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lou-struck · 1 year ago

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Bigger Bling

Mammon x reader

Wc:1.9k

~Mammon can’t stand to look at that damn promise ring Lucifer gave you any longer.

a/n: This is a loose sequel to this Lucifer One-Shot HERE (You don’t have to read it but If you want to go ahead)

It's shiny

It's expensive

And it's BIG!

Mammon's deep blue eyes glare down at the stunning promise ring on your finger. The very one Lucifer had bought for you all those months ago. As it rests on that special finger, the Demon determines that he has never hated a gem more in his life. The deep red garnet with the black-gold band looks like something his brother would choose for you.

He really hates that.

"Mc, you should take that thing off and Let the Great Mammon give you a real rock." he pouts, his tanned fingers boredly toying with the sparkling gem on your finger.

You only laugh and ruffle the Demon's white hair with your unembellished hand. "Mammon, I can't do that. This ring is very important to me. How would Lucifer feel if I took his gift off?"

The Demon's cheeks turn a dusty pink color as he tries to hide your effect on him with his hands.

"Who cares what he thinks?" he mutters, "I want to give ya somethin' even better so you'll be dyin' to take that old ring off."

That's it!

Mammon's eyes light up as the cogs in his head start to turn with a not-so-evil scheme.

All he has to do to get you to take off that cheap little ring is to buy you something even better. It will be gold, and shinier and will cost even more Grimm than what his older brother had spent on you.

He turns towards the door, using his insane speed to bolt before you have a chance to say goodbye to him. He doesn't notice the look of confusion on your face as he shuts the double doors behind him with a conniving grin.

With you out of sight, Mammon has the alone time he needs to revel in his brilliance. He had just made a killing from selling some of the gifts that were just sitting in Asmo's closet of offerings from his fan clubs.

His brother really has no idea how much of a fortune he is sitting on…

Nevertheless, Mammon reaches into his wallet and pulls out Goldie. The credit card seems to shake in apprehension of the Demon's upcoming shopping trip to only the best jewelry shops the Devildom has to offer.

It's been a long day at RAD, and without Mammon's company, the day seemed to go by even slower than normal. After he walked out on you this morning, you didn't see him for the rest of the day.

After talking to a few lesser demons you realized that he didn't show up for any of his other classes either. And as you are sent to his voicemail box for the nth time today, your heart begins to ache in worry that your Avatar of Greed has somehow gotten himself into some kind of trouble.

Twisted scenarios of the Demon being chased by witches or undead debt collectors churn your gut throughout your walk home. As you let yourself in through the massive double doors, your weary mind replays your last interaction with him before he left.

You fiddle with the ring on your finger and wonder what was it about the gem on your finger that got him so upset?

Your good-natured worrying begins to boil under your skin. When you notice that he's not in the living room with the others, those feelings only increase.

Clear your throat, gaining the attention of the three conscious demons in the room. Belphie, the fourth, is fast asleep, resting his head on his twin's lap. Lucifer is off at the castle doing some work with Diavolo. And Levi is up in his room, where he has been working his way through a new game since last night. "Hey, have any of you guys seen Mammon anywhere?"

Satan looks up from his book briefly and gives you a smile. "Thankfully, no. Without his jabbering, I've been able to make some sufficient progress in my book."

You roll your eyes lightheartedly at the blond's remark but look to the others in hope they have a different answer for you.

Asmo sees the concern on your features and tries to comfort you with an embrace. The sweet scent of his cologne soothing you a bit. "Sorry, Hon, I haven't seen him since breakfast. But I'm sure he'll come back soon. In the meantime, how about I take your mind off things?" The playful suggestiveness in his tone makes you giggle as you look over

"Mmnnnother two., Breakfast." Beel hums dreamily as he imagines the Bufo Egg quiche Asmo baked for you all this morning. You can tell from the little stream of drool that trickles from the corner of his , That he will be of little help to you.

Belphie blinks up at you sleepily, stretching his arms out lethargically as he sits upward. "Mammon?" he yawns. "I saw him earlier when Beel and I were walking home. He was out shopping and looked strangely happy.

"We did?" Beel asks, coming out of his food-related daze. "When? I didn't see him."

"Probably because you were trying to sniff out the Devil Dog vendor." Belphie snorts before turning his attention back to you and gives you a sleepy smile. "He's just messing around somewhere. He'll be back soon."

As if on cue, you hear the front door burst open. Mammon calls your same in a sing-song voice from the entrance as the others groan. Satan huffs and puts a cat-shaped bookmark in the novel he is reading. "There goes my quiet afternoon. I'm gonna go to my room and finish this."

The Avatar of Wrath gets up and pads quickly out the door just as Mammon strides in with a pep in his step. A small gift bag in his hand as he blinds you with his pearly white smile. He looks elated, which kinda irks you since you have spent the better part of the afternoon concerned for his well-being.

What are ya doin' Mc?" the white-haired Demon asks, as if you are the one who has evaded him all day long.

"Wondering where you have been all day, Mammon?" You respond back exasperatedly. "You just got up and left me this morning and didn't show up for any of your other classes. I thought you got yourself in trouble or kidnapped by witches… again." you mutter that last part under your breath, but Mammon seems too excited to notice.

"Course you were worried bout the Great Mammon," he laughs, slinging an arm around you comfortably. "That's why yer such a good human."

"Mammon, seriously, Where were you?"

There is a twinkle in his eyes and a faint dusting of crimson on his tanned skin as he looks around the room at his brothers, who are not-so-subtly listening in on the conversation. "Lemme show ya somewhere private."

He takes your left hand but quickly jolts and releases it when he comes into contact with your ring. He takes your right one instead, and you notice how sweaty his hands are. He walks you silently down the hallway and up the stairs until he gets you to the safety of his bedroom.

He sits with you on his plush bed and begins to ruffle through the tissue paper of his gift bag before pulling out a cubic, black, crushed velvet box.

The size throws you off a bit since it is roughly the size of a child's shoe box.

Far bigger than any kind of jewelry box you have ever seen.

Not even the cases Diavolo uses when transporting the crown Jewels are this big. Your curiosity and confusion blend together in a strange concoction as Mammon sets the box in your hands. "Mammon, what is this?" you ask nervously.

He is practically wiggling in your seat in anticipation "Jus' open it, you'll see."

Spurred but his excitement, you crack open the box to reveal the biggest freaking diamond you have ever seen in your life. The gem is the size of a softball and is tethered to a thin golden band at the bottom.

You blink at your reflection in the facets of the gem, unsure of what to say. "I-is this a."

"Isn't it amazin'?" he gushes. "The biggest ring ya ever seen?"

So it is a ring…

"It's certainly the biggest." you parrot, unsure if you should take the ring out of the box or put it in some kind of museum. "This must've cost a fortune. How did you pay for this?"

"Oh it's nothin'," he laughs with a nonchalant wave of his hand. "It'll take me a few hundred years to pay the thing off, but only the best for my human." It takes both of his hands to remove the heavy ring from its cushion. The thin golden band looks like it is bending under the ring's weight. "Come on, you should take that old thing off and put this baby on instead."

You realize that he is gesturing to your promise ring, and everything clicks into place.

Mammon wanted to give you something so special so you would remove the ring Lucifer had given you all those months ago. That ring is invaluable; it's a promise, a thank you for the love you have given to him and his brothers since you arrived in the Devildom. It's not something you can just discard.

But Mammon must think you wear it as a sign you love Lucifer more than him. "Oh Mammon," you murmur, placing your hand on his shoulder. "You know I love you, right?"

When he realizes that you aren't going to throw your older ring to the floor in disgust, his face falls. He's confused and looks at you like a kicked puppy. "B-but this one is better; i-it costs ten-no a hundred times more than the other one."

"It's not the price of the ring that makes it special," you say softly, gently tracing your finger over the massive diamond Mammon had gotten you. "This is beautiful, but it's too much."

"I jus' wanted to show ya that I'm yer first. I love ya Mc." he sighs. "And I wanted to give ya somethin special so everyone would know it."

"I know you do, and I love you." gently, you close the box and hand it back to him. "Even without the Diamond to end all diamonds."

"I know ya do." he sighs, bumping you playfully with his shoulder. "But do ya really want me to return it?"

"It's for the best," you chuckle. "I wouldn't want you to be in debt."

"It was a lot of Grimm," he says, chuckling nervously. "I swear Goldie was cryin' when I pulled her out t' pay but yer worth every bit."

"I'm sure she was," you laugh. "But I do appreciate the gesture. How about we take it back together."

"Yer the best mc," the Demon says eagerly, giving you a heartfelt smile, "How about we pick out another piece for ya. Like a bracelet or somethin?" He sees the slight apprehension on your face and places his hand over your own. "It doesn't have to be crazy expensive if ya don't want it ta be' I jus' wanna give ya somethin' so ya know how much the Great Mammon cares about ya."

Swayed by this little compromise, you find yourself agreeing to the Demon's request. Standing from the bed and taking his hand.

A few hours later, you come back wearing a simple yet elegant gold bracelet. Giggling when Mammon marches you around the Devildom to show everyone the special piece of jewelry he got for you.

Tagging: @enchantedforest-network

#obey me nightbringer #obey me #obey me x reader #obey me mammon #obey me mammon x reader #mammon x reader #Mammon fluff #obey me fluff #the great mammon #x reader

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napoleonic-sexyman-tournament · 8 months ago

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Propaganda under the cut because it's long:

Alexander I Pavlovich

a. “Maybe not the most handsome or charismatic man in this tournament, but he has ample chaotic neutral energy that both baffles and fascinates contemporaries. In short, if you're into mysterious men, you won't find a sexier enigma than our imperator.”

b. “Look. Is this or is this not the monsterfucking website.”

c. There are lots of monuments dedicated to him. There's one in Moscow in the Alexander Garden right by the Red Square. While nowhere near as grand as the Alexander Column, I think it's still worth showcasing!

The monument is meant to celebrate his victory in the 1812 Russian invasion. He's holding a sword, proudly standing on top of his enemies' weapon.

The sculptors, however, have never seen the man in their life - all the people involved in the making are still alive and well (i think), so that should tell how new it is. The monument was opened for the public just a decade ago in 2014.

d. quote about this bust from the memoirs of Sophie de Choiseul-Gouffier: “No painter was able to properly capture the features of his face and especially his soft expression. Alexander didn’t like to pose for portraits and they were mostly done with some stealth. In this case sculpture have produced a better likeness. The famed Thorvaldsen made a bust of this sovereign worthy of a hand of such a remarkable artist.”

e. His family nickname might have been ‘our angel’ and the medal commemorating his death bears the inscription “Our angel is in heaven”, but did you know that to this day Alexander looks down on Sankt Petersburg as an actual angel, wings, cross, trampled snake and all? Alas, you cannot see it from the ground, the Alexander Column being so very tall, but the statue of the angel on top certainly seems to take after our sexy thrice-angel Emperor.

f. Apotheosis of Alexander! An eminently universal image, perfectly serviceable for his rise to the throne… of Napoleonic Sexyman Tournament.

It really looks like Peter and Catherine are instructing the Electorate. Gentlevoters, surely you wouldn’t dream of disappointing Sasha’s Grandmother and his scantily clothed giant of a Great-great-grandfather?

g. What is sexier than a man in a dress???

Mikhail Miloradovich:

Miloradovich had a short episode as Catherine the Great's favourite at just eighteen. Alas, usually he's not included on the official list except by Barskov. That is because he was one of several concurrent boytoys candidates in 1789, before Zubov won the contest. But I believe that being to Catherine's taste adds to M's sexyman cred.

