#uncharted fan fiction

[socially-awkward-skeleton]

26 for Sia and Sam!!!

Making Dinner - Intimacy Prompt

For Siobhan Kelly (OC) and Sam Drake - Uncharted

"Cock-a-whaty?" He stared at her with a lopsided grin, his eyebrow raised as far as it could go. He rested against the kitchen counter, shoulders hunched to meet her eye level.

She tied the apron around her back and sighed heavily. "Cock-a-leekie." Looking over her shoulder she could see how absolutely pleased he was with his own joke. "It's a bloody soup, ya dirty feck."

"Now Sia, you can hardly blame a man when a word like that comes spilling out of a pretty woman's mouth." His cheeky grin only spreading wider on his lips.

"What, leek?" She smirked up at him, blue-green eyes dancing with mischief.

"Ha. So what exactly is in this soup?" He stood up tall, his back aching from forcing himself to stay so small.

"Exactly what it sounds like." She mumbled into the fridge as she grabbed the ingredients.

His eyes went wide, hands naturally drifting to cover himself. He was sure it couldn't really be what she meant, but she also ate blood sausage for breakfast and called it black pudding.

She turned to find him looking defensive. "Jesus, Mary and Joseph." She pinched at the bridge of her nose. "Cock as in cockerel, Samuel. It's feckin' chicken." She shook the bag of chicken thighs at him.

"Praise the lord." His hands returned to resting on the counter. "And leeks then, I assume."

"MENSA here we come." She slid him the cutting board and a knife. "You can handle the veg."

"Yes, boss." He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. Turning to wash his hands in the kitchen sink.

She grabbed the dutch oven and placed it on top of the stove with a heavy thud, clicking on the gas and lighting the flame. Frying the chicken thighs, the sounds of their sizzling flesh filled the kitchen.

"You know what I think always sets the mood?"

"What, love?" She asked, expecting some sort of quip from the fast talking Bostonian.

"Music." He headed into the living room and turned on the stereo. "Got any requests, chef?"

She didn't answer, the sound of the cooking chicken drowned him out.

"Guess it's up to me," he said to himself. Popping open a cd case he slid it into the stereo's cd drive. His head bobbing to the Cult as the opening chords of 'She Sells Sanctuary' began.

"Are ya helping me in here or not?" She called from the kitchen.

"Coming."

She gave him a quick glance as he came back into the kitchen, tucking her hair back behind her ear.

He stood beside her and chopped the leeks in bunches of thick rounds, though his eyes were barely focused on his work. Instead, he couldn't help but notice the soft sway of her hips and the little shuffle of her feet as she flipped the chicken in the pot, dancing along to the music while stuck at the stove.

One year, twelve whole months, to finally get them here. She'd been threatening to cook for him for months, tired of seeing him eat nothing but pub food. "You might not like it, I know most people like to make fun of British and Irish food. All meat and potatoes, no flavour…all that shite. But you can't survive on ale and sausages forever. How long since you've had a vegetable?" She'd looked up at him through her glasses, reflecting the light back at him. She always seemed to care about his well-being, more than anyone else. She tended to his wounds when he came stumbling back from an assignment and was the first to offer him a Tylenol when he was dealing with a hangover.

She was more than he deserved.

"What're you lookin' at?" She asked, giving him the side-eye.

He'd been staring at her a little too long. Wouldn't be the first time she'd caught him doing that and she was always happy to call him out on it.

"You."

"Why?"

Her hair had fallen into loose waves, slipping free of the bobby pins she used to tuck them back. Her glasses pushed up onto her forehead. He had memorised every freckle that was scattered across her skin.

"Why not?"

"Stupid eegit." A flush rose up her cheeks, not only from the heat of the pot she was stirring.

She grabbed the chopping board and dropped the cut leek tops into the pot, along with bacon, carrots and celery. Mixing it to brown them.

He leaned over her shoulder looking down into the pot. "God, that smells good."

She pressed her head back against his chest. "Bacon'll do that."

"Smells almost as good as you." He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed kisses to her cheek.

His stubble rubbed at her skin as he nuzzled in against her neck.

"Don't make me beat you off me with me wooden spoon," she chuckled.

"Message received, loud and clear." He reached into the pot and grabbed a slice of carrot popping it into his mouth. Licking his fingers with a smirk.

"You are so much trouble, Samuel Drake." She smacked the back of his hand with her spoon playfully.

"Guess the nuns should've been more strict with me."

"I'll be feckin' strict with ya." Plunking the spoon back in the pot, she grabbed him by the tee shirt and lifted up on to her very tip toes to kiss his chin.

He looked over the top of her head at the steam rising from the unwatched pot. "Be careful you don't burn your stock, Sia."

Looking up at him through her lashes, she grabbed the bottle of white wine on the counter pulling the cork out with her teeth and poured the liquor over top of the vegetables without taking her eyes off of him. "I've done this before, I'll have ya remember."

With a wink she turned back to the stove and started to scrape at the browned bottom of the pan. Adding the chicken back into the pot, stirring quickly and then pouring water on top. She placed the lid on top and lowered the heat. "And now we wait."

"How much time have we got?"

"Forty minutes."

"More than enough time for me to make all this worth your while."

She pressed her hand to her hip as she rested against the counter. "What kinda girl do you take me for?"

"One who's far too good for me." He smirked, the crow's feet that hugged his warm brown eyes crinkled.

She pressed her finger to his chest. "And don't ya forget it."

[friendofcars]

writing is going splendidly btw

[onekisstotakewithme]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

I was tagged by the incomparable @remyfire (a few days ago now, sorry!) so thank you so so much for the tag!!

I think pretty much everyone I know/would tag has been tagged already, so if you haven't been yet, or if you just want to do this, please do! (Answers are under the cut because 20 questions take up a lot of space)

How many works do you have on AO3? 209, ish. (two fics still in the anon stage of exchanges!)

What's your total AO3 word count? 1,377,748 words! (so 1.3 million!!) 217k of that for this year 😅 but of course I haven't published everything I wrote this year so that number is a LITTLE low.

What fandoms do you write for? M*A*S*H and The West Wing, primarily.

What are your top five fics by kudos? Ties That Bind (Star Trek); a wild call and a clear call (that may not be denied) (Star Trek); Uncharted Territory (M*A*S*H); ye who are weary, come home (M*A*S*H); Beautiful to Take a Chance (M*A*S*H). so my readers like the spirk and the beejhawk (plus my M*A*S*H ensemble piece!) even if the actual kudos counts are probably pretty humble.

Do you respond to comments? I don't usually, and I should, but I get a little overwhelmed. I DO try and leave a thank you note in the end notes of each chapter though, because I love and cherish each comment.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I'm admittedly not typically an angst writer, so I had to think hard on this one. I go in usually for bittersweet or even happy endings... i guess probably 'a wild call and a clear call (that may not be denied)', if only because it's a pon farr fic and Jim and Spock are essentially 'mated' now, but uh. They don't end up together at the end of the fic.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Ah. see, this is more my speed. I like to think i write realistically happy endings... the happiest ending? I've written many (not enough 'happy endings' wink wink) but the happiest in context, I'd say, is the end of katabasis. a decision is made to keep going, to keep living. i also have a soft spot for you were meant for me (aka Peg sees Singin' in the Rain and decides to choose polyamory).

Do you get hate on fics? Not so far! But I also don't write particularly controversial subjects on a regular basis... I have had a few comments over the years that misunderstood what I was doing, but I'm reluctant to classify those as hate.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Uh. I write smut. I only publish some of it, because I'm so incredibly self-conscious about it. I want to write more, but I genuinely can't tell if what I'm writing is good/hot or not because I do not have the distance to do it. I'll write smut of all kinds (hell, I have a triad draft with everything from oral to pegging in it. it has not yet seen the light of day) but publishing it is another story. I really want to get better at it, but I have no idea how to get over myself. (it's the religious upbringing/repression/whatever but either way. sucks ass.)

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? I don't typically write crossovers! I have a few that have chewed on my brain for a few years but don't exist yet (M*A*S*H x Star Trek:TOS) plus a few I think would just be funny (Hawkeye running as a third party candidate in the 1998 election in West Wing). But I haven't. Anyway, someday I'm going to write that MASH/Trek crossover and then it's over for all of you.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not to my knowledge!

Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes! My fic "Here's Hoping We Meet Now and Then" (aka BJ gets everyone to help him with the goodbye rocks) was translated into German by my dear friend @vanillatumbleweedscoffee. You can find that translation here.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? I have! And tbh, I love the idea of collaborating more. (HMU). My friend (and beta) and I wrote a Charles/Donna fic back in 2020 or so, called "getting to like you (getting to hope you like me)" and I'm quite fond of it honestly. Plus a few verses that I've contributed to, but I don't know if those count as true collabs... More collabs!!!

What's your all time favorite ship? Ooh. Probably CJ/Danny, punnihawk (BJ/Peg/Hawkeye), beejhawk and Charles/Donna. No, I'm not narrowing it down any further. (Bisexuals? Choosing ONE thing? no.)

