#finally a red flag rafayel

[angelltheninth]

Love and Deepspace Men + Manipulate, Mansplain, Manhandle, Manwhore

Pairing: Zayne, Rafayel, Xavier, Sylus x Fem!Reader

Tags: fluff, suggestive but no smut, teasing, kissing, manipulation, toxic behavior, developing relationship, possessiveness

Ko-Fi | Rules | Fandoms and Characters

A/N: Feeling silly today. I love these men, they ruined my life!

Mansplaining!Zayne knows you could probably take care of yourself pretty well but he really wants to do it for you. He would do such a good job at it, much better than you, not to say that you're bad at things, he's just a bit better. Stick with him though and you'll be just as good, he can promise you that, don't bother with those other men who try to get your attention because they're not worth it, not worth you, so much as a glace. When you agree to be his girlfriend he will make sure you never need anyone else ever again.

Manwhore!Rafayel flaunts himself at everyone in hopes of making you jealous. And it's working, every time he tells you about a woman he slept with he can see the way you chew your bottom lip and clench your fists in anger. He knows you want to shut him up every time and if you really want him to do that then there is one way, you should just kiss him. Make him yours, let everyone know it, mark him up just like he's always dreamed of you doing, he's always been yours and now you finally realized it too.

Manhandleing!Xavier usually isn't rough with you but when you keep getting into trouble he doesn't have a choice. He keeps telling you to stay out of trouble and you always find your way to it, like you're drawn to it. To keep you out of trouble and harm he always tightens his hold on you, so much so that it hurts and drags you into the bedroom where he throw you on the bed and gets on top of you, kissing you until your lungs burn for air. Always making him worry, maybe he should consider a pair of handcuffs for you.

Manipulative!Sylus wears you down little by little every time he points out an issue with someone you think you could date and it's not him. Really you should see those red flags, but for some reason you don't until he doesn't point them out. It's clear that you need him by your side or else you could get into real trouble with someone who would want to harm you. The best thing for you would be to get into a relationship with him instead, let him do all the thinking and let him spoil you, his pretty future wife.

[rika-mmendmethings]

Interdimensional Epiphany l Rafayel

CHAPTER 2

Chapter 1 | Chapter 3 Thursday

Summary: A fortnight of compensated leave from your company was supposed to be a rejuvenating experience. Things take an unexpected turn when Rafayel, your choice of ML, starts becoming self-aware. His love knows no bounds, not even interdimensional ones.

Warning(s): Subject to change as we progress further into the story. For the prologue, currently none. Though story has major character deaths, subdued manipulation, heavy angst with a happy(?) ending, slight yandere themes, fluff, did I mention angst? (I'm so bad at tagging send help)

Word count: 2.0k

Playlist coming soon.

Notes: As promised, chapter 2 is released on Wednesday and you can expect every new chapter every Wednesday. Keep in mind, that as cute and a total man-child Rafayel is; he can also be vengeful and undeterred from what we've seen in his anecdotes. If you feel that this is too serious for him, then you simply need a better understanding of the red-flag side of Rafayel shown in some parts of the game. This story circles partially around that side of his as well, so I don't feel it should be that much uncharacteristic. Mikayla is the name of the mc in this fic and aside from Rafayel no-one else is aware of being a video game character. Anyways, hopefully you enjoy the read and stay tuned for the series. Lmk if you wish to be added to the tag list for this. ♥

Taglist: @loveanddeephistory @lyssandraxo @micasosa34 @ittybittyfanblog @hyein21 @browneyedgirl22 @yournextdoorhousewitch @blessdunrest @altair718 @3fg7 @froleineeeee @mikachux3 @aiehtta

You were thoroughly enjoying the first week of your compensated leave. You spent an entire day sleeping, waking only for a few hours to eat and freshen up before drifting back into restful slumber. After weeks of relying on takeout and fried foods, you finally went grocery shopping. You reconnected with a few friends, had meaningful conversations with your parents, and allowed yourself to indulge in a long, relaxing skincare routine. Your headspace was beginning to feel clear and at ease.

