#but monowire for life

[ghostoffuturespast]

Lullaby

[corpocyborg]

On another 2.0/PL note, Growl FM fucking slaps. Occasionally I don't even play, I just drive around the city on a motorcycle and listen to the radio and take in the sights and that's become my new favorite station to tune into for that.

[procyo9]

Elegy likes to remind Arasaka and other big corps that they're in her sights; she often scouts their grounds, learns patterns, and then attacks.

After a few stunts like that, she earned the title of The Omen and The Plague - because if she picks you as a target, expect even worse things to come, and the latter - you'll know, because your employees will start dropping like flies.

[howtofightwrite]

How good would a whip be as a weapon? I'm not interested in it being a lethal weapon but more of it being a weapon that can defend someone long enough to get away or at least disarm or disable someone. I don't see a lot of people or character or referrals on how to use it and that's probably because it's not good enough?

Not great. The whip, like the goad and cattle-prod, aren't really designed for use as weapons. They're designed to control animals. (...and, yes, that does sometimes include humans, but again, in a non-combat, control role.) Part of the problem with the whip is, it's not much use against someone wearing armor. Or, even, heavy clothing.

Now, whips do have a legitimate military history as discipline tools, but that's very different from trying to take them onto the battlefield.

The reason reason you'll still see characters using whips, when you've probably never even heard of a goad, is because the whip is visually dynamic. It looks cool. You don't see Indiana Jones using a whip because it's the best choice of weapon, you see him using one because it stands out, and as a result, it has become iconic. It's delivering a specific vibe.

At the same time, the goad is just a pointy stick.

Whip disarms are a neat trick. And, very doable in a controlled environment. However, successfully disarming someone who's actively trying to kill you is going to be a bit more challenging, and also raises the question, “If you're putting this much effort and attention into taking away someone's weapon, shouldn't you be spending that effort and attention taking their life instead?”

This is probably little thought experiment about combat disarms. There's no point in disarming a corpse. So, why not just skip the middle step and go straight to the corpse-making? A question that Indiana Jones famously answered when, instead of dueling a sword master, simply pulled out his .455 Smith & Wesson and dropped the guy. (The real reason was that Harrison Ford was ill from food poisoning, and in no condition to shoot a prolonged fight sequence. So instead we accidentally got a character defining moment of pragmatism.)

To be clear, if it seems that I'm a bit negative on the subject, I do think the whip is a neat weapon. It's visually dynamic. It's loaded with symbolism. I think it's fantastic in a fictional context. It's just not practical.

There are fantastical versions of the whip that are better options. William Gibson's use of monowire comes to mind as an immediate example. Where the whip itself is created from a monomolecular carbon fiber, and can, as a result, cut through basically anything it strikes. Similarly, I still have serious reservations about the Lightwhip from Star Wars' old Expanded Universe, but it would carve through anything pretty effectively (including the wielder.)

Even in those cases, the whip is a weapon you choose for the aesthetic, more than the practicality.

-Starke

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[aceghosts]

15 Lines of Dialogue

I was tagged by @voidika and @nightbloodbix to do this challenge! Thank you!

Tagging (Opt In/Out): @bbrocklesnar, @marivenah, @alexxmason, @sergeiravenov, @carlosoliveiraa, @strangefable, @socially-awkward-skeleton, @amalkavian, @confidentandgood, @clicheantagonist, @theelderhazelnut, @cassietrn, @direwombat, @captastra, @cloudofbutterflies92, @katsigian, @inafieldofdaisies, @simplegenius042, and anyone else who wants to do this!

Rules: Share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an OC, ideally lines that capture the character/personality/vibe of the OC. Bonus points for just using the dialogue without other details about the scene, but you're free to include those as well!

Rooney Shepard (Cyberpunk 2077)

“Even at the cost of my own life,” Rooney picks up their whiskey glass again, “If you’re going to ask me if I regret it, I don’t. I would do the same again if given the choice.”

“You are a client,” Their tone is firm as they continue to dig their grave, ever obstinate, “You are hiring me to find someone. Unless you would prefer someone else to take this case.”

“Hmm…,” They start, tilting their head for a second as they pretend to think before answering with a smirk, “No.”

“People depend on me, Yorinobu. I cannot let them down. If I stop, I fail them. And if I fail them, then what use am I to anyone?”

“Fine,” They say, pulling out their monowire, “Remember, I gave you a chance to turn back.”

“I can do all of these things, but I know when others need me first,”

“No, I made a promise that I intend to keep. I’ll find a way out for us both.”

“It’s more than that. He’s my teammate; I’m responsible for him.”

“I can blame myself,” They look at him, meeting his eyes, “It was my job to protect Jack. He was my younger brother. He needed me, and I failed him. Danny, too.”

