In Honor Of The Second Anniversary Of His Passing, I'm Leading Another Community Tribute For The Voice

Starter headcanons!

We’re beginning with some Engie headcanons!

ENGINEER

Despite his profession, Engie is probably the sweetest team member.

Basically the team mom. Everyone loves when he and Pyro are on cooking duty for the week, because you’re guaranteed to have the best barbecued, baked, fried, or buttered foods in your life.

Dell knew from the beginning that Scout and Spy were related. He was shocked when few other members had noticed the fact, and kept it to himself.

Because of this, fatherly instinct kicked in and he treats Scout like he would a son. Scout may not respect his inventions, but Dell knows he won’t hesitate to come talk to him if he needs a shoulder to lean on.

Tell an incorrect fact anywhere in the base, and Engie will BOLT to correct you. This man has what can only be described as a spidey sense. He could be in his workshop with the door closed, you could whisper, on the other side of the base on another floor, and he would just... know.

The best way to get Engineer to sleep is to use this fact to your advantage. Utter a clearly untrue fact in his room, and watch him come running.

As amiable as Engie is, he’s still a mercenary, and a cold blooded killer at that. He’s painfully aware that he appears a friendly face to all, and is basically a child magnet when disguised as a civilian, since he’s required to ditch the glove and hat, but refuses to take off the goggles.

He’s not opposed to telling stories to the brave little ankle biters, or showing off his robotic arm (albeit shyly). But he tries to throw in a good lesson or two, or spook ‘em off after a while with his whole cyborg shtick.

In the end, Engineer just wants to make sure those kids are inspired to get an education, then take a path that ain’t his own.

Imagining the future; a public statement (or rather questioning) about why 39,000 students across the entirety of the United States, all majoring in some form of engineering, cited their inspiration as varying descriptions of a cyborg man who wanted them to share their knowledge to make the world a better place. Occasionally, Dell is approached at bars or random locations by adults and children alike, sheepishly asking if they’re the cyborg man they met when they were little, or that their big brothers and sisters told stories of. All he gives is a knowing smile and a handshake.

Engineer can’t sit still for very long. He’s always tinkering with something or fidgeting with anything that could be used for scrap or built into something else.

An insomniac, Dell has trouble falling asleep at night thanks to his constant urge to work. He won’t rest until he’s finished with his latest idea, or until he passes out from exhaustion.

The other mercs usually have to carry him to his room after a few nights in a row of this behavior, especially if he had an off day on the field because of it. Even then, there’s no guarantee you won’t find him sitting up in his bed, scribbling down his dream inventions before they fade from memory, muttering equations under his breath.

Sews stuffed animals for pyro and any other merc who wants one. Each mercenary has at least one, even spy and scout, since they were given as gifts a long time ago. Scout would never admit it, but he keeps it under his bed and cuddles it when he has a particularly bad nightmare. Spy has it on display on his shelf, perfectly polished. If he gets drunk and emotional, you’ll probably find a sobbing Frenchman wrapped around a big soft plushie on the floor.

The stuffed animals:

Scout: a little white rabbit with black buttons for eyes, and a tiny fitted headset with a mini hat perched on top. It’s velcro.

Spy: a black cat plushie with blue buttoned eyes and checkered overalls. It has a blue bow tie.

Sniper: A green felt and fabric chameleon. Has a lime -> blue -> red satin texture gradient on its tail and large black beads for eyes.

Soldier: Just. An eagle. Photorealistic eagle texture filled with stuffing. He knows.

Engie: Teddy! Cuddles teddy bear. Big bear. Very soft, very good.

Medic: a recreation of Archimedes with large cotton wings. Has a patch of red on its chest and the buttons used for its eyes are a very subtle cherry color, almost unnoticeable unless you see it in good lighting. When not being held at night, you can occasionally catch a glimpse of the birds cuddled up to it in the day, save for Archimedes himself, who keeps trying to fight it.

Heavy: Were you expecting a bear? Nope! It’s a salmon. Being filled with stuffing of course, but has a soft wooden spine linked together by string. Clatters together softly like chimes sometimes when shaken, but if you do you’re getting socked in the face by heavy. The little wooden framework allows it mobility, so that heavy can comfortably hold it during his nightmares without waking up with stiff shoulders.

Demo: a penguin with an eyepatch. About the height of his forearm with a mix of a sort of softer denim texture for the body and polyester for the spots and patterns. Has a red chiffon bow tie attached to it, and the one eye it has is a big white bead to match the accents. Definitely has a tiny scrumpy bottle. Also definitely not haunted. Certainly, without a doubt.

