#what you call mischaracterization i call having fun and playing | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

some-pers0n · 7 months ago

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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?

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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

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cheri-2047 · 9 months ago

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Helloooo do you write for aventurine from hsr?

If you do, would it be possible to request an aventurine x gn reader where he tries to comfort the reader who has religious trauma? If that's a little too complicated then something like aven trying to comfort the reader when they were suddenly reminded about their trauma from parents.

I'm really just desperately trying to make myself feel better 😭 anw the decision is still up to you <3 I hope you have a wonderful day and I hope that you stay safe and healthy, take care!! 💞💐

IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG 😭 I LOST MOTIVATION TO WRITE ANYTHING 😞😞 I’d love to write this for you but I’m not so sure on what religious trauma is so I focused on reader getting triggered by their parents instead, I hope that’s okay. Please don’t hesitate to comment if I mischaracterized him, this is based off what I see online since I don’t play hsr, thank you!

Aventurine comfort:

TAGS: slight mentions of self harm, hair pulling (out of stress) angst, fluff and comfort at the end

CHARACTERS: Aventurine

You were on your way home after meeting up with your parents. It’s been awhile since you last saw them so you thought you’d pay them a visit.

They welcomed you with open arms and were very glad that you came over, your mother excitedly sharing new stories of what’s happened while you moved away and your father just simply listening to you two.

Everything was smooth sailing, you had fun with them, sharing laughs and all until it all went down the drain.

“haha…” you chuckled it off. You hated hearing about the incident that had happened. Your parents brushed it off by now as a joke, but to you it was anything BUT that.

you continued to catch up to them, holding up a smile to get away the memories that ran through your brain.

stop stop stop

You clenched your hands tightly, continuing to laugh along with the “jokes” your parents made. You couldn’t stop thinking about it now, everything that happened, everything that you worked so hard to forget, all of it GONE just because of a few simple words.

“I might be home a bit late sweetheart, please don’t stay up waiting for me. Love you”

Your phone buzzed, a message from your boyfriend, Aventurine.

perfect.

You took this to your advantage, deciding it was a good excuse.

“Ah I need to go home, sorry mama, urgent things at work.”

You made a white lie. You knew it was a bad thing to lie, it would make you a sinner, but you would do anything right now to get away from that so called ‘home’

“I hope you visit again, we love you”

Your father kissed you on the forehead, before both waving off.

You quickly shuffled to your car, driving as fast as you can away from your parent’s home. You were thankful for your boyfriend’s text, not only can you have alone time but you also were able to lie with getting home.

You drove faster, the music louder, anything to try and get the flooding memories away. You clenched the wheel tightly, taking rough turns, completely ignoring your surroundings.

shut up shut up shut up shut up

please.

You reached your home, running to your bedroom, your safe place.

You opened the television, had your snacks around you and all but for some reason, nothing would work. The thoughts still lingered at the back of your mind, the unspoken memories, the things you’ve tried to hard to forget.

Little did you know, you ended up spiraling. Your eyes on the TV, your mind elsewhere. It all came back too quickly, too much for you, the way you were treated, the rules you were forced to have, the life you so desperately wanted to escape, and it felt like you were back. “…y/n… y/n? Hey hey-“

you got started by the sound, only to realize you had been pulling your hair a lot,

“ah- y-you’re back earl-“

He wrapped his arms around you tightly, Aventurine pulled your hands away from your hair,

“Shh, shh… there there”

he rubbed his hand on your back, you leaned into his touch, before looking down to see blood on your fingernails. “What happened?”

Aventurine pulled away, cupping your cheeks and rubbing your hand, careful not to touch the skin you picked.

You didn’t even notice it, but you were crying. You had tears run down your face as if your eyes were waterfalls.

“I visited my parents today”

“mh…did they do anything?”

“they just…mentioned something and I got triggered and started spiraling I guess…”

as you spoke, aventurine started to wrap some bandages around your fingers.

“What did they say?”

(cutting this part off here so you can like…. Explain to him ykyk. He doesn’t know much of your trauma so u explain that you went through that before)

“Oh sweetheart…”

he wiped your tears and kissed you on the cheek, before hugging you and hurrying your face into the crook of his neck.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t know that’s ever happened, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to remember…”

he frowned and pulled you closer,

“I’m sorry…. If you’re up to going to your parents again, I’ll be here to accompany you. If you don’t, then that’s alright, I understand.”

he kisses the top of your head multiple times, hoping to sooth you with his affection.

He intertwined his hand with yours as he continues to speak reassuring words. “I am always here for you, alright my dearest? If you feel triggered by anything ever again, please don’t hesitate to tell me. I’m never ‘too busy’ for you or any of that. I love you”

you smile as he tells you how he has your back and how he will never leave and swear to always protect you. As you stop crying, he starts to clean up the snacks you left and comes back with more of your favorite foods.

“I got some before I left work”

he chuckles, lying next to you on the bed as you two stayed in the comfort of each others arms.

“I love you, I always will and I will never stop.”

He presses a kiss to your lips, pulling away to see your smile, which makes him smile as well.

A/N: OKAY… so I tried to make it like him as much as I could, I think he’s the type to gen take things seriously in scenarios like this, and the part where he like… pushes(?) your head to his neck for comfort, that means a lot since I hc him to not like being touched there or anyone touching him there either, so yeah. Thanks for requesting and I hope this is ok!! Comments are appreciated (for tips, if I mischaracterized or just to say hi) I hope ure okay dude, if you want more of these feel free to request

#Hsr #star rail #x reader #aventurine #aventurine x reader #Fluff #headcanons #aventurine fluff #Hsr x reader #Star rail x reader #star rail aventurine #aventurine hsr

