Review Detail of Jenjibread in Crocodile Tears
Review detail
Updated Author's Review Hi everyone! Since I started rewriting the story on 1/1/20, the last review is not really updated. This is no longer a shameless review but more of a Q&A with an actual coverage of the following (along with some promo ^-^ of course) topics: update schedule, story background, writing style, historical basis, who should try reading it, old vs new version. For old readers (before 1/1/20): You can start reading from the beginning again if you want to (I added quite a few scenes that make the flow of the story better overall and some more depth to the characters). If not, the overall plot still goes along the same trajectory, so I'll make a note via chapter title when this new version picks up where the old one stopped. Who should read this story: - You're tired of cookie-cutter stories where the MC overcomes everything without repercussions - You want to see character and story development - You want to see side characters each have their plotlines and not just be there to prove how cool the MC is - You want to read an actually historically-grounded story that follows the rules of that time period - You want to see a non-love-obsessed FL and ML Why you might not want to read this story: - No face-slapping FL (she's witty but knows how to hide it) - No overly obsessive ML (he's supposedly one of the most handsome emperors in Chinese history tho) - No transmigration or rebirth (there's a lot of deaths in the story?) - ML and FL both have actual flaws (they're actual historical people, and I try to abide by their historical descriptions) Update Schedule: - Double updates until I am up to the point in the plot where the old version left off - Afterwards, I'll try to update once every week. Sorry, but I'm not the best with updating on time. I really do try, but if I forget to update sometimes, please bear with me. I'm currently a freshman in college who is trying to balance school work with lab work. Writing is something I really enjoy, but sometimes it's just not possible. Story Background: Set from the beginning of the Sui dynasty, this story continues until its fall and into the beginning of the Tang dynasty. Writing Style: I tend to be super flowery when writing, and I apologize because it can be sometimes a pain to read. I try to add a lot of background detail via imagery for those who are not as familiar with Chinese history, and it might seem very forced info-dump-like at points. Also, since I'm trying to recreate history as closely as I can, there are a lot of side characters, which can be super confusing. Historical Basis: You may think I'm giving away a lot here instead of letting readers find out for themselves. But Emperor Yang of Sui is actually super famous...well infamous. If you're Chinese, chances are that you've heard his name before. And if you have, then the next word to surface is probably tyrant. In this story, I'm not trying to wipe away all of his crimes. I repeat. I'M NOT TRYING TO JUSTIFY HIS ACTIONS. I was just really inspired by Professor Meng's series on what the Sui dynasty and its emperors were really like. If you do have some background in Chinese, Da Sui Feng Yun is a suppppper good series to listen to!
Crocodile Tears
Jenjibread
Liked by 5 people
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I really think you should add the tidbit about this being a historical romance of the Sui Dynasty up in your synopsis. It would’ve attracted me even more, before I found out it actually was about it haha. And for that matter, I find that the quote you had on your wattpad, which I went to search up cause I liked your writing 😉, rings more powerfully than the one about prophecy that you have right now, because the prophecy em, well, sounds characteristic of other popular wuxia FL novels that I would gloss over. “Let us meet again in hell.” Before she became the infamous seductress. Before he was the most hated tyrant. Before it all fell apart... This is especially cause I realized, gosh, how true it is that history paints them that way. Can you give the Chinese of da sui feng yun? I can’t find on search engine. Also, why aren’t the reviews you pinned up on the front page! It’s cause of that that I didn’t realize the historical context before I started reading...
Wha! I also just read the prologue you had in Wattpad. Please include it here! Somehow? It fleshes out the empress and emperor oh so much! Especially the emperor. In the story, I was thinking of him as very bad father (especially with that other princess around) and good emperor, but here we see him choosing his duties as an emperor rather than a father. We do see this aspect in the story, but it’s more pronounced here as we do see him actually want to father the child. We also get an understanding of the emperors brother. This prologue also gives readers a better understanding of superstitions and prophecies during that time, and well, how true they become in this story.
Wait which quote ahahaha bc if it's the old version it had a different take on the story and wasn't accurate ;-; A lot of it is trying to bait ppl in bc this site is uhhh idk. I don't think most people really read it for the history, and I had to somehow try to appeal to a wider range of ppl (I actually cry). I added the fact that it was historical on the author's note in the first chap, and I guess it was that I didn't think it would really make a difference on whether people would read T^T And it's 大隋风云. It can be found on Youtube and starts from before Sui actually so that it gives a better background of the North. I think the Youtube version is missing an episode tho rip. It took me a while to hunt on Baidu for that missing episode I think. Wait the reviews aren't??? Wat the
Coraphyll:I really think you should add the tidbit about this being a historical romance of the Sui Dynasty up in your synopsis. It would’ve attracted me even more, before I found out it actually was about it haha. And for that matter, I find that the quote you had on your wattpad, which I went to search up cause I liked your writing 😉, rings more powerfully than the one about prophecy that you have right now, because the prophecy em, well, sounds characteristic of other popular wuxia FL novels that I would gloss over. “Let us meet again in hell.” Before she became the infamous seductress. Before he was the most hated tyrant. Before it all fell apart... This is especially cause I realized, gosh, how true it is that history paints them that way. Can you give the Chinese of da sui feng yun? I can’t find on search engine. Also, why aren’t the reviews you pinned up on the front page! It’s cause of that that I didn’t realize the historical context before I started reading...
