#btw i don't ship them or anything ew

[serbianazula]

Y'all I just started watching Arcane (like two months ago) and I need to get this off my chest bc I was kinda weirded out in episode 4/5 (Btw I did finish series and I know he sees her as a daughter and I definitely DO NOT ship them!!!)

[some-pers0n]

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...

[nights-at-crystarium]

You know what, I assume that people always read my pinned, or notice the pointer "new reader? start here" in every new Fragments' episode. I might be deluding myself. So hi hello lemme TALK ABOUT MY COMIC.

Before I get too rambly (and I mean RAMBLY), here's a quick intro. Fragments is a comic focused on feels and slice of life, made by a queer guy, aiming to ~character study~ the main cast (Vivi, Raha, Alisaie, Feo Ul) and fill in the gaps in canon (or linger in canon moments that needed more air imo), the tone ranging from angst to fluff to meme. Good punches require a good windup, so please don't expect angst anytime soon :3c

The story's segmented (fragmented, heh) into episodes. Episodes 1-11 take place in ARR, you can enjoy them with no worry about spoilers. Episode 12 onward is ShB, with all the spoilers and lorebending.

My storytelling style assumes you haven't only played through ShB, but know it like the back of your hand, i.e. it's for nerds and thinkers. Of course there's plenty of silly moments that don't require any deep knowledge, but the overarching story does. Often I skip canon events, only hinting that they took place, simply because I don't wanna retell the msq 1:1, I've got plenty of original scenes waiting to be drawn. You're in for a treat if you like obsessing over emotional and moral implications of things. And, yes, this's a story about a morally grey mc. Don't expect to be spoon-fed "and this's why that thing's bad, kids".

Currently I've outlined all the main story beats up until post EW, so it's like, not being winged as I go. Yes I refine things here and there, but I know where I'm going. I'm going ham!!!! With the lorebending post ShB. Initially I didn't plan to, but the more I learned about Vivi and personally grew as a writer, the more courage I got to "divorce" from canon. The general xiv story may still be good wherever it's headed, but it's not suited for an established wolgraha, so I'm making food for myself.

Everyone imagines the lil scenes from their wol's life, I'm taking that a tiiiiiny step further. Fragments tells a cohesive story that's looking to be the longest project at least in our corner. I can and will hyperfixate on this for years.

I started out just like many others, being hit with ShB like a truck, I wanted to put a catboy under a microscope and rotate him forever. Although I'd already been drawing for decades, I didn't have the comic-making skills yet, or eloquence to write the dialogue, so I spent the first half of 2022 self-studying, just because I needed a mouth to be able to scream about my ship.

Vivi didn't exist prior to my obsession with Exarch. He was made for this, he started out as a reagent (or a foil, now that I know fancy writing terms) for a rich and fun chemistry, and keep myself entertained for years, first and foremost.

Me, a fool: okay let's make a guy that falls in love with Exarch in this particular moment, what kinda life must he have led to- Me: ....oh no

The chemistry quickly bubbled up and exploded in my face, involving not only Exarch, but other characters (first as a means to subtly tell about Vivi, then they also demanded their own screentime), and here I am, sitting with a massive script on my hands, drawing my blorbos every day. Thanks for enabling that btw.

I care about characters a lot. I ask a lot of whys and hows. I'm critical-minded and burned on many bad stories that did their characters dirty, and I wanna be an opposing example. What I'm doing is extremely ambitious and risky, yes, but I can only invite you to tag along and see if I stick to my word.

The internet's a cruel and unforgiving place nowadays, and here I am, pitting my passion against what feels like decaying humanity. I'm making this comic to keep myself happy above all else, being sincere and cringe because life's too short to be anything else.

Thanks for reading this, and if you haven't yet, read Fragments here!

