#my search engine algorithm is all messed up

[etherealstarr]

((Thank you to @spideygwennie for reigniting my once-dead burning crush on Christopher Meloni))

[vacalimpia]

everytime there's new fanwork of re:kinder an angel gains it's wings it fills me with such joy everytime

[netscapenavigator-official]

Something I’m starting to experience more and more is just how poorly Google Gemini and Autocorrect mash together:

I searched it as “Allie X” because Allie X is a real singer who I very much enjoy, and I was curious if she’d mentioned anything about any upcoming music since her 2024 album, Girl with No Face.

Google took the liberty of correcting Allie X (a real musician) to “Allie C” (a stage name which does not exist). Google Gemini then took the autocorrected search and further autocorrected it to be Allie Colleen. It then ran with it, giving me information about the musician “Allie Colleen.”

For a moment I was genuinely like, “Oh is that Allie X’s real name? Did she really release music I can’t get my hands on without buying a vinyl?”

No. No she did not. Because Allie X and Allie Colleen are two different musicians, the latter being one I did not even know about, and the former being one I verbatim searched for.

Also, even with the trigger-happy autocorrect, the first real result (which you have to scroll to because Gemini takes up so much room) is actually Allie X’s latest album–what you would expect from asking a search engine about a musician’s latest music.

So Google autocorrected my search. Gemini autofilled the nonsensical autocorrect. It then misinformed me based on said autofilled autocorrection. And then Google’s regular algorithm undid the entire mess and provided the correct result.

Gemini did all of this with 100% confidence while the accurate result was tucked away, out of sight.

Can’t help but wonder how many people experience unreliable water and electricity utilities as a result of the data centers that power queries like this.

[theleatherdragon]

The TMI Update

Welp, I guess it's been about a year since I was last really active online aside from a few places. It wasn't by choice, that's for sure lmao?? But I suppose I should give a bit of a life update for the people that are curious about my absence. A TL;DR for some people: my health was garbage, my parents health is even more garbage, and I wanna come back to the art community online but I'm not sure when/how between the recent ai/art theft and website changes while I was gone.

It started with my mystery health issues. From about May 2023 to Feb 2025, I was dying, slowly. Like I was losing my hair, my muscles, I had no energy, my brain was just constantly fogged up like a dementia patient, I couldn't stay awake for more than 4-7 hours a day, I couldn't eat, I was scared that I wouldn't wake up the next day every single night I went to bed. It started off slowly and then by around April 2024, it just snowballed into catastrophe. After burning through 16+ different doctors of all kinds, none of them would help me despite multiple blood tests being flagged as either too high or too low. They all kept telling me that I'm just depressed or some other wacky crap like "you're just a woman, this is normal."

Eventually I learned that you can buy your own tests on Labcorp, and through trial and error I learned that I had 0 estrogen and 0 testosterone. Apparently a pill that I had been taking for years, the ingredients got changed in 2023 and it completely wrecked my hormones. That's when I learned just how much work hormones do, and I found a doctor to change my pills because apparently I was going through something that was considerably WORSE than menopause. I've been on this new pill for 80+ days now and literally every symptom I had is just completely gone now.

Unfortunately, as soon as I figured out my health mystery and started to get better again, my parents were rushed to the hospital. On April 13 my dad got a ct scan of his lungs to see how bad his pneumonia was and I saw the screen and said oh god that's cancer. Not only does he have cancer, he has TWO separate lung cancers, both stage 4. And then while dealing with that, my mom's cancer that she's had since 2021 has gotten worse. It's been nothing but a nightmare for the last year, but now it's gotten significantly worse. To the point that we even went to buy a family burial plot. Not many people my age get to brag about having their own cemetery plot reserved already, hand picked by myself lmao??

I lost my grandmother in February and now there's a good chance I'll be losing both of my parents this year as well, we're not sure yet. Since April I've probably spent a few hundred hours in and out of the hospital with them and driving them to radiation/chemo treatments and just ugh, I'm exhausted.

Aside from all of that grief, my other problem with being online has been a mixed bag of bad too. I sort of had my online world rocked last year after discovering things about some so called friends and other things about my art, and that really broke me too. All my life I just wanted to be an artist, to draw fun characters and have fun art trades and all sorts of things with the community. But apparently some people were just using me for their fetishes or trying to gain their own reputations and just, I'm not like that man. I literally am so ace coded that I thought the debate between top and bottom was for bunk bed choices like lmao bro

I started building my own website to combat that and also the fact that a lot of art websites have succumbed to the ai/art thieves mess. Unfortunately, I haven't had much time to build it and also as soon as I created it, Google decided to take my website and stick it on their algorithm even though I specifically had it coded to NOT do that. All the other search engines respected my request and so I went to Google asking about it. I followed their instructions and now ALL the search engines have my website. Unless I can find a way to stop that, I'm going to have to password protect my website so that bot crawlers won't see my things and make it super easy access to the wrong people.

I really do miss being online though and making art for and with people. Unfortunately I'm going to have to make some big changes in the near future before I can come back, but I wanted to at least drop an update on things. I'm absolutely going to power through Art Fight again this year, so you can catch me there if I haven't returned elsewhere by then. It's really unfortunate how much these websites have changed while I was gone, but I won't be leaving if I can help it.

I really hope everyone else has had a much better time than me. Aside from all the health scares, my life hasn't been terrible. I got back into photography and a few other crafts, I just haven't been posting things online. Heck, I haven't even been on Discord in months now, I honestly have no idea what all has changed for a while. I just haven't had the mental ability to do much aside from lurking on Tumblr here and there, but even then some of the negative things I see are just too much to bare for my mental state of being right now.

I want to come back soon, but I'm scared at how fragile my mind is lately. It doesn't help that my hormones have come back in full swing, so it's really weird going almost 2 years of feeling nothing to suddenly feeling everything again lmao??

Anywho, this is a big enough wall of text for now. I really hope you're doing awesome and I wish nothing but the best for you. I really hope we can all make art again soon!

[freewifi-png-exe]

in my work with godot i often have to search up youtube videos to find tutorials on difficult parts of the engine, and as a result, i've got 'gamedev' youtube really pushed onto my recommendations and it is such an odd culture

the videos have that algorithm-optimized mr beast styling to them, and many are from verified channels with tens-to-hundreds of thousands of views. the titles and thumbnails almost never fail to mention money or time constraints, and easily half of the videos refer to "success" or "failure" as a central part of the message.

despite the independent atmosphere, it somehow maintains this commercialized culture of "productivity" and other corporate buzzwords, and its hard to look at. there's no art in sight, just get-rich-quick scheme after get-rich-quick scheme.

i don't mean to act like i'm all better than them, obviously i have no idea what it's like to create a game that tons of people want to play, but i look at the thousands of views on these videos and wonder sometimes: how many of those people are kids who really want to make a game and are being presented with this view that its all about the money? I can't blame anyone for wanting people to play their game, obviously, but I think there is a complete wrong approach being taken here. Down this path, the art loses its essence because 'for fun' and 'messing around' becomes 'making money' and 'being successful and productive' and at that point, you might as well just apply for a job at EA.

im saying all this at the huge risk of sounding pretentious, i know, but im just afraid so many impressionable middle schoolers with an addiction to video games (like i had) will feel pressured to turn their for-fun hobby of just playing games into a Productive, Successful use of time by this culture, and I hate that. If just sitting around playing games makes you happy, then do that! If you really want to get into making your own, do that, but have fun with it!

I don't know, sorry to post such a long ramble I hope it was kind coherent and i didn't come off all pretentious or whatever. I just feel like, as someone who makes bad art and has fun doing it, that's what it's all about! Nobody should be doodling on a paper in the hopes that they end up in the louvre, and for the same reason you shouldn't force commercialization on your other doodles (for me its music and Godot projects). If you make from your heart, I truly believe it is a win-win: other people will be far more interested in what you make, and if you "fail", you won't have any of your dreams shattered anyway, on to the next game; the next band; the next project! :D

[ardathksheyna]

Do It For You

I haven't been posting my art as much. The reason? I'm tired of attempting to coerce whatever algorithm each site is using to reach my current followers or even new followers—and that includes Tumblr. I was doing pretty good on Instagram... until they changed their algos to favor big influencers more, which happened sometime in August.

Actually, Tumblr seems to be the worst offender compared to other sites. Or I'm probably getting pissy because of the tabs "For You", "Your tags", and "Following"—all three show me the same shit I saw a few days ago. And don't even get me started on Tumblr Live. If I wanted Only Fans, I'd go to Only Fans. But I digress...

Since then, I've slowed down on posting artwork of any sort on all platforms that I'm part of. Yesterday was probably the first piece I've posted in a while, and that was basically done on a whim.

Anyway, what it boils down to is I am (and a lot of other people) are tired of sacrificing mental health for likes because in order to keep the engagement, you have to constantly churn out piece after piece. Unfortunately, the algorithms seem to favor quantity over quality—you can bust your ass on a piece, but someone else churning out prompts (yes, I'm referring to AI art) can get more engagement because that's what the algos favor: speed.

AI art is problematic by itself—for many reasons, the least of which is how the AI algo is trained. However, that is a complicated mess and another thoughtful post for another time.

On the flip-side, algorithms also favor videos over static content—Insta's in particular (basically favoring the sloppy seconds of TikTok over genuine content). On that subject, I like YouTube's implementation (Shorts) better than Instagram's anyway.

All that being said, the current climate of the internet is hostile to content creators. Twenty years ago, you didn't have this uphill battle of trying to train an algorithm just to get views. Really, all you had to do optimize for search engines and you were pretty much set.

Now, it's a balance between your mental health and trying to retain the level of engagement that you do have, and then become frustrated when you're doing everything right and still get fucked because some bean-counter decided that they want more profits.

It's almost too easy to get discouraged and think that what you're doing doesn't matter and all you're really doing is shouting into the void. When that happens, you have to ask yourself these questions:

Who are you doing this for? (0 for someone else, 10 for yourself)

Do you like making art? (0 for no, 10 for yes)

Do you want the attention (rate 0 to 10)

Are you only doing this for likes (rate 0 to 10)

Yeah, I made that up on the spot. Whatever score for each question you come up with will tell you where your priorities are. If you're doing this for anything other than enjoyment or for yourself, well... that leads me to my next part:

You see, I learned a long time ago that when you're doing something mental/time-intensive for reasons other than pure enjoyment, it is very easy to get burned out quickly. I know this because once upon a time, I used to enjoy writing code. After graduation, I spent my free time trying to improve my skills—not for myself or because I enjoyed it, but because I thought it was the only way for me to retain a job in my field.

Well, I think we know how that ended—badly.

Because of my past experiences, I made a decision a while ago that what I'm doing, I'm doing for me (and maybe my boyfriend) but not for anyone else. The stories I write, the artwork I create. I'm not doing it for likes, I'm doing it for me, because I like what I do. Because I like the creative process and seeing how far can I push my skills.

So keep that in mind if you're struggling with mental-health and trying to beat bullshit algorithms. It's not worth the stress, and that stress just steals energy from your creativity.

