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flakytartart · 6 months

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Box split FAQ (Who, What, When, Where, Why + How)

Who are you?

Hi! I'm Flaky, a hobby artist that likes to buy merch of my favorite characters (mostly from Danganronpa and Persona 4/5). Nice to meet you if we haven't already interacted! :J

What's this post about?

There's a new piece of Danganronpa merchandise available for pre-order on AmiAmi - Key of Love keychains!

You can buy a single keychain at random for 1,210 JPY or the complete set of 16 for 19,360 JPY. Buying an entire set gives you 1 random photo card as a bonus.

I preordered 3 full sets (THH, SDR2, and V3) to collect my favorite characters and will be left with 39 extra characters. Because of that, I put together a box split/sales post in the hopes of getting rid of the extra!

I'm charging $8 USD for each keychain + shipping ($6) and taking payments via PayPal and Venmo. Photo cards will also be available for reservation (keep reading for more info).

When...

...do the keychains come out?

Preorders are expected to release/ship out sometime in February 2024. I'll start sorting/packing when they get to me.

...do we have to pay for our claims?

As soon as possible please! After you send in your claim, I will calculate and send your total along with my Paypal link/Venmo username via DM.

Where will you ship to?

I'm located in the US so I'll only be selling/shipping domestically. :0 I don't know how much shipping to other countries would cost and it makes me a bit nervous to deal with that so I'd rather not attempt anything. I'm sorry.

Why are you doing this? (And why should I trust you?)

I think it's a pretty good deal for everyone! You get the exact keychain you want for a decent price, you help me (not really) break even, and I don't have to own 48 keychains. Hunting for merch can be difficult/pricey, plus I've always wanted to organize a box split. I'm pretty much selling these at a loss but I think it's worth it even if just one person gets what they want! If these don't sell here or on Mercari I'm most likely gonna pass them out for free at our local anime convention next year.

As for trusting me - I understand if you don't or are nervous. I really am just some dude on the internet. All I can say is that I have good standing as a seller on eBay and Mercari, am very serious about handling other peoples money, and that your information (emails, names, address, regular things I'd need in order to send stuff to you) is 100% safe with me. :] 👍

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Okay so you've made it this far -

How does this work?

Well! This is my first time doing this so the main post is mostly based off of how shsl-box-split runs their splits (+ throw a bit of Harpys_ on IG in there too). They're both incredibly wonderful and friendly so I highly suggest checking them out!

I am one person doing this alone so please be patient with me during this process. Basically, it'll go something like this:

Decide on what keychain(s) you want + what photo cards you'd like to try for.

Send me an ask containing which characters you want (I will not post your message, it's just to help me see who claimed what first!) as well as your preferred payment method (Paypal or Venmo). Claims are first come, first served.

I'll DM you to confirm your claims, total, and send either a link to my Paypal or my Venmo username. Please do not claim keychains if you cannot immediately pay for them.

After payment is received, I will update the split post with your username and log down relevant information into a separate spreadsheet. At this time you are free to send me your shipping address (recommended) or wait to send it at a later time.

We time travel wait for the February 2024 release date!

Shortly after the keychains get to me in February, I will begin sorting and packing. Before sending anything out, I will message you one last time to confirm that your claims and address are correct (or ask for your address if you haven't already sent it).

I send off your package using USPS! It arrives at your mailbox! Boom, transaction complete! :D

About photo cards...

Each set comes with one random photo card. Every character will have 3 slots and you are allowed to reserve one photo card for every keychain purchased. Reserving a photo card does not guarantee that you will receive one. Some examples: You buy one 1 keychain and reserve a Hajime photo card - if any of the sets come with Hajime, he's yours! You're the last (third) person to reserve Hajime's photo card. You will only get him if - by some miracle - all three bonus cards are revealed to be Hajime. You claim Hajime, but the photo cards are of Makoto, Kaede, and Shuichi. You will not receive a photo card with your order. Your best bet is to reserve characters that don't already have reservations or to reserve different characters (if purchasing multiple keychains). I don't think there'll be duplicates, but for the sake of covering all bases, 15 slots are available for reserving photo cards.

This split will be open until the sets arrive at my door. If you need to pull out of the split, please, do not contact/start a dispute with Paypal or Venmo. Let me know what's up and I will send back your money. No shame, no judgement.

If for whatever reason my preorder is cancelled, something comes in damaged, etc. I will send out an explanation message + offer refunds to those affected. I do not give out refunds if your package has already been shipped.

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And that's...pretty much it! Thank you for reading this incredibly long post lol. If you have any questions please let me know! :J If you're interested in joining the split, feel free to see what's available here.

#box split #group order #danganronpa #dr1 #sdr2 #ndrv3 #drv3

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jameui · 3 years

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MOVIE DATE

PAIRING: Hwang Hyunjin x Manager!M!Reader

GENRE: Angst, Fluff

WARNING: Hyunjin being a jerk

SUMMARY: You boyfriend, Hyunjin took you out on a date to watch your favorite movie.

You sighed in exhaustion and as if the world was trying to test you, a fast running bicycle came your way causing you to jump to the side, so fast that you forgot about the takeouts you had in your hands and at a blink of an eye the neatly boxed items fell to the ground, all the food now spilled on the floor with your eyes widening in fear. "Shit!" You yelled out and tried to get back to the restaurant again, but as soon as you got there the line was already long and it'd take you ages to get to the counter to order, again.

You were at your way to your work with your phone squeezed in between your shoulder and ear as you talked to your co-manager on the other line who seemed agitated for your tardiness, while you tried to balance the foods you were made to order. "Yes, sir. I'll make sure that won't happen again." You told the male before the call was cut short when he decided to hang up all of a sudden.

Looking around, you saw a chinese restaurant that had the smallest line, so you went there and bought the food there, even though the orders of the group was not exactly what they wanted for you to buy. You just couldn't go back empty handed.

After a few minutes of walking, you finally arrived at the venue of the fansign event and got there just in time before Stray Kids were called to the stage for their activity to be done, but the moment you got there you saw that the people present were already eating their food away. They noticed your presence entering the room whilst their head turned to look at you. "I... Good morning, everyone." You greeted them. 'Guess their manager got their food delivered.'

You didn't get a reply, except from the group who was more than happy to see that you had food on your hands. "Hyung! Thank God. I was starving." The group's youngest, Jeongin said as he helped you put the foods down on the table. "You're seriously a life saver."

You smiled at him giving him a muttered thanks that earned you a smile from Jeongin. Honestly speaking, Jeongin was the second best person you ever liked in the group, the first being Lee Felix since he was the only person to ever approach you on your first day since he was able to see how much you were so nervous. Felix was also one of the members who taught you korean, the other being Bang Chan. You had always knew the group back then, and now and you were damn thankful that you got the opportunity to be in their circle.

Knowing how young you were to be working for them, they treated you nicely, not because they needed to, rather cause it was in their nature to be caring. Well, at least except one person. You were the closest to Felix who treated you like his personal manager and a friend as well, going out on friendly dates with you to the park, dog cafés, just anywhere Felix would find interesting to visit.

Who's the person that seemed irritated whenever you were around you ask? Why, the one and only visual king, Hwang Hyunjin. He doesn't actually treat you bad, but the way his eyes would always turn dark or displeased when you show up in his line of sight made you feel so small and felt totally unwelcomed. That was then, apparently, since today the male looked a little too quiet and didn't even bother to look at you. Believe me or not that's actually the kindest thing he's done to you.

You would try to go to him to try and talk to him, worried by his silence. You just furrowed your brows and sighed completely aware that no matter how much you try to talk to him he won't even dare to acknowledge you being there for him.

"M/n, are you just gonna stand there? Come and eat." Chan told you, but you just politely declined his offer with the shake of your head before telling him that you had just taken your breakfast and that you were full, more and you feel like your stomach's gonna burst. "Hm, suit yourself, but I'll be leaving mine untouched, so you can eat it when you get hungry, yeah?"

"You're so kind, Chan." You gave him a smile that got Chan smiling also showing his deep dimples that you could just dive in it anytime soon.

"Hey, hey, hey! We've known each other the longest. Why do I still have to call you 'hyung' and M/n doesn't?" Jisung, one of the group's rapper, pouted with folded arms as Chan chuckled before ruffling the kid's hair that Jisung angrily shook off.

"Well, since he's not that spoiled, unlike you." Chan answered Jisung who gasped dramatically. "And he also gained my permission, so—"

"Whenever or not he's around, is he the only person that ever comes into your mind?" That all too familiar voice spoke out, all your heads turning towards the person. He scoffed and stood up with a smirk on his face, probably in disbelief that the whole group was talking to you and always thought about you. "I mean, come on. There's gotta be something else to talk about other than this... person." You felt his eyes look at you while your eyes stared at him with rising anger. "There's sports, other artists, songs, music, so many and you chose to pick him as the topic of your talk."

"Hyunjin, that is very disrespectful." Chan gritted out, but Hyunjin knew better than to listen or to even stop.

