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gendercensus · 3 years

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On plural inclusivity and "plural they"

In the Gender Census feedback box and elsewhere I have frequently been asked:

to make the annual Gender Census survey more inclusive of plural participants, and

to add "plural they" to the checkbox pronouns list alongside "singular they" in order to be inclusive of plural participants.

It's a rambling topic, so I'll address them in sections in that order.

INCLUSIVITY RE: PLURAL PARTICIPANTS

I've been inviting plural people to take part in a short survey about the Gender Census, asking questions that help me get a feel for the issues involved and asking about whether people feel included in the survey (and why or why not). At the time of writing there have been 139 responses, I will leave it open for ongoing feedback, and I'm unlikely to be publishing the spreadsheet of results in full because the responses are off-topic and very personal. However, I will refer to some individual responses as well as my personal experience discussing inclusion with plural systems.

Here's a graph based on the responses so far:

I'm asking for direct feedback about this issue because over the past few years plural folks have been one of the more consistently vocal groups in the feedback box of the survey and elsewhere, which would usually be fine, but I've been finding it very overwhelming and confusing. I think that's because the advice/demands/questions have been unusually inconsistent, often to the point of being in direct opposition to each other, and the result is that I have no idea what to do.

Before now, most plural people have understood that it's quite a nuanced issue. When asked I would explain that if they felt that filling it in once for the whole system made more sense they should do that, and if individual system members felt strongly that they should participate alone then they could do so.

This year it got to the point where I had to make a decision and write unambiguous, easy-to-follow guidance about how plural people should fill in the survey, because I had one system submitting dozens of responses and giving the exact same three points of feedback, paraphrased, over and over - making it look like many unconnected people felt strongly about these particular issues, when in reality it was all this one system. I decided that, to be as fair as possible, plural people should fill in the survey once per body.

When I posted about the "once per body" policy on social media I received very little direct feedback, which leaves me in the position of not knowing whether that's because I did it right and you have no complaints or because you've all jumped ship! The statistics and comments from the plural feedback survey are very helpful in this regard:

It seems that plural participants, on the whole, are fairly understanding about it all, often supportive, and are still able to participate. ("Unknown" and "no strong feelings" together are a much higher proportion than I expected.) Some positive feedback included appreciation for the ability to select as many gender identities and pronouns as one wants. Common arguments against the policy include feeling that system members are not treated as people in their own right, which is understandable; the Gender Census is designed to present practicable data about nonbinary people for use within a system that assigns one identity per body, socially and bureaucratically. A "once per body" policy makes sense when prioritising nonbinary people, but adds to the list of crap that only plural people have to struggle through when they're not the main focus of the research.

I was surprised that only a couple of people pointed out that some systems have amnesia between members, and so some systems may participate more than once per body unintentionally. (I understand that this is unavoidable, and I certainly wouldn't be upset about it. Sometimes non-plural people participate more than once by accident, too! On the scale we're talking about, I'm unlikely to even notice it happening.)

Back when I first started to get requests to make the Gender Census more plural-inclusive, my first move was to ask people what exactly they felt excluded by. Responses to this have been continuously nebulous, to the extent that I don't think I have ever made any design changes to the annual survey at all as a result. I also asked what they would do to improve the survey and help them to feel included, but this has yielded very few viable ideas for how to move forward, just because so many of the ideas that people suggest are mutually exclusive.

As an example, I spoke to one member of a system who expressed, understandably, that their experience of themselves as plural inextricably affected their experience of their gender(s), and after some discussion they concluded that the two were so intertwined that it made the most sense for it to be included in the identity question, e.g. a checkbox called "plural" alongside nonbinary, genderqueer, trans, etc. I explained that I don't arbitrarily add things to the checkbox list, but it would be counted if it was typed into a textbox underneath, and if it went over 1% I would consider adding it to the checkbox list. They became increasingly angry. The only way this situation would make sense for them moving forward was if I added "plural" as an identity checkbox option immediately. Conversely, just a couple of weeks previously I had spoken with a member of a system who was very vocally distressed at the idea of plurality being conflated with gender, and wanted to make sure that I never added "plural" as an identity checkbox option.

As another example, in the plural feedback survey when I asked people how they felt about the "once per body" policy, a member of one system was against it and said "it feels like this policy doesn’t recognize us as separate people", but a member of another system was in favour and said "we're encouraged by our therapist to think of ourselves as dissociated parts of a whole. So we're all one person, just not directly connected like a singlet [non-plural person] would be. From that perspective, it makes sense to keep us as one person in the gender census, no matter how many genders we have." It's not possible to reconcile these two perspectives.

From the very beginning up until now, the unifying theme for feedback from plural people and their allies is "please be more inclusive of plural people." That's a really good start! After that it becomes a plate of tangled spaghetti.

Here are some themes I've managed to tease out, and my thoughts.

"Each system's alter should be able to participate in the survey individually if they want to." Some systems have literally hundreds of alters, and several systems have acknowledged in the feedback survey that this is probably both impractical for many plural people and unfair on singlets.

"We're okay with taking part once for all of us in the system, but we're just checking all the boxes that apply to at least one of us, and some of those are explicitly disliked by at least one of us. This is uncomfortable." I think that's... probably okay, actually. Other subcategories of participants whose identities fluctuate that strongly (e.g. a genderfluid person who is sometimes very male and sometimes extremely not male) or whose pronouns are context-dependent are also in this predicament. Participants often express a desire to rank their identity terms by importance, accuracy, fluctuation or frequency. The survey aims to collect broad and fuzzy data about a very large group of people, to monitor trends and let people know what language we're comfortable with on the whole. This survey just isn't looking for that kind of nuance.

"We're okay with taking part in the survey once for everyone in the system, but there should be a way to separate out responses about different alters within that one response." It's literally impossible to program the survey to have infinite subsections for each alter, but if it were possible, what would I do with the data? I think the most likely approach would be combining into a list of identities etc. "per body". The participant would feel better for being able to enter different words for different alters, but it would be more work for them, and it would be more work for me to process responses from plural people just to have them be counted like those from non-plural people.

"There should be a 'plural' checkbox in the identity list so that we can express that our gender is influenced by our plurality." I consider adding terms to the identity checkbox list when they're typed into the textboxes by over 1% of participants. There are some situations where I'll make an exception to that rule, but it's unusual and this isn't one of them. Whether you enter a term using a checkbox or a textbox makes no difference to how well-represented you are in the results.

Maybe just a question that asks if you're plural, with a checkbox? What would this checkbox do? Plurality is beyond the scope of the survey, along with things like height and eye colour. It would allow curious people to analyse the responses using plurality as a variable, but I wouldn't include it in any analysis in an annual Gender Census report.

That last one is particularly interesting, because it's what I actually did in the supplementary survey. I wasn't 100% sure in advance whether or not I would need that information for the singular vs. plural they issue, so I included an "I am/we are plural" checkbox just to be on the safe side. As far as I could tell, the survey was no more or less materially inclusive than the annual Gender Census survey. There were a couple of interesting patterns to report in the statistics, but the main things I noticed were:

Feedback saying that the survey wasn't inclusive of plural people was non-existent.

Several people thanked me in the feedback box for making the survey plural-inclusive.

Several people promoted the survey on social media by using its plural-inclusivity as a selling point.

Again, the supplementary survey didn't take a different approach. There was no particular difference in language, there was no indication that whether or not you're plural would be integral to the reporting of the results or even used at all, the only difference was the existence of a checkbox that let participants declare their plurality.

That's all it took to cause a complete U-turn in feedback. A checkbox that doesn't relate to gender or connect to any of the other questions in any way, and isn't particularly statistically useful based on the supplementary survey. It doesn't make the survey more inclusive, it just acknowledges that some participants are plural, and gives them a way to declare it.

Whether or not participants are plural is beyond the scope of the Gender Census, which aims to collect broad data about how we as nonbinary and otherwise genderly-interesting people want the world to see and describe us. It just doesn't make sense to include questions about plurality in future surveys. But I'm honestly amazed and a little confused, because until the "once per body" policy was added it seems that there wasn't actually anything about the Gender Census that prevented plural people from participating, at least not more than anyone else whose genders change significantly over time.

SHOULD "PLURAL THEY" BE ADDED TO THE CHECKBOX PRONOUN LIST?

This is something that participants often ask me to do in order to make the survey more plural-inclusive, so I decided to seriously consider it.

The first draft of the supplementary survey asked over 1,000 participants about this issue, but I had to scrap those responses and then redesign and restart it because, even though dictionaries are fairly clear on what exactly "singular they" is, a lot of survey participants who are not dictionaries seemed to be in disagreement (or confusion) about what singular they and plural they actually are. I have been unable to find any academic or reference articles online using the phrase "plural they" at all.

Here are some of the things people have told me recently:

"Singular they" is when you use "they" with singular verbs, e.g. they is a teacher.

I can't say that I use "singular they" pronouns because I always say "they are". "They is" just sounds wrong to me.

"Plural they" is when you use "singular they" pronouns to refer to a system/someone who is plural.

"Singular they" and "plural they" are grammatically identical except for the name.

"Singular they" and "plural they" are functionally the same and should be combined into one option called "they" in the annual survey.

Let's start by stating what we do know for sure.

THEY VS. SINGULAR THEY

For the record, "singular they" is defined by its purpose and context, not the specific words used.

Wiktionary says:

they (third-person, nominative case, usually plural, sometimes singular, objective case them, possessive their, possessive noun theirs, reflexive themselves, or, singular, themself)

It then goes on to specify three use-cases:

third-person plural, referring to two or more people

third-person singular, referring to one person

"indefinite pronoun" - people; some people; people in general; someone, excluding the speaker. E.g. "they didn’t have computers in the old days."

So we've got "they" (groups), "singular they" (individuals), and "indefinite they" (an "other" that is ambiguous in number).

Again, I have never found anything academic or, er, dictionarical (lexicographical?) that calls any of the forms "plural they", so my first job is to find out whether what Gender Census participants are calling "plural they" is the same as what the dictionary just calls "they", which is defined as the set used to refer to two or more people. For the purposes of this article I will call it regular "they".

WHICH WORDS MAKE UP SINGULAR THEY?

Even though most dictionaries will state which words make up singular they, and it's usually they/them/their/theirs/themself, if you change individual words within the set or even around the set it is still called "singular they" if it is used to refer to only one person. This might happen due to regional or cultural variations. So whether you say "they is a writer" or "they are a writer", whether you say "themself" or "themselves", if you're talking about only one person, it's still singular they.

In the annual survey, singular they is consistently chosen in the checkbox pronoun options by the most participants, usually more than twice as popular as the next most popular option. (I use the dictionary-provided set, and I've checked it's still the most commonly used in several polls and surveys along the way.) In the annual survey, singular they is presented as:

singular they - they/them/their/theirs/themself (e.g. "they are a writer")

WHICH WORDS MAKE UP PLURAL THEY?

I had never heard of "plural they" before people started asking me to add it to the checkbox list in the feedback box of the annual Gender Census survey, but it seemed clear from the name that it is meant to be contrasted with singular they, and I wondered if perhaps everyone else had been calling regular "they" (for referring to two or more people) "plural they" this entire time and I just hadn't noticed.

It was specifically presented to me by participants as a pronoun that a plural system could claim, and that a plural system might prefer over singular they. This tallied with my initial assumption that "plural they" may just be regular "they" referring to groups, since a system is a body containing two or more distinct individuals, so if they wanted to be referred to as a group then singular they would be inappropriate and regular "they" would fit.

I went to the pronouns spreadsheet of the 2021 Gender Census, and took every pronoun set that was named and copied it into a new spreadsheet. I ran a query to list all sets that contained both the words "plural" and "they" in the name field. There were 71 results, out of ~44,500 total responses. I ran another query to find out what these people were entering in the reflexive field, and here's what I got:

themselves - 61 (85.9%)

theirselves - 3

them - 2

themself - 2

themself (plural) - 2

theirself - 1

So I think it's safe to say that the set that people are calling "plural they" uses "themselves" as the reflexive, which is consistent with dictionaries' reporting of regular "they".

I conclude that most people do mean regular "they" when they refer to "plural they". "Plural they" seems to be they/them when used to refer to two or more people, including the plural reflexive "themselves".

As in "singular they", if you change individual words within the set or even around the set it is still called regular "they" if it is used to refer to two or more people. This might happen due to regional or cultural variations. So whether you say "they is writers" or "they are writers", whether you say "themself" or "themselves", if you're talking about two or more people, it's still regular "they" (or plural they).

IS PLURAL THEY GETTING SMUSHED INTO ANOTHER PRONOUN/GROUP?

I recently explored the (apparently unintentional) overlap of Spivak (e/em) and Elverson (ey/em). In case you've not read it, here's a brief overview: I found that it might be that Elverson (not on the checkbox list) is many times more popular than Spivak (on the checkbox list), even though it isn't being written into the pronouns textboxes often enough for it to reach the 1% threshold. Since the two sets are identical except for that one letter in the subject form, it is very likely that many of the people who use Elverson (ey/em) pronouns are choosing the Spivak checkbox option in the annual survey because they don't realise the spelling is different, or they think that they are minor spelling variants of the same set. I concluded that in order to get a fair count of both sets I will need to list both in the checkbox options next year, even though Elverson hasn't been typed in by over 1% of participants yet.

It's possible that the same thing is happening with singular and plural they. I ran a couple of Twitter polls, asking people whose pronouns are they/them which set they prefer, and presented answers like this:

a) Singular they, referring to only 1 person: they are themSELF

b) Singular they, referring to only 1 person: they are themSELVES

c) Plural they, referring to 2+ people: they are themSELVES

Here's the results, with 927 usable responses:

The results of this poll are really useful, because it allowed people to choose between singular and plural they AND themself and themselves, in combination. We can see that of the people who call their pronouns "singular they" (referring to only one person), the majority prefer "themself" as the reflexive, but a respectable proportion prefer singular they with "themselves", even when presented with the option of "plural they" (referring to two or more people).

(I have a policy of providing the most popular word choices in checkboxes, so I will continue to provide a they/them checkbox option that says "singular they - they/them/their/theirs/themself", but since singular they is consistently the most popular pronoun this is something I like to keep checking in on.)

If we apply these proportions to the 2021 Gender Census responses and imagine that everyone whose pronouns are they/them chose "singular they - they/them/their/theirs/themself" regardless of how accurate that is, this would mean that 3.7% of all respondents would check a "plural they" box, which is well above the 1% threshold for adding something to the checkbox list. Why not add it to the list, the way I'll also be adding Elverson to the list? This graph may help:

I generally consider it unwise to make big decisions based on Twitter polls, because the sample is much smaller and more biased than a standalone survey. Twitter requires membership, Twitter membership is skewed younger, and younger members are more likely to use Twitter often and see polls when they appear.

However, even I can't deny that there is a very clear mandate here for Elverson to be added to the checkbox list. When given a straight choice between the Spivak, Elverson, both, and neither/something else, participants were over six times more likely to choose Elverson over Spivak. (For context, Spivak got 4.3% in the 2021 Gender Census as a checkbox option.) Even if this poll were somehow put to the entire Gender Census participant group, it's hard to imagine a scenario where the results shift enough that Elverson gets a lower percentage than Spivak.

4.7% of a smaller sample of younger Twitter members just isn't enough to push me to add something to the checkbox options. I really hope that everyone whose pronouns are "plural they" takes the time to type it into next year's survey as a pronoun distinct from "singular they", so that if they do end up being over 1% of participants I can add "plural they" to the checkbox options.

IN CONCLUSION

As far as I can tell, the Gender Census doesn't particularly exclude plural participants. Systems are still able to take part, so it is at least as inclusive as any other survey of a similar nature, maybe even more so thanks to the ability to choose multiple gender identities and pronouns "per body".

There isn't sufficient evidence to support adding "plural they" to the list of checkbox pronouns at this time, and systems can be represented in results by typing any plural-inclusive terms and pronouns that are not on checkbox lists into some of the many textboxes provided, as any other participant would be expected to do.

The "once per body" participation policy is uncomfortable for a significant number of plural people. However, due to the intensely varied experiences of plural people, any policy on that issue that I impose would make some plural people uncomfortable - and it turns out that I chose the "side" that plural people are more likely to agree with. The survey isn't intending to collect or convey the more nuanced information that plural people (and others) have said that they would like to provide.

A separate question that specifically asks participants whether they're plural makes systems feel seen and acknowledged, but is beyond the scope of the project and doesn't add value to the data or analysis.

So, I will not be making any changes to the Gender Census at this time, based on the information I've gathered so far. However, I welcome further feedback in the plural participants' feedback form, which will remain open, anonymous and private.

Edit: Follow-up.

#plurality #multiplicity #meta #FAQ #plural they #pronouns

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45paperplates · 3 years

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More about Olivia Rodrigo: On her Lyrics

Starting some time in 2018 or maybe a little earlier, Olivia Rodrigo began to play original songs, or more often pieces of songs, one verse and a chorus, apparently unfinished, for her followers on Instagram Live. She was about fifteen at the time, although one of the more complete songs (“Naive Girl”) can be confirmed to date back to 2014 or 2015, when she was twelve years old. I began to listen to these songs, all but one of which are available to hear conveniently compiled into a single twenty-five minute Youtube video, when my appetite for her music was only beginning to grow to its present size, after I had listened to the album on repeat for a good three or four days straight. They are the kind of thing only obsessive fans can really gush over, something akin to Bob Dylan’s early Minnesota Hotel Tape from 1961: badly recorded and casually created by a young artist who never intended them to be anything more than they are, a fun and easy way to show off their talent at a time when a wellspring of inspiration was already pouring forth with no better available outlet.

youtube

These little pieces, however, establish finally for sure what a major label pop debut with other ambitions, no matter how special it may be, can only hint at, which is that something within her is driving a preternatural attention for detail, currently unmatched in it’s free naturalism, imaginative power, and consistency, only possibly consistent as a result of its being deeply possessed and long established, despite her youth. I have already touched on what I think that something may be in my first post about her. But whatever it is, it is immediately apparent in her performances here, an instinct that had already cemented deeply considered vocalization as her default, as a simple creative necessity, although a few of the earliest recordings have added even another layer of Broadway-like drama that has since been stripped away, I am guessing as a result of the nascent growth of some level of creative confidence.

