#Phantom liberty spoilers

[silverhands-input]

just some of my favorite pics i've taken of him........ he's so soft and cute and puppy coded fr. He's my emotional support brain tumor

[glitchinginthegarden]

Playing PL again has gotten my worms going...

I was originally going to leave it out of Vaye's canon story. Or make Temperance Johnny go through it as a shot at getting her back.

But now that I'm in it again and really looking more closely at the details and the conversations... I have to write it "canonically".

Not just for the new characters. Or the lore and insight we get on Johnny. But for the sheer desperation of the entire situation. And for the things I imagine in my head.

Like V continuing to mentally talk to Johnny while he's suppressed by Song. All the times I know she would be crawling through crumbling tunnels just muttering at him: "What the fuck." "This is bullshit." "You see this, J?"

I need to dig into V being waaay more distrusting of the whole thing. Not just of Myers but also of Songbird and Reed and even Alex.

For Vaye, by the time she's hitting the Dogtown border, she truly has exhausted all of her resources. She's doing this because, fuck it, what's she got to lose? She's dying. Her other option is Hanako Arasaka. Is the president any better? Is anyone any better? She's not an optimist to begin with, and after hitting dead end after dead end, gambling is all she has.

Granted, Temperance is still her canon ending. But it can hit so much harder after going through PL.

[pozer-jacket]

Resisting the urge to flip Songbird the bird while sending her to the Moon.

[sweetmage]

In the PL ending, I'm thinking about Viktor fitting V (who I HC to have longterm, unhealable brain damage that affects his daily life) with some external mobility devices. Since he can't really have a lot of internal work done anymore, having something built to provide him with more balance and stability when he's out and about could do him a lot of good. Plus, he could definitely work with him on rebuilding strength and learning self-defense.

Additionally, I HC that Vik suffered one or more TBIs during his boxing career which is why he relies so heavily on stabilizing injections for his work. Resultingly, he might be able to provide firsthand advice on existing and managing after serious brain injury, navigating complications, etc.

Vik, as far as we've seen, doesn't really have any visible augmentations yet he's been able to handle himself just fine and make it to an age a lot of people don't make it to in that city. I don't think V's life is over just because he can't use cyberware. He still has someone in his corner who is both willing and able to help him.

[elvenbeard]

I finally sat down and played Reed's path in Phantom Liberty and HOLY shit. Spoilers below the cut just in case köahsdföahdsf

MAN. I was like, 95% unspoilered for everything, the only things I knew was: you gotta fight against Kurt, there is a scene in So Mi's apartment, some Cynosure fuckery, and I had seen gifs of So Mi in the core at the end (and deducted HM. she isn't looking to good, I feel like this is an ending where she dies).

But so so so many things came unexpected and got me so damn good!! I had fun fighting against Kurt, his little knife-throwing sequences (though I still wouldve loved a peaceful solution more than this XD a third path where you side with him or sth like that). I did not expect that we'd be fucking with MaxTac alsködhfasf that little bit was so fun, from setting up to having to fight them (though I also really struggled with that at first, rightfully so xDD).

The level design of the Cynosure was amaaaazing, the creepy horror vibes, the voices the jumpscares aödshfasf I loved that so much. I was not at all prepared for the Cerberus mech, that was mean af xD But so fun, gameplay-wise, so creepy, too. I ate up the lore of the place (and how insane that something like this exists under NC - and how much more similar shit must exist as well for other corporations??).

How the apartment sequence was done blew my whole mind, the transition between the bunker and the apartment, the little flashbacks, and how everything slowly crumbled and fell apart. I love that you can hug So Mi ;___; and man, I was crying so much at the end, the pain... but the only thing that felt right in that moment was killing her and giving her her freedom, and it was so raw and gentle and horrible all at the same time (also V's reaction was ;____; aaaahhh my boy).

I loved that we got a chance to shit-talk Myers XD And that, after all that in the end, Reed may finally find his freedom too and get away from the FIA for good!! I was adskhföasf so feral about his and Vince's parallels again, losing everything and being forced to start over. I loved his line that went like "thanks to you I have a choice now, something I haven't had in a long time". And man, I hope he uses his chance to get as far away from Myers and Washington and all that crap as he can, while he still can (just how that whole experience has deterred Vince from wanting to go back to Arasaka for good xD).

Overall though, I gotta say. I felt like the villain the whole time xD From betraying So Mi (still so obsessed that the options are called "Betray XYZ", not "Side with XYZ" which I've seen much more commonly in games with choices - It's a small detail but it makes such a difference in tone!!), to chasing her down all along it always felt wrong xD I'm glad at least towards the end there were some dialogue options that went away from the patronizing "we just wanna safe you" and "this is all for your best", and felt more human again.