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Okay. Sad moment of truth: I want to edit and post "make of our hearts, one heart" so badly. But I got so burnt out in the process of writing it, and editing 125,000 words is a particularly daunting task especially considering I think I basically have to rewrite it from the ground up... plus also not knowing if anyone even still wants to read it isn't helping (but that might be all in my head.) Essentially, I want the 125,000 pound albatross removed from its place around my neck. But do I think I'll finish it? I don't know. It has the triad wedding, literally all the smut that's fit to print (pegging! oral! one of my favourite BJ/Peg scenes!)... idk. Is it defeatist? Yes. I want to. I just don't know if I can.

What are your writing strengths? Dialogue. I think I'm pretty good at getting the vibes of characters. I'm good at coming up with plot concepts, and pretty decent at description. I think I'm good at fleshing out character backstories and giving voices to underutilized characters (Peg, Donna).

What are your writing weaknesses? Smut. all the way down. (If anyone out there has read my smut and has suggestions on how to improve... hmu). I can fully admit that I struggle with finding what I write hot, I struggle with sexy descriptions and honestly I just feel very self-conscious about the whole process. But I want to get better at it. I just don't quite know how. Is this too honest?

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? The occasional phrases, sure, but the only language I know besides English is French and that's more of an "I can read it" than "I can write it" situation. So overall? no.

First fandom you wrote for? Lost. (lmao). Followed by Downton Abbey. All of them still linger in their terrible glory on my ffnet account.

(Part 20 continued in reblog)

[megraen]

FANFICTION STATUS

Chapter 12 - Drafted Chapter 13 - Drafted Chapter 14 - Drafted Chapter 15 - Drafted

Chapter 11 - Completed and Posted

Chapter 10 - Completed and Posted

Chapter 04 - Drafted

Chapter 01 - Drafted Chapter 02 - Drafted Chapter 03 - Drafted Chapter 04 - Drafted Chapter 05 - Drafted

Chapter 01 - Drafted

Chapter 01 - Drafted

Chapter 01 - Completed Chapter 02 - Drafted

Planning in Progress

Planning in Progress

Planning in Progress

Planning in Progress

@socially-awkward-skeleton @photo1030 @ladykatie512 @glitchinginthegarden @miss-jennifer-cormier @tomiesdiet @peaches-n-screem @voidika @cassietrn @arrthurpendragon

[ignorantarmiesclashbynight]

Oh, this is fun.

Rules: post the first lines of your last 10 fics posted to ao3. if you have less than 10 fics posted, post the first lines of all your fics.

Thanks @goldheartedchaoticdisaster for the tag!

1. Integrity Compromised - The Mandalorian

It was Greef who recommended her. Of course he ‘knew a guy’. Or woman, in this case.

“An engineer of extraordinary talent,” Greef had said over the holo-com. And she would have to be, if she was going to be able to handle Mandalorian armour.

2. Loyalty, Divided - Uncharted

“Let’s try this again,” Sully said, stretching his hand across the table. “Victor Sullivan. My friends call me Sully.”

The kid smiled a little at that.

Friends. Don't suppose he has a whole lot of those right now.

3. Brothers and Sons - Red Dead Redemption 2

He watched his daddy hang.

A part of him hoped the old man would end with some kind of pride. Show some spine. Jut his chin at the sky and meet his maker like a man. But the bastard was whimpering by the end.

4. On the Road - The Last of Us

“Your watch is broken.”

She points it out as if he hasn’t noticed.

He almost laughs. Snorts air out his nose, but doesn’t bother to reply. There’d be no way to explain it even if he did. The watch’s face is cracked and the battery died long ago, but it would be like losing a limb to take it off. Some days the weight of it is all that keeps him in the world.

5. The Last Strand - Death Stranding

There’s so much he needs to tell her. So much he’s gonna have to teach her. But what the hell does he know? And where does he even begin?

He starts with the alphabet because even though she can’t speak and doesn’t even know what the fuck a letter is, he figures it’s a fundamental thing you’re meant to teach kids and she seems to like the rhythm and recitation of it as he walks.

6. Red Dead Whumptober - Red Dead Redemption 2

The wire sliced into his skin like a snakebite, its barbs latching on and pulling tight into the flesh of his thigh, his side, his arm, ripping tears into his brand new shirt and all. Dutch’d given him that shirt just last week and he’d be givin’ him an earful for bleeding all over it, too.

7. The Longest Dark - The Mandalorian

He did the math without really thinking. His navi-computer was programmed to sync with the Galactic Standard Calendar, based on the Coruscant solar system, but a little conversion in his head and suddenly the date, and its significance, was embedded in his thoughts.

He tried to shake it off. Nostalgia served very little purpose except to distract you from the present, and besides, there was no one to share it with, so what did it matter?

8.  Babysitting Cassie - Uncharted

Sam fidgeted at the front door, listening to the various noises of family life behind it. Little running feet; Nathan’s voice raised in a teasing kind of threat; that big dumb dog of theirs, barking its big dumb head off; Elena yelling at them all to stop fooling around, then giggling as she presumably got caught up in whatever game they were playing.

9.  A Normal Life - Uncharted

“Look, kiddo. I’d rather do a lot of things than eat my vegetables but you gotta do it,” Sam sighed, as Cassie pouted over her plate.

“They’re mushy.”

“They are cooked to perfection you tiny Gordon Ramsay.”

The pout deepened. “I’m not a gord-damn namsy!”

10. Blood Brothers - Uncharted

 Head for the lighthouse.

They were so close. Sam could see the top of the dilapidated tower jutting up above the cliffside. They were gonna make it. Of course they were. It’s what they did – scrambling and half-assing their way through situations that should have been the end of them. If the Drake brothers had a business card, By The Skin Of Our Teeth would be their tagline.

I have no idea who to tag because I am terrible at who the heck is who on here and Ao3 so if you wanna take this and RB please do!

[roadtogracelandx45]

Uncharted Waters| B. Sherman

Summary: Dewey is a well-known jerk within the Los Angeles police force and his family including his daughter Tess who has nothing to do with him until he gets shot and Chickie, his partner, calls her to let her know he has been hurt. A couple of weeks later, he is planning on retiring and Tess goes to the party and meets rookie cop Ben Sherman suddenly how Tess feels towards her father, Chickie and even John Cooper changes. 

Ben Sherman/ OFC 

Rated M for adult content

@marycorleone

Introduction 

Chickie sighed as she copied the number for Tessa Dudek, her partner's daughter from his phone to hers, she had been tasked with calling her and telling her father had been shot and was in surgery. And it was the last thing that she wanted to do. Dewey's relationship with not only Tessa but his wife had been strained, so much so that at 16, Tess cut him off only talking once or twice every few months, and even then it was strained and short. 

It had taken almost 4 years of Chickie and John Cooper working with him to find out that he had a daughter and that was only because he had to hunt her down. After all, she missed one of the twice-a-year meetings she had with both of her parents and his ex-wife and her mother freaked out so the three of them had to go hunt her down. 

They had found her of course, but the girl wasn't happy, she had slammed the door in Dewey's face after cussing him up one side and down the other. And personally, they found it funny that she did that. It was only fair that Dewey had someone who treated him how he treated others.

Taking another deep breath, she dialed the girl's phone number and was instantly met with a Hello. "Hey Tess, it's Chickie." "Oh hey Chickie, what's up?"  There was a lot of background noise and she wondered if Tessa was back to her old ways of working with adult entrainment and turning tricks, something that she and John swore they would never tell Dewey until they absolutely had to. 

"It's Dewey." 

"Oh?" 

The background noise faded slightly and the blonde officer was relieved, which meant she wouldn't have to shout to be heard, "he was shot, it doesn't look good." 

"And you are telling me this why? I don't have a relationship with him, you know that."

"I know kid, but he is your father, do you want him to die without trying to resolve what has happened in the past between  you two?"  

"I guess you are right, if anything it would be a good chance for me to tell him, I hate him."  Tess agreed, there were so many unresolved issues between them and so many things that she wanted to say to him but every time she saw him the anger took over and the curse words came out.

 "I will meet you there. Don't leave me alone with him Chickie, because I swear to god, he isn't dead, I will kill him myself."  "I will meet you downstairs," Chickie said before hanging up the phone, she was the only other officer who was there for Dewey and that was saying a lot.  People liked him when he was doing a drunken act but didn’t care enough to actually show up and hold virgle like she did. 

**

Ben Sherman glanced back at the doors that were swinging shut behind Chickie, there was a tall brunette who was going into the ICU waiting room. “Who is that?” He asked tearing his eyes away from the girl to Chickie who smirked, “Trust me it's not worth it.”  

Ben took one more glance over her head and then shook his head, if he wasn’t so exhausted he would go in there and talk to her.  “How is he?”

 “He will be okay.”  She gave a tired smile and went towards the exit ready to go home to her son. Deep down she had almost hoped Dewey would have died.

 This was a punishment of sorts. It had to be. 

 Ben glanced back at the girl before going into the waiting room.

***

"I must be dead." Dewey commented as he came back too, his daughter was sitting next to his bed, an open magazine on her lap and her lit-up cell phone in her hand, "I have to be because there is no way my daughter will be here under any other circumstances." 

"No, not dead but you should be." Tess returned as she snapped her phone shut and twisted to look at him, "Doc said they took 5 bullets out of you. Why weren't you wearing your vest?" 

Dewey groaned and reached to press the button for the nurse. He was going to be more medicated to listen to his daughter's bitching.

