#i want. to put him in a meat grinder (affectionate) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cerise-on-top · 4 months

Note

Could I request Gaz, Alejandro, & Valeria with gn reader who's love language is violence? Like- always wanting to spar, (affectionate) punches, biting them or casually threatening them (empty threats, obviously)

Love your writing so much! Be sure to take good care of yourself!! 🫶🫶

I used to show my affection like that when I was younger, but me threatening my friends is still very much a thing! And thank you for the compliment, glad to hear my writing is enjoyable to you!

Gaz, Alejandro and Valeria with an S/O with a Violent Love Language

Gaz: In all honesty, the first time you bite him, he’ll stare at you for a bit before asking you what you’re doing. It never occurred to him that biting could be a love language, so you’d need to explain yourself to him first. It would be a bit strange to him at first, it’s definitely something he’ll need to get used to, but he can appreciate you being affectionate in your own ways. He’s a rather affectionate guy himself, even if he doesn’t particularly show his love for others through violent means. Gaz always just assumed that affection was shown through one of the common love languages, but he can get used to it eventually. From time to time, when you threaten to put him in the electric chair, he’ll feign hurt, pretending to be insulted by what you’ve said to him. He knows you wouldn’t ever go through with it, but it’s all in good fun anyway. He might not threaten you back, aside from the occasional “I’m going to drink the strawberry milk if you keep being insolent”, but every time you do say something deranged towards him he has to keep himself from saying something sassy himself. He’d love to, but he’s not sure you’d react well to it. You can lightly punch him, if you dare, but he will get his revenge on you. His love language is being an idiot, so be prepared for a pillow fight or maybe even a tickle war. Something along the lines of that. You can also spar with him, but he won’t go easy on you just because you’re together. If anything, it’s all the more incentive for him to show you how strong he is by beating you every time. Gaz isn’t as weak as many people think he is, he could easily take you in a fight. You will be pinned down a lot, so be prepared.

Alejandro: He’s probably a big fan of you being down to spar with him just about whenever you can. Like Gaz, it’s a way for him to show off, but he’ll also use the opportunity to teach you a thing or two about self-defense, especially if you’re not in the military yourself. It’s a fun way for you to tire yourself out and for him to stay in shape as well. While he may not always have the time to properly spar with you, he’ll try to make it up to you somehow. You could jump at him from behind and he’ll still find a way to get you to the ground. He’s a playful guy, so if you decide to lightly punch him he will punch you back, no qualms whatsoever about it. It might hurt a bit, though, since he does have quite a lot of muscles and doesn’t always take his strength into consideration, but he’ll apologize to you afterwards. If you threaten him he’ll simply roll his eyes at you and take away some privileges you might have. Hugging privileges, kissy privileges, if he’s feeling especially devious your attention privileges will be taken away from you as well. That is until you learn to apologize and not tell a colonel to “eat shit and die”. He could fold you in half just about whenever, so remember that next time you’re about to put him in the meat grinder. He does try to get creative with threatening you as well, though. But it’ll mostly be something easy to digest. You can bite him all you want, if he’s having a good day then there’s a chance he might just bite you back. Alejandro gives you a ten second headstart before he’ll catch you and bite right back. Even if you hide from him, he’ll find you anywhere in Las Almas.

Valeria: Don’t be too affectionate with her in public. It’s not that she wouldn’t love to show you off, but she doesn’t really have the time for your affections nor does she want to draw attention to you either. You can bite her in private. While she may not be the biggest fan of being bitten, she will tolerate just about everything else. In fact, you threatening her, El Sin Nombre, the leader of a great drug cartel, is sort of funny to her. She could kill you so easily and no one would ever know, but no, she won’t. You can threaten her all you want, she’ll find a way to make you take back your words. She can either beckon you over so you will turn your empty threat into a promise, or she’ll walk up to you herself, take your wrist into her hand, give you a sly smirk and tell you to toughen up. She’ll always quip back at you when she can, threatening you herself. She gets very violent, though, and it’s hard to differentiate between what is a joke and what she’s actually done before. Hanging someone from their intestines might either be Valeria humor, or something she’s done before. Sparring with her is interesting, because she will give it her all. You need to realize your place in your relationship, which is somewhere pinned underneath her. It’s a nice way for her to get out her frustrations while also staying professional and showing you just how cool she is. Don’t mess with her is her message here. You can gladly try to beat her, but Valeria plays dirty, even against you. She’s not above cheating to get her way, so you might wanna tap into your inner swindler as well if you really wanna win. However, it does make her feel very powerful whenever she does have you pinned underneath her, looking down at you with a smirk. Just a small reminder of what she’s capable of.

#cod #cod x reader #kyle gaz garrick #kyle gaz garrick x reader #gaz x reader #alejandro vargas #alejandro vargas x reader #valeria garza #valeria garza x reader #Valeria is a menace in every way no matter what it is. she's just a very passionate woman!#I remember i used to lightly kick my friends when I was younger but I was told off for being weird so I haven't done it since #oh well it happens I suppose but I'm glad to hear I'm not the only “weirdo” here haha #anyway thank you for the request! it's always nice to see other people's points of view as well on things!

220 notes · View notes

unethicalmorals · 1 month

Note

It's kinda insane the way Bishop is running on a fuckin hamster wheel in my mind I think about this guy 24/7 it's crazy like wow. Bishop. Wow, that's my favorite guy right there

I keep re-reading chapters where he's prominent in or sometimes I'll go to chapters where he isn't even that relevant and just read his lines specifically cuz like RAAAHHHH,,,,, THAT'S MY FAVORITE GUY LOOK AT HIM🫵🏼🫵🏼🫵🏼🫵🏼🫵🏼

I re-read chapter 7 a lot because the crew interactions are so fun in that chapter and yet so bittersweet. I re-read Bishop's lines and like God he was so happy and chipper in the beginning!!!!!!! HE WAS A NERDY GUY WHO LIKED TO FUCK AROUND A LIL‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ FUCK‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ and now he's on edge and bitter and it makes me so AUUUUUGHHHH. BISHOP ILY IT'LL BE OKAY I PROMISE GAAAAAAAHAHHH

I need to put Bishop in a jar and shake him around and then chew on him like GRRRRRRRRRR BISHOP🔥💚🔥💚🔥💚🔥💚🔥💚🔥 MY WEIRD LITTLE NERD GUY WHO I LOVE SO MUCH

I also just think it's cute how quickly Bishop got attached to Lucky. He's known him for less than a week and he's like wow I need to put this guy in my pocket and make sure nothing bad happens to him. Wow I kinda like this guy a lil- I mean what huh what who said that what-

I also love Lucky so much but like in a different way from Bishop okay, Bishop is very catboy to me and Lucky is dogboy but like a dog who Hides from loud noises. I hold Lucky in the palm of my hand and I tuck him gently into the softest bed in the whole entire world surrounded by stuffed animals and I kiss him on the top of his head. Rest well king you deserve it

I need to attack Bishop violently (affectionate) and I need to pamper Lucky spoiled and hold his face gently in the palms of my hands..... maybe bite his face a lil🤏🏽🤏🏽🤏🏽🤏🏽 shake him by the shoulders a bit and body slam him, I need to be aggressive in my affection how else will he understand that I love him

Anyways I hope Bishop and Lucky kiss on the mouth muah peace and love on the planet Earth I'm going to put Bishop and Lucky in a meat grinder. Together,,,,💚🧡

Sorry for being insane in your ask box..... they have a grip on my psyche....... I put them in my mouth and shake them like a dog...... and then I pass out,,,

-Watcher

HELLO?? 🥺👉👈 WATCHER-- WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?? HI HELLOW HEYY !!!! :D

Bishop is a great guy to think about honestly, I would have more thoughts for him right now but I'm hyper-focused on Pink and Rabbit rn,,, grrr (Wrench and Lucky are both staring at me with puppy eyes) I've had lots of fun thoughts while making Bishop and plotting some scenes with him. ((I HAVE PLANS FOR THIS LANKY GUY THAT ARE GONNA BE SO, SO FUN))

I'm going to be so normal about you re-reading chapters,,, so normal. HE WAS SO HAPPY. He was so excited to have a new crewmate!! He wanted to talk about his tech!! 🥺 It's so cool, I promise!! He loved his crew so much at the time and now everything is so so bad oh nooo.... Will it be okay? Will it really all be okay in the end?? Will it be okay??

🔥💚🔥💚🔥💚🔥💚🔥💚🔥💚🔥💚🔥💚🔥💚🔥💚🔥💚🔥SHAKE HIM AROUND YESYESY SHAKE HIM !! PUT THAT GUY IN A MIXER🔥💚🔥💚🔥💚🔥💚🔥💚🔥💚🔥💚🔥💚🔥💚🔥💚🔥

Lucky is just so soft and ohmy g-,, how can he not get attached to this little guy?~♥

CATBOY AND DOGBOY AHHHH GRRR Yesss, you're so right-- YESS

Hold him in your hand, he is so small,, just a little guy,,, I promise he gets to rest (a little bit, but--) he gets to rest, I promise ♥

Only the best for those two 💚🧡💚🧡💚🧡💚🧡

I love it--

Be feral, go insane, they are just chew toys to throw around-- ♥♥♥♥♥

#ask #watcher #tsitd

2 notes · View notes

haunted-car0usel · 5 months

Text

i affectionately hate edolon vryche so much i want him to die affectionately like i want him to affectionately get hit by a truck like like i want him to explode or get put in a meat grinder affectionately i want to fist fight him affectionately and lose affectionately i hate this man affectionately i hate him i ha

#cardens rambles #i hate him sm #affectionately

0 notes

puttingfingerstokeys · 4 years

Text

retirement fund

Nanowrimo day 18 Featuring Allister Corsiva and Mathias Carver (OCs) and a Nasty cameo Dark urban fantasy, vampires Original world with the lovely @dangerduchess Unfinished and unedited

“Darkstar CS-6, report.” The head of the council’s personal, human disposal squad stood before her subordinates, sharp eyes on each one, measuring them up and down and finding each wanting. But that was her way. They were used to it. No one flinched.

