TF2 Fan: “This, Is A Scout Lover.”

when i think about how Wheatley had a cut line where he was supposed to tell Chell that ‘a man in a suit‘ was looking for her, aka G-Man, it makes me realize that G-Man must’ve gone up to Wheatley and asked him if Chell was up, which prompted him hearing Wheat ramble for like 6 minutes on hibernating test subjects and being worried that most of them are probably dead and he’s gonna be incinerated for not keeping an eye on em. in general, thinking about Wheatley and G-Man interacting has me in tears

murder mansplain malewife or whatever that image says

You enter the Medbay to the sound of rustling papers and a pen scribbling. The noise is over by the corner, where a former doctor sits hunched over an overflowing stack of paperwork and contracts.

He notices you arrive, poking his head up from what looks to be a headache in the making, and smiles.

Hallo, mein Lieber! I’m afraid I’ve been quite busy as of late… Scout instructed me to create an… “Ask… Blog…” whatever zat means, so I’ve been quite behind on paperwork… 

Hahah, anyway, did you need something..? You have a question for me?

Well, ask away, then! Just- err, let me finish these contracts first…

ASKS ARE OPEN!

Oh hey also

I haven’t forgotten about the Merasmus post! I have one in my drafts I just need to get to making those gifs and stuff, I’ve been a bit dry on time and motivation, especially since animating takes a lot of effort and it really depends day to day how well I can animate. Just a reminder that my inbox is always open too for suggestions!

Psychonauts style commission of twitter user @/ Biibeebs’ Vtuber model posed with Raz, psychic duel mode engaged!

ID #1: An illustration of Bii and Razputin Aquato posing with their right hands to their temples and their left hands outstretched, ready to engage in a psychic battle. Bii is a woman who is much taller than Raz; she has short blue hair and red eyes. She’s wearing a puffy sleeved shirt with a deep V neck collar, a dark skirt with suspenders, a matching belt and choker with heart buckles, blue thigh high tights, and boots with heart buckles. The two are both colored in a monochromatic teal pallet, with bright red used to outline their bodies and highlight Bii’s eyes. Teal energy radiates from behind Bii, and the two are posed in front of a black background. End ID.

ID #2: An illustration identical to the first image in all aspects except the background: it is light pink instead of black. End ID.

Commission Info in my pinned post!

HAPPY PAN DAY!

...that your audience won't hate.

This is a method I started using when NFTs were on the rise - thieves would have to put actual work into getting rid of the mark - and one that I am now grateful for with the arrival of AI. Why? Because anyone who tries to train an AI on my work will end up with random, disruptive color blobs.

I can't say for sure it'll stop theft entirely, but it WILL make your images annoying for databases to incorporate, and add an extra layer of inconvenience for thieves. So as far as I'm concerned, that's a win/win.

I'll be showing the steps in CSP, but it should all be pretty easy to replicate in Photoshop.

Now: let's use the above image as our new signature file. I set mine to be 2500 x 1000 pixels when I'm just starting out.

Note that your text should not have a lot of anti-aliasing, so using a paint brush to start isn't going to work well with this method. Just use the standard G-Pen if you're doing this by hand, or, just use the text tool and whichever font you prefer.

Once that's done, take your magic wand tool, and select all the black. Here are the magic wand settings I'm using to make the selections:

All selected?

Good.

Now, find a brush with a scattering/tone scraping effect. I use one like this.

You can theoretically use any colors you want for this next part, but I'd recommend pastels as they tend to blend better.

Either way, let's add some color to the text.

Once that's finished,

You're going to want to go to Layer Property, and Border Effect

You'll be given an option of choosing color and thickness. Choose black, and go for at least a 5 in thickness. Adjust per your own preferences.

Now create a layer beneath your sig layer, and merge the sig down onto the blank layer.

This effectively 'locks in' the border effect, which is exactly what we want.

Hooray, you've finished your watermark!

Now let's place that bad boy into your finished piece.

You'll get the best mileage out of a mark if you can place it over a spot that isn't black of white, since you'll get better blending options that way. My preference is for Overlay.

From here, I'll adjust the opacity to around 20-25, depending on the image.

If you don't have a spot to use overlay, however, there's a couple other options. For white, there's Linear Burn, which imho doesn't look as good, but it still works in a pinch.

And for lots of black, you have Linear Light

Either way, you're in business!

EDIT since this has escaped my usual circles, and folks aren't as familiar with my personal usage:

An example of one of my own finished pieces, with watermark, so you can see what I mean about 'relatively unobtrusive'-- I try to at least use them as framing devices, or let them work with the image somehow (or, at the very least, not actively against it).

I know it's a bummer for some people to "ruin" their work with watermarks, which is part of the reason I developed this mark in particular. Its disruption is about as minimal as I can make it while still letting it serve its intended purpose.

