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stoopid-turtle · 1 year ago

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Consuming Candies Pt 2: DD ❤️ GG and GG ❤️ DD

ALL FAKE. I'M MAKING SHIT UP FOR FUN. DON'T BELIEVE ME.

Intro post for this series

Once I convinced myself that DD and GG are some variety of gay, the rest is honestly not hard to conceive of. Two gay guys filming a BL adaption on a set that was open to same-sex relationships who got on really well...it's not hard to believe they'd "get together".

3. DD and GG had "a thing" around the time of the TU production. This could include the time period during filming and through the promo period. Actual timelines and details of the nature of the relationship are secondary.

If an actor and an actress hit it off as well as DD and GG did, it'd be easy for people to see that they were an item. For some reason, people struggle more to see that with two men (okay, I know the reasons, but I'm not getting into that here).

By the time I'd established 1 and 2, I'd seen enough bts and other footage to buy in to 3, as well, but here's the list of moments/candies that just nail it for me. It would be impossible for me to list out all the moments that simply scream "They're in a relationship!!!" because there's, just, a lot. So here's the short list, again, in order of most inarguable to more open to interpretation.

a) Old cow eats young grass.

That's it. That's the clip. There is no het explanation for that. I guess you could maybe claim DD was referring to GG liking younger women, but that doesn't flow with the rest of the conversation they're having. Especially with GG's comment about paying for new brake pads,

They did the gay together. More than just casually. They were an item at this time. Hands down. Case closed.

(Again, I'll get to the argument that this is all fabricated fanservice at another point)

b) The bts of DD getting into costume where he's quizzing the costume-jiejie about what GG said about him in an interview.

This is straight-up, cliche, 'shows up in freaking romance novels' behavior when you have a crush. Nobody's that concerned about what their friend is saying about them in interviews. You only care that much when you're trying to get a feel as to their feelings for you.

Also, the costume-jiejie is hilarious about it. Asking him about his response in an interview and then teasing him about not remembering what GG said about DD. She clearly has served as a sounding board for DD about his crush before, and she's amused and encouraging and teasing, all at the same time. Hats off, costume-jiejie.

c) Happy Camp moments: jealous!GG and the necklace.

I don't usually put much stock in the jealous GG/DD stories, but the instance with GG going grimdark as DD wriggled through the hole with another guy is just...again, I'm struggling to think of a context that would make sense that isn't "they are together and GG is jealous".

(I don't find jealousy cute, tbh, so I'm not jazzed about the moment. I don't know what was going on between them that led to that, but I'm glad they seemed to clear it up).

This leads to the other Happy Camp moment, seen only in fancams. The ox-head necklace that DD had been wearing scratched up his neck during the game. GG's stunned reaction to DD's injuries and his concern, plus clearly telling DD to take it off...none of this makes sense unless GG gave DD the jewelry.

Like, okay. I have a necklace my bff gave me, and I wear it a lot. It's really meaningful and sentimental. But if it were scratching up my neck, I'd take it off. If she were there while it was scratching up my neck, she'd joke about it and agree that I should take it off. She wouldn't look distraught.

My wife, on the other hand...

c) DDU's 11th anniversary episode

There's no way to describe this episode except that it really felt as if DD was having his new partner meet his fam. The fact that DDU stopped throwing women at DD after that speaks volumes.

From a), it's clear that their relationship was pretty serious (and extended after the end of filming), and having GG meet DD's DDU brothers is another indication of where their relationship was at. That's not a trivial thing.

d) GG's lack of chill during promo interviews.

I get the vibe that if they were in a relationship, GG was a lot more scared/nervous about it than DD was. He also had less experience with interviews and such. There are numerous moments where GG misunderstands, overreacts, or just acts weirdly during interviews that are hard to explain away.

- The "It's been a year" video, where DD points out that the camera is recording and GG balks at whatever he'd been saying. Cue the nervous laughter and whispered conversation between them. - The backwards pants interview question. - An interviewer asking him if being in a relationship means the end of his career (right after asking about his marriage plans--a question that made dd mad). - His weird denial of DD's waterfall story

In each case, something startles GG into a panicked silence. Then DD usually intervenes and so then GG has some nervous laughter.

Plainly, there's something he's afraid of being revealed in interviews. So much that he's seeing danger, even when it doesn't exist. Given the nature of the questions, we can see that the "thing" he's afraid of is

- him being in a relationship - something involving DD and him and a waterfall - and accidentally wearing someone else's clothes.

All involve DD. In all, DD is the one who relieves the panic and calms him down while smoothing over the interview.

It's not a leap to guess that he's in a relationship with DD that he's afraid people will find out. Sure, he'd want to hide a het relationship too, that makes sense. But then there's the pants question and the waterfall question. And the only way GG and DD's reaction to the question of whether being in a relationship would be the end of GG's career is if...GG and DD were in a relationship.

e) Hot pot.

Okay, this is where I start sounding crazy if I discuss this without prefacing with everything above ^^^. But the fact that their tastes in hot pot shifted over time to more align with each other is significant. I've read about the regional differences and how DD's sudden taste for spiciness could only really be attributable to GG, who's from an area with spicy hot pot.

This resonates with me, especially, because I was a hella picky eater when I met my wife. Like, embarrassingly picky. But then I met my wife, and she cooks and is a foodie and eventually, my palate just expanded. Now I'm a freaking foodie (and a vegetarian, like her), and our eating habits are pretty closely aligned.

Merging is real in longterm relationships. It looks like this. In my case, my wife demystified food for me with her cooking and likewise, it seems as if GG taught DD how to handle spicy stuff.

This wouldn't be significant on its own, but in conjunction with everything else *waves hands*...well, it's convincing to me.

In summary, it is blindingly obvious to me that they were a committed couple at some point after TU filmed and aired (when that commitment started is unclear, but I'm not gonna get into that here). Even after 227, it's clear that they're romantically together. I'm 100% convinced of this. Since I started drafting this, I've come across older mentions of (now gone) bts that just...there's no doubt. They weren't hiding it on set. They were just out there, exhausting everybody around them with their chaotic flirting/mating dances. It's insane and I love it.

4. DD and GG are still together.

Me: So I've been watching behind the scenes for The Untamed, and I think the two actors maybe had a thing? There's just...a lot going on there. My wife: Sounds gay. Me: I mean, some people seem convinced that they're still together because of shoes or something. That gets real out-there. But I definitely wouldn't be surprised if they had a thing during filming. My wife: (who only watched the show) I could see it. They had that chemistry.

(2 weeks later)

Me: Honey, I swear I sound crazy but I'm not. These two guys were totally together and I think they might still be together. My wife: Because of shoes? Me: I SWEAR I'M NOT CRAZY, HONEY, JUST BELIEVE ME My wife: Yes, dear. Their shoes make them gay. Me: *sobs*

When I first started dipping into things, I felt a great sadness watching older videos of them, because I'd heard that they weren't allowed to interact in public, that they probably didn't even talk to each other anymore, etc etc. YouTube's full of this, and the fans who say they're still together look, well, crazy.

It's easy to conclude they're not together anymore given that so much early evidence of their relationship is based on videos/audios. The bts, joint interviews, fan meetings, etc. We were spoiled with up-front and personal visuals of their dynamic. It's not a surprise that in the absence of that, most people just assume they don't talk or interact much anymore.

Not to mention, wandering in some years later, you get a massive dopamine hit with the bts and the promos and then there's a drop when you try to look for more recent stuff. When we could see it, their relationship seemed to alive. So real. So undeniable. But in the absence of that, the immediate instinct is to assume that lack of visibility = lack of existence.

But we have only ever seen a small slice of their lives, most of which has been selectively shown to us by them or by production companies. Both DD and GG have full lives when we're not around to see them. They each have their own career trajectories. They have vastly different hobbies and both of them have their own friend groups. We only get a glimpse of all of that, but that doesn't mean that's all there is. Especially now, when they're sharing fewer personal posts and China is cracking down on the entertainment industry.

No doubt, we only know the tiniest, most tailored portion of their personal lives these days. But back in 2019-2021, they were clearly together. Their relationship was clearly serious. They joke about shared financial decisions, get introduced to each other's on-screen and off-screen family, visit each other's set. Both of them seemed in it for the long haul.

