I FINALLY HAVE A USE FOR THE SK8ER SPY REACTION IMAGE @mspaynt​ HASDJKASHFSJKGSDAHHA

So, self insert ocs.

As someone who’s blog revolves around this one, I have some thoughts on the post.

Edith was originally a self insert oc. However, since I wanted the fic I was writing to be a sort of love letter to the community, I decided to expand her personality and try to make it so that she could be projected on by anybody. Or at least, as many people as possible. Speaking a second language, feeling out of place, having anxiety about going places, making impressions, the things in her past and mistakes she’s made, all of these things are a mixture of what I feel and what I’ve heard others feel a lot, and so I added them.

But she is, in fact, her own character and 10th class, whom I love a lot. Whether or not she is so wholly unique that she stands out, I don’t care.

But what I did care about, ironically enough, was making an impression. And that came with the mechanics of her class. 

Just because you have a self insert or 10th class OC, you are not obligated in any way to explain what their purpose is, what their reasons are, so long as YOU are happy.

For me, I wanted to come up with a unique 10th class that had her own mechanics, but that’s because I saw untapped potential. If she were to be in the game, it would be near impossible for those mechanics to actually work due to map limitations. 

And that’s the thing, because she’s a work of fiction, it doesn’t matter.

That means I can get as creative as I want with her, because she’s not part of the game. 

As for shipping, my personal rule is not to ship her with any of the mercs! Not in the main fic, anyway. Might make some spinoffs if I ever finish the main one, but I felt that many had a bias towards certain characters they liked, (which is absolutely fair and I love those kinds of fics either way), and I wanted to keep it so that she could have varying relationships with everyone and not just romance! It’s for personal reasons, not influenced by anybody else.

 However, I immensely enjoy seeing people shipping their ocs and self inserts with the team! Why the heck do you think I post x reader headcanons sometimes?

In the end, your characters are not more or less valid, and you don’t love your characters more or less depending on how developed they are.

As long as a character makes you happy, as long as the relationships they share make you happy, as long as you are content, then nobody, and I mean NOBODY can tell you how YOU should write YOUR characters.

You can take overdone concepts and expand upon them in your own way, because your character is unique to YOU.

You can give them modern day clothes and use tropes because your character is unique to YOU.

and YOU,

can do whatever you DAMN want.

You are valid, loved, and your characters, your self inserts, your tenth classes are yours and yours only. I support you all the way!

Do not send hate/harassment towards the author of the post being mentioned here, you goofs. 

support class with a clingy and needy s/o? like always wants to be with them, sitting on their lap, holding hands, etc but also is careful not to annoy them too much

Support Classes with a Clingy S/O?

I hope I got the gist of this ask, I think I might have derailed just a bit but hopefully this is what you were looking for! 

Image is from tf2gallery!

Medic:

Honestly, his experiments can certainly get loud at times, and the infirmary having as many doves in it as it does, having his future S/O there wasn’t quite an issue.

It was their constant need to be next to him that he was baffled by. Wielding sharp tools for surgery, he now had to be mindful that there was somebody directly beside him as they watched intently. Eventually, he tried finding ways to make them comfortable, seeing as they seemed to enjoy his enthusiasm-- (And having someone who was less terrified of him was a welcome change, if not a bit worrying for other reasons), it always seemed to bring his future S/O back beside him.

He’s learned that the doves can do most of the work for him, serving as feathery distractions for them to interact with, but he eventually learns that just being there and around for this person seems to keep them at ease. Why he seems to seek them out too when stressed he can’t quite understand…

Well, no matter! That wasn’t all there was to talk about.

Outside of the infirmary, he found that his S/O tended to stick behind him or close to his side, straying away from the others as if afraid. Surely they had their priorities backwards, but who is he to complain? Being the team Medic, he’s often blamed for the decisions and mistakes others have made, not being able to be everywhere at once. The trust his S/O put into him was a welcome change.

Having them in his lap and sort of keeping him away from his office to de-stress had to have been the biggest change to get used to. Despite this, he feels as if he gets more work done, as it gives him the chance to recharge and think of- then look forwards to all of the experiments he could perform and the wild changes he could make to his teammates. At first, he hadn’t been willing to, but now it seemed to be just another part of life.

Hey, while you’re with him, could you remind him to wash his gloves, though? He keeps staining your shirt with blood.

Sniper:

Sniper, being somebody who’s always worked alone, even whilst in a team environment, was baffled by his S/O at first. 

Why wouldn’t he be? He’s been isolated all these years as he silently took headshots from across the map, and now you’ve waltzed up and into his life without warning.

He certainly doesn’t mind it after a week or two, but at first he’s a bit put off by it. He’s not used to the constant need for contact, social interaction, but the sweet conversations you two have are more than enough to convince him to stay. Eventually getting to know each other better, he learns to love the attention.

