#i am doing what CDPR didn't

[elvenbeard]

2077, November

"Heeey... All good? What're you doing out here, so early?"

"Couldn't sleep... Wanted to watch the sun rise."

"Well, here I am!"

2077 was a hell of a year. It left its marks, mental and physical, trauma and scars alike, memories and lack thereof. A year ago Vince was working at Arasaka, desperate to stay in the corporate world despite it slowly destroying him from the inside out. A year later Arasaka is only a shadow of it former self - and in a way Vince felt like a shadow, too.

Six months had been Alt's prognosis, at most... then he'd die. For good this time. Vince knew the drill. But he also knew he would try everything in his power, utilize all means possible and necessary... Because yes, 2077 had been one hell of a year, of loss, despair, betrayal and pain... But also of hope, trust, friendship and love, and connections, however unlikely they may have seemed.

The road ahead is still long, and it will be far from easy. But he is at peace knowing he won't be walking it alone.

Vince through the years (9/9)

Aaand the series is complete! ;A; Ending it on a somewhat bittersweet note with a few of more pictures this time cause look at them looking at each other ;___;

Vince has always been a deeply lonely person trying to find his place and purpose - as you'll surely have gathered reading along this far. By 2077 he finally finds his people, real friends in the most unlikely places, that he cares about and that care about him. And after how badly his previous relationship with his Arasaka-coworker Shou ended, he wouldn't have expected to get another shot at love, too. I definitely feel like he found a soulmate in Kerry, very scared in the beginning that his feelings for him were only brought on because of Johnny, and should he get rid of Johnny he'd also lose the connection to Kerry. He didn't though, thankfully. Vice versa, Kerry found someone who really understands his loneliness and struggles and takes them seriously. They really match very well on many levels and bring out the best in the other (on most days at least :P), something I neither planned for nor expected, and probably why I'm so obsessed with them at the moment XD They really are each other's sun, driving away shadows and doubts, a light in the darkness.

But yeah, Vince has a lot to lose really, and together with Kerry and everyone else they try and find a way to solve the Relic-problem so now that he found his place and people he can stay with them, live the balance of quiet and exciting life he deserves and always wished for.

The scars I gave him here (and damn, it hurt me to make them 😭) are not 100% canon yet... I'm gonna explore and explain what they are and how he got them in my post-ending fic soon-ish.

But yeah... V gets his happily ever after with his loved ones, in one way or another, and CDPR can take my headcanons from my cold dead hands xDD No but really, I get it. In a world like Cyberpunk there's no such thing as a sunshine-and-rainbows happy ending with world peace and all... and even mine is gonna come at a certain cost. But if anyone, V deserves some peace and love after that shitshow :D

That being said:

Before and after! The scars are drawn on, and I used the relief layer effect in Photohsop to give them some dimension. Was really a matter of playing around with colors and layer modes to make them somewhat convincing looking, but I'm really liking the result a lot!

Once again it gets me how different Vince looks without his iconic hair and makeup 😭 Believe me, he had a really really hard time when he was told "we gotta shave your head for this procedure" cause throughout his life his hair has been a really important part of his self-expression. From dyeing it blond as a teen to rebel against his parents, to going completely wild afterwards, conforming to Arasaka, then slowly finding himself again... With everything gone he felt like yet another part of him was gone and yeah... wasn't a good time, that time in late 2077.

If you've read along all the way: thanks so much!! I hope you enjoyed this series as much as I enjoyed creating it and sharing a bit more about Vince's background and how he became who he is. When I'm done writing my post-ending fic I might go back to writing and sharing his background story fic, detailing everything from this series a bit more, and you'll get to know some of the people I only mentioned in passing (his mother, his first real boyfriend, his coworkers, etc.) a bit better, too.

So... Thanks for sticking around!! :D

#cyberpunk 2077 #cyberpunk vp #cp2077 vp #cyberpunk 2077 vp #virtual photography #cyberpunk v #cyberpunk kerry #male v cyberpunk #male v #kerry eurodyne #kerry eurodyne x v #cyberpunk 2077 spoilers #otp: to bad decisions #vincent ezaki #shippy saturday #vince through the years #my vp #so sad and happy at the same time that it's finished 😭😭😭 #sad on the one hand bc I had a lot of fun with the format #happy that I finished a little project and can now get a new one started :3 #I'll make an overview post with links to every part of this once again I think just because #but yeah: if you've read along from the start thanks so much <3

[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

#oc: viridian #jackie welles #asks #anon #bunny writes stuff #otp: to this #cyberpunk 2077 #cyberpunk #cp2077 #corpo v #cyberpunk photomode #fem v #cyberpunk oc #jackie x female v #jackie x v #uuuh idk how else to tag this lol

[windflowerofskellige]

On the list of unhinged rants I have about Radovid the Fifth of Redania I will begin with why I don't think he's actually insane and the argument that he is along with the madness plotline in the Witcher 3 is actually playing into demonising people who experience psychosis and not an actual conscious choice to make a character actively going through a psychotic break.

First we need to establish that Radovid is seventeen in the Witcher 3. He's born in 1255, he's been abused by Philippa Eilhart most of his life. That's canon. I WILL pull up the flavour text book screenshots from the Witcher 3 if you ask.

Now, I am not saying severe PTSD cannot trigger psychotic episodes, but I don't think that's what Radovid is experiencing. He's a severely abused child in a position of power who likely killed his mother to get that (as Hedwig was the Queen and who got control when Vizimir passed.) This sparking the Philippa fled conversation in the Witcher 2 torture scene (remember he's 16 there.) Radovid says "you fled so fast I didn't have time to give you a proper goodbye." He knows she killed his father. How? Likely the Redanian Intelligence network which is larger and better than the Nilfgaardian intelligence sector, nothing to scoff at. We came to this conclusion based on the reasoning Dijkstra flees Redania and runs off to zerrikania and gets himself an elf boyfriend.