Songwriting, then, is to some degree shown to be a third result of that engrained ability, after said holistic sincerity and its resultant vocal intuition, and yet a good chunk of the songs are lyrically composed as well with a just as holistically sincere and intuitive affect, presenting very well-understood conundrums, pared down to koan-like solids one would think by years of rumination. A few are, I would dare to say, more tightly constructed and figuratively multivalent than the songs on her album, many of which share their succinctness but not the violently prismatic irony that seems to be able to overpower the sincere creative drive that gave it life in its brightest inspired flashes. “drivers license” in fact excels by flattening that figurative prism into a simpler and more benign shape, allowing the casual listener to both easily understand and retain some wisp of hope in the end, even if it is only implied.

I would not be so stupid as to claim that Olivia intended these best-written of her unreleased bedroom productions to be metaphysical poems somehow toeing the line between classical balance and baroque terror in their meditation on the reciprocal quality of human sin. That would be silly, not because I don’t think a teenager is capable of such a thing (teenagers have, in fact, always been capable of making high art) but because these few songs focus on themes common to all of her songs: teenage insecurity, uncontrollable jealousy, and betrayal both social and self-inflicted. The depth of her imagery comes instead, I think, from an intuitive understanding of where the cultural meat of an issue lies, and when she writes a song her drive craves and so aims for power and gets rid of whatever there is that lacks it. Perhaps working with a co-writer somewhat slows that drive.

youtube

“Pretender” is a song about being “fake” and how it works both outwardly and internally. It’s personification, the “pretender” of the title, is accused, envied, pitied, and ultimately, understood. It moves through four key lines.

Pointing her finger at this automaton, about whom she alone knows the truth, Olivia first wishes vindictively,

If only they knew what I knew.

But then, now envious of the figure, she prays,

I wish I knew what you knew.

Maybe as a result of these two contradictory desires, she is forced to admit with regret that the pretender can only be a fantastic image rather than a full person, a strawman created by her mind to both embody her sublimated desire and reflexively maintain her own superiority when it goes unfulfilled:

I created you to be plastic and deadly.

Finally, in a relentlessly logical conclusion, she must admit, as the construction falls to pieces, that this is obviously all about herself:

I created you to hide my own envy, ... Maybe I’m a pretender like you.

With her catalog in mind, the canonical interpretation is pretty obvious. The pretender is someone who is perfect and happy and Olivia is jealous of that. By the guilt left in the wake of her accusation, she realizes, indeed it should have been quite apparent from the start, that perhaps the person who seems to be happy is actually not happy. She perceives by juxtaposition that maybe others see her, Olivia, the same way, and in a sinking conclusion, perfect happiness, the other’s and hers as well, is shown to be only truly possible in image and never in the fullness of experience. It is a song about the difficult process of empathy and its bitter personal rewards. This interpretation prevails in Youtube comments, specifically in reference to her other songs about the jealousy encouraged by social media. “I’m happy for them, but then again, I’m not.” Maybe Olivia’s own fun and carefree public-facing presence is just as false?

The genius behind this songwriting, however, is that this other person does not need to exist for the song’s structure to function. This is by design, no doubt; she could very well be speaking only to herself the entire time. If Olivia is pretending too, as the final line suggests, then why could she not have been the pretender all along? Indeed, how else could Olivia be the only one who knows “the truth” about this figure in the first place? A personal struggle with identity, that is the meat of it all.

Her first wish for the pretender’s exposure is based in personal remorse, for lying to the world about who she really is. That her own social facade might be justly but violently forced open to expose the truth would be a painful but cathartic release. She makes her second wish as she recoils in the face of such an embarrassing prospect, hoping against reason that maybe it’s somehow all avoidable, that by abandoning any loyalty to the truth and to herself altogether she might in fact achieve the paradise that the pretender affects, soulless but free of the pain of having a soul too. Third is the realization that this is evil, that her desire is sinful, both grotesque and inhuman (“plastic”), and cruel (“deadly”). Fourth and last she can no longer pretend that her original finger-pointing isn't itself the result of this same worldly desire, as narcissistic an attempt at personal redemption as the outward facade is itself. Insecurity and jealousy, no matter how embarrassing or ugly, no more compose an understanding of identity than any more knowingly-constructed and performative self-image, and are just as self-serving in their own twisted way.

So in this song she is deconstructing herself, from outward composure to cryptic narcissism, shattering layer after layer in an alarmingly accelerating regression. Unfortunately, all that is left in the end is what she has done after what she is—performatively, emotionally, intuitively—has fallen away, specifically the intended result of the accusation she threw at the pretender to begin it all: once again, guilt. What else but guilt is exposed now to be the substance left of the human individual? For Olivia, deep down at least, guilt is always the together creator and eraser of human pleasure, the identity that is desire, and the only thing that fears the emptiness that would be left without it.

That a teenager could write such a penetratingly self-critical work is of course impressive, but the fact that guilt, desire, pleasure, happiness, identity, and fear are shown ultimately to be one and the same generative source is far more exciting. Here she exposes the potential versatility of her created and creative ability, that in maturity this raw power without singular definition could be manipulated into many other things completely new, things only Olivia and not I can imagine now.

#Olivia Rodrigo #sour #drivers license #pretender #hsmtmts #bootlegs #bob dylan #metaphysics #john donne #existentialism #pop music #catholic guilt #taylor swift #lorde #billie eilish

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electro-elemena · 3 years

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Random thoughts I just had about death note

this is very stream of consciousness and was written in google notes, so sorry for the format and grammar but I just need this to be out there. Also if some parts sound like they're spoken out loud it's because they were lmao

- media needs to be interesting (check)

- if you disagree with me go look at Ryuk and then come back

- love the concept of death note. Very *chef's kiss*

- tickles the part of my brain that likes unlikely and outlandish theories and scenarios

- however enjoyable media also has to be:

- not insufferable... Sufferable you could say

- OR insufferable enough to make it funny

- death note accomplishes the condition of the second

- never finished it, realized i was running out of fucks to give and looked for a reason to give more fucks or stop giving fucks

- spoiled the ending for myself, if you've seen the ending you know why

- spoiler alert for an old ass piece of media... Y'all have your reasons and if this bit doesn't fervently convince you to watch it then it will do whatever the opposite of that is

- misa dies too. Which is unfair

- she's a boss ass bitch and a whole model??? Like

- okay tangent

- light is not a good protagonist

- I'll take a potato chip... And eat it

- he's supposed to be one of those gradual unreliable narrators

- but past the first episode you immediately realize that he is in fact a horrible person

- you could argue that the capacity to kill people without consequence given to a teenage boy was destined to corrupt him

- and that's a cynical and bleh boring take

- (but likely)

- but tbh it takes a dormant god complex in the first place for him to turn out the way he did. He obviously already thought he was better than others

- loners are only loners if everyone thinks they're worse than everyone else or they think they're better than everyone else

- chicken or the egg first sometimes y'know

- so like if you have the death note to a kind person they'd like write down Jeff bezos or something and then hand it back

- or! They could be like "i don't trust you with this" to ryuk and just keep it (but secretly be like saving it for later in case they want to kill someone else with no consequences)

- or maybe they're just in love with ryuk. Which like. I'll squint at you, and judge you silently for, but won't say anything, because I'm a nice person and not because you possess the ability to kill me without consequences whenever

- anyways so he's a bad protagonist and objectively evil

- i say this even though I usually like the villains. I love the hero but I like the villains too

- i won't condone their actions but I'll think they're hot or cool or something

- cuz i always side with the protagonist, when they're not insufferable (wonder who that could be)

- but mass genocide is one of those rare things that's not "oh this is good but it could be gray if done for the wrong reasons" or "oh this is bad but it could be gray if done for the wrong reasons" it's very "no. This is not ambiguous. Throw the whole person away"

- far less forgivable than mass genocide, however, is how he's not down bad for misa

- like??? The only reasons I can think of for him to have been written like this are

- 1) he's gay or ace and they wrote him like that as queer coding and secret representation

- cuz i know that there are many characters like that and you will never KNOW if he is or isn't

- unless like the mangaka... What's his name... Comes out on Twitter and says so

Mini tangent

- i can not for the life of me remember asian names

- i was practically raised by anime and i still can not remember them

- does not matter how much I love the character or person. I will forget it at least once or twice

- every time someone mentions a mangaka i have to check the database

- i think it's mainly because I haven't learned any asian languages, and that's the only reason I'm referring to them as asian and not specifying, because asian languages have a lot of common denominators that they don't share with western ones

- anyways I can't pronounce them so I can't remember them

- or i think I can pronounce them and then the real pronunciation is just waiting to pounce on me and make me feel like an idiot

- had that ever happened to you? I mispronounced the word cicada until I was... 17

- i was walking with my best friend outside

- which never happened because we were hermits and we never left the cave

- and I'm like "oh you can hear the ciSAHdas"

- and he was like "..."

- "you can hear the what?"

- and it's funny that out of the two of us, the AP student was the one that didn't know how to pronounce ciSAHdas

- did i just say that right? Fuck

- ciKEIdas

- anyways Carson did not do well in school, because he's the type of person that, if he does not give a fuck, he simply will not do whatever you ask

- no matter what reason you have

- so the old ass institution that "educated--

- mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell!

- "educated" millions of people crumbled at his feet, like the true being of chaos that he is

- although you could argue that it didn't do me any favors either, since, well, here i am

- and at least he knew how to pronounce cicadas! Damn!

Death note (ctd)

- anyways back to death note because we weren't FINISHED

- so he's gay or ace. My vote is for gay because of his relationship with L

- and L was another character that was treated poorly, he's way better than the early death that he got because he decided to be kind and less suspicious and i HATE that they did him like that

- for a show called death note they really did get death wrong

- funny how everyone around light ends up dying horribly

- you could argue that's because of the death not but I like to think it's because he's just that shitty of a person

- so back to light and how he's super fruity, there's actually a scene where misa is throwing herself on him as usual

- and i don't remember what she's saying, like i can't remember most of her lines

- and i don't know if that means I like her more or less than i would have

- anyways she's saying something suggestive to him looking hot as usual and he starts thinking about L

- like LMAO

- bestie, the closet is made of GLASS

- it is transparent. We can all tell

- 2) reason he could be written to treat misa like that is because it's a ha ha funny that he can't be bothered to give her the time of day, when she's a model

- he's murder sexual. He wants world domination, not pussy

- this is also a reason he could be considered ace but I just think an enemies to lovers with L is more interesting so that's my personal favorite

- anyways there's another scene where she's once again chasing after this toxic ass man

- which. Her main flaw is her absolute dog water taste in men

- so she's trying to get him to like her

- and he thinks

- LMAO

- he thinks "never before have I been provoked to HIT a woman"

- and he says it exactly like that

- which is hilarious for many reasons

- first of all

- i don't BELIEVE you

- you mean to tell me?? That with HIS PERSONALITY?? no woman had ever pissed him off as much as one being in love with him

- which, by the way, gay

- i would like to think this is possible not because of the previously mentioned "maybe he was a good person before given this power" bleh bullshit

- but because all the women had understood he was a fuckwad before interacting with him

- like they sent it to the group chat. The group chat? Yeah the group chat

- they were like bro. This dude? Bad news

- walk parallel to him at all times. Do NOT intersect

- cross the street if you see him walking towards you

- this is also why i like to think incels exist

- like they were already going to be bad and women just knew that and avoided them

- an alternative theory to the group chat phenomenon is that women instinctively knew. Like an edm... That's not the right word

- i know the word and that's not the right word

- e d... e p...

- like the thing you throw out as like a pokeball and it just makes all the electronics stop working

- like they take a break

- electromagnetic... Pulse... EMP!

- so that was sent to every woman's brain instinctively and they just avoided him

#death note #death note misa #death note light #this is objective garbage but i need someone to be forced to read this

2 notes · View notes

raspberryfanfics · 4 years

Text

La Primavera—NT Month Day 2

Day 2 - Primavera or spring

I know i’m late ok? Only 17 minutes of day 3 so making the most out of it

On FFn

Introduction

The optional part of a sonata, slower than the main theme, usually in the dominant key. May contain material later stated in the exposition.

Lead violin.

Tenten swore those words would haunt her until the day she died. She was so close. Her audition was perfect. Her music was expressive, her calloused fingers rolling across the strings with grace and her arms moving the bow with so much feeling.

And the worst part was that even if her audition was perfect, she still knew that there was no way she would have made solo violin compared to Neji Hyuga. Because the moment she heard him play, she knew he did everything she did twice as well.

To be honest, La Primavera wasn't even that hard to learn as a girl who had played the violin for 18 years. She shouldn't be so upset. It wouldn't be her most important gig. It was a charity one. She wasn't even going to get played. But she knew immediately that she lost the position very easily to him. She had never lost so badly

So the past four weeks, it had been playing the first violin leading the string quartet rather than the solo violin leading the song. Tenten had been responding to the solo violin on the music rather than asking. But what could she do? No matter how much more effort she put in, she couldn't have beat Neji Hyuga, whoever that was.

But who was she kidding? She had stalked Neji Hyuga on Instagram, Twitter, and every other social media he rarely used. He appeared more frequently on the news, awards, charities, and small albums. He wrote his own music.

Meanwhile, she was making pop covers with a violin.

Of course, Tenten wrote her own music too, but it was simple, nowhere as extravagant as his.

Tenten walked into the rented church, her case heavy in her arm. A smiling boy joined her side, he had shiny black hair cut into a bowl-shape, a case similar to hers, only larger. She assumed he was the violist.

"I'm Tenten," she offered.

"Lee," he flashed a smile, bright and glaring. It made her wince, though she thought he seemed like a sweet person.

"Are you familiar with the other musicians, Hinata, Gai, and Kakashi?" she asked.

"Not Hinata," Lee said, his voice loud. "Gai-sensei taught me everything I know about the viola, Kakashi is his husband. They are incredibly talented. Do you know of Neji Hyuga?"

Tenten nodded weakly. "Yes, I've listened to his recordings. He's great."

Fucking amazing, she meant.

And he was already sitting in the room with supposedly Hinata, tuning his violin without the help of the harpsichord or a tuner.

"Do you need me to play and 'A'?" she offered, already reaching for the keyboard.

Instead, he looked up at her, his cold pale eyes meeting her warm brown ones. A tingle went down her spine, but it didn't seem to be because of the cold not because she was intimidated.

"I have absolute pitch," he replied curtly before going back 'D'.

Tenten scoffed at his abruptness and his arrogance. Of course, he'd have perfect pitch. Who would expect?

Hinata gave a slight smile. She had the same eyes as Neji did. And last name, for that matter. "I'll take an 'A', please."

Tenten smiled at her, pressing the note so it rang out. She knew that Hinata easily could have listened to her cousin's note in reference to her own, but took the note anyhow.

Lee had taken out his viola as well, tuning his instrument. With the notes fresh in her mind, Tenten started as well.

When Gai and Kakashi burst in late, she was surprised by the similarities between the former and Lee. They really looked like father and son. More so than Neji and Hinata looked like siblings or cousins.

"I COULD HEAR YOUR YOUTHFUL TUNING ACROSS FROM THE ROOM! DO PLAY ME AND 'A', MISS—"

"Tenten," she said, her voice sounding like a squeak compared to his boisterous one.

Nonetheless, she let the note run through.

And when everyone was tuned, warmed up, and ready, they started. Just from the pure grace expressed on his violin, Tenten knew she was screwed. Neji Hyuga was too good, even with only a month of practice.

Exposition

The primary part of a sonata, the beginning, presenting the main motif, commonly repeated throughout. The key changes near the end of the section, preparing for the development.

Weirdly enough, after a few practices, Tenten met him again not at the church, but when she was performing on the street, greeting strangers as they walked by, pausing to talk after each song. So she finished her cover of Riptide and smiled at him.

"Hey," she said to him while answering the questions of a few admirers. However, his posture seemed to scare off the rest of her audience.

"You use your talent for this?" he scoffed.

Whatever was the opposite of a backhanded compliment was what he had done.

"I like talking to commoners," she replied. "Everyone should hear good music."

He raised an eyebrow, she began the next song. Tenten expected him to leave but he stuck through each one of her songs, even as she talked to the people who ignored him.

"Requests, anyone?" she shouted to her audience. They looked at him and she rolled her eyes, seeing that they didn't dare speak.

"An original," he provided.

Tenten's face reddened. Did he want to make fun of her or something? Shove his superior skills in front of her face? Make it obvious that he had better music than she?

"I don't have originals," she replied. The spring breeze seemed to bring a strangely gentle smile to his lips.

"A person like you has to have originals,"

"What is that supposed to mean?" she scoffed.

"Have you really never composed anything?" Neji inquired.

Tenten paused. Any musician playing as long as she had was bound to have written something, to have memorized something. She just didn't choose to make money off of them. "I've never played them for anyone."

"Play one for me,"

And somehow, the expression on his face convinced her.

"An original for Neji here," she announced. "I call this one, Spring."

A few cheers came from her audience.

