#good job CDPR

[rhonuscorner]

I just finished CP77 Phantom Liberty's ending and I am in severe emotional pain right now

Spoilers

So yeah.

Saying goodbye to Johnny in that AV hurt me deep in my soul. Max friendship and I knew this wasn't how he wanted to go out - I winced so hard when he said "They're gonna dismantle me" and I agonized for a few minutes on whether I should go through with it or not - but he still made peace with my choice and I just

Ugh.

I can't man.

I adore Johnny as a character and just seeing how sad and lost he looked in those last few minutes, admitting that he was scared, not because he was about to die but because he wouldn't get to see how V got to... live on I guess. I don't remember his exact words but jesus fucking christ.

I MEAN, LOOK AT HIM. LOOK AT THE EXPRESSION ON HIS FACE. It's killing me, I'm so sorry man.

I'm glad we got to have that last conversation and confirm that we were still friends until the very end and that he's made peace with it but this whole ending, man... I think it's the most depressing one out of all of them. I don't think I'd be able to do this ending without the max friendship, or any of the endings. My first ending I ever did was the Arasaka ending and I didn't pick the right choices in Chippin' In, so while I already adored Johnny, he didn't return those feelings and... well. I can't blame him for the harsh things he said in that ending but oof. That hurt too.

This ending though, it's so incredibly bittersweet, and I was a complete and utter sobbing mess through it all. There are no winners in this one... except Judy I guess.

I still have one more ending to do. I sided with Songbird but I have a save right before that. I'm gonna side with Reed this time and finish it up with the secret ending that I've yet to do - saved it for last - and then I'm gonna put this amazing game aside for a while because I need a BREAK from all the emotional gut punches it keeps throwing at me. This game has been eating my time and attention for weeks and weeks and while I loved every second of this insane rollercoaster, I'm looking forward to focusing on wholesome DCA stuff again. Finally finish up the first chapter of my AU and such and do a bunch of new art.

I haven't been this emotionally destroyed by a game since RDR2. 10/10

[wooriid]

Paparazzi stalked them in NC - and Goro being not amused about it.

I wanted to take a break from screens today to get into Cyberpunk red but then I saw the new French clothing @pinkyjulien just released and couldn't help myself. Something totally different (color-wise) from her usual clothing - but I really love the outfit so so much on her

(on a side note: I swear in some time I will learn how to dress up a NPC to match the outfits, I simply lack the time and skill atm; trying to use more tools to get better at VP as well and present those lovely mods of the aithors better. I also try to get better in crediting I simply lack the knowledge sometimes who is who on which platform ^^ At least I know some of those lovely people. Baby steps, but well ^^)

[glassrunner]

i'm never going to fucking get over how well-written judy is!!! god damn she really is the best romance in cyberpunk... the way she goes from completely believably skeptical and untrusting of v to depending on and loving them ;w;

[stephgingrichs]

one thing i gotta say is, the face cards of cyberpunk‘s women are insane.

[pinkyjulien]

Oh yknow what I wanna yap about the comics too 👁👅👁

▶️ Trauma Team

I already had a french version of this one, reading it again in EN and after playing the game multiple time, knowing the universe deeper and all, the comic got to me way more than it did back then

I love Nadia so much, she's SUCH a good chatacter and ngl ngl it makes me wish we had an important Trauma Team NPC in game

Reading this comic always makes me think about how cool River would've been as an ex TT? who just like Nadia, realize this job is not for him, not for those who really want to help the people that deserves it, and get fucked by his obligation, fucked by the system hhhhh

It would've made all of CDPR's trauma team merchandise worth it too hfh

The comic is top notch tho yeah we really dive into the whole problem of saving whoever pays the price to be saved, there's no place for morality or for personal feelings 😔

UGH its just so good, and the art is amazing too

Actually wanted to mimick the Dark Horse exclusive cover in VP but since I can't use Photoshop without internet I'll have to wait 🤠🤠 aaah

[wanderingaldecaldo]

@marine-123 asked in a comment ages ago how Val's friends react when they find out about her dating the President, and what a great question!! I hadn't thought that far ahead lmao so this is great opportunity to flesh out their story, as well as the dynamics with her friends in this universe.

Val is cautious about telling people once she and Rosalind start dating. They are trying to keep things under wraps—even if they know it's ultimately futile and the media will find out—and she doesn't want to mess things up with Rosalind. She's always been a fuck-up and a flake in relationships, but she's taking this one seriously. (And for good reason! Who wants to fuck over the most powerful woman in the world?)

Misty is the only one she trusts enough initially to talk to about Rosalind, and she's known about her from the moment Val got back from Dogtown. Misty believes her about the “fling”, even if she doesn't quite get it. Later when Rosalind and V start texting regularly, Misty hears about it all the time. Sometimes she even shuts V down because all she wants to do is discuss the nuances Rosalind's word choice from the same text message for the hundredth time, and sometimes that's just one time too many for Misty.

Misty is Val's BFF in this universe, and best girl in all universes

Once they start dating, Misty remains supportive of V's happiness. Eventually V tells Vik and he is... not pleased. He has no love for the NUS and has no problem telling V that she's a gonk for getting involved with Myers for a whole host of reasons. V isn't naive though—she knows what Rosalind has done, and she knows it's much worse than anything Vik knows. She has her own reservations but she isn't going to share them with him—national security, of course, but also her own pride—and eventually Vik gives up. He doesn't like it, and V avoids talking about Rosalind whenever she pops by the office, but it strains the relationship and her visits occur with less frequency.

At some point she also tells Mamá Welles, who is suspicious but ultimately wants V to be happy. Lupe wants to feed Rosalind, of course. “She's too skinny, mija. Bring her for dinner, I'll cook my pozole.”

The only other person V trusts is Claire. They grew close during the races, and that friendship continued to develop after V took over the Afterlife. Claire isn't a fan of the NUS but she can understand the attraction, and doesn't begrudge V the relationship. (Nix also knows because he's good at his job, but V and Nix both pretend he doesn't.)

