#corpo lifepath got me feeling some kind of way

[skiitter]

Girl help all I want to do is play FNV but I’m being forced to attend Microsoft Teams Meetings that have nothing to do with me.

[indeedthatvisser5]

c y b e r - s m u t t

I've always been a light sleeper, but some gonk next door woke me up talking to himself. His deep voice rattled my walls all afternoon while I was trying to catch z's before my 1 a.m. shift at the 25/7. Right before I was able to finally drift off, my alarm rang out its tone. 12:15 came too early. Yawning every other second, I managed to pull on the knee-padded yoros I typically use for work, and a tank top. I could feel the bloodshot irritation in my optics from the lack of a full evening’s rest. I kept trying snap out of it while leaning against the whirring vending machine in my apartment. It was supposed to be dispensing a Matapang Coffee, except this time, the vendor sounded like it was struggling to function, I certainly had never heard the motor try so hard, so I leaned in close to try and run a diagnostic on it, but instead, I got my entire outfit covered in caramel flavored latte. 

“Aw, fucking hell!” Those were my last Eds til payday, and that was my last clean outfit. Well, not my last clean outfit.  

In a crumple under the foot of my bed was the one clean article of clothing I had – a teal long-sleeve bodysuit I wore when I used to moonlight as a joytoy. “I can’t fuckin’ believe this,” I muttered, popping the edge of the bottoms against my ass cheek. Not that I had any real problem wearing it, but my days as a joytoy were long behind me. Sure, the parties were fun and the Eds were okay, but after a while I’d come to realize that lifepath only had me running circles around Pacifica. 

I caught one last look at myself, activating my full-body mirror. Part of my gimmick as a doll was the fact I kind of looked like the chick from the Chromanticore ads, bulge and all. My bodysuit still fit my slender 6’ ft. frame, but admittedly, I loved me some Slaughterhouse Prime, and the tight material showed it. I threw on my trenchcoat and ran out the door. The reinforced outsoles on my exo-jacks clunked down the stairs of my apartment. Pacifica always vaguely smelled like something was burning outside, but my downstairs neighbor Kolin happened to be having himself a midnight smoke. 

“Yo, Izzy! You uh, are you open again?” 

“Nah choom, sorry, it’s just laundry day!” 

It took a lot of patience but getting hired to be a clerk at the 25/7 was kinda worth it. But that was only because it was only a small downstairs walk from my place. I can see my little kiosk from my balcony without having to use a scope! Once I got there, I unlocked the doors, turned on the lights, booted up my register, and made sure my Budget Arms M-10AF Lexington was loaded. Already fatigued, I was ready for another long 9 hours. The start of the night was a little quiet. Hell, I barely heard any skirmishes. I had a few drunks and other vagrants come through, but my store’s location just never got as busy as the ones in the other districts. I couldn’t imagine the other ones are this slow. 

By daybreak, I couldn’t quit nodding off at the register. I gave in with my chin rested on my hand when the roar of a Hererra Outlaw startled me awake, the intense engine sounded like it was right beside me while it was yards away. No one would dare own one of those in Pacifica of all places. No one for damn sure is just passing through either. But it stopped, and out stepped this Corpo, all decked out in three-piece synweave. And he was coming towards my kiosk. His netrunning visor gleamed against the 9 am sun as he stepped in with a weirdly friendly smile.  

“Good morning, how are you?” He beamed, as he went straight for a can of Nicola and a taco from the shelf. The sharply dressed stranger kept looking around, but I could feel his eyes on me, trying to catch a glance at what I was wearing. He placed his items on the small counter. 

“Did you find what you were looking for, sir?” I asked, still confused at having a random Corpo in my store. “You seem to be a long way from Downtown, especially here.” 

“I must be honest, I’m not sure yet?” He quipped, blatantly leaning over to peek at my bare thighs. “Have you been working here long?” I snickered a little as I pulled my hair behind my ear, not every day a someone this smooth looking struck up a convo with me at work. 

“I been here since 1 this morning, if that’s what you mean,” I said playing coy. 

“Oh no, no, I meant how long have you been cashiering for 25/7?” 

“Only a couple of years, just about.” 

“Do you like it?” I was caught off-guard by the man’s genuine question. I guess no one had ever really cared to ask that?  

“I, well, it’s just biz, it makes me enough Eddies to keep the lights on at home.” 

“I see.” His visor glinted in the sun as he nodded. “You ever think of doing anything else?” 