Radovid is completely grounded to reality in these moments. He knows what he's doing to Philippa he knows why, he does not seem to be hallucinating, he's strategizing, he's acting logically, his speech is not slurred, it is coherent in a normal cadence and speed, he's fine.

No the Witcher 3 madness plotline is likely there to play into stereotypes about psychosis and to make you more sympathetic to killing Radovid should you choose to go through Reasons of State (though I don't know why you would the only person acting in character in that questline is Philippa who absolutely would kill the child she abused for gouging her eyes out because you know, that's normal and healthy). From a narrative purpose it has a function, it's just a bad function.

Radovid's portrayal, especially in the Witcher 3, by CDPR seems to narratively be used to push you towards the Empress Ciri ending should you choose to sell her to Emhyr (again, don't know why you would but okay.) It is done to make Philippa more sympathetic and to make everything about Radovid less icky. If he is not an abused teenager, it's not as uncomfortable to kill him, and it makes going for the Empress Ciri ending more palatable. I have. Feelings about this and I could elaborate but it's midnight so I will not.

#meda rambles #radovid #witcher meta

[deadletterpoets]

Hey, how you don't mind anonymous asks! What are your thoughts on the new dlc for cyberpunk?

I loved the game but I didn't get too far in, but seeing the trailer it looks really cool. What did they change and what do you like about it?

Hey!

First off I absolutely love anonymous asks, I wish ppl would send me them more often cause I have lots of thoughts on stuff but no idea if anyone cares.

But to your main question, I haven't gotten to far into the DLC itself so I still have much to experience, but I'll try to give a quick rundown of what I understand to have changed/been added with Phantom Liberty and with patch 2.0. This will get long so I put it under the jump to not annoy my followers that don't care.

So let me just start by linking you to the patch 2.0 notes. There's definitely a lot there, more than I'm gonna get across here, so if you have the time check it out. I'm just gonna hit the highlights that I've noticed.

For the patch the biggest thing I've noticed is the big thing they kinda want you to notice and that's the new progression/perk system. Lvling up is a lot faster now (and if you have Phantom Liberty the lvl cap has increased from 50 to 60) and the perks have completely. At first glance I wasn't sure I was a fan of it, but having played through it now the changes to perks is great. It truly makes V feel more dynamic in combat with new skills and makes the builds for V (if you're into that) feel more powerful than before. At the same time the enemies have also gotten their AI revamped and they use more grenades and netrunning skills now. It makes combat overall just more fun and rewarding. The loot is more meaningful as well as they don't just drop things for the sake of dropping something.

Speaking of loot though armor is no longer tied to clothes, but to cyberware. Which is smart cause honestly I didn't care about cyberware at all before 2.0 and now I'm all about it. Plus cyberware has this "attuned" feature where it can help boost your attribute stats as well so cyberware can not only help armor, but the attribute if you attune it well. And there's perks to make your cyberware even more powerful. Still no cyberpsychosis, but they have a fury mode which is apparently like cyberpsychosis lite lol

Anyway there's way more with 2.0, but you were asking about Phantom Liberty. Like I said I am a bit into Phantom Liberty so I haven't experienced a ton yet, mostly just the main story. As far as I can tell though PL doesn't bring too many changes, the changes are mostly in the 2.0 patch. PL brings more additions to the game.

Within minutes of getting to Dogtown I found many new weapons and clothes just to start and I believe there's new cars and cyberware as well. They promoted it all as 100+ new items so there's plenty new to see for sure.

I know there's some new gigs, I forget how many. There's also a new ongoing endless type mission called an "airdrop mission" where basically some supply drop happens and then you rush to the supply drop, kill some ppl, and get the supply drop which will have unique and powerful stuff (weapons or cyberware it seems).

That's about all I can really think off the top of my head, there's plenty of youtube and articles that go more in depth than I have. In terms of what I like about it again barely scratching the surface of the story so far, but the main story is meant to be a take on spy thriller type stories and they are absolutely nailing that vibe for sure. I have fought one boss so far and while the boss style itself isn't unique to video games, it is unique to Cyberpunk 2077 and it was a ton of fun to fight.

I know many ppl still don't trust CDPR to do Cyberpunk 2077 justice, and it still isn't what we initially promised in many ways, but at this point it is a better game than when it launched so I applaud CDPR for not just taking the money and running (as some companies do). Hopefully the sequel can build better for a launch a game like this deserves and bring in some of the ideas and ambitions they have for this world.

For now though? If you like open world action RPG games, I can't recommend Cyberpunk 2077 enough.

#cyberpunk 2077 #cyberpunk 2077 phantom liberty #phantom liberty #seriously ppl send my asks whether anon or not #i love answering stuff

[bookcalanthedaily]

The real world is full of couples with age differences who live happily. The toxicity of relationship does not depend on age and numbers. But it's easier for you to pigeonhole simply because of the numbers... Numbers are much more important than relationships between people, right?

You seriously call girl who has been through so much child? Ciri is not like naive and weak-willed Pavetta. Ciri knows how to make decisions and take responsibility for them. She made the decision to destroy the White Frost, decision that even Geralt respects and accepts.It is unlikely that after all she has experienced, she will allow assholes to offend her. So what kind of imbalance of forces can there be? Stop thinking Ciri is naive fool, so you only humiliate her and drain her character development in The Witcher 3 into the toilet.

Do you work with Ciri's injuries yourself? It seems that there is not. Because Ciri only runs away from his moral problems and makes decisions that contradict the canon (murder of Emhyr and suddenly becoming an empire destroyer when she dreamed of an ordinary and quiet life).

I'm not defending Ciri and Auberon ship. It's just stupid to deny the fact that Oberon did not cause Ciri physical harm and tried to be careful. And not like Kayleigh and Mistle jerk who was guided only by his own desires.

