaking again. “My clone!” The exclamation was a perfect copy of Coomer’s usual speaking pattern, and the unnerving similarity sent a shudder down Gordon’s spine.

In lieu of any explanation, the clone tensed his arms in preparation to swing, and Gordon found himself quickly moving towards him. He tripped over his words as he tried to distract the man with the sledgehammer. “Hey, uh, wait. Isn’t this a bit much?”

The previously still Coomer on the table jerked at the sound of Gordon’s voice, and the head turned towards him. Whatever was said became a muffled grunt due to the cloth.

Confusion overtook the other Coomer’s face as he tried to figure out what Gordon meant, and it allowed Gordon enough time to get next to him. “No, this is the perfect amount of force to take out a clone!” He exclaimed as he prepared to swing again.

The clone found the sledgehammer unmoving when he tried to move it. Gordon gripped the handle halfway down the weapon with both hands. The grip was difficult to maintain since he had kept the crowbar in hand, but he refused to let it budge even as the clone tried to pull it over his head.

Gordon could never beat Dr. Coomer in a strength contest.

The clone struggled against him, but the awkward angle and the added weight made it a losing battle. “It’s just a clone. Let me finish-”

Cutting through the bullshit, Gordon argued, “You’re not Dr. Coomer.”

That snapped the clone out of the persona he had been putting on. He let go of the sledgehammer to properly face Gordon. “… Yes I am. We’re all Dr. Coomer.” The flat tone dared Gordon to keep arguing.

Suddenly losing the tension of the impromptu tug-of-war on the sledgehammer nearly caused Gordon to tip over, but he caught himself in time to glance at the clone. The expressionless look on the clone’s face made Gordon drop the heavy sledgehammer and clutch the crowbar in front of him.

He didn’t even get to swing it before the clone charged into him. Despite Gordon’s height advantage and this clone’s apparent lack of cybernetics, it didn’t take much for Gordon to lose his balance as he struggled against the Coomer clone’s assault.

He saw stars as the back of his head connected with the hard floor, and it was a miracle he didn’t pass out again immediately.

It hurt.

He screamed in pain. “FUCK!”

The clone tried to cover Gordon’s mouth to stifle the sound, and in the ensuing scuffle, Gordon’s glasses got knocked askew. Even as he fought for his life, he could hear the clone mutter, “You won’t get in my way. As long as 13 doesn’t suspect me-”

The blurry figure of his assailant suddenly sat stock still as they heard the automatic door open.

Gordon could only see the white of a scientist’s uniform, and while that could be one of his friends, he didn’t know for sure.

Until the intruder spoke. “What the hell are you...” The snappy tone trailed off as Bubby presumably took in the scene.

“Get off.” The sharp order was emphasized by the pump of a shotgun, and Gordon felt the weight of the clone lift. Without someone trying to suffocate him, Gordon was able to readjust his glasses so he could see what was going on, but when he tried moving too much, his head started pounding.

Bubby had the shotgun trained on the clone, and with the look Bubby was giving him, Gordon was surprised that the clone hadn’t caught on fire yet. Once the clone was no longer too close to Gordon or the Coomer on the table, Bubby pulled the trigger.

Click.

No gunshot. Bubby looked down at the useless weapon.

“What? I just loaded-” Bubby was cut off as the clone lunged at him. The shotgun was dropped as Bubby was caught off guard in the sudden hand to hand struggle. Despite the surprise, Bubby was able to grab the hands reaching for his neck and held them away. At first, Bubby looked like he would overpower the clone. He was stronger than he looked, and it was easy to forget that fact.

Until the clone stomped on his bad foot, causing Bubby to let go and stagger backwards. The clone was quick to pounce on the opening and managed to shove the unbalanced scientist to the ground.

At this point, Gordon struggled to sit up as he fought his aching head and body, but the sudden action made the room spin. Shutting his eyes so that he could get his bearings, he patted the floor frantically as he tried to relocate the crowbar. His hand finally landed on something, and when he pulled it close, a familiar metallic grating sound as he it dragged across the floor told him that he managed to find it.

After a few seconds, the smell of smoke assaulted his nose, and it caused his eyes to snap open again. The clone had apparently tried to run back towards Gordon and the sledgehammer, but Bubby had managed to latch onto his leg with his hands. Fire was licking Bubby’s sleeves as it climbed down his arms and onto the clone’s leg.

The clone furiously tried to pull his leg away, but Bubby’s grip did not falter even as he was jerked around the floor. Fire climbed as he did up the clone’s body. More flames joined the existing ones even where Bubby wasn’t touching him, and soon the clone’s entire body was aflame.

