#flame leg millipede

[artsyaxolotl]

Meet September's Pal of the Month... the Flame Leg Millipede!

Living in the lush, damp deciduous forests of the Philippines, the flameleg millipede earned its name for a reason. Its vibrant orange and yellow legs stand out like tiny flames against its sleek black body, a dazzling display believed to warn potential predators. When threatened, these millipedes can secrete a liquid that can even stain human skin!

Despite their fiery appearance, flame leg millipedes are peaceful herbivores. Often found in small groups, they munch on decaying leaves and organic matter, playing a vital role in decomposition and returning nutrients to the soil. Some enthusiasts in the exotic pet hobby claim their legs even glow under blacklight.

The flame leg millipede is classed as "least concern" and is an uncommon but popular pet for insect enthusiasts due to its beautiful colors.

Members of the Ko-fi Club will get a 3in sticker and a collectible trading card!

[maniculum]

Bestiaryposting Results: Gaersnae

This one seems to be flying under the radar, identification-wise, much more than I expected, which is a pleasant surprise. I don't have anything else to add at the beginning of this post. The entry people are working from is here:

And if you don't know what this "bestiaryposting" business is, you can find an explanation and all previous posts at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

Now, art in roughly chronological order:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) has made the entirely logical decision that the "king of crawling things" should be whichever creature has the most legs, and drawn us a millipede large enough to fight a weasel. I think this is a good and sensible direction, and that's a quality depiction of a millipede/weasel fight right there.

@sweetlyfez (link to post here) has gone in a more rodent-y direction, with the interesting detail that, as a result of living in caves, its legs are gradually becoming vestigial. I think this is also quite clever, and the rat is pretty cute.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) decided that the "king of crawling things" should have no legs, as maximum crawling happens when one is flat on one's belly. Hence our crowned snake -- complete with a bird going down in flames near the top of the drawing, and a weasel/Hreksong invading the burrows near the bottom. I think the "crown" works really well, and it's always nice to see a callback to previous beasts. As usual, CheapSweets has provided an interesting and informative explanation of their design in the linked post -- I particularly liked the phrase "pelvic spur for extra rizz".

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) is running with the idea of a creature that kills with its scent (and has white stripes), so we have this amazing picture of a skunk zapping an owl out of the sky. The medieval skunk is excellent -- I think if they had skunks in medieval Europe, that's probably how they would have drawn them -- and the scribbly owl is just delightful. Check the linked post for additional observations and a link to a short but informative source about medieval owls.

@pomrania (link to post here) also has some skunk inspiration going on here, though their version has some extra legs and a kind of boar-like face. A very informative series of drawings about how this thing can kill you -- I particularly like the one with the little scroll reading "deadly!!"

@strixcattus (link to post here) has contributed an invertebrate, which I think makes this one of the only entries that's gotten more than one of those. And that's a solid drawing of an arthropod -- I also like the lettering at the bottom right there. As usual, I implore you to read the write-up in the linked post, where the animal is re-imagined from the perspective of a modern naturalist.

Okay, Aberdeen Bestiary:

So this is actually a case of the artist's preconceptions making them mess it up a bit. You may notice that it does not fit the description. It also sticks out a bit in the context of the bestiary, because it's in the "snake" section of the manuscript.

What's happened here is that this is the entry for the basilisk, but the artist has drawn a cockatrice. This is not actually unusual, as the two mythical beasts are hopelessly entangled in the tradition; I looked into it a bit, and it seems like there's actually some confusion about where the cockatrice even comes from. Probably the reason the two creatures have similar powers attributed to them is because the cockatrice kind of inherited that aspect from the basilisk.

(See, e.g., Breiner, Laurence A. "The Career of the Cockatrice." Isis, vol. 70, no. 1, 1979, pp. 30–47.)

Anyway, the basilisk is so called because it is the king of snakes -- basileus is Greek for "king", and -iskos is a diminutive. Little king.

(The translation provided by the University of Aberdeen, "king of crawling things," is unusual -- the Latin reads "rex serpentium". It's possible this translation choice is because of the flexibility of the term "serpent".)

