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quazartranslates · 3 years

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Welcome to the Nightmare Game - CH87

**This is an edited machine translation. For more information, please [click here]**

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Chapter 87: Castle Cry (XIV)

"I should say 'I'm sorry' to you, but I don't think you want to hear such boring words of comfort," Su He took a sip of black tea, put down the beautiful white porcelain teacup and said.

Qi Leren propped up his side face and looked at the boundless blue sky outside the tower, making a muffled sound.

"Actually... I don't quite understand." Su He's voice called back Qi Leren's attention. He frowned slightly and showed a puzzled expression. "In my opinion, there is no essential difference between men and women. They are both human beings, and their spirits are intertwined. All attractive characteristics and all beautiful characters will not be different because the other party is male or female."

Su He smiled, looked Qi Leren in the eyes, and said seriously: "If I would fall in love with you as a woman, I would definitely fall in love with you as a man, because you have the same soul, which is unchanged by gender differences."

The speed of Su He's was slow and his voice was gentle, and his gaze even gave Qi Leren the illusion that he was special to Su He. This kind of thought made him a little uneasy. He immediately expressed an objection: "It’s still different... There’s a natural attraction between men and women. Even if they don't like it, they can't help but pay special attention..."

"Are you trying to talk about sexual attraction?" Su He asked with a smile.

"Ah?" Qi Leren is a bit stunned.

Su He put his chin in his hand, looking at him leisurely with an unfathomable smile: "It depends on skill. All kinds of... skills. "

Qi Leren felt that he seemed to understand something that he would rather not. He coughed twice: "We’re going too far."

"Ah, because the speed that time flows in the field is very different from the outside world, before I knew it I forgot that we’re still in the task. It really is a pleasure to chat with you... Let's get down to business." Su He sat up straight, put his hands on the table, and asked solemnly, "Do you want to get rid of that thing behind your neck?"

Get rid of the seed of slaughter? Qi Leren raised his head in astonishment and stared at Su He. At that time, he seemed not to understand.

"You heard me right. As I said before, I’ve done some research on the power of demons. I guess the demon mark on you should be a seed of slaughter. This thing can really enhance people's combat effectiveness in a short time, but it will gradually erode the person's reason. You’ll find it more and more difficult to control it until one day... you completely become its slave."

Warm sun fell on the tower. They were on the terrace under a circular dome supported by four pillars at the top of the tower. Airy flowed in from all sides, with a fence that was only half the height of a person surrounding the terrace. The Village of Dawn in Su He’s field was sunny and breezy, but Qi Leren’s mood was indescribably heavy.

He wanted to say yes without hesitation, so that he could immediately get rid of this dangerous ticking time bomb, but he still remembered his contract with the Court. Did he want to break the contract? Should he do this?

"How do I get rid of it?" Qi Leren asked with a hard expression.

"It's a bit complicated, and you need to go to a place far away. If you like, I’ll take you there after this task is over. I'm afraid you won’t be able to go back to the Village of Dusk for a while." Su He's proposal was incredibly tempting. "There are still many unknown places in the Nightmare World. There are all kinds of wonderful things. Naturally, there are ways to remove the Devil’s mark... I can't be 100% sure, but still 70% to 80%. Even if you don't succeed, I will help you think of other ways. In short, I won't watch you go to a dead end."

-I won't watch you go to a dead end. Qi Leren's heart cramped painfully, and his eyes were a little wet. He didn't tell anyone about it, and he didn't dare to tell others how isolated he had been, constantly injured, constantly dying, resigned to his fate, with the road ahead uncertain. No one could share his pressure, not only about his own life and death, but even about the fate of this Nightmare Game.

He was afraid that he would suddenly die one day and never be able to revive again, and then this heavy secret would be buried with him in this world, together with the hope of redemption that no one knew.

For a moment, he wanted to tell Su He everything and tell him the secret of the Nightmare Game. He was much better than him. Maybe he had a way to solve it easily and could save the world.

But when his lips moved, the bloody words in the drawer reappeared in his mind - keep the secret. He choked on the words that had come to his lips, swallowing them back.

Qi Leren closed his eyes for a long time. He said in a hoarse voice, "Thank you. But... I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I have to disappoint your kindness."

He had to refuse. If he didn't refuse, sooner or later he wouldn’t be able to help himself from telling everything.

There was an inaudible sigh from the wind: "Is that so? I see."

"I’m really sorry," Qi Leren apologized again.

Su He shook his head. "I know you must have your reasons. If you need my help one day, you can contact me and I’ll help you find a way."

Qi Leren nodded silently, and his inner doubts came up again: "But why..."

Why help him?

Su He's calm expression finally revealed a faint confusion and melancholy: "I don't know. People are always faced with many choices in their life. Sometimes, you don't even know why you do something. Just like this time, I understand why I came here, and the system won't make the same mistake twice. Suppose the last time it was because the killer disturbed the order of the Novice Village, what about this time? Why is that this time, the system issued a false alarm?"

Qi Leren's nerves suddenly tightened, and cold sweat flowed down his back. How could he forget? Su He didn't appear here to catch up with him! Under the gentle appearance, his keen observation has already seen through him. How many things had he found?

"I..." Qi Leren tried to say something, but Su He gently put his index finger on his lips and stopped what he had not yet said.

"Don't say it." Su He and said.

"But why..." Qi Leren really doesn't understand Su He.

"Don't ask either." Su He added.

“……”

"When I make a choice at this moment, it is not your own business. For now it's our secret, but if you say it now, I can't help you keep it a secret. Don't ask me why, I’ve said many times that people will always make choices they don't understand." Su He smiled wryly. "But now that you have made a choice, never regret it."

Qi Leren's heart was stuck in panic, and the impulse to talk about everything reappeared, but he still couldn't say it.

Keep your promises and keep your secrets, even if you have to lie.

"I... I still have some questions... About this task, there seems to be something involving devil worship." Qi Leren forced himself to divert his attention and took the time to ask Su He, who had done a lot of research on it.

Su He listened carefully to what he said. Even if the two had just had a regrettable conversation, even if his kindness had been rejected, his tolerance and self-cultivation made him show no negative emotions, and he was as calm as ever.

It was not until Qi Leren finished telling the story of his battle with the crazy lady and how he’d lost control of the seed of slaughter to kill her that Su He said: "Before, Dr. Lu also told me about the task this time. You’ve found something very interesting."

"What do you mean?"

"In the past few years, many players have found that demon power has appeared in copy worlds outside the main world, but it’s not clear why the demons in the main world interfere with the copy worlds. Even though its existence has become very common, the system will not report errors on these contaminated copies, nor will it purify the copies. There will be some unusual changes in these polluted copy worlds, at least in terms of difficulty, so many players have encountered copies that exceed their own strength, causing accidental death," Su He explained.

"..." Well, it seemed that it wasn’t all his lucky value that made this D difficulty so difficult. Qi Leren felt a little relieved.

"But you still made a lot of mistakes during the boss fight, otherwise you could have solved this crazy lady more simply. Of course, it’s also possible that I’m looking at the problem from your narrative point of view, but I’m caught in a misunderstanding." Su He smiled apologetically and seemed a little embarrassed to point out his mistakes. "Do you want to hear it?"

"Of course!" Qi Leren said without thinking.

"The first one is about the haunting shadows. They appeared for the first time when you were climbing down with your mobile phone for lighting, and for the second time after the candles in the basement came on, but after your explosion caused most of the candles to go out and you were in the dark, they disappeared. The third time was after the crazy lady howled when the extinguished candles came on again, but at this time the shadows couldn’t hurt you, who was controlled by the seed of slaughter. Obviously, these shadows appear because of the appearance of a light source, so the light source you carry should not face yourself and it is better to extinguish them, including those candles. Considering that this is a two-person copy, the two players should cooperate with each other, but you were alone, which made the situation you faced in isolation even more dangerous. This was the first mistake. " Su He calmly said his analysis.

Qi Leren suffered a wake up call. Yes, the shadows that scared him were not difficult to deal with, but he couldn't think this kind of problem through calmly in such a time of crisis.

"Second, when you were against Mrs Crazy, you completely adopted the method of confrontation, but do you remember? You said that at first she held a doll and put it carefully on the rocking chair. After defeating the crazy lady, you grabbed the doll. It seemed to be a reactive living thing. I'm afraid this doll is not simple, because it’s linked to the clue of the crazy lady's miscarriage. This doll should be her weakness. If you went straight to the doll at the beginning and killed it, maybe the battle would have ended sooner. The other is the devil sacrifice. I think these things are not just to reveal the truth of that year to the players, but to have an impact on the boss, but you didn't bring one. All of them were left with Dr. Lu."

Qi Leren nodded solemnly.

"The last point is not a mistake with the boss fight," Su He suddenly laughed, and his beautiful eyebrows were gentle in the glow. "You unexpectedly hit the wall and forced yourself to wake up from the seed’s control."

Qi Leren touched his forehead and smiled bitterly: "I couldn't help it..."

"But I think you still had a choice," Su He laughed.

"What?" Qi Leren's voice just fell, and an idea flashed in his brain.

"I remember you saved the file before being controlled by the seed of slaughter. If the save time allowed..." Su He's voice dropped and finally turned into a faint sigh. "I'm not sure about the principle of your skills, but it's possible that the seed of slaughter would be 'degraded' back to the save state at that moment because of your loading of the file. For you now, one less outbreak means that you can live longer. Whether loading the file or the seed’s effects are more harmful, you can judge it yourself."

Qi Leren opened his mouth, but couldn’t say if it was in surprise or helplessness. He still had to rely on the S/L skill to survive. Su He's guess should be correct. If he deliberately activated the seed of slaughter after saving, and then committed suicide to load the file, then with his death the seed of slaughter should also return to its state at the point of the save, but the premise was that he had to grasp the short moment of clarity, otherwise he would fall under the control of the seed.

Su He stood up, walked slowly behind him, and said gently, "Look down and let me have a look at it."

Qi Leren lowered his head. The back collar of his clothes was gently pulled open, and cool air poured down his neck, which made him shiver. Su He's finger touched it in the place where it stung from time to time. It was a little cold and itchy.

"The spread of the seed is usually through specific ceremonies, but I believe that you wouldn’t turn into a worshipper of Slaughter, so was it an accidental infection?" Su He asked, standing behind him.

"Hmm." Qi Leren talked simply about the accident on the spaceship.

"In such a short period of time, its growth rate has exceeded the normal level," Su He sighed, adjusted his open collar for him, and then returned to his seat. "It's almost time to leave, let's go."

Qi Leren clutched his neck and nodded silently.

In the field, the world of the Village of Dawn began to darken, and in the blink of an eye, they had returned to the castle.

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#Welcome to the Nightmare Game #欢迎来到噩梦游戏 #danmei

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redteabaron · 4 years

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The three gods and their lots - (three heads of the dragon)

Contains meta below the cut as well as possible interpretations and theories and speculation. I feel like I should also add a disclaimer that no, I don’t think Targaryens are gods incarnate, this is just examining mythological aspects in their stories and characters and finding commonalities. (I only respect one mortal turning into a god and that is Bran)

The major three gods of the Greek pantheon were: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. They drew lots and shared dominion over the world - Zeus was god of the sky and king of the gods, Poseidon was god of the sea, and Hades was the god of the Underworld. Three dominions, three gods.

“The dragon has three heads.” - Daenerys IV, ACOK

Aegon/Zeus

“I have. Why should I go running to my aunt as if I were a beggar? My claim is better than her own. Let her come to me...in Westeros.” - Aegon, The Lost Lord, ADWD

The lesson began with languages. Young Griff spoke the Common Tongue as if he had been born to it, and was fluent in High Valyrian, the low dialects of Pentos, Tyrosh, Myr, and Lys, and the trade talk of sailors. … Geometry followed languages. There the boy was less adroit, but Haldon was a patient teacher…” - Tyrion IV, ADWD

“...Yandry said we ought to throw you back, but the lad forbade it.”

The prince. - Tyrion VI, ADWD

Upon his birth, Zeus had to be spirited away from his father, Cronus, who had swallowed his siblings and hidden so he could escape the fate of his siblings. He would later grow, revolt against his father, and regurgitate his siblings. After drawing lots, Zeus would be given dominion over the sky and be named king of the gods.

Zeus was affiliated with protection, authority, righteous rule, battle, and justice. He was considered a fair protector and ruler, but not above petty jealousy or anger (or amorousness).

Aegon, in what little we have seen from him, is actually groomed from a young age to rule. He doesn’t have the hands-on experiences several other characters are thusly put through in the books, but it is very clear he knows what is expected of him, has the knowledge required for the position, and has a good claim to the throne - one that is seemingly preordained, as Zeus’s was foretold before his father swallowed his children.

Aegon’s connection to the red comet seen on the day of his birth can be loosely traced to Zeus’s mastery over the sky itself (where the sky reflects a point of significance to both Zeus’s temper or demands, so did Aegon’s birth seemingly coincide with the prophecy of the prince that was promised).

“Young Griff”/Aegon had similarly been spirited away as Zeus had during a time of catastrophe when his claim would threaten another (where instead of a stone wrapped in swaddling, Aegon’s escape was tendered by Varys switching him with another baby) and raised in secrecy, despite being the rightful heir of a kingdom. It’s not Cronus he was hidden from or his actual father, but Robert Baratheon who is hellbent on wiping out the entire line of Targaryens, even agreeing to Tywin’s methods (whether or not he ordered the Mountain to do what he did to Elia and the children doesn’t matter; he was the Mountain’s lord, and so at best he just insinuated ‘do what you want’ very well knowing what Gregor was like). Not so different from Cronus, who, desperate to keep his power, swallowed all of his children.

In text he’s shown to be a little impatient in his desire to be taken seriously and not be coddled by Griff (but honestly he’s 16 and every teenager everywhere in the history of anybody can be impatient and a little overdramatic; Tyrion is briefly reminded of Joffrey when Aegon throws a tantrum over cyvasse, but Tyrion is shown to not like a lot of people for various reasons, so). However, he has a fantastic grip on his studies, in particular language and history, and we can infer that he has an interest in ruling that goes well beyond ‘it sounds like fun’ (Robert Baratheon’s quote that he never felt so alive as when he was winning the war, and never so dead after it was won comes to mind), at least from what we know from Varys and Griff, and a bit from Tyrion.

But aside from the impatience we see from him, he shows compassion and an unwillingness to forget kindness when he refuses to let Tyrion drown after Tyrion saves him from a stone-man. From the Tyrion chapters in ADWD, we see Aegon laugh quite freely, is at ease among people of a different station from him; we actually get the idea that even if he can be a little immature, he shows a lot of promise for rule and justice.

One of the more interesting connections between he and Zeus is the fact that there is some debate as to whether Zeus is the youngest or the oldest of his siblings since he was never swallowed by his father (who technically, after he regurgitated them, also gave ‘birth’ to the swallowed siblings) - and there is understandable debate as to whether Aegon is really Aegon. It could go either way; they are Schrödinger's brother and represent a puzzle, a possible paradox (I do actually believe Aegon is the real deal; if Ned can smuggle out a secret-baby from a tower across a battlefield with only his buddy from the swamps, Varys could certainly have arranged a switch).

And associating Aegon with justice, imo, isn’t a stretch - particularly when we’ll get to see him gain some traction outside of Jon Connington’s influence (who just likes to hate on the Martells because he’s a Rhaegar fanboy don’t @ me) and we see him meet Arianne. Jon C only sees Rhaegar in Aegon because all Jon C can ever see is Rhaegar; once we move beyond Jon C’s immediate and constant influence over Aegon (and him trying to shape him as Rhaegar 2.0) we’ll see Aegon have the opportunity to connect directly with his Martell side. I believe there’s a good chance we’ll see Aegon seek out, and speak about it, justice for his mother and sibling especially given that he’ll have a positive Martell influence at his side. We just haven’t had the opportunity yet. (And Zeus was always associated with righteous authority and justice).

It’s not a huge hint, but there is also the connection Zeus has with gryphons; in a translation of Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus, Prometheus has a warning for Io “Beware of the sharp-beaked hounds of Zeus that do not bark, gryphons”. Gryphons/griffins are also said to pull Zeus’s chariots. Jon C is undoubtedly the guard dog that stands ready at Aegon’s side and manages to ‘carry’ him in a sense to Griffin’s Roost (poor influence on him notwithstanding, I can’t really cast aside the fact that he is loyal to Aegon, regardless of the reasons why).

Admittedly, Aegon is definitely much milder than Zeus with his flaws microscopic compared to the king of gods, but I think a lot of mythology references aren’t word-for-word, and in asoiaf they sometimes pull through less obviously. Casting Aegon as Zeus works specifically for this because of the rule of three, and who I ended up going with for the other two in this meta/theory.

Zeus was not without his share of flaws and while he was king of the gods, his rule never went unchallenged - chief amongst them to instigate things was Poseidon. Aegon similarly won’t be unchallenged for it.

