!!! COMMISSION OPEN !!! 3 SLOTS  Write Me In Dm

another post about tf2 scammers

about a week ago i made a post about what types of tf2 specific scams are floating around steam, how to avoid them, and how to identify a scammer. a scammer literally just added me and to a newer player/steam user, their profile could come across as legit so i'd like to go through it and pick apart some of the red flags i look for when people like this add me on steam. hopefully it'll help some people lol idk

this is the profile of the person that added me. it seems normal enough at first, they have a decent steam level and their profile is personalized with artwork and a background. they've also written a bit about their hobbies and favorite tf2 maps in their description. initially, i thought this person knew me from tf2's steam forum and added me from there, but i did some snooping around just to be safe.

here is their full description. i know this might seem pretty normal, but for me personally descriptions like this are a red flag in my mind. the first part would be fine if they had any workshop submissions or had posted their work anywhere, but they haven't so it looks more like they just added some random hobbies specific to tf2 to make them look more legit. i've also never seen anybody list their favorite maps on their profile and in combination with everything else it just seems like they're trying to come across as more knowledgeable about the game than they actually are. this isn't enough to get me to block or report somebody immediately, but it does make me raise an eyebrow at least.

next, i scroll down and i see what games they play/own. 7k hours in tf2 is mighty impressive, but there's another red flag here: these are the only games this person owns and has played, and they're both free to play. for someone who has been on steam since 2015 at the very least, you'd think they'd play more than just tf2 and csgo.

another red flag is their friends list: there's only 8 people here. again, if they've been playing tf2 since 2015 as they claim, it means they'd have been on steam since then as well and most people would have a lot of people added in that time. (i've been on steam since 2014 and have 342 people added.) i know some people only like to add close friends or people they trust, but if this person added me out of nowhere and i've never spoken to them prior.

with all this in mind their profile is extremely suspicious, so at this point i've got a good hunch that they're a scammer. let's dig a bit deeper.

private inventories are another red flag as i mentioned in my previous post about scams. you can see the trade history of some items using websites like backpack.tf, and because of this a lot of scammers will keep their inventories private to prevent people from seeing if their items were stolen from someone else. it also prevents you from seeing what they have if they're chatting to you about trading.

this is an absolute dead giveaway. despite having 7k hours in tf2, they have absolutely no playtime on any of the classes. not only that, but every single one of their achievements were unlocked on the exact same day at the exact same time, which is impossible to do unless you're using an external program. it seems like this person used the program to unlock some achievements, then idled on the menu to inflate their hours on their profile. this is also why a lot of scammers won't have their stats visible; it's to prevent you from seeing if they actually play the game or not.

so yeah after seeing all this, i was 100% sure this was a scammer. here's them proving me right by doing the "we need you to play on/vote for our team there's money involved and we'll give you items" scam.

when i'm talking to a scammer i like to pretend to be engaged in order to keep them engaged as well and waste their time a bit, and because of this there's another red flag to add to the heaps of them this guy already has: why would you add a heavy/sniper main and ask them to play soldier or scout, especially when soldier is their least played class? surely someone who is looking for teammates for a tournament where money is involved would also check the stats of the people they're supposed to be playing with.

i sent them a couple more messages and they unfriended me shortly after. i've since blocked + reported them for scamming/phishing.

Day two of my first dose of the vaccine baby!!! Arm is sore but so far I don’t feel too awful... Heads up though, if I can’t do much I might see about posting some headcanons, or finishing some in drafts..?

If I can’t find inspiration from the ones I have I’d maybe be curious to see more prompts..? 👀

I know I have a lot already I just like to have a lot of options when hopping between them-

I’m boutta make a post about this one, folks. Not sure if the post still exists, but this blog is dedicated to what was originally a self insert oc, and there’s reasons I’ve changed things about her that, when mentioned in the post that showed up earlier today (while I did not see it personally, I saw screenshots...), definitely hurt a bit to hear, because I know how it feels to be all of those things.