“Ma’am,” came the response from their leader, a beanpole of a man with a baseball cap, a profusion of tattoos, and a look of unapologetic insolence which radiated outward from him without having said a thing beyond acknowledging he’d been called to attention. “All unauthorized siring has been eliminated, target and progeny. Ma’am.”

“Good enough, Carver. Take your squad and get some rest. I’d give you downtime if I could.” Her face was a mask, passive and unimpressed, but again, that was simply her way. Cull Squad Six was the best Darkstar had to offer, was given only the most difficult jobs, and had never lost a man. They saluted and, with a sharp about-face, relieved themselves of her presence.

“We stayin’ on site?” One of the members asked the one called Carver.

“Yeah,” he responded, a little sourly once they were out of earshot, “you heard ‘er. We’re on-call.”

“We’re always on-call,” complained another, tossing their hands in the air. Carver shooed everyone off. Only one member stayed nearby, a tall man with angular features, dark hair, and eyes bluer than the sky.

“You gunna bitch too, Superstar?” It was not clear if this nickname was flattery or derogatory. That the man did not react to it suggested little. The corner of his mouth twitched minutely, but other than that, he remained impassive.

“No reason to,” he said finally with the light trace of an accent, possibly English. “I’m married to m’job.”

He had a mumbling way of speaking which might have been difficult to parse, were Carver less accustomed to dealing with it. He and his team had been hunting together for a few years now, however. They moved as a well-oiled machine, almost as if they were one cohesive being. Everyone was pivotal to this machine and communication was vital. When it had become clear this particular teammate had neither the intention nor, perhaps, the ability to change his speech patterns, the team simply adjusted.

“Ah, the ol’ ball-and-chain argument,” Carver shot back, seeing if he could get a rise out of the man. He could not.

“Y’know… sortuva… death do us part deal,” confirmed the man, rubbing the side of his prominent nose with his ring and middle finger. He looked as if he had not slept in days, but Carver thought nothing of it. That was just the way he looked.

“And she doesn’t even put out,” lamented Carver dramatically. “C’mon, let’s get some chow.”

They walked side-by-side down the hall of the Darkstar headquarters, feeling the crushing weight of all that earth above them and pretending it did not bother them. The building was positioned deep underground, facilitating easy transport here and there for their patrons, a powerful group of vampires known as the Council. Working for vampires and hunting them had seemed like an impossible concept at first, but as time wore on, the need for it and the reasoning behind it became clear.

Vampires, as it happened, had laws of their own. Those laws needed to be carried out and upheld by someone. In the case of the death of fellow vampires, one of those laws was that vampires were not permitted to harm their brethren. The law said nothing of the human kill teams that were sent in to break up illegal siring activities, more often than not ending the reign of a particularly bloodlust-filled upstart who decided they were too good for the rules.

Bloodsuckers wanna pretend they’re playing nice, so they put a stake in my hand, Carver thought bitterly, heedless and uncaring of the presence of any telepaths in the area, that’s just fucking fine. He, like all the other Darkstar hunters, had a personal bone to pick with vampires, in general. That some of them were funding his very pronounced bloodlust and hatred for their kind mattered little to him, or to them. The situation was ideal. He was not allowed to kill without restriction, but the Council kept Darkstar well-supplied with missions. There was always some minor, despotic vampire who styled themselves a lord or baroness, feeding indiscriminately and siring with reckless abandon, flouting this law or that, in need of culling.

Even the word “cull” came across as pretentious, as if it sought to disguise itself. Call it what it is, Carver thought to himself. Contract killings, right? On the other hand, something that was not alive could not be killed, could it? He thought about this a few moments as he and his companion moved down the hall toward the sounds and smells of the 24-hour cafeteria, generously provided by their employers and manned by vampires on the council’s shit-list, or so Carver thought.

“Mathias,” his companion grunted, touching his elbow and gesturing. “There’s Nasty’s squad… most of ‘em anyway.”

Carver—Mathias being his first name—craned his neck to see around his companion’s tall, narrow frame and hissed through his teeth. “Yeesh,” he added after a moment, “like they’ve been through a fuckin’ meat grinder, huh Al’?”

The one called Al’, likely short for something, nodded but did not allow his eyes to linger. In fact, he was even now doing his best to steer Mathias away from the four hunters who evidently remained of the 4th Cull Squad. Their leader, a tall, lanky fellow with a 1980s aesthetic rivaled not even by the 80s themselves, sat at a table with his three fellows, saying nothing, making quick work of dinner, but clearly not enjoying it.

They were still spattered with gore, but no one said a thing to them about it. No one but Mathias—or he attempted. With preternatural speed, his partner—whose full name was Allister—snagged his arm and tugged him forcefully toward one corner of the room. Mathias protested.

“They’ve been through the shit, mate,” warned Allister, whose Down Under accent made itself known as he hiss-whispered at his friend. “Don’t push it.”

Mathias cursed vehemently and creatively under his breath, but did not defy the wisdom of his compatriot. Instead, they turned their attention to dinner. The menu was varied, high-quality, and always fresh.

“Darkstar,” Mathias crowed, “where every meal is your last.”

“…it isn’t death row, y’know,” Allister pointed out, examining an apple and then biting into it. He relished the flavor like a man who had not tasted such rich fair in his entire life.

“Not with that attitude,” Mathias shot back, choosing macaroni and cheese. Allister rolled his eyes at the fare on the man’s plate. It was a mystery how Mathias was still so slender, given what he ate. He really did treat every meal like it was going to be his last. In a way, he did have a point, but Allister chose not to dwell on that. The life of a contract-bound vampire hunter was a dangerous one; no one would have debated that, but at the very least, they had access to the latest in firearms, armor, weaponry of all shapes and sizes, and surprisingly comfortable accommodations. In fact, for being underground, the facility had the feeling of a high-rise superstructure, like a casino-hotel. It had definitely been designed for comfort in mind, and why not? These people, these human hunters, were doing the council a sizeable favor. The least they could do was make certain their employees were comfortable.

They found a table presently, Allister making certain it was as far away from CS4 as possible, so that Mathias could not bandy insults with their leader. He had a way about him, an abrasive sort of mannerism that pushed away all but the very dedicated and even then, sometimes it was a stretch. If Allister had not been dealing with him for this long—ten years had positively flown by—he might have taken off long ago due to the man’s “rough exterior”. Truth be told, Mathias had prickly insides, too.

On a few occasions, he had allowed those insides to slip out and Allister had been able to piece together the man’s story. It was the same as everyone else’s in this secret division of vampire-paid hunters, some tragedy or other had taken friends, family, lovers, had dashed hopes and dreams of the future to so many shards of glass that rattled around in the survivor’s heart, cutting them, leaving scars, and making them hard. In that way, they were all the same.

“D’ya know where they sent Nasty’s crew?” Allister asked this knowing full well Mathias wanted to talk about it, if not with him, then with the aforementioned crew and that, he knew, could end in disaster. Mathias was an A-class hunter; it was as if he had been born to fight vampires. In a fight with another hunter, however, he was spaghetti, at best.

“Someplace in Siberia, near his hometown,” responded Mathias. “That’s the rumor.”

“So that’s his… retirement fund, then?”

The retirement fund was an affectionate way of naming the mission which led the Darkstar hunters back to the bloodsuckers who had destroyed their lives, the ultimate revenge mission. Not every hunter got the chance, as the cull squads were usually fairly efficient when a blatant killing occurred, but every once in a while, one of the greedy, bloodlust-driven bastards actually got away. If they ran that far and that fast for that long, chances were, they had to be bad news. Killing something like that earned a Darkstar hunter their freedom from service. This was not a job from which one simply walked away, so earning that privilege, either through quantity or difficulty, was the goal of anyone who had been in more than a few years.

That being said, earning one’s “retirement fund” was made difficult by more than just the vampire’s age. It was also considered highly dangerous to go after one who had missed their target the first time; there was said to be a mark of blood on the survivor, drawing them inexorably toward the bloodsucker’s fangs. These sorts of sayings and old wives’ tales were little more than urban legends to guys like Mathias, until he met the man’s gaze across the room, the one Allister had called Nasty.

Their eyes locked and all at once, like a lightning strike, Mathias Carver understood. He swallowed hard and stood, pushing away from the table. Allister watched him go, not attempting to stop him, not needing to do so. He knew what was about to happen, like a strong gut feeling but with a vivid projection behind his eyes when he blinked. He watched, then, as the movie played out.

Carver stuck his hand out to the hunter named Nasty, who stood, grabbed it, and embraced the man. They held fast to each other for a time, then pulled back and exchanged a few quiet words. Allister went back to his meal and waited for his companion to return. When he did, he was different, somehow, softer.

“Is ‘e taking it, then?” Allister’s question was a barely audible mumble.

“The Gift? Ah… he didn’t say. I… dunno, man. Would you?” The Gift, as it had been named, was the official terminology for accepting the bite and change of a greater vampire, transforming a Darkstar hunter into one of them as the ultimate and final payment for their services. They could no longer hunt, but if eternity appealed to them, it was open for their perusal.

“No,” said Allister, shaking his head. “Eternity’s no life.”

Not many hunters took what was offered.