When the screamsheets start publishing rumors of the relationship but before the campaign manager's idea to hire her as Rosalind's bodyguard, V dodges as many calls as she can, and plays things off whenever she does have to talk to anyone—that's some gonk shit, we just text once in awhile, you know how the media lies . After she takes a position with the FSS and moves to DC, she can hide behind "national security" and say she can't talk about the President. 🤷😌

Panam doesn't believe it at first, and calls V the second she hears about it from Mitch. When he read about the rumors, he discounted them, but then the media start reporting on it. He's shocked, though he did notice the way V talked about the President whenever she shared the story around the campfire the night before they stole the Basilisk. He's disappointed, of course, even though he never believed that he had a chance with her.

On the surface, Panam is upset that V didn't tell her about something as big as dating the President, but V would have trusted Gary the Prophet before Panam. Because of so many details CDPR gave her, I HC Panam as a latent bisexual. Looking at you in particular, eyebrow “scar”. After her flirting and eventual rejection of V, Panam grows jealous when she starts dating Judy, not that V noticed or Panam understood the source of her feelings. Fast forward to V dating Rosalind and Panam is upset again, and this time blaming it on V not sharing the details, but once again it's simple jealousy. Maybe one day she'll figure it out. 🤷

As for Judy, in this universe they date casually, but V is still enamored with Rosalind, and that makes Judy's red flags (and youth) a little... easier to notice. She's wary because of everything that happened with Evelyn, and how quickly Judy shifted that affection to V. At the same time she does care for Judy and happiness is fleeting in Night City, so why not spend time the cute and sweet techie?

I bet Judy gives the best hugs.

After the events of Mikoshi, Judy leaves town but they remain friends. When she hears the rumors about her relationship with Rosalind she calls V up on the holo and interrogates her. She remembers that V was evasive when answering questions about the gig, to the point that she didn't really believe it happened, and with the latest news she started putting everything together and wants to know all the detes.

[clairedelune-13]

I feel like one of the few book fans who has absolutely ZERO qualms with the games.

If I do have issues, its purely technical (i.e. finicky controls, clunky Bioware-esque animation) but when it comes to adapting the universe…A lot of love went into them.

Also, if not for the Witcher 3, I wouldn’t even know the books existed. So…

Any minor changes made were necessary sacrifices to make for an enjoyable interactive experience.

Besides, most of the complaints I’ve seen are straight up NITPICKY AS FUCK.

“Geralt would never wear a beard!”

Honey, he may find it irritating to have fuzz on his face, but if you read between the lines, the man does a lot of nomadic-like wandering searching for his next job. I bet you dollars to donuts he rarely has a 100% cleanshaven face.

“They erased Ciri and Yen’s relationship!”

I see this one a lot.

In a game that’s from Geralt’s POV, how the fuck are we supposed to see Ciri and Yen interacting?!?! Hm? For that to happen, we’d either need to be playing as Ciri or Yen. We’re not.

So shut up, already. They DID put in Ciri/Yen interactions. It’s just your job as the player to put in the effort and find the easter eggs.

“Ciri would never trust Avallach”

-sigh- I swear, these people read the books twice and figured that was good enough.

Her relationship/interactions with Avallach in LotL is… interesting, to say the least.

Also, a lot clearly happened that we - the player - don’t get to see. So, brace yourself, you gotta use your imagination, headcanon a little. There’s plenty of room to do so.

“Ciri would never go to Nilfgaard!”

-bigger sigh- The game is REALLY VAGUE about the Empress ending. Not only is it narrated by Dandelion, the world’s most unreliable narrator but you ever think Ciri has her own plans? It never actually says she succeeds the throne. Once again, imagination is your best friend.

So, who knows who’s on her hitlist. 😉

“Geralt never mentions his Hansa!”

Tell me something, if you got close to a group of people who followed you to the ends of the Earth, only to lose them in the most devastating way, would you jump to always talking about them? Or would you rather not cuz its still a sore subject?

The games aren’t perfect but they’re good enough for me cuz I get to interact with the world and it’s characters.

And at least CDPR cares.

The same can’t be said of Netflix…

[stillness138]

for the character ask game: Vernon Roche

i gotta think about this! thank you

first impression: i actually remember this pretty well because witcher 2 was my first exposure to the franchise. i think i felt pretty much what i was supposed to feel though; "this guy imprisoned me but seems more sensible than the goons he employs". i liked his matter-of-fact but clearly proud and protective attitude towards Ves and his putting the key on the table and walking away like 'surely Geralt will manage'.

impression now: i still like him! surprisingly, cdpr writes original characters with really commendable nuance. of course, if Iorveth is to be believed word for word, Roche is responsible for carrying out hate crimes (he doesn't deny the accusations Iorveth makes, so i think that's just fact), and yet he shows time and time again that he really is more sensible than most. compare him to Rayla - also a special forces leader - and see the difference. Roche lacks the outright bloodthirst or really even the prejudice; it seems to me that he does his job and obeys Foltest without objection because he sees it as doing something worthwhile with his life, considering how he grew up. he and Iorveth contrast and parallel each other in fascinating ways.

favorite thing about him: his relationship towards Ves, because he clearly values her as an employee and as a person. his relative level-headedness. and the unpacked daddy issues that are most definitely there even if he won't talk about it. that part of him is sadly the most relatable to me. i also enjoy his humor, whether intentional or not. "emhyr var emreis, spice merchant" bursting into the elven baths while Triss is trying her hardest to seduce Geralt, fucking comedy gold.

least favorite thing about him: apart from the hate crimes? i think most of my issues that relate to him are metatextual - because the entire political landscape and plotline of witcher 3 sucks ass. maybe he could've held back the cops that beat Geralt though ngl.

favorite line/scene: "And we did. For three days. Then they smashed us into splinters." again, as much as i dislike the politics in witcher 3, this bit stands out to me. maybe also because it's punctuated by a reprise of the second game's main theme, in 3's instrumentation and a much more somber mood. good scene. that and the funny bits. "Some professional you are..."

favorite interaction he has with another character: it should be mainly credited to Letho's absolutely hilarious one-liner, but their little reunion at Kaer Morhen always gets a chuckle out of me. the entire interrogation at the beginning of witcher 2 is up there too.

a character that i wish he would interact with more: in the second game, elves in general. he mostly proves he's not completely shit-headed in context, but it would've been interesting to see him have a conversation with someone like Cedric. third game should've had Iorveth, we all know that.

