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nanoland · 3 years ago

Text

mazikeen/eve/michael fic in progress

title: Ponder on the Narrow House

fandom: Lucifer

characters: Mazikeen, Eve, Michael

blurb: In which Mazikeen isn't finished with Michael yet.

warnings: Spoilers for Season 5.

In 2019, Fodor’s had crowned LAX the worst airport on Planet Earth, comparing it – much to Mazikeen’s amusement – to Dante Alighieri’s Hell.

She couldn’t comment on the comparison’s accuracy; she’d never read Divina Comedia. Human poetry bored her.

Up against the real thing, however? Hell was quieter, cleaner, and smelt better than Los Angeles International, and it wasn’t even close.

Granted, Mazikeen was biased. Hell was her home and she liked it quite a lot. But surely even a human – even an angel – would sooner take a stint in one of Lucifer’s loops than spend more than thirty minutes in Terminal 3.

Yet there he was, leaning against the wall, watching the bustling crowd with a faint smile on his face, like a man in the park resting his eyes on the ducks. Perfectly content.

“Do you know,” he said as she approached him, “that around forty percent of all humans are scared of flying?”

She hadn’t been sure how this encounter would go and, being innately practical, had dressed accordingly. Black satin skirt, flattering and loose enough to both conceal several demon daggers (invisible to the full-body scanner she’d just sauntered through) and not impede her reaction time in a fight. Red silk wrap blouse, easily unwrapped to serve as a garrotte or tourniquet. Hair down, curled, dyed pitch black with bronze-gold streaks – possibly a tactical disadvantage if he grabbed it, but possibly a distraction. She knew he liked her hair.

When she was satisfied he wasn’t about to lunge for her throat, she took a gamble and moved in to lean against the wall alongside him, following his gaze. “Not surprising. Think of it from their perspective. They don’t have wings. Actually – huh. I guess that’s a perspective you can sympathise with now.”

He sneered. “You’re trying to bait me, Miss Mazikeen. That’s cute. But I’m not in the mood, dollface. This? This is me time. I’ve had a shitty few days and I came here specifically to soak up these idiot mortals’ fear and chill out. Get lost. Go play with my twin if you’re so starved for entertainment.”

Mazikeen stretched. “That’s the problem. He’s hanging out with the rest of your lousy family. Gabriel. Raziel. Jophiel. Now that he’s in charge, they’re all trying to crawl up his ass. It’s pathetic. And annoying.”

His jaw clenched and she knew exactly what he was thinking: ‘That should have been me.’

“Also,” she added, after a pause, “they don’t like me. Most of them have never met a demon. There’s no outright hostility but… they talk to me like I’m some gross exotic pet Lucifer found and adopted.”

“They’re afraid of you.”

“Bullshit.”

“Nope. I’m wrong about some things. Never about fear. They can tell how much you matter to him, how much he’d do for you and vis versa, and it scares them shitless. Chloe Decker they can understand – she was Dad’s gift, after all. You, though? Lucy was never supposed to love you. No one was.”

She fiddled with her earring; big, gold, shaped like a swallow with rubies dotting its tail feathers. A gift from Eve. “Whatever. Anyway, that’s why I’m here. With you. Instead of them. You’re the worst, most obnoxious, most cowardly creep ever. I mean it. Christ, do you suck. But you always talked to me like I was a person. Right from the beginning.”

Ugliness flared behind his eyes. “Seriously? Now you’re being nice? Lucifer sent his general to console me? Ha! That’s how pitiful he thinks I am?”

“Pfft – no. Lucifer doesn’t give a crap about you. I’m here because I wanna offer you a job, moron.”

“A… job.”

“Yep. Ever heard of ‘bounty-hunting’?”

He nodded. Slowly. Smirking, she pushed off the wall and twirled on her six-inch heels to face him.

“Here’s the thing, o Angel of Dread; I’ve spent centuries in Hell learning how to terrify people. I look at you and you know what I see? Potential. Sure, you’re rough around the edges. Still got some celestial baby fat clinging to you. Still a little squeamish when it comes to certain tricks of the trade. But Mikey, honey, six months under my tutelage and I think we can turn you into a bona fide fucking nightmare.”

She let the skin on her face’s left side melt away and grinned at him. “So? How about it?”

“Eh,” he said after taking one last glance around the terminal. “Fuck it. Why not? Nothing better to do.”

“Los Angeles is kinda like me,” Mazikeen told him, taking off her red-lensed cat-eye sunglasses as she strutted down the pier.

“Doesn’t have a soul?”

A withering glare. “Tough. Pretty on the outside, mean on the inside. It’s easy to make enemies around here and when you’ve made ‘em, you need to stay on your toes. Stay nimble. Stay mobile. Ready to fight or flee at any moment.”

Michael nodded. “And that’s how you justify living on a tugboat.”

“Ahoy!” called Eve, standing on the deck in a polka dot bikini and pirate hat Mazikeen had presumably stolen for her off the set of some summer blockbuster or other being shot nearby, the salty breeze playing with her hair.

“It’s a yacht,” Mazikeen growled.

“No. That’s a yacht,” Michael replied, pointing to the gleaming white MCY 70 Skylounge docked nearby. “What you have is a glorified raft that can, at best, accommodate two people and maybe a toaster.”

He should, perhaps, be trying harder to ingratiate himself with his new boss.

But he was tired.

Getting in his face, she snapped, “Hey! That’s our headquarters, asshole. Show some respect.”

“It’s covered in seagull crap. It looks older than me. There’s a very obvious bloodstain on the helm. Jesus, doesn’t Lucifer pay you?”

She pushed him into the sea.

Offering him a hand when he bobbed to the surface, Eve said, “Don’t take it personally. She’s just mad because we weren’t able to steal a bigger one.”

It was while Michael was towelling himself dry down below decks that the chunky-faced cop wandered in, took one look at him, and strode across the room.

“Mister Espinoza,” he drawled, “what can I-… oh. Oh, wow, you really thought that was going to work, huh?”

Curled up on the floor, clutching the fist he’d very mistakenly slammed into Michael’s jaw, Dan hissed, “Fuck you. You killed me.”

“Poppycock. I had you killed. That’s entirely different, buddy.”

Dan staggered to his feet and shouted, “Maze! Eve! What the hell is he doing here?”

Taking off his wet jacket and draping it over the rack alongside the towel, Michael said, “I was invited, thank you very much. No one told me you were part of the arrangement.”

“What arrangement, asshole?” Dan snapped, turning red. “I’m just here to help Maze fix her boat’s engine.”

“Oh. You don’t work with her, then? No, I suppose you wouldn’t. As we’ve established, you’re entirely too killable.”

“You sleazy son-of-a… Maze! Get down here!”

Grumbling, Michael’s new boss stalked below deck carrying a crate of beer on her left shoulder and a sleeping bag under her right arm. “Goddammit – Dan, I told you to wait. Is your hand bleeding, you big meathead? We seriously just dragged your ass out of Hell and you couldn’t go two whole days before breaking yourself again? Ugh. You’re impossible. You’re worse than Decker.”

“Maze, d’you wanna explain what the actual fuck Lucifer’s psycho twin is doing here?”

“Interning,” Michael said, cheerfully.

His face now practically purple, Dan half-yelled, “What is he talking about? This is not okay, Maze! Does Chloe know? Does Amenadiel? Why is he even still on Earth? Lucifer’s God now; can’t he stick him on Mars or turn him into a bug or something?”

“Look, Dan, just calm down-…” she began.

“I died! I actually, literally, physically died! Because of him! No, I’m not going to calm down!”

Michael scoffed. “Please. Like that’s what you’re really upset about. You’re not angry about dying. You’re not angry at all. You’re scared, buttercup. And not just of me; of her, of Lucifer, of everything, and to be honest, I didn’t even need to use the ol’ angel juice to work that out.”

Mazikeen set down her cargo, pulled a knife from her belt, and flung it. It embedded itself five inches deep in the floor between them. “This? This is not Lux, dickheads. Mortals and celestials don’t hang out here to have a good time while I sit behind the bar and tolerate them. This crummy, crusty-ass, piece of crap boat is my domain. Here, I don’t have to put up with one femtometre of your bullshit. If you want to fight, do it somewhere else. If you want to fuck, do it quick and clean up afterwards. If you want to make yourselves useful, help me get the weapons on board.”

“Wait – wait, weapons? What weapons?” said Dan to her retreating back. “You said you were going fishing. Maze! What weapons?”

“Where’s all your stuff?” Eve asked when she showed him to his tiny cabin.

“I’m an archangel. I don’t have ‘stuff’.”

(Michael had already decided he didn’t like her. She was bubbly.)

“Heh. You should travel with Lucy sometime. We went to Vancouver for a weekend and he brought seven bags, five watches, and six pairs of shoes. Okay, do you – uh, do you at least have a change of clothes? Because those look kinda soggy.”

To his annoyance – and embarrassment – she spend twenty minutes hunting down a shirt and pants that would fit him.

“They’re mine,” she said, dropping them into his lap. “But I bought them to sleep in and I like loose pyjamas, so they’re a dozen sizes too big on me. Oh! Also found you this.”

She presented a hot water bottle in the shape of a fat, cuddly sheep.

He accepted it carefully, wondering if it was booby-trapped. “You’re Lucifer’s ex, right?”

“Er… yep? Amongst other things. The Original Sinner. First Woman, First Wife, First Mother. Mother of Mankind. Second Human. First Knowledgeable Human. But sure, I was also your brother’s girlfriend for a while.”

“And now you’re Mazikeen’s. Do you also work with her?”

“Sure do!” she said, interpreting the question as an invitation to sit down next to him. “I’m The Choronzon’s captain. That’s our boat’s name. My idea. I know she’s not much to look at but she’s got so much history. There’ve been fourteen homicides on her! Plus, she’s fast; way, way faster than she looks. And I know the beds are hard, but we’ve got three hammocks stashed away and getting them set up is easy as pie.”

“Wow. Those suckers up in the Silver City don’t know what they’re missing.”

She nodded, blinking slowly. “Hmm. Maze was right. You are mean. That’s cool. I get on well with mean people. Anyway, just in case she hasn’t told you; we’ve got a job lined up and we’ll be setting sail tomorrow at dawn. You get seasick? Not a problem; we’ve got a medical kit full of antiemetics. On that note, should we pick up something for you before we leave shore?”

“No.”

“You sure? Just that – uh – I mean, my third son, Seth, the one nobody talks about – he also had pretty severe scoliosis. Wasn’t a whole lot we could do about it back then. But these days they’ve got tons of stuff; opiods and anti-inflammatories and memory foam. Science is so, so cool. And I’m going shopping for sunscreen anyway, so dropping by the pharmacy wouldn’t be a problem.”

For a moment, he reviewed a list of responses that would deeply, profoundly hurt her, responses that would ensure she didn’t approach him again.

But he was tired, tired, tired.

“Here.”

He took a folded piece of A4 paper from his pocket and handed it to her. “These are what the last human doctor I went to recommended. Getting hold of those three I’ve circled is tricky, but I know a guy. Call him on that number down there and he’ll meet you wherever. If he gives you any trouble, remind him that Michael knows about the vacuum cleaner. That’ll shut him up.”

As soon as she’d bounced out of the room, he shut the door, locked it, and laid down to sleep.

It was night when he awoke.

He went upstairs to find Mazikeen and Eve sitting on the deck, admiring what stars could be seen through Los Angeles’ perpetual light pollution and sharing a pizza.

“Mickey! Get over here,” called Mazikeen, clad in a black dressing down and slippers shaped like plump pink pigs.

“It’s freezing,” he complained.

She snickered and threw him the prickly blanket that had been resting over her knees. “Wimp. Eve told you about the job, yeah?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know how to use any weapons?” Eve asked. “Maze sticks with her knives most of the time. I prefer my traps and crossbow. But we’ve got guns, if that’s more your speed.”

They were clearly expecting him to sit down. Eve had even scooted to the left to make room.

He opened the blanket up and wrapped it around his shoulders, remaining standing. “Can I ask a question? What, precisely, is my role here?”

“For now, you’re a meat shield,” said Mazikeen, talking through a mouthful of pepperoni and violently yellow cheese. “Me and Eve are both vulnerable to bullets. I mean – I’m less vulnerable, obviously. But I don’t hate any of my relatives enough to go about finding out exactly how many bullets it takes to snuff a demon. So your job, at least tomorrow, is just to soak up enemy fire until we’ve got our hands on the target.”

Scowling, he said, “Getting shot does hurt, you know.”

“Yeah,” she replied, eyes shining with spite. “Dan sure seemed to think so.”

When the tense silence had stretched for over thirty seconds, Eve clapped her hands, smiling anxiously, and said, “So! Anyone up for rummy?”

(to be continued)

#mazikeen #eve #michael demiurgos #lucifer #lucifer morningstar #fanfic #my fic #evezikeen

5 notes · View notes

enderham · 5 years ago

Note

Todoroki teaching Midoriya how to ice skate!

This ran away from me and got way too long, like, wow, 3k words. You hit the nail on the head anon, this one's a beast.

Check it out on Ao3 and enjoy below!

Izuku is pretty sure he's never seen Todoroki this excited. Granted, all it really is is a small, soft smile and a slight bounce in his step, but still! It's the happiest Izuku has probably ever seen him. It was weird. Nice, but weird.

Actually, this whole situation is weird.

Shouto had come up to him a day or two ago and asked him if he wanted to go for a walk around campus, claiming he had something to show him. Izuku of course agreed, jumping at the chance to spend time alone with Todoroki, especially when it was freely offered. What threw him for a loop, however, was the duffel bag Shouto was sporting when they met up, and still is now that they're quite a ways away from the dorms.

Now, if this was Kacchan doing this, Izuku would be wary as hell, but because it’s Todoroki, it’s alright, right? Even though objectively, he'd learned that Todoroki was very much capable of deviousness. Like the time he threw Mineta out of the changing rooms in just his underwear for being more pervy and annoying than usual, and then suggested burning his clothes and hero costume. But anyway.

They amble the paved roads of the grounds for a while, idly chatting about the week's events and homework assignments, but then turn on to one of the many trails that wind the more heavily forested areas of campus. Todoroki gently stees where they are going by bumping into Izuku or nodding his head before making a turn, all the while not breaking the flow of conversation, and Izuku stays close to his left side, hoping he would get the hint and activate his quirk to warm him a bit. Which Shouto does.

Entering the forest grants a whole new meaning to winter on campus. Izuku had gone jogging on the trails in the warmer seasons but abandoned it for indoor exercise during the frigid months for obvious reasons, so he isn't familiar with the wonder that is frosted over tree bark and sparkling crystals in the rare patches that the sun reaches. The canopy of trees is thick enough to let light in only selectively even with all their leaves gone, and the snowfall hadn't been heavy yet that year, but it was enough to cover everything in a delicate layer of white. Shouto obviously wasn't ignorant to it like Izuku had been up until now, judging by his pleased expression as opposed to Izuku's amazed one.

The conversation had died down when Izuku's attention strayed to the scenery, but it doesn’t seem to bother Todoroki, since every time Izuku glances at him he’s looking at him with a soft smile. At some point Izuku is so distracted that Todoroki has to steer him by the elbow in the right direction and he blushes, apologising several times before Shouto cuts him off good-naturedly.

"That was the last turn, we're almost there, promise." He says with a chuckle.

