#Identify merged cells in Table

[intelligent-document-processing]

Dive In: How to extract tabular data from PDFs

Fei-Fei Li, a leading AI researcher and co-director of the Stanford Human-Centered AI Institute, once said that “to truly innovate, you must understand the essence of what you’re working with”. This insight is particularly relevant to the sophisticated task of extracting tabular data from PDF documents. We’re not just talking about pulling numbers from well-structured cells. To truly dissect this task, we need to engage with the first principles that govern PDF structuring, deciphering the language it speaks, and reconstructing that data with razor-sharp precision.

And what about those pesky footnotes that seem to follow tables around? Or merged cells that complicate the structure? Headings that stretch across multiple columns, can those be handled too? The answer is a resounding yes, yes, and yes.

Let’s dive in and explore how every aspect of a tabular structure can be meticulously managed, and how today’s AI, particularly large language models, is leading the charge in making this process smarter and more efficient.

Decoding the Components of Tabular Data

The Architectural Elements of Tabular Data

A table’s structure in a PDF document can be dissected into several fundamental components:

Multi-Level Headers: These headers span multiple rows or columns, often representing hierarchical data. Multi-level headers are critical in understanding the organization of the data, and their accurate extraction is paramount to maintaining the integrity of the information.

Vacant or Empty Headers: These elements, while seemingly trivial, serve to align and structure the table. They must be accurately identified to avoid misalignment of data during extraction.

Multi-Line Cells: Cells that span multiple lines introduce additional complexity, as they require the extraction process to correctly identify and aggregate the contents across these lines without losing context.

Stubs and Spanning Cells: Stubs (the spaces between columns) and spanning cells (which extend across multiple columns or rows) present unique challenges in terms of accurately mapping and extracting the data they contain.

Footnotes: Often associated with specific data points, footnotes can easily be misinterpreted as part of the main tabular data.

Merged Cells: These can disrupt the uniformity of tabular data, leading to misalignment and inaccuracies in the extracted output.

Understanding these elements is essential for any extraction methodology, as they dictate the task’s complexity and influence the choice of extraction technique.

Wang’s Notation for Table Interpretation

To better understand the structure of tables, let’s look at Wang’s notation, a canonical approach to interpreting tables:

(

( Header 1 , R1C1 ) ,

( Header 2 . Header 2a , R1C2 ) ,

( Header 2 . Header 2b , R1C3 ) ,

( , R1C4 ) ,

( Header 4 with a long string , R1C5 ) ,

( Header 5 , R1C6 ) ,

. . .

Fig 1. Table Elements and Terminology. Elements in the table are: a) two-level headers or multi-level header, where level I is Header 2 and level II is Header 2a and Header 2b on the same and consecutive row, b) empty header or vacant header cell, c) multi-line header spanning to three levels, d) first or base header row of the table, e) columns of a table, f) multi-line cell in a row spanning to 5 levels, g) stub or white space between columns, h) spanning cells through two columns of a row, i) empty column in a table, similarly can have an empty row, k) rows or tuples of a table

This notation provides a syntactical framework for understanding the hierarchical and positional relationships within a table, serving as the foundation for more advanced extraction techniques that must go beyond mere positional mapping to include semantic interpretation.

Evolving Methods of Table Data Extraction

Extraction methods have evolved significantly, ranging from heuristic rule-based approaches to advanced machine learning models. Each method comes with its own set of advantages and limitations, and understanding these is crucial for selecting the appropriate tool for a given task.

1. Heuristic Methods (Plug-in Libraries):

Heuristic methods are among the most traditional approaches to PDF data extraction. They rely on pre-defined rules and libraries, typically implemented in languages like Python or Java, to extract data based on positional and structural cues.

Key Characteristics:

Positional Accuracy: These methods are highly effective in documents with consistent formatting. They extract data by identifying positional relationships within the PDF, such as coordinates of text blocks, and converting these into structured outputs (e.g., XML, HTML).

Limitations: The primary drawback of heuristic methods is their rigidity. They struggle with documents that deviate from the expected format or include complex structures such as nested tables or multi-level headers. The reliance on positional data alone often leads to errors when the document’s layout changes or when elements like merged cells or footnotes are present.

Output: The extracted data typically includes not just the textual content but also the positional information. This includes coordinates and bounding boxes describing where the text is located within the document. This information is used by applications that need to reconstruct the visual appearance of the table or perform further analysis based on the text’s position.

2. UI Frameworks:

UI frameworks offer a more user-friendly approach to PDF data extraction. These commercial or open-source tools, such as Tabula, ABBYY Finereader, and Adobe Reader, provide graphical interfaces that allow users to visually select and extract table data.

Key Characteristics:

Accessibility: UI frameworks are accessible to a broader audience, including those without programming expertise. They enable users to manually adjust and fine-tune the extraction process, which can be beneficial for handling irregular or complex tables.

Limitations: Despite their ease of use, UI frameworks often lack the depth of customization and precision required for highly complex documents. The extraction is typically manual, which can be time-consuming and prone to human error, especially when dealing with large datasets.

Output: The extracted data is usually outputted in formats like CSV, Excel, or HTML, making it easy to integrate into other data processing workflows. However, the precision and completeness of the extracted data can vary depending on the user’s manual adjustments during the extraction process.

3. Machine Learning Approaches:

Machine learning (ML) approaches represent a significant advancement in the field of PDF data extraction. By leveraging models such as Deep Learning and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), these approaches are capable of learning and adapting to a wide variety of document formats.

Key Characteristics:

Pattern Recognition: ML models excel at recognizing patterns in data, making them highly effective for extracting information from complex or unstructured tables. Unlike heuristic methods, which rely on predefined rules, ML models learn from the data itself, enabling them to handle variations in table structure and layout.

Contextual Awareness: One of the key advantages of ML approaches is their ability to understand context. For example, a CNN might not only identify a table’s cells but also infer the relationships between those cells, such as recognizing that a certain header spans multiple columns.

Limitations: Despite their strengths, ML models require large amounts of labeled data for training, which can be a significant investment in terms of both time and resources. Moreover, the complexity of these models can make them difficult to implement and fine-tune without specialized knowledge.

Output: The outputs from ML-based extraction can include not just the extracted text but also feature maps and vectors that describe the relationships between different parts of the table. This data can be used to reconstruct the table in a way that preserves its original structure and meaning, making it highly valuable for downstream applications.

4. In-house Developed Tools:

In-house tools are custom solutions developed to address specific challenges in PDF data extraction. These tools often combine heuristic methods with machine learning to create hybrid approaches that offer greater precision and flexibility.

Key Characteristics:

Customization: In-house tools are tailored to the specific needs of an organization, allowing for highly customized extraction processes that can handle unique document formats and structures.

Precision: By combining the strengths of heuristic and machine learning approaches, these tools can achieve a higher level of precision and accuracy than either method alone.

Limitations: The development and maintenance of in-house tools require significant expertise and resources. Moreover, the scalability of these solutions can be limited, as they are often designed for specific use cases rather than general applicability.

Output: The extracted data is typically outputted in formats that are directly usable by the organization, such as XML or JSON. The precision of the extraction, combined with the customization of the tool, ensures that the data is ready for immediate integration into the organization’s workflows.

Challenges Affecting Data Quality

Even with advanced extraction methodologies, several challenges continue to impact the quality of the extracted data.

Merged Cells: Merged cells can disrupt the uniformity of tabular data, leading to misalignment and inaccuracies in the extracted output. Proper handling of merged cells requires sophisticated parsing techniques that can accurately identify and separate the merged data into its constituent parts.

Footnotes: Footnotes, particularly those that are closely associated with tables, pose a significant challenge. They can easily be misinterpreted as part of the tabular data, leading to data corruption. Advanced contextual analysis is required to differentiate between main data and supplementary information.

Complex Headers: Multi-level headers, especially those spanning multiple columns or rows, complicate the alignment of data with the correct categories. Extracting data from such headers requires a deep understanding of the table’s structural hierarchy and the ability to accurately map each data point to its corresponding header.

Empty Columns and Rows: Empty columns or rows can lead to the loss of data or incorrect merging of adjacent columns. Identifying and managing these elements is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the extracted information.

Selecting the Optimal Extraction Method

Selecting the appropriate method for extracting tabular data from PDFs is not a one-size-fits-all decision. It requires a careful evaluation of the document’s complexity, the quality of the data required, and the available resources.

For straightforward tasks involving well-structured documents, heuristic methods or UI frameworks may be sufficient. These methods are quick to implement and provide reliable results for documents that conform to expected formats.

However, for more complex documents, particularly those with irregular structures or embedded metadata, machine learning approaches are often the preferred choice. These methods offer the flexibility and adaptability needed to handle a wide range of document formats and data types. Moreover, they can improve over time, learning from the data they process to enhance their accuracy and reliability.

The Role of Multi-Modal Approaches: In some cases, a multi-modal approach that combines text, images, and even audio or video data, may be necessary to fully capture the richness of the data. Multi-modal models are particularly effective in situations where context from multiple sources is required to accurately interpret the information. By integrating different types of data, these models can provide a more holistic view of the document, enabling more precise and meaningful extraction.MethodKey CharacteristicsCost & SubscriptionTemplating & CustomizationLearning CurveCompatibility & ScalabilityHeuristic Methods– Rule-based, effective for well-structured documents

– Extracts positional information (coordinates, etc.)– Generally low-cost

– Often open-source or low-cost libraries– Relies on predefined templates

– Limited flexibility for complex documents– Moderate

– Requires basic programming knowledge– Compatible with standard formats

– May struggle with complex layouts

– Scalability depends on document uniformityUI Frameworks– User-friendly interfaces

– Manual adjustments possible– Subscription- based

– Costs can accumulate over time– Limited customization

– Suitable for basic extraction tasks– Low to Moderate

– Easy to learn but may require manual tweaking– Generally compatible

– Limited scalability for large-scale operationsMachine Learning– Adapts to diverse document formats

– Recognizes patterns and contextual relationships– High initial setup cost

– Requires computational resources

– Possible subscription fees for advanced platforms– Flexible, can handle unstructured documents

– Custom models can be developed– High

– Requires expertise in ML and data science– High compatibility

– Integration challenges possible

– Scalable with proper infrastructureIn-house Developed Tools– Custom-built for specific needs

– Combines heuristic and ML approaches– High development cost

– Ongoing maintenance expenses– Highly customizable

– Tailored to organization’s specific document types– High

– Requires in-depth knowledge of both the tool and the documents– High compatibility

– Scalability may be limited and require further developmentMulti-Modal & LLMs– Processes diverse data types (text, images, tables)

– Context-aware and flexible– High cost for computational resources

– Licensing fees for advanced models– Flexible and adaptable

– Can perform schemaless and borderless data extraction– High

– Requires NLP and ML expertise– High compatibility

– Scalability requires significant infrastructure and integration effort

Large Language Models Taking the Reins

Large Language Models (LLMs) are rapidly becoming the cornerstone of advanced data extraction techniques. Built on deep learning architectures, these models offer a level of contextual understanding and semantic parsing that traditional methods cannot match. Their capabilities are further enhanced by their ability to operate in multi-modal environments and support data annotation, addressing many of the challenges that have long plagued the field of PDF data extraction.

Contextual Understanding and Semantic Parsing

LLMs are designed to acknowledge the broader context in which data appears, allowing them to extract information accurately, even from complex and irregular tables. Unlike traditional extraction methods that often struggle with ambiguity or non-standard layouts, LLMs parse the semantic relationships between different elements of a document. This nuanced understanding enables LLMs to reconstruct data in a way that preserves its original meaning and structure, making them particularly effective for documents with complex tabular formats, multi-level headers, and intricate footnotes.

Example Use Case: In a financial report with nested tables and cross-referenced data, an LLM can understand the contextual relevance of each data point, ensuring that the extracted data maintains its relational integrity when transferred to a structured database.

Borderless and Schemaless Interpretation

One of the most significant advantages of LLMs is their ability to perform borderless and schemaless interpretation. Traditional methods often rely on predefined schemas or templates, which can be limiting when dealing with documents that deviate from standard formats. LLMs, however, can interpret data without being confined to rigid schemas, making them highly adaptable to unconventional layouts where the relationships between data points are not immediately obvious.

This capability is especially valuable for extracting information from documents with complex or non-standardized structures. Such as legal contracts, research papers, or technical manuals, where data may be spread across multiple tables, sections, or even embedded within paragraphs of text.

Multi-Modal Approaches: Expanding the Horizon

The future of data extraction lies in the integration of multi-modal approaches, where LLMs are leveraged alongside other data types such as images, charts, and even audio or video content. Multi-modal LLMs can process and interpret different types of data in a unified manner, providing a more holistic understanding of the document’s content.

Example Use Case: Consider a scientific paper where experimental data is presented in tables, supplemented by images of the experimental setup, and discussed in the text. A multi-modal LLM can extract the data, interpret the images, and link this information to the relevant sections of text, providing a complete and accurate representation of the research findings.

Enhancing Data Annotation with LLMs

Data annotation, a critical step in training machine learning models, has traditionally been a labor-intensive process requiring human oversight. However, LLMs are now playing a significant role in automating and enhancing this process. By understanding the context and relationships within data, LLMs can generate high-quality annotations that are both accurate and consistent, reducing the need for manual intervention.

Key Benefits:

Automated Labeling: LLMs can automatically label data points based on context, significantly speeding up the annotation process while maintaining a high level of accuracy.

Consistency and Accuracy: The ability of LLMs to understand context ensures that annotations are consistent across large datasets, reducing errors that can arise from manual annotation processes.

Example Use Case: In an e-discovery process, where large volumes of legal documents need to be annotated for relevance, LLMs can automatically identify and label key sections of text, such as contract clauses, parties involved, and legal references, thereby streamlining the review process.

Navigating the Complexities of LLM-Based Approaches

While Large Language Models (LLMs) offer unprecedented capabilities in PDF data extraction, they also introduce new complexities that require careful management. Understanding the core of these challenges will help implement robust and trusted strategies.

Hallucinations: The Mirage of Accuracy

Hallucinations in LLMs refer to the generation of plausible but factually incorrect information. In the context of tabular data extraction from PDFs, this means:

Data Fabrication: LLMs may invent data points when encountering incomplete tables or ambiguous content.

Relational Misinterpretation: Complex table structures can lead LLMs to infer non-existent relationships between data points.

Unwarranted Contextualization: LLMs might generate explanatory text or footnotes not present in the original document.

Cross-Document Contamination: When processing multiple documents, LLMs may mistakenly mix information from different sources.

Time-Related Inconsistencies: LLMs can struggle with accurately representing data from different time periods within a single table.

Context Length Limitations: The Truncation Dilemma

LLMs have a finite capacity for processing input, known as the context length. How this affects tabular data extraction from PDFs:

Incomplete Processing: Large tables or documents exceeding the context length may be truncated, leading to partial data extraction.

Loss of Contextual Information: Critical context from earlier parts of a document may be lost when processing later sections.

Reduced Accuracy in Long Documents: As the model approaches its context limit, the quality of extraction can degrade.

Difficulty with Cross-Referencing: Tables that reference information outside the current context window may be misinterpreted.

Challenges in Document Segmentation: Dividing large documents into processable chunks without losing table integrity can be complex.

Precision Control: Balancing Flexibility and Structure

LLMs’ flexibility in interpretation can lead to inconsistencies in output structure and format, challenging the balance between adaptability and standardization in data extraction.

Inconsistent Formatting: LLMs may produce varying output formats across different runs.

Extraneous Information: Models might include unrequested information in the extraction.

Ambiguity Handling: LLMs can struggle with making definitive choices in ambiguous scenarios.

Structural Preservation: Maintaining the original table structure while allowing for flexibility can be challenging.

Output Standardization: Ensuring consistent, structured outputs across diverse table types is complex.

Rendering Challenges: Bridging Visual and Textual Elements

LLMs may struggle to accurately interpret the visual layout of PDFs, potentially misaligning text or misinterpreting non-textual elements crucial for complete tabular data extraction.

Visual-Textual Misalignment: LLMs may incorrectly associate text with its position on the page.

Non-Textual Element Interpretation: Charts, graphs, and images can be misinterpreted or ignored.

Font and Formatting Issues: Unusual fonts or complex formatting may lead to incorrect text recognition.

Layout Preservation: Maintaining the original layout while extracting data can be difficult.

Multi-Column Confusion: LLMs may misinterpret data in multi-column layouts.

Data Privacy: Ensuring Trust and Compliance

The use of LLMs for data extraction raises concerns about data privacy, confidentiality, and regulatory compliance, particularly when processing sensitive or regulated information.

Sensitive Information Exposure: Confidential data might be transmitted to external servers for processing.

Regulatory Compliance: Certain industries have strict data handling requirements that cloud-based LLMs might violate.

Model Retention Concerns: There’s a risk that sensitive information could be incorporated into the model’s knowledge base.

Data Residency Issues: Processing data across geographical boundaries may violate data sovereignty laws.

Audit Trail Challenges: Maintaining a compliant audit trail of data processing can be complex with LLMs.

Computational Demands: Balancing Power and Efficiency

LLMs often require significant computational resources, posing challenges in scalability, real-time processing, and cost-effectiveness for large-scale tabular data extraction tasks.

Scalability Challenges: Handling large volumes of documents efficiently can be resource-intensive.

Real-Time Processing Limitations: The computational demands may hinder real-time or near-real-time extraction capabilities.

Cost Implications: The hardware and energy requirements can lead to significant operational costs.

Model Transparency: Unveiling the Black Box

The opaque nature of LLMs’ decision-making processes complicates efforts to explain, audit, and validate the accuracy and reliability of extracted tabular data.

Decision Explanation Difficulty: It’s often challenging to explain how LLMs arrive at specific extraction decisions.

Bias Detection: Identifying and mitigating biases in the extraction process can be complex.

Regulatory Compliance: Lack of transparency can pose challenges in regulated industries requiring explainable AI.

Trust Issues: The “black box” nature of LLMs can erode trust in the extraction results.

Versioning and Reproducibility: Ensuring Consistency

As LLMs evolve, maintaining consistent extraction results over time and across different model versions becomes a significant challenge, impacting long-term data analysis and comparability.

Model Evolution Impact: As LLMs are updated, maintaining consistent extraction results over time can be challenging.

Reproducibility Concerns: Achieving the same results across different model versions or runs may be difficult.

Backwards Compatibility: Ensuring newer model versions can accurately process historical data formats doesn’t always stand true.

It’s becoming increasingly evident that harnessing the power of AI for tabular data extraction requires a nuanced and strategic approach. So the question naturally arises: How can we leverage AI’s capabilities in a controlled and conscious manner, maximizing its benefits while mitigating its risks?

The answer lies in adopting a comprehensive, multifaceted strategy that addresses these challenges head-on.

Optimizing Tabular Data Extraction with AI: A Holistic Approach

Effective tabular data extraction from PDFs demands a holistic approach that channels AI’s strengths while systematically addressing its limitations. This strategy integrates multiple elements to create a robust, efficient, and reliable extraction process:

Hybrid Model Integration: Combine rule-based systems with AI models to create robust extraction pipelines that benefit from both deterministic accuracy and AI flexibility.

Continuous Learning Ecosystems: Implement feedback loops and incremental learning processes to refine extraction accuracy over time, adapting to new document types and edge cases.

Industry-Specific Customization: Recognize and address the unique requirements of different sectors, from financial services to healthcare, ensuring compliance and accuracy.

Scalable Architecture Design: Develop modular, cloud-native architectures that can efficiently handle varying workloads and seamlessly integrate emerging technologies.

Rigorous Quality Assurance: Establish comprehensive QA protocols, including automated testing suites and confidence scoring mechanisms, to maintain high data integrity.

Even though there are complexities of AI-driven tabular data extraction, adopting AI is the key to unlocking new levels of efficiency and insight. The journey doesn’t end here. As the field of AI and data extraction continues to evolve rapidly, staying at the forefront requires continuous learning, expertise, and innovation.

Addressing Traditional Challenges with LLMs

Custom LLMs trained on specific data and needs in tag team with multi-modal approaches are uniquely positioned to address several of the traditional challenges identified in PDF data extraction:

Merged Cells: LLMs can interpret the relationships between merged cells and accurately separate the data, preserving the integrity of the table.

Footnotes: By understanding the contextual relevance of footnotes, LLMs can correctly associate them with the appropriate data points in the table, ensuring that supplementary information is not misclassified.

Complex Headers: LLMs’ ability to parse multi-level headers and align them with the corresponding data ensures that even the most complex tables are accurately extracted and reconstructed.

Empty Columns and Rows: LLMs can identify and manage empty columns or rows, ensuring that they do not lead to data misalignment or loss, thus maintaining the integrity of the extracted data.

Conclusion

The extraction of tabular data from PDFs is a complex task that requires a deep understanding of both document structure and extraction methodologies. Our exploration has revealed a diverse array of tools and techniques, each with its own strengths and limitations. The integration of Large Language Models and multi-modal approaches promises to revolutionize this field, potentially enhancing accuracy, flexibility, and contextual understanding. However, our analysis has highlighted significant challenges, particularly hallucinations and context limitations, which demand deeper expertise and robust mitigation strategies.

Forage AI addresses these challenges through a rigorous, research-driven approach. Our team actively pursues R&D initiatives, continuously refining our models and techniques to balance cutting-edge AI capabilities with the precision demanded by real-world applications. For instance, our proprietary algorithms for handling merged cells and complex headers have significantly improved extraction accuracy in financial documents.