"I'm really not, hyung." Hyunjin's smirk grew wider eyeing you with a suspicious look on his eyes. An idea popped in his head as he opened his mouth to talk. "But, if you want to, I could show you how disrespectful I can get." Without any warning, he took the take-out container and bottled drink in his hand and gave you no second to react as he poured all of its contents onto your head with a loud gasp coming out of you. "There. I'll call it a masterpiece even."

"Hwang Hyunjin!" Bang Chan's voice boomed through the whole room a still smirking Hyunjin turning around to face the older male who was fuming with anger. "You—"

"Chan!" You called out to him before things got a little out of hand. For pete's sake their going to just fight because Hyunjin had made a mess of you? You were not even worth the fight. "No. I'm fine. I can just quickly change, that's all. I'll be right back and I better get no reports about you two fighting." You told the two, Chan rolling his eyes.

You got out of the room and ran as fast as you can to the nearest restroom, cleaning yourself as soon as you arrived. Times like this you would immediately bawl your eyes out, but with the constant behavior that Hyunjin showed to you, you grew used to it. Heck, you even sometimes feel that the other boys only act like they liked you being there and when you weren't, they'd stab you behind your back. "Goodness, why won't this get off."

"Need help?" A raspy voice came from the entrance of the restroom, turning your head around to see Felix leaning himself on the door frame with his arms crossed, then untangled them to let his hands rest inside his pockets and stepped inside as you smiled at him. "Do you need more tissue?"

You shook your head at him, your attention back on your stained favorite shirt wiping them clean with the tissues the place's restroom owned. "Nah, there's plenty here. Besides, I'm all dried up now." You said and showed yourself to him, Felix knitting his brows in worry.

He seeped air through his teeth and cocked his head to the side, unsure if you should be wearing that now dirty shirt when you'd be with them during the activity the whole time. "I don't think you should be wearing that."

"Why? It's my favorite sweater." You chuckled half-heartedly.

"Yeah, I know, M/n, but it's dirty. Plus, I think it gets pretty uncomfortable seeing that stain on your shirt and it gets sticky. Yeugh." Felix pretended to barf which got you laughing softly. Felix, though not trying to be funny, whatever he does it always seemed so funny to you.

"Fine, fine. I'll go change, the problem though is that I didn't bring an extra shirt with me today." You told Felix scratching your nape.

"Really? Well, I guess we have to borrow from one of the group's." Felix suggested, but your eyes grew sizes bigger upon hearing that and waved your hands.

"No way, Felix! I have already done enough damage, I can't afford to borrow a shirt from one of the members, or to you even." You told him, but it all fell on deaf ears as Felix refused to listen. "I'm just trouble, Felix. You don't have to worry about me."

Felix hummed with two fingers pinching his chin gently. "Yeah, I don't think so." He took your wrist and started to drag you back to the dressing room. "Come on, I know there's someone willing to let you borrow a shirt." You just sighed, knowing that Felix won't even dare to change his mind when he had already set them on something.

Alas, as you two got there, none of the members even had a spare shirt to let you borrow. They were very willing and even tried to look around if there was anything, but to no avail. Although, there was one last person you didn't ask. "Hyunjin. You were the cause of this mess, you let him borrow your shirt." Felix sternly told the older male who pilled his brows together.

"What?! No way! Are you telling me I'd offer to do something for that guy? No!" Hyunjin retorted making Felix growl.

Felix was so ready to throw punches at the male who didn't seem to be bothered by the situation, but you just put a hand on Felix's shoulder and assured him. "That's alright, Felix. My sweater was thick enough to not get my undershirt wet. Although, I'm grateful for your effort." You smiled at him and sighed.

Just in time, you heard a call from one of your co-manager that the group was already being requested to be at the stage right now. You gave them an encouraging smile as they all did the same. "Alright boys. It's time to go out there and meet millions of your fans."

The group all shouted, excluding Hyunjin, hurray and hurried out to get on stage, you following behind after you were able to discard your sweater, leaving you only on your black t-shirt. You shivered at the cold now that you were left with a thin clothing that wasn't appropriate for the type of weather you were having and not mention that the place was fully air-conditioned.

Your shaking was not too evident, but one of the members, Seungmin, was able to notice it. Feeling pity he made his way to Hyunjin and tried to convince him. "Jinnie, M/n's cold. Please lend him your jacket, at least. He'll get sick if he continues to get exposed to the cold."

"Better for him."

"Hyunjin, please... Besides, you're already wearing thick layers of clothes why not let M/n borrow." Seungmin reasoned out and solemnly knitted his brows to persuade the male, Hyunjin rolling his eyes at his bestfriend and huffed before taking his jacket off of him and handed it over to Seungmin who silently squeaked. "Thanks, Hyunjin." Hyunjin brushed it off with a 'whatever', the younger of the two jogging his way towards you and gave you the jacket he got from Hyunjin. "I noticed your shivering, so I want you to take this jacket and no, you can't say you can't accept it."

You nodded your head at him and took the jacket from his hands. "Thank you, Seungmin."

"My pleasure." He smiled at you with those puppy dog like smile. He skipped back to reunite with his group while you put on the jacket that Seungmin offered you. You were still in thought though how Seungmin was able to convince Hyunjin to let you borrow his jacket. You knew Hyunjin owned the jacket since he wouldn't let them go since the moment you arrived.

You noticed how the jacket was too big for you, since the sleeves of the piece of clothing only let your fingers peek out through the holes while the flaps reached further down your hips, but it totally felt cozy and smelled like... Hyunjin. How do you explain it? You don't even know where to begin. It was him. The reason why you wanted to work with Stray Kids. You didn't want to look like you were some type of stalker, but all you ever wanted was to befriend Hyunjin.

The befriending process didn't go the way you actually thought it would go. Everytime his eyes met yours or you heard his voice you'd get all flustered and so nervous that your tongue always gets tied, the words you want to tell him gets trapped inside your mouth. It all started to be just an admiration towards the slightly older male until your determination to become his friend gradually became an unknown feeling towards Hyunjin, until realizing later that you actually liked the group's rapper, despite all his bad treatment towards you.

Back to reality, you hugged yourself and took in the wonderful scent the artist gave off until one of your co-worker nudged you. "Hey, stop sniffing the clothes. You totally look like a sasaeng."

"W-what? I wasn't sniffing anything." You denied it earning an eye roll. Later, you heard the whole place bursted into shouts of joy and excitement as Stray Kids made their appearance on the stage greeting all their fans inside and outside of the place. They all took their turns taking the mic to express their happiness and gratefulness to their ocean of fans that filled up the whole place.

Soon, the group was seated at a long rectangular table that was a perfect fit letting all the members seat on their respective seats. There were chairs as well settled in front of the table with each settled across a specific member.

You were appointed to keep guard and stand behind Hyunjin, in any case of fans throwing shade at him or any forms of harm or hate towards the member who had just been caught up in a supposed bullying rumor.

The line started to form as people who were present inside the place took their turns to talk to each member and get a sign from them. So far, you could only wonder how paranoid the company was to keep you on guard of Hyunjin when all these people here are Stays and they wouldn't do such thing to throw hate to any members in the group. Right?

The line was still too long to be gone in just minutes making you sigh, hearing your tummy rumble hoping that no one heard that. You now finally regret not eating that noodles that Chan offered you, the hunger finally hitting your system as your tummy continued to grumble. You pursed your lips and forced your eyes closed while you brought your head down in embarrassment. 'Fuck... why now?'

After a short while, the line was starting to get shorter and shorter, you thanking the heavens for the fast passing by of the time. But, the moment you least expected to happen happened. You felt a harsh tap on your legs and another and another after it finally took your attention, getting a little shocked that the action was done by the person who hated you the worst. "Take it before I change my mind." He told you. You complied and bowed at him politely as he tuts his tongue. "Who would even think of going to work on an empty stomach?"

'You... poured it on me?' You thought then shrugging it off before you looked at the treat offered to you by Hyunjin. You wondered what type of bread it was and hesitated, although Hyunjin's back was facing you he was able to sense your hard time on trying to eat what he gave you.

"It's not poisoned, M/n." He whispered as he signed the album that had his photo on it, then looking up at the fan who would like to talk to him.

Their talk wasn't audible to you, but you opened the packaging of the nicely wrapped pastry and bit on it with your body facing the wall so your back was turned against the people to cover yourself while you ate. One of your co-manager did notice your unwanted behavior and stomped his way to you and took the baked good from your hands and threw it to the ground to step on it and crush it good. "What do you think you're doing, L/n?! You're being inappropriate right now." He gritted out to you with a small voice almost like a whisper so no one else would hear you two. You bowed your head subtly before a hand was placed right below your chin as you looked up at him confused. "Spit." He ordered, referring to the food you were chewing.

You nod your head and spit out the food that was in your mouth into his hand while he picked up the wasted food and left, then threw it all at a trash can. "Fuck." You sighed as you held your chest and slowly turned around to face the non-existent line, the group now interacting with their fans.

