#horizontal line tag in html

[deansbeer]

How did you do the pink grey text

hi love i used color fader text <3 here's an example!

first, you'll type in the text that you want.

as soon as you do that, you'll get to pick the numbers of colors you want to use! and choose your own colors OR a color preset. ( i prefer to choose my own rather than choose a preset but that's totally up to you )

and here, i choose horizontal for the fade type and HTML (span tags) for the output code, or it won't work. now once you've done all that, click on generate color faded text to see the results! you can keep it in the same window or not.

you'll then be able to preview the results before copying.

then click on select all, if you like how it came out! make sure to leave out the <div> part because then it won't let you paste for some reason??? HOWEVER, if you're not happy with it, click create a new fade.

in safari, open tumblr ( you need to be logged in ) and tap on the three horizontal lines in the top left corner to go to your account and scroll down until you find drafts. once you've found it, click edit draft, text editor ( should be right under the who can blaze? ), and change it from rich text to HTML.

it should look like this after you've pasted your colored text. then click preview if you want to see how it'll look before posting it <3

anddddd that's it, you're done!

i hope this helped you, my love! i'm no good at explaining these things, so my apologies, if i confused you a bit <3

[saide-hossain]

Let's understand HTML

Cover these topics to complete your HTML journey.

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the standard language used to create web pages. Here's a comprehensive list of key topics in HTML:

1. Basics of HTML

Introduction to HTML

HTML Document Structure

HTML Tags and Elements

HTML Attributes

HTML Comments

HTML Doctype

2. HTML Text Formatting

Headings (<h1> to <h6>)

Paragraphs (<p>)

Line Breaks (<br>)

Horizontal Lines (<hr>)

Bold Text (<b>, <strong>)

Italic Text (<i>, <em>)

Underlined Text (<u>)

Superscript (<sup>) and Subscript (<sub>)

3. HTML Links

Hyperlinks (<a>)

Target Attribute

Creating Email Links

4. HTML Lists

Ordered Lists (<ol>)

Unordered Lists (<ul>)

Description Lists (<dl>)

Nesting Lists

5. HTML Tables

Table (<table>)

Table Rows (<tr>)

Table Data (<td>)

Table Headings (<th>)

Table Caption (<caption>)

Merging Cells (rowspan, colspan)

Table Borders and Styling

6. HTML Forms

Form (<form>)

Input Types (<input>)

Text Fields (<input type="text">)

Password Fields (<input type="password">)

Radio Buttons (<input type="radio">)

Checkboxes (<input type="checkbox">)

Drop-down Lists (<select>)

Textarea (<textarea>)

Buttons (<button>, <input type="submit">)

Labels (<label>)

Form Action and Method Attributes

7. HTML Media

Images (<img>)

Image Maps

Audio (<audio>)

Video (<video>)

Embedding Media (<embed>)

Object Element (<object>)

Iframes (<iframe>)

8. HTML Semantic Elements

Header (<header>)

Footer (<footer>)

Article (<article>)

Section (<section>)

Aside (<aside>)

Nav (<nav>)

Main (<main>)

Figure (<figure>), Figcaption (<figcaption>)

9. HTML5 New Elements

Canvas (<canvas>)

SVG (<svg>)

Data Attributes

Output Element (<output>)

Progress (<progress>)

Meter (<meter>)

Details (<details>)

Summary (<summary>)

10. HTML Graphics

Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)

Canvas

Inline SVG

Path Element

11. HTML APIs

Geolocation API

Drag and Drop API

Web Storage API (localStorage and sessionStorage)

Web Workers

History API

12. HTML Entities

Character Entities

Symbol Entities

13. HTML Meta Information

Meta Tags (<meta>)

Setting Character Set (<meta charset="UTF-8">)

Responsive Web Design Meta Tag

SEO-related Meta Tags

14. HTML Best Practices

Accessibility (ARIA roles and attributes)

Semantic HTML

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Basics

Mobile-Friendly HTML

15. HTML Integration with CSS and JavaScript

Linking CSS (<link>, <style>)

Adding JavaScript (<script>)

Inline CSS and JavaScript

External CSS and JavaScript Files

16. Advanced HTML Concepts

HTML Templates (<template>)

Custom Data Attributes (data-*)

HTML Imports (Deprecated in favor of JavaScript modules)

Web Components

These topics cover the breadth of HTML and will give you a strong foundation for web development.

Full course link for free: https://shorturl.at/igVyr

[infotechimark1]

Mobile Website Size: How to Optimize Your Site for Smartphones in 2025

In today’s mobile-first digital world, a user’s first interaction with your website is more likely to happen on a smartphone than on a desktop. Whether you’re running a business, launching an eCommerce store, or publishing a blog, your mobile website size plays a crucial role in determining user experience, page speed, and even SEO performance.

But what does "mobile website size" really mean? Is it about screen dimensions? Page weight? Layout responsiveness? The truth is, it encompasses all these aspects—and optimizing them can significantly enhance how users engage with your site on mobile devices.

In this post, we’ll break down what constitutes mobile website size, explain why it matters, and walk you through best practices to optimize your site for peak performance on smartphones and tablets.

What Is Mobile Website Size?

When professionals refer to mobile website size, they are usually talking about three interconnected factors:

Visual dimensions – The screen width and layout behavior on different mobile devices.

Page file size – The total weight of your website (in KB or MB), affecting how fast it loads.

Responsive design – How your website adjusts its appearance based on screen size and orientation.

These three components affect everything from usability and speed to search engine rankings and bounce rates.

1. Mobile Screen Dimensions: Designing for the Right Fit

Smartphone screens come in various sizes, but there are a few common standards designers typically follow: Device TypeCommon Widths (in pixels)Small phones320pxStandard phones360–375pxLarge phones390–414pxTablets768px and above

Designers often start with a 360px width base layout for mobile because it comfortably fits most modern devices. However, instead of hard-coding this width, it’s essential to use responsive units (percentages, em, rem) so the layout adapts smoothly across devices.

Pro Tip: Avoid horizontal scrolling at all costs. Your layout should naturally scale to any screen width, from iPhones to Android tablets.

2. File Size: Keep It Lightweight for Speed

The total page size—measured in kilobytes (KB) or megabytes (MB)—refers to the combined weight of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, videos, and other resources on your web page.

Why It Matters:

Slow-loading websites lead to high bounce rates.

Google uses page speed as a ranking factor.

Mobile users often operate on limited data plans or slower networks.

Ideal Page Size Benchmarks:

Excellent: < 1 MB

Acceptable: 1–2 MB

Risky: > 3 MB

How to Reduce Mobile Website Size:

Compress images using tools like TinyPNG

Use next-gen formats like WebP or AVIF

Minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML files

Use lazy loading for images and videos

Eliminate unnecessary plugins and third-party scripts

Even small savings in file size can lead to massive improvements in page speed, especially for users on 3G or congested networks.

3. Responsive Layout: Adaptability Is Key

Responsive web design ensures your content automatically adjusts to different screen sizes. This involves:

Fluid grids that use relative units like percentages

Flexible images that scale with screen size

CSS media queries to trigger layout changes at specific breakpoints

Sample CSS Media Query:

cssCopy

Edit

@media (max-width: 480px) { body { font-size: 16px; padding: 10px; } }

Responsive layouts allow your site to work beautifully on everything from small phones to large tablets, maintaining a consistent and user-friendly experience.

4. Viewport Meta Tag: The Foundation of Mobile Optimization

One line of HTML is essential for properly displaying your mobile website:

htmlCopy

Edit

<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">

Without this tag, your site may appear zoomed-out or shrunk on smartphones. The browser will assume your site is designed for desktop and try to scale it down, often with disastrous results. The viewport meta tag tells the browser to use the actual width of the device as the starting point for rendering.

5. Mobile Typography and Touch Targets

Your text and buttons must be optimized for readability and usability on small screens.

Typography:

Use font sizes no smaller than 16px for body text.

Avoid custom fonts that increase page load time.

Stick to high-contrast color schemes for visibility.

Touch Targets:

Buttons should be at least 48x48px.

Keep interactive elements well spaced.

Avoid placing links too close together.

Google penalizes sites with poor mobile usability, so these details directly impact SEO and user satisfaction.

6. Tools for Testing Mobile Website Size

Optimizing your site is one thing—testing it across real devices is another. Luckily, there are plenty of tools available:

Recommended Tools:

Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test – Check usability and issues

PageSpeed Insights – Analyze speed and performance

Chrome DevTools (Device Mode) – Simulate various devices

BrowserStack / LambdaTest – Cross-device, cross-browser testing

Always test your site on multiple screen sizes, especially popular ones like 375x667 (iPhone X) and 414x896 (iPhone 11 Pro Max).

