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prune-life · 4 years

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Patience, baby (Samuel Drake x Reader) One-shot

Please read the A/N so you won't be confused, thank you!

Tagging: thank you so so much @missdictatorme for wanting to be tagged in this monstrosity of an attempt of a fanfic

Warnings: Nothing, but the reader has a moment (But, Sammy to the rescue! (Yay!))

A/N: Okay, where to begin? lmao I initially wanted this to be a 1920s AU but it got mixed in with a lot of my ideas so, just take it with a grain of that 100 years old, 20s-70s salt. All the flapper slang will be under the fanfic! Also hi hello hi this is my first time writing a Sam fic and I was disappointed when reading this crap, but I do hope you'll enjoy it nevertheless haha. Thank you for reading! (Also, Sully is a bartender, hope you like it!) Also, also, sorry for any grammatical errors!

✧*。 ✧*。

A suggestive tone picked up when you entered the many familiar rooms within the of yore building. It was no grand, simply striding between the many alleys and rat holes which imitated a classic neighbourhood, including the rats within - the people - giving it an excellent vibe of life and long driven days with thrill and fun.

Despite the early-late chatter and noises that eluded out of the nifty house, it never ceased its lively, but overly relaxing atmospheres.

That is, after all, what you came for.

Artie Shaw's clarinet waltzed, his music coming out of a crooky gramophone near the corner of the counter, where stood the man that you’ve been meeting almost the whole week until now, this glamorous week being more than welcoming to the many ideas and opportunities you’ve been met with. Today was, to your own anticipation, hopefully the same day as the others have been.

“Hell-o, darling. When did you get here?” the hair greying man greeted out of nowhere once you stood infront of his wooden counter, a cigar hanging from the side of his mouth, his frame sporting a white button-up, complimented by a typical black vest with - what appeared to be under the everlasting, golden dim of light – an embroidered rose with a story tale red down the sides of his torso.

His grim hands worked themselves on a glimmering piece of glass, which even from your own position, smelled of the nectar called alcohol.

“Just now, all these nights have me feeling like a lonely dud.” You sighed, slumping your shoulders, the black, thick coat which kept you warm throughout all these nights revealing a white fuzz from the inside. You slipped it off to the crook of your elbow and reached the stool you’ve placed yourself yesterday. And the day before. And the day before that. “What about you, Victor? Still have that cuddle-cootie slat biting on your ankles?”

Sully stopped in his tracks, rising an eyebrow at you curiously, before exhaling, a smile tugging on the corners of his smoky lips. He set down the freshly washed and wiped glass infront of you and turned himself around, reaching for the drink of runny rum, which had the nickname of your 'usual'.

“I believe they had a wonderful... Night. Together.” His gruff voice directed towards you, and he tilted the bottle forward. "Elena is quite the catch, Nate's doing well for himself."

You put your palm onto the ring of the cup, giving him a subtle smile, and he halted.

“Not today.”

Sullivan’s arm spread wide and he slightly bowed, turning around, setting the glass up on its mighty spot, “What will it be, then?”

“Just juice will do,” you whispered, looking around the bar, before giving him a twinkling wink, “only for tonight.”

You continued after he popped open a boring bottle of fruit juice, setting it infront of you like it’s the holy essence itself.

“I’d think that Elena would know better than to... Get it on with a forty-niner,” you took a short sip from the bottle, quickly putting it down, “no offense.”

“Don’t say that to me,” he chuckled, “feathers is much obliged, they might've had a couple too many drinks than was planned,” Sullivan sent you an amiable grin, before you turned around and stood on your feet.

“Going to test your skill on billiards?” he questioned from behind you, tapping his finger on the side of the juice jar.

“As if I ever will,” you smiled back at him from behind your naked shoulder, the pearl necklace hugging your neck tight shifting, “I’d much rather keep it calm this time, had a stressful day.”

“Want to talk about it?” Sully offered.

“Nah, I’m alright,” you sighed, but looked forward and began step-stepping away form the busy man.

Victor exclaimed after you through the loud musica, “No hesitation to talk to me, sugar!”

You smiled to yourself.

I know.

✧*。 ✧*。 ✧*。

A tiny tinkle rung above your head, your shoulders immediately getting the breeze of cold air from the closest window, hair bobbing with the silent wind. Music played, this time in a hum, the people around the table eager and keen, some of them hanging by big cushioned seats under a light that shined in the middle of the pool table, as above, so below, a glass visible inside it, staring almost trimmed back at you with it’s shiny reflection.

The place was a brown green aesthetic, with alcohol and cigarettes flaring up your nostrils, wafting through the air like a swarm of bees. The people were lucky there was a window.

“Hey, dude look at you making a spiffy!” an arm swung over your bare shoulders, the warmth creating a sudden, harsh sensation.

“Hey, Chlo,” you snickered at the drunk girl, her ponytail swimming around from behind her neck as always. Her shimmy moving ignited your alert, her stumbling more than foreign to her usual self.

“I’ll tell you what, I’ve seen some keen molls around gin mills- Jesus,” Chloe followed, before Harry stood up infront of the two of you.

“She’s... wasted,” you laughed gently, grabbing her arm and hoisting her arm up yourself, her legs regaining their balance.

Harry nodded in return, crossing his arms over his chest with a soft, inaudible sigh that you only caught by a grumble.

“Bad day?” you asked, pointing to the girl.

“Bad day,” He nodded, “we all have them.” He continued, chuckling, grabbing the girl by her armpits and quickly striding with her to the closest, unoccupied cushion that could work as her own throne.

You shook your head at the girl, eyes trailing around the pool game.

The silent group of people that orbited the room were engaged in touchy-feely kisser conversations, and you felt a sudden feeling of loneliness run over you.

You decided to pack your loneliness out on the club of crickets that played out by the dumpsters from behind the bar's doors.

Together with the unboxing of your halfway empty cigarette box, the everlasting, sickening strawberry scent piled in a round swiftly sticking onto you and your clothing. Your run down, 20s lighter flickered your cigarette on and you took the deepest breath you have all day.

Alone with your thoughts, finally being able to breathe, your back goosed up from the cold, accomodating with the change of icy temperature. And you enjoyed it. To an extent, it brought you an unfamiliar feeling of serenity.

In this hectic world, it was hard to find this one feeling. Except it was there, for a split second, growing and manifesting into euphoric silence.

Tears suddenly welled up in your eyes, and you took another drag of your cigarette, your exhalation a shaky breath.

Warmth spread on your cold shoulders, and the moment you didn’t budge, a sweet, honeyed voice whispered in your ear.

“’vening, princess,” rough hand slithered their way around your shoulders, gently ringing themselves around you, a subtle contact of the person’s lips sitting atop of your exposed shoulder.

You slightly smiled and blinked the tears away, tilting your head to the side to give better access.

Chapped lips enveloped your skin in tender butterfly kisses, and whilst your bad mood didn’t exactly falter, you felt a strand bit better just because of his presence.

“Hey... Sam, where have you been?” you breathed out when his mouth moved to your jaw and began rubbing his cheek against your own, hugging your waist from behind, front lingering on your back for deeper contact. The warmth of his opened button up warmed up your whole spine.

“Funny story. For another time,” he chuckled slightly, the scarred skin of his temples sitting under your jaw, his hair tickling your side gently, “where have you been?” he asked softly.

You inhaled sharply, but didn’t budge, holding the breath for a little longer, eyes focusing on the lamps of the back alley. They flickered and peppered the scene with a nice glow, and your eyes adjusted only to a fraction of the flashing lights.

Sam suddenly took hold of your wrist and brought the cigarette hanging loosely between your fingers to his face.

Snapping out of the brief trance, your head turned to his side, and your breath hitched in your throat when you tried to take another, without exhaling.

The handsome man stared into your eyes, before he took a slight drag out of the cigarette, smoke slipping past his ever chapped lips upon taking it out.

Just then did you force the breath out.

“What’s on your mind, dove?” he took the cigarette in his other hand and raised his other one to caress the other side of your face with his knuckles.

“There’s alot of things on my mind,” you sighed, closing your eyes for a split second, letting your cheek press onto his knuckles, his bruised skin inching closer into the plush.

Sam remained quiet, straightening up, and your eyes snapped open at his movement.

“Let’s go for a ride.” He said, slipping the cigarette into his mouth, hopping off the stairs, grabbing your hand.

You raised your eyebrows, but smiled slowly and pushed your coat up, reaching your hand out, your fingers intertwining into his.

“Where to?” you asked.

“You’ll see,” his eyes lingered on yours.

You took a step forward, “Alright.”

✧*。 ✧*。 ✧*。 ✧*。

The wind splashed into your face like cold water, each and every single bump available on the road making Sam’s motorcycle jump up and down. The green and yellow hue that blended in with the night created a soothing vibe, and you couldn’t help it when your voice chimed out in an exaggerated yell of excitement the more Sam sped up.

Sam was a good driver, especially on motorcycles, so you trusted him with his skills to not crash the two of you into a nearby dump.

The screeching of tires suddenly stopped your voice, and you fed your sight to the beauty of reflections within a far sea that stretched out into the unknown over its width.

The many shades of purples, blues, greens, yellows and even pinks created a translucent shade which screamed in your face.

“Wow..” you breathed out, stepping off the vehicle, your low heeled t-straps clicking along your speedwalk to the metal fence separating you from the ocean.

You heard Sam’s steps behind you, their sound coming closer and closer, before he was right beside you, his hand flying to your own, fingers slithering their way between yours.

“Do you.. you like it?” he stammered out, his voice a soft snickery, eyes watching your every move.

“Do-do I like it?” you whispered, the cold catching onto you slowly, “Sam, it’s... Beautiful,” you giggled, tapping the fence. “But cold.”

He let out a breathless chuckle, standing closer to your frame, his finger curling under your chin, “Sure is.. look at you, going all shaky on me?”

Your knees slightly buckled and you pursed your lips in embarrassment, gaze flowing down to the waters.

Sam’s finger tilted your head back to face him, your eyes locking onto his shining, hazel ones once more.

Your teeth gently dug into your bottom lip, the plump skin creating a sudden pillow for your ever growing nervousness. His warm fingers spread under either side of your jaw, and before any of you could speak a word, your lips were seduced by his in a slow, starting kiss, your hands trailing up his chest, to the crook of his neck, where you ringed the exposed flesh of it in a slow, lustful motion.

His chest rumbled in a groan when your fingers dug into his scalp, and you tugged back. The tip of your tongue spread on his bottom lip, and he much obliged in twirling his own over yours, slowly and steadily, gaining control over your pace.

The cold pipe holding the fence in place pressed against you, and the coat which provided enough warmth for the time being of your heated moment, turned into pudge, sliding down your shoulders, far off your elbows and fell on the ground, the length now shocking your skin through your thin gown, the frozen material hissing on your lower back.

You squeaked and jumped, Sam holding your hips in place so you wouldn’t fall over, your arms tightening around his neck, lip slightly bruised red from the gentle nibbling he’s been giving you.

“You okay?” he asked, his lips quivering in a held back laughter.

“Oh, oh yeah, yup,” you cleared your throat, reaching down for the coat, putting it over your shoulders hastily, “absolute dandy, swell.”

You looked up at him through a pout, I ruined the moment, what a way to go..

Sam sucked in his lips and licked them, tilting his head and coming down to your height, giving you a quick, breathless kiss, before scooping you up, his strong arms ringing under your armpits.