Given that, I don't see why we should assume they have broken up just because we're years later and we don't get the joy of seeing them together anymore.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think a break-up is impossible. Couples break up. Even couples that have been together for a while. Even couples who adore each other and try to make things work. It happens.

But there's no reason to assume that they're broken up just because we haven't seen them together recently.

I do have a couple "reasons", but this evidence won't convince anybody who doesn't believe they were ever a couple. It's only when you accept that, yeah, these 2 BL actors are actually gay and in a long-term relationship, that this seems reasonable.

a) The bone necklace.

I'm pretty well certain that the ox-head necklace was a gift from GG. The timing of the bone necklace's appearance, plus DD's attachment to it (similar to his attachment to the ox-head necklace), makes it a decent guess that the bone necklace was also a gift from GG.

We can kinda guess at the meaning. I've only seen one clip where GG has called DD gouzaizai, so I don't know if that's an actual "thing" between them. (though it's not outside the realm of possibility that they are influenced by bjyx fandom).

In any case, the bone necklace is still around. Still being worn. That's notable to me.

b) They could end this ship if they wanted to.

They have both had other pairings shut down. The fandom wars between turtles and solos is intense and causes disruption, something neither of them need. The solo fanbases are huge and it'd be a no-brainer to jettison the CPFs if you want to cut down on the type of fandom upset that gets unwanted government attention.

But they haven't.

They could have the supertopics shut down. DD could avoid being anywhere near the number 3. They could both dive into a bush rather than be around the color yellow or a turtle. DD could take a video of himself melting down the bone necklace or giving it to a pretty woman. They could starve the fandom.

But they haven't.

They keep around their gay CP, despite not publicly interacting with each other in years. They take down articles about them breaking up, pull down hot searches about them with actresses, and continue to feed the fandom with candy.

Most recently, GG went to work late on the days DD was out sick. That's not even an intentionally thrown candy. That's just us noticing a couple taking care of each other. If they weren't together, then GG, whose team certainly knows about DD being sick, could have avoided doing anything that would make it seem like he was involved with DD during that time.

But he didn't. Either their teams don't care about turtles, which seems difficult to believe given the conflicts that have arisen within the fandoms, or the teams (notably, gg and dd) want to keep turtles around. At this point, years past the point the show is out, years past the time the two have even been seen together, there's no rational business reason to hold on to the turtles.

That's not neutral. They're not keeping turtles engaged for economic reasons. They're not keeping turtles engaged just for shits and grins (the joke has run a little long for that). They're keeping turtles around because they're getting something of value from having us around.

Honestly, I think having a huge contingent of cpf cheerleaders is probably comforting when they aren't allowed to express their feelings for each other publicly. It's probably weird and sometimes probably intrusive, like most stuff with fans, but they still have millions of people who embrace them as a couple when they live in a country that is hostile to their relationship. Who in that situation wouldn't want to keep that?

In sum, I had to get past the "too good to be true" hurdle. The automatic dismissal of BL fangirl fantasies. I mean, BLs often market to those fantasies, so a healthy dose of skepticism seems reasonable. I don't honestly blame people for dismissing it when they only have a passing familiarity with the whole thing.

It took a lot for me to see past that, and to see that this is the one case (that I'm aware of) where the fantasy is real. I think it's notable that this "fantasy" doesn't actually look like the fanservice fantasy often served up in BLs. I mean, ggdd have their moments, but they're also snippy, jealous, possessive, lewd, awkward, and just plain weird sometimes. They're real and that's messy and that makes it even more real.

In the next part of this little series, I'll talk more about the fanservice question, plus fanfic, and The Timeline. That post requires more editing, so it probably won't go out until next week.

Just remember it's all fake and nothing I say is true.

#bjyx #yizhan #still clowning #24/7 apparently

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zhansww · 1 year ago

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[all photos © yibo-official]

It’s been almost exactly three years by now since we first saw dd, wearing the eyefunny necklace. The photo on the left is from August 17th 2020 (rehearsing for his Dragon Fist performance) and the photo on the right is from Aug. 19th (recording a DDU episode). I still think, given the timing, that it was likely his husband’s birthday present for him that year. And a pretty smart present at that imo cuz it kind of shut up all the speculation around the gucci ox-head necklace — which we’ve seen dd wear for 14 months and the last time (around his wrist) in a sdoc3 recording on Aug. 12th.

There was more let’s call it indisputable evidence of it being gg’s present when it came to that gucci necklace — which led dd to mostly hide the necklace under his clothes rather than wear it openly. But when it comes to the eyefunny necklace, we really have nothing substantial to go on. Anyone who already believes that ggdd are together will also believe this was gifted to dd by gg, given its constant presence on him, but do we have any proof to actually support that theory? Not really. Some fans might mention the sunflower rumor (even though the flower pendant was a daisy) and the “lonely star” lyrics to explain the flower and star pendants but that’s easy enough to dismiss. I see this as a positive, though, cuz it means dd doesn’t actually need to hide the eyefunny necklace. But also, Yibo being Yibo, he made it kinda obvious who gave him the necklace when he replaced the star and flower pendants with the bone pendant in November 2020, which he has stuck to ever since.

Of course, the bone could also have a meaning to Yibo which I know nothing about but pretty much the only thing I can immediately connect it with is that time gg called dd gouzaizai (and maybe also the time dd’s co-star got asked if he gets to call dd gouzaizai and he said “no. I’m not XZ”) and the possibility that that nickname — as well as the person who gave him said nickname — bears enough significance in dd’s private life to make him wear that pendant frequently for this long. But still, at the same time, this one moment can be seen as such a weak argument that there isn't much of a case for the theory "the eyefunny necklace was a present from gg" which in turn means dd doesn't have to hide this necklace. And he doesn't, not really.

I'm aware none of this is new btw (and this is def not the first time I've been emo about it). Just seeing a glimpse of that chain around dd's neck never fails to warm my heart. I saw someone refer to it as soft collar once which I have not been able to forget lol. But me, I really do see it as a sort of "replacement" for his wedding ring for now. Like, he unfortunately can't publicly wear the ring gg gave him but he can and does still show who he belongs to by constantly wearing this necklace. Also, seeing how downright unhappy ggdd have looked in the last months, this necklace keeps reminding me that no matter how tough things get for them for whatever reason... they are devoted enough to each other to get through it (and hopefully soon). At least, I believe so.

#yizhan #我们 #text #posting this on 823 seemed fitting #oh well

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shadykazama · 1 month ago

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Baldur's Gate 3 Builds~

I've been building onto a doc for months now, a collection of class builds for bg3. A friend encouraged me to post it to help others out, so if you see this I hope it helps 👍✨ Let's get started!

None of these are my own original builds, I will be linking the videos I got the builds from. I just find that having them in written format helps when coming back to it. I've also tried all of these out for entire runs, so I will be adding my input and suggestions 🫶

Draconic sorcerer (let the world burn)

Fun rating: ★★★☆☆

Usefulness: ★★★★☆

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How it works- This build utilizes the elemental affinity characteristic from the sorcerer class to deal crazy fire damage with scorching ray. Trying it out, it was very effective- especially if you take the elemental adept feat or use arsonist oil. BUT, I rated it 3/5 for fun because it doesn't really get going until level 6 which means you're playing a basic sorcerer for most of act 1.

Levels~

-Don’t take scorching ray till later, around level 5 or 6. It's the main feature of the build, but doesn't do good accuracy or damage till later levels.

-Take ability score first feat for charisma

-Level 8 Take elemental adept or alert

-Counterspell is your bestie

-Just to stay on brand, try and grab good fire spells, replacing when they're upgraded. Like once you get scorching ray, chromatic orb won't be as necessary and can be swapped out.

-Heightened magic for disadvantage on hold person/hold monster saves

-Level 12 Ability score or resilient (constitution)

Equipment:

Nature’s snare- locked chest in the underground passage of the druid’s grove

Hat of fire acuity- strange ox act 2

Callous glow ring- locked room by balthazar in shar temple act 2

Luminous gloves- in chest by ruined battlefield act 2

Markoheshkir staff act 3, in sorcerers sundries below boss fight

Subzero wizard

Fun rating: ★★★★★

Usefulness: ★★★★☆

youtube

How it works- This build takes some setup but is 1000% worth it. It utilizes the free mage armor cast you get from warlock level 2, the extra damage of a tempest cleric (and create water), and mixes it with an abjuration wizard to make an untouchable tank. Cast armor of agathys, get people wet, and you don't even have to attack people, just walk past them! They'll kill themselves by attacking you.

