Concept Bin

Originally I had these in a Google Doc, buuuut I don't actually really like Google Docs. So.

Team Colours

I used the following ruleset to generate these Team Names:

Acronyms must be three letters long [reference: RED and BLU]
Words can be implied provided they are left lowercase in title case (e.g. “and”) [reference: RED]
Vowels that represent silent modifiers [reference: BLU] and vowels that can be replaced by a schwa without obscuring meaning [necessary to preserve 1 and 2] can be dropped
Vowel-consonant groups that together form the name of a letter can be replaced by said letter [reference: BLU]
Consonants can be switched around, provided they make a comprehensible sound in the final product [significantly extends acronym capacities]
Acronyms must make a colour [reference: RED and BLU; Grey], or an object from which colour can clearly be extrapolated [optional choice]

Working within these rules, the following names were generated.

GLD

A potential name for this team would be General Liquidations Depot.
Note that, while sharing a colour [reference: golden weapons; “australium gold”], gold and Australium are not considered to be the same material. Additionally, gold is worth significantly less than Australium.

MOV - “Mauve”

A potential name for this team would be Major Operations Vocational
While a part of the violet set, mauve denotes a significantly more desaturated, more reddish shade of purple than “Administrative purple”. It was also one of the first and more well-known synthetic dyes of the Victorian era.

MBR - “Amber”

Potentially stylised “Mbr” or “mBR”
A potential name for this team would be Munitions Breaking & Redistribution
As a colour, amber primarily has connotations of slowing down [reference: traffic lights] and may also serve as a semiprecious counterpart to gold or gemstones [reference: amber]. Due to its vivid orange-yellow colour, and depending on pronunciation, it may also call to mind fire or embers.

RUB - “Ruby”

Potentially stylised “RuB” or “rUB”
A potential name for this team would be Regular Urban Breakers
As a colour, ruby appears darker and more saturated than “RED red”. This places it in a similar colour range to more intense “blood reds”.

AQA - “Aqua”

A potential name for this team would be Artisans’ Quality Agency
As a colour, aqua may vary, from lighter but more saturated than “BLU blue”, to darker with equal or higher saturation. It has a significant link to the ocean or sea.

BAJ - “Beige”

Potentially stylised “bAj”
A potential name for this team would be Blank Alliance Junction
Beige is boring. It is considered neutral, and acts as a supporting tone rather than an accent of its own.

SIN or CYN- “Cyan”

Potentially stylised “sIN” or "cyN"

A potential name for this team would be Superior Interference Negation, or Crafting Yards Nondisclosing
Cyan is primarily used as an additive primary colour, and in and of itself is considered a very bright shade. Though unnaturally vibrant, it bears some resemblance to the sky.

PNC - “Pink”

A potential name for this team would be Proper Neutralisation Collective
Pink is traditionally considered a feminine colour, though this distinction is relatively recent on a grand scale, with “light red” previously being seen as masculine. In addition, while pink is often cited to reduce aggression, it has often been reported to do the opposite [reference: Baker-Miller pink].

GRN - “Green”

A potential name for this team would be Gravel Relocation Network
Green generally draws connections to nature, although it may also be used as a shorthand for gas, poison, or mould.

SUN - “Sun”

A potential name for this team would be Sustainable Utilities Network
The exact shade of yellow “sun” would represent is debatable, although the image of a yellow sun is near universal.

ASH - “Ash”

A potential name for this team would be Architectural Structuring House
“Ash” may be interpreted at any degree of lightness or darkness, but certainly brings to mind monochrome blandness or destruction.

Lore Gaps - Or Fragmented Fanon Constructs

There are various questions about TF2 lore that do not have a canon - or well accepted - answer. Oftentimes these questions will spawn a variety of different explanations, depending on the tone of the piece and a single person's relationship with canon. This section serves to catalogue some of these questions, and potential answers both wild-caught and dug out of my brain.

Why do RED and BLUs’ mercenaries appear identical?