There's other methods, too, of course! But this is the one I use, and the one I can speak on. Hope it helps some of you!

ignore this if you've gotten an ask like this before but what do you think the mercs love languages are?

Ah yes, the act of human love. Something I am both terrible at and perfectly unqualified to talk about. What better reason to make a long post?

TF2 mercs showing their love, let's go!

Scout:

Shares food with them. Not just any food, no, it has to be good. His favorite, even. Usually he has quite selfish eating habits - comes naturally from growing up with so many older siblings - but if he really loves someone, he'll share.

Slows down. He's a very enthusiastic man, always full of energy, always up to something. But at the sight of someone he loves he just... stops. Like his entire headspace is instantly filled with just them and nothing else.

Ruffles their hair. It might sound weird, but that's what his mom used to do when he was little - run a hand through his hair as a gesture of love and care. He doesn't do it consciously himself, doesn't even realize he picked up the habit.

Walks kinda backwards when they're walking together. Always wants to look at their face. Ends up bumping into people. Doesn't care.

Introduces them to his favorite videogames. Shows them the ropes, cheers loudly when they win. Still kicks their ass in PvP though.

Soldier:

Listens to them. Hes usually loud as all hells, it's hard to get through to him. It comes from the kind of habitual aggressiveness that starts as a defense mechanism and develops into a full-blown personality, but it works because he rarely ever feels safe. It's only with the people he loves that he drops it completely.

Shows them everything he thinks is cool. A weird rock. A flock of birds in the sky. A piece of cardboard he bets would be really tasty. A shoelace. Just... shinies. Something that makes his world brighter.

Loudly announces their name when they enter a room full of people. Talks about them and how great and awesome they are. Wants everyone to agree.

Makes medals for them. Gifts them his war trophies. Dedicates his victories to them.

Puts his helmet on their head. This is the only piece of armor he wears, and it keeps him safe. He wants the people he loves safe as well.

Pyro:

Draws them. Has a whole sketchbook dedicated to just them. Ironically, he doesn't care for appearances much, but the way he draws - colorful and emotional, linear and dynamic, or soft and caring - is about the heart, not the shell.

Crafts for them. For everyone, but for them especially. Matching bracelets, matching rings, matching pendants... He feels lonely sometimes, when he knows he shouldn't, and he'd never make it someone else's problem to deal with, so he combats the fear of abandonment by keeping his loved ones close through things. It's like a bond. A physical object that locks them together.

Hugs them. Excitedly, arms over the shoulders, and kind of... uh, what do you call it... tucks (?) their head to his chest. People hug that way after a long time apart, but for him even a day feels like an eternity.

Rests his head on them. Their shoulders, chest, stomach, knees - everything goes. That said, he himself doesn't mind being a pillow either.

Gives them candles. Lighters. Sparklers. Fire-making things. Teaches them to handle it the way he does - it's like taming a wild animal together. Maybe one day it will grow into a family pet.

Demoman:

Acts all cool and solitary. No, he doesn't need company. Sure, he doesn't mind spending time together - not that he didn't have anything else to do, though. "I didn't need yer help, y'know?"

He's the kind of man who'd kiss his friends on the lips platonically if it was socially acceptable, what's to say about someone he loves? He gets bird-related nicknames for how often he wants to peck someone on the cheek.

Tries to make them laugh. Tries to make everyone laugh, but them - especially. It's the best thing anyone can do for the world around them! He's good at it, too. He brings joy with him wherever he goes.

Writes notes for them. On a sticker on the fridge, on their desk, in a bouquet of flowers he sends to them, on the sand with a stick... They're regular notes at first, but quickly devolve into a mess of inside jokes and code words, and soon they need to decipher every sentence, but it's worth it every time.

Takes them places. An old house he'd heard might be haunted. A tall hill from where they can see the entire city. A strange cave that might or might not actually be somewhere, so vague are the directions. Everybody loves a secret place. Demo's not the type to stop at just one though.

Heavy:

Picks them up. Sits them on his shoulders. Carries them around. Doesn't matter if they're big or small - everyone's tiny compared to him.

Reads poetry to them. In Russian, knows a ton of it by heart, most of it - love poetry. Doesn't care if they understand or not, translates the best he can, but the important parts are in the feeling, not the wording.

Wakes up early. Makes breakfast. Doesn't make a big deal out of it, doesn't come back with a stacked plate and a coffee - just leaves everything in the kitchen, sometimes maybe with a note, but most often just there to eat whenever their loved ones please. He doesn't like to sleep in anyway.

Watches them. When they're busy, working, immersed in something. When they're lazing about, doing absolutely nothing. Lets them know he's there, leaves if he's not welcome, but when he is - watches, and smiles to himself, and fills the room with warmth and comfort.

Can be loud too. Not all the time, not for show. He can confess his love in public, or he can do it in private - it's all the same happy, thunderous voice that leaves no room for uncertainty.

