yuerstruly: (Default)
yuerstruly ([personal profile] yuerstruly) wrote2025-05-30 10:44 pm

Annotations: 燕歌行 / 深海墜落 / 小蟑螂也有春天

cw: suicide, terminal illnesses, mental health, cockroaches

these works are actully unrelated to one another. i just needed to get my thoughts out about miscellaneous short stories i've been giving a try. tagged as seen because i need categorization for written media i engage with vs "things i've read" (BLAND)

燕歌行 by 四又西. this work is only 3.3k words but i almost cried. keyword: almost. i do think part of it is a language barrier because despite that i can comprehend things fine in chinese (especially works like these) for the most part, it feels like a part of it isn't actually hitting my brain? the writing in this was very strong though and it spoke to my inner 文藝青年. i'd love to give this author's works a try, but it seems like their only other baihe work is a 500k word wuxia novel with paid chapters. i'm not complaining about the act of paying itself, but the bulk of changpei things are free, so i've not really topped up on the app. most of the topping up i do is on jjwxc. this means i'll get to it within the next century or so ahaha…

深海坠落 by 茶言月色. i'm 90% sure i only saved the work because it has an audio drama and it spoke to me with its sea reference. i had also assumed there was a mermaid in the mix, but upon reading this work, i got hit with something way different. the mermaid is a hallucination of the MC's, and a reflection of the girl she had once befriended in the … i want to say psych ward but it's the hospital. the MC, Xingyu, is in the hospital for selective amnesia, psychosis, and … cancer? damn girl. anyway, i didn't feel strongly about the story because i feel like the writer may be that good of a writer. if you'd given the same plot to another author and rewritten it with a more depressive tone instead of flat sentences, it would've made for a much more engaging read. i was also not really invested in xingyu's feelings for the other girl, xinghai. i was actually more interested in the backstory of the crazy doctor who was using xinghai to revive his dead lover, whom he himself had KILLED. that was crazy to me. i don't think it was specificed how xinghai was being used since on a surface level, they had been a couple up until xinghai's suicide, though whatever was being described sounded like human experimentation. that doesn't matter in the end since xingyu kills him LMAO

小蟑螂也有春天 by 食鹿客. where do i even begin? it's about a cockroach. an american cockroach and a german cockroach at that. but yuer, how did you even find this story? i was scrolling through the baihe supertopic when i came across a post complaining about this author liking one of her characters too much and the other not enough. this led to me clicking on her catalogue (i have one of her works saved, but not the one mentioned in that post). i scrolled all the way down to find a … cockroach story. strictly speaking, it's not labeled baihe but it's a f/f cockroach story so … yes it's cockroach baihe? OKAY THE ACTUAL STORY. i only read one chapter, then dropped it because the writing was too detailed and disturbing. i hate cockroaches. we follow a little cockroach who's grown up and is leaving her mom's nest (don't know the actual scientific term). her journey of survival includes witnessing the brutal murder of her sister, becoming the first cockroach to board a plane, and falling in love at first sight with a bigass cockroach who protects her from bullying by her other peers. what a story. i can't even tell you if it's good or bad because the idea was so disturbing, but if anyone wants to give it a try, feel free to search it up on jjwxc …

[personal profile] laine4466 2025-05-31 11:06 am (UTC)(link)
If I said I actually really enjoyed the cockroach one and badly wanted to see more of it, would you believe me?
douqi: (Default)

[personal profile] douqi 2025-05-31 10:34 pm (UTC)(link)
YES.

What kind of question was that, even.

[personal profile] laine4466 2025-06-02 06:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Since yuer only saw the first chapter, I need to share highlights from the remaining three chapters that's been on my mind:

  • The MC says that the colour of the wings on the FL is as appealing as spilt red wine on the dinner table, which is definitely the prettiest description I've ever seen anyone use to describe an american cockroach

  • The FL grabs the MC using her pincers then starts flying, which surprises the MC very much, like "wow, cockroaches really can fly"

  • The FL lead brings the MC back to where she stays, then picks her up again and gently runs her feelers all over her, "You need to get my scent on you so they (the bullies) will never think about touching you again."

  • FL telling the MC that she's pretty because she likes the gold hue and when asked why she says it's because the sun is gold in colour and that it is the colour of life

  • The FL is carrying the MC on the back, causing their gonads (?) to rub against each other, so the MC is arching her body to try to avoid it. When the FL asks why, the MC says that her mom told her that she needs to be responsible and only reproduce when she's in a safe environment with plenty of food and an attractive mate, to which the FL is like "am I not attractive enough for you?"

  • The MC is in Denial(TM) and there's angst and they basically have a fight, and at the end of chapter 4 the FL tucks the MC into bed by using her own feelers to curl up the MC's feelers, which the MC informs us is the equivalent of a human world's goodnight kiss. The FL then says "Sleep well, little golden rose princess."

Yeah so that's where the story stopped ASDJAKLFAKLZX I was so on board for their relationship! I want to see them date! And find love! I'm so insanely invested in these two fictional personified cockroaches' relationship!
Edited 2025-06-02 18:07 (UTC)
douqi: (Default)

[personal profile] douqi 2025-06-04 08:03 pm (UTC)(link)
That is INSANELY detailed. I too would become overly invested in this cockroach romance...