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t-lostinworlds · 4 years

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Truth or Drink (Tom Holland)

[YouTube AU: Video 2]

a/n: this took a while asdfghjkl this was in my drafts since oct. at 7k already (but got distracted with other WIPs as always) and was suggested by this anon back in aug. so i’m sorry this took a so long hun. also, the gif took a fucking while too ‘cause we are extra in this house haha (i mean, i wanted the time in the vid to match the wc so ha). anyway, enough babbling and let’s get into the video! lol, i hope you guys enjoy this one!

summary: You and Tom do a couples Q&A where you spilled steamy secrets with the help from alcohol. pairing: tom holland x fem!reader warnings: dialogue bonanza (lots of laughing and asking), alcohol consumption, secret spilling (from both parties), teasing from everyone (will include dirty jokes from the lads), mentions of smut & risque aka sex-themed questions. word count: 14.2k+ (aha enjoy!)

☰ youtube channel | previous video << ǁ >> next video ☰ masterlist on bio & pinned post

⚠ DISCLAIMER: this is a multi-part (not a series) which is basically one-shots happening in the same universe meaning you don’t need to read the previous one to understand this one since they are not heavily connected plot wise. although each fic does happen chronologically, you don’t need to read them in order much like how you don’t need to watch youtube videos in order.

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You knew something was about to happen the moment you walked into the dining area, the way Tom immediately went to latch onto you like a koala bear—as if he hasn't seen you just minutes before—tells all.

"What are you up to now?" you asked with a playful scrunch of your nose.

You rested your hands on his shoulders, the fabric of his pink hoodie—while you wore his other pink hoodie, outfits not at all planned since you just took the first thing you saw in his closet—soft to the touch as you took a glance at the camera that was set up at the head of the dining table. The greenery of the outside world behind the glass doors served as a backdrop to the shot.

The crease between your brows deepened at the sight, gaze landing back on the boy attached to your hip who was hugging you sideways with a certain glow in his eyes.

"I'm not up to anything," Tom denied, nuzzling his face on the crook of your neck to litter the skin with sweet and soft kisses. Although the gesture made your heart melt, it also made your suspicion grow. You just know there was more to this than meets the eye.

Strong arms staying around your torso, Tom pulled away slightly so he could meet your gaze again, a certain smile growing on his lips, one you know too well. It was the usual smile he wears whenever he wants something from you, a favor perhaps. An all too powerful grin that had you made him get away with things—mostly stupid ones—easily that you aren't exactly proud to admit.

"Tom," you warned with a raise of a brow, enough seriousness and command in your tone that he was quick to give in.

"Okay, okay, we're shooting the next video," he chuckled, tracing your jaw with the tip of his nose before giving it a soft peck. "Which I am hoping you'll do with me still," he murmured, placing another kiss on your cheek before pulling away to look at you fully as he flashed you a not-so-innocent smile.

Bingo.

Tom just doesn't suddenly become so clingy—well, he normally is but more than usual anyway—especially out of nowhere without it having an underlying reason.

You narrowed your eyes at him skeptically. You stayed silent as you weighed your odds, if the enjoyment of making the video was worth it for you to endure the obvious embarrassment that would come with it. You do love this YouTube thing he's got going on, you truly do enjoy being a part of it. But with the things he's spilled in the last video, you just want to make sure that this time won't be too much, though you highly doubt it.

It was hilarious how his bottom lip started to go at your reaction, eyes turning rounder, cuter that would give Puss in Boots a run for his money. And just as you counted in your head, three, two, one—

"Please, darling? Do it with me?" Tom cooed, placing his head on your shoulder as he gave your waist a loving squeeze, fluttering his eyelashes at you in the most adorable of ways with that cute pout to match. It was his signature look whenever he wanted something, the look of handsome and adorable persuasion. "I'll keep the secret-spilling at a minimum, love. And besides, we can always edit it out."

You let out a soft sigh, shaking your head at the fact that you're saying yes either way. You can never say no whenever he puts on that very persuasive face of his, can never resist him even if you tried. And of course, Tom knows this power he has over you, and he's mastered a way on how and when to use it to his advantage.

You aren't exactly proud to say that he has never failed once, his tactic very effective and that's putting it lightly. It's sneaky and annoying sometimes but it's still cute nonetheless.

Though, never did he once abuse this weakness of yours, only using it with the little things—like letting him sneak in some snacks on set when he was instructed not to or when he wants to do certain stuff—because when it's something serious and you say 'no,' then he's quick to listen and settle when you've made your final decision. He knows you only have the best intentions when it comes to his safety and just him in general, so there's really no doubt on Tom's behalf when it comes to following you on that.

"Why me? Why not give the other boys a chance to be in the spotlight?" you proposed, not giving him the satisfaction of winning just yet.

Tom shrugged with a wide smile. "The fans love you," he hummed.

The reception of the last video was mostly positive. Maybe it was the fact that you've been with Tom for a couple years already.

Your relationship was private of course, but it wasn't a secret. It was relatively the both of you showing glimpses of it every now and then online. So, compared to when the news first broke out, this time was a bit calmer. There are still trolls and haters—they're always going to be there unfortunately—but you've learned to shut them out, turning your focus more on the ones who are very positive and supportive. They should be the only ones who should be given attention to, no point wasting your energy on random keyboard warriors.

"You mean they love it when I make fun of you?" you said, laughter escaping your lips soon after when Tom buried his face back on the crook of your neck as he groaned in dismay.

Let's just say his fans quite enjoyed how you handled him in the last video, the teasing, the banter, the whole lot. Tom hasn't been able to escape the countless clips that are circulating the good old internet. No matter which platform he uses, a clip or meme is always there to haunt him. Most of them vary from him screaming and wriggling in pain; laughing like a hyena while also wriggling in pain; the random facial expressions he's made; and even sometimes, a snapshot of you looking at him in great disappointment and/or embarrassment. That's just some among the plethora of other memes.

Tom had seen it coming of course, but it doesn't mean it's any less embarrassing, especially with how clueless he seemed when it came to women.

"Unfortunately, that too," he grumbled.

"Okay then, might as well give them more content," you teased, Tom pulling away again to gawk at you with a look of feign betrayal crossing his features. You could only laugh at that, giving his jutted out lip a kiss to replace it with one of his many sweet smiles. Despite you saying it in a joking manner, he can't really deny that that would happen either way. After all, no matter what he does, he will always be a walking meme.

Tom finally lets you go after one more peck on the cheek, guiding you towards the seat by the other end of the table soon after. He helped you in like the gentleman that he is, a kiss landing on top of your head once you were seated before he made his way towards his place.

"What are we doing this time?" you asked when Tom sat down on the chair across from you.

And as if on cue, Harry walked into the dining area with two bottles of gin on hand, Harrison following suit with a bowl of half-sliced limes along with Tuwaine with a bucket of ice and two Collins glasses.

"Truth or drink," Harry said with a wide grin, lifting the bottles of Aviation gin to further prove his point.

"You guys chose me to do this with him because I'm a lightweight, which means I'm more likely to talk, didn't you?" you said, narrowing your eyes at each of them as they placed their respective items right in front of you in the middle of the table.

All three boys gasped exaggeratedly at your accusation, shaking their heads as they made their way behind the camera, chorusing a bunched of:

"Oh no, of course not."

"That was not the plan."

"We would never."

You could only roll your eyes at them, playfully of course, turning back to Tom who was quick to throw his hands up in surrender once he took in your expression of pure suspicion.

"I swear, I just want to do this with you, plain and simple," he confessed, though his follow up sentence made you think that it wasn't as plain and simple. "But you are very funny when you have alcohol in your system."

"Does that mean I'm not when sober?" You raised your brow at the man across you, sitting straight up as you clasp your hands together, resting it on the table to seem serious.

Tom shook his head frantically. "No! You're still very funny sober!" he rushed. "Love, you know what I meant," he added with a whine, head dropping low once you let out a laugh, only lifting it back up to shoot you another pout. He can be quite gullible sometimes and you honestly love it, love teasing him about.

"Besides, it's a couples Q&A and the only couple here are you two so there aren't really any options. The only difference is that it has alcohol to spice things up a little," Harry said, now in his place behind the camera just like before.

"With equally spicy questions," Harrison added with a wriggle of his brows, coming back up on the head of the table to place a stack of white cards to which you assumed was where the questions were written.

"You guys wrote the questions didn't you? Okay, this is a set up," you joked.

"They're harmless questions I swear!" Harrison defended with a laugh before returning back to his place by the camera. Though knowing them for as long as you have, you've learned to never trust those words fully. It was highly expected that the questions aren't going to be simple, let alone safe for work.

"But if you're not comfortable doing it, it's totally fine, darling," Tom said, smiling sweetly as he grabbed your hands across the table and gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. He knows you have never been an avid drinker. As you've said, you are lightweight. So, if ever you wanted to back out, he's just making sure you know that you have the option to.

"No, I'm fine with it. This will be fun," you said, flashing him a true, reassuring smile of your own, squeezing his hand in return for good measure. "But can I at least have some juice or something? I'm not drinking gin straight," you added.

"Figured you'd say that," Tom said with a wide grin, rushing up from his seat and disappearing into the kitchen. He came back not long after with a bottle of orange juice on one hand all while holding a spoon and paring knife on the other. "Rollin' down the street, smokin' indo, sippin' on gin and juice," he sang the good old Snoop Dogg classic no matter how corny, placing the bottle juice right beside the gin on the head of the table.

You narrowed your eyes at your man. "You seem prepared Tom."

"Nope, I just know you too well," he hummed, giving you a sweet peck on the forehead before he was back on his seat across you.

"Right, let's give the people what they want," you said, rubbing your hands together with a wide smile.

It was Tom's turn to look at you skeptically. "Why do I have a feeling that we'll just take turns in exposing each other?"

You tilted your head at him with a grin, shrugging your shoulders and said,

"How bad can it be?"

***

"And we are rolling."

"What's up guys! Tom Holland here," he introduced with a loud clap. "I'm back with another video joined by none other than the gorgeous Y/N." You waved at the camera with a sweet smile at the mention of your name. "The rest of the gang are behind the camera as per usual," Tom added, the lads cheering at their cue unenthusiastically and totally not in sync, chuckles and giggles following soon after.

"You can feel the excitement in the room," Tom said sarcastically with a roll of his eyes. "Anyhow, since lovely Ryan Reynolds sent me a case of gin just recently, I thought; why not put it to good use?" Tom shot the camera a knowing look. "Hashtag not sponsored but should be!" he yelled, making you jump slightly at the sudden loud sound.

"Do you have to be so loud?" you grumbled, playfully covering your ears in the process.

"Oh, sorry love," Tom chuckled, shooting you a sweet smile before turning back to the camera, finger pointed at it as he said, "But Ryan, my DMs are always open."

"Always looking for someone to replace me," you sighed, shaking your head dejectedly as you turned to the camera with a deep frown.

"Ah, here we go," Tom groaned, shooting you a playful glare because he knows that the teasing would only get more and more prominent from here on out.

"What? You and I both know I've got a lot of competition," you said as a matter of fact, leaning back on your seat with arms crossed over your chest. "Mainly Jake G. and Harrison, with a couple of variations here and there but you get what I mean."

Tom shook his head at you with a teasing roll of his eyes. "Once again, my girlfriend everyone," he said to the lens with a tight lip smile before turning back to you with a deadpan expression. You only shrugged in response, flashing him an innocent smile.

"Anyway, a fan suggested this in the comments of the last video so today, we're going to be doing Truth or Drink," he continued, turning back to face the camera. "Rules are simple, we take turns on reading out the questions that are written on these cards right here"—Tom lifted the stack of white, rectangular cards before placing them back on the table—"and we either answer them truthfully or we take a drink."

"Oh and a little disclaimer," you paused as you looked at the camera. "The lads wrote the questions so we have no idea what's in the cards nor did we have any involvement in the choosing of certain topics which are possibly going to be discussed in this video," you added, feeling like it was a fact that needed to be said.

"Parental guidance is advised," Tom chuckled.

"They're not that bad you divs," Harrison grumbled.

Now you're certain on who wrote most of the questions, he's been keen on taking offense whenever anyone gets suspicious over them. "We'll be the judge of that," you stated, raising a brow at Harrison before turning back to Tom.

"Let's get right into it shall we?" Tom proposed. You gave him a nod in response, jutting out two thumbs up for good measure. "Ladies first," he said, flashing you a charming grin as he gestured towards the pile of cards.

You reached over to the pile, making sure to pick the card in the middle just to make sure that it was completely random. You adore the lads, but knowing how mischievous they can get, you've learned to always keep one eye open with regard to everything that they do. Plus, it was so easy to set it up for you to pick a certain question given that it was only you and Tom taking turns on picking a card.

"We are starting off with something a tad bit dark huh." You gave the lads a swift glance before turning to the card you had on hand. "If I killed someone would you help me cover it up?" you read out loud, placing the card on the discarded pile before your gaze landed on Tom who gave you a small, secretive nod 'yes' which only made you giggle.

Tom leaned forward as he rested his elbow on the marble surface, hand playing with his chin with his eyes on the ceiling to seem that he was deep in thought. He turned back to you and said, "Do we not get any context? Was it an accident or was it on purpose? Was it due to hate or fear? Was it justified?"

"It's a yes or no answer Tom," you laughed.

"Well then, you already know the answer but for legal purposes," Tom paused, reaching for the bucket of ice and putting some in his glass. He poured the gin on top of that and then added a dash of lime, swirling around the glass to mix them all together. "My lips are sealed," he chuckled, lifting the glass up to his lips and taking a drink. "Oh, that's good stuff," he commented, taking another sip before putting the glass back down.

"Hypothetically, if you were going to help, you'll probably be the one who'll get us caught if I'm being honest," you giggled to which Tom threw his head back with a laugh.

"Yeah, you'll tell me what you did, I'll get shocked and as we're getting stuff to you know, hypothetically hide the body, I'll go 'I can't believe you killed someone' in public and then someone will hear and call the police and we're done."

You burst out in a hearty laugh at that, nodding your head in agreement. "That's exactly how it's going to happen."

It was Tom's turn to pick a question, his grin growing wider as his eyes scanned the card in his fingers. "What's the most embarrassing thing you've done in front of me?" he asked, his features brightening in excitement because he already knows the answer. There wasn't really much to begin with other than that one incident that will always haunt you for the rest of your life.

"Do you want me to tell them the story?" you sighed, leaning back on your chair with palms flat on the table. It wasn't one of your finest moments that's for sure and Tom hasn't been letting you hear the end of it. In fact, it was one of his favourite stories involving you both.

"It's up to you, love. You don't have to if you don't want to." Tom shrugged with a smirk, reaching for your glass to get your drink made. "But that moment was so adorable for me though, embarrassing for you but very adorable for me," he added with a wink.

"Adorable or ego boosting?" you pointed out with a raise of your brow.

"Both," Tom laughed, adding some ice in your glass and pouring just the right amount of gin soon after.

You watched with an adoring smile as he poured in the orange juice, the sound of silverware and glass clinking together filling the air as he mixed up the liquids. He then squeezed a bit of lime in your drink, taking the paring knife soon after to slice up another lime in a thin circle, making a small slit in the middle so he can put it on the rim of your glass easily. Tom can be extra at times, of course he felt the need to decorate your drink, even when it wasn't exactly necessary but you wouldn't want it any other way.

"Look at you being a bartender," you teased, Tom looking up from his task to shoot you playful wink with a smug smirk to match.

"You love to see it."

You shrugged, not at all denying his claim because well, you do love seeing it.

"Here you go, mi lady," he hummed, handing you your beautifully decorated drink with a proud grin on his lips.

"Thank you, kind sir."

As much as how refreshing the cocktail looked in its cold glass and bright, orange colored glory, you know you had to be strategic with drinking. Because alcohol boosts your confidence, it makes you brave, it makes you say things you wish you hadn't when sober. And with you being lightweight, it isn't exactly ideal to be happy-go-lucky with it, especially knowing how these questions can go from one thing to another real quick.

You thought it's best to share embarrassing things that you can live with to keep the drinking at a minimum, rather than take too much alcohol too fast and say worse things down the line because you got somewhat tipsy or downright drunk. There's really no way of knowing how hard it hits given that different types of alcohol affect you in different ways.

