#so why alt and johnny and not v and johnny?

[ulteri0rm0tives]

Now.. I'm not doubting Johnny somewhat (?) loved Alt in his own convoluted and severely misguided ways but uh.. to call them soulmates? Did we uh.. did we not play the same game? Watch the same scenes? Because it's crazy y'all r saying that when we literally play as his actual soulmate

[johnnyinmysilverhand]

anessa after learning the reason she was made (based off her father's original daughter who was caught in NCPD/Gang violence) and subsequently killing him in his sleep (a soft yet violent death): and the tomorrow he wakes up to will be beautiful, just as today was.¹

¹ It's the ending sentence to a children's book V would sometimes read to her when she'd stay at their house.

her father was able to create such a realistic AI for anessa because Alt (red version) wanted to see how a human would implement such aware intelligence into their lives. after anessa was born she saw what it ("having his daughter back, but it's different")² was doing to him³, she backed off with plans of erasing anessa's coding. however when she saw how far along anessa's growth had gone (ness would be around six/eight years)...

...she decides to not intervene to "let [anessa] figure it out." this decision was made purely for curiosity.this also explains why anessa is so connected to the web in every path life V/the player chooses, and why it's so easy for her—because she was made from it.⁴

² Despite his best efforts at creating an exact anessa copy, the coding is still originally part of Alt. therefore, anessa was and had always been her own person. learning that her whole existence was to replace a little girl made her question who she was, what she is, why is she, etc.. major identity crisis lawl

³ Anessa being different than the daughter in his head made him love her less. he wanted an exact copy of what was missing instead of "a knockoff who can't even smile like [anessa] does." she became a constant reminder of what he wants and can't have.

⁴ Alt is technically her mom which i've chosen will end her one-sided romance with johnny. i'll probably have anessa question it, realize she hates that, and she'll like, yeah, no thanks, that means silverhand would've been my biological dad. *proceeds to treat him like an annoyance* (she still likes the music but will need to warm up to him again)

johnny doesn't care since he was never interested but his pride is hurt.

anyways since her dad couldn't handle seeing her anymore he was fully prepared to never upgrade her again and to just. die. and leave her alone. so V took to doing jobs to upgrade her instead.

i forgot to mention that anessa goes through like..two identity issues. one with learning she's an AI and another with learning she's never once been "original" (made from Alt & her father's anessa). in her eyes at least. to V she's just her.. anessa, br1de, whoever and whatever she becomes next.. they will stand by her^__^ <- this is why it's possible for V to become EVIL in the alternative ending. they will do anything for her literally these images vv

[totentnz]

good evening gamers im currently obsessed with au v slamming her entire body into smasher so he doesnt kill johnny

[zev-zev]

i will truly never get over just how beautiful silverv is written. like getting to see “the johnny silverhand” in action, catching glimpses of a man who’s just…well let’s be honest, not a good man. he treats alt like shit, treats rouge like shit, and treats kerry and the rest of his band pretty much like shit too. he left kerry without so much as a goodbye—all just to go on an arasaka bombing run. we see him literally pick alt over rouge and then turn around to beg rouge for her help in saving alt.

like of course johnny is an unreliable narrator and you can’t really take his word on everything but— i think some truth lies within. and i think we get to see it as he genuinely changes because of v.

and yeah you could argue that it’s just the construct and yada yada but the construct was created with the data of rocker-boy johnny silverhand on it. it’s data of his angry, former self right after blowing up arasaka. it’s his personality from when he was in the war— data literally created with him wrapped all up in a bundle of rage…so why does he change? he didn’t change for kerry. didn’t change for rouge and never got the chance to change for alt. i mean sure the relic’s data could be written to adapt and evolve, and i don’t know if it did evolve or if it could, i’m not sure but still. i genuinely just think v is the one who changes johnny. johnny’s engram is supposed to completely take over v, and while it clearly does throughout the game(and ofc this is all a special circumstance bc the relic’s data believes v was dead before it started taking over their psyche etc etc), it wasn’t supposed to be the other way around. and v doesn’t take control of the relic or anything, i know, i mean it in a way that instead of johnny’s relic outright taking over, v somehow changed johnny’s data as it ate away at v themselves. the instructions for the relic were clear and yet…when we, the player, meet johnny, he was very much that asshole from his former glory days come back to life again— where he literally threatens to kill v and just take the body…multiple times…but by the time v and johnny find his unmarked grave, johnny has changed.

he, in the softest tone we’ve heard from johnny up until this point, tells v that they’re the closest person to him by a long shot. how he’s always been such an asshole and used every person in his life for his own selfish needs but it’s v that ends up being the only one who gives a shit about him. and now he truly desires to be the person to save v, even as the relic is in the process of actively killing v against their will. he was so upset about the thought of fucking up what v and he had, and when you point it out that he almost did fuck that up? he’s scared of losing v. asks for a second chance, begs v to let him make things right! for the both of them. definitely something the old johnny would have NEVER done. (not to mention the ost during this scene? god, how hauntingly beautiful it is. also it gives off this vibe of how truly lonely johnny is and would be w/o v.)

and then there’s v. sitting on some rusty-dusty piece of metal, carving johnny’s initials into said metal just to leave something behind of him, whether he was buried there or not; v still made it apparent that they cared for johnny. and proving it even further when johnny asks what they would really write, if he had a proper burial and headstone. and without hesitation v tells him, after everything they’ve been through— the hurt, the venom laced words, wanting each other dead—“the guy who saved my life.”. and you could argue that v just means the relic saving them from the bullet dex dishes into their head but i truly think it’s so much deeper than that. after everything? johnny lying? cursing v’s every waking second? using v for his own selfishness—his old self—and v still picks the moment johnny literally saved their life? like v could have very easily instead made a joke about the situation. or tell johnny they’d write something harmful or meaningless on his grave to get back at johnny for all the shit he’s put them through but no! with their own soft voice, they tell johnny the one good thing he’s done in his “life”, sitting atop his “grave”, is that he saved them.

idk i have so many silverv thoughts because they’re written plain as day as soulmates. like platonic, romantic or whatever, they’re soulmates— literally meant to be. if it had been anyone else’s head, johnny might not have become someone “different” from his former self. and v would still have their life, sure, but even then they changed too; changing from wanting johnny dead to panicking at the thought of johnny not being there with them?

