#i needed to balance it out

[thecreaturecodex]

Nascent Demon Lord, Apharoe

Image © @tredlocity​

[Commissioned by @crazytrain48​, and the first unique fiend from Arduin. Probably not the last. In Arduin, Apharoe is one of the few neutral demon lords, as that setting’s demons are more along the lines of Goetic demons (incredibly powerful and dangerous, usually evil but not always, called by mortal summoners to assist them with particular tasks). So I needed a hook to make her suitably evil for the more typical D&D/PFRPG model. In Arduin, she’s said to be conjured for matters of “conceiving special children”, and it mentions that she takes her own children with mortals back to the Abyss. Which inspired the flavor text I went with, which makes her a patron of eugenics and planar scions, and using one to make the other. ]

Nascent Demon Lord, Apharoe CR 24 CE Outsider (extraplanar) This curvy and statuesque woman has skin the color of the night sky, freckled with stars. Her eyes seem to shift in color, and she has three navels, but is otherwise human in appearance.

Apharoe The Star Witch, the Night Lover Concerns cold, eugenics and space Domains Chaos, Charm, Evil, Void Subdomains Cold*, Demon, Lust, Stars Worshipers astrologers, enchanters, planar scions Minions cambions, star demons, void dragons Unholy Symbol a white dove or a black swan on a starburst Obedience Achieve sexual release under the night sky. This may be done alone or with a partner. Gain a +4 profane bonus to saving throws against cold effects Boons 1: unnatural lust 2/day; 2: wall of ice 2/day; 3: cold ice strike 2/day *clerics of Apharoe can use the Cold subdomain to modify the Void domain

Apharoe the Star Witch is something of an enigma among demonologists. Unlike many nascent demon lords, she isn’t fighting to gain control of a layer of the Abyss, and indeed enjoys good relations with multiple demon lords. She is remarkably easy to summon with gate spells, and is friendly with those who call her, providing services related to cold magic, love and lust, and fertility. Her costs for service are very low by the standards of demons, merely consisting of sexual favors provided by a man of her choosing, if the caster themselves does not meet her standards. The truth of the matter is, Apharoe is playing a long game. She views mortals as weak and in need of “improvement”, and is working on a colossal eugenics program to create enough half fiends, cambions and tieflings to conquer multiple planets. The most trusted of her generals are her own children and other descendants. The worlds they rule will eventually be the backbone of a new layer of the Abyss created by her and for her ascendance. But for now, these goals are held close to Apharoe’s ample chest, and only her most devoted cultists know her ultimate plan.

The Night Lover would much rather talk than fight. Her seductive words are backed up by mind influencing magic, and those that get too close succumb to her gaze. In those who are attracted to women, the gaze overcomes their minds with intense lust; those that are not are instead overwhelmed with loathing (which function mechanically identically). Those that resist her charms are typically frozen to death, or torn to pieces after she assumes animal form. Any weapon that strikes Apharoe is inflicted with a chill that renders it brittle, and she can turn mortal flesh into solid ice with a touch. Apharoe flees at the first sign that a fight will not be easy; she has better things to do than endanger her life. She usually sends powerful minions, such as star demons, to punish those that would dare hinder her.

Apharoe is often found in the Material Plane. When going amongst mortals, she typically appears as a beautiful woman, a black swan, a white dove, or a fierce leopard. She is almost never found in the guise of a man or other genders, and women are typically in higher ranking positions among her cults. Her teachings are an odd mix of hedonism and “traditional family values”, as she wishes to encourage some “appropriate” people to breed, and others to stop breeding, by force if necessary. What the criteria for suitable breeding stock are is arbitrary, and may vary based on the whims of Apharoe or her high priestesses. Planar blood is almost always seen as of high value, and evil tieflings, aasimars and other such people are often drawn into her service. Some of the unworthy are deemed competent enough to work for the cult and are forced into positions of servitude, frequently after sterilization. Those that are judged especially unworthy, or who resist their enslavement, are typically killed through freezing, whether through exposure or via cold magic.

Apharoe stands about six and a half feet tall in her natural form.

