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#do you have any idea how proud i am that this talented cute noodle comes from my country
quentinfiletmignon · 3 years
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My favourite kind of Pasta 🍝
David Pastrňák • A4 • colored liners
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willow-salix · 3 years
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(Fluffember Prompt : Picnic)
Day 5 of Isolation on Tracy Island 2.0
“Are you going to eat all that yourself?” Gordon asked as he sidled up to me in the kitchen. I was making noodles, nice, simple, stir fried noodles, a little bit of chicken, some veg and a sweet and sour dippy sauce. Lush.
“No,”  I answered. There was clearly far too much for me to eat alone, I had a Space Hubby around here somewhere… or possibly up there somewhere, it was hard to tell.
“Oh, cool, can I ha-”
“No.”
Cue the pout, the epic Gordo pout. I am immune. I never thought I would ever be able to say that, but I’ve grown stronger, more able to resist the bottom lip of doom. Just about. I remember that I tried that once with John, and his exact words had been “Don’t even try, that won’t work on me, I’m immune, I have two younger brothers.” I’d thought his confident speech had been all bravado and false hope, but he might have actually been telling the truth, my pouts rarely worked on him and the ones that the terrible two dished out never did. Was my man secretly a god? I mean, I thought so, I’d seen him with his top off, but maybe, just maybe he had hidden talents. Hmmm…
“You’ve got that look on your face again.”
“What look?” I asked, needing to clarify his meaning so I could decide if I needed to be insulted or not.
“The one you get when you’re staring at John or that guy from that old TV show, the Scottish one with the time travel.”
“Jamie Fraser is the most perfect of men, he is the ultimate in husband goals, he is…” I trailed off and shrugged. “I obviously have a thing for hot redheaded men.” 
“Urghh,” he made a face similar to the one that Scott made when Alan shoved his shoe under his nose last week. Like he wanted to throw up but wasn’t sure which way to aim.
“Why are you in here anyway?” I asked. “Was it just so you could bug me and judge me? I’m busy here, I’m trying to cook.”
He snorted, a scoffing little noise that was quite rude.
“What now?” I sighed.
“Cooking isn’t that hard.”
“Oh really? Then why is it that barely anyone in this house seems to be capable of it? It’s not just a case of grabbing some random ingredients, tossing them in a pot with a prayer for luck and you’re good to go.”
He declined to comment and wandered off without another word. I should have been terrified, but my bean sprouts were trying to burn so I pushed it aside to worry about later. That was my first dumb move.
My second dumb move was to actually leave the comfort of the couch and John’s recently vacated warm spot.
“What the everloving crap was that?” I yelped when a loud crash sounded from the kitchen below us. I poked John gently when he failed to react. “Did you hear that?”
“Since I’m not deaf, it would have been impossible for me not to,” he casually swiped something away on his tablet and started reading again.
“What did they do?” 
“And since I do not, in fact, have the ability to see through walls, I don’t know.”
“Go and find out.”
You’d have thought I was asking him to go shopping with me again.
“I don’t think so, you go.”
“They’re your brothers.”
“You’re the one that cares.”
“They’re your brothers,” I repeated.
He gave me that look of his that promises retribution as I rolled sideways to let him get up, rolling back to steal his spot the second he moved. I dragged his blanket over my knees (I’m feeling chilly today) and stole his tablet to watch videos on as he walked away. 
I got so engrossed, having fallen down a hole of cute hamster videos, that I didn’t realise for a full twenty minutes that John had failed to return. I had sudden and very detailed visions of my poor boy hogtied and left baking in the sun or some such nonsense. I unwrapped myself from my blanket burrito and started my very slow and reluctant walk towards the kitchen. 
“What are you doing?” I yelled the second I rounded the corner, entered the room and saw the scene before me. They all froze guiltily, including John, who was at that very second groping blindly around in the pantry. And when I say blindly, I mean it literally, he was wearing a blindfold that by the looks of it, had been made by them tying my shawl around his head. I don’t know what they were thinking, if anything I’m a little surprised that I’ve never seen smoke coming out of their ears when their two remaining brain cells rub together to give them an idea.
The other idiots were all standing around in various places, standing guard over small piles of produce like dragons over their gold. 
“What the hell is going on in here? And how the hell have you roped him in?”
“Hang on, he’s got twenty more seconds yet,” Alan told me, clicking a button on his comm again. “Go!”
John resumed his digging around, knocking over two jars of mustard and an open packet of pasta which poured out like a carby waterfall. He ignored it.
“Gordon?” I turned to the likely culprit.
“Why are you picking on me?” he asked innocently. "Why do you always assume it's my doing?" 
“Are you honestly trying to tell me that you had nothing to do with this?  Whatever this actually is.”
“We’re having a picnic,” Virgil told me.
“It’s blindfolded kitchen shopping,” Kayo elaborated. I switched my glare to her, she was involved, I could tell, mostly because she still had one of her workout head wraps around her neck and had her own pile of goodies on the counter in front of her.
“It was Scott’s idea,” Alan piped up, throwing his brother under the bus. “Time!”
John dropped the item in his left hand, retaining the one in his right and backed out of the pantry. He pulled off his blindfold and gathered up his treasures, a bag of donuts, a can of whipped cream and in his hand a tin of spaghetti hoops.
“What was Scott’s idea?”
“Well, when you told me that cooking was easy-” 
“I said no such thing. I told you that it wasn’t as simple as just bunging some ingredients in a…” I trailed off, I could already see where this was going and I wasn’t impressed.
“Exactly, throw some ingredients together and make food. Easy.”
“Not easy,” I insisted.
“So I happened to mention it to Scott, who said that he agreed, you can make anything if you’re creative enough-”
“You should not be learning from the Grandma Tracy school of cookery!”
“The rules are simple,” Gordon continued as if I had never spoken. “One minute to select three ingredients, all of which must be used in the finished dish. You’re allowed to add two more ingredients to aid the construction but that’s all. You can do whatever you want with what you have, be as elaborate or as simple as you like. You must taste your own dish, as does everyone else when everything will be shared as a picnic.”
He looked so damned proud of himself, the little snot.
“How did the rest of you numpties get involved in this?” I sighed, knowing I was beaten. No one answered me. Giving up, my blanket nest calling me, I retreated towards the door.
“Do you want to join in?” Virgil asked innocently.
“No, I really don’t.”
“Do you not have as much faith in your cooking skills as we do in ours?” Alan teased. 
I paused in the doorway.
“Dare you, unless you’re scared,” Kayo threw in, just to stir the pot.
“Dammit!” She knew exactly what she was doing, I can NEVER resist a dare.
“Gimme a blindfold.”
Alan tossed me his, which I think was a football sock, but I didn’t want to look at it too closely, I just prayed it was clean. I tied it around my head and Scott checked to make sure I couldn’t see anything. I don’t know what he did, because obviously I couldn’t see anything, but it made a few of them snigger, so I’m obviously suspicious.
Alan started the timer and I groped my way around the table to the fridge.
“Forty-five seconds!”
Crap! This was actually pretty stressful. How did you pick something without seeing it? I decided to stick to one place and hope for the best, open the fridge, feel around, grab some bits, done! Right?