Just looking at them now, you were able to remember when you were the one who was there seated at the chairs shouting out the name of the person you would call as your bias, which is no other than Kim Seungmin. At least, when you still didn't take the job to be one of the group's manager. Usually, it would only take one manager to manage the group, but why did this group require another one? You questioned yourself. It was all unexplained to you, but all you gotta do was to just be glad that you get to be friends with the people you see as your role models.

"Hyunjin-ah! When did you start trading jackets with your manager?" The question came out as a shout that got everyone laughing, including the group. You were only able to chuckle knowing that it was Seungmin who convinced Hyunjin to let you borrow his jacket.

Hyunjin didn't get to answer the question, when another fan spoke from the crowd that got every fans' attention. "Are rumors true that you don't treat Manager L/n well?"

Chan furrowed his brows and picked up his microphone. "Where did you get this story?" He chuckled trying to make it sound that it wasn't true and just pure bluff. Chan looked at Hyunjin with the face that told Hyunjin that he should start treating you well if he didn't want the netizens to know about his treatment towards you. "Anyways, it's seriously not true."

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A few minutes later and the event was finally finished and the group was bidding their goodbyes to their fans as they started to walk backstage. You waited for them at their waiting room with a handful of bottled waters for the boys to pick up once they get inside. The door soon opened revealing the group with a tense atmosphere following them that got you so confused. "Hey—"

"Hyunjin. If word gets out about your mistreatment to M/n, that would be a serious damage to our image and to M/n as well, 'cause he's obviously in pain because of you!" Chan yelled at the trouble causing male who only rolled his eyes paying no heed to his warning.

"Atleast, I never went too far as to really hurt him physically." Hyunjin deadpanned Chan growling at his response. Your eyes flickered to Hyunjin, then to Chan not knowing what to do in this situation.

"You are seriously being a jerk right now, Hyunjin." Chan fumed in anger while Hyunjin just continued to act deaf and played on his phone. Chan, giving up, sighed and plopped down on his seat. "Ayayay."

They took turns in getting your glances as you thought of a way to calm the atmosphere. You had already been their manager for a over a year now and this was the only time that Hyunjin ever spoke up to Chan and, to top it off, with sass and without the slightest feeling of being bothered. That was the moment you felt like you had enough. You've had enough with all these things. You were tired of yourself to even think that Hyunjin would finally soften up to you and be his friend. You were wrong to even apply for this kind of job. The group wouldn't be fighting if it hadn't been for you appearing in their lives all so suddenly. "Guys... let him do as he pleases. I'll be the one to take of whatever the netizens hear."

Chan raised his eyes up at you with furrowed brows. "What do you plan on doing? Whatever it is don't do it."

You smiled and nodded. "I won't, Chan." You held up the bottles in your hands and turned on a toothy smile. "Water? Anyone?" They all sighed in relief and got their turns in picking their own bottled water, the last one not being picked up by Hyunjin, so you decided to give it to him. You brought the cold drink to his face making him flinch as he looked up at you. "Thank you for the bread, by the way." You told him and giggled. "I've already packed your jacket in your bag." You informed him and patted his back.

The once crazily terrifying atmosphere now turned into a more comfortable one, the one you always would want to see. You didn't know what got you the courage to speak or blurt out whatever you had in your mind, but you looked at Hyunjin and said: "Hyunjin, can I talk to you privately?" Thankfully, their loud voices was able to distract themselves from hearing your request to Hyunjin who sighed and nodded his head. He stood up from his seat and started to move outside of the room. You followed behind closely, feeling intimidated by the month older's tall figure. "Hyunjin..."

"Cut to the chase, M/n. I don't have much time." He told you as you nod your head in understanding and fiddled with your fingers.

"I know, you'd probably like hearing this, but could I have the permission to quit as your group's manager?" You asked him, his forehead creasing that made him pull his brows together. "I was able to notice what the group had become the moment I became your manager—"

"And do you think quitting would change it?" Hyunjin asked you with a raised brow. "If anything, it'd probably—no, it would break their hearts to know that you quitted. If you do so, you're not only quitting as a manager, but as their friend as well."

"And you're able to say that after you purposely tried to have me fired or suspended from work by offering me that bread?" You sarcastically answered, Hyunjin clearing his throat.

"Well... that wasn't my intention. I didn't even know it'd get you fired." Hyunjin replied making you chuckle.

"Yeah..." You replied with a sad smile. "But, I don't wanna be the reason why you and Chan would always fight. Stray Kids is Stray Kids because they're fun and loving, caring. And I don't want to change that by being around the group." Hyunjin never replied anymore and you sighed. "I'm heading back now." You said and as you started to walk back inside, Hyunjin spoke.

"I wish you never entered our life, at all, M/n." He told you that got your heart broken into pieces. Sure, you admitted that he never liked you even just a bit, but him saying it so bluntly to you, it's like he does really mean it and could only care less. You were about to speak when Hyunjin beat you to it. "If so, I wouldn't be able to garner these undeniable feelings I have for you."

You froze. Were you hearing right? You just cleaned your ears this morning, well you do it everyday. Is your ear trying to play with you? "W-what?"

"DAMN! WHO WOULD'VE THOUGHT?!" You gasped with your mouth full of popcorn, your boyfriend, Hyunjin seated beside you at the movie theater. He smiled at you admiring how cute you looked with your shocked expression that was being illuminated by the big screen. "Jinnie! Look, they're gonna kiss! AH!!" As the two actors in the movie was about to kiss, one of the movie's cast bursted out of the door cutting the kiss and earned a few 'oh's and 'I hate you, Chan's. "Chan is such a cock blocker."

"Watch your mouth, babe." Hyunjin told you making you pout.

"It's true, though!" You retorted and Hyunjin could only laugh at your cuteness and honest opinions.

#hwang hyunjin x male reader #bottom male reader #x male reader #bxb #male reader #idol x male reader #kpop #fanfiction #stray kids x male reader #skz x male reader #stray kids #boy group #angsty #skz #skz hyunjin #stray kids hyunjin

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rainofaugustsith · 3 years

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Rain Plays SWTOR: Spirit of Vengeance Survival Walkthrough

As we head toward 7.0, I thought it would be a good idea to check in with a Spirit of Vengeance Survival Guide, 2.0. I have my own feelings about SoV - namely that it's boring, tedious and was tuned way too high for a main story solo flashpoint - but let's move on to the actual guide.

This is a guide specifically for those of you who just want to get this flashpoint over with so you can move on.

I personally would advise trying to knock this flashpoint out of your story progression BEFORE 7.0. We have no idea how hard content is going to be once you lose some of your abilities and utilities, so if you have any characters who are planned to continue with the main story, I'd take them through now while you have all of the tools in your toolbox and are familiar with them.

After literally months of complaints the devs finally toned down this flashpoint to a more manageable level, but there are still a lot of mobs that hit hard, and it's still really long. When I went through with canon Viri and Lana at level 50, with Viri fully geared toward 306, I moved right along through the flashpoint without difficulty or deaths. It still took almost exactly an hour. It's even longer when you're contending with Rass Ordo and a lot of cut scenes.

You will want to gear as well as you can for this - you should not have to since this is a story/solo flashpoint in the main story, but it will help you here. Remember you DO NOT have to group to get good gear. There are numerous solo missions that will give you gear up to 306 - the Mek-Sha Tradehouse missions, Personal Conquest each week, solo flashpoints, including the Onderon weekly and daily missions. Other suggestions:

1. Buy and use the Supplied Kyrprax Command Stim, available at any medical droid in the flashpoint, including the one when you first land on Ship #1. If you're doing this as part of the main story, you unfortunately still have Rass Ordo as your companion. Rass Ordo, despite being influence level 25, still has the AI of a cardboard box. You'd be better off bringing along a Jawagram as your companion. This stim will up your presence for an hour and make him slightly less incompetent.

2. If you can, equip yourself with the Life Warden tactical. This tactical drops fairly frequently from personal conquest and other gold gear boxes. It essentially gives you an extra heal in a tight situation and can come in handy.

3. Medpac on your abilities bar. You hopefully won't need this, but have it handy just in case. You may want to invest in the Supplied Kyprax Med Unit medpac, which will heal you AND your companion.

Within the flashpoint, some general caveats. You're looking at quantity, not quality here. It's just a lot of NPCs piling in on you.

1. KILL THE HEALERS FIRST. KILL THE HEALERS FIRST. KILL THE HEALERS FIRST. Just about every mob here has healers. They have different names on each ship:

- Varad Churl

- Darmanda Medic

- Ashade Lorekeeper

If you don't kill the medics first the fights will be even more interminable. Get rid of them.

2. Remember there are kolto stations in a lot of the rooms, not just the boss areas.

3. Be very careful because there are a lot of mob groups close together. Watch where you are blasting/Force-whatevering because you don't want to pull more than one group at once.

4. Get your gear repaired as often as you can. If you've fought a tough mob and there's a medical droid nearby, go to it and patch up, even if it means you have to backtrack.

5. Get really familiar with any AOE (area of effect) skills you have. Know where they are on your abilities bar and how to use them. Given the mobs in this flashpoint, anything you have that can clobber several NPCs at once is welcome.

Now, here we go.