The Administrator intentionally hires mercenaries with similar backgrounds and looks in order to make each team recognise the other easily, prolonging the battle.
The Administrator hires mercenaries from narrow pools in order to find the right types of people and skills, and just so happens to find similar looking men.
They don’t; however, the mercenaries don’t care enough to memorise faces, since classes are more important anyway.
They don’t; however, all the mercenaries are faceblind.
One team is made up of clones of the other, and they aren’t paid to ask awkward questions.
Both teams are made up of clones, which get swapped out for new batches whenever they get too old. Or start asking awkward questions.
The Administrator hires classes out of single families, causing a resemblance.
They didn’t originally, but Mann Co. mandates that everyone looks the same.

How can there be multiple of the same mercenary on one team?

See above as logical.
There aren’t, but sometimes it really feels like it.
Medic.
Spy.
Repurposed robots.

Why do Team Colours appear inconsistent?

See above as logical.
Mercs are shuffled between teams as is convenient for the Administrator. They’re paid to fight, not to build loyalties.
Miss Pauling burnt all the paper trails so now we have to guess.
Shirt theft.
Paint.
They’re actually the same, the lighting just makes it look different. For instance, when RED Heavy appears to be wearing a BLU shirt and black shoes, he’s actually wearing a white shirt and gold shoes. {Note: I wrote this guide like six months before the dress. Do I get partial dodgeball credit?}

Why are food items healing, and why do they do different amounts of healing depending on whether consumed or picked-up?

Doping. Since Heavy is Medic’s favourite test subject, he gets the best results.
Health isn’t a one-to-one representation of actual bodily integrity, and takes into account bodily exhaustion, bodily damage, and psychological strain leading to fatal errors. On each mercenary, the exact ratios are different, due to their construction and constitution.
Food is comforting and provides energy, thus providing some healing benefit.
The power of friendship, but with food as a metaphor for friendship. Or something. The more the food gets passed around, the more its power gets diluted by regifting.
Food is actually like that. Don’t ask why.

How does respawn work?

Something to do with souls.
Mercenaries are continually monitored throughout battle, and when they die, their latest body at full health and their latest unbroken neural configuration are recreated.
Mercenaries are continually monitored throughout battle, and when they die, a registered scan of their body and their latest unbroken neural configuration are recreated.
Respawn is actually quite uncommon, and when mercenaries die and are rebuilt they lose significant proportions of their memories.
Respawn has two states; a high energy state and a low energy state. In a low energy state, anyone who dies will be recorded, but they won’t respawn until a high energy state is triggered.
Respawn has infinite range.
Respawn has battlefield limited range.
Respawn encompasses a range that includes both the general battle area and the mercenaries' place of general residence.
Respawn has a distinct shape, bounded or otherwise.
Respawn radiates out from a central point, forming a circular field of efficacy.

How often does respawn work?

All the time.
During the work week.
During battles, and for a short period surrounding.
Only during battles and for a short period after, in order to retrieve the losers.
Theoretically during battles, but it’s janky.
When one of the mercs activates it.
When it’s kept in good condition, courtesy of Engineer.
Respawn isn’t real.
Respawn isn’t real; Medic goes around after the battle with a plastic baggie and reassembles anyone who got gibbed, Frankenstein-style.
Merasmus maintains respawn, and that’s why Mann Co. lets him show up once a year to cause problems.

Why doesn’t rocket jumping cause depeditation?

Mercs are just built like that.
Medic.
Rocket jumping doesn’t actually involve your feet going near the explosion, and relies instead on Really Strong Arms due to the force on the launcher. Don’t ask about the unbroken arms.
Idk man TF2 physics
It does, but they grow back.
Mann Co. shoes are really, really tough.

How do throwables cause their effects?

Emotional damage, mostly.
Radiation/poison and drugs/ammonia on bare skin/open wounds.
Magic.
It’s not unique to throwables. You can do the same thing with sewer water and a carton of 1%.
It’s actually the glass’s fault.

How does Scout double/triple jump?

Idk man TF2 physics
He doesn’t; he’s actually incredibly acrobatic.
He doesn’t; he just jumps REALLY high at will.
Increased jump heights/quantities are due to lessened carry weight.
Increased jump heights/quantities are due to unseen utilities.
Scout emits a significant quantity of radiation at all times; upon attempting to jump while in the air, his movement causes the amount of radiation pushing up against him to suddenly increase, propelling him upwards. This is also why he runs so fast btw
Mad BONK chemicals
You are what you eat and chickens can fly for short distances

Where do the mercenaries live?

