Yeah, perfectly logical.
Sniper doesn't have any skincare although he spent all of his life frying inder the sun. Bro's gonna die from cancer once the respawn machine is off. He also smokes, pretty excessively, I assume. Always dehydrated (saturated color of jarate). Probably eats the same foods (just meat he hunted down and nothing else? Veggies who?). Doesn't exercise. Plus he's a lonely loner abd there's no way he's not struggling mentally too (definitely affects your physical body in many ways).
And Scout is very healthy compared to that. Always running, keeps himself fresh and flexible. Doesn't smoke (or at least very little, unless he wouldn't be able to run that fast and for so long). Very active and reactive, so I'd say his a pretty happy guy overall. Can't really say anything about other habits, but I'm guessing he knows how to keep himself happy, he's a sport junkie after all.
So it's neither a secret nor a mystery why one of them is an early grandpa and the other one is a babyface. We're comparing neglected houseplant to a dandelion.
Okay, so ykno how in game cosmetics, Sniper looks a lot older than Scout? Well, not to sound like a nerd but a possible reason for this is the difference between their lifestyles.
Sniper grew up in Australia and now he's in New Mexico, that's a lot of sun, and I doubt that man has taken proper steps to avoid sun damage. He's in decent shape, but not like Scout, speaking of which, he grew up in Boston, and as far as I know, it doesn't get too sunny there. He also runs like, a lot.
I know this doesn't explain everything and it could be more comprehensive and less "thrown together last minute" but I don't feel like it. Yall get the gist.
tysm for the mediscout I owe you my life
Ok
🤲 ← Please put your life in here.
I wanted to make their design stand out, so I created them from scratch; they're not loadouts you can find in-game. Plus a little bit of character description because I'm dying to talk about them and their roles in the story (*wearing a shirt that says "please talk to me about my fic"*).
Now I can finally draw them often!!
Somewhat goofy clothing sheets under the cut↓↓↓
I tried to design them the way their silhouettes and colors stay recognisable, as if they were meant to be used in-game later, to not to break the gameplay rules. I also wanted them to look as tf2-like as possible, I studied the hell out of the 3d models and on the last three I guess it started to turn out decent. Drawing Spy is still pain though.
Or maybe it's just that I'm not attracted to the majority of the mercs visually?? That's why they don't look satisfying?? Lmao. Need to adjust them to my tastes later.
I'm not sure I can exactly explain my design choices with these... How exactly they correlate to their characters. There is something, but I went for it fully intuitively.
//
For BLU scout I went for the softer, rounder oversized clothing to accent his insecurity and the need to shield himself for comfort. It still needed to shape his torso (game rules) but his hood and sleeves do the deed. There is also a strict rule in how to draw his freckles: they look more like moles and there's 7 or 8 of them. You won't believe me if I say this is lore relevant.
For RED Scout, I went with the more aggressive military style. I think I literally took this jacket design from a real military one. There should be an accent on his heavy relations with the army. His clothes are tight because he still likes himself.
RED Sniper is giving hunter vibes, forest type. BLU Sniper looks more like a fisher or a winter hunter. Not sure what deeper meaning I could assign to this except that BLU Sniper was heavily referenced on Ogata Hyakunosuke.
BLU Spy should radiate tiredness. His look is quite unkept for his standards but at this point it doesn't matter anymore. The turtleneck and the boots are special requests from @/gentlesurgeryenjoyer (xoxo)
BLU Medic just looks so freaking cool in a black shirt. It was a vision. I'm not sure if black and white accents mean anything in terms of which side those characters are on. I also wanted to separate him from another famous horror witnessing Medic.
And Miss Pauling was the most satisfying to draw, it was a gift to draw her last... I gave her pants because it's getting cold outside at the time when the story takes place. I also find it very impractical to go killing job in a pencil skirt, I'm sorry. She probably also wears snickers underneath.
And also thanks to @nightly-headache for helping out and assistance!
Thank you SFM, with you I'm able to cheat with everything...
Today I will be talking about Sniper's personality because I often see people portraying him DRASTICALLY different abd I wanted to understand what's going on and why all of the interpretations are correct (in my opinion)
Let's name the most prominent thesises:
Sniper is shy and introverted.
Sniper is unhinged and bloodlusty and is annoyed by people.
Why do i think that these aren't exactly contradictory?
I think at this point it's safe to assume Sniper is autistic (I mean lol this is easier to prove than to disprove). As an autistic person myself, I can see why he could be perceived like that.