You even treated yourself to foam roller workouts, easing the tension in your sore muscles. You’d start a session with Rafayel in Quality Time, and for the next thirty minutes, your focus would be entirely on stretching and relaxing. It was the perfect way to unwind and restore balance to both your body and mind.

Rafayel found himself pausing every now and then and it wasn’t even because of the programming, he had long broken out of that. He never particularly enjoyed exercising on land anyway because it made him all sticky and gross but he sure as hell liked you exercising. He would pedal mindlessly on the gym bike, dusky eyes trained on you as you rolled the foam roller up and down the length of your hamstrings. He felt like a Victorian man seeing ankles whenever your shirt rolled up slightly and he would see a sliver of your waist. He banged his head on the handle of the bike, ears red as the soft, blissful sounds of your relief filled the room, signaling that most of your muscle tension had been eased.

When you grabbed your phone after the 30 minutes had passed, you were completely rejuvenated, and Rafayel was far from it. You tied your hair into a ponytail, and Rafayel drank in the sight of you — a pink scrunchie perched between your lips, beads of sweat trailing from your forehead down your collarbone and disappearing wholly after reaching your cleavage. He was accustomed to adjusting his footing every so often due to his Lemurian nature, but now, he found himself losing his balance for an entirely different reason. And it wasn’t just because of the gorgeous woman before him. No. Yes.

After freshening up following your workout, you grabbed a bag of chips and made your way to your bedroom, practically melting into the satin sheets as soon as your back hit the mattress. With no plans to leave the house today, you decided to spend a few hours indulging in your favorite game. You had even charged your phone in advance for this moment. Logging back in, you claimed the rewards from your daily tasks. Rafayel was sitting in the Destiny Café, casually inspecting his nails.

You went to change the lead character on your screen to Sylus, but a bug prevented you from doing so. Every time you clicked on his character, the game’s main interface reappeared, with Rafayel still sitting in the chair. Frustrated, you tried selecting Zayne instead, but you were met with the same result — the now agitated, purple-haired man.

He tapped his foot impatiently, his eyebrows furrowed and lips pulled into a frown. It almost seemed like he was annoyed by something. You dismissed it as something characteristic of him and muttered with a smile, “What? Only want me for yourself?”

“Yes.”

His tone carried a sense of finality, and once again, his words didn’t appear in the usual white speech bubble, as they always did. This unexpected shift left you momentarily stunned. Was it the strange behavior of his character, or was it the flutter in your chest that unsettled you? You weren’t sure, and frankly, you didn’t want to delve into how delusional you might be getting. So, like you often did with your past, you ignored the problem and clicked over to the memories tab.

Earlier, you’d purchased the "Poised Elegance" outfit from the lunar shop and were excited to dress up Sylus’ Goodcat Code memory using Illusio.

The moment you pressed the button, the screen went black. You waited a few seconds, tapping on the screen, but nothing happened. Just as you were about to check your internet connection, the interface of Destiny Café reappeared. You huffed in disbelief and tried using Illusio on the other characters, but aside from Rafayel, the game would reboot every time. 

Already frustrated by the situation, you decided to pull for Caleb’s myth using the 20 free wishes. You nearly dropped your phone in disbelief as you saw that all ten cards were Rafayel’s four stars and three stars. This had never happened before. Sure, you’d occasionally pull two or three additional cards of a specific lead, but all ten cards being from one character, out of five possible options, was nothing short of perplexing. You gulped, using the remaining 10 wishes as well, and your soul almost left your body as you stared, wide-eyed, at the new set of 10 cards — every single one of them a 5-star and all of them Rafayel’s.

