#hadar cats

[ghostclangen]

moon fifty-five - leaf-fall

[dogandcatcomics]

#repost @hadarreuven Hadar Reuven (Tel Aviv, Israel, 1986-). Selections of feline representation from "White as a Ghost" a short comic, published in a special issue introducing HumDrum collective, in Stripburget magazine #78, Forum Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2021. Thanks to @teddygoldenberg for the tip.

[brokenpiecesshine]

Behind The Blinds on Instagram, 03/04/2023.

More of JACK ❤️ #BTBDigital Since making a splash in Pandora as the human kid Spider, raised by the native blue Na’vi, in Avatar: The Way of Water, actor Jack Champion @jackchampion is making waves in Hollywood as one-to-watch. Currently starring as the nerdy-but-not-so-nice, Ethan, in Scream VI, the latest instalment of the iconic slasher movie, we caught up with him to talk scream queens and creepy hairless cat costumes. _ Read and see the full feature on our BTB online – link in bio. _ Interview by Kate Lawson @kate_lawson Photography by Hadar Pitchon @hadar_pitchon Fashion by Michael Andrew @michaelandrewstylist EIC Michael Marson @badmickey Casting Imagemachine cs @imagemachine_cs Grooming by Melissa Dezarate @melissa.dezarate _ #BehindTheBlindsMagazine #JackChampion #ScreamVI

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #289: Abigail Williams (Summer)

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re building the first (and only, as far as I know) summer servant without a class change, Abigail Williams! That’s right, they got a puritan in a swimsuit before a guy.

You’d think having her spirit origin change so little would mean her build didn’t change much either, but you’d be wrong! Abby’s still a Great Old One Warlock for obvious reasons, but we also have to pop into Aberrant Mind Sorcerer to pick up the sleep spell as well as a few extra Sothoth-brand goodies. Why they put Sleep on one list and Dream on another is a nightmare to figure out another day.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: We! Are! We are VR!

Race and Background

So, I know we made Abby Custom Lineage last time so Abby could be babby, but I also really like the symbolism of making the gate the elder gods pass through have the Mark of Passage, so now she’s a Human proper. This gives her +2 Charisma and +1 Dexterity, the Courier’s Speed of 35’, an Intuitive Motion that gives her a small boost (1d4) on all acrobatics and land vehicle checks, and you can create a Magical passage once a day by casting Misty Step. You also get some extra spells of the mark, though we don’t really use them here.

I know this setup’s more focused on the standard kind of passage than the elder gods would prefer, but tbh have you ever tried to keep a hold of a wet child trying to get back in the lake? Impossible. If anything, she should have a bigger boost to acrobatics checks.

She’s still a Haunted One though, for Religion and Survival proficiency.

Ability Scores

Abby’s scary this time around and also a strong spellcaster, so make sure your Charisma is as high as possible. I know we dumped Intelligence the last time around, but you’ve had time to incorporate Yog Sothoth into your brain a little more, plus you live in the future, so it’s pretty high this time. You like keeping it light, so your Dexterity is also above average. You also have to survive the summer sun, so your Constitution is also above average. This means your Wisdom is pretty low- it’s summer, nobody’s particularly worried about being observant. Unless they’re trapped in your nightmare world, probably. Finally, dump Strength. Small children be small.

Class Levels

1. Warlock 1: Lä, lä! It’s time to strike a deal with a Great Old One! I mean you did this last time, but we’ve got to start somewhere, right? This gives you an Awakened Mind, so you can talk to any creature within 30’ of you telepathically. You can also cast Pact Spells using your Charisma, so you’ll get these spell slots back on short rests, and you’ll always have them at the highest level possible!

Pick up Eldritch Blast for some spooky shots and Sword Burst for those… key… lance…. Things, you use. You can also Hex an opponent to deal more damage and force disadvantage on a skill check of your choice. Finally, Arms of Hadar makes tentacles around you, battering anyone who gets too close. Tentacles are kind of your thing.

You also gain proficiency in Wisdom and Charisma saves, plus Arcana and Intimidation. Yeah, Abby’s rude now. What of it?

2. Warlock 2: Second level warlocks get another spell like Unseen Servant. We’ll have plenty of more… catlike options for your familiars later, but we need two at a time, so grabbing a spell right now is a good idea.

You also get your first Eldritch Invocations this level, helping you customize your spirit origin for summer fun! Your Eldritch Sight lets you cast detect magic at will, while your Eyes of the Rune Keeper let you read any language. Why bother with Duolingo when your headmate just knows everything already?

3. Warlock 3: At third level we gain our second cat adoption option with the Pact of the Chain, so now we can cast Find Familiar as a ritual. Technically we also get more options, but we’re here for a cat. Or maybe a quasit, if you’ve been good.

More importantly, we get second level spells like Phantasmal Force that let you create illusions that deal a little psychic damage if they would hurt the target. We get a lot of cool stuff, but summoning giant monsters is high-level magic. This will tide us over ‘til we get there.

4. Sorcerer 1: Now that we have plenty of gifts from your patron, it’s time to get to work on your own. Mostly because warlocks don’t get the sleep spell.

Regardless, as an Aberrant Mind sorcerer you gain access to Telepathic Speech, which is pretty similar to the telepathy we already have, but it has some slight tweaks. Instead of being a free action like regular speech, it takes a bonus action to set up the link. After that, you can speak to each other freely for a number of minutes equal to your Sorcerer level, and it works up to Charisma Modifier miles away. You can only bond like this with one creature at a time, so at least you have Awakened Mind speech to fall back on for short-range communications.

