I Wanted To Let You Know That I Absolutely Adore Your Artwork And Your "Anomaly Diversion" Fic, And I

Cemetery of Doves

GIFTS FROM @gentlesurgeryenjoyer !!! 💥

Era I love you so much I love you so so so much 💔💔💔 I'm the happiest person ever now!

Holy shit i finished reading your tf2 fic yesterday and im so invested its literally all i can think about. your writing is AMAZING and so inspirational, and really thank you for diving into the horror of tf2 clone concept. ive always loved that concept, and thought it was such an underutilized idea. i mean, can you imagine how terrifying it is discovering you have a clone of yourself, without your knowledge?? or how even worse it is for the clone themself? its just so AAGGH its hard to describe in words,, but you did it perfectly

fic in question

Whispers of the sea

Uh uhhhh well like i said gonna have to go back and take notes, but

1) my, then, sleep deprived brain got blasted with the thought "Demoman and his 3 2 weed smoking girlfriends hippies" ffhgjgjv

2) jokes aside, I'm SUCH a sucker for hare themed characters who try to act like they're a fight predator, and not what they truly are, a flight prey

Scout being jackrabbit coded. Speedy, full of anger, underestimated, has weapons (bat/teeth, gun/claws etc) and isn't afraid to use it. But deep down, being led by fear

The fact that blu is that predator-esque mask dropping, and the crushing realisation of being a prey animal, of being in so much danger everywhere from everything, that he can't trust anyone, of letting the need to run away take over

And the fact that Sniper is often associated with Dingos and Owls, both natural predators to rabbits. Hell, even the fact that he mentioned hunting rabbits a child

And yet, Scout came to him, the rabbit going to the predator. To the opposite side

And the fact that said predator is also dealing with the realisation that, really, he's just a livestock prey too when looking at the bigger picture. And deep down, he's not much braver about it than a rabbit

They're all lambs to the never ending slaughter. Who cares about prey or predator, about jobs and teams, about natural roles, when there's a nature defying society and science controlling everything above it all?

It's all so dehumanising in so many different ways. In the livestock vs butchery, in the wild animals vs human hunters, in the meaning of jobs vs companies and money. In that humans in powers, control and think they own everything, including your own personhood. In the loss of agency, of loosing who you are to a job

But truly, were you ever anyone at all?

If the fighting stopped, what would they do? Deal with the reality that there's nothing left from before ? Have to face the fact they're no one outside of what the admin wants from them? Or run back to the familiar cage they've been in for so long, and know by heart?

What is true freedom?

Are they really ready to have to build that possible new home all by themselves out there ? Including building a new self while accepting parts they hate? Dealing with the fact they're just copies, and some parts of them might thus not be the "true" them? Yet those things still being a part of themselves ? Learning to accept what they see in the mirror?

And if they are, are they ready with the possibility that they might never get the chance to do any of that at all?

MMMMMMKFHDHWBKFKVXJ!!!!!

Shit's fucked

And what is going on in BLU Snipes' mind....he's really an enigma to me

Heh, in a way, he's closer to the "blueprint" Sniper with how closed off he is about how he feels. Just like how RED Scout is closer to the "original"

And yet he still figured it out...like you don't actually need to deviate much from the blueprint to become a "deviant", which is getting me more curious about BLU Soldier too

And how the RED Spy is gonna handle that too...

there was already a significant amount of mutual assistance between the two teams, whether on purpose or not. Like BLU Spy letting RED get away with his fire distraction (though I'm guessing it was more to hide what ye and engie figured out. But i can't help but think that a small part of him still did it for RED, maybe because of the suspicions that truly, both colours aren't necessarily enemies, and they're closer to having a common one)

Same with RED Spy pulling BLU Pyro away from Scout and Snipes because he knew it would put them (and everyone else) in danger if that info got out

And RED Demo trying to mend his relationship with BLU Soldier

The line between enemy and ally is already slightly blurring, which is gonna affect everyone

Progress is being made, yet that progress worsens the risk of everyone getting removed for it. Sisyphus curse

And yet, it's the predator who freezes up in fear like a prey, wanting to curl on himself with his tail between his legs, hide his face under his paws and pretend the chain around his neck isn't here. while the rabbit is angry and wants to take actions, gnawing at the cage and fighting for freedom....

I love you.

Can I have you for a minute?

https://youtu.be/TRNxVwK66PE?si=4bTKvzfpNo38uGD0

Here’s the animatic! Sorry for the couple hour wait

THIS IS SUCH A BIG GIFT GUYS!!!

