#tea reviews

[melgillman]

I got a Bird & Blend tea advent calendar this year, and drew sketches to help remember which ones I liked!

[teapotteringabout]

Stingray - Ep 2 Plant of Doom

So now we go from the brilliant pilot to the ok second episode. In my opinion. It’s actually a strange juxtaposition of pretty good and what the actual hell that cancel each other out. After writing this review out several times I think the best way to present my thoughts is to copy Jack Knoll and follow the episode’s plot rather than separate my review into categories. As a result, this is chonky, meaty, big fat one so strap in.

Over to Titan. He’s brooding as he often does in the series. He asks Teufel for divine guidance, to which Teufel uses his glowing mouth powers to make a nearby plant to omit a poisonous gas.

Just like the Hood in Thunderbirds, Teufel’s powers are never explained. At least the Hood used his several times, while Teufel will only show them this one time. It’s as much a shame as it is baffling – if Titan has this fish god that can make an innocuous plant deadly poisonous, why doesn’t he use him more often? We’ll see later how often X20 is able to slip into Marineville; why not give him a whole greenhouse worth of plants to put them around the base?

Anyway, it’s very amusing to me that Titan is nearly killed during this display, and that he takes it as a sign to use the plant to kill Marina and friends, rather than to get Teufel a bigger fish tank.

Oh, and you defeat the plant by knocking it onto the floor?

Look at the little shell plate it's on! The tiny details in this show are just *chef's kiss*

Over in Marineville, Marina is sad and glittering and ethereal and sad.

I quite like the scene that transpires for several reasons: first, the way Troy talks to Marina like she’s a child, or a scared animal. Note he never does this with Atlanta, suggesting that he might subconsciously see her as his equal. Second, that it’s Phones who works out that Marina’s homesick for Pacifica. I think it’s often overlooked that he’s usually the one to spot her reactions, or figure out her meaning. He has the patience that Troy lacks to take the time to read her.

Thirdly, the puppetry of Marina. The puppeteers were something like 4 metres above the set, so subtle movements such as the slight tilt of Marina’s head had to take the smallest, daintiest pulls on the strings.

Anyway, Troy asks Shore if they can take Marina to Pacifica, and when Shore states that they'll need a better excuse than a "pleasure cruise", Troy provides the excuse that exploring a new underwater city is of WASP interest. Shore then has an interesting line in “the explanation will take care of HQ. Let’s hope it satisfies Atlanta. Somehow I have my doubts.” According to Jack Knoll, in the original script this scene had more to it and Atlanta’s jealousy would have been much more apparent. Either way, Shore seems to be firing a warning shot. Troy’s two-timing is rather infamous, and this is one of the in-show instances that don’t help.

Aboard Stingray, Marina apparently knows where her home is by looking at a map which I personally find hard to buy. Because it’s not on eBay. But also because Marina can read Terranean maps of the ocean floor. You could argue that she’s learnt some things during her time in Marineville, or the ocean races use similar maps, but I counter with that a) she’s only been there a short while and b) it’s not the most convincing worldbuilding having your underwater race use largely the same stuff as humans despite having no contact with them.

As it happens, X20 is also on his way to Pacifica. Having spotted Stingray on his radar and (somehow) worked out that its on its way to Pacifica, he is tasked by Titan to deliver the toxic plant to Aphony, Pacifica’s leader and Marina’s father, under the guise that he’s well-wisher bringing news of Marina’s homecoming. X20 is accompanied by some Mechanical Fish which I will now refer to as their comic name Terror Fish because it’s easier to type, and I love that X20’s craft has Colonel White’s control desk inside.

A battle between Terror Fish and Stingray ensues, not least because they need to slow Stingray down so X20 can get to Pacifica first. It’s perhaps the only time we hear calm, soft-spoken Phones properly yell, as he alerts Troy to the surprise missile attack.

This is also when we get this awesome dolphin leap sequence:

Fun fact, apparently it took only one take to do!