UGHHHH. they give me the biggest brain-worms. i love silverv so much.

[8-rae-rae-8]

Y'know that meter after the Temperance ending? How Johnny feels like V is still there sometimes?

Just... Hear me out. Let me make it better.

Alt who swapped their positions. Modifying V's code as he pushed far, far in the back of Johnny's mind. Johnny's in the driver's seat, it's his body, yes... But V's still in there. Not that either of them know just yet. There's that familiar warmth that comes with being close to a loved one, a friend, and that feeling off-puts the burning feeling in that little space of Johnny's head where V occupies.

Instead of V getting those nightmares, its Johnny. He hears V shouting and calling for him when he wakes up in a cold sweat, he's panicking but he doesn't know why because it's not his feelings.

And then there's V, and the slow, very slow reintroduction. Alt made sure it wouldn't melt away at Johnny, or break their brain further. It's just feelings and vague twitches in his finger tips at first, and the nightmares continuing until something changes and it's no longer scary. He gets headaches, ones that go away quickly and never seen to get worse, but they're persistent at times.

Johnny doesn't really know what's happening when he wakes up faint tapping on his shoulder in his apartment, far from V's. Or any friends V had. Just him and the kid down the hall.

It's almost grating on his ears when he hears near silent humming. Not outside his head. Why's it feel like it's ringing his brain?

"What was it you said? Wake up, we've got a city to burn?"

And, fuck, it takes not a second for him to bolt right up (And spill the contents of his stomach). Johnny woulda thought he was dreaming if it didn't hurt when his chest heaved. He might've worked the body's booze tolerance up, but his stomach still flipped the same way V's did. Except, this time, he doesn't hurt. There's no migraine, no headache, no fatigue.

"Not happy to see me? Been months in the makin'."

His reaction is puzzling. His face twisted up as he tries to focus on the form that glitched in and out of his vision, like V hadn't quite gotten the way to appear perfected yet, that made sense.

"No," Johnny spits, "what're you-?"

"Alt." Simple, to the point. "She.. I dunno, somethin' went rouge in her coding, I guess, and she said she felt.. bad. For us." V doesn't need to expand much. Johnny can pick up the bit and pieces. She didn't want to separate them.

But hearing V say 'us' that way again takes weight off his chest that Johnny didn't even know he was carrying until he could breathe again.

It doesn't make sense, V'll talk his mouth off about netrunning and code and whatever when he gets the chance anyway. He'll get an earful, a slightly bitter one, but he hears V's voice again and his presence.. it hadn't ever really been gone.

No, Alt just separated them, and rewired V's engram, then slotted them back together as Johnny watched V fade—unknowing, and with that ache in his chest—It took months for V to make himself known again... Security, safety, something about health. His brain could reject the engram of it couldn't carry the data, but it didn't.

In Mikoshi, time was so fluid they wouldn't have even known how long it took when they were in that building. Or if there was just the tiniest bit of Alt's consciousness creeping around in V's code to stabilize it. But, Johnny was right about still feeling V. Not just seeing his face in the mirror, but feeling his existence in the same space.

That's the thought

[vole-mon-amour]

"V is the only person who never tried to fix Johnny"

while literally canon:

Johnny to Kerry: "why didn't you ever try to fix me?"

yeah, Kerry says he'd have to get in line and it was already too big but hello? he was the only person that until the very end truly believed in Johnny as a person, who truly cared about him.

Rogue went with Johnny like, "you wanna kill yourself? be my guest. I have no problem leaving you there to die."

Kerry? Kerry truly had feelings for Johnny not only as a man (romantic feelings) but as a person (platonic and human).

"Johnny only wanted to be taken seriously" and Kerry did that? Kerry fought Johnny when Johnny needed a reality check while the rest of the band/his friends just gave up on him?

Johnny's high? whatever. Johnny wants to kill himself? whatever. Johnny wants to take over the entire band? whatever.

V and Johnny are at each other's throats but so were Kerry and Johnny. Don't act like silverv is exclusive to that kind of dynamic. Hell, Johnny fought with both Alt and Rogue, just for slightly different reasons, which was a direct parallel to Kerry being/acting like Johnny's lover.

Johnny and Kerry were and still ARE best friends. And they were best friends long before Rogue, Alt, and V met Johnny. Kerry was there and saw Johnny the way not a single one of Johnny's friends did before him.

[urlocalnonbinarybastardwrites]

Hcs for greasers with a GN!goth s/o who moved to town, and everyone, both greasers and socials are afraid of them, because everyone thinks they’re a “witch”

<twinning with @sadie-bug345 btw go check out her blog it’s amazinggggg here’s the link to her hc for this>

Ponyboy Curtis

-he was definitely afraid of you at first, and he 10/10 believed you could actually brew potions but also secretly thought you were cool and interesting

-he was SUPER intimidated by you

-but one day got enough courage to approach you when you were reading under a tree and found out that you were pretty chill and not yk a witch (he does ask tho, just it case)

-Y’all hit off and you showed him some of your music which he actually liked!

-eventually you guys started dating n stuff which was only surprising to those who didn’t know Pony that well

-you go on library/reading + music dates a lot

-Not a lot of Socs mess with him now that he’s always with his witch

-Fr no Socs mess with him he has such a scary dog privilege with you

-matching bandanas + belts

Johnny Cade

-he’s so in love with alt people honestly

-didn’t believe you were a witch and knew weirdos get a bad rap

-he wasn’t scared of you because he thought you were a witch, He was just scared to actually go up and talk to you

-he kind of always admired you from afar cuz yall had a similar vibe and you went to the lot a lot (hehe)

-One day after a long pep talk in the mirror he got the courage to go up and talk to you

-you guys really got along and started dating!