Pyro: The very first was a balloonicorn! A few others were based off of pyros crayon sketches of pyroland, but there’s just too many to describe! Engie can’t get enough of making the little firebug clap their hands in excitement and endearment after a bad day or stormy weather, having gifted them another soft toy for their collection.

But to pyro, Engie is the best stuffed animal of them all. Passing on the battlefield? Hug. Working in the garage? Hug. Underneath a vehicle performing maintenance? Damn right they’re getting under there somehow! Because Engie is the only one who seems to understand what they see, what they say, how they act.

Hey look buddy,

He’s an engineer.

He solves problems.

how would the mercs react to someone they know really well (like family) coming out to them as genderfluid?? ur writing is 😔👌 btw

Thank you so much! I hope I wrote this well, if you’d like me to make a change or two let me know!

For simplicities sake, I’m going to go with close friend that they’d consider family, knowing each other that well.

Also, the pov changes halfway through and I don’t feel like rewording it; I’ve realized I like doing second person a lot so I hope that’s alright!!!

Scout:

“You drink gender???”

Jokes aside, Scout may have a bit of trouble wrapping his head around it at first. For him, it makes a lot of sense, but it’s a change that takes time for him to adjust to since he has a habit of speaking before he thinks.

Still, Scout always makes sure to ask their pronouns whenever they show up, and is unabashedly loud and proud whenever gender comes up in conversation.

He constantly makes positive comments that reaffirm whatever they choose to go by for the moment. It can get a bit overbearing at times, but he means well.

Soldier:

Immediately picks them up and swings them in a circle while hugging them. “AFFIRMATIVE! That you are, and I LOVE you for it!”

Probably the loudest about it, but if they aren’t out yet to certain people, he’s surprisingly loyal and will make a vow of silence if it means not outing them if they don’t want to be outed.

However, if someone tries to pick a fight? It’s on. Soldier will send them flying into orbit for the people closest to him.

Incredibly supportive, proud, and energetic about it.

Pyro:

Pyro completely understands from the get-go, even if they can’t say it through the mask.

To show they care, they immediately envelop their friend in a hug and shower them with love and acceptance.

They use crayons to draw their close friend, give them gifts and flowers, and overall do their best to show they care.

Will show up with a fire axe if anyone tries to purposefully misgender their friend or try to instigate a fight. They’re yelling muffled insults at whoever dared try and fight their best friend.

Demo:

Gives his friend a clap on the back, with a huge smile on his face.

“Took ye long enough!”

He always suspected, but didn’t want to ask out of fear of scaring them into deciding to come out too early, or making them uncomfortable.

Obviously, “took you long enough” is a lighthearted joke, and he’s fully willing to support his friend—practically a sibling—until the very end.

Always asks what they’re going by today before he ever uses pronouns, and sticks to them from the get-go. If he ever does make a mistake, he immediately corrects it and moves on without making a scene, as much as he breaks over it later out of embarrassment.

Overall, probably the best one to come out to first. He’ll provide a shoulder to lean on when they’re sad or unsure, maybe even insecure; but will always step forwards in defense of them whenever possible. He knows not to cause a scene unless they’re truly upset over someone misgendering or teasing them so as not to upset them even more. He will, however, exhibit a cold anger not commonly seen in someone with such a warm and friendly demeanor when it does happen.

If he can cause a scene over it, you bet there’s going to be fireworks.

More beneath the cut:

Engineer:

Wholly accepting of this! Does a similar thing to Pyro where he just wraps his arms around his friend and hugs them tightly; although in a much warmer and softer manner.

Wipes a tear from his eye.

“Proud o’ ya, real proud…”

He’s humbled by the fact that they came out to him first. Plans a barbecue as a celebration, maybe even buys a few gifts! It’s a huge deal to him that somebody so close to him came out like that, and he’s going to make sure everybody else feels the same way too.

He has a metal arm. If somebody fucks with them, he will not hesitate.

Heavy:

Heavy is perceptive. He picks up on it immediately, but like demo doesn’t ask out of respect.

He immediately socks someone in the jaw if they purposefully use the wrong pronouns, or make an offensive joke about his friend.

If it’s an uncomfortable comment or joke, he exhibits the same caliber of cold anger, but to an extreme. Seeing as he’s like a personal bodyguard in terms of intimidation factor alone, him hovering behind you with a stormy expression is enough to scare most people off.

Is always open to talk to them, and is a great listener. He’s great at offering an interesting subject or topic, maybe a book and tea if they need a distraction from dysphoria or somebody getting to them.

Rather serious about it, Heavy won’t tend to make light hearted jokes about the topic of gender, instead taking a very open but grounded approach to it.

