(Follow Up To The Honey Badger Ask) How Would Sniper, Spy (and Maybe Medic?) React To, After That Battle,

Hogh I love him... 

You said in the tags something about oc interactions? 👀👉👈

I hear we're doing ocs again? Good. Wonderful. I have seven.

This is Hugo Harvey, the P.I. (Private Investigator !) I don't have too much fleshed out for him as far is his abilities go, aside from the eyes! Funny littol robot eyes that let him see through walls :].

He's a friendly guy, laughs a lot, and has a nickname for anyone he's talked to for more than 5 minutes. And i love him,

Not a request, but I just wanted to know: In your interpretation of the universe, is there an in-universe equivalent to the achievements we, as players, can get?

That’s a great question! I’ve been eager to write about this one, but I just wasn’t sure what to write,  especially since I feel like there’s a lot I can do with this idea.

For a lot of achievements, I assume that in universe, they’re something of a challenge to keep things fresh during battle. Like contracts, it keeps the Administrator entertained, and also gives the mercs something worth fighting for. 

I would imagine achievement items are sort of like “level up” items, a reward for doing well on the field to test out and use on your own instead of having to make your own hodge-podge weapons. Maybe they’re even designed by the class itself! 

Other achievements likely are just money rewards, little trophies, medals, and the like to encourage rivalry on the field. I mean, look! Red Heavy has a shiny badge on him! Why don’t you have it Blu Heavy? That’s right, fight for it!

I would think some of them are also newer based off of events that go on- like heavy medic achievements that weren’t there prior until medic invented the ubercharge or something. In fact, maybe it was Miss Pauling’s idea to do so, and the Administrator humored her. In reality, though, she just wanted to show support for the couple.

Anyways, I might come up with more to this idea later, there’s a lot more that you could delve into- like joke trophies, Halloween or event awards, etc. etc. 

Thanks for the ask!

“Maybe…”

Personally, I think Demo would think it’s sweet, but also be a bit ticked off because he’s independent and doesn’t necessarily need someone else to see for him. Just because he’s blind in one eye doesn’t mean he’s completely deaf on that side either.

I think he does know that Sniper is there, or is at least aware of it. He just never mentions it and eventually forgets he’s there entirely since he’s so used to his presence being there. It’s not that he doesn’t care, it’s just that Sniper is way too quiet and is there so often that he becomes adjusted to it.

He does try and make it clear to Sniper that despite enjoying his presence, he’d like to have a bit more trust that he knows how to operate without one eye. And, as much as he appreciates it, he needs Sniper to focus on doing his job and taking people out before they reach him instead.

Soon, it becomes a challenge to see how many people Sniper can headshot before they get to the rest of the team or even get close to getting a hit in, and the team is better off for it. Demo tallies it and congratulates Sniper every time he beats his own record, making him better in the long run and ensuring that the trust between them isn’t lost.

headcanon that Sniper always stands on Demoman’s blind side bc he considers himself the ‘eagle-eyes of the team’ or something & feels personally responsible for making sure Demo doesn’t get surprised by shit coming at him out of left field.

Could I perhaps get engineer, sniper and demoman with an autistic S/O who got really overstimulated and Is Not Okay? I need,,, for purposes.

Yes, yes you can!!!

Demo, Engineer, and Sniper with an overstimulated autistic S/O:

Demo:

Demo recognizes that his S/O is overstimulated pretty quickly. The base is always messy regardless of any attempts to clean it, there’s a lot of noise, especially chatter and gunfire during the day and even moreso at night during complaining or celebrating with the entire team.

“Ye alright? Ach, who am I kidding, ye look right terrible at the moment, love. No offense.”

He takes his S/O to somewhere quieter, probably his room as there’s at least some sense of familiarity and homeliness there for he and his S/O.

As someone who needs quiet to focus on tinkering without blowing something up, he’s got some ways of keeping the room from just being the equivalent of another hallway thanks to the paper thin walls.

If it still doesn’t help, he sticks by his S/O’s side and refuses to move away for the others until they’re able to process things more clearly again.

