#I was one of the people who played one of the 2.0 versions of OFF | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

some-pers0n · 6 months ago

Text

Demoman is one of the characters in the fandom I feel most people straight up ignore or don't know how to write. Blunt, sure, but I do stand by it. Demoman is such a fascinating, intriguing character with the most fleshed-out backstories, yet is oftentimes relegated to being Soldier 2.0, only now with poorly written phonetics.

In other words, hey! I'm a fanfic writer who has a ton of opinions as well as a neurotic need to analyze every character they come into contact with. Pleased to see you're reading this. I've already done a little doohickey essay like this with Medic a while back. The purpose of these long rambles is half of me combing through every instance of the character and pulling them apart to see how their character works...and also me not-so-subtly venting and complaining about mischaracterization. Shocking how a fandom where the main characters are all very clear-cut stereotypes with some slight subversions here and there can't seem to get them.

This essay will go through Demo's beginning and all the way to his latest appearance in the 6th comic. I'll touch on how his character shifts and is expanded upon. I doubt he changes as much as Medic has over the years, but I think it will be interesting to see. I'll just go over bits of characterization, try to rationalize it, and then try my best to sum up all of the traits by the end and try to describe his character in the most canon-compliant way.

With that preamble out of the way, let's begin. This is also 7k words btw just...be aware of that, okay?

Before we actually get into proper character stuff, I wanna lay the groundwork first by exploring the types of characterization I see from Demo. Pick them apart. See what they're really like.

So, of course, there's the popular Redditor opinion of Demo that's mainly shaped by the way people play him in the game. There, people will describe Demo as being generally a bumbling drunkard. It's not too uncommon to see people say that he's an angry drunk. A man who is more concerned with alcohol and drinking himself into a stupor than anything else. I've also seen people say that Demo straight up can't read, which...euhhhhggg. He feels more like an alternative version of Soldier at times, which, again, isn't accurate to his character.

I don't care at all for this characterization. I do think a good chunk is rooted in racism and it's generally very uncomfortable for me to look at for too long. This characterization is pretty shallow and empty, which makes for a boring and offensive caricature. Reddit moment.

The second one is more interesting and the version you'll see more on Tumblr. It's this...odd version of him. I can't exactly put my tongue on what is off about it. It seems more accurate to his character. He's a foil for Soldier a lot of the time (Boots n' Bombs is his most popular ship let's be real) and generally isn't exactly seen on his own. Sure yeah there's the oddball art of him and him only, but let's be real most of his tag is mainly just him being in the background or saying a jokey-joke.

I actually fell back into Ao3 for a bit to skim over some fics to see what kind of characterization there was of Demo there to refresh my memory, and some of the common throughlines was shockingly that he doesn't drink a lot. "He rarely drinks!" I remember reading once. That's not right, no. He's an alcoholic. Like that's a core part of his character. Another fic had him being called "Cyclops" as a pet name. Ew. Anywho, other than that it's Demo being pretty into cryptids, having the Eyelander as a buddy guy, etc and etc. It's fun, but also it's missing...something.

Then, it hit me: Demo rarely is seen as an individual. He reminds me of Heavy in that regard, where most of his appearances have him be the straight-man to another character. Most of the time he's secondary and just a folly for the other characters. It's disappointing in that regard. Like you see a lot more stuff for characters like Scout, Medic, etc and etc with their own unique characterization stuff and getting their own attention.

So...then what is Demoman's character, exactly? Well, that's what we're here to see. It'll be pretty interesting, no?

----

So, funny thing is that Demo didn't change nearly as much as Medic has over the years. Sure yeah, the concept art of Demo was more of the generic stereotypical Scotsman. White, ginger, sideburns, that whole thing. Cartoony and fun design, but eventually they went with the Demo we all know and love today.

Looking at the concept art, it all seems pretty standard for the tone that Invasion was going for at the time. Nothing really to note there other than Demo's face being a stock angry grr grr expression. It is interesting to see how the idea of him wearing an eye was a constant even from the beginning though.

This then brings us to the voicelines. Ahh, good ol' characterization. Demo here is characterized as being jovial and having fun. He's throwing out insults left and right, damning them to hell and laughing at them as they die. Usual typical mercenary stuff. This is just personal headcanon material, but I always rationalize the way the mercs act on the battlefield as being a result from adrenaline and generally being drunk on blood. They aren't as mean when off the clock, but it's worth noting that these are how these characters act when a gun's in their hands and they're exploding people left and right.

TF2 really likes basing the characters off of the class they play as and how they act. Scout is fast moving and his gameplay is oftentimes getting right in someone's face and bolting, which is reflective in his hotshot personality. It's only reasonable that Demo is an explosive, fun, and generally cocky guy when out and battling. He's lobbing grenades and sticky bombs left and right. He isn't afraid to yell to the Medic he just blew up that he's been shagging his wife and calling the Scout he just chopped the head off "twinkle-toes". He teases and such when it comes to the other team.

However, the voicelines also very curiously give us a really fascinating look into his character. He's an alcoholic. He loves his scrumpy, which is not whiskey, shockingly. I thought it was whiskey for the longest time, but no! It's a cider! His stock melee is the bottle he uses to drink, now turning it into a quick weapon. His model in the main menu is him holding up the bottle itself. His default melee taunt is him taking a swig from the scrumpy bottle. It's a core part of his identity, let's be real. It's a part of the whole Scottish stereotype he has going on.

The game of course follows this. There's a lot of lines where he's slurring and babbling in a cartoony drunken way. A good portion of it is just him making vague threats...but a lot of it is also sad. He calls himself a one-eyed bloody monster. He weeps and cries. When jeering, he says he's hit rock bottom here. Interesting new development.

Apologizes for pausing to ramble, but I don't get why people try and sand down the edges to Demoman's character by making him out as though he isn't an addict. He is. That's something that is made abundantly clear. The iconography of alcohol follows him like his own damn shadow. I dunno. It bothers me.

I digress. There's some other bonus stuff I think is quite interesting. Most of his battle charges involve the other team. "Let's gettem lads!" and all. I think it's neat how he views his teammates as just that. Teammates. Those he fights alongside with. Another thing of note is how he occasionally has lines that are...odd in a way. Poetic and dramatic. Something that subverts the typical characterization. When he loses at rock paper scissors, there's a chance he'll say "Oh, 'tis a dark day", which. well then okay buddy.

So to recap: for characterization in-game, Demo is an alcoholic Scotsman who is generally pretty witty and functioning despite the incredible amounts of booze he drinks. He is energetic, bombastic, and generally hearty and having fun. He's not taking things terribly seriously and is generally just going about and blowing stuff up. However, there is a very noticeable streak of sadness to his character. When drinking, he reveals undertones of self-deprecation and hatred. Why? How?

...well, you just need to take a gander at his character card.

Erm excuse me what the fuck.

I honestly do not understand the logic behind this backstory. Like in a practical sense. Like, yeah!! obviously this backstory is sad and such! I really actually like this backstory and honestly I love writing him in the context that this happened to him. It's just that...I can't wrap my head around the idea of this being Demo's backstory given that everyone else has pretty silly little blurbs here. I think the darkest it gets is Soldier going to Germany years after WWII ended to kill people.

This??? Sure yeah TF2 gets a lot sillier and more cartoony comedic as time goes on, but even with the current tone where is the funny? I ain't complaining, I love me my angst, but this is so jarring to see. I suppose that explains why they retcon it later, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Hey, at least it gives us an explanation to why Demo is sad. We can pretty easily gleam a reason for his current behaviour in the game from this: his messed up childhood. To begin, Tavish Finnegan DeGroot was abandoned by his parents and left to live in an orphanage. Eventually, he was adopted and brought up by some foster parents, who he then murdered in an attempt to blow up the Loch Ness monster. This was when he was six years old. Actual child.

He then went back into the orphanage, where he would tinker with bombs. Why? Insert whatever headcanon here, but for me I think it's a feeling of fascination, yet also heavy guilt. Perhaps revenge. Either way, he loses his eye from these experiments. Eventually however, he's brought back into the family when word spreads of his excellence when it comes to manufacturing bombs. The use of the word "lovingly" feels exceptionally sarcastic, but that could be in part to how his parents are later characterized. Either way, this is a result of the DeGroot tradition, which, and I quote, is wholly unnecessary and cruel. It even cites it as him being reintroduced into his family as the "end of his unhappy childhood".

...so yeah. Pretty safe to say the reason for his alcoholism is to cope with that. He feels the guilt over that and will breakdown into sobs over it even. Yikeesss... It can also mean that he feels as though he's held up to incredibly high expectations, having the entire DeGroot family lineage to live up to. Again, later on he's being nagged at for not being as hard-working as his father, who, in good ol' TF2 fashion, blew up the Queen for a nickel. It does certainly feel that way, no?

So this introduces a new wrinkle to Demoman's current characterization: he's an alcoholic who is happy and has an upbeat and fun personality (at least on the battlefield), but underneath it he's hurting and feels ashamed of who he is. He drinks to cope and manage it, yet it only seems to exasperate problems at times.