“I don’t know?” In the middle of my confusion as to where this was going, he produced a buisness card from his breast pocket. It was a slate blue color with embossed gold lettering that read 'Gen+ : A subsidiary of Biotechnica’.“Holy shit.” I couldn’t help myself. Just like that, a random job offer from what looked like something legit. More legit than being a cashier in this city. The Corpo seemed to have loosened up more as he excitedly looked around the kiosk as oif to make sure we were alone, and he leaned in closer to me. 

“I’m sorry choom, I never introduced myself. “I’m Dr. Dorian Pierce. My company has developed a new piece of cyberware, and I’m looking for some testors.” 

“Whoa, no, no no, I’m not interested.” My hackles were instantly up. “I am not going to get no cyberpsychosis, no.” I was serious. Lost a couple family members that way. 

“Nothing like that, choom, no. Very much the opposite. Okay, I know you’re on the clock, but the next time you’re off, call me. I can't get into anymore deets here.” I nodded in an unsure acquiescence as I kept studying the business card. I was able to compose myself looking at him through his visor.  

“Okay. I’m off tomorrow.” 

“Tom’s Diner in Watson?” Dr. Pierce’s eyes gleamed as he gave me the coordinates. 

[freeuselandonorris]

https://www.tumblr.com/freeuselandonorris/749117811625967616/httpswwwtumblrcomfreeuselandonorris749095304

omg okay the ending i got was the sun!! i don’t think it’s a major spoiler to say that the way to get that ending is ask rogue for help and choose v instead of johnny at the end. i think you should replay the ending real quick just to see the sun ending too, unless you’d rather do another full play through for it. won’t say anything else about it other than its worth it!!

siding with arasaka feels so wrong considering they’re who you’re fighting against the entire game. i played the corpo path and it still wouldn’t have made sense, it seems they’re all set up so siding with arasaka seems like the wrong choice.

i pretty much had the same experience with the ending, at first i was scared of dying because i read there’s one ending where you only get one shot but i wasn’t sure if it was all or not, so i was nervous. but it’s just one ending and the rest you get checkpoints, so i was fine! i cried all through the credits, i was really heartbroken and guilty over choosing v

i haven’t read neuromancer but i placed a hold for it on my library app!! the cyberspace is one of my absolute favorite things about that game, it’s one of the things i’m looking forward to seeing again when i replay. i really want more on alt, she was one of my favorite characters in the entire game. if they could make a game about her, i would play it.

i’ve read about the pl ending they added but haven’t played it, so im excited to see your reaction to it!! i loved johnny’s character growth through the story, it’s so fun talking to him. i loved when he popped up randomly and gave advice on side missions, always sided with him bc i wanted him to like me. i think i’m gonna be boy v on my next playthrough so i’m interested to see what dialogue options change with him and how they interact vs with girl v.

i love that they had a real band playing samurai, it added a bit of depth to the game. and grimes as lizzy, that was really fun. i wanted more music in cyberpunk so i was always listening to cyberpunk playlists on spotify and found out about refused that way bc they have samurais music on spotify!

omg anonnnnnn okay i am gonna play through PL and do the PL ending and then i'm gonna loop back and replay the ending to get the sun because i'm curious now lmao! feel like i am going to be forever crying at this stupid perfect game 😭

i am kinda curious to do the arasaka ending at some point just to see whether there's any kind of like...material difference in the outcomes, because you're right that it does feel like such an unappealing choice to make even if you're on the corpo lifepath?? there was just no point in the game where i started feeling any kind of empathy towards them or wanting to side with them and that felt deliberately done, so yeah, curious to see if there's some sort of completely different ending pathway for choosing that option.

thoughts on PL so far: i'm only on the third storyline quest so pretty early on so far but i really like that it's got such a focus on stealth and kind of puzzle elements with all the climbing etc, it kinda reminds me a bit of portal compared to half-life if that makes sense (and if those references aren't so hopelesly outdated that you have no idea what i'm referring to lmao)

[elvenbeard]

22 J for your V dude!

Thanks so much for asking!! :D

22. How does jealousy manifest itself in them (they become possessive, they become aloof, etc)? 

Honestly, V is actually not a very jealous person overall. Since he tends to need quite some time to be able to open up to others it's more or less a normal occurrence that some will lose interest or turn elsewhere when he cannot give them what they need or want. That's okay with him. It happened before it will certainly happen again. Obviously it's not a nice feeling to be left behind, or to have someone you love "taken away" by someone else for example. But as much as he wouldn't want others to act extensively possessive of him, he wouldn't think of acting like that the other way around. The keyword for him is clearly establishing boundaries and speaking openly about expectations to avoid any feelings of jealously and whatnot from even popping up in the first place. At least that's the theory, practise may differ or not be as plain and simple.