[silvers-not-home]

INTRO POST RAHHH!!!!

errmmm i literally have no idea what to put so work with me here😭

IM A CHILD BTW YOU GUYS!!!!

you can call me tango or scar :3

i identify as agender orchidromantic and bisexual!! (questioning orchidsexual)

i am a therian and otherkin that uses xenogenders and neopronouns so if you don't support/like that go away you weren't welcome in the first place

will post vents rarely and will be tagged with #/vent

i'm also visually impaired so i might have to change the color of the font sometimes to help me register it better😭 (if you need me to repost something with a different colored font please ask/dm me! ^^ i'd be more the willing to do that x3)

please use tone tags!! >~< /gen

DNI LIST (seriously if you're any of these do NOT interact i'm being so fr fr)

pr0ship/c0mship, zi0nists, rac1sts, ableists and basically anything that falls under that line

this is a safe blog!! meaning i would never post g0re/nsfw/jump scares etc!! /srs /gen

(i do write smut but i would never post it here but i have posted it on my ao3 acc)

i would love to be friends with my moots >0< (if tumblr notifies me whenever they dm me😭)

my ask box is always open for (almost) anything! whether that be writing requests (i can't draw) or just silly goofy questions :3

i WILL write

shipping

angst

fluff

au's!! og or requested idm either one as long as the original owner is okay with it!! (and i would like some form of proof just to be safe /nm /gen)

any fandom i'm at least familiar with

ooc

i will NOT write

smut (not for commissions/requests at least)

g0re

inc3st (dni if you support that anyways like seriously ew???)

anything i've stated i won't post on here previously

my interests :D (in order of how normal i am abt them)

• life series/hermitcraft

• yhs (samgladiator)

• minecraft (yes i know they're basically the same thing shut up)

• fnaf

• vocaloid

i am a scene kid in training (you guys i wanna dress scene so badly oh my god you guys please please i'm begging you at this point plea-)

also i'm currently figuring out how to set up an etsy account so i can sell my kandi!! you can find it here when i make it :3 (currently saving up so i can move out of my moms house early)

[dinosaursatemymom]

Tw:sa, mentions of sa

TL;DR: nuance is incredibly important when discussing ships and characters. Also don't fucking make shit up, that's gross.

oh

Oml

I just found out that some people think that Steve SA'd Nancy in s1

Btw I don't ship stncy, but this is just, no. Oml no.

I just have to say that this is definitely wild. Especially because that's, just, not what happened in the show, and trying to paint Steve as this evil assaulter who was only using Nancy for sex literally undoes his entire plot in s1 that proves he wasn't just using her for sex.

In the first scene, he pushes for more, she says no, they joke a little, and then he stops. It was clearly meant to be lighthearted. The scene where they actually do have sex, Nancy initiates it. Steve did not at any point force Nancy into having sex. Lighthearted joking about having sex is not sa. If you cannot tell the difference between lighthearted joking around and literal fucking SA then please do not say shit like this, especially if you haven't experienced SA yourself.

Like, if you wanna talk SA maybe talk about the very real violation of consent in the show by Jonathan.(ftr I have forgiven Jonathan for this, he has clearly grown since s1 I just feel it's necessary to bring up in this convo bc jncy shippers tend to just ignore that this happened) Jonathan not only violated nancy's privacy, he also violated Tommy's, Barb's, Steve's and Carol's consent in taking these pictures. They were not in a public space, he went into a private gathering and took pictures without consent. That's a violation of privacy, tommy and carol being assholes doesn't mean they should get their privacy taken. It's gross, and it's even worse when people try to excuse Jonathan's actions and say he didn't do anything wrong.

Yes, Jonathan has grown and can be forgiven for this.

But, he was not in the right for taking those pictures of them.

It's the same with Steve

No, he shouldn't have slutshamed Nancy or said those things to Jon.

But, he was in the right for being upset about the pictures and he has grown since then

All of these things are true.

What isn't true it's saying that Steve SA'd Nancy. Especially when this is used as anti stncy "evidence". That's gross. Wtf.

Don't erase the real consent and privacy violation and make one up just to defend a ship. Ew

Also Nancy deserved so much better than Jon in s1, I'm actually glad about the decision to make them get together in s2 because it gave Jon some time to grow and be less weird. I don't really like how they got together (a grown adult giving teens alcohol and telling them to have sex will never not be weird) but I digress.

JSYK this isn't rlly an anti jancy post. I think that they could be really great if they could just fucking communicate and work on their problems better.

Also I just get really annoyed when people treat ships as if they have no issues and are perfect, which tends to be a lot of peoples attitudes on jncy which has kinda turned me off from the ship itself.

So many conversations surrounding jncy and stncy lack much needed nuance, which can lead to people saying things like this as "proof" that a character/ship is bad and terrible and the worst ship ever.

[eli-the-gorehound]

my opinion on a bunch of RDR2 ships because I need to distract myself!

