#bone str

[24pagesblog]

Moringa vs Other Multiviatmins

In the world of superfoods, few plants can match the nutritional prowess of Moringa oleifera, often referred to as the "miracle tree" or "drumstick tree." Native to parts of Africa and Asia, Moringa has been used for centuries in traditional medicine and as a dietary staple. In recent years, it has gained global recognition for its exceptional nutrient density, earning it the title of a "multivitamin in one plant."

This article explores the nutritional profile of Moringa, its health benefits, and why it’s considered one of the most nutrient-rich plants on the planet.

What Is Moringa?

Moringa oleifera is a fast-growing, drought-resistant tree that belongs to the Moringaceae family. Almost every part of the tree—leaves, seeds, pods, flowers, and roots—is edible and packed with nutrients. However, the leaves are the most commonly consumed and studied for their health benefits. Moringa leaves can be eaten fresh, dried, or powdered, making them a versatile addition to diets worldwide.

utritional Profile of Moringa

Moringa’s reputation as a "multivitamin in one plant" stems from its impressive nutrient density. Here’s a breakdown of its key nutrients:

1. Vitamins

Vitamin A: Moringa leaves are rich in beta-carotene, a precursor to vitamin A, which is essential for vision, immune function, and skin health.

Vitamin C: A powerful antioxidant, vitamin C supports immune health, collagen production, and iron absorption.

Vitamin E: Known for its antioxidant properties, vitamin E protects cells from oxidative damage.

B Vitamins: Moringa contains several B vitamins, including B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), and B6 (pyridoxine), which are crucial for energy metabolism and brain function.

2. Minerals

Calcium: Moringa provides more calcium than milk, making it an excellent choice for bone health.

Iron: The iron content in Moringa is higher than that of spinach, helping to prevent anemia and support oxygen transport in the blood.

Magnesium: Essential for muscle and nerve function, magnesium also plays a role in regulating blood sugar and blood pressure.

Potassium: Important for heart health and fluid balance, potassium is abundant in Moringa leaves.

Zinc: This mineral supports immune function, wound healing, and DNA synthesis.

3. Protein

Moringa leaves are a rare plant-based source of complete protein, containing all nine essential amino acids. This makes it an excellent protein source for vegetarians and vegans.

4. Antioxidants

Moringa is packed with antioxidants like quercetin, chlorogenic acid, and beta-carotene, which help combat oxidative stress and reduce inflammation.

5. Fiber

The leaves and pods of Moringa are rich in dietary fiber, promoting digestive health and regularity.

Health Benefits of Moringa

The nutrient density of Moringa translates into a wide range of health benefits. Here are some of the most notable:

1. Boosts Immunity

Moringa’s high levels of vitamins A, C, and E, along with zinc, make it a powerful immune booster. These nutrients help strengthen the body’s defenses against infections and diseases.

2. Supports Bone Health

With more calcium than milk and a good amount of magnesium and phosphorus, Moringa is excellent for maintaining strong bones and preventing osteoporosis.

3. Improves Energy Levels

The B vitamins in Moringa play a key role in converting food into energy, helping to combat fatigue and improve overall vitality.

4. Enhances Skin and Hair Health

Moringa’s antioxidants and vitamins promote healthy skin by reducing oxidative stress and supporting collagen production. Its iron and zinc content also contribute to healthy hair growth.

5. Regulates Blood Sugar

Studies have shown that Moringa can help lower blood sugar levels, making it beneficial for individuals with diabetes or insulin resistance. The chlorogenic acid in Moringa is thought to be responsible for this effect.

6. Reduces Inflammation

Moringa’s anti-inflammatory properties can help alleviate symptoms of chronic inflammatory conditions like arthritis. Its antioxidants also protect cells from damage caused by inflammation.

7. Supports Heart Health

The potassium and magnesium in Moringa help regulate blood pressure, while its antioxidants reduce oxidative stress on the cardiovascular system.

8. Aids Digestion

Moringa’s fiber content promotes healthy digestion and prevents constipation. It also has mild laxative properties that can help cleanse the digestive tract.

9. Promotes Weight Management

Moringa is low in calories but high in nutrients, making it an excellent addition to a weight management plan. Its fiber content also helps you feel full longer, reducing overeating.

10. Fights Malnutrition

In developing countries, Moringa is often used to combat malnutrition due to its high nutrient content and affordability. It’s particularly beneficial for children and pregnant women.

How to Incorporate Moringa into Your Diet

Moringa is incredibly versatile and can be added to your diet in various forms:

Moringa Powder: The dried and powdered leaves can be added to smoothies, soups, sauces, or baked goods.

Moringa Tea: Steep dried Moringa leaves in hot water for a nutrient-rich herbal tea.

Fresh Leaves: Use fresh Moringa leaves in salads, stir-fries, or as a garnish.

Moringa Capsules: For convenience, Moringa is available in supplement form.

Moringa Oil: Extracted from the seeds, Moringa oil can be used for cooking or as a skincare product.

If you don't have a Moringa tree nearby, then you can use Moringa leaf powder as a supplement to replenish multivitamins. Use Magic Moringa for your moringa leaf powder supplement.

Moringa oleifera is truly a nutritional powerhouse, offering a wide range of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other essential nutrients in one plant. Its ability to support immunity, bone health, energy levels, and more makes it a valuable addition to any diet. Whether you’re looking to boost your overall health, manage a specific condition, or simply enjoy a nutrient-dense superfood, Moringa is a versatile and effective choice.

As with any supplement or dietary change, it’s important to consult a healthcare professional before incorporating Moringa into your routine, especially if you have underlying health conditions or are taking medications. With its impressive nutrient profile and numerous health benefits, Moringa truly lives up to its reputation as a "multivitamin in one plant.

[musubiki]

Kind of a weird suggestion about bones and magic. I think you can make it so that their magic flow will only be hindered in the specific area where the bone is broken. So if their arm gets broken the magic can't flow there. Broken arm? Well you have another one to work with. Better start learning how to be ambidextrous!

In the case of using their own body to fight, they're playing with more risks of broken bones so their reinforcement magic or defense magic is generally better than those who like to do long range spells.

If someone uses magic to change appearances, breaking a bone in their body would either undo the spell entirely or undo the spell on that part of the body. You can confirm whether someone is committing identity theft but with the risk of hurting the suspect first, choose wisely.

It wouldn't be that big of a weakness for them, especially with healing magic but would give their enemy a specific target on their body.

This is assuming that they concentrate their magic on the part of the body that will cast it.

Like this there's a lot of building to consider though, like the nature of the spell, how the witches fight (long range? Short range? Do they shape shift and fight that way?), the character's personality (are they straightforward? Do they play mind games? How does it affect the fight?) Etc. fun stuff to think about XD

This got kinda long... Lol. sorry

ooo this is all interesting stuff to think about!!!! i do like the idea of magic unable to flow only in the part thats broken!! before i was thinking of it as "a broken bone disrupts magic flow everywhere once a bone is broken" but that seems like such a huge disadvantage that i would be too imbalanced in fights..

but yeah im still thinking about how it all works!!! originally bones was one of the things magic actually cant effect alongside time and hearts (this last one is rooted in the whole witches strong love thing, theres no way to change your true feelings with magic), so i know for sure at least that magic cant heal a broken bone the way it can heal a flesh wound or literally any other wound

(again though madam springs is a recent development and she probably has something for it!!!! like a combination of some special leaf wrap and a medicine or herbal bath that repairs bones in a week-ish, so bringing the bones thing back in theoretically isnt impossible to work with!!)

[jeizet]

DND Characters!

They are....

Autora, the cleric/sorcerer wooden elf; Leah, the fighter half elf; and Sofia, the artificer half elf.

About them (VERY LONG TEXT):

Autora!

She was kidnapped as a child and raised by an adventurer's guild. Them believing that elves were naturally gaslight the tiny Autora into beeing a devotee of Demeter... it worked and was blessed by her!

But the methods of making her a devotee were physical and mental abuse so she would seek refuge on the only thing she had available, scrolls of different gods, and she chose Demeter maybe because of her love of nature, or perhaps of the kind and motherly figure shown in the pictures.

Thankfully she got other kids to play with not long after becoming a cleric (The guild said that they wandered in randomly, so it might be a reward for becoming a devotee!) They were; Leah a younger half-elf trained to be fighter and his little infant sister Sofia, whom he always carried on his arms even tho she knew how to walk.

After gaining her cleric powers, the abused calmed down but she was trained endlessly in order for her to improve her healing powers, and even took her to a lot of missions where she lost an arm.

When she came back, Leah saw her state, and the fact she couldn´t even heal her wounds because she had no magic left in her. And decided it was enough, and took her and her sister away of that place.

At first, Autora was sad about leaving since the adventurers didn't have another medic, and "not all of them were bad...", but Leah said they had a mission and Leah never lied before...

This was all before and when she was 15.

When she was 16, Leah told her the truth about how this was never a mission and she understood.

When she was 18, Sofia made her an arm that allowed her to use mage hand in a way that simulated a true arm, not so strong but really helpful.

When she was 20, The whole team decided to build a home in a little town hidden between the mountains, where she became the medic, and once again started to use her magic until she passed out just to help.

And when she was 22, During an argument, Leah told her about how her cleric powers were planned from the start by the guild. Making her faith for Demeter break loosing her cleric powers.

Although she no longer was the town's cleric, and people were kind and understanding to her, she couldn't handle not longer having powers so went for a way to gain magic again anything at all, maybe she couldn't trust demetere anymore but... maybe another god? study it? anything.

Maybe in another life she would have become a warlord, but in this life, trying to find herself, the gods heard her cries one night lost in the forest and lead her to a lively village, that looked... oddly familiar.

It was her old home.

People knew instantly who she was and invited her to the village.

Her parent passed away, the elves didn't give her a lot of information, but some slip-ups led her to think that it wasn't murder nor natural causes, but their grief of their missing daughter after 10 years that lead to that outcome. She didn't mourn them, but she was sad about what it could have been...

The elders showed her the house where her parents used to reside, still filled with furniture since they didn't want to get rid of all before Autora came back first.

Autora spent a year in that town, reading the history of her family, meeting the villagers and family friends, discovering that her father was fond of clocks to the point he gain powers from them, and that her mother loved to tend the garden on her house and the village plaza.

As an exercise she fixed some clocks learning from the books her dad had... and after she fixed the last broken one in the house, she went to bed and woke up with clock hands in her eyes and a subtle shimmer on her skin... just like her father. She tended to the dead garden in her house and village, surprisingly easy as if she was naturally good with plants... maybe Demeter's gift was real, her mother did remind her of that old art she saw in the scrolls... After she put the last flower inside her mother's garden in a pot, and gave it to the elders, she felt a familiar wave of magic growing inside of her.

Then... and only them she mourned them, right in front of the elders, she cried for what it could have been, and the comfort they gave her even if they were not there anymore.

At age 24 she came back to the village where Leah and Sofia lived, and was welcomed with open arms and lots of tears from the siblings, and Leah apologizing for his harsh words, on his knees, although that was because Sofia kicked him harshly on the back of his knee.

They are good now

(The campaign where Autora was canceled so her story also is, she is now only an NPC)

Leah and Sofia

The half elf and his tiny sister were sold to an adventurer's guild for 10 gold coins by their parents when he was only 6 and she was 3.

It looked like their parents talked greatly about them; about how Leah was extremely agile and passionate on fighting even having a preference for shielding and strategy, and how Sofía was extremely pretty, fully aware of it and using it on her advantage, also weirdly interested on breaking and fixing all her toys.

The adventurers welcomed them kindly, they talked about how it's great to have more kids in the team, that the only kid in their guild would be happy to have play mates.

They introduced them to Autora, and she was really nice and energetic, Sofia automatically warmed to her so Leah also did, not wanting to ruin her sister having another girl friend.

Leah thought training with the adventurers was a lot of fun, and Sofía was allowed to read any books they had, which was limited to only magic books, he always thought that it was because some adventurers wanted to become wizards...

That was until he was 12, and heard the drunkards talking about the methods they used to make Autora a Cleric, and realized that if they had scrolls that Sofía hadn't read... it possibly meant they were trying to lead his sister to also be a magic user.

When he was 13, Autora came back without an arm. And told her and Sofia that they were assigned a mission after her wound has treated.