#OC #OW #Allister Corsiva #Mathias Carver #Nasty Krasnorada #violence #concept #world building

1 note · View note

marveliciousfanace · 6 years

Note

Merlahad: “Please don’t almost die again.”

Harry is halfway between being asleep andawake; the fact that he’s been up for over forty-eight hours straight now ishampering his ability to fulfil his promise. Admittedly, it was an impulsivepromise, spurred by adrenaline and relief and the myriad of other emotionscrashing through his still-vibrating body when they’d gotten to the plane, onlyto see that Merlin was curled up at the base of the stairs, passed out from theexhaustion of dragging himself across the jungle floor (and probably the bloodloss) and sans two limbs. But it was a promise nonetheless, and when Harry hadassured his partner (his words falling on Merlin’s deaf ears, but not missed byEggsy, who hadn’t said a word but settled a little way away from where Harrywas holding onto his partner’s hand to give them some space) that he wasn’t goingto leave his side, wasn’t even going to sleep until he was sure Merlin wasalright, he meant it.

Two days later, he’s coming dangerously closeto breaking that promise. Statesman has top of the line medical equipment, butthat doesn’t make their hospital rooms especially interesting to look at, andthe bland white walls numb Harry’s brain until all he can feel is where he’sstill clutching Merlin’s hand.

And then the hand twitches in his.

All thoughts of sleep fly from Harry’s mind,and he leans forward, studying Merlin’s face eagerly for any flicker, any signthat he’s coming to. It happens slowly, first a little twitch behind closed eyelids,then a slight wrinkling of the forehead and nose as his face scrunches up, thena full-on flutter before Harry is treated to the lovely sight of his partner’shazel eyes. “Hello darling,” Harry whispers.

Merlin’s eyes go from glassy to aware, and heshifts slightly and stares at Harry, “Am I…am I dead?”

Harry laughs, “No, you’re not.” Harry’s notreligious, but he’ll thank every single deity everyone has ever even hinted atexisting for the simple fact that his partner is still here.

“You called me darling.”

Harry shifts guiltily, and he gives Merlin’shand a little squeeze. “I did,” he says softly, “and I’m terribly sorry that Ididn’t remember that sooner.”

Merlin manages a small smile, “It’s not yourfault.” He glances around the room, “Are we still at Statesman? What happened?”

“Well, after you rather idiotically saved usall by sacrificing yourself, Eggsy and I took care of Poppy and released theantidote. Ginger is having a field day analysing it and seeing if it has anyother practical applications. Whiskey was a traitor, by the way. He tried tostop us, so Eggsy and I put him in a meat grinder.”

Merlin’s nose wrinkles up, “That’s disgusting.”

“Yes, well, there didn’t appear to be manyother options at the time. And it was very affective.”

“I think I’m glad I didn’t see that,” Merlinmutters.

Harry brightens, “Oh! And I met Elton John!”

“You did what?”

“Elton John,” Harry repeats. He reaches intohis pocket and pulls out two slightly crumpled tickets, “and he gave me these.”

Merlin studies them for a moment, and thenlooks up at Harry. “You want me to go to an Elton John concert with you.”

“Well, I was rather hoping…” Harry grins, “Afterall, these are backstage passes, and goodness knows what kind of trouble Icould get up to on my own. But not until you’re better. I expect there’ll be agood deal of physical therapy in your future.”

Merlin frowns, “What do you mean?”

Harry hesitates. He’d assumed Merlin would havenoticed, although it does explain the lack of reaction. His partner is calmunder most circumstances, but Harry thinks this deserves at least a raisedeyebrow. He flicks his eyes to the end of the bed, and Merlin follows his gaze.He sucks in a sharp breath, “Oh.”

“You did step on a landmine.”

“That’s…” he swallows hard, and Harry can seethe fear and panic Merlin is trying to hide behind his neutral expression. “Itcould be worse.”

Harry squeezes his hand again, “Yes, it could.I know it’s not ideal, but it’s a sight better than you being dead, in my opinion.”

“That’s true,” Merlin says. He shifts histhigh, but nothing below the knee is there to shift the blanket. “I suppose I’llhave to make some prosthetics. Maybe something that can hold a few knives, acouple other enhancements. What do you think?” He looks at Harry, who suddenlyfeels a wave of emotion that he’d been mostly trying to supress wash over him.

“Please…” Harry feels stupid voicing it aloud,but he can’t help the words that tumble past his lips, “Please don’t almost dieagain. I don’t think I could bear it.” He coughs, trying to lighten it byjoking, “After all, I do believe that’s my job.”

Merlin’s face turns deadly serious, “And youthink I could? Two years Harry. I thought you were dead for two years, and italmost broke me.”

Harry presses an apologetic kiss to Merlin’sknuckles. “How about this?” he suggests. “You stay out of the field and safely behindthe desk where you belong, and I’ll be a little more careful when I’m working.Deal?”

“I’ve got a better suggestion,” Merlin says. “Kingsmanneeds a new Arthur. Why don’t you join me behind the desk? At least, most ofthe time.”

It’s not the most appealing proposition, butHarry says, “I’ll think about it.” He cups Merlin’s cheek and lays a gentlekiss on his lips. “I love you.”

“I love you too, daft bastard,” Merlin grumblesaffectionately. “Now, you look like absolute shit. When’s the last time youslept?”

“Oh…a couple days or so,” Harry says, grinning.

Merlin rolls his eyes and budges up, pattingthe space on the bed next to him, “Up you get.”

Harry climbs in next to him, careful not tojostle Merlin’s legs, and cuddles up to his side. He falls asleep for the firsttime in several days to the steady sound of his partner’s breathing and Merlin’sfingers stroking reverently through his hair.

#have i mentioned i adore you #thank you for this #my writing #my thoughts #kingsman #merlahad #merlin #harry hart #post tgc

75 notes · View notes

assholemurphy · 6 years

Text

Lion’s Teeth

Also on AO3

Stranger Things

Steve/Jonathan

Summary: Steve gets into yet another fight with Billy and gets his ass kicked, but it's okay because Jonathan's there to help fix him up afterwards. They talk and Jonathan tells Steve about Lonnie and some of the abuse he went through. Steve's in love with Jonathan, but Jonathan suspects, they're just both too scared to make a move.

Rating: Teen

Word Count: 4283

Warnings: Homophobia, Slurs, Referenced Child Abuse

“God, you’re so fucking heavy,” Jonathan huffed, half carrying Steve up the staircase.

“That’s because of my muscles,” Steve told him, trying his best to stand up straight. He’d gotten into yet another fight with Billy fucking Hargrove, jackass extraordinaire and he had the wounds to show for it. He’d gotten his ass well and thoroughly handed to him, too, and if it hadn’t been for Jonathan, he’d probably be in the emergency room right now.

Jonathan had been walking by after work at the record store and had come across Steve and Billy in an alley. Jonathan had nearly dropped his camera in his haste to break up the fight. He’d put himself in between them and all but dared Billy to come at him. It had been impressive from what Steve had managed to make out. Apparently, Jonathan had not only threatened to tell Hopper, but he’d threatened to rearrange Billy’s face for him. Billy had laughed and made some comment along the lines of ‘Look at the fucking queer, protecting his faggoty boyfriend. How cute!’ before taking Tommy and Carol and getting the fuck out of there, apparently not willing to call Jonathan’s bluff on getting the cops.

Jonathan had grabbed Steve’s keys and driven them both to Steve’s house and helped him in the house, not worrying about Steve’s parents because it was rare they were ever home. He didn’t let go of Steve until he had him placed on the toilet of the bathroom across the hall from his room. He knew for a fact there were first aid supplies in it, though from the look of Steve’s face, Jonathan wasn’t sure that he could do much to help him.

His eye was swollen and his lip was split in at least two places. He had dark bruises growing on his cheek and jaw, a couple cuts on his face, and a nasty gash on his left cheek where it looked like Billy’s class ring had cut him. “Damn.”

“What?” Steve asked, wide-eyed and scared. “Is it that bad?”

“Worse. You look like you fell head first into a meat grinder.”

“That’s a pretty picture. Guess I can’t be your model anytime soon,” Steve joked.

“Who says you’re model material, anyway?” Jonathan snorted, pulling out supplies from under the cabinet and behind the mirror.

“You know, Billy had better watch himself. That racist fucking bastard had better keep to himself if he knows what’s good for him. How dare he say those things about Lucas? Just cause he’s dating Max doesn’t give him any right to be a little bitch about it. That stupid son of a bitch had better fuck off and leave my kids alone,” Steve ranted, watching Jonathan struggle to find a clean rag.

“Your kids?” He asked as he finally found a couple hidden under the sink. He’d have to make sure Steve did laundry this weekend. He’d had a rough couple of weeks, with two tests and an essay due, so he’d pretty much neglected to take care of himself. Jonathan would have to remind him that, no, the world was not going to end if he didn’t get at least a B on his math test and that, yes, clean clothes were necessary for everyday life.

Steve nodded, “Yeah, they’re my fucking kids. And Billy had better watch out or-”

“Or what? You’ll inconvenience him by bleeding on his shoes?”

“Shut up.” Jonathan was right, but that didn’t mean Steve had to like it.

“You can’t let him get to you.” If Steve would just go into things with a level head, this wouldn’t happen nearly as often.

“He tried to hurt Lucas! Again!” Steve almost shouted. “He threatened to put him in the hospital for being with Max and I just- I just lost it, okay?”

Jonathan paused at that, setting down the bottle of alcohol on the counter. “You need to tell Hopper.”

“And he’ll do what?” Steve had no proof other than word of mouth. He hadn’t actually touched Lucas since that night with the demodogs, but he’d certainly sent Tommy’s younger brother after him and his friends. All Steve could do was give his account of what happened and then Hopper would probably question Max and Lucas and that would only make them more scared and they didn’t need that.