SHIP #1:

Banquet room: after you fight the first mob and take the elevator, you will find yourself in a large "banquet room" with a lot of mobs. Pick a straight line and go forward, taking care not to veer too far to the sides. If you wander, you'll invariably pull the mobs on the sides of the room.

The rest of this ship is pretty straightforward; it's just a lot of mob NPCs converging on you at once, over and over again.

Gorga Brak: Straightforward; stay out of the red circles. Be aware that Rass Ordo will helpfully stand in these circles and let Gorga set him on fire, so don't expect any help during the fight.

SHIP #2:

More of the same: lots of mobs, now with Dar'manda nameplates. The Dar'manda medics try to hide more than the healers on the other ships, sometimes even going behind crates or other barriers, so keep your eyes peeled for them.

First thing of concern here: after a few rooms of mobs, you will arrive at the notorious jumping puzzle. Just stay on the right side of the room and walk along the beam. There are a few jumps up onto pieces of metal but they are not hard, ambitious jumps. Otherwise you just have two places where you have to make sure your character drops down onto the beam and not into the flames. Angle your camera overhead so you can see what you are doing.

Now it's time to go through the notorious Room After The Kitchen. As the name would suggest, you will know this is coming when you go through the kitchen. All the NPCs in the kitchen are neutral; leave them alone and keep going. The next room is a ballroom and you will find a lot of mobs.

You can get through this room by fighting only two mobs IF you watch where you are fighting and blasting. I like to try to get the first mob up onto the stairs so there's less of a chance that anyone else in the room will be disturbed. Kill the medics first. Then go straight foward - right through the fountain - and up the stairs to the second mob. I again like to try to fight them in their alcove up the stairs so I don't pull the other NPCs in the room.

You will now go down some corridors with more mobs - the space is tight, which in a way is good because you can't aggro more than one mob unless you really try. If you are going for bonus missions there are some rooms here to visit off the main path. If you're just trying to get this damned flashpoint over, continue straight down the hall toward that green arrow.

After taking the elevator you'll get to the tether room, and a yellow message will flash onscreen about it. There will be a very large mob here with a lot of Dar'manda Commander silver NPCs. If Rass Ordo decides to up and die on you, it may be here. Remember there's a kolto station to the immediate right of where you walked into the room.

Click the blue box to release the tether. Do NOT get too close to the rancor in the cage, Goldie. Back when SoV was first released, she'd aggro on you even from in her cage, and you couldn't kill her or get out of combat. They seem to have fixed that bug, but you know how that goes.

Bask Sunn: Kill. The. Medics. First. After that, Bask Sunn has a wicked knockback, but he can't knock you *out* of the ship anymore. Remember Bask Sunn leaves a crate with your loot (look on the bridge), it's not on his person.

SHIP #3:

Your first challenge here will be another room with a lot of intense mobs. Take care not to pull more than one mob at once. Rass may decide to try to die here.

You will quickly reach the sniper room. It's a long room with two snipers by the far doorway, shooting at you. Don't try to engage them; just keep running forward. As you cross this room, you will drop through the floor. It's a long fall but you won't take any damage; it's what the game wants you to do.

Rass will not fall with you, and you will have a room of tentacles to fight on your own. Hit Unity and Heroic Moment BEFORE you fall, when you are still in the sniper room with Rass. You can use your HM abilities against the tentacles. If you really have trouble with them, try to get out of the garbage pit; you will find a kolto station at the top of the small ramp.

Now we come to...oh look, another room with a lot of mobs. They're so creative here. Do your best not to pull more than one at once, kill the medics, you know the drill by now.

Troya Ajak: No special tricks. Stay out of the red circles. Her songbird volley is nasty, but she's perhaps the easiest boss in this flashpoint.

FOURTH SHIP (The Spirit of Vengeance, I think?)

Thankfully this is almost a straight shot to the final boss encounter, and there's a medical droid just before it. You may wish to wait for your Heroic Moment to cool down if you have recently used it.

The silver NPC in the small mob right outside Heta Kol's area sometimes does not die. If you find that they keep recharging to full health, walk past them, put Rass on passive, and wait by the medical droid. They should eventually give up and go back to their original spots and you can go on.

Heta Kol: This fight has mercifully been toned down. There are two stages:

You'll fight Heta Kol straight on. She has a serious knockback, but there aren't any special tricks here.

1. Stage One: fight Heta.

2. Heta disappears and a mob appears at the bottom of the stairs. There are two medics, and the Commanders will have knockbacks to keep you from killing the healers.

3. After all the mob NPCs are defeated, Heta will return. Keep trying to hit her.

4. Heta disappears. This time there's a mob with two gold Varad NPCs and two weaker ones at the stairs, plus two silver Dar'manda snipers on the platform. If you have any AOE skills, make sure they are available here so you can take out as many as possible at once. You may wish to consider saving Heroic Moment for this point so you can use Orbital Strike if you have it. Rass Ordo loves to die at this point so be mindful of where your kolto stations are. You might need the kolto for him, even if you don't need it for you.

5. Heta Kol returns with a much more serious knockback and red circles of doom that increase in size and are hard to avoid. You're going to get thrown around a lot. ETA with thanks to @vespertine-legacy: The circles can be interrupted, which may make this fight easier.

And...you're done. Thank the stars.

#swtor #rain plays swtor #flashpoints #solo swtor #spirit of vengeance

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skriaki · 4 years

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TOP 10 NINTENDO SWITCH GAMES 2019 - my arbitrary list!

Sometimes it's good to be proven wrong. I was pretty sceptical when the Switch was first announced, as it didn't seem too different from the Wii U's gamepad. Then I spent two years watching Nintendo enjoy a complete reversal of fortune, to the point of potentially amassing a more compelling library than Sony's or Microsoft's consoles. So that's how I quite suddenly found myself buying a Switch in October 2019, after having resisted the PS4 and Xbone for five whole years, and my free time has since been dominated by this little machine that defied the odds.

Some of Nintendo's business decisions can still seem inexplicable, but releasing a powerful handheld console that can also be docked with a TV at a moment's notice has proved to be an inspired idea, rather than the gimmick the Wii U's gamepad mostly turned out to be. And along with Nintendo's dependable series of top-notch exclusives, the Switch has enjoyed much better third-party support, which is how I ended up buying Dark Souls for the fourth bloody time just because the option to play it portably was too tempting to resist.

The Switch is the first console I've bought since the PS3 and for all Nintendo's quirks, there's a reason the Switch has dominated Christmas wishlists for three years running. Games like Super Mario Odyssey feel like full-size adventures that just happen to have a portable option, as opposed to handheld games you can also play on the big screen. This is the first year in a long while that I've actually played enough topical titles to justify a "games of the year" list, even if my recent Nintendo bias is pretty blatant.

So with that caveat in mind, and in no particular order, here's my entirely subjective list of the best Nintendo Switch games of 2019.

Luigi's Mansion 3

This is a franchise I'd always been curious about and can finally have an opinion on. The process of going from floor to floor of the hotel hoovering up ghosts and solving puzzles is pretty straightforward, but Luigi's Mansion 3 has so much polish and personality crammed into the cartridge. Luigi is immediately lovable as a determined coward, and each level has a wildly different theme that's realised with extravagant audio and visual flair, so progress always feels rewarding. Though this isn't true horror by any means, there can be an unsettling atmosphere and some of the bosses are pretty freaky. I officially love this oddball franchise and am desperate for a chance to play the story again in co-op. Unquestionably a first-class exclusive.

Doom (Switch port)

Not to be confused with the impressive Switch version of Doom 2016, this is the iconic Doom made cheap and accessible. While purists may take issue with some minor technical deviations, this is the first time I've got most of the way through Doom because the portability and *glorious* true dual-stick control makes this easily my favourite version. There's even a cheat menu for when I just want to mindlessly punch hell beasts. The main thing that ages Doom is its maze-like structure, but playing it casually experience alleviates that frustration somewhat. At a grand total of four pounds, this is a BFB (big fucking bargain).

Untitled Goose Game

You know a game is good when the only asterisk I put on my recommendation is that it *may* be overpriced. Untitled Goose Game took the internet by storm this year because it's the quintessential indie game: cute, simple and with anti-authoritarian undertones. As a horrible goose, it's your mission to cause havoc in an unsuspecting English village, interacting with people and objects to cause chain reactions of chaos. Some of the puzzle solutions are maybe a bit obscure, but 90% of the time just messing around with everything in the area will lead to a solution. Untitled Goose Game makes up for its brevity with sheer comedic charm, feeling much better-designed than a "lul so random" affair like Goat Simulator. A honking good time.

