#i like my current one but i change a lot so its already outdated (plus im sure my simstyle will have changed) <:)< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[youredreamingofroo]

📩 Simblr question of the day: have you created your simself? if so, let's see them!

answer in whatever way is most comfortable for you and feel free to share this SQOTD around, make sure to use the hashtag SQOTD and tag me in separate posts ~ 💛

This question was contributed by : @/missmoodring

Thank ya squatty for the ask! 💏

I have made a couple different versions of my simself, but I'll post my most recent one below and then I'll put the old ones for reference under the cut 🫶

(will def be updating it when I get back into ts4 LMAO)

~ Old, Cringey Simselves under the cut <:P ~

- -

[er-10-media]

Biny.co Startup: Revolutionizing Freight Transport and Reviving the Silk Road

New Post has been published on https://er10.kz/100-startup-stories/biny-co-startup-revolutionizing-freight-transport-and-reviving-the-silk-road/

Biny.co Startup: Revolutionizing Freight Transport and Reviving the Silk Road

Freight transport in Kazakhstan is already challenging, but add cargo theft into the mix, and things get even tougher. Roughly 15% of trucks on the road fall prey to fraud, costing companies millions. The core issues stem from outdated, non-digitized logistics processes and a lack of transparency. Biny.co is tackling these challenges head-on, offering businesses a guarantee of quality and providing drivers a way to bypass shady middlemen. Founder Aset Khasenov shared with ER10 Media how Biny.co is changing the logistics landscape in Kazakhstan and breathing new life into the historic Silk Road.

Stay tuned to «100 Startup Stories of Kazakhstan,» a joint project between Er10 Media and Astana Hub, where we spotlight the most exciting Kazakhstani startups. You’ll get a close-up look at their achievements and the innovation they bring. All content is available in Kazakh, Russian, and English.

Tapping into a $2 Billion Untapped Market

— Did you start with a corporate job, or did you have a different business before Biny.co?

— I began my career as a lawyer at «Kazatomprom,» working for one of its investment-focused subsidiaries. My background is in law, with degrees from Kazakhstan and Germany in international law. After a year and a half at Kazatomprom, where I worked my way up to Director of Legal, I pivoted into freight and courier services. My first company was LOTS, and alongside that, we ran a few other ventures like a call center and a small marketing agency. But it was my passion for delivery services that led to the creation of Biny.co.

— Why choose freight transport?

— It’s a fragmented market with no standardized rules—just informal practices that feel like a throwback to the ‘90s. And with no digitization, a startup like ours can make a significant impact. We estimate the market in Kazakhstan alone to be worth $2 billion. Plus, logistics represent about 30% of any economy, and that’s huge for me. Every morning when you drink your coffee, it’s either us or our competitors who delivered it. Even the beans have a delivery cost, and the cup traveled from somewhere, too. The market is practically limitless, and so are the opportunities for growth.

— What obstacles did you face early on?

— When we launched, middlemen boycotted us, calling us scammers and thieves. They didn’t want drivers using our Biny.co app to see how they were being shortchanged. Once drivers realize the true cost of an order, they never go back to intermediaries. We saw this as a sign that we were doing something right, even as we pushed these middlemen out of the market.

There were also attempts to steal our cargo, but thankfully, we developed a solution. Drivers go through FaceID validation, and we perform detailed background checks. We’re plugged into government databases and can even see if a driver has taken out loans, where they are, and what they’re doing. We’ve taken a deep dive into driver verification to ensure our clients receive the highest level of service. Each shipment represents both current and future revenue for a business, so it’s on us to provide top-tier service.

Everything Under Control

— Can you break down how your system works?

— Our platform is a single app composed of multiple microservices, structured like this:

A client app for businesses shipping cargo.

A client app for transport companies that want to handle shipments and find orders.

An app for drivers to connect with jobs via their mobile devices.

Internally, we call this our communication system. Drivers can see pickup locations, warehouse details, cargo weight, and pricing. On the client side, they know in advance who the driver is and how much the delivery will cost. Everything is automated—orders are created online, and all necessary documents are issued digitally.

Once the driver arrives at the destination, they can only complete the order by pressing the “finish order” button, which is activated once the cargo is delivered and the client confirms receipt. After that, the driver is paid.

We’ve created a transparent process that drivers trust for its clarity, and clients appreciate for its reliability. We’ve even automated the insurance process—policies are automatically sent to insurance companies when a truck is loaded. This gives clients peace of mind.

— Who are your typical clients?

— We serve three main groups:

B2B enterprise companies.

SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises).

The driver segment.

— What’s the team behind Biny.co like?

— We have 24 team members, each focusing on specific areas of the business:

The development team handles all technology and product creation, led by me.

The operations team, managed by our operations lead, includes moderators who onboard drivers and ensure verification, as well as order managers overseeing shipments.

The commercial team is responsible for attracting and integrating clients.

The finance team manages the financial aspects.

— How did you transition from law to overseeing technical processes at a startup?

— I picked up development by learning alongside the tech team. After mastering law, especially in Kazakhstan, I got bored and dove into product development. Since 2021, we’ve been building this product together. We learned and even designed some of our algorithms during the pandemic. Turns out, we made good use of quarantine time.

— Which markets are you currently in, and where do you plan to expand?

— Alongside Kazakhstan, we’re already operating in Uzbekistan, partially in Russia, and we’re looking to expand into Kyrgyzstan. In the future, we plan to enter China, Southeast Asia, and the MENA region by 2025.

We’ve recently restructured our company to make it easier to open branches and offices, as our current legal structure isn’t flexible enough for regional expansion. Each region will be managed by a separate legal entity. We’re dealing with drivers from Uzbekistan, Russia, and Belarus, which brings significant tax risks. We’re constantly in discussions about platform-based employment legislation and hope it will be implemented soon.

— What’s the achievement you’re most proud of?

— We’ve had amazing feedback, with clients reporting significant cost savings. For one client, we helped save $65 million annually. Our services are much cheaper than traditional transport companies or intermediaries. Plus, our platform provides services no freight forwarder can match, creating great synergy with our clients. It took years to get here, but it was worth it.

— How long has Biny.co been in business?

— This is our second year in the market.

— How does Biny.co make money?

— We have several revenue streams, but we’re still figuring out which one is the most profitable:

Insurance.

Client fees for each delivery.

We don’t charge drivers yet, but we’re planning to introduce a premium subscription that will allow them to see and reserve jobs in advance.

—  Do drivers use their own trucks, or does Biny.co provide them?

— Drivers use their own trucks, but they’ve asked for a leasing system. While we’re not financially ready for that yet, we see it as a promising future opportunity. 

— What’s next for Biny.co?

— We’re looking to expand into new regions, launch a B2C segment for clients, and develop a mobile app. Clients love our portal but want the convenience of a mobile version. In 2025, we plan to offer consolidated small cargo shipments. Many clients don’t have enough volume for full truckloads, so they’re eager to consolidate and share shipments. We’re also planning to build a digital warehouse that will allow clients to send cargo via our app, with automatic scanning and real-time tracking between cities and countries.

Trust, But Verify

— Do you see marketplaces as competitors?

— Not exactly, but they are major players. Marketplaces have plenty of customers because anyone can join. At Biny.co, we moderate both drivers and clients. In a marketplace, you can’t be sure a verified driver won’t steal your cargo. Cargo theft is a real issue in Kazakhstan, with organized crime involved. They offer lower rates, find a driver heading in another direction, and trick the system. Clients think they’ve arranged a delivery, but the driver takes off in the wrong direction. The driver’s not at fault, but the client is left in the dark. That’s the risk with marketplaces. 

— Who are your competitors?

— Our main competitors are CRM systems that help logistics managers handle shipments. What makes us different is that we offer our system for free and handle driver sourcing ourselves. All the client has to do is place an order and click a button. We’ve streamlined the entire process to eliminate unnecessary steps or extra work for the client, allowing them to ship faster and clear their warehouses more efficiently.

Mistakes = Experience = Growth

— How do you keep growing and gaining expertise as your startup evolves?

— We recently got into the Google for Startups accelerator, which came as a bit of a surprise. It was actually our marketing lead who suggested we apply. Before that, we considered ourselves more of a business than a startup since we built the platform with our own funds and had already gone through an investment round. But joining the accelerator has been an incredible experience — we’re learning so much.

Challenges also play a huge role in our growth. Every day, we work on fixing what’s broken. We often set weekly goals, and either we meet them or come up with a new hypothesis and revisit the problem. Our growth really comes from tackling our own challenges head-on.

— Your team seems to work really well together. How did you create that dynamic?

— The secret is not stepping in when conflicts arise. People need the space to figure things out on their own. As a leader, I’ve given my team the freedom to make mistakes, spend money, and even fail. I actually think of my team like kids, and that mindset helps me be a better manager. In a lot of ways, employees and children are similar — the more they fail, the more experience they gain. The more problems they solve, the more independent they become. That’s my approach — I try to stay out of the way unless it’s about investments, big contracts, or serious issues.

We’ve also got a strong corporate structure. Our COO, Altynai, has built a healthy work ecosystem where everyone knows their role, how to grow, and what they need to do to see their efforts pay off. We track performance closely, and if someone isn’t meeting expectations after two months, we part ways. If they’re excelling, we move them up the career ladder. A regular manager can get promoted to a leadership position in just a year if they’re delivering consistently strong results.

«Everyone wins while the caravan keeps moving»

— Do you plan to keep leading the company, or would you consider hiring a CEO or selling the business?

— As long as I have the energy, I’ll keep running the company. But if I ever feel like I’m holding it back, I’ll step aside and hire a strong CEO. That said, we haven’t hit that point yet, so I’m still at the wheel. When the time comes, I’ll step down from Biny.co and enjoy some downtime.

— What sport would you compare your startup to?

— I’d say it’s like the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the endurance race. We’re marathon runners, and we operate at an endurance level.

— What’s your mission? 

— To make the world a better place. I realized that even if I, as an individual, do something, it won’t necessarily make a big impact. So I set a bigger goal for myself: to transform Kazakhstan’s logistics ecosystem for the better. I want to create one-click access to the world of transportation and logistics so that Kazakhstan becomes a major transit hub for all goods. And as long as the caravan keeps moving, everyone profits. We know transit vehicles and planes will need to stop for fuel, maintenance, food, and rest — all of that brings extra revenue to the economy. That’s my simple plan.

[fayesdiary]

Unprompted opinions about which Fire Emblem title should be remade/remastered next based on availability... While taking emulators into account because 1) it's silly to pretend they don't exist when they're more available and accurate than the legal ways looking at you NSO and 2) Nintendo can eat shit for several reasons, one of which is rereleasing an NES title for 50 dollars on a limited release. Also note that I would like for all old FE titles to be remade or remastered eventually, this is just a discussion on which one should be remade first.

TL;DR: The Tellius games should be remade first followed by the Jugdral ones imo

Shadow Dragon: Play the DS remake. Or "acquire" the Anniversary Edition on the Switch if you want to play the original. (I searched and there's currently no patch to add the Anniversary Edition upgrades to the NES versions, not even on emulator, shame) (New) Mystery of the Emblem: Not really a priority since it's easy to access the remake with a DS or hacked 3DS, and DS emulators are relatively easy to use. It's not like this series relies much on touch controls, anyway. You can patch the fan translation onto the game yourself, or get a pretranslated ROM somewhere. And if you don't like the changes New Mystery made to the original, there's a patch that makes it much closer to the SNES title.

Genealogy of the Holy War: IMO it's the game that needs a remake the most based on its own terms, the gameplay feels outdated and clunky, but on availability terms? It's pretty good, SNES titles are easy to emulate, you can easily find a ROM of FE4 and Project Naga is a pretty solid translation, so I wouldn't consider it a priority based solely on availability.

Thracia 776: Needs a remake even less than Genealogy, given that its gameplay feels more modern than its predecessor, and Lil'Manster is a really good translation that also makes the UI a bit more user-friendly. Another reason you might want to emulte this is because of save states if you're like me: impatient and bad at Fire Emblem. Obviously should be remade after Genealogy in any case.

Binding Blade: GBA titles are easy to emulate and to patch, and I'm sure you can find a pretranslated ROM somewhere if you don't want to apply patches. Plus, if you've played the other GBA titles, you'll get used to this game relatively fast. ...wasn't this the game the Echoes director wanted to remake next, now that I think about it?

Blazing Blade & Sacred Stones: Same as above but they're also already localized, so it's even easier to play them.

Path of Radiance: The game I think should be remade first, or at least remastered. While Dolphin is an excellent emulator it's likely your computer wouldn't be able to run it really well if it's a bit old, I remember it lagging a lot when I tried to play it on my laptop.

And trying to playing it legally is honestly insanity, given that nowadays PoR costs a lot. And I mean a lot.

(why the fuck is the last one 800 dollars + shipping good lord)

Even on its own the game could really use some quality of life features from the more recent titles, the game is infamous for getting really slow even when you turn off animations.

I heard rumors this is the next title that's gonna be remade, but if you want some advice, you really shouldn't give any credit to rumors even if some turn out to be true. It's like chasing your own tail.

Radiant Dawn: Sorta the same argument as above. It's easier to access a Wii so you should be able to play it as long as you find the iso online, but if you don't it's likely you won't be able to emulate it.

As for Thracia, it should be remade after PoR.

3DS Titles: They don't really need remakes given how recent they are, but I guess a Switch remaster would be nice? If you can't find the games or think they're too expensive (especially Awakening and Fates), you might want to learn how to hack your 3DS. 3DSes are also relatively cheap to get, but if you don't have the money to get a new console I guess you could try to emulate them? Citra still has a long way to go, so expect some issues even if your computer is good.

Three Houses: lol

[unofficial-cactus]

FANFIC WRITER INTERVIEW

With tagged by @captainkappa

Name: Sunset

Fandoms: Currently Dream SMP. I’ve previously written for Thrilling Intent and Mindcrack, but have lurked in many other fandoms.

Two-shot: I’ve never actually formally published/finished a two shot before. I guess my closest would be Hear Me Out and the previously unpublished and still incomplete sequel Two Truths and a Lie - I’m giving anyone who follows me a gdoc link for that because why not.

Most popular multichapter: The fic-writing side of Mindcrack was a tiny fandom - about 500-700 of us in total in its prime, so it’s no surprise that joining a mega fandom (Dream SMP) has launched my first multichapter fic for that fandom straight to ‘most popular multichapter’ by a long shot. That’ll be Daddy Issues.

Actual worst part of writing: Starting to write is always the worst part for me. No matter where I am in a fic - beginnning or almost finished - it takes a while of hammering out and deleting sentences before I get into the flow of things and actually start writing usable content.

How you choose your titles: I don’t really know. I’ve done a few lyric-based ones, but I guess I go for something thematically relavant and just play around with words, phrases, and ideas until something sounds write.

Do you outline: Practically never, even though the writing process is easier when I do. I spent nearly three years sitting down every lunch break in high school plotting out The Survival Saga. I’m not kidding when I say that was my baby. I have the other two arcs planned out in varying levels of detail, but I had a notebook filled with handwriting details for each chapter of the first arc, plus plot beats for the rest of it, as well as plenty of digital notes for it. The only other thing I’ve had to put a degree of outlining into is my current fic I’m working on for the DSMP Big Bang.

Ideas I probably won’t get around to, but wouldn’t it be nice?: Finishing the Survival Saga. The next two arc were gonna be called The Wither Effect and The Ender Complex and I’m still so excited about the ideas. But realisitcally, the Mindcrack fandom is practically dead and I really don’t have the motivation to write 60k words that all of 3 people are gonna read, especially since it already took me about 5 years to write the first 30k words. Fandom drama too means it’d be weird to have to write some of the characters in there now, plus so much has changed that the mechanics of the plot, as well as the charactisations I was using are very outdated. I also feel there’s a notable enough change to my tone in writing that I wouldn’t know how to carry over the same voice into the rest of the fic.

Callouts @ me: Spite is not a healthy motivator for writing. Being so judgemental about other people’s writing makes you snide and arrogant which just aren’t nice personality traits. It’s okay for the first draft to suck - editing is a useful tool and you’re more productive when you write something meh then edit it to hell then sit there expecting the first draft to be perfect and thus not being able to write at all when the first few sentences fail to meet that expectation.

Best writing traits: Not a particular part of my writing itself, but rather my reading process. I’m very analytical when I read things, constantly noting what works, and what doesn’t in other people’s fics, so reading fic for me is a constant learning and bettering process for my own writing. On one hand it means I have very particular standards about what fics I can read through to the end, on the other I at least hope that it means I don’t make a lot of the same mistakes often found in fanfic that people find makes for poor writing. I do also have a history of being known for my smut, but I still don’t know how much of that is influenced by lack of many better options in that fandom.

Spicy tangential opinion: I have some quite spicy opinions about boundaries in RPF, but I’m not gonna throw myself to wolves on this by saying anything more than: fanfiction is for the fans. the RP of RPF do not belong in fandom spaces, nor should they be welcomed into them. So long as we also do our fair share of keeping creators out of fandom spaces, then what we do in fandom spaces is none of their business.

Don’t like, don’t read. Dead dove, do not eat.

Fiction is not necessarily a reflection of a writer’s personal opinions. Someone can enjoy something in fiction while being horrified by it in real life scenarios.

No pressure tags: @theropodtheroblogs @solena2 @genofeve I have no idea who tf to tag for this lmao.

[daxwormzz]

@weyounbathwater tagged me in this game thingy oh man oh man here i go

Name: Malcolm! or Mal, sometimes my friends even call me milk boy for some reason

Gender: Beleagured Academic sitting on an antique leather armchair passed down to him from his grandma in the middle of his own personal library, utterly surrounded by books he uses in an attempt to fill the ever-growing proverbial cavernous emptiness in his soul. He dreams of one day faking his death so he can leave the country and become the clown he always yearned to be.

Star sign: Leo

Height: 5,6" & 1/2"

Time: 1:25 PM

Birthday: July 28th

Favorite band(s): oh boy uhhhhhhh thats a good questiooonnnn i listen to so many different bands its hard to choose (and plus my opinions on everything changes constantly so if i do put my current faves here they'll most likely be outdated in a week or two) but here goes nothin: Will Wood & The Tapeworms, The Paper Chase, Jukebox The Ghost, They Might Be Giants, Insane Clown Posse, CAKE, and Mother Mother.

Favorite solo artist(s): (same stuff about my opinions changing a lot goes for this too) Fiona Apple, Lemon Demon, Yung Spinach Cumshot, Talkshow Boy, Penelope Scott, Marina, aannnnddd Shayfer James.

Song stuck in my head: My Chinchilla, by Cub

Last movie I watched: The LEGO Batman Movie

Last show I watched: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)

When did I create this blog: uhhhhhhhmmmmmmMMMMMMM liiiikkeeee 2017 ish i think? something like that

When I post: Everyday like all of the time, or just kind of whenever i want i dunno man i never schedule stuff

Last thing googled: how old do you have to be to rent a Uhaul truck

Other blogs: wouldnt you like to know weather boy

Do I get asks: a couple every now and then, i do wish i got more cause whenever i get them they're always really nice and funny

Why I chose my URL: i was just like "fuck dude what are words that mean huge nerd loser whos annoying and talks too much and goes into too many details and specifics???" and then i just mashed the two words together when i found them.

Followers: 886 currently :)))))))

Average hours of sleep: hmmmMMMMMMM like, some days its 3 other days its 10 and there is no in-between.

Lucky number: 3! i dont actually know if this number is lucky for me i just really like the number 3

Instruments: I play Clarinet! and i used to know how to play the drums but ive certainly gotten rusty by now, and i've been meaning to learn Guitar some time soon ish.

What I’m wearing: khakis and a weird button-up with a wacky print on it

Dream trip: A big couple-week-long summer roadtrip with me and all of my online besties i havent met in person yet!

Favorite food: okay please dont bully me for this but its,,,,, Potato chips and ketchup. or Blue cornchips and ketchup both are really good

Nationality: Native American! but like there's also a bunch of different stuff mixed in there as well but prodominantly native

Favorite song: Every Single Night by Fiona Apple

Last book I read: Good Omens by Terry Pratchet and Neil Gaiman

Top 3 fictional universes i’d like to live in: all i can reaally think of is star trek tbh, all of the other universes my favorite media takes place in tends to kinda suck a lot in some way and i mean star trek's world has its problems too but id say the good outweighs the bad.

Favorite color: i like all colors so its a bit of a context thing i'd say, buuuuuutttt if i HAD to pick more specific colors then i'd say green and warm yellows.

all of the people i would have tagged to do this sort of thing have already been tagged so i have.................. nothin...

[davidmann95]

Velvet's battle is a great choice, though I'll always have a special place in my heart for the fight against the Grimm Deathstalker and the Nevermore in Episode 8. That said, what do you think of the individual members of Team RWBY?