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miiilowo · 1 year ago

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You should make the list of ways you were correct anyways, just for fun ~

eh. sure. why not

Any time a post of mine about afton got a decent amount of notes (aside from fanart) there'd usually be comments on it complaining about how "those" fans [note: i am one of "those" fans] have no idea what his personality actually is, and that they water him down, woobify and mischaracterize him, all while listing things off that are just genuinely part of william's character. while yes, there are fans that DO do that, the stuff they talk about is almost never an actual example of this happening. this is likely due to people not viewing him as a person and just a bland cold serial killer with no personality whatsoever

obviously movie william is not 1:1 with game or book william, but they're gonna be similar in personality. so heres some stuff ive seen people complain was "mischaracterization" thats present in the movie:

hes emotional/sentimental and actually cares about things - william calls the owner of freddys sentimental when talking to mike about the pizzeria (and we all know the owner is william), he visibly regrets/is shocked by the fact he stabs vanessa, he gets really worked up when things dont go his way, very quick to anger, etcetera. one could argue that william is lying about being sentimental and just wants to give an excuse for why the place is still around, but there'd be no reason to do that, considering mike has no idea anyone even died there, let alone the fact HE killed the kids. we know williams sole motive for keeping the place around definitely isnt just sentimental reasons, but i doubt that what he said doesnt have at least an ounce of truth to it. he holds onto trophies from his kills as well if him keeping garretts toy plane is anything to go off of

he actually likes bunnies and has an affinity for them - he has a rabbits foot on his keyring and has a letter/paper holder that's rabbit shaped. the letter holder isnt actually in any shots, but it was present on set on his desk

his personality isnt one note and dull/cold, and hes superstitious & a little offputting/jittery - the rabbits foot on his keyring ties into this idea, because if he actually believes it to be a good luck charm, then it shows some "quirkiness" for lack of a better term that people adamantly refuse to admit is in his personality. this also shows how hes superstitious, which is an idea thats present in the books, and people also like to pretend he isnt. he pokes fun at mike in a somewhat lighthearted way multiple times, he has a has a FRAMED PARTICIPATION AWARD on his wall for christs sake. the kids hair colors match the animatronics they were stuffed into (minus bonnie). he matched them. he made them match he paired them up for fun. not only that, but he gets visibly nervous and antsy when he realizes who mike is, and clearly really wants him to take the job. gets kind of weird. gets a kinda strange. he likes when things match afterall (symmetry, my friend!)

he's theatrical and over the top in personality on purpose (this is also essentially an argument for the last point) - in the books he goes on and on about performance and how he viewed both dave miller & springtrap as characters he plays, and i seriously wouldn't doubt that it'd be the same here, considering how cartoonishly evil he is while wearing the springbonnie suit. the voice changer, the little flourishes he adds to his speech, the fact he wipes off the knife when there wasnt any blood on it in the first place. for what. for what reason other than for pizzazz and intimidation points. the "oh, this is going to be so much fun!" line, and especially his playful demeanor disappearing the second he takes off the mask

he cares about his kids/likes kids - his expression when he stabs vanessa and she falls to the ground says enough i think. obviously hes not a GOOD parent, but being a good parent and caring about your kids are two wildly different things. you can be abusive and still care. most abusers dont process that they are abusers but thats a conversation for another time. william prioritizes himself over anyone else, but he still looks shocked after he stabs his daughter, and i refuse to blame that on bad acting because its MATTHEW LILLARD. the training tape for mike also states that he enjoyed entertaining kids, and yes, while that could be a lie, do you seriously think the creator of what essentially is chuck e cheese would actually despise children. the fact he gives garretts toy plane to vanessa could be a point toward him in this department as well, though its also just as likely he collects them as trophies. i like to think its a mix of both

i included these points specifically because i also have a plethora of evidence for them from both the books and the games, and theyre the ones i most commonly see people stating are unrealistic for afton.

its not a lot of stuff, but its not like he has a lot of screentime. lets be real

i do ADORE how egotistical and shortsighted they made him in the movie, though everyone can generally agree on that being a staple trait of his

#william afton #steve raglan #aftonisms #this is what i can recall off the top of my head #fnaf movie spoilers

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jupiterjelliez · 6 months ago

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Hi, I saw your DCA post and just wanted to add somethings myself.

I don’t care that people ship them or see them as brothers or friends or whatever else. But the sexualization is out of hand, the trying to force people into things is out of hand, I’ve had friends with rp partners who didn’t see sun and moon as a ship, but was FORCED into it with “subtle” things (if you could call it subtle, which was why my friends would come to me to make sure they weren’t crazy or being gaslit) despite knowing these boundaries. Then would play victim when called out on it.

We are so awful to each other in this fandom…no one can seem to enjoy something without being pushed into a corner or into something that’s not for them or berated cuz “well that’s not how that’s supposed to be!” I get it’s not easy to find like minded people but I’ve found mine…so it isn’t impossible either. Also lord above, again I DONT CARE what people make. Being part of a fandom and making content is meant to be fun. But there’s so much Y/N stuff. It’s not my thing. It never has been. But it’s everywhere and I have to DIG to find content that’s just sun and moon

As for the TSAMS I keep my mouth shut usually but I despise it now. I can’t make anything and not say it’s not for that fandom cuz people just assume. I’ve seen the boys as brothers since before the show, it’s just my personal headcanon, others are allowed to see them as they please. But I’ve seen BOTH sides trying to push shit onto people.

“That’s incest!”

“You can’t make them brothers they’re in love!”

Just…let people enjoy what they enjoy.

But anyway, SAMS has also overshadowed characters too…

I rarely see art of our now CANON eclipse! We have one now and hardly anyone pays attention to him! It’s just SAMS Ruin or SAMS Solar or Lunar or SAMS Eclipse. It’s all I ever see…

SPIT YOUR SHIT RAGGHH!!!!

not much to say on my end, usually i wouldnt care if people are just having fun and stuff but its been the same blatant mischaracterization for 3 years, ongoing 4 and im just tired. these characters mean alot to me, people will say the same but they have no idea who they actually are. its irritating

(doodle so people look)

#fnaf #security breach #fnaf security breach #sundrop #moondrop #the daycare attendant #moon fnaf #sun fnaf

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codekira · 2 months ago

Text

Rant about Robocar Poli ( Unpopular opinions and I probably might get cancelled for this)

With the help of my boyfriend, I found out about this show called “Robocar Poli”. Eventually, I found myself getting hooked into the show, not for its artistic value or its target audience, but simply because of how fun and childlike it is. I mean, it’s just another generic cute little show for babies that doesn’t warrant an extended fanbase!

And then I found out about its fan domain.

Needless to say, I was surprised to see the number of fans this silly little children’s play had. It’s not uncommon for the rarest of media material to garner attention by the common folk. But as I scroll through the pages of fanmade art, roleplays, writing, or simply awkward rambling, I began to notice a few gripes that I had. Something that made me say “What? They can’t be serious!”. Something that made me flip the table in confusion.

Friends, let’s journey through the trudge of unpopular, popular, or controversial opinions that I have to get out of my chest. I know many are going to disagree, and that is fine. I am simple here to piss you off about my opinions or make you jump in joy for having the same opinions as me. It goes both ways. And remember, hate all you want, I don’t care. I have a life to live, and making this long-winded rant is simply a sidequest from living. And for those who say “Oh! It’s just a kidshow! Stop overthinking and overanalyzing it!” This is the internet. Not everything had to go through your 14 paragraphs of made up rules.

