#lords of madness

[thecreaturecodex]

Mind Flayer, Ulitharid

Image by Jim Nelson, © Wizards of the Coast

[The ulitharid was one of the first monsters written by James Jacobs to get published; it first appeared in Dungeon Magazine when he was a teenager. That original 2e ulitharid has a particularly nasty trick that has been abandoned by later versions--victims of its mind blast are also feebleminded. That's a little too mean for me, but I did take inspiration from it for a lesser version. I'm planning on giving full on feeblemind to the elder brain, though.

The idea of an ulitharid as an immature female mind flayer is, as far as I know, unique to me. I was inspired by the Volo's Guide to Monsters 5e take that makes ulitharids the psychic hubs of a full-on hivemind, and when they die, they become "seeder brains" for a composite elder brain. I'm not making the elder brain a full composite monster, but I liked linking the ulitharid more closely to the elder brain.

Again, see my article about mind flayers in general for information about the subtype and some of their unique abilities]

Mind Flayer, Ulitharid CR 11 LE Aberration This purple-skinned humanoid is tall and lean, concealing much of its form with robes and cloaks. It has six tentacles growing from its face, two of which are especially long and flexible.

Ulitharids are sometimes called “illithid nobles” by outsiders. They are ennobled not by rank, but by birth; each ulitharid is a juvenile elder brain, and will metamorphose into a new elder brain if they survive long enough. Ulitharid births are rare—only one in every twenty-five mind flayer tadpoles are ulitharids. Few ulitharids live alone; they are found almost always in mind flayer colonies. There, they lead the activities of circles, commune with the elder brain, and direct scouting expeditions to find new victims and resources. Most ulitharids will participate in the activities of multiple creeds, the better to have a broad perspective of philosophy and tools for acquiring power. When they near the end of their two hundred and fifty year lifespans, they leave the colony and travel to a safe location with a handful of illithids. Once in their new homes, they metamorphose into an elder brain and found a new colony.

An ulitharid acts much like an illithid in combat, but is more dangerous and capable in melee. Their longest tentacles can stretch to great lengths, pulling victims close enough to grab and tear away at their brains. The mind blast of an ulitharid has lingering consequences, leaving their enemies in a fugue state long enough to prevent them from fighting back effectively. Perhaps their most dangerous spell-like ability is their ability to project themselves and their allies into the Astral Plane. A fight with an ulitharid, unless it is within the colony to which it belongs, is usually with an astral form, giving the ulitharid the ability to test out tactics without danger of permanent harm, and leaving them free to plot revenge if defeated.

Ulitharids are larger than illithids, standing an average of 7 feet tall and being more muscular.

Ulitharid             CR 11 XP 12,800 LE Medium aberration (mind flayer) Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft., detect magic, low-light vision, Perception +20 Defense AC 25, touch 14, flat-footed 21 (+4 Dex, +3 natural, +2 armor, +6 shield) hp 126 (12d8+72) Fort +10, Ref +8, Will +13; +4 vs. emotions SR 26 Defensive Abilities affectless; Weakness light blindness, sun sickness Offense Speed 30 ft. Melee 2 slams +12 (1d8+4 plus pull), tentacles +10 (4d4+2 plus grab) or masterwork heavy mace +13/+8 (1d8+6), 2 slams +10 (1d8+2 plus pull), tentacles +10 (4d4+2) Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. for slam) Special Attacks mind blast, pith (tentacles), pull (slam, 5 ft.) Spell-like Abilities CL 12th, concentration +18 (+22 casting defensively) Constant—detect magic, mental barrier II At will—charm monster (DC 20), detect thoughts (DC 18), dimension door, levitate, mind thrust III (DC 19), suggestion (DC 19) 3/day—confusion (DC 20), dominate person (DC 21), fly, plane shift (DC 21), telekinesis (DC 21) 1/day—astral projection, feeblemind (DC 21), scrying (DC 20), true seeing Statistics Str 18, Dex 18, Con 22, Int 23, Wis 21, Cha 23 Base Atk +8; CMB +12 (+16 grapple); CMD 30 Feats Combat Casting,Combat Reflexes, Defensive Combat Training, Improved Initiative, Magical Aptitude, Multiattack Skills Bluff +18, Diplomacy +18, Fly +19, Intimidate +21, Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, planes) +21, Perception +20, Sense Motive +17, Spellcraft +25, Stealth +19, Use Magic Device +22; Racial Modifiers +4 Knowledge (all) Languages Aklo, Common, Elven, Qualith, Undercommon, telepathy 200 ft. SQ endless knowledge Ecology Environment underground Organization solitary, circle (1 plus 5-12 illithids) or colony (1-20 plus 10 illithids per ulitharid plus 1 elder brain) Treasure double standard (masterwork heavy mace, masterwork leather armor, other treasure) Special Abilities Endless Knowledge (Ex) All Knowledge skills are class skills for an ulitharid. Mind Blast (Su) As a standard action, an ulitharid can create a 60 foot cone of mental energy. All creatures in the area must succeed a DC 22 Will save or be stunned for 3d4 rounds. A creature that is stunned may attempt to recover from this condition as a full-round action with an additional DC 22 Will save. A creature that fails its save cannot use its skill ranks, spells, activated feats and abilities for 1 minute after recovering from the stunning effect, as per the mental block spell.  A creature suffering from a mental block can remove it if it succeeds a DC 22 Will save on its turn as a swift action. Mind flayers are immune to the effects of a mind blast. An ulitharid can use a mind blast at will, but must wait 1d4 rounds between uses. This is a mind-influencing effect, and the save DC is Charisma based. Tentacles (Ex) An ulitharid’s long tentacles are treated as slam attacks, and its four smaller tentacles attack as a single secondary natural weapon.

[justicegundam82]

3.5 to PF1e Conversion: Beholderkin, Spectator

Here I am with a new conversion... and this time, I'm about to tackle the Beholderkin from the 3.5 book Lords Of Madness. Of course, I'm going to take some liberties and try to put my own spin on them, but overall, I'll try to keep these conversions as campaign-neutral as possible. Clearly, you guys are free to adapt the lore to your own game world.