This is a creature originally described by classical authors and then passed along through medieval European sources. It has white stripes, often some sort of "crown" on its head, is venomous, and is sometimes said to distinguish itself from other snakes by holding the front part of its body regally upright... yeah, it's obviously a cobra that's been telephoned and exaggerated into being ludicrously deadly. Just swap out "weasel" for "mongoose" -- I think that's pretty clearly a case of some author who distantly predated scientific taxonomy just going, "looks like a weasel to me".

Also, this entry ends with:

The creature called sibilus is the same as the regulus, or basilisk; for it kills with its hiss before it bites or burns.

I am not aware of any creature called sibilus.

[merakiione]

-wolverine, alone-

a millipede has more faces than legs– one

a baboon’s byzantium snarl or number two

the flutter of a hare whose back is fastened with silkworm chiffon

a stone is no more than a bullet with a back yet to be broken

saturn’s rings shaping four elements, an ouroboros,

tongues of flame water the front yard hurricane

scattered bolide pieces, a starshine bangle

transcendental, we fly on buffalo back but below

do i not see you swimming there, with the

turtle that carries a holy spirit keychain, that jungle matrix?

i search for pale blue colors but i believe swatch 6785 is best

any entity sniffing about here is coated in it, a nebulous hue

but most of us are just in search of the teapot– my teapot

the uncle that hands it to me has not changed his robes

or trimmed the hairs of his beard since his son held

the last egg, fortress of combustion and first-rate engines

these wyverns, amphipteres, wyrms, and drakes, where else

do you think the light could possibly come from?

knuckle to knuckle, fist to fist, the phosphorescence of two eyes

arrows circling, soaring on something paper-light, paper kites

in my iceberg palace, the cold feels no different from home’s.

[imber-rose]

Two recent adopts a created! Been loving working on creature based fellas

The first ones based on a California Red Sided Garter Snake

And the second is based on a Flame Legged Millipede

Both are $25usd and you can DM if interested!

And there’s a bonus third boy who I’m raffling off on TH based on the fearsome Bobbit Worm!

[rodrigobera04]

Bug Type is next, finishing off my favorite types:

BUG pure:

Jumping cockroach that uses a stick to pole vault.

Very thin stick insect like a stick figure, it camouflages itself as a bush that blocks paths.

Frog bug with a mouthpiece to suck insect fluids, like a frog's tongue.

Wingless moth shooting silk to defend itself.

Spiders living in communities, together to hunt and defend themselves.

Beetle imitating an arachnid Pokémon, such as Ariados and galvantula.

Edible larva resembling homemade bread.

Literal honey ant that, when crushed, spreads sweet secretions.

Woodlouse rolling like a ball and leaving marks like a tire.

BUG/GRASS

Wasps making a nest inside a fig which explodes in a swarm bomb.

Pollinating insect, a bee or butterfly, blowing allergic pollen from its wings.

Spider with a pitcher plant for its abdomen where it traps insects.

Huge beetle similar to a sloth, covered in fungi and algae.

Termites gnawing on wood and throwing sawdust, related to carpentry.

Apple with worms coming out of it like snakes from a gorgona.

Katydid covered in thorns, where it houses its pre-evolution.

Larva inside a bean moving like a spring.

Cochineal producing a fungus that is harmful to plants.

BUG/STEEL

Deathclock beetle with a mechanical appearance, like a toy car.

Millipede looking like a little train, transporting things on its back.

Lanternfly with a serrated protuberance on its head, like a winged saw.

Silverfish rusting metal to better digest it.

Butterfly with sharp wings to cut off aerial predators.

Earwig with a stretchable hook tail.

Mechanical-looking drone fly used in espionage.

Giant cockroach resembling a shield, where it protects its young.

Whip spider fighting with metallic claws like steel clubs.

BUG/FLYING

Spider mimetizing a fly to trick insects, using webs as wings.

Locusts creating hurricanes with their swarms.