"Tess."

"Dewey."  

"Don't start."

She pulled a face and mimicked him, "What happened? All Chickie said was you responded to a disturbance that was it." 

"Why do you care?"  

Tessa flipped the magazine shut and reached for her bag that was on the window sill,  "See this is why I didn't want to come. Knew that our relationship was beyond repair. Told Chickie that. Told Charlene that. But they didn't want to listen. Told me it would be good to try. Said I should get to know my father. " 

The doctor came in with the nurse to check on him, "Glad you aren't dead. But kind of wish you were." She excused herself quickly from the room and went to exit to the waiting room. 

'Tess." Charlene started as she came back into the waiting room. 

"I got to go, Char, I was right he is never going to change." She returned. "Don't go back to work. Just go hang out in the waiting room."

 Charlene had been trying to talk Tess into quitting her nighttime jobs and going to school but the girl refused, repeating Dewey's statement about becoming a reporter. 

"Fine, I will hang out for a while longer."

**

Ben looked up when he heard the soft footsteps come into the waiting room, he had been expecting the mother of the girl that was asleep in the row of chairs near him but it was the girl he had seen in the hallway. 

"Hi.' He offered as she sat down a few seats away from him. "Hi.' She returned before glancing at the girl and then back at him, clearly curious about him.

 "Are you here for Dewey?" He asked. 'Yeah, you?" 

"Yeah, I was with him when he got shot."

"You are a cop?" 

He laughed almost bitterly, that was the third or fourth time he had heard that day and it wasn't getting any better. 

"I don't mean like that it's a bad thing. You are just too handsome to be a cop. Not like Dewey or Cooper."

"How do you know them?" He glanced at the sleeping girl one more time before turning fully to face the girl. 

She chewed on the inside of her cheek before answering, "Dewey is my father. I have known John since Dewey got settled into the same district." 

 "Dewey?" He repeated, "Dewey? Is your father?

" "In the loosest meaning of the term."  He laughed, he knew that feeling all too well, his own father was like that. Tessa felt a warm spread through her chest and she shook her head, she knew better than to get involved with anyone who wore uniforms, it usually ended up with her heartbroken and her going on a shopping spree. 

But like her father, Tess never ever learned. 

[whenyoucantwritesoyoudrawinstead]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26296885/chapters/72443586

[sweetie2566yt]

Save me right now. (Uncharted) | Wattpad a nathan drake fanfiction WATCH HERE: https://youtu.be/F1TQtQRPKds

[coldglasspane]

Chapters: 1/2 Fandom: Uncharted (Movie 2022) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Nathan Drake/Chloe Frazer Characters: Nathan Drake, Chloe Frazer Additional Tags: One Shot, Smut, Tom Holland as Nathan Drake, Actor Tom Holland, Actress Sophia Ali, Sex, Vaginal Fingering, Groping Summary:

Taking place after Nate and Chloe crash land on the beach after surviving jumping out of Moncado's plane. Nate books a room for one night for the both of them while they figure out what their next steps are. Chloe decides to wind down with a shower, but the days events linger in her mind. A particular someone who is accompanying her begins to give her unexpected, lustful emotions, and she resolves to do something about it.

I also recommend checking out the deleted scene of this movie where Nate and Chloe are drinking out on the balcony together and its pretty clear they almost kiss. I refer to this scene quite a bit for inspiration in this fic. Have fun reading!

DISCLAIMER:

I do not play the Uncharted games/series. My take on the characters in this fic are purely based off the movie version. This is also true of their relationship in the movie. I do not write these characters with any additional background or context provided by the games, because I haven't played them.

[nomercymaster11]

My Masterlist! (edited as of March 24, 2024)

RATED 18

Possession ver. 2.0 - Passionate encounter with Law; jealousy, desire, and unspoken complexities unfold. (⭐⭐)

Dancing on the Precipice - Secret passions bloom amid celebration. (⭐)

Tender Nights - Law's late night affection. (⭐)

Harmony in the Icy Depths - Forbidden harmony at sea. (⭐⭐⭐)

Delicate Mornings - Law makes amends for a night's slumber. (⭐⭐⭐)

Whispers of the Heart - Crew banter interrupts a daydream of a clandestine moment. (⭐)

NON RATED 18

My first ever series:

Chapter 1: It’s complicated - Law rejects your confession to him. How will you cope?

Chapter 2: Two-way Dilemma

Chapter 3: Silent Longings

Chapter 3.5: We should talk

Chapter 4: Through Law's eyes

----

Inked Secrets - A playful prank reveals hidden truths, intertwining hearts on the rooftop.

Turbulent Currents - Heart Pirates breaking apart.

Possession - Law's silent declaration against Sanji.

Navigating Bonds: The Heart Pirates' reaction - Heart Pirates embrace evolving ties in uncharted seas of camaraderie.

Silent Tides - unspoken feelings for Law.

I recently rekindled my interest in the One Piece fandom two months ago after watching the One Piece Live Action on Netflix. I decided to rewatch the anime from Episode 1, and I'm proud to say that I've caught up. To achieve this, I committed to watching 100 episodes per week. Admittedly, it felt a bit intimidating given that One Piece has over a thousand episodes, and I had paused my watching right before the timeskip during the Sabaody Archipelago Arc. (Currently on Episode 1032, and although I initially didn't plan to be a weekly watcher, I can't help but get more and more into it!)

I used to be a Sanji fan, but it's been around eight years since I stopped watching the anime. Little did I know, I would fall in love with Law. Discovering more about him—his character, personality, dynamics—I thought, 'This man is the standard.' I wish I hadn't stopped watching One Piece back then, but here I am! I'm so happy and fully immersed that I've even started creating a Trafalgar Law shrine in my room.

Regarding the fan fictions I'm working on and planning for the future, they're based on my imagination, some influenced by my experiences and emotions during writing, and inspired by songs I frequently listen to. I have numerous ideas in mind, and I hope to articulate them soon.

So, thank you for reading my fanfiction(s)!

[blakebouchard]

7 Fantasy RPGs to fill the D&D-shaped Hole in your Life

So. It finally happened. Either Hasbro, or Wizards of the Coast, or someone else associated with Dungeons & Dragons finally did something so fucked-up that you've decided to swear it off entirely.

The problem is that for decades, there has been one obvious answer to the question of "What game with Dwarves, Longswords and Wizards in it should we play" and that was D&D, every time. Even their strongest rival in the past couple of decades was just an older version of D&D with a spit shine.

Now you find yourself adrift in a sea of possibility, with no signposts. There are names you've heard, but you have no idea which ones you'd actually be interested in, because you had always just assumed you'd be playing D&D until the heat death of the universe.

So let's take a look at a few games that want to fill that D&D-shaped hole in your gaming life, and examine what they're offering.

Disclaimer: I'm not covering the entire breadth and depth of the TTRPG industry here. I'm specifically going to be covering Fantasy RPGs that should appeal to D&D fans here. So if I didn't cover your favourite indie RPG, sorry. But there has to be a "First step" outside of the D&D bubble, and each of these games should fulfill that need.

The Other "Kitchen Sink" Game: Pathfinder

If you can't bring yourself to keep playing the corporate game, but you still want something that offers as close to that gameplay experience as you can possibly get, your best bet at the time of this writing is probably Pathfinder 2nd Edition.

I say this as someone who very much did not vibe with the original Pathfinder, or its "D&D in space" sister product Starfinder. But at this point, I'd absolutely tell a newcomer to jump into Pathfinder 2E before I recommended they buy any WotC product.

To their credit, the 2nd Edition of Pathfinder does much more to, uh, find its own path by diverging from 3.5 edition and implementing new systems that take it into uncharted territory. The "Two Actions Per Turn" paradigm is often cited by its proponents as being a meaningful improvement over the 5E way of doing things.

The "TTJRPG": Fabula Ultima

One of the biggest success stories of the early 20's was Fabula Ultima from NEED Games in Italy. It came seemingly out of nowhere to win the ENnie Gold Award for Best Game of 2023. Since then it's become notoriously difficult to find in print, though it's still freely available as a PDF.

Fabula Ultima is a "TTJRPG," modelled after Japanese fantasy video games like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Phantasy Star, Breath of Fire, etc. While it's firmly planted in the Fantasy genre, its gameplay will also very recognizable to fans of those types of games.

The major benefit of this conceit is that you can probably already picture how combat in FabUlt works in your mind: Two rows of characters take turns jumping and slashing at each other, or casting magical spells to harm, heal, or apply status conditions. There's no concept of "Spacing," but the game still manages to be mechanically intricate with lots of varied class abilities and status effects to apply.

D&D refugees looking for a game where you simply pick a class and fight some monsters, but aren't too particular about how they do that, will find a lot to love here. FabUlt leans much more heavily on storytelling mechanics than D&D does, so players who've been looking for something a bit more "Theater of the Mind" should be well taken care of here.

Final Fantasy Lancer: ICON

Like Fabula Ultima, ICON is a TTRPG that takes heavy inspiration from JRPGs, specifically tactical games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre. It's from Massif Press, who also authored the surprise indie Mech combat hit Lancer.