X20 delivers the plant to Aphony. I love the design of Aphony and Pacifica in general. Its main building is a shell skyscraper, softer shapes compared to the Mysteron-complex-esque Titanica, making it more feminine I suppose? Simply put, you can tell right away that it’s Marina’s home. Inside, it’s quite Hellenistic, and as Troy notes, apparently a cultural epicentre. Pacifica are peaceful don’t you know. They seem to have an affinity for the arts, especially music as we learn in a later episode. Though they’re telepathic, we don’t know entirely how it works but it stands to reason that art is very important to them as way of expression, especially to those who can’t hear their thoughts.

When Stingray makes it to Pacifica, having exploded the first of many Terror Fish this series, we get this wonderful variation of Aqua Marina. The key and some of the notes have changed, making it recognisable yet different. Barry Gray was an absolute GeniusTM. This won’t be the last time I gush about him.

Marina reunites with her father, and it’s very subdued and I suppose quite befitting of prim and proper royalty. We see how their telepathy works – they wave their arms apparently as a way to transmit their thoughts to each other. We realise now that Marina tried to do this to Troy and the gang earlier on, which is just such a sweet little detail.

There’s a feast, I’m sure it looks delicious to all you seafood lovers out there but if I went to Pacifica I’d probably have to bring my own sandwiches.

The cast enjoy the flower X20 brought earlier, still encased in its tennis ball tube. Luckily, and because plot, Marina puts the casing back over it before the fumes escape. To be fair, Troy notes a strong aroma so it’s very likely it was kept encased so its scent didn’t overwhelm people.

At first it seems that Marina has decided to refuse Troy’s offer of returning to Marineville with them and assist in the fight against Titan. Troy is reluctant to leave without her and Phones, ever the voice of reason, simply points out if she wants to come, she’ll follow.

I couldn't get a good screenshot of it but in the Bluray, Aphony appears to be crying too which is interesting.

You can’t ignore the romantic undertones here. Marina is crying. Troy gazes wistfully at her and when he leaves, he’s frowning. And when she does go after them (apparently she can swim as fast as Stingray, presumably on its lowest speed), the pure elation in Don Mason’s voice is very sweet, but also, Troy, calm down bruh…

Back at the lounge, Troy recounts the events to Atlanta, who’s still frosty. She admonishes Marina for “abandoning her father” and accuses her of being a spy for Titan. It’s not very nice and though Atlanta has every reason to think this – after all, Marina’s a mute girl from the sea belonging to a whole world of civilisations they never knew existed – but it’s also quite clear that she’s trying to push her off Troy’s pedestal. God, I’m so glad the love triangle doesn’t survive for too long…

Despite all that, this is the start of what will be an excellent showcase of Atlanta’s character, and crucially so when you watch it in production order.  I remember when I first watched through Stingray, I thought that Atlanta was going to be the bitch of the show, and so far this episode seems to confirm that. Which is why it’s such a travesty how ITC scrambled up the running order for broadcast, putting what they deemed the stronger episodes earlier and pushing the weaker ones further back. Thusly, ‘Plant of Doom’ was broadcast at number 20 rather than number 2 (second in broadcast order is 'Emergency Marineville'). While I agree Plant of Doom lacks in some ways, putting it at any other than episode 2 completely ruins the continuation of the pilot’s story and Atlanta’s character arc. In broadcast order, Atlanta literally goes from being Marina’s bestie to accusing her of being a spy without any context or reasoning.

Anyway, Marina’s a sweetheart because she’s brought the flower with her from Pacifica and, presents it to Atlanta. Earlier, X20 claimed to Aphony that it was a symbol of peace and good fortune, so Aphony likely told her about it and she thought it would make the perfect peace offering. I do love that Atlanta is very touched despite her feelings earlier.

Alone at her piano in her ballgown(?) later that evening, the tennisball tube is whipped off and the dry ice fumigates. I can only assume the smoke is just a visual aid for us viewers so we know the toxicity has been released, because Atlanta doesn’t notice. As Jack Knoll rightly points out in his review, it would have made more sense to have the plant on a table behind Atlanta.

Smoke aside, now might be a good time to mention that every time the plant is uncovered, there’s a haunting 8 note motif played by a flute and harp, accompanied by a blast of trombones every few bars. It’s a fantastic piece of music that really drives amps up the tension and we’ll hear it again throughout the series.