They traveled throughout the forest, to the city and met sailors that took them far away.

When he was 14 he told the girls the truth, Autora took it well, and Sofia already knew... even the plan of the guild to make her a wizard. She wasn't one to do what people wanted her to do, so she used the spells as creativity for inventions she worked on in secret. Tiny confetti bombs inspired of a spell that made a strong noise, a hand that extended like a jack in a box that was controlled by strings, and other amazing stuff.

When Sofía was 13, she completed her greatest invention! A hand for Autora, the girl that taught her Elven language and showed her support on her genius.

By age 14 and 17, after travelling on multiple boats, they bought their own, and sailed far away completing missions, haunting animals and fishing to sell and fixing other people's boats to make money... although they never told Autora about it, wanting Autora to just enjoy freedom.

When they were 15 and 18 they went to a beautiful village hidden in the mountains, with a river to the open sea for them to continue adventuring if they wanted, nice people, and lots of artificers and fighters. The whole team decided that it was time to settle!

And everything went great until the people in town became... weird about the team cleric. People talked about Autora as an angel fallen from heave itself, kind, motherly, strong and with an innocent beauty... and those wonderful words put pressure on the girl.

Autora started working extra hard, using all her magic on fixing even the tiniest migraine for the town's people. Sofía started to study medicine so she could help people too and perhaps lessen her burden... but people wanted Autora's "blessing".

And after a few years Leah was tired of Autora's healing magic, the fact that people talked about it as a blessing when it was all a sham, and how even Sofía always told him to not tell her about the plan of their old guild.

But he didn't hear, and when Autora told him to stop being mean to the people that came for her aid... he screamed at Autora about being gullable and childish, about how she has nothing other than her magic which was planned from the start.

Sofía tried to stop him, but he couldn't stop and only stopped after a punch in the face by his sister.

He left the house with Sofía and got scolded. Leah didn't completely understand people's feelings but Sofía did, Sofía knew how to deal and understand people, she always understood that Autoras WAS raised to be a Cleric and nothing other than a Cleric, Autora wasn't raised to say no, to defend herself, to be selfish, and for Sofía this whole travel was to help her find herself... and at the start Leah thought the same, but it might have forgotten along the way.

Leah slept on the boat that day, Sofía told him to think about what he said and to apologize when he calmed down....

The next day Autora had no powers.

The next week Autora was nowhere to be seen.

And for the next 2 week Sofia and Leah didn't talk.

Sofía was happy... kind of... and Leah couldn't understand why, their best friend disapeared and she was calm, Autora could have been kidnapped! But he assumed that maybe Sofía knew something he didn't.

She did. In the room she shared with Autora, she left a card before leaving, explaining how "even if people were kind to her, she indeed was nothing without her magic, and she didn't want to just be sad for an indefinite amount of time, she was going to get magic again" and Sofía knew Leah wouldn't like that.

He was pure muscles and although he was clever, it was only for fighting, introspection, "finding one selves" was dumb for him, and considering how over protective he was, Sofia knew he would search for their friend, not realizing that it was the first time Autora took a decisions for herself, and she didn't left with nothing, she took weapons, food, potions, one of their maps and, to Sofia's pleasure, her own money AND Leah's share, definitely as revenge since because of his mouth she lost her magic and Sofía couldn't be prouder.

Sofía told her brother to get over Autora, that she will come back, and to do something else, "stop moping" she said.

And a very offended Leah decided to go on a trip... specifically to their old adventurer's guild. While Sofía stayed on the town waiting for Autora in case something happened.

The siblings talked a lot about one regret they had... not burning that place to the ground. And since Leah didn't have anything to do, might as well do it now.

It took about half a year to reach their old home, could have been less if he had realized sooner that his coin pouch didn't have coins but instead a lot of bombs... his sister definitely knew what he was going to do... he would have liked that she left her money tho. So he had to take some jobs along the way.

Sadly, when he reached the building, it was empty, asking in the town people told him how the adventurer's recently tried to kidnap the daughter of a noble high elf, and after her bodyguard saved her, he took it upon himself to kill majority of the guild.

Leah still burn the building but it wasn't the same, he wanted some revenge, and some point of his life he wanted to be strong so he could kill all of those bastards and now he felt kind of... lost...

He imagined that Autora felt the same.

He imagined that Sofía perhaps knew about how he wouldn't get revenge.

And she did, she had known for a time that the guild was dead, after a conversation in a bar with one of the guilds survivors that was drunk and didn't realized it was the little girl the bought a while ago.

Not only that, but she gave them the idea of kidnapping the young elf noble. She recognized some of the stupident guild members a day she was at the bar with Autora, they were probably adventuring, so she started a conversation with her absolutely wasted friend about how "High elfs supposedly had powerful magic" and how she "met a pretty noble but she was also pretty dumb and got her to buy her some expensive jewels with the story that "they were stolen from her family", she even followed her to an alley without any issue!", all of that was complete lie, the only thing she knew is that high elf had a very blood thirsty bodyguard that was absolutely enamored with his client and wanted to see if they would bait.

She didn't expect the bodyguard to start a massacre but she guesses that kidnapping his beloved was a big deal.

Neither Leah or Autora know about all this of course.

And she didn't told her brother even after he came back from his trip.

Things were a little awkward when Leah came back, the town never really liked him, there were no news of Autora yet and his sister was still hold a tiny grudge about him hurting Autora's feelings. Still, they sat down and he told her about the adventure, about the missions he had to take and how it gave him some nostalgia to go back to the adventurer's life, and what happened to the guild. His sister heard the whole story attentively, even the parts she knew, and the air became a little easier to breathe.

Her plan was to make his brother go on a useless trip, she didn't expect him to actually miss the adventuring they used to have.

For Sofía their adventure was to help her friend and to learn, If Autora didn't need her anymore, she still wanted to learn about becoming a better artificer.

For Leah this trip was simply to run and to find a home, he didn't expect that his home was just going to be the thrill of adventure more than a place.

Learning this was soothing...

Waiting for Autora to come back Leah started to take adventuring missions instead of just bodyguarding, and months later Autora came back, changed and so much happier.

She was welcomed with tears, hugs and a kneeling Leah begging for forgiveness on his knees, although the "on his knees" part was because Sofia kicked him on the back of them.

And things were good again.

Changed, since Leah and Sofia decided they wanted to travel again, and Autora wanted to move back to an elven village she found in the forest and make a home there.

It was going to be the first time they were going to be apart and surprisingly it wasn't as scary as the idea seemed before, when they were younger.

(Now, Leah is in one campaigned, he was teletransported to another world where they HATE magic, and he no longer shares that sentiment... and has a kind of romantic interest? there's a hot druid drow that is very intelligent and pretty dry like him.

Sofia is in another campaign that just started, for now she just started a fight in a bar, and is investigating what it seems to be a Mafia???)

[bloodtwin]

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@starcunin sent: “violence  isn’t  the  answer.  violence  is  the  question.  the  answer  is  yes.” // SOURCE: incorrect quotes generator.

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He should probably scold him for saying that. Especially to Puck of all people. Alas, a grin stretches across the half-elf's face instead. Ever impressionable, ever malleable, Puck requires little to sway him towards ill-advised decisions.

Yes, violence seems a fine choice for today's activities. He can't seem to find anything wrong with the idea, so it's probably fine.

❝ Hm . . . But what kind of violence do we choose ？Should we sneak up on them ？Maybe that's boring, though. I mean, we always do that. Or, oh ！I pick you up & throw you at them. I bet I could drop-kick you hard enough to hit someone, like, really easily. I like that one; it's funny. ❞ Pause. He drums his fingers on the hilt of the dagger in his hands. Suddenly, there is a much more sinister glint in his eyes as he looks Astarion up & down. Thinking. Plotting.

❝ Do you think we could KILL someone like that ？Probably. We should try it. ❞

[eldritchmochi]

100% not arguing the math, but i gotta say, our boi is probably *substantially* heavier at base weight than you factor for. source: i am 5'8" and built like a brick shit house, and ive got 40lbs on your top weight for ashton

more important than height for estimating his weight is their strength stat. muscle weighs more than most tissue, so someone who is absolutely stacked like pancakes is going to be heavier than someone with a similar set of body measurements in inches

ashton (at level 15) has a str stat of 18 in his standard form. their official art paints them on the leaner side, and we know tal would and probably did give extremely detailed notes for ashtons pc art so shape is probably As Intended. still, average weight for strongmen irl as a whole is 230ish lbs, with lightweight classed (amab) strongmen topping out at 175lbs and heavyweight class starting at 231lbs and going up from there. if ashton is comfortably middleweight with their 18str, the max of your initial estimate is probably the low end of the actual (dnd) reality.

if ashton is afab, that can definitely fuck with the numbers, and theres not an obvious source for stats on nonbinary strongmen who dont fall easily into gendered boxes. while his junk doesnt really matter, ashtons theoretical hormones would effect his weight, since higher e (usually) leads to more bodyfat while higher t (usually) leads to more muscle, even if nothing else changes (just ask anyone on hrt, cis or trans).

im afab, ambiguously gendered wrt hormones and sex characteristics in that im on a low dose of t and have had top surgery. im also fairly comparable in height and build to ashton (thicc thighs and arms but a fairly slim torso, while also being stacked like pancakes). i weigh about 240lbs, tho i wouldnt say i have an 18str (yet). id also say ashton probably has a lower bodyfat % compared to me, tho probably not substantially

id ballpark their base form weight at about 225-240lbs in human terms, or 675-720 in stone (har), factoring for not only their height, but str stat and tals intentional Vagueness on their agab (wherein they could have a higher bodyfat% than they would have otherwise were they specifically cismale)

so 720*2.37 = ~1700lbs pretty easy

extra heavy boi

i pulled stats on strongman classes from this page, and did not use the female classing system because ime would skew towards more femmes in the "any" class based off the folks i know, cos heaven forbid a woman be fat or even just tall

Did you know that Ashton probably weighs over 1,000lbs while in Titan Mode?

The math is as follows:

Ashton is stated to be 5'10" (c3e21), so, depending on body type/shape/condition, that would put them in the 150-200lb range. But rocks are generally 3 times as dense as humans, so Ashton's actually weight is somewhere in the 450-600lb range.

Which matches with chatter from c3e60, where they were debating trying to use Tenser's Floating Disk for transport and Marisha noted Ashton had to be at least 450lbs of the 500lb weight limit. And ignores the chatter from c3e87 where the point was to make a boulder plus Bells Hells less than 1,000lbs so they could ride it using Telekinesis, thus guessing Ashton to be 250lbs. Because if he was 450lbs, they definitely wouldn't have all been able to ride the boulder since Bells Hells alone would have eaten up the 1,000lbs of lift (but also rules for Telekinesis are weird in original 5e because you can move a Huge creature, which can be nearly 30ft tall and weigh like 10,000lbs based on this kind of math applied to storm giants assuming they have a human-like weight-height ratio).

Now, when Ashton titans up, they scale up 2ft in height, which is roughly a third of their normal size. To get weight, you have to multiply the original weight by the proportion of the new size cubed (increase on all three axis), so 450lbs ×1⅓³. Or for easy calculator math 64/27 (4³/3³) then multiply by 450. If you use decimals, it throws off your numbers the less 3s you have after the decimal.

So ~2.37×450=~1,066⅔lbs. And honestly, you could probably add at least another 100lbs or so to this minimum weight from Ashton's legs getting trunk-like, all the stone protrusions, and Matt generally describing the form as bulkier and more elemental-like.

So 1,200lbs give or take is about the minimum weight of Ashton's Titan Mode. The 600lb base form puts it at 1,422lbs, plus greater bulk weight, so like 1,600lbs or so at that upper estimation end.

Point is, titaned rock boi be heavy.

[tojipie]

crybaby reader! but it isn’t toji who makes her upset, it’s someone else maybe some guy at her college how would toji react?

i honestly want to dedicate a proper blocked off chunk of my masterlist to this pairing :(( this is for the extreme social anxiety girlies who can only ever be around their boyfies (me)

content: hurt/comfort, fluff, severely introverted reader, anxiety

every hour spent in this class was more time to yourself to mull over why you’d let toji convince you to take an in-person course for once.

you’d gotten through college just fine these past few semesters, sitting through your lectures from the comfort of your living room. most of your school day was spent cuddled up with your back pressed to your boyfriend’s chest, where you were safe. 

you liked your routine, you craved order. there was nothing wrong with doing school online, in fact, you much preferred it that way over making the infuriating commute to school every morning.

toji had liked your routine just fine too, boasting about how nice it was to have you at home. that was until you started to let yourself go, slacking off during class to make yourself snacks, take showers, and nap on the couch.

that’s eventually why—much to your chagrin— toji convinced you to sign up for an in-person course to help you get your momentum back.

you were hesitant at first, blown completely out of the water by his outlandish request.

