#cp2077 au: the quiet life

[aggravateddurian]

Durian has created yet another variation of V because I'm just messing around in-game and I had this cool idea...

I can feel the AU mania overtaking me! It is a GOOD pain!!!

I like to call this AU "The Quiet Life" and it's honestly my fave, because I get to write smaller, more intimate stories about an ex-merc just living life in NC and I can create some new OCs to be her friends :).

This one's a 'V never goes to Konpeki Plaza and someone else gets the brain parasite terrorist rockerboy instead' AU. Basically, Valerie took a bullet and fall from a bridge during a gig (James Bond Skyfall-style) sometime during Act 1, before the Heist. Her cyberware saved her life, but she suffered severe injuries.

The injury guaranteed that she would not be able to participate in the Konpeki Plaza Heist, and Dexter DeShawn filled V's spot on the crew with another rising star from the Afterlife almost the second he found out about her situation. It seemed that the city had decided V's lifepath, and it did not include becoming a legendary Solo. Valerie took the hint. She became a bartender and began working for Mama Welles.

That means that while V's met some of the characters she'd normally see, like Evelyn and Judy, she has nothing to do with them. It's kind of bittersweet, and reminiscent of The Tower. V gets to live, but she loses all her chrome (almost everything needed to be removed to save her life) and has to start basically from scratch (she could work as a merc again, but the injuries have had a permanent effect on her, and she can't really bring herself to kill for money again).

Except for some close friends and associates (like Padre, Pepe, Mama Welles, Vik and Misty), V's traditional associates are either dead (Jackie), never met (Panam, Kerry, River, or even Johnny), thought her either dead or left the city (Regina, Wakako) or forgot about her (Judy specifically, after all, V was just some merc she met for like ten minutes and promptly disappeared back out of her life).

[aggravateddurian]

The Quiet Life - Trey and V(alerie)

Possibly some of the most beautiful shippy pics I've ever taken in this game. It just works, like Trey and Valerie were supposed to be 😭

[aggravateddurian]

The Quiet Life - Scars

Valerie Santiago

Ripperdoc Durian here: I did some work to V. As you can see, not only does she have a new arm, but some gnarly scarring as well. I’ve worked out some details and I’m happy with what I’ve come up with.

Basically: V was shot with an explosive bullet, maybe from a Burya. The shot blew off her left arm and tossed her over the second story guardrail of the All Foods Plant. Her cyberware saved her life, but the shot, and the fall, just about killed her. Jackie drags her out of the plant, even managing to get the Flathead while he’s at it.

Blowing off Dex, Jackie rushes V to Vik just in time, saving her life. She’s badly hurt, though, and will certainly miss the Heist. Hearing the news, Dex drops V without a second thought and hires a new merc, who I’m tentatively calling “P” (as in Protagonist). P gets to have the pleasure of Johnny’s company.

V has a long recovery ahead of her, and some of the damage is irreparable, such as a damaged neural interface meaning she can’t use any cyberware OS (like the Sandevistan, Berserk or Cyberdeck), and getting a replacement requires expensive surgery that Vik doesn’t know how to do, nor does he have the facilities. The majority of The Quiet Life occurs after the Heist, as Valerie settles into her new life of serving drinks at the Coyote Cojo, and occasionally pulling out an LMG to deter rowdy patrons.

To save her life, Vik had to remove a lot of malfunctioning implants, meaning she’s down to her gorilla arms (which are disabled for safety reasons), her Kiroshis, an Internal Agent and some other basic implants, like her biomon, contraceptive implant etc. Getting new implants is risky, and V’s just decided to call it quits. She lived her life before becoming a merc without implants, she can make do without a Sandevistan or reinforced tendons.

That brings us to the day that Trey walks into the bar and, quite frankly, uses his unbeatable rizz on V. Stay tuned for more.

[aggravateddurian]

POV: You're dating Rogue's granddaughter and she's finally figured out who you are...

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[aggravateddurian]

It's Shippy Satur-Trey!

May still be Friday where you live though

This set featuring everyone's favourite Nomad without a clan, and the girl who could've been V (and definitely is not Rogue's granddaughter, no sir) in Trey's rarely seen formal outfit (which is actually the default outfit from manavortex's tutorial NPV, because Trey is the first NPV I ever made for Cyberpunk).

Vicky's full transformation into E3 V now possible thanks to manavortex's new E3 adaptation mods.

Judy x Val set also incoming.

[aggravateddurian]

Teaser for Brother's Shadow Chapter 2

I think Trey is gonna get lucky tonight, Date's going well, and not a single corpo assassin or gangoon in sight He best be careful not to upset Vick, or she just might Make him sleep on the sofa tonight

A poem by AggravatedDurian

While Val is, in all honesty, probably getting close to the bottom of a rum bottle to drown out her relationship woes, at least Vicky and Trey are having a good time.

In an emergency, Vicky's bright-ass glowy epaulettes can be used as a flashbang (this is actually something you can do in the TTRPG with the crystaljock jacket/pozer jacket). I probably should've chosen a less... lustrous dress, but honestly it looks good on Vicky.

Will Trey get laid tonight? Will the corpos and the gangs of Night City conspire to cockblock our favourite sad nomad boy? Find out when the new chapter drops tomorrow!

[aggravateddurian]

JESUS THOSE LIGHTS ARE BRIGHT!!!

Brother's Shadow - Chapter 2

The Date

This chapter focuses on Vicky and Trey, and got a bit long, so it's being split into two parts.

This chapter will be continued in Chapter 3, which is going to drop tomorrow. Prepare for some 'saka pigs to get Sandevastated and also the appearance of everyone's favourite Heywood boy!

[aggravateddurian]

Brother's Shadow - Chapter 3

Barfight

This chapter focuses on Vicky and Trey dealing with the Arasaka agent, Shinji Watanabe. What does he want, and how does this connect to the story of V?

Find out inside.

Also, this is now becoming a three-parter because this chapter just broke 2000 words, however, there's enough that Chapter 4 should come out fairly quick.