"Okay, it was when we first met, which obviously doesn't make it any less embarrassing, first impressions and all that," you started, sitting straight up as your fingers drummed around the cool surface of your glass. "Me and a friend of mine were at this park and decided it would be fun to rent out these bikes to get around quicker, so we did. Lo and behold, Tom and Harrison were also at said park—"

"Oh yeah, I remember this," Harrison laughed. "This is going to be good."

You shot the blonde lad a quick glare before continuing. "Luck wasn't on my side that day—well, depends on how you look at things because I did meet Tom and seem to have gotten far," you laughed towards the camera, giving Tom a swift glance who was quick to lock eyes with you as he nodded agreeably with a chuckle. "But add that to me being very clumsy and simply put, I fell off the bike right in front of him," you sighed dejectedly, heat coating your cheeks as the lads chuckled in their seats, purely in amusement and not at all in a demeaning way.

"Go on love, let's hear the full thing," Tom encouraged, sitting back on his chair with his arms crossed over his chest to relax, attention fully on you as if he hasn't heard this story many times before. He genuinely does love hearing it. As you've said, it was one of his favourites.

"I'm getting there," you grumbled, narrowing your eyes at Tom who only flashed you an adorable, bright smile, knowing that if he does that, you can't stay mad at him. With a another sigh, you continued, "As we were riding our bikes, we saw him and Harrison sitting on this random bench from afar doing, I don't know, maybe they were on a date or something—"

"Darling, don't try and steer the topic here," Tom laughed. You stuck out your tongue at him—yes, very mature—his laughter only growing louder at your reaction.

"I'm a big fan of the Marvel movies, so obviously, I knew who he was. I was trying to keep my cool, you know, I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of him and thought I'll just ride pass, don't want to disturb whatever they had going on. But as soon as we got near to where they were sat, he looked towards my direction and we made eye contact—"

"The power I have," Tom crooned with a smug smile, earning a pointed eye-roll from you.

"Oh shut up. You know that wasn't the sole reason why I fell," you scoffed. "The chains on my bike went loose so I had no full control over it. We weren't going slowly as well because this friend of mine thought it was a good idea to one up each other so we kept going faster and faster, racing towards who knows what.

"So, my next option was to just plant my foot on the ground to stop it right? But as I've said, luck wasn't on my side that day. Before I could even do it, a rock went under the front wheel—which I didn't see given that I was distracted, you lot know why—and completely took me off balance and the bike went sideways real quick that I didn't have any time to react at all. And...did I roll a few times?" You turned to your boyfriend.

"Twice," he confirmed, a sympathetic smile on his lips as he tilted his head at you sweetly.

"Now, I don't see why you find this story adorable." You narrowed your eyes at your man.

"Not the actual accident, darling. It's what happened after that I found adorable. You were so cute being all shy and embarrassed," Tom defended with a pout. "And you know for a fact that whenever I see you with the smallest scrape or cut I panic and fuss over you immediately."

"You do. A bit too overdramatically," you giggled. It was a bit much sometimes how he worries but that's just Tom being the caring and overprotective boyfriend that he is. "Anyway, so yes, I rolled on the ground twice but all I remember was that I was already lying on my back, watching the sky while my knees, forearms up to my elbows and palms were burning. Then I saw Tom approaching and I swear I was just wishing that the ground would swallow me up right then and there," you finished.

"I quickly rushed to her aid, because you know, I'm Spider-Man," Tom added with a cocky shrugged, arms open wide as if to showcase himself.

There was a loud, collective groan from the lads which earned a laugh from you and a sound of pure protest from Tom.

"It's true!" he exclaimed. "Anyway, she then went, 'oh, my knight and shining armour, my handsome Prince Charming'," Tom gushed, voice at a higher pitch with the utmost exaggeration as he placed the back of his hand over his forehead. "And I went, 'don't worry princess, I'm here to save you,' and then we kissed and lived happily ever after," he concluded with the cheekiest smile.

"We remember this story very differently." You shook your head at him with a hearty laugh. This boy is always something else. "But fine, I'll give you the Prince Charming part because you did look like it.

"What you said was, 'miss, are you alright?' which was very formal of you, especially with the accent." You turned to the camera with a suggestive wiggle of your brows, making Tom drop his head shyly with a chuckle as his cheeks turned slightly pink. "And no, we didn't kiss. You don't kiss people you just met Thomas, get a hold of yourself. He helped me up and was kind enough to offer to take me to the hospital which wasn't needed since it was just a few cuts and scrapes but still insisted that I get checked. Who knew you'd be overprotective since day one," you laughed.

Tom shrugged with a chuckle. "We got to know each other while in the hospital and after she got cleaned up, I thought, I liked talking to her and I really don't want to say goodbye just yet. So, I invited her to lunch which she surprisingly said yes," he teased, sarcasm laced in his tone at his last sentence as he shot the camera a knowing and smug look. You kicked him lightly under the table, the action catching him off guard making him let out a yelp.

"It was more of me being polite because you helped and that. Didn't want to seem rude by saying no," you said, Tom gasping in full offense at your words. You let out a laugh as you rushed, "I'm kidding! Of course I wanted to go to lunch with you. It was impossible to say no because you've been really sweet and a real gentleman that day. And well, it was fun hanging out with you."

Tom smiled widely at that, nothing but pure love coating his features as he held your gaze, hand sneaking over to yours that was on the table and giving it a quick but loving squeeze.

"Where did Harrison go?" Harry wondered, the blonde boy suddenly turning silent and surely enough when you gave him a swift glance, he was already blushing.

"I had my friend with me, Tom had Harrison, you do the math," you said plainly, laughter laced in your tone.

"Oh, so you got some that day," Tuwaine chuckled, nudging the boy beside him with his elbow.

"Shut up, Tuwaine," Harrison grumbled, swatting away his friend lightly.

"But in conclusion, I am a superhero in real life," Tom stated proudly, swiping away the imaginary dust that was lying on his shoulder. He turned to the camera with a bright and wide smile. "But I do thank that bike every day."

"A bit sadistic but okay," you added, looking at Tom skeptically with a scrunch of your nose.

"No! I meant we wouldn't have gotten to know each other if that didn't happen," Tom rushed, lips turning into a pout when you only did nothing but laugh. "You're mean."

"You're just too adorable not to pick on," you giggled, his pout turning more prominent at your words.

You so badly wanted to get up off your seat and give him a proper kiss, but those things are always reserved privately. You two had never been big with public displays of affection, just the casual holding hands and occasional hugs. There are a few instances where you'll sneak a quick kiss while hanging out with friends but that's different compared to it being on tape for the whole world to see later on.

"Anyhow, what's the most embarrassing thing that you have done in front of me?" You asked back, your turn to grin wide because you know which story it was going to be, the way Tom's cheeks were quick to be dusted red was a clear indication that you were right.

"I'm smooth as hell, would never embarrass myself in front of a lady," he said casually, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back on his chair, all cool and suave.

"Oh shut up and tell the story," you said with a playful roll of your eyes, Tom letting out a shy chuckle before he leaned on the table.

"Right, it was our second date and I split my trousers open," he said, short and sweet, though his blush was already deepening because Tom knows the sharing won't stop there.

"Wait, how open?" Tuwaine asked.

"Like full on, centre to back, underwear and inner thighs with a bit of butt showing open. It would have been a bit better if I wore black pants—boxers to the American people—and black trousers right? But me being unlucky, I went for light-coloured denim jeans and black pants that day so it's fully obvious that I did ripped my trousers open," he chuckled shyly, hand going to rub at his shoulder, body slightly crouched as he refused to look away from his glass of gin.

"Go on Thomas, let's hear the full thing," you prodded, throwing his previous words right back at him.

He lifted his head up to shoot you a playful glare, though sat straighter anyway, elbows now on the table with his hands clasped together as he got ready to tell his story. "We were well underway our second date, a simpler one which was a walk in a somewhat less crowded park—"

"What's with you two and parks?" Harrison pointed out with a chuckle.

"Disaster just waiting to happen as you can tell," Tom laughed.

"We've steered clear from parks after all these incidents," you joked with a giggle.

"I did a flip and didn't land the right way was basically what happened," Tom continued, turning to the camera with a look of dismay. "We were walking by a couple of street dancers who were practicing a routine and they were doing all sorts of flips and tricks. She stopped walking completely and watched—wait, correction, stared at this certain bloke who was doing backflips—"

"I was not staring," you butted in. "I was just watching him do his thing and said how cool it was. And why are you making it seem like it's my fault?" you gasped, placing a hand over your heart, feign offence crossing your features.

"I'm not!" Tom laughed, hands up in surrender before he crossed his arms over his chest. "All I'm saying was that I was trying to impress you, which is why I offered to show you a flip. And as everyone in this room knows, I do the stupidest things when trying to impress a girl, especially when I like her that much."

"I was already impressed by you as is Tom, you didn't need to do a flip," you said as a matter of fact, small giggles escaping your lips as you looked at him with nothing but pure adoration. Tom felt his heart melt at the sight and more by your words. "And besides, I already knew you could do it. But somehow you felt the need to prove yourself after you saw me complimenting that dancer," you added.

"It's what you call ego, Tom," Harry laughed.

"Shut up, Harry." Tom shot his brother a glare though chuckled right after because it was in fact a bit true.

It was the silliest thing thinking back on it now, how he just said 'you want to see me do a flip?' out of the blue. You furrowed your brows at him in response, though your smile was laced with amusement. He just wanted to impress you as he'd said. And fine, maybe his ego got struck at teeny bit, and maybe he felt a little jealous that your attention got torn off of him because he truly did like you that much.

But at the end of the day, even though he had a little mishap, it all worked out so he wasn't at all complaining. "Anyway, so I did the flip, completely disregarding the fact that my shoes were slippy and my trousers were tight. I did land upright and not on my face this time so that's something," Tom chuckled. "But my right foot slipped so I was full on going on a wide split which I normally can't do since I am not flexible enough and proceeded to fall on my bum.

"The moment I heard the sound I instantly knew and just went, 'oh no' and remained on the ground because I didn't know what to do then. I was already embarrassed because I slipped, do I really want to tell her I tore open my trousers too?" Tom laughed timidly, the blush on his cheeks turning redder as he rubbed the back of his neck in utter embarrassment.

"I kind of knew right away though because I did hear something rip," you giggled. "He then just slowly stood up, hands behind, flat on his bum and said, 'I split my trousers open' in the smallest voice like a kid who's scared to tell their mum they fell or they'll get scolded. Plus his face was beet red, just like now." You pointed towards your boyfriend, who in turn stuck his tongue out at you as his blush turned into an even deeper shade of crimson.

"Thank God I wore a jacket that day and I was able to at least hide it until we got back to the car or else someone would've clocked it, took a picture, posted it on the internet and it would've made things much worse," Tom pointed out with a chuckle, glad that there was no paparazzi or it would've been a nightmare. "And the fact that you tried so hard not to laugh but still failed made me feel so embarrassed that I was quick to think that that was it. I ruined my chances, no more third date," he added as he turned to you with a small pout.

"I couldn't help laughing because it was the most adorable thing how you went from being all confident and cocksure on doing a flip to this shy boy who refused to look me in the eyes without turning even redder," you said, pure amusement laced in your tone. "But no, that incident made me like you more, it was just too endearing. Third date never left the table after that," you concluded with a sweet smile which only made Tom's grin grow wider.

"Even though she laughed, she was so sweet and kind about it. We had to cut our date shor—actually no, we didn't. We went back to your place and decided to do a movie marathon instead," Tom said fondly, face glowing with joy as the memory brought nothing but warmth across his chest.

"Yeah, with you wearing a pair of my sweatpants," you giggled, mirroring his expression as your mind recalled the sweet moment of you and him, simply cuddled up on the couch.

"And that's on getting the girl by splitting your trousers open," Tom said with a smug smile, pointing at the camera as he shot it a knowing look with a wriggle of his brows.

"And getting the boy by falling off a bike," you added, doing exactly what he did as you turned to face the lens.

"Look at us," Tom gushed, looking back at you with a smile, reaching across the table to take your hand in his. "Hey, look at us."

"Look at us. Who would've thought?" you giggled, giving his hand a squeeze in return.

You were always quick to catch on what he was trying to do that Tom couldn't help but smile widely, heart melting ten times over at the thought of you knowing him so well. "Not me," Tom chuckled, letting go of your hand and holding up his palm for a high-five to which you gladly obliged with laughs of your own.

"You two are made for each other," Harry chuckled with a shake of his head, now just getting that you two were recreating the famous Paul Rudd meme.

"My turn right?" Tom asked. You nodded with a hum as you pushed the pile of cards towards him. He let out a loud scoff once he read the question, his reaction making you raise a brow in both curiosity and slight dread. "Be honest," he said as he looked up from the paper, gaze landing on you. "Who do you love more, me," he paused for dramatic effect, narrowing his eyes at you before continuing, "Or Tessa?"

You let out a small groan as you hang your head low, fingers tracing the side of your cold glass. You let out a sigh of defeat before you met Tom's expectant gaze. "I can't possibly answer that question," you grumbled, bringing the glass up to your lips as you took a swift drink before placing it back down.

"That was such a tiny sip," Harrison pointed out.

"Alright, alright, I guess we can tell who the bad influence here is," you said with a teasing roll of your eyes, but still took another drink anyway, taking in more of it this time around. You just want to play the game fair and square. "You actually made that really well. It's really good," you hummed at Tom as you placed your drink back down, the lad grinning widely in response.

"Why thank you, darling," Tom crooned, voice smooth with a pride-filled smile, pushing over the pile of cards back in the middle of the table to get you to ask the next question.

"Okay, who wrote this?" You turned to the boys behind the camera with a raise of your brow. "If the alcohol wasn't going to do it, then this will definitely get the video restricted, unless you're going to bleep some words out?" You turned to Harry.

"I've got that covered," Harry laughed.

Glancing back at the card you had on hand, you asked, "If our sex life was porn, what genre would it be?" You looked up at Tom to see him try his best to hold back a smirk.

"Nope, not answering that," he laughed with a shake of his head as he lifted his glass off the table. "Mainly because there are too many genres that it would fit for me to only pick one," Tom muttered softly against his drink as he looked at you through his lashes. His words were muffled but you still heard it, you were closer to him after all. You felt your cheeks heat up at that, even more so when your man shot you a teasing wink before downing the shot of gin not long after.

Tom set his glass down and reached over to take another card. "What does your family think of me?" he asked with a clear of his throat.

"Well..." You slowly dragged your drink closer to you, Tom's mouth falling agape that you couldn't help but burst into a hearty laugh. "I'm kidding! You already know how much they love you," you said. "I mean, my parents call him 'son' so." You shrugged as you turned to the camera. Tom puffed out his chest all proud with a very smug smile on his lips. You rolled your eyes, sighing as you added, "They probably even love you more than they love me."

Tom chuckled, "My family loves you more than they love me, too—"

"I can vouch for that," Harry intervened.

"Thanks, Harry," Tom said sarcastically, flashing his brother a forced smile. Turning back to you, he finished, "So, I guess we're even."

You could only nod with a soft giggle, reaching over to the stack of cards to keep the pace going. "Lads! What's with these kinds of questio—you know what, I don't even expect any less from you guys," you sighed, pursing your lips as you re-read the question again before sitting straight up and looked into Tom's eyes. "What would you do if you caught me watching porn?" you asked.

"Watch it with you and help get it done, duh?" he answered without hesitation, leaning back on his chair as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Have done a couple times actually," Tom murmured, somewhat to himself, though not really since everyone in the room—and pretty sure the camera—heard it.

"Tom!" you hissed.

You felt your body tingle, legs instinctively closing together as the countless moments it happened replayed itself inside your brain. Although what he said wasn't false, it wasn't the full truth either. He didn't exactly catch you red handed, never did since you don't watch porn often.

All you did was asked him—merely out of curiosity—what type he mostly watches. Your question sparked an idea in his head which led to you sitting in between his legs, bare back against his naked chest as the laptop sat right in front of you both with the video of his choice.

Tom then made his way with you while you watched, making sure you never take your eyes off the couple on screen or else. He was always fully in control over you every time you do it, his fingers sometimes delicate, mostly rough, touch hot and heavy all over your skin, lips warm on your neck, teeth sharp against your bare shoulder as he brings you to the edge over and over and over with nothing but his hands. And once the video ends, Tom will take it upon himself to re-enact the whole of it with you—if you could still take it of course—bringing what was on screen to real life, full recreation from start to finish.

Best believed you're properly blissed out at the stop of every play.