“just one day a week,” he pleaded, petting over the crown of your head in reassurance. “just one day to get a little fresh air, make some friends. don’t that sound fun?”

“i’m not gonna make any friends,” you explained bitterly, stomach already cramping with distaste at the thought of being forced to take the time out of your day to make your commute and spend 2 hours in a 30-person classroom every wednesday. people your age were cruel, you’d learned that very early on.

you knew it was unhealthy, squeezing your bubble this tight until you and toji were the only ones that could fit in it. was it really that bad to protect your peace though? you trusted toji, and he was better than anyone at showing you how loved you were—in his own way of course. 

you don’t say anything the day you press “enroll” on your school portal, feeling your boyfriend rub both hands up and down your sides in silent support. in fact, you’d secretly been the slightest bit excited at the change in scenery, ready to consider expanding that little bubble of yours.

keyword, consider. you were considering it right up until your first group assignment.

the stranger—your partner for the day, looks you up and down for only a moment, awkwardly turning to tap his friend behind him.

“switch with me,” he mutters, already grabbing his bag to leave your table with a sigh of relief.

the humiliation that settles deep within your bones is excruciating. you feel hot all over, suddenly conscious of every breath you take, how your chest shudders as you try not to cry. had he already decided he wanted nothing to do with you based on one look?

the girl he switches with isn’t much of an improvement, spending the majority of class on her phone while you work quietly on your laptop. you hear her laugh once or twice, too scared to look up and see if the giggling was at your expense.

you slink out of the room forty-five minutes early, unbeknownst to the people around you.

this was such a big mistake.

˚ ✧ ───

toji freezes the second you start to blubber into the swell of his chest, holding his thin work shirt in your quivering fists.

“what is it baby?” he whispers, bringing a large hand up to pet over the crown of your head. “you trip in the elevator again?”

“no,” you sniffle, embarrassedly wiping hot tears with your jacket sleeve. you didn’t want to talk about it, didn’t feel like enduring another wave of embarrassment lest you relive the events from today. 

the older man realizes the source of your tears, choosing his next words with caution.

“didn’t like class today?” he asks, fiddling with a strand of your hair absentmindedly.

“not going back,” you mumble, untangling yourself from his limbs to set your bag down on the couch. you sprawl out on the piece of furniture, exhausted beyond belief.

you tell him what had happened in the hours prior, pausing a few times to will away oncoming tears. toji kisses away each salty droplet, mouthing at your neck to coax an unexpected fit of laughter from you.

“you send in that project yet?” he asks, thumbing at the seam of your shirt.

“not yet, why?”

“bring it here.”

you oblige, curious.

the older man flips through the slides until he gets to the title page, highlighting your “partner’s” name and clicking the backspace with enthusiasm.

“there you go sugar,” he smiles, pulling you into his lap to let you get a better look. “you’re gonna go to that class and you’re gonna get the credit you deserve, okay?”

you truly hadn’t thought of it that way, intertwining your fingers as toji submits the project for you. was standing up for yourself really that simple?

tears start to well behind your lashes for the umpteenth time that day, reducing you to mush as the raven-haired man pulls you flush with his chest.

“thank you,” you mumble. he knows what you mean without you having to explain, wishing you wouldn’t thank him for the bare minimum. 

toji fiddles with each of your smaller fingers as you drift asleep against him, too overwhelmed by the onslaught of emotions to stay awake any longer. 

he whispers sweet promises to you as your mind walks the right rope between consciousness and dreamland, telling you how he’ll hold your hand on every walk to the train station from now until the last day of the semester. 

and you don’t think you’ve ever felt this safe in your life.

[naffeclipse]

What if Eclipse from AP was a naga? And this took place in the deep jungle of the amazon, where photographer y/n is trying to take pictures of the wildlife?

I'm vibrating at the speed of sound over this ask while also nudging my naga au

Naga Eclipse from AP would have the tail of a Green Anaconda, with an olive green scaly color dotted with black, framed by burning-like flares of orange along the length of his slithery body. He's also decorated with orange-yellow striping on either side of his long, slipper form. His upper half is scaley with a lithe deadliness to his musculature and decorated by frills surrounding his head with brighter orange-yellow colors, almost hypnotic in their gradient hues. One eye is deep emerald green, and one is midnight blue.

Lucky you—you're out on a once-in-a-lifetime expedition to explore a jungle closed off to the public, funded by Fazco, and occupied by two researchers who will be your bunkmates for the next few weeks. You're itching to take photos of the large river, including swamps, marshes and streams, and whatever wildlife is out there.

The few locals you did meet before you left to hike the rest of the way to what would be your new, isolated home warned you of a dangerous snake—a large, mythical beast. You take note of the local folklore. You understand the truth is hidden in there somewhere, and you are well aware of the dangers and diseases you could be met with in such a harsh environment, but you're determined.

It doesn't take long for you to feel eyes watching you when you first venture out by yourself. You take beautiful pictures of freshwater fish, big and beautiful, unlike any you have ever seen. Of course, you have hundreds of snapshots of the local flora, the trees, the floating meadows, the thick vines that drape each branch and hang thickly about the ground. You almost forget that you eerily don't feel alone.

But you swear something moves in the water—the ripples stop as soon as you look. The stillness is suddenly stiff, lifeless. Even the birds have stopped chirping.

You lower your camera and carefully put it away. A trickle of fear slips into your heart. You turn away from the river's edge only to be met by a low hiss and a creature, unlike anything you witnessed in your travels, spooling itself neatly out of the water, blocking your path to the base. An incredible creature with long arms and a great, serpentine tail that seems to stretch for yards and yards. You can hardly breathe in his presence—he's otherworldly with his frills and scales and fangs.

His eyes contain a mesmerizing shine as if staring into a fire as it burns or watching the ocean as it laps up against the beach, drawing your attention, demanding you don't look away. You couldn't anyway. Half-frozen, you struggle to keep from collapsing. He beckons with a sharp talon. He hisses softly for you to come closer, mouse. He wants to see you. You try to beg no without revealing how terribly you tremble. He doesn't let you go. He insists. His eyes flash with an allure. You almost step close when he murmurs that you need to be good.

But then your sense of survival kicks adrenaline into your heart, and you turn to run—

He strikes faster than your eyes can follow. Two loops of his green and orange tail surrounded you in an instant. You're dragged to the ground, your arms pinned under his mass, and the back of your head cradled by his large palm as powerful muscles squeeze you in the slightest—a gentle rebuke for thinking you could get away. You're hyper-aware of the terrifying bulk of muscles as you lie trapped in his coils. One strong twist and your eyes could pop out of your skull, and every bone protecting your heart and lungs would crumble to shards. You gasp. An urge to kick your legs and struggle erupts in your panic; a sinking feeling tells you it would only make things worse.

He coos over you, hissing and humming in an ancient song of the jungle you have no name for. When you whimper, he shushes you and strokes your cheek. He tells you how lovely you'll be. When you talk back to him, somehow finding your tongue amid your horror, you find out his name. Eclipse. He moves you more upright, resting you on his tail so you're not petrified by how vulnerable you feel lying down, but he never loosens his scaly bindings. He hovers over you. You gaze into his stunning frills of yellow-orange and wonder how a being like him came to exist. He studies you as you study him. He grins at how you shiver when he traces your collarbone with a sharp fingertip.

You remind yourself that you can still breathe. He hasn't crushed you—yet—but you don't like how wide his smile is. Sometimes, his jaw stretches a little too long as if dislocating from his skull, ready to devour you. His eyes gleam with a ravenousness as scales twist around you, holding you close enough to smell the slick green water he had been in and deep musk.

He tells you that he'll see you again very soon—away from other humans, lest you bring him a fine gift for a meal. You can only flex your fingers, silently pleading in your heart that he won't unhook his jaw and eat you alive.

Then, he unravels himself from your limbs. But before he lets you go entirely, he leans in close, his serpentine tongue flickering close to your neck and by your hair, tasting the air around you as you muster all your strength to not scream. He inhales deeply, pleased, before he murmurs, "Sweet mouse. You are mine. Say it."

You don't understand, but you echo his command, and when he taps your chin once in what might have been a loving gesture, you force your jelly legs to solidify before you run and run, all the way back to base. You slam the door to your room behind you. You touch your ribs, your arms, still caught in the heavy sensation of his loops as if he were upon you right now.

The stories are true—there is a giant snake in this jungle, and he wants you. You're afraid to discover if Eclipse's intrigue with you is only an exotic way to satisfy his hunger.

[daryl-dixon-daydreams]

Words: 1,700 Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader Reader pronouns: she/her Era: Alexandria, pre-Negan Warnings: language, mild gore (killing walkers) Summary: Daryl follows Y/N outside the walls. A/N: This is Part 2, the final part of a two part commissioned miniseries! Part 1 here! A/N: The patron and requester for this fic is the lovely @easy-peasy68 so thank her for her amazing generosity and support! Without her, this fic wouldn't exist!

The singing of the birds had gone silent and it wasn’t long before you figured out why. A small group of walkers were ambling toward you, growling and reaching with bony arms. It wasn’t anything you couldn’t handle though and you unsnapped the leather loop that held your knife in its sheath. You waited for the first walker to reach you before you deftly plunged the blade into the side of its head. It crumpled and you turned your attention to the next one, repeating the action.

You stepped around the bodies and prepared to deal with the third and fourth. You jabbed one through its empty eye-socket and quickly withdrew it with a sickening squelching sound. But when you attempted to plunge the blade into the head of the final walker, your blade made a dull thud and stuck fast. “Shit,” you growled under your breath, throwing up your arm to hold it back while you struggled to pull your knife free. This walker was bound up in vegetation and the roots of some woody plant and, apparently, you’d stuck your blade into a particularly strong, thick, gnarled log. “Shit!” you swore again, tugging as hard as you could while still trying to extract your weapon, a task proving difficult as you tried not to get scratched or bitten. There was also one more walker advancing on you behind it. You tried once more to wrench your knife free but were unsuccessful. “Shit, shit, shit!” you growled. Your eyes began searching the ground for an impromptu weapon—a log, a rock, something.

But the next moment there was a swift rush of air and a familiar looking bolt rushed past your shoulder and buried itself between the eyes of the snapping, grim-face walker groping toward you. It fell to the ground in a heap. You kicked your knife free from the root and used it to put down the final walker.

When you straightened up, panting, your head snapped around to see Daryl striding toward you from a short distance away. Your brow furrowed as he marched over and retrieved his bolt, wiping it clean on his pants and then fixing a stare on you that seemed to cut you to the bone.

“The hell ya doin’ messin’ around out here, huh?” he growled, scolding you. He reloaded the bolt in the flight groove of his crossbow before locking eyes with you again. His glare was intense.

“I had it under control,” you retorted, wiping your knife clean on your jeans and slipping it back into the sheath.

He let out a scoff that had you narrowing your eyes at him.

“What are you doing out here then?” you pressed him. He didn’t seem to have a good answer for that and you noted that he seemed uncomfortable, clearing his throat and shifting his weight. What was he doing out here, miraculously showing up in the same place you’d wandered aimlessly to, just in time to kill that walker for you? “Were you following me?!” you asked, incredulous.

He shrugged and then gestured to the still walkers again. “Good thing I was,” he drawled, gravel heavy in his voice.

Your jaw clenched. “That doesn’t even make the top one hundred of close calls I’ve had. I would have managed just fine,” you countered. “Why the hell are you following me?” you demanded.

“Why the hell are ya comin’ out here every day and just wanderin’ around waitin’ to get fuckin’ killed?” he snapped back.

“Why do you care?!” you snapped back.

His chest was heaving with angry breaths. He chewed on his bottom lip for a moment and the air between the two of you seemed to crackle with electricity and tension. “Why the hell have ya been avoidin’ me since we got here?” he asked in a low growl. “Ya practically cross the street to the other sidewalk every time ya see me.”