Daenerys/Poseidon

“The Dothraki sea,” Ser Jorah Mormont said as he reined to a halt beside her on the top of the ridge. Beneath them, the plain stretched out immense and empty, a vast flat expanse that reached to the distant horizon and beyond. It was a sea, Dany thought. - Daenerys III, AGOT

“...I shall fear the Dothraki the day they teach their horses to run on water.” - Ned, Eddard VIII AGOT

The horse seemed to know her moods, as if they shared a single mind...The Dothraki were a hard and unsentimental people, and it was not their custom to name their animals, so Dany thought of her only as the silver. She had never loved anything so much. - Daenerys III AGOT

“...I know that somewhere upon the grass, her dragons hatched, and so did she. I know she is proud. How not? What else was left her but pride? I know she is strong. How not? The Dothraki despise weakness. If Daenerys had been weak, she would have perished with Viserys. I know she is fierce. Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen are proof enough of that. She has survived assassins and conspiracies and fell sorceries, grieved for a brother and a husband and a son, trod the cities of the slavers to dust beneath her dainty sandaled feet.” - Tyrion VI, ADWD

Poseidon was lord of horses, god of the sea (and all that it entailed). Upon drawing his lot, he envied Zeus his position as rightful king and challenged him for it several times (conspiring with his siblings at some points), and would often needle his sibling. He was a key deity to pray to for protection, mostly travelers and sailors. He was associated with the sea, storms, earthquakes, and horses. In some stories, he too was smuggled away from Cronus, in others, he was swallowed like his siblings.

Poseidon’s temperament was known to reflect the sea and storms; he was unruly and seen as a rebel against authority that existed both in the divine realm and the mortal realm. Him being lord of the sea, storms, earthquakes, and horses, reflects a wilder nature.

While Aegon is seen as the rightful heir to the iron throne (and consequently has the Golden Company with him, lending a further air of credibility to his right since the GC are ‘honorable’) and has a shared mastery of the sky with Zeus (referring to the day of his birth and its connection to the red comet), Dany has been ‘given’ domain over the sea. The Dothraki sea, at any rate, and the Dothraki themselves (who are also known as horselords). While her temperament hasn’t shown itself to quite the extreme Poseidon’s has shown in his tales, she has a connection to the foreshadowing of a storm, of bringing a storm (her name, the day of her birth, repeated connection with the unruliness of her largest dragon Drogon, and indications of her possibly forming an alliance with Euron Greyjoy in the future etc).

No squall could frighten Dany, though. Daenerys Stormborn, she was called, for she had come howling into the world on distant Dragonstone as the greatest storm in the memory of Westeros howled outside, a storm so fierce that it rippled gargoyles from the castle walls and smashed her father’s fleet to kindling. - Daenerys I, ASOS

It’s an interesting connection that Dany has with the sea and horses, imo. She’s shown to love the freedom of the sea, of sailing, and she loves horses. Both are associated with freedom to travel and journey, as we see her ecstasy on the back of Drogon flight gives her a similar feeling. It is, I think, reflecting the fact that she isn’t shown to enjoy ruling, but she does enjoy power and victory (and conquering although it’s not so cartoonishly overt). The fact that Ned says there’s nothing to fear so long as the Dothraki never learn how to cross the Narrow Sea on their horses was setting up that they will ‘learn’.

Dany, cast under Poseidon, as lord of horses and the sea (and journeying), gives them that “opportunity” (one they don’t want or need, desperately).

While all the gods of the pantheon were guilty of petty meddling and warring with each other and having rivalries, Poseidon was infamous for having disputes with other gods for supremacy and control of other countries. At once point, when Athens chose to follow Athena over him, he flooded them in his outage. Some believed that his anger roused storms, caused earthquakes, and floods. (Again, he was far from the only god to do petty things like this, but he was held up as the one who was infamous for it even as he was also viewed as a protector).

Dany doesn’t summon any of those things, but there is a buildup of her anger/frustration in the books. Her justice is biased (to say nothing of her hypocrisy in dealing with slavery, in one breath claiming it is abominable, in the next allowing it to happen and partaking a portion of the profit just as the slavers she had ousted did) when she corrects herself to demand that the wineseller’s daughters be questioned more harshly, rather than gently (implying there is torture to follow in the interrogation).

We see that temper rear its head when she burns Mirri, a victim of the Dothraki who was taken as a slave after being assaulted a number of times, after Drogo dies, when Jorah’s duplicity is revealed to her and she sends he and Barristan into the sewers hoping they’ll die, etc, (not necessarily to say her anger in some of these moments isn’t warranted, but gradually over the course of the books, her frustration becomes more obvious and her solutions bloodier and less focused).

Poseidon, despite having his own dominion and having drawn the lot for the sea, challenges Zeus for his. He loses, but it isn’t the only time he challenges Zeus, or any other gods, at times enacting terrible vengeance on them or their favored humans.

Dany and Aegon meeting is pretty inevitable, but there is foreshadowing that they will be at odds. Maybe they’ll meet with the united idea that the Lannisters/Baratheons have to face justice for what was done, but Dany’s idea of a legacy is wrapped up only in the legacy of the Targaryens, and she refuses to consider any other elements that occurred during the Rebellion (her father going mad, why the Starks and Baratheons rebelled, what Rhaegar was at fault for, etc). Aegon at least is implied to listen to Tyrion - he isn’t only blinded by what Jon C undoubtedly has told him - meaning he’ll likely hear Arianne out too, and Jon Snow. Dany has one truth, passed down from Viserys, one legacy.

Like Poseidon, Dany already isn’t satisfied with her lot, warring over other countries (or conquest, claiming Meereen for her own after Astapor falls to the butcher). She will challenge Aegon for a lot that belongs to him, but I believe that unlike Poseidon, she’ll actually win against him.

Jon/Hades

Casting Jon as Hades is something I’ve already written about in this meta, so this is just a summary with bits added on.

When I compared Jon to Hades, I also compared the Night’s Watch being the place when men went and died, metaphorically, they died in the eyes of the realm (no wife, no sons, no land, no glory, etc). I believe that Jon is being groomed for rule in a different way, that is, holding domain over the condemned or forgotten.

When Aegon and Dany inevitably clash over the throne, the aftermath is going to look like a hellscape. King’s Landing is repeated through the text to be the seat of power, the center of Westeros, multiple times, and with another Dance building up, I think, leads to foreshadowing that it’ll be ruined or on the brink of ruin at the end. It’ll still need someone to rule it, whether through the infant stages of an elective monarchy (it sounds like they’ll need something more than that or it’ll just invite more chaos as though rule can only be achieved through conquest of some kind, particularly for a monarchy) or otherwise.

Jon has already fallen into an unenviable position. Sure, he gets to be Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch - an order that vows to remain at the Wall, against a horde of undead, with no support besides Stannis, with ‘dead’ men as his subjects.

Some myths meld Zeus and Hades into the same being existing on different plains. Hades is also known as “Other Zeus” or “Infernal Zeus”; here, where Zeus is the god of living mortals, Hades is the god of the dead souls.

Aegon is meant to take the Iron Throne and be the ruler over the Seven Kingdoms, in King’s Landing, a place of power, wealth, bounty from other kingdoms, etc. Dany will be his end in the Dance of Dragons and turn that bounty, or its possibility, into a wasteland. I don’t doubt people will still be alive, but it’ll be a place of ruins, and so will quite a few other places. I think Jon will likely kill Dany after the fact, for kinslaying and being a threat to the north and the realm, and thereby becoming a kinslayer himself.

The gods of Westeros punish kinslaying. Jon, at this point of finding his family and being murdered for being Lord Commander and spending time under threat with the free folk (even if they do get along now) will probably just want to go home. Punishment for kinslaying will be for him to hold another position no one wants; the throne. Where when Aegon is set to take it, the kingdoms are in chaos, he’ll seem like a bright spot with hope, we might see him pay attention to food issues, the chaos, logistics, etc. And then he dies. And then Dany dies. And all that’s left are the survivors - those seemingly forgotten and condemned to this place afflicted by war and famine -, and Jon. His punishment for kinslaying (and maybe making mistakes with Dany) will not be able to go home, or be made to take up a post at the Watch; he’s condemned, once again, to the people who’ll seem more dead than alive after everything that’s occurred.

Jon’s duty was, and will continue to be, to the condemned.

#jon snow #aegon vi targaryen #anti daenerys #anti daenerys targaryen #jon snow endgame #the targaryens are a greek tragedy and a comedy #the targs are all of the greek tragedies and comedies at once #king's landing will be a mess #good thing bran is going to be the god-king of spring #aegon in this is meant to be the promise to the living that there'll be a stop to the ruin and chaos #him dying means that jon is left with a ruin no one wants and is condemned to take it for the crime of kinslaying #not fully comprehensive #if i did that it'd be too long lbr

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trensu · 4 years

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Episode 28: The One where LXC Loses his Title as Greatest Wingman

THAT’S RIGHT GUYS

WE’RE HERE

THE ONE THAT HOLDS ONE OF THE MOST PRECIOUS, CLASSIC WANGXIAN SCENES IN THE WHOLE SHOW

THE SCENE THAT JUST BURSTS WITH WANGXIAN DOMESTICITY AND WE DIE FROM THE SHEER FLUFFINESS OF IT ALL

Shockingly this VERY IMPORTANT wangxian moment doesn’t start until the 34min mark.

So we’re gonna power through those first 34min to get to the parts that actually matter

We’re still at the burial mounds

Emotional Yungmeng Bro Drama happens

It’s very upsetting

There’s a lot of feelings everywhere.

I can’t defend you if you keep this path, jc protests

You can’t defend me? Then Leave me, wwx says, tell the world i defected, he says, my actions are no longer associated with the jiang clan he says

WHO KNEW BROTHERLY LOVE COULD BE SO PAINFUL, AMIRITE GUYS? HAHA *CHOKES BACK SOBS*

LET’S SKIP AHEAD!

Jc’s gone, maybe it’ll get better now??

A-YUAN TIME!!

Oh no, little a-yuan is hungry!!

Wen qing gives him the last of the fruit because a-yuan activated her Good Big Sister instincts

Ah, look at his happy face as he takes the fruit!

The wwx shows up with MORE fruit and a-yuan does the leg-grabby thing!!

ADORABLE

Great, now we get Emotional WWX and WQ Bonding Time

SHE TRIES TO GIVE HIM AN OUT

SHE TRIES TO GET HIM BACK TO HIS FAMILY

Wwx is not having it so instead he acts all charming and teases her until the matter is dropped

I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

Other stuff happens, boring boring boring

Moving forward

Yunmeng bro fight scene!

The first half was pretty neat and then they did a bunch of funky flying moves that had me like, why, why must you do this, please stop and give me wangxiantics instead

They did not stop

But they did do some wonderful Twirling, so I guess i can forgive them a little

Oh, sadface, a paperman gets viciously slaughtered by jc

(@theuntamednarrator pointed out that this fight scene PARALLELS a future fight scene on a moonlit rooftop THAT WE’RE NOT GONNA THINK ABOUT BECAUSE IT MAKES ME SAD)

Wwx, at some point in this fight is all: oh look, i’ve been impaled

(what’s a little light stabbing between siblings, amirite?)

More stuff happens that we don’t care about

But we’ll take a moment to laugh at wwx here

Wwx is like, imma hide this gaping stab wound from the world’s greatest doctor by distracting her with potatoes

It doesn’t quite work bc wen qing immediately makes a grab for him

Wwx is scandalized!

Wwx: Men and women shouldn’t be improperly intimate!!

Wwx: you suddenly doing this makes me scared for my virtue which i’m obviously saving for lan zhan!

She backs off for half a second; then wwx winces but he recovers quickly by being all i’m totally fine, look at how fine i am, i’m flinching because of HUNGER PAINS, NOTHING ELSE

If he weren't so charming and adorable none of this would've worked

Other non-wangxian nonsense occurs

Some more non-wangxian stuff

A scene featuring Disaster Het Jin Zixuan and our Perfect Elder Sister Jiang Yanli

Jzx is all, i know carp tower isn’t your home but i’m willing to build another lotus pier here for you

...ugh, fine, okay, maybe you’ve grown on me a little by now, you huge Disaster Het BUT ONLY BECAUSE YOU’RE MAKING JYL HAPPY, YOU HEAR ME?? ALL BETS ARE OFF IF YOU MAKE HER CRY AGAIN

We’ve made it through the 34 minutes!!

GET READY GUYS

We’re at a tea house in Yiling! There’s lots of people! AND THEY’RE ALL TRASH-TALKING MY BEAUTIFUL SUNSHINE BOY WTF

But hey, look in the background is lwj, (angrily) listening to people trash-talk our sunshine boy.

God, he sits so straight, it looks almost painful

I mean, in terms of posture

We know he’s not straight in any other way lol

The only time we get full body shots of him in this scene is when he’s blurred and out of focus in the background, which is interesting

When he’s at the forefront of the scene, it’s all close-ups of his (angry) face

But even with the close ups, we only see parts of his face. One half of his face at a time, close-ups on the eyes (or one eye) specifically at times

It’s not until the end of that teahouse scene that we get to see a full shot of him and that’s only when he’s had Enough of people slandering his soulmate and slams his (poor innocent) tea cup onto the table and (viciously) glares at the gossipers

He leaves the teahouse (angrily)

Lwj is (angrily) walking through the marketplace

He walks past some random lady and the lady turns the hell around so fast and BLATANTLY CHECKS HIM OUT, oh god, that’s HILARIOUS

(you are not alone in this, lady, YOU ARE NOT ALONE)

Then, we have one of the best tropes of all, ACCIDENTAL CHILD ACQUISITION

THERE IS A CHILD CLINGING TO HIS LEG

IT’S A-YUAN

A-YUAN HAS SURGICALLY ATTACHED HIMSELF TO LWJ

WE ALL LOVE HIM FOR IT

Wwx does not notice his child is missing bc he is haggling, which is important but maybe not as important as missing a child.

Omg the look of panic on his face when he finally realizes a-yuan is gone gutted me for half a second.

REALIZING YOU’VE LOST A CHILD IN A CROWDED PLACE IS THE WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD, OKAY

But i get over this quickly bc WWX FINDS A-YUAN CLINGING TO LWJ’S LEG.

GUYS

THIS SCENE

THIS SCENE MAKES ME SO HAPPY

IT’S MADE OF RAINBOWS AND BUTTERFLIES AND ITTY BITTY KITTIES

Okay, let's break it down because there’s JUST SO MUCH GOOD STUFF HERE WE NEED TO PROPERLY APPRECIATE ALL OF IT

FIRSTLY, lwj’s face.

There is a loudly crying child clinging to his leg

He is surrounded by nosy talkative strangers (PARENT strangers!!) all Judging™ him for his (lack of) parenting skills

And lwj’s face is about as External Panic as lwj can make it bc our boy is FREAKING OUT

THERE IS A CRYING CHILD

LATCHED ON TO HIS LEG

STRANGERS ARE ASSUMING HE’S THE FATHER

BUT HE ISN’T

THEY DON’T LISTEN WHEN HE TELLS THEM HE ISN’T

THEY SAY THEY HAVE THE SAME NOSE?? THEY SAY HE RESEMBLES THIS STRANGE UNKNOWN CRYING CHILD SOMEHOW??

AND WORSE STILL, THEY’RE SAYING HE’S A BAD FATHER

THEY’RE ALL LIKE, OH LOOK HE SCOLDED HIS POOR KID AND NOW WON’T EVEN HUG HIS KID TO MAKE HIM FEEL BETTER??

HIS FACE, OMG

HIS FACE SCREAMS: DEAR GOD WHAT IS HAPPENING HOW DO I MAKE IT STOP

LWJ IS DYING INSIDE

AND HE KIND OF WANTS TO DIE OUTSIDE

(There’s one guy who kinda takes pity on him and was like, ah, he’s your first kid, huh? I was like that with MY first kid but now i know everything after my wife gave a few more births. It’s a learning process!)

And ohoho, boy, does lwj learn (later, after horrible horrible things happen)

Secondly, WWX IS HAVING THE TIME OF HIS LIFE WATCHING ALL OF THIS UNFOLD BEFORE HIM

HIS SMILE IS HEART-STOPPINGLY BEAUTIFUL

HE’S STIFLING GIGGLES

IT’S SO CUTE I WANNA DIE

Finally, wwx takes pity on poor lan zhan

I would like to point out that he takes pity on lan zhan only after the crowd of Judgy Parents start asking A-Yuan where his mother is

And like, i don’t want to fall into the pit of heteronormativity and stereotypical gender roles, BUT THAT’S HILARIOUS

Wwx: Lan zhan!

Lwj looks up and the world fades away when he sees wwx, with his cute little smile, making his way towards him in slo-mo

Like, literally slow motion and literally the world fades away until basically only wwx is in focus, THIS IS HOW LWJ SEES WWX ALL THE TIME, OMG IT’S AMAZING

AND OF COURSE ~THEIR SONG~ IS PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND

I’M SCREAMING, EVERYTHING IS GREAT

LWJ STARES AT HIM WITH SUCH YEARNING

And even when they’re right in front of each other, they KEEP STARING AT EACH OTHER, SOAKING UP EACH OTHER��S PRESENCE

WHICH I LOVE, but also there’s a crying child right there maybe take care of him??

