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wedreamedlove · 4 years ago

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[FIC] Golden Wheat

Rating: M Characters: Xu Mo/Reader Word Count: 4388

Tags: Lime. Fluff. Minor angst. Established Relationship.

Notes: He’s 29 years old, if we’re counting from when this game was released in China! (I have to make myself feel better about my own aging LOL).

Summary: Sometimes a special day doesn't need anything special, simply being together with someone important to you is enough.

"Mhm, I just got off work and I'll be coming home after making a quick detour. I'll only be 10, maybe 15, minutes later than usual."

You tell Xu Mo this through the phone while weaving around people on the sidewalk, heading for a bakery which was just across the street from you.

"Huh? Oh no, you don't need to come pick me up. Seriously, I'll be home before you—ah!" You jerk to a stop before you step out into the road when a car comes to a screeching stop right before the crosswalk, blaring its horns at you.

Excuse me? The walking sign is clearly on and flashing, so you have the right of way! Was the driver trying to run a red light?!

You give them the stink eye and then cross the street quickly, this time after checking to make sure no other cars are going to try and break the law, before picking up your conversation on the phone again.

"Hello? Sorry about that. Anyway, like I said, I'll be back before you know it. Just relax and wait at home!"

You don't hear a response after your words though so you bring the phone down only to see that the screen is completely black. Did your phone die!? But it was clearly at 20% battery the last time you checked... You know you should have replaced this old phone with a new one, but work has been so busy lately that the matter keeps slipping your mind.

Hopefully, Xu Mo got most of your message though. You speed up your steps just in case and head into the bakery to get the birthday cake you ordered in advance. You and him planned to take a trip to celebrate his birthday and, unlike the first celebration, you're determined to make sure this cake survives its journey to him.

~~~

Of course, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Who knew you would end up waiting in line forever just because a customer decided to argue with the counter clerk. It gets to the point where you contemplate stepping in to save the poor employee who is being berated, but fortunately a manager appears to handle the irate customer.

After that whole situation is resolved though, there's an issue with your custom order in their electronic records and the employees have to spend a good chunk of time manually finding your order in the back of the store.

By the time you leave the bakery, you decide to hop into a taxi to get home instead of taking the subway, thinking that will be quicker, but it's peak rush hour now and you end up getting stuck in the traffic of everyone else trying to go home.

Your estimated 10 to 15 minutes of being home later than expected becomes an hour and a half. You also have no easy way of contacting Xu Mo to let him know. For a second, you think about asking to borrow the taxi driver's phone, but decide that will be too much of a hassle.

You just know Xu Mo is going to give you that helpless smile of his, tinged with exasperated affection, when you get home and tell him all about your Herculean journey today.

Finally, the taxi brings you to the small neighborhood where you are living with Xu Mo and you quickly pay the fare before jogging through the small path between the trees to the house and the man you know is waiting at the end.

You lift your eyes up automatically, straining to see a familiar silhouette on the veranda where he will often lean against the rails to catch sight of you whenever you return home later than him. However, you don't see any figure on the veranda. The lights of the house are on, so you know he must be at home. But you don't see him.

Just as your eyebrows start to furrow, you hear the gravel ahead of you crunch and shift and your line of sight drops down to see Xu Mo appear on the road home.

Oh. He must have been unable to wait for you and came down to personally welcome you home instead. Fondness and amusement wells up in you and you get the urge to tease him for his impatience.

"Xu—" You start to say his name, but then you find yourself pulled into a crushing embrace. Caught off guard, the cake box tumbles out of your hands and onto the ground between you two.

"You're home."

His voice is hoarse and the freezing cold fingertips that brush against you, when he curls a hand around the back of your head to hold you closer to him, gives you a shock. How long has he been standing out here waiting for you?

You can feel his throat move beside your ear, Adam's apple bobbing, as if there are too many things he wants to say but he doesn't know where to start and so he can only swallow the words down. It's so unusual for your professor that your hands hover in the air, not sure what has come over him, before you finally return his embrace.

A tremor runs through him at your touch.

"I'm back."

"... You were gone for much longer than 15 minutes later than usual."

There was an angry customer in the bakery. The shop had problems. The taxi got caught in traffic. My phone died. These phrases appear in your head but they all sound like excuses even though there is no censure in his voice.

"I'm sorry," you say instead, feeling contrite as you realize he was genuinely worried, "I should have let you know somehow."

His silent laugh stirs your hair. "I'm not blaming you, but hm... maybe you do need to pay a price for lying."

It's your turn to laugh against him and the weight in your chest disappears when you hear him slyly trying to get a benefit. If he can tease you like this, then whatever emotions that had prepossessed him earlier are now gone.

"Alright, name your price." You place yourself in his hands without hesitation, curious as to what he'll ask for.

"Let's cancel the trip tomorrow."

However, you weren't expecting him to say this. You blink and then reflexively step back to be able to see his face. Xu Mo lets go, giving you this space, and watches you with a calm expression.

You can't read anything in those quiet and dark eyes, but it's extremely rare for him to openly go against something he knows you've been looking forward to, especially when the purpose of this trip is to celebrate his birthday. You don't refuse him though. You can't and never have whenever he voices his wants.

"Okay, we don't have to go. It'll be your birthday after all, so whatever you say goes." You smile brightly to let him know you really don't mind.

"Thank you." His expression softens, eyes suffusing with tenderness, and then he bends down to pick up the fallen cake box in one hand before reaching out with his other to grab yours. His slender fingers slide in between your fingers and your hands press together, palms flush with each other. "Let's go in before you catch a cold."

"You're one to talk," you reply, squeezing his cool hand in emphasis before you place your free hand on top of his and yours and try to rub some of your warmth into him.

He leads you on the short path home and you swing your joined hands lightly as you tell him all about your day. When you get to the part about the cake, the two of you are already through the front door and you cast a look at the box in his hand, which he's placing on the small entryway table, and sigh as you take off your shoes.

"I'm a bit scared to open the box and see what happened to that poor cake after its fall. Hey, how come there's always cake casualties on your birthday?"

You raise your head up to look at him only to feel something warm press against your mouth.

Xu Mo takes advantage of your surprise to deepen the kiss. Despite the chill that lingers in his hands when he cups your face and in the tip of his nose when he tilts his head, skimming it against your cheek, his tongue is burning hot. His need for you is consuming, completely at odds to the calm appearance he had earlier, and you find yourself falling.

No, you really do stumble, breaking the kiss when your legs go weak and you barely manage to clutch onto his shirt in time before you slide down to the ground.

This doesn't even faze Xu Mo though, who lowers his head to follow you and catches the rim of your ear between his lips. His breathing echoes the pounding of your heart and then you feel him drop his hands from your face to loop an arm around your waist and the other below your backside before he lifts you up.

"Xu Mo!" You startle when you suddenly find yourself weightless and entirely in his arms. You grab onto his shoulders instinctively to balance yourself. "Wait—"

But with your faces at the same level, he kisses you again. You dimly feel him press you against the wall of the foyer before the white-hot surges of pleasure muddles your mind and completely drowns out your thoughts.

You're breathless by the time the kiss ends. Still, somehow you manage to gasp out, "The cake..."

Shouldn't it be checked to see if anything can be saved and put in the fridge? Or if not, thrown away?

"We'll make another one together tomorrow," his voice is low when he responds.

It takes you a second to understand him, because that wasn't what you were asking. He doesn't give you a chance to clarify though as he seals your mouth with his again and takes away your ability to think. His tongue sweeps across the sensitive spots in your mouth, making your toes curl and your legs clench around him, before he turns his head to the side to place open-mouthed kisses along your jaw and neck.

Ragged breathing resounds in the space between you two and you can't tell whether it belongs to him or you anymore. But every time his breath brushes against you, it leaves a streak of damp heat and you dig your hands into his shoulders, head falling to one side as his lips slide down your neck.

"May I take you to bed?"

The words are mouthed against your fluttering pulse more than they're said out loud and then he pauses his assault on your senses, waiting to hear your answer. His breathing is heavy and you can feel the tension in his muscles underneath your hands, like his entire body is as taut as a bowstring, but he holds you steadily and patiently.

Your cheeks flush with heat at the direct question but you still nod in permission and then lean forward, shifting your arms so you can wrap them around his back, to hide your face in his neck. When you do, the comforting and familiar scent of grasslands fills your nose.

Xu Mo's arm around your waist tightens for a second before he carries you effortlessly into the bedroom where he sets you down gently onto the bed and then leans forward to cover you, settling a knee in between your legs.

But, having unclasped your arms from him when he put you down, you press a hand lightly against his chest, making him pause. You flick your eyes to the light switch in the room and then back to him.

Xu Mo takes in your red face and appears to understand your insinuation but, much to your surprise, he doesn't grant your wish and instead says, "Let's leave the lights on tonight."

If it's possible to turn any redder, you're pretty sure you're doing it right now. You want to protest but the words catch on your lips when you look at him and realize he's not teasing you.

There is enough light in the room to see his subdued expression clearly but it also casts a shadow at the edge of his features and—maybe this is just a trick of the light—there seems to be a layer of fragility around him. Beside the bed and him is the full length window that faces the trees in the back, with its curtains partially drawn right now, but the sliver of darkness you can see suddenly strikes you with an irrational thought. If the lights were to be turned off right now then would Xu Mo vanish into the darkness? Would the shadows around his edges spread like a drop of ink in water and consume him?

Before you know it, you loop your arms around his neck and pull him down into you, not wanting there to be any space between you two, and he comes to you without resistance, catching your mouth with his.

The lights in the house remain on long into the night.

~~~

You wake up slowly to fingers playing with the bangs on your forehead and the occasional brush of those fingertips against your skin is gentle.

You breathe in deeply, filling your chest with the smell of damp meadow and something cool like mint, before you open your eyes and, as expected, see Xu Mo sitting beside you above the covers in a short robe. He's reading something on his tablet, glasses perched on his nose, but he looks over the moment you stir.

"Good morning," you say, but your own scratchy voice shocks you. You clear your throat, eyes wide, and there's an amused smile on Xu Mo's lips as he exchanges his tablet with a glass of water from the side table and helps you sit up before handing it to you.

"It'd be more correct to say good afternoon."

"Huh!? Why didn't you wake me? We're going to be late!" You barely avoid choking and spilling the water on your pajamas when you hear the time. How can you two get on the train in time if it's already the afternoon?!

"Silly, we canceled our trip. Remember?"

"O-oh, right."

"I also thought it'd be better for you to sleep more. I'm afraid I asked a little too much from you last night," Xu Mo says apologetically, smoothing your bed hair with a hand, before he takes your empty glass to put it aside.

You blink at him and it takes a good second for you to register his words. Then the memories of last night come flooding into your brain.

A creaking bed.

The damp heat that presses against your back.

Bunched up sheets clutched and shifting beneath your hands.

Hot and heavy breaths echoing beside your ear.

Pleasure peaking and taking you under, but just as you sink down he starts to move again, bringing another thundering crest of passion.

Your breathless and weak voice begging for mercy.

A hoarse plea in response, "Stay with me a while longer. Just a while longer."

Ravishment swirling with ecstasy mixed with intensity until you're drowning in an ocean of fervor...

You don't remember anything else concrete. Just flashes of other images and sensations like his hand entwined with yours. The... variety of positions. But now you understand why your body aches all over and why your throat was so dry just now.

Immediately, your face feels like it's on fire and you squawk before diving under the covers. You hear him laugh from beside you, making you reach out to blindly smack at his hip.

He catches your hand in his though and kneads the pads of your fingers. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. You were cute. Mm, like a kitten."

You pop your head out from under the covers. "Stop bringing it up!"

But it's not like you're actually angry and you use this opportunity to take a closer look at him. His face is relaxed and his expressions are open; whatever haunted him yesterday seems to be really gone now and his eyes are serene as he gives you a helpless smile.

"Alright, I'll stop teasing you." Xu Mo bends down to kiss your forehead. "Freshen up and come into the kitchen. Didn't you want to make a cake today?"

The distraction works instantly and you ask excitedly, "We have all the ingredients?"

He hums in affirmation and starts to take off his robe to put on a turtleneck sweater, but a strangled noise escapes your mouth when you see all the scratches on his back. Xu Mo glances over his shoulder at you, giving you a curious look, before comprehension dawns on his face and a smile curls on the corner of his lips, "Like I said, you were as cute as a kitten."