Izuku can’t help but smile. Looking at Shouto now, he can barely recognise the guarded, socially awkward boy from the first sports festival. He does still have his moments, and new small oddities keep popping up in his behaviour and cultural awareness, after all, he does have years of socialisation to catch up on, but he had come a long way. And he’s most comfortable with Izuku, if Deku is bold enough to say so.

He is so deep in thought that the only indication he gets that there’s a change of scenery is how much brighter it suddenly gets. When he looks up, he finds that they've arrived in a large clearing. So large, in fact, that he'd be inclined to call it a field if most of it wasn't taken up by an impressively sized pond. There are a few benches around it and a small dock, and it’s obviously well groomed, the greenery around it strategically placed, now frosted over and pale.

Izuku looks over at Shouto with wide eyes. "I had no idea this was here! Was this what you wanted to show me?"

The question seems redundant, since it obviously is, but Todoroki purses his lips in an obvious effort to hide a smile, which tipps Izuku off that he isn't quite right.

"Not all of it."

Izuku gives him a quizzical look, and in response Todoroki just motions for him to follow, heading for the dock. Once there, he kneels down by the edge and reaches his right hand down towards the water. The moment his hand gets close to the surface, it starts frosting over, once there’s a big enough patch of ice, he touches all five fingers to it, and the water freezes over almost instantly and completely evenly. The surface of the lake remains smooth as there is no wind, and the resulting ice is mirror-like. Izuku watches him work in awe as Todoroki adds an extra layer, equally smooth, and looks up at him.

"Do you know how to ice skate?"

Izuku sputters. "I- You- I mean- Um, no."

"Hm." Todoroki seems to consider that for a moment, "Would you like me to teach you, then?"

That is an offer and a half and all the ways it could go horribly wrong and perfectly right go through Izuku's head at once. "But we don't have-" his eyes snag on the duffel. "Wait, is this why you asked what my shoe size is last week?"

"There you go, knew you'd figure it out."

"All the Frozen jokes make even more sense now." Izuku says faintly. Shouto snorts.

"Jirou and Denki made me watch it after that." He comments lightly, standing up, "So is that a yes? Momo made the skates for you."

It's not even a question at this point. Izuku looks into Shouto's hopeful eyes and nods almost without thinking. The other grins.

They make their way over to the bench on the other side of the dock and wipe it clear of snow, and then Izuku is handed a pair of professional-looking skates with green laces. There's a lot of laces.

By the time Shouto is done lacing his, Izuku has barely finished one. The taller boy looks over at him and clicks his tongue. "Wait, no, you have to lace it tighter, otherwise it won't hold well."

Izuku flushes lightly, "Oh, sorry…"

"No, no, it's my fault for not telling you." He gets up nimbly and goes to kneel in front of Izuku. "Here, let me."

If possible, Izuku goes even redder.

Shouto catches his foot between his knees and starts methodically unlacing the skate. Izuku desperately fishes for something to say to distract himself. "So, how did you learn to ice skate?" He finally settles on.

Shouto smiles softly down at his hands. "My mom," he says, "when she was still at home, she would freeze over the courtyard when Endeavor was off on a business trip. Even the staff would join in sometimes, it was one of the few activities that got the whole house on their feet. After the- um, after." Izuku frowns, knowing full well what he’s referring to, "I tried to convince Endeavor to let me practice skating for years as a form of training. Eventually he caved and rented a whole rink, but he kept being asked to douse his flames because it was melting the ice, so he threw a fit and left me to my own devices for the next few years, since that's how long he'd rented it for."

"Sounds like a symptom of an inferiority complex if you ask me." Izuku mutters. Shouto looks up at him with amusement, then snorts and shakes his head.

"You have no idea."

"Have you met Kacchan?"

This inspires an actual laugh and it's all Izuku can do not to pump his fist in victory. Shouto finishes lacing his other skate, still chuckling, and then stands up. "Alright, give me your hands." Izuku isn't one to pass up an offer like that, and he soon realizes why it was presented in the first place. As soon as he's pulled to his feet, he wobbles on the thin blades. "Watch it." Shouto warns him with a smile while Izuku finds his footing.

Once he's sure he can stand, Shouto regrettably lets him go, but keeps his hands ready to catch him. "Okay, now widen your stance and give them a test, they should hold your ankles secure, we both know you especially need those." He says with a smirk and he shows Izuku how to test out the skates. Izuku gives a small laugh and follows his instructions, bouncing a bit once he's angled his feet to try out the support of the skates. He wobbles a bit again, which earns him a firm grip on his biceps before he has the opportunity to tip over, but the skates seem to hold well, so he nods at Shouto with a smile. He files away the information about falling for later.

"C'mon then." Shouto keeps a hold of his forearms and walks backwards, keeping his grip light so Izuku doesn't lean on him too much. Izuku understands the sentiment and tries to maintain balance on his own, knowing that it's a preliminary test before the ice. When they make it there, Shouto lets him go and motions for him to wait. He steps onto the ice and then he's off like a shot. Izuku watches in awe as his friend starts moving before his second skate even touches the surface, making wide turns to gain speed and kicking up dust clouds of broken ice when he makes sharp ones. Shouto zigzags across the pond, covering as much of the available space in as little time as possible. This time turns out to be around ten seconds, not that Izuku was counting.

"Showoff." He teases when Shouto comes to a literally screeching halt in front of him. The other boy mumbles something about testing the ice, but his cheeks are red and and he isn't looking at Izuku. He can't help but grin. "It worked, I'm very impressed." This prompts Todoroki to turn even redder, but at least he's looking at him now, so Izuku gives him an encouraging smile.

Instead of replying, Todoroki offers both hands to help him onto the ice. Turns out it's with good reason, because the moment he steps on, Izuku starts sliding all over the place. He forgoes the hands entirely and grips onto Shouto's shoulders, hoping that it'll grant more purchase. Thankfully it does, for all the embarrassment it grants, as Shouto laughs and grabs his waist to steady him.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry," Izuku babbles, trying to find his balance as quickly as possible.

"Don't worry about it." Shouto moves his hands to the smaller boy's elbows, still chuckling. "Looks like I haven't broken in the ice as well as I thought."

"Broken in…? You mean it shouldn't be perfect?"

"A little traction is good for beginners."

"But couldn't you have- with your quirk… I was right! You're such a showoff!" Izuku accuses.

Shouto's mouth tics up in a crooked little smile. This close up, Izuku isn't sure his heart is going to survive if this keeps happening, and going by his previous experiences, it will. Frequently.

"I've also kind of missed skating, so this was my cheat before I commit to being your crutch." He amends. Izuku immediately feels guilty.

"Oh! You shouldn't sacrifice that on my account! I can wait a bit longer it you-"

"Midoriya. I wouldn't have brought you here if I didn't want to." Shouto interrupts him, "Truthfully I sort of guessed there was a strong possibility you wouldn't know how to skate. And I still brought you along. So don't worry about it."

"Oh." Izuku doesn't really know how to reply to that. The implications are… Numerous. Thankfully Shouto isn't one to judge and so he gets away with a shy nod. Or so he thinks.

"Alright, Bambi, you ready?"

Izuku really should have expected to get at least a little bit of ribbing.

So, he accepts it graciously, with a snort, a nod, and a determined look in his eye. Todoroki takes that and runs with it. "Okay, so balance and legwork are important, obviously, so you shouldn't have trouble adjusting." He chuckles, "First you need to lower your center of gravity, not too much, but give me something like a relaxed fighting stance."

Izuku does as he's told, redistributing his weight and instantly feeling better about his balance. Shouto nods proudly and slides his hands from Izuku's elbows to his palms, taking them in a firm grip. "Now try to push off. You've seen me do it, I'm sure you can figure it out on your own. It's just physics." Izuku is always up for a challenge, thanks Kacchan, so he looks down and puts one skate perpendicular to the other. This doesn't exactly work, since he would have to change his stance, so he corrects the angle and tries to push off.

Todoroki starts slowly skating backwards, humming encouragingly and then immediately catching Izuku when he stays on one leg too long and loses his balance. "Alright, switch legs faster, got it." He says over Shouto's low chuckles.

"Mhmm, you're doing great though." Is the encouragement he gets.

They continue on like this for a while, in silence and concentration, with the occasional mutter and gentle comment. Soon, Izuku finds his rhythm and Shouto smoothly switches from skating backwards to moving by Izuku's side, still holding him by one hand. Izuku thinks he must look pretty stupid, what with the stilted movement and intence concentration, but whenever he chances a peek at Shouto, the taller boy never fails to smile softly at him.

Just when he's starting to get the hang of it, and thus starts getting bored, Shouto lets go of his hand. "Hey! Where're you-" Izuku looks up at him to see the other boy pivot to start scaring backwards again with a smirk. He hasn't been using Shouto's hand for balance for a while now, so it's not dire, but he still feels less than secure now that his safety net is gone. He sends the boy skating in front of him a pleading look, but is met with the coldness that most others mistakenly see as Shouto’s only mode of operation.

"You should learn how to fall too." Todoroki says with a crooked smile, "Try to catch me."

Again with the challenging, Izuku sees his game. Regardless, he puts on a little cautious speed, and goes after his friend. He tries to reach out, but has to catch his balance and realises leaning forward isn't a good idea, so he focuses on testing out his range of movement before actually givon chase. Shouto keeps just outside of arm's reach, making sharp little turns every time Izuku tries to reach for him, increasing his speed every time he thinks his shorter friend has gotten comfortable enough for it. His hands are behind his back, his posture relaxed. It's getting annoying.

"When you fall," he says and then infuriatingly dodges another swipe, "don't try to regain your footing. It'll only make things worse."

"When, not if?" Izuku growls and reaches for him again, Shouto dodges again with a laugh.

"Don't think you won't fall, that's arrogant and incorrect. Falling actually helps you relax on the ice." Another dodge, another frustrated sound from Izuku. "Anyway try not to lock your elbows when you hit the ice, or put strain on your wrists, but I'm sure you already know that. Not like you have far to fall anywa- eep!"

Izuku yells in victory, having taken a gamble by observing Shouto's movements and turns but not trying them out in order to catch him off guard and succeeding, but his yell soon turns into a shriek as they both go down. His mistake is immediately apparent. Shouto loses his footing in his shock and latches onto the sleeve of Izuku's outstretched hand, and Izuku's increased momentum and already compromised balance sends them to the ground on top of eachother.

When Izuku opens his eyes, he realizes that he's practically completely on top of Shouto. Somehow, in the tumble of limbs, he had latched onto Shouto's jacket, and the other had in turn grabbed one of his sides and used his other hand to brace for the impact. They blink at each other in shock, wide green eyes looking down into almost equally big mismatched ones. But before Izuku can open his mouth and begin apologising, Shouto lets his head fall back against the ice and bursts out laughing. This in turn sets Izuku off as well, the ridiculousness of the situation catching up on them, and so they lay there, tangled up on the cold ice, wheezing for air.

"See," Shouto says after a while, setting a hand on Izuku's bowed head, interrupting himself with what can only be defined as a giggle, "you did fall!" This sets them off again, and it's a while yet before Izuku speaks up.

"At least I took you down with me!" He says as indignantly as he can while breathing like he'd just run a marathon. It's very tempting to keep is face pressed to Shouto's chest, but he needs to breathe, and rather wants to look at Shouto right now. When he lifts his head, the other boy goes up with him, leaning on his elbow on the ice, and to his surprise, the hand on the back of his head doesn't go away. More like it slides down towards his neck just a bit.

Izuku freezes, in more than one sense, and stares at Shouto, who stares back. Their noses are almost touching.

The forest around them has seemingly gone even more quiet than before.

Then, Izuku blurts out,

"Can I kiss you?"

Shouto's eyebrows almost reach his hairline from the apparent shock of the request and it's a good thing he hadn't gone as far as to pull back because Izuku would have seriously been offended. Then he goes beet-red and looks to the side, cursing.

"Damnit, you beat me to it." He says quietly, but with feeling.

Now it's Izuku's turn to raise his eyebrows, but it's short lived as he soon dissolves into peals of laughter and collapses back onto Shouto's shoulder.

"D-does everything really have to be -aahaha -a competition?" He stutters out between gasps.

He feels more than hears Shouto huff -and isn't that a thought -and start to chuckle himself. "Yes, it does, Izuku-" he says with great conviction, pretending to grunt as he hoists himself up and hauls Izuku to the side in order to switch their positions, "- competition is healthy."

"In small doses!" Izuku protests to the boy on top of him, but the impact is diminished by his continued giggles. Shouto is smirking down at him and Izuku knows just how to turn the tide on him. "So you're calling me Izuku now?"

Shouto's smile turns soft all of a sudden and he leans in a bit, locking eyes with the boy underneath him. "Mhm," he hums, then tacks on, "may I?"

Izuku isn't sure if that last bit was directed at the name or something entirely different, but his answer is still the same.

"Yeah," he confirms using the moment to lay a hand on Shouto's cheek and rub his thumb along the edge of his scar, "as long as I can call you Shouto."

"Deal." Is the last thing Shouto says, before he leans in, guided by Izuku's hand, to kiss him for real this time.

Izuku leans into it, wrapping his arms around Shouto’s neck and almost forgetting he’s laying on the frigid ice in the process. However, there’s something niggling at the back of his mind.

“Did you plan all this? Was this a date from the beginning?” he asks, pulling back and savoring the way Shouto tries to follow him.

Shouto has the decency to blush. “Well, kind of. I wasn’t exactly expecting to end up making out with you on the ice though.”

“Oh, about that,” Izuku says lightly and then kicks One for All into Full Cowl for a moment in order to quickly flip their positions, “I was cold.”

Shouto takes a moment to catch up with what just happened and then covers his face with both hands. “Oh god I can see this turning into a trend.” he groans, “If you keep doing that, you’re going to give me whiplash one day.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing, but you’re blushing.” Izuku notes delightedly, leaning in. “Are you gonna warm me up, Sho?”

He is rewarded with a very warm hand cupping his cheek and then slowly sliding under his scarf. “Better?” Shouto asks softly.

“Much.” Izuku answers, and then kisses him again.

Prompt me some more, I need the brain exercise!!

#bnha #tododeku #shoto todoroki #izuku midoriya #deku #mha #my hero akademia #my hero aca #boku no hero academia #todoroki x midoriya #fic #prompt #writing #ask

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wineanddinosaur · 3 years ago

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Wine 101: Cooperage

This episode of “Wine 101” is sponsored by E & J Gallo Winery. At Gallo, we exist to serve enjoyment in moments that matter. The hallmark of our company has always been an unwavering commitment to making quality wine and spirits. Whether it’s getting Barefoot and having a great time, making every day sparkle with La Marca Prosecco, or continuing our legacy with Louis Martini in Napa, we want to welcome new friends to wine and share in all of life’s moments.

Interested in trying some of the wine brands discussed on “Wine 101”? Follow the link in each episode description to purchase featured wines or browse our full portfolio at TheBarrelRoom.com. Cheers, and all the best.

Click the link below to discover and purchase wine brands discussed on the “Wine 101” podcast series. Get 15% OFF of your purchase of $75 or more when you use the coupon code ‘wine15’ at checkout. https://www.thebarrelroom.com/discover.html?src=vinepair

In this episode of “Wine 101,” VinePair tastings director Keith Beavers discusses cooperage, the art of barrel-making. Beavers details the history of barrel-making, which dates back to the Iron Age. He then explains the complex process that goes into barrel-making, which involves cutting down trees into staves and using different combinations of wood to create the final product.