-when you first chatted he admired one of your best rings and you just gave it to him

-(he hasn’t taken it off since istg)

-you did his eyeliner one time and it looked SOOOO GOOD

-10/10 he does matching rings n belts and sometimes small makeup with you

-you guys are v cute together and honestly make so much sense, you’re also his scary dog privledge

Sodapop Curtis

-he saw you and was like ohhhh that’s why they call them a witch

-honestly surprised he liked you bc you aren’t usually his type but opposites attract yk

-he finds your style exotic and so different from his own it opens up his world

-you meet buying snacks at his gas station and he does his usual charming boy personality, suprised when you don’t respond to his flirtation and roll your eyes

-after lots of him flirting and you rejecting (more playfully over time) he finally manages to get you on a date with him

-you guys actually hit it off rlly well

-you guys are like golden retriever x black cat and compliment eachother soooo well

-tbh people saw it coming because yk opposites attract

-he tries to copy ur makeup one time and it did NOT end well 😭💅

-yall turn heads fr

Darry Curtis

-he didn’t necessarily wary of you because of the rumors, he’s just a traditionalist and not rlly used to seeing different people

-so when you come into town you rock his world

-one day your walking along just minding your own business when he grabs your arm and is like “wait” as if he isn’t stopping you from literally moving

-“so uh, what with the, uh, getup?”

“Idk man I just like to dress this way….”

-you guys start talking and actually become good friends

-after a few months he asks you out

-you guys are a pretty stable couple, and ponyboy definitely thinks of you as his rlly cool older sister

-I think yall are the most surprising

-he’s the most likely to change his wardrobe to match yours, def goes all out. Like not tooo far but he changes all his outfits to be vaguely goth

Dallas Winston

-was he a little (a lot) scared of you because of the rumors? Hell yes. Was he going to show that? Hell no.

-probs approached you on a dare or some shit 💀

-made a rude remark or joke so you slapped him and he was kinda surprised such a quiet thing could leave his face that red

-he was kinda in love with that ngl and loved your spunk

-he bothered you everyday after that

-back and fourth after much banter (enemies to lovers energy)

-he managed to actually get you to go on a date with him

-POWER COUPLE FR

-people are SO scared when they see yall walking down the streets yall are sooo intimidating together fr

-matching belts and rings

Two Bit Matthews

-you guys probs met in the back of the classroom

-he made some joke like “Damn, how’d you get out of your coffin this mornin’?!

-to which you responded with an eye roll and a chuckle

-you guys actually end up cracking jokes the whole period and laughing a little too loud

-he finally asks you out and you say yes

-you guys go out and make fun of Socs together and have a grand time

-you guys kind of started dating a bit immaturely, but you actually get to something that’s a lot more mature and have really deep conversations, you kind of ground him, and he kind of bring the humor out of you a bit

-he def takes advantage of the fact people are scared of you and you both jumpscare people and just have so much fun

-best Halloween couple fs

-overall pretty solid

-matching shirts

Steve Randle

-he probably heard the rumors and thought they were stupid and he was the least phased by your look

-I mean don’t get me wrong he liked it but he wasn’t gonna tell you that right away

-you don’t like eachother at first but after you start talking you start to appreciate eachother

-he asks you out and you say yes

-you guys are sooo cute n iconic

-you sometimes play music out loud when he fixes cars and just vibe together

-the EGO boost he gets from your compliments on his style

-he wears matching rings and shirts with you

[foxs0x]

SilverDyne with some Johnny / V flavour if you squint

Just a warning: Johnny's being an absolute cunt to Kerry

LONG POST

Some whump. I also basically rewrote and reordered some scenes from the game lol. Set around the Rogue / Johnny date mission.

Not sure what this is but I wrote it when I couldn't sleep last night.

2012

They argued before and after every gig like clockwork. This time was no different. Kerry had followed Johnny off stage, yelling at him over the roar of screaming fans trying to flood the backstage.

“You’re unbelievable, you know that?” Kerry snarled, shoving past a stagehand. “It’s not your show, choom! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Johnny didn’t stop walking, didn’t even turn around. “What I always do. Saving your ass from boring the crowd.”

“Fuck off!” Kerry barked.

Johnny finally stopped, pivoting sharply to face him. The grin on his face wasn’t friendly — it was a wolf baring its fangs. “Fuck off? That all you got? Jesus, Ker, where's the creativity? No wonder nobody'll remember your name unless it’s next to mine.”

The words hit him like a slap to the face. He could see the way Kerry’s hands shook, how his fists formed at his sides. But no punch came. Like always.

“Know what your problem is Kerry? You’re a parasite. Always have been. Feedin’ off my rep, hopin’ people don’t notice how fuckin’ mediocre you really are. Second fiddle, Kerry. Always.”

Kerry’s jaw clenched, his teeth grinding audibly. His pupils were blown wide, rage and hurt warring in his eyes. But as Johnny expected, the punch never came.

“Know why you’ll always be second fiddle?” Johnny continued. He leaned close enough for his breath to brush Kerry’s face and lowered his sunglasses, meeting him naked eye to naked eye. “Because you don’t have the spine to take the spotlight for yourself. You’re too busy standin' in my shadow and whinin' about it like a goddamn child.”

Kerry’s breathing grew heavier, nostrils flaring. Johnny could see the hurt. Could see the years of frustration and resentment bubbling to the surface. Could see how his eyes were growing wet with tears. And something ugly in Johnny liked it.

“You’re a fuckin’ pussy. And you're a quitter. Every time you had a chance to step up, you back down. Hell, even now, I’m right here, practically askin’ for you to hit me, and what do you do? Stand there, lookin’ at me like a kicked puppy. Pathetic.”

"You — John —"

“— Go on,” Johnny goaded. “Do it. Prove me wrong for once in your goddamn life.”

But Kerry didn’t. Like always.

Johnny laughed and took a step back from him. “That’s what I thought."

“Fuck you."

Johnny scoffed and roughly shoved him back with his metal arm. “Whatever. Now kindly ghost. The fuck. Off.”

He then ripped the dressing room door open and slammed it in Kerry’s face so hard the walls shook, finally leaving him in blessed silence.

The smell of cigarette smoke hit him before anything else.

Alt.