I decided to wait on this until I caught up on the series thus far, which I just finished doing the night before last in pretty much the only time in my life I’ve ever really properly binged anything other than comics, and…wow. I knew RWBY was a thing just as a matter of course from being on this site and Youtube, and from watching Death Battle, so I picked up some major beats by osmosis. But my main impression was that it was a charming pseudo-anime online thing of decent quality that unsurprisingly got heavier as it went along as such things tend to do, with extremely rad fights and music along the way; figured it’d be more than serviceable to watch while I was on the treadmill as a disposable distraction from the agony of propelling my wheezing, sweating, loathsome meat-scaffolding forward.

I did *not* expect it to eventually end up after growing pains a - while far from flawless - intensely engrossing story of all-consuming personal and generational pain and people who choose to love and do the right thing in defiance of that trauma and loss and hopelessness, where also occasionally a corgi gets fastball specialed at mechas. Though once it became clear that’s what it is, it pretty clearly sat at an intersection of a hell of a lot of my favorite things, especially when characters copped in-universe in both the main series and spinoff material that this is basically a superhero thing. My initial impressions re: the fights and music were on-point though.

I actually have quite a few thoughts on pretty much all the protagonists of note at this point (other than I suppose Oscar and Maria. Like them both though, and I do hope that nice boy’s brain somehow doesn’t dissolve into the blender of Ozpin’s subconscious), but I’ll just stick with the core four here as requested for now unless someone asks otherwise. Weiss is the simplest to get at the core of, I’d say: her arc is learning that fuck rich people, actually. She’s a seriously difficult character to get onboard for at first - especially if you’re watching those first episodes for the first time in 2019 - as the mean unconsciously racist rich girl who learns to be less mean and racist but still kinda mean. But after you’ve extensively seen the hideously toxic environment she grew up in, and fully understand her efforts to grow past the empty values it inculcated in her in favor of everything she was raised to think of herself as above, she becomes a hell of a figure to root for. Assuming RWBY is gonna go, say, a respectable 10 seasons given it was just renewed through 9, I could easily see the upcoming 7th be the climax of her arc with her return to Atlas and likely further reckoning with the consequences of her families’ actions beyond how they’ve hurt her personally.

Yang is also, in a certain abstract narrative sense, simple, in that she’s built around the very oldest trick in the book for characters whose main deal is ‘can punch better than absolutely anyone’: give them problems that cannot be solved by punching. Except in her case it’s less a material “well, this person is invulnerable to punching!” or “well, actually this other person can punch most best of all” issue blocking her path than “punching cannot solve depression, abandonment issues, questioning whether what she considers her purpose in life is one she’s truly pursuing for noble reasons or if she even has the resolve for it anymore after what’s happened to her, or PTSD”. Yet, while it may not be the kind that manifests in the form of punching people with a smirk and a bad pun anymore (much as she still definitely does that all the time) what ultimately drives her and defines her is still her strength: to move forward, to forgive, to let go, to do the right thing in spite of the risks. Which could easily come off as some unpleasant “you just have to get over your moping!” dismissal - there’s a bit with her dad that means it saddles riiiiight up to the edge of that - but there’s a weight to how her traumas remain a consistent factor in her life and have shaped her outlook even as her circumstances and day-to-day disposition improve that makes it feel thematically like it’s coming from a place of acknowledgment and endurance rather than denial, even if it’s not handled perfectly. Great to see her apparently recapturing some more of her joie de vivre based on the trailer for Volume 7, and how that’ll interact with how she’s grown should be interesting.

Blake is…tough, because you fundamentally cannot talk about Blake without getting into the Faunus, which is maybe the biggest aspect of RWBY that leaves it in the realm of Problematic Fave. It really, really wants to have something substantial to say about the proper response to racism, and every now and then it pumps out a “capitalism greases the wheels of systemic oppression and vice-versa” or “it’s perfectly reasonable for the oppressed to seek to fight back directly against their oppressors, and even the pacifist in the room can recognize that’s a defensible approach that deserves its place”. But then Abusive Boyfriend Magneto literally murders nuance in Vol. 5 episode 2, and it descends into some borderline “but what about black on black violence” respectability politics shit. It’s the classic X-Men setup - this persecuted race of often superpowered folks torn between pacifism and efforts to prove themselves to their oppressors, and those who think they should rise up and annihilate the flatscans - with most of the same pitfalls, but also we haven’t had over 50 years to get used to that just being how it works here, and it doesn’t have the excuse of having to expand as best it can on a metaphor that was originally devised before most of the people currently handling it were born. All of which would be rough enough, but given I watched this right as Jonathan Hickman’s been completely refining the entire X-Men paradigm outside that outdated binary, it especially grates. I’d love to be directed to any solid counterarguments - I’ve heard it might actually be an analogue, and a well-done one, for The Troubles, which I am one million percent unqualified to evaluate - especially since apparently one of the writers grew up in a mixed-race household, and at the end of the day I’m a white guy who may well be talking completely out his ass. But it sure comes off at a glance as some well-intentioned dudes stumbling through stuff that’s not their business, and that’s inextricable from Blake’s character when so much of her story is her navigating through that metaphor. Hopefully with new writers coming onboard this is something that can be navigated more insightfully in the future.

On a purely personal basis however, Blake’s a standout in terms of relatability when her story comes down to a pretty universal shared horror: how to climb back from having fucked up. She tried really hard to do the right thing, was taken advantage of and led into doing things she eventually realized were wrong, was so shaken that she couldn’t tell who to trust, and then the situation spiraled out of control on every possible front just as things finally seemed to be stabilizing. The way a single mistake - enabled and exacerbated by an abusive past relationship in her case - expands into a self-loathing far beyond the bounds of anything she could possibly be responsible for is brutal and completely understandable, and seeing her start put her self-esteem back together with the help of those closest to her and the power of her original convictions is arguably the single strongest, most clearly conveyed individual character arc in the series. I’m very curious where it goes from here: Adam’s finish represents a logical climax and the setup for a happily-ever-after with Yang (or Sun if they end up going that way after all) for her to coast through the remainder of the series on, but the way emotional consequences have played out in the series thus far I doubt her demons are going to be put to bed that simply.

Finally there’s Ruby, and I am contractually obligated to note up front: she is clearly not a Superman analogue. There is precisely zero percent chance that she was conceived as such or was ever deliberately executed in such a way that mirroring him was kept in mind. Though she IS a super-powered idealist raised in the middle of nowhere with a significant deceased parent who wears a red cape, flies, gives inspiring rallying speeches, has black-ish but primary color-tinted hair, and has a mysterious birthright that involves being able to shoot lasers from her eyes, plus she has a dog who also essentially has superpowers, plus she tells someone they’re stronger than they think they are, plus Yang basically quotes a bit from Kingdom Come regarding her in Rest and Resolutions. But it probably goes a ways in explaining why she works so well for me.

There’s more to it than that of course, though it does bring up the closest way in which she relates to the superhero paradigm: she doesn’t go through an arc in quite the same way as the others, instead being an already solidly-defined character who is simply illustrated by how she interacts with the people and situations around her. She learns and grows and matures, but her most basic motivations and goals and outlook haven’t really changed since the day she enrolled at Beacon. She’s a good, caring person, a leader archetype who still has more than enough personality to spare to keep from falling into the genericism that can often plague that role. A big part of the key I believe is that she’s the audience surrogate in a profound way beyond the obvious touchstones of her frequent awkwardness and self-doubt: the reason she does this is because she was inspired by stories. She’s a fan, ultimately, but one who learned all the right lessons, whether recognizing from day one the way reality falls short of the tales she was raised on but still believing in the ideals they represent, or openly holding up Qrow as a role model while being willing to call him on his shit when push comes to shove. It’s a romantic, hopeful perspective that stands out sharply from even our other heroes even as it mirrors their struggles, but as of yet there’s little to suggest it comes from a place of naivete so much as a belief that it’s the only way to bear the pain of the world and continue to believe in it. Bit by bit it’s clear she’s heading for a breaking point, but all signs point to that being a matter of her ability to withstand what she’s been through, rather than any doubt that it’s necessary, and should that time come she’s inspired plenty who’ll be able to help her back onto her feet the way she has for so many others. So while I understand her speeches apparently grate on some, as far as I’m concerned keep them coming, they’re the beating caring heart of the series and often the sole respite in the eye in the storm.

[shireness-says]

The Man Behind Glass

Summary: When Emma Swan moved to Storybrooke, Maine, she never imagined she’d end up living out a real-life ghost story. But then again, does anyone really expect to find a cursed mirror, or the 300-year-old pirate trapped inside? Rated T. ~12.5K. Also on AO3.

A/N: I’m back, with my second contribution to @cssns! @allons-y-to-hogwarts-713 is responsible for that fantastic gif above - go tell her how awesome she is, because seriously, she’s the best (if its not working, that’s my fault, not hers). As always, thanks to my amazing beta, @snidgetsafan. She’s also the best. Additional thanks to @branlovesouat and @kymbersmith-90, who were 100% responsible for the brainstorming on the CSSNS discord that led to this fic, and helped me get it off the ground.

Tagging folks that were interested or I think would like this: @kmomof4, @hollyethecurious, @winterbaby89, @courtorderedcake, @aerica13, @teamhook, @searchingwardrobes, @katie-dub, @snowbellewells, @wingedlioness

Enjoy!

“Well, kid,” Emma Swan says, apprehension coloring her voice, “looks like this is the place.”

The house isn’t much to look at, to say the least. Truthfully, most of this little town isn’t much to look at. But when Mary Margaret Nolan, an old friend from college, had told Emma about the opening for a counselor at her elementary school, she had jumped at the chance to finally move Henry out of the city and into a place where they can have something resembling a support system. The house Emma purchased is older, shabby-looking, but is in surprisingly good condition inside, albeit dusty and outdated. The previous owner had died some months before, leaving her assets to the town trust. Having no real need for a shabby Queen Anne home, the town had been anxious to sell it, and Emma had snapped it up at a bargain price, some of the late owner’s furnishings included. A lot of it’s probably going to end up carted off to the nearest thrift store in the back of David Nolan’s truck, but Emma’s hopeful that there might be a few pieces they can use. The more she can save on furniture, the better.

At the time of purchase, it seemed like there were almost no downsides - furnished, affordable, with a nice sized yard for Henry to run around in - but looking now at the crooked fence and peeling paint, Emma’s a lot more nervous. God, what have I gotten myself into? she wonders with rising panic. No one has ever accused Emma of being handy, and by the looks of things, she may have quite a few projects on her hands.

It does help that Henry is clearly thrilled by the new house, practically skipping up the front walk with his backpack and all the energy a five-year-old can muster.

“This house is so cool, Mom!” he exclaims excitedly, bringing a smile to Emma’s face despite all her worries. “Can we put a play castle in the backyard? Can my room be in the tower? Oh! Do you think it’s haunted?” Frankly, Henry seems most excited about the last possibility, which Emma will take the time to be worried about later when her schedule is more open.

“Do you want this place to be haunted, kid?” she asks, a bemused smile gracing her face.

“I don’t know, I think it’d be kind of cool,” Henry grins right back. “Didn’t you say the person who lived here was dead?”

“Yeah, but I don’t think she died in the house, Henry. Isn’t that some sort of prerequisite for a haunting?” In fact, Emma knows that the house has been empty for the past year or more, the previous owner having relocated to a care home. Henry doesn’t really need to know that though.

“I don’t know,” Henry shrugs. “We should definitely pay attention, though. Ghosts in stories always get stirred up when something in their home gets changed.”

“Alright, kid, we’ll keep our eyes and ears open,” Emma replies, trying not to chuckle at Henry’s fanciful suppositions. “Are you ready to go check out our new house? Maybe stake your claim on a room?”

Henry’s face lights up with fresh excitement at the notion, dashing up the porch steps as fast as his legs can take him, leaving his mother behind to shake her head in fond exasperation. With a final look at the shabby outside, Emma continues her way up the walk, ready to dive headfirst into this latest adventure.

———

They don’t find the mirror right away. That comes later.

The inside of the house is similarly aged and faded, but still in good condition; it just needs a thorough cleaning and some paint. Well, a ton of paint. Preferably not in colors picked out by a 5-year-old, or they’ll have a neon technicolored home.

They start with the cleaning, although even that is done in bursts. There’s a series of staff meetings ramping up to the school year that Emma’s required to go to, and executing a deep scrub of the sizable house was always destined to be a difficult undertaking with an energetic young child to watch and keep entertained.

Thankfully, though progress is slow, Emma doesn’t have to do it all herself. Mary Margaret has been an enormous help with all her Pinterest cleaning techniques, as well as conscripting her husband into tidying the yard and performing minor repairs. In addition, Emma had somehow hit it off with the school librarian, Belle, and the elegant brunette had graciously offered to lend another set of hands. Between the four of them, the layers of dirt and grime are slowly being peeled away to reveal what will be a very stately-looking house, if given enough love and hard work.

They’re tackling one of the unused guest rooms when Emma removes the dropcloth from an object propped against the wall, revealing a mirror with an ornate faux-gilt frame. The golden paint is flaking a bit, but the intricate carving is still evident on what must have been a beautiful piece in its time. Soon enough, Belle joins her at the mirror, a frown gracing her typically smiling face.

“I know, looks a little out of place in the middle of all this junk,” Emma says, but Belle just shakes her head.

“No, it’s not that,” she murmurs almost absentmindedly before correcting herself. “Well, yes, it does look out of place. But I could have sworn I’ve seen it before. Perhaps in a book?”

They stand for a moment longer, just contemplating this unexpected antique, before Emma turns back to the rest of the room. “Well, let me know if you figure it out,” she says to Belle before turning to a dresser with a fresh dustrag.

And that’s the end of that.

———

Except it’s not the end of that, because Belle shows up a week later in a flurry of excitement over some discovery she’s made.

“I had seen it before!” she proclaims excitedly, dropping a hefty tome onto Emma’s nice clean(ish) kitchen table. Legends of Coastal Maine, the cover announces in an intricate, curling font, and Emma finds her interest piqued despite her better judgement. Taking a quick peek to make sure Henry is still absorbed with his legos in the living room, Emma refocuses her attention on the pages just as Belle finds what she’s looking for.

“The legend of Killian Jones,” Belle reads off, like the title alone will explain everything. When Emma just stares back at her blankly, Belle finally continues. “It’s like Maine’s version of Bloody Mary. Legend has it that there’s a mirror - one that looks almost exactly like the one we found in your spare room, I might add - and if you stand in front of it and say his name three times, he’ll appear in the mirror.” Belle turns the book around and pushes it towards Emma so that she can see the illustration more clearly. Sure enough, the pencil drawing looks uncannily like the mirror Emma currently has propped on a table at the end of a hallway as a placeholder until she finds something more to her taste.

“So what’s his deal?” Emma asks, pushing the book back after examining its contents. “I know Bloody Mary is supposed to kill you, and so are a bunch of ghosts if you run across them. Is it the same thing with this… Jones guy?”

Belle hums speculatively, tracing her finger back down the page as she searches for the correct information. “There’s not really a clear answer on that,” she hedges after a minute’s reading. “The stories are a bit split. Some say he’s a specter of vengeance - so I assume that’s the violence or murder you were thinking of - but there’s just as many claims that he’s just a lonely shade. I suspect that the verdict would vary from telling to telling.”

“Huh.” Emma stares at the book in silence for a few minutes longer, arms crossed, before making up her mind. “I guess there’s only one thing to do, isn’t there?”

“What’s that?”

“Well test it out, of course.” And grabbing the book, Emma marches for the stairs to test the theory, Belle nervously trailing behind her.

“I don’t know that this is a good idea, Emma…” the librarian cautions. “The whole thing gives me the creeps.” Perhaps another person might have been put off the enterprise by Belle’s words, but Emma’s not one of them. She’s already made up her mind; they’re going to try this, either prove or disprove the myth, and that’s final. Personally, Emma doesn’t think anything will happen; the whole thing seems a little far-fetched, and anyways, Emma’s attempts at playing Bloody Mary as a kid never turned into anything. But she’s always been a bold type, willing to live on the edge a little, and even if nothing happens, it’ll be worth the short adrenaline rush. Plus, Belle seems nervous about the very idea that Emma might have a haunted mirror - it’d be nice to prove to her that the mirror is safe to walk past.

Striding up to the glass, Emma looks back at her companion for clarification. “So, what do I have to do? Say the name? Pace back and forth, Room of Requirement-style? What?”

“Just say his name three times,” Belle says hesitantly. “But really, Emma, are you sure this is a good idea?”

“It’ll be fine, Belle. See?” Turning back to the mirror, Emma quickly expels the words before her friend can make any more attempts to stop her.

“Killian Jones. Killian Jones. Killian Jones.”

A gust of cold air unexpectedly trails through the room, and it almost creeps Emma out, but the mirror remains stubbornly empty of anything but their own reflections. After waiting a minute longer without any ghostly action, Emma turns triumphantly back to Belle, who looks almost disappointed in the outcome despite her earlier nerves.

“See? Nothing more than a silly story.”

And once again, that should be the end of it.

———

Of course, it’s not the end of the matter - something Emma comes to find out in the worst possible way.

It’s a quiet evening in the Swan household, the house’s silence only broken by the faint noises of its inhabitants preparing for bed. Henry’s already been sent off to put on his pajamas and brush his teeth, though Emma knows she’ll need to double check the latter. In the meantime, Emma’s halfway through her own routine, rinsing off her face in the bathroom sink in an old college t-shirt and boxers. Faintly, she thinks she hears something in the hallway, but easily writes it off; if it’s not Henry, padding to his room or the bathroom, it’s probably just one of the old house noises she’s slowly growing used to.

That is, until she hears the scream.

It’s unmistakably Henry, and Emma knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that his shriek was one of terror. Blood running cold in her veins, she runs out to the hallway, not even stopping to grab a makeshift weapon in her haste to find her son, protect her son, keep him safe at all costs. Practically skidding into the hall, she expects to see intruders, or wild animals, or anything else to explain her brave boy’s scream, only to find Henry standing stock still in front of the hall mirror.

Emma almost relaxes, thinking that Henry was only startled by his reflection, before noticing:

There’s a man facing her son in the mirror.

He doesn’t look particularly threatening at first glance, squatting with his arms resting on his knees, but Emma’s not taking any chances. Moving on instinct, she steps between Henry and the creature in the mirror.

“Stay the hell away from my son!” she growls, herding Henry behind her.

Curiously enough, the man, ghost, thing, huffs a sigh, dropping his head as if in resignation. “As you wish,” she thinks she hears him mutter.

“Henry, go to your room and stay there until I say it’s ok,” Emma tells her son in as calm a voice as she can muster. As Henry hesitates, peering around her legs to get a better look at the thing in the mirror, her voice gets harder. “Henry, now. Please go to your room and close the door.”

As Henry finally scurries away, the ghost chimes in again. “I don’t mean any harm, you know,” he observes.

“I don’t want to hear it,” Emma snaps. “How dare you terrify my son. How dare you! What the fuck even are you? What are you doing in my house?” Halfway through her reply, Emma realizes she’s moving closer to the glass, finger pointed accusingly, but can’t bring herself to care. It’s in defense of her kid; she’ll do whatever she has to.

It doesn’t seem to have any effect on the mirror-man, though, as he stands to sweep into an old-fashioned bow. Passingly, Emma notices his clothes - a long leather duster, breeches, and a gauzy shirt, like something out of a different time. “Killian Jones, at your service, milady.”

“What, like the legend?”

Killian Jones, whatever he is, raises an inquisitive eyebrow. “Ah, so you have heard of me, then.”

“You’re not real,” Emma insists. “Belle and I tried it earlier on the mirror. Nothing. It’s just a stupid urban legend.”

“Ah, but did you really believe I was real?” Jones asks. “That’s an important part, you know - I don’t appear for people who doubt I exist. Your son, on the other hand, seems to have belief in spades, thus -” he spreads his arms wide - “my presence here before you.”

“Yeah, well, take your presence somewhere else,” Emma retorts, “or I’ll… I’ll smash the mirror!”

“You’re welcome to try,” he smiles ruefully. “But as you wish. My apologies for causing such a disturbance and startling your boy.” And with a final dramatic twirl of the hand, he’s gone.

After waiting a minute to make sure Jones doesn’t reappear, Emma rushes to Henry’s room, where the boy himself is waiting on his bed with tears in his eyes.

“Hey, what’s wrong, kid?” Emma asks, panic again rising in her throat. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?” So help her, if her kid is hurt she’ll find a way to hurt Jones, mirror be damned.

“I’m sorry, Mama, I didn’t mean to,” Henry cuts in tearfully. “I just heard you and Miss Belle talking, and I wanted to try and… I didn’t mean to!”

“It’s ok, Henry,” she soothes, gathering his small body in her arms and rocking him back and forth. “I don’t blame you for anything, kid. I’m going to protect you from the scary man, ok? You don’t have to worry about anything.”

“I don’t think he was scary,” Henry mumbles in a minor protest, eliciting a confused hum from his mother. “I screamed because I didn’t think it would work, but he wasn’t scary. I think I scared him, though.”