7. Common Mistakes to Avoid

Here are a few critical errors that hurt mobile website size and performance:

Using fixed pixel layouts that break on smaller screens

Neglecting to compress images and assets

Forgetting to include the viewport meta tag

Including large, unoptimized background videos

Overloading the page with third-party scripts or ads

A single oversized image or uncompressed JavaScript file can slow your site down dramatically. Regular audits are essential.

8. Why Mobile Website Size Impacts SEO

Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning it evaluates your site based on its mobile version. A large, slow, or poorly laid out mobile site can:

Lower your search engine rankings

Increase bounce rates

Hurt conversion rates

Diminish user trust

By keeping your mobile website size lean and efficient, you ensure that users—and search engines—have a great experience.

Final Thoughts

In 2025, mobile traffic dominates the web, and your mobile website size can make or break your digital presence. From layout dimensions and page weight to touch-friendly design and speed optimization, each element plays a critical role in performance and usability.

Here’s a quick checklist to remember:

✅ Use responsive layouts with flexible grids ✅ Optimize images and reduce page file size ✅ Set the viewport meta tag correctly ✅ Ensure fonts and buttons are mobile-friendly ✅ Test performance and usability regularly

A well-optimized mobile website leads to better user engagement, higher conversions, and improved SEO—giving you a competitive advantage in today’s fast-paced digital world.

[html-tute]

HTML Text Formatting

HTML provides various tags to format text, allowing you to change the appearance and structure of your content. Here's a guide to the most commonly used text formatting tags in HTML:

1. Headings

HTML provides six levels of headings, from <h1> (most important) to <h6> (least important). Headings are used to create titles and organize content hierarchically.<h1>Main Heading</h1> <h2>Subheading</h2> <h3>Sub-subheading</h3> <h4>Sub-sub-subheading</h4> <h5>Sub-sub-sub-subheading</h5> <h6>Smallest Heading</h6>

2. Paragraphs

Paragraphs are used to group blocks of text together. HTML automatically adds space before and after paragraphs.<p>This is a paragraph of text. Paragraphs are block-level elements, meaning they take up the full width available.</p>

3. Line Breaks

To create a line break within a paragraph or other text, use the <br> tag. This tag is an empty element and doesn’t have a closing tag.<p>This is the first line.<br>This is the second line, on a new line.</p>

4. Horizontal Lines

A horizontal line (thematic break) can be created using the <hr> tag. This is often used to separate sections of content.<p>This is some text before the line.</p> <hr> <p>This is some text after the line.</p>

5. Bold Text

To make text bold, you can use the <b> or <strong> tag. While both tags visually render text in bold, <strong> also indicates that the text is of strong importance.<p>This is <b>bold</b> text.</p> <p>This is <strong>strong</strong> text, which also has semantic importance.</p>

6. Italic Text

To italicize text, you can use the <i> or <em> tag. The <em> tag emphasizes the text semantically, meaning it can affect the way assistive technologies interpret the content.<p>This is <i>italicized</i> text.</p> <p>This is <em>emphasized</em> text.</p>

7. Underlined Text

To underline text, use the <u> tag. This is not as commonly used today due to styling being handled by CSS, but it's available in HTML.<p>This is <u>underlined</u> text.</p>

8. Superscript and Subscript

Superscript: The <sup> tag raises text slightly above the baseline, often used for exponents or footnotes.

Subscript: The <sub> tag lowers text slightly below the baseline, often used for chemical formulas.

<p>This is superscript: x²</p> <p>This is subscript: H₂O</p>

9. Strikethrough Text

To strike through (cross out) text, use the <s> or <del> tag.<p>This is <s>strikethrough</s> text.</p> <p>This is <del>deleted</del> text, often indicating something that has been removed.</p>

10. Monospaced (Code) Text

To display text in a monospaced (fixed-width) font, typically used for code, use the <code> tag.<p>This is <code>inline code</code> within a paragraph.</p> <pre> <code> function example() { console.log('This is code'); } </code> </pre>

11. Small Text

The <small> tag decreases the font size of the text, often used for disclaimers or fine print.<p>This is normal text.</p> <p>This is <small>small</small> text.</p>

12. Marked Text

The <mark> tag highlights text with a yellow background, similar to using a highlighter.<p>This is <mark>highlighted</mark> text.</p>

13. Quotations

Inline Quotes: The <q> tag is used for short quotations and automatically adds quotation marks.

Block Quotes: The <blockquote> tag is used for longer quotes, usually indented.

<p>This is an inline quote: <q>To be or not to be, that is the question.</q></p> <blockquote> This is a block quote. It is usually used for longer quotations. </blockquote>

Source: Understanding HTML: From Basics To Advance

[webstep-technologies]

How to Add a Facebook Pixel to Google Tag Manager ?

Adding a Facebook Pixel to Google Tag Manager (GTM) is an essential step for anyone looking to track conversions, optimize ads, and build targeted audiences for future ad campaigns. This guide will walk you through the process step-by-step to ensure you can seamlessly integrate your Facebook Pixel with GTM.

Step 1: Create a Facebook Pixel

Login to Facebook Business Manager:

Go to Facebook Business Manager and log in with your account.

2. Navigate to Events Manager:

Click on the menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the top left corner.

Select “Events Manager” from the dropdown.

3. Create a Pixel:

In Events Manager, click on “Connect Data Sources” and select “Web”.

Choose “Facebook Pixel” and click “Connect”.

Name your Pixel and enter your website URL. Click “Continue”.

Step 2: Set Up Google Tag Manager

Access Google Tag Manager:

Go to Google Tag Manager and log in with your Google account.

2. Create a New Container:

If you don’t already have a container for your website, click “Create Account” and follow the prompts to create a new container. Name your container and choose the target platform (Web).

Step 3: Add Facebook Pixel to Google Tag Manager

Get the Facebook Pixel Code:

In Facebook Events Manager, click on your Pixel name.

Click “Add Events” in the top right corner, then select “From a New Website”.

Choose “Install code manually” and copy the Pixel code provided.

2. Create a New Tag in GTM:

In your GTM container, click on “Tags” in the left-hand menu.

Click “New” and then “Tag Configuration”.

Choose “Custom HTML”.

3. Add the Pixel Code to the Tag:

Paste the Facebook Pixel code you copied into the HTML box.

4. Set the Trigger:

Click on “Triggering” and select “All Pages”. This ensures the Pixel will fire on every page of your website.

Click “Save”.

Step 4: Publish Your Changes

Submit Your Changes:

Click the “Submit��� button in the top right corner of GTM.

Add a name and description for your new tag configuration (e.g., “Added Facebook Pixel”).

Click “Publish”.

Step 5: Verify Your Pixel Installation

Use Facebook Pixel Helper:

Download and install the Facebook Pixel Helper Chrome extension.

Visit your website to see if the Pixel Helper detects your Pixel. It should show the Pixel ID and indicate that the Pixel is firing correctly.

2. Check Events in Events Manager:

Go back to Facebook Events Manager and check if the Pixel is receiving data.

Click on your Pixel name and look at the “Overview” tab to see if there are any activity and events being tracked.

Conclusion

Adding a Facebook Pixel to Google Tag Manager is a straightforward process that can significantly enhance your ability to track and optimize your Facebook ad campaigns. By following these steps, you can ensure your Pixel is correctly installed and tracking user interactions on your website.

For more tips and detailed guides on optimizing your digital marketing efforts, stay tuned to our blog and make sure to explore the comprehensive resources we offer at Webstep.

[naomitheecoder]

Day 1 of Coding

Trying to teach myself to code so I can make cool websites and hopefully apps one day. I am trying to stay consistent. It's something I definitely struggle with but I know I got this.

So today I...

Watched some of 'Learn HTML in 1 hour' from Bro Code on YouTube.

What I learned:

Html is the backbone, the skeleton of the website

Structure

-tags:

Headers: <h1><h1/> all the way to <h6><h6/>

Paragraph: <p><p/>

Line break: <br>

Horizontal line: <hr>

I learned how to use hyperlinks by using:

<a href="https://www.google.com" target=_blank title="This takes you to Google>

Google

<a/>

Target is where the page opens. With blank it opens in a new tab. With self it opens in the same window.

The title contains info related to the element it belongs to. Can tell user information about the tool.

How do I feel:

I feel like I have a long way to go before I will be able to make anything satisfying, but that is okay. I have to appreciate the journey. Here's to day 1 and staying consistent!