Listeners will also learn about the importance of duration and temperature control when it comes to barrel-making as well as the science behind barrel maturation, in which wine evolves and develops oak flavors during barrel aging.

Tune in to learn more about cooperage.

Listen Online

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

Or Check Out the Conversation Here

Keith Beavers: My name is Keith Beavers, and if you think I love “Star Wars,” wait until “The Wheel of Time” comes out. Light. It’s going to be amazing!

What’s going on, wine lovers? Welcome to Episode 25 of VinePair’s “Wine 101” podcast, just chilling out in Season 2. My name is Keith Beavers. I am the tastings director of VinePair. How are you doing?

Guys, this stuff is complicated. Cooperage. What does it even mean? It has to do with barrels, but it’s more than that. We’re talking about barrels in general, how wine and barrels get along, and how trees become barrels. Let’s get into it.

I know I say this a lot because this podcast is bite-size info for you guys to take with you and help you on your wine journey. Yet, this subject here could not only be a series on its own but could be its own podcast. OK, that’s too much. This subject we’re about to talk about is really in-depth, complex, mysterious, and old. There’s so much of it to talk about, and I can’t fit it all into this episode, so I’m going to go through this subject called cooperage. I’ve selected some things I think that you need to understand to get a good sense of it. Then, at any point in the future, we can go more into it.

I don’t know if this is a good or bad thing, but throughout my wine career, I didn’t take barrels for granted, but I just thought, “There’s a barrel. That’s what happens. You put the wine in the barrel, and then it does its thing.” However, you learn about what barrels do with wine and how it interacts. It’s really cool and we are going to get into that, but it’s not until I went to an actual cooperage, in France, that I saw how crazy, intense, complicated, and in-depth this industry is. It is also mysterious. I went to a cooperage somewhere in France, I can’t remember where it was. I was not allowed to take pictures because the way that this company makes their barrels is a secret within that family.

This is a common thing in cooperages or the more artisan barrel-making world of France. Today, the art of barrel-making or cooperage has definitely advanced and there’s some technology involved, but the word cooperage is an all-encompassing noun for all wooden containers. Cooperage is also a word used for the business of making those containers. A “cooper” is someone who actually does the work to make the cooperage happen. It is a little bit confusing but I think we got it.

Even though we do have some modern technology to help us make barrels, the idea of the barrel to store things in has been around for a very long time. What’s very hard about wood and wooden barrels is that they deteriorate over time, more so than amphorae. It’s very hard to track the history of barrels and the movement of barrels through trade because they’re gone. Yet, through documented evidence or history, not physical history, barrels have been made all the way back to the Iron Age. There’s evidence that the Celts were using barrels for large-scale transportation. There’s mention that Julius Caesar in his campaigns in France encountered barrels during the ‘50s B.C.

Towards the end of the first century, Pliny was describing the barrel to his Roman audience, knowing they had no idea what that meant. He apparently had discovered them in Gaul, and it’s in the 3rd century we start seeing barrels showing up in literature and art. What is fascinating when I was reading about this is that after this point in history, you can actually track the decrease of use of amphorae. Even though we don’t see the barrels because they’re gone, it’s cool how you can track it through the decrease of the use of something else. That’s wild stuff. I don’t want to spend too much time on the history of the barrel because we all know what a barrel looks like. For our purposes, I want you guys to really understand how wine and oak interact with each other. I think that’s really fascinating stuff and you can apply that knowledge when you’re actually drinking wine.

There’s really no evidence of how wine in barrels became a thing, but what people talk a lot about in the industry are the stories of trade. At some point, someone made a wine and put it into a barrel. It got on a ship and made it somewhere else. When it was in its original location, it tasted one way. When it got to its other location, it tasted different but better. This was a gradual realization. Then, at some point, wine in barrels became part of our industry. Obviously, this all started because barrels throughout history were used to store all kinds of goods and they are designed specifically for transportation. The way a barrel looks, which has a bulge in the middle, allows it to be put on its side, spun, and rolled onto a ship and off of a ship. Before the advancement of steel and plastic, you can imagine how important these barrels were. Of course, as those things became more prominent, the wooden barrel became less so.

Today, the wooden barrel is mainly for wine, spirits, and beer. But it’s so important for the drinking industry that this old, artisan-style trade of cooperage is still around. You see it mostly in France. You don’t see it as much in the New World like the United States, which is a big oak producer as well.

This process involves cutting down trees that are at least 100 years old, cutting them against the grain into staves, and then leaving these staves out in nature for up to 36 months — only to be taken in, heated, shaped, toasted, and turned into a barrel. It’s a lot harder than that. Every species of tree is different. Every tree within those species is individual and unique, and there are different combinations of woods that are used. Mostly it’s French oak and American oak, but there’s also been chestnut, cherry wood. There are barrels that are a combination of woods, a combination of forest, a combination of trees, a combination of staves. It’s all very different.

There are also different ways to cut the staves, whether using French oak or American oak. There are angles you have to cut to make sure that when you put the staves together that they are airtight. Depending on all of that, that I just said, you have to toast the barrel. There are three general types of toasting for the barrel, basically firing the inside of the barrel to solidify the protective layer between the wood and whatever you’re putting in the barrel. Then, you have to think about what wood you’re using and how much you want the barrel to be toasted based on the reactions from fire in the wood. It’s an absolutely complex, almost thinking-ahead-of-the-game industry.

There are some winemakers that actually go out to the forest and select trees, knowing they’re not going to get that tree made into the barrels for well over maybe three or four years. The thing that winemakers have to think about when selecting a barrel is they come in different sizes. What size do you want? And each size has a different result for the wine. How old do you want the barrel to be? You can get a brand new barrel. You can get barrels that have been used a few times, and those affect the wine. What type of wood do you want the barrel to be? That will also affect the resulting wine. How is that barrel made? Is it a cooperage that you like? Do you need to get a barrel that’s based on your specific winemaking techniques, your specific region? Are there laws in place for wine to be a certain way so these barrels are the ones that you use because you want to be within these laws? How much time is this wine going to be in the barrel? If so, how do you predict the wine will be after the barrel has been in for that long?

You have data. Everyone has data, I’m sure, but every barrel is different. Last but not least, the big one was how much toast do you want in your barrel? How much time do you want fire licking the inside of the walls of that barrel? Different levels of toasting will affect the wine. That’s a lot of decisions to make. Fundamentally, how cool is it that the wine world has all these happy accidents, and the barrel is one of them? It just so happens that this thing, naturally made to store food and stuff, just so happens that the way it’s created and what it’s created from benefits wine tremendously. Wow, pretty amazing!

When we put wine into a barrel and let it sit there and interact with what’s inside, we call that barrel maturation. Of course, Jedi wine master Jancis Robinson puts it so nicely. Barrel maturation is the winemaking operation of storing a fermented wine in wooden barrels to create ideal conditions for the components of the wine to evolve and that the wood imparts some oak flavor. Really, there are two parts here: evolution and extraction. The way a barrel is made with small amounts of air being able to get into the barrel is what helps the evolution and the maturation of the wine. And the char and the actual constituents in the wood inside the barrel interacting with the wine is what adds flavor. For me, this is the fun stuff. This is a wine truly becoming a wine if it’s meant to be made in this way, of course.

If a winemaker is using wooden barrels to rack wine, that means that wine is seeing some oxygen. The benefit of having a barrel to rack from is that it clarifies the wine, meaning all the sediment initial from the fermentation falls to the bottom of the barrel, but it falls in one spot. It all convenes down in that little bottom part. It’s easier for the wine to be racked off of a wooden barrel because all the sediment falls into one place.

The barrels are being filled and emptied through racking through a hole in the side of the barrel that is stoppered by a plastic wad called a bung. After the racking is done and the wine is ready to mature in the barrel and the bung has been put into the hole, the barrel is then rolled into a rack. Through this entire process, there have been small doses of oxygen soaking into the wine. These are very small, yet very significant and very important saturations that will help the wine mature.

As the wine interacts with the oxygen — whether slow or fast, however the winemaker wants it to happen — those primary aromas we talked about all the way in the first season begin to reduce. Oxygen also causes small tannin molecules to gather or attract each other, what’s called agglomerating. These little tannin molecules agglomerate, and they reduce a little bit of the color of a white wine, turning it more towards gold. In red wine, it starts softening the astringency of the wine, softening the tannins. Some of these tannins start to absorb the anthocyanins in the wine. Again, that’s the color pigments that are natural in the grape we talked about in the first season. These tannins soaked in pigment are called pigmented tannins, obviously. Once they’re pigmented, these tannins are much more permanent in the wine than the natural anthocyanins. This goes into how the wine ages and loses color over time.

Well, the pigmented tannins will hold on longer than the anthocyanins. When you see a red wine starting to age and lose color, it’s the natural anthocyanins that are leaving and not the pigmented tannins. I know it’s crazy, but it’s so cool. Sorry, I love this stuff!

Now, as the wine interacts with the actual wood, alcohol is working to soak its way slowly but surely and steadily into the wood. There is a protective layer between the wine and the wood called the toasting. We’re getting to that in a second, but there are things in the wood that extract into the wine that help give the wine certain characteristics. The alcohol assists in that extraction.

One of those extractions is a compound called lactones. It’s derived from these macro-biomolecules called lipids that are soluble. The levels of these lactones depend on the kind of tree, the tree itself, and parts of the tree. Yet, at very high levels of lactones in the wine, when you smell coconut on a wine, that’s what this is. American oak has naturally high levels of lactones, more so than French oak. No matter the oak, toasting a barrel and toasting wood can actually increase the levels of lactones available. I’m talking about French oak and American oak primarily, but there are other woods that are used to age wine, but these are so more popular that I’m going to stick with these two. Of course, that vanilla thing happens a lot with wines that see oak.

The thing is, it’s vanilla. OK, so it’s not the vanilla bean. It’s actually a phenolic aldehyde called vanillin, and it’s found in the vanilla bean, but it’s also in oak! It’s a product of what’s called a lignin. The lignin in plants is, bear with me here, a complex organic polymer. I know it sounds crazy. All it means is a repeated organic pattern. It’s what makes plants woody or rigid. As the lignin breaks down in the wood, the alcohol extracts the vanillin into the wine. Again, toasting will increase this, but also the seasoning of staves out in the air also concentrates the vanillin.

As the lignin further breaks down, this is where the really cool stuff starts to happen. The smoky stuff, the spicy stuff. These are called volatile phenols, and they extract into the wine as the alcohol penetrates the wood. These phenols are harder to coax out. Actually, seasoning staves in air decreases these phenols. When a wine has these characteristics, you know that it has taken some time in the barrel to develop compounds like eugenol, which gives this clove-like aroma. guaiacol and 4-methyl guaiacol give that smoky, charred aromas. You’ll recognize guaiacol from the Brettanomyces episode but this is methyl guaiacol, not ethylguaiacol. There’s also something called 4-vinyl guaiacol which gives you this nice carnation note so the floral notes you get in red wine, that’s it.

I’m giving you all these names and all this stuff because when you smell wine, this is the complexity you’re smelling. To top it all off, as carbohydrates degrade into the wine, they form products as well to add to the aroma of wine, things like furfurals. This is the compound that gives you that coffee note or cooked bread note. Maltal and cyclotin are the two things that give you that multi-caramel note in wine. Last but not least, tannin. As the lignin breaks down even more, it extracts tannin into the wine. This adds tannin into the wine and adds structure to the wine. This is crazy nature stuff, doing wonderful things. Over time, humans have tried to control this but manage it so that you get something beautiful out of it. Can you imagine if something like Brettanomyces got in there, infected the barrel, and started eating all of this natural sugar, degrading the complexity of what this wine wants to do? Huh, nuts.

Now, all this and more happens in a barrel. A lot of this interaction is defined by how much that barrel is toasted. Is it a light toast, is it a medium toast, or is it a heavy toast? As I said before, the toast is this protective barrier between the wine in the wood. It’s not that we don’t want the wine to interact with the wood. It’s almost like a delayed reaction depending on what wine you want to make. The less toasting of the wine, you would get more of the tannin and other characteristics leached into the wine. In a lightly toasted barrel, the wine is going to be more oaky and woody. It’s still going to have some fruit to it, but it’s still going to be tannic.

This is a barrel that’s been toasted about up to 356 degrees Fahrenheit for about five minutes. That’s a light toast, and the wood is still going to be a little bit light. If you increase it to almost 400 degrees F and toasted for an extra five minutes for a 10-minute toast, this is where the vanillin comes out and the coffee notes. This is where wines are a little bit less tannic because it takes longer for the wine to interact with the tannin in the wood. These wines can be rounder or smoother, but they still have tannin and they’re still what’s called “persistent.” Of course, the wood is getting browner. Now, if you go for 15 minutes at well over almost 450 degrees F, that’s called a heavy toast. The wood is dark. This is roasted beans. This is where you get that toasted bread and cloves. Some people get nutmeg on this stuff. It’s like smoked meat. Sometimes I call it spiced meat, but it’s really smoked meat.

Those are just some things that happen in a barrel when a wine is interacting with the wood. All these aromas we talked about in the first season, all those things you’re trying to get in your head, these things are just some of the more apparent stuff. All the other wacky stuff that comes into your brain from stuff you’ve experienced in your life that comes out of wine, that’s just your perception of it all. The beauty of wine is that you get to perceive it however you want.

However, here we have actual, natural compounds being leached into a wine. One of them is called vanillin, and it’s actually in another plant called a vanilla bean, and you actually can smell it. This is just amazing stuff and this is how complex wine is. Once you make the wine, you put it in a barrel, and you have to wait for nature to do its thing. This is a natural way of wine evolving. This is why some places in Europe have laws in place for how long a wine needs to be in a barrel before it’s put into a bottle. Even when a wine is in a bottle, there are laws about how long it needs to stay in the bottle before it’s released. A lot of this is because of the interactions with wine and wood and how long or short that region or winemaker needs for that wine to achieve the complexity level at which they believe, or the region believes through consortiums and laws, that a wine is ready to be released.

This is why winemakers add SO2 to wines. This is why winemakers try to keep spoilage yeasts away from wines, because these natural complexes are so subtle yet so beautiful. These things can compromise not only your experience but what the winemaker wants to show you. A little bit of Brettanomyces here and there is not bad for a wine because it can add a little bit of smokiness to it, but there are other constituents in barrels that can add smokiness to wine.

Nature is just crazy, guys, but there you have it. I hope this helps you understand cooperage, barrels, what goes on in this world, and how it applies to wine. Next time you’re drinking a wine that has some oak on it, you can get an idea of how it all got there. See you next week.

@VinePairKeith is my Insta. Rate and review this podcast wherever you get your podcast from. It really helps get the word out there. And now for some totally awesome credits.

“Wine 101” was produced, recorded, and edited by yours truly, Keith Beavers, at the VinePair headquarters in New York City. I want to give a big ol’ shout-out to co-founders Adam Teeter and Josh Malin for creating VinePair. And I mean, a big shout-out to Danielle Grinberg, the art director of VinePair, for creating the most awesome logo for this podcast. Also, Darbi Cicci for the theme song. Listen to this. And I want to thank the entire VinePair staff for helping me learn something new every day. See you next week.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity.

The article Wine 101: Cooperage appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/wine-101-cooperage/

0 notes

johnboothus · 3 years ago

Text

Wine 101: Cooperage

Tune in to learn more about cooperage.

