badnewsandshitlist: [personal profile] spaceconfessional (Default)
badnewsandshitlist ([personal profile] badnewsandshitlist) wrote in [community profile] etraya2025-10-27 04:35 am

Un: TerribleTinkerer

I find myself surrounded by automatons- efficient, tireless, and entirely without taste buds.

Tragic, really. I briefly considered inventing some for them, but the idea of mechanical wine critics felt like the beginning of the end.

Still, their absence of taste has me thinking. We live in a place where every whim can be fulfilled, every desire neatly answered, and yet it all feels strangely hollow. It makes me wonder if pleasure only matters when it is imperfect.

As an adventurer, drinking always seemed part of the profession. You celebrate with a glass, mourn with a bottle, and pass the time between the two. It is not only about taste, but about presence, proof that you are still here and still capable of warmth.

I suppose that is why I keep wondering what it is that other people like about wine and spirits. The flavour, the warmth, the small act of refinement before it all falls apart? Or perhaps it is the comfort of something real in a world that feels increasingly mechanical.

As for myself, I have always liked the pause before the first sip. That quiet moment where everything is still possible, where the glass is complete and the world has not yet disappointed you. It is a lie, of course, but a pleasant one.

I am half tempted to ask Aurora to send a bottle from my Whitestone reserve, perhaps in the name of scientific inquiry. Or perhaps out of homesickness. The difference feels minimal tonight.

Indulge me. What is your poison, and do you drink it for taste, for comfort, or to feel human for a while?
repaintress: by betenoir (Default)

Text: Username: LaFleurDeParis

[personal profile] repaintress 2025-10-28 06:41 pm (UTC)(link)
It feels hollow because it is unreal. Perfection is valuable because it is rare and it takes dedication and practice. Perfection in the real world is a rare event, like an eclipse, and should be appreciated as such. Unreal perfection is hollow because it is shallow and lacks the depths that bring joy from the actual world.

I enjoy wine because it connects it me to my people's history and because each bottle is different from the one before. To appreciate it properly requires an attention to detail, which is a muscle I enjoy flexing. Alcohol can also introduce you to aspects of yourself that might otherwise be hidden, and I enjoy such explorations. By stripping away certain inhibitions, creativity can be fostered.