“Scare him off? Keep an eye on him? He’s a cop, Harrington, he’ll be more helpful than you are.”

“Whatever.” Steve hated it when Jonathan used logic. He was right, but that didn’t make him feel any better.

“You can trust Hopper, alright? I do,” Jonathan told him, sincerely. Hopper had always been there for him since his dad – no, since Lonnie had left. Hopper had been more of a dad to him than that bastard had ever been.

“Oh, so because you trust him, I should? Because you’re such a great judge of character.” Which was actually truer than not, Jonathan was great at picking out people to trust. Steve just didn’t want to listen to him right now.

“I’m not the one who hung out with Tommy for so fucking long, now am I?” Jonathan tried not to bring that up much. He knew Steve had changed, it was easy to see, but when Steve got snarky, so did Jonathan.

Steve just huffed and slumped his shoulders, resulting in a loud yelp of pain. He looked at his shoulder in shock. With how bad his face and pride had been hurting, he hadn’t even given any thought to the rest of him, but now that he was safe, he could feel the sharp ache coming from it. “What the fuck?”

“What’s wrong?” Jonathan asked, concern etched on his face.

“My shoulder, it – agh!” Steve yelped again as he poked at it, trying to figure out exactly what was wrong. It wasn’t broken, he didn’t think. Maybe he’d hurt the muscle or tore something?

“Don’t fucking play with it!” Jonathan scolded, batting his hand away. “Let me see.” He leaned in and gently moved the shoulder, apologizing softly when Steve grunted in pain. He sighed and stepped back, “It’s dislocated.”

“Shit. What now?” Dislocated didn’t sound safe. He’d heard about it, but he’d never dislocated anything before, which was lucky, considering how many fights he’d been in.

Jonathan shrugged, “Hospital?” He knew Steve would never go for it, but he had to at least suggest it before they made any irresponsible decisions.

“And have my parents find out I got into another fight? Fuck no! My dad would fucking kill me.” Steve’s dad was a little more than a douchebag, honestly, and Steve didn’t want to have to deal with him finding out he went to a fucking hospital because he wasn’t man enough to hold his own. Like hell.

After a brief pause, Jonathan sighed, “I could pop it back into place for you, but it’ll hurt.”

“More than it does now?”

“A lot worse, but only for a moment.”

“And then no hospital?” If it meant no hospital, then Steve was willing to endure anything.

“Yeah.”

“Then do it.”

Jonathan nodded and moved to take ahold of Steve’s shoulder. “Deep breath, on the count of three. Ready?”

“Yeah,” Steve affirmed, taking a deep breath and letting Jonathan do whatever he needed to. He trusted Jonathan, more than he trusted anybody, actually, and that should have scared him, but he knew Jonathan would never willingly hurt him. Hell, he’d jumped in front of Billy Hargrove for him. If that wasn’t love – er, friendship, then what was it?

Jonathan gripped Steve’s arm tightly, bracing his other hand on Steve’s shoulder, knowing this was going to hurt him. He felt guilty, but he had to get it over with. “One. Two-” Jonathan pooped it back into place with one smooth motion.

“Fuck!” Steve yelled in pain. It was loud enough that Jonathan was sure the neighbors had heard. “I thought you said on three?”

“It hurts less if you don’t tense up like you do when you expect it,” Jonathan explained, slowly letting go of Steve’s arm and retreating to the sink where he ran water over one of the rags.

Steve huffed, gently moving his arm around. Most of the pain was gone, but he had a feeling it was going to ache for a while. “I think it’s fixed.”

“Now for your face.” Jonathan raised the rag but didn’t move forward until Steve nodded at him.

Steve allowed Jonathan to begin cleaning the blood from his face, relishing in the feeling of having Jonathan Byers’s hands on him. It wasn’t like he hadn’t touched him before, but then again, every time he did, Steve got lost in it. Mentally shaking himself from his thoughts, Steve asked, “So, how’d you learn to do that?”

“Do what?” Jonathan asked, scrubbing at Steve’s face, well aware he probably could have done this part on his own, but Jonathan liked taking care of him. He didn’t particularly enjoy examining exactly why he liked doing it, but he did.

“Put a shoulder back in place.” It seemed like a strange skill to have acquired, because as far as Steve knew, Jonathan had no plans of being a doctor.

“Uh,” Jonathan looked away from Steve, a frown on his face. He hadn’t really told many people about his past, but he supposed he could trust Steve. “You’re not the only one with a shitty father.”

“Your dad beat you?” Steve was shocked. It made sense, and explained a lot about how Jonathan acted, especially around adults, but never actually thought that was the case.

“On occasion. Whenever he was too drunk or really pissed off,” Jonathan shrugged, like it wasn’t a big deal. He’d gotten used to the fact a long time ago, and even though he felt incredibly vulnerable telling Steve, he wasn’t going to act like it.

Steve didn’t know what to say, so he just stared at Jonathan. Jonathan, the shy, sweet, gentle boy that he’d come to know the past year. Jonathan who had loved Nancy so fiercely and been so heartbroken when she’d left him, but even then, he’d stayed her friend because he cared more about her not feeling guilty than his own pain. Jonathan who was so protective or his family, so affectionate and kind with his little brother, to the point that it melted Steve’s heart. He’d fallen for Jonathan in the past few months and to learn that someone as wonderful as him had been abused, it wasn’t fair.

“I’m sorry.” He wasn’t sure what he was apologizing for. For what Lonnie did to him, or what Steve and his friends did to him, or for all the fights that Jonathan had to drag his ass out of. He was sorry for all of it, but he didn’t quite know how to voice that, so he simply fell silent rather than fight with his tongue to say the right thing.

“’S’okay. Better me than Will or my mom, you know?” Jonathan shrugged before going silent again, falling into his own thoughts that were going south really quickly.

Steve wasn’t sure what made him do it, if it was the adrenaline still in his system or the shock of learning part of Jonathan’s tragic backstory, which he had never thought he’d be trusted enough to learn, but he reached out for Jonathan’s face, letting his fingers rest on his cheek. He didn’t know what to do, but he wanted to comfort him in some way, to make it a little bit better, but the haze in his head from the fight wasn’t letting the words come out right, so all he could do was touch Jonathan, bring him back out of his head any way he could.

“Steve?” Byers croaked out, his throat dry.

“You deserved better.” It was the truth. Jonathan deserved a father that loved and supported him. Steve had never met anyone who deserved love more than he did. It was a tragedy that he hadn’t been given all the love the world could pour into him since his birth.

“And so do you.” Where Jonathan was concerned, Steve’s father was just as bad. As far as he knew, he never beat Steve, but Steve was plenty afraid of him, enough to make Jonathan want to corner him in his garage and threaten him with a wrench or something to leave him alone. But he wouldn’t, because that wouldn’t solve anything. He knew it wouldn’t, because Hopper had done the same to Lonnie and all that had happened was Hopper being suspended for a week and Jonathan getting beaten for telling someone, even though he had never told Hopper directly. It wasn’t his fault Lonnie wasn’t good at hiding bruises and Hopper was a smart man, at least he was when it counted.

“No,” Steve shook his head. He didn’t, really, he was a pain in the ass, he didn’t even try to tread lightly around his father, but even so, his father didn’t hit him. “I’m sorry.”

“You said that,” Jonathan pointed out, feeling more than a little uncomfortable with how sincere Steve sounded. It wasn’t a bad discomfort, it was just unfamiliar, and Jonathan wasn’t sure what to do with that.

“I don’t know what else to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything.” He didn’t. Just the fact that he listened and didn’t judge Jonathan was enough for him. Not many people cared about him, but Steve did, and it meant the world to him.

Steve wanted to pull him closer, to press his lips against Jonathan’s and kiss him, slow and gentle to show just how much he did care for him. He wanted to bring him closer, to show him just how in love with him he had become, and with the way Jonathan was looking at him, he was sure he wouldn’t be stopped. But he didn’t. He couldn’t. If he did, there’d be no going back, no changing his mind, and he couldn’t. Not yet. He was still hurt over Nancy, still trying to put himself back together, and he wasn’t ready to be that vulnerable again, even if it was with Jonathan. Even if he was sure Jonathan would never hurt him that way.

Jonathan deserved better, anyway, he deserved someone who hadn’t fucked up every interaction they’d had since grade school. He deserved someone put together and gentle, not reckless and blunt like Steve. He deserved romance and love and stability, not Steve. Granted, if Jonathan made the first move, then he’d go with it, but he wasn’t going to be the one to convince him to be his. He didn’t have that level of confidence with guys. Girls, sure, that was easy, but guys were different. Well, not really. Okay, so it wasn’t guys, it was just Jonathan. Jonathan scared him shitless.

Slowly, he let his hand fall from Jonathan’s face, letting his eyes drop to study the smear of blood on his sleeve. No, he couldn’t kiss him, not right now. If he was going to make a move, it had to be perfect. If.

Jonathan cleared his throat and pulled back, an unreadable expression on his face. He wasn’t sure what he wanted Steve to do, but pull away wasn’t it. He grabbed a clean rag from the counter and poured alcohol on it, the smell permeating the room and choking him up. He’d never liked the smell of the disinfectant, it was too strong and burned his nose. “I need to disinfect your face, okay? It’s going to hurt-”

“I can handle it, Byers,” Steve huffed, readjusting himself on the lid of the toilet. “Just get it over with.”