Can I safely say that Demo is the merc with the most fascinating and intriguing backstory and personality thus far? Sure yeah I love Engie a lot as well, but Demo's character actually feels like it is a result of the backstory written for him. Like all of the other mercs sure you can go on and on about stuff with them, like Scout and Spy and their whole deal, Sniper and his parents, everything with Heavy, etc. Demo?? Right off the bat there's something to chew on in terms of actual character writing.

What an interesting character! I sure hope later installations of the story will follow through on this and give him ample screentime!

Anywho, time for the Meet the Demo video. Again, a departure from the Meet the Medic video and how I rambled on and on about that one, but it was mainly due to MtM being something to mark a drastic shift in Medic's character from serious and angry to more silly and mad scientist-esque. Meet the Demo, due to it being one of the Meet the Team videos made so early on, doesn't really get the benefit of a short with a story, but I digress.

This one is stylized more like an interview, which, in canon, means he's telling this all to The Director and all. It opens with the title screen before the horns section seep in, cutting to a clip of Demo running while explosions go off behind him. A freeze frame cut before a voice-over of Demo comes on with the iconic line "What makes me a good Demoman? If I were a bad Demoman, I wouldn't be here discussing it with you, now would I!?"

Okay so just more confirmation and all of Demo's personality in-game. According to his bio, he has a short temper and all, which could explain him getting louder when asked that question. I don't think it's a joke or him exaggerating, since he seems genuinely pretty upset by the suggestion. He would have to be good at his job in order to be telling you this, yeah? Why even bother asking? It's an interesting bit of characterization that somewhat expands on that short temper.

More generic footage of him running about while explosions go off before coming back to the interview of him explaining a bomb in its simplest form. "One crossed wire, a wayward pinch of potassium chlorate, one errant twitch... and kablewie!!" Seems like filler dialogue, but I always like taking note of the fact he uses the chemical compound term as opposed to something more colloquial. It's just headcanons, but I really enjoy thinking that Demo is pretty damn smart and really gifted when it comes to making bombs and general chemistry. It's a clear passion and love of his and I like touching on it when I can.

The next couple seconds are shots between him taking a good swig of his scrumpy and then blowing up a level three sentry. It's just showing off his capabilities as a class. Nothing special (other than being cool and showing he's competent at his job). The real interesting part is his breakdown where he's on the verge of tears, exasperatingly telling the camera that he's...off. He knows it. There's not too many black Scotsmen, especially ones with a busted eye. "They've got more fucking sea monsters in the great Loch Ness than they got the likes of me" he says.

But, he perks up! He talks over a clip of him baiting a group of BLU mercs into a sticky trap. The voiceover is also really fascinating here. The way Demo talks reminds me something out of an Aesop fable. It's a very curious and fascinating way of talking. I wish this bit of characterization stuck around since it's pretty fun. "Come and get me I say! I'll be waiting on ya with a whiff of the ol' brimstone. I'm a grim bloody fable...with an unhappy bloody end!" is really cool.

The video ends with him taunting the mangled corpses followed by a rendition of the main theme with bagpipes. I should probably also mention Drunken Pipe Bomb, his theme song. It's an upbeat and fun piece with a mixture of the typical TF2 sounds (funky jazzy drums and bass guitar) as well as a Celtic flair, what with bagpipes, whistles, etc and etc. There's also a kickass surf rock section. It's quite the battle theme and definitely reflects a lot of Demo's character as being an energetic, explosive type of character who is proud of his Scottish roots.

So that's pretty much it for SFM bits for now. How about we take a step back and look at the first-ever actual TF2 comic: WAR!, where Demo really gets a big break for his characterization. We don't care about the Saxton Hale or Jarate ones. WAR! my beloved...

But first, the actual WAR! update. It was the sixth major content update released back in 2009. Remember when this game got actual content updates? Me neither. The update was based around the rivalry between the RED Demo and the BLU Soldier to excuse why they were adding new items for the both of them, with Soldier in the end winning the little contest and getting the Gunboats.

For canon lore, the update serves to introduce the idea that the RED Demo and BLU Soldier had a comradery at first. Friends! Interesting piece of characterization to have Demo explicitly go against RED and become friends with Soldier. The two of them do bounce off of each other quite well when they're paired up, I will say. They're both heavy-hitters in terms of gameplay and their personalities are quite loud at times.

For added voicelines, there's a bunch of the Administrator denouncing their friendship as well as domination lines for both Solly and Demo whenever they kill each other. Demo pretends he hates Soldier, but asks if he's okay, tells him that he loves him, and generally is like "but we're still friends though, aye? :]" He does care a lot about their friendship, which is pretty sweet and cute. Sure hope that lasts.

In the WAR! comic, we see Demo in a mansion. He's loaded! It's also confirmation that the mercs are given quite a lot of money, but apparently not enough for Demo's mother. She's nagging him about not working and saying that he should be ashamed for being so lazy, to which he rebuttals, saying he has three jobs and has made millions annually. Apparently not enough for his mother, since Demo's father worked twenty-six jobs.

She also brings up an interesting piece of information. "No demoman worth his sulfur ever had an eye in his head past thirty!" which implies that missing an eye is a family tradition to lose your eyes when working this job. Would this also imply that Demo is not thirty by this point, since he still has the one eye? Eh, whatever.

Demo taking care of his mom in this old, nagging state is pretty neat characterization, as well as him holding down two other jobs besides mercenary work for RED. He's very capable and talented! He's also extremely caring and sweet. Even when his mum is complaining and griping about him not living up to his father, he gets her tea and takes care of her. He does respond with a lot of "I know mum" when it comes to that. He's heard it all before. She keeps saying the same stuff. I like thinking he knows fully well he can't live up to the extreme work ethic his father had or truly impress his parents and is pretty bummed out about it, but that's just headcanons.

Anywho, Pauling's there. She's there because the Administrator wants to break up the friendship between Demo and the BLU Soldier and instead have them be pitted against each other. While Soldier needs to be tricked and insulted by Demo and told that he's a civilian (something that he hates apparently), Demo is more coerced and convinced.

He's still loyal to their friendship, but, aye, there's something different about that sword there. Here's an interesting bit of characterization: Demo being a sword guy. There's a lot of medieval stuff relating to Demo, what with DeGroot's Keep, the Eyelander, his general way of speaking at times, etc and etc. It's fun and I think he takes great interest in medieval-period stuff, but, again, headcanons.

Demo feels conflicted. How could she make him choose between his best friend and this cool ass sword?? He doesn't give an answer, but Miss Pauling further pushes him to choose violence when leaving even more stuff for him as well as telling him that Soldier said that he'll join the fight. It's then assumed that Demo agrees by that point.

It's interesting to compare and contrast Demo and Soldier. Soldier, despite hearing all of these mean things, still wants to be friends with Demo. It's until "Demo" calls him a civilian, something personal and sensitive to him, is when he decides to betray him. Demo meanwhile is more swayed by things that he loves, but the final push is that betrayal. He only acts when he's finally told that their friendship has been severed. Curious how their loyalty is strong in those ways.

...I should probably sometime mention the actual retconning of his backstory however. Hoouhhh boy let's go. So, for the 2011 Halloween update, there was a comic alongside it. This comic had some cute gags, like Heavy giving a little boy he scared seven grand. However, the main attraction is the rewritten backstory for Demo.

I mentioned earlier, but I honestly can't blame them for maybe trying another crack at a Demo backstory that isn't as bleak and miserable. I do really like the original one because I'm a sucker for angst, but this backstory does work a lot better tonally when you're just trying to write some goofy stuff, especially if it involves Merasmus at some point.

The story retcons the whole thing and seemingly makes it so that Demo has always been with his parents and the reason he lost his eye was not because of some brutal accident but rather a currrseeee ooohhhh spookyyy. He's hired by Merasmus to sweep up the place a bit, with him being exceptionally clear to young Tav to not touch any of the accursed tomes. He does, of course. Nothing too much in terms of characterization. It's more just saying "Hey Demo's eye is cursed and that's why he lost it but! hey! it comes back once every Halloween!!"

Again, I can't really knock this version of events. They're simple, but goofy and fun. It's all up to whatever you're trying to accomplish with Demo methinks. If you want silly and whimsical stories, you can have that backstory. If you want gut-wrenching angst, probably should take the initial one.

Aanndd that's virtually it for Demo being important. Demo doesn't get too much plot relevance later on. He's just kinda done with. He shows up in Expiration Date for a quick gag where he returns with a bunch of beer, shouting and cheering while being unaware of how they all just learned they're going to die in three days. He then shows up again during the bucket scene and doesn't do much other than mouthing somethin' (I can't tell you want tbh). A new thing is that he plays piano! That's fun! He then kinda watches Scout try and ask out Pauling and he yells for him to describe what she looks like, which is just what Demo currently sees her as (drunk, blurry, etc). He then fights in the big battle yada yada and shows up at the end with the beer again.