It's called Plant of Doom - A Flower to Take Your Breath Away.

Finally, Atlanta passes out. Luckily, Troy has popped round for a date, bringing a bouquet of his own. At this point I really disliked Troy because on the one hand he was pining for Marina, and on the other he’s clearly pursuing Atlanta. For those who watched the broadcast order, especially back in the 60s, it’s obvious how Troy came to be perceived as massive love rat.

Troy rings the doorbell literally twice and is like “she’s ignoring me ☹”. It looks bad but once again it’s a victim of script trimming, in that originally Troy was meant to be stuck in the tower and had tried calling Atlanta to let her know he would be late for their date, but didn’t receive any response. But going off face value, once again Troy doesn’t look great.

Anyway, Troy breaks the door down and Saves the DayTM in a feat of brilliant puppetry.

The gang minus Marina (and Fisher ☹) smell something fishy’s afoot. And I don’t mean Marina’s flippers. Shore is outraged, Phones is baffled, Troy is in denial and Atlanta… seems genuinely sad. She says with almost forced chipper, “Marina must hate me pretty bad to do this…” She’s a hot-blooded enough character to angrily denounce Marina for attempting to kill her, but she doesn’t.

Ok, so from here on out the episode really falls apart. Because Dashing Hero Troy Tempest is so convinced of Marina’s innocence that he’d be willing to kill her for it.

The Spanish Inquisition called; they want their witch trials back.

I really don’t like how childlike Troy’s line delivery is here. Yes, Stingray is a children’s show but this is quite innocent and infantile for Troy.

So, trial by Plant of Doom ensues. There’s a beautifully sweet moment of Marina discovering the piano and tentatively playing it. Look at the puppetry. Look at how she reacts to the sound, wondering How’d I do that? And then she clink-clonks away, having fun with this thing she’s never seen before.

The gang watch her from… behind some glass. Great hiding place, 10/10.

As the fumes get to her, she slows down, clearly suffering. And here we get the completion of Atlanta’s character arc and making her a certified babe – she begs the lads to stop the madness, and is heartbroken when Marina finally collapses. She comforts Marina once she’s brought back round and it’s she along with Phones and Shore who apologise to her. Not Troy though. He might have believed in her innocence but this was all his idea.

Troy continues to spiral into unlikability this ep with his final quip, Marina’s piano-playing is terrible. Will you teach her to play properly, Atlanta? I know it’s the cheesy 60’s quip to end on but it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Like dude, this was your idea. You nearly killed Marina, you don’t apologise for it – Atlanta does – and you joke about her piano playing.

To sum up, this is an episode of two halves. On the one hand, you have the amazing puppetry, you have Pacifica, you have the kick-ass dolphin leap shot, you have the really cute scene of Marina messing about with the piano. Most of all, you have Atlanta. Like I said earlier, when I first watched this, I’d pegged her as the Bitchy One of the group. I really thought she’d belittle Marina and try to sabotage whatever relationship she had with Troy, because unfortunately that’s how it tends to go in many stories today. But Atlanta isn’t a bitch at all. After this, she and Marina are sisters, they’re besties, they’re wonderful, they should run away together.

On the other hand though, you have a bit of a lacklustre plot by Stingray terms made worse by Marina's "trial by death plant", Teufel’s random powers popping up never to be seen again, and Troy pretty much at his worst. ‘Plant of Doom’ is never one of those episodes I don't really think of much, and all these components together make it just an ok episode for me. That said, as we’ll discover, this will rank on the higher end of the Adequaphibian scale.

If you like Atlanta, watch this space because next week her awesomeness continues in ‘Sea of Oil’.

[tasseophile]

The Daily Tea #2

gunpowder green tea with jasmine

The packaging got me on this one. The Tao of Tea's organic pearl gunpowder loose leaf green tea is beautiful. I think I will be getting this brand more often not only because of the quality of the tea itself but because of the packaging. A nice sturdy round tin sealed with a sticker that pops cleanly and easily when turned. Underneath the circular top is a beautiful metallic tin top with a small circular handle and their logo embossed on it.

Be careful! When I popped the lid off, I lost quite a bit of tea from the impact of me yanking the lid off.