The Creature Codex and the Creature Chronicle have already written up two great PF1e conversions of the Beholder here and here. I'd really reccomend you check them out!

With that out of the way, here I give you the first of my Beholderkin conversions - the Spectator.

BEHOLDERKIN, SPECTATOR

Image (c) Wizards Of The Coast, from Lords of Madness, author J. Nelson

This spherical creature’s leathery body is crowned with four slender eyestalks, each terminating in a small lidless eye. A fifth eye, much larger than these, is located on the front of the sphere, above a toothy maw.

SPECTATOR               CR 5

XP 1’600

LN Medium Aberration (beholderkin, extraplanar) 

Init +8; Senses all-around vision, darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +18

DEFENSE

AC 18, touch 15, flat-footed 13 (+4 Dex, +1 dodge, +3 natural)

hp 51 (6d8+24), planar fast healing 2

Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +6

OFFENSE

Speed 5 ft., fly 30 ft. (good)

Melee bite +9 (1d8+1)

Ranged eye ray +9 touch (see below)

Special Attacks eye rays, spell turning

Spell-like Abilities (CL 7th, concentration +9)

     3/day - create food and water

     1/day - plane shift (self only)

STATISTICS

Str 13, Dex 18, Con 18, Int 15, Wis 12, Cha 15

Base Atk +5; CMB +6; CMD 20

Feats Alertness (B), Dodge, Flyby Attack, Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse

Skills Diplomacy +8, Fly +14, Intimidate +12, Knowledge (planes) +12, Perception +18, Sense Motive +14, Stealth +10, Survival +10; Racial Modifiers +4 Perception

Languages Common, Beholder; telepathy (see below).

Special Qualities beholderkin traits, guardian creature, naturally buoyant

ECOLOGY

Environment any (Axis)

Organization solitary, pair or cluster (3-6)

Treasure standard

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Beholderkin Traits (Ex/Su) Spectators are beholderkin, creatures that are distantly related to true beholders. Beholderkin have a very wide range of appearances and abilities. Not all share the xenophobia of true beholders, though most are still evil and cruel in nature.

Creatures of the beholderkin subtype share the following traits:

All-around Vision (Ex): A beholderkin sees in all directions at once and cannot be flanked.

Eye Rays (Su): All beholderkin can manifest dangerous magical effects by firing a beam from its smaller eyes. See individual beholderkin’s description for details.

Eye Rays (Su) A spectator can fire one eye ray as a standard action each round. Treat these as ranged touch attacks with a range of 60 feet and no range increment. A spectator cannot choose to use the same eye ray two rounds in a row. A creature struck must make a saving throw (DC 15) or be affected as by a spell at CL 7th, except that it only effects the target struck. The save DC is Charisma based.

- Fatigue: The target must make a Fortitude save or become fatigued. A fatigued creature that fails to save against this effect becomes exhausted.

- Inflict Moderate Wounds: This ray works like the spell, causing 2d8+7 points of damage (Will half).

- Hold Monster: The target must succeed on a Will save or be affected as though by the spell.

- Telepathy: A spectator can communicate telepathically with its target for the round. As a free action, a spectator can make a suggestion (as the spell; Will negates) to the creature it is currently telepathically speaking to.

Guardian Creature (Ex) A spectator beholderkin counts as an outsider for the purposes of summoning spells such as planar ally or planar binding.

Naturally Buoyant (Ex) A spectator's body is naturally buoyant. This buoyancy allows it to fly at a speed of 30 ft. with good maneuvrability and grants it a permanent feather fall effect (as the spell) with personal range.

Planar Fast Healing (Ex) A spectator beholderkin's fast healing only functions when the creature is on its native plane of Axis.

Spell Turning (Su) A spectator's central eye produces a 90-foot cone. Once per round, the spectator can attempt to turn back upon the caster a single spell or spell-like ability targeting it. In order to turn back a spell, the spectator must succeed at a concentration check with a DC equal to 15 + the caster level of the original caster. If this check is successful, the original caster suffers the effects of the spell as if it had been casted by the spectator itself. Only single-target spells that explicity target the spectator may be reflected this way, and only one each round. Area effect spells may not be reflected.

Spectators are extraplanar beholderkin native to the plane of Axis, and are known to be among the most reasonable and moderate of the beholderkin. They are often summoned to the Material Plane by arcanists who need a reliable guardian that does not require a great deal of resources to protect a valuable object or place, though they are not enthusiastic of working for humanoids or other creatures of the Material Plane. However, they possess a sense of duty and a loyalty to their summoner that is unusual amongst beholderkin, and they pride themselves on their guardianship abilities.

A spectator's bizzarre behavior manifests in two different personalities that share the same consciousness. Under normal circumstances, a spectator tends to be open, if cautious, and willing to chat with those it comes across. However, they can slip into a more introverted state of mind, where they spend a long time, possibly even decades, pondering philosophical questions and contemplating mysteries. A spectator that is left in isolation for a long time guarding a charge may develop some unexpected quirk - such as talking about itself in third person, or change their voice to resemble that of its summoner.

Unusually pacifistic for beholderkin standards, spectators only fight to protect their charges or their own lives. Unless guarding something, they tend to avoid combat by flying away or using plane shift to return to Axis. If protecting an item, or if fighting becomes necessary, a spectator will typically start by using its fatigue and telepathy eye rays to incapacitate its opponents, usually throwing in a suggestion in order to convince the opponent to leave it alone. Only in the face of stubborn intruders will the spectator resort to lethal force, paralyzing its enemies and blasting them with negative energy. They will try to keep obvious spellcasters within the reflective cone from their central eye.

A spectator is about 3 feet wide and weighs about 250 pounds.