And like Lancer, ICON is a game with two very distinct rulesets: Outside of combat, a "Fiction-first" narrative system inspired heavily by Blades in the Dark; In combat, a grid-based tactical skirmish game reminiscent of D&D 4th Edition. All backed by the gorgeous art of its author Tom Parkinson-Morgan, who also writes and illustrates the comic Kill Six Billion Demons.

ICON separates its "narrative" class system from its combat class system, giving each character two distinct character sheets that come into play at different times. Because those two systems don't have to cross over very much, each can be as intricate or as rules-light as it needs to be to promote the type of gameplay most appropriate for the situation.

The Old-School Gateway Drug: Shadowdark

If you ever took a few steps outside of the walled garden that is D&D in the past few years, you will likely have read or heard of the OSR, or "Old-School Revival/Renaissance." Proponents of the OSR are players who yearn for an older style of Dungeon Crawling Survival Horror game that hearkens back to the early days of D&D, before the players became akin to superheroes.

Shadowdark aims to be a game that bridges the gap to that style of gameplay, without being totally unfamiliar to players who only ever learned 5th Edition mechanics. It's "Old-School gaming, modernized."

Aside from simply being a modern take on a D20 fantasy game, it freshens up gameplay using a mechanic called the "Torch Timer." It turns light into a resource that dwindles in real time. This serves to elevate the tension of the game as every minute that passes is one less minute of light on your torch. And when the torches run out, well... You can probably guess what happens next.

5th Edition with the Serial Numbers Filed Off: Tales of the Valiant

Tell me if you've heard this one before: Wizards of the Coast introduces sweeping changes to its "Open" license model, leading existing 3rd-party content creators to create their own version of an older ruleset to protect the viability of their backlog. It happened in the past, but what are the chances that happens a second time? Ha!

Well... It did happen again. This time, playing the role of the "Paizo" in this scenario is Kobold Press, who loudly declared that they were "Raising the Black Flag" in response. In order to ensure that there would always be a "Core Fantasy" ruleset that would remain compatible with their content, they announced Tales of the Valiant, which would essentially duplicate the 5th Edition ruleset with a bit of a spit shine, in much the same way that Pathfinder did for 3.5 Edition.

Tales of the Valiant will be the game for the D&D player who just wanted a rules refresh of 5th Edition, but also doesn't want to keep throwing money at the corporate hegemony. It should end up being "The 5E you can feel good about supporting," and that matters right now.

Matt Colville's Big Bet: The MCDM RPG

Kobold Press was not the only publisher of third-party D&D content to have a strong reaction to the OGL fiasco. Unlike Tales of the Valiant however, Matt Colville's response was to announce a fully new Fantasy RPG system, with no expectation of backwards compatibility with any edition of D&D.

MCDM's sights are firmly set on the "Post-Kitchen-Sink" future, and to that end their game is explicitly not trying to be the one game for every possible playstyle. It's Tactical, meaning you'll need a grid to play it on, and it's Heroic, meaning characters should feel powerful, and not like they're constantly one critical hit or failed trap-sensing check away from being decapitated.

This approach might seem like a massive risk considering how insanely powerful 5th Edition became at its peak. But a record-breaking crowdfunding campaign backed by over 30,000 people shows that there is at least an appetite for something new, and that there is a like-minded community of players ready and waiting to join you.

The Critical Role Game: Daggerheart

If the Kobold Press announcement was a shot across the bow, and the MCDM crowdfunder was a bomb dropped, then Daggerheart is a full-blown asteroid, streaking straight towards Wizards of the Coast HQ.

Daggerheart is an original Fantasy RPG from Darrington Press, the publishing arm of the Critical Role media company. That by itself should mean something considering how important CR is to the D&D brand, but there's more to talk about here. Though it superficially resembles D&D in a lot of ways, it has some extremely important differences. Namely, its use of "Powered by the Apocalypse" mechanics such as "Fail Forward" dice rolling and "No Initiative" combat.

While "PbtA" has become somewhat of a loaded term in the D&D community, Critical Role has an opportunity to overcome that stigma with the sheer force of their platform. I've made this case already in the past, but if they were to use their power to do for themselves what they did for 5th Edition, it would be the most significant threat to the Hasbro Hegemony to emerge since Pathfinder. Let alone taking just a slice, Daggerheart has the long-term potential to take the whole damn pie.

And more!

The games I've listed here are all theoretically capable of replacing the Corpo game as your "go-to" long-term game. Not all of them are fully playable as of this writing, but they all represent one possible future for the "Sword and Sorcery" RPG genre.

There are of course a whole plethora of other games out there beyond the limited scope of "Medieval Fantasy" that are just as valid and just as viable, if you're feeling a bit more adventurous.

If you're looking for something explicitly tactical like a miniature skirmish game, but still in the RPG genre, and you're willing to expand your choice of genre beyond Euro-centric Medieval Fantasy even further beyond ICON, you might be interested in Gubat Banwa or the aforementioned Lancer.

If you want a game that promotes a slightly more streamlined, less mechanically-intricate approach to combat while still giving you tons of monsters to kick the shit out of, you might want to check out the "Illuminated by LUMEN" family of games inspired by the games LIGHT and NOVA from Gila RPGs. It might even inspire you to write your own RPG!

If you're more interested in the Old-School Renaissance, you might want to check out Forbidden Lands, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Old-School Essentials, or MÖRK BORG.

If you like the idea of "Old-School Roleplaying" but are also willing to step outside of the fantasy genre into Sci-fi territory, you might be interested in Stars Without Number, its Cyberpunk sister product Cities Without Number, or Mothership.

Finally, if you just want a game that focuses on telling the best story rather than mindlessly killing monsters and acquiring loot, you might want to check out Blades in the Dark, Thirsty Sword Lesbians, Girl by Moonlight, Coyote and Crow, and many more Fiction-First games in the Powered by the Apocalypse and Forged in the Dark genres.

But most importantly: Just play more games! Don't just buy them, play them! The point of this whole exercise is to replace the monopoly with a plurality, for the sake of the health of the tabletop gaming industry.

Because the next time Hasbro lays off a bunch of WotC employees, there should be a much stronger, more diverse industry for them to land in feet-first. We should all want for the people who build the games we love to feel safe in their career choice. Not just for the sake of the ones who are already there, but for future prospective designers and artists who want to make their mark.

It should be viable to be a tabletop game designer outside of just making more D&D stuff forever, because as we've seen, it's not safe to assume that we can all just keep doing the same thing we've been doing and not get bit on the ass by it.

If we want that future, we have to take it into our own hands and build it ourselves. But if there's one group of people that knows about building something very big from very little, it's TTRPG players.

[socially-awkward-skeleton]

Tagged by @chadillacboseman and @clicheantagonist​​ (for six sentence sunday) and tagged back by @marivenah

tagging: @poetikat​​ @direwombat​ @roofgeese​ @strangefable​ @confidentandgood​ @clonesupport​ @natesofrellis​ @incognito-insomniac​ @natesofrellis​ @sstewyhosseini​ @schoute​ and anyone else who has anything to share (I wasn’t sure if any of the far cry mutuals would want to read this so...)

In a move no one saw coming I have some Uncharted stuff this time around (none of my Far Cry stuff is worth reading yet). I enjoy writing the fluff when it comes to Sam and Sia so I went with the trope to beat all tropes - “Just One Bed” (somehow in all of my years of writing I have never used it):

The door swung open, a creaky old thing. It was barely able to hold on to its hinges during the winter storm they were caught in. If there was too strong of a draft it would likely be blown away. The train had been cancelled, cell service was next to non-existent, and since neither Siobhan nor Sam had the same cash flow as Rafe this was the best they could do on short notice. A small one room cottage, cramped and musty, fit more for a marooned fisherman than a thief and a researcher. The mattress was lumpy, the curtains dusty, and the shower was built for a hobbit and not a man who was over six feet tall. 

She dropped her luggage in the doorway, staring at the room in dismay as rain dripped down her nose. "Jesus, Mary and Joseph."

From her tone alone he expected cockroaches to be climbing up the walls and  the sink to be on fire. He pushed his way into the room as freezing water ran down the back of his neck from the gutter of the roof. "Oh come on, Sia. It's one night, I'm sure it's not that -"

One bed. It could have been worse, but considering the two of them had barely spent more than a few hours with each other this would certainly force them to get acquainted a little more intimately. 

"Shit.” He rubbed at the wet spot on the back of his neck, rain water drenching the ringlets that sat there. He was fine with the situation but he wasn’t so sure the bookworm would be. “Well I mean, it's still better accommodation than I was staying in for the last decade."

She pulled her luggage into the room, dumping her suitcase on the old table by the door. She tied her hair up into a low bun and pulled off her coat, laying it over the back of the chair. Wiping the fog off of her glasses with her sweater, she chuckled while shaking her head, flicking the wet strands of hair off her face. "Should we leave that on the review, Samuel? Better than a Panamanian prison."

Shrugging his shoulder, he gave her a cheeky grin. "At least I'm allowed to smoke in the room." In the inside pocket of his sheepskin lined jacket he grabbed his pack of cigarettes and lighter. 

"You can feck right off with that.” She snatched the cigarette pack from his hand, shaking the paper packet at him. “You wanna smoke? On yer bike.” She looked up at him with a furrowed brow, barely coming up to his chest.