He never married, but according to his legend, he kept an entire trunk of love letters (from many, many ladies) in his palace, which was discovered after his death.

Miloradovich possessed the kind of cavalier fantasy that made him a hero among soldiers (and one of Suvorov's favourites). Hence these three popular stories:

Once, while on campaign, his soldiers decided to give M their best wishes on his name day. He was very gracious about it and told them with his best roguish smile that in thanks for their wishes he'd give them a present... that present being the nearest pretty-as-a-picture enemy column (French).

On one occasion Joachim Murat came out, sat down and demonstratively drank coffee during an active fire exchange. Miloradovich naturally couldn't be worse and asked for a table to be set for him. Also under the fire, because where else. "He's drinking coffee? I'm eating dinner here!" And it wasn't a singular event: more than once he and Murat conducted a peculiar gallant flirtation on the field. And yes, Miloradovich also had a weakness for very blingy bling.

Alas, M didn't get to carry a ladder (that we know of), but he didn't shy motivating his soldiers in similar ways. It just so happened that his scouting party came to a stop at a steep slope and froze. Miloradovich came forward, got on the ground and slid down the slope on his spine, laughing and generally having (or pretending to have) lots of fun.

#napoleonic sexyman tournament

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melanieph321 · 2 months ago

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Hola linda, cómo estás? Me está encantando el reto de los 10 días jajaja. podrías agregar algo obsceno de Dusan Vlahovic? ❤️❤️

Sí, claro ❤️

10 DAYS OF REQUESTS

(DAY 6)

Dusan Vlahovic x Reader - Take A Chance

+18

Summary - Dusan asks Reader to go out with him. But you turn him down not once but twice.

Enjoy! 🙈

"Why are we here again?"

"Because we're single and need boyfriends."

"I'm not single?"

"And I don't need a boyfriend."

"Please guys, we've been over this."

A night out with your friends always began with the same old bickering of which bar you should go to and what people to talk to at the selcted bar.

It was getting old.

Not to mention, super annoying.

Especially since you've sworn to cut out brainless men from your life. Of course, this didn't leave you much to choose from. Nevertheless, no more men, and no more lazy hookups. Too bad your best friend India thought otherwise.

"Women should at least be getting laid three times a week, single or not." She stated, the three of you scoping out for the hotties upon your entrance to a buzzing location.

"So we're here to get laid? Why didn't you just say so?" Hailey frowned. However, by saying we, she really didn't mean herself. As of last month, Hailey was in a happy relationship with a guy named Frank. You liked Frank, who knew how to make a great cup of coffee.

"Because Hailey, that's what guys say, not girls." India emphasized, resulting in the three of you laughing your way over to the bar.

It was a fancy new place, opened not too long ago. You had actually been asked to come here before. However, the person who asked you out was a complete asshole, resulting in you declining his offer more than once.

"Y/N, is that you?"

Speaking of the devil.

"Well, well, well, guess you've changed your mind about me?" Dusan smirked.

He was one of those guys who always found a reason to mention their net worth sporadically in the middle of a conversation. Same for the price of his latest investments. Like a watch or a brand new Jeep.

Dusan Vlahovic was a wanna be Wolf of Wall Street kind of guy. Except, Dusan played professional football for a living, which might count as an explanation for his out of touch for a woman's desire, considering that he often had hundreds of them throwing themselves at him during a night out like this.

Everyone but you, of course.

"You must have smelled my new perfume." He chuckled cheaply. "It's the new Dior fragrance. I'm actually their newest brand ambassador."

"Cool." Your friends expressed. They were clearly taken aback by Dusan's God complex. The way he stood tall and erect, like a rooster in the morning. He had slick back hair, with a few wild hairstrands irritating his eyes.

Overall, he was gorgeous. Your type, even. However, his personality was honestly so arrogant that it had become unbearable to reject him as many times as you had. Unfortunately, he was always given a new chance to ask you out, considering that the two of you lived in the same apartment building not too far away from this very bar.

"You girls should come over to our table." He suggested. "My friends and I are happy to put your drinks on our tab."

India and Hailey shared a smug look. You, on the other hand, let your eyes roll into the back of your sockets. Dusan caught your moment of dread, winking his eye at you before leading you and your friends to his table.

The three of you were quickly introduced to Dusan's mates, four guys, a copy paste when it came to their swayed shoes and unbuttoned shirts. They also wore watches, shiny bedazzled watches that most likely told the time. But how would one know with all that bling blinding the eye at every glance.

"So...." Dusan said as he slid into the seat next to yours, resting his arm on the back of your chair. "Does this count as our first date?"

You snorted. "Keep dreaming."

His eyebrows rose with interest, your habit of rejection another game for him to play. After a few drinks shared between you, Dusan took it upon himself to tugg your chair towards him, for the two of you to sit closer together.

"Just looking after you, baby. We wouldn't want you to get too tipsy and fall off your chair, now would we?"

"What do you think you're doing?"

"You're such an asshole." You said, but noted the slurring of your words. Perhaps you did have too much to drink? That's what you get for trying to keep up with India, an avid drinker since your university days.

"Guys, I've got to go. I'm sorry."

"Hailey, no!"

You and India jumped out of your seats to persuade your friend to stay. However. Hailey's night was over. She had a warm bed and a boyfriend waiting for her at home. You longed to return home yourself. To wash away your sins and tuck yourself into your very own cozy bed. However, you couldn't leave India, who unfortunately took an interest in one of Dusan's friends. The two of them were bound to go home together. You just had to stay until they did. In the meantime, you had Dusan, persistently mumbling temptations in your ear.

"I'll take you to Paris someday."

"Oh, yeah, and what would the two of us do in Paris, France?"

"The usual." He shrugged. But then a dangerous smile widened his lips. "But once we are done being tourists, I'd take you back to our hotel room, five stars, of course...." You rolled your eyes. "There I'd have my way with you in the elevator, making you scream my name before we even arrived at our room."

"The elevator, you say?"

"Yes, the elevator." He purred, his voice deep in your ear, his lips close enough to carress the pulse beating in your throat. "I'd have my fingers so deep in your pussy that if I wanted to I could make you a squirter, even if you told me that you aren't one."

"I—." Out of all the tasteless endearments Dusan could have whispered in your ear, this one definitely took the prize. But at the same time, your legs crossed under the table, smothering the flaring heat between your legs.

It must be the alcohol you convinced yourself. Yes. Your terrible ability to consume alcohol without stumbling after two shots was really deceiving your mind tonight. How else would you explain the fact that you let Dusan take you home while India and Dusan's friend disappeared in an Uber together at the end of the night?

The alcohol worsened your judgment of Dusan, convincing you that he wouldn't take advantage of the situation.

"Fuck, I think I'm going to throw up."

"You are? Fuck, my apartment is closer than yours."

He really played his cards well, convincing you to step out of the elevator two floors below yours. However, you were grateful to reach a bathroom in time for you to empty your guts. Too bad your top got ruined in the process.

"Here, let's get you out of this."

You even let the asshole undress you, watching him throw your vomit stained clothes into his washing machine. You then waited patiently for him to return to the bathroom with a clean shirt for you to wear to bed.

His bed.

"Why are you even doing this?" You asked, watching Dusan as he tucked you in.

"What? Help you?" He frowned.

"Yes, and flirt with me so desperately even though you can get any ine of those girls in the bar we just left."

Dusan hid his smile while he fluffed the pillow beside your head. He then maid you raise yourself to sit so he could tuck it comfortably behind your back. "There." He said, complecant, leaving his hands to rest on each side of your head.

You were close.

Too close for comfort considering the smell of vomit on your breath. Who would want to kiss you now? Certainly not Dusan.

Yes. It was indeed embarrassing to admit that a microscopic part of you wanted Dusan's lips against yours. Maybe the alcohol enhanced your attraction for him. However, your stomach was already fluttering as the two of you sat close together in the bar, Dusan's deep and rich voice whispering in your ear.

"God, Y/N." He scoffed.

"What?" You perked up, afraid that he didn't like what he saw as his eyes were upon you, studying you like a puzzle.

Dusan shook his head, a sly smile on his lips. "You really believe that I left the bar without the girl that I wanted."

"Well, didn't you?"

"No Y/N. You're the girl that I want."

"I am?"

"Yes." He chuckled, raising his hand to pinch your cheek. "I've been dying to have you for months. Ever since we first road the elevator together. All I've wanted is for you to take a chance on me, but every time you've turned me down."

"I'm sorry." You squealed. "I really don't know...." That was a lie. You were done with brainless men. You said so yourself. Dusan, however, perhaps wasn't one of them.

Who are you kidding? Of course he was. He looked eager to kiss you despite the vomit on your breath.

"Dusan?"

"Yes?" He watched you lick your lips, the swipe of your tongue making his dick twitch below his pants.

"I want you to..." You were shy to say the words.

"Yeah?"

You perked up, adjusting the way you sat in his bed. "I really want you to...."

"Y/N, if you don't tell me what you want from me, I might go crazy." He laughed.

You emphasized the words, making sure not to slur on any of them. "Dusan, I want you to make me squirt. Please make me a squirter—."

You barely finished the words. The last thing you saw was Dusan's eyes widening before his head ducked under the covers.

"Dusan." You squealed, his lips tracing softly down your legs, causing you to throw your head back with laughter. "Please baby, not so fast."

"Baby?" Dusan's hair was tousled as his head popped out from under the covers, a boyish grin occupying his face. "You called me baby."

"I did." You smiled.

"I like that. Keep calling me that."

Another fit of laughter escaped your mouth as Dusan's head returned under the covers. His pursuit to make you a squirter started off with a couple of soft kisses to your thighs. He then moved on to reveal the soft hair covering your pussy, parting the small strands with his tounge. He did so until his tounge knocked against the bud of your clit, making you moan his name as your head flattened against the pillow, digging you deeper into a sea of utter excitement.

"Dusan."

"Fuck Y/N, you're so wet already." He started teasing you with his fingers, driving you closer to the eruption of your soul.

"Please, don't stop." You pleaded, spreading your legs with width for Dusan's fingers to sink deeper into you. He came up to kiss you, his fingers remaining inside, pumping in and out of you like a well-oiled machine.

"Dusan, please. I'm not clean." You turned your face away from his lips. However, Dusan kept returning for more, threatening to pull his fingers out of you.

"No, please. Don't." You begged, pathetically so.

"Then let me kiss you." He laughed. But didn't kid when it came to wanting your lips against his own. He was good at it too, finding a rhythm in the way that his fingers moved inside of your pussy to match the way his tounge moved inside of your mouth.

That must have been it. A combination of Dusan's fingers and mouth, a rhythmic machine that sent unbearable vibrations down your spine. Vibrations that turned into a violent twich of your pussy walls clenching around his fingers that kept penetrating your reaching edge.

"Dusan, please. I'm gonna...."

"Yes, baby. You're almost there."

"I'm gonna...."

"Yes, sweetheart. Hold on to that feeling for me."

You arched your back with the ripping sensation. A violent feeling of pleasure and pain bottled up into a narrow pipe of anticipation.

"There you go. Good girl."

A loud whimper left your mouth when you exhaled, the orgasm leaving you like a fever dream. Dusan tugged his fingers out of your pussy, holding up his drenched hand to show off the results.

"Congratulations, you're a squirter."

Your hands covered your face, embarrassed yet, happily satisfied.