[lilislegacy]

hot take: people on here hold percy to WAY too high of a standard. they either refuse to accept he has a real flaw or they call him a terrible person anytime he’s not the epitome of loveliness

like… he’s an asshole sometimes. why can’t people see that? why can’t people accept that? we don’t have to justify everything he does. has he been an asshole to annabeth? yes. has he been an asshole to nico? yes. was he TRYING to be mean? NO. he was either upset or uninformed or focused on bigger things. does it explain it? yes. does it excuse it? no. but it doesn’t mean he’s a horrible person. he’s just a PERSON.

it’s the same with annabeth. yes she’s prideful and condescending sometimes. okay…? AND?? she’s still a kinder and braver person than most of us will ever be. and same with nico. he is an amazing person but he has also done some things that are absolutely not okay. you know why? because no one is perfect. it’s okay to accept that our favorite characters do bad stuff but are still good people.

THEY ARE 50% HUMAN. WHY CAN’T THEY BE HUMAN?? LET THEM BE HUMAN. ITS OKAY TO NOT BE PERFECT ALL THE TIME 😭😭

[cupcakeshakesnake]

Honestly this could work with Jack on the right and any antagonist on the left

[theballadofmars]

I love how mqf's oficial description is something like: a good heart who wants to help others but then you read the novel and his reaction to lqg trapping ten infected men who are crying in panic is "great now I can start to work in my experiments with decomposed people to find a cure" and gets out a lot of needles, which makes the man cry even harder.

Even if we only get bits of the other Cang Qiong sect leader's we can reach the conclusion that no one there is normal, sqq is just biased.

[sunderwight]

SV fic where Shen Yuan's status as a body-snatching entity is revealed before the Immortal Alliance Conference can happen.

Maybe the system suffers a glitch while some unforeseen side quest is active, and suddenly Shen Yuan's status is revealed and some of the other peak lords he's with seize the opportunity to exorcise his spirit and put Shen Jiu back in his place.

Shen Yuan has mixed feelings about this development, needless to say. On the one hand, it's kind of not actually that bad? He got caught out like a week away from the IAC and the necessary Abyss plotline, so at least like this, he's managed to give Luo Binghe a slightly better time on Qing Jing for the past few years and equip him more capably to survive the Abyss, but he also doesn't have to personally throw him down there. That's the silver lining.

On the other hand, everything else about this situation sucks! He got attached to his life as Shen Qingqiu, dammit! And now he's been revealed and branded as some kind of horrible demonic spirit thing, and he was rather painfully expelled (even though he wasn't even there willingly in the first place), and so he's been reduced to some a kind of sparkly ghost light hovering on the fringes of existence, highly susceptible to being harmed if any more righteous cultivators get it in their heads to disperse him!

Which is better than just being catapulted back into his rotting corpse in the other world, but not by as big of a margin as he'd like.

Basically, in terms of his ability to influence the world Shen Yuan has been downgraded back to "read only" status. He finds that he can manifest himself in places that he's already been, or around people he has a particular affinity towards, but they can't perceive him and he can't communicate or even do much more than some minor poltergeist type activity. Which he is cautious about anyway, because if he gets caught around Shen Jiu, Shen Jiu is going to disperse him with extra prejudice.

Unfortunately, nearly everything Shen Yuan cares about is in Shen Jiu's orbit.

So he can only watch, metaphorically gritting his teeth as the newly-restored Shen Qingqiu kicks Luo Binghe out of the bamboo house, burns all the bridges that Shen Yuan painstakingly rebuilt for him, refuses point blank to let Liu Qingge help with Without-a-Cure, resumes and even begins taking more frequent trips to the nearest brothels, and neglects his duties to turn into a paranoid wreck as if he half-expects Shen Yuan to steal his body back from him the next time he lets his guard down. Corporal punishment spikes back up on Qing Jing Peak.

Shen Yuan is surprised to hear the whispers of dissent, even so. A spirit possessing a righteous cultivator is a pretty damning incident, and there's no way that he could come out of it smelling like roses. And yet, even though his -- Shen Qingqiu's disciples know enough to be circumspect about saying anything of the sort, there are still murmurs and rumblings about how things used to run, not too long ago.

Ming Fan quiets any such talk as soon as he hears it. Ning Yingying scarcely seems to know how to respond to the situation, except to sometimes plaintively insist that she hadn't even noticed much change between Shen Qingqiu's at all. But Luo Binghe...

Well.

Whenever there are mutterings, it often seems as though Binghe is there. Nodding. Whispering. Carefully putting forth suggestions that others barely seem to recognize as suggestions. Shen Yuan only notices because he knows what Binghe's capable of when he decides to be manipulative, and even he finds himself wondering if it's not just a coincidence, something he's imagining, because Luo Binghe hasn't even blackened through his Abyss arc yet.

Even so, there he is, musing carefully on how strange it was that he's heard that Hong Jing hadn't identified any untoward presence in Shen Qingqiu before, how Shizun had never done anything bad to the peak despite all the claims that he'd supposedly been possessed by a malicious entity for years, and wasn't this new Shen Qingqiu acting much more suspicious? Much more malicious? Isn't is the new Shizun who jumps at shadows and talks to people who aren't there, and seems so uneasy in his own skin?

If one had to guess which version was an unstable monster possessing a human's body, and which was the righteous and noble peak lord... ah, well. It's just surprising, isn't it? Luo Binghe would of course never suggest that this new Shen Qingqiu was in actuality the being that had stolen someone else's place. He's surely never second guess the judgment of the peak lords, who claim to have let an interloper among them for YEARS in total ignorance. It's just something to think about.

Alas for Binghe, though a lot of the peak seems inclined to agree with him, he can't win over enough to inspire anything worse than discontent. The "new" Shen Qingqiu does behave a lot more like the one that most of the Qing Jing knew prior to his qi deviation, after all, and it's no mystery why Luo Binghe -- spurned former favorite, now back to being at the bottom of the pecking order -- would be unhappy with the change. Shen Yuan appreciates that this is at least doing a good job of setting up Luo Binghe's altered opinion on his shizun, and he's touched that he made a good enough impression for Binghe to be mad about the sudden regression, but he wishes he could tell Binghe that there's simply nothing to be done about it. That is the real Shen Qingqiu, and Binghe ought to concern himself more with the upcoming conference!

