An early - [Day 5] Video

[iobairt]

I do not suppose anyone else has received pineapple-themed foods this morning?

[Maya frowns at the camera before it pans down to some BBQ'd pineapple.

And then a heap of yellow Nutri-cubes.]

I asked for something not this.

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[burstingstars]

[A text reply, Day not comfortable with video in general.]

"It all tastes the same, no matter what you ask for."

[And he already wasn't too fond of the things, could be found asking for ingredients mostly, to make his own meals.]

"Might try foraging in the forest."

[iobairt]

[She swaps to text. ]

Perhaps I should, though the jungle is dangerous, is it not?

Hopefully this malfunction doesn't last.

[burstingstars]

"I'll take the dangers I know over whatever this is."

[Day barely knew what sugar was before the Gas Station, let alone exotic fruit. It's all a bit too much for him and he barely trusts the food processor to start with.]

[iobairt]

[Maya blinks.]

It's pineapple. Do you not have it in your world?

[burstingstars]

The list of things Republic doesn't have is rather longer than the one of things it does have, which consists mostly of unpleasant ones. Or so I've been told.

[It's really not that easy to put "normal" into context when you grow up in a nightmare and only realize it later.]

[iobairt]

Much like my home could not grow them, then.

No matter. There is much that can be done with the fruit and it goes well paired with ham, for example. Though... Not to the extent the replicator seems to think.

[burstingstars]

I'll take my chances with the forest. Something in there must be in season.
Not like it'd be my first time skipping meals for a handful of days.

sorry for the slow. You are free to ignore if this is too late!

[iobairt]

Likely, though, is it safe to venture in alone?

[burstingstars]

It cannot be worse than the forest that is part of me.

[iobairt]

[Say what?]

Part of you?

[burstingstars]

I'm the Warden of... well, we call it Townsend Park now, but it's much older. But I got some of it to carry with me, to better care for it. Magic. Bits of gods and the trees and the beings living in it.

[kosmonautilus]

[A video back, showing Lucas with an assembly of other yellow things. Balls, pens, some flowers, a piece of cloth and of course various pineapple foods. It seems like a color study, but he looks upset, waving his tablet, the screen displaying a biohazard sign. Clearly the pineapple isn't popular with him either, though the reason why is yet dubious.]

[iobairt]

[Maya blinks and cocks her head.]

I'm not sure if I follow. One of these is not like the other? One is a biohazard?

[kosmonautilus]

[She'll have to be patient while he furiously draws out an answer on his slate - no yellow involved. Words are hard.]

"It tastes like spines!"

[The ones found on lionfish, that is.]

[iobairt]

Like.... spines?

[She is not following the logic at all.]

Spicy?

[kosmonautilus]

[For a moment the slate goes flying, Lucas angrily waving gestures that'd need 3 more arms and a lack of joints to properly do. Then he fetches it again, sulking at having to do such tasks himself.]

"Spiky! Angry fish!"

[His shorthand drawing puts the slates translation to a challenge.]

[iobairt]

I... believe I see.

[Nope. She is not getting this at all, but she is trying!]

It isn't spicy, though? Though would mean you are allergic.

[kosmonautilus]

[She will get a helpful drawing of a lionfish. Full display filled with red-white stripes coming from one central point. The slate labels it 'artistic expression of anger/scary, possibly lifeform'.]

sorry for the slow. You are free to ignore if this is too late!

[iobairt]

So, to you, pineapple is an "angry fish"?

[Huh. She'd never thought to think of it like that, but she supposes it makes sense in an alien way.]

It would explain your reaction, though I do not think I'll ever look at it the same again - imagine it swimming in the sea with spines bared.

[kosmonautilus]

"Tastes angry!"

[He isn't sure how to explain that. Not dangerous-allergic, but like sticking your tongue into battery acid.]

[iobairt]

Tastes... angry?

How so?

[kosmonautilus]

"Tingles when touching!"

[He might be allergic and not know it. Or at least have some mental crossover to senses not common in human bodies.]

[failgoyle]

[Jules is just going with text because it's more comfortable for him at this point, ah well.]