You also get access to Spells, and in particular Psionic Spells. This is also an extended spell list, but they’re all added to your list for free, and you can change them once per level-up for any sorcerer, wizard, or warlock spell that is from the school divination or enchantment. We’re going to do that, but I’m not bringing it up every time we do.

Your sorcerer slots and warlock slots are essentially separate things, though you can use one class’s slots for the other’s spells. Spells like Chill Touch for that classic horror vibe, Message for a slightly longer-range telepathic message, Minor Illusion for a little bit of dreamery in reality, and Control Flames to shut off the lights before everyone goes to bed.

For first level spells, Chaos Bolt is just a generally good attack, and Mage Armor will help you fight in a swimsuit without dying.

For our Psionic Spells, you learn Sleep for obvious reasons, Dissonant Whispers to melt peoples’ minds with your eldritch power, and Mind Sliver to weaken a foe’s defenses even further.

5. Sorcerer 2: At second level you become a Font of Magic, giving you sorcery points that you can turn into spell slots and vice versa. All your extra slots disappear on a long rest, but you can turn your warlock slots into points, turn those points into sorcerer slots, and then have a short rest for free extra spells.

Spells like Comprehend Languages, letting you understand any spoken language for up to an hour. You can also slowly read text, but that’s what the warlock stuff’s for.

6. Sorcerer 3: Now that we hit level three you can also use your sorcery points on Metamagic to make your spells even stronger, kind of like the villain pulling powerups out of nowhere in a horror movie. A heightened spell forces disadvantage on one creature’s first save against it, while an extended spell has double the duration. Sleep only lasts one minute! That sucks! Now it sucks half as much!

Also, either option is useful for your new spell Enlarge/Reduce. I could see you using either of these, but it’s another reason we went full-size abby this time. It’s a lot easier to terrorize teens in their dreams when you’re the size of a house. I feel like it’s easier to scare anyone at that size, tbh.

You can also Hold Person to freeze someone with fright, and Detect Thoughts to feed on their deepest fears.

7. Sorcerer 4: Once we reach level four in a class, we get our first Ability Score Improvement which will improve your Charisma for stronger spells.

We can also use Prestidigitation for any smaller spooks you might need to make, and Kinetic Jaunt makes it impossible to escape your wrath. You know how in nightmares the monster can practically teleport while you’re stuck in place? Here’s part one of that.

8. Sorcerer 5: Fifth level sorcerers get third level spells like Water Walk. That’s right, we got floaties, baby!

You also get psionic spells like Hunger of Hadar and Catnap. Short rests are super important for you, so sneaking one in with only 10 minutes to spare? Super helpful. Also, more tentacles! Tentacles are your thing.

9. Warlock 4: Now that you can enjoy summer, it’s time to let your patron ruin it a bit more. Bouncing back to Warlock makes you Telepathic, which… you already were, yes, but this rounds up your Charisma, and you can cast Detect Thoughts once a day for free. It also effectively doubles the speaking distance of your Awakened Mind speaking, making Message even less needed!

You can also use Mage Hand for a more visible magical cat helper. You can also use Borrowed Knowledge to steal proficiency in any skill from your patron for an hour.

10. Warlock 5: Fifth level warlocks get third level spells like Spirit Shroud, further slowing down anyone getting too close to you and dealing extra creepy damage. For your next invocation grab Cloak of Flies for advantage on intimidation checks and disadvantage on all other charisma checks. Also, any creature within melee distance takes poison damage each turn they start in the cloak. You can power this on once per short rest.

11. Warlock 6: At sixth level you can finally Summon Shadowspawn to make your creepy monster minions. Your Shadow Spirit lasts up to an hour, and commanding it is a free action. Shadowspawn come in three flavors: Fury shadowspawn have advantage on attacks against frightened creatures, while Despairs reduce the speed of creatures in melee range. Mixing this reduction with a spirit shroud will lock most humanoids in place!

Finally, Fear spawn can hide as a bonus action in the dark.

You also get another benefit from your patron, an Entropic Ward. If a creature attacks you, you can use your reaction to force disadvantage on it. If the attack misses, you get advantage on the next attack against them. You can only use this once per short rest, so make it count.

12. Warlock 7: Seventh level warlocks get fourth level spells like Evard’s Black Tentacles. I don’t think I need to tell you why that’s on-brand.

You also get another invocation like Ghostly Gaze, letting you see through solid objects on a range of 30’, as well as giving you darkvision. This lasts for a minute and uses concentration, and then you need to take a short rest to use it again. Still, all sorts of secrets can be found behind closed doors…

13. Sorcerer 6: Sixth level aberrant minds know Psionic Sorcery, allowing you to cast any spells from your Psionic Spells feature by spending sorcery points. If you do so, you need no verbal or somatic components, and you can ignore material components not used by the spell. Yeah, maybe don’t let people figure out you’re reading their mind, that would defeat the purpose of it.

You also have Psychic Defenses that give you resistance to psychic damage, and advantage on saves against being charmed or frightened. It wouldn’t be much of a Nightmare on Elm Street of Freddy was afraid of the kids, would it?

Speaking of, you can cast Fear now. Make things afraid of you! OoooOoOoh, scary!