Levels~

-2 levels of warlock great old one (armor of agathys as a spell, armor of shadows and agonizing blast)

-1 level tempest cleric (can take 2 for destructive force but you'll be doing mostly ice damage so it's not necessary)

-Take dual wielder as first feat

-Fire shield (level 10)

-Stoneskin (level 11)

-Ability score improvement (level 8 wizard)

-Conjure elemental (level 12)

Equipment:

Act 1 Mourning frost/Spellsparkler

Winter’s clutches- Rosynmorn monastery trader lady

Necklace of elemental augmentation- inquisitors chamber creche

Act 2 Fleshmelter cloak- House of healing morgue

Coldbrim hat - Locked chest hidden room balthazar bookcase, have to have Nere's head to solve the puzzle.

Boots of arcane bolstering- araj, blood trader in moonrise

Snow burst ring- last light inn hidden in floorboards in room on bottom floor near the bar

Act 3 Hellrider longbow- Ferg Drogher in Rivington

Bonespike garb, dragonborn weapon seller in Rivington

Divination nuh uh wizard

So I actually lied, this is the only one I made by myself just because I love divination wizards so much.

Fun level- ★★★★☆

Usefulness- ★★★★★

How it works- Divination wizards get random dice rolls at the beginning of every long rest that they can use to change rolls throughout the day. You rolled a 1? Nah actually I'm pretty sure you rolled a 19 ;) Or alternatively just used to bully enemies; you hit me? Ehhhh I don't think you did- forces them to miss. This is basically just piling on every piece of equipment that increases spell save DC to make saving against your spells impossible.

Levels~

- Take resilient (Constitution) feat

- Highest intelligence possible

- This is a really great support build, taking spells like hold person/monster, confusion, fear etc are great bc enemies will rarely save against your spells.

Equipment~

Act 1 Melf's first staff, Blurg myconid colony

Act 2 Fistbreaker helm moonrise merchant

Robe of exquisite focus moonrise merchant

Infernal rapier, bring wyll to the ketheric fight to save zariel's asset and ask Mizora for a reward afterwards

Ketheric shield

Act 3 Hood of the weave- Mystic Carrion in Philgrave’s Mansion

Robe of the weave- Ramazith’s tower

Gauntlets of the tyrant/Helldusk gloves- Dropped by Gortash/Haarlep

Cloak of the weave- Helsik, devil’s fee

Amulet of the devout- Stormshore Tabernacle

Bard/Cleric (aka the best support you could ever ask for)

Fun level: ★★☆☆☆

Usefulness: ★★★★★

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How it works: You're here to be a tank, healer, and have amazing support spells. The usefulness of this build is INSANE. It can make a great party face, being primarily a bard, but in my opinion the actual combat for this character is helping your team do well which isn't the most invigorating. You can tweak to have more damage spells, but for this build it's a 2 or 3/5 for fun.

Levels~

-1 level of life cleric, gives heavy armor proficiency

-11 levels of bard

-Resilient (Constitution)/Alert for first feat

-Heavy armor master is a great feat for this tank or dual wielder if you want two good weapons

Equipment~

Act 1 Hellriders pride- steal from zevlor, easiest way is to let aradin knock him out, but can steal them off him later anyway

Whispering promise, bought from Volo. I don't think it gives the option in dialogue, you have to click the trade button.

Boots of aid and comfort- grat in goblin camp

Mystra staff- wizard tower in underdark

Ring of salving- Omeluum after parasite

Blood of Lathander- creche

Cloak of protection- act 2 trader last light inn

Reviving hands- steal from stormshore tabernacle merchant

Amulet of the devout- stormshore tabernacle basement

Helm of Balduran- dragon quest with Wyll

Viconia’s walking fortress- shar mother superior, house of grief

Darkfire shortbow- dammon act 3 only

Magic missile go brr

Fun level: ★★★★★

Usefulness: ★★★★☆

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How it works: Today we make magic missile terrifying using reverbation. Yes it works, yes it's hilarious every time. And most enemies in the game aren't resistant to force damage :)

Levels~

-Sorcerer until level 10 then respec into evocation wizard

OR, depending on your style

-Divination wizard until level 10 then respec into evocation

-Magic missile and some utility spells is all you'll really need.

- Let priestess gut brand you

Equipment~

Act 1 Spell sparkler, counsellor Florrick reward for saving her at Waukeen's rest

Phalar Aluve, underdark stuck in a stone

Gloves of belligerent skies- Creche inquisitor

Psychic spark necklace- myconid colony blurg

Pearl necklace- Omeluum

Ring of absolute force- sergeant thrimm grymmforge

Act 2 Ne'er miss crossbow- moonrise merchant

Spellcrux amulet- warden moonrise

Callous glow ring- locked room by Balthazar in the shar temple

Act 3 Celestial haste bow- steelwatch titan

Helm of Balduran- Ansur questline reward

Cloak of displacement- Danthelon's dancing axe

Armor of persistence- Dammon, act 3 only

Ranger rogue, two handed archer

Fun level: ★★★☆☆

Usefulness: ★★★★☆

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How it works: You'll be a normal archer until around level 8 and in act 2, hence the docking of points for fun level- but it's all worth it in the end. This is a consistently good build that pumps out great damage through every act. The basic premise is dual wielding hand crossbows and using the thief subclass from rogue to get two bonus actions, garunteeing four arrow shots per REGULAR turn, without any haste or bloodlust shenanigans.

Levels~

-Start by going 5 levels into ranger, taking gloom stalker as your subclass

-I'd recommend the eldritch knight (I think that's what it's called) option in preferred prey, it gives you heavy armor proficiency- which isn't necessary, but could be good for act 1-2.

- Level 6, multi-class into rogue for four levels. Take thief as subclass

-At level 10 respec and start as fighter for 1 level to get better proficiencies and health.

-1 fighter, 5 ranger, 4 rogue, 2 fighter

-Take champion subclass in fighter

-Sharpshooter as your first feat!!

-Ability score improvement (dexterity) or Alert

Equipment~

Act 1 Good bow until act 2, Titanstring (with the club of hill giant strength), gandrel's inspiration, etc..

Archery gloves- goblin camp trader

Caustic band- mushroom merchant underdark

Strange conduit ring- inquisitors chamber creche

Cat’s grace armor- Rosynmorn monastery trader

Knife of the under mountain king- creche merchant

Act 2 Ne’er misser- moonrise merchant

Shield of devotion- last light lady

Archer hat OR circlet of hunting- moonrise merchants

Cloak of cunning brume- mattis last light

Risky ring- blood trader moonrise merchant (would replace strange conduit if you chose the Archer hat instead of circlet ^)

Hellfire hand crossbow- Yurgir in shar temple when killed

Act 3 Armor of agility- stormshore armoury

Legacy of the masters- Dammon act 3 only

Amulet of Bhaal- Murder tribunal, can kill Sarevok or impress him

Reverbarb

Fun level: ★★★★★

Usefulness: ★★★☆☆

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How it works: Inflict reverbation on bleeding targets, maiming and proning them. An absolutely vicious build that doesn't struggle in any act. It's incredibly fun, but can struggle against hard to hit targets or really spaced out enemies. Wouldn't recommend running this and magic missile build together since they use most of the same items :)

Levels~

-Wikdheart subclass aspect of the tiger/badger (later on) make people bleed!

-The cleave ability you get while raged with aspect of the tiger is infinite, so don't be afraid to use it even if you're only hitting one person, to keep bleed stacks up.

-Great weapons master is an incredible feat for barbarians, since reckless attack basically counteracts the -5 attack penalty.

-Ability score for strength and Mobile are great feats for this as well.

