Studio TV Solutions presents Half Life VR but the AI are Self-Aware (2020) [not a real movie]. A movie with a totally improv’d script starring a moltey crew who are sure to give you a rip-roarin’ good time!

anyway hi new au just dropped. i’m calling it HLVRAIM. it’s HLVRAI but it’s a blockbuster movie and the science team are played by actors. i have many thought on backstories n stuff that i will stick under a “read more” here otherwise this post will be hella long on people’s dashes. 👇👍 pls care about this i thought so hard and much

Half Life VR but the AI are Self-Aware was put out by Studio TV Solutions in 2020 and destroyed the box office with how fun it was and how well the cast played off one another. The cast was given a general outline for the script with the goal for it to be mostly improv.

Gordon Freeman: Mannie Flores (Dominican American, age 28, he/him) - Popular Youtuber/Twitch streamer (“Radi0Mann”). Got offered the role in HLVRAI thanks to the creative things he’s done in his Youtube/Twitch career. This is his first “official” acting gig. He was pretty starstruck at first, but then as he got to know everyone, he realized they’re all a bunch of dorks (affectionate). - Started off as a gaming channel, but then started branching off into various creative endeavors as he got more popular. He still plays games too though. - One of the things Mannie did in his internet career that hit the mainstream was when he wrote, directed, starred in, and filmed his own movie in just 2 weeks because he failed a bet with his audience. Except the movie was actually really good and funny and heartfelt (i want to say it was about “a man who got left behind on earth after everyone else was raptured because god literally forgot about him”, but i think the concept might’ve been done already). - Met Benji through HLVRAI. They hit it off and now they’re dating. They tried to keep it secret for a while but Mannie had a slip-up during a stream that sort of blew it out of the water.

Benrey: Benji Song (Japanese/Chinese, age 30, he/they) - Started off as a film sound designer in the industry, then through a series of silly willy little events—possibly even shenanigans—got roped into a role in a passion indie film that became wildly acclaimed and flung him into the spotlight. Been an actor ever since, but isn’t the most proactive in taking jobs much to their agent’s annoyance. People never know where he’ll pop up next. Sometimes Benji will sneak in sound designer work behind their agent’s back. - Honestly likes background work more because everyone’s got these expectations of them as an actor that they feel pressured to meet. But he’s also afraid of disappointing people. He’s working on it. - Met their partner Mannie through HLVRAI. Totally was a fan of his streams/videos beforehand though. When they mention that, Mannie gets flustered. - Does music as a hobby. Electronic stuff mostly—enjoys mashing together all sorts of sounds and trying to make them work. After HLVRAI, Mannie’s streams gets cool new music that’s made by somebody going by “johnwicklover1994.” wink

Harold Coomer: Hau’oli “Hau” Kaleo-Kirchhoff (Hawaiian/Samoan, age 66, he/him) - Old musician who’s supposed to be retired but once in a while will release a song or even do a concert (but nothing crazy). - Hau’oli is pronounced [hh-ow-oh-lee], but he also goes by “Hau” for the haoles’ sake. :) Kaleo is [kah-leh-oh]. also Hau’oli sounds a little bit like the name Holly so that’s a fun coincidence i didn’t realize until later. - Most of his music is chill island tunes but he has been known to dabble in rock and jazz. - Married to Mose (been together for 30 years and counting).

Bubby: Mose Kaleo-Kirchhoff (German, age 69 [nice], xe/him) - Veteran actor—been in the acting industry for a long time. One of his more well-known roles was in a popular sci-fi series. - Married to Hau’oli (they got married the moment it was legal). - i went with a name that started with “M” cuz when Gordon first asks Bubby for his name, xe’s like, “mmm Bubby.” and i headcanon it’s because Mose was about to say xir own name and had to swerve last minute and the thing his brain resorted to was Bubby lol.