Tenten rested her bow on the strings, her calloused fingers pressing down on the board. Everything tuned out until the first ring of the music drifted through the air. It was her own interpretation of spring. Tenten played the flowers blooming, the gentle breeze, and the birds singing. When she stopped, the tips in her case looked heavier and the look of admiration and fascination in his gaze made her breath batch.

Something was different between them after that.

—

"I didn't know you had a studio," Neji walked into the apartment, offering the homey nature of where her many students would learn from her when she wasn't practicing at charities or for the people on the street.

You don't know a lot of things about me.

"Yea, it gives me more privacy. And it separates work from home. An office, in a way."

He smiled. "Impressive that you can afford it in a place with such expensive rent."

Tenten looked at him to see if there was any suspicion on his face. There weren't any. "I have my ways."

Though her ways might be questionable.

"It's not like you'd have any trouble affording it."

He shrugged, slowly looked around, sitting at her keyboard. The score on the stand took his attention. His pale eyes skimmed through the music. Her music. She could see him playing silently in his head.

"You've added more to this," he held up the page, half littered in notes. Then he motioned the piano, making her blush. "May I?'

Tenten nodded, slowly sitting beside him on the bench, the way she would with her student. Yet usually she'd listen to her students play and judge them, but now she was listening to Neji play and he was judging her.

His fingers played the first motif, then continued, playing the simple melodies with usual grace, giving her music more of a solemn feel than playful. He went through what she had not yet composed for him and the way he brought something she had written herself to life made her fall for him just a little more.

Neji filled something that Tenten made with the life only he could give, the magic he seemed to bring with him.

"It's beautiful," he said, his baritone voice deep in admiration. While her voice was high like the violin they played, his was low like the cello. Tenten's heart stopped.

"You can have it when I complete it," she blurted without thinking. He turned to her, his expression unreadable other than the fact that he thought she was crazy. "I mean, you don't' have to, of course. I know the song is super simple and definitely nothing like Vivaldi or Beethoven—"

"You'd give it to me? Your song?"

She flushed. "Well, you'd have the original score and I'd have a photocopy to play but yea, I'd write it for you."

Her face turned so red she thought she had a fever.

Yet Neji just seemed flabbergasted. Every emotion usually masked until he played the violin was open for her to see. Surprise, confusion, captivation...though she understood the expression, she just didn't understand why.

"No one has written me a piece before," he admitted, a breath escaping from his lips. And the admiration of her music turned to the admiration of her. He looked something between wonderstruck and struck. Her heart pounded in her chest a few tempos faster.

"I—I can give you one of my scores as well," he said. "It's one of the pieces I've memorized for my next concert so I'm completely finished—"

"You don't have to," Tenten said quickly, eyes wide. "You don't owe me—"

"I'd like to," he insisted. "Should you wish to learn it one day."

"Without thinking, she took his face into her hands and pulled his jaw towards her. He was still. She could feel the shock on his frozen lips. But his surprise seemed to melt like the thawing mountain streams, growing trails of new life and magic that only music could describe.

And Tenten was slowly falling for the man who tasted of spring the more she kissed him.

—

She didn't know when or even how, but there was a point where playing the Vivaldi seemed more emotional than it was. Because now, though Neji's violin was still calling, he was calling for her. She'd answer, light as the birds, like a nature spirit. And though Hinata would answer the call, then Lee, it still felt like he was calling for her only.

There they were, six strings, making one song. And it truly felt like spring.

That evening, Neji and Tenten went back to her studio. He brought his violin. He played for her the music he was still perfecting. Tenten could barely breathe. The sweet sounds made her eyes flutter shut instantly. They played for her ears only. She believed, let herself believe that this song was for her. When he finished, there was a pause. There always was a pause at the end of a great performance.

Only when he lifted his bow from the strings, had he truly completed the song. She watched anxiously as he set the instrument down, turned to her and stared into her eyes. His pale gaze was strangely warm. She breathed slowly, he breathed over her, and their legs were a tangled mess. But their lips? Oh, what was going on between their lips was far from messy.

Tenten felt like she was on cloud nine. His kisses trailed to his neck and what was supposedly warm became heated and all she could do was cling onto his dress shirt with helpless whimpers. But he pulled back, to her dismay, and it was only the grin on his face that kept her from taking charge herself.

She slowly opened her phone and tapped, then handed it back to her.

"I want to take you on a date."

Tenten nearly passed out.

"Just before the charity recital," he added. "Wear what you'll perform in and bring your violin."

She nodded dumbly.

Neji kissed her on the cheek. "I'll see you then, Tenten."

After he left, she opened her phone and realized he had sent himself her real address.

All of the heat froze with a wave of fear.

—

The doorbell rang. Tenten adjusted her hair, makeup, threw her shade of lipstick into her purse in case the dinner messed it up. Or his lips.

Tenten threw makeup wipes in there just in case.

She opened the door and she had to keep herself from pouncing at him at the sight of how he looked in a perfectly tailored suit and somehow even neater hair. His tie probably cost her her her dress, shoes, and purse combined. There was a bouquet of flowers in his hand, not roses, but crocuses. Tenten didn't know a lot about flowers but she knew that crocuses were among the first flowers to bloom in spring.

As she stared at the thoughtfulness, it gave him a chance to look her apartment over. It looked normal, hopefully. He didn't point anything, in particular, out so she was in the clear.

"Shall we go?" he held his elbow out for her, which she took happily.

They walked out of her apartment, violins in their free hands.

—

The restaurant was fancy.

Tenten had feared these types of restaurants when she was younger because she knew it would be much too awkward to be enjoyable. Yet somehow, with the way he smiled and explained the French dishes to her, it didn't matter.

She cracked light jokes. They talked of their music, their lives, their dreams.

"You would have very popular concerts," he spoke.

"Yet I can't compare to you."

"I disagree," he said. "Your music is much more memorable than mine."

"I do not have the fluency that you play with, Neji."

"Will you consider being a composer?"

Tenten nodded. "I'll write you some music. You'll record them for me, make me famous."

He chuckled. "As you wish."

Her eyes widened. "Ooh, speaking of which, Lee and I got tickets to your next concert. We'll be listening very carefully for any mistakes."

"Thanks. You didn't have to."

"I would listen to your playing even had I not pursued you," she teased. "Lee would too."

Neji's expression changed. "With Lee—is there—I don't want to—if you and him—"

Tenten's eyes widened in surprise. "I've only known him since we came together for the Vivaldi. He's like a brother to me. You don't have anything to worry about."

He flushed slightly. "My apologies."

"You don't do this too often, do you?" she asked abruptly.

"Do what?"

"You don't do the dating thing a lot. You haven't had many girlfriends."

Neji stared down at his ridiculously expensive food. "It's easier for me that way. I can focus on my music."

"Then why date me?"

"Most of the time, dating distracts me. Yet you inspire me, Tenten."

Fuck, I love him.

She only smiled. "Why haven't you been inspired by the other girls?"

"I've never been as attached to them as I am with you."

And she could see every ounce of vulnerability he had like all of the snow melted under her. But she was worried about when it would burn.

Development

The second part of a Sonata, introducing new or varied motifs and begins in the key the exposition ended in.

The charity recital had brought in plenty of profit. Easily said, it had been their best performance. Tenten sat by Neji's side in the fluorescent lighting backstage, exclaiming opinions and admiring the way his face seemed all the more contoured, more like a god than man.

She held his hands, firm, calloused fingers on hi his right, softer ones on his left. She was subtle, only her quartet and harpsichord noticed. His pulse would quicken at certain actions. Tenten found that she liked discovering what those actions were.

Tenten was led into his car after the recital and he didn't put keys into the ignition, rather kissed her the moment she closed the door.

"You were driving me crazy backstage," he said between breaths.

"Really? Totally couldn't tell."

"You were."

"Looks like you're gonna have to sneak me backstage during your concert." she joked.

But alas, the moon started to grow tired of them making out in the car and she was yet to go home despite rather staying with him.

"I'm planning the date next time," she told him as they walked to her apartment, lingering because neither wanted to leave. His memory would still cling onto her, though it would never beat the real thing.

He was spring now. He used to be winter; cold, harsh, and thrilling, but she had melted into spring; warm, gentle, relaxing. She liked to think of herself as summer; hot, fierce, and playful, so she was able to do so. She liked to believe she was the only one to make the icy exterior thaw.

They reached the top of the steps to her apartment. She shoved her keys in her door, fumbling. And she looked back at him, let go of her unlocked doorknob, seeing his pale eyes staring at her so wondrously. They were darkened by the dim lighting and Tenten was filled with so much desire and amazement that she let the words at the tip of her tongue slip.

"I love you, Neji."

Tenten was afraid of his reaction so she quickly reached for the door again. Yet he grabbed her hand and pushed her wrists above her head. He attacked her with his mouth and fuck, spring was definitely summer now. She could only wrap her legs around his waist, accommodating his kisses by tilting her head and gasping for air.

Fireworks went off in her body. Symphonies played in her head. Even as he pulled away slightly, she could tell that he wanted to lean in again.

"Say it again," he breathed. She was amazed that he managed to get any words out.

"I—I love you,"

"Again,"

"I love you.

"Again."

"Aren't you going—"

"I love you, Tenten."

Her heart stopped. And it stopped again when he reached up to her cocktail dress and she realized where this was going.

"Wait—" her voice trailed off when he squeezed her bottom and sucked at her collarbone. "I—"

He opened the door and Tenten had to force herself away.

"Neji, I—"

But she was too late.

His pale eyes, previously filled with desire and lust were filled with confusion, slowly morphing into anger. In them, she could see the reflection of a warm light, the type that tried to imitate the sunshine but never worked, and a familiar silhouette.

"Tenten," though he was trying to stay calm, she could hear a slight quiver in his voice. "Who—"

The guy on the couch had obsidian hair and eyes. He seemed bored, a horror documentary playing on the television. In all, he didn't seem to care. "Who am I? I should be asking you, shouldn't I be? You're in my house, after all."

"You live here," Neji said, though it was quite obvious now.

Tenten wanted to hide in a corner. She was going to have a panic attack if this went—

"And you don't. Nice flowers you got for my girlfriend, by the way. I'm sure she appreciates it—"

"Sasuke—" she started, but Neji interrupted.

"My deepest apologies. I wasn't aware that Tenten had—"

"It is not your fault that she failed to inform you of her commitments."

But he was already out of the apartment.

She didn't even spare a look back at Sasuke, following after him with hasty steps.

"Neji!"

He didn't answer her. She called his name again and again yet he continued walking. He walked to his car, the door unlocking. With a burst of speed, she intercepted him from opening the door, biting her lip and holding back the tears she didn't deserve to have.

"Neji will you listen to me—"

"Why should I listen to you!" he shot, suddenly, face red, burned, scorched by her. His chest heaved up and down and though he feigned pure rage, it sounded more like pleading.

"So I can explain—"

"What can possibly explain you having a boyfriend already? I thought I was your boyfriend! What can you say that will excuse not telling me in any fucking circumstance?"

She was silent. Tenten didn't have an answer.

"Fuck," he said, voice breaking as if she had put her hand over the strings, stopping any further sound. "You said—you said you love me and I fucking believed you."

"I do love you!" she said. "I don't love Sasuke, I love you! I want you, Neji—"

"But how can I trust you!" tears started to roll down both their faces.

She shook and he pushed her away to the side roughly. Tenten didn't feel it. She could only feel regret and guilt and knew that she deserved it.

"I don't want to see you again. I don't want you in my life anymore," he said, voice too much calmer than before. He slammed the car door and drove away, not even looking at her through his rearview mirror.

And she broke down in the parking lot of her apartment building, feeling more helpless than she had ever been.

—

It wasn't like Tenten had ever loved Sasuke Uchiha. Not even a little bit. How could she have ever had an ounce of feeling other than platonic for him when that was the only way he felt for her too?

The thing was, she was his rebound friend with benefit. Two bad ideas in one. But bad ideas often outweighed each other and while friends with benefits often caught feelings and as did rebounds, being both made her even colder to him than she used to be.

Sasuke had just broken up with Sakura Haruno, a bassist under Kakashi, while he was a violist like Lee. They had known each other forever. They had loved each other for a little shorter. But Sakura wasn't someone he could just get over. Sex wouldn't change that but would sure distract.

He and Tenten took many of the same classes in university. Were they friends? Not really. But they often collaborated together and knew each other well enough. Around the same time he broke up with Sakura, she needed a studio for her students. So he let her live in his one-room apartment and in exchange, she became his girlfriend, which really just meant she was his sex buddy and warded off any other girls who wanted to be.

And it worked for her too. Like Neji, boyfriends distracted her. She didn't like falling for guys even though she knew she would cave under some of their charms. Sasuke warded them off for her as well. He wasn't bad in bed either. They only considered themself as actual friends when she was so drunk that she brought home a guy who wanted to take advantage of her in her own house, whom he nearly beat up.

Maybe it would have been easier to explain to him had she not slept with him since meeting Neji. Tenten really had done that. She felt dirty, a mistress, and Sasuke didn't know any better than to drive Neji off too. He had been right. Nothing could have possibly excused her actions because he deserved to know about Sasuke in a way better than what had happened, and he would have understood why she did what she did.

Tenten sulked around her house for a week. She emailed her students and said she was sick. She practiced the violin all day, playing the songs he had given her for hours on end.

That was when her "boyfriend" approached her.

"I think it's around time you and I broke up."

Tenten blinked, then saw he was sincere. She set down her instrument and he sat down on their bed, sighing.

"The past few weeks, you don't seem to want sex as much."

She nearly slapped him for his words but he held his pale hand out, stopping her.

"In the times we did have sex, you muttered someone else's name," he explained. "I couldn't figure out what you said. But now that I think about it, it was his. The man you brought home and cried for a week ago. I can tell you love him, the way I love Sakura. I don't want to get in the way between that."

Tenten didn't know what to say. She just stared at him. It was obvious that he still wasn't over his ex, but he had never admitted loving her out loud.

"I'll help you move out. I can loan you some money as well."

"But why? I'm the one who has been in the wrong. Why are you being so nice to me?"

He shrugged. "You were the only person who understood not wanting to talk about Sakura. And you've made me realize that I want her back."

She found herself calling Lee that day, explaining to him the mess she had gotten into. He offered her the empty room in his space.

Recapitulation

The repeat and slightly altered version of the exposition in a sonata. Usually consists of a transition to keep the tonic key so the section can conclude.

"TENTEN! DID YOU SERIOUSLY FORGET?"

It was the middle of the evening. What could she possibly forget? She was in her studio, writing music.

"Lee, what is it this time?" Tenten muttered, setting her score down as he walked in, wearing a green button-up and nice pants. His hair was neater. He looked like he was going on a date. Had he needed a ride for his date or something?

"The concert!" he shouted as if she was stupid. To be fair, she was.

"What concert?"

"NEJI'S CONCERT! NEJI'S CONCERT IS TODAY! WE HAVE TICKETS, REMEMBER?" he shoved a black dress into her hands. "GET READY."

Tenten's heart stopped. She hadn't seen him in weeks. She thought of him every day. She cried herself to sleep thinking of him. She thought of him in her sleep. "Why the fuck would I go to his concert?"

"Because even if you are in love with him, it doesn't excuse the fact that he has great music."

She could see very little resemblance between the two subjects.

"Oh, come on, Ten. Are you seriously going to miss it?"

She wasn't and he knew it. So she threw on the dress and joined him in the concert hall, blending in with hundreds among hundreds of other people, waiting in line just to see him play. Tenten didn't know what to expect.

The lights seemed to dim in what felt like years and he walked out onto the stage. Her breath caught painfully in her throat. It hadn't caught this way in so long.

He was the personification of elegance. His dark suit made him took tall, his hair drifting down his back in a low ponytail, his pale skin glowing in the spotlight. Tucked under his arm was his violin. Even though he was on the stage and she was far into the audience, she could still see those lilac eyes clearer than ever.

Neji took a spot at the center of the stage and closed his eyes, shifting as everything was so silent she could hear a pin drop. When he opened his eyes, music started to drift into the halls.

She recognized the music. She had listened to him play it over and over again, sometimes slowly, sometimes in different rhythms. She had played it over and over again, the music that he had given her the scores to. Upon hearing the sounds coming from his violin rather than hers, Tenten felt like she was going to burst because even though it was the same music, it sounded so different as he did.

And the whole concert was like that. She had to close her eyes and listen so she could be fully immersed in it. Tenten felt herself falling all over again. The music was sombre, cold, and distant. Yet she felt it all. She had been summer before and now she was turning into autumn. Everything was chilly. Shivers ran down her spine.

When he ended his last piece, it felt like no time had passed. Everyone was quiet. They could only breathe it in. Neji bowed, and she could only stand like the rest of them, clapping. He looked forwards and she felt like he was looking directly at her, but he wasn't. He only looked to a sea of faces, faces he couldn't even see, and she knew she was only imagining things. They cheered for an encore, even the staff cheered for an encore, and he slowly raised his hands, allowing them to quiet so he could perform.

Yet he spoke instead. She hadn't heard him speak this whole time until now.

"This piece was composed for me by someone dear to me. She calls it Spring."

Tenten clutched onto Lee's arm with terrifying strength. "Fuck, fuck, Lee, that's my—"

But the first note of her song filled the hall with a warmed feeling than all of his other songs. He was playing her song. He played to exceptionally beautifully, with all the emotions she had felt in her heart. She heard love, she heard spring, and she heard the beautiful thing they had developed in a heart wrenching way.

Tears slid out of her eyes as he finished and when she left, the talkative exclaims of how their favourite piece had been the encore at the end.

—

Hinata had given her his address so there she was, standing at Neji's apartment with only hope and a violin.

She rang his doorbell slowly, holding her breath as she heard his footsteps come closer.

The door opened and he met her eyes, holding her gaze for a solid second before slamming the door in her face.

