#itwasyummy

[an-ruraiocht]

Hi! I realize you might not have been asking for book recs with your medieval heist monk book post, but just in case - have you heard of Nicked by MT Anderson? It might be up your alley. :D Have a good week!

i haven't but i will look it up!

i posted that because i was attending a class about charters and medieval forgery and the various ways and reasons people forged charters and it got me thinking that this would be a great setup for a book AND an excuse to focus way too much on like. material culture and parchment preparation and historical writing methods, without it being a distraction from the plot, because that would BE the plot

and you know how i feel about parchment in books

[veliseraptor]

I adore Doctrine of Labyrinths and was so happy to see you’ve written fic for it! Idk if it’s a “similar” read exactly, but I read Havemercy by Jaida Jones and Dani Bennett around the same time and adored it, so...if anon wants more heavy fantasy word building, some questionable protagonists and lots of canon LGBTQ main characters, that might be something?

really loving all these Doctrine of Labyrinths people coming out of the woodwork! okay like four of you but still, it makes me happy.

and thanks for the added rec! @ anon here's another one, and I have not heard of it either so may look into it myself. not that I don't have so many books to read already sldkjsldkfj

[dessertstories]

Happiness is the smell of freshly baked buns! 🍽️🌟

@runecarstairs

[astoldbygingersnaps]

18 19 and 20 for the fic writers ask? :D

18. Do you prefer editing as you write, or waiting until it’s finished?

i tend to do a bit of both! usually i’ll work on a project by sitting and writing incessantly without editing until i run out of creative steam and need to step away, but when i come back i’ll re-read everything i wrote before i pick back up. once i’m done, i’ll usually do one or two read-throughs before i pass it onto alexa to get her feedback and help me edit, and then i post! 

19. What words do you think you tend to use the most?

at the risk of being a weenie, i’m not going to give specific examples because i don’t want to expose myself, lol. however, i Will say that there’s a cluster of adjectives i’m fond of that tend to crop up in my writing, and i’ll leave it to you to guess what they are.

20. What feedback makes you the happiest to hear?

oh, jeez, so much! honestly i’m just glad to get any feedback at all, but it always warms my heart when people point out/praise very specific parts of my writing, like plot points they enjoyed or particular lines that struck them. i think the feedback i’ve gotten on star trek au is what i keep closest to my heart, because it just means so much to me that there are people who have followed this story that’s very much my baby for so long and care about it as much as i do. but seriously, each comment i get just makes me :’)

[cinematv]

Hi! Just wanted to say to whoever made the Top 10 Favorite Movies: Beauty and the Beast gifset, that was absolutely gorgeous!! The colors were so beautiful I had to stop scrolling for a minute. Have a good one!

🥺 Thank you so much, this really warmed my heart. Have a good day yourself!

- Mod El

[isabelofwraithmarsh]

I am ready for the prince of egypt musical to destroy me emotionally

Me: Yeah, since Hamilton, I’ve kind of moved on from the Anglosphere musical- wise. It’s okay, but I really don’t have the energy these days, the fandoms are exhausting, and I’m just not inv-

The Prince of Egypt: 

Me: Oh. Oh shit. 

[poirot]

Your lilac Sleeping Beauty gifset is absolutely gorgeous!!

aww thank you so so much 💖💖 I’m so glad you like it !

[haticesultanas]

Hi! I love your Empress of China gifsets, they're absolutely beautiful. I notice you post about the historical Wu Zetian too, and I was wondering if you've read any good biographies of her? My library doesn't have any so I'm looking for a good one to invest in, I'd really appreciate any recs you have!

Hi! thank you <33

Yes, I have! I was actually recommended this biography by a friend of mine, and I must say it didn’t disappoint: Wu: The Chinese Empress Who Schemed, Seduced and Murdered Her Way to Become a Living God by Jonathan Clements

I also have:

Dora Shu-fang Dien - Empress Wu Zetian in Fiction and in History: Female Defiance in Confucian China

X. L. Woo - Empress Wu The Great

and they’re quite good too but I prefer Jonathan Clements’ book because I love his writing style, the story flows easily and he certainly knows how to capture his reader with interesting tidbits. The other two, especially Woo’s, are definitely drier.

I personally started with Clements’ biography (I knew nothing about her except that Fan Bingbing played her in a period drama) and it gave me all the necessary information about her, which is why I was super disappointed in The Empress of China lol