You cover your face and sink into the covers again. You feel him pat your leg, but you refuse to move and it's only after you hear him exit the bedroom and head into the kitchen that you dare to raise your head and leave the bed to wash up.

~~~

By the time you make your way to the kitchen, Xu Mo has already set out the ingredients needed to bake a cake and done preliminary preparations. You can't help but pause in the doorway and take in the sight of him though.

He's looking over a recipe on the tablet he placed on the counter and as the afternoon sunlight pours in through the wide windows, giving his white turtleneck a golden sheen, it catches on the dust motes in the air, filling the space with little glimmers. They contrast sharply with his ink-black hair, as if something celestial has spilled onto him, and with the warm light softening the graceful lines of his face you feel like you're seeing something not of this world.

For a second, you're afraid any noise you make will shatter this illusion and the immortal who has descended into your home will disappear.

"Are you planning to watch me do everything?"

Xu Mo's calm voice breaks you out of your thoughts and you see that he's looking over at you with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, the original cake's fate was because of you..." you joke as you walk over to lean against him, reassuring yourself with his solidity, and take a look at the recipe. "By the way, what happened to it?"

"I'm afraid it was unsalvageable." He accepts your weight naturally and shifts his position so that you're more comfortably pressed against his chest rather than his arm. "I believe today is my birthday though?"

"So you think you should get a free pass?"

"Isn't that the case?" He tilts his head down and his breath caresses your ear.

You clear your throat and fight to keep the laughter out of your words. "I guess we can split the work 50/50 then."

"Thank you for your lenience." You hear the smile in his voice. "Why don't we get started then."

The two of you enter an easy rhythm, pre-heating the oven, mixing the dry ingredients, and mixing the wet ingredients. Occasionally, either you or he will read out the next steps for the other person.

Soon enough, the cake enters the oven and you both switch over to making the frosting. It doesn't escape your attention that there's a variety of food coloring you're sure the kitchen didn't have before though, meaning he must have gone out in the morning to get these. You carefully make a few different shades of colors, already having a general idea about how you wanted to decorate his cake, but you still ask Xu Mo for his opinion on each color. However, he just leaves the ultimate decision to you.

Finally satisfied with everything you've prepared to decorate the cake when it's finished baking, you wipe the back of your hand across your forehead. Even though it's the end of autumn and the start of winter, the temperature in the house is warm and with the two of you in the kitchen, as well as the oven being on, it's actually a bit hot.

You turn to Xu Mo to ask him what he wants to do to pass the time until the cake is finished only to find that he's already looking at you, lips twitching.

"What? What is it?" You narrow your eyes at him suspiciously.

"Silly girl, you got frosting on yourself." He reaches out and uses the pad of his thumb to wipe at your forehead before showing you the purple frosting on it.

You make a startled noise and look at the back of your hand. It's only now that you remember you were testing different shades of purple on your hand because you couldn't decide on one.

Hearing him actually start to chuckle as he turns towards the sink, probably to wash his hand and grab a paper towel for you, you're struck with a mischievous urge and your hand shoots out. Xu Mo doesn't even flinch as you smear a streak of purple cream across his cheekbone though.

You giggle at your handiwork. "That's what you get for laughing at me."

But when he turns to stare at you in silence, you actually start to worry at having taken too much liberty with him. Maybe playing with food wasn't such a good idea. You open your mouth to apologize, only to shriek when he grabs you and rubs his cheek against yours, spreading the cream back to you.

He has an arm around your waist and a hand at the back of your head to prevent you from pulling away, but before long he stops smearing the cream on you and raises his head to press his forehead to yours. He tilts his head a little, touching the tip of his nose to yours and brushing his eyelashes against your skin, kissing you in every way but with his lips.

"I love you."

There's nothing special in his voice. No emphasis. No emotional intensity. It's just said between one breath and the next, as if it is something that is always hovering between the both of you and only now, through the power of words, has it been materialized into the open and given form.

"Mm, I love you too," you reply.

"Say it again." You feel his lips curve into a smile.

You blink with surprise at his request but answer it easily enough, "I love you."

"I love you as well," he replies immediately, except this time there's a tenderness that permeates every one of his words. "Again."

You hesitate, feeling that he's up to something, but he just brushes your noses together again and his lips skim yours as he breathes out, "I love you."

"I love you too," you unconsciously lower your voice to match his.

In this quiet kitchen, with the sunlight streaming in and creating a golden glow at the edge of your vision that isn't filled with Xu Mo, the world feels like it's shrunk to this tiny space between you two. Even breathing seems too loud for this moment.

"Again," he requests.

Your cheeks start to heat up as each repetition seems to add more weight to the words and you barely manage to whisper out an audible "I love you".

"And I love you."

The hand at the back of your head returns to cup your cheek and your eyes flutter shut as he touches his lips softly to yours. You feel him open his mouth, as if he's about to ask you to say these words again, but the ding of the oven interrupts him and shatters the atmosphere.

You jerk back at the loud noise and clear your throat in embarrassment. He sees your flustered appearance and smiles in resignation before turning to bring the cake out of the oven.

While he does this, you clean up the frosting on yourself at the sink and also dampen a paper towel so that, after Xu Mo sets down the cake on the counter to cool, you can reach up and clean the streaks of cream on his cheek. He bends down to make it easier for you to reach him and leans into your touch, closing his eyes and raising a hand to encircle your wrist.

Seeing this rare look of peace and defenselessnesss on his face, you can't resist sneaking a peck on his cheek along with a quick "I love you" after you wipe his face.

You spin around before he can open his eyes and busy yourself with grabbing the frosting to decorate the cake. Xu Mo laughs softly from behind you and then presses himself against your back, wrapping his arms around your waist, but he's content to leave the decorating to you and simply rests his chin on your shoulder to watch you work.

The cake is decorated in short order (and if you were going off of your memories of the cake you ordered from the bakery, well, that's your secret) and you present it to Xu Mo. "Ta-dah! What do you think?"

He hums contemplatively and the sound reverberates beside your ear, "Unique and it looks delicious."

"Are you making fun of my drawing skills?" You nudge him in mock outrage.

"Not at all. It's unique because you drew it with your own colors."

Your ears redden at the sincerity in his voice and you distract yourself by grabbing a fork and using it to split a small section of the cake off before you scoop it up and hold it out to Xu Mo. "Here, as the birthday boy, you get the first bite."

He accepts the forkful that you feed him.

"Happy birthday, Xu Mo," you say, beaming at him, and then you ask, "How does it taste?"

The only warning you get is the mischievous glimmer in his eyes seconds before he leans over and kisses you.

This year's cake is sweeter than any other cake you've eaten.

#love and producer #mr love queen's choice #mlqc #mlqc xu mo #mlqc lucien #bringing back old fandom ratings lol

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fatoujallovv · 4 years ago

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gradient text/ a little bit of an html tutorial

I’ve been coding in html for a while, so I wanted to give you guys some helpful tips for dealing with making and styling your gradient text on Tumblr :)

So first up, I’d recommend any non gradient stuff you want in the post be done first. You can leave it in rich text mode and use the Tumblr interface to edit it how you want. I’ll show you how to make all these same edits in the code later, but doing this step now is just a lot easier :)

then you’re gonna want to go to this website to make your two color gradient text:

http://jsfiddle.net/j7vLfbw1/22/

you just have to paste your text, choose your colors, and click run, then copy the code that appears underneath :)

for choosing your colors, you can make them exact colors from your post if you like! clicking on the color options will give you this:

but if you click show colors this window will appear (I am on a Mac, I don’t know what it looks like on PC)

If you have your art or gifs or whatever you are posting open on your screen you can click the eyedropper in the bottom row and select a color right off the image. If you have a hex code or rgb value, you can go here in the window to enter it:

you can get the hex code of a color in photoshop, or you can go to https://html-color-codes.info/colors-from-image/ and upload your image :) I’m not using the hex codes of the photo for this example, because I think brighter colors will be easier to see for this purpose.

once you have your code copied you can go back into your post and switch to the HTML editor

If your gradient text is the first thing in the post, put your cursor at the beginning of the blob of code you see and paste, likewise if it’s going to go at the end. If you want it somewhere in the middle, look for the text right after where you want to put your gradient text, and follow the tags backwards (to the left) that don’t have forward slashes (they look like this <>) until you get to one with a forward slash, like this </>

</> this is a closing tag, <> this is an opening tag, so you’ll want your gradient text code to appear in between the closing tags of the previous thing and the opening tags of the next thing.

pasting where the cursor is placed above will put the gradient in between the second and third line of text. If you click preview it will look like this:

Now for the part you’ve probably been waiting for: how the heck do I edit this blob of code? I’ll tell you a bit about the relevant HTML tags and they will be put in bold so you can pick them out easier :)

Each letter of your gradient text will be between its own <span></span>

If you want to place a line break in your gradient text, find the first letter you want to go on a new line in the code and trace it backwards (to the left) until you reach a <span> and place <br> right before it.

For non gradient parts of your text, a similar idea applies, find the words you want on a new line, trace it back to a closing tag (</>) and place <br> right after that closing tag.

For the rest of the tags, you will need to insert an opening tag before and a closing tag after. to turn your first line of gradient text:

into italics, add <i> before the first <span> and </i> after the last </span>

Now your text is italic!

Here are all of the tags for the other styling you are able to do with the rich text editor. They follow the same rules of how to put them in your code as the italics:

<b></b> bold

<i></i> italics

<h2></h2> headline

<a href=“”></a> link (put your url link in between the quotation marks)

<strike></strike> strikethrough

<p></p> another way to put text on a new line (it’s the paragraph tag)

<ol><li></li></ol> ordered list (1,2,3,4, etc.) <ol></ol> goes around the entire block of text that will be in the list, a different <li></li> goes around each individual list item. the same principle applies for unordered (bulleted) lists

<ul><li></li></ul> unordered list (bullets)

<blockquote></blockquote> indented text

I applied some of these to my blob of gradient text so you can see what it looks like :)

And there you have it! There are plenty of other little things you can do with HTML, but these are all the ones that Tumblr lets you change in the rich text editor. If there’s anything else you’d like to know how to do, my asks and dms are open for questions!!

bonus tips:

Once you switch to the HTML editor, you can’t switch back to rich text or you will lose your gradient and possibly some other formatting, so leave it in HTML mode once you’ve started!

Also, your gradient text will likely go away if you try to go in later and edit your post. I’m not sure why it does this but it can be quite frustrating. To be safe, it’s good to copy and paste the final code of your post into a note in case you need to add it back while editing the post down the line :)

#hope this is helpful!#gradient text tutorial #html tutorial #tutorial #gradient text #html #mystuff #mytutorial

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lucarioisinthevoid · 4 years ago

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(Random drabble I decided to write! Have it as an apology for how little I’m created. Just some backstory stuff that is canon to my Henry- and inspired by another story. If you actually know where this comes from, you’ll get something from me and also we can both sit in shame.) ---- The first and only time Henry Miller broke the law ---

The boy was sitting in the room over. They left him alone to stew a little- and to review the footage, to be sure about what happened. The cameras they had put up were brand new and not all that obvious, cameras in general were still unreliable, cutting in and out at seemingly random intervals. Newest tech indeed. Though it was still amazing what it could do and see, even on grainy, black-and-white footage. The owner, Frank, was glancing at the door, not quite believing what his staff was telling him. Henry Miller, honest to god Henry Miller, who was always eager to help out, who treated everyone with amazement and enthusiasm, no matter what they did and how they acted in return- They caught him steal. Casually stuffing his pockets here and there. It just didn’t seem to make sense- they knew this boy. When he was younger, he every now and again got a few bonbons from Frank, as he was wandering the store, bugging the staff before his mother quickly came to pick him up, always apologizing, but never being a problem. Hell, he sometimes helped out, insisting it was only because he wanted to, never accepting any sort of pay for his efforts. It’s fun! That was always what he said and Frank envied and admired his ability to see pleasure in everything. Even in things as stocking shelves or mopping some floors. His innocence was magnificent. Was. Seeing how Henry had just been walking around, lining his pockets- Now they didn’t find anything in his pockets, he must have gotten rid of it between then and now. He sighed. Maybe it was just that age, where children turned into teenagers and did stupid things. He would go in, hear his apology, give him a stern talking to and then let him go again. After all, he was such a good boy. No needs to get any police involved, only his parents had been informed and they were on their way to come and pick him up. Quietly Frank sighed to himself again. Such a shame, but it was something every growing person had to go through. As he opened the door, his eyes fell on Henry who was crying, pressing his hands against his eyes, rubbing, hysterically breathing, broken by hiccups. Oh, he was in for one hell of an apology. He had to hide a small smile- after all Henry had only been trying to steal candy. A lot of it, but it wasn’t the end of the world! Yet here he sat, all shaken up. Poor boy probably considered himself a devil now- after his first time acting out. Well, he would set him straight gently. Sitting down across from him, he looked at the boy, calmly speaking up. “One of our stores employees said he saw you steal quite a bit of candy. What do you have to say for yourself?” Leaning back, he got ready to tell the kid it was okay, that it was- “I- I didn’t do-o it!” Instantly, Frank froze, something cold climbing up his neck as he looked at Henry again. Henry who was looking up at him with pure DESPERATION in his eyes, shaking to his core at the accusation. “Sir, I- I don’t know why he- he would say that- but- I’m-“ Once more a flood of tears burst out of him. “I was j-just looking for my f-friend- I just- I wanted to- and then he GRABBED me- h-he told me I- I would get i-into a TON of t-trouble-“ Frank just stared, transfixed on the scene, slowly nodding. “S-said he A-ALWAYS knew I- I was a troublemaker- and- and I was SCARED-“ Breaking off, he desperately tried to take a deep breath, failing miserably, accidentally swallowing on his hiccups, leading to a coughing fit. He looked MISERABLE. “A-and I- I asked wh-what I DID- and- he- he said NOTHING, ‘you d-did NOTHING, b-but I’m telling Frank- I’m telling h-him you tried t-to steal!’ H-he said ‘I- I’m telling Frank that- that you’re a little R-RAT!’” The employee was a new hire. Someone who didn’t know Henry very well, not like a good amount of the other employees. Was this planned? Henry continued, sincerity oozing from his words, drenched in hurt pride and pain. “A-and I said- ‘No- no way he’ll believe you! H-he knows me!’ a-and that was when th-the guy gr-grabbed me even TIGHTER- so my wrist w-went all red-“ He showed off his red wrist- unmistakable fingers marks, with the place where nails dug in clearly visible, still red. “H-he grabbed me a-and said ‘wanna bet?! Wanna bet?!’ a-and that was when he dragged me h-here and threw me i-in! Then h-he locked the door- I swear! I- I swear I didn’t do anything! I- I don’t know what I did w-wrong! I didn’t take ANYTHING! Y-you can check m-my bag again-” It was unbelievable. Unbelievable in that he would have believed Henry under any other circumstance. He was too young to lie like this. Digging his nails into his own face, as he kept weeping and weeping, shaking his head while hiding his face. “I- I just don’t w-want you to b-be angry with me, s-sir! I swear, I swear, I- I would never do that! P-please, I don’t kn-know WHY he was s-so ANGRY- but- I just- I was just c-coming in to see i-if-“ Frank forced himself to take a deep beath and play along. “Please Henry, calm down. When did he ask you to come with him?” “J-Just when- when I was about to leave- it scared me so b-bad- I th-though I accidentally br-broke something or-” “What did you say he said you did?” “Th-that I- that I stole s-something!” “What exactly?” “I DON’T KNOW!” The boy howled in agony. “I- I DIDN’T- I’M SORRY, I D-DIDN’T TOUCH ANYTHING- PL-PLEASE BELIEVE ME!” For a moment Frank looked at him, feeling numb, his lips and fingers as though something had sapped all energy out of him. With a dry tongue he got out the words. “… Henry. We have you on the new security cameras. I know you tried stealing.” It was like a flip was switched- All of a sudden, silence. It looked like something fell out of Henry’s face, all life, all energy, all expression. Blankly he stared up at the adult in the room. The tears quenched, already staining into thin lines. Only ever so slightly a frown formed. And then he opened his mouth, his words almost unrecognizable. “Then why were you wasting my time just now?” - Years had come and gone. Frank was still managing his little store, though he considered finally finding someone who would be good to take over his place. For now though, he was doing fine, a bit of coffee in the morning, that he drank while reading the newspaper. One day though he almost started coughing when his eyes fell on something- A death announcement. Mr. & Mrs. Miller. In loving memory… tragic passing during a terrible catastrophe nobody could have predicted… announcing the funeral during… at… Slowly he put down the paper and checked the calendar. When he arrived at the graveyard during the ceremony, he carried the flowers, planning to put them on the grave after everything else had passed. But what he most wanted to see, needed to see- Henry stood amidst the group of mourning adults. Pressing his knuckles against his eyes. Shaking in his despair. Digging his nails into his head as he shook his head, hiding his face. Weeping in all the right ways. Frank felt sick to the stomach, his hands balling into fists, as he remembered, the poor guy was barely eighteen and lost his parents to a fire, to a malfunction, it had to have been a traumatic accident- He was shaking, goosebumps crawling up his arms, despite it being a wonderful summer day. And then, for a second- Henry’s eyes met his own. And there was nothing inside, no expression on the face, the tear stains utterly out of place, almost like drawn on. Abruptly Frank turned to the grave he was next to, kneeling down, pretending to pay his respect to the stranger resting in the ground beneath him. He prayed, yes he prayed for a moment or two, in front of the grave of a family he didn’t know, who’s names were in no way affiliated with his own- Placing the flowers onto the earth in front of him, he turned to walk away, his hands shaking. Still praying. Horrible accidents happened all the time. This tragedy messed with anyone who heard about it.