So, for Vince's canon, if he goes through with PL from start to finish, he would rather betray Reed - and in return be betrayed by So Mi in the end aöshdajshf but yeah. Immersion and story-wise, her path felt more true to what he would do, even though I liked the outcome for Reed a lot in this. (and I guess that's really where the main difference lies in the end in all the choices, who gets to live and have their freedom in the end, and how much V is willing to sacrifice).

Also, since I went down the path of not handing So Mi over this time and not unlocking the new ending, instead I got new Mr. Blue-Eyes headcanons material O.O aksdfahsöf highly recommend looting the Cerberus mech and crafting the Cyberdeck in the "Unknown Number" related quest after the credits, in case you always wanted two more or less creepy talking constructs in your head xD

[lydiaalin]

out of context cp77 phantom liberty spoilers but I was thinking about the cure ending again and it's genuinely one of the saddest endings to me but the fact that they apparently consider eyebrows to be cyberware is also hilarious to me

[cybersteal]

BLACK DOG 𝘈 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘈 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭

Following Jackie's death and the failed heist, the survivor's guilt and physical and emotional agony causes him to throw away his hard-earned sobriety, and search for purpose in drink. Weeks pass, and he finds no real solace or relief, so, deciding that he wasn't going to face his end wallowing in self-pity, he wrests control back from his addiction and sets out to find a cure for the Relic.

ARCHANGEL 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘰𝘴, 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘮 𝘐’𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯

Finding no cure, he's seething at the unfairness of all he's lost and the sacrifices he's made, halted at every turn by shitty circumstance or just plain bad luck, eventually that rage spills over and he's pushed to storm the Arasaka tower to fight his way to Mikoshi as a last resort. Riding high on his own fury and Johnny's, he blazes his way down the Rebel Path.

NEVER FADE AWAY 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐'𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦

Having done all he could, he graciously accepts defeat and comes to terms with his death, determined to live out his last days as best he can, doing his best to leave behind as many happy memories of time spent with his loved ones as he can. So Mi, cured, and given a new chance at life, returns for what few months he has left, and Vice refuses to regret the choice he made to save her, satisfied that he could save someone, if not himself.

This is my entry for July's VP contest (I skipped June oop) on the @lenspluslight server, where we used 3 images to tell a story. I wasn't kidding when I said I like morbid stuff 😭

very cute, unedited alternate angles of the last shot under the cut to warm the heart ❤️❤️

[trashcatsnark]

When the FIA agents come to talk to you and Johnny glitches away- he just glitches to the doorway to watch from a distance....

[mirandaputsherbestbuttforward]

my stomach has been in my throat this entire mission oh god

[nuka-zero]

Kinda regret finishing Phantom Liberty again by calling Reed, the saddest ending ever.. too depressing 😔

Prefer the sun ending even though it wasn't perfect.

[86maylin]

[corpose]

also prev. post tags in mind, that's what makes the entire thing with so-mi so fucked for her. because vi felt connected to her, in some way. she knows what it is to feel like a rat in a cage, to feel like there's no way out. jackie even mentions that she never would have left arasaka ( icr the exact line, but it's like you wouldn't leave them so they left you ) when she gets fired, and he's right. because where would she go? what would she do? the position she was in, in counter-intel, the things she did and the things she knows . . . they would have killed her. hell, they were going to the night she got fired. she knew that. that's why leaving was no option, that's why she didn't argue a bit when jenkins put her on the abernathy job. there's no saying no. she knows how that feels.

and she's just . . . burning with fury when the shoe drops. when song tells her the cure she's dangled in front of her is single-use, and she intends to use it. because the thing is every instinct arasaka ever cultivated in her was telling her that. johnny was telling her that. reed was telling her that. but for once, for-fucking-once, she said no, actually, in spite of everything we have this connection. this girl isn't placide, she isn't dex, she isn't jenkins - she's not going to fuck me over. we understand one another. even as the stakes get absolutely silly, even as she's fucking herself up even more.

she leaves so - mi on that launchpad with reed and doesn't look back. fuck her.

[cherryrockpops]

Mr. Hands

[pozer-jacket]

If you side with So Mi and then go with the Panam ending, the little bird feels like a sign that there is hope. If you side with Reed, the bird feels like a threat.

[lokiina]

PHANTOM LIBERTY GIG SPOILERS ⚠️

I swapped Midas over this NPC for one of Mr. Hand's Dogtown gigs the other day and it's perfect. Deadass this voice fits him so much.

Also he would 500% be this snippy if he had to work with V, the two don't like each other at all.

Imagining these two realizing they've been set up to work together both just like "You're shitting me" and having to bite tongues to get a job done. Being passive aggressive with each other the whole time. The way he refuses to look at V for most of the time he's talking

Both later to Hands like, "Never again." 😂

[theloverstemperance]

I mean, to satisfy her lust for revenge, she'd pull me outta hell.

(Retargeted classics poses by @arcandoria, coming soon)