A to Z Challenge 2017 -- Sesshomaru, Sebastian Michaelis, Shiroe #atozchallenge

Okay, he will be the odd man of the bunch today.  His name is Shiore. Before the Apocalypse, he was a graduate student in university studying engineering.  After the Apocalypse, he became the driving force of the Round Table Alliance, the breaking of exploitative guilds, and forming the new guild of Log Horizon.

His name is Shiroe. He is Half-Alv with the class of Enchanter-Scribe, which allows him to help his party members with his magic.  His Scribe class does something even greater in the series - a world changing something.

There are many monikers he is known by, but my favorite is the 'Villain in Glasses'. It is untrue though. He may come across as a Machiavellian schemer but he really only wants to make the lives of the Adventurers stuck in the world of Elder Tales better.

He was the strategist in the Debauchery Tea Party before their disbandment.  He becomes the 'shadow' leader of the Round Table. But he lets Krusty be the front man while making decisions and strategic maneuvers from behind.

🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕

Shesshomaru the full dog demon of the Anime Inuyasha and half brother of the main character of the same name.  He is the Lord of the West another the death of his father.  He despises weakness and most humans.  He carries a katana that has the ability to save a hundred people with one swipe. The Tenseiga is deemed useless by him because it cannot strike down a living person. He craves the sword Tetsusaiga, which was given to Inuyasha.

In one battle, he gets injured by Inuyasha and a little girl finds him and tries to take are of him. He finds her dead, but uses the Tenseiga to revive the girl. This is the first time Sesshomaru feels the compassion needed to use the sword. Rin becomes his traveling companion along with Jaken and Ah-Un the two-headed dragon.

He becomes sort of allies with the Inuyasha and company to fight the evil half-demon Naraku.

He even surpasses his father's power by creating a sword and regenerating his arm, which Inuyasha severed, as the show progresses.

🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂

Sebastian Michaelis is one hell of a butler in the Anime Black Butler. He is contracted to Ciel until such time that the contract is fulfilled and Sebastian eats Ciel's soul.

The crow demon protects his charge from those that want to hurt him, which is a tough assignment indeed. The life of Ciel is complicated to say the least. He works for the Queen to solve mysteries and crimes as he searches for the the people who murdered his parents.

He is extremely fond of cats and hates dogs.  So when Pluto becomes a mender of the household, he cringes and is disdainful.

He also suffers the misfit characters that run the household. One has a penchant for blowing up the kitchen, one can't see past the end of her nose, and the last tries to kill the gardens on a daily basis.  Only they were not recruited for their household skills.  They had other 'talents' Sebastian required.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- YAMAUBA

You lead them through the forest.  They have lost their way.

You open your door for them, offer them food. You give them shelter.

You wait.  Anticipation courses through your veins.  Your mouth salivates.

You gaze upon them and grin.  They are asleep.

Rising, you stalk toward the man.  He barely opens his eyes when you strike.

Ah . . . Heaven.  Hot blood of your victim stains your mouth.  Man flesh tastes wonderful.



Yamauba (or Onibaba) is a Japanese demoness or ogress that was once human.  Usually these women fled because of their wicked deeds or were abandoned in times of famine, but they survive to become yokai.

They are classified in the kijo type yokai. They are cannibalistic and will 'help' travelers and shelter them for the night in their huts. They will attack after their guests have fallen asleep.

 They usually live in isolated mountains and forests far from civilization.

Yamauba may have once been kami before being demonized.

One story has a Yamauba raising Kintaro, a legendary hero.

They can also be found in Noh plays.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- WA NYŪDŌ (VERY DISTURBING. BEWARE!)

He is coming.  You can see the burning flames from the end of the street.  You know there is no mercy in the creature.

Don't look.  Don't look, you tell yourself as you huddle down in fear in your house.

The fire lights up the whole of the room from the window.  You can see the blazing of it even through your eyelids.

It passes by, and you relax.  You survived.  Your head rests against the wall in relief.