BTW! I don't know how popular any of these are! Whatever I say about fans of this stuff is things I can infer or have seen from a few people. Also any you know that I haven't mentioned tell me about! Like I didn't know many John x ____ ships because I don't like exploring them much. Before we do anything, Dutch / Hosea x Arthur / John or John x Arthur is so shitty, they are family.

Arthur x Mary Honestly, not a lot of thoughts on this one. I like seeing their past relationship but I can't find them in the game very interesting. They seem like they really were in love in some way a long time ago but now I just like them as friends

Arthur x Mary-Beth I can't really see why people ship this, Mary-Beth asks Arthur to dance and all but I can't see it as more than friends

Arthur x Sadie Same with Mary-Beth, can't see why people ship this. Sadie seems too dedicated to her husband and just not close in that way.

Arthur x Kieran Meh, I used to ship this and didn't see much of the fans. They could be cute but Arthur is really mean to him at the beginning and by the point he isn't Kieran is very close to being killed. Really depends.

Arthur x Charles I ship this so very biased but it is 9 times out of 10 an amazing ship.

Arthur x Albert SO CUTE I LOVE THIS EVEN IF THEY MEET LIKE 4 TIMES I FORGET. Matthews Family made me love it more tbh. But like, before I was kicked from fronting and when I was not on tumblr I shipped these two then I forgot about them

Arthur x Trelawny Idk, can't see this one happening.

Arthur x Javier See above. Also I'm a Jovier slut so NO

Arthur x any other stranger mission characters I find most stranger mission character x Arthur cute but I can't see them very much since they're just stranger missions

John x any stranger mission characters Kinda weird since John can only interact with them when he and Abigail are "better" or actually better

John x Abigail Best straight ship here tbh. John is kinda shit to Abi in the start of rdr2 and just most of it but they are so cute once the are actually fine. ALSO THEY ARE T4T I WOULD WRITE A WHOLE FIC ABOUT HOW I THINK IT WORKS BUT I ALREADY HAVE 1 JOHN CENTRIC FIC I'M WORKING ON THAT WILL PROBABLY TOUCH ON IT. IF IT DOESN'T I AM WRITING IT BECAUSE MY THOUGHTS ARE LOUD.

John x Javier I actually ship this! I find it hella interesting with how John treats Abigail and Javier and how Javier treats John in rdr1 (I've listened to his little thing like 5 times). Cool ship. Good for angst.

John x Bill Saw this once, hope it isn't popular but I just don't think they'd work, it feels off. John is like really only nice to him when he's drunk so idk.

Javier x Bill Just no, kinda weird for rdr2 and somehow less weird in rdr1 (kinda like they hate each other and no one likes this but they are fucking) but I think they hate each other guys.

Kieran x Bill Tell me you ship abuse without telling me you ship abuse. Okay but I can't see this being healthy for anyone, Bill's repressed ass and Kieran with the most anxiety and also he whole thing with Bill wanting to cut Kieran's balls off wasn't cute and it makes me feel gross every time I see the camp interaction involving it or the cutscene. Plus just by going by ship tags it's also paired a lot with Morston which. ew.

Karen x Mary-Beth Didn't like this one too much until I read Matthews Family and now I love it. Not much to say just lesbians.

Mary-Beth x Kieran Cute but don't ship! I don't have a lot to say on it, it's fine and people that ship it seem fine but I don't care for it :)

Mary-Beth x Tilly Meh, just don't care for it. Kinda see them more as sisters but yeah

Karen x Molly Like this one a lot! Think it is interesting but maybe not the best for either parties

Karen x Sean [insert Karen hatefucks the Irish to survive post] Just meh about it, least favorite cannon ship just because I feel like we didn't get to learn enough about Sean beyond "loudmouth Irish" to see how things with him work.

Sean x Lenny Cute :) Not much to say, just cute

Sean x Kieran This is a ship? No but like, I've seen things with this but like. I don't see how.

Dutch x Hosea I LOVE THIS ONE SO MUCH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. But yeah. Totally normal 'bout them. Love em.

Dutch x Molly I didn't like this one in the first place and we recently spilt a Dutch alter (he's been front stuck for like all of last month and still now) who kinda made me figure out my stance on Dutch's cannon sexuality/how he isn't straight. It's not just our fictive's thing but basically I don't think he feels romantic attraction toward women and at most just confuses friend ship or pure sexual attraction for full attraction and that's why he isn't with Susan or really Molly. Anabelle feels like special case in my head where she died before he could no longer like her. ALSO- there's like a tumblr post I remember reading about this but I cannot remember it for the life of me.