DON'T MISS - 10 DAYS OF REQUESTS

(DAY 1)

(DAY 2)

(DAY 3)

(DAY 4)

(DAY 5)

#fanfiction #football imagine #footballer x reader #footballer imagine #football angst #juventus fc #dusan vlahovic imagine #dusan vlahovic x reader #dusan vlahovic #10 days of requests #day 6

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forgodsgoddamnsake · 10 months ago

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Belly Dancer - 1

Harry sat next to Michael on the leather couch with four girls now all around them, Michael was his right hand and his best friend. They are there for each other, in the happinesses and sorrows. They were friends since the day they first met when they only were thirteen years old.

And for that reason, when Michael noticed that Harry was burnt out from all the work he has to go through every day, same routine, same shit, he thought that it would be a good idea for them to see something different. Michael has heard of you through some friends that were like 'wtf did we just watch?' and couldn't shut up about how good you were on that stage. And, knowing Harry, he knew that he would be very pleased to see a different kind of woman.

A woman he will never something like her.

A girl put her around Harry and started mumbling something sexy in his ear, but he ignored her and kept drinking from his glass and huffed.

"Why the long face, H? I told you to leave this fucking attitude out." Michael scoffed, drinking from his cup.

"I am okay, Mike." Harry says.

"No shit? You sure look like it." Michael commented sarcastically.

"What do you want from me now? Want me to put a fucking smile on my face?"

"Yes, please."

"I don't know what I should do with the upcoming deal with the Italians."

"Leave it, H. Not now, we're here to have fun and you look like an ungrateful kid." Michael said, he was sick of Harry and his attitude. He knows that Harry has a lot on his shoulders, but he doesn't seem to know how to let go.

"You know what? Fuck you! I'm out." Harry says angrily and stands up and just like that like it was a cue or something, music blasted through speakers.

Weird music to his ears. He has never heard something like that before, but he didn't care at that moment. Until he head an announcement through the speakers, "The moment you've all been waiting for. Y/N!"

Michael grabbed Harry from his arm and dragged him to the glass wall that showed the stage. Harry took away his arm from his friend and stopped in his tracks.

A woman.

A woman in tanned skin and long hair stood on the stage down there, with golden abaya that showed off her beautiful legs, cleavage, and of course her belly. She had some glitter all over her body. She had a golden anklet. That woman wore a short scarf on her head that only covered a part of her hair.

She swayed her belly up and down in total excitement with such expertise. She used her hair as a tool just like that long cane in her hand that she used to dance with. What really blew him away was when she pulled her back down while standing and held the cane with one hand playing with it all over her body without it touching her.

He has never seen something like that before. He has never loved something so different like that. Her hair made him want to pull on it while fucking her. He wanted to know how she could sway and pop her waist and belly on his dick.

A girl comes next to Harry and whispers, "I could do that, too."

He ignored her and kept his eyes on the girl before him, not leaving his eyes off of her even for a second.

When you were done, you were already used to the hard applause, you returned back to your room at the back. Your assistant got you your mantle and covered you.

You sat on your chair in front of the wide mirror and began cleaning off your makeup after taking off some of the bling you had on your face. Your assistant, Angela, says, "You were amazing today, y/n."

You smile to her and say, "Thank you so much, honey. We need to get ready for our last performance in about another half hour. Can you get me my next suit, please? This abaya is not so comfortable."

"You're gonna wear it now? Isn't it too early?" She asks but does what she's told anyways.

"No, it isn't. I like putting makeup on after wearing my suit, so my makeup doesn't stain my suits." You answer her, drinking water from your bottle.

"Fair enough." Just when she finishes her sentence, you hear a knock on your door.

"Who is it?" She asks before opening the door slightly so whoever outside can't see you.

"Oh yeah of course." You hear her say and opens the door.

Your eyes are still fixed on yourself in the mirror, until you see in it a tall man with beautiful green eyes standing at your door. His eyes also are fixed on you. You turn your head around and look at him, asking in a flat tone, "What?"

"I am Harry. Harry Styles." He says not looking away.

"Okay? I don't do selfies so get out of here." You turn your head again and continue to take off your makeup.

"I'm not here for a selfie. I'm here to tell you that we want an exclusive dance in the VIP lounge." He says, confidently.

"Usually, Sean is the one to tell me that." Sean is the manager of the club, so that doesn't make sense that Harry is the one to tell you that.

"He knows, but I asked him to let me be the one to tell you that." He says like he orders you.

"Well then, no one can say no to work. But, I want Sean to ask me, not some one I don't know." You say, you were really bothered by his smirk that he had all the time he was talking to you so you thought you should be as annoying as he is.

"And what if he doesn't?" He asks with a wider smirk.

You turn your head and raise a brow, "Then no."

"You sure are a tough one." He comments so you stand up and close the door in his face with a bang enough for Angela to jump.

You wear your next suit, not thinking of that bastard anymore until you hear another knock on the door. You huff and tell Angela, "If he is the same fucker tell him to go find someone to fuck him."

But that was Sean, an old man with grey hair and blue eyes. He comes inside and says to you, "Y/N, we want you to skip the second performance to the public and keep it in the VIP lounge for today."

"Sure," You smile at him, "That fucker will be there?"

He giggles and says, "Don't say that as you don't know who he is."

"I don't care, Sean. You shouldn't have let him come in here, we've talked about this. No one is allowed here."

"I know, but we can't say no to him."

"And why is that?"

"Because he's Harry Freaking Styles. He's one of the most powerful men in the whole country so it's not so easy to tell him go fuck yourself without getting a bullet in your head."

"Whatever. I'll be up there in 10 minutes."

You weren't afraid, you are not afraid. You have spent your life afraid of everything and since you took your first step in this country you've swore to god that you'll never let fear in your heart ever again. You knew that Harry was handsome and hot that's for sure, but you weren't going to suck his balls just because he's handsome. If anything, he should be the one sucking yours, if you had any.

You stood right outside the VIP lounge and asked the guy in charge of it to stop the lights until you go in. That was something you asked for every time you were asked to do a private dance in the VIP lounge, you had to surprise them.

You stood in the middle of the room with the lights still off, and raised your arms above your head and raised one side of your waist and then the lights are on again.

The music popped in the lounge, and you see that same smirky face eating you with his eyes. Taking in the new suit you had on, it was silky that showed off your whole back and belly, not so modest. And he loved every inch of it.

He sat there next to another guy with the same expression she got every time someone sees her in one of her suits. You danced like always but with some differences. You made a circle with your waist and interacted with them more than the public, you made your way to the couch they were on and for a second Harry thought you were coming for him, but you took the hands of Michael and made him stand up so he could dance with you.

Michael couldn't dance like you, for sure, but he tried to sway his body and couldn't focus on anything else, especially you leaned your back to his chest. Michael couldn't look to anything else, not even to Harry who was biting his lip from both lust and jealousy.

You kept dancing until the song ended. Michael and the bartender applauded hard enough to show you how much they loved it. Some of the girls out there were so pissed off at you for taking all the attention.

Harry, on the other hand, stood up and asked you, "Why don't you come with me, love?

"Honey, I don't like you." You said.

You made eye contact with Michael and smiled, "I hope to see you soon, cutie."

Then you were out of the lounge.

Harry sat on the couch again, with a smirk on his face.

Just when you were about to step foot out of the club you see that fucker again with the same smirk you want to slap it out of his face. You were in white tank top and a short leather skirt. Angela was right beside with a big bag in her hand you when you stopped to look at that smug.

"If you think you can kidnap me, then you should know that's a bad idea." You spat.

"And why is that, love?"

"Because I'll chop off your goddamn dick." You were violent. That's for sure.

"Oh, that could hurt." He smirked again and took a step forward towards you.

"What do you want from me, Harry Styles?"

"I want a private dance, only for me."

"Give it to him," You ordered Angela who handed him a card. "This is the number you can call if you want a private dance."

He looked at the card and then at you, "I really like you."

"And I don't care."

You said before walking towards your car. You drove away and you could still see him in the mirror not taking his eyes off of your car. What was wrong with him?

"Harry Styles?! Thank god you're still alive, you should apologize you little bitch." Jessica said.

You were at the apartment you shared with Jessica, you make enough money to buy a whole house now, but you didn't want to leave Jessica, she was your first and only friend when you came to America to seize your opportunity. She had your back when you couldn't find a job, until she finally helped you get one.

Her cousin was one of the three people who own the club and the theatre, and she asked her to give you a chance. From that moment you became famous enough for people to come every day to the club to just watch you dance.

So, you wouldn't just leave Jessica just because you make enough money now. And, now that you're sitting at the dining table next to Jessica at 3 PM eating, you thought that you should tell her about that freak you danced for yesterday.

"Who is he anyways?" You asked, stuffing your face with food.

"All I heard from Lola -Her cousin- is that he is not just a business man, he is powerful."

"And that was enough for you to tell me that I'm lucky that I'm still alive?"

"No, but those powerful people are intimidating."

"I'm not afraid."

"Y/N, I know you now, I know that you fear no one and nothing, but you need to chill a bit."

"Why should I? because he could kill me or something?"

"I hope not, but just become more flexible, maybe he was amazed by your dancing and liked you enough to get you in his bed."

"He asked me to go with him, Jess! I don't sleep around, and you know that, I have to have this long face for anyone that thinks for a second they can stuff their faces in my titties." You said and she bursts into laughing at the top of her lungs.

"Okay, I know that, but-" She was interrupted by your phone ringing, it was Sam, the one you hired to take care of any business outside the club.

"Sorry, Jess," You apologized before taking the phone, "Yes, Sam, how're you? What? HOW MUCH!? Okay, today 11 PM, set everything up with Sean, I don't want him to be all grumpy. Bye." And with that you hung up.

"What was that all about?" She asked drinking her juice.

You looked at her wide eyed, "That fucker asked Sam if I could dance at the parties he has tonight and for the upcoming week. He wants me for an entire week to stay at his mansion up the hill in a private part of it."

"Wow, the same fucker we were just talking about?" She asked and you nodded.

You had to go, there was no way out, the money was good. You packed clothes and suits, you were going to stay there for about a week so you could use as many suits as you wanted. Angela was sat right beside you on the passenger seat in your car as you drove to his mansion, Sam had sent you a location. The drive was silent, and you weren't nervous, you'd been doing this for over a year now so you were confident. You drove with one hand until you pulled over right in front of this giant mansion. Angela gasped when she put her eyes on it, but you rolled your eyes and stepped out of the car to get your bags out. Angela followed you without taking her eyes off of the mansion, she helped you with the bags with her mouth open.

"Fuck it, snap out of it, Angela!" You said, walking towards the mansion.

A man in a black suit was standing at the door of the mansion with a smile on his face, you smiled back. When you got closer to him he took the bag from you, "Hello, I'm Jack, I'll be at your service for your whole stay."

"Hello, Jack. I'm Y/N and this is Angela, my assistant."

"I know you Ms.Y/L/N, Mr. Styles told me about you. He was very excited to have you." He said letting you in the mansion.

It was huge, white. Everything was white except from the art hanging on the walls and some cushions. Jack escorted you to the elevator in the mansion and pressed on the higher floor.

"This floor is gonna be yours for your whole stay, it has its own kitchen and bathrooms so you're going to be as comfortable as possible." He said and you couldn't help but smile at Angela who couldn't close her mouth.

The elevator doors open and you step inside to see a wide floor with an open kitchen and two bedrooms with a large living room.