Sometimes he’ll snipe with you in his lap, though it has to be if he knows he won’t be approached much that game, or if he’s not trying out a new position to snipe from.

Funnily enough, with you approaching him as much as you do, it becomes more difficult for Spy to creep up behind him with a second pair of eyes sweeping the room and shifting a man with tunnel vision into a much more active, aware man.

When he can’t be there, he’ll always spend extra time after battle with his S/O, sitting in silence while doing something like sharpening his kukri, drinking homemade tea or cider, polishing his boots, or just being wrapped up under a blanket in the van.

Spy:

Spy, at first, was very much driven away by the forwardness of their S/O. But as time went on, and they continued to stay close to him, he began to wonder why it was that his S/O trusted him so much.

So, giving it a shot, he, in private mind you, allows his S/O to sit beside him? Yes, that would do. Perhaps it would satiate their constant nagging for attention. Yet oddly enough, whenever he seemed to show frustration over it- a break in his character, they’d quiet down and frown, immediately backing off.

This respect of space strengthened his trust in you. After all, one must always exercise extreme caution around Spy, and the lack of it had begun to wear him down. But when it became clear you had no intention of annoying him, respecting his boundaries and stepping away when need be, it allowed him to think more of what you meant to him.

He still freezes up in public at times when his S/O decides to hold his hand. Walking closely beside him was one thing, but hand holding seemed so… Unnatural, to him. 

Yet, he holds onto their hand anyway! No matter what looks it may garner him, a steely glare is usually enough to push back bystanders. He will protect you, knowing that while you may be misguided in who you choose to trust, that he’ll pay back simple kindness with fierce loyalty.

The longer the two of you spend together, the less space tends to matter. He’ll allow his S/O to sit in his lap so long as they don’t ruin his suit, normally he tends to wear the button up with the sleeves rolled up beneath it instead whilst on his own anyway. Still, it amuses him seeing his S/O resting against his chest, almost catlike in their contentment to stay there. Why they chose a Spy of all people, he’s yet to wrap his head around that one.

no longer normal I need his hand in marriage

I was reading through your work and its great!!! I can't wait to read more! Also while i was reading it i had a thought. Please imagine: spy trying to be a good teammate and carry one of his teammates to bed but he has the muscles of a stickbug and he's struggling so hard

Thank you so much!! That means the world to me haha.

ALSO YES I AGREE. Y’know how Engineer calls Scout “Stringbean”? Spy is a walking beanpole, its genetic.

Despite this, I’d say he’s perfectly capable of hauling around the unconscious or dead. After all, he’s a silent killer and a master of espionage. He uses his appearance to his advantage if he is found out since they’ll underestimate just how dangerous the Spy can be. 

HOWEVER!

Just because Spy can haul things around doesn’t mean he can do it in a manner that is comfortable to the person he’s holding. He just need to be quick to get away. So uh, sleepy merc on the couch, someone like Engie?

Spy is gonna need some help, but from who? Maybe Demo, but he called the lad a drunken wretch earlier that day during battle, so that was a no go. Soldier? Too loud. Scout? Absolutely not. Heavy? No, no. Heavy might wake them up. Certainly not Pyro, and Sniper is out in his van.

Through process of elimination, he begrudgingly has to ask Medic for assistance. Safe to say he’s not happy to have been brought out of an important experiment for something of such unimportance, but he certainly finds it amusing. He agrees to move the sleeping mercenary and in return Spy finally agrees to an annual “checkup” (aka having all of your organs rifled through).

He can be charitable.

Sometimes.

Someone give this man a hug (you’ll get backstabbed, make sure you’re hooked up to respawn first)

Edit: I SWEAR IT BEING ENGIE WAS NOT ON PURPOSE DIRECTLY BEING POSTED RIGHT AFTER YOU AND @pocketsniper IM SORRY

THEY’RE SO PERFECT I-

I ACTUALLY GASPED AND STARTED CRYING A TEENSY BIT AKSDJKASJDASD??? THAT WAS SO FAST TOO!!! THESE ARE AMAZING!!!

ASDKAJSKDMXKVIXNKZDJFKZDMKCMXNJVDKZFJKZDJFKZDJFKZDJFKZNVFISHGIDJGKDG AND THE SPIDERMAN MEME POSE THAT’S SO PERFECT I-

I NEED TO DRAW THEM INTERACTING SOMEHOW ASAP GJDKFADASJ

AND- AND THEN EDITH, OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS SHES SO PERFECT AND YOU DREW HER SO WELL IN YOUR STYLE AND ITS SO ROUND AND EXPRESSIVE AND HJKFDHDKHDKJFKSDJFXNVMFGJHSDJAAJSNJKHKZJDKFJZDFJZHFEUFNJDFHSD AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Two fanarts for now!! I got more requests than expected and I will try to draw as many as possible, but I sadly can’t promise to draw everyone!!