At least, despite being kicked out of the bamboo house, Luo Binghe managed to farm enough good opinion with some of the other disciples during his tenure as Favorite that he doesn't go back to sleeping in the woodshed. Without Shen Qingqiu expressly demanding it, no one would dare, just in case Luo Binghe might regain his status one day. There seems to be an awareness that "evil" Shizun would have made them run laps, but "good" Shizun would now probably whip them half to death in a fit of temper. No one wants to take chances.

Finally, the Immortal Alliance Conference rolls around. Shen Yuan can only watch and cheer Binghe on as best as he's able to, even knowing the probable outcome. And Binghe does so well! He fights bravely but also smartly. When Shen Qingqiu arrives, Binghe doesn't lose an ounce of his caution, though he does still nobly defend his master even though the good feelings between them have dried up. He correctly identifies Without-a-Cure's flare up and silently helps compensate for Shen Jiu's weakness, and sticks by him even though the Original Goods is hardly appreciative.

When the Abyss opens up, and Luo Binghe's demonic seal is broken, Shen Qingqiu seems almost relieved to have this information brought to light. He accuses Luo Binghe not only of orchestrating the invasion of demons at the conference, but of arranging fro Shen Jiu to be replaced too.

"Of course, for a demon like you, summoning some wicked force into this master's body would be easy!" he spits.

Luo Binghe looks bowled over by the accusation. But rather than defending himself, he latches onto it as if it might be some kind of lifeline.

"For a demon like this one... it would be possible?" he echoes.

Shen Jiu hurls more accusations. Of course it is. Luo Binghe is not just any demon, but the most powerful, dangerous, and destructive sort there is. Little is beyond the scope of a Heavenly Demon's power, or wretchedness. Luo Binghe must have uncovered his heritage and seen a convenient means of ridding himself of an inconvenient master. Wherever that horrid spirit is now, it's probably just waiting for the next chance to leap back in at Luo Binghe's call!

"Shizun's spirit... that spirit from before, it still exists?" Luo Binghe catches.

"As if you don't know. Beast. Even the sect leader could not destroy your minion completely," Shen Jiu sneers.

"And it would be within my abilities to put it back in your body. Instead of you."

"You won't get the chance."

Shen Jiu stabs Luo Binghe before throwing him into the Abyss. Binghe fights back, but he seems reluctant to injure his shizun, even now.

Shen Yuan supposes that such reluctance won't survive the Abyss. Still, it's emotional for him. That such a little kindness could cause Luo Binghe to hesitate, even at this point, it really speaks to the resilience of hope in Binghe's heart.

Shen Yuan's little ghost light almost follows him down. But the Abyss would be too dangerous for him, even as he is now. He'd be a little mote of spiritual energy, easily gobbled up by any number of creatures in that place, if he wasn't just swept up by the chaotic ambient energies themselves. So he can only stay behind and think some very colorful swear words in Shen Jiu's general direction, until the rift closes and leaves no trace of Luo Binghe behind, except for the shards of Zheng Yang.

The shards are left behind. Shen Yuan finds that he has a little bit of spiritual storage space. Just enough to maybe fit all of them, so he goes and painstakingly uses his limited powers to lift up each piece and drop it in. It takes him hours and hours, but luckily the clean-up of the whole disaster is something that will take months. No one seems inclined to go reclaim Luo Binghe's shattered blade or risk getting too close to the remnants of the rift, even closed. So, Shen Yuan manages.

The next few years prove difficult. Shen Yuan finds that it's hard to retain his presence in the world. His little spirit has dampened considerably, and few things seem to perk him back up. He has more troubles following anyone who isn't Shen Jiu now that Binghe is in the Abyss, and Shen Jiu is depressing as hell to spend time around. He's rotten with kids, sucks at teaching, he has no friends, his health is deteriorating, and Shen Yuan has no interest in seeing what he gets up to in the brothels.

But Binghe is definitely coming back, and Shen Yuan wants to see him again.

His patience is rewarded the first time he finds his consciousness drifting, only to snap back to awareness in a place that's not Qing Jing Peak. He instead finds that he's in an unfamiliar patch of wilderness along a river, watching as Luo Binghe fights a small pack of demonic beasts.

It's definitely not the Endless Abyss. Has it been five years already...? Shen Yuan hadn't thought so, but then again, he's not the best at keeping track of time in this state.

Luo Binghe defeats the beasts, but they land more hits and wound him worse than Shen Yuan would have anticipated. The wounds aren't healing as quick as they should either. Was Binghe poisoned? Or is this a remnant of Shen Yuan's own poor teaching, the clumsiness in sword practice he never totally managed to correct leading somehow to this?

He gets it when Qin Wanyue and several other Huan Hua cultivators show up, however, and Luo Binghe manages to play the righteous cultivator who just survived a harrowing battle role to the hilt. It takes him very little effort to get the Huan Hua disciples to take him back with them and help "patch him up", and soon enough Shen Yuan has front row seats to watch as Binghe ingratiates himself with the sect.

Mostly, Shen Yuan is just relieved to confirm that Binghe did indeed survive, and glad that he's out of the horrible Abyss and in a place where he can rest and eat decent meals and be fawned over by his well-deserved admirers. Though Luo Binghe seems colder even than Shen Yuan expected, especially in some places where a bit of charm would serve him better. He declines outright to address the Palace Master as "shizun", even though he accepts the offer to stay as a guest disciple at Huan Hua Palace, and he is abrupt and aloof towards both Qin Wanyue and the Little Palace Mistress, despite their obvious interest in him.

Binghe doesn't seem to sleep as soundly as he should either. At night he often brings out a dream stone, which Shen Yuan recognizes as an amplification tool from the novel, but it seems that whatever Binghe is trying to search for with it is beyond his reach. Sometimes Shen Yuan imagines he can hear his disciple's voice calling Shizun at night. But always, Binghe is asleep, and there's no one in Huan Hua Palace he has deigned to address like that anyway. It's a trick of his own imagination, missing the days when Luo Binghe could call out and he himself could answer.