"Here is the kitchen as you see, it has everything you need to make a meal, but if you need anything you can always call me and I'll be at your service." He walked you to the living room, "This is the living room as you see. There's TV, mini-fridge, and everything you might need."

You nodded at him as he walked you to a room and opened the door to a large room, "This is our room?" You asked.

"No, ma'am, this is Angela's room, it's got everything you might need, miss." He told her and she took a step inside with wide smile on her face.

He walked you to another room, opened the door and FUCK. It was huge with a king-sized bed. The room had cream paint and white sheets, a couch and TV.

"Here is your room. You also have a private bathroom besides the one down the hall. Again Ms. Y/L/N, if you ever need anything you can call me. Mr. Styles has strict instructions of us taking care of you two."

You smiled at him thankfully, but couldn't help but ask, "Where is Harry?"

"We don't know that, unfortunately, but I'm sure he's gonna be here at 12 AM. He may need to speak to you about the themes of the parties he's throwing here." He said letting go of your bags.

You nodded at him.

"I should go now, here is this little thing I can't remember the name of, you press a button and you can speak to me directly." He pointed at this thing on the wall that looked like the thermostats.

You nodded again and thanked him before he left. You couldn't help but notice that your room has a balcony, you love balconies. Wherever you were, you could leave everything and stay in the balcony looking at everything around you.

When you entered the balcony, you could see a wide, long green grass, it almost looked like a park, except from the large pool that was in the middle.

You sighed.

You don't know why, but everything was too much for you, life was too much.

You felt alone even if there were a hundred people around you, and when you were alone, you felt empty. Maybe it's because you swore that no one can take any place in your heart again. No one can get this luxury of breaking your heart. You had to stand on your jelly feet and throw everything out of your life.

You remembered that day you ran away from your past and came here, like it was yesterday. But, it wasn't yesterday, and you must stay on your feet standing tall.

You heard a ringing sound coming from your room, it was this thing on the wall, you pressed on it and you heard the voice of Jack, "Ms. Y/L/N, would you like me to make you a meal? You must be starving."

"Jack, please call me y/n, I'm not used to Ms. whatever, and yes please, I'm sure Angela is starving. Thanks."

Everything was fine, you stayed in your room watching tv and gossiping with Jessica about Harry's mansion. That was until you hear ringing and Jack's voice said, "Y/N, Mr. Styles is waiting for you by the pool."

You stood up, get dressed in one of your huge sweatshirts and short black shorts, you pull your hair up in a messy bun. You step outside of your room, and find Angela eating popcorn on the couch in the living room.

"If you keep eating those, you're gonna pop like them." You smirked at her and she stuck her tongue out to you.

You were in the elevator and making your way towards the pool, it was kind of a long walk until you could see his tall figure in a black suit standing in front of the pool drinking wine. There were tables and chairs but he was standing focusing on the water.

You stood there for a moment before making your way to one of the chairs by a table and sit, putting your leg over the other.

"Look who it is, Mr. Gatsby!" You smirked.

He turned around and smiled at you, his eyes could revive people from death. He had a glass of wine in his hand just like you suspected.

“Mr. Gatsby? Why did you call me that?” He asked as he took a seat on one of the chairs on the same table.

“Mr. Gatsby was handsome, he had a rare smile, just like you.” You said with no smile.

“I take that as a complement, should I?”

“I don’t care, honey, I’m spelling facts. I like telling people what I’m thinking about them. Honesty is the key as you say here.” You bite on your bottom lip.

“I appreciate that this is the thing on your mind, not something else.”

“Well, yesterday I thought you were a dick head, well, I still think so, but I appreciate what you did.”

“What exactly?”

“That you didn’t cross the line even more, and called Sam instead of getting my number and call me.”

“And how could I get your number, love?” He smirked; he loved how smart you sounded.

“Oh, come on! We’re adults here, we both know that you could get my number, easily.”

“I like you even more now.”

That was true, he loved smart women, and you were smart and challenging.

“Let’s get back to business, you booked me for a week. Jack told me that you wanted to discuss the themes of your parties. Here I am.”

He hums and put his glass on the table, “Do you want to drink something?” He asked you as he looked at his smart watch.

“Tea with milk, please, no sugar.” You answered without expression.

He smiled and then got more comfortable in his chair as one of his servants came with everything on like he was standing at the back of your head.

You thanked the servant and took off your leg from the other out of respect, that was how you were raised, and Harry noticed it.

“Okay, love, we have five parties, each of them may include different people, each of them has a different theme, in each of them I want you to perform two times.” He said as he poured more wine in his glass. “Your tea is getting cold.”

“I don’t like my hot drinks hot enough to burn my tongue.” You smiled at him politely, “I need to know each theme so I can choose the right suit. Also, can I choose my own songs? I can’t dance to some rap or whatever the fuck you people listen to.”

He laughed, he thought you were funny, “Of course, darling, I’ll tell you everything you need to know and you can choose your own songs.”

He looked down and saw that you have an anklet on, different from the one you wore at the club, he fucked you in his head with the anklet on enough times already.

“Can I ask you a question?” He asked, he was surprised actually that he was being polite, maybe because he saw that you were so polite that he couldn’t be a dick head anymore with you.

“Of course.”

“Where are you from?”

You smiled to yourself; you hear that question too many times.

“I am not from here, I immigrated to the USA two years ago. It doesn’t matter where I’m from, I want to forget all about it.” You stopped smiling and looked him in the eyes, those green eyes, “Now, can I ask you for a favor?”

“Yeah, anything you want, beauty.” He answered.

“Could you taste my tea to see if it’s not so hot so I could drink it?”

He smiled at you, he didn’t know what to think of you, you were a lot of things all at once. He saw you being so violent to him, so polite to the servants, potty tongue, yet so cute that you can’t take a hot drink. He was curious.

He did what you asked him to, it was now cold enough for you to drink, he saw that you sipped from the same place he sipped from. You were beautiful before him, your hair is shiny, your eyes are wide enough for him to see that color of them, your skin seemed so soft, your smell stuck up his nose. You dragged him to you, not even realizing it.

He coughed, trying to shake away the tension building in his pants, “You’ll get to know each theme the day before the party. If you want to get new suits you could only reach to Jack and he’ll do whatever you want.”

“Thanks, but no thanks, if those are your rules then so be it. I have my own designer to take care of that. I need to go inside to sleep before tomorrow, Harry. Could you, please, tell me what is the theme of tomorrow’s party?” You rolled your eyes.

“Black. Only black is allowed.” He kind of ordered.

“Okay then.” You drank the last bit of your tea and stood up, you walked your way to the mansion, but only a few steps until you stopped and looked around and said, “I don’t get disgusted easily. Good night, Gatsby.”

You smiled and left.

Harry sat in his bed with a girl sleeping next to him right after he gave her a good fuck thinking of you. Gatsby. Your face while smiling stuck in his head enough to take in every little detail, beauty, and flaw. He has never seen anyone so intimidating, yet so polite.

He felt like he wanted to fuck you, yes. But he felt something more. Curiosity.

He stood up in his boxers, looking at the ceiling, you were right on the floor above him, he wondered what you were doing.

Next morning you called Jack and asked him if there was a gym nearby, he told you that there was one on the second floor, so you got in your tight leggings and sports bra that hugged your breasts perfectly, having big ones made life harder for you.

You pulled your hair in a bun and brought your water bottle with you and went down to the second floor and explored until you found a room full of gym equipment.

You did some stretching first, and then you heard the door open as you were about to do some squats in front of the huge mirror. You saw Harry getting in, wearing black shorts and totally bare chest.

“Good morning, love.” He said and took a look at you.

“Good morning.” You responded before minding your own business.

You didn’t look at him much, you stopped yourself from doing that, you completely knew that these kinds of men are the ones that get girls throwing themselves at all the time. And that was not something you intended to be, you knew that you were special, and no man could ever make you fall at his feet no matter how hot he was.

“How many languages do you speak, y/n?” He asked out of no where and you didn’t bother look at him, but you could see him warming up.

“That is a random question. I speak English, Arabic, and Italian.” You answered with a blank face and held some weights before going on with your squats again.

“Wow, that is incredible!” he said looking at you, he never let his eyes away anyways. He noticed that you didn’t look at him not even for once, that kind of bothered him.

You didn’t answer to that, and he felt like you hated his guts and he had no idea why. He got closer to you and stood behind you, “You’re doing that wrong baby.”

He put his hands on the weights you carried and that’s when you stood again and turned around with the weights still in your hands, you felt like you could hit him with them.

“Let’s set things straight, Harry. I know you like me; I don’t like you. You bother me, I’ve been doing this since I was fifteen and I don’t need an English boy to tell me how to do things. I don’t like men who always get what they want, because I don’t get what I want. Does that make me a weird, envious bitch? Maybe yes. But I don’t care. Stay out of my way, I’m not looking for a fuck.” You said and lift the weights to his chest and he automatically held them.

With that, you left the gym room and he stood there with an open mouth.

“Harry, what is this fucking sudden obsession over a dancer?” Michael asked while sitting in the chair by Harry’s desk.

“It’s not an obsession, Mike. That girl makes my head boil!” He shouted lighting a cigarette.

“Why’s that? She’s just not into you, she told you clearly that she’s not looking forward to getting fucked by you, that’s all. Can’t you really accept that?”

“It’s not that, Mike. FUCK!” He threw the cigarette in the ashtray and stood up, “She wouldn’t even look at me, like I’m a fucking rat or something. Does she really think I am that bad person?”

“Maybe it’s because you gave her the feeling that she was some fuck toy.”

“She is not! I really want to get to know her, she sounds so fucking smart, Mike. Apart from her being incredibly sexy, she sounds like she knows everything about me which she doesn’t. I just want her to talk to me, even look at me.”

“Are you having a crush on her?”

“Isn’t that obvious, you little fuck?”

“Already? It’s only been three days.” Michael said and Harry glared at him.

“Alright, you should have a conversation with her, get to know her, you know what? You should ask her for dinner.” Michael suggested and Harry thought about it.

You were getting ready for the party, and you had a surprise for the host. You didn’t hate him, but he was just like what you said, a man that got whatever he wanted, and you hated men that had everything. It makes you feel like an object around them.

You heard a knock on your door and Angela went to open it enough for you to not be seen.

“Can I speak with y/n?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Styles. She’s getting ready, you could speak from over here.” Angela apologized truthfully.

“Y/N, are you ready? I want you down there in fifteen minutes, please.” He added that please just to sound nicer.

“She says okay. Excuse me, Mr. Styles, I’m sorry.” Angela said closing the door in his face softly.

‘Why the fuck is she avoiding me?’ He thought to himself.

He went down again by the pool to greet his guests who all wore black, he has set a small stage by the pool so you could feel as special as you wanted.

People were talking and giggling, talking money, talking shit Harry couldn’t care less about. His black suit suffocated him, he hated suits, but he had to wear them.

Your words kept ringing in his head,

“I don’t like men who always get what they want, because I don’t get what I want. I don’t like men who always get what they want, because I don’t get what I want.”

He had this urge to talk to you, to let you know that he no longer wanted anything to do with you if you didn’t want. He wanted to just speak to you.

From afar he saw Jack that nodded at him as a cue that you were ready to enter.

Harry cleared his throat when saw you entering in your black mantle and heading to the small stage. He spoke loudly as the music stopped so everyone could hear, “Thank you everyone for coming. I’d like to introduce to you my surprise,” He pointed at you and you smiled at them. “This is the amazing dance y/n, who is super talented and super annoying. I can guarantee that you’re going to watch something you’ll never forget.”