Apharoe                                CR 24 XP 1,230,000 CE Medium outsider (chaos, demon, evil, extraplanar) Init +11; Senses darkvision 120 ft., Perception +32, see in darkness, true seeing Aura cloak of chaos (DC 27) Defense AC 42, touch 26, flat-footed 30 (+11 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 deflection, +8 natural, +8 armor) hp 525 (30d10+360); regeneration 15 (good or epic) Fort +26, Ref +32, Will +26 DR 15/good and epic; Immune charm, cold, compulsion, death effects, electricity, poison; Resist acid 30, fire 30; SR 35 Defensive Abilities brumal chill, integrated Offense Speed 70 ft. Melee 2 slams +37 (1d8+8 plus 3d8 cold damage) Special Attacks energy drain (2d4 negative levels, DC 34), frigid touch, gaze, master enchanter Spell-like Abilities CL 24th, concentration +33 (+37 casting defensively) Constant—cloak of chaos (self only, DC 27), true seeing At will—charm monster (DC 25), cone of cold (DC 24), greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs of objects only), suggestion (DC 23), icy prison (DC 24), unnatural lust (DC 23), wall of ice 3/day—dominate person (DC 26), freedom of movement, glibness, quickened greater dispel magic, greater scrying (DC 26), quickened mass suggestion (DC 27), empowered polar ray 1/day—interplanetary teleport, meteor swarm (DC 28), overwhelming presence (DC 30), polar midnight (DC 28) Spells CL 20th, concentration +29 (+33 casting defensively) 9th (7/day)—dominate monster (DC 30), gate (DC 28), time stop 8th (7/day)—demand (DC 29), irresistible dance (DC 29), maze 7th (7/day)—finger of death (DC 26), insanity (DC 28), waves of exhaustion  6th (7/day)—cold ice strike (DC 25), greater heroism, veil (DC 25) 5th (8/day)—baleful polymorph (DC 24), feeblemind (DC 26), icy prison (DC 24), mind fog (DC 26) 4th (8/day)—confusion (DC 25), enervation, fire shield, greater invisibility 3rd (8/day)—arcane sight, displacement, protection from energy, reckless infatuation (DC 24) 2nd (8/day)—eagle’s splendor, glitterdust (DC 21), mirror image, oppressive boredom (DC 23), touch of idiocy 1st (8/day)—identify, magic missile, ray of enfeeblement (DC 20), shield, unprepared combatant (DC 22) 0th—arcane mark, daze (DC 21), detect magic, light, mage hand, open/close, prestidigitation, ray of frost, resistance Statistics Str 26, Dex 32, Con 34, Int 23, Wis 21, Cha 29 Base Atk +30; CMB +38 (+42 sunder); CMD 64 (66 vs. sunder) Feats Acrobatic, Acrobatic Steps, Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Craft Wondrous Item, Dodge, Empower SLA (polar ray), Eschew Materials (B), Greater Spell Focus (enchantment) (B), Greater Sunder, Heighten Spell, Improved Sunder, Nimble Moves, Power Attack, Quicken SLA (greater dispel magic, mass suggestion), Quicken Spell, Spell Focus (enchantment) (B) Skills Acrobatics +40 (+56 jumping), Bluff +36, Diplomacy +36, Disguise +36, Fly +37, Intimidate +33, Knowledge (geography, planes) +33, Knowledge (arcana, nature, religion) +30, Perception +32, Sense Motive +32, Spellcraft +30, Stealth +36, Use Magic Device +31 Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Elven, Sylvan; telepathy 300 ft. SQ change shape (humanoid or animal, polymorph), nascent demon lord traits, unnatural caster Ecology Environment any land or underground (the Abyss) Organization unique Treasure double standard (Mantle of the Star Witch [otherworldly kimono/bracers of armor +8 that takes up the chest slot], other treasure) Special Abilities Brumal Chill (Su) Creatures or weapons striking Apharoe must succeed a DC 34 Fortitude save or take 3d8 points of cold damage. An object that takes this damage has its hardness halved for 1 minute. The save DC is Charisma based. Energy Drain (Su) Apharoe can deal 2d4 negative levels with a kiss or other intimate touch if she so chooses. An unwilling creature must be grappled before Apharoe can kiss them. Frigid Touch (Su) Once every 1d4 rounds, Apharoe can touch a single creature. If it fails a DC 34 Fortitude save, it is turned to ice. Treat this as a petrification effect, except that the“stone” has hardness 0 and vulnerability to fire. A creature that saves successfully still takes 3d8+30 points of cold damage. The save DC is Charisma based. Gaze (Su) Range 30 ft.; save DC 34; effect stunned 1d4+1 rounds. A creature that successfully saves against this gaze is staggered for 1 round, and then is immune to Apharoe’s gaze for the next 24 hours. Integrated (Ex) Apharoe always takes minimum damage from disintegrate spells, or other similar spells and effects. If reduced to 0 or fewer hit points by one of these effects, she is not reduced to dust, and her regeneration continues to function. Master Enchanter (Ex) Apharoe gains Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus in enchantment as bonus spells. She applies the effects of these feats to her spell-like abilities of the enchantment school. Nascent Demon Lord Traits (Ex/Su) Apharoe is a powerful unique fiend with the following traits:

Immune to charm and compulsion effects, death effects, electricity, poison

Resist acid, cold and fire 30

Telepathy 300 ft.