Just last week, during Rafayel’s "When Tides Echo" myth rerun, you had spent every last one of your dias and still hadn’t pulled a single memory of the pair. And now, all ten cards from that myth were what you had managed to get. You couldn’t believe it. You had seen players joking about miracles like this in the candle circle memes, wishing for such luck to happen to them, and now here you were, pulling for Caleb — and getting Rafayel.

You were many things, but ungrateful wasn’t one of them. So, you immediately rushed to the memories tab and ranked up his myth cards before awakening them. Once you were done, you found yourself back in Destiny Café, facing Rafayel. You finally let out the squeal you had been holding in and pressed a kiss to your screen. Rafayel’s ears turned red once again, and his lips curled into a gentle, sincere smile at the sight of your infectious joy.

“I love you so much, Infold,” you chirped, and Rafayel’s smile faltered. He should’ve been the one that line was addressed to. 

You logged out of the game, humming to yourself as you went over to your kitchen to prepare a celebratory dinner of some good ol’ spaghetti, leaving a spluttering Rafayel stuck in his spot at the Café. 

"Rafayel, I'm not letting you go first on the claw machine this time." Mikayla flashed him a playful wag of her finger, signaling that she wouldn’t be giving in to him today. She practically bounced over to the machine, her hands hovering over the buttons.

Rafayel, however, was leaning lazily against a wall, his dusky eyes focused on his nails rather than the bubbly woman in front of him. He replied, "Sure, MC. I’m not in the mood anyway."

Mikayla paused, glancing back at him over her shoulder with a raised brow. Her eyes twinkled with mischief as she wiggled her eyebrows. "What? No ‘miss bodyguard’ or ‘cutie’ this time? You wound me."

Rafayel didn’t bother to look up. Instead, he nonchalantly dropped onto one of the nearby couches, crossing his legs and throwing an arm over his eyes as though blocking out the world. His voice, laced with indifference, carried over to her. "Let me know when you’re done, Mikayla. I’m resting my eyes for a bit."

And with that, he drifted into the land of dreams, leaving Mikayla standing alone by the claw machine, frowning.

She couldn’t make sense of his behavior. Mikayla knew Rafayel was often a bit petulant, but she had never seen him act quite this distant. For the past week, while he had helped her gather information for her new mission, he’d seemed more aloof — dismissing her attempts to make plans or even join her for a casual meet-up. Something had shifted, and Mikayla was determined to figure out what it was, though she knew she’d need to wait for the right moment to get to the bottom of it.

Rafayel didn’t intend to come off as rude, but he was too exhausted to lift a finger now. The past week had been nothing short of grueling — exhausting with a capital E. By day, he had to watch you log in, then rush around performing tasks and maintaining an act of normalcy to avoid raising suspicions. And when you slept, he scoured the darker corners of the world for information on what was truly happening. Yet, every person he approached simply advised him to see a psychiatrist, urging him to keep his — and he quotes — "barely sane, childish thoughts" to himself and not bother them. 

Somehow, by the end of the week, you had unwittingly become his source at the end. He had overheard you ranting to yourself about someone named 'Infold,' expressing a strange mix of hatred and affection — how they were both the bane of your existence and the love of your life. Who was this Infold? And why did you harbor such a paradoxical relationship with them? Why did you refer to them as the love of your life? 

From your scattered monologues, Rafayel had picked up on a few peculiar phrases. He had even started a list in his journal — strange words like “stamina,” “ascend,” “daily login,” “deep space trials,” and others filled the pages, each followed by large question marks. Thomas — bless him — had noticed Rafayel scribbling these words down and informed him that most of these terms appeared to be related to the controls of a game.

At first, Rafayel had dismissed the notion, but then one day, he overheard you venting as you worked on something beside him during "quality time"—another strange term. He recalled the way your lower lip wobbled slightly as you taped and glued some paper together. “I hate Tyler so much,” you muttered with disdain. “He didn’t even consider the money I spent buying this and just tore it all up like that.” A tense silence followed until you held the paper aloft, your expression shifting to one of subtle satisfaction. 

