#Cross Tab Query

[bookwyrminspiration]

GRAAHHHH THE ENDING OF MAGISTERIUM MAKES ME WANT TO CRY EVERY DAY. WHAT WERE CC AND HB THINKING

LITERALLY!!! I know not everyone shares this opinion, but I was personally fine with it up to books 3 and 4. Did the plot go a few weird directions like putting and breaking Call out of jail? Yeah, but the character exploration around Aaron's death was more important to me and made up for it

BUT BOOK 5??? I'm convinced zero thought went into it and it was all purely shock value. so many things with zero groundwork earlier in the series. so many things that directly undid important messages the series had been conveying. just a slapdash WOAH look how BIG and SCARY this conflict is! but don't worry! everything will work out perfect in the end <3 too perfect actually <3

I haven't done a lot of research, but tgt was published in 2018, which is the same year The Cruel Prince came out--so it's entirely possible magisterium was sidelined to make room for tcp. i don't know how much of the weight Black was carrying compared to Clare though, so I may be off

anyways. rage and hatred. worst series ending ever. it's not canon it doesn't exist it ended at book 4 actually 👍

[teencopandthesourwolf]

can also be found ON AO3 HERE

.

“Why did you ask me that?”

“Huh? What's that, big guy?” Stiles mumbles, answering the query with one of his own without looking away from Derek's laptop screen. The laptop Derek kind of bought for Stiles for when Stiles is at the loft.

Whatever. 

There's a ballpoint pen shoved in the kid's mouth—God, that mouth—and another slid behind an ear, the latter ready and waiting for Stiles to click to death in the In Between Typing Times.

The others dispersed a few minutes ago. Apart from Derek and Stiles, only Lydia and Deaton now remain at the loft. They're deep in conversation about the preliminary theory of who or what is killing the humans of Beacon Hills this week, and are standing at the opposite side of the open-plan space, making more coffee. Scott and Malia left to rally the other ʼwolves (not answering their phones as they're at a cinema screening), plus find and talk to Argent to arrange a pack meeting proper about the situation so they can all get to devising a workable plan.

In other words, there is no one who can viably eavesdrop on Derek and Stiles's (albeit stilted) conversation.

Granted, there is Peter to consider. He must be lurking somewhere, what with lurking being one of his favourite pastimes, and he can obviously hear any and all conversations that are, or could be, going on inside of the building. Although—not for the lack of trying and much to Derek's dismay—Derek has never been able to hide much of anything from his uncle anyway, so he supposes it's kind of a moot point. 

He thinks about elaborating on the question he asked Stiles to remind Stiles what he'd said, but can't.

He tries not to stare at Stiles and all his pretty, and fails. 

Stiles is squinting at the screen with intent, looking like he's forgotten that Derek said anything at all. Or that Derek is still hovering close by. Or that Derek, you know, exists.

Derek is just standing there, all difficult and awkward in his own fucking home and his own fucking body, looming over Stiles like a creeper as Stiles taps away furiously at the keyboard violently, zig-zagging a fingertip across the mousepad like an actual lunatic.

Derek almost laughs at that.

The Boy Who Runs With Wolves.

“Why wouldn't I?” Stiles now asks, still mumbling around the chewed ballpoint pen that Derek is trying not to be jealous of. 

“I—what?” Derek's caught off guard; always and only by Stiles. 

Stiles doesn't skip a beat (unlike Derek's heart). “Why wouldn't I ask?” he adds.

Oh, right.

Of course Stiles knows what Derek meant. Of course he does. 

“I, um, I don't... ” Derek trails off pathetically, swallowing any confidence he'd previously mustered.

He looks away, even though those big, brown devastating eyes aren't even aimed at Derek in this moment. They are, predictably, still zoomed-in on whichever web page is currently yielding the most information.

Dusk is quickly closing in and all around them, and the light filtering through the loft's huge window has begun to dim somewhat. The glow of the computer screen is now filling Stiles's eyes with bright, dancing sparks and arrhythmic shapes as his pupils flicker like lightning from one tab to another, then another.

As mesmerising as it is to watch Stiles through this lense, looking as though he is brimming with magic, the sight becomes too much for Derek. It's too lush for his beastly gaze, and looking away becomes his only option.

That doesn't last.

Just as Derek's eyes find their way back to his own personal little red riding hoodie, Stiles' long, large-knuckled fingers still their rapid movement. 

Derek watches the kid as if he's being pulled in by him, like a lifeline.

An anchor. 

Dirty sneaker-toes slowly spin the swivel chair around, so that Stiles is facing Derek where he stands with his arms crossed reactively over his chest (his heart).

“I asked if you were alright because I wanted to know if you were okay, man," Stiles divulges, as if that's nothing at all. As if it's something Derek hears often. He tilts his head to catch Derek's eye—which works, of course. It always works, no matter the nature of the moment they're caught up in. "Like, I was concerned, y'know?” 

Derek feels guilty just for looking. Not only because he wants to touch, but because he wants to let Stiles care.

“I care, dude,” Stiles says on cue.

Derek tries to self-implode while Stiles just waits, probably for Derek to look at him and say don't call me dude while hoping not to have his head bitten off or his throat ripped out. 

Derek does look again, only not for very long. Offers the kid barely a glance. He can't afford himself too much Stiles when Stiles is looking directly back at him. It's safer that way, self-preservation and all.

“You do know that, right?” Stiles tries again. “That I care.” 

Derek wants to ask Stiles if they can talk, if he can tell Stiles things. He wants to ask if Stiles will stay and let Derek spill his all secrets, tell Stiles everything, like Derek never does with anyone these days. Derek wants to ask if Stiles will hold his hand when Derek cries about it, the way Derek never allows himself to anymore. He wants to ask Stiles if Stiles will let Derek touch him and hold him and if Stiles would hold him back, if Stiles would ever want that, if Stiles could ever be his.

Derek wants and he wants and he wants. 

“Don't call me dude,” is what he actually says, because he can't not.

Then he steals himself—head full of staticky white noise and heart thumping against his ribcage—and after what is probably too-long of a pause (but he's trying his best to be as fuck it about this as he can) he dares himself to add, “And yeah, maybe I do.” 

Then they just... look at each other.

Just look.

They look, and they look, and they look.

Derek looks at Stiles and Stiles looks at Derek, and they keep looking at each other for what feels like a really, really long time. Definitely too long for two people supposedly not much more than acquaintances. Allies, maybe. Comrades at tenuous best.

Then they look for longer. Look for more. Look until it starts to feel as if they are the only two people in the room, in the building, in the world.

Whatever happened to self-preservation?

Something is happening right now, something that might change things, and Derek's pretty sure it's not just happening to him.

He finds he is equally as stunned as he is thrilled as he is completely fucking terrified by that. 

Eventually, Stiles breaks the spell by saying, “Derek, we're friends.” Then he's licking his lips and looking Derek up and down, shameless, adding with a nonchalant shrug of one shoulder, “Till we're not.”

The latter part is spoken like a dark secret, but it's one without the slightest hint of malice; that's not how the kid means it. It's more promise than threat, if Derek is remembering correctly what genuine affirmations sound like.

The sparks from Stiles' eyes are then matching the flashing blue in Derek's, and Derek could swear he feels every last neuron firing inside of him, all at once, as each of his mutated cells flare into overdrive.

Nail beds and gums tingling, the short hairs on the back of his neck and his forearms and hands all stand up on end like they're waiting for something (or someone).

He feels utterly alive.

It's a struggle not to whine and pant like a damn pup, and Derek's truly never been more happy of the fact that Stiles is unable to scent chemo-signals because, honestly, Derek would be so fucking fucked right now.

He has a reply for Stiles, but it keeps getting caught in his throat, the sentence forming and solidifying fast as a quick-drying glue, before dissipating and forming all over again in a pitiful, silent cycle. 

Stiles is fidgeting, elegant fingers twitching and front teeth gnawing on gorgeously plump lips.

Derek wants to lick him all over. 

Not that he could move. He's just—standing there. Motionless, stock-still, statuesque (or maybe more like clothes store dummy), alternating between trying to swallow his words and attempting to speak them, like a first class dip-shit who is doing nothing but staring.

To be fair, Stiles is still staring too. 

In an entirely mortifying turn of events, it's the sound of Peter's low and mocking chuckle from some tucked-away shadowy place in the loft that is the thing that manages to force Derek unstuck.

It genuinely takes all the restraint in the world for Derek not to roll his eyes to the back of his skull and growl out I'm going to kill you again now, uncle. 

Which would be bullshit, actually, because If werewoves could die of embarrassment, Derek would already be a goner.  

Mentally shaking himself out of a spiral, he takes a breath. Un-clenching his fists he tries for a smile—or at least a hint of one. He doesn't want to freak Stiles out.

Stiles' eyes go wide as the ocean. 

Derek then repeats the kid's words back to him, in an affirmative tone somewhere just above a whisper.

“Till we're not.”

In a paradox only Stiles Stilinski could create, the human's devastating lips then form shapes to make healing words that ask, “Can I stay for the evening? You can talk to me while I research. I always work better with noise and your voice is like, really soothing or some shit,” like he's ordering pizza instead of answering all of Derek's prayers.

Derek kind of forgets how to breathe. 

He notes how the kid's often erratic eye-contact is weirdly as unwavering as his often erratic heartbeat, which is now weirdly as steady as a metronome. 

That's a lot of weird, even for Stiles. 

Derek fights the sudden urge to bite into his lip with his fangs. He wants to draw blood, and to taste it.

Fuck. 

Embarrassingly, he feels his eye twitch and his breath hitch when he has to dare himself to do this.

He splutters his question as if he's only just learned how to speak.“What do you want me to talk about?”

Slowly, Stiles swivels back around towards the light of the laptop. His already ethereal milky skin and dark moles bloom with luminous magic again in its white-blue glow—at the very same time the night's first moonshine peeks through clouds and seeps through the loft's huge skylight, like heavy cream swirling through black coffee. 

Derek is memorised. 

Stiles annoyingly starts clicking away at the Clicking Pen as he shoves the other back between those pouty lips of his, mumbling around the chewed end once more as he speaks his answer as if it's the most obvious thing in the universe. 

“Everything, Der.”

.

for @poebin, for asking <3

[govindhtech]

Obsidian And RTX AI PCs For Advanced Large Language Model

How to Utilize Obsidian‘s Generative AI Tools. Two plug-ins created by the community demonstrate how RTX AI PCs can support large language models for the next generation of app developers.

Obsidian Meaning

Obsidian is a note-taking and personal knowledge base program that works with Markdown files. Users may create internal linkages for notes using it, and they can see the relationships as a graph. It is intended to assist users in flexible, non-linearly structuring and organizing their ideas and information. Commercial licenses are available for purchase, however personal usage of the program is free.

Obsidian Features

Electron is the foundation of Obsidian. It is a cross-platform program that works on mobile operating systems like iOS and Android in addition to Windows, Linux, and macOS. The program does not have a web-based version. By installing plugins and themes, users may expand the functionality of Obsidian across all platforms by integrating it with other tools or adding new capabilities.

Obsidian��distinguishes between community plugins, which are submitted by users and made available as open-source software via GitHub, and core plugins, which are made available and maintained by the Obsidian team. A calendar widget and a task board in the Kanban style are two examples of community plugins. The software comes with more than 200 community-made themes.

Every new note in Obsidian creates a new text document, and all of the documents are searchable inside the app. Obsidian works with a folder of text documents. Obsidian generates an interactive graph that illustrates the connections between notes and permits internal connectivity between notes. While Markdown is used to accomplish text formatting in Obsidian, Obsidian offers quick previewing of produced content.

Generative AI Tools In Obsidian

A group of AI aficionados is exploring with methods to incorporate the potent technology into standard productivity practices as generative AI develops and speeds up industry.

Community plug-in-supporting applications empower users to investigate the ways in which large language models (LLMs) might improve a range of activities. Users using RTX AI PCs may easily incorporate local LLMs by employing local inference servers that are powered by the NVIDIA RTX-accelerated llama.cpp software library.

It previously examined how consumers might maximize their online surfing experience by using Leo AI in the Brave web browser. Today, it examine Obsidian, a well-known writing and note-taking tool that uses the Markdown markup language and is helpful for managing intricate and connected records for many projects. Several of the community-developed plug-ins that add functionality to the app allow users to connect Obsidian to a local inferencing server, such as LM Studio or Ollama.

To connect Obsidian to LM Studio, just select the “Developer” button on the left panel, load any downloaded model, enable the CORS toggle, and click “Start.” This will enable LM Studio’s local server capabilities. Because the plug-ins will need this information to connect, make a note of the chat completion URL from the “Developer” log console (“http://localhost:1234/v1/chat/completions” by default).

Next, visit the “Settings” tab after launching Obsidian. After selecting “Community plug-ins,” choose “Browse.” Although there are a number of LLM-related community plug-ins, Text Generator and Smart Connections are two well-liked choices.

For creating notes and summaries on a study subject, for example, Text Generator is useful in an Obsidian vault.

Asking queries about the contents of an Obsidian vault, such the solution to a trivia question that was stored years ago, is made easier using Smart Connections.

Open the Text Generator settings, choose “Custom” under “Provider profile,” and then enter the whole URL in the “Endpoint” section. After turning on the plug-in, adjust the settings for Smart Connections. For the model platform, choose “Custom Local (OpenAI Format)” from the options panel on the right side of the screen. Next, as they appear in LM Studio, type the model name (for example, “gemma-2-27b-instruct”) and the URL into the corresponding fields.

The plug-ins will work when the fields are completed. If users are interested in what’s going on on the local server side, the LM Studio user interface will also display recorded activities.

Transforming Workflows With Obsidian AI Plug-Ins

Consider a scenario where a user want to organize a trip to the made-up city of Lunar City and come up with suggestions for things to do there. “What to Do in Lunar City” would be the title of the new note that the user would begin. A few more instructions must be included in the query submitted to the LLM in order to direct the results, since Lunar City is not an actual location. The model will create a list of things to do while traveling if you click the Text Generator plug-in button.

Obsidian will ask LM Studio to provide a response using the Text Generator plug-in, and LM Studio will then execute the Gemma 2 27B model. The model can rapidly provide a list of tasks if the user’s machine has RTX GPU acceleration.

Or let’s say that years later, the user’s buddy is visiting Lunar City and is looking for a place to dine. Although the user may not be able to recall the names of the restaurants they visited, they can review the notes in their vault Obsidian‘s word for a collection of notes to see whether they have any written notes.

A user may ask inquiries about their vault of notes and other material using the Smart Connections plug-in instead of going through all of the notes by hand. In order to help with the process, the plug-in retrieves pertinent information from the user’s notes and responds to the request using the same LM Studio server. The plug-in uses a method known as retrieval-augmented generation to do this.

Although these are entertaining examples, users may see the true advantages and enhancements in daily productivity after experimenting with these features for a while. Two examples of how community developers and AI fans are using AI to enhance their PC experiences are Obsidian plug-ins.

Thousands of open-source models are available for developers to include into their Windows programs using NVIDIA GeForce RTX technology.

Read more on Govindhtech.com

[quaranmine]

You put so much research and detail into Incandescence of a Dying Light and it's amazing. Do you have any tips for someone trying to research for a story? One of my characters is an elderly Floridian lifeguard but the best sources I can find are some NYT articles about Long Island lifeguards

Oh thank you! I appreciate that.

As for researching, I think the best way to go about it is to try to research specific parts of your problem. You might not be able to find resources for an elderly Floridian lifeguard, but you can probably find resources for lifeguards, lifeguards in a particular area, and elderly people doing swimming/rescues. I can try to give you some pointers but without knowing your story or specific needs some of these tips might not work. Just use them as a jumping off point! Specific problems can be easier to research than broad problems--unless it's too specific, and then you lose all your results. Researching is a balancing act between those two.

Are they a lifeguard at the ocean, or a pool? If it's the ocean, where in Florida? I'd look up information about the sea currents in that area. That might give you an idea of the kind of risks your lifeguard is looking at, like if they work at a beach in a place known for rip currents or something. That will add some realism and you can probably find resources on what your lifeguard character is looking for. If it's a pool, your job is probably much easier because I have to assume most of the same rules apply for elsewhere.

Is there a specific time period you are looking at? I'm no lifeguard, so anyone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I imagine the profession hasn't changed very much in the past few decades or longer. If someone is a lifeguard in the 80s my gut feeling is that their job is still pretty similar to what it is today. So, that might make your research easier if you can expand the time periods you are looking at. My story is set in 1989 so I'm always looking for info from that time period. But most of what I'm doing is looking at fire lookout resources from the 50s or early 2000s, and then matching the technology in my fic to the late 80s.

I would also look up things like lifeguard handbook, lifeguard skills, lifeguard employee handbook, lifeguard training materials, etc. For example, just by looking up "florida lifeguard" I found the Jacksonville Beach Ocean Rescue Lifeguard Academy, which gives some details about the requirements and steps to become a lifeguard there. Could be useful information. I also found a 400 page Red Cross lifeguarding manual pdf. For more personal information, perhaps add stuff like "interview" to the search? I'm sure you would be able to find people talking about their jobs.

As for your character's age, that might not require much research. Being older does not mean a character can't be fit or strong (but I don't know if you mean 60 or 90 when you say "elderly" and that matters.) You could explore sources about active elderly people too, if you wanted. This will just depend on the details of your character though.

I would also recommend using some advanced search techniques. For example, if you only want examples about Florida, write it as "florida" with the quotes around it, and you'll only receive pages that contain the word Florida. Or, if you want to exclude something that is muddying your search results, put the word with a minus. Tragically at one point during my chapter 8 research i had to add -maui to the search to try and exclude news articles associated with it.

Generally though I would just look for lots of sources of many types, and then add them together. It is unlikely you will find sources that match everything you need. Break down what you need to know into smaller pieces. I may have 20+ tabs open for information that amounts to....a few paragraphs. Vary your search queries a lot, try different key words. My research for Firewatch AU has been helped by the fact that the job involves the federal government, which is great at recordkeeping and often has a lot of publicly available information. Your mileage may vary with other subjects. Watch your sources for accuracy. Or, if you rely on sources from a different location (Long Island vs Florida) be prepared to try and identify and fill in the gaps where there are differences between the locations.

