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[redwinekindofgirl]

Sooooo, guys, girls, others. What's the grossest thing you've ever eaten?

[Don't mistake this for her not being concerned about Caedra, and not being concerned about generally everything, but a recent conversation and a recent find has piqued her curiosity enough to ask the question.

For her own answer, she holds up a small, white, chalky-looking cube.]

This one's mine. It's called 'carbtien', and it's basically what we live on back home, because we can't grow enough food for everyone. It's military rations, and I don't know what they put in it, but it doesn't taste of anything and when you try to swallow it, it's like your brain forgets how swallowing works.

[Julie snorts softly and drops the cube down out of sight.]

I found a big bag of them just lying around a couple of weeks ago. Weird, right? I guess I'll keep it safe for if we ever end up starving or something. You might not thank me, though.

Comments

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[hardwearing]

[ Hey Julie, hey. She's talking about something that isn't Caedra or the swarm of arrivals that are going to break his friends' hearts, and he totally has an answer.

His response is very matter-of-fact, like he will not be swayed here. ]

Survival pills. It's like if you ranked the military meal options... mess is at the top. Then MREs. Then if you've gotta live off those nutrition block protein bar things... fine, you've gotta. Those are probably a lot like what you're holding, actually.

[ But that wasn't the answer. This is: ]

The absolute worst case scenario is if all you've got is survival pills. They made us all try one during basic and I think I'd rather go digging for alien bugs before resorting to those things. I don't know what they actually do for you, my CO claimed it was just supercharged vitamins and "dense nutrition" but they're awful.

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[64th]

[ Cashmere looks vaguely embarrassed. ] You wouldn't believe me if I told you. It was much grosser than whatever that is.

[redwinekindofgirl]

[Hi there, face twin!]

Try me. I bet I believe you.

[64th]

[ hadriel's best looking ladies tbh. ]

It's gross but i didn't know. There were these little meat pies, just like we had at home. I was excited, of course. It's been so long since I had anything from home. We make them with lamb sometimes. It wasn't lamb. It was human. [ she makes a face. the memory of it and everything that happened afterwards... ugh.]

[redwinekindofgirl]

Oh, gross.

[She definitely looks grossed out, and the expression she makes all but mirrors the one on Cashmere's face. So, that's why no one smart eats the meat here?]

How did you figure it out?

[64th]

My hair fell out and i turned into a monster from somebody else world. They were able to explain to everyone what was going on. There wasn't a was to reverse it.. they just had to kill us. [ sucks, but maybe not as much as being a monster who wants to eat your friends? ]

I still have a bald spot! [ she flips her hair to one side to show it off. ] And I try to be more careful about what I eat.

[redwinekindofgirl]

Oh, my god, not your hair. [Awful. Just awful.]

That whole thing sounds like a fucking disaster. Zombies but worse.

[She shrugs one shoulder, grimacing slightly.]

I mean, I heard right from the start to not eat the meat here.

[redwinekindofgirl]

[Yes, everyone is concerned about the frozen psychopathic bitch-demon and the influx of new people (Julie hasn't seen anyone she knows, and is equal parts relieved and disappointed), but this feels like an easy distraction topic. It seems to be working.]

No offence, Wash, but the more I hear about your military, the more it sounds like it sucks.

[Just saying, you know?]

That's what these things are supposed to be. All the nutrition you need in one handy, awful cube.

[am_i_a_monster]

[Abigail looks at her sadly.].

That's a dangerous question. You don't want to know.

[64th]

[ she'll be mad until she dies about the bald spot. ]

Well, it's good advice. I don't think it's an issue anymore, but after all that we weren't really interested in risking it anymore. Never thought I'd be vegetarian but this place does keep me on my toes.

[redwinekindofgirl]

[Okay, she's already heard 'human-meat-pies' so this is just met with a snort of amusement.]

Wouldn't ask if I didn't want to know, and I don't know why you'd bother saying anything if you weren't gonna tell me anyway.

[redwinekindofgirl]

[Wow, Julie gets it. She'd be mad, too, though she doesn't know yet that in a few month's time she's going to have cut her own hair up to her shoulders.]

Yeah, I mean, I guess I was mostly veggie back home anyway? It's not like we have the space for livestock. The last banana I tried to eat here kind of tasted like a pear, though, and I was just not ready for it.

[am_i_a_monster]

[The snort causes a flash of anger across her face.]

I said it to warn you. After my dad died, I learned he was a cannibal. The meals he served me were made from the bodies of his victims. There's nothing funny about that and with the way this place is, others might have been through the same thing. Or worse, if there is worse.

[redwinekindofgirl]

Yeah, you're the second person to say 'human flesh'.

[The information doesn't seem to faze her, and neither does that look on the other girl's face.]

[am_i_a_monster]

That's all the more reason you shouldn't find it funny.

[redwinekindofgirl]

Okay, gonna stop you right there. I didn't find the thing you hadn't even told me yet funny.

[Seriously.]

Not actually psychic, cool as that sounds.

[am_i_a_monster]

You knew it was bad enough for me to warn you.

[redwinekindofgirl]

Nah, warning me is 'this is really terrible' and then actually telling me without acting like you need it to be coaxed out of you.

[A shrug.]

I mean, come on. A 'dangerous question'? What did you think I was gonna do, faint? Barf?

[am_i_a_monster]

[She shakes her head.]

No, I thought you might trigger bad memories, flashbacks, nightmares, that kind of stuff.

[redwinekindofgirl]

This whole place is a living trigger warning.

[Especially lately, but given that Julie herself is something of a walking trigger warning and one might think that 'eating human flesh' would be a bad one for her.]

But sure, I'll buy that.

[am_i_a_monster]

Not the whole place, at least not for me. We have freedom here and can make friends.

[She watches her for a moment.]

Does this whole place trigger bad stuff for you? There's a tea that can help with nightmares and sleep if you need it. And Dr. Sweets.

[redwinekindofgirl]

[Julie makes a face.] Oh, pft, you meant me? God, no, I'm fine.

["Fine".]

The shrink doesn't really do it for me. Tried talking to him once but it felt too weird.

[unphase]

[she leans towards the camera, looking mischievous]

Durlan food. Never. Again.

[she squints at the screen, trying to make heads or tails of what Julie's showing her]

What is that? It looks disgusting. And like you'd have to drink a liter of water after you were done choking it down.

[Video]

[such_a_teez]

Oh, I've been spoiled for choice in strange foods. Disgusting really is subjective, but the cold jellied eel dishes I've had have been less than pleasant. I didn't particularly enjoy hot vinegared eel either. There was hot blood from the slaughterhouse, supposedly it would heal me when I was ill. [Tyki shakes his head.] It didn't. I'd do quite a lot to avoid that again.

[Tyki has no interest in trying that cube.]

Still, I'd probably have a nice miserable meal of hot blood and cold eel and pork innards too before eating something like that ration of yours.

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[utulien_aure]

My first thought would be seel eyeballs, but it may be that I simply was not raised to eat them.

[Attemping to be fair, here.]

If given the choice, though, I would never have them again. Or any kind of seel meat, at that.