Listen Online

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

Or Check Out the Conversation Here

Keith Beavers: My name is Keith Beavers, and if you think I love “Star Wars,” wait until “The Wheel of Time” comes out. Light. It’s going to be amazing!

@VinePairKeith is my Insta. Rate and review this podcast wherever you get your podcast from. It really helps get the word out there. And now for some totally awesome credits.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity.

The article Wine 101: Cooperage appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/wine-101-cooperage/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/wine-101-cooperage

0 notes

aghostpost · 8 years ago

Text

Games We Play (Frank Castle x Reader)

A/N: I’m alive! I know it’s been a while but every time holiday season rolls around (currently spring break/Easter) I usually get occupied with family coming to town, so sitting up on my computer isn’t really an option. I was feeling like writing some jealousy stuff so here’s my fix for that. Enjoy~ ♥

Word Count: 3574

“Frank, c’mon, this shit weighs like eighty pounds!” I was on my way over to Frank’s side of town when he asked me to bring some dog food for Max. I decided on the biggest bag I could find since I knew the man barely fed himself; who knew how long Max had gone without a decent bowl of food. He was probably getting tossed pizza crusts or whatever was left of Frank’s canned beef stew. Hell, maybe he was running on black coffee, too. I got lucky enough to visit the day his elevator was being repaired, so I had the pleasure of hauling the industrial size bag of food up four flights of stairs. I was prepared to yell and bang on his door again when it swung open, but Frank wasn’t on the other side. “U-uhh…”

“Hi! Come in,” the woman greeted, inviting me like the place was hers.

“... Thanks?” I entered skeptically, dragging the bag behind me wondering where the hell Frank was when he appeared leaving his kitchen with a glass of water and his famous chipped dark green mug; I knew what that was full of… “You’re alive after all.” At the sound of the commotion Max came from behind the couch and made his way over to me, sniffing at my feet and pawing at my legs, tail wagging at full speed.

“Hands were a bit tied,” he responded, suggestively raising his two hands.

“Well whenever you’re ready you can help me with this, barista.” I kicked his door closed as he set the drinks on the crate he used for a coffee table to grab the bag. I finally bent down and gave Max the attention he was clearly craving with a good behind the ear rub, trying to keep him from slobbering all over me. “Yes, hello to you too, handsome. Someone missed me, hm?” I patted him before returning to Frank. “Didn’t know you had company,” I spoke loud enough for only him to hear, looking at the woman now sitting at his couch drinking the glass of water.

He tossed the giant bag over his shoulder, motioning between me and her. “Y/N, this is Adrienne. Adrienne, Y/N.”

“Nice to meet you,” she said with a smile and a pleasant wave.

I returned the warmth. “Likewise. Good to see Frank’s making friends.”

“I should warn you, she thinks she’s a comedian,” Frank shouted from the kitchen. I could hear dog food pouring into a metal bowl like cereal.

Adrienne chuckled. “Actually I’ve known Frank for some time, we just never really spoke; nothing more than casual hi and byes passing through the building.”

“Oh you live here?”

“Adrienne lives two floors up.”

“Frank’s kind enough to help me out in a pinch; carrying groceries when the damn elevator’s busted like it is now, when there’s a leaky pipe that needs fixing… In fact, I was just dropping by to bring him some dinner since that’s the very least I could do.”

“So is that how you two met? Groceries and pipes?” I looked over at Frank leaving the kitchen. He leaned up against the wall and was giving me an eye I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but there was a tone of seriousness to it. I couldn’t break the stare.

Adrienne cleared her throat. “Um… A-Actually I was in some trouble on the street. Some asshole snatched my purse, ran off with it. I was lucky Frank was nearby to stop him.” I could tell she was uncomfortable, the way she was distracting herself by petting Max, redirecting all her attention to him.

I nodded slowly, eyes bouncing from her to the man still staring at me. “I see…”

“Ever since then, I’ve just been… super grateful. Honestly, he’s a gift.”

“Don’t I know it.” Frank was still staring as he scratched his head, not adding a word to the convo. I sighed. “So I just stopped by to drop this off while I run some errands; gotta get going before the bank closes.” I took my car keys from my pocket and made my way to the door.

“It was nice meeting you,” Adrienne said with a smile.

“Let me walk you out,” he finally spoke up, pushing off the wall and heading in my direction.

“Okay. You take care of yourself, Adrienne.”

He said nothing as we walked down the stairs of his building, and was still silent as he opened the car door for me to climb inside. When I started the car I rolled the window down and we stared at each other. “How much was the food?” he asked, pulling a wallet from his back pocket.

“No- Stop, c’mon. It’s nothing.” I knew no matter what I said he’d give me the money, sneak it somewhere when I wasn’t looking. He pulled a twenty from the leather wallet and tucked it in my sun visor. “Fine. I’ll take that as payment for you not telling me your elevator was being repaired.”

He nodded to himself. “I accept that. Maybe even payment for the surprise guest?”

I shrugged. “Your apartment. You’re allowed to have whoever you want over.”

“She’s a friend.”

“I must say, you’ve got a weak spot for a damsel in distress. You helped her with some guy snatching her purse. Remember how you helped me?” He stared at me, a small smile playing at his lips. I was working when Frank was sitting at the bar. There was this other guy, Mick, who was oozing booze from his pores and was starting trouble with other customers. When I tried to cut him off he started yelling at me too, even getting in my face about it and calling me outta my name once or twice. That’s when the knight in shining armor, or a dark green utility jacket, came to my rescue. “Anyway, you don’t have to explain anything to me. Enjoy your romantic dinner with your friend…”

At that he chuckled before leaning inside the window, putting a hand behind my head and kissing me. His kiss tasted like coffee but sweeter than the poison he actually drank. “You gonna call me later?”

I stared at his mouth as I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth. “Maybe. I’ll make sure it’s real late, after your crush leaves.”

He shook his head and kissed me once more. “Bye, Y/N. Put your seatbelt on.”

“Unless she plans on staying for dessert!” I called after him as he made his walk back to his apartment building.

And that wasn’t the last time I saw Adrienne. I ran into her maybe two more times while visiting Frank, but more importantly she came to my job. We were throwing a birthday party for the bar owner and I invited Frank to come keep me company while I worked the night. I didn’t expect him to show, him not being one for a large crowd, but I was surprised when he did. And I was even more surprised when he showed up with Adrienne.

“Wow, you came,” I spoke with as much enthusiasm I could muster before addressing his date. “Nice to see you again, Adrienne. How you been?”

“Busy with work. Someone thought I needed to unwind a little bit,” she said as she grinned at Frank, “so here I am.”

“Well, glad you could make it. If there’s anything you need gimme a holler.”

“Can we start with you point me to the ladies?”

I directed her to the restroom and she parted, rubbing Frank’s shoulder beforehand. I handled a few customers all while exchanging glances with Frank until I could take a minute from the chaos to talk to him. “Looks like the family’s all here. Only one missin’ is Max.”

“He had a previous engagement.”

“... Seriously, Frank? I invited you because you know this place like the back of your hand- These people! And you brought your little girlfriend here??”

“She needed a break, I offered a suggestion.”

“Not your place.” I slid a pitcher of beer across the bar and picked up the cash, looking at Frank in between counting. “Bringing her here to unwind? Let loose a little? That your plan?”

He nodded. “Yes, actually, it was.”

“Yeah? And then what?” I crossed my arms to try to calm what I felt was a flaring temper and to brace myself for whatever his response may be, but Adrienne returned and took a seat next to him. I sighed, rolling my eyes at him and looking at her. “So what’ll it be? A round of relaxation on me.”

“In that case, I’ll take a rum and coke.”

“Comin’ up. And for you, I won’t even water down the rum. Beer, Frank?”

“I’m good, thanks.”

“Nonsense. No empty hands or healthy livers on my watch.” I noticed his jaw flex as he watched me behind the bar, as I tested him over this Adrienne thing. He brought her here, and I wasn’t going to deal with this sober or alone. I served their drinks and raised my shot of vodka for a toast. “To friends.”

“To friends,” Adrienne repeated with a smile. Frank raised his beer bottle but said nothing, eyes not leaving mine as we toasted and drank together.

The more we drank and the further the night moved along, the more comfortable Adrienne got with Frank. I couldn’t stay with them all night, as I was still technically on the clock, but as I worked I noticed how she threw herself all over him. Frank mingled with a few of the regulars that he was more familiar with and she clung to him, arm wrapped around his waist or linked in his. Even one of the other bartenders, Vanessa, asked who Frank came with, wondering if she was his girl or something.

And as much as it shouldn’t have pissed me off, the fact she managed to get him on a dancefloor just burned me up. Granted he wasn’t dancing at all; it looked more like a bodyguard standing next to a celebrity having a really good time. The fact remained I couldn’t get him to even snap a finger to a tune with me in the two years I’ve known him, let alone step anywhere near a dancefloor. I took a shot every time I felt a pang of jealousy strike me and focused on work until Adrienne came and sat at the bar alone. “Bartender! Let me get a mojito and two shots of Honey Jack.”

I grit my teeth and made her order, deciding it best not to express my annoyance at being called bartender when she knew my name. “Hey, you ever seen Frank get drunk?”

“He doesn’t drink much; a beer here and there.”

“I mean, I know he says I’m wound up but geez. Has he met himself?” I gave her a weak half smile. I didn’t want to talk about Frank, didn’t wanna be reminded of all the things I knew about him that she had no idea of. “So tell me this: what’s really goin’ on between you two? Frank tells me you two are just friends; that true?”

I shrugged, biting the inside of my cheek. “If that’s what he says then that’s what we are.”

“Then you don’t have a problem if I… ya know.” She grinned and looked over her shoulder at Frank, who was talking to one of our bouncers and looking at us. She waved before turning back at me, biting her lip. “You guys never even… Not once?”

“... Are you asking if we had sex?”

“Curious minds wanna know.”

“Curiosity gets people in trouble.” I slid the drinks at her, ready for her to leave my immediate space. “That’ll be $15.”

“$15? But I thought…”

“Oh I’m not charging for the drinks, just the sugar, lime and mint it took to make yours. The liquor’s still free; friendship discount.” I smiled and held my hand out as she stared at me before rolling her eyes and reaching into her clutch.

“Expensive limes,” she muttered under her breath.

“Only the best.”

“You can keep the change. Save it for the next time Frank needs you for a dog food run.”

“What was that?” My face fell cold as steel before she tossed me a fake smile and left. I needed something to lighten my mood before I snatched that smile from her face. I’m guessing Frank could see me gritting my teeth from across the room because soon after she left he was taking her place. “Check your girl, Frank.”

“My girl…”

“I’m two seconds from scratching her face off, I want you to know that.”

“How much have you had to drink tonight?”

“Are you listening to me? She’s disrespecting me.”

“Yeah? You haven’t been all that warm and friendly yourself.”

“Are you shitting me? I’m giving her free drinks, smiling and making nice since I met her!”

“You think any o’ that shit matters when you’re pretending?”

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. “Of course you’re defending her. She’s still that weak girl that got her purse stolen and needed you to come to her rescue.”

“What does that make you?”

“I didn’t ask you to intervene, I was handling myself just fine! And I’m asking you to intervene now for her sake- This is the last warning I’m giving either of you. Next time I’m knocking her goddamn head off-”

“-Alright,” he said as he nodded to himself and rose from the barstool. “C’mon, come take your break-”

“-Gladly.” I told Vanessa I’d be back when I followed Frank off to a corner of the bar a little further away from the party. “I tried, Frank, I did- I tried not to be bothered by her, but I am. And I’m even more bothered you actually brought her here.”

He chuckled to himself as he leaned against the wall opposite me. “What, you think I didn’t know that?”

“Then why did you do it?”

“I didn’t know I needed your permission to bring her to a public bar-”

“-Oh, fuck you. Public bar my ass- I didn’t ask you to come to the goddamn library, I asked you to come to a birthday party for friends, people we know, a place where you’re a regular.”

“So what, this is our place? S’at what you’re sayin’?”

“Can’t believe you’re being such an asshole about this-”

“-C’mon, tell me what the real problem is you have with her. What did she do that was so offensive you instantly decided not to like her from the start-”

“-Oh, stop it! This isn’t me just picking on the new girl, this is you not setting boundaries with her from the beginning. Then again we’re all friends, right? I mean, that’s what you told her, that I’m your friend? So that’s my mistake, thinking you needed to draw a line somewhere with her-”

“-Was there a conversation you and me were supposed to have somewhere along the line that I’m forgettin’?”

“I mean, I’m not expecting you to confess your love for me to the girl or anything, but shit. Friends? Really? So since we’re both your friends, that means you fuck her like you fuck me then too, right?”

“What would you like me to call you?”

“Damn, even an it’s complicated is more than just calling me a friend! At least then she’d know there was somethin’ else here instead of having to ask me if we fucked!”

“She asked you that?”

“You sound surprised.”

“What did you tell her?”

“I’m sure you guys can talk about it on the way home.”

“She shouldna asked you-”

“-Well no fucking shit, Frank! It’s none of her business!”

“It’s none of her business unless it puts her in her place right? You wouldn’t mind telling her about what we do if it made her back off me, right?”

I scoffed. “What is it, Frank? You need the both of us to kiss your ass? I didn’t peg you to be so greedy-”

“-I didn’t peg you to be so jealous.”

“Of what? Some sheep that clings onto you for dear life? I’ve never been that girl, never will be. If you wanted a leech then congrats, you got it.”

“That’s right, you’re a tough girl. Don’t need anyone, can handle everything by yourself, hm?”

“She asked if we had sex, talked to me like I was the fucking help, and you’re standing here defending her to me! You’re talkin’ to me as if I brought it on myself, like I’m the mean girl finally getting what’s due to me or some shit!”

“I can’t talk to you when you’re like this. All this liquor in you, all fired up; you won’t hear any reason at all.”

“You’re gonna try to reason with me on this? What would you like me to do, bend over and take it while she comes for my neck at my own job?”

“You know what we are, you know what we do; why does it matter what she says?”

“Clearly I don’t know if all you told her was that you and I are friends! She thinks what she does because you never told her otherwise!”

He nodded. “You’re right. I’ll tell her right now that you are the person I, what? Think of as more than a friend, fuck somewhat often, but wouldn’t call my girlfriend because that’s not a step I’m ready to take just yet. That sum it up?”

I shrugged. “Works fine for me.” I stared at him to let him know I was serious when he shook his head and a smile started to break on his face, and when Frank smiled it was incredibly contagious. “I’m serious!”

“I know, which is what makes this even more ridiculous. You’re unbelievable.”

“Wait ‘til you see me when my claws come out…”

“Nah nah, no need for any o’ that. I’ll talk to her.”

“You’ll talk to her?”

“Yes, yes yes. I’d hate to have to protect her from you.”

“Yeah, I bet. You thought a mugger and a drunk were trouble; you haven’t seen two women going at it over Frank Castle.”

“Wasn’t aware I was so much of a prize.”

“Ugh, geez. Don’t flatter yourself.” I rolled my eyes and made my way back to the bar but he took my arm in his hand, pulling me in front of him. “Don’t worry that shaved head of yours.”

“You calmed down?”

“Yeah yeah, I calmed down, I’m good.”

“Good. And no more drinkin’ tonight.”

“You cuttin’ me off?”

“Someone has to.”

“Lookin’ out for me again… You just can’t help yourself, can you?” I asked as I moved closer to him, hooking my index fingers through the belt loops of his jeans.

