#where r you guys when my art/hj

[jjcocker]

wehh

[sh00kspeared]

Can we talk about Johnny's bi erasure in-game? Because really, it makes me kinda mad.

Now, I'm not the kind of person who shouts 'homophobia' at everything because it's just not my way of things... but the amount that Johnny's attraction to men has been completely shafted throughout the game is really a disservice to him and to all the people who ship their male characters with him. A few examples:

Cutting or making really hard to trigger the line where Johnny says he got a lap dance from a man at a gay strip club (I've seen some people claim they experienced it, which is why I think it may still be in the game)

Johnny saying he didn't sleep with Kerry because he had a dick despite the official, director-sanctioned game guide saying that he did.

Johnny telling female V that the two are arguing "like an old married couple", yet telling male V that they're arguing "like two geezers on a park bench." (Johnny's definitely not the kind of guy to change his language depending on the gender of person he's with).

Never, ever alluding to any of his flings with male characters outside of the strip club line despite him saying that he did swing both ways now and then.

Now, why do I care so much about this? Because it's really sparked more debate than necessary. This post got hate for making him "gay" Cyberpunk 2077 on X: "Johnny Silverhand 🎤 Art by: @painperdues https://t.co/ABiBzSCZvm" / X (twitter.com) and so did this one Cyberpunk 2077 on X: "V and Johnny, Johnny and V… By: @hanbyeo0526 https://t.co/JlGNBmRYJH" / X (twitter.com) (I believe some of the comments have been deleted since because I don't see a lot of the meanest ones there anymore). Mind you, after the latter was posted, a fem V x Johnny post was made not too long afterward and it got markedly fewer hate comments. Also, funny story, my old male V x Johnny post is the third most controversial post of all time on r/lowsodiumcyberpunk at the moment (please go downvote it if possible; I wanna be first again lmao /hj).

But, all this to say, much of the playerbase sees Johnny as an alpha straight manly man when he's... well... not. While many people including me assume that the choice to keep his bisexuality under wraps is due to his addled memory in Mikoshi misremembering the fact that he canonically slept with Kerry, I just think this is a really odd thing to use to demonstrate that. Of all the things the devs could've chosen to display this, they chose one of the things that is most likely to get male V x Johnny shippers belittled and seen as the 'lesser' version of the ship for just existing.

They chose to erase a massive part of Johnny's identity, either to prove the point of his memories being addled or because they were scared of backlash. I just don't see how it would've been so hard for him to allude to some of his male flings more often, make the dicky twister line easier to trigger, and just not have him say that he didn't sleep with kerry because he had a dick. Ffs CDPR, stop being so dodgy your bi characters' identities.

[redrandomposts]

Hello! Sorry I have not sent an ask in some time but I had an idea to share-

So I am thinking that maybe in the same area as the till going back in time au’s. What if in this au Till and Ivan were in love (like the beach timeline maybe) and in that timeline Ivan died somehow. (Probably to save Till from something dangerous- or maybe drowning if they successfully ran away) Then till comes back and tries to push Ivan away because their love is what kill Ivan. And then Till behaves exactly like canon- but because he doesn’t want to hurt Ivan in the end. (Like refusing to run away because Ivan died from them running away and till is afraid of that happen again)

and till hopes that if he pushes Ivan away and never meets Ivan’s eyes Ivan won’t love him anymore! But then Ivan dies anyway and till feels foolish because he wasted a second chance to love Ivan pushing him away and hurting him.

I am not sure that makes sense but I think you will understand the main point!

Okay thank you friend,

-🍎

i was going to forgive u for not sending asks... and then u shattered my heart so lets call it uneven. (/hj. my heart is shattered.) my heart doesnt deserve this.

reason #1 not to join fandoms: they are all doomed to give you bad endings. orv? slaughterhouse of optimism. alnst? massacre of yaois and yuris and eveything inbetween.

reason #2: the fans reflect the fandoms. if the fandom is eternally sad, the fans will always post sad stuff.

...anyways, i think its obvious ivan dies to protect till in both lives. what i think is the real kicker is that till decided to show ivan love one life, and then deprave him of it the next.

aagghhh

till u r not the good guy in this. u can be a guy who loves ivan so much you'd give up happiness, but not even discussing it... and to think that u had a whole timeline to yourselves... and you still dont know what ivan truly wants.

yeah i think i understand this prompt very well. ive been in the angst longer than ive been sane.

ok, so, its successful escape au... im assuming before the actual performances, a bit after their main memories of anakt. thats my age interpretation of the beach art. i think this is an au where till didnt let go of ivan's hand...

guys. you can do this and then u can do canon, where till does let go, but he doesn't expect ivan to follow. he tries to push him away, but in the end, in r6, ivan dies.

or you can be unique and creative!

they both are forced to be near each other, as they are fugitives and escapees, but till keeps reminding himself to push ivan away. his heart hurts when he does, and breaks at ivan's dejected look. he perseveres, though, because above all all he wants is for ivan to live.

and then they're caught. till yells at ivan to go away, telling him to do something else. the attention of a guard robot patrolling is locked on them, about to fire a gun. ivan notices, but till doesn't, trying to forget the fact he broke ivan's heart yet again.