“It does not exist. Is too narrow. Little person can use whatever works best.”

Medic:

“Ah! Let me add that to your file… I assume no surgery, then?”

He’s not disappointed by the prospect of not being able to trans your gender, but also gets to work on other ways of affirming your own!

Doesn’t really treat you any differently, but will work on an experiment to let you change your appearance based on what makes you feel best in the background.

Gives you the option of using it, but lets the topic go otherwise unless something is wrong or if you bring it up; regardless of if he’s giddy to know if it works or not.

Very chill about this stuff. He’s probably one to the better/best people to talk to about it, but know that he also won’t provide much comfort as much as he will facts or potential solutions.

In fact, he almost comes across as distant until he suddenly drops a shockingly down to earth suggestion or a really, really good idea to help you out. Nothing too crazy, it’s almost uncanny.

Thing is, he’s just been dealing with gender problems for… His entire life? He’s already far enough along in his own that he’s perfected his methods of staving it off.

Even if you’re not feeling dysphoria, (or you are), it doesn’t matter to him as long as you can get through it safely.

Sniper:

It takes Sniper a little bit to get used to it, to be sure. It’s not that he doesn’t care, he’s just not used to dealing with the unexpected.

He feels guilty for it being unexpected to him. He sees you as somebody very, very close to him; he feels dense for not noticing it sooner.

As soon as he settles into it, though, expect him to be as loyal as a dog. Any mistakes he silently corrects, and if somebody gets in their way, they’ll be meeting a jar of piss to the face.

Honestly, Sniper probably begins to have some of his own self realizations soon after, but it takes a long time for him to come to terms with that one.

Ends up shyly asking you for advice eventually.

Spy:

He already knew. I mean, what did you expect?

He is, however, surprised that you decided to come out to him first. If anything, he’s a bit prideful.

Emotions masked well, he pours the two of you a drink (whichever is your favorite) in a fancy wine glass, and raises his own, offering cheers for the occasion.

Clink!

Definitely calm about it, but tones down his snark temporarily. He knows how nerve-wracking it must be; although there is humor to be found that you voluntarily told your secret to the man who knows just about everything about everyone. Whether or not that trust is misguided, he can’t exactly say.

If you aren’t out to the others yet, or anybody else for that matter, the secret is safe with him. There’s no doubt that Spy is the best with pronouns, seamlessly switching between preferences depending on whether you’re in a safe space or not.

It’s also the easiest way to know if you’re really, truly safe as well; because his heightened awareness of his surroundings means that he can tell if he might out you even when it seems like the coast is clear.

Even if you don’t care about being out to anybody, Spy makes sure to subtly ask if he’s good to use your pronouns in any given situation outside of what you may be accustomed to. He doesn’t slip up once. Not once. Literally never—

The Spy may be stinky, but words are his forte. He can curse you out in 12 different languages including French but you know damn well he’ll use the right pronouns while doing so!

Phew, this one took a while. I hope I did alright on this one! I apologize if there’s any glaring issues or mistakes in this one, I worked on it over the course of what, a few months?—with lots of breaks in-between.

Thank you to everyone for being so patient! I hope to put out more content sometime in the future, but I know that I’ll likely be slowing down like this as I deal with life stuff and other hyperfixations.

I might make another post with other hyperfixations that I might be up to making headcanons for! Feel free to request those too! :D

Extra stuff in the tags. I’m normal about this image. Totally.

snipertism. sniper autism. :-)

makin my way downtown

it’s friday, post the dancing demoman

Oops!...I Did It Again 😳👉👈

Tw for a fair bit of blood, so I’ll put it under a read more.

@hawtowo​ 

I wasn’t kidding about wanting to draw these two interacting somehow! :D

 I actually spent a lot of my breaks today drawing this, because I really wanted to make something with more substance to it, especially seeing as you’ve been doing a lot of stuff for people lately! This took 4-5 or more hours, I’m not entirely sure exactly how long but it was a WHILE to figure out how to do my workflow in clip studio. This is actually my very first fully colored/lined drawing in this program that hasn’t been just an experimental thing or a flat color icon or something.

Your art is stunning, dude! I- trips and falls and all the love comes tumbling out of my pockets.

Dear M,

Hi, Pauling here. I’m sure you remember me from my last letter regarding the bugs that you may or may not have put in our base. But that was so long ago - I’m sure we can put our differences aside in order to work towards a common goal. That’s what civil people do, right? They compromise.

We have a suspicion that you are keeping one of our teammates, as well as a teammate from another company, hostage in a diner. For their freedom and your cooperation, we are willing to pay any price. Money is no object. We can provide equipment that isn’t available - or legal - anywhere else.