Jonathan just shrugged and moved closer, taking Steve’s face in his hand and stifling a smirk when he felt Steve lean into the touch. He was cute when he thought Jonathan didn’t know about his crush. He knew, he was just waiting for Steve to say something, because of course, there was always the chance that he had it wrong and Steve would stop being his friend if he made a move. He’d lost too many friends when they found out about his sexuality, he couldn’t bear to lose Steve, too.

He pressed the rag against the deepest of Steve’s wounds. Steve winced and grit his teeth, but otherwise handled himself. He hated this part the most. He had to have a rag that smelled disgusting shoved against his face, causing him pain, when he’d much rather be focusing on how it felt to have Jonathan’s hands on him.

After Jonathan was finished he threw the rag in the sink and grabbed for a few bandages while Steve stared at his hands, wondering what it’d be like to have them closed around his own or running across his skin. He shook himself out of it before his thoughts could run away from him. He couldn’t just fantasize about Jonathan with him right there.

Steve swallowed, the silence getting to him. He had to break it. “What are you thinking about?” Oh, that was lame as fuck. Great going, Steve.

Jonathan laid the bandages out in a line on the counter, smallest to largest, staring at them intently as he stalled before finally picking up the biggest one and tearing off the paper from the back. He didn’t speak until he’d pressed the bandage to the worst cut on Steve’s face. Steve marveled at how gentle Jonathan was with him. “I was ten when he first hit me. Up until then he’d been halfway decent. He drank a lot, sure, and got angry and yelled, but he’d never hit me. Not until he found me and Kevin holding hands in my bedroom.”

“Who’s Kevin?” Tactful, and so not the question he should be asking.

“He was my first-” Jonathan paused, biting his lip and looking at Steve, apprehensively. He didn’t want Steve to stop being his friend, but he wanted to tell him. He wanted to know for sure if Steve would leave him, before he got too invested. And it had felt nice having Steve listen to him earlier, he wanted to tell him more, even though every part of him screamed at him to shut up and stop talking.

“Your first boyfriend?” Steve asked, hoping he was right.

Jonathan nodded and took a deep breath. “I’ve always liked boys and girls, and I guess some part of me knew it was wrong, or at least not allowed, but I didn’t think anyone would find out, but he did and…” Jonathan trailed off and shrugged.

“Bastard,” Steve bit out.

Jonathan nodded again. Steve hadn’t rejected him, so that was good. “He never told my mom, but he never looked at me the same. I think that’s why he hit me. And when Will started showing interest in guys, too, he tried going after him, but I wouldn’t let him. He’d get drunk and I’d lock Will in one of our rooms to keep him safe. The day he touched Will, grabbed his arm and shoved him against a wall, that was the day I told my mother the truth, about everything. I was so scared, because he’d told me if she found out then she’d leave him and we’d never be able to get by without his money, but I couldn’t let him hurt Will, so I told her.”

Jonathan closed his eyes for a second before opening them and putting the last bandage on Steve’s face. “He was gone the next day. I got a job the next week, working for Benny at his diner washing dishes. It was hard, but we got by. I think my mom blames herself for what happened, but it wasn’t her fault.”

Steve had listened the whole time Jonathan was speaking, unsure what to say, but very aware of the rage sparking in his chest. He had no idea what to tell someone in that kind of situation. He imagined his father would do something similar should he ever find out about Steve’s bisexuality. “Lonnie’s a fucking prick.”

Jonathan laughed, light and real. “Yeah, he kind of is.”

“Want me to go kick his ass?” Steve offered.

“Like you could kick anyone’s ass.” But Jonathan appreciated the offer. It was sweet of Steve to be angry on his behalf. It made him want to kiss him, and he considered it for a moment, but he decided against it. The moment was a little too heavy for that. “Anyway, I think your face is good now.”

“It does feel better. Thank you,” Steve said, poking at the bandages on his face. Thank God it was the weekend, because he couldn’t fathom the embarrassment of having to pass Billy in the halls with his face covered in band aids.

“Any time. You know, if you ever need help in a fight, you can always ask me, right?” Jonathan would be there for Steve if he needed him. Truthfully, Jonathan would walk through hell for him if he asked, but he figured taking on Billy Hargrove would be close enough.

“You wanna get your ass kicked for me?” Steve asked, touched.

“I’m sorry, but I distinctly remember showing you firsthand how good a fighter I am.” Jonathan regretted the fight, but Steve had said some pretty nasty things, and going after his family or friends was the one thing he couldn’t stand.

“You don’t play fair.”

“Neither did Lonnie,” Jonathan said with a laugh.

“Fair point,” Steve conceded.

“You gonna be okay?” Jonathan asked with sincerity.

“Yeah. Not the first time I’ve had my ass handed to me, won’t be the last.” He got into a lot of fights, and lost almost all of them, but still, he wasn’t about to just let someone shout abuse about his friends. Let them say what they wanted about him, but his kids were off limits.

“What time is it?” Jonathan asked, sure more time had passed than they thought. He needed to get home.

“I don’t know. We’ve been in here a while, it’s probably late,” Steve shrugged.

“Considering it was like, eight when I drug your ass in here? Probably. I should get going.” It was late, and his mom was going to get worried.

“Or you could stay.” Steve didn’t like the idea of Jonathan walking home this late. If he’d had his car, then maybe, but he’d driven Steve’s here, so Steve was pretty sure he was just going to walk. Steve could take him, but he didn’t really want to drive, and it was just easier to have Jonathan stay over.

“What?” It would be the first time Jonathan had stayed the night with Steve, and as much as he liked the idea, he wasn’t sure it was a good idea. He could crash on the couch, but what if Steve’s parents came home in the middle of the night? “What if your parents come home?”

“It’s late, Byers. You can’t just walk home by yourself,” Steve rationalized. “And besides, they won’t. And if they do, it won’t matter because they never check my room.”

Jonathan swallowed. In Steve’s room. That probably meant they’d share a bed, and as much as Jonathan wanted to be close to Steve, he wasn’t sure he could trust himself not to do something stupid. Like kiss him. “I can take care of myself against Billy.”

“It’s not Billy I’m worried about.” Billy was not the scariest thing in Hawkins, not even close.

Steve had a point. With all the shit that happened in Hawkins, it might not be that great of an idea to walk home at night. “Alright, but I have to call my mom.”

Steve quietly sighed in relief, “Good. Now I won’t have to worry.”

“Aw, Harrington, you worry about me?” Jonathan pressed a hand to his chest and smirked at Steve.

“More than you know,” Steve admitted.

Jonathan blushed. And there was that feeling that made Steve wasn’t to pull him close and kiss him, but he shoved it down.

“Wanna watch a movie? My parents aren’t coming back this weekend, so we’ve got free reign.”

“How often are your parents around?” Jonathan wondered aloud.

“I don’t know. Once a week, maybe. Mom’s probably at the bar and Dad’s away on business.” If his business was fucking random women he found at the airport. Steve’s mom only drank to forget, well, everything about her husband, and she’d crash at the hotel if she was too drunk to get home, which was pretty much every night. Steve’s father’s unfaithfulness drove her crazy, and sometimes Steve felt sorry for her, but mostly he felt cold and indifferent, with a strange longing in his chest that intensified every time he saw Joyce dote on her sons.

Jonathan just sighed and opened the door of the bathroom. He felt bad for Steve, because at least he had his mom. He couldn’t imagine being completely alone in the world. Maybe that’s why Steve had been so willing to go along with Tommy’s bullshit. He was just lonely and being with Tommy had eased that feeling a little. Jonathan couldn’t blame him for it, but he could swear to be a better friend to Steve than he’d ever had. “Sure, a movie sounds good.”

Steve smiled, “Popcorn?”

“Yeah,” Jonathan nodded, smiling back at him with that soft, shy smile that melted Steve’s heart.

Maybe he couldn’t have Jonathan as a lover just yet, but at least he could have him as a friend. Maybe they could even form a club. The ‘My Dad’s a Complete Bastard Club.’ Sounded plausible.

#stranger things #stonathan #jonathan byers #steve harrington #steve harrington x jonathan byers #stranger things fanfiction #i like hurting these two #i'm not sorry #angst is fun #my fics #stranger things fic #stonathan fic #child abuse hits home for me #so if you're going to complain about me writing about it #please keep that in mind #every time i write about abuse of any kind #someone always sends me hate #so pls let this be a better fandom than the 100

5 notes · View notes

toothextract · 5 years

Text

Now Live for Your SEO Learning Pleasure: The NEW Beginner’s Guide to SEO!

Posted by FeliciaCrawford

It feels like it’s been a king’s age since we first began our long journey to rewrite and revamp the Beginner’s Guide to SEO. For all the long months of writing and rewriting, of agonizing over details and deleting/replacing sections every so often as Google threw us for a loop, it’s hard to believe it’s finally ready to share:

The new Beginner’s Guide to SEO is here!

What makes this new version so darn special and sparkly, anyway?

I’m glad you asked! Our design team would breathe a sigh of relief and tell you it’s because this baby is on-brand and ready to rock your eyeballs to next Tuesday with its use of fancy, scalable SVGs and accessible fonts and images complete with embedded text and alt text descriptions. Our team of SEO experts would blot the sweat from their collective brow and tell you it’s because we’ve retooled and completely updated all our recommendations to ensure we’re giving fledgling learners the most accurate push out of the digital marketing nest that we can. Our developers would tell you it’s because it lives on a brand-spankin’-new CMS and they no longer have to glare silently at my thirteenth Slack message of the day asking them to fix the misplaced period on the fourth paragraph from the top in Chapter 7.

All joking aside, every bit of the above is true, and each perspective pulls together a holistic answer: this version of the Beginner’s Guide represents a new era for the number-one resource for learning SEO, one where we can update it at the drop of a Google algorithm-shaped hat, where it’s easier than ever to access and learn for a greater variety of people, where you can rely on the fact that the information is solid, up-to-date, and molded to best fit the learning journey unique to SEO.