She was the crankiest little thing on two legs he’d ever met, but he wasn’t stupid enough to ever say that out loud. 

"Yes, dear." He swung the duffel bag off his shoulder and down onto the table. He was relieved to be free of its weight. Hopping on to the bed, sinking down into the old mattress, his chin pressed to his chest as he watched her pace. "So which side do you usually sleep on?"

Her lips pursed, forehead wrinkled like a basset hound. "I'll take the couch. Thank you very much."

"The hell you will.” He sat up, resting on his forearms. “I'm not listening to you complaining for the rest of the trip about how your back hurts."

She moved closer to him, hands pressed to the back of her hips. Nudging at his foot with her knee. "Oh, so the ex-con thinks he can rough it better than I can, eh?"

Sliding forward on the bed, he sat upright on its edge. He’d never been at this angle with her before, having her look down at him with her mossy green eyes.

"You've been around too many toffee-nosed tea drinkers, it's rubbed off on ya.” He pulled off his coat and hung it over the footboard, water dripped off of it, pitter-pattering against the old wooden floor. “I'll take the couch."

Walking over to the old chesterfield in the corner, his face fell at the sight of it. There were stains on it so old he could have sworn it could be used for Rafe’s next archeological dig and that was only after you scraped off the fur coat’s worth of dog hair. 

Staring down at the mess, they both looked at each other, not another word needing to be said.

"Ah, be off with ya. Share the bed."

"You sure? I don't want God smiting me for touching someone so pure." 

She looked up at the ceiling above, holding her own communion with the Lord above, hoping he’d grant her the strength to make it through a night with this man. "Sure sounds like you really wanta be sleeping on that couch, Samuel."

[mariacallous]

There’s a nasty not-so-secret secret no one likes to talk about, so it’s best to start there: Black women are among the most hated demographic worldwide. In America especially, anti-Blackness is the air. It’s everywhere even when you can’t see it. From the ivory halls of Washington to C-suites at Fortune 500 companies, Blackness is treated as less than. And because that is how it works and how it has worked generation after generation, not even Beyoncé, currently the most commanding force in music, can escape the fangs of misogynoir.

Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: A Black woman was told she did not belong, that she was not welcome in a certain space, so she paved a path all her own. That’s the story Beyoncé recounted in an Instagram post in March, the day she announced her new country album, Cowboy Carter. “The criticisms I faced when I first entered this genre forced me to propel past the limitations that were put on me,” she wrote. Unlike other musical genres, country is infamous in who it chooses to exclude. The genre’s history is rife with allegiances to the old ways of American prejudice, and no bearing or social position can change that.

The sweet irony, of course, is that now we have Cowboy Carter, the second installment in a three-act project of historical and musical restoration that Beyoncé began in 2022 with Renaissance, her dance-floor tribute to house music. She is on a mission to reclaim her time. The rare artist who can pull off such a canny move, Beyoncé now represents something bigger than music. She’s an industry unto herself: swaggering and audacious in reach, with a built-in fan base that anticipates every album drop, Instagram post, and product release. Whether you agree with the motivations behind her work or not (and there are valid criticisms to be made for artists who create at such a grand scale as her; mass influence in all arenas of life necessitates questioning, there’s no denying that), no other contemporary Black musician will bring more awareness to country’s gated meadowlands—its past, present, and possible futures—than Beyoncé. If nothing else, she gets people talking.

“I’d like to actually thank the CMAs for pissing her off,” X user @gardenoutro wrote Friday morning, just past midnight, in the hour following the album’s official release, calling attention to Beyoncé’s 2016 performance with the Chicks that was later shunned by Country Music Association members. Where Lemonade was scorned memoir and Renaissance flirted with fantasy—a disco-lit dreamscape where freedom and love have no inverse—Cowboy Carter unravels like autofiction, blending biography with novelistic flair on songs like “Daughter” and “Spaghettii.” It takes country into uncharted terrain. “It’s easy to listen to 27 tracks when they’re all good,” songwriter Rob Milton wrote on X.

That’s the other thing about the Beyoncé Effect: There is no room for dissent in her universe. Online, and particularly across social media, new albums of hers are given billboard status. It is cause for celebration but rarely one for challenge or sharp inquiry.

“A lot of people still want to join in with something larger than themselves. Fandom offers them a way to do that. It is not, though, entirely a utopian space,” says Mark Duffett, a professor at the University of Chester who researches fandom. “The concerns and issues that society has are mirrored in fan communities. They do not escape from being part of the wider social world.”

As powerful as her music can be, the release of a Beyoncé album exposes the fiction of a shared internet. There is not one but many. In its most intense form, fan logic thrives in isolation. On Beyoncé’s internet, as with comparable fan cultures, logic finds comfort in the sideways geometry of the echo chamber. Its reasoning animorphs into blind zealotry, wagging its finger in the face of disagreement. Fan logic butts against balanced judgment. It has led Barbs (Nicki Minaj fans), Beliebers (Justin Bieber fans), Hive members (Beyoncé fans), and the like into a cycle of heated confrontation, and sometimes wild irrationality.

Brittany Luse wasn't expecting death threats when she commented about a Cowboy Carter ad that was projected onto the front of the Guggenheim Museum, but she also knew “the Hive can be so intense in their defense of any criticism of Beyoncé, let alone any perceived slight. So I wasn't expecting nothing to happen.” Luse is the host of NPR’s pop culture podcast It’s Been a Minute and a fan of the singer. “I maintain a pretty low-key presence online, so over the years, I’ve only dealt with wild social media attacks a handful of times, with the Swifties or the manosphere, but never death threats. They probably should have stressed me out, but they mostly just confounded me. I said I didn’t like an ad, and now you want me to choke? That’s too much.”

That, more than anything, is the tenor of fandom on the internet today: Perceived disloyalty is met with Tony Soprano–style intimidation. The rise and permanence of social media has led, in part, to the decomposition of fan culture. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram brought us closer together. Platforms that prized connection boosted the careers of artists from burgeoning to box office stars. But it had costs, Luse says. Instant access to celebrities rewired our relationships entirely.

“You can find seemingly endless content from your fave and befriend other fans more easily than ever before. Of course that would bring people joy,” she says. “But that constant, instant access also at least partially fuels an us-against-them mindset that puts some people into attack mode over their favorite artist.”

But perhaps the problem is not that such intense fandoms exist, but where they take root and make a home. “Another thing that has happened is that fans might be talking on social media to each other in ways that they do not necessarily anticipate nonfans will seek out or understand,” Duffett says. “It raises the question of whether a community can keep to itself and yet communicate in a public space.”

Beyoncé represents a monoculture at a moment when monocultures have gone all but extinct. For her, extreme fandom is both anchor and ascendence. There are downsides, unquestionably so, but the people who power Beyoncé’s platform provide a necessary function too: When the door has been slammed in her face and she’s told she’s not welcome inside, or when the Recording Academy twice overlooks her for Album of the Year, it is her fans who give her the authority to reboot country music in her image, and perhaps, in doing so, chart a new course altogether. “It would be cool if she never mentioned the Grammys again,” Luse said on X. “When you can do all this, who cares?”

[shes-homeward-bound]

Crash and Burn | Chapter 5

Summary: You’re the first female driver to compete in the Formula 1 World Championship in decades and it's your second year of navigating through a male-dominated sport. Your talent and drive to prove yourself made you vicious on the grid. Your seemingly unshakeable confidence was never questioned- until a certain Ferrari driver made you crash and burn.

Pairing: Carlos Sainz Jr. x Reader

Chapters: 5/?

Warnings: swearing

Word Count: 6.5k

Posted on 6/11/2022

masterlist

A/N: Hey guys, I finally have an update for you! I hope you all enjoy and please feel free to comment or send a message. I love reading your reactions and it tells me what works and what doesn't. Enjoy the chapter and remember that this is fiction, not an actual depiction of their character.

Chapter 5:

Wrapped in a cocoon made out of blankets, you blinked warily as a stream of sunlight hit your face. You looked around the beautifully decorated room and remembered that you were in a hotel. Your little sister was studying in Madrid for a semester so you decided to visit her during your couple of weeks off from F1. You arrived at the hotel late at night and you were so exhausted that you forgot to shower and went straight to sleep. With a combination of jet lag and a lack of rest from the race weekend, you slept for hours without stirring awake. You glanced at the clock and saw that it was already noon, groaning when you remembered you were supposed to meet up with your sister Elsie for a late lunch. You rolled out of bed and took a quick shower and put on a pair of jeans, a nice blue sweater, a tan trenchcoat, and a pair of white sneakers. You were dressed cute enough for a nice lunch yet comfortable enough to roam around the city. 

At the restaurant, you and Elsie ordered seafood paella and a small bottle of white wine. After a few pics of the food and tagging and posting the restaurant in your Instagram story, it was time to catch up. Elsie always had a million questions about the cars and drivers, she loved that you were in Formula 1. Elsie used to compete in karting with you but it was your dream to pursue a career in motorsport while she wanted to be an engineer that built race cars. 

You could tell Elsie was dying to ask you about Carlos. She knew that Carlos was one of the only drivers that acted strangely towards you and since she was your number 1 fan, she undoubtedly noticed the change in your relationship. Elsie fidgeted with her wine glass and you grinned, you knew what question was coming.