“No.” Rooney’s tone is deadly quiet, a grim look on their face.

“Work. You know how I am.”

“Not for a lack of trying,” They joke back, wiping at their eyes.

“I do. I let everyone down who didn’t make it off Space Force One. I refuse to let anyone else get hurt. Not as long as I breathe.”

“I know what is at stake. I’ve made a decision and decided that I’m okay with that risk.”

‘Glad to see you too, Silverhand’, Rooney thinks. A moment later and perhaps a touch more fondly, they add, ‘I mean it. I really thought I might have lost you, and it terrified me’.

[aggravateddurian]

WIP Whenever!

Good evening,

I was tagged by @olath124 and @katsigian to report on recent happenings.

Solo Val, and Durian creates a flowchart

Recently I've begun to delineate the Solo!Val AU from the Netrunner!Val AU. Though they share the same face, they're very different people, the result of varying life experiences.

I even created a flowchart. What other person have you seen is so terminally work-brained that they make flowcharts for their OCs?

These potential timelines have different effects.

The timelines that result in Val and Mel breaking up tend to lead to a short-term Val x Judy relationship that eventually disintegrates as they want different things (Val can't leave the city because of her father and sister, but Judy strongly wants to leave the city, mostly because of the situation around Evelyn). I

Interestingly, the fallout of the Val x Judy arc tends to end with Val eventually getting together with either Chet Reid or Trey.

The different versions of Val have different personalities.

Netrunner!Val

Netrunner!Val is a lot softer as a person. That doesn't mean she's less dangerous, just less inclined towards violence, more agreeable etc. She's more willing to make friends.

In terms of combat style, Netrunner!Val of course uses quickhacks as her primary weapon. As a backup, she carries a pistol. Her combat style can be described as 'combat netrunner,' she doesn't rely on stealth, and she rarely attacks her enemies through deep diving into the NET, almost always acting directly.

Netrunner!Val trusts chrome more, but is wary of corporate influences. She only trusts certain ripperdocs (like Vik) and is very strict about personal net security. Her acquisition of a rare, military grade cyberdeck is probably the most dangerous piece of cyberware she has. She also has a range of defensive and support cyberware to enhance survivability and combat performance.

Solo!Val

Solo!Val is hardened as a person. This has led to Val tending towards being harder to get along with, or get to know, if you don't have a history with her already. She's more inclined to hold grudges and she's more inclined to accept violence as a reasonable solution.

Solo!Val is also very stubborn, leading to a very tense relationship with Susy Q, if Solo!Val heads down the path where she continues to work with the Mox, because she agrees strongly with Judy about the role of the Mox in Night City.

In terms of Solo!Val's combat style, Solo!Val is an assassin. She relies on stealth, underhanded tactics, and fear as her key strategies. Relying on her speed and agility, she uses parkour to get into difficult to reach places, and also uses her Optical Camo and monowire. Where possible, she aims to get in undetected, eliminate her objective or acquire the target, and exfiltrate without anybody even noticing until it's too late.

Solo!Val runs light on chrome. Aside from the usual implants, like a weapon grip, optical implants and a personal link (including the neck shard slots), she only has subdermal armour, the optical camo and monowire. Val's strength, agility and speed are her own, and her lack of cyberware reflects a distrust of cyberware, partly due to her mother's poor health after years of Solo work while heavily chromed.

Things that they share are their strong affinity towards their families, their strong sense of loyalty, their strong belief in justice, even if their ways of getting justice may not be particularly and their determination.

Other Cyberpunk Stuff

Aside from Val's gym pics (and sick gains), I have plans for one more themed set this week. This set was going to be a Solo!Val x Melanie story to introduce a new possible storyline if I ever want to explore that, but when switching Val's body mod, I seem to have broken Melanie's NPV file somehow. I'm investigating that and I'll probably work on it this weekend.

Hopefully, I finally get to building Estella Ocampo-Gonzalez as an NPV. Estella is Val's sister. In the Solo!Val timelines, Estella becomes a netrunner, forming a family duo with Val.

I will be working on my NPVs this weekend, it's the only real time I have to spend on these projects at the moment.

Durian Writes Original Fiction: Queen of the Sky and Rockfall

As many of those who have followed my ramblings on other socials would know, I've got a few original fiction projects, and my real obsession has been Queen of the Sky, set in the Airfleet Universe, my own original universe where airships rule the sky, Earth orbits a smaller star, and the year has 10 months and 304 days (totally not stolen from the Roman calendar lol).

I'm continuing to work through these, and waiting on OFFICIAL CHARACTER ART of some of the key characters of QOTS. Rather than starting with the protagonist, Princess Elysia, I've got the Chancellor of Atlantia (another country) coming out first. Rosalind Myers fans will likely be fans of Chancellor Elizabeth Caldwell.

