#or more netrunner stuff

[enolasilverstan]

Unlocking bartmoss secrets (and maybe also saving a netrunner from becoming crispy kibble) Datakrash fangirling with Nix (imo best afterlife netrunner since forever) Ask Rogue bout im or don't (she's a queen not a data terminal)

[leota-nexus]

Rules: Post Your OC and then 4 Random Pictures (or more) with no explanation to convey your characters vibe.

Tagged by @katsigian @ghostoffuturespast & @elmknight who also tagged me in this:

compassion: 10/10 (she will find ways to be compassionate even when it's entirely unexpected)

bitterness: 6.5/10 (she's not bitter, she doesn't know what you're talking about, she just doesn't like to look back or remember because honestly they can all fUCK THEMSEL-)

happiness: 8.5/10 (she chooses to be happy when she can but life's beatdowns often win so instead she tries to focus on being fiercely free & flexing hope as a muscle)

politeness: 7/10 (I mean, she thinks she's being polite? She's trying. When she wants to.)

chivalry: 10/10 (Zaddy's a gentleman just do NOT slap a bitch in front of her, she won't ask questions & she'll take the warrant without hesitation)

pride: 🏳️‍🌈/10 (jk, she's learned to be proud of herself but she's not overly cocky)

honesty: 8.9/10 (not always honest with herself + memory issues + knows better than to be a fully open book in Night City but genuinely does her best to do right by those close to her)

bravery: 9/10 (this is maybe not always a good thing)

recklessness: 7.5/10 (look, she knows when to be smart & cautious but she also knows damn well she's always been a chaos gremlin at heart, it's how she burns off steam ♡)

ambition: 6/10 (They said "You're going to die!" She said "No." They said "You could be the greatest Night City's ever seen!!" She said "Jackie already is." Then she promptly fucked off to figure shit out on her time on her terms)

loyalty: 10/10 (if you've earned it)

love: 11/10 (she is Love, she is Fire, she is Passion, she is Hope)

sense of family: 10/10 (she's already debating adopting you into her found family as we speak)

attractiveness: 10/10 (It's taken her a lot of time to learn to love the body she's in & modify it to her heart's content. She's more focused on feeling comfortable with herself than what others think about her but it's at a point where she can feel happy & at home in her body)

agility: 8/10 (she's jumping rooftop to rooftop just sometimes she flubs it & lands on her face, luckily she's got built-in damage resistance & a pretty quick heal response)

sex drive: ~/10 (she's demisexual so it depends)

Tagging without pressure @katsigian @ghostoffuturespast @shimmer-like-agirl @baublekute for the oc qualities + @luvwich @fereldanwench @dreamskug @wraithsoutlaws @rosapexa @astarionhistears @cyberpunkaddict @miss--river @glitchinginthegarden @revachol-route-zer0 @victoria-ward420 @teddys-shion @harellan @my-alternatevy @galdorcraeft @mynonsenseistingling @wanderingaldecaldo & anyone else who wants to join in for either or both! <3

[ruvviks]

// oc picrew. [x]

tagged by; @roseeway, thank you so much!!

tagging; @mojaves, @lestatlioncunt, @dickytwister, @ncytiri, @elgaravel and YOU!

ambrose hawthorne [he/him] // cato wu [she/her] eddie wolfe [he/they] // hanan chisaka [she/her] lauren dimas [she/her] // luna serratos [she/they] nimue nkuna [she/he] // ramiel al-masri [he/him] reuben de la rosa [he/him] // rikki valentine [she/her]

[byberbunk2069]

[hellborg]

Sorry for sluttifying my own OC. I just like to see him werk.

[rosapexa]

No one outside of Hansen's Barghest unit knew about them. And no one in this unit ever told anyone outside.

Lexa and Kurt hid their relationship the entire time, which of course meant they only could behave as a couple behind closed doors. Except in 2068, when Lexa was ordered to work with Kurt and his unit for a couple of months.

Which was also the time they fell for each other.

But it was not love at first sight or anything. They certainly did not like each other at first. And they definitely were not each other's type™.

Kurt Hansen knew Lexa Shaw was one the best and most dangerous Netrunners at Militech and she had combat training on top, which he could respect. But she was never in an actual combat or even outside of North America. So for him she was a nerd who only belonged into a cellar to do her shit, but not with him and his unit. Also on top he knew her father and because of that and her looks and how she behaved in a while he knew she was a spoiled corpo princess. And oh he let her know.