That was when Gordon finally noticed the screaming over the ringing in his ears. It was so similar to Coomer’s screams of pain that it made it watching the scene unbearable. Despite knowing this wasn’t his friend, it still made a quiet voice in the back of his head question whether this was actually a clone or not.

Even though the clone himself admitted the deception, he couldn’t ignore the almost instinctive fear for his friends that kicked in. He managed to stagger to a standing position, and despite the obvious distraction in the room, he finally got a good look at the Dr. Coomer on the table.

Despite the head being turned towards the fight, Gordon could see the eyes were wide with terror, and there was a large red mark on the side of his head that was partially hidden by the curly white hair. A slashed hospital gown had been the only thing he had been deemed worthy to wear.

He was also trying his damnedest to move his limbless body towards the fight, even if he couldn’t really help.

This had to be his Dr. Coomer.

With a shaking hand, Gordon reached for the cloth that was covering the poor scientist’s mouth, and when he made contact with the back of Coomer’s head, he suddenly twitched and fixed Gordon with a fearful look.

It quickly melted to relief.

Until burning hands snatched him off the table.

“NO!”

Gordon wasn’t sure who yelled that. Or if it had been his and Bubby’s voices melding together.

The clone desperately held onto Coomer’s torso like a koala, clearly determined to either use him as a living shield or to take him down with him.

The fire was quickly spreading to Coomer’s clothing.

Gordon was so fixated on that sight that he missed seeing what Bubby was doing. Until he saw the bald scientist lunge towards the clone in a way that brought back a primal fear in Gordon. It reminded him way too much of how the feral prototypes had tried to bite his face off.

Well, Gordon could at least say Bubby didn’t aim for the face.

He sure bit the hell out of the clone’s shoulder as he tried to yank Coomer away, though.

With the clone distracted, Gordon quickly stumbled his way over to the fight and took the easy opportunity Bubby had provided. All he knew next was that he was swinging his crowbar at the clone’s head in fury.

A loud THUD sounded as the blow connected.

As the clone dropped to the ground like a burning rock, Bubby was finally able to yank Coomer away from his embrace and immediately worked on putting out the few flames that had managed to take hold.

Gordon just stood there in shock. He hadn’t expected him to go down so easily, but the clone wasn’t breathing or reacting to the fire still engulfing him.

Maybe he should put that out before they started smelling it...

The automatic doors opened again.

Gordon already had his crowbar up for another swing, and Bubby pulled Coomer closer to him.

“Mr.-Mr. Freeman? Dr. Bubby? What-What happened?”

Tommy was standing in the door carrying a much bigger gun than a pistol, and it was easy to see the extra ammunition poking out of his pockets.

The tension immediately eased, and Bubby took the opportunity to finally get the cloth removed from Coomer’s mouth.

“Oh thank God, it’s you, Tommy.” Gordon sighed in relief. “We uh-”

“Hello, Gordon!” Coomer’s voice still possessed its usual volume, startling the hell out of everyone in the room. In the silence that followed, he simply said, “My clone!”

“Yeah, uh, the Dr. Coomer we found wasn’t our Coomer,” Gordon tried to explain. “I found him trying to kill Coomer and things went south.”

“That’s vague as hell.”

“He was trying to collapse my head in like a rotten watermelon! And then tried to strangle Gordon!”

Gordon rolled his eyes, but there wasn’t much bite in the action. “… Yeah, and then Bubby came in-” He stopped as a question hit him, “Wait, how did you get here so quickly? I wasn’t gone for that long.”

“… I have my reasons.” Bubby was pointedly looking away from him. With Coomer no longer in danger of burning and able to speak, Bubby didn’t have an easy distraction for his hands, so he wandered over to the observation area to snoop around.

“Did you suspect something already?”

Bubby didn’t have a chance to deny the answer when Coomer spoke up, “Probably! The project was supposed to make a hive mind between me and my clones, but, well, things didn’t quite work out. In other words, no clone can perfectly impersonate me. Even if they try.” Despite starting in his typical chipper voice, the last few words were spoken softly.

Gordon didn’t like the realization that it had taken him so long to figure out something was wrong. There had been a few things that seemed off, but with how things had gone ever since the Resonance Cascade, it had faded into the background.

“Damn, you must know each other pretty well, if Bubby caught on so quickly.” The observation posed a question if they wanted to answer it, but it also left them an out if they chose not to elaborate.

Which they didn’t. Bubby was digging into a box he found, and Coomer had seemingly turned his attention back to Tommy.