By combining domain expertise with advanced AI capabilities, we deliver solutions that meet the highest standards of accuracy and contextual understanding across various sectors. Our adaptive learning systems enable us to rapidly respond to emerging challenges, translating complex AI advancements into efficient, practical solutions. This approach has proven particularly effective in highly regulated industries where data privacy and compliance are paramount.

Our unwavering dedication to excellence empowers our clients to unlock the full potential of their critical data embedded in PDF documents – that’s often inaccessible. We transform raw information into actionable insights, driving informed decision-making and operational efficiency.

Experience the difference that Forage AI can make in your data extraction processes. Contact us today to learn how our tailored solutions can address your specific industry needs and challenges, and take the first step towards revolutionizing your approach to tabular data extraction.

[inventedworld]

THE MERGER

You are the competition. 

So are your neighbors.

So are your kids. 

Since everybody posts photos on social media apps all day long, the value of photos overall has plummeted. That’s just basic economics. 

The recent announcement about two of the world‘s largest stock photography companies merging reflects this market reality. With everyone clicking and posting photos all day long with their cell phones, the challenge of finding interesting photographs isn’t especially hard. It’s worth adding that photography—and video, too, considering just how much video both of these companies also sell—not only suffers devaluation as a commodity with this merger, but also as a by-product of waning audience interest. Ubiquity breeds dispassion. 

There are two things going on here. First there’s the matter about big business and how that affects creative work. Second, and perhaps more importantly, this is a story about creative devaluation. Shutterstock and Getty used to compete, and for many professional media people, each service was effectively interchangeable. They may have had different account numbers and different billing requirements, but it didn’t really matter. If you needed a picture of a giraffe nibbling acacia leaves at sunset, you could easily find one on either site.

What most people don’t realize, of course, is that each of these companies themselves already had gobbled up many other companies. Getty and Shutterstock were already giants. A range of stock footage and animation and graphics and even audio services operated beneath the shade of their umbrellas. If this new merger between their front offices survives anti-trust scrutiny, we’ll effectively be left with  one behemoth to rule them all.

Does anybody care? Should we care? I’m not worried in terms of finding that singular giraffe image, or any other easily identifiable asset that I may need for a quick turnaround production. I worry for reasons that lurk beneath the surface like shallow rocks at the shoreline. 

This concern is really a subset of overall consternation about the seemingly inexorable trend towards corporate consolidation in all industries. Every week we seem to hear that there are fewer and fewer big corporate holding companies that essentially regulate all aspects of modern life. Most people don’t realize that the marquee names they all know are often bulwarks behind which countless other companies purport to operate under their own banners. Most people don’t realize, in other words, that so many big banners are actually just pixelations comprised of a slew of smaller banners.  

For creative people and the work they do this troubles me. The more we face narrower corporate uniformity, the harder it is for fresh voices to find purchase in the global marketplace. The more that creative work must conform to the dictates of mega-corporations, the more we smear the lines of distinction and voice and purpose. If this merger goes through and you’re a pro photographer looking to sell your work as stock, for example, you’ll have essentially just one place where it might be showcased in any meaningful way. Sure, you can post it on social media or your own websites as much as you want, but if you’re trying to do mainstream business, you’re essentially going to be left with only one place to negotiate. As the saying goes, the power of the free press only matters if you happen to own one.

As much as some participants may try to pretend otherwise, creative work often concerns pure commerce. A client needs something—an image, a tune, a video, a hand-carved wooden table—and an artist fills that need. But clearly the souls of artists move from forces far more complex than making a sale. Artists need to make things. They need to make sales to keep making things. Sometimes the can make a living by doing both—making and then selling—but the point is that when the marketplace consolidates, artists have a tougher time selling. That means they then have a harder time making, and because of that, overall culture retreats, becoming duller and grayer.

And who wants to live in a monolithic culture?

@michaelstarobin

facebook.com/1auglobalmedia

[html-tute]

HTML Tables

HTML tables are used to display data in a structured format, using rows and columns. Tables are a great way to organize information, such as data, schedules, or any other content that requires a tabular layout.

Basic Structure of an HTML Table

An HTML table is created using the <table> element, and it consists of rows (<tr>), headers (<th>), and data cells (<td>).<table> <tr> <th>Header 1</th> <th>Header 2</th> <th>Header 3</th> </tr> <tr> <td>Data 1</td> <td>Data 2</td> <td>Data 3</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Data 4</td> <td>Data 5</td> <td>Data 6</td> </tr> </table>

Key Table Elements

<table>: The container element for the table.

<tr>: Defines a row within the table.

<th>: Defines a header cell in the table. Text in a <th> is bold and centered by default.

<td>: Defines a standard data cell in the table.

Example of a Simple HTML Table

<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>HTML Table Example</title> </head> <body> <h1>Sample HTML Table</h1> <table border="1"> <tr> <th>Name</th> <th>Age</th> <th>Occupation</th> </tr> <tr> <td>John Doe</td> <td>30</td> <td>Software Engineer</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Jane Smith</td> <td>25</td> <td>Graphic Designer</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Emily Johnson</td> <td>40</td> <td>Project Manager</td> </tr> </table></body> </html>

Adding Table Borders

The border attribute adds borders around table cells. Although it's now better to use CSS for styling, you can still use the border attribute in the <table> tag for quick border application.<table border="1"> <!-- table content --> </table>

Table Caption

A table caption is a brief description of the table and is added using the <caption> tag. It usually appears above the table.<table border="1"> <caption>Employee Information</caption> <tr> <th>Name</th> <th>Age</th> <th>Occupation</th> </tr> <!-- more rows --> </table>

Table Headers

Headers are often used to define the labels for columns or rows. They help in identifying the type of data contained in the corresponding rows or columns.<table border="1"> <tr> <th>Name</th> <th>Age</th> <th>Occupation</th> </tr> </table>

Table Spanning

Colspan: Allows a cell to span multiple columns.

Rowspan: Allows a cell to span multiple rows.

<table border="1"> <tr> <th colspan="2">Header spanning two columns</th> <th>Header 3</th> </tr> <tr> <td rowspan="2">Cell spanning two rows</td> <td>Data 2</td> <td>Data 3</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Data 4</td> <td>Data 5</td> </tr> </table>

Grouping Table Elements

<thead>: Groups the header content.

<tbody>: Groups the body content.

<tfoot>: Groups the footer content.

This grouping helps with styling and managing large tables more efficiently.<table border="1"> <thead> <tr> <th>Name</th> <th>Age</th> <th>Occupation</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>John Doe</td> <td>30</td> <td>Software Engineer</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Jane Smith</td> <td>25</td> <td>Graphic Designer</td> </tr> </tbody> <tfoot> <tr> <td colspan="3">Footer Content</td> </tr> </tfoot> </table>

Styling Tables with CSS

CSS provides powerful ways to style tables beyond the basic border attribute. You can customize padding, background colors, border styles, and more.<style> table { width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; } th, td { padding: 10px; text-align: left; border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd; } tr:hover { background-color: #f5f5f5; } th { background-color: #f2f2f2; } </style><table> <!-- table content --> </table>

Key Points

Tables are structured using rows (<tr>), headers (<th>), and cells (<td>).

Use attributes like colspan and rowspan to merge cells.

Group elements using <thead>, <tbody>, and <tfoot> for better structure and styling.

CSS can greatly enhance the appearance of your tables, making them more user-friendly and visually appealing.

Understanding how to create and style tables in HTML is essential for organizing and displaying data on your web pages.

Read More…

[eloiacs]

ELOIACS PDF ACCESSIBILITY SERVICES

Introduction PDF accessibility is crucial for ensuring that your content is usable by everyone, including individuals with disabilities. This guide will walk you through the essential steps to creating accessible PDFs, covering everything from document structure to the use of alternative text.

Document Structure 1.1 Use headings Organise Content: Use proper headings (H1, H2, H3, etc.) to structure your document. This helps screen readers navigate the content. Consistent Hierarchy: Maintain a logical and consistent heading hierarchy throughout the document. 1.2 Use Lists Bullet and Numbered Lists: Use the built-in list features in your word processor or PDF editor to create bullet and numbered lists. 1.3 Proper Formatting Paragraph Styles: Use paragraph styles instead of manual formatting to ensure consistency and readability. Tables: Use simple tables with column and row headers. Avoid complex tables with merged or split cells.

Text accessibility 2.1 Font and Size Readable Fonts: Use sans-serif fonts like Arial, Verdana, or Calibri for better readability. Font Size: Ensure that the font size is at least 12 points for body text. 2.2 Colour Contrast High Contrast: Use high contrast between text and background colours to enhance readability for users with visual impairments.

Images and Graphics 3.1 Alternative Text (Alt Text) Description: Provide descriptive alt text for all images and graphics. This text should convey the meaning and purpose of the image. Complex Images: For complex images like charts or diagrams, include a detailed description in the main text or as a caption. 3.2 Decorative Images Mark as Decorative: If an image is purely decorative and does not convey information, mark it as decorative so screen readers can skip it.

Links and Interactive Elements 4.1 Hyperlinks Descriptive Links: Use descriptive link text that clearly indicates the destination (e.g., “Visit our website” instead of “Click here”). URL Accessibility: Ensure that the URLs are accessible and working. 4.2 Interactive Forms Form Fields: Make all form fields accessible by providing labels and instructions. Tab Order: Ensure a logical tab order for form fields to facilitate keyboard navigation.

Multimedia 5.1 Audio and Video Captions and Transcripts: Provide captions for videos and transcripts for audio content to ensure accessibility for users with hearing impairments. Audio Descriptions: Include audio descriptions for videos to describe visual content for users with visual impairments.

Testing and Validation 6.1 Accessibility Checker Built-in Tools: Use built-in accessibility checkers in your PDF editor (like Adobe Acrobat’s accessibility tool) to identify and fix issues. External Tools: Use external accessibility validation tools for comprehensive testing. 6.2 Manual Testing Screen Readers: Test your PDF with screen readers like NVDA or JAWS to ensure it is navigable and readable. User Testing: If possible, conduct testing with users who have disabilities to get direct feedback. Conclusion Creating accessible PDFs is an essential practice to ensure that your content meets inclusive and usable accessibility standards such as WCAG and Section 508. By following the guidelines outlined in this document, you can improve the accessibility of your PDFs and comply with

[eskill]

Excel Skills Test: What Basic Excel Skills Employers Should Look for in Candidates?

Microsoft Excel skills are indispensable for various data-centric roles like administration, accounting, and market research analysis. Proficiency levels are typically categorized as basic, intermediate, and advanced. A bachelor's degree holder should demonstrate competency in fundamental tasks such as data entry, basic formulas, and formatting at the basic level.

At the intermediate level, they should be adept at functions like VLOOKUP, pivot tables, and data validation. Advanced skills would encompass complex functions, macros, and advanced data analysis.

An Excel skills test can effectively evaluate these competencies, ensuring candidates possess the necessary proficiency for their roles.

Identifying and Using Basic Tools

Candidates should be able to identify and use the correct tools for specific tasks. This means that your Excel skills test should include tasks like setting and applying filters on column headers to organize table data, renaming and reordering sheets in a workbook, zooming in and out, and sorting columns numerically or alphabetically.

The test should also include merging and formatting cells and tables by alignment; editing font, cell border, or color; searching and replacing values in the sheet; deleting, deleting, and hiding rows or columns; merging cells and hiding words or columns, easily navigating top-level tabs like Home, Data, File and View, changing page layout and printing spreadsheets, and changing cell format to text, numerical, currency or date.

Manipulating Basic Tables

This is an important Excel skill that requires candidates to create or modify a table depending on their given task. This includes manipulating large customer data sets. Hence, the candidates should be able to use tools like sort, filter, and duplicate.

A good candidate will also be able to make tables easy to understand and analyze. So, make sure you check their ability to transpose rows to columns, format headers differently from table values, add cell borders and hide sheet gridlines for an improved look, and freeze headers differently from table values.

Charts

The candidates should be able to turn spreadsheet data into bar or pie charts to suit your company's data visualization policies and help visualize the meaning behind numbers or words.

Data Management

Sheet creation with tools to avoid errors and duplications is included in the basic Excel functions. The candidates should know how to format sheets to optimize data presentation and also know keyboard shortcuts. You also need to check whether the candidate can set up worksheets and manage data entry to minimize typos, errors, and duplicates.  

Using Basic Excel Functions

Some common Excel functions that basic users should be able to use include:

Sum: This function adds up listed values from a column, table array, row, or manual list. It can be used to calculate total costs or hours worked in a team.

If: This function checks whether a logical argument is true or not.

Average: This function calculates multiple values' average and can help check employees' average monthly income.

Min/ Max: This displays the lowest or highest number on the list and can be useful for finding the lowest or highest department.

Count: This function returns the number of cells continuing numbers in a list.  

Candidates should be able to connect cells by writing formulas and using cell references without just relying on functions. Excel formulas help identify relationships between values in the cells of a sheet and perform mathematical calculations with them.

Get an Unbiased Assessment

The best way to assess Excel skills is by using Excel skills assessment tests. These tests will give you an unbiased ranking of the top candidates. You can request a demo from a top talent assessment platform, which can assess a candidate's experience with various formulas and tools in Microsoft Excel.

[anon-e-miss]

Who was the other mech watching Prowl's place?

Prowl watched from the window and watched the black car drive away. Though it could have been nothing to do with him, he doubted it. He hid the dataslug in his subspace. It seemed likely that the safe house was being monitored. As he looked from the window, Prowl identified three likely surveillance bots. Would Flatfoot come for him, or would he summon Prowl? Whichever it proved to be Prowl thought it was unlikely that he would just be left be. His cover, as it had been, was blown. He could not return to the club. Even if his next heat was six quartexes away, provided he had not kindled, if Jazz spotted him he would surely usher him out. The club was for Alphas and Betas only.

As he waited Prowl wondered how he might escape the surveillance bots. He needed to get to his hotel, to get his suppressants and to take back some control. Prowl shivered everything had spiralled well out of his control. It seemed on the surface that his best bet would be to return to Praxus but he suspected Flatfoot would report his duplicity to his commanders. Flatfoot had all the cards. That mech was a scheming worm; he would not play them carelessly.

“Enforcers open up!” Someone hammered on the door and Prowl jerked back with surprise. He had not seen anyone come down the street, unless they had come down an alley. Prowl was intensely irritated. Flatfoot could have commed him, or sent handlers to knock... politely.

Prowl opened the door, the nanoklik he did, the enforcers slammed him against the wall and put stasis cuffs on him. He was shocked. This was not what he had expected to happen. Maybe he should have taken a transport to his hotel, cover be damned, as if that would not have been monitored as well. He was afraid and he hated it. Prowl did not resist the enforcers. They loomed over him, an intimidation tactic he knew alphas used to put recalcitrant omegas in their place. He did not bow to them.

He was loaded onto a transport and taken to the precinct. Wearing his disguise, there was nothing especially peculiar about him being unloaded from the enforcer transport. Had he been in his traditional armour, with his enforcer insignia on display, it would have attracted attention. Not that the attention would have helped Prowl. Battle computer revving as he tried to find some way out of this mess, Prowl kept his helm down. The enforcers shoved him into an interrogation room and left there to stew. He was not made to stew long. Flatfoot appeared with members of the paramilitary enforcer unit. Prowl did not shrink when the Praefectus of Iacon’s enforcers looked him up and down, trying, no doubt, to find some sight of what Prowl had been hiding for vorns.

“Strip him,” Flatfoot ordered. Prowl jerked back but there was nothing he could do to stop the other enforcers from peeling every last shred of armour from Prowl’s frame. The alphas leered over him, scenting and Prowl was suddenly terrified. He did not shrink. He refused to be meek. “Bring the medic in.”

“Hmmf,” one of the enforcers grumbled and the goons stalked away. The door slid open and shut and Prowl was left alone with his commander.

“You left your post,” Flatfoot said as he circled Prowl, taking in every corner of the frame Prowl had hidden well. He grabbed Prowl’s left well by his nozzle and lifted the heavy component and stared at the trail of bitemarks and discoloured dents.

“Get your servos off of me,” Prowl said. He may have been an omega but Flatfoot did not have some intrinsic right to touch him. “He was done with me. He sent me home.”

“What?” Flatfoot scowled. “Why didn’t you present? No pink energoned alpha is going to turn up a wet hole.”

“He was bored of me,” Prowl ground out. It may not even been a lie. He had not acted like he had any possessed any lingering interest in Prowl. Jazz had neither taken his spark nor bitten a claim into his neck. “As you can see, he did not claim me.”

“Hmmf,” Flatfoot snorted. The door opened and a reedy mech with medic insignias stepped in. “The omega just came out of a heat. I need you to do a pull exam, Oil Slick.”

“Get zim on the table,” the medic said in an odd accent. “Cuff hiz legz to ze legz.”

“No!” Prowl snapped. Flatfoot’s goons lifted Prowl up as he thrashed. His struggles hardly hampered them as they secured his arms above his helm to the desk. They circled around him and Prowl kicked the first in the face. The crunch was satisfying. “I do not consent to any exam.”

“Since you are an enforcer under my command, I claim protection over you since you have no kin in Iacon do take responsibility. Get him secured. Primus damned fools.”

In precious little time, Prowl found himself restrained with his ankles each cuffed to a different table leg. Oil Slick sat between his tense thighs. Flatfoot stood behind him, looking at Prowl’s bared array. He had never been more mortified in his life. Prowl clenched his denta to keep from grunting or whining as the medic first did an external exam and then inserted a speculum to do an internal.  It was intensely violating, more violating that Crosscut, more of the same? He stared up at the ceiling and refused to react as Oil Slick inserted a scope and propped his internal node and biolights. When he widened the speculum, Prowl winced at the uncompromising stretch.

“Ya can zee the valve haz a second degree ptosis,” Oil Slick explained as he tugged Prowl’s valve lips as they drooped. “There’s no straining of the internal calipers to widen with the speculum fully extended. That suggests the alpha in question haz a large knot and used it often.”

“No damage?” Flatfoot asked.

“Of course not!” Oil Slick said. “Omegas in heat are made to take knot. The gestation tank was penetrated. Some transfluids are leaking out the dock, the seal will take an orn or more to reform. Still, the tank is nearly at capacity. I’ll take samples.”

“Stop!” Prowl ordered.

The alphas ignored him as Oil Slick inserted a long swab in into Prowl’s valve and took a sample of a the leaking transfluid. He took more samples, of Prowl internal lubrication, before he pushed a swab through Prowl’s dock to collect samples from the transfluid being processed in there. Oil Slick pressed down on Prowl’s lower belly and Prowl groaned as he forced transfluids to escape from his internal dock. They leaked from his valve and made a puddle under his aft.

“The transfluids have already been largely processed of their energy,” Oil Slick observed as he studied the fluids. “I will exam ze spark.”

“No!” Prowl shouted. “Stop touching me. I do not consent.”

“Quiet,” Flatfoot ordered.

Oil Slick forced a diagnostic cable into Prowl’s neck and forced his spark chamber to spiral open. The invasions would not end and Prowl bit his lower lip to keep from sobbing as the medic touched his spark. This was a living memory purge. He could do nothing, his glyphs meant nothing. After his physical exam of Prowl’s spark, Oil Slick brought out probes and took samples of Prowl’s spark energies.  Prowl’s cheekplates felt wet, he realized his was crying silently.

“Zee spark is bloated,” Oil Slick said. “Expected from an active heat. There’s no signs of spark merging but the alpha did manage to kindle a protospark in him.”

“I need a baffle!” Prowl exclaimed.

“Absolutely not,” Flatfoot said. “The Maestro won’t allow a mech gravid with his creation rust in the streets. He may have bored him but he’ll want to claim his progeny, it’s an alpha’s instinct after all.”

“I am not going back there,” Prowl said. “I am not going to prostitute myself for your investigation. I am not a whore.”

“You will,” Flatfoot replied. “You’re going to get me what I need to get that botnapper in a cell. I don’t care if you have to suck his spike to earn your energon, or if he passes your afthole around to his regulars. You’re going to get me what I need. In return, when the investigation is complete you’ll return to Praxus, with no one the wiser of your deceit.”

“What?”

“You scratch my back,  I scratch yours,” Flatfoot said. “You don’t want your illustrious career in Praxus ruined, do you?”

“No.”

“Then you’ll get me what I want.”

[vanaera]

Love at First Snow (jhs)

Synopsis | It is during the first snow Hoseok first meets Y/N. It is also during the first snow he prepares to put a ring on her. Little does he know, fate has other plans. (OR: As Hoseok relishes in the spirit of the Holiday season, he cannot help but also reminisce how you two, though entire polar opposites of each other, ended up together. Characters | dance major (and “academically-challenged”)!Hoseok x Genius!female reader (College AU) Prompt | “You know, you remind me a lot of the Grinch. The only difference is in the end, his heart grows three sizes, but you stay an asshole.” Genre | Fluff, Humor, Angst Wordcount | 16.9k (I’m sorry, this ended up longer than I intended) Warnings | Discussions of verbal abuse from toxic families and mentions of panic attacks A/N | Hi Cristine! It is I, snowflake, your secret santa! This is my gift for @bts-poetry for @bangtanarmynet, and @btsbookclub ‘s Secret Santa 2019 event! I combined this gift with the prompt I claimed in @kwritersworld’s 2019 Christmas Event as my inspirations for both events have merged into one story hehe.

              Everyone has some titles to live by. “Well-versed lawyer,” “patient teacher,” “single mother,” “broke student”—one-liner characteristics and descriptions enough for people to summarize the entirety of one another. From each other’s greatest achievements to their itty bitty mistakes, any of them can be used to replace an identifier. After all, people always see what they want to see. It all depends on what title sticks out the most to the majority around them.  For Jung Hoseok, he lives up to the title of a lovable boyfriend and a rare one, too. As whenever people look at him, the first thing they see is the aberrance of how he ended up….dating Y/N.