Wwx: lan zhan, what a coincidence! What are you doing i yiling?

WHAT DO YOU THINK HE’S DOING IN YILING, WWX

IT’S NOT LIKE HIS SOULMATE LIVES AROUND THAT AREA OR ANYTHING

Lwj: night hunt. Passing by.

Short and sweet and to the point

I’m convinced it’s because his brain has short-circuited from the double whammy of Accidental Child Acquisition and OMG My Beautiful Soulmate is With Me and Smiling

Lwj: ....this child

Wwx: ah, yes, this is MY son

I read a post on tumblr that says the actual translation of that line was more like “ah, yes, i gave birth to this child”

Which would explain lwj’s absolutely stunned and confused expression

I mean, the fact that he doesn’t immediately dismiss this as the nonsense that it is, is absolutely HILARIOUS to me

Like, for a split second there he honestly believed wwx??

He must’ve been like, wait, is this a side effect of demonic cultivation??!?!?

That doesn’t sound right but i don’t know enough about demonic cultivation to dispute it

But then wwx starts giggling at him which gives away the game

Wwx: hey, lan zhan, what did you do? Why is a-yuan crying?

Lwj: I didn’t do anything

Wwx: ah, i see what happened. Lan zhan, as pretty as you look, you still have resting bitch face.

(no for real, wwx called him pretty, i died a little when i heard him say it and i’m pretty sure lwj did too)

Wwx: a-yuan doesn’t know any better so of course he’d look at you and start crying!!

Lwj stares at a-yuan (who is now clinging adorably to wwx) and you can see in his face that his New Life Mission is to get A-Yuan to Like Him.

It is IMPERATIVE that this small child Like Him. Not for any particular reason, of course. But this Must happen.

Even if it means having to go to an Ancient Fantasy China plastic surgeon to get his resting bitch face problem resolved

THANK GOD WE DON’T HAVE TO RESORT TO THAT

Wwx kneels down to comfort a-yuan and lwj watches him interact with this small child and VISIBLY SWALLOWS before looking away

Like it was too much cute to handle

Like oh shit, i want wwx’s children

Like oh shit, i want to be a dad???

GUYS WE SEE THE EXACT MOMENT LWJ REALIZES HE WANTS KIDS

THANK YOU WORLD FOR BLESSING US WITH THIS MOMENT

Okay, quiz time!

How do we make a small child stop crying?

Answer - Distraction!

What is the best distraction for a small child?

Answer - TOYS

Wwx pulls a-yuan to a toy stall

The music here gets all upbeat and playful. (In fact, it’s the same music that played in the ‘flower petals rain on LWJ’ scene in The One where NHS is Total Cockblock omg i just had to reference my own guide to make sure that was the right episode lol this is exactly why i’m making this). I love this music!!

So they admire the toys and wwx picks up one of them and is like, do you like this one?

A-yuan of course says yes bc all kids love toys

Then wwx is like, cool, and proceeds to drag a-yuan away from the toy stall without the toy

SAD FACE A-YUAN :(

Lwj sees Sad Face A-Yuan and does the Lan Clan version of running (aka lengthening his strides and quickening his steps slightly)

Lwj: wei ying, why didn’t you buy it for him?

Dude, he sounds almost accusatory here, it’s GREAT

Wwx: ??? why should I???

Lwj: you asked him if he wanted it, doesn’t that mean you’re going to buy it?

Wwx: asking is asking, buying is buying. Who says i have to buy something just because i asked about it?

Wwx, lwj has a point tho. It’s kinda mean to lead a kid on like that

And here lwj sounds all hesitant (and shy?? maybe??) like he doesn’t want to scare a-yuan again. He looks at him briefly

Lwj: which one...do you want.

Then when a-yuan doesn’t immediately burst into tears, he speaks more confidently.

Lwj: among those, which one did you want?

And a-yuan points to the toy he wants with all the confidence small children have when they know they’re about to get exactly what they want

Omg, lwj looks at wwx as soon as he sees which toy a-yuan wants

It’s a look that says I’M GETTING THIS CHILD A TOY AND YOU CAN’T STOP ME

And wwx just beams at him like a ray of sunshine!! HE’S MELTING INSIDE, YOU CAN TELL

HE’S ALL LIKE, OMG LAN ZHAN IS SO SWEET WITH CHILDREN

OMG LAN ZHAN WOULD BE A GREAT DAD

OMG I WANT LAN ZHAN TO CO-DAD A-YUAN WITH ME

Cut to a-yuan gleefully playing with his new toys

He and wwx are play fighting with cute little wooden swords and it’s SO ADORABLE I’M GONNA DIE

And lwj watches them for moment with the FONDEST LOOK ON HIS FACE

A-yuan notices that lwj is there again and immediately ditches wwx to cling to lwj’s leg

Smart, kid, smart

Butter up the rich guy who makes wwx smile

Wwx laughs: lan zhan, congrats! My kid likes you! He only hugs the legs of his favorite people and then never lets go

Lwj: *internally probably* i wish YOU’D hug me and never let me go

Also

YES! LIFE MISSION COMPLETE. WWX’S CHILD LIKES ME

Wwx: you should ditch your night hunt and have a meal with me

Lwj: a meal?

Lwj: *internally probably* OMG DID HE JUST ASK ME OUT ON A DATE?? AND HE CALLED ME PRETTY EARLIER??? TODAY IS THE BEST DAY

He then pretends to hesitate bc YOU GOTTA PLAY IT COOL

CAN’T CLUE HIM IN ON HOW DESPERATELY YOU WANT TO KEEP HIM WITH YOU FOREVER

BE COOL, LWJ, BE COOL, BE COOL

Wwx: c’mon, we hardly see each other! We can reminisce about the old days! It’ll be my treat~!

Wwx what, YOU HAVE NO MONEY WHAT ARE YOU EVEN SAYING

Wwx grabs lwj’s arm and drags him away

Lwj’s brain rn: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But they run off WITHOUT A-YUAN??

Good thing a-yuan is quick on his feet, god damn

AND THAT’S THE END OF ONE OF THE BESTEST EPISODES OF THE SHOW

GOD I NEEDED THIS AFTER THE HELLSCAPE OF LAST EPISODE WHERE EVERYONE MADE ME ANGRY

And lets give a round of applause to our precious adorable A-Yuan who somehow managed to latch on to the one person in the entire town that is completely head over heels in love with wwx and who wwx has been pining for since their sad separation in the rain.

FOUR FOR YOU, A-YUAN. YOU GO, A-YUAN!!

Return to Masterpost

#WangXiantics #wangxian #the untamed #cql

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azwriting · 4 years

Text

The Last Jedi (Forget Me Please, Kylo Ren x Fem!Reader) - Chapter One

A/N: Okay so here is my mini “What if” series about Forget Me Not! Hope you guys enjoy ;)

Summary: What if the reader never forgot her past, what if instead of eleven years its only been seven, and what if Palpatine is on the rise.

Warning(s): Mild violence, me retconning the fuck out of TROS, unedited because it’s three in the morning and I just want to post this

Word Count: 2353

“Endor?” General Organa’s voice boomed through the cockpit of the Falcon. Rey sighed, nodding even though her Master could not see her. The young Jedi in training was still deeply buried underneath the debris of shock that had caved down on her only hours before. Her chest was still tightly wound as it had been in the hangar of the Star Destroyer, standing across the man who delivered a revelation. Her heart began to race just as it had then as her mind replayed his gentle words over again.

“I never lied, your parents were nobodies, but you’re not. Search your feelings, you know it’s true.” Rey shook her head in protest, tears gathering in her eyes as she was unwilling to admit the truth to herself. Her eyes drifted over to the stormtroopers that had gathered around them, weapons drawn and aimed at her. How had her life gotten here? She was once a simple Scavenger, lonely and lost, and now she stood before the Supreme Leader of the First Order, the only person who unfortunately seemed to understand her. Rey heard the gears of his mask unlock and involuntarily she winced, looking back to his face. The face of the long dead Ben Solo, the man she had hoped would turn. Yet, the pain that she could feel tearing him apart held onto him with a menacing grasp. She could feel the torment that wreaked havoc onto his soul over what he had done to his father and she could feel the most unbearable white hot pain that burned his heart over the unknown. It was too painful to pry into and he had buried it so deep, Rey could never see what had broken him.

“Think about it Rey, you were born the year I went off to train, the dark already manifesting inside me.” Rey turned away from his words taking a step back, she did not want to hear this. “The Force knew others would not be able to balance me and the only one who could…” He paused and the young woman could see him trembling, bottom lip quivering as he tried to hold it together. His eyes began to gleam and Rey involuntarily felt a surge of empathy over the unknown that was causing him to break down before her eyes. “... would die.” His jaw clenched and his adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed the thump in his throat. Rey felt his mourning as if it was a fresh wound, oozing fresh blood, never healing. Who had died, that had left such a gaping hole in him? Someone who was attuned to the Force? She knew better than to believe it was Luke, although Kylo did not hate the man, she knew he hated what happened.

Over the roaring wind coming from just behind her, Rey heard the familiar creaking of his leather gloved hand clenching into a tight fist. Whatever agonizing memories had surfaced were vanishing, leaving a cold and hostile Kylo Ren in its wake. “Admit it.” He snapped suddenly and Rey felt a tear slip down her cheek.

“The Force created me.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, but Kylo nodded stiffly in response. The words felt foreign on her tongue: unfamiliar, wrong, but also true.

“You and I are equals in the Force, join me and we can destroy Palpatine.” His gloved hand extended out towards her and Rey’s eyes drifted down, uncertainty clawing at her. “You know what to do.”

“That’s what the translation of the dagger said, the coordinates were for the moon Kef Bir.” Poe responded tying a strip of fabric over his injured arm. Rey broke away from her memory, eyes lifting back to the view of hyperspace in front of her. Over the past year she had accepted that her parents were no one, that she was a nobody, but she had learned that she had a rightful place in this story. But now, with the confirmation that she did, it was a little unsettling. The Force had created her to bring balance, balance that was in disarray from the fall of Ben Solo and the emergence of Emperor Palpatine. While pondering the balance of the Force, Rey’s thoughts drifted to who Kylo’s original balance was, the one who died. He had to have known them, for it to have such a heartbreaking impact on him. Rey thought of someone strong with the Force, strong enough to get underneath Kylo Ren’s skin, someone strong enough to balance him. What had happened to them? Rey sighed, there was no use in worrying about someone who could not help. She was now the balance and Kylo was right, she knew what to do.

“Before you go to Kef Bir, stop on the Forest moon. We have an ally there who could be of great help.” Leia’s voice instructed through the radio. Rey turned around to face Finn and Poe, the three sharing a look of surprise. An ally? Was another former General hidden away on Endor? Chewie gargled in return and the General’s laugh bounced around the Falcon. “No, it's not the Ewoks, this time, but our ally is hidden amongst them.” The young former Scavenger smiled to herself, imagining what it must have been like all those years ago… She could envision Han jumping into the not so beat up pilot chair and dictating a string of orders to Chewie. She could hear Luke running down the halls of the ship heading for the quad laser access tube, while Leia retaliated to something Han said with a quick whip of sass. All of them young and in their prime, together and hopeful.

The Falcon stuttered out of lightspeed as Rey questioned, “How do we find this ally?” Her voice was full of curiosity and confusion, wondering how exactly this ally could be of help. They were short on time, they could not risk wasting any of it.

She could almost hear the smile that was no doubtedly on Leia’s face as she answered, “Oh don’t worry, they’ll find you.”

Exiting the Falcon, the group of Resistance fighters were greeted by towering thick trees and a refreshing brisk breeze, the perfect neutral after the blistering hot deserts of Pasana and the biting chill of the rough and rocky terrain of Kijimi. “Stay here and rest big guy, we’ll find the village ourselves.” Finn chuckled clamping a hand down onto Chewie’s upper arm.

The Wookie protested mildly before finally relinquishing at Poe’s addition. “You have to watch the droids too, Threepio doesn’t remember anything and we don’t need to deal with that right now.”

As the trio trudged through the thick forest, Rey smiled up at the tree line, enjoying the shift in scenery. After years of scavenging on Jakku, she was always thrilled to see the different climates. The lush greenery that surrounded her made her regret leaving Jakku sooner, but she reminded herself to be content with the fact that she never had to set foot on a desert planet again. After all the hardships she faced on Jakku, fighting to survive everyday, why would she ever want to face that again?

With every step she took, Rey felt a great swell in the Force. She could feel the energy flow through each and every living thing with an intensity unlike anything she had felt before. She had not felt so consumed by the Force since Ahch-To, yet this was not a planet connected to the ancient Jedi. No, this was a planet from an old war, no tethers tying it to the Force Sensitive. Yet there was no denying what she felt. It was as if the Force had manifested itself onto this quiet deserted planet with great energy at the center of it, drawing her in. It was overpowering, almost blinding her senses in its wake. Rey glanced around at her surroundings searching for the allure, her eyes catching ahold of Finn’s. He stared back at her, looking just as perplexed as she felt. Her lips parted, mouth opening to question if he felt it too, but the sight ahead caused the words to die on the tip of her tongue.

Ahead of them hidden up in the dense branches of vibrant green leaves were small huts and a plethora of wooden bridges connecting the tiny civilization together. Rey and her fellow Resistance fighters all marveled at the view, unaware of the observant eyes.

With an almost silent thud, a figure flipped down off of a hovering bridge, and landed before them. It was a woman wearing various shades of brown, dark green, and white seemingly blending into their surroundings. A faded grey mask covered her face besides for the open visor where sharp eyes glared back at them. She crouched down, eyes locked onto the three of them as if they were her prey. Yet, it was not the most startling sight, oh no, it was the two lightsabers secured tightly in her hands. A vibrant blue in one hand and a violet purple in the other. Rey gulped lowly she had never seen a purple saber before, the Jedi texts only referring to the color as exceedingly rare. The masked ally, radiated pure Force energy, as attuned with the Force as Kylo and Master Skywalker.

“Rey…” Finn whispered and the young woman focused back onto the mask in front of her. She could sense that any moment she would spring and in response she pushed Poe and Finn to the sides. They had no part in this.

The woman was quick, lunging forward with a ferocious attack. Rey ignited Luke’s saber in record time and lifted it up to deflect. The three sabers clashed together with an odd screech and Rey winced at the noise. The cold determined eyes peered down at her through the visor of the helmet, each eye reflecting the vivid hues of blue and purple. The sight made her want to cower in fear, deep down her insecurities rising. She had always felt strong willed when going against Kylo, but this was different. It was not a fight, it was a competition. Rey jabbed her shoulder into the masked woman and swung her saber forward, only being met by the quick flashes of the opposing blue and purple. The woman was obviously highly skilled in combat, in lightsaber fighting techniques, Rey noted as the woman swung her sabers forward, spinning into the assault. Rey could not help but find a sense familiarity in it. In the way she moved, it was almost feral, unhinged but strategic.

In her distracted daze, the woman’s sabers came crashing down onto her, this time locking her saber in place. The young Jedi tried to pull her saber free and attack, but it was secured tightly in between the two sabers. Before Rey could put an end to all this, tell this “ally” why they were here, a swift kick to her abdomen sent her to the ground. Luke’s saber was kicked to the side as the woman dropped down onto her with disturbing and mildly aggravating fluidity. The purple saber hovered a mere inch above her throat while the blue one was stretched backwards: a barrier for Poe and Finn, with their blasters already raised, not to step any closer.

“Who are you?” The voice was deep and modified through the mask, transfixing (Y/E/C) eyes glaring down at Rey.

“We’re with the Resistance! General Organa sent us!” Rey spit out, eyes wide with a sense of fear she could not deny. She had not feared for her life since the throne room, where Kylo had saved her. Who would save her now? The woman blinked harshly, surprised by her words, yet Rey could easily sense that she was searching her face for any sort of lies.

“Why?” The question was curt, voice lower than it had previously been.

“We need your help, Leia said you’d help us.” Poe cut in, taking a cautious step forward, eyes gauging the proximity of the blue lightsaber. Rey watched as the woman seemed to slip away from the present, eyes clouding over as she disappeared deep into thought.

Suddenly the two sabers were turning off as the woman glided back up into a standing position. She tucked the lightsabers into her black belt and outstretched a hand for Rey to grab. Rey hesitantly accepted the offer standing back up as well. She quickly released her hand and went to brush off the dirt on her clothes, eyes watching the peculiar helmet. Who was behind the helmet? Who wielded the rare purple saber? Who had dominated her with such ease?

“Who are you?” Finn beat her to the question, the trio all gawking at the unknown and unanticipated ally. The woman ignored him, her hand outstretching as her eyes closed for a brief moment in concentration. Rey’s eyebrows narrowed in confusion, what was she doing? She could feel the Force swirling around them before something sped past her. Rey jumped, scanning the area for whatever flew by, eyes landing on the hands of the ally. Cradled in them was Luke’s lightsaber, the one Rey used until she completed building her own. The woman turned the black and silver hilt around in her hands, letting out a half amused hum. Rey looked up to the helmet in shock, lips parting at the glimmer of amusement in the focused eyes.

