#that signature is a cry for help how many did they make you sign I'm so sorry

[muffinlance]

Early Christmas present to myself: new Murderbot! Old Murderbot! Signed copies!

[id: Picture of a tower of Martha Wells books, with her latest release on top. End id.]

Wait for it

[id: Photo of the author's signature, which looks a lot like a very slightly wiggly straight line and/or the author's artistic impression of a heart monitor flatlining. End id.]

Martha Wells that is the laziest signature I have EVER seen I love you don't get carpal tunnel

[servin-up-surveys]

survey #091

(taken december 18th last year; uploading surveys taken while gone)

Have you ever shared a house with a significant other? Not legally, but I stayed in that apartment way, way too regularly to be considered a "guest" by that point.

How are you feeling today? Happy, sad, or anything else? I am super fucking at peace, Girt stayed last night and the one before that and it was great. Roman and Cookie both slept with us, and it was just a sound, cozy night. I woke up when he did with his alarms to go to work and we were both super cuddly and it was just cute. After work he comes straight back here to stay again, and I am ACTUALLY considering trying to make dinner out of something for us so I can feel like a proper adult and helpful partner. Idc, I wanna do something nice and adult-y.

Who was the last person that made you upset? What did they do? I am FULL prefacing this with the fact this was dumb as shit and I was absolutely being a brat, but I got frustrated I wanna say three nights ago when I was venting the tiniest bit to Girt and he took 'til like, midnight, when I was asleep, to reply. It's embarrassing to even share, like holy shit he has a life and responsibilities and also free time and such. He proves a million times over he cares and is absolutely always there for me, that night just sucked so pretty much everything was hurting me.

Do you have a crush on anyone? Tell me about them. "Crush" doesn't even begin to cover it. Been there for me consistently more than any friend I have ever, and I do mean ever, had. He's never lost faith that I can do great things and conquer what I'm afraid of. He makes me cry from laughing when I don't even want to smile. I feel like I can tell him pretty damn much anything. He's genuinely the most doting boyfriend ever and besides probably my mom of course, my biggest fan there is; he will hype me the fuck up over anything and supports me endlessly. He really appreciates and values my advice and opinions. He SOMEHOW acts entirely unashamed of me. I need to stop, I am too fucking emotional lately and am crying/fighting not to sob lmao jesus, he's just great.

Have you ever had something signed by someone famous? What and who? No but bitch I wish, there are some signatures I would frame lmao

Have you made out with anyone in the last 2 weeks? Yeah.

Have you shaved your legs in the past three days? No. I want laser hair removal on my legs so fucking bad, my legs humiliate me but for multiple reasons regularly shaving them just is not reasonable, or maybe even not possible right now.

Does anyone hate you? Probably. Quite sure there are people who do.

What bugs you about the last person you dated? She is, honestly, one of the biggest liars I have ever met, and has been SINCE we met. Among other things.

Have you ever felt replaced? Oh yes.

Have you ever played a drinking game? Which ones? No.

Did you ever play Neopets when you were younger? Oh yes, I was obsessed. Honestly, it started my computer addiction, I'm pretty sure. Omg I actually recently saw this tattoo featuring a sick tiger Neopet with the quote "we are all God's Neopets, and he forgot the password" and BOY I fucking CONSIDERED lmfao

Do you regularly check anyone’s profile online? Nope.

Have your parents ever worked in medicine? My mom was a pharmacy tech for quite a while.

Do you have any silly nicknames or pet names? I guess "Twinkie," which is the nickname my mom has used for me since I was a baby; she gave all her kids sweets nicknames, lol.

Are you any good at drawing? I guess, wish I was better though.

Is there anything unusual about your house? Uh I don't believe so.

Do you find it hard to talk to strangers, even people who work in stores? Yes, to such a debilitating degree that it has majorly affected my ability to work/find work I can function through.

How many wigs do you own? Zero.

Are your maternal/parental instincts strong? No, but more than they once were; I've helped my mom babysit my nieces and nephew so much that I guess they just naturally started to grow. Like I DO know I get way more upset when a baby cries than in the past, especially if they ARE my niece/nephew, like I get this desperate urge to fix whatever's wrong and I really feel like my heart hurts. It's weird, historically I've had stronger maternal-ish (major emphasis on "ish," don't make this weird) protection instincts over s/os, I've found especially if they're sick.

Do you feel confident in your body image? My self-confidence is in the fucking negatives and it's been getting to me even more than usual (which is already severely) the past few days.

Do you like country music? I hate it. In very rare instances, I'll hear a song I enjoy, but in general? I cannot stand it.

What was the last essay you remember writing about? Toxic masculinity. I wish I still had access to it, it was probably one of my favorite academic things I have ever written. My teacher loved it and used it as the example piece the following semester.

In your dream kitchen, would the worktops be marble or steel? Marble.

Who is considered the “black sheep” of your family? Why? Me. I am pretty starkly different from the general vibe and interests of my family.

What’s something you’re so good at that you take pride in your skill? I'm genuinely proud of my writing.

What’s the worst/best thing you’ve done without your parents knowing? My mom would probably kill me if she knew certain places I "did things" as a teen lmfao. Best, uhhhh... that's hard dude, my mom knows so, so, so much. I'm stumped enough to give in and also say the same things that qualified for "worst" kms 🥴

What’s a random funny scene from a movie that has stuck with you? Honestly a lot from White Chicks, that movie is so fucking memeable and I love it.

Would you date someone who still lived with their parents? I do that now, so yes. Although in Girt's situation, it's for his mom versus she housing him; she has mental health problems and couldn't work for many years, so she came back to Girt all the way from like Indiana or something and stayed with him because he's a fucking saint. He's basically run the place for he and Shelia for many years on his own, but she's now had a stable job for maybe like a year now and he's very READY to move out, the housing market is just so wordlessly insane right now that doing so is very unreasonable, so for right now they stay together.

Would you have to sleep with someone before marrying them? No.

Do you think there is life on other planets? In some form, absolutely. It's like, impossible for us to be the ONLY life-sustaining planet in an infinite space.

Would you enjoy a night of playing video games? Hell yeah, those with Girt are the absolute best.

Would you watch a porno with your partner? No, porn grosses me out personally. I don't want to see two totally random people going at each other. I would get absolutely nothing but a disgust reaction from that. It's totally fine if others are into it (just not to an addiction level obviously, that's problematic), I'm just not.

Do you like gummy candy? Yeah, it's a texture I like more than most others.

Do you know what the person you have feelings for is doing at this moment? He's at work.

How many brothers does your father have? I'm quite sure he has none, or he just hasn't talked about him like, at all.

Are any of your relatives vets? Not that I know of.

Who cleans the most in your house? My mom.

Do you have any current or past teachers on your facebook friends? Quite a lot, and I doubt they're happy with me. 🥴

Have you ever seen the last person you kissed cry? No.

Do your parents vote? I know Mom does, idk about Dad.

Who's the most romantic person you ever went out with? Jason.

How would you react if your best friend was pregnant/got someone pregnant? That would be Girt so that would be a VERY quick breakup if it wasn't me. If it was me, I'd be fucking devastated, terrified, and get an abortion as absolutely soon as possible.

Have you ever seen the last person you kissed dressed up fancy? Possibly in high school on his senior picture day, but I don't remember it.

Did you have a dream last night? No, last night's sleep was totally peaceful.

What’s something you’ve always wanted to say to your ex? I haven't *always* wanted to say it, but for years now I've just wanted to tell him I'm so sorry.

What would you do if you saw a guy hit a girl? My VERY strong instinct says that I would absolutely storm over to them and deck him dead in the face. I very literally think I would. And then call the cops.

What is the last state you were in besides your own? Virginia.

What two breeds of dog do you think would make a really great puppy? Maybe like... an akita and chow-chow. I looked it up and apparently they're legit and I'm in love.

Who is the best person you’ve ever “met” online? That's too hard. I have met THE greatest people through the Internet.

Describe your elementary school in 10 words or less. Very invested in their students, extremely friendly, bright, fun.

What is the greatest kids’ show ever and why? Okay don't judge but when I'm watching my niece with Mom, she LOVES the show Bluey, and honestly it is absolutely adorable and shows you such an ideal but also realistic picture of a good, honest, just picturesque family.

The best album ever made is ______ because _________: Ozzy's Black Rain because you skip NO song. EVERY single one fucking slaps.

Did you ever see a scorpion in the wild? No, they're not native here.

What is the newest thing you’ve learned? Two nights back at Girt's, we were talking about their old dog Charlotte and how much she fucking adored Donald; both Ashley and Shelia said that she did not just love him, that dog was in love with him. Apparently Charlotte's ashes were buried next to Donald because that's what both would have wanted. ;___;

Name a state you have never been to, but would like to go to. Arizona, probably surprisingly. There is a number of native animals there I would REALLY like to see.

Name a word that people use locally that outsiders probably can’t pronounce. Conetoe. You said it wrong.

Describe your world in 5 words. CONFUSING, stressful, poetic (not in all ways, but I'd say definitely in many), melancholy, but mine and one of a goddamn kind so I'll take it.

What time did you go to bed last night? Uh it was before 12. We played Jackbox Party Pack games for a few hours with some of his online buds, but he also tried excruciatingly spicy ramen, more than he should've because the psycho didn't wanna waste it but also to "build up [his] heat tolerance" and I was like BUT WHY?????? is that necessary????? Thankfully he knew I was right so didn't finish it and then he just wanted to go to bed lmao, he felt like shit.

Who did you last ride in a car with? Girt. Bless him, it's a 30 minute drive to his place and he was BELTIN shit which I usually don't mind at all, but between driving to his place and back, I got such a bad headache lol.

Are you currently heart broken? No, my heart is fuller than it normally is.

Do you know how to change a diaper? I mean, to be completely realistic I could probably figure it out, but immediately? No. I have changed ONE diaper in my entire life and never will again (and that one wasn't even very dirty).

Would you be tazed for a million bucks? Yes.

What is the most annoying thing that your parents do? My mom is always 100% certain she's right. Disagreeing is disrespect. My dad can be weird and sometimes rude to people, and he has no concept of "there are people who can hear you other than me" in public.

Do you completely trust the person you’re dating? Yes.

When was the last time you received a hug? Who was this hug from? This morning, Girt.

Are you one of those people who like The Nightmare Before Christmas? I do, but nowhere near obsessively or even as much as people seem to think I do. The movie is fine, but it's nothing amazing, honestly. Coincidentally, both my phone's lock and home screen are scenes from the movie, lol. Just for the holiday.

What is your favourite type of nut? Idk, I really don't like nuts very much. I guess cashews, I can handle them fine in like, nut/grain/etc. bars.

Where did you eat the best pizza you’ve ever eaten in your life? Guys I am not fucking kidding, it was literally at an indoor trampoline park sort of place that hosts parties, lmao. We went there for Girt's nephew's party, and that pizza, everything about it, was BOMB.

Did you ever watch The Rugrats when you were a kid? Oh yes, loved it.

Do you know anyone who smokes in their car? Dad and Kim.

[thedaredevilsgirl]

Chapter One - My Sweet Angel

Warning: Explicit Smut -Dirty Talk and Oral (fem! Receiving)

Word count: 1544

Please forgive any mistakes, English is not my first language.

Nothing else had happened after the kiss, you just said goodnight and went to your room, he was thinking that maybe you had regretted that idea.

But the next morning, as soon as he wakes up he finds a note on your bedside table with your handwriting on it.          

Rules of our little agreement:       

1- Thomas will teach anything Y/N asks.

2- Both sides of the agreement must be comfortable with what is going to be done.          

3- Let me know if you want to stop.  

4- I will let you know if I want to stop.          

5- Neither Harrison nor anyone else should know about this agreement, it will be our secret.        

Sign here at the bottom if you agree to my terms and let me know if you want to include any conditions.

He laughed, of course you would make a list of rules, it was exactly your kind of thing. After he finishes getting ready he takes a pen from the table and signs his name on the paper just below where his signature was and slips the small paper under his door before leaving for class.

You barely got any sleep last night, all you could think about was everything that had happened and when you did get some sleep you dreamed about Tom and woke up gasping for breath.

Your dream was incredibly real, you felt every touch, and the way Tom ate you in the dream made you needy for it.

Tom received a message from you during one of his classes.

Y/N: Meet me later in my room.

He answered a simple okay, trying to pretend he was calm when inside he was freaking out. Tom spent the rest of the day thinking about his message, barely able to pay attention in class.

•─────✧─────•─────✧─────•

Tom was thankful that it was Friday, all the boys were getting ready for some party at another fraternity leaving the house just for the two of them, as if fate was cooperating with their plan.    

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Harrison asks Tom again.

"No man, today's classes were pretty tiring, I'd rather stay home anyway" Tom says.

"You're going to miss the best party of the year" Tuwaine says as soon as he enters the room.

"All these parties are the best of the year" He laughs, rolling his eyes.

"Y/N not coming with us?" Tuwaine asks Harrison who denies with his head.

"No, she said she had a new series on Netflix she wanted to watch" he says to his friend before turning his face to Tom and speaking "Take care of her ok?"

"I'll take very good care of her" he smiles.

If Harrison knew what would happen when he left the fraternity he would never let Tom near you again and would probably punch him in the face.

The two of you leave the house, and a few minutes later the other boys are leaving too, soon the house is empty except for you and Tom.

Tom walked slowly up the stairs, he was a little nervous to tell you the truth, he had slept with many different girls, given them orgasms that made his legs shake. But you were different, he wanted to give you the best experiences possible, give you all the wonderful sensations, and he would definitely need more than just one night for that.

"May I come in?" he asks knocking on the door.

You take a deep breath before answering "Yes."

He enters the room, he has been here countless times before, but he never thought he would be in here in this situation.

"I saw you signed the paper" is the first thing you say when you look at him.

"Yes" A silence fills the room for a few minutes.

"Sorry I'm a little anxious".

"You can quit if you want" he sits down on his bed in front of you.

"NO" You say a little too loudly.

He laughs at your reaction and holds your hand pulling you to sit on his lap with each leg on one side of your body, you take another deep breath and look at him.

Tom looks at your gaping mouth and licks his lips, holding himself back from giving in to the urge to kiss you right now, their hands grip tightly on your hips, probably impossible but you could feel yourself getting wet just from that touch and the way he was looking at you.

His lips come close to yours but pull away before you can kiss him and they move on towards your neck.

"I have a condition too" He says softly and goes back to spreading kisses across your pulse point.

"What?" His question comes out almost as a sigh.

"We are not having sex today".

"Why?" you ask disappointed, Tom had no idea how needy you were for him.

"Sorry honey, I don't think you're ready for this, but if you let me I want to do something else with you today" he looks at you as if asking permission.

"What's your idea?"

"I want to taste you".

You...you want to?"

"Actually I'm the one who's been daydreaming about it myself since last night angel."

Tom had already given her several cute nicknames, but angel was new, he had never called any girl that, at least not in front of him.

"Are you okay?" he asks with a smile.

When you nod, he quickly kisses you. He had really been wanting to taste you since you left his room, daydreaming about what you would taste like.

One of his hands goes up your thigh, lightly lifting your skirt until it reaches the fabric of your already wet panties, his thumb makes a circular motion over your covered clit making you moan between kisses.

"I barely touched you and you're already wet" he says with a smug smile on his face.

"Actually all I could think about was you all day.... Tom" you moan his name as he pulls your panties aside to properly touch your clit and feel its wetness.

"Did I make you wet all day, angel?" he already knew the answer, but wanted to hear it coming from your lips.

"Yes." He picks her up in his lap and lays her down on the bed getting on top of your body and kissing you again, his kisses trailing a trail again to your neck.

"May I?" He asks holding the hem of your shirt and you affirm, he quickly pulls it off your body and bites his lips as he sees your breasts in the pink bra.

"I think I'll let you, you look amazingly hot in it" you blush at his comment.

He kisses the top of your breasts and runs his thumb over one of the nipples making you sigh, he runs his tongue slowly over it and even though the fabric prevents full contact the sensation is still wonderful.

The kisses move down to your belly and soon he is pulling your shorts off your body and your panties are the only thing keeping him from touching you where you want them.

"Tom, please," you beg as he kisses the inside of your thigh.

"Please what angel?" he gives you a mischievous smile.

"I need you."

"You do?"

"Yes, please."

He finally removes her panties from her body and stands between her legs placing one of them over her shoulder for easy access.

"Fuck" he says as he runs two fingers over your entrance "you are fucking wet" his fingers reach your clit and you push your hips towards his touch "so needy".

First he just licks a long strip from your vagina to your clit and you take a deep breath at the yummy sensation.

"Better than I ever dreamed of" he says before sucking you again.

One of your hands holds his hair tightly, while the other you place over your mouth to avoid moaning. Tom quickly removes it from your mouth.

"I don't want you to be silent, I want to hear how good I am making you feel."

He mentally thanked himself for doing this, her moans and sighs were the most beautiful melody he had ever heard.

Tom wanted to make it as pleasurable as possible for you, he took his time to form your orgasm slowly tasting you until he brought you to the edge.

"Holy shit, Tom" he knew you were already close and he goes even deeper.

He clamps his lips around your clit and sucks it making you even more needy, he moans against your pussy and you whimper loudly.

"Tom...Tom it feels so good"

His gaze settles on yours as he still sucks you, you cry out his name and feel as if you might explode at that moment.

He sucks your clit one last time and you finally cum on his lips throwing your head back in ecstasy with your mouth open in an inaudible moan. This was surely the dirtiest scene Tom had ever seen.

Your body falls to the bed, your breath panting, your chest heaving. Tom could never get tired of seeing you like this, he stands over your body again and kisses you slowly, you taste him in your mouth and sigh between kisses.

"Thank you" you say and he just smiles in response.

He lies down on your side and pulls you to lie on his chest.

"I can help you" he says looking at your very apparent erection and running his hand down to your sweatpants.

"Don't worry about me angel, this is about you" he moves your hand away from there and hugs you tighter "now try to get some sleep ok" he kisses the top of your head.

You fall asleep a short time later hugging your body. He leaves your room before Harrison arrives and finds you there, but before he leaves he leaves a small note on your bedside table.