He took you like a ragdoll, hanging you to his full height, walking towards the motorcycle.

“Well, doll, seems like the clock’s ticking and we’ve got a bit more time to go,” he said in a sing-song voice, plopping you down on the back seat, your form emitting a gentle huff, “and I know just the right way to make you mine throughout all of it,” he sent you a kiss on the cheek, hand on your shoulder, a slight smirk candying his handsome face.

You pursed your lips into a thin line and looked up at him in anticipation, eyebrows rised whilst awaiting his proposal, which you would without hesitation, accept.

“How is that?” you slowly asked, letting a small smile appear.

“With drinks, of course,” he bowed down to you, giving you a smooch on the lips hastily, before he sat on the motorcycle.

You slumped behind Sam in disappointment, but continued on slipping your arms through your clothes nonetheless, giving him your soft, sad puppy eyes that bore into his back.

Sam gave you a side look, before turning around fully, a finger rising up to under your chin.

“Don’t worry, baby girl, I’ll make sure you won’t be able to walk tomorrow.” His slow whisper forced your breath to hitch, goosebumps running up your arms surprisingly, and before you could respond, the motorcycle worked more as a stimulation to your growing nerves than you could’ve expressed to him.

The rest of the night bugged your mind, your eyes always flickering to the clock, counting minutes with Sam only giving in his mischief through those sinful, hazel eyes, the message in them always demanding to you, 'Patience, baby.'

✧*。 ✧*。 ✧*。 ✧*。 ✧*。

Dud - A wallflower

Forty-niner - A man who is prospecting for a rich wife

Slat - Young man

Cuddle-cootie - Young man who takes a girl for a ride on a bus

Feathers - Small talk; light conversation

Spiffy - Elegant appearance

"I've seen some keen molls around gin mills-"

Keen - Attractive or appealing

Moll - A gangster's girl

Gin Mill - A bar

#uncharted #uncharted4 #fanfiction #sam drake #x reader #uncharted+x+reader #samuel drake #sam drake x reader

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arlakos · 4 years

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Miraculous Rank List: My list of Secondary Superheroes

Considering most of my usual posts contain a fair amount of salt, lets go for something a bit lighter today!

This list basically covers my listing of all my favorite secondary heroes and ranking them from best to worst. I’ll be working my way up from the heroes I like the least to the ones I love the most.

With that statement out of the way, lets get started.

Number 8: Bunnyx

Yeah, this may be a shock to some, but I don’t like Bunnyx. I think her power is cool, and I think the outfit is ok, but everything else about her is just so not cool. And that really has to do with her debut episode: Timetagger

Aside from her episode being the one where its revealed the miraculous powers become unlimited when you become an adult (which is just dumb!) her attitude towards Chat is extremely shitty, along with the fact the show this episode LOVES to point out how Bunnyx being stuck was ALL CHATS FAULT, with the show pretty much rubbing it in all episode! There's also the fact she does pretty much nothing in the long run, with the day pretty much being saved (yet again) by Ladybug! Sure, this is a running theme with most battles, but it would be cool for the other heroes to be able to win a fight without Ladybug's help.

Number 7: Pegasus

There’s nothing really much to say about him other than I find him boring.

The new heroes' idea was a nice thing in season 2 when it first came out, and the fact they limited themselves to only 3 heroes was pretty good so far. Unfortunately, season 3 has made the idea of new heroes kind of boring with just how many they introduce in the season alone. However, with the rest of the heroes, most of them had a pretty good introduction to warrant their place on the team and the fan hype. With pegasus, however, there wasn’t really much of a good intro for him, at least in my opinion, and when he finally appeared, I was underwhelmed.

His outfit, despite having an ok design, radically changed his appearance in comparison to other characters, and the colors really failed to suit him at all. His superpower is an ok superpower. A portal is not a bad power but again, pretty bland as well.

Number 6: Queen Bee

Yeah, Ironic since I'm a huge fan of the Chloe redemption idea, but canon did my girl rough.

From having her reveal herself publicly to essentially having her put lives at risk just to show off, Astruc really tried to hammer home that Chloe would not become a hero. Even the bit at the end of Queen Wasp wasn’t enough for me to get rid of my hatred for the episode.

Despite that, Malediktator and Miraculer (the second half at least) were enough to improve her in my books, but it's still a far step away from the other heroes rather simplistic intros. I would’ve been fine with Chloe’s intro to being a hero if the other heroes weren't treated marginally better in comparison. Everyone else was chosen by the ‘amazing’ Ladybug and all of them listened to Ladybug and did everything right and everyone else is perfect - While Chloe found the box by mistake and became a villain by the end of season 3. Really Astruc? Really?!

Despite all that and the season 3 finale, I still like Queen Bee, but there is no mistake that her introduction left a pretty bad mark on her (temporary) hero career.

Number 5: Viperion

Luka’s debut as a hero was also something I felt was off. Not only was Luka not chosen initially (due to Ladybug choosing Adrien for the sake of her crush, which was actually one of the good parts of the episode as Adrien basically chose Luka for her, and was some good character growth for Ladybug) but Luka’s abilities are kinda .... weird.

Not so much the superpower, the idea is based off the ouroboros, which has been misinterpreted before to represent ‘infinite’, which makes sense considering his power is a time loop but the tool itself.

Chat Noir and King Monkey have staffs, Ladybug has a yoyo which can tie up baddies, Rena has a flute which also functions as a mini staff, and Carapace has a freaking shield! Even Pegasus has a boomerang Horseshoe.

And Viperion ... has a freaking Lyre. A freaking musical instrument that doesn't even function as a weapon.

Sadly, Viperion’s tool was pretty much designed only for the Desperada episode, due to it allowing him to distract the main villain of said episode. Aside from that, it doesn’t really do much for him combat wise.

Hell, if you’re going to have Viperion have a freaking Lyre for a weapon, at least have a funny scene where they have him using it to serenade every boy and girl in Paris! Just have him play music and everyone just becomes swooned by him, as well as make straight guys confused on their sexuality.

0/10, not enough Luka serenading Paris for me.

Number 4: Carapace

The Anansi episode actually did a few things right for my boy. He fought Anansi by himself without a miraculous, which was a good thing, he kicked even more ass as a hero for a bit, which was also a good thing. Unfortunately, he, like every other hero, was not given a chance to shine as he was completely overtaken by Ladybug. Again, it's a running issue with every secondary hero, but after he becomes a hero, he is pretty much playing second fiddle to the ‘actual hero’.

Aside from that episode, he has some pretty rough luck with being a hero. Like all the other temp heroes, he was overtaken by the akuma in heroes day, with his only part being stopping Hawkmoth from attacking Ladybug and Cat Noir, which is still a good thing, but after that, he doesn't have really anything much going for him. Still though, like Roy, he is my boy, and I love our hero with a shell shield, even if he doesn't have actual Turtle Power.

Number 3: Ryuko

Cool Outfit? Check. Cool Power? Check. Badass Kagami? Double Check.

Kagami had a lot of good things going for her in her debut. Her power was one of the coolest I had seen in a while and she had a badass outfit to go with her. I also like Kagami a lot, so it helps with the favoritism a lot as well. Unfortunately, her identity was revealed to Hawkmoth, and she didn’t make that many appearances, even compared to other heroes. Still, she is pretty cool.

Number 2: King Monkey

Whoever decided to give Le Chien Kim a miraculous was absolutely bananas, but I suppose that is for the best. :)

Like Ryuko, he has one of the greatest costume designs, and his power is awesome as well, and Kim as a miraculous wielder is absolutely amazing, being sporadic, crazy and funny as well. However, he suffers from the same issue as Ryuko, with that being that he doesn’t have much screentime as a hero, even less than her.

The difference is that I love Kim a bit more due to his personality, and when you combine it with the monkey miraculous out of all miraculouses in the box, and I could just watch an entire series of Kim monkeying about Paris. He’s that cool and funny to me.

That just leaves number 1...

Number 1: Rena Rouge

Rena Rouge’s first appearance was one of the best introductions in the series (aside from King Monkey), and the episode itself was certainly one of the better ones compared to the rest of season 2.

When I first saw Rena Rouge back in season 2, I was amazed by the episode. It didn't have any bad or cringe moments, no character bashing, no implied salt, just Ladybug, Chat Noir, and the new hero bantering and joking with each other while fighting another akuma, and it was amazing. The fact that they showed being a hero through Alya’s perspective really helped to show her excitement at not only helping Ladybug and Chat Noir, but also being a hero flying through the air. Rena joking with Chat was certainly one of the highlights

But undoubtedly, the best part was probably at the end with her giving back the miraculous, and showing that no matter her feelings, she was one of the best choices as a hero, and proving to herself and others that she is hero material as much as Ladybug and Chat Noir. Again, this was before season 3 gave miraculous out like Oprah gives cars, but semantics. Going back, the episode still hasn't been sullied by time and remains one of the best episodes and hero introductions in the entire series. Which is why Rena Rogue deserves the top spot.

And there you have it! Feel free to create your own list of favorite secondary heroes in your reposts and tell us why they are at the spot on your own list.

For the sake of people I respect and watch on Tumblr, I ask @twin-books, @ratheroddranger, and @rucky-chan to make their own lists of favorite secondary heroes and tell us why they arranged their list that way! They don’t have to do it, but it would be cool if they did!

#Miraculous Ladybug #Miraculous Ladybug Secondary Hero List #Season 2 #Season 3 #Ranking Temp heroes from worst to best!

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suffering-and-happy-about-it · 5 years

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Nightmares from the past (Nathan Drake headcanons)

A/N: Oh boy, this isn't a happy headcanon at all. If you don't want to read about depressing Nathan with PTSD, don't read this, please. And also, I went on fully rage writing mood and then I realized that I ended up in a complete different headcanons. Well, what should I say? 😂

Also also, inspired by Saturn, released by band Sleeping At Last. And... Shit, they're long as hell.

Ok, so this little love of mine has a lot of demons down the road. Like a serious load of them.

Like a dead mum which he loved.

Like a lousy father who put him and his older brother into an orphanage.

His brother, the person he wanted to always shared everything with, was far gone too, dead inside the walls of the Panamanian prison. (This poor Nate still doesn't know that Sam, that little shit, is alive, ok?)

So it's no wonder he has brutally vivid nightmares after which he just wakes up crying.

This little kid has these nightmares since forever, so he often says that he just managed to learn, how to live with them. Even though he never did. But after Sam's death, it was a way worse.

He watched his brother Sam died for like a hundred times in his dreams, and that pain was just the same every single time. It was more and more soul-wrecking that for the first time.

There was a time when he rather works until he fell into a dreamless sleep or just lay on his bed, don't even bothering to try to fall asleep.

He tried everything. Not drinking coffee? Check. Yoga? Check. Diet based on plants for calming down the body? Check. Tea with lemon balm? Check. Listening to slow ballads or orchestral/piano serenades before sleep? Check. Some sleeping pills? Check. Marijuana? Double check.

Like trust me - he tried every single way to sleep like a normal person.

He even had his sessions with psychiatrist and psychologist - and nothing helped.

That poor baby just every time woke up in the middle of the night, totally sweaty and crying.

So one day he just gave up and let his demons take him down the road. He didn't even try to fight back much.

Nathan looked at that time, around the twenty-fifth year of his life, as a serious mess. He practically couldn't focus on anything, everything was just blurry and too fast for him to catch.