A special thanks to my boyfriend for encouraging me to voice out my thoughts and opinions about this particular matter and for helping me format this post.

THE RESCUE TEAM IS OVERRATED

Let’s start with the elephant in the room. the titular characters of Robocar Poli, the Broomstown Rescue Team. They are fawned upon by the citizens of their little town. And it seemed to have translated to the fanbase as well. Which is understandable, they are the protagonists and the main focus of the show. My only gripe is… how can people find them interesting?

To me, they seem like every generic main characters who are nice and kind and friendly to everyone. Except for Helly, who sticks out like a sore thumb for being slightly different with his playful personality. Still, they are boring to me. Nothing about them screams “Oh, this sounds like a character I am bound to be interested in!” Nothing. There is nothing to work with here.

I would even argue thst the side characters have more personality to them than the so called “main characters”. Atleast they don’t bore me every time they are on screen.

Sure, you can just make up your own bullshit for them in the long run. Headcanons in the fandom run around like rats, to the point some of them are considered canon by the community. An example of this is Poli being associated with space.

I stand with my point.

THE MISCHARACTERIZATIONS

First, Poli having a fear of caterpillars/bugs. If you’re going to add personality to the void of a character that is Poli, don’t just give him one trait and work off of it!

Around the fandom, I keep seeing Roy getting treated like a manchild. It just irks me. Not that it matters though, every fanbase has that. And I keep seeing him depicted as this “soft uwu boy” and holy shit can that archetype die already? He’s a grown man for God’s sake!

THE SIDE CHARACTERS ARE BETTER

Now this… this is the one i’m going to get hated on. Bear with me here. Where do I even begin with this?

I keep seeing people shit on the side characters for being “annoying” and “idiotic” but they couldn’t be more enjoyable. They are so full of life compared to the excuses for main characters. Watching them thrash around the screen has sent more reactions out of me than any focus they have attempted to place onto the rescue team. At least they have more traits that can be considered unique!

Also, they deserve far more recognition than what the fandom gives them. They get glossed over really quickly and it pisses me the fuck off. The rescue team live off of fanmade headcanons and backstories and they live off of their appearance on the show. See the difference?

I HATE CLEANY

This will ruin my already ruined image so bad… This character pushes me over the edge for how frugal and whiny he can get. I hate his overbearing voice. I hate his incredibly timid personality. I hate how everyone is so kind towards him and how I just want to shout at his face.

—

Remember, this is my opinion.

I might post more of these in the future, if I have the ciursge to get myself trashed again. Feel free to voice your own thoughts as well. I will be reading with glee. Codekira out.

#robocar poli #robocar poli opinions #opinions #unpopular opinion #feel free to reblog and voice your own opinions

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waddei · 5 months ago

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legitimate question, what’s so bad about people wanting to separate the characters from the dsmp? i get that some people can be really obnoxious about it, constantly bashing canon at every chance they get, and it’s basically the same feeling as people who used to be into it making fun of people for “still being into it” but at the core of it i don’t think there’s any harm in people “ocifying” the characters for themselves, at least not anymore harm than general mischaracterization. the characters will always be separate from the creators in my mind because i got i to the dsmp before knowing anything about any of the ccs, and i think they should be considered separate as they are CHARACTERS but i also understand people being uncomfortable thinking about their art getting tagged with the name of an irl abuser just because they drew a character they played who shares the same name. as painful as it is, ill always love the dsmp for everything it is and isn’t, and i do think it’s harmful to equate the characters to their creators, but i also understand why people want to distance themselves from some of the very serious shit that’s gone down with multiple of the main creators. they way they talk about it can be a bit obnoxious and holier than thou, but at the end of the day i think people wanting to separate the characters further from their creators is pretty understandable given the circumstances yknow?

hi anon, there's a difference between separating the content creators from the characters (aka what you're talking about) and separating the characters from the dream smp.

for reference, when I say "dream smp" I am referring to the narrative within it (the lore) unless specified otherwise.

i have no complaints with separating the cc& cs. in fact, I am a firm believer in that it's the correct way to enjoy the dsmp.

what I am complain about is separating the characters from the broader narrative and or isolating only a few character the op likes and calling them "OCS"

and oc is an original character. meaning you came up with the concept, design and story for it. c!tommy from the dsmp cannot, by definition, be your original character.

you can take traits from him and derive characters from his personality, but solely taking ctommy away from his setting doesn't make him yours and neither does changing his hairstyle and clothes.

i have my fair share of "tommy adjacent" OCS, guys that started as au versions I decided to flesh out further. but if you take a peek at those you might find they're quite different from ctommy and, most importantly, I don't tag their art as ctommy.

that post mostly was about people taking credit for characters that aren't theirs in efforts to distance themselves from the server. which is useless btw, if you're drawing cWilbur you're drawing cWilbur. I don't care if you rename him willy and give him a red sweater instead of yellow.

particularly, my disdain is for the people that change one or two details and claim this is a full re write or that their version is better (when most of the time it's just more boring)

and I am a huge hater about it

#asks!!#discourse #dsmp

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fandomsoda · 2 years ago

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Y’know I actually think we really need to talk about how more fem/less masc presenting characters are treated by the utmv fandom.

Because characters like Ink, Dream, Blue, and Lust have had a very disturbing pattern in how they’re treated. There are usually three really bad pitfalls that happen with portrayals of their characters.

infantilization/uwuification

villainization/yandereifiction

fetishization/hypersexualization

With these tropes often overlapping.

The version of bastardization we’re all pretty familiar with is infantilization/uwuification, where the characters are treated as overly innocent/cute and are often denied their maturity or agency in things. We all know the Bluwuberry situation and how Ink was treated pre-2018 and how Dream is still often treated today with very little push back, all of these characters are treated as innocent or demure simply for presenting less masculine or being “good guys”. But this can also be deliberately done in an attempt to “save” a character from preexisting misconceptions. See the #SaveLustBean situation from 2020-2021, where people (primarily on the utmv side of YouTube, usually young creators) tried to dispel the negative connotations around Lust’s character by… basically infantilizing him. It’s right in the hashtag, calling him an “UwU Smol bean” instead of just- saying #SaveLustSans or something like that that is more definitive. Their intentions were very noble, but their methods were misplaced.