I hope you enjoyed today, I loved it, I think I will dream of your flavor for the rest of my days. Because darling, you are my sweet angel - Tom.

TAGLIST

@a-daydreamers-day

@cherryobx

@bevanbexley5252

[foodieforthoughts]

Journey through time - Part 3

Summary: Your relationship with Syverson over the years.

Warning: a little bit of angst and a lot of fluff. If you blink you might also see some smut.

A/N: Continuation to Part 2 of the photo series. Here's a link to Part 1 too. Thank you all for reading. I love you guys 😘♥️

Staying alone in Sy's house gave you an opportunity to find out more about your man. You were cleaning his study when you found a box shoved at the very back of a drawer with pictures inside. The first picture was a black and white photo of young Sy, probably in his early twenties. It looked like a candid picture, clicked by someone who must have attentively watched him while he read through some papers. As you rummaged through the box, you found a couple more candid pictures and a hand written letter addressed to Sy.

The box also contained polaroid pictures of a much older Sy. You picked up the one which looked fairly recent, maybe from only a couple of years ago. He had his signature beard, dressed in his suit with his smoldering eyes staring back at you. Behind were the words, "I count myself as extremely fortunate to have accompanied you on your big night, my love." Signed only as "M". You got the sinking gut feeling that it was from an ex-girlfriend, but what affected you more was that Sy had kept her things still.

Opening the letter and finding another picture inside, you took a moment to look at your man. You had no clue who were those people with him in the picture which only made you realise how little you knew about Sy. The letter mentioned how the person felt like they weren't a part of Sy's life anymore. "I invested too many years to be with you and yet I am here, all alone. I can't take it anymore." It read, continuing to jot down ways in which the person felt lonely while Sy was away and that is why she was deciding to break off their relationship. Your hear sank as you read it over and over again, noting how the edges of the paper was crumbled from being opened too many times. Keeping the box back in its place, you couldn't help but think back on everything that was mentioned as the silence in the big house seemed to envelope you.

You stared at your computer screen showing that you were online, waiting for the green dot to appear on Sy's image signifying that he was online on Skype too. It was your birthday tonight and before leaving, Sy had promised he would have long distance birthday dinner with you over video call. You had cooked his favorite recipe of Sloppy Joe's and got his favorite beer brand, even if you hated the taste of it. Your wait for a few minutes turned to hours with your food gone cold and beer turned warm. You looked at the screen, noting that it was past midnight now and your birthday was over. You couldn't help but cry when you shut down your computer, leaving your food on the table untouched and crawling into bed while thinking back on the letter and imagining if this is exactly how the other girl might have felt.

You sucked in a deep breath before receiving the video call from Sy. It was unexpected and unplanned, but it made your heart swell when his face appeared on the screen. Sy did not smile, he looked lost and deep in thought. Even with the awful quality of the call, you noticed the new scars on his face and how he looked like he had aged over a decade. Your talks were formal, mostly asking about how the other had been, general talk about health and wellbeing. But then you couldn't help but blurt out, "You missed my birthday." Sy sighed, rubbing his hands over his face, "I'm sorry but I had a rough week." You wanted to be understanding but the letter kept repeating its words in your mind and when you looked around, you only saw the emptiness. "But you had promised about dinner on my birthday." In an instant, Sy's voice came out like rumbling thunder. "If you want someone to be at your beck and call, maybe you should think what the hell are you doing with me. I can't be there all the time, I have a job to do here." His roaring voice came out loud from your speakers, bringing tears in your eyes. Anger and sadness mixed together and with a trembling voice, you said, "Maybe I really should think what I'm doing with you. Goodbye, Sy." You disconnected the call with painful heaviness in your heart.

Over the next weeks, you got several calls from Sy but you only spoke to him asking him about his health. The moment he would try to talk about what happened over the video call, you would change the subject. Then one day you got a video message sent to you by Sy. It was being filmed by someone else while Sy stood with a spray painted green German Shepherd. You watched as Sy instructed the dog called "Aika" to fetch a writing pad with papers stuck to it from the steps of the building and turn it around to face the camera. Sy crouched down next to Aika and the first paper read, "I'm very sorry about missing your birthday." He turned the sheet of paper over and the next one had "I'm sorry about acting like a dick the other night." When he turned the paper again, it read in bold letters, "I love you and I don't want to lose you." You felt the stinging feel of tears in your eyes as Sy came forward and spoke directly into the camera, "Dinner with me tonight? I'll make up for everything, I promise." Before the video cut, you heard men laughing in the background with someone shouting, "Captain's so whipped!" and imitating the sound of a whip slashing through the air.

That night, dinner was less about eating and more about sharing your feelings. Sy listened to how you felt about him missing your birthday, apologising profusely about it and telling you he'll make up for it when he gets back. But you felt like a bitch when he told you about his week and how he had lost two of his men during an attack on them. It was now your turn to apologize with tears in your eyes as you imagined losing Sy. You didn't want to ruin the mood but you had to ask about the box. "Who's M, Sy?" You watched as his expression had turned solemn and he had sighed heavily. "I take that you found the box? She was my girlfriend before you. We had been together since college and I won't lie, I really wanted to marry her. But, I couldn't give her the kind of life she wanted." You could hear the sadness in his voice while he spoke. "Do you still love her?" he answered in an instant, "Of course not! I love you, babe. I want no one but you. You can even throw away the box if you want, I just never got back to it and throw it away myself." He then proceeded to tell you he wanted to make you feel his love and explained what he had planned, which made you blush but reluctantly you obliged. Even with the distance of many, many miles between the two of you, you pleasured one another over the call while repeatedly professing how much you loved each other.

You had bounced on your feet nervously while watching the arriving flights displayed on the screen. Sy was coming home and your excitement knew no bounds. His tour had been extended by four more weeks which meant you hadn't seen him in person for almost half a year. But family came first so when he had asked if he could go directly to Austin to meet his folks, you hadn't objected. "What's one more week until I meet you?" You had joked although deep down you craved to be in his arms again. When newly arrived passengers started filing out through the doors, your heart drummed in your chest with anticipation. You nearly skipped a beat when Sy walked out the door with his bags, thinking about the time when many months ago you had bumped into him at this very airport, searching through the crowd for you. His bearded face broke out into a huge smile when he spotted you and you almost made a run for him, launching yourself into his arms while planting kisses all over his face. "God, I missed you so much." He said, hugging you tightly to his chest and not letting go of you for a long time.

The very next day, Sy had taken you out for dinner at the most fancy restaurant in town. You noticed how he was fidgety and nervous, looking at his watch several times. It worried you even more when for the third time that night, he excused himself and left the table. You wondered if he was sick but then were left confused when all of a sudden the speakers started playing the familiar tune of your favorite romantic song. You looked around puzzled but was taken by surprise when Sy walked to you and dropped down on one knee. With a tender smile on his lips he said, "I never knew what I really wanted from my life until I met you. Countless times I have prayed to the heavens for making you bump into me on that day. I was at the right place at the right time, for I met the most amazing and beautiful woman on this planet." You felt you heart pick up a pace knowing exactly what Sy was going to do. Fishing out a blue velvet box from his pocket and opening it to reveal a magnificent diamond ring, Sy continued, "Darlin' will you marry me and make me the luckiest man alive?" There was no hesitation in your voice when you nodded fervently and repeated "yes" several times, hugging and kissing Sy before he placed the ring on your finger while everyone around clapped for the two of you.

Continued to Part 4

[heyimboredtalktome]

⛸️❄️FIGURE SKATER NICO HELL YEAH BITCHES❄️⛸️

He started at the age of four. So Maria had once taken Nico and Bianca on a trip to this place and near the hotel where they where staying there was frozen pond and people were allowed to skate on it. So teeny tiny Nico with his teeny tiny boots was having the time of his life on that pond. He was having so much fun and he caught the gist of it so quickly. He fell down, giggled, got up and fell down again. Maria was watching him and she smiled looking at her son and so when they went back, Maria signed him up for lessons, thinking that Nico would enjoy them.

He's got black skates, with like sorta pointy toes and literal gold blades (Victor and Johnny stans I see you). The blades are Imperial Gold and they were a gift from Reyna.

He does all of his jumps with his hands over his head,(the rippon variation, named after one of our favorite figure skating gays, Adam Rippon). So Rippons look like this:

Anyway that's Alina and she does Rippons on almost every jump she does. So that's what Nico does.They used to be really uncommon before the 2018 Olympics (after that everybody and their mamas were doing Rippons because-)

So Nico uses Rippons a lot.

He's got a signature combination and that's the quad lutz-triple loop.

His spins oh god he's one flexible boi, he's an amazing spinner and the speed of them is like mind-blowing, like so he does the hyperextened Biellman and that one that Kamila does:

He's so artistic, his PCS are always so high, it's as if he lays everything bare on the ice, his performances are enough to make people cry.

He's won a lot of competitions, so he won the Junior Worlds and the Junior Grand Prix Final, he was pretty much undefeated in his junior season. I'm still thinking about his senior career and I'm pretty sure it's gonna resemble Yuna Kim's except I won't let it end tragically like her's did (fuck u isu fuck u)

Okay so he's coached by a dead coach. Yep. During the Battle of the Labyrinth he'd got a zombie coach, who was really famous(like Tatiana Tarasova) when he was like, alive and so he was the one teaching Nico and jumps and spins.

His costumes are always amazing, he sometimes helps with the brainstorming process but like yes he's one well-dressed bish.

Taking inspiration from Yuna Kim and Aleksandra and Dmitrii, his most iconic program will be a James Bond themed free skate. Idk Nico and James Bond seems like an amazing combination.

There is a lake near camp and so Mr D freezes it during the summer so that he can train in camp, (because Mr D loves him and doesn't want him far away from camp)

Will accompanies him, almost always and Will's always like "How can you jump like that?" and Nico just smirks and does like a quad Lutz with five loop combos and Will's like quit showing off bish.

Nico loves to skate, he just feels free when he skates, he loves how fast and athletic it is while also being beautiful as fuck.

Nico does ballet because like literally every figure skater has trained in ballet at some point in there life and guess what, he's really good at that too.

Hades loves watching Nico while he competes, he literally watches every competition Nico competes in. Persephone too.

He's pretty famous, basically imagine the Winnie showers when Yuzu finishes, just change the Poohs with stuffed Koala bears.

Will wasn't that good at skating but after he started accompanying Nico, Nico taught him to skate too, so find them vibin and laughing on the ice, trying out like pairs lifts and stuff.

Will travels with him to competitions and stuff and sometimes it's Reyna.

Will has read so many articles about figure skaters coming down with anorexia and other eating disorders and thus being forced to retire and it absolutely terrifies him that something like that could happen to Nico. So he's always seeing whether or not Nico's having his meals on time or not and if he's healthy or not(and not starving like a certain coach forces her skaters to-)

I guess that's it! I'm a huge figure skating fan, I follow this sport....obsessively so like this was so much fun for me, I hope y'all liked this.

[admiringlove]

doubt

+pairing: tsukishima kei x reader

+synopsis:  tsukki, the boy you’re desperately in love with. the boy who holds your hand softly as the two of you walk home together from school. the only question is, does the boy love you back just as much as you love him?

+genre: angst; fluff.

+word count: 1.6k

+warnings: none.

+author’s notes: this is an older fic, please note that my writing style has gotten better and i am producing newer fics that are better than this one. not that this fic is necessarily bad(it’s good i hope) but just my style has improved much more.

— request.

HIYA! I saw the request were open so I just wanted a full angsty Tsukki imagine. Do anything you want, I want that ANGST :DD

You and Tsukki had been dating for the past few months. Yamaguchi, being the neutral friend of the group, would always come to the rescue if the two of you had a fight or need help in talking to one another.

However, tonight was different. The dusk comes as a promise of starlight, of those eminent pearls of the twilight that sit as if cushioned upon pure black velvet. The heat of the day has ebbed to a soothing warmth. The sunshine has lost its luster, and the colors of the atmosphere are softened.

You, a teenager who had just gotten a 76-percent in Physics, was itching to find some comfort. You had pulled countless all-nighters for these exams. You had stayed up so many nights studying the reflecting rays and the incident rays and the formulas that you were just disappointed in yourself. You were in a bad mood already; expecting some calming words from Tadashi or Kei, you walk towards the volleyball gymnasium to find Tsukki, who looked so concentrated on the practice match being played.

The boys were practicing in so much perspiration and purpose, that you felt like simply watching them excel from afar. You sighed as Sugawara and Daichi greeted you before ending practice ten minutes earlier than usual, as everyone seemed drained. You waited patiently as the boys went to get changed, Hinata giving you a high-five and complimenting you before leaving.

"I'll walk you home after changing, will you wait for me?" Kei says as he picks up his bag and slings it over his shoulder. You nod, "Sure thing, Kei."

The blond walks over to the club room with everyone else, and you notice that Kei had left a shirt in the gym.

You headed to pick up Tsukishima's shirt that he had left behind. And as you headed up the stairs of the club room, you could overhear Tsukishima and Yamaguchi talking.

Talking about... you?

"Tsukki, shush. They're your [S/O]," Yamaguchi mumbles with paranoia evident in his tone. Tsukishima scoffs halfheartedly, looking away. He rolls his amber eyes in ignorance and continues, "They lied saying they studied for the Physics exam. Why would they want to lie about studying? It's them that got the lowest grade of the class, not me."

You hide next to the half-open door—heart breaking into pieces as you hear Tsukki say those words—and Yamaguchi gasps slightly when he sees you. You gesture him to keep quiet as you wanted to hear what Kei had to say about you. Truth is, you felt as if he was slowly falling out of love with you. He never gave you any song recommendations anymore, he never walked home with you, he never even bothered to talk to you, which was what pained you even more.

“Tsukishima, why would you say that about your own partner?” Suga asked to lighten the mood a little, but Tsukishima only replied, “I don’t like it when people lie to me.”

And then, the boy continued. 

"It's annoying to even be with them, at this point. They're clingy, and—"

You clutch the shirt in your palm tightly, walking away. You didn't want to hear anymore. Rapidly blinking to stop the tears brimming at the corner of your eyes, you sped up your pace. Your shoulders dropped in resignation as you tightened your chapped lips in a straight line. You bit down on the inside of your cheek, as you grabbed your backpack and began the walk towards your home. What could you do, anyway? Beg him to stay with you a little longer? Obviously not, that would make you look desperate.

But what could you do, anyway? You didn't want to admit it, but you were desperate. You were desperately in love with the sarcastic remarks, the signature smirk, the teasing eyes, the nonchalant "good morning, [Y/N]-chan", the recommendations of songs that would blow your mind, the sweet midnight trips to your house just because he was bored, the small lingering kisses that would make you want more, and what else? There was so much about Tsukishima Kei that you were in love with. You couldn't put it into words even if you tried. You imagined a future with him even though the two of you were high-school freshmen.

You were alone, walking the empty streets as tears welled up from deep inside your heart and coursed down your cheeks. Like a warm waterfall in the middle of autumn. You were being killed by your own unruly thoughts that were getting the best of you. How was he going to break up with you? Was this it? Was he simply never going to talk to you again?

You finally got home, shrugging your mother off saying that you weren't in the mood for dinner as you wiped your tears and ran up the stairs.

You avoided Tsukishima for the whole week. After all, what good does a clingy [S/O] do other than annoying their partner?

"[Y/N]!" you hear Tadashi's voice echo through the corridor just as you're about to leave. You stayed behind for a couple of extra minutes because you liked the soothing silence your school provided. The bell ringing, the leaves of the trees rustling, the smell of books and chalk, the nostalgic feeling overwhelming you of memories buried deep.

The school was a safe place without anyone around.

"Ah, Tadashi!" you grinned, you grabbed your belongings and rushed over to the boy, greeting him once again. He rubs the back of his neck nervously as he asks, "You haven't talked to Tsukki all week, have you?"

"Oh, I haven't? I didn't notice," you chuckle nervously, obviously knowing that Yamaguchi was concerned about you since the day he had seen you overhear his conversation.

What you didn't know, was that Tsukishima was standing merely five feet away, hidden inside a classroom. He was quizzically standing there, not moving an inch so he could hear what you had to say. Did you want to break up with him? Was that why you hadn't initiated a single conversation with him? Was that why you would leave your home earlier than usual so you could walk without him? Was that why you wouldn't even bother to look at his message(even though he had only tried to contact you twice—one text, and one call)?

"[Y/N], I know you heard when Tsukki complained about your grade in the Physics exam," Tadashi grimaced, gritting his teeth as he tried to look away from you. You widened your eyes as you tried to find a suitable explanation that would fix the problem in front of you.

Tsukishima, on the other hand, was shocked. He didn’t know you were there that day. His hands were in his hair as he slowly sunk to his knees. His breathing becoming more rigid, more uneven as his mind went frantic. You had heard him call you clingy. You had heard him openly criticize you in front of the whole team. You had heard him say such mean things about you.

He couldn't fathom what you were feeling.

"It's not like I care about Physics anyway," you giggle, trying to lighten the mood, "Even if I got a low score, I still passed."

"Can you not joke around?" Yamaguchi asked in a deadpan tone that made you get goosebumps. You sighed, looking at him right in the eye, and claimed, "The other option is I cry and face my overwhelming sadness that my own boyfriend called me clingy and dumb even though I try so hard to be a person he deserves, so no."

To say that Tadashi was taken aback, was an understatement. You smiled as you let out a dry chuckle, and walked away.

That night, Tsukishima Kei was the one crying himself to sleep.

"Good morning, [Y/N]-chan," you heard an all-too-familiar voice behind you as you walked out to buy groceries. You stopped in your tracks, [E/C] eyes widening as you let out an unintentional hum.

"Can we talk?" he asked. You turned around hesitantly to see that his features no longer displayed the desultory expression he used to display. His forbearance was dying by the passing minute—he was worried as he stepped toward you, but stopped as he witnessed you take a step back.

His amber eyes searched for some comfort in yours, but he couldn't find himself to look at your face—as if your hurt expression would break him down even more. He never meant to hurt you with his snarky laid-back words. He didn't even mean most of them.