I am mentally healing. I am ascending. I feel God's light flowing through my veins.

I'M GONNA GO EXTINCT 💥💥💥💥💥💔💔🥀🥀🥀🥀 i am gonna print this picture 20 times and hand it all over the wall and then 5 more to put in my mouth and EAT!!

my part for @oblique-lane 💕💕💕 luv luv

scout from anomaly diversion (read the fic you all)

Not a question but your art and whole blog remind me of Goya’s black paintings. like if Goya was a tf2 fan. Keep it up brah

!??

My, my, well, I don't have hopes for the official comics but I am willing to explore this topic further.

Aside from Sniper, what are others' wounds that made them join this blasphemous corporation?? People don't pay much attention to it but how did the mercs join Mann Co. in the first place? They didn't just go there, knocked on the door and asked for employment, right? So what are the backstories?

I'm guessing Mann Co. wanted the best of the best men out there, but those who would actually take insane risks of their lives. This kind of reminds me of Portal but instead of Olympic champions and astronauts, Mann Co. wanted ABNORMAL men. What that means exactly is still an open question for now. But hear me out, Valve heroes are never trained fighters, they are just very desperate and have no other choice but to proceed.

Why would mercs be different?

I mean, is any one of them a certified fighter? I mean yeah, Engineer has 11 PhDs but he's still more of a mad scientist rather than a formal doc. Any other?? Soldier who has never been in a war, Medic with no license, unregistered demolition, mental hospital refugee, Scout who is just a street boy wtf is he doing at the frontline??

Smells fishy, isn't it?

They wouldn't be here if they were really trained professionals. So that's why I assume they got here because they had no other place to go. And Surprisingly, in here, they got everything they wished for.

(these are my headcanons that I tried to build based on logic, however, their bases aren't exactly stable, keep in mind)

Sniper wanted to be violent legally, so he doesn't think about his moral struggles anymore (except when he talks to his dad in the phone).

Scout was a school dropout who didn't have many options of what to work as. Although, while they were always diners and gas stations, his family of million brothers pushed him and his pride down, so in order to become a bigger man in society's eyes, he applied to military service. Probably meant to Korea or Vietnam but was redirected to Mann Co. instead.

Heavy had really difficult clashes with the Soviet Government (being a national enemy by many articles) he went to make money to US. He was probably known by Mann Co. even before his change of settlement, they knew the story about the Gulag demolition/escape, so they got interested in this person's potential.

While not being a nazi himself, Medic worked in the closed german experimental camps because it was the only place his unlicensed ass could apply (fleeing country in the wartime wasn't an option). And they needed mad scientist. However, instead of using prisoners as a resource, he made them super humans (baboon hearts kind of shit) so these prisoners killed the security guards and escaped. To avoid state persecution, Medic immigrated to America where was known and got invited to work for we-know-who.

Engineer's work is generational.

I don't know much about Demoman's lore (it's a little confusing) but "a reckless alcoholic extremist who desperately needs a job" sounds perfect for who they were looking for.

Spy is obviously not a real spy but rather a skillful conman who made through life by stealing, pretending and seducing rich women. Mafia history might be there too. But he wasn't invincible and the police was a pretty serious problem for him, so joining a secretive organisation was a solid solution. (Plus, someone could make a funny thing by setting up him and Scout together, because they knew.)

Pyro was a person who spent all their life in a mental hospital, seen as dangerous to society/unadjusted. Mann Co. reached to them and gave them a chance, which turned out great.

Soldier, too, was either a mental hospital often guest, a prisoner or a simple local crazy man who has severe amnesia and violent behavior. Good option too.

It's not a place where you could just ask to be employed, as not everyone actually could. It was some kind of a "safe heaven" for those who didn't have another place in the world. It was an insane but a very effective move by Administrator, who wanted this team of abnormal men to unite against something Big and Important ™ of which we still know nothing about. Does it make sense?

You know, I don't see a lot of people talking about this moment in the TF2 comics right here, seconds after Sniper realizes he's actually from New Zealand. Does anyone else think about how freaking insecure Sniper must have been growing up?

I know it has a somewhat comedic tone but I can't help but think about poor Sniper as a kid wondering why he was so different but never knowing why. With other Aussies being huge and muscular he must have thought something was wrong with him. And I feel like you can actually see the relief on his face in the bottom panel.

Also, side note, I love the bit about him throwing rocks from a tree which absolutely foreshadows his future as a sniper. His whole thing is shooting people from far away because he was never built to go on the offensive.