Screams sound.  You cringe, praying for those souls that were not so lucky as you.




The Wa Nyūdō is one of the deadliest yokai in the Japanese pantheon of them.

He's described as a flaming ox-cart wheel with a man's head at the hub.  This man was -- according to two different versions -- either a nasty daimyo or a corrupt monk that died and is serving penance.

He works for Hell and loves to haunt urban streets for whatever victims he can find.  This yokai haunts urban city streets.  To look at him will have your soul stolen and taken to Hell.  To fall into his path will have your body torn asunder.

One story had a woman looking at him.  The Wa Nyūdō yells at her that if she had time to look at him, then she had time to look after her baby.  When she turned back to the baby, its limbs had been ripped from its body by the creature.

He appears in the Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki in 1779, but may come from an older work called the Shokoku Hyakumonogaturi from 1677, which is a collection of ghost stories. Evidence suggests that this yokai goes back even farther to the Heian Period (794 to 1185).

There is a specific ofuda that protects against it.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- TENOME

Your friend was supposed to meet you here.  He is late.  You didn't even want to come out here.

You call out his name, hoping he's playing a trick on you.

Going against your better judgment, you enter the graveyard.  Your so going to beat the crap out your friend when you find him.

A strange sound reaches you.  You jump but ignore it as you get closer to the grave you guys wanted to see.

Closer now, the sound reaches you and you swear it's an inhalation like that of a scenting dog.  Strange.

There's something on the ground before the grave.  His jacket?  You shuffle closer.  And then you see it.  It's not just his jacket.

Pained terror stabs your chest as your heart accelerates when you see it's him.  His skin puddled on the ground.

You back up to run away.  As you turn, you see the eyeless face.



This creature is found in the first book of Toriyama Sekien's series, Gazu Hyakki Yakō, which translates to basically Night Parade of A Hundred Demons.  He did not write a single thing about this creature, but his inspiration may have come from older stories of a creature that fits this description.

One version of the origin story says that a blind man was murdered.  His lasts words stated he wished he saw the one/ones who did it even if his eyes were in his hands.  

Well, he got his wish. Tenome literally translates to eyes on hands.  They hang out in graveyards and open fields and they like to eat fresh from the body bones.  

The creature looks like a blind zato, a type of guildman.  They are quick but not powerful, blind as a bat, but with a vicious sense of smell.  

One story has a priest locking a victim in a chest to protect him, but the creature somehow sucked his bones out leaving the skin in the chest.

Yes, this nasty monster did inspire that blipping freaking s.o.b. in Pan's Labyrinth.  

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- SUIKO (UTTERLY GROSS AND SICK AND TWISTED! BE WARNED)

You look over at the small hut in the field and shudder.  The villagers hated the idea, but it was the one sure way of destroying the monster.

They had forbidden anyone from entering the field except for the one who must check the area around the hut.

The stench permeated the air even this far away, which makes your stomach churn. Why anyone would go near is beyond you.

You exit your house and find the elder waiting.  You are to check the hut.

When you near the field, you cover your nose and mouth with cloth.  It will keep out the stench -- barely.  Approaching, you gag at the smell of rotting flesh.  Then you it.  Footprints circling the hut.

You rush around to the other side, and stop.  There on the ground the monster lay dead.


This is how to kill a Suiko.  They are not Kappa, but they are related to them.  Suiko translates to water tiger.

They are more aggressive and have control of kappas, sort of like a mid level boss of mafia thugs, which means they have a hierarchy as do the kappa.  They report to Ryū-ō, the dragon king.

They have growths on their knees that resemble tiger paws.

These water goblins don't go after the shirikodama, aka the human's small anus ball. (No joke. Kappa may find it in the way of getting to the liver or something.  They may even want it. Plus, waterlogged dead bodies sometimes have pooched out bumoly holes.)  Nope, these bad boys like to suck the blood out of a human and eat the  reikon (soul).