Either way, your 10th class ocs, original or not, are valid af and I support you all the way! ya’ll are welcome on my blog, ya’ll are supported on my blog, and most of all, ya’ll are amazing and deserve to have fun even when others try to drag you down.

Do NOT send the author of the post we’re all mentioning any hate/harassment, ya goofs.

Saw this post and got super inspired! Made me want to jot down my own ideas. Go read op’s version tho, it’s really fun

Mercs with a s/o that loves to play fight

Scout:

When it first comes up, he puts on this usual confident facade and says he’s totally down to wrestle, but he’s actually a little hesitant. He was the baby in his house as a kid and always lost to his brothers no matter what, so it’s a bit of a sore spot for him. Rough-housing used to be a little too rough for lil Scout. However, once he tries it with his s/o for the first time, he realizes its actually supposed to be fun when one person isn’t crazy overpowered. Then his playful nature takes hold and he just can’t get enough of it, he loves sneak attacks and random tussles.

Soldier:

He sees it as the perfect opportunity for some training, and fully believes it will have benefits for both of him and his partner. He will hold nothing back and isn’t afraid to fight rough, but won’t go as far as to actively try to hurt his s/o. That said, he is still very likely to do so accidentally, and it’s isn’t uncommon for both of them to come out injured but grinning. There is always a winner declared at the end of the fight, unlike some of the other mercs who just tussle for fun.

Pyro:

They love pretty much anything that can be described as a game, so as long as no one is taking it too seriously they are down for some horseplay. Honestly they like chasing games more than they like rough housing, but attack hugs and tackles are all welcome. Sometimes it’s more like aggressive cuddling than actual play fighting, but it’s still fun.

Heavy:

Heavy is very patient and has no problem letting his s/o to try and fight him. In fact, he is very amused by how hard they try to win and will happily sit to watch them struggle. Even if he’s busy it doesn’t bother him very much, he can be totally absorbed in a novel while his s/o tries and fails to put him in a headlock. If asked nicely, he will politely pretend to fight back, but in reality he just gently pins them down until they give up since they absolutely cannot win. He has full confidence that they aren’t capable of hurting him, and has full trust in his own precision so he know he won’t hurt them. It’s like a puppy chewing on the tail of a Great Dane.

Engie:

Engie is relatively sure he likes the idea in theory, but in practice he’s really awkward about it. He hasn’t play fought with anyone before, and he isn’t sure how to be fun or affectionate about it. He pretty much resorts to always letting his partner win with very little push back, because he really is afraid of hurting them. He does like hooking their head and ruffling up their hair though.

Demo:

Demo is probably the most fun to play fight with. He fucking loves horsin around, he is super affectionate about it but also has enough ambition to legitimately want to win. He doesn’t go easy on his s/o, but he has enough self control to keep from hurting them too. He’s a very tactile person and it makes him feel closer to them. It’s always fun, and they end up tussling a lot.

Medic:

Medic is very particular, so his s/o has to catch him in a silly mood. If he is being serious he shuts them down fast. But sometimes he is feeling cheery and goofy, and his s/o can manage to sneak up and nab him. He has a playful side and will chase them around gleefully until he inevitably catches up. It can be almost scary (in a fun way) because he is deceptively strong and can win very easily. He knows it too, which is why he usually turns them down. It doesn’t happen often, but he isn’t completely opposed to the idea of rough housing.

Sniper:

A little unexpectedly, Sniper loves rough housing, but only in private. As long as he is super comfortable with his s/o and knows it’s something they’d be okay with, he might even be the one to initiate it provided they’re alone. If they’re shorter than him, he loves scooping them up from behind and just tossing them around in general. A shorter s/o could also absolutely climb him like a beanpole. He’s got strong arms, but other than that he’s a bit of a stick so he’s definitely not impossible to beat, so the end result of the fight is anyones game. All in all, he has a lot of fun with it and makes sure neither of him nor his partner actually gets hurt. Around other people though, he gets super shy.