14. Sorcerer 7: Our last level of sorcerer nets you some fourth level spells, like Raulothim’s Psychic Lance, letting you hunt down your prey wherever they may go! You also get one last bunch of psionic spells including Evard’s Black Tentacles again and Summon Aberration. Same as Summon Shadowspawn, but a bit beefier and with different benefits. The Beholderkin can hover and deal ranged attacks, the Slaad has regeneration and prevents other creatures’ healing, and the Star Spawn deals psychic damage to anything nearby.

15. Warlock 8: Now that your charisma is maxed out, let’s worry about your Dexterity a bit. Higher AC is always nice.

Plus now you can make Hallucinatory Terrain! It’ll still be a while til you can mess with the dream world, but messing with the real world is a lot easier, for some reason!

16. Warlock 9: It’s been a while! With the fifth level spell Dream, you can finally hop into someone’s dreams and pass them messages. Or use it for our purposes and give them terrible nightmares instead. This means they’ll need to make a wisdom save or take psychic damage and then they can’t get the benefits of a long rest. Absolutely devastating if you’re a wizard.

You also get an Eldritch Mind, which gives you advantage on concentration checks.

17. Warlock 10: Tenth level Goolocks have a Thought Shield that keeps their mind from being read unless they allow it. You also reflect psychic damage back at whatever caused it, dealing the same amount to them as they did to you. You would get resistance to the damage too, but we already have that.

Yeah, Toll the Dead’s creepy enough, it can be your last cantrip.

18. Warlock 11: Eleventh level warlocks get a Mystic Arcanum. See, instead of giving you sixth level slots, warlocks get one sixth level spell they can cast once per long rest like a *shudder* regular caster. Yours is True Seeing. You have truesight, can see hidden doors, and can see into the ethereal plane, all for 120’ for up to an hour.

19. Warlock 12: Summer Abby’s actually a bit more defensive than her Halloween counterpart, so use this last ASI for some extra Constitution. You can also pick up the invocation Whispers of the Grave to cast Speak with Dead at will for free. Turns out dead man do tell tales!

20. Warlock 13: We all knew this was coming. Abby Simply wouldn’t be a good gate for extraplanar monstrosities if she didn’t learn Plane Shift at one point or another. Bring willing people with you on a trip or launch an enemy into another plane, either way it’s a super cool spell.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

You have access to a lot of hired hands, which can make your life a lot easier, even if it’s by virtue of just giving the enemies more targets to aim at. They’re also great for setting the mood and being absolutely terrifying.

Another great perk to working with the old ones is that it’s hard to defend against you. Plenty of intelligence saves, plus you have options to both reduce someone’s save and force disadvantage on it at the same time. Mix in your maxed out charisma, and you can take care of just about anything. Or at least force them to use their legendary resistances.

You’re also pretty good at shutting enemies down physically, with you and your shadowspawn combining their slowing auras to completely stop an enemy in their tracks. And if a faster one shows up, you always have hold person ready to go.

Cons:

Sorcerers eat through points quickly, and aberrant minds do so especially fast since they equal free casts right out the gate. Thank goodness you’re so good at getting points back then, huh?

You also have a lot of concentration spells. You’re not terrible at keeping them up, but it means you can’t scare people while you have a shadowspawn out, which is unfortunate.

While Summer Abby is one of the better mixes for obtaining the unlimited power of the sorlock, it comes with a major downside- you have no way of avoiding exhaustion, which is what you’re supposed to be forcing onto your prey!

[manonopulentaura]

Exploring Art, Style, and Music: The World of Mandula

In the vibrant tapestry of creativity, few names resonate as profoundly as Mandula. Let’s delve into the captivating realms where art, style, and music converge.

1. Mandula: The Artistic Visionary

Contemporary Artists from Hawaii

The Hawaiian Islands harbor a tight-knit artistic community, and Mandula stands out as a luminary. Here are some remarkable contemporary artists to watch:

Wooden Wave: Led by the dynamic duo Matt and Roxy Ortiz, Wooden Wave infuses whimsy into their hand-drawn murals and illustrations. Picture a treehouse shaped like Darth Vader or a bakery on an outrigger canoe—each piece celebrates draftsmanship and imagination. Their work has graced walls from Hawaii to the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Museum.

Matthew Tapia: Known for his postcard-perfect lettering at Waikiki’s Surfjack Hotel & Swim Club, Matthew’s designs have adorned magazines, clothing brands, and street murals. His iconic work—the Instagram-famous Surfjack pool—captures the essence of island life.

Kalani Pe’a: A Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, Kalani Pe’a’s debut album E Walea enchanted hearts worldwide. His soulful melodies blend Hawaiian roots with contemporary flair.

Mark Kushimi: This Honolulu-based photographer and designer finds beauty in quiet, undisturbed scenes. His series “Forever Drowning” meditates on the ocean, a realm with its own sense of time and space.

Linda Bachrach: Linda’s delicate watercolors transport us to a nostalgic world of cats. Inspired by Asian aesthetics, her vibrant artwork graces postcards, ceramic pendants, and matte prints.

Kamea Hadar: A globetrotting artist, Kamea’s work bridges cultures. His studies in Paris, Madrid, and Tel Aviv infuse his Hawaiian scenes with a global perspective.