Your boyfriend's eyes widened once he realized the actual volume of his voice, face turning a deep shade of red, sitting straight abruptly as he rushed, "No! Wait—dammit." Tom casted his eyes down shyly when the boys let out exaggerated gasps and sounds of disapproval, a telltale sign that they already heard it. "I'm sorry, darling." He met your gaze again as he shot you a sheepish smile, his head tilted to the side guiltily to which you only responded with a shake of your head.

Typical Thomas.

"Bleurgh, too much info," Harrison gagged, the other boys following suit with their own sounds of repulsion.

"Oh fuck off you divs. You guys wrote the questions so obviously, you wanted to find out," Tom countered, shooting the lads a glare each.

"We didn't expect you to actually answer it!" Harry defended.

"We're cutting that whole part out, no way that's going up online," you grumbled, eyes staring at nothing but your drink as you tried to hide the obvious embarrassment that's coated your features.

Tom reached across the table to give your hand a squeeze, you meeting his gaze to see him mouth a gentle 'I'm sorry.' You flashed him a sweet smile, squeezing his hand in return to tell him that it was alright. It wasn't live so there wasn't any real harm done, aside from future jokes from the boys. That you can deal with than having that confidential information on the internet which will then follow you around for the rest of eternity.

Letting go of your hand, Tom sat straighter and turned to the camera. "If you guys are wondering why there's a jump cut and my face is suddenly so red, it's because I spilled something I shouldn't have that we had to cut it out. And no, it's something you'll never find out," he chuckled shyly, knowing that once the video goes out, fans are going to be so annoyed and will pester him—and everyone in the room—nonstop to try and find out what was cut.

Better that, than embarrassing you in front of millions though, so he'll deal with them no problem. Because as promised, if you weren't comfortable with it staying in the video, then it gets cut out, no questions asked. You and what you're comfortable with always come first in Tom's book.

"Yet again, thank God we didn't do this live," you muttered with a playful roll of your eyes.

Tom shot you one last apologetic smile before he cleared his throat, "Right, moving on." He shifted in his seat and took another card from the pile. "What's the one thing you'd change about me?" he asked.

"Your height," you answered without missing a beat. You chewed on your lip to suppress a grin but still failed miserably, especially when Tom looked at you with his jaw hanging and his eyes wide open.

A chorus of 'ooh's erupted from the boys which only prompted a laugh from you, the joyous sound growing louder when they started to rub it to Tom even more.

"Pfft, apply ice on the burnt area," Harry said as he blew out his cheeks.

"Mate, she's just bodied you with that," Tuwaine tutted at Tom, rising up from his seat soon after to offer you a high-five. You gladly obliged with a laugh, Tom gawking at you with utmost betrayal on his face.

"You're lucky you're very cute, especially when you laugh," Tom grumbled as he shot you a playful glare. The crinkles on the corner of your eyes deepened as you only smiled brightly at him with a tilt of your head, which honestly made you look even more endearing. He could never be mad at you, too whipped to hold a grudge no matter how much you tease him. And besides, that's all there is to it, nothing but teasing jokes and banter.

"If I were you, Tom, I'd start taking those growth pills before she starts to question why she's even with you," Harrison proposed jokingly which earned boisterous laughter from the rest of the gang.

"You lot are so fucking overdramatic. I'm not that short," Tom quipped with a roll of his eyes, gaze landing back on you with his famous pout now in play yet again. "And babe, it's a truth or drink video, not a roast me video," he stated, palms flat on cool marble as he looked at you with puppy-dog eyes.

"I'm joking! I'm joking," you rushed with a giggle. "I wouldn't change a single thing. You know I love you, just the way you are," you sang the last line, though your voice held nothing but sincerity as you reached over to give his hand a loving squeeze. Tom nodded with a sigh, though never did he doubt your words, knowing it deep in his bones that physical traits would never outweigh how much you love him, no matter what.

"Right, let's keep this going," you said as you took another card. "Who is smarter, me or you?" you asked.

"Me," Tom said proudly.

"Well, that's a lie," you objected.

Tom couldn't help but laugh at that, nodding at you as he chuckled, "It's you, obviously. Have you seen the last video?"

"Hmm, I don't know, I think Tom's smarter. I mean, you decided to date him, Y/N, which isn't exactly the brightest decision," Harry inferred, earning a loud gasp from his older brother.

"Excellent point," you agreed, your boyfriend's head whipping towards your direction with nothing but absolute offense written on his face.

"Babe! You're supposed to be on my side!" Tom exclaimed. "Why are we roasting me all of a sudden?" he complained.

"You're just too fun to pick on," you laughed, Tom's bottom lip jutting out at your words. "Especially when you do that, too cute," you pointed out, the apples of Tom's cheek turning pink as a smile grew on his lips at the compliment. "But I am smarter," you concluded, shooting the camera a wink.

"Will not refute," Tom chuckled, keeping the flow of the game as he took another card. "If you weren't with me, who of my brothers would you consider dating?" he said, voice pitching higher at the last few words. A look of downright disgust covered Tom's face immediately as he looked at the boys behind the camera who were snickering like the mischievous little shits that they are. "You lot are grim."

You matched Tom's expression, scrunching your nose as you shook your head quickly. Having been with Tom long enough, you now see the three of the Holland boys as your own brothers, so the mere thought of dating any of them is just—

"I'm not even going to think about it," you grumbled as you took a sip of your cocktail and then picked a card right away. "Who's the celebrity who you were the most disappointed with when you met them?" you continued swiftly, a smile on your lips as you looked at Tom who let out a sigh.

"You know I can't answer that," he stated in a matter-of-fact tone, your smile growing wider as you picked up the bottle of gin and refilled his glass. "Thank you, darling," he chuckled with a shake of his head, taking a drink right after.

"Is there anyone in my friend group, famous or not, that you do not like?" Tom continued with a raise of his brow, gaze steady on you.

You emptied your glass—that was still half full—without a single word and placed it back down with a small burp. "Oh, excuse me," you cleared your throat with a laugh.

Tom's brows furrowed at you in mere curiosity, gesturing for your glass so he can remake you another drink. You slid it over to him with a soft 'thank you' and a sweet smile. He started opening up the bottle of juice though his eyes were still on you, narrowed in pure skepticism.

"Who?"

"Not part of the question, Tom," you said, flashing him an innocent smile

"I know who it is," Harry coughed fakely.

"Me too," Tuwaine added with a fake cough of his own.

"It's Harrison because he's trying to take you away from me," you commented, laughing at how the blonde lad gasped in utter protest.

"That's a lie because I know who it is too," Harrison defended.

"So, everyone knows except me?" Tom mused, rolling his eyes in the process.

"What else is new?" you giggled with a shrugged, Tom only sighing as he shot you yet another pout. This boy never ceases to use it since he knows you always swoon whenever he does. 'I'll tell you later,' you mouthed, making him nod with a proud smile.

You gently leaned back on your seat, closing your eyes when you felt a little woozy. You took in slow, deep breaths, the marble cold against your palms as your body started to grow warmer from head to toe.

Maybe downing that drink wasn't the best idea.

"You okay, darling?" Tom asked sweetly, tilting his head at you in worry as he went to take your hand in his. His brows knitted together when your skin felt unusually warm in his palms.

"Yeah," you giggled, opening your eyes to meet his concern-filled brown ones, flashing him a reassuring smile and a nod to match as you gave his hand a squeeze. "Just the alcohol slowly kicking in."

"Want to take a minute, sweetheart?"

"No, I'm good. Go on and ask the question bubba," you prompted as you beamed at him, Tom's heart melting at the beautiful curve on your features and more by the sound of that sweet nickname. Although, he knew that you'd reached your calm before the storm.

You're always smiley and extra sweet when you start to get a little tipsy. But from here on out, especially if you decide to take even more alcohol, you start switching from calm to giddily energetic. That's when the words would start flowing out your lips before your brain could even register what you've just said.

Tom replaced your hand with a white card once he was sure you were fine. A cheeky grin erupted on his face as he asked, "What's your favourite sex position?"

You pursed your lips, eyes landing on the ceiling, fingers drumming on the marble surface of the table as you pondered on it for a second. Tom watched you intently, a soft chuckle escaping him when you met his gaze again with a sweet yet shy smile.

"I've got three though," you said, mostly to him but in a not-so-hush tone. Your mind and your mouth don't cooperate sometimes when there's alcohol in the mix.

"Different one for a different mood," Tom hummed with a smirk, finishing up your drink with a squeeze of lime, mixing it up before sliding it back towards you. "Just say one or take a drink, darling."

"I need to slow down with drinking or else I'll be saying much worse things. I can already feel my filter shutting down," you breathed out, tilting your head to the side as you gazed at Tom for a bit of help. "But do I really want this out in the world?"

"Oh, go on Y/N, live a little," Harrison prodded with nothing but utter mischief in his eyes.

You don't know why but somehow, Harrison words were the last straw for that burst of confidence to suddenly overflow. Boldness coated your every nerve as you squeezed your eyes shut and straight up blurted,

"Doggy."

Tom's eyes grew wide, both of his brows rising as he looked at you surprised. Yes, doggy was one of your—and his—favourites, he already knew that, what surprised him was you actually saying it out loud. Although he was swift to turn cocky as he leaned back on his seat, arms crossed over his chest while he kept his gaze steady on you.

As you peaked one eye, you saw that certain smirk of his now playing on his pink lips, one you only ever see privately. You felt your face heat up at that, added from the alcohol and embarrassment. The warmth was quick to spread to the rest of your body though, with the way he was looking at you, it was so hard for it not too. And as your eyes fully soaked him in, gaze traveling from his handsome face sporting that teasing smirk to his bulging biceps, the temperature could only rise. Your senses was now somewhat heightened that you were able to notice every single thing that made your man so fucking attractive and downright hot.

Since when did his hoodie grow even tighter? And damn, why is it so hot all of a sudden? It's probably the alcohol, or mainly just Tom, or simply both.

"Favourite type of porn!" you hear someone from the gang call out—probably Harrison since he's been causing trouble from the very start—interrupting your thoughts. With the alcohol in your system, just as expected, your brain genuinely forgot to take control of your tongue before you could even tell yourself: 'don't!'

"Sometimes hardcore," you let out, slapping your hand over your mouth immediately as your eyes grew wide. You quickly met Tom's eyes, his brown orbs glowing with shock, amusement and a sprinkle of lust. He gave you a soft nod with a soft smile in response, confirming that yes, you said it out loud, and yes it was already too late. "Oh no, this was what I meant when I needed to slow down on alcohol," you groaned, rubbing your hand over your warm face before looking back across your man with a pout.

"Aye! Hardcore doggy yeah?" Harrison cheered teasingly, moving towards Tom and giving his best friend a pat on the shoulder. Tom threw his head back with a laugh, face red but the look of utmost pride was also there. Harrison swiftly offered his fist to Tom, to which the brunette gladly indulged, their knuckles colliding as chuckles escaped the two mates.

You let out a choked laugh as your eyes widened in surprise, jaw going slack with your face heating up even more. "Did you guys just fist bump to that?"

"I mean." Tom shrugged, throwing his hands up with the smuggest grin, causing you to shake your head dejectedly with a groan. You shot Harrison a pointed glare when he went back to his seat, still snickering to his heart's content as if his master plan was in the works.

What a little shit.

"I'm definitely not going to let my parents watch this video," you mumbled with a roll of your eyes.

"I've got a question for Tom though," Tuwaine started, though the glimmer in his eyes told you it wasn't a clean one. "Do you grab it or do you smack it?"

Tom wheezed before erupting into a very rowdy laugh, hands slapping on his thigh as his body shook in nothing but pure enjoyment, his face red from a mixture of embarrassment, glee and the alcohol.

"Oh my—right! Next question!" you squeaked, not giving your boyfriend any time to answer as you attempted to swiftly move on.

"Wait, wait," Tom breathed out as he slowly calmed down, getting up from his seat as he went over to your side. "Harry stop recording for a sec," he called out to his younger brother before he gestured for you to turn until your back was facing the camera.

Tom crouched down in front of you, hands on your knees with a sweet, reassuring smile on his lips. "We'll edit out the parts you're not comfortable with to stay in the vid, alright?" he stated softly.

You nodded with a smile of your own, taking his hand in yours as you played with his fingers. "I'm not opposed to keeping the last two questions since everyone has their favourite position and type of porn. It's normal," you hummed, tilting your head at him as you added, "You saying you've helped me with, you know, that was much more private though, 'cause it's our thing."

"I know, I'm sorry, love," Tom apologized, voice soft but coated with sincerity as his hand went up to cup your face lovingly, brown eyes gazing up into yours with just the same emotions. "We're cutting that part out, I promise."

"But you think your fans would take these questions well?" you queried, leaning into his touch in a way that made Tom's heart do flips inside his chest.

He nodded. "Yeah, I think it's fine. The video is going to be age restricted anyway. And besides, we're both adults, so there's nothing wrong with it," he explained. You hummed in agreement, leaning your head on his hand as you closed your eyes with a soft sigh, your skin very warm against his palm. Tom moved closer to give your lips a sweet peck. "Want some water angel?"

"No, I'm good." You smiled, Tom nodding as he mirrored your grin, giving your lips another kiss before he stood back to his full height and then sat back on his seat.

Shooting Harry the go signal to start recording again, Tom chuckled, "Sorry, needed to cool down for a sec after that." He turned towards the camera, tugging at the collar of his hoodie as he blew out his cheeks to get a point across.

You could only roll your eyes at your man, his laugh growing louder at your reaction. Swiftly taking a card from the pile, you continued with the game. "Is this going to be the theme from here on out, lads?" you asked, eyeing the boys behind the camera suspiciously before you turned back to Tom. "Is there something in the bedroom you'd like to try that you haven't told me?"

Tom's cheeks turned even redder at the question, completely shying away now as his hand went to rub at his shoulder. "I can't think of one right now," he muttered as he looked at you sheepishly. "But no, I'm not answering that since we talk about that off camera anyway," Tom settled with a timid chuckle, refilling his glass and taking a drink of the gin soon after.

"Your turn," you giggled, pushing the pile towards him.

"Oh, okay. What a way to shift the topic," Tom breathed out, scanning the card one more time as he sat up straighter. "If I was in a coma how long would you wait for me?" he asked, meeting your gaze with a tender smile.

"I'll keep waiting for you until you wake up, no matter how long," you answered, without even a single inch of doubt, despite the slight shake in your voice as your eyes started to well up. "Never giving up on you."

"Darling," Tom cooed softly with a pout, the screeching sound of his chair echoing around the space as he pushed his seat back. He went back over to your side quickly, remaining on his feet as he leaned down to engulf you in a tight and warm embrace, swaying you side to side in the most comforting way as he whispered sweet nothings against your hair.

You buried your face in his chest with a shaky breath, the material of his hoodie soft against your cheek. You willed your brain not to think much of it, to not dwell on that thought and focus more on the Tom's warmth that's coated you right now. Or else you'll end up a bawling mess, and with the alcohol in your system, it's not a good idea to start crying now.

Your man pulled away gently with a charming smile, cupping your face with both hands as he towered over your seated form. "I'd do the exact same, just so you know," he hummed, brown eyes locked with yours, his thumbs caressing your cheeks fondly before he dipped his head to capture your lips in a loving kiss. You let out a sweet sigh as you melt at the feeling of his soft lips on yours, mind and heart at ease at familiar warmth. The gesture wasn't fully caught on camera though given that you were turned at the opposite direction.

"I love you," you hummed against his lips.

Tom chuckled sweetly, giving you a few more pecks on the lips before pulling away completely, staring right into your eyes as he whispered, "And I love you."

With that he went back to his seat again, flashing you one of his many charming grins before he turned to the group behind the camera.

"You lot are onto something I can tell," Tom said as he raised a brow at the lads who suspiciously grew quiet, looking everywhere in the room but at you two.

Not thinking much of it, you swiftly took another card and read the question. "What would you do if you suddenly get a call that I was gone?" you trailed off at the end of your sentence, brows knitting together as you turned to the group behind the camera. "Guys, this is a cruel question."

"Oh," Tom faltered, smile slowly slipping away from his face as he casted his eyes at his drink.

"Tom, you don't have to answer it," you called out softly, frown deep on your lips as you reached over to take both his hands in yours. But it was already too late when he squeezed your hand tightly, lifting his head back up to meet your gaze and you felt your heart ache. That's when you saw that his mind was already there, brown orbs glossed up as he let out a shaky breath.