They only way known to kill them is to put the dead body on a plank and in a hut of grass and straw and let the corpse rot.  The Suiko has no choice but to be drawn to their victim and will race around the hut until the corpse rots enough that the creature dies.  It is said that it is can become invisible until it dies.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- RED ROOM (AKAI HEYA)

You knock on her door, but there is no answer.  She never does.  You don't worry too much because her music is blaring.

You call out to tell her to go to sleep since it's late.  She heard because the music quiets instantly.

When you knock the next morning, she says nothing.  You go downstairs to make breakfast. Twenty minutes later, you begin to worry. She's usually stomping down the stairs by now.

You go check on her.  Your heart is doing flip-flops for some reason as you reach her door.  You knock and call out again then warn her that you're entering.

You hesitate turning the knob, but you finally do.  The streaming sunlight blinds you for a second.  Blinking, your eyesight adjusts and you see thick streaks of red on the wall closest to you.

Paint?  Then the rusty smell hits you and your gut clenches in fear and sickness.

Not paint.  Blood.  Red stained fingers are stretched out on the far side of the bed. You scream.



The Red Room is a Japanese urban legend in which a pop-up asks a series of questions and then a list of names appears at the bottom with your name added.  One specific question is: Do you like the red room?

When you see a specific pop-up, you commit suicide by using your own blood to paint your room.

This urban legend has an actual murder that is attached to it.  A girl murdered another girl.  Sasebo Slashing (as it is called) took place in 2004.  The girl viciously beat and cut up the victim.

Supposedly, one of her topped bookmarked site on her computer was the Red Room Curse.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- OSHIROIBABA

You see the old woman and sneer at her shabbiness.  Her ragged kimono and tattered, overlarge sugegasa overwhelm the hunched woman.

Distaste curls in your mind as you see the tokkuri of sake.

Light shines in her eyes when she sees you.  Leaning on her bamboo cane, she tells you she is a peddler of face powder guaranteed to make you even more beautiful.

 Inwardly preening as your ego is stroked, you know your beauty is talked about by the neighbors, but you scoff.

She offers it for half price as she tells you to think of the young man and your competition.

Your heart skips a beat as you think of Satori winning Akane's heart.

You buy the powder and rush home.  You apply it to your face and wonder what is so special about it.

Then pain.  Agony makes you scream. In the mirror, your face begins to melt away.



Oshiroibaba comes on the twelfth month on moonlit nights.  She is sometimes referred to as a servant of the Goddess of Crimson Cosmetics, but there is only one reference to this.

Her name translates to 白粉 (oshiroi; white face powder) + 婆 (baba; old woman, hag).  The face powder reference is mostly toward the specific one used by geisha and maiko.

In the Konjaku hyakki Shūi, Toriyama Sekien presents her in this third
book of the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō, which was published in around 1781.

She is supposed to have face powder slathered on her face willy-nilly and in a few stories has an invisible mirror that is dragged behind her.

Her powder is said to melt off the faces of those who use it.  Maybe it was punishment for the vain?

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- NUKEKUBI

Blood! Blood! 

The cry rips through your mind as you hunger for it.  Your craving must be fulfilled.  You need it.

A lone man walks down the street.  You grin as you chase him down.

He turns, cries out in fright, and raises his arms to fight you off.  Only, you are faster and more agile than him.  You have the upper hand.

You pierce his neck with your teeth, drinking the hot, coppery liquid in ravenous gulps.

Your craving has been met.



This, my friends, is a Nukekubi.  Nukekubi (removable neck, missing neck) is a creature that does not know that she is a creature.  She is a vampiric version of the Rokurokubi. , which translates roughly to pulley neck.

By day she is a normal woman.  It's at night that her head detaches and and goes flying about looking for victims.

The woman can pass this to their daughter.

Some say that there are lines or wrinkles around the neck where the head comes off the body.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- JEOSEUNG SAJA

Burning rubber and gasoline fumes fill your nostrils as you blink.  Your blurry vision fades in and out before clearing.  It's tough to see through the smoke.