It's not as much about age/numbers, as it is stages in life. A fully grown adult (25+) has NO INTEREST in engaging into a romantic or, worse yet, sexual relationship with a teenager/young adult (<25). It's a different mentality, different stage of life, even the brains are different. A young adult is much more prone to being manipulated or falling victim of power imbalance in such a relationship. I am not saying that EVERY age gap relationship EVER is going to fail. At some point, when both parties are fully aware, fully informed, consenting adults (25 year old and 35 year old or what have you) these relationships can and most often are healthy.

And no, it doesn't matter how much trauma Ciri had been through. She's a CHILD. A child who's been traumatized, abused, been through terrible horrors, is still just that - a child. Trauma didn't make Ciri's brain and body suddenly develop faster.

"You drain her character development in Witcher 3 into the tolilet" Yes, I do, because I don't believe she's the same Cir she was in the books, even if we factor in maturing for these idk 4-5 years. CDPR uwufied and wifu-ied Ciri. And I do not agree with their portrayal of Ciri as a natural growth from the character she was in the books. And I follow THE BOOKS first and foremost. This blog is called BOOKcalanthedaily.

Do you work with Ciri's injuries yourself? It seems that there is not.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 - just the first few posts I made that touch upon Ciri's trauma. Should I keep going?

"(murder of Emhyr and suddenly becoming an empire destroyer when she dreamed of an ordinary and quiet life)."

Ciri dreams, first and foremost, of greater good. She wants to help people, which is precisely why she becomes a witcher. In the end of the books she decides not to kill emhyr, but she doens't know who he is. She doesn't know he's her father, what he planned to do to her, what he did to her mother, and i believe that if she did had this knowledge, her opinion would change.

Ciri doesn't want an ordinary and quiet life. Never did. She wants to STOP RUNING. She wants to have a place to call home.

It's just stupid to deny the fact that Oberon did not cause Ciri physical harm and tried to be careful.

Literally 2 posts ago or so I talked about how Auberon was, too, a pawn in Avallac'h's/Eredin's game. It doesn't matter if he tried to be careful with her. She was SIXTEEN AND HIS GRANDDAUGHTER. Get a hold of yourself, please.

[ryssabrin]

finally (90 hours!) finished cyberpunk. man idk what the game was like at launch but boy is it still real buggy. i've never played a game that crashed as often. seemed to consistently happen most often while driving around the map between regions. autosaves frequently enough to not be game breaking but annoying.

i did peek at the endings ahead of time to get the one i wanted lol so i did the sun ending bc i knew the star has you break up with river. i am of course curious how the other endings play out but not sure if i want to just go ahead and play them with this v or maybe roll a male v and romance panam. i focused primarily on intelligence, quickhacking and stealth so it could be fun to try out a beefier melee/weapons focused build as well. it was super fun albeit pretty cheesed to be able to just one shot a whole group of enemies with contagion. made the tedious police scanner thingies go much quicker.

i didn't know you could save takemura tho so i'd have to at least go back far enough to redo that to get the devil ending. wouldn't mind doing that with this v and playing through the river romance again tho. for the character with what feels like the shortest questline (and honestly his romance seems a bit tacked on? given the alternate ways his questline can play out if you fail/give up), i'm surprised at how much i really liked it! the dynamic of badass merc v falling for the sweet reliable guy who just makes her feel safe got me man. and i know i joked about it but i kinda like that she doesn't tell him about the relic. makes that last goodbye call so fucking sad i died. surprised i don't see his romance getting more attention it seems very underrated.

also damn they nailed the weird johnny and v dynamic. i was much more invested in that than i thought i'd be. even got choked up a couple times which i was def not expecting. seems like cdpr was so committed to the first person pov just for the effect of the pov switch when you're in cyberspace lol. really liked keanu's performance as well.

and i spent way too much time on the fashions. the wardrobe feature is so dangerous lmao. i was basically playing create a sim and bemoaning every npc i saw wearing something that isn't available for v.

#madelyn rambles #total time spent i don't think river's questline is actually shorter #but you just get one big quest instead of five littler ones spaced out #so it feels one and done even though that one is longer and more involved than any other character quest

[massacregirl]

I am not, by my nature, a jealous or insecure person. I don't intend that as a flex - I know it's a pretty common thing to struggle with in relationships, which is partly why I decided to really expand on the hints of insecure attachment that CDPR put in Judy's emails. Didn't know about those til my friend pointed them out - I was too polite to read the made up character's emails, and would potentially (were I my V), have ended up blindsided by Judy's jealous streak.

Did my utmost not to make insecure attachment into a joke, or something quirky to be fetishised. The aim all along was to portray how difficult and uncomfortable it was to have an insecure attachment style, and I definitely couldn't have done it without the support of my friends and editors - this is my best writing advice; you may be a good writer, but the people who you talk to about writing will help you become a more complete writer.

If this is your first time seeing this, hi, I'm writing a long-running Cyberpunk 2077 fanfic that I update weekly, the premise is like "what if V was a member of Maelstrom".

Be advised that I do try to stay faithful to the tone of the source material and that does mean dealing with some extremely heavy topics now and then - please read the tags and feel free to suggest any I should add. Graphic violence and sexually explicit content abound.

#I got nothing to say about the chrome kink though that's all on me #Ao3 #ao3 author #ao3 fic #ao3 fanfic #cp2077 #cyberpunk 2077 #Cyberpunk #wlw fanfic #Fanfic #Read on ao3 #ao3 writer

[inber]

Here's how (in my opinion) TWN could have easily a) kept Eskel's character truer to the books, b) still kept his appearance to one/two episodes, and c) retained their whole 'mutated monsters' plot point.

Rant under cut.