"I'd literally shut down," he croaked. "I-I don't know what'd I do if that happens. I just can't imagine my life without you. I—" he stopped, head dropping as his voice broke.

"Oh Tom, come here," you cooed as you immediately got out of your seat and rounded the table, turning him around and away from shot for a bit of privacy. You squatted in between his legs that were spread apart to be much closer to him, gently cupping his face with both your hands so that you were now within eye level. "Hey, look at me," you whispered when you were met by eyes that were screwed shut.

With a deep intake of breath, Tom willed his eyes to open. He looked at you with a small smile playing on his lips, heart steadying at the sight of your beautiful orbs boring into his own. He leaned forward to close the distance between you two, just so he could feel your lips on his. Tom badly needed to. A soft satisfied sigh erupted out your chest as your hand took home on his warm cheek.

"I'm still here bubba. I'm not going anywhere," you hummed against his lips before giving him warm kisses all over his face that made him stifle out a small laugh. You pulled away a little with a loving smile, wiping away the few tears that sat on his skin with your thumb, your touch gentle and warm.

"I love you so much, you know that?" Tom whispered as he looked at you fondly, nudging the tip of his nose with yours in a wholesome manner.

"I love you too, you sweet, soft boy," you giggled, placing a sweet peck on his lips before pulling him in for a hug. You lifted your head up to shoot each of the boys a sharp glare, the three cowering away in their seats as they each said their soft apologies.

Pulling away with a smile, you cupped Tom's face with a hum, "Better?"

"Loads," Tom sighed with a sweet smile, leaning in for one last peck before he lets you go back to your seat. "You purposely put that in there to make me cry didn't you?" Tom spoke, narrowing his eyes at boys who only shrugged in feign innocence. "You lot are evil I tell you."

"Now let's get back on a lighter note!" you exclaimed, pushing the cards towards Tom since it was his turn to ask.

Tom pursed his lips as his brows furrowed at the question. "If you could sleep with any person in the world, who would it be?" he wondered, eyes locking with yours in warning. "Now, careful with your answer, love," he hummed.

"Is that a threat Holland?" you challenged with a raise of your brow.

"I'm just saying, I may already know or will meet this person in the futur—"

"Chris Hemsworth," you blurted, Tom's mouth falling open as he gawked at you in shock. "I'm kidding," you rushed with a hearty laugh.

"Are you though?" Tom doubted, squinting at you suspiciously.

You bit your bottom lip as you held his gaze, Tom letting out a loud gasp when you suddenly took a drink all while maintaining eye contact with him.

"I'm going to have a word with you later missy," he grumbled, voice suddenly an octave deeper, somewhat a soft growl, one that you felt down to your core.

You shifted in your seat with a clear of your throat, shooting him an innocent smile as you said, "To be fair, you did say—publicly may I add—that you'd sleep with Hemsworth too when you did fuck, marry and kill with the three Chrises so, roll the clip!"

Tom shook his head at you with a playful roll of his eyes. "Touché," he sighed, brows furrowed in confusion when you suddenly covered your mouth.

"Oops, I just realized I said the F-word, sorry Harry," you said meekly, a certain smile on your lips which guaranteed that you were now dancing onto drunken territory. Tom knows you like the back of his hand, if the way you were smiling wasn't enough then, the simple look in your eyes would let him know that the alcohol has fully hit you this time.

"It's alright. One bleep word is nothing compared to last week's video. And it's not like this video has been clean anyway," the young twin chuckled.

"So, Fuck Hemsworth, who are you marrying and who are you killing?" Tuwaine asked.

"Marry Evans, Kill Pratt," you answered promptly.

Tom leaned back on his seat as he crossed his arms over his chest, running his tongue over his teeth slowly all while staring you down. "That's a quick answer Y/N," he hummed, shooting you a teasing glare.

"Oh please, yours was quick too, Thomas," you retorted, crossing your arms over your chest as you mirrored him, never backing down from his stare even though it was making you feel certain things.

"Wait, if you're marrying Evans and killing Pratt, and I'm marrying Pratt and killing Evans, does that mean we're set out to kill each other's husband?" Tom started as he leaned forward and towards the table.

"So, if you were successful in killing Evans, and I was successful in killing Pratt, that means we're both widowed," you continued, laying your hands now flat on the marble surface.

"Meaning there's still a chance that we will still end up together. Meant to be if you ask me," Tom concluded, lifting up a hand.

You moved forward to give him a high-five, missing his hand by a lot which made you let out a loud, hearty laugh, Tom following suit with laughs of his own.

"What are you two on?" Harrison said with a crinkle of his nose.

"Alcohol," you and Tom answered at the same time. Both of your mouths turned into the shape of O's as you looked at each other properly delighted.

"Jinx!" both of you exclaimed in unison. "Jinx again!"

"Our mental synchronization; can have but one explanation," you and Tom sang in harmony, never breaking your gaze as you both smiled proudly.

"You—"

"And I—"

"Were—"

"Just—"

"Meant to be!" You two ended with fits of laughter, raising your hands to go for another high five. You missed Tom's hand again which only made you wheeze, tears of joy brimming in yours and his eyes as you tried for the second time, both of you cheering loudly when it finally landed.

"Cringe, really made for each other," Harry gagged teasingly with a grimace to match.

And then Harrison intervened. "How about fuck, marry, kill, Tom Hiddleston, Tom Felton and," he paused, grin turning wider like a Cheshire cat as he wiggled his eyebrows at you. "Tom Holland?"

"That's not part of the game," you protested with a pout.

"Answer the question, darling," Tom encouraged, looking at you expectantly.

"I'm taking a shot," you muttered, going for your drink but before you could even do so, Tom had already taken it far away from your reach. "Hey!" you whined.

Tom chuckled softly as he shook his head no. "You said it's not part of the game so no, you have to answer," he said. "And that's enough alcohol for you, my love," he cooed, tilting his head at you knowingly with a sweet smile. If Tom will let you continue with the drinking then you'll surely be complaining nonstop about the throbbing headache you'll get and the constant nausea after all this.

You sat back on your chair with your bottom lip jutted out, arms crossed over your chest to match, much like a child as you started to think about your answer. Although the process took way longer than you'd expect it to be and the boys were quick to notice.

"Uh oh, she's having a hard time," Harry teased when a few long seconds has gone by and you still haven't given an answer.

"I don't know how I feel about the hesitation here," Tom admitted as he looked at you curiously, brows furrowing with a chuckle when you were still deep in thought after a few seconds more.

"She genuinely is having a hard time," Tuwaine laughed.

"This is so unfair," you grumbled dejectedly as you looked at your man with a sweet, adorable pout, silently asking for help.

"What'd you do with me first to make things easier," Tom offered with a chuckle.

As if there was a hidden message to his words—there wasn't—your face suddenly lit up, slapping your palms on the table excitedly as you sat straighter. "You know what, kill the other two and I'll fuck and marry you," you declared heartily, eyes locked securely with Tom's with the proudest grin playing on your lips.

Tom's heart did somersaults at the mere fact of you wanting to marry him, grin wide and bright as he stared into your orbs, utmost love glowing in yours that was wholesomely mirrored by his brown ones.

It wasn't long until Tom felt his blood rush down though, heat dancing on his skin as his brain got occupied with the thought of you fucking him too. Certain memories flooded his mind, one after the other that it was getting harder for him to stay calm in his seat.

You are honestly giving him a whiplash with how you make him feel one emotion to another in a span of seconds, though Tom wasn't at all complaining.

"That's not how the game works!" Harrison exclaimed.

"I'm pretty happy with that answer," Tom shrugged with a wide, cocky grin, eyes never leaving yours as he raised a brow at you suggestively. You held his gaze with a tilt of your head, bottom lip caught between your teeth to try and stop your smile from growing.

The interaction didn't go unnoticed by Harry though. "Okay, stop eye-fucking each other you horny teenagers," the younger brother complained.

Tom laughed at that, shifting in his seat as he turned towards the camera. "On that note, we're ending the video there. This has been Tom Holland," he paused, giving you a nod as a cue.

"And Mrs. Holland," you blurted at the camera with a smile, eyes widening once you realised the choice of words you've just used. "Oh wait! No! Fuc—I don't mean no as in 'no,' I meant not yet," you fumbled. "We're not even engaged yet! Don't start with the headlines you." You pointed at the camera in warning.

He shook his head with a chuckle, red tinting his cheeks but pure admiration glowed in his eyes. "You own my fucking heart, you know that? You make me melt all the damn time," Tom gushed through gritted teeth, and it was taking a whole lot of his self-control to not jump over the table and just kiss you senseless. You felt your heart grow at his words but you could only bury your face in your hands with a groan of pure embarrassment. "She's drunk, my apologies," Tom added with a laugh as he turned towards the camera.

"Tipsy, there's a difference," you corrected as you shot him a glare.

Tom chuckled, smiling at you widely before turning back to the lens. "Anyway, see you on the next one and peace!" he finished with the sign and then a salute, Harry throwing out an upturned thumb to signal cut.

Once he saw that the camera was off, Tom was out of his seat in record speed, moving over to your now standing form as he swiftly wrapped both his arms around your waist and crashed his lips onto yours with a low groan. His arms tightened around you as he relished the feeling of finally having you so close.

You giggled against the kiss, resting your arms over his shoulders as you leaned back on the table to keep your balance, your bum half-rested on the marble while your foot stayed steady on the floor, legs apart so that Tom can situate himself between them easily.

"So, fuck and marry me huh?" Tom hummed deeply against your mouth, playfully nibbling at your bottom lip before pulling away so he can see your gorgeous face fully.

"Out of all the things I've said, that's what stuck with you?" you giggled with a shake of your head.

"I mean, you fucking me will never fail to sound very hot, reminds me of the few times you did." Tom wriggled his brows at you suggestively, hands giving your waist as teasing squeeze. "Though I don't know which one's hotter, that or you marrying me," he said with the proudest smirk.

"Will you two take this somewhere else?" Harry complained, always the last one to be left in the room given that he's mostly in-charge with taking care of the camera. Harrison and Tuwaine were already gone, continuing whatever they had to do that day.

"Don't think that would make a difference though," Tom chuckled smugly, looking back at you with a knowing grin.

"Which reminds me how we need to sound proof the fucking walls you nasty rabbits."

"I was kidding. We're not that loud fuck off," Tom remarked, rolling his eyes at his brother.

And to prove how wrong Tom's point was, Harrison suddenly started moaning so piercingly right in the next room, his voice a bit muffled but you can still hear him, loud and obnoxious.

"Fuck! Love! Fuck yes! Just like that, darling! Shit baby I'm gonna—"

"Fuck off Harrison you fucking twat!" Tom yelled at the top of his lungs, the blonde lad's boisterous and annoying laugh echoing soon after.

Tom turned crimson red as the embarrassment coated him from head to toe, head dropping for him to hide his face on the crook of your neck with a groan. You let out a soft giggle, hand landing on the back of his head as you ran your fingers through his hair comfortingly. Your face was warm as you were embarrassed just the same, although there was more of a sense of pride on your behalf because yes, Tom does get a bit loud sometimes, all courtesy to you.

It wasn't always of course, both of you aren't evil enough to torture the lads that much. Aside from the fact that Tom is rarely even home—meaning you don't do the deed that much in this house—the two of you had made a pact to make sure that you're completely alone before properly going at it. Admittedly, it does get a bit hard to keep the noise down sometimes, so the boys have to endure it every now and then. They do get back at you guys soon after as they are quick to be little shits with the teasing and dirty jokes, much like now.

"Maybe we do need to soundproof our walls," you teased once your man pulled away to look at you with a soft sigh, hands running up and down your waist sweetly.

"Or we could finally look for our own place to move in?" Tom proposed with a charming smile, your heart melting at the sight and skipping a beat at his words.

Granted, you've been with Tom for a fair three and a half years already, but neither of you had gone to take that step of actually living fully on your own where it's just no one but him and you in your own home. You've been living in this house for roughly the same time—maybe a year or two less—and you've got no problem living with the lads, you consider them as your brothers now. But you won't deny that having a place exclusively for you and Tom only would be pure bliss.

Of course you've talked about getting your own place and neither of you were opposed to it. It all just came down to Tom being constantly busy and barely even home. You'd rather live with the boys for the mean time than sulk all alone in a house while slowly being buried in the emotions of missing your boyfriend.

Tom also wanted to be there for the most of it—choosing and buying furniture, decorating a thing or two, moving, the likes—but with his schedule, it was hard to find the perfect time.

But now he's promised you that he'd slow down for a bit.

He genuinely hasn't done anything but work nonstop. It was just projects upon projects with only so little breaks in between, a month if he's lucky. Tom is one hardworking man, that's one of the many things you love about him, but he sometimes doesn't realize when he's pushing himself too far.

That's when you step in.

You'd encouraged him to take a breather, even if it's just for half a year or so but you never did pester him about it constantly as you weren't one to take him away from doing what he loves. Unless it gets way out of hand, then that's when you'll be putting your foot down. You know he'll do it whenever he's ready to slow down and now with most of his projects wrapped, he's finally decided that it was the right time to take that much needed break.

"I love the sound of that," you giggled, treading your fingers through his hair before tracing it down his chiseled jaw. "Not as much as I love the sound of you moaning though," you hummed teasingly.

"Well then, let's find our own place so you can hear me moan all for you and as loud as you want, darling," Tom purred lowly, his bottom lip caught between his teeth as his darkened orbs bored into yours, his hands sliding down to rest on the swell of your bum. He fondled the flesh hotly as he started to lean closer to capture your lips. But before Tom could even do so a loud voice made you both jump away from each other.

"For fuck's sake guys! I'm still fucking here!" Harry yelled, throwing both his hands in the air in downright annoyance and disgust as he screwed his eyes shut. "Go to your fucking room for the love of my sanity!"

You didn't even get a chance to apologise to the young lad as Tom swiftly grabbed your hand and rushed to your shared bedroom.

Nothing happened though apart from a couple minutes of making out, Tom deciding not to take it further given that you were all tipsy and intoxicated. Him deciding since you were persistent on saying you were fine even though you were giggling nonstop, easily tickled no matter how feather-like his kisses were. Not to mention how you could barely even keep your eyes open. So, both of you ended up taking a warm bath and then a nap right after that, instead.

Although the minute you sobered up, Tom made sure you weren't at all quiet this time around. It was due to the pent up tension that's been building since that somewhat steamy Q&A. And maybe, just maybe to get back at the boys a teeny bit for being little shits with both the teasing jokes and the dirty questions.

The two of you went out of your bedroom only at dinner time, stepping foot in the dining area where Harry, Tuwaine and Harrison were all situated. You felt the embarrassment coat every inch of your body when you took sight of the boys, more specifically, their expressions. Tom, on the other hand, had the cockiest smirk playing on his lips as he held his head high, tauntingly chuckling at his mates.

The three lads were sitting around the table with nothing but grimaces and downright disgust on their faces as they all grumbled in unison,

"Rabbits."

-:-:-:-:-

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my-unmanageable-mischief · 4 years

Text

Arranged Marriage Part 1

For the Anon who requested : Hey! Can I request something where Draco's parents arrange a marriage for him, and at first he's pissed, but then he meets her and she's pretty and his type and he winds up really enjoying her? Thank you so much!!

Part 2, Part 3

Draco Malfoy x Reader

Draco slammed the door to his bedroom, he was seething. He’d just gotten home from Hogwarts for Christmas holiday when he was bombarded by his mother, who was in the middle of planning their Christmas ball. However, she had other news as well. He was, against his wishes, engaged. He was absolutely livid with his parents, he hadn’t even been consulted. Not to mention the fact that he was only in his sixth year. He was sixteen years old for Merlin’s sake! And on top of it all, he still had his duties to carry out this year, he didn’t need more stress. And that’s all girls were; stress.

Apparently he would be meeting her, and they’d be announcing their engagement at the ball this year, he kicked his desk chair out of frustration and it skidded across the room, toppling over.

“Fuck me,” He muttered to himself, thinking about the few details his mother had given him. Her name was Y/N L/N, a fellow 6th year at Hogwarts in Ravenclaw. Her father worked for the Dark Lord as well, along with his own parents. Pure-blooded and pretty according to his mother. Any girl his mother thought was pretty was probably a troll. He cursed again and tossed himself onto his bed, staring at the ceiling. He tried to rack his brain, thinking of her name, and going through the 6th year Ravenclaw girls he could remember, seeing if he could match a face to the name.

