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mmmmMMMMMM ok - I think it's not only that people become magic users by interacting with arcane magic from the underworld, but magic from the underworld becomes stronger when it interacts with aspects of reality: man made objects like books or swords, even body parts. This is also why Merasmus as I depict her has features from various animals. It's somewhat like balancing the humors or something, some types of energy get stronger in tandem with other elements, rather than in their purest form...

He and Silas have... arcane chemistry...

ok ok just a couple more thoughts about mythos -

I think it would make the most sense if there were some kind of underworld in TF2, but not an explicitly Christian "heaven and hell" - there's a dark dimension of arcane magic parallel to reality that sometimes bleeds into ours. (the Mann family might still refer to it as Hell but that's not what it literally is)

most supernatural creatures, therefore, hail from the underworld. Namely, Merasmus. The Bombnomicon and the cursed sword, I think were both granted sentience through this kind of arcane magic and are sort-of creatures of the underworld by proxy.

Imaginably it's this magic that also causes people to persist after death, as with the Mann family.

I think there being an abstract astral plane also makes sense, having characters that can project their consciousness to directly communicate with others, disregarding physical distance. I say abstract because I don't think it's a place that someone can "go" to, but a kind of film over reality to be distorted, or to trap and preserve people within.

Australium I see as its own mystic element, but I'll get back to that.

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Headcanon that every one thinks engineer is in charge of pyro intell they see pyro holding engineer back from breaking a strangers knee caps and realize that there holding each other back and that's s sometimes

REAL - I absolutely see some of Pyro's antics as ways of manipulating Engie's ego, that is, if Engie feels like he's the one helping Pyro and not Pyro trying to distract him on purpose to get him to calm down, it's incredibly effective. You get it, anon.

#asklies

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ok ok just a couple more thoughts about mythos -

I think it would make the most sense if there were some kind of underworld in TF2, but not an explicitly Christian "heaven and hell" - there's a dark dimension of arcane magic parallel to reality that sometimes bleeds into ours. (the Mann family might still refer to it as Hell but that's not what it literally is)

most supernatural creatures, therefore, hail from the underworld. Namely, Merasmus. The Bombnomicon and the cursed sword, I think were both granted sentience through this kind of arcane magic and are sort-of creatures of the underworld by proxy.

Imaginably it's this magic that also causes people to persist after death, as with the Mann family.

I think there being an abstract astral plane also makes sense, having characters that can project their consciousness to directly communicate with others, disregarding physical distance. I say abstract because I don't think it's a place that someone can "go" to, but a kind of film over reality to be distorted, or to trap and preserve people within.

Australium I see as its own mystic element, but I'll get back to that.

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we're physically disabled(mainly through chronic pain/fatigue/POTS) and we may have to get a wheelchair later in life, and it makes us sad sometimes but then I remember that one fred in a wheelchair drawing you did and we go "aw yeah we're just like fred that's sick as fuck" -tf2heritageposts

awh, I'm honored to hear that! 💙💙💙

#asklies

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I see your "Laios is trans" but that dude is THE most apathetically agender person on the planet. Laios does not have time for gender. Laios does not even HAVE a gender identity, he removed it to make room for more Monster Facts.

#holy shit yes #dungeon meshi

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slkfjlskjfslfjsf I had no idea collapsing top hats were in fashion, also like. kinda explains Zepheniah's fucked up accordian-looking hat probably lost shape after getting too squashed up or something

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TW GORE

BlendeR🍊

#8:11 #GORGEOUS #gore

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not tf2 specific but fictional magic systems and their logic is something I have been quite fascinated by, because you need some sort of logic, if "anything goes" it can be difficult to reach any satisfaction of seeing things play out, because nothing has to abide any of the other established parts of the story/universe. There's a lot of clever subversion also done where the way someone might assume these things work, the narrative framing to establish the logic can be challenged - similar to developments of different scientific theory - but without establishing patterns first, there's no way of having interesting exceptions.

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I've had a lot of thoughts, but I think developing a clearer picture of the tf universe's magic and mythos might be one of the keys to tying everything back together. A lot of how I think about these characters is kind of a reverse engineering of the trajectory I see them on as people, then a series of logical steps backwards about how they became that way...

But I think it suffers from... well... themannfamily made a post a while back talking about how Victorians contrarily believed in both the Christian God and ghosts/other magical phenomena. If you take TF2, the comics, on its face, there's some slightly problematic implications that heaven and hell exists (with Sniper and Scout maybe this wasn't confirmed entirely, but Medic couldn't have survived otherwise and literally brought a pen back from hell) but also other types of magic - usually the goofy sort that doesn't have much of an explanation, plus, of course, ghosts and things.

So. Christianity is unintentionally the "correct" religion in TF2, because it's canonicised, and everything else is absurd nonsense. What would change the dichotomy here is giving the universe some kind of magic system, or multiple interlinked systems, that tie some of the abstracts to more meaningful stakes and themes...

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CAT-erpillars!

#oh my gosh....

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I feel kind of weird about putting a serious spin on these characters n making all this like, serious, dark, Victorian drama or other kinds of gritty suspense stories but thinking that TF2's original direction possibly would have been more serious if things had turned out differently gets me excited...

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idk if the original plot of tf2 is common knowledge but this is really fascinating? also a little vindicating when a lot of people express this kind of dismissiveness over "taking this goofy game seriously"

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I lost a whole day scanning stuff and watching videos about analog horror bc it's the kind of mindless thing I dont mind being interrupted every couple minutes to flip the page over.

I find it easier with commentary because I am nervous and I hate jumpscares n shit and usually like, a commentator is going to give you more of a heads-up than a big jumble of ambiguous videos will.

most can be summed up with. missing person. things watching you. (in the dark) (scary) like exactly that kind of stuff that preys on paranoia and has nothing particularly unique.

hit metal 17 times, for what I've seen of it, was an exception because I was never expecting an analog horror to have silly accents, an in-universe musical number sung by an unwilling captor and an unwilling captive, and a generous amount of really dry, British humour. so kudos to that guy.

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it doesnt matter how many times I sneer to myself about how youtube discovered this predictable combo of taking a person's face, applying liquify tool, 100% contrast, convert to B&W, compress the hell out of it - maybe some censor bars for flair - it still makes me jolt and imagine things.

I feel cheated sometimes bc it's not the thoughtful horror elements getting to me it's like some. fuckin. primal animal part that sees big eyes and weird faces and freaks the fuck out even when in my higher cognition I can see a lot of that is just cheap and unoriginal. like in some ways I am nostalgic about that kind of stupid zalgo horror but in others I wish it was like.

less exploiting that kind of primal paranoia. maybe even just being a bit more campy and ridiculous. do you know what I mean.

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I know that Nintendo gets a lot of hate, but honestly, I think they should be hated even more.

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