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vidavalor · 2 months

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Tip Top, Thank You. Ticketyboo!

Did you all know that "tip top" is MLE slang for a blowjob?

Now that I have your attention lol, some etymological meta on The Ineffables' rather tip top use of slang and wordplay and just what it means to offer to say "thank you" in Ineffable Husbands Speak under the cut. It's absolutely ticketyboo...

When we humans who speak English refer to oral sex performed on a penis, the most common slang we use for this today is to call it "giving a blowjob." Linguistically-speaking, this term is actually relatively new and how it came to be is a truly muddled bit of etymological history. As recently as the early 1950s, the American military was innocently referring to their war planes in different publications as "blow jobs"-- meaning that the planes were well-equipped to carry out destruction. This-- and other instances like this at the time-- shows that the meaning of "blowjob" as slang for oral sex performed on someone with a penis either had not yet really evolved at all or had not yet penetrated the mainstream enough for any of the people involved in these articles (journalists, editors, four-star generals lol...) to suggest that, perhaps, a different term be used to describe these planes.

Whether or not the slang term "blowjob" is actually derived from the military... as soldiers appropriating the language of war to turn it into the language of sex has been happening since the beginning of time... or whether it arose in a different way, is still unknown. The earliest documentation of something like "blowjob" comes from sex workers in the 1930s who referred to what we call giving a blowjob as "blowing someone off." This is obviously funny now from a language evolution perspective, considering that when we use that phrase today, what we mean is that we dodged an interaction with someone, as in "I was supposed to grab coffee with my friend yesterday but I was tired so I blew him off." If you said that sentence to a Mrs. Sandwich in 1935, she'd have several follow up questions...

Further complicating the history of the term is that since the origin of "blowjob" as a term is murky, no one has ever really been very clear on which kind of "blow" is being addressed in it or if it refers to multiple kinds at once. Is it a "blowjob" because of aspects of the act of it or is it a "blowjob" because the end result is, as the military influence might suggest, that the recipient "blows", meaning comes apart/ejaculates? Either way, it's the most common way you refer to this type of oral sex in English but, as we know, different groups of people have additional slang to refer to it as well. Crowley and Aziraphale are shown in S1 to have picked up the MLE slang term for it of tip top.

MLE stands for Multicultural London English and it is what is known as a sociolect. A sociolect is a dialect that's built more out of being a part of a certain social class or group. MLE is also a multiethnolect, which means that it is a dialect derived from the influence of people of different ethnicities and backgrounds. It is the language spoken by a diverse group of working-class people, most of them younger, who live and/or work in London, and has mostly emerged since the 1980s. One of its slang words is the use of tip top to mean a blowjob. It is sometimes shortened just to top, if context in the sentence allows for the meaning to be understood as a blowjob and to not be confused with other sexual meanings around the word "top."

Tip top is an example of different dialects crossing and interweaving. MLE uses "side ting", for example, to describe sleeping with someone other than one's partner which, just like its American counterpart of "side piece", is derived from the British English phrase "bit on the side", which we also hear Nina and Crowley use in S2. In S1, Aziraphale used ticketyboo, which is Victorian-era slang that is also thought to be an example of different dialects crossing. Theories on its etymology involve a Hindi saying, a British one, and a bit of French intermixing. It is an example of Crowley and Aziraphale's interest in the ongoing evolution of language and how they weave that into their wordplay. We'll come back to ticketyboo later on. Tip top and saying thank you are up first...

Tip top is originally a British English-rooted expression meaning someone is feeling excellent or that something is in excellent shape. It refers to the tip of the top-- the highest of peaks. There is then a fun sense of humor to it being adopted from its endearing but potentially kind of stuffy British use ("How are you, my good man?"/"I am tip top, old chap! Right as rain!" lol) to becoming slang for oral sex in a dialect used by predominantly non-white, younger Londoners, many of whom emigrated to England or who come from immigrant families, particularly from countries that either still are part of or were formerly part of The British Empire. There's a top shelf, droll trolling of the colonizing British Empire happening there in the language evolution and it's also a good example of how when different cultures overlap, so too do their languages.

Crowley and Aziraphale always have to choose words that are able to remain hidden beneath the surface layer of their conversation. One of their wordplay kinks that we've observed are words that have multiple different meanings, as we looked at in other metas. Their favorites are ones with hilariously contradictory meanings that they can use to create sentences that have one meaning on the surface with one interpretation of the definitions used of the words and another entirely if the other meanings of those same words are used. They get off a bit on using common words in Ineffable Husbands Speak when speaking to others-- particularly angels and demons-- who have no idea what they're talking about because they only understand one level of meaning of the words being used and assume the context implying that one level of meaning is correct. Examples of these types of scenes: the Aziraphale one in Heaven that I'll mention again below, Aziraphale in Hell in 1.06 and then telling Crowley "I asked them for a rubber duck" to make him laugh afterwards, Crowley's "can I get a wahoo?" and what he says to Gabriel before getting into the fire in 1.06 having a different meaning in Ineffable Husbands Speak, as well as almost everything Crowley said to Muriel in the second half of S2 (the handcuff innuendo; "extremely alcoholic breakfast at The Ritz", etc..)

We've seen that some of their favorite words like this are wily (meaning sly, tricky, crafty on one level but also alluring, magically attractive, sexy on another), smitten (to be attacked by an angel with the righteous fury of God but also to be struck down with love and infatuation), and thwart (to oppose and stop but also to cross from one side to the other.)

Aziraphale called Crowley a "wily adversary" to the angels in Heaven and could barely keep a straight face because when he and Crowley say "wily" to one another, they mean it as "sexy." (As in, "he was a wily old serpent and I was technically on apple tree duty.") Crowley used "thwart" multiple times in the same scene in 1.01 as an euphemism for "fucking", as in:

(I also love that, out of all the different names the thing has, Crowley and Aziraphale call it "The Divine Plan" while flirting in this scene, since divine means "of God" or "like God" but it also is used just to mean "delightful" or "delicious," as in "the wedding was lovely-- we had a divine time!" or "mmm, gah, this cake is divine..."

Additionally, another meaning of thwart is that it's the term for the seat in a rowboat that someone would sit on to row a boat and, like we looked at in the Fish meta, Crowley and Aziraphale have their whole we-got-oysters-the-first-night-we-slept-together-so-now-everything-related-to-fish-and-the-sea-is-a-sexual-euphemism-or-metaphor thing happening. Wahoo to that sushi but anyway we're talking about blowjobs, so... *redirects self*...)

As we were talking about at the start of this meta, calling oral sex on a penis a "blowjob" is a relatively new thing but different euphemisms for it have existed forever. By the above measure for words used in Ineffable Husbands Speak, though, tip top is a tip top choice for a blowjob euphemism, old chaps, as there is just a lot of word nerdy wordplay potential there. One of the reasons why Crowley and Aziraphale use it is also one of the reasons why it has likely evolved to mean a blowjob in MLE in the first place and that is because of the innuendo inherent in a phrase involving "tip", as in the sensitive tip of the penis, which is especially humorous when added into the fact that "tip top" means "excellent." You're just hitting the tippity top when you get a tip top, no? Just reaching the highest of those climatic peaks...

The first time we hear Aziraphale use tip top is in the paintball scene at Tadfield Manor in S1. Crowley and Aziraphale are hit with the paint, Crowley shapeshifts into a roaring snake and causes a guy to pass out and his already high levels of horniness increases until he's doing the lip bite and the cute nose scrunch that screams 'do me':

Meanwhile, Aziraphale sounds all innocent (it's faux-innocent, as it often is lol) and is going on about the paint on his coat and he says that he's "kept this coat in tip top condition for over 200 years" and starts to pout.

Crowley and Aziraphale are supernatural humanoid beings with feathers and Crowley is also a snake. They have a seemingly never-ending list of comparisons to other creatures of Earth happening and some of it trips over into their innuendo. A coat, on one level, is the coat that Aziraphale is wearing in the scene that was splattered in blue paint but... it's also a word used to describe the fur or hair of an animal.