“I’m no one.” She finally answered, handing Rey back the saber. In a state of utter confusion she accepted it and clipped back onto her belt.

“Come, let us discuss.” The masked woman turned swiftly on her heel and headed into the center of the treetop village, leaving the three Resistance fighters stunned. They all shared a look, more so the two men looking to Rey for answers as to what just happened. Rey could not give them an answer, deep down one they all knew already. Her eyes followed the camouflaged figure, admitting the painfully obvious truth to herself.

The woman before her was the last Jedi.

Taglist:

@2heures @thephantomwriter @thefandomzoneisdangerous @carol-chann @gambitsqueen @pancakefancake @zaneholtzwrites @moonmama03 @siren-queen03 @dixonsbugaboo @keithseabrook27 @sporkedloser

#kylo ren #kylo ren x reader #kylo ren fanfiction #ben solo #ben solo x reader #ben solo fanfiction #star wars series #star wars imagine #Adam driver x reader #kylo ren x fem!reader #azwriting

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loveislattes · 5 years

Text

Save Me (Infelix/Fem!Reader) Fluffy Smut

Request/(Summary): When faced with the dilemma of wedding a horrible man and going to the forest to die, Y/N easily chooses the later. Imagine her surprise at finding not a beast that would kill her, but instead a misunderstood creature who offers her more than she could ever dream.

Word Count: About 7.1k

Warnings: Mention of suicidal thoughts and intentions in the beginning of this story! Also mentions (not detailed) of abuse and adultery. Smut, obviously. Unprotected sex, biting kink, claiming kink.

Random Info:

Obviously this is a work of fiction. I do not condone running off into the sunset with someone you just met, let alone a mythical demon named Infelix (even if it's something I would do myself).

Also, please keep in mind that this was started almost a year ago and was wrapped up to a quick finish so I could finally get it posted!

Also also, I know the Swedish isn't necessary but god damn it, I LIKE IT! I just like throwing some beautiful phrases in because I love the language and I love how it sounds in intimate moments. I shouldn't have to explain this but after the “lectures” I've gotten in the past about throwing in random “foreign” phrases, I guess I will.

Also also also, this is an AU to my usual idea of Infelix. I just really liked the idea!

Translations:

Stackars flicka- poor girl

Söt flicka- sweet girl

Så ren- so pure

Du är vackrare än månen och stjärnorna- You are more beautiful than the moon and stars

An example of the first song Infelix Plays: https://youtu.be/9G5rr7JtEAc?t=40

Growing up, I always believed the tales of the Strömkarlen to be just that- tales; I never imagined that there could truly be such malevolent creatures in the forests surrounding us. Why would we choose to settle in such a horrifying location if it were true? The woods were ripe with natural predators and prey that were dangerous enough alone, but add mythical creatures into the mix and it was plain ignorant to be there.

According to the stories told often to us as children, we were never to venture into the forest at night. There were the usual wolves and bears to hunt us, but there was also a creature known as the Strömkarlen. The Strömkarlen was supposedly a forest spirit who was an exceptionally talented fiddler: the sounds of forest, wind and water played over his fiddle strings so beautifully that anyone would be entranced. One could come with a fit offering and learn to play the instrument better than any other human. Wandering women and children were supposedly not so lucky. If you wandered into his land without the intention of learning from him with a complete offering, you were never seen again. Few had meandered through the trees to come back, and those who had were simply lucky enough to have avoided the spirit somehow.

It was with this specific tale in mind that I entered the forest hesitantly. I knew I had to do something, and this was likely the easiest way to go through with it. I knew I would back out of ending my life with a blade or poison. Someone else would have to do it. Death was a much better option than what awaited me in less than a week, on my twenty-fifth birthday. A shudder of repulsion sent shivers through my body. Just the thought of being forced to marry that man made the sick come to the back of my throat. I had been “lucky” enough to be chosen as our town head's next wife, as I was still “pure” and unwed. Even as our country took large leaps forward for women's rights daily, our town seemed to stay in the darkest of ages.

I had to escape; both the toxic community and a fate that would be only pain until my death. Everyone had heard the horror stories of being his wife. Hell, he had gone through three wives in just as many years. The bruises could not go unnoticed by anyone with seeing eyes, and the screams that echoed through dark quiet streets were unbearable to those with listening ears.

I refocused my thoughts on my path ahead and tried to put off my nervous energy by humming. It felt good to fill the silence with some noise other than my quiet footsteps. The woods were daunting during the day, but at night they were downright ominous. I had expected the forest floor to be alive with nocturnal creatures going about their menial tasks. Instead, there was a reticence. Moonlight shone sparsely through the treetops just enough to light my way. It would be a soothing experience if not for the end goal.

A heavy sigh pushed through my nostrils at the internal war waging in my gut; the instinctual will of self-preservation battling heartily with the need to save my soul from being tainted by him. If only I could find the Strömkarlen before a beast found me first. I felt if I had been wandering for hours by now, but surely it had only been an hour at the most.

Suddenly there was a shift in the air, almost imperceptible to even my alert senses, and I stopped dead in my tracks. It was like something was dancing unseen at my peripheral vision, or there was a faint buzzing too far away to actually make out and hear. Did that mean he was here? Had I found him? How did I ask for him without being rude? Did he have a name?

“Why have you come here, söt flicka? For what reason do you seek me out? You are not searching for knowledge of the strings.”

Oh how my cheeks heated, being called such an endearing term by a voice so husky, so deep, so near. Despite how alluring his tone might be, there was an underlying inhuman echo that reverberated through every bone in my body, reminding me of the danger he presented. Fingers touched my cheek and directed my face to the side, where I was greeted by both a terrifying and glorious sight. He was-

“Beautiful.”

The word escaped senselessly and immediately I regretted my slip of the tongue. How would a powerful being take to a human fawning over him? There was no denying who he was, power rolling off him in waves.

Thankfully, the man simply grinned in response. His black eyes crinkled in apparent amusement as he leaned back and looked me over.

“Well? I'm waiting for an answer,” he prompted, eyebrow lifting pointedly.

“I- I'm- uh, sorry! So sorry! I- My name is Y/N. I was hoping- Oh gods this is harder than I thought. You see, I need to die.”

Tumultuous mortification clawed up my neck and coated my face darkly as I shied away from his now narrowed gaze.

“Come again?”

“I- uh,” I hesitated and shyly brought my fingers together, toying nervously with my nails as I gathered up the courage to speak my request once more, “I have come to ask you to kill me. There is something horrible waiting for me if I return home and I'm too much of a coward to take my own life. I've heard stories of how you abduct or kill- or something- the people that wander into your lands.”

He stepped back and rose to his full height, startling me as I realized just how tall he was. I was only a few inches over five feet and he towered over me. I couldn't resist looking him over. He looked surprisingly human for a mythological being, although there were obvious traits of his genetics; the black eyes, white hair, unnaturally pale skin, and elf-like ears. When he smiled, I was momentarily entranced by the large, sharp, canines he flashed.

“I doubt there could be anything awaiting you that would be worse than death, child,” he replied pointedly, “Much less death by my hands.”

Mustering up all the courage I could, I swallowed thickly and crossed my arms over my chest, meeting his gaze head-on.

“With all due respect, sir, you have no idea what I would be returning home to. If I go...” emotion lumped tightly in my throat as I took a steadying breath before I could continue, “If I go back, I'm being forced into marriage with a man who is a well-known adulterer, abuser, and murderer. I would rather die quickly than be raped and beaten until I die by his hands.”

All of the gumption I had managed to hold onto to fell through the cracks like sand the moment a low rumble left his throat. Fists clenched, he craned his neck so sharply that I cringed subconsciously for him and shuddered at the loud cracking that filled the air. Then his eyes were back on me.

I prepared to be struck down, eyes shut instinctively to brace for the oncoming pain, and ignored the pounding of my heart beating erratically in my chest as best I could. What good would panic do? This is what I had come here for.

“Oh söt flicka, stackars flicka,” he cooed softly.

Surprised by the response, my eyes popped open, only to find his hands coming towards me, much slower than expected. Cupping my jaw, he leaned in, leaving merely an inch or two between our noses. My breath caught in my throat under the intensity in his dark coal eyes. What was he doing? He could just snap my neck and be done with it! Or maybe torture was part of his plan.

“You have such a bright soul. It would hurt me to extinguish it before you could blossom to your full potential.”

“What?”

Shocked, my reply came out blunt and rude, and I quickly backtracked with a much kinder apology, and a request for clarification.

“I know the stories of my kind. Some of us are just as is foretold, but I am not. I'm gifted with the ability to see the true alignment of one's nature, and I only steal away those who have been corrupted or wish to be saved. Do you think the ones who have returned to you unharmed have done so without reason?”

I shrugged slightly and replied, “I guess so. We were told that anyone who met one of the Strömkarlen was killed unless they had proper gifts. It only made sense that you'd just missed the ones who came home unharmed.”

He clicked his tongue loudly and gave a disappointed shake of his head.

“I'm not as brutal as some of my kin, not without provocation at the least,” he explained, “You are one of true good. Your kind are rarer these days, with the corruption spreading through our lands. I only presented myself to you because you were searching for me, otherwise, I would have just let you wander until you found your way back home.”

I nodded in understanding, chewing on my lip pensively as I let the situation sink in. When his thumbs rubbed the apples of my cheeks, a blush spread over them in response and I met his gaze once more.

“I do not wish to kill you. It would go against my nature. Perhaps though, you'd be willing to stay for a while? I could play you a song while you think your decision through.”

Hesitantly, I nodded after a moment. I was steadfast in my decision but what could it hurt to wait a while longer? Plus I had to admit I was curious to hear his music. Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I quickly agreed out loud, to sit and listen to him.

He seemed pleased by the answer, stepping back with a grin. A hand sifted through his shaggy locks before he extended it in my direction. I carefully laid my hand in his and was startled by the gentle way his fingers wrapped around mine. It was completely baffling to realize that a creature I'd feared for my entire life was so gentle.

“Good. Come with me then,” he replied.

If I did not have him as a guide, I would be no doubt lost in the maze of the tremendous forest. There were so many twists and turns around gigantic trees and gnarly roots. The trek was incredibly beautiful though, even in the darkness, thanks to illuminated creatures and plant life I'd never laid eyes on before. I was so lost in feasting on the stunning land around me that I nearly face-planted into the Strömkarlen's back as he stopped suddenly and I finally registered the sound of rushing water around us. Thankfully he seemed to take my fumble in stride, a small chuckle filling the air instead of a bitter response.

“Come sit,” he instructed.

Hands gently directed me to the first large tree stump and he took the one across from me, no more than a foot away. As he sat, he waved a hand through the air, materializing a fiddle from nowhere. I'm sure I looked as bewildered as I felt, eyes wide and mouth gaping.

A humored grin flitted across his features before his expression settled into one of contentment. I shifted into a more comfortable crisscross position as he prepared himself.

“It's been a while since I've had an audience rather than a student,” he commented, aligning the instrument between his chin and chest.

The look that he sent my way spoke honest loneliness and I felt a pang in my chest, like fingers squeezing tightly around my heart. I'd never considered what kind of life a being must live when alone in the forest, shielded from nearly all contact. Honestly, though, I'd never considered the fact that his kind had emotions either. We were never enlightened on the fact that they might be more like us than realized.

I was pulled from my thoughts when the bow first slid across the strings. Immediately I became entranced by the alluring tune. It was jaunty yet haunting. Quick strokes of the bow and dancing fingers enraptured all of my attention. I could easily understand why others would put their life on the line for a chance to learn from him. He was incredible. As beguiling as his looks were, his music was even more so. As the song continued, I felt myself slowly relaxing, enjoying the moment as everything else faded away. Time and space floated away on the wind until there was only him and his music.

As his tune seamlessly led into a lighter one, I finally forced my eyes from his hands to his face. Those intense black eyes were now closed; a warm, easy smile resting on his lips. Once more I was struck by his beauty; my heart aching with the perfection he exuded. It wasn't until my hand neared his cheek that I realized I had moved in closer. Butterflies stormed my belly as I hesitated that last inch. What would happen if I touched him? Would that break the spell around us? Would it ruin the calm? Would he be mad?

Suddenly those onyx black eyes flicked opened and I was struck frozen by the stark white iris' gazing back at me. The music stopped, stilling the air around us as his fiddle disappeared into the abyss once more. Swallowing hard, I ever so slowly began to move my hand away, only for my wrist to be caught.

“I'm-

My tongue failed me and silence bloomed once more. His grip lessened but didn't retreat, instead guiding me closer once more, pressing my palm to his cheek. A shaky, startled breath fled my lips as his warmth saturated my chilled skin. The soft hairs of his beard tickled my wrist as I allowed myself to momentarily indulge in the contact.

“Söt flicka,” he murmured softly, “Så ren.”

My insides felt full of fire as he mimicked my motions, his fingers soothingly stroking down my cheek. So many emotions barraged my chest. Overall the sensations of excitement and elation stood out. Why did being in his presence cause such a reaction?

“Have you changed your mind?” he questioned.

“I- I don't know,” I admitted quietly, “How can I return home to marry a man who will only do the same I ask of you, but in a more brutal fashion? How can I willingly lie in the bed of a man who would steal my innocence in a way that would leave me scarred? How can-”

I was shocked silent as his arm suddenly hooked around my back and pulled me closer. There was a fire in his gaze as I gave in to his pull. Breathing became a struggle as I found myself in his lap, the in and out becoming an action I had to consciously think of lest I cause myself to pass out. He was entirely intimidating this close up, and yet I couldn't look away.

“I did not say that you would live only to be broken in the end.”

When he didn't elaborate on his words, I cautiously spoke up and asked, “What do you mean?”

There was a twitch in his lips before they curved into a sly smile. A darkness I hadn't yet seen resonated in that smirk and it sent a shiver down my spine.

“I suppose I cannot fault you for being ignorant. I can only imagine all the tales your elders have spun to you over the years, stackars flicka, and I have not corrected those stories yet. As I stated before, I take away those who have been corrupted. Albeit, rarely I travel out of my home for such as they generally find their way to me eventually, but in extenuating circumstances... I have been known to wander about.”

It took a moment to process his explanation but then the weight of his words settled in my gut.

“Oh.”

“One stealing purity and ending lives, much less for his own gratification, has no place in my realm of the land,” he added lowly.

Slowly his thumb traced down the apple of my cheek to my mouth, the calloused pad swiping teasingly over my bottom lip and igniting another kind of excitement low in my belly. I attempted to clear my mind of the sudden, forbidden, invasion of thoughts only to have worse images push forth as his tongue darted out to trace his lips.

Never had I been this close to a man, felt this kind of attraction and excitement. In fact, when most approached me with offers to bed me, I easily turned them down. If the man beneath me were to offer the same though, I knew I would easily find myself agreeing. Was it an unnatural ability of his that was luring me in, or had I finally found someone that I wanted?

My skin crawled with unease as I battled the thoughts plaguing my mind, and I felt the need to fill the silence before I fell prey to my own desires.

“Do you have a name?” I blurted out suddenly.

I had to cringe immediately as I realized how weak and nervous I sounded. There was no way he couldn't sense the war waging in my brain now.

He confirmed my fears with his sudden, boisterous laughter. Embarrassment wound tightly in my chest as my face flushed warmly.

“My name is unpronounceable in your tongue, but you may call me Infelix,” he replied once his laughter died down.

“Infelix,” I repeated, testing the name curiously.

Immediately I felt a shift in the air, a layer of tension growing stronger between us, as his fingers dug snugly into my lower back to pull me closer.

“Beautiful,” he muttered, then paused before adding, “May I kiss you?”

I could only blink at him in confusion for a few moments, at a loss for words, until finally, I managed a slight nod. How could I turn that down? Why would I want to? Surely he had to know how much I wanted him.

My thoughts were derailed the moment his lips touched mine. It was gentle, so much softer than I could have expected, and he ended it much quicker than I'd hoped. Though before he could pull away completely, I gave in those pesky dark desires and jerked him back down by his beard. I knew nothing of how this was supposed to go, other than the few peeks I'd seen in my younger years, but I let my guts lead my actions. Hands sliding into his hair, I pressed my lips hard against his, praying that he wouldn't be upset.

A low growl rumbled from his chest and stopped me dead in my tracks. Had I overstepped an unspoken boundary? Fear began to bubble up in my chest and I went to pull away, hands dropping down into my lap, but was caught with an aggressive hold on the nape of my neck; his hand on my back mimicking the hold.

“Little temptress,” he groaned quietly, “Do you know what restraint you are asking of me?”

My tongue wet my lips nervously as he finally leaned back enough to meet my gaze again.

“To resist such an alluring invite is harrowing,” he added.