[chidrestechtutorials]

For Web Designing Students; size attribute of HTML hr tag indicates? Learn more: https://www.youtube.com/chidrestechtutorials

A) width of horizontal line B) thickness of horizontal line C) depth of horizontal line D) none of the above

[davidson-70]

HTML TAGS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

Here are some common HTML tags and their functions:<html>: Defines the root of an HTML document.<head>: Contains meta-information about the document.<title>: Sets the title of the document, displayed in the browser's title bar or tab.<meta>: Provides metadata about the document, such as character encoding and viewport settings.<link>: Links external resources like stylesheets to the document.<script>: Embeds or links to JavaScript code.<body>: Contains the visible content of the document.<h1>, <h2>, ..., <h6>: Headings of different levels.<p>: Defines a paragraph.<a>: Creates a hyperlink to another web page or resource.<img>: Embeds an image.<ul>: Creates an unordered (bulleted) list.<ol>: Creates an ordered (numbered) list.<li>: Represents a list item within <ul> or <ol>.<div>: Defines a division or section of the document for styling or layout purposes.<span>: Inline element used for styling or targeting specific content.<table>: Creates a table.<tr>: Defines a table row.<td>: Represents a table cell within a row.<th>: Represents a table header cell.<form>: Defines an HTML form for user input.<input>: Creates an input field, like text, checkbox, radio, etc.<textarea>: Creates a multi-line text input field.<button>: Defines a clickable button.<select>: Creates a dropdown list.<option>: Defines an option within a <select>.<label>: Labels an <input> element.<br>: Creates a line break.<hr>: Represents a thematic break or horizontal rule.<iframe>: Embeds an inline frame to display another web page within the current page.This is not an exhaustive list, but it covers some of the most

[neighboringheart]

so none of you were gonna tell me I accidentally left an hr tag in there that didn't turn into a horizontal line like I'd expected it to? (first time using the rich text editor instead of html bc I was tired of manually typing the em tags for the italics) no loyalty here I see lmao

Let's All Get Along

Finally finished the MegaGetaRod fic I've been meaning to have done for ages now lmao let's just call it my summer fic and pretend that this had nothing to do with procrastination or me wanting to work on an entirely different fic at the same time that I keep rewriting endlessly. Anyway,

Snippet:

"We cannot function if we don’t all work together. And to that end, Rodimus had the idea to—in his words—‘use him like a get-along shirt.’ I think that’s far too crude, personally. I prefer to just call it team building.” “So, he thinks that if he gives me good enough head I’ll agree to, what, not think about killing you in every conceivable way whenever I see you? Sorry, I don’t even think Primus could pull that off.”

Read the Rest? (More tags in fic)

[krishna337]

HTML hr Tag

The HTML <hr> tag is used to define a horizontal line or rule to separate content in an HTML page. The <hr> tag is an empty tag and this tag does not require an ending tag. Syntax <hr> Example <!doctype html> <html> <head> <title>HTML Hr Tag</title> </head> <body> <h1>What Is HTML?</h1> <p>HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language, which is the most popular language on web and the language is…

[greyias]

I have come to a few conclusions after spending nearly the last three hours trying to use Tumblr’s mass post editor to add unique tags to all my fic posts so I can maybe start to tag things a little easier (both for myself and other users):

I have way too many posts

This blue hellsite seems intentionally designed to make the user experience as utterly frustrating as possible no matter what you’re doing

I wish I had started using unique tags way back when, but in my hubris thought that would never be necessary (and didn’t understand their purpose on top of that)

I will never not be bitter that they took away my <hr> tag for reasons that were never documented or explained. 

I’ll just... start the new decade by tagging things better from here on out.

*sobbing at my lost time*

[html-tute]

Basics of HTML

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) is the standard language used to create web pages. It provides the structure and content of a webpage, which is then styled with CSS and made interactive with JavaScript. Let’s go through the basics of HTML:

1. HTML Document Structure

An HTML document starts with a declaration and is followed by a series of elements enclosed in tags:<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>My First Webpage</title> </head> <body> <h1>Welcome to My Website</h1> <p>This is a paragraph of text on my first webpage.</p> </body> </html>

<!DOCTYPE html>: Declares the document type and version of HTML. It helps the browser understand that the document is written in HTML5.

<html>: The root element that contains all other HTML elements on the page.

<head>: Contains meta-information about the document, like its title and links to stylesheets or scripts.

<title>: Sets the title of the webpage, which is displayed in the browser's title bar or tab.

<body>: Contains the content of the webpage, like text, images, and links.

2. HTML Tags and Elements

Tags: Keywords enclosed in angle brackets, like <h1> or <p>. Tags usually come in pairs: an opening tag (<h1>) and a closing tag (</h1>).

Elements: Consist of a start tag, content, and an end tag. For example:

<h1>Hello, World!</h1>

3. HTML Attributes

Attributes provide additional information about HTML elements. They are always included in the opening tag and are written as name="value" pairs:<a href="https://www.example.com">Visit Example</a> <img src="image.jpg" alt="A descriptive text">

href: Used in the <a> (anchor) tag to specify the link's destination.

src: Specifies the source of an image in the <img> tag.

alt: Provides alternative text for images, used for accessibility and if the image cannot be displayed.

4. HTML Headings

Headings are used to create titles and subtitles on your webpage:<h1>This is a main heading</h1> <h2>This is a subheading</h2> <h3>This is a smaller subheading</h3>

<h1> to <h6>: Represents different levels of headings, with <h1> being the most important and <h6> the least.

5. HTML Paragraphs

Paragraphs are used to write blocks of text:<p>This is a paragraph of text. HTML automatically adds some space before and after paragraphs.</p>

<p>: Wraps around blocks of text to create paragraphs.

6. HTML Line Breaks and Horizontal Lines

Line Break (<br>): Used to create a line break (new line) within text.

Horizontal Line (<hr>): Used to create a thematic break or a horizontal line:

<p>This is the first line.<br>This is the second line.</p> <hr> <p>This is text after a horizontal line.</p>

7. HTML Comments

Comments are not displayed in the browser and are used to explain the code:<!-- This is a comment --> <p>This text will be visible.</p>

<!-- Comment -->: Wraps around text to make it a comment.

8. HTML Links

Links allow users to navigate from one page to another:<a href="https://www.example.com">Click here to visit Example</a>

<a>: The anchor tag creates a hyperlink. The href attribute specifies the URL to navigate to when the link is clicked.

9. HTML Images

Images can be embedded using the <img> tag:<img src="image.jpg" alt="Description of the image">

<img>: Used to embed images. The src attribute specifies the image source, and alt provides descriptive text.

10. HTML Lists

HTML supports ordered and unordered lists:

Unordered List (<ul>):

. <ul> <li>Item 1</li> <li>Item 2</li> <li>Item 3</li> </ul>

Ordered List (<ol>):

<ol> <li>First item</li> <li>Second item</li> <li>Third item</li> </ol>

<ul>: Creates an unordered list with bullet points.

<ol>: Creates an ordered list with numbers.

<li>: Represents each item in a list.

11. HTML Metadata

Metadata is data that provides information about other data. It is placed within the <head> section and includes information like character set, author, and page description:<meta charset="UTF-8"> <meta name="description" content="An example of HTML basics"> <meta name="keywords" content="HTML, tutorial, basics"> <meta name="author" content="Saide Hossain">

12. HTML Document Structure Summary

Here’s a simple HTML document combining all the basic elements:<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>My First HTML Page</title> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <meta name="description" content="Learning HTML Basics"> <meta name="keywords" content="HTML, basics, tutorial"> <meta name="author" content="Saide Hossain"> </head> <body> <h1>Welcome to My Website</h1> <p>This is my first webpage. I'm learning HTML!</p> <p>HTML is easy to learn and fun to use.</p> <hr> <h2>Here are some of my favorite websites:</h2> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.example.com">Example.com</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.anotherexample.com">Another Example</a></li> </ul> <h2>My Favorite Image:</h2> <img src="https://images.pexels.com/photos/287240/pexels-photo-287240.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&w=1260&h=750&dpr=1" width="300" alt="A beautiful view"> <hr> <p>Contact me at <a href="mailto:saide2857@gmail.com">saide2857@gmail.com</a></p> </body> </html>

Key Takeaways

HTML is all about using tags to structure content.

The basic building blocks include headings, paragraphs, lists, links, images, and more.

Every HTML document needs a proper structure, starting with <!DOCTYPE html> and wrapping content within <html>, <head>, and <body> tags.

With these basics, you can start building your web pages!

Source: HTML TUTE BLOG

[into-september]

Less flippantly and also not in the tags: I am to this day liable to write fic in either plain text files or in my email drafts, both in which making the difference is impossible. While most of my fic is written in a text editor that I think corrects it, it really is not something I have ever paid attention to. A quick google explained that "convention" is to type the em-dash as a hyphen with spaces (UK) or a double hyphen (US), so its existence is clearly not a necessity for the layman, but a typesetting convenience at the level of the publisher.