-Get branded by priestess Gut

Equipment~

Act 1 Boots of stormy clamour- Omeluum, underdark

Gloves of belligerent skies- Inquisitors chamber, creche

Ring of absolute force- grymmforge seargant Thrimm

Titan string bow- zentyrim trader

Act 2 Halberd of vigilance- moonrise towers trader

Ring of spiteful thunder- moonrise merchant

Cloak of protection- last light trader

Bull strength armor- last light trader

Act 3 Deadshot bow- stormshore armoury

Bonespike garb- weapon merchant, Rivington

Bonespike helmet- undercity ruins ancient rune circle dude

Amulet of greater health- house of hope

Shadow assassin

Fun level: ★★★★★

Usefulness: ★★★☆☆

youtube

How it works: A dual wielding rogue monk shadow assassin. Fun points are almost entirely for how cool you feel doing this. Relies on attacking in darkness though, so you'll want party members who can see through darkness, or better yet- also play in darkness.

Levels~

-1 level fighter

-6 levels shadow monk

-3 levels thief rogue

-1 level great old one warlock

-1 level fighter

Equipment~

Act 1 Knife of the under mountain king- creche trader

Strange conduit ring- creche inquisitors chamber

Disintegrating night walkers- Nere's dead body

Banshee bow- dwarf trader at grymmforge

Act 2 Ever sight ring, looted from chest in house of healing morgue

Sword of life stealing- dammon act 2

Covert cowl- looted from chest in the 'investigate last light inn' quest

Yuan-ti scale mail- last light trader

Helldusk gloves- Dammon if given materials

Cloak of the cunning brume- Mattis at last light

Shadow cloak ring (act 2 but best used in act 3)- Can be looted from the shadow mastiff in a cursed camp north of the ruined pottery. The nearby everburning torches must be destroyed before the Mastiff will appear.

(Act 3) Saravok's horned helmet

Deadshot bow- stormshore armoury

Shade slayer cloak- Guildhall, sticky dondo

Bloodthirst (Orin knife)

Amulet of greater health- house of hope

Armor of agility- stormshore armoury

Helldusk gloves/legacy of the masters- dammon act 3

Helldusk boots- wyrms rock fortress, found in a locked Gilded Chest on the top floor

Bard Archer

Fun level: ★★★★★

Usefulness: ★★★★☆

youtube

How it works: From the high charisma to the insane damage, this is easily one of the best builds on the list for a main character. You're set for dialogue and fights, not to mention access to plenty of spells if your bow just isn't cutting it. And to top it all off? You feel strong right from act 1.

Levels~

-Levels 1-6 Bard, college of swords subclass

-3 levels ranger for gloomstalker subclass

-3 levels fighter, champion subclass (or more levels in the others for more feats. This is mainly for action surge and crit chance.)

- (If you took fighter) You'll only get one feat without mods, so take sharpshooter.

- (If no fighter) Take dual wielder.

-Take ethel's boon to get dexterity up to 18 (assuming it started as 17)

Equipment~

Act 1 Gloves of archery- goblin camp trader

Titan string bow- Zentyrim

Club of hill giant strength- underdark wizard tower stool, top floor. Break the stool to get the weapon.

Caustic band- mushroom trader, myconid colony

Nere's boots

Graceful cloth- rosynmorn monastery trader lady

Knife of the undermountain king- creche trader

Amulet of branding- Kill the creche trader, it's on her body

Act 2 Callous glow ring- locked room by balthazar in shar temple

Surgeons amulet- house of healing boss

Risky ring- Blood trader moonrise

Marksman hat- moonrise merchant

Cloak of protection- last light trader

Act 3 Bhaalist armor (potentially on another member, whoever is closest to enemies)- become an unholy assassin, the trader that appears has it

Deadshot bow/Gontr Mael (either work)- stormshore armoury/steel watch titan

Legacy of the masters- dammon act 3 only

Amulet of bhaal (murder tribunal)

Rhapsody- Cazador's dead body

Bloodthirst- Orin

Saravoks helmed helmet

Armor of agility- stormshore armoury

Band of the mystic scoundrel (maybe)- piss off the Djinni at the circus by stealing his ring and winning his game. The ring is looted from a backpack where you're sent to. (It's not a vital item, just a fun one)

Yeet barbarian

Fun level: ★★★★★

Usefulness: ★★★★★

youtube

How it works: Abuse the tavern brawler feat to make the funniest build ever. And I don't mean abuse as in its a glitch- it's just a niche feat and it makes this build beautiful. Not only is it funny, it's STRONG, and fast! You're having a blast from the second you land.

Levels~

-5 levels berserker barbarian

-Tavern brawler

-4 levels rogue, thief subclass

-Ability score improvement

-Finish with 3 levels fighter for champion

-17 strength, 14 Dex, 16 Con

Equipment~

Act 1 Ring of flinging- emerald grove halfling trader

Returning pike- goblin camp trader

Sparkle hands- Chest by big tree a bit away from auntie ethel's house. Can also be found by following the investigate Kagha quest.

Haste helm- blighted village chest

Gloves of uninhibited Kushibo- mushroom merchant in underdark after saving her husband

Act 2 callous glow ring- locked room next to Balthazar in shar temple

Killers sweetheart- self same trial shar temple

Mighty cloth- Last light trader

Cloak of elemental absorption- Ketheric's bedroom in moonrise

Act 3 Nyrulna- Anger the Djinni at the circus in Rivington by stealing his ring and winning his game. Weapon is in the chest at the end of where he sends you.

Rhapsody/bloodthirst (if dual wielding)- cazador/orin

Bhaalist armor- become an unholy assassin

Helmet of grit- cazador palace cursed body

Deadshot bow- stormshore armoury

Cleric/sorc lightning build

Fun level: ★★★★☆

Usefulness: ★★★☆☆

(I wrote this down for someone else and do not know which video was used. 🥲 and I personally haven't tested it, but my partner used it in our playthrough so I've seen it firsthand.)

How it works: The ultimate lightning damage build. Works great with the subzero wizard since both want to get people wet. Lightning damage is crazy, and can get up there as one of the highest damage outputs in the game but it takes some setup and doesn't always go crazy like you want it to. Inconsistent, but still good.

Levels~

-2 levels tempest cleric

-6 levels draconic sorcerer

-4 levels cleric

Equipment~ (there are some repeats for pieces, so choose whatever works best for you)

Act 1 Holy Lance helm (Creche monastery)

Diadem of arcane synergy- creche inquisitors chamber

Jolty vest- zentyrim

Protecty spark wall- grymmforge, looted from gilded chest on trapped bridge

Gloves of belligerent skies- creche inquisitors chamber

Boots of stormy clamor- ommeleum myconid colony

Watersparkers- gilded chest by minthara

Necklace of element augmentation- creche inquisitors chamber

Ring of arcane synergy- creche looted off a body

Ring of elemental infusion- also looted off body in creche

Real Sparky sparkswall shield (grymforge)

Spellparkler- reward for saving counselor Florrick at Waukeen's rest

Bow of awareness (shattered sanctum)

Act 2 hat of storm scion's power- blood trader in moonrise

Thunder skin cloak- blood trader moonrise

Dwarven splint mail- trader in moonrise, but only after talking to Zrell and asking for more help

Spineshudder amulet- looted from the chest in Isobel's room in moonrise towers

Spellcrux amulet- moonrise prison warden

Ring of spiteful thunder- moonrise merchant

Coruscation ring- Last light inn cellar in a chest

Ketheric shield

Act 3 amulet of the devout- stormshore Tabernacle

Spell savant amulet

Sharran legendary shield

Clown hammer *

Fun level: ★★★★★

Usefulness: ★★☆☆☆

youtube

How it works: One of the funniest builds, and it's not BAD either, it just gets points docked because you can only do it in act 3. The very beginning of act 3- yes, but still act 3. Using the clown hammer you get from killing dribbles the clown in Rivington, you make people laugh until you kill them~ *Note, you can get these items in act 1 with a mod that's in the mod manager- giving a bunch of mission specific items to the Rosynmorn monastery trader.

Levels~

-1 level fighter

-5 levels pact of blade warlock, take devil's sight and darkness

-3 (or 5 for extra attack) levels fighter champion

- (if you didn't take the extra levels of fighter) 3 levels bard

Equipment~

Act 1 Death stalker mantle (reward for Dark urge, recommend playing dark urge for this just for flavor.)