#henry miller #honestly I'm just happy about an excuse to write his childhood #Because it's such fun #He was such a feral monster #But liked by basically everyone for his sunshine-self #He watched his back- Ethan never found ANYTHING he could accuse him to be a psychopath over #That would have made things easier #To justify watching him at least among his close friends #oh well- he never asked in the right places #too bad~

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argentdandelion · 5 years ago

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No Soul Necessary: Flowey’s Happy Ending (Part 1)

Introduction

Warning: This post necessarily covers Flowey’s dark, traumatic, and sad backstory.

In many works, Flowey gets a SOUL in a Post-Pacifist timeline, and is often “restored” back to Asriel with a Boss Monster body. Sometimes, it is implied this is only way for Flowey to be happy: that it is impossible to save him, too, so long as he is a soulless flower.

Yet, as the Flowey and PTSD series shows, having a soul is neither necessary nor sufficient for Flowey’s happiness. For one thing, six human SOULs apparently wasn’t enough for him to regain love nor compassion; he only got that after absorbing six human souls and the souls of almost every monster. More importantly, though gaining a soul might make it easier for him to be happy by letting him feel love and compassion again, it wouldn’t solve all his problems.

And Flowey has a lot of problems.

Well-Supported by Canon

These aspects of Flowey's suffering are well-supported by canon.

Guilt, Regret, and Self-Loathing

After the God of Hyperdeath fight, Asriel understands if Frisk cannot forgive them, and understands if Frisk hates them. He acted “so strange and horrible” and hurt many people; Asriel believe she has no excuse for what he had done.

If the game is started up again after everyone goes free, Flowey (despite presumed soullessness) says he can’t “go through with it again” (do the same actions to achieve that ending) if the world was reset, so whoever he’s talking to must erase his memories, too. He seems guilty or ashamed at his actions: he talks about the power Chara was “fighting to stop, the power that I wanted to use” (presumably the power of SAVE) with an expression that might be shame.

Furthermore, several prompts in for the flowerbed speech, Asriel discloses he’s blamed himself for the decision to not kill the humans attacking him the whole time. Apparently, a sense of guilt and self-loathing at himself for failing Chara and getting himself killed was why he adopted his “kill or be killed” view. Yet, after seeing Frisk (it’s unspecified when; it could be at the flowerbed itself) he doesn’t regret his decision anymore. He said he did the right thing, and he can’t regret hard choices forever.

Lack of Love/Compassion/Empathy; Difficulty Forming Relationships

Flowey cannot feel love nor compassion; it is likely anything approaching empathy eludes him. This is a major impediment to feeling fulfilling relationships. Indeed, the idea he couldn’t feel anything (loving) for anyone made him “despondent”, until he eventually coped by making himself a callous manipulator who didn’t (emotionally) need anyone.

Flowey’s difficulty in forming relationships is a similar problem. Solving others’ problems distracted or amused him for a while, but it didn’t really make him happy. His lack of love and compassion, as well as his ability to rewind time, led him to become estranged from others. People were reduced to sets of numbers, lines and dialogue.

Unable to feel love and compassion, Flowey's life was surely less happy than before. The closest Flowey could get to fulfilling relationships was just amusement at others, and with time he grew tired of it. He himself likes to think “there’s someone out there...someone that I won’t get tired of.” There’s only one person (Chara) he cares about anymore, and yet he says (with a sad expression) that he couldn’t really care about them.

Despair

Given how close they were, Chara’s death alone would have been enough for Asriel to fall into a deep depression. Yet, his suffering is only multiplied by several layers of trauma from the plan and its outcome.

Flowey/Asriel believes that, in refusing to kill the humans attacking him and getting killed himself, he “failed” Chara. He expects Chara to be mad at him for this.

Flowey discloses that, when he woke up as a flower, he “couldn’t feel anything for anyone.”1 He spent weeks with Asgore, trying to vain to feel love. Eventually, Flowey became so distressed at his failure he quit and run away. He went to Toriel, but even she couldn’t make him “feel whole again”. He became despondent: he decided to didn’t “want to live in a world without love anymore—a world without you, Chara”. He spent weeks with Asgore, trying to vain to feel love. Eventually, Flowey became so distressed at his failure he quit and run away. He went to Toriel, but even she couldn’t make him “feel whole again”. He became despondent: he decided to didn’t “want to live in a world without love anymore—a world without you, Chara”. Flowy then tried to “erase himself from existence”.

He discovered his power of SAVE after this, starting ‘Pacifist Routes’ of his own and solving others’ problems flawlessly. Their companionship amused him, for a while. But, as he repeated time, he found them predictable; without compassion, he grew estranged from others and saw them as just lines of dialogue and numbers.

He killed everyone in the Underground, just to add novelty to his boring life. But eventually, he grew tired of that, too. He was surely very lonely and thought his existence pointless, but the very things he had lost (and gained) with his new life as a flower trapped him in despair.

Extrapolations

While recurring elements in works set in a Post-Pacifist timeline, these aspects of Flowey’s suffering aren’t so well-supported in canon.

Body Dissatisfaction

A recurring element in fan works is Flowey’s dissatisfaction or distress at his new flower body, and its limits.

In the Genocide Route, Flowey shows fear and helplessness at realizing he can’t feel his arms and legs and how his whole body had turned into a flower. If he had some choice in form when absorbing six human SOULs, the fact he had two big, clawed arms may very well be a compensation for his long-lost limbs. As soon as he absorbs the equivalent of seven human SOULs, he takes a body identical to his old Boss Monster one, and says: “Finally. I was so tired of being a flower.”

In some cases, it’s hard to tell whether Asriel/Flowey is dissatisfied by what he is or who he has become in that new body; he might conflate the two and separate his existence into two identities.

Flowey is neither human nor monster, but a soulless, nigh-necromantic magic flower whose existence is utterly unprecedented. After attacking Flowey, Toriel calls him a “miserable creature”. Flowey describes himself and who he thinks is a soulless Chara as “creatures” as well. In his flowerbed speech, Asriel calls Flowey not a “he”, but an “it”, and tells Frisk not to think of Flowey as Asriel, saying: “I just want you to remember me like this. Someone that was your friend for a little while.” (It’s unclear whether he means “as a Boss Monster” or “as someone compassionate”)

Parental Separation

Even in works where Flowey gets a soul, "becomes Asriel", and has Frisk as an adoptive sibling as a sort of Dreemurr Family 2.0, things just aren't the same. Chara is still dead, and Asgore and Toriel are still estranged/separated.

It must have been a shock for a newly-awakened Flowey to go back home and find Toriel’s old throne under a sheet, and to search for Toriel for so long only to find she’s as far away as possible from Asgore. Realizing his parents, who used to be such sickening sweethearts, have separated and no longer love each other is bad enough. Knowing that they separated over Asgore’s declaration of war, which only happened because Asriel and Chara died, just makes things worse: Flowey might believe it’s (indirectly) his fault.

While Toriel and Asgore are probably not technically divorced in Undertale, Flowey could have reacted in a comparable way to the kids of divorced parents. After all, kids developing mild depression after their parents’ divorce in a common response. In fact, this “mild depression” can get worse; according to Helpguide.org, some of the symptoms, “frequent violent and angry outbursts”, “withdrawal from loved ones”, and “disinterest in loved activities” sound like things Flowey would do.

Uncertainty He Even Deserves Happiness/A Second Chance with a Boss Monster Body

In several fan works, Flowey/Asriel sometimes believes he doesn’t deserve happiness, and/or a second chance with a Boss Monster body. Regardless of form, he might believe he doesn’t deserve happiness because of all his terrible deeds, and also think he’ll only bring misery to others.

To this end, he might regret going up to the Surface with Frisk, or even seek isolation. Indeed, only Frisk knows Asriel broke the barrier, and Asriel spends the rest of his short existence as “himself” by the flower patch in the Ruins, apparently unnoticed. He doesn’t want his parents to know he was alive again, and won’t go up to see them, because he thinks it would just break their hearts. Furthermore, in some works, Flowey lives an isolated life in the Underground as a sort of prison sentence for his Flowey Run crimes.

While Flowey cannot feel love nor compassion, it’s still possible he could feel guilt and regret. It’s possible he remembers what it was like to feel love and compassion, even for a little while, and wants Frisk and the other monsters to be happy even if he cannot.

He’s certainly capable of feeling irritated at people, so presumably he meant an inability to love anyone and, perhaps, a flattened and incomplete emotional range in general. ↩︎

#Undertale #Undertale Analysis #Undertale Meta #Flowey #Flowey the Flower #Asriel #Undertale Character Analysis #No Soul Necessary: Flowey's Happy Ending

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kpopnotksoda · 6 years ago

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bts reaction to you getting in a serious accident

n a m j o o n "hyung have you seen y/n?" Namjoon was worried and auto matically turned to asking around about you, to no avail. After he realized that no one knew where you were, and you weren't answering texts or calls, you might be driving. Being logical, Namjoon decided to wait it out, however anxiously. You, on the other hand, knew exactly where you were, and didn't exactly enjoy being there. You were both literally and figuritively stuck between a rock and a hard place, or more like your car seat and your airbag. It had happened, you finally drove overtiredly after a long night from work, and look where it got you. This wasn't good for anyone. You were fighting to regain consciousness, and losing the battle, god only knows what happened to the person in the other car or if there even was another car. You let the peace of sleep take over you, and waited for someone to find you. "y/n" you heard a voice mutter as your eyes fluttered open, sweat beading on your forehead as you batted your eyelashes tiredly. Blood traced your hands, all the way up to your arms. Glass from the windshield was pricking your chest and all you could feel was the searing headache and numbing pain. You glanced up to see the origin of the, deep, husky voice and there was Namjoon. You gasped, scared of his reaction to your careless ness. "hey, babe" you croaked, your voice brittle and taut. He smiled worriedly, he was cautious to touch you in fear of hurting you more than you already were. But you weren't. You grabbed his hand with full force and draped it over your stomach. The gurney wasn't exactly comforting, but having his affable hand on you helped you feel like everything was going to be okay. The rest of the ambulance ride was spent in silence, but pleasent silence. The good kind of silence where you don't need words to fill the air, the kind where just gazing at eachother is good enough, the kind where you know it will all be alright.The good kind of silence. Once you were out of the hospital and didn't have an IV taped to you, following you around religiously, Namjoon didn't hesitate to wrap what was his in a hug "Never scare me like that again" "Wasn't planning on it"

s e o k j i n

He was always worried, always. Not a second passed where he wasn’t pondering about your wellbeing and/or if you were happy. So it didn't come as a surprise when he didn't take it lightly when he got a call from the hospital saying you were in the dreaded place. So many thoughts were vigorously tossling his mind, what happened, why couldn't he stop it, amd most importantly- were you okay? He raced over to the hospital, unbeknownst to you. To be fair, you didn't know much about your situation either. You knew you were in the hospital for some reason, but why?

falling

you remembered falling, but that was all, didn't give you much and you didn’t really want to know the rest of it. The new feeling of your tense back on a gurney relaxed you, you let yourself go and rest.

Seokjin wasn’t apt for that option and was in a flurry when he finally got to the hospital to find you in a bed, unconscious, with a heart monitor tediously beating to an annoying tune. He rushed to your side and held you close to him, pulling you into his chest and whispering into your ear ‘you’ll be alright’ and ‘i’m here’ repeatedly.

Your eyes fluttered open to being in the arms of your boyfriend who was sleeping but still holding you tightly. You were tired before and memories started rushing back, what had happened, why it had happened and when it had happened. You were climbing a tree after a hike in the woods with a friend, the friend accidentally bumped into the tree and the branch you were perched upon snapped. After you were rushed to the hospital the friend had to leave as of immediately due to an unexpected family emergency and you were thankfully left with jin, someone you knew would care for you unconditionally.

y o o n g i

“somebody give me the fucking phone” yoongi was hysterical, without you he was empty. Without his happiness, the cause of his gummy smile, without someone who has his heart and he had theirs. He was empty. His band members could see it too, anyone could tell he was anxious. His last memory of you was arguing about how he didn’t sleep and overworked himself, that’s when you took it upon yourself to drive to your friends house for the night. You got there safely, and you called him to tell him you were safe but it was the next morning that was when shit went down. Of course if it was for a day after an argument and you weren’t texting or talking to him, but it had been three days and he was texting and calling you relentlessly despite your dispute nights ago. You and your friends wanted to get your mind off of things so they took you kayaking in the breezy early spring wind, you gladly accepted, unbeknownst to the peril ahead. The rapids were speedy and it was even worse as you had the argument on your mind, you tried steering yourself away from the rocks in the riveting water but your dinky boat kept swaying, and swaying, and swaying, and then rocking. Violently, you were left to scream and then be dunked into the harsh, frigid water, lined with abrasive rocks which were painful to the touch for your numbed, sensitive skin. You were brimming with pain, waiting for your friends or yoongi to pull you out and on to the flat shelf of land lining the river, but the latter didn’t happen until you were unconscious and yoongi even being around was unrealistic. You felt your eyes closing but you let it happen, you let your consciousness slip and your legs fall. You were falling down the river that was seemingly getting deeper and in your half conscious state you could hear your friends screaming your name and anxiously calling the hospital.

“yoongi...” you uttered the words as the man in question burst through the doors, tears flooding his eyes and anger in his veins

he wasn’t angry at you, he could never be, but he was enraged with himself for letting you come so close to a touch of death without having you with him. He grazed your face gently with his hand and you smiled a little and held his hand. You were there for less than twenty four hours but you just wanted out, whether you had hypothermia or not didn’t matter to you. You had a craving to hold him and he felt the same way for you. Without any more words he pulled you closer and automatically broke down. He couldn’t bare to see you like how you were but he did, and it was torture.

“I can’t live without you”

h o s e o k

He was screaming— well when isn’t he— but he was significantly louder when he found out that your plane crashed and he wasn’t able to be next to you as it went down. He knew you were going to be alright, and you thankfully were but for the time being, he had every right to panic. Unleashing his anger that was typically hidden behind a bubbly smile at everyone in a six foot radius, yelling at everything that was slightly amiss, trying to calm down but only working himself up more and just breaking himself down. It took him a while to realize that you could be in the hospital at this time and he would wait no matter how long just to see you, it would hurt if you were tattered and barely clinging on to life but as long as he could see your face, he’d get over it. Jimin suggested that he was in no mood to drive so he would for him and there Hobi was, anxiously fiddling with his seatbelt with a short ass driver going slightly over the speed limit but for hobi it wasn’t fast enough. Before the taller male could practically scream at Jimin to pedal to the metal, they were there. The hospital, standing tall before them, was a sanitized looking place. Everything was orderly and tidy which sent a wave of relief over hoseok knowing that you had the best care. He ran in after his epiphany that you’d be okay, but quickly darting in after the pressure of seeing you was assessed. He skipped past a nurse who pulled him back and asked who he was looking for, after the dallying interaction, the woman chastely pointed him in your direction. Once he laid eyes on you, he ran over to you with a gleaming smile on his face. He pulled you close and you hugged him in return, thankful he was there with you.

j i m i n