“Y/N,” He spoke and the name sounded foreign on his lips. He could vaguely remember a girl in his potions class that went by that name with Y/Color/Hair. She wasn’t a troll but she wasn’t anything special either. A quiet bird who mostly kept to herself and sat towards the front of the classroom, typical Ravenclaw he scoffed to himself. This was ridiculous. Marriage! What next? Babies?! He hadn’t even graduated yet!

He wound up falling asleep on his bed, above the covers and shoes still on. His nap was plagued with visions of frilly white dresses and senseless dancing. When he woke up it was dark, and his family’s house elf had left him a dinner plate on his nightstand, but he wasn’t hungry. How could he eat at a time like this?

The week passed by agonizingly slow, and he spent most of his time being forced to help get the manor ready for their ball. His mother took him to Diagon Alley to purchase new dress robes. They were nice, black with all black accents. He looked at himself in his bedroom mirror, listening to the music and chatter from below. He was supposed to be downstairs an hour ago but he couldn’t bring himself to leave his room. He looked handsome, he knew, his pale skin and white hair popping elegantly with the all black ensemble. Yet he didn’t want to go downstairs where he knew his new fiance was waiting for him.

His house elf popped into his room and he looked away from the mirror with a glare.

“Missus said it’s time Mister Malfoy made his way downstairs. Guests are waiting.” Draco turned on his heel and walked towards the door taking a deep breath. He wasn’t nervous, Draco Malfoy did not get nervous. He was pissed and put out, still thinking this entire thing was ridiculous. He walked down the grand staircase, seeing his mother at the base, glaring at him.

“You’re late.”

“Sorry, mother.” She nodded her head in response and attempted to fix his collar but he jerked away from her, doing it himself. Suddenly the french doors leading from the ballroom to the foyer swung open and a girl stormed through like a winter storm. She was wearing a brilliant emerald green dress that hugged her curves and went down to the floor, there was some light beading on the bodice but nothing over the top. Her Y/C/H was up in a fancy array of braids and her Y/C/Eyes were red and slightly swollen.

“I’m not getting MARRIED! Are you daft!” She cried, the man following her looked just like her, same eyes, same hair, much different demeanor.

“Watch your tongue!” He bit out, grabbing her wrist and yanking her towards him with a snarl, “Is that any way to talk to your father?” He looked over at Narcissa and Draco and smirked slightly down at his daughter, “Is that any way to speak in front of your future husband?” Her head snapped around to look where he was looking and she openly glared at him. She was pretty, Y/height, and Draco found himself smirking at the display.

“My sincerest apologies,” She gritted out between clenched teeth, “Malfoy,”

“Call me Draco,” He responded easily. Her father released her and she gripped her wrist with her other hand, holding it to her chest. She stood awkwardly between her father and the two present Malfoys. Narcissa cleared her throat and smiled, greeting the man by his first name.

“Why don’t we rejoin the party, I’d love to speak with your wife about wedding arrangements, and Lucius has some business to discuss with you.” He knew his mother wanted to let them be alone, and while he didn’t particularly want to marry the girl, maybe he could score a sneaky snog out of this. The man nodded curtly and took Narcissa’s arm as they went back through the doors, shutting them behind them. The girl continued to just stand there, glaring in Draco’s general direction.

“Did he just tell you?” He asked, trying to start a conversation. You winced slightly and nodded your head.

“Yes. He didn't think I’d come if I knew. He was right.” Draco laughed and you mustered up a half smile.

“My mother told me when I got home for Christmas.”

“Good for you.” you muttered, looking down. When you looked back up again your face was blank, “I don't want to marry you.” You stated bluntly. He sized you up, mildly surprised by your brashness.

“Listen princess, I don’t exactly want to marry you either, but your father seems pretty deadset.”

“And your parents aren’t?” You questioned, raising a delicate eyebrow at him, arms crossing over your chest. He shrugged.

“They are, I assume. Or they wouldn’t be going through all this trouble. We haven’t really talked about it, I’ve just been told the gist. We-” He gestured between the two of you, “Are to be married, don’t know when, don’t know why.”

“Probably at Voldemort’s request.” You replied and he flinched slightly.

“Don’t say his name.” You smirked.

“Why? Afraid he might come swooping in at any moment?” Draco didn’t want to comment on the amount of times the dark lord had been in his house, and he definitely didn’t want to admit that yes, that was his first thought.

“Call him by his title, the dark lord.”

“Are you a death eater?” You asked, curiously. He shook his head no, unconsciously glancing down at his arm where his soon to be mark would reside.

“Not yet.” You nodded then shook your head.

“Better you than I, I’d never be.” You spat the words out. Merlin, who did his parents want him to marry?

“Well you’ll be married to one.” You shrugged.

“Or maybe I’ll just run away.” You mused aloud, glancing around the foyer, eyes lingering on the door. He looked towards the large front door with you and laughed.

“Run away? With what money? Where would you even go?”

“Paris.” You answered easily, “I’ll make money. I’d be fine.”

“They’d hunt you down, Y/N,” He spoke your name for the first time to you and it felt odd coming from his lips, but not bad. You simply shrugged again.

“It would be worth it,” You whispered. They stood in silence for a few more moments. He wanted to say something but he had no idea what he wanted to say. Again, the french doors opened and Lucius stood in the doorway.

“Draco. Come.” He ordered and he felt his feet moving towards his father on their own accord. He stopped next to you, glancing down. “Bring her. This ball is for you. I will not have you two insulting your mother by spending the entirety of it in the corridor. You will dance, eat, and socialize. That’s an order.”

“Yes father.” And with a swish of his cloak the man was gone again, back into the bustling crowd of pure-blooded wizards and their children. Draco offered his arm to you and you took it with a small sigh.

“He’s charming.” He shushed you, not wanting his father to overhear you. Together you entered the ballroom, Draco leading you towards the bar area.

“Can I get you a drink?” He asked and you nodded with a soft hum, “What do you want,”

“I’ll have a Witch’s Heart.” You spoke, keeping your arm linked with his but making sure there was as much distance between your bodies as you could manage. Did you dislike him that much? He ordered your cocktail and a Firewhiskey on the rocks for himself, thanking the bartender when he handed the drinks over. Draco led you over to a table of familiar faces and pulled your chair out for you before sitting beside you, both hands wrapped around his glass.

“Alright, Malfoy?” Blaise Zabini greeted, clasping the man on the back raising his glass towards him and then you, it was obvious he had already had a few. “Congratulations to the happy couple.” Draco laughed, knocking his glass against the other boy’s.

“Thank you, thank you.” He responded, placing his arm loosely around the back of your chair, you leaned away from him slightly and he frowned, shrugging. Pansy Parkinson glared at you openly and venomously from across the table.

“Y/N, right?” She asked, you nodded your head.

“Hello Pansy.” Her glare deepened. She said nothing more to you, crossing her arms over her dress. It was a similar color to yours, Draco noted, not surprised Pansy had opted for a Slytherin green dress. As much as he was proud of his house, sometimes she had too much house pride. It did surprise him however, that you were wearing the color. He had a feeling your parents had something to do with it. Draco and Blaise talked, Pansy occasionally saything something snippy here and there.

“Draco,” She batted her eyelashes at him from across the table, leaning over so her cleavage popped. Slag, you thought to yourself.

“Yes?”

“Care to dance?” Draco looked at you, and you gave a small shrug. You didn’t care what he did. He wasn’t your husband, and would never be if you got your way, which you were beginning to doubt you would.

“No.” He answered simply. Her face fell and you couldn’t help but smirk, she turned her eyes to you and glared darkly.

“Don’t think you’ve got him, Y/N.” She spat.

“Pardon?” You asked bored.

“He’ll never love you, hell, he’ll never even like you.” She hissed and Draco frowned, about to step in when you laughed loudly.

“Doesn’t matter if he does or doesn’t, love. I’m marrying him, not you.” Pansy was livid. She stood up, hand twitching.

“Hag!” She cried.

“Oh Pans,” You replied, falsely sweet, “Don’t talk down on yourself like that, you’re barely even a hag.” Draco thought she might punch you, Blaise laughed, slapping a hand against Draco’s back.

“Feisty! I love it, you’re lucky mate, you should meet the boring bird my parents want me to marry.” Blaise glanced past Draco and sent you a wink, “Unless you care to switch.”

“I’m alright.” Draco smiled slightly, “Go cool down Parkinson.” Pansy was bright red with anger, she looked at Draco, then to you, then to Draco again, her face softening. She turned with a huff and stalked off to go Merlin knows where.

“She’s a delight,” You commented. Blaise laughed again, standing up.

“Can I get you lot another round?”

“Sure,” You smiled, handing him your glass, Draco followed suit. Once they were alone again Draco turned to you, smiling slightly.

“Sorry about her,” You shrugged and shook your head.

“It’s alright, I’ve dealt with worse, I deal with my mother daily.”

“You don’t get on with your parents?” He questioned and she raised her eyebrows.

“Do you?”

“Enough.”

“I don’t, not much. Probably why they’re trying to shove me off on your family.” He chuckled and nodded, arm still around the back of your chair. He was quiet for a moment, making eye contact with someone from across the room. You followed his gaze and saw his father glaring at the two of you, ah, yes. Your new darling father-in-law. Draco withdrew his arm and offered you his hand.

“Care to dance?” He asked, watching as you sighed and frowned before nodding your head.

“Alright, but I have two left feet as a warning.” He chuckled again and nodded his head.

“It’s alright, I’ve got you.” You felt something in your stomach flutter when he looked at you like that and spoke so tenderly, and Draco honestly couldn’t believe the words had come out of his mouth. He watched as you gathered your dress and took his hand allowing him to lead you out to the dance floor. He placed a hand on your waist and took your hand in his other one, and you snaked your free arm around his neck, keeping a comfortable distance. You began to sway to the music, Draco leading you in the traditional dance the rest of the crowd was partaking in.

“How’s your school year going?” He asked suddenly, needing to break the silence.

“Alright I suppose. Can’t believe they’ve got us preparing for NEWTs already.” Draco nodded with a small laugh.

“Don’t worry too much about it, it’s not like it matters.”

“It’s my future,” You replied confused. Draco nodded his head towards the large grand room around them.

“This is your future. You won’t have to work a day in your pretty little life.”

“And if I want to?” You asked him and he faltered slightly. Wasn’t it every woman's dream to be rich enough to sit on her arse all day?

“What would you do?” He asked, genuinely curious as to what could be better.

“I want to be a healer,” You admitted, stepping on his foot, “Sorry, told you, can’t dance.” He adjusted your position and pulled you slightly closer so he could better lead you in the dance, these shoes were expensive.

“Noble.” He commented. You shrugged.

“I’m good at it, and I like it.” You stated simply and he didn’t press the topic. If you wanted to be a healer, he wasn’t going to argue. At least until you had children. Children!? He shook the thought from his head, Merlin, he didn’t even want to meet you a few hours ago and now he was entertaining the thought of having children with you? He must be mad. Or ill. Mad and ill. The song came to an end and he released you, taking your hand again.

“Shall we find our parents? I’m sure they’d like to see us getting along.” He decided.

“Are we?” You asked him, “Getting along?”

“I’d think so, you haven’t hexed me yet.” You chuckled and he found he liked the sound of your laugh.

“The night is young.” He held your hand as you walked towards your parents who were chatting with several other wizards. You passed Pansy as you went and you couldn’t help but to throw her a smug look, knowing she had been watching you two dance. You might not be thrilled to be marrying the bloke, but you couldn’t deny he was handsome, and you seemed to be getting along, at least for now. And if you could rub it into the snotty little girls face, you would. For fun. She glared in return and you chuckled, causing Draco to look at you, then to the direction of Pansy, smirking himself and tugging you slightly closer to him.

“Jealous?” He asked and you snorted.

“You wish,” As you got closer to your parents you took a deep steadying breath, the hand in Draco’s becoming clammy. He squeezed the hand, noticing your sudden nervousness. Together you would face your parents, he decided, he would make sure you were safe. Afterall, that’s what a husband is for.

#Harry Potter #draco Malfoy #draco Malfoy x reader #draco malfoy x y/n #draco malfoy x you #draco malfoy x ravenclaw!reader #draco malfoy arranged marriage #draco malfoy fanfiction #draco malfoy imagine

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cloun-heaven · 6 years

Note

So, I have a quick question. Since purples are usually attracted to low bloods, how do they handle their passing? Do they move onto another matespirt or are they like monogamous in a weird way?

I wouldn't say purples are particularly attracted to lowbloods, in fact I see mine going for each other mostly. The reason being; chucklevoodoos.

You could argue they would go for gold bloods then, but I see chucklevoodoos and psiionics different. Psiionics are power over body, energy. Chucklevoodoos, for both outside and internal cases, are mind bending. They could potentially hurt anyone around them and even themselves. This is also why I see purples finding quads later in life.

Purple blood grubs/younglings don't have a handle on their chucklevoodoos. The adults are gone, so family can't schoolfeed them on what it is. Most lusii know what they're getting into with purples, but just barely, no one but purples know the true extent of chucklevoodoos. Lusii are only animals too, they can sooth for as long as they can, but every purple breaks on Alternia at least once. This is why GHB is allowed to talk to them within the church (wether hes given himself allowance or was admitted with it is still a good question.)

Purple younglings could hurt themselves and their quadrants, it makes them harder yet also easier to admit into the family's ship. Harder to help them if they never found any older family to help them, easy because who wants to mess with an unstable purple besides family?

Purples care more than you think too, they're generous and thoughtful, but they have to be smart and hide this all behind their face paint and their chill or goofy attitudes. They have to be careful with their strength, their powers, their emotions. It takes a lot to just be a purple blood. Like you dont even fuckin know dude.

Makes you wonder why they're not all over the place and crazy though, right? They have hope of better days. From personal experience, hope for better days after abuse or having to deal with a mentally unstable mind can keep a mind somewhat sane. To have others there that understand what you're going through can help you tenfold.

Which is why purples go for each other, there's no psiionic that's going to understand what a purple means when they scream at you to get away or start shrieking in their sleep.

Chucklevoodoos sometimes feel like a claw from one of these around your brain.

Its hurts and theres no reprieve until it decides to stop messing with you. Purples can also sooth this pain with their chucklevoodoos too, they can share the pain or put their partner to sleep. This comes with familial trust.

Purples chucklevoodoos and quadrants might also depend on their power level.

Theres seven I have right now, but the seventh is almost unheard of with the exception of two cases.

No Chucklevoodoos.

Believe it or not, there have been some clowns born without chucklevoodoos, it's not seen as bad at all either. They are welcomed just like family, they just have to watch out for some that do have chucklevoodoos, you'll find these trolls with quadrants outside of the family all the way or just one family member in a quadrant and the rest other blood colors.

Temperament Chucklevoodoos

These chucklevoodoos aren't really anything special, they have no telltale sign of being there. Theyre often mistaken for those who don't have chucklevoodoos as well, but they are there. They're more though of as a sixth sense, take Spidermans spidey sense and combine it with intuition or future vision and there you have Temperament Chucklevoodoos. They can tell what a troll is feeling by just being near them, they can't read minds but seemingly know what to say.

They're not slick with themselves, though thier powers could be used for being sneaky manipulative little shits. They feel more than most trolls, they are seemingly human almost. Emotion wise. They care more because they feel how you feel, if you're sad while they're sad it just goes the extra mile.

Priests and Priestess' Chucklevoodoos

These are a very special bunch, they could also fit in with the Wishful but there's one main difference. While both Wishful and Priests/ess' can commune with the dead, Priests and Priestess' commune with the faithful dead. The lost souls of theur brothers and sisters, they get information out of them to help on missions. To help them rest. They're regarded highly.

Wishful Chucklevoodoos

These are the ones who commune with the dead. They can hear any voices, ser any spirits. These have usually been perceived as heartless trolls, they keep straight faces when in danger or keep their eyes open in their sleep. They're creepy, but what they do makes them respectable. These clowns are usually around trials, though not a single soul knows why they would want to be around such events. All trials, usually being held by seadwellers, end in death. If they don't then the Wishful are equally as pleased.

They stand by trials to hear what the dead have to say. Usually most are apart of rebellions or have done no wrong at all. Some rebellion esque trolls were drug into it, for that the Wishful can forgive. Wishful see all sides of every story, who cares if they're dead- they know more than anyone. Which makes them seem creepy. They deal with a lot of information though. They could be categorized as disciples for most keep books on the information they've heard. Especially the young ones. But not every Wishful keeps books or diaries so it isn't a pinpoint.