Military-style barracks.
Tents.
Inside the spawn room, or in an attached complex.
A separate living area away from the battlefield.
Within the battlefield.
They pop out of existence at the end of the battle until they’re next needed.
Really bad motels/hostels.

Where do the mercenaries sleep?

Military-style bunks.
Separate rooms, each with their own beds
Separate rooms, although not everyone sleeps at base, or in a bed
One really big bed
One really tall bunk bed.
On the floor of the battlefield.
Pile of pillows.
Wherever the urge takes them.
Tents, mostly.

Plot Bunnies

Long-Form Ideas

These ideas are intended for chaptered or otherwise prolonged formats.

A story about a group of nine ordinary men who wake up in the ruins of the Gravel Pit, circa 2023, with no knowledge of how they got there. Isolated in the old compounds and stuck next to the crumbling remains of an old town, the men spend the first half of the story attempting to survive and get out of the New Mexico desert.
Personally I'd continue like so:
As time passes, they begin to grow closer both to each other and the spectres of the mercenaries who once fought there. However, disaster strikes when an ageing woman discovers their presence at the Gravel Pit. Clearly understanding how they got there but loath to tell them, she attempts to have them killed. The second half of the story refocusses on the group's attempts to avoid the various traps and robots she sends their way. As they do this, the lingering stories of the long-gone mercenaries becomes more and more apparent, as the group falls into patterns that mimic those that were built a half-century ago. Eventually the woman sets out to kill them herself, but is dispatched in the end. The story ends with the men still stranded in the middle of nowhere, the only lead they had as to how they got there dead, with only the resources they've built up and conserved, and the sliver of Australium in the respawn room.
Isekai TF2 (Alternate Title: Wait just a moment! Our heroes from another world aren't acting very heroic, now!)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail but it's Team Fortress and the Golden Pan
Tavish meets one of the fae in the woods and keeps coming back to see him. The town's leader is displeased by this turn of events, and seeks to separate them for unknown reasons.
(A WAR! AU which eventually veers into foregone conclusions of intrigue, magic, and a lot of cross-faction tomfoolery as Tavish pulls his acquaintances into the Thing.)
A story in which, in the end, the Administrator gets the rest of the cached Australia, Saxton adopts Olivia as his heir, and that's the end of that. The mercs settle into new lives, pass on their skills to heirs and proteges, and eventually pass away. A hundred years later, an Administrator with black hair and cat-eyed glasses hires two groups of mercenaries to fight over a new source of Australium, and life goes on.
So, like. A TF3, but with a lot more melancholy to it.
Zombie Apocalypse AU but it occurs during MvM and the team just thinks Grey Mann is feeling more Medic than usual until Pauling sends them a VERY panicked phone call
Engineer has seen men squabble over resources before. He also knows Mann Co doesn't let go as easily as the oilfields. Like it or not, he's going to need help to get out.
Story in which Medic gets stuck in Limbo, and oversees the next lives of his comrades.
Sniper and Spy suggest the replacement of all Australium stores with the even rarer, even more mythical Vegemitum (expired Vegemite). This is all part of an elaborate scheme to cut their losses and bolt. Plays out like a buddy comedy.

Interaction/Relation Based Ideas

Ideas heavily reliant on character interaction and relationships.

Meet the Team videos, remade on an old camcorder 10 years on
Medic builds a Frankenchild. Adoption looms for the creation. And guns.
Mercenaries, and the romance of dancing with Death.
If there's one thing that Team Fortress's frontline hitters like, it's fireworks. This is unfortunate for anyone who needs to remove said fireworks from their hands.
Sniper is called in to mediate Spy and Scout's fighting, and the trio go fishing as a bonding activity. It is awful
The Administrator doesn't want Soldier and Demo on good terms with each other. The universe, however, has other plans, and they've been in action long before the Administrator even thought to hire the pair.
Three guys standing in a workshop six feet apart because something's going to EXPLODE
Rations run low, and it falls to Sniper and Engineer to acquire ingredients for dinner.
Sniper and Demo, having hunted every Cryptid they know of, start looking for excuses to go on another road trip.
Scout and Pauling just want to spend the evening drinking cocktails and hitting on girls, but Spy keeps talking about "responsible alcohol consumption" and "not being unbecomingly inebriated" or something.