What he saw on that sheet forever altered his perception of reality. It was a poster of himself in one of his outfits, and in the left corner, emblazoned with bold text, was the label: *“Rafayel: Character of Love and Deepspace.”* He was a game character. Fully alive in his own universe—breathing, thinking, existing—but nothing more than a programmed entity in yours. He felt a deep conflict, struggling to comprehend the full implications. Was this some kind of curse? Has he truly gone insane over the years? If all of this was real, if he really was merely code in your reality, then what cruel twist of fate had disrupted the natural order of things? 

Why was he the only one who had been granted this interdimensional epiphany? 

No-one other than him seemed aware of whatever was happening with him. No one knew that they were all game characters in a different reality. He knew that he could choose to ignore your uncanny existence yet something about you drew him in. It made him wish to escape the world he calls home and just enter yours without a care. Your eyes held all the love and warmth he had ever wanted and some selfish part in him intended to keep it that way. It baffled him further how you were aware that he was a mere programmed character in your world yet you never viewed him as such. 

He wanted to be real for you. 

And he would. He’ll make sure of it.

He was brutally shaken out of his reverie when Mikayla woke him up, showing him the plushies she got. He felt his eyebrow slightly twitch in annoyance when she grabbed his cheeks and squished them. On any other day, he would have let himself be pampered by her affections but this wasn’t just any other day and he was completely not in the mood to entertain her. He watched her retreating figure as she went to play another round on the claw machine. There was only one thought in the front of his mind: He couldn’t get to you in his weakened form. He needed to unlock his full potential once again.

He needed to awaken the seas and restore Lemuria.

And he’ll be doing just that no matter what the price or sacrifice.

Check out my other works if you liked this ♥

[cairoblair]

LADS men and their red flags

(a/n: this is my opinion of the LADS men’s red flags in a relationship based on my understanding of their characters and their dynamics with MC)

Rafayel

Manipulation

I think Rafayel would have a tendency to guilt-trip through passive aggressive comments. When he’s upset, you might get the cold shoulder, but more often than not he’s making a snide comment about the situation or about something you said. He’ll do this until you finally make up, and he’ll apologize for his actions, but that won’t stop him from doing it again.

Xavier

Jealousy

Xavier simply can’t stand seeing you around other men. It doesn’t matter if they’re being completely platonic with you, it grinds his gears. He won’t necessarily start a fight over it - he tends to avoid conflict - but you’ll know. He’ll shoot the man a hard glare or pull you closer, or even blatantly interrupt your conversation to drag you away. He can’t stand the thought of any other man getting your attention. He’ll try to make it up to you when you get upset about it, but don’t expect him to change.

Zayne

Lack of Affection

Zayne is not very outwardly emotional, so getting affection from him can be difficult when it’s not just the two of you. In private, he has no problem with you being all over him. But, in public, especially around his colleagues, he almost seems like he’s ignoring you. He might leave his hand on your waist or leave his fingers intertwined with yours, but other than that, his attention seems to be anywhere but you. He’s trying though - he’s not used to being openly affectionate. (thanks astra.)

Sylus

Lack of Communication

Usually, Sylus can’t go very long without seeing you, or at least talking to you. But, when he has a business deal or a meeting to deal with, you may not hear from him for days on end. It’s complete radio silence - no calls, no texts, and not even a response to the various ways you’ve tried to reach him. He’ll suddenly pop back up with no explanation at all, as if nothing ever happened. He’s not secretive about his work necessarily, but the last thing he wants is you getting involved. In his mind, it’s better to keep you in the dark. He’ll be sure to spend plenty of time with you when he gets back, but you’ll never really know when he’s going to disappear again.