Lexa hated Kurt. She hated his attitude towards her, his character and basically everything. Maybe he was an exceptional soldier, but that only meant to her he had more muscles than braincells. And he was an asshole. Also something she would never admit was, that she was intimidated by the ruthlessness and straight cruelty Kurt and his Barghest showed. Lexa was while netrunning all these things herself, but for her at this point it was a difference between doing things in the net and doing and seeing things in person. So she did not want to be there at all. In the desert. With all this sand and dirt and heat and all these idiotic and cruel soldiers.

Actually that Lexa belonged in a nice cool and clean cellar to do her Netrunner things far away from Kurt, was the only thing they agreed on at first (which was at least something?).

But none of them had a choice and the more they spend time with each other, the more they liked each other...

Please note: These are my personal headcanons for my own Cyberpunk 2077 world. If you don't like it, just ignore it. But please don't be rude about it. Thank you!

I know i already posted a little lore photo story last week, but as usual i threw my original plans to share stuff about Lexa and Kurt out of the window. The thing from last week is still part of their canon story, but i decided i want to start even earlier with them. How they met first and fell in love.

Or maybe i will jump back and forth like in a really weird and confusing tv show. I think it might depend on what i feel i would like to make... So tbh it will be most likely jumping back and forth, because i couldn't do stuff in chronolical order, even if my life depended on it.

But let's treat this post as the "official" first post of this ship. Lexa's canon relationship from 2068 till 2075 (with breaks though), before Johnny and the events of the game were even a thing. And which will also make things even more complicated (and dramatic) with her beloved tapeworm in 2077.

[wifelinkmtg]

man i'm not gonna figure out which of these beatrix potter animals fuck

I'm predicting I will get less and less interested in reviewing new magic releases as time goes on, but 1) there's still a lot of older stuff I haven't even touched, and 2) you never know, maybe they'll do something to recapture my interest down the road, like bringing Kaja Foglio back, or taking any creative risks whatsoever. Or, you know, there's other games!

BY 2029 THIS BLOG WILL EXCLUSIVELY REVIEW THE MOST FUCKABLE ANDROID: NETRUNNER ICE

Meanwhile, original Theros block!

Kiora, the Crashing Wave (Scott M. Fischer)

I don't have that much interest in Kiora as a character but I cannot deny that this is a fine piece of pin-up art. Big Hokusai wave, pearlescent light off her thighs, the cheesecake pose, feet - and the gentle way her hand rests on that tentacle. The connection to the other Hokusai piece everyone knows is surely not accidentacle.

JACKIN OFF? BUDDY LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT KRAKEN OFF

Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver (Karla Ortiz)

There's so many good feet in Magic that you never get to see because Wizards crops them out of the final card, because they're cowards. I, however, am not. You're welcome.

Anyway yeah Ashiok's hot, we all know this already.

Forgeborn Oreads (Ryan Yee)

The starry infusion of Nyx here mixes with the fires of Purphoros to create a look I'm calling Julie Mao if the protomolecule had been red. It's a good look.

Spirit of the Labyrinth (Jason Chan)

Stupid little airhead can't even solve Mommy's brutalist maze, can she?

IS THIS NOT THE PLOT OF REMEDY ENTERTAINMENT'S HIT 2019 ACTION-ADVENTURE GAME CONTROL

Dunno, never played it! If anyone has, let me know if that joke was funny or not!

Reaper of the Wilds (Karl Kopinski)

I guess I do kind of want a woman who can turn me to stone and also crush my petrified ass into powder with her powerful feral serpent body.

Hythonia the Cruel (Chris Rahn)

Goddamn, did Elesh Norn really not have an original thought in her life? "Throne of petrified victims" makes so much more sense for a gorgon tyrant than a cyborg cult priestess, too. Anyway this ain't about her, this is about Hythonia turning me to stone and then sitting on me. Look how her snake-hair entwines her victims bodies. It would be like sleep paralysis, but sexy and forever!

Pharika, God of Affliction (Peter Mohrbacher)

O, for the limb-loosening fever, the delirium of the god-touched! O, for the venom-rite and the sharp ecstasy of the serpent-kiss! O, to be obliterated by a rolling wall of scale and snakeflesh! O O O for Pharika, She of bitter remedy and sweetest poison!