I got a ten pound gummy pineapple which is probably not a thing that should exist

Once I find a big enough jar I'm gonna put it in water and then put it somewhere dark and see if it'll ferment

[iobairt]

Probably not, yet as one of my baby sister's would say: 'Great Novagram photo!'

Hoping for some homemade grog?

[failgoyle]

Look if I was back home I'd slap some sunglasses on it and take it out to grab a few pics and farm engagement

but since we are HERE then hell yes I need some grog

every shitty cruise deserves at least a little alcohol, as a treat

[iobairt]

In the words of Mairenn: Do it anyway. I have faith we will eventually have access to some form of wider internet.

You would be correct in that, though, I can't say I've ever had homemade grog.

[failgoyle]

I mean if we do end up with space internet I'll need to learn the meme culture first before trying to farm engagement

rules might be different

I have had homemade grog once and it was very much an experience that no one would ever care to repeat but sometimes you're kind of stuck in an environment in which making it in secret is your only option so you do what you must

sorry for the slow. You are free to ignore if this is too late!

[iobairt]

The meme culture is likely similar to what you are used to, if not far more varied. Or, so it was true in my universe.

Homemade grog made in secret... was it worth the trouble, or only proof that people will drink anything when desperate enough?

[bestbrotherever]

Quite a cruel prank, too. This food is associated with warmth and the sun, not our current conditions.

[Not that that stops Loki from munching on a pineapple slice with evident enjoyment.]

[burstingstars]

"Is it? I've never seen the like where I'm from and we had plenty of sun."

[Republic had winter temperatures of 90F/30C regularly, thanks to global warming.]

[bestbrotherever]

Perhaps it does not exist in your realm. I had not heard of it until my most recent visits to Midgard.

[burstingstars]

Isn't Midgard Earth? Because I am from there. Though maybe they are gone by 2132...

[bestbrotherever]

It is. Though it is hard to believe that such a common fruit would be entirely gone in only a century...

[burstingstars]

A lot of things happened. The Floods, the war...

[That brief period were an AI almost took mind-control of all of humanity, for all they swept that so thoroughly under the rug Daniel isn't aware of it.]

[bestbrotherever]

The war. Was that fully internal, with only humans or other natives of your Earth, or did it involve any beings from the stars?

[burstingstars]

We managed to screw things up plenty on our own. Palmer said my future wasn't the same as his, since humanity would cease to exist if his spaceship in Antarctica thawed out and that's what caused the Floods in mine.

[bestbrotherever]

True... But outsiders can make things even worse. Even- perhaps especially- if we think we are saving you from yourselves.

Ah, in any case, I think you do not come from the future of the Midgard I know.

[burstingstars]

Perhaps for the better. It's not exactly a nice future. I'd rather stay at the Gas Station.

[bestbrotherever]

[Raising an eyebrow]

Your world must be quite dire if you consider a gas station to be preferable.

[burstingstars]

Not that it was a normal gas station, but... yes. Republic is bad. I'd not wish anyone to end up there.

[iobairt]

Is it? I like that better than a symbol of wealth.

[It wasn't something that grew naturally on fae worlds.]

[bestbrotherever]

I suppose it is a symbol of wealth, as it is eaten even in places where it cannot be grown. But it is not only consumed by the wealthy; rather, it is one of the most affordable of the "tropical" fruits.

[iobairt]

Really? Though, I suppose I shouldn't be shocked, but much of what I know that commoners eat is... limited.

[Near non-existent even after 9months of living away from glitz and glamour, but she has learned, just a little.]

[bestbrotherever]

My brother enjoys sampling Midgardian cuisine of all types, and he often offers a taste for me. It is not always to my taste, but I cannot deny that the mortals have discovered a variety of food that could shame us gods.

sorry for the slow. You are free to ignore if this is too late!

[iobairt]

I believe there is something to admire in how mortals use food. It turns survival into art, scarcity into flavour. Perhaps it is not only wealth or symbols that make food meaningful, but the ingenuity behind it.

[And now she misses the chefs she had back home.]