"I'm sorry if I have been a clingy or annoying [S/O], Tsukishima," you mumble, kicking a pebble lightly. It doesn't even pain you to say it anymore—your voice is calm and emollient as if you didn't mind saying these words. He grimaced at the fact that you didn’t call him “Kei” as his guilt uproared even more. 

Your tone caused him to wince as he looked up at your face. There was no sign of apathy, like your tone. Instead, your eyes were shut tightly, as if you were trying to stop yourself from having a breakdown right there. He stepped closer to you, hoping that you wouldn't walk away this time, as he placed a palm on your head—gently fiddling with the strands of your [H/C] hair. His touch is like embrocation; the sudden relief of all pain cast inside has been let out along with a single tear taking its course on your cheek.

Your furtive façade breaking down slowly as he held you in his long, yet firm arms. You were like a gossamer—so delicate, that Kei was scared he'd break you.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things about you. I shouldn’t have ignored you," he mumbled into your hair as he embraced you tightly. You shook your head in disagreement as you muffled out a reply, "I was the one that didn't do well. It's my fault."

"You did your best," he mused. You hummed indulgently, as he held your hand in his, "I'm walking you to wherever you're headed."

"You don't even know where I'm going," you chuckled out, as the boy smiled down at you, "So? I meant it when I said I’d follow you anywhere when we began dating.”

© all works belong to admiringlove on tumblr. plagiarism is strictly prohibited.

[taffyram]

(Author's note:If anyone wants to send in a request of a douxie x reader you can.He's part of the characters I write for now.)

Douxie having a s/o that really likes baking

You really like baking, in which you always make douxie lunch for work and bring it to him if he forgets it.

Putting a cute note in it and saying "don't work too hard and I made your favorite hope you like it!😄-y/n"

Douxie would love the goat pie you made as it was just like the ones in Camelot

You ask archie to be a taste tester which he doesn't mind since whatever you make is always so good.If you're trying out a new baking recipe or want a second opinion on what you're baking.

You like making cakes and know how to make a cake that looks like an electric guitar.You make one for douxie when it's his birthday or when his band wins the battle of the bands.

As each time the electric guitar is different which douxie is amazed by the amount of detail it has.As to how realistic it looks.

You have let him make said cakes with you.Since douxie wanted to help also he wanted to see how you did it as your cakes were so amazing in taste and detail.

Which you and douxie bake together a bit more after that.Which you don't mind only if you're doing a surprise dish for douxie and he's trying to see what you're doing.

Douxie has caused one or two food fights with you with the help of a little bit of magic.But he helps clean up afterwards and says sorry to you.

If you ever need some background music, douxie is there playing his electric guitar.Which you don't mind since he plays when you're waiting for whatever you baked to be done.

Since douxie works at a bookstore he brings you back a cookbook that you may like.As he's seen what authors you like from your book shelf as you've talked about them before.

Douxie would even get your favorite author to sign your book somehow.As he surprised you with your copy being signed by the author which made you so happy where you started crying happy tears.

"No no please don't cry y/n if you don't like it I could get your second favorite author's signature?or…"douxie said after seeing your tears

"This is the best gift douxie I'm just so happy that you did this for me.Which I'm gonna bake your favorite for you in return."you said before wiping away your tears

You made him so many goat pies for doing that.As also making some smoked salmon for archie since you didn't want to leave him out.

When douxie is telling you stories about his adventures you write some of the details down.So you can surprise him with cupcakes or a cake that you made and designed to show one of his adventures.

[6rookie-writer0110]

Breathe, pilot inspector

Reader x Bat Family

Request - For said Kingdom imagine, the Reader can be one of the following: Kingdom!Superman's son/daughter (so add "dead mom" onto that trauma list), Kid Flash (who is also Kingdom!Flash's son/daughter), a member of the Kingdom!Batfamily, a member of the Kingdom!Wonderfamily, a member of the Kingdom!Titans, or a hero of their own right. how about a story where Reader (Male or female;

You can randomize or just use gender-neutral pronouns) is a hero from the Arrowverse's version of The Kingdom who ends up (on The Flash's Earth/on Supergirl's Earth/with the Legends) and joins with them on a mission, but is haunted by the fact they're receiving signs of the incoming Crisis?

Lately, you have been having trouble sleeping and you are not sure why. You have been having bad dreams, you haven't told anyone about it. You try not to stress about it but you are.

You live in the mansion with Wayne and Selina Kyle. You grew up in a privileged lifestyle, but Bruce and Selina most times we're busy. But they tried to make time for you but wasn't easy, but Alfred always took care of you. On holidays, he would write Bruce and Selina’s names on gifts but you knew it was Alfred’s signature.

”Where are you going?” Dick asked.

”Going out but I will be back soon,” You said.

”Don’t take long. We have to meet the legends and Supergirl” Dick said.

”I know,” You said.

You leave on your motorcycle. Dick has told you that Barry is trying to build a team to defeat The Anti-Monitor. Throughout the years, you have seen Bruce be a mentor to others. You did become a hero but you didn't want to Bruce mentor you.

You get off your motorcycle and you walked inside the store. It's a fortune teller store, small place, with neon lights on the window, a black cat stares at you. On the door the sign says it closed, but you still went inside.

”We are closed!” She yelled.

”Madame Xanadu, I was told you can help me,” You said.

”Y/N Wayne, about time you come to see me,” Madame Xanadu said.

”Yeah, you those crows didn't take no for an answer,” You said.

”Come closer, my child. Do you want tea?” Madame Xanadu said.

”Sure,” You said.

For two weeks, crows have been bugging you to see her. You followed the clues to find her and you saw her in your dreams. You sit down and she gave you the cup of tea and she sits across from you.

”Now my child, tell me your questions,” Madame Xanadu said.

”How do you even know my name?” You asked.

”I can see the future. I know everything about you, I know you been having trouble sleeping. Your mother died when you were twelve and she was killed by the Joker, he almost killed you. But you don't like your father’s girlfriend Selina, you haven't opened up to her. You don't like her at all” Madame Xanadu said.

Your eyes opened wide.

”No way, you can know that,” You said.

Since your mother died, everything changed for you. You barely spoke to anyone about what you feel. Dick and the others became too busy being heroes. You were going to kill the Joker but he escaped. You don't care what anyone says, one day you will kill the Joker.

--

” It's written in the cards for us to meet. The worlds across the multiverse are in trouble, you are the only one who can save us” Madame Xanadu said.

”My dreams, I see many people dying even people I never met. I wake up in the middle of the night, I sweat and I always feel terrified to live or tell anyone about it” You said.

”Infinite Crisis is here. Every earth will be destroyed, you are the only one with answers” Madame Xanadu said.

You shake your head.

”That can't be. I'm not a hero anymore. I couldn't save my mom now I have to save the whole universe! I can't...” You said.

”You will do it. Your mother would want you to do this” Madame Xanadu said.

You start to cry because you miss your mom.

-----

”This means I can see the future? I can't have powers. No one in my family has powers” You said.

She grabbed your hands and she sees the abilities you will have.

”Mastery of magic. Your mother, grandfather, and your ancestors all mastered magic. Your mother didn't tell you, because she was protecting you from someone dangerous. You must accept your abilities to see the future in order to save everyone” Madame Xanadu said.

”If I don't?” You asked.

”Infinite Crisis will end everyone including you,” Madame Xanadu said.

She kept talking about why you should accept your abilities.

✧ ✯ ✧ ✫

You keep thinking about what she said. Back at the mansion you and the others go to Prime earth. Kate introduced you to everyone when you touched Oliver's hand then you got a psychic vision. You see everyone is dead including your family.

”Y/N are you okay?” Bruce asked.

You didn't say anything and you just ran away. Everyone is confused about what just happened.

You are in the bathroom washing your face. Your heart is racing then you get another psychic vision. This time you can see everything.

You can see The Anti-Monitor killing Bruce and Jason. You see dead bodies everywhere and you are nowhere in sight. The Anti-Monitor does sinister laughter and Sara is gasping for air and she is losing blood fast. You see her eyes and she begs for help.

Bruce knocked on the door and the vision is gone. You are breathing hard and your heart is beating fast like crazy.

”Y/N what's wrong?” Bruce asked.

”I-I”

You start to stutter and he can see you are freaking out. He starts to rub your back to calm you down.

”Breathe in and out” Bruce said.

You start to breathe in and out. He waits for you to say something.

”I can see the future. I saw everyone be killed by The Anti-Monitor and I wasn't around” You said

”Since when you can see the future?” Bruce asked.

”For a while now. I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want anyone to think I'm crazy. You don't seem freaked out” You said.

”Your mother had the same ability. I was going to tell you when you first had your first vision. But you didn't tell me and I understand. We should tell the others, we have the upper hand fighting against The Anti-Monitor” Bruce said.

You sighed and agreed with him. You told them about your abilities and they want you to help. But you said no and walked away.

-----

Everyone went to fight The Anti-Monitor. You haven't fully accepted your powers and you keep getting new visions. Snart walked in to grab his gun.

”I thought you left” You said.

”I was grabbing my gun. Only because you can see the future doesn't mean you can’t change it. I don't have powers and I don't understand what you are going through. My team, we always mess up the timeline but doesn't mean we give up, we will try to fix it even if it means messing up again over and over” Snart said.

”I didn't think about it like that” You said.

”You only kept thinking that you can't do anything to change the future. I have to go now” Snart said.

You watched him leave and you know that he is right.

----

Again you start to remember what Madame Xanadu said about your abilities. You must accept it in order to change the future.

”I won't be scared anymore” You said.

You take out a picture of your mom and you stare at it.

”Wish you were here helping me,” You said.

You put the picture away.

”Gideon, help me create my suit” You said.

”Of course, Y/N” Gideon said.

You and Gideon race against time to create your suit.

✧ ✯ ✧ ✫

Everyone is losing against The Anti-Monitor but they won't give up. You have on your new suit, usually, you wouldn't pick those colors but you didn't have enough time, literally. The mask is red and white and the rest is light navy blue along with red and white. You did a superhero landing and everyone is surprised to see you.

”It’s about time!!” Jason yelled.

”Shut up!” You yelled.

Jason glared at you and you glared back at him. You see The Anti-Monitor, everything is playing out like in the visions you had.

You haven't had enough time to learn your magic. But you start to save everyone, you used the Batman Batarangs to distract him and save the others. The Anti-Monitor starts to attack you but you can dodge his attacks. They got the perfect moment and you helped them with the infinite shrinking prison gadget. It worked and everyone is happy about it.

✧ ✯ ✧ ✫

After saving the world, Barry created the justice league and asked you to join. But you said no to his offer for now.

”Why did you say no?” Kate asked.

”I’m going to be trained by Dr. Fate to understand my magic and get stronger” You said.

”So, we won't see you for a while?” Kate asked.

”Yeah. I don't know how long it will take but I will be back soon. He is the only one who can help me understand my powers” You said.

”I get it, Y/N. I will call you to check up on you now and then” Kate said.

”I’m okay with that” You said.

Kate hugged you. At the mansion, there is going away party for you. You hugged everyone and everyone is at the party. Alfred hugged you and you will miss him.

[sleepyxdarling]

Found pt4 (a dadmic story)

WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS SOME ANGST, TALKS OF DEPRESSING THOUGHTS, ANXIETY, AND PTSD..DON'T READ IF THESE TRIGGER YOU

The first week with hizashi was weird..it was so awkward and you weren't sure if you truly belonged there. You felt uncomfortable but training with him made you feel better.

The first month was better..things were okay with you both and you got to decorate your own room however you liked and hizashi helped out. He got you a bunch of cool stuff and got you an expensive vinyl record player with a bunch of records of your favorite songs..he says it adds character whatever that means.

The next six months was when things became perfect..you were a family..he got you a dog as a gift for behaving so well. The dog was a something that made you feel less lonely..which was good since with hizashi working a lot you tend to get quite a few panic attacks as well as flash backs

Things were amazing..you two would stay up late into the night laughing and having fun..hizashi's birthday was coming around so that's when you decided to shop for a gift for him.

"what should I get him Totoro?" You asked the large gray Alaskan malamute who simply stared up at you and gave a low but short howl. You petted the dog before walking out the door to go out. You figured the mall was a place where you could but anything..only issue was you didn't know what to get him..hizashi was a complicated guy.

You ended up getting him more than one gift and quickly went home before wrapping it up..horribly before working on the cake you wanted to make for him

When hizashi walked into the door he saw the frosted cake on the table along with a few gifts.

"hey..bubbles..what's all this?" He mumbled out as a smile creeped onto his face as you slid the cake closer to him

"blow out the candles mic!"

"sing happy birthday to me bubbles! As the birthday boy I command it!" Hizashi's stubborn behavior made you roll your eyes since you both knew you couldn't do that

You simply wipe frosting on his cheek before blowing out the candles for him.

"open your gifts I'm anxious to see how you react" you said while starting to cut him a slice.

Hizashi chuckles before taking a seat and starting on the first gift. He unwrapped it before his eyes lit up with joy.

"bubbles! These headphones look amazing! I mean.. steampunk is the coolest thing ever!" He chirped out as he looked at you with an excited grin.

"I say we are even..you got me those seashell headphones..though it's embarrassing for a boy to wear pastel headphones like that but it's from you so I'll adore it" your slight pout made the hero laugh before he went to the next gift which was a pocket watch.

When he opened the watch his eyes softened as the picture you and him grinning that was inside. He was already starting to cry while you simply ate cake..it was yummy.

"oh bubbles..this is just-"

"there is one last gift mic!" You cheers out and he simply smiles before opening the last gift and his heart simply exploded.

A travel mug that said coolest dad..here came the water works.

"I..it's a joke from that one time I called you dad..and the next six times after that" you mumbled out before being yanked into a hug by the pro hero who was bawling his eyes out.

"let's make it official" his soft voice shocked you as you gazed at him and it was your turn to tear up as he reached into his pocket and took out a folded paper.

He watched as your shaking hands unfolded it only to see that they were adoption papers. Most of it was filled out already and the only thing you had to write was your signature.

"m..mic..a..are you serious?"

You were so scared of being rejected so the fear started to pool in your eyes which he caught on to so he simply messed with your hair to try and relax your nerves.

"yeah..you are already family to me [name] so it doesn't matter if you sign..but I would love if you became my official son..so what do you say bubbles..wanna be a yamada?" He asked out his voice shaking as he locked eyes with you and you gave a sly grin before running off to your room and returned a few minutes later with a signed paperwork.

Hizashi was shocked for sure and simply hugged you tightly in his arms.

"I have a son...I HAVE A SON!" His voice boomed with excitement as you were lifted and squeezed against the male.

You were a crying laughing mess and the two of you celebrated with cake, icecream, and a whole lot of jamming to music.

If only you two were prepared for the struggles ahead.

School started up again soon and hizashi just couldn't contain himself from blurting out the news and before you knew it everyone was walking up to you asking you questions.

You took in a deep breath before trying to answer as best you could.. everything was fine.. everything was fine.

"he adopted a troubled kid like you.. present mic is so sweet"

Everything was not fine!

Who knew a single comment would cause your self esteem to tarnish and your confidence to vanish. All those months of therapy and medicine just..cracking. you felt so stupid for thinking such dark things but they invaded your brain faster than you could comprehend.

"I'm... I'm..not a trouble kid..I just made a few mistakes"

"didn't you get expelled from your last schools?"

"woah expelled?!"

"what happened?!"

"I heard he went insane and attacked a teacher"

Your brain started to turn to mush at this point..static was blurring up your senses as you stood there being unable to move and your body started to feel hot with shame.

"I heard he attacked a student.."

"I heard he destroyed a classroom and set stuff in fire"

Lies...lies..lies..

"he hurt a teacher so bad they went to the hospital"

It wasn't your fault..it wasn't. You felt your breathing get shaky and you couldn't think properly as harsher words escaped from the students mouths. You were right here and there they were whispering as if you couldn't hear them.

"I heard he threatened students and blackmailed teachers"

Those were lies..so many ugly lies covering the truth. You felt your body shaking as you were now wheezing as scales grew up your neck and onto your cheeks.

"I heard he slept around to get what he wants..even with teachers"

"is that why he lives with present mic now?"

Stop..stop it. You couldn't take this anymore..it wasn't your fault.

It was your fault

It was your fault

You shouldn't have looked so helpless

"IT WASN'T MY FAULT!"

Your banshee like scream caused windows to crack and you heard bodies dropping to the floor..you used your quirk again.

You couldn't breathe and everything became so numb..your vision became blurry and as it did you heard a distant shouting

"[name]! [Name]?!" It was hizashi..you reached out for him before passing out and one thought came to you.

I always get him into trouble..I'm such a bother.

[funknrolll]

Celebrating Prince: discovering a timeless artist and his meaningful and impactful art. Part 3. The legal battle against Warner Bros, The Gold Experience and Emancipation eras.

Hi music lovers, as I anticipated on monday, music addiction is going to celebrate Prince and his amazing and timeless work!! The article will be split into a few little articles. I hope you enjoy this new format and these articles!!

For some reasons I had to repost this article therefore the 4th part will be uploaded tomorrow✨ stay tuned for more✨

As I said yesterday, let me say that I have heard so many things about Prince’s artistry. Some comments came from uneducated people who did not even take a second of their lives to understand, and do research on his art. Hence, I think the time to shed some light on Prince’s art, has come (finally). I hope to help some of those people understand this artist better and to finally appreciate him the way he deserves. We owe Prince big time. Today’s music and musicians  owe Prince everything. Without him, many of the artists we listen to today, WOULD NOT BE EXISTING. As we all know, Prince loved to experiment with music, trying out new music genres, new styles, new harmonies, melodies, rhythms and so on. This is one of the factors that led this legend to create a unique, wide and broad vault. There are so many songs of his that I love so much and that I find relevant for this article. The ones I chose, are going to prove that Prince and his music did not just revolve around sex and sexuality, (even if the artist through his music took the topic to another whole level). Through the article, we will see that Prince was more than all that I mentioned above. He was an extraordinary human being, blessed with so many enormous talents, with a beautiful mind, a uniquely pure soul. A true gift of God. With this in mind, let us start this article.

