#(talk about tf2 incessantly)

[friendlyengie]

ok actually I want to do my own thoughts on why tf2 is Like That.

obviously the easiest gimme is how easy the characters are to recognize. I think the psychology or whatever behind their easily recognizable silhouettes and simple yet effective specific design traits have been talked about into the ground but it’s very true. Put a hat on a guy and give him dog tags. The Sout.

but the other thing is just how fucking Many of them there are. 9 main characters in game with their unique voicelines and tinges of backstory in the comics and meet the merc vids, that’s enough to get a guy to start pounding on the ground like an ape if you’re a Character Enjoyer. And then you have the less prevalent guys who are still like. More recognized in the tf2 lore even if they rarely (if at all) make appearances In game. Saxton, Admin, Pauling, etc. and then you go really fucking deep and all the certified “guy with 2 seconds of screen time” fans can dig up all those freaks in the corners of the comics and shit. You know.

And then it’s just like. Tf2 has nothing lore. Not as in it doesn’t have any lore, it just. It’s nothing. There’s no consistent theme aside from the fact that it’s absolute nonsense. The official comic series has a story, and I love them, but it’s all built on plot contrivances and killing characters like 3 different times and they all come back normal and fine. Something something Shakespearicles is the strongest writer to have ever lived. “Tf2 takes place in the 1960s” yes and it does make for a good basis for aesthetics and stuff. But also no it doesn’t. Don’t lie to me. The 1960s of tf2 is but a phantom of the 1960s we know. Sex Bomb was released in 1999. but that means you can literally do whatever. Respect the timeline as much as tf2 writers do, which is to say literally not at all. Do whatever the fuck you want and tint it with a vintage color palette. It’s awesome.

It’s just kind of prime “put a guy in a situation” media isn’t it. These guys were kind of built to be put in a wacky situation. Faces built for tv . Sits in the corner and sighs . Anyways. The absolute nonsense that is the canon lore mixed with the slivers of actually caring about these characters keeps you around. Most people like to care about characters, to be invested in their emotions or whatever, so when media is just downright mean spirited about its characters it makes it a little embarrassing to bother to care. But sometimes tf2 will drop something like Scout’s Death Scene and Spy’s Confession or “Btw demo has like the most fucked up backstory ever what is wrong with him��� or give Engineer ties to the administrator and also the canonical tfc engineer and also the backstory of why tf2 is tf2 as a whole, or The War Update. And it makes you go ough. Ohoho. Ok. These characters can be ridiculous and it’s good but also there’s enough depth that you can also bite into them like a ripe pear and it rules.

funny hat game. Never let anyone tell you you can’t dress up the mercenaries. “He would not fucking wear that-“ have you SEEN this guys cosmetics? Shut up. A dress is like the least of your concerns. You like to dress up a funny guy don’t you? Yeah you do. Go dress up a funny guy.

And then just like. Sort of as a result of the baseline that the source set up and also the community that the fan base fosters, people Love to put those guys in situations. That one post that’s like. The tf2 mercs are Greek gods to them or whatever. They exist in so many forms. People went fucking nuts over Emesis Blue dude, a horror movie (and it is a movie, let’s be real here) featuring Catholic Guilt Medic Tf2. And that was recent. I haven’t even been around long enough to say anything about the prevalence of sfm animation in the fanbase. Put that guy in a situation to the Extreme. Reinvent that guys narrative. (Mindset with varying success but you know.) I don’t know a thing about any freak fortress character but those guys are like their own self sustaining ecosystem.

And then there’s just a lot to say about how customization of characters leads to a lot of potential for oc creation and the world is big enough to also support that, and even if it’s not, Literally who cares. They have a wizard in that game. Nothing is off the table anymore. Do whatever you want. I don’t care.

How does tf2 do that to people.

[aprofessionalwithoutstandards]

What I mean by Evil medic is the type of medic that only exists in fanon that is either even more cartoonishly evil than normal medic or those fucked up ao3 fanfics that have 20 tags that are all just torture

OKAY TRUE I forgot about like the weird angsty quiet evil Medic people like to write. Like yeah Medic tf2 is evil and sadistic but like he talks incessantly thru ur surgery after he doesn't anaesthetize you and giggles when he gets a fresh shipment of organs. That kinda evil. Be good to him