“Said you weren’t comin’ tonight.”

Alt sat on the worn couch, one long leg crossed over the other, and cigarette dangling from her cybernetic hand. Her other hand was busy using her cyberdeck. She didn’t even look up at him. “Was that Kerry again?”

Johnny didn’t answer. She didn’t need one when the answer was obvious. Instead he went to the dressing table, rummaging for the cocktail of pills he’d stashed there earlier. A couple went down with a swig of tequila, followed by a quick line of synthcoke. The heat in his chest blurred the edges of his thoughts and dulled the sharpness of everything else.

Then the rest played out like it always did. Her nails digging into his back as they fucked against the dressing room door. The inevitable argument that followed. The door slamming hard enough to rattle the hinges as she left.

And, like always, Johnny followed after her, pretending he was on the same level as her. Pretending that she wasn't too good for him.

"Alt!" He called out after her. She ignored him, just like every other time they do this.

He weaved through the chaos backstage where the crew were packing up for the night, and the buzz of the synthcoke already wearing off.

That's when he saw them from the corner of his eye. Johnny stopped dead in his tracks.

The stairs weren't lit and deeper shadows swallowed the corners, but there was no mistaking the familiar shape of Kerry pressed up against some random groupie Johnny didn't recognise. His hands were tangled in Kerry’s hair and Kerry’s mouth was on his, moving with purpose. The soft, wet sounds of their kissing filled the space between their gasps.

Kerry’s eyes opened mid-kiss, and that’s when he saw him. Their gazes locked.

It lasted only a second, but it felt like a lifetime. Long enough for something heavy to settle in Johnny’s chest. A twist of jealousy? Loneliness? Rage? He didn’t know. He didn’t want to know.

But Kerry didn’t stop. He didn’t push the joytoy away, didn’t flinch, didn’t even acknowledge the moment beyond that sharp, deliberate eye contact. If anything, Kerry leaned further into the kiss, his hands sliding down the guy’s back, making it clear: this wasn’t about Johnny.

Except, Johnny knew better.

He tore his gaze away, his chest tight and his throat burning, and delta’d out of there. Past Kerry. Past the stairs. Past everything.

By the time he got outside, Alt was gone. There was nothing left but the glow of her car’s taillights disappearing into the dark. She wouldn’t be at tomorrow’s gig, and maybe that was for the best.

Everything was easier when it was broken.

2077

V came to, jolting out of Johnny's memories with the sharp tang of blood and asphalt on his tongue. He groaned, pushing himself up on unsteady hands. His head throbbed like it had been put through a blender. Fragments of static flickered through his mind. Glimpses of Johnny's date with Rogue, tangled with vivid memories that weren’t his. Memories he slipped into while Johnny had control.

“How’d the date go?” V muttered, wiping at his mouth as he staggered to his feet.

He half-expected Johnny to launch into a smug monologue about how Rogue was still into him, but Johnny didn’t even meet his gaze.

“Fine,” He said, his voice distant. “Until it wasn’t.”

“You fought.”

Johnny’s construct flickered into view, leaning back against the only burned out car in the drive-thru. His silver hand tapped an idle rhythm against his forearm. “Dunno what about. She just… got mad and left.”

V squinted, trying to piece together the fragments in his head. He remembered Rogue asking Johnny if he’d change anything if he could go back in time. He couldn’t recall Johnny’s answer. Then she was walking away. And Johnny — he’d just stood there. Confused. Hurt. Alone.

“Maybe she finally lost interest in you,” V offered cynically. “It’s been over 50 years, Johnny. People change.”

Johnny scoffed. “Nah. It’s not that.” He hesitated, then frowned. “Take me to North Oak. By the sign.”

“Why?”

“Tell you when we get there.”

The Porsche hummed along the road, the city lights a neon blur in the rearview mirror. Johnny sat in the passenger seat, uncharacteristically quiet.

“You know why Rogue left, don’t you?” He asked finally. “You saw it, didn’t you? In that skull sponge of yours.”

“Bits and pieces.” V admitted, glancing at him. “Why don’t you just tell me?”

Johnny snorted softly, his gaze out the window. “Maybe she figured it’d never change. Me. Us. It was always the same song and dance. Hot one second, cold the next. I cheat, she leaves, I charm her back. Rinse and fuckin’ repeat.”

“And now she’s sick of it?”

“Course she is. She was sick of it 50 years ago. But she always came back. Guess I thought… hell. Doesn’t matter now.”

They stopped at the overlook by the North Oak sign, the city sprawling below them like a living, breathing creature. Johnny’s construct flickered into view by the edge of the water, a cigarette materialising between his fingers.

“Kerry’s got himself a buck-a-mansion up here,” He said, staring up at the sign. “Done real well for himself.”

“And where'd you hear that?”

“Oh right, you weren't there.”

“Your big night out. Right.”

“Yeah.” Johnny flicked the cigarette into the puddle. “Picked up a few things about him, actually.”

“What things?”

“He’s depressed. Tried to end it.”

The words hung in the air and V wasn't sure what the expected response was. Sympathy? Understanding? He was never good at this kinda stuff.

“Oh.” He said simply. “That's why we’re here?”

“Yeah, wanna talk to him. Help him.”

“You sure? He might be goin’ through some real personal shit right now.”

Johnny’s face tightened. “Kerry’s always been a mess. Always personal shit. Always waitin' for me to throw him a fuckin’ bone. I never did.”

“And now you want to?”

Johnny turned to look at V, his expression raw. “I don’t know how, V. But I figure it starts with showing up.”

“Greeeaaat.” V sighed. “Yet another front-row seat to Johnny Silverhand’s ‘fix my mistakes’ tour. Can’t wait.”.

Johnny didn't respond. He was staring at the North Oak sign but not really seeing it.

He’d thought about Kerry more often than he cared to admit. The band days. The gigs. The fights. Always so much noise between 'em. Noise Johnny created to drown out the shit he didn’t want to think about.

Kerry had been the constant in his life, the one thing that didn’t evaporate like smoke. Alt came and went. Rogue loved him but (rightfully) never trusted him. But Kerry was always there, always lookin' at Johnny like he wanted something Johnny couldn’t — or wouldn’t — give him.