Aziraphale has kept his coat-- the beige outer layer of his clothes-- in tip top condition-- so, in well-maintained, excellent condition-- for more than the last 200 years. Euphemistically-speaking, though... Aziraphale is referring to the apparently historically well-groomed state of his hair-- specifically, his pubic hair-- which he's always got lookin' fine and zhushed for visitors. Aziraphale keeps his coat in tip top condition because loves him the highest peaks of the tippity tops does the angel...

(Sidenote but Aziraphale has massive pubic hair thing happening, as this is not the only scene he's referred to it euphemistically. In S2, as we looked at in the meta about his dirty French, he used "plume" in its "feathered" sense to euphemistically refer to missing quality time with Lady Crowley's natural garden box.)

Is now a good time to mention Mr. Fell and the blowjob's formal name of fellatio? Fellation and fellatio are rooted in the Latin verb fellare, which means "to suck", though "to fellate" and "fellatio" became words relating to oral sex only as relatively recently as during the 1800s. The Latin verb, though, has existed basically for forever and considering Aziraphale's kind of cheeky use of Fell as his surname in reference to how while he might not have fallen to Hell in the angel/demon sense of it, he's "fallen" into "sin" of the Adam-and-Eve, food-and-sex sense of the term, one of the reasons behind choosing Fell as his surname then could be tied to the verb fellare and his penchant for giving and receiving oral sex. (And how do we know that it wasn't, say, Crowley in the 1800s who got the ball rolling on using that Latin verb to refer to a blowjob? lol) At minimum, it's too funny for Crowley and Aziraphale to have never made a joke about it at some point. Back to the paintball scene...

Crowley knows what tip top means in this scene and it's clearly already existed in Ineffable Husbands Speak for some time. His mending of Aziraphale's coat is then in an exaggerated manner involving some (magically unnecessary) blowing, visually referencing the tip top/blowjob wordplay that Aziraphale was doing to suggest that they get up to that activity soon:

But tip top is far from the only blowjob-related term in this scene...

While this scene takes place in the 2019 present of S1, recall that I mentioned above that MLE is not that old as sociolects go. It's definitely old enough and close enough to Crowley and Aziraphale for them to know it-- and the above illustrates them using it-- but what about before MLE emerged to give them the tip top slang option? What did Crowley and Aziraphale call a blowjob in their language before the 1980s/1990s?

The paintball scene then sees them show us another euphemism for it that other scenes in the series show us that they've been using for at least a few hundred years. Let's talk about the etymology of 'thank' and what they mean when they offer to say 'thank you.'

The word thank is etymologically tied to the same root words as both thought and think... which are, of course, things you do with your head. They are all rooted in the Latin tongere. The word tongue is rooted to both tongere and the Latin lingua, for languages. As a result, the words tongue, think, and thank are all linked together in their histories and, as an added bonus, are also tied to words related to languages and wordplay, which makes it all a little extra funny from hidden language/innuendo standpoint.

The other common euphemism for giving a blowjob is to refer to it as "giving head." You think with your head and use your tongue to speak but... you also use your tongue when you've got your head in your partner's lap... You bow your head to pray, which is referred to as to 'give thanks' to God... and you bow your head to make your partner feel tip top...

Oh, hello, Blasphemy Kink, Our Old Friend... 😇

In the paintball scene, Aziraphale smiles dirtily and says "oh, thank you" after Crowley mends his coat, and gives Crowley that look that says that he wants to give him a proper thank you for his help. Mrs. Sandwich in S2 picks up on the seamstress/clothing innuendo theme when she's going on suggestively about her girls' ability and willingness to mend a gentlemen's shirt, nodding back to Crowley's hollowed-cheeked bit of magical seamstressing in S1.

If you look at Crowley in the above Aziraphale-saying-thank-you gif, you'll notice from the movement of his head, that Crowley replied-- with a humorous tone-- the standard response to someone verbally saying "thank you" which is, of course: "You're welcome."

"You're welcome" is every bit as funny and dirty as "thank you" in this context...

First, there's that "welcome" is homophonic for both "will come" and "we'll come." Aziraphale says he wants to give thanks and Crowley replies with the assured, well, outcomes of that outpouring of gratitude. 😂 But there's also the amazing history of "welcome"...

"Welcome" is derived from combining two words in Old English: the prefix wil-, which means "desire, pleasure" and the word cuman, which means "come." Together, they also formed the word in Old English that is the origin of "welcome"-- 'wilcuma'-- which meant (I kid you not) "a person whose coming is pleasing."

Aziraphale is always very welcome, as far as Crowley is concerned lol.

The spelling evolved into "welcome" over time, thought to be influenced by the Old Norse velkominn (which is from where the modern German "welcome" of "willkommen" is derived.) Mixed in the evolution of "welcome" is also the Old French "bien venu" (which has evolved into its modern form of "bienvenue"). "Bien" in French means "good" and "venu" is of the French verb venir, which means "to come."

Obviously, the original meaning of wilcuma/welcome is in reference to hospitality of a less sexual nature. If you go to a holiday party at your aunt's house in the modern era, your aunt still might say "oh, we're so happy you could come!" and she's not referring to your ability to achieve orgasm when she says that but your ability to be able to clear your schedule and travel to her house for a party. The "come" in that sense is the same "come" in welcome/wilcuma, in that it refers to an arrival at a usually planned destination. It's from this same sense of travel, though, that language has evolved to refer to having had an orgasm as having "come." The language around orgasm contains a sense of the experience of it being a journey and a climax being a sense of arrival at the end of that journey.

It's that aspect of use of "to come" in language history and evolution that Crowley and Aziraphale are using as innuendo where it overlaps with even some of the most common things we say all the time-- "thank you" and "you're welcome." They are also on a road trip in the paintball scene when they break out the innuendo around giving thanks, so the travel-related wordplay has another layer to it. They actually have a lot of innuendo around travel and forms of transportation and where those overlap in language related to sex that we could look at it in another meta that I'll probably inevitably end up calling 'Travel Sweets'... 😉

This is why, with the exception of the "thank you"/"you're welcome"s in the paintball scene-- when they're both already giving each other fuck me eyes all over the place-- the scenes in which we see either of them saying the words "thank you" to one another are, so far, always posed as questions regarding whether or not they should 'say thank you' in that moment instead of just saying the words 'thank you' aloud, which adds to the idea of 'thank you' being euphemistic. The scenes show them asking if thanks should be said instead of just saying it because when they ask if they should 'say thank you', they are really asking if the other wants a blowjob.

Such as, in 1793:

Aziraphale was legit going to blow Crowley right there but Crowley was looking to get the fuck out of the rapey torture cell first. I'm sure he was amenable to the angel giving thanks after some crepes, though... and 174 years later, in 1967:

This one is particularly interesting from an euphemistic standpoint because Aziraphale had just given Crowley Holy Water, which is a bit akin to Beez's fly in S2, in that it's something his body is capable of making. It's his holiness as an angel that allows him to bless water and turn it from water into Holy Water which is, ironically, a substance that could kill Crowley, who has otherwise been drinking Aziraphale's holy water for quite some time by 1967 and who then replies to Aziraphale giving him actual Holy Water with the suggestion that he bow his head and pray a little over his communion font of a partner.

The other bit of this is that, even though they're alone in this instance, they're speaking on multiple layers as if they are not, which they do not always do when they're alone but which we have seen that they've evolved into feeling more comfortable doing sometimes when it comes to more intense conversations. (2.06 is a great example of just how much more comfortable they are speaking in their own language because of how they both try to run to it within a minute of trying to abandon it. A conversation that starts out trying to be more plain-spoken has Crowley invoking nightingales code by the end of it.)

Crowley really is asking Aziraphale if he should say thank you in 1967-- if he should say the words-- as well as the euphemistic layer to what he's saying here because he's surprised and moved and he doesn't know what to say. The choice to phrase it like that, though, and to also include the euphemistic meaning of saying thank you, is also intentional. They keep it up throughout the whole conversation-- "I'll give you a lift, anywhere you want to go" and Aziraphale's "go for a picnic" and "dine at The Ritz" are as literal as they are euphemistic, as everything else in their language is.