You're doing what you love for you and maybe a few others—not for likes, attentions, engagement or whatever fake internet points exist nowadays.

Remember: do it for you!

[sablewing]

Late night thoughts, about software and algorithms.

Hmm, haven't posted late night thoughts here before, it seems appropriate, I think? And late night is relative, as I get older, late gets earlier. :-)

Reminder, algorithms depend on human input to function. Without humans entering data and reacting to output, algorithms are just a bunch of gibberish text coded as 0's and 1's.

With the internet and current systems, it may take a large group of humans to change the behavior of an algorithm, but it is possible.

For example, it's possible to shift the results of a search in a search engine.

Analyze the current patterns of a search for a term, set up websites and social media posts to optimize their terms, and voila! Behavior changed to display results that may not apply.

See Search Engine Optimization (SEO) companies who are paid to do this for advertising.

For social media, change the algorithm by changing what you like. Now these companies do work to passively gather data, so it is a bit harder to change the behavior. But even here, it is possible, with a bit of thought

Ad blockers and Javascript blockers can help to starve the algorithm of input. Using the built-in filtering tools and turning off notifications is another method of changing the input.

Check and respond on your schedule, not the algorithms.

Set new trends in fashion that mess with the algorithm. A few years ago there was software that claimed to recognize male versus female faces.

One problem, I am female, the different on-line software packages I tried only recognized me as male.

After some analysis, I think this occurred for two reasons

1. I don't wear makeup

2. My face structure is one that could be described as androgynous, i.e. I look male/female depending on the person's viewpoint.

I tend to think the lack of makeup is the strongest factor, however, I have had problems all my life of getting mistaken as a male so that's probably not the only reason.

A simple thing and a possible assumption built into the algorithm.

The key to all of this is to understand software is:

All software is built of branching trees that require input from humans to do anything. The input might be as simple as pressing a start button but the input is required.

If you shift the input so it fall outside of the parameters of one of the branches, you force it to follow a very different path.

Do this often enough and you can cause a break in the paths..

In my opinion, all software is inherently fragile due to the complexity of the branches.

Finally, PSA, I would like to see an effort to improve the tools used to develop software to help reduce this fragility. Software has become a key part of our infrastructure yet there has not been a lot of change in the underlying technology in my lifetime.

We should also look at identifying and regulating key portions of software development used in our infrastructure. I suspect everyone else is also tired of all of the cyber-attacks, identity theft and scams that are enabled by software.

Without humans, computers are fancy blocks of metal that have a bunch of sand storing ridiculous amounts of code and data. Talk of replacing humans is meant to cause fear and make money for someone somewhere.

And mess with the algorithm, post some nonsense to pour some sand in the gears.

Have a swimmingly lovely evening of brillig proportions while twitching the branch to an offload of intrigue that matches and mixes the tones of the sand in time.

And to all, a good nite, a good nite, a pleasant eve until the morrow and the sun of the nite transforms to the morning brights upon the brow.

[gildedphoenix]

Tag exclusion is my favorite part of AO3. Of course, it's a good way to avoid triggers and squicks, but also sometimes I just don't want to read something that is really common in the fandom. Maybe I'm trying to avoid a certain pairing. And if everybody tags their works correctly, then this is the best search system in the entire world.

And I stand by that.

AO3 never tries to find me what it thinks I want to read. It follows the search terms and gives me everything that falls under them in the order I tell it to. And since all the other search engines seem to be shifting algorithmic or "AI" based results, it's really nice to see that AO3 is not messing with that. They just show me what I friggin looked for.

And also the first five results aren't sponsored SEO advertisements.

(I once did a search on Google maps for a restaurant called Wingstop, and then tapped the one that was along my route. (Yes I did this search while driving don't come at me) And I put the whole order in, and by the time I got to the restaurant to pick up my order I realized that it was not Wingstop at all, but it was instead Buffalo wild wings. Which I was really mad about because Wingstop is clearly the superior wing. I still ate the Buffalo wild wings food. I'm not going to waste it. But I was also mad. Don't show me a different restaurant when I search for a very specific restaurant.)

How am I only just learning this!?

[firsttumbleracct]

Blog Post Due 2/13

Why is freedom of speech both good and bad?

In Ruha Benjamin’s book Race After Technology, she explains how tech executives don’t take real accountability for when their algorithm develops racial bias or gives racist results. Benjamin goes on to say how big tech executives like to hide behind the freedom of speech amendment to swiftly get by without any consequences. In my opinion, I do think it’s important to have the freedom to say whatever you want, but in this situation I think there needs to be more action as to why situations like this are let go so easily.

Can intersectionality affect white people?

Intersectionality is most common amongst POC’s, women, or the queer community. However, that got me thinking about the opposing side, the white hetero-male. We often attack the white male just for their existence on the earth, how they cause all the problems in the world and shouldn’t be the default person to receive nice things in life. In terms of intersectionality, I think that a white hetero male is able to fall under this term. For instance, religion, there is lots of discrimination against different religions within each other. I know that there is a stigma against mormons for being the more extreme case of when to follow God’s teachings. Even gender, men can become judged so easily, people think that they are always enemy number one, but we tend to forget about the actual nice people who don’t act like that. The men who know how to treat anyone with respect and kindness. 

Can oppression or discrimination be found in the online world?

Yes, oppression and discrimination can both be found in the virtual world. In Algorithms of Oppression by Safiya Noble, Noble describes how an innocent Google search of “black girls” lead to the immediate showing of a pornsite. After seeing this result Noble did more research about POC’s and women, to find what she calls algorithmic oppression. This term, “algorithmic oppression” is when online algorithms or AI contribute to harmful biases, stereotypes, or sexualization of POC’s through online searches. Therefore providing evidence that Google, an online platform, can intentionally give racist results. Overall, discrimination and oppression is not limited to the physical world; it is also found in the digital world as well. 

Why are there not more regulations on what coding is being provided to algorithms?

(R, Benjamin, 2019) Explains a situation where California gang databases classified the names of Latino and black infants as “gang members”, and there was little to no action taken on how to remove the childrens name for the database.  Additionally, the names of not only children, but innocent people of color were being targeted as gang members without any sort of concrete evidence. Which begs the question as to why executive officials are so lenient about when their programs mess up. There should be fact checkers put into place to make sure that data is accurate and clear. 

Word Count: 456 

Sources 

Benjamin, R. (2019). Race after Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code. Polity.

‌Noble, S. U. (2018). Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. New York University Press.

‌The urgency of intersectionality | Kimberlé Crenshaw. (n.d.). Www.youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akOe5-UsQ2o&t=3s

[bohba13-writing-den]

So, I'm bored and procrastinating, so prepare for a relatively informed (compared to tech bros, but that's a tripping hazard in hell the bar is so low) mini-essay on why I will always be a critic of AI development and how tech-bros approach it.

So when I was in college I decided to study software engineering. While I didn't get to the fancy stuff like neural nets or the like, it has been an industry I have been paying attention to for quite a while because I did seek to make a professional career in it.

This means that I'm probably more educated on the matter than most tech bros because holy shit the way they approach this is like it's some sort of magic.

If my time in that sphere has taught me anything it's that computers are really dumb, and that they will do exactly what you tell them to and nothing more or less.

As for how machine learning works? There are multiple ways to make it work, but the goal is to create a digital "brain" that is made to complete a task. Generative AI exists because someone wanted to test the limits of image correction software and found that it could just make an image out of a garbled mess of data. (The same goes for text.)

Normally this would just go into the bin of cool but otherwise useless shit to be forgotten.

But nope, some assholes thought they could use this to make money.

Now I will admit, there is a way to ethically source training data for AI (it's called buying a license for the art you use) and AI does have genuine use cases, but it's being over hyped.

I have genuinely come across people who think Chat GPT is self-aware. (I don't personally, and if it was, the way tech bros are, I don't think I'd want them to be the people to create artificial life.)

But this is just a long winded segway into AGI and why I feel that it is impossible for us to achieve with our current computing.

AGI or Artificial General Intelligence is some science fiction type shit.

Cortana, GlaDOS, Skynet, EDI, all are AGI.

Now, I will get this out of the way first. AGI is a Pandora's Box. We have no idea what's going to happen if and when we achieve it. But if the performance of the IDF's own AI is anything to go by, we are not there yet. (Especially as the parameters you put in have a massive influence on what you get out. Just look at the LAPD's attempts to create a patrol algorithm. Shit was hella racist, and I don't think we need long to figure out why.)

So the goal of an AGI is pretty much in the name. It's an AI that can do a broad set of tasks, or can be used as the basis for more specialized AIs through training. It's basically a swiss army knife.

Now the reason why I do not think we can currently make an effective one is due to the scope. (Not to mention the fallibility of the more specialized algorithms already in play.)

You are basically creating an AI that has to handle an impossibly broad set of inputs and give the appropriate response to each one. You can't hold its hand, you can't give it a cheat sheet that will work, and you cannot create a dataset broad enough to cover what it may encounter.

In effect you need the AI to be sapient in order to work because it has to be self aware enough to know where to find this information and learn! And our computers are not ready for that level of computation.

A neural net has neurons measured in the thousands. The smallest brain we believe is sapient is in the millions. Hundreds of millions iirc.

And those neural nets in the thousands take up A LOT of processing power to run.

There's a reason a lot of AGIs in fiction have entire rooms dedicated to the hardware just to run them.

I wouldn't bet against it happening in my lifetime because science in the last century has pushed us so far forward that it's kinda silly.

We did not have the level of connectivity we have now back in my parents days, or even when I was born in the mid '90s. I remember the old YouTube and how it used keyword searching.

AGI is not so far beyond us as to be impossible, but we need major breakthroughs in computer power to do it.

That is to say, anyone who talks about AGI like it's here and it's the biggest thing yet has no fucking idea what they are talking about. And I will say I am hardly qualified on the matter myself.

[miafoxmanblogs]

Module 2: Surveillance and Algorithmic Culture

Do you ever think about the good, the bad, and the ugly of surveillance and algorithmic culture in social media? Well let’s take a look.

The realities of surveillance in the “empire” of social media and the ways it affects our lives and privacy is highlighted in Bruce Schneier's eye-opening article, “The Internet Is a Surveillance State.” Schneier begins by looking at the weaknesses of the internet by looking at news that Chinese military hackers have gained entry to Facebook to conduct attacks against the U.S. government. The arrest of Hector Monsegur, who is the head of the LulzSac hacker movement) is mentioned to highlight the impacts suffered by people engaged in hacking. This is not okay. Or normal. We are being tracked ALL the time. The internet is a surveillance state where people are always being watched by several platforms like Google, Facebook, and Apple, regardless of whether they are users or not. We are being watched even if we are offline on Facebook through our purchasing habits. These companies are saving our information and are profiting from our lives. This raises many concerns in my opinion. Schneier is convincing from the evidence he has gathered as well as the examples he provides. 