              There’s nothing wrong with him, or Y/N for that matter. It’s just…they are the most impossible couple to end up together as they are the most literal polar opposites of each other.

             People remember Jung Hoseok as the golden dance major of the prestigious South Tigers University. He got into the Performing Arts program, Major in Dance by acing the laborious dance audition despite his unimpressive results in the written exam. Hoseok’s colorful background from his long-term dance crew, Hope World, and his countless wins in different hip hop dance competitions were more than enough proof to know he is indeed one of the top dancers of the university. With a body capable of executing each move ever known to humankind with such grace and precision, Jung Hoseok also has a stage presence that warrants everyone’s unbridled attention. Thus, it is without question he is the prided Most Valuable Dancer of his university’s varsity dance crew, Synergy. The long line-up of trophies Synergy has placed in STU’s hall of glory, all thanks to the competitions Hoseok led, are enough to say Hoseok is literally the modern-day Apollo.

             However, it is not just his talent or insanely god-like face and physique that makes Hoseok so “golden.” Because as if Apollo wasn’t enough, Hoseok also impersonated Helios. Jung, Hoseok is warm and kind and funny. He easily makes everyone want to be his bestfriend the moment they met him. Most people often speak of him first thing in the morning with another wonderful feat he pulled off. Hoseok is great in the things he does — playing as the great wingman for people who need the extra push in their romances or becoming the occasional teacher’s pet who goes to the professor and (easily) successfully convinces them to give the class a deadline extension for a requirement. Hoseok turns up every campus party into the happiest event anyone could ever be in and he is such an amazing, sincere friend who remembers everyone’s birthday and gives out the nicest of hugs. Hell, Hoseok even volunteers in long-inactive “dead” college organizations like the Campus Drunk Patrol, Environment Protection Squad, and Animal Welfare Group in his free time. Hoseok is the literal sun and anyone who knows him — which is literally, everyone — will never be unable to deny otherwise.

             So when Hoseok expressed romantic interest in Y/N in sophomore year, everyone around him was beyond bewildered. Most especially, his friends.

             “Y/N?” Jimin sputters, “as in…The Y/N, L/N from our batch?”

             “Well, yeah-”

             “Like the Analytical Physics major Y/N L/N?” Taehyung gapes.

             “Yeah, I mean,” Hoseok sends them a questioning look, “is there any other Y/N L/N?”

             Taehyung scratches his head. “Well, no…I just thought there’s a Y/N in another batch?”

             Hoseok gives him a pointed look, unamused.

             But Taehyung’s true sentiment is voiced out when Jimin half-screams at their table, “Why her?!”

             “Well, why not her?” Hoseok half-smiles, picking on the fries that were dropped scattered onto the table after Jimin unceremoniously pounded his fist on the surface in an act of over-exaggeration.

             Taehyung sends Hoseok a disgusted look but continues his friend’s argument, “Dude, she’s like, the entire opposite of you.”

             “And that is an understatement.” Jimin points a fry toward his direction, glaring at Hoseok.

             Hoseok huffs, “Oh c'mon, you’re all just going overboard. What happened to the golden rule ‘don’t judge a book by its cover?’”

             “First of all, Y/N’s not a book,” Jimin scoffs. “She’s like, the whole fucking library of science textbooks. Last sem, we’re busy doing a group project when Y/N suddenly spewed some SOHCAHTOA shit about the Bermuda Triangle. As if the things she said are already a whole level of weird, she even said them in a manner like Liam Neeson’s ‘I don’t know who you are but I’m going to kill you’ monologue from Taken. And second of all, the golden rule is ‘do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you,’ dumbass.”

             “Okay I got the golden rule wrong,” Hoseok groans, “but nevertheless, you’re still violating it by judging Y/N.”

             “In our defense tho,” Taehyung mumbles over the straw of his milkshake, “Y/N judged us first. I was watching Orange one time in the library and she came over and took a seat with me. And then she said some alien gibberish about how Naho Takamiya always fall stupidly on the stairs because she said, by verbatim, ‘according to basic logic and common sense, that’s not how projectiles work,’” Taehyung clicks his tongue and Jimin cringes. Taehyung continues, “Y/N said Naho wouldn’t fly to the hallway when she tripped on the actual steps. She even actually drew a diagram with computations of Naho’s fall and gave it to me before she abruptly got up and go. God, I’ve never felt so stupid and insulted both at the same time.”

             “And,” Jimin adds, “last December, I shared a meme on Facebook about turning on your brain instead of your heart this coming 2017 and guess what she did? She commented below “guess, you’ll just die of heart failure before 2017 even comes.” Jimin rolls his eyes, “She made me feel dumb as if I don’t know how heart failure works. So us judging her back is just fair and square.”

             “But you don’t actually know how heart failure works,” Hoseok retorts. He glares at Taehyung, “And dude, to be honest, Orange is overrated and Naho really flies whenever she trips, or gets tripped, on the stairs.” Hoseok throws up his hands in annoyance. “Seriously, are you two judging her for just…I don’t know, being smart?!”

             Taehyung sighs. “Okay, that’s a bit true, but the thing is, Hobi, our IQ levels are already a bit higher than yours—”

             “What’s that got to do with this?!”

             “—And if Y/N’s already treating us like the biggest idiots of the world,” Jimin continues Taehyung’s words, “then what chance do you have in having a decent conversation with her? Much less a more fruitful one that could end up in a romantic relationship? There’s like a 99.9 percent sure-ness she will make you more of an idiot than us!”

             “Yeah,” Taehyung nods. “Her thoughts are composed of quadratic formulas and science shit like ‘the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.’ While I’m not even sure you know what DNA stands for.”

             Hoseok gawks, “Of course I know what DNA stands for!”

             “Then say it,” Jimin cocks a brow.

             “Dual Nucleus Association—fuck, why am I even doing this—” Hoseok glares at his friends, “What do you take me for? An imbecile?”

             “Well, yeah,” Taehyung says honestly.

             “That’s why right now, we’re telling you to drop anything you’re feeling in that,” Jimin points to Hoseok’s chest, “for Y/N. Hell, how will you even click together? Y/N’s allergic to nonsense and emojis and your daily vocabulary is entirely nonsense and eggplant emojis.”

             Hoseok opens his mouth to argue he also knows about the clown emoji but before he can utter a word, Taehyung beats him to it.

             “Dude, we’re not telling you this to insult you.” Jimin snorts and Taehyung closes his eyes before he looks again at Hoseok’s eyes, “Okay, maybe we’re enjoying teasing you a little too much. But we can say this is just payback for you not letting us go home earlier yesterday because you said we ‘need improvement’ which I damn well think not, bitch.” Hoseok squirms and Taehyung claps his shoulder hard, making him wince. “Anyway, what we’re trying to say, Hoseok, is we just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

             “How will I get hurt?! Nothing’s happened yet. I’m just saying I like Y/N—”

             “That’s what we’re worried about, Hoseok,” Jimin cuts him. “Nothing’s happened yet but we know something already did.”

            “Like what?”

            “You like Y/N. That’s the problem,” Jimin deadpans. “Hoseok we know you like to take relationships seriously. We even know that when you set your heart on a girl, your imagination is already two steps ahead, playing your wedding in your head.”

            Hoseok gulps, a guilty sweat forming on his temple.

            “But you see, Y/N belongs to that type of people who have their what-will-you-be-in-10-years solidly planted in their heads. And it’s highly probable a relationship, much less a wedding, is written in those 10-year plans. Much more, art majors like us are stigmatized to bound for failure because society is still close-minded and deems art won’t feed us. And by the meaning of society, it’s the ‘almighty and noble’ science folks Y/N belongs to. For God’s sake, there’s a lot of movies that have already forecasted science and art don’t mix!” 

            “Well, I don’t remember any movies—”

            Taehyung looks at Hoseok, incredulous. “Dude, there’s like The Theory of Everything—”

             “That’s science and faith!”

            “Stephen Hawking’s ex-wife sang in a choir. And she also started writing after their divorce! So that’s still art!”

            Hoseok was about to retaliate when he feels Jimin clasp a firm hand on his shoulder. He looks at him. Jimin sighs, “Hoseok, we just want you to not regret your decisions in the end. Y/N belongs to those snobbish high-hat people who treat everyone below them like dirt. There’s plenty of other girls out there who are much nicer than Y/N. Nice just like you. For one, why don’t you try giving a chance to the girls who’ve been crushing on you since freshman year? I know a few and they’re actually sweet. Just anyone who’s not Y/N. Seriously, just trust us on this, Hobi.”

             Except Hoseok does not. If there is one characteristic to describe Hoseok other than nice and talented, that would be his hard-headedness. He didn’t listen to his parents when they tried to discourage him from taking dance as his major. Hoseok disregarded numerous peers’ suggestions to join a frat so he can “shine more.” He even disregarded the toxic masculinity fraternities promoted by rocking pink overalls with his sparkly ugly sneakers and multicolored acorn pouch (which Jimin told him was the bane of the entire fashion industry) at least once a week. He even changes it up with other colorful ensembles the fashion students make. Hoseok did not even listen to Taehyung when the former told him not to drink before taking their finals in World History because, "no Hoseok, the alcohol does NOT bring back memories.”

             And look where his stubbornness got him. Hoseok became one of the greatest dancers his university has ever handled. His sole talent is enough for him to get invited to teach classes in several prestigious art colleges in the country. Hoseok gained more fulfilling and growth-inspiring friendships than surface-level ones offered by frats. He enjoyed more substantial conversations than booze temptation and toxic, trivial fights over games and girls. Hoseok even accidentally created a modeling career with local brands after his viral modeling of a peach acorn-inspired outfit for the project of his fashion major friends. Although him disregarding Taehyung’s reminders was a big mistake as he totally flunked World History, that night actually made Hoseok learn his lesson not to drink before the finals (and also because he learned the alcohol does not bring back memories he actually needed for the exam. But memories of his most embarrassing moments — like the one where he ended up performing in a children’s party as a fairy godmother—complete with the rainbow gown, fairy wings, plastic crown, and wand—because he mixed up the location of the college’s Halloween party with his friend’s family get-together).

             So, why would Hoseok listen to Jimin and Taehyung when setting his eyes and heart for Y/N feels like the most right decision he has ever made in his life? Especially when Y/N’s nowhere the high-hat snobbiety concept Jimin put her in. Hoseok is sure about this because he started to see and know her more than anyone else could after the fateful night of the Science Majors’ last year’s Christmas party.

             “Is that Y/N?” Hoseok squints his eyes. The person walking towards him is clad in a black coat and indigo satin slip-dress that falls short on her mid-thigh. Her hair is a mess and her small glittery satchel is slipping off her shoulders even if she adjusted it again and again. Not to say she’s also limping on her two-inch silver heels. When the girl raises her head and sees him, her face falls into an annoyed scowl. Hoseok right then confirms it is aberrantly, and shockingly, Y/N. At the sight of recognition in his face, Y/N immediately runs away in the opposite direction. Hoseok finds himself already chasing after her before his mind could acknowledge that he is actually running after the campus’ excruciating goody-two-shoes in the ass'o clock of the night.

             Hoseok easily catches up to Y/N. He blocks her way, causing her to halt. Hoseok hunches as he breathlessly puffs, “Hey Y/N, why you so fast?”

             “No-none of your business Jung Hoseok,” Y/N turns away from him and crosses her arms. Hoseok almost smiles. It is amusing how she effortlessly pulls her usual “intimidator stance” even in such a weird scenario.

             “Well, it is my business if you’re wandering on campus grounds in the night and obviously not sober.”

             Y/N whips her head towards him, “I am sober. What are you even here for?”

             “According to my eyes, you’re clearly drunk. Look,” Hoseok points to her face, “you look red all over and you can’t even look at me straight.” 

            Y/N slaps his hand away. 

            Hoseok puts his hands back in his pockets, “You’re clearly doing some beautiful eyes challenge right now.” 

            Y/N cringes at him but Hoseok continues, “And for your second question, I’m patrolling for the Campus Drunk Patrol.” He smiles and points to the logo on his jacket.

             Y/N leans forward and squints at the logo. Seeing her raised brow, Hoseok explains, “We aim to help drunk students sober up before commuting home. We can also escort them to their dorm facades and notify their RAs to come and get them.”

             Y/N still has her brow raised, skeptical. Hoseok sighs, “Well, it’s a dead org so I understand why you don’t believe me. If I also learn some org that’s been inactive for five years has suddenly gone active, I will be skeptical, too. But trust me on this, okay? I’ll just walk you around until you’re sober enough to know how to go home. I heard you’re dorming here. I can help you get to your dorm if you want.”

             Y/N still looks unconvinced and Hoseok releases a sigh again. He juts his thumb and points to his back, “We have our Patrol Marshal stationed there by the campus gates. He can totes see us here and tell you’re one of the stubborn drunk students who refuse to cooperate with our protocol.” 

            Hoseok smugly puts his weight on his left foot.“You can refuse and go ahead. But because the marshal doesn’t let drunk people he already caught go home, he will notify the head RA and trust me when I tell you I’ve seen a lot of students end up in bigger trouble for not complying with our joint protocol with the RA Council. Or,” Hoseok smiles, “you could just make our lives easier by letting me help you sober up.”

             Y/N looks away, gnawing on her lip. When Hoseok hears a faint “fine” come from her, he has to keep his jaw from hanging open.

             Because, why wouldn’t he be flabbergasted?

             Y/N L/N, the fearsome Analytical Physics major, is not the sweetest star out there. With a resting bitch face, innateness to give cold replies, gift of the perpetual judging stare, and insensitivity to joke cues, Y/N is one of the hardest people to cooperate with. It is not entirely because she does not put in any effort. No one just found it easy, or tolerable even, to interact with her. Sure, Y/N’s smart, a genius in Hoseok’s eyes. However, what stuck to everyone’s memory is how she unconsciously belittles everyone around her. Y/N gives out unnecessary run-throughs of chemistry concepts about any movie or animation brought up in a conversation. She instantly goes grammar-nazzi on anyone who slips on the rules of English grammar, especially when people make errors concerning the Oxford comma in their papers. She even goes out of her way to explain to her fellow students the physics of how and why they drove or parked badly with their bike or scooter.

             But the pinnacle of Y/N’s negative reputation has to be her merciless removal of her senior’s name, Oh Sehun, from the case study required in Communication Media Theories. In her very first year in university, at that. Although her action is justified as Sehun did not contribute anything at all in the group project, this name removal caused outrage among every college student. Sehun, who is actually the college’s renowned quarterback, graduated late and was now behind of his original team who already got into the professionals. All because of Y/N. Hence, the people in the university have started to associate her name with the title “stuck-up-iest bitch to ever walk on Earth.” Some don’t even seem to remember her name. All everyone knew is that Y/N’s one hell of a condescending bitch.

             So having Y/N walk silently by his side, cooperating for the first time without reciting her rights based on the constitution with such accuracy in verbatim while passively and implicitly insulting him, Hoseok cannot help to be so shocked.

             Noticing the complete silence that has surrounded them two, Hoseok breaks from his trance and leads Y/N to the college’s cafe. It’s already closed, given the lateness of the night, but it has their outdoor metal chairs set-up outside. He lets Y/N plop down on one of the metal seats as he produces a coffee-in-can for her.

             “Do you just casually carry around canned coffees with you?”

             “No, just when I am on duty for the patrols. Caffeine is the best way to help people sober up fast.” Hoseok inserts an edible straw for her and she grabs the drink.

             “I don’t think so,” Y/N mutters, “Human body processes consumed alcohol on its own, thus, it’s processing speed is neither affected nor aided by any exterior substances. With this, there’s no such actual thing as 'sobering up fast.’ It just feels like that because caffeine is a stimulant and hence, counters the sedative effect of alcohol, making you feel alert and appear to be sober.” Y/N takes another sip, “Nevertheless, thanks for the free coffee.”

              Hoseok almost gapes. The people were not kidding about how Y/N casually spouts science shit wherever she goes. Although he’s supposed to get tipped off, Hoseok just finds this set-up oddly amusing. He leans forward in his seat and props up his arm on the table to cup his face. “Anyway, why are you out in the late of the night?”

                 Y/N gives him an unamused look, “Because I was obviously partying. Is there any other party in the campus right now than the Science Majors’ Christmas party?”

              “You’re right,” Hoseok chuckles, “but what I mean is, why are you already outside? The party doesn’t end 'til 2 A.M.”

              “I just decided I want to go home.”

              “Why?”

              Y/N drops her drink on the table, “Are you just gonna ask me 'why’ everytime?!”

              Hoseok tilts his head and smiles, “Talking with drunk people is part of our protocol in sobering up. So, yeah, I’m gonna ask why every time until the redness on your nose and cheeks subsides a little.”

              “Fine,” Y/N hisses. She gives Hoseok a steely glare, “This night is the first time I’ve done something so stupid such as going to a party in an attempt to expand my connections. It turns out everyone still irrationally hates me about Oh Sehun’s name removal and they refused to interact with me. They kept sending me glares  while I just pathetically stood in the corner of the room for the duration of the party, dumbly holding a cup of some alcoholic drink I just realized 30 minutes ago was what you call ‘spiked.’ These pretty heels I wore hurt my ankles and toes all for nothing.” Y/N covers her face with her palms, “God, I don’t even know why I’m opening up about these things with you when it’s just the first time I talked with you. Maybe it’s just because I’m just drunk, god, it’s so stupid–”

              “It’s not stupid,” Hoseok interjects and Y/N raises her head from her hands. Hoseok smiles, “When there’s too much alcohol in our system, we get to do stuff we never knew we can. And sometimes, they are things we really desire to do but dare not let out in the open, afraid of what others may think. And it may come off as stupid as you’re letting your heart do the talking instead of your brain. But you know what? You have to be stupid sometimes to acknowledge what your brain may be missing out on. Plus,” Hoseok stretches open his arms wide, “there’s just the two of us here so no one can really judge you because hey, I’m just all ears here. After all, I’m just an officer of the Campus Drunk Patrol helping you sober up.” At the sight of Y/N’s pursed lips and eyes set on the coffee beside her, looking as if she’s convinced (and it looks like it’s not like her to admit it), Hoseok smiles wider and leans forward. “Now, back to your story. Why did you decide to go to a party?”

              “Because,” Y/N sighs, “I don’t know, @keanu_reeves_is_the_real_daddy from Hoboken said in Reddit that going to parties is a great opportunity to make friends.” Y/N looks down at her hands and interlocks them, “I’m just–I’m just desperate to get some friends. I’m already in second year, and still, no one wants to be with me. I often talk about how I don’t care whether people like me or not. Most of the time, I really do not care at all. But sometimes...it also gets lonely when you feel everyone seems to hate you.”

              “Well, I’m not everyone.”

              Y/N looks up at him, frowning, “That’s a great joke, Hoseok. I saw you hanging with Jimin just yesterday and I heard my name as the subject and "stick-in-the-ass bitch” as the predicate in a couple of sentences.“

              "Hate to break it to you, sweetie, but it was just Jimin who talked bad about you. Did you hear me say your name and 'stick-in-the-ass’ in one sentence?”

              Y/N glares at him. She then rips her gaze away from him to set them back on her interlocked fingers. “What are you trying to imply, Hoseok?”

               "I’m trying to imply, if you want to have a friend, I’m willing to be one.”

               "But you already got lots of friends.”

               Hoseok smiles, “That doesn’t mean I have no room left for one more.”

              Y/N gives him that skeptic look again and Hoseok snorts. “Hey, I’m being serious here. I really want to be your friend if you’d like. And no, it’s not because I pity you.” 

              Y/N raises a brow at him in disbelief and Hoseok purses his lips. He raises his hands in surrender, “Ooohkay, maybe like 0.001 percent I do, but 99.999 percent I just don’t like how everyone hates you for something that is not actually your fault. I really want to get to know you if you’d let me.”

                 Y/N just stares at him and Hoseok, for the first time in his life save for the days he’s answering written exams, has literally no idea what to do. Is Y/N angry at him for blurting out those things? Or is she aggravated he seemed plastic? But Hoseok knows he meant every single thing he said because first and foremost, he cannot lie even if he wanted to. He’s a goddamn horrible liar that anyone will know he’s lying before he can even start to lie. Second, he always says the first thing that comes to his mind because, in the majority of his life, he is incapable of thinking first before doing something. And third, Hoseok really meant what he said. He’s always been curious about Y/N. Jimin and Taehyung always talk ill about her and from the numerous negative shits he hears from them, he can’t help but think that maybe, her reputation is just one big hell of a rumor. It’s just impossible that so many rumors and negative comments about someone who he rarely sees outside the university, to be true. 

              Hoseok knows because he also has his fair share of rumors he has struggled to disprove. Like how he “cheated” in dance contests because no one can’t believe someone is just so exceptionally talented that they can win every single competition they join. Or how he “slept around” with almost half of the female population in the university just because he has lots of female friends and he loves to joke around with eggplant and saliva emojis in his texts. It’s hard to be contained in such one definitive title, much more a heavily negative one. Hoseok knew what it felt and it feels it’s just wrong to stay as a standbyer while the entire university jeers on Y/N for such a trivial reason.

              “Do-do you really mean that?”

              Hoseok looks at Y/N and nods. “Yes, I do.”

              Something wet drops on his jacket and Hoseok looks up at the sky. The sky is pitch black, save for the white inklets dotting the atmosphere, lightening up the dark horizon along with the glow of sparkling snowflakes. He turns to Y/N and smiles, “Oh look, it’s the first snow.”

              Y/N returns his smile this time. She tells him she wants to stay for ten more minutes to appreciate the snow before going home. Hoseok grins at her and says he’s got enough time to spare before his duty ends.