There is one other scene where tip top returns, though, and it is during this moment here:

Crowley and Aziraphale have driven back from Tadfield. From conversation had in previous scenes on the way, Crowley might have been planning on staying at the bookshop for awhile when they got back and Aziraphale wanted that. But then, as he's getting out of The Bentley, Aziraphale spotted that Anathema had left Agnes Nutter's book in the backseat and then had his whole moment of trying to rush into the bookshop alone to read the book without telling Crowley what was going on. Crowley asked if he was alright and Aziraphale replied:

"Perfectly, yes. Uh, tip top. Absolutely tickety-boo! Mind how you go!"

Aziraphale is anxious to get inside and be alone with the book but his words, if stressed, are structured to try to sound reassuring to Crowley that, even if he seems outwardly anxious, he's not upset with Crowley himself over anything, even if he's basically telling him to go home when, most nights, the assumption would be that he could stay a bit. He's tossing bits of wordplay at Crowley while running for the door. Perfectly/Perfect is from the Latin perfectus, which is combined of per-, meaning "through; completely" and facere, meaning "do." Perfect, as a result, can mean "done completely" in etymologically-based innuendo. If Aziraphale is then also referencing tip top here again and adding in perfectly, the suggestion seems to be that they pulled over to say thank you on the way home from Tadfield. Aziraphale is using it as an excuse to not invite Crowley in for more by trying to say he's completely done as a result and needs to be alone and nothing to see here, Crowley, nothing unusual, not at all acting weird and out of the ordinary! Aziraphale is absolutely ticketyboo...

Ticketyboo is Victorian-era slang and, despite Aziraphale wearing clothes from the 1800s constantly, we don't actually hear him use a lot of slang from the Victorian era or the rest of the 1800s still in modern times, which is a bit surprising. (And also disappointing as Victorian slang is amazing.) Aziraphale is actually a lot more current with his language than he is with any other aspect of his life, which is pretty interesting from a characterization standpoint... but which also makes his use of ticketyboo more interesting, though, as a result.

Ticketyboo means "everything is great." Its etymology is a little uncertain but it is thought to be a mashup of the Hindi phrase "thik hai" and the British English saying "that's the ticket," with the two phrases crossing back and forth between dialects of British officers stationed in India and both the people in India with whom they interacted and people originally from India who emigrated to London and interacted with British people there.

"Thik hai" means "it's alright" while "that's the ticket" has a pair of positive meanings. It can reflect the good feeling when something that is morally right, just and good has either happened or been suggested, as in: "Jury selection has finally fucking begun in one of the 1400 Donald Trump criminal trials-- that's the ticket!" It also can be used as an expression of pleasure, as in: "Jury selection has finally--" (just kidding though I would also count that as pleasurable lol)... as in: you take a sip of coffee first thing in the morning after a difficult night sleeping and sigh "oh, that's the ticket"... or your partner gets that knot out from under your shoulder blade-- "ahh, that's the ticket..." It's something that feels right and good.

But there's one other part of ticketyboo to consider, and that's the 'boo' part. The etymology of this bit, in particular, is muddled but what is interesting here is that while the word became ticketyboo-- all one word-- it is thought to actually have originally been spoken as two words: "tickety, boo." The 'thik hai/that's the ticket' part refers to the 'tickety' part of the word... so, what about the 'boo' part?

The general idea to date is that 'boo' evolved from 'bo' and that 'bo' is mixed into it because of homophonic overlap with the French word from which it is thought to have evolved-- 'beau.' The reason why this is thought to be part of the history of ticketyboo is that MLE has some overlap with AAVE (African-American Vernacular English) in the United States and, since roughly sometime in the 1980s, "boo" has been a gender-neutral term of endearment for someone's partner that originated in AAVE, exists in MLE, and has since spilled over into mainstream American slang.

'Beau' means "handsome" in French and it is, as you probably know, also an old-fashioned term for a boyfriend or a male admirer. It referred to a suitor who was romantically pursuing a woman-- bringing her flowers (and chocolates, when she opened a bookshop in particular lol), picking her up in his car and taking her on dates... courting her, as it used to be called. You might have a boyfriend but your great or great-great grandmother would have had a beau.

It's from this term that the more modern "boo" has arisen. Someone's boo in our modern times is their romantic partner of any gender and not necessarily someone with whom you are still in a courtship stage but can also refer to a spouse or a partner with whom you are in a committed relationship.

As a result, the reason why Aziraphale might be using ticketyboo in 2019 when he has stopped most of the rest of the great Victorian slang he undoubtedly misses is not necessarily because he's randomly using fusty old language because he's stuck in the past. It could actually be because he is using old slang that Crowley also remembers in a modern way in their wordplay in the present, referencing where it overlaps with the more current slang with which it shares an origin.

Aziraphale is not so much just saying "ticketyboo" as much he's also saying its origins of "tickety, boo" and referencing boo/beau to both refer to Crowley as handsome and as his boyfriend/partner within the full history of the one word of "boo" that he says.

Aziraphale's response to Crowley asking if he's alright then becomes akin to basically this, from a wordplay standpoint:

Yes, perfectly! Just worn out from the day, am in tip top shape from that tip top though haha! Not at all looking cagey and nervous nope nothing to fret about everything is absolutely fine, not to worry, my weirdness right now is not about you! You're just the lovely ticket as you always are. Good night now, my handsome boo. Do be safe getting home.

Crowley was understandably, though, thoroughly confused by this because Aziraphale dropped ticketyboo while acting weird and not letting him come inside for a nightcap and at least a little canoodle but Aziraphale's weirdness was worth it for listening to Crowley sound out the term-- "TiCKeTyboo?"-- while trying to math out what had gotten into his angel. I think he called me his handsome boyfriend while having a nervous breakdown. Weird, but also probably in character...

On a darker note? Look at how much the ticketyboo scene is a more light-hearted version of the end of 2.06, in a way. Aziraphale sees the book that can stop the end of the world but he doesn't tell Crowley about it-- just as how Aziraphale learned of The Second Coming from "The Metatron" but instead of crossing the street to tell Crowley who, again, was standing beside The Bentley, Aziraphale keeps the information to himself and goes inside, shutting the door, leaving Crowley standing in the street for a moment before he gets in the car and drives off. Just an observation, not sure yet exactly how it would all fit together, but we'll see in S3...

I want to go back to talking about "giving thanks" for a moment because we have to look at one, other scene that's very relevant to this and it's this one:

In 1.01, we are reintroduced to Aziraphale after the scene on the wall in Eden and the time jump of thousands of years. The very first thing we ever see him do is thank his friend for preparing the sushi he was planning on enjoying with the delayed-by-Hell Crowley. We see Aziraphale bow his head over the food and say "arigato"-- Japanese for "thank you"-- before starting his meal. Ojigi-- the tradition of bowing out of a sign of respect in polite society in Japan-- is a sign of reverence and, in situations like the one in which Aziraphale bows, is an expression of gratitude. Here's Aziraphale showing a devout sense of reverence to the skills of the human chef who prepared for him a meal he's going to enjoy with a pleasure that overlaps with sexual pleasure and that is his form of prayer before the meal. He and Crowley worship more at the altar of humanity and in ways that tie closer to an Eastern sense of spirituality than in devotion to those of a monotheistic God.

Pagans of The Good Times, as a certain Irish God with a song on Crowley's official playlist calls it. Hungry work...

Because, in addition to the general sense of a definition of prayer being "to give thanks to God," there is also Grace, the traditional prayer said at the start of a meal to thank God for the blessings of the food on the table. Crowley and Aziraphale's hidden language when it comes to sex is entirely structured around food as a result of the apple, the ox ribs and, eventually, the oysters. Alcohol, bread, fish...they've got a real water-to-wine, loaves-and-fishes, and fuck- Leviticus-sideways thing going on lol... so it is deliciously dirty and very funny that they developed euphemisms for giving each other a blowjob that are related to saying grace by bowing their heads in prayer and giving thanks.

For the food they they about to eat in S3, may The Voice of Frances McDormand make them truly grateful. Amen.