“I can’t let you do anything too damaging to that perfect image you’ve made for yourself. What kinda man would that make me?”

“A very bad one.”

“How bad?” His voice dropped low enough for only me to hear, and as I caught a glimpse over his shoulder I noticed a certain someone staring holes into us. My eyes connected with his; I wonder if he could sense the more sinister side of me behind them.

“Just awful. Kinda bad you have nightmares about.”

“Can’t have that now, can we?”

“No we can not,” I whispered before taking his bottom lip between my teeth. “Come over my place tonight,” I spoke after standing on my tiptoes to talk directly in his ear over the music.

“Thought you didn’t like leaving Max alone?”

“Well I feel a lot better knowing he has more than enough food to last a lifetime, thanks to me. I think I need taking care of myself tonight…”

“Tell you what: you stop drinkin’ now, I’ll come over later.”

“You’re gonna come over regardless. You can’t pass an opportunity to take care of me.”

“You takin’ advantage?”

“Oh, absolutely,” I said devilishly before grabbing the sides of his face and pulling him down for a kiss, not caring who saw and knowing one person in particular was eyeing the show. His hands found my waist and gripped firmly, which was unusual behavior for Frank; he wasn’t one for much PDA. If I decided to be a little frisky with him in public he gave me his usual stern look as he shook his head, neither encouraging or stopping me. Funny, maybe this was Frank with a few beers in him.

I had no complaints. And when I pulled away from him and caught Adrienne enjoying the view I gave her a wink. “Maybe you won’t have to talk to her after all…”

He looked over his shoulder and caught her quickly looking away, suddenly chatting it up with one of the bartenders. “I’m sure that wasn’t calculated at all.”

“If I learned anything about calculated moves it’d be from you.” I kissed his jaw once more before walking away, feeling recharged and ready to finish working so I could get home and cap off the night with Frank. On my way back to the party I passed Adrienne as she clearly avoided looking at me. “You enjoy the rest of your night, sweetheart,” I whispered in her ear, my cattier nature getting the best of me for the night.

Check and mate.

#frank castle x reader #frank castle #frank x reader #frank castle imagine #frank castle fic

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williamlwolf89 · 4 years ago

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The 5 Best Free Blogging Platforms in 2020 (100% Unbiased)

We did a deep dive and reviewed the best free blogging platforms the web has to offer. Learn which one is right for you (and why).

So, you’d like to take blogging for a test drive, eh?

See if you like it or not before ponying up the bucks for a complete self-hosted WordPress setup?

You’ve probably heard you can start a blog for free, and indeed you can. The big question is:

What’s the best blogging platform right now?

And the answer is… it depends on what you’re trying to accomplish.

In this post, we’ll go over all the different free blogging platforms and give you the pros and cons of each, but first, let’s stop to ponder a more fundamental question:

Table of Contents

Do You Even Need a Free Blogging Platform?

No Blog Platform is Right for Everyone

The 5 Best Free Blog Sites in 2020:

1. Medium: Best Platform for Simplicity

2. WordPress.com: Best Sandbox Platform

3. LinkedIn: Best Platform for Professionals

4. Instagram: Best Platform for Visuals

5. Guest Blogging: Best Platform for Building Your Authority

Making the Switch to Self-Hosted WordPress

What’s the Best Blogging Platform for You?

Do You Even Need a Free Blogging Platform?

The truth:

Blogging can be expensive.

Download Our Blogging Platforms Primer(it's a free, handy PDF guide)

If you’re a seasoned blogger who’s been around the block a time or two, who’s already figured out which ideas work and which don’t, it’s easy to chalk up these costs as the price of doing business. Spend money, make money. Wash, rinse, and repeat.

But what if you’re a beginner learning how to start a blog for the first time? What if you’re someone who hasn’t yet figured what works and what doesn’t?

I’ll let you in on a secret…

You can experiment just as well on a free blog site as you can on a self-hosted WordPress blog setup with all the bells and whistles.

Actually, you can experiment better on a free blogging platform since the learning curve isn’t as steep.

Do you really want to experience the inevitable growing pains of blogging while forking over large piles of cash each month?

Free blogging platforms allow you to confirm your new blog topic has potential, spy on the competitors in your niche, and test your ideas without spending any of your hard-earned dough.

So which one is best?

Well, that’s the thing:

No Blog Platform Is Right for Everyone

Different bloggers have different needs, and different blog platforms are good for different things. Ultimately, “best” will depend on you and your situation.

That said, each of the platforms we’ll discuss do have common traits (besides being free). Let’s briefly look at them before we dive in:

There’s zero maintenance hassle. The burden of maintenance doesn’t fall on you when you use a free blogging platform. No worries about software updates, CSS or HTML tweaks, data backups, or gremlins hacking your server — they’re all handled by someone else.

They’re easy to use. To varying degrees, each platform is user friendly to beginners. With limited tech savviness, you could get started today.

Customization is limited. If you’re a micromanager who likes things to be customizable, take a deep breath: you will not have full control or unlimited options when you use a free blogging platform.

That last one can be both a blessing and a curse.

Once you get serious about blogging, the limited customization options of free platforms will likely hold you back. When you’re just starting though, the limitations will help you focus on what’s important: the aforementioned testing of your ideas.

Alright, enough prologue.

Ready to find out which platform is best for you? Let’s go.

Editor’s Note: There are loads of options out there (Wix.com, Tumblr, Weebly, Joomla, Blogspot, Typepad, Ghost, and Squarespace are other popular blogging platforms), but we’re focusing on our favorite five.

1. Medium: Best Platform for Simplicity

First up is Medium.

Founded by Evan Williams, one of the founders of Twitter, Medium launched in August 2012 to much fanfare, and it’s grown into a behemoth. According to the New York Times, as of May 2017, Medium was up to 60 million unique visitors each month.

That’s considerably less than WordPress, but Google Trends indicates the tide could be turning:

The red line in the graphic above represents the number of worldwide search engine searches for “wordpress” during the past five years. The blue line represents the number of searches for “medium.”

Granted, some of those “Medium” searches could be for the TV show of the same name that starred Patricia Arquette from 2005 through 2011.

Nonetheless, its growth is impressive.

How Do You Get Started?

Medium offers multiple ways to register.

Don’t want to remember yet another password for yet another account? No problem. Sign up using one of your social media accounts.

Go to Medium.com and click the “Get Started” button:

Choose Google or Facebook. You’ll then be asked to log into your (Google or Facebook) account. Once you authorize Medium to access your account, it will redirect you back to Medium.

That’s it.

To get to your Medium account in the future, all you have to do is click “Sign In” on the homepage and choose the “Sign in with Google” or “Sign in with Facebook” option.

Or if you already have a Twitter account, it’s even easier. Choose the “Sign In” link instead of the “Get Started” button, and you’ll see the following:

Click the “Sign in with Twitter” button (even though you haven’t yet signed up).

If you haven’t already logged into Twitter, you’ll be asked to log in and then authorize Medium to access your Twitter account.

Click “Ok,” and you’ll be off to the races.

What Do You Get For $0?

A simple, beautiful WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) blogging platform that embraces minimalism.

After you join, click your avatar (the floating head) in the top-right corner of the page and then, select “New story.”

You’ll land on a clean, easy-to-use, drag-and-drop editor.

Where to insert the title for your post is clearly defined. So, too, is where to begin typing your first sentence.

Every change you make gets automatically saved in the background. And as you type, you begin to see exactly how your finished post will appear to your readers.

That’s the beauty of a WYSIWYG editor.

There’s no guessing, no wondering, and no trial and error. If your post looks good in the editor, it’s going to look good when your post goes live after you click the “Ready to publish?” button.

And speaking of what happens after publishing, there’s something else Medium offers you for the whopping price of zero dollars and zero cents:

The chance to be featured in front of their 60+ million readers.

Write something that wows people and, if it receives enough love from readers (they click a “clap” button to show their approval), it could get featured as one of Medium’s top stories on their app and website…

Or in their “Daily Digest” email…

Such a spotlight would mean lots of new eyeballs on your content.

Who Should Use Medium?

Anyone. Everyone.

Seriously, though it isn’t perfect, you’ll be hard pressed to find a blogging topic or niche that Medium can’t service.

This is especially true if your niche will be self-improvement or entrepreneurship. Medium puts your content, your message, front and center to your readers.

As Evan Williams once put it: “Medium is not about who you are or whom you know, but about what you have to say.”

Best-selling authors. Entrepreneurs. Writers who stepped away for a season, but are making a comeback. Ministers who have a good sense of humor. Yours truly.

All have things to say, and all have found homes on Medium.

Who Should NOT Use Medium?

Microbloggers (you’d be better off using Instagram — more on that later).

Those who don’t plan on using their blog for writing (photographers, podcasters, etc.).

Anyone who likes to color outside the lines.

Medium is all about the written word. Sure, graphics embedded into Medium posts look great, but in the end, it all comes back to the words.

Medium is best for those who love words. It excels at typography. It uses an abundance of white space so that its text has a perfect canvas. And it embraces a minimalistic design so that nothing distracts your readers from your precious — yes, I’m going to repeat it — words.

Look at this example screenshot from a post written by Jeff Goins:

Black text on a white background. A simple, easy-to-read font. It’s a perfect arrangement for Jeff’s strong, unique voice.

Medium offers no glitz, glam, or sparkles. And, unlike WordPress.com (which provides a few basic design themes and customization options), Medium is one size fits all.

What you see is what you get.

If you like what you see, great. If you don’t, there’s not a lot you can do about it.

Final Word on Medium

What are the Pros?

Built-in audience of over 60 million readers!

Good for all blog types

Excellent typography — your blog will look professional

More business friendly than WordPress.com

Monetization is possible with the Medium Partner Program

What are the Cons?

Little, if any, customization — your blog will look like every other Medium blog

Though Medium offers stats, you won’t be able to link to your Google account and use Google Analytics

Conclusion: If the written word is your preferred medium, you’ll do very well with Medium. It’s an easy-to-use platform that puts your strong words front and center, and it’s the platform we most often recommend to beginner bloggers.

But is it the right choice for everyone?

Let’s look at the other options…

2. WordPress.com: Best Sandbox Platform

Source: Lorelle on WordPress

Launched in 2005, WordPress.com is a turnkey content management system (CMS) built on the open-source WordPress.org software.

In any given month, over 409 million people will view more than 21 billion pages on WordPress.com’s network of blogs. Back in September 2018, more than 70 million posts were published and over 52 million blog comments were written.

In short, WordPress is quite popular.

How Do You Get Started?

Signing up for a free account takes only a few minutes.

Go to WordPress.com and click the “Get Started” button to get to Step 1:

You’ll need to enter your email address, a username, and a strong password.

Next, enter a few details about your blog for Step 2:

For Step 3, enter an address for your site:

Once you’ve typed something, you’ll get a list of options. Be sure to select the “Free” one.

Finally, in Step 4 you pick a plan. Again, choose the “Free” option.

What Do You Get For $0?

WordPress.com’s “free for life” plan gives you numerous features, including:

A free WordPress.com subdomain

“Jetpack” essential features

Community support

Dozens of free themes

Let’s look at those features in more detail:

Free Subdomain

A couple of definitions are probably in order…

First, what’s a domain? See the address bar at the top of your browser? What comes after the “https://” is the domain.

In the case of this site, the custom domain name is smartblogger.com. For my site, it’s beabetterblogger.com.

And in the case of WordPress, the domain name is wordpress.com.

So what’s a subdomain? If the domain is the parent, the subdomain is the child. Anything between the “https://” and the domain is a subdomain.

Some examples:

alumni.harvard.edu

braves.mlb.com

finance.yahoo.com

That’s what WordPress is offering with its free subdomain.

So, if I wanted to start “Kevin’s Awesome Blog” on WordPress.com, my subdomain might be something like kevinsawesomeblog. Readers would type kevinsawesomeblog.wordpress.com in their browser to view my site.

It’s not a good look if you’re a business (more on that later), but for a sandbox blog where you’re testing your ideas, it’ll do the trick.

Jetpack Essential Features

WordPress.com doesn’t allow third-party plugins (unless you upgrade to their “business” plan). So, if your buddy tells you about this “amazing” WordPress plugin “you’ve got to try,” you’re out of luck until you upgrade to a self-hosted WordPress site.

However, WordPress.com’s free plan does come with many built-in plugins that offer everything from spam protection to contact forms.

For a complete list of the built-in functionality that WordPress.com offers, check out their plugins page.

Community Support

Possibly WordPress.com’s best feature (beyond the price) is its extensive support system and knowledgebase.

You can find virtually anything you need to know about using their free platform in WordPress.com’s Support section. To call their collection of how-to articles merely “extensive” would be an understatement.

And if you have a specific question you need an answer for, they have you covered there too.

Visit the WordPress.com forum, search to see if anyone has had your same question, and browse the answers. Can’t find the solution you need? Post the question yourself.

Free Themes

Whereas Medium prevents you from customizing the look of your blog, WordPress.com gives you options.

With “dozens” (93 at the time of this writing) of free themes from which to choose, WordPress.com offers design flexibility that isn’t available with Medium and the other free platforms.

And, last but not least, WordPress.com offers the WordPress block editor, which allows users to build custom posts and pages.

What we’re saying is…

You get a lot for “free.”

Who Should Use WordPress.com?

WordPress.com is a solid platform for almost every type of blogger.

Do you want to be a self-help blogger? Good news — WordPress.com will meet your needs.

Want to blog on food, pets, or politics? You’re in luck.

Just want to write about life? That’s WordPress.com’s jam, my friend.

Source: The Next Adventure

But WordPress.com is good for more than just blogging. You can also use it for projects and e-commerce stores, which isn’t something the other free platforms can claim.

That gives it an edge over the other options. If you want to blog and do something else with your site, WordPress.com offers flexibility the others do not.

However, it’s not a good fit for everyone…

Who Should NOT Use WordPress.com?

If you want to blog for a business, you should skip WordPress.com and look into Medium or LinkedIn (which we’ll discuss in a moment).

Why?

Because it makes you look like a cheapskate.

Free is wonderful, but using WordPress.com when you’re a business is the equivalent of handing out business cards with the printer’s logo on the back of them.

Doesn’t exactly scream “I’m a professional,” does it?

Also:

If you’re hoping to join a blogging community where your posts have a chance to be discovered by new audiences, you should look elsewhere.

Medium shines a spotlight on the best their members have to offer. If you write something great, it has a chance to be featured and seen by millions.

WordPress.com? Not so much.

Here’s a screenshot of the most-recent “Editors’ Picks” on the official WordPress.com blog:

There might as well be tumbleweeds blowing across the screen.

Final Word on WordPress.com

What are the Pros?

Suitable for a variety of blog types

Solid support articles and forum

More design options than other free platforms

Shorter learning curve if you choose to transition to self-hosted WordPress later

Website builder that’s good for more than just blogs

Premium plans are available, for those interested

What are the Cons?

Not ideal for businesses

You can’t install premium or free WordPress themes and plugins (or other blogging tools) from third parties

Lack of community makes it difficult to build an audience from scratch

WordPress advertising and banners may appear next to your content

Conclusion: If you’re a non-business blogger who wants an easy to use platform that gives you some control over customization, WordPress.com is a solid option — especially if you plan to transition to self-hosted WordPress someday.

3. LinkedIn: Best Platform for Professionals

Source: Darren Rowse

Next up is LinkedIn.