Easier said than done when you have recently gone shopping, the fridge is packed to bursting and you can’t tell what anything is.
“John! Grab this!” I demanded as Alan happily started counting down from twenty as my time ticked away. I grabbed something small and weird, no idea what it was and tossed it over my shoulder in what I guessed was his general direction, hoping he caught it.
I fumbled around and selected something round and cold, that I hoped might be a tomato and held that out too, then in desperation I yanked out a random box just as Alan called time.
I pulled off my blindfold and looked at the things John was holding for me, which turned out to be an apple and a tiny radish. I was holding a carton of eggs. Could have been worse.
“Let the food prep begin,” Gordon declared. “No helping each other.”
Sighing I got to work. Obviously, eggs would be my main ingredient, I cracked four into a bowl and whisked them together. 
“Do we have to use all of the ingredients we picked out?” I asked.
“Yes, every one.”
“No, I meant do I have to use the entire apple or the entire box of eggs,” I clarified.
“Oh, no you don’t, it just has to have them in there.”
“Cool, OK, and we get two extra ingredients of our choice?”
“Yep.”
“Cool.” That was me sorted then. I grabbed a grater and shredded a quarter of the apple and less than an eighth of the tiny radish. I wasn’t a big fan of those spicy little buggers, I don’t like pepper and they definitely have a peppery quality to them, but I was hoping the sweetness of the apple would balance it out.
I opened the fridge again and selected some cheese which I shredded and some ham, chopping it up quite fine. That would do.
I set a pan on the stove top and waited for it to heat up.
“Do I get to use any kind of oil or something to stop my food sticking?” I asked.
The ringleaders, Gordon and Scott, looked at each other, obviously indulging in some kind of non-verbal conversation I wasn't privy to before making their decision.
“Yes you can,” Scott graciously allowed.
“Thank you.” I dumped in a generous knob of butter. Quickly I sloshed the eggs into the pan, and fluffed them up a little with a fork before I turned the heat down a bit and let them sizzle.
I glanced over at Alan who was constructing something with jam and a pile of cookies. Scott was wrestling with a can of tuna and Gordon was opening a carton of custard.
I sprinkled a little of the apple on top of the egg, then a tiny dusting of radish, followed by a large handful of cheese and ham. I eased the sides of my omelette away from the pan, making sure it wasn’t sticking and checking it was cooking.
John, I noticed, was doing something weird with a lettuce leaf that he had procured from somewhere, it was not one of his blindfolded items so he must have gotten it after. He had the leaf stretched over a small bowl and was spooning a tiny amount of the tinned spaghetti into it. Sometimes I wonder why I agreed to marry into this family. I must have been drunk.
I carefully folded my omelette in half and turned the heat off, letting it rest and continue cooking a little.
“I’m done,” I declared, turning around to survey the chaos that had become our kitchen. Oh the humanity. I would NOT be cleaning this up.
Alan, it transpired, had blindly chosen cookies, cheese slices and curry sauce left over from some McDonald’s nuggets I got a few weeks ago, bringing them and other goodies with me in the space elevator. His extras appeared to involve pilfering a few of the McVities digestive biscuits that I’d brought from home the day I arrived that Kayo had chosen in her blind scrabble around the snack cupboard. 
He’d proceeded to make a weird stacked thing he was calling a cookie burger which consisted of a cookie base, a layer of jam on top of that, the digestive and lastly a slice of cheese with a drizzle of curry sauce on top.
Gordon was constructing something very elaborate, involving a bowl and lots of layers. His random items appeared to be the custard, half a vanilla sponge cake and a tub of left over chili. My mind was boggling. 
Scott was hacking at a rather stale looking half loaf of bread that John said he found in the rarely used bread bin, I don't know how he'd managed to open the bread bin without seeing it, but apparently he had. He'd also blindly chosen a can of Tuna and a packet of fruit gummies. 
Virgil, the adorable chonk, had managed to choose a package of cocktail weenies, a tin of peaches and a few sticks of celery. He had stared at his bounty for a good few minutes, before giving up and wandering over to the pantry. He'd stared into that too, like he was looking into a black hole or contemplating the mysteries of the universe. 
Eventually he'd chosen a pie crust from the baking shelf and had begun to assemble his creation. He tipped the peaches into the pie dish, chopped up the celery and cocktail sausages and dropped them in on top. He'd looked around, rather desperately I thought, and reached over to steal John's can of whipped cream, squirting a generous amount on top of his frankenpie and called it good. 
Kayo appeared to have more sense than the others, she had been the one to find my stash of digestive biscuits and, after Alan had liberated a few, proceeded to crush them into crumbs which she lined the inside of a bowl with.
"What are you making?" I asked, because it didn't look too awful. 
She continued to construct her…whatever it was…adding some cake pilfered from Gordon, some grated carrot mixed into cream cheese that was one of her chosen extras and topping it all with strawberries. It kinda…vaguely…could be a cheesecake, if you tipped your head to the side and squinted. 
I turned to John, my man, the one that I was supposed to trust with all my heart and soul…he was…I don't know how to describe it. He'd taken the donut and hollowed out a little bit more from the middle hole, then he'd gathered up the sides of his lettuce leaf/ spaghetti hoops thing and had made it into a little parcel, twisting the end closed. He then popped that inside the hollowed out donut. I have no idea why. He'd finished by decorating the top with whipped cream and sprinkles. What was it with them all thinking that whipped cream was the answer to all their problems? Because three of them had done it so far. 
Gordon had sprinkled in a handful of peas, actual peas, on top of his custard layer, then added cream on top. I honestly don't know. 
Scott had moved on from his bread and taken some of John's lettuce, insisting it was his first, and put a leaf on the stale bread and topped that with Tuna and sweetcorn, which actually had the potential to taste OK. Time would tell. He'd used the fruit gummies to decorate the plate with, I'm not sure if that counted but since he and Gordon seemed to be in charge I assumed it was allowed. 
I slid my omelette onto a plate and vaguely wondered if I should grab a few sick bags before the picnic portion of this weird event started. 
They all looked incredibly proud of themselves, why I had no idea, no one should be proud of the mess they had made, this was not food, this was barely a step up from mud pies in the yard. 
They all took their food offerings and trooped outside, setting up camp on one of the picnic benches near the edge of the beach and settled in. 
One by one they presented their masterpieces. Here are the reactions.
SCOTT’S
“This bread’s hard, very hard,” Alan said.
“It’s very fishy,” Gordon said, although we don’t know if it was a bad thing or not.
“Not bad, I could eat it if I had to,” Virgil allowed.
“I don’t like the sweetcorn on it, it keeps rolling away,” John frowned. He was always a bit funny with tinned sweetcorn anyway, he prefers it on the cob.
“That isn’t just hard bread, that is rock bread,” Kayo complained.
“It’s edible, with fresh ingredients I’d eat it again,” I said, trying to be nice. Honestly it wasn’t that bad, I’d definitely eaten worse over the years.
“It’s almost exactly like the subs we made in college,” Scott said, popping the rest in his mouth and chewing happily. He’s weird, that one, he pretends he’s not, he offers the illusion of being the capable, responsible older brother, but it’s all an act.