He just like seriously lost a lot of weight at that time, almost unable to eat or even live. These months were seriously tough for him.

He even thought about suicide a few times; he wanted to overdose himself.

But thanks to Victor Sullivan, his Dad figure™ and guardian angel™, he never really got the chance to do that.

So one day he went to a coffee shop because Sully left the town in a hurry and those miserable feelings just hit him all of the sudden.

And the first time he didn't even notice you sitting outside with your nose in a book about astronomy. See? He just couldn't focus on anything.

And you didn't saw him either. You just sat there and with a tender smirk, you read about the moons and stars.

He talked to you on his way back - and not because he noticed how beautiful you are, but because he asked, how much is the time.

So you smiled at him and fondly answered, that it's like three in the afternoon. And actually managed him to start talking with you.

You couldn't see that through his destroyed looks, you thought that he's a junkie at first, but when you two cracked some jokes, you noticed those huge blue puppy eyes with a mix of green in them.

Then you noticed his perfect teeth and attractive smile which always was a huge win-win for you.

He was an overall cutie and he was pretty sweet and funny, but you had a boyfriend at that time and decided not to listen to there callings.

Then he told you his full name.

"I'm Y/N L/N. It's nice to meet you."

"Oh crap, excuse my attitude and manners. My name is Nathan Drake."

"It's ok, big guy. But I do know that name from somewhere, don't I?"

So he went fully in and told you all about Sir Francis Drake, the famous pirate. He got really passionate, so he looked like a living person when he started talking about that pirate. And you were seriously glad that he did.

When you had to go, you told him about your plans, watching the stars that night, and asked him to join you. And he gladly accepted.

So you wrote him your address and phone number into the book you gave him to have a grantee, that he will actually show up later that night

"I need that book back, Nate."

"Yeah, I'll carry it with me. I promise."

So you made it back to your work and worked to the end of the shift, while Nathan sat at the coffee and read that book with a frown.

He never actually looked at the stars with the intention to know them. He just assumed they were there and that they shine and that was all.

So he managed to read the whole book in one evening just because he knew that you'll think he knows something about the stars.

He came a bit late because he was buying you a bottle of wine as thanks for having him and also, that traffic situation on the roads was just crazy.

He couldn't see how gentle features of your face were because he couldn't concentrate that much at that time, but he immediately spotted bruise surrounding part of your lower lip, you had a big bloody crack there. Nathan knew them really well - those bruises you got after being slapped or punched.

He naturally tried to ask about that bruise by his own stumbling way, but you just smiled and said him not to worry, you're ok. I've just fallen, that's all.

And he felt that there's something not adding up and that you, like him, got some own, personal demons who you're fighting with. But he remained silent, just followed you to the rooftop with a frown.

And oh boy, that night was one of the best in his life. He impressed you with some basic knowledge, he knew a lot from your book and he searched online the rest.

Even when he was telling nonsenses he kept that serious face and you didn't tell him anything. You were just quietly smiling at him.

"And why to you watch the stars, Y/N?"

"It's not so easy to say, they just fascinated me since always a when I'm on this rooftop, it's just that feeling inside me, you know?"

"A feeling? Tell me more, please."

"A feeling that universe was made just to be seen by my eyes.

Both of you had a lot of laughs that night, Nate was asking you the basic information about you; like how old you are, where you've been born and so much small details that connected one with another. In exchange, he told you a lot of things about yourself.

You both couldn't believe that it's already midnight when you looked at your phone. Nathan knew he has to leave and he really didn't want to. He knew that as soon as he leaves the rooftop, those demons will try to keep him down again.

You could feel his mood slowly coming down as if he was the man you've met that afternoon again. And you couldn't just let that be.

"Hey, I've got an idea, Nate."

"What idea?"

"Next week I'm planning to watch Polaris Centauri solar system. It's its time of the year. I would love you to come observing it with me, but I don't have the time to search through the materials because of work and so on...”

“Don’t worry about it, I'll do the research.”

“Really? Thank you, Nathan!”

And boy, he couldn't wait for your next meeting. He even told Sully about the meeting you, excitedly inviting to come over - because Sully was an ex-marine who knew stars better than anything else in the world.

So he called you and asked about Sully coming with him, and you were really excited about having such an experienced astronomist with you on the rooftop when you were about to watch something so spectacular.

So they came together on that night, an hour before midnight. You were actually fond of meeting Sully - he was a gentleman with the funniest puns you've ever heard. You got that sexual predator vibe from him, but it must've been too gone history and he basically didn't even try anything.

They immediately noticed a big violet monocle around your eye, which you tried unsuccessfully covered with make-up. The bruise under your lip was still there, just as thick scab covering your lower lip. But both of them remained silent.

Nathan was just smiling at the sight of the two of you arguing about the stars with a lot of laughs, covered in a blanket and drinking that wine he brought you, feeling so damn fine. He didn't even mind that he almost didn't talk at all.

Sully even showed you stars you didn't know about, he was so excited about having someone who was actually curious about the night sky.

They left at two a.m., with Sully promising you to surely come back sometime, thank you for a lovely night, the cake you baked for them and the fine wine you offered them. It was the only Nate bought recently.

Nathan offered you to stop by on the start of May to observe the Pleiades and β Taurus in the Hyades star cluster. You were excited to accept his offer with a smile. He truly worked on his knowledge about the universe.

It was a long time from that night, but he was looking forward to it. Nathan was working on a new treasure hunt beside Chloe Frazer and Sully in the day and watched the stars in the night. He was keeping himself pretty busy all the time and he was pleased by that. He slept at night; he had no dreams nor nightmares.

When that night came, he bought you some takeaway food you told him you like and a bottle of pretty expansive booze. But you didn't come down to open the door for him. He worriedly rang the doorbell.

Your boyfriend, an aggressive asshole, peeked out of the window. He immediately saw red again; Nathan was now looking like a nice guy, he still had really low weight, but his contours were slowly filling back to their original size. He was a handsome lad now; and since your boyfriend was such an asshat, he assumed you have a date.

So he ran down the stairs and before you could stop him, he punched Nathan in the face for a few times. But Nathan wasn't a weak lad so he could keep up with those punches, actually punching your boyfriend into a small ball.

Then Nathan broke back into reality. The food was all over the walk, the bottle was broken into two pieces and a group of people was watching them without breath. You stood there with tears in your eyes, your hands were trembling and you looked between your boyfriend in pain and Nathan, who was slightly damaged, but on his feet.

"Y/N, listen. I've just wanted to do..."

"You've done enough Nathan! Go away!"

"Y/N..."

"Get fucking lost, Nathan!"

You managed to pick your boyfriend from the ground and you carried him to your apartment.

You felt bad for Nate, he was innocent after all. Your boyfriend provoked him, so Nate only reacted on that attack. But you know that your trouble only started.

Your boyfriend was seriously a dumb idiot. He was aggressive, he was beating you for every single bullshit he made up. But you still loved him and believed that you can change him. You couldn't - but you naively thought you can do it.

And Nathan finally understood. He has beaten you every time before your meetings because your boyfriend thought you're cheating on him with Nate. How could he have been so blind?

His demons started to show up again in his nightmares - to the normal circle of his dad beating up Sam protecting him, the orphanage memories, Sam dying and now a new one showed up. It was a scenario, where your boyfriend flipped you into the corner after beating you up, you were crying and shaking. And he couldn't save you.

Nathan stayed low for a few days in his apartment only living on his coffee and a pack of cigarettes, eating only some Chinese noodles.

Sully just invaded into Nathan's apartment, making him wash, have some proper food and put on some clean clothes. He didn't hear from the kid for almost a week and he could worry his ass off.

"What's the deal with you, kid? Frazer texted me like a hundred messages a day."

"Y/N's boyfriend punched me. So I punched him back."

"You've been always such a gentleman, kiddo. And how's that beauty? She good?"

"That's the problem, Sully. She doesn't pick up my calls and she doesn't respond to my messages."

So, Sully, the Das figure™ stepped in.

He managed to contact his friends and made them find the place you work in. And forced him to go see you.

So the next day he was waiting for you in front of your work when your pause started and he even went to see the coffee he met you in. The receptionist them told him, that you didn't come to work that day and you didn't even tell anyone where the hell you were.

You were really important for your colleagues, you were the one who brought everyone together... Well, you used to. She told that in the last few days you felt off, without any joy and that you tried to hide many bruises by make-up.

Nathan felt alarmed immediately, he just knew that something has truly fucked up. Just like in his nightmares, he couldn't breathe and almost vomited at your workplace.

So he immediately took Sully's car and drove to your place. On the way to your flat, he was just worried, but when he got out, he went into full-on rage mode.

NOBODY will lay his hand on HIS friend. Not even her boyfriend.

He straightaway broke into your apartment. He didn't even try to ring your way in, he just broke your doors.

And there you were. For the first time, he saw you in a top and he almost punched a hole into your wall. You had cuts, bruises and even bites all over your arms, your face was swollen and don't make me start about the blood in your hair. And what for? You washed a plate badly. That was all. You were so tired that you didn't even notice your door.

"What are you doing here, Nate?"

"I'm here to save you."

And he finally understood.

The things were far funnier and easier by your side. The demons in his head didn't disappear, but they were quiet around you. You were so kind to him when he looked like a bastard and junkie, you were an honest and nice person who cared far more about the others that you cared about yourself. You were an angel who he had the privilege to meet.

He liked you a lot. And he wanted to be by your side; as a friend or more, he didn't care. But he only cared about your safety.

"Why would save me? I don't need saving."

"I'm saving you because of a feeling I have."

"What feeling are you talking about, Nate?"

"I'm talking about a feeling... I just feel you were made just to be seen by my eyes. And how beautiful it is that you even exist."

And you felt so terrified at the moment. You fell down in tears, hugging yourself tightly. Nobody told you anything that nice in the past few years. Nate came to you, got on his knees and carried you to your bed letting you hug yourself by the blanket.

He packed you your things into a big bag. He took everything you needed, some clothes, your hygiene, just everything he assumed you'll need.

And then, just when you managed to stand up and helped him packing, that asshole came home. He got furious when he found Nathan there.

He tried to beat him Nate again, even broke a glass bottle to hurt Nathan. But even as the first time, Nathan got into his element and his rage truly got off. Your now ex-boyfriend was actually lucky to even survive Nate's rage quit.

So Nate took you home with him. He arranged the couch for himself, while he let you take his bed.

He's just a cute smoll bean.

He would do anything to make comfy: he bakes you pizza in his old oven, he'll run for some lemonade and even watches movies with you. Well, he's constantly making some remarks, but that makes you smile for the first time in last days.

"Oh crap, he'll probably fail a complaint on me, isn't he?"

"Then we can fail a complaint on him. Don't worry, it will be all right."

He was moved by the way you said we. It made him smile and replaying it in his head for hours when he tried to fall asleep.

You lived at his Nathan's place for a few days when a black haired woman came into his place.

You looked at her the same way she looked at you. (My girl Chloe is in the game too, I just love her!)

And you were actually like: oh shit, so I'm living with her man?

You straightaway started to cry like a little girl, because your mind automatically expected you to be punished for your behavior.

But she hugged you comforted you in her arms, telling you not to worry and that everything is OK. She introduced herself as Frazer, Nates kind of a... Coworker.

Later you found out that it's not his gf or anything when Nate managed to get back to his place. It was just his friend and co-worker, but she wasn't blind and saw the looks he gave you. And holy shit - she shipped you like hell.