The MVM trailer I suppose is a thing to be noted. Here, he's a BLU Soldier and is playing cards with the Soldier of the same team. Seems like regardless of teams, there's some sort of bond between the two of them. All that happens is that Demo is down to bust up robots with the rest of the RED mercs. Pretty much it.

It is quite unfortunate to see Demo relegated to a role so passive in the story and comics. I've mentioned it before, but I do have an ever so slight grudge against Soldier for taking up the majority of the screentime when it comes to the comics. Yeah, he's really fun to write about, I can't blame the writers for doing so, but also like...c'mon... In the end, we're left with a good chunk of the mercs being underdeveloped in exchange for a ton of Soldier trivia. Props if you like Solly though; your fave got the best treatment.

Ah, but still! Demo has some moments in the comics! Let's go through them!

Uh. Upon checking most of the comics before the mainline ones, it appears he does not say even a single word. Or even show up in a good portion. Well that's disappointing. I thought he at least said like...one thing. The most he does in terms of characterization is put on a crown in A Fate Worse Than Chess, and even then that's just a silly cosmetic. Damn.

It's fine though! Because now we have the mainline comics! Hot damn finally some actual casual Demoman TF2 writing! Let's get a look and see what his normal usual personality is like! I wonder what fun shenanigans he's been up to.

The first time we see Demo he's babbling about his job being replaced by robots and looking utterly dishevelled and depressed.

Okay. That's...yeah pretty in line for his character thus far. An alcoholic who is struggling with some stuff and oftentimes will have a very vocal breakdown in front of others.

The way that he's characterized here is rather fascinating though, I'll say. He's depressed. From what we can glean, this is what his life has been like since the layoffs. He's gained weight (what with Soldier's very blunt "Hello fat Demoman!"), hasn't shaved, his clothes are dirty, and beer bottles are scattered in the living room. Even the Eyelander is like "dude you need to let it go" when Demo mumbles about robots replacing jobs. He's presumably lost his two other jobs and has just been laying on this couch, drinking booze and watching TV and nothing more, despite his mum's nagging.

This is a side of Demo we don't really see. Sure, yeah, we see the hot and tempered side (ex: Meet the Demoman and the general game) as well as the sad and weepy side, but it's never to this degree. Like full on depressive episode. Yikes. Sure yeah he gets dragged back into the plot and instantly gets back to himself (albeit more orange than actually black)(I keep forgetting how whitewashed Demo was in these first few comics), but it's played for laughs and gags.

What an interesting piece of characterization, no? I've seen a fair amount of major depressive disorder, BPD, PTSD, and or bipolar headcanons slapped onto Demo and tbh I can't blame them. I'd be really interested to see some fic explore that in greater detail. I'm too busy writing Engiemedic yaoi to do anything for now though. Womp womp.

The ending bit of the comic has Demo and Pauling mainly chat with each other. Oh yeah!! Demo and Pauling! They've got a couple pretty neat lines. For the usual contract it's just jokes about his alcoholism, his eye, and a couple about his mom and just general gags. In the Tough Break update, she's out drinking with Demo and nearly spills the beans about her job. Fun. I really like the Miss Pauling characterization where she regularly hangs out with the mercs. It's cute.

In the comics, she talks to Demo more like an actual equal than, say, Pyro or Soldier. She talks to them like they're children roughhousing in the backseat. Demo sits up front and the two go back and forth. Demo is the more mature and reasonable one here. Another thing that's a common bit of characterization in the comics is that Demo isn't...drunk. He's not slurring nor acting in a way that makes it immediately clear he's inebriated. He's pretty lucid. This can be from the fact that he's a very high-functioning alcoholic, but it also makes him out to be actually pretty all-there for most of the time. I've seen far too many fics where Demo is in a perpetual state of shitface drunk so that was a nice refresher.

Demo reappears in the second comic, where we get some pretty neat characterization. He's out on the town in disguise. I keep forgetting about that "What do you see?" "Not a damn thing. Let's switch places" gag that's so funny. Whatever. He is the voice of reason when it comes to Soldier. The straight-man character. He's not really...drunk here. He's not slurring his words nor is he exactly doing anything. He steps in front when Soldier starts yelling at an elderly woman, instead approaching her with a calm and kind demeanour. He holds Soldier back when he goes to strangle Scout for. I guess just being there.

So there's Demo when he's just doing stuff normally, I suppose. He's generally pretty level-headed, albeit because he's up there with Soldier. He's the Normal One when posed next to a guy like Solly. A little disappointing, but there's probably more in comic 4.

Ah the Swordvan comic. Demo and Pauling head over to Sniper's house to retrieve him. An odd bit of characterization is that Demo just takes one look at Snipes' house and goes "Welp, nobody's here. Let's get out". He doesn't seem terribly thrilled to be here, further backed up by him saying that there's just gonna be fingernails and jars of piss and he straight up says "good riddance" like what is his issue with the bushman??

Now that's kinda interesting. Demo sees Snipes as being kinda just gross and a raving lunatic. He could easily be in-place for the audience and just saying what we're thinking, but I think it's interesting to see that Demo, the guy often portrayed as being the weirdo party guy, being very straight-forward. He think Sniper is some sadistic madman and just wants out. Unfortunately, he's given a neckfull of Sniper's homemade family moonshine, so he can't get out quite yet.

A very common thing in these comics it seems is Demo being the voice of reason, which is pretty interesting. The straight man to everyone. When he wakes up to Pauling spitting on him to wake him up, he goes "eughhh gross, but, hey, it worked!!" before then is knocked out. He then stays quiet for the rest of the scene, unless of course you're counting the deleted pages. There's no dialogue, but Demo breaks free from the ropes binding him, yells at Sniper, then pushes past before then inserting three syringes-worth of the moonshine into himself and passing out. Alcoholism joke as per usual. Shockingly the first one we've gotten so far.

In the submarine ride down, Demo's passed out with his scrumpy in hand. Again just a gag about him drinking a lot. He then kinda stays in the background for the rest of the comic, only appearing really once to hold a vat of liquor, before then coming to in the final shot where he holds Sniper's dead body. Heyyyy Demo I thought you thought Sniper was a weirdo freak.

Nothing too much to say from this comic then. It's just establishing more and more that Demo plays a very...straight-man character role when it comes to the comics at least. He's reasonable, level-headed, and often just says whatever comes to mind. He's kind and will instantly rush to someone's aid when they're hurt as well as just generally being pretty good-hearted. Nice!

Comic 5 mainly just features a gag with Demo's liver being so overworked that he starts turning his other organs into alcohol distilleries. The whimsy. The line that I find most fascinating from this comic is from Spy.

Like oh okay so he straight up doesn't eat anything other than alcohol and aspirin. Water literally poisons him. Probably just a throwaway gag, but geez. It does say that he is kinda in pain all the time, at least to the point where aspirin is one of the few things his body can handle. Someone out there can probably work with that and make it angsty. Other than that, not much else for Demo.

Comic 6! The final one! Home stretch here folks before I can wrap this up and give a thesis on whatever the heck Demo's character is. Demo, again, is mainly just here for gags. It's the one thing I do really wish that the comics did more: explore Demo's backstory. Like you don't even need to keep the original one, but it's still fascinating to bring up the fact he has a family lineage at all. Instead, he's mainly just a straight-man character. But, hey, whatever. I'm just the one analyzing these silly comics and jokey joke characters for gay melodramatic yaoi fanfiction.

There's a gag about Demo's liver coming back to him after leaving. These soap opera drama scene could parallel the type of shows that he was watching when having that depressive episode, but that's maybe a bit of a stretch. He then gets included in that fun group shot, where his pose mimics that from the Meet the Demo, before then gets a one-on-one scene with Medic.

These two are such a fun duo I wish Jaggerbombs was a more common pairing. Ah well. Medic catches Demo up on everything whilst he's stitching up wounds. The medi-gun is broken so they're doing this the old-fashioned way. Demo has a gag where he's still drinking, only that it's hydrogen peroxide instead. This then leads to a scene where Demo asks why Medic never gave him an eye. Reasonable methinks. Medic responds saying he did.

Demo gets upset. He raises his voice for the first (official) time in the comics. Again, his temperament. I think it's a reasonable thing to be upset about tbh. Like imagine being told after all this time you could've had your eye back. He then learns that, no, the procedure has been done before, but rather that it never sticks because of how his eye socket is cursed. Demo asks how he can't remember this, to which Medic goes "Hooh :] It's because I scooped out a part of your brain" because of course he did. He then forgets the entire conversation + probably Medic entirely.

Aaannnddd that's pretty much it for Demo. That's his last speaking role. Just a quick, simple gag about his eye being cursed, his alcoholism, and generally being the straight-man for others, even if he does have a couple silly gags too. Seems like a culmination of everything he is in the comics.

To conclude: Demo is a character I feel can take on two main roles depending on what kind of tone you're going for. If you want angst, you've got a character who carries the guilt of murdering his foster parents as well as the burden of being a DeGroot, turning to alcohol to cope with his sadness and general inability to deal with it all. If you want silly goofy stuff, you have Demo being a straight-man or a neat party guy if you like the bit from Expiration Date where he brings back beer and such. Of course there's nuance. I find it best to try and find a balance between these two opposing sides. It just takes time and practice to really get a hold of his personality methinks.