2. Hawaiian Style: Where Nature Meets Expression

Hawaii’s lush landscapes and rich cultural heritage inspire a unique style:

Tropical Motifs: Think palm fronds, hibiscus blooms, and sun-kissed beaches. Hawaiian style embraces vibrant colors and breezy silhouettes.

Ancient Traditions: Fiber artist Marques Hanalei Marzan weaves contemporary designs with ancient techniques. His work honors the artistic customs of his ancestors, bridging past and present.

Symbolism: From lotus motifs to Indian mandalas, Hawaiian jewelry and accessories carry deep symbolism. Mandula crafts unique pieces—pendants, rings, cuffs, and medallions—that resonate with tradition.

3. Harmonizing Melodies: Mandula the Music Artist

Mandula’s sonic journey transcends boundaries:

“Riszáld”: Collaborating with Goore, Mandula weaves hypnotic beats and raw lyrics. The video adds visual magic to this mesmerizing track.

“Pura Vida”: Tieri’s beat meets Mandula’s soulful voice, evoking carefree days and ocean breezes. The sun-drenched visuals capture the essence of island living.

“Mélyben”: Introspection finds expression in Mandula’s lyrics, beautifully complemented by qnz’s visuals. Dive into the depths of emotion.

MANDULA: Where tradition meets innovation, where brushstrokes harmonize with melodies. Explore, immerse, and celebrate the creative spirit. 🌺🎨🎶

[nether--prince]

for the tav questions: 1, 2, 4, 5, 14, 22, 23, 24, 27, 29, and 30!

oh ive b33n exploded

1) what's your tav's name, class, and race? lux, fiend warlock, asmodeus tiefling. boring but it me

2) which background do they have? how does it play into their story? guild artisan! mostly it's an excuse for being kinda awkward, kinda sheltered, but also manipulative when it n33ds to be

4) favourite weapon type to beat away goblins with? dual scimitars. yes i read drizzt as a kid. no scythes in bg3 ;^;

5) for the spellcasters, what's their favourite spell? im a warlock. eldritch blast baby. but also hunger of hadar is really good

14) what was your tav's life like before they got kidnapped by the mindflayers? on average days, it was just an artist doing work for the local guild, helping draw fancy chalkboards for restaurants, etc etc, while doing little things for its patron, mostly fetch quests and giving him links to the material plane

22) who was your tav's family? did they have any? it was very, very, very alone aside from its patron. (unless this is the au with you, in which case it had its sister ::33)

23) did your tav's dream visitor manifest as anyone in particular, or someone random that they've never seen before? someone random; a big hunky drow. an outcast who was strong and kind and gentle. aka catnip for the lonely loser

24) what was your tav up to in baldur's gate? did they live there, or were they in the wrong place at the right time when the mindflayer ship came through? i think im gonna contradict myself potentially and say it had moved there for seasonal work, maybe a relation betw33n the neverwinter artisan guild and the gate's. maybe there for like a month, enough time to be comfortable going out alone, and then... yoink

27) how does your tav react to wyll's pact and patron? if they're a warlock, was there anything specific? it's SO FUNNY because lux is totally besties with its patron. theyre so close its almost romantic. like qpp level. and its so annoyed with mizora for being a bitch and making it this stereotypical shitty patron relationship and annoyed with wylls dad for being an asshole but it cant say anything because how do you say 'nah man my patrons cool you just got the shit end of the stick'

29) after baldur's gate is saved, what will your tav do? during the rebuild, it lives in the gate with astarion. he's not ready to leave where he's lived for almost 250 years, even with the bad memories attached. but they go on adventures together to look for remedies for his negative vampire traits and visit the underdark and halsin. way in the future i could s33 them moving to outer neverwinter together and having too many cats and being very domestic

30) who's their favourite animal companion at camp? evil question. but it's the cub. tawny is its big baby.

[entertainment]

Entertainment Spotlight: Hadar Cats

Seventeen-year-old actress and all-around Renaissance woman Hadar Cats most recently starred in My Dad’s Christmas Date, and is currently filming a couple of projects that will be released soon. Hadar lives in Rome and speaks Italian, Hebrew, Spanish, and German. She also plays multiple instruments, sings, and is a competitive equestrian. Hadar took a few minutes to chat with us about her current projects, life, and how she balances it all:

How do you get into and stay in character when filming?

Everyone has their own way of doing it. My character Emma [in My Dad’s Christmas Date], she’s very similar to me in terms of how opinionated, loud and expressive she is, so it wasn’t a very different or difficult character to play. I obviously read the script multiple times, took notes, and thought a lot about her as a person, which is definitely important. I look forward to trying method acting or the Stanislavski system in the future; I think it’ll be a fascinating learning process.

You’re having a round table discussion with any four people (living or dead, real or fictional). Who is at the table, and what are you discussing?

That is an extremely hard question. Wow, I have so many! I would say 2Pac, Michelangelo, Ariana Grande, and my grandfathers. I’m not sure if that group would necessarily get along, but it would be amazing to get them together. Obviously, the conversation would be about art in all its forms, that is, if I’d even be able to speak. I think I’d be a total mess around these people.

What is the best piece of advice that you’ve ever received?

I don’t know if this is necessarily a piece of advice, but I live by a phrase my mum says a lot in Hebrew, which roughly translates to ‘It is what it is.’ 

How do you make time for school, practice, and yourself? What do you do for self-care?