Kerry had always been searchin' for something. Love. Connection. Maybe just someone to notice him. And Johnny — selfish, fucked-up Johnny — had never been brave enough to be the friend he needed. To give him what he needed.

He swallowed hard at the burn of shame that crawled up his throat.

Maybe he wanted Kerry.

Once.

That was the part he couldn’t deal with.

Even now, the thought of wanting Kerry — of being wanted by Kerry — tangled in his chest like barbed wire. And then there was V.

He glanced at the young merc.

Johnny didn’t do feelings. Didn’t do attachment. Because if he’d let himself feel it back then, really feel it…

“I treated him like shit, V,” He finally said. “Kept him at arm’s length ‘cause I was scared of… fuck.”

“So what, you wanna make amends now? Might I remind you that it's been over fifty years, Johnny?”

Johnny shook his head, looking out at the city. “I don’t know. I just… I owe him, V.” He turned to look at the young merc again, his voice surprisingly earnest. “Means I’ll need to borrow your body again, though.”

V gave him a flat look. “Uhuh. Any other last requests?”

“C’mon,” Johnny said, a coy grin tugging at his lips. “I behaved last time, didn’t I? Gave you your body back, like I promised.”

V rolled his eyes but didn’t argue.

[glouris]

finished songbird's route of phantom liberty yesterday. personally I agree with it more than reed's, but they equally suck. I reloaded the confrontation with reed like 6 times to make sure I really couldn't save them both. what a twisted mirror for v and johnny's situation.

and the way johnny says "she made it. preem, that's what counts" in the end, JESUS christ... he really sees both v and alt in her, that's why she kinda pisses him off and why he's so much more at peace with that decision.

[pinkyjulien]

▶ Johnny, Mikoshi, and SPI AIs

Years ago I bought some of the original TTRPG sourcebooks and only just recently started to really read through them 👀 It's a blast and I recommend every cp77 fan to get them!

I'm mainly focusing on the Cyberpunk RED era - it's set during the 2040's (2045) and exist as a canon, direct bridge between the Cyberpunk 2020 pen and paper, and the Cyberpunk 2077 game;

"[...] In addition, RED allows us to create something unparalleled in gaming history—a tabletop RPG that serves as the perfect onramp for the expanded and far future of the Cyberpunk 2077 arc. With threads looping forwards and back through the timeline, my partners at CDPR (Patrick, Adam, Marcin, Amelia—let's face it, the whole damned 600+ crew at the CD studio) and our crew at R. Talsorian Games have given you a deep, complex gaming experience you can explore on both the tabletop and the video screen." - Mike Pondsmith, Cyberpunk RED (2020)

In the Cyberpunk RED sourcebook, we get to read through the real events that took place in 2013, the kidnapping and "death" of Alt

"He's coming out of the Hammer, about midnight, and he sees them. Three punks,mohawks bright and bristly with reflected neon, wearing high-collared jackets; gang colors." - Cyberpunk RED, page 5

We also get to read the Arasaka bombing event, how Johnny really died- and who's responsible for getting him soulkilled... 👀

"On the other side of the room, Johnny crouches under a desk, fighting with his past between bursts of gunfire. I left Alt last time. Just abandoned her. Not again. Never again. Better to burn out, says the Hand. Yeah, Johnny says to himself—and he knows what he has to do." - Cyberpunk RED, page 121

I'm obviously not going to post the whole chunks here and DEADASS ENCOURAGE YOU TO CHECK THEM OUT FOR YOURSELVES - especially if you love Johnny, Rogue, Alt and the entire old crew, it's a real treat!

Anyway, the reason why I'm making this post is because I got further into the book and into the parts about AIs

We know our Johnny, the engram stuck in V's head, isn't a reliable narrator; we learn why and how in the previously mentioned stories on how these events went down - We also know that, well, our Johnny isn't really much of Johnny - He, and everyone who has been Soulkilled, are known as "SPI" AIs

"Soulkilled Pseudo Intellects (SPI) are AIs that were originally actual people but have had their consciousness digitized and now exist only on computers in the NET. The process is often not voluntary — Soulkiller programs produce this type of AI. Otherwise indistinguishable from Symbolic Analysis AIs, these "ghosts" were created in huge numbers as Arasaka put its infamous Soulkiller program to work targeting enemies and rivals alike. The majority of these SPIs have gathered in sanctuaries around deserted mainframes and city systems abandoned by Corporations or (as in the case of a number of bio-plague attacked cities along the Asian Rim) totally abandoned cities. Most of these "ghosts" just want a safe place to live; rumor has it that Alt Cunningham, the creator of Soulkiller and a digital ghost herself, has created a number of "ghost towns" in hidden places all over the remains of the Old NET. They pretty much want to be left alone." - Cyberpunk RED, page 263

We learn about other types of AIs in this section as well - but obviously this one grabbed my attention because, well, that's the Johnny we know - and that's also who, what V becomes after Mikoshi (talking here about the canon game events in some of the endings ofc)

It is so interesting and almost comforting in a way to read about this, to have a proper name and description of what we see and experience in game

I'm late to the party of course, I bet this was already a known thing - but wanted to share it here cause again, it was really really interesting to read and made me feel things hHHHH a lot to think about

[whosaidsealscantfly]

Listen, listen. We ALL know the parallels to Johnny and V with Orpheus and Eurydice, you love it, I love it, it's perfect.

But listen. At the same time I started hyper fixating on Cyberpunk, do you wanna know what I got into as well? Epic the Musical. If you like musicals and haven't listened to it, I HIGHLY recommend it. For those who don't know, it's a concept album series about Homer's The Odyssey. I listen to it all the time. I have all the songs memorized, and my thoughts have intertwined the two in such a strong way that I FINALLY have to talk about this.

Consider adding this to your repertoire of fix-it AU endings for SilverV, and YES I'm specifying SilverV because of Odysseus and Penelope, but you can choose to reframe it in a platonic manner if you so wish. Walk with me.