              The next day, Y/N’s frowning at Hoseok as the latter awkwardly holds his lunch tray next to her table.

              “Uhhh, aren’t you standing by the wrong table? Your friends sit over there.”

              “No,” Hoseok quips. “Jimin and Taehyung are not seated anywhere here because their lunches are scheduled way later today. And, this, in my opinion,” Hoseok scoots to Y/N’s side and sits down beside her, “is the perfect table.” Hoseok digs in his lunch and grins at her, “You should probably start eating now, too, y'know? Your food’s gonna get cold.”

              “I–” Y/N bites her lip and look away before she refocuses a glare at his face, “Are you really taking seriously your joke last night?”

              “It’s not a joke,” Hoseok retorts, dropping his utensils. “I’m serious about everything I said." 

              "But I didn’t mean mine. I’m drunk, remember?”

              “If you really didn’t mean them,” Hoseok looks at her, “then you can just tell me to leave. I’ll do whatever you say.”

              Y/N stares at him, brows scrunched together as if conflicted. She looks down on her hands on her lap and sighs, “I…don’t really want you to…leave. I’m sorry, I just…thought you’re just playing with me. You know all of this is still new to me. I’m sorry.”

              “Hey, it’s fine,” Hoseok chuckles, “no need to be so serious. We can take things slowly as long as you’d like.” Y/N pulls up a small smile and Hoseok grins. “Let’s finish our lunches and then we can look at memes. Memes are essential building blocks in friendships.”

              “Really?”

              “Yeah. Taehyung and I became friends after we accidentally sent each other hilarious anti-government blinking man memes.”

              It is needless to say the entire university goes berserk later when they find Y/N, the campus bitch, and Hoseok, the university’s sunshine boy, guffawing over chemistry memes during lunch. Hoseok does not understand a thing, but he enjoys laughing with Y/N as she passionately explains to him each concept and why they are funny.

              It is true that Y/N wasn’t the dearest person in the world. Hoseok learned this after weeks of dealing with her unintentional snarkiness and unnecessary science lessons that may seem insulting and offensive to others. But through the time he got to befriend her, Hoseok learns Y/N is just too smart for her own good. Y/N always goes around like an encyclopedia because she doesn’t know what else to say when she wants to find common grounds with other people. It is just unfortunate that Y/N cannot speak of anything that does not involve quantum mechanics and chemical structures.  Meanwhile, her unintended snarkiness is always directed to people’s redundancy and anomalies in their speech. Hoseok found out about this as soon as February rolled in, that it has to do with the restrictive childhood Y/N had. This, he discovered when Professor Minyoung Park called for him after his Science 11 GE class.

              “Hoseok, I see you getting close with Y/N, these days.”

              “Yes ma'am,” Hoseok replies. He sits on the chair in front of her desk.

              “Oh, then you must have been familiar with how she can get,” Ms. Park leans forward, “not so…friendly around people. I know she and her mind of hers can be a little too much for others.”

              Hoseok’s forehead furrows. How did Professor Park know? Although Y/N’s bad reputation has easily spread like wildfire among college students, not many professors or any of the university staff have shown any interest in her life other than her impressive academic standing. Hoseok asks, “How did you know, Ms. Park?”

              The 40-year old professor leans back and smiles. “Would you believe I used to tutor Y/N L/N back in middle school?”

              “No way,” Hoseok’s jaw drops open.

              Ms. Park chuckles, “Yes, it’s true. I know, what a coincidence right?  I remember how that pretty girl used to be so insecure about her braces.”

              “Yeah, she must be so…adorable back then,” Hoseok looks away bashful. He’s not used associating Y/N with such adjectives. Saying them aloud feels too weird on his tongue.

              Ms. Park’s voice makes him turn back to her. “Until now she is. It’s just a shame how she did not outgrow her…usual speech style. But in her defense, it’s not entirely her fault.”

              Hoseok’s eyes widen. His curiosity is instantly piqued. “What do you mean, Ms. Park?”

              “Well, Y/N L/N is brought up in a home…quite not friendly for children growing up. The L/Ns is a prestigious family. Not for their wealth, but for their remarkable lineage of geniuses. Y/N’s great grandparents are renowned mathematician whizzes. Her grandparents own Fields medals for their remarkable contributions in mathematics. Moreover, Y/N’s parents are well-respected chemists in almost every pharmaceutical congregation. Even their relatives are families of renowned doctors and engineers. From over ten years of tutoring her, I noticed how expectations pile up upon the short shoulders of young Y/N. Every single school day, Y/N has to attend cram schools and private tutoring after her classes to ensure she stays on top of the overall batch standing. She also has to be exposed to upper-class parties at such a young age which I think does not help anyone at all. Especially a child. All the people ever do there is brag about their achievements, scour for new families to ally with or manipulate, and eye each other’s mistakes so they can prove publicly how better they are than everyone else.” Ms. Park looks at Hoseok in the eyes, “Believe me, I used to dream about attending such parties until I finally learned how they go when I’ve been invited by the L/Ns. And with Y/N being a single child, all eyes were on her. So any room for mistakes is non-existent. Her parents assured her to grow like the perfect daughter they wanted her to be by making sure her movements are always constantly monitored and kept in check. You think Y/N studied here because this is just a prestigious school? No. The L/Ns wanted to send her abroad. To Harvard. Y/N refused and convinced them instead she’ll study here because I work here. And her parents trust me that I can be their eyes to see Y/N’s progress.”

              Hoseok nods but he cannot help but let his mouth hang open at everything he’s discovering right now. No one really knew anything about Y/N. And suddenly out of nowhere, on some random Thursday afternoon, he is introduced into a pandora box of history where everything about her suddenly seems to make sense.

              Ms. Park must have noticed his troubled face so she reaches out and holds Hoseok’s hand. “Hoseok, I’m not telling you these to pressure you. In fact, I am happy Y/N finally found someone who can listen to her and understand her, instead of watching her like a glass-cased perfect doll. I’m just telling you all these not to excuse the mistakes she has done but for you to understand where she’s coming from, especially when interacting with her can be difficult sometimes. So I hope you won’t give up on her, Hoseok. I know you’re a good kid. I just want Y/N to finally enjoy herself like every other college student out there.”

              And Hoseok, with his ever characteristic stubbornness did not give up on you.

“What do you mean I cannot state the faulty quantum mechanics in Antman to Taehyung?!” Y/N scowls at Hoseok, fingers frozen on the book she has mid-taken away from the shelf.

“Because you will break Taehyung’s heart,” Hoseok purses his lips and steps nearer to her, almost cornering her to the back of the bookshelf. “And can you lower your voice? We’re in a library.”

“For the same reason you should also back up a bit as I do not fancy you borderline sexually harrassing me.”

“Sexual harassment?!” Hoseok whisper-yells, “I’m stepping closer to you because I feel the need to whisper louder for you to get my point that you should not explain whatever Antman’s faulty quantum shit to Taehyung because that will make him angry. And sad!”

“Why will he be angry?” Y/N sticks her nose up and crosses her arms. “Shouldn’t he feel grateful I am adding heuristic value to his existing knowledge?”

Hoseok drags a hand down his face, “Well, I didn’t say you cannot explain some facts to Taehyung. I’m just saying you don’t tell him those things in a matter-of-factly way you always do because he’ll think you’re insulting him for watching such movies.”

“How should I say them then?” Y/N quips back.

Y/N learns the answer to her question before she knew she already did it. She realizes it when she gets out of her film class and Hoseok, who has been waiting for her last period to finish, asks her how did it go.

“Well, I told him 'The film Antman is quite weird.’”

“And what did he say?”

“Taehyung grinned at me and high-fived me.”

“Well then, it was successful. Much better than how you initially decided to do it,” Hoseok grins.

“But still…I called Ant Man weird, I’m still perplexed why Taehyung is pleased.”

“Calling something weird is a common expression to us,” Hoseok starts and Y/N tilts her head. Hoseok explains further, “’Weird’ can mean as a good endearing weird or an insulting ‘weird.’ If you added statistics of probability and some laws with calling something ‘weird,’ it will sound like 'Hypothesis one is proven: the movie is confirmed to be bullshit because of unquestionable proof.’ And that will appear insulting because you are not giving room for others’ opinions to be valid. It will make you look you’re belittling them if you said it that way. But today, you did not. See?” Hoseok smiles, “you do not have to state 100 percent what you really meant. Just a bit of truth you find essential for others to know is already enough for a small talk.”

Y/N nods, her lips morphed into an amused “oh.”

Hoseok grins as he puts his hands on his waist, “Trust me on this. I became Mr. Congeniality last year for a reason.”

“What does it have to do with making small talk?”

“It means, I am the expert in making small talk.”

***

“C'mon, Y/N, let’s go to the spring festival. Please, please, please, pleaseeee.”

“No, Hoseok,” Y/N pulls her hand from his grip, “I have to study for our finals.”

“But, Y/N, it’s too early for that. The finals is yet to come 'til next month! Look at me, I do not feel any pressure to study yet.”

“But that’s because you do not have any academic standing to maintain.”

Hoseok’s face falls and Y/N immediately rectifies her mistake. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that, Hoseok. Of course, I know you also value your class standing, given your program and all. I’m sorry I’m being insensitive again.”

Hoseok breaks into a laugh. “Oh my god, I’m just fucking around with you! You’re partially right though, I don’t have an academic standing to maintain but a performative one. Although I still have to keep my grades up so I can continue studying here. Anyway,” Hoseok grins at Y/N, offering his hand out, “I only accept apologies in the form of accompanying me to the spring festival.”

“Fine, Hoseok,” Y/N  begrudgingly accepts his hand. But Hoseok cannot miss the small smile forming on her lips.

“Don’t fret tho,” He boops her nose and she cringes at him, “we can  insert some Q&A sessions later so you can do a bit of studying if you’d still like.”

“How will we do that?”

Y/N learns the answer to that when she finds themselves screaming from the opposite ends of the giant boat ride.

“HOSEOK, DAMN YOU!”

The boat tips and her stomach drops but all she can hear is Hoseok screaming.

“WRONG, Y/N. The answer to the drilling ship which can dig 'til the mantle of the earth IS CHIKYU! NOW, off to the next question. What are CYANOBACTERIA?!!!”

              But Hoseok does more than just sticking by Y/N’s side and not giving up on her. He falls in love with her.

              Through the months he has become Y/N’s friend, Hoseok cannot help but be endeared by her. The things about her he never thought will come as close to what he calls cute suddenly grows on him. It grows too much that he lives off every single one of them. Even if it usually ends with him getting roasted. He used to get frustrated by Y/N’s never-ending witty comebacks. Now, his heart started singing during their bicker-banters that Hoseok even started to look forward to their bickering. Y/N’s smile that Hoseok used to think was a standard horror level of creepy is now all he could dream about when he’s asleep, and even when he’s awake. The way Y/N laughs at him, or smiles when she sees him were heart-warming. Until they upped 100 million levels and now they have become cataclysmic for his heart. The way Y/N patiently teaches him his lessons, or how her science-y jokes and memes become funny was something Hoseok used to overlook as trivial. Now, he couldn’t wait for the days he’ll bring his notebooks to the library and stare at Y/N’s face while she teaches him quantum mechanics and chemical structures. 

              Y/N’s small “tokens of appreciation,” as what she called it, like her handmade ‘thank you’ cards she gives Hoseok every month, or her invitations for Hoseok to accompany her to some street event or nearby dance event, or as uneventful as a new food stall that has opened in the university were something Hoseok never put much thought on. Now, they’re Hoseok’s source of both happiness and headaches as they make his heart fly and his brain ache for thinking too much into her actions. The way Y/N looks at him like never someone else has before—so attentive and focused in everything he says as if everything that comes from his mouth has so much worth listening to. Even if it’s a disgusting tale of how he almost shitted his pants before their science exam because he didn’t listen to Jimin when he told him to stop binge-eating spicy wings as a coping mechanism to stress, Y/N listens. This used to be something Hoseok treats as his special privilege as her friend. But now, it has become a national treasure he does not want to share with others. Especially with Namjoon, his roommate, whom Y/N managed to befriend because the former is a Biology major who’s on the same level as Y/N’s intellectual prowess. God, Hoseok cannot even count on his hands the number of times he’s been conflicted if it was jealousy on Namjoon’s effortless way to make Y/N laugh, or petty anger because he cannot even understand their jokes. 

              Hoseok doesn’t know how or why he suddenly felt all of these things for Y/N. It just happened. And so is how he accidentally blurted it out to her during one of their conversations, despite Jimin and Taehyung’s adamant warnings not to ask her out.

              "And whenever I use the microscope in my room, I’m always scared turning the coarse knob so much. It will be horrifying to see the objective lens break the slide and the coverslip.”

              “Y/N, I like you.”

              YN’s jaw goes slack and she stares at him, eyes wide. Hoseok almost feels perspiration dot his entire hairline for what feels like ten whole minutes in purgatory. Will Y/N leave? Will she scream at him, laugh at him even for his audacity? Will she reject him? Of course she will, what is he thinking? Taehyung and Jimin are right. Y/N is smart and he is too dumb for her to even fulfill at least an ounce of her standards. Y/N is respectable and he is a shameless clown–

              “I…am allowing you to be sexually attracted to me, Hoseok.”

              “W-what?”

              “I said,” Y/N looks straight into his eyes, “I am giving you permission to like me, Hoseok.”

              Hoseok balks. “P-permission? W-why do I need permission?”

              “Because, if you’re going to like me, I need you to know I am acknowledging your sexual attraction to me seriously,” Y/N stands up, putting her hands in the pockets of your coat. “It will be a waste if you do not want a long-term commitment. I do not have time to dwell on anything less than that.”

              Lucky for Y/N, so does Hoseok and he wastes no time proving it to her. For the course of six months, Hoseok courts her in the most possible best Hoseok-way. Y/N lived the majority of her life within suffocating walls surrounded by academics, titles, honors, and people waiting for her to fall. Hoseok wanted to take her with him on a break (and a possible future lifestyle) away from them all. So he takes Y/N to carnivals, dance events, and festivals–ranging from streets decorated in cheap glowing lanterns to grander events that have remarkable fireworks displays.

              Hoseok shows Y/N himself at his most vulnerable and strongest. He lets her watch him perform alone in practice rooms as he expresses the things muddled in his head, things he never dares to say to anyone else. Y/N’s been with him when he broke down due to his anxiety concerning his not-so-impressive acads. She was also with him in his embarrassing drunk adventures. Hell, Y/N even participated in his crew’s weird end-of-the-sem party. She let Hoseok dress them two like the two robbers from Home Alone–complete with the rageddy cut gloves and dirty face makeup. But, Y/N has also seen Hoseok’s crew’s successful university tours, the exclusive events he got invited to, and his dance recitals that got many theater and entertainment scouts crowding the room he’s dancing in.

              Hoseok shows all of himself to Y/N. Willingly and so transparently, that in turn, she started to show him her self, too. Y/N let him see her in her utter glory. She let him see her receiving awards from various electronics competitions and exhibitions, her creating the first demo of her portable printer and scanner machine that earned many positive reviews from numerous investors, and her getting featured in not just the university’s newspaper or any other school’s newspapers, but the city’s news for a composting machine she invented. And, Y/N also let Hoseok see her at her worst. She let him see her get told off by one of the people she had unconsciously insulted in the hallways, her failing her Communication GE classes, and her having a panic attack when her parents announced yet again another party of scholars who wish to see what she’s been up to lately.

              These things made Y/N realize Hoseok was serious about her and she, in return, has started to cherish the golden boy who would never leave her alone for the day until she’s crying from sheer laughter and happiness.

              However, it is the small things Hoseok does that really really gets to her.

              Hoseok remembers the small details Y/N slips in during their conversations.

“Hey, you are not supposed to eat that,” a fork clashes with Y/N’s own, preventing her from reaching the delectable dish.

“This pasta?” Y/N looks up at Hoseok.

“It has chopped shrimps. I asked Seokjin about it and he said it has prawns.” Hoseok grabs Y/N’s hand and leads her to the other side of the buffet. There, he gets her pasta with white sauce, this time, garnished in bacon. “Here, eat this, instead. It may not taste like the one with the shrimp but at least you won’t get allergies and you can enjoy the rest of the night instead of chilling out at the hospital watching sad re-runs of The Big Bang Theory.”

***

“Hoseok, you won’t believe how fascinating my yield turned out to be, like–Hoseok, what are you doing?

Hoseok pauses in his fumbling and blinks at Y/N. He looks down back at his bag and sighs. “I was hoping to keep this a surprise but oh well.”

He pulls up something from his bag and Y/N’s left gaping when he hands her a box of baked cookies. He rubs his neck, the tip of his ears reddening under her  gaze. “I remember you telling me it’s been a while since you ate cookies. My mom baked a lot for us so here, have some. I know you’re on some ridiculous diet your parents told you to take. But I hope you could give yourself a cheat day and just eat and enjoy the day. Your parents aren’t here.”

              Hoseok never fails to check up on her.

“Hey, how long have you been hunched over your desk now?” Hoseok’s voice blares from Y/N’s phone’s speakers and she sighs.

“About five hours now, I think?”

“Okay. Why don’t you take a break for ten minutes before going back to the grind? You told me your back is being an ass to you for two weeks now. Give it some rest. Also, drink some water.”

“Okay mom, will do,” Y/N chuckles over the line.

“Okay my daughter,” Hoseok sing-songs and she snorts. “I’ll call later and check up on you. Don’t dare to not take a break. I know where your dorm is and I’ll break into your window if I have to.”

“Okay, okay, will do, my personal health support system.”

“Glad to be of your service, ma'am.”

***

Y/N sighs as she throws her bag onto her bed. Today is a beat day. Mr. David was sour and he poured all his frustration on their class by giving out unnecessary lectures instead of teaching the new lesson. Y/N guesses she’ll have to self-study again for a quiz the prof has irrationally scheduled for tomorrow. And oh, Ms. Peterson also gave out a heavy paper late. It will force Y/N to cram for it in two days as submission date is just the day after tomorrow. Why is every deadline piling up today? It’s not yet even finals week yet!

Y/N plops onto her desk with a heavy sigh. She’ll end up having to do an all-nighter again — wait, what’s that doing there? There’s a pack of sandwiches in a clear food container sitting on top of her desk, beside her notebooks. Y/N doesn’t remember buying one or requesting her rommate, Jae In, to buy her one. Curious, she picked it up and turned it around. That’s when Y/N sees a yellow post-it attached on the plastic container.

“Hey Y/N. I thought of you today and decided to make you a sandwich. This is edible, I assure you. I asked my cooking mama friend Seokjin to come over and help me. Eat this snack before you do your work. I know you always start work right after coming home from your classes. I hope you eat on time and not skip on meals.

With super duper mega love,

Hoseok 😘”

              And Hoseok helps Y/N to the best he can, whenever he can, especially about things she’s passionate about but no one takes time to really understand.

"Hey Y/N,” Hoseok greets as he plops down next to her seat in the library.

“Hoseok?” Y/N glances up at him, eyes wide, “What are you doing here? You told me you have practice today.”

“Eh, the members cancelled on me today.  And also, I’ve missed you, so I figured why not visit you.” Hoseok grins at her and she momentarily forgets how to breathe. Y/N doesn’t know when Hoseok started to have that effect on her, it just happened. And although it is starting to be an inconvenience regarding how she becomes a nervous wreck under his gaze, she weirdly cannot find herself complaining against it. 

Hoseok leans forward, breaking her trance. “Now, what should we study today?”

“Uh-uhm, cellular mechanisms. I wanted to learn more about cancer cells.”

“Cellular mechanisms it is, then. Want me to help you make diagrams?”

Y/N nods and Hoseok grins, “I see the skills of artist Hoseok is not about to die anytime soon, eh?”

***

“How does that work, Y/N?”

“Well, it converts the mechanical energy from every step you take into electrical energy. It’s not yet finished so I’m still figuring out how many more parts I need for this to work. My previous demos have a lot of mistakes.” Right at the same time, a bolt pops off. Y/N runs a hand over her face, “And a lot of malfunctioning parts.”

Hoseok scratches his head. “I don’t know about any energy conversions but I know how to screw well?”

“Is that a question or a statement?”

“A-a statement. I can fix what we have for now while you revise your design. Whaddya think?”

“That sounds good.” Y/N turns around and heads for her blue prints. But before she can pick up her measuring materials, she turns back to Hoseok, meeting his gaze as he’s mid-picking up a screw driver.

“Thank you, Hoseok for assisting me on this. I know it’s just a personal project and I may be taking too much of your time when you should probably be resting at your dorm.”

“Pssh, you’re not taking too much of my time. I am enjoying my time with you. Also, it’s not just a personal project. It is a personal project so of course, it deserves to have gigantic importance to you. And it will turn out great because I know it will. Now go let’s get these revisions done so we can do another test run.”

              Hoseok has been a wonderful friend, an amazing supporter, and a sincere person who never feels ashamed of showing Y/N what he felt. That is all she needed for her not to doubt anymore and accept his confession.

              “Hey, Y/N,” Hoseok huffs, hands tucked deep in his red parka. “Why did you  tell me to meet up in the park? It’s cold out. Can’t it wait 'til tomorrow?”

              “No, it cannot,” Y/N faces the man, brows scrunched, her lips red from the number of times she has bitten it. “Hoseok, there’s something I need to tell you.”

              “W-what is it?”

              “I…am reciprocating yo-your profession of your sexual attraction to me.”

              “What?”

              “I said, I am reciprocating–” Y/N’ bites her lip and closes her eyes. When she opens them again, she gives Hoseok the most focused stare she can ever give. “Hoseok, I am accepting your love confession. I like you, too.”