MAN JUST READ SWINBURNE ABOUT IT ALREADY

Ooh, yeah, good idea.

O lips full of lust and of laughter, Curled snakes that are fed from my breast, Bite hard, lest remembrance come after, And—

I WAS OBVIOUSLY KIDDING, DON'T DO THAT SHIT

Aspect of Gorgon (Willian Murai)

The flavor text for this one reads, "My adopted children are loved no less." —Pharika, God of Affliction, so in addition to being an extremely pretty woman with curly black hair-which-is-also-snakes (already a great start), there's a trans metaphor going on here. Which is to say, one can by the grace of Pharika transition to gorgon, and then presumably have a whole lot of T4T gorgon sex. And if I can do all that and also call Pharika "Mommy" then I do think I'm living my best life at that point.

PHARIKA ISN'T RUNNING A SEX CULT

Pharika isn't running a sex cult yet.

[streetkid-named-desire]

20 questions: writing edition

Tagged by @ghostoffuturespast

I tag @luvwich and @lemonlilactea

How many works do you have on A03?

25???!!!!!

What’s your total Ao3 word count?

266,813

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Streetkid Named Desire (First Revision)

Streetkid Named Desire (Definitive Edition) yo this one is at 73,787 words at just 13 chapters whereas the first revision is 103,383 words for 25 chapters thats crazy

Shut Up, Skippy!

12/13/2080 nobody kudos this anymore it's at 69 kudos

Ain't War Hell? the people yearn for platonic silverv

What fandom do you write for?

Cyberpunk 2077 primarily. I do have Fallout and BG3 AUs knocking around occasionally and have one published BG3 fic.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Every single one, even just to say thank you. Unless I have no idea how to reply. Usually I end up explaining something or sharing other thoughts about the fic or my process lmao

What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Uuhh probably one of the short fics? Usually the Bea/V origin fics because I love to torture them.

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

The Hanukkah fic :3

Do you get hate on fics?

No lmao this fandom is not nearly big enough plus I have the benefit of staying mostly in my own lane with having a primary oc x oc ship and that being like all I write about. I'm allergic to writing NPCs as anything but side characters.

Do you write smut?

Sometimes but I still struggle with it skeeving me out sometimes.

Do you write crossovers?

No, I rarely include pop culture from our present world too. I like things to be very lore-contained.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of but it would be very funny and very easy to spot considering it's oc x oc and I've made up like 85% of the shit that happens to them and in them.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No but I'm down.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! @luvwich and I collaborated on Breach and are working on another netrunner chair smut fic that I forgot she had left feedback on/added stuff to. My latest note was about my coprophobia and how I'm torn about the line describing her panties in his mouth "Tasted vaguely of dryer sheets and even more vaguely of the crack of her ass." because i like to forget buttholes exist in smut.

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

My own oc x oc lmaooo I don't have any other ships really like even other media I just am usually fine with canon. Nothing has ever made me want to create new shit before.

What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

The Devil's Arithmetic-esque story about V having a dream where he's back in Mexico as the husband of his like great great great great aunt or something and it's about their time as Jewish refugees from the Spanish Inquisition to working on an agave farm with a tequila company.

What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue and characterization.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Adding character interiority. I just forget to check in with the characters and end up describing what's happening without much flavor or character POV despite it being tight POV.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

I'm learning Yiddish :3 but I have written some Spanish, Portuguese, and Yiddish dialogue and I will write more.

Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

The Hanukkah fic but the definitive edition is becoming a very close second.

[bubblegumrabbitwriting]

Hey! I hope your week is going well :^)

I wanted to ask if you could fish some reference pictures of what the gear MC had looked like. I cant make pictures in my head and everything I find online doesn't feel right, so maybe you could find several photos or something. I understand if you dont want to do this and such, and if you did, id be v happy, i want to draw the gear

anyway, take breaks, drink water, and remember the cup is half full

Hello!

My week is going well, thank you; I hope yours is going just as well.😊

At one point I'm sure I had a file full of reference images and I think even a sketch that I made of what I imagined MC to look like at the beginning of the story but couldn't find it at all. I had a look around and found some stuff that I think would look pretty close—

Bodysuit -

For the bodysuit, I mostly imagine the Netrunner suits from Cyberpunk 2077, as I feel like it's one of the times I've seen the whole bodysuit thing not look too much like a costume.

