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Food

Too High? Chill Out with Some ASMR Ice-Eating Videos

Relaxing? Repulsive? You decide.
Screengrabs via Instagram

Ah, 4/20. The Day of the Weed. Time to roll up a fatty J and light a spliff or whatever. Puff puff pass, etc. Toking is tight, am I right?

OK, you caught me—I don’t partake in cannabis. I’m allergic to smoke and have chronic asthma and am already paranoid to begin with, so sue me! But I can still participate in this “holiday,” goddamnit. I’ll be the most chill person you’ve ever seen—just let me grab my mug of Kava tea and cue up some ice-eating videos on Instagram.

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Ice-eating videos? You may be asking yourself. Is this some sort of anemia fetish?

No, friends, it is not (although no judgment if you’re into that kind of thing). Ice eating falls under the category of ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Responses), which, for the unfamiliar, is sort of a full body tingle brought on by certain external triggers, like "slime play," soap cutting, and slurping sounds.

When I initially stumbled upon @iceeatingvideos thanks to Instagram’s Explore Page, I was skeptical. The feed is populated with videos pulled from Kwai, a Chinese social-networking platform, and most of the thumbnails depict pale women gnawing on frozen blocks. My teeth hurt to look at them. Upon further inspection, though, I realized that these were no ordinary ice cubes—most of those featured are only partially frozen, yielding thin, crispy exteriors and liquid centers. Like Cadbury Eggs, but less delicious. They actually look sort of fun to eat. Case in point:

Many of the women featured on the account have taken their ice-making game to the next level by incorporating food dye and intricate molds. Here is a lady eating a bowl of strawberry icicles:

And here is a sweet gal eating a green guitar:

I am at once relaxed and repulsed. When someone chews gum too loudly in my general direction I want to smack them in the face, but something about the muted crunching of a frozen square of berries and cream puts me into a temporary trance.

Ahh. Feeling chiller already. Ha ha. Chiller. See what I did there? No, YOU’RE high!