Why didn't I get green tea with jasmine together? A couple reasons. I wanted a good green tea on its own. And I wanted to have some jasmine on hand for other blends in the future.

I brewed it carefully - knowing green tea is finicky to brew. Don't boil the water. But make sure it's hot. Don't let the leaves soak for too long. I used a tea strainer that sits on top so I knew I wouldn't brew it for too long.

Now on to the taste.

Because I added the jasmine, it smelled and tasted very floral right off the bat. I did add honey to this. A strong green tea flavor lingered underneath the jasmine, grounding it as the jasmine kept it bright. The honey kept the bitterness at bay when the jasmine flavor went away. As I got closer down to the bottom of the cup, it got more bitter and I just tasted more of the honey. I wonder how I can keep the jasmine flavor to last to the bottom of the cup. Hmmm... (any tips let me know). Perhaps a different strainer and equal parts green tea and jasmine...

Overall, I really liked both flavors. Green tea with jasmine is one of my favorite tea blends and this Tao of Tea is one of my new favorite tea brands. This was a good strong green tea to add to my collection - good for when I'm in the need of a light boost in energy and alertness and antioxidants.

All in all, a good purchase and a delightful cup of tea.

((links are affiliate links; if you purchase from them, you will be supporting the tea witch blog))

[tea-and-thrillers]

Carytown Teas

I made a special trip to Carytown Teas in Richmond after work this evening and I wasn’t disappointed! It is a cute little shop and the staff was so friendly and knowledgeable! I picked up a darjeeling, which is one my favorite types of tea, and a couple of new things to try. It was definitely worth the trip into town during rush hour and I can’t wait to give the tea a try! Stay tuned for a…

[ivytea]

MOONFISHER'S NOCTURNE • my piece for Nucleus House's annual postcard show. I wanted to convey the joy and disquiet that comes with finding something you've been searching for a long time.

[ineffableteeth]

I’d like to imagine every time Crowley accidentally falls asleep in the bookshop Aziraphale takes especially good care of him

He shuts all the blinds, dims the lights, carefully drapes one of the couch blankets over him, and silently reads in the chair across from him (He definitely glances over a few times between pages)

And maybe just maybe one day Aziraphales curiosity gets the best of him and Crowley wakes up to see him comfortably sleeping in his chair so he decides to get up, remove the book from his lap, and drape the now warm blanket over him instead

[tea-tuesday]

study vibes downtown

[artbyfuji]

raven branwen cringe posting -_-

[book-coffee-stormy]

"He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."

- Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights

[kirstydreaming]

Review Australia 👗

[fromthedragonsdesk]

On Visual Novels and Catharsis

I never had a high opinion of Visual Novels. In my mind, they always seemed to boil down to the most basic wish fulfillment tripe that we'd collectively assign to the isekai genre these days, I'd wager. To me it was a waste of time or energy trying to interact with them (as an aside, I'm well aware that the Phoenix Wright series is arguably a visual novel, but I missed that boat by not having DS-era device). Even today, with a glance over most of games tagged 'visual novel' on Steam, you'll see what could be generously described as fetish pornography. So, seeing all this, I reinforced my belief that visual novels were for people who wanted some plot with their porn, and never thought much of it.

To my surprise, Steam insisted on recommending visual novels to me. I usually just tossed them aside from the recommendation queue, until I got two recommended almost back-to-back: Mice Tea and Changeling Tale.

Mice Tea had generally positive reviews, and many of them cited that the game's writing and characterization were generally humorous and appealing. So, given that it was on sale during the Steam Winter Sale, I figured it was worth a shot. Then, after basically binging on the game for 20 hours, I walked away thinking that I might have misjudged the genre on some levels.

I wouldn't say I was entirely surprised by Mice Tea - the reviews did it justice in terms of you, as the reader, wanting to root for the main cast to succeed. Most of the conflict didn't necessarily arise from an outside force, but rather internalized conflicts and the struggle to essentially be honest with yourself and those around you, risking vulnerability, essentially. At its core, I still felt like it was wish fulfillment to a significant degree, but the implausibilities were generally smoothed over enough to allow for suspension of disbelief to ride along with the story. And yeah, there... was a fair amount of catering to various fetishes and such worked in, but all in a fairly world-consistent sort-of perspective? At its core, the story was light, cheerful with moments of self-reflection and introspection, and wrapped up in a generally nice bow all in the end.