You gulped and ducked your eyes for a moment.

He stared at you, his gaze piercing. “Yeah, ya thought I wouldn’t fuckin’ notice?” He began pacing in front of you, clearly agitated.

You didn’t want to have to rehash what had happened right before arriving in Alexandria. Just the thought of it made your heart ache. He made your heart ache. You came up with an excuse that wasn’t untrue… “When we were on the road, you were always watching out for me, making sure nothing happened to me. I was trying to give you a break!”

He rounded on you, his blue eyes blazing. “Give me a break? Am I really s’posed to believe yer avoidin’ me for my benefit?”

You only stared back at him and he resumed his pacing and let out a wry laugh. “That ain’t it,” he growled.

“It’s true!” you argued.

“Nah,” he said, flicking a hand in your direction. “At least that ain’t all of it.”

You tried to keep your voice measured this time. “I was just trying to give you some space.”

“Well, maybe I dun want fuckin’ space! Maybe, I—” He cut himself off.

You stared at him, your mouth agape, puzzled. “Maybe you what?!” you demanded.

“Maybe it’s important to me to make sure nothin’ fuckin’ happens to ya!”

You gave him a puzzled look. “I’m not your burden, Daryl! And I don’t need a fucking babysitter! I’m perfectly capable of—”

“That ain’t what ‘m sayin’! Ya ain’t—agh!” he growled, pacing impatiently, clearly frustrated that you weren’t understanding him. But to be fair, he hadn’t really said what he really meant and he couldn’t expect you to read his mind. There was more underneath all this.

“Well, what are you saying then?!”

“ ‘M sayin’ ya’ve been avoidin’ me since we fuckin’ got here and I dunno why! And I miss ya! I give a shit about you! For fuck’s sake, I’ve got fuckin’ feelin’s for ya!” He froze when he realized what he’d blurted out. “Fuck,” he uttered, staring at your stunned expression. “Just tell me what I did! I dun understand why—”

“You’re shitting me, right?”

“What?” Daryl said, bewildered.

“You have to be joking,” you said blankly. Daryl couldn’t read your expression. His heart was racing. He looked completely baffled. “I—” you pushed him hard in the chest and let out an annoyed and infuriated groan. He took a step back to regain his balance, but immediately came back toward you. “I fucking told you while we were on the road that I—that—that I have feelings for you and you didn’t—!” you broke off, staring at him with wide eyes. “You didn’t tell me—agh!” you let out a frustrated gasp and Daryl continued to stare at you, stunned. “I felt… rejected! I thought you didn’t feel anything toward me at all!”

“Nah,” he said, shaking his head. “You never—when didya—?”

“After the storm, Daryl. When you and I went up into the hayloft in the barn and I was telling you—”

He looked suddenly struck and his eyes went wide. “Tha’s what ya were—I didn’t know—I didn’t understand—”

You shoved him again. “Jesus Christ, Daryl!”

“Look, I ain’t good at this shit! Ya gotta fuckin’ spell it out for me!” he retorted, coming back to stand right in front of you. “‘M sorry! I didn’t know—Fuck, I didn’t—" He hung his head, clearly agonizing over the entire situation, the lost time. “Tha’s why ya were avoidin’ me? Cuz ya tried to tell me ya—ya have feelin’s for me and ya thought I rejected you?”

“Yes,” you said, nodding. “And I’ve been coming out here and trying to stay away from you behind the walls because—because it hurt to be around you knowing we couldn’t be more. And being out here… it clears my head.”

His eyes flickered between yours, his brow heavy over them. He gulped. “I thought maybe I did somethin’ that… I thought I’d screwed ev’rythin’ up somehow.”

He watched your face soften then and his heart jumped in his chest. You shook your head. “No. Unless you count not understanding the ENTIRE POINT of that conversation in the hayloft,” you said with a wry laugh. You realized that Daryl was probably primed to doubt, primed to think he was the problem, because that’s what most of his life had told him. “I’m going to say this so there’s no misunderstanding, okay? I have feelings for you and have for a long time.”

His eyes flickered between yours again and then down to your lips. “Me too.” It was all he could manage. He was overwhelmed. He’d gone from being furious and annoyed with you to—to this. He stepped closer to you and the fact that you didn’t step away seemed to light a fire in his chest. He dared to bring his hands to your waist and gulped at the way you bit your full bottom lip, your top teeth denting into the plumpness.

Suddenly, butterflies and tingles erupting in your stomach and over your skin, you broke the thick silence. “Are you going to kiss me or just keep looking at me like that?” And you smiled at him. He thought his heart was going to burst. He felt like he hadn’t seen your smile since—oh, right. Since on the road.

“Can I?” he asked. His voice came out soft and a little unsure.

You laughed lightly. “Yes. You fucking better.”

And he did. It was shy at first, but when you leaned into him and looped your arms around his neck, he grew bolder and you hummed into his lips, smiling, as his confidence grew. You couldn’t ever remember feeling so much electricity, so much warmth from a kiss, and both of you knew that this was the start of something new. And maybe the life you had wanted in Alexandria was possible after all.

[echantedtoon]

The Hand That Guides

Gentle words sweetened by poison. Kind smile hiding sharpened teeth. Kind touches laced with sins gripped in fists. Halo being held up by devil horns. The wolf under sheep's clothing wasn't even a wolf but a monster twisted and exotic hiding within a wolf's fur to disguise itself as a normal menace. A monster who hunts but also feels and desires.

What the desire wants will not rest until he has you once more.

(Basically my Roleswap Demon King Kagaya x Reader. Was curious about writing something for a demon Kagaya Ubuyashiki anyways.  Will contain quotes from Pinterest.

Warnings for yandere-ish themes, death/dead body/cannibalism/blood/pregnancy mentions.)

tagging: @lavenderdropp

The cold winds on the outside of the shutters best them against the glass causing a rattling sound to fill the small house like winter itself was beating on your door DEMANDING to be let inside. The cold seemed to seep into your bones despite the fact that you were sat right in front of the fire crackling away, and a thick wool blanket draped over your shoulders.

Your grasp upon the blanket became tighter than before as you cowered ever further from the rattling sounds of the shutters against glass and the wind howling demanding entry. Your response was to try and block it out by cowering your head beneath the blankets and curling up hoping that it would spare you and leave you be. Unfortunately your mind still plagued yourself with memories of that man. The one who was responsible for all your suffering.

You hadn't realized that you had married a monster.

Your husband had always been so doting and attentive to your every need and despite his supposedly fragile state and oddities, you never felt that you were the least bit neglected or unfortunate. However you had no idea of the wolf under sheep's clothing.

He was a selfish man.. There's no question about that. From the very moment you were approached by a servant of his, offering you a position for a caregiver to a seemingly terminally ill man, you had gotten the feeling that he must've been nice from how fondly the messenger had spoken of his master. You being the daughter of the local doctor and herbalist seemed to be the perfect option for a caretaker. It's not like you didn't have experience having helped take care of the patients that stayed in your father's care before. 

The pay offered seemed like a trick, and you sought out this supposed man who was so generous.

You hadn't been lied to when they had spoken about this man being quite pathetic. For all his wealth and power owning such a large estate, he looked about as healthy as a dead flower, as pathetic as a lame horse, and as helpless as a newborn babe. 

The room he was always confined to was dark. Like unusually, unnecessary dark. No windows to be had, with the only source of light being a single candle sitting upon a desk leaned up on the far wall. With strained eyes and a poor excuse for light, you had been surprised by the sight of film white orbs open and staring back at you.

He was blind as well as sick.

Not that it surprised you too much. Sometimes extreme illnesses can have an affect on the body such as loss of senses, but you hadn't been expecting such a sight of damaged purple skin, most of which was wrapped up in so many bandages that you were sure you'd been tricked into seeing a dead body until said body turned his head to you and smiled warmly despite his pathetic state.

"Good evening. You must be the person who's been chosen to care for me. Come in but please close the door behind you. My skin is sensitive to the light."

He could sit up, he could walk. Slowly and barely able too. But what seemed most peculiar was his voice. Despite the constant assault of coughing fits which sometimes drew blood, his voice was always smooth and lovely as if his throat wasn't damaged at all.

That should've been the first sign that something wasn't quite right.

Instead you thought nothing of it in the moment taken by the strange but erepheal aura about him. Perhaps that's what was so drawing about him. Despite everything  he had power, wealth, and seemingly any luxury with just a snap of his fingers, he couldn't enjoy any part of it due to the confinement of his 'conditions'.

"I unfortunately inherited a terminal illness that runs in my family," he had explained to you in such a way that didn't seem to bother him one bit. As if he had accepted death itself as his bedside companion. It took you off back. "Unfortunately it has spread so much that my world has gone dark. It worsens whenever I touch light. Sunlight specifically."

"I've never heard of such an illness being affected by light."

"Oh no. You see I just sunburn very easily, and with such a weakened immunity it takes ages for me to even heal a common bruise. So you may imagine how much trouble sensitive skin has healing sunburns."

The fact you had never heard such a thing should've been another indicator something was off, but if someone was weak then it wasn't impossible for them to be more sensitive to things or to have trouble healing when compared to a normal person with a healthy body. 

He was a prisoner. A prisoner trapped within a world of darkness by him eyes and an eternity of sickness by his body yet being surrounded by anything the most common man would kill to have. Truly ironic. It was like a starving man being served a King's banquet only to never be able to eat because he had no teeth. Perhaps it was partially the pity you felt for him and partially the pay he generously offered that drove you into accepting to be his bedside nurse. Looking back now, it was just as likely it was his words so honeyed that even a queen bed would be disgusted by it. 

Those dammed words.

The words that despite soothed and offered comfort where others' seeked to get it, a man like him was bound to be disliked. It was only to be expected. Society was not kind to those who didn't fit in the general standard for what a man should be. The weakened and sick were victims of that you were afraid. Too many times you've seen people abandon their loved ones into the limited care of your father no desire to care for their sick and/or dying loved ones. Elderly left alone to care for themselves and many babies just left crying on the doorsteps of the local monastery. 

Even born into the world's most fortunate circumstances did not stop the disgust those people feel. The maids whom came to clean up his room and change his bedding once a day, as ordered by your father during one of his routine check ups suggesting a cleaner space would be better for his health, they seemed annoyed by the repeated room clean daily. Making a few not so quiet comments on how before the last head of the estate died they weren't forced into doing a tedious job every day wasting time.

That's how you learnt that the mysterious master whom simply called himself 'Kagaya', had not even been the original Master of his estate but had inherited it from his 'relative' whom had died under 'mysterious circumstances' and came to live here. 

The strangeness surrounding him was as present as the obvious displeased feelings  everyone had to the shift of ownership within the estate and whatever few changes that the master had ordered to make disrupting the order of things. Perhaps that's why he had to seek outside help to care for him? It became quite apparent that no one here was willing to help him. Barely anyone interacted with him outside of the daily cleaning and delivering of food. You had the heart wrenching realization that none of the people here wanted nothing more than to watch him waste away from existence.

A sad existence that no one cares about.

If anyone else was in your position as well, that's what they'd feel too. Not caring about him. Just FOR him in exchange for the money he offered until he passed away and they would no longer be given the gleeful jingling of coins.

What kind of man like him deserved such a fate?

A man whom was fated for misery but who's pleasant smile and kind soul wasn't deserving of the cruelty he received. So you would decide that you would care. Until he succumbed to his illness, you'd care about him not for him. Slowly his entire care transferred to you. Daily clean up and fetching food was nothing wasted on him. Bringing him documents for running of the estate or helping him walk to the bathroom were nothing. 

However you shouldn't have been blinded to the way his body never shook or felt weak under your hands despite the slow pace he walked. How slowly he moved, how calculated he seemed to carry himself was not that of a sick or blind man. No fumbling or stumbling was unnatural..

Yet you carried out your tasks like the devoted carer you were. But it would be one incident that would change date. Stir destiny with a spoon of change of direction and boil it in the pot of deception.

On the night in question he was most unwell. His illness was flaring up causing him the worst of his symptoms. According to the ones whom were here longest this wasn't the first time he had a night like this, but no one else but a called doctor had come to care for him too afraid to be tainted by the blood seeping from his gasping mouth. But a kinder deck of cards had been laid up on the table when he thrashed upon the ground coughing like his throat was gripped from the inside out. Your hands had done what no other servant or person had ever dared.