I was part of the generation who primarily posted our fic to a blogging platform older than the rich text editor, and which hosted the era of the kink memes where fic was posted in the comment boxes where the only allowed formatting tags were bold, italics and underline. To this day, I'll stumble across old drafts that look like

because there was a time of my life where it was simply easier to just type the tags as I was writing. (yes those italics are very necessary, go away)

Hell, I was part of the generation who posted our fic to FFN back when the only way to format it was to upload it as either a .doc or in HTML, and I suspect that the people who'd go in and code the em-dash rather than leaving it as a hyphen were a vanishingly small minority. To my knowledge, even Tumblr's rich text editor doesn't change that formatting, meaning that the people who post fic on here have to resort to the established convention because I somehow don't think internet citizens of 2024 are MORE willing to meddle with the coding than we were in 2004.

Point being, both off- and online spaces have a long, long history of the em-dash being either impossible (non-existent on the typewriter) or a time-consuming cosmetic (requiring an HTML tag and a six-digit code), meaning that its usage was the concern of the professional typesetters. When there exists a well-established, quick and universally recognised substitute (hyphen with spaces) that is nearly identical visually, the length of the horizontal lines appearing in a text is pretty much on the bottom of things I notice when reading or, for that matter, writing.

Okay, in my fic workshop, people have been turning in drafts where they use hyphens instead of em dashes left and right. It’s making me wonder how many people just don’t know how to make an em dash, so satisfy my curiosity, tumblr:

Please reblog so I can see what more people think!

[steven-and-james]

Save your fic, skip the indentation.

Indentation may be necessary in a high school essay but on Archive of Our Own, indentation can make the reading experience unpleasant, especially if your paragraphs tend to be shorter. 

When it comes to line alignment, go left. 

While making your text justified may look best at first, it is hard on the eyes to read for longer stretches of time (especially when late at night—which is when most people tend to read fanfic!) So, for the sake of your reader, consider using left alignment.

Use quotation marks, it’s in the name. 

Even though it may be super obvious and easy to some, formatting dialogue into your fic can be tricky; let me save you some time. Indicate what is being spoken by bracketing it with quotation marks (these guys → “”) and refrain from using any other method, especially italics. 

Shut up, I’m thinking (not talking) 

So what do I use italics for? Glad you asked: Italics are typically used to demonstrate a character’s thoughts or emphasize a word or statement. Additionally, you may want to italicize a quote, song lyric, etc. Really, feel free to italicize anything you want, except, of course, dialogue.

Meet your new soulmate, horizontal lines. 

No longer are the days of thirty identical emojis and “POV SWITCH” spelled out in bold in the middle of a fic. If you are cutting to a new scene or switching points of view, just insert a horizontal line and call it a day. 

Quantity ≠ Quality

*Not applicable for fics under 1,500 words*

Having more chapters may seem more appealing on the surface, but having to press the next chapter button every minute can be a major deterrent for readers, especially those who use ao3 on their phone. Thus, if you have a 20k fic ready to go, think about splitting that baby into ten chapters instead of twenty. Remember, ao3 does not have a sort by chapter number option—only word count. 

Yeah, yeah, it’s summary time

Man, summaries can be confusing to navigate no matter if this is your first or fifth fic. Here are a couple things you should not do when writing your summary. 

Writing the word “summary” in the summary

Putting a really long author's note in the summary 

Saying “this is really bad” or “this is my first fic” and the like. (they can go in the end notes if you really want to tell your readers, but also, be confident!)

The same goes for “please give kudos and comment” and “please read” 

Having a “explainer” summary. 

An example of a explainer summary would be saying something like, “this is basically my take on what i think happened after [blank] because [blank] broke my heart and sucked. [blank] essentially is sad when [blank]  breaks up with [blank] so they gets revenge and starts a ~relationship~ with [blank]” 

Having a really long summary. At most a summary should be 8-10 sentences but I would aim for shorter. 

Putting a disclaimer in the summary. The great thing about ao3 is that you do not need to include a disclaimer for reasons that a far too complicated for me to sum up here, but if you would like to read up on it click the link: https://www.transformativeworks.org/faq/

Additionally, below are some examples of good and easy to read summaries. One is an actual summary while the other is a carefully chosen excerpt from the “fic”

O Rich Text! My Rich Text!

The rich text option on ao3 is a life saver and I highly recommend you take advantage of it. Not only is much more user-friendly, but when copying and pasting your fic, the line spacing won’t come out all wonky like it does when you copy and paste into the html box. 

On Tagging

Tagging on ao3 is one of those things that, like summaries, seems daunting at first but is actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Now, I feel it would be best for me to explain tagging in another post as there’s a lot to cover and this post is already pretty long, so look out for that in the next couple of days.

And always remember the golden rule of fanfiction...

WTPDI

Write in Third Person, Damn It!

(unless it’s a stylistic choice, of course.)

[nikolai-alexi]

Jegulus Mini Fic #4

WC: 5900 average read time 45 minutes

CW/Tags: MAIN CHARACTER DEATH, graphic descriptions of death, graphic descriptions of drowning, angst, all hurt kind of comfort?, HEA in death, minor descriptions/allusions of child abuse, period typical racism, barely proofread, yet again neither my goddamn HTML horizontal line or read more link formatting will not work so if anyone knows how to fix that please help I'm about to set this entire app on fire ngl, enjoy copious amounts of angst pals I made myself sad with this so you get to be sad too fuckers

Quote Credit: "The kindest people...so important in this world" - Bianca Sparacino "The Mind Journal" & "How is it so easy for you to be kind to people...because people have not been kind to me" - Rupi Kaur (quote is tweaked into multiple dialogues and extra detail)

They are perched together, not in the Astronomy Tower, but rather on top of it, the night Regulus asks James the question that tilts his entire world axis. They've not been together long, just a few blissful months filled to the brim with secret meetings above the roof of the Astronomy Tower and stolen kisses in broom cupboards and empty classrooms. They are still getting to know one another, really. Regulus knows James’ favourite colour is yellow and that he’s an absolute swot when it comes to Transfiguration, but struggles a lot with Potions. James knows that Regulus’ favourite colour is blue and that while Potions might be what he’s good at, he likes Charms more. Getting to know each other on a surface level like this has been fun, really; they laugh at each other for silly things, argue over what sweets are superior, share stories of things their friends have done, and they do so in the middle of heated snogging sessions and exploratory wanderings.

Tonight, however, the frigid November air between them is melancholy. There is a heavy silence and neither one of them seem to know how to break it. They aren’t touching, Regulus can barely stand their proximity as it is, his skin is crawling and his mind is racing, yet the thought of not being near James is much worse than the discomfort he’s currently facing. James’ eyes are dark and oh-so sad. Regulus sees all the emotions he desperately wants to let out reflected back to him in those warm, espresso-coloured eyes.

Walburga has informed him that he is to take the Mark this summer. He will be sacrificed to the Dark Lord and be a shackled slave for the rest of his life. He will be forced to torture and kill in the name of someone who he does not have the barest hint of respect for. He will be forced to kneel and simper before someone who he would otherwise look down upon and scoff. At barely sixteen years old, he will be forced to give himself over and enslave his magic. He cannot breathe right with this knowledge weighing down on his chest. He has no choice but to do as his Mother wishes; otherwise, she will hunt his brother down to the ends of the Earth and rip him away from the only home and real family he’s ever known. Regulus refuses to be so selfish. He will do anything to keep Sirius safe from her, even if it means condemning himself to die. Sirius saved him so much pain and suffering for the sixteen years he lived in that house; this is the least Regulus can do for him in return.

This whirlpool of thoughts circling ‘round and ‘round his head is what prompts the question to fall past his lips without his permission.

“How do you do it?” He asks, his voice is hoarse from all the crying he’s done today. He’s so drained that he doesn’t have it in him to be embarrassed about it.

James looks at him, a little startled from the sudden cease in their respective silences, but cocks his head curiously at him, “How do I do what, Reg?”

He fumbles for words for a moment, and he hates the inadequacy of the ones he chooses, but he doesn’t actually know how to ask this, “How are you so kind? How is it so easy for you to be so kind to people?”

James is quiet, but Regulus can tell he’s thinking, so naturally, he word vomits his nervousness at James' answer out, “It’s just— well, I don’t want to be bad, James. I don’t like being cold and cruel, but I don’t know how to be kind. I don’t know how to feel kindness or sincerity. I watch you with people you don’t even know and I wonder if there’s some fundamental part of me that’s missing or if they’ve just made me into a monster,”

James sighs heavily, and he looks up into the sky for a long time before he speaks. His lip trembles a little bit and it strikes Regulus as strange. James looks…scared? The words that tumble out of his mouth drip with milk and honey, the tone is quiet and sweet, gentle, in a way that James is so rarely allowed to be, but the words themselves are bitter, poisonous things. They cut Regulus to the core, despite them not being directed at him at all.