Now on the other end of the spectrum, villainization. We’ve all seen it with Ink being treated like an unforgivable monster post 2018, we’ve all seen Lust being characterized as a gross pervert or deviant when he’s not, and we’ve all seen the villainization and uwuification compound to make yandereification with how Blue was treated in the early days. Even Dream is starting to be villainized in very upsetting ways. The issue with these portrayals isn’t that they portray these characters as dark or complex or as villains, I myself find darker interpretations of Dream and Ink fascinating. It’s about either the extent to which they misrepresent and mischaracterize the characters or the way the behavior is presented. With Ink and Dream especially their actions are often treated as irrational and hysterical, to the extent of playing into common tropes of the “unstable fem person who can’t control their emotions”. On the other hand there is Lust, who is villainized and ostracized because of his femininity and often is forced into a more masculine role, with the way his fem presentation is gawked at often resembling the way people forcefully masculinize and ostracize trans women. He is treated like a weirdo creep because of his nonconformity compounded with his proximity to suggestive themes and it’s… not fun to witness.

Now finally, the hardest of these to talk about and the least talked about of these topics, fetishization and hypersexualization. If you are sensitive to these topics/discussion of suggestive themes I suggest you skip this section, though know that nothing will be described in detail here. This is not about people simply ethically depicting these characters in suggestive ways or as people who have sex lives/appeal, that’s not at all what I’m referring to. I’m talking about the way that these characters often have sexual themes forced upon them, how all of their traits are often sexualized, and how these things are specifically done because of their femininity. Ink’s neurological issues are often fetishized with people treating him as mindless or helpless and then somehow trying to make that something they can exploit. Blue’s infantilized and yandereified nature are often accompanied with heavy sexualization, especially in the earlier fandom days. Dream is very rarely given proper attention beyond potential sex appeal and being a goody two shoes, with his own damn creator infantilizing him and then putting him in deeply upsetting situations. Lust especially is often not given room to exist outside of sex and is treated like nothing more than a suggestive deviant.

And a lot of people will ask me how all of this relates to their femininity and will claim it’s not exclusive to them, but if you look at how people treat the other characters that’s just not true. The bad guys are allowed to be complex and interesting, they are allowed to take on respectable archetypes, the stars and Lust are often not.

And whenever people try to remove them from these bastardizations they often do one thing that is very telling: they remove the non-masculine or unique traits of the characters.

People make them more masculine, less cute, more sanitized, they take away what makes these characters special, as if masculinity and a lack of cuteness and being nonsexual is what is required to deserve respect or proper characterization.

All of this to say: just because we are the fandom of gay gender nonconforming skeletons does not mean that there isn’t deep-rooted misogyny we need to unpack.

Obviously if you’ve ever made a mistake in portraying these characters or accidentally participated in bastardization you’re not suddenly a misogynistic monster, I just think it’s good to take a closer examination at how we have historically and continue to portray certain characters and may accidentally perpetuate certain harmful ideologies.

Feel free to discuss, just keep it civil.

Shoutout to @letsatomicbanana for bringing this to my attention.

#text post #soda talks characterization #semi serious post #utmv #undertale au #utmv fandom #ink sans #dream sans #blueberry sans #swap sans #underswap sans #lust sans

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watchingyoufromthestars · 1 year ago

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Finally cleaned this up so here’s my DnDads ultimate ship opinions list. I was waiting until after s2 ended to clean this up in case I had any final opinion changes with the last few episodes. Please don’t bash me for any of these. The DnDads fandom is generally very nice but shipping discourse is something that can get heated no matter the fandom.

Dads

Henry Darryl: very neutral. I understand the ship I just never fully got on the boat

Henry Glenn: absolutely fucking feral about them do not get me started on Glennry

Darryl Glenn: feral in a different way that I don’t know how to describe other than toxic yaoi in the way that they’re damaged but refuse to talk about it so they kiss about it instead

Loveeeeeeee polydads but only as Henry/Glenn/Darryl. Not really a Ron shipper I love him and Samantha too much. Ron and Glenn’s friendship is very important to me though

In terms of Jodie, I don’t really ship him with any of the main dads, ESPECIALLY not Glenn. Even if Jimmy didn’t play Jodie I’d still never ship them. Wish Scamster was real and not completely a scam because they’re literally a crackship become real except it was never a crackship before canon. It’s surprising to me that they weren’t really shipped beforehand

Henry Mercedes: THE T4T OF ALL TIME BABEYYYYY. Absolutely iconic couple, fate was in their favor with how they met they were destined for each other

Darryl Carol: After hearing how Darryl talked about his family in Heaven, I was actually really happy they ended up not getting divorced. They clearly had a rough patch as seen in s1, but they genuinely love each other and I love how devoted to her Darryl is. The little finger puppet he made of her in the time out zone… :,)

Glenn Morgan: GLORGAN!!!!!!!!! Oh my god these two tear me apart. I am feral for Glorgan angst there’s too much to work with. More people need to start calling them Glorgan instead of Morglenn please please please please pretty please indulge me in my silly ship name

Ron Samantha: sobbing. They’re so sweet. The distinction that Samantha is also a little silly is very important to me. They love each other so fucking much

Kiddads

Nicky Sparrow: didn’t realize how much I love them for a good while but when I did oh god I love them so so much. T4T it’s so real to me that they’re both trans

Nicky Lark: used to like it but yall mischaracterize Nicky so much in fics. If yall want toxic yaoi just ship Grant and Lark I’m so serious

Nicky Terry: sobs. They were best friends. I don’t personally ship them but the fact that Terry said he was his best friend… that line rattles around in my brain so often

Nicky Grant: recently learned this might get shipped and has THE coolest ship name. Crossfire I love you but for the ship name alone

Sparrow Terry: I think I’ve seen this shipped a few times but only in the context of Terry/Nicky/Sparrow. Not my personal cup of tea though

Sparrow Grant: I don’t see this shipped too often but they have the worst ship name ever /aff. Wtf is a spant lol. Also I’m too much team transfem Sparrow to feel comfortable shipping this

Lark Terry: do not know the appeal of Gun Control but their ship name is fun

Lark Grant: toxic yaoi central. They both need intense therapy but them both being so fucked up is what makes them interesting not that that’s healthy though

Terry Grant: I see them more in a qpr place than anything romantic. I have one fic of them that’s bookmarked on Safari because I think about a part from it from time to time

Don’t have any poly ships for them

In terms of s2 spouses I so desperately wished we could’ve seen more of them. We barely get to see them

Nicky Cassandra: Telling Taylor his dad was a good man and that she misses him every day makes me think they parted on good terms. But then Nicky disappeared because of FBI shit. In another life maybe they could’ve worked.

Sparrow Rebecca: more ugly sobbing. I’m unsure on my sparroace thoughts if they’d end up getting divorced post-finale but I know they’re not fully separating or breaking up. They really are in love but it’s unconventional and messy.