I do wish he was more in the comics though as his own person, y'know? He's very reliant on others in order for his character to function, whilst most others have scenes where it's just them doing something. I wish he was used more than being the guy who drags the others back to reality. Damn it sucks to see that the fics where he's mainly just the straight-man are kinda right in that regard.

But for character traits? Hm, let's see. I find it's just trying to make sense of what's given to you and seeing what best fits for the tone of story you're trying to go for. However, for me trying to write him? Well...

His alcoholism is a central character trait. He is definitely 100% an alcoholic, regardless of however people try and sand him down. I personally really like sticking to the idea that he straight up can't eat anything but booze and aspirin because I think it's funny but also sad, but that's me. I think him having a flask of scrumpy on his person at all times is a neat headcanon as well.

Another big trait with Demo is his frequently shifting mood when drunk. He can swing from loud to weeping in a couple moments. I wouldn't say he's particularly angry nor aggressive, no more than any other character at least. He's most volatile on the battlefield, but otherwise at the base I feel it wouldn't be an uncommon sight to see Demo partying until dawn or holed up in the living room and sobbing. Poor guy.

In spite of what many think, Demo is certainly not lazy. He's a workaholic is anything. He holds down three jobs and rakes in a lot of money in order to live up to his name as a DeGroot. It could be because he likes working that much or that his mother just nags him to push himself that far. That also ties into his self-deprecation, another core trait of his, but that's pretty obvious to see.

His heart is another big trait. The guy loves. He cares for his mother even when she nags at him. He sticks by Soldier's side until he feels as though he's been betrayed. He takes care of the Eyelander and treats it like a pal. He generally cares a whole heck of a lot about people and other things. He wears his heart on his sleeve and says what he means. He doesn't feel a need to really hide who he is as a person. He's loud, fun, and just naturally pretty sweet and kind. I don't think he's ever really "mean" outside of the game stuff. There's also the whole "being hired to explode people" part but ehhh that's just the silliness in him :]

Demo also being generally pretty...normalish. He's a guy who's really just going through it when you take the angst option. He oftentimes will try and hold back others from doing something stupid when sober. I feel like when he's drunk he's more willing to get in on dumb shit, but still. However, this doesn't mean he's wholly a normal person. I think you can do a lot of headcanons here where you bring out some traits that are otherwise not talked about too much.

There are a lot of liberties to be taken with Demo's character as per usual. A ton of writing a character to be, well, in-character is just getting down their voice and mannerisms. Understanding their personality and motives is just half the battle. Demo sometimes speaks like an old-timey medieval knight or poet or whatever. He's generally pretty well-spoken and whatever. For the love of god if you want to write him, you don't need to include phonetics constantly. Please. It's so much better that tu'try toh spell everay whurd like tis. Oftentimes people will just know what the character sounds like regardless. Just try and mimic his way of speaking more and you'll do wonders for actually making that character sound like, well, that character.

I've neglected to mention Demo being a black man a lot because, well, it never really pops up a lot in canon. I think the most recognition we get for Demo being black is him just saying that he's black. He's a black Scotsman and that's about it. It's curious since I've seen a number of fics where it's all period-typical racism angst and whatever, with Demo being used as a way for the author to get up and proudly say that they think that racism is bad by having Demo being called a slur and getting upset. How progressive.

I dunno. I never really personally touch on period-typical bigotry stuff myself due to the fact that this is Team Fortress 2. Rocket jumping was invented before stairs. Besides, this is the late 60s/early 70s. The civil rights movement happened by this point. Not everyone walking the streets is gonna be some abrasive bigot. I don't know why people want to try and make it "historically accurate" to begin with since this series has never been period-accurate to begin with. I don't particularly think TF2 is a great series to go on about tackling period-typical bigotry either. Literally if you want Demo angst you've got the actual mountain load of angst with his backstory right there. Obviously of course people are allowed to write what they want and I do fully believe that sharing stories and portraying bigotry is important, but why with TF2??? Do people just really look at a POC and think their existence is inherently political and they need to make it clear they think Racism Bad, even though the tone of canon really doesn't match that?? Ah well. I'm just rambling.

Regardless, Demo is just a character where you can take a lot of different avenues with. Maybe you can explore his trauma and try and write about how he feels trying to live up to his family name. What about his issues with his now-deceased father? Maybe you can forgo that and have him be a partner in crime to Solly or whomever else, with the occasional glimpse into his more sensitive self. Really, it all just depends on the story you're trying to tell. Ultimately, writing Demo with a healthy mix of comedy and angst is probably what is best done if you just want a pretty in-character version. He can be out on some grand adventure to take down Nessie with a merc or two AND have it be a story about him coming to terms with his past. That's just a me thing though lol.

Demo, like the rest of the cast, is an easily moldable piece of clay. All of the mercs at their very core are just funny character archetypes. They can be whatever you want them to be. It's just best to work with their original characterization and personality in mind, y'know? Fanfic writing is mainly about having fun anyway.

Speaking of which, enough procrastinating for me. I need to get back to writing my yaoi...

#sp-rambles #tf2 #tf2 demoman #character analysis #long post

124 notes · View notes

rawrsatthetree · 1 year ago

Text

“Ugh I hate him” “he gives me the ick” “he’s Cazador 2.0💀” “ew I could never ascend him” “I love Astarion but-“

Shut up! I don’t care if he’s the worst version of himself he’s still my babygirl!

Look maybe it’s cause I’ve had him Ascended my last two play throughs but can’t you at least appreciate the nuance of him character?? He’s so interesting to me

Like let’s be real, he didn’t change that much or did you forget what he was like in act 1?? Spawn Astarion is the one who changed the most. The difference between the Astarion that held a knife to your throat and Ascended Astarion, is now he has the power to behave how he wants.

Also like the “toxic” responses people always use to say he’s turning into Cazador are in response to you breaking up or rejecting him. Like obviously he’s hurt and lashing out.

I think a lot of people haven’t even tried Ascending him and make their assumptions based off of clips. Like a lot stays the same and I think it’s what’s the same is the more telling of his character then a few dialogs you get trying to break up with him.

#baldurs gate 3 #astarion #bg3 astarion #baldurs gate astarion #baldurs gate #bg3 #ascended astarion #baldurs gate 3 astarion #astarion ancunin

112 notes · View notes

doonalli · 6 months ago

Note

hi !!! i lauv ur analysis’ of yttd !!! would you consider doing one for maple :)?

Woah my first ask!!! Thank you!!!!! Maple is such an awesome character there is so much that I could say about her, I even went a bit into it with Mai's analysis Maple's character is such a tragic one honestly, and there is a lot I could talk about, but writing this on the spot I obviously won't be going as in depth as usual, although I really do want to write a full analysis on Maple sometime, but 3-2 seems just around the corner so idk if I'll get the time....

Regardless, for right now, I'll talk a bit about the way Maple is presented, how that plays into stereotypes, and most importantly how she subverts them too

Maple is immediately presented as a very girly girl, right as we enter her room we are hit with loads of pink fluffy furniture, and she particularly has a keen interest in tea, all things that are traditionally feminine

Even her fight follows this with its emotions gimmick, playing into how women are seen as hysteric by the people who don't respect them

and further playing into that girly stereotype Maple has a deep love for Midori. It's a common trope for women in media to be nothing more than the love interest for the men around them, or for them to fall head over heels for the men they love.

But for Maple this is revealed to be much more sinister, with it actually being something programmed into her, rather than her own true feelings

let's not beat around the bush here, Midori is by no means a good person, AT ALL, but compared to Maple's love, Midori's affection is incredibly twisted, with the prime example being how he talks about Shin

In Kanna's route Midori talks about how unfortunate it is that Sou had to die, as he wanted to kill him himself.

And with that context I find it interesting how when Maple ends up powering down and "dying" Midori takes her and goes to "revive" he with "the power of his love"

It's just peculiar to me the difference between them and how Midori treats them. On that point though, another thing to note with Maple is hands.

To even enter the discussion room a pair needs to hold hands. People holding hands can often be used as a sign of affection, or intimacy, even Ranmaru himself falling into this.

But when Midori decides takes her to get "upgraded" he notably grabs ahold of her wrists, rather than her hands.

Grabbing someone's wrists is usually done because it exerts more power over them, compared to holding hands where it's a mutual act from both parties, and can be let go when either party desires it.

He could have grabbed her by the hand, or any other place honestly, or nankidai could have simply chosen not to show it at all, yet a specific focus was put on Midori grabbing Maple's wrists.

It's clear Midori doesn't treat Maple with care like the green books suggest

Nor does he make any attempt to understand her emotions or sympathise with her like the manual says

I mean he literally gave her the manual in place of a love letter to her, clearly not caring enough to actually write something for her. It doesn't get more ironic than that.