another character from another fandom that reminds me of him: i know 5 things, but if i had to make a comparison... general Tullius from Skyrim? both are very capable and dedicated servants of a government despite its obvious failures and both show a noticeable sensibility or even calm you perhaps wouldn't expect. both have a badass lady as their right-hand person, too.

a headcanon about him: he hates the smell of cheap alcohol. childhood reminder. i also think he has a notable appreciation for architecture. can't remember if he actually comments on Loc Muinne in any way but somehow it feels like a thing he'd do. and i think it's pretty much canon that his hair color is towards light brown? or have i been living with fanon for far too long. either way, yeah, dirty blonde or warm light brown, super short on the sides.

a song that reminds of him: Shadowplay by Joy Division, in a way. first verse about beginning to serve Foltest, second verse about Foltest's and Temeria's fall. "but i could only stare in disbelief as the crowds all left" versus "and we did, for three days, then they smashed us into splinters".

an unpopular opinion about him: i famously dislike shipping him with Iorveth and i'm actually yet to see a good Roche ship. but the real hot take is that he doesn't need one. did i just say aroace Vernon Roche? maybe.

favorite picture: i'm sorry, but it's gotta be this one. on a more serious note, i always liked this piece of fanart a lot too. he gets to be cool.

[prototypelq]

Very curious about this one from the game ask game:

22. A game ending that’s really stuck with you

A mutual after my own heart, are you?)

I'll do a small confession here - I love gaming, I love playing all kinds of things, but I don't do it nearly as much as I know of them. So I might start to sound a bit like a broken record by mentioning some familiar titles

If I had to choose one, I would, predictably, say Outer Wilds. This won't be a surprise for anyone who played the game, and if you, for some reason haven't yet - good, don't look anything up, and please try it out for yourself. If you, for some reason, can't or don't want to play it yourself, I recommend looking up an essay, either one of the dozens on this game (there will honestly never be enough). Personal favourite would be The Song at The End of All Times. I don't want to go into anything further than this in fear of spoiling someone, but I think from the title of the essay you can guess where this is going.

Let's just say space westerns are my jam) Finishing this game was incredible, and I was in a kind of limbo for some time afterwards. I don't think I would be the same person I am today without it, not really. I also watch every single essay on this game that I come across, because you only really get to experience this game once, and then desperately wish to do so again somehow. Watching essays is the closest you can come close to that feeling ever again. The game is a perfect space exploration game - it will make you experience the dread and joy of cosmos like no other, it can be depressing and feel oppressive at times, but the story of the game, while bittersweet, is fundamentally built upon hope. So, while the ending shakes you to the core, it does so with the goal of sharing something intimately beautiful with you.

Another game I can think of that has story which affected me a lot, but which I haven't played myself (not sure I could ever play it really) would be SOMA. This game introduced me fulltime to existential horror, and apparently I am a sucker for it.

The game has a lot of philosophy tied to it, and it had me thinking about it all for literal weeks. The 'horror' name-part might be misleading, as this game and its' story is not about scaring you with monsters or jumpscares (although those exist in the game and that's why I'm never playing it, I would NOT be able to handle that), it's, uh... about literal horror of existence? Anyway, you'll get what it's about if you look up anything about the game, I saw a cutscene ('gamemovie') cut of it and oh boy, the voice acting sells everything perfectly. The writing is insanely good, there's a reason people still keep talking about the game.

Cyberpunk 2077 also kind of steps a little into that territory. While I couldn't play that game because CDPR are bastards, I had a lot of fun looking into the endings of that game as well as the lore of the cyberpunk universe.

Not-really spoilers paragraph ahead

basically by the time the protagonist, V, figures out what to do with the chip with AI-personality of Johnny Silverhand in their head, that has been taking over their body for the entirety of the game, it is too late to really do anything about it, and V is doomed to be overwritten out of his own body. There is an interpretation of different endings for the game as different stages of grief (selling yourself as a guinea pig to try to get experimental treatment - denial, single-handedly storming the corporation that owns the chip - anger, etc.) and I loved that insight, especially because for the player, these are not really as transparent as may seem. The game does a good job of installing into you the idea of dying and the fear of death, and the endings are basically the forked roads which player can take in their limited time to try to deal with it. It's very personal, and I think the writing team at CDPR did an amazing job for this game. The most striking of them all, and one that surprised me the most, was the suicide ending. When V and Johnny finally end up at that 'final fork' where they have to choose a path to their grand finale, they have to consider their options. All of these endings have a price, and none of them guarantee a solution - it's either selling yourself out to a corporation for experimentation, storming a corporation single-handedly or with help, and chances to die in getting to any of these is very high. You can rope in some friends for help you get to the solution, but again, there likely is no way out of this for you, and this puts your friend on a firing line right up with you. So, V can die a slow and torturous death because of the chip, die trying to do the impossible and/or force his friends into it, or. Or the game allows you to end it all, right now, without additional pain for you or any casualties. Hence, the suicide ending. All game credits, regardless of the chosen ending, have companions and friends calling V and leaving him a message. In messages for the Suicide ending it's...all of them crying in anger and hurt and feeling betrayed. One of them calls only to realize 'Shit, I can't do this', starts howling and ends the call. Those voice messages are genuinely heartbreaking to listen to.

That. That is one powerful ending to experience.

...would it be cheating to add DMC5 here? I don't think it will be news to anyone xD This didn't leave me a wreck like the others, but I love how surprisingly wholesome and sweet the story ends in this game about blood, gore and demon hunting. I love the fandom, I arguably love the fandom more than I do the game, but the game is also great, and it deserves a lot of praise for that, sparda loser twins my beloved)

Pyre ending resonated with me a lot as well. Won't go into any detail here, basically the game is a perfect blend of a roleplaying and a visual novel. This means you have a lot of free space to bond with your companions, this game is very much about the path, and not the destination. However, the destination sells the impact of your time spent with each companion.

Unlike most standard rpgs, there is no really 'good' or 'bad' ending for the characters. The path you took will dictate the circumstances of their life in the future, and they will have to just deal with it. There is no weight placed on the player character of 'making their lives better', quite honestly because you really can't. So every ending for them is just, a character being in one place, or the other, and them continuing their life from there. I love this, and the credits song Bound Together, which is Gorgeous as all Darren Korb&Ashley Barrett tracks are, reflects the path you took and time you spent with your companions by changing the lyrics of the song to fit your version of events. One of the videos about the game is called 'How Pyre Sings Your Story' and the game really does exactly that - sings your own personal story. It's beautiful.

