#like- LONG LONG post hgfhgf

[pinkyjulien]

I really, really hate the "Female V is canon" vs "Male V is canon" debate that been popping here and here in the tags those past weeks

Cyberpunk 2077 is a Role Playing Game, there is no "canon" protagonist, that's the whole point. We all have a different playstyles, different stories and headcanons, our custom V is The Canon V of Our Own playthroughs!

After Phantom Liberty dropped, I've seen a lot of players, on Tumblr or Twitter, voicing their concerne and disappointment in how much more Female V focused the official promo, videos and even in-game credits became

I was one of them too, expressing my feelings multiple times, sometimes awkwardly, frustrated that Male V players were once again brushed to the side, because that's how it feels like, right?

Well, it might feels like it, but this isn't the case AT ALL, far from it. This is only what I would call a "Fandom Phenomenon" and I want to talk more about it a bit

I had a great conversation with a friend of mine who works in the game industry and it opened my eyes on the matter, and I've since been really interested in seeing RPGs statistics!

Because it's really, really important to make the difference between the Casual Player Base (majority of players) and the Fans / Fandom Base (minority of players)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

I always been lurking in fandoms here on Tumblr, since Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and now with Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur's Gate 3

First I want to drop some stats- might be completly wrong, but I'm only sharing my point of view here, in an attempt to explain why some people are frustrated with Female V being the focus (and why we shouldn't be!)

I think it's not wrong to say that fandoms are mostly occupied by women and fem-identifying individuals; fandoms are a safe place for players and fans to share their passions. Women are STILL HEAVILY harassed and hated in the gaming industry as a whole, it doesn't take a lot of digging to catch a vile comment on Twitter or on Twitch for example, you cannot go far without seeing someone either attacking or sexualizing them

This is a huge problem in the industry still, every games that release with a female protagonist get trashed- just look at the bullshit surrounding GTA 6 just because players will be able to play as a woman as an option

Fandoms are also safe for non-gender conforming people, non-binaries, trans people and queer men, but I think fem individuals and women are a clear majority, at least on Tumblr (only talking about genders identity here and not about being queer or not, not talking about sexualities or attraction) (not an official stat at all and only my point of view and experience from being on Tumblr since ~2012)

Now let's talk about Cyberpunk 2077- because this is my main fandom since 2020, and what prompted me to write this post in the first place

CDPR didn't share any stats recently, but it's REALLY SAFE to assume the MAJORITY of players are playing a straight Male V romancing Panam, followed by a lesbian Female V romancing Judy, but the player pools for both options are still majoritarly cis hetero men (and they are still the focus for AAA studios to sell their games, this is sadly just how it is)

However on the fandom side, Fem V was always the focus; virtual photography, mods, ships, OCs... She was always more popular than Male V, getting more interactions and notes and why trends like "Male V monday" were created and why there is still a lack of male V focused mods (non-binaries and trans fem folks and characters are also sadly under-represented in all type of content and art)

So, being yourself as a non-fem player, playing as a Masc V, seeing CDPR officially make the switch from Male V to Female V, when the space you've been in for the past 3 years has been overwhelmingly Female V focused on all front, was a bit of a punch in the guts; like I said earlier, I was reaaally frustrated with this too!

And I'd say it's "normal"? or at least "ok" to feel this way, it makes sense considering how little attention Male V in general get in the fans community

BUT. BUT... It's REALLY important here to realize how we sound and how we look like when we voice our frustrations on the matter; we sound and look just like all the misogynistic people over on Twitter who screams about "woke games" everytime there is a female protagonist in their "non political games". We have to remember that fandoms are suuuch a small part of the game industry

Baldur's Gate 3 recently shared their stats and this interesting tweet got into my dash

▶ tweet

Astarion is nowhere to be seen in the official most romanced companions statistic, but I'm sure a lot of people will agree that he's probably the most popular one in the fandom side!

Another stat here from Mass Effect and really interesting info coming from David Gaider about how the hardcore fanbase aka fandom's choices were WILDLY different from the casual / main player pool

▶ tweet

Getting my head out of the fandom bubbles and seeing the bigger picture, how much under-represented women still are in official medias (not talking about fan content) and how insanly misoginistic the game industry still is, both on the player and devs sides, helped me handle my own frustration on the matter, accept and even celebrate Female V being the focus for the Phantom Liberty campaign

With all that said tho, we all should be able to vent about the lack of Male, Masc and Non-Binary content in the fandom side, while still being aware of the industry state, it CAN co-exist! It doesn't make anyone a bad or misogynist person!

We are all humans and can be awkward and make mistakes, especially when voicing frustration or talking while in a negative mood. Let's educate one another in good-faithed manners when we slip instead of jumping to conclusion and throw accusations

Not gonna lie I kind of lost my train of thoughts and not sure how to finish this post, but I hope this can enlight some people on why CDPR made this choice!

Repeating this as a finale note; this doesn't mean that Female V is the "main" V or "canon" V . It's simply her time to shine, and it's well deserved! The industry needs it

[voidtouchedicarus]

Once you get this, you have to say five things you like about yourself, publicly. Then you have to send this to ten of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool~) 🌼🌻

hgfhgf OK I GUESS. SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG I’M........... havin a hard time apparently lma o,,,

I guess I do like my fashion sense as of late-- and even on work days I feel really comfortable in my nice dress shirts (hopefully more so when my binder comes in within the next few days). It makes me feel confident.

Not to sound vain but my hair is ON POINT lately and i’m feeling peak masc-androgynous and like a general bad bitch when my bangs flip down over my left eye.