Tommy hadn’t moved since the conversation started.

“Tommy?” Gordon went in his direction, and with the adrenaline wearing off, his body started its loud protesting of the treatment he had just given it. A few more bruises to join the already existing ones. He staggered, and that seemed to snap Tommy out of the daze he was in.

“Mr. Freeman?” The response came out so quietly that Gordon almost didn’t hear it. Tommy closed the gap between them and offered an arm to help Gordon stabilize before gently guiding him to the ground to sit. “Take-Take it easy.”

While appreciative of the concern directed towards himself, he was worried about Tommy. The guy had only gotten quieter as the day had progressed, and it seemed like he wasn’t entirely there. Before he could ask, Tommy had already left his side and went over to the very dead clone.

And fired a full clip into the corpse. Which was suddenly no longer burning.

Once again, everyone jumped at the loud, sudden noise, and Gordon called out, “Hey, he’s dead! He can’t hurt us anymore! Don’t waste the ammo.”

Tommy didn’t respond until the gun clicked to signify that the clip was empty. “Had to-had to make sure. They always say to uh, double-double tap, right?”

“That’s- That’s a bit more than just a double tap, man.” Despite the words, his voice didn’t have any reproach. He ended up patting the ground next to him, “Why don’t you rest a minute? You’ve been going non-stop for a while now.”

“I’m fine, Mr. Freeman. I gotta-I gotta make sure Dr. Coomer is okay.” Tommy temporarily dropped the gun to his side for a moment as he went to get a better look at Dr. Coomer.

Gordon thought about joining them, but his eyes started to flutter shut as their voices blurred into a background hum. Maybe just a few minutes…

“Are you alright?” The sudden question and the identity of the person asking surprised Gordon so much that he forgot to answer. Eyes snapping back open, he looked up at Bubby, who was cradling the shotgun from earlier again.

Instead of answering the question, he asked, “Isn’t that broken?”

“No, it’s just jammed, but I’m getting the shells out of it to use in a different one.” Bubby pointed the gun away from him as he started pulling out the ammo. “You probably shouldn’t throw guns like that anymore.” Once he finished, he nudged a green army supply box towards him. “Anyway, you shouldn’t be sleeping, so help me look through this.”

Despite the phrasing, as soon as Gordon opened the lid, Bubby walked away. Oh well. There wasn’t much else he could do, so he started to dig through the various supplies to see if there was anything they could take.

Which got boring really quickly when most of it was junk. To help keep his mind moving, he asked Coomer the first thing that came to mind, “Hey your, uh, clone mentioned something earlier and we overheard some soldiers talking about it. Did you see a monster alien thing running through?”

“Why of course, Gordon! You can clearly see the blood on the ceiling and walls from the soldiers it killed and from damage it took!”

Now that Gordon wasn’t preoccupied with saving Coomer, he finally took in the rest of the room. And Coomer wasn’t lying.

There was a blackened blood spray dried onto the ceiling which looked like it came from the monster, and there were a few splotches on the wall intermixed with a dark red from at least one injured or dead human.

Interestingly, the smear on the floor went around the table. Given some of the damage earlier, he didn’t think it would have cared about slamming into another piece of furniture, but apparently it had cared about this one. Or it was chasing someone who decided to go around.

He shuddered.

“It didn’t bother you at all?”

“Nope! When I heard the soldiers radio in that it was coming this way, I laid very still and kept very quiet!”

“And it just. Ignored you? And did you see what it looked like?”

“I had to keep my eyes closed, Gordon. Otherwise it might have guessed I was still alive thanks to my sparkling eyes!” The unexpected moment of pure self confidence drew a short laugh from Gordon, and Coomer continued. “I heard it stop and sniff, but given my current state, it must have assumed I was already dead!”

Current state.

Wait.

“Shit! Where the fuck are your arms and legs?!” Sure he noticed that they were missing when he first walked in, but given what he walked into, figuring out the hows and whys of the situation had fallen to the wayside.

“Are you fucking blind?” Bubby shouted from the observation room. “He’s been missing them this whole time!”

“I NOTICED THAT, MAN, BUT WHERE DID THEY GO?”

“Oh the military took them! They’re top of the line cybernetics, and I would be too difficult to contain if they didn’t remove them.” If this had been anyone else, Gordon would have interpreted this as overconfident bragging, but he knew Coomer well enough that he was stating a fact. “And it would increase the chances of at least something from me getting out.”

“Oh hell yes!” Bubby’s triumphant voice echoed through the chamber, drawing all present to look towards him. After a minute, he exited the observation room with some clothes and something metal.