Mentality Chucklevoodoo

These are your average Subjuggulators, they can use chucklevoodoos to their full extent and usually torture the unfaithful or rebellious trolls to get information before they're sent to trials. They're usuallu feared and hold the 'brawn' category up all on their own.

They have a difficult time with their quadrants and themselves, but when they master their craft they're almost unstopabble and it's almost like they resume life from where they left off. They have quadrants.

Theres two sides of this though. Some are still unstable and never master their craft. They have to have someone around, usually a moirail, because they can't even deal with themselves.

Think of Chucklevoodoos as a mental disorder here, except this type of disorder could benefit or destroy your mind/life.

Some are better at controlling their chucklevoodoos as well.

These can also control your body, mind, read your mind and connect with their lovers on a deeper level. Only with pemission though.

Chouckle Chucklevoodoos

These chucklevoodoos show up mainly in the Makaras, it seems to be a gene gifted to only them by the gene pool. They can read minds, use your body, change your memories, break you. Kill you. Just if they wanted to. It could be called an elite version of Chucklevoodoos, an olden language of sorts. When they master their craft, let's just say they're Grands for a reason.

Convergence Chucklevoodoos/Psiionics

There are only two known cases ever. One was a gold blood, the other a purple. This kind of chucklevoodoo, it includes psiionics. They can float as psiionics. They can do the same as Choucklevoodoo users.

These two trolls could levitate. They had powerful psiionics, and just as powerful chucklevoodoos. They eventually destroyed themselves though, the purple due to an attack. The purple had been in a fight with a troll and freaked out, the chucklevoodoos sensed its own vessels fear and made them hallucinate until they committed suicide.

The gold was culled along with a ship of seventy bronze, burgundy and olive trolls. They had thought it well enough to hook the gold up, the gold was fearful as well. But it's chucklevoodoos sensed anger and in their death they took all who was on board.

#chucklevoodoos #hc

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fantroll-purgatory · 5 years

Text

first submission here!

First troll I’m sending in here I’m EXCITED AND NERVOUS about how this is gonna go down! AaaaaH!

This is a really solid troll! You’ve really though these things out. I’m probably going to have minimal recommendations for changes! World: AU Alternia! Many of this AU’s differences don’t effect this first fantroll I’m sending for review here though; and I feel as if it would be more applicable to put the AU differences with characters that are heavily influenced in that regard. Name: Dipala Venmor - Dipala comes from the scientific name of a species of bee-flies. She’s quite the “busy bee” and has a love of gossip or being like a ‘fly on the wall’, hence the connection. And bee flies are a species of insect that invade actual bee hives to lay their eggs and raise their young. So with goldbloods having an association with bees; I figured that Dipala’s theme being that of a “fake bee” and being a caste below them would make for a weird joke in context. - Venmor comes from the vena amorus, or the vein of love. It’s supposedly a vein located in the ring finger that is connected to the heart directly. Which is why we put wedding rings on our ring fingers and whatnot. She’s looking for love, pity, hate, and rivalry in all the wrong places. ((more on that later, ha ha.))

These are both great names for her! One comment I have is that bees aren’t so much associated with golds as they are associated with Sollux in particular. Remember that on Alternia, bees are probably most associated with technology because of the power of Apiculture Networking. I think Bee Fly is still a great themeatic tie for her, though. She is both interested in technology through webdesigning and leeches off of other people. Very Bee Fly.

Age: 7 sweeps ((approximately around 15 years old))

Story: ((Don’t worry I included info for her theme after the goals section; as I felt that understanding my goals for this would make the theme troubles make sense in context!!)) Onto Dip’s story synopsis real quick: Dipala Venmor is one of my fantroll session’s premier troublemakers. She’s a HUGE gossip loving, rumor mongering, wannabe information broker for the Alternian Fleet…… although because of her blood color she’ll most likely get stuck moving cargo around a ship than deal with any sort of secret spilling and collecting job that would be more in-line for olives and up. And that she’s also still a kid so no ship will be picking her up anytime soon. But hey; she can still have a hobby, right? There have to be other trolls interested in the scandalous happenings in the world besides herself…… right? Unfortunately for us and whatever troll catches Dipala’s eyes… she’s not exactly wrong about her fellow trolls across the hemospectrum wanting to know this sort of shit. So for now she mostly runs a couple of blogs and social media accounts dealing with all kinds of Alternian gossip around celebrities of all kinds and highblood shenanigans. Especially highbloods though because she adores all the drama they get into and start up 24/7 given their more aggressive natures and whatnot. To her it’s just like watching reality TV! However she’s also keen to spread falsehoods too, just to see what would happen. She’d also probably be deader than a doornail at this point if it weren’t for a lot of her innate talents and being REALLY FRIGGIN’ GOOD AT BEING DISHONEST AND SNEAKY. When she isn’t causing trouble and gathering facts and half-truths to keep herself safe and sound or her and her followers sick amusement; she works as a kind of job that’s a mix between a medical assistant and a tech support gal for other trolls in her humble suburb/subgrub area; and accepting supplies of mind honey as payment so she can satisfy one preferred half of her lusus’ diet. She knows her way around all sorts of troll biotech due to her more pervasive hobbies and her own psychic powers; so by extension Dipala is quite knowledgeable on how things work and how the tech interacts with the rust/bronze/gold and limebloods it can inevitably involve. So some of the trolls in her hivestem/apartment complex view her as exceptionally important and helpful despite her many, MANY secrets. Why she doesn’t pursue this as a main hobby instead of her other far more invasive ones is beyond me. Other than that she interacts and befriends/becomes enemies with/flirts with the other trolls in her eventual Sgrub session. And will hopefully become a better person after that shiny new universe pops into existence. I hope. I’m still very much scripting out how I want her, her session, and my fankids’ stories work out. So I hope I managed to be concise about what I have for her story thus far!!

One thing you should definitely ask about this background is how a bronzeblood like her got access to the medical equipment necessary to take care of medical assistant stuff. I know she has the psychic powers that you discuss later down the line, but there’s still a bit of technical particularity to be accounted for and we’ve seen that lowblood access to medical care is questionable (they don’t get prescription glasses but they do get wheelchairs if they need) (who knows what Alternia is doing).

Does she home-grow the materials she needs for biomedical implants. Does she work Under another, richer troll who has more resources and can thus provide this service? Did she USED to work under another, richer troll and then steal their shit/kill them/usurp them/blackmail them/etc?

Oh oh oh another fun thing you could do is try to play like. The Doctor-Barber sort of angle. She’s the local medical helped and ALSO the local hairdresser for all the other lowbloods in the hivestem. And you know what hairdressers do? Gossip. What a busy bee (;

Another question is why she doesn’t just grow the apiculture network to produce mind honey herself? Silicomb Beehouses sound like exactly the kind of biotechnological material she might be able to impact with her psychic powers. Bronzes love Creature Comforts, so her making her own lususfood and using payment to buy herself nice things would be more in line with Bronze Tendencies. Chase that highblood luxury from the comfort of your shitty apartment.

Goals: Hooo boy how am I gonna put all of my billions of questions here?? I want to make sure my girl Dipala here isn’t a Vriska ripoff. As well as making sure that she’s an okay character and not overpowered in general.

She’s definitely not a Vriska ripoff! She has a totally different character and set of interests to Vriska. Was Vriska a biomedical gossip girl? Is Dipala an ancestor-obsessed pirate? No to both of those? You’re good. You’re un-Vriska. For further clarification, I had a LOT of fantrolls and kids. I now downsized the trolls back down to 12 to fit a “session theme” like the canon ones did with the zodiac. However; all my trolls still have a lot of remnants of their older themes mixed with the new, so I’m also kind of paranoid that wouldn’t work or be concise and concrete enough for them if that makes any sense? My trolls were also all created before Hiveswap and the Friendsim; so many of the psychic powers I gave my fantrolls then wouldn’t technically be canon. But at the same time I also feel like straight up changing their powers to the more canon ones kind of messes with their themes and who they are as characters.

Characters in homestuck always have multiple things going on that make them more well-rounded and interesting! Equius was into archery and horses because he was Sagittarius themed, but he also liked Robotics, and that didn’t take away from the cohesion of his character. More interests and themeatic building can sometimes take away from a theme if it doesn’t make sense, but generally speaking, additional layers of complexity are a good thing.

As for powers, there’s usually ways to keep them similar while also tightening them up into EZ Standards anyways! I also feel as if my characters or parts of them are “too quirky”. Seeing as Homestuck has a lot of weird stuff going on in it that make it what it is, I’ve been trying to sort of channel that into all my ocs. And whether or not I’m successful with that, I legitimately have no idea. Sometimes I feel as if I may have went over the top to a ridiculous degree or am making a character way too bland and uninteresting.

Listen, writing characters (especially HS characters) is all about having fun. So long as you’re having a good time, Quirk It Up. Homestuck is all about batshit characterization. I should also add that I’m the anon from WAAAAAAY back who youth rolled into your ask box asking about character interests and their voice, and how to differentiate them. And other than than that the only thing I can think of that I’d be remotely confused about would be the dream moon and classpect! Because when you got 12 trolls who can’t share the aspects/classes etc; things can get a tad difficult figuring which aspect goes well with which character. In conclusion: I’m actually very nervous and could use all the help I can get!

Well, we’ll help you sort it all out! Theme: My overarching theme for my 12 trolls are all the lyrics to the Twelve Days of Christmas song. Each troll represents one of the gifts given to the singer in that song. However the order of the gifts given isn’t the hemospectrum order; but the order in which the trolls enter their game’s Medium. Dipala here is the fifth gift! The five gold rings! However she also has a bit of a spy and “fly on the wall” theme going on that’s a remnant of her being a Musca constellation themed troll. But I thought the old theme could work and mix well with the new theme. I mean there is that old saying “like flies to honey”; as in trapping things by seeming “””nice”””. Honey is gold and sweet. And since she’s so tricky; she’s not even an actual goldblood. She’s basically a trickery sandwich with layers of lies. And if you REALLY want to get crazy, the mineral Pyrite can come in colors similar the to the color of bronze used in the hemospectrum. Pyrite is called fool’s gold. Dipala is deceptive and isn’t actually goldblooded despite her psychic powers.

What you’re doing here is what I call “overjustifying.” You don’t have to do backflips of logic to explain two concurrent themes. To go back to Vriska- she’s obviously spider/scorpio themed, but she also is themed around pirates, and it’s not because (what I’m about to say is made up) Pirates Used To Use Scorpio To Guide Themselves While At Sea And– no, she just likes pirates. She just has fun doing pirate things. You don’t have to stress yourself out trying to make these kinds of connections, because they can ultimately cheapen things and make them feel one-note. She is 5-gold-ring themed and also likes to gossip and spy on people. Don’t stress about it too much, that’s all you gotta say. Also she’s bronze because the symbol language is big on circles. The shape of rings. And seeing as I already have had my trolls with an established blood color for so long; Dipala to me looks really off to be and does not fit the personality parameters that the gold signs seem to have in the extended zodiac. And to me making the goldblood the “five gold rings” character felt too obvious, and her design with the goldblood color pallet didn’t look right to me either and I wanted to try subverting expectations. Whether this does or does not work well with Dipala, I’ll leave that for you rad blog mods to help me with this if you feel I might have picked the wrong color and whatnot.

I think she works well for a bronze! You’ll just have to do the legwork to make her fit that bronzeblood coloration, but I definitely think she suits it well. I also think you need to stop leaning on the goldblood association so much. Don’t worry about it. No one is going to connect her to goldbloods if you don’t draw that connection yourself. Hopefully that makes her name meaning and my goals for the review here a bit more clear!

Strife Specibus: Taserkind. She’s bug themed kinda so it makes her a bug zapper. I will not apologize for this shocking pun. Gold is also a metal that conducts electricity pretty well. She’s the five gold rings. S T E A L T H P U N S .

Fetch Modus: Password Journal. You ever see those shitty password journal toys that were voice activated? And how you had to be super clear when saying your password to get it open again? And how nine times out of ten it was just a shitty piece of technology that just never worked when you needed it to? That’s Dipala’s modus. And unlike the biotech she works with; this is that same shitty hunk of plastic. She thought it would be cool to use a modus that’s so mysterious and eccentric. But now she just regrets putting her mitts on the thing and now has to deal with a piece of tech she has no frame of reference for how it works. Buuuut she’s also too stubborn to give up on figuring out on how it works now! Any day she��ll figure it out!! As for how she came across a modus unlike the rest of her world’s tech? Her modus was sent with her on her respective Sgrub meteor as a wiggler.

Okay I love this.

Blood Color: Bronze

Symbol and Meaning: It’s a combination of multiple symbols to fit the bronzeblood alphabet and her theme. Said mix includes five empty circles to represent the five gold rings. But it also combines the alchemical sign for honey and the astronomical sign for the sun. The sun has ties to gold symbolically; and the honey alchemy symbol is actually in reference to her lusus! The positioning of the sign was also done to slightly reflect for the symbol used for the Musca ((or fly)) constellation. And for the record, I have a headcanon that IS canon in my AU Alternia that each sign in the extended zodiac as a HUGE variety of alternate signs for each sign. In Dipala’s case, her symbol would be one of the many, MANY variants for the Taurittanius sign. Or, if you think Void or Prospit shouldn’t be Dipala’s respective aspect and dream moon; it would then be a variant for whatever the name of her “new” zodiac sign she’d get upon revision.

I think that’s a good way to look at things, and it works well for the sign language!

Handle: gadflysFalderal [GF] Gadfly refers to a person who antagonizes or pokes fun at another person just for the heck of it. It’s also a pun because of her “fly on the wall” theming here. Falderal is a synonym for nonsense and can also mean a showy but useless item, fussing over things and can also refer to a “meaningless refrain in a song”. Also her trolltag’s acronym is GF. Her dream of some sort of future quadrant romance is right out there in the open. ((I should also give a quick heads up that my kids’ and trolls’ handles go by a different four letter username pattern. The canon gang all had the GCAT to choose from because it’s tied to DNA and how they have all participated in creating a new life/universe. But here the go-to acronym is GIFT. Because the troll’s overarching theme is of the aforementioned obnoxious Christmas carol.))

Quirk: All uses of s become two z’s. Z’s also double. When excited or expressive she quintuples all of her o’s. Also uses a TON of heart emojis that look like little bugs; and will every once in a while make a few bug puns. Like “Do I have your antennation??” or “if you would listen I wouldn’t have to bug you all the time!” and even asking at times for “hive fives!”. She uses these puns very rarely though; and more often than not the shitty jokes are just utilized to annoy the ever-loving fuck out of people for the heck of it. Her online disposition is basically an unholy slurry combination of an overly and almost sickeningly sweet attitude with a somewhat subverted “”valley girl”” or “popular and prissy popular middle school girl”” archetype. Be very afraid. Here have some quirk examples real quick: The quick, brown fox jumpzz over the lazzy dooooog! 03 03 03

This is great.

Special Abilities: Dipala can “commune” psychically with troll biotechnology. Since troll tech seems to be a weirdass unknown husk thing; and living tendrils can connect to psiionic trolls to power friggin’ SPACESHIPS… I figured it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for a troll to have superpowers to talk/slightly control the stuff through thoughts alone. If bronzebloods talking or controlling animals is a very common psychic ability for them, why not their biotech? However; since her old eye got stabbed and replaced with a robot one by a friend of hers after an accident… her ability feels “muffled” to her; as she can accidentally mess with her own eye inadvertently if she isn’t paying attention or experiencing stress or frustration with communing with these kinds of computers. So it works, but she has to really put her all in it to figure out what’s going on with it. use it. However; after she turned 6 sweeps, she started to develop a second psychic power.