Molly x Sadie Cute but they never interact but also omg I love this.

Sadie x Abigail Actually love this. In my dreams Abigail x Sadie, Abigail x John and John x Javier coexist in the epilogue and everything is fine. Please let everything be fine.

Susan x Swanson Seen this in fic tags a few times but I usually don't read them for other reasons and it seems fine. Kinda cute and maybe I'll look into it

Susan x Strauss Seen this once in a joke post but people might actually ship this so. I mainly view it as either a joke or just weird. idk man.

Hosea x Bessie Pretty adorable! Hope we can get more about them one day.

Bessie x Anabelle One tumblr post affected how I saw these two forever and now I ship them. Dutch x Hosea, Dutch x Anabelle, Hosea x Bessie and Bessie x Anabelle all existed at the same time. Yes there's no way to know but IT HAPPENED I SWEAR

Micah x ANYONE Always gross, always weird.

[stormblessed95]

Hello storm, i asked this question in another jikook blog but as you are very detailed in your responses i wanted your perspective on it as well. Do you find it a bit strange that from the Taekook perspective Tae seems to only be gay for Jungkook? Let me explain.

Tae has a whole squad of male friends (handsome males), he hangs out with, seems to be close to Park Bogum and even went to an art exhibit with him and they have their own version of GCF, yet not only have I seen Tkkers shrug them off as friends but have 0 malice for Park (not that i want them to) but seem to loathe Jimin? How come? Doesnt Bogum threaten your ship just as much if not more than Jimin?

So in the Taekook world Tae and Kook are deep in love in a ltr and their only threat is Jimin? How does that work. If Jungkook is Tae's type and vice versa, Jimin doesnt fit that mold so why be threatened by his prescence? Park Bogum is tall, gorgeous, talented, if anything he posses a bigger threat since he fits the mold of guys Tae should be into. So why is he shrugged off but Jimin hated and seen as a p*rv and a threat?

I know i am asking a mouthful but when you spend a few minutes thinking about the mind of a Jimin anti, it really shows how irrational these people are.

The tkkrs who do think Tae is only gay for JK, or vice versa where JK is only gay Tae (this is also about the jkkrs who think JK is only gay for Jimin too btw) aren't doing anything but fetishizing a mlm queer relationship for their own fantasies and gratification for their own abysmal love life and/or their own sexual gratification. Both are a problem. It's not okay. And I absolutely blame the media for the crappy representation and fetishizating stereotypes they give queer characters. Because that's then also how these types of shippers view BTS. As characters for them to play out their fantasies with. It's not okay. These are the same people who will ship the members but then at the same time not actually support queer people or the community. It's the "ew gay people" crowd who also go "lol so who do you think the bottom is??" It's the same people who always view one as "the man" and the other as "the girlfriend." They are cosplaying support for queer people behind a ship that they don't TRULY believe in. Because if Tae or JK ever came out as gay, or confirmed they are boyfriends and are gay. Those same people who gloat about winning but also have a really fucking hard time continuing to support them "in their sins." Either you think they are queer and you support them regardless of if they are in the gay ship you want them in, or you don't. Full stop. There is no "I'm only gay for...." there are LOTS of sexualities out there where you are attracted to a variety of genders or non at all. It's all okay, but people don't get to decide that for you. Because that's a cop out of actually supporting and caring for the person(s) you claim to love and support in their queerness and otherwise.

As for the irrationality of being a Jimin anti? You absolutely answered that for yourself. Lol they aren't "threatened" by their other male friendships because they don't actually view think they are gay, therefore other men aren't a "threat." Jimin a "threat" simply because he is the most rival ship, they want to win and they throw all their homophobic and misogynistic ideas and tendencies onto him. It's fucked up.