"Neji Hyuga!" she screamed, tired, fed up, and terribly, terribly in love with him.

"Fuck off!"

She didn't think that such foul and ungraceful words would ever come out of his mouth. Yet Tenten had long predicted such an outcome would happen. So she sat her violin case on the opposite wall, then took out her tuner. She watched as the notes hit a whole tone below what the standard tuning was and started on the song.

Though it was awkward at first, she soon got the hang of it. The melody was the one he composed. Music in exchange for music. A song an audience had heard but only two knew to play. She mustered all the emotions she could into it. Tenten tried to play it as well as he did.

Her performance caught the attention of a few other residents of the building. Perhaps they were enchanted by the music, perhaps they were going to threaten Neji with another sound complaint. Yet they saw her, not him, playing differently, playing in the hall. They listened to her, reciting his music until his door opened once more.

Neji's eyes were brimmed red, he looked more tired than he had during his concert. She stopped playing at the sight of him and couldn't move her sore fingers. She saw his adam's apple bob and he bit his lip.

"You're out of tune," he whispered. Because of course even though her music had brought him to tears behind the door, he would only point out her purposeful mistake to flaunt his absolute pitch.

The people of the apartment watched in interest.

"It's driving you mad," she said, referring herself more than the instrument. Yet she tucked the violin under her arm, grabbing her case, and entering his apartment before he could drive her out yet again.

Neji leaned against the door after closing it, rubbing his temples. He didn't meet her gaze.

"I'm sorry for everything," she whispered, setting down her violin and touching his face lightly.

Neji leaned his head back further into the door, almost as if he wanted to escape her touch, but he tilted it and somehow his jaw fit even tighter into her hand.

"I won't make excuses. But I have never had feelings for Sasuke, only for you, and we broke up a couple of weeks ago. I still love you, Neji." Tenten inhaled sharply. "I know you love me too."

And he started to shake, trembling into her hand, clinging onto her.

"Will you give me another chance?"

Neji nodded.

She hadn't realized how badly she needed that. Relief flooded her veins and she kissed him, slowly, steadily, and never planned to let go.

Spring meant new beginnings, but most of the time it was just being revived again.

#nejitenmonth2020 #nejiten fanfiction #nejiten #neji #tenten #violin au #spring #raspberryfanfics #raspntmonth20

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a-recovered-sugar · 5 years

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Bruising of a Brotherly Bond

Diana begged her boys to look out for each other for life but, as RICHARD KAY reveals, the whole family are worried about a widening rift between William and Harry No picture says more about the natural bonding of brothers than that taken of Princes Harry and William at Harry's wedding last year.Their affection and mutual support for one another on the most public of stages, yet most personal of occasions, was both poignant and compelling.How utterly tragic then that less than 18 months after that joyous day at Windsor Castle, all the talk now is of rift and division between the two princes.

Stories of bad blood had been circulating for months but, with one extraordinary intervention, Prince Harry has given credence to the rumours by admitting there have been tensions between the pair.

No picture says more about the natural bonding of brothers than that taken of Princes Harry and William at Harry's wedding last year (pictured during Harry's wedding in May last year) While a family row of this nature is by no means as constitutionally dangerous as the upheavals over the Abdication and the Duke of Windsor, the implications could be just as damaging, not least because the monarchy is arguably more vulnerable to criticism than it was in the Thirties. The early signs are not encouraging.

Within hours of Harry's candid interview in an ITV documentary, during which he said he and his brother are travelling on 'different paths', William was concerned enough to permit aides to speak of his worries about Harry's and Meghan's welfare.

According to a Kensington Palace source quoted by the BBC, William had expressed the hope that his brother and sister-in-law 'are all right'.

It is highly unusual for officials to voice such personal views on a private family matter. But I understand the 'Sussex problem', as Harry and Meghan are referred to within royal circles, has dominated family discussions in recent days.

There is no disguising that the views articulated by William are shared right across the Royal Family. While sympathy for a couple struggling to adjust to royal life under a media spotlight does still exist, it is draining away.

How utterly tragic then that less than 18 months after that joyous day at Windsor Castle, all the talk now is of rift and division between the two princes (pictured together in July 2018)

Prince Harry has given credence to the rumours by admitting there have been tensions between the brothers (pictured, the Cambridges and Sussexes together for a Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in March)

But the family are desperate not to be seen driving a deeper wedge between them and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Certainly, the Queen and Prince Charles had hoped that the challenges of fatherhood following the birth of baby Archie would have overcome the differences that existed between Harry and William. The Princes are acutely aware of the importance that their late mother placed on them looking out for each other — something she wanted them to do all their lives.

Of course, it didn't help that stories of differences first began to emerge during Meghan's pregnancy.

What was being said was that William had earlier questioned the haste with which his younger brother was wanting to marry the American actress.

William, of course, dated Kate Middleton for eight years before giving her an engagement ring.

Harry, on the other hand, had made up his mind almost immediately after being introduced to the star of the American TV legal drama Suits — a divorced woman three years his senior — at a London dinner party in 2016.

To William, advising caution was common sense. But Harry, ever sensitive, is understood to have interpreted his brother's words, as well as those from others in his circle, as an implied criticism of his choice of bride.

He also apparently accused his older brother of failing to offer support, while Kate was said to be struggling to get on with Meghan. To some extent, this explains Harry's touchiness in the run-up to his wedding, which included a row over Meghan's tiara.

The brothers played polo against each other in Wokingham in July this year, which was also the last time they were pictured together

But after the wedding came two further shocks. One was the announcement that the Sussexes were decamping from Kensington Palace where they lived next door to William and Kate, and moving to Windsor.

The other was that the two brothers, whose public lives had been so entwined, were splitting their joint household, with Harry setting his up separately in Buckingham Palace.

It then emerged that they were also parting ways over their charity work with Harry and Meghan set to launch their own royal foundation next year.

But if these were the highly public examples of Harry's march towards princely independence, there were other, equally significant moves behind the scenes. Throughout his troubled 20s Harry had a close network of reliable friends.

But after the wedding came two further shocks. One was the announcement that the Sussexes were decamping from Kensington Palace where they lived next door to William and Kate, and moving to Windsor

Many of them are no longer part of his magic circle. They include school friends, vital support after Princess Diana's death, whose services are apparently no longer required. Many have been left hurt and baffled. The father of one told me: 'Harry has stayed in our house and been a very welcome guest over many years, then one day calls went unanswered.

'It was always pretty much on his terms. He was the one who usually got in touch, but there was no explanation, just silence.' Other friends say Harry complains they don't understand him.

Of course, he won't be the first married man to find new companions after taking a wife. Closer to home, I am told Harry left family members puzzled after changing telephone numbers without immediately telling them.

If this sounds familiar it is because we have been here before — with Diana. She regularly changed mobile numbers as an effective way of dumping friends she no longer wanted. Within the family, however, there has been growing anxiety. Harry's failure to spend time with the Queen at Balmoral during the summer was a strategic mistake.

Family business is usually taken care of during the long summer break in Scotland, and countless intractable conundrums have been resolved in the civilising atmosphere of Royal Deeside.

However, despite his absence from Balmoral I understand the Queen has spoken to Harry in the past month and offered to help.

Courtiers, meanwhile, were uneasy about the timing of Harry's television cri de coeur in the documentary broadcast on Sunday.

Not only did the advance publicity for it last week threaten to upstage the final part of William and Kate's highly successful trip to Pakistan, it also overshadowed a moving visit by the Countess of Wessex to Kosovo, where she met survivors of sexual violence.

Sophie, Countess of Wessex meets with sexual assault survivors in Kosovo 'It is the reason why royal diaries are so carefully co-ordinated, to avoid the risk of clashes between the various households,' says an aide. 'Quite simply, you don't rain on someone else's parade.'

Sunday's broadcast also revealed Harry's wish for the couple to be seen as hard-working members of the Royal Family. So it was hardly helped by his announcement that they now plan a six-week holiday.

So what about William? He is certainly perplexed by his brother's behaviour and believes he has handled some of the issues unwisely. He, too, has had some difficult moments in the media spotlight, including Kate being photographed topless before they married and the ensuing legal fight with the paparazzi.

'He dealt with these matters in a mature and considered way,' says a friend. 'He didn't allow them to become psychodramas in the way Harry seems to.'

The fact is, William is the same figure who looked out for his younger brother at school. And as uncomfortable as he has clearly found Harry's outburst, he will always be there for him.

Not long before she died, Diana talked to William about the kind of woman he might marry. She told him that the most important thing was that they should be best friends.

The tragedy of her own marriage, she said, was that she and Prince Charles barely knew one another, and had they been friends first, they would never have separated.

Diana later said that William 'got' this. According to one of the Princess's circle, William's concern about Harry marrying Meghan so quickly was probably because of that maternal advice about marrying someone you know well.

But then there is also the contrast in the way the brothers are going about their royal lives. While Harry has been criticised for using private jets while preaching about climate change, William and Kate have been seen carrying their own bags onto a budget airline flight to Aberdeen.

Instead of criticising the media as Harry did during his tour to southern Africa, William stopped to speak to them during his trip to Pakistan.

And while he protects his children from publicity, he also knows when to relax — and to be seen relaxing with them — as he did at an Aston Villa football match recently with Kate, George and Charlotte.

There is, of course, sympathy from the royals for Meghan's difficulty in adjusting to her new status, and because of her relationship with her father and other dysfunctional family members. No one more so, perhaps than Harry's own father, the Prince of Wales. But while he can offer help — and he has — Harry has not been inclined to accept it.

It is a shame. For the Duchess of Cornwall — Harry's stepmother — is familiar with the dramas of royal life. No one endured more criticism than Camilla, yet she has built a remarkable relationship with the public who admire her quiet contribution to public life at Charles's side.

For the Queen, 94 next birthday, this is no ordinary distraction which can be dismissed as mere gossip. Harry has seen to that by addressing it directly on camera. Indeed, it is a family drama that many close to the royals fear could unravel with further damaging revelations.

_________________________________

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the number one tactic of emotional/mental abusers is isolating their target away from their friends and family until you are the only person they have left or feel that they need. I learnt this the hard way in a particularly abusive relationship in my early 20′s, and it’s been really alarming seeing the same sort of patterns with M & H’s relationship. There had already been the obvious rumblings of Tom Inskip being ghosted and now even more school friends are admitting they have been put by the wayside is bloody concerning, particularly for someone who seems increasingly emotionally fractured. All of that conjecture aside, they would have known and had access to the Court Calendar. They would have KNOWN that Countess Wessex was meeting with sexual assault survivors in Kosovo. If you were truly about “empowering women” and wanting to “shine a light” on causes such as sexual violence against women, maybe wait a fucking week or two to release Panorama 2.0 so that these women had the chance to have their plight put on a world stage? You didn’t have to publicise it during the Pakistan Tour. You didn’t have to air it during the Kosovo tour. But you did. And this is why people are finding it really bloody hard to keep swallowing the gold pill. Even people such as myself, who were absolute balls-to-the-wall diehard supporters of the two of you right from the beginning but now feel like we’ve been played like fucking idiots.

#megxit #harry and meghan #william and kate #unsussex #prince harry #prince william

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scrambledgegs · 4 years

Text

Clear and present Terror

An episode from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Back in the early 1990s, it was during my grade school years that my siblings and I enjoyed watching The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, starring none other than Will Smith (whom I was lucky enough to have seen in person around 5 years ago and was immensely star-struck). There was a particular Fresh Prince episode that I never forgot – the one where Carlton Banks (the Bel-Air born-and-raised, naïve-and-sheltered son of Will’s successful attorney, Uncle Phil), encounters his first brush at racism. I did not fully understand the context of the episode, but for some reason it stuck in my head and heart as a kid.

Many years later, this episode resurfaced just last May 2020 when The Fresh Prince became available on Netflix. When that particular episode came out, I sat up in familiar surprise, as it triggered flashbacks of my childhood. I now understood it on a deeper level, watching it with the eyes of a thirty-three-year-old.

The episode entitled “Mistaken Identity,” starts off with Carlton borrowing a Mercedes-Benz from one of his father’s wealthy White colleagues and drives off to Palm Springs. Unknown to him, Will has snuck inside the car and suddenly surprises him during the drive. The two African-American male teen cousins are driving at night and are not familiar with the area, and thus, drive at a slow pace to check directions. They are eventually made to pullover by two White policemen, and then asked to step out of the car.

Immediately, Will knows what is happening while Carlton remains totally clueless and makes one blunder after another. They are accused of not only stealing the luxury car, but accused of being the perpetrators behind a whole series of car thefts in that area. The police officers put the two behind bars in the county jail.

Uncle Phil and Aunt Vivian eventually come to their rescue due to Will’s witty and street-smart quick-thinking and get them out of jail, but the episode ends with Carlton and Will arguing about what transpired. Back in the comforts of the Banks estate in posh Bel-Air, Carlton remains adamant in his belief (or denial) that the cops were merely doing their job because they were driving “below the speed limit.” Will retorts that Carlton should open his eyes to reality and leaves the room exasperated. Wizened Uncle Phil ends the episode by admonishing Carlton that he had a similar experience when he was much younger, also being stopped by White cops on the road. He has always asked himself if they were really “just doing their job.”

It has been more than 25 years since I last saw that particular episode, and I realized, what has really changed since then?

The #BlackLivesMatter Movement (BLM)

The ultra-sensitive and once-tabooed subject of racism has exploded into our immediate line of sight, due to snowballing economic repercussions and unravelling anxieties from COVID-19 and the worldwide lockdowns. During these dark times, certain people like Chinese nationals, including Chinese-Americans and Asians with Chinese features have been the target of hatred and racism. For instance, a close Filipina friend of mine living in a European country, was recently shouted at by someone driving a motorbike as she walking on the street. The motorist angrily shouted at her repeatedly to “close her mouth” in the language of that country. I’ve also heard of stories of Asian immigrants in Europe being thrown bottles in their direction by the locals of that country, and there continues to be many other similar, saddening stories across the globe.

Still, the Black American struggle has specifically been put at the forefront of the United States and the world today, as the homicide of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police during this pandemic, sparked the resurgence of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement. This anti-Black racism (and “anti state-sanctioned violence against Blacks”) movement, has since then spread like wildfire to many states all over the U.S thanks to social media platforms. Other countries and prominent individuals have also rallied to the cause and expressed their solidarity through social media. The message rings loud: It is not to diminish the experiences of other marginalized peoples and groups, but aims to cast the bright spotlight on the distinct and continuing struggles of African Americans and people of African descent. African Americans wish to speak their hard truths in front of a global stage, and we certainly can’t blame them.

The Innocence Files

It would be hypocritical of me to talk about struggle and experiences of African Americans, but I would like to reference my insights from a Netflix true crime docu-series, The Innocence Files that in my opinion, gave much context to their centuries-long discrimination. The Innocence Files was a tremendous and tragic eye- opener. It is about the Innocence Project, co-founded by attorneys, Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld who challenge the U.S. legal and criminal justice system to overturn wrongful convictions against minorities, particularly African Americans. Due to issues of police coercion, misguided eyewitness accounts and ridiculous, terribly inaccurate and “leading evidence,” the wrongfully convicted are put away on death row in maximum security prisons for decades. Furthermore, when White prosecutors, as well as judges, are found to be in the wrong after convictions are overturned, do not receive any form of punishment. There is no personal accountability, nor retribution. In fact, most of them go on to have stellar careers.

As a non-American, it helped me better understand the situation of the Black community in United States, and my heart really went out to them. It infuriated me, and I found myself cursing at the TV. It is clear that slavery is not dead in America – but exists in modern-day, in the forms of marginalizing practices, systemic discrimination and prejudiced people in positions of authority. African Americans are still very much caught up in vicious cycles that continue to cripple them and the generations to come.

In the words of my friend, a Chinese-American, true-blue, born and raised New Yorker: “it starts all the way back during the slavery years…and how the government would red line certain neighborhoods to decide on which neighborhoods get more funding. This results in many domino effects…social infrastructure is built on the economics of how funding gets allocated. So, if African Americans are stuck in a bad neighborhood, they get less financial help from the get-go. It becomes a vicious cycle, and even if they do get a good education which is hard enough growing up in a poor neighborhood with little resources, they still face the reality of racism in corporate society that is dominated by the Whites. It starts even with your resume.”

Yet, I still must say that in my opinion, I condemn opportunists (who are not all African American even) who used the BLM to their advantage and justification to murder, loot, engage in arson and cause unnecessary damages to neighborhoods and livelihoods. I get they are pushed to their wits end - but we got to draw the line somewhere. I believe there are still boundaries as to the way we express ourselves. There are even celebrities and common people alike getting onboard to further their own public image. They aren’t making things better but instead, muddling the urgent and important message of this cause. Nakikiepal at nakikiuso lang.

Fear, Ignorance, Prejudice and Racism

Let’s admit it though. All of us in this world have bits of prejudice inside of us. Some are unfortunately, more pronounced than others, while those on the extreme end of the spectrum, let it dictate their life mantras; thus, taking things too far. However, this is also not to say that “a little” or “subconscious” prejudice is okay either because these ideologies can also be manifested in small yet oppressive ways if we are not careful. Such network of beliefs is rooted from or formed in our upbringing, especially from beliefs handed down by our families or through experiences. This includes single or limited encounters that can cause us to generalize and stereotype all people in a particular culture, sub-culture and group. This is another deadly train of thought that we ought to regularly keep in check. Self-awareness and admitting one’s shortcomings are the first steps.

Re-examination as a Non-American from the Philippines

Again, I am not in the best position to talk about the subject matter of racism, especially in the context of the Black American struggle, but if I may so, share some of my experiences from living in the United States for five years (2004-2009), and how the recent fiery current events have gotten me to take a step back too and assess my own thoughts.