It can get hard, and sometimes I forget to take a step back and breathe. But I try my best to have slow Saturday mornings, where I go to the gym and do my ‘Bubble’ skincare routine, including a facemask while listening to a podcast: it’s the best way to start the day. Riding is also a type of self-care for me—I feel so at peace while I’m doing it. Even just spending time with my horses is the best. 

Does your experience in languages and music impact how you approach acting? If yes, how?

Definitely. Before I took singing lessons, the way I spoke was completely different. I had a bit of a raspy and monotonous voice. Now that the way I speak has changed so dramatically, I find that my tone and range have changed a lot too. Rhythm is also so important. Italian, for example, is a highly rhythmic language, and learning how to do Italian scenes with an Italian rhythm can still be a challenge, but music has definitely helped!

You have the opportunity to ask an all-knowing fortune teller one question. What do you ask?

I would want to know if I’ll be successful and happy and in what field I’ll find my happiness and success. 

What’s next for you?

Finishing school and starting the next chapter of my life, which I’m super excited about!

Thanks for taking the time, Hadar!

📸: Eva Schwank

[taylorswift-edit]

"Cats" World Premiere 2019

[zombified-queer]

hey, i just wanted to say that i've also been loving your bingo prompts and all the other fics you've posted on here since i started following you. it seems like everything but garashir or kiradax is a rarepair in the ds9 fandom and vorta fics especially tend to be almost nonexistent. finding your blog and all the cool rarepairs COUGH weykat COUGH has been great

Oh dude. Dude my dude. Lemme introduce you to Keevan’klan.

[nerdyqueerandjewish]

Okay jack’s tag is now yaakov ben hadar, previous posts I found by searching have been tagged- make note for your kitty browsing or kitty blacklisting needs 😺

[ghostclangen]

moon fifty - newleaf

[brokenpiecesshine]

Behind the Blinds on Instagram, 24/05/2023.

More of JACK ❤️ #BTBDigital Since making a splash in Pandora as the human kid Spider, raised by the native blue Na’vi, in Avatar: The Way of Water, actor Jack Champion @jackchampion is making waves in Hollywood as one-to-watch. Currently starring as the nerdy-but-not-so-nice, Ethan, in Scream VI, the latest instalment of the iconic slasher movie, we caught up with him to talk scream queens and creepy hairless cat costumes. _ Read and see the full feature on our BTB online – link in bio. _ Interview by Kate Lawson @kate_lawson Photography by Hadar Pitchon @hadar_pitchon Fashion by Michael Andrew @michaelandrewstylist EIC Michael Marson @badmickey Casting Imagemachine cs @imagemachine_cs Grooming by Melissa Dezarate @melissa.dezarate _ #BehindTheBlindsMagazine #JackChampion #ScreamVI

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #147: Gorgon

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re making the one goddess of the three goddess alliance who actually had some skin in the game, Gorgon! This misbegotten monstrosity of a Medusa is made of a Undead Warlock for some scary surprises and the ability to make all her enemies into statues as well as a Rune Knight Fighter for a bit of help winning at basketball.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: Purrsonally I purrfurred Tamamo Cat, but ny’all can pick whichefur you want!

Race and Background

Sadly there aren’t any large player races, but we can still go Yuan Ti for all the goodies you get from there! As a snerson (snake person), you come equipped with Darkvision, Innate Spellcasting for Poison Spray and Animal Friendship (to snakes) at will. Starting at third level, you’ll also be able to use Suggestion once per long rest. All these spells use Charisma to cast. Finally, you get a defensive buff thanks to Magic Resistance and Poison Immunity. The former gives you advantage on saves against magic, while the latter makes you immune to poison damage and the poisoned condition.

Since you’re the only goddess in the alliance that believes in the destruction of humanity, we’ll call you the Goddess Alliance Cultist, but we’re messing with the background a bit, so instead you’ll get proficiency with Athletics and Religion.

Ability Scores

If you want monstrous Strength, you better be ready to invest a lot in it. As a walking apocalypse, you’re pretty scary-that’s Charisma. You can’t be a video game boss without plenty of Constitution either, so make that #3. Your strongest weapons are based on your eyesight, so make Wisdom next. Surprisingly enough Guda didn’t try to defeat the giant rampaging monster with a math quiz, so we’ll just have to assume your Intelligence is average. That means we’re dumping Dexterity. You are literally a giant target, it’s not that surprising. 

Class Levels

1. Fighter 1: Fighters start off with a better hit die, plus you get proficiency with Strength and Constitution saves as well as Intimidation and Survival checks. Your Unarmed Fighting Style lets you punch people for 1d6 damage, or 1d8 if both your hands are empty. You’re not big on “weapons”, so that’s fine by you. You also get a Second Wind, letting you regrow some snake heads as a bonus action. I might be getting my myths mixed up.

2. Warlock 1: Quite a bit of your power is coming on loan from Tiamat, and she literally can’t die, making you an Undead warlock. This gives you Pact Magic, spells you cast with Charisma that recharge on short rests. You also gain a Form of Dread, transforming a little bit into Tiamat for 1 minute. While transformed, you gain temporary HP, can force a wisdom save (DC 8+proficiency+charisma mod) to frighten a creature you attack once per turn, and you become immune to being frightened yourself. You can transform proficiency times per long rest.