I was not expecting a CDPR version of Eskel; I wasn't expecting a goat, nor a lot of screen time. I was expecting him to die. I was expecting him to be a minor character because that's what he is in the books.

But what makes him so endearing (even as a minor character) is his steadiness and his respect for others. Especially women; even women he might mistrust.

First off: they shouldn't have cast Basil Eidenbenz.

I don't say this because Basil is a poor actor! It's just incredibly hard to believe that Eskel and Geralt could be passed off as siblings, or that Lambert is the youngest witcher. That's not Basil's fault; that's poor casting.

From 'Blood of Elves':

Eskel stood next to Geralt, resembling the Wolf like a brother apart from the colour of his hair and the long scar which disfigured his cheek. And the youngest of the Kaer Morhen witchers, Lambert, was there with his usual ugly, mocking expression.

Secondly, Eskel is polite and kind in the books:

It was Eskel's behaviour which was most unlikely; he got up, approached the enchantress, bent down low, took her hand and kissed it respectfully. She swiftly withdrew her hand. Not so as to demonstrate her anger and annoyance but to break the pleasant, piercing vibration triggered by the witcher's touch. Eskel emanated powerfully. More powerfully than Geralt. "Triss," he said, rubbing the hideous scar on his cheek with embarrassment, "help us. We ask you. Help us, Triss."

(This is when the witchers don't understand some of Ciri's 'odd' behaviours, some of which are due to her chaos, but some of which are due to puberty and her period.)

After Triss gives the witchers a right bollocking for being so stupid about not understanding the needs of a young woman, this is how Eskel reacts:

"I cannot train today," she recited in the utter silence, slowly and emphatically, "for I am... I am..." She looked at the enchantress. Triss winked at her, smirking like a rascal well pleased with his mischief, and moved her lips to prompt the memorised lines. "Indisposed!" ended Ciri loudly and proudly, turning her nose up almost to the ceiling.

Vesemir hawked again. But Eskel, dear Eskel, kept his head and once more behaved as was fitting. "Of course," he said casually, smiling. "We understand and clearly we will postpone your exercises until your indisposition has passed. We will also cut the theory short and, if you feel unwell, we will put it aside for the time being, too. If you need any medication or-"

"I'll take care of that," Triss cut in just as casually.

And another example of Eskel's respectfulness, when Lambert is being a right shit:

"And how," muttered Lambert, brazenly eyeing Triss's breasts which strained against the fabric of her dress. Eskel cleared his throat and looked daggers at the young witcher.

Can you imagine if they'd cast an older person who was there to slap Lambert upside the head? Who apologised to Ciri and told her they'd do better? Who was there to balance out Coën and Lambert's laddishness?

So, how could they retain their storyline with a more book-based Eskel?

Geralt and Eskel are out with Ciri - perhaps training, perhaps hunting game/meat. Drawn to Ciri, a monster attacks (Eskel's leshy). A fight ensues in which Eskel is killed due to an underestimation of the mutated/different monster's strength.

Geralt has a proper chance to say goodbye to Eskel - the man he trained with, grew up with. Eskel dies a minor character - but one that we could have liked. From there, they then pursue the question of 'what is this new breed of monster', because it shouldn't have gotten the better of Eskel.

I'm not disappointed because I felt they owed us anything from fanon. They didn't owe us more episodes or lines. I'm disappointed because the plot they chose for a fan favourite was ridiculous, and it did not have to be.

Not only was Eskel's death absurd in S2, Geralt's reaction to it was far too casual. The reminiscing scene in the next episode felt disingenuous because we'd witnessed such a nonsensical display in the episode before, and because of the stark age difference between the two men. It grated.

They knew we cared about Eskel. Why did he get his own big entrance and close-up hug with Geralt if they didn't know?

But TWN dismissed so much of the 'Blood of Elves' material - even though it's a good story.

I guess I'm just thankful we have fandom ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#twn s2 critique #twn s2 spoilers #twn spoilers #the witcher season 2 #Eskel #this isn't the only part that disappointed me #rant

[revoevokukil]

Do you prefer book or game ava?I think the ava of the book didn't like the ciri what do you think?what would be the differences between the character of the book and the game?

Book Avallac’h eats The Witcher 3’s rendition of himself for breakfast. There is no competition.

Tongue-in-cheek aside, I prefer & prioritise book characterisations, motivations & plot points always; including with Ciri & Avallac’h. I think the two media can be bridged without flying OOC, but nothing puts me off a character more than whitewashing, and I see plenty of it with both of them (e.g. TW3 skims over Ciri’s darker aspects & trauma). At the end of the day, Avallac'h is “sweet” in a manner consuming cyanide from chewing on cherry pits is. Ciri, meanwhile, is not a self-sacrificing, selfless Chosen One reluctantly learning to bear the weight of the world.

TW3 gets a few things fundamentally backwards. I liked Ciri at her worst (because I like characters with poisoned hearts in general) but I can see how anyone would not like Ciri in the books. Including and especially Avallac’h. She is a bratty little monster, who flies in the face of everything he has ever wanted, invites out the very worst of him to resolve emotional hang-ups on her (which Ciri has no guilt in), tears open his wounds with her very existence, and yet he cannot deny that he needs her existence like air. For time-and-space conquering & personal reasons. I don’t like forgetting about the former, nor this:

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.”

I am grateful to TW3 for paving the way into that relationship, but the meat of why I am fascinated comes from the source material. In which Avallac’h & Aen Elle are not Ciri’s friends.

Crevan amuses me more in the Saga as well. CDPR got his height wrong, & how could I possibly forgive them, but more critically TW3 all but eliminated his vanity, verbosity, entitlement, sense of humour, lightness with grave matters, passionate “devils hiding in still waters” emotional nature, and danger.