This is the sequel of the 2 articles I posted yesterday, so in case you guys missed them, check the previous 2 out.

Before I continue with this article, it is important to mention the Prince’s fight against Warner Bros. I know this was a matter so close to his heart and he cared about that. Hence, I think there is the impellent need to explain the situation to spread awareness and to remind the huge efforts Prince made beside his beautiful music. Back in the 90s, the artist’s music was owned by the aforementioned record company, although Prince was the person who composed, wrote, and performed HIS music. The artist was extremely aware of the importance of owning his masters and therefore his music wanted to buy back the rights to his music from Warner Bros, but the company denied that. Therefore, the artist would have had to re-record his music, the same music HE composed, HE wrote and performed. Indeed, as Prince stated in a 1999, Paper interview, “I wanted to buy my masters back from Warner Bros. They said no way. So I'm going to re-record them. All of them. Now you will have two catalogs with pretty much exactly the same music—except mine will be better—and you can either give your money to WB, the big company, or to NPG. You choose.". During this long legal battle, the artist decided to leave Warner Bros and created his own record label The NPG Records. Besides all of that, Prince, during the legal fight with Warner Bros, changed his name into an unpronounceable symbol and started to write the word slave on his face to symbolize the condition of slavery under which many artists had to stay. This battle lasted for about 4 decades. With this Prince was fighting for his artistic freedom, ownership of his work, and his rights. In addition to that, Not only was this huge artist fighting for himself, but also for all the other artists exploited by record companies. The artist formerly known as Prince was not to be silenced. Indeed, many of the works he crafted during the 90s, were an act of protest against record companies. It is extremely important to remind people how this artist gave his contribution and paved the path for other artists to be free and be more aware of this ENORMOUSLY important issue. I briefly summarized and addressed this HUGELY RELEVANT issue, but there would be more to say, and I will write an article about that. I will never stress enough the importance of Prince’s battle against record companies and his music being robbed from him. He has made a big impact and we all should be thankful and grateful to him for being bold enough to speak up about the topic and address this issue. 

Moving back to his music, in 1993 Prince ended the partnership with Warner Bros and started his own record label the NPG Records. Needless to say, as soon as the artist started his label, he began working on his new project, The Gold Experience, that eventually was released in 1995. This timeless gem is the product of Prince’s deep and broad artistic evolution. On this masterpiece, there are 3 songs that I find extremely relevant which are: We March, The Most Beautiful Girl in the world, Billy Jack Bitch, and Gold.  Through its forthright and explicit lyrics, We March is a powerful protest song where the artist speaks up against racism, misogyny, and prejudice.

If this is the same avenue my ancestors fought 2 liberate

 How come I can't buy a piece of it even if my credit's straight?

 If all the water's dirty and I wanna lay the pipe, my dammy

 The river that I drink from, will it be the same as your mammy 

In these lines, the artist is raising his voice against the prejudice of moneylenders.

If this is the same sister that U cannot stop calling a bitch (Bitch)

 If U can't find a better reason 2 call this woman otherwise

 Then don't cry, U made the bed in which U lie

These lines are a protest against misogyny, particularly slurs such as the term bitch which is seldom referred to women. 

Now's the time (now's the time) 2 find a rhyme (Yeah)

 That's got a reason (Yeah) and frees the mind (free your mind)

 From angry thoughts, the racist kind (Yeah)

 If we all wanna a change then come on get in line (Get in line!)

 Next time we march (Whoa)

 We're kickin' down the door

 Next time we march (Hey yeah) (Whoa)

 All is what were marchin' 4

With this bit of the lyrics, Not only is the artist revolting against racism, but it is a warm encouragement to react and change the situation. This song is a total anthem against racism, prejudice, and misogyny, to the point that in 1995 it became the hymn of the Million Men March. Moreover, I think it is urgent to focus on the arrangement of this song. The arrangement is strictly connected to the lyrics to make the song even more vivid.  I picked the music sheet for the piano. I am not going to annoy you with some obnoxious details, and I will try to be brief. I hope to be as clear as possible. The arrangement is presenting a key signature at the beginning of every staff which means the song is arranged in G major.  The key signature designates notes that have to be played higher or lower than the corresponding natural notes, and it is applied through to the end of the piece or up to the next key signature. In this case, after the clef, we can find a sharp sign which means that some notes are raised one semitone above the natural notes. Some other notes have the natural sign near them which means that the sharp key signature is canceled for them, hence these notes are natural. With this said, the question should be, why would Prince arrange the song like this? In my opinion, the artist might have used a key signature to raise some notes and the natural sign to cancel the accidental, for a specific reason. Musically speaking, Prince was an educated genius, hence I am sure he knew exactly what he was doing and why. The artist wanted to create an imbalance between the notes to create the effect of a real and difficult march, almost like climbing a mountain. Perhaps this arrangement might symbolize a difficult march that eventually will lead to the achievement of freedom, respect, equality, acceptance. Therefore, I would say that the connection between the extremely complex arrangement and the lyrics was magistrally crafted. This song is just one of the many examples of how brilliant Prince was.

Furthermore, another song that I love is Billy Jack Bitch. This is another protest song, but the topic is totally different from the previous one. Through these hilarious and sarcastic lyrics, Prince is revolting against a gossip columnist named Cheryl Johnson who was caught being utterly rude. As a matter of fact, the song is so crystal clear that there is no need for further explanations. However, one thing that I noticed in the lyrics Prince managed to mention the initials of the woman. 

Joy - it's in the dictionary

 See "J" Billy Jack Bitch 

The artist could not write the actual initials of the woman, because otherwise he would have been sued. Nonetheless, Prince was so smart that through a phonemic effect (see J) he managed to say the initials of the woman and thus give subtle hints about the woman’s identity. Moreover, what impressed me about the song is the drumline which is in my opinion phenomenal. The striking background vocals also caught my attention because, after some research, I found out that the voice we hear belongs to the rockstar and Prince’s fellow artist Lenny Kravitz’s. Two geniuses in one song are there anything more iconic?

Last but not least, my favorite song on the album is Gold. I love this masterpiece with every cell of my body. The meaning and the message this song is delivering are so POWERFUL!! The deep meaning behind these uplifting lyrics is to be ourselves, be unique, and never follow the mass because “All that glitters ain’t gold”. We should never follow the crowd. Not everything the crowd does is gold, even if it looks like it. We should be ourselves and make a difference. We should take difficult roads and climb the highest mountains to see the top. There would be another method of interpretation. The majestic music video and the scribble slave across Prince’s face might be inferring another significance. Thus, I would assume that this song might be another protest but this time against Warner Bros since Prince was in the legal battle against record label. Indeed, the meaning of the song may apply well to that situation. As a matter of fact, Prince might be inferring that even if contracts with a record company look like gold, in reality, they just glitter that tie the artists to a condition of slavery. Anyways, the arrangement also deserves attention. Indeed, the chorus of the song goes “All that glitters ain’t gold” and in my opinion, the arrangement of the keyboard is extremely peculiar and well related to this bit of the lyrics. First, it is important to say that the keyboard is dominating and I also think it is important to pay attention to its arrangement.  As I could see from the music sheet, the arrangement is characterized by high notes which are raised by the key signature after the clef. Indeed, this song is arranged in D major which means that the arrangement contains 2 sharps and the arrangement is written like this : 

This also means that all the already high notes on the staff are raised one tone. Now you might be asking: what is the point she is trying to make? what does this have to do with Prince? I am aware that the logic behind this might seem odd, but I will get to the point of this. As I said, this song’s composition is characterized by a range of middle-high notes. As Prince was musically educated, I am quite sure that the composition of this masterpiece and its arrangement, have a deep connection with the lyrics. Indeed, I would assume that Prince might have opted for this arrangement to enhance the meaning of this beautiful masterpiece. The chorus of this song goes “all that glitters ain’t gold” and in the music video we can see Prince being “showered” with a rain of golden glitters, therefore this recurring topic might be what connects the lyrics to the arrangement of the song. As a matter of fact, when we think about glitters, especially a rain of glitter we might associate this with a particular sound which most likely might be characterized by some high tinkling sound. This is exactly the effect Prince aimed to create with this magistral arrangement. Those middle-high notes I mentioned have the peculiarity of creating this beautiful effect that is the sound of glitter tinkling, which is even more enhanced by the music video. 

The release of Emancipation marked Prince’s definitive end of the partnership with the record label Warner Bros. It was the artist’s 19th studio album and probably one of my favorites. From the self-explanatory title, it is quite evident that Prince was still fighting against WB for his rights. However, not only is this work featuring protest songs but also some covers and some love songs where the artist expresses his affection for his former wife Mayte Garcia. Through some well thought and precise details, Prince’s personal touch is quite evident in this project. Indeed, this is a triple album and each album is consisting of 12 songs. Each album lasts exactly 60 minutes. Hence, the accuracy and the precision behind this masterpiece are quite impressive. In fact, the artist had an explanation for this, as he explained in several interviews, this was based on his studies of ancient Egypt and Egyptians: “The building of the pyramids and how the pyramids were related to the constellations. They were a message from the Egyptians about how civilization really started."

Among the most significant songs on this masterpiece we can find: The Holy River, Slave, The Love We Make, and the homonymous Emancipation.

The first song mentioned is The Holy River. Through these exceedingly deep lyrics, we can infer that the artist went through a major spiritual shift. More precisely, the Holy River might be a metaphor that might be symbolizing the baptism. Indeed, if my guessing is correct, this metaphor will be perfect with the general meaning of the song as being baptized also means the beginning of a new life, which is what Prince experienced with this major spiritual shift. 

Let's go down 2 the holy river

 If we drown then we'll be delivered

 U can still see the picture upon the wall

 One eye staring at nothing at all

 The other one trying 2 focus through all your tears

 U can try and try but there's nothin' 2 hide

 U can't run from yourself and what's inside

 U got 2 find the answers 2 the questions that U most fear

So over and over U ask your soul

 Why'd U come down 2 a world so cold?

 And the voice inside says 2night the truth will be told 

Also, the chorus of the song is quite eloquent as Prince is providing a detailed explaining of how he went through a dark moment in his life where he was struggling to find answers, where he was afraid to look inside of himself and to find the truth and the answers. 

U surrounded yourself with all the wrong faces

 Spending your time in all the wrong places

 Puttin' your faith in things that only make U cry

 People say they love U when they wanna help

 But how can they when U can't help yourself?

 The more they say they love U, the more U just wanna die

 So here we go again, the self-analysis

 Have another glass of Port and uh... forget this

 The band's playin' at the club 2night and they're bound 2 groove 

Also, these lines are quite eloquent, and I think there is no need for some further explanation. These are practically a description of the troubles he went through and how lonely and hopeless he felt during that time of his life and how he managed to survive. 

There U are, U think U're high

 U can't ask yourself cuz U'd only lie

 If U had a dollar 4 every time U tried

  U can't call nobody cuz they'll tell U straight up

 Come and make love when U really hate 'em

 Relationships based on the physical are over and done

 They're over and done (They're over and done)

 U'd rather have fun

 With only one, with only one

 Only one... one (one) 

Again, in these lines, the artist is describing what he went through. In the last 5 lines, we can notice that a major spiritual shift was occurring and thus the positive change the artist went through Indeed, in the next lines, the artist describes how he started to change after he realized that God was by his side.

And then it hit 'cha like a fist on a wall

 Who gave U life when there was none at all?

 Who gave the sun permission 2 rise up every day? (Ooh, oh yes)

 Let me tell it (Go'n)

 If U ask God 2 love U longer

 Every breath U take will make U stronger

 Keepin' U happy (happy) and proud 2 call His name (Go'n and say it)

 Jesus (Jesus)

  And over and over U ask your soul

 Why'd U come down 2 a world so cold?

 And the voice inside said 2night the truth will be told

 And this time I was listening, hear me 

As a matter of fact, as I mentioned, these lines explain, perfectly a time of transition when the artist was evolving and changing. In the next lines, the artist describes the moments after the spiritual shift took place.

Let's go down 2 the holy river

 If we drown then we'll be delivered (Yes we will)

 If we don't then we'll never see the light (No)

 If U die before U try

 U'll have 2 come back and face the light (Oh yes)

 When U believe it, U got a good reason 2 cry (Oh my, my)

  So I went on down 2 the holy river

 I called my girl and told her I had something 2 give her

 I asked her 2 marry me and she said yes, I cried

 Oh, that night I drowned in her tears and mine

 And.. and instead of a glass of sorrow and wine

 Looking back y'all, I don't miss nothing except the time

 And when I see that picture up on the wall

 The one eye staring at nothing at all

 My eyes trying 2 focus but these are much different tears

 Oh, yes they are 

Like the end of a beautiful story, these last lines, are the conclusion of this masterpiece that closes with a “happy ever after”. Indeed, in these last lines, the artist compares the act of going down to the holy river to facing the light which means a new beginning, a new life. In these last 9 lines, the artist describes the exact moment when he proposed to his girlfriend to marry him. He then reconnects to the beginning of the song where he cried tears of sorrow while at the end of this story he said to be crying “much different tears” which perhaps might be tears of happiness. Moreover, musically speaking, the arrangement of this song is quite homogenous except for the very last bars. After the artist finishes performing the lyrics, he reprises the main harmonies and performs them with a guitar and piano solo, then adding a choir that performs the background vocals with some light head voices that recall the angels singing. These last bars are played in such a manner that reflects the feeling of the artist: joy, love, relief, ultimate happiness. All the emotions a person who has experienced a major spiritual shift will feel. Furthermore, I have also noticed a shift in the instrumental. At the beginning of this masterpiece, the instrumental is “softer” and the sound of the instruments is kept lower. This happens for the first part of the song where Prince describes what he experienced when he was going through a difficult time. Then, after the artist sings these lines: “ Relationships based on the physical are over and done

 They're over and done (They're over and done)

 U'd rather have fun

 With only one, with only one

 Only one... one (one) “ 

it is extremely evident that the instrumental changes. Indeed, Prince turns up the volume of the instruments which are in my opinion, also joyously played, like he is telling his listener “listen to me, this is my story, I Am happy, and you should be too”. 

Another song that I totally love is Slave. This is, in my opinion, such an ingenious masterpiece and we can hear how Prince took inspiration from the whole work songs genre. With the forthright message of the song, Prince was still raising awareness about how record companies exploited artists, hence he wrote this powerful masterpiece, a protest song, to release all his rage and frustration. 

Everybody keeps trying to break my heart

 Everybody except for me

 I just want a chance to play the part

 The part of someone truly free 

From its chorus, this song is extremely eloquent. Prince is basically protesting against his enemies who most likely would be record companies and perhaps, as he mentioned in the 4th line 

“My enemies kept it turning, but now they pound the gavel

 And judging me accordingly, I know, I know”  

 those who judge him for commencing a legal fight against record companies. However, I am quite sure that this masterpiece is a protest song crafted to vent and raise awareness about the condition artists had to stay under for an extremely long time which was treated as slaves. In support of my theory, I would report these lyrics:

Slowly candle burns, where'd they learn hypnosis?

 How'd they keep me under for so long?

 Break the bread I earn, just keep me far from closest

 I need their kind to illustrate what's wrong - what's wrong?

 Well, I'll tell you they just keep trying to break my heart

 They just keep trying to break my heart, ow! 

From the second line, it is quite clear that those who kept the artist under and broke the bread he earned might have been the record companies, particularly Warner Bros, that contractually forced Prince to produce his music and kept a big part of his earnings OF THE MUSIC HE PRODUCED, HIS OWN MUSIC. Another interpretation of this line might be that Warner Bros owned the rights of PRINCE’S MUSIC. Therefore, the artist did not have the rights of his own music which should have been HIS OWN. Moreover, as Prince explained in several interviews when he asked the record company for the rights of HIS MUSIC back, they just said no. This might explain well this line as the record label by not giving him his rights back kept Prince far from emancipating, and hence the artist just left Warner Bros and started his own record company. Moreover, what left me speechless and mesmerized, in total awe about this MASTERPIECE, is the instrumental and the music genre Prince chose to craft this MONUMENTAL PIECE OF ART. Why did Prince choose to give this masterpiece the title of Slave and what music genre could suit well a song with this eloquent title? Obviously, a work song with some soul influences. Indeed, what amazed me is that this masterpiece is crafted as a real work song. To understand this masterpiece better, I need to step back to the work song genre and explain some of their distinctive and relevant peculiarities. Work song is a music genre that was spread around the world (indeed there is more than just one type of work song, they were used all around the world), but focusing on Afro-American work songs, this music genre developed in America during slavery times between the xvii-xix century. This genre had several functions for instance: to coordinate the labor of a group of people working together, which improved the efficiency of the work, and to relieve the boredom of a tedious job, which improves the lives of the workers. Also, work songs were seldom used as an act of protest against the condition of slavery, injustice, and poverty. These songs were frequently sung by a leader followed by a choir. Additionally, to keep the rhythm of those chants, workers generally used their working tools or the stomping of their feet or they even clapped their hands. With this said as I would say that Slave by Prince is part of this music genre. Moreover, as we can hear, the beats of this masterpiece resemble the use of the tools used by slaves to create the rhythmic path to their chants. Another peculiarity that was taken after the music genre just mentioned, is the choir to which Prince was the lead singer. Indeed, the artist performs the main lines while the chorus is performed by the choir. This technique is called call and response which was quite typical in Afro-American work songs. Additionally, the emphatic and emotional and heartfelt performance the artist offered, makes it easy to sympathize with his pain, his rage, and his exhaustion. 

Furthermore, one of my favorite songs on this album is The Love We Make. Such a breathtaking masterpiece. In my opinion, the meaning of this masterpiece is quite hermetic. Indeed, just by reading the lyrics, it might not be clear what Prince meant with those words. However, It is widely believed that this song might have been produced to remember Jonathan Melvoin, Susannah, and Wendy’s brother, who died from heroin overdose. Melvoin was a musical child prodigy who worked with Prince on several projects and he also collaborated with some punk bands. It is believed that this song is dedicated to him for several reasons: the first one is the year he passed away which was 1996, secondly, and most importantly because the artist described the song as “written to speak to the spirit of a friend lost to drugs”. Moreover, in the liner notes to the Emancipation 1996 LP, the song is described as “written for a lost friend”. Hence, for all these reasons, this song is believed to be about Jonathan Melvoin. This is perhaps one of the most powerful and inspiring songs in Prince’s vault, truly breathtaking. With the reassuring yet preaching lyrics the artist was delivering an enlightening message: no matter how difficult life might be, there is still hope and we should all be grateful for the miracle and the gift God gave us. 