#ineffable husbands #aziracrow #good omens #crowley #aziraphale #good omens meta #good omens 2 #ineffable husbands speak #etymology

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duckprintspress · 7 months

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Fandom 101: The Origin of the Citrus Scale

A guest post by Aeryn Jemariel Knox. (@jemariel)

Ah, the citrus scale. It’s like a cryptid roaming the edges of modern fandom communities. Long-tenured veterans speak of it with affectionate mockery while newcomers google curiously. A relic from a bygone fandom era, the citrus scale saw a brief resurgence in 2018 during the Tumblr porn ban, suggested as a way to avoid the new bot censors trawling for posts with the NSFW tag—though never, I think, in seriousness.

That may have been jocular and short-lived, but it does point to the reasons why the citrus scale was created in the first place. Certain fandom activities have always had to fly under the radar to one degree or another. Whether you’re trying to evade legal action or simply avoid deletion based on explicit content, a certain level of obfuscation is sometimes worthwhile.

It’s not hard to find the generally agreed-upon definitions of the citrus scale’s levels. According to Fanlore, KnowYourMeme, and others, this is more or less the “official” citrus scale:

Orange: Light stuff, kissing, nothing below the waist or under the clothes.

Lime: Groping, implied sex without details, fade-to-black, no intercourse or intimate contact.

Lemon: Sex, in full detailed glory. Woo-hoo! Regardless of the actual acts performed, if you can tell who had an orgasm (or, perhaps, had an orgasm denied), how, and where, it’s a lemon.

Grapefruit: We’ll get into this later.

But these tidy categories are clear thanks to the benefit of hindsight. In the Wild West of the early internet, it was not so easy to pin down exactly what you might be getting into based on which term was used.

At its origin, the citrus scale wasn’t a scale at all. It has its roots in hentai (and was always more popular in anime fandoms), stemming from a specific early hentai film by the title of Cream Lemon (1984). Hentai being what it is, this led to certain subculture communities referring to any story with explicit sexual content as a “Lemon.” And for a while, that was the extent of it. Then came fanfiction.net purging explicit content (2002), Livejournal suffering Strikethru (2007), and other events that pushed burgeoning fandom communities out of their growing hubs and back into smaller, isolated communities centered on a single fandom or pairing. In the relatively sparse early ’00’s internet, anybody could spin up an Angelfire website, pass the link around to their friends, and get a reasonable amount of traffic. Websites devoted to the works of a single author or small group were common.

I mention this to describe the landscape in which fandom lexicons grew and evolved in the early-mid 2000s. Each pocket community had its own rules, lingo, and expectations; venturing outside of your home pocket could lead to some pretty major miscommunications.

“Lemon” was established early and its definition has hardly shifted. It means that the labeled content (art, fic, mood board, etc.) includes sex. Intercourse, bumping uglies, etc. However, some yaoi fandom niches used it specifically to mean gay sex of the male variety. In some communities, “lime” developed as a corresponding term for feminine gay sex, while other communities brought it up with the usage that eventually “stuck,” “not quite a lemon.” Given that lemon and lime often go hand in hand when discussing actual flavors, the fact that we had some divergent term evolution is not surprising. But coming in from a different pocket of fandom and seeing “lime,” thinking you’ll be reading semi-softcore sexual tension and instead being confronted with graphic sapphic antics? Bit of a shock, I’m sure.

A more dramatic example is the rating level of “Grapefruit,” which occupies two completely different ends of the scale. In some circles, grapefruit was defined as “less intense than lime,” G or PG-rated stories that were more soft or cute than sexy. In other circles, it was used to mean the exact opposite. Kinkier than kink, smuttier than smut, grapefruit art and fic was where you went to have your eyebrows singed off. Some communities were even more specific, using grapefruit for stories featuring non-consensual sex. This was where darkfic lived – in modern day parlance, your “Dead Dove, Do Not Eat” works. To say that this usage difference caused some disagreements would be putting it mildly.

Nobody really worried about orange. Orange just existed, not bothering anybody.

When these terms were coined, the internet was not an assumed aspect of everybody’s daily life the way it is today. There was no Tumblr, no Facebook, no social media to speak of. There were no large repositories of internet lore and knowledge such as Urban Dictionary or KnowYourMeme. It was a playground. And what do you do on a playground? You make friends! The citrus scale, like so many fandom tropes and concepts, was defined by groups of friends that created them ad hoc to meet their own needs at the time. No one could have predicted that it would become so much a fandom history that it’d be enshrined, nor that I would be writing a blog post about it two decades later. From the common source of lemon, people extrapolated what the rest of the scale might look like, and there was no authority to tell them they were wrong. (Except other fans. That hasn’t changed.)

In conclusion, it’s best not to take the citrus scale too seriously. At best, it’s a cheeky way to avoid censors who try to bar a community from engaging with explicit works, but it’s also varied to a fault and open to interpretation. If you and your community have come up with a use for it that suits your needs, then congratulations: you’re part of a fandom tradition stretching back to the roots of the internet. Just don’t try and tell anybody else that they’re wrong. You might start a flame war.

References:

Prokopetz: Orange and Grapefruit

She’s Got Plans: What is the Citrus Scale in Fanfiction?

Unwinnable: Lemon and Lime

Past Fandom 101 Posts:

Everything About A/B/O Dynamics You Wanted to Know (but were Afraid to Ask)

How to Diversify Your To-Be-Read Pile

Recognizing AI Generated Images, Danmei Edition

#duck prints press #guest blogger #fandom 101 #citrus scale

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power-chords · 1 month

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apologies if you've explained this already, but tumblr search is trash, so I have to ask... why the obsession with michael mann, how did that start?

Oh, man. It’s a long story! In the early days of the pandemic I got a call from my favorite rock musician that he had read a short essay I’d written on his solo album, and he wanted me to contribute a piece to his band’s forthcoming box set. Dream come true obviously, couldn’t say no, so I immediately buckled down on the research end, which for me involved a deeper dive into said musician’s love of film. Mann was on the list of suspects alongside more definitive entries like Coppola and Scorsese, but that turned out to be a happy accident of misreading. (Major shout out to Adam here, by the way, because without his guidance I would have been working with a much more meandering home-brewed syllabus.)

I enjoy movies like any properly adjusted American but they don’t tend to put a spell on me the way music does, or make me want to disassemble the whole contraption piece by piece like a good written story. And Mann’s work was the first time I’d ever encountered films that could have the same effect on me as music and literature. They were hypnotic and enchanting and propulsive, like my favorite records, but they also suggested this dense subterranean architecture of potential meaning, obscured from immediate view but very much there and carefully, deliberately encoded. In other words, these films were like texts imploring (really, daring) you to interpret them.

That’s Mann’s methodology in a nutshell, basically — it’s a seduction gambit, and on me it worked spectacularly! It tapped into my grotesque hedonic animal brain and sparked an intellectual curiosity as well. For me that combination has a narcotic quality that’s hard to explain, but I have an addictive personality. And the more I watched his work, the more it ensnared me like The Footage.* (“WHAT is going on? What is this film doing to me??” Etc.) You have to understand I have no prior experiential basis for this, so as far as I’m concerned it’s witchcraft. By the time I turn in my piece for the box set I have this collateral situation developing, ha ha, oh no, and here I am three years later.

Initially I had wondered if Mann had been an influence on Dulli, but it turned out to be a case of convergent evolution. Or something akin to it. I think they’re just similar in terms of what subject matter they’re attracted to, maybe in their modes of perception and how they make aesthetic/narrative sense of the world. And there is some part of me that keys into that sensibility — whichever part precedes organized expression, maybe even conscious comprehension — and finds it cathartic and liberating and all that good stuff. (I’m a Safety First adrenaline junkie these days so I try to limit my habits to art and pop culture.)