When I'm done writing QOTS and I finally publish it, I'm moving onto a separate story called Rockfall: Darkness Over the Pacific, which features a post-apocalyptic Earth reminiscent of Ace Combat after Ulysses struck, and a cold war between two superpowers.

---

I hereby would like to nominate @streetkid-named-desire @byberbunk2069 @wanderingaldecaldo @ouroboros-hideout. If you want to, no pressure intended!

[seeker-of-truth]

VERENA SOTO

So post 2.0 some things about my gorl changed. Figured it was high time I updated her profile, enjoy!

BASICS

AGE: 27 during game

DOB: June 10, 2049

ETHNICITY: American Latina

GENDER: female

PRONOUNS: she/her

SEXUALLY: Queer, uninterested in labels

NICKNAMES: V, Rena (reserved for the people closest to her), Rennie (childhood)

BIRTH PLACE: Wellsprings, Heywood, NC

HEIGHT: 5'6"

WEIGHT: 138 lbs

LANGUAGES SPOKEN: English almost exclusively, some Spanish picked up from around the home.

BODY TYPE: Think super featherweight boxer during off-season || ex: Alycia Baumgardner || Strong but with curves and softness – still a round-faced queen tho

HAIR COLOR:  natural - very dark brown || During her corpo days, she keeps it gray as a small form of self-expression, always pulled back into a tight bun. || After Konpeki she wants to feel in control of her body again and dyes it canary yellow and cuts her hair to a shoulder-length mullet to make the shaving Vik had to do to save her life look more intentional — both the cut and color stick.

EYE COLOR: Kiroshi optics designed to look identical to her natural deep brown eyes.

CYBERWARE: EMP Threading || Contraceptive Implant || Neural Link || 2 Chip Slots || Interface Plug || Auxiliary Netrunning Interface Plug || Smart Link || Raven Microcybernetics Syn-Lungs || Arasaka Cyberleg || NetWatch Netdriver MK.1 Cyberdeck || Modified Arasaka Self-Ice || Kiroshi Sentry Optics || Kendachi Monowire || MoorE Technologies Bionic Joints || Dynalar Universal Booster || Militech Revulsor Reflex Tuner || Dynalar Subdermal Armor || Kang Tao Optical Camo || Zetatech Pain Editor || MedTech Biomonitor || Zetatech Reinforced Tendons || FIA Behavioral Imprint-Synced Faceplate

CLASS: What I’ve taken to calling the “Buff Netrunner” - mostly relies on combat hacking but will physically mess you up if you get too close.

WEAPONS: her main weapons are a Tsunami Nue with a discontinued XC-10 Alecto Silencer and her monowire || she will often carry a non-silenced tech pistol on gigs, after giving Johnny his Malorian back she takes to using her old Arasaka JKE-X2 Kenshin (he totally gets her a 3516 after everything tho) || On Jobs that look to be messy, she will take a Kang Tao G-58 Dian as an insurance policy.

VEHICLES: a Yaiba Kusanagi CT-3X is her daily driver || she also has a Quadra Turbo-R V-Tech for the days ya just need a car || (Johnny's Porsche is returned to him and Jackie’s ARCH is kept in the penthouse and taken out twice a year)

PERSONALITY

Extremely guarded, likes to keep her thoughts and feelings private, feels embarrassed when her feelings spill out || Patient to a fault. has the world's longest fuse to a very big explosion || all icy, calculated fire || slow to trust but once she does, she considers that person to be family || will go to the ends of the earth to protect the people she loves || sarcastic || can be very ridged || highly empathetic, and will try to get people to better situations, regardless of the cost || will lie to get the best possible outcome || loves living in Night City || good with words, has learned to talk her way out of most situations || reserved, hates being approached  || feels like her life happens to her a lot and is desperate for control 

FAMILY HISTORY 

MOTHER: Diana Soto – alive, estranged

FATHER: Mario Soto – alive, estranged

Both of her parents were regular blue-collar workers, her mother is a machinist, and her father a welder. They had met in passing as she was dropping off parts at the mechanic shop he was working at and quickly fell in love, getting married and having Verena not long after.

Her relationship with them was always strained as they were both very closed off with their emotions with her. Because of that and being an only child, she never communicated with them well, eventually closing herself off to them completely.

CHILDHOOD - TEENS

2056 - At the age of 7 the standardized tests given to students flagged her as having an aptitude for netrunning so she was placed in an exclusive boarding school in Charter Hill as part of a special outreach program sponsored by Night Corp. She excelled at her studies but struggled to make friends as most of her peers were the children of corpos. She spent summers back at home with her parents and seeing the difference in the quality of life had an effect on her, jading her to NC as she aged. Her parents were ecstatic at the thought of their child having a better life than them, so failure became something that was severely punished.