J) Did you have to manipulate or exclude canon factors to allow them to create their character?

I think the Corpo lifepath I chose for him and the general timeline of events predating 2077 leave just enough gaps and wiggle room to fit all my headcanons that make my V my V only and shape him into the person I want him to be xD I did consider aging him up a little bit from the canon age, because in my head he "feels" a little bit older than 27 (I think?)... but I mean, he went through some stuff and had to grow up kind of fast so, it works still!

As for the actual game canon and story and events, some of the special dialogue options I got actually inspired me to shape him more into one direction or another... But there definitely are a handful of dialogue choices here and there that feel very out of character for him. Or at least where I would have wished for a third, more neutral option than the two polar opposites presented.

Most of these I can think about revolve around Panam's storyline, where oftentimes I wished there was a third option to tell her "hey, I think you're pretty cool, we could benefit from keeping in touch, maybe be friends, but nothing more" but instead being given choice A: "I always wished to be a nomad and lead a quiet life, also, I want to spend the rest of my life with you" or choice B: "I'm an absolute dickhead with zero empathy and helping you solely for my personal gain (even though there really isn't that much to gain here financially or otherwise, so why is this even an option?)". There are one or two similar instances with Judy where I would have wished for more variety in dialogue choices, but it was a lot less annoying than with Panam for me personally (I do love Panam, but I feel it's so obvious she was written as male V's main love interest that it really overshadows her character too much for me. I love love love her text messages regarding the other main characters, and how philosophical she gets about life and family and all that which in turn does get my V, who grew up in a very shitty family, to really think what "family" even means to him... I could probably write a whole essay about this so I'll leave it at that for now XD in my head my V and Panam become friends, but it takes them a lot longer to grow close and in general play out a lot different than how it's happening in game, simply because they're from such different worlds but V isn't a coldhearted pragmatic bitch)

There's also one line V says in the Sun ending that I really hate and choose to ingore xD But that's about it for things I changed in my headcanon, everything else worked very well for me personally.

[weirdratblogs]

Right, now my bitching about the story...

Really, it’s just centered around Jackie, life paths, and the montage.

Why don’t lifepaths matter beyond some nice dialogue here and there? You get you intro, do the montage, and then the game jams the rail to make it so you’ve got StreetKid!V’s personality with Corpo!V’s relationships. Especially when it comes to Jackie.

You get something like a handful of dialogue options and alternative choices relating to quests, one side mission relating to your backgrounds, and then... I think that’s it?

And it really seems like Corpo is what they want to be canon, with how much better a lot of the rewards are.

Next, the montage. Like, I get that the story of 2077 is about Silverhand and wanting to ponder aspects of rebirth and the soul and all that good shit, but... without those six months of content, the pacing and relationships V has feel kind of... cardboard to me.

I think I’d rather the heist be an Act 2 rather than the primary objective for the first section, then have an Act 3 be settling the issues with Silverhand. It gives you access to the full utilities of the map, gives you a more reasonable reason to be rolling up to Konpeki with a more advanced character, let’s you get introduced to more characters naturally, rather than randomly getting hit up by mr hands while on your way to chat up delamain... yeah.

Plus, it fixes my issues with Jackie.

Cause, being honest, I don’t know why people like Jackie as much as they seemingly do. He’s kind of one-note to me. And since I didn’t go and do the heist gig immediately, there was a huge amount of time between me leaving him to talk Dex and the client, and picking him up to go get the flathead.

I feel like giving an entire section of the story where he calls you up and tells you to meet him at ‘this cool ripper he’s met’ or ‘to hang out with him and his girlfriend’ or ‘to take a job for Padre’ would’ve been a lot better. Plus, it could’ve allowed for the tension you see in the Gig mission, with his was to escape the streets, be brought up more organically than “oh hey, I was kind of like a big puppy dog for three-ish missions, and now I’m being obnoxious and getting on your nerves”.

That’s just me though.

Next couple of posts are probably going to be on theoretical stories centering around that six months, maybe something to do with a canon where V and Jackie both get out of Konpeki alive.