Biotech IS a living organism that isn’t a troll, so I definitely think it falls under the dominion of what bronzes would be able to communicate with. But we have seen through Vriska and Equius that Robotics and Biotechnology are definitely two differentiated things on Alternia. She would need a biotech eye specifically if it was going to be a problem. And even then you could argue that maybe her eye could Advance her powers in that instance? Maybe that could even be the initiation for the second psychic power (; This “newer” psychic power is she can read troll’s minds. She’s unsure of how exactly she developed it in the first place; but she hypothesizes it might be tied to how often she’d interact with the occasional troll tied into all sorts of gadgets. It takes a LOT of concentration on her part to get it to work. If she gets extremely angry, frustrated, flustered, or upset it might not work at all; or even succeed but giving her the wrong thought or piece of information that she intended to use or want to find out. And even then, since she’s only been practicing with it for one sweep thus far; it still can get very bad or unwanted information. She could intend to pull out a secret she wants to know deep in her target’s brain; but end up receiving and experiencing the target’s daydream or find out what they’re going to get at the grocery store that day.This power works on all trolls, but Dipala’s power is also in danger of being useless if the one specific troll in question is experiencing forgetfulness, confusion, or other kinds of memory or knowledge issues her target might be experiencing. The thoughts she could get back from these instances are either incredibly jumbled or incomprehensible to varying degrees, or she might not get back or find anything at all!

Remember that lowblood psychic powers don’t work as well against highbloods and that ceruleans in particular have a very strong psychic fortitude. If you don’t want her to be overpowered, keep this thing in mind. Her abilities would probably be least effective against Ceruleans, Blues, and Indigos, with Ceruleans and Indigos probably giving her some type of consequence for trying to jack into their brains. Get chucklevoodoo’d, motherfucker. Her robot eye offers her psychic powers very little in the way of improving them. She can access a sort of lock-on like targeting system to help her with focusing and honing in on the thoughts she wants to extract from troll’s heads… but since her eye has a built-in tech that gives her 24/7 access to the internet……. She often gets social media updates at the worst times possible and break her focus. It’s kind of hard to see things when a random ad pops up in her field of vision. She can scroll through troll’s version of twitter even while she’s sleeping and unconscious, but at what cost? And yes, she is often exposed to pro-empire popup ads and subliminal messages like Jane Crocker was exposed to on her computer in canon, too. I also like the idea that when she is using her powers or in deep thought about something, her little robotic pupil turns into the swirly loading circle ring-like cursor. Or use emojis or emoticons in real life inadvertently. For one example, if someone gave her a wonderful surprise gift her pupil would look like her quirk’s hearts emoticons: 03 03 03. I’d give more ridiculous examples, but there’s waaaaay more important things I gotta put in this wall of text submission still! Lusus/Guardian: A bugbear. Just imagine a very large bear with fly or bug-like eyes and antennae. Yeah it’s kinda freaky. Its main diet consists of mind honey and all sorts of raw meats. And due to her confined living space in a hivestem apartment complex, Dipala often has to take her mom for walks to keep it healthy, fit, and regulated. The last thing you want is an angry bear with cabin fever in your home! Her lusus also accompanies her and is utilized in her current field of work/psychic help day job. And the younger trolls Dipala helps LOVE her lusus, as it isn’t too aggressive in regards to younger and fairly harmless young trolls and their respective animal parents. But like most bears, you don’t mess with it and it won’t mess with you. And because of this lusus; you can see that Dipala’s symbol has the alchemy honey sign incorporated into it is a reference to bear paws, like her bearmom!

Interests: Gossip, stalking ((although she would never refer to it as such)), social media, blogging, trolling online, investigative journalism, writing diary entries ((and reading other diaries that do not belong to her)), web design, quite a few other computer or technology related activities, people watching and lurking on other’s social media pages, homemade remedies and first aid, social events ((like nights out with her friends, parties, dates, tutoring younger trolls with tech stuff, just hanging out in general)), TV crime dramas like Alternia’s equivalent to Law and Order and whatnot, romance shows, any sort of big star-studded movie, anything in media related to secret agents or spies ((she has crushes on the many different Troll James Bonds)), and is slightly involved in online fandom’s shipping and fanart culture for her respective shows and movies. She would also enjoy shopping; but given how the Alternia’s retail businesses and delivering or selling things to lowbloods being late and whatnot……. Yeah she has a bit of a love/hate relationship with the activity.

Okay… you know how sometimes people online will create social media accounts posing as celebrities. What if she does that sometimes. Engaging passionately in RPF really ups the Creepy Factor. Also:

[Dipala voice] Tell me Kenneth, has a cheesy tabloid journalist ever won the Pulitzer?

(Don’t mind me I have terminal referencing Scream (1996) disease)

Personality: Dipala is an exceptionally cheery and bubbly gal. She loves socializing and interacting with other people not only a socialite level; but a sociological one as well. As I’ve stated prior in the submission here; she’s really good at keeping things under wraps despite her jabberjaw tendency and preference to be overly affectionate and predominantly open with most people who come into contact with her. Despite hiding a lot of various kinds of info or secrets isn’t using a facade to hide things as a distraction; she really is this energetic and socially indulgent with others. Which might be worse, now that I think about it.

In contrast to most teens in her age group; she’s surprisingly confident in herself and actually has a healthy level self-esteem that doesn’t trail off into outright arrogance. And combing this confidence with her sugary-sweet demeanor, she can be quite the effective manipulator if the need arises. Making Dipala equally likely to be a suck up and kiss-ass when in trouble, or make someone feel really bad about themselves if they do something bad to her. She’s also outgoing in the sense that she has a lot in common with the stereotypical romance-obsessed, drama queen teen girl trope. Think Mabel from Gravity Falls and her search for romance, being flirty, and dreaming about “typical” things for this age group like swooning over teen stars and whatever cute stuff she can get her hands on despite her economic place in the hemospectrum; and then you’ll have a good start with understanding how Dipala acts. And all parties involved with her for an extended period of time, whether at an acquaintance level or an actual friend/platonic enemy should expect to eventually receive an embarrassing nickname and teasing to a certain varying degree. But heaven help anyone who she could potentially get romantically involved with… because they’ll be getting more than one of those. And if one isn’t cool with that? Yeah, with Dipala that ain’t happening. She is exceptionally persistent and stubborn not only with her treatment with others; but with her pursuit of her hobbies, or trying multiple times to improve her psychic powers. Much like her trollhandle implies, you could probably look up the word “gadfly” in a dictionary and see her face right next to the definition. And if she wasn’t under gadfly, your second best bet would be to look under “hypocrite”. She may find the idea of knowing a ton of damaging or private information; but loathes people snooping around her stuff. Like if you wanted to know the answer you’re looking for why didn’t you just ask her, dear? Snooping around behind her back is so rude! She worked really hard to figure these things out, you jerk! Dipala is as excited to help people as she is equally excited to maybe screw someone over socially….. or just be incredibly apathetic for the sake of figuring out why someone acts the way they do or what’s going on with their lives. If they’re a lowblood they can deal with the hate because others around her own caste deal with this all the time! And highbloods are just rich, bloodthirsty, sometimes well dressed and dreamy, drama-filled sources for intrigue or for a few shits and giggles that she objectifies to a degree. She can make a few exceptions in regards to the people she is closest to, or if the person in question is bribing or making some sort of deal with her. But other than that it is all secrets and info is on the table. I’d describe her take on the hemospectrum as a really odd mix between everyone’s least favorite Hiveswap shitlord Zebruh and Daraya Jonjet. She glorifies the violent culture highbloods propagate because she finds it to be really entertaining to learn about and pry into. Kind of like how we would or others would watch petty reality TV shows and controversial government scandals for. Highbloods also tend to be more “attractive” due to their easy access to material goods and whatnot to do so in the first place. But like Daraya, she is a little frustrated that despite all she does she can’t really do too much. So Dipala takes it upon herself emotionally to make the life she wants and to have fun while she can. But she would suppose and sometimes feel that being so low isn’t too bad. As the possibility that highbloods never really expect any low ranking troll to be this conniving. Like most every normal living thing, of course she doesn’t want to die a terrible death. But life is technically short for every Alternian to some degree. If she’s culled for having a grand old time that’s your problem. Your loss for killing a potentially good informant or loyal adherent of the empire!

There’s so much going on here that it’s hard to comment on any one particular part, but you’ve definitely put a lot of love and thought into her personality and it shows! She’s a really well-rounded character and I love that.

Lunar Sway: Prospit! Even though she has what could be considered a rebellious personality. She’s more of a sneaky “adapt to the environment” kinda gal given her interests and how she goes about her life. Hopefully I’m interpreting the moons correctly?

I think she’s definitely a prospitan. Prospit folks can rebel just as well as dersites, they just tend to, as you say, do it adaptively instead of destructively. She’s also reactive and prone to being somewhat capricious and she’s intuitive, emotional. The one prospitan thing she doesn’t have so much of is the ‘openness,’ but even then she’s also not like a Hides Herself Wholly kind of gal. Prospit all the way.

Title: Witch of Void. Witches “rebel” their aspect from what I understand from a couple of classpect blogs. So Dipala “rebels” in a sense to the idea that things should be secrets or mystery and is just. In everyone’s beeswax whether they allowed her to or not. ALSO since Equius in canon had trouble being detected and created a void around him ((which was why scratch couldn’t find his cue ball, as Vriska was his neighbor)); I thought it fit that Dipala has the Void aspect given her shadiness and inability to be found by those who would probably really want to find or suspect her. I also thought Void worked because it is connected to the Furthest Ring in the medium. More ring-theme references aplenty!

I also like the idea of her messing with the void and the horrorterrors beyond for information; only to be knocked down a shit-ton of pegs because her mind wouldn’t be able to process the “truths” or information they would potentially tell her about Sgrub goings-on, her planet’s quest or things that a 15 year old would never be able to comprehend like most people who encounter incomprehensible things. And eventually it would help her understand that somethings are not meant to be known before one is ready; and that spilling secrets is not only a bad thing for Dipala to do; but it could put those she learns or cares about into trouble they might not want to partake in. Given her mischievous personality, really fucking creepy behavior, and Alternian upbringing it’d be quite a while for the classpect to stamp it out entirely but… hope springs eternal. However I could very well be completely wrong and inaccurate with giving her this classpect too!

I dunno where the “rebel” thing came from. I think most people read too much into Rose’s inversion and imagine that this means something grander about Witches than it really does. Does Jade “rebel” space? Does Feferi “rebel” life? Does Damara “rebel” time? Nope! (And really I’m not even sure what that would mean in the context of any of these). They all just have an intimate understanding of their opposite aspect that they use to inform their decisions wrt their Own aspect. Witches are (at least in this blog’s common interpretation) the active Changers.

They twist and shape and change things to fit their needs and their understanding. Just like Jade changes the size of planets and bends space around her and Feferi used her in with the horrorterrors to change the nature of life itself by creating the dreambubbles.

So a Witch of Void is going to change what is and isn’t hidden, which I DO still think fits Dipala here decently well. But I almost think she could be a… Thief of Void? Not to accidentally call upon that old Vriska worry, because the motive is wholly different. It’s just that her digging is in fact self-serving and she steals secrecy away from everyone else to hide herself. Of course, this COULD hurt her by encouraging her already bad traits, so maybe Rogue of Void might be the way to go if you want to encourage her to be more considerate of others. That Passive Player Life.

Land: Land of Pits and Golems or LOPAG. Dipala has to use her void-y powers to make sure her consorts and denizen don’t learn any of the secrets of these giant dangerous golem super weapons that lurk in ancient pits and ruins across her planet. Since I’m unsure if Dipala will still remain a Void player after this review; I’m keeping the description of the land short and sweet on purpose.

Sounds good to me!

Design corner: At first glance I was worried that her design read too… I don’t know, Trying To Be Teal, but honestly the more I’ve looked at it the more I think it works for her. That bronze Creature Comfort thing shines through and it fits well with her kind of romanticization of high blood life. This could be one of those things where she saved up a ton of money for a long time just to buy a particular cute jean jacket just because an influencer advertised it to her. Or she bought it on Troll Wish. it’s fine. But yeah I like her look! I’d rethink the yellow eye since it dos call to mind the goldblood thing, but otherwise no changes.

Thanks in advance for my reviewing my fantroll! I look forward to seeing your verdict whenever that may be! 👍

Thank you for your submission, I had a great time with this one!

-CD

#brownblood #bronzeblood #submission #review #cd review #spritefright #dipala venmor #dipala #venmor

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kelsnotchels · 8 years

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#221 truths

I’ve had a few friends ask me recently, “Why Johnlock? Why this show? Why this fandom?”

The truth is, like many of you, I found my way to the world of Johnlock because I saw it--I believed it before I knew what to call it.

From the very first episode, I felt sure that they were either intentionally or unintentionally showcasing what would be a CLEAR romantic chemistry if we were in a show featuring a hetero pair.

I saw it.

I believed it.

And as more and more episodes played out without articulating it with any real specificity, I began to ship it.

In most areas of my life, I’m a speaker. I teach and perform and act as the talking head for almost every other community I’m in. Johnlock was different. I participated mostly by reading (and liking and reblogging), but I didn’t add to the conversation most of the time.

Honestly, because I was afraid. No of, like, some horrible fate befalling me if two pretend people didn’t get together on a tv show. I was afraid that my reading of the text would be wrong. I was afraid that my gut feeling, my gut instinct, my logical interpretation was somehow askew.

None of us know what is going to happen before the end of BBC Sherlock as we know it, but many of us see this coming episode as a fork in the road. Many of us feel in our bones that if it doesn’t happen here, it might not happen at all. Not that it couldn’t, but the odds seem to diminish past this point in the storytelling convention.

So on what feels like the last few days before the other shoe drops, I wanted to put together a little something for me, and for the fandom that has inspired me so much over the past several years.

These are some truths I learned by being a part of the Johnlock community. (22.1 truths, in fact.)

I’d love to read yours too (even if there aren’t 22 of them)! Tag yours with “#221 truths” so I can find yours.

++++++++++

1. I am hungry for hope. Believing in something (even something as “small” as johnlock) feels like something bigger when I pare it down to its most basic parts.

Read the rest under the cut.

2. Learning and studying is really FUN. (When you love what you’re learning and it isn’t for a grade.)

3. Art is something different for every person who experiences it. None of us read every single moment of every scene the same way. This one show is unique to all of us.

4. Wishing for something and having faith in something are two totally different things - I’ve shipped HARD before. Loads of times. But that’s not what this feels like to me. It is not only representative of something intensely important to me personally, but it’s also just something that NOBODY can strip from my list of Things I Know.

5. Cliques are still real, but they’re also totally natural - there are absolutely some tight circles within the johnlock community, and some of those circles are hard to “break into.” But also, that’s really okay. Connections aren’t all equal. Nobody owes you friendship because you like the same things.

6. Queerphobia is prevalent in some really subversive and sneaky ways.

7. We get to choose our family. Who we talk to every day, who we worry about, who we choose to trust. That is family. For many of us, our family isn’t whole unless we include the members who live in our computers.

8. Hard work is a strong producer of self-esteem. Digging into these episodes and doing the analysis makes us feel good. Because making order from chaos is a natural human instinct. That’s why solving puzzles is so satisfying.

9. Some people just want to tear down what you love. (an extension of the trope: People on the Internet can be Mean) - Ignoring trolls or particularly venomous anons is part of tuning out the frequencies that are harmful. We get to choose what we let in.

10. But arguing for what we believe is right is important. Knowing a personal truth is one thing, but standing up for yourself and refusing to be diminished or put down is important too. Discerning which arguments are worth fighting and which will be fruitless is one of the truest signs of maturity I can think of.

11. It can be hard/scary to do what is true for you and step away from what others expect of you. *cough* BE FREE, MY BABIES *cough*

12. The best memes make you laugh AND cry.

13. Being vulnerable to other people, especially people you don’t know, is really hard. But when you’re portraying something that you love, it is so much easier.

14. Communication is so freaking important, and it is so easy to mess up if you’re not being transparent and open and vulnerable. Actually saying the hard thing to the person you love is a roadblock some people never manage to get past. (HI BOYS TALK TO EACH OTHER KTHNKS)

15. Saying you’re untouchable or unfeeling (or a high-functioning sociopath) doesn’t make it true. It hurts to be human. It hurts to open yourself to others. But the good stuff can’t get in without an open heart.

16. Self-care is important. Eat the chips.

17. If you need something, ask for it. I have watched more people reach out to someone in need in the Johnlock community than in any other community I’ve ever been a part of. From actual financial help to social help or even just to soothe loneliness, people want to help. People are here for you.

18. We have to be willing to stand up and fight for representation in the media. There is absolutely no reason why there shouldn’t be more queer rep on our screens. (HI. that means trans rep too. That means ace/aro rep too. That means enby rep too. That means more QUEER REP.). There is no reason for us to settle for less than what cishet programming has shown for decades. If it requires a fight. Fine. We’ll fight. We aren’t afraid.