Happy is the way 2 meet your burdens 

 No matter how heavy or dark the day 

 Pity on those with no hope 4 2morrow 

 It’s never as bad as it seems until we say 

As I mentioned, specifically in these lines Prince is encouraging the listener to be happy and full of hope no matter what, condemning those who do not have hope in the future as things are never as bad as they seem. 

Precious is the baby with a mother 

 That tells him that his savior is coming soon 

 All that believe will cleanse and purify themselves 

 Put down the needle, put down the spoon 

 Even though these lines are quite hermetic and enigmatic I will attempt to give a proper explanation. The artist is mentioning a baby and his mother, and the mother telling the baby that his savior is coming soon. Hence, as Prince was extremely spiritual and had a great, broad, and keen knowledge of the Bible and the Gospel, I would assume that these two lines are related to the Scriptures. The logic behind this might seem odd, but I will attempt to get to the point with a proper explanation. As Prince was fascinated by the ancient Egyptian world, as it is evident from the set up of the songs on the album, I would assume that these lines are connected to two biblical figures. Honestly, at first, before doing my research, I was going to assume that Prince was alluding to Jesus Christ and the Holy Mary. However, the biblical figures he was hinting to, were instead Moses and his mother Jochebed. For those who are not familiar with the Scripture, Jochebed to avoid the mass slaughter of Hebrew boys, and therefore, her son to be brutally killed, she set her baby adrift in the Nile River, hoping someone would find him and raise him. God so worked that her baby was found by Pharaoh's daughter. Jochebed even became her own son's nurse. Then, God used Moses mightily, to free the Hebrew people from their 400 years of slavery and took them to the Promised Land. Although little is written about Jochebed in the Bible, her story speaks powerfully to mothers of today. Hence, the connection between those two lines of the song and the biblical figures is quite clear. Moreover, as the title of the album is Emancipation and one of the topics of this masterpiece is the artist’s rebellion against Warner Bros, which forced him to work in a condition of slavery, Moses's story who freed Hebrews from slavery and took them to the Promised Land, might apply quite well to Prince’s story who fought to free himself from Warner Bros and start his own record company. Moreover, with the following two lines Prince is suggesting that by believing in God we are purifying and cleansing themselves. As regards to the last line, as I mentioned, is what created the widespread belief that this masterpiece might have been dedicated and inspired by Jonathan Melvoin. In addition to that, on the album, there are not reported the full lyrics of the song, but just one line of it which is precisely “Put down the needle, put down the spoon” and on the bottom line we can find “Written 4 a lost friend.” which hints even more to Jonathan Melvoin. Again, referring to the line I just mentioned, Prince is using another tone to sing these words. Indeed, if we listen to the song attentively, we would hear how the artist was preaching against drug addiction. Furthermore, the next lines, are extremely well related to the previous one. 

Sacred is the prayer that asks 4 nothing, oh 

 While seeking 2 give thanks 4 every breath we take, oh 

 Blessed are we inside this prayer 

 4 in the new world, we will be there 

With these lines, Prince is encouraging the listener to be grateful for the gift of life, giving thanks for every breath we take, praying God without asking him for anything but rather praying him with gratitude for the gift of life. In the last two lines, Prince is basically telling the listener that those who pray God, believe in Him, and have faith in Him, will be blessed with a “new world” which is the Kingdom of Heaven. The last lines of the song are the chorus.

The only love there is, is the love we make {x2} 

 (the only love there is, is the love we make) 

 Only love there is, only love there is 

 The only love there is, is the love we make (yeah) 

 The only love there is, is the love we make 

These lines repeated four times like a beautiful monumental hymn, are used to teach a vital lesson: the only thing that matters is the love we give out, the love we spread while we are alive. That is to say, this is the ultimate purpose of life: to give love and being grateful for the gift of life. Furthermore, as regards the arrangement of this masterpiece, it was crafted in such a way that it allowed the artist to use a preaching tone during the interpretation. This peculiarity in the performance of the song is even more enhanced at the end of the masterpiece. Indeed, when the artist performs the lines that begin with “Sacred is the prayer that asks 4 nothing”, he changed the vocal register from a light chest voice to a powerful head voice which also gives more power to the words he was singing turning them into a real preach. The shift of vocal register in this particular bit of the song is also extremely effective as the artist is singing out loud such an important lesson that MUST be heard by everyone. Perhaps Prince has put so much emphasis on these magistrally written lines because this is the fulcrum of the song that everyone must listen to carefully. Additionally, if we listen to Prince’s voice attentively, we will hear some slight shifts in the intention put in the performance. As regards to the instrumental, the Artist opted for a slow ballad in 4/4. Although the choice of a slow ballad, the song is reinforced by guitar, drums, and piano. Additionally, while I was listening to this masterpiece, I realized that the instrumental is characterized by a progressive raising of the tonality of the song. This way, the instrumental was raised by 2 octaves. This characteristic, besides making this masterpiece even more effective and turning it into a beautiful and inspiring preach, gives the listener the idea of a beautiful climb that gets straight to heaven. Personally, whenever I listen to this masterpiece, I feel like I’m watching a beautiful sunset or hiking in the mountains. Moreover, the arrangement is mostly characterized by music accidentals, which in my opinion are an extremely important part of the composition of the song since without them the song would not be perceived as a powerful preach. 

If you guys would like to purchase your copy of the albums I wrote about in this article (which I recommend, PLEASE DO NOT BOOTLEG PRINCE’S MUSIC), I’ll post the links below here

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G4RYC5D/ref=as_sl_pc_tf_til?tag=giuliabianchi-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=2a37eabce98ae7fd530fddeff2287ed5&creativeASIN=B07G4RYC5D

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VRFM9YJ/ref=as_sl_pc_tf_til?tag=giuliabianchi-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=a1e0d017e5a3de4e6b01f3fc5a5f4f3c&creativeASIN=B07VRFM9YJ

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G4LHQHQ/ref=as_sl_pc_tf_til?tag=giuliabianchi-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=1da616a288e24d1a38bd64113cbb08a0&creativeASIN=B07G4LHQHQ

This was the third part of a series of articles dedicated to Prince to celebrate his life and most importantly his art. Stay tuned for more. If you have missed the first part feel free to check it out✨ In the meantime stay home, stay safe and healthy. Peace and Love 4 one another. thank you so much for your attention 💜 G  💜

[patrocool]

i.

It was early morning in Financial District. Commuters bustled around the siblings as they exited the subway station onto William Street. The pair stopped abruptly in front of the shop just outside of the station, much to the dismay of a woman behind them, who nearly ran into them with a curse.

Sarah Jacobs had worked hard to get to this point. And damn it, she was proud of herself. Sure, it didnt look like a lot right now- a tiny little hole in the wall right next to the entrance to the A and C train that was probably about the size of her bedroom in her tiny Manhattan apartment- but it was hers and she was proud to own the place.

Davey held up the key with a soft smile. "Planning on going in any time soon?" He asked lightly. She grinned as she took the key from his fingers and unlocked the door, stepping in. It was musty, dusty, dirty, and a bit stuffy, but none of that mattered. What mattered was what it was going to look tomorrow, and then the next day, and the day after that.

She clapped her hands together and set down her bag of cleaning supplies. "We've got a lot of work to do, Davey!"

ii.

Davey carefully placed the finishing touches on the flowers in stock, making them look nice in their holders. He stepped back, hands on his hips, and smiled. He turned to watch his sister as she carefully wrote the last few things on her chalkboard behind the counter.

The store looked perfect. Picturesque, to the point where Davey wouldnt be surprised if photographers came in looking for the perfect picture. Sarah set down her chalk and brushed her fingers off on her apron. She turned, nervously brushing stray hairs behind her ears, and straightening her light blue blouse. "Hows it look, David?"

He gave her two thumbs up. "It looks like a hipster's wet dream," he promised her teasingly.

She laughed and threw a rag at him. "You're such an ass, get out of my store with your gross face! You're gonna be late for class."

He snickered and leaned over the counter to grab his bag. "I'll turn on the open sign and unlock the door on my way out. If I dont, you probably never will."

As he left, he saw a young woman hesitating outside, looking curious. He held the door open. "Going in?" He asked.

She shook her head and hurried away down the street. He shrugged and headed to class. Sarah would have customers soon enough.

iii.

After the fourth day of trying to peek in the flower shop to and from class, Katherine Plumber finally gave in and slipped inside. A soft ring of the bell alerted the quiet shop, and she looked around in awe. Exposed brick on one wall, plants in baskets hung from the ceiling, fairy lights strung across the walls. Beautiful displays of potted plants and cut flowers alike. A chalkboard hung behind the counter listed prices and deals and specials, and then the most beautiful woman Katherine had ever laid eyes on came out of the back room, smiling brightly at the sight of a customer.

Dark hair in loose curls that reached her ribs, brown eyes that seemed to sparkle in the light, circle frame glasses perched on her nose. She wore a yellow turtleneck and high waisted mom jeans with scuffed converse, and a well worn apron. On her apron, someone stitched in the name "Sarah" with blue thread.

"Can I help you with anything?" The shopkeeper asked her cheerfully, and Katherine never felt more out of place.

"Just- just looking," she stammered awkwardly. She tugged at the sleeves of her leather jacket, glancing down at the pins and patches adorning it and hoping there wasnt anything that the sweet shopkeeper would take the wrong way. Usually, she didnt care if other people didnt like her opinions, but damn it, the girl was pretty as all get out, and her big ass "punch nazis in the face" patch on her back didnt really fit with the whole soft flower shop vibe.

She bit her lip, looking at the plants and trying not to stare at the girl. She focused on the many different colors of roses instead.

"'Fuck Cops'- now that's a sentiment I can get behind," the girl said, but she was so much closer this time, and Katherine jumped at the sudden noise.

Katherine blinked slowly. "Oh, uh. Yeah," she said, and laughed a little, internally cringing. God, she sounded like an idiot.

She giggled. "Sorry, I'm just excited to see a customer. I havent had a lot so far, I just opened a couple days ago."

"I know," Katherine said quickly, and quickly winced when the girl cocked a brow. "Sorry, no, I meant, I know you opened a couple days ago, I take the A train to school every day, so."

She snorted and nodded. "I see, a bit less creepy when you put it like that," she said teasingly. She held out a hand to shake. "I'm Sarah. Welcome to Newspaper Row Flowers."

"Katherine," she replied, shaking her hand. She smiled a bit. "You know Newspaper Row was actually over on Park Row, right? Next to City Hall?"

Sarah laughed, cheeks pink. "Oh, I know. It's because my great grandmother used to own a flower shop over next to the old Tribune building on Park Row, and that's what she called it. She lost her shop in the Depression though, and died when I was young, and it was my mom's dream to open a flower shop in her honor. She never managed to, and uh. Well, she died too, a couple years ago, so I did it."

Katherine's heart felt like it was melting in her chest. God, how could she already have so much affection for this girl she only just met? "I'm sorry for your loss. But you've really created something wonderful here, and I'm sure they would both be proud."

Sarah beamed, and Katherine would do anything to make her smile like that again.

iv.

"And so Davey's like 'what the fuck', and Les is like 'who is this guy' and Jack is straddling the windowsill, looking at us like he expects my dad to get a gun, and finally, Dad is like 'hes not Catholic, is he?' And poor Davey is like 'no, pa', and for some godforsaken reason, Mom assumes that means hes Jewish. And knowing he doesnt have a family, immediately invites- and by invites, I mean loosely intimidated- Jack to come celebrate all holidays with us. And so now, instead of breaking it to Mom that Jack isnt religious, Davey just let's them believe it. Cause I mean, they're pretty fine with the whole gay thing, but god forbid we be romantically involved with someone who isnt Jewish." Sarah finished explaining with a laugh and roll of her eyes. "So yeah, that's why Jack is here fucking around with a dreidel even though Hanukkah has passed. Hes convinced that theres a secret trick to it that he has to master by next year."

Jack looked up and pouted sourly in her direction. "We all know Davey cant be that good based on luck alone!" He said for the thousandth time.

Katherine laughed, elbows on the counter. Her red curls were pulled back in a ponytail and she had her signature leather jacket on. "Sounds like your family is a real fun bunch. Ironically, my dad is the exact opposite, he doesn't care if I dont marry into a Jewish family, but he very much cares if I marry a girl."

Sarah made a face. "Gross. He sounds like such an ass whenever you talk about him."

Katherine nodded. "Probably because he is," she said very seriously. And then the two erupted into giggles.

"Ew, go get a room," Jack complained.

"You're in my shop, Kelly!"

V.

"Sarah, I need your help with something." Katherine came in looking nervous, an expression Sarah rarely saw on her friend.

"Of course, anything, what do you need?" Sarah said immediately, abandoning the flowers she was making out of newspapers.

Katherine swallowed, pausing. Her fingers fidgeted with the necklace around her neck. "Um. Well. There's uh... there's this girl I really like. And she... she's just amazing, and I want to tell her that I really like her. And she loves flowers, so..."

Sarah smiled and cooed, even though her chest hurt an awful lot. "That's so-" heartbreaking? Disappointing? Sad? "-cute! Flowers are such a good way to express feelings. Do you want to do it through flower language or do you have specific flowers you want to do it with?"

Katherine bit her lip. "Well, I was hoping a bit of both, but I'm not sure what kind of flowers she likes, so I was hoping you'd help with that."

Sarah nodded. "Of course! Let's get to work, hm?"

In the end, the bouquet consisted of red carnations (admiration), gardenias ("you're lovely"), mistletoe ("kiss me"), and white violets ("let's take a chance on happiness"). Sarah very gently wrapped the stems in newspaper and tied it with some twine while Katherine wrote something on a card.

Katherine paid and took the bouquet from Sarah, carefully fixing the card in it. She stayed after the transaction, simply standing there and staring at the flowers in her arms.

"What are you waiting for? Go get your girl!" Sarah chastized with a laugh. She needed Katherine to leave so she could take an early lunch and cry a little.

"You're right," Katherine said. She took in a big breath and let it out slowly before jutting her arms out, offering the bouquet. "Here."

"What?" Sarah asked, eyebrows furrowed. "Did you change your mind or-"

"They're for you," Katherine said, staring at the wall. "Just- read the card?"

Sarah blinked slowly and took the bouquet carefully, and opened the card.

In it was written simply:

"I like you, Sarah. Have since I first came into your shop. And I'd like you even more if you went to dinner with me?"

Sarah very gently put the bouquet down on the counter. And then she kissed Katherine.

+1

A year and a half later, Sarah come home to find a bundle of myrtle at her place on the table. Instead of a string, there was a ring. Myrtle, the Hebrew emblem of marriage.

Katherine cleared her throat, smiling softly. "Your parents will have at least one kid who marries into a Jewish family. If-if you say yes, that is."

Sarah's eyes filled with tears. "How could I not?"

[angelfire115]

The one who fell part 2

They walked into the hotel, Alice looked around, the decorations were incredible, it was the most amazing hotel she had ever seen. She hasn't been to many of course but still, it's the best one. She stared at the portrats on the wall, all kinds of paintings, most having Charlie in them. She spotted one that had her dressed formally, a beautiful tall woman that she guessed was her mother since the hair was the same. The other must be her father as they had the same pink cheeks. He did, however, give her a bad gut feeling as his smile looked eerily similar to the tall red man in that alleyway.

Charlie: "Huh, I wonder where Alastor is". Alice looked to Charlie, who looked around looking for this Alastor. Angel dust: "Oh yeah, I remember him saying he had to go deal with some "unpleasant" people". Charlie looked at Angel with surprise, then a dissapointed and angry scowl came across her face, guess whatever hes doing wasn't good. Alice: "Um, sorry to interrupt but, who is Alastor?". Charlie and Vaggie looked to Alastor. Charlie: "Oh well, Alastor is my business partner, he's helping me on making this hotel a success". Vaggie rolled her eyes and silently scoffed at that.

Alice looked to her new friends in a bit of confusion, he doesn't seem that bad if he's helping demons be redeemed. Charlie: "Hehe, well, he has his doubt's but still, I'm still glad he's here, we need as much support as possible". She looked to Vaggie as she said that which Vaggie looked away from her. As she walked towards the couch that was behind Alice, she stopped right next to her, leaning to her ear. Vaggie: "Word of advice, its best to stay away from that guy". Alice: "Why? Is he bad?". Vaggie: "He's worse then any demons you've met, he's named the radio demon, he kills and tortures whoever even touches him and one of the top demons that reside in hell, there are others which you should avoid but right now, Alastor is the number 1 demon to avoid". She faced her with a fury of justice burning in her eyes. Vaggie: "Don't, trust, anyone".

Alice understood what she was saying, she had to not forget that this place, was hell. She may have never had to feel this way or not as much but she had to train herself. Just like how she was trainned to face the real world by her parents, she had to make sure she lived through this. Vaggie had sat down after she had a talk while Charlie turned to Alice, excitement shining in her eyes.

Charlie: "Alright, Alice, should we get started with the proper signatures and such". Alice was a bit blanked out from her thoughts but snapped back into reality when she heard her name. Alice: "Oh, yeah, sure". She followed Charlie to the front desk. She signed some forms and some other hotel things then was given a key and was showed to her room. It was exciting and she absolutely loved her room. The place was so well made, however, she hadn't seen another guest yet. Maybe they were asleep?

Charlie left her to her room to get settled, she flopped onto the bed, staring at the sealing. Alice: "What a day? I wonder... Will anyone realize... If I'm gone?". She drifted to sleep, it had been a long and grueling day. At every turn while being here was one shock after the next. She was drained so she deserved some sleep, even if she was dirty and covered in blood, she didn't care. As her eyes closed and everything went dark, as she drifted into a sea of sleep.