And it doesn't stop there for Maple, as when she is upgraded into Maple 2.0 she is forced into fighting her friends, in particular Mai

And this leads to partway through the fight where she fully cuts off her last remaining hand, which with the context of everything I've said also cuts off her chance of simply holding someone's hand...

But its not all bad for Maple, after all if Anzu survived the way she'll reconcile with Maple is by holding and shaking hands

(fun fact: Nankidai showed an old version of the sprite where Sara reconciles with Maple on stream once and in that sprite she also held Maple's hand, but that was changed before release)

And by the end of her story, Maple is able to fight back against Midori and put the first crack in his facade, even pushing through his "I love you"s and outright stating that she won't believe him. She pushes back on this idea of being defined by her love and is able to truly show herself as a strong person able to stand up the abuser in her life.

And Q-taro will even call Midori out on his mistake here, on how he underestimated Maple, because of his prior expectations,

And coinciding with that, this happens after Maple's monitors all break, monitors that were all linked to emotions, and put them neatly into boxes. It's not like Maple suddenly becomes emotionless either, she still hesitates when Midori says he loves her after all, but it isn't as easy as just reading it on her face, because she isn't defined by her emotions either.

Maple is more than the stereotypes that can be pushed onto her by the people in charge, (or the people who program her,) and the way she is able to fight for her own power says a lot, and proves that she is so much more than what it may seem on the surface, after all, she is human too.

================================================

Thank you again anon for the question, this IS shorter than the others i've written due to me writing it on the spot but i really hope i was able to fufill ur expectations even just a bit I'd love to revisit Maple someday, hopefully we'll be able to see more of her in 3-2 too (or YTTS or a minisode or a page in the updated artbook or SOMETHING) but for now I really enjoy her place in the story and her portrayal and maybe i've been to do her some justice and was able to show some others that too!!!

#your turn to die #yttd #yttd analysis #yttd spoilers #yttd dummies #(YES MAPLE IS A PART OF THE DUMMIES OKAY)#analysis #character analysis #maple yttd #maple #first ask

25 notes · View notes

ink-the-squid-gremlin · 1 year ago

Text

Endouma is a terrible ship, and here is why.

‼️WARNING‼️: Post not only contains semi spoilers for KNY, but it also contains mentions of things like suicide, depression and noncon/sexual assault. If you are uncomfortable with those topics, please refrain from reading.

TLDR: Enmu and Douma are not compatible with each other because that ship is mostly built up on fetished MLM tropes, overly sexualized versions of the characters and the romanticization of SA.

(God, I feel like I have been posting nothing but hot takes on this account as of late. I promise I will go back to posting art, cosplays, and more just chill stuff after this.)

Enmu and Douma are not characters that should not be shipped together, for multiple reasons. Starting off, THEY ARE NOTHING ALIKE!!!! I don’t know where or how it was decided that they were alike, or that Enmu is “Douma 2.0”, but it makes no sense. While both are meant to be irredeemable monsters, Enmu was an irredeemable monster from the get go. From what we know about his backstory, he knew he was scamming people and targeting the weak and vulnerable for it. Douma’s backstory goes a bit more in depth and explains that he was put into the role of “all mighty god” as a child, which lead to the power of it going to his head as he grew up. Douma was still an impressionable child who was failed by the adults around him, and as he grew up he took on some of those same traits as the adults he was surrounded by. The bottom line is this: Douma, while a shitty person, still has some way to sympathize with him, Enmu does not, and thats just on the story side of things.

Enmu and Douma also share nothing in common personality wise. On face value, they may kinda act similar (i.e how they talk (sorta)) but it really just stops there. Enmu ultimately had a goal to kill Tanjiro and gain more blood from Muzan so he could climb the ranks of the demon hierarchy. He wanted to gain more power and to overthrow one of the upper moons for the sake of power. He doesn’t care how many people he has to torment, hurt or kill, as long as he has spot in power, he is happy, hell, he literally has vulnerable and even sick children do his dirty work! Enmu is a sick and twisted individual and he prides himself on that. Douma on the other hand put on the happy and up beat facade to hide that he knows he was failed. Douma is aware he was failed as a human, and so he decided to fail his followers by being the embodiment of false hope. He plays into the false icon lifestyle by pretending to be hopeful and happy around his followers and even the other demons to an extent. He doesn’t care so much about power, rather he cares more about control. Douma keeps up his false religion persona to keep control over his followers. He knows he’s failing them, but he doesn’t want to lose the control he has over them.

Now onto the elephant in the room: the mischaracterization I’ve seen of both of them in the Endouma ship. In both fanart and fanfics I’ve seen and read (well more so forced down my throat since thats all I’ve seen with Enmu in recent times) both Enmu and Douma are mischaracterized to high hell just so we as the reader/viewer will feel pity for them. I’ve seen more of this with Enmu, in that all the stuff that made him unique from the other KNY demons is stripped away so his “savior boyfriend” Douma can comfort him and coddle him. Now, writing an AU is one thing, but if you’re just going to make content of the ship with the characters as they are in the series, then their actual personalities should be honored or at the very least acknowledged.

Going more in depth about the mischaracterizing I’ve been seeing with Enmu, almost all (ALMOST all, not all in general) Endouma content I’ve seen have made him either a depressed and anxious baby that Douma is meant to coddle, or an overly fetishized hyper feminine man thats there simply for sexual reasons. It just goes against their roles in the story of KNY.

Going off of the hyper feminine man mischaracterization of Enmu I’ve seen in regards to the Endouma ship, having him be pretty much a “femboy” not only contradicts him as a character, but it also is pushing toxic heteronormativity on a queer relationship. Making Enmu essentially the “woman”, while putting toxic heteronormativity in a very much MLM ship, it also just boils him down to a sex object and nothing else. Now, I will not say that portraying Enmu as a very sexual and even gross character is wrong, because there were plenty of scenes in KNY of him that had very sexual and perverted undertones, but that is what they were, undertones. There is more to his character than just the sexual undertones he has (as I stated earlier when describing him), and by boiling him down to a “sex doll” for Douma just kind of shows that there wasn’t much of an understanding of his character while making the ship art or a fic. He is much more than a sex object.

Moving onto the mischaracterization I’ve seen of Douma, while not nearly as bad as Enmu, it still feels very off from his character. Making Douma someone who GENUINELY cares for another person is also very contradictory to how he acts in the series. He is someone who cares very little for anyone he comes to meet, whether it be his followers or other demons. Now you may be asking “but, Ink! Douma saw Daki and Gyutaro when they were on the verge of death and decided to save them!” Which is exactly what I am talking about. The only reason he “saved” them was to keep up his facade of a savior and to get himself “brownie points” (for lac of a better term) so his public appearance would look good. Because he cared very little for Daki and Gyutaro, it shows that he only cares about looking like a good person and nothing else. Portraying him as essentially “Enmu’s therapist” that coddles him and such just feels weird. Douma has no emotional connections to anyone, so why would he have an enmotional connection to a demon that is considered lower than him?

Now similar to what I said about Enmu earlier, Douma is also much more than a sex obsessed pervert. Douma being portrayed as basically a male nymphomaniac in the Endouma ship is a very strange way to portray his character. Yes, he may have been fine with letting women seek refuge in his temple, but again, it was to make him seem and look like a good person. We should all know, or at least have the understanding that Douma is literally a woman eater. The women he houses in his temple ultimately have the fate of being nothing more than food. Viewing his reason for taking in women as something sexually driven is a complete misunderstanding of his actions. This misunderstanding of Douma paired with the sexual misunderstanding of Enmu not only creates a toxic relationship, but it also fetishizes and sexualizes MLM pairings. This is something I’ve noticed more in Endouma art, but a lot of it that I have seen feels very fetish-y. I can’t go too in-depth about this aspect, as I am a queer woman, but the way the ship is portrayed in a lot of the art I have seen of it feels as though it is pandering to the appeal of yaoi obsessed straight girls. While yaoi has been a term used for decades to refer to MLM based pairings in media like anime and manga, over the past couple of years, its meaning has become more based around fetishizing MLM pairings rather than just being about MLM pairings.

I now want to bring up something that I’ve seen associated with Endouma (and also the Enmuzan ship, but that is a topic for another time) that really makes me uncomfortable, and that is noncon and the romanization sexual assault. I don’t want to talk too much about this topic, as it is not only triggering for me, but it should also be common sense that fetishizing sexual assault is wrong. Again, this is more so something I have seen in artwork, but it seems almost normalized for Douma to be portrayed forcing himself onto Enmu. Now, I know you are all probably saying “Ink, if you don’t like it/are triggered by it, then don’t interact with it”, but when its all that has been made in regards to newer Enmu content as of late, and how people are hyping it up, its kind of hard to avoid. It makes me truly question just how many people really missed the point of their characters, and only focused on things like Enmu being more androgynous, and Douma being tall and muscular. In a general sense, if a ship is built on, or is popular from fetishized and romanticized sexual assault, it shouldn’t be a ship.