And then he and Meg Gardiner co-wrote an actual book which provoked further investigations, escalations, whatever you want to call them. It turns out that the abyss really DOES stare back into you in the form of numerous spooky historical coincidences. I’m like afraid of Heat 2 at this point because the more I go trawling around in there the more it becomes an eldritch object, LOL. I’m the closest anyone has come to living the film Jumanji, let me put it that way. But the experience has been a blast. And I feel fortunate to have found yet another creator on par with Dulli and Townshend whose work I will be able to take with me and return to over the course of my life, and seek shelter in in that way.

*EVERYBODY READ PATTERN RECOGNITION BY WILLIAM GIBSON!

#I’m sorry that is the most abridged possible version lmao #michael mann

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neonscandal · 2 years

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Manga With Me: JJK Crackpot (But Maybe Not) Pocket Theory Edition

Miwa's Origin

The Games are revealing more and more to us while the tunnel vision around each fight leaves a lot to the imagination, specifically as it pertains to the health and welfare of some of our favorite jujutsu sorcerers (and those in training). I’m of the mind that nothing in Gege Akutami’s story has been without purpose and that includes the inclusion of some of the less flashy characters. So, go with me down this "what if" rabbit hole -

⚠️ Spoiler warning: covers content through chapter 187

Buckle up, dorks, this is going to be a bumpy one. I'm doing a lot of mental gymnastics to get there so, if you're not interested in the read, jump to the end for the TLDNR!

With the way jujutsu society is set up, we've got a lot of big family names that go back centuries and have carried weight within the community. The Zenin, Gojo and Kamo clans come to mind most readily (though we find that Toge Inumaki also comes from a jujutsu family).

At this point, it wouldn't be surprising, with the incarnation of several old curse users, that we start seeing more situations like the below wherein someone's great-great-great-great something runs the risk of cropping up and crossing their own kin.

What a messed up family.. bush?

What's critical about this reveal is that we see Kenjaku has been deeply ingrained in the fabric of jujutsu history. He's worn many names and faces that aren't limited just to Suguru Geto, Kaori Itadori and Noritoshi Kamo. Additionally, we see that with each iteration, he's closing in on his end goal which includes the experimentation and evolution of curses. With an evil that seems to span hundreds of years, I'm sure he's besmirched the good name of plenty of sorcerers but, more importantly, born witness to much the jujutsu world has to offer. At this point, we know that includes none other than Hajime Kashimo as revealed in recent chapters.

In terms of characterization, we see that Kashimo is driven to destruction, drawn by the promise and delight of a good fight. At the height of getting beat down by Hakari's technique, we're given a glimpse into his distant history. Having laid waste to a foe and discontented by the lack of challenge, he's approached by Kenjaku!John Doe who he recognizes immediately and simply as Kenjaku. Lamenting about the fact that he picked the wrong fight, Kenjaku alludes to the fabled strength of Ryo Ishigori (which suggests Kenjaku hadn't met him) before ultimately redirecting Kashimo's bloodlust toward Sukuna. This explains how Kenjaku essentially curried Kashimo's buy in for the Culling Games and this is emphasized by Kashimo's one track mind while in game.

Okay? But what does this have to do with Miwa?

Relax, I'm getting there.. probably. Akutami has a penchant for coded names as seen with Fushiguro and Nobara Kugisaki. Hajime apparently means beginning so, for the sake of argument, let's say that's where this whole thing starts. SO, this is the first exchange we really see Kenjaku interacting with someone at the inception of this whole chain of events. If you're wondering why that's integral to my theory, let's peep this fight scene.

Why on earth did Kenjaku!Geto try to body silly little Miwa with Maximum: Uzumaki just then? Baby girl is holding onto that katana for dear life and, at every junction, it's taken from her. Maki clowned her (and broke her sword) and then it breaks again in the heat of this battle. With Mechamaru out of the picture, and if we're strictly focusing on close combat, I'd definitely stake my money on Todo over anyone else in the Kyoto school though we know he's largely unreliable as he's given to find his own fight elsewhere. I suppose that's why they put Miwa as their frontman during this botched attempt at catching Kenjaku!Geto off guard but.. what if this was actually their best foot forward because Miwa's a sleeping dragon?

For a cast of characters that boasts such bad ass womxn, Miwa's been downplayed and cut off at the neck at every opportunity she's been given to shine. What if the big reveal is that she's related to Kashimo.

You really went from A to WTF pretty quick, pls explain

Um, gladly, just know that this started as a crackpot theory and it's maybe held together by silly string but the more I write the more I'm like "ain't no way I'm wrong!".

One could say Kenjaku!Geto was priming his attack to unleash on Yuji, Choso and Panda as, at the time, they were the biggest threat before him. However, he caught wind of Kyoto School fairly quickly and had eyes on Miwa as she launched her attack wherein he broke her sword. Threat dealt with and yet he still saw her and said "get wrecked". WHY?

Here's what we know about Jujutsu Kaisen in universe. Nobara, shown as a child with dark or black hair, is shown as a teenager with orange dyed hair canonically. So if black is the figurative blueprint, why is Miwa's hair canonically light blue? We know that previously her mother would hide the color by dying it black for school which reiterates black as the natural canon and emphasizes how unnatural her light hair is. In a previous Akutami interview, we also know that Miwa was recruited into Jujutsu High because of her hair. I'm guessing it's the color over the choice in cut.

Here's what we know about Kashimo. Aside from being a bloodthirsty, power-seeking relic from 400 years ago, he has light hair in both iterations. We associate light hair with age of course but also power (Gojo-sensei where you at- oh). In the throw back, sure, he may be shown as elderly but what if the cough of blood into his hand is the product of a hard won fight as opposed to the luxury of dying of old age. Aesthetically, his younger vessel also having light hair has got to count for something. Additionally, intentionally exposing Kashimo and Kenjaku's shared history in this way better alludes to what would trigger Kenjaku!Geto to attack right then.

Do Kashimo and Miwa have the same power, no, but maybe it's because she hasn't yet realized the katana is ill-fitting as she is shown time and time again? She keeps getting bested and what if it's because she hasn't yet unlocked her birthright✨

The fact that we caught a glimpse of Miwa 10 or so chapters back suggests something’s coming and I can’t wait to see what.

It's very much giving "Boulevard of Broken Dreams".

TLDNR: In their face off, Kenjaku!Geto recognized Miwa as a threat because of her hair which is why he felt the need to godsmack her out of existence with Maximum: Uzumaki so perhaps she's distantly related to harbinger of destruction and menace Hajime Kashima.

#manga with me #jjk theory #jjk brainrot #jjk crack theory #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen theory #miwa kasumi #jjk kenjaku #jjk kashimo #jjk noritoshi #anime #manga #jujutsu kaisen brainrot #jjk first years #jjk miwa #jjk sukuna #manga with me jjk

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legendaryprofessorwisteria · 1 year

Note

In terms of the theories you’ve brought up, that does make sense. After all, even accounting for the lack of a known different on time between their original time and ours, they are similar enough that perhaps that convergent evolution in similar but harsher versions of our world would occur. As for being prepared for what happened…given the kinds of residents who end up arriving, the folks here and I are very familiar with dealing with Pokémon who are scared and injured, especially if they end up being permanent residents and don’t end up taken in by a family who comes by. I’m actually thankful Hogan, Electro, and now Emir have adapted as well as they have to their new home for that reason.

I imagine with Lilith, the mess afterwards wasn’t as sticky, given the juice that Hogan had drank was from Sitrus berries, and the barrels were pierced as a result of that. We had to clean the shed before it could be repaired as well as both Hogan and Julien after the sudden bout of wrestling, and though Julien is very used to baths even with the fact he’s a fire-type, Hogan was clearly unsure of the soap we used out of unfamiliarity. Least they calmed down when he was given one of the rubber duckletts we keep for stressed out residents taking baths to use like a stress ball. They proceeded to claim that specific one as their personal rubber ducklett, amusingly enough, and always has it in hand when washing up.