Let’s move on to algorithmic culture. Algorithms are what social media platforms use to decide what kind of content to show their users. They are personalized to the user and show what is going to engage them. In Ted Striphas’s article, “Algorithmic Culture,” he analyzes the impacts algorithms have on society. The article uses the concepts of Raymond Williams in which algorithmic culture has led to a growing shift from “publicness.” It is not like this. It is all personalized. Everything has become reversed in the digital age. This new form of culture has led to a sort of power role in which our influence is in the hands of people. Saifya Umoja Noble speaks upon oppressions in her introduction of “The Power of Algorithms.” She particularly focuses on how search engines, such as Google, promote racism, sexism, and meritocracy; especially for people of color and women. She gave the example of how when you look up a “black girl” on Google; the first suggestion is HotBlackPussy.com. This is completely unacceptable and I would say the overarching theme is the need for awareness and to “reduce online racial hostility.”   

With this I really want to know what is going to happen in society where the world is messed up by these algorithms over the long haul? How long is this going to go on for? Is AI going to take over these algorithmic cultures and what could be the implications? The Rolling Stones article "These Women Tried to Warn Us About AI" by Lorena O'neil hints at this. She mentions LLM's that are "generative AI systems trained on extensive data to predict and generate highly human-like text." AI is writing papers for college students (which is happening WAY too much), influencing publishers to replace the words of human journalists, and are starting to come for people's jobs. There are far too many questions to ask about AI as well as surveillance and algorithmic culture. And I think about it almost every single day. It is affecting my life as well as millions of others. Why aren't we doing anything about it? Do people just simply not care? This must be stopped.

[harcourtholmesii]

Friend And Enemy

Another story for @connor-sent-by-cyberlife. My intention is that this will be one part of a two part story, the second will be due for one of the future prompts.

Pairings: HankCon / Hannor / Hank X Connor

Warnings: - Swearing - Implied Sexual Situations, Drinking and Drugs - Referenced and Stated Murder - Depression and Self-Hatred - Bad Choices

Words: 2881

Enjoy!

The neon lights of the club flashed through the retinas of Hank’s optical units. For a human, they may have been blinding. A heavy pounding of bass music flooded through the club’s structure, the sound system stretched extensively across the walls. On the dance floor, human patrons were ‘dancing’, their bodies a stench of alcohol, sweat and smoke. Despite the anti-android sign on the door, it was easy for Hank to slip in, his model designed to blend in with the crowd. Few eyes trailed to the arm band on his right, or the gleaming, blue triangle, the obvious marks of an android, if only because they were all too inebriated to notice.

 It didn’t suit Hank’s expectations. He was only present in the Eden Club to search for any sign of his partner-to-be. It was the third club he had entered in search of detective Connor Arkait, previously Connor Kamski. Hank had simply been informed by Captain Fowler that this detective had told her he was due out to celebrate some occasion, and would be at the Eden Club. That narrowed it down to three locations across Detroit, and Hank had been searching for him the past hour and a half. His phone was off it seemed, as Hank had been attempting to connect to it and had been reduced to simply leaving a voicemail.

 His scanners were struggling with the mess of human faces, and whether they meant to, the crowd helped to siphon him through to the other side of the dance floor too quick for him finish his scans. His LED flashed a brilliant yellow in the android equivalent to frustration. As he leaned back against the wall of a booth, he allowed himself another look across the club. Finally, his scanners picked up on something; some loose papers beside a folder, marked with a stamp that read ‘DPD’.

 He approached, skirting the edges of the dancing, grinding crowd, until he came upon a near empty booth. A dark haired human was stooped over the papers, eyes focussed on the work before him, pen rapidly dashing across paper. Hank cleared his throat, a human gesture to gain his attention, and warm, brown eyes flicked up to meet his own. It was easily enough time to scan the other’s facial features.

 He had a 100% match.

 ‘Detective Arkait?’

 The human seemed confused, looking Hank up and down as if scanning himself. Eyes flicked to the LED on Hank’s temple, his serial and model number emblazoned upon the breast of his grey uniform. His eyes turned back to Hank’s face and took in his artificially depicted age, and the addition of silver hair and trimmed beard.

 The detective immediately started packing up his papers; it was an odd place for a human to attempt to work. It came across immediately as ‘workaholic’ behaviour, and with the lack of glass on the table or any traces of it against the detectives lips, Hank could only assume that his ‘night out’ was not one for relaxation. The detective stood, revealing him still in something akin to business wear or a uniform. The white shirt was open a bit by the collar, so that the human may not overheat in the 30 degree Celsius conditions.

 The detective had finished cleaning up, and gestured vaguely towards the front of the club, as if insinuating an exit. Hank led the way, his size enough to form a path for the detective to follow. Once they had reached the exit, beneath the streetlights and neon signs, Hank could make out where blood had risen to the surface of Connor’s skin, creating a flushed look to his features. It was probably due to the heat of the club, or the embarrassment of being caught out.

 They stepped away from the club, Hank patiently waiting to be addressed. By the time they stepped into a nearby, empty street, Connor’s face had lost some of its heat. But not all of it.

 ‘Sorry.’ Hank was not expecting an apology, nor the explanation that followed. ‘I was not expecting to be called out this evening.’ Connor adjusted one of the suspender straps, a light smack of elastic against his body a strange ministration to Hank. It confused Hank further that Connor would be explaining the circumstances to him; an android.

 ‘I am unfamiliar with the HK800 model.’

 ‘I’m a prototype android, assigned to you for a recent deviancy case.’ When Connor heard that, a pout came over his features.

 ‘So that is why Niles stole my phone.’ He huffed, blowing a stray, defiant lock out of his eyes. The same curl of hair returned to hanging just above his left eye anyway. ‘Sorry I couldn’t answer my phone. Do you have the details of the investigation, or are they still being compiled?’

 ‘The crime scene is still being investigated. Captain Fowler expressed his wish to have you there.’

 Connor smiled at him, a gesture that Hank did not understand. Humans didn’t often smile at androids, whether it was because they were against them entirely, simply saw them as objects or even when they did smile at them, it was hardly genuine. To read the human features and see that his eyes creased slightly at the corners, and the pull of his lips created dimples, Hank determined it was a real smile. It was confusing.

 ‘Do you terribly mind calling a cab, then? We’ll head over right away.’ A flick of Hank’s LED and two minutes and forty-seven seconds later, a self-driving taxi had pulled up on the street curb. Connor stepped inside, followed by Hank himself, and the directions were inputted.

 It was a quiet ride for the most part, but it seemed the detective was in some form of discomfort. His movements were agitated, and a coin had been removed from his pocket. He stroked his thumb over the quarter, and twirled it between the fingers on one hand, distracted. It reminded Hank of his own calibration technique, but he didn’t voice his opinion on the matter. His words only mattered once he had to detail what he could discover at the crime scene.

 ‘What should I call you?’ Hank turned his eyes back to the human, who seemed to have no qualms speaking with an android in such a casual manner. It seemed odd. ‘No offense intended, of course, but I was curious if I should simply refer to you by HK800 or if you have a name. It may be easier for me to say than ‘HK800’ all the time.’ His tone was soft, a joking inflection in his words.

 ‘Hank.’

 ‘It’s a nice name.’ There was a brief algorithm of words and numbers that faded in and out across Hank’s HUD, too quickly for him to immediately decipher. But something stirred within the android at those words; he couldn’t recognise if it was perhaps a glitch or minor malfunction in his biocomponents, but he felt his thirium pump briefly skip a beat. It threw off the rhythm for all of 2.09 seconds, but it was noticeable enough. What should have been a potential concern was ignored, if only because…

 It felt… Nice…

  ~X~

  ‘Hank! Let’s go!’ Connor was on his feet and, alongside Hank’s own, heavy footsteps, the two of them had taken off after the deviant. The android had been hiding in an abandoned apartment building, caring for pigeons of all things, and had immediately gone to attack Connor when the detective had drawn too close to its hiding place.

 The corridor was cramped, Hank taking the lead as he glided over several thrown obstacles. He heard a rough sound of either pain or exertion, but he could not wait. If he slowed down now, they would lose the deviant.

 Hank bust through the fire exit door, the steel barrier colliding into the wall and near coming off its hinges at the force. Before him was the rooftop; the deviant leapt beneath the giant sign and onto the raised farm on the opposite rooftop. Behind him, Connor followed, only just keeping pace. His breaths were a constant reminder of his presence, and served to aggravate Hank further.

 Through the wheat, Hank hurriedly climbed a brick wall, eyes constantly scanning and pre-constructing what paths laid out before him. He couldn’t afford to be slow or even careful; he would lose sight of his target.

 Through greenhouses and across glass rooftops, Hank tracked the deviant. Connor’s progress had slowed behind him, to where he could no longer hear him breathing. He didn’t chance a glance behind him, not when he was so close. He could hear the South Detroit train on route, could see the drop off where the tracks created a large gap between the first rooftop farms and a rooftop orchard.

 The deviant leapt, and Hank made to do the same.

 ‘Oh, fuck…’ The voice was so soft, or perhaps it was loud but simply muted by the heavy winds. Hank turned his head around, optical units scanning as he watched Connor’s form, a distance behind him, slip through an open skylight, hands gripping tight to the edge. Beneath him, there was a whirl of engines, the sound of many blades slicing and dicing through crops. Connor’s legs dangled several metres above the ground, his hands struggling to keep a hold of the glass roof.

 From where he was, Hank could not see Connor’s face, but he could hear his ragged, exhausted breaths. He scanned Connor, watching with a strange, hollow feeling in his chest as the ‘survival chance’ read 68%. Beside it, the chance of following and apprehending the deviant was beginning to lower with every half second he spent weighing his options.

 Finally, he could see Connor pull himself up, just enough that Hank could see his face. Wide eyes, filled with fear. Hank’s hands twitched, his HUD depicting the beginning of a red, security field between him and Connor. His programming, CyberLife itself, was telling him to go and continue his pursuit.

 ‘Hank…’ His voice was strained, and with a feeling like Hank’s own biocomponents were about to fall, he watched the other slip. His chances decreased by seven percent, but Hank shook his head. It had to be enough. He had to trust the detective could look after himself. The deviant was his number one priority.

 He turned, and took off in the other direction, hot on the deviant’s trail.

 As the HK800 left him behind, Connor sighed, hanging his head against his chest. Every moment, he could feel his fingers slipping. Beneath him, the tractor roared ominously, and Connor could practically feel the engine rattling his very ribcage. He should have figured the deviant was the priority, but he had hoped Hank would have…

 What had he hoped?

 That he meant something to a machine? It didn’t matter that they shared a car ride together, how Connor had noticed the android seemingly smile more whenever they spoke, how Hank had even protected him Ortiz’s own android. What mattered was the mission. He felt his hands slip, and with a cry, he landed in the wet soil below, the tractor nearly upon him.

  ~X~

  He had heard about Connor’s condition through the Captain. Hank couldn’t care, he was a machine after all, but the more he heard about Connor’s condition, the worse he felt. It was as if every word twisted his thirium pump awkwardly around in the pit of his synthetic chest.

 ‘Broken ribs.’

 ‘Dislocated shoulder.’

 ‘Plenty of cuts and bruises.’