Yeah he was upset, he didn’t want to see anyone other than you and since the incident you were the only one he couldn’t see. It was eating away at him, knowing the one he held dearest was slipping out of his grasps, almost lifeless on a hospital bed. It must have been painful for you, he thought. He thought about it often, how he was there but hesitated to grab your arm before it happened, how he didn’t have his arm around your waist 24/7 so he couldn’t have felt your warmth and have you safe next to him. It hurt. It would hurt any man to know that the one girl he loved truly more than anything was slowly being picked away at by death itself. He was right, pain was often searing through your body and you missed him more than anything whilst being isolated in the compact room with argent hospital lighting. You were hit by a car, having crossed the road too soon, a car came barreling at you at top speed and the fact that you were in such critical condition that only your family could see you was painful for both you and jimin. It was like a knife through your stomach, knowing that you could see him after a long wait and even thinking about it made the knife turn and slowly scathe your insides until there was nothing left. Without him, there was nothing left. So as you were counting down the days until your long awaited release, you made due with your time apart by calling often just to hear his voice because yours was shaky and it made him sad to hear you so weak and if we were being honest, it made you sad too. After the waiting period was over, you showed up at his doorstep, waiting to envelope him in the biggest hug you could muster, and when you finally felt his soft hands graze your back and his arms brush yours. You knew, you were home.

t a e h y u n g

when you weren’t talking to him, he felt like you were being distant so he didnt hesitate to prettily return the favour. He thought he did something wrong, like you were done with him so he distanced himself from not just you, but everyone else he cared about. The rest of his band mates, the rest of his family, everyone. Even though you were the cause of it, he’d never admit, he loved bottling up his feelings just so yours would be safe. You were always before him. It was surprising when you called him, voice shaking and weary and he snapped out of his woeful slump when you uttered the words

“where are you” your voice was tremoring, as if you were in the cold too long and that’s exactly what had happened. After realizing you were in the hospital and he was just avoiding you in your greatest time of need, it broke him. He hung up leaving you heart broken, thinking he was done with you but he was just as speechless as you were. He ran out and got you flowers and other things to help you recover from your severe case of hypothermia, unbeknownst to you that all this was happening, you started breaking down. Noting he hung up on you, ignoring you when you were in the hospital for christ’s sake. It was the end, you were sure of it, you didn’t want to be with a man that didn’t care and being around you made him miserable. You still loved him, but would sacrifice your love for his happiness. That was what was supposed to happen but then he burst into your hospital room, tears pricking the corners of his eyes, a bouquet in his hands and blankets galore. Your eyes were gleaming as he repeatedly apologized and kissed your forehead delicately, sure to not rip your already vulnerable skin.

j u n g k o o k

“it’s not that big of a deal” you whined as jungkook started slinging your clothes into a bag, along with other things you might need at a hospital

“if i can’t take care of it here, it’s a big deal” he beamed, kissing your forehead and running your stuff out to the car

once he returned you replied “you can’t fix anything here” he was taken aback by your remark “you’re like a child, but i still love you”

he beamed and continued to check your fever once more after seven times in the past eighteen minutes “42°c, you’re burning babe” he cooed and you rolled your eyes

“maybe, but it’s just a cold”

“you don’t know that”

The ride was long and you napped for the better part of it but were stunned to find out you had pneumonia. Jungkook freaked. There was no way he could take care of you, so automatically he asked the doctor to for him and the doctor agreed with a chuckle. You were greeted into a white room where you would be staying for the next however many days, Jungkook pranced in, but when the doctor stopped him from seeing his one true love, his heart dropped. He just gave you high quality care, at the cost of not being able to see you for god knows how long. He waited out the time by casually facetiming you or texting you constantly to check up on you. Even when you told him you were napping, he was clicking away at his phone trying to update you on everything going on. The only thing this virus taught you was how much your boyfriend cared, and it was a great lesson.

admin ☾

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d2phuong · 5 years ago

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Latecomer & Web Authoring

For some personal reasons, I couldn’t attend the first class of Web Authoring. While my classmates were learning about the web authoring I had to stay home. However, when the web authoring lectures were posted on the Moodle, I immediately started learn about it. Day by day, I read the lecturer's material and now I got a basic understanding of HTML. This post will share my experience as well as my understand when I learn HTML by myself. Firstly, HTML is HyperText Markup Language a language to describe the contents of web documents. Structure of a page is:

<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title> </title> </head> <body> </body> </html>

+ <!DOCTYPE html> is to declare file in an HTML5 document + <html> </html> : everything will be inside this element +<head></head>: Inside this element, we put information of website. It can be the title, the author, keywords. +<body> </body>: This part for all content, for whatever you want to appear on web page Besides, we can also add comments or explanation by using  +<p></p> what we put inside it will display as a paragraphs. Note that there is no <p1>,<p2>.. Even when we have 10 paragraphs , we just use <p></p> for each paragraphs. + Headings. There are 6 levels of headings. They are from <h1> to <h6>. <h1> is for main headings , from <h2> till <h6> is sub headings + In order to break line or start on a new line, we use <br>. This element is a void element, it means we don't need to come with end tag “</br>” + when we want to emphasize something or make it become bold, we use <strong></strong>. However, If we want to make content Italic, we can use both <em> </em>. We can also use both to make content outstanding <strong><em> write something here </em></strong> + <blockquote></blockquote> we use this element when we want to quote something from author or famous people. <blockquote><p> write something here </p></blockquote>

Well, that's all what I have learned by myself throught Moodle. Now, I'm coder ( haha..level 1 ). I will try my best to understand more as well as practise more about HTML. If you are beginer, let's learn and practise together to go futher.

#html5 #web development

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early-sxnsets · 6 years ago

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It's All For Him

Archive Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18215168/chapters/43256687

Chapter 7/10 of It’s A Handheld Disaster

Word Count: 1168

Chapter Summary: Desperate times call for dramatically impulsive measures. As in, Baz makes a quick decision and a long drive.

BAZ

It starts flowing from him. Every word I know he’s kept up--every little thought, every small nick on his mind flowing out onto a continuous thought, broken relatively regularly by a stutter. Must be something he has, or at least something that reappears when he’s overworked.

“Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck,” he lets stream. “First of all, you’re bloody real. I-I-I-I can’t believe you’re real. You’re real. Are you real?”

I exhale slowly, cheeks pulling into a guilty, sad smile. “I’m real, Snow,” I mutter into the speaker, heart aching.

“Fuck,” he cries, then he’s cut by the sound of muffled words, the speaker crackling a bit. Must be covering his mouth. He continues, after a moment. “Fuck, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I’m s-so sorry. I’m--this is ridiculous. I’m ridiculous. I-I-I sh-should stop talking, it’s just… Penny. And Davy. And Aggie. And bloody you…” He pauses briefly, catching his breath. I can hear his exhale. It’s shaky and terrifying. “It’s everything. I’m--Davy. He’s too much. I-I know I told you h-he isn’t, but he is. Too strict. Too strict too strict too…”

“Breathe,” I interject, eyes squeezed shut as I listen intently. Counting the seconds, I pay attention to the shaking inhale and exhale from his side. We're only a couple seconds in and he's starting to scare me. Brilliant. I'm in far too deep.

“I’m sorry,” he starts off with. “He’s just… loud. Angry. So close. Won’t get far… I need to get away. I’m scared--I have no reason to be, but I’m so scared. All the time. I u-used to be okay, but he’s scaring me, but I have nowhere to go. And I’m scared, Baz.” Hearing my name makes it exponentially worse. I take another quiet drag to calm my nerves, eyes squeezing tighter as I hear him continue. “I’m just scared of everything.

“I’m scared of Penny hating me, o-o-o-o-or just being friends with me out of convenience. I-I-I know she says she c-c-cares, but what if she’ll just d-ditch me after school? I put her through t-t-t-too much. I put everyone through too much.” He gets quiet for a moment before dropping his voice to a near whisper. “I’m sc-scared of you drinking and smoking. I’m scared you do it to hurt yourself.”

My eyes flutter open, dropping to my cigarette as the taste lingers in my mouth. Guiltily, I stub it out onto the stone, eyes falling back shut as I'm dead silent. I can’t deny it. It’d be a lie.

“A-and I know, I have n-no place to say anything, but I’m scared. I get worried. I want you s-safe. I don’t talk about it, b-b-b-but I care so much. All the time.

“B-But I’m not really good enough to deserve that care back. That’s the th-th-th-th-thing. I’ll never be good enough, n-not even for love! Aggie br-broke it off because I’m unlovable, a-and I don’t know what to do. I’m--”

“Where are you right now?” I break in, at last. The anxieties clenching at my body make my throat constrict even as I speak, but I push past it. I need to say this. It’s too much just hearing him speak feels--it's like a knife digging into my side. Hearing him say he’s unlovable is too much. If it’s time to be irrational, then it’s time to make dramatic choices.

“Wh-what?”

“I asked where you are right now,” I ease out, sighing quietly at the end.

“U-um,” he starts, and pauses. Not a good sign, to start with. “P-park. Public park. ‘M by the swings.”

“Where is that, Simon?”

“I--no.”

“Why?”

“You’ll call the cops, or something,” he mumbles fearfully, voice growing softer as his voice crackles in the microphone. “I can’t…”

“I won’t,” I promise quickly. “I’m not going to call the cops, just… tell me. Where are you?”

He says a place up in Newcastle, which doesn’t settle well in the slightest. That’s…at least six hours, if I drive. Perfect. Absolutely perfect. “Shit,” I whisper, rubbing my thumbs over my temples.

“What?” He sounds nervous. Even better.

“No. Nonono,” I begin, trying to think. Six hours and it’ll be nearly midnight. Then what? No, fuck it. No. Doesn’t matter. We’ll figure out there. “Hold tight, please. Do you trust me?”

He pauses audibly, the line going silent for all but for the whistle of the wind. “I…”

“Do you trust me?”

“Y-yes.”

“Then hold tight. Get comfortable, it’s going to be a few hours.”

Another pause, then a final breath of relief. “Okay.”

Once I click off (reluctantly) from the call, I clear the evidence of my cigarettes and head off to the house, fiddling with the mobile in my hands. Inside, through the maze, I find my father in his study looking over paperwork with a pen in hand. I bother knocking, despite the door hanging open. He pops his head up, narrowing his eyes at me. Before he has a moment to question, I interject quickly.

“I’m heading off for the weekend.”

“Where?”

“Aunt Fi’s,” I lie, throat feeling even tighter than usual. Maybe not a lie. We'll find out. “I need to get out into the city. It’s a deathly bore around here.”

“Are you bringing Devon and Niall with you?”

“No, they’ve got class. I’ll be safe, I promise.”

He scans over me, going from head-to-toe, then back up again. It’s a sad routine of ours; his hesitation in any attempts of me living, then my attempts to seem as innocent as possible.

“I’ll see if I can visit campus while I’m there,” I add as an incentive, knowing quite well how much he wants me to go to LSE. “Might have to stay ‘til Monday…”

“That’s quite enough, Basilton,” he says, waving his hand dismissively. I shut up immediately, standing bolt upright as he sighs. “Do you need petrol for the drive?”

“Yes,” I say quickly, fiddling with my phone case. “I mean, yes, please. Thank you, father.”

His eyes drop back to his paper, lips twitching into his classic apathetic frown. “Right, well, I’ll add enough to your account, and money for food. God knows your Aunt doesn’t have any non perishables in that awful studio flat.”

Internally, I grin like a madman. I’m jumping and crying thankful sobs, but externally, I simply nod politely. “Thank you,” I say again, giving the smallest of smiles before running off to throw together a long weekend bag. Once I hit the car, I check to see my bank account.

While starting it up, I scroll my notifs. No word from Snow, but that should be fine. Everything should be fine.

The route seems painstakingly long, and I barely have enough energy to make it to London most weeks, so this will be… an experience.

Nonetheless, this isn’t just for anybody, of course. It’s for Simon, and that, frankly, is all that fucking matters.

Simon, his comfort, and his safety. And I’m going to assure that I’ve got control of all three of those.

#it's a handheld disaster #carry on #snowbaz #fanfiction #fanfic #fic #mine #simon snow #tyrannus basilton grimm-pitch #tyrannus basilton grimm pitch #baz pitch #simon #baz

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hannahhaslem · 5 years ago

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HTML Basics Guide for Code Box

This will be the first step by step guide on my website. I have made this guide easy to follow and after each section, there is an exercise specific to each section. This is for users to put their knowledge to the test and practice what they have just learnt. Images will be added to the PDF version of this step by step guide. The content I have written for the Home page will be visible on my promotional website for Code Box.

Home Page

Coding made easy, no matter the coding language!

Code Box is the best place to learn code in an easy and enjoyable way. With easy step-by-step guides, you'll be developing websites in no time!

The first guides available will cover the basics of HTML and CSS. These guides will be easy to follow and informative.

HTML Basics (PDF)

Introduction

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the standard markup language for websites and documents to be viewed on a web browser. HTML is the first building block to develop web pages. This guide will cover the basics of HTML, so you can learn how to begin to build your own website from scratch.

HTML uses a ranges of elements and tags to display the content on a web browser. An HTML element consists of a start tag, content and end tag. An HTML tag is the opening and closing tag for the whole element, for example <h1> _______ </h1>.

Before you start learning HTML, you will need a text editor. For this guide, please download Brackets. This is free so once you download Brackets to your device, you are ready to start coding! In order to view your html document on a web browser, you will also need to download Google Chrome, which is also free.

TIP! Once you have started the below tasks, use the Live Preview tool to view your work on Google Chrome. Remember you can keep both Google Chrome and Brackets open at the same time to see how the information is displayed once coded.

Once the application is downloaded and on your device, you can open a new document and save this under the file name index.html and in a folder called ‘Code Box Guides’.

Once you have done this, you will then copy the following code exactly to begin your coding journey!

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <title> London </title> </head> <body>

HTML Headings

These tags define HTML Headings. <h1> defines the most important heading, while <h6> defines the least important heading.

Now over to you!

Exercise 1:

Take the following headings and use the appropriate heading tags to show their level of importance i.e. which would be the main heading and which would be shown as sub headings.

London Before you go Things to do London Attractions

HTML Paragraphs

<p>

This tag defines a paragraph in HTML. Any content within the <p> tags is treated as a paragraph. Paragraphs are usually represented as blocks of text.

<br>

This tag can be used to get a line break between paragraphs without having to start a new paragraph. This tag has no closing tag.

Try it yourself!

Exercise 2:

For this exercise use the paragraph tags to edit the following sentences. These sentences will be under the ‘London’ heading.

London is Europe’s largest city and one of the largest in the world. London has a population of over 7.5 million. The City of Westminster is home to the majority of the Parliament buildings in London. London is also home to Buckingham Palace which is where Queen Elizabeth II lives.

After you have completed this task experiment with using line breaks <br> to see how it changes your text in live view.

HTML Links

<a>

Hyperlinks are defined with this tag. The href attribute specifies the destination address (https://www.ixdbelfast.com) of the link. The link text (This is a link.) is the visible part in the web browser. By clicking on the text, you will be taken to the specified web address. Links in HTML don't always have to be text, they can be images, tables and lists etc.

Now it's your turn!

Exercise 3:

Under the ‘London’ heading, add this link and text.

https://www.visitlondon.com Visit London Now!

HTML Images

<img>

HTML Images are defined by this tag. The <img> tag does not have a closing tag. The src attribute identifies the image by the URL. The alt attribute is known as alternative text, this is text that shows if the image doesn't load correctly.

Try it yourself!

Exercise 4:

Choose an image of the London Eye, save this image in your already made ‘Code Box Guides’ folder. Under the heading ‘London Attractions’ add this image and add the alternative text as ‘The London Eye’.

HTML Buttons

This tag identifies a button in HTML. This tag has both a start and end tag.

Over to you!

Exercise 5:

Add a button that says ‘Click here for more information’ under the image of the London Eye.

HTML Text Formatting Elements

These are a range of elements that can be used to edit text in HTML. These are shown below in code and live preview. The live preview image shows how each text formatting element looks when shown on a web browser.

Now it’s your turn!

Exercise 6:

Under the ‘Before you go’ heading re-write these sentences and edit each one with one of the following formats: important, italic, highlighted and underlined.

Don’t forget to take your passport when flying to London. In London you can only use ‘Bank of England’ notes. Some museums and tourist attractions are closed on Mondays. No vaccinations are needed for London.

HTML Tables