To give a short background, before living in the U.S. (as well as Japan), I had only lived in the Philippines my whole life. Fortunately, as a college student in the U.S., in the melting-pot and liberal state of Massachusetts, I met all kinds of people of diverse backgrounds, heritages, ethnicities and nationalities that finally opened my eyes to a whole new world beyond the sheltered Metro Manila bubble. I had a number of African-American friends and classmates, and in my experience, I can easily say they were smart, kind, warm-hearted and tremendously multi-talented. I graduated from college in May 2008 – the same year that Barrack Obama won his first Presidential election. Like most people from the largely- democratic states in the East Coast, I was ecstatic and celebrated the much anticipated “Change is Coming.”

However (please read on first that I may qualify…), after graduation and seeking employment in 2008 – during what were also the bleak years of the Financial Crisis, I experienced different kinds of encounters with African-Americans when I moved to New York City. I must admit that these encounters initially caused me to irrationally adjust my overall rosy view of them. Looking back, I admit that I failed to factor in that I was encountering strangers in a big city, on the streets and subways and was not in the vicinity of school anymore, so of course things will be starkly different. These were also hard times. Among the encounters that I remember were the following.

The stories I have just narrated are also examples of limited negative encounters that pushed me to initially engage in stereotyping. Often times, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. However, like I said, I failed back then, to piece together the whole context of my encounters – that I was living in a bustling American city, the Big Apple no less, with all kinds of characters in existence. This has has taught me to be try to be bigger than my biases and fears and resist from making sweeping statements. I know for one that given different situations, I do not hold the same fears and notions against African Americans, or all kinds of peoples for that matter. If you get down to it really, all nationalities and races are of course, capable of anything – whether it is trouble and crime, and likewise, capable of good just the same.

I do question myself if I was wrong to react in those ways? This can be subject to debate. You tell me, as I myself am unsure. I can say however, that regardless of race, I would have been scared by any male figure that approached me during those tense situations. It just so happened that all those situations I recall, involved African American men – this is something I have later on reexamined as well. Why were they more often than not, African American? Today, I realize it says something more about the United States’ unequal systems and cultures, rather than about African Americans themselves.

Color-blind?

Things brings me to ask myself as well, am I truly color-blind? I would give the honest answer of No I am not. However, I know I wouldn’t deliberately hurt or oppress anyone because of the color of their skin, heritage or background – this may be the case for most of us, but the times of today are telling us that this is still not enough for change to happen. Turns out we have to be more in touch with our thoughts and emotions because they turn into actions. We have to make conscious efforts to re-work our thoughts if they detour towards that prejudiced lane, and if we do witness any form of oppression, it is our obligation to be vocal or concretely do something.

For us Filipinos, I also just have to say that it shouldn’t be about joining the BLM or related bandwagons just for the sake of, or to feel like we have done our part by simply posting black squares and hashtags. For me, this is a total cop-out if we aren’t making deliberate choices everyday to do right by our immediate community.

Terror is Everywhere

It is important to understand the true narrative of the BLM and related riots in the United States, and although they may not directly apply to the Philippines, there are tons of relevant issues that hit close to home.

It is easy to not get involved or to judge situations from the confines of our homes, but something my dad used to, and still always says is that, if we don’t do our part in speaking out, or showing protests through our own ways against injustices done to our neighbors – then we might as well be accessories to the crime. One day similar injustices will be hurled against us, and because we didn’t speak out, there will be nobody left to speak out on our behalf.

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exhoe-imagines · 5 years

Text

the green room → jww

summary → watching wonwoo’s twitch streams had always been something you’d enjoyed, but never in a million years did you think you’d run into him so casually at his daytime job

word count → ~2k

genre/warnings → gamer/streamer!au, florist!au, gn!reader who is oblivious to flowers and their meanings, random overwatch references that i had to guess on bc im clueless djfkdsjfsd

a/n → SO @gamerwoo did not think i could attack her,, hence this fic was born !! i pray it will wound her the way i am hoping for !! also any references to overwatch were made from the content i see about it on her blog/faq so thank u rocket for unknowingly educating a dumb bitch like me 😪

“Anyway, I’ll see you guys tomorrow at the same time.” The boy smiled into his webcam, giving a shy wave to the screen. His brown eyes were hidden behind his round glasses, but they did little to cover up the flustered blush that covered his cheeks. It was obvious, as usual, that ending a stream proved to be difficult for him -- the awkward void of noise from his game commentary or the sound effects coming from his computer speakers leaving him in uncomfortable silence as he said goodbye.

You giggled softly as the stream turned black, before his offline screen popped up, displaying his social media and schedule links in a thin blue font. There was no need to click on them, at least for you, since you’d memorized his handles and stream times months prior.

To call you a fan of gamerwoo_96’s twitch would have been a bit of an understatement, one could say. You were quite picky with who you spent your free time watching, especially when it came to hour long streams. Besides Wonwoo, which was his real name, only a few other lucky gamers had you regularly on their accounts -- notably, yutodagames and pcy92, but your casual viewing on their channel was nothing compared to your dedication to Wonwoo.

There was something about how natural he was at playing, that you and his other couple hundred regular followers greatly appreciated. He didn’t seem dedicated to becoming big on Twitch, even showing signs of embarrassment when a large number of people tuned in for his streams. However, no one, not even himself, could deny his channel grew rather quickly.

You’d stumbled across his account one Saturday while looking for Overwatch players, and you’d been hooked ever since. He wasn’t as loud or annoying as other guys his age on Twitch, but he wasn’t too quiet either, where it made it uncomfortable. He commented on things every now and then but stayed focused and would go silent every few moments. It was a nice balance, allowing you to concentrate on the gameplay, but also get to hear his thoughts, and very deep voice whenever he voiced his opinion on something.

Of course, you’d be lying if you didn’t say his looks kept you on his channel as well. He was cute, that much was obvious. His loose white shirts and tousled hair always gave him a laidback look, that contradicted the focus he’d put into his gameplay. Wonwoo’s nose would scrunch, his eyes squinting behind his gold glasses. It was downright adorable, and completely uncalled for considering he was already the prettiest gamer boy you’d ever seen.

Months later, you were still tuning in for his morning Saturday stream -- a perfect way to start your weekend if anyone asked you.

You clicked out of Twitch and closed your laptop before rolling on your back, letting out a deep sigh as you sunk into your bed. You had a list of errands to run, but you’d been putting them off, deeming Wonwoo’s stream more important. However, now that it ended, you had no excuse for putting off your tasks.

Begrudgingly, you got out of bed a few minutes later, trudging to your bathroom to get ready.

Mentally, you’d already planned your schedule for the day. Grocery shopping and getting gas were first, then gift shopping, and lastly, meeting your friend later in the afternoon to celebrate her birthday.

As expected, the first two errands were nothing special, and you got them done rather quickly. However, the next one was not as simple. Your friend had always loved flowers, and you wanted to get her a big bouquet when you greeted her. The only problem was, florists in your area were rare, which meant you had to drive out of town to find one.

“Thank god I don’t have any cold groceries,” you mumbled, before setting off on your detour.

When you finally pulled up to The Green Room, you were pleased with what you saw. It certainly seemed worth the drive, beautiful baskets and arrays of flowers decorating the outside of the small white shop.

Making sure you had your keys, wallet, and phone on you, you made your way to the entrance, noticing it seemed to be empty from your view through the large windows. Shrugging it off, you pushed the door open, a little bell sounding your arrival.

“Good morning,” a smooth voice from behind the counter greeted you. For a second, a slight feeling of recognition passed through you, and when you turned to face the cashier, you understood why.

Wonwoo stood there, a white apron tied around his waist, and a polite smile on his lips. Your eyes widened and your voice was caught in your throat, something he noticed quickly.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” he asked, probably viewing your silence as confusion.

You had to be seeing things.

You shook your head quickly, squeaking out a response. “I-I don’t think so.”

Wonwoo nodded, looking back down at the book on the counter he had open. It was almost finished, and you swooned internally.

A bookworm too? you thought, how perfect is this boy?

Not wanting to stare too long, you scurried towards the back of the shop, trying to make yourself look busy as you racked your brain for an explanation as to why Wonwoo was running the one flower shop by your house. He’d never mentioned where he lived or where he worked, obviously, but never in your life did you imagine that out of everywhere in the world, he was a mere hour from your apartment complex.

What kind of fucking coincidence is this? you screamed internally, barely paying attention to the flowers as you passed them. Speaking of, you couldn’t wait to tell your friend -- she’d gotten sick of hearing you fangirl over your “little gamer boy” as she liked to call him. She was truly in for a treat now, as you’d probably never stop talking about the fact that you met him.

There was nothing you wanted more than to go back up to the counter and talk to him, but you had to get the flowers you’d come for.

The only problem was, you had no idea what to buy.

Your friend had told you all her favorite flowers, but there were so many, and with the thought of Wonwoo at the front of your mind, there was no way you were going to be able to remember them all, let alone know what they looked like.

Letting out a sigh, you decided to pick out a few flowers that looked pretty, and would maybe look nice together. It was the best you could do, and you only hoped your friend would appreciate the effort.

Sadly, it must have been pretty easy to spot how clueless you were, since, after a few minutes of picking different flowers, footsteps sounded near you.

“Who are you shopping for?” Wonwoo asked, as he stood next to you. His proximity and the natural warmth radiating off his form had you stuck in place, unable to escape.

“M-my friend.”

He hummed. “Special occasion?”

You nodded. “Her birthday.”

At that, Wonwoo visibly held back a wince. His eyes darted to the flowers in your hands before he looked back at you. “Maybe white lilies wouldn’t be the best choice then.” His voice was reserved, like he was worried about criticizing your choice. “They’re usually meant for funerals,” he awkwardly explained, pushing his glasses up his nose.

“Oh god,” you groaned, “I really have no idea what I’m doing here.”

Wonwoo chuckled at that, visibly loosening up at your response. “It’s alright, it’s more common than you think.” He held out his hand, sending you a smile. “I can go put those back if you want me to help you make a new bunch.”

You let out a sigh of relief. “That’d be great, thank you.”

Wonwoo nodded, taking the flowers from your hand, his fingers long and warm as they brushed against your palm.

Hearing him ramble about flower types a few moments later was one of the greatest things your ears had ever been blessed with. You’d always liked his voice, but hearing him explain the different flowers and their meanings was the most you’d ever heard him talk at once, and it was amazing. Clearly, the shop was a huge passion of his, which you thought fit his personality perfectly.

“A couple of these alstroemerias, for friendship. Some yellow and orange gerberas too, maybe.” He was clearly mumbling to himself by then, plucking different flowers from around the shop and fitting them between each other. His skill was visible immediately, the bouquet effortlessly beautiful as he crafted it without a second thought.

By the time he was done, you were in awe. He sent you a sheepish smile as he led you back to the front counter, setting the flowers down as he moved behind the cash register.

“Thank you so much,” you said, pulling out your wallet as he told you the price. It seemed unusually low, compared to the price tags plastered across the store. You brushed it off, assuming a sale was happening or something.

“You’re really good at this,” you mentioned, as you picked up the bouquet, careful not to mess up all his work. “I wouldn’t have expected that.” You said the words before you could catch yourself, eyes widening as you looked up at Wonwoo.

His eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

You internally cursed yourself. There was no going back now. “I um, I’m used to seeing you on Twitch.”

You waited for the awkward response that would make you feel like a creep, but Wonwoo just smiled bashfully. “Really? I’ve never had someone recognize me, besides some friends and family, of course.”

You looked at him slightly in shock. “Are you serious? I watch your streams all the time,” you admitted, feeling some heat spread to your cheeks.

“What’s your username?” he asked curiously.

You told him, expecting he would just nod, but instead his eyes widened in recognition.

“You have the D.Va icon right?”

You tried not to openly gape, but the shock was too strong. Wonwoo, your favorite streamer, remembered you?

“Y-yeah I do.”

He smiled, glad he’d recognized you correctly.

“Well, maybe I’ll see you at the next stream then?” his tone was hopeful, and you nodded almost immediately.

“Of course.”

He nodded, and his usual awkwardness when it came to saying goodbye became apparent.

“Here um, take this, on me.” He grabbed a flower from one of the baskets behind the counter, and handed it to you with a blush.

You took it, mirroring his flustered expression. “T-thank you.” You smiled shyly before picking up your bouquet and waving him goodbye with your free hand. He tilted his head in response, and you quickly left the shop before he could notice how hard you were crushing on him.

You were able to hold back your scream of excitement until you made it to your car, when you slammed your hands against the steering wheel with a squeal.

However, nothing compared to your excitement when your friend noticed the flower Wonwoo gave you, a knowing smirk spreading across her face.

“Wonwoo gave you that?” she asked, grin growing as you nodded. “Did he tell you the meaning?”

You shook your head, and her expression brightened.

“Well,” she sing-songed, “if that ranunculus means what I think it does, it seems like a certain gamer boy finds you very attractive.”

#wonwoo fluff #jeon wonwoo imagine #gamer!wonwoo #gamer!au seventeen #seventeen imagine #seventeen fluff #wonwoo x reader #jeon wonwoo x reader #jeon wonwoo fluff #jeon wonwoo #wonwoo #wonwoo x reader fluff #seventeen gamer!au #wonwoo oneshot #seventeen oneshot #jeon wonwoo oneshot #mutuals

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scifigeneration · 5 years

Text

In the future, everyone might use quantum computers

by Christopher Bernhardt

A seven-qubit quantum device at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. AP Photo/Seth Wenig

Computers were once considered high-end technology, only accessible to scientists and trained professionals. But there was a seismic shift in the history of computing during the second half of the 1970s. It wasn’t just that machines became much smaller and more powerful — though, of course, they did. It was the shift in who would use computers and where: They became available to everyone to use in their own home.

Today, quantum computing is in its infancy. Quantum computation incorporates some of the most mind-bending concepts from 20th-century physics. In the U.S., Google, IBM and NASA are experimenting and building the first quantum computers. China is also investing heavily in quantum technology.

As the author of “Quantum Computing for Everyone,” due out in March, I believe that there will be an analogous shift toward quantum computing, where enthusiasts will be able to play with quantum computers from their homes. This shift will occur much sooner than most people realize.

Rise of personal computers

The first modern computers were constructed in the 1950s. They were large, often unreliable, and by today’s standards, not particularly powerful. They were designed for solving large problems, such as developing the first hydrogen bomb. There was general consensus that this was the sort of thing that computers were good for and that the world would not need many of them.

Of course, this view turned out to be completely wrong.

Programming in BASIC. David Firth/Wikimedia

In 1964, John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz wrote the BASIC language. Their goal was to design a simple programming language that would be easy to learn and would enable anyone to program. As a result, programming was no longer solely for highly trained scientists. Anyone could now learn to program if they wanted to.

This shift in computing continued when the first home computers appeared in the late 1970s. Hobbyists could now buy their own computer and program it at home. Parents and children could learn together. These first computers were not very powerful and there were a limited number of things that you could do with them, but they had an extremely enthusiastic reception.

As people played with their machines, they realized that they wanted more features and more power. The founders of Microsoft and Apple understood that the home computer had a bright future.

Almost every American now owns a laptop, tablet or smartphone – or all three. They spend a lot of time on social media, e-commerce and searching the internet.

None of these activities existed in the 1950s. Nobody at the time knew that they wanted or needed them. It was the availability of a new tool, the computer, that led to their development.

Enter quantum

Classical computation, the kind of computation that powers the computer in your home, is based on how humans compute. It breaks down all computations into their most fundamental parts: the binary digits 0 and 1. Nowadays, our computers use bits – a portmanteau word from binary digits – because they are easy to implement with switches that are either in the on or off position.

Quantum computation is based on how the universe computes. It contains all of classical computing, but also incorporates a couple of new concepts that come from quantum physics.

Instead of the bits of classical computation, quantum computing has qubits. However, the outcome from a quantum computation is exactly the same as that from a classical computation: a number of bits.

The difference is that, during the computation, the computer can manipulate qubits in more ways that it can with bits. It can put qubits in a superposition of states and entangle them.

Both superposition and entanglement are concepts from quantum mechanics that most people are not familiar with. Superposition roughly means that a qubit can be in a mixture of both 0 and 1. Entanglement denotes correlation between qubits. When one of a pair of entangled qubits is measured, that immediately shows what value you will get when you measure its partner. This is what Einstein referred to as “spooky action at a distance.”

The mathematics needed for a full description of quantum mechanics is daunting, and this background is needed to design and build a quantum computer. But the mathematics needed to understand quantum computation and to start designing quantum circuits is much less: High school algebra is essentially the only requirement.

Quantum computing and you

Quantum computers are only just starting to be built. They are large machines that are somewhat unreliable and not yet very powerful.

What will they be used for? Quantum computing has important applications in cryptography. In 1994, MIT mathematician Peter Shor showed that, if quantum computers could be built, they would be able to break current internet encryption methods. This spurred the construction of new ways of encrypting data that can withstand quantum attacks, launching the age of post-quantum cryptography.

It also looks as though quantum computing will probably have a large impact on chemistry. There are certain reactions that classical computers have difficulty simulating. Chemists hope that quantum computers will be efficient at modeling these quantum phenomena.

But I don’t think it makes much sense to speculate about what most people will be doing with quantum computers in 50 years. It may make more sense to ask when quantum computing will become something that anyone can use from their own home.

The answer is that this is already possible. In 2016, IBM added a small quantum computer to the cloud. Anyone with an internet connection can design and run their own quantum circuits on this computer. A quantum circuit is a sequence of basic steps that perform a quantum calculation.