2060 - By the time she was in middle school she had a small but close-knit group of friends, both from corps backgrounds and backgrounds like her. She was fiercely protective of them and got in multiple fights defending them from the same bullying she had received.

2064 - When not studying she became very interested in edgerunning, specifically solos, but rockerboy culture as well. She liked the inherent rebellion they represented and wished she could do the same. But she knew that she would disappoint her parents if she strayed from the path she was on. She would listen to records and read about the legends of NC under her blankets at night.

2065 - At 16 she was chipped with her professional ports, she viewed them as the final seal in the life that she was going to live, like it or not. As an act of rebellion, she shaved her head and got multiple ear piercings. She was reprimanded by the school, an action that brought her parent's fists down on her as well. During the summer she would often sneak into clubs and bars to get away from her home environment.

2067 - She graduated with high enough grades that she was able to attend NCU on a full ride where she majored in Cybersecurity with a focus on Offensive Hacking. She looks back on her time there fondly as she met more like-minded people, many of whom pushed her to express herself more. She joined a small band as a guitarist. Eventually entering a relationship with the bassist – Sara. It was a very toxic relationship and they both treated each other like shit. V’s generally guarded nature closed her off the deeper in the relationship she got.

20’S

2070 - The unification war caused the university to push its students through faster, so she graduated a year early and immediately started looking for a job, not wanting to disappoint her parents.

July 2070 - With Arasaka now back in Night City they were doing massive hiring and V managed to get her foot in the door in the Counter Intelligence Division – Branch 3.

August 2070 - After an internal incident her bosses found her to be adept at espionage (both traditional and corporate), so they sent her to do black ops work with a small crew in South America for approximately a year and a half. During this time, she honed her skill with a pistol.

October 2072 - leaves to spend 11 months in Rio De Janeiro tracking a “terrorist” cell. Her team eventually took out the group after she was captured on a solo reconnaissance mission and interrogated/tortured for over a week.

September 2073 - Rio traumatized her and she crawled into herself and didn’t want to return to work so Arasaka wanted to drop her, Jenkins saw her skills as exploitable and invited her to stay in office. During this time, she became estranged from her parents.

June 2074 - Meets Jackie at the Mexican border, he saves her ass by helping her extract an agent.

July 2076 - Moves into the Wells household.

Mid-January 2077 - Konpeki Plaza Heist

End of May 2077 - I, Pre Defined Starts

[mail-me-a-snail]

V had had two of his own lives before meeting Johnny; Johnny had taken over the third; he wants V to have the rest. They had never been Johnny’s to begin with. But here they are, dancing on the monowire--all two left feet and recklessness and toothy with daring, tiptoeing the fine line between this life and the next, wondering who will fall first. -- or, v redyes his hair and johnny has a crisis about it.

six thousand words of agony and homosexuality. hi. this is a series now and i dont know where im going from there. enjoy!

[trashbabyart]

Animals cut off Noir’s finger?! I gotta hear the deets.

Ps. Love the JJBA inspiration in your art!

Back when Noir was a baby merc, he did a job that involved delivering a shard to the Animals for someone. What was on the shard basically said "fuck you." They decided to take it out on the messenger. Noir instinctively held his hand up to a monowire which cut straight through his hand. Fingers gone and wounds cauterized. He barely made it out of there with his life.

Also thanks! It's a big inspo for me!

[kazaanaxtaijiya]

Inuyasha AU Concept

I've had this concept in my head for a while/ever since I finished the game and watched the show sooo I figured I'd throw it out there as an idea or inspiration if anyone is interested — Cyberpunk 2077 AU with the Inuyasha gang 🌃 Hear me out...

The gang are a bunch of mercenaries that work for various clients through a network of fixers to do any kind of job that calls for their specific set of skills, each of them with their own agenda.

Inuyasha is the Leader, of course.

He grew up as a Nomad and worked towards becoming a professional boxer. When the love of his life, Kikyo, is killed, he's framed for her murder and forced into hiding, desperately trying to hunt down her killer.

He eventually finds love again after meeting a med tech, Kagome, who becomes the first recruit of his newly formed merc crew.

His cyberware includes the Sandevistan for super speed and Gorilla arms, allowing him an advantage in hand-to-hand combat. A sword would be great in order to stay true to his character, BUT imo a machine gun seems like it would be a better weapon of choice for him in this universe.

Kagome is the Med Tech of the group, often assisting with the crew's injuries and cyberware issues after a job is complete.

She meets Inuyasha after finding him brutally beaten and treats his wounds, off the record. She later realizes he is the man accused of killing her cousin, Kikyo, and attempts to call the police, only for him to escape.

