Character analysis (or at least my vision on him, if you believe my reasoning)
What do we know about Spy? He's a disguise mastermind. He can pretend to be anyone in order to infiltrate into the scene to do his job - quite literally, stab people on the back. But when he's not in the battle, what is he to his teammates? A suave Frenchman, a gentleman with taste, somewhat a leader.
At least, that's the persona he prefers to show. But is he really..?
What if I tell you that this person never drops his disguise?
For a man who always wears a mask and who's identity being secret is a sacred part of his role in this job, isn't this persona too much to show if it is real? Frenchman, rich, ladykiller... Wouldn't it be too easy to decipher his identity with so much clues provided? Wouldn't it be dangerous?
While Miss Pauling and the Administrator definitely know Spy's real identity, hiding it is a major thing for whatever reason. One could assume it might be because of Scout (obvious guess) but I doubt he's a sole reason. Spy very much enjoys being the Spy all by himself. Do what's the deal?
Let's start from the beginning.
Why did Spy join Mann Co. in the first place?
Let's take this assumption as a fact: people come here out of desperation. They are professionals in their field, yet in their past/casual life there is a pattern of them having difficulties that push them into joining this service. I don't see why Spy would be an exception.
The reason for joining is usually money. Some people question why Spy, a wealthy man from higher society, would join Mann Co. if he has it all already.
Well, probably because he really does not.
Have you ever met an aristocrat? Wealthy people don't get so protective about their expensive suits, they can afford cleaning or a new one. Regardless, rich people don't usually get stingy about material goods, especially if they're mass produced.
At least, not those who were born into wealth.
Spy's defensiveness about his "wealthy stuff", his pomp-ness, disgust and arrogance towards "plebs" gives off a man who knows what it means to live in poverty and who doesn't want to be associated with it ever again.
(Not even talking about his own filthy habits such as not washing his mask and pissing on walls? Jesus Christ)
Dare I even guess that he might be not French at all? His French is so broken. (Although, so is Medic's German, but at least he uses his language much more frequently and in more complex sentences, while Spy only uses French to say some basic expressions, occasionally confusing them with other languages). Definitely not a native.
If anything, he's not giving "rich man" at all, he's giving con man. And that fits my picture perfectly.
So, poor upbringing. How old is Spy? If he's Scout's father (and he was young when he was conceived), I'd say he's no less than 20 years older than him. I'd give him a few more years actually. So, approximately Spy is around 50 at the events of the game (1968-1972). Let's assume he was born somewhere in the 1910s.
Even if he's not French, I still agree that he's probably European. Hmm, what was happening in Europe at the time Spy was a kid?
Oh yeah. The Great Depression.
See my picture: imagine, a child from a lower class family during the Great Depression, his parents were most likely to not take good care about him (both because of the economical situation AND as an echo to Spy's struggles with his own fatherhood). He has to run away from home early and start to make money. Any way possible.
Unavoidably, it leads to crime.
Petty theft, blackmail, scams. Changing identities. Selling low quality products and services. Changing identities again. When older, seducing rich women to stay at their homes overnight, be fed and supported. Running away from the police. Walking into a trap of the mafia, and then joining them as their goon.
In this nightmare of a life he just had to keep pretending to be someone else, someone better and stronger, in order to his ego to not completely shutter. He had to imagine he was an invincible mastermind trickster of some sort, not just a poor boo-hoo victim of poverty who has never knew normal life and care.
And if you pretend for long enough, you become your role eventually... Right?
His true self was long lost forgotten under many layers of new identities. Worse, his true self was never known. And he didn't want it to be known in its ugly and disgusting vulnerability. Narcissism became his lifeline.
It's so much better to be Spy. To be rich and elegant and respected. His ego rebuilt.
they hired me to be this old woman's attorney for today:
I am a parda (i.e., half black) person. With that being said, the first time i read about Demoman’s lore i had mixed feelings. For one side I thought “this makes a lot of sense to me”. The other, shyer and hidden, thought “something here doesn’t add up.”