Transistor stuck with me too, not just because of the soundtrack, but because it is a very wholesome romance story. Tragic as hell at the beginning (We All Become - as the opening song of the game), but I guess Supergiant's love their bittersweet endings, and credits songs that emotionally devastate me (We All Become morphs into -> Paper Boats).

Terra Nil is another weird game I wanted to add here. I didn't change my life or anything, but it did provide me a unique perspective. The game was marketed as 'reverse city-builder', I would characterize it as a 'climate-change solar-power fantasy'.

Horizon games setting of a post-post-apocalypse (meaning= the future after immediate post-apocalypse= meaning far future after an apocalypse) speaks volumes to me on a level of hope for life in general - that life will always persist, in any way shape or form, it will always continue to surprise and amaze you, it's just the matter of if humanity will live to see it in the future. Terra Nil would be a reverse of that mentality - what it would feel like to have the power to help mother nature recover and let it thrive again. The game has you use green-science-based technology to refertilize soil, clean pollution from water, manipulate the landscape into distinct biomes and introduce different animals into the according environment, the newfound ecosystem stabilize on its own, then your job is to recycle everything you've built to leave this land clear of external devices and leave it to thrive on it's own. This makes the gameplay feel extremely wholesome and hopeful, usually the solarpunk genre is a static image of an unattainable future - a pretty motivating picture, but without any depth to it. Terra Nil shows how our technology and power could be used for good. I think the moment that kind of broke me a little, was when in a later level, I had to dredge up land from the bottom of the ocean to create a continental ecosystem, and this unearthed nuclear pollution which quickly undid a lot of my work on like, half the map. The game then gave me access to sunflower seeds, because they have the actual power to safely suck up nuclear pollution, and save the ecosystem I was trying to build. I had to genuinely pause the game and go get a tea or something in that moment, that was so beautiful I teared up.

This game can actually be quite educational - it makes you really think about the necessity of each part of an ecosystem, that every animal, every plant, every water source - all of them are important for the whole ecosystem. The gameplay teaches you to look at a dumpsite and think up about how can you make a complete and thriving ecosystem out of it. The gameplay requires you thinking up ahead some steps, and that can be a bit challenging at first, but the game is very lenient with the difficulty. Although, if you are trying to introduce all the rarer and more niche animals into the system - prepare for some tries and errors, this will prove a nice tactical challenge.

I also just learned Terra Nil was nominated by several committees for 'Social Impact' award and Yes this game absolutely deserves it. Also the developers have donated quite a sum to the Endangered Wildlife Trust, and it's extremely nice of them.

[waterflowing-under-ground]

Peter Kenny's Scouse accent for Geralt's voice acting is perfect for the English audiobooks, IMO. As a Beatle fan, I approve. 😄

Also, Peter Kenny is from Liverpool and he said on his guest appearance on the Breakfast in Beauclair podcast that he based Geralt's voice off a guy he knows in Liverpool named Joe who does contracting for a living. And who apparently also fits the physical description of Geralt at least somewhat.

To me that works well with Geralt's character as a blue collar worker who relies on contract jobs. Also, I hope Joe knows that he was the inspiration for the English version of Geralt's voice.

It's a good episode of the podcast. It also has Doug Cockle because the topic is around voice acting. I'm honestly not interested in the CDPR games and I don't really like Cockle's spaghetti western interpretation of Geralt's voice, but he seems like a nice man and had some interesting things to share about voice acting and it was a really fun conversation.

[theviridianbunny]

I don’t think I have seen a post about it but I am so super curious- what does Viridian & Jackie’s canon story look like during the game/post the heist? 👀

👀👀👀

ok OK LET'S GOOOO- i'll try and compose my thoughts as best as I can- but this might be rammbly as i have wet cardboard where my brain should be <3 some of my jackie viridian lore is pre-game- so i'll do a quick run down of that too :)

canonically- Jackie n Viridian meet in the year 2071- actually just answered an ask about how they met here. they are friends for a few years- like they become besties and stuff0 but besties who secretly both have bIG FEELS FOR EACH OTHER OMG (uuuh mutual pining/idiots in love for the win babey!)

They start dating in 2076 after confessing feelings and getting a bit spicy- both thinking "oh mygod why didn't we do this sooner?!" - nothing really changes- they're still besties and still hang out like they used too - but now they can kiss and hold hands (not that they didn't hold hands before! but now- idk it feels more special!!)

thEN THE CORPO RAT HAPPENS WOAW OH NO- Viridian loosing her status and arasaka assets (apart from her apartment at corpo plaza- because she bought that outright back in 2072)- Jackie taking her to Vik to get her patched up- he then takes her to his and his mums. Viridian spends a few days resting and then decides to maybe give merc work a try.

She struggles with merc work to start- having spent the majority of her adult life behind a desk of plugged into a netrunning chair- but once she's in the swing of things- she's hit the ground running. Jackie is the brawl- the tank- Viridian is the brain- at the tap of her cyberdeck- she can double someone over with an inhanced contagion or burn out somebody's synapses >:)

The two make quite the team! spending the six months pre heist running jobs- Jackie teaching the ex corpo what it really means to be human- not just a god in the machine- how to live on the wild side- to live for herself . It's the most fun she has ever had. She starts to dress for herself- not for the expetations of others.