with a loud bang that deafens all of them, ivan attacks the robot. the bullet fires, tears at his torso, but he still attacks and attacks until the robot is sparking at the ends of wires, metal plates dented and broken into sharp edges that retaliate and cut ivan's hands.

ivan bleeds out in till's arms, years younger than his first death. till feels even more devastated—especially when ivan mouths "i love you," and shuts his eyes, clearly not expecting it to be returned.

ok thats enough tumblr for today

[aseriesofunfortunatejan]

Hiya, are you still taking writing requests? Feel free to ignore if you don't, but I was wondering if you could write something with Brawler comforting Swindler when she's on her period? Just something wholesome and fluffy like Brawler shoving a stolen box of chocolates onto Swindler's lap or something. If you don't feel comfortable with periods, maybe Swindler winning a fight and Brawler cheering in the background?

Thank you very much for sending a request! Absolutely they're still open, I practically just opened them! o(*￣▽￣*)ブ

This is a surprising request. Not something I expected, and I welcome the surprise! You're talking to someone who presented an A2-size photo of a pile of tampons for her Plastic Arts Baccalauréat – a photo which is still hanging proudly above my bed. I think there is zero shame in mentioning periods and the fact that they very much exist and happen.

As someone who thinks periods are totally normal and should be talked about, your request is interesting to me because it would not have necessarily crossed my mind to write about them in a context where someone makes a big deal out of them. But it is still a reality of the world we live in, and I will take you up on your offer and try to write about Brawler's attempts to be there for someone whose struggle he may not understand fully!

I think Swindler is someone who would be a little awkward about it, so this might be an equally awkward read, if you empathise with her at all.

Fandom: Akudama Drive Characters: Swindler, Brawler (other Akudama make guest appearances) Content warning: Cutthroat /hj

"- Ugggghhh..."

Hiding her feelings isn't her strong suit. Swindler sits down on the pavement and moans to herself, letting her head fall slowly against her knees.

Brawler notices her, and after staring at her with a blank expression for a few uncomfortable seconds, turns to the first person next to him to ask:

"- What's wrong with Swindler? - ..."

Unfortunately for him, that person is Courier, who, without even looking at him or Swindler, silently takes a drag out of his cigarette, then turns around and leaves.

"- Hmpf."

What's wrong with that guy? Is he scared of women or summat?

He wouldn't even have bothered to ask if he'd known it was him. Well, it can't hurt to ask the girl herself.

"- Oi, Swindler."

He takes a few steps towards her to bend over and place his noggin right next to hers.

"- Sumthin' wrong? - Huh?"

Swindler turns her head slowly, and when she realises how close she is to Brawler's, she backs away, suppressing a scream.

"- Aah—M-Mr. Brawler! W-What's going on?"

Huh? Why's she acting all scared?

After looking all around them, she laughs... so she must be feeling better already.

"- Aaaah, sorry, I wasn't paying attention... Were you talking to me? - Hah, you didn't hear me? I asked what's wrong with you. - What's wrong with... ..? - Moanin' and actin' all depressed and all that. - Oh!"

Once again, Swindler's entire body stiffens. For a few seconds, she stares at Brawler with wide eyes and gritted teeth. Oh, so something has to be wrong, then.

"- Well y-you see... It's a personal thing! - A personal thing? - Yep! - And?"

Why's she acting all disabused now? It seems that she expected this to be a satisfying enough answer.

"- That's... all it is!"

She laughs nervously. She's obviously hiding something! Guess it's my job to uncover what, eh?

With new found determination, Brawler throws himself to the ground – which is, in his own way of doing things, sitting next to her. She swallows her spit somewhat loudly, but he doesn't notice.

"- Hmmm... Oh! I know what it is! It can only be that. - H... Eh? - Right... Young ladies can never catch a break, it's a damn shame. - Uuuuh... - Some hooligan come after you and bother you, didn't they? Let me have at them next time! - W-What? No!"

Forget about the fact that Brawler may very well be the hooligan bothering her, which he is very clearly not aware of.

"- Huh? Really? - R-Really! I, I appreciate your concern, Mr. Brawler, but... - Oh? Is it something different then? - Uuuh— - Did some bastard break your heart then? Some shit like that? - What?! Again, no, that's not what it is!

She looks annoyed. Well, that's how it is with ladies sometimes, isn't it? Expecting you to know what's wrong and all that. Brawler wants to see his mission through, and trying his hardest to figure out what it is, tilts his head to stare at her some more.

"- Hmm... - Mr. Brawler, like I said... - Hmmmm... - It's something personal, so please... - Hmmmmmm... - P-Please... Haha..."

She laughs nervously again, almost as though a hardened criminal with a body of steel is intensely staring at her.

"- OH! - Ngh..!"

When he exclaims much too loudly, with the air of someone who found the answer on his third attempt, she jumps in the air, hurting her butt on the way down against the pavement.

"- That time of the month, isn't it? - W-What?! No..!"

...But her face becomes entirely red. Confused by her reaction, Brawler tilts his head even further, when a third voice startles them both.

"- Aaaah, amazing..!"