One of my favourite moments at Tir na Lia is when Avallac’h grandly tosses his dusty riding gloves at a human servant, the dirt from his clothes settling on a priceless looking glass; AFTER having chastised Ciri for her lack of manners & fits of anger with the looking glasses (which don’t matter much anyway he glibly allows in the end; and they really don’t, not in the face of what they expect to get from Ciri).

‘Avallac’h, quite the opposite, wasn’t at all concerned. He brushed his breeches and boots with a glove, ignoring the fact that the dust was settling on a looking glass. Then he tossed his gloves grandly to the grey elf-woman bowing before him.’

It’s a simple, elegant way of demonstrating several traits:

Theatricality

Egocentrism

Comfort with power & station – above others

Hypocrisy: one rule for us, another rule for dear Ciri

Irreverence: for material, earthly matters; for authority; for custom; for expectations

Another great scene is of him blowing a kiss to & blowing off the pistachio-lipped elf woman by the riverside before quipping by way of explanation to Ciri only: ‘If you could, refrain from comment.’ Now please imagine TW3’s stern, deadpan exposition-Avallac’h in these scenes.

It is true Avallac’h has a good deal of tragedy to his background, and perhaps TW3 makes it easier for people to consider it, but I don’t like reducing him to these aspects & crocodile tears. Because written as he is in the Saga, he bears his drama with Fate with a “fuck-you” contempt & I can respect that.

(PS! Polish voice actor kills it!)

#asks #the witcher #the witcher 3 #ciri #avallac'h #aen elle #the witcher meta #fandom #cirillac'h #characterisations #& polish VA is <3 #cirillach

[fereldanwench]

I was a bit of a latecomer to Cyberpunk 2077--I didn't pick up the game until this July, and I didn't really get active in the fandom until August--But in just those few months, this game and community have brought me so much joy, creativity, and inspiration. Even if it's not been a full year for me, I'm feeling the good vibes today and just wanted to get some thoughts out. 💖 (And share some more Goro x Valerie screenshots because we've all come so far.)

The past two years have had their obvious challenges, but even prior to the pandemic, I had been languishing. I was stuck in an unfulfilling job, I was finding it hard to do anything creative, especially writing or drawing, and my social anxiety had gotten really bad. I was inclined to a lot of mistrust and defensiveness after a few shitty experiences, and I became kind of withdrawn and isolated, even in spaces that I used to really enjoy.

When I did get Cyberpunk, it was a big treat to myself: I had quit my job of almost 10 years back in April, and in late June, I started what I thought would be my new long-term gig. I celebrated that Friday by creating my corpo V, and I almost immediately fell in love with the world and the characters. I actually finished The Heist the morning I was supposed to go to a family event, and I remember having the hardest time pulling myself out of the sad feels I had for Jackie, even just after a few hours in the game.

I'm no stranger to getting really immersed and emotionally invested in a video game, but something about Cyberpunk just hit differently. There was a bit of serendipity at play--I very easily related with the corpo!V prologue, especially after my own professional experiences of the past year--But I think I would have vibed no matter when I picked it up. I've actually found myself connecting with it so deeply that's made me realize I've outgrown a lot of my previous favorites. It has me reevaluating not just what kind of stories and characters are important to me, but what kind of relationships and goals are important to me in real life, too.

And it probably goes without saying that Goro has been the biggest influence on me since I started playing. Obviously, I find him obscenely attractive, but that really is just only part of the appeal: he's just this perfect blend of sympathetic, frustrating, tragic, kind, blunt, sincere, smart, and hilarious that is just so compelling to me on so many levels. Goro, Valerie, and their understated but very, very real chemistry got me writing more in 3 months than I had previously written in 3 years.

This has also been one of the most positive fandom experiences I've had in a long time. Not to say that everything is always sunshine and rainbows, but the breadth of creativity, from writing to art to screenshots, and support I see for each other's OCs is unparalleled to any fandom I've ever been in. Plus, y'all are fucking hilarious. The meme game is top-notch.

And a big shout out to all the lovely folks I've met specifically through a shared love for Goro: you all are so lovely and talented and thirsty and I am so grateful to get to fangirl with y'all. 😘

I feel like I could go on, but this is already pretty long and self-indulgent, and I want to get back to photomode, but tl;dr thank you, CDPR, and thank you, CP fandom. Happy anniversary, Cyberpunk!

#goro takemura #cyberpunk 2077 #c: goro takemura #oc: valerie v powell #ship: goro x valerie #g: cyberpunk 2077

[tafferling]

Thank you, Techland. Thank you, Dying Light.

With a side of Thanks, CDPR!

Alright. Hear me out (or don't, this'll be a ramble). I'm posting it during off-hours though, so I doubt it'll bother anyone.

*clears throat*

I've had three notable rough spots in my life. I'm talking under the filthy floorboards kind of rough, at the bottom of the ladder rough and the ladder is on fire rough.

Rough Spot Number Two was the worst of them, all things considered. When I say Kyle Crane saved my life back then? That's not hyperbole. That's me being literal.

To be fair, that's a bit of a story old as time for me; Taff in distress, fictional character to the rescue. He wasn't the only one either, but I digress.

It's also a story relevant to so many other people and my heart goes out to anyone else who needed to be pulled from the darkness by a movie, game, book, you name it. You're valid. Your experience is valid. You're worth so much.

Anyway.

I wrote Latchkey Hero back then, a story that helped me sift through my trauma boxes and fight my demons. And a story that I have missed ever since I'd finished it, with a yearning deep in my soul to return to Kyle and Zofia that I didn't know how to satisfy.

One thing I tried to wrap my head around was how to turn it into an original novel, but nothing ever quite fit.

Then I played Cyberpunk 2077 and it clicked. I mean it clicked SO HARD, it took me an hour and I had hammered out a concept for how I could reboot Latchkey Hero in a Cyberpunk-lite setting situated right in my own world that I'd built since I was a kid.