Things go mostly according to the plot, with a few disruptions here and there. Luo Binghe seems to be lagging behind on the romantic subplots, but rushing ahead on the vendetta against his old teacher. The Trial of Shen Qingqiu takes place at Jinlan City, with demon instigators who work for Luo Binghe accusing the peak lord of colluding with demons and setting him up to seem like he was involved in the sower attack. Shen Yuan knows, from watching Binghe, that the sower thing was mostly taking advantage of an existing situation to frame Shen Qingqiu. Binghe himself didn't have anything to do with Jinlan's suffering, but is obviously not above using it to his advantage.

Combined with Qiu Haitang's testimony, Shen Qingqiu is arrested and locked up where Luo Binghe can torture and dismember him at will.

However, Binghe... doesn't do that?

Instead he swiftly relocates Shen Qingqiu to a prison in the demon realms, and seems to abandon his concerns with Huan Hua Palace and the righteous cultivation sects altogether. He just leaves them to fight it out amongst themselves, as if he's got no concern with who comes out on top, and in the meanwhile he keeps Shen Qingqiu locked up but surprisingly well-treated?

Despite Shen Qingqiu's obvious terror and vitriol towards him, Luo Binghe forces him to eat nutritious meals, and attends to his health problems, and makes no move to injure him at all. He has nothing good to say to Shen Jiu, but he doesn't hurt him. Yet there is something distinctly weird about the whole dynamic, not at all like someone who has decided to keep a prisoner under ethical conditions for moral reasons or something like that.

Shen Yuan's not sure what to make of it.

In the end, Shen Jiu himself illuminates the situation.

It happens after Shen Jiu has rejected food. Luo Binghe tuts and asks if Shen Jiu suspects it would be poisoned. Shen Jiu sneers at him.

"I know it isn't," he says. "You wouldn't poison this body. I know what you're after."

"Oh? Wise Master Shen figured out this much?" Binghe replies, dry as the fucking desert.

"You're keeping me in this condition because you want to put that thing back in my body!" Shen Jiu accuses.

It takes Shen Yuan a moment to realize that Shen Jiu is referring to him. That he thinks Luo Binghe is keeping him fit and healthy for Shen Yuan's sake.

Wouldn't that be going too far just for some old teacher who was nice?! Yes, he knows that he made an impact on Luo Binghe, but it wasn't hard! Shen Jiu set the bar at the earth's crust, clearing it hardly required the kind of effort or devotion that would inspire an entire elaborate scheme purely on Shen Yuan's behalf!

He can't believe it.

But, Binghe doesn't deny it.

In fact he smiles, his expression somehow conveying that Shen Jiu guessed perfectly correct, but also that there's no good it can do him. Binghe has never looked so much like a piece of PIDW fanart before, with some dark and potent rage simmering just beneath the veneer of his placid smile.

"Shizun should not be referred to so impolitely," Luo Binghe counters. "If anyone in this room is a thing, it is this usurper in front of me."

"Usurper?! In my own body? You're mad."

Binghe tuts.

Master Shen should understand that his claim is contested. After all, if one woman gives birth to a child but then casts it into a river to die, but another fishes the babe out and cradles it to her breast -- which woman deserves to be called that child's mother? Just because Shen Jiu was born into that body, doesn't mean he deserves it more than anyone else.

But even if he did, Luo Binghe wouldn't care. He would kill to get his Shizun back. This isn't really so different from that, is it? And there is no love lost between him and Shen Jiu to make him hesitate. If his Shizun disagrees, he may disciple Binghe as he sees fit once he returns.

Shen Jiu points out that Luo Binghe's machinations have ruined his reputation. Even if he gets that creature to possess his body again, there's no way that they could infiltrate Cang Qiong Sect a second time.

But Binghe waves off his concerns. He clearly has thought of this, and has plans for it, but is also not about to be stupid enough to monologue any more at Shen Jiu. Once he leaves, Shen Yuan lingers for a little while, and notices that Shen Jiu actually seems genuinely concerned about what might happen to the sect if Luo Binghe succeeds and gets Shen Yuan put back on Qing Jing Peak.

Of course, Shen Yuan knows he wouldn't actually do anything to harm Cang Qiong, but Shen Jiu doesn't. This is the first time Shen Yuan has seen him actually reveal shades of what might be called a noble impulse.

It's not much, but... sigh.

The thing is, Shen Yuan doesn't really want to steal anybody's body! No one consulted with him the first time it happened! And they sure aren't consulting with him now, either, although to be fair they can't. But he might just have enough ability as a little ghost light to stave off some of this whole process, and he's got to decide if he wants to try. Or if he'll let Binghe have his way, and succeed in pushing Shen Jiu back out and giving Shen Yuan his life again.

Because Binghe will definitely succeed if he really does try. That's how the world works.

And if he did... that might be the only way for Shen Yuan to get his life as Shen Qingqiu back. Which he does want, desperately! He misses it. He misses it both in the general sense of having a body at all, but also in the particular sense of all the things he managed to attain as Qing Jing Peak Lord. As Shen Qingqiu.

Shen Jiu, also, makes a very tempting sacrifice in all this. Shen Yuan frankly hates his guts. Maybe it could have been different, but the fact that Shen Yuan worked so hard to try and make that life better, only for Shen Jiu to just go right back to being an intractable asshole who, frankly, should never be in charge of children ever, rankles! He went right back to mistreating Luo Binghe as well, and threw him into the Abyss, and if Binghe's plan was to violently kill him again as revenge for that then Shen Yuan wouldn't fault him. He didn't fault him the first time. He wasn't going to fault him even when it seemed like he would be the one Binghe was destined to rip apart in justified vengeance.

This is different, though. Shen Yuan wants to fight for the life he longs to be living, especially now when the axe of the Abyss is no longer hanging over him.

But is he willing to actually become the thing everyone else decided he was in order to get it? A body-snatching, malicious spirit?

