a u s.

[chardismastic]

CANON DIVERGENT

for old time's sake— wherein following the shitshow at Panama, Rafe and Nate continue to Scotland and work together toward Avery's treasure. And continue...well. In spite of rough patches Rafe and Nate remain partners in every sense of the word, two halves of a scarily competent, codependent, slightly-more-functional-than-dys couple. Reconfigures the entirety of the Uncharted timeline.

oh my god shut up for once in your life— wherein Rafe is found to be a better choice of investor than a Serbian war criminal and Harry Flynn positions himself as an on-call thief. The fucking around is one of the very, very few upsides of this arrangement when dealing with Flynn's...pretty much everything else. Diverges from canon pre-Among Thieves.

make the most of the hand you're dealt— wherein Rafe is pulled from the burning wreckage of the Fancy by a lingering member of Shoreline. Extensive surgeries, both procedural and cosmetic, have done little to mend a broken spine or a bankrupted fortune. Having exhausted his personal and professional assets in his quest for Avery, Rafe is left with nothing but chronic pain, several dozen injunctions from his board of directors, and the goodwill of a marine salvage company in New Orleans. Alternate ending post-A Thief's End.

where is my mind— wherein Rafe takes a metric ton of gold to the head and takes away a clean slate. Traumatic amnesia is a sight better than a broken body, but not by much as he's thrown into a corporate feeding frenzy he doesn't recognize or understand. Alternate ending post-A Thief's End.

DEM TROPES DEM TROPES DEM DRY TROPES

neckties and tartan— Before Rafe was a shit, he was a little shit. Way too young to be this jaded and bored, he's spent most of his childhood at prestigious boarding schools and hating the company kept there — not that this stops him from taking advantage of the student body. His grades are above average through diligent study and application, though he does have a natural affinity for math and numbers. As far as extracurriculars, he is top of the school fencing team with several trophies under his belt and is a strong presence on the swim team. (He is currently banned from polo; apparently people start complaining when you aim the ball at them instead of the goal.) Breaks from school are filled less with the occasional party and more with a newly discovered passion for extreme sports. His parents aren't much of a presence, kept happy so long as their wayward son is presentable when and where it counts.

what do you mean, no garlic— generic vampire au. Nadine is his sire. They Do Not Get Along. [ in progress ]

title— supernatural shit. Need to find a good crypto-bestiary to pick out a good fucking obscure monster that fits his ass. [ in progress ]

an offer you can't refuse— Rafaello Alieri is heir apparent to his family's crime empire in Prohibition-era New York City. Bootlegging, racketeering, gambling, prostitution— There is no pie in the tri-state area the family doesn't have at least a couple fingers in, constantly jockeying for money and influence against a dozen other families. Rafe's of the opinion that the fragile peace has lasted long enough, ready and raring for an all-out war to put himself and his family on top. Permanently.

forgive me father— demonic. Imagine Crowley from Good Omens but about 5000% more of an asshole. [ in progress ]

and a bottle of rum— Leftenant Raphael Adler is of a minor noble family with a bright future as a commissioned officer in His Majesty's Navy seconded to the Easy India Trading Company. Blessed with everything, he wants for nothing — except to escape the fate so blithely appointed for him. When the opportunity presents itself, Rafe deserts his post with as many merchant charts and manifests as he can carry, setting a course for Nassau and the pirates he once hunted.

pretty woman— escorts!! [ in progress ]

it's a big country— cowboys [ in progress ]

we who are about to die salute you— Mamercus Aemilius Ralla is of noble lineage dating back to the founding of Rome herself, and of an ignoble father who cannot keep himself out of debt. Too proud and soft to pay the amount himself, he offers his son instead as collateral — to be sold to a ludus and earn enough coin in the arena to balance his family's fortunes. Seething at the loss of his freedom, Ralla is left with little alternative but to train as a gladiator until the account is paid in full. Assuming he doesn't die first.

panem et circenses— Mamercus Aemilius Ralla is still of noble birth, but of more fortunate parentage. The Aemilius clan's wealth spreads across many ventures including the familial ludus. Ralla's own ambitions aim him higher but his father's judgment remains withheld until proven in the running of said ludus. Displeased at the less than pristine placement, Ralla swears to be as ruthless as necessary to find more elevated position, and to train his gladiators in like fashion.