ALAN’S
“Erm…” Scott hedged, spending at least a minute turning the thing in his hand looking for a way to attack it.  
“I don’t know what to do with this, Al…” Virgil was even less sure.
“Give it here!” I had less issues and snatched it away from Scott. I ripped off a bit of the curry sauce topped cheese slice, licked the sauce off the cheese, popped the cheese in my mouth then took a bite of the sweet stuff. It was hard to get my teeth through all the layers of biscuit, but I managed it. It was actually OK, separating it was the way to go. “That’s actually quite nice.”
John copied me exactly, because I’m the sensible one although he’d never admit to that. “You’re right, it’s not bad.”
 “Wimps,” Gordon bit straight through it, cheese, curry and all. Then he gagged.
Kayo took the cheese off her’s, ate the sweet stuff first then finished with the cheese, an unconventional method but it wasn’t like any of this was normal. She made a noise that could have been approval but could just as easily been a whimper of surrender.
Virgil took the whole thing apart and ate everything separately, one piece at a time, declaring it to be, “Not bad.”
Scott glanced at me with that look in his eye that said he was about to do something stupid… He reached for the curry sauce pot… 
“Scott, no!” I warned him.
He ignored me to tip the rest of the curry sauce on top of the cheese and threw it in his mouth. Immediately he let out a noise that sounded like a mixture between a gag and a burp. He chewed frantically then swallowed. We waited to see what would happen. “Not deadly,” was his verdict.
VIRGIL’S
“I’m sorry, no, I’m not eating that,” I told them, flat out refusing.  “I’m semi allergic to peaches, they give me migraine headaches and I’m not risking it. I’m out.”
“I’m excused because she can’t eat peaches and I won’t risk cross contamination,” John said, leaping on my statement as a way to get out of it.
“That’s a flimsy excuse!” Scott accused, he knew it, John knew it, we all knew it. John didn’t care.
“You’re just mad that you can’t use it,” John said, squeezing my leg under the table in thanks for my weird kinda-allergy. I patted his hand in solidarity.
“No one has to eat it, I did my best,” Virgil winced, knowing that his was likely to be the most disastrous yet.
“I’m in!” Gordon declared, picking out a cocktail weenie and dunking it in the cream before popping it in his mouth. He chewed frantically as he scooped up a spoonful of pie crust, peaches and a slice of celery and shoveled that in after the weenie. He kept chewing, his face registering at least six different emotions, none of them pleasant before he finally swallowed. “It could have been worse.”
Kayo copied Gordon and picked out a weenie which she ate first, on its own.  That’s where she got smart, washing it down with a mouthful of water before continuing. She spooned up some pie, peach, celery and cream concoction and tasted it. “Not bad like this, the celery is a slightly weird addition, but it can be ignored.”
“I feel sick,” Alan said, having shoved a large mouthful in. 
Scott, the brave boy that he is, shrugged and cut a whole slice, lifting it carefully to his mouth.
“He’s a madman…” Alan whispered in awe.
“A brave man…” Gordon added.
“A stupid man…” I sighed.
Scott bit into it, chewing slowly, rolling it around his mouth. “It’s fine.”
I stared at him in utter shock.
Virgil nibbled on a corner, made a face and pushed it away. “No.”
GORDON’S
“What the heck is this?” he of the iron stomach and nuclear powered taste buds asked.
“It’s that thing they did in that show,” Gordon answered, yet Scott still looked bemused, as did we all, blank faces all round.
“Which show, babe?” I felt the need to ask.
“The one with the friends in the coffee shop.”
“You mean ‘Friends’?”
“If that’s what it’s called,” he shrugged. “It’s a meat trifle.”
Cue horrified gasps all around.
“With a few modifications, obviously, since I had to use chili,” he hurried to explain, although it was anything but reassuring.
John pushed his fork into the center of the dish, looking more and more scared the deeper it sank.
“Don’t eat it and just say you did,” I side whispered to him, worried about his stomach since he usually lived on simple and non perishable food in Five.
“I heard that!” Gordon accused as he spoons up a big bite, determined to prove it was edible, and chowed down. “Huh…” he kept chewing, “not bad…”
“Not bad?” Scott goggled. “Are you serious?”
“The chili is good, the custard is good, the cream is nice, the peas are a bit weird but overall it's OK.”
Virgil was the next brave soul to scoop up a tiny forkful and I did the same getting the smallest amount I could onto my spoon, mostly trying to get just custard and cream, although I think I did spot a lurker pea in there.
Kayo and Alan both scooped up a spoonful and shoved it in their mouths, obviously figuring that getting it over with was the best way to tackle it. Kayo spat hers out instantly, Alan managed to chew and swallow his. Virgil got his down but there was a fair bit of gagging.
“It tastes like a foot,” Alan declared.
John took a small bite and reacted almost like a cat with a hairball, his body shuddering, neck stretching as he silently gagged. I handed him a tissue and he gratefully spat it out, sagging against me as if he was about to die.
I looked at Scott, who nodded in return and dug out his own small amount. “On three?”
Scott nodded and began the count. “One...two...three!” We both stuffed our spoons into our mouths. Scott made a face but managed to get it down, my plan had worked and, while the pea was indeed lurking and rather weird, it wasn't that bad a bite and I swallowed without issue, pleased to have survived.
MINE
“This doesn’t look too bad,” Scott said assessingly.
“How dare!” I gasped. “Cheek of it, it looks tasty.”
Virgil cut himself a small portion, being cautious, since everything else has been questionable at best, downright disgusting at worse. 
Gordon cut himself an actual slice, a godsdamned slice of my omelette and lifted it up like he would a piece of pizza then wondered why we were all staring at him like he’d lost his mind.
“What?” he asked, genuinely confused. John just shook his head in utter despair at his dingus brothers and cut a more sensible sized bite. 
“I’m sure it will be edible,” he says diplomatically, it’s never good to insult the wife’s cooking even when it is so obviously crap.
Alan, disaster child that he is, cut a bit with the side of his spoon like a damned savage and spooned it up.
Kayo helped herself to a small fork full and got ready.
I reached over and broke a piece off of Gordon’s mega slice. 
“OK, good luck my friends,” I offered as I popped the eggy weirdness in my mouth… it was interesting. Nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be, the cheese and ham had mostly drowned out the spicy kick of the radish and the apple had added a weird sweetness to it, but at least it was edible if not to my tastes. I managed to chew it and swallow without choking.
“That’s oddly nice,” John said, chewing slowly, thoughtfully. 
“Well, you are the person that likes baked apple pieces on your pizza,” I shuddered in revulsion at the memory of his birthday meal.
“What a man chooses to put on his pizza is his own business,” he told me.
“Not when it’s that weird.”
“It’s no weirder than pineapple on pizza.”
“He’s right,” Scott interrupted, “this is strangely OK.” He took another bite to make sure.
“I don’t like it, it’s too sweet,” Alan said, making a face. “ I like sweet, but not mixed with savoury like this.”
“I agree,” Virgil said, setting his aside, “it’s too sweet, but you did your best.”
Gordon didn’t say anything, but he was steadily munching through his piece, I watched him, oddly fascinated.
“It’s edible, that’s all I can say about it,” Kayo told me, which for her was a compliment.