"Have you banged Y/N? Because she's so fucking hot."

"Frazer stop it. Aren't you a heterosexual?"

"Maybe I am and maybe I'm not. It's my thing whom I'm banging?"

You turned his little hellhole into a normal apartment. Let's be honest, he's an overall messy person. He has a mess in every single aspect of his life. In his head, in his apartment, in his feelings, just every aspect you can name.

Nathan needed to be out of town for a while, so you did a proper cleaning when you weren't at work. And when he came home, you made him a big, proper dinner including soup, main meal, and even dessert. He was mesmerized by your skills; that apartment wasn't clean since he moved in.

"Maybe you were just waiting for a person to make it clean here. You should hire a cleaning lady here, my friend."

"Yeah, maybe I was just waiting for you?"

"Wait, what?"

"What?"

Since that dinner, your bickering and flirting went harder and harder. You managed to make him do some chores like cleaning the toilet and you even discovered that he's an amazing cook.

Both of you slowly managed to make a home from that hellhole where he couldn't even fall asleep.

You choose the colors and repainted the whole place, bought some little details and Nathan even hung you a hammock directed from balcony, so you could listen to these slow serenades with Italian mood he had described against his sleep issues, drink wine and read, watch sunsets or the stars just in front of opened French door. You loved that on hugged Nathan like three times for that.

Nathan loved to see you so relaxed and finally without bites, bruises or monocles.

Both of you slowly calmed down; his nightmares weren't so periodical and he didn't even have them every single time (but he still slept like four hours a day that little baby). You had nightmares but usually didn't wake him up. You just got you a glass of cold water and sat in that hammock, watching the night sky and letting him sleep.

That asshat whom you lived with try to come for you once when you were at work. But he met Nathan in the door of your office (you had agreed to go on lunch on your pause, while he was waiting on Chloe) and oh boy, your ex just got shitted when he saw him.

That man just saw Nathan, turned backward and almost shitted himself.

And you nor Nathan haven't heard of him ever since.

After four months of you living together (yeah, Natey Matey is a total mess) he found out, that there's something more into you.

He liked your voice when he was teasing you about cooking or betting you on tomorrow's chores, or when you read him from a book. He liked the way you played with your lower lip when you thought and that little unintentional frown or face when you were doing some work at home. Then you usually asked him for his opinion.

It wasn't your looks that made him fall for you (not that you weren't pretty), it was your ability to make him forget what happened to him and make him laugh by your, often incorrect jokes, and actually the excitement you had for his work.

Yeah, you made his eyes shine, heart melt and heart spinning because of what a lovely being you were.

Also, Chloe was asking every time she saw him about that banging.

One time he didn't sleep really well.

Like oh boy, he just woke up in the middle of the night with terror in his eyes. Samuel died in front of his eyes again. He was sweaty and felt himself crying.

And then he heard you crying too. And he didn't spend a second waiting, he just stood up and went to see you.

And oh boy, his heart pounded so lovely tune at that sight; even though you were scared and hugging that pillow so damn hard, you were cute.

"Hey, what's the deal?"

"Gee, Nate, have I woken you? I'm so sorry."

"There's no need to be sorry. You need anything? A glass of water, a cup of cocoa?"

"A company of someone would be nice, yeah."

And so he ended up in his own bed next to you just like that. You lied so you faced each other and talked until the morning came. Then you managed him to make you that hot cocoa he promised.

And from that day on, you slept in his bed together, in the friendliest way ever. It kept those demons away and both you felt safe. But he was a really heavy sleeper and he snored so unbelievably loud! At least you knew he's by your side.

It happened one time when a storm took the city by an attack. The bolts of lightning were so close and bright, the thunder shook the whole apartment.

You both laid in that bed, each on his side, and you just couldn't fall asleep.

"Nate?"

"Yeah?"

"You up?"

"Well, now I am. Is there anything wrong?"

You told him you're terrified of storms and he laughed a bit. That started a whole dozen of complaints from your side and before you even ended, he was just laying on top of you with his head on your thorax and one of his hand held you tightly.

"What should I take from this?"

But you didn't want him to pull him off of you, instead you just put your hand over Nathan's shoulders a kept him closer. Your second hand stroke his hair and you tried to listen to one of the serenades on his gramophone, but the thunder shook everything again.

"You should take that I'll protect you from the storm by my own body, Y/N."

"Oh, so it's Nate the knight, right?"

"Nathan Drake: the great knight. That sounds kind of cool."

And before you could stop yourself, you just kissed his forehead. Like wtf, you've done? Are you... Mentally ok???

But Nathan seemed to ignore it; for two seconds. Then he like put all shyness away and just straightaway kissed you on the lips.

And oh boy, it escalated quickly as hell. You were naked before you could say Mississippi and he was roaming on top of your body.

After that night, you both slept tight even though the storm was raging outside, naked and sound in each others' arms.

He finally managed to find the medicine defending him against his worst nightmares.

It was you being safe and sleeping next to him. And oh boy, he did fell in love you after that day.

But that's a story for another headcanons.

#uncharted #nathan drake #victor sullivan #naughty dog #sam drake #samuel drake #a thief's end #in love #uncharted fanfiction #love for life #uncharted a thief's end #chloe frazer #nolan north #nathan drake headcanons #nathan drake imagines

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honnus · 5 years

Text

Uncharted: A Personal Story

I’ve been debating typing this all out for some time but never found the right medium, figured Tumblr would be the best shout since y’know, my Fakebook is mostly full of sarcastic, narcissistic asswipes haha so here goes...

(Oh no...not another Uncharted post I hear you say, but bear with me)

I freakin’ love the Uncharted game series (If you haven’t guessed!) the locales, the stories, the life or death run-for-your-damn-life set pieces, the gunfights, but mostly the characters. I think what mostly drew me to the character of Nate Drake was exactly what a friend of mine said when trying to debate that Tomb Raider is better; that Drake is just a guy. That’s the allure of his character. He has the one liners, the attitude, but really he’s just a guy. A guy who is constantly in way over his head, out for whatever he can get. We’ll not go into the whole climbing aspect of the games as even a diehard fan like myself knows that those sections are super far fetched haha.

The games all have a kind of historical and mythological element to them, with the exception of the final entry. The first game had us following in the footsteps of Sir Francis Drake while chasing the treasure of El Dorado, Among Thieves had Drake following clues from Marco Polo while searching for Shambhala in Nepal, While Uncharted 3 drew from the archaeology days of T.E. Lawrence and had players in search of Iram of the Pillars deep in the Rub’ al Khali desert. The Final game had Drake globe trotting to find Libertalia; the pirate sanctuary founded by Legendary pirates Henry Avery and Thomas Tew. So in a way, I guess you could say that the Uncharted games are educational too!

It’s not just Drake that’s the main draw to the games though. His mentor; Victor “Sully” Sullivan (voiced to perfection by Richard McGonagle btw!) is your classic grumpy, sleazy, cantankerous old geezer with a heart of platinum! While Elena Fisher - the love interest - is just too perfect. She’s the ying to Drake’s yang and despite playing second fiddle to Drake for the first three games, you always cared about her and more precisely; about her and Drake in a will they? won’t they? that spanned 3 games before they walked off into the sunset together at the end of ‘Drake’s Deception’ (or so we thought...) cue 2016 and along comes ‘A Thief’s End’, *quote* Nathan Drake’s Last Uncharted *unquote* and before the game has even come out there’s rumours flying left, right and centre -

Drake dies...Elena dies...Sully dies!

It was too much to take! Since 2007 we had gotten to know these characters so well, as fans it made us happy to think of them together and now they were making another game (which we definitely wanted!) but Drake’s final adventure just sounded so ominous! (Hell, even the title was ominous)

I'm going to go ahead right about now and say **SPOILERS** even though the game has been out for 3 years but y’know, some people might want to find out shit for themselves...

Thankfully, despite scenes of heartbreak that were beautifully acted with green room, motion capture and special effects, etc. (so lifelike!) the pair survived a pirate island and Nate’s white lies and truly got the happy ending they deserved. The final entry to the Uncharted series even got a little epilogue where you play as their 12 year old daughter (most sites say 11-13 year old, so hey) Cassie, at their perfect, dream beach house and she stumbles upon the keys to her dad’s (usually always) locked wardrobe which contains little treasures he picked up throughout his earlier adventures. The game ends with Nate and Elena heading off on a sailboat full of cold drinks and snacks, with Nathan starting to tell Cassie the story of the first Uncharted game (would bring a tear to a glass eye)

It was really - the perfect ending - these characters that you’d almost grown up with, saying their final goodbye to you. The softie in me pictures Cassie being blown away by all the crazy stories the pair would tell their daughter. Video games nowadays have just as much pull as that Netflix or Amazon show, it’s so easy to get attached to characters that you almost don’t want to let go, yet at the same time you don’t want them to be bled dry until all believability and all the ways you feel that you relate to them have faded and they’re reduced to a few key phrases...

So...what was the point in this post and what was to debate i hear you ask?

back in 2007 when the very first Uncharted was released, I was in a very dark place. I don’t really like talking about my depression and anxiety, not so much for the whole stigma around it but I usually find that once you open that door everybody starts walking on eggshells around you and treating you different. Maybe that’s just the anxiety playing up but I feel like things are different once you’ve told someone. Can’t really explain it well, even as I try to type it...

I didn’t leave the house except to go and come home from work, I found myself alienated from friends, even when they tried to get me to join their uni societies and such I just didn’t want to socialise with anyone at all really. I never told anybody at home how I was feeling as the whole I’ve had a good childhood train of thinking began. That and It’d be insulting to them. I kept to myself with many dark thoughts and didn’t do much at all. Then Uncharted came along. An exciting game with a great story and a confident main character. More and more I found myself coming out my shell the more I played. I guess you could say that I started channelling my inner Nathan Drake and before long my confidence returned and the D&A subsided...for a time...

fast forward 2 years to 2009 and MUCH had changed! I got back in touch with an old school friend from primary that I had lost touch with, had my good friends Stuart and Alan round a lot for dvd/game nights and also a girl had joined our friend group, Jenny. I was confident, outgoing and full of cheer. Not even work bothered me! It was safe to say that Jenny was flavour of the month after we’d gotten a bit closer (nothing ended up coming of it other than friendship. We still talk nowadays but she lives in Australia, married with a son and I'm very happy for her) Was out every week at Karaoke after work and Uncharted 2 rolled around giving us more Drake, Sully and Elena but also introducing the sexy character of Chloe Frazer among other memorable baddies. With this game I was really in a good place and all it did was further my confidence. The more I played these games, the more healthy I was it seemed. Probably sounds a strange thing to say but I guess it’s like art - everybody interprets things different.

Jump forward to November 2011 and Uncharted 3 comes out. Now I'm in a very different place altogether. Positively beaming with confidence (some might say overconfidence...I say to them, shaddap lol) and I have a girlfriend. My first girlfriend in 2 years (who would later become my now fiancée, Hannah) I still make time for my favourite game franchise because I'm in a distance relationship and every week my heart breaks and I cry floods of tears at having to leave my sweet girl to come home for work the next morning. Uncharted’s 3rd outing keeps me grounded, keeps me confident. I swear; Nathan Drake was my role model in young adulthood! Despite the feelings of loneliness I work, I play, I see Hannah, I play, I work, and so on. It doesn't seem as bad when I have something to distract me and that something was Uncharted. The fear that Sully was going to die in this game was very real and in points I was almost in tears. That “more or less” trustworthy old git we’d all come to love, he just couldn't die!