Even if work is rough af lately, i’m getting better at making drinks faster despite the pressure/speed I have to keep up w, proud of myself for that.

Been doing more art lately, and trying to keep up w doing art, even if i don’t post it all, just to keep myself from gettign too rusty. And i’m not 100% UGH’d by my art currently, so that’s good!?

I’M TRYING BUT IT’S HARD TO THINK RN UHHHH getting better about not accidentally/subconsciously misgendering myself at home?? or in my head???

[pinkyjulien]

🟨 HighVoltage: Just "Married" 🦝💍🔧

Aaaaaah 👉👈 this is a repost from my old blog again hgfhgf but this one is dear to meeeeee

Shouldn't begin to talk about all the lore here cause- IT CAN GET LONG HGFH Buuuut But I kinda want to gfhhgf

I'll try to do a TL:DR ▶ (ok so after writing, it''s pretty long LMAO lore dump 🤡)

Valentin's canon follow the game's canon but is heavily edited, he's still a V and still deals with Dex, Johnny yadda yadda

Instead of Takemura takin' him from the junkyard tho, it's Mitch and Scorpion who finds him during what should've been a standard scavenging routine

Takin his half-dead ass back to camp, where Dakota was around for some days, she recognized Valentin (he used to work a bit at her garage after she helped him hide from the Wraiths) and tells the ripper to keep the extracted bullet; it's a miracle that kid is still alive, he shouldn't be (and for sure, it's only thanks to the chip, right)

Skipping over a BIG CHUNK of lore here, Val' bonds a bit with Scorp and Mitch, meet with Panam, they prepare the kang-tao shit, the kang-tao shit happens, Valentin saves Mitch's ass and all

then during Scorpion's funeral, Mitch thanks Valentin by giving him a necklace made with the extracted bullet (instead of the figurine, he keeps it) and Valentin won't take it off ever since he got it

They keep on getting closer and closer, starting to crush on each others, they also keep saving each others from potential death (Valentin tries to save Saul by himself, feeling guilty of the wraith attack, rumors started to spread that he was ex-wraith and he felt responsible, it turns to shit and Panam, Mitch and vets goes to save him)

Speed forward to The Star ending, everyone is kind of aware that those two are in love now- but not doing anything about it, ignoring those feelings, Valentin dealing with his low self esteem and past trauma of being used and lied to, Mitch having his own demon with the recent lost of Driss, self conscious about a lot of things (his appearance, his age...)

But after a talk with Panam, Val realize they might very well just- fuckin' die tomorrow, so he decide to check in with Cassidy and see if he can help slicing the bullet in half (after checking with Dakota if it's be "ok", not wanting to potentially fuck any... "spell" or force that the bullet holds with everything that happened to him; she understand instantly for *whom* the other half is for and assure him that it's the good thing to do)

He was supposed to give it to Mitch that evening, but one thing leading to another, everybody got drunk and partied, Valentin got his tattoos on his shoulder, and kind of forgot.

MikoSHIT day happens, and as Mitch was about to leave for the Panzer in that tunnel, Valentin grabs him and finally "kiss" him (more like- smash their mouths together, it was a quick, bad kiss, full of regrets and unsaid feelings) and they both share So Much in those short minutes, Mitch having a reason to survive even tho he was well ready to give up his life for his family, for him

Post mikoshi, both Val and Mitch ends up in pretty bad states, going on and off coma, loosing track of time- but everytime one of them wakes up, they ask for the other

At one point, Valentin wake up for a day, going to see Mitch in another tent and placing the half-bullet necklace around his neck, kissing him shyly in his sleep, hoping wishing for him to come back

Later it's Mitch turn to wake up, noticing the bullet around his neck, and taking one of his dogtags off to place it on Valentin's necklace, who's now back into a deep, needed sleep

They're eventually both OK to move and so the 'Caldos prepare to leave for Arizona, similar to the game's canon

But instead of piloting with Panam, Mitch is the one to share the panzer with Valentin, and while on the lake they both talk a lot, happy to both be alive and with each others, and finally share a prope kiss, that slowly grow into something more, until a thunderstorm pop and having to go get back into the panzer, not letting go of the others, sharing their first time linked together (it was also Valentin first first time, pretty intense and full of emotion) as the raindrops falls against the metal and thunder echoing outside

AND LIKE. SPEED FORWARD AGAIN, They're in Arizona now, but Valentin's condition is slowly degrading, everyone can see it, and they eventually find a really good Nomad "hospital" with folks ready to try and help him, even tho it'll be a heavy surgery and nobody knows how it'll go and if it'll even work

But not wanting to make the same mistake as before, with the fear of loosing him, Mitch ask Panam (now leader of the clan) if she could "make them official" (I do believe the 'caldos have some ritual for couples, not necessary a proper weddings like statics- but then again it depends on the peeps, everybody can do whatever they want! What's sure tho is that there's a big party uwu)

She accept of course, and Mitch tells Val, they're both excited but afraid, knowing what it all means, that Valentin could die, and this is a way to tie them together forever

and basically their """wedding rings"""" are their necklaces, that they had around their necks for a long time now, and were always so important to them; but now it's official and celebrated by everyone

AAAAAAAH. THIS WAS LONG, god DAMN 🤓🤏

If ya read all that? Well first off I apologize, writing is one of my big insecurity and I lack the skill TOTALLY. I been writing here and there in private for myself, I'll eventually get better but yeah for now you have this weird puddle of words 🤠

ALSO really want to one day properly share Valentin's lore, it's been cooking for literal years now and I want to share it with you all gfhh