Apharoe’s natural weapons, as  well as any weapons she wields, are treated as chaotic, epic and evil for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction.

Apharoe can grant spells and boons to worshipers as described in her cult entry above

Spells Apharoe gains spellcasting as a 20th level sorcerer. She does not gain any bloodline abilities. Unnatural Caster (Ex) Apharoe can use her spells when assuming animal form, as if she had the Natural Spell feat.

[deep-space-lines]

IT'S FINALLY FUCKING DONE. I'M FINALLY FREE

UNTIL FRAUD COMES OUT

Tumblr shrinks it down pretty bad so please. please. I am begging you. look at the full sized image and zoom in. This art piece made my friends worried for my mental health I need someone to witness the amount of detail and effort I put into this

also the original sketch under the cut bc I think comparing them is really funny

[hinamie]

itakugi sillies fr the soul

[pinacoladamatata]

blink and you'll miss it moments around skyhold....

[thevoidstaredback]

How To Balance Your Daytime and Nighttime Activities So That You Don't Burn Yourself Out More Than You Already Have

It had been a long few minutes since he'd opened the door and there were a lot of questions running through Dick's head. Most pressing of which was how this kid seems to have information he should not have.

"How did you..?" he asked, but the words wouldn't leave completely. There's so much he wants to know, so much he wants to ask.

"How do I what?" Danny tilted his head like the child he seems to be is.

"How do you know?" Dick knows he sounds weak. There's no hiding that, but there are a lot of implications in what the kid has said so far and none of it is painting a very happy picture for him.

"Oh!" Danny had the audacity to smile, "You want to know how I know you moonlight as a vigilante!" And of course he knows. Dick knows he knows, but he'd held a little bit of hope that the child Danny was mistaken. Danny's smile softened a bit as he explained, "Your hair and voice match up in both jobs almost perfectly. Not to mention your build and how you hold yourself. There's also the matter of your overall vibes, but that's not something living beings can normally pick up on." Excuse him? "Well, not living humans, at least, so no worries on that end!"

"Excuse me?" Dick was fairly sure his heart just stopped beating for a moment there.

"Anyway, I was a hero back home for a while, too. I know what it's like to have to walk the tightrope between maintaining a civilian cover and a hero persona. I know how it feels to have to keep secrets from everyone because anyone who knows will be in danger." he rambled, Though, admittedly, our circumstances are quite different. I was working as a hero all hours of the day as well as going to school. You only have to worry about properly balancing between day and night jobs. Either way, me having more to bounce between just makes me al the more qualified to help you!"

Oh. Oh he did not like that. He didn't like a single thing that just came out of the kid's mouth. Because that's what he is, a kid. "Are you...Are you alright?"

"Not in the slightest," Danny admitted with an even smaller smile. Then, it brightened, not quite to a grin, but to something similar, "But I'm here to make sure you are."

He gets points for being honest, but Dick felt his heart shatter. He knew for a fact that he'd never worked with this kid before. He also knew that the Justice League didn't know about him. If they did, he would've been picked up and dropped with either the Young Justice team or the Titans.

Dick wasn't going to ask why he became a hero because that's not his place. It's more of a 'third mission with the team' kind of questions, anyway. Most of the heroes didn't have many options when they took up the mantle. Asking what Danny can do is a more appropriate question, but he wasn't going to ask that, either.

"Now that that's out of the way," Danny turned a few pages from the table of contents to another one that was topped with 'Why Sleep Scheduling Is Important' in the blue glitter pen that Dick was starting to suspect he favored. "You're not getting enough sleep. Following you around - no one's been able to find me for a while, so don't worry about that - for the last two weeks has given me some really worrisome information on you."

Dick was worrying. He was worrying a lot and even more questions were coming to the forefront of his mind.