And something else had stabbed him in his chest sharper than any nicherin blade.

She had cared for him. Her touch was one that was unfamiliar to him. It had that smile from his face as he was mystified with many thoughts. Her touch was one not driven by obligation at that moment but a need to comfort and care. It was the most loving touch he had ever felt in his life. 

That night you had cradled his upper body to stop him from hitting the floor during his planned tremors he had felt it. The warmth of your body, the driven way you rushed to stop him from flailing like a fish out of water-

From that moment, he WANTED. ...no. HE NEEDED YOU! You were so kind. So innocent. So...so..

R A D I A N T.

More addicting than even the fresh blood of a marechi. His first instinct was to just take you away and lock you up for himself but that seemed too cruel. He didn't want to taint your beautiful visage. No, no. You had been too kind as to deserve such a thing. And he was anything but a cruel man to his children and those he surrounded himself with.

So he took a route that was promising to be more long term. A heart was a sensitive thing. As easily swayed as it was passionate or as cold as it could become. 

"Y/n, do you believe in love despite the most impossible odds?"

You hadn't known how to respond when he had grabbed your hand with surprising strength and asked you such a thing. However you did respond with a nod. "I suppose so yes. Love is after all unpredictable. Why do you ask?"

"What would you say to a patient falling in love with their doctor?"

"I would say that it wouldn't be love but gratitude and positive attachment for the person. A lot of patients misinterpret it for love."

"Ah. But the heart can be right couldn't it?"

"It could also be wrong. Sometimes our imagination runs wild."

"Ah. But hearts are wild creatures. That's why our ribs are cages."

At first you had just waved him off not thinking twice about the not so subtle hints being displayed by him. It wasn't uncommon for patients to display attachment for their carers, misplaced gratitude as your father always called it. However you weren't anticipating the bear trap laced with loving touches already set for you.

Soft touches. The way his hand always hovering, seeking to hold yours when it wasn't busy. Eyes despite glossed over in white, you felt could see straight through you so lovingly. A smile on his face that no other man had offered. Genuine, warm, and so soft. 

Erepheal. Inhumanly so. Coming out with softened words of gratitude and thanks. You were stupid to fall for such a honey trap and let yourself be drawn into a wolf's jaws like a rabbit ready to die. Much to your stupidity, much to his delight.

He loved it when you willingly hugged him. Kissed him. Embraced him and all his quirks. Laughed in his presence. Didn't scoff off his words or look on in disgust from his outside appearance and what he had chosen for his disguised life. Tugging off a few heart strings like plucking the strings of a shamisen to have her leaning into his touch. Having her hold him within her lap and listening to her heart beats. A serenity that his centuries of living craved to have. The hand that guided her to the question that open the door of opportunity.

"My dear, I have need for you. For you are the only one that can fulfill my wish."

"What are you referring to?"

"I am in need of a wife and way to continue my legacy. As you can quite imagine, most would rather lie with a wild boar than to simply touch me. However you..Not only have you willingly shown not to be deterbed by the sight of me but seemed to actually enjoy my company which is a far cry from most."

"Me? Marry you?"

"Oh, I know. It is a rather sudden and surprising thing to ask out of nowhere so I'm not surprised by your reaction, but I do promise you that I can provide you with whatever you may need at my disposal. I may not be the most desirable husband but I promise you that I can give you all of me."

"I think you're asking me because you feel pressured to marry soon."

"You can not deny that we have something between us." A tight hand squeeze. "You don't have to answer now. Think it over first before you decide anything permanent."

How foolish you were.

"I do."

Those were the two words that you spoke promising your life with him. Sealed together forever and all it took was him getting you a pretty ring and having a ceremony at night with you guiding him out to the garden where the requested priest was waiting.

It was perfect.

Perhaps that's why he slipped up.

He became too comfortable. Got too used to his separate lives being intertwined yet separate that he allowed the mistake to happen. It wasn't until it was too late for you to turn back from the sweet kisses and gentle touches. A comfort in ways you never felt before. So you thought nothing about it. The red flags. The warning signs. The out of place things. He always took care of you so there was no reason to think that he was anything but caring.

So when you found out that you were expecting, you were over the moon. So you wanted to inform your husband as soon as possible! His reaction was expected. Shock. More shocked than a normal human man. You didn't think twice when you interrupted his sleep to which he specifically asked you never to interrupt. 

Usually you had never bothered him with anything during those days he simply requested a servant to bring him food. But your blindness to the other side was what drove you forward. Calling out to him and announcing your arrival before he knew what was happening-

"I'm pre-"

His body had frozen up. The door sliding open for the bloodshed on the other side to become revealed. Blood splattered amongst the floor and pooled around a cadaver long since dead in the middle of the room.

And the shocked face of the monster covered in blood staring back at her.

Red copper smelling liquid drenched all over his shocked face and upper torso from the meal interrupted. His eyes as wide as plates. The horrified shriek screeching out of the woman washed over him in horrified realization. The creature vaguely resembling the form of her husband slowly stood up. To do what, the woman wasn't sure. But instincts took over any rational thought as she turned and RAN. Ran like her life depended on it out of the house and into the daytime passing confused neighbors and surprised strangers looking up at the sudden woman shrieking and running like hell itself was biting at her heels. It was that day a horrible realization had been revealed to her shattering reality itself.

Your husband had been a man eating demon this entire time.

Kagaya had been standing there, hunched over the unmoving cadaver like some monstrous animal rabid with hunger. Red stained his clothes and splattered against his skin. Dripping down from the shocked face and falling to his crimson dipped hands like sick hell's rain. The face of a million smiles now sharpened like blades to cut flesh.

You shrieked out loud enough to warrant the action of anyone around you. You had ended up running clear out of the estate until you had reached your father a hysterical mess, gasping for air as your body shook from fear of the thing that you saw. You couldn't go back. Not now that you knew about the truth of the matter at hand. In your panicked state, you had told anyone else who would listen to what you saw. The result was a party of men including a few hunters with weapons in the front.

Storming the estate and marching into the closed off room to where you had saw the thing whatever monster it was. Only to discover not a living soul within the space. No dead body, and no Master Kagaya. Just a pool of obvious blood on the floor and a few splattering across the walls.

A gruesome sight indeed that turned many a man's blood to ice, but there was no signs of him. A quick and intense search of the entire estate and even some of the nearby woods had turned up no traces of him or any remains of the missing girl whom you later found out was one of the more crueler maids that Kagaya had requested to bring him water. 

If not for the remaining blood, you would've thought that you had gone insane. Apparently it has also not been the first time a person had gone missing in or around the estate. One at least every few weeks. It hadn't seemed suspicious with the amount of time between each person, and it was usually those most displeased staying there or had spoken of finding other work. You had thought they had just left. You never thought in a million years they'd be eaten alive!

A priest had been called to cleanse the estate before everyone fled from the cursed area. However you were terrified of what that thing was opting to stay within your room and never leave. That however did not stop the rumors and stigma of you being the wife of the monster. The hated looks. The eggs that were pummeled against your house in the middle of the night. 

You felt disgusted. Every memory of his touch sending you into terrified shakes. The same hands that killed held you. The same lips that kissed you consumed flesh and bone. The same man was nothing but a monster.

But worse of all now you were to be the mother of the monster's children.

Eventually your father figured that the best course of action was to send you few towns over to stay with distant relatives. If to not do anything but get you away from the madness this place had given you.

It had worked out for a few months. Despite the surprise reactions from your family at your sudden and scared arrival, they welcomed you into their home and let you stay with them as your pregnancy progressed. You were a mixed bag of emotions and fear despite the days and nights without a trace of your 'husband' in sight.

Until one night your family decided to go out leaving you home alone with nothing to do but cozy up by the fire and try to forget about your problems. It wasn't until someone approached the door that had your terror tonight on edge.

The unmistakable sounds of snow crunching slowly under feet wormed it's way louder than the wind and repeated tapping of the shutters against the glass panels. A chill running down your spine and goosebumps forming a long your paled skin.

At first you dismissed it as an animal. A deer, wolf, stray dog- Sone kind of large beast. It wouldn't be the first time you had animals near your home, however a deep dread filled you as your tired brain realized something about the sounds of those steps.

I T  W A S  W A L K I N G  O N  T W O  L E G S.

Fully aware now, you body frozen where you sat as whatever it was encircling your small house was slowly making it's way from around the right side of the home and crunching it's way slowly towards the front door.

THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD-

Your wife eyes widened as a ghost hand entrapped your throat in fear. Head turning following the steps until it reached just outside of the front door. Heart pounding in your ears, you stared at the door in silence. No sounds other than the intense breeze outside and the crackling laugh of the fire behind you. Until there was a sound. A sound that made you flinch violently. The door shook a little bit. A small tug from the outside being stopped by the lock on the door securely keeping it shut. The lock jingling where the hook went through the loop. An experimental few tugs were given before it stopped all together leaving you to look on in terror, and then the next few sounds were given.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

The sound of shock and terror fled from your throat as you froze solid. You gave a shriek, scrambling back as the shook harder.

No. NO!! This was real! He wasn't really there! Your mind was playing tricks on you-

JINGLE. JINGLE. JINGLE.

The flimsy hook lock jingle with each hard tug on the door.

CLINK-

Until it unhooked. The door slid open as a whoosh of cold wind and snowflakes blew into the room. The sharp sting of cold making you raise a an arm to shield yourself from the on slot, fire wavering wildly in the hearth before your eyes blinked through the darkness and widened in fear of the purple eyes shining through the darkness.

And there he was. 

Kagaya. Looking the same as the day you left him. Only difference was his eyes. The orbs that used to be useless and white as snow now as purple as poison and slited like the predator he was. The demon could only stare at you and the obvious round middle you now sported with the unexpected arrival of your newborn on the way within the next few months. A gentle hum leaving his throat with an innocent tilt of his head.

"My goodness. Look at you. I was not expecting such a thing to be possible, but like with love many things seem to be proving themselves possible to me."

Your terrified self got up to your feet shuffling behind the chair you were sat in a moment ago when he stepped into the home. "You stay away from me!"

Instead he simply reached around to close the door behind him. "It's rather cold outside. That can't be good for the children. Do you have a coat?" He hummed again to himself looking around the house. "You'll be needing one to keep you warm after you pack and come back home."

"Are you mad!? Why would I ever go anywhere with a monster!?"

"A monster?" He smiled turning his head to a degree that was physically impossible for a human. "Now that seems to be a harsh judge of character, Darling."

"You killed that girl! You ate her body and then left behind her blood for her family to mourn." Your fingers dug into the fabric of the armchair until your knuckles were white with fear and anger. "You have sins carved into your soul that not even a devil would touch."

The head tilting was followed by the sound of a ship cracking as his head rapidly snapped back into it's rightful place. A hum escaped his throat and a hand reached out to rub his chin thoughtfully with purpled nails.

"Sins? Is it a sin to find beauty in the darkness?" A hand extended towards yourself. "To watch as the night sky comes alive with the eyes of the gods? To listen as the forest whispers centuries old secrets?" His footsteps echoed with each step towards you. "To find solace as shadows dance the same dance they have for eons? Powerful things lurk in the darkness and it is a sin to forget them."

Your body abandoned its place behind the armchair and stepped away from his approach until your back one inevitably hit the form blockage of the wall behind you. "It's also a sin to take an innocent life."

"Oh, but her life would've ended anyways. She didn't know it yet but she was very sick, and she would've died a very slow, very sad death loosing all her bodily functions. By taking her to death early she suffered nothing."

"And I am supposed to think what you did was supposed to be an act of mercy? You had no right to take step in where the reaper makes his own choice."

He chuckled. "Perhaps. Perhaps not. But I provided a way to avoid any suffering. A quick end now is usually preferable to a long suffrage in the grand scheme of things."

"You're sick. Both literally and figuratively."

"Am I? I suppose it's natural to think that of me at first."

Your lungs filled with a shaking breath. "Kill me if you insist on finishing what you started, but I have no intention of bowing to a king who wears a crown studded with the jewels of every life he's has ended."

For once he looked taken aback stopping just a few steps away from yourself. "Kill you? Oh, dear me. Is that what you thought I came here for?" His head shook swaying ebony locks. "No, no, no. That wouldn't be beneficial to either of us."

