Philosophy of Food | Monday, 4th period

[sharp_man]

If Hannibal had been mildly disgruntled last week, he was downright put out today. Class had been asked to meet at Portalocity instead of the school.

"Since the island has seen fit to drop us in the middle of a wasteland today, we'll be going somewhere else. As it happens, the Victoria and Albert - in several universes - has an exhibition that fits nicely into this class's purview. So, we have tickets and will be going there, and then for late lunch or early dinner in London before we return. The local language is English, so you should have no difficulties. If you've any questions about the exhibits, please feel free to ask me or any of the employees."

Comments

Re: Enjoy the exhibition

[sharp_man]

Hannibal wasn't buying it, but he was still quirking a smile at the pun. "Such as?"

Re: Enjoy the exhibition

[hashtag_chocobro]

Well, at least the joke was appreciated. It was an obvious one, sure, but that made it a classic. And the appreciation of it eased him into maybe feeling a little more comfortable with talking. It was kind of the point of the class, too, wasn't it? So he probably wasn't going to be able to brush it off too easily, and he never was very good at lying beyond the first initial attempt at a blow-off, anyway.

So he shrugged a little, and laughed to lighten it up nicely. "I don't know," he said. "Mostly just thinking about how chickens'll never be as cool as chocobos, and then that got me thinking, well, what if you, like...make a chocobo-chicken hybrid? Could be good for pets. But then I got thinking...I don't know, man, it doesn't....seem right...."

Don't touch your wrist, Prompto, leave it alone, don't touch...

Aaaand so of course he was rubbing his wrist a little.

"Messing with nature like that."

Re: Enjoy the exhibition

[sharp_man]

That was interesting.

"Humans have worked on 'messing' with nature for thousands of years," Hannibal said. "What about it seems wrong to you?"

Re: Enjoy the exhibition

[hashtag_chocobro]

"I mean, hey, just because someone's been doing someting for thousands of years doesn't necessarily make it right," said Prompto. "And...I, uh..." Chewing his lower lip for a moment, he shrugged. "I don't know, it's just, like...where would that leave the little chickichocobo? The chickens probably wouldn't want him, since he's not chicken enough, and the chocobos would think he was too chicken, so he's all by himself, doesn't even really know what he is anymore, he's just some...thing else. And, sure, maybe it works okay at first, but what if, like, it doesn't work in the long run, and you've created this little guy, but there's something wrong with him, because cells and DNA aren't supposed to go together like that and he's going to just die this slow and painful and lonely death when he probably shouldn't have been...made in the first place...

"I'd just feel pretty bad for the little dude, I guess."

Re: Enjoy the exhibition

[sharp_man]

Hannibal hummed in thought. "Do you know that the corn we eat today is almost entirely hybrid varieties? The original wild version has neither sufficient flavor nor hardiness to feed the millions that today's crops do. Purebred organisms often suffer from weaknesses and vulnerabilities that hybrids do not."

He eyed Prompto speculatively. "I would suppose that particular chick would have to decide for himself what he was and what his path should be, and make the most of the time that he had."

Re: Enjoy the exhibition

[hashtag_chocobro]

"Yeah, but," Prompto grinned a little, shrugging a shoulder, "corn and stuff's different, they're just plants, they're not, like, creatures with feelings and emotions and things like that. I mean, I'm sure there's some plants that probably have all that, but those aren't the plants we're, you know, growing for food. I guess, I don't know, I guess my point is mostly that....it just doesn't seem very fair to the chickichobobo to have to go through all that, you know? But...I guess none of us really ask to be born...or made...or whatever...and I guess it's okay if he's, like, happy and stuff, but what if he's not?"

Re: Enjoy the exhibition

[sharp_man]

"Nobody does ask to exist," Hannibal agreed, "nor is there any guarantee of fairness. It seems to me that it would be up to the chick to find his own ways to be happy, either working with or in defiance of his origins."