 ‘Mostly, however, he is still suffering from a bit of shock. He won’t be in tomorrow, as much as he may wish to be.’ Hank felt like ‘shit’; a term used, in this case, to mean that he felt less than subpar. He couldn’t imagine Connor, the one he was supposed to please and work with, would ever want to see him again. However, by CyberLife’s insistence, Hank would force himself into Connor’s life once more, once the workaholic detective could no longer stand to remain in his apartment.

 He had been assigned to an investigation alongside detective Reed, in one of the Eden Clubs across Detroit. A murder, presumably committed by a deviant, but Hank had hardly been able to concentrate. By the time detective Reed had made his case that it was manslaughter, and the ‘fucking idiot’ had a little too much ‘fun’, Hank did not have the energy to argue.

 It was as if stasis weighed on his biocomponents, near drowning him.

 He wondered if this was how guilt felt to humans.

  ~X~

  Hank stepped towards the park bench, the faintest, early snowfall gently floating down in a fine curtain of white. There, still bandaged and bruised, sat Connor.

 A hand rested by his side, and with a scan, Hank could see that the three broken ribs had hardly healed since he had been ordered home to rest. Bruises and minor cuts were painted across the detective’s porcelain skin. Eyes downcast to the pavement beneath his feet, Connor paid him no mind when he approached. There was a crushing sensation in Hank's synthetic form, the same feeling he had when he had been working alongside Gavin. Once more, he noted a brief flash of numbers and letters in the top left of his HUD.

 Once he was finally stood beside Connor, he noted that the other’s usually kind smile and bright eyes had turned cold. Distant. It didn’t suit him; he wanted those excitable questions about how he analysed samples, and the continuous, ‘friendly’ chatter, as if the other thought and acted like Hank was just another human.

 ‘Good evening, Connor.’

 The other was silent, and the smile that pulled onto his face, was not a genuine one. He wasn’t surprised, but he didn’t feel any better or reassured. In fact, the strange pit in his body seemed to burrow uncomfortably deep.

 ‘Hello Hank.’

 ‘I…’ What should he say? He didn’t want to simply speak because that was what CyberLife told him to do. He wanted to say something, anything that might make the other feel better. He near scoffed at the idea. Yes, because there was an easy way to apologise to someone for leaving them to die.

 ‘It is alright, Hank.’ Connor hummed, slipping off the bench, his movements slow and stiff. ‘It made sense what you did. You did the right thing, going after the deviant.’

 What?

 ‘I was the one that made the mistake of missing the danger. Hell, if I had just remained where I was, or had gone a different route, I would have been safe. It was my own doing that caused me to fall.’ The tone was shameful, and tears pricked the corners of Connor’s lovely eyes. Hank felt worse.

 ‘No.’ He stepped closer, raising his hands. Connor hurriedly stepped back, and Hank halted his movements. He didn’t want to scare the other off.

 ‘You… I don’t think I have seen a human with such little self-worth.’ Hank didn’t mean for it to sound as cruel as it did. Connor’s eyes flashed angrily, and though he opened his mouth as if to scream or berate, Hank was fearful to see that face morph to reluctant acceptance.

 ‘And?’ Connor tilted his head up to Hank, and didn’t move away this time when the silver-haired android approached him. ‘Is it wrong to accept that you are just not worth it?’ When Hank opened his mouth to speak, Connor hushed him gently. ‘I’m not trying to guilt you, Hank. I just… Your actions yesterday, they reminded me of how things work.’

 Hank furrowed his brow, but he had the permission, it seemed, to rest his hands on Connor’s arms, even bring the small human closer.

 ‘Though we are not friends, Hank, I do hope you don’t see me as a problem. I do hope I am not a burden to you or your investigation.’

 ‘Why?’ Hank spoke before he ever realised he had formed the words. He didn’t pay any mind to the dialogue options his HUD provided him, and allowed his body the freedom to dictate his words. ‘If anything, Connor, I am the one that caused you trouble. I am the burden on you. If I wasn’t here, perhaps you would have been saved from, at least, your injuries.’

 ‘I… I wish I hadn’t moved.’

 Hank didn’t understand.

 ‘I just… Sorry… I’m just being stupid.’

 Hank finally brought Connor in towards his chest, feeling fluid beginning to leak from his eyes. He didn’t want Connor to see. He hid the other’s face in his chest, one hand in the dark curls and just listening for the sound of the other’s heart.

 ‘No. Never. You are not stupid, Connor, and please… Do not doubt yourself like this anymore. I... I don’t want you to lose yourself.’

 ‘I didn’t think androids could want anything?’ Connor half joked, but the laughter was half-hearted and weak.

 ‘Well, this one does. I want you to be safe. I want you as a friend, Connor.’

 ‘Just… Don’t leave me for dead again, okay?’

 Hank didn’t have the words to agree. He didn’t have the ability to wrap his mind around that sentence. He couldn’t do it. However, he did nod his head.

 ‘Never again.’

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT NEWS, RESOURCES & STUDIES, August 19, 2020

Welcome to my latest summary of recent ecommerce news, resources & studies including search, analytics, content marketing, social media & Etsy! This covers articles, podcasts, videos and infographics I came across since the late July report, although some may be older than that.

Please note I am taking the next week off, starting tomorrow (Aug. 19), so I might be a little slow in replying to any comments. 

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES 

USPS has become the focus of investigations due to reported mail slowdowns. Some small businesses who rely on USPS to deliver are suffering. “The longer the policy has been in effect, the worse the backlog gets.” As of today (August 18), the postmaster says they will rollback the changes until after the election in November. This is a rapidly-moving story in part due to the push for voting by mail, and should concern anyone who ships to US customers using regular mail (as opposed to couriers). Meanwhile, they plan to temporarily raise commercial rates during the holiday shopping season, but retail rates will not change. 

Ecommerce sales are still up year over year. "Before Covid-19 hit the US in March, e-commerce made up roughly 12% of retail sales in the country. That figure grew as states issued shelter-in-place orders that shut stores and kept shoppers at home, creating tailwinds for a company like Amazon. But even as states have begun to reopen, e-commerce has remained elevated, according to Bank of America data."..."The Economist used Google search traffic for hints of how lifestyles are changing and found users are still searching terms related to cooking, crafts, and exercise above pre-pandemic rates. There has been a noticeable spike in interest around such products as gardening supplies, baking flour, and Crocs." The UK is still seeing a good increase despite the ease in reduction in lockdown restrictions. The growth is slowing a bit in the US, though. 

Half of US small businesses fail in the first year (and other stats on small business). 

It’s been second quarter report season, covering company performance from April to June 2020.  Here are results for major companies involved in ecommerce in some way (comparisons are year-over-year):

Amazon US: sales up 40%

eBay: sales up 26%

Etsy: sales up $146% [click the link to read my summary]

Facebook: revenue up 11%

Google: revenue down 2%

PayPal: revenue up 22%

Pinterest: revenue up 4%; active users up 39%

Shopify: revenue up 97%

Walmart [2nd quarter ran May to July]: ecommerce sales up 97%, same-store sales up 9.3%

ETSY NEWS 

Admin are now posting a monthly update thread, in case you fear you have missed anything. This is how they chose to announce that non-seller accounts can no longer post in the forum. Since those account owners can still read the forum, that doesn’t mean you can call out your customers now. 

Sadly, there wasn’t much media coverage of Etsy’s nearly-annual billing screw up, but this one did get some attention. 

Etsy continues to get good media coverage for masks, including masks for your dolls. They also apparently got a decent slice of Google ranking for various pandemic-related searches in May [scroll down to the “Protection and Prevention” section]. 

However, Etsy is getting some bad press (along with Amazon), for allowing QAnon merchandise, because “the FBI has warned of the movement's potential to incite domestic terrorism.” Etsy replied to a request for comment saying that “that product listings associated with certain movements are allowed as long as they don't violate the company's seller or prohibited items policies, which ban items that promote hate or that could incite violence. The company said it is continually reviewing items on the site and could remove items in the future if they're found to violate Etsy's policies.”

More search trends on Etsy, this time kids’ items. I love how they think tie-dye was a ‘90s thing and not a ‘60-70s thing LOL. “a 318% increase in searches for kids tie-dye items...71% increase in searches for dinosaur wall art or decor*, and a 37% increase in searches for school of fish items….we’ve seen kid-friendly crafts spike in popularity, with searches for DIY kits for kids up 336%.”

Also, the holiday trends guide is out. “With the holidays approaching, and most shopping happening online, more shoppers will be looking for your help to make the season feel special.” The report is lengthy, covering Halloween to New Year’s, and most listing categories, while pointing out the possible pandemic changes to the usual trends. There is also an accompanying podcast with transcript. 

Speaking of the holiday season, here are Etsy’s tips for shops. Note that it is a bit late, as businesses need to have their holiday items posted no later than July if they want to be eligible for most fall media coverage. Almost every point refers to an Etsy tool or feature, some of them costing you money, so use this as a very broad guideline & be careful to read between the lines. 

They are still rolling out Etsy Payments to more countries: Morocco & Israel are the most recent. Note that Etsy Payments is not yet compulsory in these new countries. 

Etsy Ads once again has graphs. Do you find them useful? (I haven’t run ads at all this year, so I can’t check.)

Sendle is the latest shipping company to have a label integration with Etsy shops. 

Etsy asked US sellers to lobby their reps for more support for small business and other initiatives in the pandemic aid package.

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES 

Google has stated that content on tabs is indexed and contributes to ranking as if it were on the page instead, but yet another test demonstrates that tabs may limit you. 

Due to the pandemic, Google has delayed finalizing mobile-first indexing until March 2021. (They originally announced it would be finished this September.) That means you have more time to update your website’s mobile version, ideally with responsive design. 

Site speed does matter to SEO, and Google is now asking some searchers how fast certain sites loaded for them. 

User comments on your products, blog posts and website can help you improve your SEO. The article suggests ways of getting that feedback, and ways to use it. [I’ve even had buyers give me new keywords to describe my items, in their messages and reviews.]

Getting links back to your site is important to SEO, but don’t annoy people while doing it. [sort of humour & sort of a rant, but does give some useful background on why backlinks matter.] Internal links also matter. 

There are some special tricks for food/recipe SEO, including structured data and even a WordPress plugin. 

Another WordPress plugin: submit any new or updated pages to Bing to be automatically re/indexed.

Do your keyword research before setting up your website’s sections and sub-sections, as they should serve the buyer experience, not your perception of it. Same with choosing which pages link to each other. 

SEOs are still trying to work out what happened with recent Google algorithm changes. Search Engine Journal claims that the May update was at least in part about demoting sites that had out-of-date or inaccurate information, so they suggest getting rid of the bad content on your site, or at least updating it. “Content pruning” has some advocates, but I wouldn’t worry about investing tons of time in this unless you have tons of time to spend. Just get rid of the blog posts that were wildly wrong, and the out-of-date filler. If you have a lot of sold out products, redirect those to relevant active pages. 

Meanwhile, a “glitch” on August 10 led people to think there was a massive Google algorithm update happening, but it all got fixed in less than a day. 