So, V and Johnny split ways - Johnny goes into the net with Alt and V goes with the Nomads. Why the Nomads? Because this is THE ODYSSEY. They're travelers escaping the war of society and corporations. Instead of the open expanse of sea, they traverse the endless roads of the desert. V decides to live their final days chasing that sense of freedom, but they still yearn for Johnny's presence. They realize that even though they're surrounded by the Aldecaldos, they just wanna see the literal other half of their soul again. It feels empty. It feels wrong.

Then, they hear rumors (or someone tells them) that Johnny's body was not dumped in some random oil field, but rather, kept on ice in New Mexico. Meanwhile, Arasaka is on V's ass for the whole raiding the tower thing. V convinces the leader of the Aldecaldos (so either Panam or Saul) to help them get to Los Alamos Labs, and Rogue, hearing this. hires a group of mercs to help. The Odyssey begins.

I won't go into the deep specifics unless someone wants me to, but here's a quick list

Odysseus - V Penelope - Johnny Polites - Panam...but ALSO Jackie (hohoho!) Athena - Reed Poseidon - Takemura Polyphemus - Arasaka Tower Aeolus - River Hermes - Judy Circe - Lucy. Yes, that Lucy Tiresias - So Mi who got turned into an engram?? Maybe?? The Sirens - Rogue AI trying to escape the Blackwall Scylla - Robot controlled by a Rogue AI Charybdis - a BIG sandstorm V has to traverse with a small car Zeus - President Myers/NUSA Government Calypso - Biotechnica Other gods - Other corporations The Suitors - People who work in the labs keeping frozen bodies for the highest bidder. Telemachus - Steve? Kerry? Misty and Vik? Friends back in NC? Not sure, this is still in the works Argos - Nibbles For those who know the Odyssey, I know this implies that the Aldecaldos die or betray V. Because this is a fix-it AU, I don't want to ruin V's relationship with the Nomads, which is why I included Rogue's merc hires. I like to think at some point V and the mercs get separated from the Nomads in a sandstorm, and so, V is forced to travel with the mercs for the rest of the way. Those are the folks who betray V, because they're not loyal to them like the Aldecaldos are, they're just in it for the eddies. So in this AU, Eurylochus would be the leader of this merc group who constantly butts heads with V. Anyway thank you for reading and indulging in this idea that's been spinning in my head for numerous months and now has breached containment. I am Very Sane about SilverV. I'm gonna listen to Will You Fall in Love With Me Again? for the umpteenth time and cry over them now. Again, I am Very Sane.

[rtrnoftemac]

Hey so this isn’t an original thought but the canon endings in Cyberpunk are so depressing that I wrote up my own canon-destroying ending because I need my V and Johnny to get their gun-blazing happily ever after.

(Spoiler-y stuff under cut)

So I call this “The Lovers Ending” where basically my V recruits all their friends (Rogue, Judy, Panam, and the Aldecaldos) to pull an all hands on deck infiltration mission on Arasaka tower.

(I also include my non-canon corpo OC Vivian and my friend's nomad OC Vesper who’s my V’s twin sister bc it’s my canon I do what I want)

So basically the team finds out that besides Mikoshi, Arasaka has been keeping Johnny’s body on ice for the past 50+ years but its been modified with cyberware so he can be their next Adam Smasher/winter soldier for the next corpo war. So basically Johnny takes over V’s body and leads Rogue and Wayland into Mikoshi while Vivian, Vesper, and Judy track down the ice chest that Arasaka has been keeping Johnny’s body in while Panam and the Aldecaldos take care of the Arasaka soldiers and hijack a van for the body transport.

Yadda yadda Johnny gets Alt into Mikoshi, kills Smasher, hooks up into Mikoshi, and BOOM Johnny and V are engrams chatting with Alt in cyberspace.

BUT instead of Alt’s whole “only one can survive” speech, V pulls a Commander Shepherd and convinces her that she’s this great AI warmonger she can do anything why can’t she saved them both and so Alt is silent for a second before going “okay sure whatever” and bolts. So V and Johnny take that as their signal to go back to V’s body together and V regains control of her body and everyone books it out of Arasaka Tower and rendezvous to Viktor’s clinic with Johnny’s body.

So what happens next is heavily inspired by this art piece by vehkarious. Vik and company set up two makeshift ice baths and put Johnny's body in one while V plops herself into the second one before connecting her personal link to Johnny's neuroport in order to transfer his engram over. Everything seems to be going well until V gets hit with a MAJOR relic malfunction and seems to have a seizure before blacking out.

Cut to about five days later and V is waking up in the clinic in a bed and everything went to plan. V has control of their body back and their engram is rewriting over what remained of the Relic that Johnny's engram left behind so she is no longer dying and Johnny has his body back without being under Arasaka control.

So yeah, happy ending :)

[whyohwhydoris]

Silver(hand) is the new Black(hand)

I'm going to get the glaring hole at the heart of this idea out of the way first: How does our Johnny know about the dog tags? I don't know. Although, it also feels weird that the tags and other stuff are still there anyway, after 54 years. But, it is none the less and obvious flaw in my theory. Anyway: In Cyberpunk 2077, we end up with Rockerboy par excellence, Nightcity's very own Don Quixote, the one and only Johnny Silverhand, chippin' in to our very own brain stack. He might be very much plugged, but he's still got all the raw edge of MTV's most famous acoustic set. But, we also know that our Johnny isn't the Johnny.

See, we know that the real Johnny was in the Arasaka basement - at the original Mikoshi, basically. We know he got shredded by Adam Smasher's shotgun. We know he was left there by Spider and Rogue and the rest as they fled. We know the building was dropped on him, and that his body was hauled out by full cyborg firefighter Samantha Stevens. And, we know that body eventually was eventually given to Angel (Who is strongly suspected to be a clone of Alt uploaded with her soul-killed consciousness.)

Which is really awkward, because the story we see from our Johnny shows him up top, planting the nuke. Show him fighting Smasher. Show him getting recovered - alive - by Arasaka, and soul-killed by the emperor himself. And that just doesn't jive. Because, rockerboy thorn in their side or not, Johnny never meant shit to Arasaka.

