#(YMMV on the funny vs the embarrassment ahhh)

[blueberry-ash]

Heyyyyy, I am really bad at book recs, but this is me saying pls consider reading How to Feed an Abyss! (如何投喂一只深渊！)

It has:

— non-human x human relationship;

AKA: one immensely adorable (but not actually stupid!) non-human sweetheart x one extremely competent and usually unapproachable (but actually very doting, soft and respectful!!!) military commander; their relationship is so caring.

— interesting apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic setting, where the plot actually plays itself properly through to the end.

— the building of relationships outside the main romance! The people around them actually matter!!!

— secret identity stuff, but done in way that I rarely found stressful :D

— made me cry here and there, esp. with some of the side stories (goddddd), but overall is actually really very hopeful.

— technically slowburn in some ways, but also not remotely slowburn at all--hard to explain without spoilers, but, yeah!! everything is so patiently and sweetly handled; things take their time, but you never feel like you're being strung along/having things dragged out <3

— the adorable non-human has horns, and purrs when he's happy fkjasdl;kfas helpppp.

— the military commander can be a little possessive at times but it's thankfully generally handled in a way that makes him seem more dorky rather than actually alarming?? It also helps that, when it comes down to it, he's also pretty into letting the sweetheart 'write his own story' (AKA make his own choices).

— does have some of the kinda danmei-typical vibes around sexual intimacy that aren't super my jam (i.e. Top's gonna initiate, Bottom's gonna go uwuwu about it and accept it, but never seem to want it for themselves lmao) BUT it's also not exactly frequent nor any kind of main focus in the story, and it's also pretty much fade to black anyway, so... eh.

— undoubtedly made similar parts of my brain happy as Little Mushroom did, but... it's also not really That Much like Little Mushroom at all? Ah!! I guess I think the two make a very, very easy comparison, and if someone likes the one there's a fair chance they might like the other, but, hmm, yeah... This one's definitely significantly more optimistic/hopeful (and romantic, tbh) about a whole lot of things. And also kept me more focused on different things than Little Mushroom, too.

.

Summary ganked from novelupdates:

【if you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you】 The abyss, the most feared thing by the human race today. The animals infected by the abyss mutate into monsters, and humans are reduced to walking corpses. Lu Tinghan is an abyss watcher. He has been guarding the world’s most terrifying abyss for ten years. This abyss is not only scary, but also strange. Throw the garbage down, after a few days, the garbage will be buried safely next to the abyss – like someone took a shovel and tossed it all night to bury them. Throw hazardous waste down, after a few days, the waste will be thrown back with unbridled fury. Lu Tinghan: ? Ten years later, he left the post and became the youngest general in the Alliance. The next day, the abyss was also gone. ——The whole thing disappeared and turned into flat land. The whole world was shocked. Until one day, there was a knock on Lu Tinghan’s door. A boy with little devil horns stood outside the door, with delicate features and bright eyes. Obviously, he was scared to death, but he still plucked up the courage to say: “Hello, I, I am Abyss, can you continue to stare at me? QAQ” He added: “I have helped you bury the garbage every day, oh!” During their long time together, Lu Tinghan learned two things: 1. Staring at your abyss every day, the abyss will be happy 2. When the abyss is happy, it will purr toward you