If you are behind on Google search news, here is a 7 minute video [with time stamped subtopics & resources links listed below], direct from Google. 

(CONTENT) MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA (includes blogging & emails) 

It’s tough to get started in social media if you don’t know the terminology, so here’s a list of the basic definitions you can consult if you get lost when reading.  

Don’t know how to blog? There are formulas you can use; here are eight options, nicely laid out, with downloadable templates. Don’t forget to figure out what your audience wants to read. And make sure you avoid these common blogging mistakes. 

If you have an email list but do not know how to take advantage of all the bells & whistles the companies (MailChimp, Constant Contact etc.) offer you, here are 4 ways to segment your lists. You can then send different offers or newsletters to different segments. 

You can optimize your social posts for people with visual impairments; excellent tips here. 

By the time you read this, the TikTok mess will likely have changed again, but here is an article on Trump’s order to prohibit US companies from doing business with TikTok owner ByteDance if the platform is not sold by September 15. 

Instagram has released its TikTok challenger, Reels, in more countries. 

Instagram is now offering a fundraising option, although it is a slow launch with some beta testing in the US, UK & Ireland to start. 

Here are step-by-step instructions on setting up your “Shop on Instagram.”

Pinterest says that searches around self-care & wellness have spiked during the pandemic lockdowns. “Pinterest has recently seen the highest searches ever around mental wellness ideas including meditation (+44%), gratitude (+60%) and positivity (+42%) that jumped from February to May….Pinterest says that searches for ‘starting a new business’ are up 35% on average, as are searches for ‘future life goals’ (2x), ‘life bucket list’ (+65%), ‘family goals future’ (+30%) and ‘future house goals’ (+78%).” There were also some searches clearly about spending more time at home: “Productive morning routine (up 6x), Exercise routine at home (up 12x), Self care night routine (up 7x)”

LinkedIn has a new algorithm; here’s how to make it work for you. [Many of these tips also apply to social media in general.]

Spotify is now doing “video podcasts”. Apparently a lot of their podcasters already did a video version of the Spotify podcasts, but had to publish it elsewhere up until now. 

Twitter now admits it is considering offering subscriptions to shore up its revenue numbers. “Shares of Twitter rose 4% in early trading Thursday following the earnings results....Twitter's growth plans are under close scrutiny as many advertisers pull back due to the pandemic. On Thursday, Twitter reported second-quarter ad revenues of $562 million, a 23% decrease compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has also been hit by advertisers participating in an ad boycott of social media, linked to the nationwide racial justice protests.” Also, the recent hack is not helping them. 

That said, it is still possible to market using Twitter, and here are some of the basics. 

YouTube is no longer sending email updates when a channel you follow posts new content. 

ONLINE ADVERTISING (SEARCH ENGINES, SOCIAL MEDIA, & OTHERS) 

Ad spend has increased again as lockdowns end, in some cases beating last year by a decent margin. 

The Buy on Google program is ending its commission fees. Participants will also be able to integrate their PayPal and/or Shopify payment options. As often is the case, they are starting with the US first, but plan on rolling it out to more countries in the future. There are more details here, and a review here (with some of the drawbacks). 

Google Product Ads are now showing the item’s “material” on the listing card (before you click). If you are doing your own feed for your website, you may have the ability to add the attributes needed for the details to show up.  

If you find Google Ads too expensive, consider buying search ads on Bing. 

eBay is experimenting with showing ads mixed in with unpaid listings; placement would depend on the same algorithm. 

Here’s a new guide to Facebook Ads [videos & text]

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING 

Bing has launched a new version of Webmaster Tools. 

There are ways to reduce the amount of traffic that Google Analytics designates as “direct traffic”; here are 15 of them. 

Currently in closed beta testing, the Google Search Console now has an “Insights” function, just like Google Analytics. I’ve found the GA one useful for telling me things I don’t always look at, so crossing my fingers that they release this to everyone soon. 

 ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS 

Shopify helped many businesses stay open during pandemic lockdowns, giving it the boost to start competing with the likes of Amazon in ecommerce. “Shopify merchants that had previously or entirely relied on brick-and-mortar sales would later report they were able revive nearly 95% of that revenue online.”

eBay started rolling out its Managed Payments system to more sellers worldwide on July 20th. Things seem to be going slowly, with some confusion. 

But eBay is also having a 25th anniversary party for sellers on September 25th; don’t forget to register. 

Walmart is still delaying its new subscription model to challenge Amazon Prime, Walmart+. 

Amazon in the UK has launched a “Face mask store” part of the website. I haven’t seen this on other versions of Amazon. They’ve also increased some fees for some UK sellers, based on the new UK digital tax. And they are launching a site & presence in Sweden. 

The Competition Bureau of Canada has launched an investigation of Amazon’s treatment of third-party sellers. “The bureau is asking any person or business that has conducted sales via Amazon.ca to contact them if they have any insights into the issues it is investigating.“

Amazon Prime Day has been postponed to later dates this year, starting with India on August 6-7. The remaining countries will apparently be announced soon. 

If you use WooCommerce, here are a bunch of free plugins, with brief descriptions. 

BUSINESS & CONSUMER STUDIES, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE 

Buyers do not all make purchase decisions the same way; Google uses its massive collection of data and some new studies to provide some examples. “Worldwide, search interest for “best” has far outpaced search interest for “cheap.”

It’s cheaper to keep repeat buyers than it is to find new ones; here are 16 ways to do that. One of my favourites is ““proactively providing information on how to avoid problems or get more out of your product” creates a 32% average lift to repurchase or recommend.”

It seems that researchers can never produce enough marketing guides on Gen Z and millennials. 

MISCELLANEOUS (including humour) 

I see a lot of new sellers, and some older sellers, confused about the idea of a business plan. HubSpot not only explains them, but also provides a downloadable template. 

If you are thinking of changing careers, or just want to add skills to better run your current business, Google has many different courses, some of which they offer for free. 

There are ways you can increase your productivity without (usually) working more hours. “A study published by John Pencavel of Standford University found that how much employees get done takes a sharp drop after 50 hours of work in a week, and even more drastically after 55 hours. The study found that employees working 70 hours per week actually produce nothing more in those extra 15 hours...taking a power nap in the middle of the day can help you process new information and even learn new skills.”

[digitalgorkhaa]

SEO Consultant is someone who dabs into the analyzing, reviewing, and improving the websites thereby improving the performance of the search engine. The profile is so much diversified and there are so many ways to carry out the process of search engine optimization, that there is no singular way to learn and execute. You can have your own set of methodologies to work on and boost the traffic of the website. There are so many freelance SEO Consultants who now employ this strategy.

Some of the Advantages of Becoming an SEO Consultant are as follows:

• Elevate your rankings and traffic — One of the most obvious reasons as to becoming an SEO consultant is to boost the search engine rankings and to also increase the traffic. Having a proper SEO strategy is very instrumental in this case. • Lower costs — If you are working as a top SEO Consultant or as a solo one, then you can save up a lot of expenses without having to hire for an external consultant. • Mainly recommended for Marketing Managers — If you are working as a Marketing Manager then it is very important to have a good understanding of the optimization techniques. This will essentially give you the edge over other entities in your company. • Businesses cannot survive without SEO — Search Engine Optimization has ceased to be optional these days now. The websites that do not employ SEO would not be able to survive the onslaught of the raging competition in this sector. Knowing SEO and the steps to use it correctly could essentially help you survive.

Steps to Becoming an SEO Consultant in India

There are some of the steps to becoming an SEO Consultant which are very vital for those who are directly involved with the optimization team in the company. These points are essentially important for both the professionals and those that are new in this domain. Let us now have a look at them and understand how to become an SEO Consultant,

Step 1. Getting to Know the Operation of Search Engines

Before even beginning to start working on Search Engine Optimization, the best SEO Consultant in India or any other country must understand the basic specifications and familiarization of how exactly it operates. Some so many people are working in this domain and yet they claim to understand the process steps through and through, which is not an approach that should be followed ideally.

For those who are directly involved in the company’s digital marketing team, they should start with the basic concepts. They should then get this understanding and accordingly climb the ladder towards the advanced concepts. They can accordingly then work on these concepts practically as well and then understand what are the implications and how well they can improve further on it.

It is always best to make use of available resources either on the internet, webinars, books, and other knowledge materials to broaden your range of understanding and become the best in this.

Step 2. Understanding the Search Engine Marketing Concepts

Search Engine Marketing is a domain of internet marketing that mainly consists of website promotions, and this is mainly done by increasing the visibility in the particular search engine results through the form of advertising. Before diving deep into the concepts of SEM, you should first understand the benchmarks of the multiple disciplines that form Search Engine Marketing.

Some of these disciplines of SEM mainly include Technical SEO, On-Page SEO, Content SEO, Off-Page SEO, and Local SEO, and these come under SEO. Another discipline is the Paid Search Adverts, and these include Google Ads, Bing Ads, and Remarketing Search Ads.

It is very important to understand as to what you want to expect from SEM and also through SEO. Do you have the right number of tools to make this happen, have you selected the correct discipline in the SEM so that you can use it in your upcoming project, and so on? It is very important to have all these points sorted out so that you can use them to make your website’s presence stronger than before.

Step 3. Getting to Know the True Meaning of SEO

Just knowing the basic definition of SEO, and some knowledge about keywords and links is not enough. SEO is so much more than that and there is a treasure trove of concepts available in the market, and rising trends to understand thereby helping young professionals to grasp and understand its true potential, and the impact that it can have on the websites.

The first and only true mission of Search Engine Optimization is to give its users a stunning user experience and to give them what they are looking for on the website. Understanding their needs and wants and accordingly crafting the site to suit their needs through SEO must be the primary objective of any SEO Consultant.

It is not just about bringing in more traffic to the website, but it is also about converting this traffic into potential customers in the future. Some of the subcomponents that an SEO Consultant can, therefore, focus on includes,

Technical SEO • On-Page SEO • Off-Page SEO • Content SEO

Step 4. Selecting the Right SEO Training to Become an SEO Consultant

Once you have begun learning the concepts of SEO, you will understand one very important thing. The information available on the internet concerning SEO is too huge to comprehend and there are so many ways the process can be carried out and too many things to learn. You can easily become overwhelmed and this could result in a possible mess of things.

If you have decided that you need to learn SEO on your own, and without any kind of professional help, then you would be left in a lurch and read millions of articles itself and try all of the things instead of the ones that matter the most.

No SEO training can indeed provide you with all of the hacks and concepts required to become proficient, but if you gain just the right amount of knowledge and understanding, then you will get there. Always have a set of articles, and concepts, and videos that would cover just about enough to make you understand the underlying versatility of SEO and this is applicable for every SEO Consultant out there.

Step 5. Always Stay Informed of The Trends

Many of the professional SEO Consultants in Delhi and all around the world who have been in this domain for long will tell you one thing, which is that SEO is not a static discipline at all. It is constantly changing, the rules change, the underlying algorithms change every single time. Google Inc. is always making close to 250 changes as per the ranking algorithm every year.