“Well? Verdict?” I asked Gordon when he eventually finished.
“I don’t know. I don’t like it or dislike it, it just is.”
“You’re being philosophical over a weird omelette?” Scott laughed.
“Had to happen some time.”
“How? How did it have to happen?” John asked, utterly bemused, looking like his brain was going into a meltdown. “Who says to themselves ‘one day I will have to say something deep and meaningful about a randomly concocted omelette’? How do you even assume that?”
“I never say never,” Gordon shrugged, not caring to explain any further. Personally I don’t think he knew what he meant either but was just brazening it out by that point.
JOHN’S
I picked up his donut creation a little gingerly, because I saw what he’d done to it and I was wary. He obviously saw my hesitation because he lent closer to help.
“Just be careful with it and follow my instructions,” he whispered in my ear under the guise of being romantic.
One eyebrow rose in response...I mean, what do you say to that?
He continued, still whispering. “Bite down gently and try to avoid the sack,” he dropped a kiss on my neck before sitting back in his seat. Smooth, boy, very smooth. My other eyebrow lifted to join its sibling.
“I’m just trying to help,” he assured me.
“You’ve said that before.”
“And you listened then and look how well it turned out,” he said as if that was all the proof I needed.
I heard a snigger from Gordon who was obviously eavesdropping. 
“I was referring to the fact that you often use the excuse of just trying to help,” I sniffed.
“Oh...well…” he tried to look innocent but failed, flashing me one of those devastating grins that just melted me on the spot. “Just taste my damn donut.”
I debated the wiseness of listening to him but decided that, as trust is supposed to be the cornerstone of any good relationship, I should probably pay attention.
“OK, here we go,” I bit down carefully, right at the edge, trying to measure the distance between where my teeth were and the no go zone. I think I brushed the edge of the lettuce leaf but managed to stick to just the donut which, though ever so slightly stale, was still good.
“That’s nice,” I allowed, trying to keep my cover as I passed the donut over to John who took a bite in exactly the same way and therefore stayed safe.
He passed it on to Kayo, who had been watching us intently, studying our moves with her usual mix of suspicion and calculated plotting.
 “You’ve got some cream on your lip,” I was told and sat still while he wiped it away with his thumb.
“What do you think, Kay?” Scott asked. 
Kayo, having executed a perfect bite from the other side of the donut nodded before passing judgement. “Edible.” She was now fully on board with our trickery and would never rat us out as she passed it innocently on to Alan.
Alan, trusting baby that he is, bit blindly into the donut, hitting the lettuce sack which exploded, squirting spaghetti hoop juice into his mouth.
“GAAAH what the…” he yelped, gasping in shock, dropping the demon donut with its hidden core of evil.
Scott picked up the donut, the spaghetti sauce now leaking out freely and soaking into the dough. Uncaring he takes a bite. “Not gonna lie,” he mumbles around his mouthful, “it's not great.” 
Virgil relieved him of the donut and studied it from all sides. The artist in him wants everything to look appetizing and pleasant the whole time, this did not. “This looks hideous.” He nibbled a corner. “Disgusting,” he declared, offering it to Gordon.
Gordon reluctantly accepted it and bit down carefully. He chewed, swallowed and shook his head. “Nope, gross.” 
KAYO'S 
Kayo pushed her bowl over quite proudly. “Dig in.”
It didn’t look that bad, and since I’d seen a lot of what she used I knew the ingredients wouldn’t be that bad when mixed. Hopefully it wouldn't be the obnoxious assault to the tastebuds that some of them had been. 
I slammed my spoon  confidently into it and scooped out a mouthful, popping it in my mouth before I could back out.
“Humm…” I chewed thoughtfully, what did I actually think of it? I couldn’t decide so I just spoke my thoughts as I so often do. “It's quite nice. I mean, biscuit, cake and cream cheese is nice, I don't really like the carrot mixed in but it doesn't ruin it to the point of being disgusting. I like the strawberries, so I guess it’s a win.” 
John followed my lead, digging his spoon in. “That's pretty good.” 
“I really like that,” Scott dipped his spoon in for some more. “The carrot is different enough to not bore me but the rest is normal enough to make it nice.”
“It's too sweet for me,” Virgil said, putting his spoon down after his first taste. 
“I'm not liking the carrot but the rest is good, I could eat it,” Alan said, his usual aversion to vegetables or anything healthy rearing its ugly head. 
“It's all good. I don't mind the carrot either,” Gordon said, agreeing with Scott. 
Kayo, obviously emboldened after using us as test subjects, risked tasting it herself. “Not bad.” 
Well, we've tasted everything,” I said, glugging down some of John’s water in an attempt to cleanse my tongue a little. “Was there an actual point to all of this?” 
Scott and Gordon both shrugged, not that I was that surprised, there is never much point to anything that any of these idiots do when bored.
“Not really,” Scott admitted. 
“I wanted to prove you wrong,” Gordon told me, “and I think we did.” 
“How? How did you? Some of this was disgusting, it clearly didn't work. How can you honestly think that you proved my wrong in any way, shape or form?” Seriously, the mind boggles with these guys. 
“It showed that it can be done,” Gordon insisted.  
“It shows nothing!”  
“Just let it go, love,” John soothed, obviously trying to save what little sanity I have left.
“You joined in!”
“So did you,” he countered.
“I give up!” I yelled, throwing my hands up in frustration. “It’s like talking to monkeys, you’re all mental.” I climbed awkwardly off the bench and headed back to the house.
“So, did I win?” I heard Kayo ask as I rounded the corner, leaving them alone. 
Stupid competitive Tracys! I should never have left the sofa, hell, I should never have left England. I knew this would be a mistake. I’d be insane by the end of it.
I stopped off in the kitchen to make myself a coffee, hoping it would take some of the taste away. I grabbed a few abandoned cookies and a non Johned donut and retreated to the sanctuary that was the couch and my blankets, which would be lonely without me.
I settled down, retrieved my book (I’m re-reading Outlander, which might be contributing to my Jamie Fraser love right now, all the best husbands have J names, fact) and got comfy, might as well make the most of what little peace I’d get before the chaos found me.
“Move over.”
I stayed where I was, maybe if I ignored him he would go away.
John, being John and refusing to be either insulted or put off by my rejection, simply lifted my legs and settled in their spot, dropping them back down over his lap.
I looked over my book at him as he reached for my coffee cup and gulped down half its contents. He offered me the mug and I put my book down to take it.
“Thanks,” I said because what else could I do? I sipped the coffee then put the mug down on the little table next to the couch and picked up my book again.
John took that as a sign that he was welcome to stay and started making himself at home, stealing some of the blanket and shifting to stretch out beside me. I moved over to make room, letting him settle his head on my chest as he found his tablet among the cushions.
OK, maybe there were a few good reasons to be here instead of alone at home, but I’ll never admit it outloud.
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CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT
ADDISON WOODS, P 1
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Requested by @zoophobiapika
For anyone who does not know what this is, Character Spotlight 1 is where I criticized how a specified character is written. Part 2 is where I analyze the character and make predictions. Also, I'm doing these in a slightly different format, so if you see me redo my Damian character spotlight, don't be surprised (plus I'm not proud of that one). I am also specifically criticizing how the character is written. I'm no expert when it comes to art, so if you'd like a critique on his design, I'd recommend bugging @rzphhs.