“Good job, Bubby, you found my Power Legs! And clothes! I can’t wait to wear something other than this cold hospital gown.” The genuine warmth that seeped into Coomer’s voice eased something in Gordon’s chest. Sure Coomer had kept his chipper attitude throughout the conversation, but it had been teetering the line of being forced.

Not that Gordon could blame him.

Bubby thankfully seemed to know what he was doing when it came to helping Coomer get his legs reattached, so Gordon went back to focusing on Tommy. At some point during the conversation, Tommy had reloaded his gun and was standing near the far exit. Gordon called out, “What’s going on, man? We’ve taken out most of the soldiers by now, right?”

“There-there has to be at least one soldier ahead of us, Mr. Freeman. Whoever took out the mon-The monster. And the aliens have been just- They keep teleporting around.”

Yeah, Gordon felt dumb after that. Tommy was right, and he should have connected those dots on his own. “Sorry. Gordon’s head kinda hurts still.” He gingerly leaned his head forward and closed his eyes in hopes that the ache would stop.

He would have stayed like that if Tommy hadn’t crossed the room at record speed and knelt by him. “You-You okay? Don’t-You-You can’t fall asleep.”

Gordon opened his eyes to see Tommy’s frightened visage hovering nearby, and the closeness made a faint trembling in the other man’s frame much more obvious.

“I’m-I’m fine, Tommy, I wasn’t dozing off.” Right then, anyway. “I’m just...” He quickly debated lying, but he didn’t think he could make it believable. “It hurts a lot. The clone slammed me against the floor.” He raised an arm as if to rub the back of his head, but caught himself halfway and lowered it. “Just. Don’t worry about me, right now. You can keep guarding the door.”

After a moment of almost uncomfortable staring, Tommy nodded before retaking his spot.

They’d be so fucked without him.

Before anymore musing could happen, Gordon was distracted by watching Bubby help Coomer sit upright. He still had the hospital gown on covering his torso, and it was left on while Bubby buttoned up the shirt he threw on him. It wasn’t until there were a few buttons left that Bubby pulled the gown out through the hole.

Gordon had no idea why they went through such a complicated method of taking the gown off, but it felt like it was ringing a bell. Unfortunately, said bell made his head ache more, so he mentally shook that line of thinking for now.

Bubby must have somehow figured out the pants while getting the legs on, because once they had settled the shirt on, Coomer twisted himself around so that his lower legs hung off the table. The position allowed Bubby to shove on some socks and shoes with ease, and with that, Coomer scooted off the table.

Bubby was close enough for Coomer to lean against as he tested the legs, and soon he was standing upright with few troubles. His balance seemed to be off, but that could easily be attributed to his lack of arms and readjusting to having legs.

As an afterthought, Bubby tied the labcoat around Coomer’s waist. “Alright, that should do it.”

“Thank you, Professor!” Coomer was beaming at Bubby with a mischievous glint.

“Doctor.”

“Professor!”

Gordon couldn’t help but laugh as they continued the old argument. It was such a ridiculous thing, and he had heard it several times by this point, but it was familiar. He was laughing so much that he didn’t notice when Coomer had come over.

“Hello, Gordon! We should get moving! We still have to find a scientist who can let us out of this building.” The announcement was enough to jolt him out of his laughing fit, and he wiped his eyes before standing up and giving Coomer a wide, genuine smile.

The now familiar aches of his body were still there, but it was easier to ignore them with a lighter heart.

“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s go.”

#My Writing #Hlvrai #Half Life VR but the AI is Self Aware #Gordon Hlvrai #Tommy Coolatta #Bubby #Dr. Coomer

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sunlitroom · 7 years

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Gotham 3.21 - Destiny Calling

As I watched it, and some random observations here and there.

Previously on Gotham.

In short – the theme for s3 barring these episodes. Betrayal! More betrayal! Betrayal for lunch, breakfast and dinner! People are dead, alive, dead, then alive again.

As always, long post will be long - monstrously long- and in two parts. There are likely to be rambling digressions. Gobblepot may appear (although I welcome all shippers and non-shippers alike :)). There will be naked favouritism and naked not-favouritism. Broader comments at the end on plotlines and parallels and general direction.

Screaming and mayhem outside while the bank still tries to run as normal. An old woman repeatedly asks for her savings while an uninterested seller tells her there’a problem with the account. The old woman reveals herself to be infected, and starts wrecking the place. We’ve all wanted to do that in the bank, really. And the post office. Especially the post office.