Here are two adorable characters for now, Alchemist and Strategist!

THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO DRAW THEM I AM IN LOVE!!

Alchemist belongs to  @maarinblue

Strategist belongs to @tf2strategist​

Lil extra, TWO NURSES? That calls for a party!

The 2nd Nurse belongs to @/tf2strategist aswell!

Maaaybe I just interpret too much in this because I love Demo so much, but I really had the feeling that Demoman has taken care of Engie until he had build his level 3 sentry because you see him standing here with engie shooting bombs

and first leaves after Engie is done and gives him the sign to go

and I just really love that kind of teamwork

Could I please get some headcanons for Engie and maybe Spy with a smol, touch starved ball of anxiety S/O with abandonment issues? They always want to be holding the merc's hand, or hugging them, you get the idea. Whenever they have to be separated for long periods of time, there's a signing chance of the merc coming back to S/O wearing their clothes because "It smells like you."

Spy & Engineer with a touch starved, anxious S/O

Spy

At first, he’s fine with giving his S/O extra attention. Spy himself is used to being in close quarters with others when they ask, but doesn’t tend to prefer it.

That being said, having his S/O there all the time begins to get exhausting rather quickly, so Spy very likely tries different ideas to have some alone time every so often- be it a plushie, weighted blanket, assurances that he will be back-- seeing as he knows he’s an untrustworthy individual, it doesn’t hurt to reassure.

After realizing that it wouldn’t work all the time, he made the decision to either take his S/O with him, or stay with them.

Of course, it’d be a mixture of both, but while he was initially exhausted by all this, he learns to love it and does it because he feels better seeing his S/O smile.

His S/O is so nervous, he honestly wonders how they thought he was the right choice- but he doesn’t mind. Though, he does try and train their confidence- as well as training them in self defense in order to help alleviate anxiety from trying to look far into the future towards things they don’t know will happen or not.

Being a romantic though, he enjoys toying with his S/O’s touched starved nature. Seeing his light touches while training in a waltz-like fashion send shivers down their spine, or returning to the base invisible, the only knowledge of him having arrived coming from a kiss by a walking ghost.

Engineer

Absolutely bonkers over his S/O. His S/O means the world to him and he is going to show it no matter what. As shy as he is about romance, he’s very genuine and upfront when it comes to asking about their wants, needs, etc.

Crafts a lot of gifts for his S/O to keep them company while he’s gone. Machines or stuffed animals, whichever makes his S/O happier. Maybe even makes some cute devices to contact each other with even easier besides just by phone. 

While he’s a bit of a workaholic, he’s not opposed to having his S/O around him, be it sitting in his lap, standing behind him with their arms around his shoulders, etc. Though, if he’s doing something more dangerous like welding, he definitely tries to keep ‘em at a bit more of a distance. That, or he tries to bring his S/O into his activities to keep them engaged and by his side, but he’s very, very cautious about doing so. Can’t have them getting hurt, not on his watch!

Coming back from battle to see his S/O wearing one of his hoodies from his work with administrator, or a pair of his overalls that are, of course, way too big on them, he can’t help but melt right where he’s standing. He’s just thinking to himself over and over, “G-d, you’re adorable...”

Definitely makes sure to “accidentally” leave out his most comfortable clothing when he has to go somewhere after that. Usually things like his work hoodies, plaid shirts, stuff like that. He’s a blushing mess about it too, because he knows for a fact he’ll come back to his S/O wearing it.

I headcanon that Demo fucking LOVES Halloween and it’s the only time he really pulls out all the stops and gets reeeeeally theatric. So lemme jot down a few hcs :]

He has a list of costume ideas he wants to do in the future

He puts a lotta time and effort into his costumes for sure

He really does love theatrics he just doesn’t get into it much and uses Halloween as an excuse (even though he doesn’t need one)

I think he uses magic because that fucking rules and the whole thing about him hating magic is staged because he just wants to be able to give a reason to hate Merasmus other than the fact that he was mean to Soldier

He uses magic to make his and everyone else’s costumes more realistic

I think he also used a little magic to put on a good show for the rest of the mercs once and scared them all half to death. Maybe even all the way to death for some of them

He is no longer allowed to do that

They tell the BEST scary stories and have the added real lore from their experiences with the paranormal

He helps everyone with their costumes whenever he can because he really does enjoy it a lot

He has been directly responsible for at least one of the Halloween events the team’s dealt with and is not really sorry because it’s really fun to him

Alone on a demo knight? Pathetic.

my piece for the “At Ease, Soldier” zine, a tribute to Rick May. 

Check out everyone’s work here ! The zine is free to view and download. You may also opt to donate, with all proceeds made by April 30 going to charity.