As for Electro and Emir, besides both of them also being buddies with Auther and Volt thanks to the former’s physical therapy with them and also introducing the latter to them, while each of them were in recovery, they were as shy as you’d expect, especially considering that I’ve heard that Xurkitree tend to be very energetic and Koraidon are often not unlike young Rockruff in behavior, a trait I’ve noticed is shared with many Miraidon as well. Electro started opening up at Volt’s insistence, the Dracozolt in question basically beckoning their friend to play in the snow with some other buddies who live here, which somehow did wonders for helping Electro open up. I have a feeling this led to Electro wanting to befriend Emir, perhaps able to figure out the similar situation and wanting to be to Emir what Volt was to them. I’d say it worked well, given how before that point, Emir only really seemed to trust Cantante, likely due to her being the one to find them and let us know so we could free Emir and treat their injures, myself, presumably since I am Cantante’s trainer, and a few others, my colleagues who focus more on the medical side of our establishment.

I think it's at least an interesting framework for understanding why these Pokemon are the way they are, both with Ultra Beasts and Paradox Pokemon. While we can directly observe where Ultra Beasts come from with the help of Pokemon like Solgaleo, Lunala, and Necrozma, we can't do the same with Paradox Pokemon at this time - but we can still make a lot of inferences about what their homes are like just by their physiology and their links to present Pokemon. Gonna ramble more under a cut so I don't blow out anyone's dash.

For instance, my Iron Moth, Lilith, mostly survives off of sunlight, has powerful attacks, and has a tough exterior. This suggests it lives in a sunlight-rich environment, mostly ruling out the 'eternal clouds' theory someone was floating about the Paradoxes' future, and probably had serious predators or competed heavily with other Pokemon, which also explains the aggression. With Great Tusk, the past Paradox Pokemon we know the most about, we can guess similar things - it's an herbivore, but also a powerful attacker with a lot of aggression, meaning it probably faces a lot of danger in nature.

And yeah...the transit in time or space alone can be very frightening for Pokemon like that, and all that natural aggression doesn't make the landing any easier. It's very lucky that there are people and organizations like you and like my lab to intervene and prevent these Pokemon - and others - from coming to harm. It sounds like Hogan, Emir, and Electro got lucky with where they landed, and I really hope the same is true of Lilith.

And heh, thankfully Lillith's mess wasn't nearly as...sticky. It just flung papers everywhere and knocked over a few things, and got some Sludge Bomb splat on a wall. Not too hard to clean. It's interesting how Hogan took on those barrels, given how Buzzwole eat in the wild. And cleaning a Buzzwole must have been a funny experience! I always find it sweet how Pokemon like Ultra Beasts, Paradox Pokemon, and Legendaries or Mythicals in general are sometimes just the same as other Pokemon, doing things like picking favorite toys or comfort objects.

It's also wonderful how Pokemon care for and help each other! Seems like Volt did a lot to help Electro, and Electro did a lot to help Emir. Electro even paid forward how Volt was kind to it, which is so sweet...so many Pokemon are just wonderful to each other. I genuinely don't know what we'd do without Pokemon like that.

Also, I'd object to the comparison of Miraidon and Rockruff, but one of my colleagues is outside throwing a ball for the visiting 'Raidons and they're chasing after it like, well, little Rockruff. Lilith is staring intently. Arceus above, once things calm down I am going to try and catch one.

#iron moth lilith #iron moth #miraidon #xurkitree #buzzwole #paradox event #paradox pokemon #ultra beasts #pokemon

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moonspiritx · 1 year

Note

I saw your thoughts on Meiko post. I have a question for you. What do you think about Ken? Because by your logic, Ken should a Gary Stu. Guy ver. of Mary-sue. He is conveniently a Chosen that has a special digivice that cancels out evolution and therefore forced the DW to create 3 additional Digivices. His crest ends up being used as a Digimental for Vee to Armor evolve. His crest for nothing else. He has a whole episode dedicated to him crying about his "selfish" needs and his brother. cont-

First item on the list, you’re correct as far as I know about the Gary Stu thing: for anybody who is unfamiliar with the term, Gary Stu is the male-equivalent for Mary Sue, a term used to describe overly powerful characters or characters who have the story revolve around them in such a way, they are essentially the center of the universe.

Second, this question is likely in reference to the Digimon Tri tangent that I went on upon it’s release, but explicitly about Meiko. Thinking about what I can still find and re-reading what I said, I’m willing to give Meiko the benefit of the doubt in the department(s) of being both a teenager and inexperienced when it comes to fighting or going up against other Digimon on a more critical level when it comes to saving one, maybe two, words.

Now, to actually answer the question, my feelings toward Ken, opposed to Meiko, is how I feel about Kuronuma Sawako - my respect for them as characters comes less from their power level and more from what they are doing with that power. Bear in mind, his Digivice is the only one to have been touched by the Dark Ocean and he had a Dark Seed implanted in him the whole time, which is why he was so smart during his time as the Digimon Kaiser. This goes to suggest that all of that power was from an outside force from himself, meaning he isn’t strong by his own means. What does he do when he realizes that he’s screwed up? Gives it up and tries so hard to atone for that, somebody has to literally smack some sense into him that he doesn’t need to do this alone… in the case of Digimon 02 canon, it was Daisuke. Yes, the story did revolve around him for a while, but only long enough to set everything up for their future Jogress.

Ken is powerful, yes, but his power is very short-lived, and even then his power as Kaiser was essentially being used as a puppet (while at the same time making him enough of a threat for the 02 Children to do something about him), and any power he had after that was essentially through the strong connections he had formed with his friends, especially with Daisuke. Because of this established dependence for him to tap into his power during his time both as evil (puppet) and later good (friendship), I don’t think it would make any sense to call him a Gary Stu, especially since he only took up as much of the spotlight as he needed, even if it happened to be a lot of it.

#your questions #digimon tri #ken ichijouji #gary stu #power dynamics #digimon

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williamsmith12 · 12 days

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What are the Next Steps After Creating an MVP

Congratulations! You've successfully launched your Minimum Viable Product (MVP). This is a significant milestone, marking the culmination of your initial concept and its transformation into a tangible product in the hands of real users. But the journey doesn't end here. The launch of your MVP is simply the first chapter in the story of your product's evolution. The next steps involve leveraging user feedback, data analysis, and strategic decision-making to refine your product and propel it towards success.

Gathering User Feedback: The Cornerstone of Improvement

Your MVP serves as a springboard for gathering invaluable user feedback. This feedback is the gold mine that will guide future iterations and pave the way for a product that truly resonates with your target audience. Here are some effective ways to collect user feedback:

In-App Surveys and Feedback Forms: Embed user surveys and feedback forms directly within your MVP. Keep them concise and easy to complete, focusing on specific questions about the user experience and feature usability.

User Interviews: Conduct in-depth user interviews to gain qualitative feedback. This allows users to elaborate on their experiences and provide detailed insights beyond simple ratings or written responses.

Usability Testing: Observe users interacting with your MVP through usability testing sessions. Watch how they navigate the interface, identify areas of confusion, and witness firsthand how they utilize (or don't utilize) specific features.

Social Media Listening: Pay attention to what users are saying about your MVP on social media platforms. Respond to comments and questions, and use these conversations as a pulse check on user sentiment.

App Store Reviews: Reviews left on app stores can be a treasure trove of user feedback. Analyze these reviews to identify common themes and address any recurring issues or feature requests.

Analyzing User Data: Unveiling User Behavior Patterns

While user feedback provides valuable qualitative insights, user data from your MVP offers a quantitative perspective. By integrating analytics tools into your MVP, you can track user behavior and glean crucial information about how users interact with your product. Here are some key metrics to analyze:

User Acquisition and Activation Rates: Track how users are finding your MVP and how many of them are actively using it. This data can help you identify effective acquisition channels and areas for improvement in user onboarding.

Feature Usage: Analyze which features are being used most frequently and which ones are rarely accessed. This can help you determine which features provide the most value and which ones might need adjustments or removal.

User Engagement: Measure how long users are spending on your MVP and how often they return. High engagement rates indicate a product that users find valuable and keeps them coming back for more.

Conversion Rates: If your MVP has a specific conversion goal (e.g., making a purchase, signing up for a subscription), track your conversion rates to gauge user behavior at that critical point in the user journey.