“I- I don't mean to cause you trouble. I'm- I just- I've never felt this before. I'm not sure what's acceptable if you would even want me...”

A low sigh escaped his nose as he shut his eyes, seemingly in pain or frustration. After far too long, his eyelids opened once more and I found myself cascading into those inky dark depths.

“The fact you question that is laughable, söt flicka. I want nothing more than to have you laid out beneath me at this moment, but-”

“Then do it,” I cut him off quickly, throwing caution to the wind at the sudden mental image of him on top of me, “Please.”

There were many different worries floating through my head but what stood out above them all was my desire for him. A need, craving, that could only be sated by him and his touch.

"You're certain of this?" he asked seriously, "Do not make this decision lightly, for I doubt I could let you go once I've had you."

A shudder climbed up my spine at just the thought of being allowed to remain here with him. Why did I want that so badly? Here was a man, a powerful non-human being, that I had just met, and I was throwing myself at him as if I'd wanted him for years. As I pondered my options, I started to understand why being with him was so appealing. He presented an exciting offer; an opportunity for a life that had never before been in my realm of possibility. It was hard finding more reasons to decline his offer than to accept it.

"If I say yes, you're truly offering me a place here? And I would be safe?" I questioned carefully.

"You have my word that I would protect you to the ends of the dimensions," he replied.

Nibbling on my lip, I hesitated before finally asking the question burning on the tip of my tongue.

"Why me? Of all the others who have wandered through?"

His dark eyes narrowed in apparent thought and the fingers on my lower spine began to trace small designs against the fabric of my shirt soothingly. I felt the hairs raise on my skin in response to his touch and had to force myself to keep still rather than wiggle under the light tickle. We sat in silence for quite some time after my question. I didn't care to rush him if I were being honest, and the answer was well worth the wait anyhow. It was a pretty heavy subject.

When he spoke, I nearly fell from his lap with my startle, but he easily caught me and continued on speaking as if nothing had occurred.

"No others have sought me for reasons other than to seek knowledge. No others have been willing to listen to my songs without it being hinged on learning to play. We do not tend to feel loneliness or emotions quite the same as humans, but there is a certain appeal to having someone here with me again. It's been a very long time since I last had a companion to converse with regularly..." he paused when a devious look swept over his face, "And it has been even longer since I've been presented with someone so beautiful."

Embarrassed under the lavish compliment, I let my face fall and stared bashfully at the stitching on my blouse.

“Come now, little one, don't be so shy,” Infelix crooned lowly, fingers coming to push my chin up once more, “Do you have an answer? Or would you like to think about it a while longer?”

While it was easy to tell his offer to wait was sincere, I could also still sense the eagerness behind his words. He had been alone for so long already. Why would I prolong that?

Still mindful of any possible unknown boundaries, I reached up once more and threaded my fingers into his soft locks. His eyes fluttered shut while an easy smile spread across his lips. A little content sigh escaped him while my fingers lightly ran along his scalp. Just seeing this happiness made my heart pitter-patter giddily. Very gently I pulled his hair to tilt his head back then leaned in.

This kiss was just as lovely as the last, sending warmth from my heart all the way to my fingers and toes. I couldn't help but wonder if all kisses were like this, or if it was because of him?

My thoughts were quickly derailed as his hands moved down along my back and came to rest on my bottom. Instinctively my breath caught and my grip tightened on his hair as fire raced through my belly. His fingertips felt as if they were laced with lightning, my skin tingling under his touch even through my clothing. A pitiful whine left my lips when he pulled away quickly.

“Is this a yes, Y/N?” he urged.

Somehow, his tone had dropped to an even lower octave than before and hearing that delicious voice utter my name... I felt lost. It took a few moments to gather my wits about me and remember that he was waiting on an answer.

“Yes, it's a yes,” I replied breathlessly.

Almost instantly he crushed his mouth against mine as if his life depended on the contact. I drew in a sharp breath of surprise only to have his tongue dip between my lips. Gods, the sensation of his tongue along mine had my thighs clenching as tightly as possible against his. Never before had I felt this all-encompassing desire to have someone touch me everywhere. It was inebriating. When he jerked away, I wasn't even given enough time to pout for immediately his lips resurfaced on my throat, right beneath my jawline. The scratch of his facial hair against my tender skin left shudders quaking through my body. Exhilarating, yet daunting. Just from the first kiss to this was already a huge leap.

“Don't be scared, söt flicka. I may not be human but I am no monster,” he murmured against my neck.

Oh no! How could he think I was scared of him?!

“I'm not!” I quickly reassured him, “I wasn't shivering from fear. Although I'm nervous, it's not you that I'm worried about. Just that fact that I've never been with a man of any sort.”

He let out a noise of understanding before his lips were once more moving down my throat, making his way to the valley between my breasts. It caused such delightful sensations throughout my body, and excitement in places I'd never admit aloud.

“I'm honored to be the first to touch you,” he mumbled, then added in a darker tone, “And the last.”

Hearing him stake his claim out loud sent shivers down my spine. My focus was brought back to his mouth when his tongue, warm and wet, trailed along the neckline of my blouse. It was like no matter where his mouth was, it felt directly connected to the apex of my thighs.

“You need to fear nothing anymore, Y/N. You are mine now,” he sighed just loud enough for me to hear, “No one shall harm you as long as I stand on this earth.”

My cheeks flushed deeper at the passion in his voice and I carefully ran my hands over his broad shoulders as he left wet patches along my skin. A sudden nip of his sharp teeth tore a shaky gasp from deep in my throat. The stinging pain actually felt nice.

“Let's take this off,” he murmured, fingers hooking beneath my top.

It was only a piece of cloth yet it symbolized so much more. A part of my conscience begged me to stop now and turn back, but it was easy enough to beat it away the moment Infelix's fingers grazed my sides teasingly. Another electric spark. My chest felt heavily as he finally pulled up my shirt.

Swallowing hard, I resisted the urge to cover up as insecurity reared its ugly head. It was the sensation of his hands pressing against my ribs that kept me from moving. His touch was grounding, delightful.

“Du är vackrare än månen och stjärnorna.”

I honestly had no idea what he had said, but it was incredibly bewitching coming from his tongue.

Infelix pulled me closer as he claimed my mouth and washed away any remaining uncertainty. Oh, how good he tasted. Ambrosia from the gods. I wasn't sure how long we spent exploring the other's mouth, but it wasn't long enough. The rest of my existence could be spent like this with him and I'd never complain.

Our embrace was interrupted rather abruptly when I went careening backward, only to be caught at the last second and lowered carefully to the ground rather than landing painfully as I had expected.

“Allow me to show you how you deserve to be treated,” he purred.

Despite being a statement, it was obviously a question of consent. Catching his eye, I gave a shy nod and was rewarded with a grand smirk. Heat blossomed over my cheeks as his long, nimble digits ran down my skin and cupped my breasts lightly. He started easy, feather-light touches stealing my breath as I relaxed under him, but over time began to explore more. Pinching, rubbing, tweaking; He did things that I hadn’t expected before, but suddenly didn't want to live without.

A sudden shock of pain drew surprised tears to my eyes as his teeth left marks in my flesh but it was easily forgiven the moment his lips graced my hardened nipple.

“Do you enjoy when I bite you?” he asked gruffly.

“Y-Yes,” I murmured.

It was as if a switch was flipped. Although still obviously restraining himself some, Infelix wasted no time sinking his teeth into nearly every bare inch of my torso. There were moments it was almost too much but it seemed he could sense my discomfort when it neared that point and he would always move onto another location. Down farther and farther he went along my stomach until he paused at the waist of my pants.

“May I?”

“Of course,” I replied softly.

His constant checking in was endearing, albeit unexpected. There was no denying how good of a soul he had, despite being something of horrifying legends.

Biting my lip, I watched nervously as he hooked his fingers under the cloth and slowly pulled them down. What if he decided he didn't like how I looked? What if he compared me to his past lovers? What if--

Warm lips on the inside of my right thigh pulled my thoughts from the brink of panic and back to the ebony orbs staring up at me, as if reading my thoughts and sensing the negativity. Once he appeared certain I was focusing on him, he pushed my legs apart and up so I sat completely open to him. Oh hell! My heart raced and my breath shook as I watched him lean in, a devious smile playing on his lips.

“Aah!”

My gasp quickly turned into a surprised squeak as his tongue delved into my untouched folds. I'd been told once by one of my lady friends that this was something a rare few people indulged in, but of course, I'd never understood the full grasp of just what it was or why; until now.

Mindlessly, I clawed at the soft dirt of the earth and tried oh so hard not to make any embarrassing noises. Oh, but it was hard, so hard. It was as if every sensation I had was suddenly kicked up to one hundred. The cool soil felt like silk beneath my nails as I left behind crevices in the ground. The noises of the forest creatures that were so minute before flared back to life with vigor. Every flick of his nimble tongue against my body felt simultaneously molten and icy, saccharine in the best of ways.

When he pulled back slightly, an unstoppable whimper left my lips.

“You do not need to be so quiet, älskling. There is no one else around to hear you.”

He... wanted me to make noise? Men had been ensuring my silence all of my life, and while Infelix was different, one could never be certain.

“You're sure?” I questioned nervously.

A sharp bite dug into the squishy part of my thigh, tearing a shocked yelp from my mouth, before he chuckled darkly.

“Of course, Y/N. I want to know how I'm making you feel, when I'm doing something you love,” Infelix replied.

“O-Okay,” I murmured.

He wasted no time going back to his previous motions, but with much quicker strokes than before. The pleasure was so immense that I didn't even notice him moving until a slender digit was pressing its way into my core. If my brain were any more coherent, I'm sure I'd have registered the discomfort more, but as it was, it was barely a blip in my thoughts. It wasn't until he thrust it in deeper that a real niggle of pain came through.

With a hiss, I fought against the fight-or-flight response that bubbled to life and kept still under him. It wasn't that bad, I told myself, I knew there could be pain at some point.

Despite the logic part of my brain trying to keep my emotional part calm, I couldn't help the edge of worry that now stood out so brightly; And just when things were so good!

Infelix mumbled something that I couldn't quite make out but it didn't seem to matter once his finger pushed against something inside me that quite literally knocked the wind out of me. My thighs clamped around his head as I jerked to nearly sit up and uncontrollable moans poured out with a cry of his name. Tears pooled behind my closed lids. So good, and yet too much! How was one supposed to handle this?! Another crook of his finger and I went tumbling back to the ground, releasing my hold on him in favor of scratching at the grass and moaning praises.

A throaty laugh filled my ears as the only warning before he repeated the motion, not stopping afterward this time, instead quickening both finger and tongue.

“I-Infelix, I- Oh!”

With a shake of his head, he buried his face further into the apex of my thighs and then I felt a sucking on my sensitive nub. He was going to make my heart stop if something didn't give! The way his tongue moved in such perfect motions, slow then quick, hard then light, I could feel my entire body trembling as sweat beaded across my skin.

“Yes, that's it. Duktig flicka. Come for me,” he growled.

It was a battle to keep from thrashing, my entire body screaming at me to wrap around him and squeeze him tight while soaking up every sensation he was lavishly gifting me. My nails marked harsh crescents into his shoulders as my head snapped back with a scream. It was with great embarrassment and ecstasy that the knot in my belly finally broke.

“Infelix! Oh gods!”

A cold snarl joined my frantic moans and cries as I marked up his flawless skin. The dangerous noise only added another level of pleasure through my veins. It seemed he finally took pity on my frantic twitching and whining after some time, and drew back with a husky chuckle.

“Your sounds are the most angelic I've heard in my lifetime. I could listen to you singing my name for days,” he moaned roughly, “Alas, I know your body can only take so much. Thankfully, there will be many more days to cherish you.”

As mortifying as it was to hear such praise, the need to have him was more powerful. I couldn't wait to experience him in whole after that experience. I was practically burning up with the need to feel his skin against mine, have him fill the places that ached for him so.

“Please,” I whimpered, “Infelix, please.”

With a devilish smirk, the gorgeous demon leaned over me once more and rested on one forearm by my head, his hand sinking into my hair while the other reached between us. The shock of his hot length pressing against my entrance had me jumping and gasping.

“It's okay, Y/N. I've got you,” he murmured.

Before I had the chance to respond, a sharp pain shot through my core and an unbelievable fullness overcame my senses. Unable to control it, a weak cry of pain escaped and I found myself clinging onto him for comfort. Soft whispers filled the air around us and gentle kisses brushed against my lips, no doubt an attempt to distract me from the pain. It worked, very, very well. My hands found his shaggy locks and held on for dear life as he began moving.

No actual pain, but definitely not comfortable yet. Thankfully Infelix took incredible care with each rock of his hips. Whether it was from the incredible build-up or his extensive knowledge, the pressure and discomfort soon turned to unbelievable pleasure.

“Oh, Infelix. This- You- Amazing!”

He cut my stammered words off with a heady kiss and chose that moment to pick up the speed of his hips.

It was madness. Nothing on earth should feel as good as he felt. I was drowning in the bliss pounding through my being and wasn't sure I ever wanted to come back up. And then it hit me hard. This was now part of my life, my future. I could get lost in this beautiful, inhuman, man whenever we wished, and if it was this good now, how would it feel many times from now when we were more comfortable? That thought alone brought me near the breaking point once more.

“Good girl,” Infelix groaned as our lips broke apart, “Let me feel you come undone.”

His fingers immediately dove between us and found my oversensitive bundle of nerves. As if on command, my world crashed down around me once more, somehow even better than before. I could feel the burning in my throat as I screamed for him again, but couldn't bring myself to stop it. The ecstasy seemed unrelenting, surging higher with every thrust of his body into mine.

“Are you going to take all of me, Y/N?” he gasped out, nipping at my lower lip with a groan.

Speaking was impossible at this point so I nodded frantically at him. Of course I wanted everything he could give! He'd opened the gates to something so sinfully heavenly that I couldn't wait to have everything.

A heart-stopping snarl escaped his mouth before he latched onto my lips hungrily. Suddenly his hand jolted from between and snagged my jaw, shoving my head aside while his mouth resurfaced against my throat.

“Mine. All mine.”

Blinding pain seared through my neck without warning and set off another round of earth-shattering bliss as it quickly turned to pleasure. Between all the emotions and sensations, I felt him slow in pace and the warmth spilling into my core. It was with hot cheeks that I realized exactly what had occurred. Part of me found it terribly mortifying, but the majority of me found it incredibly arousing. He was true to his word; I was now his in all senses of the word. A little grin curved my lips at the realization and I gave in to the need to touch him again, wrapping my arms around his shoulders as he rested his forehead against my temple.

“You are incredible, älskling,” he muttered lowly, “How are you feeling?”

I took a few moments to inventory everything that I was feeling and couldn't help but laugh a little.

“I feel wonderful. It's unbelievable that something I feared and worried over for so long turned out to be so... exciting.”

Infelix pulled back after a gentle kiss and immediately I missed his warmth and weight. As if sensing this, he patted my leg lightly and offered a smile.

“We need to get you to an actual bed with some water and food.”

…..

The sound of a door shutting tore me from the sweet embraces of sleep. Who could be coming into my house at night? As I slowly started to sit up, a dull ache bloomed all throughout my lower body and reality hit. I wasn't at home, and that meant the only person that could be entering the home would be the very man who had caused the delicious burning now plaguing my bottom half.

As soon as Infelix entered the bedroom, my face flared uncontrollably hot as he started stripping his clothing. The dancing flame of the candle from the corner of the room made the sight a dozen times more sinfully beautiful. I hadn't quite gotten to see just how toned his body was before. He was slender but not in an unhealthy manner. For a moment, it made my thoughts drop negatively as I compared my curvier form to his. He dropped his shirt aside and turned towards the bed, smirking when our gazes met. The bad thoughts were easily dismissed at the hunger and longing in his expression.

“You're awake. How do you feel? Do you need anything?”

I had to giggle at his concern.

“I'm okay, and no thank you. I appreciate the offer.”

A squeak of surprise escaped as he launched himself suddenly at the bed and immediately I found myself pinned under him. My heart hammered hard in my chest, as he rubbed his nose along mine, barely brushing our lips together.

“I want you to know that the man you feared shall no longer be a threat to anyone,” he spoke after a few minutes of silence, his voice serious and low, “While he would never be able to bring harm to you while you are with me, I could not sit by and allow him to hurt any other innocent either.”

For sometime I couldn't react. I wasn't sure how to react. There was something akin to guilt bubbling up, but relief came through most. Relief that I had somehow avoided that horrible situation. Relief that I hadn't just passed the curse onto some other poor woman. Guilt that I should feel bad that a human being had been killed, and yet honestly didn't.

“His soul was dirtier and more tainted than I had seen in years, min söt flicka. I don't know how he escaped my knowledge for so long, and for that, I apologize but I promise he will no longer hurt anyone.”

Hesitantly, I brought my palm to his face and ran my thumb along his sharp cheek bone before pulling him into a gentle kiss.

“Thank you. For everything.”