Both "fighter" and "impostor" turn their head in perfect sync, but when they lay eyes upon an overly excited looking Cutthroat, Swindler's reaction is the strongest.

"- Ghh... Ghk..." With the face of an angel, the serial killer – coming from God knows where – walks up to the both of them, without ever taking his eyes off the young woman. Before he can get too close, however, she suddenly stands up, and taking a few steps backwards, she stutters incoherently before yelling:

"- Why... Why do you guys have to be so gross?!"

Redder even than before, she glances at the two men before spinning on the tip of her foot and running away.

Brawler stays perfectly in place, having, in fact, not moved a centimetre, whereas the Cutthroat goes after her, moaning:

"- Aaaaw, Swindler, why are you running?"

Brawler's eyes follow him – although Swindler is nowhere to be seen, he runs faster and faster in one direction, as if knowing exactly where she's going.

"- You're so pretty, Swindler~"

What a creep. Brawler wonders if he could get away with kicking this guy's ass. Cutthroat is the kind of person who would put up an interesting fight, isn't he? All worth it to him—

"- Wait, why am I gross too? - Hmm? What're you talking about, bro? - Oh, bro!"

It would appear that the rest of the gang is finally waking up. Hoodlum comes out of the shed they squatted for the night, followed by Doctor and Hacker, each walking in their own directions. The latter yawns loudly.

I don't want to smell his stinky breath from here.

"- Where did those two run to?" his bro asks. "- Hmm..."

It's still early in the morning, but the sun is already hanging proudly at the top of the sky. Concerned with Swindler's attitude, Brawler didn't get to enjoy the sunrise – not that he wouldn't have gotten bored after a couple of seconds watching.

"- Oh, I think Swindler's just on her period, which is why she... ran... and, uh..."

...No, something about that doesn't make sense. Why'd she run?

"- Eh? - Hang on, why'd she run? - W-Wait, bro, how do you know she's, uhm... you know? - Hm? Ah, I'm the one who pointed it out. - A-A-And Cutthroat started running after her? - Yeah. - ..."

That's certainly vexing. Brawler can't quite point out why his bro's making that face. Is there something he's missing? They might as well just tell him. It's not fair otherwise.

"- What're you making a fuss about, bro? Girls always get those. - That's, that's not what I'm worried about, b-bro. - Then what? - H-Hang on..." His bro always puts on these nervous faces, and what for? He's got a serious problem of not realising his own abilities. For someone who boasts about them so proudly, it's ironic. He stands up, and stares at Brawler for a few seconds, before adding:

"- I'll, I'll be back in a sec. - Huh? Uh, okay."

On those words, he starts to run roughly in the direction Cutthroat ran earlier. Does he know where he's going..?

Meanwhile, someone steps closer to Brawler. The latter raises his head; standing in front of the sun with the black cat on his shoulder, Hacker's figure above him looks almost dramatic.

"- You guys are so gross. - Huh?!"

Hacker gave him an entire lesson about how not to let Cutthroat get too close to Swindler "for as long as we need her, at least." It was almost enough to depress Brawler.

Time has passed. Their weird cat boss gave the group directions to move to another location, and Swindler, Cutthroat and Hoodlum must have joined them back at some point, somehow.

Weren't you supposed to tell me about something earlier, bro..? Walking out of their new – or future – shelter, the huge fighter looks all around him. Perhaps is he looking for something, or someone...

Hiding something underneath his jacket, he runs in multiple directions one after the other, staring everywhere intensely. He'd be tempted to take the damn thing off entirely – he had a blast destroying a bunch of police robots earlier this hour, and despite the cold weather, the sun in the middle of the sky feels like it's trying to melt his body. Yet he is still on a mission, and continues to look for his target with unwavering concentration.

When finally he sees her, curled up in an empty street corner, he can't help but exclaim joyfully.

"- Haha!"

She hears him, but doesn't react other than by sighing.

Heh, that's better than shooing me away. Brawler walks up to her to, again, sit right next to her.

"- What do you... - Here ya go!"

He takes the mystery item out from underneath his jacket to set it promptly on the lady's lap.

"- W-What... - I dunno if that'll help much, dealing with uh, hygiene on missions and all that."

None of it means anything to him, but Hacker's rant about blood and all made him worry somewhat. He continues:

"- But I heard these things have magical properties for you guys. I bet it's a load of bull, but they're full of sugar and you're gonna need it!"

Though he looks proud of himself, Brawler pays close attention to Swindler's reaction. She blinks rapidly, taking the box in her hands.

"- Oh, Mr. Brawler..."

Blushing heavily again, she is staring at an unopened box of luxury chocolates. The type you'd gift to your wife-to-be, if said woman were the heiress to some bullshit European De-summat family.

"- Grabbed them off the shelf of that store after the fight earlier. Couldn't get caught – I destroyed all them robots, hahaha! - That's... actually very thoughtful, Mr. Brawler. - Oh! Cool! ...Really?"

She has been avoidant all morning long. Hopefully that sicko didn't give her too much of a hard time... But she finally smiles.

"- Thank you."

How cute... But Brawler isn't exactly sensitive to that.

"- Cool!" he exclaims.