Moth making noises with its wings that sabotage the bat radar.

Female strepisiptera using a wasp as an airplane.

Bird parasitic mite flying on a feather like a board.

Crab using its hind legs as wings to fly in the air.

Flea jumping so high it seems to fly.

Beetle looking like a science fiction flying car.

Bee with Z-shaped wings, creating annoying sound waves.

BUG/ICE

Saber-toothed flea, specialized in parasitizing mammoswine.

Icebug literally made of ice, melting in contact with heat.

Ice age worm or larva, preserved and resurrected.

Springtail who lives in the snow, looks like a bunny or a lemming.

Arachnid rolling your body and creating a snowball.

Snow mayfly, melting in the spring heat, alluding to its short life.

Fly from the frozen pole, covered with ice to protect itself from high temperatures.

Carpet beetle stealing fabric to stay warm.

BUG/FIRE

Draconic-looking hairy caterpillar with boiling hairs.

Flaming mosquito that causes fever through its bite.

Volcanic beetle with a carapace formed from hardened lava.

Explosive wasp launching itself at targets.

Hellgramite, which lives in lava, has flaming jaws in its adult form.

Camel spider with solar powers in allusion to its other name, sun spider.

Vinagaroon spraying flammable liquid from its tail.

Killer insect blowing smoke to catch insects.

Ant with explosive bomb abdomen.

BUG/NORMAL

Assasin insect looking like an anteater.

Rubber toy that imitates a real insect.

House spider with long legs, covered in dust.

Fuzzy mite looking like a stuffed animal.

Camouflaged insect, with its body adapted to hide in the environment.

Giraffe beetle that looks like a literal giraffe.

Ant delivering things, carrying objects on its back.

Furry and smelly Pokémon, with symbiotic flies to protect it.

Small insects controlling a mannequin or doll, pretending to be a person.

BUG/ELECTRIC

Parasitic fly that inhabits the hair of mareeps.

Dragonfly fast as lightning, leaving a trail of light.

Ladybug with spots that glow in the dark, serving as a guide.

Scorpion adapting its stinger to a lamp, attracting insects.

Insectoid creature made of pixels that causes a "bug" in the game.

Lanterbug com asas brilhantes como LED.

Bee creating energetic and colorful honey that gives a lot of energy.

Pikachu's convergent Springtail.

Bioluminescent cockroach that inhabits appliances and sockets.

BUG/GROUND

Sprinting tiger beetle leaving a trail of sand.

Sauvas soldiers carrying buds and leaves as weapons.

Carpenter bee using a snail shell as a hive.

Termite mound golem controlled by termites like a mecha.

Millipede imitating a snake seen from above.

Insect monster imitating a coffin, with its abdomen pretending to be a corpse.

Weta digging the ground and biting the opponent's feet.

Camel spider looking like a mole.

Ant lion larvae acting like a school of piranhas, tearing apart prey.

BUG/ROCK

Arthlopleura looking like a brontosaurus, like Armaldo looks like a carnosaur.

Meganeura similar to a pterodactyl, counterpart to the arthlopleura.

Beetle decorated with precious jewels and crystals.

Cave insect that uses its claws like pickaxes to dig holes.

Cadsfly larva with a stone dwelling and hikikomori personality.

Butterfly with crystal clear wings like a mosaic.

Huge insectoid-shaped tectonic plate, based on jinshi mushi, causes earthquakes.

A literal emerald cockroach.

Fly fed with salt, gaining a square and rocky shape.

BUG/FIGHTING

Fly with structures resembling deer horns.

Epomys beetle, rival of Toxicroak, Poliwrath and other frog Pokémon.

Tongue parasite controlling a "walking" fish.

"Batman" style anti-hero moth fights birds and bats.

Wasp with stingers in its fists.

Spider using two smaller spiders as yo-yos.

Cricket with long antennas used as Olympic ribbons.

Beetle with two horns looking like an angry ox.

Flea that bit a werewolf and became a powerful monster.

BUG/WATER

Diving dragonfly, adapted its wings to swim in water.