“Sure, Henry,” Emma placates. Henry, thankfully, is winding down, worn out by the heightened emotions of the past half hour, and doesn’t argue the point further. Thankfully, he’s already in his pajamas, making it easy for Emma to transfer him back onto the mattress and securely tuck him in. “Sleep well, kiddo.”

Emma stays for a few moments longer in the doorway, watching her son slip off into dreamland, before softly closing the door and hurrying back down the hall. The mirror, she’s careful to check, is perfectly blank once again - just an ordinary decorative piece. Even in its blank state, Emma’s reluctant to get any closer to it than she has to in the dark, the whole thing freaking her out.

Collapsing onto her bed, cell phone in hand, she quickly dials, listening to the grating ring before a groggy voice picks up.

“Belle? Something weird happened. Do you think you could come over tomorrow?”

———

The next time she faces the mirror and any… ghosts it may contain, they’re prepared.

Or at least, they think they are, because Killian Jones snorts in skeptical amusement as soon as he sees Emma and Belle’s supplies, causing the latter to jump in surprised fear.

“Is that holy water?” he asks, almost scornfully. “Put that away ladies, you’ll just get the glass wet. And trust a man trapped in a mirror - there’s nothing more annoying than streaked glass.”

(It’s a little bit disappointing to hear, since Emma had to beg for some from the local Catholic Church, but something about his tone leaves her inclined to believe him.)

“That crucifix also won’t do anything, darling,” he nods towards Belle. “This isn’t an exorcism; I’m not a demon. And before you even try, Milady the Blonde, the funny thing about smashing my mirror is that it just reappears elsewhere. Same with burning, or any other destruction you want to try. Odd little side effect of a curse.”

“So you are a man, then?” Emma cuts in, stopping his little ramble. “Not some ghost or demon or… something?”

“I believe we’ve already covered that, but yes, I am a man. If I’m ever freed from my reflective prison, I’d be more than happy to show you exactly how much of a man I am,” he ends with a flirtatious smile.

“Yeah, that’s enough of that,” Emma deadpans. “Here’s what’s going to happen - you’re going to leave my family the fuck alone, and I’m getting rid of your mirror as soon as possible. Capiche?”

“I don’t suppose you’d rather help me escape this prison?” he asks hopefully, receiving only an unamused look from Emma in return. “Aye, I know that was a long shot. Alright, Milady, I’ll behave. No contact.”

“Great. Then… begone. Or however you’re sent away.”

“As you wish.” And once again, he executes an elaborate bow and accompanying hand gesture, and the mirror is just a mirror again.

After spending a last moment watching the mirror for any movement, Emma turns back to Belle, jerking a thumb back downstairs. “I’ll go call David.”

“I’ll get a sheet to cover the frame.”

———

That should be the end of it. David will be over tomorrow afternoon to pick up the mirror and drop it off as a donation to the local secondhand store, and all traces of the supernatural will be out of Emma Swan’s house.

But of course, life isn’t as she plans, and the matter isn’t closed like she expects, because Emma comes back into the house after dealing with some minor yard work to hear Henry chattering away upstairs. That’s not really abnormal; Henry is an imaginative child, and since he’s learned to read, he’s taken to reading picture books out loud to his stuffed animals. But when she climbs the stairs to peek in on him, he’s not in his room, but in the hallway.

In the hallway, reading to Killian Jones’ reflection.

“I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues…” Henry recites from his copy of The Lorax, and Emma can’t help but take a moment to be proud of how confidently her son reads, despite the current circumstances.

“Of course they don’t have tongues, what a preposterous idea,” Jones interrupts, brows furrowed in a way that might almost be cute if Emma wasn’t so steamed to see him at all. “And what the bloody hell is a truffula tree, anyways?”

“Hey!” Emma snaps, causing two dark heads to snap up guiltily to meet her eyes. “What is going on here?”

“Mom…” Henry starts, but Emma quickly cuts him off to turn her anger on Jones. “I thought I told you specifically to stay away from my son!”

“It’s not his fault, Mom!” Henry quickly cuts in. “I called him, he didn’t show up on his own.”

“Yeah, well, he should have ignored it. Or left immediately.”

“I do have to answer when called by a believer, love,” Jones reasons unhelpfully. “I likely should have departed immediately, but your boy was so excited to show me his book, made-up words and all, and I just…” He cuts off suddenly, a look on his face that Emma can’t quite place.

“He’s lonely, Mom,” Henry supplies, before stubbornly adding, “Aren’t you always telling me to make sure everyone’s included?”

“I meant the kids at school, Henry,” Emma tries to protest, but her big-hearted kid is having none of it.

“You never said that,” he insists. “Well, Killian is lonely, and I’m making sure he’s included.”

Looking at the man in question, Emma will admit that it’s hard to call him a threat. Sitting cross-legged on the ground, knees pressing against the glass in an effort to get as close as possible, Emma can’t find any trace of that confident, almost threatening swagger and attitude she’d spotted so easily in their previous interactions. He almost looks like he could be a visitor to Henry’s kindergarten show-and-tell, albeit an unusually dressed one. Even beyond the posture, there’s a look on his face that Emma can only think of as vulnerable - a small amount of hope in his eyes, mostly clouded by shame, hope for… something. Emma’s not sure what. Perhaps it’s like Henry says - he’s just lonely, and hopeful they won’t send him away.

Regardless, Emma has always been a sucker for her son’s puppy eyes, and today is no exception. “Fine,” she grumbles. “But step one foot out of line, and I’m finding a way to destroy this mirror, I don’t care what you say.”

“I swear, love, pirate’s honor,” Jones replies, executing a crossing motion over his heart with a grin on his face.

“Choose a different oath. You’re not helping your case.”

“I promise, Emma,” he utters solemnly. “You’ve nothing to fear from me for your boy.” The slight panic at the moniker must show on her face, as he hurries to clarify his previous words. “Henry made the introductions earlier.”

That makes more sense. Henry’s always been a sociable kid - lord only knows where he got that - and likely was more than happy to tell Jones absolutely everything that came to his mind.

“Fine,” she says shortly, still somewhat put out by this turn of events. “I’ve got to go cancel on David. Start thinking about what you want for dinner, kid.”

“Thanks, Mom!” Henry pipes, suddenly cheerful again, before turning back to the mirror, back to the glass so his new friend can see all the pictures. Walking away, Emma can hear their conversation, quickly receding.

“Do you remember what part we were at?”

“You were telling me about how the trees don’t have tongues, lad,” Jones replies, more gently and patiently than Emma would have given him credit for. Acting like that, she really doesn’t have any excuse to kick him out, one way or another.

For the time being, it looks like the legendary Killian Jones is here to stay.

———

Emma hates to admit it, but Killian Jones isn’t so bad. Sure, it’s still weird that they’ve got a resident ghost-person-thing, but Henry’s delighted to have a friend who’s always there to talk to, and Henry’s happiness outweighs a lot. Eventually, the mirror is moved to the living room, where Henry won’t have to sit on the hardwood all the time and Emma can keep an eye on him better. It feels a little bit like encouraging the whole thing, but her kid’s comfort is paramount, so the mirror is lugged down the stairs, where Henry is left to try and explain to Killian how the television works.

Jones, in return, seems thrilled that someone wants to talk to him, though there’s still a lingering sadness evident when Emma tells them it’s time to wrap up. Killian is a bit of a puzzle, Emma’s finding; in those first ill-fated conversations, he made it clear that he was only in the mirror because of a curse, but Emma can’t truly figure out why. From his interactions with her son, she doesn’t think he was cursed for being bad, but his more rakish interactions with Emma lead her to believe it probably wasn’t for being a paragon of virtue either.

When Emma finally bites the bullet and asks, he’s quick and willing enough to reply, albeit in a sarcastic tone. “Well, you see, when a man loves a witch not very much at all…” he intones, smirking at Emma’s unimpressed look. “I’m told this is an appropriate punishment for a man who doesn’t care about anyone or anything beyond his own nose. I probably should just be glad that she didn’t follow through on some of her comments about my lack of heart - I suspect that would have been rather more… fatal.”

Despite his cavalier tone, it’s difficult to hear his words and reconcile them with the man she’s coming to know. Of course, there was a bit of a rough start - Emma was maybe a little suspicious of the man who’d gone down in legend as a spirit of vengeance, so sue her - but he’s more gentle and patient with Henry than she ever would have thought, and that carries a lot of weight in her book. He’s certainly not the uncaring, heartless man he was supposedly cursed for being, however many years ago.

“It was warranted, for certain,” he admits quietly, traces of shame coloring his voice.

“I’m sure that can’t be true,” Emma tries to excuse, but Killian just waves her words away.

“No, I assure you, it was,” he says. “I was on a quest to avenge my brother’s death, and truly couldn’t see beyond that. It was all-encompassing. We’d stop in various ports for ale and supplies and women, but I was always moving forward, trying to exact revenge against the British Navy for taking him from me.” He sighs, suddenly sad. “Being trapped, isolated from everyone really changes your perspective on such matters. Avenging him seemed like the most important thing in the world at that time, you know? But looking back, now when it is far too late for me to accomplish what I set out to do… I think he would have been rather disappointed that I stopped living my own life.” With a sad smile and rather morose chuckle, he concludes on an almost self-deprecating note, “It seems rather ridiculous that it took such extreme measures for me to realize that, doesn’t it?”

There’s no real good answer to that, so Emma just offers a sympathetic smile. “Did you ever try to get out? Break the curse?”

“And how do you propose I do that?” he asks with impatience. “I promise you, I’ve tried just about everything. Probably bruised some ribs those first few days by repeatedly throwing myself against the glass. This mirror has been smashed no less than six times by men and women on your side, and yet I’m still here. After 250 years, I don’t have much hope of ever being free of these confines.”

“Well, that’s optimistic,” Emma comments drily. “Really? No lingering hope?”

“None worth dwelling on.”

Maybe Henry and his eternal fountain of hope and belief has finally rubbed off on Emma, but she struggles to accept such a bleak fate for the man who’s unexpectedly found his way into their lives. He’s certainly not a perfect man - from the sounds of it, he believes himself to barely be a good one - but it hurts something inside her to hear the way he’s just… acceptant of the idea that he’ll be trapped forever.

“Well, I don’t believe that,” she declares decisively. “And if we ask Henry, he’ll just say the same thing. You don’t want to upset my kid, do you?”

That finally coaxes a small smile back on his face. “No, I most certainly would not.”

And that’s that.

———

Belle may be a little nervous about meeting Killian Jones face-to-face again, but Emma knows that her friend can’t resist a good research project, and sure enough, her curiosity overpowers her hesitancy.

“I thought we’d go back to the original legend,” Belle explains, dropping far too many books of varying thickness and age onto Emma’s nice clean coffee table, “so I went and dug up all the books I could find that even mention it. Plus a handful on historic witchcraft. There’s another handful I requested through interlibrary loan and am expecting next week, but this should be more than enough to get us started.”

It’s an understatement, to say the least. Glancing over to the mirror, Emma can see that Killian is wide-eyed and looking vaguely overwhelmed, a feeling that she echoes, frankly. Belle French doesn’t do anything by halves, Emma’s learned in the weeks of their friendship, and this research project is obviously no exception.

“If you’re ready, this one looked particularly promising,” Belle continues, handing Emma a hefty volume, “and I’ll work my way through some of the less likely candidates, rule them out. Ok? Great!”

Meeting Killian’s eye, he offers a shrug, which Emma takes to mean as there’s no real point arguing - something Emma already unfortunately knows to be the case. Faced with the outcome of her own planning, and with a new unstoppable researching force in the form of a soft-spoken brunette, Emma stifles the groan of consternation bubbling in her throat and settles in to read in her favorite armchair, Killian over her shoulder attempting the same.

It’s slow going, and the whole while Emma is reminded of exactly how little she enjoyed writing research papers while in school. It doesn’t help that, while they’re armed with a specific question that needs answering, most of the books are either hopelessly vague or filled with wildly incorrect information. Killian, in particular, is put out by the repeated accusation that he’s a vengeful and murderous spirit, the furrow in his brow growing deeper with each new source and his outraged huffing becoming louder and louder.

After a particularly enthusiastic exhalation, Emma can’t help but cut in, jerking her head to the side to meet his eyes. “Jeez, you sound like you’re trying to blow the house in back there,” she grumbles, only half jokingly.

“Well you’d be upset too, reading this drivel about yourself. I’ll have you know that even if I could somehow break free of this mirror, I’d never take my anger out on any but the woman who deserves it. And she’s long dead. Vengeful, my arse,” he snorts, before continuing petulantly, “And it doesn’t even make sense, saying that my reactions could blow an entire house down. Preposterous.”

“It’s a reference, there’s a fairy tale - you know what, never mind,” Emma replies, cutting herself off. She’s not particularly in the mood today to explain “The Three Little Pigs” to a 300-year-old pirate. “It’s been, literally, hundreds of years since you were cursed. The story is going to get a little messed up over time, like a bad game of Telephone.” As his blank, confused stare makes a reappearance, Emma impatiently waves him off. “I’ll explain it later. I’m just saying, I hear you with the frustration and the dramatic huffing, but it’s not helpful, and driving me nuts to boot. Knock it off.”

“Sorry,” Killian mutters in a tone that only sounds half sincere, his eternally proper manners deserting him in his frustration. It’s a little refreshing, if Emma’s being honest - the attitude, despite being annoying, makes him seem less like a bizarre fairy tale or ghost story, and more like an actual man - albeit one trapped in a fantastical situation.

“If you two are done arguing,” Belle cuts in, her stern teacher voice on full display and causing both culprits to look over sheepishly, “I think I found the best rendition yet.”

“Well, let’s have it then, lass,” Killian prods, some of his previous roguish face back in place.

“The story in this one hews pretty close to what you’ve told us - that you got cursed for thinking only about yourself and your own problems, and not acknowledging that there are other people in the world that have feelings. But it goes on to say that you’ll remain cursed in the mirror until you ‘rediscover the missing piece of your soul.’”

It’s a cryptic answer, to say the least, and both Emma and Killian look at Belle expectantly, waiting for more information - or even better, an explanation. When none is forthcoming, Emma snaps, “And?”

“And that’s it, unfortunately,” Belle replies apologetically. “I’ll keep looking though. That’s more than we had before!” The last sentence is said with a bright note in her voice, clearly supposed to remind them of their meager progress as a positive thing, but neither member of her audience is much affected.

“Great,” Killian replies drolly. “That illuminates the whole thing.”

As Belle deflates at his words, Emma tosses Killian a dirty look, eyes hard with disapproval, and he at least has the decency to look guilty. “Sorry,” he mumbles, for the second time in as many minutes.

“That’s great progress, Belle,” Emma jumps to reassure. “It gives us something to go on, at least.”

“I’ll keep looking,” Belle says as if in excuse, “but if nothing else, it’s a jumping off point.”  As she speaks, she starts gathering up the books, clearly making as if to leave. “I’ve go to get going, but we’ll meet up later?” The last part may not be phrased as a question, but Belle makes it seem as such with a polite tone to her voice, even if Emma does know that their research continuing is a foregone conclusion.

“Yeah, same time next week, if that works for you,” Emma replies, moving with Belle away from the living room and back towards the front door.

“Perfect,” the other woman beams. “I’ll see you then!”

And then the house is once again occupied just by the Swans and their ghost.

Working her way back to the living room, Emma can’t help but offer a sarcastic smirk to the man behind the glass. “So, any ideas about what the ‘missing piece of your soul’ might be?”

“Not a single clue,” he smirks right back.

Even if they are facing an unknown and confusing path to regaining Killian’s freedom, Emma can’t help but revel in their newfound comradery. Initial mistrust and periodic arguments aside, she thinks he just might be a friend - or at least as much of one as a mythical pirate can be. And Emma Swan will do anything for her friends.

They’re going to figure this out.

———

Emma does mean to sit down with Killian in the week following to try and talk through with him what this lost thing might be, but it seems that making those plans was just tempting fate. Unexpectedly, Emma’s faced with a much more stressful week than she had planned - an incident with one of her students leaves her with plenty of paperwork and stress, the first snowfall of the year shows that maybe the old house’s heating system isn’t working quite as well as it should, and to top it all off, Henry comes down with the flu.

Emma always hates to see her happy-go-lucky kid feeling so under the weather, but it’s not her first rodeo. She knows the dance that goes into taking care of a sick kid, knows that he’ll come out of this just fine. Killian, on the other hand, is more concerned, especially when Emma maneuvers the half-asleep Henry onto the couch downstairs.

“He’ll be fine,” Emma tries to reassure at the sight of those furrowed brows. “It’s just the flu. He’s an awful patient, though - keeps trying to hop out of bed and go back to playing with all his toys - so I thought maybe you could keep him distracted enough to stay tucked into the couch when he wakes up.”

Killian heaves a heavy sigh, and Emma thinks she can see his relief at having a useful job to do through his worry. With Henry resting under Killian’s watchful eye, Emma’s able to head back to the kitchen to attempt to clean up the ever-present mess occupying the counter space around her sink.

An hour and a half later, fully settled into her paperwork with her glasses perched on the end of her nose, Emma is startled to suddenly hear Killian’s low and smooth voice trailing back into the kitchen. Assuming Henry must be awake, Emma goes to heat up a can of soup. Sure enough, as she brings the steaming bowl and TV tray back into the living room, Henry is wide awake, though still tucked into his blankets and apparently enthralled by whatever tales Killian is telling.

“...and the water was the most stunning shade, blues mixed with greens and silvers,” he’s saying - an apparently child-friendly tale, Emma is relieved to hear - before stopping abruptly when he spots Emma standing in the doorway. “I think your mother is here with some broth, lad,” he says lightly, nodding in her direction as Henry squirms on the couch to see her more fully. “Why don’t you have a spot to eat, and then we can maybe watch one of your moving pictures?”

“How’re you feeling, bud?” Emma asks, moving to place the tray over her son’s legs before mouthing a thank you in Killian’s direction. “Any better?”

“A bit,” Henry shrugs. “Killian was telling me about all the places he’s seen!”

“Was he now? Well I’ll have to ask for the recap later. Can you have a bit of chicken noodle soup for me? It’ll make you feel better, I think.”

As Henry digs into the soup, Killian catches her attention again. “He slept for about an hour,” he tells her softly.

“Thanks, Killian. I appreciate you looking after him.”

“Any time, Swan.”

———

The anticipated meeting and knowledge swap with Belle gets rescheduled due to Henry’s illness and recovery, and with it goes Emma’s intention to sit down with Killian and attempt to brainstorm with him what the thing they’re looking for might be. It’s not that she decides it’s unimportant, or forgets, she just… gets distracted by the multitude of other things in her life. And maybe forgets, just a little. So sue her.

Killian, however, seems to have done that brainstorming on his own, as he’s already ready with a suggestion by the time the three of them finally sit down to talk and search through even more books.

“I was thinking about our previous discovery over the past days,” he says, slowly and hesitantly, “and I had a thought about what we may be searching for.” The words are uncharacteristically uncertain, coming from the cocky pirate, leaving Emma mildly concerned - both at the prospect of what he’s about to suggest, and for the man himself.

“That’s great!” Belle replies warmly, tangibly setting the entire room more at ease with her cheerful and encouraging demeanor. “Any ideas would be helpful.”

“I don’t know if it’s right,” he cautions, and Emma starts to understand his hesitance. He’s afraid - not of their reactions, but of his own. It’s something she probably should have recognized from looking in the mirror - no joke intended - as a fear she’s seen so often in her own face: a fear of raising her hopes too high, only to be inevitably disappointed. If what Killian thinks is correct, it could set him free from hundreds of years of imprisonment, a glorious prospect; if not, he’s still back in the same situation, but with a fresh pain born of believing, even for the slightest of moments, that a brighter existence was within his grasp.

He underestimates her though, because even if this fails, Emma won’t be deterred - won’t stop trying to find a way until he actually is freed. It’s what Henry would want.

(It’s what she wants too, she’s coming to admit to herself.)

“Tell us,” she prods gently, wearing the same smile she uses to set Henry at ease when he’s nervous about admitting to something, especially when it’s something he shouldn’t have done in the first place. Endearingly, it has the same effect on the 300 year old pirate, the tension in his shoulders visibly relaxing as he finally begins talking.

“You both know I was a pirate,” he starts, waiting to see Emma and Belle nod an affirmative before continuing. “Well, for a pirate - or any man of the sea - a ship is more than just some cobbled together pieces of wood, more than just a convenient way to get around. It’s… it’s everything. His home, his livelihood…” pausing for dramatic effect, he focuses his gaze on Emma before solemnly concluding, “Some might even call it a piece of his soul.”

“And you think your ship is the missing piece,” Belle finishes, knowingly. It seems to Emma that Killian is leaving something out, but brushes the thought aside. It’s not really any of her business.