If they’re stimming to try and release the tension and overwhelming energy of the situation, he’ll literally just start mirroring them and stimming as well.

If they need something to focus on that isn’t their surroundings, he’s got a large amount of folklore and myths he can talk for hours about instead of whatever jabbering caused them to be overwhelmed in the first place.

Engineer:

Once he figures out what’s going on, he quickly tries to diffuse things and get his S/O to a place where they feel more comfortable.

Engineer commands a lot of respect, and most of the mercs know not to challenge him when he puts on a genuine serious face and asks for things to be done.

Quiet down, hush now fellas, can one of ya’ll get S/O a blanket? Hm? Yeah, they said somethin’ to hold would do.

Does his best to balance their current needs with social interaction; since he’s aware that taking them out of it entirely might cause them to break down further.

Instead, he lassos in the conversation and quiets things down as much as possible, then reduces the amount of stimuli by sending a glare to anyone making more noise than necessary.

As for sensations, he’ll hold his S/O’s hand if it helps, usually with his normal hand unless they prefer the feeling of metal, wiring, and electric circuitry to focus on. Warm or cold, his hand envelops theirs and acts as an anchor.

If anyone dares pipe up about it or anything else related to the situation, he’ll keep his cool. That is, until next time they need his help on the battlefield.

Sniper:

While he doesn’t necessarily understand a lot about it, Sniper is still very familiar with needing and wanting his space, where things are just how he wants them. Regardless of if he consciously realizes it or not, he might actually be the best person to go to about it when his S/O is having a rough time and is overstimulated.

At first, he’ll probably try things that help him calm down, but if a lukewarm cup of coffee and a polishing kit don’t assist—or taking a hike into the nearest area empty of people—then he’ll start quietly asking questions while internally panicking.

He doesn’t want to overwhelm his S/O further, but he also wants to fix or make the situation a bit better for them. Afraid that he’ll make it worse, he kind of ends up awkwardly throwing ideas at the wall to see what sticks.

Whatever ends up appearing to work first is what he doubles down on, before trying to branch out from there. If his S/O manages to calm down a little, he thinks, then they can help him help them a little more too.

It’s a very slow but sure process, and he gets there eventually. By the time he figures out what works, it’s probably far past when they were too overstimulated to function. After that point he’ll know what to do and is much quicker and more confident about lending a helping hand.

If they’re getting overstimulated and it’s just the two of them, he’ll do his weird too-long-legs thing and hug them to him in a way where they’re closed off and safe in his arms. He’ll end up a bit flustered about it later, but they calm down a lot more quickly that way since he’s able to just shut them off and ground their brain to the hug instead of what’s bothering them. It’s not foolproof, but it’s shocking how often it works.

This was a lot of fun to write! I hope I got this right and did well with the prompt, haha. Personally going with what would be nice when I’m overstimulated, though I don’t believe I’ve shut down fully because of it. That must suck a lot when it happens :(

The last one about Sniper is a personal tidbit I think would work really well on me, because I imagine what he does is like a really comfortable tight hug where noises are kinda shut out and the pressure would kinda keep you from moving y’know?

It’s like the ultimate “calm the FU—“ move and I love it but it also looks like it’d be really comfortable ;—;

happy sniper sunday

???????????????

why is getting a stalker for just being a kid in a fanbase such a universal experience w so many artists that I know….it’s extremely sad (I say this as someone who had this happen to me in an unbelievably horrific way btw. It’s more common than you’d think)

Chapter 9 is out!

I misquoted in my heavy x medic post, it was chapter 9 that quoted not 8!! Either way, Ten’s a crowd has been updated!

Read it here!

Another Medic headcanon

Medic is a surprisingly good singer! He whistles and murmurs lyrics to himself a lot, so it’s no surprise he’s a fan of tunes, not just those of his birds.

When you’re someone who has to go to drastic measures to get the organs, bodies, and medical equipment you need, (including grave robbing, mind you), coming up with ways of convincing your peers becomes essential to the job.

Spy may be a master of disguise, but Medic is more of a deception and manipulation kind of guy. Of course, normally he would never be careful, caring little for the well-being of others, but at times he has to sacrifice that to act more like a ‘professional’ and a ‘doctor’, not to mention ‘not a hired killer’.