Water flea creating water replicas of itself, alluding to its multiplication.

Tadpole shrimp sleeping for years and waking up today.

Stick insect imitating an umbrella with its wings.

Butterfly creating waves in the water by flapping its wings.

Fly inside a bubble to dive.

Flying insect living near water with a bait and hook sting.

Cleaner shrimp capable of curing poison and other damage from other Pokémon.

Sea flea hiding in the sand and quickly devouring its prey.

LEGENDARY:

Butterfly bug/flying dying and resurrecting back to its caterpillar form; personifies cycles.

[reksink]

Bug delivery~

Ebony jewelwing damselfly, a tiny fly (maybe complex Condylostylus sipho), and a yellow-and-black flat millipede

BUG DELIVERY 💚💚💚

Officially tagging this ask series Bug Delivery now, thank you Flame, it's perfect

Oh my goodness these guys are so pretty!! My favorite of the bunch has to be the flat back, I have a big soft spot for millipedes. Not to mention that it's pattern is just oh so pretty

As for our flying companions, they're masters of colors in their own right OMGA. The damselfly is living up to it's name ten-fold 💚

I always loved the 'rainbow-like' qualities of bugs, but the way flies always has a flare to I can't quite describe

Also I meant to mention this before but I'm STILL 'embarrassed' that I mixed out that millipede from last time, hehe. Embarrassed in quotes because it was an honest mistake, I could only make out 1 leg per trunk. Oh the woes of not zoning in hehe

[daisybell9000]

OF COURSE I WOULD STILL WANT YOU IF YOU WERE A BBUG..... i would make you the best enclosure ever for whatever species you got poofed into :] also depending on species i would hold you a little bit and let you walk on my desk. oh look up flame leg millipedes also. they remind me of you -🐛

They're very long. You know what else is long?

[merakiione]

-wolverine, alone-

a millipede has more faces than legs– one 

a baboon’s byzantium snarl or number two

the flutter of a hare whose back is fastened with silkworm chiffon

a stone is no more than a bullet with a back yet to be broken 

saturn’s rings shaping four elements, an ouroboros,

tongues of flame water the front yard hurricane 

scattered bolide pieces, a starshine bangle 

transcendental, we fly on buffalo back but below

do i not see you swimming there, with the 

turtle that carries a holy spirit keychain, that jungle matrix?

i search for pale blue colors but i believe swatch 6785 is best

any entity sniffing about here is coated in it, a nebulous hue

but most of us are just in search of the teapot– my teapot

the uncle that hands it to me has not changed his robes

or trimmed the hairs of his beard since his son held

the last egg, fortress of combustion and first-rate engines

these wyverns, amphipteres, wyrms, and drakes, where else

do you think the light could possibly come from? 

knuckle to knuckle, fist to fist, the phosphorescence of two eyes

arrows circling, soaring on something paper-light, paper kites 

in my iceberg palace, the cold feels no different from home’s.

hello, fellow travelers.

i have a poetry prompt for you:

the spirit world

reblog with your original poetry.

have a good early October everyone.

[schizoidnightmares]

The Gorge, V: Many Eyes

A.I. placeholder artwork generated using NightCafe Stable Diffusion XL v1.0 — CC0 1.0

144th of First, 1100 A.W. — Yesterday, our hope of seeing home again went up in flames. The HSS Heaven Sails is no more, a burnt carcass. Some pieces of it are probably on their way to the ocean by now. Maybe someday, a piece will drift back to the shores of Heaven’s Peninsula. Maybe. That’s about all the evidence that will return of us.

You can see it all in the eyes of the surviving crew. Shock, pain, fear, and anger… It’s all flowing through us like a sizzling stream of molten metal. Our future is cast. These canyons, or whatever lies beyond, will become our new home and grave. There’s no fixing it.

