sorry i don't make the rules: ridiculous/lighthearted headcanons

if Diegetic Respawn Mechanics are a thing then every single one of the TF2 mercs can and has eaten something they're lethally allergic to just to satisfy their curiosity

Soldier and Demoman do basically this, they'll eat something toxic or that they're allergic to and race to die and respawn the fastest. loser buys the winner a case of beer, probably.

Meanwhile Scout is constantly eating foods that trigger his allergies, or is past its sell-by date, or has been on the floor for god knows how long (his household doesn't observe the five-second rule in the worst way possible) on the grounds that it "builds up your immunity." Medic has long since given up trying to correct him and as long as respawn stays ahead of it he doesn't consider it his problem.

Spy and Sniper think this is all a bunch of Juvenile Horseshit and refuse to participate. Instead they play Fugu Roulette, like civilized men.

 

Spoiler: outer wilds spoilers (base AND dlc)

i don't think the Stranger simulation has Hearthian models. or textures. the ash twin project is just going 'I guess I'm doing this too' and providing those clientside (pulling from the Hatchling's perspective of themself), so the Hatchling can see themself in the simulation just fine!

...everyone else sees some amalgamation of placeholder/error textures, four black void eyes, and a blatantly error-handling/placeholder model with a lantern glitching out near them.

and THAT is why your lantern's shadow is flying.

the Hatchling is absolutely unaware of this. the Prisoner quietly copies the model and texture data while using the vision torch.

 

more outer wilds stuff:

some kinds of timber hearth trees hybridise into incredibly fast-growing and tough but sterile hybrids. it's these hybrid seeds that are put into emergency tree seed kits: grows fast, hardy, and won't spread saplings around. very useful for the kind of situation that results in pulling out the emergency tree seed kit!

 

more outer wilds: gabbro hates jellyfish. there is no inciting incident for this, they just really don't like jellyfish. they are so chill about everything else which makes the jellyfish hatred even more out of nowhere and kind of comical which is why it goes here

 

Yet more Outer Wilds.

Chert has constellation/starchart tattoos (white ink; they're a darker blue than the average Hearthian, which makes it stand out better). Tattoos for Hearthians aren't as permanent as they are for us; they degrade with each yearly moult and generally don't last for more than a few moults. Chert uses this to cycle through different constellations, getting different ones inked every moult, though they've got a few favourites that get touched up yearly.

 

Samwise gamgee knew a little elvish before he left the shire cause he was a huge fanboy; basically standard stuff like hello, goodbye, may I have this dance, stuff like that. The words he'll not admit to but absolutely knows are a few good curses and swears (because that's just the law of languages, swears are easiest and most memorable).

Because he likes to share his special interest to anyone who will sit with the simple gardener at the local pub, Merry and Pippin also knew a few elvish swears and curses, and liked to use them at the absolute worst moments on their journey

 

Outer Wilds again, this time food culture headcanons:

the Hearthians are fond of spicy food. they're also resistant or immune to a lot of poisons in their ecology, so a Hearthian's idea of "spicy chemicals found in food" is abnormally broad.

the Nomai really liked bread/baked goods/pastas/noodles. they had so many kinds of bread.