"Your dayjob is as an officer on the Bludhaven Police Force, or BPD for short." He was looking over the page he'd turned to very aptly and Dick realized that the kid had notes written on him. "The average hours per week for police across the country is forty hours. Gotham and Bludhaven are the exceptions. As a member of the BPD, you work a solid two days and two hours. Six nights a week, you work as Nightwing from eight in the evening to three in the morning. The last day, you take off, which is good. No deserable pattern, so good on you for that. Regardless, that's seven hour nights and ten hour days, with one day off and one day on call as an officer. Seven hours are now left in your day for personal time, eating, and sleeping. That's not a healthy way to live."

Oh, god, the kid had honest to god notes on him! What the hell!

Danny didn't even skip a beat as he pulled Dick's attention back to him and his binder. "I've drawn up a schedule for you to follow." The back of the page had a meticulously drawn schedule, complete with blocks of time to eat, sleep, work both jobs, travel, personal time, and still have a bit extra left over. It was titled 'Ideal End Result' in green marker. "Drastic changes right away will only affect you negatively, so we're starting off smaller." The next page over had another schedule titled 'Where To Begin'. "I've only pulled one hour from your Nightwing hours because I know important that time is to you and the city. I am, however, going to be having you submit an appeal to your boss to cut back your hours from fifty a week to forty a week. That way, you'll only be working eight hours a day and not ten. You'll still be on call for one day, and you'll have that last day off. Altogether, you'll be going be going from working seventeen hours a day to fourteen hours a day. Nine in the morning to five in the afternoon, and eight in the evening to two in the morning. Not including breaks at work or travel time. It opens up a few more hours for you to sleep!"

"You really think the chief is going to pull back my hours?" Dick raised an eyebrow in question.

"He will if he knows what's good for him."

"You know I can arrest you for that threat, right?"

"Yeah, but you won't." And, damn it, he's right.

Although, there was now another thing he had to know. "How to you plan on enforcing this schedule of yours?"

Danny seemed to have been waiting for this. He got a gleam in his eye as he pulled a black folder from his bag, not breaking eye contact with Dick. He placed it on the table and pushed it across. "Congratulations, it's a boy."

Part 1 Part 3

[anime-grimmy-art]

Sada, Turo and the childhood they never gave Arven

Twas only a matter of time til I drew them, I am weak for dilfs, milfs and especially trauma origins 😔👌

The last drawing went a bit out of control. I wanted to clean up the sketch and woke up 5 hours later with a remade, coloured and shaded sketch and pain in my hand.

[slavhew]

charmed, i'm sure

[north-noire]

the father-daughter of all time based on this tweet and I had to just draw it with these two

[mozzaremi]

taking so much creative liberties with the pixels i'm given

[kiivg]

.please please please please please pl.

[melly-artes]

Helping around the picnic table

[kitamars]

so kiss me and smile for me

[comfymoth]

¿me recuerdas?

[anistarrose]

I have this TAZ Balance modern AU in my head that I'll never write, but that's okay, because there's literally only two things that you need to know about it:

Kravitz and Barry both have graduate degrees

Barry and Kravitz are not using their graduate degrees even a little bit in their current career, which is running a really shitty, scam-adjacent ghost-busting business out of a garage together

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

*tries to organize my thoughts*

*remembers i'm not in school and therefore beholden to neither heaven nor hell nor any man's grading system*

*joyously shredding & tossing all my carefully arranged 3x5 mental notecards into the air like so much beige confetti. raising my arms in victory, cheering raucously until i accidentally inhale bits of homemade confetti*

(*coughing up itty bits of paper like a cat evicting a hairball with a firm understanding of tenants' rights*) wait wat happens next

[thevoidstaredback]

How To Balance Your Daytime and Nighttime Activities So That You Don't Burn Yourself Out More Than You Already Have

It was halfway through his shift the next day, just after he'd come back from lunch, that the anonymous tip came through. Dick had frozen when he heard it, but only slightly because the others were brushing it off as a prank call.

"'Blockbuster's after someone named Oracle,'" Officer Diaz had scoffed, "What a joke. Aren't kids supposed to know that their stupid prank calls clog the system? What if someone who actually had useful information had needed to call, huh?"

Dick didn't mention that that isn't how the tip system works, nor did he eve attempt to scold the officer for brushing it off, no matter how stupid it seemed. No, instead, he was stuck in his thoughts.

Blockbuster is after Oracle. Why is he after Oracle? It doesn't make sense! No one in Bludhaven, save for himself, should no who she is! Besides, he'd kept all of the attention on himself. No one was able to even think about the heroes or rogues in Gotham without him knowing! Or, so he'd thought. How does Blockbuster know Oracle's name? More importantly at the moment was who sent the tip.