Finally, I just want to mention that these characters have NEVER once interacted in canon. I know that hasn’t stopped people from shipping characters before, but it’s just something I want bring up. (As well as the fact that the Upper Moon’s hate the Lower Moons)

I want to end off this post by saying that all of this is by no means targeted at a specific person, nor am I trying to say that my opinion is correct. I am just stating my own opinions and just stating observations I have made after being in the KNY/Enmu fanbase for nearly 4 years now. People are allowed to ship characters together (within reason) however they like, but just be aware of how it will look on your own part, and what views it may look like you have.

#squidposting #inkposts #ink talks #enmu #demon slayer #Endouma #lotus dreams #Enmu X Douma #kny hot take #I will reiterate from my last paragraph that I am by no means trying to target any specific person #I am just sharing something I have noticed about the Endouma ship #and how it makes me a bit uncomfortable #if you like that ship it is completely fine #like I said I’m just sharing my own opinions and thoughts #as well as my own experience with content of that ship #I also wanted to provide my interpretations of both characters to also just kind of back up my opinions #so it wouldn’t look like I’m making baseless claims and such #again I am not targeting a specific person I am just stating opinions and observations I’ve made

41 notes · View notes

shuunnico · 1 year ago

Text

Unpopular Opinion: Cyberpunk 2077

People who think that we would've gotten Cyberpunk 2.0 at launch if CDPR had just delayed the game or better managed their time back in 2020 are wrong.

If CDPR had gotten an extra year or two, we would not have gotten the 2.0 version we got now. We would've just gotten a less buggy, more polished version of 1.0.

We probably would've gotten a wardrobe, a better police system, vehicle combat and better AI, yes. I severely doubt we'd have gotten the new talent, crafting, skill, armor and cyberware systems added in 2.0.

Why? Because when 1.0 imploded, several people stepped down or away from the Cyberpunk project. In this change up, the current head for all things Cyberpunk, Gabe Amatangelo, stepped up to lead the franchise.

It is very likely all the post 1.0 content was done at his direction. He's the one directing Phantom Liberty.

If 1.0 didn't crumble like it did, we would've never gotten 2.0 and the franchise would continued on with mediocre mechanics, like the talent and crafting systems.

Ironically, Cyberpunk 1.0's failure might have actually put the franchise in better hands overall. Cyberpunk 2 is already planned, which means we should look to 2.0 and Phantom Liberty to get an idea of what that might look like under Amatangelo's leadership.

The best way I could describe it is Cyberpunk was like the asteroid wiping out the dinosaurs. It completely upset the balance at CDPR and, in the wake of the fallout, something new was able to come out of it. Probably something better for the overall, long term health of the Cyberpunk franchise.

I'm not exactly happy 1.0 happened the way it did. But I think if I had a choice between 1.0 going off without a hitch or what we got now, I might still choose what we got now.

Maybe time will prove me wrong. But I think CDPR still wants to make good games. They spent 3 years getting Cyberpunk to be fun to play, so that gives me some optimism for the future of the Cyberpunk franchise.

#Cyberpunk 2077 #phantom liberty #video games #cdpr

64 notes · View notes

lancer-the-blue · 4 months ago

Text

And oooon we go!

Dawww the hope and relief in Arin when he sees Lloyd (kinda low key he was a tad more excited but that's a nitpick and I'm used to ninjago characters under reacting to situations)

Damnnn Lloyd thinking there was another ninja doing Spinjitzu, idk but the way he said it was interesting, def gonna overthink it

Awwwww no Arin downplaying himself nooo

"I kinda get your ninja fandom now" nooooo Sora calling us out! Also it just hit me Arin's the stand in perspective for returning fans and Sora is the fresh perspective of new people coming in that's genius!

Haha love that Lloyd caught onto their plan of them hacking onto that guy to chop their handcuffs the attention to detail is immaculate so far

"You can wash them?" Lolz mood

Also not Lloyd letting Arin keep his old mask boooo

Master Lloyd! Damn that's giving me whiplash as an Og fan from 2011

Oooh Rapton that's his name, also loving him so far again

Lolz Lloyd low key not believing Arin that he was the one who did Spinjitzu until he did

"Spinjitzu is the single most important ninja technique it took me years to learn to learn it with an incredible tracher" my dude the og ninja learned in a matter of weeks/months at most it's not that big of a deal

Wwwoooh! My girl Sora showing off! Hardcore Nya energy from her

Jeez Lloyd is being a real ass ngl

*New opening rocks but they cut it short nooooo*

Love Lloyd being protective of the kiddos and the dragons tho

Oooh Sora's metal arm might be a reference to Jay ZXs armour!

Nawwww Riyu best boy!

Yes! Sora being sassy with her powers to Lloyd!

"Hey Lloyd! I think I made a bomb!" That got me ngl

"It was a weird version but still" jeeez when did Lloyd get so judgy

"Maybe tech power?" Little on the nose again for me

OMG RAZ IS A TIGER CHIMA CONNECTION CONFIRMED?

Damnnn the Monastery looks so snazy with this new animation

New Destiny's Bounty let's go!

Lolz writers calling out how inconsistent the elemental powers are

Love Sora being Nya 2.0 ngl

Whoop Lloyd and Arin bonding

"Keeping the world from destorying itself" lolz really funny ngl

Ooh I love the detail of Sensei Wu having the symbols from all the ninja on his back *I think*

IT'S CANNON, WU IS A 1000 YEARS, YES WE HAVE A CONICAL TIMELINE YES

Wish we had a tad more pre merge post crystalized ninja dialogue ngl

Oh gods other dragons, again! Low key made me groan *just use the ones we have already damn it*

"What the heck Lloyd!" Low key made me cackle

Nawww sibling hug

Also you can tell the main ninja are aging and it really moves me honestly

Merge quakes are really interesting and cool ngl

Should of said this sooner this season's ost slaps

Awwww I love Arin and Lloyd talk so much, big siblings vibe

"You need Wu but he's gone" low key slashes into me ngl

Omg so cute Riyu playing with a set of Jay's nunckes I presume

"And I do not mind fixing it again" lolz I relate Sora, damn she's so cool!

Idk how I feel about the dragon not believing them feels a tad cliche and unnecessary

Rapton being the goat as always

How fucking strong are those wires to keep a source dragon down wtf

Whow super syan Lloyd! Plus reference to Tornado of creation I think

Oof the animation on the Spinjitzu is a tad low res tho

Damn Lord Raz be cold

Gods Lloyd's speeches are always so ironically cheesy

Kinda funny how ninjago's doing dragons better than WoW did dragons in it's last expansion lolz

That episode slapped another 8/10

#ninjago #ninjago dragons rising #ninjago dr s1 #ninjago dr spoilers

7 notes · View notes

black-arcana · 7 months ago

Text

Watch: HALESTORM's LZZY HALE Surprises Cover Band By Joining Them For 'Here's To Us' Duet

HALESTORM singer Lzzy Hale surprised a cover band at JBJ's Nashville Thursday night (June 27) by joining them on stage for a version of the HALESTORM song "Here's To Us".

YouTube user xSacramentofLove, who uploaded video of Hale's appearance, wrote in a description accompanying the clip: "Stopped in to check out Jon Bon Jovi's new Nashville bar last night, this really awesome cover band was playing. They started playing a crowd request for HALESTORM's 'Here's To Us', when Lzzy Hale herself surprises the band and they end up doing a duet!"

The members of HALESTORM are also no strangers to covering other people's songs, having released three cover EPs so far, including the latest one, "ReAniMate 3.0: The CoVeRs eP", which came out in January 2017.

In the summer of 2022, HALESTORM shared its covers of Adele's "Hello" and Dolly Parton's "Jolene" via social media.

In 2011, HALESTORM released the six-track "ReAniMate: The CoVeRs eP", which saw them take on tracks by SKID ROW, Lady Gaga, TEMPLE OF THE DOG, GUNS N' ROSES, HEART and THE BEATLES. Two years later, the "ReAniMate 2.0: The CoVeRs eP" featured covers of JUDAS PRIEST, DAFT PUNK, AC/DC, Pat Benatar, FLEETWOOD MAC and Marilyn Manson.

The aforementioned "ReAniMate 3.0: The CoVeRs eP" saw HALESTORM covering classic songs by WHITESNAKE, Sophie B. Hawkins, JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS, TWENTY ONE PILOTS, SOUNDGARDEN and METALLICA.

Back in 2017, HALESTORM bassist Josh Smith spoke to RingRocker.com about how he and his bandmates go about picking which songs to record for their series of covers EPs. "We start out with basically everyone… Our team… Oh my God! My dad finds out that we're doing a cover album, all I get is texts: 'Oh, you should do this.' But anyone… anyone who finds out we're doing a covers album, all of a sudden you're just getting this crazy list," he said. "So it literally starts out with e-mails of lists and lists, and somehow, over months, we kind of whittle down our list until we get to a short list of maybe ten songs or less. And then we record 'em and see what works and see what we like."