Zoophobia belongs to our fandom's Lord and savior, Vivziepop. This, however, is not a critique of her CURRENT writing skills. Not sure if you noticed, but zoophobia is kinda old. The reason I'm doing this is because I believe that when we analyze stories we love and find flaws within them, we can find ways to improve our own writing. I do not hate Vivziepop, and this is not meant as an attack. Also, you're free to disagree with me. I'm not some godly figure who's always correct. However, I ask that any comments remain civil. If any arguments or whatever break out over this, Imma Chase some bitches with a pool noodle. We good? Let's go.
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" BREAKING NEWS. LOCAL CANADIAN HAS DECIDED TO ONCE AGAIN TALK BAD ABOUT AN INCREDIBLY CUTE CHARACTER! IF YOU HAVE SEEN THIS INDIVIDUAL REPORT THEM TO THE DEPARTMENT OF WHOGIVESAFUCK AND TURN THEM IN IMMEDIATELY. THIS PERSON WAS LAST SEEN ROBBING A STARBUCKS, WHICH YOU'D THINK WOULD BE A BIGGER CRIME, BUT HEY, WE ALL KNOW WHAT TAKES PRIORITY! "
Oh what a lovely day. I haven't slept all night, and I have ammonia or something. Lovely. What a perfect time to talk about a fictional character. Look, if it's any comfort to the fan girls who come across this, part 2 will have me being more of a fan than a critic. Just bare with me for this, and if worse comes to worse, blame Pika.
-----------------------
As per usual, let's get started with some criticism I don't agree with.
Addison looks like a girl
Alright, first of all, don't read my stories. Second, maybe this is because I live in Canada where the need for equality is pounded into your head every other hour, but...yeah? Dudes can look girly. Have you never seen a girly guy before? If so, how? Now, I'm aware that some people have an issue with this because Addi is gay, and girly gays are a common trope when gays are presented in media. While yes, this is true, Addi being a sort of trope isn't necessarily a bad thing. A trope-y character can still be written well and be entertaining. Besides, it's been said that all original ideas have been done before, so good luck trying to ever find a 100% original character anywhere.
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That's about all, but before I tear this character limb from limb, I'd like to go over things I DO like about this character.
He was ok in chapter 3
Yeah, he had problems there too, like when he just stood around and had little to no reaction to his bff turning into a mini cuthulu, but those are not problems exclusive to Addi. He didn't stand out much, per say, but what we got wasn't terrible. His banter with others was fine and even funny at some points.
He has a character motivation
Yeah, his goal to find love is a boring one, but unlike some of our other important characters, he actually has one.
He might be more interesting in the future
Addison is basically an artificial life form created by Xirxene, and not only is Xirxen after him, if Vivz still goes with this concept in the reboot, he apparently has mad sword skills yo, a dark side called Adder, and can summon two giant ass snakes. If that concept is still going to be used, then hell yeah, I'm down for that shit
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Now the moment we've been waiting for. What do I have against Addi? Why do I find him annoying as a critic of zp? Grab a cup of maple syrup, because this'll be a doozy. I'll order my issues from least bothersome to the most.
His relationship with Gustav
Ok, I think we can all agree that this relationship was poorly done. While I myself have no problems with this pairing, the way Vivz had them come together was shit. Gustav looks like a pedo creep hitting on a student, and Addi looks like an idiot as he just lets Gustav insult one of his friends. Their relationship is hasty, and the only apparent attraction they have for each other is their looks (and Addi looking like a 12 year old doesn't really help Gustav's pedo case. Don't worry, any concerned readers, there isn't any pedophilia going on. Addi has apparently been aged up to 17, and Gustav is 19)
Just to clarify, hasty relationships in stories aren't in themselves a bad thing. This could serve as a reflection on both the characters. Perhaps they fall in love easily. Perhaps their just the type of people who'd do these sorts of things. The problem here is that Addi is the only one of the two who seems like he'd do this. It's stated by Dame (who could be hyperbolising here for all we know ) that Addi throws himself at guys very often. Gustav, however, doesn't seem to have anything about him that'd suggest he'd be down for dating someone he just met.
You know how this relationship could be fixed? Gustav is 19, so he would've graduated only a year or so ago. So, have him and Addi be old friends who hung out before Gustav graduated. Perhaps have them have an attraction to each other that was initially waved off by Gustav at first, but now he's back, he might be interested now. Also, have them be attracted to each other for more then just looks. Perhaps they respect each other's talents, perhaps they have similar interests. That'd make their relationship a little more believable.
His personality
You know, in all my time spent in the zp fan base, I've noticed that the majority of Addi fans like him because he's cute. Not because of his personality. Just because he's cute. I mean, I don't entirely blame them for focusing on his appearance more because his personality. .....woof.
Zoophobiacomic.com describes his personality as the following;
" Addison likes to keep to himself and spends most of his time working in the Art Wing. While he doesn’t often open up to others and can sometimes hide away an air of elitism, he has developed a close friendship with his classmates Damian and Sahara. Their outward energy and enthusiasm has begun to counteract Addison’s typically introverted nature"
So he's shy, and a bit of an elitist, and he's slowly becoming more self confident. Ok.....now let's look at what the comic itself presents us. For one thing, he's surprising sassy, especially in ch3, not just to Dame, but to Leeson the crazy priest as well. He's also surprisingly self centered. Look at how he reacts to Dame being a shit to other people compared to how he reacts to Dame being a shit to him. Orchestrating an event that gets your cousin set on fire? That's ok. Preventing Addi from going on a date? That bastard! He doesn't even seem to care when Gustav insults one of his best friends. He also doesn't show any regret about attacking Mackenzie. Him having these traits aren't a problem, but this raises a bit of a concern for me since I don't think this is the impression we're supposed to get from his character.
His dumbass decisions
Yes Addison, go off on a date with some sexy random dude when there's an entire organization after you and you have no way of defending yourself. 10/10. 100/100. A+. Gold Star, Gud Job, Perfect Logic, Go buy a colouring book you infant!
His PTSD
Let me get one thing strsight (so at least one thing in this post isn't gay af), I don't have an issue with him having PTSD. My problem is how it's handled. The story acts like Addi attacking Mackenzie is just peachy keen because it was triggered by his ptsd. Except guess what? It isn't.
I'm going to be honest, I (someone with more then one handicap) hate it when those with disabilities are treated like babies, and The world must conform to their needs, and nothing is their fault because mashed potatoes. Look, a handicap can affect how you live your life, but it doesn't mean you get a free ticket to easy street. If anything, your life gets harder. And guess what? People babying you and pretending that your disability prevents you from any fault DOESN'T HELP. IT MAKES YOU WORSE. I'll use one of my own handicaps as an example. I have Auditory Processing Disorder. One symptom is that I can't hear myself, do I often talk incredibly loudly without realising it. Now imagine I went through life always yelling because no one told me to take it down a peg. Soon, yelling would become a habit, and it'd be a much harder problem to fix.