              Hoseok stares at Y/N, eyes wide, mouth agape. And for too long that Y/N thought the cold must have frozen him all over.

              “Hoseok, why are you staring like that? I am telling you, I like you too–hmppf!”

              Hoseok is kissing her, his lips pressed softly against hers in a gentle peck. Before Y/N could process things in her head about what to do when the boy she likes started kissing her, Hoseok is already coaxing her lips to dance with his. And before long, Y/N is returning him a kiss with the same ardor as his. It’s not like her to suddenly make out with someone so publicly. Hell, it’s not even like her to kiss someone with such passion that the warmth she feels on her chest comes close as to the heat of the sun. But as Y/N stays in Hoseok’s embrace in the middle of the frosted park which contrasts their warm chests, everything just feels so right.

              So right, as if fate just planned this very night for the two of them. Because, as their kiss comes into an end, Y/N and Hoseok both jolt at the drop of wetness that land on their heads. Y/N looks up and sees the familiar soft white snow falling from the dark night sky. The first snow. Right then deja vu sets in of how it was just one year ago she met this giggling boy in front of her at the very same time of the year.

              “I guess the universe wants us to be together, too.” Hoseok smiles.

              Y/N grins at him and sinks deeper into his embrace. “As preposterous that sounds given that the universe is, literally speaking, a no-higher living being, it is more preposterous that I am finding myself agreeing to and blushing because of this.”

              “I can’t understand what you said but I think it means you like it too so I’m deciding this is one of the best blush-worthy moments I ever had,” Hoseok kisses the top of Y/N’s head, “and whatever you say won’t stop me from taking back what I said.” Y/N nuzzles her nose against his chest, smiling at the way she cannot tell her heartbeat apart from his–the beats beneath their chests in sync despite the incongruity in her words.

***

              Loving Hoseok is easy. He is charming, generous, understanding, and everything Y/N ever wanted. Even more, nothing really changed from their friendship, just the addition of cheesy pick-up lines, sweet kisses here and there, hot make-out sessions which more often than not escalate into passionate (and very amazing) love-making. And Y/N loves her relationship with him as well for this. Because even if Hoseok succeeds in making her a soft mush for him, she cannot live her life without having him be the best-est friend she could ever have in her life.

              But from all the things Y/N loves about Hoseok, her most favorite has to be his utter transparency. What she sees in him, is what she gets. Hoseok is unabashed in proclaiming his feelings for her. He does not get embarrassed in showing Y/N his love for her. And, Hoseok does not keep secrets from her. He just willingly tells everything about him to her, no euphemisms, no lies. Y/N guesses this is probably the reason why their fights never last too long. Moreover, this quality of his makes up for Y/N’s inability to effectively express her thoughts and feelings. He taught Y/N pure utter honesty that so many people have stigmatized for naivety, but actually felt so amazing. He also taught Y/N to trust and let down her walls for people so they can be able to love her. Hoseok inspires and motivates Y/N to become a better version of herself, not only for the sake of others, but also for herself, and she cannot be grateful enough for that. 

              Titles didn’t matter with Hoseok, with Y/N, and their relationship. What only matters is their labels for each other–boyfriend and girlfriend, lovers loved and in love. Hoseok does not encrypt his messages in a way that would match Y/N’s mental capacity – He just talks with her like the way he is, nonsense and eggplant emojis and all. Hoseok does not burden Y/N with heavy, unreasonable expectations. He just loves her and lets her be whatever she wants. He just stays by Y/N’s side as she freely learns from and works on her mistakes like every flawed human being. With Hoseok, Y/N knew what she deserves and she started to live her life the way she has always dreamed of–so flawed but so perfectly Y/N L/N who is unafraid of what the future may bring to her.

              However, not everyone cannot fully comprehend Y/N’s relationship with Hoseok. Loving Hoseok may be easy but the environment surrounding their relationship is an entirely opposite scenario. For Hoseok’s and Y/N’s disregard of titles, does not guarantee everyone else around their relationship will do the same.

              Y/N’s relationship with Hoseok spread throughout the campus like a Jeffree Star fight-controversy with another YouTuber in 2x speed. The entire university has gone berserk yet again, unable to fathom how someone who shines so bright like Hoseok can be together with someone like Y/N who dims other’s lights. And for other people, they cannot understand how such a happy-go-lucky academically-challenged student like Hoseok can even amuse such no-shit, genius brain of Y/N.

              Almost everyone has something to say about their relationship. And, most often than not, they are negative. It didn’t help anything in their relationship as Y/N is already insecure as to why Hoseok even chose her when he can have any woman he wished. Y/N knows she’s difficult to be with. She struggles with expressing her feelings and thoughts. She even feels like she’s making things too hard for Hoseok. You see, Y/N’s a safe player. In whatever grounds she’s in — academics, social life, family ties — she  always plays safe. Y/N finds it hard to not be so, especially when all her life, she has been groomed to be a person well-liked by everybody else — a person safe from any negative impression that may tarnish her reputation. So, when things get a little bit too hard with Hoseok, Y/N finds herself automatically heading for the exit.

              Just like in one Wednesday night in August. Y/N had her fair share of fights with Hoseok. From the difficulties that tie with his popularity, her inability to show her feelings to him that sometimes makes him question her love, his procrastination and occasional lack of care for his academics, her nature to obsess over her studies that she tends to forget herself and everyone around her, to his numerous female friends who have the audacity to still flirt with him even if they all know he’s dating her — Y/N and Hoseok have fought about them all within their seven months of dating. And sure, they were already pretty bad fights given that they were immensely serious with Y/N and Hoseok ending up screaming at each other, giving each other cold shoulders, and ignoring each other for at most (usually) five days. But this Wednesday night was not like any of ther previous fights. Because this time, Y/N told Hoseok she wanted to break up with him.

              “Will you stop for a second, Y/N?!”

              Y/N swiftly turns around, tears brimming her swollen red eyes, “What do you want, Hoseok? I already said what I need to say. I am tired of constantly being the bad guy whenever we fight. I am tired of this, of you. I want to break up.”

              “No, you don’t mean that,” Hoseok almost cries. He looks equally devastated as her — swollen eyes, pale face, trembling fingers. “N-no, you don’t mean that,” he repeats, this time, his voice breaking.

              “Of course I mean them, Hoseok,” Y/N spits, “I never say things I do not mean. You know me.”

              “I know you,” Hoseok retorts, “that’s why I am telling you right now you don’t mean telling me you’re tired of our relationship, of me. That you want to b-break up. B-because you’re Y/N,” he breathes out. “You seem cold but you actually care. You do not speak your thoughts or feelings aloud but act on them. Okay, maybe you speak them out, but you say it in a way most people do not understand so that still does not count. But, Y/N,” Hoseok reaches for her hand before she can even think of shaking off his hold, “I know you love me. Deep inside the deepest of your hypothalamus, like you said, I believe you love me. Or else, you wouldn’t stay when I told you to watch me dance alone, frustrated with the world. You wouldn’t put in effort befriending Taehyung and Jimin despite knowing what they all said about you in the past. You wouldn’t have told me you wanted to come with me to my hometown and meet my family for my dad’s birthday. And,” Hoseok looks down at his feet, “you wouldn’t have stayed with me this long knowing how annoying I can be and what everyone else has to say about us. So please, Y/N. Just please…stay. Let’s talk it out together. Don’t just break up with me. Please don’t just l-leave me alone.”

              When Hoseok looks up at Y/N, it is with his brows scrunched together, eyes glazed over, and form almost kneeling in front of her. He holds her hands so tight, but yet so gentle, as if afraid if he clasped her fingers tighter, it will be too suffocating that she’ll slip away from him. He just looks at her and she cannot help but return his gaze. Y/N realizes right then, it may have been a bad decision to do so. For all she could see in his eyes is her reflection. Her and only her. It even seems as if he’s trying to keep the entirety of her as vivid as a memory can be. And maybe it’s because it’s the way he unabashedly tells her everything he loves about her. Or the way he remembers every single detail about her. Or how he knows her so well despite their relationship blooming at such a young age. But, they are all enough for Y/N to hold his hands tighter and let him engulf HER in his arms.

              “H-Hobi–”

              “S-see? You even still call me like that,” Hoseok mutters above her head and Y/N bites her lip as she clutches onto his jacket tighter.

              “Hobi, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean them. I’m not tired of you. I’m not tired of u-us. I do not want to break up with you. Not at all. I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Y/N lets out a sob and Hoseok hugs her tighter, running a hand over her hair, knowing it calms her down. “It’s just that everything’s been too much lately. The-the way your friends–”

              “What did they do?” Hoseok’s voice deepens close into a low growl. Y/N gulps. “Please tell me, Y/N,” Hoseok says softly as he cups her face in his warm hands. Y/N bites her lip and looks away. She does not want to be that type of girlfriend who instigates a fight between their significant other and their friends. She does not want Hoseok to have a bad blood with people he cares about. But then, Y/N remembers their fight two months ago. That night when she confronted Hoseok about the consecutive late nights he has spent in the practice room, neglecting his studies and even his own health for the past two weeks. The moment Y/N cornered him about it, Hoseok broke down and told her everything — how he lacked the motivation to perform well in his recitals and how his course adviser told him to pull his shit together before he fucks up the nearing international dance competition.

“She told me that I’m dating you right now but why can’t I even pull my shit together like you do. That she doesn’t understand why you’re even dating me when you can date far more competent guys. That sooner or later, you’re going to break up with me. Because,” Hoseok sighs and smiles, but it doesn’t reach his cheeks, a tear slipping down them instead, “look at me. I’m so sloppy. I’m such a loser—”

“No, you’re not!” Y/N interrupts him and Hoseok jolts. “You…you’re not a loser. Sloppy, yes, sometimes,” Hoseok winces and Y/N grabs his arms and pulls him toward her so she can hug him tight. “Hoseok, listen to me. I’m your lover. No one else’s but yours. I love you and I will not leave you. I do not care about other guys, if they are more competent or whatever. After all, competency is just a social construct designed to promote the societal standards that aim for conformity.” Y/N disentangles herself from him to cup his face in her hands. “Hoseok, you are not a loser. And, you’ll never be.  How can you be at least an inch of one? You were the one who led countless competitions which won our university so many awards. Almost ALL the trophies in our campus’ Hall of Honor were all thanks to you. You were the one who helped our fashion design majors  grab an opportunity with various labels after your runway a year ago became viral. You were also the one responsible for resurrecting countless dead orgs with actually good goals. They even received rewards from the local government because of the projects you arranged! You’re not a loser, Hobi. In fact, you are the opposite of loser. It’s just your prof is an ungrateful bitch, demeaning you like that when you’ve brought glory to her name as your program adviser. What a fucking asshole, I could have punched her in the face and—”

Hoseok detaches his lips from hers and smiles. “I can’t believe I’m starting to rub off of you. You just said your first curse word. Two even!”

“Damn you, Hoseok. I’m being serious.”

“And so am I. Thank you for cheering me up, Y/N. This is why I love you so much!”

              Hoseok has always been honest to Y/N and she decides it’s only right for her to do the same.

              Y/N looks up at him. “Nayeon, Sungyoon, and…Sara cornered me yesterday and I thought it will be about what you are recently up to. Why you were absent at yesterday’s practice. It turned out they did this high school toxic open-forum-like session where they told me all my shits and why I shouldn’t hang out you. They said you were no longer the Hoseok you used to be because I kept dragging you down. That I…do not deserve you and you should be with girls like you. And you know what, I thought so, too. Because, you have far better things ahead from you than tying you down here with me.”

              “No one can tell what you deserve or not, Y/N,” Hoseok retorts. “Only you can. And, I know what you are thinking right now maybe the opposite of what you really think about yourself. But if I could help, I think you totally deserve me. Even more than that, honestly. Because, Y/N, you are not tying me down anywhere.  In fact you are tying me up. Not literally but figuratively. Okay” Hoseok closes his eyes, “I know it doesn’t make sense—whatever I say doesn’t make sense on the regular basis, so what’s the difference—but, what I mean to say is, Y/N, you are keeping me afloat. You are keeping my head up from the expectations and shitstorms that is plaguing me. You are helping me stay alive and keep pushing through all the difficulties I face. And for that, I am eternally grateful for you. So,” Hoseok smiles, “do not let anything anyone else says about us get to you. Because, they don’t really know anything about me and they very much don’t know anything about you. They don’t get to judge. Not when they do not know how it feels to have the most amazing angel by your side.”

              Y/N scrunches her face at him but she hugs him tight nevertheless. “Must you always be this cheesy and cringey?”

              “Only for you, baby,” Y/N could feel Hoseok grin from the top of her head. “Also, I’m gonna have a talk with those girls so expect apologies coming your way. And if things go the other way,” Hoseok clicks his tongue, “expect a decrease in my friends.”

              However, everything Hoseok spouted is easier said than done. Because truth be told, Hoseok thinks it is him who actually doesn’t deserve Y/N. She is intelligent but so is she kind. She’s mature and it is usually her who does most of the helping and progressing in their relationship. Most of all, it is more realistic to say, Y/N is the one who has far greater things ahead than him. And it became clearer to him the night she took him with her to her family’s home for one of her parents’ parties.

              Y/N countlessly told Hoseok she didn’t need to attend it. She even highly advised him not to come with her. But Hoseok has forever been stubborn so of course when he told Y/N he wanted to meet her family, he did every bit of convincing that get him to where he is now — shaken and lost in the middle of a fucking science exhibit of a party. The night actually started out well.  He introduced himself to every member of the L/N family, even distant ones who stayed in the farthest, most unnoticeable corners of Y/N’s house. Y/N’s family members welcomed him with smiles and actively talked with him. Her parents even handed him his plate of food themselves and invited him to spend Christmas with them.

              It only started going downhill when it was time for the main event of the party—the what-have-you-been-up-to lately segment or what Y/N would like to call the “let the best bragger win.” Everyone started spewing their achievements for the year in a fashion that challenges the other party to disclose their far greater successes. Which, ultimately, insult the others for their lack of any. The party felt as if it was a battlefield with every member of Y/N’s family pitting their achievements against each other, no matter what context they are in—even if they are not of the same category to even compare. Next thing Hoseok knew, he was being dragged into the center of the conversation, with Y/N’s father asking him to tell his “revolutionary thoughts.”

              Hoseok tried his best. He really did. He had recalled every lesson he learned in his Science-related GEs and even tried to apply them in the academic journals he saw Y/N reading. That’s why he doesn’t understand why every single time he opens his mouth, Y/N’s entire family is laughing at him. Is the Dual Nucleus Association found in fingerprints that funny? Hoseok didn’t take too long to ponder on it, for the next second, a hand is pulling him to the front doors of the L/N house. It takes another second for Hoseok to register Y/N was the one who’s dragging him onto the street in angry stomps.

              “Y/N! Why did we go out?” Hoseok pulls on her arm, “We have to come back! It will be rude to your parents! I don’t want to leave a bad impression y’know–”

              “It doesn’t matter, Hoseok!” Y/N whirls around, distraught, and Hoseok only notices just now her glazed eyes. Y/N chokes out, “Leaving an impression on them doesn’t matter because we have to get out NOW.”

              “What? No, Y/N! That’s not appropriate! I–”

              “Then is it appropriate for my parents and relatives’ to blatantly insult you right in your face?”

                 Hoseok takes a step back, “What? But they were laughing at me there. I guess my jokes are–”

                 “Hoseok, they were mocking you in there. We both hell know the fingerprint DNA trivia you were telling them is not a joke.”

                “But your father said the Dual Nucleus Association I muttered was revolutionary and funny.”

                Y/N closes her eyes as she releases a staggered sigh, “Hoseok, ‘revolutionary’ in my father’s dictionary meant ‘stupid.’” Hoseok scrunches his brows and Y/N breathes out, wishing she could let out as well the aggravation and loathing for her parents she has kept inside for so long. “He was making fun of you, Hobi. DNA does not stand for Dual Nucleus Association. It’s Deoxyribonucleic Acid. My father fucking knew what this means because he took a PhD in Microbiology and he didn’t even have the heart to correct you. He even put you up in front of everybody else and humiliate you without you even noticing it.”

                “W-what?”

                Y/N sighs for the nth time as she reaches for his hands. “Hoseok, I’m sorry I left you alone. This whole time, I didn’t know you were in my father’s care. It’s just that my cousin came to me and asked desperately for help about the verbal abuse he experiences at home. The way he asked for my help, I knew he’s about to-to blow up sooner or later. So I immediately went to his aid. And I guess I got so preoccupied trying to make him calm without triggering his panic attacks that I…did not see where you stayed in the party. Worse, I didn't fucking even know you were with my parents. I know this is not enough of an excuse and I have been a shitty girlfriend tonight. So I’m sorry, Hoseok. I’m deeply so so sorry. And right now, I’m trying to make up for my mistakes by telling you we should leave. Now. I cannot let any of them insult you more,” Y/N’s voice breaks and she raises her hand to wipe a tear that has cascaded down her cheeks, “I cannot, Hoseok, for so help me God, I will march over there and declare I want to denounce myself as a L/N.”

                Hoseok doesn’t reply. He just nods at her and looks down at his feet. Y/N gulps down the anxiety building up in her larynx as she leads the two of them to the car he rented. She opts for the driver’s seat and hits the gas. Within minutes, the two of them are enveloped by the silent nightscape, a stark contrast to the cacophony of pride in her house.

                “Hoseok,” the man turns to the sound of Y/N’s voice. “W-what else did my father say to you?”

                Hoseok starts to fumble with the loose thread of his navy suit jacket. “Do you…really want to hear it?”

                “Is it that bad?”

                “Well, I-your dad questioned my ability to provide for you in the future. Because of my major and aspirations and all.”

                Y/N turns to him, aghast, “What?! Why would he even say that? What, he started to forget women’s abilities to revert back to the traditional patriarchal views?! Fuck him!”

                “I knew you would say that,” Hoseok says, chuckling softly. Y/N faces him again, this time perplexed as to why he is laughing. Hoseok reads her look and he clears his throat.

                “When you told me I was being insulted in the party, I will admit I am offended. But, before that, during an earlier talk with your father, I was not the least bit upset.” Hoseok meets your eyes. “That time, I was scared. Immensely shit-scared.”

                “I should have come to you first, not my cousin–”

                “No, let me finish first.” Hoseok purses his lips. He then looks out of the car window, at the scarce stars on the sky. “I knew we are far apart from each other. It was obvious even before we got together. Hell, I do not even get the memes you send to me when we first started out as friends. Sometimes, I even get insecure that even if you are not really bestfriends with Namjoon, he seems to get everything you tell me you found at the lab. Just by listening to our conversations, he understands them all. So effortlessly at that. I even have to plead him to tutor me and dumb-translate the science-y things you tell me, while I dry my brains out trying to understand them. But when I talked with your father, tonight, how he reiterated your status and skills and their difference from mine…I have never been this scared in my life.   Scared that what he said will come true—that you will realize how someone like me can never truly understand you ‘til the long run. That you will get tired of slowing your pace down for me…That you will eventually find someone more compatible with you–who also has a much more stable future ahead of just an aspiring dancer.” Hoseok turns toY/N and he reaches out for her left hand, her free hand. He clasps them in his hands and looks up at her, “But, I swear Y/N, I promise I will do my best. Your father may not be convinced but I want you to know. That I will do my best for you, Y/N. I will learn more for you. I will understand you more. I will improve my reputation into a much more respectable one. Hell, I can quit dance if I have to.”

              Y/N gives Hoseok a pained look. “No, Hoseok, you will not quit dance. I do not want you to quit dance. It will be too unfair for you and I know you will regret it.”

              Hoseok sighs and shakes his head. “Yeah…that sounds easier said than done.”

              “You don’t have to do those things for me,” Y/N squeezes his hand, making him look back to her. “I actually enjoy helping you learn. I love that you goof off the way you want because when you do that, I am reminded people like you still exist today — people who are not afraid of being themselves. Because of that, you inspire me to live more. I also love that you put in the time learning the things I’m saying because it means you genuinely are interested about my thoughts and you are not afraid of women being smarter than you — something most guys fail at. But that’s because most of them are misogynistic, prideful men on their high horses. And, I know you’re not like that. Most of all, I love it when you dance. Because through it you freely express every bit of your emotion. Because, you’re transparent, Hoseok. You’re an open book and I like it the best because you don’t leave me hanging, confused, troubled, and worried about what you’re feeling, especially when you know I am already bad at reading emotions. You are my stable ground, Hoseok. You make me feel safe. And despite the bad fights we’ve been through, I know you’re always doing your best. How can we stay this long if not for you being the brighter one between us when it comes to communicating, knowing that splitting because of things that can be solved will only result in one hell of a horrible mistake?” Y/N turns to Hoseok and he looks at her with his mouth agape, eyes blown wide. She smiles at this. “You have to know you’re more than enough, Hoseok. Like you said,” her smile grows wider, “no one can tell us what we deserve or not but ourselves. And with this, I know and feel that I deserve you, Hoseok. And you, me. What do you say?”

              Hoseok’s response to that was not of a verbal one but a physical one—one that involved a feverish kiss on Y/N’s lips, and her jawline that led Y/N to park the car by the empty gasoline station. Feather-light kisses, desperate hands to grab each other as close as they can be to each other, Y/N indulges in Hoseok and him in her in a passionate love that burned so bright it rivals the sun. The only words that transpire during that fateful night was “I love you’s” and for Y/N and Hoseok, they are more than enough of an anchor of him to her and her to him as waves of obstacles come in your way.