There was another scoff from one of the others. Did he say that out loud? "Look, I know you're new and everything, but shouldn't you know the mean of 'anonymous'?"

He forced himself out of his head, rubbing his neck with his left hand with a fake smile. "Yeah, I do. I guess I'm just a bit out of it today."

"Well, get your head back in the game," Detective Soames snapped, hitting a file on the back of Dick's head, "File that for me, then file the rest on my desk."

"Yes, sir," Dick took the file, ignoring the snickers and snide remarks from his coworkers.

He knows he's not going to be able to fully focus on anything for the rest of the day, possibly not even until after he finds out who sent that tip and how Blockbuster knows Oracle's name.

Oracle. Dick knows she can handle herself, but he doesn't like the fact that anyone knows her name. Not even B knows about Oracle! Babs had spent so much time and energy keeping her online persona from B so that she could have at least something of her own that Dick had taken it upon himself to erase traces connecting him to Oracle. She didn't deserve to have Batman on her ass, nor did she deserve to have Nightwing's enemies go after her!

He shook himself back into the present with a soft sigh. He'll call Barbra as soon as he gets home.

***

"Danny!" Dick calls into the apartment, knowing full well that the kid is in the kitchen, "I'm home!"

"Welcome back," Danny responds from where he's standing at the stove. He, Dick realizes, does not sound happy.

He hangs his coat up on the hooks he installed beside the door, his shoes going on the rack below them. "You good? You sound a bit upset?"

"I am upset." Danny, after getting comfortable around him, has stopped sugar-coating his words, being brutally honest. Dick blinks. "I was going to message Tim, but I saw a lack of apologies from you."

Oh. Dick had meant to do what Danny said last night and apologise to that Tim kid for snapping at him, but he had been a lot more tired than usual and it had slipped his mind. "I was going to use my phone?"

"You don't have his number."

Another thing Dick had come to learn about Danny in the few weeks they'd been living together was that he can't be lied to. He somehow picks up on lies, so even Dick's best efforts - that have fooled even Batman! - are always thwarted.

"I meant to," Dick said, sitting on one of the new barstools at he island counter, "But I was really tired last night."

Danny sighed. "Because you were out longer than you're now used to." He turned the burner off, moving the pan to sit on the hotpad beside it. "You're body's gotten used to only being out for eight hours during the day and six hours at night. You going out for eight hours last night wore you out more than usual because you're no longer used to your seventeen hour work days."

Dick tilted his head, accepting the bowl of soup he was given. "But it's only been a few weeks?"

"It only takes eighteen days for your body to get used to a routine." He said, placing a bowl of homemade rolls on the island. "After about sixty-six days, it becomes habitual."

"But it hasn't been sixty-six days."

"No, but it has been twenty-one days."

He hesitated for a moment. "Has it really been only that long?" Then, "Have you been counting?"

Danny blushed, sitting beside Dick with his own bowl of soup. "I've been keeping track of your schedule, which means I gotta keep a calendar. I haven't been counting on purpose."

Dick smiled, eating the soup. As usual, it was really good. The first week of Danny's stay, he'd asked where he'd learned to cook, but Danny had given a non-answer, saying only that his parents couldn't make anything edible that wasn't fudge or cookies.

After they had both finished eating, Dick's portions and appetite being larger than Danny's because of the calories he burns as Nightwing, they settled into a nice quiet. Dick had changed from his uniform into sweats and a T-shirt while Danny had chosen a movie. Then, Dick cleaned up dinner and Danny changed into a hoodie and sweats.

"We still need to take you shopping," Dick pointed out when they were both sitting on the couch, ready to start the movie.

Danny shook his head. "Letting me stay here is already enough. Besides, your old clothes work perfectly fine."

"But you're room's so empty! And my clothes don't even fit you!"

There was a pause like Danny was thinking. Dick had the feeling he might not like whatever was going to be said next.

He was right.

"I'll let you take me shopping next week," Danny agreed, "if we go to Gotham tomorrow so that you can apologise to Tim in person."

Dick's jaw twitched. He didn't want to go to Gotham. Going to Gotham meant that he'd inevitably run into Bruce. He wanted to stay far away from that man.

Then again, he'd promised Alfred to come by some time. And, it'd be nice to see Barbra and Jim again. Maybe he could have Alfred make sure Bruce wouldn't be in the Manor?

"So?" Danny promted.

He sighed. "You're evil, y'know that?"

His grin said it all. "I could be so much worse."

"Please don't."

"Don't give me a reason."

Part 9 Part 11