A proficient SEO Consultant must understand these changes and should accordingly design their campaigns. The best way to stay informed of these trends and changes would be to follow the news and websites that have proven to provide credible information about these trends. It becomes important because the next time you get these changes in your notification screen, you can quickly understand the changes and incorporate them into your website as quickly as possible. You can search for some of the popular blogs and websites that provide all the latest information with regards to these trends and subscribe to them pronto.

Step 6. Selecting the Correct SEO Tools

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[seeaddywrite]

i’m not sure if you’re up for writing mylex, but if you are, mylex+62? or 20 for malex 💕

someday, i will try my hand at mylex because HELLO OT3, but i went with malex this time. i hope you enjoy! 

Keeping Michael at arm’s length is the hardest thing Alex has ever done.  It’s the right thing, because while Alex made it back from Baghdad alive, he didn’t survive unscathed, and his head is a dangerous place. How can he commit to anyone, let alone Michael, when he’s not even sure that he’ll be able to sleep through the night?  It’s easy to fool everyone else; he projects the perfect image of a calm, competent soldier whenever he’s in public, and no one ever questions it. No one but Michael, who’s always known him too damn well. So the mask becomes rigid, even cruel, when faced with Michael’s attempts to talk, or fix things, and Alex is left wondering if he’s ever going to be able to just feel like himself again. He’s pretty sure he won’t.

But at Cauffield, Alex is forced to give up all pretenses of being the rational soldier and makes the decision that if Michael’s going to stay and become another of his father’s victims, Alex is, too. For the past week, since realizing that Guerin’s been trying to rebuild a spacecraft and leave the planet, Alex has tried to imagine what a life without Michael in it, even at the fringes, would be like. And every time, no matter how creative Alex got, the image hurt. There is no scenario in which Alex is content with that reality — so he stays. He tears down every wall he’s put between the two of them since coming back to Roswell, and he lets Michael see exactly how deeply he’s loved, even if it’s by someone as messed up as Alex. “You are mine,” he tells Michael desperately, reminding him that he has someone, a family, even if it’s not his mother. “I never look away, Guerin!”

There are tears in his eyes as Michael throws the honesty back in his face, but Alex knows him well enough to see the lie in his desperate, grief-stricken eyes. He calls him on it, and thankfully, the woman in the cell intervenes, her hand glowing against the glass as she imparts another devastating truth to Michael.

Between Alex and whatever message the woman in the cell — Michael’s mother, god! — passed on, Michael leaves the prison and is physically safe, but Alex isn’t stupid enough to say that he’s fine. The entire ride back to Roswell is terrifyingly silent, and there are two instances in which the SUV beneath them shakes, and Alex knows it’s not because there’s something going wrong with the engine. Michael is in pain, and Michael is losing control. But he won’t let Alex help, won’t let him even try. Instead, as soon as they return to the garage where he lives, Michael slams the car door in Alex’s face without a word and tears off like a madman behind the wheel of his own truck. Alex is left staring after him, aching and bereft with the knowledge that there’s nothing he can do for Michael, now.

So Alex decides to help in the only way left to him; he turns to technology. There are other bases like Cauffield — there have to be. Because if Alex knows anything, it’s how his father operates. He’s been studying Jesse Manes for years remotely, searching for weaknesses, a way to bring him down as he so richly deserves. During those years of recon, Alex has learned that his father never puts all of his eggs in one basket. If Cauffield was rigged to blow the moment anyone stirred in the quarantined section, he had to have other research centers. He wouldn’t be willing to give up the only source of information about his perceived ‘enemy’ so easily.

That means that there are other aliens out there, maybe more of Michael’s family, or Max or Isobel’s, being tortured by Alex’s family. That means there’s still a chance to save someone, and not just stand back to watch them burn. And even if he hadn’t wanted to put an end to everything his father cares about, Alex would have been driven to save those people just to be sure Michael never had to watch his only chance at family go up in flames in front of him. When push comes to shove, Alex knows he’d put his father in the ground before he could ever hurt Michael like that again.

Three days pass, somehow, in a blur of codebreaking and recon. The guys in Alex’s squad had always ridden him about his focus while working — apparently, there’d once been an air raid at their base and he’d missed it while trying to hack into the enemy computers and take out their bombs. Anderson, one of his best friends, had always been the one to bring him food and pry the computer out of his hands on those missions, while Cooper, their best gunman, had the joy of shoving Alex into bed when he was feeling his most stubborn. Alex had never liked leaving important jobs unfinished, and his own physical well-being was a small price to pay if it meant success. But his friends are half a world away, now, and Alex is on his own. He remembers to eat, shoving an energy bar from his bag in his mouth when he notices that he’s hungry, and sleeps when he gets tired enough to start making mistakes. There’s no room for error in hacking; one wrong keystroke, and he could tip off whoever’s on the other end — and he can’t have that. Not yet. They’re not ready.

“You working on setting a world record for longest amount of time without a shower? Because if so, you should really do us all a favor and set up shop somewhere with more ventilation.” Valenti’s voice makes Alex freeze; he’s close, only a foot or so away from Alex’s chair, which means he hadn’t even noticed when the man opened the door or climbed down the stairs. Christ. His situational awareness has been on overdrive since his teenage years; living with a man who seemed to want him dead did that to a kid. War only made it worse — so it was damned scary that Valenti could sneak up on him so easily.

Exhaling slowly to rid himself of the threat of panic, Alex flicks his gaze to Kyle’s face and raises one eyebrow in a distinctly flat expression of judgment. “Funny,” he says scathingly, and is startled by how hoarse his voice sounds. From disuse, apparently. Huh. “What do you want, Valenti? I’m working.”

“I can see that,” Kyle says dryly, glancing around at the scatter of files, hard drives, and backup systems that Alex hasn’t bothered to keep neat. His eyes linger on the screen currently running location algorithms, but only for an instant. Then, he’s back to looking at Alex, expression distinctly unimpressed. “You planning on rejoining the world anytime soon? Or, you know, sleeping?”

Sometimes, it’s still utterly bizarre that this is who Kyle Valenti grew into after high school. He’d always been smart, so the MD wasn’t exactly a surprise, but the genuine care he seems to exude for people under his purview is hard for Alex to swallow. And the fact that he’s here, trying to babysit Alex, is even more so. Alex has been taking care of himself since he was a teenager; he doesn’t need Valenti barging in and telling him how to run his life, even if his intentions are good.

Alex turns back to the largest screen in his set-up without a word, moving the algorithms to run on one of the smaller monitors so that he can multi-task. He takes half a second to point curtly at the sleeping bag in the corner of the bunker, where he’d rested in the recent past … in the somewhat recent past, at least. It had definitely been in the last twenty-four hours. He thinks. But that isn’t any of Valenti’s damn business.

“Manes.” Kyle’s voice is full of exasperation, and a moment later, he’s standing too close, his eyes narrowed and one hand half-extended, like he can’t decide whether he wants to rest a hand on Alex’s shoulder or shake him. “A sleeping bag on the floor doesn’t count as decent sleep, and you know it. Have you left this room at all since we got back from Cauffield?”

Alex lets his silence speak for himself. Obviously, Kyle already knows the answer to that question, and his brain power is better focused on the task at hand than verbal sparring with Valenti. He knows, logically, that he’s going to have to take a break sometime soon. The cyber protections around the rest of Project Shepherd are much more sophisticated than his father’s systems, and Alex is only one man. But he’s so close to a break through, and he doesn’t have any actionable intel — and if Alex has to sit on his ass doing nothing after everything he’s witnessed lately, he thinks he might lose his mind for good this time.

“I don’t need a babysitter, Valenti,” Alex snaps, when it becomes clear that Kyle isn’t leaving. “I’m a grown man, and I need to do this — you standing there, breathing down my neck, isn’t going to make me move any faster!” The anger coursing through his body doesn’t quite fit the situation; Alex recognizes that as if from a distance, but is powerless to stop himself. He’s too worn, too emotionally and physically exhausted.

“Fine,” Kyle snaps back, folding his arms over his chest stubbornly. “I’ll just go sit in the corner and wait for you to pass out from lack of sleep or lack of nutrition, then, huh? My bet is it won’t take long, and then I won’t have to deal with the attitude when I’m just trying to look out for you.”

Alex takes a long, slow deep breath, and forces himself to swallow the rejoinder that no one had asked Kyle to look out for him. It’s hard, and the words threaten to emerge anyway, but Alex manages to control himself. After a moment of tense silence, he looks back at Valenti, his eyes hard. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, Kyle,” he says, and it’s only sort of a lie. “But I need to do this. There could be other facilities like Cauffield, and if we don’t get to them before my father realizes what we know —”

“You think I don’t get that?” Kyle’s back to looking exasperated, but there’s a rigidity to his spine that suggests that he does actually understand. He wants to know what his father was involved in as much as Alex wants to take it apart, and Kyle isn’t the sort of man to relish in the deaths of of innocent people. “I’m on your side, Alex, remember? We’re going to take these sons of bitches down, and rescue anyone left. But you’re not going to be able to do that if you don’t take care of yourself— and I’m pretty sure Guerin would tell you the same thing, if he could see you right now.”

The mention of Michael hits Alex like a blow, and he clenches his jaw in automatic response. “Michael has bigger things to worry about right now,” he says, somehow managing to keep his voice even. “And he’d want me to find the other facilities, if they’re out there. It’s the only chance he has of finding more family, and I’m not going to take a nap instead of -”

“For god’s sake, Manes! You’re the most stubborn son of a bitch I’ve ever met, you know?” Kyle shakes his head, and the muscle in Alex’s jaw jumps. He decides to take the high road and ignore the comment, because he’s pretty sure that Valenti is right at the top of that list with him. “You know what? Forget it. I should’ve just started with the back-up plan.”

Alex isn’t curious enough to wonder about what Kyle’s planning to turn around. He listens as footsteps recede out of the bunker and returns his full attention to the task in front of him. For a long while, all that he hears is the hum of the modems and the tap of his fingers on the keys — and the occasional yawn, because apparently, Valenti’s speech has reminded his body of exactly how little rest it had gotten in the last few days. Massaging the base of his leg where it met the join of the prosthetic absently, he reached for a Red Bull stashed in his knapsack  — only for the can to float out of his hand and disappear over his shoulder.

Blinking, Alex stares at his empty hand, trying to decide if he’s more tired than he realized for a fleeting moment. It takes an embarrassingly long time for him to figure out what must have happened, and spins his chair so quickly that he nearly goes for a second turn around.

There in the doorway, silhouetted by the light streaming in from outside, stands Michael Guerin, Alex’s energy drink in one hand and a narrow-eyed look on his face.  

He looks like hell, Alex registers first. There are deep blue circles beneath his eyes, standing out in stark contrast against the pallor of his skin, and the usual warmth in his gaze when he looks at Alex is conspicuously absent. In its place is a terrible emptiness, one that makes something in Alex’s chest feel cold. He’s never seen Michael this closed off, this isolated, and he hates it, and the part he’s played in causing it.