Shen Jiu is horribly unsuited to his life as Shen Qingqiu. But, it is still his life. Shen Yuan really just managed to borrow it for a while.

Deep down he knows that, even if he would like to ignore it.

So when Binghe finally sets up the ceremony, and Shen Yuan's soul is called back into Shen Qingqiu's body, he hesitates. Shen Jiu is poised like a snarling, wounded animal within the confines of his own body. Even the gentlest tap would knock him back out again. Shen Yuan gets the sense that the system is also there, just waiting and even eager for him to do it. Take back the body, resume whatever quests or directives are waiting for him there.

Shen Yuan, even as fragile as his own spirit is, could crush Shen Jiu's battered soul to dust.

Instead he withdraws.

Binghe tries the ritual again, and again, and each time Shen Yuan feels stronger. But it doesn't matter, because he doesn't want to be an evil body-stealing parasite! He wishes he could just tell Binghe to stop wasting valuable resources on this, especially when Binghe could be focusing on other, more important things! Like building up happy relationships or consolidating his rule of the demon realms or establishing an actual strong foothold in the human world, or something!

Somehow, Shen Jiu figures this out before Luo Binghe does. Of course, he conveys the information in the worst way possible, snidely wondering what Luo Binghe did to alienate "that creature" he's trying so hard to resurrect so badly that it will refuse even the open, glowing invitation he keeps writing for it!

Excuse you, you miserable old man, Shen Yuan isn't avoiding Binghe! He is facing a very difficult moral dilemma and handling it LIKE A CHAMP! Fuck you!

Unfortunately, even though Shen Jiu has decided that Luo Binghe and Shen Yuan were in cahoots about the first body snatch, Luo Binghe knows that they weren't. He also doesn't know that his old Shizun knew full well that he was a Heavenly Demon the whole time. So now he has a lot of doubts to wrestle with, especially give that, despite the consensus of the rest of the world, Luo Binghe is not convinced that Shen Yuan actually is some kind of demonic spirit.

Maybe he's a good spirit that has rejected Binghe for his wretched blood?

But Shizun always said that things like that didn't matter!

So... maybe it's not his blood. Maybe Binghe's actions are what has caused Shizun to forsake him. All the terrible things he did to survive the Abyss, and the machinations afterwards, framing Shen Qingqiu and imprisoning him, setting himself up as a demonic ruler... all of that.

Binghe entreats his Shizun to forgive him. Or even if he won't forgive him, to still come back. Binghe will... stay away, if that's what Shizun wants. Just so long as Shizun is alive, is somewhere in the world, safe and happy, then... then...

He can't quite get through lying to claim that it would be enough. But it would be better than the current situation, so he tries.

Shen Yuan, luckily, has been juiced up enough from all the failed summoning rituals that later that night, he finally recognizes the little whisper-calls as echoes of Luo Binghe's dreams. And he's strong enough to follow the invitations! He goes to visit Binghe in his dreams, and reassures him that he's not trying to reject him at all. He's very proud of Binghe, and wants him to be happy and successful. Binghe could rule the world and Shizun would just cheer him on!

It's just that Shen Yuan never willingly possessed Shen Qingqiu in the first place. He misses his life, but given the choice, he doesn't want to be that kind of entity.

So, new plan -- if Shen Yuan won't take a body off of an undeserving asshole, then Binghe will make him a new body! Luckily, Shen Yuan knows a way to grow one. They "borrow" some genetic materials from Shen Jiu to aid the process, and then Luo Binghe, surprisingly indifferent about the whole thing, cuts Shen Jiu loose at the border.

Shen Yuan is surprised. Binghe really doesn't care about that? Turns out no, not so much. Shen Jiu is awful, but he's nothing to Binghe in the long run. (Also it's a long shot but if nothing else does work Binghe might have to force Shen Yuan to take Shen Qingqiu's body back, though of course he's not about to say so, and anyway Shen Jiu is still going to have a hell of a time waiting for him back in the cultivation world. Luo Binghe wishes him luck and every pleasure of trying to clear his ruined name, living a life on the lamb with an insidious poison constantly eating away at him, or the full enjoyment of a second visit to the water prison, whichever ends up happening.)

With the help of Luo Binghe's blood parasites, the Sun and Moon Dew whatever mushroom body grows in record time. A summoning ritual isn't even required, Shen Yuan just scoots right in as soon as the body is ready and blinks his eyes open to see his anxious disciple's face peering back at him.

Happily ever after!

[hedgehogofvictory]

im sorry shadowfax is just a NORMAL FUCKING HORSE?????

listen you try being a 12 year old watching the two towers directed by peter jackson for the first time and watching gandalf--who I will remind everyone is a literal magic wizard with magic wizard powers and shit--summon a white unicorn-looking horse out of seemingly fucking nowhere and declare that horse to be lord of all horses. You try that and don't fucking assume that's a magic horse. shadowfax, 'lord of horses' and i took that LITERALLY i thought he was a sentient king of horses with authority in horse society

nah bro, he's just a horse gandalf STOLE from theoden

[kiruvry]

again . can't for the life of me draw anything serious of this game

[the0verboss]

Even Gort is sitting by waiting for more Patch notes.

Achaia says fuck your busy schedule and minutia he needs to kiss.