Making Data-Driven Decisions: Prioritizing Improvements

Once you've collected user feedback and analyzed user data, it's time to make informed decisions about the future of your product. Don't feel pressured to implement every piece of feedback you receive. Instead, prioritize improvements based on a combination of factors:

Frequency of Feedback: Issues mentioned frequently by multiple users are likely more widespread and deserve higher priority.

Severity of the Issue: Bugs or usability problems that significantly hinder the user experience should be addressed immediately.

Alignment with Product Vision: Ensure that suggested improvements align with your overall product vision and long-term roadmap.

Iterating and Refining: The Continuous Cycle of Improvement

Building a successful product is an iterative process. Leveraging user feedback and data analysis, you can refine your MVP through a series of planned iterations. Here's how to approach this iterative cycle:

Prioritize Features: Based on your analysis, prioritize the development of new features or improvements to existing ones. Focus on addressing critical issues and incorporating features that users have expressed a strong desire for.

Develop and Test Incrementally: Break down your development process into smaller, manageable sprints. This allows for more frequent testing and feedback loops, ensuring you're on the right track with each iteration.

A/B Testing: Utilize A/B testing to compare different versions of features or user interface elements. This data-driven approach helps you determine which variations resonate best with users.

Maintain Focus on Core Value Proposition: As you introduce new features, ensure they don't distract from your product's core value proposition. Keep your MVP focused on solving the core user problem it was designed to address.

The Role of MVP Development Services in Ongoing Development

MVP development services companies can be valuable partners throughout the entire product lifecycle.

#MVP development company #MVP development services

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davidfegan · 28 days

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What is Web 4.0?

Explore the concept of Web 4.0, its innovations, and how it reshapes digital landscapes for a smarter, interconnected future.

Introduction to the Internet and its definitions

Internet is a large system that connects multiple servers and systems of computers, and mobile phones globally. Internet as per its definition is described as “networks of networks” that serve as crucial elements when it comes to communication between two distinct resources in the digital world. The conformations of the internet have always helped to transform day-to-day communication with every aspect that inclines us towards modern living.

World Wide Web is simply in common terms is pile of pages which are interconnected among each other and follow protocols called HTTP for communicating data between servers and clients. The World Wide Web referred to as the Web, is one of the subsets of the Internet that monitors and mediates interaction between users like us and the digital content available dynamically.

With the advancement in technology standards and user behaviour web is evolving and every time with the addition of new features it emerges as the new version. In this article, we will delve into the latest and most intelligent version of the web now i.e. Web 4.0 and consider it as the next evolutionary and significant step in the growth and development of the internet. Web 4.0 is still in the conceptual stage which means it has not yet been released, however, it is believed that the commencement of Web 4.0 could involve building AI tools of advanced level that turn out to be more responsive and intelligent.

History of evolution of Web and its versions

WEB 1.0

WEB 1.0 (Static web): As the name suggests, static web was used to deliver consumer with the content exactly the same as uploaded by the content creator. Later this static character of web got a code name of WEB 1.0 Web 1.0 was a “read-only” web. The basic core for this web was community governance, decentralization of networks, creation and contribution of content for the web.

HTTP, SMTP, FTP, IRC and SMS were the open protocols which made a foundation stone for Web 1.0. These protocols were crucial as anyone can easily work with them and make the content for the web Web 1.0 is the term used to describe the earliest form of the internet which sets the first example of a “global network”, which showed the potential for future digitalisation of Information sharing and communication.

This Web 1.0 was created in 1991 by TIM BERNERS LEE who is an English computer scientist best known for invention of the HTML markup language, the URL system, and HTTP along with WORLD WIDE WEB being his most famous invention. It was known as “static web” or “read only web” as it had no visuals, controls, forms and interactivity. It was all about web pages which are connected to a system with the help of hyperlinks.

In 1993, the web became available to the public and lead to Rapid increase in website that were created.

By Early 1995, over a million websites were available and this growth continued throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Web 2.0

The Creation of most important COOKIE: (HTTP COOKIE) To overcome one of the first limitations of web 1.0, which was being STATELESS.

As discussed earlier, web 1.0 was unable to capture state or user data and could not convey any data related to the user to web developer such as if the end user had previously visited the website or not and it was being difficult for a web developer to know the demographic of the end user, which meant you could not build products or services specifically targeted for your end users.

In first attempt of solving this limitation of capturing state or user data, LOU MONTULLI, a computer programmer came up with the invention of HTTP cookie with which developer can tell if the user had visited a website previously or not.

And, with this invention, now that we were being able to capture user state the Web transitioned into Web 2.0.

Web 2.0 often being referred to as “read and write” web, spans from early 2000s to current period. The the word web 2.0 was first given by DARCY DiNucci, a technology strategist.

WEB 3.0

THE FUTURE The inventor of world wide web TIM LEE, originally called web 3.0 as “semantic web “as it was conceived as a more autonomous, intelligent and open Internet. Web 3.0 is often described as read, write and execute. The open internet, we are talking about would involve AI and ML which would process content like a “global brain” with all data being connected in a way that is contextual and conceptual, but this didn’t work as planned because Tech just wasn’t at the right place.

In web 3.0, users can interact in a decentralized way, but with security. From money to information, all exchanges are conducted without the need of tech companies, banks, or any other middleman so if web 2.0 makes the user a product, web 3.0 makes the user the content owner.

Basically, the goal of web 3.0 is to make the internet more intelligent, personalized and responsive to users need, and to achieve this, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data are being used to create a semantic web that understands the meaning of information on internet and this will allow for more appropriate search result, better recommendation and more personalized experience to the users. The web 3.0 has shown the potential to transform the internet into a much more powerful and useful tool for everyone, from a developer to the end core user. With the help of Web 3.0, it is now possible for devices to interact with each other directly without the need for human intervention.

Difference in Web 4.0 from Web 3.0

Web 3.0 (Semantic Web)

Decentralization: Often termed the “semantic web,” Web 3.0 aims for a more decentralized, open-source, and immersive online experience. It facilitates user participation, content creation, and ownership without dependence on intermediaries.

Blockchain Infrastructure: Web 3.0’s infrastructure relies on the blockchain—a public ledger—allowing trustless interactions among users without reliance on a central authority.

Monetization and Ownership: In contrast to Web 2.0, where platforms profit from user-generated content, Web 3.0 empowers users to monetize their data and retain ownership of their contributions.

Elements: Web 3.0 integrates decentralization, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality (AR/VR), and ubiquity.

Web 4.0 (Intelligent Web)

Web 4.0 is way more decentralization and integration with Machines-

It has Higher Decentralization: where Web 4.0 extends decentralization further, aiming for a simpler and more integrated internet connected to human thinking and cognition, without precise definition.

It comprises features of Cerebral Web where Some sources suggest Web 4.0 will be more “cerebral” as it involves deep learning indicating a deeper connection between human minds and the digital realm.

Web 4.0, Mentioned by Elon Musk and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, Web FOUR, a meme coin, humorously reflects the concept of the next internet iteration. While not directly addressing Web 4.0’s technical aspects, Web four promotes accessible decentralization¹.

Web 3.0 Critique: Musk and Dorsey argue that Web 3.0 lacks true decentralization and primarily serves venture capitalists (VCs), citing ongoing capital concentration issues.

Advancements in features of Web 4.0

In the ever-evolving landscape of the internet, the emergence of Web 4.0 marks a pivotal moment where technology succeed with its previous predecessors and their boundaries, which offer users an unprecedented type of personalization as well as customization. In the Centre of evolution there stays the utility of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms, empowering Web 4.0 to deliver tailored content as per the preferences of users and services with unique and accurate precision. Web 4.0 has its special features to adapt the user that too individual user preferences creating a digital experience that feels uniquely crafted for each user.

Central to the promise of Web 4.0 is its augmented interactivity, which redefines how users engage with digital content and services. Through the integration of immersive technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, Web 4.0 elevates user experiences to new heights, blurring the lines between the digital and physical worlds. This heightened level of interactivity enables users to interact with information and services in ways previously unimaginable, opening doors to innovative and groundbreaking experiences.