The heist- oh god... ok so- in my canon the heist runs near parallel to the cdpr canon. it still goes tits us- it's still the jackie viridian not good not fun day out at kompeki- BUT- the canon chnages / is diffrent to CDPR at the point of escaping komepki. Viridian- being a brutal netrunner in her corpo days- she overrides the delamain AI- commanding it take Jackie to a ripper. Taking the biochip from Jackie- she slots it into her head and applies pressure to the gunshots on Jackie's chest. Pinprick tears in her eyes that she fights back- She knew deep down she and her love should not have taken this job

Jackie gets to a ripper- to Vik!! (in my canon arasaka were not waiting at Vik's clinic).... - yeah Jackie almost dies- but pulls through !!! In the meantime- Viridian goes to Dex and BOOM- betrayal- BOOM Johnny time <3

uuughhhgh uhm i think that's everything!!! post hesit Jackie helps Viridian find a cure- my canon ending for cyberpunk is the sun / / merc's path / path of glory (not sure what the correct name is so im throwing them all in) - (the ending where johnny and V storm arasaka without rogue?) post game- I'd like to think Jackie and Viridian become big time mercs- finally in the major leauges <3

thank you for the ask heather ! <3

[lifesupreme-if]

omg tamber when I saw u were playing phantom liberty I dropped everything so fast HOW R U FINDING IT

VERITY!!!!!!!!!!! HI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

trying not to answer these until i can do them justice because my version of playing this is staring at my girlfriends computer over their shoulder while they play it for me but i have to fly home tonight so we are desperately trying to get further along!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this expansion is HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so for a bit i was very put off - dogtown is cool, but it's dense in comparison to pacifica, and i feel like it's hard to lore drop something that big into it without ever connecting it in reference in the base game. coupled with the original games treatment of pacifica and the vdbs, i wasn't the most thrilled that they seemed to try to show community in a wartorn yet-somehow-gentrified-version of pacifica, when pacifica itself was meant to be insular and communal while still being a no man's land.

(i am also perhaps just not the biggest fan of spy thrillers - and them portraying rosalind myers as a "girl next door" type at heart felt like a weird jerkoff fantasy for NUSA propaganda. why would i advocate for the NUSA making moves on free territory grounds?)

i'm also adverse to change, however, so most things are slowgoing with me. once they introduced the VDBs and not only allowed us to have really good, really cool interactions with them in this space, my opinion improved tremendously. i do like dogtown, i think it's really cool, and i like that the gigs and various jobs around it feel like the creators just had a really good time writing character interactions. we get a lot more in depth with the human side of things here, and we get to reflect more on how a gig will impact the parties involved!

currently while writing this at about 4 a.m. we have only just recently passed the shitdiving portion of phantom liberty. i feel like some characters were introduced a bit too quickly for me but that the brain still caught up just fine, i am not currently solomon reed's biggest fan but i am hoping to like him more, and i'm really excited to see where the story takes us. this DLC has definitely thrown a lot of cool shit our way and i'm happy to see what CDPR put together!!!!! dogtown is beautiful and i really like the citizen interactions.

[vole-mon-amour]

I'm not saying that the VA for male V did a bad job, but the actress for female V? my goodness. truly a goddess. female V >>>>>>>>>>> male V for me.

(i am once again asking cdpr and @cyberpunkgame to give us the option to romance Kerry as female V, please. hell, trans V, too! and feminine V! male body type and female voice? female body type and a male voice? female body type, female voice with a cock? let's goooo.)

(I'm still sad I can't romance my trans woman with Kerry.)

[imaginarycyberpunk2023]

The How's and Why’s of this blog

(long post / kinda sappy / might add to this over time)

I started this blog because after almost two years of intensly playing the game I had played all the endings, a lot of playstyles and lots of different Vs. I did not want to leave Night City behind and as I take people's (business) portraits in real life as a part of my job I have been into photography for a long, long time (I am also older in real life than most people on here might be). I started using the photomode more.

I had played through the game for the first time without ever knowing photomode existed (I did not even meet Kerry in that playthrough so his quest with US Cracks where you have that fantastic photo opportunity as part of the game play (what a genius idea) went right over my head).

I played as a fem V corpo netrunner all the way through to the end without ever seeing my V up close until the ending sequence and I was BAWLING when I finally saw her/me (?). I don't think the ending would have hit me as hard as it did if it wasn't for that first person mode that I will defend for the rest of my life because it makes the game immersive as fuck. I had to put down the game for 5 days because it destroyed me emotionally (in a good way). I was blown away by so many aspects of this game, the story, the characters, the design choices, the writing, the way missions work, how the game doesn't really tell you how to play it etc.

So when I started using photomode more - I guess it was early 2022 - I used it as a way to preserve memories. Just things my Vs did in their world. And then I saw others people's photography of the game and my mind was blown. I started taking this more seriously in November 2022 I think and started doing portraits, seeking out cool locations etc. I am on console (Playstation 4) mostly because my PC is my work horse and resides in my office. So I did what I could with the limited possibilities that are still mindblowing to me. It forces me to think outside of the box of how to achieve something unique and special. Sometimes I succeed.

I want to share my journey here because I love all of it - the core game, the characters and their stories, the community. Cyberpunk 2077 has re-awakened my creative side (that I have to use on the daily in my job) and rediscover the fun in creating. I will forever be grateful for this to CDPR and you people here on tumblr for sharing and caring.

✌🏻

[quaddmgd]

Happy Birthday, Crystal

So today (August 25th) marks one year since I started playing Cyberpunk 2077 and created Crystal. A year is a really long time for me to still play the same singleplayer game with no subsequent playthroughs. Things like that don't happen often, and Crystal means a world to me, so why not ramble for a bit about my memories, feelings towards the game and other stuff. Keep in mind, it's nothing more than a journal entry. Unless you know me a bit better than a typical mutual, you won't find anything of value here.

[VERY LONG POST AHEAD]

Long time ago...

I was really hyped about the game before its release in December 2020, my s/o even more than me. There were some signs that it's going to turn out disappointing, but we were keeping our hopes up. Alas, came the release date, the game hit headlines due to it's poor technical state and some broken promises. We were very upset, especially since all we had to play it on was Xbox One and low-spec by today's standards PCs. First updates showed that CDPR has much more to fix than we expected, so our hype has slowly died down.

Since then, I played through Cruelty Squad, Red Dead Redemption 2, multiple Yakuza, Devil May Cry and Resident Evil games, and I couldn't care less about the game at the start of 2022.

Why I got the game?

I only purchased Cyberpunk 2077 in May-June 2022, along with Kao The Kangaroo (2022) which, to be honest, was the main attraction for me. Both games were physical Xbox releases and I only was hyped to play Cyberpunk thanks my to lil bro, who has finished the game twice, and showed me this trailer with a beautiful cover of Never Fade Away - a song very in-line with my music taste.