Caleb

Controlling

He can’t help it. It comes from a place of love, it really does, but he has a hand in every part of your life. He’s always tracking your location, monitoring who you’re spending time with or talking to, or behaving like a helicopter parent with a troublesome kid. Sometimes, he’ll change your schedule or delete something from your phone without your permission or knowledge, but in his mind, he’s only trying to protect you. Even when he’s away for work, he’s somehow able to be present in every aspect of your life. He knows you’re capable of taking care of yourself, but why would he let you when he can easily do it for you?

[brailsthesmolgurl]

"Are you pinching my cheeks?"

Preview: How will the boys react to you pinching their cheeks.

ZAYNE

"You do not have to go so far, treating me to different kinds of dessert just to pinch my cheeks y/n." You stared wide-eyed at the man in front of you who is wearing a smirk on his thin lips. You were scrolling through social media and stumbled upon a recent trend where girls would pinch their boyfriend's cheek and the guys' reaction would determine if they are a red flag or green flag.

It is not that you are particularly worried about him being a red flag, he is far from one. Yet, it does not stop you from wondering about his reaction. Catching him off guard, you grabbed hold of his cheeks and piiiiinched! His skin was smooth to your touch, given that he is an advocate for basic skincare, focusing mostly on hydration. "My turn." Zayne's voice was calm, echoing slightly through the high ceilings of his house. He sat up straight from the couch and loomed over you, before pressing his lips straight onto yours.

RAFAYEL

"ARGH!" The grown man stumbled back, eyes wide and jaws slacked, a look of betrayal stamped onto his face. You pinched his cheeks when he was too busy focusing on his artwork that he had forgotten about the milk you had prepared for him an hour ago. "What was that for?" His hand rubbed against his supple cheek, scarlet red littered all over his ears now as he looked up towards you with a pout.

"You are the cutest when it comes to getting your cheeks pinched." Your voice teasing and he stood up, his height loomed over you easily. Rafayel has never liked to be touched nor to feel pain of any degree but getting it from you, maybe, just maybe, he could turn a blind eye to it. The next thing you know, the both of you are chasing one another playing 'pinch-your-cheeks' tag around his whole mansion. SO much for a man who barely loves to workout, but he sure does hold a vengeful heart.

XAVIER

"This one should directly correlate with---what was that?" Xavier stopped mid sentence, turning his head slightly to face you. Your hand still pinching his cherubic cheeks while he is looking at you. "Were you listening to me?" He tilted his head and you finally let down your hands, silently pouting to yourself on why he had noticed it so early. Sensing the way you reacted, Xavier huffed back a laugh and he held your hand and placed it against his soft cheek, a smile not faltering off of his angelic features.

"Alright, you can pinch my cheek as we are talking about this case okay? But do try to pay attention." His answer made you chuckled in response and you did as you were told, fingers clamping down softly on his cheek again as he resumed the discussion of the case files with you. The only time he had stopped you was when you kept pinching his cheeks on and off, fascinated with how much collagen he has on his face. "Now, that's enough of pinching." He said sternly, turning to face you fully this time and grabbing both of your cheeks and pinching them wide.

[4-the-l0ve-0f-art]

Took me like 3-4 days but I finally finished the main story!! I had to play through rafayel and xavier's branches too or it wouldve taken less time to unlock caleb

Here are some of my thoughts on Caleb so far

Homecoming Wings spoilers under the cut (TW: discussion of manipulative behavior)

I got mixed feelings over caleb tbh I see why people are uncomfortable with the story and definitely think the chapters required a warning for drugging and isolation and all the other stuff

I had to take a moment breathe when I finished the chapter where MC got locked up in the hospital and threw water at caleb bc that was SOMETHING

On the other hand I'm definitely impressed by how bold infold writers got with this!! And how good their display of manipulation is in their writing for him

I'm also curious as to how (or if) they're gonna give him a redemption arc but I'm also not sure if he needs one bc he feels like a fully fleshed out character (it's to be noted I haven't played any content of him aside from main story and text messages yet)