Aphelion was born.

I'm never going to pretend Aphelion is anything else than a reboot of a Dying Light Fan Fic. And I am never going to pretend Varrett isn't 80% Kyle as I've written him in Latchkey Hero.

Because that is what I need.

I needed a story where a group of people is faced with unimaginable hardship but doesn't give up, and Varrett (just like Kyle) gave me that. Live or die trying; it's one of his (and by extension Aphelion's) taglines, it's the foundation on which the story is built.

But~ even as Aphelion took shape, Bad Times Number Three came. It wasn't just one thing, but a perfect storm that left me battered and grieving. That, ultimately, led me to almost dropping Aphelion right then, convincing me that I was undeserving (of Kyle, of Varrett) and that my integrity was compromised.

Yesterday, I was one more bad night's sleep away from putting the pen down.

I spent that bad night's sleep watching the Game Awards. And I caught the Dying Light 2 CGI trailer.

Now I sit here writing this because of a line painted on a fictional wall in a game that isn't even released yet and that I know very little about because I don't like getting swept up by the hype.

Now I sit here telling the void that Techland did it again. That, unintentionally, they've put the wind back into my sails.

And I'm grateful for that.

Because I need this story. I need it because I need to pay my respects and thank Kyle for what he's done for me. And giving him a second lease on life in my heart is the least I can do.

#Dying Light #Taff Rambles #Kyle Crane #Varrett Vild Vickers #Aphelion

[bonestructureandcontempt]

40+ hours into Cyberpunk 2077, I've been thinking a lot on the "is this game transphobic?" discourse. I enjoy the game a lot. It's the perfect game for me in a lot of ways. And I would say it has possibly one of the best examples of a transwoman in a AAA videogame ever. But unfortunately, it has some jarring limitations on player agency and roleplay opportunities. Limitations that are directly tied to your player character's gender. Limitations that I think shouldn't be there and wouldn't be there if the developers put a little more thought into character creation.

I realize I am a couple years late to the party with this take but man, tying your character's pronouns to what their voice sounds like is a really dumb idea. Especially when we live in a world where the Saints Row games exist and found a way to sidestep this issue. Why CDPR couldn't just copy them is beyond me.

I'm a cis man, so take my opinions with a grain of salt (or don't listen to them at all), but I feel like there's three ways to alleviate this issue:

Write and record in-game dialogue to include every combination of pronouns. Voice tone, body parts, and pronouns are all their own slider that don't affect each other. Possibly more labor intensive, but guarantees more freedom in character creation to players.

Pull an Animal Crossing. Don't even bother having NPCs acknowledge the player character's geneder. Every player character is they/them. Not a perfect solution, may prove alienating to some.

Have I mentioned just straight up copying how Saints Rows does character creation? It's pretty great. Voice, clothing, and appearance isn't locked to gender in ANY WAY. Doesn't allow for pronouns other than he/him or she/her, but still pretty inclusive.

Still, despite the botched character creation, I can't write Cyberpunk off completely because Claire Russell exists. Think back to Krem Aclassi in Dragon Age: Inquisition. Many would say that he is good trans representation. Many would also say it is slightly undercut by the fact that you, the player, find out he is a trans man by asking an insensitive question about his transition. Krem is voiced by Jennifer Hale, a cis woman.

And then in Cyberpunk there's Claire Russell. You can find out she's a trans woman in two ways. The first is you can read her bio in the pause menu. The second is she will mention her transition while explaining her backstory about wanting to avenge her husband who tragically died in a street racing accident. This is shared of her own volition with no opportunity for the player to treat her any differently because she is trans whatsoever. You may only choose whether or not you wish to complete her questline. Claire is voiced by Maddie Taylor, a trans woman.

I love Claire, she's a great character. It would be disingenuous of me to say that the developers didn't put care into creating and writing her. It is nice to imagine that even in a future as dystopic as 2077's, gender affirming care happens and isn't questioned or commented on. But then again, as Stacey Henley pointed out, Claire stands out because she is the only known trans person in Night City period. The rest of the city exists squarely on the gender binary and assumes you do as well no matter how you make your character.

This isn't me "canceling" Cyberpunk or telling you not to play it if you're interested in it. As stated before, I love playing the game. This is what we call "good faith criticism." I think games like this can and should be improved upon to better represent the real world and the real people who play it.

I'd be lying if I said all this didn't spring to mind in the wake of another action RPG coming out this year set in the universe created by perhaps the most well-known transphobe in the world today.

#txtpo #Cyberpunk 2077

[heartoferebor]

Hi there! So… I have only ever seen the Netflix Witcher, haven’t played any games or read any books. But I’m interested now in seeing some of the other content. I know you’re a big fan and I love seeing what you blog about in that fandom. Any recommendations on a place to start? In your opinion? :) Thank you!!

Ahhhhh that's so sweet, I'm glad you're enjoying what you're seeing on my blog! :D And welcome to the fold - that's how I got into the fandom, too, a whole year ago now, I watched TWN and then wanted more.

I jumped right in back then, read both the books and started playing Witcher 3 at the same time, so I can recommend both! You can play Witcher 3 without having played Witcher 1 & 2 (I don't have PC gaming hardware, so I just started with TW3, although I did watch the 'game movies' with the cutscenes from 1 and 2 on youtube. I'm now also playing Witcher 2 with a pretty wild setup lmao). Witcher 2 is quite fun, too, though, and I can recommend it for Iorveth's snarky elf ass already alone haha (also the Witcher 2 fandom is incrediby chill and awesome. We aren't many but we have fun!). Witcher 3 is a great way to get to know more about the world and characters and it's an incredibly fun game (even if I want to punch CDPR for how they handled and portrayed some things. Fun fact, you can make fantasy games without casual gamerbro misogyny! Sadly they didn't get that particular note)! I think my first playthrough was 160 hours (with both DLCs) because there's so much to do and see :).