Terraria (Switch port)

I have spent literally hundreds of hours on the PC version of Terraria, so when I was broke after buying my Switch the new Terraria port was an obvious cost-effective choice. While the controls aren't as precise, the amount of time spent mining and sorting through loot makes this a great handheld experience. I can't comment on the multiplayer options but few games represent such a sheer value for money, as there's always a new cave to explore or a new boss to overcome. Time has been kind to this 2011 classic, grind notwithstanding.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair

While I personally enjoyed the original Yooka-Laylee, it was definitely flawed and I never seriously expected to see a sequel. But Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair launched quite abruptly and did a pretty spectacular job of upstaging its predecessor. All the previous game's half-baked feel has been replaced with clever design touches, like the equippable tonics which grant helpful abilities at the cost of a currency penalty. The titular Lair is actually the final level and available to throw yourself at right from the beginning, but beating it without first obtaining more hitpoints by completing other stages is incredibly hard, which is a great way to incentivize progress without denying more confident players the option of beating the game earlier if they can meet the challenge. Impossible Lair might be this year's biggest surprise, and despite a modest budget I think it's worthy of comparison to excellent 2D platformers like Rayman Legends. Just don't expect to defeat Capital B on your first attempt.

A Hat In Time (Switch port)

I recently reviewed A Hat In Time but at the risk of repeating myself, it's one of the most charming games of the last few years and an incredibly impressive crowdfunded achievement. Mario's offerings may be a grander technical feat, but A Hat In Time is a fast and fabulous journey through a series of weird and wonderful worlds that all feel distinct in content and tone. It's very openly inspired by GameCube-era platformers like Mario Sunshine and Psychonauts and it easily scratches that itch. Simply one of the best original platformers of this generation, and I defy you not to love Hat Kid's cheeky antics.

Spyro Reignited Trilogy (Switch port)

As someone who thinks the original Spyro trilogy holds up better than most early 3D games, I'd have actually preferred a simple port rather than a full remake, but The Reignited Trilogy is honestly impeccable. The updated visuals are gorgeous while maintaining the general style of those old, jaggy models, and very little of the gameplay or content has changed except for sensible updates like the ability to immediately warp between every level you've visited. Having full dual-analogue control is also an absolute godsend even for a PS1 veteran like me. Though Spyro may seem a bit basic these days when faced with modern platformer marvels, the Reignited Trilogy makes these old favourites accessible again at a generous price point.

Ring Fit Adventure

Yes, I have a Wii kicking around in a box somewhere. No, Wii Fit never held my attention as anything more than a curiosity. Ring Fit Adventure, meanwhile, is limited only by my cholesterol-encrusted heart and dislike of excessive showering. This is an honest-to-goodness attempt at making an RPG out of a workout toy, and the amount of polish put into the game's presentation and hardware implementation is pretty remarkable. Levels involve jogging on the spot and squeezing the ring accessory to collect goodies and overcome obstacles, and periodically you'll engage in turn-based combat where you use a custom selection of exercise moves to deal damage. It's a fantastic idea pulled off much more elegantly than it sounds. The ring accessory unfortunately makes this quite an expensive game, so it'll take a lot of regular use to get your money's worth, but I can honestly (and surprisingly) say that exercise suddenly becomes more compelling when it's presented as a light RPG adventure with anthropomorphic gym equipment encouraging you to take breaks and drink plenty of water.

Pokémon Sword/Shield

Disclaimer: I can only give my impressions from 25 hours of playing Pokémon Shield, so this is DEFINITELY not a full review. That being said, this is still an easy recommendation to existing Pokemaniacs and a good starting point for any new acolytes. While the core formula hasn't evolved (har har) much since the very first Pokemon, Sword and Shield still has a number of modern quality of life improvements that make previous generations show their age. I've had so much fun building a core crew of cute and/or badass 'mons in a weird Nintendo version of Britain, and the online features combine with a VASTLY improved random encounter system to make grinding far less of a concern. The wild area takes some getting used to, but it's satisfying to come back and capture the huge Onyx you had to run away from a few hours before. Even if Pokémon Sword/Shield has some technical blemishes and could have pushed the series further in some regards, it's still easy to see why this franchise has maintained such a beloved status for so long.

Red Faction: Guerrilla Re-mars-tered (Switch port)

Along with Dark Souls, Red Faction was a game I never even knew I needed on the go, but now I've got it I can't imagine ever going back. A cult classic due to its amazing destruction physics, Red Faction sees you leading a proletariat revolution on Mars, literally tearing down corporate monuments to free the working class from systematic oppression. The open world is a bit claustrophobic and the shooting isn't exactly mind-blowing, but there's a reason I've beaten Red Faction every couple of years ever since its original 2009 release. The Switch port does the game justice and if you set the difficulty to easy then this is one of the best rage-venting experiences money can buy. So yes, I recommend getting your ass to Mars.

#gaming #nintendo #goty #2019 #switch #nintendo Switch #game review #review

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phaltu · 6 years

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Your fake dating au makes me live but the idea of an abo offshoot makes me ASCEND. P sure I'd cry tears of joy if you wrote your idea of Shiro taking care of a keyed up Keith after a video but tbh any and all of the them would be fantastic. YOU are fantastic. Thank you for this gift to us and the universe as a whole

Okay I got enough prods about this that I had to write it. I just had to. thank you anon for such kind words and also thanks to everyone for tolerating me thru this all LMAO i love all of you. s/o to @akaiikowrites for the q& a idea.

( couple’s blog tag )

(if you don’t want to catch up on couples blog au - Keith & Shiro are best friends pretending to be a couple, and run a couple blog online where they start setting stretch goals that are exceedingly ludicrous, because they offer to shoot videos on return. Clue all the platonic, pining sex on camera. This part takes place after Keith comes back from a date, trying to see if he can get Shiro out of his system. He can’t.)

a/b/o, nsfw, general disregard for the idea of refractory periods

If you guys have been together for so long, where’s your mating mark? Does that mean the omega’s free ;)?

Keith’s eyes widen at the question. He can feel Shiro stiffen beside him as well, and there’s the same acidic spike in his scent that had been there when he had come home from his date.

As part of one of their incentives, Keith and Shiro had offered to do a live Q&A session. Their friends all know about their venture now, so they’re not too worried about hiding it. It brings everyone great entertainment, despite the fact that they’re forbidden to bring it up around Keith or Shiro. Keith and Shiro feel a little more comfortable sharing their faces and their voices; they’re still not giving out their real names. But they feel like they owe their viewers that much; for the past month they’ve been able to pay rent and buy groceries and pay phone bills without screaming together into the abyss.

The Q&A started out fine; people want to know where they met, how long they’ve been dating, who’s the loudest snorer. The answers to that are simple; at the beginning of Keith’s undergrad, they officially got together two years ago, and Shiro. It got a little raunchy, but they anticipated it and tried not to get too red as they gamely gave answers.

This question, however, they were not expecting. Retrospectively, it should be the most obvious one out of all of them but they’re still fumbling around with this whole amateur pornography thing.

Keith has a faint idea of who Lattunkrox94 actually is, and he is going to kill Lance, Matt and Hunk upon first sight. The chatroom goes off in a frenzy, wondering yeah, why doesn’t Keith have a mating mark? If Shiro hasn’t claimed him, does this mean Keith’s available?

Their silence makes it worse.

It’s when the messages start getting real raunchy that Shiro places a protective hand over Keith’s neck, covering where a mark should be.

“We don’t have one because we don’t see the need,” Shiro grunts. “It’s just a stupid mark.”

A stupid mark that Keith’s dreamt of getting his skin broken by, one that he’s thought about every time they’ve had sex so far. Half of Keith’s fantasies involve Shiro leaving an imprint of his teeth in the crook of his neck, so that everyone knows that they belong to each other.

The chat goes crazy, and Keith has to close his eyes and pinch his nose. He might be overreacting, but he feels like they’ve just poked a huge hole in their story and everyone’s going to see through their façade and stop being their patrons and then Keith’s going to have to go back to doing more night shifts at the security desk at the shittiest residence on campus.

Suddenly, Keith gets an idea. It’s not brilliant. He should probably turn off the mic and consult with Shiro beforehand.

“We were planning it as a surprise,” He blurts out. “If we exceeded our stretch goal by a certain amount, Shiro would mark me in the next video.”

Shiro goes stone-still beside him and– the strangest mix of terror and lust rolls off of Shiro, the second so strong Keith almost chokes. He’s probably sparked some sort of alpha instinct in Shiro, or whatever they call the primal need to claim an omega. If they do it on camera, it’ll be in front of an audience, and Keith has to stop his toes from curling at the thought of how possessive Shiro will be about that.

Suddenly, there’s a rush of people demanding to know how much the goal needs to be exceeded by. Before Keith can do anything, Shiro throws in a number that makes Keith’s eyes widen a little. It’s exactly half their amount of their stretch goal, and too high to be met in the next couple of days.

The trepidation in Shiro’s scent eases, and Keith tries not to read into it. After all, he was the idiot who suggested it. Shiro’s probably glad they don’t have to do anything rash.

Except that they keep forgetting that their subscribers are feverish and strangely hive-minded when it comes to reaching goals.

Shiro’s not made any troubles to hide what he actually thinks about this entire thing. He’s still not happy with Keith for suggesting Shiro marks him on camera, but also gets a funny look in his face when Keith suggests that he gets one of his friends to bite him, and they pretend it’s Shiro’s.

“This isn’t right,” Shiro insists, and Keith crosses his arms over his chest from where he’s sitting on the sofa. “We shouldn’t be doing this for money.”