HTML Tables are defined using the <table>. Table rows are defined using the <tr> tag, a table header is defined using the <th> tag, by default table headings are bold and centred when shown in the web browser. The tag <td> defines the table data/cell. The <td> tags are the data containers of the table, however, unlike table headings, all table data is left aligned. Table data can contain more than text, they can also contain images, lists, links etc. The <table style=“width:____> tag defines the full width of the table. This is how wide it will be across the web browser page. The whole table can be later edited using CSS (See CSS Basics Guide)

Over to you!

Exercise 7:

Make a table with the following information. The table should have a width of 80%. This will be under the ‘Things to do’ heading. The below information is in the order it should be entered into to the table, all you need to do is add the correct table tags.

Shopping Sight seeing Fortnum and Masons London Eye Selfridges Buckingham Palace Hamleys St Paul’s Cathedral

HTML Lists

Within HTML, there are a range of different types of lists that can be used.

The first one is Unordered Lists. This type of list starts with the <ul> tag, which stands for unordered list. An unordered list uses bullet points instead of numbers to label list items. Each list item starts with the <li> tag.

Next up is Ordered Lists. This type of lists starts with the <ol> tag, which stands for ordered list. This list uses numbers instead of bullet points to label list items. Again, like before, each list item starts with the <li> tag.

The last HTML List is a Description List. This is a list that describes each list item. The tag <dl> defines a description list, the <dt> tag defines the list item and the <dd> tag describes each list item.

It’s your turn!

Exercise 8:

Make an ordered list with the following places. This list will be under the ‘London Attractions’ heading.

London Eye Big Ben St Paul's Cathedral Buckingham Palace The Shard Tower of London Tower Bridge Tate Modern

#ixd302 #ixdbelfast #content #design #product #digitalproduct

2 notes · View notes

wedreamedlove · 5 years ago

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[FIC] A Classical Night

Rating: Explicit Characters: Xu Mo/Reader Word Count: 4657

Tags: Sweet and soft. Emotional. PWF (F for Feels). Oral. Fingering. Multiple orgasms (Reader). Slow sex.

A/N: Denoted actual lines in the ASMR with 『』 brackets (my translations). Also, the song that plays in the ASMR is Chopin’s Nocturne Op.15 No.2. I did NOT use that as mood music for the spicy scene LOL.

Summary: An alternative take to Xu Mo’s ASMR “Nightmare’s End (噩梦终点)”. There’s a lot of ways to help someone fall asleep again... like tiring them out.

It’s the whimper that wakes you.

For a second, you think you’re still dreaming or that it’s a stray outside making that noise. But then it happens again, closer and clearer, and you recognize Xu Mo’s groans.

You turn around in bed to see that at some point Xu Mo has rolled away from you onto his back. He’s still asleep but his brows are furrowed in distress and there’s a faint sheen of sweat on his pale face.

Unable to help yourself, you reach out with concern but your fingertips only manage to graze his cheek before he inhales sharply and snaps his eyes open. His hand catches your wrist in a tight grip, holding it still. In his eyes terror and helplessness bleeds into a vicious, cold look.

But then he recognizes you and the surging emotions still.

『You…』 He breathes out.

“Are you OK?” You ask, not moving your hand despite the ache.

『… It’s nothing.』 He murmurs. His gaze slides to his hand and he releases you before flinging his forearm across his eyes, letting himself sink deeper into the bed. He exhales hard and you think you see a shudder run through him. 『It was only a nightmare. It’s nothing.』

You watch him quietly, trying to decide if you should ask him for details or if that will make it worse.

He seems to sense the weight of your stare though because he removes his arm to turn his head to you, and you see that his eyes have returned to their usual calm.

『I’m sorry. I woke you up. 』 He reaches for your hand and rubs lightly at the place he gripped. 『 You don’t have to worry so much. I’m not a child who would get scared by nightmares.』

You know he’s only keeping his tone light to reassure you, so you don’t fall for it and instead you slip your hand out of his to brush at the dark circles underneath his eyes. “Did you get any rest at all?”

He closes his eyes at the touch of your fingers and gives a low hum. 『Mm, I just feel… that my sleep was a bit exhausting.』

Xu Mo allows you to stroke him for a little longer before he catches your hand, presses a light kiss to your palm, and then sits up. You shiver at the cool air that sweeps into the opening of the blankets made from his movements while he checks the time at the small table on his side of the bed.

“What time is it?” You say this through a yawn.

『It’s still early. You can sleep some more.』

“What about you?” You frown, catching the fatigue that lingers in his shoulders.

『I’m not drowsy anymore.』 He gives a soft laugh at your concern and strokes your head once before he moves to get out of bed. 『It just so happens that I haven’t finished reading a section of that report from earlier yet—』

Before you know it, you’ve already acted and grabbed his hand.

His eyebrows jump up. 『Hm? You’re not letting me go?』

You mutely shake your head.

Xu Mo laughs again, the gentle sound carrying his affectionate resignation. 『Haha, I won’t go then and I’ll keep you company. Look, my hand’s being held this tightly by yours. Even if I wanted to go, I wouldn’t be able to.』

He settles back down into bed and his smile deepens, the corners of his eyes creasing, when you pull the hand you’re holding closer to yourself until you’re basically hugging it. If he tries to slip away after you fall asleep, you’ll be able to know immediately. He wriggles his trapped hand with an amused look but leaves it there.

『Now, can you be good and close your eyes to sleep? 』

You open your mouth to confirm, but then a thought occurs to you. “Actually…”

Xu Mo doesn’t have time to react before you drop his hand and then throw yourself over to wrap your arms around him and bury yourself into his chest. 『What—? It’s foul play if you suddenly come over and hug me like this.』

“Ehehe.” You shake with your laughter, knowing you caught him off guard. But then just as you register the second part of his sentence you find yourself tipped over onto your back with Xu Mo ending up above you. His forearms are beside your head, caging you, while supporting his weight.

『Originally, I really was going to let you sleep peacefully.』

He says this in a light, lilting voice and you nearly miss the helpless undertone that’s present, taken in by the rhythm of his words. Xu Mo has always had a way of speaking that intoxicates you and this time’s not an exception either. Even before his lips touch yours, you’re half-dazed.

The cool sensation of his mouth disappears into warmth as you two kiss. He tilts his head, opening your lips with his tongue, and tastes you with an intimate familiarity. He slips his tongue deeper inside, sweeping through the hot space, sliding against the roof of your mouth, and then sucking at your tongue. The wet sound of this kiss is drowned out by the pounding of your heart that grows louder and louder as the seconds pass. Pleasure blinds you in flashes beneath your closed eyes, like fireworks going off, every time he moves his head, changing the angle of the kiss.

By the time Xu Mo pulls back and looks down at you, your chest is already heaving with the need for air. But still, the kiss felt all too short. One of your hands has found its way to clutch at the shirt he’s wearing, wrinkling the thin fabric, and you burn with the desire to kiss him or be kissed by him again. However, you don’t move and instead you appreciate the sight in front of you.

Like he mentioned earlier, it’s still early and the slivers of sunlight, mixed with moonlight, peeks in past the curtains to highlight the angle of his cheeks, creating a contrast of light and shadow. The dim light catches at the glimmer of purple in his ink-black eyes, making it look like stars reflected on the still waters of an endless ocean.

Xu Mo sketches out the sight you make with your flushed cheeks, damp eyes, and parted lips with his gaze before the corners of his lips rise in a slow smile. “Not doing much, are you?”

He punctuates this rhetorical question with a quick kiss.

Just like you know him, he knows you, and normally at this point you would be kissing him enthusiastically. Instead though, you haven’t done anything apart from responding to his advances. You know he catches the mischief in your smile. “Exercise is supposed to help you sleep, so…”

Xu Mo stares at you, dumbfounded.

And then he tilts his head back, revealing the elegant line of his throat, and laughs without reserve. This isn’t anything like his quiet chuckles, it’s a full-bodied laugh that makes his shoulders shake, and you can’t help but break out into giggles yourself at his genuine delight.

“I’ll work hard then.” The smile he gives you is wide enough to show his teeth.

He dips his head down to kiss you again, languid yet consuming. He moves his mouth over yours, catching your bottom lip to nibble and suck and then stroke his tongue over before he moves on to caressing your lips with his. He welcomes your tongue into his mouth when you reach out and you feel firsthand the rising heat in him. Each time he pauses for air and turns his head to brush kisses across your chin and jaw, you feel his scorching breaths graze your skin. There’s a haze of warm air between the both of you, softening the sharp lines of his features.

But, even though you’re being swept away by these pleasurable sensations, you still feel it when he shifts his weight onto one arm and frees a hand to slide it down your body, palm flush against your skin through your pajama top.

He kisses you deeply as his thumb teases at the edge of your panties, brushing the strip of skin exposed between your top and underwear, and you reflexively squeeze your legs together in anticipation. But then he slips the rest of his fingers underneath your top instead and moves his hand up to your chest.

“Xu…” You break off the kiss to call out his name, wanting to direct him elsewhere, but you only get out the first syllable before the rest trails off in a pleasurable gasp when he starts to knead and fondle a breast, squeezing, pressing, and dragging the pad of his thumb across the hardening tip.

Xu Mo smiles, the curve of his lips a clear sensation against your jaw. “Mm, yes, dear?”

“Don’t just—mngh…”

Your words are cut off again when he lightly pinches your nipple and pulls at it. Your back rises slightly, arching, at the zing of pleasure that races from your chest down to the dip between your legs. Cracking open your eyes, which you don’t remember closing, you turn your head to give his lips a quick pinch with your teeth, expressing your frustration.

He kisses the underside of your chin in return, letting out a breath of inaudible laughter, before he sits back and says, “Up.”

After you raise your arms obediently he pulls the rest of your pajama top off. His own shirt follows in being dragged over his head and tossed to the side and you stare unabashedly at the reveal of his solid muscles. Your eyes curve together with your satisfied smile when you reach out to splay a hand on his chest, appreciating the fine tremor that runs through him before his muscles tense into steel beneath your touch.

“I’m jealous,” you say as you slide your hand down to poke at his abdomen, feeling how the skin there doesn’t give way at all.

Xu Mo tilts his head. “Oh? I quite like how soft you are.”

And then he brushes the back of his fingers down the swell of your breast. You jerk at his touch, making a smile bloom across his face at your reaction to him.

“Shameless,” you scold as you bring up a leg, intending to push him with your foot.

But he reaches down to catch your leg and pulls it over the dip of his Adonis belt, perfectly slotting his own leg between yours, and you shiver when his hot thigh presses against the ache of you. You can’t help but move your hips a little, creating a pleasurable friction. The surface of his eyes ripple and darkens.

“Only in front of you,” he demurs, “Be good and stay still now. I believe I’m supposed to be doing all the work.”

He settles a hand beside your head to bear his weight and, for a second, you feel like there’s a great, big panther looming over you, contemplating the best way to eat the delicious morsel beneath it.

Then he leans down to kiss you deeply before proceeding to trail his mouth down your jaw, neck, and collarbone, where he swirls his tongue in the hollow of your throat. You sigh at the warmth that floods through your body, spreading from every spot his lips land on, and a hand clutches at his hair while the other twists into the sheets below you.

He kisses his way to the breast that was neglected from his earlier touches and, even though you’re expecting it, a gasp still escapes you when he closes his lips around the nub and sucks. His free hand reaches over to play with your other breast, pressing and prodding the sensitive tip before he starts to roll it between his fingers. You clench the hand that’s in his hair, unconsciously tugging at him due to all the stimulation, and when he hums in response with his mouth still around your breast a moan is dragged out from you this time.

“Xu Mo… stop teasing…”

You squirm against him impatiently.

“I’m teasing you?” He releases your nipple with a wet pop and you feel a gush of slick heat at the way those dark eyes glance up from underneath long, black eyelashes. He rests his chin on your chest and smiles slowly. “How come I don’t think that? If I was really teasing you…”

He stops the actions of his hand and then drags his nail around the tip of your breast… unhurried… tantalizing… but maintaining a distance that builds up frustration rather than satisfaction.

“Xu Mo,” you growl, fisting the hand you have in the sheets and pulling at his hair with the other.

He follows the direction of the pull, laughing softly, and then replaces his finger with his tongue, tracing the same path he took earlier, before he finally closes his mouth over your nub. He flicks his tongue up and down, wetting it thoroughly, and then draws back to blow air.

You cry out at this combination of hot and cold pleasure and squeeze your legs around his thigh. But this just presses him against your core harder and you tremble from the sheer want that opens up within you.

When you look at him, eyes blurry with desire, he pauses and then, before you can say anything, he’s already rising up to brush aside your bangs and lay a kiss on your forehead.

“Mm, I know. Don’t worry, I always want to give you what you wish.” His voice comes down gentle, solemn, and he uncurls your leg from around his hip before he shifts back enough to drop a kiss on your stomach. He curls his hands under the edge of your panties and requests, “Raise your hips.”

You do so and he slides your underwear off. But just when you expect him to use his finger he lowers his body against the bed, positions his head near your entrance, and strokes you with his tongue. You let out a choked gasp, not expecting that scorching wet sensation, and you try to clamp your legs shut automatically, jerking your hips away from this electric shock of pleasure.

However, Xu Mo already has an arm holding your waist down and his other arm is curled around your leg, hand splayed against your inner thigh to keep your leg spread open.

He services you with his mouth; at times lapping at you like a giant feline, at times tracing your folds with the lightest of caresses like butterfly wings skimming across petals, and at times pressing the flat of his tongue flush against you and tasting you like he’s trying to catch every drop but it’s never enough.

It isn’t long before the surging heat of pleasure threatens to bring you over the edge. Both of your hands are fisted in the sheets below you and you moan out his name in warning, unable to do anything more than that.

Xu Mo doesn’t say anything but he concentrates his efforts on all your sensitive spots, and it’s right when he slides the tip of his tongue into you that you climax.

Your back arches off the bed as your mind goes blank, a white-hot rush of ecstasy flooding your body, and your legs tense hard around Xu Mo trapped between them before you settle back down, boneless and quivering from a tingling warmth.

It takes you a few seconds to come down from your high and for you to realize that he’s been running his hand up and down your side in a soothing motion, head propped against your leg and watching you with tender eyes.

“Once more?” he asks, and before you can say anything he reaches down with the hand that was caressing you to push a finger into you.

“Mmgh!”

You clench down on the intrusion, feeling the lingering embers of pleasure get fanned back into flames.

“… Don’t squeeze so hard or I won’t be able to move,” Xu Mo tells you in a suddenly hoarse voice.

You see him press his head harder against your leg, his jaw somewhat clenched, and there’s beads of sweat on his forehead. You push down with your other leg, digging your foot into the sheets, to raise and roll your hips against his finger. “That’s because of you.”

“Oh? You’re blaming me?” He slides another finger into you as he asks this.

“Mhm!” You moan out your answer, shuddering when he starts to move these fingers lightly.

“Then I suppose I should take responsibility.”

He puts his words into action immediately, lowering his head to cover your soaking entrance with his mouth. He licks around his fingers as they scissor within you and stretch you. But when his tongue moves up to gently play with the sensitive bundle of nerves there and he curls his fingers to rub against a spot at the top of your walls, you reflexively buck your hips and cry out sharply, feeling another rush of slick heat come out.

Xu Mo gives a low grunt at your actions and you feel him smile around your clitoris before he continues his torture of it, prodding and sucking. His fingers start to slide in and out and, even though your heartbeat is deafening loud in your ears, you can still hear the squelching, wet sounds down there.

But you don’t have the leisure to be embarrassed. You’re writhing under his ministrations, panting for air and moaning, and before long the familiar surging tide of pleasure comes to drag you under.

You climax with a shout of his name.

Sinking deeply into the bed, your chest heaves as you desperately try to catch your breath.

Xu Mo brushes the inside of your thigh with light kisses as he waits for you to calm down before asking, “Once more?”

You stiffen and then shake your head vehemently. “No more! If you keep going I’m going to pass out.”

He laughs, “Now that won’t do. After all, you have to accompany me until I fall asleep. Right?”

Xu Mo sits up and wipes at the wetness around his mouth with the back of his hand, and the contrast between that rough, careless action with his usual elegance makes you clench your inner muscles with a low, throbbing ache.

Before you think more on it, you’re already reaching for the prominent bulge in his sweatpants. But he grabs your hand and shakes his head, admitting, “Not this time. I’m afraid I wouldn’t last.”

He must have seen something in your smug smile because his eyes darken before he leans forward to give you a hungering kiss that leaves your toes curling for more. And then, while you’re still dazed, he makes quick work of his sweatpants and opens the drawer of the side table to grab a condom to prepare himself.

Xu Mo soon settles himself over you again, aligning his tip to your entrance, and then takes one of your hands in his and places it above your head, intertwining your fingers together there, before he asks, “Ready?” His other hand places itself on your hip.

You nod and, even though your eyes flutter with the urge to close at the filling sensation of him sinking into you, you keep your gaze fixed on his face. He stares back, just as intently, as he continues to enter you slowly, like he’s burning every single change of your expression into his mind.

A pleased sigh slips out of you when his entire length finally ends up inside you.