“So… what’s up with you and Carlos?” said Elsie.

You laughed. “I ran into him in Mallorca back in March and yeah, I guess we’re friends now.”

“But….” she said as she urged you to continue.

You took a large swig of wine before admitting your little dilemma. “But… the problem is I like him.”

Elsie erupted in a fit of giggles that garnered a few stares from strangers. “I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! You guys are so cute with your little pinky swears. Are you guys like secretly dating or something like that?”

“No!” you said urgently. “He has no idea I like him and I’d like the general public to also not know so keep your voice down!”

With a significantly softer voice, she responded. “Can you relax? No one heard me.” She scoots her chair closer to you and continued. “Well, what are you going to do about it?”

You shrugged. “I don’t think he sees me that way and even if he did, we’d be going into uncharted territory. I’m not sure if there’s a rule about dating a fellow driver but I’m sure the FIA would slap some stupid rule if they caught a whiff of any of the drivers together.” 

Elsie shook her head at you. “It’s so typical of you to start getting all negative. It’s almost like you enjoy thinking of the worst possible situations you can get into.” 

“You’re sounding a lot like Anna right now but you’re right, I'm working on it. You know how nervous I get when it comes to my image, these people are ruthless.”

“From an outsider's perspective, you’re still a badass female driver so I don’t think your image is in trouble here. What we have to work on is your perception of how Carlos sees you. I’ve watched every race so far and looked at all the interviews and fan content. Y/n… he looks at you with heart eyes. He’s so obvious.”

Now it was your turn to giggle. “He does not look at me with heart eyes.”

“Yes, he does! And the way he holds you when you guys hug makes ME blush. I don’t know how you compose yourself,” said Elsie. 

“You’re being ridiculous, if anyone is obvious it’s me because I practically launched myself at him after the race in Jeddah,” you said as you blushed remembering your actions.

The both of you resume your usual banter when you get a phone call on that distracts you. You look and see that it was an unknown number, you were expecting a phone call from Aston Martin headquarters so you excused yourself and answered.

“Hello?”

“Hi y/n, it’s Carlos.”

Your eyes almost bugged out. “Carlos? How do you have my number?”

Your sister leaped toward you and pressed her ear to the other side of the phone. You tried pushing her away but she wouldn’t budge. 

“Lando gave me your number a couple of days ago. Ehhh… I just realized that calling you might have been weird. I’m sor-” 

“No! No, it’s not weird at all,” you rushed to reassure him. “I’m just wondering why you're calling.”

“Oh my god, I’m embarrassed now. I saw on your Instagram story that you were in Madrid and instead of texting you I just called…?” 

The slight rise in his voice made you laugh. “Don’t feel embarrassed, I’m really glad you called. Are you in Madrid right now? If you want, you could meet up with me and my sister at the Prado Museum at 4.”

You hear him make a sound. Was that a sigh of relief? “Yes, I am. I’m visiting my family here in Madrid and I was just shocked at the coincidence of us being in the same city again.”

Carlos agreed to meet up with you and when you hung up, Elsie squealed. You sat back as you tried to process what just happened. You couldn’t believe he called you and you couldn’t believe that you invited him. You were also shocked that Lando gave Carlos your number.

“That was weird. The fact that he called you with no hesitation says something,” said Elsie.

You pursed your lips. You thought about it being a possibility but you quickly shook your head. There was no way. “Maybe Carlos is more of a phone call kind of guy,” you suggested. “I assure you that Carlos does not like me. So when we meet up with him in the museum later, please don’t be weird. Don’t be obvious.”

With a sly grin, she nodded. “Understood, I’ll be the perfect wing-woman.”

*******

Museo Nacional del Prado was beautiful, its grandiose demeanor should have taken your breath away but the sight of Carlos standing by one of the columns was all you could see. He looked like a casually-dressed gentleman dressed in a black jacket with a blue sweater peeking underneath and jeans with Chelsea boots. You liked it when Carlos wasn’t wearing any Ferrari uniform, you were able to see his fashion sense and it made you feel better about liking a fellow driver. Without the Ferrari red and Aston Martin green, you two were friends with no complications. 

Carlos finally spots you and with a smile, he walks over to you and Elsie. You give him a quick hug and introduce your sister who was acting way too giddy and chatty. You didn’t think Carlos noticed but you gave her a look that silently begged her to stop. Carlos laughed at the fact that you had just seen each other a few days prior and failed to mention to him that you were visiting your sister in his hometown. You replied that you just had a lot in your mind. I was too busy thinking about you, you thought. 

Once your little trio got tickets, Carlos surprised you with his extensive knowledge of the museum's permanent exhibits. You loved learning about history so you kept asking questions and would add some input whenever you knew some facts. Carlos was also such a great sport when it came to taking pictures of you and your sister. Elsie was the type to document everything in her life so she insisted that Carlos should also join you in some of the pictures. You wanted to smack her because every time she made you pose for a picture, she’d manage to find a way to shove you towards Carlos. 

 It was in a grand room filled with Southeast Asian art when you noticed how close you were both standing to each other. When you walked to the next piece of art, your arms bumped each other and stayed stuck as you both admired a statue. It made your heart pound that neither of you pulled away and now, his signature scent had engulfed your senses. You made a joke about the statue's awkward position and Carlos laughed and looked down at you from where he was standing. He was so close, you were mesmerized by his eyes when you noticed his gaze flicker down to your lips. You searched his face trying to find any indication of what he was thinking. A small smile graced him and you couldn’t help but replicate it.

Shuffling feet and an audible click of a camera made you whip your head around to see your sister frozen in place with her camera in hand. 

“Sorry! Don’t mind me, I saw the Diego Velazquez painting from across the room and rushed before people blocked it,” she said pointing to a nearby painting. 

Carlos abruptly stepped away from you. With a red face and stammering his way through a sentence, Carlos tried to nonchalantly brush it off and then pretended to be very interested in a nearby statue. You stared at your sister in shock, that moment was so intimate and you couldn’t believe it happened. With a wink, she discreetly showed the picture she took and you gasped. It looked straight out of some museum date Pinterest board. You and Carlos wearing a similar color palette while standing side-by-side gazing at each other. You thought she only took one picture but then she started clicking through her camera roll to reveal multiple photos of you and Carlos walking together. Some pictures made you inwardly groan because it was a candid shot of you beaming at the man next to you. It surprised you that no one had approached either you or Carlos and you were glad. You were being so obvious and everyone in the room could probably tell you had a big fat crush on him. You loved your fans but the last thing you wanted was to get caught in a mob with Carlos. 

You looked over to see that Carlos was talking on the phone.

“Oh gosh, he’s on the phone. Probably calling a friend to make up some excuse to leave,” you said. “I hope he doesn’t think I tried to kiss him or anything like that.” Elsie rolled her eyes at your unnecessary panic. 

Carlos walked over still red on the face and looking slightly nervous.

“I was just on the phone with my mother and she wanted to invite you for dinner tomorrow. But do not worry, I already said no and told her that you were here to visit your sister,” he said rapidly as he tried to gauge your reaction. 

Before you could speak, Elsie piped up. “Oh no, don’t worry about me! I have classes all day tomorrow and I have the rest of the week to spend time with my sister. Tell your mother that she can make it for dinner.” 

Carlos laughed at Elsie’s eagerness but looked warily at you for your response. He wished with all his might that you would agree to come to dinner with him and his family. When his mother called and found out that you were with Carlos, he was caught off guard when she made him invite you for a meal. With the recent self-realization of his feelings for you, he thought the dinner was the perfect step towards Carlos gaining your trust. 

With a deep breath and pink cheeks, you nodded. “I would love to have dinner with you and your family.” 

Carlos wanted to take a victory lap around the room but being the smooth operator he was, he gave you a charming smile and said that he would pick you up at your hotel. 

*******

This was probably the 100th time you fussed over your outfit while standing in front of the full-length mirror. You had spent the majority of your day running around the city preparing for this dinner with the Sainzs. You may or may not have stalked his family on social media and from what you learned, they were classy yet humbled and family-oriented. You purchased a bottle of nice French wine and arranged a beautiful bouquet. For your outfit, you had to find the perfect balance of dressy and casual. You wouldn’t dare upstage your hosts but didn’t want to get caught looking too casual. You opted for a dark green silk top and high-waisted black trousers paired with black pumps. 

You let out a small shriek once you received a text from Carlos saying that he arrived and was waiting in front of the hotel. You gathered your things and managed to make your way to the elevator without fainting. To say you were nervous was an understatement, you wanted to hurl and crawl under your covers. You tried convincing yourself that this dinner wasn’t a big deal, you’ve met a bunch of the other driver’s families but you couldn’t count that since you were all in F3 or F2 together. It also didn't help that you had a big fat crush on their son.

A small commotion outside the front doors made your stomach churn, that could only mean one thing. All hopes of staying under the radar with Carlos were thrown out the window but what did you expect? Of course, Carlos was going to get noticed in his flashy new Ferrari whilst he drove around in his hometown. What was going to make this a bigger spectacle was an Aston Martin driver hopping into Carlos’ car. You made a mental note to avoid your discovery pages on social media for the next few days. As you stepped outside, you saw Carlos perk up which sent the crowd's heads snapping toward your direction.