And with that everyone applauded before the music you chose started. Again, weird songs to the people here.

You gave them your back and just at the right time you dropped your mantle. Harry’s eyes widened as he looked at you in a red suit that barely covered you, you had a small waist accessory on, a golden anklet.

You started your performance which was different from what Harry saw before. Just in the middle of the song you made your way down to the audience and shook your hips and hit one of men with them, he laughed and automatically started dancing with you. You made your way to Harry whose eyebrows were furrowed at you, you enjoyed how bothered he looked that you didn’t keep to the theme of the party.

But he couldn’t stay mad as you gave him your back and danced your way back to him almost touching his chest, not stopping your belly from swaying or your hips from popping for a second. That was when you pulled your hair and threw it on his shoulder, he almost smelled it. Then, you pulled your back down on his chest, he got a very nice view of your breasts, which you shook while looking in his eyes from your position.

You took his hand and put it on your waist as you started swaying that part of your waist so his hand could go wherever your waist was going. He smirked and put his mouth right above your ear, “You’re giving me mixed signals, love.”

“I am a lioness, Gatsby, might get used to it.”

You pulled away from him and started dancing again with other people.

Lioness? What the fuck does that mean?

#harry styles smut #harry styles #couple #harry #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fluff #harry styles one shot #harry x reader #smut #harry smut

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zgvlt · 2 years ago

Text

CRUSH x CRASH ruggie bucchi x reader

summary: Ruggie, your fake boyfriend, is your date to yet another wedding.

tags: gender neutral reader, sfw, fluff + attempt at humor, 3.1k+ words, not beta read

author's notes (see end for more): i was in a bit of a writer's slump with some newer stuff i was working on, so i picked an older draft to finish. i'm glad it worked out in the end for me. anyway, if this is something that bothers you, reader does not talk about getting married :) the setting is just a wedding

[you can also read this on AO3]

Ruggie likes weddings more than most people. Sure, lots of people find them awfully stuffy, terribly expensive, a huge waste of time, but not Ruggie—even if he does think a lot of them are too fancy shmancy for their own good! Like, what’s with the wedding industry being so costly? Does it seriously cost that much money to rent a venue? Why do dresses and tuxes cost an arm and a leg? Are the to-be-weds actually expected to pay for the flights of their guests if they’re coming out of town?

That aside—he’s not planning a wedding so those questions have nothing to do with him!—Ruggie adores weddings, enough to crash them and celebrate with the newlyweds!

Not that he crashes them, not at all in technical terms, has not really needed to considering you were more than willing to invite him as your plus-one for every event with catering or an all-you-can-eat buffet, all events including weddings! Birthdays and gender reveals were all fine and dandy too, but sometimes those adult party games could get embarrassing, even if they had some snazzy (and usually practical!) prize to be won.

But really, none better than a good wedding.

So sure, maybe tuxedos weren’t exactly his style—he’s worn the same one to pretty much every wedding, but guys tend to get passes on that sort of thing—but it’s really not that bad having to dress up every, what, once or twice a month… and sure, maybe he’s a bit selective with the wedding speeches he actually finds sweet, but he has the decency to clap after each and every one (and even let out a whistle or holler if the atmosphere is casual enough!)

There was also the issue that maybe some of the time that should have been spent chatting up other guests was spent discreetly putting food in the tupperware for him to take home—not like most of them would have finished the food anyway! It would be a waste if it had just gone in the trash!—but he’s the first to ask and lead you to the floor when you seem like you’re in the mood for dancing.

So okay, maybe he doesn’t like every aspect of the arrangement (it’s hard to care about it 100% when most of the attendees are strangers or acquaintances at most) but, well, you were his friend and there was bound to be good food, especially the more extravagant weddings, so attend he shall.

“What color do I have ‘ta wear? Don’t wanna be stared at like I’m the asshole for not following some dumb dress code.”

Like, why the hell would guests have to wear certain colors or prints? Wasn’t it good as long as you didn’t outshine the bride(s) or however the rule went? As if he could even wear something glamorous and bling bling enough for that to happen anyway.

“Sunrise colors, so probably red and orange and yellow… maybe blue as well?”

Excellent, Ruggie thought, absolutely excellent, considering he actually owned a yellow tie!

No need for renting, no need to borrow one from Leona (again), no need to ask Kalim, who would have probably sent him a bunch of way too expensive ties with exquisite patterns and stitching, and definitely no need to ask some other guy who would probably ask for a favor or something which, no thank you, he’ll just break the dress code and play dumb.

“I’ll go wear yellow, then,” Ruggie announced, just in case you wanted to, well, match or something. Wouldn’t be the first time (and the first time was a complete accident!) so he could probably handle the teasing… probably.

“Ah, one more thing,” he asked, suddenly remembering something—his part of the deal when it came to attending these events with you. “So our, y’know, our usual—do we have to do that there too?”

“Hmm? Do what, Ruggie?” you asked, feigning forgetfulness.

With how many different occasions he’s accompanied you to over the past year (this would be the seventeenth, and the year was still a few months away from ending), not to mention the amount totaling from all the years he’s known you, he knew that you were very well aware of what he was talking about.

“Y’know…! Pretend that me and you, you know, that we’re… Oi! Can your laughter, you’re at fault here!”

He gave in anyway, only because he still found himself embarrassed whenever it was brought up. It was easier once he was settled in, but the process was still… yeah.

Honestly, he doesn’t really have much of a (valid, not embarrassing to say) excuse for how and why the whole ordeal still flustered him even after how many years has passed since the arrangement—it just does.

Well, okay, there’s an actual reason, but best not to speak it into existence in case you find out and make fun of him for that too.

He just has to be satisfied knowing that in some ways, he gets the best of you as well.

“Sorry, sorry!” you said, appeasing him with your laughter, “No, no, there’s no need to pretend we’re dating this time! The groom is pretty chill about the invites, so it’s no big deal if I bring a friend along.”

“Cool, cool,” he replied, not really feeling any smidge of the relief you were expecting him to. He feigned a sigh anyway, just to pretend he did. “‘S not that it’s a big deal if I had to.”

“Of course not,” you agreed, “must be like a second skin at this point, huh?”

He scratched the back of his neck as he laughed.

“Ah, yeah, somethin’ like that!”

Second skin might have been the right way to describe it, though Ruggie’s beginning to realize that there are problems as well with how natural everything’s become between the two of you.

This whole fake dating business seemed like all pluses at the start—hanging out with and getting to go to snazzy events with a friend, eating good food, getting all the perks of socializing without having to make too many promises and commitments. Those were all pretty fantastic, really!

The issue is, though, that once you become someone’s fake significant other, you simply can’t stop fake dating them because of the mutual friends and acquaintances you happen to share with the other person. The degrees of separation have decreased significantly since becoming your go-to partner to these things.

“Ruggie! It’s so good to see you!” He gets scooped up into a tight hug—if his personal space is gonna get invaded, can they at least mind the tail?!—by some person he attended the wedding of some months ago. What was their name again…?

“Yeah, good to see ya too, man!” Well, he can’t say he’s all that upset about seeing a sort of familiar face or two, especially a face of a genuinely generous person, but he’s not sure he has much to say, really. Other than your mutual friends, he mostly lets you or the other people decide what to talk about and he sort of just improvs from there. If he ends up getting asked about work and life and such, he’d end up drawing a blank (too hectic and too little he’d be willing to say to an almost stranger).

“Since you’re here, it probably means you’re still dating my cousin, huh?”

The person he had been talking to before the interruption—the groom of today’s affair—was momentarily confused, before grinning at the revelation.

“Wait, seriously?”

“Yeah? Did Ruggie not tell you he’s the S.O. of…?”

Basically, people know him as your boyfriend, and he will be introduced as your boyfriend even when neither of you had the intention of pretending that day for the sake of not blowing your cover.

Like, it’s not as if he’s gonna fake break up with you or anything anytime soon, so spreading the fake news it is!

Really, ain’t he just such a good friend for keeping up the act to the best of his abilities? Not that it was all that hard or nothing, it’s kind of just like lighting a match—after a few flicks, it’s already registered in his brain that he’s supposed to be your date.

“I thought the two of you were just friends?” The groom wiggled his eyebrows in the way annoying adults tended to when they felt like teasing the children in the village about their crushes.

Except Ruggie was already a few years past drinking age so he doesn’t really feel like playing into that game, even if the guy’s your friend. He’ll just answer quickly and move on (back to you, and maybe the buffet table as well).

“Shishishi… It’s an inside joke we love to tell people,” he explains, a well-practiced excuse at this point. “Started out because people kept telling us we’d make a pretty good couple not knowing we were already dating, so we kinda just committed to the bit!”

Yeah right! The irony of it all, if that was the right category it fell into.

“So this has been going on for a while then, huh!”

“Yeah, something like four years, one month, and eight days,” of fake dating, Ruggie said nonchalantly, like it was no big deal that he’s been keeping himself single for all that time so he can continue to fake date you. He’s just never felt the compulsion to stop, and clearly you haven’t either considering you’ve been single all that time as well!

“You can’t just say something like then get the exact numbers down to a T, puppy.”

Likely wondering what was taking him so long to return to your side, you decided to finally grace him with your presence, wrapping an arm around his waist. He pretends it happens frequently enough to the point that he’s not flustered about it.

“Means ya have it memorized too, kitty,” he replies, deflecting. “Not that big a deal. Also, hyenas aren’t even part of the dog family, y’know!”

“Okay okay, whatever you say!” you laugh, nudging the groom with your free arm. “Sorry I lied to you about him being my boy space friend and not my boyfriend. I saw an opportunity to lie and I took it!”

“You know what? I’m not even surprised,” the man says, shaking his head before turning to the hyena once more. “So, Ruggie, since the two of you have been together for several years now, do the two of you plan on getting married any time soon, too?”

Questions like that are meant to be heavy hitting, meant to be discussed for more than just a few minutes, but Ruggie manages to answer it swiftly.

Again, not the first time he’s been asked, but his answer has never really changed from all those years ago.

“Only if my partner wants to,” he replies. He grabs the hand you have wrapped around him, pushing it down so he can clasp onto your fingers properly, like a dutiful boyfriend would. “I’d be happy as long as we have a future together.”

Considerate. That was how Ruggie was known to… pretty much everyone you had introduced him to that didn’t know the truth. He was a considerate boyfriend, one who never spoiled or babied you too much, but one always eager to help or guide you with whatever it was you needed.

You saw him as considerate too, you let him know, a considerate friend. It was why you approached him with this whole fake dating shenanigans in the first place, and why you continued to rely on him over and over again.

“I just don’t know what I’d do with you, really,” you bemoaned, “you’re seriously the best, you know that?”

“Shishishi… if you wanted me to comfort you, you could just ask,” Ruggie replied with a grin, more receptive to the compliment than he wanted to let on. “Whether you want to cry at their speeches and use my tie as a tissue, or ask me to refill your plate with something in particular, I’ll do it.”

You smiled, your appreciation extending from your lips to the tips of your fingers, reaching out to comb through his hair gently.

“Your tie’s too nice for that,” you admitted, your fingers trailing down to his neck to caress the fabric. He might have misheard, but he thought he heard someone murmur about public display of affection… as if a wedding didn’t scream P.D.A. already. Regardless, he lowers his eyes to watch the movement of your hands, only a little bit mesmerized by how gently you treat him at times like these. He’s used to you not being afraid to fool around with him, which is nice, but… but this is nice, too.