He continued: "Now, after the first one, we sort of followed a similar formula with the second one in that it's very generational — we have a song from '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, a contemporary pop song… So that was a nice way to pick our songs. Really, that has been the template."

According to Josh, there is at least one added benefit to covering other people's songs when it comes to HALESTORM working on original material. He explained: "What's really cool is that when we do pick these songs, they really do influence us, because it's Songwriting and Performing 101. Where you have to deconstruct a song — a legendary song, essentially — you deconstruct it, and then rebuild it to how it works for us. And it really influences us in a lot of ways."

Added drummer Arejay Hale: "When we did 'Slave To The Grind' [from SKID ROW], we were, like, 'Oh, man! We need a song like this.' And then we wrote 'Love Bites', which is pretty much just off the feel of 'Slave To The Grind'. It's cool, 'cause we used to do that. We used to do three- or four-hour shows with covers and originals. And you're right — it is like training. And I always recommend that for newer artists, younger artists that wanna learn how to play drums or guitar. I always say the best way to really get good and learn how to develop your own style is to learn the styles of other people and learn other songs that you like or that challenge you. And it kind of makes you think differently. It's, like, 'Oh, this guy did these chords,' or, 'This guy played this kind of groove.' 'I bet I can do that in an original song.' So, yeah, it's kind of like training."

Arejay and his sister Lzzy (vocals, guitar) formed the band in 1998 while in middle school. Guitarist Joe Hottinger joined the group in 2003, followed by Smith in 2004.

youtube

#lzzy hale #halestorm #Youtube

10 notes · View notes

hiya-im-mary · 1 year ago

Text

Stain Edwards - Part 2

( Part 1 is here!! )

(A word of warning!!! I knows there’s a whole debate about the ending in Episode 2 where one of the Ducks gets killed by the other…I’m going off the idea that the real Duck killed Stain!! Thank youuuu!!!!! :D)

CONTINUATION TIME!!!! Next up I wanna talk about Episode 6 spesifically!!!!! And how similar Stain is to Yellow Guy…when he has fully charged batteries.

So much of what happened to Stain was similar to what happened to Smart Yellow Guy!! (I shall call him Smarty from this point on!!!!!)

The moment Yellow becomes Smarty,he instantly gets wide eyed and full of questions!! He’s newly brought into the world. He’s curious!! He starts asking questions about how and why the teachers come into their home and tell the gang how to think…genuine questions!!

And he gets shot down for them.

Duck and Red Guy immediately become less friendly towards Smarty when he comes…a smarty!! He’s different,he’s asking questions,he’s not in place. And for that,he gets shunned for it…sound familar??

Stain was treated the exact same way that Yellow was. You could arguably say that Stain might’ve had the intelligence of Smarty if he wasn’t forcefully molded into Duck. If Yellow hadn’t interupted and demanded Stain to stop,if Red hadn’t forced him into being Duck 2.0,he might’ve had the same level of inteligence of Smarty!! Heck it,maybe if Duck didn’t kill Stain,he could’ve figured out who he was and became smarter than all of them. Stain didn’t really absorb Duck’s personality!!

The both of them were different. They were shunted for it. They were both forced into being the thing that they didn’t want to be (A clone of someone/a “dumber” easily manipulated version of themself)

Stain and Yellow are pretty similar in that they were both malleable. Stain is obvious,and Yellow was always easily cohered into the lessons he and the other two got into. He was always the one that people saw as the most gullible. There are many examples in it in the show!!

There was always this one scene in Episode 6 that really made me feel like DANG I WOULD’VE LOVED THIS EVEN MORE IF STAIN DID THIS!! The scene where Smarty talks to Yellow in his reflection!! They both talk about how the way that they are is affecting the other two.

“Hmmm…Well…maybe they’re not in charge of us anymore.”

“Maybe they never were…”

(I always pictured this scene possibly being if Stain talked to the tortured version of themself in the bigger boys room and it’s GLORIUS!!)

Smarty finally realised that the other two were…bossy,at most. It’s not just the teachers manipulating how he thinks…it’s his own friends too. His clumpmates. He realises this,and he goes off on his own,to do his own thing despite what the other two want.

The happier ending that Stain could’ve had…but the claymation blob was too easily malleable at the time to stick to what they wanted.

Yellow and Stain always seemed to be connected in that way. It might seem a little weird,but still!! Something I noticed!!

Yellow and Red Guy forced Stain to stop being themself.

Duck and Red Guy forced Smarty to go back to having his old batteries.

Stain was going to replace Duck…So Duck was the one who broke off

Yellow became smart…and he was the missing one

Duck was known as “David” and most agree that Yellow is related,tied to or probably IS “David”

They’re CONNECTED!!!!!!!!!!!

AND HEAR ME OUT-

Both Stain and Smarty have been told that they’ve “Gone Wrong” and that they’re supposed to do these things and not the things that they WANT to. Eventually they’re both forced into being what they’re “supposed” to be.

It’s…very similar to what happens with Lesley. Presuming that she controls the whole show as is,it’s very similar to the climax. Once again,Yellow/Smarty is forced into the thing that he didn’t wanna be…and very carefully lead into that by Lesley. She most likely knew that Duck and Red Guy were gonna forcefully take his batteries out. It’s played many times before.

Stain themself was foreshadowing. It was what was gonna happen to Yellow Guy. They went through the same thing,but Stain just experienced it first!!

(And yet Stain never got anything for themself. Again.)

#DHMIS TV SHOW #dhmis tv series #DHMIS THEORY #DHMIS Stain Edwards #stain edwards the forever boy #Stain edwards #DHMIS Lesley #dhmis spoilers #dhmis yellow guy #smart yellow guy

7 notes · View notes

taylors-karma · 2 years ago

Text

Alright party people it’s time to rate and judge these people before I get to know them again! Let’s see if my predictions are any better than last year’s, but who knows at this point tbh.

I just know she’s gonna be useless. My hopes for her are low, but hopefully she’ll be furniture and not one of the mean girls this show likes to cast. 3/10

Her vibes are immaculate and I want to be her friend. I could see her being a mastermind and power player for sure. Please for the love of god don’t disappoint me. 9/10

She gives me hardcore Rockstar vibes. Also she’s Australian??? I feel like she’s gonna be cool, but I’m slightly wary that she’ll turn into N*cole from last season. Either way she’s gonna be the “mom” of the house. 7/10

His hair annoys the fuck out of me but he’s a stay-at-home dad, so I’m conflicted. He’ll probably get roped into the popular kids alliance of the season and win a few comps, but I don’t see him being that notable. 5/10

I hate looking at him. Also he’s younger than me? I don’t like that. Put him back where he came from before he becomes Kyle 2.0. 0/10

She is definitely going to be the wise sage of the group. Hoping that she turns out to be a girlboss protecting her ladies and not the female version of T*rrance. 6/10

I don’t know. I don’t like him and I can’t explain it. He just seems like a mansplainer and I feel like he’s gonna be the fist to get into an altercation with one of the women for being smarter than him. 1/10

She gets brownie points for being a flautist (not flutist, big brother) since she’s part of my classical music community, but I’m sensing her as the token quirky lesbian who aligns with the popular kids and doesn’t have a backbone. That or the floater who freaks out when she gets put on the block. 5/10

I’m getting some good vibes from this guy. He seems pretty chill and down to earth. I feel like he’d be on the right side of the house with the other outcasts, but time will tell. 8/10

I just know he’s gonna get into a showmance with one of the girls and play her ass. He doesn’t give a shit about anyone. I can just tell. He is definitely going to be thirsted for too and it’s going to annoy me. I just know it. 2/10

I’m getting smart beauty queen vibes from her, so it could really go either way. I will give her points because I misjudged Taylor a little last season, but if she does some dumb shit I will never trust anyone again. 9/10

Yeah no. Fuck this guy. Jackson 2.0 looking ass. 0/10

Upon looking at him I was super wary but it’s cool to see some deaf representation on the show. Maybe he’ll be chill, but I don’t see him being super relevant. 4/10

I want to say she gives me good vibes but I learned my lesson after Ame*rah. I could definitely see her backstabbing someone or starting a rumor for funsies. Prove me wrong, girl. 5/10

No. -500/10

That’s not how you fucking spell Riley. I’m ready for her to be booted off week 4 after contributing absolutely nothing to the house. 3/10

Overall I’m not sure how to feel. I definitely feel like a few people are going to be fun to follow, but the type casting is so obvious to the point where part of me hopes all of these predictions are wrong. This could easily be either really boing or refreshing and fun. Let’s see y’all.

#bb25 #big brother #bbus

17 notes · View notes

anmarifromearth · 6 months ago

Text

Chapter 8: The Plan

Note: You can read the finished version on Quotev, but for Tumblr, I'd like to upload the chapters one by one.

64.media.tumblr.com

WC: 2.0 K -- Masterlist -- featuring art by @amalthiaph

I sat on the couch placed in front of the huge glass window of our shared room. It was a Saturday so assume we are only about half of the student population, still too many to execute our plan. But any day is not a good day to execute the plan; especially when Charlotte is watching my every movement. For now, we only have her to look out for, as Zach and Sara exit the school front doors. I saw the pair descend the first three steps, then the next seven. They were both laughing and smiling, and it's killing me. But I decided to put that feeling on the back burner of my mind. It's not a nice day to be selfish anyway.

