[video]

[im_a_leg]

[Hunk clears his throat on camera, then offers a gentle wave]

Hey everyone, hope you had an awesome holiday. Spent it with awesome people, stuffing your faces with awesome food. That's what it's all about, yeah?

As one of many food enthusiasts in this place, I have a quick q since I haven't been here as long as a lot of you. One food nerd to another, I'm like super into discovering new ingredients. When me and my buddies were checking out new planets as a part of Voltron that was kind of one of my side games, you know? I take a lot of pride in being able to source my food, or at least know where it came from.

So I just gotta ask, because it's driving me nuts. Where does the meat around here come from? Like, I haven't seen any real local wild life at all.

Comments

video;

[shiro2hero]

...



Tofu.

[That's what he's been living on since he and Yuuko had that horrible realization. And now, he's regarding the video post with the most thousand yard stare he's had since... well. Since last October.]

[While he sits determinedly in the kitchen. With his coffee.]

[im_a_leg]

Okay yeah, for sure, some of it's tofu. But you saw Thanksgiving dinner, right? There was definitely meat up there. I cooked with it.

» video

[spacebaloney]

Hunk... bro... does it matter when it's delicious? At long as it's not Garrison chow, we shouldn't ask so many questions.

[Because Lance tries not to think about that. Sure, it's one thing to consider burgers are just Miltanks, but the so called chicken wings are suspect when they only have Pidgeys and Fearows.]

[im_a_leg]

I mean I'll still totally cook with it. So long as it's not like... you know, super awful Lotor-like stuff.

But you know me, man. I like to know where the stuff I cook with comes from. It helps me connect to the food I'm making and honor where it came from.

video;

[pidge_out]

[Really she's only answering in video format because... Well, she's not ready to come find him in person just yet. But she's just in her own room, so this probably seems silly.]

Hunk, I'm pretty sure that some Pokémon are raised to be consumed, same way animals on farms are.

[She's so matter-of-fact about it. Not even a little bit of remorse or concern or anything.]

Re: video;

[im_a_leg]

[just. this face into the camera for a few seconds.]

I'm sorry, what?

» video

[lordofthefries]

When I was back home and hunting, we took pride in using every part of the animal because if you gave respect to nature for feeding you, nature would respect you back by supplying you with more.

[Which is how it was supposed to work, but wartorn overpopulation means heavy rations and people who don't respect nature like they should. But what Sasha is trying to say is that she understands Hunk's principle.

Though she'll totally put any and everything in her gaping maw, regardless of where it comes from.]

I don't know where it comes from, though. I just tell the guy at the store that I want meat to cook and he gives it to me. Are you going to stop eating it if you don't find out?

[im_a_leg]

Yeah, totally! That's how I was raised too. I was never a big hunter, but me and my dad used to go fishing. He taught me how to use the whole animal, don't waste any part of it or you'd be disrespecting the life you took.

And nah, not unless it was like... people or something like that. I just like knowing where the food I'm cooking with comes from. It helps me connect with it and honor it.

video;

[fuelthefire]

[Here is Krieg's masked face, on the video feed. Just like Shiro warned.]

The meat is monsters.

[And he's not sure why this is such a mystery, but he's happy to help clear it up.]

MEAT MAN

[im_a_leg]

[WHOA. That sure is ... a guy with a huge mask on his face. Didn't Shiro say... ?]

Hey, you're Krieg, right?

But like, which monsters, you know?

Video;

[schachmeister]

Well, the most logical assumption would be that it is pokemon, right?

[Armin doesn't seem particularly bothered by that thought. Is it any different from eating a cow back home? And pokemon definitely eat other pokemon.]

Re: Video;

[im_a_leg]

[He actually visibly winces]

... yeah, I was just kinda. Hoping not.

[Video]

[ghoststanning]

[Ray waves back.]

You know I've been wondering that as well! This this dimension already seems pretty technologically advanced, I've been theorizing that the meat is actually synthetically made in a lab.

[im_a_leg]

Right? It's like this weird combo of "we can teleport human beings" but also "we can only fly around on animals."

Could be lab made, but why wouldn't they just say that then?

Video

[thedifferencebetween]

Seriously? There's wildlife everywhere.

It's Pokemon. Obviously. They're like literally any other biological ecosystem or whatever. There's predator ones and prey ones. Read your 'dex, Pokemon eat each other all the damned time in the wild. It's nature!

[im_a_leg]

Well yeah, I figured there was a food chain situation. But generally people don't eat their pets, so I thought maybe there were some that were for eating that might be separate from the ones we train with?