Primarily used for professional networking, LinkedIn also offers a publishing platform. This allows any of its 560 million users (as of September 2018) to write posts that could (potentially) be read by any of the 260 million members who are active in a given month.

(Again, potentially.)

How Do You Get Started?

Go to LinkedIn.com, and you’ll see this window encouraging you to join:

Enter your name, your email, and a strong password. Then click the “Join now” button.

You’ll then be asked to answer a few simple questions:

Your country and zip code

Whether or not you’re a student (if no, you’ll enter your job title and the name of your employer; if yes, you’ll enter the name of your school and other relevant info)

Your reason for joining LinkedIn

It sounds like a lot, but it’s fairly harmless.

Still, if you feel the urge to throw your computer into the dumpster, we won’t blame you.

What Do You Get For $0?

A free-to-use publishing platform that’s focused on professionals and business contacts.

If you’re already a LinkedIn member, publishing your content will be easier than WordPress.com, Medium, or any other blogging platform.

Why?

Because it’s built right into your LinkedIn profile. Click the “Write an article” button and start writing.

Who Should Use LinkedIn?

Anyone who wants to reach professionals and businesses.

After all, that’s what LinkedIn is all about, right? Nurturing business relationships.

Source: Syed Balkhi

Blogging on LinkedIn helps to cultivate those relationships.

When you write an article, LinkedIn will notify your existing connections. If your article is great (and why wouldn’t it be?), they’ll take notice. Write more and more great articles, and they’ll start to see you as an authority.

And, like with Medium, great content on LinkedIn has a chance to get noticed by those outside your list of connections.

If one of LinkedIn’s editors sees your masterpiece and decides to feature it on one of LinkedIn’s numerous channels, your work gets exposed to a giant audience of interested, like-minded professionals.

Tip: Want to increase the chances a LinkedIn editor will see your article? Share it on Twitter and include “tip @LinkedInEditors” in your tweet.

Who Should NOT Use LinkedIn?

This one is pretty straightforward…

If you aren’t a working professional, or you’re not looking to reach working professionals, you’ll be better off choosing one of the other free platforms.

Final Word on LinkedIn

What are the Pros?

Good for professionals and businesses

Clean, simple design

Ease of use — publishing platform is built right into your LinkedIn profile

Built-in audience of like-minded professionals

What are the Cons?

Only good for professionals and businesses

Very few customization options

You can’t schedule posts for future publishing

Conclusion: If you’re looking to write posts that will reach professionals and businesses, LinkedIn is the best free blogging platform available.

4. Instagram: Best Platform for Visuals

A photo and video-sharing platform that’s owned by Facebook, Instagram is one of the largest social media sites in the world.

As of June 2018, Instagram has 1 billion users worldwide. The previous September, they had 800 million users — a growth of 200 million in only nine months.

Even if you subtract everyone who follows a Kardashian or has posted a photo of themselves impersonating a duck, Instagram offers an audience of well over 75 people.

(Kidding. Mostly.)

How Do You Get Started?

On a personal computer, go to Instagram.com, and you’ll see the following:

Enter your phone number or email address, your name, your desired username, and a strong password. Then click the “Sign up” button.

Or, skip all that and click the “Log in with Facebook” button (assuming you have a Facebook account). If you aren’t already logged in, it will ask you to log into your Facebook account.

You could also do the above using the Instagram app on your mobile device.

What Do You Get For $0?

You get an extremely popular social media platform that’s perfect for microblogging.

What’s microblogging, you ask? Here’s how it works:

You get a great image. Maybe it’s a photo you took on your camera, or perhaps it’s a Creative Commons image that perfectly fits your current shade of melancholy.

You upload the image to Instagram.

And for the caption? You write a short blog post.

Here are a couple examples:

In the above screenshot, Sarah Von Bargen cleverly plugs a course she offers in the midst of a tiny, bite-sized post (accompanied by a photo of assorted beverages).

And in the below screenshot, my friend Jaime Buckley (in true Jaime Buckley style), uses Instagram to publish an eye-catching graphic alongside 107 inspirational words on parenting.

That’s microblogging — and it can be done very, very well using Instagram.

Note: If you’re on Instagram and looking for tips to grow your following, check out this guide from Blogging Wizard.

Who Should Use Instagram?

Anyone who focuses on highly-visual topics.

Models…

Photographers…

Yoga instructors…

Professional chefs…

Make-up artists, hair stylists, clothing stores…

The list goes on and on.

If you’re someone who can combine great visuals with short posts that pack a punch, you can have great success using Instagram as a microblogging platform.

Who Should NOT Use Instagram?

If your idea of appealing to your audience’s sensory details involves pulling out the iPhone 3G you’ve had since 2008 and snapping a photo, Instagram may not be the platform for you.

If you tend to draft novels when you write, Instagram’s 2,200 character limit when writing captions could prove problematic.

Also, if your target audience tends to shy away from mobile devices for any reason, Instagram might not be the best platform to test your ideas. Instagram started life as a mobile app. Mobile is where it shines, and it’s where most of its users call home.

(So, if you’re planning to start a Wilford Brimley fan club, it’s probably best to skip Instagram.)

Final Word on Instagram

What are the Pros?

Great for visual topics

Ideal platform for microblogging (short posts)

Great if your target audience primarily uses mobile devices

What are the Cons?

Limited to 2,200 characters

Limited to one hyperlink (in your bio)

If your target audience isn’t on mobile, it’s less than ideal

Conclusion: Instagram offers a great microblogging platform geared toward visual topics. However, it is not kind to fans of the great Wilford Brimley.

5. Guest Blogging: Best Platform for Building Your Authority

Sometimes, the best platform for your work is someone else’s popular blog.

Why? Because it can mean instant credibility.

Once your post publishes on a site like Smart Blogger, Forbes, Lifehacker, or Business Insider; people look at you differently.

Yesterday, you were just you — a talented, attractive writer living in obscurity. But then, after having your work published on a well-known website, you’re now seen as a subject matter expert in your field.

What happened? Guest blogging happened.

How Do You Get Started?

There are two approaches to finding sites where you can contribute guest posts.

The first is easy…

Check to see if the blogs you already like to read (that are relevant to your niche, of course) accept guest post submissions.

Browse their “About” or “Start” pages. Try their “Contact” page. Sometimes, they’ll make it easy and have a “Contribute” or “Write for Us” link in their navigation menu or footer.

The second approach involves utilizing Google’s and Twitter’s search capability.

Here’s how it works:

As you can in the screenshot above, you can query a topic (in this example: “blogging”) along with a search phrase (“write for us”).

Google returned a list of results that contained both of those search terms/phrases.

Click on the results that look promising, browse the sites, and see if they’re a good fit. Not all sites will be worth your time. Skip the ones that aren’t. Bookmark the matches.

Then try some other, similar queries:

“Blogging” + “guest post”

“Blogging” + “contribute”

“Blog tips” + “write for us”

And so on.

Replace “blogging” and “blogging tips” with whatever topics you would like to write about.

Searching for guest blogging opportunities on Twitter follows a similar routine:

Type “guest post”, “guest blog post”, “guest article”, etc. in the search box. Twitter will give you a list of tweets where people used those exact phrases.

Every time someone proudly tweets that a guest post they’ve written has been published on someone’s site, as Meera Kothand does in the above screenshot, it’s saved by Twitter for posterity. And it allows you to go on an archaeological hunt to find it.

Scroll through the results.

Based on the title of the guest post and the site that published it, you will have a good idea whether or not it’s a match for you. Keep scrolling until you find some possibilities. Click the link in the tweet, browse the site, and bookmark it for later if you think it’s a contender.

What Do You Get For $0?

You get the chance to put your words in front of already-existing, relevant audiences.

Jon wasn’t an unknown when he wrote How to Quit Your Job, Move to Paradise and Get Paid to Change the World as a guest post for Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger in 2011, but he was an unknown to me until I discovered the post a few years later.

Then everything changed.

It didn’t matter that Jon was already well known by most thanks to his former role at Copyblogger; for me, his ProBlogger post was a gateway drug.

Jon went from being an unknown — a riddle, wrapped in an enigma, smothered in secret sauce — to an authority on blogging I had to read.

That’s the power of guest blogging. Every time you put your words in front of newly targeted audiences; you have the chance to gain fans for life.

Who Should Guest Blog?

Anyone who wants to build their credibility and boost their authority.

How can guest blogging do that, you ask? Let’s use me as an example.

Before I wrote my first guest post for Smart Blogger, I only had a handful of freelance writing jobs under my belt.

After reading a post about quitting your job and moving to paradise written by some guy named Jon, launching my own blog sounded like a great idea.

So that’s what I did. I was on unemployment at the time, working from home, and I had a lot of free time on my hands.

And I was doing a great job in such a short period.

The only problem?

I had little credibility. The only people who viewed me as an authority on blogging or writing were my wife and maybe one of our cats.

Then I received an email…

Jon’s editor, the talented Glen Long, invited me to write a guest post for Smart Blogger (formerly known as Boost Blog Traffic).

That guest post…

Led to a second opportunity…

Which led to a third…

Which led to the post you’re reading right now.

It led to opportunities like writing for Syed Balkhi over at OptinMonster.

It led to being asked to provide quotes for dozens of blog posts and articles.

It led to flattering, tongue-placed-firmly-in-cheek emails like this one from James Chartrand:

And while it may not have led to tons of traffic for my website or large crowds chanting my name in the streets, guest blogging did something that would have taken me considerable time to do on my own:

It legitimized me.

Hey, and speaking of website traffic…

Who Should NOT Guest Blog?

Anyone who wants to build up their own blog.

The reason? It isn’t very efficient.

Brace yourself…

You would better off publishing your masterpiece on your website, even if it isn’t yet popular, rather than on someone else’s — even if their website is very popular.

Please don’t misunderstand: Guest blogging is a great way to gain credibility; however, it isn’t a great way to get traffic to your blog. Not anymore.

Guest blogging may have been a nice traffic source in the past, but those days are long gone.

In his eye-opening article on the topic, Tim Soulo determined guest blogging was a poor return on investment if your goal was to generate traffic to your website.

According to Tim’s survey of over 500 bloggers (which included yours truly):

Guest posts from those in the marketing niche earned their authors an average of only 56 website clicks

85% of the authors received fewer than 100 referrals to their sites

That doesn’t mean you should never guest blog. It just means you need to be clear about your reasons for doing so.

Guest blog for credibility, for boosting your authority, and for building your brand.

Don’t guest blog if you’re hoping for traffic. More often than not, you’ll be disappointed.

Oh, and there’s one more group who shouldn’t guest blog:

Those who want to take shortcuts.

There’s both good and bad when you’re putting your words in front of a large audience. If your post teaches them something new, inspires them, or gives them something juicy to chew on; they’ll remember you for it.

And if it sucks? Yeah, they’ll remember you for that too.

Guest blogging is a great way to build your authority, but it’s also a great way to destroy it.

If you’re not willing to put in the time and do the work, guest blogging isn’t for you.

Final Word on Guest Blogging

What are the Pros?

Write for interested, targeted audiences

Fastest way to build your authority and reputation

What are the Cons?

Fastest way to destroy your authority and reputation

Not an efficient method for getting traffic to your own website

Getting published on quality sites is hard work

Time-consuming — may be hard to fit into busy schedules

Conclusion: Guest blogging is a great way to build your authority and get your content in front of new readers. It’s hard work, but it’s worth it. However, it’s unlikely to generate tangible traffic to your blog.

Making the Switch to Self-Hosted WordPress

Technically, there’s one more free option out there…

The WordPress.org software — the same software used by WordPress.com — is free too. It’s free for any and all to use.

However, just like there’s no such thing as a free puppy (once you factor in food, veterinarian bills, and replacing all your shoes after they’ve become chew toys), WordPress.org’s software isn’t actually free once you add up the other expenses.

See, to use the software, you need a blog hosting provider (aka web hosting service like SiteGround, WP Engine, or Bluehost). You need to register a domain name (some hosting providers give you a free domain, but we recommend keeping your domain registrar and web host separate). You have to install WordPress on your own web host. That costs money. You’ll also need your own domain name. That costs money too.

Is this something you will want to do eventually? Absolutely. Just not right now. Not when you’re getting started.

So how will you know when you’re ready?

Jon recommends making the switch once you reach a 20% outreach success rate.

What does that mean? Let’s break it down:

Step #1: Register for a Free Blog Site

Step #2: Follow Jon’s New Method for Starting a Blog

If you haven’t read How to Start a Blog, do so immediately.

(Well, not immediately. Finish reading this post; leave us a comment; and share it with all your friends, loved ones, and acquaintances. Then, by all means, immediately after saying hi on Twitter, go and read Jon’s excellent tutorial.)

In the post, Jon shows you how to conduct a miniature outreach campaign where you email 10-20 influential bloggers and ask them to share your blog posts.

Once you’ve hit a 20% success rate, you’re ready to make the transition.

Step #3: Switch to Self-Hosted WordPress

Jon’s post also offers guidance for making the switch. When you’re ready to choose a web host, be sure to read WordPress Hosting: A Brutally Honest Guide That’ll Save You Money. If you’re on a tight budget and “cost” is your chief concern, check out 11 Free WordPress Hosting Services That Don’t Suck.

It’ll help you pick the best host and paid plan for your needs and budget.

What’s the Best Blogging Platform for You?

That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?

You now know why testing your ideas on a free blogging platform when you’re just starting is a good idea. You now know the pros and cons of Medium, WordPress.com, LinkedIn, Instagram, and guest blogging. And, you now know how to get started with each of them.

So which one is it going to be?

If you want my honest opinion, the answer is simple…

The best free blogging platform is whichever one will get you to stop dipping your toes into the water and start diving in head first.

The next blogging masterpiece isn’t going to write itself.

Are you ready?

Then let’s do this thing.

The post The 5 Best Free Blogging Platforms in 2020 (100% Unbiased) appeared first on Smart Blogger.

from SEO and SM Tips https://smartblogger.com/blogging-platforms/

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skqq-net · 5 years ago

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Choosing the Best Free eCommerce Platform: Here Are Top 6 Choices!

All folks is acutely aware of – as quickly as you esteem to own to variety cash, it’s well-known to make use of cash. It’s an identical previous information that essentially the most conventional eCommerce platforms accessible attain not include out a tag tag.

Or…Possibly they attain? There are actually lots of huge free eCommerce options you may effectively have the choice to get from. It’s most likely going you will effectively perhaps sincere possess sincere obtained to grasp the connect to sight.

In make clear to go looking out them, I’ve finished lots of examine and tons of of creating an check out so that you just simply establish not should. I’ve chosen these options on fable of they provide essentially the most creative administration over the function of your retailer and heaps of them include the chance so as to add plugins to additional scale what you might be selling. And, for sure, they’re all free!

Proper right here is my itemizing of the best 6 free eCommerce platforms for you to try out:

wordpress with WooCommerce (For use with wordpress)

Magento Crew Version (Best for organising a totally personalized on-line retailer)

NopCommerce (Best eCommerce acknowledge basically based totally on ASP.NET)

OpenCart (Best for startups and small enterprise homeowners)

X-Cart (Best for on-line businesses with a various world viewers)

PrestaShop (Best acknowledge to originate up mercurial)

1. wordpress (with WooCommerce)

Instructed for: prospects with wordpress web websites

Excessive of the itemizing is WooCommerce. This commonplace originate-offer eCommerce platform provides free plugins for use with wordpress (originate supply).

With the plugin, you may effectively have the choice to robotically flip your wordpress impart into an on-line store with product pages and stock administration.