Good luck!

[convertml]

AI-Powered Market Research: Transforming Data into Actionable Insights with ConvertML

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, businesses must stay ahead by making data-driven decisions. Traditional market research analytics often involves long cycles of data collection, segmentation, and analysis, delaying crucial marketing and sales initiatives. ConvertML is here to change that. With its AI-powered market research, businesses can instantly generate market research insights, uncover hidden patterns, and launch high-performing campaigns effortlessly.

The Power of AI-Powered Market Research

ConvertML turns customer signals into intelligent segments, helping businesses launch winning campaigns in just four steps:

Bring Data

Run AI-powered market research models

Generate intuitive visuals

Implement actionable insights

With all your data sources available in a single dashboard, ConvertML ensures you never miss key insights.

Make a Move Before Your Customers Move On

With ConvertML, you can analyze customer data across multiple platforms to identify valuable customer segments before your competitors do. The platform simplifies data processing, turning survey responses, CRM data, and customer interactions into precise audience segments that sync directly to your marketing platforms.

Turn Data into Winning Segments

Instead of waiting weeks for analysis, ConvertML instantly processes thousands of behavioral signals into revenue opportunities. Businesses can:

Identify high-value customer segments and launch targeted campaigns.

Capture hidden revenue by understanding what drives customer decisions.

Engage customers at the right time to maximize conversions.

Skip the Analytics Queue – Get Insights Instantly

Forget waiting for analysts or running SQL queries. ConvertML’s GenAI Copilot processes customer data instantly, creating ready-to-use segments and generating strategic recommendations backed by advanced analytics.

Market Research Analytics That Goes Beyond Averages

Many businesses lose valuable customers because their surface-level analysis fails to reveal critical insights. ConvertML’s advanced analytics tools uncover hidden patterns in customer responses:

Cross-tab survey questions to see how different demographics respond instead of relying on misleading averages.

Compare response patterns to identify key likes and dislikes about new features.

Highlight significant differences in customer sentiment to address churn risks before they escalate.

Create Granular Segments Instead of Surface-Level Ones

Demographic-based segmentation isn’t enough in today’s competitive market. ConvertML uses factor analysis and advanced clustering to:

Discover natural customer groups based on behavior, preferences, transactions, and engagement patterns.

Track how customer segments shift over time, adapting marketing strategies accordingly.

Move beyond broad personalization to execute targeted, behavior-based campaigns.

Extract Deeper Insights from Your Surveys

Businesses often struggle to analyze survey responses effectively. ConvertML’s AI-powered market research provides advanced sentiment analytics to:

Process thousands of responses instantly and detect urgent feedback.

Automatically group feedback by themes such as product issues or feature requests.

Track real-time sentiment changes to prevent customer dissatisfaction from escalating.

Don’t Wait for Analysts – Get AI-Powered Insights in Minutes

Businesses stuck in cycles of reactive analysis lose valuable opportunities. ConvertML’s GenAI-powered insights provide:

Immediate summaries of customer behavior through AI-driven analysis.

Segment-specific insights showing how different groups react to business changes.

Actionable recommendations tailored to each segment for optimized strategy execution.

Conversational AI: No More SQL or Complex Queries

Extracting meaningful insights shouldn’t require technical expertise. ConvertML’s Copilot, a multi-agent chatbot, makes analytics accessible to everyone:

Ask questions naturally, such as “Why did enterprise satisfaction drop in the Northeast region?” and receive actionable insights instantly.

Dive deeper into data with follow-up questions for a comprehensive understanding.

Create on-demand visualizations like plots and charts with simple queries.

Revolutionize Your Market Research with ConvertML

ConvertML empowers businesses to move faster, predict trends, and optimize customer engagement with its AI-powered analytics. By leveraging market research insights and market research analytics, you can:

Segment your audience with precision.

Capture hidden revenue opportunities.

Reduce customer churn with predictive analytics.

Get real-time insights for proactive decision-making.

In a world where customer preferences shift rapidly, AI-powered market research is the key to staying ahead. ConvertML’s intuitive platform ensures that businesses never miss an opportunity to optimize their marketing efforts and drive growth.

Ready to unlock the full potential of your data? Book a demo with ConvertML today!

[sahiloditek]

Crystal Report Design | Crystal Report Designer

Crystal Report Design is an essential aspect of creating dynamic and visually appealing reports that drive informed decision-making. Whether you are working on financial analysis, operational metrics, or customer insights, the design of your Crystal Reports plays a crucial role in how data is presented and understood. In today’s data-driven world, mastering Crystal Report Design can significantly enhance your reporting capabilities and provide your organization with the tools needed to thrive. Understanding Crystal Report Design Crystal Report Design refers to the process of creating, formatting, and customizing reports using Crystal Reports software. It involves selecting data sources, arranging data fields, applying formulas, and designing the layout to ensure that the information is presented clearly and effectively. A well-designed report can transform raw data into actionable insights, making it easier for stakeholders to make informed decisions.

The Crystal Report Designer is the primary tool used for this process. It offers a user-friendly interface that allows users to drag and drop data fields, apply formatting, and create complex reports without requiring extensive programming knowledge. However, mastering Crystal Report Design requires an understanding of both the tool's capabilities and the principles of effective report design.

The Role of a Crystal Report Designer A Crystal Report Designer is responsible for creating and maintaining reports that meet the specific needs of an organization. This role involves more than just placing data on a page; it requires an understanding of the business context, the data being analyzed, and the audience for the report. A skilled Crystal Report Designer can create reports that not only look professional but also communicate the necessary information in a clear and concise manner.

Key responsibilities of a Crystal Report Designer include:

Data Source Integration : Selecting and connecting to the appropriate data sources to ensure that the report pulls accurate and relevant information.

Layout Design : Arranging data fields, charts, and other elements in a way that is both visually appealing and easy to interpret.

Formula Application : Using Crystal Report formulas to perform calculations, filter data, and customize the report content based on specific criteria.

Advanced Crystal Report Designing : Implementing advanced features such as conditional formatting, subreports, and parameterized queries to create more sophisticated and interactive reports.

Utilizing Advanced Crystal Report Designing Tools To take your Crystal Report Design to the next level, it’s essential to leverage advanced Crystal Report designing tools and techniques. These tools can help you create more dynamic and customized reports that better serve your organization’s needs.

Some of the advanced features and tools available in Crystal Report Design include:

Conditional Formatting This feature allows you to apply different styles or formats to report elements based on specific conditions. For example, you can highlight rows where sales exceed a certain threshold or change the font color of negative values.

Subreports Subreports are standalone reports that are embedded within a main report. They are useful for displaying related data from different data sources or for breaking down complex reports into more manageable sections.

Parameterized Queries Parameterized queries allow users to input criteria before generating a report. This makes it possible to create flexible reports that can be tailored to different needs without having to redesign the report each time.

Cross-Tab Reports Cross-tab reports are used to summarize data in a matrix format, making it easier to analyze trends and patterns across different dimensions.

Charting and Visualization Crystal Reports offers a variety of charting options, including bar charts, line charts, and pie charts. These visual elements can enhance the readability of your reports and make it easier to convey complex data.

Best Practices for Effective Crystal Report Design To create effective Crystal Reports, it’s important to follow best practices in report design. These practices ensure that your reports are not only visually appealing but also functional and easy to understand.

Keep It Simple Avoid cluttering your reports with unnecessary elements. Focus on presenting the most important data in a clear and concise manner. Use white space effectively to separate different sections of the report.

Use Consistent Formatting Consistency in fonts, colors, and formatting helps create a cohesive and professional-looking report. Establish a style guide for your reports and stick to it.

Highlight Key Data Use conditional formatting to draw attention to key data points. This could include highlighting high-performing areas, flagging issues, or using color coding to differentiate between different data categories.

Optimize for Performance Large reports can be slow to generate, especially if they include complex formulas or multiple data sources. Optimize your reports by simplifying calculations, using indexed fields, and limiting the amount of data pulled from the database.

Test Thoroughly Before finalizing your report, test it with different data sets to ensure that it functions correctly and that the data is accurate. This is especially important for reports that use parameters or rely on user input.

Conclusion Crystal Report Design is a powerful tool for transforming raw data into actionable insights. By leveraging the capabilities of the Crystal Report Designer and utilizing advanced Crystal Report designing tools, organizations can create reports that are not only visually appealing but also highly functional and tailored to their specific needs.

Whether you’re looking to create a simple report or implement advanced features like subreports and parameterized queries, our team at Blue Summit has the expertise to deliver high-quality, customized solutions. Contact us today to learn more about how we can assist with your Crystal Reports.

Blue Summit has collaborated with OdiTek Solutions, a frontline custom software development company. It is trusted for its high service quality and delivery consistency. Visit our partner's page today and get your business streamlined. If you want to know more about crystal report design then feel free to visit our website Blue summit

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[billvaouli]

Blog Post 4.1 (Moor's Account Materials)

Part One:

“Among the slaves waiting their turn, I noticed many who had two marks on their cheeks—one in the shape of a coiling snake and the other in the form of a cross. I ventured to ask an Andalusian woman, whom I had heardwhisper some words in Arabic to her daughter, what the brand on her face meant. It means esclavo, she said, peering at me with curious eyes. Looking around me, I noticed that none of the black people in the marketplace had been marked with the brand. In Seville, the color of their skin—the color of my skin—was a sign in itself” (109).

The author notes in this chapter that some of the slaves who are waiting have two unique markings on their cheeks, one that looks like a coiling snake and the other that looks like a cross. An Andalusian woman answers that these marks represent "esclavo," or slave, when she is asked what they mean. Notably, the author also notes that skin tone is a differentiator in Seville's slave market because only individuals with darker skin, including themselves, are identified in this way.

In this section, Mustafa witnesses slaves being branded according to the hue of their skin, the marks denoting their position as enslaved people. Given that Mustafa and his skin tone are similar, it's probable that he is uncomfortable with the way skin tone is utilized to differentiate people.

https://primo.seattleu.edu/permalink/01ALLIANCE_SEAU/3bmk5g/cdi_proquest_journals_2314790976

Part Two:

https://primo.seattleu.edu/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=cdi_proquest_journals_2296048999&context=PC&vid=01ALLIANCE_SEAU:SUP5&lang=en&search_scope=seau_rec_1&adaptor=Primo%20Central&tab=Everything&query=any,contains,dehumanizing%20slaves&offset=0

Part Three:

1. Keefer, K. H. B. (2019). Marked by fire: brands, slavery, and identity. Slavery & Abolition, 40(4), 659–681. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144039X.2019.1606521

The phrase "branding of humans" usually refers to the process by which people or organizations use different marketing and self-presentation techniques to establish a memorable and unique personal brand or identity. This might entail modifying one's look, conduct, and online presence to project a particular image or message, much as how businesses utilize branding to create a distinct and identifiable identity in the marketplace.

2. Crime and punishment in the British Army, 1815-1870. (n.d.). http://www.reenactor.ru/ARH/PDF/Burrougs.pdf 

During the period from 1815 to 1870, crime and punishment in the British army were subject to strict disciplinary regulations. Harsh penalties, such as flogging and imprisonment, were common for various offenses, including insubordination, desertion, and theft. The military justice system aimed to maintain discipline and order within the ranks, but there were growing concerns about the cruelty of these punishments, eventually leading to reforms and a shift towards more humane disciplinary practices in the later part of the 19th century.

3. Exchanging our country marks: University of North Carolina Press. Michael A. Gomez: Preview. Flexpub. (n.d.). https://flexpub.com/preview/exchanging-our-country-marks 

Michael A. Gomez's book "Exchanging Our Country Marks" offers a thorough analysis of the African slave trade and the cultural changes that enslaved Africans in the Americas went through. The book explores the ways African identity and legacy survived and changed in the New World, showing how slaves developed new forms of expression, adjusted to their environment, and kept a sense of self and community despite the sufferings of enslavement. It provides insightful information about the intricate and long-lasting effects of the transatlantic slave trade on communities of African descent.

4. DeLombard, J. M. (2019). Dehumanizing Slave Personhood. American Literature, 91(3), 491–521. https://doi.org/10.1215/00029831-7722104

The book "Dehumanizing Slave Personhood" by Jeannine Marie DeLombard offers a critical examination of the legal and rhetorical tactics used in the US throughout the 19th century to deny enslaved persons their whole humanity. The book explores how the legal system and popular discourse objectified and dehumanized those who were held as slaves, emphasizing the influence of language and the law on how people view themselves and how the institution of slavery is justified.

5. Dressner, Julie, and Edwin, Martinez. 2012. “The Scars of Stop-and-Frisk.” New York Times, June 12. www.nytimes.com/2012/06/12/opinion/the-scars-of-stop-and-frisk.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion.

In bad neighborhoods, fear of police officers is frequently the result of a complicated web of interrelated issues, such as racial profiling, a history of tough policing, and a lack of trust between the community and law enforcement. When dealing with the police, residents in these neighborhoods could feel insecure, exposed, and uneasy, which could strain relations and obstruct successful community policing initiatives. This fear can perpetuate a cycle of mistrust and tension, making it challenging to create a safer and more harmonious environment for residents.

6. Eastern State Penitentiary. n.d. “Timeline: 1829 October 25.” www.easternstate.org/research/history-eastern-state/timeline

Operating from 1829 until 1971, Eastern State Penitentiary is a historic prison situated near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is renowned for its avant-garde "penitence" system, which placed a strong emphasis on inmate solitude and introspection in private cells. The architecture and philosophy of the jail had a profound impact on correctional systems across the globe and were crucial in shaping the structure of the contemporary American prison system.

Part Four:

Slavery dehumanizes people by robbing them of their autonomy, dignity, and basic human rights. People lose their agency and become little more than objects, with no ability to make decisions for themselves. Forced work, physical and psychological torture, and frequent treatment as goods to be bought and sold are all commonplace experiences for slaves. Slavery creates an environment in which people are treated more like objects than like people, and their cultural identities, families, and general well-being are frequently ignored. This dehumanizing system weakens the fundamental foundation of what it means to be human and feeds a vicious circle of tyranny.

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Exploring the Features of DuckDuckGo Browser Windows

In an age where online privacy and data security have become paramount concerns, many internet users are seeking alternatives to traditional web browsers that collect and monetize their personal information. One such alternative that has gained traction is the DuckDuckGo Browser. Renowned for its commitment to user privacy, DuckDuckGo's browser windows offer a range of features that not only enhance security but also provide a seamless browsing experience.

Privacy-Centric Approach:

DuckDuckGo's core principle revolves around privacy. Unlike other browsers that often track users' browsing habits, search queries, and interactions, the DuckDuckGo Browser is designed to minimize data collection. It doesn't store your personal information, IP address, or any other identifying data. This is a key differentiator in an era where online privacy is frequently compromised.

Enhanced Tracker Blocking:

One of the standout features of DuckDuckGo Browser is its robust tracker blocking capabilities. It actively prevents websites from tracking your online behavior, thereby minimizing the amount of data that advertisers and third-party trackers can collect. This not only keeps your browsing habits private but also helps to speed up webpage loading times.

Encrypted Connection:

The browser employs an encrypted connection whenever possible. This ensures that the data transferred between your device and the websites you visit remains secure and inaccessible to potential eavesdroppers. By default, DuckDuckGo Browser enforces the use of HTTPS, making it more difficult for hackers to intercept sensitive information.

Search Engine Integration:

DuckDuckGo is renowned for its privacy-focused search engine, and the browser seamlessly integrates this feature. The search engine does not store personal information, and search results are not tailored based on your past searches or online behavior. This "clean slate" approach ensures that your search history doesn't follow you around the web.

Built-in Privacy Grade:

To educate users about the privacy practices of websites, the DuckDuckGo Browser assigns a Privacy Grade to each site you visit. This grade is based on how well the site protects your privacy, including factors like tracker blocking and encryption. This feature empowers users to make informed decisions about the websites they interact with.

Seamless User Experience:

While prioritizing privacy, the DuckDuckGo Browser doesn't compromise on user experience. It offers a clean and intuitive interface, along with features like tabbed browsing, bookmarks, and private mode. It's designed to be a drop-in replacement for other browsers, allowing users to switch without sacrificing familiar functionalities.

Cross-Platform Availability:

DuckDuckGo Browser is available across multiple platforms, including desktop and mobile devices. This allows users to maintain their privacy-focused browsing habits across different devices and operating systems, providing a consistent experience regardless of the platform.

Regular Updates:

To stay ahead of emerging threats and vulnerabilities, DuckDuckGo Browser undergoes regular updates and improvements. This commitment to ongoing development ensures that users are provided with a secure browsing environment that evolves with the ever-changing digital landscape.

In conclusion, the DuckDuckGo Browser stands out as a privacy-focused alternative in a market dominated by browsers that often compromise user data for profit. Its commitment to minimizing data collection, robust tracker blocking, encrypted connections, and integration of a privacy-centered search engine make it a compelling choice for those who prioritize online privacy and security. With its user-friendly interface and cross-platform availability, it's a strong contender for anyone seeking a safer and more private browsing experience.