You immediately put your frustrations on the back burner and grinned as you made your way toward Carlos. Ignoring the crowd staring at both of you, he leans in for a hug. 

“Nice to see you again. You look beautiful by the way,” he whispered in your ear.

You felt your face get red hot. This was the first time he complimented you on your appearance. You manage to stammer out a quiet thank you before the fans started asking you for pictures and autographs.

You handed your things to him to place in the car and started signing some autographs that were closest to you. After a few minutes of chatting with some fans and practicing your Spanish, you and Carlos were able to start driving. Once you were away from the hotel, you and Carlos looked at each other and started laughing.

“Well, I didn’t expect that mini meet and greet,” you said. “I may be great with the media but I’m still getting used to all the public attention when I’m off the track.”

“Yeah, it took me a while but after 7 years in Formula One, you get used to it. The Tifosi are amazing and it’s nice to meet people who support you on race day,” said Carlos.

You hummed in agreement as you sat back trying to calm the nerves you were feeling. The dinner, the fans, and being completely alone with Carlos were stressing you out and Carlos could sense that something was wrong.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m just a little nervous about meeting your parents.” You refrained from telling Carlos that you were a little wary of what the fans would say after photos of you and Carlos would circulate on the internet. If you opened up that conversation, it may get awkward and you wanted to avoid that.  

“Don’t feel nervous about my family, they’re already a fan of your driving. I know they’ll love you.” Carlos cringed as he said the last sentence. He made it sound like you were meeting your parents for the first time as his girlfriend. In an attempt to distract you, Carlos rambled on about who was going to be at the dinner. The distraction was successful as you and Carlos started telling each other about your childhood and your families. 

By the time you arrived at his house, the little incident at the hotel was long forgotten as you mentally prepared yourself to meet his family. You knew you were being dramatic but you felt like you were meeting the family of a significant other. Once you were both out of the car, Carlos insisted that he should help you carry your things so you handed him your purse and the bottle of wine. The bouquet that you helped arrange was enormous and you wanted to be the one that handed it to his mother. As you approached the house, you couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Carlos holding your purse. The whole thing felt a little domestic and the very idea made your stomach flutter. Shooting you an enthusiastic smile, Carlos opened the door to be instantly greeted by his mother and father. 

“Y/n! Hello, it’s so nice to meet you!” said his mother. 

Giving her your most charming smile, you handed her the flowers. “Hello Mrs. and Mr. Sainz, thank you so much for inviting me into your lovely home.”

“It is our pleasure, my dear,” said his father. “Please, call me Carlos Sr.”

“And call me Reyes, there is no need to be so formal.”

To your delight, Reyes absolutely loved the bouquet and set off to find a vase. Since you and Carlos arrived a little early, Carlos offered to give you a house tour. Your apartments in England and Monaco were nice but the Sainz’s house was on a different level. The house was modern but still held an air of elegance that whispered old money. He lead you to a living room that acted as a trophy room. Carlos proudly showed off his father’s rallying trophies and joked about his significantly smaller section of the room.

You pointed to his 2021 Hungarian P3 trophy. “I almost snagged that one from you, do you remember?”

Carlos chuckled, “I had to defend hard that race, my strategist was so nervous that he made me nervous. You were pulling maneuver after maneuver, you had me on my toes till the checkered flag.” 

You smiled as you relived the memory. “I remember being so frustrated with you, I was trying so hard to get by but I didn’t want to push too far and crash into you. You know, I tried to find you after the race but you were really good at avoiding me back then.” 

Carlos looked at you with shock then proceeded to laugh. He knew you were joking but didn’t expect you to call him out at that moment. “Well, I was a fool last year and I missed out on getting to know you. I was such an idiot.”

You shrugged, attempting to act casual after what he told you. “Yeah, it kinda hurt the way you acted but, that was last year. Besides, look at us now,” you playfully bumped your shoulder on Carlos. “I’m literally in your house about to have dinner with your family. I think it’s safe to say that we’re friends.” 

With that statement, Carlos felt a spark of hope for your relationship with him. If you admitted you were friends, then maybe you could be as close to him as you were with Pierre. 

Dinner with the Sainz’s was nothing to be scared of. You met his sisters and they greeted you with hugs and the same warmth his parents had shown you. At the dining room table, you were seated next to Carlos and Rupert, his trainer who was close to the family. The Sainz’s were so welcoming that it almost felt normal to be dining with them. Every once in a while, Carlos would get close and quietly ask you if you were okay and every time, you would assure him that you were. It was at those moments when his mother and sisters would watch your interactions, curious to see what kind of relationship you and Carlos had.

Since the weather was unseasonably warm, the group moved to the outdoor patio where the Sainz’s served more drinks. Surrounding a gas fire pit was an array of patio furniture. You and Carlos sit comfortably on a loveseat only to have his sister Blanca plop herself next to you. To make more space, you scoot closer to Carlos to the point where half of his chest was pressed against your back. You leaned forward for as long as you could but when Blanca made no attempts to move, you let yourself relax against Carlos. 

As you and the Sainz’s exchanged funny stories, Carlos Sr. asked who came up with the pinky swear idea. You were about to speak when Carlos beat you to it.

“Come on, you guys know me. Only y/n is capable of something that childish,” said Carlos.

You turn and playfully poked his side. “Carlos was the one who turned it into a good luck charm. I guess we’re both childish.”

Carlos laughs, “The pinky swear works! We have finished top 10 since the season started!”

As his family and Rupert bantered with each other, it was at that moment when you noticed that sometime during your exchange, Carlos’s arm was draped over your shoulder. Without thinking about it, you responded by nestling closer to Carlos and letting your head rest on him. You didn’t know if it was the wine that gave you the courage but if Carlos didn’t mind, neither did you. 

You and Carlos were so focused on trying to guess what the other person was thinking that they missed the absolute joy on Reyes's face. She could sense the two drivers were hesitant but she was convinced there was something between them. Watching them snuggled together confirmed her suspicions, Reyes just hoped her hard-headed son would allow himself to be with someone.

The drive back to your hotel was far from quiet. You wanted to talk to Carlos about that little cuddle you both had but you were too nervous. You opted to get all chatty and gush over his family. Carlos knew that you were a talkative person but with the way you were stumbling on words, he suspected you were nervous about something. He tried to remember if something went wrong during dinner but couldn’t think of anything. Carlos was thrilled that you got along with his family, his parents liked you so much that his dad and mom made a promise that they’d visit you at every race they’d attend. Carlos offered to walk you to your hotel room and you happily accepted. You continued to be extra chatty but once you both entered the elevator, there was a moment of silence. Carlos looked over to see that you were fidgeting with the rings on your fingers. 

“Y/n?” said Carlos.

You took a deep breath and faced him. “Umm, can we talk about what happened on the patio?” 

Carlos felt the blood drain from his face. Oh god, she was probably uncomfortable but didn’t say anything in front of my family. I fucked up. He stiffly nodded, waiting for you to reprimand him. 

You racked your brain trying to find the best way to say it but you couldn’t handle the silence.

“I didn’t mind it," you blurted out. “I don’t know about you but I’ve been feeling some tension recently. I can’t pinpoint when it started but I like spending time with you.” 

Like all the things in your life, you went full speed ahead but this time you made the wrong move. When you saw Carlos staring blankly at you, you flung yourself to the far corner of the elevator. “Aaaand I read this situation wrong. Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry Carlos. Forget what I said. Please, just forget everything I said.” 

You practically ran out once the doors opened. By the time you got to your hotel room, you felt him grab your hand. You turn to face him with your head down, you couldn’t look him in the eye. “Carlos, it’s okay, you don’t have to say anything.”

Carlos lifts your chin, making you look at him. “You were talking so fast, I was just trying to process what you said. If you didn’t run away I would have told you that I like spending time with you.” 

You studied him trying to find any trace of insincerity but all you could see was Carlos giving you the most gentle smile. “Really?” 

Carlos nodded. “I meant what I said back at my house, I was an idiot and I wish I had been your friend from the beginning.” 

Your heartbeat was erratic, going from feelings of panic to elation left you mentally and physically exhausted. Squeezing Carlos’s hand, you tell him of your plan. “Why don’t we both take it slow and spend time together to see where this goes? I have plans with my sister for the next few days but why don’t we go on a proper date sometime soon?”

“I was supposed to be the one to ask you out first!”

You rolled your eyes. “Well, I beat you to it.”

Carlos hugs you goodbye and before you could chicken out, you go on your toes and press a kiss on his cheek. Feeling shy, you left him no time to react as you quickly opened your door and slipped inside. Before closing the door, you stuck your head out. 

“Goodnight, Carlos.” 

He smiled at your silliness. “Goodnight.”

*******

The next few days felt like a whirlwind filled with many activities. Before getting called into work at the Aston Martin Headquarters, you were able to spend time with your sister and managed to see Carlos a couple of times. When you weren’t with Elsie, you would be with Carlos training to make sure your bodies were in top shape for the next race weekend. One night, you received the funniest text from Anna asking why Rupert had messaged her asking what kind of training she wanted me to do. She immediately called and made you explain everything that happened. 