Sniper doesn't talk to people and mostly observes them and the situation. Very in tune with his profession. That, however, might be perceived as being shy or very introverted or both. People love talking and expect others to share information, yet Sniper never says half of the things he's thinking about.
But let me tell you, it's NOT because he's shy. If he was shy, it would show in his body language as being stiff and rigid. He's not. His body is pretty relaxed and takes enough space. Still crosses his arms, but in a "don't bother me" way, not a "please don't judge me" way.
He's just disinterested.
I relate to it a lot in real life! People at my job think I'm too shy to talk to them, but no, I just DON'T WANT TO. I'm not scared of any if you, there's just nothing to talk about. I don't know your business, you don't know mine, our interests don't collide. If I talked to you about my interests you wouldn't listen anyway. Small talk? Ew, are y kidding me?
However, I like to listen. I'm an extrovert personally (unexpected huh) so I love being around people, but it doesn't mean I have to takk to them. I'll just sponge the information they are babbling about so I know my community better. When I meet new group of people where everyone knows eachother but me, I'm not going to feel awkward, it's perfectly fine to observe.
Sniper seems to fit into this kind of behaviour too. So he's not shy in a social anxiety sense".
NOW LET'S TALK ABOUT THE BLOODLUST!!
Yeah you all know his in-game voicelines. You feel either horny or assaulted after he rolls these sadistic words on his tongue. Yes I said sadistic, are you gonna argue?
"We professionals don't give speeches we just take a shot" he says in the comics. OH YEAH? IS THAT WHY YOU HAVE THE MOST FUCKING VOICELINES OF ALL OF THEM??
Have you ever noticed how much attention he puts into saying how 'professional' he is? Like, yeah no shit, they all kinda are. But why, unlike other mercs, he insists on calling himself a professional with standards and morals, detached from emotions and feelings, so much???
There's literally no reason to be ashamed of being a killer and to admit that you enjoy killing people, you were hired to Mann Co. for that specifically!!!
My assumption: it's a personal disgust towards himself and his anger issues. I've said it before already and I will again.
His so called 'shadow side' that he suppresses so much. It loves to cause people pain, it loves releasing the inner anger, it is being feral and impulsive in nature. Sniper cannot let himself be like that for whatever reason. He's already built a clear picture of what he is in his head and he doesn't want to destroy that.
The only time he allows himself to be a monster is in the battle because it comes naturally. However, when it's not a situation of adrenaline rush, when people want to talk about his persona face to face, he starts to defend himself and bury his face under the lies he believes in.
And THIS is anxiety. To be scared to be truly perceived. Not like many people tried, but I assume he wouldn't like it.
Bro really thinks he doesn't have feelings lmaoooo imagine being so emotionally immature the only way to process your emotions is to shot a human dead.
So, is Sniper anxious? Yes. Is this social anxiety? No, he's not shy. Is he an unhinged murderer? Yes. Does he identify as one? No. It's really a little bit more complicated than the two thesises from the beginning.
He's a person. Obviously not mentally healthy. High dimensional. Can be potentially broken or healed in terms of a good character study.
I might be very wrong though and most of the assumptions are simply guessing by grasping the patterns, but usually when I analyze someone like thus, it turns out mostly right. But correct me if you feel like it.
Gift for @gentlesurgeryenjoyer 🌹
I wanted to let you know that I absolutely adore your artwork and your "Anomaly Diversion" fic, and I sincerely hope you continue it.
I understand that it's a huge undertaking to write something so detailed and beautiful, and there is no pressure for you to keep going if you can't, but I just wanted to tell you how much I love your work <3
This made me tear up... I feel so seen.
I really appreciate that you see how it is, indeed, very hard... But it's worth it. I've recently started making a Miro board for it (so I stop forgetting stuff...)
I'm not in a very good place of mind right now which prevents me from working as efficiently as usual, but I'm working on it. Slowly but steadily. Thank you so much for checking </3
I couldn't draw much lately but here! Take these unfinished pics of a fic concept I was trying to explain lol
(CLONE THEORY 2nd Edition)
Sniper tf2 is such a guy. A very essence of guy. The male loneliness embodiment. I think if he was able to watch Ryan Gosling movies he would unironically say "literally me" on them without knowing the meme. I drive amirite? Blade runner fr. Russian doomer music Vol. 3 indeed.
Paper books are cool again because they don't have ads!!!!