#if I knew how to mod I'd at least make her face paint

[crowetesque]

Since the official launch of Baldur's Gate 3 is around the corner I thought I'd share test scribbles of my planned Halsinmance druid, Maeve. Aka the wolf wife.

[wjbs-aus]

Ok further thoughts (based on what I posted to Discord while reading, plus a couple of new ones):

The thing of there being three variant covers insterpersed with text stuff is cool, though I'm not sure of the context of the imagery.

I knew, even before this comic was announced, that it would have a timeskip, but I expected it to just be the end and not a full-on framing device.

I love buff Merasmus. 10/10, excellent decision.

Soldier and Zhanna's kids are adorable.

I like Sniper flying the plane, even if it does crash.

We finally get to see the other mercenary teams, and like. The ones on the statue are interesting, and I think there's some interesting meta-commentary going on with their designs (going off the letters nearest to them, A looks kinda like if Heavy was in a modern Hero Shooter; B reminds me of Ana from Overwatch, specifically her aged-down skin that I can't remember the name of; I can't really tell what C's deal is; D kinda looks like Ranger from Quake, maybe with elements of Doomguy and Classic!Pyro; and E kinda feels like a standard spy-fiction femme-fatale maybe). So my thought is that like, the whole thing is kind of a meta acknolwedgement of TF2's inspirations (Quake (since the first Team Fortress, before Classic, was a Quake mod), old spy movies) and legacy (the Hero Shooter genre). But I could be completely wrong.

Speaking of Overwatch, on pages 85-86, Demo is shown looking at a painting of a character in power-armour with shoulder-mounted rocket-launchers, and like. That's, like, totally an Overwatch reference, right? Right??? Why am I talking about Overwatch for the first time in like 6 years in reference to a TF2 comic.

I love the (mostly) dialogue-free sequence of the Administrator in the 1800s where the colour of the lighting changes.

The forced Mr. House-ification of Zephaniah was not something I was expecting, like it's so cool. Also I love how the screens around his head all show screenshots of TF2 maps, like that's a fun detail. Also back in The Day™, around the time comic 6 released, I remember thinking that comic 7 could have had the Administrator turn herself into a computer as, like, a fun Portal reference, but they did it the other way around and more fucked up, which is way more interesting.

The thing of the Administrator hiding her Australium from Gray by stacking it so that it looks like furniture when there's cloth over it is great and honestly feels like something from, like, a '60s Eurospy movie. Like I can imagine the hosts of Kill James Bond doing like 10 minutes of bits about that. Maybe more.

Miss Pauling first-name and Scout surname reveals are neat!

I really like the joke of Merasmus being a ghost at the end, but it's done in a way that makes it at first look like it's just the lighting until the angle changes.

Something something "if I had a nickel for every time a Megatherium showed up in a Source-related franchise I'd have two nickels" or whatever (the other one is Zeno Clash).

Heavy and Saxton Hale both having timeskip beards is neat, as is Engineer keeping his.

I love that they basically forgot that Olivia exists, and then they bring her back as a teenager also Saxton Hale mentions her "tiny desk" and like I wonder if that's a reference to Tiny Desk Engineer.

The bit during the Smissmas photo montage where Spy is looking at one of the paintings in Scout's house othwhewbhuegnhoeri

The ending genuinely made me almost cry, like I love Scout taking more after his mother than Spy, and the bit at the end with everyone coming over for Smissmas and Scout directly addressing the reader was really nice. Also Spy face reveal, and also (I only noticed this while writing this post) Engineer without his goggles. Also I kinda hope if there's ever a TF3 (or at least some kind of timeskipped next-generation thing) that Tanya is the new Spy.

Also the timeskip to "now" with elderly Saxton Hale and Mags fighting cheetahs is really funny and a great send-off to the TF2 story (unless they do some more with it, which I doubt they will).

New TF2 comic's good!