“It’s not easy at all,” James sighs. He’s terrified and ashamed of speaking those words aloud. A large part of him wants to lie and say he just is that kind, that his parents raised a good kid who does his best to care for others and be kind to everyone. But he refuses to lie to Regulus, “I’m kind to others because people haven’t been kind to me,”

There is a long silence, and Regulus feels like he’s trying to decipher a lost language. He understands the words James says, but he can’t grasp what he means with them.

“But, everyone loves you, James. I don’t understand?”

James chuckles a hollow laugh and turns his entire body towards Regulus. Regulus follows suit. James looks at him intently, “Look at me, Regulus,” and, oh, hearing his full name fall from James’ lips feels strange, James calls him all sorts of ridiculous pet names he pretends to hate, or Reg, or Reggie, he very rarely calls him Regulus, “Look at me and tell me the very first thing you see. Pretend you’ve never met me before. Like I’m someone you pass in the street. What do you see first and foremost?”

Regulus scrunches his nose. He feels as though this is a trick question. There are so many variables to what someone would notice about another person depending on the situation. How should he know what he would notice first about James if he’d passed him on the street? Probably that he was bloody fit, but that doesn’t seem like the answer James is looking for. If he passed James on the street, would James be wearing one of his worn, holey band tee shirts? Or his yellow trainers? Would he smile at Regulus as he walks by?

“Your glasses?” Regulus guesses, it seems like a fair assumption. But James just smiles a sad smile.

“Put your hand up,” he says softly, and Regulus does. James doesn’t touch him, but he raises his own hand to mirror Regulus’.

“What do you see, Regulus?”

Oh. He understands now.

Compared to Regulus’ pasty, pale complexion, James’ is almost startlingly dark against it. Where you can quite clearly see the blue of some of Regulus’ veins, the skin around his hands and wrists almost translucent-like, James' skin is full of warmth and colour. His face and arms still hold onto the remains of a deep tan from the summer hols. He knows James spent a lot of time gardening with his mum over the break, and the right side of his face is just slightly darker than the left. He has freckles that dot his face, neck, and hands that are barely visible from far away, but Regulus has played connect the dots with them all. He has scars that litter his body, leaving little silver streaks against his skin. James is beautiful. Everything about him is warm and full of life and colour and joy. Regulus cannot imagine that anyone could look at James and not fall in love with what they see.

“My entire life has been riddled with slurs and vitriol, love. When people pass me in the street, the first thing they see is the colour of my skin, and immediately I am less than human to them. The Wizarding World and the Muggle World are the same in that regard.”

“When I was seven, I met a boy in town at the park. We played together all day until his Dad came to pick him up. We’d agreed to meet again the next day to play. I went home and told my parents how excited I was, and all about the new friend I’d made. That next day, I went to the park to play with my new friend and he told me to go back to my own country and threw sand in my face,”

Regulus’ mouth dropped open, “Merlin,” he breathed. James cocked a sad smile.

“I have dual citizenship with Britain and India, but I was born here in the UK. But people see the colour of my skin, and nothing I do will ever change their perception of me. I will always be second because my skin is brown and theirs is white,”

James is quiet for a long moment, “There is a cruelty in me, Reg. One that festered with years of anger and bitterness because I hated being judged and scrutinised for every little thing. There are times I genuinely want to hurt people. There are times when I desperately want to turn that vitriol back at the people who yell it at me. There are times I want to just scream and let my magic last out and destroy everything around me,”

“Being kind doesn’t come easy to me, Reg. I have to consciously choose, each and every time, to do the right thing or be the bigger person. And I don’t always make that choice when I should, sometimes I let that cruel side of me out. In the moment, letting that viciousness out, letting the bitterness breathe, releasing everything that I’m constantly fighting against, it feels good. It makes me feel victorious and superior, like if I cut the people around me down until they’re small, it’ll make me feel bigger. In the moment, it’s a wonderful feeling, a dark one, but no less wonderful. In the end, though, I might hurt someone else and feel my own wounds close temporarily, I only end up bleeding more,” James falls quiet once more, tapping his fingers against his knees that he’s drawn into his chest.

Regulus knows exactly what James is talking about. He does exactly that to the people around him. Using words to gut another person, to inflict pain and anger and make them feel exactly how he always feels, is something of a talent of his. Or, it’s something of a Black Family talent, he supposes. For as good as Sirius is in comparison to the rest of them, he does the same thing. Andy, Bella, and Cissa are the same. They have never felt the hand of kindness; it’s like wielding a weapon they’ve never seen before. The Black children have only been taught how to slice, rip, and stab at others with fatal efficiency. He doubts they will ever truly understand how to caress, nurture, or love.

Regulus nearly misses James’ next words, lost in his own mind as he is, but thankfully he comes back to the present in time. James’ words are careful and gentle, but there is a brittle edge to his voice still.

“My mum says that the best things in life rarely come from easy choices. And I believe that, at least partly. Choosing to be kind or do the right thing isn’t easy, but lots of good things come from it. But hard choices aren’t the only things that bring good things. Sometimes, the easiest choice is the best thing that ever happens to you,”

Regulus cocks his head, curious. James sounds certain, like he’s thinking about something specific. He waits to see if James will elaborate, but when he doesn’t, Regulus glances over at him, “Like what?”

James smiles, it’s a sad thing; his eyes are misty with tears he won’t let fall, and Regulus feels like no wonders of the world will ever measure up to the beauty of James Potter and the endless, foreign feeling of security Regulus always feels when he looks into James’ eyes.

“Like loving you,” he says, as though it’s the most simple thing in the world for him to say.

Regulus feels as though he can’t breathe again, but oxygen feels irrelevant in the face of this revelation. His body, his brain, and his heart are screaming. He so desperately wants to love James. He so desperately wants to be loved by James. He wants, and wants, and wants. He's well aware that he's a selfish little creature, but here in this moment, all he can think about is how desperately he craves to understand what it is to be loved. What is it like to feel valued and cherished by another person? His namesake is at the very heart of the Leo constellation, but he cannot be satisfied by that any longer. The centre of a constellation lightyears away is no longer enough; he wants to be the centre of someone's entire universe. Will it feel like the silly muggle romance books he pretends he doesn't read describe? Does he know how to love in return? He doesn't know the answer to that, but he thinks he would work so very hard at trying to love James. He knows he shouldn't. He knows he should end this now and save them both the pain, but as he searches James' face and looks into those eyes, so full of warmth and life, he finds that he simply doesn't care what he should or shouldn't do. He peers into James' eyes, searching for any hint of deception, but all he finds is an endless feeling of foreign-feeling security and promise. And he knows then that he won't choose kindness as James does. He is an evil, selfish creature at his core, and he is not strong enough to pick the hard choice. He wants. He needs.

"You shouldn't," Regulus whispers, "love me. You shouldn't. You should run and save yourself from the Hell I'm going to put you through."

James says nothing. He watches Regulus, and he waits. Regulus runs his hands through his curls, musing them in a way he would never do in the company of anyone else. He knows he should make James leave, protect him somehow, but he doesn't.

"I don't even know what love is, James," His voice cracks, admitting that out loud, letting those words finally surface from the depths of his soul feels like it rips a hole in his heart, "I'm like a slow poison. I'll end up killing you in the end, you know that, don't you?"

James' lips quirk in a humourless grin. They will be on opposite sides of the War. Neither of them have a choice in that matter, and even if they did, Regulus doubts either of them would choose differently.

"I have a hard time believing that any poison could taste as sweet as you do," He says. The words are flirtatious, but they lack his customary playful smirk and spark. Regulus lets out a brittle laugh.

They are silent for long moments. The sounds of the Forest coming to life surround them. Regulus has half a mind to snatch James up and seek sanctuary in the Forest. Perhaps they can outrun the War together. They could disappear into the night's mist, and find a home within the woods and wilderness. Their biggest worry would be werewolves on the full moon, and in comparison to the Dark Lord, werewolves looked like overgrown puppies.

Regulus sighs; the cloud of air puffs in front of him, billowing like smoke in the empty space before him. He returns his gaze to James. They stare at each other, neither blinking, neither speaking, neither breathing.

"You understand what you're doing, right? You know how this will go?"

"Yeah, Regulus, I know,"

"What will we do when..." He can't push the rest of the words past his lips, already the thought of the inevitable threatens to drown him in the waves of his emotions. He may not need to worry about killing James after all. The weight and pain of this may kill him instead.

James says nothing for a long time, breaking their connection and gazing across the grounds. Regulus wants him to look back again, look, he wants to say, look at me, even if all you see is darkness, look at me because I cannot stand for you to look away and see someone better.

"We do what we can for as long as we can, and when we can't anymore, we try to handle the can't as best we can," James' voice is full of conviction and his eyes blaze with a kind of fire Regulus has never seen before. He's seen the fires of pain, of anger, and of sadistic glee, but he's never seen a fire in someone's eyes made of pure love. He finds himself wishing he could step into the dark orbs of James' eyes and let that fire consume him wholly and leave nothing of him behind.