"Then why?"

"Why? You have got the arms I want to be wrapped in. You have got the eyes I want to get lost in. You have the smile I can never resist. You have got the voice I want to listen to for hours. I decided on you. I want you and only you."

"I fell in love with your words! Unfortunately they were all lies!"

"No. That's not true." That gentle smile was back as he approached her once more. "I didn't lie that I love you. It wasn't a lie before and it certainly isn't a lie now." 

Your body completely froze up pressing back against the wall hard as he practically looked over you. Silence as cold as death and as sweet as those words with the way he caressed your trembling face.

"My biggest mistake wasn't falling for you, it was thinking that you had fallen for me too instead of what I deceived you to interpret me as. It's not all for worse however. We have all eternity."

"You're a dangerous man."

"Ah. But you see the most dangerous person is the one who listens, thinks, and observes."

[monstersdownthepath]

Homebrew Horror: The Unnamed

The world hosts all manner of boogeymen and ghost stories, many of which are based on very real entities that prank or prey upon mankind when the sun sets and the lights go out, but few enjoy the obscurity and success of the Thing with No Name. There is perhaps a handful of people in all the world who can claim to have witnessed the nameless horror hunt its prey, and fewer still who are telling the truth about it, as to speak of it to another is to invite it into your life.

The scant scratches of concrete information that can be pieced together all paint a similar picture: It is predator that has haunted thinking beings as far back in history as anyone can look, its methods of hunting and its means of killing leaving precious little evidence behind. What it truly is, where it came from, and why it hunts the way it does are all mysteries which cannot be solved. Rare and esoteric writings which tell of it list numerous titles, all unhelpful; The Thing with No Name, the Stain on the Page (or simply "the Stain"), the Nameless Legend, and simply the Unnamed. It is written that such ambiguous titles are to protect the reader, not the creature, for attempting to affix any more descriptive title to it is the surest way to invite its horrific attention.

The Unnamed is one of several self-keeping secrets in creation, hunting down and annihilating any creature which knows too many details or who becomes too curious of it, for reasons which may never be truly known. For those it hunts, it seems like a nightmare made terribly real in a way few other creatures can match; an unstoppable, inescapable force which will use seemingly any trick to disorient, mislead, and ultimately capture its victim.

Anyone targeted by the Stain can always feel when it's near, and rarely do they ever manage to find help before they're simply never seen again. Witnesses to the scenes rarely speak, and never coherently, never to say what they saw, lest it target them next. Even in scenes where a tremendous struggle obviously took place, investigators struggle to turn up so much as a single drop of blood or scrap of hair of the victim... but sometimes they find something else. A misshapen footprint, a handprint caused by something deeply inhuman, or some strange fluid almost but not quite like blood that causes the mind to reel with a single touch.

Not enough to solve a mystery, just enough to make one curious. Just enough to make one try and wipe away a stain of ink on some dusty old report tucked away in the back of an archive to see what could have been written underneath.

The Unnamed CR 13 Chaotic Evil Medium Aberration (Shapechanger) Init: +8 Senses: Darkvision 60ft, low-light vision, thoughtsense 60ft, blindsight 20ft; Perception +23 Aura: Unwind (30ft, DC 24) ------ Defense ------ AC 29, touch 14, flat-footed 25 (+4 Dex, +15 natural) HP 193 (15d8+105), Regeneration 5 (Cold) Fort +12, Ref +9, Will +14 Defensive Abilities: Amorphous, Unbound, Undone; DR 10/Cold Iron and Lawful; Immune: Charms and compulsions, death effects, poison; Resist: Acid 15, Electricity 15, Fire 15; SR 19 ------ Offense ------ Speed: 50ft, climb 30ft Melee: Bite +17 (1d8+6 plus poison/19-20), slam +15 (1d8+6 plus grab), 3 tentacles +15 (1d4+6 plus pull) Ranged: Bone dart +15/+10/+5 (1d3+6 plus poison/19-20) Space: 5ft, Reach: 5ft (10ft with bite, 20ft with tentacles) Special Attacks: Pull (10ft), rake (Bite +17, 1d8+6 plus poison), Unwind Spell-like Abilities (CL 15, concentration +17) Constant: Freedom of Movement At-will: Dancing Darkness, Ghost Sound (DC 13), Ventriloquism (DC 13) 3/day: Rusting Grasp, Telekinesis (DC 17), Warp Wood 1/day: Knock, Modify Memory (DC 16), Teleport, Traumatic Eyebite (DC 18) ------ Statistics ------ Str 23 Dex 19 Con 25 Int 13 Wis 21 Cha 15 Base Atk: +11; CMB: +16; CMD: 31 Feats Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, Improved Critical (bite, bone dart), Improved Initiative, Multiattack, Traumatic Spell-like Ability (Eyebite), Sickening Critical Skills Acrobatics +13, Bluff +13, Climb +21, Intimidate +15, Perception +23, Stealth +21, Survival +23 Languages All; language mastery. SQ Change Shape (any past victim; see Uncanny), Compression, Unknown ------ Ecology ------ Environment: Any Organization: Unique Treasure: Standard (taken trophies) ------ Combat: The Stain enjoys toying with its Target out of both sadism and pragmatism, forcing them to make mistakes and expend resources battling shadows and hallucinations. It goes Unseen as long as it is able to, tormenting them with its spell-like abilities to haunt them, destroy or remove light sources, weapons, and escape routes, and make it seem as though it is coming from everywhere at once. It will attempt to hit them with one or several of its bone darts to infuse them with its poison and terrorize them with the hallucinations, but it will try to avoid killing them with its darts (including by making them nonlethal). It will further toy with them with its tentacle attacks from a distance, making them think their hallucinations are real, until eventually wearing them down and closing in to finish them off and consume them. Against a large group of victims, it will attempt to isolate and pick them off one by one after loosening their reasoning with its poisonous aura, stolen voices, and Eyebite. When the mood strikes, it leaves one survivor (never its Target) alive but traumatized and possibly insane, usually using its Modify Memory to erase the majority of the encounter. But never all of it.

Morale: If a group of creatures has no Target among them, the Unnamed will fight only long enough to potentially traumatize one into becoming a Target later, and then flee to let the memories fester. When in a combat involving its Target, the Unnamed will always attempt to kill them, even if its own life is in danger. If its foes prove to be beyond its power, it will still attempt a death or glory attack against its Target. Its own life doesn't matter. It will come back eventually. ------ Special Abilities ------

Unbound (Ex): The Unnamed will not be denied its happiness. It may make an additional saving throw at the end of each of its turns to remove any effect causing any of the following conditions, even if the effect causing the condition does not normally permit a saving throw: blind, confused, dazed, deafened, exhausted, fatigued, nauseated, sickened, slowed, staggered, and stunned. This does not require an action. If it is affected by multiple effects or conditions, it may only make one additional saving throw with this ability each turn.

Uncanny (Ex): The Unnamed can use its Change Shape ability as a full-round action to change into any creature it has ever consumed, but its shape is grotesquely twisted to the point it could not possibly be mistaken for a normal creature. It does not gain any additional abilities or attacks, the changes are purely cosmetic. Similarly, though it can speak any language, its voice is completely inhuman and distorted. Creatures under the effects of its poison (see Unwind, below) or who are confused or insane instead see and hear it as if the transformation was flawless. This effect is lost if they are adjacent to it.

Undone (Su): If the Unnamed reduces a Target to 0 HP or lower with its attacks while the Target is both within its reach and suffering from the effects of its poison (see Unwound, below), the Target's body crumbles to a fine dust the Unnamed may inhale as an immediate action or at any point within the next minute as a swift action. When it does so, it regains 4d8+15 hitpoints and may immediately end one condition or effect on itself.

Unknown (Su): Whenever a creature attempts to give a more descriptive title or a name to the Unnamed, or attempts to describe or dictate its appearance or abilities in detail to another being, they must attempt a DC 19 Will save. Success indicates that they stop themselves from going through with the attempt as a brief sense of dread washes over them. Failure allows them to fully convey the information, but they become a Target. When creature becomes a Target, they are shaken automatically for one round by the sense that they have committed some unfathomable wrong. What "naming/describing the Unnamed" entails will vary at the DMs discretion; it could be as simple as writing details into a document meant to be read by another, speak the details aloud to another, or drawing it a little too clearly, but it must be a willing, conscious attempt to define or describe the Unnamed to another intelligent creature. Creatures defining or describing the Unnamed only for themselves may still become Targets, at the DMs discretion (it often allows these creatures to write just enough to make a potential reader curious, but no more). The Unnamed knows the precise location of all Targets not shielded by divine power, as well as the distance and direction to them relative to itself. Targets become permanently shaken whenever the Unnamed is within 1 mile of them as a feeling of impending doom creeps into their minds, and if it is within 100ft, this condition pierces all forms of immunity to fear. All parts of this ability work across all boundaries and through any barrier.

Unseen (Sp/Su): When not being observed by an intelligent creature, the Unnamed may become invisible as a standard action, as per Greater Invisibility, except the effect lasts until an intelligent creature successfully sees the Unnamed through any means (such as if it's outlined through Glitterdust or mundane dust, or viewed through True Seeing), until any creature ends its turn adjacent to the Unnamed (or vice-versa), or until the Unnamed ends the effect itself as an immediate or free action. It can only use its spell-like abilities while invisible using this ability.

Unwind (Ex): The Unnamed produces a powerful, hallucinogenic poison which it delivers with its bite and dart attacks. It may also produce a colorless, odorless version of the poison as an aura with a 30ft radius, affecting all creatures which inhale it, though they gain a +5 circumstance bonus to the save. It may begin producing this aura version of its poison as a full-round action and stop as a move action; its bite and dart attacks do not poison their targets while it's producing the aura, and it can only maintain the aura for a total of 7 rounds a day (they do not have to be consecutive).

--Unwinding Venom: Bite, dart, or aura--injury, contact, or inhaled; save Fort DC 24, frequency 1/round for 5 rounds, effect 1d3 Wis damage plus hallucinations for 1 round (all other creatures have 20% concealment), cure 2 consecutive saves.

[stopisa]

Seijoh 4 Bedroom Headcanons

a/n: no, not like that u little pervs. like what their actual bedrooms would look like around post time-skip. visuals included btw. enjoy <3

disclaimer: all photos were found on pinterest and none belong to me

oikawa

right after moving to argentina, he got a cute little one-bedroom apartment on a higher floor with a balcony.

he couldn't bring a lot from japan, so his place was bare bones, made him a little sad and lonely the first couple of months. the only decor he had were pictures/polaroids he put up using tape he bought from the corner store

once the athlete paychecks start coming in, he can buy more stuff to make his space feel more like a home like artwork and better lighting

speaking of lighting, he’d layer tf out of it. so not just a statement ceiling light but also clean, modern standing lamps and table lamps too. all have warm toned bulbs.

one of the most prominent things that can be seen around his place are plants! he became a plant daddy so quickly and was super pumped to see them grow. each morning is like a ritual with watering/misting them or moving them around so they can get sun. him taking care of plants gives him another purpose aside form volleyball. reminds him of when he was captain and taking care of his team.

sticks to a color palette of warm and bright tones of beiges, creams, whites, with some grey here and there to compliment the green plants.

you’ll spot a yoga mat and foam roller tucked in the corner

bedsheets are always crisp and 5-star hotel quality. and they smell amazing like lavender/citrusy

this diva sleeps with 10000 pillows bc he needs to feel like he's getting a hug every time he goes to sleep ;(

guys pls he's so touch starved and lonely at this point in his life he just wants someone to hold and sleep next too (maybe that can be u ;) )

iwaizumi

his room started off pretty bare since he had to experience how expensive going to school was in the U.S. plus he lived in a small dorm with little room for decor, made sure his place was close to a large gymnasium in tokyo

he’s the type to keep his space very clean and minimalistic sticking to dark, neutral colors as his palette. it serves to give off a calming and grounding effect that matches his personality imo

for sure has a neat, modest bookshelf filled with sports science books, anatomy guides and a few novels. resting on one shelf is a postcard from argentina that oikawa sent him.

he does not believe in the Big Light™️, only ambient and natural light allowed in his bedroom.

more about his decor, like oikawa he has pictures of his college days, old teammates and family. some plants like ivy and succulents also have their residence about his room. and lastly, a large, singular poster of godzilla that hangs proudly on his wall.