“Good?” His voice is low and hoarse.

His only warning is the gleam in your eyes before you reply with a double entendre, licking your lips, “Very good.”

Xu Mo stills and then swallows hard, the bob of his Adam’s apple clear to your eyes. “Little vixen.”

He emphasizes his words by withdrawing and then thrusting back in a bit hard, making your laughter catch in your throat and turn into a breathy moan. His next thrusts return to being gentle though, and he sets a slow pace that lets you feel exactly how his tip pushes you open and how his member drags pleasurably against your walls.

Because of how sensitive your body is from the consecutive climaxes you had, you appreciate this change of pace and the gradual build up of warmth.

There’s a damp sheen of perspiration on his body and the beads of sweat you had seen earlier on his forehead have now slipped down to his jaw, tracing the throbbing vein in his throat, and following the lines of his rising and falling chest to disappear into the happy trail on his abdomen. His hair is sodden and drooping down into his eyes and you find yourself reaching out with your free hand to brush the strands back before you cup his cheek.

Even in the dim lighting you can see his pupils dilate at your touch and his eyes shake. But then he leans into your palm and turns his head, still watching you, to brush his lips against the hollow of your wrist.

The burst of love you feel comes along with you squeezing down on him. He gives a guttural groan and then leans forward, dislodging your hand, to cover your body with his and, pressing his forehead against yours, your sight is filled by dark purple eyes that burn with an inner flame.

He pulls your hip up with the hand there, changing the angle of his measured thrusts, and you feel the warmth in your body ignite into a sea of hot pleasure. Moaning, you dig your toes into the sheets to push back and match his movements, and this time you grab onto his shoulder for purchase, feeling the shift of his muscles as he moves.

It only takes a few more thrusts before you reach completion. You shut your eyes with a soundless cry as an eruption of fireworks happens in your mind and it feels like every nerve in your body is buzzing with an electric heat. You clutch hard at the hand that’s holding yours and your legs shake with the aftershocks of pleasure.

Xu Mo follows soon after, his orgasm marked by the shuddering breath that’s drawn out of him, and you can feel his length inside you pulsing as he releases himself.

Both of you take a few minutes to compose yourselves but Xu Mo recovers first and pulls himself out of you. He rakes back his sweat-sodden hair and then caresses your cheek with his thumb before he cleans you and himself up, disposing of the condom and wiping you down. He also picks up your pajama top from where it was tossed to the side.

“Here, put this on before you catch a chill.” He helps you into it when he sees your sluggish movements, unable to hide his smile.

You puff up with mock anger, sensing how he’s the one with a smug smirk this time. But his smile just deepens.

Then Xu Mo gets up to pour a glass of water and drinks it all at once before he fills it up again and returns to sit at the edge of the bed. He takes a mouthful of the water and then leans over to press his lips to yours, passing the cool liquid through a kiss. You greedily suck at his lips.

“More?” he asks.

Your response is to open your mouth again in obvious demand. He laughs, giving your hair a stroke, before he answers your wish and gives you another drink of water with his mouth.

After you’ve had your fill of water Xu Mo sets the glass aside on the side table and then slips back into bed. You cuddle up against him, nuzzling your face into his solid chest.

“Do you think you can sleep now?” You ask through a yawn. Drowsiness lurks at the edge of your awareness now that all of your needs are met.

He hums, and the sound is a gentle vibration beneath you. “Hmm, I suppose I’m tired enough for that.”

Tilting your head up, you reach out to trace the corner of his eye with your fingertips. He watches you quietly as you do that, letting you touch him however you wish.

Xu Mo looks more relaxed than he did at the start, so it looks like some of the tension in his body was released, but he still carries the air of someone with chronic insomnia.

“When was the last time you got a good night’s sleep?” You ask suddenly.

He blinks at your question, the only sign of his slight surprise, before he takes on a thoughtful expression and turns a distant gaze towards the window. 『… Let me think.』

You wait patiently until he turns his attention back to you. He lifts his hand and plays with a lock of your hair as he starts to speak slowly, working through the memory.

『One time, when I was studying in England, I spent months finishing a particularly tricky piece of my dissertation. After I sent it through the mail, it was already nine in the morning. I was a bit tired and planned on sleeping. The weather in England is often rainy, so it was also raining that morning and it was dark. The sound of the rain striking the windowsill was clear and it sounded soothing too. Then, there was the sound of a piano from below. It was Chopin’s Nocturne, and played very well. Every note mixed in with the sound of the rain… unhurried drops, pitter-pattering. All was quiet, as if I was separated from the world. I stared at the curtains that were being lifted by the wind and, before I knew it, I fell asleep.』

You think about his story for a moment and then sit up to grab your phone from the side table. Unlocking it, you open a few websites and then before long the gentle notes of Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 15 No. 2 start to play in the room together with the sound of rain in the background. “Like this?”

Xu Mo’s eyes widen before he smiles and nods. 『Mm, it was just like this sound.』

You turn the volume on your phone up to the max and then set it down again before settling back into bed. But this time you pull Xu Mo over to you, much to his bemusement, until his head is pillowed on your chest.

The delicate sound of the piano surrounds both of you and Xu Mo is so silent that you start to think he’s fallen asleep until he speaks up again in a quiet voice.

『Although I don’t remember it at all anymore, I dimly feel that when I was small I also experienced a night like this. The sound of the rain, the sound of the piano.』

During his pause, you start to comb your fingers through his hair tenderly. He exhales heavily at this action and rests more of his weight onto you, as if the remaining tension in his frame was leeched out.

『… Outside the window, it’s very, very cold. I can hear the sound of the wind striking the window. And in my half-awake and half-asleep state, I’m put into a warm embrace…』

His breathing deepens.

『Closing my eyes like this… I’m able to sink into a deep, deep sleep… Just like… this right now…』

The rest of his breaths smooth out into the peaceful rhythm of sleep. You continue to run your fingers through his hair some more, wanting to make sure he was securely sleeping, before you carefully lean down to kiss the top of his head.

Good night and sweet dreams, Xu Mo.

#mr love queen's choice #mlqc #mlqc xu mo #mlqc lucien #mlqc fanfic #love and producer #tbh i wanted to push the beginning of the spicies further back #but then i felt guilty for using chopin as bedroom music LOL #the last section of quotes are not in chronological order btw i skipped a section #i feel like i'm tagging a situation cd

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draculalive · 5 years ago

Text

Dr. Seward's Diary.

20 September. -- Only resolution and habit can let me make an entry to-night. I am too miserable, too low-spirited, too sick of the world and all in it, including life itself, that I would not care if I heard this moment the flapping of the wings of the angel of death. And he has been flapping those grim wings to some purpose of late -- Lucy's mother and Arthur's father, and now... Let me get on with my work.

I duly relieved Van Helsing in his watch over Lucy. We wanted Arthur to go to rest also, but he refused at first. It was only when I told him that we should want him to help us during the day, and that we must not all break down for want of rest, lest Lucy should suffer, that he agreed to go. Van Helsing was very kind to him. "Come, my child," he said; "come with me. You are sick and weak, and have had much sorrow and much mental pain, as well as that tax on your strength that we know of. You must not be alone; for to be alone is to be full of fears and alarms. Come to the drawing-room, where there is a big fire, and there are two sofas. You shall lie on one, and I on the other, and our sympathy will be comfort to each other, even though we do not speak, and even if we sleep." Arthur went off with him, casting back a longing look on Lucy's face, which lay in her pillow, almost whiter than the lawn. She lay quite still, and I looked round the room to see that all was as it should be. I could see that the Professor had carried out in this room, as in the other, his purpose of using the garlic; the whole of the window-sashes reeked with it, and round Lucy's neck, over the silk handkerchief which Van Helsing made her keep on, was a rough chaplet of the same odorous flowers. Lucy was breathing somewhat stertorously, and her face was at its worst, for the open mouth showed the pale gums. Her teeth, in the dim, uncertain light, seemed longer and sharper than they had been in the morning. In particular, by some trick of the light, the canine teeth looked longer and sharper than the rest. I sat down by her, and presently she moved uneasily. At the same moment there came a sort of dull flapping or buffeting at the window. I went over to it softly, and peeped out by the corner of the blind. There was a full moonlight, and I could see that the noise was made by a great bat, which wheeled round -- doubtless attracted by the light, although so dim -- and every now and again struck the window with its wings. When I came back to my seat, I found that Lucy had moved slightly, and had torn away the garlic flowers from her throat. I replaced them as well as I could, and sat watching her.

Presently she woke, and I gave her food, as Van Helsing had prescribed. She took but a little, and that languidly. There did not seem to be with her now the unconscious struggle for life and strength that had hitherto so marked her illness. It struck me as curious that the moment she became conscious she pressed the garlic flowers close to her. It was certainly odd that whenever she got into that lethargic state, with the stertorous breathing, she put the flowers from her; but that when she waked she clutched them close. There was no possibility of making any mistake about this, for in the long hours that followed, she had many spells of sleeping and waking and repeated both actions many times.

At six o’clock Van Helsing came to relieve me. Arthur had then fallen into a doze, and he mercifully let him sleep on. When he saw Lucy's face I could hear the sissing indraw of his breath, and he said to me in a sharp whisper: "Draw up the blind; I want light!" Then he bent down, and, with his face almost touching Lucy's, examined her carefully. He removed the flowers and lifted the silk handkerchief from her throat. As he did so he started back, and I could hear his ejaculation, "Mein Gott!" as it was smothered in his throat. I bent over and looked, too, and as I noticed some queer chill came over me.

The wounds on the throat had absolutely disappeared.

For fully five minutes Van Helsing stood looking at her, with his face at its sternest. Then he turned to me and said calmly:---

"She is dying. It will not be long now. It will be much difference, mark me, whether she dies conscious or in her sleep. Wake that poor boy, and let him come and see the last; he trusts us, and we have promised him."

I went to the dining-room and waked him. He was dazed for a moment, but when he saw the sunlight streaming in through the edges of the shutters he thought he was late, and expressed his fear. I assured him that Lucy was still asleep, but told him as gently as I could that both Van Helsing and I feared that the end was near. He covered his face with his hands, and slid down on his knees by the sofa, where he remained, perhaps a minute, with his head buried, praying, whilst his shoulders shook with grief. I took him by the hand and raised him up. "Come," I said, "my dear old fellow, summon all your fortitude: it will be best and easiest for her."

When we came into Lucy's room I could see that Van Helsing had, with his usual forethought, been putting matters straight and making everything look as pleasing as possible. He had even brushed Lucy's hair, so that it lay on the pillow in its usual sunny ripples. When we came into the room she opened her eyes, and seeing him, whispered softly:---

"Arthur! Oh, my love, I am so glad you have come!" He was stooping to kiss her, when Van Helsing motioned him back. "No," he whispered, "not yet! Hold her hand; it will comfort her more."

So Arthur took her hand and knelt beside her, and she looked her best, with all the soft lines matching the angelic beauty of her eyes. Then gradually her eyes closed, and she sank to sleep. For a little bit her breast heaved softly, and her breath came and went like a tired child's.

And then insensibly there came the strange change which I had noticed in the night. Her breathing grew stertorous, the mouth opened, and the pale gums, drawn back, made the teeth look longer and sharper than ever. In a sort of sleep-waking, vague, unconscious way she opened her eyes, which were now dull and hard at once, and said in a soft, voluptuous voice, such as I had never heard from her lips:---

"Arthur! Oh, my love, I am so glad you have come! Kiss me!" Arthur bent eagerly over to kiss her; but at that instant Van Helsing, who, like me, had been startled by her voice, swooped upon him, and catching him by the neck with both hands, dragged him back with a fury of strength which I never thought he could have possessed, and actually hurled him almost across the room.

"Not for your life!" he said; "not for your living soul and hers!" And he stood between them like a lion at bay.

Arthur was so taken aback that he did not for a moment know what to do or say; and before any impulse of violence could seize him he realised the place and the occasion, and stood silent, waiting.

I kept my eyes fixed on Lucy, as did Van Helsing, and we saw a spasm as of rage flit like a shadow over her face; the sharp teeth champed together. Then her eyes closed, and she breathed heavily.

Very shortly after she opened her eyes in all their softness, and putting out her poor, pale, thin hand, took Van Helsing's great brown one; drawing it to her, she kissed it. "My true friend," she said, in a faint voice, but with untellable pathos, "My true friend, and his! Oh, guard him, and give me peace!"

"I swear it!" he said solemnly, kneeling beside her and holding up his hand, as one who registers an oath. Then he turned to Arthur, and said to him: "Come, my child, take her hand in yours, and kiss her on the forehead, and only once."

Their eyes met instead of their lips; and so they parted.

Lucy's eyes closed; and Van Helsing, who had been watching closely, took Arthur's arm, and drew him away.

And then Lucy's breathing became stertorous again, and all at once it ceased.

"It is all over," said Van Helsing. "She is dead!"

I took Arthur by the arm, and led him away to the drawing-room, where he sat down, and covered his face with his hands, sobbing in a way that nearly broke me down to see.

I went back to the room, and found Van Helsing looking at poor Lucy, and his face was sterner than ever. Some change had come over her body. Death had given back part of her beauty, for her brow and cheeks had recovered some of their flowing lines; even the lips had lost their deadly pallor. It was as if the blood, no longer needed for the working of the heart, had gone to make the harshness of death as little rude as might be.

"We thought her dying whilst she slept, And sleeping when she died."

I stood beside Van Helsing, and said:---

"Ah, well, poor girl, there is peace for her at last. It is the end!"

He turned to me, and said with grave solemnity:---

"Not so; alas! not so. It is only the beginning!"

When I asked him what he meant, he only shook his head and answered:---

"We can do nothing as yet. Wait and see."

#vampires #dracula #draculalive

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blastron01 · 6 years ago

Text

Ascendance of a Bookworm – 082

Benno's Meeting with the Head Priest

The cart stops at the entrance to the temple, and the coachman steps down. I can hear them saying something to the watchmen standing at the gates.

I stand up from my seat, getting ready to get out, but Benno, not saying a word, holds me back. I look blankly up at him, he slowly turns his head away, still staying silent. I guess that he's trying to tell me to sit down and stay quiet, so I give him a small nod, sitting back down, a little heavily, in my seat.

Urgh, my heart's pounding.

I have no idea about what's happening now, and even less of one about what might be happening soon. I can't stop shivering anxiously. I clench my fists tightly, looking around the inside of the carriage. Mark seems to be making use of the fact that the carriage has come to a stop to write something.

Mark, noticing that I'm looking at him, lifts his head to show me a calming smile. I try to smile back, but my face is a little too stiff, and it comes across as more of a grimace. Mark covers his mouth, trying not to laugh. I still don't know if it's okay for me to break this silence, so I scowl at him, puffing out my cheeks angrily. Benno, from next to me, pokes me in my puffed-up cheeks. It's as if they're ridiculing me for being the only person here who's nervous about this whole situation.

After a little while, the carriage rocks slightly as the coachman climbs back on board. Mark quickly puts away his pen and ink, then hands Benno the paper he'd been writing on. Benno looks it over, then grins broadly. I lean over, trying to see what's written on it, but in that moment the carriage starts moving again. When the clattering of the carriage's wheels fills the cabin, Benno starts to speak.

"At this gate, visitors introduce themselves and request for their presence to be announced, then the gates are opened for them. When we get off, Mark will go first, then me, then you. You're going to take my hand and step down slowly. Absolutely do not just jump off, and don't lose your footing on the steps."

By "don't jump off," he must be referring to the time that Lutz and I rode in the guild master's carriage. (To get down, we'd leapt off in unison, yelling "woo!" as we flew.) I was already worried about being so tense that I'd miss the stairs, too. I look off sheepishly off to the side.

"Since they've gone and announced our presence, I'm betting that your attendants are going to be beyond that gate too. When we're walking to the head priest's office, I want the guy that he assigned to you in front, then me and you, and then Mark and your other attendants should follow behind us, carrying our gifts."

I'd honestly just planned on handing the head priest the money and saying "here's my donation!", but it looks like this has gotten exaggerated far beyond that. If I'd just brought the money by myself, I can't even imagine what kind of rude blunders I'd make.

"So, the box with your donation in it is something that you had me carry. When we get to the head priest's room, open it up and look inside to check its contents, and then thank me for my troubles." "Huh? How? Like, 'thank you', or 'I appreciate the effort', or something like that?" "Something more noble-like would be better, but, well, that'll work too."

What would noble words of thanks sound like? "I appreciate what a laborious task this must have been." But that sounds way too self-important, though!!