Killian nods in response. “Her name was the Jolly Roger, and even though she was smaller than many of the ships other captains commanded, I thought she was beautiful from the moment I first set eyes on her, with her elegant lines built for speed,” he remembers wistfully. Quickly, though, his soft smile collapses in on itself to something more sorrowful. “Even if that is the mysterious piece we’re searching for, however, I doubt it will be of any use. It’s been so long, I’d be surprised if the old girl is even still in existence…”

“Hey, it’s something to start with,” Emma interrupts, cutting off his train of doubt. “That’s the least we can do, right? Try and follow that lead, see where it goes?”

“I suppose so,” Killian concedes, seemingly reluctantly, but Emma has spent far too much time in his company, and can see the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“I’ll pull any information I can find about your ship and piracy in this area this week,” Belle says, jotting down the information on a yellow post-it with a weird smile on her face. Emma can’t quite place it - it’s more than an uncomplicated happiness, but not quite smug. Emma almost wants to call it a knowing smile, though knowing what, she has no idea. Before she gets a chance to ask, however, Belle is already straightening and briskly clapping her hands together in a gesture of excitement, an indicator that they’re about to dive into a major research session. “On that note, shall we begin?”

They shall.

———

Killian can’t really be considered a babysitter - even if he was able to move beyond his mirror, Emma doubts he’d be able to handle a phone in the event of an emergency - but he’s still an enormous help with Henry, all the same. In the years since Henry’s birth, Emma’s had to act as a sort of superwoman - simultaneously balancing the demands of her job with keeping her son happy and healthy and entertained, all while trying to keep their apartments from dissolving into trash heaps and desperately trying to hold her sanity and sense of self together.

Even confined as he is, Killian somehow manages to alleviate some of that load, happily keeping Henry distracted and watching over the boy as he plays. Henry, as it turns out, loves attempting to teach his new friend everything about the twenty-first century, giggling and laughing uproariously at Killian’s confused faces (some of them exaggerated for Henry’s benefit, Emma suspects, but she’s not telling). He loves hearing Killian’s stories even more than that, and it seems like the ancient pirate enjoys the telling just as much, turning each tale into a vast drama of thrilling adventure that leaves his young audience enraptured.

(Emma notices that he’s careful to keep his stories tame, choosing ones without the violence and booze and women she’s sure must have been a significant part of such a life, or at the very least downplaying and glossing over the details. She appreciates it, even if she’s never openly said it; there’s no need for Henry to learn about such things this young.)

It’s a pretty tableau they make, Emma thinks as she watches from the doorway, almost Rockwell-esque - the young boy, a book of fairytales propped across his lap, and the brotherly (or possibly even paternal figure) over his shoulder, helping him sound out the words in a learning ritual repeated every day across America. The only interruption to ruin the facade is that prohibitive pane of glass, preventing boy and man from interacting in more concrete and physical ways.

“Are you going to stand there all day lurking, Swan, or will you join us?” Killian calls, a teasing note evident in his tone. Emma may roll her eyes in response, but she willingly crosses the room to join them, ignoring Killian’s cocky smirk in favor of focusing on Henry’s sweet giggles at the exchange.

“What are we reading tonight, my little Giggle Bug?” she asks, before sweeping down to attack Henry’s head with kisses just to hear those giggles continue even longer.

“The Princess and the Frog!” he happily chirps back when Emma finally ceases her kiss attack to allow her kid a moment to catch his breath. “The princess looks like you, Mama!”

Sure enough, when Emma looks at the illustration, the princess’ head is covered in blonde curls - the feature she’s learned is most important in identification to a kindergartener. “She sure does,” Emma agrees affectionately. “Looks like she’s kissing that frog.”

“She’s going to turn him back into a prince,” Henry explains. “He just needed someone to kiss him, you see, and she said she would because he saved her ball and she’s so nice.”

“What do you think, Swan?” Killian cuts in. Somehow, Emma gets the impression that, were he free from his glass confines, he’d be elbowing her in the side. “Do you think a kiss from a pretty blonde would be enough to break my curse?” Mirth twinkles in his eyes, but beneath that, she can sense just a little bit of hope. It seems the ruthless captain still believes in fairy tales and all that comes with them.

“Please,” she scoffs, fighting a smile all the while. “You couldn’t handle it. It’d smudge the glass, give you a conniption.”

“Perhaps you’re the one who couldn’t handle it, love,” he taunts, playfully tapping a finger against his lips.

Emma looks at him appraisingly for one more moment, mouth fixed in an amused smile, before moving decisively, never one to back down from a dare. As Killian stares back in shock and confusion, she gestures impatiently. “Well come on then! Mosey up, or whatever. I can’t really kiss you through the glass if you’re not puckered up on the other side.”

Though he looks flustered - honestly, what did he expect from that teasing? - Killian finally moves to press his lips against the glass, eyes closed as if waiting for a real kiss on real flesh. Taking a final deep breath, Emma moves to do the same, and rising on her toes, presses her lips to the glass where Killian’s own are reflected.

Immediately, she knows it’s not going to work. Not only is there no fairytale-esque flash of rainbow light, but she can still feel the glass under her lips, eternal and unyielding. It reminds her faintly of dares made in middle school to make out with her own hand - that same lack of response, same feeling of why the fuck am I doing this, just colder.

Pulling away, it’s impossible to miss the disappointment on Killian’s face, though he quickly masks it by furiously wiping at the mirror with his soft linen undershirt, flashing Emma a glimpse of a trim midsection and treasure trail in the process.

“Do me a favor, Swan,” he says, brows furrowed in a valiant attempt at feigning deep concentration. “Go fetch that blue liquid you use.”

Emma snorts in amusement. “You mean the Windex?”

“Yes, the… Windex,” he replies with evident disdain for the newfangled product name. “Quickly, now, you know any impediment to my clear viewing will ‘drive me nuts’, as you and the lad so charmingly say.”

“Fine, Captain Neatfreak,” Emma concedes. It’s the least she can do in the face of his disappointment. “C’mon, Henry, let’s go hunt down some Windex before Killian blows a gasket.”

“Actually, Swan,” Killian calls, “I was hoping the lad might be amenable to reading another story aloud?”

Henry looks up eagerly, and even if Emma wasn’t looking to make amends, she’d be lost. “Of course he can.”

After all, as she said before - after the temporary defeat they just suffered, if hearing another fairytale from her kid will make Killian feel better, it’s the least she can do.

———

Despite Emma and Killian’s continued distraction - even though Henry is feeling better, the flu bug having run its course, he’s still rather lethargic and low on energy and is stuck in bed, having developed a nasty cough to boot - Belle arrives to continue their research bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

“I’ve got excellent news!” she chirps, all smiles. Not even a delayed response seems to faze her, grin only growing wider in the face of Emma’s tiredness and the deep look of concern on Killian’s face. “Don’t you want to know what I found?”

“Of course, lass,” Killian quickly jumps in. No one particularly relishes the thought of dimming Belle’s cheerful enthusiasm. “What have you discovered now?”

“Well, I was finally able to hunt down what happened to your ship,” she beams. “As it turns out, after your mysterious and untimely disappearance - that’s how it was described in the book, by the way,” she laughs, “a man named William Smee took over as captain  — ”

“Smee?” Killian interjects, leaving Emma to stifle her laugh at the look of horror on his face. “That buffoon?”

“Well, the history books don’t say anything about him being a buffoon,” Belle explains patiently, “but yes, William Smee became the new captain, renaming the ship the Siren’s Call — ”

“Gods, this just gets worse and worse,” Killian mutters, not quite under his breath. “Bad enough luck the first time.” Emma makes a mental note to ask him about that later. Killian, seeing the brunette librarian’s exasperated look at his continued interruptions, sheepishly apologizes. “Sorry, milady. Please continue.”

With a final fond glare at the outraged pirate, Belle picks up her train of thought again. “As I was saying, it was renamed the Siren’s Call, and actually managed to survive to the current day, mostly intact. She’s been turned into a piracy museum, and a very popular one at that.”

That perks him back up well enough. “My ship? She’s still on the water?”

Belle nods, her initial enthusiasm returning. “Majestically so. Now, for practical reasons, we can’t really bring you to the ship, so I brought the ship to you!”

Emma eyes Belle skeptically. “Unless I’ve missed something, I don’t see a massive pirate ship in my backyard. I’m pretty sure Henry would have been hollering about that by now.”

“Oh, of course not, I can’t actually bring the whole ship here,” Belle amends. “But, as it happens, the local historical society funded a major restoration about ten years ago, and a few of the overworn or fragile parts were replaced in an effort to make the ship properly seaworthy again, and the originals were put into storage at the historical society’s archives. And I might have made up a little fib about teaching a unit about historical piracy and its economic effect on the British Empire, just so I could reasonably borrow… this!” As she finishes on that enthusiastic punctuation, Belle produces a small item from her purse with a flourish.

To Emma, it doesn’t really look like much; just a small, worn and stained piece of wood, clearly carved to serve some purpose, albeit none she can easily recognize. It must mean something to Killian, though, as his face fills with a soft awe, fingers brushing the glass reverently in a desperate attempt to get that little bit closer.

“A piece of the rigging,” he all but breathes. “I can’t believe…” His wonder is so great that, while usually verbose in the extreme, he can’t even finish his sentence, trailing off into nothing more than a soft smile.

“Exactly.” Belle beams, obviously pleased with herself. Emma silently holds out a hand in request, and Belle hands her the small wooden piece in response. It’s in good condition for its age, though stained and worn from decades exposed to sun and salt and water and beginning to crack. Rubbing a thumb along the smooth, worn wood, Emma looks up to meet Belle’s eyes.

“And you’re sure this is from his ship? There’s no possibility it’s a case of mixed-up labeling or storage or something?” Part of the asking is to make sure they’re not trying this for nothing without any chance of their desired outcome, but the other part is in search of an excuse. There’s a significant chance that this won’t work; Emma’s not kidding herself on that front. That doesn’t stop her from searching for a reason this might fail that’s not pure dumb luck.

But Belle shakes her head confidently, negating that possibility. “Nearly none. It was only recently removed, and they’re a very meticulous organization, despite their small size.”

“Ok then. Figured I’d check.” Strangely nervous as she turns to face Killian, who is patiently waiting in the mirror for his companions to finish their debate, Emma takes a deep breath. “Ready?”

Killian nods solemnly, fingers still stroking the glass absentmindedly and eyes focused on the small piece of wood in her hand.

With a final determined nod, Emma raises her hand with the rigging to face the mirror. “Here goes nothing, then.”

Pressing hand and artifact against the glass, at first Emma feels nothing. The glass is just as cold and unforgiving as ever, now tinged even colder with the chill of disappointment. But as Emma presses harder, in a last ditch effort at refusing to relinquish hope, she feels… something. There’s a give to the surface that wasn’t there before - not enough to break through yet, but enough to feel that there is an effect, contrary to all logic and physics.

“I think something’s happening,” she mutters, barely loud enough for Killian to hear, as she pushes even harder against the glass, brows furrowed and mouth frowning in concentration. Sure enough, she can physically see her hand start to sink into the glass, the surface bending around the pressure like the surface of a trampoline. Glancing up quickly, she can see the way Killian’s eyes are blown wide in shock before he moves his hand to receive hers.

Suddenly, the glass gives way around her hand, not quite disappearing but reducing to nothing more than a film, and her hand with its treasure encased falls to meet Killian’s own. Briefly, there’s a muted sense of skin meeting skin, of callused yet tender fingertips just brushing the inside of her wrist, before there’s a sucking sensation around the wood piece in her palm. Without any warning, Emma’s hand is once again expelled from the mirror, only her quick sense of balance saving her from being sent sprawling on the floor.

She doesn’t even have the time to start contemplating everything that just happened before Belle is trying to get her attention, amazement coloring her voice.

“Emma, look!” she all but screeches, leaving Emma with the urge to issue a reminder about indoor voices. “It didn’t work the way we expected, but look!”

At first, as Emma focuses on the mirror, she doesn’t notice anything different. Sure, Killian looks a little shell-shocked, like his entire world has been jarred, but Emma’s a little freaked out by whatever experience they just shared as well, so honestly, that’s warranted and not especially surprising. However, as she looks closer, Belle’s exclamations are explained; inexplicably, Killian is holding the piece of his ship in his hand.

“How even…” Emma starts, but there’s really no point in asking. She’s unlikely to get an answer that makes any amount of sense anyway.

“Swan,” Killian says, voice just a little bit broken. “Look at this, this is… Swan.” He’s clearly in a state of shock and awe over this development - Emma thinks she even spots tears glistening in his eyes. She supposes that it stands to reason - this is the closest he’s gotten to freedom in literal years, and yet without true success. This seems to be an emotional reaction even beyond that, however, and Emma’s itching to ask him about it, and try to comfort her friend in any way.

Belle must sense that he needs a moment to collect himself, as she smiles knowingly and moves back towards the door. “I’ve procured an old spell book that I left in the car,” she explains in a weak excuse. “I thought there might be a few potions in there that might be worth a try - let me go grab that from my car really quick.”

Emma turns to fully face the mirror as Belle makes her exit, attempting to meet Killian’s eyes. “Hey, are you okay?” she asks, fully aware of the concerned tone of her voice.

“Aye, Swan,” he smiles weakly, wiping at his eyes. There’s a moment of quiet, filled only with the sounds of their breathing. Emma can’t help but notice the way he handles the weathered piece of wood almost reverently, running his thumb back and forth across the surface like that piece of the rigging, at first glance a humble and utilitarian object, is the greatest treasure imaginable.

“The Jolly wasn’t always mine, you know,” he finally says, smiling in a way that almost seems wistful, choosing his words carefully in starts and stops as he continues. “It was a proper Navy ship once - the Jewel of the Realm she was named in those days. And my brother… my brother was her captain, the best captain imaginable. I’d have followed him anywhere, even if he hadn’t raised me. And after he was gone…” Killian finally meets her eye again, glancing up from his hands with a smile that’s turned sad. “Well, after he was gone, it felt like that ship was all I had left of him. Even after I renamed her, even after I threw off the red coat to become a pirate… it felt like part of him was still alive on that ship. Attempting to avenge him is what got me into this mess, and I lost my last connection to him in the process. Having this little insignificant piece of the Jolly… it may seem small to you, like we didn’t achieve much,” he concludes, more confident now in his words, “but you’ve given me a little piece of my brother back that I’ve been missing for years. Thank you,” he finishes earnestly, the tears making a reappearance.

It’s not really Emma’s territory. She’s not great at accepting thanks, especially when she doesn’t think she’s done anything to warrant it. “I don’t know that you should be thanking me,” she mutters, eyes downcast. “It’s not like I did it on purpose, whatever just happened just kind of… happened.”

“Still, Swan,” he insists, “whether you intended it or not, you’ve given me a great gift. Take the thanks - they’re freely and sincerely given.”

“Well, I guess you’re welcome, then.”

Killian grins, and Emma can almost physically feel the emotional cloud lift from the room. “Now tell me, before the lovely Miss French comes back - do I look a fright?”

Emma can’t help it - she laughs, despite their previous seriousness. “Don’t worry, you still look devilishly handsome, or whatever you call it.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” he winks - a move executed more with his eyebrows as both eyes close - just in time for the sound of the front door opening to trail back into the living room.

If he’s at all upset with the way things have gone today, Killian doesn’t show it, and Emma breathes a sigh of relief at that.

———

Emma hates to admit it, but as the weeks go on, the initial flurry of research starts to trickle off. It’s not that they’re falling into resignation - or, at the very least, Emma isn’t - but as it turns out, without knowing what this mysterious thing they’re looking for is, their little group is left just to read the same books over and over again, trying and failing to wring another drop of information out of the same tired words. In the immediate aftermath of what Emma’s started thinking of as the “rigging incident”, Belle had tried a number of spells and potions, but none had made any difference beyond annoying Killian with the various murky liquids trickling down the front of his glass. As the weeks stretch on, it seems like Killian is settling into resignation more than anyone else, albeit a content resignation. After years with naught but his own company and the occasional ill-intentioned summoner, Emma supposes this is likely as good a life as he ever expected to have after his drastic change in circumstances.

There’s a routine they’ve sort of settled into; come down, say good morning to Killian (who now comes and goes as he pleases, rarely choosing the solitude of the blank mirror over her or Henry’s company) and eat a little breakfast on the couch before school. After school, Killian happily keeps Henry entertained as Emma deals with whatever work she’s had to bring home before dinner - once again on the couch so their resident pirate doesn’t feel left out (something Henry is very concerned about). After Henry is put to bed, Emma usually takes some time to sort through her day with Killian, relishing the chance to talk and vent with an adult after dealing with teenagers and her own kid all day. Honestly, it’s becoming a highlight of her day; Killian is a fantastic listener, and Emma feels a kinship with him like she’s never experienced before, even with her closest friends.

This Saturday is like any other - Emma and Henry both sleep in a little later than usual, before Emma goes to try and figure out something they can eat for breakfast. Henry’s in the other room with Killian, as per usual, and Emma smiles at the thought of her kid attempting to explain the finer points of cartoon plots. As she tries to pry open a can of biscuits, she faintly hears Henry cough, but doesn’t pay much attention to it. The cough showed up not long after his flu bug disappeared; it’s just a little leftover cold, one they’ve gotten used to.

What Emma hasn’t gotten used to, however, is the note of panic in Killian’s voice as he calls for her. It’s so out of character that it strikes Emma dumb for a moment, and he’s already calling her name again as she rushes into the living room.

“What’s wrong - what happened?” she demands, attempting to analyze the situation. Despite the relatively early hour, Henry looks absolutely sapped of energy already, and Emma’s blood runs cold in her veins at the realization that the only thing that would leave Killian calling for her in a panic is Henry being at risk somehow. “What’s wrong with Henry?”

“He went into one of those coughing fits,” Killian jumps to explain, eyes a little wild as Emma meets his gaze in the mirror, “but after that passed… it was like he couldn’t catch his breath, Swan, just this horrible gasping.”

“I’m tired, Mama,” Henry cuts in with a mumble, as if to underscore that something’s wrong.

“Is he going to be okay, Emma?” Killian asks, painfully earnest.

“Yeah,” she says, voice uncertain, worry almost certainly splashed across her face. “But I think we need to go to the doctor. Right now.”

———

It has to be one of the longest mornings of her life, carrying Henry to urgent care and anxiously waiting for the doctor to tell her what’s wrong with her kid.

Even if it’s only early afternoon by the time she carries a sleeping Henry back into the house and straight up to his bed, Emma’s exhausted. Intense emotion and stress will do that to a person.

Coming back down the stairs, she’s ready to fix herself a cup of hot chocolate and maybe crash for an hour or two before Killian’s voice halts her in her tracks. He only calls her name - just a way to get her attention, really - but Emma is drawn up short by the sheer desperation in his voice. Changing her course towards his mirror, she notes that he doesn’t look much better - hair mussed from hands running through it and a permanent frown on his face, looking wildly out of place. It would have been easy enough for him to retreat from the mirror - Emma knows from previous conversations that time goes marginally faster for him when he’s not summoned in the mirror - but he’s clearly spent the whole time pacing back and forth in the glass, waiting to hear the news as soon as they returned. Truly, Emma’s touched by the gesture and obvious concern as a symbol of exactly how much he’s come to care for their little family.

“Please tell me he’s alright, Swan,” Killian all but begs when he looks up from his frenetic pacing. “He’s so young, so… please tell me he’s going to be okay.”

“He’s going to be okay,” Emma assures with a weak smile. At her words, Killian practically collapses in relief, tension visibly lifting from his frame. “He’s got pneumonia, so he’s going to be sick for a little while longer, but the doctor gave him some antibiotics - some medicine,” she clarifies. “But yeah, he’s going to be fine. Hopefully he’ll start feeling better in the next few days.”

“And these… antibiotics, they’ll cure him?”

“I think it’s more that they’ll help him fight off the little disease bugs, but yeah, basically. And they hooked him up to an oxygen tank at the doctor’s for a little bit, which was kinda scary at the time, but he perked up right away. Honestly, it was like baby’s first drug high, he was so energized all of a sudden.”

“I was so scared, Swan,” Killian admits, resting his hand against the glass. “Henry’s such a bright little boy, and when he was sitting there, gasping for breath, I was absolutely terrified for him.”

“I know you were,” Emma replies softly, moving to press her own hand against his through the glass. “I was too.”

“I don’t want you to feel like I’m overstepping, Swan, but I care about that boy. He’s… everything. I was lonely for so many years, trapped in this prison, and meeting you both… It was the first bright spot in my existence in a very long time. Both of you,” he emphasizes. “Seeing him this morning, seeing your bald-faced worry, I was forced to think of what life would be like without either of you in it again, and it scared me half to death.”

“That’s not overstepping at all,” she reassures him. “That’s just called caring. You care about us.”

Killian nods solemnly at her words, as if in a vow. “Yes. I care.”