I barely have the motivation to write anymore, but it helps to keep my mind occupied. Only 47 of us are left now. 13 perished in the fire and chaos that followed. We know little about why or how it happened. At early dawn, a fire broke out on board. There was a great panic. Some crew aboard threw themselves over. Some died from the fall, and others perished when the airsail crashed and exploded on the island. We, the survivors, escaped the flames by jumping into the river. Most of the dead died there, drowning. We could still feel the heat and see the steam even a decent way downriver.

We haven’t lost everything. During the fire, some crew tossed as many supplies as they could overboard. I had all my records already with me on the island. However, I did lose one of my journals in the swim downriver — mainly containing technical minutiae. I’m surprised how well my leather scroll cases held up in the water. Most of the paper inside is in good condition.

Downriver, we found a hole in a rock wall. There’s a cave inside, with a whole network of tunnels. We’ve travelled deeper within and taken shelter. The caves are full of biting insects. The spiders, ants, and scorpions are the worst. They’re a bit bigger than the ones at home and a lot more vicious. At night, they won’t leave you alone. You can see them crawling all along the walls and ceiling, coming in and out of crevices in the rock. They drive the crew mad.

There’s also something else in these caves, something much larger than any insect, or mammal, for that matter. Captain Leaping Tiger thinks the crew are seeing things, but he’s wrong. I’ve seen it — only its eyes, its many eyes. Whatever it is, it’s bigger than Man. Maybe twice the size. Last night, I saw it watching us from another tunnel above our camp in the caves. The light from the fire reflected in its many dark, round beady eyes. It remained still all night but was gone by the time I awoke. I didn’t dare move. Some of the other men saw it, too.

Despite all that has happened, the captain has kept the surviving crew together. There are some with minor injuries. Our cook, Leap Frog, suffers from burns on his arms. He’s still keeping his spirits up, but Doctor Fog Eyes has ordered him to refrain from performing his duties. Fog Eyes is despondent. He sees the destruction of the airsail as if it were a divorce — from a wife he never married. I feel more shock than loss, but I’m grateful to be alive. However, getting shelter outside these caves will be a relief — away from all the insects.

These caves are not entirely enclosed. Light from the moon or the sun leaks through crevices in the rock above. Tonight is our second night. I write by faint candlelight. We’ve moved further in the caves since the first night, setting up camp in the broadest part of the caverns we could find. It’s still cramped but not as bad as the cabin was back on the airsail.

The mysterious creature I and some of the crew saw, we call it Many Eyes. I haven’t seen it tonight. We’re not in the same place we were before. One of the crew claims it looks like a giant millipede but with countless hairy, thin pairs of both bottom and top legs completely surrounding its body. He says it moves slowly and methodically. It would pull insects out of crevices with its legs, retracting them rapidly into its body. He did not get a sight of the creature’s length. Instead of turning around, it crept away backwards. He described its locomotion as silky smooth, with no bobbing of its eyes.

I don’t know if these descriptions of the creature help ease my mind at all. Perhaps, while curious of us, it doesn’t regard us as a potential meal. We’re much bigger than the insects, so I find it hard to believe it could swallow a man. We probably would taste a lot different, too.

Thank you for reading

This story is the fifth scene of “The Gorge,” the third short story in Schizoid Nightmares Anthology I. The previous scene is available here. The next scene is available here.

[saltycharacters]

[Image ID: A digital drawing of a flame leg millipede wrapped around the stem and leaves of a yellow alstromeria flower. End ID]

Tattoo design I made for a friend! 

[ramenreptiles]

Needed to take a mental break from a current custom to try something I would never have been able to do with normal clay. A flame leg millipede with cosclay legs and antennae! It looks like I can actually make invertebrates! This guy is in my shop, let me know if you all would be interested in more stuff like this.

[wormthing]

Redesigns for Rolycoly's evolution line! Design notes after the ID.

ID: A drawing of Rolycoly's evolution line from Pokemon, with some changes. Rolycoly is unchanged, a small lump of dirt and coal, with one orange eye, supported by a stone wheel. Written beneath is "coal + roly poly".

Carkoal is mostly unchanged, a grey box-shaped container supported by four brown stony legs. Its stone head is situated towards the bottom of the box, which is full of glowing coals. Written beneath is "charcoal + cart" and a small drawing of its face.