Being straightforward, the aspect of “Demoman got abandoned, adopted, orphaned again and readopted by his og family” bothered me in a way I didn't understand. At first i thought i was being just petty, mayyybe even on a internalized racism realm — black people’s trajectories are multifaceted, to only wish to engage with the “wholesome” ones is to ignore multiple experiences and the historical conditions that led to so. Without any vocabulary to explain why i felt like that, i choosed to not mention it at all, wait until my mind change about it. It did not changed, what happened is that i finally understood what my point was. It’s not the story, it’s what we interpreted of it.
An recurring theme in many black people's experiences is the over effort vs under appreciation. To super perform on something to get the recognition a white person doing average would get — or to get recognition at all. As far i know, most of the tf2 comic writters are white (pls correct me if in wrong), and yet, the Demoman's comics, for me, manage to grasp this experience aspect. Over performance to manage basic survival, and to teach survival will only be achieved by over performance. And it also shows how this pressure has negative consequences over someone, despite being born with good intentions.
(Like being hurt at a young age, or spiralling after a defeat — Or having to listen unfair mom complains 😭)
It is something that can be talked about and overcomed together, however — to depend each case to case. and i really dont see anything denying this is what happened between demoman and his mom, despise the very few we see from them in the end
So like. What is the “abandonment” lore bit fulfills in this story? This generational trauma aspect sucks, as i just mentioned, but, heartbreaking and paradoxically, it is something born in love, born in a wish to protect your kids. So why to say “they didn’t wanted him actually but then they saw he was actually good with bombs and changed their mind”
(AND ITS NOT MENTIONED IN THE COMICS AT ALL IS THE THING, THE WHOLE THING CONNECTING THOSE TWO IS THE TIMELINE NOT OVERLAPING WITHOUT ANY OF THESE INFORMATIONS MAKING A BRIDGE AT ANY POINT. IT COULD JUST NOT EXIST)
My epiphany?
We, as a tf2 community, might have gotten past this image way too fast
Think with me, the cartoony difficulties bringed by demoman’s mother. Add those to the subtext, sadder irl difficulties — The racism, a cataclysm into every situation in society, and the fact that both demoman’s parents are disabled.
You could bomb mercs all day and still not have enough for a loaf of bread.
Think with me. Demoman was put in an orphanage not because his parents didn’t want him. His parents wanted more for him. They didn’t want him to grow in poverty, in awful conditions.
But even miles away from them, Tavish still clinged into explosive-making — Their heritage, their culture. Emotions came, “We can’t left him behind. We can’t left our own behind, no matter what.” A monumental effort was made, but they managed to bring him again. They are together again, they can be happy together again.
If they get without money, they can’t raise Tavish. So Tavish’s mother takes action. Her, and her husband, are going to teach the family business to him. He will get a job. He will get ever single job from earth if needed, because if the family doesn't have money, they can’t be together. And by god, Tavish’s mother will not give up on her son again.
Time passes, they discuss with each other. She did made Tavish be successful in his live, but he had to grow up too fast. Had to bare a burden too big for his own, for anyone. She is sorry, she is so sorry. Tavish only deserved the best, she trought that it was the only way to so. Things dont need to be like that anymore.
They're together. They're happy. They are a family.
The Process of Drawing all Nine Mercs (engineer and medic)
Im currently working on a new study for the characters, Im not done yet but I just wanna make sure Im not just dead quiet for a bit. I've gotten Sniper, Spy, Medic and Engie kinda sorted down to designs I really like. Im currently fixing up my Scout, Pyro and Solider drabbles, which I'm pretty confident with in Solider's case. Pyro is a bit harder with the face shape and the idea of the unmasked version which I really want to get right. I'm then probably going to do a study on Demoman and finally Heavy, which is the one Im not as excited about. Demoman does seem pretty enjoyable with how cosmetics make his hair but heavy is my fear right now. He has a very specific head shape and overall model for the face that I want to emulate in my style which may be pretty hard to get through with how I work with anatomy. While I'm taking my break, I wanna talk a bit on my hopes for the designs and overall notes on each of their designs. (I also will be making a big reference sheet for them all when I'm done with all 9 mercs).