The taste of blood comes.  Then pain.  An all-over pain that floods every nerve ending in your body.

You remember what happened.  A truck weaving in all over the road plowed into multiple cars.

Sirens grow louder.  Flashing bright lights are still far away dots.

Heat rises in the car.  It's on fire.  Frightened, your frantic gaze tries to find help.

A man slowly walks toward you.  His black robe flows like water over his legs.  His pale skin glows from the harsh streetlights and flickering headlights.  On his head, he wears a strange round hat.

Your heart flutters as his eyes meet yours.  He is not here to help you.  He has come to take your soul.


The Jeoseung Saja (저승사자) is the Korean version of the Grim Reaper.  He appears before those whose time is near.  It is a death omen to dream of them. They will appear in places heavy in death like hospitals, graveyards, and accidents.

They are dressed in dark robes and a Joseon-era gat, which is the distinctive black hat of that time.  They are said to be extremely pale and have sunken eyes.  They look very human to the eye.

Sent to collect souls and guide them to the afterlife down the Hwangcheon Road. They cannot be bribed and will pursue a spirit relentlessly.

They are under the command of King Yeomna [Yeomna (염라) and Great King Yeomna (염라대왕, Yŏmna Daewang)].  Also know as Yan, Enma-O, Yama, and other names in different places.

The Jeoseung Saja deliever to him those to be judged.  

gh

My other choices for today were the yokai Jubokko, which is a tree yokai that drinks the blood of their human victims.  They are created at places of great violence and death like battlefields.  The roots of a tree soak up enough of the blood and turn it into a blood craving monster.  Underneath the creature, the bones of it's victims can be found.

The second was a gouged out-eyed ghost from Korea called Jayuro Gwishin. She is part of an urban legend where she is found on a strip of highway in South Korea known for many accidents because of the deep fog there.  

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- ITTAN MOMEN, ISO OONA

The whir of the sewing machine is a pleasant sound as the final blocks are coming together.

A cool breeze drifts in from the open window, refreshing the room.

You lift your foot off the peddle and cut the thread and sigh with accomplishment.

Without warning, a shadow blocks the light above you.  A startled gasp escapes. You begin to turn but cry out as a cloth wraps around your face and neck.

You fight.  You struggle.  The cloth tightens even more.  Your lungs burn.  Then nothing.


And that, my friends, is the Ittan-Momen.  It's the quilter's worst nightmare.  It literally is a piece of cloth (it's name translates basically to one tan (kind of a like a bolt) of cotton.  Only this baby has been possessed.

This tsukumogami likes to fly around at night and attack random strangers by strangling them and/or suffocating them by wrapping themselves around the person's face.

This guys are out and out evil.

They originated in Kagoshima Prefecture.

So beware quilters.  You never know when those rolls of fabric might be staring back at you.

gh

Walking along the rocky beach, you see a beautiful woman gazing upon the sea.  Concerned because she is dripping wet, you approach.

When you open your mouth to speak, a sound so terrible nearly blinds and deafens you.  Unable to move, your blurry vision only sees strings of black.

Then the horrendous pain begins.  Thousands of sharp stabs all over your body are like needles.  It's so overwhelming you are barely aware of being dragged into the ocean.


This devilish creature from the deep is the Iso Onna.  She is similar to Sirens and Nure Onna.  They are creatures that use their hair to suck a victim's blood.

Iso Onna translates to something like coast woman.  (its tough to find a reliable online translator.) They are Japanese in origin from Western coastline and favor the Kyushu region.

They sometimes attack from the water to drag helpless victims from boats, and they even call their prey from cliff sides.  These poor souls are so mesmerized by The Iso Onna's voice that don't realize that they are even in danger of falling.

They are the vampires of the sea, and we are their tasty treats.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- HONE-ONNA

You can't believe it. The rumors that she has died is a lie.  Greeting her with open arms, you spend all night reaffirming your love.