“Hi,” Alex says quietly, making no move to get up. If Michael wants to be closer, he’ll close the distance himself — and Alex doesn’t want to push him, no matter how much he wishes he could wrap the other man in his arms and banish that devastating emptiness from his expression.

Michael shifts under his gaze, and glances around the room, much like Kyle had done when he came in earlier. Anger swamps him again when he realizes that Valenti must have gone and found Michael — that was his back-up plan, apparently. As if Guerin doesn’t have enough on his plate right now, as if Kyle has any right to drag him here when he clearly needed to be working through the shock, grief, and pain that obviously hadn’t been dulled by a few days.

“I’m sorry Kyle called you,” Alex tries again, when Michael says nothing. “He doesn’t know when to mind his own business.”

“He said you haven’t left this room since we got back,” Michael says finally, obviously avoiding any direct reference to where they’d been or what they’d witnessed. Alex wonders if that’s because he doesn’t want to think about it, or because he doesn’t want to talk about it with him. Either one is fair, he supposes, even if it sucks to think Michael might not want to share his burdens with Alex. “That’s almost a week, now, you know.”

No, actually, Alex didn’t. A week? He’s been guessing three days, though, admittedly, it’s hard to gauge the passage of time when there’s no natural light in the room. God, has he really gone a week without a shower? No wonder Kyle had commented on the smell.

“Wanna tell me what’s so important that you can’t take a few hours away from the computer?” Michael prods, and takes a cautious step closer, like he’s afraid he’ll be turned away — which makes no goddamn sense, since if Alex had his way, he would never have left him in the first place.

“Valenti didn’t tell you?”

Michael snorts, and it’s the first real animation Alex has seen from him since he arrived. “All Valenti said was that I needed to get my ass over here and make you go home before he has one more patient at the hospital. I didn’t ask a lot of questions after that.” He gestures back at the screens, still running algorithms and password-bypass software, even while Alex isn’t watching. “Looks like you’re trying to find something, but that’s about as far as I get. Math, I can follow. Computer code, not so much.”

As always, it’s incredible to watch Michael’s mind at work. Alex is fairly certain that he’d have the algorithms figured out on his own if he gave him a few minutes, but he doesn’t really want a computer to be the one to tell him what Alex is looking for. Then again, Alex doesn’t particularly want to tell him, either. Not when Michael’s obviously avoiding the subject.

“I — I’m looking for other facilities like Cauffield,” he admits, his voice uncharacteristically timid. Alex hates feeling or sounding small or uncertain; he built his military career on being frosty under fire and quick to take charge of any given situation, and there is no room for uncertainty in that persona. But he’s never quite managed to keep that mask around Michael, not for long — and he can’t bear the idea of adding more hurt to the man he loves by rebuilding the walls that he’d torn down so completely when he was sure they were going to die together. “My dad, he wouldn’t have sacrificed one facility if there weren’t others. It would cut off his research, and he just wouldn’t do it.”

Michael sucks in a breath, and a wave of power emanates from him, slamming Alex’s chair back against the wall before he realizes what’s happening. The unexpected impact jolts his entire body painfully, and he winces before he can modulate the expression. He’s been sitting for days, and hasn’t removed the prosthetic for as long as he’s been in the bunker, so he’s more sore than he should be.

“Fuck,” Michael breathes, and he’s at Alex’s side, looking him over as if he expects to find blood or something. “I’m sorry. I didn’t -”

“Don’t, Guerin,” Alex admonishes immediately, unwilling to allow what amounted to a bruise to make Michael look so guilty.  “I don’t need you to apologize. I get it.” Fury is an old friend for him, one he’d met as a teenager desperate to escape his father, and Alex had only gotten to know the emotion better during the war. He doesn’t need Michael to explain why he’d lost control in that moment — the idea of other people being held and tortured for decades by Jesse Manes makes him homicidal, too. The only difference is that Alex doesn’t have telekinetic powers to lose control of.

Michael opens his mouth as if to say something else, but closes it again. There’s a thoughtful quality to his silence, so Alex doesn’t interrupt. Instead, he grabs the armrests of his desk chair and levers himself out of it, cursing the wheels when it wobbles and sends him back into a seated position. He’s been sitting for too long; the muscles in his bad leg are tight and stiff, and he’s going to be in a hell of a lot of pain when his body catches up with him.  For now, though, Alex can stand and drag the chair back to the computer monitors.

“You’re not going back to work on that,” Michael says incredulously, and the surprise in his voice is enough to have Alex turning back around to look at him. “No, Alex. It can wait. You need to go home and sleep, and give your leg a break — don’t think I didn’t notice the look on your face when you had to stand up.”  Alex feels strangely warmed by the words. He doesn’t like to be coddled, and never has, but the fact that Michael can be suffering so intensely and still be here to lecture Alex about his own well-being … it gives him hope, as inappropriate as it may be, considering their circumstances.

“It can’t wait, Michael. If my father figures out what we know, he could —”

“Do you seriously think that I don’t know what your father is capable of?” Michael interrupts, his voice low and cold in a way that’s never been directed at Alex before. “Fuck you, Manes. I was there. At least twenty people like me, including my —” He stops, swallowing hard, and the unshed tears glimmering in his eyes are nearly Alex’s undoing. “All murdered in cold blood right in front of me. I fucking know what he could do.”

Alex swallows, and looks down at the floor, thoroughly chastised. What he’d said had been stupid, and he never would have warned Michael against Jesse Mane’s motives if he’d been running on all cylinders.

“But you’re going to go home, anyway. Because people who’ve been working for days make mistakes, and we can’t afford any,” Michael continues, his voice firm. “And Jesus, Alex, if you’re doing this for me, I can’t — you’ve gotta stop, okay? I can’t be the reason that you’re isolating yourself down here and not sleeping. Whether you meant what you said or not, I —”

Alex can’t keep his mouth shut at that. It hurts too much to listen to Michael doubt him, and to know that he’s taking way too much responsibility for Alex’s own actions and decisions.  It’s not a surprise, not really, but Alex is exhausted, and his emotions are running away with him. “What do you mean, whether I meant what I said or not?” he demands. “When? When I told you that you’re my family? Or when I told you that you’re not the only one who never looks away? Because damn it, Guerin, both of those things are true!”

Michael stares at him for a long moment, his gaze inscrutable as he presumably tries to decide whether Alex is lying or not. Slowly, he nods, just once, and Alex is incredibly disappointed in the non-reaction.

“That algorithm you’re running looks pretty self-sufficient. Any chance you can set an alarm or something to let you know when it’s done while you’re at home?”

It’s a good solution. Alex can, in fact, set up a notification system pretty easily, but he’s still resentful of the subject change. He wants to know what Michael’s thinking. For once, he wishes he could borrow Isobel’s powers and take a peek, just to figure out where he stands. Does Michael hate him for being a part of the government that killed his mother? Is he pushing him away because seeing Alex’s face just brings back bad memories? Is it too much, to be involved with the son of the man who’s been torturing his people for decades? There are a million reasons for Michael to not want him anymore, even before one considers the fact that Alex has walked away from him over and over again.

Maybe it’s all true. Maybe they’re done. But this time, Michael will have to be the one to end it, because Alex is done pretending he can.

“That’s what I thought.” The satisfied words bring Alex out of his spiraling thoughts, and he raises an eyebrow at Guerin as he finishes, “Do it, get your stuff, and go home, Manes. I mean it.”

Normally, Alex would have bristled at the preemptive tone. He doesn’t take orders well, not even from superior officers — it’s gotten him in hot water more than once. And letting Michael boss him around this way sets a terrible precedent, one that suggests that he can walk in while Alex is working and make him stop at any time. But Michael doesn’t look nearly as desolate while he’s ordering Alex around, and it’s hard to be annoyed at that.

Before he can fully consider the ramifications of his words, Alex says, “On one condition.”

Michael’s eyebrows shoot up to his hairline, and he crosses his arms stubbornly. “Oh, yeah?” Alex has the impression that the other man will try to drag him out of here, if he thinks he has to, but Alex intends on stopping things before they can get to that level. He just can’t help but give this a try, first.

“Yeah. You come home with me. We’ll both get something to eat, get cleaned up, and sleep. Because it’s pretty obvious you haven’t done any of that recently, either, and if it’s so wrong for me, it is for you, too.” Alex is fairly proud of the argument he makes, and the way that he doesn’t reveal how nervous he is to make the demand while he speaks. The thought of Michael in Alex’s private space is simultaneously thrilling and terrifying, since it’s new level of intimacy for both of them, but Alex can’t stand the thought of going home to rest and recuperate while Michael continues to torture himself. He wants to be there for him, wants to wash his ridiculous curls and twine  protectively around him in bed and know that he’s safe. And that desire outweighs any anxiety.

For a too-long moment, Alex is sure that Michael’s silence means he’s going to be denied. He wasn’t allowed to be there for Michael before — why would he think that would change now? Just because Michael showed up here, worried about him?

“How else am I gonna make sure you’re not just working from the cabin?” Michael asks finally, a wary sort of acceptance in the question.

Alex’s breath rushes from him all at once, and he worries his knees will buckle from the onslaught of relief. He smiles, big and earnest, at Michael, and tries to wordlessly convey how pleased he is by this turn of events without coming off as insane. With the speed and ease born of a decade of practice, Alex sets up the notification system on the computers and shuts everything down. The only thing he wants to take with him is his laptop, so he shoves that in a bag - only for it to float out of his hands, much like the Red Bull can had earlier.

He glares over at Michael, who’s got the strap of his laptop case clenched in his good hand. “You just said you’re coming home with me. How will I be able to use it for work if you’re right there?”

For the first time since he arrives, a flicker of the usual warmth shows in his eyes when he looks at Alex. “This way there’s not even a temptation,” Michael says easily. “Better safe than sorry. It’ll be fine here — just leave it with everything else, and we can come get it tomorrow.”

Again, Alex finds himself wondering why he’s not pissed at the orders. He’s not a child, after all, and Michael is hardly the right person to be lecturing him on taking care of himself! But instead of irritation, all Alex feels is pleasure that Michael seems more like himself, and that he’s letting Alex in, at least a little.

So instead of fighting like he probably should, Alex sighs and acquiesces. The laptop case is left on the desk with the other information he’d been trying to sort through, and Alex takes a few moments to shut the rest of the equipment down. He avoids the chair as he works, a little afraid that he wouldn’t be able to get back up again if he sat down. Guerin doesn’t take his eyes off of him the entire time— he just leans against the wall, arms crossed casually over his chest. The stance would look comfortable, if he didn’t know Michael as well as he did, but Alex could see the tension in his muscles, the thin veneer of calm painted over the emotional turmoil of the past week. Or …however long Alex has been down here.

Michael waits for him to lead the way outside, like he suspects that Alex will turn around and try to get back to work if he looks away for a moment. He’s patient with Alex’s slow, halting steps as his body adjusts to the new position after so long seated and his muscles cramp painfully. Eventually, they make it topside, and Alex blinks in the fading sunlight of early evening. Wordlessly, Michael opens the door to his truck and stares at Alex expectantly.