Not only is IBM’s quantum computer free to use, but this quantum computer has a simple graphical interface. It is a small, not very powerful machine, much like the first home computers, but hobbyists can start playing. The shift has begun.

Humans are entering an age when it is straightforward to learn and experiment with quantum computation. As with the first home computers, it might not be clear that there are problems that need to be solved with quantum computers, but as people play, I think it’s likely they will find that they need more power and more features. This will open the way for new applications that we haven’t yet imagined.

About The Author:

Chris Bernhardt is the author of Quantum Computing for Everyone and is Professor of Mathematics at Fairfield University.

This article is republished from our content partners at The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. MIT Press provides funding as a member of The Conversation US.

#technology #science #computer science #Physics #Quantum Computing

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tf-imagines · 5 years

Note

TFA Starscream, TFA Jazz, and TFA Prowl with a Cybertronian s/o, who was brought more recently to life by an all spark fragment, so they are fairly wide eyed and curious about everything. So much so they try human dating customs because they really have no other frame of reference. Like holding servos, giving dead plants *think like a whole tree roots and all*, that weird mouth contact thing they'd seen some do

You have no idea how happy this idea makes me and it’s so sweet~! I could sleep in all this fluff!!

TFA Starscream

Starscream has already been through helping newly-onlined Cybertronians with his clones. However you were not an intentionally created one, and you were your own being. Full of wonder...he couldn’t just take the fragment out of you. So he humored you, grooming your knowledge in his favor. He lets you explore, so long as you don’t expose yourself until he can teach you to properly defend yourself. When you come back from one trip to observe the humans, and grab his face and press your face plate against his with a loud ‘MWAH’, he is confused and reeling back.

“What the slag was that?”

“The humans refer to it as a ‘kiss’, a sign of affection towards someone you care about!” You explained happily, looking up at him for approval, even offering him a bush you had found on your way back that had had pretty flowers on it that reminded you of him. Prickly, but a pretty shade of red!

He takes a moment to process this. You care about him and look up to him. You brought him a gift. He had not been prepared for this when he took you under his wing. Taking a deep breath, he gently pats your head and takes the offered bush, though unsure what to do with it. “Yes yes, well, thank you…now go clean up, your armor is absolutely filthy! You don’t want that dirt to get into your joints.” He said, watching you salute happily before rushing off to do as instructed.

TFA Jazz

Jazz was not prepared to try and teach another bot about Earth when he still knew so little himself, but he couldn’t just leave them to figure it out on their own. The Earth was big and confusing, and that was with Optimus and his team helping him. So he took you in to help where he could, filling in the blanks for you as gently as he can. He was the reason you were introduced to human media in the first place, through music and movies and dance videos.

It didn’t take long for you to be emulating the organic’s behavior. Often upon your return from exploring, or his return from a mission, you’ll go up to him and lace your servo with his to be holding his hand. He had a better understanding of the romantic implications of this, but simply didn’t have the spark to correct you. Whenever he would return your affections with a head or shoulder pat and a smile, you would just light up with joy. He couldn’t take that away from you! It just wouldn’t be cool...so he left alone. Went with the flow of things. He was good at that anyways, and so far you had been too, all things considered.

When you kiss him for the first time, you had been watching a movie with Bumblebee, enthralled with the more romantic interactions in the action movie. Jazz finally returned from patrol, stretching once he transformed back. You lit up and vaulted over the back of the couch to go greet him, nearly kicking Bumblebee in the head in the process but he had ducked, not even phased at this point. You always seem to come to life when Jazz returned. However what no one had expected what happened next. You grabbed onto Jazz’s arm for balance before leaning up to try kissing him. It wasn’t quite right, despite how much time had been spent on screen demonstrating it. Jazz couldn’t help but chuckle into it, helping you steady yourself. “You really missed me, huh?” He asked playfully, laughing when you nodded with a huge grin.

TFA Prowl

Prowl is one of the most well-versed bots when it comes to Organics. However he is still learning when it comes to human interactions, despite his somewhat positive, almost friendship between he and Captain Fanzone. So when you showed up and latched on to him, it’s understandable that you would end up sharing his fascination with organics. Though you were most interested in humans, which was understandable considering they were everywhere and they were new for you. Though he had to admit, your wide eyed wonder and sudden appearance did bring up some more negative memories from the past, but he never blamed you for that. It wasn’t your fault, and you didn’t need to know about it.

He often took you to the park for observation, him of the wildlife and you of the humans. He made sure to keep a close eye on you though, to be able to stop you if you tried to do something that you shouldn’t. Apparently, parks are a common place for romantic couples, meaning you picked up on a lot of their habits and signs of affection. Which you immediately translated to as something you could do with Prowl, considering how he explained them. “Signs of affection between organics to show appreciation for the other’s presence.”

He shouldn’t have been surprised when you brought him a large, fluffy bush. Lots of beautiful flowers were on it, and you had been very careful to ensure there were no nests or anything inside that you would disturb when you uprooted it. You had seen children picking flowers to give to their parents, so you had just mimicked on a larger scale. Thankfully, he knew how to tend to plants, so he tried to re-plant them there at the base, even within his room, against the large tree. He explained that he appreciated the intention, but that this was actually bad for the plant. You nodded in understanding through his explanation, though you seemed a bit nervous when he finished.

“Is something wrong?” He asked worriedly, wondering if he had accidentally been too harsh with this or hurt your feelings. He really did try not to, but he wanted to ensure you understood how to enjoy and share nature without damaging it.

He was about to ask about your nervousness, but was cut off by a peck on the cheek. A surprisingly good attempt at one at that, considering the circumstances. You gave him a shy smile, twiddling your digits slightly. “Thank you, Prowl, for being patient with me and teaching me.”

His optics had widened at the peck, but his entire frame softened as he nodded, smiling softly and gently put his servo on your shoulder. “Of course. I’m happy to help you.” He assured softly. He meant it too. It was a relief to see such joy and wonder again, even amongst this war.

#text post #transformers imagines #transformers imagine #thanks for the ask!#maccadam #anon #tfa #starscream #prowl #jazz #tfa starscream #tfa prowl #tfa jazz #fluff #happy

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comicteaparty · 5 years

Text

September 23rd-September 29th, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from September 23rd, 2019 to September 29th, 2019. The chat focused on Neguri-Senpai by Neguri Senpai.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Neguri-Senpai by Neguri Senpai~! (http://neguri-senpai.blogspot.com/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PDT), so keep checking back for more! You have until September 29th to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. Of all the strips in the comic, which joke/scenario did you find particularly relatable in terms of what it’s like to be at school or crushing on someone? In what ways did it make you reflect on life or how media portrays these situations?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 4. Given the comic features a lot of pop culture references, which of those has been your favorite so far? What about it really made you smile, and what do you think the comic can teach us in terms of how pop culture can be used for comedy?

mariah (rainy day dreams)

1. My favorite scenes have been where Aoi tries to recreate Neguri-senpai in various forms of media. I found the video game one particularly funny X') I really like the contrast of how proud Aoi is of her creation but how off they are from the original. It reminds me of how much I loved all my badly drawn husbando fan art as a kiddo. http://neguri-senpai.blogspot.com/2019/02/neguri-senpai-new-game.html?m=1 2. I think Aoi's eavesdropping and creeping on Sana when it comes to Neguri-senpai is pretty relatable. I definitely have felt a similar anxiety about perceived romantic rivals in the past. I think the strip where it turns out Sana was just talking about her cat is a really good example of this. http://neguri-senpai.blogspot.com/2019/01/neguri-senpai-what-did-you-just-say.html?m=1 As far as reflecting on life and media goes, while I think the feeling captured rings true to life, it also makes me kind of bummed that these two's relationship is just fighting over a guy (who I assume is unattainable since he's a teacher? But then again who knows since it's playing on manga tropes). I feel like that kind of angst is common for the teenage girl experience, but I also wonder if part of that is because it's a trope that's so reinforced by media that it just becomes expected. Anyways, two girls fighting over a guy makes me sad if I think about it too long. This has been my TED talk.

3. I think Sana is my favorite character. Maybe exclusively for her goth socks XD Aoi is also very good. 4. Man, my only experience with JoJo is the one episode I watched and all the Twitter memes so I feel like most of those jokes are probably lost on me TuT I do really love whenever someone yells NANI??? though XD I laughed a little every time reading through. I also don't get a lot of the coding jokes, but the ones I do understand have really landed home

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. What has been your favorite composition in the comic so far? What specifically about it do you like?

QUESTION 6. Do you believe that Aoi will ever be able to date Neguri Senpai? If so, how do you imagine that would happen? If not, how do you think the comic will comedically resolve Aoi’s crush on Neguri Senpai?

RebelVampire

1) My favorite strip so far I think is this one http://neguri-senpai.blogspot.com/2019/08/neguri-senpai-alone-on-roof.html where Aoi is suspiciously summoned to the roof but whoops, nope, it's just for a picture. I really like how this strip plays with the Japanese school roof trope cause it makes the comedic payoff that much sweeter when it's not any romantic or delinquent things. 2) A strip I found super relatable about going to school was this one http://neguri-senpai.blogspot.com/2019/07/neguri-senpai-finals.html where all the girls are discussing whether or not they failed a test. I think basically everyone has done that after a test, regardless of confidence, so it's just one of those moments that I think is universally connecting. I do not miss the stress of worrying about passing or failing a test. XD In terms of reflection, it did make me think that of all the school tropes media messes up, this is actually one that is very spot on to what real life is like, which is pretty rare. Yet, makes for good comedy because of this quality of being universally relatable.

3) My favorite character at the moment is probably Aoi. I just like how earnest she is, how crazy day dreamy, and how enthusiastic she is. It's the perfect combo where even her personality flaws really seem endearing, so I want to see her achieve happiness. 4) My favorite so far was this one where Aoi thought of Speedwagon: http://neguri-senpai.blogspot.com/2019/05/neguri-senpai-i-need-man-like-that.html While I don't know a whole lot about Jojo having been banned from watching it, my boyfriend really loves Jojo. So through him there is one fact I do know, and that's Speedwagon is a beloved character. So it really made me smile to see this show up in the comic and be proven true. XD In terms of what the comic teaches about how pop culture can be used for comedy, I think the biggest lesson is that it's a double-edged sword. If the people know what it being referenced, immediately creates that connection that's needed for comedy. But on the flip side, all those references will fall flat if the person doesn't know the references. So it's great to use, but also gonna be hitting some really niche audiences.

5) My fave composition is the last panel from this strip http://neguri-senpai.blogspot.com/2019/03/neguri-senpai-judgement.html WHat can I saw? I'm a big fan of angles and the whole dark overshadow thing to bring that nice oppressive atmosphere. It really sells the joke. 6) Until the end of the comic, I think the only date Aoi will get will be a joke one. Like one of those ones where she tots think she's going on a date but nah, Neguri Senpai just wanted her for some mundane reason. Like running errands for the school. But I do feel overall if and when the comic ends, it'll be on a happy note with Aoi getting with Neguri Senpai. If only cause there is no comedic rival yet after Aoi.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you?

QUESTION 8. Of the fourth wall breaks in the comic, which one did you find the most interesting and why? In what ways were this comic’s fourth wall breaks unique compared to other comic’s that do it?

Ash🦀

1. I actually really loved the lovingly recreated video game version of Neguri-San who dies five minutes later, as I found it to be the most relatable. I too take five hundred hours in character creation only to remember I have no hand-eye coordination. Also, I was quite glad when they showed Neguri-San’s younger self, because until that moment I thought he was another student and so I was quite confused. Not the dynamic I personally go for but it cleared up so much of my confusion. 2. When they’re all on the beach comparing bodies and Aoi’s like “but how will I compete with someone built so beautiful?” Man that was a MOOD. Been in a committed relationship almost 9 years though so I guess I figured it out. Also, if that’s foreshadowing Aoi’s eventual fall for Sana, that would be the best. 3. Sana is my favorite, because she plays off Aoi so well and seems like a capable and headstrong young woman. She’s really fun to watch. 4. The speed wagon joke was hilarious and you cannot change my mind. Also, wish I understood a lick of coding. 5. The strip when Aoi and Sana were in the classroom and Aoi was staring menacingly? Honestly? The best use of comedic tension that I saw. 6. I highly doubt it. She’s a student, and while it’s cute of her to have a crush, it would be inappropriate for it to be reciprocated. 7. I really enjoy Sana and Aoi interacting. I find their rivalry the most interesting, because Sana seems the most capable rival. She’s smart, she’s driven, and it’ll probably come to a final showdown with her. Also, her stand actually got me to nose exhale, which doesn’t sound like much, but before noon it is a monumental feat. I’d love to see them more directly interacting rather than talking about each other. and heck, maybe they’ll be the couple in the end. Love a good rivals to something more story. 8. Honestly I’m not too big a fan of wall breaks, but it does give me a chuckle every time they blame the author.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. What sorts of details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention?

QUESTION 10. The comic also features a lot of references to computer science and programming, so which of those has been your favorite? Alternatively, which concepts do you wish you understood more to get the joke?

The Q

9. I think the layout is really funny. This comic wouldn't have worked as well with a "traditional" print-style format. The jokes are well-paced, too, something we don't often think about when we (well, I) read commics! 10. WHAT ARE STICKY KEYS FOR? I know them as the annoying suggestion that pops up everytime I use my shift key too much... In general, I can feel a lot of the programming jokes fly right over my head, which is too bad, but that probably just means that I wasn't ever the intended target audience anyway. And that's okay. Honorable mention: the last panel of this strip http://neguri-senpai.blogspot.com/2019/08/neguri-senpai-animal-friendly.html is adorable!

RebelVampire

7) I think I enjoy seeing Aoi interact with Sana. They just have a really cute but funny comedic rivalry that is enjoyable to see unfold. Even when they aren't directly talking to one another their attitudes towards each other is pretty entertaining in itself, which is always a good sign. 8) I really enjoy the merch plug strip http://neguri-senpai.blogspot.com/2019/06/neguri-senpai-what-big-number.html if only because Aoi's face and reaction to that is hilarious and seeing Neguri Senpai enthusiastic about something just...it's laughs all around. Which while there are certainly comic's that do fourth wall breaks like this for self promo, I find this comic to be a bit unique just cause of its execution of the comedy. It doesn't really toe the line with what it is (which is something I see a lot), so I appreciate the energy of upfront in the face nature about it.

9) I really like all the little programming inserts in the comic. Like a lot fo the jokes surrounding them are so specific that I think for a lot of people they fly under the radar. But I like the accuracy for them. It's like that sort of niche inclusion that doesn't hurt the other comedy but really adds a nice chuckle factor for when you do recognize the joke being made. 10) And speaking of the above, my favorite one was definitely this one: http://neguri-senpai.blogspot.com/2019/03/neguri-senpai-judgement.html I have been on both sides of that situation before, and like the accuracy is on point. You're always going to judge people for their code editor of choice regardless of language involved. But I like that even if you don't specifically understand that part about it, it's still relateable in that one of them is being singled out for a potentially bad choice in a comedic manner. So just all around, A+ for that strip.

snuffysam

Oh man, this comic is a lot of fun. I think this was the joke I laughed the hardest just due to the nonchalant pacing of it - http://neguri-senpai.blogspot.com/2019/01/neguri-senpai-what-did-you-just-say.html My favorite character is probably Neguri. He's seen as this god by all the girls, yet he's awkward and almost a literal blank slate character. That sort of subtle humor is just really funny to me, so he's my pick.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 11. What do you think are this particular comic’s strengths? What do you think makes this comic unique? Please elaborate.

QUESTION 12. Of Aoi’s rivals for Neguri Senpai, which one do you find the most interesting, especially in regards to their dynamic with Aoi? What other sorts of rivals are you hoping to see?

snuffysam

I think the comic's biggest strength is, for lack of a better word, how bizarre it is. Like the comic does have recurring themes of course (programming jokes, pop culture references, parodies of the school romance genre), but in terms of each individual strip I have no way of predicting what'll happen next.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

QUESTION 14. In general, what other sorts of comedic gags are you hoping to see in the comic? Alternatively, where are you hoping the loose story found within the comic goes?

RebelVampire

11) I have to agree with @snuffysam here on strengths. I think the comic is just extremely unique. Like individually you can find aspects in other comics, but all together it makes for a one-of-a-kind experience you cant really predict. And unpredictability is good for this sort of comic since its keeps things interesting. 12) It's definitely gotta be Sana imo. I think even if Neguri wasn't in the picture, they'd be destined rivals who would compete over everything. Yet they're both equally kind of exaggerated in personality in ways I would not peg for the typical sort of girl rivalry you see for school comics like this. In terms of other rivals, I hope Aoi has to deal with like a secret admirer one so that she can't exactly confront that rival. Maybe go the mystery detective route trying to figure out who it is.

13) I'm looking forward to more A+ programming jokes. They have some catching up to do if they want to compete with all the Jojo references. But also as I've complimented them, I just overall enjoy them a lot. 14) I'm actually hoping to see more gags with that one rival (whose name i forget) who is extremely blunt and vulgar about her intentions towards Neguri. Just the concept super entertains me, so I'm really hoping she gets to be in more gags that involve wordplays and stuff.

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Neguri-Senpai this week! Please also give a special thank you to Neguri Senpai for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Neguri-Senpai, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://neguri-senpai.blogspot.com/

Neguri Senpai’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/negurisenpai

Neguri Senpai’s Merch Shop: https://streamlabs.com/negurisenpai/merch

Neguri Senpai’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/NeguriSenpai

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #book club #bookclub #webcomic book club #webcomic bookclub #comic tea party #ctp #neguri senpai #neguri-senpai

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shirlleycoyle · 4 years

Text

This Computer Mouse Combined With a Telephone Once Made Sense. Kind Of.