There’s been a warmth to the glass between their palms for as long as they’ve been pressed together, but Emma had largely disregarded it, far more focused on the words of the very concerned pirate looking back at her. But with his final words, in a cinematically dramatic moment, the glass suddenly becomes almost too hot to touch, before Killian’s hand sinks right through, palms suddenly meeting skin to skin without their customary barrier. In another circumstance, Emma might laugh at the look of almost comic shock on Killian’s face, but in the moment she can only stare with her own matching expression.

“Is that…?” Killian begins before trailing off, clearly struggling to believe such a thing could be possible for him after years of dreaming. Emma only nods in response, but rotates her hand to grasp his and attempt to draw him the rest of the way through the glass.

Miraculously, it works. Emma steps slowly, disbelievingly backwards, lifting her other hand to meet his, until eventually he swings a leg over the gilded frame and into freedom.

“I can’t believe it,” he murmurs, looking around in astonishment, clutching her hands like a lifeline the whole while. In a way, perhaps it is; Emma’s the first human contact he’s had in hundreds of years. “I’m here? With you and… and the rest of the world? Truthfully?”

“You’re really here,” Emma smiles, her own vow. Then, as all the events of the preceding minutes sink in, she bursts into uncontrollable laughter, forced to release Killian’s hands to brace her heaving frame on her knees.

“I don’t understand what’s so funny, Swan,” he protests, though a small smile plays across his lips.

“You finally broke your curse because you cared, Killian!” she tries to explain through the laughter, before realizing that did nothing to clear the matter up. “It’s frickin’ Beauty and the Beast, how did I not realize that? Let alone Belle?” Killian chuckles along good-naturedly, but it’s easy to see that he’s still confused. There’s a lot she and Henry are going to have to catch him up on; Emma forgets that sometimes. “It’s a fairy tale. And a movie - one of Henry’s moving pictures. I’ll get him to show you. Trust me, this will be hilarious when you get it.”

“I’ll trust you on that,” he replies with a smile. He does that a lot, Emma realizes - both the trust and the smile.

Killian may claim that Emma and Henry are the ones to brighten his world, but Emma has a strong suspicion he’ll do the same for them.

———

Henry is positively thrilled at the breaking of Killian’s curse, only stopped from attack-hugging the man by Emma’s stern warnings not to get him sick.

(“He’s 300 years old, Henry, and hasn’t had all the shots we have. You could very literally kill him with your love.”)

Killian seems a little overwhelmed by everything, but that’s to be expected, she supposes. The last time he saw real daylight, not just through a reflection, the main method of transportation was horseback and electricity hadn’t been discovered yet. She can give him a little slack if he’s looking at everything suspiciously.

When Emma and Henry moved to Storybrooke, Maine, she never imagined she’d end up living out a real-life ghost story. But then again, there’s not really a how-to manual for living with a 300 year old pirate. What they learn along the way is that he makes an excellent roommate - clean and courteous and always willing to help out with Henry or whatever else she needs. There’d been a debate about procuring him his own place, but for the moment, this is just easier - no needing to find him money no one has to spare or sorting out the intricacies of figuring out some fake papers. Belle is able to get him a job at the local library, where he develops a reputation as a courteous and professional member of the staff and great with the children’s storytimes, if universally considered to be a little eccentric.

He even looks the part too, these days, courtesy of a shopping spree at the local Target and thrift stores, even if Killian is only talked down from continuing to wear his long leather duster by the purchase of a second hand leather jacket in a more recent style. Sometimes, Emma almost forgets that Killian is a man out of time with the way he stands so normally in her kitchen, pouring out a bowl of cereal in stockinged feet. Of course, he’ll then refer to the computer as the “information box” or something else so obviously out of the ordinary, and the illusion is ruined.

She’s not sure she’d want him to fully acclimate, anyway. There’s something adorable about his little confused pout, and especially the way that Henry’s taken the pirate under his proverbial wing, trying to explain the world to him and introducing Killian to particular highlights (the Reese’s peanut butter cups are a particular hit). There’s something to be said, too, for his manners, courtly and chivalrous in ways Emma’s not accustomed to but welcomes all the same.

Honestly, she thinks he might be attempting to court her - to borrow a phrase - even if he hasn’t definitively declared it. Emma certainly wouldn’t be opposed if he did so; there’s a connection between them, one that’s existed for longer than she likes to admit. Living together, it’s hard to ignore the tender looks sent her way - not that Emma wants to. In fact, she might be guilty of sending a few his way in return. Still, he never makes a move, never seeks anything else, and by the time he figures out how to use the toaster oven, Emma is tired of excusing it as him still trying to acclimate to the modern world.

“Are you ever going to do anything about that flirting?” she finally demands one night, sitting on the couch watching television with Killian after Henry’s gone to bed.

Killian looks flabbergasted at her outburst. “Excuse me?”

“You send me doe-eyed looks, like, all the time, not to mention the comments. Are you ever actually going to follow through, or…?”

“I didn’t think you wanted me to,” he admits, flushing brilliantly scarlet as he ducks his head to scratch behind an ear. “I didn’t want to overstep my boundaries.”

“You didn’t think I wanted you to? Jesus, Killian, I never said that! Honestly, I’ve been trying to give it right back — ”

“ — well I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable, a gentleman never — ”

But Emma never finds out what a gentleman never does, as she finally drags his lips down to hers.

It’s not much of a kiss at first, Killian’s shock turning it into two sets of lips ferociously pressing against one another rather than a proper, romantic gesture. It’s not much different from kissing the glass, really; warmer, softer, but similarly unresponsive. After a prolonged moment, Emma draws back, meeting his stupefied expression with her own fierce-eyed stare. When Killian doesn’t react - except perhaps to become more slack-jawed - Emma nearly takes her hands away from his face and resigns herself to the embarrassment of having unsuccessfully made a move on her roommate. Before she can move, however, he’s back, warm lips moving against hers, fiercely at first before settling into something more tender. It’s a good first kiss, a perfect one really, and Emma looks forward to many more.

As they finally break apart to regain independent use of their lungs,  Emma rests her forehead against Killian’s. “That was…” she begins, breathlessly.

“Fantastic,” Killian finishes, before breaking into a shit-eating grin. “Really, Swan, you’re so much better at that without the glass in the way.”

“Shut up,” Emma retorts, but she smiles even as she smacks his chest with the back of her hand. Really, the man’s got a point.

“Make me,” he shoots right back, smirk permanently affixed to his face.

And really, can anyone blame her for doing exactly that?

(As it turns out, 300 year old legendary pirates make excellent kissers.)

[la-appel-du-vide]

Lake Powell 2021 🌊

Ohhhhh Lake Powell. What a PLACE!

After we had such a blast last year, we wanted to do another trip this year - especially because now Brady has a Jeep that can tow! We figured it would be cheaper to rent a pair of waverunners in Utah and then drive them down ourselves. Plus, Brayden had NEVER SEEN Lake Powell, which is both crazy and not acceptable. (;

As the summer went on, and the lake levels kept dropping (they're currently the lowest they've been since the lake was originally filled up), we were getting nervous that our trip wouldn't happen. Ramps at Wahweap and Bullfrog were closed and auxiliary ramps had to be used instead - the photos of the ramps so far out of the water are absolutely crazy! Houseboats were encouraged to pull out of the water. Things weren't looking super good. But when the time came to pull the trigger, we took the risk and hoped things would work out. And they did!

We rented two waverunners from a guy in Provo, and that was a horrible experience. We told him we'd be picking them up on Thursday night between 7:30 and 8:30, and he said to give him a 45-minute heads up. We texted him when we were about 35 minutes out, and he didn't even leave until 40 minutes later. He literally did not get there until 9:15. I was livid - we still had a 5-hour drive to Page. On top of that, the waverunners were NOT in good shape. Deep gashes covered in paint/duct tape, one that was missing its registration sticker (literally illegal), one that had no mirrors, neither of them had dry box lids (he tried to tell me that was normal, that they ALWAYS break off on every machine he's ever seen - BS, and I called him on that), they had a tiny amount of storage space, and they were already low on fuel. Perfect. He insisted that we take 6 life jackets, even though we only needed three, so he didn't have to put a special note on the reservation. Annoying. He talked to us about useless information for almost an hour, so we left SO much later than we wanted to, and didn't get to Page until almost 3 AM. Good start to the trip, right?

We stayed in a little townhome Airbnb - it was fine, but a bit outdated (the green carpet was a clear giveaway haha). We got a quick four hours of sleep before we were up again, exhausted, to hit the lake. We stopped by the place Beach and I rented from last year to see if they wouldn't mind giving us a map - we LOVED the map they gave us last year. Clear, helpful, and plastic so getting wet doesn't hurt it. It was awkward though, when I explained we weren't renting from them this year, but certainly would again in the future because we were having a very bad time, but that we'd really love a map again. She gave us one, but didn't seem happy about it. Yikes. Then we stopped at the store to get some snacks for the day, and finally stopped at Maverik to fill the stupid things up. That's where the next sign of trouble occurred - Beach took the turn too sharp and rammed the trailer right into the bollard in front of the gas pump. It was SO loud and shook us all. And yep, it left quite a dent in the trailer. It was still functional, but that's no way to start a day. Morale was quite low for a bit.

But then we finally got to the lake. Much needed. The line wasn't long at all - I think many people are afraid to launch after hearing the things we'd heard. We launched like pros and hit the lake! I was really conscious of enjoying the sun on my skin, the sound of the water, and the way it felt to cruise around the lake. I get so sad at the end of summer, because the warm weather really keeps me going. We went to see the dam, and took an inaugural dip. We LOVE our little dips - always refreshing, and never too cold. Plus, you dry almost immediately when you get out! We drove the channel (insane, of course) down to Antelope Canyon, and then hit a no-wake zone up until we got to a spot to park. Because the lake levels are so low, there's a ton of muck in the water (I'm not sure how that correlates, but it must, because it wasn't like this last year) when you get to the ends of canyons. There was a THICK layer of sticks/debris coming into the Antelope Canyon parking area. Brayden and Beach had to swim us in so we didn't get the machines full of that crap and ruin the engine.

It's amazing how much less crowded it was this year than last year. We only saw a handful of people while we were hiking Antelope - last year, it was pretty packed and we had to do a lot of waiting to get photos. I liked this part of the change haha. It's such a stunning canyon and hike - the beautiful wave patterns along the red rocks are just unreal. It doesn't feel like it's something that could have happened naturally, and it's absolutely mind boggling. We are so lucky to have something like this so close to home, so we can experience the magic so easily. Ugh, I love it. I got a little nauseous on the hike back, because I always do when I don't sleep and then physically exert myself. BUT I didn't throw up, so W! We took a small break to eat an apple, drink some water, and rest in the shade before swimming the waverunners back out through the muck hahah (poor B and Beach - I got a ride). We did have to do some serious work to ensure that the engines were clean and clear of debris before we started them up again, and that was a little stressful, but it all turned out fine.

Then I hopped on with Beach and we drove Navajo Canyon, which is really just one of my favorite things to do. By the time you get to the end (it's pretty long) it smoothes out so nicely, and there is NOTHING better than absolutely cruising on glass water on a waverunner. We were gliding so fast, taking smooth, wide turns through the canyon... gave me absolute life. At one point, Beach hopped on with Brayden and they took a video of me riding side-by-side with them, and it's so great.

Then trouble hit us yet again. My waverunner alarm started going off to alert us of low fuel. We knew it was time to head back to the marina anyway, so we could load them up before it got dark. We started heading out and just decided to take the fastest path back to the marina, because we obviously weren't familiar with these machines and didn't know how far we could get once the gas light was on. We took a right out of Navajo Canyon to go look for the small channel that leads from Warm Creek Bay back to the marina - which we used quite a bit last year. But..... we couldn't find it. I was pretty sure I was losing my mind. We drove that whole bay up and down a couple of times, and I was getting so frustrated by how I could possibly be missing it. Eventually, we stopped by a houseboat to ask where it was, and apparently it's LITERALLY GONE. The entire channel DRIED UP. In the span of a few months. That is WILD. And we'd wasted all the gas I probably even had left looking for something that doesn't exist anymore. So the bad news was, now we'd have to go ALL THE WAY AROUND to get back to the marina. Their gas light was on too now (by the way, the alarm would scare us so bad when it went off, and it lasted like 3 minutes before it would turn off - so annoying) and we figured we would run out of gas before we made it that far. We ended up stopping by another houseboat (a SUPER nice one) to ask if they'd be willing to let us borrow a couple of gallons of gas. They were super nice about it and let us have some. Then we went guns ablazing to try and get back to the marina before it got dark. Going the long way, though, you hit THREE wakeless zones, so it just takes forever. We ended up completely forgoing the rules and flying through them. The sun was setting FAST and it was getting SO DARK. It's definitely not safe to be out there in the "pitch night" hahaha as Beach said. By the time we dropped Beach off to go get the car and trailer, it was literally black outside. I could hardly see anything. Some of the buoys had lights on, which was so helpful, but we still had to be so careful. Our only saving grace was a broken down boat at the bottom of the auxiliary ramp that had a light on, so we could find the ramp in the dark. Loading was difficult, especially once we realized that the roller poles on our trailer were SO LOOSE. We texted the rental guy about what to do and his response was "Lol, guess those need to be tightened." And he suggested we try to tie them on with a rope. SO helpful. All of his stuff was shotty.

But we DID IT. What an adventure. We stopped for dinner at Denny's on the way home, because we looked like hell and hadn't eaten all day. And then we were so exhausted, I'm pretty sure I've never slept deeper. I couldn't even keep my eyes open for a minute.

To be continued...

[theunderdogwrites]

Ten "Suggestions" For A New World

I was raised in the Roman Catholic faith. Went to church every Sunday with my family from the time I was four until the age of 19. I was baptized, received my first communion and attended CCD classes (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine). And just for fun and out of curiosity, I've read the bible (New Testament) three times. [I want to quickly share with you the meaning of the word "confraternity": 'a lay brotherhood devoted to some purpose, especially to religious or charitable service'. Already its clear women are not really welcome.]

Once I was free to make my own choices, I stopped going to church. To be honest with you, I couldn't hear myself think over the constant propaganda being served to me by an elderly ornery priest wearing a $2500 robe and asking me to kneel at a $10,000 marble alter while attempting to guilt me into giving the church money to help feed the poor. I've never been the sharpest tool in the shed, but I knew something wasn't quite right with this religion. A friend of mine introduced me to the term "recovering Catholic" and I've adopted it as my own.

Do I believe in God? What... a terribly complicated question. In short, yes. In length, I believe in something I can't put my finger on and it has a name. I know I talk to this Universe character a great deal, maybe that’s it? Anyway, the God I believe in... that something with a name I can't accurately put my finger on - is about kindness and compassion, respect, acceptance, tolerance and love. And I mean, for real. Not just because it sounds good in your mouth.

Have you ever looked up the meaning of TOLERANCE?

‘allow the existence, occurrence, or practice of (something that one does not necessarily like or agree with) without interference’

The fact I’ve not yet killed anyone, means I am a highly tolerant being. Ego stroke.

You may have your own opinions and beliefs; in fact, I encourage you to form your own opinions and sift through what you do and don't believe. But let other people find their own way. Be who they are to be and if it's a different path than yours... don't tell them they're going to Hell. All that does is stress Satan right the fuck out.

I was taught to pray from an early age. Kneel down beside the bed at night, make the sign of the cross and talk to God. Ask him to bless the people you love, show compassion for those who wronged you and be thankful for everything you've been given. End with the sign of the cross. Although I no longer kneel at the side of my bed or make the sign of the cross, I do still pray. I've never had an issue with prayer. It's a form of communication and communication is king. Even if you believe no one is listening, it truly does help to just have raw dialogue with yourself.

Have I ever used prayer to help me out of a tough spot? Absolutely.

Have I ever prayed for something and promised something else I knew I most likely wouldn't follow through with? Yes. Have I ever prayed then become angry when things didn't go my way? Definitely.

Have I asked for forgiveness, mercy and wisdom? Yes.

 I'm not ashamed of any of those admissions. But I'm not going to print them on a t-shirt and strut around either. I don't feel I am any different than anyone else when it comes to prayer. Evidence of this are the religious contestants on Survivor who ask God for assistance in winning a million dollars so they may do good with all that money.

Currently, for me, prayer is an open-ended conversation that takes place in my soul. There's yelling and screaming. Blame. Crying and swearing. The launching of projectiles and ever so often... peace, laughter, approval and cookies. There's chaos and harmony and somehow, I manage to cultivate enough intelligence to string together a bunch of words to make a half decent sentences from time to time.

This brings me to: The Ten Commandments. Take a quick gander at this so you can get your bearings:

https://www.bibleinfo.com/en/topics/ten-commandments-list

In a nutshell, these are "God's standards" which he wants you to live by.

Going to confession was the worst. Especially as a typical 15-year-old girl. "I am not telling you shit" was pretty much my life's motto so to expect me to open up to an old priest and share my sins and secret thoughts so he may shame me with a mini lecture and an act of contrition, was insanity.

Every time I went to confession, I used the same three "sins":

I disobeyed my Mother and Father                                  

I took the Lord`s name in vain

I lied

I figured this to be believable for a girl my age. If you look at the commandments, I wasn't going to covet my neighbor`s wife or his ox and I certainly wasn't going to get myself another God to worship considering I already couldn't figure out the one I'd been given. And murder? I probably didn't even know what that meant. I mean, until the guidance counselor at my school pointed out to me what suicide was, I had no idea it was even possible to do that to yourself. I wasn't stupid, but rather innocent. And isn't it funny that it took a person of "authority" whose intentions were being governed by a higher power, to bring those kinds of ideas into my brain where they once didn't exist? Something to ponder.

Let's be honest, the Ten Commandments... as they stand right now in current society... a little outdated, right? Technology is rapidly changing how we communicate and behave. And it's time to modernize in order to keep up. I'm not proposing we abolish the original document. I'm not trying to offend anyone or stamp out their beliefs. I know the Ten Commandments is a sacred collection of words that many believe is straight from the mouth of God. Attempting to rip up or shit on something with that much power over so many people... is suicide. (Look Ms. Foster! I learned another way one can harm themselves other than dragging a razor over one's wrists! Your job wasn't meaningless after all!)

I'm merely proposing that someone (ME ME ME) take a stab at writing up a new set of standards which people (YOU YOU YOU) should SERIOUSLY consider following if they wish to achieve a pleasant after life. And the only person you must believe in - yourself.

The first thing I want to do is change the word "commandments" to "suggestions". It's less aggressive and more light-hearted, even though you're still expected to comply. No one wants to be told what to do, not really, and by "commanding" them in a preachy way to curb behavior... well, you're just asking for trouble. Imagine the success rate if Moses had come down from the mountain and said:

“Hey... hi everyone, look, God spoke to me and mentioned something about these ten suggestions He'd like us to seriously consider if we want to get into Heaven. He was pretty adamant that we pay attention and do our best to not ignore this list. I think He spent a lot of time coming up with this stuff... so we really do owe it to Him to try and give this all we got. Ok, thanks everyone... back to not raping women and making false idols out of gold".

I just feel that by changing the wording and therefore tone of this document - you're not alienating the more cantankerous, free-spirited or stubborn people of the world with a menu of demands you expect them to blindly obey.

The second thing I want to do is provide a brief explanation for each "suggestion". There is nothing worse than treating people as though they don't deserve further information when you'd like them to do something that wasn't their idea. Communication is comforting and reflects respect. You can't say: "Because I told you so" or "Just do it" and expect to be well received. All this is going to get you are responses such as: "You're not the boss of me" and "Go fuck yourself".

So, without further ado, I give to you:

The Ten "Suggestions" For A New World

 Please do not update your Facebook status message more than once a day:  This is a sign of vanity, a deadly sin. And it's really annoying to the point where people secretly want to kill you for repeatedly mugging their news feeds with updates in increments of 32 minutes, on the broad details of your existence. No one actually cares here, on planet Self Absorption.

Please do not kill: This is the only original "commandment" included on this new list because it has stood and always will stand the test of time. There are loads of shitty, stupid, selfish & servile individuals in the world and relieving them of the burden of breathing seems like an all-around great idea, but it's actually a terrible idea. Why? Well, for starters... it's not your place to end a human life. It's just not. Life is special. You - not so much. Plus, it causes debilitating pain for a great many people. When you take someone's life away you create a hole inside the people who love them. This hole can never be filled. It will never get smaller. These people will never heal. They might be able to carry on... eat food again one day, maybe buy a new couch, laugh at a joke - but they will never heal. They will walk around, unhealed and with a hole in their heart till their dying day. Don't make holes in other people.