Yikes, you’d think you were cupping his face or something by the way he reacted—it was just his tie, for sevens’ sake!

“I’ve always liked how you looked in yellow,” you said, and he could do nothing but melt. That’s all he can do, considering if he tried to speak he would probably whimper and purr and let you have your way with his heart… But you look like you want him to say something, so he should try to do that. It can’t be that bad! He just has to clear his throat and make sure he actually vomits out words instead of feelings.

You can praise me more! was what he wanted to say. Instead, he said,

“Ahh, ya look very charming too in…!” It’s a good enough start, but he trailed off when he realized he couldn’t really pinpoint just one thing he liked. What, was he gonna say you looked good in yellow too? You said it first! He’d just be repeating at that point! “Agh, you’re just cute…! You don’t have to laugh at me for that!”

“I’m not making fun of you!” you explained quickly—not that you needed to, he knew you weren’t, and the clarification didn’t make his cheeks cool in the least bit. It’s like the heat of his hometown all over again! “You’re acting like you wouldn’t tease me for the very same thing!”

“Who, me? Your Ruggie? Never!” he said, lying as easily as he breathed. “So go on, might as well ask me for a few more things while I’m in the mood to be all sweet with ya~”

“Well… what if I want to ask you to dance?”

He laughed, as he tended to in many situations, but he laughed then because he knew his leading you to the dance floor would be inevitable—it was just a matter of time. When you laugh with him, he knows it’s because you knew the very same.

“You know my rhythm ain’t that good, especially when the music is…” He paused to listen to the music, having been too invested in you to pay attention to the tunes. “...classical? Like, piano and violin instrumental and all.”

“Then I’ll let you step on my feet—once!”

“You’re only sayin’ that because ya know I won’t,” Ruggie said, grinning, “well, not on purpose anyway! Shishishi…”

They’ve danced this dance before… not literally, or maybe literally, many wedding playlists and bands repeat the same songs anyway, but the whole let’s dance and pretend we’re an engaging and fun couple kind of dance specifically. He’s not really sure why they continue doing so, most people only really care about who the newlyweds dance with, but once they’ve started they never really had it in them to stop.

At least, that was how he felt about it.

“‘Times it feels like the first time,” Ruggie said, hands gesturing vaguely in the air before they take their place next to yours. You interlock your fingers with his in response. “This whole thing. The date and dance thing.”

“Awkward?”

“S’ not the right word,” he replied, “I always feel comfy around you.”

“Exciting?”

“Fun,” he supplied, “somehow this has never gotten boring even after four years–”

“–and one month, and eight days,” you were already smiling the whole time (he would know—when he wasn’t staring at his feet to make sure he wouldn’t accidentally hurt you, he’s been staring at your face shamelessly), but your eyes crinkle a little bit more. He thinks you might’ve stolen his abilities because he mirrors your very movements. “Or is that nine days counting today?”

“Nah, I already counted today as the eight.”

The look you have on your face resembled approval, as if you were praising him for remembering so well.

“We’ve never celebrated an anniversary, have we?” you whispered, as though too embarrassed to let anyone else hear. Ruggie doubted anyone would, too preoccupied with themselves and everyone else to pay attention to a couple of guests dancing, but he leans into you anyway to hear you better.

(He doesn’t need it, he can hear you fine and dandy with the ears he has, but neither of you comment on the action.)

“Is there somewhere you wanna go? Or do?” he asked, genuinely interested in what your idea of an ideal celebratory date would be. For future reference.

“Your hometown would be nice.” The answer very nearly has him yelping, but he managed to restrain himself by squeezing your hands a little tighter. His eyes look around wildly before gawking at you. You know what his hometown is like, but more than that, you know what that place means to him, the people there that he looks out for whenever he can.

“You’re sounding very much like a real partner right now,” Ruggie said, awed at the unspoken revelation, “makes me wonder why we put that fake label in the first place if we were just gonna reserve ourselves for each other.”

“Because we’re fools,” you replied, glad to be on the same page as him, “and we’ve just been acting as the other does all this time without stepping out of line.”

“Was there even a line in the first place?” The both of you shared a laugh.

“So, what do you think? About that hometown date?”

You probably know exactly what he thinks about it. You’ve always had a way with his heartstrings and he’s done nothing to stop you from doing so, so you know his entire being feels very warm and bubbly just about now, has been the entire time he’s had you by his side, really.

“Help me sneak some sweets out later,” Ruggie murmured quietly, “in the tupperware. The brats back home will love it.”

“One step ahead of you,” you muttered back, a voice with barely contained mischief, “while you were busy chatting up the groom, I already snuck some food out to the car.”

“What the hell,” he breathed out, “I think I might have fallen in love with ya all over again.”

end notes | masterlist of all my works

[ 1 ] Title's stylization was inspired by TOMORROW x TOGETHER, the kpop group. There's no actual inspiration from TXT, though. I just like it.

[ 2 ] Ruggie and Reader have been to seventeen events that year because Ruggie is 17 (in TWST canon, he's older in the fic), and they've "fake" dated for four years, one month, and eight days because Ruggie's bday is 4/18. I just like choosing numbers with purpose or as references is all. Reader only questions if it's been 18 or 19 days and doesn't question the other parts because they're also counting. They're whipped, amen.

[ 3 ] When writing Ruggie, I was careful in how I portrayed him and his attitude towards food and money, mostly I didn't want that becoming his personality. Big-scale weddings are often quite expensive and wasteful, and while Ruggie has his insights about that based on his background, but he also knows that people do derive joy from that and he can appreciate it (basically, he's not hateful even though he can't relate). Not the main point of the fic, but putting Ruggie in that setting I felt like I had to describe his feelings regarding it a bit.

[ 4 ] I made reader call Ruggie "puppy", then I wondered if he should actually be "kitty" instead. I had to search whether hyenas were part of the cat or dog family, only to find out they belong to their own family! Kept puppy in anyw.

[ 5 ] I asked some followers what nickname Ruggie would call his s/o and kitten came up. Makes sense, he says it in a voice line… but for the life of me I cannot type it out because of how the nickname became tainted due to "discord kittens" arghh it felt too silly… I'll commit to it next time when the context is better!

[ 6 ] ( “Because we’re fools,” you replied, [...], “and we’ve just been acting as the other does[…]” ) This is referencing Ruggie's UM/SS literal translation, "March of fools". Though in this case, I suppose it's a dance of fools, huh!

[ 7 ] As mentioned, this was something short to help get me out of my writing slump. This has been in my drafts since June and the original "june wedding prompt" fic I meant to write before I scrapped it for the jade wedding fic instead. I decided to finally write it since, compared to before where I only really enjoyed writing longer one-shots (around 5k-15k words), I've gotten more comfortable writing shorter one-shots :>

#twst x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #ruggie bucchi x reader #ruggie bucchi #twst imagines #twst #twisted wonderland #nathya twst writing #twst x you #ruggie bucchi x you

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newx-menfan · 1 month ago

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Unpopular ships I have-

Decided to post this, in lieu of my Angel/Jean post!

————————————————————————

Hellion and X-23: top most controversial ship for Laura, despite also being the most popular and the one I regularly get criticisms about…

Angel and Jean: Talked about it before, but it’s the only time I really enjoy Warren, admittedly. There’s just something about their dynamic that I like and I feel like Jean brings out the best in Warren/Warren legitimately seems to love Jean unselfishly and would be a much healthier relationship…

Logan and Mariko: It’s the only relationship of Logan’s that I like, despite it being forgotten. I really liked how Mariko brought out a gentler side in Logan.

Cipher and Psylocke: I KNOW it’s problematic

Kitty and Cipher: He OBVIOUSLY had a crush on her

Kitty and Karma: The less popular Kitty ship. While I DO love Kitty and Illyana…I think Karma forced Kitty to grow up a bit and I liked that! Also I don’t know if I would want to risk Kitty losing her friendship with Illyana over a relationship…

Kitty and Colossus: I know- I KNOW it’s problematic but I still have some nostalgia for it

Magma and Rachel Summers: the issue where they break into the Hellfire club gave them a TON of chemistry AND they both hate Selene so…maybe it’s just because they were both in fetish gear lol 😂🤣

Surge and Prodigy: I know people prefer him with men…but I really enjoyed their dynamic and none of David’s partners are as brutally honest with him as Nori was.

Elixir and X-23: Their dynamic in “X-Force” was cute…even if Josh is a bigger fuckboy than Hellion lol 😂

X-23 and Kiden: Going to be honest; I don’t like Jubilee and Laura together. Maybe it’s Laura’s jealousy over how Logan treated Jubilee better than her… maybe it’s Liu… but I just don’t like it. Kiden and Laura seemed way more organic and I don’t like Laura constantly being tied to Logan anyway

Monet and Synch: I know it’s pretty popular but it’s less talked about after Talon’s introduction

Jubilee and Synch: I admittedly didn’t care for Jubilee and Chamber- I think I could have gotten on board if the writing was better but I just didn’t feel like it made much sense (ironically I don’t like Husk and Chamber either). Jubilee was madly in love with Everett and I feel bitter that if we weren’t going to get him back with Monet, this should have been the next best thing. They really suit one another perfectly!

Hellion and Illyana: I really liked the M-day story and their chemistry lol

Anole and Striker: Let Victor have a long term boyfriend!

Hellion and Wallflower: I actually would want an AU story with this or just to see them interact again because Julian bullied her like crazy and I could see Julian feeling bad about it (Honestly he was way meaner to Laurie than he ever was to Laura…)

Wallflower and Wind Dancer: I stand by that the most chemistry Laurie had with anyone was with Sofia lol 😘

Hellion and Dust: They always had an interesting friendship and I again would be interested in an AU with them together, since Dust kind of WAS Julian’s “Jiminy Cricket” and Julian would bring Sooraya out of her shell

Hellion and Surge: I actually think they’re made for each other and it would be the healthiest relationship either one of them had lol, the only issue is that they’re TOO MUCH alike 😂🤣

Mercury and Wither: I KNOW it’s not popular and was super toxic but I admittedly wanted it to work out because I felt so bad for Cessily wanting someone to love her🤣😭

X-23 and Mercury: While I admittedly prefer them more as friends, I do like them together … I don’t really care for Cess’s relationship with Loa…I like Bling! but I wish the relationship hadn’t started out terribly…

Hellion and Mercury: More as a “What if it happened?” Then actually outright shipping it lol 😂

X-23 and Wither: Actually want that dynamic in an AU after @dont-miss-me mentioned it 😂🤣

Havok and Madelyn: Only time that I liked Havok

Forge and Storm: least popular ship but now catching on… I LOVE “Life Death”… it is HANDS DOWN my favorite X-Men story!

Hellion and Blindfold: I KNOW it’s sacrilegious because of David and Ruth… but I really liked the weird dynamic they had and how nice Hellion was to her in Whedon’s book…even if Carey kind of killed it lol

Hellion and Jean: Was kind of shocked writers DIDN’T do it with teen time-displaced Jean honestly… I could TOTALLY see a future time displaced adult Hellion and Jean having an “Emma and Jean/Scott” dynamic tbh 😂🤣🤣

Sophie and Ms Marvel: JUST for the Korrasami lols 😂

Ms Marvel and Hellion: COME ON… it WOULD be funny and her having a crush would be hysterical 😂🤣🤣

Local and X-23: He’s so underdeveloped that I wouldn’t say I ship it… but I do want to like them together after years of shitty Laura relationships

Hellion and Tag: I get why people ship Elixir and Hellion (Julian definitely had a bit of a bro crush on Josh before their friendship soured)… but Tag was madly in love with Julian.

