Love and Deepspace has told players not to recreate or drink a set of fictional cocktails shared for an in-game event after fans raised alarms about toxic plant garnishes named in the promotional recipes.
The game’s official social account unveiled five “Shimmering Blend” drinks on September 28, each styled around one of its romanceable characters. The drinks were presented as part of the game’s fiction, but the ingredient lists prompted immediate concern because some included real plants that are unsafe for human consumption.
One listed a pomegranate-based drink with cinnamon and datura as a garnish. Another paired peach juice, gelatin sheets and a flame lily garnish. The juice elements are not the problem; it is the plants named as decorative additions that turned a fanciful visual promotion into a legitimate safety issue once the posts could be read as recipes.
“All drinks shown are fictional and for in-game purposes only. Do not attempt to recreate or consume them in reality.”
That was the wording used in the follow-up safety notice. It is an important clarification, particularly for an online game community where official event art, food-themed posts and character tributes can inspire fan recreations outside the game.
Why players objected to the cocktail posts
Fan replies focused on two plants: datura and flame lilies. Datura is described as highly poisonous and psychoactive. Consumption can lead to delirium, fever, tachycardia and hallucinations. Tachycardia is the medical term for an abnormally rapid heart rate.
Flame lilies also present a serious risk. Every part of the plant contains colchicine, a chemical that can be used medically but can be lethal when consumed in the wrong context or amount. Reported effects include fever, vomiting and diarrhea, as well as hypovolemic shock. That term refers to a dangerous state in which the body loses a critical amount of blood or other fluids, leaving it unable to circulate enough blood effectively.
The key practical point is simpler than the medical terminology: neither plant should be treated as a drink garnish. A flower or leaf’s ornamental appearance is not evidence that it is edible. The posts may have been intended as in-universe styling rather than real-world culinary guidance, but a list formatted like a recipe can be easily detached from that context as it spreads through social media.
Related coverage includes Love and Deepspace Warns Players Not to Recreate Fictional Cocktails With Toxic Plant Garnishes.
Players quickly urged the account to remove the material or make its status clearer. Their concern was not about the harmless juice ingredients, but about the chance that somebody might attempt a literal recreation, perhaps assuming that a decoration shown in an official food-and-drink image had been vetted for consumption.
Fictional food needs an unmistakable boundary
This situation is a useful reminder that fictional menus and real recipes serve different purposes. In games, a drink can be designed around color, mood, a character’s aesthetic or a dramatic name. An artist can use a dangerous flower because it suits the fantasy. In a real kitchen or bar, ingredients need a different standard: they must be appropriate for handling and consumption, not merely visually striking.
The distinction matters most when a promotion includes named ingredients. A purely illustrated prop is less likely to be copied than a combination of recognizable juices, a garnish and preparation-related components such as gelatin sheets. Even when the surrounding campaign is plainly tied to a game event, that degree of specificity can invite fans to think in terms of a DIY project.
The account’s follow-up statement therefore does more than add a disclaimer. It explicitly establishes that the drinks are fictional, intended only for the game, and not suitable for real-world recreation or consumption. Players should take that instruction literally rather than trying to substitute, source or handle the plants named in the posts.
There is no need to experiment with toxic flora to participate in the event’s theme. Fan creativity works best when it stays on the safe side of the line: appreciating the visual designs, discussing the character inspirations, or making clearly edible, independently chosen non-toxic drinks without presenting them as faithful reproductions of the original ingredient lists.
A community response shaped by care as well as fandom
The reaction also shows a more protective side of a passionate game community. Rather than treating the posts only as an aesthetic talking point, commenters identified the danger and pushed for a public warning. That kind of response can matter when platform posts travel beyond their original audience and lose the context of an in-game event.
Love and Deepspace’s social channels have recently been a focal point for other player concerns as well. Fans have continued to post tributes to Valko, a love interest who was announced and later canceled before release. Some players have created shrines, while others reportedly gathered outside the developer’s offices to protest the character’s cancellation.
The cocktail issue is separate from the Valko campaign, but both underscore the intensity with which players engage with the game’s characters and official messaging. In a fandom built around romanceable characters and personal attachment, themed materials are not always treated as disposable ads. They become objects of discussion, art references and potential real-world imitation.
That is why precision is valuable in game marketing. The more an event crosses into lifestyle imagery—food, clothing, décor or crafts—the more useful it is to distinguish fantasy props from products or activities people can safely reproduce. The warning now attached to the Shimmering Blend posts draws that boundary directly.
Games face a wide range of communication challenges beyond their stories and systems, from social-media promotions to practical ownership questions. For another recent example of how product details can affect players, see our coverage of a game disc that starts installation but still requires a download to finish. In this case, the immediate takeaway is considerably more urgent: the Love and Deepspace cocktails are fictional, and the toxic garnishes should not be recreated or consumed.
What players should do
- Do not attempt to make the listed fictional drinks as written.
- Do not consume or use datura or flame lily as a garnish.
- Do not assume a plant is edible because it appears in game art or a social-media recipe graphic.
- Share the official safety clarification when discussing or reposting the event imagery.
- Keep fan-made food tributes limited to ingredients known to be safe for consumption.
The official position is clear: these are in-game drinks, not real-world cocktails. Treat them as character-themed fiction and leave the dangerous botanical details on the screen.