Engineer
I adore Engineer and with him being my favorite character in the series, I wanted to get his design very specific for me. I wanted to create a model and almost a story for Dell in a way that emulated his character in a good way that wasn't too overdone or simple. One of the only "issues" I had to work with was the jump with hairstyling. I work with big hair and normally have characters gain mullets or longer hair when I flavor them (COUGH sniper COUGH) and the common choice of no hair for Dell is something I wanted to keep. It was easier after I formed and worked my art style into something that could work with a bald character, I think. My big piece that changes my design of Dell from others is his scars. If you couldn't tell from my work, I love drawing scars, and each of my final designs for each have very specific scars or bruises that really enwrap the character they sit upon. His main scar is his right eye having been caught in a severe explosion from an enemy demomans shot on his nearby sentry. This falls into the bond and story I want to give between both Ludwig and Dell, being one of their main bonding moments in my own personal canon. That scar in my opinion really personalizes his design in such a way that It can make him stand out from the original design but still showing his personality. His rather bubbling passion in battle that keeps him on the enemy line, with his sentry being placed in the perfect position to attack. He needs modifications, he needs upgrades. He cannot just be simple. He needs to be perfect, but that is always settled by his own personality and humbleness. I like to think he has a cracking, explosive point that breaks his normal attitude into something darker in battle, which I really like the idea of. Moving on from the main scars, I have a few other things that I like added to his design.
two slashes on his lower chin that creep up his lip. Spy encounter.
He has a series of soft freckles around his body, which appear more on his arms that face but still are apparent to a keen eye
READING GLASSES! He wears them sometimes, normally substituted for his goggles, but he wears reading glasses and I adore it
A lil tooth gap or a snarl tooth, which I really enjoy...It's a guilty pleasure to give all my characters teeth gaps(undecided if either one OR both)
Medic
Medic is another one of my really top tier characters, and I just love everything about him. His voicelines and overall demeanor that he just radiates is such a sinister and interesting energy that I needed to get down on paper. The issue for medic was probably his maturity. Less on his actually maturity, but in his overall body. My older style didn't focus on older or middle-aged characters all that often, radiating on a more softer and youthful body shape. The shape of his face was something I really needed to master, and I really enjoyed my time getting his overall silhouette. A LARGE shoutout to
@archiarthur in being one of my biggest references to get his overall appearance and a lot of my reference besides his actual game models! It was a major help and I love your work :D! Anyways, back to medic. Ludwig overall is one of the designs i've gotten very comfortable with. His main design is good enough as it is, and really depicts exactly what I enjoy from him. The design is something I didn't want to falter with too much in my tranfer from screen to paper. He has a very specific smile that I wanted to bring over, making my usual flavor for teeth impracticalities like chips, dents, or any form of misshapen become harder to get across. I went more into the clothing or situation for the real flavoring when it came to my medic drawings, and how he held himself. I wanted to give him more moments with his birds, and with the power of art, I get to make infinite amounts of moments with his lil babys. Besides context and overall clothing hes not too overly flavored, just given a bit more hair, sometimes given larger or chained glasses which overall is never a permanent addition to his design, and some smaller things? His design isn't too overally added on but I do love drawing him and gotten into a real good groove with the design so uh yippie!
idk if youve done it yet but i would actually lose my mind if you did an analysis for demo
Aye aye captain 🫡 Time to overdramatize again!
Let's address Demo's wounds
(Demo's backstory was changed through the years but I'm sticking to the older version because I find it more grounded)
Demoman's story is easily one of the most tragic of all the mercs. Imagine you have been abandoned from birth, your parents simply rejected you for what you are. But luckily you have been adopted by some good people who replaced your parents and made you a relatively happy child.