Prodigy and Idie: I don’t know what her age is in comparison but I do like them together/ would want an AU with them together- honestly it sucks that Marvel has pretty much ZERO black couples consistently

Rogue and the Human Touch: Love Rogue and Gambit… but it WOULD be way healthier…

Rogue and Michael Rossi: Would have been interesting to explore more since #182 WAS a great issue! (It’s another weird favorite of mine!)

Rachel Summers and Nicholas Damiano: Died too soon

Emma and Cyclops: People’s opinions shift so much on this relationship that I will put it here; I just liked Scott’s character growth with Emma and vice versa

Empath and Magma: It’s completely and utterly toxic but also a really interesting dynamic storyline wise and no one does anything with Amara anymore/knows how to write her…

Sunfire and Jean: I don’t even know why I just like the way they would look together lol

Longshot and Spiral: People forget she used to be a stunt actress Ricochet Rita and they had a thing… Rita WAS adorable 🥺

Longshot and Rogue: Her crush was ADORABLE and I loved Blaire’s jealousy

Warpath and Firestar: Mostly because both hated Emma and being on the Hellions

Thunderbird and Blink: technically a the Gifted show ship that’s been forgotten…but whatevs 😂🤣

Armor and Mercury: they’re dynamic was fun in “Pixie Strikes Back”

Pixie and Velciodad: That love triangle with Hope was the ONLY interesting thing in that book lol

Match and Spectre: idk why, just like them even if there’s little to no development

Sage and Rogue: liked their dynamic in X-Treme X-Men

Captain Britain and Meggan: I know their relationship is chaotic but I do still enjoy them together

Nightcrawler and Meggan: Kurt objectively treats her better and their relationship is so sweet

Peter Wisdom and Kitty: I KNOW people are going to hate me for this… I do like Peter even if he IS a John Constantine ripoff….

Quill and Surge: I just like Quill visually and thought his crush was cute

X-23 and Prodigy: Could TOTALLY see an AU of this

Hrimhari and Wolfsbane: Only interesting ship Rahne has, in my opinion

Rachel Summers and Franklin Richards: I don’t know why I love this old DoFP relationship but I do…

Wolverine and Heather Hudson: If Logan is going to screw up a marriage/homewreck…this is definitely the one to ruin lol (and I just liked how Heather took care of him)

#Hot take #problematic ships #X men #Marvel

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amageish · 8 months ago

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Reflecting on queer representation in X-Men 97 - and speculating on the future...

Before X-Men '97 was revealed, I made a post all about queer X-Men characters and the possibilities for this show... and now the show is out... so I figure I should do a follow-up! Let's discuss what happened and the possibilities for the future.

This is a long post, so I'll put my thoughts under the cut!

Part One: What We Got

Morph

The show's primary form of queer representation is in the character of Morph. They're the main "OC" of the original 1992 cartoon - they've always been important to the animated series canon despite not having much presence in the comics - so this is a pretty bold choice from that perspective...

They are a fairly unique type of gay by 2024 mass-market corporate standards. They're sassy bordering on mean in a way that would feel very typical for the 2000s but is sort of refreshing in the 2020s... They are non-binary, though their gender is never really discussed in the show itself - their voice actor sees them as being on a gender journey, though my personal reading is that they seem quite comfortable with themself and their gender already... Everyone who refers to them uses they/them pronouns thus far, though most dialogue is written to avoid gendering them entirely.

They are also notably attracted to Logan, something reflected throughout the show though most directly acknowledged in Episodes 3 and 10. They joke about showering with Logan and, when they think they see him in the showers, they give themselves Wolverine claws to help him reach the "hard-to-reach places"... Morph then actually says "I love you" to him in Episode 10, taking the form of Jean Grey to do it.

Whether a queer character pining for the "straight"* friend is good representation or an overplayed trope is subjective, but we will see where this arc goes in future seasons!

*Logan definitely isn't straight, but Marvel Corporate and Season 1 showrunner Beau DeMayo both say he is lmao.

Cipher + Boom Boom

I made an entire post about these two, but we also got a same-gender duo dancing at the Gala on Genosha... These are Cipher and Boom Boom - two characters who are not currently explicitly queer in the comics, but are interesting characters to read as queer IMHO! Cipher especially is a fascinating choice - the background gay is someone with the power to literally turn herself invisible lmao.

Northstar

Marvel's first openly gay superhero made two cameos in X-Men 97 - he appears in an X-Men recreation of A Different World in Episode 4 and with his fellow Alpha Flight members (plus Cipher and Psylocke) in Episode 10. He doesn't do anything of note really, but his hair colour is correct at least - the original show mistook his hair having white streaks as a trick of the light in some famous books and comic covers as him actually black-and-white hair in-universe...

Pixie

I'm not 100% sure if this should count, but the ever-perky Pixie turned up on Genosha in Episode 5 alongside her fellow New X-Men. As of writing, she's more of a queer-coded character than a capital-C canon queer in the comics... but she is solicited to be in the next Pride book alongside Bling! and Anole, who are canon queers, so I feel like her long-implied (and confirmed in an AU) bisexuality is likely to be canon in a couple weeks... so yeah - Genosha had a queer fae on it! Good for her.

There were a couple of other background gay characters, but nobody recognizable from the comics - there are some theories Blink and Husk were presented as a couple, but the "Blink" character appears to be a shapeshifter, so I would guess they are just OCs...

Part Two: Who is Teased

Like any modern Marvel project, we ended on a bunch of teasers... Two big explicitly queer names appear in those final moments - let's chat about that...

Iceman

After a season of appearing in the portrait of the O5 X-Men in Xavier's office, Bobby appears in Forge's DoFP-style board of potential future teammates at the end of the show.

In the comics, he famously comes out as a result of time-displaced versions of the original X-Men team showing up. A teenage Jean Grey reads the mind of a teenage Bobby Drake, who has been obscenely remarking on his very-real totally-not-fake attraction to Magik, and tells him that he is gay. This... probably isn't going to happen in the show, but I could see them taking this as a chance to do another take on Bobby's coming out.

They also could adapt the older story where Emma Frost possesses Bobby's body and, among other things, informs him that he will not be able to master his powers to their full potential until he works through his internalized identity crisis - though she doesn't say that he is gay at the time (the Comics Code prohibiting such things was still in effect), just implying it.

Bobby's had a lot of pairings in the comics, but in the show I think he is likely going to be Morph's actual love interest. He's gay. He's also a queer jokester. They'd probably get along and enjoy ribbing each other. We'll see what happens, but that's my guess...

Rachel Summers

Mother Askani was a shadow that lingered over the entire show and finally revealed herself in the final moments. The woman who raised Cable in a distant future alongside a cult of her worshippers, Mother Askani is a variant of another Summers-Grey child, Rachel Summers from Days of Future Past.

After decades of queer-coding, Rachel was finally confirmed as queer in 2022 when she kissed Betsy Braddock. This coming-out took around a year to be approved by corporate, but it did indeed finally happen and she even has a story in this year's Pride special. So I am hoping that she will be doing some queer stuff in the show itself...

Rachel's younger form was already present in the original show, albeit as a non-verbal cameo, so my prediction is that she has done all her time-travelling stuff and got split into her Askani and Mother Askani forms off-screen... but we will see how they adapt this character - Rachel's never really had a chance to be multi-media before, so I'm unsure how much they will streamline things.

Part Three: Askani's Partners

Rachel Summers has only had one textual girlfriend, but she's somehow still gotten around... Let's discuss some possibilities!

Betsy Braddock

Betsy Braddock is Rachel's current and thus far only textual girlfriend. Not unlike Rachel, Betsy has some... complicated lore. While she is currently the leader of the Captain Britain Corps, she spent a lot of her publication history with her mind trapped in the body of the Japanese Ninja Kwannon, operating as the assassin Psylocke.

Yes. That Psylocke. Most Psylocke appearances are actually a white British woman inside of a Japanese woman's body. I am sorry if anyone had to learn that this this way.

In a not-so-hot take: I think the show should just skip the body swap... but with rumours of Captain Britain in the MCU and the Captain Britain Corps being a multiversal entity (it is basically the Spiderverse movie's Spider Society, but done in the 80s) there may be some red tape around the use of Betsy. I hope there isn't though as I would like to see them in animation!

Kitty Pryde

Rachel's other big queer love interest in the comics is Kitty Pryde. Chris Claremont, the architect of what most people associate with the X-Men, has gone so far as to say that she is the "primal love" of Pryde's life and tried to imply that they had gotten married and had kids together in his epilogue for the X-Men brand, X-Men: The End. It's never been textual, but they are pretty darn gay in plenty of the Claremont stuff - including his Excalibur, the run that Kitty Pryde's design on the Episode 10 billboard is taken from.

Kitty Pryde is a complicated character when it comes to queerness. In 2020, Pryde kissed a girl and plenty of news publications ran stories about how she is finally canonically bisexual... and then, uh, nothing really happened in the comics? She has continued to be bi-coded since, but it doesn't seem like Marvel Corporate considered that kiss to be a coming out at all? Which is wild as it is, uh, a same-gender kiss, but she hasn't gotten to be in a Pride book or anything since then... I am unsure if '97 would be able to make it explicit when the lower-stakes less-widely-read comics are currently struggling to do so, but we will see?

Though speaking of Kitty Pryde being queer...

Illyana Rasputin

Cameoing in Episode 3 via Morph and appearing on the DoFP billboard as well in Episode 10, the marvellous Magik seems set to make her 97 debut! She's Kitty Pryde's OTHER roommate who she has a soulbond with. Yeah, uh, Pryde got two of those. We love that for her.

Like Rachel, she's also a long-queer-coded woman with a history of violence, having her autonomy taken away from her, and deep-rooted insecurities which Pryde uniquely is able to help her through...

I'd be surprised if either Illyana/Rachel or Pryde/Illyana managed to happen in this show, but this is one of my favourite X-Men pairings so I had to mention it... I am a sucker for soulmate "Our subtextual queerness gives us EXTRA SUPERPOWERS" stuff and Illyana and Pryde have had some truly S-tier moments like that that I'd love to see in animation. Honestly, I'd even take it if they were just "soulmates" and they played it in a campy Xena-y way too...

Concluding Thoughts

I feel somewhat mixed on the queer rep of 97 in general. The show is super bold politically and thematically, but feels below the level of queer representation projects like Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur or even Hulu's Runaways provided. The show thematically is so invested in queer experience, using mutant metaphor to tell a number of incredibly well-written and resonant queer stories via several characters (especially Sunspot), but it doesn't seem as interested in explicit direct queerness.

I'm optimistic we'll see more in the future seasons though... but we'll see if this post ages any better than my last one lmao.

#x men 97 #x men 97 spoilers #morph #cipher #boom boom #northstar #pixie #iceman #rachel summers #betsy braddock #kitty pryde #illyana rasputin

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darkfalcon-z · 5 months ago

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I've watched "30 000 li from Chang'an" recently and let me tell you I'm a bit surprised the movie has so little following here. I mean it's the serious, studious youth meeting charismatic (Gao Shi), cheerful alcoholic (Li Bai), and then they continue meeting as they grow older. It should do rounds around this place. Just consider the old men yaoi possibilities.