Going back to spells, you get a lot of them thanks to your background. For cantrips, you get Fire Bolt and Vicious Mockery, and for first level spells you get Burning Hands, Dissonant Whispers, and Hellish Rebuke. There’s a lot of fire in there, but we can reflavor it in a couple of levels, don’t worry. 

As far as spells we can choose, you get Blade Ward to make up for the 9 AC you’re rocking by gaining resistance on most physical attacks, Eldritch Blast to shoot snake hair at your foes, Armor of Agathys to make attacking you a losing proposition thanks to your temporary HP and counterattack, and Arms of Hadar for more snakes, turning the area within 10′ of you into a snake pit.

3. Warlock 2: Second level warlocks get Eldritch Invocations, letting you customize your eternal servitude how you see fit. We’re swapping one next level, but use the other to get Armor of Shadows, boosting your 9 AC to an amazing 12 AC! Wow!

You also learn the spell Hex, cursing someone to deal 1d6 extra necrotic damage and giving disadvantage on one kind of ability check.

4. Fighter 2: Second level fighters get an Action Surge, letting you slap an extra action onto your turn once per short rest. Raid bosses can cheat the action economy a bit, everyone knows that.

5. Warlock 3: Gorgon did give us a bit of trouble when it came to their pact boon- she doesn’t use weapons, doesn’t rely on familiars, and she’s definitely not a bookwyrm. By process of elimination, you’ve earned the Pact of the Talisman, giving you a trinket that can add 1d4 to a failed ability check proficiency times per long rest.

That alone isn’t particularly scary, but the invocation Rebuke of the Talisman lets you deal a bit of psychic damage and push an attacking creature away from you as a reaction.

You also get the prerequisite flood of second level spells- from your background, you get Crown of Madness, Enthrall, and Flaming Sphere. Honestly I think Enthrall works for you- it’s not like there’s something out there that’s more distracting than you, right?

You also learn Hold Person for baby’s first petrification.

6. Warlock 4: If your AC’s really going to be that bad, we should at least use this Ability Score Improvement to bump up your Constitution for better HP. You also learn Infestation to summon your first Demonic Beasts (they’re just small) and Earthbind to stone up flying creatures enough to force them to land.

7. Warlock 5: Fifth level warlocks get another invocation and third level spells! From your background you get Fear and Haste, both of which are actually in character for you! You also learn to Summon Lesser Demons for some small-fry demonic beasts. Just remember you don’t actually count as a demon yourself in D&D, so they will happily kill you as soon as anyone else.

You also get the invocation Cloak of Flies, giving you a poisonous 5′ aura that you can invoke as a bonus action once per short rest. The aura gives you advantage on intimidation checks, but disadvantage on all other checks, and deals damage to anything within it equal to your charisma modifier. Just be glad Guda didn’t summon your other sisters.

8. Warlock 6: Sixth level undeadlocks are Grave Touched, meaning you no longer need to eat, drink or breathe- the full servant experience! You can also replace the damage of any attack with necrotic damage, and while your Form of Dread is up, you add an extra die of damage to the attack as well!

You also learn how to make a Spirit Shroud, dealing extra necrotic, cold, or radiant damage on all attacks you make within 10′ of yourself. You also slow down creatures that start their turn in the shroud.

9. Fighter 3: As a Rune Knight, you become a Rune Carver, letting you stick runes on weapons, armor, jewelry, or other small objects for small bonuses-you can also invoke them once per short rest for bigger bonuses. 

The Fire rune doubles your tool proficiencies, and you can also invoke the rune add extra fire (or necrotic) damage to the attack. If it fails a strength save (dc 8+proficiency+intelligence modifier) it becomes restrained, and takes extra fire damage each turn.

The Stone rune gives advantage on insight checks, and gives you extended darkvision. You can also use your reaction to charm creatures who end their turn near you, leaving them incapacitated if they fail a wisdom save.

More importantly, you also get Giant Might, using a bonus action to grow to Large size for a minute. While transformed, you have advantage on strength checks and save, and deal an extra d6 damage per weapon attack. You can transform proficiency times per long rest.

10. Warlock 7: Seventh level warlocks get fourth level spells. From your background: Confusion and Wall of Fire. Neither are great for us, but you also get Shadow of Moil, making attacking you an even worse idea thanks to a necrotic counterattack.

You also get the invocation Protection of the Talisman, letting you add a d4 to a failed save proficiency times per long rest.

11. Warlock 8: Use this ASI to bump up your Charisma for better spells, and to make it easier to control your new spell, Summon Greater Demon. For up to an hour, you can summon a demon of CR 5 or lower. If it continually fails a charisma save each turn, it will obey you. Otherwise it’ll run wild. Honestly? Both work for you.

12. Warlock 9: Fifth level spell time! You know what? Since we’re not making a Tiamat build, we might as well have some fun with the primordial sea while we still can. Dominate Person, Danse Macabre, and Minions of Chaos will help you raise a Ushiwakamaru Alter army in whatever flavor you prefer- living, undead, or elemental!

13. Warlock 10: Our last undead goody makes you a Mortal Husk, giving you resistance to necrotic damage (or immunity while using Form of Dread). On top of that, once per 1d4 long rests you can blow up your body when you hit 0 HP, dealing necrotic damage in the area and reviving yourself with 1 HP. It’s one hell of a guts skill, but it does give you some exhaustion.

We also continue our Ushiwakamarufication tour with Negative Energy Flood, a spell that deals tons of necrotic damage and turns a target into a zombie if it kills them. It can even heal your existing zombiwakamarus! 