simple bedding, four pillows, matching dark sheets. smells of sandalwood/eucalyptus, he’s got a firm mattress tho :o[ bc it’s better for the back

due to his profession he’s very busy but always makes time to exercise so there are dumbbells and resistance bands safely stored beneath his bed

iwa’s space reflects his disciplined lifestyle but also reveals someone who is sentimental towards his friendships and memories. his bedroom is a place where he can unwind after a long day while staying connected to his passions :’)

matsukawa

his room just looks cozy and effortlessly cool to match his laid-back personality. like he just threw shit together and it worked out perfectly

dark color palette of deep greens, blacks and browns. his decor brings in some complimenting color like red, purple, and yellow

unlike iwaizumi and oikawa, his room is messier but not terrible. his bed is usually unmade and maybe a sweatshirt will be draped over a chair, water cup/bottle collection on his desk. it’s for sure a very lived-in space

the ambiance is lovely, like a perfectly curated nest, the softest, worn sheets and pillows that smell like bergamot and cinnamon paired with soft fairy lights or LED light strips and low music playing in the background, sleeps comes naturally here

blackout curtains are a must, they almost always cover the window in his room so you can really never tell what time it is but that’s fine because he works weird hours at the funeral home and he likes to sleep <3

he’s a gamer™️ imo, so he’s got a nice setup on the desk next to his bed, probably does streaming on the side or always talking to his friends on discord. i just know he’s diamond in valorant and a viper-omen main teehee

honestly his room is entertainment central, fuck a living room. he’s got a decent record player speaker to play his loud ass music, tv to fall asleep to movies/shows, and even a rubix cube he’s solved multiple times with a hidden snack drawer to top it off, you’ll never be bored here

decor consists of some manga volumes, figures/collectables, trinkets (he’s a trinket guy), a lego set and maybe one (fake) plant, and a tapestry blanket hanging on his wall

hanamaki

imo he’s totally a trust fund baby so not just his room but apartment as a whole is just very well styled

he has a fun and eclectic way of decorating with a beautiful harmony of bright whites and greys paired with accents of pastel blues and some pinks

his fashion is peak so he has some pieces on display on a rack with pairs of shoes that he spent a little too much money on smh

has a trendy low platform bed with a very soft duvet, lots of pillows and a gag gift stuffy from mattsun and the sheets hold the sweet, fruity smell of his room spray representing his never ending sweet tooth

the lighting is also heavily ambient and natural but he has a ceiling light that can have the brightness adjusted, light color and tone changed to fit his mood

his “work” space is really just for him to be on discord with mattsun and other online friends on one screen and updating his fashion blog on another. cute junk decorates his desk like a half-drawn doodle, a thrifted lava lamp, and a rubber duck oikawa got him at the ¥100 store in high school

like mattsun, his room is a little messy but more so in an organized chaos way, like he has a piles of PR boxes he has to go through and review in the corner next to his beanbag chair, laundry he has to put away and a stack of magazines in an upcycled crate

makki is the unemployed friend on a tuesday doing some random side quest, one of which is he’s always adding/removing decor from his space to always keep it fresh but there are staple pieces that must remain and they are usually ones with sentimental value (always related to his friends)

much love to @heiayen and @qichun for contributing and letting me yap abt in discord <3

- written in association with @interstellar-inn -

[thecreaturecodex]

Squirming Swill

Image © Paizo Publishing, accessed at Archives of Nethys here

[Another monster from PF2e's Bestiary 3, and one of my favorites from that book. I like a monster that's simultaneously gross and pathetic, a monster with a unique treasure and a monster with a connection to the world, and this hits all of those notes. I could easily see this being either an ooze or an undead, but it's undead in PF2e so I kept it that way.]

Squirming Swill CR 2 NE Undead This thing is a greasy mass of organic matter studded with more recognizable organs and bones occasionally rising to the surface. It smells overpoweringly of rot and char.

Cauldrons are among the most potent tools of a witch or a hag, but they should be cleaned regularly and carefully for fear of consequences. Squirming swills are among those consequences. They are the burnt and greasy remains of things overcooked in a magic cauldron, animated by leftover magic and given a dim, malign intelligence. Once able to move under their own power, they pull themselves out of their incubators and start to roam.

Squirming swills are usually hostile to humanoid creatures, trying to kill them with sizzling pseudopods and jets of hot grease. A creature that closely resembles their creator may instead be “adopted”, with the swill viewing them the way a neglected pet may treat a prospective new owner. Squirming swills often approach small animals looking for companionship, but tend to scare them away or lash out and kill them when the creature revolts at its new friend’s slime, heat or smell. A squirming swill is also happy to befriend a small animal carcass, toting them around the way a child does a beloved toy.

Due to the magical energy involved in their construction, the remains of a squirming swill retain useful properties. The liquid from a squirming swill’s body can be squeezed out to generate a random greater minor potion. A creature that uses this potion must succeed a DC 13 Fortitude save or be sickened for 1 minute.

Squirming Swill CR 2 XP 600 NE Small undead Init +3; Senses blind, blindsense 60 ft., Perception +5 Aura wretched stench (Fort DC 13, 1 minute, 15 ft.)

Defense AC 14, touch 14, flat-footed 11 (+1 size, +3 Dex) hp 22 (3d8+9) Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +4 Immune undead traits, visual effects; Resist fire 5 Defensive Abilities amorphous

Offense Speed 20 ft., swim 15 ft. Melee slam +6 (1d10-1 plus 1d6 fire plus slippery grease) Ranged scalding oil +6 touch (2d6 fire)

Statistics Str 9, Dex 16, Con -, Int 1, Wis 10, Cha 15 Base Atk +2; CMB +0; CMD 13 (cannot be tripped) Feats Toughness, Weapon Finesse Skills Acrobatics +5 (-1 jumping), Perception +5, Stealth +12, Swim +7

Ecology Environment any land or underground Organization solitary, pair or banquet (3-12) Treasure special (see above)

Special Abilities Scalding Oil (Ex) A squirming swill can fire a jet of hot grease as a standard action. Treat this as a ranged touch attack with a range of 30 feet and no range increment. A creature struck takes 2d6 points of fire damage. Slippery Grease (Ex) A creature struck by a squirming swill’s slam attack must succeed a DC 13 Reflex save or fall prone. The save DC is Charisma based. Wretched Stench (Su) A creature can make a save to recover from a squirming swill’s stench as a move action on its turn. If the creature succeeds at this secondary saving throw, it vomits and the vomit joins the swill’s mass, healing the swill 3 hit points. The save DC is Charisma based.

[inou-ie]

Hello, how you doing? Can I please have yan Jinglie x Blade's younger sister. Basically, his sister is youngerin a year. She is also part of Stellaron Hunter, but she is more has more softer side. Jingliu was always in love with them, untill they left woth Blade. However, one day Jingliees Blade's sister in Xianzhou, and decide why not to kidnap them and make them hers? (Hopefully I didn't confused you).

Author's notes: I'm sorry, this took so long... I hope I got it right though! Since you asked about yandere before, I thought you'd like it this way.

Warnings: slight NSFW, yandere, kidnapping, stalking.

MDNI

Joining the Stellaron Hunters to care for your older brother is akin to having a second job. You must be there for him, recognizing the possibility of his losing control, rather than relying solely on Kafka's abilities.

You and Blade are consistently assigned to missions together, whereas your brother often operates independently. This pattern persisted during your mission in Xianzhou Luofu, as he ventured solo, leaving you to operate alone.

Frustrated by the constant effort to keep pace with him, you resolved to complete the mission solo. As you surveyed the surroundings, a flood of memories engulfed you, recalling the diverse individuals with whom you had interacted in this very place.

However, an unsettling feeling gnawed at you. It seemed as though someone had been watching you from the moment you entered this place. You glanced around, but there was no one in sight.

Putting the mission aside and continuing to walk in an attempt to lose the mysterious pursuer turned out to be a grave error. You eventually found yourself at a dead end, and a chilling sensation crept down your spine as the surroundings grew colder with each passing moment.

"...you.. have returned..." a cold voice from behind caused you to pivot around, revealing a woman wearing a black blindfold, advancing toward you with deliberate, unhurried steps.

"Who are you?" You swiftly raised your guard, yet a bone-chilling coldness filled the air as she inched closer. "Have you... forgotten about me?" The woman paused, then delicately removed her blindfold, revealing her piercing red eyes fixed intently upon you.

In that moment, a rush of memories flooded your mind. You took a closer look at her face and breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that this woman was, in fact, an old companion.

"Jingliu?" You muttered, studying the woman once more. A faint smile graced her lips as she approached you. "That's right... I'm glad you came back." she said, her voice carrying a chilly tone. She stood before you, her hand reaching for your cheek, gently rubbing her thumb against it.

Her touch, though both gentle and firm, was unmistakably familiar. A chuckle escaped your lips; how could you ever forget the person you used to spend time with?

"...n't leave..." You heard Jingliu mumble something, and your curiosity piqued as you leaned in closer. "Did you say something?" You asked with curiosity. After several moments of silence, you felt her grip on your chin as she locked eyes with you with an intense gaze.

"You can't leave me again..." Jingliu uttered before she moved her hand toward your face. Her cold hand covered your eyes. Just as you attempted to pull away, an intense and numbing coldness washed over your mind. You groaned in pain while struggling to break free, but she held you tightly with her arm around your waist, her hand still seemingly freezing your thoughts.

"What are you doing?!" You continued to struggle against her, but it proved futile; her strength remained as formidable as ever. Jingliu didn't utter a word, and you felt your mind growing blank as you slowly lost consciousness.

You jolted awake with a start, sensing a weight on your body, only to find Jingliu atop you. She smiled to herself while gently caressing your face. "You'll be with me forever..." She mumbled softly before planting a tender kiss on your forehead.

With your eyes half-opened, you strained to scan the dim surroundings, but darkness obscured everything, and your mind remained clouded. "What did you do to me..." you whispered weakly, attempting to shift, but Jingliu clung to you tightly, using her weight to keep you pinned down.

"This is where you belong... by my side," Jingliu whispered, her finger tracing a chilling path along your neck. "I won't ever let you go, not again." she added, her smile taking on a wicked edge as her red eyes gleamed in the darkness.

You groaned as Jingliu shifted her position, now seated on top of you. She gazed down at you while keeping you pinned down. "I love you..." she mumbled before cupping your cheeks in her hands. "I love you so much." she repeated, seemingly waiting for your reaction.

"What are you even saying..." you muttered under your breath, noticing Jingliu's expression darkening. She grabbed your neck with both hands and leaned down. "That's not right, you were supposed to say you love me back." she whispered dangerously against your throat.

Jingliu tilted your head upward slightly, her mouth drawing even closer to your throat. Her hands felt cold against your skin. "Let me go– ah..." a sudden moan escaped your lips when she licked your throat up to your chin.

Her breath hitched when she heard you moan, and it only served to fuel her desire even more. Jingliu's tongue continued to explore your neck, drawing shapes on your skin that sent shivers down your spine. She nipped at the soft flesh just below your earlobe before sucking gently, her hot breath causing goosebumps along your collarbone.

You could feel every inch of her nails digging into the sensitive skin behind your ears, sending waves of pleasure coursing through you. Despite yourself, a low growl rumbled from deep within your throat when she finally bit down hard on that vulnerable spot between neck and shoulder—the bite not quite painful but undeniably intense.

"I love you." she murmured once more into your ear, her voice hoarse with desire. Her tongue traced the outline of your earlobe before dipping inside, sending shivers down your spine.

You can't help but moan beneath her, squirming around while closing your eyes tightly. "It's been years... you must quell the longing you've stirred within me." Jingliu whispered with an air of longing and desire. Your eyes widen at the sight of Jingliu slowly removing her clothes before leaning down to embrace you.

"I'll never let you escape, my love.. Nothing can separate us ever again." Jingliu mumbled before your combined moans, cries, and whimpers echoed through the night air like a primal symphony...

[bloodtwin]

in an AU where all the durges are somehow in the bhaal temple at the same time, puck would be the damn court jester of the bunch. i know this is true.

[y-rhywbeth2]

For some reason the mood took me to compare the Slayer in all five of its iterations, including Bhaal's actual avatar vs the various forms he's taken while possessing his spawn.