Higher however, the free WooCommerce plugin robotically connects to all mandatory fee gateways collectively with Stripe and paypal. Plus, you may effectively have the choice to embed Amazon Pay into your WooCommerce retailer, which means your potentialities in no plan possess to go away your impart to variety a accumulate make clear!

Need to bag to grasp your viewers? Neatly, WooCommerce lets you attain exactly that by integrating your retailer with google Analytics. From there, you may effectively have the choice to tailor your on-line store to satisfy your purchaser’s wants and, over time, variety greater your revenue.

And if the entire above is not at all times sufficient, you may effectively have the choice to moreover fulfill all your orders by printing all your delivery labels at a very good buy with out leaving your dashboard. Whether or not or not you esteem to own to promote bodily merchandise, digital downloads, or situation, you may effectively have the choice to realize it from WooCommerce!

Whereas the platform is gigantic for small, mid-sized, and immense businesses, as quickly as you esteem to own extra superior points to your on-line retailer, they attain come at a tag. WooCommerce has infinite themes (high worth and free) to get from and in addition you may effectively have the choice to edit any part of your suite to satisfy your function necessities. As for WooCommerce extensions – the library incorporates free as efficiently as paid ones.

Moreover, as quickly as you esteem to own to variety greater your attain and bag some modern leads, you may effectively have the choice to verbalize the platform’s constructed-in running a blog function which is able to can present assist to spice up your web web page positioning.

And, WooCommerce lets you add limitless pictures, galleries, and merchandise so the right restriction you’ll ever face is your stock!

PROS

Limitless product listings

Constructed-in running a blog function

Complete dashboard to administration your retailer from one house

Totally customizable

CONS

Totally works with wordpress

Or not it’s well-known to function your have space set up

Many advanced points come at an added tag

2. Magento Crew Version

Instructed for: prospects with extra superior function initiatives.

Searching for an eCommerce platform that may meet your wants even when tackling a extra superior undertaking? Magento would perhaps effectively perhaps sincere be your easiest wager.

Magento is each different originate-offer platform that lets you invent a free eCommerce web web page with the precise individual interface you esteem to own. Nonetheless, you’ll should salvage any person with some coding information as the acknowledge isn’t as intuitive as different hosted platforms.

Regardless of the above, with Magento, you nearly undoubtedly gained’t should sight for an extension as a result of the points itemizing is overwhelming.

From advertising to organising membership plans, making recurring funds, and providing potentialities seasonal reductions, you establish it – Magento can attain it.

With Magento, you’ll possess full administration of all checkouts, funds, and orders. The originate-offer acknowledge moreover provides potentialities a cell-optimized having a sight journey so that they will survey for his or her favorite initiatives even when on the fling.

Moreover, you don’t possess to limit your self to your property nation as Magento lets you promote merchandise on a world scale, thus permitting you to develop what you might be selling internationally.

Magento provides catalog administration within the function of a dashboard the connect you may effectively have the choice to bag a 360-level gaze of what you might be selling. And, if the entire above isn’t sufficient, the platform permits potentialities to variety impart searches to go looking out the merchandise they’re procuring for extra mercurial.

Be warned, whereas Magento is free to make verbalize of and is derived full of points, it might perhaps effectively perhaps moreover be not straightforward to wrap your head round it as quickly as you’re not tech-savvy!

PROS

Astronomical itemizing of points which means you may effectively perhaps sincere in no plan should improve

Constructed-in cell optimization

Totally customizable

CONS

Coding information required

Or not it’s well-known to function your have space set up & web internet hosting

3. NopCommerce

Instructed for: prospects who want an eCommerce acknowledge basically based totally on Dwelling home windows utilized sciences.

nopCommerce is with out a doubt one in every of many most predominant free originate-offer eCommerce platforms, and what’s extra, it’s constructed the verbalize of Microsoft’s trusty ASP.NET.

And the storefronts listed beneath are totally cell-pleasurable with none additional charges or restrictions. Or not it’s straightforward to survey and alter how your retailer will sight on a cell machine.

And as quickly as you might be questioning regarding the price plan that nopCommerce will give you may effectively have the choice to leisure swear on fable of it helps increased than 50 fee gateways. These include paypal, Amazon, G2A Pay, and Stripe.

A lot of the security points are lined right here, collectively with GDPR and PCI DSS compliances. You moreover bag SSL give a accumulate to to your web retailer and Honeypot to halt whisper mail.

Being fabricate the verbalize of Microsoft utilized sciences capability that your web retailer gained’t endure any unhurried loading occasions or be unoptimized. Surely, google pagespeed perception confirmed very final outcomes, giving the demo web web page 99 features.

When you occur to’d esteem any additional plugin to present a accumulate to your web web page or add modern points you may effectively have the choice to verbalize the nopCommerce market function. It’s most likely going you will effectively perhaps depend on discovering every free and paid high worth plugins right here, so that you just simply may effectively have the choice to get what you esteem to own to make verbalize of.

In right here you moreover can salvage diversified themes to make verbalize of and language packs to put in. Total there are increased than 1500 diversified integration options, which may be very spectacular.

nopCommerce moreover has moderately a immense documentation and even a neighborhood discussion board accessible. When you occur to’d esteem a high worth assist from give a accumulate to, you may effectively have the choice to bag it individually, they usually swear your bugs will seemingly be mounted internal 5 workdays.

PROS

Simple to make verbalize of and originate-offer

Mountainous optimization

50 supported fee gateways

A lot of plugins, themes, and language packs

CONS

No web internet hosting possibility

No give a accumulate to on the free perception

4. OpenCart

Instructed for: prospects starting their first on-line enterprise.

Third on my itemizing is OpenCart. This no-thrills originate-offer platform lets you invent a free on-line retailer with none agonize. Nonetheless, what I esteem most about OpenCart is that you don’t want any coding information to originate up.

Moreover, the platform comes with a sequence of free themes so that you can get from as efficiently as an administrator dashboard that affords you the entire information you want in a single house. At a gape, you’ll have the choice to survey gross sales, orders, purchaser mandatory features, and your an identical previous analytics, offering you with full administration of your retailer.

One thing that makes OpenCart stand out is that it’s neatly-behaved for groups. With this platform, you may effectively have the choice to scenario explicit individual privileges and grant separate explicit individual bag entry to searching out for to your administrative wants.

Nonetheless the platform’s actual wow ingredient is that you just simply’re going to have the choice to organize a few shops from one admin interface. Higher however, these shops would perhaps effectively perhaps moreover be totally diversified. It’s most likely going you will effectively perhaps scenario diversified themes for each as efficiently as promote an totally diversified product catalog.

OpenCart lets you invent an affiliate system so that you just simply’re going to have the choice to realize the right viewers to your retailer. By this method, you may effectively have the choice to get associates, scenario their revenue basically based totally on a proportion, and supply diversified fee options.

And, as quickly as you esteem to own to stop aggressive in what you might be selling, you may effectively have the choice to with out direct scenario coupons, reductions, and seasonal promotions.

Plus, you may effectively have the choice to scenario backups and restore your on-line store so that you just simply in no plan lose the rest!

PROS

No coding information required

Cohesive admin dashboard

Organize a few shops from one dashboard

Constructed-in affiliate system

CONS

Fewer customization options

Not a fair possibility for skilled builders

Developed points come at an added tag

5. X-Cart

Instructed for: prospects with a world viewers attributable to the numerous fee gateways.

X-Cart’s free perception is gigantic for small newbies having a sight to originate up their first on-line retailer. Whereas it doesn’t possess the an identical points as a result of the paid ones, the free perception comes with 0% transaction charges so that you just simply’ll take away each cent you variety.

Higher however, you’ll possess the benefit of limitless product listings and orders, and in addition you may effectively have the choice to invent as many admin and group accounts as you esteem – a mandatory function as quickly as you’re working your on-line retailer as part of a team of workers.

The originate-offer platform comes with a 100% web web page positioning and cell-pleasurable function as efficiently as a plug-and-tumble construction editor, a key motive why I counsel it for startups or these of you who aren’t as assured on a laptop computer. Moreover, X-Cart provides one step or a few step checkout searching out for to your preferences. And as quickly as you might be indignant about attracting a extra world viewers, catastrophe not! The platform integrates with increased than 120 fee gateways and in addition you may effectively have the choice to rating all mandatory credit score rating card varieties.

Best of all, the free model of X-Cart comes with diversified advertising options, a few of which include collectively with social buttons to your impart, organising newsletters, telling potentialities about featured merchandise, and integrating your impart with MailChimp amongst different platforms.

Supreme nonetheless not least, when it includes safety, you may effectively have the choice to calm down and calm down. Your impart can possess HTTPS/SSL certification and may at all times mute be 100% PCI-compliant. You’ll moreover possess lifetime bag entry to to worm fixes.

Alternatively, there could perhaps be a accumulate. The direct with X-Cart is that as quickly as you esteem to own totally managed web internet hosting, you’ll possess to pay a whopping $29.95 a month. You’ll moreover gained’t possess bag entry to to high worth give a accumulate to except you pay for a subscription which may be very dear.

PROS

Limitless product listings, orders, and admin accounts

web web page positioning and cell-pleasurable

Inch-and-tumble construction editor

Integrates with all mandatory fee gateways

CONS

Totally managed web internet hosting is costly

No technical give a accumulate to on the free perception

No make clear returns or critiques on the free perception

6. PrestaShop

Instructed for: prospects who should bag their retailer on-line mercurial.

PrestaShop is a comparatively modern originate-offer eCommerce platform that launched assist in 2008. What I esteem about this acknowledge is that it’s straightforward to originate up with as you may effectively have the choice to obtain it freed from tag with sincere just a few clicks.

With it, you may effectively have the choice to invent personalised bodily and digital product listings and add them to your on-line retailer. It’s most likely going you will effectively perhaps moreover add pictures, recordsdata, and different information to present potentialities a sneak preview of what they’re searching out for out from you.

And, if that’s not sufficient, you may effectively have the choice to invent personalised “out of inventory” messages to retain your viewers checking assist to your subsequent cargo.

PrestaShop provides prospects a cohesive dashboard that lets you observe the stock of each product in your catalog. From that dashboard, you may effectively have the choice to invent explicit explicit individual supplier profiles and companion them with explicit explicit individual merchandise. And, as quickly as you in precise truth should retain your affairs in make clear, you may effectively have the choice to even bag a high degree perception of suppliers and producers with filters and sorting orders.

With PrestaShop, your retailer is totally customizable. From the show of the merchandise to how they’re organized in your retailer, the checkout web page – you establish it, PrestaShop allows you to customise it.

Moreover, the originate-offer eCommerce platform lets you allow SSL giving your potentialities peace of ideas that they’re having a sight on a trusty web web page.

You’ll moreover have the choice to configure the delivery methods and educate delivery carriers by working geographical delivery zones.

Regardless of all these very final points, PrestaShop isn’t as sturdy as different options which means you may effectively perhaps sincere possess to pay for additional plugins and extensions if what you might be selling continues to develop basically based totally on perception.

Whereas this isn’t a direct with most platforms, heaps of PrestaShop’s extensions tag in plan over $100 each!

PROS

Simple to obtain

Totally customizable

Web sites possess SSL certification

CONS

Not as sturdy as different options

Add-ons and extensions are dear

So, Which of These Is The Best Free eCommerce Platform?

When it includes choosing essentially the most predominant free eCommerce frameworks, it’s well-known to retain your have unusual enterprise targets in ideas. Proper right here’s my verdict:

WooCommerce provides the freest and explicit person-pleasurable points.

Magento Crew Version is essentially the most predominant acknowledge for scaling your on-line retailer.

OpenCart is essentially the most predominant platform as quickly as you’re modern to starting an on-line enterprise.

X-Cart has essentially the most explicit person-pleasurable interface for personalizing your retailer.

PrestaShop lets you originate up in minutes and not using a lot tech information.

The required consideration to variety when organising your on-line retailer is your tech information. All these platforms are originate supply and, whereas some are much less complicated-to-verbalize than others, all of them require you accustom your self to their interface.

When you occur to own each different platform you feel must be on this itemizing, why not tumble me a line within the commentary subject beneath? I’d esteem to grasp your ideas.

The publish Deciding on the Best Free eCommerce Platform: Proper right here Are Excessive 6 Selections! regarded first on Net Net web internet hosting Experiences by True Prospects and Net Net web internet hosting Consultants.

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sandranelsonuk · 6 years ago

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The 5 Best Free Blogging Platforms in 2019 (100% Unbiased)

So, you’d like to take blogging for a test drive, eh?

See if you like it or not before ponying up the bucks for a complete self-hosted WordPress setup?

You’ve probably heard you can start a blog for free, and indeed you can. The big question is:

What’s the best free blogging platform right now?

And the answer is… it depends on what you’re trying to accomplish.

In this post, we’ll go over all the different free blogging platforms and give you the pros and cons of each, but first, let’s stop to ponder a more fundamental question:

Table of Contents

Do You Even Need a Free Blogging Platform?

No Blogging Platform is Right for Everyone

#1. Medium: Best Platform for Simplicity

#2. WordPress.com: Best Sandbox Platform

#3. LinkedIn: Best Platform for Professionals

#4. Instagram: Best Platform for Visuals

#5. Guest Blogging: Best Platform for Building Your Authority

Making the Switch to Self-Hosted WordPress

What’s the Best Free Blogging Platform for You?

Do You Even Need a Free Blogging Platform?

The truth:

Blogging can be expensive.

But what if you’re a beginner learning how to start a blog for the first time? What if you’re someone who hasn’t yet figured what works and what doesn’t?

I’ll let you in on a secret…

You can experiment just as well on a free blogging platform as you can on a self-hosted WordPress setup with all the bells and whistles.

Actually, you can experiment better on a free blogging platform since the learning curve isn’t as steep.

Do you really want to experience the inevitable growing pains of blogging while forking over large piles of cash each month?

Free blogging platforms allow you to confirm your blog topic has potential, spy on the competitors in your niche, and test your ideas without spending any of your hard-earned dough.

So which one is best?

Well, that’s the thing:

No Blogging Platform Is Right for Everyone

Different bloggers have different needs, and different blogging platforms are good for different things. Ultimately, “best” will depend on you and your situation.

That said, each of the platforms we’ll discuss do have common traits (besides being free). Let’s briefly look at them before we dive in:

There’s zero maintenance hassle. The burden of maintenance doesn’t fall on you when you use a free blogging platform. No worries about software updates, data backups, or gremlins hacking your server — they’re all handled by someone else.

They’re easy to use. To varying degrees, each platform is friendly to beginners. With limited tech savviness, you could get started today.

Customization is limited. If you’re a micromanager, take a deep breath: you will not have full control or unlimited options when you use a free blogging platform.

That last one can be both a blessing and a curse.

Alright, enough prologue.

Ready to find out which platform is best for you? Let’s go.

#1. Medium: Best Platform for Simplicity

First up is Medium.

That’s considerably less than WordPress, but Google Trends indicates the tide could be turning:

The red line in the graphic above represents the number of worldwide searches for “wordpress” during the past five years. The blue line represents the number of searches for “medium.”

Granted, some of those “Medium” searches could be for the TV show of the same name that starred Patricia Arquette from 2005 through 2011.

Nonetheless, it’s growth is impressive.

How Do You Get Started?

Medium offers multiple ways to register.

Don’t want to remember yet another password for yet another account? No problem. Sign up using one of your social media accounts.

