The Desolate Inn's Divine Menu
By @john1208
Tazeen Dastur was supposed to be the heir to the most legendary culinary dynasty in the realm of Parshangan. Instead, her spiritual root is deemed defective, and she is publicly stripped of her birthright and thrown into the mud outside the Grand Azure Pavilion while the elites laugh. Exiled to the crumbling Omid Caravanserai at the edge of the world, the shy but stubbornly resilient chef decides to simply cook her grief away. Her melancholic, soul-warming dishes are a stark contrast to the sterile, pill-based diets of the modern cultivation era. Soon, immortal patriarchs and Envoy Vesh-Tek - a haughty outworlder diplomat who views humanity as uncultured apes - are rolling in the dirt, pulling hair and throwing spiritual techniques at each other just to claim the last serving of her spiced lamb stew. But as the inn flourishes under the guidance of a seemingly kindly wanderer, Elder Zulfiqar, Tazeen realizes her magical ancestral recipe book is not a blessing. Every bowl served feeds an ancient, sealed entity. Can a timid chef defy her own bloodline and save her most annoying customers before the final course is served?
2
The Galaxy's Only Soup Kitchen
By @john1208
I died serving the Emperor of the Great Jing Dynasty, only to wake up inside a rusted disposal chute on Neo-Pangaea Station. In this grim 'modern' era of the Terran Ascendancy, humanity has conquered the stars but lost its soul - and its recipes. Everyone survives on chalky, state-mandated nutrient paste. Driven by my uncontrollable urge to feed people, I salvaged a heating coil and some hydroponic scraps to open a tiny stall in the terrifying, gang-run underbelly of Sector 7. I just wanted to offer a warm meal to the exhausted scavengers. I didn't expect Ambassador Vur-Tash, a terrifying Skarn diplomat known for despising human culture, to wander in, sneer at my noodles, and then burst into tears of joy. Nor did I expect heavily armed syndicates to stage daily bloodbaths outside my door just to secure the last portion of braised pork. But as the skirmishes around my humble shop escalate and an interstellar war looms, I realize the alien invasion and my little food stand share a terrifying connection. Will my cooking save the galaxy, or will the line for lunch destroy it first?
2
A Wok in the Dark
By @john1208
Danica Rurik, a fiery and fiercely loyal protagonist from a 2D gourmet manga, wakes up in the smog-choked, food-barren metropolis of Ternograd. When a blood-stained lockbox containing a mutant beast's leg and a cryptic letter arrives at her dilapidated subterranean bunker, Danica assumes it is the opening challenge of an underground cooking tournament. Armed with her trusty wok, she begins serving up blistering hotpots and savory roasts. But Danica has entirely misunderstood the rules. She isn't in a cooking competition - she's in a quarantined sector for the galaxy's most lethal outlaws. Her 'strict food critics' are actually terrifying bio-engineered warlords and ruthless cyber-assassins who believe her spicy broths are highly addictive, gene-enhancing elixirs. Even the legendary, reclusive martial arts elder, Grandmaster Orok, abandons his isolation just to snatch the last slice of beef. Soon, rival death-squads are calling bloody truces merely to share a communal hotpot without spilling their soup. With a rival-turned-lover Imperial Inquisitor breathing down her neck and a double-agent dishwasher reporting her every move, can Danica win a 'tournament' that doesn't exist before the Empire purges the sector?
1