To reiterate: I will kill Isobel for you when you stop ripping me off, old man.

Bhaal, the genuine article Slayer:

The Slayer is a levitating 'corpse with a feral face, ivory-white skin, and deep lacerations that endlessly wept black ichor that vanished before it struck anything.' Also came with free murder knives made of the bones of its victims, hate plagues where you kill your neighbours and family while blindly loving it, and a zombie apocalypse. – Rogue 32/Fighter 27 – Str 24, Dex 24, Con 22, Int 17, Wis 15, Cha 17 – Magic resistance 90% – Damage: 1d4+16 points of damage a round via bone daggers (2 of which is cold damage), attacking up to 12 times a round for a maximum total of 240 points of damage every round. – HP 212 – AC 26 – Movement Speed: 75ft per minute/round Things slain rise as zombies or form a blade barrier by exploding into bone shrapnel. Living flesh hit by his blades withers and becomes useless, depriving them of limbs and brain function depending on the location. The Slayer can drive those around him into homicidal frenzies, and force people to love him and do his bidding by touching them. Bhaal can also just generically create any undead which will answer to him just by touching the corpse of people who have been murdered, he just prefers skeletons.

[Murder in Baldur's Gate] The 'Bhaalspawn Slayer':

'...hulking, blood-soaked, corpse-like form...' It's listed as a medium humanoid, much like the real Slayer, so it hasn't changed shape that much and mostly resembles the original. Appears to paralyse its opponents and then eat them alive. Or just really likes biting. Apparently that fine evening in Baldur's Gate Bhaal manifested in one child and then ate the other one in front of a watching crowd... Notably the possessed Bhaalspawn was not intended to survive this transformation. 5e stats: – AC 14 – HP 30 (4d10+8) – Speed 40ft – Darkvision 60ft – Str 14 Dex 17 Con 15 Int 11 Wis 11 Cha 13 – Immunities: Disease and poison – Can climb and jump as part of normal movement and doesn't provoke opportunity attacks. – Attacks by clawing (2d4+2, causes paralysis) and then, once you're paralysed starts biting (2d8+2, stuns the target). – If hit in combat and caused to bleed, the Slayer proceeds to become even more murderously aggressive.

[Baldur's Gate 2] Charname:

'A violent, powerful creature made of teeth and claws.' Some kind of giant red insect? With spikes. Using this form slowly destroys the users' psyche as Bhaal begins to take over (represented as taking physical damage in-game). Likewise the errosion of self as Bhaal begins to strengthen within causes you to radiate evil and murder that causes people to view you with fear and hostility: '...even those who do not witness the event can sense the corruption caused by giving yourself over to instinct.' Becoming the avatar for a god is also taxing on a mortal body, and causes fatigue. – Strength and Dexterity set to 25 – Effective AC set to -9 [AC 29] – Magic Resistance set to 40% – Saving Throws set to 2 – Attacks per round set to 4 (+5 damage, 1d8 crushing, 2 cold) – +100 Hit Points – Immunity to imprisonment, level drain, stun, and missile attacks

[Dragon Magazine] Generic Bhaalspawn who aren't Charname or Durge:

'...a twisted and demonic-looking version of itself that has aspects of the murderous avatar of Bhaal.' More like the Slayer proper, but comes with claws, for some reason. Sustaining the form is still taxing, and causes temporary constitution damage over time when in use (1 per round). - An extra +6 to base AC - +8 to Strength

[Baldur's Gate 3] The Dark Urge:

It's a lizard. One thing we can say for it is that as far as I'm aware, unlike other Bhaalspawn, Durge is not taking damage or being taxed by taking avatar form. (I'll use the level 10 version) - Str 25, Dex, 14, Con 17, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 8 - HP 153 - AC 16 - Movment Speed: 35ft - Multiattack 1d4 - The ability to make things around you bleed and flee for their lives by growling at them - And healing by absorbing or drinking your enemy's blood or something, I'm not sure on the details past opening your enemy's arteries and healing.

[marveling-cg]

Read a fic today where future Luffy, casually, offhandedly, admits to present day Zoro that Luffy had always believed them to be together, but it was Zoro who took time to catch up.

And I'm obsessed.

Because Zoro has been in love since Shells Town, since some kid with too much confidence bartered for Zoro's loyalty and won it, since that same idiot left his back wide open to attack, trusting that a three-week starved Zoro had the strength in him to guard it.

Zoro definitely thought, as Luffy pressed himself unselfconsciously to Zoro's side in the dumb little dinghy they were calling their ship, that he'd found whatever it was that people wrote about in storybooks and romance novels. Only it wasn't dumb and and it wasn't mysterious. Or it was but only because Luffy was an idiot and his thoughts couldn't be deciphered (unless there was an attack imminent and their hearts had fallen into the same racing rhythm, then Luffy made perfect sense).

But no whatever this was with Luffy (forever - he was certain it was forever) made perfect sense: it was trust, and respect, and the kind of lofty dreams that Zoro had already committed his life to. And the bone deep rightness of Luffy making a home of Zoro's personal space.

But then the betrayal at Whiskey Peak, Luffy's fists turned, in earnest, against Zoro. His captain somehow believing the worst of him, and only Nami's voice able to cut through the bullshit.

It made Zoro rethink everything. Had he misunderstood their connection? Romanticized it somehow? Maybe he'd mistaken foolhardy desperation for trust, forced proximity for affection (humiliating).

When they dropped anchor at Little Garden, Zoro had been hurt but hopeful. He left Little Garden certain that Luffy wouldn't, maybe couldn't save him. Thank goodness they'd had the foresight to recruit Usopp. But Zoro needed to be able to save himself, and his crew, too.

By the time they'd reached the dunes of Alabasta, Zoro was well and truly done. At every turn Luffy seemed determined to convince the entire crew that they'd made a grand errors in judgement to follow him. None of it helped by the contrast of Ace: strong, supposedly stronger than Luffy (impossible), and kind, and competent in a way Luffy never quite managed. By the time Chopper had asked him why he was here it was all Zoro could do to temper his irritation, exasperated by the desert heat, to give him an answer fair to their choices and their captain.

Something happened, though, once Luffy took the lead again. Yes, things got stupider, but they also got moving -- and moving in the right direction. It was something to see, the way following Luffy's orders lead to immediate payoff. Saving Smoker gave them the head start they needed.

And then in a bright burst of sunlight and sand, there was Zoro's captain, the idiot who'd stood in front of a couple dozen bullets for a complete stranger. Here he was now, swapping places with their princess, taking on all the risk, and ordering the crew (Zoro) to go on without him. And the payoff was hard won but worthwhile:

The crew stronger, a nation freer, their promises kept.

In the quiet aftermath, he decided. Maybe this wasn't love, but it didn't mean it couldn't be devotion. He'd sworn himself to Luffy, first mate to captain. So he'd put aside his frustration and disappointment and follow him. Without malice or angst. He'd give his counsel where needed (and let's be real, even he knew Luffy would need it), but once Luffy made whatever wild decision he was going to make, Zoro was going to follow it.

So, sure, that meant that after letting himself get jumped by a bunch of assholes in Jaya and letting Luffy get the satisfaction of putting Bellamy in his place alone, he and Luffy were pretty much immediately separated in Skypeia.

Which was fine. In Luffy's absence, Zoro knew what his standing orders were, the same they'd been since Syrup Island and Usopp: protect the crew. Plus, the separation gave Zoro a chance to pit his own strength against this so-called god.

It settled something in him, to witness Luffy take down a man too bizarrely powerful for even Zoro to make a dent at. It meant something, too, that even as Luffy took on the seemingly impossible, he still expected (needed even) Zoro's assistance to see the job done.

In Water 7, it was Zoro in need. "Do we fight or do we forgive?" The fight with Usopp and immediate disappearance of Robin had shaken him, though he'd be loathe to admit it. But Luffy's clarity kept him steady. And leave it to Luffy to find a way for them to do it all: forgive and fight and free.

And if he preened a bit at Luffy turning to him, atop a train, and asking him to dial up his new attack, double it and then some, simply on Luffy's command; if he silently reveled everytime someone mentioned "he wasn't even the captain" (no, he was Luffy's -- first mate); who could blame him?

Nami absolutely gave him shit for blushing at their conversation on the train about following Luffy's orders (Sanji might be happy to ignore Luffy's commands, but Zoro never would). Zoro couldn't bring himself to really care, though. She'd been there on Jaya. Hell, she'd been there when it was just them and a couple of dinghies and absolutely no personal space. She knew just how deep his devotion ran.

It was why, in part, he couldn't let any disrespect from Usopp (or any crew member) stand. Luffy was permissive when it came to voicing dissenting opinions or demonstrating frustration. He lead as if was the whole crew's little brother. But he was the captain they'd all chosen. The captain who'd risked his life time and again to save them (from the trouble he drug them into). And this was a crew willing to risk everything for each other. They couldn't have doubt here.

Zoro was anything but a hypocrite, and so he knew he needed to be honest with himself, too. But they had more important matters to deal with now than Zoro's irrepressible heart. There was some mystery triangle to be navigated, and the New World to reach, and increasingly stronger enemies to be prepared for.

But when Luffy flashed those pearly whites at him and offered to share his food it sent the kind of hope curling low and hot in his gut that he hadn't felt since the East Blue (Did Luffy know? Did he realize how easy Zoro was for him? Was that something he was looking to take advantage of?)

It was a pleasant distraction from the creepy ass hellscape of Thriller Bark.

He should have known it couldn't last -- the simple pleasure of exploring a new space with Luffy and their crew or his attempts to somehow downplay what he felt for his captain.

No, in the light of a new dawn, every doubt, every obsfucation was burned away.

He'd survived losing Kuina, but only barely. He knew he wouldn't survive losing Luffy. And so he wouldn't.

He'd thought he'd been signing his own death warrant, but then Kuma had given him a gift. All Zoro had to do was survive.

And it seemed like that's all Zoro would spend the next two years and change doing -- surviving.

But somewhere in between fighting the Humandrills and Mihawk, Zoro admitted he couldn't fight himself, too.

He wanted Luffy. And wanted to spend his life at Luffy's side. That desire had made him feel weak and vulnerable all those months ago as they'd crossed into the Grand Line. But it had given him strength, too. It had helped him find new depths to pull from, and new reasons to keep going.

So he decided he wouldn't hide this part of himself, not from himself, not from Luffy, not from any one of his prying nakama.

Of course they barely had a quiet moment between Sabaody and Dressrosa. There were old friends and new allies, civil wars and overdue uprisings. And it's okay. As irritated as Zoro was by the chaos of it all, he'd been aware of the realities of traveling with Luffy.

But he can admit that he was grateful to the overwhelming weirdness of Bartolomeo's Luffyship that finally drove his captain into his arms.

Luffy burrowed into his chest and wormed his hands under Zoro's shirt to get to the warm skin beneath. Zoro ran a hand through his captain's hair and pressed him closer so he could warm his chilled skin.

"This reminds me of our first ship," Luffy laughed against his neck. Zoro chuckled, too.

He'd tied Rooster's landing vessel to the side of the ship and bunkered down inside for a bit of privacy.

"It was quieter." They could hear Usopp regaling Barto's pirates with stories of the crew.

Luffy laughed again and shifted, pressing a thigh between Zoro's legs. Zoro let a hand travel down to caress the soft skin beneath Luffy's shorts.

"Are you done being mad at me?"

"What."

"You haven't touched me like this in a long time."

Zoro felt his heart kick it up a notch.

"I didn't realize you wanted me to."

Luffy popped his chin up onto Zoro's chest.

"Hmm, yeah, I guess we didn't really talk about that stuff after."

Zoro was confused. But he was also aware that if he somehow spooked Luffy now, he might never get a direct answer from Luffy again.

"Should we have?"

"I don't know, probably. Ace said something about getting permission."

Zoro knew his grip on Luffy's thigh would be too tight for anyone but Luffy, but he couldn't unclench his fist.

"Luffy, are you and I in the kind of relationship where you expect the kind of touch you need permission for?"

"Aren't we? We said till death do us part."

"WHAT."

Which is how Zoro found out that Luffy interpreted their original promise to each other -- to achieve their dreams, for Luffy to take his life if he somehow impeded Zoro's dreams, for Zoro to see Luffy to Raftel and back or die trying -- as VOWS.