But, do you know who might have meant something to them? The greatest Solo to ever live: Morgan Blackhand. The Solo's Solo.

So, here's what I'm thinking: the core of our Johnny is Morgan Blackhand. See, I think Arasaka is trying to take the next step with soulkiller - something that Nightcorp is doing to Jefferson Peralez - the ability to re-write the human soul. It's the next arms race, the next corpo war. The ability to control entire puppet empires. Because that's who wants Relic - the rich and powerful. They need to be soulkilled to do it too. So, what if you can reliably re-write them in the background?

What if the general in some army gets a great deal on the protect your soul program? He doesn't know the way it works. No, instead, he goes into an Arasaka clinic, gets soulkilled, has his own consciousness immediately reuploaded, and goes home. All the while, Arasaka gets to work, tweaking the backup. Changing this or that. Extracting important info. And then, one day, when they're done - they assassinate the original, and flash their sleeper agent back in their place. But, why Morgan and Johnny? Well, they have a solid copy of Blackhand from when they dragged him out of the tower. And they know Alt is out there - is a threat. So, they start to do something really big. They try to graft Johnny on to Blackhand using all the records they have. Bootlegs of concerts, news reports, 'Saka intel after they klepped the original Alt. They use their latest security records - why he's suddenly got long black hair for years, even though he was blond for so long. See, the project wasn't finished. The personality is so radical because that's who Johnny was in his music and his manifestos.

And that's why Yorinobu wanted it. He needed proof that Saburo was going to re-write everyone. He needed to be able to show others exactly what they were facing, if he was going to topple the old-man once and for all. Because Yorinobu is no saint, but he sure isn't satan himself either.

And I think that's why Alt doesn't care about anything other than trashing Mikoshi - destroying that perversion. She won't make things worse for us. But she doesn't care to help. Because Johnny isn't Johnny, and we're just another gear in the machine.

For me, I think the big thing is that, to me as a player and to my V as a person, it doesn't matter. Because it's our Johnny. And my V loves her Johnny. It's a little like the end of Ghost in the Shell, when project 2501 and the Major merge. They become something more. Something greater. That's my V and her Johnny.

I'll need to revisit this and really flesh out some parts of it, but it feels somehow right to me. There's a lot of details swirling in my brain case for this one.

[zev-zev]

“do you ever regret what you’ve done in your life?” you mutter, glancing in the direction of your little day to day parasite; johnny silverhand. he sits at the edge of your bed, leaning against the inner wall with a lit cigarette fizzing between his fingers. you’ve become bed ridden from a particular bad relic malfunction and the thought of “what if’s” plagued your sickly mind.

johnny wears his iconic sunglasses as he sits promptly across from you. you can’t tell if he’s looking at you, or even paying attention, but it doesn’t stop you from talking away in your feverish state. “hey, you could at least answer. you’re the one killin’ me ya know.” you jab, following up with a half chuckle, half cough. “i wanna know, don’t i get one free wish or somethin’?”

johnny cracks a smile but otherwise he continues to stay quiet. just takes a long drag off the end of his imaginary cigarette as his hologram self flickers, the only tell that reminds you he’s not really real; just a ghost of a man.

“yeah i’ve got a lot of regrets, v. nothing i can do to change ‘em though, so why ask?” johnny finally speaks up, breaking his vow of brief silence. his tone is bitter and cold like usual but this time it sounds…far more distant; most likely due to your slow recovery from the previous malfunction strike.

one day, you feared, he’d be completely out of your grasp.

“dunno just curious, i guess. would you change anything?” you continue to pry, lifting an eyebrow at the other as you shimmy your way into somewhat of a sitting position.

johnny sighs at your prying and you know if he wasn’t wearing his sunglasses he’d probably roll his damn eyes at you. like a disappointed friend giving you advice for the seventeen time about the same topic. “fuck v,” he says as he takes another long drag off his cigarette. “i don’t know, maybe not fucking die?” he adds with a more annoyed tone.

“hey you can’t be mean to me right now so just answer the damn question.” you shoot back, restraining yourself from tossing the closest pillow at his head…it wouldn’t reach the target like you’d want it too anyway.

silence falls once more between the two of you. johnny continuing to smoke while his head slightly turns off to the side, allowing him to stare out the window beside your bed. he takes a moment to look at the flashing lights of NC before finally turning back to face you. “i wouldn’t change anything. even if i got to live again, in my own body, with my own damn thoughts…even if i died again, don’t care. wouldn’t change a thing.”

now it’s your turn to lift your eyebrow in confusion. you had expected him to go on and on about what he’d do to change everything that went wrong; beating adam smasher, saving alt, maybe even righting wrongs with both kerry and rouge. i mean you half expected him to mention blowing arasaka up…again

“why?”

for a moment you expect him to disappear, to retreat back into the depths of your mind and to finally be done with your nitpicking. but johnny doesn’t, keeps his ‘physical’ form, and he stays. and he’s turning to look directly at you. his cigarette is gone as he reaches up with his mechanical arm to remove his sunglasses for the first time…ever. and he does something unexpected, even by the legend, johnny silverhand’s standard.

“…because then i’d never get the chance to meet you, v. i’d die a thousand deaths just to meet you at the end of the line.”

and then he finally leaves. disappears before you can even fully comprehend his confession. leaves you in your semi pitch black room with nothing but your headache and the tightness inside your chest.

[merge-conflict]

sketch: !==

(cw: drug use + some dissociation, body horror/identity crisis. ~1k.)

There’s always something about four am that makes a bleak outlook bleaker, and Johnny is glad he’s too stoned to really feel it. It follows him around, black dog– or maybe just some black cat. A whole bunch of bad omens, on repeat. He can’t seem to relax, no matter what he does. V is dozing in his lap, gonked out of her mind, twitching and shivering in a high he couldn’t reach. If he could, he’d dive in with her. She’s so out of it she doesn’t even seem to notice when he moves her out of the way so he can get up to take a piss.