Coalossal is now shaped like the front of a train with a cart full of coal in the back. It has six stony legs and three glowing orange bands segmenting it. Its body is grey, with its face stony, three horns coming out of it, two of which are spewing black smoke. Written below is "coal-powered train + millipede", and a drawing of its face with mouth open. End ID.

I saw someone say something about how Coalossal was a really disappointing Pokemon, and it made me think back on how I was really excited to see there was apparently a roly-poly-based Pokemon, only to be kind of bewildered for it to turn into a buff pile of coal.

So, I wanted to redesign it to make it more bug-like, as well as inspired by trains, which is what my mind first goes to when I think of coal.

Rolycoly is mostly unchanged, I made the rocks along its back more of a banded pattern.

Carkoal is also not changed much, I moved its head down to look less like a platform supporting coal (which is what I thought it was originally but it turns out it's supposed to be a mine cart?) and more like a box. I also kept the wheel as a tummy and the orange eyes.

Coalossal goes back to the many-legged arthropod theme introduced with Rolycoly (even if just by name). I think it's a bit lizard-like too. It has a big chin fashioned after that grille on trains, and horns that spew smoke. The bands are for venting heat and also just to look like millipede segments.

I wanted to give the impression that it becomes less dirt-based and more metallic as it evolves. I imagine this Coalossal scoops coals and rocks in with its chin and eats them for power, and is very fast so it can be used for travel ::-)

Even though I think having a buggy Coalossal would be cool, I imagine that having two flaming many-legged arthropods (sizzlipede...) in one generation would be weirdly redundant. I also can appreciate their original designs after reading about their name meanings.

[onenicebugperday]

What's ur fav millipede species? :] mine are the giant african millipede & firelegs

Gosh I don't know if I could choose!! The giant green pill millipedes in Madagascar are pretty dang cool. So are feather millipedes. Tbh might go with flame legs as well, they're just sooooo pretty. And of course smoky oaks and Florida ivories, because I keep those :)

[snapsicle]

Flame leg Millipede (Trigoniulus Macropygus)

[ineffablegame]

Crowley and #10

Crowley’s fears and phobias!  Fears and phobias are two different things, so we get a little list for both!

Crowley’s phobias:

millipedes (as a snakelike demon, anything with too many legs wigs him out, and the word millipede means they have a thousand legs, right?  right, Aziraphale?  Aziraphale assures him that no, millipedes only have about 400 legs, and Crowley finds that no less disconcerting)

mongooses. (mongeese?) he firmly believes this isn’t a paranoia because again, snakelike demon, but it is more that a little ridiculous when people see a human-shaped being gibbering in fear when he and his fusty boyfriend stop by the savannah exhibit at the London Zoo and he makes eye-contact with a yellow mongoose

this one isn’t a fear so much as a powerful aversion, but the smell of smoke puts him on edge after Armageddon.  this is ridiculous, of course, because he’s a demon and hell is full of fire and, therefore, smoke.  but every time he gets a whiff of the stuff, his innards tangle into knots because he can’t stop thinking of the bookshop, the fire, of running into the flames and thinking Aziraphale was gone

but that’s not a phobia.  just a perfectly normal aversion.

Crowley’s fears:

hell coming to destroy him 

heaven coming to destroy him

being, y’know, destroyed in general

heaven/hell coming to destroy Aziraphale

Aziraphale being Gone

“friends?  we’re not friends!”

and then there are the fears that toe the line between terror and thrill - the cusp of something new, something he’s not quite sure he’s ready for even though he wants it so much:

Aziraphale looking at him through his lashes

taking his hand

kissing his knuckles and smiling, blushing, brazen for all the patrons of the Ritz and all the rest of the world and heaven and hell to see

braiding their fingers together and letting them rest on the tabletop, looking so comfortable he might as well have forgotten they are holding hands

but then, after asking a waiter for a fresh pot of tea and some scones, Aziraphale brushes his thumb absently over the back of Crowley’s hand and Crowley chokes on the dregs of his tea

his heart sprinting, crazed with shock and fear and pure exhilaration

and then Aziraphale is tilting his head just-so, a little smile playing at the corners of his mouth. don’t you fret, my dear.  we are perfectly safe.

i know, Crowley says after a moment of surprised silence, because he’s just realized he isn’t afraid anymore.  i know, angel.