An armed officer runs out of GCPD while a virus'd prisoner beats a cop and general mayhem reigns. We go to the locker room and see – hilariously - that someone has written ‘Gordon has the rage’ across the lockers. What the actual fuck? Who took the time to do that?

The virus voices are telling Jim he’s a killer as he stares in the mirror, hissing it over and over.

(A big disgruntled aside: So – Jim’s big dark truth is that he’s a killer at heart? Really? Weirdly – I watched an episode of Star Trek at the weekend, in which Kirk had the following wisdom to offer (because Kirk can solve all problems :)).

All right. It's instinctive. But the instinct can be fought. We're human beings with the blood of a million savage years on our hands, but we can stop it. We can admit that we're killers, but we're not going to kill today. That's all it takes. Knowing that we won't kill today.

And it’s never more true than here. Barnes told Jim that. There’s no big fundamental difference between Butch and Harvey, Oswald and Jim, Barnes and Falcone, Bruce and Jerome, Bruce 1 and Bruce 2. It comes down to what they choose to do. Their ability and inclination to make good choices is – of course – dictated by their circumstances: but they still ultimately have a choice. There’s not some innate quality that makes a killer – nothing ‘special’ about the ability to kill.

Further – we’ve had ample proof that Jim has no particular love of killing. He refuses to kill Oswald way back in the pilot, and again in the middle of the Galavan mess – even when Oswald has a gun pointed at him, and killing him would have made Jim’s life easier. He could have shot Barbara in the church tower, or let her fall, but tried to save her instead. He didn’t want to kill Ogden Barker. He expressed regret over killing Galavan. We might see him lose his temper a lot, and get physically violent – but that doesn’t equate to some burning need to kill.

So – this just doesn’t really ring true.

And as a final observation, this is basically a betrayal of the man we started out with. We come in with Jim, who is appalled at the state of Gotham because of his innate decency. He’s ‘the last good man in Gotham’. He has to compromise his principles over time because there is no other way to get things done, but it is with the end goal of doing the right thing. If anything, the tension was how much Jim was willing to compromise his ideals to do the right thing, how much that hardened him, damaged him.

So, when, how, and why did this morph into: ‘Jim Gordon has a big bad darkness at the centre of his soul, and his dearest wish is to kill?’)

Jim is visibly fighting the virus. Harvey enters the room and asks for Jim’s gun - not badge. The officers know he’s infected, and Harvey is doing his best to keep this situation stable. Jim says he can control the virus, but Harvey says it’s for his own protection.

We hear that Lee apparently disappeared in the chaos and is waiting for Jim to give in. Harvey tells Jim to prove her wrong. Jim asks where Bruce is.

Bruce is in the interview room, where Alfred watches from behind glass. Jim and Harvey enter. There’s a brief conversation where they establish it’s not the clone, and Alfred says he must talk with Bruce – whose strength, he believes, will bring him back to his right mind. Lucius then enters, calling Harvey.

(An aside – and where was clone Bruce this episode? It was sorted of implied that he could play a role here, and it never came about)

Harvey is delighted, Lucius has found that there’s an antidote

I could kiss your face

Lucius actually did detective work and found notes about the antidote in papers from court leaders house. Hugo was designing own special antidote. Jim asks where Strange is, only to be exasperated when Harvey explains. Jim says Strange is a weasel who’ll be trying to get out of town (you’d never do that, Jim, would you?), and that they should check the downtown train station.

Lucius tells Harvey to wait in a warning tone. Harvey tries to say he knows the risks, but Lucius points out that Strange's version is accelerated and Jim won't be able to fight long.

I like Lucius. He’s smart, and measured, and compassionate, and actually puts in the work. It’ll be interesting to see how the balance at GCPD works next season because, in many ways, he’s supplanted most of what Jim should be.

The railway station where people are fleeing town. Hugo still looks so stylish. He’s stopped by too burly men and utters a truly beautiful,

Oh no

Fish appears

I think you mean: hello Fish - I miss you.

She smiles,

Don’t worry sweetheart, the fun has just begun

Hugo looks resigned as he’s taken away.

A penthouse overlooking the city. Ed has been reading Villainy for Dummies, and is loftily talking about Rome – I think it’s Nero fiddling while Rome burned, but I tuned out. He praises the Court’s style

Barbara is more interested in the opportunity to consolidate power. Ed has no interest in running Gotham. He only wants to kill Oswald because, as we saw when he was desperately trying to make contact with the Court, Ed can’t leave a job undone. Babs is impatient. Ed will need muscle for that, and why should she help Ed, if Ed won’t help her. She wants Ed to use that ‘big, beautiful brain’ of his to help her, and she’ll help him.