And then you accidentally kill them. You're 6 years old. How does that feel?
I can't even imagine how a child's brain can't comprehend the idea of being a murderer. It was an accident, of course, they were blown up by a big explosion he created (genius kid found out how to do that, huh?) but still. His parents were dead and he knew it was his own fault. He learned he was dangerous as he is.
How was it like pondering about it in the orphanage?.. "I didn't want this! I want to go back and fix it, I'm so sorry", something like that. But he couldn't go back in time, so being covered in such an avalanche of guilt, he learned he needs to repress himself.
Demo have always had an explosive temper (no pun intended), it was his true nature, pure emotion: if he's happy, it's 100%; if he's angry, it's a full blown storm. If he loves, he loves with all of his heart, and he has a big one.
Living on the impulse, all or nothing, that crucial accident revealed that letting his true nature go will only end up as destruction in the end. Irreparable damage.
We don't know what exactly was happening to him during his orphanage years, but if I'm to guess, repressing everything about him: his interests, his character, his whole nature, was a thing to choose. He thought that he had to become still and quiet as to not to repeat that kind of tragedy ever again. He probably didn't have people to be friends with either, either because people rejected him for his past, or he avoided them himself due to his internalized shame, at least that's a guess.
But everything repressed returns to the surface sooner or later. As a child, living for so long under overwhelming guilt, grief, hate, pain and sadness, under the skies that are almost never sunny in a all-year-long damp and coldness of the Ullapool. Incomprehensibly grey. It was depriving.
He was always fascinated with explosions. He didn't touch it for a long time, but maybe something like seeing fireworks again one day made something inside him tremble... And to remember.
Explosions. Launch... Acceleration... Release. And every time the release happens, his soul fills with excitement, the body feels lighter and shivers go up the spine. Release happens inside his head too, for the explosions make his worries and pain go away for a moment.
He couldn't find another way to release his bottled up emotions, so gradually he returned to make explosives again.
It was something like an addiction. Similar to pyromania, except no one bothered to research this one. At the moment of explosion he could let his anger out, he could scream, he could run around freely, he could sense heat in his chest; he could be himself. As he once was.
Everything was cold. But the explosions were hot.
He thought it was under control, just a little bit of KABOOM after school, but he craved more and more every time, more vivid, more violent...
That's how he lost his eye. (...Was it a subconscious act of selfharm?)
The missing eye was a forever reminder of how deviated he actually was. He learned that he couldn't repress or change what he truly is - a monster. A Black Scottish Cyclops, wether it were his peers who called him like that or he himself, out of misery. There was indeed something seriously wrong with him.
It seemed like the only thing he was capable of is destruction. Destruction is the only environment he's comfortable with. Peace was always so anxious and depriving, and breaking things felt calming, so he figured it must be right.
And then his birth mother came and took him back, "now that's he's a worthy DeGroot". It was unexpected but... Pleasant. So he wasn't THAT worthless after all, huh? Turns out, it was really familial, the destruction thing. At least he found out that there was a reason behind all of this.
His new mom was, saying honestly, pretty cruel with words. She was not at all gentle, she was very strict, demanding and straight up abusive. It was never enough for her no matter what Demo did. She didn't want results from his work, she's just always wanted to mess with his brain.
And for whatever reason... This setup felt right for him. To be thrown around like that, to be humiliated harshly, it felt fitting, it wasn't causing anxiety or anything. He has to be a scapegoat, he had to forget about being a child and to start working as an adult, at the same time somehow replacing a father he still didn't have, but it felt good enough. Confusing relationships felt good enough.
Destruction was his habitat, and his heart could no longer accept anything else.
Cruelty wasn't warm though, just familiar, just an environment to not to go insane. But he craved warmness so badly... Yet every time he would get close to someone and receive a little gentleness and care, it would feel sickening. It felt unnatural, it reminded him of his lost parents and of everything that's wrong about him.