Jump on to 2016 and again different time, different place. Still with Hannah and now engaged, we’re saving up to buy a house. The friend’s dynamic has changed massively. I still see Stuart and Alan but now a blast from the past, Laura, came back into my life. We used to tear into each other in high school (mostly jokingly of course haha) but I always cared about her and when we reconnected we hit it off straight away like no time had passed! now she was getting married (still the best wedding I've been to!) me too - eventually - and we were and still are the best of confidantes to this day. I consider her one of my best friends in the whole world. Unfortunately in 2015 the darkness inside returned with the death of that friend i had gotten back in touch with back in 2009, Steven Borman. The thing is - we had chatted online a lot but in the 6 years we’d been back in touch we never got around to meeting up! Not once. In six years. Either he was working or I was, or I was at Hannah’s or he was at his girl’s...there was always something preventing us from meeting in person and then he died. I didn’t take it well...I have no shame in admitting that I went to a dark place; the darkest place if you catch my drift. It was so hard to process and deal with that there were a few days I didn’t go to work for fear of just exploding and taking my grief out on a member of the public. One of those days I wandered a graveyard and cried (how emo of me, right? haha)

I wouldn't say it passed. It still hurts to think about his loss and all the things that he won’t get to do but it dulled slightly over time. Thankfully a year later and Uncharted 4 was with us. It carried this theme of being bitter-sweet the whole way through (kind of like the end of Toy Story 3 if you know what I mean) and playing out that last, and somewhat more mature, outing though with its themes of love, loss, family and sacrifice, it really helped me find some perspective. I think it’s rare for a video game to do that, even in this day and age with such stories as Last of Us and Red Dead Redemption 2...

Had to throw in a GiF of Cassie (How adorbs is she) but I digress.

Sounds kind of weird to say that Uncharted, what some people see as just another duck and cover, 3rd person shooter, action/adventure game series, I see as my rock and something that has got me through many, many hard times! I can honestly say I think it will stay with me forever. It’s already encouraged and brought out in me the love of world travel and boosted my confidence in so many ways, I don’t even know what else to say other than this - as my sort of closing statement -

if you get pleasure from something, no matter the source, never be ashamed of it, never feel like you have to hide it. If something helps you then keep it close to your heart. For me, that is Uncharted. It has helped me through feelings of loneliness, isolation, depression and anxiety, through personal loss and the darkest of feelings, and though everything else in between.

Nathan Drake and his one liners, Sully’s sombre tones, Elena’s adorableness, Chloe’s...derrière (not even sorry...lol) and even Sam’s cynicism (Nate’s older brother, introduced in the last game) it’s kind of like having/being in a circle of friends that you always knew you could count on if that makes sense

Uncharted was always there for me and I hope someday, when I have kids, I can introduce them to the adventures of Drake and co. too.

Sic Parvis Magna, everybody! Sic Parvis Magna

(Greatness from small beginnings)

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ellana-ravenwood · 7 years

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“You deserve so much better than..him” - Sam Drake x Reader

Well, thought I’d try my hand at a new fandom...namely : Uncharted. If you guys want more of it just send in your requests ^^. Anyway, I hope you’ll like this “new adventure” huh :

You can find my masterlist here : @ella-ravenwood-archives

__________________________________________________

It was a warm and sunny day, and everything was just fine.

You were in a giddy good mood, and waiting here, on this comfortable forrest ground, for Sam’s signal.

Looking out in the wild, trying to spot your boyfriend’s message, with Nadine and Chloe right beside you, was exactly what you wanted to do right at this moment, on your birthday...

Yeah. No.

It was raining like cats and dogs. You were hiding ou in a cave but by the time you ran in there when it first started to rain, you were already soaked and it was too damn cold and humid for you to dry. Oh you hated the feeling of the fabric of your clothes sticking to your skin, freezing you to the bones.

Sam was taking ages to signal you to join him and you were starting to get extremely worried and Nadine ? Oh man, Nadine.

You could feel her intense eyes burning a hole in your back, as she was seated behind you, against the wall, staring at you while you were scanning your surrounding in hope to see any signs from Sam.

You had absolutely no idea why she kept just staring like that, making you uncomfortable, but ever since the night before, she hasn’t been very discreet about it. You tried to talk about it, but it always resulting in her looking away and totally ignoring you, making an almost silent “tt”, and you didn’t understand it !

So far, you and her were getting along so well !

Few months back, a certain Chloe Frazer, one of Nate’s old friend, came to you and Sam to ask for your help.

Long story short, after multiple perilous adventures, you guys found the precious Tusk of Ganesh, and this all story helped you and Nadine become genuine friends so...Why was she totally blowing you off right now ? And staring at you as if you were crazy ?

And goddammit why was Sam not signaling you !

Worst. Birthday. Ever.

And as water was falling across your face, and everywhere really, making you shivering, you snapped.

Enough was enough.

You startled Chloe who was standing next to you as you turned around aggressively and, with a voice full of frustration asked Nadine :

-Ok what’s the deal ?

She tried to act surprised, but she quickly realized you weren’t buying it. Oh no. You noticed. You know you’re not crazy. You know she stared. You know she snobbed you Hell, it was fairly obvious ! You were far from being an idiot after all ! And here it is again, she makes this small face of disdain, and look away...

You cross your arms, waiting for her answer, before she finally says :

-It’s nothing really. Nothing important.

You roll your eyes to the sky and, after a deep sigh, you say :

-Nothing ? Are you fucking kidding me Nad’ ? I swear to God if you don’t tell me what’s wrong right now, I will...

There’s a hint of fear in her eyes, as you start your threat.

And it’s kind of satisfying really, after everything that happened between the two of you on the day you met.

Let’s just say that, the first time you and her ever saw each other, it didn’t really go well...She underestimated you, and you hated being underestimated.

Things blew out of proportion, as you were both quite hot headed, and you ended up fighting...you totally kicked her ass (though it didn’t mean you didn’t walk away from the fight with a bloody nose, bruised ribs and a busted knee).

Ever since, she tended to try to be on your good side.

So as you start to loose patience, soaking wet and cold on your goddamn birthday, she cuts you off and finally tells you what’s been bothering her. She’s not about to take chances right now, as you’re already in the worst mood possible, and so she says :

-Alright alright. It’s just that I was...I was wondering like...I...You’re with...You’re really with him ?

-With who ?

-You’re with Sam Drake ?

The question surprises you so much that you stay silent for a few minutes, stunned. You don’t even look out for Sam’s signal anymore, and that’s proof enough you’re just...very confused.

Was this really the reason why she kept staring like that ? Why she ignored you and...Uh really ?! After an eternity, you finally manage to say :

-What ?

-You’re dating Sam Drake ?

-Hum, yeah. Yeah I am. Since a while really.

She almost gasps, and you’re more confused than ever. You don’t have time to say anything else though, as she continues :

-But you...You...You deserve so much better than...Him. He can be such an asshole and he’s a huge opportunist and...how ? Why ? You deserve so much better than Samuel Drake, (YN). I don’t understand.

You can’t help the small smile creeping on your face. Oh if you won a penny every time someone told you that...You’d have like, at least 2 whole dollars.

Nadine is looking at you expectantly, waiting for an answer, and you give it to her :

-Oh come on Nad’, you know he isn’t like that. Yes, sure, he’s kind of an ass sometimes...We used to drive each other crazy at the beginning. But...He’s really better than you think he is. And you know that.

Nadine scoffs, and Chloe just rolls her eyes before focusing back on the amazonian forrest unfolding below you guys, trying to spot any sign from Sam.

Your shoreline friend says :

-You know what I mean. How long have you been together anyway ? How the hell did it happen ? I always imagined him to be so...so...you know !

You laugh this time. OH yes. You know. You definitely know. Many people wrongly thought Sam was a Don Juan...He used to, true. He used to flirt with every women he met and he had more sex than most men but...Ever since he met you, everything changed. Hell, everything you met him everything changed. And it happened so...Well, neither you nor him expected this.

-We’ve been together for a few years. I’m frankly kinda surprised you only noticed yesterday we were together...

-Well, I always thought you two were rather close, and touchy feely, but it’s only when I saw him shove his damn tongue down your throat yesterday, behind the hostel, that I finally understood...

-Oh Nadine, you can be so observant and yet so oblivious sometimes...Ok, let me tell you the story. Stop me if you don’t want me to. So, here we go, everything started when I finally got the guts to go speak to my dad...

************

Life has never been easy and calm. And that was a good thing.

You were raised by your mother, always on the road as her job as an archeologist/researcher (which meant she was always out of museums, looking for new artifacts and such) took her everywhere in the World, and there was no way she’d leave you behind.

Only one day, she went where you couldn’t follow...Cancer.

It killed her in a month. And here you were, all alone, and lost. You were a grown woman, and followed the same path your mom took but...Without her, you didn’t really know what to do !

And from this loneliness and pain, came a crazy idea.

Your mother raised you, but she never hid who your real father was.

His name was Victor Sullivan, but from your understanding everyone called him just “Sully”. And from what your mom said about him he was...quite special. A treasure hunter. Archeologists’ worst ennemies.

Him and your mom met ages ago and had a small but passionate fling (ew) and...Well, nine months later here you were. Your mom never told him about you, and you understood why. She explained. With a man like that ? You could never have a normal life.

Not that following your archeologist of a mother around was a normal life but...at least everything she was doing was legal. But now...now, as you mom was gone, you wished she had told him. Because it would have made your life exponentially easier.

Because then, you wouldn’t have to go and knock on his door to tell him you were his daughter. You don’t even know why you thought this would be a good idea but...without your mom you were lost, and though you never met him, you just figured that the next best thing was your dad ?

************

Your timing couldn’t have been worst.

But, that was all you. It seemed like you were cursed with that : “always in the wrong place at the wrong moment” thing.

It took you WEEKS to find where “Victor Sullivan”, your biological father, was.

The trail first lead you to the Rossi estate...To a Rossi Estate, infamous for its art black market, and with walls littered with bullets impacts ! You were always rather good to bullshit your way through things and, without even mentioning your father’s name, you gathered that there was an incident the night before at the estate.

An object they were selling at a private auction was stolen, and a violent encounter between the thief and guards ensued. Someone talked about rumors the thieves being a certain “Nathan Drake” and “Sully”, famous in the treasure hunting business...

You tracked him down to Scotland, but missed him there too, and got fucking shot at by shoreline mercenaries ! They apologized for almost killing you when they realized you were “merely a civilian” who was just “at the wrong place the wrong moment”.

Your step then took you to Madagascar, but you missed him there too. And then...Well, then you finally found him.

Or rather, found his motel room. You watched from afar as he and two men were coming toward their room and decided it was your time.

But really. It wasn’t. Such bad timing...Long story short, you basically ended up bursting into their motel room and yelled that you were Sully’s daughter (thinking it was just easier to rip the bandaid fast, hoping they wouldn’t shoot you because you’d scared the hell out of them bursting in like that), right when a certain Nathan Drake, who would become one of your best friend, was revealing to his wife that he had a brother, and has been lying to her about his job for the past few months...