The next day, Kagome finds herself in danger, a local gang cornering her into a dark alley. To her surprise, Inuyasha shows up and saves her, unable to forget her after she saved him. She has been loyal to him every since, working with him and her Grandmother (see bonus content) to find out who really killed Kikyo. She eventually falls in love with him.

Her cyberware includes the Monowire for long-range attacks (closest thing I could think of compared to her bow & arrow that's part of the Cyberpunk universe). Maybe a cross-bow?

Miroku is the Netrunner of the group, able to hack into any high-tech computer system due to his intelligence and vast amount of knowledge.

As a Street Kid, he grew up to be a con man, running various schemes to support himself. During a particular con, he ends up crossing paths with Inuyasha. They butt heads at first as they both go after the same prize, with Miroku successfully outwitting him during their first of many encounters. But the more they run into each other, the more they grow to understand each other, and he joins Inuyasha's crew.

Due to a mishap while netrunning prior to the crew, Miroku has become more susceptible to Cyberpsychosis due to a virus that is slowly killing him. Despite his best efforts, he is unable to remove the virus or reverse its effects. He has accepted his fate and just tries to make the best of it. However, he soon finds a reason to keep living when he meets the love of his life, Sango.

His cyberware includes the Sandevistan (gives him the speed to keep up with Inuyasha), and he has the Projectile Launch System installed on his right arm, which launches an explosive projectile from the palm of his hand (a nod to the wind tunnel of course).

Sango is the Soldier of the group, being highly trained in combat and probably the most lethal of the team.

She grew up in the Corpo life as a soldier-turned-bodyguard for some of the most dangerous government officials. However, after her family is threatened by the exact people she was sworn to protect, she leaves the life and becomes a solo mercenary in order to find her only living family left – Kohaku.

She is initially hired to kill Inuyasha and his crew, but after realizing they have a common enemy, she decides to join them– eventually falling for her womanizing comrade, Miroku, whom she becomes determined to find a cure for due to his impending death.

Her cyberware includes Mantis blades (a callback to the hidden blades she has), but she mostly relies on her trusty Katana passed down by her father.

Shippo is more of an honorary(?) member of the crew rather than a truly active member – don't panic!

Upon becoming an orphan, he relies on his wit, tricks, and pickpocket-ing skills to survive Night City. On one of his outings, he attempts to pickpocket Inuyasha, who quickly discovers him and threatens to hurt him.

Luckily, Kagome takes sympathy on the little boy and convinces Inuyasha that they should take him in. Despite their disagreements, him and Inuyasha eventually form a brother-like bond – the rest of the crew becoming family as well.

And although he usually doesn't join in on their hired jobs, his pickpocket skills do tend to come in handy sometimes.

BONUS CONTENT:

Kaede is a Fixer who sets up the various contracts that Inuyasha's crew handles (pretty much Wakako Okada from Cyberpunk). Being Kikyo and Kagome's grandmother while also believing Inuyasha is innocent, she heads the search for Kikyo's killer and helps the crew find answers where she can.

Koga is the Leader of the infamous gang Wolf (Tyger) Claws, known for their ruthless and territorial nature. Despite his hatred towards Inuyasha, Koga has a sweet spot for Kagome and often proves to be a resourceful and well-connected ally... when he wants to be.

Kohaku falls victim to Cyberpsychosis and is being controlled by a corrupt corporation. Sango strives to save her little brother and bring down the corporation responsible.

Hachi is Miroku's longtime friend and former con artist partner who will sometimes assist with jobs as the getaway driver when needed.

Naraku is (you guessed it) the CEO of the corrupt corporation that is controlling Kohaku, the man who is responsible for Miroku's virus that's killing him, and the man who murdered Kikyo in a fit of jealousy and rage when she did not love him back.

Parallel to Episode 132: During a job, Sango's cyberware is hacked into, causing her to start attacking her friends. Luckily, due to his Netrunning skills, Miroku is able to save her just as she's about to kill him.

[imaginarycyberpunk2023]

VINNIE GALLO // STATS and BACKGROUND

Full name: Vinnie Gallo

Gender: Cis Male

Path: Street Kid, works as a solo Merc

Date of Birth: October 5th 2038 (39 years old in 2077)

Sign: Libra ascendant Scorpio (oooh, spicy!)