Please resist from being a complete douche bag: (Traditionally the term 'douche bag' is     usually gender specific and applies to men, but for this  "suggestion" it also applies to women, because women can be douche     bags as well. This does not apply to cats. The lives of cats are based upon douche-baggery, but it's cute and therefore exempt)  Being a total jerk is in your bloodline. Eve was a jerk to Adam. Adam was a jerk to God. The snake was a jerk to Eve. God was a jerk to the dinosaurs. And the dinosaurs were jerks to everyone. So... this  "suggestion" is going to be a difficult one not to fail at from time to time. The idea here isn't to be perfect, because that isn't unachievable. But rather, genuinely compassionate and generous when you see someone who wouldn't benefit from you running your truck into their fence and then driving off like a douche bag coward. And the state of being a douche bag isn't always limited to actions befitting a little scamp, no it can also be in the way you dress (Underwear above the pants line? Come on!) Or how you tell uninterested parties about your drunken antics and the loss of your favorite pair of really expensive shoes. Or  tweeting/texting the person next to you while you're in a group setting. Now you can see why pretty much everyone will be unsuccessful at this "suggestion". We're douche bags.

If  you open a bottle of wine - please finish it: This really shouldn't require much explanation. Drinking two-day old wine is the equivalent of sucking on week old doughnuts. Even hobos understand this concept. If you save your wine, you're stealing food out of the mouth of a grape stomping child. Is that what you want? No. Drink your damn wine already.

Please flush the toilet after you poop / wipe the seat off if you urinate on it: No  list of "suggestions" would be complete without a mentioning of bathroom etiquette because so many people are unable to recognize and execute proper manners in this area. I reckon 74% of the population does not want to see your excrements. And the other 26% need to seek out some counseling. Immediately. Leaving your shit in the toilet for others to    view does not make you regal, it makes you a filthy barnyard animal. And it's not funny or clever. Neither is urine on the seat. And this applies to both men and women. Take ten seconds, grab some toilet paper and WIPE THE SEAT OFF. Your pee is not liquid gold. No one wants to bottle it to sell on eBay or Etsy.

Please do not use social media to draw attention to your drama: This     is a tough one, I know. We all suffer from drama and when we feel severely slighted by the Universe, a person or even a business... we just want to share our pain in hopes of others being able to relate to us and provide some words of comfort. And what better way to reach your 472 "friends" than screaming out on Twitter or rapidly posting about your discomfort on Facebook. But the problem is... you're not actually connecting to anyone. Not really. You can't see their expressions. You can't hear the tone in their voice. And you definitely cannot count on their sincerity if they don't contact you privately and not in an open forum for all to witness. And, it's awkward. Once people see your drama, they can't un-see it. Even if you delete it, you don't get to delete it from their minds. And as a sub-section to this "suggestion" - also try to avoid saying stuff on social media that you wouldn't say to a person's face. This is just a fancier version of talking behind someone's back while doing it in front of their face without them actually realizing that it's being done.

Please do not text and drive: If you own a car you probably spend a     decent amount of time in that car, driving. Probably so much time that it     feels automatic, like blinking.  And because it's automatic you will rarely think about what you're actually doing - operating a 4000-pound killing machine. What is more important than taking your eyes off the road to check in on your game of choice? Or answering that text about where     you're going on your vacation? Your life. The lives of others. (please see "suggestion" number two) Chances are you're already deeply distracted by your real life, there is no reason to add to that list fumbling around with a cellphone so you can tell someone what you thought about last night's episode of Spring Baking Championship (is that just me?).

Please leave your ego at the door: People love confidence; they hate     arrogance. Arrogance is phony. Intimidation and strutting around like an erect penis OR vagina won’t hide the truth - that you’re afraid and maybe a little underwhelming in your own mind.  There is nothing wrong with     having flaws... accepting those flaws... flaunting those flaws. It builds     character. But if you must insist on being an arrogant tool, then you must  also accept that you're not only unhealthy to yourself, you're toxic to     others.

Please do not give others false hope: If someone has posted an ad on     Kijiji or Craigslist - don't express interest and give them a date and time of when you're going to show up to purchase the item if you have no intention of making an appearance. Forget about it being rude and full of    atrocious manners; it's downright cruel to let someone believe they've     just sold their dining room table when in fact - they haven't. (Yes, I’ve been scarred).

Please remember, you're not always right: Unless you're me. And even then, you’d only be operating at a success rate of about 32%.... so, just be yourself.

[epackingvietnam]

They're Simply the Best: The Top 25 Moz Blog Posts of 2020

Posted by morgan.mcmurray

Here we are again — that time of year filled with wrap-ups and lookbacks and “best of” compilations. 2020 was a year like no other, and that’s certainly reflected in the topics covered by the blogs in the list below.

We published 170 blog posts this year (including Whiteboard Friday episodes) — not too shabby for a year rife with personal and professional challenges! We’re looking forward to what 2021 has in store, but in case you missed anything, we’ve compiled the top 25 most-read pieces from the last 12 months*. You’ll find several Whiteboard Friday episodes (past and present), local SEO tips, and advice for empathetic marketing, along with the optimistic SEO predictions for 2020 and beyond — made in pre-COVID times. 

So without further ado, here are the best Moz Blog posts of 2020. Enjoy!



*The top 25 Moz Blog posts listed below were published between January 1 - December 22, 2020, and are in order by unique pageviews generated during that timeframe.

1. What Readers Want During COVID-19: Content Ideas for Every Niche

Author: Amanda Milligan | Published: March 31, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 49,889

Amanda tested a variety of keywords to see which ones exhibited a trend during the initial COVID-19 outbreak, and might warrant some attention from content marketers. Here's what she found. 

2. Pay Attention to These SEO Trends in 2020 and Beyond

Author: Suganthan Mohanadasan | Published: February 4, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 45,553

In the past several years, we've already seen a sea of change in how we think and execute on SEO, but the future holds even more change — and more opportunity. Explore a rundown of key SEO topics to keep an eye on in the future.

3. Are H1 Tags Necessary for Ranking? [SEO Experiment]

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: February 25, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 35,414

In earlier days of search marketing, SEOs often heard the same two best practices repeated so many times it became implanted in our brains: Wrap the title of your page in H1 tags and use only one H1 tag per page. Despite assertions from one of Google's most trusted authorities that sites "can do perfectly fine with no H1 tags or with five H1 tags", many SEOs didn't believe it. So of course, we decided to test it scientifically.

4. Google My Business: FAQ for Multiple Businesses at the Same Address

Author: Miriam Ellis | Published: February 17, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 31,883

How should I get listed in Google My Business if I’ve got multiple businesses at the same address? How many listings am I eligible for if I’m running more than one business at my location? Get answers to your top questions in this comprehensive FAQ.

5. Google's January 2020 Core Update: Has the Dust Settled?

Author: Dr. Peter J. Meyers | Published: January 27, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 31,800

The January 2020 Core Update peaked from January 13-15. We dig into the numbers, including winners and losers.

6. Google's May 2020 Core Update: Winners, Winnerers, Winlosers, and Why It's All Probably Crap

Author: Dr. Peter J. Meyers | Published: May 14, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 24,159

The May 2020 Core Update was the second-hottest update since the August 2018 "Medic" Update. Dr. Pete takes a hard look at the numbers, including why measuring winners and losers has turned out to be a tricky business.

7. Core Web Vitals: The Next Official Google Ranking Factor

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: July 17, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 21,281

There's a new ranking factor in town: Core Web Vitals. Expected in 2021, this Google-announced algorithm change has a few details you should be aware of. 

8. SEO for 2020

Author: Britney Muller | Published: January 31, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 20,783

SEO Scientist Britney Muller offers a seventeen-point checklist of things you ought to keep in mind for executing on modern, effective SEO. You'll encounter both old favorites (optimizing title tags, anyone?) and cutting-edge ideas to power your search strategy into the future.

9. 4 Google My Business Fields That Impact Ranking (and 3 That Don't)

Author: Joy Hawkins | Published: October 23, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 20,330

Joy and her team at Sterling Sky have come to the conclusion that there are only four things inside the Google My Business dashboard that a business owner or a marketing agency can edit that will have a direct influence on where they rank in the local results on Google.

10. Crawled — Currently Not Indexed: A Coverage Status Guide

Author: Christopher Long | Published: March 9, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 18,354

Within Google's Index Coverage report, there are many different statuses that provide webmasters with information about how Google is handling their site content. While many of the statuses provide some context around Google’s crawling and indexation decisions, one remains unclear: “Crawled — currently not indexed”. This post will help you identify some of the most common reasons this mysterious status might be affecting your website, and how to address them.

11. How to Get Backlinks in 2020 [Series]

Author: Britney Muller | Published: June 26, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 15,523

A little creativity and smart tactics can uncover high-quality link building opportunities. This week, Britney Muller kicks off a new Whiteboard Friday series on modern link building.

12. Position Zero Is Dead; Long Live Position Zero

Author: Dr. Peter J. Meyers | Published: February 5, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 14,825

On January 22, 2020, Google started removing Featured Snippet URLs from organic listings. We take a deep dive into the before and after of this change, including its implications for rank-tracking.

13. 2020 Local SEO Success: How to Feed, Fight, and Flip Google

Author: Miriam Ellis | Published: January 6, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 13,969

Feed Google the right information, fight spam, and flip it into an opportunity: these are the top three ways to chase local SEO success.

14. Which of My Competitor's Keywords Should (& Shouldn't) I Target?

Author: Rand Fishkin | Published: February 21, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 13,638

Which of your competitor's keywords are worth targeting, and which can be ignored? Learn how to tell the difference in this fan favorite Whiteboard Friday.

15. 10 Basic SEO Tips to Index + Rank New Content Faster

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: October 16, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 13,381

When you publish new content, you want users to find it ranking in search results as fast as possible. Fortunately, there are a number of tips and tricks in the SEO toolbox to help you accomplish this goal. 

16. 7 SEO Processes That Get Easier with Increased PageRank/Domain Authority

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: February 7, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,883

What factors are affected as you improve PageRank or Domain Authority, and how? Cyrus details seven SEO processes that are made easier by a strong investment in link building and growing your authority.

17. Marketing in Times of Uncertainty

Author: Rand Fishkin | Published: April 3, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,861

Our work as marketers has transformed drastically in 2020. Our good friend Rand talks about a topic that's been on the forefront of our minds lately: how to do our jobs empathetically and effectively through one of the most difficult trials in modern memory.

18. A Beginner’s Guide to Ranking in Google Maps

Author: Alex Ratynski | Published: March 16, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,836

The majority of your potential customers still use Google to find local businesses near them. In fact, 80% of searches with “local intent” result in a conversion. This begs the question: “What’s the best way to catch the attention of local searchers on Google?” The answer: through Google Maps marketing.

19. The Rules of Link Building

Author: Britney Muller | Published: February 28, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,532

Are you building links the right way? Or are you still subscribing to outdated practices? Britney Muller clarifies which link building tactics still matter and which are a waste of time (or downright harmful) in one of our very favorite classic episodes of Whiteboard Friday.

20. How We Ranked a Single Page for 2.6K Keywords Driving 30K Monthly Searches [Case Study]

Author: Kristin Tynski | Published: May 4, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,359

In rare cases, SEOs create content that generates results so far beyond what was anticipated that a single project can greatly move the needle. Kristin walks through one such instance for her team's client, ADT.

21. Understanding & Fulfilling Search Intent

Author: Britney Muller |  Published: June 12, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,262

Understanding what your target audience is searching and why is more important than ever. Britney Muller shares everything you need to begin understanding and fulfilling search intent, plus a free Google Sheets checklist download to help you analyze the SERPs you care about most.

22. Title Tags SEO: When to Include Your Brand and/or Boilerplate

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: August 31, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 11,850

If your websites are like most, they include a fair amount of extra "stuff" in the title tags: things like your brand name or repeating boilerplate text that appears across multiple pages. But should you include these elements in your titles automatically?

23. How to Query the Google Search Console API

Author: Brian Gorman | Published: March 18, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 11,095

If you’ve been an SEO for even a short time, you’re likely familiar with Google Search Console (GSC). It’s a valuable tool for getting information about your website and its performance in organic search. That said, it does have its limitations. In this post, you’ll learn how to get better-connected data out of Google Search Console and increase the size of your exports by 400%.

24. How to Choose Google My Business Categories (With Cool Tools!)

Author: Miriam Ellis | Published: September 9, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 10,873

Your choice of your primary and secondary categories contributes a lot to Google’s understanding and handling of your business. With so much riding on proper categorization, let’s empower you to research your options like a pro today!

25. A Must-Have Keyword Research Process for Winning SEO

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: May 8, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 10,745

Smart keyword research forms the basis of all successful SEO. Cyrus Shepard shares the basics of a winning keyword research process that you can learn and master in a short amount of time. 

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

#túi_giấy_epacking_việt_nam #túi_giấy_epacking #in_túi_giấy_giá_rẻ #in_túi_giấy #epackingvietnam #tuigiayepacking

[bfxenon]

They're Simply the Best: The Top 25 Moz Blog Posts of 2020

Posted by morgan.mcmurray

Here we are again — that time of year filled with wrap-ups and lookbacks and “best of” compilations. 2020 was a year like no other, and that’s certainly reflected in the topics covered by the blogs in the list below.

We published 170 blog posts this year (including Whiteboard Friday episodes) — not too shabby for a year rife with personal and professional challenges! We’re looking forward to what 2021 has in store, but in case you missed anything, we’ve compiled the top 25 most-read pieces from the last 12 months*. You’ll find several Whiteboard Friday episodes (past and present), local SEO tips, and advice for empathetic marketing, along with the optimistic SEO predictions for 2020 and beyond — made in pre-COVID times. 

So without further ado, here are the best Moz Blog posts of 2020. Enjoy!



*The top 25 Moz Blog posts listed below were published between January 1 - December 22, 2020, and are in order by unique pageviews generated during that timeframe.

1. What Readers Want During COVID-19: Content Ideas for Every Niche

Author: Amanda Milligan | Published: March 31, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 49,889

Amanda tested a variety of keywords to see which ones exhibited a trend during the initial COVID-19 outbreak, and might warrant some attention from content marketers. Here's what she found. 

2. Pay Attention to These SEO Trends in 2020 and Beyond

Author: Suganthan Mohanadasan | Published: February 4, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 45,553

In the past several years, we've already seen a sea of change in how we think and execute on SEO, but the future holds even more change — and more opportunity. Explore a rundown of key SEO topics to keep an eye on in the future.

3. Are H1 Tags Necessary for Ranking? [SEO Experiment]

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: February 25, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 35,414

In earlier days of search marketing, SEOs often heard the same two best practices repeated so many times it became implanted in our brains: Wrap the title of your page in H1 tags and use only one H1 tag per page. Despite assertions from one of Google's most trusted authorities that sites "can do perfectly fine with no H1 tags or with five H1 tags", many SEOs didn't believe it. So of course, we decided to test it scientifically.

4. Google My Business: FAQ for Multiple Businesses at the Same Address

Author: Miriam Ellis | Published: February 17, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 31,883

How should I get listed in Google My Business if I’ve got multiple businesses at the same address? How many listings am I eligible for if I’m running more than one business at my location? Get answers to your top questions in this comprehensive FAQ.

5. Google's January 2020 Core Update: Has the Dust Settled?

Author: Dr. Peter J. Meyers | Published: January 27, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 31,800

The January 2020 Core Update peaked from January 13-15. We dig into the numbers, including winners and losers.

6. Google's May 2020 Core Update: Winners, Winnerers, Winlosers, and Why It's All Probably Crap

Author: Dr. Peter J. Meyers | Published: May 14, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 24,159

The May 2020 Core Update was the second-hottest update since the August 2018 "Medic" Update. Dr. Pete takes a hard look at the numbers, including why measuring winners and losers has turned out to be a tricky business.

7. Core Web Vitals: The Next Official Google Ranking Factor

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: July 17, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 21,281

There's a new ranking factor in town: Core Web Vitals. Expected in 2021, this Google-announced algorithm change has a few details you should be aware of. 

8. SEO for 2020

Author: Britney Muller | Published: January 31, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 20,783

SEO Scientist Britney Muller offers a seventeen-point checklist of things you ought to keep in mind for executing on modern, effective SEO. You'll encounter both old favorites (optimizing title tags, anyone?) and cutting-edge ideas to power your search strategy into the future.

9. 4 Google My Business Fields That Impact Ranking (and 3 That Don't)

Author: Joy Hawkins | Published: October 23, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 20,330

Joy and her team at Sterling Sky have come to the conclusion that there are only four things inside the Google My Business dashboard that a business owner or a marketing agency can edit that will have a direct influence on where they rank in the local results on Google.

10. Crawled — Currently Not Indexed: A Coverage Status Guide

Author: Christopher Long | Published: March 9, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 18,354

Within Google's Index Coverage report, there are many different statuses that provide webmasters with information about how Google is handling their site content. While many of the statuses provide some context around Google’s crawling and indexation decisions, one remains unclear: “Crawled — currently not indexed”. This post will help you identify some of the most common reasons this mysterious status might be affecting your website, and how to address them.

11. How to Get Backlinks in 2020 [Series]

Author: Britney Muller | Published: June 26, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 15,523

A little creativity and smart tactics can uncover high-quality link building opportunities. This week, Britney Muller kicks off a new Whiteboard Friday series on modern link building.

12. Position Zero Is Dead; Long Live Position Zero

Author: Dr. Peter J. Meyers | Published: February 5, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 14,825

On January 22, 2020, Google started removing Featured Snippet URLs from organic listings. We take a deep dive into the before and after of this change, including its implications for rank-tracking.

13. 2020 Local SEO Success: How to Feed, Fight, and Flip Google

Author: Miriam Ellis | Published: January 6, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 13,969

Feed Google the right information, fight spam, and flip it into an opportunity: these are the top three ways to chase local SEO success.

14. Which of My Competitor's Keywords Should (& Shouldn't) I Target?

Author: Rand Fishkin | Published: February 21, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 13,638

Which of your competitor's keywords are worth targeting, and which can be ignored? Learn how to tell the difference in this fan favorite Whiteboard Friday.

15. 10 Basic SEO Tips to Index + Rank New Content Faster

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: October 16, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 13,381

When you publish new content, you want users to find it ranking in search results as fast as possible. Fortunately, there are a number of tips and tricks in the SEO toolbox to help you accomplish this goal. 

16. 7 SEO Processes That Get Easier with Increased PageRank/Domain Authority

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: February 7, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,883

What factors are affected as you improve PageRank or Domain Authority, and how? Cyrus details seven SEO processes that are made easier by a strong investment in link building and growing your authority.

17. Marketing in Times of Uncertainty

Author: Rand Fishkin | Published: April 3, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,861

Our work as marketers has transformed drastically in 2020. Our good friend Rand talks about a topic that's been on the forefront of our minds lately: how to do our jobs empathetically and effectively through one of the most difficult trials in modern memory.

18. A Beginner’s Guide to Ranking in Google Maps

Author: Alex Ratynski | Published: March 16, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,836

The majority of your potential customers still use Google to find local businesses near them. In fact, 80% of searches with “local intent” result in a conversion. This begs the question: “What’s the best way to catch the attention of local searchers on Google?” The answer: through Google Maps marketing.

19. The Rules of Link Building

Author: Britney Muller | Published: February 28, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,532

Are you building links the right way? Or are you still subscribing to outdated practices? Britney Muller clarifies which link building tactics still matter and which are a waste of time (or downright harmful) in one of our very favorite classic episodes of Whiteboard Friday.

20. How We Ranked a Single Page for 2.6K Keywords Driving 30K Monthly Searches [Case Study]

Author: Kristin Tynski | Published: May 4, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,359

In rare cases, SEOs create content that generates results so far beyond what was anticipated that a single project can greatly move the needle. Kristin walks through one such instance for her team's client, ADT.

21. Understanding & Fulfilling Search Intent

Author: Britney Muller |  Published: June 12, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,262

Understanding what your target audience is searching and why is more important than ever. Britney Muller shares everything you need to begin understanding and fulfilling search intent, plus a free Google Sheets checklist download to help you analyze the SERPs you care about most.

22. Title Tags SEO: When to Include Your Brand and/or Boilerplate

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: August 31, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 11,850

If your websites are like most, they include a fair amount of extra "stuff" in the title tags: things like your brand name or repeating boilerplate text that appears across multiple pages. But should you include these elements in your titles automatically?

23. How to Query the Google Search Console API

Author: Brian Gorman | Published: March 18, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 11,095

If you’ve been an SEO for even a short time, you’re likely familiar with Google Search Console (GSC). It’s a valuable tool for getting information about your website and its performance in organic search. That said, it does have its limitations. In this post, you’ll learn how to get better-connected data out of Google Search Console and increase the size of your exports by 400%.

24. How to Choose Google My Business Categories (With Cool Tools!)

Author: Miriam Ellis | Published: September 9, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 10,873

Your choice of your primary and secondary categories contributes a lot to Google’s understanding and handling of your business. With so much riding on proper categorization, let’s empower you to research your options like a pro today!

25. A Must-Have Keyword Research Process for Winning SEO

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: May 8, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 10,745

Smart keyword research forms the basis of all successful SEO. Cyrus Shepard shares the basics of a winning keyword research process that you can learn and master in a short amount of time. 

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

[nutrifami]

They're Simply the Best: The Top 25 Moz Blog Posts of 2020

Posted by morgan.mcmurray

Here we are again — that time of year filled with wrap-ups and lookbacks and “best of” compilations. 2020 was a year like no other, and that’s certainly reflected in the topics covered by the blogs in the list below.