Speaking as a seasoned video editor, the trailer was masterfully realized, with multiple great cuts showing off the diverse cast and some of the action. Editing, music and the scenes they chose made the entire trailer feel more like a tribute video - obviously this was made with love.

Now, I played The Witcher 3, and I knew that this game will require time and dedication from me - something I couldn't afford at the time. And despite hearing about the next gen patch (update 1.5) bringing the game to a state it should've been released in, I remained skeptical about it being good. No offense, but people (especially on Twitter) tend to overreact and talk about stuff they know nothing about. Even with recent title releases, folks just assume the latest patch made them better and fixed important issues. But then you sit with the game and a proper frame rate analysis is enough to prove such reports to be false.

My life in corpo

Before we get to August 2022, I want to provide some more context regarding the state I was in. I was working a piss-poor corpo job, which was gradually eating away my soul for longer than I'd like to admit. It wasn't fulfilling and it was (and probably still is) full of ungrateful pricks, that were coming up with issues to justify their payrolls, only to send QA on us to not detect any issues mentioned. To keep it brief, it was a very hostile work environment, that was treating people like garbage. But hey, at least they were smiling, right?

Come summer 2022, I was feeling like a shell of a human being, and I'm happy that fate decided that it's time for me get out and take care of myself. I'm not sure where would I be right now if I didn't.

So, my time at the job was coming to an end and I couldn't give less of a fuck about looking for another one. I needed some well-deserved vacation. I was supposed to work until August 31st and during these last few days I was trying to take it really easy.

Still the work was going as usual, so despite of having only few days left, my mental and physical state was as shitty as before. After each remaining day I was a walking corpse, drinking coffee at 10pm to squeeze these additional two hours from a day and try to enjoy some of my hobbies before going to sleep and repeating the cycle.

Starting the playthrough

My job is the reason why my memory is hazy on how I decided that it's time to start Cyberpunk 2077, but it's possible that it was my s/o that encouraged me to do it. She surely wanted to see the character creator with her own eyes, and was always interested in me creating OCs - something I wasn't doing often back then.

So, on August 25th 2022, I started playing Cyberpunk 2077, knowing nothing about the lore, with a sole intention of creating my character and seeing what happens. It was already late and my entire evening was sponsored by coffee, but whatever.

Crystal/Valerie/V

I'm not really sure how long it took me to create Crystal, but I spent an ungodly amount of time on perfecting her looks. I wanted her to look badass and beautiful, maybe end up being a cooler version of me. While I don't think I based her off my looks, my partner noticed that we have similar jawlines and hairstyles (well, I'm a natural blonde, which later I consciously reflected on her while creating her flashback version).

Needless to say, I instantly fell in love with her. And I know I wouldn't create a female character I wouldn't wanna date :>, but I really mean it. She was, and still is, simply perfect.

Her name was Crystal since the moment I was adding finishing touches (like makeup and tattoos), but I wasn't planning on giving her a standalone story. She was supposed to be V, with her name later revealed to be Valerie - a name I really like the sound of, and it fits her nicely. Still, in my mind her name was Crystal - and I have no idea why... she just looks like Crystal.

So here I was with my nomad V, ready to play through the prologue and possibly the rest of the game.

Playing through the game

My first evening of playing ended on me visiting Wakako (I don't even remember the reason you are supposed to go there tbh but if you played, you know these are still introductory quests) and photographing the hell out of C. My lesbian ass couldn't even be bothered to change FOV (and back then I couldn't really see the issue with default FOV screenshots - it took me months to adjust my eyes tbh) but she looked so badass. The photo mode, for industry standards, isn't that bad too, so I was really hyped to play the game, meet more people and shoot pics. While I already loved her friendship with Jackie and the way CDPR handled introduction to some of the cast, I wasn't sold on the story yet.

some of pics made on the first night :>

Then on the next day I went through The Heist and Love Like Fire, and learned that my actions as Johnny led to 2023 Night City Holocaust. Everyone who played through these quests know how full of events and emotions they are. It was 3/4am on Friday (technically Saturday) night, mind you, and I still was living mostly off coffee. That's a lot to take in for a tired mind and in some way it might have helped me immerse in Crystal's position even more. After waking up as her, with Jackie dead, and a parasite in my head that actively wants me to join him, I was just as clueless as to what the fuck happened. All I knew was that she/we need to survive. I can't let her/us die.

Let me tell you, waking up in her apartment, to the original version of Never Fade Away on the radio, was one of the most powerful moments in the game. To me, it has become a theme song for the rest of the playthrough. Leaving the apartment after getting some irl sleep was just as powerful.

the first time C left her apartment after Jackie's death and Johnny's flashback

The playthrough was going alright and I was hooked. I don't think there are many things worth talking about here. One thing worth mentioning is that I was starting to feel a strong connection with Crystal - something I've never felt to such an extent in any game. Maybe it's my background in corpo, which was only coming to an end. Or maybe I subconsciously designed her to help me with some of identity issues I had back then. I will never know for sure, but either way, she has helped me. She was exactly who I wanted her to be, who she wanted herself to be and was constantly brave and punk about it. I was feeling a growing mix of immersion and adoration as I progressed through the game.

And progress through the game I did! I finished plenty of gigs/ncpd jobs and all available side quests before starting the last mission chain (or so I thought - in the end I totally missed the vending machine one and the entirety of Kerry's questline lmao). During this time I was put out of misery of working my job, each day feeling more alive than the last, playing more and more hours of Cyberpunk 2077, shooting many pictures, enjoying my time in Night City and being Crystal.

yeah it might be using default fov but it's still one of my favorite shots

Last Tapeworm, Chipping In and dying

To me, Cyberpunk 2077 was at its best when it was focusing on the relationship between V and Johnny. Last part of Tapeworm was a very powerful moment. There's no way I'll ever forget the conversation she had with Johnny in that apartment. Going from a foe that actively eating your life away, to possibly the only person that's ready to sacrifice their life to save yours, Johnny and his redemption arc are some of the biggest highlights of the game.