Cargo's -

Honestly, I just kind of imagined black cargo pants for this; the closest would probably be SWAT uniforms or any kind of riot police. Found these below, which are pretty close.

Chest holster -

Pretty much exactly this.

Poncho -

Like the below but about half the length, stopping just below the chest.

Gloves -

This is a hard one, as most images for clawed gloves bring up cat claw gloves, but I imagine more like slightly rounded tapering pieces of metal with more flat points. But the actual gloves would be close to this.

Visor -

Again, pretty close to this from Cyberpunk 2077.

Hope that helps, and I would love to see any drawings. Praise be to water and snacks—literally 100% of my diet.

Thanks for the ask!

[moonbiscuitsims]

Viktor Vektor Ripperdoc (Cyberpunk 2077)

More Cyberpunk Sims here. Download for CC below.

Reference

My CC included in the folder along with CC list: - Viktors top is a recolour of a Tiny Living shirt, so it requires this pack. - Tattoo sleeve + arm injuries textures are by CD Projekt Red - Earrings K.O. plugs are a recolour of PralineSims plugs and REQUIRE MESH - The necklace is a fake tattoo because I can't make meshes and couldn't find anything good, plus the stethoscope is a necklace and the shirt had compatibility issues with other necklaces. I know its meh, if you don't want it don't use it. - I made custom scars for viktor, they're very subtle, in skin detail category. CC + CC list: Download (Please read TOU on my tumblr)

Minor issue: - Couldn't find the jeans by Darte77 anywhere, but their stuff is amazing and they have lots of others or use any ones you want.

This sim turned out this way thanks to this cool netrunner set with viktors glove, the tattoo textures being available, and the perfect accessories by all the creators :D for so long I wanted to make Vik but didn't have the right stuff and then over a few weeks it all just fell into my lap. On top of that @hamsterbellbelle just made this amazing FUNCTIONAL Gtw Ripperdoc Set which I can't wait to try with him. If you want to take the role playing even further I use Kiarasims boxer trait and Medicine aspiration, as well as Cepzids Doctor Interactions mod :)

Credits to the creators @stamsim @johnnysimmer @pralinesims @dansimsfantasy @serenity-cc @sclub-privee @golyhawhaw @obscurus-sims

[nardos-primetime]

first thing that pops up on my for you page from your blog:

i am so lost from where this guy came from. is this an au? also i am extremely jealous of their hair, i want it for no good reason. lmfao sorry for the weird question/ask.

He's from a newer au I haven't talked about yet! Don't feel weird for asking at all!

The whole au is like. Heavily inspired by Cyberpunk 2077 (a guilty pleasure of mine), it could technically be a crossover au, I guess? I dunno, but I'm lazy/like to do stuff for fun, so certain aspects are obviously going to be changed. I'm not totally settled on designs, but I think I'm gonna keep most of the design aspects from this drawing for the "finalized" concepts.

The main plot centers on Casey Jr being put under the care of the turtles by "Mother" soon after having a whole (unwilling) relic insert situation in his brain, leading to former star Lou Jitsu to be revived within his mind!

The issue is that all of the turtles aren't really. The best father figures. None of them even want anything akin to a child, and even if Casey is 19, these guys are Mercs. Outside of their own clubbing and shows they do gigs for cash, including dangerous ones, ESPECIALLY dangerous ones. Having this new guy is like, a total roadblock, especially because Casey still, somehow, despite Night City's clutches and the last group he was pressured into before this, has some morals about him. The only reason they didn't kill him and stage an accident is because Mother promised them financial compensation for caring for him.

So he's stuck with four new "dads" who mostly all hate him or find him annoying, and Lou is not any different, he also finds him naive but he dislikes the turtles as well because he's a jaded old fuck (major hypocrite, too).

While the turtles are baseline all mercenaries, they share some traits between each other instead of leaving it to a "one guy only" job in most cases.

Donnie has the most technical skill, falling mostly under Techie and Net/Edgerunner, he adores tech after all, he also has illegally dabbles in being a ripperdoc, primarily for his brothers.

Mikey is actually the fallback for general medical issues, including those involving backfiring implants. He's only better at this because he's dabbled in researching (and using) tons of remedies, mainly for pain. He's the guy who's helped Donnie when working on inserting implants in the others. He's even stayed awake during his own surgeries to help Donnie during his fuck ups and implants.