In conclusion, Web 4.0 represents a convergence of technologies that hold the potential and strength to shape and transform the future where innovation and creativity are limitless and knows no bounds. By embracing and encouraging creativity, collaboration, and a forward-thinking broad mindset, we can harness the power of Web 4.0 to create a digital landscape where there are endless opportunities and the future will possess a positive change within itself.

Source: https://www.agicent.com/blog/what-is-web-4-0-explained/

#Web 4.0 #What is Web 4.0

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helpingjobseekers · 2 months

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Best Platform To Find Remote Jobs In US

Looking for best platform to find Remote Jobs In US?

The landscape of work has transformed significantly over the past few years, propelled by technological advancements and evolving societal norms. Remote work, once considered a perk for a select few, has now become a mainstream option embraced by companies as well for employees. This shift has been accelerated by global events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced organizations to adapt swiftly to remote operations, leading to a widespread realization of its feasibility and benefits.

There are end number of companies that have been choosing the work from home for their employees, finding it an efficient process. employHER is a leading platform which is focused on helping underrepresented professionals finding their dream careers. Its mission is to help companies achieve their diversity goals through assisting them hiring the diverse talent. The platform is working in the direction to make workplaces more diverse and inclusive by making the opportunities equally accessible to all. This has been loved as the topmost platform to find the remote jobs in US as well as globally.

Stats About Remote Work And Its Impact In The Workplace

Looking ahead, the future of remote work appears promising, with projections indicating a continued rise in its prevalence. As technology continues to evolve, facilitating seamless communication and collaboration regardless of physical location, remote work is poised to become even more entrenched in the fabric of modern work culture. However, with this evolution come new challenges and considerations, including issues related to workforce management, cybersecurity, and maintaining a sense of organizational cohesion. Nevertheless, the potential benefits of remote work in terms of cost savings, talent acquisition, and employee satisfaction suggest that it will remain efficient and will stay the same in the coming years.

As the traditional boundaries of the workplace dissolve, remote work offers unprecedented opportunities for individuals to transcend geographical constraints and find employment opportunities that align with their skills and preferences. From software development to customer service, and from marketing to finance, virtually every industry has witnessed a surge in remote job offerings. Employers are increasingly recognizing the value of remote work in attracting and retaining talent, while employees appreciate the flexibility and work-life balance it affords. Here are few stats that shows the impact of remote work in the current job market.

Global Increase in Remote Work: Remote work has surged globally, with a 173% increase since 2005, as reported by Global Workplace Analytics. A notable spike occurred from 2019 to 2021.

Company and Worker Adoption: According to Owl Labs, as of 2022, 16% of companies worldwide are fully remote, and 62% of workers aged 22 to 65 work remotely at least occasionally.

Job Market Trends: LinkedIn data shows a 2.5 times increase in remote job postings between 2020 and 2023, indicating a growing demand for remote work opportunities.

Remote Work in the United States: The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that post-2020, approximately 24% of employed individuals in the United States did some or all of their work from home.

Remote Work in the European Union: Eurostat highlights that nearly 12.3% of the workforce in the European Union engaged in remote work as of 2021, with variations across member states.

Government Initiatives in Asia: Countries like Japan have implemented "Work From Home" policies at a governmental level to promote flexibility and remote work adoption.

Tech Industry Leadership: Tech companies like Twitter and Shopify offer the option for employees to work from home indefinitely, setting a precedent for remote work adoption in other sectors.

Education Transformation: Remote work has transformed education, with online learning platforms and digital classrooms becoming standard, enabling remote teaching and learning opportunities.

Rise of Telehealth Services: Healthcare has witnessed an increase in telehealth services, allowing physicians to remotely consult with patients when feasible, enhancing access to healthcare services.

Types of Remote Work Arrangements: Remote work encompasses various arrangements, including freelance work on platforms like Upwork and Freelancer, full-time remote positions with no geographic constraints, and part-time or contract roles offering increased job flexibility.

Why employHER is Recognised As The Best Platform To Find Remote Jobs In US?

In the realm of remote work, navigating the vast sea of job opportunities can often be stressful. However, amidst this landscape, employHER has been growing as a leading platform of opportunity and connection. Specializing in remote job placements within the United States, employHER stands out as the premier platform for individuals seeking to remote work or want to continue their professional journeys from the comfort of their own homes.

employHER isn't just another job board; it's a dynamic video professional networking platform designed to revolutionize the way individuals connect and secure remote employment opportunities. By harnessing the power of video interactions, employHER empowers users to authentically showcase their personality, soft skills, and expertise, setting them apart in a competitive job market. Whether you're a seasoned professional looking to transition into remote work or a recent graduate eager to choose the right career for you, employHER provides a curated space where talent meets opportunity.

Established with a vision to nurture connections and transform careers, employHER is more than just a platform, it's a community. Here, users can engage in meaningful conversations, exchange valuable insights, and forge impactful relationships with like-minded professionals. With a user-friendly interface and a commitment to inclusivity and diversity, employHER ensures that every individual has the opportunity to thrive, regardless of their background or circumstances. So, if you're ready to start your remote work journey and discover the endless possibilities that await, look no further than employHER— the one of the best websites to find remote jobs in the United States.

#remote jobs #remote work #best job portal #job portal in US #employHER

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attitudetallyacademy · 5 months

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Click, Crunch, Control: Your Path to Financial Stability through E-Accounting

Introduction

In the dynamic landscape of modern finance, staying ahead requires more than just traditional bookkeeping practices. The convergence of technology and accounting has paved the way for a transformative approach to financial management—enter E-Accounting. This revolutionary shift from manual to electronic accounting is not merely a trend but a strategic move towards financial stability and control. In this blog post, we'll explore the key components of E-Accounting and delve into the benefits it offers, focusing on real-time financial reporting and the advantages of web-based accounting.

The Click of Transformation

In the traditional realm of accounting, the ledger and the pen were the tools of the trade. However, with the click of a button, E-Accounting propels us into an era where tedious manual entries are replaced by streamlined, automated processes. The click signifies the ease with which financial transactions can now be recorded and analyzed. Utilizing sophisticated accounting software, businesses can input data swiftly, minimizing the margin for error and optimizing efficiency.

The Crunch of Numbers

E-Accounting is not just about clicks; it's about the crunch of numbers, the analytical prowess that comes with digital accounting tools. Crunching numbers in real-time provides businesses with instantaneous insights into their financial health. Through real-time financial reporting, organizations can make data-driven decisions promptly, steering their operations towards profitability. Imagine the ability to generate up-to-the-minute balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow reports—all at the click of a button.

Control at Your Fingertips

Financial control is paramount for any business aiming for stability and growth. E-Accounting empowers businesses with unparalleled control over their financial processes. With a web-based accounting system, financial information is accessible anytime, anywhere. This level of accessibility not only fosters collaboration among team members but also ensures that key stakeholders have the insights they need to make informed decisions, fostering a culture of financial responsibility and control.

Real-Time Financial Reporting Unveiled

One of the cornerstones of E-Accounting is real-time financial reporting. Traditional accounting methods often involved waiting for end-of-month or end-of-year reports to assess financial performance. However, with the power of web-based accounting systems, businesses can access real-time financial data at their convenience. This immediacy enables proactive decision-making, helping organizations stay agile in the face of market fluctuations.

Web-Based Accounting: A Game-Changer

The term 'web-based accounting' encapsulates the essence of the digital evolution in financial management. This approach allows businesses to move beyond the constraints of physical locations and traditional office hours. Collaborative platforms enable team members to work together seamlessly, regardless of geographical distances. Moreover, the cloud-based nature of web accounting ensures data security and facilitates automatic updates, keeping businesses on the cutting edge of financial technology.

Conclusion

Clicking through the transition from manual to E-Accounting, crunching numbers in real-time, and exerting control through web-based accounting platforms are the keystones of financial stability in the digital age. Businesses that embrace these changes position themselves not only for survival but for thriving in the ever-evolving financial landscape. As you embark on your journey towards financial stability, consider the click, the crunch, and the control offered by E-Accounting—your pathway to a future of financial resilience and success.