Hair: black

Eyes: green

Height: 6’6” (199 cm)

Cyberware: Kiroshi Optics MK.3, QianT "Warp Dancer" Sandevistan Mk.5, Legendary Monowire

Weapons of Choice: Katana, Knives, Melee Weapons, the odd Grenade

LI: Macha <3, countless flings before her

Likes: Motorcycles, sleeping, sex, socializing, free climbing, boxing, eating

Dislikes: complications, haven’t discovered much else yet, he’s a very open-minded and "live and let live" kinda dude (edit: in his private life! Oh, the irony)

Love Language: Physical Touch, Acts of Service

Personality: a goofy, charismatic, and flirty Bro/Dude/Choom with an at times short temper and commitment issues

--

Vinnie is a born and bred NC streetkid. His families origin lies in Chile, a couple of generations back. He is an only child and loses his parents early, gets taken in by his grandma, and stays with her until he's 12ish . His grandmother loved him but couldn't handle him, he got into lots of streetfights, roamed the streets of Night City on his own, getting to know every nook and cranny in the process, getting into all kinds of trouble - stealing, brawling, breaking and entering. After his grandmother's death (she passes while he'son one of his day-long random disappearances), he lives on the street for some time, going hungry a lot of times. He makes a meager living by doing bareknuckle fights for money. On one of those fights, a gang member of the Valentinos sees him and takes him under their wings. He gets shelter, food  and training to become a merc. He leaves the Valentinos to become a solo merc. He had been working the odd small jobs for various fixers around town while in the Valentinos, but all the money from these gigs went to the gang. Wakako offers him his first serious money gig under the condition that he leaves the gang and works for her exclusively for a time. He agrees before he knows what the job is, because he feels very drawn to Wakako - she reminds him of his grandmother - just deadlier, of course. He learns that the job is to take care of her 4th husband. He does not hesitate to do it - and becomes her favorite merc in the process.

Despite his childhood experience and through meeting/living with good people (him and his grandmother have a very loving relationship, he loves and cherishes her) he keeps a positive outlook on life in general, knowing he can always get by and take care of himself.

[ghostoffuturespast]

Grandpa V’s Greatest Hits 15 Lines of Dialogue

Tagged by @merge-conflict (here) and @luvwich (here) Thank you! 🧡

Rules: Post 15 lines (or less) of character dialogue. You can include context for the scene if you wish!

Pulled all these from So It Goes (I can do greatest hits now because I finished it, ha!) and they're all roughly in chronological order, but feel free to send an ask with a number if you want/need more context.

1 “As for my table manners, those went out the window with my shame and my corporate career.”

2 "Rumors are true. Who’d you get your referral from?"

3 “Don’t see a reason to be shy, and not like you haven’t seen a pair of tits before either.”

4 “How’s your aim? And how do you feel about some fireworks with our light show.”

5 “Fine. You can write ‘salty’ on my tombstone.”

6 “You’re a real fucking gentleman you know that. Making me do all your heavy lifting for you. You’re lucky I’m already getting paid to do this shit.”

7 “Hear me out? I’ll buy you a coffee. Or if you need something stronger, I can arrange that too.”

8 "Compact, discreet, can't check it at the door, always have a weapon on hand. What's not to like? Thought about getting mantis blades at first, easier learning curve but I'm glad I went with the monowire. Think it's a bit more practical, multipurpose."

9 “Well, I’ve got… duct tape and zip ties in my pockets.”

10 “When Bear mentioned ‘your girls’ earlier, I was a little concerned because for a second I thought…”

11 “Still f–fightin’ wars we can't win… M–makes you wonder why we stay.”

12 “Well, when everything else in your life’s hard, soft’s awfully appealing. And he gives excellent head.”

13 “I’m sorry, I–I can’t.”

14 “Still think I’m worth loving after all this, Detective?”

15 “You take after her, y’know.”

Tagging with no pressure: @baublekute @dreadfulsanity @shimmer-like-agirl @seeker-of-truth @fly-amanitaa

[a-gay-little-cat]

Finally, a full drawn reference for my V I'm gonna talk a bit about him under the read more :]

Ok so:

Very selfish, only cares about himself and will do about anything for money. He is not here to make friends, he's here to become legend, go above and beyond and make as much money as he can.

He's always had high ambitions in life but was never able to reach them, falling short. Vito wanted to be a ripper doc and he did get close but never quite made it. Having had enough of constantly getting fucked over one way or another he decided to move to Night City and make it big as mercenary. (We know how that story goes)

Alongside his monowire he uses a revolver and throwing knives in combat. He prefers to be as stealthy as possible, plan his approaches and using any sort of hacking to aid him along the way. Really tries to avoid any closer quarter fight.

The vision in his left eye is severely reduced due to an injury which wasn't tended to fast enough so it couldn't be fixed and he didn't have the money for a replacement either. The same incident left him with a damaged right knee and as things get worse throughout the story he starts using a cane to get around.

👇also here's a look at two of his tattoos (he has a bunch more along his arm in my mind but oh my god drawing tattoos takes so long. help)

[elvenbeard]

OKAY SO.