Strange conduit ring- creche inquisitors chamber

Act 2 Charge bound Warhammer (last light)

Dark justiciar helmet- silent library, end of shar's trials

Amulet of the harpers- last light

Ring of mental inhibition (in house by shadowed battlefield waypoint)

Brain drain gloves (mind flayer colony in a chest)

Act 3 clown hammer- on dribbles in Rivington

Face painting kit- at the circus in Rivington

Dead shot bow- stormshore armoury

Saravoks horned helmet

Slinging shoes- Highberry's home, sold by Gale's tressym after talking to her at the open hand temple in Rivington, at the devil's fee, and after purchasing another item and long resting beforehand.

That's all I've got! Feel free to repost, comment, DM, or send an ask giving me ideas for builds you'd like to see added to the list. I personally am an addict for trying out builds and new playthroughs so I'd appreciate any new ideas. I will credit you if you send any suggestions.

#bg3 builds #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #let me know if i should add some #ill be updating this whenever i make/find new builds #bg3 community #Youtube #bg3 advice

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kari-go · 1 year ago

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About this

No, not quite. I focused more on the GREATNES of a dragon.

So, the story is, that is a box created by somebody who wasn't a Guardian. His or her goal was to create an entity, so great, it can rival, or even surprass anything. Therefor, they collected these 9 Miraculous, to rule over everything

Antler of a Dear; The Deer Miraculous is a hairclip, and rules over connections. It gives abilities to manipulate manna, so the user can float or move object or speak with every living being, even modifie them. This is how the DRAGON can float without wings

Head of a Camel; The Camel Miraculous is a fake lip piercing. It rules over Life and Death, since it can distract life esence from beings, it's either can be used to make them able to survive anything, or it can be used to cause them pain and great suffering (depending on if the user distracts more or less than half of the life force the target have. This makes the DRAGON practicly immortal

Eye of a Demon; The Demon Miraculous is an ucular. It makes the user able to shoot lightning rays and separate a target to two manifestations of their "Good" and "Bad" sides. This is technicly the rightceous heart of the DRAGON's, which ultimatly knows from absolute good from absolute evil

Neck of a Snake: The Snake Miraculous here is a necklace, which gives the power of restriction. The user can snare peaple with their lasso and give them orders, which if isn't fulfilled, the one gets more and more stiff, and his body behaves like it would be tangled in an invisible rope. This gives the DRAGON the mental power, the enabeling will above others

Stomack of an Oister: The Miraculous of the Oister is a plastron necklace. And what is inside a shell? Pearl.... and secrets.... so the user can use it's oister like tool to whisper/tell a question to it, and it sommons an energy orb, which either can be listend or sealed away for.... personal gains, later..... This gives the DRAGON omni-knowledge, being able to know anything they wish...

Scale of a Fish; The Fish Miraculous is a clip, either for belt or can be worn on clothing. It gives the ability to the user to divide themshelf, but by this, they become more and more intangible (this way they can go trough solid objects, but also becoming less and less able to hold things - it's limit around 6-9 to interact with tangible things). It represents the complexity of a soul, and gives the DRAGON omni-presence, since they can divide into infinite amount, and, despite being thinner than the air, they are there, watching, hearing, knowing.....

Claw of an Eagle; The Eagle Miraculous this time is a toe or ankle ring. It gives the ability to project an avatar to someone's mind, taking it ower, reading their thought, knowing where they are, what they about to do, everything. If they want, they can take it over, the user existing in two minds, while the original person can't do anything... This gives the DRAGON's power over individuals, every person one-by-one and even if the body destroyed, the mind can live on in someone, never being really defeated....

Paw of a Tiger: This Tiger Miraculous is a bracelet, and gives the power and the fire of the DRAGON. This makes it an undefeatable force of nature, which destroyes but can not be defeated in combat

Ear of an Ox: The Ox Miraculous here is an earring. It's more like a cow in my version, so it gives the power to provide. It's flask can magicly fill up with anything, even extra power giving substance. Practicly the Cornucopia. This represents the weath of the DRAGON, giving them infinite resource of anything.

The DRAGON ring; well.... it's a ring, but not a Miraculous. It's a powerfull piece of technology, created by the Box's original creator to unifie the power of the Miraculous. Idoesn't give you any magical ability beside one: it makes you able to summon and use all of the Dragon Box's Miraculous, aplified, all of the shame time. This is exclusive to these 9 Miraculous, and, beside nullifieing the negative effect of 4+ Miraculous and -as a side affect- colouring them to green, has no effects on other Miraculous...

Oh my, what an interesting concept wow!

#ask #miraculous ladybug #not my au

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dragonmasterkaylz · 11 months ago

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🐻A Jewelers Expertise🧸

This is related to the first two fanfics I did about Alfie and Teddy, but this one is very sweet. And also has a bit of jealous Alfie.

Tags: @hoodeddreams13

“Alfie! We got a new shipment of jewellery!”

“About fucking time!!!”

He walked to the boxes and had a look at the items, carefully, through his eyeglass. He picked up a ring and asked, “Why the fuck is this mainly paste?!” He threw a bunch of other jewellery out of the box, when he found a cross. One that had real crystals that were embedded into it. “That one’s alright! I think I’ll have that”. “But… you’re Jewish—!” Alfie rolled his eyes as he asked, “Did I fucking say it was for me?! Ey?! No! I fucking didn’t!” He threw more jewellery out, finding very little authentic jewellery, and more paste. “Shit”.

“Alright, who fucking sent us this box?! Find out and fucking shoot ‘em!”

When he got home that night, he groaned and petted Cyril, who greeted him at the door. “Alright, where is he…? Still in bed, buddy?” Alfie walked into his room, finding Teddy, still sleeping. He had been unwell for a week, so Alfie refused to let him work. His job was to rest. He sat on the bed, waking Teddy up, and he sat up with a smile. “Sorry… I didn’t hear you come in…”. “It’s alright, sweetheart. You should be resting. But, I got a shipment of jewellery today, which turned out to be paste. So, I wasn’t happy. The man who sold us that shit thought he could scam us, so we shot him!”

Teddy then hugged his arm and said, “I’m sorry work didn’t go so well”. “Yeah, well, enough about me. Are ya getting any better?” The blonde nodded and said, “I stopped sneezing. I just have a cough now”. “Heh… because you take your medicine”, Alfie chuckled, as his boyfriend glared up at him. “Hm. You don’t, you stubborn man. Thinking you can take on the world?” He rolled his eyes and kissed his head. “Alright. Shut up, you. Here”. Teddy looked down at a red box, and he was surprised by it. “Alfie, you could’ve sold this…! Any jewellery that was authentic is profitable”. “You make it sound like I don’t know how to work! Would ya just open it?”, Alfie asked. Teddy giggled, doing so.

Then his eyes widened in shock. “Y-You…”. “You lost yours in the war, didn’t ya? I know your first one was from your Mum… but when I saw this, I just thought about how much it would make ya happy, ya know?”, Alfie explained. Teddy then teared up and nodded as he leaned against him. “I’d kiss you, but I don’t want to make you sick, either”. Then Alfie laughed softly as he said, “I’m built like an ox! I’ll be fine!” “Yeah, well… when you’re sick, you become grumpy. I ain’t dealing with a grumpy Alfie if I can help it, yeah?”, Teddy told him. Alfie then took the cross out of the box before he put it on him, and then kissed his lips very lightly.

“Oi! What did I say?!”

“Haha! I’ll be fine!”

A Week Later…

Teddy was known for having his collar bone out for all to see, mainly for Alfie to kiss though, and his brand new necklace did catch the attention of Luca. Teddy was sat in Alfie’s chair, as the two waited for him, but the Italian decided to start a conversation. “So… are you Catholic?” “No, I’m just a Christian, mate. I have been raised to believe in God, but I’m not a Catholic”, Teddy told him. Luca chuckled as he played with the matchstick in his mouth. “Yet, you’re in love with a male Jew?” “Got a problem with that, mate? Or have ya ran out of things to say to me already”, Teddy said.

“I think you look good like that. You know, I don’t just sleep with women… so, if you ever want—!”

“I suggest you shut the fuck up before I decide to kill you, right here, right now. I love Alfie”.