The only warmness his body could accept was alcohol, making him bubbly and comfortable and relaxed. He almost felt normal, happy even. Alcohol heat made him melt, and he felt so fulfilled as if he was in paradise, back to the womb.
Yet after the effect wears off, he feels lonely as ever. Quickly, existing without alcohol becomes pain. Existing at all. He became an addict.
Not that everyone he met rejected him, rather, he subconsciously reached out to those who would be cruel to him. Again, gentleness hurts wether he knows it or not. He's only good in destruction.
Lonely and clingy, ready to overshare, overall mess yet carrying a big baggage of love that has no one to give it to. Maybe because he can't give it to himself in the first place. There's so many issues unresolved because he can't handle them alone, yet there's no one to help since he was already trapped in a closed circuit of self sabotage.
He will keep acting like a party beast, always crazily emotional and overdone upbeat, a simple drunken man who will not be taken seriously that way. Maybe that's what he wanted, to not be seen as deep by anyone for not be reminded of his misery once again.
Seems like we bought that too.
...
The enemy Soldier might be an exception though. The man he really treasures his friendship with turned out to be an enemy; repeating the rule again: it's only acceptable when dangerous. Soldier deeply cares for Demo, however he's not gentle or pitying, he's as destructive and explosive as Demo is, and these two are a very rare perfect combination of destructing each other in the act of love. Both broken beyond repair, soul on soul, forever to be misunderstood by the outsiders. This is something about this relationship that looks like a golden lining.
They will not fix each other, but they sure are going to have a good time!
more mercenary analysis, whichever merc you want <3
Not a mercenary but... Okay!
Let's dissect Pauling
Always so collected, responsible and efficient. The one who is not afraid to get her hands dirty for the sake of a goal, and her performance is always one hundred percent. What could possibly be not cool about her?
Well, maybe the fact that this all is, in fact, an act. Of course it is.
I'm not saying her determination and dedication to her job aren't sincere decisions of her heart, she really enjoys it and shines in her work. It's just a matter of WHY and WHAT she's doing it for. And on what scale.
For her, her job is EVERYTHING. Eagerly working 364 days a year with barely any rest, masochistically putting herself in so much danger, blindly following the boss's instructions, not even hesitating to kill people standing on the way...
Wow, there's gotta be something going on here.
Well, obviously the Administrator plays A HUGE role in this situation. Why would Pauling trust her so much? Referring to the comics, Pauling trusted her wholeheartedly on whatever the Administrator was planning, even though she didn't know what it was. This blind following that vaguely resembles nothing less than a weird somewhat child-to-a-mother attachment. It's just a Boss, just a job, why?
Because that's what it is. Mother issues. Very apparent.
We don't know anything about Pauling's past, so there's where the headcanons begin:
I'm assuming her birth mother was very neglectful and dismissing, never acknowledged her daughter's accomplishments and struggles. No matter how hard Pauling tried to become "worthy" in her eyes, it seemed to be never enough, as if she didn't even exist at all. Maybe her mother was a substance addict or something and their household wasn't safe and stable, so Pauling had to become an adult early and run away from home as a teenager and find a job to get by.
(I assume that because I believe there was a mention in the canon lore that Ms.Pauling had been working for the Administrator for long long years (don't remember exactly), indicating that she started working when she was still a minor).
So, being taken under the Administrators wing, her young wounded brain found a substitute for a very thing she was lacking, subconsciously clinging onto the Administrator as a newly mother figure, in order to "get it right this time".
Administrators Strictness, responsibility and demandingness were the most favorite qualities of a person of authority in Pauling's eyes, in contrast to the laziness, unaccountability and indifference of the environment in which she grew up. She could finally strive.
This time she would show the mother figure that she's worthy, she's important and irreplaceable; she exists. She would prove that no amount of hardship is too much for her if it means approval for the Administrator.