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[ad_1] Dec 17, 2021 | 37 min learnOpting for a rank monitoring instrument can also be tricky, particularly if you happen to’re going to make use of it for the primary time. You don’t know what to anticipate as a result of you don't have anything to match it with. You’ll most certainly get started your analysis through observing device critiques, however they gained’t come up with an actual style of the instrument’s functions. A characteristic this is offered through a reviewer as recommended might simply seem unnecessary to you. And conversely, the reviewer might fail to remember a small characteristic that could be of significant lend a hand to your day by day search engine marketing regimen.To grasp which instrument is the most efficient to perform your duties, you’ll want a demo or an ordeal. However you shouldn’t means the trial with out a plan on what options to check. That can assist you with this, we‘ve responded the questions SE Rating customers requested once they began the use of our instrument. Now you'll practice of their footsteps all the way through your trial.This query and solution information covers other sides of the use of a rank tracker instrument. One of the best ways to paintings with it's through having your SE Rating account open within the subsequent tab. So, if you happen to nonetheless don’t have one, join an ordeal and take a look at the next use instances proper within the interface whilst studying this newsletter.Rating developments and forecastsWhat’s the quickest approach to spot problems with scores?One of the simplest ways to extract that means from knowledge is to learn it within the type of a chart. Rank monitoring gear are identified for handing over numerous uncooked knowledge that’s tricky to snatch at a look. They use other varieties of charts to visualise scores fluctuations and different metrics’ dynamics. In case your instrument has a handy dashboard with charts, you’ll temporarily have the ability to spot developments, patterns, or surprising adjustments. In SE Rating, you’ll to find the consolidated dashboard to your key metrics below Abstract, within the Scores module. The widgets of the dashboard are interactive. You'll click on on them to configure or open detailed tables with looked after and filtered knowledge in new tabs of your browser. On peak of the dashboard, you’ll see charts appearing the dynamics of your web site’s Seek Visibility, Reasonable Place, and 7 Best Positions Distribution charts. In case you hover over the chart space, you’ll get knowledge annotations to help you learn the visualized knowledge. In case you attach SE Rating on your Google Analytics, you’ll have the Natural Visitors chart at the Abstract dashboard. It’ll display you ways total visitors on your web site fluctuated all the way through a decided on period of time. To test what pages and key phrases convey essentially the most visitors on your web site, you’ll wish to cross to the Analytics & Visitors module and test the Visitors and Google Seek Console Information sections.In case you scroll down the dashboard, you’ll come to a stacked bar chart and desk appearing what number of key phrases Advanced, Declined, or had No Adjustments in positions for the reason that remaining test. Within the desk, you’ll see rating dynamics in numerous segments of the SERP.To temporarily test what key phrases from the TOP 2-3 went down, click on the corresponding row within the desk and the Detailed phase of the Scores module will open in a brand new tab of your browser. The Scores desk on it's going to be filtered so that you can see the key phrases that want your consideration instantly. Scroll down the dashboard just a little extra and also you’ll see the Key phrase review desk that lists your TOP, Advanced, and Declined key phrases looked after through Visibility or Visitors Forecast. This desk will allow you to know if a key phrase that contributes so much on your site’s visibility within the SERPs or guarantees numerous visitors is recently shedding positions.

In the similar means, you'll test your TOP, Advanced, and Declined pages. View the 5 maximum vital URLs in each class, or click on View All to open the Scores desk filtered and looked after through URL within the SERP. Find out how to test if Google set of rules updates have an effect on my scores?For lots of websites, each subsequent Google replace ends up in a shakeup within the SERPs. Google all the time broadcasts each set of rules replace. It’s great to have those updates marked within the rank tracker and temporarily assess the have an effect on they've to your scores, quite than test information releases to recall the dates once they happened.With SE Rating, you gained’t leave out any primary Google seek set of rules replace that may doubtlessly impact your scores. By means of default, data on Google’s updates is added to the instrument as Notes. Those Notes are proven at the line charts, which let you see if there are any fluctuations in metrics after some other replace. Hover over the be aware icon at the timeline, and also you’ll get a popup with main points.In case you click on the View All Notes button within the popup or the Notes button within the higher proper nook, you’ll get to the record of the entire notes added to SE Rating. At the Notes tab, you’ll to find names and dates for all fresh Google set of rules updates and hyperlinks to assets the place you'll learn extra about them.You'll additionally create your personal notes that relate to the entire mission or a selected key phrase. For instance, you need to bear in mind whilst you did a big technical search engine marketing repair to your web site and spot the way it impacted your metrics. Or you need to bear in mind when you were given a back link from an authoritative area along with your major key phrase within the anchor textual content to look the way it impacted your scores for that key phrase. search engine marketing lifehacks and insightsFind out how to temporarily test if scores went up or down?While you have a look at the Scores desk, you generally focal point on adjustments. With SE Rating, at a look, you’ll understand how many key phrases have lately modified their positions. The selection of key phrases that dropped or grew in SERPs after the remaining test is displayed below Adjustments above the Scores desk. To appear during the record of all key phrases that went up or down, click on the corresponding quantity below Adjustments to clear out the desk. To reset the clear out, click on All below Place filters.To learn the way scores modified between two dates, use the Dynamics characteristic. First, customise your Scores desk through including the Dynamics column to it. Then, make a choice a timespan at the calendar. Within the Dynamics column, you’ll see what number of positions a key phrase, URL, or a bunch of key phrases (relying at the view mode you employ) went up or down on SERPs.And there’s yet another tip. While you analyze positions, take note of the key phrases that move rating thresholds. They’re highlighted with colour. The key phrases within the TOP 10 are highlighted in inexperienced; those who entered the TOP 10, in blue; and those that left the TOP 10, in purple. In case you handiest care about what’s taking place within the TOP 3, TOP 5, or TOP 10, and so forth. click on the corresponding place clear out and also you’ll have the ability to analyze key phrases that rank in a selected section of seek effects. Find out how to spot key phrase cannibalization problems?By means of default, SE Rating tracks positions for pages that rank the best possible on SERPs for each explicit key phrase. But, there could also be a number of extra pages of yours that rank for a similar key phrase on decrease positions. Additionally, the URL that ranks the best possible will not be the only you need, which signifies content material cannibalization. To test if the positions are being tracked for the proper web page, hover over the hyperlink icon subsequent to the key phrase.

You’ll see a URL. Or you might even see a number of URLs if all of them include the key phrase and rank shut sufficient to one another to switch positions at the SERP every now and then.Don’t concern, you don’t must hover over each hyperlink icon at the desk to identify all cannibalization problems. As a substitute, you'll use our Goal URL characteristic to get the key phrases with the improper URLs rating for them highlighted robotically. For this, you must outline the fascinating URLs for each key phrase to your record. Simply make a choice a key phrase or a bunch of key phrases, click on Goal URL and specify the web page deal with.Key phrases with goal URLs specified can have an extra hyperlink icon subsequent to them. If the proper web page is rating for a key phrase, the positions within the desk might be gray. If any other web page is rating for it, the positions within the desk might be purple.You'll additionally transfer the Scores desk View Mode to URLs in SERP to look what pages ‘scouse borrow’ key phrases from others.To mend cannibalization problems, you'll analyze scores knowledge for problematic key phrases for, say, part a yr. You’ll see which web page controlled to rank longest and best possible. Then, you'll evaluate the pages through different elements equivalent to conversions and fit between the content material and person seek intent. In the end, you'll come to a decision what web page you need Google to rank and take one of the following measures: Optimize the specified web page for the objective key phrase.Deoptimize undesired pages from the objective key phrase.Delete undesired pages or redirect them to the specified one.After you repair the cannibalization problems, be sure that the key phrase has the specified web page assigned because the Goal URL. In case your movements have the proper impact, you’ll see just one web page rating for the key phrase in SE Rating.Can I see if my key phrases cause Google SERP options?Monitoring positions for natural effects with out regard for SERP options doesn’t make sense anymore. Seek commercials, featured snippets, wealthy effects, wisdom graphs, and so forth., personal numerous house on SERPs and seize folks’s consideration. Complicated rank monitoring gear have tailored to adjustments in Google’s SERP and permit you to observe those parts.You must know if any SERP options display up to your key phrases and in case your pages can get into them. Simply suppose, what in case your web page ranks in place one, however a person must scroll down thru a featured snippet and a listing of Folks Additionally Ask inquiries to if truth be told see it? With SE Rating, you’ll have the ability to observe 35 SERP options and spot in the event that they get displayed for any of your key phrases. So as to add this data on your Scores desk, cross to Columns and test mark the SERP Options column at the dropdown record. Moreover, you’ll see the entire statistics at the SERP options to your key phrases within the bar chart over the Scores desk.SERP options are displayed within the desk as icons. Hover over any icon to be informed what characteristic it represents. In case you see any icons highlighted in blue, congratulations—your pages seem in the ones SERP options. If the icons are gray, anyone else’s pages personal them. If there's no icon for a selected form of SERP characteristic, then it doesn’t display up for the key phrase in any respect. Key phrase record controlFind out how to to find new key phrases so as to add to put monitoring?One of the best ways to extend the record of key phrases to your rank tracker is so as to add seek queries that your web site is already rating for. You’ll simply to find such queries in Google Seek Console. In case your Rank Tracker doesn’t have an integration with Google’s services and products, you’ll wish to export key phrases from Seek Console in a CSV document after which add them to the instrument.  SE Rating provides a greater means to do this.

You'll hyperlink SE Rating on your Seek Console and import key phrases from there. For this, you must cross to the Analytics & Visitors module. Click on the Attach Google Seek Console button and log in on your Google account to permit SE Rating to import knowledge. Or, it's possible you'll have already got them attached if you happen to did it all the way through the SE Rating mission setup.As soon as your Seek Console account is hooked up, you’ll see the key phrases your site ranks for, at the side of clicks, impressions, and CTR, below Google Seek Console Information, at the Key phrases tab. Be aware of the Place column within the desk. SE Rating will display the present positions for the key phrases that you just already observe. For the key phrases that you just don’t observe, it's going to display the No longer Tracked standing. For the latter, it’s price taking a more in-depth have a look at the efficiency metrics, to identify some new key phrases price monitoring.After you to find new attention-grabbing key phrases, test mark them and also you’ll see the Upload to the mission button above the desk. Click on the button and make a choice some of the present teams the place they belong or create a brand new one. SE Rating will display positions for those key phrases after the following scores test.Any other nice approach to to find extra optimization alternatives and extend your goal key phrase record is through the use of SE Rating’s Key phrase Analysis and Competitor Analysis gear. If you wish to get the utmost out of those gear, learn our information about tips on how to do key phrase analysis.Can I temporarily get started the use of Rank Tracker if I don’t have a key phrase record?Developing a listing of key phrases is likely one of the first issues to do in any rank tracker instrument. But, if you happen to use SE Rating, you don’t essentially wish to have a goal key phrase record to hand prior to you put up a mission for SERP tracking. SE Rating mean you can acquire related key phrases at the fly all the way through your mission setup or anytime after. While you arrange a brand new mission, SE Rating robotically searches for key phrases it's possible you'll need to observe. You’ll have the ability to use our key phrase ideas on the second one step of the mission setup. In case you skip that step, you’ll have the ability to upload key phrases later. For this, you’ll wish to click on the Upload Key phrases button to be had on any phase within the Scores module.The Upload key phrases button opens the Key phrases wizard to your Undertaking Settings. In this tab, you’ll immediately get a listing of robotically amassed key phrases related on your area identify, and that’s no longer all. You'll get much more key phrase concepts. For this, kind a competitor’s area identify or certainly one of your number one key phrases within the Key phrase Tips bar, make a choice the objective nation, and also you’ll get a brand new record of key phrases.In case you’d like to make use of our key phrase concepts, click on the + Key phrases button to make a choice and upload them to the Upload Manually space. Then, blank up the record if wanted and click on the Upload Key phrases button. The key phrases you added might be indexed within the desk underneath. You'll iterate with the instrument so long as your account limits permit including extra key phrases. And don’t be afraid of constructing duplicates, the device will eliminate them robotically.Find out how to prepare your key phrase record into subject clusters?The selection of key phrases you'll upload to a rank monitoring instrument depends upon your fee plan, however technically it’s nearly infinite. At the drawback, the extra key phrases you could have, the more difficult it's to navigate thru them. Subsequently, protecting them as a bare-bones record isn’t that useful. Right here at SE Rating we all know that one of the best ways to prepare key phrases is through clustering them. That’s

why our instrument has the grouping characteristic so that you can analyze your optimization effects for various product traces, services and products, or subjects. You probably have a brand new web site that doesn’t rank for plenty of key phrases but, you must cluster key phrases prior to including them to SE Rating. For this, you will have a CSV document with two columns—key phrase and team. To create this kind of document, you'll use our Key phrase Grouper. It’ll cluster a naked record of key phrases for you in line with their SERPs similarity. Then, upload a bunch identify for each cluster and add your record to SE Rating.If you wish to observe positions for a longtime web site, you'll add a naked record of key phrases to SE Rating after which team them manually proper within the Scores module. By means of doing so you'll nonetheless leverage SERP-based key phrase clustering. For this, transfer your Scores desk View Mode from Listing to URLs through SERP. You’ll get the key phrases arranged through pages that already rank for them. Then, make a choice all key phrases that belong to at least one URL on SERP and upload them to a bunch.Consequently, you’ll get your key phrases clustered in some way very similar to how the quest engine does it. Observe that each key phrase in SE Rating can handiest belong to at least one team, and you'll transfer them from one team to some other. As soon as all teams are created, transfer your Scores desk View Mode to Teams to research key phrases cluster through cluster.The key phrases that don’t belong to any team will stay within the Normal team created through default till you make a decision to cluster them.Find out how to navigate thru a big key phrase record successfully?The longer your key phrase record is, the more difficult it's to seek out and isolate units of key phrases that experience one thing in not unusual, be it seek intent, precedence, issue, or every other belongings. But, if you happen to don’t divide your record into chunks you gained’t get any granular insights. That can assist you do an in depth research, we supplied the Scores desk with sensible sorting, tagging, and filtering options.To begin with, the Scores desk has a number of View Modes. You'll transfer between them to look your key phrases as a naked record or get them organized through Crew, Goal URL, URL in SERP, Date whilst you added them to the instrument, or through Tags. When making use of view modes, you’ll all the time see the entire record of key phrases within the desk, however they’ll be looked after and ordered in numerous techniques.But even so appearing customers higher effects, Hummingbird additionally promoted wisdom graphs, wealthy effects, and featured snippets to permit customers to look the detailed solution at the floor without a wish to click on at the hyperlinks in seek effects. On peak of that, you'll use Tags so as to add an unending selection of customized options on your record and use them to clear out your key phrases through other homes. To tag a key phrase or a bunch of key phrases, make a choice them within the desk and click on the Tag icon on peak of the desk. You’ll be ready to select some of the present tags or create a brand new one.Tagging will can help you evaluation the efficiency of several types of key phrases or portions of your site. For instance, you'll tag and clear out key phrases that:Comprise your logo identify to keep watch over branded SERPs Belong to your house web page, weblog, or gross sales pages Have industrial, informational, or navigational intent Affect your KPIs within the present quarter.To isolate a suite of key phrases with a undeniable tag from the remainder of the record, you must practice Filters. To open the filtering choices, click on Filters on peak of the Scores desk. Choose a tag or a mix of tags and click on the Practice Filters button.While you practice filters, the desk handiest presentations key phrases that fit the filtering parameters. The

charts on peak of the desk also are up to date to turn the typical place, visitors forecast, seek visibility, and different metrics for the filtered set of key phrases. Can I customise Rank Tracker and alter the best way knowledge is displayed?Even though all rank trackers serve the similar function, their person interfaces vary so much. You’ll to find some gear extra intuitive and interesting than others. The guidelines density, interface format, self-explanatory icons, and not unusual navigation—all give a contribution to the entire ease of use. On peak of that, there could also be defaults and customization alternatives that may ease your rank monitoring regimen.   In SE Rating, you'll come to a decision what knowledge you need to be displayed below Scores. For this, click on the Equipment icon to get admission to Rating settings. You’ll see slightly an extended record of choices whilst you open the Scores module.By means of evaluating those two screenshots of the similar Detailed phase you'll see how other it will glance relying to your personal tastes.Within the first screenshot, charts are displayed over the Scores desk, the desk itself accommodates positions with scores test dates organized left to proper, and the Key phrases column displays icons for web page URLs. In the second one screenshot, there aren't any charts, the Scores desk has 4 further columns with key phrases looked after through Visibility, the scores test dates are organized proper to left, and the Key phrases column displays the entire URL of the web page.Key phrase monitoring functionsFind out how to observe key phrases for various places and languages?In case your web site goals other nations or towns you’ll wish to observe positions for each and every location  one by one. The subject is seek effects range significantly through location. In huge towns (equivalent to London or New York), the contest in seek is so harsh that SERPs for native companies even range through town district.There’s yet another factor to bear in mind. In case your goal audiences in all places discuss the similar language, you’ll have a unmarried key phrase record. In the event that they discuss other languages, you’ll have a number of key phrase lists. The selection of places and key phrase lists will outline the way you’ll configure your rank monitoring instrument.For a single-language web site with as much as 5 places to trace, you’ll wish to arrange one mission with SE Rating. On this mission, you’ll have the ability to upload as much as 5 places at no further value. If you wish to observe positions for greater than 5 places, you’ll wish to arrange yet another mission for a similar web site and key phrase record. For a multilingual web site in SE Rating, you’ll wish to arrange an impartial mission for each language. When growing the tasks, specify the similar area identify, however upload other goal key phrase lists. At the Seek Engine configuration step of the mission setup, you’ll be ready to select other mixtures for the Google person interface language and person location.Consider you could have a bilingual web site focused on North The united states. In a single mission you’ll test positions at the SERPs proven to Spanish-speaking audiences dwelling in Mexico, america, and Canada. In some other mission, you’ll test positions at the SERPs proven to English-speaking audiences dwelling in the similar 3 nations. Thus, you’ll have one account with two tasks, and each and every certainly one of them will come with 3 places. Find out how to view scores if I observe many places and languages? In case you observe SERPs for a number of places and languages, it’s vital to prepare the entire homes to your account logically and hierarchically. In case you do the whole thing proper, you’ll have the ability to analyze metrics on a number of ranges: for each location one by one, for a bunch of places in a single language, for one web site total, or generally for all the account.In SE

Rating you could have the next hierarchy ranges: account > team of tasks > mission > seek engine. You probably have a number of tasks arrange for various languages and places, unite them in a bunch. This manner, you’ll have the ability to observe the result of a web site throughout all its regional variations. Within each mission, you’ll have as much as 5 engines like google that can mirror the wanted aggregate of seek engine, language, and placement.To test metrics for separate tasks and teams of tasks, cross to the All Initiatives dashboard. There, you’ll have the ability to view charts appearing the dynamics for key metrics, particularly Reasonable Place, Visitors Forecast, Seek Visibility, and % In TOP 10. To get knowledge for explicit tasks displayed at the charts, you must mark them at the record.The remainder of the modules in SE Rating will display you knowledge at the mission stage or the quest engine stage. For instance, make a choice a mission and cross to the Scores module. Select All engines like google if you wish to see all Scores tables for all places proven at the similar display, one below some other. Or make a choice just one seek engine from the dropdown record and examine just one Scores desk for a selected location.To match positions throughout places in a single mission, cross to the General phase of the Scores module. Then make a choice a period of time within the calendar. Within the Scores desk, you’ll see the overall key phrase place for each location for the chosen length.The adjustments in scores that took place all the way through that length may also be mirrored within the desk. A purple downward arrow and a bunch will point out that key phrases dropped within the SERPs whilst a inexperienced upward arrow and a bunch will display that they jumped.Can I observe my paid seek presenсe at the side of natural?Some rank trackers permit you to observe your SEO (SEM) campaigns on Google. For instance, with SE Rating, you'll test SERP positions to your PPC commercials at no cost.  For this, simply permit paid seek place monitoring at the Seek Engines configuration step of the mission setup.In case you flip at the Monitor Google Commercials Scores toggle, you’ll have the ability to transfer your Scores desk from Natural to Paid seek positions. Within the Detailed and Ancient Information sections of the Scores module, you’ll see on what days your commercials had been proven for this or that key phrase on web page certainly one of Google seek effects. Your advert positions might range from 1 to eight. If not one of the commercials fall at the first web page of Google for a undeniable key phrase, you’ll see a splash within the desk.While you analyze your advert positions, it’s vital to needless to say the advert place doesn’t outline the positioning of your advert at the SERP. Place 1 implies that this advert was once the primary one proven at the SERP, however it will display up both above or underneath the natural seek effects. To understand precisely the place your commercials had been displayed at the SERPs, click on the placement quantity to look the Detailed data and practice the Cached reproduction or Are living Effects hyperlinks.Can I test scores on Google’s Native Pack?You probably have created a Industry Profile on Google, it's possible you'll need to observe your efficiency on each ​​Google Seek and Maps. If your online business has excellent rankings on Google Maps, it may well display up within the Google Native Pack at the SERPs for native searches, like “close to me” or “open now”. Maximum rank monitoring gear gained’t rely your appearances in Native Packs in opposition to your web site’s scores, however some do.With SE Rating, you'll observe Google Native Pack effects at the side of natural seek effects. For this, you must activate two toggles at the Seek Engine configuration step of the mission setup. Then you definitely’ll wish to specify the identify and get in touch with quantity out of your Industry Profile for us to spot your corporate in Google’s checklist.