We published 170 blog posts this year (including Whiteboard Friday episodes) — not too shabby for a year rife with personal and professional challenges! We’re looking forward to what 2021 has in store, but in case you missed anything, we’ve compiled the top 25 most-read pieces from the last 12 months*. You’ll find several Whiteboard Friday episodes (past and present), local SEO tips, and advice for empathetic marketing, along with the optimistic SEO predictions for 2020 and beyond — made in pre-COVID times. 

So without further ado, here are the best Moz Blog posts of 2020. Enjoy!



*The top 25 Moz Blog posts listed below were published between January 1 - December 22, 2020, and are in order by unique pageviews generated during that timeframe.

1. What Readers Want During COVID-19: Content Ideas for Every Niche

Author: Amanda Milligan | Published: March 31, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 49,889

Amanda tested a variety of keywords to see which ones exhibited a trend during the initial COVID-19 outbreak, and might warrant some attention from content marketers. Here's what she found. 

2. Pay Attention to These SEO Trends in 2020 and Beyond

Author: Suganthan Mohanadasan | Published: February 4, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 45,553

In the past several years, we've already seen a sea of change in how we think and execute on SEO, but the future holds even more change — and more opportunity. Explore a rundown of key SEO topics to keep an eye on in the future.

3. Are H1 Tags Necessary for Ranking? [SEO Experiment]

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: February 25, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 35,414

In earlier days of search marketing, SEOs often heard the same two best practices repeated so many times it became implanted in our brains: Wrap the title of your page in H1 tags and use only one H1 tag per page. Despite assertions from one of Google's most trusted authorities that sites "can do perfectly fine with no H1 tags or with five H1 tags", many SEOs didn't believe it. So of course, we decided to test it scientifically.

4. Google My Business: FAQ for Multiple Businesses at the Same Address

Author: Miriam Ellis | Published: February 17, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 31,883

How should I get listed in Google My Business if I’ve got multiple businesses at the same address? How many listings am I eligible for if I’m running more than one business at my location? Get answers to your top questions in this comprehensive FAQ.

5. Google's January 2020 Core Update: Has the Dust Settled?

Author: Dr. Peter J. Meyers | Published: January 27, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 31,800

The January 2020 Core Update peaked from January 13-15. We dig into the numbers, including winners and losers.

6. Google's May 2020 Core Update: Winners, Winnerers, Winlosers, and Why It's All Probably Crap

Author: Dr. Peter J. Meyers | Published: May 14, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 24,159

The May 2020 Core Update was the second-hottest update since the August 2018 "Medic" Update. Dr. Pete takes a hard look at the numbers, including why measuring winners and losers has turned out to be a tricky business.

7. Core Web Vitals: The Next Official Google Ranking Factor

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: July 17, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 21,281

There's a new ranking factor in town: Core Web Vitals. Expected in 2021, this Google-announced algorithm change has a few details you should be aware of. 

8. SEO for 2020

Author: Britney Muller | Published: January 31, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 20,783

SEO Scientist Britney Muller offers a seventeen-point checklist of things you ought to keep in mind for executing on modern, effective SEO. You'll encounter both old favorites (optimizing title tags, anyone?) and cutting-edge ideas to power your search strategy into the future.

9. 4 Google My Business Fields That Impact Ranking (and 3 That Don't)

Author: Joy Hawkins | Published: October 23, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 20,330

Joy and her team at Sterling Sky have come to the conclusion that there are only four things inside the Google My Business dashboard that a business owner or a marketing agency can edit that will have a direct influence on where they rank in the local results on Google.

10. Crawled — Currently Not Indexed: A Coverage Status Guide

Author: Christopher Long | Published: March 9, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 18,354

Within Google's Index Coverage report, there are many different statuses that provide webmasters with information about how Google is handling their site content. While many of the statuses provide some context around Google’s crawling and indexation decisions, one remains unclear: “Crawled — currently not indexed”. This post will help you identify some of the most common reasons this mysterious status might be affecting your website, and how to address them.

11. How to Get Backlinks in 2020 [Series]

Author: Britney Muller | Published: June 26, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 15,523

A little creativity and smart tactics can uncover high-quality link building opportunities. This week, Britney Muller kicks off a new Whiteboard Friday series on modern link building.

12. Position Zero Is Dead; Long Live Position Zero

Author: Dr. Peter J. Meyers | Published: February 5, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 14,825

On January 22, 2020, Google started removing Featured Snippet URLs from organic listings. We take a deep dive into the before and after of this change, including its implications for rank-tracking.

13. 2020 Local SEO Success: How to Feed, Fight, and Flip Google

Author: Miriam Ellis | Published: January 6, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 13,969

Feed Google the right information, fight spam, and flip it into an opportunity: these are the top three ways to chase local SEO success.

14. Which of My Competitor's Keywords Should (& Shouldn't) I Target?

Author: Rand Fishkin | Published: February 21, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 13,638

Which of your competitor's keywords are worth targeting, and which can be ignored? Learn how to tell the difference in this fan favorite Whiteboard Friday.

15. 10 Basic SEO Tips to Index + Rank New Content Faster

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: October 16, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 13,381

When you publish new content, you want users to find it ranking in search results as fast as possible. Fortunately, there are a number of tips and tricks in the SEO toolbox to help you accomplish this goal. 

16. 7 SEO Processes That Get Easier with Increased PageRank/Domain Authority

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: February 7, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,883

What factors are affected as you improve PageRank or Domain Authority, and how? Cyrus details seven SEO processes that are made easier by a strong investment in link building and growing your authority.

17. Marketing in Times of Uncertainty

Author: Rand Fishkin | Published: April 3, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,861

Our work as marketers has transformed drastically in 2020. Our good friend Rand talks about a topic that's been on the forefront of our minds lately: how to do our jobs empathetically and effectively through one of the most difficult trials in modern memory.

18. A Beginner’s Guide to Ranking in Google Maps

Author: Alex Ratynski | Published: March 16, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,836

The majority of your potential customers still use Google to find local businesses near them. In fact, 80% of searches with “local intent” result in a conversion. This begs the question: “What’s the best way to catch the attention of local searchers on Google?” The answer: through Google Maps marketing.

19. The Rules of Link Building

Author: Britney Muller | Published: February 28, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,532

Are you building links the right way? Or are you still subscribing to outdated practices? Britney Muller clarifies which link building tactics still matter and which are a waste of time (or downright harmful) in one of our very favorite classic episodes of Whiteboard Friday.

20. How We Ranked a Single Page for 2.6K Keywords Driving 30K Monthly Searches [Case Study]

Author: Kristin Tynski | Published: May 4, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,359

In rare cases, SEOs create content that generates results so far beyond what was anticipated that a single project can greatly move the needle. Kristin walks through one such instance for her team's client, ADT.

21. Understanding & Fulfilling Search Intent

Author: Britney Muller |  Published: June 12, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,262

Understanding what your target audience is searching and why is more important than ever. Britney Muller shares everything you need to begin understanding and fulfilling search intent, plus a free Google Sheets checklist download to help you analyze the SERPs you care about most.

22. Title Tags SEO: When to Include Your Brand and/or Boilerplate

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: August 31, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 11,850

If your websites are like most, they include a fair amount of extra "stuff" in the title tags: things like your brand name or repeating boilerplate text that appears across multiple pages. But should you include these elements in your titles automatically?

23. How to Query the Google Search Console API

Author: Brian Gorman | Published: March 18, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 11,095

If you’ve been an SEO for even a short time, you’re likely familiar with Google Search Console (GSC). It’s a valuable tool for getting information about your website and its performance in organic search. That said, it does have its limitations. In this post, you’ll learn how to get better-connected data out of Google Search Console and increase the size of your exports by 400%.

24. How to Choose Google My Business Categories (With Cool Tools!)

Author: Miriam Ellis | Published: September 9, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 10,873

Your choice of your primary and secondary categories contributes a lot to Google’s understanding and handling of your business. With so much riding on proper categorization, let’s empower you to research your options like a pro today!

25. A Must-Have Keyword Research Process for Winning SEO

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: May 8, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 10,745

Smart keyword research forms the basis of all successful SEO. Cyrus Shepard shares the basics of a winning keyword research process that you can learn and master in a short amount of time. 

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

[xaydungtruonggia]

They're Simply the Best: The Top 25 Moz Blog Posts of 2020

Posted by morgan.mcmurray

Here we are again — that time of year filled with wrap-ups and lookbacks and “best of” compilations. 2020 was a year like no other, and that’s certainly reflected in the topics covered by the blogs in the list below.

We published 170 blog posts this year (including Whiteboard Friday episodes) — not too shabby for a year rife with personal and professional challenges! We’re looking forward to what 2021 has in store, but in case you missed anything, we’ve compiled the top 25 most-read pieces from the last 12 months*. You’ll find several Whiteboard Friday episodes (past and present), local SEO tips, and advice for empathetic marketing, along with the optimistic SEO predictions for 2020 and beyond — made in pre-COVID times. 

So without further ado, here are the best Moz Blog posts of 2020. Enjoy!



*The top 25 Moz Blog posts listed below were published between January 1 - December 22, 2020, and are in order by unique pageviews generated during that timeframe.

1. What Readers Want During COVID-19: Content Ideas for Every Niche

Author: Amanda Milligan | Published: March 31, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 49,889

Amanda tested a variety of keywords to see which ones exhibited a trend during the initial COVID-19 outbreak, and might warrant some attention from content marketers. Here's what she found. 

2. Pay Attention to These SEO Trends in 2020 and Beyond

Author: Suganthan Mohanadasan | Published: February 4, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 45,553

In the past several years, we've already seen a sea of change in how we think and execute on SEO, but the future holds even more change — and more opportunity. Explore a rundown of key SEO topics to keep an eye on in the future.

3. Are H1 Tags Necessary for Ranking? [SEO Experiment]

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: February 25, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 35,414

In earlier days of search marketing, SEOs often heard the same two best practices repeated so many times it became implanted in our brains: Wrap the title of your page in H1 tags and use only one H1 tag per page. Despite assertions from one of Google's most trusted authorities that sites "can do perfectly fine with no H1 tags or with five H1 tags", many SEOs didn't believe it. So of course, we decided to test it scientifically.

4. Google My Business: FAQ for Multiple Businesses at the Same Address

Author: Miriam Ellis | Published: February 17, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 31,883

How should I get listed in Google My Business if I’ve got multiple businesses at the same address? How many listings am I eligible for if I’m running more than one business at my location? Get answers to your top questions in this comprehensive FAQ.

5. Google's January 2020 Core Update: Has the Dust Settled?

Author: Dr. Peter J. Meyers | Published: January 27, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 31,800

The January 2020 Core Update peaked from January 13-15. We dig into the numbers, including winners and losers.

6. Google's May 2020 Core Update: Winners, Winnerers, Winlosers, and Why It's All Probably Crap

Author: Dr. Peter J. Meyers | Published: May 14, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 24,159

The May 2020 Core Update was the second-hottest update since the August 2018 "Medic" Update. Dr. Pete takes a hard look at the numbers, including why measuring winners and losers has turned out to be a tricky business.

7. Core Web Vitals: The Next Official Google Ranking Factor

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: July 17, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 21,281

There's a new ranking factor in town: Core Web Vitals. Expected in 2021, this Google-announced algorithm change has a few details you should be aware of. 

8. SEO for 2020

Author: Britney Muller | Published: January 31, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 20,783

SEO Scientist Britney Muller offers a seventeen-point checklist of things you ought to keep in mind for executing on modern, effective SEO. You'll encounter both old favorites (optimizing title tags, anyone?) and cutting-edge ideas to power your search strategy into the future.

9. 4 Google My Business Fields That Impact Ranking (and 3 That Don't)

Author: Joy Hawkins | Published: October 23, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 20,330

Joy and her team at Sterling Sky have come to the conclusion that there are only four things inside the Google My Business dashboard that a business owner or a marketing agency can edit that will have a direct influence on where they rank in the local results on Google.

10. Crawled — Currently Not Indexed: A Coverage Status Guide

Author: Christopher Long | Published: March 9, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 18,354

Within Google's Index Coverage report, there are many different statuses that provide webmasters with information about how Google is handling their site content. While many of the statuses provide some context around Google’s crawling and indexation decisions, one remains unclear: “Crawled — currently not indexed”. This post will help you identify some of the most common reasons this mysterious status might be affecting your website, and how to address them.

11. How to Get Backlinks in 2020 [Series]

Author: Britney Muller | Published: June 26, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 15,523

A little creativity and smart tactics can uncover high-quality link building opportunities. This week, Britney Muller kicks off a new Whiteboard Friday series on modern link building.

12. Position Zero Is Dead; Long Live Position Zero

Author: Dr. Peter J. Meyers | Published: February 5, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 14,825

On January 22, 2020, Google started removing Featured Snippet URLs from organic listings. We take a deep dive into the before and after of this change, including its implications for rank-tracking.

13. 2020 Local SEO Success: How to Feed, Fight, and Flip Google

Author: Miriam Ellis | Published: January 6, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 13,969

Feed Google the right information, fight spam, and flip it into an opportunity: these are the top three ways to chase local SEO success.

14. Which of My Competitor's Keywords Should (& Shouldn't) I Target?

Author: Rand Fishkin | Published: February 21, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 13,638

Which of your competitor's keywords are worth targeting, and which can be ignored? Learn how to tell the difference in this fan favorite Whiteboard Friday.

15. 10 Basic SEO Tips to Index + Rank New Content Faster

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: October 16, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 13,381

When you publish new content, you want users to find it ranking in search results as fast as possible. Fortunately, there are a number of tips and tricks in the SEO toolbox to help you accomplish this goal. 

16. 7 SEO Processes That Get Easier with Increased PageRank/Domain Authority

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: February 7, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,883

What factors are affected as you improve PageRank or Domain Authority, and how? Cyrus details seven SEO processes that are made easier by a strong investment in link building and growing your authority.

17. Marketing in Times of Uncertainty

Author: Rand Fishkin | Published: April 3, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,861

Our work as marketers has transformed drastically in 2020. Our good friend Rand talks about a topic that's been on the forefront of our minds lately: how to do our jobs empathetically and effectively through one of the most difficult trials in modern memory.

18. A Beginner’s Guide to Ranking in Google Maps

Author: Alex Ratynski | Published: March 16, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,836

The majority of your potential customers still use Google to find local businesses near them. In fact, 80% of searches with “local intent” result in a conversion. This begs the question: “What’s the best way to catch the attention of local searchers on Google?” The answer: through Google Maps marketing.

19. The Rules of Link Building

Author: Britney Muller | Published: February 28, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,532

Are you building links the right way? Or are you still subscribing to outdated practices? Britney Muller clarifies which link building tactics still matter and which are a waste of time (or downright harmful) in one of our very favorite classic episodes of Whiteboard Friday.

20. How We Ranked a Single Page for 2.6K Keywords Driving 30K Monthly Searches [Case Study]

Author: Kristin Tynski | Published: May 4, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,359

In rare cases, SEOs create content that generates results so far beyond what was anticipated that a single project can greatly move the needle. Kristin walks through one such instance for her team's client, ADT.

21. Understanding & Fulfilling Search Intent

Author: Britney Muller |  Published: June 12, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,262

Understanding what your target audience is searching and why is more important than ever. Britney Muller shares everything you need to begin understanding and fulfilling search intent, plus a free Google Sheets checklist download to help you analyze the SERPs you care about most.

22. Title Tags SEO: When to Include Your Brand and/or Boilerplate

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: August 31, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 11,850

If your websites are like most, they include a fair amount of extra "stuff" in the title tags: things like your brand name or repeating boilerplate text that appears across multiple pages. But should you include these elements in your titles automatically?

23. How to Query the Google Search Console API

Author: Brian Gorman | Published: March 18, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 11,095

If you’ve been an SEO for even a short time, you’re likely familiar with Google Search Console (GSC). It’s a valuable tool for getting information about your website and its performance in organic search. That said, it does have its limitations. In this post, you’ll learn how to get better-connected data out of Google Search Console and increase the size of your exports by 400%.

24. How to Choose Google My Business Categories (With Cool Tools!)

Author: Miriam Ellis | Published: September 9, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 10,873

Your choice of your primary and secondary categories contributes a lot to Google’s understanding and handling of your business. With so much riding on proper categorization, let’s empower you to research your options like a pro today!

25. A Must-Have Keyword Research Process for Winning SEO

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: May 8, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 10,745

Smart keyword research forms the basis of all successful SEO. Cyrus Shepard shares the basics of a winning keyword research process that you can learn and master in a short amount of time. 

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

[camerasieunhovn]

They're Simply the Best: The Top 25 Moz Blog Posts of 2020

Posted by morgan.mcmurray

Here we are again — that time of year filled with wrap-ups and lookbacks and “best of” compilations. 2020 was a year like no other, and that’s certainly reflected in the topics covered by the blogs in the list below.

We published 170 blog posts this year (including Whiteboard Friday episodes) — not too shabby for a year rife with personal and professional challenges! We’re looking forward to what 2021 has in store, but in case you missed anything, we’ve compiled the top 25 most-read pieces from the last 12 months*. You’ll find several Whiteboard Friday episodes (past and present), local SEO tips, and advice for empathetic marketing, along with the optimistic SEO predictions for 2020 and beyond — made in pre-COVID times. 

So without further ado, here are the best Moz Blog posts of 2020. Enjoy!



*The top 25 Moz Blog posts listed below were published between January 1 - December 22, 2020, and are in order by unique pageviews generated during that timeframe.

1. What Readers Want During COVID-19: Content Ideas for Every Niche

Author: Amanda Milligan | Published: March 31, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 49,889

Amanda tested a variety of keywords to see which ones exhibited a trend during the initial COVID-19 outbreak, and might warrant some attention from content marketers. Here's what she found. 

2. Pay Attention to These SEO Trends in 2020 and Beyond

Author: Suganthan Mohanadasan | Published: February 4, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 45,553

In the past several years, we've already seen a sea of change in how we think and execute on SEO, but the future holds even more change — and more opportunity. Explore a rundown of key SEO topics to keep an eye on in the future.

3. Are H1 Tags Necessary for Ranking? [SEO Experiment]

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: February 25, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 35,414

In earlier days of search marketing, SEOs often heard the same two best practices repeated so many times it became implanted in our brains: Wrap the title of your page in H1 tags and use only one H1 tag per page. Despite assertions from one of Google's most trusted authorities that sites "can do perfectly fine with no H1 tags or with five H1 tags", many SEOs didn't believe it. So of course, we decided to test it scientifically.

4. Google My Business: FAQ for Multiple Businesses at the Same Address

Author: Miriam Ellis | Published: February 17, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 31,883

How should I get listed in Google My Business if I’ve got multiple businesses at the same address? How many listings am I eligible for if I’m running more than one business at my location? Get answers to your top questions in this comprehensive FAQ.

5. Google's January 2020 Core Update: Has the Dust Settled?

Author: Dr. Peter J. Meyers | Published: January 27, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 31,800

The January 2020 Core Update peaked from January 13-15. We dig into the numbers, including winners and losers.

6. Google's May 2020 Core Update: Winners, Winnerers, Winlosers, and Why It's All Probably Crap

Author: Dr. Peter J. Meyers | Published: May 14, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 24,159

The May 2020 Core Update was the second-hottest update since the August 2018 "Medic" Update. Dr. Pete takes a hard look at the numbers, including why measuring winners and losers has turned out to be a tricky business.

7. Core Web Vitals: The Next Official Google Ranking Factor

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: July 17, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 21,281

There's a new ranking factor in town: Core Web Vitals. Expected in 2021, this Google-announced algorithm change has a few details you should be aware of. 

8. SEO for 2020

Author: Britney Muller | Published: January 31, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 20,783

SEO Scientist Britney Muller offers a seventeen-point checklist of things you ought to keep in mind for executing on modern, effective SEO. You'll encounter both old favorites (optimizing title tags, anyone?) and cutting-edge ideas to power your search strategy into the future.

9. 4 Google My Business Fields That Impact Ranking (and 3 That Don't)

Author: Joy Hawkins | Published: October 23, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 20,330

Joy and her team at Sterling Sky have come to the conclusion that there are only four things inside the Google My Business dashboard that a business owner or a marketing agency can edit that will have a direct influence on where they rank in the local results on Google.

10. Crawled — Currently Not Indexed: A Coverage Status Guide

Author: Christopher Long | Published: March 9, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 18,354

Within Google's Index Coverage report, there are many different statuses that provide webmasters with information about how Google is handling their site content. While many of the statuses provide some context around Google’s crawling and indexation decisions, one remains unclear: “Crawled — currently not indexed”. This post will help you identify some of the most common reasons this mysterious status might be affecting your website, and how to address them.

11. How to Get Backlinks in 2020 [Series]

Author: Britney Muller | Published: June 26, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 15,523

A little creativity and smart tactics can uncover high-quality link building opportunities. This week, Britney Muller kicks off a new Whiteboard Friday series on modern link building.