The conversation was of course followed by a side quest sequence started with Chipping In, with another memorable scene at Johnny's grave. Seeing how far we've come together, how many people we met, how often we were agreeing with each other - it was like talking to a friend who was right by your side for every important event in your life. And to think that only few days ago I was watching him trying to smash her head against the window...

side quests really were the best part of the story

It's hard to say which moment was more impactful, but for me it all clicked just after the Tapeworm cutscene. If I remember it right, I spent a few minutes more in this apartment block, staring away at the sunset, listening to waves breaking Pacifica's silence. Not even sure if I'll manage to save Crystal, I wasn't ready to finish it anytime soon. I still had a lot to do and it took me an additional day to finish everything and start Nocturne OP55N1, but I was looking at the game differently than before.

It might sound dramatic, but I mean it. For the remaining duration of the game, each time I didn't hear any music, it was just silence of a big city dying from heatstroke and sandstorms, echoing conversations with people I met during my journey, and uncertainty, if I'll even make it out alive in the end. Unfortunately, I can't convey it any better, but it has to do with the atmosphere of this city and CDPR's natural talent for creating gray characters, which Cyberpunk 2077 is full of, and last but not least, my connection to Crystal.

Nocturne OP55N1

So the time has come for me to start the last mission sequence and I knew that it might go bad. The moment I was warned that it's a point of no return, I backed out and went for a walk around the city. Don't know if it was scripted, but the weather was overcast and NC was covered in fog. In my experience it's such a rare occurrence, that either I was "lucky" or it was planned. I visited Judy (VCrystal's sweetheart) for the last time, disappointed by the lack of new dialogues to start, and went back to Megabuilding H10 to see a cute heart made out of consumables by her. I went to sleep in my own bed, probably for the last time.

During my last journey to Embers, Major Crimes by Health started playing on the radio, and I got emotional. Not often games make me cry, but I really didn't want Crystal to die, or my journey to end. It really felt like I was saying goodbye to everyone and not going back.

just look at the weather - shot outside of Embers, before starting Nocturne Op55N1

In the end I managed to go through the Embers section just fine, but very stressed. Then, after suffering through heartbreaking moments at Viktor's Clinic, I got to the rooftop.

Now, I'm not really sure how much time I spent there. Seems like an eternity, looking back on it. No choice felt right (and in the end, none was perfect), but I had to choose something. Unable to decide, I did something I really hate doing - I looked up endings to see which one will let me live happily with Judy... or survive at the very least.

While I didn't know it yet, I chose the happiest ending of the bunch. All I knew is that Crystal will be able to leave Night City with Judy - I didn't know that it'll be impossible to remove the chip in Mikoshi and that there's hope of achieving it in Arizona. Yes, I chose The Star ending.

I still was on the edge of my sit and really scared for C, but deep down, I knew that I probably won't get another chance to mess it up.

The ending was bittersweet and I got an instant hangover. I needed some time to come to terms with it, and make peace with me not getting the happy ending. In the end I managed to create a brief scenario where that guy Panam knows somehow manages to remove the chip, and Crystal and Judy got to live happily ever after.

I beat the game on September 4th.

Feelings Feelings Feelings

See, there's a reason I'm talking about the ending and my feelings about it in such detail. I really fell in love with Crystal. After all, it's the first time I got so immersed into a character and I can't put my finger on why exactly.

Maybe it's because it's the prettiest character I have ever created, maybe I just saw parallels in our stories or feelings, maybe I subconsciously made up all the connections in my head. Meh, it's probably a bit of everything, on top of a really good story, even if most of it is hidden in side content.

The thing is, I was in the right place, at the right time and, like I said, it all just clicked.

Back then, I was tired, angry, feeling exploited and robbed of soul. She was there to help me stop thinking about it, get revenge in a way, even if on a fictional corporation, however dumb it might sound. And the more I was thinking about her, dressing her up in cool clothing (bra + edgerunner combo ftw), the more I strived to be like her. I learned to love myself a bit more, I started dressing up for myself again, putting some makeup on just to stare at the mirror and enjoy the end result, maybe even shoot some selfies. It's almost like, on top of everything I already said, I was trying to express myself through her, which has in return influenced me. I hope that makes sense.

Crystal Hartley

Now, it took me some time to create her own story and separate her from V. And I wouldn't probably do it if it wasn't for my s/o. She was already working on her OCs story, and after many tries she finally talked me into writing my girl. The last modification date of the document with the initial version of the story is February 25th - exactly 6 months after starting the game. Since then, I made some changes and the end result can be seen here. It helped me further resonate with her and she didn't have a deadly chip inside anymore, at the cost of her not getting to know Johnny. She remained a warrior, a true badass who's not scared of anything.

Honestly she was and still is inspiring me. Being it her as V or real Crystal I wrote a few months back, she suffered hardships, she had her all-time low moment not that long ago, but she recovered and she always stands brave against all odds - knowing that in the end everything will turn out just fine.

For now, C has got some closure. She's living in Night City, she has a loving and beautiful girlfriend she's thinking about all the time, they're still doing gigs and getting in trouble together <3 While she still recovers from what happened in her nomad family, she has Elegy, Misty, Claire and Saul to help her deal with it. She's in a good place right now.

Other girls

Some time ago I made EV, a girl that was originally a Cyberpunk version of my Evie from Red Dead Online, albeit I made her personality a polar opposite to Evie's. I don't have a lot about her, really - she's beautiful, photogenic, conveys vibes the best out of all of my OCs. She's probably going to end up as my canon V. She and Johnny are a match made in heaven... or hell. Actually if I put them together in the same body Night City might end up in flames.

Then there's Thalia. A girl I initially only mentioned as a friendly gang member in Crystal's mega lore post. She wasn't hanging around with Crystal's group of friends, but they got really close after getting to know each other during a party. Officially, she sacrificed herself to save Crystal and the rest when they got overrun by enemies. She did survive, with help of [REDACTED] and is looking for Crystal in Night City to reunite with her and [REDACTED]. Hopefully they meet soon! It'll probably bring some unpleasant memories back, but in the end Crystal will reunite with Thalia and, with Elegy, they'll make a dream team.

Some stats!

Why not wrap it up with some interesting data!