14. Warlock 11: Your Mystic Arcanum gives you the option to cast Flesh to Stone once per long rest. If a targeted creature fails a constitution save three times, they become stone. If they succeed three times, they escape. If you keep concentration on the spell for the full minute while they’re petrified, it lasts until dispelled. 

15. Warlock 12: Our last warlock level is another ASI, which we’re putting into Constitution for better concentration checks and more HP. You also get the invocation Sculptor of Flesh, letting you cast Polymorph once per long rest. Have you ever wanted to actually be a giant snake? Now you can! (You can also do, like, a T. Rex, if you wanna powergame.)

16. Fighter 4: Another ASI already? Bump up your Strength for better punching. That’ll be relevant soon.

17. Fighter 5: It’s soon! This level gives you an Extra Attack each attack action, for two punches per action, or four in a turn with Action Surge.

18. Fighter 6: Use this ASI to bump up your Constitution for even more HP.

19. Fighter 7: Seventh level rune knights can use their Runic Shield to force a creature to re-roll their attack when they hit an ally. You can do this proficiency times per long rest. You also get the Hill rune, which has absolutely useless passives, but you can invoke it as a bonus action to get resistance to physical attacks for a minute.

20. Fighter 8: You thought we were gonna max out our constitution this level, right? WRONG! Grab that Tough feat for an extra 40 HP!

Pros:

Thanks to your Spirit Shroud being forcibly maxed out, you have terrifying short range damage options. With an action surge, your Form of Dread, and two eldritch blasts, you can deal 16d10+24d8 Necrotic damage in a single turn, and that’s not even including any critical hits! That gives you an average damage just shy of 200, and a possible maximum of 352. Plus rolling that many dice is probably really satisfying.

Adding to that, you have plenty of other reasons for enemies to avoid melee range- your counterattack game is wild. Armor of Agathys, Hellish Rebuke, Shadow of Moil, Cloak of Flies... getting too close to you really is dangerous.

For a mostly spellcaster build, you are incredibly thick. With over 200 hp and a couple different ways to give yourself protection from most attacks, it will take a lot of hits to topple this kaiju.

Cons: 

Speaking of a lot of hits, you’ll be taking those! Your AC is only 12, 14 at best if you’re hasted. Of course this problem could be solved with some heavy armor, but I doubt they make it in your size.

You also have a heavy focus on Necrotic damage, meaning that your options will become much more limited against undead, Aasimar, and demons.

Speaking of, you summon Demons. That’s kind of a deal breaker for a lot of adventuring parties. It’s not even like you could keep a low profile for plausible deniability, people are going to notice the big snake lady hanging around the demon attacks.

[notesapppoetsuggestion]

Mourner's Prayer

It is 7:03 pm and it’s been dark for almost an hour And I’m sure that there’s some kind of rules about Kaddish and timing and sunset But I don’t know what they are And I’m saying Mourner’s Kaddish at a trailer park in Phoenix, Arizona Because I don’t know what else there is to do Yitgadal v’yitkadash sh’mei raba I pray Two thousand miles from home Under the light between lot 62 where an elderly woman explained to me in Spanish that her son worked nights and was not available but had already mailed in his ballot And lot 64 where no one was home uv'chayei d'khol beit yis'rael I’ve found east with my compass app But I turn my head towards the moon as I rock forward onto my toes and back again V’yit-hadar v’yit-haleh v’yit-halal My new sneakers move so easily Carry me smoothly from house to house With my clipboard of fliers and my list of polling places Walking is another way of praying I read that somewhere once toosh'b'chatah v'nechematah I am saying Kaddish at the trailer park and I am looking at the moon And I am thinking about my father’s face two years ago today Picking up the phone to ask Hannah Levin’s uncle The retired security guard to come to the synagogue the next day And bring his gun Oseh shalom bim'romav For a thousand years my family has said Kaddish in shtetls and in deserts In tenements and trailer parks aleinu v'al kol Yis'ra'eil v'im'ru And as I murmur Mourner’s Kaddish to the moon and the streetlight and the stray cats who wind their ways between the trailers I almost hear them say Amen

[lordviridis]

Tell us more about how Aleena got to where she is?

Thank you for asking! I guess that answer depends on what you exactly mean by ‘where she is’ because the longer fics are really early on and then lot of ficlets go way farther in the timeline. But I guess a general overview to her time in Korriban would cover most of it. And as this got really long, it’s under a cut. 

Aleena was five when the Jedi took her, and she really doesn’t remember things from before that. Partly because of the mind block the Jedi put on her and also because she was so young that even when years later those were removed, there wasn’t that much to remember. 

Living with the Jedi at Lothal for fifteen years affected her a lot. They helped her form her view on the Galaxy and the Force and lot of their teachings stay with her for a long time. It also gave her some abandonment issues due to her first master passing her onto another one. But she felt that the Jedi were her home and she trusted them.

Her life turned upside down when certain complication from the memory block with general stress of a war zone ended with her kind of blanking out and on an Imperial medical transport. Due to the weird circumstances, And all of that got her put under the care of her father, the human disaster known as Mortis. 

Mortis wants himself a perfect Sith daughter, and Aleena wants to get back to the Jedi. Aleena has a lot of feelings about finding out the truth. Resentment and anger towards the Jedi about what they did, but she’s good at burying that, letting it fester for years. There’s also fear at being in the Empire, as any Jedi would, she also has trouble believing it at first, but can’t deny the truth. 