Alice short up for a start, her head was spinning and her body feeling a bit numb. She rubbed her head, a little bit of a headache grew as time went. She looked around, she was in her room, sitting at her desk. The sun shined through the blinds, the air felt thin and warm. It was so familiar, she could hear the song birds singing their tunes. She got up slowly, a bit clumsy as she walked.

So, why in such a hurry toots?

The headaches got worse, making her fall to the ground, she seemed so tired, even though she just woke up. She grunted and grumbled, she really needed to get some painkillers. She remembered they were in her cupboard. She tried to get up but she fell again. She was shaking badly, tears ran down her face but she didnt notice.

Its ok, whatever happened is over now, you'll be ok

But she didn't want to give up, she was determined to stand. Her tears stopped and faded away. The headache was still there but it didn't hurt as much. Still though, she needed those painkillers. She walked to her door, it opened on its own but she didn't notice. She continued to walk down the halls, she turned to her left as she heard dripping, a dark eery room oozed a dark aura. Was there a tap still running? She thought to herself to go and turn it off

Don't, trust, anyone

She decided to not and just do it later, she continued to her kitchen. Finding the painkillers in her cupboard where she thought it was, grabbing it, she also grabbed a cup of water from the fridge. The dark ooze rounded the corner, sneaking its way towards her slowly and surely. She stared at the cup for a few seconds, ignoring the eyes that popped up in the reflection that wasn't hers. A burst of wind blew the doors open which she casually stared at. Before she was able to place the painkillers in her mouth....

How did you end up here?

She froze, an ice cold chill went up her spine as the ooze of darkness loomed over her. Bright red eyes shot open. She slowly turned, her shaking growing worse, as she shook, the house seemed to shake with her. She dropped the cup and painkillers that smashed and splashed into glass and thick red blood. She started to cry, the tears never stopped not that she tried to stop them. When she finally turned and looked to the shadow behind her. Large yellow teeth splayed across the darkness, the red eyes with no pupils seemed to stare into her soul. Disintegrating it with its terrifying look. Sharp claws reached out to her grabbing her head, she screamed but it faded away.

She shot up from the bed, she panted and cried. She looked around at her red room, the hotel room she was allowed to stay in for free. She backed up to the beds board behind her. Holding her knees up against her chest and letting her head lay in them as she cried from that nightmare. It was then she knew she couldn't stay in hell, she couldnt stay and help herself. She needed a guide, she needed freinds. She was too weak for this world. She wished she could go back immediately but, she knew she couldn't which made her lonely crying even worse.

After a few minutes of crying, she decided to stop, knowing that crying wouldn't get her anywhere. She looked around her room, then spotted a clock on the side of her bed. The clock showed 8:00 in the morning. Alice: "Wow, i didn't realize it was day". She shifted to the window where she opened the blinds. To her surprise, the sky was still dark but at least more brighter then yesterday but not as much. Of course, in a world of hell, it would still be dark even in the day. Alice: "Jesus, how can they tell time here?".

She remembered her shenanigans throughout hell and remebered her new friends. So after cleaning herself up, heading out the door and down the stairs. She made her way to the main lobby. Hopefully talking to people would get her mind off the nightmare and off the sorrowful feeling of not being able to go home. As she made it down stairs she noticed how busy some people were while others were new.

She saw Vaggie and Charlie, sitting on the couches with a large paper filled with writing, like it was some kind of small business meeting. She spotted the two new people, one looking like a large black and white cat with a small top hat and incredible red wings that folded perfectly on his back. He looked grumpy and he took big swigs of his drink he had. He looked a lot like her Uncle Jones who she'd spot at family reunions, all alone in the corner avoiding everyone. Made sense, her Aunt Grace didn't exactly enjoy his company. The other person though, disappeared.

??: "Who are you?". Alice was startled by a small and unfamiliar voice at her feet. She looked down to see the child looking creature staring up at her with one eye and a razor sharp smile. Alice: "Oh! You scared me, um I'm Alice, I'm a new guest, what's your name?". She crouched down a little, placing her hands on her knees. The young demon came closer to her and sniffed around her bubble which confused her greatly. ??: "Hmm, you don't smell like a demon". This shocked her a little.

She knows she's not a demon, she landed in this world without dying or anything else so she isn't. She came to the realisation that she had told no one since she got here about her being a human from the living world who's still alive. She wondered if she could, since, she didn't know what they could do to her if she found out. Alice: "W-well, uh, I'm gonna go over here". She was able to dodge the conversation by heading towards Vaggie and Charlie who wear still deep in thought.

Alice: "Um, morning guys". Vaggie and Charlie lifted their heads to see Alice and both smiled. Charlie: "Morning Alice, how was your sleep? Hope it went well". Alice: "Yeah it was great". Alice didn't want to bother them two with her nightmare she just had so she didn't say anything on it. She looked to the large paper they had, when she looked closer, it looked like a decorative drawing. It had rainbows and stars and happy things all over it, it even said the Happy Hotel. Alice smiled at how cute it was though the drawings looked like a five year old made them.

Alice: "So what are you guys doing?". Charlie looked back at her friend and new guest with a bigger smile growing on her face. Charlie: "We're making the new poster for the happy hotel". She picked up the poster, showing off all the drawings and more all over it. Alice: "Oh I see, it looks really good". Charlie sneered a little, she looked to her drawing in every angle. Charlie: "I know but I feel like it looks the same as the last one, I wish i could do something more different". Alice stood there for a second, thinking about any possibilities in her mind. One idea popped in her head and she grabbed a paper, a pencil and started her drawing.

Charlie and Vaggie was surprised by her intrusive act but was more interested to see her work. It took Alice a few minutes but she was done. Alice: "It's just a quick sketch so it isn't perfect but maybe this will give you an idea". She lifted her drawing which was neat and beautiful. It had a giant rainbow going into clouds on both sides just behind the letters that said "Hazbin Hotel" in bold and neat letters. It showed at the bottom a amazing drawing of heaven and at the top showed a detailed drawing of Charlie with her arms out and her smile huge.

Both Vaggie and Charlie stared in amazement at the incredible well made drawing. Vaggie: "Wow, that's pretty amazing". Alice slightly blushed at the compliment. Alice: "Oh its nothing, I've just done these things before, I've taken a lot of art classes". Charlie excitedly grabbed the poster and looked at every inch of it. Charlie: "This is AMAZING, I love it". She was so happy and her demeanour was bright but it quickly faded as she noticed something. Charlie: "Although, why does it say Hazbin Hotel? This is the Happy Hotel". She pointed to the letters on the page.

Alice: "Oh sorry, I thought that's what the Hotel was called since the sign says it at the top". Charlie looked more confused, the sign? Charlie: "But that should say the Happy Hotel as we-". She stopped at the middle of her speaking to realize in an angry scowl which ended in a disappointed sigh. Charlie: "He must of changed it". She sort of mumbled that to herself but Alice and Vaggie could still hear it. Did she mean Alastor? The one Vaggie warned Alice about? It might be.

Charlie got up from her seat to head to the door. Alice: "Are you ok Charlie?". Charlie kept heading to the door. Charlie: "Yeah, I'm fine, I just want to see it for myself". Alice stood in a bit of disaray, she was nervous but she had to be brave. Alice: "Uh, Charlie wait". She called out to Charlie which made her stop just at the door, she looked back to Alice who slowly approached her. Charlie: "Yeah? Is there something you need?". Alice stiffened, she was told by Vaggie yesterday not to trust anyone and she's followed it through but Charlie was nice and kind, she didn't seem like a demon at all. She knew or thought she could trust her with her secret as a living mortal in hell.

Just as Alice was about to speak, the doors at the front of the hotel burst open. A strong wind sent everyones hairs go crazy from it. A strong light gleamed through but Charlie turned to it. She folded her arms and glared at the person there. Charlie: "There you are, I've been worried". Alice couldn't see who was at the door since the light was too bright and Charlie was in the way. ??: "Sorry to worry you my dear, I was a bit busy today". The second Alice heard that voice her heart stopped, it was the same voice as before. The same voice she heard cackling in that alleyway. That same voice who's mouth drooled with blood and chomped on the flesh of people. She started to shake and her breathing was heavy, she wanted to run but she couldn't move.

Charlie: "Did your busy time involve hunting people?". The person laughed in an ungodly and terrifying way that sent shivers down Alices' spine. ??: "Maybe, but no, I was looking for someone". Charlie gave up on her questioning and moved aside to let him in. The person who entered was tall and red, it was definitely the same person who was in that alley, who killed that old beetle demon in cold blood and all the others

She looked up at this fiend while he stared down at her. His smile sharpened as he saw her, he definitely recognized her. Charlie: "Alice, this Alastor, Alastor this is Alice, she's our new and first guest". Charlie had walked in to introduce the two. Alastor looked to Charlie in more curiosity. Alastor: "Is she now".

He looked back at her, his smile still wide in amusement. Alice still couldn't move, she stared at him in incredible amounts of fear, her shaking never stopped. Alastor: "Well it is very nice to meet you Alice, my, what a lovely name, I am the radio demon Alastor, very happy to make your acquaintance". Alastor held out his hand for a hand shake which Alice stared at for a while. She still couldn't move, if she could, she would be out of there. Charlie looked at her with concern and worry, stepping to her side, she held her shoulder. Charlie: "Alice, are you ok?". Within seconds everything went black for Alice, she could hear her name being called a few times, muffled but it faded away. She didn't know what happened, all she saw was darkness, was she dead? Asleep? She still couldn't move but, she didn't want too, so she laid in darkness, waiting for the end.

[andieperrie18]

KAREN (part 2) (P.Parker x Reader )

Here it is people part two! I tried to make it as Fluffy as possible but it looked really impossible. But I hope you guys like this.

After what happened at the vault, you began to try and hang around more with Peter and Ned. You manage to balance your time. You were finished fixing the voice command for the suit. All you need to do was to install it on the suit but you needed the suit in your possesion to be able to install it.

" ughh. . . How am I gonna install it? " you said as you rubbed your face with both hands and muffled a groan.

You heard a familiar alarm beep. You immidiately rolled to turned and activated the holo screens as you placed the mic. Peter was putting on the suit.

( Time Skip. Sorry I don't know what actually happened at the boat scene fully so yeah. I haven't watch the movie yet but I am planning on watching it on youbtube. )

The incident on the boat technically was getting to Peter. He took of his mask before you could ask if he was ok. You watch him from the monitos as he sat on the edge.

" Oh Peter . . . " you mumbled.

Few moments later as you watch, Your dad arrived and began scolding the poor boy at fault. You couldn't do anything just watch as Peter said he was sorry. It angered you. The way your father thinks he is a good person.

" Ok, I think I'm gonna need the suit back. " Tony said as your eyes widen. Peter begged him not to.

" No. Please, I'm nothing without this suit. "he begged as Tony reasoned out with him again. You were had a frown as you watched the two. You wanted to comfort Peter but you can't.

Tony got home as he was greeted with a frowning you.

" Is there something wrong Sweetie? " he asked as you just called for Friday who showed a video to Tony behind you while the glare didn't leave your space. Tony gave a " uh oh " look.

" You were there? Sweetie its not nice to earsdropping in a conversation.

" don't give me that crap dad! I understand what Peter did was kinda suicide but he atleast tried to help! " you argued as Tony just walked away from you.

" I don't wanna talk about this, Y/n. "

" Dad! Don't walk away from me! Peter is right You never ever listen! Dad this is why I went to Steve's side on Germany. Dad, you maybe smart but you are still Human! Do you know how much mom worries for you when you fight evil things in the city? God! Dad please! Peter didn't mean that to happen! You are not a God! You can't stop death, you may lessen it but you are risking something. For Pete's sake Dad! I need you alive! We need you! Do you know how much Peter wants to be like you? Dad, he even wanted to be your son?! His parent died in his early age but that didn't cause him to rebel and learn to be good. You dad I Love you but sometimes I wished you weren't my dad. I can't always live up to your expectations on me cause once I fail you would disown me! " you cried as your tears fell.

" Y/n, I would never disown you- when did I- " " When I lost the world robotics contest when I was 7, you shut me out!! It took a year before you even started to talk to me again. I can't take this anymore! I'm gonna say it! I Hate You so much! " you cut him off as you dashed out of the livng room as Tony called your name. You ran to your room and changed into some jeans and sweater. You ran out of the Avengers Tower and took a cab.

You bought some ice cream and chips on your way. You now stood infront of the Parker's apartment door. You took a deep breath and knocked. A few moments the door opened.

" Oh Y/n? What are you doing here? " Aunt May asked as she opened the door. You sent her a warm greeting. " um I came to visit Peter. Is he home? " you asked. May gave you as sad nod, she knew something happened. She let you enter as she walked you to Peter's door.

" I'll leave everything to you Y/n. Thank you for coming. " May thanked with a sad smile and gave you a small hug before leaving.

You looked at the door for a solid 5 minutes before a knock.

" I not hungry aunt may. " you heard the sadness in his tone behind the doors.

" Actually, its Y/n. I came for the Star Wars Death Star lego model that Ned gave you to hide. " you lied. A few moments before sounds of foot steps made its way to the door as it opened to reveal to you a red eyes Peter. You gave him a sad smile.

" What is it? I know Ned didn't left the model here. " he asked a little straight as he looked at you in a very lifeless pair of eyes.

" Can't I just visit my Best friend? I bought Ice Cream on the way. " you teased as you lifted the white 7/11 plastic that had the gallon of Ice Cream. He sent you a sad smile as he fully opened the door a signed that you are free to enter.

" Here it comes! " you joked as You looked at the laptop screen. Peter was constantly laughing as you got off his bed and hugged one pole of his double deck.

" No Luke. I am Your Father! " Darth Vader confessed at the scene at the laptop as Peter turned his gaze from the screen to your form as you imitated Luke's signature act.

" No! . . . Thats not true! Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!! " you a screamed in a very squeaky and low voice so you wouldn't wake any neighbors. Peter just laughed at you for a good twenty minutes which you didn't really mind as long as you can keep him from crying.

" Had enough yet? " you smirked as you looked down at Peter who was holding his stomach in pain as a few laughs came out of his lips. " No more please ahah- no more - I'm ok now. Hah" he laughed out as you giggled as sat beside him in his bed. You both leaned in the wall as you two stayed silent. You saw Peter's eyes dropping in tiredness and drowsiness, which you found extremely cute because he was rubbing his eyes like a child as he yawned.

You did something that you didn't even bother thinking of the consequences. Peter felt your hand hold shoulder and head circle him as he felt you pull him against you.

His breath hitched as he felt his head resting on you below shoulders and on your chest he felt your grip tighten as he looked up at you. You had your eyes close and your smile placed on your lips.

Peter thanked God that it was dark inside the room because his cheeks just exploded red as heat radiated on them. Your hugs never felt so warm to Peter. He gave into his urge to encircle his arms on you hips graspinf your frame into a hug. You smiled as the warmth. The drowsiness didn't seem to make your mind work.

" Thanks Y/n. I really needed this. " he said as he smiled and hid his face on your neck taking in your scent. You were practically spooning him and you are the big spoon at the moment.

" Any time Parker. " you cooed and placed a kiss on his head.

That was when he finally concluded he was now in larb with you 70%.

The End or Part Three?

@o-brienwrites @cutie1364 @pammy18 @legendarydazekitten @fragilefrances @annoyingcoffeephantom @fandom-hero @sparkedflower @fandomygirl @so-many-freaking-ships @aussie-punk-rock-idiots @sparkedflower @oceanshockey @diyoceanbechup22

[fatesinthenight]

Dark's Heart (part 1)

(so I was going to wait awhile for this one but I was too exited and couldn't help but start it now. This takes place after "Bim's Date". Hope you enjoy it. This is how I see Dark dealing with something like this. Lets see how this turns out. *Holds breath*)

Dark looks out the window into the backyard. He watches Bim in his garden tending to the flowers and his date bringing in some new flowers to plant. The date kneels by Bims side holding out the new flower and Bim takes it giving the date a kiss on the cheek. The date smiles and helps dig a little hole for the flower to be placed in. It has been a month since Bim's date came into his life, it ended up changing a lot of things. Since then the other egos were beginning to become open to dating and Mark encouraged them to try but to still be careful of course.

Willford had been on the most dates, most of them ending in him getting slapped or running scared for their life when he busts out the gun. Ed would from time to time but his main thing he cared about is if they would get along with his son. Silver was too shy to go on a date and said his true love was justice. Dr.Iplier said he wouldn't mind but he was too busy, but he did go out an a date once or twice. Yandere didn't go out saying he would not handle having multiple senpis and there can only be one. King of Squirrels said he would need someone to help him rule over his furry subjects and would propose that on every first date. Google was surprised someone asked for a date with him thinking no one wanted a droid including his brothers who also were asked and he went on a couple but said he wanted someone to have a good educational conversation with. Host kept to himself thinking it would be too weird to be seen with him but was told others didn't care and wanted to anyway, so he was considering it. Dark refused entirely, even if the others told him to be nice and go anyway he denied it.  

Dark watches the couple being happy together. Bim would not stop giving his date kisses on the cheek then head and just wraps an arm around them and kissed them on the lips. Dark looks away rolling his eyes. He makes his way to his office on the first floor and Willford snickers at him, "Jealous much?"

"Of what? Swapping spit with another person. No thank you." Dark saids and looks back at Willford. "And you? All you get in return is a slap on the face or a possible restraining order." Willford shrugs, "I just haven't met the right one you know. And to be fair I only pull out the gun when I know the person is actually a jerk." Dark sighs annoyed, " Who do you think has to deal with the aftermath of that and erase memories of any witnesses? Not to mention Mark has to warn people before they want to try to date you and to sign a disclaimer." Willford tugs on his suspenders, " Not all of them were bad. I had fun and some of them but you know it just didn't click. But I met some cool scamps and get invited to some parties with them to hang out." Dark gets more annoyed, "Again then you cause some disaster at some of these events and I have to deal with it." Willford laughs, "Come on that last one was fun and everyone laughed. So I got a car into a pool. Did anyone die? No."