(An aside – uh, have Barbara and Ed been intimate? I know that Barbara can sometimes sexualise her mannerisms – but there was a familiarity there (baby, honey, all the touching) that was…. different, and they’re very in-sync. She’s not really using her sexuality in an attempt to seduce him to her cause either. I’m not suggesting a romance – but it wouldn’t surprise me if that was how they’d killed some time in that penthouse, or at some other point.)

Back with Fish and Hugo

I thought we were friends

Hugo stammers that he can't refuse the Court. Fish tells him she isn't upset. She knew that when Hugo was summoned it was to cook up horror. She needs horror. She knows the Court made the virus, and she knows there’s more.

Hugo pleads, but Fish is implacable.

You will give me the virus. You will give me the army you promised me. You will give me everything I say until the city is in the palm of my hand. Clear?

Hugo manages to be bitter, resigned and obsequious in two words

Yes, madame.

Jim and Harvey arrive at the station too late. Harvey's phone rings. It’s for Jim – Lee checking in.

Jim answers. He tells her to turn herself in. Lee comments he's fighting – but the cage is finally open – he’s free. She thought he loved her – they can be together now. Jim doesn’t want it like this. She pours herself some of Jim’s whiskey and asks what the whispers say. Was it about hurting? Killing?

See how well I know you

She says she’ll check in later, but she’s off to have fun.

Jim looks like he’s succumbing to virus when Harvey calls his name. He gives Jim a gun. They’re off to find Hugo

Jim and Harvey meet Fish’s crew in some tunnel somewhere – presumably leading out of the station

Fish tells Harvey he looks awful. Harvey thanks her, and then says

I know in your own sick way you love this city. Gotham is bleeding to death

Hugo laughs suddenly – he’s noticed that Jim has the virus

Fish approaches him, and asks what it feels like. Jim says like it’s taking all his willpower not to kill her. Fish and Hugo confirm that they have a cure for the virus, while Jim fumes. Harvey says he’ll shoot her if she doesn’t step back

Jim growls that she’s had her chance. Fish is no fool, though – she has backup. Victor charges up. Jim leaps up and breaks a water pipe. Victor’s gun freezes the water, creating an ice wall – behind which Jim snarls. Fish looks at him.

There he is - the real James Gordon. Nice to meet you, at last.

She laughs and walks away. Jim snarls like an angry chihuahua.

Burning city shot again. We’re at GCPD.

Alfred has brought Bruce tea, and asks if he’s hungry. Alfred isn’t being trite here – we will try to make tea and sandwiches in times of crisis. He talks about going home, or going to Switzerland, where they had happy holidays

Bruce is blank, and tells him his attempts to elicit emotion are clumsy, and that he murdered his best friend and teacher. Alfred says he was a liar, manipulator, and brainwasher. Bruce denies this – saying that he gave him revenge, and took away his pain – which is more than Alfred ever did.

Alfred looks like he’s in pain

Bruce says they’ve merely paved the way for one who is to come. Alfred asks what he means, and Bruce ominously replies:

You'll see

Oswald’s mansion, where Bridget and Victor squabbling over who gets to kill Hugo, while Hugo trying to ooze way out of it. They power up, and he panics, calling for

Miss Mooney

Miss Mooney is busy - I'm here now

It’s Oswald, who has been sitting nearby, drinking.

I think your children are angry with you. You made them what they are, then abandoned them.

He tells Hugo he’s working with Fish. They’re partners, now – she forgave him. She has evolved. She has a vision. She sees a city where people like Oswald, Victor and Bridget are in charge.

He also tells Hugo that the virus is tearing that city apart, and they need an antidote.

Hugo says if he tells, he has nothing to trade for his safety – they can torture him all they want. Oswald blithely says OK. Hugo looks worried. Oswald comments that in Arkham, he was tortured daily. Hugo blusters

That was therapy.

Oswald looks outraged for a split second, then smiles

The sensation was like my head being torn open, and hot lava poured into my brain. Thinking of it afterwards made me physically ill.

(An aside – oh Oswald.)

He laughs

So – naturally - I had to have it

Oswald has the machine. Hugo caves instantly - which is testament to how bad the pain elicited by the machine actually is. He’ll tell them everything.

Oswald smiles.

I know - but not just yet

He flips the switch. Hugo screams.