Terry Veronica: I think the reveal that Terry is infertile is a nice touch to their relationship. It sounds weird to say and I feel like I might word this all weirdly. Him being unable to have bio kids but finding love in someone who wants to raise a kid with him anyways. Veronica finding new love again after a supposedly abusive relationship. Both of those combined is something I really love.

Grant Marco: Canon gays ftw. The Titanic episode was so generous in letting us get to see their dynamic. Obviously Grant still has a long way to go in finding self love but I’m so happy he found someone who can support him and loves him back like this.

Teens

Normal Scary: ugly sobbing over them I love them so much. Cradling my madomagi and tma aus with them as madohomu and jmart

Normal Taylor: yearning for the early s2 days like when they went to Sonic and made some devious plan off screen I wish they had more silly interactions together. Was truly fed with the kareoke intro and them bonding over costume making for a minute. Tayloak could be so interesting if there was more material to work with

Normal Link: Childhood BFFs to Lovers; I wish they could’ve hung out more as kids but all that happened

Normal Hermie: I get the hype but I have personal reasons for feeling neutral on them that I wish I could get over. Good soup though /ref

Scary Taylor: see them too much as a sibling dynamic to ever ship them

Scary Link: respect to all y’all shippers but I do not gothcleats and will leave it at that forever. I can only accept the finale with my transfem Link hc

Scary Hermie: I love Scene Partners. These stupid kids and reflecting each other /aff

Taylor Link: one that I can’t believe I didn’t ship sooner they’re so silly

Link Hermie: I think this one is very funny (/pos) but not my personal vibe

Love love LOVEEEEEEEE Marloakworthy AUGH. A giant triangle of everyone paralleling each other

Polywagon I love you; cannot believe you’re real and genuinely canon. This is just Homestuck again when Hussie said all ships are canon (DnDads never beating the Homestuck allegations from me)

Scary Erica: wish there were more interactions I love Erica so much but alas she’s a guest NPC. “You awaken a lightness in me” sapphic ass Scary I know what you are

#dndads #dungeons and daddies #dndads s1 #dndads s2 #dndads season 2 #there’s no way I can tag everyone and every ship just pretend that I did #I could barely tag everyone when I did the stained glass art

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the-way-astray · 6 months ago

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Hi! This is the meta anon here (as I'll take to calling myself). I have read your response to the meta and I agree that Keefe doesn't actually do things like apologizing or self-reflection without external consequences to motivate him. This was a regrettable oversight on my part since I confess that I don't spend many hours of my KOTLC fandom exploits specifically loving or hating Keefe.

HOWEVER, I do believe that your hatred could set him on the path to self-reflection. My justification is that he doesn't particularly enjoy being hated. He will try to make you fall in love with him. You'll keep on hating him. Somewhere along the way he may have a good long think about himself because of the consequences.

Justification for the justification: Keefe despises being hated. He (obviously) isn't comfortable being hated by his parents even though he works to make him hate them because they're despicable people to varying but undeniable degrees. There's still a 'popular boy' who's actually a friendless (except for Fitz) kid who feels like he needs to keep up the humor and his trademark smirking (and so forth) to make people like him. The idea that someone hates him so vehemently may even make him take it as a side-project-challenge to make you like him. Cue the self-reflection.

Allow me to explain with a fic (sadly no strieefe for the strieefe enjoyers but. gen). Inspired by Alayda and the Never Change anon. Sincere apologies for probably mischaracterizing you (and Katie).

hate your lover, love your hater, and be studied by her friend: pt.1

When on a pleasant Friday evening in September Stria received a message from an unknown number, she blocked the number, posted some fascinating thoughts about Aldella on her Tumblr blog, and then proceeded to go to sleep.

The next morning, she had another message on her phone. In her half-asleep daze she opened the message and read the following:

Hey!! This is Keefe 'Lord Hunky-hair' [last name redacted for annoying-daddy-dearest reasons]. I saw that you blocked my human number yesterday, which was a little mean of you, so I had a Technopath friend of mine unblock it on your phone. It was brought to my attention that you put a lot of effort into hating my guts. Could we maybe fix that up and become friends?

Stria almost deleted the message. But then she saw that the number it was from had been the same number as last night.

Keefe Sencen. The real Keefe Sencen? she thought. Can't be. But she was, after all, the person who had written a seventy-five-page anti Keefe rant essay. She could easily convince an anonymous prankster into hating Keefe right along with her. Even if they had friends who were terrifyingly good at manipulating technology.

Let's play at this game, she decided, and typed: Sure. If you're actually Keefe Sencen, meet me at 12:30pm today, my time zone, at the main entrance of this mall. She dropped a link to a mall reasonably far from her house (which had, by all accounts, a reasonably efficient security team), and then called her good friend Katie to bring some backup with her. She didn't want to take chances with a fun joke turning into a terrible kidnap plot.

'You know it could be the real Keefe, right?' Katie pointed out to her. 'It's not completely impossible.'

Stria told her that it was most certainly not possible enough, and proceeded to pack her bags with necessary weapons (things to throw and a nice stout stick) before setting off.

She arrived at the mall at 12:20pm. Katie arrived at 12:30pm. 'Keefe' arrived, fashionably late, at 12:45pm. Not by car, but by what appeared to be light-leaping.

And it also appeared that the person was Keefe, mussed hair and smirk and all. Or at least this was someone in an incredibly convincing Keefe Sencen cosplay.

'Ohhh,' gasped Katie. 'It IS him! Are you Keefe Sencen? Oh, I can't believe it's you, and I love you so much! I want to examine you under a little microscope! Have I ever told you that I wanted to study you?'

He blinked. 'You're not the hater?'

Katie pointed to Stria, who was sitting on the steps of the mall in full view of the public, staring into the middle distance and trying to wrap her head around the fact that based on what she had just seen, both the Lost Cities and Keefe Sencen were real.

She was going to track Shannon Messenger down and have some strong words with her.

But questioning human existence could come later. For now, she simply stood up and looked Keefe straight in his hex-code-ice-blue eyes.

'It's me,' Stria said. 'I'm the hater.'

Then she pulled out a photocopied and spiral-bound version of her seventy-five-page rant on why she hated Keefe, and slapped it into Keefe's chest. It made an incredibly satisfying thunk. 'If you want to know why I hate you, then read this, and never talk to me again. Or if you do, you'd better have read this entire document.' And with that, she turned on her heel and stormed off.

Katie spent an extra five minutes getting Keefe's number, so as to have better access to him and his fascinating 'himselfness', and then followed Stria home.