Dark doesn't have time for this and makes his way to his office when Willford saids something. "You know you could still try to find-" Willford gets cut off as Dark appears infront of him looking very angry, his shell breaking flashing red and blue. "Don't. Say. Their. Name." He breathes heavily. "I don't want anyone near me again!!! I have no time for anyone and no one is worthy of my time." Dark takes a deep breath and straightens himself up then walks away. Will watches him go and Host walks up to Willford. "You know he doesn't like to talk about it. Why does Willford insist on it?" Host asks Will. Willford tugs at his suspenders more, "Maybe because it was the one time he was in his own way happy and that meant we didn't suffer as much from his wrath."

Dark slams his door shut and sits at his desk. He boots up his computer and tries to work, taking out some papers he needed to look over as well. He reads through them but stops after a while. Without thinking he looks at his computer and goes "that person's" profile again. They are smiling happily and posted that they were excited for their wedding that day. Dark doesn't know why he is even looking at this but he is. He tilts his head back and closes his eyes thinking about the first time he saw you.

It was a meet and greet about close to the beginning of the year. "A Date with Markiplier" came out a few days ago and Dark's had become very popular afterward. The fans wanted a meet up with the egos and after some consideration and many precautions Mark decided to make a meet and greet for them. He rented a room big enough for them to have it in and sent out the word about it. The fans were so excited and the egos were too, happy to meet the fans. Dark was less ecstatic as he sat in his chair unamused.

"Remind me again why I'm here." Dark crosses his arms looking serious as always. "You are one of us weather you like it of not so just act nice for today. And would it kill you to smile?" Willford saids looking at Dark at his spot next to him. "Yes it will.", Dark grumbles. "Look you are here now so just deal with it Edgelord." Willford pokes Dark's arm making Dark's aura seep out. 

"Ummmm Will maybe its not the best time to mess with Dark before the fans walk in..." Bim shifts in his seat at his table nervous.

"Boy's got a point. I rather not die before this thing starts." Ed leans in his chair.

"I already am going to be busy with this and tending to fans on the verge of fainting or having a large "Fangirl" moment." Dr.Iplier has a doctor bag under his table in case someone faints.

"I will be there to save the fans of course!! I am the hero they need." Silver is jumping in his seat being the most exited.

"Yes it seems we will have quite the crowd today. I can see many people outside are already using that "Facebook Live" to show they are waiting outside." Google's eyes glow as he looks up how popular the event is on the internet.

"The fans are talking happily amongst themselves while there is a threat of chaos that might commence in the building before they arrive." Host narrates softly, he was nervous about being there but wanted to be nice to the fans.

"I do hope the fans enjoy my loyal subjects and I brought them all peanut butter so we may all run out and embrace the squirrels!!!" The King of Squirrels had boxes of peanut butter behind him.

"I feel like senpi right now... I like it hehehehe." Yandere laughs to himself feeling powerful to become senpi for a day.

Mark walks in and looks at everyone in their places. He hopes nothing bad happens. "Ok guys we are opening the doors in five minutes so get ready. Katherine is out there with Tyler explaining how this is going to work. You each have your own table and line for yourself. A fan has to go to the line to the one they want to meet. They have at least a minute with you, its fast but we had to so no one can get left behind before the event is over. They do have gifts for you and anything they want you to sign. They will ask for pictures too and please for the love of everything that is holy don't do anything bad to mess up the building... I cant afford to pay for damages." Everyone looks at Willford when he saids that. "Cross my heart, but no promises.", Willford saids happily and Mark worries. "Any you. You need to be nice today. I don't want anyone running out here crying because of you." Mark looks at Dark but he feels the dark aura seeping out and shivers. He walks to the entrance where Amy is to help people get to their line and with Ethan at a table where there is t-shirts and other knick knacks of the egos to give away.

"I hope this doesn't end badly." Mark takes a deep breath to try to relax as he sits with Ethan. "Come on Mark it will be fine. Its going to be great.", Ethan saids happily fixing up the merchandise. "Yea don't worry so much. You know if they act up Kathryn just needs to snap her fingers to get them back in line. That girl knows how to take charge." , Amy pats Mark's head playfully. Mark looks up at Amy, " I know but I still worry you know me. I don't any the fans to get hurt." Tyler pokes his head out from the door, "Ok its time guys you ready?" Mark takes another deep breath and nods.

The fans walk in jumping and squealing. They walk in to find Mark and Ethan at the merchandise table in the front. They tell them they can get something now if they want for the egos to sign or save it as a gift for after the event. Amy is next by where the lines begin. They are all separated and have a sign at each beginning with the name of the ego for that particular line. She tells them to go through nicely and to wait til it was time for the event to start. The fans filled up the lines fast with more still outside the building. Tyler was at the front of the lines telling everyone they had to stand behind the red tape before they come up to the table and to please be kind to others in line. Once it was time the first people in line walked up to the tables.

Willford was having a blast, taking pictures and grabbing the phones to take a selfie telling them it has to be their phone background. Bim was shy at first but got the hang of it enjoying the fans as they said they wish he had his own show. Ed was pulling in people in for bear hugs when they asked for a hug and signing things with prices for his son. Dr.Iplier smiled at the fans and gave a fast scribble for his signature and if he saw someone looking very nervous he took his time to get them to relax and took deep breaths with them. Silver posed for every photo loving it and feeling loved when they told him he was their favorite hero. Google acted civil to everyone and smiled when the fans said he was the coolest android ever and even gave him gifts for his brothers to take back too. Host thought it was kind of the fans to want to help him find a place sign their things carefully taking his hand and guiding it to where they wanted the signature, he also liked the small conversations they would have. The King signed away delighted when the fans giggled as some squirrels climbed on them, and  asked if anyone was allergic to peanut butter before he gave a jar away. Yandere always added hearts to his signature and giggled when someone said they find him cute.

Dark was a different story. When fans came to him he just glared at them clearly not wanting to be there. He signed things and just gave them back without a word. Some were brave enough to ask for a picture and Dark allowed it but didn't smile and didn't get close to the fan. Someone tried to joke with him and called him Edgelord, Dark's shell had a small crack enough to make the fan get their signed idem and back away fast. It was coming to a point where people did not want to go near his line even if he had a lot of people wanting to meet him. Some just saw him and gave the gift to Mark at the front to give it to Dark instead. No one came to Dark's line anymore too afraid of him. He didn't mind and was glad at the fact. Willford whispered buzzkill to him but Dark didn't care.

"Well I expected that." Mark looks over at Dark siting at his table enjoying his empty line. Then you show up almost out of breath. "Im sorry *huff* is the event still going on?" You look at Mark. Mark smiles at you and picks up a water bottle hanging it to you. "Don't worry your on time. You got a good ten minutes left. If you get in line now you can still make it." You drink up the water, "Wow I'm so lucky... I thought I wasn't going to make it and ran half of the way." You look into the building and see the lines full of people but you stop and see Dark's empty one. "Ummm excuse me Mark is Dark's line closed?" You tilt your head. Mark looks back at Dark cracking his neck, "No its not. Everyone eventually got to scared to go near him. He doesn't seem to mind as you can see." You look at Dark, he does look very intimidating but you shrug your shoulders, "Well I'm going to burst his bubble."

You walk to Darks line happily. Everyone from the other lines look at you like you were crazy or had a death wish. But there you go and you stop at the red tape and wait for Dark to call you up. He looks up at you, his eyes looking you up and down. "What are you doing?" He asks placing his arms on the table. You smile at him, "Just waiting to meet you. can I come up?" Dark gives you a look, "You could have just left your gift with Mark like the others." You hold out your hands, "I don't got one. I just wanted to meet you." Dark is now curious he motions you forward. You walk up to the table not afraid and smile at him. "Are you telling me you came here without wanting a signature, bringing a gift, or wanting a picture? Yet here you stand wanting to meet me for what a minute?" Dark raises an eyebrow.

"Pretty much." You say simply. "I think your an interesting character. I know you are suppose to be evil and all that but I think there is more to you than you are letting on. Deep down I think your longing for something else besides the obvious taking over Mark or making your own deals that benefit you." You look at your phone. "Well times up I just wanted to tell you that. Bye have a good one." You make your way out.

"Your not leaving." Dark looks at you hard. You turn around to find him glaring at you. his dark aura coming out and his shell having cracks slightly. "What do you mean there is more to me? You only know me from Mark's videos. How can you possibly think you really know who I am? I am a evil ego and am feared by the others and even the fans. They say they love me and all but only because of Mark. You think you know who you are exactly talking to..." Dark's shell is cracking more. The other egos can feel it and are already preparing to jump in to protect the fans. Mark starts walking up to Dark's table to take you away before he does something bad.

You start laughing. It makes Dark surprised as well as the others around you. The fans think your asking for it and the egos think Dark's energy made you go mad. "hahahaha You think your scary. Trust me I have been through some bad things and they are worse than you." Dark looks at you eyes wide and for once amused. "Dark I know you aren't the best person ever but you know I think your like this because your acting out. Sure you love using people and you enjoy taking control but I think it is because you actually like people. sure it is to mess with them but to me it is also because you don't like being alone. You like having someone there to mess with. If you didn't then what would you do with yourself? You need people weather you like to admit it of not. That's just my opinion. I should get going I really went over the time limit but since  I'm the only one in line I guess that's ok." You turn to leave then walk back. "O one more thing." You poke Dark's nose with a boop. "See ya Edgelord." You wave at him and leave.

Everyone is doesn't know what to think. The other egos look at Dark eyes wide because he didn't react to what just happened. Mark stands their dumbfounded and you pass by him. "O by the way love your stuff. Your the best." You go to the merchandise table and buy a shirt with Dark on it from a very surprised Ethan who saw what happened. you leave with your shirt walking back to your car happily.

Dark looks after you still trying to piece together what just happened. The event ends and everyone starts to clean up. Dark still sits at his table looking at the doors you left at. "Dark you know you could have left five minutes ago right?" Mark looks at Dark. Dark sits up and walks past Mark, "I'm not doing this thing again..." Mark nods, "Noted." Dark leaves ahead of everyone. He is the first to arrive home going straight to his room. He changes for the night and lays in bed looking up at the ceiling.

"hu... I don't get their name." Dark whispers to himself. He thinks why would he care about learning a name for someone he would most likely never see again but they did do something he never thought anyone could do. They surprised him.

[ask-talisto]

I'm not sure if this has been asked yet but Talia Mephisto what do you love most about each other?

Hey guys! This one shot will be in a pair. I got too similar asks so while this one will be from Mephisto’s viewpoint, the other will be from Talia’s. You can also find this posted on AO3 and ff.net!

Slamming the door and pouting was not his best move when it came to dealing with his wife and her nagging. He was honestly quite thankful Anastasia and Damien were out with their team on a mission. Praxina would probably mock his behavior if she were there.

Their argument was silly, something about not putting her books back in their proper places within her study. Talia had always been a bit pretentious about organization and it wasn’t the first time she’d gotten on to him about it. However, there was always that little part of him that relished in sparking her fury. Praxina said he was crazy for it, to which the others usually agreed, but no matter what, in the 17 years they’ve known each other, it never seemed to lose its enticement. The golden spark in her eyes never lost its luster no matter how she aged, and the way her plush lips puckered into a pout when she glared up at him still managed to make his stomach fly into a full on mambo.

Granted, he never did it to piss her off out of hatred. That ended pretty early on. She had given her all to give him his life back. No matter how many times an issue came up, or he lashed out, ready to give in and succumb to his injuries and misgivings, she given him her all. Even when she was frustrated, ready to throw her spell book with aggravation, she never abandoned him. She demanded he keep fighting, pushed him to accept his defeat, and challenged him to make it count for something worthwhile. Even when her team and her kingdom looked to him with a wary eye, she stood her ground. She claimed he was necessary. She claimed they needed him to succeed. She said he belonged. He hadn’t felt that way in years.

Sighing, Mephisto leaned against the door, drowning out the sound of Talia ranting from the other side before walking across the room to the mirror. Pushing back his bangs, his gloved fingers running over the scarred skin along his jaw. He remembered how much they ache from time to time, and how ashamed he had been to look at them. He felt like even more of a monster. On earth he could hide them with his magic, but it was too exhausting to do so all the time. He had no idea how she could stand it.

The Princess of Xeris, under her sister, the queen’s order, had taken the duty of healing hizm to aid in saving Earth from his sister and Banes. She had hardly any clue what she was doing, and had even gone as far as to smuggle in his mother’s Zaterran healing spells. Not only that, but in her desperate desire after weeks of struggle, she had broken the law of both realms to unlock the Ydinoran spells in the Ancient Ephedian Spellbook. She saw him fall, she listened to him sob and cry out in pain. She stood his foul nature and yet she still promised to get him through it. She wanted to help him and Praxina. She knew all too well what losing family was like; she pushed past her own feelings for theirs. That was so unlike anything he’d expected from her. He hardly trusted her, even though he knew he wanted to be real with her.

Mephisto chuckled, remembering how terribly petty they both were when he wanted to leave Morgaine and Minerva. Their arguments were more childish than this one and she was beyond livid when he escaped and fell through the gate and into her room in the middle of the night. She nearly throttled him but claimed it was not worth it after how hard she had to work to bring him back to normal. He had scoffed at her, claiming normal was being able to use magic, and fly, and not look like a dragon had played tic tac toe with his backside. He had been embarrassed by his looks, but she claimed them to be a sign of her hard work so he’d better appreciate them. She said they were a sign of him finally letting her in. They told his story and showed his will to survive.

He liked them a little better after that. He liked them even more when her soft, slender hands traced over them when he was stressed, or when her nails left trails across his skin, burning to match his unholy desire as she panted below him, expressing her love.

He cleared his throat, walking out to the balcony to overlook the gardens. His eyes caught the flicker of blue moving across the greenery. He chuckled as she moved, soldiers stiffening as the recognized that signature aura of anger that matched her step. She was still as intimidating and lovely as ever. With a sigh, he watched her disappear with amusement, “Stubborn woman.”.

It was as if the Xerin people had a default stubbornness to match their pride. He smiled, his lips curling with whimsy as he recalled how she’d snuck off to Zaterra to find him a Fieridalan to ride on when he complained he couldn’t fly anymore. The breeder had denied her because she was Xerin and she came back in such a fury, Mephisto figured she could take on all of Zaterra and his sister in that moment. He demanded he go with her, and instead of just giving them one, the breeder stated that it was tradition that the Zaterran had to retrieve one of the beasts and tame it themselves. Mephisto admitted his body was still in recovery and gave up, but Talia took it upon herself to climb the steep mountain to find one for him herself. She was a fool, they were all sure, but he was rooting for her to prove them wrong. Mephisto had nearly pissed himself when she was overwhelmed by the winds and creatures, falling off the side of the mountain and sending everyone into a panic. He’d launched across the field so fast, he’d hardly registered he was flying. When they finally registered what had happened they both were sent flying to the ground, only to be caught by a mischievous dragon that had followed them on their journey and plagued them with hunger after eating their lunch.

Roku was her gift to him as a way to lift his spirits. They had become friends.

His expression softened as he closed his eyes. Though she was often thought of as cold and harsh, an antisocial stuck up royal, she was always caring and loyal. She housed a naturally passionate spirit that has been beaten back by loss. She was someone so scared of losing she trained herself not to do so. She was still healing just as much as he was and he found himself wanting nothing more than to give her a chance to stop and breathe.

Year after year, they faced opposition and challenges, but she never stopped fighting. She never stopped loving him and she never stopped challenging the world to try harder. She was one of the strongest people he’d ever met. He didn’t care if she woke him up because of a nightmare, or if she broke down in his arms from fear or exhaustion. Every aspect and every facet of Talia was exceptionally beautiful to him. His precious diamond would glisten in so many ways no matter how many times he looked at her. Everything about her was a challenge and it was always worth it.

He’d never imagined upon meeting her that she would be the one to give him his family, his home, and his life, and anytime he fought for it she was always by his side. Walking over to her vanity, he picked up the frame that held the smiling faces of their children. Stroking the glass, he smiled lovingly at their fang filled grins. Whenever he looked to them he saw his entire world growing and blossoming before him. He could hear his father’s laughter and terrible jokes, and feel his mother’s comforting warmth. He could see Praxina’s prideful stature and Izira’s sensible nature. He could see Talia in both of them; arms open and accepting him just as he is.

So what if she liked to be overly organized? Or she was strict in meetings? So she nags him when he misbehaves. Big deal. It was worth it. Sure, they’d argue from time to time, but he wouldn’t leave her for anything. She had defied the world for him and had yet to leave his side. She was a keeper, even if Pappie kept telling him to divorce. Then again, Pappie could hardly remember where his left foot was let alone know where Mephisto thought he could shove it. With a decisive nod, he teleported out of the room and into her study.

He relaxed at its familiarity. The clean, porcelain and marble glowed from the streams of light shining through the intricate gold frames of the window. The room smelled of sweet spices and jasmine, a scent he could only mark as Talia. He’d never tire of it. It was one of his favorite things. Using his magic, the books levitated from the shelves into stacks based on their genre. Talia liked them in alphabetical order by their volume date and separated by content type. All books must have the titles visible via the spine of the book, and she hated when they were squeezed in too tight to where she had a hard time pulling them out.

Contrary to Talia’s belief, while he wasn’t big in reading for a hobby, his parents drilled the care of books and scrolls into his and Praxina’s heads from a young age. Each was dusted off and placed in its proper position. He had no idea how long he’d been there, or when he would finish, but soon his back and fingers ached, and his usually sharp eyes were beginning to tire. Sighing, he placed the last book on the bottom shelf, yawning from his spot on the floor. With a groan he stretched, closing his eyes and laying back in the floor. The things he’d do for love. He still needed to find his wife, and she was most likely still upset. It would be evening soon and the idea of her glaring at him across the dinner table tonight made him wince.

“Mephisto?”

The soft call from his wife at the door made him tense with surprise and he quickly sat up in a daze. Talia smiled as he yawned, scratching at the back of his head with light confusion.

“Hey…”

“Hungry?” Talia smiled softly as she place a tray on her desk.