Back in the tunnel – Jim punches his way through the ice. Apparently, the virus makes your bones very hard too. When they get to the street, a still virusy Jim tears Harvey’s car door off. Harvey tells him to fight the virus, not his car, and says he’ll drive.

GCPD – where a random cop tells Alvarez that Mayor James has called in the national guard. Oh no - Alvarez is infected. He breaks the man’s neck, and starts trashing the place.

The interrogation room, where Alfred asks Bruce again who's coming. Bruce wants him to leave. Alfred refuses, and asks him again,

Remember who you are

I know who I am. I have a destiny

Alfred tells Bruce what the sensei offered was not real – he needs to remember what's real. Bruce snarls that vengeance for his parents’ murder was real.

Alfred says that’s not real. What's real was how Bruce's mum read to him when he got sick, or how Alfred and Bruce’s dad looked for him when he got lost sailing in storm, out of their minds with worry. They might have died in that alley, and that man may have taken away the pain of that one night: but there is no life or love without pain. That man could not touch the love Bruce’s parents gave him, that he still has inside him – the same love Alfred has for him:

I love you. I would do anything for you, I would die for you

He tells Bruce he needs to find that love

Come back to me, master Bruce.

Bruce has tears in his eyes

(An aside – I have tears in my eyes. Godammit show.)

There’s fracas outside. Alfred reluctantly leaves. Bruce is still shaken - but sees Alfred has left his pen.

Alvarez is picking off cops at random. Alfred tackles him, and nearly winds up shot himself – but Lucius comes to the rescue. Alfred thanks him. Lucius is admirably unshaken. However, when they head back to the interview room, Bruce is gone having used Alfred’s pen to pick the lock on his cuffs.

At Sirens, Butch tries to convince Tabitha that Barbara has to go, and that sharing info with Fish would take out Ed and Barbara at once. Tabitha isn’t convinced though. She’s also distracted by Lee, who is ordering a drink. Lee drinks a lot in this episode, are we sure booze wasn’t Lee's deepest desire?

Butch says he’s surprised to see Lee. She calls him an errand boy, then a shoe-shine boy, then says she wants to see Barbara. Butch has enough of the insults, and moves to throw her out, but then sees she has the virus, and is tossed across the room

Tabitha checks on an unconscious Butch. Lee taunts her – asking her repeatedly to take a message to her boss, and calling her a sidekick – first Theo’s, now Barbara’s. The next time Lee sees Barbara, she’s going to rip her head off. Tabitha looks worried at this. Lee leaves, and Butch begins to come round.

Bruce is on the chaotic streets, heading for the demon’s head, or whatever. Lucius and Alfred follow some way behind – Alfred promising to kill whoever did this to him.

Fish and co in the slaughterhouse where the antidote is kept. Oswald tells Hugo if this is a trap, Hugo is dead. Hugo says it’s no trap – he tested this version on livestock and set aside a successful batch. He takes test tubes of antidote from a safe. It’s concentrated and once diluted - enough to cure every infected person in the city.

Fish tells Oswald that they will rule the city together. Oswald agrees, but first he will kill Ed. Fish promises that he will, and all those who tried to stand in their way. Oswald looks rapt. As they begin to leave, there’s a noise. Fish calls out:

Who’s there - show yourself

It’s more Cirque de Soleil assassins. I tire of this. A huge fight breaks out.

Harvey's doorless car.

Harvey is getting a call about an ice and fire fight in a slaughterhouse, which he mentions to Jim. Jim just snarls in response

Just drive the damn car

Are we sure the virus didn't amplify Jim's innate tendency to behave like a prick?

Back to the slaughterhouse. Jim and Harvey enter the fight. Jim starts taking down assassins, flinging them about, killing them for no good reason. In the middle of his killing frenzy, he runs Fish through with one of the assassin’s sword. She gasps, and drops the antidote.

You damn fool

Oswald screams

Fish!

He runs to her side. Fish calls his name in return, and he holds her as she folds to the ground. He’s desperate – telling her it will be OK and they will get help. Jim watches wide-eyed behind them, the virus seemingly clearing as soon as he’d realised what he’d done.

Fish shakes her head.

No – I’ve done this enough to know when I'm finished

Oswald is still trying to comfort her, but she interrupts.

Listen to me. Make this city yours, or you burn it to the ground.

With that, her eyes become fixed and staring. Oswald weeps. This is the third time now that Oswald has held a parent (in this case a parent figure) as they died. The third actual time.

Jim still looks aghast at what he’s done, gaping down at the scene in front of him. Hell – everyone’s aghast – the place is silent.

Oswald turns, enraged and grief-stricken, running at Jim.