If your online business displays up within the peak 3 in Native Pack for a selected key phrase, you’ll see it within the Scores desk below Detailed and Ancient Information. The Google Maps Pin icon and the rank might be displayed subsequent to the natural place quantity.This selection permits you to higher estimate your presence in seek since despite the fact that your web site might fail to rank for some key phrases, your online business will nonetheless display up for them within the Native Pack on the peak of the SERPs. Pageant and seek visibilityFind out how to evaluate your and competition’ visibility in seek?SE Rating calculates Visibility Ranking to your web site in addition to to your competitor’s websites. To look the visibility rankings, cross to Visibility Ranking within the My Competition module. The visibility rating will can help you see who owns the most important proportion of impressions at the SERPs throughout engines like google and places in a selected area of interest. By means of default, you’ll see the entire Visibility Ranking for domain names that compete to your key phrases, however our instrument permits you to cross a lot deeper. You'll test visibility on SERPs for a selected team of key phrases. For this, use Filters to select the Crew of key phrases that you need to research. With the filters implemented, the desk will display your closest area of interest competition and the place you stand in comparison to them.Along side the Visibility rating, you’ll have the ability to believe the Alexa Rank, the selection of Back links and Referring Domain names, and the Area Believe for each web site at the record. This may can help you estimate how tricky it's going to be to extend your proportion of impressions at the SERP.Find out how to test SERP dynamics and pageant for a undeniable key phrase?Even though rating tables and charts are an excellent supply of insights, you continue to would possibly need to view and evaluate day by day SERPs for each key phrase. This may permit you to estimate how solid or shaky the SERPs are, whose pages rank upper than yours, what’s happening to your logo SERPs, and 1,000,000 different issues.With SE Rating, you'll view the TOP 100 effects for any key phrase tracked to your mission. For this, cross to the My Competition module, and make a choice the SERP Competition phase. Choose a key phrase from the dropdown record and set a desired length within the calendar to view day by day SERPs facet through facet.The snapshot of SERPs will can help you see what pages you compete with for each key phrase or team of key phrases. Those can also be pages of your online business competition, social media websites, on-line magazines, marketplaces, and so forth. Select the Area show solution to see websites as an alternative of web page URLs.You'll click on any of the indexed domain names to focus on it throughout all SERPs and spot its rating fluctuations. If you wish to analyze any of the indexed domain names, click on the 3 dots subsequent to the web page identify and make a choice the Analysis this area possibility. You’ll open the area within the Aggressive Analysis instrument. There you’ll see for what key phrases it’s rating, how a lot natural and paid visitors it’s getting, what number of back links and referring domain names it has, and extra.Budgeting and making plansWhat number of key phrases must I observe?The selection of key phrases to trace depends upon the entire dimension of your goal key phrase record. As each web site is other, it’s inconceivable to specify precise numbers. Alternatively, we will be able to discuss in regards to the percentages of key phrases you need to trace for each key phrase cluster or web page. The share of tracked key phrases shouldn’t be equivalent around the web site. It must trade relying at the significance and relevance of each explicit web page. For the least vital pages, monitoring round 10% of key phrases from their cluster is sufficient to get an approximate image.

For pages that require extra correct knowledge on scores, you must lift the proportion as much as 50%. For crucial pages, it’s best possible to trace 100% of the key phrases they aim.When following this means you’ll have to select what key phrases so as to add. Choose them in line with their seek quantity and seek intent. For instance, in case your site goals each informational and industrial key phrases, you’ll favor to trace extra of the latter. That’s as a result of rating prime for industrial key phrases influences your final analysis extra without delay.The kind of web page may also subject. It can be sufficient to trace 1–5 key phrases for a top-of-the-funnel weblog publish. However for a bottom-of-the-funnel gross sales web page, you’ll need to observe as many key phrases as conceivable. If you wish to steadiness your rank monitoring record, attempt to upload key phrases in iterations. First, add the key phrases your pages already rank prime for to keep watch over them. Then, upload the key phrases you need your pages to move up for within the close to long term to look your optimization development. And in spite of everything, extend your major key phrase teams proportionally or upload new teams till you succeed in your account limits.How frequently must I test positions in Rank Tracker?You must be expecting your web site’s scores to continuously differ. Additionally, you must settle for the truth that the frequency of those fluctuations doesn’t adhere to any agenda. That’s as a result of too many elements affect them. Scores for aggressive key phrases generally tend to switch extra frequently than for much less aggressive ones. Everyone’s positions within the SERPs generally tend to transport round extra frequently after each and every Google set of rules replace. A few of your pages can cross up or down anytime you are making adjustments on your web site.How frequently you have a look at the knowledge amassed through the instrument depends on your cases. You'll do it as soon as every week or a few occasions every week. But, your rank tracker must acquire scores knowledge day by day. The most efficient factor here's that you just’ll have the ability to analyze positions on any day and all the time see essentially the most whole and contemporary scores knowledge. In case you set the Rank Tracker to test positions day by day, you gained’t leave out any place adjustments and can all the time know the precise day once they took place. This may can help you reply to adjustments on time and higher perceive the reason and impact for each rating fluctuation.Can I test my site scores at no cost?Checking your web site’s rating for a selected key phrase for free isn't an issue. Sort the key phrase within the Google seek bar and also you’ll get seek effects along with your web page indexed in them. But, you must take into account that you’ll see a personalised SERP. It’ll be suffering from your location, seek effects settings (language and nation), and former searches. Even supposing you arrange to depersonalize your seek effects, doing handbook SERP assessments gained’t lend a hand your search engine marketing in any respect. Place monitoring handiest is smart if finished ceaselessly, correctly, and at scale. In case you’re fascinated by place monitoring, you need to use skilled search engine marketing device.To make use of a rank monitoring instrument at no cost, join an ordeal. For instance, SE Rating will provide you with 14 days to check out out the entire options to be had within the Crucial Plan. All through this time you’ll have the ability to arrange tasks for as much as ten websites and observe day by day positions for 250 key phrases. Each key phrase added to a mission can also be tracked throughout 5 places or engines like google. A free-of-charge trial will can help you get an concept of the place your maximum vital pages stand on other SERPs. But, seeing how your search engine marketing actions impact your scores is handiest conceivable if you happen to observe positions ceaselessly.

Subsequently, to get most price from rank monitoring you must purchase a subscription and use the instrument for an extended time.How a lot does Rank Tracker value?Pricing insurance policies for rank monitoring device range. Probably the most handy gear supply versatile value plans. They permit you to modify the rank tracker key phrase prohibit and scores test frequency as wanted. Subsequently, whether or not you observe positions for a small or a large site, you’ll get a good and affordable value.SE Rating has one of the vital versatile pricing insurance policies. It is going past the three-tier pricing fashion usually used for on-line device. You'll trade the fee for any SE Rating fee plan through adjusting the selection of key phrases to trace and frequency of rating assessments. On peak of that, through opting for an extended subscription length you'll stand up to twenty% off the per month subscription value.Information accuracy and protectionDoes Rank Tracker knowledge mirror the real state of affairs on SERPs?In case you live-check a SERP for a selected key phrase to your browser, you might even see a fairly other image than SE Rating displays. But, this doesn’t imply you must put the instrument’s knowledge accuracy into query. As a substitute, believe two instances when the positions in our Scores desk and your browser mismatch for legitimate causes. To begin with, seek effects are moving at all times. Even though we test positions day by day, there’s nonetheless a small likelihood for some adjustments in scores after our instrument has checked them. In case your place research regimen is scheduled at a selected time of the day, you'll configure SE Rating to test positions a few hours previous, so that you all the time paintings with the most up to date knowledge. The second one explanation why for the placement mismatch is Google’s SERP personalization. The quest ends up in your browser modify on your present location and in addition could also be suffering from the fast context out of your prior seek. On the similar time, in SE Rating you’ll see the positions from depersonalized SERPs proven within the location you goal. So that you can test the accuracy of information, SE Rating saves a cached reproduction of the quest effects that Google supplied once we checked your positions. You'll click on on any place quantity within the Scores desk to view the Detailed data popup that hyperlinks to cached and stay SERPs.On peak of that, if you wish to see your SERP efficiency as much as the present second, you'll get the real-time scores knowledge. Click on Recheck Information, make a choice Recheck Scores, and make a choice the positioning from the dropdown record. The positions within the Scores desk might be up to date in an issue of mins.Can I safely proportion key phrase scores knowledge? Your subscription for a rank monitoring device might permit one or a number of customers to your account, relying at the fee plan. If a couple of person seats are to be had, you’ll have the ability to grant get admission to on your colleagues or shoppers. When sending invitations, you’ll outline their get admission to privileges, particularly the knowledge they are able to view and movements they are able to take within the device.For instance, so as to add customers in SE Rating, hover over the Account Icon and make a choice the Customers possibility from the dropdown record. At the Customers tab, click on the Upload Person button, make a choice the kind of account you need to create (Supervisor or Shopper), and configure get admission to permissions.If just one person is permitted to your account, or all person seats had been taken, you'll nonetheless proportion get admission to to the scores knowledge in an alternate means. Use the Visitor hyperlink characteristic. It permits you to let a visitor within the Scores, Competition, or Analytics & Visitors modules in a few clicks. It’s nonetheless secure since you regulate what the visitor

can see and will replace your Visitor hyperlink at any time to disable get admission to during the hyperlink you in the past shared. After all, you shouldn’t give your personal account credentials to people. It isn’t secure and might lead to shedding knowledge or get admission to on your account because of malicious movements finished through a 3rd birthday celebration. TakeawayOptimistically, this query and solution information will can help you dive deeper into the options of rank monitoring gear and the quite a lot of techniques to make use of them successfully. Within the instance of SE Rating, you'll see answers to prepare your goal key phrase record, observe the positions of your web site within the SERPs for various places and languages, spot not unusual problems with scores, and to find new optimization alternatives. But, this record of rank tracker use instances is under no circumstances exhaustive. The gear have advanced to evolve to adjustments in engines like google algorithms and meet essentially the most present wishes of virtual advertising and marketing pros. Take a look at What’s New at SE Rating and be told extra in regards to the options that experience lately expanded our instrument’s functions and given you new search engine marketing powers.Don’t omit that you'll be a part of this magic! You probably have concepts about what options may just can help you succeed in your search engine marketing objectives, tell us within the feedback. We’ll embody your comments and proposals and switch them into new options and enhancements.Publish Perspectives: 17 Kseniia is a content material marketer at SE Rating. She's enthusiastic about all issues search engine marketing and content material manufacturing. When she's no longer writing, you are more likely to see her coaching, operating, hiking, or biking. But, the ever-evolving international of virtual advertising and marketing occupies her thoughts and deters her from being a complete health junkie. [ad_2] #Questions #Purchasing #Key phrase #Rank #Tracker

[c2x-technologies-pvt-ltd]

React Native Development: Revolutionizing Mobile App Development

Introduction

In today's fast-paced digital era, mobile app development plays a pivotal role in transforming businesses and enhancing user experiences. One of the leading frameworks that have gained immense popularity is React Native. React Native Development empowers developers to create high-performing, cross-platform mobile applications using JavaScript. In this article, we will explore the ins and outs of React Native Development, its benefits, and its impact on the mobile app industry.

React Native Development: Unleashing the Potential

What is React Native?

React Native is an open-source framework created by Facebook that allows developers to build mobile applications using JavaScript. It utilizes a single codebase, enabling developers to write once and deploy across multiple platforms, including iOS and Android. With React Native, developers can leverage the power of native components and UI elements to create visually appealing and seamless mobile apps.

How Does React Native Work?

Under the hood, React Native uses a bridge to communicate with native APIs, ensuring the performance and responsiveness of the applications. The framework utilizes a virtual DOM (Document Object Model) that optimizes the rendering process, resulting in faster app performance. By utilizing JavaScript, developers can write code that is reusable and efficient, significantly reducing development time and effort.

The Benefits of React Native Development

Cross-Platform Compatibility: React Native enables developers to build apps that work seamlessly across multiple platforms, eliminating the need for separate codebases for iOS and Android.

Code Reusability: With React Native, developers can write code once and reuse it across different platforms, saving time and effort in development.

Enhanced Developer Productivity: The hot-reloading feature of React Native allows developers to see the changes instantly, making the development process more efficient and productive.

Native-Like Performance: React Native utilizes native components, providing a smooth and responsive user experience similar to native applications.

Vast Community Support: Being an open-source framework backed by Facebook, React Native has a vibrant community of developers who contribute to its growth and provide support and resources.

Exploring the Core Concepts of React Native

Components and Props

In React Native, components are the building blocks of the application's user interface. They encapsulate reusable UI elements and define their behavior. Props, short for properties, are used to pass data between components. They enable developers to create dynamic and interactive interfaces.

Styling in React Native

React Native utilizes a flexible and powerful styling system that resembles CSS. Styles can be applied to components using JavaScript objects, allowing developers to customize the appearance of their applications. Additionally, the framework supports media queries and responsive design, ensuring a consistent experience across devices.

Navigation in React Native

Efficient navigation is crucial for a seamless user experience in mobile applications. React Native provides various navigation libraries, such as React Navigation, that simplify the process of implementing navigation flows within the app. These libraries offer features like stack navigation, tab navigation, and drawer navigation, making it easy to create intuitive navigation structures.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: Can I use React Native for an existing mobile app?

Yes, React Native is designed to be compatible with existing apps. It allows developers to gradually introduce React Native components into an existing codebase, enabling a smooth transition and preserving the functionality of the app.

Q2: Is React Native suitable for complex applications?

Absolutely! React Native has been used to develop complex applications with rich features and extensive functionality. Its vast ecosystem of libraries and community support makes it a viable choice for building sophisticated mobile apps.

Q3: Is React Native better than native app development?

The choice between React Native and native app development depends on various factors such as project requirements, budget, and timeline. React Native offers significant advantages in terms of code reusability and cross-platform compatibility. However, for apps that require deep platform integration or have strict performance requirements, native development might be more suitable.

Q4: Are there any limitations to using React Native?

While React Native offers a range of benefits, it does have a few limitations. Some platform-specific APIs might not be readily available in React Native, requiring additional native code integration. Additionally, certain performance-intensive tasks might be better suited for native development.

Q5: Is React Native future-proof?

React Native has a strong and dedicated community, and Facebook continues to invest in its development. With continuous updates, performance improvements, and new features, React Native is poised to remain a prominent framework in the mobile app development landscape.

Q6: How can I optimize the performance of a React Native app?

To optimize the performance of a React Native app, developers can implement techniques such as code splitting, lazy loading, and using native modules for performance-critical tasks. Additionally, following best practices for UI rendering and leveraging the performance profiling tools provided by React Native can help identify and address bottlenecks.

Conclusion

React Native Development has revolutionized the mobile app development landscape by providing a powerful and efficient framework for building cross-platform applications. Its ability to leverage JavaScript and native components makes it a popular choice among developers, enabling them to create visually stunning and performant apps. As the mobile app industry continues to evolve, React Native is expected to play a significant role in shaping the future of mobile app development.

[my-timing-is-digital]

Cognisant of the transition from pristine white walls to tall windows overlooking a foreign topography, of a courtyard embellished with synthetic life, of a view rendered with a palette of kaleidoscopic colours, floating prominently in his peripheral vision, the android conserved his attention, prohibiting it from wandering while Soji was answering his torrents of enquiries. He listened patiently, his chartreuse eyes never once strayed to the surreal environment below.

“If you count Arcana and I as a pair...” A phrase he logged under the tab “pending queries,” although he could make an educated guess as to why Soji would count herself and the other android as a pair; he surmised that Arcana’s identical twin had likewise been terminated. How and why, however, was a mystery to him, for now. But she did not leave him much time to ponder the matter as she continued. His head jerked mechanically at the mention of a cat, — synthetic or organic? He conjectured the former, since he had enquired after the number of synthetic inhabitants, but he did not interrupt her supply of information to verify his preliminary determination.

When Soji became stationary, so did Data; his eyes, inadvertently, travelled down to the plaza, his pupils dilated the second his gaze encountered the first artificial countenance. Inquisitively, he magnified the visuals that were presently being relayed to his central processing unit, resolute in his self-induced pursuit to ingest as much information about this type of android as he possibly could.