Habit leads him back to Kerry’s room. He’s still asleep where Johnny left him, curled up next to the empty space he’s left behind. He pads quietly across the hard floor, swinging the door most of the way closed behind him without making the noise of latching it.

When he’s finished he lingers in front of the mirror instead of returning. Today is not one of those days where his face makes him sick; it’s only the reflection of a dead man looking back at him. This isn’t his body. His body is moldering several feet underground. His body is ash and worms. His body is still lying back on that couch.

She’d tried to slither away when he wasn’t watching. Crawling on her belly back to the viper pit. For what? The man who’d gotten her soul split in two and had been too proud to touch her.

“Hey.” Kerry catches him by surprise, crossing the cold tile and putting his hands around Johnny’s hips, familiar calluses skating across his skin. His voice is low, graveled by fatigue. “Can’t sleep?”

“V’s up,” he says. He turns on the faucet and brings a handful of water to his mouth to wash out some of the fuzziness. That just makes him aware of how thirsty he is, so he bends and drinks straight from the stream until it makes him start to feel sick.

Kerry’s hand is running up and down his spine. “She okay?”

“She’s fine.”

Kerry’s silent for a while, but Johnny’s not in a hurry to rush him so long as he’s combing his fingers through the hair plastered to the back of his neck. “You okay?”

Johnny opens his mouth to answer, watching the face in the mirror. It’s all wrong. He should have gone to Kerry sooner, should have let Alt pack him away until they could grow him a clone body. It’s V’s fault he rushed things, and now he’s stuck like this, in this body. He should have killed that old dog when he had the chance. He should kill him now.

“Johnny,” Kerry says, turning him around so his back is to the sink. “Hey,” he says, a little quieter, cupping Johnny’s face. Fifty years he’s been dead, and Kerry still wants him. Fifty years and all his bullshit, and Kerry is cradling his face like he’s someone who had been worth waiting for. “You still with me?”

“What kind of question is that?” Johnny asks, and the words come out an accusation. He exhales, gripping the counter so his knuckles go white and numb.

Kerry’s staring at him with that look on his face that makes him old. Rogue has it too, sometimes, when she’s looking at him. Like there’s something they know that he doesn’t, just because they sold out. Like they pity him because he’s got the guts to do what they won’t.

“You’re high, Johnny.”

“So what?” He brushes off Kerry’s hold because he can’t feel those hands right now without thinking of V at his back, her breath on his neck while she watches. It’s all a fucking lie, and he’s clinging too tightly to something he never deserved, like a ghost that can’t move on. “What the hell do you care?”

Something flips like a switch in Kerry. He shoves Johnny back, crowding him so the stone of the countertop is digging uncomfortably into his thighs. “I don’t know, Johnny, why the hell do I care? Is it just some giant fucking mystery to you? Are you that stupid?”

This time instead of waiting for an answer, Kerry yanks him down by the dogtags into a kiss. Johnny falls apart, sliced and portioned into raw hunger. The kiss turns bloody, but Kerry doesn’t complain like he usually does when he breaks skin. His grip on Johnny’s shoulders is so tight it’s painful, but it feels good to be needed. It settles the itch in his skin, makes his hands strong and sure.

He picks Kerry up by the hips and turns to set him down on the counter, following the driving bass line he’s setting down, the foundation over which he can spark and soar. His mind slips away while he’s still chasing Kerry’s mouth, flickering back when he sees his face in the mirror, arched while Kerry scrapes his teeth over his neck.

It's just some stranger. A dead man. Frankenstein, hollowed out by his own monster.

“Johnny,” Kerry is saying, insistently. His eyes are so blue, even in the dim light. He still smells the same, still tastes the same, but he’s not the same.

Johnny leans in to kiss him again, softly this time. He closes his eyes. Kerry’s hand is running up and down his spine. “Yeah. I’m with you.”

[vole-mon-amour]

"Ahem, is it too late to ask for a second chance?" "Okay, but as far as the second chances go, this is your last one. I refuse to be that naive." "Johnny Silverhand, relentless rockerboy who refuses to give up." "V, first among suckers."

What I learned is that, if throughout your journey you try to be only nice with Johnny and act like you forgive him anything and don't try to hold him accountable, you miss A LOT of his answers and banter.

And while I understand people that try to be nice with him (hell, that's usually me and I completely missed on the secret ending on my first blind playthrough), I've been exploring the answers and it's so curious to see that pattern. You get to learn a lot about Johnny and his personality if you push him just a little bit. I find the answers that he gives V before their first talk with Alt VERY interesting. "You're just as bad as her, why can't you drop it?"

He's annoyed, he seems to be truly believe that he was right for acting that way with Alt (something along the line of "she could've just left, but she just had to bust my balls"). Or maybe he still tried to build up a wall because he feels so uncomfortable about that, but deep down he knows it was wrong of him. He even wants to talk to Rogue alone and asks her if "me and you, we're okay?"

So he KNOWS he's guilty in a way.

I absolutely agree that by pushing him and holding him accountable, you push him to be more self-aware and make that character development. Of course, if you're being a dick to him, he won't listen to you, so what V and Johnny have is truly a relationship (even though I ship them, I mean it in a platonic way in this example). Something like, "You're my friend & your behavior hurts me. If you want to keep me as your friend, you have to be better and you have to DO better."

Then you let Johnny have V's body, you push him out into the real world to make his own choices while he's still scared he'll fuck it up, and his first steps are truly to stop drinking, smoking, and start acknowledging his own feelings and be more truthful with the world (the way Johnny talks to Steve and what he says to him about Kerry is a good example).

And, listen, he HIMSELF says he refuses to give up. As scared and crushed by grief as he is, I'm sure he finds a way to make it work and to feel better in the long run. Grief doesn't just go away, especially not so fast like Johnny wants it to (I've been there and I know how trying to apply logic to a situation where grief is involved just completely fails).

Johnny will, as people like to call it, do it scared and do it alone. But he WILL do it, which I'm sure, eventually, rewards him with the life he wants or at least he thinks he and V's body deserve. He will live with that reminder of he has to try—if not for himself, then for V. Then maybe he learns to love himself in that non toxic way and life gets better for him from there.