19. Sometimes you’re one of the popular kids, and sometimes you’re an unknown. It’s really okay.

20. Say what you need to say as soon as you can. We don’t always get second chances.

21. There is so much to be found in second glances, second readings, deeper investigation, third passes. There are hidden gems everywhere, but sometimes we’re not really looking for them until someone opens our eyes. But once you start looking for those secret reasons to smile, you’ll start seeing elephants everywhere.

22. Being a part of something is a gift. Be a part of as much as you can.

and of course, .1 more: LOVE

_______

I’ve been SO inspired by so many of you…

Please consider this my love note:

@quietlyprim @emilociraptor @graceebooks @teapotsubtext @kinklock @huglocked @inevitably-johnlocked @loudest-subtext-in-tv @clueingforlooks @marcelock @theneckstroke @ormondsacker @1895 @thejohnlockhell @johnlocktm @bbcromance @johnlockedness @johnnlocked @beejohnlocked @waitingforgarridebs @the-7-percent-solution

#tjlc #tjlc is real #tjlc is go #johnlock #221 truths

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entergamingxp · 4 years

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World of Warcraft and Apex Legends • Eurogamer.net

Hello and welcome to the second of our Clash of Fans write-ups. This week we’ll be getting together in pairs (virtually) and forcing each other to play a beloved game. Then we’ll chat about what we made of it all. Next up is World of Warcraft and Apex Legends!

World of Warcraft

Emma: The idea with Clash of Fans is for everyone to play a game they haven’t tried before, but I must admit I have somewhat bent the rules on this one. I was actually introduced to World of Warcraft in a university games history seminar, of all things, as an example of an MMO with a declining player population – something which I’m sure horrified Oli when I told him.

Anyway, it’s been good to revisit the game on my own terms, and with more time. I used to be a big Star Wars: The Old Republic player a few years ago, so I’ve enjoyed having a look at where all those MMO mechanics came from.

I suppose we’d better start with character creation so you can judge my choices: I’m really sorry Oli, but I couldn’t bring myself to pick Horde. They seem like they’re trying very hard to be edgy. I also wanted to try out the Worgen race, who seem like they’re troubled but come out fighting for the “good” side, and therefore achieve a more balanced level of moodiness. I’m sure there’ll be something in the lore to disprove that point.

Even though the character creation is pretty limited compared to current-day titles, I do love how you end up getting so invested in your player-character, and almost put a part of yourself into them. I got inspired by the Worgen race to imagine my character as a sword-wielding, brooding she-wolf warrior – which is unusual for me, as I usually go for sneaky types. Now all I need is a proper cloak.

Fun fact: when I was about 14 and the Cataclysm expansion released, I used to draw fan art of those moody Worgen… even though I wasn’t allowed anywhere near World of Warcraft at the time. Maybe it was meant to be.

And here’s what inspired that fan art.

Oli: So, yes, I do feel very old right now, thanks. Even “games history” being a thing makes me feel old. But while WOW’s player population may have been declining then, and certainly still is, the game is still massive and has seen off every challenger in the interim, including The Old Republic. In your face, student Emma and her stupid stuffy games history professor.

Sorry. Nothing, maybe not even Nintendo, makes me come over more fanboy than this game. Is that a self-justification mechanism to defend the literal years of playtime I have sunk into this MMO? Probably, but that’s not just it. It’s telling, I think, that you felt so invested in your character and the Worgen race so early on – it must be something about the game’s art and simple but effective storytelling style that really hooks you in and encourages role-playing. In my head, my first character, a troll warrior, was a sort of clumsy eccentric who didn’t really want to be a warrior (because I didn’t – I was asked to roll one by my friends). You’re probably right about the Horde being the embarrassingly emo choice, but it is the choice I made 15 years ago and I live by it now. These people – orcs? zombies? cow-folk? – are my people. They’re my brothers and sisters. The sense of belonging is just so strong. Humans disgust me. Don’t even get me started on gnomes.

Every time Wes and I have a fun, nostalgic chat about WOW, there comes a point where I remember he played Alliance and I just feel very disappointed in him. It’s sad.

Anyway, how did you get on once you started playing? I remember the Worgen starting area being pretty action-packed and fun – a far cry from the pre-Cataclysm dustbowls where you had to kill boar for a million hours to get to level 10. (I should have made you play WOW Classic, shouldn’t I…)

Emma: I’m with you on the humans – the other choices are so much more imaginative, why on Earth would you pick something so bland?

My feelings on Gilneas are decidedly more mixed. The rainy setting and Victorian London vibes are fantastic, even if the whole lockdown situation is a little close to home right now. I love how deliciously chunky the art style is, the scale means you feel quite small next to everything, and I spent some time just wandering through houses to admire the interior design. There’s also something rather magical about how the areas transform once you’ve handed in a quest. That square you were once strolling through? Poof! It’s now a battlefield, and everything’s on fire.

On the flip side: good lord that’s a lot of fetch quests. I know this is like complaining a beach has too much sand, as MMOs are built on grind, but it’s made me realise SWTOR did a better job of disguising the fetch quests behind story beats – or at least providing big narrative pay-offs at the end. There weren’t really any characters I cared about in the starting area for WOW, so when the area flooded and it was supposed to be this big narrative moment, my reaction was “meh”. Although I did burst out laughing at the wild camera movement to convey the drama of the invading armada, it was just so charmingly clunky.

Images that precede unfortunate events.

Oli: Yeah, I can imagine that stuff is quite a lot more gauche than I remember it. At the time it was a big leap forward for storytelling in the game. A strange part of this game being such a big part of my life – and just so big – is that I really struggle to see it in the context of other games. I just see it in the context of itself. Recent expansions will make Gilneas look as old-fashioned as Gilneas made the game at launch look, but that doesn’t mean they actually feel modern.

And if you’re looking for characters to care about, you might be looking in the wrong place. The game has some lovely quest lines and the grand sweep of the story is quite exciting in places, but it doesn’t have a lot of room for characters.

As for fetch quests… I’ve played so much WOW I find the repetition soothing. I love the grind, I don’t need it to be disguised. It annoys me when I’m just walking backwards and forwards, but give me 10 monsters to kill in a metronomic fashion on the way and I’m happy. I am Pavlov’s gamer.

One thing I will say is that the starter area isn’t all that representative of what’s beyond it. Not that there’s less grind – there’s more, so much more. But the slightly awkward way the storytelling and quest mechanics sit next to each other gets smoothed away, and the delivery feels much more natural. The game becomes much more about exploring its vast maps, too, which is one of the things it’s best at.

Emma: I think the fetch quests would also be much more bearable if I was playing with someone else – soloing WOW isn’t exactly a natural way to play it, so I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt for that! It’s a shame I couldn’t get to the stage where I could try a raid party, as I always wanted to have my own Leeroy Jenkins moment.

We haven’t talked about the actual combat mechanics yet, although I think I only really tried the most basic moves of all, which were varieties of bonking people on the head with a mace. It does get to the point where you figure out an order for your moves, and it feels great when that clicks: charge in, lay down a few smacks, and then bring out the more powerful moves and a finisher. I can understand how this makes the grind feel far more satisfying, particularly as one of my moves worked from jumping quickly from one battle to the next, and I had to figure out that time window. It turns out MMOs are part rhythm game: this is my take for the day.

Oli: That is a good and correct take. And yes, although it’s very basic at the start of the game, you’ve started to get a sense of what makes the game so hypnotic, and so good. Above all WOW has brilliant RPG classes, with expertly designed skills that are really satisfying to use. So once you get into the groove with your rotation, and start to learn how to optimise it – and learn to use situational skills as well when things get a bit more complex – it’s super rewarding.

WOW’s dirty secret is that most people, most of the time, are playing it solo. The dungeons and raids are definitely the game at its best; large-scale raiding is seen as the pinnacle of the game, but I think it’s the five-player dungeons that are better dynamically. If you can hang on to level 15, you’ll get to try one. I think they’re some of the best co-op gaming ever, even if players tend to rush through them a bit these days. But yes, questing is mostly done solo and is tuned as such.

That said, the best times I’ve ever had in the game have been questing with one friend. There’s just so much to discover, such a varied and exciting world, and it’s great doing it in company. If I could persuade you to keep playing, I’d say this: try a dungeon, and get to a point where you can really start to explore the landmasses. The environment art is incredible in its simple, colourful way, there’s no loading, and the world just goes on for ever.

I’d love to know how dated it feels to you. I think Blizzard has done a great job keeping a 15-year-old game feeling slick and playable, but that’s got to have its limitations.

Bleiddast means she-wolf in Welsh, according to the Welsh-English Online Dictionary. (‘Character names are serious business’ – Emma.)

Emma: Alas, I must have stopped just before reaching the first dungeon – I think the quest which involved killing a bunch of spiders finally finished me off. I’d always thought of myself as being a bit of a weird loner when playing MMOs by myself, so it’s reassuring to hear most people aren’t playing as part of huge organised clans.

As for WOW feeling dated, it’s probably the cutscenes where the game suffers most, as the older graphics and animation are more noticeable there. At one point you get bitten mid-quest and your character just flies across the room, which was both confusing and hilarious. The voice acting also gave me a chuckle, as it sounds so theatrical: particularly when the human version of a Worgen politely tells you you’re out of range, and the werewolf version sounds like a chain smoker. I also heard that particular line way too much.

Despite all this, the art style is strong enough to stand the test of time, and the core gameplay loop still feels solid – so that’s the most important thing for me. One of my university friends has offered to take me under her wing and teach me the ways of WOW, so I may be returning to it sooner than I thought. Time to try out one of those dungeons.

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Apex Legends

Oli: I’m scared. What’s happening? It says ‘Season 5’ everywhere. It boots up with a trailer of a lady fighting some robots while having apparently Significant Flashbacks, but the game itself shows no evidence of having any kind of story. The UI is a confusing mess and keeps shouting at me about Twitch Prime. My character’s lobby idle animation is all jerky. My PS4 Pro sounds like it’s going to die in the next five minutes.

I don’t do battle royale – I played Fortnite, like, once. In fact, I don’t really do multiplayer shooters in any form. I have bad aim and I get performance anxiety. I don’t find them relaxing or fun, I find them stressful. Apex Legends isn’t really helping me get over this.

I get why the game has been set up like this – it’s all about reducing the number of button presses between the player and a match. But it makes for a bewildering first impression. The tutorial covers the controls but otherwise isn’t very helpful, and I have to root around to get basic information such as what each character’s abilities are. It doesn’t feel welcoming at all. Also, while the characters look cool, I find the game’s art style in general very hard to read. I’m squinting at pickups to figure out what they are, and one part of the map looks much like all the others to me.

I’m sure it’ll click soon, but as someone who usually plays very different kinds of games, it’s remarkable to me how unwelcoming this is to a first-time player.

Following your advice, Emma, I picked Gibraltar, the tanky one, for my first match. I was matchmade with a Bloodhound but for some reason the third member of our trio never joined. I just followed Bloodhound around like a total liability, getting shot, staring blankly at pickups for ages and not knowing what my abilities were for. I felt bad for my partner. We managed 6th, though!

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Emma: I can’t imagine how confusing it must be to drop into Apex Legends’ lore right now. Because it’s a battle royale and nothing is permanent, Respawn mainly develops the story through trailers and tidbits on the website, all of which means it’s harder for new players to catch up. I’d recommend a trip to a wiki if you want to read up on the latest Loba/Revenant drama (it’s pretty good), but you can absolutely survive without. Although you should absolutely watch the video where Forge gets… introduced.

Apex has definitely caught a lot of flak for not being particularly beginner-friendly, in part because it’s just so fast and the encounters are super intense – although I believe Respawn introduced skill-based matchmaking to try to help new players. I’m hoping the in-match UI will click soon, too, as I think it takes a few games for your brain to figure out, and then things suddenly seem rather simple. Although it may take you far longer to figure out how to use the abilities tactically. I think I’m still figuring it out for some characters.

Saying that, please do keep trying new legends, as there’s a playstyle for everyone. My personal favourite is Pathfinder, as flinging yourself through the air and bursting into battles via zip-line is just so much fun. I love that chaotic energy.

Although you’ve been having issues with the UI, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the ping system: it’s adaptive and means you can communicate without the need for voice chat, which is such a life saver (particularly for women – no more toxic conversations, hurray). How have you found it?

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Oli: Ping is absolutely brilliant. It’s a masterstroke. I’m not using it with confidence myself yet, but having teammates use it to point out pickups and enemies, or just set waypoints, is awesome. I don’t love voice chat at the best of times, but I often can’t use it at home, so I love that Respawn has found a way to make that level of teamplay available without voice. That’s a big plus for accessibility.

I’m feeling much better after my second match, mostly because WE WON. This is now the best game ever.

I still wasn’t any good, especially at the shooting – we were totally carried, by a Bloodhound again – but I used my abilities at sensible times, got a couple of kills and a revive, and it felt good, man. Partly we were just lucky and didn’t really encounter anyone for a long midsection of the match. I haven’t got used to the pacing of battle royales, yet – often, you’re not really doing much, and yet this is helping you win as the other teams wipe each other out. It feels weird.

The game handles beautifully – no surprise from Respawn. I love the mantling and the slides and the guns feel great to fire. And yes, encounters are fast, but you’ve got the bleeding out mechanic to give you a bit of a chance to rally as a team, which is a nice touch.

I have mixed feelings about it being teams only. To begin with this stressed me out, as I prefer to learn a game without the pressure of strangers depending on me. But actually, it makes it much easier and more accessible if you can spread the load a bit, doesn’t it? And it adds a nice sense of camaraderie to what would be a pretty alienating experience otherwise.

Emma: The sliding is so good! I love it so much, in fact, that I’ve inadvertently started sliding around in other shooters – my squad mates noticed me doing this around corners in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare a couple of times. Apex seems to be one of the few battle royales where there’s no fall damage, which may seem like a small thing, but it means you don’t have pointless (and annoying) deaths from accidentally falling off things. It’s much more exciting to be shot by someone, right?

Funnily enough, Respawn actually tried a solo mode for Apex as a limited-time event a while back, and for me (and Respawn) it really didn’t work. Without teammates you lose the communication of the ping system, which as you mention, somehow wordlessly forms bonds between you and your squad before the fighting has even begun. You also end up dying quickly in situations where you can’t even react, which is particularly annoying in a battle royale where you have to re-queue rather than just respawn. No second chances.

Having a team means you have the added drama of revives, and also respawns – a system which Apex was first to introduce among the big battle royale games, with Fortnite and Warzone later doing their own versions. I don’t know if this has happened to you yet, but on occasion you can find yourself collecting the respawn banners of your two dead squadmates and sprinting to the nearest respawn beacon. It becomes a tense game of parkour and stealth at that point, and adds another layer to the storytelling in each match. It just makes it so much more memorable.

And congratulations on your win – now you’ll always be chasing the next one. Particularly as Apex puts your name in flashing lights around the arena.

Do you come here often? Yes, unfortunately.

Oli: I noticed about fall damage and breathed a sigh of relief, yeah! I haven’t clicked with the map for this game – it doesn’t feel like a place I’m excited to be – but they have made getting around it feel liberating and fun with the ziplines and stuff, and I appreciate that.

I have been respawned but I haven’t done it for anyone else yet. I don’t think I could take the responsibility.

After feeling like I had got somewhere with Gibraltar, I tried Wraith. Having an alarm when you’re targeted is a really clever idea for a passive skill – I am digging the skill design in this game. If anything is going to get me to come back, it will be experimenting with all the different legends. I didn’t get on so well with Wraith though, and had a couple of strange matches where nothing happened for ages and then our squad got wiped out in a flash. It feels really frustrating. It also feels like it’s going to take me an age to get any good at combat, because it actually forms only a tiny proportion of the time you spend playing a match.

This probably appeals to me the most of the battle royale games – it’s got that slick Respawn feel and the kind of refined design I like, with strong characters with interesting abilities. I also feel like I understand the appeal of battle royale much better after my win! But I don’t know if I could dedicate serious time to these games. They’re too much of an emotional rollercoaster for me. Too much stress. Now I need to go and soothe my cares away with a spot of repetitive grind in World of Warcraft…

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/05/world-of-warcraft-and-apex-legends-%e2%80%a2-eurogamer-net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=world-of-warcraft-and-apex-legends-%25e2%2580%25a2-eurogamer-net

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