One of Luca’s men trained a gun on him but Teddy’s glare made him uneasy. “There’s no need for that! He is loyal… and in love. We can respect that”. Teddy sat up as soon as Alfie walked in and asked, “Have you been keeping my seat warm for me, love?” “Yes, sir”. Alfie almost purred and he kissed Teddy gently just before sitting down, pulling the blonde onto his lap. “So, what do we need to discuss now? Because last time, you were a bit of a cunt, mate…”, Alfie said, just as Teddy lit a cigarette, which calmed him down. “I’m sure you’re aware, but we got some jewellery sent to your place. But… none of it was any good?” “Nah. All of it was paste. Like, what the fuck were ya trying to do there, mate? You are aware… that I’m a jeweler…”.

“As I can see, by that fine piece you gave your lover”.

“So much as look at him and I’ll shoot you, yeah?”

Teddy smirked and Luca said, “I want to give you… a peace offering. I’ll have my men deliver the finest, and then you can sell it before a good price. But you give us fifty percent of the profits”. “Nope! Now, if it were the other way around, that’d be fine. But we’re the ones selling your shit! So, we should get most of it”, Teddy told him. The Italians laughed before Luca asked, “Is he serious?” “Yeah”. Alfie’s expression told them all they needed to know. “Fine. Sixty to you? Do we have a deal?” “Nah, mate. Seventy-five. Like my lovely lad just said, we’re the ones selling your shit…!”

“Fucking bastards”, Luca said in Italian.

“Alfie, why don’t we give him a break? Seventy? How does that sound?”, Teddy asked, using his charm.

“You’re getting a spanking”, Alfie said in Yiddish.

“Fine. Any other requests?”, Luca asked.

“Yeah! You fucking look at my love the wrong way again, I’ll fucking shoot ya! Alright…?”

END

#alfie solomons #alfie solomons x oc #peaky blinders

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just-eyris-things · 2 years ago

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warning: tybalt slander :) and some complaining about the (lack of) other mentors content. major spoiler for LWs3 (head of the snake episode), maybe some minor spoils for PS/IBS

uh unpopular opinion but i think it would have been better if demmi saw her mother when she was dying instead of tybalt. even though we didnt know her mother when we first meet demmi (in whispers storyline), she is wearing her mother's necklace which indicates significance of the object.

"but not everyone played whispers story how would they know about the necklace?"

well not everyone played whispers story and yet we get tybalt ALL THE TIME. weapon/armor stats? tybalt. demmi fucking dies? tybalt. 10 years later an event where a random charr cook mentions apples? of course there is a tybalt reference!

"it's only 3 times! you must really hate tybalt!"

it's not like i hate tybalt. i think he is a nice character, i really do! he was my very first mentor, too, so there is a special place for him among the blorbos from my games. but you know. idk about other countries, but in mine we have a saying "co za dużo to niezdrowo" which could be roughly translated to "too much is unhealthy". because tybalt is the mentor which gets the most content from the fanbase and is the only mentor to get attention in-game, he really lost the charm he originally had (just my opinion, not a fact).

i think we deserve sieran and forgal content. I was really disappointed when Forgal wasn't mentioned in IBS despite there being grounds for it. I MEAN IT'S NOT LIKE HIS FATHER WAS THE LAST OX SHAMAN YOU KNOW. And Sieran? I couldn't think of anything, so I checked the wiki and wow, there really is NOTHING! Well, it we don't count the Magister Field Journal - an accessory item that is SPECULATED to have belonged to her (based on a vague description).

i really really REALLY want to message anet and ask if they remember about sieran and forgal.

and as a sylvari main, i'd also like to ask where the fuck malyck is and if when the fern hound jackal skin will be released.

#not tagging because it's me opinion that (almost) nobody shares #it's probably gonna show in search anyway but come on im not gonna bother with censoring all the names #i mean who has time for that i already barely managed to squeeze this rant in my schedule

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potatoinalovelyhat · 3 months ago

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Morning Warm Ups for the Last Week (2)

Themes for the week were horns, still water, and masc trad goth styles. Found a new colouring styles part way through the week.

[I.D. - Picture 1 The picture is a series of six illustrations of people or animals, with a focus on their horns. The first image is of a satyr with long, tall horns and goat like features. He is drawn in grey scale and has long ears, horizontal pupils, and a goatee. The second image is of a musk ox and a mountain goat. The third image is a demonic baby with a sweet face and blue skin. They have many tiny horns on the top of their head. The forth image is of an ibex with very long, twisting horns. They are set in front of a simple, blobby blue background. The fifth image is of a rhino set on a red and brown background. They have a sad face. The final image is of a demon with a pig nose and long purple horns coming from his bald head. He is snarling at the camera.

Picture 2 The picture is a series of six illustrations of still water in various positions and places. The first image is of a lake on a windless day. It is painted in greyscale and there is a small island with a single pine tree on it. The second image is of a backalley. The alley is framed by a stone wall on one side and a thick hedge on the other. There are some shallow puddles on the pavement. The next image is a glass of water, it is painted with blue paint. The forth image is a close up shot of water, with special attention paid to the shadows and highlights of the water. The fifth image is of a deep puddle on a dirt road, where the sky and clouds can be seen reflected in it. There is a kitty cat drinking from the puddle. The final image is of a bunch of water drops on a red surface.

Picture 3 The picture is a series of six fashion illustrations of people of various body types and genders. They are all dressed in a masculine trad goth style. The first image is a grey scale image of a person wearing a long black leather coat. They have a partially shaved head with long curly hair on the other side. They have on a button up top tucked into loose black pants that are fastened with a belt with a large buckle. The second image is of a person with a short, heavily teased hair style that covers most of their face. They are wearing a t-shirt with a large red cross on the front, that is layered overtop of a fishnet shirt. They also are wearing red leather pants tucked into knee high lace up boots. The third image is of a large, very muscular man wearing a loose blue t-shirt that falls off one shoulder. He is wearing many silver necklaces and has heavily teased hair held back by a headband. He has tight black pants on and thick chunky boots. The forth image is of a petite person with bright pink, coily hair and a nose ring. They are wearing a large necklace and tank top. They are wearing black tight pants fastened with a bright cyan belt and red boots. The fifth image is of a large man with a simple outfit of a red, loose shirt, and black pants. He is accessorizing with fish net gloves, a nose ring attached to an earring with a thin chain, and pointed dress shoes. His hair is heavily teased and flipped over the face, and he is wearing red eyeshadow. Finally, the sixth image is of an androgynous person with short, purple, coily hair. They have on heavy makeup and have snake bite piercings. They have a long, complex necklace on, and a leather jacket worn over top of a band tee. Their pants are loose and tucked into pointed toed, knee high boots with many buckles on the side.]

#digital watercolor #sketching #horns #water #alt fashion #trad goth #drawing #art

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the-whispers-of-death · 7 months ago

Note

Alina gets teased for her love of turtlenecks so she would greatly appreciate Sarabi

Jean will rub Songs bald head and say that she's casting spells on her crystal ball and even put suction cups on it (they stick on Songs bald head very well)

And the story behind Jean's Gold tooth is an interesting one for sure. Context; Jean does stupid shit when's she's drunk. She will fistfight demons, try to ride animals, start bar fights, climb people's houses, eat an entire tray of Buffalo dip, use a tortoise as a weapon like shes in mario kart, have an orgy, end up in jail... she's problematic I think you get the gist.

More context; Jean's canines are already very sharp, she's like a vampire, and she also has a habit of putting things that aren't edible in her mouth and biting things she's not supposed to bite. It's like she's teething

When she was in her early twenties, she got extremely drunk and walked into a stone wall like an idiot and one of her canines fell out, specifically her left side because she has a habit of only chewing or biting stuff with the left side of her mouth and teeth, and she got really pissed, so she left the bar she was at, walked around the forest and found a demon.

Even more context; this demon's special ability was that its body changed depending on the material it ate the most, and it was particularly fond of eating gold.

So Jean sees the golden demon, gets even more angry for some reason and decides to kill the demon and take his teeth. Like a maniac.

So she walks around the forest (still drunk) with a bloody mouth, bloody knuckles, and a satchel full of golden demon teeth, and she happens to run into a nomadic dentist who takes Jean to her hideout.