She's gone the next morning only to return that night.

Over and over, she comes and loves you.

Soon you feel tired, and after a while, the exhaustion takes over.

Fearful for your life, your family summons someone to help.  The monk sits and watches as your lover comes to you once again.

He tells of the sickening sight he witnessed and offers prayers and wards to protect the house, but you protest.  You love her.  She loves you.

The monk shakes his head sadly, knowing what is to come.

Your lover comes and lays with you, and you breathe your last.



Hone Onna is a Japanese spirit of a woman who returns to her lover.  She rises from the grave and appears as her young, beautiful self.  Her name translates to bone woman

They spend the night hours loving the object of their affection and stealing their life force.  The lover becomes sickly and weak with each visitation until the lover dies.

If the ghost is found out, the household can use charms and wards to protect the house, but they only work if they master of the house wills them into being.

Only those with strong religious faith and those unclouded by love can see the true form of the Hone Onna: a fetid, rotting skeleton.  As she rots, her appeal actually will strengthen.

If she is found out the lover may reject her, but she will continue to visit.

The saddest part of the entire thing is that she never realizes.  Her only concern is to continue to love the one in her heart.

gh

My second choice for today was Hitobashira, which means human pillar.

Yes, I do mean a literal human pillar -- as in person sacrificed in the constructing a building.  They are buried alive in the foundations of said building.  They were believed to protect the building by appeasing the nature spirits and warding the building from things.

There are rumors that this practice might have been still in use in the 20th century.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- GASHADORKURO

Your heart pounds in your chest as a chill crawls up you spine.  You didn't want to to travel this road tonight, but there was no other choice.  Message of the slaughter has to reach the shogun.

The night falls silent.  Gaichi Gaichi.

Silence.  Gaichi Gaichi.

Silence.  Gaichi Gaichi.

Your guts churn in terror at the unnatural sound.  You will your legs to move, but they are jelly.  You wait for it again even as you continue down the road.  Nothing. You take a deep breath when the sound doesn't repeat again.

SNAP!  You cannot scream as your chest is crushed.  A flying sensation as you are lifted from the ground.  Your last image is the giant creature's skeletal mouth.


In Japanese legend, a Gashadokuro (or ōdokuro (giant skeleton)) is created from soldiers that have rotted on the battlefield or from those who die of famine and do not receive funerary rites.  They are reborn as hungry ghosts and resenting humans.  They grow stronger as their hate grows until it becomes a supernatural force.

Their bones will mass together to form this monstrous creature full of malice and hate.

It will wander the countryside and will crush their victim or rip off his head.  Some stories suggest that the monster will drink the victim's blood and may even add it's victim to their body.

There is no way to kill such a monster.  Its rage must abate, but with hundreds of dead amongst the the Gashadokuro's body, that is not very likely to happen.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- FURUTSUBAKI NO REI

The woman standing under the shade of the camellia is beautiful.  She draws you in with  saying a word.  it's as if you are pulled toward her with a string.

Slowly you approach; your heart thumping in your ears.  You know something is not human about her, but you can't stop yourself.

Her hand rises ever so slowly.  You watch with sick facination, wanting to run, but you can't move.  Then, she touches you and you know nothing more.

The Furutsubaki no Rei is a Japanese yokai that is created from a the tsubaki tree, which is also called the rose of winter and Camellia japonica.  The yokai is the spirit of the tree that has reached a certain age and can manifest itself as a beatuiful woman outside the host tree.

One legend has her transforming a merchant into a bee and killing him.
Another legend has the spirit as a Yonaki Tsubaki (night-crying tsubaki) that foretells misfortune. At a shrine in Akita prefecture, the temple Kanman-ji has such a tsubaki, which supposedly has stood for 700 years.

This evergree is known for an unusual ability.  Instead of having petals fall off individually, the flower will fall off all at once. Thus associating them with death and taboo to give to sick people.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- BUS 302 OR THE MIDNIGHT BUS, BOROBOROTON

It's late at night, you're on the bus minding your own business.  The bus let's on some passengers, but you don't pay attention. Suddenly, an elderly man gets up from his seat and starts yelling at you for no reason.
He gets physically violent.