I hum thoughtfully to myself while I dig through my memories. I can remember medieval legends and poetry collections, but not only would that sound way too theatrical, if I'm talking to someone who isn't just quoting lines out of a book, being able to recite memorized lines isn't going to cut it. If I were talking to a merchant, then I'd be able to pull out the various phrases I learned from books on business manners, but I feel like that's not quite what a noble would sound like.

In the end, I dredge up my memories of what pampered rich girls sound like and try them out.

"Ummm... I am grateful from the bottom of my heart that you so willingly undertook my request, as difficult as it may have been... something like that?" "And where did you learn how to talk like that?!"

Benno stares at me, his eyes wide in absolute shock. I can't figure out if that was too overbearing, or if it was just right, or if it just failed altogether.

"So... no good, then?" "...No, that's perfect. Try to keep talking like that until we get back to the carriage."

I bite down on a cry of disbelief, my face contorted into a nervous grimace. I am currently, most likely, the furthest possible thing from the image of an elegant rich girl. I force myself to take a slow, deep breath, straightening my back.

"I understand," I reply, as smoothly as I can.

Shortly thereafter, the carriage passes through the gates, and we come to a stop within the grounds of the temple. The door is opened for us by our coachman, and Mark steps out first. Next is Benno. Finally, I step forward to stand in the doorway.

The scene that I see when I look out the door is entirely unlike the temple I know. It seems like the entrance that carts stop at might be the temple's true front entrance. This entrance appears to be for the exclusive use of the nobility and the very wealthy, with ornate sculptures and carvings made from a variety of materials placed amidst green gardens bursting with flowers. The mouth of the entryway itself is decorated with colorful tile in much the same way as the front wall of the hall of worship.

The entrance that I've been using up until now, the one that leads straight from the main road, seems to be the entrance used by the commoners who arrive on foot. Compared to this, it seems like it's just the back door. There is a strict separation between the dull monochrome of that world and the vivid color of this one. The scene before my eyes is a harsh reminder that there are a lot of stark differences that I just don't know about.

For a temple, a place that purports itself to be a house of the gods, to be so sharply different even just at its entrance is something that I couldn't have even imagined. When the unexpected evidence of this clear disparity hits my eyes, my heart freezes.

"Maïne, your hand..."

Benno's voice snaps me out of my trance, and I hold out my hand. I glance down at my feet, worried about falling, and in that moment he grabs my hand tightly and picks me up.

"Don't look down," he says in a quiet voice, his smile unwavering. A cold sweat runs down my spine, and I smile broadly back, nodding. One of the key points that he had explained to me was "even if you don't have any confidence in yourself, don't lower your head", but it seems like that extends to a ban on looking down for any reason at all.

He gently sets me down, more courteously than I could ever imagine him doing under normal circumstances. Fran quickly approaches.

"Sister Maïne," he says. "Master Benno," I say, "This is one of my attendants. Fran," I continue, looking up at him with a slight tilt to my head, "might I perhaps be able to request a meeting with Father Ferdinand?"

A look of astonishment flashes briefly over Fran's face, then he smoothly crosses his hands before his chest and bows slightly.

"Preparations are already underway," he replies. "Madam Maïne," says Mark, "who might I be able to ask for assistance with bringing Master Benno's gifts to the head priest?"

A tiny jolt of panic shoots through my heart, and I glance back at him over my shoulder. When I slowly look around the area, I see neither Gil nor Delia nearby. I can't decide if I should be worried that I don't have them to help carry things or relieved that they're not here to make trouble for me. Either way, I have no idea what the correct answer to this particular problem is, so I decide to pass the burden onto Fran.

"Fran, might I ask you to find a few trustworthy individuals to assist me?" "As you wish," he replies.

Even though I'd just shoved a bunch of work onto him, he immediately nods and starts quickly carrying out my request. No look of dissatisfaction, no "but"s, just the smooth acknowledgement of an excellent attendant fulfilling his master's request.

I tilt my head in blank confusion. Why is he behaving so differently all of a sudden? Literally the only thing that's different between this morning and now is the fact that I'm talking differently...

And then it hits me. Fran finds it very important that I speak like a noble.

I'd been irritated that he seemed to only have eyes for the head priest, but at the same time, he resented the fact that I didn't seem to be even the slightest bit noble. If I want him to feel good about the work that he's doing, then what I've been doing isn't good enough. Just like Lutz said, I need to put a ton of effort into learning how nobles speak and act.

Fran calls over several gray-robed priests and starts directing them to carry the gifts, splitting the work between them. After checking to ensure that nothing was left behind, he says, "please, this way," and begins to lead the way. Unlike this morning, when a vague air of dissatisfaction had followed him around as we walked, he seems lively now, as if he's very much in his element.

Benno gives me a look, silently urging me onwards, and I start following him. Just as we'd discussed, everyone falls into place as Benno had described. However, Fran is an adult, and his brisk pace is rather difficult to keep up with. As I frantically move my feet as quickly as they can go to keep up, Benno speaks up, unable to keep quiet about the situation.

"Aren't you going a bit fast?" he says. Fran looks over his shoulder. "I beg your pardon?" he says, blinking. "Madam Maïne is your master, isn't she? I'm well aware that you were only just assigned to her this morning, but if you don't pay attention to how quickly you're walking, she's going to collapse. So, this might be a bit impertinent of me to ask, but would you maybe keep an eye on your speed?" "...My sincere apologies."

Fran looks ashamed that Benno, a visitor, had been the one to point that out. Really, I as his master should have been the one to ask that. He immediately starts to apologize, but I realize that if I let him do so then I would be failing my obligations as a noble.

"Master Benno, I apologize for making you worry. Fran is an excellent attendant, assigned to me by the head priest himself. I have no doubt that he'll adjust quickly. Your concern is appreciated, but unnecessary." "Alright," he replies. "How about, for today, Mark carries you, since he is already accustomed to you? It would be rather problematic if you lost consciousness today, as you have before."

Glancing up at Benno, it's very easy to see what's written on his face: "you'd better not pass out on me in the middle of the corridor after we've come this far". Mark hands the cloth-wrapped bundle he's been carrying to Fran, then, with a courteous apology, gently lifts me up in his arms.

Eeek! In a princess carry?!

I choke down a shout over having picked up in an entirely different way than I'm used to. Elegantly, elegantly, I repeat to myself, putting on the most elegant smile I can muster.

"Fran, if you will," I say, gesturing down the corridor. "Of course, Sister," he replies.

When the head priest's room comes into view, Mark lets me down, takes his bundle back from Fran, then steps back to rejoin the squadron of gift-bearers. Fran, despite the fact that the head priest's room is literally right in front of us, constantly checks over his shoulder as we walk, making sure that he's matching my walking speed. I smile and nod back at him, trying to silently convey that his speed is fine. A look of obvious relief crosses his face.

Unlike the temple master's room, no priests stand guard outside the high priest's room. When Fran reaches the unattended door, he retrieves a small bell from his sash, then rings it once. I've only ever seen doors like this opened after someone calls out to the gray-robed priest next to the door, who then opens the door for them, but this time, he opens the door himself after a single ring of the bell.

I start heading towards the door as it swings open, but Benno squeezes my shoulder to get me to stop. I glance at the other people around me and see that everyone is patiently standing by. It seems like we mustn't start entering until the door is completely open. I step back to my previous position, keeping a perfectly straight face as if nothing at all had happened, and wait for the door to finish opening.

Beyond the door are two gray-robed priests. The head priest sits at his desk, with Arnaud standing beside him. Fran enters the room, stopping in front of the reception table. Seeing that, I stop as well. Benno and Mark stop behind me, and the squadron of gift-bearers spreads out along the wall.

Benno smoothly takes a single step forward, sinking down onto his left knee much like I did during my ceremony of vows, then gently bows his head.

"On this brilliant day, granted to us by the power of Leidenschaft, the god of Fire, the gods have guided me here. May they bless this auspicious meeting. ...I believe this is the first time we have met, Father. I am Benno, the proprietor of the Gilberta Company. I am here today at the behest of Madam Maïne. I am most pleased to make your acquaintance."

Benno fluently recited the name of the god of fire as if it were the most obvious thing, but I still don't actually remember them myself. I'm guessing that if I don't learn the names of the gods that affect each season, I won't be able to properly greet any nobility. When I think of what it'll take just to be able to properly introduce myself, I can feel the blood start to drain from my face. I suddenly realize just how important the task of memorizing the scriptures that the head priest had given me really is. Learning how to deal with the nobility is going to be very difficult, it seems.

"I grant you my blessing," replies the head priest, "from the depths of my heart. May the guidance of Leidenschaft, the god of fire, pour down upon the Gilberta Company."

He raises his left hand over his heart, stretching his right hand before him until his fingers come to rest just above Benno's head. A gentle blue light shines forth from his palm, and Benno's pale hair, ordinarily the color of milk tea, is dyed blue. The light disappears quickly, but it's plain for anyone to see that Benno has received a blessing.

This unexpectedly solemn scene takes my breath away. That blue light must be mana, isn't it? All I can do is force my mana out using my emotions, creating that coercion effect, but if I'm taught how to use it, could I give blessings like that? Or, rather, since I'm an apprentice priestess, am I going to be expected to be able to give blessings like that?

The list of things I need to keep track of in my head just keeps on growing. Lutz's words prickle in the back of my mind: I have a lot I need to do before I can read my books.

"Sister Maïne," says Fran. "Please, may I offer you a seat?"

His voice snaps me back to reality. I can see that he's already moved next to the head priest's reception table. Now that I think of it, given my social standing here, if I don't move, I'm pretty sure that nobody else can.

I walk over to the chair that Fran guides me to. That, at least, poses no difficulty. However, since I'm basically only as large as a five-year-old, whenever I need to sit in a chair, I have to climb up onto it. Ordinarily, this poses no problem at all, but today, that just won't do.

I didn't think of this! How the hell do I sit gracefully on a chair that's too tall for me? What would an elegant rich girl do in this situation! Do I just make an "oh, bother" pose and hope for the best?!

I stare at the chair, at a loss for what to do next. Then, not entirely sure whether or not this would actually convey what I want it to, I lift my right hand, resting my index finger on my face, then bring my left hand up to my right elbow as I would if I were crossing my arms. I look up at Fran, tilting my head slightly to the side.

I stand like that for about three full seconds.

"...Pardon me, Sister," says Fran, picking me up and sitting me down in the chair.

Oho! It went through?!

I smile brilliantly at Fran as he pushes my chair in. A faint, almost wry smile tugs at the corners of his mouth.

By the time I look away from him, Benno's already taken a seat next to me. Behind him stands Mark, and, across the table, behind the high priest stands Arnaud. Fran must be standing right behind me as well. The gift-bearing priests are still lined up against the wall.

"Madam," says Benno, to me, "here is the item that you requested I bring for you. Is this to your satisfaction?"

He reaches towards me, holding out the ornately carved wooden jewelry box he has been carrying in both hands this entire time. He opens the box, showing me its contents. Inside are five small gold coins. This is the first time I've ever seen a gold coin. I spend a moment staring at their dazzling sparkle, then thank Benno for his effort, just as we practiced.

"Master Benno, I am grateful from the bottom of my heart that you so willingly undertook my request, as difficult as it may have been." "It was no great trouble at all," he replies.

He sets the box down on the table, leaving the lid open, and presents it to the head priest.

"Father," he says, "this box contains Madam Maïne's donation. Please accept this offering." "...Hm, this is indeed all in order. Maïne... also, Benno. I appreciate what a laborious task this must have been."

The head priest looks into the box, verifying its contents, then closes it. He hands it to Arnaud, who carries it off somewhere, most likely to where they keep their coin for safekeeping.

"Additionally," says Benno, "I would like to offer you these gifts of my own, as a token of my thankfulness to you."

With these words, the gray-robed priests lining the walls step forward, placing their bundles on the table. Mark moves to down his bundle as well. The head priest looks over them, frowning.

"I'd understand if this were a greeting, but thankfulness? I don't think I've done anything you'd be thankful for." "It is through your good graces that Maïne's Workshop will be able to continue operating. It is this for which I am most deeply thankful."

Benno crosses his hands before his chest, casting his eyes downward. "Ah, I see," murmurs the head priest. Benno then starts to introduce the head priest to the items he's brought.

"This cloth is of the highest quality that my shop has to offer. This, here, is called rinsham. While I presently hold all of the rights to its production, this product was originally produced by Maïne's Workshop. This, here, is a product of her workshop as well: a plant-based paper, which we are only just beginning to sell." "Hmm...!"

The thing that seems to have caught the head priest's interest the most is the plant-based paper. He picks up a sheet, feeling its texture.

"I would like to dedicate these gifts to you, Father, as well as to the Reverend, the master of this temple, who it seems could not be here with us today. I would also like to dedicate these to Madam Maïne, through whose good graces has allowed this meeting to occur."

Huh? Me?!

I can't stop my eyes from widening in shock, but I at least manage to stop myself from saying anything out loud. The two of them, paying no attention as I force down my surprise, continue their conversation.

"These are excellent gifts. You have my gratitude." "I am deeply delighted that they have pleased you, Father." The head priest glances at the gray robed priests. "Put these gifts on the shelves, if you would."

At his word, they begin to put everything away. Mark helps to hand things to them as he wraps the paper back up in its cloth.

Ahh... it's over.

My donation has been delivered, the gifts have been received, and so our business today has gone off without a hitch. The moment I let out a small sigh of relief, however, Benno's hand moves nimbly under the table, lightly tapping against my leg.

I turn to look at him, tilting my head curiously. He looks back at me, copying my surprised expression. He smiles a fake smile, then makes a show of glancing down. Careful not to bow my head, I glance down as well, and see that there's a small scrap of paper tucked between his fingers.

I quietly reach out to take the paper, suddenly hit with nostalgia. What schoolkid hasn't passed notes like this during class? I, personally, exchanged a few notes like this with girls before, but I never got any notes from boys. Benno is more than a little too old to be called a boy, but this is the first time I've ever gotten a letter from someone of the opposite sex. I know it's just Benno, but I can't help but get a little bit excited as I unfold the paper.

When I casually glance under the table, taking care to keep it hidden, written there on the paper, in neat writing, is "stay sharp, idiot."

You got me excited over this?!

The head priest looks at me, perhaps having noticed that my elegant demeanor suddenly slipped. I frantically paste a smile on my face, but it might have been slightly too obvious, as his expression suddenly changes. I straighten myself, swallowing, as the head priest holds his hand out to the side, gently waving it. The gray robed priests, seeing this, all cross their hands over their chests, bowing gently, then file out of the room one by one.

"While we have this opportunity," he says, "I have a few questions I'd like to ask of you, Benno."

The head priest's face grows tight. He looks at Benno with sharp eyes that seem to brook no lies nor deceit. At the same time, the feeling that Benno is giving off suddenly grows much sharper than it did before.

It seems like this is the start of the real conversation. I sit up ramrod straight, clutching Benno's reminder to "stay sharp, idiot" in my fist.

prev • next

#honzuki #honzuki no gekokujou

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argentdandelion · 6 years ago

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Cross-Fandom Analysis: “I’m Bad, and That’s Good”

Or, “How to Not Die by Falling into Not-Lava”.

Thesis: Ralph’s speech of “I’m bad, and that’s good. I will never be good, and that’s not bad. There’s no one I’d rather be...than me.” also applies to W.D. Gaster of Handplates, but in an opposite moral direction.

(For simplicity’s sake, this article will not be considering the sequel Ralph Wrecks the Internet)

Ralph Context

Ralph: “Sure must be nice, being the good guy.” Ralph: “Here’s the thing. I don’t want to be the bad guy anymore.” Clyde (the orange ghost in Pac-Man): “Ralph, Ralph. We get it. But we can’t change who we are. The sooner you accept that, the better off your game and your life will be.”

History

In the film Wreck-it Ralph, Ralph, who's been the "bad guy" of a Donkey Kong-esque arcade game for decades, doesn't want to be the "bad guy" any more. He's tired of getting defeated by his game's protagonist, Fix-it Felix, over and over and being excluded and not appreciated by everyone in his game. He doesn’t seem to have any friends; when he shows up to Bad Anon at the film’s beginning, it’s his first time.

In his game, Felix gets a medal for his heroism after defeating Ralph; to prove he can be a good guy, Ralph ventures to another game to get himself a medal. In the process, he accidentally brings a mindless killer robot to the helpless game Sugar Rush. Though thought destroyed, the robot actually survived and multiplied underground. He also loses his newfound medal, and in his quest to get it back, he befriends one of Sugar Rush's characters: Vanellope.