Or, you know. A separate wildlife population somewhere.

[forsaintcecilia]

Oh, that's... Oh. Oh no.

It can't be Pokemon, can it? It doesn't look like Pokemon...

[Yet, now that he thinks about it, even the fish he gets from the pier is already filleted. He's never seen a fresh, whole fish at the market before.]

Wouldn't one of my team have told me about it by now? Somehow?

AAAH LA CORDA D'ORO

[im_a_leg]

I mean I've been here for months and no one on my team said anything either. Seems a little fishy.

... heh. Get it? Fishy?

voice;

[sunspotted]

Any time I've asked the locals if it's Pokemon, they tell me it's definitely not and seem pretty horrified I even suggested it.

But they don't really seem forthcoming about where it comes from otherwise. Just "wildlife".

[im_a_leg]

I... don't know if that's more or less comforting, honestly.

video;

[truthfinding]

I'm not sure that I want to know.

Do they just call the meat "meat"? They do not specify which kind of meat it is at the store?

Re: video;

[im_a_leg]

[ A broad grin -- guess who's happy to see you! ]

Hey, Romelle! You're here!

I mean they kind of do? It'll say fish, or pork, or beef... but not much more beyond that.

Video

[icecastlemadonna]

I've thought about that, and...I'm not sure if I want to keep thinking about it, to be honest. [The idea of eating Pokemon is one that still doesn't sit well with her.]

[im_a_leg]

That's pretty much Shiro's take too.

[whatsacactus]

ive tried not to think too much about it [The most Keith non-answer he can give. Not think about it how? When he buys meat at the store? When he goes out to eat? When he's hiking on the mountain alone and has to eat? Who knows.]

[im_a_leg]

You and Shiro are in the same boat. I think he's trying to go vegetarian even.

[video]

[pkemeter]

Ah, another person interested in the origin of "meat" in this dimension. Excellent.

[Egon adjusts his glasses and clears his throat. Time to tell yet another person about his theory that he literally just thought of a few days ago when he came here.]

One of my current theories is that the definition of "meat" that most people seem to be familiar with is not the same as the definition of "meat" in this world. For example, most people that I have met in this dimension come to think of "meat" as flesh sourced from a living, sentient animal of some sort. However, it could be that in this dimension, meat is not actually implied to be from animals or Pokémon--rather, its definition is an alternative source of protein, such as fungi or synthetically produced materials.

...That being said, I have not had the time or materials to test the "meat" I have purchased from the store.

Re: [video]

[im_a_leg]

To be fair I'm pretty interested in the origin of meat in every dimension. You should've seen some of the weird planets we ran into. Me and my buddy were stuck on this mermaid world that was all under water and they served us meat somehow?

The meat here definitely functions like meat back home from a culinary perspective -- responses to both heat and traditional dissection are identical to what I'm used to. Even seasoning. Synthetic production is a totally valid hypothesis; this place seems pretty advanced in strange ways. Their advances in genetic manipulation are like, way ahead of what you'd expect for a place that doesn't even have airplanes.

Video

[lifebloomsanew]

Oh.

I never thought about that...

[im_a_leg]

Uh... sorry?

VIDEO

[sociallychallenged]

Well, according to the Pokedex crap some of them eat each other. So it wouldn't surprise me if some of the meat came from them.

But being a breeder, I can't imagine that the eggs come from Pokemon. I mean, they're the size of ostrich eggs normally and I've had plenty of mysterious normal eggs since being here.

I can't figure that one out.

[And then, as he is a man that likes food, he has to ask-]

What's your usual specialty? My partner just became human fairly recently, since we first got here, and there are a ton of foods I've not been able to introduce him to. [He would totally hire Hunk to make food or dig up recipes just to make sure Connor gets the chance to try some stuff.]

[im_a_leg]

Right? My friends are breeders too, and like.. they look WAY different from the regular eggs we can buy. But I've never seen a chicken? Or any other bird that isn't a Pokemon? So I dunno, dude.

[ He brightens. ]

I grew up with Polynesian cuisine really, but recently I've really gotten into alien foods. Like, just experimenting with weird ingredients, you know? It's useful in case you find yourself somewhere with weird food, but it's also a lot of fun.

[ The just became human line should probably weird him out, but honestly he's had a crush on a girl that's a rock person so its hard for him to be judgmental. ]

Why can't you introduce him to stuff?

Video

[dreamsofahero]

You know, I'm not entirely sure I want to know the answer at this point...

Re: Video

[im_a_leg]

Heh. Yeah, this is a pretty popular sentiment around here, it looks like.