#so i'd love to hear what other people's hcs are with foods from other cultures

[starthelostboys]

tlb characters’ favorite meals:

michael: scrambled eggs with bacon and hash browns. michael is definitely a breakfast food fan, and this is his favorite breakfast meal. he prefers to make it himself, so he can cook the bacon the way he likes or put hot sauce on the eggs, but if he’s ever at a breakfast restaurant he’ll always order this there.

star: broccoli and cheddar soup. i don’t think star had a good relationship with her parents at all (in fact i hc that she ran away from home at 18) but her dad used to make this for her on special occasions and she’s never been able to find something that replaces it as her favorite food. every once and a while she’ll feel horribly homesick and get some of the campbell’s canned broccoli and cheddar soup.

david: tuna salad sandwich. he eats this like twice a month and when he does it’s the gross sandwiches that come in vending machines or the refrigerated shelf at gas stations. he truly and genuinely thinks it’s the best and most satisfying meal in the world will usually eat it alongside a can of diet coke.

dwayne: a reuben with salt and vinegar chips. he’s very picky when it comes to this specific thing. the bread on the sandwich can’t be toasted and the potato chips have to be kettle cooked or he isn’t satisfied. he hasn’t eaten this in years because there’s no restaurants in santa carla or the surrounding area that meet his high standards.

marko: bbq burger. specifically the one at a restaurant just outside of santa carla that closed down in the mid 1970s. he mourns the lose every day and has never found a bbq burger that hits quite the same.

paul: lasagna. his all time favorite is the one at this italian place in the town where he grew up, but he’s happy with any and all types of lasgna, including the shitty frozen meal ones.

laddie: spaghettios with hot dogs cut up in it. most of what he eats is fast food or from whatever quick service restaurants are on the boardwalk, so it’s not like he gets a lot of home cooked meals and he sees this as a sometimes treat that star or one of the boys will make for him every once in a while.

sam: grilled chicken tacos. he takes his tacos with cilantro and sour cream only, and as little spice as possible because he can’t handle it at all. he hasn’t eaten this at all since moving to santa carla cause his favorite version of it is at a mexican restaurant that the emersons used to go to semi regularly when they lived in arizona. if he ate any different chicken tacos it would just make him a little homesick and sad he can’t have the ones he likes.

edgar: blueberry pancakes with a side of onion rings. edgar seems like a diner food kind of guy to me (i haven’t forgotten the scene in the thirst where he and zoe get pancakes together), and he’s definitely a creature of habit so this is what he always orders. he refuses to put any sort of syrup on the pancakes and never gets any breakfast sides to go with them, it’s only ever onion rings.

alan: peanut butter and banana sandwich. i think that he and edgar were kind of left to their own devices a lot growing up (and it’s only gotten worse now that they’re teenagers), so they had to make their own meals and peanut butter and banana sandwiches are something they’d eat multiple times a week when they were kids. no matter how often he eats them he never gets tired of them.

lucy: chicken and dumplings. she makes this at least once a month, and every time michael or sam have ever gotten sick she makes it for them. she still uses her mom’s recipe from when she was a kid.

[vaor]

i'd love to hear about your pre-war alfor and zarkon hcs if you're willing to share!

none of this is ever going to be canon but bc season 2 didn’t give me the pre-war information I so desperately crave, I have to create my own content:

Alteans and Galra were aware of each other’s existence, but it took them quite a long time to actually be able to visit each other’s homes

they have to learn each other’s language(s)

obviously, due to cultural differences, misunderstandings ensue

a concept: young!Haggar indulging in Galran culture like the nerd she is and gushing to Alfor about how much!! they can learn!! from this Galra race!!

she’s very enthusiastic about other alien cultures and befriends a lot of the Galra (much to the disdain of the higher raking Alteans)

there aren’t many natural sources of light on planet Galra. the inhabitants are used to dim light and dark environments… but the guests aren’t

please imagine young Alfor strolling through the corridors of a Galra ship, barely able to see anything, and out of nowhere, Zarkon appears

Alfor lets out an inhumane screech

on that day, his soul left his body and ascended into the never ending void of space

ZARKON HAS A TWISTED SENSE OF HUMOUR AND THINKS IT’S FUNNY

does it again

and again

one time he tried to jump out behind the closet but Alfor punched him square in the face, knocking him out

Alfor never let him live it down

Zarkon also has a weird obsession with facial hair. “Beard? You mean these protein strands just grow on your face??”

he once shaved Alfor’s eyebrows off in his sleep just to see if they’d grow back

don’t ever ask Alfor about it or he’ll cry

Zarkon will sometimes smooch Alfor on the cheek and when Alfor asks why he says “because no one will ever believe you”

Galra don’t have day/night on their planet, so they don’t have regular sleeping schedules. Instead they take many short naps throughout the “day”

Zarkon will take a nap anywhere

I repeat, anywhere

just imagine the Very Intimidating™ Zarkon curling up like a cat and falling asleep in the cockpit of the black lion

or on the kitchen table in the castle of lions before an important meeting

if it gets too loud bc others are present, he’ll withdraw to a more quiet place. (like Alfor’s bed. or one of the unoccupied bedrooms where he cannot be found)

this annoys Alfor to no end, but if a Galra is asleep you can’t?? wake them??? it’s too dangerous

they’re not inherently perilous or something, just really moody and temperamental. Do Not disturb a Galra during their nap (I cannot stress this enough)

Zarkon develops a habit of stealing Alfor’s food

at first he was just messing with the king but he starts to genuinely take an interest in altean meals because they taste so much better than anything his own people have ever come up with

Zarkon does not care if Alfor isn’t seated next to him during meals. this guy will reach across 5 seats to swap Alfor’s plate when he isn’t looking

Galra can’t hold alcohol very well. I’m going to leave this one to your imagination

I know Zarkon seems hard as nails on the outside but this almighty overlord has a weak spot for babies (you can pry this headcanon out of my cold, dead hands)

WHEN ALLURA IS BORN ZARKON INSISTS HE GETS TO SPEND TIME WITH THE BABY PRINCESS

Alfor panics. Altean babies aren’t as robust as young Galra and Zarkon has no idea how to handle Altean infants

“What do you mean you don’t pick your babies up by the ears”

“Alfor. Are you listening. How am I supposed to hold your daughter”

he’s the worst babysitter

but Allura likes him! she’s a though baby!!

Zarkon doesn’t know at which age altean babies learn to talk so he’s really surprised when one day Allura asks out of the blue “why don’t you have the floof ears”

Alfor doesn’t know how to feel about Zarkon and Allura’s relationship but he trusts Zarkon and as long as Allura is happy, anything is fine

Allura starts picking up galran swear words

But Zarkon didn’t teach her?? He doesn’t swear very often?? He’s a quiet guy

(If you listen closely you can hear Haggar’s mischievous laugh in the background)

over the course of time, Alfor and Zarkon developed a really close friendship that could have lasted a lifetime

and maybe, just maybe, Zarkon still thinks about Alfor when wandering through the empty halls of his ship.