I would also 100% give the books a try, but see if they are something you genuinely enjoy reading or not. They are not light or easy reading in many places (here is a list of common triggers in The Last Wish, for example) but in my opinion, they are definitely worth it - Sapkowski has the unique ability to make you go 'what the fuck bro' followed by 'oh this is SO insightful and such fantastic commentary on the nature of humanity' followed by 'DID YOU REALLY HAVE TO DO THAT MAN' followed by 'I would literally lay my life down for any of these characters and am ugly crying in my bed at 3am'.

Those are the main things to start with - if you then want more, there's the old Polish Hexer TV show and the Alzur's Legacy fanfilm (about Lambert), too! :)

Whichever you decide to go with, I hope you have fun! :D

#thank you for the ask!!! it made me smile so much this morning :) #reply #roamingbadger #I hope this was useful!!!!! :D

[sappho114]

what's your thoughts on cyberpunk 2077? I'll fully admit i didn't like the final product and felt like there was tons of missed opportunities, wasted characters and plot lines, and a bunch of stuff that were just not handled well. But i'm not here to just bash on the game, i want to hear your opinion on it

I know that it's popular to hate on for the reasons of "it was popular" and "it marketed by a transphobic social media team" (of which, the latter makes sense but it is NOT reflective of the product.) I tend to ignore people who are hyperbolic about that kinda stuff because a lot of them just ran out and bought Red Dead Redemption 2 or engage in media made by abusers and actual transphobes. The moral high ground politicking by those who hated CP2077 is actually hilariously ridiculous. Anyway, that's less about the game and more about how dumb some folks were being. More below about the game itself.

It is a janky game, it required at least two to three major patches for what's in game to be functional fully, and having to beat back their game to fit into the shitbox that is the PS4 and other consoles was not a task I envy. CDPR's higher leadership also are silly cunts and the crunch they faced up to release is not so good. Although in hindsight, with the Naughty Dog and Act-Blizz shit, at least the women weren't abused and they actually got paid and benefits for their overtime thanks to Polish labor law. God, America needs to unfuck itself so much.

That being said: I loved it. I felt it was a good representation of Pondsmith's Cyberpunk universe. I enjoyed almost all of the characters, loved the vibe, had fun just driving around Night City with the crowds, the ads, the radio. I've beaten it once and I have about 3 different save files half-way or more through completion.

I'm not one of those people who saw "wallrunning" in a trailer from 2018 and expected it to be in the game (and angry that it wasn't, even if they said it wasn't gonna be in it for literal years.) I think in the end its about as janky as Witcher 2 was, and considering it's a new IP that's not all that bad for eastern european developers. We've gotten a dozen or so jankier, shittier games from eastern europe since CP2077 released but because they didn't have a marketing budget, people don't really care. That's a whole thing we could spend a while on.

As someone who is chronically ill, poor, and wants more out of life I connected with V's story. I also hated Johnny at first because I know of that little shitbag from the TTRPG but over time he actually grew on me. I love the idea of the flashbacks to Arasaka tower being so different because it's how Johnny saw what he did, not necessarily the truthful representation. I dunno if that's like, canon, or whatnot, but it fits that blowhard so much that I choose to believe it fully. I hate that guy but he became a good friend.

I felt that all the performances were solid. T-Bug deserved more time on screen, though. Other than that I loved all the character side missions and felt they wrapped things nicely for almost all of them. At least until we get ourselves those expansion packs.

Oh, I lied. Judy Alvarez is perfect, and she needs 2000% more dialogue and stuff to do. I'd go visit my Night City Wife after every mission and she seldom had too much to say. More of that downtime conversation would've been awesome. I don't necessarily mean downtime activities - I actually hate Grand Theft Auto and Ubisoft time-wasting bullshit. It's why I liked CP2077's side content being tactical blast some baddies time for the most part. If I want to fucking play poker, I'd play fucking poker.

Any major issues I have with the game tend to stem from my issues with Cyberpunk 2020 and Cyberpunk RED as a whole. The narrative nihilism of the Cyberpunk universe is lame as hell. I'm a Shadowrun girl. There's always hope - even if the Horrors are making Lofwyr piss his dragaloons (that's dragon pantaloons) there's still space for a group of ne'er-do-wells to do some violence well. I also think that if you choose certain endings, you end up with a horribly optimistic turn on things! That left a good taste in my mouth. I wanna find this cure for neurological death that V's going through and I'm glad they explicitly said that it's a possibility.

tl;dr: not perfect but I love it and am waiting for more. Adored the story, characters, all that jazz.

#controversial #cyberpunk 2077 #long post #quarianrambles #i dont expect anyone to remotely agree with me #its almost a pathological resposne to hate this game even if you've never played it #as someone familiar with CP2020 it was a great adaptation of that material #I also hold no moral high ground over anyone who didn't like this game #a lot of it just felt Made For Me and I love it for that! #I regularly play jank and games and find I enjoy them so w/e

[gayregis]

(1) I didn't mean to trigger anyone with the sex question. and still I can't see how one's personal disgust for such a natural and beautiful (as we agreed) thing automatically justifies calling people names. and also, the fetish? I get it, but wasn't the point of said monologue more philosophical and less personal? people fetishize danger because it's the natural defense mechanism of the psyche. addiction is #1 problem for Regis, sure, but he was a serial killer. he is in no position to complain

(2) ofc we should keep in mind character's main problems, but is being sexualized really as important for regis as his addiction? or his socialization? you don't like him having sex because it's discomforting somehow, but he had relationships with the brothel maman and a succubus, and we should assume that it wasn't at all sexual? succubus has a primal need to feed on sex and she dealed with it with regis by drinking herbal tea and watching tv shows about how asexuality rules? idk 

ok im gonna break this down because it’s quite long, just skip to the end paragraph if you want a consise answer