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

[knifearo]

"asexual discourse" is so funny cause dude that's not discourse and it's never been discourse. it's not an argument and it's not a conversation bitches are just yelling at us unprompted and then making up people to get mad at 😭

[sleepylabs]

OBVIOUSLY DARK IS ALIVE (im delusional)

[idkaguyorsomething]

the convoluted doctor who lore gets extra funny when you realize that, at two separate points in the past, two different companions to two different doctors ended up running into rasputin but both came to the conclusion that he was a pretty nice and normal guy. which, depending on how you interpret the power of the doctor, is either a nice subversion of a lot of tropes of stories used in pre-soviet russia, or side-splittingly hilarious as you start imagining the master getting roped into various adventures with different versions of the doctor that he can’t fuck with yet or else he’ll destroy the timeline, forcing him to play nice with the humans as part of his 4D Time Chess Master Disguise Plan #3852

[cawsmik]

this is what happened right

[nanaslutt]

gojo patting your head and playing with your hair every time before you give him the best fucking blowjob of his life

— from abs anon

abs anon your brain is something very special to me

this went on so much longer than i anticipated…i love the thought of giving gojo head ok………

contains: fem reader, whipped!gojo, finger sucking, dirty talk, oral (m!receiving), masturbation (m&f), praise, throat fucking, degradation, dacraphillia, yes he says the thing…, uhhhh lickin’ his balls, he cums on ur face<3

MDNI

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔

Gojo always loved when you gave him head, you always suckled and rolled your tongue against the underside of his dick so perfectly, never complaining when he suddenly took over, veiny hands gripping the sides of your head and fucking your throat into oblivian.

So can you blame him when he shows you so much gratitude and affection beforehand? Gojo never once failing to show his thanks once he's filled your throat with him seed, by eating you out till you saw the pearly gates, bordering on passing out every single time he sucked your clit into his warm mouth when your orgasm hit,

Satoru’s rough treatment on your throat a stark contrast to how sweetly his lithe fingers curled around the hair framing your face, cooing at you while he ran his fingers through the strands,

and this night was no different. you were on your knees, heels digging into your ass as you sat between his rippling thighs, both his hands were currently smothering you with attention, running his hands from the top of your scalp down to the back of your head, scratching his well manicured nails against the back of your slender neck.

"Such a good girl" he hummed praise at you when you closed your eyes, leaning into his soft touch, "love you so much you know that right?" he questioned, staring down at you fondly when your eyes drop back open, returning his stare,

"mhm" you nod, turning your face into his palm to kiss his the skin there when he slides it down to caress the side of your face with his thumb, "good," he answers, lips curling in a smile, "cos im about to fuck your throat like I hate you," he speaks casually, your lips forming a pout, tummy twisting with arousal at his words,

"sounds perfect," you whisper, maintaining eye contact with his gaze, full of promise. your own hands coming down to rest on his hard knees when his larger hand wonders further down your face, a long digit tracing your soft lips,

using the digit to pull your lip down, exposing the bottom row of your teeth. He drags the finger down to your chin, letting the apature close as your lip bounces back into place slightly,

Tracing the digit back up, gojo’s jaw drops slightly in a gasp when you open your mouth to suck his finger into your warm cavity, rolling your tongue around the appendage and sucking softly, wincing when the tip of his finger hits the back of your throat.

you continued your ministrations on his finger, giving it the same treatment in which you were about to perform on his cock,

his gaze focusing on your mouth that's sucking on his finger lewdly, other hand coming down to unzip his pants and pull his cock out without looking away. squeezing the tip in his palm before slowly stroking down his cock, mimicking the motions of your tongue and pace of your bobbing head while pre cum leaked from his tip and onto his fingers,

you clench your thighs together, sitting back against your calves as you stare at his inhuman length, mouth salivating against his salty skin when you see the bead of pre cum being squeezed out before it drips onto his thighs.

you pulled back your head and let his finger slide out of your mouth with a pop, "wanna taste it, please." you stare at his flushed tip, both of you knowing exactly what you were referring to. gojo brought his finger wet with your saliva up to his mouth before popping it into his own, licking your cooled spit off of his digit, hand quicky coming back down to stroke your head comfortingly, "I want you to taste it too, princess," he smiles when you swallow dramatically,

leaning forward you poke your tongue out, kitten licking the tip of his dick, moaning at the slightly sweet taste. gojo’s grip still hard on his cock, pace picking up when he feels your tongue make contact with his sensitive length.

you stick your tongue out anticipatingly, pretty begging eyes staring up at him through your lashes, as he roughly brings his cockhead against your tongue, slapping it a couple times

you moan out at the impact, "wanna taste more?" he asks you, continuing to run his hands all throughout your hair, messing it up slightly, simultaneously tapping his cock once more against your awaiting mouth, rubbing his frenulum back and forth atop your tongue to stimulate himself before the main course,

pausing his prior actions, opting to rub his dick against your smooth lips, smearing his pre on your lips like gloss, "please toru'" you beg, nails digging into his clothed thighs in want,

“It’s all yours sweet girl," he announced, leans back. Gojo’s heavy hand abandoning his throbbing cock, opting to rest behind him in support.

He watches you closely when you lean in, engulfing the tip of his pretty cockhead into your mouth, hands still perched against his knees. You suckle on the tip, moaning when you do so, sending delicious vibrations through the length of his member before pressing your tounge into the slit slightly.

Gojo grits his teeth at the sensation, sucking a breath in through his teeth feeling of the tip of your tongue practically digging out the cum hiding there.

Taking him deeper into your incredibly hot mouth, about halfway down now. Satoru resist’s the urge to start fucking your tight throat, making you cry and gag around him. He liked to let you have your fun for a couple minutes, allowing you to get used to the feeling of having something in your mouth before he meanly bullied his cock down your throat for his own pleasure.

Every bumb and ride of his cock being stimulated by the texture on the inside of your cheeks. Soft tongue joining in the sensations when you rotate the length of it around his his member.

Cock being manipulated by your cavity as you continue to perform hands free. Gojo’s dick being forced to follow with your movements when you bob and twist your head, much to his arousal.

The tip of the blondes lengthy cock finally reaches the back of your constricting throat, nose pressed against the white tuff of hair above the base of it. “Thaats it,” he groans, digging his nails into your scalp as he grips your hair in a stronghold, holding you flush against his pelvis.

Your eyes watering at the stretch, holding back gag after gag as he just grinds his dick into your throat, “so fucking tight, s-shit” he relishes, jaw clenching when you swallow around him.

Cunt gushing out slick and dripping down your thighs hearing his strained voice. “feels so good baby,” he praises, locking eyes with your own, zeroing in on the tears threatening to fall from your lash line.

