I’m ND as well, so we all handle this differently! One thing that I think is very important to note is that I find it important to push against this false idea that vegans have animosity to what meat is in the context of taste, texture, appearance, etc. This is a common myth that carnists believe, but it’s not true. The problem with meat isn’t any of those things; it’s where it comes from—a victim.

It’s also important to note that veganism is not an emotional stance. Someone can love the taste of meat, feel zero repulsion to what it is, and have no issues with how it looks and still find a logical reason to be vegan. There are people who do operate this way, and it’s important to remove veganism from heavy emotional components like “compassion,” “disgust,” or even “tears” because even people who don’t cry when they see a pig’s throat getting slit should be able to logically process why they do not have a right to another creature’s body.

Focusing so much on the aesthetics is what got you in that frame of thought it seems, but it’s important to note that the aesthetics are a very small part, if even existent, of the battle. A world that goes so far to ban animal exploitation but still eats things that imitate animal flesh is a vegan world, even if the aesthetic is in the “meat” that they eat. It’s about the mentality of rejecting that animals are resources for human beings to exploit, and if anything, saying “I enjoy the taste of this animal, but why should my sensory pleasure be placed above its right to live and be free? As inconvenient as it may seem to others, I’m going to start going out of my way to enjoy a similar taste while still granting the animal the respect it deserves.” fulfills that a ton.

Also, the line starts seeming kind of arbitrary if we ask ourselves what exactly counts as “imitation meat.” For instance, does tofu count as imitation meat because even though it’s not a “direct” alternative? It’s often used as one or even flavored and prepared in ways that makes it taste like certain dishes typically made with flesh, such as General Tso’s tofu. Is it a problem if someone prepares jackfruit to taste like what someone knows as pulled pork?

It’s also important to remember that carnists abuse the shit out of victim erasure. The reason why carnists can stomach eating meat so much is because, to them, steak is not a cow, pork is not a pig, and hell, chicken isn’t even chicken! There’s a reason why carnists say mind-numbing shit like “Eating meat is a personal choice!” They’ve gotten so detached from the notion of there being a victim, that it seems like they truly believe that there is no victim. However, I’d rather be detached from the notion of there being a victim because there actually isn’t one.

In this vegan future, what I see, as someone with my kind of mentality, is these products existing but not being tied to their violent counterparts that their ancestors barbarically consumed eons ago. They’re just their own thing. There are no more “chicken” nuggets. There are just nuggets made out of whatever they’re usually made of at this point.