Pt.2 on request; you are welcome to take stabs at my identity but kindly don't take stabs at me because I am small, frail, and weak <3

context here

wahoo!!!! i converted someone. everybody clap and cheer.

i think if i continued to hate keefe, it would not set him on a path of self-reflection, because he wouldn't care enough about my opinion to try to change his ways. heck, he cares about sophie, and he's not even trying to really change for her. he just says whatever he needs to say to appease her, then carries on. so what's going to motivate him to change himself for me, someone who doesn't even like him in the slightest? i would say he's generally indifferent to being hated, unless the person hating him is sophie. think about tam. he doesn't make any effort to try to make tam like him, though he generally knows tam doesn't really like him that much. so there's that.

i don't think keefe does any of that to make people like him . . . it's more of a cover for what's going on at home. everyone falls into the sense of "keefe is this cool, popular kid", and that's all they see of him, so why would they bother trying to think about what his home life must be like? i genuinely don't think keefe cares about being liked. he cares about attention, which is not the same thing. but i doubt he cares whether people like him or not. i think keefe would maybe, at the most, try to try to talk to me to figure out what my problem is with him. it might intrigue him that far. but once he realizes how far my hatred of him goes, i doubt he'd want to interact with me much anymore. and the feeling would certainly be mutual.

alright notes on your fic:

"hate your lover, love your hater, and be studied by her friend" first part is me i guess, second part is keefe i think, and third part is katie????

"[ . . . ] posted some fascinating thoughts about Aldella on her Tumblr blog, and then proceeded to go to sleep." ooooh, you think my thoughts about aldella are fascinating? thank you so much, anon. very much appreciated.

"Hey!! This is Keefe 'Lord Hunky-hair' [last name redacted for annoying-daddy-dearest reasons]. I saw that you blocked my human number yesterday, which was a little mean of you, so I had a Technopath friend of mine unblock it on your phone. It was brought to my attention that you put a lot of effort into hating my guts. Could we maybe fix that up and become friends?" and then stria died. the end. just kidding.

wondering how the fuck keefe knows i hate him. all these fics just have him like. somehow mysterious know that i hate him. did the power of my hatred magically implant that information into his head?

"She could easily convince an anonymous prankster into hating Keefe right along with her." terrifying accurate representation of my thought process. good job, anon.

"[ . . . ] then called her good friend Katie to bring some backup with her. She didn't want to take chances with a fun joke turning into a terrible kidnap plot." i love how i'm convinced that one extra teenage girl will stop a kidnapping plot if it happens. this is hysterical.

"'You know it could be the real Keefe, right?' Katie pointed out to her. 'It's not completely impossible.' Stria told her that it was most certainly not possible enough, and proceeded to pack her bags with necessary weapons (things to throw and a nice stout stick) before setting off." ah, katie. unfortunately, it is completely impossib- *gets shot* also me packing weapons . . . goodbye.

"Or at least this was someone in an incredibly convincing Keefe Sencen cosplay." not the keefe cosplay . . .

"'Ohhh,' gasped Katie. 'It IS him! Are you Keefe Sencen? Oh, I can't believe it's you, and I love you so much! I want to examine you under a little microscope! Have I ever told you that I wanted to study you?'" what do you mean. this is literally such an accurate katie. anon, you've crawled inside her head (/j katie don't kill me).

"He blinked. 'You're not the hater?'" I'M DEAD IN A DITCH.

"Katie pointed to Stria, who was sitting on the steps of the mall in full view of the public, staring into the middle distance and trying to wrap her head around the fact that based on what she had just seen, both the Lost Cities and Keefe Sencen were real." and then she shrugged and started tearing him (verbally) to shreds. keefe then fainted. stria had to then bury him in a ditch while katie verbally dissecting him. placing a good amount of dirt on him in case he woke up, she made katie swear not to come back and dig him up. katie, predictably, did not listen.

"She was going to track Shannon Messenger down and have some strong words with her." fun fact: i've never met shannon.

"For now, she simply stood up and looked Keefe straight in his hex-code-ice-blue eyes." NOT THE HEX CODE ICE BLUE EYES.

"Then she pulled out a photocopied and spiral-bound version of her seventy-five-page rant on why she hated Keefe, and slapped it into Keefe's chest. It made an incredibly satisfying thunk. 'If you want to know why I hate you, then read this, and never talk to me again. Or if you do, you'd better have read this entire document.' And with that, she turned on her heel and stormed off." *sniffs* anon has me down so well . . . this is what i say to people who wanna pick a fight with me over my keefe opinions. also what did i tell you all about the trope of me having a fucking. physical copy of my rant. which i apparently carry around and can afford to just toss at keefe.

"Katie spent an extra five minutes getting Keefe's number, so as to have better access to him and his fascinating 'himselfness', and then followed Stria home." you have katie locked down. to a science, maybe even.

i'm roughly 92% sure you're @worldsunlikemyown but if you're not this is going to be so embarrassing. part two would be interesting . . .

@myfairkatiecat come look at this anon's interpretation of you

#asks #anon #meta anon #keefe would not like me and i don't like him #i should tag this fic in case people want more #hate your lover love your hater and be studied by her friend #mine

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ponyboy-jimmy · 2 months ago

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— Jimmy’s Log , 1/9/25

The name’s Jimmy, adult, I work at a shitty company called Pony Express. I’m a busy guy so replies might be slow.

Not too sure how to use this website — from what I can tell, a lot of you guys are strange.

« OOC + BOUNDARIES »

Hello hello! My name is Jay, I go by he/him and I am 16! I have no hard DNI, I would just prefer 15+ interactions. Feel free to roleplay with me, asks are always appreciated! Please read the following rules and boundaries before interacting:

∙ Flirting — I do not mind flirtatious interactions, but keep in mind that it won’t be reciprocated! Keep suggestive comments to a minimum please!

∙ Insults — Jimmy is a shitty character so obviously it’s expected, but I may not respond to insulting asks if I they’re repetitive or I have nothing to say in response

∙ Anya mentions — My version of Jimmy, while still a shithead, is not an abuser! Therefore I will not be responding to any asks that talk about Anya’s SA or imply it. My blog is not meant for Jimmy x Anya shippers.

∙ Mischaracterization — Please remember that this blog is for fun! I may not play Jimmy as accurately as you might like, and there’s plenty of other Jimmy blogs out there if this one isn’t to your liking!

If your ask was not posted, that probably means,

I couldn’t understand/read it

It made me uncomfortable

It was hateful or accusatory (OOC)

It broke one of the above rules

I couldn’t come up with a meaningful response

Tumblr glitched, and I never got it

« CONTENT WARNING »

Jimmy is a total asshole and has a cruel sense of humor. None of my posts are meant to be taken seriously, and everything I say is strictly roleplay. Posts may consist of crude humor; cannibalism; self harm/suicide; violence; etc.

