A Male Insectoid's Love Letter

[A sweet, osmanthus-scented story by my friend with the same theme, coming soon: Second Marriage [Insectoid]] Blurb: Chu Yin has always been out of step with his time. As the eldest grandson of a wealthy family, he had no interest in business or politics. He preferred playing musical instruments, painting, and even collecting dolls, which were supposed to be for girls. After becoming a male Insectoid, he could finally pursue whatever beautiful and romantic things he wanted. Yet he fell in love with painting the war-torn front lines. Among a race so skilled at war, Chu Yin thought, only military females possess a truly exquisite spirit. * Cicada's female parent never received affection from her male spouse. She barely managed to hatch him from his egg, and the male insect was so frail he was weaker than a sub-female. The pair of antennae on his forehead curled limply, and even the patterns and shapes of his bone wings were asymmetrical, as if he were a shoddily assembled reject. So when he discovered he was carrying an egg, he swore that even if he had to cast aside the virtues of a military female, he would make sure his offspring received nourishment from a male Insectoid. Chu Yin: Hm? Is it only the offspring? Chu Yin is delighted with the doll who has practically delivered himself to his doorstep. He just can't understand why the insects around him keep getting the wrong idea about him. For instance, he loves painting on his own consort's bone wings, but somehow rumors spread that he's addicted to abusing them? Or, to protect the military females working alongside his consort from bullying by noble males, he kindly gave them the status of secondary consorts. Somehow, he ended up known throughout the Insectoid race as a notorious womanizer? Worst of all, he treats the well-behaved little one his consort brought home as his own, even recreating all sorts of educational games from his previous life. So which insect started the rumor that he has ulterior motives and is trying to raise a useless little insect? Meanwhile, on the capital planet... Among a group of delicate, frail sub-females, the slender male insect strokes his still-flat belly and smiles shyly. "Oh, there's nothing I can do. It's what my male spouse likes. But at least we'll have an offspring of our own soon." Couple: A chaotic-neutral artist who puts art above all else, and a seemingly frail but actually ferocious military female. The songs of mermaids and the dances of elves are beautiful. So are the scribbles of little Insectoids and the angry roars of military females in battle. The flower-filled meadows of a vacation planet, where birds and beasts race about, are beautiful. So are the barren border planets, where people make their homes among the bones. Just as flawlessness is beautiful, so is imperfection. Just as birth is beautiful, so is decay. So even though this world is scarred and has withered under the scorching fires of war, to me, an unexpected visitor, it remains a beauty beyond anything I have ever seen. -- A confession by Chu Yin, the great Insectoid artist Theme: A protagonist who puts art above all else