You guys starting to realize why other characters acting like Addi did nothing wrong bothers me? That's not how you react when someone with a disability does something like Addi does. It also makes me concerned that the comic will continue down the route of "oh, he has a disorder, so he's not really at fault ", excusing various bad things Addi does on his PTSD.
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So now I've typed out enough words to rewrite the American constitution, I'll end it here. Thank you for reading, and tell me what you think. If you'd like to see me critique another character like this, feel free to request it.
I apologize for wasting your time.
-ATOUN
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littledonkeyburrito · 6 years
Text
My neighbours seeing me naked all the time
1. What gives you anxiety? Having to go do something new
2. Are you the type that’s too ashamed to ask for or use directions? Are you kidding me, I fucking love google maps
3. Were you tired when you woke up this morning? I was when I woke up at 11, but not after I went back to sleep and woke up again at 2pm.
4. When you watch the news, how does it effect your mood? Depends on the news, but it generally has a negative impact. That’s why I avoid watching it.
5. Have you ever taken an online IQ test? What was the result? I actually took a real IQ test once but I was 11 and didn’t know that’s the test I was taking. I think the results came back as the high end of average. When I was in grade 5 I was almost constantly fighting with my best friend at the time, Dylan. It was stressing me out so I asked my mum if I could talk to someone at the school for help so she set me up with one of the school counsellors, I think his name was something like Mr Zagini or Mr Zagami (I remember his two nicknames being Mr zucchini and Mr salami). Anyway, it was mostly stuff I already knew but I got to skip class sometimes for our sessions. I didn’t continue sessions with him in grade 6 (I don’t know why), but he came to me one time and was like “hey I want to do this series of tests with you, are you okay with that?” and I was like “yeah sure” so I did them. Just a bunch of little lateral thinking puzzles which I was well used to doing, due to having been part of the school’s “gifted and talented” program (the instructor of which committed suicide a few years later after the cops found out he was into child porn, but that’s a story for another time I guess) since I was 6 years old. I feel like if I took an IQ test these days I would probably come back as squarely average. I don’t feel that smart since I hit adulthood.
6. Have you ever had anything expensive stolen from you? There was that one time someone broke into my house and stole my potatoes.
7. Can you hear anything right now? A group of drunk people from the bars downstairs
8. Have you ever been to a wedding? A few family weddings, yeah. Next year I will be a groomsman for my friend/old flatmate.
9. What is your favourite kind of pasta? I prefer rice noodles tbh
10. Are you proud of who you are? Sometimes
11. Would you prefer an ice cream sundae or an ice cream cone? Sundae.
12. What time is it? 12:03am
13. Are you good at giving directions? If I have a map, or know where I am, yeah
14. Do you own any Sims games? Which ones? Sims 3, plus pets and supernatural expansions.
15. What is your favourite kind of fruit juice? Probably orange
16. Have you worn a necklace today? I haven’t worn a necklace in years
17. Do your parents smoke cigarettes? Unusually, neither of my parents ever got into smoking
18. What is the color of the curtains in the room you’re in right now? No curtains. I just deal with my neighbours seeing me naked all the time
19. How many instruments do you own/have you owned? Now I just have one guitar but over the years I’ve had 2 acoustic guitars, 2 electric guitars, 2 ukuleles, a bass guitar, a glockenspiel, a full size electric piano, an electric drum kit and an acoustic drum kit.
20. What does one of your T-shirts have written on it? "Netflix”
21. Name a pet you definitely wouldn’t want. Tarantula.
22. Who’s the fifth contact in your phonebook? My aunt
23. If you had to text them something now what would you say? I would say that I’m probably coming back to australia in january and that we should have a family gathering
24. Should you be in bed right now? I haven’t had a bedtime since I was like 13
25. Do you know anyone that has the same birthday? A sort-of-friend’s boyfriend who is also the ex of the girlfriend of one of my best friends. But he’s a year or two younger than me.
26. Would you prefer your partner smaller or taller? I’ve tried both and established that my preference is definitely taller.
27. Do you acknowledge your feelings or ignore them? Depends on the feeling but generally suppress, bottle and ignore.
28. When was the last time someone saw you naked? Back in panama. God, it’s been slow since I’ve been home
29. How would you describe your current mood? Is tipsy a mood?
30. When was the last time you did something you were embarrassed by? Whenever I last got very drunk probably
31. What was the last thing you lied about? I generally don’t like lying so the last time was probably when I was telling my travel group in central america that I had never slept with the tour guide.
32. Where is your favorite place to have sex? Uhh a bed I guess. Although that one time I fooled around in the back of a car was pretty fun too.
33. Do you ever drink or get high alone? I tried getting high alone once and that was no fun. Drunk, yes, like once a week.
34. What type of a drunk are you? Happy and fun
35. When was the last time you revealed your feelings for someone? Were they accepted or rejected? I generally don’t tell guys that I like them. Although tbh I generally don’t develop actual feeling for them so...
36. What was the reason behind your last visit to the hospital? I think that was when a friend had his appendix out and a group of us went to see him. The time before that was a fair bit more distressing though. 
36. What is the “worst” drug you’ve done? Are there any you will never try, or any you want to try? The worst is probably coke. I will never ever ever try meth or heroin. Those are just a baaaaad idea. Nothing that I specifically want to try.
37. When was the last time you were up all night and why? Up the whole night would have been my last night shift in australia. Although there’s been several times since then that I’ve been up until 3am or even sunrise on a night out.
38. Who was the last person to yell at you? Did you yell back? I have absolutely no idea
39. Where did your last injury come from? Uhhh I think my last “injury” was about a month ago when I cut my thumb on a beer can. Hardly an injury though.
40. Where do you like to be kissed? Tbh I quite like being kissed on the neck
41. You have 5 minutes - grab 3 snacks from the grocery store. What are they? A bunch of mandarins, a pack of chips and a block of chocolate probably
42. Dancing, acting, and singing - which two are you best at? None of the above
43. Deep fried Oreos & deep fried pickles - would you try either? I’d try either at least once
44. Funny, charming, cute, romantic, smart - choose only 2 for a potential partner. Funny and cute I think.
45. Snow or sand? Soda or juice? Cake or cookies? Royalty or immortality? Snow, soda, cake, immortality.
46. Which is more important to you: make-up or hair? Hair.
47. What is one tradition that you and your family have? Do you enjoy it? Generally my brother and I spend christmas morning at mum’s house and have breakfast with her and then head to dad’s for the afternoon/evening and have his big full roast christmas dinner with him and sometimes a couple of his friends.
48. You can go back in time & change something in your Mom’s past - what is it? I think I would somehow try to give her more self esteem as a teenager. Or maybe I’d have stopped that one boyfriend from breaking up with her to move to sydney, after which she cried for at least a week. Idk I think I’d have tried to make her see that he was kind of a douche and not worth her time because she only deserves the absolute best.
49. Money doesn’t matter - choose a vacation destination and pick your party: If money is no issue then I would travel from alaska all the way down to the southern-most tip of argentina with whoever wants to join for a section. IRL I kinda plan on travelling mexico to argentina in a year or so anyway.
50. Been on any websites today you wouldn’t want your parents to see? No. I mean, they’d probably be mildly confused as to why I was researching when the shower was invented but it’s not like they’d care.