Spy:

If asked outright, Spy will refuse because it sounds childish, and also because he’s SUPER competitive and he doesn’t want to lose. If his partner does decide to tackle him, he knows he could escape with ease, but the problem is his escape maneuvers tend to be very…. deadly. So while he could, he isn’t willing to use those tactics, and his s/o beats him when it comes to brute strength because he has noodle arms. They can absolutely jump him and pin him down with little effort, and he acts all pouty and mean about it until his partner catches him hiding a smile. Once his secret is out, it’s possible to get a laugh out of him. As long as they go easy on him and don’t damage his suit, he will tolerate it and maybe even humor them for a little bit.

These are just my own interpretations, I legit love op’s headcannons so pls don’t see this as me trying to correct them or anything ❤️

what

bungus

Oh I am in LOVE with these headcanons! I found the mention of wondering how much of his personality at the base is an act as well an incredibly intriguing idea, and a fun one at that.

That, and the description near the end of him being “the friendly face on the other side of the street” or “the guy you run into at the grocery store that turns towards you and tells a bunch of jokes in a row and it’s so weirdly pathetic and charming at the same time you can’t help but laugh” puts him in such a familiar but different light that I had never really thought of him in, but that makes PERFECT sense to his character.

While in the comics he’s portrayed as a bit of an annoying loudmouth before getting a more genuine characterization near the end (or the issue before the end, anyway), the characterization you wrote sort of fits that more developed personality in the later comics alongside him in the games.

I just. Hgh. The idea of him being that good at manipulating people in his most comfortable environment (or is it even manipulating people? More-so himself) is SUPER cool and fitting to me, and also fits the autism headcanon where he’s just learned to mask incredibly well while remaining unfazed by deeper attempts to fit in with his peers since he’s just not interested in it—keeping him genuine and earnest, if that makes sense?

Having written that, it gave me the idea that maybe the longer he spends with the mercs as their unusual mercenary found family, the easier it becomes for him to manipulate on the field.

Thinking about how that’d translate, I imagine that he’s learned how to speak to enemy team members the same way he’s been spoken to for months or even years. He’ll ask questions with a more cutting tone towards the enemy Engineer using vocabulary he picked up from his own. He doesn’t always get it right, but more often than not he can waltz into enemy territory and as long as he’s not posing a threat during an active battle, he can end up making (tense) conversation with the opposite team.

Additionally, my initial idea was that the other mercenaries notice that he’s a little more careful in the enemy base, knowing better what turf is closest guarded, especially since he’s a predominantly flanking class.

Will reblog with more ideas about the above topic.

Scout has incredible street smarts! While it seems irrelevant in the base dropped in the middle of nowhere, he is invaluable during contract missions located within urban areas.

He can notice an undercover cop in a second, distinguish accents, recognize a scam happening, pinpoint a drug dealer who looks like a sweet old granny and see the signs of some group's terf markings. The team is looking for some local hotshot and they have no leads? Scout runs to the downtown and locates the first bodega/laundromat/bar/gas station/pizza parlor, blends in and befriends some entry-position-apprentice who gives him all the info he needs.

South Boston is the top school in the world for the street-smarts and Scout graduated it with honors.

yep! while scout has resigned himself to the position of “the stupid one” alongside a crowd of extremely talented, socially awkward PhD owners, once somebody finally has the idea that he seems good at talking and drags him along on a mission they figure out pretty quick that holy shit this kid is good at talking.