We don’t know why you have done this, if you have, but there is no one we can’t outbribe.

With all due respect,

Miss Pauling

R.E.D Team

@talk-to-the-mercs

𝖶𝖾𝗅𝗅 𝗇𝗈𝗐, 𝖻𝗈𝗅𝖽 𝗈𝖿 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗍𝗈 𝖺𝗌𝗌𝗎𝗆𝖾 𝗐𝖾 𝗐𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽𝗇'𝗍 𝖺𝗅𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝗒 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝖺𝗄𝖾𝗇 𝗂𝗍 𝖿𝗋𝗈𝗆 𝗒𝗈𝗎, 𝗁𝖺𝖽 𝗐𝖾 𝗇𝖾𝖾𝖽𝖾𝖽 𝗂𝗍, 𝖬𝗂𝗌𝗌 𝖥 𝖯𝖺𝗎𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀.

𝖠𝗌 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝖺 𝗁𝗈𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗀𝖾 𝗌𝗂𝗍𝗎𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇...

𝖢𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝗈𝗇, 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖽𝗎𝗆𝖻?

𝖶𝖾 𝗐𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽𝗇'𝗍 𝖽𝗈 𝗌𝗎𝖼𝗁 𝖺 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗂𝗇 𝗉𝗎𝖻𝗅𝗂𝖼, 𝖽𝖾𝖺𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗍 𝖯𝖺𝗎𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀. 𝖭𝗈𝗐, 𝖻𝗋𝗂𝖻𝖾𝗋𝗒 𝗂𝗌 𝗎𝗇𝗇𝖾𝖾𝖽𝖾𝖽. 𝖡𝗎𝗍 𝗐𝖾'𝗋𝖾 𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗒 𝗆𝗎𝖼𝗁 𝖺𝗐𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗍𝗁𝖾... 𝖲𝗂𝗍𝗎𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇, 𝗇𝗈𝗐.

𝖶𝖺𝗍𝖼𝗁 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖻𝖺𝖼𝗄, 𝗐𝖾'𝗅𝗅 𝖻𝖾 𝗄𝖾𝖾𝗉𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺𝗇 𝖾𝗒𝖾 𝗈𝗇 𝗒𝗈𝗎.

;)

𝖢𝗁𝖾𝖾𝗋𝗌, 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒, 𝖬.

Hello! So I have this OC i ship with Sniper, and I was wondering if you could write prompts for Scout or any of the other team members trying to get Sniper and a reader in general together. Thanks, and love your prompts!

Sure can do, and thanks so much! The compliments mean a lot to me :•) lol this idea was fun to work with, I wrote a lot more than I thought I would! I hope it’s not too rambly lol

Scout and the mercs being Sniper’s wingmen

No TWs

Scout and Sniper’s friendship is actually stronger than one might think, considering it all started because Scout refused to stop pestering the Aussie. Eventually Sniper got used to it, and Scout basically adopted him as his introverted friend. They don’t always hang out but they’re definitely close!

The Bostonian is not always the most observant, so he doesn’t exactly catch on to the tension between Sniper and you until he’s questioning why the Aussie’s been ditching him to hang with you.

“What, you got like a crush on ‘em or somethin’?”

“…”

“… wait, no way— actually?? You have a crush?? On them??!”

“Oi, shut your trap, ya damn weasel!”

The furious blush that grows on Mick’s face, and the lack of an outright denial, are enough for Scout to absolutely tease the shit out of him. It’s likely that the entire team will find out about Sniper’s crush on you simply from Scout’s teasing. He likes to make kissy faces mockingly behind your back when the man speaks to you, especially.

The other mercs tease him too, but none are as relentless (or as vulgar) as Scout.

“You know they’re waaayy out of your league, right?”

“…Yeah, I know.”

That’s what ultimately strikes a chord with Scout. He was only joking, but Sniper wasn’t. Mick doesn’t… think very highly of himself to begin with. He’s certainly not boyfriend material in his eyes, and you’re like perfection personified. There’s no way you’d settle for a bloke like him.

Scout hates seeing someone he cares about wallow in self pity like that, and he feels pretty shitty for going too far with his teasing. So, his apology? He’s going to play Sniper’s wingman and get him a hot date (despite Sniper’s protests).

At first, Scout tries to big up Sniper the way he big up himself. He tells you anytime he does well on the field as he’s especially proud of his work. But he also tries to make Sniper seem “cooler” the same way Jeremy tries to make himself seem cooler, which… leads to some slight lying. He gets halfway through his very over dramatized story about Mick winning a bar fight against five dudes the size of Saxton Hale before the Aussie pushes Scout out of the room and apologizes to you for his behaviour. You both get a laugh out of it at least!