I didn't include it on the Webnovel version also because of the different audiences ;-; I was gonna add it in a later special chapter so that it does justify the emperor and empress of Liang a lot more. I think with this new rewrite, I'm trying to go for more of a limited perspective from Youshi and then include a ton of special chaps so that it shows the limitations of each person's point of view and how they contributed to the overall tragedy of the Sui. But yeah I'll definitely include it on here too ^-^ But it might take a while lmaooo
Coraphyll:Wha! I also just read the prologue you had in Wattpad. Please include it here! Somehow? It fleshes out the empress and emperor oh so much! Especially the emperor. In the story, I was thinking of him as very bad father (especially with that other princess around) and good emperor, but here we see him choosing his duties as an emperor rather than a father. We do see this aspect in the story, but it’s more pronounced here as we do see him actually want to father the child. We also get an understanding of the emperors brother. This prologue also gives readers a better understanding of superstitions and prophecies during that time, and well, how true they become in this story.
I was comparing the first sentences, “‘Whoever marries the princess will become emperor.’ A twist of fate brought them together.” with “‘Let us meet again in hell.’ Before she became the infamous seductress...” these two sentences. I’m saying that to bait the reader audience on this site into reading you should go with “Let us meet again in hell” 😂 As you’ve noticed a lot of FL novels here set in the premodern world are more about transmigrating and being OP with cultivation, and their FLs themselves were that twist of fate. That’s why I think the first sentence of the current version is a bit bland. It’ll get lost in the melting pot 🥘 Infamous seductress and tyrant sound spicy 🌶 hahaha Oh yes, your considerations about including the fact that it’s based on history in the synopsis make sense. I now do think that it’s enough to put it at end of first chapter since it really did hook people to stay even if they learn about the historical basis. Now if you can just get WN to pull up your pinned author note, which also comments on the historical background, onto the front page, it would be perfect. I, as a reader, usually read through the front page reviews first if I’m on the fence about starting a novel. I just finished watching through the first episode first part of Da Sui Feng Yun and it was quite insightful as to the Sui’s historical significance. I also got spoiled somewhat in the story, especially regarding what happened to the ML’s father T^T. ML doesn’t sound like he’ll get happy ending either 😭 I remember you saying in the comments that the Sui really treated their empresses really well which was why I was hopeful for the ML and FL’s love relationship but the professor said history recorded him as licentious... Btw, there’s also a theme song for this series and the lyrics were composed by the professor herself 😆
Jenjibread:Wait which quote ahahaha bc if it's the old version it had a different take on the story and wasn't accurate ;-; A lot of it is trying to bait ppl in bc this site is uhhh idk. I don't think most people really read it for the history, and I had to somehow try to appeal to a wider range of ppl (I actually cry). I added the fact that it was historical on the author's note in the first chap, and I guess it was that I didn't think it would really make a difference on whether people would read T^T And it's 大隋风云. It can be found on Youtube and starts from before Sui actually so that it gives a better background of the North. I think the Youtube version is missing an episode tho rip. It took me a while to hunt on Baidu for that missing episode I think. Wait the reviews aren't??? Wat the
People said that the original quote didn’t really grab people lmao so I changed it. And the original synopsis was kinda wordy so that went away ;-; Sui Yangdi in history is said to have so many affairs lmaoo but most are ye shi. At the end of it all I do write that he turns like that but it’s more of living up to his name. I do try to explain it from a slightly different perspective. As for Sui Wendi his end relationship with Dugu was sorta rough .-. On another note I love that song ^-^ I think it sums it up really nicely
Coraphyll:I was comparing the first sentences, “‘Whoever marries the princess will become emperor.’ A twist of fate brought them together.” with “‘Let us meet again in hell.’ Before she became the infamous seductress...” these two sentences. I’m saying that to bait the reader audience on this site into reading you should go with “Let us meet again in hell” 😂 As you’ve noticed a lot of FL novels here set in the premodern world are more about transmigrating and being OP with cultivation, and their FLs themselves were that twist of fate. That’s why I think the first sentence of the current version is a bit bland. It’ll get lost in the melting pot 🥘 Infamous seductress and tyrant sound spicy 🌶 hahaha Oh yes, your considerations about including the fact that it’s based on history in the synopsis make sense. I now do think that it’s enough to put it at end of first chapter since it really did hook people to stay even if they learn about the historical basis. Now if you can just get WN to pull up your pinned author note, which also comments on the historical background, onto the front page, it would be perfect. I, as a reader, usually read through the front page reviews first if I’m on the fence about starting a novel. I just finished watching through the first episode first part of Da Sui Feng Yun and it was quite insightful as to the Sui’s historical significance. I also got spoiled somewhat in the story, especially regarding what happened to the ML’s father T^T. ML doesn’t sound like he’ll get happy ending either 😭 I remember you saying in the comments that the Sui really treated their empresses really well which was why I was hopeful for the ML and FL’s love relationship but the professor said history recorded him as licentious... Btw, there’s also a theme song for this series and the lyrics were composed by the professor herself 😆