Data acknowledged her suggestion with a faint nod of the head, distracted, occupied; his visual sensors were tracing a masculine-built android who had emerged from a room on the ground floor, he watched the synth cross the white stretch of concrete, zigzagging between the other denizens without impeding their itineraries — a well-rehearsed dance —, prior to vanishing into the adjacent building. Instantaneously, his eyes hopped to another, one that was tending the garden — feminine in design, jet-black hair, metallic gold epithelium, a hue deviating from his own alabaster-coloured bioplast sheeting. However, not all androids adhered to this design; he had noted that a selection of the androids had more human toned skins — and even the pigmentation in their eyes varied, not all of their irises were a hue of yellow like his.

‘Remarkable,’ he whispered, wonderstruck, his voice barely distinguishable from the murmurations emanating from the room that contained the Captain, Agnes, and Dr Soong.

In many ways, his introduction to this strange, new world was reminiscent of his first trip to Earth, after the Starfleet officers of the U.S.S. Tripoli had rescued him from Omicron Theta. He had been struck by a similar wonder, and established an unquenchable fascination with the human race, with their achievements, their architecture, their traditions, their beliefs, their ideologies, their technology, and their curiosity for outer space, their innate desire to explore beyond the boundaries of the Sol system. His first destination had been Starfleet Headquarters, in San Fransisco, where they had interrogated him, but discovered that he could not provide the answers they were looking for: the enigmatic disappearance of over 450 Federation colonists and the desolate state the planet found itself in, regardless of the countless documentations stating the opposite. His second destination was Daystrom Institute of Advanced Robotics, in Okinawa, Japan — a considerably less agreeable experience...

Data discontinued the freight train of evocations that came hurtling toward him and concentrated on the androids, his people instead, listening attentively to Soji’s words about the synthetics’ textbook understanding of negative emotions. He had experienced fear shortly after the installment, or should he say the fusion of the emotion chip and his positronic brain, on the Amargosa Observatory. He was glad to ascertain that these androids were not capable of fear — it was a most disconcerting and disarming sensation.

For the first time, his observation of the androids was temporarily suspended; his unspoken question had received a confirmation: Arcana had lost someone, her sister, presumably. His attention was rerouted to Soji, his pale complexion overlayed with a film of compassion — he was familiar with the concept of loss, and he could, despite his inability to experience the corresponding emotions, empathise with others, Arcana, Soji... When their eyes met and his daughter attempted a smile, his synthetic features did not reciprocate the expression; he did not think it appropriate to incorporate a smile in the present context of their conversation — he could be wrong; human behaviour was still not his specialty.

He had discerned two synthetic Blue Morpho butterflies during his precursory survey of the station and its residents; Soong’s proficiency and accomplishments were stupendous — a true virtuous in cybernetics. Data instructed the servomechanisms in his neck to return his head in a position from which he could resume his assessment of the synthetics, but the initiation was promptly cut short at the pronunciation of the name of another old friend.

Spot?! His Spot? Or a facsimile? A namesake...

Immediately, his head snapped back to Soji. His eyes widened in curbed ecstasy, in mild disbelief. Two decades had elapsed, and a small subroutine in the back of his mind reminded him of the inescapable reality that Spot, when he rescued her, had been 10 years old — a rough estimation —, and therefore, could not possibly be alive now...

‘Spot?’

This time, when he gives her a slew of questions, they're much easier to parse. She doesn't have to find the edges of reality and dig up an answer from the rubble. What had been a maddening and disjointed process before was actually much easier now and Soji smiled as they started walking down the hall.

As they passed out of the foyer, the topology below the building dropped down into the plaza. The coridoor they were in remained level and both walls became windows as it did. The view was nice--the strange and colorful plants of Coppelius grew everywhere, the sun was shining, the distant shape of the Artifact was a hazy blue and gold in the afternoon light. They could just see the water of the inlet, but the hills around the station were tall enough that it was little more than a glimmer from this particular spot.

Below, the androids of Coppelius went about their days. A dozen pairs of people, all shapes, sizes, and shades of lustrus, gleaming skin meandered in and out of the plaza. Several were talking, some were tending the plants that popped up throughout the architecture, and a few were playing a game kicking a ball--it wasn't Soccer, but she hadn't asked what it was during all the…everything. Soji spares them a glance and feels happy to see them, but she's sure the sight will inspire more wonder in Data.

They aren't like her and they aren't like him, but they're somewhere in the middle. Their movements have a gentle precision to them, a graceful ease that activates and deactivates in turns. Soji had the impression that their ease was programmed to look human, but she couldn't say how she knew that or where the thought came from. Their expressions ranged from neutral and even to flashes of bright colorful emotion, as did their voices. They seemed alien to Soji, and in some ways they were, but they were also more real than nearly everyone she'd ever known. She has a deep abiding affection for the lot of them.

She doesn't expect the mild self-rebuke he offers and gives him a strange, bemused look. Delivered in his monotone, she can only assume his offer to shut up is a joke. She explains readily, happily, now that the explaining is so much easier.

"There are fifty eight pairs, if I count Arcana and I as a pair," Soji answers because it's one of the few pieces of trivia she can impart. "Then there are…twenty butterflies, I think? And one cat."

Soji pauses at the windows, if only to give him a chance to look, and its such a strange thought. She has more experience with synthetic life than he does? She guesses that is true, bizarre as it is. The accounts he gives of the ones he did know, of his family, and, she supposes, her family are so simple but Soji feels like she absorbs them like a sponge. Each one fills the vacancies left in the wake of her false past.

"We can find out, but maybe not today," Soji offers and lets her thoughts dance back to the Coppelius androids. "I'm sure everyone down there would love to help you. They're all very sweet, curious and kind. They've had one bad day in all their lives and I'm glad for that." Soji debates leaving the rest unsaid, but that feels unfair to everyone involved. "They all have an academic understanding of negative emotions, but Arcana is the only other synthetic here who knows how loss actually feels. Otherwise, even fear is abstract to most of them." Soji looks back at him, her smile a little wan. The expression passes into a wince as Soji has a strange thought: "Oh, well, the butterflies might actually understand fear? Maybe? Spot likes to pounce on them despite not really needing to eat them."

[brinconvenient]

Some day, someone is going to explain pivot tables to me in a way that I can understand and then it's over for you bitches

[convertml]

Harnessing the Power of AI-Powered Market Research with ConvertML

In the dynamic landscape of business today, gaining actionable insights from data is pivotal. AI-powered market research is revolutionizing the way organizations understand their audiences, predict trends, and make data-driven decisions. ConvertML, a leader in AI-powered market research, is transforming traditional market research with innovative tools and templates that simplify data analysis and deliver impactful results.

The Essence of AI-Powered Market Research

AI-powered market research utilizes artificial intelligence to analyze vast datasets, identify patterns, and generate actionable insights. This approach eliminates manual analysis, saving time and reducing errors, while offering unparalleled accuracy and scalability.

Benefits of AI in Market Research

Real-Time Insights: Quickly process data for immediate analysis.

Predictive Analytics: Forecast trends and behaviors to stay ahead.

Dynamic Visualizations: Present data through intuitive visuals that enhance understanding.

Segmentation and Filtering: Precisely target customer groups based on detailed analytics.

With ConvertML’s AI-driven tools, businesses can unlock the full potential of their data, transforming raw figures into meaningful insights.

Market Research Templates: Simplifying Complexity

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[echo-three-one]

How ‘bout Jealous Soap x reader?

Hello Earthisdonut 🌍 🍩

I saw your ask while I was at work and I can't stop thinking about how the story goes... I had a lot of ideas but as I wrote, it kept on swinging on the other direction. Maybe it's my feelings being resonated into the words or an entire force telling me to go this way. Anyways here you go...

A jealous soap x reader fic.

Take me home

You take a deep breath and closed your eyes, clearing away the mixed sounds of random chatter, loud tv commentary and the all the yelling. 'Friday evening shifts are the worst' you thought to yourself as you make your way back to your station, wearing a smile on your face.

"Hey miss!" a customer whistled from the far end of the counter. You hastily walked to him and smiled. 

"What can I get you?" you asked with sincerity in your voice. You've worked long enough to master the art of faking a smile when in fact you are tired, but this job is all you have and the tips kept the bills afloat.

"Two beers and roasted nuts, please." He ordered, you were impressed at how kind he was, unlike the other new customers who reeked of rudeness and bad manners.

"Coming right up, Sir!" you winked as you tend to his order, mentally noting his tab for later. You hand him over the beer, placed on a circular chip that served as a coaster, followed by a heaping bowl of roasted nuts.

This kind of scene continued throughout the night, just with different kinds of people with different combinations of orders. You feel tired but you tend to forget it when you look at the tip jar, the thing that kept you moving forward. It's also the thing that's holding you back from life, you remembered when your best friend told you that you should unwind sometimes instead of rendering overtime during your day offs, to which you replied : "Soon enough", and that was well over a year ago.

As you wiped off the recently left spot by the counter, a well built man immediately took the spot and sat down, you tilted you head upward as the action surprised you. There he was, you couldn't miss his look, he stood out on the crowd because of his haircut, a perfectly cut mohawk and a scar on his left eye. He grinned at you, his blue eyes looked excited as soon as it met yours.

"John? I didn't know you'd be home!" You gasped as soon as you realized he's actually there, quickly putting a shot glass and pouring his favorite drink.

"Hey Y/N! I knew I'd find you here!" his hand gestured for a shake but he quickly dismissed it as soon as he realized he couldn't do it while you're at work.

"Yeah, working as always." you replied, trying to sound contented. He smiled at you as he raised his glass and downed the drink. You couldn't help but look at the way his Adam's apple moved as he consumed the drink.

His face turned into something incomprehensible as he let the taste of the strong alcohol set in, making you chuckle a little. His eyes turned to you as he heard you laugh.

"What's funny?" he asked. You simple shook you head and poured another pint on his shot glass. 

"I'll be back in a few. I have to serve drinks for these wild crowd." You informed him, but as soon as you were about to step out, you hear him stand up.

"What time will you be off?" He asked.

"Two more hours." You replied without looking back. You could feel your cheeks warm up and an uncontrollable smile plastered on your face. 

"Okay. I'll be here till then." he yelled as you entered the door to the employee's area. 

'Shit Shit shit shit.' you whispered to yourself as you regain composure. He felt way off. He didn't act like this toward you before. You could feel something odd between you two, and you're very distracted about it.

You made your way to your manager's office to request a five minute break. You knew he'd approve a breather from you because he was a accommodating to you since day one. You believed it's because you always give it your all in every shift.

You softly knock on his office door and pushed it slightly ajar, peeking your head through it as you saw him on his desk, doing some paperwork.

"Ah, Y/N. You need anything, love?" he greeted in his usual tone. His endearment didn't matter you as he calls every female "love".

"Can I take a five? Just needed to breathe." you huffed. He nodded in approval and stood up. 

"Let's puff it out, yeah?" he smiled as he offered a stick of cigarette.

The cold breeze of the Saturday evening wrapped around your work uniform. The noise from the bar was muffled but occasional screams would echo across the street. You exhaled a long stream of cigarette smoke through your mouth as the relaxing feel of nicotine coursed through your system. Smoking was your go-to activity whenever you feel extreme unexplained emotions, such as seeing John MacTavish after a long time.

"Tough crowd?" Your manager turned his head to you as you casually leaned on the cold metal railing.

"Not really. I just saw someone I least expected to see." You retorted, pressing your lips against the cigarette butt as you closed your eyes and inhaled the vice.

"Someone you hate?" He queried. 

"Not necessarily. But at one point of my life, maybe... It's just... it's complicated." You complained, sighing at the thought of him once again. You mentally fought against yourself whether to reminisce or not, reminding yourself that the reason you went out here was to clear your head, not to fill it with memories of summer 4 years ago.

You fixed your posture and flicked off the cigarette butt to the ashtray. Your boss followed, escorting you back to the office. 

"Thanks for the company. I needed it." You thanked him as you crossed the street. He hummed in acknowledgement as he opened the door for you. You couldn't help but scan the room quickly for a mohawk, but he wasn't around. Maybe he went to the bathroom, you thought to yourself as you get back to your station.

9:59 pm. Your eyes trailed to the huge digital clock by the door, rapidly moving across the crowd still no mohawk in sight. This actually made you sad, he wasn't the kind of guy who dissappoints, you always saw him as a man of his word. You did confirm that he already paid for his tab about an hour and a half ago, just after your short break.

Guess you're going home alone. So much for ' I'll be here till then' you mentally argued, frowning as you wiped off the last glass in the tray.

10:00 pm. You sighed and lazily grabbed your time card and let the huge metal clock record your departure. You felt your energy quickly deplete due to the dissappointment that is John MacTavish.

"See you on Monday!" you waved goodbye to your coworkers who seemed to notice your sudden loss of energy. You push the back door slowly and stepped outside. It was getting cold and you weren't prepared for it.

"Hey." A low scottish accent muttered just beside you, making you yelp in surprise.

"Holy crap, you scared the shit out of me!" you angrily punched his strong arm, hurting yourself in the process.

"I'm sorry." he spoke lazily, almost tired or drunk. You couldn't exactly tell, but it was far from his tone earlier. 

"Pretty chilly, eh?" you asked him, imitating his accent. Something that you always considered a major turn on when it comes to him.

"A little bit. And your impression is way off, I don't say it like that." he retorted nonchalantly making you worry if something happened while he was waiting.

"You seem a little off, what's the problem?" you asked, playfully bumping him while you walked the empty streets on your way home.

"It's just... uh.. Nevermind." he trailed off, his secrecy was making you impatient and you stopped on your tracks. He continued walking, looking down at the ground until he noticed you're no longer beside him.

He turned back. "You forgot something?" 

"I don't get you." you raised your voice. He slowly walked back to you until he's just inches away from your face.

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I should've just asked..."

"Asked what? You told me you'd stay here till my shift is over and then you're gone like that?" you complained, the tone of your voice was demanding and you could see him flinch when words hurt.

"I didn't want to raise suspicion." 

"Who would be suspicious of you?!"

"Shortly after you left, I took a smoke. But I didn't do it by the smoking area. I was way up here, enjoying the breeze." he said, turning to the smoking area which was very visible from up here. Was he sad because he saw you and your manager by the smoking area? What kind of eyes did he have? You didn't want to assume things so you started to supply him with questions to fill in the blanks.

"And? Was the area too sad for you to be all emo like that all of a sudden?" you complained, soing your best impression of an angry person, but you know deep inside that you couldn't get angry at this man.

"Yeah. You could say that." he chuckled. He couldn't even look at you anymore.

"Bullshit." you retorted. He slowly tilted his head and smiled as soon as your eyes met. The view was so gorgeous you almost felt like the world was in slow motion.

"You don't have to believe me if you want. Why are you walking with me home anyway. You could've said no. I bet he has some nice fancy car to drive you home." he blurted, fog started to huff out of his mouth as the snow started to fall from the sky.

"Where are you going with this, John?" you spat, letting the emotions get the best of you. If only he was clear enough then this wouldn't have happened.

"I saw the two of you smiling while talking, I thought to myself. Yeah, she's happy with that bloke huh, I wish I knew that before I invited her earlier." he breathed out. You almost felt guilty, but it wasn't your fault. He easily assumed things that weren't even true.

"What made you think we're together? Just because we're smoking together doesn't mean we're in a relationship. Is that what you thought?" you replied, fighting back helping him on his way to the truth.

He paused, it's as if his whole thought process was shattered when your words stung him. 

"I got jealous. To be fair, I was gone for 4 years... I always thought you already found someone else within that time." he frowned. It was not usual of him to feel this vulnerable.

"Look-" you tried to explain but you suddenly felt his warm embrace wrapped around you.

"I'm sorry..." he whispered. The same words he said before leaving 4 years ago. The same words that hurt you back then and the same words that's going to hurt you at this moment. He was the one that got away, he was the one whom you shared your most magical moments with, but not the one who's going to be there until the end. He'll have to leave anytime soon, as his job requires him to save the world. You told him he could settle for less risky world saving endeavors but he insisted that this was his purpose. And you were not willing to let him choose again.

"You know... you're not supposed to feel jealousy." you consoled, rubbing his well sculpted back. 

"I know... I couldn't help it." he whispered. 

"Let's get you home, John." you whisper to him as he pulls away from you, his face pouted like a baby whose candy got stolen.

"Why are you here anyway?" you added.

"I'm getting reassigned to a new task force. I figured I could say goodbye to someone I hold dear." he smirked, he felt normal, but then again you couldn't help but feel that this would be the last time you'll be seeing him. You we're thinking he won't be able to travel freely back here anymore or worse, he'll be the hero the world wanted him to be.

[tundrainafrica]

Title: Lovebug (12/14)

Summary:

“It might be a bug.”

“A bug?”

“Sometimes the developers of this application make mistakes. This is our first time meeting I’m sure so…Isn’t it a bit weird that we just met for the first time and it rings like this? And for two strangers to coincidentally ring each other’s alarms?“

Levi is the developer of the Love Alarm App and Hange is married to Zeke.

Link to cross-postings: AO3

Other Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Notes: Feedback is very much appreciated :D

It was one of those days where Levi could barely focus.

But it wasn’t anything new. A few days a year, his eyes would be heavy, his back would slump naturally and codes would blur together in some strange way even the most experienced engineers wouldn’t understand. Those days, he had attributed it to exhaustion, to sheer workload or the tension that accompanied impending releases.

It feels a little different. It was terribly unfamiliar and Levi could have almost sworn that it was worse than ever.

Still, he attempted to get back some inkling of control. He opened his workflow tracker, saw green then decided he could consider his priorities later. He opened his checklists and saw meaningless black ink on white spaces then he decided he could start elsewhere.

He opened up a few pull requests, only to end up approving a whole lot of them before even making sense of what fix the developers had been working on. Then, he then assured himself that maybe he could fix errors on the code once they were in production.

It isn’t good practice. A part of him warned. Really, how many times had he heard that from everyone else? How many times had he held those words like a badge and repeated them countless times to his fellow engineers?

But really, how did anyone particularly Erwin, the upper management, the executives, expect him to work after the meeting just that morning. They had dropped a bomb, a very painful truth that he had somehow managed to keep snug, almost invisible at the back of his mind for so many years.