“It’s just a stupid mark,” Keith echoes Shiro’s sentiment from a few days ago. “If you do it light enough, it’ll only last for a little bit.”

Shiro stares at his hands in his lap, and clenches his fists. Some sort of annoyance spikes within Keith because he doesn’t see it as a big deal; Shiro and Keith have bent each other over enough surfaces by now, all in the name of two best friends making money for rent. A fake mating mark may be a big deal, but they fuck on camera while pretending to be madly in love. He voices as much to Shiro, who looks hurt for a brief moment before shifting his expression into something more stony.

“Fine,” He says, voice tight. “I’ll mark you. But you can’t blame me if you end up regretting it.”

“I won’t,” Keith says. “Try not to look too annoyed when you do it.”

Keith gets that it’s his fault they’re doing this, but there are about a thousand different emotions running through Keith’s brain right now, and he wants to be irrational for a bit. He’s been flopped out on his bed for the past hour, leaving Shiro in the living room to stew for a bit.

Keith has his heat coming up, and he’s staying home for it this time, because he’s too enveloped in Shiro’s scent to have a sane stay at a hotel or in one of the special campus dorm rooms. He’s slowly been stealing some of Shiro’s clothes for his own room, but he refuses to call it a nest.

They haven’t discussed what exactly they’re going to do, but Keith had shrugged and said they’d make more videos, and then pulled his hair out about saying that out loud later that night.

The initial goal stated Shiro would lay Keith out during his heat; in reality, they’re doing it a day before, while it’s still building and weak, so that Keith won’t lose too much of himself into it. But Keith thinks he can do a pretty good job in acting like his main objective in life is to get Shiro to claim him, to knot him and mate him– especially now that Shiro’s going to mark him as well.

If he wants to, that is. Because Shiro’s been adamant about not wanting to mark him, not letting anyone mark him in his stead and pretending its him, not using makeup, and not rescinding the stretch goal. Keith doesn’t know what Shiro wants. Only what he doesn’t. It’s confusing, and riles Keith up enough that when he hears a knock on a door, he barks out a sharp “What?”

“I brought you food,” Shiro’s voice comes from the other side of the door, and Keith can pick up the faint smell of cheese pizza. He rolls onto his back and stares at his ceiling.

“Yeah,” He grunts out after a satisfactory pause. “Come in.”

Shiro carefully opens the door, and he’s got a box of pizza in one hand and two opened beers in the other.

“I bring offerings,” Shiro says as he makes his way to Keith’s bed. Keith barely shifts his legs to make room, but Shiro plops down anyways. “To say sorry.”

Keith hates that he immediately gravitates towards Shiro, despite being annoyed with him. It’s probably because of the food.

“For what?” He asks, finally sitting up and reaching for the box. He takes a slice, takes a giant bite of it, and levels Shiro with the most expectant look he can muster.

“I’m not disgusted by the idea of marking you,” Shiro says, then bites his lip like he didn’t mean to spill it out all at once. “I didn’t mean for it to come across that way.”

Keith gives a non-committal shrug; he knows his internal clock has around three minutes left before he stops being mad at Shiro, but he’s not going to rush an apology.

“If it’s what you want for sure,” Shiro says, passing a bottle to Keith. “Then I can do it for you.”

“I don’t mind if it’s you,” Keith replies, taking a sip of his beer. “You know that stuff doesn’t mean much to me.”

A partial lie; marks don’t mean a lot to Keith, but a mark from Shiro will mean everything to him.

“Yeah,” Shiro scratches the back of his head, and he doesn’t quite meet Keith’s eyes. “I just– I wanted to make sure that it was good for you, and not something you were doing out of obligation.”

And that’s when it clicks for Keith that yeah, while he’s the omega getting marked, Shiro’s probably going to feel some type of way about claiming him, especially when they’re just friends. It was Keith too that had initiated this, had blurted it out on the live stream, and he can’t forget this amongst all his angst over Shiro being hesitant to mark him.

“Only if it’s okay for you,” Keith says. “I know I was the one who said something stupid, and I’m sorry for that.”

“Eh,” It’s Shiro’s turn to shrug. “I get it. Heat of the moment.”

Keith can see the moment an oncoming shitty joke lights up Shiro’s brain and shoves Shiro by the shoulder before he can say it. Shiro gives a good natured laugh in return, and Keith makes a face at him. They sit in silence for a few minutes, vacuuming in a couple of slices before Keith speaks again.

“I trust you,” Keith says finally, nudging Shiro. This time Shiro meets his eyes, and there’s something softer, more comfortable in his look. “That’s why I said it so fast. At the end of the day I trust you, but if you don’t want to do it, it’s fine. We’ll think of a way out.”

“You’re my best friend,” Shiro says, wrapping arm around Keith. “I’ll do anything for you.”

It’s not a confession. Keith knows this. But it really feels like one.

Keith’s heats are normal. They don’t get that bad, not as much as they used to when he first got them. And they’re regular, almost like clockwork. He has it down to a T.

Yet somehow, it feels like his heat has come early, crashing against him like an unexpected wave. It’s probably something to do with the fact that he woke up this morning thinking about today being the day he was going to get marked by Shiro. Probably something to do with Shiro having his head buried in between Keith’s legs, swallowing him down as Keith twists fingers in his hair and tugs.

They normally set out a specific play-by-play for their videos before they shoot, so that they don’t fumble around and show their actual inexperience with each other. This time, they’ve been so caught up in figuring out when Shiro will actually mark Keith, that they’ve decided to just swing the rest. It means that Shiro’s taking Keith to bed like he would a real lover, and it’s slowly breaking apart Keith’s world.

They’re half on the bed, Keith’s legs dangling off the edge of the mattress while Shiro has his knees planted on the ground. Keith’s wet and keening like he’s never been before; his entire body’s screaming for Shiro to fill him, to knot him, to break skin and prove to everyone that Keith belongs to him.

He’s going to get claimed, so, so publicly, and the thought of that makes the fire curled around Keith’s gut brighten. Shiro follows soft suction at the tip by hooking his fingers and searching within Keith till Keith’s arching into Shiro’s mouth without any control. Shiro lets him slide in, and Keith’s pretty sure that this is how he’s going to die.

He almost cries out Shiro’s name when he’s swallows him all the way in. Shiro hums around him and works on opening him up more, and Keith’s trying his best to keep himself steady. Shiro pulls off with a pop and Keith twitches a little at the loss.

“Good?” Shiro asks, and Keith can barely meet his eyes as he nods. “Want some more?”

He’s looking up at Keith, eyes bright and cheeks flushed, and Keith’s trying to find a way to articulate that he thinks his heat might have been triggered, might be breaking through him at this very moment, without having the camera pick it up. He can feel the fire through till the tip of his toes, and knows he’s growing redder at a steady pace.

Shiro takes a sharp inhale, and that’s all it takes for his expression to change.

“You’re…” He trails off, and Keith lifts a trembling finger to Shiro’s lips.

“Yeah,” He replies, and he can hear the pathetic tint to his own voice. He’s not proud of it, but before he can dwell on it, Shiro’s pushing upwards.

He kisses Keith with a ferocity that catches him by surprise, and he can taste Shiro’s hunger through it. Shiro presses Keith flat against the mattress, and plants a foot on the ground. He nudges Keith’s legs apart with his other thigh, and Keith immediately rolls down on it, moaning openly into Shiro’s mouth.

Briefly, he thinks about the date he went on earlier in the week. The person had been a kind beta from one of his Trig classes. They paid for the date, had carried a good enough concentration, had been extremely sweet to Keith, and Keith sent them off with a kiss on the cheek and a hesitant “I’m not sure if I’m ready”. They had been a good sport about it, just like they had taken Keith’s “My roommate’s an alpha” as a good enough explanation for why he probably reeked of Shiro.

Keith’s glad that he didn’t have to articulate that he’s not been able to ever match the amount of desire he’s felt for Shiro. He’s glad that he’s never had to articulate how he sensed jealousy in Shiro when he had told Shiro about the date, and how that scent had stayed with him as he wrapped a hand around himself later that night and muffled himself against the pillow.

That sends another sharp spike of lust through Keith, and there’s no denying that his heat’s come on early. It feels like his brain’s getting consumed by Shiro, who’s kissing him like he’s ready to devour him.

“Shit,” Shiro murmurs when he breaks them apart and Keith tries to chase him. Keith claws at his back and pulls him closer. Shiro presses his nose against Keith’s neck, and Keith feels the skim of teeth against skin. “You’re not kidding.”

You have no idea, Keith thinks.

But by the way Shiro looks at him, steadily growing darker and more commanding, Keith thinks he might.

Keith’s been with other alphas before. He’s been marked once before, but it faded out with the relationship.

He knows that none of those experiences surpass Shiro. He knows nothing that can happen will ever top Shiro, who’s got Keith’s legs hooked over his arms, nearly bending him in half as he fucks into him at a possessive and punishing pace.

Keith can’t recognize the own sounds spilling out of his mouth, but he can’t recognize much of anything through the fuzz surrounding his brain. He’s honed in on the heat radiating off Shiro, of Shiro in him, big and demanding as he pins Keith down and takes him.