“Nah, I’m good.”

Talia smirked as his stomach growled.

“Okay, maybe a little. How’d you know I was in here?”

“I know my husband….and I almost walked in on you.” Talia grinned sheepishly, tucking her bangs behind her ear as she watched him take a bite out of the savory pastries. He hummed with delight at the sweet bread mixing with the tangy, savory fig jam at the center. She really did know him too well. Talia let out a sigh as she sat on the ledge of her desk, “I’m sorry I snapped at you,honey. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Nah. You were right. I was being stupid. I should know better than to mess with your books.” Mephisto shrugged, finishing off his food by stuffing the whole of it into his mouth. Talia stifled a giggle at his expression. He grinned at her, cheeks full, earning an outright laugh.

“You’re ridiculous, y'know that.” Talia brightened, dusting crumbs from his goatee.

“Only for you, Princess.”

“So…are we gonna talk about the fact that you knew exactly where I wanted them?” Talia raised an eyebrow at him, casually snatching his second pastry from his hand.

“Hey! I put them back!”

“Yes, you did.” Talia softened, giving him a light kiss, “Thank you for working so hard to make things right for me.”

A slight blush dusted his cheeks, “No problem. Can I have my snack back now?”

“Mmm. No.”

“I earned it! Give it back!”

“Come and get it!” Talia took a bite out of it, waving as she jogged out of the room, bright blue curls teasingly flying past him.

A low growl rose from his throat as a smirk stretched across his lips. That familiar arousal for conquering a challenge she had driven into him was thriving once again. He supposed that was part of what he loved about her. With a devious grin he looked to the tray still full of the delectable treats before taking off after his mischievous wife.

Thanks for reading! Please review! ❤

[topicprinter]

Hey guys. As I mentioned, I'm a UX Consultant / Product Designer. I work with early stage startups creating digital products.You seemed to enjoy my last post about building a user onboarding sequence, so I figured I'd share some more.Many teams I work with have no concept of how valuable user feedback can be to help them build a better, more user friendly and successful product.Most have simply asked their users "hey do you like it?" and when the user says "yeah it's great!" then they feel all happy inside. This isn't how user feedback works.You can check out the full post, with images and examples, here on my blog. (no popups)10 Types of User Feedback You Need to Build a Better ProductHave you ever asked a user of your product how they like it, and had them tell you it's fantastic, super easy to use, and they love it?I bet it made you feel great didn't it?Well… bad news… that kind of feedback sucks, and hearing it does nothing for you besides making you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.In order to get feedback you can actually use to build a better product, *you need to know the *right questions to ask, and the right answers to look for.Simply asking your users how they like your product is a waste of time because it will always get the same response.A number of years ago, I was working as Lead UX Designer at one of the first startups I ever joined. We were a small team of 6 people, and I was the lone full time designer / UX guy.We had a very close, personal relationship to the majority of users so getting user feedback was easy.The problem? Almost everyone said same thing.WE LOVE IT! IT'S SO GREAT! AMAZING! INCREDIBLE!But their behaviour showed a different story. Many sections of the product remained untouched and barely used. It was clear that people were confused about what certain features were for, often using them for the wrong thing.But when asked about it?WE LOVE IT! IT'S AMAZING!So why was this happening?It the same reason almost everyone answers this way when asked "how do you like it?"It's because they feel compelled to say yes, since it's obvious that's the answer you want to hear.For example, let's say your kid, or friend's kid, or any kid, runs up excitedly to show you their awful finger painting they did in class.They look at you with those puppy dog eyes and say….I made it for you! Do you like it?I hate it!! What a horrid pile of shit! is clearly not the expected answer in this situation.The child is now crying and you have cemented yourself as "emotionless monster" in the eyes of all around you.The correct response is to praise the child then throw it away a day later (the drawing, not the child).The point is, this is called asking a leading question, **because the way the question is phrased leads** the person in the direction of the expected answer.If all you're asking are these types of leading questions, you're not getting accurate feedback from people about your product.But don't worry, hope is here! By the end of this article, you will know the exact types of feedback you should be collecting, and how to go about getting it without the use of leading questions or becoming an emotionless monster.Now I'm going to cover 10 of the most important pieces of user feedback you should be collecting, how to collect it, and exactly why it's so vital to the success of your product.1 – How likely are they to recommend your product to a friend?If this sounds familiar to you, that's because it should be. It's probably the most widely implemented "feedback collection" strategy used by digital products.It's called the Net Promoter Score*® *and it's a great way to gauge exactly how satisfied a user is with your product.Why is NPS Score So Important?NPS Score is an important metric because research shows that people are only willing to share, or recommend a product, when they're happy with the product themselves.Why? Because recommending something means you're putting your reputation on the line. If you tell a friend to use something and they end up hating it, they might never trust you again (especially after that whole finger painting thing).I consider NPS a strong indicator of your user's "happiness level", and a good indication of how effective your UX and Product Design is.On top of that, user's are also asked why they gave the answer they did. This opens up a conversation between you and these users to further investigate why they might be unhappy.How can you collect your NPS Score?The method of collecting this bit of feedback isn't overly complicated. You can simply send out a survey to your users asking the question:"How likely are you to recommend this product to a friend?"The answer is in the form of a number rating from 1 – 10.After a user gives a rating, they are asked for an open text answer on what the reason is they gave that answer. This question is optional, since all you really need is the number.Afterwards, users are separated into three groups:Promoters (9 – 10 rating)Passives (7 – 8 rating)Detractors (0 – 6 rating)You calculate your score by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters.For an exact, step by step guide on quickly setting this system up for free, check out this article and video tutorial I wrote.2 – What bugs or problems are they running into?In my experience, I find that some Founders and Product Managers are deathly afraid of shipping anything that is less than perfect.Before they release a new feature, they want to test it again and again and again until they've ironed out every single bug.It's as if a user running into a bug is going to make the entire company fold right then and there due to sheer embarrassment.The reality is, it's almost impossible to track down every single bug before you release something, and trying to is an enormous waste of valuable time.Why is knowing about software bugs so important?The problem with constant product testing is that it costs a ton of time and money.For most startups, time is the most precious resource they have. The more time you spend chasing bugs, the less time you have to collect valuable user feedback which will influence the satisfaction of your users.Believe it or not, running into a bug isn't a make or break type thing for a user. Being unable to figure out how to **use and get value from your product **however, is a huge make or break type thing.How to uncover bugs faster in your product?Make your users your product testers. Sound crazy right? But think about it. You have an entire ARMY of people using your product each and every day.Hundreds, thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands of people could uncover 300 bugs in 3 days, where it would take your team 6 months to track them all down.Giving your users the ability to quickly and accurately report a bug means you can have bugs tracked and fixed in lighting time.I just stumbled across this great product called BugMuncher on Reddit the other day which gives users the ability to quickly screenshot a bug, and records the important stats along with it like operating system, browser type, version, etc.Consider implementing this product, or a similar solution of your own, that allows user to *quickly and easily *report bugs.I don't mean a big text box where you ask them to describe what happened, I mean a simple way to report it with under 15 seconds, which doesn't take them away from the page they're currently on.3 – How happy are they with your customer support?Your customer support team is like the bridge between unsatisfied user and super satisfied user. Super satisfied users are more likely to turn into *promoters *of your product, meaning they will recommend it to others.Promoters are good. You want promoters.That's why it's extremely important to constantly be monitoring if people are happy with the support they receive.Almost as equally as important is *how you go about *collecting this data. It needs to be quick and easy for someone to rate a customer support interaction.Often times I'll get a follow up email saying something like_ "please help us and rate the support you received…"_I never respond to these emails, simply because a new email appearing in my inbox just means another thing I need to deal with, and since I know I can skip it, I do.How can you make it easy for users to rate their support experiences?Groove uses one of the best solutions in my opinion, and that is giving users the ability to rate their support interactions at the bottom of each email.You know those little "please rate our experience" things you see in email signature like this?Those are a great way to give people the ability to rate their experience while at the same time keeping the effort required very low.Clicking on any of these links brings the person to a pre-populated, one question survey with the option to explain more. This is a perfect setup.Groove then calculates your user's "satisfaction score" by subtracting the "not good" ratings from the "good rating".4 – Have they searched for alternatives since signing up?If your product is even semi-successful, it means you've picked a niche which has a high amount of demand for what you're offering.This is good. It means people actually want your product, and you didn't just invent the idea out of thin air.But, this also means that you're almost guaranteed to have a number of competitors who have a similar, if not identical product to yours.This is also good. Don't forget, competition means demand.Much like any other traditional business, your users always have the option to switch to a competitor should their satisfaction level start to decrease.Sometimes, users will "flirt" with the idea of switching without actually taking the plunge. If you can catch these people in time, chances are you can convince them to stay.Why is this so important?Collecting this feedback is important because it presents the perfect opportunity to uncover major problems with your product that are so severe they are causing you to lose a user.It's highly unlikely a user who has been searching for alternatives is going to tell you… "Everything is great! I love it!"A user at this stage is the *perfect person *to collect feedback from.If you can fix every single one of these problems, it means you can greatly reduce your churn rate (the amount of users who leave and never return) and keep more users coming back month after month.How to find out if users have been searching for alternatives?Simply ask them. There's a number of ways your can do it, such as by sending out a survey through email, or using a product like Intercom to ask a question right in the product interface.The important part is you ask them 2 questions:Have you searched for an alternative since you joined?If so, what were you looking for in a competitor's product that we don't have?Why not simply ask them the reason why they're looking at competitors? Because it's just not direct of enough of a question. Asking big questions with indirect answers will scare people away who feel tried by the idea of having to answer in such detail.These open ended answers can be a gold mine of information you had never considered. Perhaps your prices are too high? Maybe your product is too slow, too old, or doesn't have a specific feature they're looking for?Consider following up with these people on a live Skype call to dive further into their problems and possible solutions that could get them to stay.Just keep in mind that listening to a user and doing what a user says are completely different things. Don't do what users say they want, instead listen and then give them what they need.5 – What are their results from using your product?People signed up for your product because of one single reason… you promised them it was going to improve their lives in one way or another.Either by saving them time, money, stress, effort or increasing their happiness.They signed up because of exactly what you promised them in the headline of your highly converting startup landing page you recently implemented (wink wink plug plug).If your product has done its job properly, after a certain amount of time, their lives *should be better. *Just how much better is exactly what you want to learn from collecting this type of feedback.Why are case studies so important?Success stories from users are going to help you out in 2 ways:Uncovering benefits of your product you might not have realized.Providing you with a huge boost to your landing page conversions by offering results oriented testimonials.In landing page design, a big part of the battle in turning a visitor into a user is first making them understand the benefits of using the product, then convincing them that you can actually deliver what you're promising.That's where user success stories come in.Uncovering new benefits that users experience will give you an opportunity to write more effective copy on your landing page, or better yet, attract an entirely new set of users to your product.As for convincing them you can actually deliver? That's where testimonials come in.Featuring a story from a user that details the exact results they got is going to help increase the trust factor for people who are on the fence about signing up.How can you collect successful user case studies?Start this process by pinpointing power users of your product. People who use it far more than others, and who have invested a lot of money and time into it.This will be a good indicator that they're getting a large amount of value and great results.Next, reach out to these people individually, through email, and ask if they'd be willing to share their story.If they say yes, follow up with them. Prepare a list of questions you need answers for, but try not to structure it like an interview.Don't forget to get permission from them to feature them in your marketing.6 – How satisfied are they?Remember at the start of this article where you learned about NPS Score and asking a user how likely they were to recommend your product to a friend?While I think this is a fantastic indicator of user satisfaction, it doesn't hurt to have a backup. Why? Because not everyone can accurately answer the "_how likely are you to recommend this product…" _question.To some, it might be the case that they simply don't know anyone who would be interested. Others might just be against recommending anything at all.This is why asking a user straight up "how satisfied are you?" can also be a great indicator of how well your product is working.Why is user satisfaction so important?Simply put, users don't keep using things they don't like.Chances are, if a large number of users have told you that they've been searching for alternatives to your product, it also means that your "user satisfaction" score is going to be low.Keeping your users satisfied is the most important part of your product design. It's the ultimate goal of every feature you add (or don't add), and every redesign you implement.How to find out if your users are satisfied?Jakob Nielsen suggests simply asking them to answer this question by choosing a number on a scale of 1 – 7."Averaging the scores across users gives us an average satisfaction measure."Says Jakob, the Godfather of UX.This could be done by sending an email survey using Survey Monkey, or using a product like Intercom to ask them directly in the product interface.Don't forget to wait until they've had a chance to explore your product before asking this question. A brand new user won't have enough experience to give you an accurate response.7 – What do they think about a newly released feature?Here's the process I've noticed a lot of digital startups follow:Spend hours building initial product.Release.Immediately start thinking of NEW ideas to include in product.Spend hours building and releasing new features.Get disappointed that people aren't flocking to the product.Decide it must be because there isn't enough features.Release 4,000 new features.Attempt to deal with bugs, usability issues, updates, and customer support problems that come along with every single new feature.Run out of money.Is it obvious how much I hate adding features?I hate them.Next to how much I hate the default setting of releasing features instead of focusing on user feedback, is what happens once a feature is released… NOTHING.After releasing a new feature, you must follow it up with a process that validates the existence of the feature.If no one uses it, and no one wants it, it shouldn't exist in the product. That's why we want to know everything we can about how user's are interacting with it.Why is feature feedback so important?Bloated, unused features dilute the value of your product, and they add to poor usability.The more things you add to your product which don't add value for a user just become a big pain in the ass obstacle they need to navigate around in order to get to that nugget of value that still exists.Collecting feedback on how well users understand, or respond, to a new feature is a vital part of this feature validation process.How to find out if/how a feature is being used?The quickest and easiest way to do this is by looking at your analytics. Are people navigating to that page of your product or not?This will give you a small idea of how much people are navigating to the feature, but it won't tell you if they understand how to use it, or what it's even for.The way to achieve this is by performing user testing.Set up a user test and give your users a set of tasks to complete. Include the new feature as part of one of those tasks, and see if they're able to find it, and use it, on their own.Analyze their behaviour, and encourage them to think out loud as they navigate.Don't forget that testing anything over 5 people can be a waste of time in most situations.8 – How much effort is it taking them to perform specific actions?This is the exact opposite of asking a high level question like "are you satisfied?"Instead, this question focuses on the small detail of how hard it was to do one single thingFor example, let's say a user just went through the process of integrating a payment system, like Stripe, with their account.When the process finishes, a small notification, directly within the product, would ask them to rate the amount of effort it took them to perform the task, rated on a scale of 1 – 10.Why is user effort so important?The goal of building a usable product is to minimize the amount of effort it takes for users to reach their goals.That's why it's important to continue to test, iterate, and improve upon the various features you've built.By asking a user to rate how difficult a task was, it gives you the opportunity to focus on features that users are currently rating as "very difficult" instead of focusing on building new features, or trying to fix things that aren't really a problem.It's kind of like the way users can rate support emails, except it's directly within your product.How can you find out how much effort tasks are taking your users?Keeping track of exactly how much effort it takes users to perform all of the different tasks on your product is time consuming.You need to be running constant user surveys, user tests, observing behaviours on each task, and then combining a ton of test data to determine what features are requiring the most effort.This is called task level satisfaction measurements.The result of executing these properly is a set of analytics that show you exactly what areas of your product design need attention first, and which areas are having the biggest impact on your user's experience.If you want to learn more about the types of task level satisfaction measurements, check out this article on ConversionXL.9 – How often are they using your product?What is the average amount someone uses your product, and what is the reason that is the average?Every day? Every week? Once a year?Is there any reason it seems unusually low or high?Why is the amount a user logs in so important?Increasing the frequency your product is being used by a user may be extremely important, or it might not be that important to you at all.It really depends on the goals of your product.For a product like Facebook, the more frequently the person visits their site, and the longer they stay on the site, the better it is. Why? Because they're exposed to more advertising.But for someone running a business to business targeted product, like web hosting for example, this might not matter as much.Regardless, it's** important to have a benchmark** in order for you to be alerted if average use starts to drop, or increase.How can you find out how much people are using your product?First, the easier approach is to simply check your analytics. This won't give you much beyond a daily number, but it's a start.In order to go deeper, check out a product like Intercom (which I've already referenced 100 time now - not getting paid to either). It will automatically segment your users into lists based on their behaviour.This allows you to communicate with groups of users in order to find out why they're falling into the "slipping away" category.Intercom automatically lists users who may be slipping away.Speaking to users who are starting to "slip" will enable you to learn about specific problems users have with your product you may have never considered before.10 – What are they searching for and why?Do you have a support FAQ? A site wide search function? Maybe even support guide analytics?Have you ever look at what people are searching for?Search boxes are gold mines into uncovering usability issues you might not be aware of that are destroying the user's experience.Why are search analytics important?In User Experience Design, in order to make a product more user friendly, we perform tests with a live user and observe their behaviour.But… how do we decide what to test?This is more difficult. Testing your entire product just to uncover problems can be expensive, time consuming, and not always as insightful as you want.But knowing about a "problem area" that needs iteration and testing is a huge advantage. That's where search analytics come in.Users tend you use the search function as a "scapegoat" when they get confused or lost while attempting to perform a task.This means any phrase that's searched for over and over is a direct indication of a widespread usability issue.Once you know the problem, go out and recruit 5 users to test and watch how how well they can perform. This feedback should give you a clearer picture of *why *people are all searching the same thing.How can you collect search analytics?Unfortunately, this isn't something as simple as sending a survey out to your users and asking them a question.You will need to set up your own product to track search phrases.If that's outside your current scope, consider using a 3rd party which you can install to make search tracking a bit easier.I recommend checking out SwiftType, which I have personally used with a great deal of success.On top of that, you should also be sure to have a properly design search function (and search engine result page).Collecting and implementing user feedback in the only way to successfully improve your productBut simply asking a user "hey how much do you like this?" is a great way to feel good about yourself without actually learning anything important.This post should have given you some insight into the types of feedback you should be collecting, and they way that feedback will inform your decisions on how to build a better product.Want to hear from me more often? Sign up for my newsletter.