"Zach takes out Sara, Charles and I will enter the passages through the White Room and see what the skeleton is clutching," I whispered. I gasped, wishing I didn't whisper it loud enough. I heard the shower go off. I sighed of relief knowing she didn’t hear it through the sound of the shower.

I watched as Zach and Sara exit the grounds. It still pains me but it’s necessary for the plan, for Christina.

Now that we know Charlotte is a spy, nether Charles nor Zach visit me in my room. A last minute change we did at the café was to not have Charles meet me in my room but rather, I go to the library and he goes to the dining room, then we “run” into each other somewhere near the White Room.

I walked between shelves in the library. There seems to be a number of students who decided to stay for the weekend. This is perfect. Our disappearance would easily be unnoticed. My eyes travelled across the room once more. Or, almost perfect. For some reasons, the librarian, Miss Mansfield, is still here. This makes me wonder if all the teachers and staff live in the manor as well. To be fair, it has enough room to host all of us. I run my hands through spines and check out some books to raise any suspicions. I decided to begin walking to our 'meeting spot'.

I saw Charles walk in from the other side of the hall. Now the two of us are at the hall along the White Room. Charles was looking at the picture frames that hung along the halls. He doesn’t whistle as he knows it’s usually the thing people do when they’re pretending. There are about three students walking with us. None of them seems to be looking at neither of us so I guess they aren’t spies.

“IRIS?” I heard Charles say as he run towards me. “You stayed for the weekend too?” He was all beaming. Man, he’s good at acting.

“Yeah,” I started to play along. “My home is far from here.”

We kept our little charade as we started for the White Room. “So to save time and money, I just decided to go home once or twice a month,” I added.

“Hmm, makes sense. Hey, do you know where Zach is?”

“Didn’t he go home?”

We stopped in front of the small door. We both looked around to make sure no one is looking. As soon as we saw the coast is thankfully clear, we crawled in as fast as we can and closed the door.

We both let out a breath as we sat on the dusty floor of the passage. It was very thick dust. This thing has existed since the 1800s so that is understandable.

“And the Oscars go to,” I said in a sing-sang voice and Charles chuckled.

“Now back to 9 to 5,” he said as he stood up. He started to prepare his phone camera and set it on video. He turned the flash on and used it as our flashlight as well. I took out a small piece of paper from my pants pocket. It was a drawing of the floor plan of the White Room. Given that Zach isn’t here, we don’t have the map. I protested with having him lend it to me since it’s delicate paper and seeing me carrying its canister around would raise suspicion.

It wasn’t a complex drawing; it’s just boxes and lines with names on them. Charles flashed his phone on the paper. After a few seconds of examining it, I pointed to a passage, “We turn here.”

Charles and I start to walk through the passage. Since he holds the camera, Charles walked before me. I bet the video will be better now since there are no longer cobwebs on the way. The passages are really dark and very dusty. They are all grey due to centuries of dust gathered. They made that particular smell that smells old that seems to block your nose and you are in need of air.

After a few minutes of shortness of breath, we took another turn and saw the figure on the other end. I hear Charles groan at the sight of the skeleton. I did the same. It’s so unnerving knowing that that skeleton used to be a person of flesh and blood. I feel sorry for Christina. That poor girl died in these passages she loved so well. And like that. Lying there clutching something to her heart. All the money in the world and she died alone.

At least we are here now, to give her the justice she has long wanted.

Speaking of Christina, she hasn’t appeared during our journey. Thankfully. Charles and I stopped in front of the dusty skeleton. Charles hovered the camera over it and bowed.

“What are you doing?” I whispered.

“Praying,” he whispered back.

“You’re right,” I agreed and bowed my head too.

“Christina,” he began, eyes closed. “We are sorry for you. We didn’t know who you are, we only ever knew you from your photographs but we know you are a wonderful person. And you deserve to live a long and fruitful life. You did not deserve to die alone, like this. But worry not, for we are here now to give you the justice you deserve so that, you can finally lay in peace. For that,” Charles continued, “We deeply apologize for what we’re going to do next. Please allow us to see whatever you are holding with you so we can use it as our clue to find the truth.”

Charles opened his eyes and looked at me. I can see slight tears in his eyes. I didn’t say a word. He nodded and I kneeled down.

My hands are visibly shaking as I start to reach for her hands. I carefully and slowly reached in between her hands. I cringed as the coldness of the bones hit my skin.

“Ahh,” I half-screamed.

“Shhh,” Charles shushed me. He quickly put his ears on the outer walls to listen if someone heard me.

“Sorry,” I whispered. “I felt something cold. Very cold. Metal perhaps.” I grabbed the cold object and very, very carefully pulled it out. I used my other hand to untangle the fingers. I definitely do not want to damage the skeleton. After struggling, I finally managed pull it out.

Charles turned his attention back to me. He shone the flashlight on the object I am holding now. It’s silver. “Do you have any idea what it is?” I asked as I hold it near to the camera. It’s club-shaped. And it seems to be good silver. It’s still shiny and new considering the fact that it has been here idly since the 1800s.

“No,” Charles whispered, “Here, let me take a closer look.”

“Hold on,” I said as I started to sit up. I looked at the skeleton to make sure I don’t hit it when standing up. I wiped the dust off of my knees. “Here.” I held out the silver object to Charles.

BUT HE WAS GONE.

“Charles?” I whispered. My heart started to beat. It gets louder and louder every second as my knees grow weaker and weaker from shaking. “Charles!” tears are now forming in my eyes. I do not care if anyone hears me now, “CHARLES, WHERE ARE YOU!”

I took a step back as I shout. I quickly undid the step remembering the skeleton. I looked at it to see if I had accidentally stepped on it from the sudden movement, BUT IT WAS GONE. Too.

It was only then that I decided to look around me. I was still in the passage. But it was clean. No dust. No “old smell” blocking your nose. No skeleton. No Charles.

Damn, where the hell am I? I started to hear footsteps from the side were we entered. From the White Room, to be exact. “Go, go, go”, and old man said, “This way!”

I saw a light from the other end. I quickly stopped crying and looked for the nearest turn to hide. I stepped further back into the turn I found to make sure I wouldn’t be found. The voices and footsteps drew near.

I held my breath to not make a sound. Then I saw her. Christina. She was wearing a dark long dress and she is clutching something with her. It’s not small, unlike the silver object I found; it’s something a little bigger than a shoe box.

With her, there are four more people. A woman with blonde hair. Wait, I recognize her. That’s Marion Velvet, from the portrait. She’s Christina’s mother. There were two more women. They’re dressed in uniforms. They are maids. And a man. I think he’s the one I heard shout earlier.

“Just go!” he shouted as he made a shooing signal. “All of you exit the passages. I’ll handle him!” He said.

I’ll handle HIM. There’s another one.

“Are you sure?” Marion said.

“YES, madame,” he said in a sad voice. “I had made it my life purpose to protect you and your family.”

Marion nodded, and she, Christina, and the two maids run away.

The man faced the other side. Loud footsteps draw near. “WHERE ARE THEY?” the man shouted.

“Give me a reason to tell you,” the old man shouted.

“All right, then,” he started to charge towards the old man. I saw him as he went past to the turn leading to me. With him is a large sword. I bet he got it from the displays near the entrance to the school or manor during this time. “Let us do it the hard way.” I hear a loud thud. I bet he jumped on the old man. “TELL ME OR I’LL KILL YOU!”

“NEVER!”

I knew what’s about to happen next. I cannot hide here knowing he is about to get killed. I just acted. I need to do something. I ran from my hiding place ready to jump in the other man. Just as I was about to leap, the man had stabbed the other right near his chest.

I stepped back, shakily. I saw someone get killed. Tears are now falling from my eyes. My heart started to pound loudly again. I kept taking shaky steps back. Then I tripped. I fell back onto the ground. The object fell from my hand due to my fall.

I kept on crying and crying. “I’m so sorry,” I muttered. “I am so, so sorry.” I continued muttering the same thing over and over.

I felt the cold floor on my back. It was dusty again. I was crying so much I didn’t notice my surroundings. I am back in what I think is the present.

“IRIS!” I hear Charles whispered.

I looked up. He, too, was crying. Out of fear, it seems. “Charles,” I began in between tears, “You were suddenly gone, and the skeleton was gone.” I know I was speaking too fast it’s probably incomprehensible. “And I think I went to the past, I saw Christina, Marion, and three others and I saw him get killed,” I continued, still shakily, and pointed to the skeleton, now here again, lying on the ground.

“IRIS!” he whispered again.

I turned my attention to him. He slowly held his phone in front of me. He got it all on video.

#writeblr #writersblr #creative writing #origina writing #writers of tumblr #young adult #ya #fantasy #mystery #velvet manor 1845

2 notes · View notes