I notice the structure is a little different, what gives?

We can’t escape your eagle eyes! We structured the new guide quite differently from the original. Everything is explained in our introduction, but here’s the gist: taking inspiration from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, we built each chapter based on the core foundation of how one ought to go about doing SEO, covering the most integral needs first before leveling up to the next.

We affectionately call this “Mozlow’s Hierarchy of Needs.” Please forgive us.

A small but mighty team

While it may have taken us a full year and a half to get to this point, there was but a small team behind the effort. We owe a huge amount of gratitude to the following folks for balancing their other priorities with the needs of the new Beginner’s Guide and putting their all into making this thing shine:

Britney Muller, our brilliant SEO scientist and the brains behind all the new content. Words cannot do justice to the hours she spent alone and after hours before a whiteboard, Post-Its and dry-erase notes making up the bones and muscles and soul of what would someday become this fully-fleshed-out guide. For all the many, many blog comments answered and incorporated, for all the emails and Twitter messages fielded, for all the love and hard work and extra time she spent pouring into the new content, we have to give a heartfelt and extremely loud and boisterous THANK YOU. This guide wouldn’t exist without her expertise, attention to detail, and commitment to excellence.

Kameron Jenkins, our SEO wordsmith and all-around content superheroine. Her exquisite grasp of the written word and extensive experience as an agency SEO were paramount in pulling together disparate feedback, finessing complicated concepts into simple and understandable terms, and organizing the information in ways most conducive to aiding new learners. Again, this guide wouldn’t be here without her positive attitude and incredible, expert help.

Trevor Klein, editor extraordinaire. His original vision of organizing it according to the SEO hierarchy of needs provided the insight and architecture necessary to structuring the guide in a completely new and utterly helpful way. Many of the words, voice, and tone therein belong to him, and we deeply appreciate the extra polish and shine he lent to this monumental effort.

Skye Stewart, talented designer and UX aficionado. All the delightful images you’ll find within the chapters are compliments of her careful handiwork, from the robo-librarian of Chapter 2 to the meat-grinder-turned-code-renderer of Chapter 5. The new Beginner’s Guide would be an infinitely less whimsical experience without her creativity and vision.

Casey Coates, software engineer and mystical CMS-wizard-come-miracle-maker. I can safely say that there is no way you would be exploring the brand-new Beginner’s Guide in any coherent manner without his help. For all the last-minute additions to CMS deploys, for calmly fielding all the extra questions and asks, for being infinitely responsive and helpful (case in point: adding alt text to the image block less than two minutes after I asked for it) and for much, much more, we are grateful.

There are a great many other folks who helped get this effort underway: Shelly Matsudaira, Aaron Kitney, Jeff Crump, and Cyrus Shepard for their integral assistance moving this thing past the finish line; Rand Fishkin, of course, for creating the original and longest-enduring version of this guide; and to all of you, our dear community, for all the hours you spent reading our first drafts and sharing your honest thoughts, extremely constructive criticisms, and ever-humbling praise. This couldn’t exist without you!

Y’all ready for this?

With tender pride and only a hint of the sort of naturally occurring anxiety that accompanies any big content debut, we’re delighted and excited for you to dive into the brand-new Beginner’s Guide to SEO. The original has been read over ten million times, a mind-boggling and truly humbling number. We can only hope that our newest incarnation is met by a similar number of bright minds eager to dive into the exhilarating, challenging, complex, and lucrative world of SEO.

Whether you’re just starting out, want to jog your memory on the fundamentals, need to clue in colleagues to the complexity of your work, or are just plain curious about what’s changed, we hope from the bottom of our hearts that you get what you need from the new Beginner’s Guide.

Dive in and let us know what you think!

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don’t have time to hunt down but want to read!

from https://dentistry01.wordpress.com/2019/04/01/now-live-for-your-seo-learning-pleasure-the-new-beginners-guide-to-seo/

0 notes

intelligencehavingfun · 7 years

Note

In response to the aolw fanfic please do it please

Well, since you twisted my arm...

Not canon. Just for fun. Not a collaboration; I stole Alex and wrote him, and I never feel like I do that well, so I just want to stress that this is not official in any way. But here you go, if you’d like to read some Art of Letter Writing ephemera.

Five Times Zoe and Alex Met Before They Met and One Time They Didn’t

The summer Zoe is ten, her mom’s writing spot is a coffee shop called The Book and Bean. Zoe tags along with her most days, if she doesn’t have swimming lessons or camp or some other activity to go to.

She and her mom have a routine. They get to the coffee shop around ten every morning. Zoe’s mom spreads out her research and notes and laptop on the top of the table while Zoe nests with her own books and notebooks underneath. She writes her own stories until noon or she gets hungry, whichever comes first. Then she reminds her mom about lunch, and they go buy sandwiches and drinks at the counter (tea for her mom, and hot chocolate with some kind of flavored syrup in it for Zoe). When she’s done eating, Zoe reads a book or plays herself in checkers or puts together one of the puzzles from the back wall until her mom is ready to go.

One day, about halfway through the summer, Zoe knows it’s time to go when she sees her mom packing up her laptop and notebooks, but Zoe is almost at the end of her chapter, and she just wants to finish. She reads as fast as she can as her mom comes closer and closer to being ready to go, and finally, when her mom says, “C’mon, Zoe, we gotta go,” Zoe shuts the book and shoves it into the top of her very full bag and hurries after her mom.

A few seconds later, almost to the door, a voice calls out behind her, “Hey! Um, excuse me?” Turning, she sees a boy about her age, with warm brown skin and dark hair and eyes, holding her book out to her. “You dropped this,” he says.

“Oh! Thanks,” she says with a smile. He shrugs, and she takes the book, then turns and follows her mom out of the shop.

ii.

The truth is, Alex couldn’t really care less about football. But Emma had argued that they couldn’t miss the last game of the season. And the chili cheese fries are worth coming out for. But they’re playing Torrey Pines tonight, and the Torrey Pines football team sucks, so the game hasn’t been the most exciting. It’s the end of the third quarter, almost, and Canyon is a good four touchdowns ahead, so he and Emma decide to head to the concession stand.

It’s crowded, mostly with band members from both schools, who are only allowed to wander during third quarter or something, so it’s slow going up to the counter. He’s just gotten his food when a huge cheer erupts from the Torrey Pines side of the stadium. He turns to see what’s happened -- and runs straight into a girl from the TP Marching Falcons, spilling cheese sauce all over her scarlet and gold sleeve.

“Madre de Dios,” he mutters, bracing himself to be yelled at even as he grabs some napkins. He knows how Emma would react if some clumsy oaf spilled cheese all over one of her outfits. “I’m so sorry.”

But to his surprise, the girl shakes her head. “Totally my fault, I was right in the way.” She accepts his napkins and wipes up the worse of the cheese, but it’s still going to stain.

“You’re not gonna get in trouble, are you?” he asks, and she laughs.

“Have you seen these things?” she asks, gesturing to herself. Now that she mentions it, there are a lot of mud and grass stains on the uniform. “It’s the last game of the season, they’re getting dry cleaned next week. Seriously, don’t even worry about it.”

“Alex!” Emma shouts from behind him. “Are you coming?”

“Yeah, in a sec,” he shouts back over his shoulder, then turns back to the TP girl to say ‘Okay’ or ‘Bye’ or something equally awkward but less awkward than just walking away.

“TWO MINUTES!”

The shout comes from a burly guy also in scarlet and gold. Eyes going wide, the girl whips her head around to see the scoreboard, then mutters, “Shit,” and takes off for the Away side of the stadium at a sprint without so much as a backward glance.

He shakes his head and goes to meet Emma. Band kids are weird.

iii.

“All right now, Zoe,” the sandwich shop manager Tim says in a voice of gentle condescension that makes Zoe contemplate punching him in the face. “Do you think you’re up to taking an order all on your own?”

She does not say what she’s thinking, and she really ought to be commended for that. Instead she gives Tim her best, most winning smile. “Absolutely!” she says.

“Okay, then. Next customer is all yours. I’m not going to step in at all,” Tim warns. I’ll believe that when I see it, Zoe thinks, but keeps the smile on her face.

Soon enough, the bell rings, and a guy about her age walks in. “Welcome to Which Wich!” Zoe calls in an upbeat voice. “Have you dined with us before?”

“Um, yeah,” the guy says, already pulling a bag and a Sharpie from the holder on the wall. Zoe takes his bag when he’s finished filling it out and makes his Italian grinder quickly and efficiently, even with Tim breathing down her neck.

“Don’t forget to double check all condiment and topping choices!” Tim warns before she’s even finished with the meat.

“Thanks for the reminder, Tim,” she says through her smile. She is careful not to grimace or make any sort of face at all while adding banana peppers to an otherwise fine sandwich.

“Now, you have to make sure you call out the name loudly and clearly enough to be heard,” Tim tells her as she wraps the finished sandwich and puts it in his bag, her smile never wavering despite the fact that she has heard him say this at least twelve times in her two days of training. “Remember, it may be quiet now, but during our rush hour, there is noise and commotion, and a quiet meek little name call simply won’t---”

“ALEX!” she yells out with all the power of her trombone playing lungs. Can she help it if Tim the Manager was hovering too close and got an earful? “How was that?” she asks with a smile, turning to him. “Was that loud enough?”

“Just -- tend to your customer,” Tim says as Alex comes up to the counter. Zoe passes over the bag with a cheery grin and rings him up. She’s about to wish him a wonderful day when Tim interrupts over her shoulder with a, “And remember, if your food isn’t exactly how you want, we will make you a new sandwich or refund your money! Sometimes it can take these new girls a while to get the hang of things.”