[spiritoffox]

Ascending and Descending 4

For LiuShen week 2020, on time for the first time, a 7-chapter ghost story about Liu Qingge and the wraith he is bound to in essentially 'holy' matrimony. Not that they know.

Day 3

DAY 4

Extract/Passions

“Shen Yuan. My name is Shen Yuan.”

“... and their passions soared as high as the sky and young minister reunited with his love all night long.” The storyteller finished with a flourish and Liu Qingge scoffed quietly.

He was sitting in a teahouse and watching the entertainment if it could even be called entertainment.

Or well. They were sitting in a teahouse and watching the entertainment.

He and the friendly ghost on his shoulders.

If only Shen Qingqiu, no, Shen Yuan would stop sighing.

“If you don’t like it, we should be on our way.” He squeezes through gritted teeth not caring very much what his nearest neighbor thought when the man heard him speak to himself.

The joke was on him though.

He wasn’t speaking to himself.

“Liu-shidi!” Shen Yuan all but whined and he was probably pouting, but it wasn’t like he could see the ghost. At least not yet. Once he absorbed enough of his spiritual energy and grew stronger he would be able to materialize properly.

Until then he had the feeling of his golden core being surrounded by cold fingers, the slight icy weight on his back, and the voice of the man he loved as his constant company.

And said man somehow got into his mind that they absolutely needed to visit this town for some unfathomable reason and that it was imperative to their well-being that they spend their night in this exact Inn.

Liu Qingge was sure that didn't have anything to do with the fliers being handed out about this exact storytelling night.

He needed a drink, seriously if he had to listen to more of this flowery bullshit and he would listen to more because it made Shen Yuan happy.

Liu Qingge knew that some would call him bull-headed and obtuse. He was both sometimes, but he wasn't completely oblivious - no that was Shen Yuan - and he was very observant when he wanted to be.

It was clear to him that the ghost didn't quite know what to make of him, of Liu Qingge, and this entire situation they were in.

They both knew that they wouldn't be able to return to Cang Qiong either; the wards would banish Shen Yuan in the best case scenario. Destroy them both in the worst case.

So Shen Yuan was completely dependent on him and Liu Qingge was not about to abuse the trust the ghost placed in him. If that included drinking tea from dubious origins while listening to bad smut he would do that, because he was the anchor keeping him connected to this realm. Because Shen Yuan was unable to do so many things and he sounded heartbroken to Liu Qingge though he obviously tried to hide it.

"Would you like a refill of your pot?" A servant girl asked so quietly that if he wasn't a cultivator he would have missed the entire question. He glanced at her, noting the blushing cheeks, the peeking eyes and dismissed her immediately.

"Oh! Liu-shidi, can you ask whether they have some Thousand Legged Ghost Millipede Extract White Tea?" The ghost on his shoulders asked and Liu Qingge choked on his tea.

Was he going to order that tea just because Shen Yuan asked?

…

Yes, he was going to do it.

He did it with the Flaming Acid Butterfly Wing Extract Red Tea too and he was utterly done with this area of the continent and their bug themed dishes and drinks. He had extensive survival training, h ate his fair share of beasts and bugs hike he was out there in the wilderness, but his palate was less than adventurous.

But he was still going to do it and he would not complain.

Because Shen Yuan was happy, he thought and listened to the chatter detailing the health benefits of the tea he was going to drink as soon as the girl brings him his order.

And one day when Shen Yuan was strong enough Liu Qingge would be able to see him drink these concoctions and watch his expressions.

One day.

Day 5

--------------

This is very short, but I'm a bit out of ideas for this day. Will buff this up when posting on AO3, hopefully. ❤️