I am a jimcurly shipper, therefore my version of Jimmy will act somewhat possessive and jealous over Curly!

« RP INFO »

This blog is a parody blog of Jimmy from mouthwashing, a specifically pre-crash. It's meant to be read as if he has gained access to the internet, which means posts will not contain written actions. Please keep in mind that this is my first tumblr role play, and I’m not too familiar with this site’s layout! Expect mistakes!

My version of Jimmy is 38-40, and he is romantically attracted to Curly but is unlabeled! He will mainly be written as being very envious of Curly’s accomplishments, and will often drop rude comments or crude jokes. They grew up together as childhood friends! He has a slight criminal history with petty crimes and is somewhat of a pill adjacent addict. He is in and out of rehab (funded by Curly), but is sober during the voyage.

Fun facts:

Jimmy is a dog person, his favorite breed being a St. Bernard, a dog he used to own.

A fan of horror moves, Jimmy prefers slasher flicks and his current favorite is American Psycho.

(More will be added based off of interactions!)

DUO CURLY BLOG: @captaincurly123

#mouthwashing #jimmy mouthwashing #mouthwashing game #mouthwashing au #mouthwashing rp #mouthwashing roleplay #Roleplay blog #rp ask blog

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fandomt4keover · 4 days ago

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silly rant heh !!! also if youre a glisten fan this is kinda a warning no hate to you guys btw just need to get this out heh-- ( and because if i posted this on tiktok i'd fucking get attacked and called the fun police and people would be so fucking annoying. )

i dont like glitterbox. I dont like glisten. it makes me extremely pissed off when i see glisten in game. i especially hate the dialog that has anything to do with him.

i hate him with every fucking nerve in my body. However for some reason i actually have the decency of NOT mischaracterizing him. if youre not one of those glisten fans then im not talking about you.

if you fucking think the joyride joke is funny then fine, sure. but it really gets to a point when you look at how the fandom potrays him. and i almost feel bad for him, but every time i see his ass my hatred flares up yet again.

also he looks so... ugly. like sorry but the colors look so ass. i had to put his skin on so i dont crash out if i decide to get his mastery. like sure pink and yellow are a good color combo but he looks UGLY like that,,, if his skin has a better color pallete then thats saying something. im being so fucking real when i say he was WAY better as a dhmis oc...

no but if he even interacts with any of the common toons i get annoyed as hell ?? i dont even know why and even i know thats stupid. especially with boxten- like what the fuck do you mean glitterbox is so popular ????? what do you mean the character i love actually has potential with the one i fucking despise ????????

but even though i fucking hate glisten i'll admit he's a great toon to play, and even if i hate glitterbox its actually a good ship. I dont even know why i hate it but i just do. maybe its the mischaracterization, but i still hate his fake golden ass.

but i probably shouldnt be saying anything i my fucking otp is literally any legal boxten ship EXCEPT glitterbox.

adding to the mischaracterization thing also joyride would NOT his main theme song. hes a fucking 1900s kids cartoon character and his ass is NOT zesty. I feel like this fandom cant see him as anything but a fucking gay fruity twink. if you ACTUALLY think this is his character then dont ever meet me in game / rp mode. Like actually please dont.

also if you DO like or ship glitterbox thats fine and all this is just my honest opinion and i wont attack you if you like glisten though /gen

also to everyone: please dont assume ships while in a run/rp mode. like ask first for a ship before just stating that youre gonna be roleplaying a certain ship or getting freaky with a player in game,,, especially in case the other person doesnt want to and/or dislikes the ship. ( im looking at those fucking glisten and sprout/cosmo roleplayers. )

there'd be so much more. so much more. i just dont want to type it though.

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ohthehypocrisy · 1 month ago

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Galarian Rapidash and the mischaracterization of archetypes

The archetype system in Pokemon Unite serves multiple functions. It characterizes a pokemon and their particular role in Unite Battles and helps convey the team structure at a glance. For example, a team with 2 Defenders or more will excel in bulk and close combat, but suffer in range. Multiple All-Rounders means the team is varied, but not specialized enough in particular avenues that they cannot prevail against hyper focused attacks like the high damage output of long range Attackers.

There are variations within an archetype, but the general idea is there. Pokemon like Cinderace and Greninja operate drastically different from fellow Attackers like Chandelure and Venusaur. And that's the fun part about these roles. Like, you know what to expect when a new pokemon is revealed to be a Supporter or a Defender, but you can't wait to see just how unique and different they are and how they play.

And then you have these mold breakers.

Now, let me clarify that I do not harbor any negativity towards these pokemon or their inclusion in Unite. The fact that these pokemon are playable in spite of their low popularity is a testament to the inclusivity of Unite and its development team.

I just have disdain towards how they went about it, that's all.

I mean, if it were up to me, I would not have made Greedent and Ho-Oh Defenders or made Hoopa a Supporter, and I definitely would not have made Duraludon an Attacker when its Defense stat is nearly as high as its Sp. Attack stat. Oh, by the way, Duraludon is classified as a physical Attacker in Unite. More power to them, but again, far from what I would've gone with.

I understand to some degree why these pokemon are classified the way they are. I know that Hoopa's portals are tantamount to its supportive play style, and how Greedent and Ho-Oh perform best when making defensive plays. I'm just thinking that there are over 1000 pokemon in the National Dex, and any one of them could have taken on the role of these mismatched pokemon. Like, Greedent uses berries for fuel for its attacks and can either stockpile berries quickly with Stuff Cheeks or book it with Covet. If we needed a fast Defender like that, you could've given the role and abilities to a pokemon like Revavroom or Coalossal, or heck, even Forretress. Let them take the mantle of a Defender while Greedent gets the All-Rounder role and a better suited set of moves.

Now, I'm just one guy who runs a blog posting fan-made movesets for pokemon joining Unite and stuff. I have the luxury of making executive decisions on every single pokemon I talk about on here, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Although, it would be nice to have a graphics department draw the pokemon and the moves they use to better convey my vision for the post, or even an animated GIF or something. That's just wishful thinking (and NOT an open invitation for work. Sorry, but I want these pokemon posts to be made with my own heart and soul put into it, otherwise it wouldn't truly be my own work. And yes, that means I will never use an AI writing tool to help me work faster. I'd rather delay a post than ever rely on a machine to do the work for me, on my honor as a writer.)