51. Flip your arm over - can you see your veins? No because I’m wearing a jumper and can’t see my skin through the sleeve obvs.
52. Pick a movie at least 5 years old that you absolutely love: Love and Other Drugs
53. Do you ever buy snacks at the movie theater? What do you get? Sometimes I did in australia but I never do here. I always have dinner beforehand and then just buy a bottle of water from the grocery store next door to take into the theatre. 
54. When was the last time you had to jump? Jump? Uhhhh ... I didn’t have to but I jumped off the front of the boat into the ocean while I was in the San Blas Islands off Panama a couple of months ago. 
55. At what time does it start getting dark where you live? Currently it gets dark around 5:30pm
56. Which is worse: dusting or mopping? I’m not sure I’ve ever dusted in my life.
57. Peanut butter VS. Caramel - which side are you on? Depends on context but probably usually caramel.
58. Have you ever complained to a manager about anything? What was it? I argued with some bond cleaners a bit over a year ago. I didn’t ask to, but I spoke to the manager and I ended up winning the argument.
59. Any idea where the shirt you’re wearing was made? Take a guess. I don’t know, China? Actually, none of the labels seem to specify where it was made.
60. Would you marry somebody who was intensely religious? No because our lifestyles wouldn’t match up.
61. Are you “with” the very last person you kissed? No
62. Ever dated/kissed a someone with the name Casey, Tyler, Ryan, Jordan, Colton, Rebecca, Samantha, Lauren, Taylor, or Ashley? That’s so specific. I think I’ve kissed a rebecca.
63. Was your last kiss, standing up, sitting down, or lying down? Standing up, saying goodbye at the hotel room door.
64. Are you happy with the choices you’ve made? In general, yeah
65. Are you excited for anything? Well, I’m going to Paris next week.
66. Do you hate the last person you kissed? No.
67. You’re stuck in an elevator with one of your worst enemies, what do you do? Scroll through facebook/instagram/whatever on my phone.
68. Will this weekend be a good one? The weekend is over.
69. Do you like to listen to the radio in the car? Nah, I listen to my iPod in the car and the radio at work. I mean, y’know, when I had a car and a job.
70. Do you sleep with a fan on? I literally don’t even have a fan
71. How is your hair right now? In need of a cut.
72. Have you ever broken up with someone for someone else? No.
73. How many windows are open on your computer? 1 window, 4 tabs.
74. How tall are you? ~5′3″ but I slouch
75. Have you ever taken a shower with anyone before? Yeah but tbh I don’t really understand the appeal unless you plan on fucking in the shower which sounds slippery and dangerous.
76. Is your hair clean? Almost always
77. What are you drinking right now? Nothing.
78. Do you wear your seatbelt in the car? Yes, unless I’m in a bus or sometimes I don’t when I’m in a country where the law doesn’t make you wear one. Eg in some countries cabs will have sheets covering the back seats so even if you want to put on the seatbelt you can’t because the clip thing is covered up and you can’t access it.
79. Does someone have feelings for you? Doubt it
80. Have you ever been cheated on? Pretty sure, yeah
81. Are you hard to please? Not at all
82. What are you craving right now? TRAVEL
83. How are you feeling right now? A bit cold
84. What color shirt are you wearing? Tshirt is orange and white. Jumper over it is grey with white stripes.
85. Who is the last person you got a message from? @aturinfortheworse
86. Are you excited for winter? Only if I get to go somewhere with snow (unlikely). I love the cold when I’m actually out and about and doing things but when I’m just sitting at home doing nothing and my feet are so cold they’re in physical pain then I don’t enjoy it so much. This is only a thing I’ve realised recently.
87. When are you at your happiest? When I’m travelling and having adventures.
88. Do you live alone? Yep
89. What do you do to pass time? Netflix, video games, tumblr 90. Do you go clubbing on weekends? When I live in the same city as my friends, sometimes
91. Twin bed, or other? Maybe a couch? What is this even asking? I have a king size bed currently 92. What are three things, that are not hygiene related you do every single day? Eat, check facebook, charge my phone 93. Are you addicted to anything drug like? No. 94. Did you pull a senior prank? They weren’t allowed at my school, but I don’t think I’d have cared enough anyway 95. Did you graduate? Highschool, yes. Uni, no.
96. Any goals? Live comfortably (with a job) in a country other than Australia, preferably a spanish speaking country.
97. Do you miss being a kid? In some ways yes, like not having responsibilities. In other ways no, like not getting laid... I mean, not that I’m getting laid now either...
98. Have you ever been unfaithful in a serious realfionship? Never had a serious relationship. 99. Do you have any tattoos? No. 100. Regrets? Nah. No point regretting things. Just learn and move on.
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unicornsandcharlie2 · 4 years
Text
1. What is one thing that brings a smile to your face, no matter the time of day?
David playing around, my baby cousins.
2. What’s is one thing that you’re proud of?
Being a good sister, a communicative daughter and keeping a diary for 11 years.
3. What makes you laugh?
My best friend Marina, she’s hilarious. The Receipts podcast, stan twitter, Real Housewives fight compilations, Dance Moms 
4. When you’re feeling super lazy, what’s your guilty-pleasure Netflix show?
I’ve only begun watching it recently, The Thick Of It, but I haven’t watched it enough for it to be my go to.
5. What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?
Telling my parents I was sexually abused as a child and who had done it.
6. What is one memory you have from childhood?
Going to the toilet in my kindergarten in Kenya and wearing the blue uniform.
7. What’s the best thing about your life right now?
Not sure. My health maybe.
8. What is one thing that you’re thankful for?
A loving and supportive family.
9. What’s one thing that you fear?
Losing my friends.
10. If you could only watch one movie for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging
11. Can you tell me one thing, big or small, that you’ve never told anyone else?
I get blisters on my feet
12. If you were forced to leave your home and move to a county you’ve never been before, what are three things that you’d take with you?
My diary, laptop and my bank card. 
13. What’s a favorite memory with a pet/animal?
Walking ralph and stroking him to sleep.
14. Who are you closest to in your family?
My brothers. But my mum knows the  most about me.
15. What’s your family like?
Loving, invasive, safe, ever growing, loud and Eritrean
16. What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Salted Caramel but I love a cheeky chocolate cornetto 
17. What’s your favorite joke?
The Gregg joke
18. What’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever done?
Stapled my finger 
19. If you could rewrite your past, what’s one thing you’d change?
I would kiss him back.
20. What do you think your best physical feature is?
My smile
21. What’s one thing about yourself, personality-wise, that you like?
I am an Optimist
22. When you’re feeling down, who or what is your biggest go-to person or activity?
Listening to my favourite podcasts, and talking to my best mates.
23. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Old me would have said chocolate digestives, but I am trying to be healthy so no idea mate.
24. What’s one thing you’re super passionate about?
Reading.
25. If you had to lose one of your five senses, which would you give up and why?
Sense of smell, everything else is essential.
26. What’s the hardest thing, physically, you’ve ever done?
Surviving Masawa heat in a car with 6 other people, sitting on leather seats 
27. What’s the hardest thing, mentally, you’ve ever done or been through?
Coming to terms with my childhood trauma, and the latent issues it caused and manifested itself in destructive behavioural patterns.