She fixes her mouth, uses one of the demon teeth to replace the one she lost, and Jean wakes up with a killer hangover, a golden tooth and barely an on idea how she got it.

She ended up giving the dentist her car as thanks and she turned the rest of the demon teeth into a necklace

-🔮

I knew that story would be so interesting and I was not disappointed.

Stone does stupid shit when he's drunk too, like the time he tried to fight an ox or the time he tried to fight a squirrel. (For a man who loves animals, he sure does try and fight them when he's drunk.)

#tyler's asks #tyler's inbox #tyler answers asks #answering asks #asks #other ocs #oc talk #🔮 anon #:)

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chronicles-of-kats-dnd-game · 1 year ago

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Lost Mine & Abyss Session 10 - Conspiracies & Character Development

-Zoream urges the party to visit Thundertree and put these rumors of his past to rest. They set out on the road again upon their oxen-drawn wagon, tensions still high.

-On the road, Zoream speaks some of what he saw that day in Thundertree- describing the huge lizard, a singing dwarf, and an elephant man. The others ask Zoream if it was a bad dream, while Sid sighs in recognition and says that his adopted father played the same song.

-Sen asks Valark how he feels about his short time on the surface. He responds that it has been entertaining so far, and that this trip will be a fun diversion from his mission to find Nezznar.

-He asks the party what their mission was, as they realize they have left their employer kidnapped for four days. Sen says to remind him to never hire them. Zoream responds that they don't know where he was taken to- only the name, Cragmaw Castle.

-Wanting to get this over quick and back to shinies before the boss dies, Sen offers to combine his knowledge of the Neverwinter Wood with Zoream's recollection of home to speed the journey along. The two plan a new path forward.

-Zoream asks Sen if he has any tales of his time in the forest. He shares that he's hunted a number of owlbears. One time he got caught in a river and ended up in a town, but shares no more than that.

-Zoream then turns to Sid, asking if he has anything interesting to share to pass the time, asking him to tell more of the dwarf and its strange music-playing mechanical ram. Sid says that they spend days trying to figure out why it did that, despite the dwarf being the one who made it. He concludes it was probably possessed. Zoream asks how he met him, Sid responding that the dwarf found his egg alone in a cave and hatched him. The party debates if this is kidnapping.

-The orc then asks Dakwert how he came by his magical necklace. The gnome tells a story of how a strange man came to him in his shop, handing him the gem-shaped necklace to work on, and then vanishing before he looked up from his tools. He tried on the necklace, which transported him to a strange room with a man made of sand. He was tasked with retrieving an artifact for this strange being, and awoke unable to take the necklace off, threatened with being turned into sand if he refused.

-"so... Mr. Sandman... Told you to bring him... His dream?" "Yes."

-Before they can question this further, Zoream overhears Vierna and Sen's conversation of the dangers of the Wood, and of a warning to watch the sky. "Don't worry about it :)" the tiefling says. At Zoream's mistrust, the tiefling again challenges him on the subject of Thundertree, accusing him of summoning demons. As Zoream recalls more of that day to the party, Valark comments that it sounds like a typical day in his homeland.

-Hours into the journey, breaking the awkward silence of the cart is the sound of an arrow shooting through the air and into the shoulder of one of the oxen. Dakwert yells out in anguish for this crime to their beloved Betsy.

-Sen charges towards the source of the arrow, moving the branches to reveal a hobgoblin archer upon a snarling worg. Sen hisses back, spitting poison upon the creature. Sid follows close behind, slamming his morningstar upon its head.

-Vierna asks Valark if she should help them. Valark responds that he wants to see this through, and asks if Vierna is with them. "Reluctantly," the fighter responds, joining the fight as the party is weakened by hobgoblin blades.

-Dakwert stands from atop the ox, casting a Hex upon the largest hobgoblin as sand swirls around the enemy, and then firing a lethal Eldritch Blast upon it, the hobgoblin falling in a pile of sand.

-Sid summons his Spirit Guardians in the form of the golden dwarves, much to Dakwert's dismay. A "heigh-ho!" Rings out through the path and then silence, as three hobgoblins are slaughtered on the spot.

-Zoream casts Green Flame upon is quarterstaff, felling the final hobgoblin with a mighty bonk.

-Before they have a chance to rest, the sound of a small creature rustling through the bushes approaches the party. Zoream casts Grease upon the ground in front, while Sid readies fire, Sen cheering them on- as emerging from the bush is the familiar friendly goblin Creak Cragmaw, who fails her dex save and falls face-first into the Grease.

-Zoream asks the goblin where she's been. She responds that she's been getting her other orc friend out, and asks them what happened. A lot, Zoream responds. The goblin then expresses disappointment looking over the hobgoblins that none of them were left alive, saying that she's been tracking them.

-Sen fires a warning shot near the goblin, who glares at him in recognition. Creak tells the party that she wouldn't trust that one. Sen twirls his jeweled dagger while staring her down.

-Zoream, suspicious of Creak's whereabouts, questions her more. She explains that the Redbrands captured her and Ataxia at the inn while the party was away, and that they fought their way out of their hideout. Zoream challenges this, saying that they were in there, that they dismantled them, and didn't see them.

-Vierna attempts to pick up the goblin, who dodges out of her grasp to hide behind Zoream. She asks her if she was really with the Redbrands, why she didn't help her, as Vierna was there for days. Zoream asks her how she got past the Nothic. Creak responds simply that they fought their way out. Sen calls Creak a thief and a liar.

-Sen and Creak then start squabbling over their rights to the jeweled dagger, them both claiming they found it first. Sen suggests Creak continue on her way. Creak protests that she helped the party, that she tracked the hunting party here- though the party took care of them first. She says it is wonderful that they've taken care of the Redbrands, but that it was after she got out.

-She expresses disappointment that she cannot question the hobgoblins about the location of the castle. She suggests they search the bodies of the hunting party instead of questioning the tiny goblin girl. Valark comments that this is a wonderful idea to get them back on track.

-On one of the hobgoblins, Vierna discovers a note containing a sketch of the original party- Sid, Dakwert, Zoream, Camilla, Sheara, and Ataxia. Above them is written "25 gold for the delivery of these meddlers to the castle with the other. Alive, preferably," signed with the symbol of a black spider. Valark leans over with interest, saying this is exactly what they need to get in- though they still don't know its location. He announces to the party that they're wanted by the Black Spider.

-Vierna and Sen in Elvish discuss turning the party in to get in to the castle. Zoream, also knowing Elvish, follows this conversation before chiming in in their language that he does not want their friends to be used as bait, though he knows that word is loose to them. The two respond that they're actually fond of Sid and Dakwert. On asking if they just hate him, Sen again brings up Thundertree. Valark suggests they go ahead and get there so they can get back on track together.

-The party gets back in their wagon, Creak following along. She hops on the ox with Dakwert, questioning the gnome of the events since her leaving and where the other two of the original party went. She then questions their new additions- saying she's sure they'll lose a few more along the way, looking at Sen as he sharpens the jeweled dagger. Dakwert tells her that the tiefling has been helpful, despite his hostility.

-Creak expresses that she really wants to find that castle. She tells the party that the dream of a union for the goblin cave didn't work out- the castle simply sent two bugbears in replacement for KIark, and Roblin had been locked in a cage. The new leaders still wouldnt share the castle's location, so she found a hunting party and started following them- which led her to the party. With their deaths, now she is still looking, but hopes she'll find it along the way.

-Zoream asks if it is in a cave. Creak responds that its said to be a grand structure from a distant age in the woods- but nothing about where it might be, and the Wood is large. Zoream recalls no grand castle from his explorations into the woods, but does remember a falling-apart structure he used to dare his friends into going in, south of Thundertree. Creak excitedly asks if he knows where this is, asking what Thundertree is, sparking another argument.

-As it turns to night, the party discusses at length whether to go first to Thundertree or the Castle. Creak begs to see the castle. Valark knows his target may be there, but is so interested in seeing what the hell is in Thundertree that he can wait. It is decided that they will visit Thundertree first, and then finish their business at the Castle.