Engie’s usually the negotiator if they need one at all, mostly because he knows how to say please and thank you when it seems necessary, but he still has sort of a… distrustful aura around him. the accent’s disarming, sure, and does a great job pushing through a crowd of white middle-aged church moms, but it turns out there are a lot of parts where a moderately-wealthy-looking fourty-year-old white man with a little bit of a weird glint in his eyes ain’t really that welcome. so they might send scout in, since he really, really wants to go in and they’re all out of options (unless they want to send sniper, and he’d probably leave the building having bitten at least four people on reflex)—and when he comes back out he’s got everything they need to know, plus some free snacks, plus an invite to some teenage boy’s birthday party.

it turns out that little air of authenticity goes a long way—and the team watches him flip from polite upstanding church-boy cashier to poor sad orphan boy on the streets to egregiously annoying emotional armor-shredding “class clown” in what seems like seconds, and I guess it should occur to someone at some point that he’s spent his entire life figuring out how to blend in places like that and get what he wants.

(everybody would joke he got the ‘good actor’ gene from spy, if it didn’t just make them sad. also, a few people see him effortlessly skating his way person-to-person, molding his conversational targets like putty, and wonder exactly how much of an act he might be putting on back at the base, too.)

addendum: of all the characters he is able to axt in, “suave” or “ladykiller” or anything along those lines is not one of them. please don’t get me wrong. he’s the friendly face you see on the other end of the sidewalk, or the guy you run into at the grocery store that turns towards you and awkwardly tells a whole bunch of jokes in a row and it’s so weirdly pathetic and charming at the same time you can’t help but laugh, but he’s still terrible at romance, and as a matter of fact most things Involving charisma in general. he just takes advantage of that sad wet kitten energy, you know? it works out

I RETURN!

I was originally going to do some Merasmus themed headcanons based on the ones in my inbox for October, but it came and went, and while I'd still love to do them, the motivation is low at the moment.

HOWEVER.

Seeing as I can't seem to find a good place to advertise TF2 commissions, Tumblr appears to be a good place to do it. But since I have no examples yet, or at least barely any, I'd like to make a thread for example collecting instead.

These will NOT be first come first serve!

After 3-5 sketches have been completed, there will NO LONGER BE FREE SKETCHES AVAILABLE!

Here's what I'm looking for:

A loadout of your TF2 character/oc/what have you. Preferably using the TF2 loadout website! That way, if you give me a link to the loadout, I can see it from all angles and have an easier time drawing!

I am not looking for original designs to draw at the moment! (AKA food mercs, aus, etc.) But characters made from loadouts are perfectly fine!

Rules:

✔ = YES & ✖ = NO

NO:

✖ NSFW/Kink artwork

✖ Overly complex designs

✖ Bare chested / overly revealing cosmetics (ex. burly beast) (For comforts sake!)

✖ Overly in-depth requests

YES:

✔ Asking for slight variations in detail

✔ Asking for specific expressions (within reason, and I would prefer to have some creative freedom!)

✔ Mechanical parts ( So long as it is simple, and is a pre-existing cosmetic! )

Keep in mind that I may be better at drawing some mercs than others, so this also serves as practice!

I'm still working out prices for these, but generally they'll be halfbody/bust sketches, colored/uncolored depending on complexity. There's no way to dictate what quality of art you will get, it just depends on what sort of example I'm looking to make.

To enter a loadout:

reblog or reply with your loadout link, a short description of what you're looking for/any extra details that you'd like, and whether or not you'd be interested in seeing commissions from me!

Alright, I'm doing it.

Today at 3PM EST on this freshly made Discord server I'll be going through Heavy's voicelines, reading them with my thickest Russian accent, talking about Russian phonetics, and answering any questions you guys might have.

DON'T MISS IT! Here's the DIscord server link again! Join, chat, tell your friends! If a decent number of people shows up, I might make it a regular thing.

The day I saw RED.

The color of revenge.

I made a Miss Pauling refsheet!

Tired of searching “Miss pauling” on your favorite website as a reference, only to question your faith in humanity and debate turning on safe search for future endeavors? Me too!

I made a bonus picture to go along with this, which will be posted after since I’m very proud of how it turned out. Please don’t crop, repost, or otherwise tamper with the image below! This is purely made for reference purposes for artwork and the like!

*A poses gently*

Hope this helps!