Zoe will not strangle her boss with her apron strings, she will not, she repeats over and over like a mantra. She allows herself one second to breathe deeply and pray for patience. Luckily, the universe helps her avoid homicide, as a new customer approaches with a bag. Tim hurries over to serve them while Zoe finishes Alex’s transaction.

He tips her almost 50% of his bill, and maybe she’s reading into things, but he seems to be offering a silent means of support for having to deal with a misogynistic asshole of a boss. Zoe’s going to choose to believe that, anyway. Anything to help her get through the day.

iv.

He knows something odd is going on in Cuppa Joe’s that morning before he sets foot inside. All the baristas are gathered around the counter, and Andi is waving her arms in the air, and . . . are they all singing?

He considers turning around and going back to his car, but he needs his coffee, so he pushes the door open and slips in.

“ . . . birthday to you!” The baristas and half the shop finish their raucous rendition of the birthday song and burst into spontaneous applause, all directed at a girl Alex doesn’t know, who is smiling and laughing and enjoying the situation much more than he would be if an entire coffee shop decided to sing to him on his birthday.

“Thank you, thank you,” the blonde girl says, nodding to them all, still laughing.

Andi catches sight of him. “Mr. Carter!” she calls out, putting him on the spot. “Wish this lovely young lady a happy birthday!”

“Oh, um . . . happy birthday,” he says, and he thinks maybe he doesn’t sound like a complete idiot. The girl beams at him, like nothing gives her greater joy than having a stranger awkwardly wish her a happy birthday.

“Thanks,” she says, and then Eddie says something to her, allowing Alex to place his order at the counter, but when he goes to pay, someone else places a five dollar bill on the counter. “It’s on me,” says the birthday girl.

“You really don’t have to do that,” Alex says.

“Well, Andi refused to let me pay for my own drink,” the girl says with an affectionate eye roll. “And I’m like a hobbit. I like to give gifts to other people for my birthday. You are the recipient of a random act of kindness. No escaping it. Pay it forward if you like. I couldn’t think of a better birthday gift.”

And before he can think of anything to say, she flashes one more grin, gives the whole store a merry farewell, and bounds away out the door.

“If I was an SAT Math workbook,” Zoe mutters to herself, slowly turning in place and scanning the study tables in the library, “where would I be?” She and Librarian Joy have been searching for the thing for almost ten minutes. The library catalogue says it’s in, Joy’s special librarian catalogue says it’s in, but it’s not on the shelf or on a reshelving cart or anywhere that they can find.

Then she seems him -- a boy about her age, typing away on a laptop, earbuds in his ears and a stack of books beside him. She takes a couple careful steps in his direction, the better to identify the books, and aha! There it is! Victory!

“Excuse me,” she says, approaching his table, but with his headphones in, he doesn’t hear her. So she reaches out and very gently taps him on the shoulder.

He startles, and she immediately springs back, cringing inwardly. “Sorry!” she says in a rush as he pulls out the earbuds. “I didn’t mean to startle you, or interrupt. I was just wondering if you were checking out the math prep book, or if I’d be able to use it.”

He blinks, then processes the question. “Oh! No, I’m done with it. Go ahead,” he says, extricating it from the middle of the pile.

“Thanks,” she says with a smile, taking it. “I think the math portion might actually kill me.”

He offers a tight smile. “Same,” he says, only a little awkwardly.

“When do you test?”

“Three weeks.”

“Me too.” And then, because every bit of his body language is screaming that he would like to be done with this unexpected social interaction, she says, “Well, good luck.”

“You too,” he says, and puts his earbuds back in as Zoe turns, searching out an empty table.

Librarian Joy comes over. “Oh, you found it!” she exclaims.

“Yep! When all else fails, look for another slightly frantic high schooler!”

Joy laughs. “Oh, Zoe, I meant to ask you. How did that project end up going for you? With the letters?”

“Really well!” Zoe says, her eyes lighting up. “Thanks for letting me stash one here -- I got a lot of responses, and I’m still writing to a few people. It’s been a lot of fun.”

“I’m thrilled we could be a part of it,” Joy says, then lets Zoe get to it. Zoe’s glad. If she can crack 600 on the math practice test, she’s allowing herself to respond to Alex’s latest letter.

Three tables away, Alex types on, completely unaware of who it is sharing his space.

vi.

All it takes is one overheard sentence. Alex is sitting in Cuppa Joe’s, reading a book and procrastinating going home when he hears it.

“ZO-oe, you are so slow!”

His attention is immediately brought to the door, where a girl a few years older than himself stands, her posture oozing impatience as she calls to someone out in the parking lot.

Alex is listening hard now for anything, any other clue that might confirm the suspicion making his heart race. Out of the window, he catches a glimpse of long, white-blonde hair whipping in the California wind just as a second unfamiliar girl in the doorway says something that ends in, “ . . . burned hand, cut her some slack.”

Alex is up and moving before the first girl’s response of “A burned hand does not affect her feet, and we are on a schedule,” has time to register.

In hindsight, locking himself in the bathroom may not have been the smartest move. Rachel keeps talking about remodeling and putting multiple stalls in the bathroom, but for now they’re single use, which is currently a blessing and a curse. A blessing because he can press his ear to the door and eavesdrop and know when certain people have left certain coffee shops. A curse because it’s going to be much harder for him to stay in here indefinitely without drawing attention to himself. At some point, someone else will need to use the bathroom. He can only pray Zoe has left by then.

Though it becomes clear after a few minutes that his retreat into the bathroom has not gone entirely unnoticed. The baristas are dragging out this interaction, and the only saving grace is that Zoe and her cousins seem to have someplace else to be, so he won’t be trapped in the bathroom for upwards of twenty minutes.

Finally, finally, finally they are gone, despite everyone’s best efforts. But Eddie is waiting for Alex when he gets back to his table.

“Dude!” he exclaims. “You have the worst timing! She was right here!”

“I know,” he says, gathering his things because loud as it will be at home, it’s gonna beat being here, with the entire staff staring at him and whispering among themselves about things he’s not sure he wants to know. “That’s why I disappeared.”

“That makes literally no sense,” Eddie says, and Alex refrains from rolling his eyes. “Don’t you want to meet her?”

Alex carefully schools his face into an impassive mask. Eddie talks enough as it is. Alex is not going to give him any more ammunition. “It’s an honor thing. We want it to happen on our terms.”

“That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. I say, the sooner the better. Why wait?”

“I have to get home,” is all Alex says.

He’s not usually one to indulge in “What ifs,” but as he drives home, he can’t help but think what might have happened if Zoe’s cousin hadn’t called out her name before she walked through the door.

(and one time they had a conversation about it)

They’re lying on a blanket under their tree in the park in comfortable, easy silence, their hands interlaced between them when Zoe gives voice to something she’s been thinking about lately.

“Do you ever wonder how many times we met before we met?” she asks. When she turns her head to the side, Alex is looking at her.

“What do you mean?” he asks.

“I mean that you and I have both lived in San Diego our wholes lives, and that the city isn’t really that big, especially when you think about the areas we each really inhabit. There’s a lot of overlap in that Venn diagram. My mom has been writing at your stepmom’s coffee shops as long as I can remember. Our schools play each other at football. I work at a restaurant I know you visit because it’s cater-made for people like you who don’t like to interact with anyone.”

He elbows her side at that remark, and she elbows him back, grinning. “At some point,” she continues, “the Law of Averages has to come into play. I mean, we know we were in Cuppa Joe’s at the same time at least once. Honestly, I’d be more shocked to learn that April 18 was actually the first time we ever interacted. So, do you ever wonder how often we did?”

“Well, now I’m going to.”

She grins and turns her gaze back up toward the leaves. “Then my work here is complete.”

They lay in silence for a little longer, then he says, softly, “It’s weird to think about. That I could have met you, talked to you, and not remember.”

“We wouldn’t, though. Necessarily,” she replies, because she’s thought about this a lot. “Because it takes a lot for an interaction to move into long-term memory, right? I call my wait staff by name, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to remember their name three days later, or recognize them if I pass them on the street. Until someone becomes important or semi-permanent . . .” She trails off and shrugs.

“That’s . . . kind of depressing.”

She sits straight up and stares at him, shaking her head. “No, it’s not!” she exclaims. “It’s the most encouraging thing in the world.” He raises himself onto his elbows and looks at her quizzically. So she explains. “When I hypothetically made your sandwich at Which Wich, and did not make faces at the amount of banana peppers I’m sure you made me put on there--” He smirks at that, which was her goal “--or when we, I don’t know, bumped into each other at a football game or a coffee shop, or any other of a million possible interactions, we weren’t ready to really meet yet because really meeting then wouldn’t have led us to this moment and this reality right here, and the universe knew it! It’s like you going into the bathroom when I came into Cuppa Joe’s over Christmas. You knew the timing wasn’t right, but until we could sense those things for ourselves, the universe had to do it for us, and it did! It made sure that we met when we were ready to meet.”

“Or it kept throwing us in each other’s paths and we were too oblivious to notice,” he counters.

“See, that makes it depressing,” she says. “My explanation makes it encouraging.”

He sits all the way up and gives her that look that melts her into a puddle, that smile that’s barely there, his eyes shining with amusement at her but also wonder and joy and so many other things. “Well, then . . .” he says softly, “I suppose I should be thanking the universe.”

“I do every day,” she tells him, and the look in his eyes intensifies and she knows she’s about to be kissed (or she’s about to do the kissing, one or the other), and as the distance between them is closed, she thanks the universe one more time.