Since I started Cyberpunk 2077:

I got all the achievements and I intend on doing the same for Phantom Liberty

according to Xbox I played the game for 268 hours* **

I made 3405 captures, taking up a whopping 36 GB of space*

421 of these captures were made during my initial playthrough

* - at the time of writing ** - including time I was afk

Conclusion

So... I just wanted to post some thoughts about Cyberpunk 2077 and, especially, Crystal. Going from a game I wasn't even that stoked to play, to an ongoing hyperfixation, that has helped me through tough times and still influences me to this very day! I even made some internet friends!

When I was working on a standalone story for Crystal, I decided that her birthday is the day I first played the game - 25th August... today.

Happy birthday, Crystal <3

[fereldanwench]

1 and 4 for the couple questions! Really curious about these! 👀

If they have been asked, choose any other questions you might like.♥️♥️

Oooh, I love these ones! 💙 You've unlocked The Rambling, haha. It's gonna be a long one:

1. What do they think of each other’s family? And how does the family feel?

Goro doesn't really have to worry too much about assimilating into a new family because most of Valerie's biological family is either dead or estranged by the time they meet. 😅 She's an only child, her father died in 2058, and her mother died in 2063. Valerie does have some aunts, uncles, and cousins on her mother's side, but they live on the east coast of NUSA, and she hasn't seen them since she was about 11.

The only two blood relatives she has in Night City are her uncle, Ed, who is her father's oldest brother, and his adult daughter, who I'm still working on and doesn't have an official name yet. 😅 Ed is kind of a piece of shit--He runs with the 6th Street, but he's basically a low-level goon who deals drugs to kids. The last time he saw Valerie was around 2075 when he got wind that she was doing very well for herself and tried to get money from her.

I have been thinking about a way for Valerie and Goro to meet him for some reason during the in-game timeline, but I don't have anything solid at the moment. Goro and Ed would not get along at all, but Valerie isn't fond of him either, so no love lost there. (Nameless cousin is still a total mystery to me--Currently leaning towards a journalist, but I have no idea.)

And of course there's Mama Welles. Valerie's relationship with Mama Welles was always just a little tense--Valerie was just not used to having a mother figure that involved in her life and personal business, and even though Mama Welles always meant well, it could be a little smothering to Valerie. But they do stay in touch even after Jackie dies, and Valerie does bring Goro over for at least one good homecooked meal when they're in Night City.

Mama Welles is a little wary of Goro's allegiances at first, but Goro puts on the gentlemanly charm and wins her over pretty quickly. She sees he cares very deeply for Valerie, and she's glad her pseudo-surrogate daughter has someone in her life that makes her happy.

As for Valerie with Goro's family... I'm holding off on anything solid about Goro's family until Phantom Liberty. If CDPR gives us nothing here, I'll headcanon Goro a whole ass family tree, but I'll give Sir Weber a little more time to share his official backstory before I make up my own. 😅

However! @lizzy--wizzy gave me an absolutely adorable idea about Valerie meeting Goro's father for the first time, and I would love to make something like this a part of their canon: Basically, Goro comes back to Japan after several years living in NUSA with this gorgeous, tall, bright blue-haired woman at his side, and his father looks up at her and then at Goro and is like "You just disappeared to another country for 10 years and then you come back home married to a supermodel???? Explain."

4. How do they compare to each other’s exes? Are they the same “type” or an upgrade/something different?

Man, I'm overflowing with thoughts on this one--I don't even know where to start, haha.

I guess I'll start with their romantic/sexual pasts for some context:

Valerie slept around a lot in her early-to-mid 20s, and she was not particularly discerning about who she shared a bed with during that time. It was very much a maladaptive coping mechanism from dealing with feeling abandoned and isolated after losing her parents, losing her job, losing her status, losing her (admittedly shitty and fair-weather) friends as a result of losing her status--Basically after losing any sense of direction in her life. She was very lonely but also didn't want to really let anyone in emotionally. The majority were just one-night stands with anyone she thought was hot and into her.

She didn't even really consider pursuing a long-term relationship until she was in her late 20s/early 30s, but by then she was also working for Arasaka which demanded a lot of her time. Most of those relationships were with other corpos who understood the grind and tended to all be emotionally unavailable one way or another, and they usually only lasted a few months, tops. Valerie did often gravitate towards people who could be a little prickly on the outside--She loves the little victory of getting a smile out of a sarcastic grump.

Then when Valerie decided to go sober, dating became even harder since going out for drinks or doing ~*luxury drugs*~ were such a huge part of the corporate dating scene. She was almost completely celibate for about two years.

Valerie and Viktor did briefly have a thing after she was fired from Arasaka, but between his own intimacy issues and her kind of using him for a sense of comfort after her life got thrown upside down again, that one also didn't last more than a few months.

As for Goro: much like with his family, I'm holding off a little long until I commit to anything concrete for Goro's romantic past, but I've indulged here a little more:

I absolutely love the idea of Goro being a wild playboy during his youth, so I think he probably had his fair share of indiscriminate flings as well until he found that 'Saka discipline. I could see him also having, like, one fairly serious relationship when he was young but starting to settle down a bit, but it fell through for whatever reason: Goro had to commit fully to Arasaka, that partner got married off to someone else, etc. Pick your tragedy.

I don't think he was ever married, though, and I think once he became Saburo's bodyguard, Goro didn't even entertain the idea of having a long-term romantic relationship. I think it would have been highly discouraged if not outright banned.

I do think he would occasionally enjoy the company of others, though, with the explicit understanding that it couldn't be more than sex (maybe dinner if he really liked them). Probably with other high-level Arasaka employees who were in a similar position but still craved physical companionship from time to time. I think he'd be drawn to people who were at least like him on the outside--Reserved with refined taste and a clear understanding of their purpose in the organization--But deep down he craves connection with someone more spirited who could challenge him.

So, to finally answer the actual question, lmao: How do they compare to each other's exes?

In both cases they're mostly something different, but that's also mostly because they never really let themselves have relationships with someone who they could deeply connect with. They are each other's type--They just tried to deny it to themselves for most of their lives.

(Goro is more oblivious and then surprised by his attraction to Valerie than vice versa, though. 😅 Valerie is like "Of course I fall in love with the most unattainable man in the world while I'm actually dying. This is exactly why I don't want to have any feelings." And Goro is more like "It is not love. I just trust her with my entire life, and often my stomach feels weird when she smiles at me, but it is just something I ate in this shithole of a city. Probably.")

[couple questions]