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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   2585 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 16, 2026

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What are some irl parallels to the pleasure of a horror game “save room”?

I’ve heard some pretty good things about a hit of heroin.

When I researched this some time ago, a lot of heroin users would describe the high as being tucked into a warm bed after a long day of walking in the rain.

Someone once asked me what falling in love for the first time felt like, and I described it as “what it feels like to use heroin.”

Never having taken any opioid, I was just guessing for rhetorical effect. But if that’s accurate, I wasn’t far off.

To be fair, though, “you’re my addition baby” is the province of love songs and fuck sonnets since the invention of modern pharmaceuticals, so it’s not like I invented it. I notice nobody has yet described their lover as their methamphetamine, although I’m fairly certain the sensation is similar. “I’d rot out my teeth because of my singular obsession with you and lack of dental care” isn’t, you know, exactly a Shakespeare sonnet, though maybe it kinda rhymes with 130.

(Did people before opium came to the west use alcohol as a reference point? “You’re like fine wine” doesn’t really parse as a romantic phrase to me, and the process of alcohol intoxication sounds more like a metaphor for a bad hookup, of which I’m sure the drink has been the cause of many, than it does a burgeoning romance. “It’s fun while it lasts but I’m throwing up in the morning.”)

“You’re like fine wine” doesn’t really parse as a romantic phrase to me, and the process of alcohol intoxication sounds more like a metaphor for a bad hookup, of which I’m sure the drink has been the cause of many, than it does a burgeoning romance. “It’s fun while it lasts but I’m throwing up in the morning.”)

The comedian Sam Morril had a bit where he said that sex in a relationship is like a baked salmon darne, where you feel nourished and satisfied afterwards, having eaten something that was healthy and good for you. Whereas casual sex is like a takeaway kebab or burger, where you are absolutely loving the experience in the moment, but then feel disgusted and ashamed of yourself immediately afterwards.

Whereas casual sex is like a takeaway kebab or burger, where you are absolutely loving the experience in the moment, but then feel disgusted and ashamed of yourself immediately afterwards.

Off-topic: do people actually feel disgusted and ashamed after eating take-out?

I get that people say this so it must somehow be true (even if a meme, it's too popular to just be made up) but of the thousands of burgers I've consumed over my lifetime so far I have yet to identify one I was disgusted with myself for eating.

Is it just that it's a product of an industrial kitchen system, and industrial kitchens are bad because reasons?

Do people really order two number 9s, a number 9 large, a number 6 with extra dip, a number 7, two number 45s (one with cheese) and a large soda, then consume it all themselves in one sitting?

Have I missed the mythical past, or never having visited the southernmost US states, never knew a world where fast food meals were more than 1000-1300 calories on the regular?

Or is it something else I can't see?

It varies. I don't remember ever feeling disgusted or ashamed of myself after eating McDonald's, or a burrito. If I get a really cheap takeaway pizza (Domino's or Apache), the first few slices will taste like the nectar of the gods, but by the time I get to the end I will feel full to the point of nausea, and will regret having over-indulged. I often get the same feeling after eating a burger and chips from the chip shop, or a kebab and chips. I remember one New Year's Day I bought a kebab and chips to treat my hangover, and felt so full afterwards that I was practically bedridden for the rest of the day.

So yes, there are absolutely certain kinds of fast food that will make me feel gross and remorseful afterwards. The same is true of casual sex: I have had sexual encounters which I regretted immediately afterwards (and equally, casual encounters that I didn't regret).

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