A version of this post originally appeared on Tedium, a twice-weekly newsletter that hunts for the end of the long tail.

“An iPod. A phone. An internet communicator.”

These were the words Steve Jobs used to describe the first iPhone immediately before introducing it during a landmark keynote in January of 2007.

Of course, it was a single device, and it combined all those things—and more—into a slab of glass, metal, plastic, and silicon.

Convergence can sometimes be amazing in practice—the new Raspberry Pi 400, which shoves a whole computer in a tiny keyboard, has been getting some good notices in recent days.

But not every attempt at convergence makes much sense. Sometimes, it’s just hilariously misguided.

Let’s discuss why we combine things—even when they have no business being combined, such as the computer mouse with a built-in telephone.

That product, I promise you, exists.

Why convergence often means things get combined when they shouldn’t

In many ways, the iPhone represents the ideal pushed by a generation of techno-futurists, many of whom had an idea of what the end result might look like, if not the actual result.

The guy who came up with this idea, way back in 1978, has cast a long shadow over the technology space in general. His name was Nicholas Negroponte, and the MIT professor came up with a concept that was audacious for 1978 but seems absolutely pedestrian now. Effectively, it’s pedestrian because of how right the concept was.

Negroponte, with the use of a group of circles, posited that the major information industries of the time—film and television, printing and publishing, and computers—would eventually start to overlap more completely, to the point that their missions and goals were basically the same.

I don’t know if you’ve used Netflix recently or read The New York Times on your computer, but this 41-year-old theory proved more insanely correct than anyone might have imagined during the days of Three’s Company and “Disco Duck.” Negroponte had given voice to a trend that has basically dominated modern technology over the past four decades. And it has shaped not only Negroponte’s life, but also the university in which he works.

In 1985, a little more than five years after he started giving voice to this prediction, he helped found the MIT Media Lab, which effectively is this general concept of convergence in academic form, essentially built around the idea that divergent disciplines will essentially merge together.

“The idea was marketed to the broadcasting, publishing, and computer industries as the convergence of the sensory richness of video, the information depth of publishing, and the intrinsic interactivity of computers,” Negroponte wrote in his ’90s book Being Digital of the Media Lab’s creation. “Sounds so logical today, but at the time the idea was considered silly.”

Helping to make the sale was The Media Lab, Stewart Brand’s 1988 book that helped to explain the concepts to a broader audience.

“Negroponte’s vision: all communication technologies are suffering a joint metamorphosis, which can only be understood properly if treated as a single subject, and only advanced properly if treated as a single craft,” Brand wrote. “The way to figure out what needs to be done is through exploring the human sensory and cognitive system and the ways that humans most naturally interact. Join this and you grasp the future.”

Negroponte has made his voice known on these issues in other ways as well. Wired magazine, which he was an early investor in, gained much of its philosophical vision from Negroponte’s early columns, while his heavily hyped One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) effort is seen as something of an ambitious bust, though it remains active to this day.

(And—it must be noted, because it’s important—Negroponte faced significant controversy a year ago for his comments about the MIT Media Lab accepting money from Jeffrey Epstein, a controversy which led to the departure of the Media Lab’s director at the time, Joi Ito.)

No matter what to make of Negroponte’s legacy at this time, he is ultimately tied to this idea that has defined how we look at technology—that things that were once separate will inevitably combine and take new forms, with the goal of eventually converging into a single object.

The iPhone may be the best-known example of this, but so many examples of things that tried to merge different technological tools together, to mixed success and even failure. For every Roku, there were dozens of false starts in bringing streaming video into the living room in an efficient way. Video-editing tools once required lots of hardware and software, and a giant suite like Video Toaster was once seen as revolutionary; now it can be done, quickly, on a smartphone.

I’d like to call this kind of innovation, the type that happens before a Roku or iPhone comes along to make things easy, “messy convergence.” It’s what happens when something is clearly designed to help build upon a potentially innovative idea, but it does so awkwardly, in a way where the seams are very much showing. It’s not a slick product on a stage. It’s a jumble of wires on a workbench that barely works but shows a bigger idea is possible.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

In many ways, the original OLPC, forever tied to the guy who helped to popularize convergence, is a perfect example of the messy part of convergence in action. It was a lovely device in many ways ahead of its time, but it promised the world at a tiny price point.

Still, there were things it did that would become much more common a few years later—anyone with a 2-in-1 laptop likely has OLPC to thank for creating a mainstream example of the form factor. With wireless access, a screen that worked well even in sunlight, and a design that was both light and rugged, it stretched far beyond what most computers could do at its price point because it started by trying to solve a different problem than, say, Steve Jobs was.

And there were things that it just couldn’t do. It never got its much-ballyhooed crank, however, nor the ad-hoc networking capabilities that sounded good but were ineffective in real-world use cases.

So why all this thinking about convergence? Well, I found an incredibly weird device on the internet recently, and it made me think about how much we often “screw up” convergence before we get it right.

Let me introduce you to the Tele-Mouse, a friggin’ mouse with a built-in telephone.

NOS

A common term used on auction sites to describe items sold as “new old stock.” This term often is in reference to stock that never sold to consumers, either because of commercial failure, supply chain problems, or because an item was overproduced. (Two classic examples of tech items that frequently appear in NOS form on auction sites such as eBay include the TI 99/4a computer, which was discontinued somewhat suddenly after Texas Instruments lost a price war with Commodore; and the Aladdin Deck Enhancer, the NES add-on, affiliated with Codemasters, that was sold on home-shopping networks.) The Tele-Mouse, which we’re talking about here, is but one such example of a NOS item floating around eBay and similar sites.

For people who want to own a mouse with more buttons than an Atari Jaguar controller, here you go. Image: Ernie Smith

Why there was a time where a mouse-telephone combo seemed like it made sense … to somebody

I’ve seen a lot of weird things over the years, but never has it struck me that there might be a market for a computer mouse with a built-in telephone.

It’s not something obvious, right? After all, the image of someone putting a computer mouse up to their face seems undeniably silly. Even using one as a speakerphone feels like a bit of a stretch.

But nonetheless, there was a short period in technology history where it kind of, sort of, maybe made a little bit of sense. That period was between the years 1998 and 2000, when many computer users were getting online on a regular basis for the first time, often on phone lines in which actual telephone calls were competing with modems that were saturating the line at all hours of the day.

If you didn’t want to get up from your desk just to take a call, why not take it from the speakerphone inside of your cursor machine? That was the apparent line of thinking behind a device called the Tele-Mouse, which came out around 1998 or so.

This, my friends, is an excellent example of messy convergence. The person who first came up with this idea, whomever it is, made the realization that we would be taking calls from the same general area where we’d be using our desktop computer … but they solved the problem in the most wrongheaded way possible. The solution was not to add a speakerphone to the mouse; the solution was to put voice calling, and later videoconferencing, capabilities into the computer itself.

The issue is that there was a clear limitation to doing a conference call over the internet in 1998, because home modems spat out a minuscule amount of bandwidth, barely enough for a single voice, let alone two.

So, having done some research on this device, here’s what I can tell you—it was part of a mini-trend. This specific device was developed by a Canadian company named Curtis International, which still exists today and often sells products labeled with RCA and Sylvania brand names, among others. (Another company named Curtis that existed during the same period and also specialized in computer accessories was not involved.)

This particular device was sold at cut-rate retailers like Value City, and ultimately seems to have been sold to people who don’t usually buy gadgets. I mean, just look at the box. Does it look like something a serious gadget nerd would buy?

In many ways, the Tele-Mouse isn’t even in the same league as the OLPC on the innovation front. But Curtis International wasn’t even the only one to think of this idea. Some of the largest technology companies in the world have patent filings implying that they at least thought about releasing a device like this.

A patent drawing for the Micron version of the telephone mouse. Image: Google Patents

In 1998, Micron Technology—today one of the largest manufacturers of computer memory, but back then a PC manufacturer—filed for a patent for a computer mouse with a built in telephone handset; unlike what Curtis developed, the Micron handset literally unfolded, revealing a full-fledged telephone.

They were far from alone: Dell also filed for a patent, as did Samsung (outside of the U.S., as far as I can tell).

Fittingly, Sony has the best example of this type of device. Image: Sony Vaio press photo

A more interesting example of this comes from Sony, which released a device called the Vaio Mouse Talk, which removes the necessity of a phone line connection, and instead allows calls to happen over Skype. (It also removes a lot of cables, because it works over USB, allowing functions to be combined.) That seems to have been released a mini-generation later, and perhaps a step closer to actually being useful for regular people.

But ultimately, we don’t take phone calls using our mouse. We use video, or our headphones, because we’re not obsessed with the idea of a phone having to work like a phone, but we want a way to use our voice to communicate.

One might look at the Tele-Mouse and think that it represents the ideal of the “As Seen on TV” generation—in which convergence happens in ways so minuscule that the innovations come off less as useful and more as an excuse for novelty.

And certainly, at first glance, that’s what I thought. But then I realized that real companies with real brand names also went down this road and tried this exact same stupid idea of combining a device for calling your boss with a device adept at playing Minesweeper. The difference is that most of them played with this idea and never let it leave the R&D department.

In much the same way as an iPhone, a telephone mouse combines user input functionality with communication functionality, even if it did so in the most functionally useless way possible.

It was a bad idea, but perhaps it was an essential one, in a way—because it showed us what we shouldn’t do when it comes to innovation.

“If all you want to do is send hard-copy faxes, a fax modem system is overkill. And for many electronic files, a standard data modem may be sufficient.”

— Byte writer Don Crabb, describing the value (or lack thereof) of the fax modem, which can accept faxes in digital form and, in combination with other computer components such as a scanner and printer, handle the hard-copy form as well. This approach, which appeared on Macintosh computers around 1988 and 1989, was even natively supported by Apple, which sold a $699 AppleFax device. Despite his skepticism of the concept at first, he ultimately came around after reviewing the devices—though he found AppleFax, the most expensive of the three he reviewed, to be the least capable. “I am convinced that these products have a legitimate niche alongside standalone fax machines,” he wrote. The fax modem is one of many great examples of how convergence can often look messy and complicated in retrospect.

Five examples of “messy convergence” in action

Google Glass. This is such an obvious one! Clearly this device attempted to bring the basic concepts of wearable computing and augmented reality to the potential masses, but the problem was that nobody thought of a use case for the thing, and even the die-hards eventually took the devices off. I actually wore one of these around for a week or two a while ago, and let me tell you: It sure felt like a glorified camera to me—and at some point it makes more sense for this functionality to be inside of a smartphone.

CueCat. The idea that people would want to scan information into their computers from their printed reading materials was absolutely astute, but the problem with CueCat, a late-’90s device that was literally given away to millions of people, was that the computers we had to use with the barcode scanners were simply too big and cumbersome to actually make this a useful thing. It would take smartphones and QR codes to make this general idea functional.

Mobile ESPN. People who are really into sports want up-to-the-minute scores and news updates, yes, but do they want it enough to pay more than $60 a month for a dedicated phone plan? That was the bet ESPN made in 2005, when it created its own mobile service, complete with custom feature phones. It failed, but as Motherboard reported in 2015, it may have secretly set ESPN up for digital success, as many of its ideas were basically perfect for the smartphone age. (Side note: The promotional site for Mobile EPSN is still online.)

Palm Foleo. A few years after the iPhone came out, Steve Jobs made it up on the Apple stage once again to tell phones that there was a need for a third device between desktop computers and smartphones … a device that turned out to be the iPad. This must have felt like salt in the wound of Jeff Hawkins, the founder of Palm, as his company’s Palm Foleo, a 10-inch subnotebook, based on Linux, for checking email or surfing the web without having to carry around a larger device, was heavily criticized for not being more full-featured. (Even Jakob Nielsen took a shot at it!) It was cancelled before it first came out, but almost immediately after that happened, netbooks—the very line of device the product was trying to introduce—became popular.

Samsung Galaxy Fold (the first one): The company has since come out with a better version of this device, but the original, easy-to-break version is an excellent example of a device that feels like it’s on the cusp of something amazing—combining a large screen into something pocketable, helping potentially pave the way for the future where one fewer daily device is necessary. In a few years, it will likely stop looking like messy convergence and more like actual convergence.

The above products, some of which were released, others which likely will never see the light of day, highlight how technologies that seem seamless today sometimes emerge into the world with seams all over the place, looking awkward as all-get-out.

Some are failed experiments in which those experimenting admit that they didn’t get it right; others are ideas that just need a little bit more time in the oven.

Eventually, someone, or a group of people will come along with just the right level of polish to hide the seams away from view. So, did I write this piece just to trash on a computer mouse that has a built-in phone in it? Perhaps that’s where I started. But then I realized that it was perhaps a stepping stone. Maybe a misguided stepping stone that might cause you to twist an ankle and fall flat on your face, allowing the information superhighway to trample you before you can get back up again.

But that’s the nature of convergence; keep experimenting, and eventually the circles will overlap.

This Computer Mouse Combined With a Telephone Once Made Sense. Kind Of. syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

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hopeful-marta-98-blog · 4 years

Photo

How many of you fought with someone over a text? Probably most of you have, but you’ve never talked about it. I have indeed found myself in that situation. However, before using my personal experience with what I call “digital misunderstanding,” I will be explaining why texting opens up to a whole range of misunderstandings. First, in a text, you can’t hear the tone of that person’s voice, so it is up to you to interpret the message. Second, you can’t see that person’s face and therefore their facial expressions. In my opinion texts are emotionless and the emotions that the emotionless text provokes varies according to who receives it. Different receivers might interpret the same message differently. Third, now we have emojis, which in theory should lessen the misunderstandings, but at times they confuse people even more. That is because people can misunderstand the use of emojis. Each emoji have multiple meanings.

It is also very important to not take a message too seriously and too literally. When I was in middle school, I was having a discussion on Facebook with a few of my classmates and then this girl joined and she said something along the lines of: “è solo una da quattro soldi” (referring to me) and I answered by saying that just because she has more money than me (she’s Fendi’s daughter) doesn’t allow her to make me feel like I’m worth less. Well, when I answered, she answered back saying that there’s been a misunderstanding because she didn’t mean what I understood. It’s too long of a story to explain on here, but the point is that it’s not a good idea to fight online or while texting because it can exacerbate the situation. It’s better to fight in person or at least talk on the phone.

Now I will proceed on talking about efficiency in terms of texting and phone calling. Generally speaking, texting has been considered to be more efficient than phone calling, but that can be argued. For example, texting is less efficient because it requires more attention and carefulness than talking on the phone. You can walk and talk, but for safety reasons you shouldn’t text and walk. Unfortunately it’s very common for people to text and walk, but what they don’t know is that not only is it dangerous, but it stresses the brain out. That is because the brain gets overwhelmed by all of these stimuli. The brain has to focus on crossing the street without getting run over and at the same time it has to focus on texting and responding to texts. That’s a lot of work for the brain to handle. Furthermore, the reason why a phone call is less stressful than texting is because you have less things to concentrate on. Also, a phone call is more immediate. There is no going around the intended message. If you don’t understand something you can IMMEDIATELY ask the person to clarify. it just is the way it is. Due to its immediacy, the brain has to do less work.

The last thing I’m going to discuss is this quote that says:

“Humans communicate even when quiet.“

This is extremely true and for our generation is normal, but it is important to remember that before technology existed and before the development of social media, people didn’t have much choice. The only way for then to communicate was either face to face or, later on, by calling on the phone. I think that old people don’t understand this quote because they haven’t been exposed to social media or texting. I’m going to give some personal examples. I prefer texting. I HATE talking on the phone and so I avoid doing so. My parents and my grandmother always tell me to call people because it’s faster and easier to understand each other. They say: “It’s easier and faster.” Well, my grandmother doesn’t even know what texting is, but for her “quite” communication is impossible... she doesn’t have a clue of how possible it is.

Now, there are so many ways to communicate and talking is only one of them. You can email, use whatssup, Instagram DM’s, Facebook chat, Twitter, Snapchat and much more. Most of the time, my best friend and I only communicate by sending each other random picture on Snapchat. That’s it. There is no text and no voice involved, yet we can perfectly communicate.

In 2020 silent communication is possible and sometimes fast and fun, but it can also destroy relationships due to avoidable misunderstandings.

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mohammedalagha · 6 years

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The Complete Guide to Direct Traffic in Google Analytics

Posted by tombennet

When it comes to direct traffic in Analytics, there are two deeply entrenched misconceptions.

The first is that it’s caused almost exclusively by users typing an address into their browser (or clicking on a bookmark). The second is that it’s a Bad Thing, not because it has any overt negative impact on your site’s performance, but rather because it’s somehow immune to further analysis. The prevailing attitude amongst digital marketers is that direct traffic is an unavoidable inconvenience; as a result, discussion of direct is typically limited to ways of attributing it to other channels, or side-stepping the issues associated with it.

In this article, we’ll be taking a fresh look at direct traffic in modern Google Analytics. As well as exploring the myriad ways in which referrer data can be lost, we’ll look at some tools and tactics you can start using immediately to reduce levels of direct traffic in your reports. Finally, we’ll discover how advanced analysis and segmentation can unlock the mysteries of direct traffic and shed light on what might actually be your most valuable users.

What is direct traffic?

In short, Google Analytics will report a traffic source of "direct" when it has no data on how the session arrived at your website, or when the referring source has been configured to be ignored. You can think of direct as GA’s fall-back option for when its processing logic has failed to attribute a session to a particular source.

To properly understand the causes and fixes for direct traffic, it’s important to understand exactly how GA processes traffic sources. The following flow-chart illustrates how sessions are bucketed — note that direct sits right at the end as a final "catch-all" group.