Oh the mess it was. Everything was so confusing and after a lot of “who the hell are you ?” and “I don’t know you, who are you ?” meaning a lot of differnet things, Sully ended up telling you he’d be back and ran after Elena to make sure she was Ok, while Nathan was sulking and...Oh the mess.

Of course it wasn’t really your fault, things would have been a mess anyway but...you felt awful, thinking that you probably handled that very poorly. Sitting outside of the motel room, waiting patiently and anxiously for your father to come back, Sam startled you as he sat down beside you.

-So...You’re Sully’s secret daughter uh ?

-And you spend those last fifteen years behind bars somewhere in Panama uh ? Own lots of money to a mob boss ?

-Well princess, I feel like Destiny made us meet today. Feel like we were made to talk to each other you know ? I’m Sam, by the way. Sam Drake.

He tells you, as he shoves his cigaret in his mouth and extend his hand so you can shake it. And if you were totally honest with you, it’s in that moment, right there, as you smile to him and shake his hand that you kinda started to fall for him.

-(Y/N). (Y/N) (Y/L/N).

You answer, smiling back.

-Beautiful name. So, (Y/N) (Y/L/N), what’s your story uh ?

-Oh Sam Drake, I’ll only tell you what’s mine if you talk first.

-Isn’t there a saying that goes : “ladies first” ?

-We’re in 2017 man, this changed.

-But I’m a gentleman.

-I’m sure you are, which is why you’ll talk first.

-Oh...It’s like that uh ?

-Yup.

-Well ok then.

The smug smile you gave him made him almost melt on the spot, and the intense and serious gaze he laid on you made you blush like crazy...

Of course, it was a constant battle between you and him to know who fell for the other one first so you’d never say it but...Yes. As you met his beautiful hazel eyes with yours, and shook his hand. As he smiled at you and shamelessly flirted with you while you knew nothing about him ? You already had a massive crush on Sam Drake.

You knew it was a bad idea right away, his charming ways giving him up. It was clear he was the “flirty” kind, the “one night stand” kind. Somehow, you felt like he was that kind of man that was afraid of commitment but...you couldn’t help it. A crush you had. But again, you’d never tell him that it happened that fast...

Little did you know he fell for you the instant you bursted in their motel room, yelling you were Sully’s daughter...You were so beautiful. So intriguing. There was something about you that instantly drown him to you, even more than he was drawn to lost cities and treasures...

************

It was...Surprising.

When Sully came back, and after making some plans to go get this mysterious treasure they were trying to talk discreetly about (though you quickly guessed it was the legendary pirate Avery’s treasure), he immediately went to you and...

Things weren’t awkward. Things weren’t weird. He instantly knew who your mother was by looking at you, saying you looked so much like her. Except the eyes. You had his. And by the look in those eyes of yours...He knew you were saying the truth.

A daughter. He had a daughter. He admitted to you he never expected that but...Well, you were there right ? He wouldn’t ignore you. Besides, he told you jokingly, you were already a grown up, he would have to change diaper or anything, so he was totally fine !

He spoke so fondly of your mother that you felt tears welling up in your eyes...To him, it seemed that it wasn’t just a one night stand, that it could have evolved in something more but she left. Your mom left, thinking he was one of those charmer that was afraid of commitment and...Well, he respected her choice. Never saw her again. He was pretty sure she was avoiding him, thinking he saw her more than once, out of the corner of his eyes, on an archeologic place.

Things went much smoother than you’d think and...Oh the relief to not be alone anymore. Sure you and him weren’t instantly close, relationship took time to build but...still. Besides, you didn’t know it yet but what he said about having feelings for your mother and her not trusting him...it would help you greatly one day.

************

You fought like hell to go with them, but they refused. You weren’t trained to fight or anything, you could get hurt, and this was a personal matter. You had to admit you got a bit hurt when they told you that, but...well, you didn’t know them since very long. Only a few days. Of course their personal matter had nothing to do with you.

Besides, when Sully told you he wasn’t about to loose you while he just found you, you couldn’t resist. And when Sam jokingly added that he couldn’t loose such a beauty as you either, and that neither of them could be worried about you while being out there, you smiled, thinking he was just joking (he wasn’t, his heart was beating so fast when he told you that, afraid you’d come and he would really have to worry...which was ridiculous because he only knew you since a few days ago !), trying to light up the atmosphere. And so you stayed behind when shit went down in “Libertalia”, and you knew you’d regret it forever.

Libertalia ! The great lost pirate city ! But then again, when they all came back, your father, Sam, Nate and Elena...you thought maybe it was for the best.

And that’s when things really started.

************

From the get go, there was an undeniable attraction between you and Sam. Something neither of you could explain. Something that drawn both of you to the other, that made you want to spend time together...And oh the blessing it was that you started to stick around with your father for his adventures, and his new business partner was...Sam.

Under your dad’s suspicious eyes, you and Drake grew so close...You made each other laugh, you killed him with your talk back and witty answers while his jokes always made you burst into crazy laughter. You never let him walk on your feet or be overprotective and God he loved that ! He was flirty and charming and seemed to genuinely care about you and...Well, it felt great.

You never really had an actual relationship, too busy with work. And...It was Sam. The only one you ever met who understood truly the pain of loosing a mother, and having an absent father. Who understood how difficult it was to let go off of things, to move on...You never met anyone that understood you so well. And he never either. Even Nate didn’t always understand him...but you ?

You understood why he didn’t come back to Nate right after Rafe came to free him from the Panamian prison. You understood why he couldn’t let Libertalia go. You understood why he couldn’t retire just yet. You understood his pain and traumas and...It felt so good to have someone that didn’t pity him you know ? Whenever he talked about Panama, people were always : “Oh poor Sam, he lost 13 years of his life”, while you asked him stuffs like wether or not he managed to find cigarets there, and how was it to not have sex for that long...

How could he resist you ? How could he resist such a woman ? Someone who understood him so fully and didn’t even take any of his shit ? Someone who never really answered to his flirting and yet...oh yet...Yes.

How could he resist you ?

************

Insufferable. He was insufferable.

And as you hear your dad’s plane leave the island he dropped you and Sam on, you couldn’t help but think about it over and over again.

Goddamn know-it-all. And the worst was that he was right ! You were both working on an enigma to know the location of a treasure and...he got it right before you. And he was being an ass about it ! Smirking smugly at you every damn seconds...This is probably why it all happened really.

You weren’t focused enough. You weren’t paying attention enough. And as it often happen in those cases...You fell. Hard.

Not literally. Though you almost fell a few time as you two were climbing a temple to the treasure. No. You just didn’t notice...you didn’t notice armed men coming towards you as you were following Sam from afar.

It was really stupid of you. Every time you were on the verge of finding important treasures, there were always other hunters, more ruthless and such than you, Sam, or your dad. And...oh. Oh those particularly ruthless.

The last thing you remember seeing is Sam turning around to look at you smugly once again and...his expression turning to pure fear. Then everything went black.

************

You opened your eyes to find yourself in a cave, wrapped in...Sam’s coat ? Way too big for you, as this man was a damn giant really.

And it hurts. It hurt around your chest. You stir and...You let out a whimper of pain that attracts Sam’s attention.

He was right there, next to you, putting some more wood in a small fire. And his face is riddled with worry...He crawls to you and takes your hand, squeezing it, and there’s so many emotions shared in that instant...You try to speak, but you can’t, and she brushes calloused fingers softly against your cheek before saying :

-Sh sh sh. Rest (Y/N). I called your dad, he’s coming as fast as possible. It’s just there’s a storm right now and it’s dangerous to fly...Don’t worry, I reassured him. You made it. Barely though...You gave us quite a fright (Y/N). You gave me quite a fright.

In a croaked and weak voice you say :

-I thought the great Sam Drake was never scared...

He smiles weakly at you, and sits down beside you, still holding your hand as his other brush your cheek lovingly and, oh it feels so good.

-I’m not afraid of a lot. But I’m definitely afraid of loosing the people I love.

You don’t even have the energy to blush and he continues :

-You know, I’ve grown quite fond of your...presence. I’m going to be honest, at first all my flirting was just that, harmless flirting but now...Now I’m only half-joking. I wish...Uh. Cheesy isn’t my thing. I don’t know how to tell you that...That I was scared shitless when I saw you get shot. That my heart never raced that much, and that...Uh. I guess I just care about you you know ?

Of course he wasn’t going to tell you “I love you”, though his tender gestures toward you are screaming it, though the way he avoids your gaze is pouring of it...He does love you. But he’s not ready. He’s not ready to tell you. Besides, what if you don’t say it back ? You’d definitely don’t say it back. And when you gently chuckle and say :

-Aw that’s cute Sammy.

Calling him of the nickname he hates so much...He knows he did right not telling you he loved you. You wouldn’t have taken him seriously. You heard too many of his stories when he talked about girls he slept with and how he was a “no strings attached” kind of guy to take him seriously if he told you he loved you.

And yet. And yet after months of knowing you, and your friendship growing so naturally...he couldn’t deny it. He knew you were the one. He loved you. But he just couldn’t say it.

-Thank you...

You whisper as you drift back to unconsciousness.

-You’re welcome.

He answers, but you’re already asleep again...He brushes some strand of hair behind your ears and gently kisses your forehead, letting out a sigh.

Well, he was totally doomed.

************

Sully came back for the both of you, sheltering you to the point you almost told him to fuck off...you hated when people were being overprotective but...Well, he was your father, and in a few months you both developed a strong father/daughter relationship. You were more alike than you initially thought.

It took you a few days to recover enough to walk again and leave the hospital, and as your dad went to buy some fruits and snacks to the local market, you went out of your hotel room to go and sit next to Sam, outside, as he was smoking his cigaret.

He glanced at you and rolled his eyes :

-Aren’t you suppose to be resting princess ?

-I rested enough Sam. I’m tired of staying in bed.

-This makes no sense.

-Shut up.

He looks away from you and smile, his gaze loosing itself in the beautiful landscape in front of you. You get closer to him and make a move to grab at his cigaret but he takes it away from you. You frown at him but before you can say anything he says :

-Uh uh. No poison for you (Y/N), it’ll kill you.

-You know Sam, it’ll kill you too.

-Yes, but I’m not you. I can’t let you do that you know ?

-Oh, right, because you “care about me”.

You say in your jokey way, the one you always use when orally jousting with Sam but...The way his smile drop and how he looks away...What’s wrong ?

And suddenly, it hits you.

“I care about you”. This...He said it as he was caressing your cheek, and holding your hand, worries all over his features.

“I care about you”. This wasn’t a joke to lighten up the mood. This was...This was real.

“I care about you”. The realization of it all hits you right in the face and...You take his chin between your fingers and force him to turn his head to look at you.

You’re not ready to say it either, those three dreaded words but...

-I care about you too, Sam.

You whisper, and he can barely hears you. But when your lips are brushing his softly. When your hand moves from his cheek to around his neck...He’s sure you said it too.

“I care about you”. Yes. You care about each other. You love each other. But that, you can’t say it. Neither of you can.

The kiss turn heated, as you let him slip his tongue in your mouth and...you can feel him guiding you back to his bedroom. And you let him. Because you want it. Because you’ve wanted it for a long time...And though you’re ready to get your heart broken...You do it anyway.

You don’t realize that this day, he made love to you. That he didn’t just fuck you, as he would with other women. Oh no. He made love to you, meaning every last bit of it...When he woke up though, you were gone.

************

You left a letter to your father, and as he read it, it reminded him of bad memories years before, when your mom left him a letter too.