As I'd mentioned back then in my Phantom Liberty Tour post, only a few of those who attended got to playtest the game themselves, while the rest got to see about an hour-long preview. And they didn't showcase much of the new abilities/skills beyond what they were gonna use in combat, and let's say... the V they showed was super flashy, his combat style looked super fun, but couldn't have been further from my playstyle xD Like... the finishers and stuff look amazing, but that's not something I'm gonna have much use for with my low-on-cyberware build that relies heavily on stealth and hacking really (but that I really really enjoy).

So I was a bit worried the whole time, low-key, how the fun would look like for a player like me. And now I finally got to play around in the build planner (https://www.cyberpunk.net/en/build-planner if you wanna have a go, but contains mild PL story spoilers - but again, you're reading this, so maybe you don't care as much for mild spoilers XD)

Looking at everything, especially the new stuff... MAN... :eyes emoji: x1000

I was worried Tech wouldn't be as useful for my low-on-cyberware build anymore, as it is very tied to that now BUT... it's also tied to the health item/ grenade cooldown, and, as before, enhances Tech-Weapons very nicely like... I think along with INT I'd like to make Tech my other 20 Ability. In combination with some of the new hacking abilities (overclocking your cyberdeck?? FUCK YEAH THAT IS... SO ÖAKHSFASDÖASJD that is *such* a thing Vince would do like öasjhdföasf when I saw that I screamed) it's so badass... I think it's gonna work really well together.

The only thing I haven't found that I'm a bit sad about was a Ninjutsu skill that let you pounce on enemies from above (I don't recall the name)... either I overlooked it or it's now integrated into some of the new movement stuff :O but even then, the new movement stuff?? Faster climbing?? Hello, where have you been all my life XDD

Also not to mention the abitlity to queue quickhacks that was teased in one of the trailers already like maaaaaan... Also a lot of counter-hacking abilities against enemy netrunners, CARHACKING... and I get the feeling, from some of the skill descriptions, how cyberware in general works (in the sense that, it reads as if you can upgrade it the way you could upgrade clothing and armour now? but not 100% sure, that would be awesome o.o) was really fundamentally changed.

Also, like... of all the arm cyberware the monowire was always the one where I said "this would be the one Vince *might* consider getting out of all of them, if he was forced to get one", and I don't really know how it was skilled previously... but now it's very closely tied to quickhacking and Intelligence, so one more reason why it would fit him the most XD Still don't think I'd get it cause... yeah, it would just not fit him as a character that much and the way he sees cyberware XD But I love that as a little sidenote.

I'm a little bit... hmm, not quite disappointed, but I would've expected something different from the Relic skilltree actually. I mean, it is very very cool, but also, again, the majority of the skills in there isn't really gonna be useful for my playstyle. And I wonder... if maybe you get advantages or disadvantages beyond extra abilities (read: story-related consequences) if you put a lot of points into it, with how these skills are unlocked >.> *suspicious noises*

But yeah... Usually I'm not looking forward to the updates as much cause... mods break xD But I really am looking forward to trying all of this in game now o.o But it's gonna be... such a difference like hhh...

I'm definitely not gonna start over a new save just to play PL, cause I simply don't have that time atm XD But I'm extremely looking forward to my 3rd fresh playthrough and seeing the skills grow over time instead of setting them all in one go xD

[r3d-f0xs-blog]

OC Profile: Frederick Mendelson

Basic Info

Name: Frederick Mendelson

Alias(es): Ph03niX

Date of birth: January 10 2017

Zodiac sign: Capricorn

Gender: Male

Place of Birth: Hamburg, Germany

Sexuality: Straight

Appearance

Height: 6’ / 183cm

Build: Slim

Hair: Ginger and greying

Eyes: Were green but now black with pale irises

Cyberwear: Deep dive port, Arasaka arms with personal link and interface plugs, Kiroshi optical implants. Self-ICE. Netwatch Netdriver Mk.5 Cyberdeck. Internal cooling systems. Cybernetics to manage data flow and synchronise the link between him and his Cyberdeck. Jaws. Monowire.

Frederick Mendelson on the job

Background

Father: Deceased

Mother: Deceased

Languages: English, German (primary language)

Affiliations

Arasaka: former intelligence agent and Netrunner

Netwatch: agent Netrunner (former after rescuing Voss)

Occupation: Netwatch agent then later mercenary

Role: Netrunner

Weapons: Monowire, offensive Daemons, smart weapon

Frederick a couple of years before he defected from Arasaka

Personality type: INTJ-A It can be lonely at the top. As one of the rarest personality types – and one of the most capable – Architects (INTJs) know this all too well. Rational and quick-witted, Architects pride themselves on their ability to think for themselves, not to mention their uncanny knack for seeing right through phoniness and hypocrisy. But because their minds are never at rest, Architects may struggle to find people who can keep up with their nonstop analysis of everything around them.