28. What’s the best part about your job?
I do not work currently.
29. What’s one thing that defines who you are?
Reading and being a big sister.
30. If tomorrow was your last day on earth, what would you do in your last 24 hours?
Spending time with all my family, kissing my cousins incessantly, calling back to Eritrea, eating my favourite foods, swimming, go for a run, see my best friends .
31. What do you believe in, generally or faith-wise?
I believe in myself, I believe in being kind to people, I believe in being critical when necessary. I haven’t quite figured the rest out yet.
32. If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?
I’m a Sagittarius. 
33. Where’s the coolest place you’ve ever been/traveled to?
Eritrea
34. What’s one thing people would never know about you just by looking at you?
I love X men and used to read the comics a lot.
35. What’s one thing about the opposite sex that you’re attracted to?
Their backs.
36. What are three qualities you look for in a potential date?
Communicative
Compatible
Beautiful
37. What’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever done for a girl?
I got the bus all the way to the practical outskirts of London when I was like 12 to give her a lock in the shape of a heart to let her know she was still my best friends even though we went to different schools.
38. How would others describe you?
Smart, funny a little bit crazy.
39. What’s your all-time favorite memory?
Floating in a river in Turkey looking up at the sky, waking up in the morning to have breakfast with my family in Eritrea, when David says my name, my brothers giving me a hug and a kiss everytime we say goodnight.
40. What are your parents/step-parents/guardians/people who raised you like?
Eritrean, one is a Libra, the other a Scorpio. Nuff said.
41. What’s your go-to alcoholic drink?
Disarrano and coke
42. What would be your ideal first date?
Bonfire night, huddled up together to get warm, in our cute but warm winter clothes. I am drinking dairyfree hot chocolate, November has just begun, the air is crisp and cool. We look at each other, our faces illuminated by the fireworks above us, amongst all these people I know I will be safe with them. We kiss.
43. If you could have three wishes, what would they be?
1) Return back to 2016 and start life again
2)Redistribute wealth and resources to the global south and reparations to the colonised countries
3) Protect all my cousins and brothers from ever being abused.
44. If you could a full 24 hours without any work or obligations, a day to just do whatever you wanted, what would you do?
I did try this and fell into a depressive episode so..
45. What is the best compliment you’ve ever received?
When Ali told me he liked my smile.
46. What is something you’re talented at?
Finding books when I have forgotten the name of the book, name of the author and really only know the obscure details of it.
47. What’s your favourite college memory?
Did not enjoy it enough to have a favourite experience.
48. What is your best friend like?
Funny, a Pisces, irreverent, kind, intelligent, athletic, adaptable, mysterious.
49. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
North London.
50. What’s one thing you want to do before you die?
Go to Antarctica.
51. If someone gave you a million dollars right now, what would you spend it on?
Put it all in savings and buy plane tickets for my WHOLE family to visit Eritrea one year so we can all see each other before my grandparents die.
52. Have you ever made a decision that changed your entire life? If so, what was it?
Telling my teachers I was having suicidal thoughts.
53. What’s your favourite thing to do on the weekends?
Read and drink tea
54. What’s your zodiac sign? And do you think it describes you?
Sag sun, Cap moon and Venus, Gemini rising. To a T.
55. What’s your biggest regret?
Too many to count.
56. What can always put you in a good mood?
A good cup of tea and Beyonce.
57. What’s your guilty pleasure snack, drink, or junk food?
Being a Barb and Chocolate digestives.
58. If you were forced to eat fast food for your every meal, what would be your top two places?
Five Guys.
59. What’s one thing you wish you could change about yourself?
I wish I was better being focused and also a billionaire. And to stop dwelling on the past.
60. If you had the option to hit restart and begin life all over again, would you?
YES
61. Have you ever lost someone close to you? What were they like?
In regards to death, yes my Grandfather. He loved me a lot but I couldn’t tell you anything about his personality, stoic I guess. In a broader sense of course I went to 4 different schools, so I have lost friends that way.
62. What’s your favorite social media profile?
My secret twitter, I am very wholesome on there.
63. What’s one thing that totally relaxes you when you’re stressed?
That one day everybody is going to be dead and none of this will matter eventually because our bodies are temporary things which will decay.
64. What’s a random hobby you’ve always wanted to try but never have?
Ballet.
65. When was the last time you cried, and why did you?
Cannot remember, probably a few days ago because of my academic obligations.
66. What scares you the most about the future?
Climate change and my career and my family’s health.
67. Do you want to have children someday?
Yes.
68. What do you imagine your future family will be like?
Healthy and Eritrean.
69. Have you ever done or accomplished something you never thought you could? What was it?
Yes.Telling people about my abuse.
70. What’s one thing you could never live without?
Pen and paper
71. Who is one person you could never live without?
Myself, literally.
72. What’s your favourite vacation place?
Eritrea.
73. Would you rather go out or stay in on a Saturday night?
Go out ( but I don’t very often )
74. What’s your favourite quote, line of poetry, or sentence?
“You don’t have to change, you just have to learn how to live with yourself”
75. What’s your favorite family memory?
I don’t know.
76. What’s one thing that helps you decide you can trust someone?
If they are measured, if I can relax around them.
77. Have you been in love before?
No.
78. How would you explain what ‘love’ is?
Still loving them and wanting the best for them when you are extremely angry.
79. Have you ever gotten your heart broken?
Yes.
80. What’s one thing you’ve learned about yourself from a past relationship?
I am not as slick as I think I am and physical affection makes me feel nervous.
81. What’s your biggest pet peeve?
People moving my shit and not telling me where it is,
82. What’s one thing that’s a total turn off?
Ignorance.
83. What’s one thing that’s a total turn on?
A nice voice.
84. What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done for a girl?
I don’t fucking know?!
85. What’s your go-to drink/food/activity when you’re sick and in bed?
Tea and biscuits and spicy noodles.
86. What’s the scariest thing that ever happened to you as a kid?
Watching Taken and having very vivid nightmares about it afterward.
87. Who in your family, immediate or extended, are you the most similar to?
Henok.
88. Where do you see yourself in five years?
Happy, and thriving.
89. What’s your favorite song or artist?
Fast Car- Tracy Chapman.
90. What would be your dream job?
Getting paid to read the books I want.
91. If you were writing a book about your life, what would the title be?
I don’t know what’s going on either
92. What’s your favorite word?
Sefanit. It used to be unrealistic.
93. What keeps you up at night?
My academic obligations, trauma, the idea of never being happy and the internet.
94. What’s your go-to phrase?
Good for her.
95. What’s one silly, little-kid item that you still have somewhere hidden in your room?
My unicorn pet pillow, Hayley.
96. Who is someone that’s impacted your life or helped you become who you are?
Myrto- my therapist.
97. What’s one thing you want to achieve before you die?
Go to Antarctica.
98. What’s your favorite book?
This book will save your life by AM Homes.
99. What’s one thing, silly or serious, that you’re guilty of?
Swearing a lot.
100. What makes you blissfully, completely, smile-from-ear-to-ear happy?
Reading, a good cup of tea with chocolate digestives, my best friends jokes, when David says my name, having fun with my mum, my dad calling me sweetie, hearing the right playlist at the right time and clean sheets
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