And the Administrator kind-of-sort-of gave Pauling this pseudo-love in return, encouraging her to sacrifice herself even more for their work. Which is at the very least unfair, and at most just predatory. Administrators "love" was conditional, in contrast with when the real motherly love Pauling unknowingly expected. Administrator was too immature for a mother figure, too much in power for a partner or a friend, yet too close for a formal boss. What is this!? Something not nice.
The Administrator doesn't love Pauling for Pauling, she loves her working qualities. And thus, Paulings subconscious guess was confirmed that "I'm only important when I'm doing the job. I AM the job."
Tying your worth to what you DO instead of what you are is a huge dangerous existential rout one could choose. But she never really knew her importance outside of her skills, so she wouldn't know.
Now imagine how actually painful that character arc was for her, when the Administrator proved herself to be unreliable and secretive, and when Pauling started to question her intentions for the first time.
"... Because I trusted you!"
"Then why are you questioning me now?"
It wasn't even the real conversation between them, just Pauling's mind torturing her.
It reminded me of the crisis of a 4-year-old when they realise that their parents aren't perfect; they don't know anything and they CAN hurt you.This shattering illusion of almighty love. When a child stops believing that the "harsh love" their mother treats them with is simply an abuse.
Wouldn't it be terrifying to realise in your 20s thar despite running for "the mother's approval" all your life, you will never truly get it. If your mother failed to provide it to you at such a young age, nothing will truly substitute that, especially now, when you're an adult, no one will love your inner child the way it was supposed to be loved.
Unless you yourself decide to take that role.
...
Realistically speaking, it's not nearly that sever with Pauling! She's happy in the environment she's in, there's lots of interests for her to explore (Guns, fights, killin'!) So many adventures every day! Even if Pauling has her inner suffering, it's not that bad aa I describe it. Her mother problems may actually be an advantage, a reason she is such a good and caring boss for the mercenaries.
I'm just edgying things down for the sake of the clearer analysis. But still...
If the Administrator will be gone and Pauling loses her life-dedicated job... What will be left? Who is Pauling once Mann Co is no more? Can she answer that?
References:
– A video that helped me better understand the Good Girl mask:
The Process of drawing all nine mercs (Sniper And Spy)
haha I know, it's been a few months sense my last tumblr ramble and a good amount of time sense anything TF2 based. I've been really diving into my own fiction, with my book! I haven't talked here on it much, but I am a aspiring writer (cringe I know) and currently want to start getting a full book done and in my portfolio and not just dozens of short stories, which will be daunting but I think I can make it. It's been a hobby and a time consuming one at that, so I really haven't dove back into TF2 with the whole book thing, and my other hyperfixation holding me in a chokehold (COUGH COUGH fnaf, epithet erased and undertale COUGH COUGH). But now I have the mental capacity to continue this little series! Right now I have finished the designs for Scout, Spy, Sniper, Pyro, Engineer and Medic. Solider is almost done, as well as Demoman...Haven't touched Heavy's design but I promise I will soon...maybe...BUT! Today, I want to go over the silly little guys of Mundy, and Pierre (Spys headcanoned name for my canon :D) Anyways lets dive in!
Sniper
Sniper is held near and dear to my heart, but jesus fucking christ I could not get his design for a awhile. It wasn't just one thing and little tweaks, like most of the other members so far--Engineer, Medic and Spy--- whos were pretty simple to fix. Engie just had his hair, Medic on his mature features and Spy with what was behind the mask. Sniper had like 5 different core aspects that I couldn't draw when I first starting drawing team fortress. The face shape was extremely long for my styling and for the first few tries, it just felt too off. Either too small when i tried my original style and too much when I did it more accurate but less trained. his hat sucked the soul out of my body I fucking hate drawing hats. His figure at the time was hard, as when I started this journey I only drew twinks and girls, both being far younger then the main cast. So for awhile, I had to place Sniper on a shelf and studied Dell, Ludwig and Pierre more. When I finally adapted my style to older characters, I finally got to draw Sniper. His flavoring aren't much different, as the usual design was for my style. I think it's crazy that the original base game really doesn't show many visible scars on characters (besides the comics and the meet videos which were both for Sniper so that did help his design). I gave him a few bullet wounds and the Percy classic, wolfcut hair. I would give him some greyer streaks as I bet money that you don't stay to calm under the pressure in his shoes no matter how big his professional persona keeps up. Also I give him top surgery scars because I am trans. What do you expect me to do. I also gave him the trademark teeth impracticalities! He has a lot of chips and uneven teeth, cause he ya know...lives in a van. I also don't think they give dental care in popular game team fortress two.