Sometimes it felt strange to be around him now that you both knew you had feelings for each other but in a way, it gave you both freedom to express yourselves. Telling Carlos and being honest with how you felt made your life a little easier. You were beginning to feel that Carlos was a physical touch and quality time kind of guy which perfectly matched your love language. You relished in the small touches whether it was on your back, arm, or leg. There was a time when you both collapsed in a heap of exhaustion in Carlos’s backyard after Rupert pushed the both of you to your limits. It was like one of those movie scenes, you and Carlos examined the clouds and talked about anything and everything. It felt like a dream, you were working in your dream job and you had someone by your side that could understand your struggles. You were interrupted by Carlos Sr. who came out to offer you water and fruit. You weren’t sure what Carlos told his family but they seemed to like that you were spending time with their son.

You spoke to Carlos about keeping it discreet in public, you knew that it was inevitable that people would photograph you in public but you didn’t want to confirm anything until it was serious. You had discussed that if you two were to confirm any sort of relationship, your teams, Formula 1, and the FIA would have something to say about it. You and Carlos were in uncharted waters, this had never happened before and you both decided it would be best to not confirm anything to anyone just yet.

*******

You loved Australia, the weather and people were something you looked forward to and it would be your first time racing on this track. Qualifying had just ended and the excitement in the air was electric, Daniel was certainly enjoying himself as the crowd cheered for him. It was his best grid position of the year and the Australian fans couldn’t have been more proud. 

With the top of your green race suit dangling from your waist, you made your way to the Ferrari garage. The mechanics paid no attention to you as they cleaned the car prepping it for tomorrow. It wasn’t strange for you to be in another team's garage, they were used to you floating around and hanging out with Charles.

You make your way to the team of engineers and find Carlos among them as they reviewed his data on the monitors. Carlos spots you and brings you to a backroom and immediately wraps you in a big hug. Carlos laughed as he tried to let go but you hold on to him tightly, burying your face on the base of his neck. Carlos was starting P9 on the grid and he was furious at himself but he couldn’t even complain when comparing what happened to you. You and Latifi got into a scuffle during your flying lap that caused him to crash and for you to damage your car and get eliminated in Q1. The race stewards penalized Latifi with 3 grid places but it didn’t matter.

“I was fast at every practice and then Latifi had to swoop in and fuck it up,” you mumbled. “I could have made it to Q3 but now I’m P19 and the mechanics have to work overnight to fix my damaged side pod.”

Carlos rubs small circles on your back, “I know, I am so sorry it happened.” He couldn’t say anything else, the best thing he could do was comfort you. 

“I’m sorry you got P9,” you mumbled.

You felt Carlos shrug. “It is not ideal but I’ll just have to keep my head down and do my best. You and me both.” 

-

It was race day and you woke up with a mission, P19 was the worst you’ve ever qualified and you were determined to score points today. You had a specific routine for race day to the point where you were almost superstitious about it, but it helped you calm your nerves. You start your day by drinking 3 full glasses of water as you moved around and put workout clothes on. The next thing to do was to get your muscles massaged to prime them for 30 minutes of yoga. After you and Anna finished yoga, you texted Pierre. 

Breakfast?

I’m already waiting for you, ma chérie

Pierre had been one of your first friends in Formula 1, he invited you to sit with him and Yuki for breakfast and quickly became friends with the French man. The one time you didn’t have a meal with Pierre, you DNF’d the race. After that, you made Pierre swear to you that the breakfast was sacred and it was now an upheld tradition. Once you get to the hotel restaurant, you see that Yuki and the McLaren drivers were also joining you for breakfast. Once the drivers were situated with their savory breakfasts and special electrolyte drinks, is when Pierre mentioned something you wanted to avoid. 

“How was your break? I saw that you went to go visit Elsie in Madrid,” said Pierre. 

“It was great! I loved spending time with my sister, I rarely get to see her these days. How was your break?”

Completely ignoring your question, Daniel chimed in. “Oh! Carlos told me he was going to visit his family, did you guys meet up?” 

Lando perked up and you held back a laugh. You remembered that it was Lando who gave your number to Carlos and it suddenly made sense to you. Your dear friend Lando had been trying to set you up with Carlos. From sharing a private jet and giving Carlos your number, you realized they were all meant to get you two closer. You didn’t know whether to laugh or get annoyed that it worked. What made this situation great was Lando had no idea that you and Carlos were now somewhat “together”.

“Actually, the Sainzs invited me for dinner and it went well! I met one of the family members and we hit it off, I’ll be seeing him again,” you said.

You shook your head as the boys whopped and hollered. What made you laugh was the disappointed look on Lando’s face. You almost felt bad but you didn’t lie, you just withheld which family member it was. 

You heard a few pings from your phone and right on schedule, you received your good luck texts from your family. After talking with your family, you liked to shut off all contact until after the race and if anyone needed you, they’d have to call Anna. You were just about to shut off your phone when you received a text that made you grin.

Good morning beautiful. I hope I caught you on time, I remember you told me about your routine. I just wanted to tell you good luck and I know you will kick ass today. If anyone can pull a miracle, it will be you. See you soon.

You’re so extra. You could have told me this yourself, i’m literally seeing you in a few hours.

I know you get nervous on race mornings so I wanted to make sure you are okay.

You’re the best. I’ll see you at the parade. 

You couldn’t help the stupid smile on your face, he was so good to you. You didn’t notice that the boys were watching you until you heard laughing.

“Ooooo look at her blush! She’s talking to him right now!” teased Yuki.

Daniel couldn’t stop giggling. “He’s probably wishing her luck for the race today!” 

You quickly turned off your phone and gave them the finger. “Keep it up and none of you will meet him.” You smirked as the statement effectively shut down all conversations about your mystery man for the rest of the meal. 

The parade went by smoothly, it was set up differently this year with each driver sitting in separate classic cars. You were only able to give Carlos a small wave as you passed by his car to get to yours. The only time you were able to properly talk to him was during the grid lineup. Now that you and Carlos were together, you were more cautious when you were around him in public. Hooking your pinky with his, you hyped each other up but made sure you kept enough distance from him. Once the race started, you fought hard at the first few corners and were able to gain a few positions. By lap 2, your strategist informed you of a yellow flag, and before you could ask, you see a Ferrari in a gravel trap. Slowed down, you were able to tell that it was Carlos, and your heart sunk for him. Lined up behind the safety car, you noticed that Carlos had yet to get out of his car so you radioed your team if Carlos was okay. After being reassured that he was fine, you let yourself relax and get back into your race mindset. You were glad he was physically okay but knew that he was beating himself up because the championship was within his grasp.

By the time you crossed the checkered flag, you screamed into the radio celebrating your P10 finish. You only got 1 point but getting yourself from P19 to P10 was going to shut up those who doubted you. Aston Martin had yet to talk to you about your contract renewal but you knew this race gave you a fighting chance to stay on the team. You congratulated the others but amongst the chaos, you couldn’t find Carlos, and all you wanted to do was go to him and see how he was doing. Turning on your phone, you see a text from Carlos asking you to meet him in his hotel room after the driver interviews. After making sure you no longer had team obligations or interviews, you headed out to see Carlos. The moment he opened the hotel door, Carlos pulled you into his arms and held you like his life depended on it.

You wrapped your arms around him. “I am so sorry Carlos,” you said softly. 

Carlos shook his head in disappointment. “I cannot believe that happened, we had to change the steering wheel before the race and the new one triggered the anti-stall….. and I was so frustrated that I dropped down to P14. I pushed too hard and then I fucked up,” rambled Carlos.

Just like yesterday, the only thing you could do was comfort each other. You pulled back and looked him in the eye, “You are one of the best driver’s on the grid, you’ll be back on the podium in Imola.” 

Carlos took that moment and basked in your presence. His race might’ve been ruined but you standing before him and supporting him, took most of the sting away. Smiling down at you, Carlos admired that even in the disheveled state you were in, you still had this beauty that took his breath. Carlos chuckled when he noticed what you were wearing. In your rush to see Carlos, you managed to get into biker shorts but never changed out of your fireproof undershirt. It made him smile that someone as immaculate as you was willing to go out in public dressed like that. Carlos was weary about your relationship but every time you were with him, you lit up his world and he’d forget his worries. 

You looked up to see Carlos gazing at you deep in thought. Reaching up, you played with the hair on the nape of his neck. “What are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking of how lucky I am and that I want to kiss you.” With your heart pounding in your chest, you nodded. Pulling him down, Carlos met you halfway. He kissed you softly as he wrapped his arms tighter around your waist. You pulled him closer and ran your fingers through his hair. Kissing Carlos was like a gentle breeze on a hot day, giving you relief and comfort. In his arms, all your worries about your driving, the media, and your future in F1 washed away.

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[megraen]

So a wonderful reader who recently became obsessed with my Uncharted story made me a sweet little gift. I couldn't stop watching and laughing at it, I just loved it so much, so I thought I would share it.

It describes the relationship between the Drake siblings perfectly.

[ignorantarmiesclashbynight]

I know it’s been two years since you last updated your Loyalty Divided fic but I wanted to say how much I adore that fic and I’m so excited to see you update it when your able. It’s such a wonderful piece, truly

Heyo anon from who knows how long ago - I finally updated!

And thank you ❤️

(will also try to make it less than 2 years before the next chapter holy jebus)