Dumb But (I think) Funny Ideas

Ranging from vaguely random to full-blown crackfic territory.

The team goes to Costco
A story centred around the four humours (milk, jarate, blood, and medigun juice)
How the Roomba was invented and the trouble it caused
Scout gets turned into a worm for the day and everyone has to keep Worm Scout alive and keep track of him (Ey, Would Ya Still Like Me If I Was A Worm?)
Merasmus decides to mix things up by crashing Easter
During a ceasefire, RED and BLU get bored and invent chess boxing
Soldier is assigned to sub in for Phoenix Wright (or employee thereof. Whoever's funniest I'm not 100% sure)
Pyro gets a new weapon! (Brick)
Alice Margatroid wishes to distract the other witches from her work, so she takes a page out of Marisa's book, “borrows” Soldier, and sets him loose in Gensokyo.
Heavy decides that the best way to deal with errant teammates is to put them on top of the fridge.
Experiment on the effect of attaching shields to a car in place of car tyres (result: BAD)
As the resident Words Expert, Heavy decides it's about time he started a blog.
After much goading from his colleagues, Demo decides to prove that pool noodles are, in fact, viable weapons for close combat. If you're cool enough. Which he is.
If Engineer had a nickel for every time he'd felt tempted to attach a car battery to his sentry, he'd have two nickels. Which wasn't a lot, but it was certainly enough to buy the bandages such an impulse would no doubt require.
Spy plays Doom on his ConTracker and refuses to do his job.
Spy POV Among Us fic but instead of being an AU someone just says something about vents or impostors every three seconds
After a base move, Spy is left with no weapons but a butterknife.
Sniper gets lost in an IKEA, becomes very dramatic about it, and is found three hours later having somehow extracted bush tucker from the plant section
Sniper makes up a lot of excuses when he goes shopping for jars.
Heavy and Zhanna sibling bonding weapon swap

Character Study Prompts

Prompts that focus on a single character and their internal life

Scout likes attention. It's a shame he's so good at avoiding it.
Pyro runs an absurdly profitable lemonade stand
Pyro knows three things. 1, people underestimate someone wearing bright colours; 2, family pride extends past the grave; and 3, it's only arson if you get caught.
Soldier was told it was for America. Fool him once, shame on you. Now it falls to him as to whether he'll make it twice. It's not so easy when he's already fooling himself.
With the rest of the team busy, Engineer is left to guard the intel by himself.
Demo glues a vase back together, and wonders if he'll die to see his enemies re-assembled, too.
Food is caring. Food is killing. Killing is caring. Heavy's teammates will learn this, eventually; for now, though, he'll stick to sandviches.
Tasked with eliminating problem teammates, Sniper is left to grapple with the significance of eye contact, and his idea of morality.
In which respawn is fuelled by rot and cold, decay is an extant form of life, and it falls to Medic to water the living graves.
No I don't know what the hell I meant when I wrote this

Miscellaneous

Everything else

Recently fired, Scout goes home, integrates himself back into society, and gets a job teaching kids baseball. It goes surprisingly well and predictably chaotically.
It is 4AM, and Scout just finished a full gallon of soda. Funny how sugar gives you great ideas.
In the wake of the disaster with RED and BLU, Demo retires from mercenary work to get into a safer career - stealing stuff from English maritime craft.
On the eve of a friend's wedding, Medic seeks to replicate one of the great crimes of his younger years. That's right. He's stealing a skeleton for the happy couple. (Alright, and maybe some birds along the way.)
Saxton Hale commissions Engie and Medic to invent SU Fusion. The results of this are described differently by all involved parties
Chell and Heavy swap places. Chell enjoys her vacation. Heavy does not.