              All of these moments with Y/N have accumulated into Hoseok’s most wonderful memories in his life. And he still replays them in his head as another year of being her lover passes. Of course, problems never failed to arise as they manage their relationship. But, the ones caused by the comments of everyone in the university have lessened as Y/N and Hoseok have now graduated. Hoseok has left the university after he graduated, while Y/N stayed in the university as she applied for a Master’s degree in civil engineering. 

             Y/N still lives in her dorm for the convenience of teaching in the campus and studying after work. Meanwhile, Hoseok lived in an apartment in the city, close to the prestigious dance studio he works at. Their schedules are most often than not, amiss, and the distance between them can be sometimes frustrating. However, what remains the biggest obstacle is everyone’s opinions about the two of them. Sure, they were not as restrictive as what the two of them have experienced in the university. But it didn’t mean it hurt less when people say how they never thought someone as fun as Hoseok will choose someone so boring like Y/N, or how Hoseok’s intellect was a down-grader for her respectable reputation, saying she has a tasteless choice in choosing partners. Although these problems may get a little overwhelming, the two of them never let them get in between their relationship. 

              Hence, Y/N and Hoseok are still madly in love like the first year they have started dating. So in love that Hoseok felt it is now the time to propose to Y/N. For anymore day without her officially bounded with him, when you already own every piece of his heart, is something Hoseok cannot take any longer. He wants Y/N to be his partner for the years to come, his significant other for forever, and the only person he wakes up to and sees last in his day and nights for the rest of his entire life. Hoseok knows this and he has never been surer in his life.

              This is the reason why Hoseok is where he is today: clad in an ugly Christmas sweater and mismatched socks, with a troubled look on his face. Hoseok may have only realized he wanted to marry Y/N in late November, but he was able to make an intricate proposal plan to execute before this year can end. Today is Y/N’s free day and he has classes that have ended early. Lucky for him, Jimin is free to take her out for some last-minute gift-shopping in the afternoon so Hoseok can have ample time to decorate Y/N’s dorm with hearts and diagrams of the hypothalamus (because “No, Hoseok, we do not say I love you from the deepest corner of my heart, but from the hypothalamus. We do not feel from the heart. It just pumps us blood”).  Hoseok will have the gifts he bought for Y/N delivered that very same day to complete his decorations (and to also spoil her even more). He will cook Y/N her favorite dishes and make her hot cocoa even though he very much likes eggnog more, just because she likes the sweet chocolate beverage. He even requested his orchestra friends Yoongi, Jinyoung, Seokjin, and Sandeul, to play Jingle Bell Rock (“in cursive”) on the far side of the hallway so when Jimin drops Y/N off, she can have her favorite Christmas song as her background music when she steps inside her room and gets surprised.

              That is why when his heart and hypothalamus decorations actually looked shit, the arrival of the gifts was delayed ‘til tomorrow, and the meals he cooked looked inedible—not to say the hot choco looked like a mess too and totally un-aesthetic—Hoseok finds himself frozen in his place next to Y/N’s Christmas tree, looking as if he was constipated for ten days. Worse, his girlfriend is already standing by her door frame, kicking the door close like it was just any other day. 

              Y/N hangs her coat on the hanger and puts her shopping bags on top of her wide cabinet. She nonchalantly glances at him, “Hoseok, what are you doing there?”

              Hoseok feels sweat run down his face in waterfalls. If Y/N is surprised he was standing stupidly next to her tree, she did not show it. But right now, Hoseok’s concern is her seeing the decorations he made chucked in a large paper bag he hid behind the tree at the last minute. Of course, it is poorly hidden. He plays with the collar of his sweater “I…um, I–”

              “Nevermind. I guess this is one of our spontaneous date nights you ironically always plan. You should inform me next time, you know, so I can prepare for you as well,” Y/N smiles at him. “Come sit with me.” She walks to the sofa by the Christmas tree and pats the seat next to her. Hoseok scrambles to sit beside her and tries not to look like the dumbest fool in the world. Y/N did not get surprised, the orchestra’s music is barely heard inside as the cold wind of early winter overrides it, and he looks totally shit. How can he propose to her now, huh? All of his plans are ruined!

              “Di-did you eat already?” Hoseok asks, hands sweaty on his sweatpants. “I made you your favorite.”

              “Umm…yeah,” Y/N bites her lip, guilty. “I was already hungry before Jimin and I can finish our shopping and I really felt a great need to devour some pizza today.” She reaches for her small satchel and produces a folded paper bag. “I saved some for you. We can eat it later while we watch Netflix.”

              “O-okay,” Hoseok nervously laughs. His eyes land on the pink mug on the dining table. He looks back at Y/N, “D-do you want to drink something? I made you hot cocoa.”

              “Ooh, I’ll drink it later. I just had a sweet choco milkshake before I got here,” Y/N bites her lips again in guilt. “I’m sorry, Hoseok, I didn’t know you prepared these stuff for me. If I had known sooner I would have never even stepped out of my dorm today.”

              “It’s okay,” Hoseok pulls a smile and he tries not to look a tad bit upset about the failure of his plans, because he knows Y/N will immediately recognize that look.

              And, he wasn’t wrong. “Why, Hobi?” Y/N cups his face to make him turn to her, “did I do something wrong?

              “No,” Hoseok looks away. “It’s just, my plans…didn’t work out today.”

              “What plans?”

              Hoseok immediately feels his ass on fire. Did he just almost give himself away? He cannot just blurt out he wants to marry her! He wanted it to be special and he cannot have that happen in just her dorm with his shitty-looking outfit and almost-burned food. He wants Y/N to remember this day and he ain’t taking the risk of letting any bad memories mess up his proposal. And so, Hoseok sighs and decides he has to abort the plan and schedule it some other day. He’s just gonna make an excuse for now. “Well, I just thought we can make this random Thursday special y’know? Keep up with the aim of my spontaneous dates–good surprises making life much better without needing a reason to be. So I just made some food and stuff for the fun of it. It’s just a normal day surprise.”

              “Oh, then I’m glad today is really spontaneous dates today. I may have…foiled your plans, but look, I happened to have a surprise for you!”

              Hoseok tilts his head, “What is it?”

              Y/N grins at him before turning around and fumbles for something in her bag. Then the next second, Justin Bieber’s Mistletoe is suddenly blaring loud from her phone.

              “Y/N, did you seriously just play Justin Bieber’s Mistletoe in speaker mode?”

              “Oh, don’t be an in-denial bitch. I know this is your favorite Christmas song. A good song has to create the aesthetic and mood for tonight,” Y/N chuckles, “Here, Hoseok, my present for you.” She hands him a box wrapped in a fancy green sparkling wrapper with a red bow tied around it. It was medium-sized, enough for one of his favorite KAWS models to fit inside.

              “Present?” Hoseok asks, feeling both joy and guilt respectively swell in his heart and pit in his stomach. Joy, because Y/N is to add another model to his growing collection. And guilt, because he didn’t bring her anything worth the same as her gift. But as he tears open the box, another fancy green box just stares back at him. He looks up at Y/N with squinted eyes. “I see what you did there, sneaky missy.”  She just chuckles at him and Hoseok continues to unbox her gift, only to have another box inside. Hoseok wonders what made Y/N think of doing this infamous wrapping technique for her gift when she wasn’t even that much into wrapping gifts. She always just give him gifts in standard wrapping paper, messily taped all over around. Moreover, what even is her gift and how small does it have to be? Because now, Hoseok’s hands are getting tired of unboxing box after box and the gift is now currently the size of a stress ball!

              “Y/N, can you just tell me your gift? I’m getting tired. I can open it tomorrow instead and we can just get straight to Netflix tonight.”

              “No, Hoseok,” Y/N laughs, patting his shoulders. “Keep unboxing.”

              Hoseok continues forth with the unboxing and his heart starts to sink to his stomach as the box got smaller and smaller. This is probably a prank. One to get back at him for telling Y/N last year he bought her her favorite gift for their monito event with Jimin, Taehyung, and Namjoon. Only for him to arrive with nothing but a bow on his head and shamelessly declare to everyone that he is her gift. Nothing must be inside this box to contain a gift so small. The box in his hand is now just the size of a small toy car!

              Hoseok sighs as he opens the box. Another green box will appear and then he’ll see the paper saying “Pranked you, Hobi!”

              But it does not.

              For the box on Hoseok’s hand right now, is gaping open to him right now. And all he sees is a sparkling, silver ring embellished with emeralds that seem to form waves around the base of the band. A fucking ring is sitting right on top of his hand.

              Hoseok gapes and just stares. Far too long that Y/N decides to break the silence. “Surprise! I bought you an engagement ring! With green emeralds just like your favorite color.” She grins at him as she holds Hoseok’s hands in hers, making him turn to her while he stays jaw ajar. 

              Y/N suddenly feels self-conscious and unconfident. This is not the reaction she is expecting. She starts to fear if she’ll spend the coming Holidays boyfriend-less. Just by looking at Hoseok’s stupified face, it looks everything is happening too fast and too sudden tonight for her boyfriend. Nevertheless, she says, “I-I know this may come off as a really big of a surprise. After all, this is an engagement ring and right now I am trying to propose to you. Barely, even. So, of course, this is definitely a shocker. Especially when we only just spent two years dating. Still too early for a proposal to come, as what others will usually expect,” Y/N’s voice breaks. 

              She wrings her hands together, her feet trembling beneath her, and yet, she couldn’t bring herself to stop. “But, Hoseok, in these two years I have spent with you…I learned what it felt like to be loved and be in love with you. We fight, yes. Healthily usual even. But, at the end of the day, everything still feels worth it. And I guess,” Y/N  smiles, “I cannot get enough of it. I cannot get enough of you. Being your girlfriend no longer satisfied me. I now want to be your wife. I want to be the only person you’ll stress over science just to impress. I want to be the person who’ll be your home. The one you will come home to, wake up to, and sleep next to every night, every single day. I want to be your partner-in-crime, especially when we have kids and we’ll play some game I never heard of but will still enjoy in the end just because you like it. But only if you want kids, hehe.” Y/N laughs awkwardly and scratches her nape. “Hoseok, I know I am clumsy in saying my feelings for you. Today is my first time saying everything so honest and raw like this so I know this may shock you. God, you don’t know how many times I practiced this speech in my office. Other professors must already be thinking I’m going crazy—anyway, what I only want to say is,” Y/N reaches for Hoseok’s hand and kisses it. “Hoseok, I want to stay by your side for the rest of my life.” When she looks up at him, she says, “And it will only happen if you’d also love to be by my side forever as well. So what do you say?”

              “W-what, I will say?” Hoseok repeats, still shaken. However, he’s so happy he cannot help the wide grin splitting on his face. “Yes, Y/N, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Forever and ever and ever and ever.”

              “R-really?” Y/N’s releases a relieved sigh, fingers wiping the tears that have formed on her eyes. “T-Then, why did you look like as if you’re about to walk out on me when you opened the box?”

              Hoseok cups her face in his hands, wiping away the tears. “Because you remind me a lot of the Grinch. The only difference is in the end, his heart grows three sizes, but you stay an asshole.” Y/N scowls at this and hits his chest, hard. Hoseok coos at her as he hugs her tight and chuckles, “You’re an asshole because you headed out straight for my heart—hook, line, and sinker — and now I am completely blown away when I was supposed to be the first one to do so. Seriously, Y/N, I did not expect this to happen this way. Not when I also prepared a surprise for you tonight.” 

              Y/N’s brows raise in curiosity. Hoseok unzips his gym bag on the sofa and turns back to her, now with a red velvet box on his hands. 

              Hoseok pops open the box, a ring of the same design as the one she bought him stares back at her. But this one, instead of green emeralds, is embellished with blue emeralds, her favorite color.  Right then and there, Y/N wanted to cry.

              Hoseok rubs his nape. “I’m supposed to propose to you tonight as well. But you beat me right to it and now I forgot my speech.”

              Y/N chuckles at that as she wipes away the tears that have formed yet again on her eyes. Hoseok smiles as he squeezes her hand. “But, that doesn’t mean I’ll skip on this once-in-a-lifetime’s opportunity to propose to you,” Hoseok looks at her, “Y/N, I love you. And I know forever can be a heavy word and sometimes love cannot solve every problem that may come our way. But Y/N, what I said two years ago hasn’t changed. I will try my best. For you, I will. And we may be young but I know you and I are capable to make us work for as long as time can let us. Because you are Y/N, and I’m Hoseok. People may be against us but we know with each other, we are the best we can ever be. We deserve each other. We need each other. But most of all, we love each other. That’s all we need. Me and you. You and me.” After he breathes out, Hoseok cups Y/N’s cheeks and she leans forward and interlocks their lips in a soft kiss. 

              Y/N grabs onto Hoseok’s ugly green sweater and deepens the kiss, letting her mouth do the talking for her and him. For no words can be enough to express everything that is settling in their hearts tonight — euphoric bliss, the sweet feeling of triumph. Although Y/N can feel a tinge of the uncertainty of what may come to the two of them in the future grappling on her nerves, there resides in her heart the greater courage that despite the unpredictability of life, Y/N knows she can manage it with the constant she now has by her side — Hoseok. And for him, her. Because, Y/N is certain this is the most right decision she has ever made in her life: loving him. And, Hoseok proves it is the same for him as when the kiss comes into a close, he whispers on her lips, “Guess the déjà vu tonight is really working at its best. Fate really wanted us to be together.”

              Y/N grins at him, her forehead bumping into his, “And where’s your proof, future Mr. Y/N L/N?”

              Hoseok presses a kiss on Y/N’s forehead, on her cheeks, on her nose, then at the corner of her ear. He whispers, “Look outside.”

              And there outside, white droplets fall from the sky, lighting up the near-black horizon while frosting up the window panes. It is the first snow. Y/N smiles. What Hoseok said to her when she reciprocated his love confession doesn’t seem so preposterous now. It seems like fate really tied the two of them up together as she first met and started dating Hoseok when the first snow fell. There’s a saying that whoever you’re with during the first snow, you will be with that person for a long time. Y/N and Hoseok have already been living proof of that for being together in three years—friendship plus dating days combined — amidst whatever people say against them two. 

              And Y/N hopes, that as she and Hoseok promise forever to each other tonight, the saying will come true. Because she wants the two of them to be together for a very, very, very long time.  After all, Hoseok is right. She is  Y/N and he is Hoseok and together, they are the best they can ever be, titles and achievements be damned. The weather may be cold during these pinnacle moments of her and his relationship but their hearts are warm and cozy, and there is nothing more Y/N could ask for.

Epilogue:

“You know, Y/N, my original proposal was beautiful, I’m sure I’ll have you bawling tonight.”

Y/N gives him a look and Hoseok laughs, “Good thing they’re gone now. D’you know I actually wrote my entire proposal in my hands? They just got erased because my hands have become so sweaty when I chucked away the decorations I made for you.”

“What decorations?”

Hoseok pulls on the collar of his sweater, “Cut-outs of hearts and hypothalamus?”

“R-really? You remembered what I said to you three years ago?”

“Of course, babe,”Hoseok smiles, “It’s you. How can I forget that? But they’re not available anymore as I already threw them away. They looked like shit.”

“Where did you throw them?”

“In a paper bag….by your Christmas tree–hey, why are you picking it up?”

Y/N turns towards him, smiling, her hands gently holding the crushed hearts and hypothalamus cut-outs. “Because you made it for me, Hoseok. Of course they hold value to me. It’s you.”

“You’re really a Grinch, you know? You’re making me cry with your sweetness and beauty when I should be jumping up and down with joy right now.”

“….Do you always have to be cheesy like this?”

“Only for you, babe. And get used to it. You have a forever to experience this one-in-a-million love from the one and only Jung Hoseok.”

A/N pt. 2 | Hi hons! Sorry my Christmas gift for you all was late! My requirement deadlines in uni ended up until Dec. 16 and so for the majority of December, I was solely focused on uni stuff. I tried limiting myself from using page breakers in this fic, a challenge I put on myself to train my skills again in doing transitions in my writing. This story is inspired by the rivalry of science and art majors in our uni in my first year! Also! I hoped you guys appreciate my take on @kwritersworld’s prompt. I want to incorporate it in a very unexpected way, while at the same time, reflects my character in a way I‘ve never done before. OC here is a bit grumpy and lacks social skills to be friendly so I interpreted her as an everyday-Grinch hehe). Lastly, @bts-poetry, I really enjoyed doing mini Q&As with you! I hope you like this gift and I also hope we can talk more in the future!

All Rights Reserved 2019 © Vanaera. Reposts, modifications, and translations of content are not allowed without direct permission.

[lindoig6]

Taxonomy – Classification and Nomenclature

Time for something slightly challenging - a diversion to discuss a complicated issue that, despite spending a lot of time and asking a lot of questions of a lot of experts, remains a bit of a mystery to me.

Taxonomy is a field of science dealing with the ordered definition and classification of items that relate to each other in some way.  In zoology, it is usually intended to reflect evolutionary relationships between organisms but because some authorities regard particular characteristics as more significant than others, there is room for debate about how relationships should be categorised and positioned in the structure as it develops.

For our purposes, classification relates to how scientists determine where each species fits into the avian evolutionary tree and the most familiar and commonly used hierarchy was that developed by Linnaeus and first published in 1735.  Where do birds fit into Linnaeus’s system of classification – his hierarchy of everything alive defined by its kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species?

Diagram of Linnaeus table  (Don’t worry too much about the bottom ‘Eukarya’ level.  The other two Eukarya classifications are Archaea and Bacteria – all single celled organisms of little interest to us when studying birds!)

What this means for us as birders

Under this system of classification (and it is not the only one), birds belong to the Animal Kingdom, the Chordata Phylum (animals with spinal columns or backbones) and the Aves Class.  In other words, all birds are Aves (and all Aves are birds - no other creatures are), they have backbones and are in the animal kingdom.  Most of us probably know that without being told.  But after that, all birds are divided into 26 Orders (birds that share particular characteristics or niches) – and your Field Guide is probably arranged so that all the birds in each Order are described together.  Each Order is then further divided into Families – a finer gradation of birds sharing similar attributes.  Finally, we have the part that most birders are mainly interested in.

Within each Family, we have the Genus and the Species – and possibly the Subspecies.

We learned earlier that every bird has 2 or sometimes 3 words in its scientific name – and this is where the words in the name come from.  If we think back to the Magpie-lark mentioned earlier, you might recall that its scientific name is Grallina cyanoleuca. Grallina is its Genus name and cyanoleuca is its Species name.  And because there are two variations of Magpie-lark in Australia (one in northern Australia and one in southern Australia), the scientists who studied them have identified sufficient differences between the two populations to divide them into separate Subspecies.  Those birds in southern Australia are Grallina cyanoleuca cyanoleuca and the scientifically distinct northern birds are Grallina cyanoleuca neglecta.  Grallina cyanoleuca cyanoleuca is referred to as the nominate species and repeats the species segment of its scientific name as its subspecies name – usually because it was the first of the species to be described.  When the new subspecies was identified, it was given a different subspecies name: neglecta. If no subspecies have been identified for any particular species, we don’t repeat the species name.  In other words, if all Magpie-larks were considered to be identical for taxonomic purposes, they would all be Grallina cyanoleuca rather than Grallina cyanoleuca cyanoleuca.

Female magpie-lark - Grallina cyanoleuca neglecta

Male Magpie-lark - Grallina cyanoleuca cyanoleuca

(Because I know where I took the photos, I know that the female is a Grallina cyanoleuca neglecta and the male is a Grallina cyanoleuca cyanoleuca - but how to tell the subspecies apart, other than where they were present, remains unclear to me.)

This all sounds very logical and rigorous and should be of great assistance in fixing things clearly in our minds. Alas, it is not that easy for a number of reasons.

A hundred years ago, things might have been easier, but with enormously improved technology, lots of things have changed. It would be convenient to say that our list of Australian birds has been expanded over the years only as a result of new species being discovered, but sadly, some species and/or subspecies have also become extinct.  Some new species have been introduced into Australia and others have migrated here as a result of factors such as habitat loss or climate change.  Wind-blown vagrants and other accidental visitors also add to the list of possible sightings.  But perhaps the main reason for change is our increase in knowledge as a result of systematic study of our avian friends.

In recent years, particularly but not exclusively as a result of genetic testing, many species have been reclassified, given new names, merged with other species, or divided into several subspecies or even whole separate species.  This is an ongoing process and every year, at least a few changes are published by the Australian authority on such things – Birdlife Australia.  Unfortunately, not all authorities agree on the changes and even where there is agreement, it can take years for our Field Guides and apps to catch up – often just in time for another raft of changes to be published.

I can recall a time when any animal species (including birds) was defined as a creature that couldn’t breed with anything other than its own species.  But even then, that was clearly inadequate.  As an example, horses and donkeys were routinely interbred but their hybrid offspring were always infertile (except when they weren’t!).  Over time, we have discovered many more ‘species’ that can interbreed, many producing fertile offspring, and scientists have had to rethink our simplistic definitions again.  As far my research has taken me, it seems that all our avian classifications are fixed until sufficient evidence is accumulated to justify a change.  That evidence may take the form of genetic coding but may include other factors such as variations in plumage, habitat, behaviour and so on.  Unfortunately, what constitutes ‘sufficient evidence’ is often a matter of opinion, hence the sometimes-extended debate between authorities before anything is set in stone.  And just to add to the confusion, birds that frequently hybridise are identified separately as hybrids in most birders’ lists.

Gratuitous photo appropos of nothing of female Maned Duck (previously called the Australian Wood-duck) and some of her nine ducklings

[file-formats-programming]

Compare PPT/PPTX Presentation Slides & Identifying Merged Cells in a Table using .NET

What's New in this Release?

