Agreeing with the anon above. There is something incredibly satisfying about having such a vast array of possible scenarios and character interpretations at one's disposal without having to worry whether or not a story you have come up with fits into canon or whatever passes as such in a given community. I do actually play the game, but only on a casual basis and with people I know closely (to avoid inflicting my pathetic performance on strangers) and it's certainly not what draws me to the fandom. The TF2 fandom feels like a far more creative place than most other fan communities because it doesn't (have to) bother with the usual fandom wank of canon evidence etc., but rather moves on, sort of transcending the small work on which the works on here are based, to create a staggering variety of stories. It feels like those people on here who create truly awesome pieces of fiction are doing it for the joy of creating something of their own while playing with a few shared expectations with regard to characterization and possible plot points, while in many, many other fandoms there is something decidedly more re-creative to it. Other fandoms circle around the work they are based on, here it kind of seems like TF2 is at the center, but everyone takes it from there in whatever direction they please. I enjoy that. (This got a little rambly and is possibly hard to understand - like several persons before me in this thread, I'm just going to apologize in advance for not being able to get my points across in an entirely coherent fashion, not being a native speaker and all.) Also, wanted to let you know that this fic is easily one of the greatest I've read on here and a prime example of what I just tried to talk about. Since some people have pointed out novels they feel reminded of, let me just mention Die Verwirrungen des Zöglings Törleß by Robert Musil, even though I'm not at all sure if anybody who's not a German native speaker has ever heard of this. Much of the social dynamics seem similar and so does the emotional confusion/turmoil that the main character finds himself in.