Tommy Coolatta: Luis Tanglao (Filipino, age 37, he/they) - Child star who dropped out of the industry when he hit his teens and then came back years later as a comedian. He has material about how fucked up being a child star was. Will only take acting roles if it interests them. - They don’t care about how the public/media sees him. He’ll speak his mind and call out BS when he sees it. Interviewing them can be a war zone. - Hosts a popular podcast with some buds they discuss things like video games, their lives, news, etc. Just shooting the shit. - Sunkist is their actual dog and she modeled for the png photo that was used. Her name is actually Biko. She is a very good girl. <3

Darnold Pepper: Sage Haven (African American, age 40, he/her/they) - Famous cooking show host who gets offered roles in movies. Got popular by how unconventional her meals and cooking methods are and how funny he is. - Has had multiple food/cooking/baking shows over the years. Every competition-based one they’ve had focused more on good vibes, fun, and encouraging one another rather than drama. One show involved people competing to see who could make the best full course meal with the catch being they could only cook everything in a microwave. Many microwaves perished. - Changed their name to Sage Haven during their transition. They chose it because it reflects his passion and also is a play on the phrase “safe haven”, which is what she wants to be to others. - He has an adoptive daughter named Kit. She helped them think up bits and jokes. She also had to help explain what Half-Life was.

haven’t gotten to gman and forzen’s actors yet unfortunately. thinking gman’s actor could be a talk show host? because that would be funny. anyway thanks for humoring me on my shenanigans. bye

more HLVRAIM AU:

- benji/benry is kinda a little bit forgetful, so sometimes when they casually go out in public they forget to properly disguise themselves. which leads to getting recognized and him having to escape. they get a reputation of being rude but it’s mostly because they don’t really know how to handle these kind of social situations if he hasn’t prepared beforehand so his brain shuts down and fight or flight kicks in.

- mannie/gordon is able to handle these unexpected situations better, being more extroverted and finding his words easier than benji. although it’s much easier for him to handle interactions with fans over interactions with the press. being a youtuber/streamer, talking to fans comes naturally at this point. however the press/paparazzi is a whole different ball game that he didn’t really experience before taking the HLVRAI role. he and benji both do a lot better if they’re with somebody they know that they can play off of.

- benji likes collecting plushies cuz he played with them a lot as a kid so it’s a nostalgia thing. mannie thinks it’s cute.

thank y’all for being interested in my little, self-indulgent actor au… it means a lot to me. :’)

more HLVRAIM AU in which benji/benry reveals a cool new food crime and mannie/gordon questions his tastes (in multiple ways).

fun fact: i used to do the cheeto-wrapped-in-ramen thing as a child. i no longer do this.

my unnecessary ramblings about this under the cut:

benji doesn't eat the healthiest of foods necessarily. he eats a lot of things that are easy and quick to make or just snacks or just orders delivery because it's really hard for them to have the energy to cook/meal plan. technically with all his actor money, he could just hire someone to do all this stuff, but that just means one extra person his introvert ass has to deal with. mannie wasn't the best at meal/cooking stuff either, but he'd still make an effort couple times a week (way more than benji's "not at all"). as mannie gets closer to benji, he makes sure to get more good homemade meals into them and helps them cook/meal plan. he gets tips from sage/darnold on the food stuff naturally.

oh and if you’re thinking mannie’s expression is familiar then you’re absolutely right

we know about cast of HLVRAIm but... where is Forzen and Gman actors? (sorry if they already were introduced somewhere)

i haven’t fully figured out them yet in terms of the AU but i got some good ideas for their backgrounds from people! here’s what i got so far:

- gman is mainly a game show host and also THE guy you hire if you want something hosted because his dry humor is entertaining. he’s hosted an awards show a couple times but after the last time he did it where things out of his control got Super Fucking Awkward thanks to celebrities being dumb, he doesn’t do awards shows anymore. he enjoys hosting game shows more like a jackbox-styled one where he can make funny sarcastic quips.

- forzen is an ex-u.s. soldier/pro-wrestler-turned-actor who hates the military. his wrestler name was “THE FORZEN PILLAR” because he accidentally misspelled “frozen” (did i mention he’s a himbo). the wrestling agency kept it because it was funny. as an actor he plays in a lot of action and comedy movies.

sorry just thinking about how pretty shane stardew is

the fact that the oscars or golden orbs or whatever the heck dumb awards show happened yesterday was a horrible coincidence and is not related to me thinking about the hlvraim au. the coincidence is kind of really funny tho lol

most of the science cast (i guess im calling them that now instead of science team) would absolutely hate being there. benji would be actively trying to crawl under the table from the secondhand embarrassment.