#Infelix #Infelix/reader #smut #fluff #mythology smut #biting kink #AU #dark sides #claiming kink

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quranreadalong · 5 years

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#196, Surah 40

THE QURAN READ-ALONG: DAY 196

It’s ya boy Moses. Again. There are actually some new, never-before-seen details in this section--details that barely impact the outcome of the story at all. GET EXCITED!!

40:24 re-introduces some of the secondary characters we’ve seen in various versions of the Exodus story thus far: Moses was denied by the pharaoh, Haman, and Korah, who “said: A lying sorcerer!”.

Y’all remember the pharaoh, obviously, and hopefully you remember Haman, the evil advisor accidentally transplanted from the Book of Esther into the Quranic Exodus. Korah is a Hebrew guy from that one story in surah 28 where he was greedy and Allah made the earth swallow him up. He was called a disbeliever in that story, but I think this is the first time we’ve been told that he accused Moses of being a liar. Hey, a new detail!

Another new detail is this:

And when he brought them the Truth from Our presence, they said: Slay the sons of those who believe with him, and spare their women. But the plot of disbelievers is in naught but error.

(I’m ignoring that last sentence because I want to talk about something else rn, DAMN IT MOHAMMED!)

When Moses starts his prophet gig, the pharaoh declares that Hebrew boys will be put to death. But the Exodus story (in the Bible and the Quran) starts with the pharaoh killing Hebrew boys, which is why Moses’ mother sends him away. From surah 28:

Pharaoh exalted himself in the land and made its people into factions, oppressing a sector among them, slaughtering their [newborn] sons and keeping their females alive. Indeed, he was of the corrupters. And We wanted to confer favor upon those who were oppressed in the land and make them leaders and make them inheritors And establish them in the land and show Pharaoh and [his minister] Haman and their soldiers through them that which they had feared. And We inspired to the mother of Moses, "Suckle him; but when you fear for him, cast him into the river and do not fear and do not grieve. Indeed, We will return him to you and will make him [one] of the messengers."

So this seems to be a second incident of Hebrew-boy-killing, taking place when Moses is an adult. (Pharaoh and Haman have been around for quite a while, evidently.) This part is not in the Bible, nor in any other suwar, and I can’t find any basis for it in Jewish or Christian texts. None of the tafsirs have much to say about it, beyond noting that it happened. So I have two theories for what happened here:

1) Mohammed just fucked up and accidentally changed the chronology in this surah--there was supposed to be only one kid-killing incident, at the intro to the Moses story.

2) Mohammed either misunderstood the “death of the firstborn” incident from the Bible (where YHWH kills all the Egyptians’ firstborn sons) or did understand it, but disliked it and therefore changed it so that the Egyptians were the ones killing kids.

The plagues that Allah/YHWH sends upon Egypt are mentioned in an ayah back in surah 7. Locusts, (water turning into) blood, lice, and frogs are all named, as in the Bible. One additional plague is mentioned--tufana, which seems to mean “flood”. There isn’t any flood mentioned in the Exodus version, but there is an enormous storm with lightning, thunder, and hail, and it’s probably supposed to refer to that. The Passover incident involving the deaths of the firstborn sons (and four other plagues preceding it: darkness, boils, diseased livestock, and a swarm of deadly animals) is not mentioned in the Quran.

So all we can say is that the Passover story was completely left out of Islam, but we can’t really conclude why that might be. Allah doesn’t have a problem killing kids who he knows will grow up to be disbelievers (see: the al-Khidr story), so it’s not like the story violated some tenet of Islam. Perhaps Mo was still uncomfortable with it, though, and thought the unfortunate genocide would work better as a plot point if the Egyptians were the ones doing it. Mohammed did have a tendency to make the various disbelieving civilizations cartoonishly evil in some suwar, whereas they come across as just skeptical or apathetic in other suwar (see: the variants of the Saleh story). So adding a line about the Egyptians killing kids twice just to make them seem extra dickish wouldn’t be unprecedented.

This question is similar to the whole thing with the Samaritan building the golden calf--sometimes it’s hard to tell if Mohammed intentionally fucked up the story because he disliked its message, or if he just did it accidentally because he got confused by similar wording or repeated themes. We’ll never know. But in this particular case, my money is on the latter.

Regardless, the pharaoh also wants to kill Moses himself because he’s afraid that Moses will “cause confusion in the land” with his religious preaching. Moses prays for Allah to protect him from the pharaoh and all other disbelievers.

In 40:28, we have yet another new addition to the story.

a believing man of Pharaoh's family (*other translations: “of Pharaoh’s folk”), who hid his faith, said: Would ye kill a man because he saith: My Lord is Allah, and hath brought you clear proofs from your Lord?

I guess we’re just forgetting the part where the pharaoh was initially mad at Moses for killing some Egyptian guy in cold blood. Remember that? I guess that got retconned, and the pharaoh is just mad at Moses because he dislikes The True Religion in this version of the story. Hmm.

But who is this Muslim Egyptian fellow? The Jalals suggest it was the pharaoh’s unnamed cousin, though I’ve also seen him described as the pharaoh’s treasurer. A small minority read the grammar here, tortuously, as “a believing man--who hid his faith from Pharaoh’s family--said”, meaning he may not have been Egyptian at all. No one seems to know who he was, and again there aren’t any Jewish or Christian traditions I can find that contain this scene. The cousin interpretation is the most popular one in tafsir works, so let’s call him the pharaoh’s cousin.

This gentleman tells the pharaoh that no one can stop the wrath of Allah (in reference to the punishments brought upon the people of Hud, Saleh, etc, incidentally putting all of those pre-Moses in the chronology), though the pharaoh dismisses his concerns. But the cousin continues his rant, saying that he also fears that Allah will doom them in the afterlife.

I’ve been generous by designating all of the above as neutral, given the circumstances, but his rant does contain a couple of bad lines: the typical “he whom Allah sendeth astray, for him there is no guide” in 40:33 and a line stating that these astray people, who are hated by Allah, are those who doubt prophets. That ayah contains a line stating that the Egyptians doubted the revelations of Joseph many generations ago, and this is why Allah has made them go astray. But... um... did they? Wasn’t he made the chief advisor or something at the end of surah 12, because they did believe him? I mean, yeah, they didn’t become Muslims. But as far as I recall, the only people Joseph told to become Muslims were those guys in jail. Not the population in general. Right? Whatever.

The pharaoh stares at his cousin blankly for a couple of minutes and decides to ignore everything he just said, instead turning to Haman and telling him to build the pseudo-Tower of Babel. He wants to reach the "roads of the heavens" so he can see Allah (if he exists). Allah makes the pharaoh think this is a good idea, but then makes the plan end in ruin. Questionable free will violation there, but whatever.

NEXT TIME: The pharaoh’s cousin makes a return appearance for some kuffar dooming fun times!!!

The Quran Read-Along: Day 196

Ayat: 15

Good: 0

Neutral: 12 (40:23-32, 40:36-37)

Bad: 3 (40:33-40:35)

Kuffar hell counter: 0

⇚ previous day | next day ⇛

#ghafir #quranreadalong #surah 40

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cami-chats · 6 years

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Abnegate

Fandom: Marvel

Pairings: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes

Warnings: None

Tony loved being Iron Man. Hell, he was Iron Man, in a way that went beyond the fact of: Tony Stark is the person piloting the Iron Man armor. He never thought that he would ever give it up for any length of time, but here he was, retiring Iron Man, and all for a guy. He fell in love and got married. They were coming up on their first anniversary as a married couple, and he just couldn't keep up the lie anymore. He'd thought about telling Bucky-- of course he had-- but his identity was secret for a reason. Most of that reason was something he'd signed for Shield back when he'd gotten back from the whole ordeal with Stane. Usually that was something he gave fuck all about, but then he thought of Pepper. One of his best friends, and someone that he had thought was already prepared for him as Iron Man given what she'd had to deal with as Tony Stark's assistant. But he'd told her, and it had gotten her killed, so never again. It left him with three facts, two of which he couldn't change. 1. He was in love with Bucky. 2. He was Iron Man. 3. He was lying to Bucky on a weekly basis, making up stories for how he was hurting himself, and not being able to give reasons for why he was blowing off dates all the time. He was lying, and there were too many secrets between them. It was affecting their marriage, and Tony knew it. Bucky had yet to say anything, but he shouldn't have to; Tony knew it was coming between them. All of that left him with the choice of retiring Iron Man. He hated doing it, but he loved Bucky more. So he went into Shield and signed the paperwork. Fury was too well trained to show surprise, but he did try to talk Tony out of it, and that was the closest to an admission that Fury wanted him to stay on the team as he was going to get. "I'm doing one more trip in it," Tony told him. "Stark..." "It's not what you think. I'm just going to say goodbye to Cap." And the team, but it was mostly Cap that needed a proper goodbye from him. Fury paused, then nodded. "See if you can talk some sense into him, will you?" Tony snorted. "Just because I'm retiring doesn't mean that I'm suddenly on your side. I'm saying goodbye to my friend, not doing your dirty work." "Since when is talking to Captain America dirty work?" Fury asked him as he walked out the door. He shook his head. Stark would be back; he couldn't leave for good, no matter how much he might think he wants to. He put the paperwork through anyways. Once an Avenger, always an Avenger-- he just wasn't on the call list right now.

Tony went to the Tower to suit up and flew over to Avenger Mansion. He used to live there-- both as Iron Man and Tony Stark-- but when he and Bucky moved in together, he started living at Stark Tower. It was easier to keep up with his secret identity that way, and the Mansion got attacked more often anyways; the Tower was safer for Bucky. He landed in front of the main door, and Jarvis opened the door for him rather than risk the armor accidentally crushing the doorknob (again). Jan perked up when she saw him, a garment bag in her arms. "Iron Man! What are you doing here? I thought you were being incognito today?" "Mister Stark's got someone else watching him right now. Do you know where Cap is?" "Gym with Winter, I think. Why?" He shrugged. "Just need to talk to him about something. What's...?" He gestured to the slip. "Dress for Tony's gala this weekend, I'm sure you'll see it then," she said with a wink. "Have fun with the super twins!" Tony chuckled and made his way to the gym, wondering how difficult Winter was going to make this on him. He didn't like Cap and Iron Man's friendship, and he insisted it wasn't jealousy, but that's always what Cap told him when they got alone. He saw them sparring on the mats and knocked an armored finger against the door frame to let them know he was there. Cap saw him and beamed, and Winter rolled his eyes, shoving Cap off of him. He didn't care, standing up and walking over. "Hey Iron Man, I didn't think you were going to be around today." "Yeah, little change of plans, I needed to talk to you about something." "Of course," he said, looking at him earnestly even with his workout mask covering pieces of his face. "Uh, alone," he said, glancing over at Winter, who was still sitting on the mats. Winter glared at him. "What do you need to tell him so privately?" "Winter," Cap reprimanded. He rolled his eyes again. "Fine, guess I'll hit the showers." They both waited for the door to shut behind him before turning back to each other. "So?" Cap said, back to happy. "I'm- uh, retiring." His smile froze on his face, and he tried to capture a little hope. "Oh taking another break? Yeah, you've been busy lately, don't worry about it. We'll see you around, yeah?" "Cap. I'm not... taking a break. I'm leaving the Avengers. Permanently." It felt like kicking a puppy that was also his best friend. The smile was wiped off his face like it had never been there. "Wh- is there something wrong? If Mister Stark needs more security, we can take up shifts until he figures it out." Tony shook his head. "I'm not going back to being his bodyguard. I'm giving up the armor." Cap swallowed thickly, crossing his arms over his chest. "Is... is someone replacing you?" "No. Well," he gave a harsh laugh that didn't have an ounce of humor in it, "maybe someday. But not anytime soon." "Is there anything I can say that would convince you to stay?" "I already signed the paperwork," he said gently. The armor didn't really translate gentle, but Cap had known him for years like this and he understood what Tony was aiming for. "I just came to say goodbye." "Okay," Cap said, and Tony could see him calculating. "Do I- do we get to see you still? Will you drop by to visit?" "Don't do this Cap. If you see me, you're just going to want me back, and you're going to expect me in battles where I'm not going to be." "I won't," he said desperately. "I won't do that Shellhead, please. Don't just leave me entirely. You're my best friend, you- you got me through waking up in this century, I can't lose you." Tony put a hand on his shoulder. "You'll be fine Winghead. You always have been." Cap clenched his jaw. "Fine, we don't get to see you in the armor. What about..." he visibly gathered his courage and looked straight into the eye slits like he could see straight through them. "Would you go on a date with me? I was thinking pizza. You always said that you loved pizza, but you could never have it with the team because of the helmet." Tony blinked in surprise. "A date?" He nodded decisively, chin jutted out, and Tony got the sudden vision of how he must have looked before the serum-- earnest but not self-confident, taking risks and putting himself out there every day. "I... you mean a lot to me, Shellhead. I've been wanting to do this since five months after we met." Tony's heart sank lower and lower, falling to his shoes. Cap was in love with him. He didn't say the words, but it was obvious-- how had he never seen this before? Iron Man's hand fell from his shoulder and laid limply at his side. "I'm sorry," he croaked. "If it's your identity, you know I won't tell anyone." "It's not-" Tony shook his head. "I'm married." Cap's face tightened in pain, and he hunched over like he did in fights when he was expecting a blow. Only this one was emotional, and he didn't have the shield to protect him. "Oh," he managed. His arms tightened across his chest, and Tony recognized the feeling of wanting to rub at your heart when it hurt. "I'm so sorry," he said, because that was all he could do. Cap shook his head vigorously, but not enough to hide the tears welling up in his eyes. "I- I should've--" he cut himself off, shaking his head again. He pulled himself together enough to give him a tremulous smile. "I'll miss you Shellhead. Have a good retirement, yeah? And- if you ever--" he stopped himself again, trying to shake the thought out of his mind. And if you ever find yourself single, maybe look me up. "Have a good retirement," he repeated. ~~~ After everything with Cap, Tony felt like dirt, but he still managed to say goodbye to the others. Like with Cap, they asked if they were going to still see him, but after he said that he'd already talked to Cap about it, they didn't bother pressing the point; if Cap couldn't convince him to stay, none of them would be able to. He went back to the Tower but didn't get any work done, opting to be miserable on the couch rather than miserable in the workshop. When Bucky got back from the fire station that day, both of them were feeling low. He slumped next to Tony on the couch. "How was your day?" "Awful. Had to fire someone," he lied, and he hoped to god that this was one of the last lies he would have to tell him. Bucky made a noise of sympathy and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "'m sorry. If it helps, my day wasn't much better." "I know they say misery loves company, but I'm not really happy that your day sucked too. What happened?" Bucky glared at the wall. "The fella Stevie was sweet on is seein' someone else. Can you believe that? Been stringin' him along for years, and he's living with someone." He shook his head, reaching back to untie his hair. "I told him that guy was no good for 'im." "You did," Tony agreed. For as long as Tony had known him, Steve was pining over someone, and Bucky was telling him that it wasn't going to go anywhere. Tony didn't know the guy obviously, but the way Bucky told it, it was hopeless to think he and Steve would ever get together-- looks like he was right. "How's he holding up?" "Not good," Bucky said with a grimace. "He thought this guy was the one, y'know?" Tony winced. "That's rough." "Yeah. I'm sorry honey, I know we had plans tonight, but-" Tony was already shaking his head. "It's fine. Go get him roaring drunk; it's the first step to moving on." "Is that what they tell you at your AA meetings?" "Well I'm not the one with a broken heart, am I? Besides, Steve hardly drinks, that might be what he needs right now." "If you say so." "What was your plan then?" "Junk food and rom coms." Tony made a face. "I don't want to trash your methods, but watching movies where people always end up together? That seems a little questionable." "Mm," Bucky shook his head. "We're watching He's Just Not That Into You, so it gives him the full spectrum." Tony laughed. "Sounds like fun, I wish I could come along. I'll just be sitting here pining for you." "Not going to get any work done?" Bucky asked, sounding surprised since that was usually what Tony did when Bucky had evening plans with someone else. He shrugged one shoulder. He really should start packing up all the suits, but designing anything would be far from possible right now. "I might. Guess we'll see." Bucky chuckled and gave his cheek another kiss, nuzzling until Tony turned to face him. He kissed him slowly, savoring the way he tasted. "I'll make it up to you," he whispered against Tony's lips. This was par for the course when one of them canceled a date, to the point that even if they didn't say it, they still did something special later on. "Don't worry about it," Tony said, knowing full well that Bucky was going to do something anyways-- again, it was what they did. Bucky hummed, rubbing their noses together before pulling away. "I'm gonna go change, but I'll see you tonight? Hopefully not too late." "Yep." Tony snagged another kiss. "Have fun-- or as much fun as you can have while mending a broken heart." Bucky grinned at him, and Tony's heart skipped a beat. "Will do, doll." He kissed him again before getting up to go change, and Tony watched his backside as he walked away. God, he loved him. Every day he thought he couldn't love him any more than he already did, and every day he was proven wrong. He waited for Bucky to leave for Steve's before heading to the workshop. He stood in front of the panel that hid the Iron Man suits and took a deep breath. This was ridiculous, right? They were just circuits and metal strung together, and he wasn't even destroying them. He was just... packing them up. Putting them in boxes and hiding them away so he wouldn't be tempted to use them. He only managed to get the Mark Three down before stopping. He went to the 'shop and worked on an upgrade for Cap. The poor man deserved something nice after the Iron Man... incident. He didn't get very far before saving what little progress he'd made, and he went back to the suits. The Mark Three had already been carried off by DUM-E, so he started on the Mark Four. He turned on music, so loud he couldn't hear himself think, and worked on packing up the rest of them. If he didn't think about it, it was like he was moving back to Malibu, not retiring completely. By the time Bucky got home, Tony had packed everything up and was looking at a few documents Val (his new assistant) had sent him. Guess he was going to be doing a lot more of this, now that he wasn't trying to keep up with two people's lives. Just the one. He sighed. If he could have Bucky and be Iron Man, that would of course be preferable. He shook his head to get rid of the thought and accepted Bucky's welcome home kiss. He smelled like vodka, but he didn't look the least bit tipsy. Maybe Steve had gone off and gotten wasted like Tony suggested. "How's Steve doing?" "Pretty miserable. He's still convinced this guy is the love of his life." "Didn't you talk some sense into him?" "I tried, but Steve said that I never liked him so what I think doesn't matter." Tony's eyes went wide. "Well then." "You'd be able to work it out," Bucky said, sounding strangely certain of that even though Tony and Steve didn't get along very well. Tony shrugged it off because Bucky said weird shit like that all the time. He leaned in to give Tony a longer kiss, but he shied away. "No offense babe, but you stink." Bucky's look of confusion turned to understanding, and he nodded, giving Tony some space and getting off the couch. "Yeah Steve sort of... threw a drink on me." "What? What for?" "Love of his life, remember?" "Mm." "Yeah. I'm gonna take a shower." "What happened to movie night?" Bucky made a face. "The punk wanted to take your advice, and Natasha sure as fuck wasn't helping. You should've seen the bartender's face when Steve tossed his drink at me though-- thought he was gonna have us beating the shit outta each other in his place." Tony laughed, able to visualize the terror the poor man must have felt; Steve and Bucky were both built-- if they wanted to destroy a place, they could do it. "I'm sure he was very happy when you didn't." "Darlin', you have no idea." He winked at Tony and made for the shower. He'd been hoping for some quality time since Tony was still up, but if he smelled like a distillery? Yeah, not happening, and he couldn't even be mad about it.