Frederick Mendelson grew up in interesting times. He grew up on the Net post-DataKrash and has seen how it has grown and changed over the years so is very familiar with it. He joined Arasaka when he was relatively young and found himself assigned to Night City very quickly in his career. He progressed upwards quickly. There he met Hannah and they married. Voss was born in 2044.

Frederick’s skillset as a Netrunner is a mixture. He’s stealthy like Voss but not to quite the same degree and is also a strongly offensive Netrunner more towards dealing with those he’s after for Netwatch. He’s an adept field and cyberspace agent thanks to his past with Arasaka where his primary role was in intelligence gathering. This involved stealing information or manipulating it out of other parties.

In Netwatch, Frederick is the kind of agent sent when things are serious and a mixture of his intelligence gathering and capability in cyberspace is needed. If Frederick is after you, you are going to be in for one hell of a fight and you will likely loose.

Frederick loves his son, Voss. He is and always has been proud of him and cares a great deal for him. Where his Mum was more detached and more so when Voss was found to be autistic, had scoliosis and came out as bi, this only gave Frederick more reason to support Voss without doing everything for him. He knew how the corporate world Voss was entering, operated and wanted to help Voss avoid many of the pitfalls; he made plans for Voss to have all the basic and necessary cybernetics he would need that would be approved by Arasaka thereby meaning they didn’t belong to the corporation but they couldn’t justify them being changed.

After his departure from Netwatch

Frederick had a good relationship with his wife, Hannah but things were strained over her attitude towards Voss. Voss was wanted by both his parents but Hannah almost lost interest when she found her child had additional needs and wouldn’t just go along with what he was told to say and do.

Some would say Frederick is cold and aloof and in a way, that is true. It can take him a little to warm to people and part of this is the life he has led and the work he is in. It is also because of how formal sounding his English speech is in. He can be rather blunt and to the point and doesn’t see much need in social niceties but does them anyway as it makes things flow better.

But like Voss, once you have Frederick’s trust he is more relaxed. He is rather reserved but it doesn’t take away from his ability to lead and make others listen. He is intelligent and well educated.

His net name came from a joke about his apparent death but he only uses it outside Netwatch. His avatar is that of a multicoloured firebird and partly because one of his ways of dealing with rogue Netrunners is to cause or induce overheating. He’s even been known to take control of Netrunner chairs and equipment while they’re using them to cause the overheating, prevent them disconnecting, and has even started fires because of it although that was a Scav with some questionable gear.

Frederick in action

Frederick has few friends thanks to his defection from Arasaka and he can hardly call Bryce a friend. He becomes friendly with Lightning and Kerry and eventually is welcomed to the Afterlife. He doesn’t know Ren as he only ever met him in his cyberspace avatar form however Ren recognised him in Voss which was confusing for Ren who couldn’t understand why. The Salty incident makes him a pretty big enemy of Maelstrom.

[rotschopf-thedrow]

WIP Wednesday

I was tagged by @cr-noble-writes last week already & decided to wait until today since it was already Friday when I got the notification XD

Tagging @briarch, @monowires, @clericofshadows (because I need more scarf), @dandenbo & @nyamadermont, and everyone who likes to share something :)

Shepard woke because he was pulled out of bed quite unceremoniously, landing on his hands and knees. He tried to get up, tried to regain his equilibrium, holding onto his nightstand for dear life. He had almost managed when the world was tilting on its axis again. Literally.

Shit. What the fuck was happening? The room kept spinning and his stomach churned violently. Were they under attack? Surely, Joker would’ve informed him outright, wouldn’t he?

“Joker,” he croaked, “what’s our status?”

“Board’s green, Commander. We’re running smooth and silent.”

“Sure doesn’t feel like it.”

“You sure don’t sound like it either. You okay?”

“Yeah.” He swallowed, trying to keep the rising bile at bay and in his stomach. “Yeah, I’m alright.” He searched for a fix point he could focus on, but failed miserably when the gravity well flipped again. “Shit.”

“With all due respect, sir, you don’t sound ‘alright’. I can alert the Doc to your quarters.”

“No. No, it’s okay, Joker. Maybe Miller’s stew wasn’t quite dead yet.”

It had become a running gag on the Normandy that one should definitely test their food if it was truly dead, after Mess Sergeant Miller had managed to serve vat-grown meat as a bloody mess, so to speak, because he had been busy flirting with Chief Williams. She had also been the one to ask him if she needed to kill her meal first.

Shepard had never seen anyone this flustered before as the sergeant on that day.

Joker chortled. “That would explain the heartburn.”

Shepard grinned and finally managed to get to his feet. “Thanks anyway, Joker. Shepard out.”