Before he's able to respond, James speaks once more, "Who knows," he whispers, "Maybe we get lucky in this life and on the other side of the can't, there'll be a can,"

Regulus doesn't have the heart to tell James that he simply isn't a lucky person. Luck has abandoned him at every turn, and he's not deluded enough to hope it might change this time, so he just hums and drops his head against James' shoulder and lets his arm pull him into the warmth of his body, "Maybe," he whispers.

***

The kindest people are not born that way, Regulus thinks; they are made. They are the souls that have experienced so much at the hands of life. They are the ones who have dug themselves out of the dark, the ones who have fought to turn every loss into a lesson. The kindest people do not just exist — oh no, Regulus knows that the kindest people are the ones who choose to soften where circumstance has tried to harden them. They choose to believe in goodness because they have seen firsthand why compassion is so necessary. They have seen firsthand why tenderness is so important in this world.

Regulus now knows intimately what kind of strength it takes for someone to choose kindness over something like anger or fear. He is reminded of it as he watches James Potter dive to knock Evan Rosier out of the way of the bright green Killing Curse that Mad-Eye Moody sends his way, completely ignoring the yells from his comrades. Even as he stuns Evan and whips around to punch Barty in the face, knocking him out cold, Regulus is flooded with reminders of how strong James’ kindness is. He is floored by an emotion he can only describe as tenderness, maybe love? He doesn’t know, but when he meets James’ eyes across the battlefield, he sees that same feeling reflected back at him in those beautiful eyes and he thinks he finally understands what it feels like to love another person wholly and completely. The force and intensity of it threatens to bring him to his knees right there in the middle of the blood-soaked battlefield. He gets it now. He breathes in deeply. They are still locked onto each other’s gaze, spellfire is all around them and screams fill the air as people from both sides are hit with curses or watch their comrades take their last breaths. He breathes in the putrid smell of ash, flames, and blood that surrounds him. He squares his shoulders.

He knows what he must do now. This time, he will choose kindness.

James must see the resolve that comes over his face because suddenly he’s running towards him like a madman. Regulus smiles behind his mask, smiles the sweet, soft smile that makes his dimple appear. He smiles the smile that James adored several years ago when they sat up on the roof of the Astronomy Tower. He smiles the smile that only James has ever seen.

"I love you" he whispers, the words are thick and heavy against his tongue; he's not sure if he's ever said those words, "I want to be good this time. I want to choose kindness. Goodbye, Jamie, remember me, please,"

He twists to apparate away, but James is quick; his hand latches onto Regulus’ ankle with a vice grip, and he gets sucked into the apparition with him. They land on a sorry-looking beach in Devon, where a large cave sits at the end of the shore.

They bicker and squabble the entire time, just like they used to. It feels as though no time has passed since the last time they held each other. Everything with James feels so easy, so warm, so sweet. Like honey and hot chocolate and cardamom. He wants to breathe in James and let that comforting feeling envelop him for the rest of his life.

They enter the cave together and they obliterate the Horcrux beneath the basin. Regulus falls even more in love with the way James wields Dark magic that they both knew he shouldn't know. James rocks him through the delirium from the Dark Lord's potion, he stays aware of James' arms around him the whole time. The memories assault his consciousness, but he doesn't pay them real mind. All he can focus on, even with the scorching pain and spasms running through his body, is how much he missed the feeling of James' strong arms around him. Oh, how he missed the seeping warmth caressing his skin. How he missed the only feeling of safety he's ever known. When the potion has run its course, when the haze of pain leaves Regulus' eyes, they celebrate on that little island, tangled together; they still fit together perfectly. Like two pieces of a fucked up jigsaw puzzle, they are cut precisely to slot their edges together.

Regulus' ankle is grabbed for the second time this day, but this time it's by a hand that is completely devoid of warmth. It's a slimy, grey hand partially decayed. It yanks him towards the water and he tries to fight it off. But he is magically and mentally exhausted from the potion and destroying the Horcrux; his reactions are slow and his thoughts are muddled. James is fighting off several inferi, but he is slowing. He's just as exhausted as Regulus is. Fear claws at his chest, not for himself, no, he had known he would die here, and he's made his peace with that, but James cannot die here. He won't allow it. James is good and kind and brave. James cannot die in some cave in Devon where no one will ever find his body. He must live.

Before he is pulled into the murky water, Regulus pulls every scrap of magic he has left in his body and screams out a spell he's only used twice in his life.

"Fiendfyre!"

His flames form a magnificent stag and they cut through the inferi like they're nothing. He is still being dragged into the water and he feels more hands gripping and pulling his leg further into the dark depths below. James grabs onto his free hand and tries futility to pull him back to shore, but they both know it's no use.

"Go," Regulus whispers, "Leave me. Get out of here, my love,"

James smiles that crooked grin of his, adorable and charming even as the light in his eyes shines brightly with fear and tears.

"I told you once I would never let you feel alone again. I don't break my promises, Regulus Arcturus Black. I'm not about to start now."

Two men walked into that cave at the end of that pathetic-looking beach in Devon.

Neither of them walks out.

As the water fills his lungs and the lack of oxygen begins to make black spots speckle across his vision, Regulus stares into James' eyes. James stares back. With the last bit of air in his lungs he opens his mouth and says,

"Thank you for teaching me how to be kind. I love you, forever, James Potter,"

He has no way of knowing if James heard him or understands what he said, but as the water rushes into his lungs and he feels himself slip away, he can't help but feel happy that he isn't dying alone. He's always been a selfish little creature, hasn't he? He knows when James is leaving behind. He knows he should make him leave. But he won't. The frigid water should be chilling him to the bone, should be making his teeth chatter, should make him go numb, but holding James' hand as they're both being dragged under, all he feels is completely engulfed in that perfect, warm flame that he'd wanted to step into the first time he'd seen it. The last thing he registers feeling is the warmth and love coming from James' steel grip on his hand.

Maybe he's a little selfish for leaving the world without their human equivalent of the sun. He doesn't care. Despite the water's icy cold chill and the pressure in his lungs, he feels at peace.

He knows now what it means to love someone. He knows now what it means to choose kindness.

His eyes drift shut.

He is at peace.

***

The world moves on without them. The Dark Lord, unknowingly rendered mortal by Regulus and James, is killed in the least dramatic fashion. A misfired jelly-legs jinx wobbles him right in the way of a Killing Curse fired by none other than Bellatrix Lestrange.

Wizarding Britain starts to heal, slowly, but surely. The Ministry is rebuilt and legislation is passed in the hopes of preventing another Dark Lord. Funerals are held, eulogies are given, and mourning wear is worn by everyone.

Everyone except one.

Sirius becomes obsessed with finding his brother's and best friend's remains. He knows they're both dead. Going through their things has been a dreadful process. Finding out they had been dating for two years right under his nose was a nasty shock, but even he could see their adoration for each other plain as day in their letters, that each of them saved, and the few stolen pictures he found. It takes him several years to find Regulus' research on the Horcruxes. He finds the tattered remains of a diary, the gnarled remains of a ring, and a half-melted goblet that looks suspiciously like the one in the portrait of Helga Hufflepuff back at Hogwarts, stashed below the floorboards in Regulus’ room with countless scrolls and annotated pages of books torn out.

Regulus' research stops with a cave in Devon where he's located the next Horcrux, so Sirius grabs Remus and they apparate to a rather dismal beach with a cave at the end of the shore. Despite it being nearly seven years after Regulus and James apparated here, their magical signatures are still very evident. No wizard has been here since then.

A short walk and a smear of blood across a rock wall lead them to the cavern where a small island rests in the middle. Sirius and Remus ride the boat across the lake. They can feel there were once very heavy and dark wards laid across the basin, but they're no longer active. Remus siphons the grey potion out of the basin and Slytherin's locket appears in the bottom. It has a small magical signature, but nothing like the destroyed diary had. He opens it.

The note left addressed to Voldemort is signed by his brother, with his typical flare for dramatics. The real Horcrux is destroyed, probably discarded somewhere in the cave. He looks at Remus.

"The lake is full of inferi," Remus says, sniffing the air lightly and wrinkling his nose at the unpleasant smell.

Sirius grimaces. But he hasn't dedicated half a decade and change trying to find James and Regulus for nothing. This will be one of the hardest things he ever does, he knows, but it will destroy him if he doesn't find them and lay them both to rest.

"Whatcha say, then, Moons? Up for a bit of bar-be-que?"

Remus grins dangerously, amber eyes glinting golden. Always ready for a fight, that one, "You know it,"

Sirius can't help but grin in return. He slaps the water with his hand and jerks quickly away as inferi race to the surface. They work quickly together. Both powerful wizards and comfortable duelling with each other, they manage to cut through hundreds of inferi with little difficulty.