Idk if any this ended up making sense or if my angry rant just ended up wordy and ranty. But oof this is a topic that gets my gears grinding 😅 thanks for the ask

[michu-writes]

FSGTBTGHNN HI I SAW YOU DO EW AND POLY SHIPS AND GOT RLLY EXCITED BC I NEVER FIND ANYONE WHO DOES─ BUT FEEL FREE TO NOT DO THIS I DONT WANNA MAKE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE!! /gen

Could you do some headcannons for A poly relationship between Edd a gn S/o and Tom? the S/o stims pretty openly and it's usually drumming on things or flapping their arms by their sides? [think a vv happy penguin-]

again don't feel obligated to do this, I just love your writing and think you'd do a cool job w/ this /gen

Have a nice week n stay hydrated!! :DD

A/N: BRO I LITERALLY HAVE THOSE STIMS?? ESPECIALLY YHE PENGUIN ONE??? This was so fun to write omg

Chaos. Just pure chaos.

Edd would probably be worried about you at first, while Tom would just question you and laugh at it 💀. I PROMISE THEY DON'T MEAN IT IN A MEAN WAY!!! They just haven't seen anyone do those movements the often, and thought it was a bit odd before they found out it was just stims. THEY'D IMMEDIATELY FEEL BAD FOR THINKING THAT WAY D: Now that they know that it's just a stim, they'd just act like it's normal and think it's really cute. Tom would just tease you, and Edd would probably stop him from saying anything way too far if that makes you uncomfortable- BOTH EDD AND TOM ARE READY TO KICK SOME ASS IF ANYONE BULLIES YOU FOR IT THOUGH! They have no mercy fr. Like no one is allowed to mess with their s/o just because of stims >:C

Edd would probably buy some fidget toys for you to fidget on btw if you want, he just loves you <33. AND YOU KNOW WHEN YOU START DRUMMING ON THINGS??? TOM WOULD PROBABLY MAKE A SICK MELODY FOR IT OR SOMETHING LMAO

But yeah, if you're somewhat insecure about your stims, they'd tell you that it's nothing to be insecure about, because everyone has stims and they always has your back incase someone starts talking shit to you. Both of them tells you how much they love you and that you don't have to hide them, especially when they're with you!

[kagesdumpsterfire]

Okay, I have to say something and it may be something that some of you won't agree with and that's fine, it still needs to be said.

I'm putting the Jack comment on hold for now. I was distracted at that point and not paying attention and I would like to see/ hear for myself exactly what was said and how it was said. I plan on actually watching the panel later because I am more of a visual person when it comes to panels and stuff anyway. So, I am not defending or condemning Jensen for what was said until I have the proper information for myself.

However,

What happened with the last question at Misha's panel was NOT Jensen's fault. It was more than likely a con employee pushing them out there to get Misha for photo ops. It was a shitty thing that happened, but Jensen is not to blame.

Hellers, we cannot be mad at Jensen for giving us 100% confirmation on Destiel, while at the same time accepting that Misha can't talk candidly about it at a creation con. Misha said the words "I'm not supposed to talk about this." If Misha, who has openly talked about it before, at great lengths, is not allowed to say anything, what makes you think Jensen can? Is it shitty and unfair that we can't bring up ships at cons, even with the show being over? Yeah. It is. Especially with ships being such a large part of the fandom. EVEN SHITTIER when they made it such a big part of one of the character's story lines. I believe Jensen gave us what he was allowed to. If you saw/heard the panel, he was very careful with his words, so not to step on anyone's toes. You know what, fuck it. This needs subsections.

I'm pissed too. I want to be able to talk about Dean and Cas too. Fact of the matter is though, those questions got banned at cons and it looks like they will remain that way.

Creation probably sees it this way: "If we open up questions for one ship we have to open them for all of them." Which you know damn well of we got to ask our questions about the confession, the other's would throw a fit. Do you want (more and not thinly veiled) w*ncest questions at cons? I don't. No matter which way they flip it, they lose. They open up avenues for one side and alienate the other side and that loses them money, so they figure it's best to just keep everything the way it has always been. They don't care that it pisses anyone off or hurts anyone because CREATION does not care about you. They care about your money. I'm not defending it. I also think it is bullshit and aggravating, but that's how business works.

Jensen still works for the WB. Jensen is trying to get his spin-off off the ground. The man still has to toe the line.

He obviously believes Dean still cares deeply for Cas. He said big embrace. This is after Cas made his confession. I choose to take solace in that. You don't have to. I love the idea that even after all that happend, Dean would still be happy to see his best friend ( which btw, my spouse is my best friend so ya can't get mad at the wording) on the otherside of that door. He could've said "ew, no gross." and been homophobic about it. But he didn't. Because ( whether people want to accept it or not) Dean cared very deeply for Cas. What he said proves that NOTHING can change that.