You left one for Sam too. Similar to your father’s, but not quite. Your words were the same than your mom’s. You needed to go away for your sake. You needed to lead a normal life, trouble free.

You added, on your dad’s letter , in a post-scriptum, that you weren’t pregnant...and that made Sully laughs. But oh, years before he didn’t do anything to run after your mother while he should, he wasn’t about to let Sam make the same mistake.

************

-Are you ready to go, Sam ?

Sully knew that his partner wasn’t ready to go, that his partner was still tortured by memories of you...Sully knew. And he had a plan.

Victor Sullivan wasn’t a man to walk around the bush. Something you inherited of him (as was proof the day you bursted into his motel room to tell him you were his daughter). No, Victor Sullivan wasn’t one to waste time, as he knew the importance of it, and so he said :

-You should go after her.

Sam looked up from his bag and gave the older man a questioning look. Sully rolled his eyes and continued :

-You know what I mean. You should go after her, after (Y/N). It’s my kid and I don’t want to actually know what happened between you but...Ever since you guys met, before Libertalia, and though you didn’t even know each other, it was fairly obvious something was sparkling between you two. And after ? Oh man I’ve been third wheeling you two for months ! So...Go after her.

-I don’t know what you’re talking ab...

-Oh trust me kid, you don’t wanna go there. I know what I’m talking about. Years ago, I made the mistake to let her mother go, even though I was in love. Hell, she was probably the only woman I loved. I made the mistake to let her go and there isn’t a day I’m not regretting it ! Life could have been different. I would probably still have chased treasure and such...but when I’d come home, I would have had a wife and daughter greeting me, instead of a half-asleep Nate that passed out on my couch. Don’t get me wrong I love your brother like a son but...Well, eventually even him left. And I was alone. I am alone. Believe me, you don’t want that. Just run after her. What you got to loose ?

Everything. He had everything to loose. And this is why he ran after you...

************

You couldn’t quite believe it, when you saw him arrive, covered in dirt and such, on one of the burial site you were working on.

You couldn’t quite believe it, when you listen to his story. How he tracked you for the past weeks. How you were damn difficult to find. How he crawled through mud and soil to find you because the place you were in was only accessible by helicopter and he didn’t have a fucking helicopter, so he found a way...which meant getting dirty.

-The Hell are you doing here Sam ?

-I...I had to see you. I had to...I just had to come and see you.

-And you couldn’t wait for me to get back on land that was easier to access ?

-No. No I couldn’t.

You couldn’t quite believe it when he repeated to you what your father said. You couldn’t quite believe it when he dared to say it...When he turned to you, got hold of your cheeks in his hands and said :

-I love you.

He...Dared...to...do...it...Him.

Sam “I’m afraid of commitment” Drake. Sam “I only have one night stand” Drake. Him. He told you he loved you. And his hazel eyes were so full of honesty...Your heart speak before your mind.

-I love you too.

Because how couldn’t you say it back ? He travelled for weeks, and went through so much to find you...He went through so many troubles that...Well yes. He could only love you, chasing after you like that, as he usually chased treasure.

You were his greatest discovery. His greatest treasure. He told you so, and he talked about you with the same passion he talked about goddamn Libertalia, or any other lost cities and ancient treasures !

He talked about you, to you, as if you truly was all he wanted and needed and...in that moment, you were. As long as you were around, things would be good. Sure he would still chase after treasures and such, for the thrill of the adventure but...he couldn’t do it without you. And he told you so. He told you everything he had on his heart. Everything.

He never talked like that to anyone else before...And oh the sweet taste of your lips on his is the best feeling ever. You don’t even mind the fact that he tastes like mud...You loved him.

You were his greatest discovery. His most precious treasure.

************

As you were telling the story to Nadine, you could see a slight sparkle in her eyes. You were selling her a dream, something she’d deny wanting but that was still there...She eyed Chloe and you understand.

She felt something for the indian woman, but she would never say out loud that she was almost jealous of your relationship with Sam. Of the fact he chased after you like that, like he’d chase after the biggest treasure of them all.

She envied you to have someone that loved you like that. And you wanted to tell her that you knew Chloe felt the same way but...you thought it wasn’t your place. That they needed to sort their relationship out by themselves. And if you had to be the “Sully” of the story later on, then so be it, but for now, you were just finishing your story.

This all happened quite a few years ago. And you never left each other ever since. Sure there were...Difficult moments. You almost broke up a few times because things weren’t always easy. But what linked you and Sam ? It was true love. Even in the worst of moments you’d stick up for each other, and you’d be there. Because you were perfect for each other.

A match hand made in Heaven.

You talked about how sweet Sam was, behind closed door. How attentionate and how he always made you feel like a damn queen. You talked about how you’d look out for each other, and how you’d never be alone as long as the other was still alive...You talked about all of it, defending the love of your life against Nadine’s unfair comment about you deserving better than him.

You were just finishing your story when finally, FINALLY, you spotted Sam’s flash light signaling you in morse code.

It took you less than twenty minutes to join him, and before he could tell you anything about his findings you punched him in the shoulder.

-Outch ! What was that for ?!

-For worrying me.

-You know, most women would greet their man with a kiss, instead of a punch, for worrying them. And damn nasty punch at that, it’s gonna bruise...

You give him a small smile and oh, his fake anger leaves him right away...he can’t even act annoyed when you smile at him like that. You go on your tip toe to softly brush his lips with yours (neither of you were too much on PDA, and knowing Nadine...). You pull away and...

What is he hiding behind his back ? Only one of his hand went to wrap itself around your waist, usually, both his arms would be around you. You pull away a bit more and, with a wide smile, he puts his hidden hand from behind his back in front of you and...

Flowers. A bunch of beautiful flowers, a most tasteful bouquet you must say. And a small gem. You look up at him a bit confused, and he explains :

-Happy birthday love. I’m sorry I dragged you out there in the pouring rain on your special day...I promise I’ll make it up to you. In the meantime, found those flowers and this stone that made me think of you so...Here. For you. Now let’s go, we gotta a treasure to find.

And with a last kiss (lasting a bit too long for Nadine’s taste), he leaves again in a perfect “Sam” way. He’ve always been like that. Especially in public. He would do something extremely sweet and then brush it off with a joke or something. And as he leaves, followed by Chloe who gave you a knowing look, you can’t help but clutch those flowers and this small green stone, smiling to yourself.

You turn to Nadine and...You can see it in her eyes. After your little story and this...She knows.

She knows Sam Drake definitely deserves to be with someone like you.

Fin.

________________________ I’m sorry for the shitiness of this story. I wanted to get it right and I couldn’t even do that...Sorry. Oh my this is all over the place, so bad. Anyway. I wrote that. Sorry again, damn I messed up my first fic about Uncharted.

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ozzdog12 · 6 years

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2017- Top 7 (And 1)

Well as another year closes, so does another fantastic year in gaming. In fact, this could be one of the best in history!! You may say, Why only a Top 7 and there are two reasons. 1: Everyone does a Top 10 or Top 20, but nobody does just 7. It also makes the list more prestigious 2: I’m lazy.

But I do give my biggest disappointment

Well lets get on with it.

Biggest Disappointment: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)

Now I know you’re shocked and you’re saying things like “ This list is shit! BotW is the GOTY!” or “WHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTT how?!?!” Let me explain. I don’t have the nostalgia for Nintendo that a majority of people have, so I can give a pretty non-biased opinion when it comes to Nintendo games. BotW is a decent game, but its not without its faults. Actually it’s a really bad Zelda game and an even worse ‘Open-World’ game. It’s an open world game made by people who haven’t played one in a decade. However, most alarming is the story, or lack thereof. I know part of the charm in Zelda games is creating your own adventure, but I found almost zero motivation, especially in the early hours to even progress forward. BotW is vastly different from previous Zelda games and takes a lot of risks. Some paid and most didn't. The game is gorgeous for a launch game and being able to play it both on my tv and ‘on the go’ is also a huge plus. The biggest complaint though is the controls are complete ass ( NOTE: I did not play it with a Pro controller, but I understand its much better) I get that with the way the controller is designed you're limited to certain buttons, but some of the controls are so counter-intuitive, that I constantly found myself looking or thinking about which button did what rather than naturally doing it ( I’ve been playing videogames for 25 years, so its not a user error, its a design error). All in all, its a Fine game and a lot of people love it, but its not the best game of the year.. it’s not even the best game on the system….

Number 7: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (PS4)

Hellblade could be on this list for its impeccable sound design alone. Seriously, play this game in the dark with a good headset. While there is combat, the game is not predicated on heavy combat, its more about the deeply personal story told with a Norse mythology backdrop.The puzzles are simple, but unique. The game also looks incredible.The voice acting is superb. In a gaming environment littered with so many open-world games, a well-designed, linear story-driven game is great palette cleanser. Seriously, check this game out.

Number 6: Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (Xbox One)

This is in no way a political post, but in the current state of the United States, a game about killing Nazis is so refreshing. It also helps that its actually a really great game. While I do think The New Order is a more meaty, complete story and game, The New Colossus has more jaw dropping “HOLY SHIT!” & “WTF!” moments than any game I’ve played in the last 7-8 years.The game knows what it is and it excels greatly. The game takes some really creative plot twists. BJ isn’t just some standard FPS goon that murders Nazis ( well HE is that too, but you learn more about his past and find a very human side to him). Its also go violent and so satisfying taking an ax to the face of a Nazi. MY biggest gripe is right when the game really starts hitting its stride, it just sort’ve ends. You can go back and revisit previous locations to take of Ubercommanders, but unless you just want more of the same, there is no real incentive to so. I’m really looking forward a 3rd(4th?) chapter in this Wolfenstein story.

Number 5: Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)

I’m not the biggest Mario fan and like I said above, I don’t have the nostalgia for Nintendo. As a person, who thinks Mario 64 is way over-rated and is a sub-par game, but loves Mario Galaxy, my biggest concern going in was that this was going to be more like 64. To my surprise, after getting used to the sensitivity of the controls, I found my self REALLY enjoying the game and constantly looking for moons to collect, even when I had enough to move on to the next world.The game is set up in a way to encourage you to revisit worlds even after you’ve beaten the game. I found it to be relatively short for a Mario game, but honestly there is enough there even if you don’t want to 100% the game. Cappy is a new and fresh introduction to Mario that the franchise really needed.

Number 4: Prey (XBONE)

Man I have to admit something about Prey. I played the demo and didn’t like it. Finally played the full game and for the first 2 hours thought it was kinda dull, but I knew there was something there and I kept on playing and boy am I glad I did. Prey is THE BEST game seemingly nobody played. I fault a lot of that to the failure to market it correctly. Prey is such a unique experience and a game that is so different from anything our there, it has to be played to fully comprehend it. In terms of gameplay, it doesn’t reinvent the wheel but it’s one of those games that when I wasn’t playing, it’s all I thought about. When I was playing, I just wanted to explore every nook and corner within Talos 1. It also has one of the most unique endings/twist to a game I've experienced in a long time. I don’t want to dwell on too much because I’ll ramble into spoiler territory but do yourself a favor and PLAY this game!