"Pads," Remus says quietly. Sirius knows that tone of voice. A trickle of fear runs down his spine. Remus couldn't be tiring, could he? They haven't been duelling for more than an hour, Sirius has barely broken a sweat.

"Yeah, Moony?"

"Trade spots with me. You need to see this,"

Oh.

He swallows against the rising lump in his throat. He has to do this. He can't back out now. He takes a gulp of unpleasant air, trying to prepare himself for what he's about to come face to face with.

"On my count, then, yeah?" Sirius asks, a little breathless. Remus just grunts in the affirmative as he blasts several inferi apart with a strong incendio.

"Right then," Sirius mumbles. He slices four inferi apart with quick whips of lacero that his mother would likely be proud of, Merlin only knew she'd used it on him and Regulus enough as children. Really, it only made sense that he would be a deft hand at it, "Ready...now!"

Remus and Sirius roll against each other's backs, balancing and propelling one another in the right direction. It's a practised move for them; they haven't used it since the War, but it's still smooth as ever. They have to work hard for a few minutes fighting back the inferi that closed in during the half-second it took them to change sides. So he doesn't see it at first.

Once he's gotten the charging undead pushed back to a manageable distance, he glances around. His knees nearly buckle when he sees it. Only instinctual self-preservation keeps him standing up, his body intrinsically knowing that if he crashed to the ground, he'd surely die.

"Fucking hell," he wheezes. His breath has been punched out of him. He's basically fighting blind because he can't tear his eyes away from it.

Standing away from the hoard of fighting water zombies, are two inferi with their hands and arms melded together. They're both partially decayed, but not as bad as one would expect for seven years underwater. They aren't attacking, or moving at all, just standing on the beach in the torn remains of a long black robe and one yellow trainer on the left foot, and one red trainer on the right. The James-inferi has its head cocked, almost curiously. Sirius wants to cry from how familiar that look is. Wants to laugh at James' mismatched trainers he completely forgot he'd worn the night he'd disappeared.

It doesn't take them much longer before he and Remus have destroyed the last of the inferi. They vanish the remains of the undead and turn their attention to the inferi still standing in the same place. Their hands and half their firearms are conjoined by mangled flesh; it's a gruesome image, certainly, but it's also romantic in a way. Even though they're both long gone, long dead, Sirius can't help but be grateful he gets to see tangible proof of their love for each other.

Sirius sighs and squeezes his eyes shut. He feels for Regulus' magical signature, trying to see if he can tell what he cast before they died. Luckily, he'd used a massive spell, and even seven years later, he can feel the ashen touch of Fiendfyre.

"Right then, lovebirds, you've been away from home long enough, don't you think? It's high time to rest now," Sirius says. He doesn't know why he's bothering to talk to inferi; they aren't sentient creatures, so it's rather pointless. But James and Regulus still look so human. It's hard to believe they aren't alive, even with the bits of flesh falling off their bones, and sagging with waterlogged skin. He wants to believe that he sees their shoulders drop in tandem, like relief, but he knows that's madness. It's still a nice thought, even if it hurts, to believe there's something of them left now; it makes it easier to do this. He knows without a doubt that neither James nor Regulus would want to be tied to the Earth like this after their deaths. He's happy to give them their freedom from this watery hellscape of a grave.

He readies himself. He summons every bit of bitter resentment and hatred he has in him and casts the spell. The inferi take a tandem step into the flames. He knows he's not imagining their relief when the James-inferi smiles and the Regulus-inferi turns its head to James, a look of peace across his features. The snarling canine flame consumes their water-logged bodies with a painful, echoing howl in seconds as if his very magic calls out for the two people he will never have again and leaves a small pile of ash behind it. Remus accio’s the pile and puts it gently into an urn they’d made.

"Okay," Sirius heaves a deep breath, trying to stave off his impending breakdown; there will be time for that later, "I think I'm ready."

"Ready for what?" Remus asks, his voice is just as hoarse as Sirius' own. He's just as affected and emotional as Sirius is, but trying to keep it together. They'll fall to pieces together, but later, only after they've finished this.

"To lay them to rest. They've been cremated, obviously, but Reggie put in his will that he wants a tombstone and a gravesite, so I want to make sure he gets it. And I don't want to separate them,"

"Best get crackin' on, then, shall we?"

Their headstones are delivered a week later. The caskets remain empty besides a destroyed locket and melted goblet in one, and a shredded diary and a ring in the other. Sirius and Remus clutch necklaces with small, clear vials filled with ash as the gravedigger lowers the caskets gently into their graves and seals the dirt in with magic.

The headstones are two different marble types. One of them is white marble, and the other is black marble. The stone is cut to fit together like a puzzle piece, two completely different types of the same material. Just as James and Regulus were to each other.

The stone reads the run-of-the-mill things, their names, birthdays, best approximate death dates, etc. but across the top, carving through the puzzle pieces reads a quote that Sirius still hasn't been able to work out the meaning from Regulus' many notes and written ramblings. It's a profound thing, that's for sure, and Sirius is glad he stumbled upon it, because it simply felt right to go on their headstone. It reads:

True kindness is only found in the person who has experienced the horrors of life, has the capacity for cruelty, and yet often still chooses to be compassionate. Anyone can be violent, but very few are truly kind.

[fallowsthorn]

Fakepatine Imposter AU

This is a series of ficlets from the Clone Haven server, after some discussion of what would happen if an Among-Us-style imposter replaced Palpatine without doing any research re: his extracurriculars. A thousand million thanks to the friend who wrote a script to convert Discord's special snowflake markdown formatting into HTML tags, which I had been banging my head against for ages and which was the main hurdle to uploading all these little extemporaneous snippets. (They did not want to be credited.)

Also for some reason tumblr no longer supports horizontal line breaks! Why would you do that! I need that! So I guess we're just doing the "extra empty lines means a new scene" thing.

somewhere along the way dooku tries to have fakepatine assassinated. fakepatine is entirely too fascinated by this and wants to help. fox says they're there to protect him, since fakepatine has so far distributed 100% less torture than realpatine. some shiny points out that technically, he outranks them and can do whatever he wants

"okay," says fakepatine, gets up from behind cover, avoids both the clones grabbing for it and the assassins firing at it, mimic-judders its way down the hallway faster than should be possible, and vanishes around the corner the assassins are hiding behind

there's a series of wet grinding and scraping noises and screams, and then fakepatine strolls back out looking none the worse for wear. "that was fun!" fakepatine says. "what's next?"

Fox rounds the corner and puts his hands on his hips, surveying the scattered pile of weaponry interspersed with occasionally recognizable small body parts. "Huh," he says. "Looks like it was a false alarm."

"Score," says someone whose name Fox definitely doesn't know and therefore will not have to discipline.

"Um," says Rift, their newest shiny, in the tones of someone who knows he's missing something but doesn't know how to ask what that is.

Fox takes pity on him. "See, if this were an Incident," he says casually, leaning down to free a rather nice dagger from the half-a-hand still holding it, "we'd be required to log all this as evidence and submit it to CoruSec to be put in a warehouse while we hunted down the perpetrators. But it's not." He flips the dagger over, eyes it, and nods to himself. "So if somebody just happened to leave a lot of really nice gear lying around, it'd be our job to take it to the Lost and Found." The same Lost and Found where items are legally up for grabs if no one claims them in a month.

"Oh, do you want these, too?" a new voice says brightly, and Fox turns to see whoever (or whatever) is pretending to be the Supreme Chancellor offering him two holdout blasters, both thankfully pointed at the ground. There's a short silence, during which everyone looks between Fakepatine, the pile of weapons and gore, and the significant distance (and multiple clone troopers) between the two. Fakepatine's smile acquires the fixed quality that means he doesn't understand why the Humans aren't Humaning correctly. Fox can relate.

"Where did he get those from?" someone whispers. Too loudly, because Fakepatine opens his mouth and takes a breath.

"PLEASE DON'T ANSWER THAT, SIR," Fox says in his best Command voice, and if there's an edge of hysteria to it, well, he dares anyone else to do better.

This isn't right. Something is going on with the Chancellor, and unlike Obi-Wan, who apparently just wants to star in a spy holothriller, Anakin is worried about both his friend and the leader of the Republic. He opens his mouth to ask straight out about it, because this dancing around it is getting them nowhere, but he's interrupted by the office's holoprojector chiming an incoming call.

"Ah, we should leave you to your work," Obi-Wan says, in a tone that implies... something. "You must be very busy."

"Nonsense!" Palpatine(?) says cheerfully. "Anakin at least is one of my closest friends, I have nothing to hide from either one of you." He grins at them a little, like he's sharing an inside joke. "Perhaps seeing a pair of Jedi Generals with me will make whoever it is get to the point faster, hmm?"