After her first escape attempt ends before it truly even starts, Aleena decided to go for a long term plan. Basically she went along with Mortis’ language tutor and keeping the Imperial ID card around, and agreeing to supervision while outside of the house. This develops into a much bigger cat and mouse game where Aleena agrees to be trained in hopes of gaining enough trust to be allowed to go outside without someone being with her while trying to avoid falling to the dark side. 

To no surprise, Aleena ends up failing at that (first slowly, later faster). Her Jedi training keeps causing conflict and pain on this, especially because Mortis’ ideas of proper training eventually also includes all out torture of others. But before he goes that far, he gets her a lightsaber tutor, Zane, who ends up being the bright spot in all of this.

As her training intensifies, she ends up getting closer to Zane because he offers a listening ear and a way less formal connection to the Empire. All of that helps keep her grounded and shows her way more efficiently that Sith are people too than the high ranking Sith Mortis has her talk to.

Developing feelings and starting a relationship with Zane ends up also making her let go of more of her Jedi training, and forces her to come to terms with her life at the Empire, but doesn’t totally stop her attempting to escape. All the while Mortis’ training attempts escalate as far as to making her kill a Padawan, which drives her to a very dark place for a while. 

Eventually she convinces him to let her go back to Lothal, by promising she’ll never try to escape gain. It’s also the moment when she realises Lothal doesn’t feel like home anymore, but she’s still not fully comfortable with her life in the Empire. Despite the conflict, she does start noticing how she keeps putting the well being of Zane (and thus a Sith) in front of the lives of Jedi and Republic citizens (like when she helped him get revenge for the death of his brother). 

All of this convinces Mortis that Aleena is ready to attend the Sith Academy. Aleena might disagree, but when has her opinion on this mattered, so off to Korriban she goes. It’s the first time she makes a friend, Hadar, and also has a rival she has no idea how she got. So the usual Korriban experience. She also has a special trial arranged by Mortis, that forces her in contact with her former Jedi Master. It’s also the first time she truly admits to herself all that piled up resentment and anger at the Jedi, ultimately accomplishing Mortis goal of tying her to the Empire. 

[bugsandburners]

700 words ahead sorry

The pilots

Ok, Night asked and I delivered. I tried to keep it short and somewhat coherent but I'm ADHD and autistic so bear with me here. 

Jaquot stated in s2 ep 20 that there exist to be some "fairy tales" firmly believed in by Brendan involving four guardians who would rise to defend the realm should trouble arise. These guardians were to be piloted. Their pilots were essentially immortal in the sense that they did not age. Once all four pilots die, however, or once every 10 years, they get replaced and the spirits of the Guardians wake up and begin their search for their pilots anew. It's hinted that the pilots are chosen preemptively. 

One of the hunters, I believe the first if memory serves correctly, right before being consumed by the hunger of Hadar, passively chuckled "the blood brothers have already been touched." Making the party jokingly freak out for about a minute straight. 

The white wolf stated before his own passing that the others could finally awaken. Linking this back to Jaquot's mention of the pilots and the ten year gap/ death trigger, it can be inferred that the white wolf meant that at least two of the three possible guardians (due to the young Master being the fourth and presumed alive) were in a state of suspended animation, and that his death would allow the third and final guardian to awaken and take claim over their new pilots.

Brendan had previously dabbled in the lore of these guardians, when that first started is unclear, but he deemed it important enough to confide in Jaquot about. He genuinely believed that they would be the solution to his problems and was actively looking for a way to wake them up. How close he got is unknown. It can be ashamed that the farthest he ever got was through research however as some of the hunters were likely pilots and the time loop had been well in effect before the fated arrived to fix it. The only one of the hunters who likely wasn't one of the pilots was the tree ent who'd taken the little girl prisoner. 

To tie this all up, the first Hunter's last words imply that Br'aad and Sylnan, the blood brothers, are two of the chosen new pilots. And with the passing of the white wolf and the series magics at hand with Mountain's tattoo, it can be assumed that he is the third, leaving only the young Master to be the presumed fourth until proven deceased. This could also be why the white wolf urged the group to seek out the young Master, as he intends to reunite the chosen pilots once more white possibly to fix the mess that Brendan made while trying to awaken these guardians. Üngero is already a threat that the fated have at the moment forgotten about or have at least placed in the back burner quite possibly because they believe that having Hilltree and his wired magic brain/tumor with them and away from harm and the crystal is enough to stop anything from finalizing with that whole mess. 

That still leaves out Taxi and Velrisa. Now Taxi intends to be the king of the cats and this may serve to be his purpose in this very gloomy, looming war against an Eldritch God. Velrisa, however muddled she currently is with the politics of the murder she accidentally commit while saving the barren, has yet to lose any of her cleric gifts and powers indicating that her goddess however upset, still believes that Velrisa is a faithful servant and meant for more. What the future holds for her is a mystery to us yet though given the fact that Jared is a kind DM who does his best to make sure each of his players is allotted their little spotlights, it can be assumed that she, like the brothers, Mountain, and Taxi, has a much larger roll to play other than simply being the group healer. Br'aad has said on multiple occasions that they need her and I wouldn't put it past Jared to show them just how much that statement is true.