Keith throws his head back to let out a steady stream of pleased noises, and Shiro takes the bared neck as an invitation to bite it. He’s not marking Keith yet, but he’s sucking soft bruises, counterpoint to the way he moves in Keith. Shiro moans against the skin and the vibration of it makes Keith shake. It makes him feel satisfied that his alpha’s pleased, that his alpha’s pleased because of him.

“Shi-ah,” Keith manages to catch himself just in time, an impressive feat given that he’s not sure if he’s capable of saying anything but Shiro’s name.

“Baby,” Shiro pants into Keith’s neck. “Does it feel good?”

“Yeah,” Keith manages to choke out. “Yeah, god, please, please–”

Shiro doesn’t ask what Keith’s begging for; he just presses forward, bending Keith even more, sending stars shooting through his vision. It makes Keith loud, and makes him come so, so close. He wants to reach down and pull himself off, but he wants Shiro to do it more.

“I’m almost-” Keith starts, cutting off at a particularly hard thrust. “I’m gonna–”

Shiro quiets him with a bruising kiss, and it takes the barest touch for Keith to come, for him to spill over Shiro’s hand and for him to muffle Shiro’s name into his mouth.

He thinks that’s the end, that Shiro’s going to ride him through it and finish off himself, but his body thinks different. He’s still half hard, and Shiro shows no sign of letting up. Keith’s feels a familiar sensitivity creeping in, but it’s dull and muted, like his body’s begging to let Shiro keep taking him.

Shiro gives another hard thrust, ducking his head to look in between them.

“I still have to mark you,” Shiro says, voice rough and restrained. Keith’s glad he’s not the only one feeling completely wrecked.

“Do it now,” Keith says, but Shiro shakes his head. Before he can process it, worry shoots through him. It probably makes itself really known, because Shiro drops down to leave soothing kisses against Keith’s jawline.

“I want to make sure they see,” Shiro says, sliding his arms out from under Keith’s legs. “Make sure they know.”

What Shiro wants to do is to hold him up in his lap, using a hand around Keith’s throat to pin his back flush against Shiro’s torso. Another arm encircles Keith’s waist, holding him steady. There’s not much support for Shiro, so he uses his strength to thrust up into Keith.

Keith’s entire body’s shaking, and he can’t parse whether it’s the heat or if this is just how he’s destined to be around Shiro. Rationally, it’s the heat, but the spark Keith’s been nurturing for Shiro has bloomed into an all encompassing flame. Shiro squeezes the hand around Keith’s throat. It makes him dizzy in the best way, and he lets out a loud whine.

“No one else can have you,” Shiro whispers into Keith’s ear. “No one else can touch you like this.”

Keith tries to nod as much as he can, and Shiro rewards him by shifting his hand off his neck so that he can tug at Keith. The suddenly flow of air and friction against his skin has Keith’s eyes rolling back, but he knows he can’t come again till Shiro marks him.

“Am I yours?” He manages to gasp out, and he can feel Shiro give a pleased rumble behind him.

“You’re mine,” Shiro’s voice has dropped low and liquid, washing over Keith. “And I’m yours. No one else and no one else’s.”

Keith has no idea how Shiro’s managed to remain this coherent; he thinks it might be one of those alpha things, but hearing those words makes him squirm. Keith’s losing his senses rapidly, and he’s starting to feel reckless.

“Shiro,” It comes out of Keith before he can stop it, broken and husky. It doesn’t stop Shiro—and Keith starts to feel teeth on his neck again, positioned right where they need to be to mark him. There’s slight pressure, and Keith digs his nails into the arm that’s choking him. Shiro removes it and uses it to pull Keith closer to himself and grind into him, and Keith can feel the beginnings of a swell.

“I’m here,” Shiro’s voice reverberates to Keith’s core. “I’m here. Tell me what you want babe, tell me that you want it.”

Keith can’t hep it— it’s too much. All he can feel is Shiro, all he can smell is Shiro, all he can hear is Shiro’s voice, all that’s surrounding him right now is Shiro Shiro Shiro.

“You,” It’s the neediest Keith has ever sounded in his life, and he can’t bring himself to care. “I need you Shiro, you, only you, it’s only ever been you, I love you, Shiro, Shiro–”

Shiro bites down hard just as they both tip over the edge, and something within Keith surges at the fact that finally, finally Shiro’s claimed him, and makes him temporarily forget the confession he’s just blurted out.

When Shiro’s knot comes down and he slips out, and Keith’s officially come down from the high of his first wave of heat, Keith wants to bury himself under his own bed and die of mortification. He’s not sure how he’s going to gather the courage or the energy to go turn the cameras off.

Shiro rumbles behind him as Keith voices as much, and rolls them over so that Keith’s half on Shiro’s torso.

“You did well,” Shiro says, and it sounds so much like the voice he had when he was playing ball in their first year of university, that Keith snorts.

“Thanks pal,” He says dryly, and Shiro chuckles. “I’m glad you find this funny.”

Shiro rolls his eyes smiles at him and runs a hand through Keith’s hair. Keith’s eyes close at the touch and he leans into it, enjoying the soft pressure against his scalp. It relaxes him further, even though he’s already feeling boneless from their efforts earlier on. The mark on his neck pulses a little, and Keith’s eyes shoot open.

“Woah,” Shiro says, shifting a hand to Keith’s shoulder. He can probably sense Keith’s panic; it wouldn’t be too hard, because Keith’s dousing in it.

“I said— when you marked me,” Keith stutters, and Shiro raises an eyebrow at him. “I said—”

“I heard,” Shiro replies, moving his hand again, and Keith feels himself get shifted further up Shiro till he’s nose to nose with him.

His expression is indescernible to Keith, but Keith doesn’t get a chance to dwell on it. Shiro pulls him down for a soft, chaste press of the lips. It’s easy, a lot easier than Keith expected, especially when Shiro kisses the corner of his mouth, then the tip of his nose.

“You too,” Shiro says gently. “I love you too.”

Relief melts through Keith. Any half-hearted explanation about how heat makes people say crazy things is immediately forgotten as he slumps against Shiro’s chest and presses a kiss against Shiro’s throat.

“Let me take care of you,” Shiro says, sliding a finger under Keith’s chin and tipping it up so that they’re looking at each other. “Let me be good to you.”

“You already are,” Keith says, but lets himself get drawn in again.

#sheith #sheith fic #my fic #anonymous #answer #couples blog #okay now we're done hahahahhahaahahahahahhahahaha #id like to thank everyone for joining me for a week of me being a straight dumbass #i love and appreciate all of you #i really should post this au on ao3 #adshfjfdsalhjhfadsfdasfsd #dont look me in the eyes....#tomorrow i'll put up a comprehensive list of the couples blog au #im just posting this from my drafts while im sitting in the car #after this im gonna go get slammed into a wallby people who are better martial artists than me

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musings-from-an-elder-goth · 2 years

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That Time I Went to the First Lollapalooza for Free

"When done right, music should breathe, be alive. It's not about getting it perfect, it's about capturing lightning in a bottle." - Bob Lefsetz

Reston, Va. August 16, 1991.

My friend: "Hey, my uncle has a couple of extra tickets to Lollapalooza - wanna go?"

Me: "Lollapalooza? What's that?"

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Yeah, I was that clueless. But in my defense, my girlfriend at the time hadn't heard of it either, and she knew everything that was going on, so I don't feel so bad. We lived in Richmond, Va, which was something of an information black hole at that time. My friend explained that it was like Woodstock but it was touring the country, playing at about 25 locations. I did then realize that I had heard mention of it, but didn't really pay any attention since I didn't think any good bands would play it. Boy, was I wrong. Siouxsie and the Banshees, Nine Inch Nails, Butthole Surfers, Rollins Band, and Violent Femmes were all playing, and both my girlfriend and I were psyched to see all of them - and all at the same show, no less. In particular, I was jazzed to finally see Siouxsie and the Banshees play live. I'd been a huge fan of them for a decade at that point, but had never managed to catch a live show. One less thing on the old bucket list! (I did not, at that time, know that they are anti-Semitic. If I had, I wouldn't have seen them.)

My friend: "I'm staying with my uncle at a hotel right by the concert. It's one of those large rooms that has a living room with a fold out couch. You and your girlfriend are welcome to stay with us. You can ride up with us, too, if you'd like."

Me: "Hell yeah!"

That's right - I got to go to the first Lollapalooza free. With free hotel and transport included. Only had to pay for our food, and we didn't even buy much of that. I figured my friend's 'uncle' might try some funny business, but he was legit her uncle and was just a nice dude, so yeah, miracles can happen.

Volumes have been written about the bands' performances at Lollapalooza, and I can't really contribute anything unique to that. I can, however, impart what it was like to be there in that crowd of 25,000+. Hot, thirsty, and hot. There you go.