In conclusion, again, Jensen is not to blame.

Now, like I said, I am not defending or condemning him for what he said about Jack, as I wasn't paying attention for it. What I AM defending him for is things that are not his fault. He is human. He is allowed mistakes. These are not his mistakes. Okay? There's no need to crucify the man over things out of his control.

Also, if ya come at me hateful, you'll be ignored. I ain't about it. Thanks.

[janiedean]

what do you think of the whole "fandom fetishizes m/m relationships" argument? for example killing stalking is about an extremely abusive captor/captive m/m relationship, and ppl who are into that stuff in fiction are shipping it (like with thramsay) and other ppl are LOSING THEIR MINDS over it, saying anyone who ships it is disgusting and homophobic and hurtful to gay men irl. but i don't see anything wrong with enjoying something like that in fiction?

that I���ve heard that argument for ten years and I’m about ready to see it ended

now again: fiction is fucking fiction. I honestly personally don’t get what’s appealing in abusive relationships but it’s not my fucking business and as long as ppl tag it I don’t really give a fuck what they like. also because I remember the times when not only there weren’t tags, WARNINGS WERE NOT A THING, and back when I started reading fanfic let’s say that in the italian side of any fandom the concept of consent was... er, let’s say I went into a bunch of fics and ended up reading stuff which was obviously noncon but either wasn’t treated as such because the author obv had no idea or the two guys ended up in love with each other at the end anyway. like. ew. anyway people these days don’t know how good they have it, I WISH TAGS HAD EXISTED BACK THEN.

btw, I read the not asked for noncon when I was like thirteen and I didn’t turn out deranged, let that sink in.

other than that: for the fucking love of everything, if someone ships m/m but then goes like ‘BUT LGBT PEOPLE SHOULDN’T BE ABLE TO GET MARRIED’ then they’re probably doing that for the fetish and tbh they probably need to look at their life choices and coherence, but most of the time it’s really Not That Deep.

because as I was saying last day: fandom is mostly made of women. or has been a predominantly women-dominated space since fandom in the modern term was a thing. now, I know that tumblr hates to hear it, but fact is: most people in the world are still straight and in accord with statistics everywhere, fandom is still largely made of heterosexual women. who, as we were saying the other day with anons, at least when it comes to the nc17 content tend to care more about m/m ships because heterosexual women find that hotter than lesbian sex for the same reason heterosexual men find lesbian sex hot and for the same reason my dream threesome would be m/m/f if I had to be in one. wow. hot water has been discovered. like idk if people realize that heterosexual ships in fandoms have always been the minority, there’s been a rise lately but honest the first time I had two het ships that were serious otp material at the same time I was 22 and I had been in fandom for ten years or so. there’s also the part where m/m relationships and friendships are usually better written/more expanded upon so obv you’re gonna care about what canon gives you if you wanna expand on it, so there you go. and honestly it’s laughable to say shipping people in fiction equals to fetishizing people irl - like I wouldn’t ever go ask a gay friend to watch him and his boyfriend make out or smth like that because I think it’s hot and I always vocally/personally supported equal rights everywhere because I think everyone should have them, not because I think two guys going at it is hot.

and on top of that people have been interested in unhealthy ships for ages and in unhealthy dynamics too. like for fuck’s sake you know what has always been my problem on kinkmemes? finding prompts to fill that weren’t dubcon or noncon because in every kinkmeme I ever ran into except the captain america one (and that’s because the hydra trash party exists bless them) at least half of the prompted stuff was noncon. like idk if anyone around here was around for blindfold-spn or the original spn kinkmeme on lj but lol the things I’ve seen. and like there’s nothing wrong with ppl wanting to explore that kinda shit if that’s what they’re into, I’ll just stick to my minority corner and worry about my fluff. also because unless you’re already unbalanced, exploring darker shit in fiction is a lot healthier than doing it irl (WOW DISCOVERY OF HOT WATER AGAIN) so like let people fucking enjoy whatever horrid shit they like while they hopefully realize that irl it’s not nice and stop policing whatever the hell people want to ship.

especially bringing gay men into the discourse because lol tumblr only cares about gay men when this argument happens, otherwise since they’re cis and have a dick they’re usually the **most problematic part of the lgbt community** and the likes and I honestly can’t take people on tumblr seriously after all the shit I read on the topic. peace.