Number 3: Injustice 2 (PS4)

As a massive DC fan and a massive Mortal Kombat, I was hotly anticipating I2, I was a little concerned with the gear system prior to release fearing it would cause imbalance (especially online) but it didn’t for the most part. In a gaming world, where loot boxes are all the rage, I think NRS handled it fairly well. At the end of the day, I wish it was all just cosmetic because i rarely looked at the stat boost and just went with what i liked cosmetically. The story picks up following the events of the first game. Its also very odd to me that NRS can make a better, more compelling story than Warner Bros can with their movies…but I digress. There are plethora of new and returning characters and all are different enough to fit your fighting preference. Some characters i would’ve preferred over others, but all in all, I think its a very impressive roster. With different towers/multiverses rotating in various intervals, its a significant upgrade to the S.T.A.R labs challenges from the previous game. I put in over 100 hours and thats even before all the DLC characters are out.

Number 2: Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (PS4)

Being that Uncharted is one of my favorite gaming franchises, this should be no surprise. Goodbye Nathan Drake, Hello supporting cast! With Nathan Drakes adventures ‘completed”, I am all for more Uncharted with side stories for supporting cast. (Young Sully next please). Chloe (being absent from Uncharted 4) and Nadine (being a villain in Uncharted 4) is an interesting tag team set up. Personalities clash and deception and lying is ever present as you’d expect. As per the status quo from Naughty Dog, the game is graphically top notch and the mo-cap and voice acting is superb. There are several nods to previous games and even an appearance by a certain character. The game is shorter than previous Uncharted games and its honestly the perfect length for this style of story an price tag. More Uncharted is always a good thing!

Honorable Mentions: Pyre(PC), & Metroid: Samus Returns(3DS)

Number 1: Horizon Zero Dawn(PS4)

Man, what can I say about HZD that hasn’t been covered before. From the first trailer I saw, I had an expectation of what I wanted from this game and its surpassed it ten fold. An achievement in and of itself these days. There are a lot of great open -world games out there, but one of the biggest issues with all this open-world-ness is that story gets dumbed down or sacrificed ( see Breath of the Wild). Horizon Zero Dawn has a really great story that keeps you going adn trying to figure out “What is Zero Dawn?” Trying to uncover all the little secrets is so much fun, the collectibles make you explore this gigantic world. The (post-apocalyptic) )world never feels empty or barren ( unless that was the intention) Even the side quests feel meaningful for the most part. There is a lot going on in this game, but its all organized and presented together well. My one gripe is that the game doesn't do a great job of telling you the differences and benefits to certain ammo types, you’re basically left to figure it out on your own. Fighting robot dinosaurs never gets old and with the addition of The Frozen Wilds, you get 3 new creatures and they are brutal as ever. Every fight with a Thunderjaw or a group of Scorchers feels meaningful and satisfying even when you hit level 60. While I don’t think its fair to compare Breath of the Wild and Horizon Zero Dawn, they are often compared ad nauseum. I will say that in my opinion HZD did almost everything better than BotW in the things they both tried to accomplish. Horizon Zero Dawn is not only my favorite game on 2017, its made its way into my Top 5 favorite games of All-Time!

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casualarsonist · 6 years

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Nostalgia Killer - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

I used to have a podcast, and this was a segment on it. I’m going to be extensively shitting on Uncharted 2, so this seems like the best banner under which to do that - at least this way you’ll know what you’re in for.

Before booting up Uncharted 2 (the remastered edition) I’d had delightful premonitions of what I was going to write here, largely based on my memories of my last two or three playthroughs of the game. I was keen to witness the visual upgrades of the PS4 version, of course, but I was also looking forward to talking about Among Thieves’ wholesale gameplay improvements over its predecessor, the improvements that solidified its place as one of the greatest adventure games in video game history. So I started the game up and worked my way through the iconic opening section as Nate wakes up in a crashed train dangling precariously over a cliff edge…and after I’d finished it I put the controller down and didn’t come back to it for six full months.

Something had changed. Not within the game itself - the remastered edition is exactly the same as the original, 1080p upgrade aside. And despite the accuracy of H. Bomberguy’s life-ruining video accusing the series of being completely devoid of freedom, offering little more than a collection of expensively animated tunnels that one is relentlessly forced down, it wasn’t this revelation that had shaken me either. No, something had changed in me - perhaps in my expectations, or in a misremembered idea of the game’s qualities, but this was not the enjoyable experience I recalled. Finishing Uncharted 2 this time around was a chore, and my nostalgic review became an article, and my rose-tinted memory darkened to a crimson scorn. Here I come kiddies, ready to shit on your memories again. This is Nostalgia Killer.

***

For the uninitiated, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a 2008 third-person action-adventure game, and the second of Nathan Drake’s grand Playstation 3 adventures. To Naughty Dog’s credit, they worked hard to tighten up and polish a lot of the ideas and mechanics of the first game (reviewed here) with more enjoyable gunplay, more lifelike animation, and more varied and detailed environments. The narrative improvements are marked, and they’ve been particularly ambitious when it comes to the interactions between characters both in cutscenes and otherwise. But while the game succeeds in being a refinement in all these areas, there are still some serious growing pains evident in its design, especially ten years on from its release. I’ve said of Uncharted 4 that if you’ve played one Uncharted game, you’ve played them all, and it was here in Uncharted 2 where that adage begins, where all the familiar beats and tropes would be defined and repeated ad nauseam. Sadly, this isn’t a trend only visibly when viewing the series as a whole, but glaringly obvious within this game alone.

The story follows Drake as he’s dragged ‘back in’ to a life of roguish non-legal adventuring by a pair of shifty old colleagues - Harry Flynn and Chloe Frazer. Coaxed by the thrill of uncovering the location of Marco Polo’s lost fleet and the treasure it carried, Drake and Flynn infiltrate a Turkish museum to steal an artefact containing a map leading to their next location. Flynn double-crosses Drake in a stunning twist (sarcasm), and after serving three months in a Turkish prison, Drake is freed with the help of Chloe and his old friend Sully. Chloe reveals that she is a mole within the army of Serbian mercenary Zoran Lazarević - the man who hired Flynn, who subsequently hired Drake, to find the treasure. The two groups then cross paths back and forth for the next six hours as Drake invariably discovers the next clue to the location of the treasure, and the bad guys invariably show up immediately after to take it away from him.

And while I can understand what they’re trying to do with the format - that is, to make an interactive Indiana Jones film - it’s not long at all before the formula gets tired and very predictable, not the least because the first two acts are essentially one plot point repeated over and over again. See, the thing that Indiana Jones films had going for them was the fact that they’re only a couple of hours long, and one can pretty easily fill a couple of hours with exciting content, even if your bag of tricks is relative small. But when you scale the length of your film up to the equivalent of a quarter of a day whilst retaining the same limited bag of action movie cliches, soon you need to start repeating yourself - a tactic that offers diminishing returns when you’re relying not on depth of story or character to engage people, but on a short-lived dopamine rush inspired by seeing someone hanging off the edge of something precarious. Indiana Jones only fell of a bridge once, not once every ten minutes, and given the Uncharted series’ three types of gameplay (cover-based shooting, climbing, and ‘puzzles’), there simply aren’t enough ideas to sustain a six-hour run-time. Running and gunning - ON A TRAIN; running and gunning - UP A MOUNTAIN; running and gunning - IN A COLLAPSING BUILDING. It’s the same thing Call of Duty has done to death (running and gunning - IN THE FUTURE), and the reason why no-one buys those games for the single player any more. Change the location as many times as you want, but if the people and the situations in your story just repeat themselves again and again and again, you’re not building a game that someone can come back to repeatedly and get the same level of enjoyment out of.

But then again, perhaps that means that they’ve gotten it exactly right - the Transformers films aren’t made to be watched twenty times, they’re designed for maximum impact the first time around - and the first time round, Uncharted 2 is a blast. It’s also accessible, undemanding, and easy to pick up and play at pretty much any time. But much like the Transformers films, the bright lights and flashy colours are designed to distract you from the overwhelming emptiness at the game’s core. Who is this Serbian war criminal? Why do you care? Why is he seeking the Cintamani stone?Because ‘power’. How is it that his group keeps finding Drake at the exact point that he locates the next clue? Stop asking questions. And why do all these bad guys keep threatening to kill people and never actually do it? I said stop asking questions! And just how the fuck did he get hundreds of troops and weapons and vehicles and a fucking tank up to the peak of a forgotten, remote mountain buried deep in the Himala-AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Again, one can overlook this kind of narrative short-changing if you’re watching a dumb ninety minute film, but if you’re paying £50 on launch for a six-to-ten hour game, the sheen really starts to wear off when the boards you’re climbing up crumble from beneath you for the 400th time.

But hell, you say, this is just the Uncharted we know and love, right? Sure, it doesn’t have a lot going on, but what it does, it does really well. I imagine that just as many people will feel justified in loving the series for these reasons as much as I feel justified in complaining about them. But I can’t imagine anyone looking back fondly on that level with the tank that will one-shot kill you, or the bit in the mountain temple with the snipers and rocket launchers that will one-shot kill you, or when you’re on the train and have to fight the helicopter and the armoured shotgun troops that will one-shot kill you, or the final boss battle where you run around in circles so he doesn’t one-shot kill you. Because what you forget when you haven’t played the game for a while is that it’s filled with the most horrendous and incongruent difficulty spikes. Enemies take anywhere between one and a dozen hits to kill depending on when the game decides it’s going to change the rules, and while some times eliminating everyone you see will allow you to progress, other times hordes of belligerents will then suddenly spawn from nowhere just because. I’d say that it was dreadfully archaic design that comes from the days when monsters would literally wait in a closet until you stepped on a specific floor texture, except that even Doom kept its enemy health consistent.

I know that it’s ‘action movie logic’, but there’s something uniquely frustrating in Uncharted 2′s design when you’ve just spent fifteen minutes getting fucked over and over again by a handful of enemies, only to be blowing them away by the dozen five minutes later with the exact same weapon you’ve been using all along. Noticing the change just adds insult to injury, and all the while the game autosaves every minute because the developers know that if they made you restart from the beginning every time you died you’d throw your console into oncoming traffic

Which is a shame, because while it is indeed a far more polished release, Uncharted 2 still exhibits the same bad design habits that plague the first Uncharted game - design habits that I know Naughty Dog can leave, behind because I just replayed The Last Of Us, and that game is fucking superb. It still contains a lot of the cover-based shooting gameplay of Uncharted, but there’s something about the balance in difficulty, as well as the variation in weapons and enemy types that makes all the difference in the world - when the developers decide they need to change the pace they don’t change the rules of the game, instead they change the scenario, and this means that while each new set of circumstances might present a greater and greater challenge to the player, your skills at playing the game can improve to meet them as you become more acquainted with the game’s internal rulebook. You’re not coddled for hours before being thrown into an intentionally unwinnable battle, then coddled again, then punished, then coddled, etc, etc. The end result here is that Uncharted 2 often feels cheap in how it tries to challenge and thrill the player, and I can’t go and put myself back in the mindset of a person playing it for the first time in order to understand why it’s seen as something so perfect.

If you still love playing Uncharted 2, I’m not here to convince you that you’re wrong. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure what the purpose of writing this article is at all, other than to document the fact that I went back and played one of the most lauded video games in history expecting to write the glowing follow-up review to the first game that I’d promised to do so long ago, and found that without the initial thrill, and contemporary comparisons to make, a lot of its lustre is stripped away. Uncharted 2 is fine, and it’s certainly a hugely influential work, but it’s actually pretty fucking annoying in retrospect. And the fact that you can forget that so easily is perhaps the game’s greatest achievement.

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