of worlds and words

[marycatelli]

Ah, there's a difference in taste in the butter, and she's thinking about how it was back --

On the planet?  In the kingdom?


I have managed to avoid the "Raining on Mungo" syndrome.  Even the smallest of the seven worlds in this system has over a hundred kingdoms -- principalities, commonwealths, whatever -- and the two largest have, I think, over a thousand.

This would make it rather more logical for them to think of their home kingdoms rather than their home planets.  Of course, that gives me a powerful need to connnect planets to places before whatever incident it was, and if the reader doesn't pick up on that, it means the clue to the planet is missed. . . .

Unless it's common to several kingdoms.  Hmmm.  Hmmm.  Hmmm.  One could definitely do it for the sky color, but even food is possible -- assuming, of course, that the character traveled on planet as well as off planet. . . .

Such are the things that need to be thrashed out!

Comments

[headnoises.livejournal.com]

Unless it's common to several kingdoms. Hmmm. Hmmm. Hmmm. One could definitely do it for the sky color, but even food is possible -- assuming, of course, that the character traveled on planet as well as off planet. . . .

Trade is an option. So and so has the best butter, while this other group has better cheese, the local stuff has its own sort of flavor.... or maybe So and so has the best butter, thus and such is closer, and only those who can't buy butter make their own....

Ooh, there's always "she'd never been able to tell the butters apart at home, the stuff from (far away) tasted pretty much the same as (nearer) or that which was made at home.... (long list of names) made no difference to her tongue. But there was definitely a difference in taste in the butter from those she remembered."

...just realized I have no idea what the transportation requirements on butter are, though, or what the technology may be.

[marycatelli]

Well, it's not difficult to make. Provided your climate is cold enough that the rising cream won't go rancid overnight. And if it's just a matter of taste -- my mother noticed that butter tasted different in Great Britain, and suspects that the cows were fed different grains.

[headnoises.livejournal.com]

Different trace elements in the salt in the butter, maybe?

I never can tell the subtle differences in something like "butter," but different wells or springs taste different.

[marycatelli]

I suspect the use of corn as cattle feed. Much simpler.