But seriously, the concert's first year, although long on enthusiasm, was short on experience. Many of the things that were standard at more experienced shows, like common sense, were absent. First off, scheduling the show during the day in the summer was a mistake. Autumn would have been better since doors opened at noon and the first set began at 1 pm - this is brutal in July / August. There wasn't enough water available, especially since you couldn't bring your own. There weren't enough port-a-potties. Zero shade and blazing hot.

Just getting there was an adventure all in itself. Traffic in the DC area is always appalling, and this day exponentially so. Despite leaving at something like 9 am from a hotel just a few miles away, we didn't finally enter the concert until about 12:30 pm. No one was allowed to bring any liquids into the show, so there were huge boxes of discarded water at the entrance. We ditched our water but were allowed to bring the blankets we'd brought, so at least we had those to sit on. We met up with some friends, and finally inside, we found a spot as close to the stage as possible, which must have been about 100 yards away, so you could hear the bands but couldn't see them very well.

As the heat had become truly oppressive by this point, we formed a wall of blankets around my girlfriend so she could take off her black leggings before she asphyxiated. In fact, about half of the girls there took off their shirts and just walked about in their bras because it was so hot - which was fine by me! Almost immediately began the day long quest to find somewhere to buy water, which was something like $5 a bottle, if you could find any. If I remember correctly, we each managed to acquire a single bottle before the vendors ran out. By now, it was only 3 pm, so by 4 pm, everyone was quite parched. But we were young, so we soldiered on. By this point, they had brought in some 18-wheeler water trucks with fire hoses, so if you got hot you could make your way to where they were hosing the crowd down and catch a bit of water in your mouth. We didn't even bother trying to get food - the lines were biblical.

I've never in my life, before or since, seen so many other goths in one place, no doubt due to the double draw of NIN and Siouxsie. And you've never seen a more heat and sun punished group of people, most of whom became soaking wet from the water hoses. Heavy mascara ran freely. My girlfriend and I paid our undivided attention to those two bands, although NIN was hard to see since they covered the stage with fog, for some reason. For the other bands, we mostly wandered about as my gf had discovered everyone she ever knew was in attendance as she was from the area, so she did lots of socializing with her friends. This was fine by me, as they were all cool and I do enjoy meeting cool people, so that was fun. Siouxsie played as the sun was setting and the temperature had finally cooled somewhat. The mosh pit near the stage had died out and the crowd had opened up a bit, so we were able to make our way up close. That was the only band we got a good look at. They were absolutely amazing and I was so happy I had finally seen them play live.

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Jane's Addiction played last, and our little group of about 7 people had spontaneously reassembled around our now filthy blankets. We had a quick discussion and decided that as we were tired, thirsty, weren't much interested in listening to Jane's Addiction anyway, and didn't want a repeat of the 3 hour traffic nightmare of that morning, we would leave early. We weren't alone in our reasoning, but the numbers of folks leaving early was minor compared to what was coming. We were out of there and back at the hotel in an amazing 30 minutes. All in all, the consensus was that it had been an excellent experience, that would perhaps never be topped by another show (and we were right). Then, we all promptly went to sleep.

I found the 1992 Lollapalooza disappointing. Something was missing that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I went with different people and saw it at a different location, but it seemed that the main problem for me was that the show had learned from previous mistakes too well. It was now too polished and too slick for my liking. I never went to another. I'm glad I was gifted with the opportunity to attend the first and best one and I'm not at all bitter that the magic was lost after that.

Lightning in a bottle.

creaturesfromelsewhere 2-13-2022 🦇🖤🦇

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sineala · 7 years

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This will require a longer answer but you don't have to reply immediately. As someone not new to MCU but completely new to Marvel Comics, which comics would you say I should definitely read and in what order? As much as I prefer being a completionist, people have said I would get burned out super fast that way. Basically I'd like to know which ones are the most essential that contain important moments (like the Avengers finding out about Iron Man's identity etc). Thank you so much in advance!

Hi, anon! I answered an ask last week that covers a lot of this ground, so there are a bunch of recommendations there (including a list we made at the 616 Steve/Tony Discord; feel free to come by and ask if you have questions, and also we run a weekly book club if you ever want to discuss comics with people). There’s also the Cap-IM Slashy Moments list; not everything in the list is 100% essential, obviously, but there are a bunch of highlights and you can browse it and see what looks good.

Having said that, issues/runs that tend to come up in 616 Steve/Tony fic a lot include:

Avengers v1 #4: The one where the team finds Steve. If you want a modern-day reworking of this, there’s the miniseries Captain America: Man Out of Time, which is very good.

Avengers v1 #16: This is the beginning of Cap’s Kooky Quartet, in which all the founders except Steve quit the team, which is now Steve, Clint, Wanda, and Pietro.

Nomad (Cap v1 #180-#184): Steve gets a new superhero identity and everyone’s favorite costume ever.

Demon in a Bottle (IM v1 #120-128): The storyline that establishes Tony as an alcoholic. But when Steve/Tony fandom wants to talk about Tony as an alcoholic, the run that usually gets referenced is Denny O’Neil’s later run, usually just called “the second drinking arc” because the run itself has no official title.

Avengers v1 #215-216: This is where Steve finds out who Iron Man is. Please note that not everyone finds out who Iron Man is at this time; Steve is one of the first. The Avengers find out basically one-by-one over the years and the public doesn’t find out until Iron Man v3 and also during Civil War. (Yes, it happens twice. It’s a long story.)

The second drinking arc (IM v1 #158-200): Tony falls off the wagon, gives Rhodey the suit, is carried out of a burning building by a very upset Steve, is broke and homeless living in a cardboard box, and nearly dies drinking himself to death in a blizzard. My fave.

Armor Wars (IM v1 #225-231): Steve and Tony have their first big fight. If you see fic mentioning the Guardsmen, they come from here.

Operation: Galactic Storm (a multi-series crossover; the only issue you really need is the post-event wrap-up in Cap v1 #401): Another fight! If you see fic mentioning the Kree Supreme Intelligence, they’re talking about this.

Capwolf (Cap v1 #402-408). Uh. Yes.

Avengers/Cap/IM v3 in general is widely liked; within v3 you may see reference to Avengers Red Zone (v3 #65-70) and IM Sentient Armor (v3 #26-30) as well as the 1998 Cap & IM Annual (Tony wipes Steve’s memories and they have another fight). v3 ends with Disassembled, in which Wanda blows up the mansion.

After that is when New Avengers v1 begins (as well as Cap v5 and Iron Man v4), and Civil War starts. There are specific tie-in issues I can rec if you just want the Steve/Tony view of the war. The beginning of New Avengers comes up in fic a fair amount; Iron Man v4 comes up a lot, because it starts with Extremis (many people like Extremis) and it’s the run that’s happening during and after Civil War, so it’s basically What Tony Is Doing While Steve’s Dead. (Answer: Being the director of SHIELD and failing miserably at coping. I also have to rec the Avengers/Invaders miniseries which takes place while Tony is director. SO MUCH ANGST.) Cap v5 doesn’t come up that much because after Steve dies in #25, it is basically Bucky’s book until Steve comes back.

Honestly at that point (Civil War) it’s hard to recommend specific things to read (other than just starting with New Avengers and going forward and hitting the events as you go, which is what I did) because – since that’s when the Steve/Tony pairing really got its start – most of the fic assumes you know generally what’s been happening in all the major events since then. Steve dies and comes back, Tony deletes his brain, later on the incursions happen and Tony mindwipes Steve, and so on and so forth. Big events of the past ten years are roughly: Civil War, Secret Invasion, Dark Reign, Siege, Fear Itself, AvX, Infinity, Axis, Secret Wars, Standoff, Civil War II, Secret Empire.

Post-CW, the only miniseries with a real Steve & Tony focus have been Avengers Prime (taking place near the beginning of Avengers v4) and One Night in Madripoor (Captain America and Iron Man #633-635), taking place slightly later. Hickman’s Avengers run (Avengers v5 & New Avengers v3) also focuses a lot on Steve and Tony, but, uh, not necessarily in a positive way. They haven’t been on the same Avengers team since Hickman’s run.

This doesn’t even take into account the other comics continuities in which people write Steve and Tony; I would say that the biggest are Ultimates (which is its own separate universe with hundreds of comics itself, where everyone is an asshole), Marvel Adventures: Avengers (an all-ages series with about 40 issues and another 13 for MA: Iron Man), Iron Man Noir (a miniseries where Tony is an adventurer in the late 1930s), and possibly also 1872 (also a miniseries, set in the Wild West).

If you want to read pre-Civil War Steve and Tony, I highly recommend buying or borrowing the trade paperback Iron Man/Captain America (yes, that is its real name) which basically covers a lot of the highlights of their early relationship and will give you a feel for what their dynamic is like: it has some team-up issues, the issues of the second drinking arc and Armor Wars that have Steve confronting Tony, the 1998 Annual, and so on. Most of these issues are collected in other trades or available digitally, but the one thing in here that was never reprinted anywhere else (as far as I know) and cannot be read online is the Tales of Suspense one-shot from 1995, which fandom has dubbed “the azure eyes issue.” It is worth reading. If only for that one conversation.

I hope that was helpful!

#Anonymous #replies

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