Motives

Ralph’s bad-guy status was externally-imposed: he was created for the role of being the bad guy in an arcade game, and the game literally puts words in his mouth to accomplish this. Refusing to play out his role or even just leaving his game for too long comes with the risk of making the arcade game seem broken, and if people think it's broken, it will be unplugged and its characters will become homeless; therefore it is selfish.

Ralph’s initial motives are selfish. The other characters in the game Wreck-it Ralph don’t believe he can ever get a medal because he’ll never be any more than a bad guy. When he gets a medal (by basically cheating rather than earning it), he figures he’ll come back to the admiration of the other game characters.

Execution of Motives

While Ralph’s initial motives for helping Vanellope are selfish, (he wants his hero’s medal back and helping Vanellope win a race will do it) he nonetheless does some kind, altruistic (arguably heroic) things to help Vanellope even before he gets his medal back.

When the other Sugar Rush characters harass Vanellope and tear apart her homemade cart, Ralph (who doesn’t even like her, at this point) charges down and scares the other racers off. He’ll get the medal back if Vanellope wins a race, but Vanellope doesn’t have a car or some place to practice. So he uses his super-strength to break into a car-making minigame facility and help Vanellope make a car, and also creates a racetrack for her to practice on.

Later, he unexpectedly gets his medal back before Vanellope races. the film’s antagonist also tricks him into believing that if Vanellope does win a race, Sugar Rush’s plug will be pulled, causing everyone to flee the game and become homeless game characters. Yet, Vanellope, as a glitch, cannot escape her game: she’ll die.

Ralph thus wrecks Vanellope’s cart so she can’t race, avoiding the outcome that will result in her death. (The scene is emotionally devastating; the author still always fast-forwards through that scene.) Later on, he breaks into prison to rescue Felix, the hero of the game Wreck-it Ralph, for Felix’s magic hammer can fix anything and thus can reassemble the remains of Vanellope’s car.

Speech Interpretation

At the film’s climax, Ralph learns a mindless killer robot (a Cy-Bug) he accidentally brought in from another game survived the crash of the escape pod that brought him to Sugar Rush. Not only that, but it multiplied into a massive army, in a game where there are no built-in controls to its spread. Vanellope, as a glitch character, cannot escape Sugar Rush. The film’s villain holds Ralph high in the air, trying to get him to watch Vanellope die. That’s when Ralph realizes he’s above a mountain of Mentos and lava-like diet cola. He escapes the villain’s clutches, intending to punch the entire layer of Mentos in the mountain into the boiling diet cola: the eruption would draw the Cy-Bugs in like moths to a flame and destroy them.

When Ralph is falling to his (presumed) death, it’s likely he believes he’s brought a lot of suffering onto Vanellope, such as bringing a Cy-Bug in (accidentally) and breaking her cart to start with. It’s likely he believes his sacrifice is the only way to save her.

Therefore, Ralph’s interpretation of the Bad Guy Affirmation would be: “I’ve messed up, and I’m doomed to be a villain. I accept that. At least Vanellope cares about me [he looks at his candy medal during this line], and this is the only thing I can do to save her.”

Handplates Context

Gaster: “It does not matter if they [the test subjects] can understand. It does not matter what they look like, or if they can think, or what they feel.” Gaster: “To even consider...[abandoning the experiment and raising the test subjects more-or-less normally]...such selfish sentimentality gets people killed. There is only one choice.”

History

In the Undertale fan comic Handplates (by Zarla-s), monsters were sealed underground with a magical barrier after losing a war millennia ago. When his son was killed by humans, Asgore, king of the monsters, declared war on humanity. He declared that any humans who fell into monsters’ underground realm would be killed, and their souls used to break the magical barrier keeping them all underground. However, Asgore is a kind pushover of a king, who once adopted human child himself. Going through with his declaration causes him a lot of emotional suffering. To ease his pain, the royal scientist W.D. Gaster tries to find some way to break or bypass the barrier without having the king kill any humans.

To this end, he cut out disks of bone from his hands to grow into “living tools” for his experiments. Yet, they unexpectedly became sentient monster children, causing some ethical problems.

W.D. Gaster, in some ways, is the opposite of Ralph. Though his whole family (and all other skeletons) were killed off in the war, he was de facto adopted by King Asgore and Queen Toriel, who loved him very much. He grew up to be a scientist, and helped the whole Underground with his inventions. Indeed, he gained the singularly esteemed position of royal scientist, with immense resources for whatever project he needed.

However, like Ralph, W.D. Gaster has very few friends. While he’s been alive for thousands of years (Ralph’s been alive for 30), he seems close to only three people: Alphys, Asgore, and Toriel. (and for most of the comic, he believes Toriel is dead)

Motives

W.D. Gaster’s bad-guy status was internally-imposed. Nobody is making him do cruel things. In fact, nobody other than himself and his test subjects even know he’s doing cruel things. He believes he is the only person who can do what he thinks must be done, for the greater good, so his motives are initially altruistic. While his devotion to Asgore and willingness to suffer for monsterkind’s sake is admirable, the way he goes about it is definitely a bad guy thing.

In contrast to Ralph, W.D. Gaster’s initial motives weren’t selfish. He wanted to free all monsters from their underground realm and soothe Asgore’s suffering however he could. Nobody considered him a “bad guy”: he was already admired and had people who cared about him.

Execution of Motives

After a brief period of a more-or-less happy childhood/toddler-hood (Gaster was emotionally unavailable, but not hostile), Gaster believed his “objectivity” was “at risk of being compromised”. He drilled in metal plates into the test subjects’ hands, starting a long chain of very painful experiments. Sometimes, he would perform these experiments not to serve his greater, ostensibly noble goal, but for no other reason than his own curiosity. (e.g., breaking one of Papyrus’s bones to see how long it would take to heal) Indeed, while he told himself he would do what he needed to do (including very painful experiments), sometimes his cruelty (e.g., not giving anesthesia) just isn’t pragmatic.

Speech Interpretation

Therefore, Gaster’s interpretation of the Bad Guy Affirmation would be: “I am, and am doomed to be, callous, unloving, and unworthy of love in turn, but that is good: it means I am able to do whatever is necessary to remove Asgore's need to kill again, and free monsterkind. My actions are unforgivable, but I have no choice to turn away from this course: in the end monsters will be freed, and I am willing to accept any punishment afterward for that goal. I do what I must, because I am the only one who can.”

Final Comparison and Results

(Ralph gets cake. Gaster not only does not get cake, but is erased from reality and forgotten by everyone.)

Both have an extended falling sequence into not-lava: lava-like boiling diet cola for Ralph, and magic “lava” (it’s unclear) in a power plant for Gaster. Both have someone who knows them well trying to save them during this sequence; for Ralph, it’s Vanellope, and for Gaster, it’s one of his test subjects, Papyrus (2-P).

Vanellope uses her glitch powers to glitch through the walls of the mountain on her cart, saving Ralph. (Incidentally, Ralph helped her with her glitch powers and cart driving.) Papyrus (called 2-P) tries to save Gaster from falling into the not-lava using gravity-altering blue magic. However, Gaster told him earlier that if he and his brother ever tried to use blue magic on him, they’d be severely punished, and Gaster proceeds to “demonstrate” by breaking quite a lot of Papyrus’s bones. This experience makes Papyrus hesitate, and so he��s too late to save Gaster.

Yet, despite sharing these similarities, their motives, character development, and actions are almost the opposite of each other. Ralph fell to begin with out of a heroic sacrifice to save Vanellope, while Gaster fell because one of his test subjects, Sans (1-S), who resented him for his cruelty, shoved him off a catwalk in the power plant. This, while the Bad Guy affirmation applies to both of them equally, one shows the descent of a “good guy” into villainy, and another shows the ascent of a “bad guy” into heroism.

#Undertale #Handplates #W.D. Gaster #Gaster #Wreck-it Ralph #Handplates Gaster #Zarla #Ralph (Wreck-it Ralph)

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charaday5e · 6 years ago

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Sharpshooters, ep01 part 3

Everyone holds a readied position, waiting for more goblins to crest the hill. After several seconds Sindra yells, “We did it!” Curtis, holding his bloodied shoulder, aproaches her, "We did what? We slaughtered creatures on their own land. And for what, a charter, a bounty? I do agree that we worked well together, just now, but when will all the killing stop?" "Don't get soft on me now" said the rogue. "I've been killing Rogan and his gang for years. You know that when you travel into the lesser villages, King's Law doesn't protect you. So Rogan and his ilk, they tell ya that you need thier protection and they take a hefty price. It's my mission in life to balance the scales, hey, I'm the hero over here." "Hero my arse. You are the reason that we bleed, here where we are standing." Kilgrim brings a orderly voice to the discussion. "I am the King's Law and I am here to protect my team but I must insist that you fall in line, Madam, or I might have to take you in myself." "That's kinda cute, you being a protector, I think I like you." Sindra quipped back sarcastically. Eldar says, "Listen. I don't hear horns or commotion over the ridge. How many goblins do you think are stationed all the way out here on the border?" Curtis pulls out Lute and says, "I know we are in 'hot' pursuit of this fugitive, but it will take us quite some time to scale that ridge and I for one need a break." "Agreed, we rest for a short time and then march over that ridge to get our prision." Kilgrim agrees. (Inspiring Leadership, +4 temp hps, full hitpoints from Hit Dice spent) After resting, Eldar struggles to keep up with the rest, as they climb the rocky terrain. Dagget ties a rope around his waste and pulls him up the rest of the way to save time. From the top of the ridge they see lights from a distant caravan, down the North road and in the immediate site, abandoned shacks and huts. "I see Rogan getting away." Sindra cries out. "Their tracks will be easy to follow, they may have a lead on us, but he has no where to escape." Says Kilgrim optimistically. Eldar starts counting aloud, "We cleared out this entire outpost, I must have killed five or six outright." Letting out a sigh, singnaling that she's bored, Sindra explains, "Kilgrim got the first kill, I got the most with 7 confirmed kills, Eldar did beat me with 11 killed but they don't all count, because he used magic. Dagget got second place with 6, Curtis got 3 and was a great healer, and poor Kilgrim only got three kills. But he did stick his neck out for the group, so there's that. All in all, it's a pretty good day's work." "I'll say. We should salvage what valuables we can, maybe bury them off the road so we can come back and get them later. I could probably hock those shortbows for a good price." "Okay, gather some things and make a pile for later. Let's not take too much time, and then we are back in pursuit."

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hydrus · 2 years ago

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Version 497

youtube

windows

Qt5 zip

Qt6 zip

Qt6 exe

macOS

Qt5 app

Qt6 app

linux

Qt5 tar.gz

Qt6 tar.gz

I had a good week working on a variety of different things.

The Windows Installer is now Qt6. You do not have to do anything special to update, just do your normal routine. If you are a Windows 7 user, it is very likely you will not be able to run it. You can use the Qt5 extract release for another week or two, but please plan to either stop updating hydrus, move to a newer OS, or consider running hydrus from source.

highlights

I bulked out the 'star' rating shape. The pentagram was a little thin, so I've fattened it back up while still keeping the coordinates good. If you liked the thinner star, you can now set it explicitly as a new shape choice under services->manage services.

Manage tag siblings/parents now has a proper delete button, which should make removing many rows at once easy.

I did some more note parsing work this week, and I updated the Hentai Foundry downloader to grab artist description notes. If you download from HF, you should see new files get notes. I would like to slowly update most of the client default downloaders with note parsing support, so let me know where all this succeeds and fails, and I'll adapt things as we go.

Since we are doing more note work, I also improved the size calculations for the media viewer's note hover window. It still isn't perfect in all cases, but it'll clip the last line of text less often.

New clients now start with ctrl+page up/down as 'move page selection left/right'.

multi-line parsing

This is only for advanced users who make downloaders.

The parsing system now has basic multi-line support. Any formula on a 'notes' content parser or the formulae that do subsidiary page parser 'splitting' will now no longer remove newlines when it grabs text. It makes it possible to parse a multi-paragraph artist comment and have it all end up nicely formatted in the file note you end up with.

I have hardcoded in some additional formatting rules, too. When you select 'string' as the parsing result from a nested tree of html tags, I now insert newlines on 'p' or 'br' tags. I also strip leading and trailing whitespace from every line of a note, and I only allow two consecutive newlines to clip very large paragraph breaks.

The main remaining frustration is the string processing UI has mixed multi-line parsing support in its testing UI. Some of it shows and converts well, but most of it collapses multi-line test content down to a single line.

I have updated the Hentai Foundry parser this week to grab notes. It is ultimately pretty simple, if you want to check it out as an example. I'd like to know what is most frustrating about this. I would like to chip away at the string processing test UI (and any rules that simply do not work well on multi-line content) in future.

full list

misc:

I bulked out the 'star' rating shape a bit more, since the new pentragram, while it looked better than my old 'by-eye' star, was a bit thin. if you prefer the pentagram, this is now selectable as a new shape type under manage services

the Windows installer is now Qt6 exclusively. there are no special update instructions, it should all just work™

the 'manage tag siblings/parents' dialogs now have explicit delete buttons, which should make mass-deletes a little easier to do. some of the background code is cleaned up too, and the 'add' button is moved up to the main button row

you can now hide all sibling and/or parent text-suffix 'decorators' in the manage tags and autocomplete dropdown taglists, with four new checkboxes under _options->tags_. the right-click menus of these lists let you temporarily show/hide too, just like 'hide/show parent rows'

when you change the namespace sort in the options, the existing collect-by dropdowns now update instantly (previously, existing pages needed a client restart to see any changes)

I updated how the media viewer 'note' hover window lays out and does its 'how tall should I be?' estimate. it fits better, being exactly just tall enough in more cases, but it still seems to have trouble with multiple notes that include wrapping text

added a link to the new flatpak release (easy Linux running-from-source setup) that a user made to the install help

fixed an issue with the new 'default' file import options when you right-click a watcher/gallery download--the 'show files' menu now correctly adapts to you having a default file import options

if you are set to elide page tab names, then all pages will tooltip their names on mouseover

new clients now start with (ctrl+page up/down) as 'move page selection left/right'

client api:

the Client API routine that fetches file statuses for a given URL no longer double-checks 'already in db' results against your actual file system. this check is more appropriate to an actual working import process, so it now defaults off in the Client API

if you want to do this check because you are searching for missing files, you can turn it back on with the new 'doublecheck_file_system' parameter.

the client api help has been updated to reference this

the client api's Server header is now "client api/32 (497)". NOT "client api/17". it was stating the hydrus network version erroneously. it now states client api version and software version. if you are able to parse this header, it makes '/api_version' request superfluous

the client api version is now 32

multiline parsing:

the parser now supports limited multiline parsing. the main changes are hardcoded: the formulae beneath note content parsers and those that do subsidiary page parser splitting no longer remove newlines when they parse. all the parsing UI and the test panels and so on are now aware of this and set flags in all the right places, and parsed notes are now washed through the new trimming/cleaning method, and everything _seems_ to basically work. the main remaining problems is the complicated string processing UI has mixed single/multi-line testing support. some looks great, most gets coerced to single-line just for the previewed test results

as an example, the default hentai foundry downloader now grabs the artist description as a multi-line note

the parsing sub-system that extracts cohesive strings from complex html blocks now inserts newlines at 'p' and 'br' tags

trying to parse clean multiline notes still caused several formatting issues this week, so I have updated the automatic note-washing routine to standardise hydrus notes in several new ways that I hope will not be too disruptive to manually written notes:

the note washing routine now coerces all newline characters to 'backslash-n', regardless of platform

the note washing routine now trims each line, so no leading or trailing whitespace anywhere. I am open to changing this in future, maybe for handwritten notes where you really want an indent somewhere, but parsing from complex nested html tags is making a heap of weird extra whitespace, for which this is a clean solution

the note washing routine now trims newline gaps that are greater than two-newlines. you can split paragraphs by one empty line, but no more

there may be other issues figuring out cleanly formatted strings from nested html tags--so give it a go and let me know what you think. maybe p and br blocks should always make two newlines, so we have separated paragraphs, maybe I need to parse more blocks, like h1 and friends. any specific example html blocks would also be helpful

cleanup:

refactored ClientGUIParsing to its own 'parsing' module and split everything into four less tangled files

cleaned up a bunch of taglist text presentation code, mostly simplicity and clarity in prep for future updates

updated the checker options button to use a Qt signal instead of a callable

next week

I have more small work like this to catch up on, including github issues.

#release

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