[andcontemplation]

I saw your pic of Winona and Helena and I was wondering if you could do a short ficlet of maybe young Joyce discussing her fling/friendzone/love with Hop with her older sister cause hell she's desperate about it

Like the sister could ask her out, give advice, tease her about it, they could talk about each other's experiences or Joyce could even ask her for advice cause she's afraid to fuck things up if it gets physical

I'm not a writer so I'm leaving all my ideas here, I'd love if you wrote this but don't worry if you're too busy or sth

Dear Anon -- I don’t normally take many fic requests because I’m such a slow writer, but this one just sprouted fully formed from my brain the moment I read your ask! It still took me a few days to get after since life got busy for me. It also turned out to be about 1400+ words so I’ve pasted below under the cut. I’ll be uploading it to Ao3 soon too when I get a chance :) I’d be happy to dedicate it to you if you feel comfortable dm-ing me your username on Ao3. Thank you for sending it along!

"Hey, you! What's wrong?"

Joyce nearly jumped out of her skin at the disembodied voice that called out from the empty bedroom -- or at least, the bedroom she thought was empty. She turned on a dime, clutching for her heart. Joyce might’ve been sixteen going on seventeen, but she was far too young for a heart attack.

"Jesus!" She gasped at the familiar figure sitting at the edge of the bed. "I didn't know you were home."

"Ma didn't tell you I was coming home for Thanksgiving?" Stella stopped unpacking the small duffle at her feet and raised an eyebrow at her sister.

Joyce sighed and leaned against the doorframe.

"Ma's not even here! She went to Chicago this morning with her new beau."

"Color me surprised," Stella deadpanned, throwing the pair of socks down on the bed in disgust. "Which one? Tom?"

Joyce shook her head.

"Randy. Tom was married."

Stella rolled her eyes and reached for another handful of clothes.

"Of course he was," she snapped. "How does she keep falling for that same old line?"

Joyce only shrugged and toed the door jamb, waiting for her sister to invite her into her room.

They hadn't seen much of each other since Stella ran off at sixteen to live with her boyfriend in Philadelphia, almost two years previous, and as the months and then the years passed by, Joyce felt more and more distant from the sister she grew up with. It was beginning to feel like eons had passed since they would spend all their days together, playing dolls and dress-up in that exact bedroom, performing plays for the neighborhood kids in the backyard or riding their bikes downtown to go try on perfume and makeup at the five and dime.

Joyce was still a little miffed at Stella for running off and leaving her behind with their mother and not taking Joyce with her when she left. It didn't seem fair that she had to stay when she was the baby -- the baby with the most responsibility -- the one who ended up making sure Ma didn't go completely off the rails, dependent on the bottle again or running off with a third husband. The resentment Joyce still carried always made her forget just how much she missed having her big sister around and how much she still needed her.

Stella looked up from her duffle bag and saw Joyce standing there, looking at her with big, red-rimmed eyes.

"Sorry Ma skipped town. I'm glad you're home," Joyce said, meaning it.

Stella's frown melted, and she dropped the clothes in a heap, patting the bed beside her.

"I am too. Now tell me what's wrong."

Joyce sighed deeply.

"Nothing. It's stupid."

"Boys?" Stella asked with a knowing grin.

Joyce sighed again, and her eyes fluttered up to the ceiling, embarrassed at the degree of stupidity she was feeling that very moment. She willed herself not to cry over him.

Stella pushed Joyce's bangs out of her eyes and off her cheeks, where they stuck to pale skin, and gave her little sister a look. But instead of imbibing confidence, it just made Joyce want to cry more.

She made a face and sucked in a breath before letting it all out.

"Karen and I saw Hop behind the bleachers with one of the cheerleaders today at lunch."

Stella's eyebrows shot up.

"Oh. Which cheerleader?"

"Chrissy Carpenter. That bottle blonde bubble-headed... bimbo!"

Joyce glared out the window and across the street at the edge of Hopper's front lawn, the only piece of his house she could see from that angle.

Stella choked back a giggle when she noticed how intensely Joyce was staring.

"Woah. That's some serious alliteration."

"Yeah, well," Joyce grumbled and shrugged. "I'm upset."

Stella went back to emptying out the rest of her bag, but not before throwing her sister a loving look.

"I can see that. But I thought you and Jimmy were just friends?"  

"We are!" Joyce finally dragged her eyes off his house and pouted at Stella before trailing off. "It's just that…"

"Oh come on," Stella said and ruffled Joyce's bangs. "You know you can tell me!"

There was another eye roll from Joyce.

"I just thought that something had changed between us this year. Maybe... Oh, I don't know anymore."

Then she clammed up.