-Sen warns that Thundertree will be dangerous- that it spreads a demonic plague, one that's killed people. Zoream questions why the tiefling knows so much about Thundertree, saying it must be more than just legends. Sen says only that he has heard much- and questions if Zoream really knows much, questioning if he can even read his spellbook. Zoream reveals that he cannot, but that he has found a more creative way. He shows that he can learn spells through watching others cast, flipping through the spellbook that has been converted to paintings.

-As they start to come to a stop, Zoream, looking at Sen and the spell he recalled from the druid that day, comments that something in Sen reminds him of her. "Weird," Sen says, getting off the cart to start a fire and eat some of his leftover raw owlbear meat. Zoream, also eating raw owlbear meat, questions how Sen can eat it like he can. Sen responds that he's also just always been able to. "Tiefling thing." Maybe Sheara was just really stuck up. Sid joins them in also eating raw meat. The other half of the party stares at them. Out of the Abyss survival gang.

-Zoream pulls out some of his collection of bread. Creak approaches him, holding out her small hands for some, reminding the orc of their first meeting. Sen calls BS on her act, saying that the goblin was clawing and biting at him for the dagger days ago. Creak explains that she was tired, wanted the dagger she found, and a strange creature started fighting her for it. "Creature?" they ask, as Creak backpedals her statement but continues poking at Sen's appearance. Zoream starts pulling the bread away.

-Creak apologizes to Sen, and tells the tiefling that he does not consider him an enemy, and that she will not challenge him for the dagger. They shake on "not enemies." Zoream hands the goblin some bread, which she happily takes.

-Zoream questions why she needs to find the castle. She says that she just needs to see her boss's boss- and "fire" him, as they did in the cave. Even find whose all the way at the top- this "Black Spider," and take him out.

-The party turns to sleep at last, Vierna taking watch as she awakens from her own trance- witnessing as Dakwert falls asleep, sand start to lift off the ground and enter the gnome's necklace.

-Dakwert awakens inside the realm of his necklace, greeted by his dao warlock patron reclining on the pile of gems from the banshee's hoard and putting some of the gems in his own pockets. Dakwert protests, saying he told someone he'd split the treasure with them. The genie reminds him of their deal, that 50% of the gems he finds belong to him in return for his spells- congratulating him on the nice collection gathered here so nicely for him.

-He asks Dakwert how he came across it, the gnome responding that he simply found it. The genie says he knew he was great for this job. He asks Dakwert how his travels have been, as the hoard starts disintegrating into sand swirling around the genie. The gnome says its been great, he's met people, he's been knocked out repeatedly.

-The genie asks if his spells have been helping, to which the gnome responds not really, for how much he's giving up. The genie turns around and excitedly says that he's been thinking for how great he's been, that he's got a new totally "free" spell- Maximillian's Earthen Grasp. He says that with this, Dakwert should be able to get many more gems.

-He tells the gnome he's doing great and he'll check back in later, as Dakwert wakes up. "Not again," he says, before falling back asleep normally.

#october 9 2023 #session recaps #lost mine of phandelver #dnd #Lost Mine and Abyss

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twolonesomestars · 4 years ago

Text

[BJYX] ||

A post about the ox-head necklace.

This is mostly a post compiling a bunch of theories about the ox-head necklace as well as my explanations for a few things (AKA most of the things on this post are pretty well known & theorized often).

Warning: This is all fake. Don’t take what I say to heart. These are just my random thoughts.

Firstly, @zhansww has a pretty detailed overview of the whole thing: here

So, we’ve established that this necklace is extremely important to WYB. To the point where he wears it everywhere—the airport, filming, races, and almost every time we see him in public. I don’t think he’s ever worn a piece of jewelry this consistently before the necklace. Honestly speaking, WYB wears the ox-head necklace far, far more often than his feather necklace, which was gifted to him by a person we can safely say is like a second father to him. (Wang Han also often refers to WYB as his son, unjokingly.) I don’t think I’ve ever seen WYB wear his feather necklace outside of filming DDU (same with the DDU brothers’ ring). That right there is already gives the basics about how much the necklace means to WYB.

Something significant to note: WYB was first seen wearing it at the airport in Chongqing (of all places) on June 19, 2019, exactly a year and a day after their “date” to a restaurant on Dragon Boat Festival day. So... anniversary vibes anyone?

Now, the actual pendant is an ox-head; WYB was born in the year of the ox. Out of the two, XZ has always been the more superstitious one (i.e. hesitance to cross out “wangxiao” & crosses out his own name first); he even has/ used(?) to have the god of fortune as his lock screen. With that info, I think it’s pretty safe to say that XZ would pay more attention to their Chinese zodiacs and horoscopes and choose to give WYB a piece of jewelry that represents the animal of his birth year. Also, I don’t think WYB has ever worn anything related to his Chinese zodiac until this necklace.

The whole brand thing is pretty fun to unpack. I mean WYB doesn’t even wear the brands he endorses like he does this necklace... why is he wearing a brand he doesn’t endorse this much? Since the necklace is way cheaper than what the brand would give XZ, it would make sense for it to be something he bought on his own. Also, the fact that it was limited edition and only sold in two physical stores in China? That right there screams YiZhan to me.

I want to focus specifically on the Happy Camp episode because what happened there gave me the last bit of proof I needed in order to say that XZ bought him the necklace.

There’s a well-known video explanation of what happened with the necklace during the show. Here’s the VIP version of the episode; it has several unaired clips including the whole WYB getting hurt moment.

To paraphrase: the necklace scratched WYB’s neck when he was playing the game and trying to get through the hoops. If you watch the entire episode, you’ll notice him touching his neck and rubbing it throughout the game, but he didn’t pay it much more attention than that. It was only until his neck got very red that another player saw and pointed it out. When XZ saw, his eyes literally almost popped out of their sockets and when he understood what happened he told WYB to take it off quite angrily.

I’ve mentioned this before: XZ’s public persona is different from his private self; he doesn’t really show his anger in public (amongst other things). Thus, it’s extremely obvious when his public persona breaks, which is what happened at Happy Camp.

He looked very concerned even as he scolded WYB and kept looking away and back, which makes me believe that most of his anger was at himself, because of his own guilt, more so than at WYB.

I also don’t think XZ’s the type of person to scold someone in public, no matter how close the person was to him. So, I doubt he would scold WYB like this in front of cameras and lose control of his emotions (even if it was only for minute or two) unless he had a really good reason to. We’ve seen XZ’s reaction to WYB’s injuries before—the iconic 9 minute flirting/arguing video when he told WYB to wear knee pads; he showed a lot of concern, but not much anger. (I suppose this could also be because the type of relationship they share changed later.) But, at the end of the day, I highly doubt XZ would show any type of anger, whether it be towards himself or someone else, in public.

I put myself in this scenario to see my own reaction: if your friend or lover got hurt because of a meaningful necklace that someone else gave them, you wouldn’t go and get angry at them because it’s not your place. You’d be very concerned and ask them to take it off immediately—what the rest of the people around WYB did—but you wouldn’t scold them... unless... the necklace was something you gave them. I’d personally feel ridiculously guilty and angry at myself that the person I love got hurt because of something I gave them. I don’t think its farfetched to imagine that XZ felt the same way. To me, his reaction at Happy Camp ONLY makes sense when I think about it this way.

A recent event that threw me off and re-emphasized just how important this necklace is to WYB was when he wore it while filming Let’s Sacalaca (the surfing show).

The fact that WYB doesn’t take it off, even when he’s in the ocean where he could easily lose it, renders me speechless. With surfing or swimming in the ocean in general, you get a lot of wipeouts and the strong ocean currents wouldn’t exactly help the situation. Imagine how much this necklace means to WYB that he would risk losing it in the ocean just so he could have it with him at all times... Imagine just how much he loves and misses the person that gave it to him that he wants it close to his heart at all times.

XZ’s actions in Happy Camp proved to me that he was the one who gave the necklace to WYB. The manner in which WYB uses the necklace proved to me what type of relationship they have.

#i can legitimately talk about this necklace all day #i love it so much #bjyx #yizhan #i feel xz on the superstitious thing... especially with names and pictures lol #ox-head necklace #happy camp 2019 #compilation #i can't find that video of xz pretending to cross out the names and then crossing his out first ://#i'll reply to this post whenever i find it

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