every time i think about svtfoe ..man the wasted potential
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the fact that they use the figurehead izzy defaced for "not doing its job" to instead give him his purpose and identity back. the fact that figureheads were historically not only fixtures of stature and power but also, to their crews, "the eyes of the ship guiding them safely home". the fact that izzy protected the goth crew from a lot of edward's spiraling ire physically, the fact that when izzy was presumed gone and dead the ship was steered and then moored in a storm. the fact that without his intervention they would have likely died in that storm, but instead afterwards were able to be come across by the other half of their crew and brought "home". you see the vision, don't you?
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-the bookshop-
aziraphale, returning from edinburgh: *enters*
crowley, lounging in a chair, flipping through a sketchbook: you could've asked me to pose, you know
aziraphale, exasperated: now where did you get that?
crowley, smirks: I think you know
aziraphale, embarrassed: it's private
crowley, looks at him, amused: private? really?
aziraphale, sighs: I was simply perfecting a craft and you're, well...
crowley, still smirking: what?
aziraphale, clears his throat, mumbles: an aesthetically pleasing model
crowley, having the best day of his existence: what?
aziraphale, having the worst day of his existence: it really is none of your business
crowley, throws him a pencil: go on. I want to see you do it
aziraphale, hesitates: is now really the best time?
crowley, getting comfortable: yes. get on with it
aziraphale, takes the sketchbook: fine. have it your way *drags a stool over*
crowley, relaxed: I like them, by the way. you make me look good
aziraphale, concentrating: that isn't me
crowley: ...
crowley, blurts out: shall I take my clothes off?
aziraphale, pauses for a moment: not if you want this to get done
crowley: *smirks*
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culture tips for writing asian settings: tea varieTEAs
atla's got major Tea Guy representation in iroh but let's be real, even non-tea guys are going to be drinking tea in an asian-inspired setting—you'd be served it instead of water most places. so, what kind of tea are you picking for them?
as an east asian reader, it can take me out of the setting to see the characters drink something like chamomile (from europe/west asia) or... most herbal teas, to be honest. ngl it was weird to see iroh in the show, characterised as a huuuuuuge tea snob, drink stuff like jasmine (it's fine it's just basic, is all! imo!) or like.... a random flower he encounters in the wild.
when we're talking tea, real asian tea, we're talking about the leaf of the camellia sinensis plant. the huge variety we have of tea is actually from the different ways of processing that exact same leaf. popular varieties include:
green: the leaf goes through minimal processing, can have a bright and even leafy/grassy flavour (examples: gunpowder, longjing aka dragon well, matcha, genmaicha)
white: also undergoes minimal processing, with a lighter flavour than even green (examples: silver needle, shou mei)
oolong: the leaf is semi-oxidised, curled, and twisted—can be characterised by a tanniny flavour with a bright aftertaste. my personal favourite! (examples: da hong pao, tieguanyin, dong ding, alishan)
dark (black): note this isn't the same as black tea as we think of it in english. the leaf is fermented to produce an earthy tea with a flavour like petrichor (examples: pu'er)
all the teas listed in the "examples" are fairly credible teas that i think a real tea snob like iroh would drink.
ok, but what about...
"black tea" as we know it in the west—assam and ceylon etc? this variety is actually called "red tea" in chinese. we don't drink it with milk but to be honest, i've just... never really heard of anyone drinking chinese red tea? which is why i've kept it off the list. (there's lapsang souchong, but i associate that with bri'ish people...) anyone who does drink it, let me know! on the other hand something like assam/ceylon, while extremely delicious and also asian, is a product of british colonialism and is consumed with milk. i think if you wanted to massage some of the traditions & have chai-drinking indian-influenced characters, though, that's cool!
do you actually not drink herbal tea? we do... but a lot of it is considered medicinal. we've got stuff like herbal "cooling tea" with ingredients like sour plum, mesona, or crysanthemum; tea that warms you up like ginseng or ginger. the whole concept of hot/cold in chinese medicine though... that deserves another culture post
camellia leaf murdered my family & i have a grudge against it; what else can my blorbos drink? there'a some good, tasty stuff made of wheat, barley, buckwheat, even soybean. wouldn't be egregious for the characters to drink that!
is milk sacriligeous? a real tea snob would think so, but a lot of asians nowadays are chill about milk in tea—usually in western-influenced red tea. hong kong, thailand, india, taiwan, and malaysia (among others) have their own cultures of milk tea, which has even become a democratic rallying point.
what do you think of iroh inventing bubble tea? my main issue with it is it's anachronistic! it was invented in taiwan in the late 20th century, but atla's set in the equivalent of the mid-19th century... you could also make arguments about whether iroh's too snobby about tea to invent it LOL
there's soooo much more i can say about all this so: keep your eyes peeled! i'll talk about medicine & tea ceremony in the near future <3
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