Stella walked over to the window, took out a pack of Slims, and lit one up before opening the window a crack.

"Know what? Spit it out, sis!"

Joyce couldn't look at her older, prettier, more elegant sister, sitting there smoking at the windowsill like some french model who could have any man she wanted -- wrapped around her little finger. Joyce wished she could only look so mod and in charge.

Instead, she felt pathetic for pining after the boy across the street.

"Well," she started, flopping back on the bed, finding it easier to confess without having to worry about seeing the look of judgment cross Stella's face. "He'd been acting weird since we went camping this last summer. Then I realized by the second week of September that he was over here almost every night. At first, he said he needed help with his schoolwork because he really wanted to graduate, and since we're in all the same classes, it made sense, right? But by October, he was coming over for the dumbest reasons, and then I started to think he was gonna ask me to the homecoming dance. Like, I was so sure he was gonna do it. A few times, actually. But it was like he chickened out or something."

Stella held up a hand to pause Joyce there, even though Joyce couldn't see it.

"Waitaminute. Didn't you say on our last phone call that Lonnie Byers asked you out that night?"

"Yep, and what a date that was." Joyce rolled her head to the side and looked at her sister with a scowl.

Stella smirked, tapping the end of the cigarette out over the eaves.

"I warned you about him."

"Yeah yeah, I know: 'Lonnie Byers is scum.' But I'm pretty sure we're talking about Hop here?"

"Pardonne Moi! Please... continue."

"So, he seemed a bit distant after homecoming, but he'd still come over to study sometimes, and I'd catch him staring at me. It almost looked like he wanted to kiss me or something. And one day during gym, he told me I looked pretty when I knew for a fact I was a sweaty, frizzy mess. I guess it got in my head because I started to think, well maybe I want him to kiss me. And maybe I like him too? I was gonna tell him this weekend. I had it all planned out. But then he runs off and swaps spit with Chrissy, and now here I am, crying over a dumb boy. Stupid, stupid me."

Stella put the last bit of the cigarette out and moved back to the bed, pushing Joyce's legs out of the way.

"Not stupid," she said. "Just young and in love."

Joyce sat up on her elbows, nose turned up in protest.

"Gross. I am not!"

"You are." Stella chuckled.

Joyce frowned as she slowly realized her sister was right and succumbed to her lovesick fate.

"I am, aren't I?"

"'Fraid so, my dear."

"Cripes -- this sucks!”

"Oh, don't worry." Stella smiled. "I know just the thing to fix a broken heart! Ma might not be around but we can still have fun. What’s say we stay up late, paint our nails, eat our way through an entire tub of ice cream and I can give you some pointers for when you find yourself a real man. You'll be over that silly Hopper boy in no time."

"But what if I don't want to be over him?" Joyce whined, feeling sick for even thinking it let alone admitting it out loud. He was her best friend, since before they could walk, and those feelings had remained strictly platonic but lately, she couldn't imagine being without him, let alone sharing him with anyone else. Especially bottle blonde bubble-headed bimbos.

Stella held her hand out to Joyce and helped her sit up.

"Trust me, sis. It's for the best. Boys like Jim and Lonnie will ruin you for life. You belong with someone sweet and kind, who won't rush you before you're ready…"

Joyce scoffed.

"Boys like that don't exist!"

"Sure, they do!" Stella nodded. Then she had an idea. "Say -- isn't there a Sadie Hawkins soon?"

"Yeah, the Snowball," Joyce said, cluing in, trying not to look too excited. "You think I should ask Hop?"

"No!" Stella sighed. "I'm saying you should ask a nice boy to go with you."

"A what?"

"Think of the nicest, and well... let’s say the nerdiest guy in your class, and ask him to the Snowball. Not Lonnie or Hop! No more bad boys who play ping-pong with your heart."

"No, no way!" Joyce shook her head and dove headfirst into the pillows. "I am not asking Bob the Brain!"

Stella threw her hands up in the air.

"Fine, be miserable and alone forever then. See if I care!"

"Fine!" Joyce shouted, muffled by the pillows before dissolving into a fit of giggles as her sister beat her over the head with another frilly embroidered pillow.

"I'm glad you're home," Joyce said when she caught her breath.

"Me too, sis," Stella said. "Me too."