i'm thinking of doing a monthly sticker club!! 3 to 4 exclusive stickers to a supporter tier on my ko-fi, maybe with an exclusive print as well?

reblog for more opinions pretty please? 🥺

WIP Thursday

Hey everyone! I've been tagged by @nightbloodbix, @socially-awkward-skeleton, @cassietrn, @katsigian, @captastra, @marivenah, and possibly others that I'm forgetting.

Tagging (Opt In/Out): @bbrocklesnar, @carlosoliveiraa, @captmactavish, @alexxmason, @clicheantagonist, @theelderhazelnut, @direwombat, @strangefable, @amalkavian, @voidika, @cloudofbutterflies92, and anyone else who would like to participate.

I have more snippets from Rooney's CP2077 universe for you, including those listed in this poll. (Not gonna lie, I'm kinda surprised that Rooney's family won, lol.) I'm gonna start with two slightly depressing snippets, and then I also have two small fluffy snippets.

First, let's kick off with the winner of the poll, a snippet from the oneshot about Rooney's family. Also, I have to give a strong warning for this entire fic in general. In Mass Effect, Rooney's background is colonist, which means you are essentially left the sole survivor of your colony after being attacked by batarians. In their AU, Rooney's entire town is attacked by bandits, leaving Rooney the sole survivor. This fic is going to deal with distressing topics. If you need to skip it when I post, please do so. I will also have more detailed warnings when I post the final version of the fic.

As for this snippet, I do want to give a trigger warning that Rooney is not in a good mental state and is very much struggling:

The week that Rooney’s family died is always the worst week of the year. Rooney’s normally unflinching, steady demeanor turns brittle. Their mood is an ever vicious cycle of grief looping into tv-static like numbness, which eventually loops back into a grief that threatens to swallow them whole. Their sleep schedule goes to hell, ghosts haunting them in their dreams. Even in their waking hours, the ghosts still haunt them, always there. Nothing holds any interest for them, and they feel a slight sense of nausea, picking at their meals. The weight of a broken promise weighs heavily on their shoulders, and Rooney feels like they’re drowning underneath it all, exhausted of fighting the tide. All they want to do is hide in their room underneath blankets until the storm passes, when they are finally able grip onto some sense of normality. Most years, they power through, only taking the day of their family’s death off. Their usual ritual is to spend the day alone, writing unsent letters to the ghosts they carry with them. This year is different. The grief hits harder, a dark, black cloud hanging over them. It feels so hard to breathe, to exist. Their limbs feel weighed down, each movement more difficult than the last. They feel so numb to it all, to the whole point of their existence. Perhaps, it’s because they died and now know death intimately. Maybe, it’s the fact they’re stuck in this Arasaka facility, amongst enemies and isolated from their comrades. Maybe, it’s that small glimpse of what they saw between life and death. And then, there is Yorinobu, Rooney’s only friend in this lonely place. They’ve been avoiding him all week, unwilling to let him see them like this. He doesn’t have to know, and Rooney doesn’t want him to think less of them. The grief will pass like it always does, and Rooney will be fine. …Right?

(Also, due to this fic winning, you're probably going to get Rooney and Yorinobu's second meeting first as this fic references that fic.)

Second snippet is from the Relic Malfunction fic. The Relic Malfunction fic is dealing with Yorinobu finding out about Rooney having the Relic in their head and the ending of CP2077. Here is the snippet:

V nods, tears running down their face. “I’m so sorry. I should have-.” “Yes,” Yorinobu cuts in, his tone brutal, “You should be the one dying in their place.” Vik opens his mouth to protect V, but someone else beats him to it. “Yori, stop it. This isn’t V’s fault. If you need to be angry at someone, be angry at me.” Everyone turns to Shepard, awake and alert. Yorinobu sits back down, his hand coming up to cup their cheek. “Rooney, is that-?” “It’s me,” They reassure him, pressing a kiss to the inside of his palm, “Silverhand hasn’t taken over yet.”

And lastly, here are two small snippet from some short fluffy fics. This first one is from a fic inspired by a tumblr post (and is essentially Rooney and Yorinobu shamelessly flirting with one another):

Giving him a curious look, Rooney says, “You have that look again.” “What look?” He asks, shooting them a charming smile. “The one where you’re planning something.” “Possibly,” Yorinobu shrugs, as Rooney continues, their hands coming down to the lapels of his jacket. He shivers underneath their touch. With a heavy sigh, Yorinobu starts, “It is such a shame I am going to this party alone. I wish I had-.” “No,” Rooney replies, a response that would sound curt and brutal to most. Yet, he notices the way the corner of their mouth twitches upward, the humor in their eyes.

This second one is from a prompt:

“Delighted?” They quip, still playing with Yorinobu’s hair. He laughs. “Alexandre and Marion adored you. I thought they were going to ignore me all night.” Rooney remembers how Alexandre and Marion lit up at the sight of Rooney, both getting out of their chairs to greet them. Marion gave them a tight hug, telling Rooney how good it was to see them again. Alexandre gave them a firm handshake, but they couldn’t miss the way he looked at them with incredible fondness and a misty look in his eyes. When Yorinobu and Rooney sat down, Alexandre and Marion overwhelmed Rooney with questions about what Rooney had been doing since they left the Arasaka facility. “I thought the same,” Although Rooney couldn’t be too frustrated, when every time they looked over at Yorinobu, he was watching them a slightly smitten smile on his face, content to let Rooney talk, “I really missed Alexandre and Marion too.”