Like he's definitely (100%) a red flag but he's also not completely yandere (at least from my understanding of what a yandere is) because he was willing to leave MC's life if that's what she wanted instead of caging her to him regardless of her wishes

And he also knew he was being manipulative and apologized about it but still went on and did the things he did

I was triggered at first from the drugging, isolating and manipulating MC but their relationship (and characteristics) as a whole seem so complex and multi layered I still have no idea what I think of him yet

I'm shocked by how he's portrayed but also. I'm so fucking intrigued holy shit 😦

Their dynamic is so interesting to me because of how complicated it looks

And my feelings towards caleb as a character I would personally like or not are also mixed but I am (somewhat) into the whole dark romance thing going on

Like I definitely dislike (hate, even. I've never gotten so mad at a character as i did when I read the hospital scene and how tense things got, especially for MC) the shit he did but I also can't help but like him

Safe to say I have a headache from every thing going on with him but I like it

I still think infold shouldve given a warning for these chapters regardless of whether I like him or not

PS I love viper dude is truly enjoying the tea surrounding caleb and mc 😭

[kindalonely-ngl]

Yeah, remember when we voiced out these mistreatments and most OG players and other LIs's mains said "he's new, yall just being impatient, let infold do their work" yadayada. Now Caleb is relatively new yet look at him already getting myth 2 months after his official debut. And a crystal clear hungry kiss?? I am a Sylus, Rafayel, and Caleb stan so I am in no way complaining ABOUT Caleb, but rather voicing out HOW Sylus has never been treated with such priorities. And please, don't deny it. You can't deny it any longer. But now you wanna throw in the childhood friend card? Sure but just because he's a childhood friend doesn't justify how Sylus debuted on August, got his myth on December last year, his first kiss is on January, and his 4-star card with MC will be on April, whilst Caleb got all of that within two months. How? Why?

I get it. Caleb was there during the beta testing and I could say he IS actually one of the OG line up. For the sake of the main story plot he was put to sleep so considering this and how Infold had been gatekeeping him inside their dungeon for almost a year, they have TOO MUCH time to plan out and prepare for Caleb's whole route, myths, events. His projects so far are smooth sailing and his events are scheduled accordingly to the standard timeline like the OG three.

Sylus was the brand new project that somehow got leaked, well some players insisted that the "leak" was pre-planned to cause a stir and attract more new players who loves red flag-looking LI. But nah, I believe it was an unplanned leaked seeing how messy and careless Sylus's project and development as a character is. Its timeliness is inconsistent compared to other LIs. It is also true that the nature of MC and Sylus's relationship is unique than that of with other LIs, therefore slow-burn romance. I get that, and Magnum Opus IS BEAUTIFUL, I get it. But that doesn't cancel out anything we've said so far. Also, finally, FINALLY we got some free Sylus cards.

Anyway, I hope people understand that us Sylus mains aren't asking "Why isn't the other LIs getting the same treatment as Sylus?"

What we are asking is "Why didn't Sylus get the same treatment as the other LIs?"

We're upset over the fact that Sylus is unfairly treated. That the company time and again treat him like their unfavored middle child. And for no valid reason. And No, it's NOT because he's "new" or a slowburn. Neither argument hold any water at all so please just stop repeating them.

We want equality, to put it simply. Not for Sylus to be treated better than the other LIs, or any of them worse.

The new myth looks awesome, and I am happy for Caleb mains. But I am also upset at Paperfold b/c this just proves that they faded Sylus' myth kiss to black for no reason, after months of waiting. It's now just yet another instance of them doing Sylus and his mains dirty and for what? Same as he had to wait 7 months to get all 6 stellactrums, significantly longer than any of the other LIs. Meaning that Sylus mains got fucked over even gameplay wise.

I've said my piece now, and truly won't touch the topic further. I just don't want there to be misunderstandings as to why Sylus mains are upset.