Ppeople call me a monster, but you – Jim Gordon, you are the monster!

The attack puts the virus back in charge and Jim grabs Oswald by the throat, lifting him high in the air.

You're right. I am a monster.

Harvey hits Jim on the back of head to force him to drop Oswald. He asks Strange if there’s more antidote. He says there is – he only needs one thing….

And it’s Jervis, sitting nervously alone in the back of an Arkham ambulance. We hear sounds – and Butch opens the door. Jervis is fidgeting, twisting his hands high on his chest as this is happening, and it makes him look oddly vulnerable and childlike.

Tabitha is nearby, and Barbara and Ed lean against a car, talking. Ed’s sources have told him about the possible antidote and, he smirks, Fish’s death. But Ed knows they’re missing an ingredient:

This bozo

Ed – you’re wearing a shiny green suit. Let’s not fling insults. Meanwhile, Jervis is wide-eyed and smiling

Are you my saviours? Are you the one to set me free?

(An aside – Jesus, poor Jervis. And that’s something I never thought I’d write – but he really is set up as incredibly vulnerable here.)

Barbara smirks,

Not exactly. Let’s make Gotham beg

Ed smiles, while Jervis looks like he’s just realised this is not a good place to be.

Back on the streets again with Bruce, seeking out the Yuyan building. He has an auditory flashback to his ‘sensei’s’ instructions – which is handy, since his endless wittering about pain and destiny had become white noise to me. He finds the building, and enters.

It’s a room with a huge statue in the middle. Bruce touches the statue, a secret door opens, and he walks down a stone spiral staircase. At the bottom, there’s a stone passageway – which he starts to walk down. Something seems to speed past behind him

Lucius and Alfred outside on the street have stopped outside the building. Alfred tells Lucius to let Harvey know where they are, and Alfred goes in, eyeing the ornate door/statue thing.

Meanwhile, down in the tunnels, more of the slaughterhouse assassins surround Bruce.

(An aside - someone's been playing too much Mortal Kombat)

Another assassin appears behind Bruce, and makes them stand aside. Bruce enters a room with a large pool in the middle (I feel like I’m playing a text-based adventure)

There’s a voice

I wouldn't touch that, Bruce.

This is Ra’s al Ghul. He tells Bruce his sensei died but succeeded – he led Bruce to him. He is a demon, a saint, a ghost. He’s seen things that would shake the core of Bruce’s beliefs. But in all his travels, he never found a true heir. He asks Bruce if he’s ready. Bruce says he is –but Ra’s says he failed. Bruce says Alfred distracted him.

Ra’s nods.

I know

He puts his hand on Bruce’s face - like Fish with Oswald, another proxy parental relationship. As he does so, Alfred is dragged in. Bruce stares at him

Don't be so surprised - can't get rid of me that easily.

He then banters a bit about the ninjas getting better of him before glancing at Ra’s delivering one of the best – if not the best – line of the episode.

You alright mate? What you come as?

(An aside - The British instinct to mock even in the worst circumstances does my heart good. Anything grandiose and melodramatic must immediately be made ridiculous.)

Ra’s laughs, but then hits Alfred. Bruce is to embrace his future by killing Alfred. He talks about destiny and joining him as he hands Bruce the sword. Alfred speaks.

He's wrong. There's no other way to put it. Your destiny is to be Bruce Wayne. And one day you're going to remember that, and how much I love you. I remember when mum and dad brought you home and gave you to me. A tiny defenceless little creature. Look after him, they said. I held you, and you looked at me, and at that moment I decided I would do anything for you. So if this is what you need to do, you crack on.

Bruce has tears in his eyes. Alfred repeats himself.

You do it.

Bruce raises the sword, scream, and stabs him. He almost immediately starts to shake his head, the mist clearing, scattered hallucinations. As his vision clears, he sees Alfred, and realises what he’s done. There’s a whispered ‘Bruce’ from Alfred, and he pulls the sword from him. Alfred falls to the floor. Bruce weeps. Ra’s laughs

You've broken through your conditioning. Impressive

Bruce is enraged

You don't control me anymore! I will never be your heir!

Ra’s says he will:

No – your strength fulfils the prophecy, you are my knight in the darkness

Bruce’s voice cracks

You made me kills Alfred!

Bashir’s voice gets all whispery

Use the waters Bruce. Our time will come

Bruce scoops water from the pool, and pours it on the wound. It seems to cauterize and Alfred splutters – alive.

Part two to follow.....

Thoughts?

#gotham commentary #gotham s3e21 #destiny calling

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