The company ran on too much red tape and officialism. Hell, every fucking comapny ran on red tape, officialism and some tacky version of bureaucracy, all intricately engineered to please the richest stakeholders. Yet, Levi had been working corporate for decades, long enough to learn and just blindly accept them as inevitable parts of work.

Then and there, it was biting him in the ass. So painfully. Levi never expected something as grey and monotonous as office work and corporate politics to bite so painfully.

Ninety five percent chance. Erwin never told him the details of the contract termination but he had some consideration to at least inform Levi that Zeke was very much considering it. In that same meeting, he had casually mentioned the amount of time it would take to finalize it. If Erwin did tell him some specifics, Levi probably didn’t hear it, especially when he had been busy only barely keeping himself together.

Levi soon figured out, although he had been accepting them the whole time, a huge part of him would have gladly rebelled.

By god, he hated bureaucracy, he hated corporate synergy, he hated the concept of investor satisfaction. Most importantly, he hated the whole prospect of everything the past few months ending with some signed contract termination.

And the silent rage continued well inside him, as he mindlessly switched from one tab to the other, unable to make sense of much.

Maybe he had been too busy reflecting, entertaining those very unwelcome emotions.

Was he too soft hearted. Was he taking his job too personally demanding some personal closure? Was he too immature having been so emotionally affected by that memorandum? And maybe that inability to let out anything more than some professional query at his manager had him barely coping.

‘Coping’ came in many forms. It involved the slow realization he was merely an employee, albeit a head of an engineering team. Then another realization soon after that he was in no position to question the upper management’s decision.

It involved a very cruel realization that although he was the head of the emotions alarm project, the one who had developed it from the beginning and the only one who knew the application end to end, the emotions alarm was still corporate property.

By extension, by some fruit of corporate processes and the constant exchange of assets, it was Zeke’s property. All the assets, the codes Levi had created, the pull requests he had reviewed and merged, every long night he spent looking over bugs, had all been because he was paid to do it.

Zeke’s property. He acknowledged those two words and they echoed incessantly in his head as his eyes ran over the codes of the emotions alarm.

The emotions alarm wasn’t his. It was the companies. And when the contract is finalized, it would be all Zeke’s and Zeke would be the one to decide for himself how to work with that application.

Hire another head engineer to work with Hange… Hire other coders… That’s what business is.

He and Erwin had talked for a while after the meeting. Erwin had been careful with his words and maybe he had softened his tone just a bit, as if he had sensed Levi’s discomfort.

In his own state though, Levi could only stumble upon one conclusion. He was just as replaceable as every other employee. And the pain of having been too attached to a project, the impending loss of his own brain child had him catatonic.

Any comfort or attempt at alleviation seemed far off.

He wouldn’t be invited to the rest of the meetings. The fate of that project would be up in the air, mulled over by the top brass of the company, a few lawyers and accountants, then approved by Zeke. Levi on the other hand, would be ordered back to his office to focus on other tasks, expected to function like it hadn’t felt like some slow and painful end of the world, since the incident at the school a few weeks ago.

Any silver lining as he worked was shot down by his cynical side. The next few minutes, he continued to work, just for the bare minimum to get paid. He approved leaves here and there, He mindlessly looked through some code, ran a debugger he didn’t completely understand. He mindlessly scanned through the logs before he accepted, his brain was in no state to work.

Then he opted not to think beyond that. He closed all the windows on his desktop. He opened another folder towards the corner.

His own personal folder. Inside it were the same codes for the emotions alarm he had worked on for Hange’s birthday. But it felt like more of a personal project.

In its own little way, it pulled it out of that catatonic state. By some miracle, the gears of his head were turning again, slowly at first. Then they turned more quickly by the second, sending a rush of motivation through him. Maybe because the upper management still didn’t know about that side of the emotions alarm. Maybe it was because it still felt like a secret between him and Hange. And somehow, his mind was able to twist it. Levi had managed to convince himself, it was still his and Hange’s.

Hange is still here. She’ll come back.

"You know, I'm pretty sure conference rooms are for conferences.”

Levi bit back the surprise at Petra’s sudden visit. "Well we have five empty ones," he said. He had been working in empty conference rooms for weeks already and had silently rehearsed his own explanation already.

"You have your own office," Petra said.

"I know," Levi answered nonchalantly. Maybe most other days, he would have attempted something more engaging.

How engaging could he be though when his own brain child was close to being sold to an investor, its fate completely out of his control?

By some stupid corporate rule, he couldn't tell Petra that just yet. He looked up at her, willing himself to make some meager excuse of eye contact. "You need anything?"

Petra shook her head. "It’s not really work related… Or actually it kinda is... If that's okay… If you're busy I can bring this up another time." She was holding her work laptop closer to her, a subtle move that had been enough to catch Levi’s eye.

For just a second.

Levi looked back at the code. A wave of guilt washed through him when he remembered, it wasn’t necessarily productive work— a very temporary wave of guilt that he easily washed off just recalling the overly reverent attitude the executives had towards corporate processes.

He wasn't busy. The code he had been staring at the past few minutes wasn't company business anyway. "This can be finished later," Levi said as he lowered his laptop screen.

Petra cocked her head to the side. "Boss, are you okay? I noticed you haven’t been working in the office in a while and I know you---”

“The office is a mess,” Levi said. “And I just haven’t had time to clean up.”

“You need help?”

“No.”

“If you’re busy, I could--”

“Petra, it’s my mess to clean up.” He probably had said that last part too abrasively. After all, that mess referred to multiple messes at once and he was more than a little salty about that.

There was a flash of surprise, or maybe hurt in Petra’s face. Levi only had his peripherals to hint for himself how she might have felt. He sighed. “I don’t wanna clean it up but I don’t wanna stay there either. Besides, as long as no one is using the conference rooms, I think it’ll be fine.”

“Well, it is our right as employees…” Petra started.

“It is,” Levi said. He looked back up at Petra expectantly then lowered his laptop screen much lower, he could have easily just shut it down. “So what did you come here for?”

“I wanted to ask about Hange.” Surprisingly, Petra had brought out that conversation topic with a lot more certainty than every line before that.

Hange. And it had brought about an unwelcome twinge of pain inside him. He took a deep breath, letting it spread over his already enervated body. He noticed then, her name had started to seem strangely unfamiliar to his tongue. In truth, he hadn’t said her name in a while.

Levi took a deep breath and repeated her name, just a little experiment for himself. “What about Hange?”

“Your alarm and her alarm. They were ringing back in the gym.”

“That was weeks ago. Why bring it up now?” Levi asked.

Petra gave a slight shake of her head. “I was just wondering. Do you think it’s a bug?”

“It’s not,” Levi said, one eyebrow raised. He wondered if Erwin had ever discussed it with the others. Or wait, that might have been his job.

Petra grinned yet she seemed more hurt than actually happy. “I suspected it was a bug at first. But you know, when Hange stopped showing up in the office, you started acting different.”

“Have I?” Levi asked

“Yeah, you stopped working in your office. The few times I visited, it was a little cluttered but you never liked your office messy right? It only started getting messier when Hange started working closely with you…”

Levi was only becoming more self aware. Suddenly looking at how quickly, he had opened up his laptop, hunched over, just to hide his face behind the screen. He couldn’t even control his own reaction anymore. “And?”

“And when Hange was working… you seemed happier… You started going out for lunch more, talking to us more. You even invited me out…” Around that time, Petra started to stumble at her words, her ears turned a little pink. With time, she started to stumble with her words, to points beyond comprehension. “I know, I might look creepy pointing all this out but there were two points I wanted to make with this.”

“Two...points?” Then why didn’t you just start with it? Levi would have wanted to ask. But he was grateful that the speech was long enough for him to edit two lines of code, even in his own compromised state.

Petra took some time to compose herself. She put one finger up. “First, Hange changed you for the better, there were obvious signs that you were happier, so maybe those can be considered signs of love. Second, that means there might not be a bug and you’re just a really talented developer.”

“That’s reassuring,” Levi said. With his lack of energy, it could have come out toneless. “I mean it,” Levi added.

“If you wanna call it love or not, that will be up to you. But I think it aligns with our expectations for the application,” Petra straightened her back after that, adopting a more professional demeanor. “If possible, I’d love to have a chat with Hange about it. Maybe get her take on my theory…”

Petra wouldn’t have known. The talks had been between the upper management, it would only make its way to lower rung employees as a memo.

A fucking memo. Fuck red tape. Levi thought to himself. When it wasn’t official, could he even tell her?

Fuck that. “Hange might not come back,” Levi said.

Petra’s eyes widened almost immediately, her jaw dropped.

Before she could even speak, Levi continued. “They might terminate the contract. I know they’re discussing the legalities of it. Zeke is going to take the unfinished and have another team work on it. Or at least that’s what I’m understanding.”

“But there might---”

“There’s no chance,” Levi said firmly.

“Levi just---”

“None. There’s none.” Levi shook his head for emphasis. He allowed his voice to rise just a little bit louder than usual. He wanted to shoot down whatever glimmer of hope, before it got out of control.

Annoyingly, Petra had a way of just trying to find hope, the brighter side in most situations. But he didn’t need it. He didn’t want it. In his already vulnerable state, it seemed almost mocking.

And she was still trying. “But Hange----”

Levi banged one hand on the table in warning. “Petra,” he said. “Just stop.”

An abrupt slam on the table had always been enough to quiet people and Petra shouldn’t have been an exception.

In a surprising turn of events, she slammed harder on the table. “No, listen to me Levi.” Her voice was much firmer and at that moment, it didn’t seem like she had regard for differences in positions.

In shock, Levi fell silent and he was compelled to listen to that voice of authority.

“I came here for a reason.” She dropped her laptop on the table, almost louder than the slam she made just a second ago. “We got a support email which you might want to see. This is the reason I went here in the first place.” Petra quickly booted up her laptop. “It’s a support ticket, and the email...it looks like Hange’s.”

hange.zoe@wahu.com

A quick look at the date only confirmed it, it had been there for a week. There was a flyer attached which only sealed its fate as spam mail. Of course, it would have taken weeks to identify it.

But why would Hange use that email? At first glance, Levi couldn’t help but be suspicious.

“It looks like it’s related to Mr. Jaeger’s convention. He’s having one and I thought, you might wanna check it out… If you have unfinished business with Hange, use that opportunity to talk to her.”

It could be spam mail. It wasn’t that hard to create a fake email using Hange Zoe’s name but it was still worth some looking into. A quick google search only confirmed it. Zeke was having an event in one of the most expensive cities in the world, a coastal city a twelve hour flight away.

Still, Levi couldn’t brush off the doubt. Would Hange have used an email with her name? After taking so much of her precious time creating fake emails?

“If this is really her, then that means she wanted to contact us right?” Petra continued. “I think it’s worth a look.”

Maybe all he needed was someone to tell him, a good push in the right direction. Before Levi even realized it, his mind was working harder than ever since the incident three weeks ago, working overtime to justify something as ridiculous as a last minute week-long vacation.

If Hange did send the email, it might be worth it. And if by some chance, it really was spam, then he will have just wasted a good week-long vacation in ‘one of the most dazzling cities in the world.’

Levi could count with the number of fingers in one hand, the amount of times he had been in a long haul flight. The prices for a hotel, a last minute flight and of course, the leaves needed to make the trip were all daunting issues to consider.

He had expected himself to be at least a little more hesitant. A part of him was moving almost automatically. He stood up and slammed his laptop shut. “I think I’m gonna take a week long leave.”

“Since I joined, you haven’t even taken a sick leave. I think you deserve this,” Petra responded. And that peaceful response from her of all people had been reassuring.

“Thanks for that.”

Petra shook her head. “It’s only natural to wish the best for someone right?” She paused, and a weak blush climbed up her cheeks as she bit her lip. “Well, I meant the best for you and Hange. Just see what you can do for her.”

Levi let out a sigh. “But it helps you know.”

And somehow, those kind words had only left Petra more flustered. In thanks, he offered to take her back to her work station, but not much farther than that. He made a quick stop to his still cluttered office, did some quick cleaning up, leaving the white board and Hange’s own work station still untouched, like it has been everyday since three weeks ago.

He went home early that day and as expected, his brain continued to nag.

Was it a useless move? A stupid move? A rash move? Maybe it was. But he wasn't going to tell anyone else, just in case someone managed to convince him out of it.

Levi had taken some precautions. He emailed back, only to get no response. He did some research on the flyer. The event came with different names, trade shows, networking events.

With the objective of bringing together the largest names in neighboring countries… We aim to optimize production, bring about the best quality… Seminars, business dinners, product demonstrations etc.

The words blurred together slowly and before Levi knew it, he couldn’t make sense of it at all. It wasn’t important anyway. What seemed more urgent was the schedule of events right under the spiel.

It was a five day conference and it had already started the night before. Levi opened up his leave credits, still completely full. Most years, it had remained untouched until the end of the year.

He opened up his own bank account. He didn’t have much but he still had more than enough to take that particular risk. And when he contacted Erwin about it, the latter seemed almost excited he was taking a leave.

By some sorcery, he got the one week leave, tagged as emergency leaves. The next afternoon, less than 24 hours after that meeting with Petra, Levi was already in the airport, overnight bag over one shoulder.

He was going on an adventure, some stupid, impulsive and potentially pointless adventure.

***

The guilt never abated. There was something almost surreal, yet seemingly audacious about taking a last minute long leave, after spending years working non stop.

Would anyone understand it? The more Levi thought about it, the more he realized, he didn’t understand it himself. So by some twists and turns of logic, Levi guessed nobody would understand.

He had books he could have read on the plane. There was an inflight entertainment system.

Still shaken by that one week long life, Levi ended up booting up his laptop and spending a huge chunk of the time reviewing pull requests on the flight. Time started to pass like how it used to in the office.

As expected, he got tired four hours in. Losing energy reserves  midday in the office was a very unwelcome experience but something Levi never seemed to completely avoid. It was a very familiar experience that the next few steps had been much easier.

He pulled out the codes, his own personal project folder on his desktop, he stared at the files of codes yet to be merged to the original plan.

Then he started to organize his thoughts. Before he knew it, his fingers were flying over the keyboard.

It could have been some reminder, or just some attempt at shoehorning reason to his impulsive decision to cross the ocean on a last minute vacation. But the more Levi let his brain nag, the more he started to justify. The longer he justified, the sooner he just accepted.

Who cared if anyone else found it sappy. He needed closure.

Then and there, it seemed like closure meant articulating the plans of his own personal project, ideas that had been exchanged that fateful night in some empty playground, ideas that only built and built themselves until they were rows of codes yet to be tested or executed.

Maybe closure was getting the plans for the emotions alarm to Hange.

And as Levi continued to type, he realized, he had a clear idea on how he wanted it to work. Articulating it, planning it into something Hange would have understood was not too much of a tall order.

Connect the emotion alarm to a dashboard… plans on how to quantify emotions, moods… Colors, emotions, suggestions.

Newfound energy had Levi tirelessly working over that plan the whole long haul flight, creating diagrams, appending it with his own notes and suggestions. They were still empty spaces, questions and question marks, space which Hange would have been more qualified to fill herself.

After looking at it once then twice, reading out loud softly too himself the parts that hadn’t made too much sense, Levi scrolled back up and typed four words on the upper left.

Working Title: Mood Alarm.

Hange would probably argue semantics, how moods were a lot more temporary than emotions. And Levi was imagining some outrageous argument in his head and his own responses which would never see the light of day. He stayed staunch with his decision. Unless, Hange could come up with anything more catchy, it would stay.

And that fake argument, had been enough for him to relax. He lowered his laptop screen then reclined his seat and stared out the window. It was still a light blue but there were already hints of purple and pink just straight ahead.

The sun would set soon but only for a few hours. One quick calculation told him, it wouldn’t ever be late at night. Once he arrived at his destination, it would still be day and he would have to adjust quickly.

Tucking his laptop away, he allowed himself a few hours of sleep and he had been lucky to have slept long enough to wake up to a pilot’s message about flying over the city then a good view of unfamiliar landscapes just outside the window.

Levi spent those last few minutes before landing, tracing the skyline, counting the number of tiny boxes that dotted the greens, just inches away from clusters of green, white, silver, then flashes of other colors, too many colors to count.

It was an expensive city. He didn’t need Google to tell him that. Everyone knew it as a city only for the filthy rich. He could imagine Zeke having a house or an apartment there, maybe even two. And he made some guesses of which one Zeke could have owned among the larger ones by the beach. Then he made a much longer reflection of just one Yes or No question.

Would Hange been there? He was still too high up to distinguish humans on the outdoor balconies from tricks of light. Still he pretended that she was on one of the balconies over looking the ocean.

The plane got lower and lower, the houses were starting to look more like houses than little tiny boxes. Close enough, Levi was starting to see the glamour of the city, he was starting to see the glowing characteristics which made it a first choice for the ultra rich.

Sparkling blue ocean, only peppered by speed boats and yachts moored at the docks. From inland, mountain ranges formed crescents and worked with the coast to outline the borders of the cities from miles around.

By some type of magic, the landscapes surrounding it had managed to make the dazzling city its own world. Levi begrudgingly gave some credit to the rich for seeing potential in such a breathtaking view.

Just before the coast were tall buildings among shorter buildings and they were lined up on the flat lands, touching one end of the mountain range then the other. Some were hotels, others were casinos, a few of them were malls. Parks were clustered among the buildings, yet they seemed out of place. They were like some shoddily formed assurance that the city wasn’t out to get any tourist’s money.

Levi was seeing differently. The struggle he went into booking a hotel was already a prelude to whatever he would be dealing with. He silently patted his wallet at his back pocket as the pilot’s final instructions sounded over the whole plane.

"Cabin crew prepare for landing."

And all the passengers had been excited to leave. The plane soon slowed to a stop. Even before the seatbelt sign went off, Levi was already hearing the click of seatbelts. Then everyone filed out of their seats, pulling out luggages from the overhead compartment.

Levi was one of the last few out of the plane. Yet with his lack of check-in luggage, he was still one of the first out of the airport.