All of that is to say that the Pokemon Unite Development Team consists of multiple people who build and make tweaks to the game in the background. Each pokemon added to the game starts with a proposal, deliberation, mediation of ideas and effects, all before the hard part starts, modeling the pokemon, making the attacks, playtesting and debugging, implementation, and releasing the pokemon. My point is, every single pokemon added to the game has weeks and even months of work put into it, so each release is weighted with the hopes and dreams and well wishes of the programmers who worked tirelessly in an office at odd hours of day and night.

I'm hesitant to ever call any pokemon a 'bad' release because it disrespects the dev team as well as the programmers who did their best to get the pokemon out on time. Not to say that they haven't messed up before, but with Pokemon Unite being a live service, they have the luxury of course correcting the balance of the game when glaring issues pop up.

But this one... this one is quite the error.

If you've been on the receiving end of this glittering horse, you might've thought to yourself, 'Huh, this Speedster is a lot tankier than the others'. Hopefully those are your specific thoughts and not something profane and vulgar every time this sequin equine gave you the slip.

You aren't imagining things. Galarian Rapidash is classified as a Speedster, but it has defensive stats comparable to that of an All-Rounder. You can look it up yourself, or you can take my word for it, I am pulling these numbers up from a reliable database (up to date at the time of this writing).

Galarian Rapidash stats at Level 15 (unmodified) HP: 7800 Defense: 330 Sp. Defense: 361 Damage: 576

Compare these numbers to a fellow speedy Speedster.

Dodrio stats at Level 15 (unmodified) HP: 6300 Defense: 298 Sp. Defense: 200 Damage: 625

The horse has more HP and defenses than the hydra ostrich, but its base damage is lower, meaning Dodrio excels at ambush attacks. However, lower damage hardly matters if this thing can take a hit, shore up its defenses with a passive shield, and run away easily with Hindrance Immunity.

Oh, it gets worse. Here's the stats for Garchomp.

Garchomp stats at Level 15 (unmodified) HP: 7705 Defense: 472 Sp. Defense: 367 Damage: 516

While Garchomp has had tweaks to its stats over the years, they were made using gameplay data from Ranked Matches. Nowadays, Garchomp gets by with its Rough Skin Ability and HP stealing basic attacks to win fights.

But that doesn't justify why Galarian Rapidash has more HP and base damage over Garchomp. It's not fair that a Speedster has enough bulk to dive into crowds, deal heavy damage, and then rush back to their Goal Zone with a built in Blissey's Safeguard as a shield.

And to add insult to injury, Galarian Rapidash is a Speedster with a ranged basic attack. A RANGED basic attack. Now, I'm all for breaking the mold, but having a RANGED basic attack detracts from the rush of the Speedster play style. I certainly don't feel lithe and fleet-footed playing as Galarian Rapidash when each press of the basic attack button stalls my movement. On a pokemon like Dodrio, the basic attack does the same thing, but its boost ties into its Movement and Ability, where it becomes a sudden dash strike when full, leaning into the blazing speediness of a flighty flightless bird.

It almost feels like the Speedster archetype doesn't actually fit Galarian Rapidash. It's fast, yes, but it's also strong, bulky, and difficult to deal with. Sort of like an All-Rounder with extra speed.

Well folks, this is where I come clean about something regarding certain plumbing issues within Pokemon Unite. While most players are content to retain their ignorance regarding upcoming pokemon joining Unite, I have no such qualms feeding my curiosity with forbidden knowledge. To put it simply, there are people more talented than I am who can pull and extrapolate information, revealing content that has yet to see the light of day.

Leaks. I keep tabs of leaks through dataminers who get their information from hidden data on the Public Test Server of Pokemon Unite. As for whether I use this amorally acquired information to direct my Pokemon Unite posts, I plead the 5th, your honor.

Anyway, as you may have guessed, Galarian Rapidash was originally supposed to be an All-Rounder, before it was changed to a Speedster a month or two before release. Did they change its stats to accommodate the role change? Of course not, you saw the numbers, didn't you?

I will not pretend to know why such a drastic decision was made, nor will I defend it. I can only guess that they 'saw' the initial negative reactions to Galarian Rapidash being 'another All-Rounder' and got cold feet about the classification and switched it to a Speedster. To what end, I don't know, but not changing the stats on the way in was one of the dev team's bigger blunders.

Think of it like this. Remember what Mimikyu and Ceruledge, both All-Rounders, were like on release. Recall how difficult and powerful they were to face. The game was already saturated with plenty of All-Rounders back then, but nobody really complained about these two, did they? Nobody was mad at Mimikyu for being an All-Rounder instead of a Speedster, they were just happy to have their favorite little trick-or-treater playable in Unite, at long last.

Now, imagine if they had been released as Speedsters instead, but without any modifications to their stats. Oh sure, Mimikyu and Ceruledge have powerful movement options, but that doesn't mean they could have cut it as Speedsters with their impressive bulk. But what if the dev team changed their archetypes just because players were complaining too loudly about their being 'too many All-Rounders'?

Well, what you get is Galarian Rapidash. We could've had another All-Rounder with a ranged basic attack option. Actually, we kind of do, since they didn't change the base stats of the pokemon when they switched its archetype around. But this post was made before any major changes to its base stats were made, so we're gonna be here for a while as this glamorous draft horse bulldozes the competition like a rogue bumper car.

On that note, the fact that they made such a drastic change to a pokemon before release shows that the dev team is fully capable of making such dramatic modifications to the Unite roster. We've seen it before when they widened the range of Sylveon's Hyper Voice to what it is now, I'm sure we will see another crazy buff like that later this year.

And that includes changes to archetypes and roles. I, for one, am fine with Pokemon being recast into different play styles to adapt to a shifting meta. It would be nice to see Greedent and Duraludon becoming proper All-Rounders.

Also, there is nothing wrong with having an excess of All-Rounders in the game, as most players care about the pokemon and how they play out in Unite. Remember what I said about Mimikyu and Ceruledge being All-Rounders to no one's dismay? That's because they were fan favorites and they play with a strong sense of personality and character. Maybe you could make Ceruledge an Attacker or make Mimikyu a Defender, and while you could pick the right moves and Ability to make it work, the All-Rounder classification gives these pokemon the liberty to fulfill their potential and not be constrained by a specific archetype. They work because they are beloved.

I worry that the lackadaisical nature behind Galarian Rapidash and its changed archetype paint a grim future for Pokemon Unite, where classifications are misnomers and roles are obfuscated by misplaced stats and abilities.

Or maybe I'm overthinking things. What do you think?

#Pokemon Unite #Galarian Rapidash

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