12. Position Zero Is Dead; Long Live Position Zero

Author: Dr. Peter J. Meyers | Published: February 5, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 14,825

On January 22, 2020, Google started removing Featured Snippet URLs from organic listings. We take a deep dive into the before and after of this change, including its implications for rank-tracking.

13. 2020 Local SEO Success: How to Feed, Fight, and Flip Google

Author: Miriam Ellis | Published: January 6, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 13,969

Feed Google the right information, fight spam, and flip it into an opportunity: these are the top three ways to chase local SEO success.

14. Which of My Competitor's Keywords Should (& Shouldn't) I Target?

Author: Rand Fishkin | Published: February 21, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 13,638

Which of your competitor's keywords are worth targeting, and which can be ignored? Learn how to tell the difference in this fan favorite Whiteboard Friday.

15. 10 Basic SEO Tips to Index + Rank New Content Faster

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: October 16, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 13,381

When you publish new content, you want users to find it ranking in search results as fast as possible. Fortunately, there are a number of tips and tricks in the SEO toolbox to help you accomplish this goal. 

16. 7 SEO Processes That Get Easier with Increased PageRank/Domain Authority

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: February 7, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,883

What factors are affected as you improve PageRank or Domain Authority, and how? Cyrus details seven SEO processes that are made easier by a strong investment in link building and growing your authority.

17. Marketing in Times of Uncertainty

Author: Rand Fishkin | Published: April 3, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,861

Our work as marketers has transformed drastically in 2020. Our good friend Rand talks about a topic that's been on the forefront of our minds lately: how to do our jobs empathetically and effectively through one of the most difficult trials in modern memory.

18. A Beginner’s Guide to Ranking in Google Maps

Author: Alex Ratynski | Published: March 16, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,836

The majority of your potential customers still use Google to find local businesses near them. In fact, 80% of searches with “local intent” result in a conversion. This begs the question: “What’s the best way to catch the attention of local searchers on Google?” The answer: through Google Maps marketing.

19. The Rules of Link Building

Author: Britney Muller | Published: February 28, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,532

Are you building links the right way? Or are you still subscribing to outdated practices? Britney Muller clarifies which link building tactics still matter and which are a waste of time (or downright harmful) in one of our very favorite classic episodes of Whiteboard Friday.

20. How We Ranked a Single Page for 2.6K Keywords Driving 30K Monthly Searches [Case Study]

Author: Kristin Tynski | Published: May 4, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,359

In rare cases, SEOs create content that generates results so far beyond what was anticipated that a single project can greatly move the needle. Kristin walks through one such instance for her team's client, ADT.

21. Understanding & Fulfilling Search Intent

Author: Britney Muller |  Published: June 12, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,262

Understanding what your target audience is searching and why is more important than ever. Britney Muller shares everything you need to begin understanding and fulfilling search intent, plus a free Google Sheets checklist download to help you analyze the SERPs you care about most.

22. Title Tags SEO: When to Include Your Brand and/or Boilerplate

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: August 31, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 11,850

If your websites are like most, they include a fair amount of extra "stuff" in the title tags: things like your brand name or repeating boilerplate text that appears across multiple pages. But should you include these elements in your titles automatically?

23. How to Query the Google Search Console API

Author: Brian Gorman | Published: March 18, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 11,095

If you’ve been an SEO for even a short time, you’re likely familiar with Google Search Console (GSC). It’s a valuable tool for getting information about your website and its performance in organic search. That said, it does have its limitations. In this post, you’ll learn how to get better-connected data out of Google Search Console and increase the size of your exports by 400%.

24. How to Choose Google My Business Categories (With Cool Tools!)

Author: Miriam Ellis | Published: September 9, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 10,873

Your choice of your primary and secondary categories contributes a lot to Google’s understanding and handling of your business. With so much riding on proper categorization, let’s empower you to research your options like a pro today!

25. A Must-Have Keyword Research Process for Winning SEO

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: May 8, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 10,745

Smart keyword research forms the basis of all successful SEO. Cyrus Shepard shares the basics of a winning keyword research process that you can learn and master in a short amount of time. 

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

[ductrungnguyen87]

They're Simply the Best: The Top 25 Moz Blog Posts of 2020

Posted by morgan.mcmurray

Here we are again — that time of year filled with wrap-ups and lookbacks and “best of” compilations. 2020 was a year like no other, and that’s certainly reflected in the topics covered by the blogs in the list below.

We published 170 blog posts this year (including Whiteboard Friday episodes) — not too shabby for a year rife with personal and professional challenges! We’re looking forward to what 2021 has in store, but in case you missed anything, we’ve compiled the top 25 most-read pieces from the last 12 months*. You’ll find several Whiteboard Friday episodes (past and present), local SEO tips, and advice for empathetic marketing, along with the optimistic SEO predictions for 2020 and beyond — made in pre-COVID times. 

So without further ado, here are the best Moz Blog posts of 2020. Enjoy!



*The top 25 Moz Blog posts listed below were published between January 1 - December 22, 2020, and are in order by unique pageviews generated during that timeframe.

1. What Readers Want During COVID-19: Content Ideas for Every Niche

Author: Amanda Milligan | Published: March 31, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 49,889

Amanda tested a variety of keywords to see which ones exhibited a trend during the initial COVID-19 outbreak, and might warrant some attention from content marketers. Here's what she found. 

2. Pay Attention to These SEO Trends in 2020 and Beyond

Author: Suganthan Mohanadasan | Published: February 4, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 45,553

In the past several years, we've already seen a sea of change in how we think and execute on SEO, but the future holds even more change — and more opportunity. Explore a rundown of key SEO topics to keep an eye on in the future.

3. Are H1 Tags Necessary for Ranking? [SEO Experiment]

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: February 25, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 35,414

In earlier days of search marketing, SEOs often heard the same two best practices repeated so many times it became implanted in our brains: Wrap the title of your page in H1 tags and use only one H1 tag per page. Despite assertions from one of Google's most trusted authorities that sites "can do perfectly fine with no H1 tags or with five H1 tags", many SEOs didn't believe it. So of course, we decided to test it scientifically.

4. Google My Business: FAQ for Multiple Businesses at the Same Address

Author: Miriam Ellis | Published: February 17, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 31,883

How should I get listed in Google My Business if I’ve got multiple businesses at the same address? How many listings am I eligible for if I’m running more than one business at my location? Get answers to your top questions in this comprehensive FAQ.

5. Google's January 2020 Core Update: Has the Dust Settled?

Author: Dr. Peter J. Meyers | Published: January 27, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 31,800

The January 2020 Core Update peaked from January 13-15. We dig into the numbers, including winners and losers.

6. Google's May 2020 Core Update: Winners, Winnerers, Winlosers, and Why It's All Probably Crap

Author: Dr. Peter J. Meyers | Published: May 14, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 24,159

The May 2020 Core Update was the second-hottest update since the August 2018 "Medic" Update. Dr. Pete takes a hard look at the numbers, including why measuring winners and losers has turned out to be a tricky business.

7. Core Web Vitals: The Next Official Google Ranking Factor

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: July 17, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 21,281

There's a new ranking factor in town: Core Web Vitals. Expected in 2021, this Google-announced algorithm change has a few details you should be aware of. 

8. SEO for 2020

Author: Britney Muller | Published: January 31, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 20,783

SEO Scientist Britney Muller offers a seventeen-point checklist of things you ought to keep in mind for executing on modern, effective SEO. You'll encounter both old favorites (optimizing title tags, anyone?) and cutting-edge ideas to power your search strategy into the future.

9. 4 Google My Business Fields That Impact Ranking (and 3 That Don't)

Author: Joy Hawkins | Published: October 23, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 20,330

Joy and her team at Sterling Sky have come to the conclusion that there are only four things inside the Google My Business dashboard that a business owner or a marketing agency can edit that will have a direct influence on where they rank in the local results on Google.

10. Crawled — Currently Not Indexed: A Coverage Status Guide

Author: Christopher Long | Published: March 9, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 18,354

Within Google's Index Coverage report, there are many different statuses that provide webmasters with information about how Google is handling their site content. While many of the statuses provide some context around Google’s crawling and indexation decisions, one remains unclear: “Crawled — currently not indexed”. This post will help you identify some of the most common reasons this mysterious status might be affecting your website, and how to address them.

11. How to Get Backlinks in 2020 [Series]

Author: Britney Muller | Published: June 26, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 15,523

A little creativity and smart tactics can uncover high-quality link building opportunities. This week, Britney Muller kicks off a new Whiteboard Friday series on modern link building.

12. Position Zero Is Dead; Long Live Position Zero

Author: Dr. Peter J. Meyers | Published: February 5, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 14,825

On January 22, 2020, Google started removing Featured Snippet URLs from organic listings. We take a deep dive into the before and after of this change, including its implications for rank-tracking.

13. 2020 Local SEO Success: How to Feed, Fight, and Flip Google

Author: Miriam Ellis | Published: January 6, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 13,969

Feed Google the right information, fight spam, and flip it into an opportunity: these are the top three ways to chase local SEO success.

14. Which of My Competitor's Keywords Should (& Shouldn't) I Target?

Author: Rand Fishkin | Published: February 21, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 13,638

Which of your competitor's keywords are worth targeting, and which can be ignored? Learn how to tell the difference in this fan favorite Whiteboard Friday.

15. 10 Basic SEO Tips to Index + Rank New Content Faster

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: October 16, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 13,381

When you publish new content, you want users to find it ranking in search results as fast as possible. Fortunately, there are a number of tips and tricks in the SEO toolbox to help you accomplish this goal. 

16. 7 SEO Processes That Get Easier with Increased PageRank/Domain Authority

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: February 7, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,883

What factors are affected as you improve PageRank or Domain Authority, and how? Cyrus details seven SEO processes that are made easier by a strong investment in link building and growing your authority.

17. Marketing in Times of Uncertainty

Author: Rand Fishkin | Published: April 3, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,861

Our work as marketers has transformed drastically in 2020. Our good friend Rand talks about a topic that's been on the forefront of our minds lately: how to do our jobs empathetically and effectively through one of the most difficult trials in modern memory.

18. A Beginner’s Guide to Ranking in Google Maps

Author: Alex Ratynski | Published: March 16, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,836

The majority of your potential customers still use Google to find local businesses near them. In fact, 80% of searches with “local intent” result in a conversion. This begs the question: “What’s the best way to catch the attention of local searchers on Google?” The answer: through Google Maps marketing.

19. The Rules of Link Building

Author: Britney Muller | Published: February 28, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,532

Are you building links the right way? Or are you still subscribing to outdated practices? Britney Muller clarifies which link building tactics still matter and which are a waste of time (or downright harmful) in one of our very favorite classic episodes of Whiteboard Friday.

20. How We Ranked a Single Page for 2.6K Keywords Driving 30K Monthly Searches [Case Study]

Author: Kristin Tynski | Published: May 4, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,359

In rare cases, SEOs create content that generates results so far beyond what was anticipated that a single project can greatly move the needle. Kristin walks through one such instance for her team's client, ADT.

21. Understanding & Fulfilling Search Intent

Author: Britney Muller |  Published: June 12, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,262

Understanding what your target audience is searching and why is more important than ever. Britney Muller shares everything you need to begin understanding and fulfilling search intent, plus a free Google Sheets checklist download to help you analyze the SERPs you care about most.

22. Title Tags SEO: When to Include Your Brand and/or Boilerplate

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: August 31, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 11,850

If your websites are like most, they include a fair amount of extra "stuff" in the title tags: things like your brand name or repeating boilerplate text that appears across multiple pages. But should you include these elements in your titles automatically?

23. How to Query the Google Search Console API

Author: Brian Gorman | Published: March 18, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 11,095

If you’ve been an SEO for even a short time, you’re likely familiar with Google Search Console (GSC). It’s a valuable tool for getting information about your website and its performance in organic search. That said, it does have its limitations. In this post, you’ll learn how to get better-connected data out of Google Search Console and increase the size of your exports by 400%.

24. How to Choose Google My Business Categories (With Cool Tools!)

Author: Miriam Ellis | Published: September 9, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 10,873

Your choice of your primary and secondary categories contributes a lot to Google’s understanding and handling of your business. With so much riding on proper categorization, let’s empower you to research your options like a pro today!

25. A Must-Have Keyword Research Process for Winning SEO

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: May 8, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 10,745

Smart keyword research forms the basis of all successful SEO. Cyrus Shepard shares the basics of a winning keyword research process that you can learn and master in a short amount of time. 

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

[gamebazu]

They're Simply the Best: The Top 25 Moz Blog Posts of 2020

Posted by morgan.mcmurray

Here we are again — that time of year filled with wrap-ups and lookbacks and “best of” compilations. 2020 was a year like no other, and that’s certainly reflected in the topics covered by the blogs in the list below.

We published 170 blog posts this year (including Whiteboard Friday episodes) — not too shabby for a year rife with personal and professional challenges! We’re looking forward to what 2021 has in store, but in case you missed anything, we’ve compiled the top 25 most-read pieces from the last 12 months*. You’ll find several Whiteboard Friday episodes (past and present), local SEO tips, and advice for empathetic marketing, along with the optimistic SEO predictions for 2020 and beyond — made in pre-COVID times. 

So without further ado, here are the best Moz Blog posts of 2020. Enjoy!



*The top 25 Moz Blog posts listed below were published between January 1 - December 22, 2020, and are in order by unique pageviews generated during that timeframe.

1. What Readers Want During COVID-19: Content Ideas for Every Niche

Author: Amanda Milligan | Published: March 31, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 49,889

Amanda tested a variety of keywords to see which ones exhibited a trend during the initial COVID-19 outbreak, and might warrant some attention from content marketers. Here's what she found. 

2. Pay Attention to These SEO Trends in 2020 and Beyond

Author: Suganthan Mohanadasan | Published: February 4, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 45,553

In the past several years, we've already seen a sea of change in how we think and execute on SEO, but the future holds even more change — and more opportunity. Explore a rundown of key SEO topics to keep an eye on in the future.

3. Are H1 Tags Necessary for Ranking? [SEO Experiment]

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: February 25, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 35,414

In earlier days of search marketing, SEOs often heard the same two best practices repeated so many times it became implanted in our brains: Wrap the title of your page in H1 tags and use only one H1 tag per page. Despite assertions from one of Google's most trusted authorities that sites "can do perfectly fine with no H1 tags or with five H1 tags", many SEOs didn't believe it. So of course, we decided to test it scientifically.

4. Google My Business: FAQ for Multiple Businesses at the Same Address

Author: Miriam Ellis | Published: February 17, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 31,883

How should I get listed in Google My Business if I’ve got multiple businesses at the same address? How many listings am I eligible for if I’m running more than one business at my location? Get answers to your top questions in this comprehensive FAQ.

5. Google's January 2020 Core Update: Has the Dust Settled?

Author: Dr. Peter J. Meyers | Published: January 27, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 31,800

The January 2020 Core Update peaked from January 13-15. We dig into the numbers, including winners and losers.

6. Google's May 2020 Core Update: Winners, Winnerers, Winlosers, and Why It's All Probably Crap

Author: Dr. Peter J. Meyers | Published: May 14, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 24,159

The May 2020 Core Update was the second-hottest update since the August 2018 "Medic" Update. Dr. Pete takes a hard look at the numbers, including why measuring winners and losers has turned out to be a tricky business.

7. Core Web Vitals: The Next Official Google Ranking Factor

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: July 17, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 21,281

There's a new ranking factor in town: Core Web Vitals. Expected in 2021, this Google-announced algorithm change has a few details you should be aware of. 

8. SEO for 2020

Author: Britney Muller | Published: January 31, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 20,783

SEO Scientist Britney Muller offers a seventeen-point checklist of things you ought to keep in mind for executing on modern, effective SEO. You'll encounter both old favorites (optimizing title tags, anyone?) and cutting-edge ideas to power your search strategy into the future.

9. 4 Google My Business Fields That Impact Ranking (and 3 That Don't)

Author: Joy Hawkins | Published: October 23, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 20,330

Joy and her team at Sterling Sky have come to the conclusion that there are only four things inside the Google My Business dashboard that a business owner or a marketing agency can edit that will have a direct influence on where they rank in the local results on Google.

10. Crawled — Currently Not Indexed: A Coverage Status Guide

Author: Christopher Long | Published: March 9, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 18,354

Within Google's Index Coverage report, there are many different statuses that provide webmasters with information about how Google is handling their site content. While many of the statuses provide some context around Google’s crawling and indexation decisions, one remains unclear: “Crawled — currently not indexed”. This post will help you identify some of the most common reasons this mysterious status might be affecting your website, and how to address them.

11. How to Get Backlinks in 2020 [Series]

Author: Britney Muller | Published: June 26, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 15,523

A little creativity and smart tactics can uncover high-quality link building opportunities. This week, Britney Muller kicks off a new Whiteboard Friday series on modern link building.

12. Position Zero Is Dead; Long Live Position Zero

Author: Dr. Peter J. Meyers | Published: February 5, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 14,825

On January 22, 2020, Google started removing Featured Snippet URLs from organic listings. We take a deep dive into the before and after of this change, including its implications for rank-tracking.

13. 2020 Local SEO Success: How to Feed, Fight, and Flip Google

Author: Miriam Ellis | Published: January 6, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 13,969

Feed Google the right information, fight spam, and flip it into an opportunity: these are the top three ways to chase local SEO success.

14. Which of My Competitor's Keywords Should (& Shouldn't) I Target?

Author: Rand Fishkin | Published: February 21, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 13,638

Which of your competitor's keywords are worth targeting, and which can be ignored? Learn how to tell the difference in this fan favorite Whiteboard Friday.

15. 10 Basic SEO Tips to Index + Rank New Content Faster

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: October 16, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 13,381

When you publish new content, you want users to find it ranking in search results as fast as possible. Fortunately, there are a number of tips and tricks in the SEO toolbox to help you accomplish this goal. 

16. 7 SEO Processes That Get Easier with Increased PageRank/Domain Authority

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: February 7, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,883

What factors are affected as you improve PageRank or Domain Authority, and how? Cyrus details seven SEO processes that are made easier by a strong investment in link building and growing your authority.

17. Marketing in Times of Uncertainty

Author: Rand Fishkin | Published: April 3, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,861

Our work as marketers has transformed drastically in 2020. Our good friend Rand talks about a topic that's been on the forefront of our minds lately: how to do our jobs empathetically and effectively through one of the most difficult trials in modern memory.

18. A Beginner’s Guide to Ranking in Google Maps

Author: Alex Ratynski | Published: March 16, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,836

The majority of your potential customers still use Google to find local businesses near them. In fact, 80% of searches with “local intent” result in a conversion. This begs the question: “What’s the best way to catch the attention of local searchers on Google?” The answer: through Google Maps marketing.

19. The Rules of Link Building

Author: Britney Muller | Published: February 28, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,532

Are you building links the right way? Or are you still subscribing to outdated practices? Britney Muller clarifies which link building tactics still matter and which are a waste of time (or downright harmful) in one of our very favorite classic episodes of Whiteboard Friday.

20. How We Ranked a Single Page for 2.6K Keywords Driving 30K Monthly Searches [Case Study]

Author: Kristin Tynski | Published: May 4, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,359

In rare cases, SEOs create content that generates results so far beyond what was anticipated that a single project can greatly move the needle. Kristin walks through one such instance for her team's client, ADT.

21. Understanding & Fulfilling Search Intent

Author: Britney Muller |  Published: June 12, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 12,262

Understanding what your target audience is searching and why is more important than ever. Britney Muller shares everything you need to begin understanding and fulfilling search intent, plus a free Google Sheets checklist download to help you analyze the SERPs you care about most.

22. Title Tags SEO: When to Include Your Brand and/or Boilerplate

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: August 31, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 11,850

If your websites are like most, they include a fair amount of extra "stuff" in the title tags: things like your brand name or repeating boilerplate text that appears across multiple pages. But should you include these elements in your titles automatically?

23. How to Query the Google Search Console API

Author: Brian Gorman | Published: March 18, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 11,095

If you’ve been an SEO for even a short time, you’re likely familiar with Google Search Console (GSC). It’s a valuable tool for getting information about your website and its performance in organic search. That said, it does have its limitations. In this post, you’ll learn how to get better-connected data out of Google Search Console and increase the size of your exports by 400%.

24. How to Choose Google My Business Categories (With Cool Tools!)

Author: Miriam Ellis | Published: September 9, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 10,873

Your choice of your primary and secondary categories contributes a lot to Google’s understanding and handling of your business. With so much riding on proper categorization, let’s empower you to research your options like a pro today!

25. A Must-Have Keyword Research Process for Winning SEO

Author: Cyrus Shepard | Published: May 8, 2020 | Unique Pageviews: 10,745

Smart keyword research forms the basis of all successful SEO. Cyrus Shepard shares the basics of a winning keyword research process that you can learn and master in a short amount of time. 

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

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