Nothing could have completely prepared him for the abrupt shift from dry autumn to a wet perpetual summer. He was greeted by some faint smell of the ocean, almost stifling warmth in the middle of October, and very very humid air that stuck to his skin. Unfamiliar sensations on skin, unfamiliar scents and an unfamiliar language that only blurred into nonsense when they made their way into his ears.

It was a new world, a new adventure, Levi would have never taken under any other circumstances. And maybe that had been the reason why the rush of guilt came back when he allowed himself to marvel over the views, the first hand experience of standing close proximity, breathing the same air of that city he had only ever read about books, or seen in the news.

Levi took a deep breath, pulled off his autumn jacket almost violently.

Then he reminded himself again. If he didn’t find her, he’d still be okay. If he didn’t find her, then that trip will just have been a break.

A well-deserved break.

***

According to reception, his hotel was conveniently located just a five minute distance from the convention center. According to his maps application, it was ten minutes away. Levi though, had taken one hour to make his way there

There were hidden paths that weaved through allies and the occasional mall entrances and exits and maybe that had been what reception had been referring to when they mentioned shortcuts.

Levi walked quickly through them at first before he opened up to a larger road. When his surroundings were more open, when his vision stretched far beyond the narrow walls of the alleys, he thought one of the most beautiful cities in the world to be worth a few detours.

Anyway, he had found the signs were all pointing towards the hybrid building that doubled as a hotel and convention center. It might have been the grandest building all around.

He scanned his surroundings, trying to connect his own view from the plane to his own surroundings. Unable to conjure a very clear and accurate picture of what had come above, he couldn’t confirm whether it had been the grandest building around.

It wasn’t too important anyway.

It seemed like the city was on some journey to prove itself to him. Every path, road, alleyway, shopping street and even the interiors of the mall were all different levels of grand. And they all didn’t disappoint, especially to someone who barely even left his home city.

Clean finishings, newly paved roads, cobble stoned streets and red brick roads all seemed to come straight out of the sappiest rags to riches movies.

One cruel truth though Levi soon found out—and had been expecting anyway—was that everything came with a price.

Of course, it would. But Levi hadn’t embedded that truth deep enough inside him to be able to completely stifle his surprise at the price of bottled water, then the price of a late breakfast. They were all prices Levi would have never considered paying for one meal’s worth of food. So he settled for fast food. And he was sure, he would be eating fast food for every single meal until he flew back home.

Eating burger meals worth twice or thrice what he would have gotten at home was still a harrowing experience. He was on that constant in between state, naturally bitter at the ridiculous cost of living yet still forcing himself to savor those few bites of a sandwich.

And he found some inkling of a distraction just staring out the window, watching the crowds go by as he consumed his brunch slowly.

Then, he noticed, he never stopped thinking about her. She had always been somewhere in his mind, still close enough to the front that a flash of brown hair, a messy pony tail or even a pair of glasses among the crowds were enough to have him eyes wide, chewing slower than usual.

In one quick impulsive move, Levi dropped the burger, pulled out his phone and activated the love alarm.

Just in case.

He put on his earphones, then his baseball cap over it. He finished his food much faster then exited the store.

The love alarm didn't ring as he weaved through the crowds. He put his cap lower on over his face, keeping himself unrecognizable.

So, it shouldn't ring for anyone if anyone can't see me right.

That was expected behavior at least. And Levi was just laying trust on some belief that if Hange was nearby, two things might happen. If Hange hadn’t cleared her alarm history and her alarm would recognize his. Or, even if she used a new account, she would recognize him with a baseball cap covering half his face, and it would still ring.

That was assuming she still used her love alarm.

It was a very small chance and Levi was completely aware of it. So he made his way to the convention center, taking note of the signs with the names plastered on them, with arrows guiding him through shopping streets.

Levi didn't mind the detours, more crowds to attempt to look through. When he finally arrived at the hotel entrance though, he found he was tired and a little grumpy.

With the words at the front mentioning Zeke Jaegers name as a keynote speaker though, he had gained some newfound hope, Hange might just be nearby.

He had done the research at least. There was a visitor's price. There was a guest book.

There would be people selling him medical equipment, the latest medical technology and the drugs, supply chains, just the latest lingo, Levi never bothered to learn.

And he got those business vernacular in slow, stilted opportunities, so separated from one another that he never made sense of them.

He was there for one reason. Hange. So it wasn't too difficult to feign purpose, maybe even pretend that he had a few million dollars resting in his bank account for an investment.

There was a map, the names of some of the companies were in languages he was only familiar with by appearance. It was name recall that saved him then, he saw a few of Zeke's hospitals show up in the convention map. Forming a path in his head, he dove into his crowds, clutching his phone harder, readjusting his earphones.

No ringing. And he couldn’t help but feel a strange emotion, a mix between disappointment and relief. It was quiet and somehow he liked it that way. Yet, that only meant that Hange wasn’t nearby.

But leads to Hange were a good second best option. “Levi--- Mr. Ackerman?”

“Ms. Finger,” Levi greeted.

If Pieck knew anything about the incident at the school, she didn’t make it obvious. She was all business at that convention, decked up in business attire, fliers and a product handbook on the desk right in front of her,

She made her way closer to him, letting out a hand to raise and before Levi could even mirror that same movement, someone cut in between them.

“May I help you?”

Levi could have sworn he had never met that man in front of him. Yet the man was looking at him suspiciously, out of character for someone in a suit and flyers.

Pieck pushed past him."Porco, I'll handle this. So, what brings you here?"

Levi had to play his cards well. "I wanted to talk…" to Zeke? Or to Hange? Which was the better name to bring up?

Pieck nodded at him, an inquisitive look on her face. "To talk…"

"Business…"

"What kind of business? You could relay it through your manager right?"

"it's about the app we're developing." He had his laptop with him then, and only the motion of his laptop to his front albeit had Pieck lighting up.

Of course it would, Pieck had been one of his fans when he had first demo-ed the emotions alarm in the hospital just a few months back.

"You've been planning improvements."

Levi gave a light nod. "I've created plans to further improve the efficacy of the application. I was hoping to talk to Zeke about it, or if he's too busy, Hange." He hoped he had used the right jargon.

Pieck had seemed uncertain there. Yet her eyes had darted to his laptop enough times for Levi to see that she was interested, that somehow she had held a stake in those final products.

"If you want me to show it…" Levi was about to drop his bag and pull it out.

That is, if Peke hadn't stopped him then. "Don't trouble yourself," she said. "But, you wouldn't find Zeke here for most of the day. He only shows up for the business dinners but they're on an invitation basis. I can try asking around, we have a few employees who could ask Zeke."

"If you could tell me where Hange is…"

And that was where things got slightly complicated and somehow Levi suspected from the way Pieck had avoided his gaze yet at the same time, Porco had flashed him with a glare, there was something they knew that he didn't.

Pieck spoke up. "Hange huh? Haven't seen her since the convention started. Even during the days leading up to the convention, she was in and out, more than we could even remember."

"She's unpredictable. Don't think you're going to find her here," Porco added.

"But if you could contact her yourself?" Pieck looked at him pointedly.

"Unpredictable huh?" Levi wasn't all too surprised that they would call her unpredictable. And they had said it with a hint of animosity on both their voices, a tone which very much said 'dont bother', or maybe, ‘contacting Zeke might be the better option."

Levi, though, saw a challenge in that unpredictability. If he played his cards right, he might even find predictability in it.

At the least, he managed to let out a light greeting of thanks before he pulled out of the crowds then past the entrance of the stifling convention.

Levi still kept a copy of a program, taking note of keynote speakers among them. Hange wasn't in any of them so his thoughts flew quickly out of the convention, only rooted there somehow by that offer from Pieck to get him in touch with Zeke's executive team.

No help at all with finding Hange. But Levi couldn't help but just think that their actions may have been calculated. Once again, Levi was groveling about the stiffness of the world of politics and artificial corporate pleasantries.

When that became too stressful, his thoughts went back to Hange.

Hange was unpredictable, in a predictable way. And Levi was sure as long as he strode through the town with some purpose, he could make sense of that 'chaos' she always seemed to exude.

That night, he approached it with some careful premeditation, while considering as well that he was still suffering from jet lag.

He scanned through maps, aerial photos, then pictures from taken from high points in the city. He let his eyes trace over the coasts, then the beaches, the affluent areas close proximity to the beach that strategically overlooked the bluest parts of the ocean. Then he noted a less affluent area that brushed the other side of the mountain.

Focusing on the smaller houses, almost hidden by the iconic skyline, he asked himself, would Hange be there? He didn't have a straight answer but he wouldn't put it past her. Besides, any sense of adventure had started to become a little more welcome.

There was truth to it, Hange was unpredictable. But the predictability to it was, Hange was so unpredictable, she was memorable. He was sure if he would ask about the brunette, someone would know.

If Hange acted like the Hange, he knew, someone might recognize her. Someone in a simple community in a country thousands of miles away from his own, wouldn't know Hange Zoe as anything more than some eccentric brunette.

And maybe that was where he was supposed to start.

The next morning, he bought a bus ticket and he had been lucky enough to even get an opportunity to sit. After all, no one actually visited that city for the locals.

It was almost a half an hour bus away form the city center, and houses by the coastline were getting further apart until Levi reached a point where cabanas were made of simple wood, paths were etched lightly on the ground.

Levi disembarked at one of the more simpler bus stops for miles around, and it didn't look like the bus passed there often.

But maybe it was better that way.

Untouched Nature, free nature is a beautiful thing. Nature once again at its rawest form, at its most candid, not flaunting its best parts for the rich to admire.

And Levi was seeing beauty in the candid.

There were a few local kids, wading by, speaking a language Levi didn't understand and for a second, Levi just stood, breathing in the sour air of some untouched beach. It differed a lot from the beach thirty minutes away. There was no music playing in the background, no strobe lights and Levi concluded one thing.

Hange would have enjoyed this.

Levi would bet money that if Hange did have the freedom to run around, she might have been there. The houses around the area were of a simple kind, so far apart, that Levi had to walk thousands of steps just to get from one to the other. He traced the coastline as he walked, far enough from the shores to keep his feet dry but still close enough that he felt the moist sand squish from underneath him. He was following some path back the way he came, towards the skyline, he noted there were bars among them, seemingly affordable bars, maybe catering to locals.

Levi entered to find chaos. Men in a group playing some possible version of mahjong with rocks, others playing chess and others playing cards with rocks as currencies.

And he was more convinced Hange would have joined them if she had the freedom to move around.

So he took the risk. "Do you get foreigners here often?"

And maybe the word ‘foreigner’ or the word ‘often’ had been unfamiliar to the bartender.

He looked questioningly at Levi but it didn't look like he was completely lost. He turned the younger bartender who looked back at Levi. "May I help you sir?" he asked with a thick yet still very intelligible accent.. Levi suspected he had worked in the city center before.

"Foreigners...do you get a lot here?" Levi was slow at first.

"A few. May I ask why?" And he was starting to suspect the man worked in service.

It looked like the man didn't need the quick adjustments though, so Levi continued. "I'm looking for someone…"

The local gestured for him to go on.

And just like that, Levi found out Hange's predictability. All he needed was some subtle gesture, some consideration, that maybe it would have been best to approach the men hustling chess players by the side, or the other men playing some version of mahjong.

It was just a quick flick of his head towards the gamblers as he tried to find the right words to say.

And the man in front of him figured it out. "Glasses? Brown wavy hair?"

"She likes playing games. She plays here?" Levi asked, just for some confirmation, some proof that he wasn't socially engineering anyone.

The younger man looked at the bartender. The latter broke out into a smile. "Hange?" he said with a thick accent. He let out a laugh then turned to Levi almost suspiciously.

Levi nodded quickly. "Yes, Hange." Hänge Zoe. Should he say her last name?

The bartenders said something to the English speaking local. There was a brief exchange between them and the bartender pointed at Levi.

"Her hair is always messy," Levi said, he put his hands at the back of his head, mimicking the messy way she tied her hair up. "She always wins games. She's very smart. And sometimes, she'd just go out to the beach and she'd get lost in the view."

The two locals look towards each other, their faces suddenly unreadable.

They knew something Levi didn't and Levi knew he was punching blindly just making quick guesses of what Hange would have done. The specificities could also mean they escorted him out with new information.

Yet, somehow, it seemed those descriptions worked. They both smiled, exchange a few words.

"She plays. She wins---"

Levi smiled. "And let me guess, she doesn't keep the money?" And when he saw the grins of the two men widen, he made another guess. "And she gives the money away?"

The man dropped his shoulders and put one hand out in greeting. "What do you need?"

"I wanna see her--- No, I wanna talk to her. Do you know where I can find her?"

"She doesn't tell us where she's going too."

The bartender said something just behind the younger man and the latter's expression changed. They were both pointing at something, seemingly hypothetical, then drawing something with their fingers.

The younger man then continued in English. "I'll take you out."

"Wha--" Levi never had time to finish.

The man guided him out.

At first Levi wondered what he did wrong. The man didn't seem to carry any animosity. He seemed almost excited. "She likes going there," he said with some level of certainty.

There. Initially, it had been difficult to figure out where 'there' was. Following the direction of his finger with his gaze was almost a tall order. But there was only one place from that angle which boasted any level of significance.

He was pointing high up to mountain ranges and from his place by the coast, on the other side of the city, maybe he could make out a small tower that peeked out over the green.

"She likes high places," the man said.

"She told you that?" Levi shifted his grin to something certain then he nodded. "Thank you, I'll check it out."

And that tower peeking out of the mountains was identifiable with just an easy google search, expected from one of the most tourist friendly places in the world.

A tower observatory huh? Was it be open to the public? Sources said yes. What did Hange enjoy there? Levi had an inkling of an answer but he might have to see to it to be sure.

While waiting for the bus back to the city center, he consolidated his clues. Pieck had told him to wait for a message from someone named Yelena. If he couldn't talk to Hange, he could talk to Zeke.

Still, he was covering his bases with Hange but he was a little messy with it. It was all a matter of fate, some inkling of what kind of person Hange would be.

But what would he know about Hänge?

Even on the empty bus on the way back, he left his love alarm on, earphones propped comfortably in his ears.

In the bus it didn't ring but when Levi was weaving through the busiest streets, changing from the city bus to the bus leading up the mountain, it may have rung a few times. And Levi only started to become aware, a few incidents in, that every single time he had stopped, then he would scan the crowds.

One flash of brown hair, sometimes it would show up red under direct streams of light. A bird's nest tied up in a half pony tail or just a very messy one. Or maybe that low voice, which seemed to shift to something shrill almost immediately when excited.

There was only one person he would have wanted his Love Alarm to ring for. So Levi, lowered his cap over his face, boarded a bus and made the journey to the mountain.

***

He didn't go back to the convention center anymore. A long list of programs and keynote speakers only confirmed it, it was a roadshow on business ventures more than research.

But Hange likes business right? Hange likes medicine? Or she might even be wedges among the crowds of tourists among the snazzier casinos, just playing. He then considered playing just to check it out and maybe ask around.

And when Levi was weighing options, he realized Hange was somewhat unpredictable. He was at the mercy of fate, luck and a few well thought out guesses.

So he treated it like some challenge, a challenge he could very much fail. But he would get a better chance of running into her, if he kept to one place.

He picked the summit of the mountain and he parked there for the next few days, laptop bag in hand, sweatshirt over his boardshorts. There was a cafe only a few blocks from the tower with a good view of the main street leading up to the observatory.

And Levi only had to be there a few days to realize, it was off-season and it was off-season for a reason. It was the time of the year, when the weather by the road was a fickle bitch.

That day, the rain was on and off. The northern winds blew strong and Levi almost wished he had brought his autumn jacket. Yet it never was cold or windy enough to be certain it was worth lugging around.

The sweatshirt had been a golden alternative and he found the hood had a dual purpose. Enough, to hide his face so he could keep his love alarm on without receiving too many alarms. And enough to keep him safe from the blinding wind that came with climbing high elevations.

Levi abandoned the baseball cap, instead keeping the hood low over his face. He made himself at home in that cafe that overlooked the main road towards the visitor's center and a platform with a good view of the city. He picked a spot right next to the window. He only had to turn left, to get a peek, yet he was in a good enough position that if anyone looked back, he only had to lean back to be concealed by the opaque wall.

Levi was taking stupid risks. Did she clear her cache? Did she even still use the app? Any of those miniscule decisions would have been enough for Levi to come home empty ended. Yet, they were highly probable decisions. After all, why would Hange want to keep the application after the fiasco months ago. He started to even entertain the possibility that maybe Hange wasn’t even using her phone as often anymore. She hadn’t replied to texts, responded to calls and her number was also out of service.

Everything was against him, every single probability. Everything had been against him since the start anyway so it was much easier to stomach such circumstances.

Levi made for himself an ultimatum. He only had until his flight back, three days after, to talk to Hange.

If he is not able to find her, he goes home empty handed. He cooperates with the transferring of assets, the finalization of the contract. He scraps his own personal project, the colors, the attempt to quantify emotions and the dashboard.

At the least, he tried. He responded to that ticket. He tried to contact her, he tried to look for her. Hell, he was even contacting Zeke, personal pride and corporate processes be damned.

Surprisingly, instead of leaving him more desolate, the high stakes, all against him, had only sent a surge of motivation through him.

Maybe helplessness could do that to people. Or maybe he just couldn’t believe for himself that losing could be such a probable outcome.

Levi turned up the volume of his phone, scanned the crowds just outside the shop. It was off season, the weather was dark and gloomy so it wasn’t too difficult to even count the number of tall lanky brunettes who could have remotely been Hange. And he probably wasted more than enough time looking closely at each one, before accepting that twinge of disappointment every time they looked back revealing an unfamiliar face.

He never failed to remind himself how stupid of a plan it was. In the end, his best option really was to wait for a message from Yelena. Even if he would have preferred to discuss the plans with Hange himself, without that monkey as an intermediary.

When the disappointment accumulated, becoming too much to bear, Levi opened his laptop again, checked his work trackers, then his own project but he always made sure to look out, in between lines of code, or in between tickets or pull requests.

Just in case. Just in case, one of the brunettes was Hange.

When his love alarm finally rang, Levi had been reviewing a pull request. The surprise lasted for a second, the horror at realizing if that person hadn’t opened their love alarm, he wouldn’t have noticed her, lasted a little longer.