SPY
Spys design is nothing but iconic. If you don't know the game, you probably have seen either Heavy or Spy in some type of meme template. That was the main intimidating hurdle I had to get across (as well as some minor tweaks as usual) on how to make this character still show as Spy on paper. The mask took a good while to get right, as masks were never my strongsuit, and hats. Fuck hats. Spy is really fun to draw though. My main practice to draw the characters was in dresses or formal attire if not their classic uniforms or cosmetics in the game. Spy felt so much easier to draw if I did in some type of cocktail dress or ever some flowery more formal dress. He just has the perfect slim build to work in my style. It was a fun design to recreate and I do really enjoy drawing him. The main issue, besides his mask which was an easy jump, was his face. Like. Behind the mask. I cannot tell you how I got it done, I just looked really hard at the details in popular fanfiction "Solitude, But Two" (READ IT OR DIE I DON'T MAKE THE RULES) By Lu_undy on ao3 Im rabid im crazy GRAJHAHAHA. Anyways. Ahem. I kinda just blacked out and then I had Spys face. I have him more hair as usual, and I got him a different teeth screw up. Impacted canines! it makes them look like little small fangs that are smaller then the teeth! It's really interesting and I had done a lot of just sharp canine work in Sniper and I kinda knew that already before drawing Spy. Give the man some tiny wrinkles because I want him to be angry and be disgusted by his imperfections because I love him. I also would nail him to a tree, no questions asked.
So...Science party and Sniperspy are stuck in my brain
yeah....yep
My brain is fuzzeled by gay mercenaries. Started off with sniperspy and science party has bled into my brain too. whenever I think of the two ships I think in a very specific way. Sniper and Spy are the trope of either Enemies AND lovers, who want to beat the crap out of each other and can't get enough. Or they are a bitter rivals to lovers, who are constantly bickering but have there soft moments every now and then, constantly hushed by the calls of gunfire.
Engimedic seems like a couple after a bit of time growing together. They know each others limits and can hold the others back when on a cracking point. They constantly are decoding the other like a riddle, and know all of the others sweet spots and sensitive topics to not touch on. They care for each other, and support each other in even the most insane of projects, and even flooding their own ways of work into the others lives. Engie might sometimes help with an experiment he once would have gagged at, and Medic might actually assist the engineer with the new modeling of his gunslinger.
I love when my views change when whatever medium I see them in swaps this theme. When Mundy and Spy have been with each other for a lot longer now, now knowing each micro-expression on the once unreadable Frenchman's face. Spy know seeing the small things like how Mundy has a minor limp and a snarl tooth that barely noticeable if not stared at. I love a flustered Engie after realizing all those strange german words the Medic has so casually chirped were pet names the whole time. When Dr.Ludwig sees Engie take down his goggles for the first time, revealing soft almost crystal colored eyes of the texan for the first time after a long exhausting battle.
I like to think that Medic and Engie see the flustered faces of the two lovebirds for the first time, giving each other glances that no one else can read but the other. How the Australian stood at their lab door for the first time asking for help on these somewhat conflicted feelings. How Spy ever so quietly would walk past their open door to see if Sniper was inside as the routine became somewhat apparent. I could talk about them for hours, and I probably will. Maybe I'll write a full blown Engimedic and Sniperspy fanfic on both of their relationships or something :)