Leo, while not extreme netrunner levels, does hold some hacking knowledge, just what he needs to make things a little easier with anything but combat most of the time, as combat is what he enjoys the most within jobs. He also tends to be the one to make their deals with Mother.

Raph is mainly muscle. Not to say he's simple, it's just his main role and main focus, having grown much more protective over the years, often acting as a bodyguard for the others during their own shows (hence he has the least involvement with any of their music). He's the least of the bad influences for Casey, at least directly.

They used to have another member of the group a few years ago, a media. Or a media wannabe, at least.

They normally have some reference to her, even if small, hidden within their shows.

This is all, of course, not tapping into their mystics, which are a bit different in this au as well with how they work. Lets just say Mother allows them special permissions when it comes to mystic usage.

...at least those are some of the basic ideas I've been throwing around in my head for the story, lol. I like to throw ideas at the wall and see what sticks to me. The whole thing is technically a wip still but so are 90% of my aus tbh lmao, this onrs just a lot more wippy because it's mainly a "for fun" au and I also haven't been able to play cyberpunk for myself to brush up on things outside of research and sometimes a man is just... not up for that, especially lately with my attention span, I hope to brush up a little more again sometime soon and maybe even delve into some aspects from the og ttrpg perhaps, I'm not sure yet, though, haha.

Oops long post, huh? My bad </3

[vince-linder]

Welcome to my blog :D

I am just a cyberpunk enjoyer, doing a bit of VP sidehustle. My main blorbo is the blue haired idiot, Vin(ce) Smidt (truely Linder, but eh), together with his husband, aka Johnny Silverhand. Lately also much with his bestie and roommate Vel(ociraptor) and Kerry Eurodyne.

Also I have a second son, I just... neglected him a tiny bit, cause I needed to work out his story more. Redhead netrunner boy Billy

My main OTP are Vin and Johnny, tagged under OTP: BlueRockerBoy Stuff with Vel and Vin is tagged under blueidiots I decided to tag the polycluster now a bit differently, after the last story. So everything that involves the whole dynamic between the blue idiots and the rockerboys gonna be tagged otp: poly with extra steps

Also got a new boy. Miguel Vásquez Amaro A little Corpo Rat I somehow adore.

My newest addition is a very serious little BD editor/Mox guy Max Vroom

Overall my work is tagged with quendoesvp

At times I also write something and may post little bits or wips here too. In my written bits I write often about the family life of the OTP, and especially also about the kids from them, Jackson and Scarlet, my lil SilverV babies.

If you are interested in supporting me, I also offer VP commissions and have a little kofi where you could gift me something :3 The little price overview for my VP shots right here, anything else on my carrd <3

I also appreciate follows on other socials! Carrd Kofi Twitter

[thatneilj]

Game of the Year 2024

Hey everyone! 2024 sure was a year, huh? Alright let’s be honest, not a great one. At least not outside of video games. The fucking world is a giant mess. Anyway, the couple of small highlights in my life this year were:

Finally reading books regularly again

Finally got back into Netrunner

Finally finished Jump King

Onward to the Game of the Year list!

Honorables

Shelved by Genre

For the last couple years I’ve been putting some non-video game stuff into the honorable and this year we’re tossing in a podcast. Shelved by Genre is a bit of a book club diving into a bunch of fantasy and sci-fi stories. While they weren’t exactly the reason I managed to pick a bunch of books up again this year, the hosts have been really fun to listen to talk about novels I’ve read – and some I haven’t – throughout this last year.

Shadow of the Erdtree

I know I’m that weirdo Fromsoft fan who didn’t like Elden Ring as much as the rest of the world seemed to. The thing is, my issues were never about the mechanical improvements to the game, it was more the structure and design that seemed, frankly, bad at actually giving meaningful direction in the open world. Now years later jumping into the DLC was great because it basically corrected on almost all the issues of the base game I had and ended up being one of my favorite experiences of the whole year. Unfortunately you do still need to play most of the base game to access it and I feel weird about putting DLC onto my list in an official capacity.

Nine Sols

I feel like I’ve only gotten maybe 20% through Nine Sols and it’s already something that would be competing for my game of the year. Some of that might be recency bias, but the general pacing, movement, and exploration gives me a lot of the feelings I last got from Hollow Knight. While that perpetually delayed sequel continues to tease us all, this game is doing for me the same thing the protagonist seems to get from that life giving pipe-weed or whatever he is smoking.