“wanna fuck ur throat now baby,” he says, restraint laced into his voice while he waits for your permission, “cant hold back any longer.” he finishes, letting out a long groan of approval when you try to nod, jolting his buried cock around still snug in your throat.

“so fucking good to me,” shaking his head back and forth in disbelief and he smirks. Hips immediately getting to work as he raised from his sitting position, your small hands still gripped onto his knees when he stood.

Looking down at you, he cradled your soft cheeks in both his large hands and began thrusting his cock in and out of your cavity, shifting the position of his feet closer against the sides of your folded thighs, making it easier to fuck your face.

Obscene noises being pulled from your throat, spit messily stringing from around your face connecting to his cock, “fuck yes, jus. like. that!” he speaks between thrusts.

Cooing at your pretty face, lips stretched to their maximum to accommodate his impressive length, tears started to fall from your pretty eyes because of gojo’s constant assault against your gag reflex, “awww, you cryin’ baby?” he smiles down at you, faux pitty gracing his features.

“Takin it so well, jus my perfect little slut aren’t you?” he asked. You nodded and whined at his question, sound vibrating around his dick. Dragging one of your soft hands down his leg, you slid it between your previously shut thighs to rub your fingers on your clit over your panties. The small circles sending electricity through your core.

Satoru moaned at the scene, watching you get off on him fucking your face, “you like when i treat you like this huh?” he continued his rambling, drunk on pleasure, “ur little pussy gettin all jealous that ur throats gettin all the attention?” he coos down at you.

The stimulation on your clit has you letting out more intense moans and whimpers around his length, vibrating around his cock. He half moans-half laughs when he observes what you do next.

Watching your pretty fingers peeling your damp panties to the side of your pussy and inserting your fingers slowly, imitating his thrusts with your digits by matching his pace. “oh that’s so fucking hot haha,” he laughs, mixed with a dragged out moan watching your fingers work quickly, curling into your most sensitive spot when you thrust them to the hilt of your palm.

He pulls your face back from his dick and starts jerking his cock rapidly in front of you.

The next sensation you feel is wetness smearing over your cheek. Gojo was firmly grabbing his cock at the base and slapping it against the side of your face. “cant wait to cum all over this pretty face of yours,” he groaned, pulling his plump lip between his teeth

You leaned your head down, the spit and drool covering your chin starting to run down your neck as you sucked his neglected balls into your mouth,

“Fuuuuck me baby,” he whines when you roll your tongue around his sack, sucking and licking in patters and circles around him, feeling the heavy weight of his balls, full of his cum, laying against your tongue.

Gojo jerked his wet cock rapidly, making loud slick sounds bounce off the walls, going straight to your head and making you dizzy. He didn’t dare take his eyes off the sight of you.

Mentally praising you for keeping your hands out of the way throughout this entire interaction. Of course he enjoyed when you gave him handjobs or used your hands to suck him off but not in moments like these.

Your hands would only be in the way in this situation, when he was fucking your throat harshly.

“Your tongue feels so fucking good, don’t you dare stop,” satoru’s head tipping back as he fucks his fist aggressively, eyes squeezing shut at the feeling of your unbelievable soft mouth massaging his sack.

Fingers picking up the pace inside of yourself, not aiming to cum yet but needing to feel some sort of stimulation to get you through this. You know he was going to give it to you so good when he finished but you were feeling so fucking needy.

His wines and moans have gone straight to your pussy for the past—however long he’s been fucking your throat for.

Arousal pooling around your fingers, feeling like you already came with how much slick having accumulated.

Becoming acutely aware of your sore knees before he speaks up again.

“Yesyesyes, gonna cum baby don’t stop sucking,” he moaned, hand gripping your hair tightly, pressing your face hard against his balls, “fuuuck, gonna come so hard-“ cutting himself off with a whimper when you draw figure eights on his balls simultaneously.

Gojo twisted his wrist expertly, working himself up to his orgasm. Looking between your messy face, and smaller fingers fucking into your needy pussy, feeling dizzy at the squelches coming from your cunt and the pool of cum he could see flood onto your palm when you dragged your fingers out of your tight hole.

“C-cmere baby,” he stuttered out, hastily pulling you off of his balls, “stick ur tongue out for me,” he instructs and you follow,

Sticking your pretty pink tongue out under him, making a cute little ‘ahhhh’ sound when you did. Big eyes staring up at gojo patiently waiting for his cum to hit your taste buds.

“Attagirl, keep lookin’ at me like that baby, d-don’t look away, need you to look at me when I cum.” he was rambling, voice cracking, moans falling out between words as he was brought to the edge,

“want ur cum toru’, give it to me.” you begged in your soft voice, pushing him over the edge.

Hips thrusting into his hand when the first rope of cum shot out from his dick, abs clenching and curses intertwined with whines spilling from his mouth, cum landing in stripes all over your face.

His hot seed landing mostly in your mouth, some dirtying your now ruined hair from his continuous petting and grappling on it.

Moaning with him while he came, licking the seed you could reach that landed on the side of your mouth before leaning forward and suckling him through the aftershocks of his orgasm, swallowing the cum and cleaning him up nice.

“O-oh sh-it.” his broken voice moans high in pitch when you rotate your tongue against his sensitive cockhead, not sucking too hard or too long, trying to avoid overstimulating him to the best of your ability.

“I love you so fucking much holy shit.” he whined, meaning every word sincerely when you popped his dick out of your mouth, toothy smile adorning your features.

“Almost made me pass out from coming so hard princess.” he giggles, collecting his seed of your cheek and sliding it into your greedy mouth as you happily suckle around it, cleaning it off.

“You ready for ur turn baby?” you let him pull out his thumb to caress your face and you nod, fingers sliding out of yourself and wiping the wetness on your thigh, “gonna make you squirt all over my face, you deserve it.”

Your giggles filling the air, mumbling into his lips that you love him more as you kiss him, letting him taste himself on your tongue when he wraps your legs snug around his waist, before throwing you back onto the bed.

[willgrahamscock]

If I was Will Graham I’d ask him to tenderize my gspot next cause look at him oh my god