I can't see how one's personal disgust for such a natural and beautiful (as we agreed) thing automatically justifies calling people names.

i’m not disgusted by sex / sex-repulsed. that’s of course a personal thing to share, but it seems to be what you are insinuating. all i said is that i do not want to see p*rn that i have not consented to seeing. 

but yeah i am gonna call these people names when they are unable to interact with any character/media without only making nsfw content of it and not considering anything else about that character/media. and when they don’t tag their content and post it w/o filter so that anyone who may not consent to seeing random porn can stumble across it, on a site that literally banned adult content months ago as well as has a large population of minors. 

i’ll be trying to talk to someone about regis lol or find non-sexual content about him and ALL I GET is porn and sexual takes. it’s fucking annoying

and also, the fetish? I get it, but wasn't the point of said monologue more philosophical and less personal? people fetishize danger because it's the natural defense mechanism of the psyche.

it’s vague as to whether it is only philosophical or personal, but those philosophizing typically do not speak about issues relating to their species without it being at least a little bit personal.

addiction is #1 problem for Regis, sure, but he was a serial killer. he is in no position to complain. ofc we should keep in mind character's main problems, but is being sexualized really as important for regis as his addiction? or his socialization?

okay first of all, i disagree with the statement that regis was a serial killer, lol, in baptism of fire, he mentions that the victims of higher vampires are rarely killed.

i think what you are trying to argue is that regis being sexualized in-universe is not a main issue for him, and you’d be right, it’s not a main issue in-universe. but if you had been following my points at all, you’d understand that i am speaking about how he is treated out-of-universe by the fandom. him having issues regarding addiction and socialization in-universe is not relevant at all to the issue of him being overly sexualized by the fandom. this argument holds no water.

he had relationships with the brothel maman and a succubus, and we should assume that it wasn't at all sexual?

i will explain a little about how i feel about regis’s canon female love interests: i’m gonna preface this with: why does anyone have to make a man and woman have a relationship. is that really necessary. come on.

i like how you brought up the queen of the night (assumedly, because i don’t know what you mean by “brothel maman” except maybe “brothel woman”) when her being in charge of a brothel was literally an addition / interpretation by CDPR and not in the books, like. who is oversexualizing women and vampires now. in the books regis just says it was probably / it was something serious but she left him because he continued to be an alcoholic. (of course, she has no canon name given in the books, and “queen of the night” is just a title she has. i don’t really care much about names and her real name is probably way longer than that. but i think it is a nice touch that regis’s name means king, and hers’ is queen, so i continue to call her this, i also call her “queenie” because i think it’s cute :3). i think they are both gay and were just trying to be heterosexual because it seemed like what they should do since they were already friends, then they had too many disagreements and fell out.

i think for the succubus, that was an annoying addition by sapkowski to give everyone in the hansa a heterosexual partner thus reason to stay in the fairy-tale duchy. plus the idea of “she’s a nymphomaniac, he’s an alcoholic!” is incredibly cringe to have as an idea of why they would be a good couple. and why must regis be shipped with a woman to be happy? even more cringe.

and we should assume that it wasn't at all sexual? succubus has a primal need to feed on sex and she dealed with it with regis by drinking herbal tea and watching tv shows about how asexuality rules? idk

“we should assume” ? you can have your own headcanons, i do not dictate what you believe! don’t be bothered by my headcanons if you disagree! 

i think it would be super fitting if their relationship wasn’t romantic or sexual though, because the witcher is all about breaking fantasy tropes. you know, there’s a vampire that drinks no blood, so why not a succubus that doesn’t have sex with men? 

the idea that succubi rely on sex to like, feed off of energy, is totally a tw3 conception, the books never said anything about that. for all we know, they could function like higher vampires and not need sex to survive, they just enjoy it like others do... though i think if they had to exist like that, then i would quote colin robinson from wwdits, with “i don’t live to feed... i feed to live” ... but yeah also having a whole character/fantasy species that is like. “a woman but she NEEDS to have SEX otherwise she will DIE” is pretty annoying lol

for me personally, i have headcanons that she was experiencing compulsory heterosexuality and regis just spoke to her like, so are you really having sex with these men because you want to or because you feel like you’re supposed to? and i think it would have been nice for natanis to speak with a man (a “man” ... heh... okay the post about regis’ gender is an entirely different post) who doesn’t just see her as a sexual being, much like regis gets to speak with humans who don’t consider him a monster. THUS CUE VERY FUNNY MONTAGE of her trying to sneak into human society to fit in and interact with humans (i don’t disagree with the tw3 design of succubi, so we can roll with that. she wears a hat kind of like sile de tancarville’s tw2 design to cover her horns, lol). idk how this turns out, i think she just starts fucking the noble ladies instead of the noble men, and then the noble ladies don’t want to complain anymore.

you don't like him having sex because it's discomforting somehow, but

i literally don’t even headcanon regis as asexual (okay, maybe in the scientific sense because my vampire headcanons are elaborate and i think it’s more interesting than heterosexual coupling) ... like you are literally sending asks to someone with the URL gayregis (although i know you can be gay and asexual simultaneously) ... i am not against regis having sex like, AT ALL, lol. i just do not find the content interesting and i do not want to interact with it because if you followed my blog / saw my pinned post(s) you’d know a large portion of my content about regis is family oriented and also about him being a mentor to angouleme, and i shouldn’t have to like, explain my family trauma to someone with an anonymous identity to get you to understand why seeing this character in this specific way is important to me and why p*rn of him squicks me out. why are you mad that i do not want to see p*rn that i do not consent to seeing? it’s my own business.

#ask #anon #regis #Anonymous