Aspose team is happy to share the announcement of Aspose.Slides for .NET 17.2.0. This release has some new features in this release along with resolution issues incurring in API. At times, one need to compare two slides if they are identical or not. Now, users can compare the two slides based on all shapes, styles, texts, animation and other settings. If slides are equal, true will be returned. For more details, please visit documentation article, Compare two slides. Aspose team has also included the support for identifying merged cells inside table as well. Please visit documentation article, Identify Merged Table Cells. It has rectified the issues related to charts and Ole frame data failing to get opened in edit mode inside PowerPoint for generated presentation. The issues related to URL formatting and tooltip text inside hyperlinks has also been addressed in this release. It has also addressed issues related to improper text rendering including bolding effects, improper color and improper gradient effects. It has resolved the issues related to presentation access and saving which earlier resulted in exceptions including ArgumentException, NullReferenceException and PptxReadException in previous releases. This release has improved the presentation rendering support and has resolved certain issues related to missing or improper text rendering, missing images, missing charts and its entities in generated PDF, HTML and slide thumbnails outputs.   This list of new, improved and bug fixes in this release are given below

Check whether presentations master slides are identical

Identifying the merged cells in Table

Refactor charts implementation

Insufficient header length error

Unable to edit data in chart after just opening and saving presentation (without modification)

Exception on converting pptx to pdf

Presentation file not converted properly to pdf

Exception on loading presentation

Footer is changed after saving ppt

Cloning a chart object creates a corrupted chart

Ole frame un-editable when saving presentation

Problem while converting ppt to pdf

System.ArgumentException on saving PPTX to PDF

When PPT is loaded and saved, the date format is changed

After load and save of PPT file, the footer disappears.

Exception on saving ppt

Footer text color and font changed after saving

Exception on saving ppt

Pptx not properly converted to pdf

Hyperlink and tool tip text change for hyperlink on saving presentation

Bold effect not applied

Pptx not properly converted to pdf

ReadWorkbookStream method returns empty workbook

Exception on loading presentation

Hyperlink Value changed for portion text

Animation effect gets corrupt on changing paragraph text

Ppt changed after saving

External Hyperlink is not getting set for text

Vector images background changed

Ppt changed after saving

Hyperlink (URLs) with Unicode text becomes with duplicates characters

Font looks bold on rendering

Instead of some images "no image" placeholder rendered for x86 build

Incorrect link detection

Shaped removed after saving ppt

Argument exception on loading the presentation

Text color changed after saving presentation.

Protected view message thrown on opening saved presentation

Conversion to PPT fails with exception PPT presentation can't contains more than 8 placeholders in one slide.

Empty pages generated when converting ODP to PDF

Hyperlink to absolute file path doesn't work for PowerPoint 2007

Category axis labels are missing or improperly rendered in generated PDF

Error on opening the generated PDF file from PPT file

StringIndexOutOfBoundsException on reading Hyperlink text

Improper gradient rendering in generated PDF

Font Rotation does not set the value for rotated font

Other most recent bug fixes are also included in this release

Newly added documentation pages and articles

Some new tips and articles have now been added into Aspose.Slides for Java documentation that may guide users briefly how to use Aspose.Slides for performing different tasks like the followings.

Identify merge Table Cell

Compare two slides

Overview: Aspose.Slides for .NET

Aspose.Slides is a .NET component to read, write and modify a PowerPoint document without using MS PowerPoint. PowerPoint versions from 97-2007 and all three PowerPoint formats: PPT, POT, PPS are also supported. Now users can create, access, copy, clone, edit and delete slides in their presentations. Other features include saving PowerPoint slides into PDF, adding & modifying audio & video frames, using shapes like rectangles or ellipses and saving presentations in SVG format, streams or images.

More about Aspose.Slides for .NET

Homepage of Aspose.Slides for .NET

Downlaod of Aspose.Slides for .NET

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Excel Functions And Formulas: The Complete Guide To Data Analysis

Excel Functions And Formulas: The Complete Guide To Data Analysis

Microsoft Office's Excel facilitates data processing and visualization with calculators, graphing tools, pivot tables, and Visual Basic. Excel's speed, precision, and adaptability make it popular in business. Data analysis and manipulating data can be a daunting task for the uninitiated, but Excel simplifies the process with its versatile set of functions and formulas.  Whether you're sorting, filtering, or formatting your data - Excel has a function or formula to do the job. Each function or formula performs a specific task, so customizing data can be achieved with relative ease.  Learning the different types of functions and formulas, such as IF, VLOOKUP, and SUM, can vastly improve your data analysis capabilities.  With a bit of practice, most data tasks become easier over time. Excel functions and formulas are the keys to unlocking the power of your data.

What Is Excel Formula?

A formula is an expression that manipulates the data in several cells at once in Microsoft Excel. No matter how many times you mess up using these Excel formulas, you will always get the same answer.   Excel formulae may add, subtract, multiply, and divide. Excel lets you change date and time variables, calculate averages and percentages across columns, and more.

What Exactly Is Excel Data Analysis?

Excel data analysis cleans, processes, and analyzes raw data to assist business decisions. It focuses on translating unprocessed data into meaningful metrics, findings, and interpretations. A proper Excel course teaches consumers how to reduce decision-making risks by seeing charts, photos, tables, and graphs. Businesses need data analysis to enhance procedures, profitability, and customer happiness. That’s why having Excel training courses is always going to be imperative for professionals.   Excel's built-in pivot tables are the most often used analytical tool, making it one of the most popular data analysis programs. Some tasks in data analysis might be complex, but Excel's built-in features make them easy and accessible. For these reasons, many businesses rely on Excel training for statistical analysis:   Excel's data-processing features make it possible to swiftly and accurately analyze massive datasets.   It is quick, easy, and accurate.   There are several methods available for examining and assessing data.   Several different types of data entry are possible.   It allows for several conversions and storage formats for data.

An Introduction to Data Analysis Using Excel

1. Identify the Information Needs Finding out what information is required is fundamental to fruitful data analysis. Age, gender, and socioeconomic status, for instance, might be significant in population data. You may collect either numerical or categorized data. 2. Start Collecting Information Right Away Data-gathering is crucial to making reliable data-driven decisions. Excel can import data from web pages, Microsoft Access databases, SQL servers, CSV, txt, and XML files. 3. Perform Data Cleansing Even if you manage to arrange your data, it may still need critical information or include errors or duplicates. Correcting these mistakes is what data cleaning is all about.   In this step, flawed data is examined for errors, missing data is filled in, and mistakes are corrected. These Excel methods can help you clean your data:   Getting rid of duplicates   Some records may be recorded twice when dealing with large volumes of information. Eliminating duplicates in a table is a built-in feature of Excel.   Getting rid of blanks   Excel's sorting, filtering, and searching may surprise you if your data has leading, trailing, or many hidden spaces. Using Excel's "Trim" tool, you may remove all spaces from a text other than those used to separate words.   Column merging and separating   It is usual practice to merge several columns into one or divide a single column into two or more in an Excel sheet. The application lets you separate street, city, province, and postal code into columns.   Complementing or combining   Excel can assist in detecting and correcting matching errors when merging two or more tables. Its "VLOOKUP" feature, for instance, may be used to see all rows in both tables or to compare them and find ones that don't match. 4. Explore the Data With Excel courses, you can learn using Excel's "Pivot Table" data analysis tool to explore your data. A "Pivot Table" summarizes data so that you can easily make calculations based on a specific criterion of your choosing. 5. Produce a Graphical Representation of Your Data To "visualize" data is to convey it graphically or pictorially. During this stage, it is crucial to graphically show analytics so stakeholders can quickly and easily understand them.

Data Analysis Fundamentals in Excel

1. IF Microsoft Excel is a powerful tool for data analysis and manipulation. Through the use of IF statements, Excel can help to analyse complex data sets with ease.  An IF statement works by defining a condition and returning a result based on that condition – either true or false. If the condition is true, the value or another operation is returned; if it is false, nothing is returned.  As a fundamental part of data analysis in Excel, the IF statement has been used in countless applications and helps make processing large volumes of data quick, efficient and accurate.. 2. SUMIFS SUMIFS is a powerful Excel tool which can be learned through excel online. A total is calculated for values that fulfill certain conditions. Another Excel function, SUMIF, does the same job as SUMIFS, except it can only test for a single state.   As a result, SUMIFS is preferable to SUMIF and may need to be addressed. The function inputs the summation range, individual range tests, and the criteria for those tests. 3. CONCATENATE Concatenation is an essential data analysis fundamental used in Microsoft Excel. It is a process of combining multiple pieces of data or text into one cell, allowing you to quickly analyse large volumes of data. For example, if you have a list of product IDs, you can use concatenation to combine them into one cell, making it easier to search for a specific product.  With concatenation, you can create the perfect report for an email newsletter, compile customer data from multiple columns, or combine data from multiple sources into a single output. With a few quick steps, concatenation can streamline and simplify any data analysis project in Excel. 4. NETWORKDAYS Using this feature, you may disregard non-workdays such as weekends and holidays. It's a standard method in the business world for determining pay based on hours put in. 5. FIND/SEARCH The function here shows where a selected text appears within a larger body of text. In contrast to the search feature, the find feature requires strict case-matching or returns an error. 6. IFERROR It helps to accurately identify and evaluate errors in data sets and can make data analysis quicker and more efficient.  This function enables users to select a value if a formula evaluates to one, or if it contains an error, then specify a suitable alternative value. This can be used to gauge the accuracy of data, returning an appropriate message when an error is present.  IFERROR is easy to use and can make all the difference when dealing with large amounts of data, making Excel analysis much more effective. 7. COUNTIFS Data analysis in Excel is only complete with the use of the COUNTIFS function. Similar to the SUMIFS process. The AVERAGEIFS, MAXIFS, and MINIFS functions are also available in Excel. However, they are not included in the list of the 12 most useful Excel functions for data analysis.   To determine how many values fit specific criteria, you may use the COUNTIFS function. In contrast to SUMIFS, it doesn't need a sum range. 8. TRIM This smart feature lets you remove all cell spacing except word spaces. The function is often used to get rid of trailing spaces. It usually happens when users copy and paste material from elsewhere or inadvertently add spaces to the end of the text. 9. LEFT/RIGHT LEFT and RIGHT will do the inverse operation when used in conjunction with CONCATENATE. They will take out a certain amount of characters at the beginning and conclusion of the text.   Parts of an address, URL, or reference may be extracted using this method. Both the LEFT and RIGHT commands make identical data requests. They need the text's location and the desired character count. 10. VLOOKUP One of the most famous and widely used features is the vlookup excel function. You may enter a value in one column, and the system will provide data from another column that is relevant to that value.   It's helpful in comparing two lists for duplicates or missing items or merging data from many lists into a single unified whole. It's a vital part of Excel's data analysis arsenal.   There are four fields to fill in:   An ideal target value   A table to look at   Which column contains the data you wish to retrieve?   What kind of lookup do you want to do?   11. VALUE In many cases, the data set you need to evaluate has been brought in from someplace else, either by import or copy & paste.   As a result, information may be saved in an unexpected format, such as a numerical value being treated as text. If Excel does not treat them as numbers, you will be unable to execute any data analysis operations, including the SUM.   The VALUE function, however, is available to assist. Its purpose is to do a numerical conversion from textual data. 12. UNIQUE Only individuals utilizing Microsoft 365 will have access to the brand-new UNIQUE feature.   For this function, there are three pieces of information it requires:   Select a beginning and ending point from which to get a distinct set.   Determine if you need to look for unique values in each column or each row.   No matter whether you are looking for a unique or separate set of things.   13. FILTER An additional list-filtering function follows the SORT operation. Another feature that is exclusive to Microsoft 365 subscribers.   Inputting a range into this function will filter the input. Analyzing data and generating reports, is a dream come true, as it is a very potent function.

Conclusion

Any company, no matter how little, may benefit from using Excel courses. Whether your concentration is on marketing, human resources, sales, or service, you may benefit from these Excel hacks. Excel functions and formulas provide an effective way of analyzing large data sets quickly and accurately. With the right combination of formulas and functions, you can make intelligent decisions based on your data insights.  Taking advantage of Excel to its full potential can make complicated data analysis a breeze, while providing greater precision in your business decisions.  Don’t miss out on this powerful tool in today’s technologically-driven world – get started with Excel functions and formulas today! Read the full article

[healthcare-domain]

Cell-based Assays Market Expected To Reach $22.0 billion by 2025

The increasing preference for cell-based assays, the increase in the number of drug discovery activities, and surging research funding are all driving this industry forward. However, reagent restrictions and high instrument costs are two main challenges limiting the market growth.

Cell-based assays are key components in the drug development process. Cell-based assays have several advantages over in vitro biochemical assays. They offer consistent tissue-specific responses in a biologically relevant microenvironment as opposed to biochemical assays. It is also not possible to prepare or purify every target for biochemical measurement, which is a major factor limiting the applications of biochemical assays. As a result, pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies as well as CROs are replacing biochemical assays with cell-based assays for their lead identification and optimization processes in drug discovery.

According to the new market research report "Cell-based Assays Market by Product & Service (Reagents, Microplate, Cell Lines, Assay Kits, Instrument & Software, Services), Application (Drug Discovery, Research), End User (CROs, Pharmaceutical Companies, Research Institutes) - Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets™, the global market is projected to reach USD 22.0 billion by 2025 from USD 14.9 billion in 2020, at a CAGR of 8.1% during the forecast period.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Cell-based Assays Market"

235 – Tables 35 – Figures 239 – Pages

Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=119917269

The growing preference for cell-based assays in drug discovery, increasing funding for cell-based research, and growth in the number of drug discovery activities are the key factors supporting the growth of the market. However, the growth of the market is likely to be restrained by factors such as the high cost of instruments, restrictions on reagent use, and the lack of infrastructure for cell-based research in emerging economies.

Consumables accounted for the largest share of cell-based assays market

Based on product and service, the market is segmented into consumables, instruments & software, and services. Consumables dominated the market in 2019.

The conventional methods of toxicity and drug safety assessment (involving animal testing) are expensive, time-consuming, and offer low-throughput. In this regard, modern cell-based assays merge the advantages of cell cultures and animal models to allow researchers to identify problems with lead compounds in early screening, ensuring greater efficiency in the drug discovery and development process. Additionally, the physiological relevance of cell-based assays, as well as their ability to provide efficient, cost-effective, and accelerated drug discovery solutions, has also fueled their greater adoption among end users.

The drug discovery application segment dominated the market in 2019. This segment is also projected to witness the highest growth during the forecast period. This is due to increasing R&D investments, technological innovations in supportive processes, the introduction of new drugs, and the growing number of CROs providing drug discovery services.

The contract research organizations (CROs) are the fastest-growing end user segment of the cell-based assays market

Based on end users, the cell based assays market is segmented into pharmaceutical & biopharmaceutical companies, academic & research institutes, and contract research organizations (CROs). The contract research organizations segment is expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period owing to the increasing preference for drug discovery outsourcing by pharmaceutical & biopharmaceutical companies and the cost-effectiveness of the services.

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North America accounted for the largest share of the cell based assays market

The cell-based assays market is segmented into North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific (APAC), Latin America (LATAM), and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). In 2019, North America accounted for the largest share of the global market, followed by Europe. This market is primarily driven by the availability of government and private funding for life science research, the growing penetration of CROs, comprehensive drug development regulations, and the rapid adoption of advanced technologies in the region.

[veworcompare]

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How blood groups are inherited and why it ´ s important that you understand your own

Do you recognize your blood type? This is a question we need to all be able to respond to. It has important info for scenarios such as blood donations, transfusions or pregnancies. It is additionally extremely intriguing to know exactly how blood groups are inherited, a really usual question asked in medical assessments. Do you wish to know why? This post explains all of it:

The relationship in between red cell and blood group

Blood is composed of various cell types put on hold in a liquid called "plasma". Blood is taken into consideration a cells as well as consists mainly of red cell, platelets, as well as leukocyte. Blood types are identified by "antigens", which are particles discovered externally of red cell.

Each kind of cell does a various feature:

Platelets: these cells do not have a center and are involved in blood clot when a blood vessel has actually ruptured.

Leukocyte: additionally called leukocytes, these cells become part of the body's immune system, fighting infection and also illness.

Red cell: additionally called erythrocytes, they give the blood its distinct red colour as well as are responsible for transferring oxygen and co2. The antigens that lie on the cell surface create the various blood groups.

Both essential as well as well-known antigenic systems are the ABO system and also the RH system

The ABO blood group system.

The so-called ABO system was uncovered by the Austrian pathologist and also biologist Karl Landsteiner in 1901. Up up until that factor, some human to human blood transfusions had actually been confirmed to be successful and also others not, however the factor was unidentified.

Landsteiner observed that when 2 people's blood was mixed, it responded in 2 ways: either by clumping together and also clotting, or by merging together. Consequently, he discovered three different kinds of red cell antigens: A, B and also O, a finding for which he later got the Nobel Prize.

The ABO gene has three alleles: A, B as well as O, and the blood group is established by the visibility or lack of these 3 alleles. An allele is each of the forms in which the same genetics can be shared. As formerly described, the different blood groups are determined by the lack or presence of particular antigens at a loss blood cells. These antigens vary depending upon what alleles they comprise. Therefore:

Alleles An and also B kind type An and kind B antigens specifically.

Allele O does not generate any type of sort of antigen

For that reason, depending upon the antigens that exist or missing at a loss blood cells, we can recognize 4 blood groups: Team A, Team B, Team AB and also Team O.

The Rh system or D antigen.

Like the ABO system, the Rh (Rhesus) system, additionally called the D antigen, is based on the lack or visibility of a specific antigen on the red blood cell membrane surface area:

If this antigen is present, the blood cell will be Rh favorable as well as will have no antibodies versus this antigen, which is one of the most usual scenario.

If this antigen is lacking, the blood cell will certainly be Rh unfavorable. This usually does not posture any problem for the individual's health and wellness; it is just crucial for expectant ladies.

Blood group compatibility

Not all blood groups are compatible with each other, there specifies compatibility for both the ABO team and also the Rh element. The table below shows the compatibility of various blood groups for obtaining and also donating blood:

blood groups

A transfusion in between non-compatible blood groups, both ABO and also Rh groups, will certainly create antibodies that cause what is called "severe haemolytic transfusion response", which has serious health and wellness effects. This is since the immune reaction that is activated triggers the malfunction of red cell (haemolysis).

For instance:

Blood group A reacts with team B or abdominal muscle.

Blood group B responds with group A or abdominal.

Blood group O responds with teams A, B or AB, but can be utilized for transfusions with all other groups. That is why individuals with type O blood are called "global benefactors".

Blood group abdominal does not react with teams A, B, ABDOMINAL or O.

The Rh negative blood group responds with the Rh positive blood group.

The AB favorable blood group does not react with any kind of team, hence individuals with this blood group are called "global recipient".

Rh conflict in maternity

It is very important to take a mom's Rh factor into account during pregnancy.

Rh favorable is the most common blood group Rh adverse is much less usual, as well as specific preventative measures must be taken with Rh unfavorable females when pregnant. If their partner is Rh positive, there is a possibility that the infant will certainly additionally be Rh positive, which may lead to complications during pregnancy. This occurs if the blood of the mom as well as youngster come into get in touch with.

Although the mother's blood does not normally blend with the baby's while pregnant, it might take place during shipment. If this takes place, the mother's Rh adverse blood can react with the child's Rh antibodies. This is typically not a trouble in an initial pregnancy, yet it can be a problem in later pregnancies, as antibodies could permeate the placenta as well as strike the red blood cells of a future Rh-positive baby. This can cause anaemia in the foetus that might eliminate it.

At the first prenatal assessment, the doctor will certainly ask for a blood group and also Rh element test for the mommy. If you are Rh negative, you will most likely have an antibody test in the initial trimester to detect feasible Rh positive antibodies and, if needed, take further action with anti-D gamma globulin shots. This stops the mother's body from creating Rh antibodies throughout the maternity as well as after shipment.

Tests to determine blood group.

A blood example is required to determine a person's blood group. There are 2 steps:

First The example is mixed with blood group An and also type B antibodies and kept an eye on to see whether the red blood cells in the blood glob together or not.

If there are embolisms, this indicates that the blood has actually responded with one of the antibodies.

Second This is called reverse inputting. Below, blood plasma (without cells) is combined with type A or kind B blood:

People with type A blood have kind B antibodies.

People with type B blood have type A antibodies.

People with kind O blood have both type An and type B antibodies.

To develop whether the blood is Rh positive or unfavorable, we check out whether or not the blood has healthy proteins on the cell surface area. If there are proteins on the cell surface area, it would be Rh positive and also otherwise, it would certainly be Rh unfavorable.

Exactly how are blood groups inherited?

Blood groups are genetic. They have a Mendelian pattern, to put it simply, they are the product of a single gene.

The ABO genetics has 3 kinds of alleles: A, B, and O. The first two, An as well as B, are codominant, to put it simply, they dominate similarly. However, allele O is recessive.

The different combinations among these three alleles generate the different blood groups.

For example, a person with blood group AB has one A genetics and one B genetics, while an individual with blood group A may have two AA genetics or one A genetics and also one O gene, yet because it is dominant, A dominates.

The table below displays a parent-child team compatibility table:

When it comes to the most usual blood groups in Spain, those with a favorable Rh factor are the most prominent, specifically A+, O+ as well as B+.

blood groups

Are we near "making" universal blood?

The scientist, Stephen G. Withers and also his group, from the University of British Columbia, have actually detailed exactly how to transform team A blood to O, by utilizing 2 enzymes from the intestine microbiota. This searching for, which was released in the Nature Microbiology journal in June of this year, if verified, would certainly cause a boosted supply of the global contributor blood group.