Scout tries to recall everything Spy had taught him from Expiration Date, except he’s mostly forgotten half of what he said and Sniper’s certain that the bucket of chicken trick is not going to work on you. Jeremy argues that no, it will because who doesn’t like a bucket of chicken??

But not all of his advice is that bad. He does tell Mick that if you hated him like he thought, then you wouldn’t always be hanging around him or talking to him. And that he’s certainly not as unattractive as he says. That builds his confidence a little, but he’s still grumpy the entire time, slouching in his seat with his arms crossed as Scout explains what to do when your date is at 7pm.

Eventually, because Scout cannot keep a secret to save his life, word gets out that he’s been coaching Sniper on how to ask you out, and the other mercs decide to help. Some out of a genuine desire to help, others simply because the “Sniper has the biggest, sappiest crush on someone” schtick is hilarious and they want to tease him. Sniper is not appreciative all the time.

“You want to impress them? Is not necessary. They like Sniper very much. But my advice? Fight bear for them. Is very attractive trait to have.”

“You want my advice? Take a shower, bushman.”

“Laddie, yer plenty good enough for ‘em. They’re always hanging around ye anyways; what makes ye think they dinnae like ye?”

“Mph mmmhph!!”

“Now slim, you’re overthinkin’ this. I’m sure it’ll all go well. They’re always telling us guys how great a guy you are… if I was any less observant I’d say the feelin’s mutual.”

“The purest form of love is WAR! You must FIGHT to win the object of your affection’s heart! Now get your boney ass out there and show that son of a bitch the most ROMANTIC fist fight America has ever seen, private!!”

“Don’t worry yourself, Herr Sniper; if you fail to win over their figurative heart, you can always have their literal heart! I am not using it at the moment.”

Yeah not everyone’s advice was taken. But strangely, it did make him feel overall more willing to bite the bullet, especially hearing that the feeling’s not unrequited. But he still refuses to use the chicken trick or lovingly fist fight you. He figures he’ll just invite you to his camper for coffee and fess up there. And that he does.

Just know, the entire team will be proudly patting Sniper on the back for scoring a date with you. And Scout will take all the credit for setting up the lovely couple despite being of little help.

Hey ya’ll!

Sorry for not posting often! I’ve been caught up in some stuff with the TF2 Suggests universe. Either way, I hope to get back to headcanons soon, you guys have sent in some REALLY good ones and I’m pumped to write them out!

Quick Medic HCS

Inspired by a string of doveposts from medicsmenageries;

Ludwig names all of his doves.

The mercs have tried, and failed, to count how many he owns. 

Not even Heavy knows, and he’s the only one allowed to pet the birds.

As mentioned in a previous post, this man can disney-princess style call his babies to his very whim, it’s not unusual to think they bring him his coat in the mornings while he makes coffee.

He just really loves his doves okay? 

Hmmm, OH, how about heavy with an s/o who’s also Russian, and can’t speak English very well?

Source: Unknown. Could be Tf2gallery?

Heavy with a Russian S/O who is not fluent in English:

- Absolutely adorable together, while he doesn’t prefer his mother land of Russia, having his S/O be from there is incredibly comforting for him. It reminds him of his mother and sisters, and is like bringing a piece of home back with him.

- On the other hand. The language barrier can get a bit annoying at times with the other mercs, as his S/O is easily overwhelmed by their questions and comments, especially if they get frustrated when trying to respond, but not knowing the words to do so.

- They constantly fire off back and forth between each other when in private, though! If one stumbles across or into Heavy’s little “library” area, (a repurposed side room meant for housing tapes that have since been burned, the shelves are lined with books that he’s collected over the years), they’ll often find Heavy and his S/O deep in philosophical conversation with each other, far swifter in Russian than in English.

- Medic, Heavy, and Spy all do their best to help teach them English, to varying degrees of success. Spy is incredibly helpful, but isn’t around enough to make a huge difference. On the other hand, Medic isn’t quite as helpful, but is a better teacher and is more than enthusiastic to help where he can. He’s often too caught up in his experiments to be there as often as Heavy, though; although his S/O is perfectly fine with being in the med bay, so long as things don’t get too hectic.

- Heavy and his S/O are virtually inseparable, though. Heavy is either glued to their side, or they’re glued to his at all times. If they’re separated on their own terms, it’s for a very good reason. If not, and you’re the reason behind it, then you’d better run. They’ll find their way back to each other no matter what cost.