Maybe-Palpatine-or-maybe-a-shapeshifter-or-something turns away to answer the call, allowing Obi-Wan and Anakin to throw confused looks at each other. Palpatine usually cuts his meetings with Anakin short if he has to talk to someone else, not because he's trying to hide anything but because politics is a delicate job and he needs all his attention for it. Besides which, in Anakin's experience, seeing a Jedi immediately makes any given Senator harder to work with, not easier (with some exceptions, of course).

And then the call connects and Anakin just. Stares.

There's a long silence. Anakin sneaks a look at Probably-Not-Palpatine, who seems to be trying to keep his expression on the blank side of "crazed panicking," and then at Obi-Wan, whose expression actually is blank and whose Force presence has gone very still.

"Chancellor," Obi-Wan says, almost pleasantly, "why does the leader of the Separatists have your personal, heavily-encrypted comm frequency?"

Because standing in front of them, life-sized in washed-out blue, is indeed Count kriffing Dooku. Anakin has to clench his teeth together to suppress the hysterical laughter that wants to pour out of his throat.

To the credit of whoever's pretending to be Palpatine, they miss only a single beat before saying, in such a wildly confident voice that it's clear they're making this up as they go along, "Be...cause he's not the leader of the Separatists."

"He's not?" Anakin hears himself say, in unison with Obi-Wan. Dooku's mouth twitches like he had to stop himself from asking right along with them.

"He's not," Not-Palpatine confirms, suddenly serious. He fixes the two Jedi with a severe look. "But nothing you see here can leave this office, do you understand me? Count Dooku has been undercover as a spy for the Republic for almost the entire war."

Anakin glances at Dooku. If nothing else, at least they can be pretty sure whatever's happened to the real Palpatine isn't a Separatist plot, because Dooku clearly doesn't know what the kriff is going on either.

"Has he," Obi-Wan says, just as clearly not buying a word of it.

"Yes," Fakepatine decides, confident in the way of the desperate and poorly-informed. "Everything he has done has been in the service of the Republic, however it may seem."

"He cut my arm off," Anakin says faintly.

"And I'm sure he's very sorry about it," Fakepatine covers flawlessly, in exactly the same voice Anakin once heard a crechemaster use to explain that hitting is wrong. "Aren't you?" And then he looks at Dooku like he's actually expecting the man to answer.

Dooku looks at Anakin. Anakin shrugs minutely, indicating that yes, he finds this just as weird as Dooku does, and no, he doesn't have a better idea than just going along with it. Dooku blinks. "You have my most sincere apologies," he says, and then looks as surprised as Anakin feels that the statement wasn't entirely sarcastic.

"That's lovely," Obi-Wan says, suspicious and edging on furious, "but if the leader of the opposing faction is actually on our side, what are we doing fighting a war?"

Oh shit practically appears in neon above Fakepatine's head. He opens his mouth, but before he can speak he's rescued by Dooku, of all people.

"Nominal leader," Dooku says. Everyone swivels back to him. Anakin wonders vaguely if this is what being high feels like. It's extremely weird. "Who profits, in a war?"

Obi-Wan is doing his best impression of an overdue volcano, so Anakin hurries to supply the other half of the... lesson? "What do you mean?"

Dooku crosses his arms. "Wars are expensive. Not just metaphorically, but literally. They cost money. But those credits don't just vanish into thin air when they're spent; they get paid to someone. You've been to Separatist planets, you know that their galactic coordinates are the only thing stopping most of them from defecting to the Republic. They certainly aren't getting much out of it, so, if not them, who profits? Where is all that money going?"

"...the trade unions," Obi-Wan says, into the perfect silence that follows. "You think the trade unions have orchestrated a galactic civil war in order to profit off the sale of weapons to both sides."

"Weapons, supplies, armor, ships, reconstruction, anything and everything they can put a price tag on," Dooku says. "In fact, I know it. I just need proof."

"Which is why you must not even hint at this to anyone," Fakepatine says. It would be grave, except they've all forgotten he's there, and startle when he speaks. "We don't know who might be on their side. Do I have your word?"

Obi-Wan and Anakin exchange a look. Don't say anything, just nod after me, Anakin hears, right before Obi-Wan says, "Very well. On my honor as a Jedi Master, I will not share what I have learned here with anyone outside this room."

Anakin nods, wondering what Obi-Wan is up to, and allows Fakepatine to end the call and hustle them both out of the room. "Don't you want to tell the Council about this?" Not that he's generally in favor of the old coot brigade sticking their noses everywhere, but at this point, even Anakin has to admit they're in over their heads.

"Where do you think we're going?" Obi-Wan says, quietly enough that no one will overhear them.

Anakin frowns. "But you said--" His mouth shuts with a click. He'd said. Anakin hadn't promised anything at all.

Obi-Wan smiles grimly. "Precisely. I'm not going to tell the Council a thing. You are."

Mace is having a very long day. Mace has been having a very long day for about two years now. No one had ever told him that when he became Master of the Jedi Order, his unofficial title would be updated to Someone Else. As in, "that's Someone Else's problem." As in, "Someone Else will deal with this." As in, "let me go ask Someone Else." He's going to drown in paperwork one of these days and that'll be his epitaph: Mace Windu, Someone Else.

Which is to say that when Kenobi walks into Mace's quarters, way too chipper for ass o' clock at night, and says, "Ah, good, I thought Someone Else ought to hear about this," Mace thinks he can forgive himself for the brief but understandable urge to stab the man. He closes his eyes and releases the irritation and frustration to the Force. There is no peace, there is serenity. Er, wait. There is no passion-- Fuck it. There is no sleep, there is caf. Close enough.

"If this is about the supplies from Cato Nem--"

"The Chancellor found a bunch of Sith stuff," Skywalker bursts in, to the room and also the conversation.

Mace goes very still. "The real Chancellor or--" He stops himself from saying "Fakepatine" just in time. "--the imposter?"

"The fake one," Kenobi clarifies. He has perhaps left the realm of chipper and is fast on his way to the land of manic. "We still don't know where the real one is."

Mace turns back to Skywalker. "Found it where."

"In a secret room in his apartment," Skywalker reports, practically vibrating with concern. "This has to have something to do with what happened to him! The real him, I mean."

"If it does, why would Fakepatine comm us about it," Kenobi says wearily.

"All right," Mace says loudly, before they can descend into the fiftieth repetition of the argument that clearly led them here. "Council meeting, let's go." At least if a Sith Lord kills him, he won't have to fill out any more forms in triplicate.

In the end, every physically present Council member comes with them to meet Fakepatine in his fancy senator penthouse. They're wary, but honestly Mace can't sense anything from the man(?) besides worried confusion, and the Force is quiet, if... anticipatory. Which is unsettling in its own way, but not in a lethal one. Hopefully.

"When did you find this?" Mace asks. Two lightsabers rest on an office desk near a previously-concealed lift. He can feel the kyber screaming from across the room.

"Tonight, a few hours ago," Fakepatine says. "I've never seen any of it before in my life."

The thing is, he's not lying. Even the best liars can't hide themselves from the Force: to tell a lie is a form of division, between the self that knows the truth and the self that doesn't, and that duality is obvious. Shielding one's mind to hide the duality is also obvious. Fakepatine is doing neither.

"You live here," Allie points out.

Now it's there. "Um," Fakepatine says.

It's too early in the morning for this circus. "We know you're not the real Chancellor," Mace says bluntly.

"Oh."

"What did you do with him?"

"Um," says Fakepatine, wincing in a way that indicates Mace isn't going to like the answer. "I, uh. Ate him."

There's silence. "What the fuck," someone mutters.

Mace closes his eyes. "So no body, then."

"...No."

"If he was a Sith Lord, how did you ever get the drop on him?" Fisto asks. Mace notes with amusement that aside from Skywalker, who is bickering with Kenobi, no one is bothering to pretend Palpatine might have been innocent. Slimy bastard.

"Oh! Ah...." Fakepatine glances around the assembled Masters, like he's surprised they want to know. "I was pretending to be a clone. He called me into his office alone." He frowns. "Actually I think he was going to torture me. He was monologuing about something, but I wasn't paying attention, I just saw he had his back to me and. Went for it."

Went for it. Mace wants to sleep for the next thousand years. "He didn't notice your approach?"

"Oh, no, I've got a...." Fakepatine gestures vaguely. "Harpoon. Sort of. Thing. Would you like to see?" His jaw starts to work.

"NO," everyone else says, suddenly united in their desire to not see the Chancellor's face invert itself. "Maybe another time," Mace adds unconvincingly. Whatever. The hurt feelings of the bodysnatcher who ate the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, who was also probably the Sith Lord, are currently very low on his priority list.

"Hmm," Yoda says, which means Mace's workload is about to either double or evaporate. "Take the sabers now, we will. Much more to do in the morning, we will have."

Fantastic. It's both. Mace is blaming Skywalker, just on general principle.