Engineer:

Wants them around. Invites them to join whatever he's doing, tries to make it interesting even when it's really not. He may just be tinkering with an old machine that might or might not work in the foreseeable future, but he'll glow with happiness if there's the right person watching him do it.

Holds their hands. He may only have one, but he wants to grasp both of theirs.

Contrary to his friendly and open-hearted facade, he's a very private man when it comes to feelings. He wouldn't "confess" per se, but he'd say things sometimes, quietly, when there's nobody around. Profound, meaningful things, like telling them the brightness of their smile would put the stars to shame, or something better. And then shrug like it's nothing and chat about the weather and whatnot.

Cooks for them. It's all family recipes - well, changed and improved and switched up a thousand times, but the emotional attachment is there, and that's what all family dishes are about, anyway.

Shows them his work. Robots, inventions, smaller personal projects - everything. First to them, then to others. Sometimes just to them.

Medic:

Wants his doves to get along with them. It's hard to get the birds to do something they're not inclined to do, but he's keen on fighting over it for the rest of his life if he has to - it adds to the drama of the predicament.

He talks non-stop. It's not all "nothings", either - he has so much knowledge in him, so many ideas, so grand a philosophy, and he shares it in tons of words. The more he loves them, the more talking they'll hear.

He makes up excuses to spend time with them. Terrible, pathetic excuses that don't fool anybody, but that's the intention. He knows who he wants to spend time with. He makes sure they know he wants to spend time with them. The excuse is but a joke, a social commentary, a funny little bonus to strike up a conversation.

He keeps them safe. A lot of people want to keep their loved ones out of harm's way, it's a natural instinct, but Medic wouldn't be Medic if he didn't go above and beyond in that regard. He'll prove death curable if that's what it takes. Thankfully, more often than not a simple reminder to sleep at nights, drink water, and eat at regular intervals is enough.

He gets them very small and completely useless gifts. A pen. A single flower in a tiny pot. A decorative sticker. Tiny, tiny things he gets excited about for no reason whatsoever.

Sniper:

He's the little spoon. Not to be cute or whatever, it's just... nice to have his back safe, for once. Not to worry about a backstab and all.

Teaches them things. Doesn't know much, beyond his profession. Teaches them that. How to shoot a rifle, how to reload it, how to defend oneself with a knife. Makes him feel like his job - his greatest passion in life - is being appreciated, and, by extension, he is appreciated also.

Brings them sweets, but they're not normal sweets. They're either sour-sweet or bitter-sweet or spicy-sweet, because he can't be normal about it, he only loves the stuff that gives other people existential crisis and dental pain.

Takes them fishing and hunting and hiking. Plans out the routes, tells them about all the plants. Points out mushrooms, moss, bugs, spiders, all that stuff. Shares a story about how he ate poisonous berries by mistake once. His idea of a fun time.

Gives compliments readily, excitedly, but lacks the knowledge on how to, as well as the elegance to do it properly. He's the type of guy to get nervous, blurt out "You have teeth!" and show a thumbs-up, but he's trying his best, and if he has to cover his face with his hat and find an excuse to get the hell away immediately afterwards, then that's on him.

Spy:

His love language is French. No, this is not the old joke again, he really does talk to the people he loves in French. He finds it difficult to express himself otherwise.

Buys them good gifts. Expensive gifts. A nice watch. A beautiful scarf. A pair of earrings. He has great taste, but even better he is at observing people and finding out their tastes. He'd never get gold for someone who only wears silver. He puts so much thought into a gift, it doesn't need any kind of engraving to be personal.

Knows the best restaurants, but merely having dinner together isn't always his idea of fun. He frequents poker nights, golf clubs, pool tables. Knows all the best ones, and makes sure their love discovers them as well.

Gives them nicknames. Long and short, funny and poetic, actually meaningful and completely nonsensical - he likes to have a lot of words to call them, and often complains that English is too poor a language to convey the diversity of character that he's so in love with.

Ah, but it would kill him to make a compliment. So he finds a roundabout way to do it, makes it... Well, not backhanded, exactly, but balanced. "Handsome Devil", "wretched wonder", "blasphemous beauty", sometimes it feels like he's knitting words together only to level them out, god forbid someone finds out he loves others more than he loves himself.

That's it! Hope you enjoy!

Oh!!!

Happy birthday to Medic!!!

Happy Birthday Medic tf2

Thank you @tf2-asktheagent for the edit agghhfhfhfhfh

Quick Medic HCS

Inspired by a string of doveposts from medicsmenageries;

Ludwig names all of his doves.

The mercs have tried, and failed, to count how many he owns. 

Not even Heavy knows, and he’s the only one allowed to pet the birds.

As mentioned in a previous post, this man can disney-princess style call his babies to his very whim, it’s not unusual to think they bring him his coat in the mornings while he makes coffee.

He just really loves his doves okay?