Go to Medium.com and click the “Get Started” button:

Choose Google or Facebook. You’ll then be asked to log into your (Google or Facebook) account. Once you authorize Medium to access your account, it will redirect you back to Medium.

That’s it.

To get to your Medium account in the future, all you have to do is click “Sign In” on the homepage and choose the “Sign in with Google” or “Sign in with Facebook” option.

Or if you already have a Twitter account, it’s even easier. Choose the “Sign In” link instead of the “Get Started” button, and you’ll see the following:

Click the “Sign in with Twitter” button (even though you haven’t yet signed up).

If you haven’t already logged into Twitter, you’ll be asked to log in and then authorize Medium to access your Twitter account.

Click “Ok,” and you’ll be off to the races.

What Do You Get For $0?

A simple, beautiful WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) blogging platform that embraces minimalism.

After you join, click your avatar (the floating head) in the top-right corner of the page and then, select “New story.”

You’ll land on a clean, easy-to-use editor.

Where to insert the title for your post is clearly defined. So, too, is where to begin typing your first sentence.

Every change you make gets automatically saved in the background. And as you type, you begin to see exactly how your finished post will appear to your readers.

That’s the beauty of a WYSIWYG editor.

And speaking of what happens after publishing, there’s something else Medium offers you for the whopping price of zero dollars and zero cents:

The chance to be featured in front of their 60+ million readers.

Or in their “Daily Digest” email…

Such a spotlight would mean lots of new eyeballs on your content.

Who Should Use Medium?

Anyone. Everyone.

Seriously, though it isn’t perfect, you’ll be hard pressed to find a blogging topic or niche that Medium can’t service.

This is especially true if your niche will be self-improvement or entrepreneurship. Medium puts your content, your message, front and center to your readers.

As Evan Williams once put it: “Medium is not about who you are or whom you know, but about what you have to say.”

Best-selling authors. Entrepreneurs. Writers who stepped away for a season, but are making a comeback. Ministers who have a good sense of humor. Yours truly.

All have things to say, and all have found homes on Medium.

Who Should NOT Use Medium?

Microbloggers (you’d be better off using Instagram — more on that later).

Those who don’t plan on using their blog for writing (photographers, podcasters, etc.).

Anyone who likes to color outside the lines.

Medium is all about the written word. Sure, graphics embedded into Medium posts look great, but in the end, it all comes back to the words.

Medium is best for those who love words. It excels at typography. It uses an abundance of white space so that its text has a perfect canvas. It embraces a minimalistic design so that nothing distracts your readers from your precious — yes, I’m going to repeat it — words.

Look at this example screenshot from a post written by Jeff Goins:

Black text on a white background. A simple, easy-to-read font. It’s a perfect arrangement for Jeff’s strong, unique voice.

Medium offers no glitz, glam, or sparkles. And, unlike WordPress.com (which provides a few basic design themes and customization options), Medium is one size fits all.

What you see is what you get.

If you like what you see, great. If you don’t, there’s not a lot you can do about it.

Final Word on Medium

What are the Pros?

Built-in audience of over 60 million readers!

Good for all blog types

Excellent typography — your blog will look professional

More business friendly than WordPress.com

What are the Cons?

Little, if any, customization — your blog will look like every other Medium blog

Conclusion: If the written word is your preferred medium, you’ll do very well with Medium. It’s an easy-to-use platform that puts your words front and center, and it’s the platform we most often recommend to beginner bloggers.

But is it the right choice for everyone?

Let’s look at the other options…

#2. WordPress.com: Best Sandbox Platform

Source: Lorelle on WordPress

Launched in 2005, WordPress.com is a turnkey blogging platform built on the open-source WordPress.org software.

In any given month, over 409 million people will view more than 21 billion pages on WordPress.com’s network of blogs. In September 2018, more than 70 million posts were published and over 52 million blog comments were written.

In short, WordPress is quite popular.

How Do You Get Started?

Signing up for a free account takes only a few minutes.

Go to WordPress.com and click the “Get Started” button to get to Step 1:

You’ll need to enter your email address, a username, and a strong password.

Next, enter a few details about your blog for Step 2:

For Step 3, enter an address for your site:

Once you’ve typed something, you’ll get a list of options. Be sure to select the “Free” one.

Finally, in Step 4 you pick a plan. Again, choose the “Free” option.

What Do You Get For $0?

WordPress.com’s “free for life” plan gives you numerous features, including:

A free WordPress.com subdomain

“Jetpack” essential features

Community support

Dozens of free themes

Let’s look at those features in more detail:

Free Subdomain

A couple of definitions are probably in order…

First, what’s a domain? See the address bar at the top of your browser? What comes after the “https://” is the domain.

In the case of this site, the domain is smartblogger.com. For my site, it’s beabetterblogger.com.

And in the case of WordPress, the domain is wordpress.com.

So what’s a subdomain? If the domain is the parent, the subdomain is the child. Anything between the “https://” and the domain is a subdomain.

Some examples:

alumni.harvard.edu

braves.mlb.com

finance.yahoo.com

That’s what WordPress is offering with its free subdomain.

It’s not a good look if you’re a business (more on that later), but for a sandbox blog where you’re testing your ideas, it’ll do the trick.

Jetpack Essential Features

However, WordPress.com’s free plan does come with many built-in plugins that offer everything from spam protection to contact forms.

For a complete list of the built-in functionality that WordPress.com offers, check out their plugins page.

Community Support

Possibly WordPress.com’s best feature (beyond the price) is its extensive support system and knowledgebase.

And if you have a specific question you need an answer for, they have you covered there too.

Visit the WordPress.com forum, search to see if anyone has had your same question, and browse the answers. Can’t find the solution you need? Post the question yourself.

Free Themes

Whereas Medium prevents you from customizing the look of your blog, WordPress.com gives you options.

With “dozens” (93 at the time of this writing) of free themes from which to choose, WordPress.com offers design flexibility that isn’t available with Medium and the other free platforms.

What we’re saying is…

You get a lot for “free.”

Who Should Use WordPress.com?

WordPress.com is a solid platform for almost every type of blogger.

Do you want to be a self-help blogger? Good news — WordPress.com will meet your needs.

Want to blog on food, pets, or politics? You’re in luck.

Just want to write about life? That’s WordPress.com’s jam, my friend.

Source: The Next Adventure

But WordPress.com is good for more than just blogging. You can also use it for projects and e-commerce stores, which isn’t something the other free platforms can claim.

That gives it an edge over the other options. If you want to blog and do something else with your site, WordPress.com offers flexibility the others do not.

However, it’s not a good fit for everyone…

Who Should NOT Use WordPress.com?

If you want to blog for a business, you should skip WordPress.com and look into Medium or LinkedIn (which we’ll discuss in a moment).

Why?

Because it makes you look like a cheapskate.

Free is wonderful, but using WordPress.com when you’re a business is the equivalent of handing out business cards with the printer’s logo on the back of them.

Doesn’t exactly scream “I’m a professional,” does it?

Also:

If you’re hoping to join a blogging community where your posts have a chance to be discovered by new audiences, you should look elsewhere.

Medium shines a spotlight on the best their members have to offer. If you write something great, it has a chance to be featured and seen by millions.

WordPress.com? Not so much.

Here’s a screenshot of the most-recent “Editors’ Picks” on the official WordPress.com blog:

There might as well be tumbleweeds blowing across the screen.

Final Word on WordPress.com

What are the Pros?

Suitable for a variety of blog types

Solid support articles and forum

More design options than other free platforms

Shorter learning curve if you choose to transition to self-hosted WordPress later

Good for more than just blogs

What are the Cons?

Not ideal for businesses

You can’t install third-party themes and plugins

Lack of community makes it difficult to build an audience from scratch

WordPress advertising and banners may appear next to your content

#3. LinkedIn: Best Platform for Professionals

Source: Darren Rowse

Next up is LinkedIn.

(Again, potentially.)

How Do You Get Started?

Go to LinkedIn.com, and you’ll see this window encouraging you to join:

Enter your name, your email, and a strong password. Then click the “Join now” button.

You’ll then be asked to answer a few simple questions:

Your country and zip code

Whether or not you’re a student (if no, you’ll enter your job title and the name of your employer; if yes, you’ll enter the name of your school and other relevant info)

Your reason for joining LinkedIn

It sounds like a lot, but it’s fairly harmless.

Still, if you feel the urge to throw your computer into the dumpster, we won’t blame you.

What Do You Get For $0?

A free-to-use publishing platform that’s focused on professionals and business contacts.

If you’re already a LinkedIn member, publishing your content will be easier than WordPress.com, Medium, or any other blogging platform.

Why?

Because it’s built right into your LinkedIn profile. Click the “Write an article” button and start writing.

Who Should Use LinkedIn?

Anyone who wants to reach professionals and businesses.

After all, that’s what LinkedIn is all about, right? Nurturing business relationships.

Source: Syed Balkhi

Blogging on LinkedIn helps to cultivate those relationships.

And, like with Medium, great content on LinkedIn has a chance to get noticed by those outside your list of connections.

Tip: Want to increase the chances a LinkedIn editor will see your article? Share it on Twitter and include “tip @LinkedInEditors” in your tweet.

Who Should NOT Use LinkedIn?

This one is pretty straightforward…

If you aren’t a working professional, or you’re not looking to reach working professionals, you’ll be better off choosing one of the other free platforms.

Final Word on LinkedIn

What are the Pros?

Good for professionals and businesses

Clean, simple design

Easy to use — publishing platform is built right into your LinkedIn profile

Built-in audience of like-minded professionals

What are the Cons?

Only good for professionals and businesses

Very few customization options

You can’t schedule posts for future publishing

Conclusion: If you’re looking to write posts that will reach professionals and businesses, LinkedIn is the best free blogging platform available.

#4. Instagram: Best Platform for Visuals

A photo and video-sharing platform that’s owned by Facebook, Instagram is one of the largest social media sites in the world.

As of June 2018, Instagram has 1 billion users worldwide. The previous September, they had 800 million users — a growth of 200 million in only nine months.

Even if you subtract everyone who follows a Kardashian or has posted a photo of themselves impersonating a duck, Instagram offers an audience of well over 75 people.

(Kidding. Mostly.)

How Do You Get Started?

On a personal computer, go to Instagram.com, and you’ll see the following:

Enter your phone number or email address, your name, your desired username, and a strong password. Then click the “Sign up” button.

Or, skip all that and click the “Log in with Facebook” button (assuming you have a Facebook account). If you aren’t already logged in, it will ask you to log into your Facebook account.

You could also do the above using the Instagram app on your mobile device.

What Do You Get For $0?

You get an extremely popular social media platform that’s perfect for microblogging.

What’s microblogging, you ask? Here’s how it works:

You get a great image. Maybe it’s a photo you took on your camera, or perhaps it’s a Creative Commons image that perfectly fits your current shade of melancholy.

You upload the image to Instagram.

And for the caption? You write a short blog post.

Here are a couple examples:

In the above screenshot, Sarah Von Bargen cleverly plugs a course she offers in the midst of a tiny, bite-sized post (accompanied by a photo of assorted beverages).

And in the below screenshot, my friend Jaime Buckley (in true Jaime Buckley style), uses Instagram to publish an eye-catching graphic alongside 107 inspirational words on parenting.

That’s microblogging — and it can be done very, very well using Instagram.

Who Should Use Instagram?

Anyone who focuses on highly-visual topics.

Models…

Photographers…

Yoga instructors…

Professional chefs…

Make-up artists, hair stylists, clothing stores…

The list goes on and on.

If you’re someone who can combine great visuals with short posts that pack a punch, you can have great success using Instagram as a microblogging platform.

Who Should NOT Use Instagram?

If your idea of a great image involves pulling out the iPhone 3G you’ve had since 2008 and snapping a photo, Instagram may not be the platform for you.

If you tend to draft novels when you write, Instagram’s 2,200 character limit when writing captions could prove problematic.

(So, if you’re planning to start a Wilford Brimley fan club, it’s probably best to skip Instagram.)

Final Word on Instagram

What are the Pros?

Great for visual topics

Ideal platform for microblogging (short posts)

Great if your target audience primarily uses mobile devices

What are the Cons?

Limited to 2,200 characters

Limited to one hyperlink (in your bio)

If your target audience isn’t on mobile, it’s less than ideal

Conclusion: Instagram offers a great microblogging platform geared toward visual topics. However, it is not kind to fans of the great Wilford Brimley.

#5. Guest Blogging: Best Platform for Building Your Authority

Sometimes, the best platform for your work is someone else’s popular blog.

Why? Because it can mean instant credibility.

Once your post publishes on a site like Smart Blogger, Forbes, Lifehacker, or Business Insider; people look at you differently.

What happened? Guest blogging happened.

How Do You Get Started?

There are two approaches to finding sites where you can contribute guest posts.

The first is easy…

Check to see if the blogs you already like to read (that are relevant to your niche, of course) accept guest post submissions.

The second approach involves utilizing Google’s and Twitter’s search capability.

Here’s how it works:

As you can in the screenshot above, you can query a topic (in this example: “blogging”) along with a search phrase (“write for us”).

Google returned a list of results that contained both of those search terms/phrases.

Click on the results that look promising, browse the sites, and see if they’re a good fit. Not all sites will be worth your time. Skip the ones that aren’t. Bookmark the matches.

Then try some other, similar queries:

“Blogging” + “guest post”

“Blogging” + “contribute”

“Blog tips” + “write for us”

And so on.

Replace “blogging” and “blogging tips” with whatever topics you would like to write about.

Searching for guest blogging opportunities on Twitter follows a similar routine:

Type “guest post”, “guest blog post”, “guest article”, etc. in the search box. Twitter will give you a list of tweets where people used those exact phrases.

Scroll through the results.

What Do You Get For $0?

You get the chance to put your words in front of already-existing, relevant audiences.

Then everything changed.

It didn’t matter that Jon was already well known by most thanks to his former role at Copyblogger; for me, his ProBlogger post was a gateway drug.

Jon went from being an unknown — a riddle, wrapped in an enigma, smothered in secret sauce — to an authority on blogging I had to read.

That’s the power of guest blogging. Every time you put your words in front of newly targeted audiences; you have the chance to gain fans for life.

Who Should Guest Blog?

Anyone who wants to build their credibility and boost their authority.

How can guest blogging do that, you ask? Let’s use me as an example.

Before I wrote my first guest post for Smart Blogger, the only people who viewed me as an authority on blogging were my wife and maybe one of our cats.

My site, Be A Better Blogger, was less than a year old. After reading a post about quitting your job and moving to paradise written by some guy named Jon, launching my own “blog about blogging” sounded like a great idea.

So that’s what I did. I was on unemployment at the time, and I had a lot of free time on my hands.

And I was doing a great job in such a short period.

The only problem?

I had little credibility. Few saw me as an authority on the topics I was writing.

Then I received an email…

Jon’s editor, the talented Glen Long, invited me to write a guest post for Smart Blogger (formerly known as Boost Blog Traffic).

That guest post…

Led to a second opportunity…

Which led to a third…

Which led to the post you’re reading right now.

It led to opportunities like writing for Syed Balkhi over at OptinMonster.

It led to being asked to provide quotes for dozens of blog posts and articles.

It led to flattering, tongue-placed-firmly-in-cheek emails like this one from James Chartrand:

It may not have led to tons of traffic for my website or large crowds chanting my name in the streets, but guest blogging did something that would have taken me considerable time to do on my own: