If we go into the PL lore i think Songbird had a more painful experience than V. I know we had traumatizing moments like when Jacky died, and the endings for him. But i think Songbird had it worse because she always used the blackwall and it poisened her. And Myers didn’t do shit about it, she just used her as a weapon for “peace”.
(If i’m wrong then anybody can corret me and would love to read your thinking about this)
Justanotherpeep1
Songbird single handedly destroyed every important relationship in her life, starting with her friends and then her boyfriend (probably family too). And that’s when she was only a teenager. Then she got groomed by Myers and mentored by Reed, who are two of the most toxic parental/mentor figures an overly ambitious but impressionable 19 year old can have. 13 years of this and she gets extremely resentful of them and prioritizes her freedom from them at all costs. All the meanwhile she makes even more rash decisions that will result in her personality being erased by AI.
That is until she meets V, who not only cares about her but she cares about back, but it turns out the only real comfort she can provide her is death. In theory, V might be fucked but she at least has a couple of people who care about her no matter what (Vic and Misty), and possibly her love interest. Songbird really only has V.
So tempted to conclude… Songbird is more fucked. Phantom Liberty is an appropriate name for the expansion. There’s no real freedom for her other than the one V grants her. It’s also why I like the Reed path a lot. It just humanizes her even though she’s barely human by the time you really bond with her.
ultinateplayer
Songbird.
V’s situation is bad. They’re having their personality overridden in double quick time following a heist which saw their best friend die. It’s painful, unpleasant, uncertain.
However, V is being overridden by a construct that they come to quite like, who acts in V’s interests (mostly) and has a network of supportive people who are trying everything to save their life. V has limited options, but at least 1 of those leads to their survival, 2 lead to at least 6 months of further life and either peace or success, whilst 1 is outright horrible for them. The process is also quick. The events of V’s story are supposed to be a matter of weeks.
Songbird is not an innocent- her naivety has harmed relationships, isolated her, and caused harm. But that same naivety was exploited by one of the most powerful people on the planet, forcing her to prod lovecraftian horrors for the president’s gain over a number of years. This process clearly causes her physical pain, and results in the blackwall AI steadily infecting her. And as we know from using Canto or Erebus, or playing Somewhat Damaged, the AI is deeply malevolent.
She effectively has an ancient evil of unimaginable power trying to take over her. That far outstrips what V experiences with Johnny.
Then the endings. Death is probably her best outcome- her other options are further exploitation, which would likely completely destroy her already-shattered psyche and risk further evil from beyond the blackwall, or a very unclear cure, which may put her at the whims of a shadowy power broker with uncertain motives.
Songbird is fucked.
Scotsman86
Anybody who lives in slavery has it worse than anybody in a similar health situation. Song for me.
wyyan200
Songbird has the literal president on her ass
V just stole some stuff and got sick
in hindsight lol
thefuturesfire
Johnny
Galahad_the_Ranger
Songbird. At worse V “just” dies, at worse Songbird is enslaved and tormented by Blackwall AIs until Myers has no use for her anymore or she becomes a WMD
Just_a_Rose
I feel like “don’t compare griefs like it’s some kind of competition” was a HUGE message this game tried to tell us
Traditional-Party-76
It’s a bit different. Songbird was basically forced into her situation as a teenager, and is now willing to betray and manipulate anyone and everyone to escape. V, on the other hand, *chose* to take insane risks in their mid twenties, and paid the price, but -depending on your decisions- isn’t willing to use people to get out of their debacle.
10 Comments
Yes
If we go into the PL lore i think Songbird had a more painful experience than V. I know we had traumatizing moments like when Jacky died, and the endings for him. But i think Songbird had it worse because she always used the blackwall and it poisened her. And Myers didn’t do shit about it, she just used her as a weapon for “peace”.
(If i’m wrong then anybody can corret me and would love to read your thinking about this)
Songbird single handedly destroyed every important relationship in her life, starting with her friends and then her boyfriend (probably family too). And that’s when she was only a teenager. Then she got groomed by Myers and mentored by Reed, who are two of the most toxic parental/mentor figures an overly ambitious but impressionable 19 year old can have. 13 years of this and she gets extremely resentful of them and prioritizes her freedom from them at all costs. All the meanwhile she makes even more rash decisions that will result in her personality being erased by AI.
That is until she meets V, who not only cares about her but she cares about back, but it turns out the only real comfort she can provide her is death. In theory, V might be fucked but she at least has a couple of people who care about her no matter what (Vic and Misty), and possibly her love interest. Songbird really only has V.
So tempted to conclude… Songbird is more fucked. Phantom Liberty is an appropriate name for the expansion. There’s no real freedom for her other than the one V grants her. It’s also why I like the Reed path a lot. It just humanizes her even though she’s barely human by the time you really bond with her.
Songbird.
V’s situation is bad. They’re having their personality overridden in double quick time following a heist which saw their best friend die. It’s painful, unpleasant, uncertain.
However, V is being overridden by a construct that they come to quite like, who acts in V’s interests (mostly) and has a network of supportive people who are trying everything to save their life. V has limited options, but at least 1 of those leads to their survival, 2 lead to at least 6 months of further life and either peace or success, whilst 1 is outright horrible for them. The process is also quick. The events of V’s story are supposed to be a matter of weeks.
Songbird is not an innocent- her naivety has harmed relationships, isolated her, and caused harm. But that same naivety was exploited by one of the most powerful people on the planet, forcing her to prod lovecraftian horrors for the president’s gain over a number of years. This process clearly causes her physical pain, and results in the blackwall AI steadily infecting her. And as we know from using Canto or Erebus, or playing Somewhat Damaged, the AI is deeply malevolent.
She effectively has an ancient evil of unimaginable power trying to take over her. That far outstrips what V experiences with Johnny.
Then the endings. Death is probably her best outcome- her other options are further exploitation, which would likely completely destroy her already-shattered psyche and risk further evil from beyond the blackwall, or a very unclear cure, which may put her at the whims of a shadowy power broker with uncertain motives.
Songbird is fucked.
Anybody who lives in slavery has it worse than anybody in a similar health situation. Song for me.
Songbird has the literal president on her ass
V just stole some stuff and got sick
in hindsight lol
Johnny
Songbird. At worse V “just” dies, at worse Songbird is enslaved and tormented by Blackwall AIs until Myers has no use for her anymore or she becomes a WMD
I feel like “don’t compare griefs like it’s some kind of competition” was a HUGE message this game tried to tell us
It’s a bit different. Songbird was basically forced into her situation as a teenager, and is now willing to betray and manipulate anyone and everyone to escape. V, on the other hand, *chose* to take insane risks in their mid twenties, and paid the price, but -depending on your decisions- isn’t willing to use people to get out of their debacle.