Two Weeks Later Of all the things Tony expected from his life, being bored was not one of them. Being Iron Man had kept him busy-- too busy, honestly. He'd had to shirk duties that both Iron Man and Tony Stark should be doing to make time for both identities. Even before Iron Man he'd been busy, but now it was less than he was expecting. He got used to running everywhere, never having a moment to sit down and rest unless he scheduled it, and now he had his usual meetings, the usual paperwork, and the usual projects to work on, with an average of five more hours a day to do it all. He also wasn't designing new Iron Man suits, so that was a weekly project that he no longer had to spend time on. He didn't have to cancel dates anymore because there was never an emergency that wasn't preemptively dealt with because of all his free time. The main problem with all of this? He was starting to get suspicious of Bucky, and he hated it in a visceral way that felt like it was clawing from the depths of his soul. Bucky wasn't doing anything unusual even. He still canceled dates occasionally, still told stories about down time with his friends, but something about it all rubbed Tony the wrong way. What kind of firefighter got calls at eleven at night on a regular basis? They had night shifts for a reason, and Tony never saw anything about big fires that would require the extra help. He found excuses for this or that, but there was one thing he couldn't explain away-- Bucky's injuries. Bruises? Fine, not ideal, but normal. But cuts? Sometimes it looked like someone tried to make him a human shish-ka-bob, and a week later he was perfectly fine. He hated himself for even getting that far in his suspicion. He was getting paranoid, looking for trouble where there was none, and it ate at him. Bucky loved him, and Tony loved him. They'd been married for almost a year, and here he was jumping at shadows. He worked on planning their anniversary, trying to make it perfect to alleviate his guilt. It didn't really work, and Bucky was starting to get concerned, coaxing him to bed more often than not. Bucky mostly felt like his life was crumbling in the foundation. Steve was still mad at him for saying Iron Man was a dick, and Natasha was too, for some reason. Tony was acting different, and as much as his anxiety tried to pin all the blame on his own behavior, it felt deeper than that. Bucky hadn't changed anything about how he acted, but all of a sudden Tony was distant and his mind was wandering-- and neither of them in way that Bucky had seen before. He did his best to just let Tony know that he was there for him and that he still loved him, but it didn't seem to be doing anything. It wasn't a big change mind, but they'd been living together for a year and a half-- he knew Tony. So he got Steve to get him a day off of Avenger activity no matter what happened, and he called Val to clear a day in Tony's schedule. The alarm by their bed went off, and Tony turned it off, swinging his legs off the bed and waiting for his body to boot up. Bucky wrapped an arm around his waist and tugged him back on the bed, careful to watch his strength so Tony didn't get suspicious. He kissed his back, but when Tony spoke he only sounded tired. "I have a meeting this morning." Bucky tried not to let his disinterest discourage him. "No you don't. I called Val, got Sam to cover my shift, and said no way are we leaving the floor today." He sat up and hugged Tony to his chest, kissing softly along his neck. But Tony wasn't relaxing. He loosened his grip and leaned back a little to give him space. "Uh. Is somethin' wrong sweetheart?" "Just not in the mood." That was plausible, but it felt like a lie. Bucky sat beside him, and Tony moved his leg away when it touched him. He tried to be discreet about it, but Bucky noticed-- would have done even if he wasn't enhanced. He swallowed thickly, trying to tamp down on the hurt. A voice in the back of his mind started screaming that this was the end for them, but he shoved it back. Couples had bumps in the road sometimes, that's just how relationships worked. "What's goin' on with you recently?" he asked softly. "Did somethin’ happen?" Tony took a deep breath and rubbed at his eyes. He was about to answer when an explosion rattled the floor. "What the-" Suddenly, the wall blew in, and Bucky was tackling him to the floor. "Shit," Bucky bit out. He scrambled for his backpack sitting by the nightstand, getting his gun in hand just in time to see the approaching figures in black and shooting at them. How was he going to explain this? They got out of the open space and behind the wall, but before he could grab Tony and find somewhere to get them away, Tony was pulling on his arm, typing something into his phone rapid fire and opening a panel in their wall. It sealed shut, leaving them in the brightly lit elevator with all sound and destruction cut off. "This feels like a Mr. and Mrs. Smith moment," Tony said mildly, but his eyes were wide and his grip on his phone left his knuckles whitened. "Because we're in an elevator?" "And you have a gun. Why do you have a gun in your work bag?" "Tony, I can explain later but right now--" Tony raised his voice and talked over him. "I guess it's the same reason the skin on your left arm is shredded and there's metal underneath. Right?" There was only one person that had an arm like that, and the Winter Soldier wasn’t very fond of Tony. Bucky glanced down, and sure enough, the synthetic skin he used to cover his prosthetic was ripped in places. He'd been closer to the explosion so it made sense, but he hadn't even noticed. He was usually better about hiding this, but then again they usually weren't attacked in their fucking home. "Can we talk about it later?" he said quietly, peeling the synthetic skin off entirely. "There are kind of people trying to kill us right now." "I texted Fury, we should be fine. In the meantime I need to reboot Jarvis." "Is that where we're going?" "Yep." "I won't be any help there. If you let me off, I could-" "Nope." "What? Tony I should help." "Consider this your punishment," he said, and the doors opened to a circuit room he'd never seen before. "What?" he said again. "Punishment for what?" As soon as he said it, he realized the answer what the answer would be: lying. "Tony, I wasn’t allowed to tell you. None of us are." "The rest of them aren't married," Tony said, walking further into the room. He wasn’t actually mad at Bucky-- couldn’t be because it would be so fucking hypocritical. He was doing something, but fuck if Bucky knew what it was. He stood at the edges of the room to stay out of the way, shifting awkwardly. "You know that for sure?" "I know that two of them are married, and it's to each other so the secret identities schtick doesn't apply to them." Bucky frowned in confusion. "Iron Man's not married to another Avenger." "What?" Tony looked back, mirroring Bucky's expression. "But he told-" Bucky cut himself off before he could say 'Steve' or 'Cap'. "I'm so fuckin' confused." Tony's phone rang, and he put it on speakerphone and set it on top of one of the bases to continue what he was doing. "Hey Nicky, how's the view from out there?" "You'd have to ask Cap. Where's that husband of yours? He's unaccounted for." "He's with me," Tony said absently, his mind whirring as soon as Fury mentioned Captain America. "And where are you?" "Nice try Santa Claus." "At any rate, hostiles are clear, and you're free to go back and see if you recognize them." "Will do." He reached up and ended the call, face pale. He looked at Bucky, finally awake enough to realize everything it meant that Bucky was the Winter Soldier. The Winter Soldier fucking hated Iron Man, and he was Iron Man, therefore... Not to mention that the Winter Soldier was from the past, same as Captain America, and if that was Bucky, that meant Steve was Captain America. Steve liked Tony, Tony didn't like him, and that made Bucky hate him a couple times over. What a goddamn mess. He started laughing; this could only happen to him. Bucky walked over to him, concerned. "Tony? Are you okay?" He tried to talk past his laughter, and only managed, "If he's- then that means- and he got turned down so you hate-" before he broke down into hysterical giggles. He finally tapered off, wiping at his eyes. "Oh wow. If this wasn't so sad, this would be the funniest thing to ever happen to me." He messed around with a few more wires, and everything whirred to life. "Jarvis, buddy? You there?" "I appear to have taken a nap, sir. My apologies." He paused, running a quick diagnostic. "The issue has been found. It won't happen again, sir." "Just so long as you're alright, Jay. Did you know that I'm apparently married to the Winter Soldier?" "I did indeed, sir." "If you knew, then why didn't you tell him?" Bucky asked. "Privacy is one of his primary protocols, along with keeping me safe. And you, once you moved in." "So... he knows the identities of the other Avengers?" "I do, but sir has no need to know, so their identities have remained private." "Not that it would be hard to guess now that I know who you are," he muttered, giving a final pat to one of the towers. He pocketed his phone and went back to the elevator. "Jay, tell them we're headed up." "...Are you okay?" Tony gave him a strange look. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" He shrugged awkwardly. "Well with this and whatever else was botherin' you, I'm surprised you're not mad at me. It's a pretty big secret." "Yeah. Hypocritical though." "What do you mean?" "Captain America is Steve, right? And you hate Iron Man for turning him down?" Bucky's face darkened. "I know he's your bodyguard and you trust him an' all, but he's a bastard." "Cap tell you what he said?" He made a noise of disgust. "Said he's married. Who does that?" "We're married." "That's not the same, we love each other." "And you think Iron Man doesn't love his husband." "I think that if he loved him, he wouldn't've been flirtin' with Steve." "Huh." Tony chewed on his lip. "I don't suppose you would believe that he didn't know it was flirting?" "What? How could Iron Man not know?" "He's an idiot sometimes." "What are you talking about?" Tony looked at Bucky with an eyebrow raised. Then, he raised one hand and pointed at himself with the other. "I'm an idiot sometimes." "Tony..." "Do you really think I'd give my suit to someone else?" They reached the penthouse, but Jarvis kept the doors closed. "What the- what th' hell are you talking about Tony?" "I'm Iron Man," he said plainly. "And in my defense, Cap really was my best friend and nothing else. Yeah we flirted every once in a while, but I had no reason to believe he'd think it was serious. Also? I didn't think my husband was the Winter Soldier and fucking hated me. Like you said earlier, right? It 'had to be kept a secret'. And you know what?" he added when Bucky started to look angry. "I thought you were a firefighter, but you knew I was Tony Stark. You knew I was already involved with the Avengers, and you didn't tell me. So if anyone gets to be upset here? It's me." Not that he was, really, but it was the principle of the matter. Bucky's jaw was clenched tight, and he wasn't looking Tony. He shook his head in jerky movements, and he stepped forward to knock on the door with his metal hand. "Jarvis open up." He hesitated for the barest of moments before complying with Bucky's request (order, more like), but it probably wasn't long enough for anyone but Tony to notice. Jan turned to them with a smile, but it froze in place when she saw Bucky. Because she was a bonafide lady, she ignored his expression and the fact that his arm was out so Tony clearly knew about his identity. And since she knew Tony and everyone involved with the Avengers knew her identity, she was the one to talk to him right now-- comfort when his home was attacked, he guessed. "Hey Tony." "Hey Jan," he said tiredly. He glanced at Bucky, who had leaned against a wall and was now scowling at nothing. Now that Bucky and Cap were in the same room, it was pretty obvious that something was going on there. Knowing that it was Steve under the cowl, made it both better and worse. Better because Steve was Bucky's friend, and he was clearly concerned about him. Worse because this was Bucky's best friend who had told Tony as Iron Man that he loved him two weeks ago. "Do we know who it was?" he asked, looking around at the mess that was his penthouse. She grimaced, pulling her mask up and resituating her ponytail. "We put them through the system, and some of them are AIM." "But?" he prompted. "They don't really look like AIM, Tony." "What, no beekeeper outfits?" "Actual armor, fully outfitted." He frowned. "I know," she said, giving a helpless shrug. "We think they teamed up with someone." "Killian’s idea?" "Looks like it. The guy either loves you or hates you Tony. Either way, he's obsessed. I would guess that since his past attempts at getting your attention weren't working, he decided to switch it up." "He's not exactly nice at playing with others. If it's an alliance, it's not going to last." "Especially after this failed so miserably." She made a face and looked at the shattered glass and blasted down walls. "Sorry about your building." "It's only this right? No casualties or other damages?" "Correct," Cap jumped in to say. "The thing is Mister Stark, they've never been able to get this close to you before. I think you should consider moving back to the Mansion, at least temporarily." "It would be safer," Jan added. "Plus it'll be fun! Just like the old days." She moved beside Tony and slung an arm around his shoulders. "Cocktails, virgin of course, and talking clothes-- this lot is useless and has no taste-- ooo and painting our nails! Hank is atrocious at it. I love him dearly, but it looked like I'd stuck my fingertips in a can of paint." Tony laughed, and it sounded a little forced, but Jan just smiled encouragingly. "Yeah that'd be fun. I'm good with moving back for a bit. Bucky?" "What," he said flatly. Tony blinked. "Uh. Moving to the Mansion for a bit? Just while this place is being rebuilt." "Fine." "Great. I'll uh, grab some stuff." He started to walk forward, but Jan picked him up. "Jan!" "What?" she said innocently. "There's glass Tony, and you're only human." He glared at her, but she just hummed to herself and brought him into their room. "Have I told you lately that you're ridiculous?" "No, but maybe that's because you stopped being around when Iron Man left." A small part of that was that he wasn't there to be seem before and after suiting up, but most of it was avoiding Cap. He just... didn't know what to say to him. It was one of the only pros to not being Iron Man, and even that was gone now that he knew Steve was Captain fucking America. He couldn't avoid his husband's best friend, but then again maybe that wouldn't be a problem soon, if the way Bucky was shutting him out was any indication. He grabbed a duffle from the back of the closet and started throwing clothes in. He couldn't take any suits obviously, but Val would understand him having to cancel meetings-- and with his good behavior the last two weeks, she probably wouldn't even make a comment on how this attack was awfully convenient for getting him out of them. While he was at it, he pulled on some clothes for the day. He was about to ask Bucky if he wanted him to pack for him, but he and Cap/Steve looked to be having a whispered argument. An intense one that would probably have them shouting if they were alone. ~~~ Steve stood at his side, far enough away to keep appearances, and Bucky rolled his eyes. Now that Tony knew who he was, everyone in the penthouse was aware of everyone's identities. Except for the other Avengers knowing Iron Man was Tony; they didn't know that part, but what did it matter? Iron Man was retired. "Hey," Steve said in an undertone, "is everything okay?" He knew the attack was worrisome, but Tony looked to be fine. As far as he could tell, there was nothing to put Bucky in this foul of a mood. "Tony knows." "Shit." Steve glanced at Tony, who was in their room packing up some clothes, but he looked fine. "Is he mad?" "Nope. You know why?" Bucky looked straight into Steve's eyes, and it hit him that Bucky wasn't mad at Tony-- he was mad at Steve. "Cause he's Iron Man." Steve's stomach dropped, and he paled at a rate that would have been funny in a less serious situation. "What? He- there's no way." "Yeah cause I always joke about shit like this Rogers," he snarled. "Oh my god, Buck, I'm so sorry I swear I had no idea," Steve whispered back. "Had no idea that you want to fuck my husband? Yeah I'm so sure." He was glaring at Steve, hurt covered up by anger. "Well don't worry. In a month, we'll be divorced and you won't have to fuckin' worry anymore." "What? Divorce? Is he- Bucky is he dumping you?" "No," Bucky growled, jabbing a metal finger hard against Steve's chest (not that it mattered much through his armor), "but as soon as we have a minute alone, I'm tellin' him." "But why? You love him so much, it's not like you weren't keeping a secret of your own. I'm sure you can get past this if you try," Steve said desperately. Tony being Iron Man was god damn heartbreaking because he knew now that he really didn't stand a chance, but it was obvious how much they loved each other and separating over something like this would only stand to hurt them. "It's not about that," Bucky said, getting in Steve's face. "As soon as you told him that you fuckin' love him, he got distant. We haven't had sex since then, and this mornin' before the attack, I told him that we had the whole day together and he was tryin' to figure out how to leave. I convinced him t' talk, y'know? Right before they blew up the damn wall, and he was about to let me down easy. So don't try 'nd tell me that everything's just fine between us, cause it's not. He likes you, and I'm gonna be that stupid ex that you had to work past to get together." He clenched his jaw, looking for all the world like he wanted to haul off and punch Steve in the face. "I'm not gonna stick around to watch it happen. Neither of you need me, and the team sure as hell doesn't need the Winter Soldier." "What?" Steve whispered back harshly, starting to get angry himself. It was more reactionary than something he thought he should be feeling, but it was there all the same, bubbling in him like poison. "What the hell are you talking about? I'm not going to get with your fucking husband, what the hell kind of person do you think I am? Don't go putting words in my mouth punk, you don't get to speak for me, and I'm not going to date your husband." "Yeah," Bucky scoffed, "call me up in five years and tell me how that worked out for you."