5. UFO 50

UFO 50 is a weird game to put onto this list since it is more like a launcher for 50 other small games. I love the commitment to the collection being the works of a fictional development team making games spanning all the way back to the early 80. However this does lead to, especially with some of the earlier titles, a recreation of some of the more annoying parts of returning to older games. Luckily with so many games when I don’t find one particularly enjoyable I can just move on to the next one!

Even now I haven’t touched all the games in the collection, but I have really enjoyed a handful already that is well worth the price of admission. Some of my favorites I have engaged with include; Camouflage – a navigational puzzle game, House Party – a deck building game, and Vainger – a mixture of Metroid and VVVVVV. I know there is a meta layer to engage with which I just haven’t been driven to do (shocking given my love for games like Tunic), but this ends up on my list more as a value proposition. Do I love every game in this collection? No. Is there at least 2-3 games I think any person would have fun with? Yes.

4. Balatro

When you find run based games they tend to fall into two main flavors – Games like Hades where the choices you make will change how your skills work to make you feel powerful, and games like Balatro that dare you break them and make you feel good as hell while you do it. The basic structure of Balatro is so simple, play hands poker hands to get points and get enough points in a limited number of hands to move to the next stage. The big twist here being that you can start changing the cards in your deck, start making specific hands much more powerful, and of course modify every hand with your jokers.

Maybe you’ll strip out all your face cards or end up with only 2 suits rather than 4. Maybe you’ll make that one Queen worth a ton of extra points, but only if you keep her in your hand instead of playing her. Or maybe you’ll find some jokers that make a lowly Two-of-a-Kind feel like a better hand than a Royal Flush. There are not many feelings this year more enjoyable than playing a hand that’s point value catches fire to indicate you beat the threshold in a single hand.

3. Zenless Zone Zero

I am honestly pretty torn on my feelings about ZZZ and yet I’m putting it all the way up here at Number 3. The first few nights I played it right on release I found the initial cast of characters you get to interact with generally more annoying than fun, I found the strange TV Array mission navigation overly simplistic, and I started getting overwhelmed with how many different items existed to level up all the different pieces of any given character. But I had said over a year ago than then ZZZ came out I would give my first Hoyoverse game a full month for me to try and see why these games seem to be so popular. Luckily the basic action game combat felt good and it had great style.

As I unlocked more of the systems they started doing more with the TV Array stuff putting some puzzles into those missions that acted like breaks from the usual action gameplay and I started to appreciate them. I unlocked the systems for daily energy that lets you farm some of the leveling materials more easily. And maybe most importantly, I got to story content that had characters I found more interesting to engage with and to use. It all started to click.

Here we are some 6 months after release and there is no doubt in my mind that ZZZ is my most played game of the whole year. I am still logging in every day, enjoying the new story chapters, and rolling for more characters. That there is the big elephant in the room though. This game IS a free-to-play gatcha game and they sure do have some predatory hooks in there to try and squeeze money out of you. I will admit to putting a few bucks into the game for the battle passes, but I’m not precious about making sure to get every single character so I haven’t really run into any walls that make me feel like I NEED to spend more money. But all those hooks are there, in my face, and do make me pretty uncomfortable suggesting anyone try to get into it.

2. Dragon’s Dogma 2

I am kind of shocked at how much I enjoyed Dragon’s Dogma 2. We all know that I tend to fall off open world games even when I think they are generally good (looking at you Witcher 3). While I finally gave the original Dragon’s Dogma a playthrough at the start of the year, it was an old enough game that the open world still felt very constrained and it was the class systems and streaming that really got me through it. I did have a good enough time that I thought the sequel would be worth a shot and I am so glad I played it.

The game rewarded me for paying attention to the characters giving me quests, letting me know I should find a guard disguise before visiting the jail to investigate one of the prisoners. It made every little trip across the world feel like its own little adventure where I might be ambushed by a griffon or suddenly see a ghostly carriage. Though perhaps most importantly, the expanded pawn system granting them abilities beyond their classes helped me become much more attached to pawns beyond just my own. Running around successfully gave me a feeling closer to the tabletop experience of adventuring with my friends than any other RPG has gotten. And that is to say nothing of the excellent variance and fun I had playing all the different classes providing a great action experience on top of everything else.