But he couldn’t be too sure it was her. She had on a cap, her hair tied up on a high ponytail. It was wavy and untamed, yet bunched up in such a way that maybe even her hair felt stifled. The ponytail swung wildly with even the slightest movement of her head.

And she was moving a lot, head bent down at first, looking at her phone, then at two kids next to her.

She was part of a tour group and those kids didn’t seem like hers. The alarm stopped for a while, and Levi used that short rest to check the schedule of the convention he had downloaded just yesterday. There was a tour that day. So it could be her.

Still, he couldn’t be too sure. His alarm rang again. Then when he was watching closely, he saw her jaw drop, he saw her explain something to the kids. Then she started to scan her surroundings and when Levi used that flash when their eyes met for just a second, he suspected.

But maybe their eyes haven’t met. She was wearing sunglasses.

And there was still a good chance it wasn’t Hange. But from her reaction, from the reaction of the kids, then the way she poked at her phone and the way the heart just suddenly disappeared then appeared then disappeared from his phone within few second lags, Levi decided it was a risk worth taking.

He continued to stare. And the brunette continued to scan her surroundings. She bent over, said something to both kids, then patted one on the head. And she turned around, looking through the cafe window.

And Levi turned off his own alarm, leaning back on the chair, just far back enough to hide.

What was he scared of? It looked like she could have been scared too. She didn’t bother to come nearer, or to even crane her neck to see just behind the wall right next to the window. She shook her head, a half smile played at her lips. And she walked away from the cafe, back to the tour group.

A disappointing turn of events. And Levi was scolding himself. It almost seemed surreal to even find Hange there, after losing contact with her for months. But he couldn’t be too sure that it was her. And how many times had he repeated it to himself.

Heart beating wildly, Levi let out a wretched sigh and slammed his laptop close, loud and hard enough to jarr him and even his closest neighbors. Who cared anyway? He continued to stare at Hange, and just for some level of security, just in case his emotions took more control than he allowed, he put the hood of his sweat shirt over his head, zipped it up a little higher over his neck and stared out.

She was talking to the tour guide. The tour guide shook his head, then pointed just above him.

Grey skies. Levi understood gesticulations enough to get that part.

The tour guide then pointed at the cafe then at the shopping streets but maybe she wasn’t listening anymore. She turned to the sky and Levi followed her gaze to see that she was probably looking at the tower, the base was visible from his view but even when he bent his head to the side, he couldn't make out the top. He made it a game for himself, he craned his neck, just to see how far up he could make out from his comfortable seat in the cafe.

Then eventually, he gave up, yet the brunette was still looking up, her head hung back, almost freely. Her mouth a thin line. And it was only when Levi heard the loud murmurs, took note of the sudden shift of the cafe atmosphere from peaceful to bustling, did he realize she had been left all alone.

The whole tour group was inside the shop.

Except her. She walked ahead. And if Levi were right, and that was her, he might as well follow. For the first time in a while, he wasn’t coiling the charger of his laptop before stuffing it into his bag. He wasn’t placing it hinge first into his bag. He stuffed everything, leaving chaos in his wake.

But he didn’t have much time anyway. Besides, cafe was starting to get too crowded for comfort. He exited the shop, and she was still in view, for just long enough for Levi to make out, that she had turned a corner.

If a part of him wanted to hesitate, if a part of him was holding him back, he didn’t let it take over. He didn’t have much time to consider the situation either. After all, she was moving fast and the winds were enough of an adversary already. So he ran, holding his laptop bag close to his side. He was grateful, he had at least tightened the hood of his sweatshirt.

The corner she turned on, opened up to a smaller cobblestone road, and at the end of it was the entrance of the tower. She opened the door with the sign ’authorized personnel only’, and she didn’t come back out.

Many feet behind her, but still unperturbed, Levi followed behind. The first floor was wide, and it acted as shelter, an ante room to a visitor’s center maybe, and there was a small open room to the side. A rope acted as some weak barricade to the entrance with a sign hanging in front.

Closed due to weather conditions

Uncertainty was another adversary. He turned to the glass door of the visitor’s center. He could look for her there. After a small peak through the glass, he realized if he went through there, he might just get a little self conscious, he might just hesitate to even climb over the rope.

In the slow few seconds that followed, Levi considered several things.

If she wanted to go to the visitor’s center, she would have gone through the main door. If she were Hange, it wouldn’t be too outrageous to imagine her climbing over a rope or even opening an ‘authorized personnel only’ door. And the more he thought about it, the more he realized, the bartender was right, his own instinct could be right.

Hange loved adventure. Hange loved freedom.

And as he stepped over the rope, then entered the hollow area where the spiral staircase climbed endlessly, he realized, his instincts, his decision might have just been right.

The footsteps echoed loudly, bouncing one end to the other over the hollow walls. Even when he couldn’t make out movements, just staring above him, towards the dizzying top, he made out the echoes.

And that could be Hange.

Or it could be an illusion. Levi added a second later, as he started the journey up the spiral staircases, the laptop bag dangling precariously on his side. He was dealing with too many sounds at once, and they all echoed in the narrow room, that Levi couldn’t be too sure if her footsteps had been his own imagination.

Still, he climbed.

Hundreds or maybe even thousands of steps in, it became an issue of sunk costs. The rubber soles of his shoes on the metal, the slap of his laptop bag on his side. And the few times he looked back, the few times he allowed himself to slow down, he heard an echo, unfamiliar footsteps, the shoes not his own.

A few times, he tried to go faster, just to beat the sound. When he sprinted up steps, losing count along the way, he remembered he had to conserve energy. The sounds were blurring against each other anyway.

So he settled for a quick jog. The monotony that came with jogging had him thinking, the spiral case really was endless. He wondered how many feet he had climbed.

A few times, it was tempting to run. A few other times, it was tempting to walk. A few times, he wondered how nice it would be to be able to fly, just float all the way down like a bird. Soon enough, he was high enough that just looking down made him dizzy, left his stomach turning.

He started to focus on what was ahead anyway, even when it was all just some predictable pattern of stairs and stone walls. Along the way, maybe he had started to lose feeling in his legs, just like he lost track of the echoes, or maybe she had just stopped climbing altogether.

Close to the top, there was a platform that led to a doorway. And Levi only had to push open, to be greeted again by winds. Suddenly they were coming in all directions at once, enough for Levi to put both his hands over his eyes. Enough to have him bending his knees, trudgling forward, one step at a time.

He was at the top of the tower, the highest point for miles around. When he got his bearings, started to accept the wind as an inevitable companion, he had managed to sprint forward, lean his elbows on the arm railings and look forward, at the magnificent view that stretched past the hotels, the shopping malls and the casinos.

The mountains beyond that and just next to them, the empty beaches, the local communities.

A few times, he closed his eyes, allowing them some reprieve from the harsh winds. And around the time, when he started to notice the grey sky, the streams of light that seemed to let bright colors glimmer, the few parts of the land they touched, he easily remembered why he had been there in the first place.

Of course, Hange enjoys this.

He looked around him once. Then twice, just in case the first time had been a trick from his tired eyes. She wasn’t around. Then he started to question himself.

Is she really here? Or were the echoes of footsteps just an illusion?

Was he going crazy?

It could have been from the strong winds, or the crushing disappointment, but around that time, he found it difficult to breathe. He felt tears prickle in his eyes. He swallowed once, and that had been enough to keep his face unmoving.

He looked back at the view, then at the grey sky above, the streams of light that were only getting smaller as dark clouds hovered over the city, then at the neon lights that only started to glow brighter with each stream of light that disappeared.

The wind started to blow harder, the trees down below rustled, creating their own glimmer of green, all dancing at once. Then he looked up at the ocean, the waves only getting larger, as the direction of the winds started to become unpredictable.

Sometimes, his hood was pressing harder towards the back of his head. Sometimes, it pushed from the front, blowing his bangs out of his face. It was chilling his cheeks, forcing the salty yet very sour scent of the ocean through his nose, then his half open mouth.

The wind brought with it many things at once, utter chaos, in separated parts. Most Levi couldn’t even understand.

I love you. At first, he thought it to be the whistle of the wind. Then a second later, he decided that he was just going crazy.

Then the wind stopped for just a second, the whistle, the blowing deadened into nothing for just a few seconds.

A few seconds enough.

“I love you!”

A few seconds long enough for Levi to trace the voice to a strange location, above him, yet behind him. He traced it to the brunette, cap still propped snugly on her head, her ponytail swinging from left to right.

Her sunglasses were off, she stood balanced on one of the lower rungs of the rail. There were still a few streams of sunlight left, yet they shone on Hange, bright enough for Levi to see red, in her ponytail, to see those roundish hazel eyes, those cheekbones and hint of pink in them.

Red. For a while it looked like a fire, the smell of the sea tickled his nose, then a wave of horror. Then loss?

See you later, Hange.

She stood there, meters above him, far enough for Levi to still doubt yet still close enough that with a longer look, Levi accepted, he was obliged to believe it.

It was Hange. The longer he looked at her, the more certain he became, the more money he would have put into such a wild conjecture.

But what the hell are you doing here?

Comprehension was a slow process, muddled by surprise, disbelief and confusion at his own reaction. Impatient, Levi had exited the spiral staircase to a platform a few meters below the top, while she had climbed all the way up. That left them in two completely different floors, two completely different platforms, a good distance away from each other.

And it didn’t look like she noticed him.

Then who are you talking to?

She continued to look straight ahead. She took a deep breath then screamed again.

I love you.

The wind caressed his face again and the words came again as a whisper.

The few times Levi opened his mouth, he noticed. When the wind was strong enough, the clearing of his throat, the grumbles didn’t come out as expected. As if the wind stole his words, and carried them away with it.

And the wind wouldn’t tell its secrets right?

Exhausted, terrified, confused then frustrated. Unwelcome tears threatening to force themselves out, Levi decided he was desperate for someone who’d listen but he he didn’t want anyone capable of judgement.

He took a deep breath. “I love you!” With the wind blowing in all the directions at once, his ears snug under his hood, it came out as a whisper. It was as if his body saw an opportunity for a cathartic release in the potential listener in the wind. Even as his throat burned, he screamed it again. “I love you!”

I love you. Hange’s voice seemed to ride with the wind, once again, he heard it as a whisper. Looking back up, Hange had dropped back on the platform, her two hands cupped her mouth. She dropped them and took a deep breath. She dropped her shoulders, then stared up at the sky, her head hung back. And she looked like she was about to collapse.

And maybe he looked the same way. He wanted to collapse too, with the weight over his shoulders, another, more deeply embedded exhaustion reared its ugly head.

But he wanted to hear the rest of it. He couldn’t be too sure who she had been talking too. Either way, he was sure it didn't change anything. Whether she felt the same way or not, love was love.

He took another deep breath. “I love you!” The wind was only getting stronger and once again, it snatched the words out of his mouth, his throat raw, almost burning. He didn't even know wind could burn until that moment, until he noticed the ache in his tongue.

Hange didn’t seem to notice. She still continued to stare straight ahead, then up at the sky. She put one hand over her eyes, wiping sweat. Or tears?

And maybe his mind suspected tears. And maybe tears were contagious. They came out unwillingly, as something that just welled at the rims.

And maybe if he just screamed again, they’ll force themselves back. “Hange Zoe.” He took a deep breath. “I love you!” He had been more strategic, letting it out a split second later, when the wind was whistling, almost screaming.

The wind might never take those words to her. But he didn’t seem to mind, the words had been for him more than anything.

Levi…. I love you...

The wind was strong enough, rain started to patter over the stone platform. And it became difficult to distinguish screams from the whistling of the wind. So Levi couldn’t be too sure. Still, he listened closely.

...In another life… Okay?

The rain was cold. The dampness pressed the hood closer to the back of his head, then the edge of his hood hung low over him, obscuring his view.

Yet the wind still found a way in, it first caressed his cheeks again, then tickled his lips as if forcing something out of him.

It goaded. It teased. And Levi had always been a sore loser, even if he never told anyone.

Alone, with no one there to hear him, but the wind, and Hange beyond ears reach, Hange who had barely noticed him, the words were forcing themselves out.

He looked back to see her standing, leaning closely over the railing. The strong rains, the ferocious winds had reduced her to a shadow.

And he was sure, she probably hadn't seen him.

Another surge of confidence. Then one deep breath. By some unexpected rush, Levi was starting to feel some strange anger. And Hange’s own staunch acceptance, the way she just gripped the railings and stared ahead, was only aggravating it.

“I don't wanna wait for any more next lives!” He let out a painful cough after that but even that didn’t penetrate the rumble, the pattern of the rain and the gusts of wind that surrounded him.

I want you. It was a weak whisper at first. Recovering from that last bout, Levi attempted once again. “I want you now.” Even when he couldn’t hear it himself, he felt it, the rawness in his throat, the anger that laced every single word. “Love is a choice right? Then I made my fucking choice! I want you! I want you now!” He wasn’t talking to anyone in particular, the figure hidden by a thin veil of rain.

The figure that eventually disappeared into the tower.

He eventually got tired of looking up. His neck ached, his vision started to blur and the hood hung damp over his face.

Levi only realized then, how much he had been holding in. In fact, it never felt all his to begin with. Cathartic releases weren’t all they were cracked up to be. Hell, Levi didn’t even notice how much had actually been released until he leaned back on the wall, until he realized, he didn’t mind at all being covered head to toe in water and dirt.

Humans were unpredictable. They were incomprehensible. And the moment that everything fell into place, Levi let it sink in.

He loved Hange. He wanted her. He wanted to be selfish about it.

“That’s what a choice is right? Doing what I want?” Levi whispered, making some sense of Hange’s own words, he mimicked her voice, her mannerisms as he said those first words. He then lowered his tone, into something more natural. “We’re not fucking robots Hange. We want things. We feel things.”

He didn’t need to tell her that. High up on the tower Hange had been screaming. He was certain of that. Hange had been leaning forward, she had been breathing hard.

She was feeling. She was human. She was free.

And Levi wondered why she had seemed so desperate, so eager to let something out, as if every other moment outside the tower had been stifling.

“That’s life married to a billionaire huh?”

He couldn’t blame her for screaming. HIs only little game of copycat had him exhausted too but somehow, by some sleight of hand, some magic, it had him calm, peaceful even under the strong patter of rain.

Articulating only made emotions all the more real. The signs that he hadn’t been the only one chasing blindly was reassuring.

And maybe that was all Levi wanted anyway, that was the final closure to that long game of cat and mouse. Levi turned to his soaked laptop bag, he maneuvered his way back inside the shelter. He zipped his bag open, let out a sigh of relief to see that the case had done its job to keep the laptop dry.

Then alone on the stairwell, he leaned on the wall, noted the sound of footsteps many feet below. He opened the laptop, then before even booting it, he closed it again and took a deep breath as one realization dawned on him in those slow steady movements.

In truth, he didn’t mind never showing the plans to Hange. Maybe he had just been looking for some excuse to see her, some attempt at closure.

“You got it,” he whispered to himself, hands cold and shaking even under the humid tropical air. “You can stop now…” But something inside him continued to lightly boil. “So what? Do we wait until the next life?”

Nobody answered.

He opened his phone, then his mood alarm. He already predicted the color on the screen.

Green. Happy sad? Or sad happy?

At that moment, Levi concluded, desire and acceptance could begrudgingly coexist.

***

Levi had no plans of going back to the convention. Yet, after that night, he had one more day left, one more day to check the city.

He did a quick google search, reading through long reviews on beaches, on the mountains, the hiking trails, the tower and the shopping street. None of them seemed interesting and Levi almost considered just curling up in bed on the last day and allowing himself to recover from the ordeal the night before.

And even if his mind had been willing him to find some other purpose. Levi found, as soon as the adrenaline rush ended, all he wanted to do was lie in bed. Only standing on two feet long enough to get him through a shower and curled into bed.

His mind was racing with other questions. Could Hange move? Was Hange moving? Was she walking? Was she talking? As if nothing happened? And the more he thought about it, the harder it became to move.

He slept through the night. By morning, he had enough strength, enough need for stimulation to pull his laptop closer. He ran his hand over the keyboard. It was fully dry. He realized he would rather wait a few more hours before opening it again.

He turned back to the ceiling. Rest. He whispered to himself. You don’t need to go out. You went on enough adventures to last a lifetime.

A fucking lifetime. It felt like sour graping. And Levi soon found himself admitting to sour graping. He would have wanted more adventures if it meant more time with Hange.

But real life didn’t work that way. Life expected people to decide on circumstances, never on emotions or actual thought.

So what’s the point of being fucking human then?  Rejecting the world as a whole, made it easier to just roll over and nap again despite the light streaming through the window.

And Levi was in and out of sleep, the only view was the plain white walls of his hotel room, and whatever light reflected on it. Some natural need for stimulation had him jumping at the sound of the phone ringing.

Instinctively, he pulled his hand behind him, dragging the phone roughly from the side table.

An unknown number. Hange. The unwelcome part of him tried to rear its ugly head again. He put the phone to his ear. “Hello?” He kept his voice cold, just in case it was her, or wasn’t her.

“Mr. Ackerman?” An unfamiliar voice on the other end and Levi couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman speaking.

“Speaking.”

“Ms. Finger told me about your request, about your plans for the Mood Alarm. I ran through it with Mr. Jaeger and he would be happy to host you for dinner, then for a private meeting in his suite."

“No need,” Levi said.

“No, he insists.”

“It’s not worth your time.”

“Mr. Ackerman, listen.” And the voice on the other end was firm. “Mr. Jaeger has invited you to dine with him. He took the time out of his busy schedule to do this. This is a formal invitation, if he is interested in your plans he will tell you himself.”

Levi didn't respond immediately. He couldn't think of much else to say yet.

“Will you dine with him?”

Levi put the phone in front of him, put it on speaker and just stared at the unknown number. Could this be a scam?

As if to answer his question, the person on the other line only continued. “We have added you to the guest list for the dinner tonight, just give your name to the reception at the hotel. Mr. Jaeger will see you there.”

And the person on the other end, did not give him time to protest. Levi thought it almost rude to call back, to even bother anyone over a decision that was just his to make.

Hours of contemplation later, Levi decided to just show up and lay low. Besides, what was the worst that could happen? He had already reached the point of acceptance the day before.

[ukuiu2u]

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