the three laws of— robots [ in progress ]

FANDOM BASED

ecclesiastical mechanics— His Dark Materials. Rafe's daemon is a Scots Adder named Nehir. With metallic red eyes and black-and-tan patterned scales, she measures in at almost three feet (87 cm) and prefers to stay coiled around Rafe's neck, shoulders, and upper arms. She mirrors her human with a cold, calculating reptilian stare — scarcely moving save to keep her seat or to quietly hiss observations into Rafe's ear. It requires a near-impossible amount of trust before Nehir will address another human or daemon, as most are simply a waste of her time.

teach us things worth knowing— Hogwarts. Rafe is from a steadily rising pureblood family and has long been told of his import— Specifically in a proper marriage to another pureblood heir to secure and elevate their position. However aside from being sorted into Slytherin, he has little intention of honoring any familial traditions. With a solid grounding in History of Magic, Ancient Runes, and dueling, Rafe graduates from Hogwarts, immediately cut ties with his family, and sets about becoming a mostly legitimate cursebreaker and dealer of magical antiques.

orange colored sky— Fallout. Rafe grew up in Vault 96, the latest and best result of a research experiment focused on human eugenics to better incorporate FEV without the more...detrimental secondary mutations. Ultimately dissatisfied with the rigidity of Vault life (and unaware of his Vault's real purpose), Rafe escapes above ground to the Commonwealth and quickly becomes a living legend wiping out raiders and founding new settlements across the Massachusetts wastes. But Vault-Tec scientists don't take kindly to losing such valuable property... Takes the role of the Sole Survivor in Fallout 4.

gotta catch 'em all— Pokemon. Take any canon timeline or divergence and just add some really neat fighting pets. Fun stuff.

khan of khans— Netflix's Marco Polo. Rafaello Alieri has inherited his family's Venetian mercantile legacy and conducts business along the Silk Road to and from the court of Kublai Khan. That is, until the great Khan commands him to stay as a "guest" in his palace at Khanbaliq. He soon becomes embroiled in a balancing act between protecting his vested economic interests, serving at the pleasure of his new liege, and keeping his head firmly attached to his shoulders because in a game of Khans? The dying is hardly ever limited to the losers.

pandora's box— Borderlands. Heir to the Atlas Corporation, came to power in the fallout surrounding the Pandoran withdrawal. Finalized the decision to cut losses and abandoned the Crimson Lance already planet-side. Renews the hunt for Vaults after the Hunter-led purge of Hyperion from Pandora. Totally has a turbo-mansion on Eden-7.

title— Dragon Age. Tevene mage. Scion of an old and respected house, heir to his father's seat in the Magisterium. Passed his Harrowing against a Pride demon. Probably has an arranged marriage waiting for him back home, chose to travel instead. Specialty is fire spells. Super full of himself and Tevinter superiority. Definitely doesn't understand people's issues with keeping slaves. [ in progress ]

thicker than water— World of Darkness. Rafael Aichner is a direct descendant of the ancestral Giovanni Clan on his mother's side, already slotted for an Embrace before earning it through cutthroat business acumen. Given the Proxy Kiss at twenty-six, he was initially left to handle the ghoulification and resultant changes on his own as another test and upon "passing," began to be trained for full member status in the clan. This spanned ten years of being an on-and-off ghoul at the home base in Venice, being tutored in everything from historical lore of the Giovanni and other clans to the Sepulchre path of necromancy. Given the Bacio della Morte at thirty-six — the youngest to be Embraced in decades — and from one of the oldest active Kindred of the Clan, Rafe is now a 5th Generation neonate in...vaguely good standing. Let's just say that now he knows the full extent of his extended family's "eccentricities," he is more than happy to keep some distance between himself and the rest of his Clan.

go west, young man— Westworld. First stint in the park is escorting/barely tolerating some clients who wanted a good time. Ends up giving half a shit about some robots? What the hell? Can he have his money back??? [ in progress ]

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