1. Animal Well

A puzzle game with some extra layers has made it into my top 5 many times in the past. We did discover some of my limits for that kind of game at the start of this year with Void Stranger unfortunately, and coming off that there was a small part of me worried my patience for that kind of game had depleted. Animal Well was a breath of fresh air with its moody visuals, 2d platforming traversal, and Metroid-style ability gated map design. What really made it stand out was how well it managed to communicate small goals without directing you through text.

It is hard not to notice that the ghosts you meet so early in the game always seem to be in rooms with candles in them. And once you find your first match to light a candle you discover that the ghost doesn’t come back. Even more importantly though, a candle also lights up in that weird wall full on candles near the very start of the game! Once you add the interesting ways in which the game gives you so many alternate ways to use so many of the items and suddenly the game feels like you can break your way into places only to discover they thought of it too and reward you for it! Though perhaps just with another puzzle piece.

While I don’t think the bigger second ending puzzle hits the same kind of highs that the instruction manual from Tunic does, it is still an extremely satisfying achievement. Knowing how much more there is after that and the ways that the game was built not just to encourage community puzzle solving but actually require it for many of puzzles beyond that ending is impressive. But more than anything I’m just happy to see I still like the sense of discovery in this kind of puzzle game.

[byberbunk2069]

VR hacking for free snacks

[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.

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

[rosapexa]

🖤 Welcome to my blog & thank you for being here 🖤

⚠ Because of my Dragon Age addiction, this blog is now for everything. And sometime i will make a proper new pinned post.

My name is Rosa, i'm from Germany, in my 40s and married. I'm a Virtual Photographer and an amateur Cyberpunk 2077 modder. I only share my CP 2077 photos and mainly things about my OCs here but reblog everything that i enjoy.

Sometimes i share mild nsft things. If you don't like to see these, please just ignore me. Also in general if you don't like what i do and/or how i do it, then don't be rude about it and just mute or block me.

Lexa (main OC)

Alexandra Miranda Shaw (don't use that name!); not V; Maelstrom member since 2072; ex Militech; known in Night City and it's surroundings as "Maelstrom's Ghost"; 33 years old in 2077; in a relationship with Johnny Silverhand since 2079 and married since 2081;

Tags: Rosa's OCs: Lexa, Character Inspiration: Lexa Ship: Lexa and Johnny, Ship Inspiration: Lexa and Johnny

Lexa (alternative universe)

Alexandra Valerie Shaw (Silverhand); aka V or Lexa for close friends only; affiliated with Maelstrom but not a full member; ex Militech and now Merc in Night City and Dogtown; Netrunner Gh0st; 33 years old in 2077; in a relationship with Johnny Silverhand since 2077 and after both survived Mikoshi; married since 2078

Tags: Rosa's OCs: Lexa (V) , Character Inspiration: Lexa (V) Rosa's OCs: Lexa (but she's V this time) ~old~ Ship: Lexa and Johnny 2.0, Ship Inspiration: Lexa and Johnny 2.0

Vala (first OC)

Vala Moreau; my original V; Nomad; ex Bakker now Aldecaldos; Netrunner and Merc in Night City and the Badlands; 30 years old in 2077; survived along with Johnny Silverhand Mikoshi; in a relationship with River Ward since 2077 and married since 2082; lives in the same AU as Lexa (main OC);

Tags: Rosa's OCs: Vala, Character Inspiration: Vala Ship: Vala and River

More OCs (i like creating them, ok?!)

Morgan: Rosa's OCs: Morgan

Ivy: Rosa's OCs: Ivy; Ship: Ivy and Placide

Scarlet: Rosa's OCs: Scarlet; Ship: Scarlet and Dum Dum

Agnes: Rosa's OCs: Agnes

Shay: Rosa's OCs: Shay; Ship: Shay and Royce

Other Tags: OC Ask Game; Ship Questions; Rosa's Mods Side Blog: Rosa's Virtual Worlds - For when i share other stuff than CP 2077, which is very rarely, so i'm not very active there.

Last but not least You can also find me on other Social Media sites. Mainly on Flickr where you can find photos from every game i photograph. But i'm also on Twitter, Picashot and sometimes on Instagram. Also i upload my mods to Nexus Mods. My name is everywhere "Rosapexa". If you would like to know more about my OCs you can send questions into my ask box. As everyone else i love to talk about them, mainly about Lexa (both of them), but i answer every nice (and appropriate) question about any OC (might just take a little while to reply).