But what Mice Tea ended up doing for me, personally, was allowing me to lower my defenses during a particularly stressful point in my life, staying present in my mind when I then read over the reviews and such for Changeling Tale. I brushed off the emotion reviews, thinking that they were likely being dramatic.

I could not have been more wrong.

While set in a backdrop of old Scottish fantasy, I continually found myself impressed at how grounded Changeling Tale managed to make itself felt. I believe this is because the main character / player character of Changeling Tale (hereafter referred to as "Malcolm") is primarily reacting to the supernatural events occurring around him, rather than necessarily driving them by his own volition. Malcolm is thrust into a world that he already feels disconnected from due to his service in the military, and it cracks further open as fae magic begins seeping into the world around him.

That said, no one in the backwater town in which Malcolm has returned to handles the public appearance of fae magic particularly well, much less the three parallel storylines available to the reader between Jessie, Marion, and Grace. If anything, the most unreasonable reactions come from the player themselves, in how flippant or otherwise easygoing they handle changes happening to the people around them. That said, many decisions have a snowballing / weighted effect that can change plot directions far later on than one might expect, leading to fallings-out with friends and family, or worse.

But then something strange happened to me, as a reader, while working my way through these split storylines. Core messages seemed to stick out to me, interwoven among the stories. But they cut me straight to the core as a person; after finishing all 3 major storylines I was left shaking and bleary-eyed, wishing events could have turned out differently, desperately trying to reject the messages that had been suggested despite knowing deep-down that they were right.

"Be the best you that you can be."

"Encourage people to chase their dreams, but make sure you're pursuing your dream too."

"Sometimes peoples' dreams are irreconcilable with one another. That doesn't mean the love is gone, it just means that it isn't fair to either person."

"The size of the dream does not diminish its value; the holder of the dream determines its value."

(I intentionally omitted the storyline associations I would make)

When I held all of these thoughts together, an emotional dam burst in my heart. For years I never considered myself as having dreams or goals. For years I felt kind of confused and wondering if what I was doing mattered, or had worth. But somehow, a visual novel about fae shenanigans that dances alongside a transformation kink broadsides me with the realization that I AM where I want to be, doing what I am doing. I have a family who l love and loves me back. I am not pursuing a dream; rather, I am cultivating and maintaining a dream I have already attained. I am doing what is important to me and my family, and even if I'm not changing the world around me and leaving a name in the history books, I know that I am here and directly affecting the lives of those around me, and I'm not sure what more I could want for at this very moment.

And for the first time in quite a while, I feel content and satisfied.

[melgillman]

I’m way behind on my tea advent calendar drinking this year, but I drew more little reviews to help remember my favorites!

[svtshuastruck]

so i just finished a tempest of tea (still recovering from that ending, thank you for asking) and all i could think of is that one tumblr post that was screenshotted and posted to pinterest about vegan vampires. i went on a hunt and low and behold i found the post !

[andreai04]

Can't I simply be devoured without being expected to praise what devours me?

[tea-and-thrillers]

Cozy Drink Haul!

It’s starting to get chilly here in Virginia, so what better time to restock the pantry with some of my favorite cozy drinks? While I love tea, there are a couple of non-tea drinks on the list! 1. My all time favorite hot cocoa mix is from Target. I love peppermint season, so I’m a huge fan of the Good and Gather brand Peppermint Hot Cocoa. I also enjoy the other Good and Gather mixes, but this…

[ariasmontage]

Han Kang becomes the first Korean author to win the Nobel Prize for Literature!

I recommend her books to anyone who appreciates poetic style of writing. I've read Greek Lessons and The White Book(partly) and was surprised by how original and reverberating her choice of words is to describe pain. The themes of her books revolve around generational ache, loneliness, and identity (those are the things I could gather at least).

Greek Lessons is a good beginning point because the other books take into account the Korean political history and it might be difficult to clearly understand those themes if you have no prior knowledge of the issues.