The bus driver kicks you both off the bus, leaving you stranded with the old man. Angry now, you confront the old man, and he has the audacity to say that he saved your life.  How? you ask.

This is the urban legend Bus 302 from China.  Also called the Midnight Bus.

It has various versions, but in all of them the bus is doomed.

The young man learns from the old  man that the passengers that got on the bus had no feet.  They were spirits. The young man then learns that the bus had disappeared just after midnight and was never found again.

In a similar version, it was drunk man and an old man with all the other passengers being spirits.  The last version I found, had a female bus driver, three nasty robbers, and a poor guy who couldn't fight to save the woman's virtue.  The bus on this one is driven off a cliff.

Chinese ghosts are believed to flow when they walk, and that their heels don't touch the ground.  So, they have 'no feet'.

gh

 A slight movement wakes you.  The small shift of bedding closer to your face.  You think that it was only whimsy and you close your eyes to go back to sleep.  Then you feel it again.  The bedding is moving on its own.

You try to escape but it's no use. You are thrown out of bed and crash to the floor. Then, the blanket wraps around your neck to strangle you.

This, my friends, is the Boroboro-ton, which basically translates  to tattered futon from the Japanese.

It appeared in 1781 in the Hyakki Tsurezure Bukuro, which was one of the books in the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō. This set of books featured spirits, ghosts, monsters, and beasts in folklore, art, and literature.

It is a Tsukumogami (artifact spirit).  Usually these yokai are objects that have been possessed by ghosts or spirits, or have been in use for 100 years.  It is believed by many that the object will then receive a soul. They then will look pristine despite its age.

If they feel ignored or neglected, that's when they will come alive and become monsters.

So, next time you wake up with the blankets wrapped tightly around you suffocatingly  . . . Beware! It might not be your imagination.  They really might be out to kill you!

A TO Z CHALLENGE -- AKA MANTO

So, you have to go to the bathroom.  You enter a stall and do your business.

A frigid draft floats over the stall wall.  Goosebumps rise on your arms.  Your heart skips a beat as the lights above flicker and die.

 An inhuman voice speaks. "Do you want a red cloak or blue cloak?"

Chills crawl all over your body at the disimbodied voice.  You have to make a choice.  Which one will you choose?



And that my friends is the basis of the urban legend from Japan called Aka Manto, which translates to Red Cloak.  It has many names Red Mantle, Red Cape, Red Paper Blue Paper, and more.  In Romanji they are: Aka Manto Ao Manto, Aka Hanten Ao Hanten, or Aka Kami Ao Kami.

And sitting alone and vulnerable, you contemplate them.  Only, either choice is dismal.

With red, you end up being beheaded and your blood runs down your body in a grotesque mock cape, your flesh is ripped from your back (and some versions have the ghost tying it around your neck), skinned alive, or slits your throat (again mocking a red cape).

With blue, your blood is entirely drained, or you are suffocated by choking. Either of which will leave you a sick shade of blue.

If you think choosing another color will get freed.  Sorry. Not happening.  Any other color gets you sucked into a vortex to some netherworld. . .
Well, that is if you can believe the last version of the story.
If you say yellow . . . yellow may let you live.

Yellow gets you a swirlie in your own filth.

Lastly, you might get away if you chose no color at all.

This modern day urban legend has its roots starting around 1935.  There are variations of who started it.  There was a rumor that a to-die-for handsome man wore a white mask to cover his face and he hung out in shoe lockers.  Another is a banker wanted to cause a panic. He didn't start hanging out in girl's bathrooms until the 1980s.

In any case, this urban legend may have even older roots.  The Kamishibai (kah-mee-she-bye, 'paper theater'), a traditional storytelling method, has mention of a gentlman in a red cape said to be magical.