This short article has discussed just how blood groups play a very vital duty in crucial procedures, such as a blood transfusion or while pregnant, and understanding them is necessary for avoiding any feasible difficulties.

Please note that blood from a global contributor is utilized in emergencies, yet however we extremely recommend acquainting on your own with this important information. Do you understand your blood group?

Click to know more about BGI China and BGI gene test products if you are interested.

[foxdoctors309]

Ablebits Data In Excel For Mac

Ablebits Ultimate Suite for Excel Business Edition 2021.3.2838.1999 25 Mb. Comprehensive set of time-saving tools. With this collection of 40+ professional tools, you can accomplish any task impeccably without errors or delays. It's 15 years of experience with Office development embodied in the perfect code of solutions that work flawlessly.

When using Excel, managing data is simple when you know what to do. It becomes even simpler because of add-ins such as Ablebits Excel Add-in. With this add-in you can easily merge worksheets in Excel. Expand Excel’s Functionality with Ablebits. Ablebits Excel is a very useful add-in that can help you merge two worksheets.

Click on the range selection button Select Range Excel Button to browse for the location of the sparklines, press Enter and click OK. Make sure you select a location that is proportional to the data source. For example, if the data source range contains 6 rows then the location of the sparkline must contain 6 rows.

Ablebits Data In Excel For Mac Os

How To Add Ablebits Data Tab In Excel 2019

Add characters, remove strings, split cells, extract text, trim spaces, convert symbols, change case, count chars and swap text — the tool lets you do all this quickly and accurately. Feel free to use in Excel for Mac as well as in Excel for Windows and Excel on the web. Get it for free Discover 35+ handy options for your Excel text. AbleBits.com Extract Data for Microsoft Excel (free. Excel Details: Description. Our software library provides a free download of AbleBits.com Extract Data for Microsoft Excel 2.2.4. The program lies within Office Tools, more precisely Document management. Our built-in antivirus checked this download and rated it as virus free.

Users of UW-Madison's institutional Tableau workbooks may need to pull data from one Microsoft Excel spreadsheet into another spreadsheet. This KB article explains how, by using an Excel formula called vLookup.

How does the vLookup formula work?

Excel's vLookup formula pulls data from one spreadsheet into another by matching on a unique identifier located in both spreadsheets. For example, we want to add a column for email address but that data exists on a separate spreadsheet. vLookup can pull email addresses from Spreadsheet 2 into Spreadsheet 1 by matching CampusID 555123123 in both spreadsheets.

Locate where you want the data to go. Click that cell only once.

At the top, go to the Formulas tab and click Lookup & Reference.

Select vLookup

Excel’s vLookup wizard will pop up. We’ll walk through each part of the formula.

Lookup_value Find the Unique Identifier (lookup value). It is usually in the same row as the empty cell you selected. Click once on the Unique Identifier so that the cell position will automatically fill in. In this example it is cell B2.

Go to the next field, Table_array (click in it once). In Spreadsheet 2 highlight the table containing the info you want, starting with the Unique ID. In this example, Excel looks up Campus ID 555123123 in the first highlighted column of Spreadsheet 2. Note: Make sure each Unique ID is listed only once in the table_array (on the second spreadsheet) so that vLookup retrieves the correct value. For example, if 555123123 is duplicated in the table_array, where Student 1@wisc.edu is the email in one row and Student abc@wisc.edu in the other, Excel will choose one of the emails for you.

Go to Col_index_num (click in it once). This identifies which column contains the information you want from Spreadsheet 2. Type the number of columns your field is from the Unique ID, where the Unique ID is 1. Here, the Email field is the third column.

Go to Range_lookup (click in it once). Type FALSE to search for exact matches. The result will look something like this:

Finally, copy and paste the formula to pull emails for the rest of the column. (Note: if your table array is in the same Excel workbook, put $ signs around the cell values, similar to the example below. This ensures that you reference the correct cells in the table array, meaning that the table array does not shift down when you paste the formula down. See Advanced Tip below for more details.)

vLookup Shortcut

If you feel comfortable with the vLookup tool instructions above, you can type the formula directly in the cell instead of using the wizard.

Type the beginning of the formula: =VLOOKUP( The formula guide will appear below. (Note: You may notice Excel displays the formula in 2 places: the formula bar above and directly in the cell. You can edit the formula in either place.)

Follow the guide and enter each value. Remember to insert a comma between each value.

Insert a closed parenthesis ) and hit Enter. The end result will look like something like this: =VLOOKUP(B2,'(Spreadsheet Name.xlsx)SheetName'!$B$1:$E$11,3,FALSE)

Finally, copy and paste the formula to pull emails for the rest of the column. Keep relative references in mind and use $ signs where necessary. (See Advanced Tip below for more details.)

Advanced Tip on Relative References

The position of the lookup value (Unique ID) in relation to the vLookup formula is maintained when you copy and paste. If you paste the formula one cell down (to E3), it looks up the Unique ID that is also one cell down (B3). The same is true when copying right, left or up.

In other words, the formula will stay x number of columns and y number of rows away from the lookup value – no matter where you paste the formula. In our example, the formula is the fourth column from the CampusID and in the same row. No matter where you paste the formula (in this example), it will always look up the cell that is the fourth cell to the left in the same row.

However, it is possible to lock cells in place by inserting 1 or more $ signs. This means, no matter where you paste the formula, it will always reference the same cell.When copying and pasting the formula, use the $ sign to lock in cells.

To lock in the lookup value in cell B1, insert $ signs before the column and the row: =VLOOKUP($B$1,’(Spreadsheet2.xlsx)SheetName’!$B$1:$E:$11,3,FALSE)

To lock in the column only, insert a $ before B only.

To lock in the row only, insert a $ before 1 only.

Need More Information or Help?

If you have questions about this Tableau document, please contact Melissa Chan, Office of Data Management and Analytics Services (ODMAS) at melissa.chan@wisc.edu.

Keywords:Tableau Workbook Dashboard Excel 2 Two Combine Pull Data IDESuggest keywordsDoc ID:90851Owner:Steven T.Group:Office of Data Management & Analytics Services KBCreated:2019-04-04 11:15 CDTUpdated:2020-06-20 04:08 CDTSites:Office of Data Management & Analytics Services KBFeedback:4011CommentSuggest a new document

In this article, we will explore how to merge cells as you need in Excel Office 365 with the help of ablebits.com. Here, we come up with simple steps to take this task. Let’s see them below!! Get an official version of MS Excel from the following link: https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/microsoft-365/excel

Jump To:

Things that can do with Merge Cells Option:

Merge Multiple Cells into One: You can easily merge multiple cells and place the result on the top left/right cell or the bottom left/right cell.

Keep the Values when merging cells: It will not delete the data when merging cells.

Merge Columns row by row: It will combine the columns and print the result on the left or right column.

Manage the Result: With the help of this option, you can easily remove the contents of the selected cells, wrap text.

Merge Rows Column by Column: Combine many rows and place the result in the top or bottom row.

Separate Merged Values: You can use a separator to separate the merged values in Excel. You can use a comma, semicolon, space, line break, or any character as you need.

Merge Columns into One:

To merge multiple columns into one, do as follows.

First, you need to select the input range as shown in the below image.

Go to the Ablebits Data Tab, click the Merge Cells option, then select the Merge Columns into One option from the menu.

Then, it will display the Merge Cells Dialog Box.

How to merge – Select the columns into one option.

Separate values with – You need to selectany separator from the drop-down list.

Place the results to – Select the left column option from the drop-down list.

Finally, click the Merge button to get the result.

You will see that the selected columns have been merged as shown in the below figure.

Steps to Merge Rows into One:

To join multiple rows into one in an Excel spreadsheet, follow the below instructions.

First, you need to select the input range as shown in the below image.

On the Ablebits Data Tab, click the Merge Cells option, then select the Merge Rows into One option from the menu.

Then, it will display the Merge Cells Dialog Box.

How to merge – Select the rows into one option.

Separate values with – You need to selectany separator from the drop-down list.

Place the results to – Select the top row option from the drop-down list.

Finally, click the Merge button to get the result.

You can see the merged row as shown in the below screenshot.

Merge Cells into One:

To combine multiple cells into one, do as follows.

First, you need to select the input range as shown in the below image.

Then, go to the Ablebits Data Tab, click the Merge Cells option, then select the Merge Cells into One option from the menu.

Then, it will display the Merge Cells Dialog Box.

How to merge – Select the cells into one option.

Separate values with – You need to selectany separator from the drop-down list.

Place the results to – Select the bottom-right cell option from the drop-down list.

Finally, click the Merge button to get the result.

At last, you can see the combined cell as shown in the below image.

Ablebits Data In Excel For Mac Os

Wrap-Up:

How To Add Ablebits Data Tab In Excel 2019

In this article, you can easily understand the steps to merge cells as you need in Excel Office 365 with ablebits. Kindly, leave your feedback in the comment section. Thanks for visiting Geek Excel. Keep Learning!

[brazenlotus]

Patch Today...and it’s HUGE!

from EA.com 

Version # PC 1.36.99.1020 / Mac 1.36.99.1220

Hello Simmers!

You better sit down for this one. Sit! Stay. Good.

There’s a bit here, a bit new, a bit old, a bit no longer busted. And it might take a bit of time to bite through it. So, let’s roll over, try not to get dogged down, and dig on in.

What’s New?

Four new roofs are available in Build Mode: Pentagonal, Hexagonal, Octagonal, and Round Roofs!

All four can be found in the Roofs category.

Advanced Curvature Mode!

When you have a roof selected, hit SHIFT+C to expand your roof curvature edit options.

Gabled and Hipped roofs have additional manipulation points so their eaves can be adjusted on all 4 sides.

Photography has been made available to all players.

The Barely Better Digital Camera, Appreciably Average Digital Camera, and Crystal Clear Digital Camera objects are now available in Build Mode.

The Cell Phone interactions: Take Selfie, Take Photo With, Take Photo Of, and Take Photo, are available under from the cell phone entertainment menu

Photography Skill can be learned by your Sims up to a skill level of 5.Photos taken with the camera can have frames added to them.

Place the photo in the world, click on it, and select Add Frame.

My Households

The “My Households” panel in the Manage Household screen allows easier management of which households are considered important. Households placed in this panel are protected from being… deleted.

The “Maximum Sim Count” option specifies the number of protected Sims allowed. If the limit is reached, existing households need to be unprotected before new ones can be added.

The limit can be changed and does include an “Unlimited” option, although this setting is not recommended as it may cause performance issues or other undesirable behavior.

Shrink Objects, you can now shrink objects in your game using the Size Down cheat!

Similar to the Size Up cheat, which uses the Close Bracket, the Size Down cheat uses the Open Bracket.

This only changes the visual appearance of the object, and not the behavior.

Using it alongside MOO can allow you to create some great decorative configurations - like shelves full of MySim collectibles, or a Gulliver land to explore!Be wary however, not all objects shrink or enlarge as expected. It is a cheat after all.

Grim’s Ghoulish Guitar is now optionally available at the Main Menu, click on the button, and follow the instructions for how you can download the guitar.

Alright, stop playing dead. Time to heel in. Get through the final stretch, and really let our tongues wag.

General Issues

Now when hovering over the rotate options for blocks and walls in Build Mode, objects that will be impacted by the rotate will highlight yellow.

Teen Sims will now autonomously place their homework back into their inventory when finished.

Homework that does end up in public spaces will be cleaned up after the active Sims have left the lot.

Children will no longer float while drinking the essence from a Cow Plant… because they are not allowed to do so.

The Write Cookbook interaction will now always be available when reaching level 8 or higher in the Culinary Career.

Sims will once again receive a playful buff while taking a bubble bath.

We addressed an issue that could prevent Sims from spinning into outfits after purchasing from a retail mannequin.

The game clock should no longer skip forward and back when changing from 3x or ultra speeds back to speed 1.

Playing your old saves should no longer result in a mad rush for the restrooms.

Build Mode music should no longer indefinitely loop as a result of loading directly to Build Mode from the map screen.

Sims should no longer weed chess tables near their garden, when attempting to weed their garden.

Feminine framed male Sims with facial hair should no longer see chin distortions.

The cowplant is now safer! And by safer we mean, Grim will no longer fail to resurrect those eaten by the cowplant that were successfully pleaded, or flower bribed.

Deleting a household via the Manage Household dialog will no longer remove the option for a new family to move in to the lot and keep the old families furnishings.

The Angled Roof Trim now includes a red trim color, similar to the other roof trims.

Sims path will no longer be blocked by the Gathering of Garden Stones.

The inspired child will no longer see all available interactions as Draw, but instead will see the appropriately titled actions of Draw Shapes, Draw Vehicle, and so on, and so forth.

‘Sploit fix! Child and toddler Sims will no longer speed gain relationship with others in their toy playing relationship grind circles.

Non played adult Sims will no longer attempt to purchase child clothing, as it was preventing them from completing the checkout process.

Childish Sims are once again able to Play in Puddles.

Angry Sims with appropriate mischief skill levels, and Evil or Mean child Sims can once again stomp on puddles.

Angry writers will no longer only have the option to Write Furiously when choosing to Write Genre Book.

Safety Seal Holiday Fireplace, Fiery Façade Fireplace, and Firewalkers Training Ground fireplaces now all provide environment scores.

Attempting to complete the Smash Dollhouse whim by smashing a dollhouse will now award satisfaction points upon said smashing.

Sims should now sit when attending a wedding…

The microphone will no longer lose all detail when a Sim chooses to use the microphone.

When learning that another Sim is a Regional Manager, you shall no longer learn they are a Business at Dewey, Cheatem & Howe Incorporated, but instead, you will learn that they are a Regional Manager.

Children born to a parent with the Beloved aspiration reward trait are now born with a parent-child relationship to that parent, rather than relationship unknown.

Planter boxes now have a burned state.

We fixed an issue where yfBottom_SP08Jeggings and ymBottom_SP08Jeggings were showing through the fyTop_BlouseCollarUp, yfTop_Ep02Blazer, fyTop_JacketTweedClassic, and ymTop_GP03Vest incorrectly.

The Load option from the Main Menu will no longer go missing after creating a household in a new save, and exiting the game before placing them on a lot.

The Ornate Victorian Roof Line will now properly place on Flat Round rooms.

The pizza delivery Sim will now leave after an appropriate amount of time after the delivered takes the delivery from the deliverer.

Toddlers can once again nap on chairs.

Lazy Sims can once again Nap Lazily upon Living Chairs.

We fixed an issue that sometimes prevented Sims from planting their seeds.

The Contains New Items identifier for the Clutter category will now properly clear as expected.

Instructing a Sim to eat from their inventory, while they are seated with a glass of water, will no longer cause adult Sims to pop up and down, and child Sims to float.

Eat Leftovers and Put In Inventory will now have the correct text in Russian, rather than two versions of Eat Leftovers.

Attempting to continue the Microscope upgrade for Improve Lens Quality will no longer require "2 drink."

Moving lots and keeping your furnishings will no longer prevent you from live dragging food into the fridge once it has been replaced on the lot.

Sims not on their home lots will no longer disappear to the unknown after merging their household with another.

We have addressed some issues with the outfit combinations of festival goers, and have lessened the bizarre combinations.

Children in the family tree will now remember their parents, even if the parent is deleted. Which means, they will no longer be considered half-siblings to their brothers or sisters if they did indeed share the same two parents.

Using undo to change the age of a Sim from a toddler to another age will no longer cause the Swimwear and Athletic outfit types to disappear.

Relationship status will now properly reflect its current state without the need of traveling.

Now if you are taking a selfie you will be holding a phone.

Sims with the Connections reward trait will now receive the lower level career rewards as expected, when joining a new career and getting a career level boost.

Troll teh Forums will no longer take a long time to cancel.

Addressed an issue with the walls of the Landgraab lot that were incorrectly set and were preventing the placement of other objects.

Socializing with your adopted child will now properly satisfy the Socialize with your child 10 times goal of the Big Happy Family aspiration.

Using the Salvage into Parts interaction will now salvage the salvage into parts as expected.

Fixed an issue that was preventing male Sims from receiving the Widower buff when their spouse dies.

Lot traits are now in alphabetical order.

Using the Set as Head cheat on an object, routing off lot, and then using the Reset Sim cheat will now properly clean up the duplicated object, rather than leave it in an unreachable location off lot.

Downloading a lot from the Gallery will no longer cause wall placed items on half walls to sometimes be placed on the floor.

Social events such as Birthday, Wedding, Dinner, Costume, House parties, or Dates, can now be hosted on Generic Lots.

The Brazilian Portuguese Sims, Morgana and Silvana, shall no longer be known as Marcio and Siobhan.

On page one of the Lot Traits lesson under the Build Mode category, we have added a period at the end of the last sentence

When randomizing your female Sims jaw in Create a Sim, randomization will now choose from all Jaws… duunnn dunnn, duuuunnnn duun.

The science career interaction Tinker will now properly show a focused emotion interaction option when the Sim is focused.

The Killer Queen Double Bed now says, as well as gives, 4 Energy, rather than saying 1 and giving 4.

The Square Confection, Campanulate, Photopollution, and Round Confection Ceiling Lights will now all fade appropriately when viewed in Live Mode.

We have added some more words to the profanity filter; among the words added are plum, plum, plum, and plum.

Get to Work

We have increased the chance of alien abduction, slightly.

Planted plants are no longer allowed to be put up for sale.

Baking skill gain is now boosted when inspired.

Placing a mannequin in a room will no longer trigger auto lights to turn on.

We have removed an odd shadow that appeared along the neckline of the Adult Male Mannequin – Abstract mannequin.

We addressed some issues that were causing retail employees to stop ringing up customers; employees should more consistently ring up customers now.

The Corporate Fridge Raider Revenue Generating Cooler now states that it provides a Food Quality: 6.

Out of This World Desktop can now have its focused emotional aura disabled.

We fixed an issue that could prevent the cloning machine from properly functioning if it was upgraded prior to initiating an attempt to clone a Sim.

THE Front Desk now believes itself to be a desk.

Get Together

Radio music played at event lots will no longer continue to play when visiting that lot after the event ceases.

City Living

Repair-Sims will now stay up to 10 hours on your lot fixing your busted and broken.

The interaction to Scrap Unfinished Mix is now present on DJ Booth mix-tapes.

Fixing a broken electric box while the power is out will now fix the broken electric box, rather than permanently leave you without power.

Solent Sink now properly gives (and states), Hygiene 4 and Reliability 5.

The Public Throne now provides Hygiene 3.

Vendors will no longer leave a stall unattended when joining in on group activities, but will instead close their stall before joining.

The In the Know reward trait discount, from the City Native aspiration, is now properly applied to all festival swag including festival t-shirts.

A Sims age information in their hover-tip will no longer disappear after interacting with an object socially.

Cancelling a Practice Singing interaction will now also cancel the audio.

Cream color for the yfTop_EP03JacketTie will now properly apply the cream, and not pink, version of the top.

We addressed an issue that could cause festivals to overlap one another due to the previous festival not properly cleaning itself up.

Sims' career outfits are no longer permanently altered when buying a Festival T-Shirt. However, this may still be an issue with the Curry Challenge tee.

Yum Cooker will no longer revert to the yellow swatch color when it gets dirty, but remain the color initially chosen by you.

Sims with the Instant Upgrade interaction, can now instant upgrade the garbage chute.

Toddlers can now talk to a Sim painting a mural, but are no longer allowed to Kick Off the Sim from the mural.

The ceilings of some apartments were inconsistently painted. We've gone in and touched them up to appear consistently painted.

Sims living in apartments can now initiate the jog action and expect that their Sim will start jogging.

Giving another Sim your apartment key will no longer cause social events without goals to spontaneously occur.

The Location aspiration is now properly sorted in its location within the Live Mode Aspirations location… alphabetically.

Played, but inactive households, will no longer moonlight as buskers.

Sleeping Sims should no longer sink into the ground when directed to Dream Big on a basketball hoop.

Sims will no longer fly away with a spin when choosing to Dream Big from a seated position.

Festival T-Shirts can now be found under Tops -> T-Shirts in Create a Sim.

Also belly buttons.

Sims in City Life careers now receive promotion raises when achieving levels greater than the listed maximum level.

Right AND left handed Sims can now hold a sparkler when given one.

Birds will no longer fly through the Jasmine Suite Apartments.

Romance festival harvestable flowers are now properly named. Lily flowers are no longer called snapdragons, but now lilies. And dragonfruit are no longer called lilies, but now snapdragons.

Mannequin heads should no longer distort when wearing the various hats found in City Living!

Paint Mural interaction will now stay in queue until the action completes or the player cancels it, and will no longer remove itself from the queue but continue to play the action, preventing the player from cancelling.

We fixed an issue that could result in object ownership issues when moving objects out of the household inventory onto a new lot after moving or merging in with a new family.

Outdoor Retreat

When selecting to play a Sim that is currently on a vacation lot, you will no longer load into their home lot.

Dine Out

We closed a hole in the world near the end of a sidewalk outside of Vlad’s home.

In other news, farmer Merrel has accused Vlad of pumpkin sabotage.

Vampires

Babies will no longer become invisible in a mirror when picked up by a vampire.

Floating babies are adorable.

Movie Hangout

Child Sims will no longer stretch when watching TV without any available chairs.

Romantic Garden

The Sette from the Park Place bench and Marbleized Chesterfield bench now count as benches when creating a venue that requires a bench.

Ok, that was a lot. Let’s just close this out simply, with a handshake… shake. Good. Here’s a treat, now out you go. Go on, time to pee. I’m off to cat nap.

-SimGuruGnome