Nat cleared her throat loudly, coughing into her hand to get them to break it up. She gave a pointed look to Tony, who was watching them with worry etched into his face and his hands tight around a duffle.

Bucky swallowed thickly and took a step back, not looking at Steve or Tony. This was going to be so goddamn miserable. Five Years Later They finished yet another battle against a batch of Doombots. "This diplomatic immunity thing is bullshit," Bucky said, slowly stretching his arm to test how his shoulder was doing. "It should apply to honest mistakes and cultural differences, not tryin' to take over the fucking country." "I vote we kill Doom and save our future selves the trouble," Clint said. "No," Steve said firmly, even using his Captain America voice. "We aren't killing him, that would only start a war and get you thrown in jail." "Yeah Clint," Tony chimed in. "You gotta start thinking like a hero, now that you're one of us. Any time we kill someone, it is entirely by accident, and then we have to spend the next month doing all sorts of bullshit PR to remind the public we're saving their collective asses." "That's easy for you to say," he grumbled. "Is it?" "You're getting laid on a daily basis by two super soldiers, Stark. You're doing what I'm doing, only with lots of hot sex in the down time." "He doesn't have as much down time as you're thinkin'," Bucky said. "Mostly it's me and Stevie waitin' for him to pry himself away from his toys. Everyone's on the quinjet, right?" He waited until he got various confirmations, and a reminder from Tony that he was going to fly to the Tower so they didn't need to wait for him. Natasha hummed, crawling into the copilot's chair. "Exactly what kind of waiting are we talking about here, Bucky? Please, tell us in as much detail as possible." "Don't be afraid to embellish, if you need," Clint added, strapping himself into a seat even though it wasn't necessary for the short trip-- he had some quirks, that was fine, none of them asked unless it worried them because if it made him feel better, then why bother him? "Or combine stories, really. It's your story, Bucky, you need to make sure we're entertained." "Not a word, Buck," Steve warned. "Ooo is that things work?" Jan teased. Tony laughed, but Steve just sighed. "I thought we all agreed not to talk about our sex life with the team?" "I wasn't exactly level headed at the time I agreed," Tony said. "I think in a court of law, I would be freed from this contract. Bucky too." "He's right, Steve. It's not fair to be negotiatin' while you've got someone's dick in your hand." Steve thumped his head into the wall behind him. "I hate both of you." "Aw I love you too honey," Tony said, pitching his voice overly sweet. They traded banter back and forth for the short ride back to the Tower, and Tony slid out of the suit on the landing pad. Jarvis picked it off of him and brought it back down to the 'shop for a few touch-up's-- not upgrades, just redoing the paint, honestly; it chipped in almost every fight, either because something sharp was hitting him, or because he was being thrown into buildings or the pavement (giant squid monsters were not friendly, he had learned). Bucky and Tony whisked Steve away after the debriefing, which had fortunately been very short due to how routine the fight had been. "Do you wanna tell 'im?" Bucky asked Tony. Tony frowned. "I thought we were doing this together?" "Well of course we're doin' it together, but we can't just talk at th' same time and hope it works." Steve cleared his throat loud and pointedly, making both of them turn to him in surprise, like they'd forgotten he was there and could hear them. "Should I be worried?" "No," they both immediately. "It's good," Bucky insisted. "Probably long overdue, if we're being honest." It had been five years since the penthouse had been partially destroyed, and Bucky had tried to leave the Avengers, Steve, and Tony. It had taken a couple days for Tony to figure out what the fuck was going on and work on fixing it, and while it had ultimately been a long process, it was still only six months before they brought Steve into their relationship. Four and half years of dating and being in love, and they hadn't done this yet when it only took Tony and Bucky a year to get engaged. Tony was the one with the ring box now, so Bucky was probably right about Tony being the one to tell him. "O... kay?" Steve said, a confused frown on his face that put a little line between his eyebrows. Tony shared a glance with Bucky, gaining confidence when Bucky squeezed his hand. Steve wasn't going to say no, but it was still nerve wracking. "Well, the three of us have been together for a while now, and I know that you're already living with us and that's as properly official as it's going to get, but sometimes it still feels like it's not enough, you know?" Steve was nodding along, and Tony reached into his pocket for the ring box. "We just... we know this won't make it official. It's not legally binding or anything, and most people aren't going to think of it as real, but." Tony shoved the box into Steve's hand. He'd meant to place it in gently-- romantically, if you will-- but he was nervous, so sue him. "I know you feel like a third wheel still sometimes, Steve," Bucky said softly. "And I think part of that is because me and Tony are married to each other, and you aren't. And, yeah, this isn't a legal thing, it's just a symbol, but if we could marry you, we would, punk. Like Tony said, we shoulda done this a long time ago." Steve fumbled for a minute, throat working and fingers clenching around the little box that looked all the smaller in his large hands. Finally, he opened it, staring at the ring that matched Bucky and Tony's. He pulled it out and glanced surreptitiously at the inside to see just how similar it was. Sure enough, there his name was, engraved on the inside of the band next to Tony and Bucky's names, little hearts between them. When he glanced up at them, he saw them both smiling softly at him. Tony pulled on his own ring until it came off, and he held it up for Steve to see; they'd put his name on their rings too. "I never thought I'd get this," he admitted quietly. Bucky moved to Steve's side, putting an arm around his waist and pulling him close. "I'm sorry it couldn't be more official. And I'm sorry that we didn't do this sooner," he added, and both Steve and Tony knew he was referring to his insecurity about his place in their relationship. Steve shook his head, putting the ring on his left hand and flexing his hand around it. It felt strange, but the kind of strange that he was going to love getting used to. "I know it's- I know we're not having a ceremony but can we... take some pictures?" There were pictures of the three of them together all over of course, but Steve felt a little pang of sadness when he saw Tony and Bucky's wedding picture. He'd been at the actual wedding, but considering what had happened since then, it was hard for him to see it. "Yeah," Tony said. "I've still got the suits and everything." Steve smiled, the grin spreading slowly across his face until it was stretched from one end to the other. Ten years ago, the three of them were scattered with issues as tall as skyscrapers, and now they were married. He could definitely get used to this.

#marvel #fanfic #winteriron #stuckony #tony stark #bucky barnes #steve rogers #my writing #dictionary prompts

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sett-runes · 3 years

Text

New Champion: Seraphine Guide

Seraphine, among the most hyped-up champions Riot has created will be published at Patch 10.21 and it is clear to see that she is going to find a great deal of drama on Summoners Rift.

This is actually the first time that a winner's been published with an ultimate skin, and frankly, the enthusiasm that's been around her launching was phenomenal.

Inside this Mobalytics manual, we'll speak about the way it is possible to play with Seraphine; the 152nd winner to strike Summoners Rift. We have also made a manual on How to Counter Seraphine, so make sure you check that out too well.

If you would like to understand more advice about the best way best to play as and from Seraphine, find out her Seraphine's construct and that counters/ gets countered by Seraphine, be sure to check our Seraphine Champion Page.

Before we start, let us make it crystal clear that though I have been analyzing Seraphine a little on PBE, this manual is not designed to become an in-depth-everything you have to understand, one-stop-shop about the best way best to play Seraphine. Its purpose is to offer you tools and pointers that will assist you play her when she starts.

Seraphine will probably be performed as a Support and Mid laner. We'll provide ideas about the best way best to play as both functions, but our principal focus will be how to perform Support Seraphine, lots of the hints will hold true whatever lane you are enjoying .

Ability Rundown

First off, we ought to go over what her skills are. Because this is based from this PBE, these will not instantly make you a professional but we'll examine the fundamentals of every one of her skills to get you started if you would like to play with her for the very first time.

Additionally, note that these amounts are obviously subject to change if she formally launches.

Seraphine's Passive is Stage Presence

Each third standard skill (her Q, W, or E) Seraphine casts will populate which induces this capability to be utilized twice. Consider it like she is sending two waves rather than one on each third throw.

Additionally, when she's close to her allies and they use an authority, she's a notice. For every notice, Seraphine's attack range increases and prices additional damage. If she automobile strikes, then the notice pile will be swallowed.

Seraphine's Q is High Note

Seraphine throws a note, dealing damage to targets struck. Think about the ability such as Neeko's Q. It's a type of ripple effect including Neeko's Q in which the damage is dealt in the center, and ripples outwards. Contrary to Neeko's Q that should hit a winner to proc twice, you may use it on whatever and it'll get this ripple effect.

Empowered: She yells her Q twice.

Seraphine's W is Surround Sound

Seraphine gains bonus motion rate along with a shield. If she's around some allies, then they will find a shield and additional movement rate.

If she has a defense, she'll supply them with a cure in addition to a shield. Take notice that the cure just comes in after a little delay.

Empowered: She provides her allies a defense and a treat.

Seraphine's E is Beat Drop

Seraphine unleashes a soundwave that deals damage and slows enemies struck. Enemies which are already slowed are suspended instead and trapped enemies becoming stunned.

Empowered: She yells her out musical note double. When an enemy is struck twice, they are rooted.

Seraphine's Ultimate is Encore

Seraphine jobs a captivating force which appeals all enemies struck. Any winner, for example her allies, becomes"part of the performance" and expand the selection of the skill. Allied winners get maximum notes also. The maximum quantity of notes will be 4 -- every for a number of their skills, but you will get 5 piles since you'll utilize your Ultimate that provides you an additional pile.

Runes for Seraphine

A great deal of preparation and testing was completed on the PBE to extend the best runes to get Seraphine about the 1st day of launching. Regrettably, not every participant has access to PBE so the very best rune setup might not be discovered yet.

Take note that we'll be continuously updating her rune pages within this manual, so check back every so often to see *possible * brand new runes for her. Check out Seraphine's winner page to observe the newest recommended runes and assembles. Or get her rune and assembles directly imported to a customer over the Mobalytics program .

Rune page 1: Aery

This rune webpage is a normal page which may be utilised in either the Supportive function and at Mid lane. It requires Summon Aery because its principal keystone. You can take alternate secondary Runes.

Rune page 2: Glacial Augment

Please notice that this is really a check rune webpage and on newspaper - it synergizes well with her E. If you are in a position to impede the enemy before utilizing your E, you can land an origin without needing to use your enabled ability. You can take alternate secondary Runes.

We'll continue to keep these updated as frequently as you can following her first launch.

Builds

DISCLAIMER: These are TEST assembles and we'll be updating the builds often after she's released.

Listed below are two recommended assembles for Seraphine from the Mid lane. The assembles use mana and AP. Additionally they synergize incredibly well together with her Passive and allies.

Listed below are two recommended construct route for Seraphine when performed as a Support. They are a combination of utility and damage which will help her maintain her allies living in staff fights. They synergize well with her Passive and apparel.

How to group fight

Team fighting is quite like Seraphine as several other usefulness Supports like Karma, Janna and Sona. Concentrate on enabling your allies and allowing them deal damage at the same time you top up them with security and usefulness.

Take advantage of your CC skills to maintain the rest of your team secure from the enemy tough fighters or engage, while still searching for ideal pick opportunities together with your Ultimate. We'll touch on it at a minute, but attempt to group battle in tight areas so that you get maximum piles from the Ultimate and possibly CC the entire enemy team.

Seraphine Combos

As she's of a utility winner, she does not actually have any significant combos such as Riven, Lee Sin, or Syndra. Her apparel is quite easy so she will lack a lot of combos. Listed below are a couple significant combos which you could perform on her.

Fight tight Areas of the map

Your Ultimate is a remarkably powerful utility spell which may CC enemies which are caught from it. Hitting as many winners as possible can help your staff deal a lot of damage to the enemy with no having the ability to retaliate.

Attempt and use your Ultimate therefore that it hits as many winners as potential; the more the merrier as some might say. You can achieve it by holding on to a Ultimate before the enemy is sprinkled very closely together, or you might prioritize fights in regions of the map in which the enemy will ordinarily be bunched together.

Forcing battles across the Baron or Dragon, around a tower, or within the jungle will prefer you since the enemy will probably be very close together which permits you to reach a lot of them. Additionally, it has the bonus advantage your allies will probably be quite near the enemy also, which permits you to secure more piles in your Passive.

Be ready to continue to your Ultimate until the ideal moment. A couple of seconds wait to acquire the best Ultimate off is far better than simply hitting 1 enemy using it. While not perfect, if you are in a position to flank along with your Jungler or another ally at a group struggle, you are going to create your participate more surprising that could supply you with an chance to land a multi-person Ultimate. This is due to the fact that the enemy might not find you coming that will supply you with the element of shock.

Think about her like a Amumu or Diana besides the all-inning area - they are great in staff fights!

Avoid using your W when potential

Your W has a remarkably long foundation cooldown. You should avoid using it unless you have to as you're going to be not able to utilize it for quite a very long time in case you choose to randomly use it. Heal this skill just like every other recovery / protecting champion in the sport. You should not use it unless you need to.

Good times to use your W are if:

You're quite low . Clearly, use the enabled version so that you get a cure.

The enemy is committing to a all-in. Please be aware that you will need to select between using your enabled W or enabled E at a trade. In any event, you are going to find a shield in the very least.

In group struggles. Ensure that you devote as many allies that the shield/ heal as you can to keep them living.

Bad occasions to use your W are if:

You're moving from lane to lane. Though it provides a succinct movement speed increase, it is not a fantastic idea to utilize this ability if you don't want to.

When you have at no probability of perishing. This may be translated in a variety of ways, however if you are at no risk of being murdered within the next battle, then you need to think twice before using your mana to acquire a shield/heal. By way of instance, if you are missing just 150 health, it is probably not really worth using your W.

When your allies ' complete wellness. Sounds dumb, but how often have you really given a cure to somebody who did not need it. From the mid-game, avoid using it in case you are allies are wrapped up in your wellness.

Constantly save enough mana to use your W only if you want to use it in order to escape a skirmish. Never run out of mana on her if you can help it you're always a danger to the enemy and may always use your W to escape.

Look for upgraded assembles

It is going to be evident that the best construct for Seraphine hasn't yet been discovered yet. While we have done the study, other founders have completed their research and while lots of movies are created already, let us face it, theres no greatest construct for her however.

This is not just a hint about the best way best to perform Seraphine, but more word of information. Do your research and test unique and various setups for her. We'll be updating this guide regularly at launch, which means you will most likely have to correct your rune installation if you have read this manual . Check back every so often or have a look at our Seraphine Champion Page to acquire the most recent runes and assembles for her.

Do not perform her in graded yet

For optimum scaling, be certain that you don't play Seraphine in rated just yet. It is not worth trying to find out a brand-new winner in rated because- let's face it, you are not likely to be quite great with her. Most of us complain about gamers timing a winner, so don't be the participant who does it to other people.

Ban her so that your allies can't select her if you are playing graded after her first launch. As soon as you have about 10-15 matches on her, then you should begin playing with her in rated. Additionally, it is good to be aware that individuals will probably be experimenting with her such as playing her in each and every role, for example, Jungle. So be certain that you prohibit her so that your allies can't"troll you" if you have followed our advice to never pick her.

Conclusion

That wraps up this manual, what do you consider Seraphine? Is she actually an upgraded version of Sona? Or is she exceptional in her own way and not like Sona? I believe shes similar, but not a copy glue just like others have indicated.

Hopefully this guide helps you know a few of the fundamentals to Seraphine and provide you some help if you have only unlocked . Ensure that you check out our how to counter Seraphine manual once it comes out so that you understand what to expect when playing her!

Click here to know more ‘’Sett Runes’’.

#Viego Runes #Ezreal Runes

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