But I digress, this is not why the movie made such an impression on me. The POV character, Gao Shi, historically one of the renown poets from Tang era China, had been casted as having dyslexia (I'm not sure if there are any historical records indicating that, as far I can tell the movie takes some artistic liberties with history). Which in itself is amazing. You get deaf composers (as Beethoven's life story is a huge inspiration here) and blind artist (especially scuplorts, and of course you get bling musicians and poets), but I don't thin there's lot of representation for dyslexic masters of literary craft.

But what really got me was how Gao Shi had been accommodated by his father who patiently helped him learning to read and write even though it took much more time than for other children. In fact Gao Shi needed assistance with reading and studying well into adulthood. Because his father died before Gao Shi learned to read without assistance he had to hire a local student to help him.

This is really meaningful for me because I have dyslexia too. My parents too spend a lot of time helping me with reading and writing (and later reading in English) practices, all up until I moved out to go to university. If not for their patients and determination I probably wouldn't be able to read and write as well as I do (and I do struggle with writing to this day).

Like Gao Shi I have little confidence in fulfilling tasks that require writing and for that reason I avoid certain opportunities that'd be otherwise open for me to explore.

So this story was really meaningful to me.

#30 000 li from Chang'an #30 000 miles from Chang'an #Chang'an san wan li #Chang'an #Gao Shi #dyslexia

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rowretro · 6 months ago

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𝕭𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖉𝖎𝖊𝖉 𝕱𝖑𝖔𝖜𝖊𝖗

warnings: blood, flowers growing out of a human so gore ig?

✧CHAPTER 2✧

✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧

Sunghoon remained in his car by the school entrance. He kept second guessing his thoughts, should he check on her or no? what if she doesn't even come in? what if she comes in a really bad mood?

The male sighed to himself as he checked the time. Why does he even care? God knows why, Sunghoon himself is stunned he's waiting in front of the school building where he should be in right now.

Eventually he saw her walk towards the entrance, hair down, makeup done, and nails all sparkly, she was all blinged up as per usual, she seemed as if she didn't have the worst breakup ever. However Sunghoon noticed something, a small flower plastered onto her arm.

Perhaps it's a new aesthetic trend amongst the girls, it's come to the point where Babe has become a trendsetter. She's very stylish, much like Jay, she wore a tight pink and white ribbed t-shirt that had a pink bow on it and just reached below her chest. Paired with her pleated school skirt, topped off with all her jewellery.

One thing he always knew her for was her diamond studded pink playboy ring, and the overly high platform rings. For a school that's pretty laid back on uniform rules, she surely pushes their limits.

. . .

"Hey...." Sunghoon managed to say "Oh Sunghoon!" she exclaimed with a smile "wow you've really come out of your shell huh?" She asked with her oh-so sweet smile as Sunghoon scratched the back of her head.

"Uh yeah... I guess- well you are the only person who knew about my little crush...." Sunghoon pointed out, instantly regretting his words, hoping he isn't adding salt to Babe's open wound. "O-Oh yeah... i'm sorry that must've been really painful for you-" Babe said, clearly feeling for him, as she tried not to dwell to much on last night's incident.

"Oh no I'm fine actually- If anything I dodged a bullet... I lost all feelings for her when I saw her break your trust..." Sunghoon admitted as Babe scratched her head "It was really unexpected... I don't get why she didn't tell me, if they were serious I was bound to find out anyway right? so why not just tell me?...." She asked trying to hold back the tears.

It fucking hurts, why did he love her? why did she go behind her back? why is love yet again being such a pain in the ass? Babe stared down as she rubbed her arm gently, at this point Sunghoon knew she was still upset. Why wouldn't she be it hasn't even been 24 hours since the incident.

"Nice uh Nice flower-" Sunghoon said breaking the painful silence as he pointed at her arm. Babe stared. Right. The white Sedum flower that ripped through her skin and grew last night. "O-Oh yeah.... just uh tried something new..." she said as Sunghoon nodded.

"Right well I have a lesson now so.... I'll see you..." Sunghoon said as Babe nodded, confused as to why the cold heartthrob actually would want to see her.

. . .

She didn't head to lesson. She just sat there, outside, on the bench. Her mind was clouded, every time she saw Aram and Jay together her heart ached, and it worsened when people would ask her about them, acting all concerned.

She was hurt, her best friend broke her trust and her crush, the man she sworn was the one, lead her on and broke her. But overall confused, Flowers, something so beautiful and representative, were fucking blooming from inside her.

She's heard of stories parents tell little kids like if you eat a water melon seed, a watermelon will grow within you. Never did she think it would be real. However she never ate any Flower seeds. Then why?

Just at that moment, she saw from afar, Jay and Aram laughing. God his sweet laugh, why can't she make him laugh like that? she didn't know whether to be happy for her bestie or well ex bestie, or be mad. But that didn't matter. She screwed her eyes shut when she saw Jay kiss Aram.

It hurt like a bitch. in front of her as well?! its as if they want her to fucking suffer. "Wow such an ugly sleeper." She heard a deep voice say. That voice. None other than Nishimura Riki. A student whom she has bad blood with.

"What do you want Nishimura?!" she asked as Riki scoffed. "What do I want?! hmmm lets see.... I want out of this arranged marriage shit." Riki said as Babe rolled her eyes. "Do you think i want to marry a biking mafia man who'd possibly murder me on the night of our wedding?! we have no out you know this." She said annoyed.

Part of her however, just a small tiny inch of her, was thinking maybe this marriage was the way to go. Riki's handsome, fine, tall and only 4 months older than her, for a cover that's literally perfect. But god she hated his guts.

"Fuck this... whatever... anyways Im not picking you up today I have someone to get rid of." He simply said as he straightened out his leather jacket. Babe suddenly flinched when She felt Riki press down on her arm.

"What- why is there a flower plastered to you?... or is it in your skin I can't tell.... did you stab yourself with a flower somehow?!" He asked as Babe frowned "It's nothing- leave it- I just plastered it to my arm because it looked pretty." She lied convincingly as Riki rolled his eyes.

Although, technically she didn't lie, she seriously had no idea what it was, a flower growing out of her? sounds absolutely stupid. She sounds crazy. To her luck Riki did leave her alone. Hence she stayed her, not attending any classes as she felt yet another flower easily rip out of her skin.

✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧

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panthera-tigris-venenata · 3 months ago

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Some books I read lately:

I don't read as much as I used to, so enjoy this selection

Babel

Such a good book. Such an experience.

I've seen people voice an opinion that they couldn't relate to the protagonist, but I can't agree. My school is trying to kill me (figuratively) too.

Still, it was weird seeing myself the most as the story's antagonist. Made me think.

Likewise, it was weird reading book that had the quote of "the act of translation is an act of violence" in translation, but I think I did the right choice. The text is a bit dense and I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much in english.

The book itself is dark academia, but not as in "vaguely gothic surrounding & really hot academic rival," but as in "your school made you who you are today and destroyed you in the process; it's using you for your language and your heritage and it won't stop taking and you should be grateful, everything is so much better now, isn't it?"

Every Exquisite Thing

A modern day take on Dorian Gray. I've been thinking about getting this book for quite some time, and I'm so glad I did.

It's about teenage girls in the age of social media, which makes it about a thousand percent more reletable than Dorian "I own ten editions of the same book in different colours so it matches my outfit and judge people for expressing basic human emotions, oh woe is me" Gray.

...yeah I wanna punch him <3

Anyway. The book has great Aesthetic and themes.

Acting school and "one must siffer for beauty" and fur coats and parent-child relationship and a thing that fits my extremely specific definition of hate sex. (Yeah, they're lesbians. It's Dorian Gray retelling)

Mexican Gothic

A great horror story from the first half of last century. (So, obviously, great Aesthetic)

The thing that gets the main heroine in trouble is familiar love and there's nothing she could have done differently.

She's also like, "My future partner must be of the highest standards", and then she sees the wet cat personified youngest son of the family her cousin married into (he's actually very sweet, tried to help her), and goes: "... actually nevermind, I want that one"

(...yeah, nothing bonds two people together as a bit of arson)

The Villain-thing is simultaneously a cult and fungi.

Fungi scares me normally, so this works.

The Thousand Floor series

Yeah it's not my first time reading this, but I adore this series.

It's set in future, which is mostly used for extra bling, and one boy has an illegal home-made Quantum computer in his brain. He uses this solely to flirt with girls better.

There's murder and excelent relationships drama.

Relationships drama as in "I accidentally killed one of my best friends in drug-induced mania cos I thought she was having an affair with my dad but she was actually my step-sister and now I'm blackmailing three people over this and fuck, one of them is kinda hot".

(once again, fits my extremely specific definition of hate sex)

There's also a con artist<3

Carmilla

Bought this at seven in the evening from a cheap books bookstore, but, c'mon. Lesbian vampires.

Mona's guide to defensive baking

This was such a cute read, it feels like a really inovative fairytale. Another book from the author, Nettle and Bone, feels the same.

It's about kids and there's magic and corrupt goverment and the animal sidekick is a sourdough starter <3

House of Hunger

More lesbian vampires, yay!

And probably my favourite read in very long time. I didn't plan to buy it, but I read a random excerp at the bookstore and the book gripped me in such a way I bought it. And read it in two days.

There's not a lot of explicit worldbuilding, but there IS worldbuilding: in the way the air tastes, in how the clothes feel against her skin. (I mean, she gets history lessons but she finds them insanely boring, so we really do not get the worldbuilding beyond bare bones on need to know basis for her)

And the relationships!! The shadow of family, the friendships, the obsession!!

...and as for the love interest/villain, imagine Ianthe Tridentaria and you're free to go. I love her. Both of them.

DNF/Hate reads <3

For when I need to persuade myself that chemistry cannot deal me THAT much psychic damage <3

Crave

By god. Please. It's Twilight but on Alaska and the author ain't mormon so MC is allowed to be horny on main.

We all know this.

So PLEASE, stop mysteriously repeating "Careful, something might bite you here"

The book refuses to tell the heroine there's supernatural shit for 150 pages even though we all know it. From the summary. And the marketing.

...also, there's were-dragons. I don't know what's going on either.

But yeah this was great for reading the most ridiculous passages to my roommate and laughing over it. Very bonding.

Crave 2

No I cannot be bothered to learn the title.

In the first two chapters, girlie has no idea wtf happened (x months long coma & amnesia), like four different people refuse to tell her, and she manages to remind us no less than five times that yes, Jaxon Vega is still hot.

Yes, that spelling is a crime too.

... I'd like to know what does the author have against Prague. That's kinda unrelated but still.

Fourth Wing

Yeah fine it's better written that Crave (the bar is in hell), but this book made me read "I cling to leaf-tipped limbs of the tree" in english version. (The word you're looking for is BRANCH.)

The translator used "branch", which, massive kudos to her, improved readability by like seventy percent by that alone.

Still, the characters talk like therapy (derogatory) and insist on telling worldbuilding in THE most ridiculous ways.

I'd give redeeming points for dragons but I didn't get to them before "leaf-tipped limbs of the tree", so, hard luck ✨

School for Good and Evil

...yeah that's mostly my fault for reading out of intended age group, but.

SIR, that's your STUDENT. STOP. Please.

That said, there's like. A lot of innuendos for a middle grade book.

Rhapsody

If I had a nickel for every YA book that has "an ancient bat-winged fae king" as the love interest, I'd probably be fucking rich.

Also, the MC is a siren and the book is "dark romance". She did NOT claw anyone to death nor drown anyone and I feel like I should be financially compensated for that.

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