#AoLWseries #what if #aolw fanfiction #even though i helped write the thing #this is still fanfiction #not canon #except in my head #so not official canon #have i disclaimed enough about this??#pomerqueen

7 notes · View notes

theinjectlikes2 · 5 years

Text

Now Live for Your SEO Learning Pleasure: The NEW Beginner's Guide to SEO!

Posted by FeliciaCrawford

It feels like it's been a king's age since we first began our long journey to rewrite and revamp the Beginner's Guide to SEO. For all the long months of writing and rewriting, of agonizing over details and deleting/replacing sections every so often as Google threw us for a loop, it's hard to believe it's finally ready to share:

The new Beginner's Guide to SEO is here!

What makes this new version so darn special and sparkly, anyway?

I'm glad you asked! Our design team would breathe a sigh of relief and tell you it's because this baby is on-brand and ready to rock your eyeballs to next Tuesday with its use of fancy, scalable SVGs and images complete with alt text descriptions. Our team of SEO experts would blot the sweat from their collective brow and tell you it's because we've retooled and completely updated all our recommendations to ensure we're giving fledgling learners the most accurate push out of the digital marketing nest that we can. Our developers would tell you it's because it lives on a brand-spankin'-new CMS and they no longer have to glare silently at my thirteenth Slack message of the day asking them to fix the misplaced period on the fourth paragraph from the top in Chapter 7.

All joking aside, every bit of the above is true, and each perspective pulls together a holistic answer: this version of the Beginner's Guide represents a new era for the number-one resource for learning SEO, one where we can update it at the drop of a Google algorithm-shaped hat, where it's easier than ever to access and learn for a greater variety of people, where you can rely on the fact that the information is solid, up-to-date, and molded to best fit the learning journey unique to SEO.

I notice the structure is a little different, what gives?

We can't escape your eagle eyes! We structured the new guide quite differently from the original. Everything is explained in our introduction, but here's the gist: taking inspiration from Maslow's hierarchy of needs, we built each chapter based on the core foundation of how one ought to go about doing SEO, covering the most integral needs first before leveling up to the next.

We affectionately call this "Mozlow's Hierarchy of Needs." Please forgive us.

A small but mighty team

While it may have taken us a full year and a half to get to this point, there was but a small team behind the effort. We owe a huge amount of gratitude to the following folks for balancing their other priorities with the needs of the new Beginner's Guide and putting their all into making this thing shine:

Britney Muller, our brilliant SEO scientist and the brains behind all the new content. Words cannot do justice to the hours she spent alone and after hours before a whiteboard, Post-Its and dry-erase notes making up the bones and muscles and soul of what would someday become this fully-fleshed-out guide. For all the many, many blog comments answered and incorporated, for all the emails and Twitter messages fielded, for all the love and hard work and extra time she spent pouring into the new content, we have to give a heartfelt and extremely loud and boisterous THANK YOU. This guide wouldn't exist without her expertise, attention to detail, and commitment to excellence.

Kameron Jenkins, our SEO wordsmith and all-around content superheroine. Her exquisite grasp of the written word and extensive experience as an agency SEO were paramount in pulling together disparate feedback, finessing complicated concepts into simple and understandable terms, and organizing the information in ways most conducive to aiding new learners. Again, this guide wouldn't be here without her positive attitude and incredible, expert help.

Skye Stewart, talented designer and UX aficionado. All the delightful images you'll find within the chapters are compliments of her careful handiwork, from the robo-librarian of Chapter 2 to the meat-grinder-turned-code-renderer of Chapter 5. The new Beginner's Guide would be an infinitely less whimsical experience without her creativity and vision.

Casey Coates, software engineer and mystical CMS-wizard-come-miracle-maker. I can safely say that there is no way you would be exploring the brand-new Beginner's Guide in any coherent manner without his help. For all the last-minute additions to CMS deploys, for calmly fielding all the extra questions and asks, for being infinitely responsive and helpful (case in point: adding alt text to the image block less than two minutes after I asked for it) and for much, much more, we are grateful.

Y'all ready for this?

With tender pride and only a hint of the sort of naturally occurring anxiety that accompanies any big content debut, we're delighted and excited for you to dive into the brand-new Beginner's Guide to SEO. The original has been read over ten million times, a mind-boggling and truly humbling number. We can only hope that our newest incarnation is met by a similar number of bright minds eager to dive into the exhilarating, challenging, complex, and lucrative world of SEO.

Whether you're just starting out, want to jog your memory on the fundamentals, need to clue in colleagues to the complexity of your work, or are just plain curious about what's changed, we hope from the bottom of our hearts that you get what you need from the new Beginner's Guide.

Dive in and let us know what you think!

from The Moz Blog https://ift.tt/2WFIC5c via IFTTT

#IFTTT #The Moz Blog

0 notes

ericsburden-blog · 5 years

Text

Now Live for Your SEO Learning Pleasure: The NEW Beginner's Guide to SEO!

Posted by FeliciaCrawford

The new Beginner's Guide to SEO is here!

What makes this new version so darn special and sparkly, anyway?

I notice the structure is a little different, what gives?

We affectionately call this "Mozlow's Hierarchy of Needs." Please forgive us.

A small but mighty team

While it may have taken us a full year and a half to get to this point, there was but a small team behind the effort. We owe a huge amount of gratitude to the following folks for balancing their other priorities with the needs of the new Beginner's Guide and putting their all into making this thing shine:

Britney Muller, our brilliant SEO scientist and the brains behind all the new content. Words cannot do justice to the hours she spent alone and after hours before a whiteboard, Post-Its and dry-erase notes making up the bones and muscles and soul of what would someday become this fully-fleshed-out guide. For all the many, many blog comments answered and incorporated, for all the emails and Twitter messages fielded, for all the love and hard work and extra time she spent pouring into the new content, we have to give a heartfelt and extremely loud and boisterous THANK YOU. This guide wouldn't exist without her expertise, attention to detail, and commitment to excellence.

Kameron Jenkins, our SEO wordsmith and all-around content superheroine. Her exquisite grasp of the written word and extensive experience as an agency SEO were paramount in pulling together disparate feedback, finessing complicated concepts into simple and understandable terms, and organizing the information in ways most conducive to aiding new learners. Again, this guide wouldn't be here without her positive attitude and incredible, expert help.

Y'all ready for this?

Dive in and let us know what you think!

Now Live for Your SEO Learning Pleasure: The NEW Beginner's Guide to SEO!

0 notes

seocompanysurrey · 5 years

Text

Now Live for Your SEO Learning Pleasure: The NEW Beginner's Guide to SEO!

Posted by FeliciaCrawford

The new Beginner's Guide to SEO is here!

What makes this new version so darn special and sparkly, anyway?

I notice the structure is a little different, what gives?

We affectionately call this "Mozlow's Hierarchy of Needs." Please forgive us.

A small but mighty team

While it may have taken us a full year and a half to get to this point, there was but a small team behind the effort. We owe a huge amount of gratitude to the following folks for balancing their other priorities with the needs of the new Beginner's Guide and putting their all into making this thing shine:

Britney Muller, our brilliant SEO scientist and the brains behind all the new content. Words cannot do justice to the hours she spent alone and after hours before a whiteboard, Post-Its and dry-erase notes making up the bones and muscles and soul of what would someday become this fully-fleshed-out guide. For all the many, many blog comments answered and incorporated, for all the emails and Twitter messages fielded, for all the love and hard work and extra time she spent pouring into the new content, we have to give a heartfelt and extremely loud and boisterous THANK YOU. This guide wouldn't exist without her expertise, attention to detail, and commitment to excellence.

Kameron Jenkins, our SEO wordsmith and all-around content superheroine. Her exquisite grasp of the written word and extensive experience as an agency SEO were paramount in pulling together disparate feedback, finessing complicated concepts into simple and understandable terms, and organizing the information in ways most conducive to aiding new learners. Again, this guide wouldn't be here without her positive attitude and incredible, expert help.

Y'all ready for this?

Dive in and let us know what you think!

from The Moz Blog http://tracking.feedpress.it/link/9375/11211492

#The Moz Blog

0 notes

noithatotoaz · 5 years

Text

Now Live for Your SEO Learning Pleasure: The NEW Beginner's Guide to SEO!

Posted by FeliciaCrawford

The new Beginner's Guide to SEO is here!

What makes this new version so darn special and sparkly, anyway?

I notice the structure is a little different, what gives?

We affectionately call this "Mozlow's Hierarchy of Needs." Please forgive us.

A small but mighty team

While it may have taken us a full year and a half to get to this point, there was but a small team behind the effort. We owe a huge amount of gratitude to the following folks for balancing their other priorities with the needs of the new Beginner's Guide and putting their all into making this thing shine:

Britney Muller, our brilliant SEO scientist and the brains behind all the new content. Words cannot do justice to the hours she spent alone and after hours before a whiteboard, Post-Its and dry-erase notes making up the bones and muscles and soul of what would someday become this fully-fleshed-out guide. For all the many, many blog comments answered and incorporated, for all the emails and Twitter messages fielded, for all the love and hard work and extra time she spent pouring into the new content, we have to give a heartfelt and extremely loud and boisterous THANK YOU. This guide wouldn't exist without her expertise, attention to detail, and commitment to excellence.

Kameron Jenkins, our SEO wordsmith and all-around content superheroine. Her exquisite grasp of the written word and extensive experience as an agency SEO were paramount in pulling together disparate feedback, finessing complicated concepts into simple and understandable terms, and organizing the information in ways most conducive to aiding new learners. Again, this guide wouldn't be here without her positive attitude and incredible, expert help.

Y'all ready for this?

Dive in and let us know what you think!

0 notes