Broadly speaking, and disregarding user-configured overrides, GA’s processing follows this sequence of checks:

AdWords parameters > Campaign overrides > UTM campaign parameters > Referred by a search engine > Referred by another website > Previous campaign within timeout period > Direct

Note the penultimate processing step (previous campaign within timeout), which has a significant impact on the direct channel. Consider a user who discovers your site via organic search, then returns via direct a week later. Both sessions would be attributed to organic search. In fact, campaign data persists for up to six months by default. The key point here is that Google Analytics is already trying to minimize the impact of direct traffic for you.

What causes direct traffic?

Contrary to popular belief, there are actually many reasons why a session might be missing campaign and traffic source data. Here we will run through some of the most common.

1. Manual address entry and bookmarks

The classic direct-traffic scenario, this one is largely unavoidable. If a user types a URL into their browser’s address bar or clicks on a browser bookmark, that session will appear as direct traffic.

Simple as that.

2. HTTPS > HTTP

When a user follows a link on a secure (HTTPS) page to a non-secure (HTTP) page, no referrer data is passed, meaning the session appears as direct traffic instead of as a referral. Note that this is intended behavior. It’s part of how the secure protocol was designed, and it does not affect other scenarios: HTTP to HTTP, HTTPS to HTTPS, and even HTTP to HTTPS all pass referrer data.

So, if your referral traffic has tanked but direct has spiked, it could be that one of your major referrers has migrated to HTTPS. The inverse is also true: If you’ve migrated to HTTPS and are linking to HTTP websites, the traffic you’re driving to them will appear in their Analytics as direct.

If your referrers have moved to HTTPS and you’re stuck on HTTP, you really ought to consider migrating to HTTPS. Doing so (and updating your backlinks to point to HTTPS URLs) will bring back any referrer data which is being stripped from cross-protocol traffic. SSL certificates can now be obtained for free thanks to automated authorities like LetsEncrypt, but that’s not to say you should neglect to explore the potentially-significant SEO implications of site migrations. Remember, HTTPS and HTTP/2 are the future of the web.

If, on the other hand, you’ve already migrated to HTTPS and are concerned about your users appearing to partner websites as direct traffic, you can implement the meta referrer tag. Cyrus Shepard has written about this on Moz before, so I won’t delve into it now. Suffice to say, it’s a way of telling browsers to pass some referrer data to non-secure sites, and can be implemented as a <meta> element or HTTP header.

3. Missing or broken tracking code

Let’s say you’ve launched a new landing page template and forgotten to include the GA tracking code. Or, to use a scenario I’m encountering more and more frequently, imagine your GTM container is a horrible mess of poorly configured triggers, and your tracking code is simply failing to fire.

Users land on this page without tracking code. They click on a link to a deeper page which does have tracking code. From GA’s perspective, the first hit of the session is the second page visited, meaning that the referrer appears as your own website (i.e. a self-referral). If your domain is on the referral exclusion list (as per default configuration), the session is bucketed as direct. This will happen even if the first URL is tagged with UTM campaign parameters.

As a short-term fix, you can try to repair the damage by simply adding the missing tracking code. To prevent it happening again, carry out a thorough Analytics audit, move to a GTM-based tracking implementation, and promote a culture of data-driven marketing.

4. Improper redirection

This is an easy one. Don’t use meta refreshes or JavaScript-based redirects — these can wipe or replace referrer data, leading to direct traffic in Analytics. You should also be meticulous with your server-side redirects, and — as is often recommended by SEOs — audit your redirect file frequently. Complex chains are more likely to result in a loss of referrer data, and you run the risk of UTM parameters getting stripped out.

Once again, control what you can: use carefully mapped (i.e. non-chained) code 301 server-side redirects to preserve referrer data wherever possible.

5. Non-web documents

Links in Microsoft Word documents, slide decks, or PDFs do not pass referrer information. By default, users who click these links will appear in your reports as direct traffic. Clicks from native mobile apps (particularly those with embedded "in-app" browsers) are similarly prone to stripping out referrer data.

To a degree, this is unavoidable. Much like so-called “dark social” visits (discussed in detail below), non-web links will inevitably result in some quantity of direct traffic. However, you also have an opportunity here to control the controllables.

If you publish whitepapers or offer downloadable PDF guides, for example, you should be tagging the embedded hyperlinks with UTM campaign parameters. You’d never even contemplate launching an email marketing campaign without campaign tracking (I hope), so why would you distribute any other kind of freebie without similarly tracking its success? In some ways this is even more important, since these kinds of downloadables often have a longevity not seen in a single email campaign. Here’s an example of a properly tagged URL which we would embed as a link:

http://ift.tt/2ifQkVi?..._medium=offline_document&utm_campaign=201711_utm_whitepaper

The same goes for URLs in your offline marketing materials. For major campaigns it’s common practice to select a short, memorable URL (e.g. moz.com/tv/) and design an entirely new landing page. It’s possible to bypass page creation altogether: simply redirect the vanity URL to an existing page URL which is properly tagged with UTM parameters.

So, whether you tag your URLs directly, use redirected vanity URLs, or — if you think UTM parameters are ugly — opt for some crazy-ass hash-fragment solution with GTM (read more here), the takeaway is the same: use campaign parameters wherever it’s appropriate to do so.

6. “Dark social”

This is a big one, and probably the least well understood by marketers.

The term “dark social” was first coined back in 2012 by Alexis Madrigal in an article for The Atlantic. Essentially it refers to methods of social sharing which cannot easily be attributed to a particular source, like email, instant messaging, Skype, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger.

Recent studies have found that upwards of 80% of consumers’ outbound sharing from publishers’ and marketers’ websites now occurs via these private channels. In terms of numbers of active users, messaging apps are outpacing social networking apps. All the activity driven by these thriving platforms is typically bucketed as direct traffic by web analytics software.

People who use the ambiguous phrase “social media marketing” are typically referring to advertising: you broadcast your message and hope people will listen. Even if you overcome consumer indifference with a well-targeted campaign, any subsequent interactions are affected by their very public nature. The privacy of dark social, by contrast, represents a potential goldmine of intimate, targeted, and relevant interactions with high conversion potential. Nebulous and difficult-to-track though it may be, dark social has the potential to let marketers tap into elusive power of word of mouth.

So, how can we minimize the amount of dark social traffic which is bucketed under direct? The unfortunate truth is that there is no magic bullet: proper attribution of dark social requires rigorous campaign tracking. The optimal approach will vary greatly based on your industry, audience, proposition, and so on. For many websites, however, a good first step is to provide convenient and properly configured sharing buttons for private platforms like email, WhatsApp, and Slack, thereby ensuring that users share URLs appended with UTM parameters (or vanity/shortened URLs which redirect to the same). This will go some way towards shining a light on part of your dark social traffic.

Checklist: Minimizing direct traffic

To summarize what we’ve already discussed, here are the steps you can take to minimize the level of unnecessary direct traffic in your reports:

Migrate to HTTPS: Not only is the secure protocol your gateway to HTTP/2 and the future of the web, it will also have an enormously positive effect on your ability to track referral traffic.

Manage your use of redirects: Avoid chains and eliminate client-side redirection in favour of carefully-mapped, single-hop, server-side 301s. If you use vanity URLs to redirect to pages with UTM parameters, be meticulous.

Get really good at campaign tagging: Even amongst data-driven marketers I encounter the belief that UTM begins and ends with switching on automatic tagging in your email marketing software. Others go to the other extreme, doing silly things like tagging internal links. Control what you can, and your ability to carry out meaningful attribution will markedly improve.

Conduct an Analytics audit: Data integrity is vital, so consider this essential when assessing the success of your marketing. It’s not simply a case of checking for missing track code: good audits involve a review of your measurement plan and rigorous testing at page and property-level.

Adhere to these principles, and it’s often possible to achieve a dramatic reduction in the level of direct traffic reported in Analytics. The following example involved an HTTPS migration, GTM migration (as part of an Analytics review), and an overhaul of internal campaign tracking processes over the course of about 6 months:

But the saga of direct traffic doesn’t end there! Once this channel is “clean” — that is, once you’ve minimized the number of avoidable pollutants — what remains might actually be one of your most valuable traffic segments.

Analyze! Or: why direct traffic can actually be pretty cool

For reasons we’ve already discussed, traffic from bookmarks and dark social is an enormously valuable segment to analyze. These are likely to be some of your most loyal and engaged users, and it’s not uncommon to see a notably higher conversion rate for a clean direct channel compared to the site average. You should make the effort to get to know them.

The number of potential avenues to explore is infinite, but here are some good starting points:

Build meaningful custom segments, defining a subset of your direct traffic based on their landing page, location, device, repeat visit or purchase behavior, or even enhanced e-commerce interactions.

Track meaningful engagement metrics using modern GTM triggers such as element visibility and native scroll tracking. Measure how your direct users are using and viewing your content.

Watch for correlations with your other marketing activities, and use it as an opportunity to refine your tagging practices and segment definitions. Create a custom alert which watches for spikes in direct traffic.

Familiarize yourself with flow reports to get an understanding of how your direct traffic is converting. By using Goal Flow and Behavior Flow reports with segmentation, it’s often possible to glean actionable insights which can be applied to the site as a whole.

Ask your users for help! If you’ve isolated a valuable segment of traffic which eludes deeper analysis, add a button to the page offering visitors a free downloadable ebook if they tell you how they discovered your page.

Start thinking about lifetime value, if you haven’t already — overhauling your attribution model or implementing User ID are good steps towards overcoming the indifference or frustration felt by marketers towards direct traffic.

I hope this guide has been useful. With any luck, you arrived looking for ways to reduce the level of direct traffic in your reports, and left with some new ideas for how to better analyze this valuable segment of users.

Thanks for reading!

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dillongaggiaa2media-blog · 7 years

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Evaluation Question: Comparison

“In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?”

Although the definitions of codes and conventions may be common knowledge at this point in my media career at A2, it is important to keep in mind exactly what they are, so I know what I should use as reference when creating my own content.

Codes are simply devices used in media products, (also called micro elements) that make up the whole, finished product (also called the macro representation). These include symbolic, technical, enigma, institutional and referential codes and they are everything that the audience sees, hears, thinks and feels. For example, institutional codes make the studio that created the film known to the audience in the form of titles appearing at the beginning and end of a film. Enigma codes, however, are within the film itself and make the audience ask questions, keeping them captivated. Conventions could be described as ‘generally accepted’ ways of showing things - they define what is ‘okay’ to do and what is not and work together with codes to create the entire film.

Main Task - Short Film

In order to ensure that I cover every aspect of my short film in terms of the way it uses, develops and challenges forms and conventions of real media products, I will break it down systematically into its core elements; location, costume/props, cinematography, editing and narrative. I will show how I have taken inspiration from, developed further or challenged the conventions of each respective element within the genre.

Location

My short film is set in the modern day. The genre of the film is leaning towards comedy, although the focus of the film is a fantasy-type world that the character lives in. Nevertheless, the general setting is everyday locations such as a suburban house and a school. As most media texts of this genre share this setting, my short film is conventional.

^ This image shows the location of the protagonist’s house. It is a quiet area, showing that the he and the other characters in the short film are all ‘normal people’. This was the intended setting for the film, as it allows for the plot to occur (it allows the protagonist, Will, to enter and exit his dream world and return to the normal one, thus creating the comedic effect). Many comedy films are set in the modern day, as they allow for the creation of everyday scenarios that the audience can relate to. For instance, a comedy set in either the future or the past would have to make reference to elements of the modern day in order for humour to be understood or even created.

An example of a modern comedy film that is set in the modern day is Office Christmas Party:

^ Released late 2016, Office Christmas Party follows all the conventions of a comedy film, the setting included. It is set in modern day, in an office building, where the majority of the film takes place. This is an environment that is common to and is visited by many people everyday - the audience will understand e.g. office etiquette and the hierarchical system of employee and employer, allowing a film in the comedy genre to take advantage of this and break these conventions to create humorous situations that would otherwise need more context or exposition to be understood.

The same is seen in my short film, except I have not limited myself to just one location; my short film takes place across a wide range of locations, from an ordinary suburban house, to a school, to a library. In this way, the setting appeals to every kind of person. Although the intended audience for my media product is young adults, especially as the protagonist of the film is themselves a young adult, the scenes in the film are set in areas recognisable by everyone, where comedy can easily be created by subverting conventions of everyday social situations without explanation as to why what the audience is seeing or hearing is funny - it is easily understood.

Costume / Props

Costume

The mise en scène costume codes are both conventional and unconventional for the kind of short film that I am creating. For example:

^ The protagonist, Will, is wearing clothing that is appropriate to the time setting of the short film. He is wearing a hoodie with jeans and trainers, so his costume not only matches the current time period, but also the conventional/stereotypical clothes of people his age. However, the colour of his clothes is what truly characterises the protagonist - the colour grey is commonly associated with darkness or depression, along with black, but instead of creating a sombre atmosphere like one might suspect, it serves to represent the difference between Will and the rest of the characters in the film world. Whereas everyone else is wearing ‘normal’ clothes, i.e. modern clothing, Will seeks to be different.

Additionally, Will’s apparel changes all throughout the film, depending on which dream he is in. In each of the dreams, he is dressed as stereotypically as possible to represent the character he is supposed to be. For instance, when Will is dreaming of being a spy, the audience would be able to connote from his outfit that he is in fact a spy due to the mise en scène costume code of a black trench coat and fedora.

Another example of appropriate mise en scène costume codes in my short film is when Will is dreaming about being a professional footballer;

The audience can easily tell from his outfit what he is supposed to be - he is wearing a standard ‘football kit’.

Props

The props used in my short film this year are a lot more involved than last year, making them a lot more conventional as well. For example, I wanted the protagonist to be the kind of person that is interested in fantasy. The way I decided to show this was physically, in the form of a prop.

^ As one of the ‘dream sequences’ that the protagonist was to go through involved him being dressed as a spy, I thought it fitting to merge the genres of fantasy and a spy-thriller in a comic book prop. However, as I was not able to find any material that I could deem usable for the short film, I had to create the comic book covers myself. As it was not necessary for the audience to see the inside of the comic book, only the creation of the exterior was required. As the prop was only to be seen by the audience for a short amount of time, simplicity in the design was crucial, so the audience could tell immediately what type of comic book it is - therefore, I named the comic book “SPY”, in large letters on the front. The small details add a lot to his character and helps conform to the convention that the main character of a film is usually a little bit different than everyone else. I have made another blog post on the creation of the covers.

Another example of a prop that was required for one of the dream sequences was an electric guitar. This is as Will dreams in the short film that he is playing the riff of a song (”Layla” by Eric Clapton) on the guitar.

^ This is from the shortest dream in the short film, and occurs when Will is walking to school, listening to the same song. The guitar was required for the verisimilitude of this scene.

This scene does not necessarily challenge the conventions of other short films, but the audience does not expect it; a character listening to music is something you might see quite often, but having them play the song they are listening to is unique to my short film and feels more natural due to the fantasy-comedy genre.

Cinematography

The cinematography of my short film is quite conventional of comedies. There is a mixture of all different types of shot. This is as there is not a specific theme required that the shots have to follow, but rather that the shots I used had to be the most appropriate for the situation. For example, an audience might expect to see many close-ups or extreme close-ups in a drama film, as that is the best kind of shot to evoke emotion from an audience, as the they can clearly see the character’s facial expressions, whereas in my short film, many different shot types were required to match the situation and to give every scene a different feeling/emotion/atmosphere.

^ One of the few close-ups in the short film, used here in a conversation between Will and another character.

^ A still from Titanic (1997), where a close-up is used of the protagonist Jack, incorporated through an over-the-shoulder shot. In this way, the cinematography of my short film uses conventions that are seen across various media products, adapting them for my use.

Editing

Continuity

I made use of continuity techniques all throughout my short film in order to ensure that it was smooth and enjoyable to view.

Here, match on action is used to continue the shot of Will walking up to the sign on the bookcase to the next shot where he points to the “sport” section. Match on action is a very conventional editing method and is seen across all kinds of media products. Another editing technique that I made use of was shot-reverse-shot.

Shot-reverse-shot is used during a conversation between Will and Ben in the library. This technique allows me to show which character is speaking and also allows me to show the facial expressions / reactions of a character to what the other person said. Above, Will and Ben talk about a football game that they saw, with the first shot also incorporating an over-the-shoulder shot of Ben. This is a very conventional method of editing and can be seen in many media products (like the example above from Titanic).

Additionally, I used continuity to show the protagonist’s interest in sport, or specifically, football. In Scene 1 in the bedroom, various football trophies are visible during the establishing shot on the character’s window sill;

[insert picture]

Moreover, the character’s duvet is a West Ham United one. Then, later in the short film, when he is dreaming of being a footballer, he is wearing a WHU football kit. Every film and short film uses continuity like this in order for it to be more believable - it adds to the verisimilitude of the film. Therefore, I made sure that I paid attention to these smaller details to make the character and the film world more alive and real.

Narrative

The narrative of my short film could be viewed as conventional, as it follows the life of a teenager in the modern world. It is conventional, as my short film is a comedy, and many films in the comedy genre are also set in modern times, so that the humour and jokes contained within the film can be more relatable to the audience. Contextual factors play a large role in the creation of comedy and one could argue that they are the foundations of comedy. For example, many of Shakespeare’s plays contained jokes or situational humour that a modern audience would not understand and therefore not enjoy as was intended; they would not decode the preferred reading that Shakespeare had in mind when writing the plays as humour and language have evolved over time.

Overall, my short film is quite conventional in most aspects. This is as I had limited opportunity to challenge what would normally be considered conventional, because of the fact that I chose to create a comedy. Although the setting (modern day, past, future) is more flexible in terms of changeability, almost everything else has to conform to preset conventions in order for the genre to work.

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