This is the hill I will die on: Kim Dokja can cook. He can cook well.
Nowhere. In the novel is it said that he can't cook. People only assume he can't because yjh can and BECAUSE OF THE DAMN SHIP DYNAMICS OF CAN COOK/WILL BURN THE HOUSE DOWN!!!
YOU ALL ARE BETTER THAN THIS!!! YOU CAN START BEING BETTER TODAY I BELIEVE IN YOU!!!!!!
(Tropes are good but... Don't reduce a character to a trope? aksjsjldkdksk)
Anyway here's why Kim Dokja can cook, for real this time
There are three times he has made food in the novel that I can remember: the meat of the dungeon rats, the meat of the plant thing and The Dumplings.
The first two times you can assume that he read how to make it in twsa... And that the recipe was 20 pages long...
The third time 999 is giving him detailed instructions.
DETAILED INSTUCTIONS.
He can cook but only with detailed instructions!! If the recipe says "cook" he needs to know just how high the flame is and exactly how long to cook it for. If it says "add salt" he needs to know how much salt.
(recipes are super vague... also i may just be projecting my neurodivergence...)
Its kinda funny to think about hsy writing the detailed instructions to kinda highlight yjh's meticulousness but unknowingly giving kdj exactly what he needs to survive... Food. (Don't think about how it may have been deliberate if you don't want to be sad)
In conclusion, may I suggest yjh teaching kdj to cook instead? It would work. Hsy is more likely to burn the house down (intentionally) anyway.
(I'm so sorry this got super long... I couldn't resist :') )
UR SO REAL FOR THIS...
Ur right about the ship dynamic. you are SO right
i think it's necessary for kim dokja to be able to cook for his backstory. this man lived alone and in poverty, do not lie. now, whether he's good at it is another story!!!!!!! I like to think his meals were average (<3) and he used descriptions of delicious food in TWSA to trick his senses like with storebought meals
Also. dont worry about projecting your neurodivergence. because kdj is totally neurodivergent.
Han Sooyoung knew KDJ didn't eat well. She saw it when she visited the hospital. I figure that, for a long time, Han Sooyoung couldn't forget his arms and how not a single muscle could be felt! His hands were as small as hers (and during that time, bodily, she was also younger than him) SCREAMS
But yeah, I would like to see yjh guiding kdj in his process. Maybe replicate that recipe 999 taught him :)