So he used his vocal range to his advantage! Medic can easily switch from a smooth baritone to pipsqueak within seconds— from softer than feathers to a harsh yell. He uses it to sell a character that isn’t his own.

Speaking of yelling, Medic is DEFINITELY into releasing his stress by screaming death metal. Without a guitar, he learned how to shred. With a bonesaw. With the amount he has to deal with on a daily basis, can you really blame him? Besides, he enjoys it.

But away from that, what about his voice is really so special? Surely being so distinct in appearance would detract from the show he puts on and the shock factor of switching to a much more agreeable and polite character.

Well, that’s when confidence comes in. As somebody who outplayed the devil himself, it’s safe to say Medic knows how to get what he wants. Outsmarting is one thing, but that requires planning that truly isn’t possible all of the time. So he improvises. That’s how he keeps the mercs alive away from respawn and brings people back from the dead.

Naturally, this gives him an air of authority. He learned exactly how to demand what he wants, be it exotic animal organs, tools, or anesthetic, he knows it all. Sometimes all it requires is the threat of being on the receiving end of the vitasaw, others it requires charm and beguiling charisma to have his way.

Well, either way. Not even spy can figure out exactly how he does it.

Maybe you should ask the birds. They’re always watching.

Dear M,

Hi, Pauling here. I’m sure you remember me from my last letter regarding the bugs that you may or may not have put in our base. But that was so long ago - I’m sure we can put our differences aside in order to work towards a common goal. That’s what civil people do, right? They compromise.

We have a suspicion that you are keeping one of our teammates, as well as a teammate from another company, hostage in a diner. For their freedom and your cooperation, we are willing to pay any price. Money is no object. We can provide equipment that isn’t available - or legal - anywhere else.

We don’t know why you have done this, if you have, but there is no one we can’t outbribe.

With all due respect,

Miss Pauling

R.E.D Team

@talk-to-the-mercs

𝖶𝖾𝗅𝗅 𝗇𝗈𝗐, 𝖻𝗈𝗅𝖽 𝗈𝖿 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗍𝗈 𝖺𝗌𝗌𝗎𝗆𝖾 𝗐𝖾 𝗐𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽𝗇'𝗍 𝖺𝗅𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝗒 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝖺𝗄𝖾𝗇 𝗂𝗍 𝖿𝗋𝗈𝗆 𝗒𝗈𝗎, 𝗁𝖺𝖽 𝗐𝖾 𝗇𝖾𝖾𝖽𝖾𝖽 𝗂𝗍, 𝖬𝗂𝗌𝗌 𝖥 𝖯𝖺𝗎𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀.

𝖠𝗌 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝖺 𝗁𝗈𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗀𝖾 𝗌𝗂𝗍𝗎𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇...

𝖢𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝗈𝗇, 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖽𝗎𝗆𝖻?

𝖶𝖾 𝗐𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽𝗇'𝗍 𝖽𝗈 𝗌𝗎𝖼𝗁 𝖺 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗂𝗇 𝗉𝗎𝖻𝗅𝗂𝖼, 𝖽𝖾𝖺𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗍 𝖯𝖺𝗎𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀. 𝖭𝗈𝗐, 𝖻𝗋𝗂𝖻𝖾𝗋𝗒 𝗂𝗌 𝗎𝗇𝗇𝖾𝖾𝖽𝖾𝖽. 𝖡𝗎𝗍 𝗐𝖾'𝗋𝖾 𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗒 𝗆𝗎𝖼𝗁 𝖺𝗐𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗍𝗁𝖾... 𝖲𝗂𝗍𝗎𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇, 𝗇𝗈𝗐.

𝖶𝖺𝗍𝖼𝗁 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖻𝖺𝖼𝗄, 𝗐𝖾'𝗅𝗅 𝖻𝖾 𝗄𝖾𝖾𝗉𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺𝗇 𝖾𝗒𝖾 𝗈𝗇 𝗒𝗈𝗎.

;)

𝖢𝗁𝖾𝖾𝗋𝗌, 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒, 𝖬.