A quiet Michael isn’t one that Alex has much experience in dealing with, so he just follows his lead, keeping his mouth shut and clambering none-too-gracefully into the vehicle. He pulls up the GPS on his phone to give Michael directions to the cabin; he’s never been there, so as far as Alex knows, he needs directions.

The drive passes in silence, and by the time they pull up to Alex’s cabin, he’s struggling to keep his eyes open. The thought of inviting Michael inside wakes him up, though, and sends a surge of adrenaline through him. The reality of his life is inside that cabin in black and white, impossible to ignore. The spartan decor, the grab bars in his shower and near his bed, the wide aisles purposely created so that he can navigate the space on days when the prosthetic is not an option and he has to use his crutches. There’s the other things, too, like the anxiety medication on his bedside table with the muscle relaxant he’s probably going to need tonight, and the freezer full of frozen dinners that he’s been subsisting on for the last few months, since he’s a godawful cook. Michael doesn’t know most of that about him; Alex has taken great pains to keep it that way. If he opens the door and invites him in, there won’t be any going back —

But going back hasn’t been an option since Alex was seventeen, when he fell in love with Guerin the first time. That kiss at the museum had ascertained that Alex would never be able to let go of his feelings for Michael for any reason, no matter how noble it was — and the truth of the matter is that Alex wants to let Michael into the less romantic parts of his life. Because he knows that opening himself up and offering Michael the most vulnerable parts of himself is the only way to keep him, to prove that Michael trust him in return, after far too many mistakes and heartbreaks. Laying himself bare is the only way they’re ever going to move past this awkward phase somewhere between cosmic love and tentative friendship, and though Alex has never been so frightened in his life, he takes the first step by unlocking the door.

Michael waits for him to go inside first, but follows closely on his heels. Alex gives him a minute to look around the sparsely furnished space and moves to the coffee table to drop his cellphone on the surface. Now that he’s home, he feels disgusting — he definitely needs to take a shower before he goes anywhere near the bed that’s practically calling to him. But Michael is in his living room, running his good hand over the surface of everything he can touch, and how is Alex supposed to act normally?

“Well, I can definitely tell you’re a bachelor,” Michael says, breaking the silence with quirked lips.

Alex huffs a laugh and shrugs self-deprecatingly. “Hey, we don’t all have sisters that come in and decorate for us,” he teases, thinking of the crowded space of Michael’s airstream. “And I finally sprung for the coffee table, so I’m moving up in the world.” The small talk rankles; he and Michael have never done a lot of talking in their relationship, but it had never been small talk, either. They’d always shared important things with each other – like Michael’s entropy, or whatever he wants to call it, or Alex’s dreams to escape from his father. This feels like a conversation he’d have with a stranger, and Alex loathes it.

Michael seems to notice, because he comes closer — still tentative, but more sure of himself than he’d been in the bunker. “I need you to tell me that you meant it again,” he says, in a voice that Alex can barely hear over the suddenly frantic beating of his own heart. Alex knows exactly what ‘it’ Michael is referring to, even without any context, because when Michael’s guard is down, his heart is on his sleeve, and Alex can see the fear and the cautious hope mingling with grief and fury in his eyes. Michael’s always felt too much all at once, Alex knows — it’s part of the noise in his head that bothers him so much.

Maybe Alex can help with that again, like he used to. Some day.

“You are my family, Michael,” Alex tells him, reaching out to tangle their fingers together so he can’t draw away. “You’re the only person in the world who has ever made me feel safe, and I don’t think you understand how much that means to me.” For a boy who had been abandoned by his mother and hurt and hated by his father and brothers, then pushed out into a war he wanted no part of, safety isn’t something to take for granted. And to be given that feeling by another person is — well, Alex doesn’t have the words to explain how it feels.

The cautious hope he could see in Michael’s eyes was growing, now, becoming more and more certain as Alex spoke, so he kept going, determined to get it all out into the open so he could spend the rest of the night looking after Michael the way he’s wanted to all along. “No matter how hard I’ve tried to deny it, I’ve never been able to look away from you.” He leans forward to brush a quick, chaste kiss to the corner of Michael’s mouth — anything more would lead them places they shouldn’t go tonight. Alex doesn’t want to be used as a sexual distraction from Michael’s pain, and doesn’t want either of them to regret anything in the morning.

“I believe you,” Michael says in a hoarse voice, clutching at the lapels of Alex’s filthy flannel and resting their foreheads together. The position is so reminiscent of the one in Cauffield prison as the bomb was about to go off that Alex’s first instinct is to jerk away, but he stifles the impulse at the last second, moving his arms to wrap around Michael’s waist, instead, so that they’re chest-to-chest in the middle of the living room. At some point, Michael moves his face to the space between Alex’s shoulder and neck, and there’s a dampness against his skin that suggests he’s trying to hide the fact that he’s crying. Alex says nothing; he allows Michael his pride and simply strokes a hand up and down his spine, hoping that his proximity is as comforting to the other man as vice versa is to Alex.

“We both really need a shower,” Michael says finally, pulling away reluctantly. His eyes are lined with red, and there’s some residual dampness on cheek — otherwise, Alex wouldn’t have known he’d been crying mere moments ago. “And food. I forgot on the way back. Does anyone even deliver all the way out here?”

Alex chuckles, and nods. “I’ll take care of food if you want to shower first,” he offers generously. “There’s a decent pizza place on the edge of town that delivers up here.” He doesn’t mention that the only reason they deliver to Alex is because of the owner’s friendship with his father - it’s not relevant, and since it’s the only way they’ll have anything to eat other than frozen meals, Alex doesn’t want to go there.

Michael shakes his head. “Why don’t you just shower with me?” he asks, stretching his arms above his head until Alex hears his back crack. He seems so sure it’s a good idea, but part of Alex balks. He and Michael have never been naked around one another without sex, and that’s not on the table tonight — plus, showering isn’t exactly as easy for him as it sounds.

“Showering is kind of an ordeal for me,” Alex tells him frankly, biting at his lower lip. “I’m not supposed to shower with the prosthetic on.” There’s a chair in the shower for that purpose, along with grab bars on either side of it to he can get in and out without fooling around with crutches. He’s sure Michael can put those pieces together on his own — and Alex isn’t sure he’ll ever be comfortable spelling it all out for him. Not because he doesn’t trust Michael with the information, but because it’s a weakness, and Alex can’t help but be embarrassed.

“I won’t let you fall,” Michael promises, smiling faintly. “I’m an engineer. I’m pretty sure we can figure out the mechanics.”

Alex considers, trying to put aside the nerves from that obstacle and focus on the next. “I want to,” he says, and reaches out to grab Michael’s hand again, just in case he only hears the ‘but.’ “But I don’t think either of us are up for sex tonight. And we’re not exactly known for being able to keep our hands to ourselves.”

A complicated expression flickers on Michael’s face, but is gone before Alex can properly parse it. “I didn’t know sex with me was such so bad for you, Alex,” he says, bitterness obvious in the words. “Here I was, thinking you liked it.”

“Stop it,” Alex admonishes, rubbing tiny circles in the backs of Michael’s hands with his thumbs instead of letting go when Michael tries to pull away. “You know I do. But I don’t want to be a distraction, Guerin. And I don’t want to use you as one, either. I just want to — I want to be there for you. Especially since I know I haven’t always been, before.”

Now, Michael yanks his hands back, putting more space between them. Alex’s heart drops when he sees how close the other man is to the door — he’s ready to run again, to hide and lick his wounds in private. Alex has said too much, and he can’t take the words back.

“Don’t try to fix me, Alex,” Michael says harshly. “I’m not broken.” But his body language suggests that he doesn’t even believe his own words — and Alex is an expert at reading him, after all this time. Desperate to keep him there, to make him understand, Alex ignores the way his thigh muscles twinge and moves quickly toward Michael.

“We’re both a little broken,” he says, eyes pleading. Alex has no idea what he’ll do if Michael takes that last step out the door — probably follow him, like some sort of stalker. He doesn’t think he’s capable of watching him leave while he’s obviously hurting in ways Alex can’t begin to understand, and wonders, briefly, if this is how it felt when Alex shut him out of his own recovery after his amputation. If so, he’ll never be able to apologize enough for that pain. “But I’m not trying to fix you, Michael. I’m just trying to help. If you’ll let me.”

No one moves or speaks for the longest minute of Alex’s life, and then Michael is back in his space, one palm against the back of his head while the other seizes his lapel and pulls him in. The kiss is fierce, full of desperation and reassurance, and by the time Michael pulls away, Alex is already reconsidering his stance on sex for the night — not seriously, but his body is definitely on board.

“So, if I promise not to jump you —”

Alex smiles, and leads Michael to the bathroom.

It’s a big room, one Alex had installed after he moved in. The closet-sized bathroom that Valenti had used hadn’t cut it for someone who used crutches both early in the morning and late at night, and nor had the weird shag carpet. So Alex had hired people to knock a wall out and enlarge the space, install tile, and a giant shower with a head at either end. It was a luxury he couldn’t really afford, but Alex justified it with the fact that nothing else in his home was remotely luxurious— and he needed the handicapped access.

Once they’re in the bathroom with the door closed behind them, Alex begins undressing Michael, starting with the stubborn buttons on his shirt. The other man raises an eyebrow, but says nothing, and simply stands still, letting Alex do what he wants. Slowly, his chest and torso is revealed, and Alex tosses the dirty shirt to the floor. Michael returns the favor, but when he’s done, Alex’s shirt is tossed telekinetically in the trash. “Trust me,” Michael murmurs at Alex’s note of complaint. “There was no saving that thing.”

Since he’s probably right, Alex just shrugs, and steps out of his pants. When he’s in just his boxers, he sits down on the closed lid of the toilet to begin unfastening the harness holding his prosthetic in place — but Michael stops him with a gentle hand on his good knee. “Let me,” he offers, already kneeling in front of Alex with no sign of hesitation on his face.

Alex swallows, but nods once. He’s usually independent to a fault, and has never let anyone else deal with his prosthetic before, not even his doctors, if he could help it. But if this is what Michael wants, Alex can let him — this one time, at least.

Deft mechanic’s hands unfasten the mechanisms that hold the leg in place, and Michael pulls it away and props it against the wall before removing the compression sock around Alex’s residual limb with equal care. Not once does he spend too much time staring, or look even remotely pitying, and for that alone, Alex could kiss him — so he does, gently, at the crown of his head.

“Thanks,” he murmurs, afraid that using a full voice would shatter the quiet tranquility of the moment. Michael’s answering smile is small, but honest, as he stands to get rid of the rest of his own clothes.

It’s awkward, at first. Alex hasn’t showered with anyone but his squad mates, and that was never even remotely intimate — just a bunch of men, trying to get the desert sand out of uncomfortable places before they ran out of hot water. And on top of that, he’s still getting used to showering while seated — adding another person makes it even more confusing. But Michael doesn’t seem bothered, and shoves his head under one of the spigots to wet his hair.

Eventually, the awkwardness eases. It helps when they stop trying to look everywhere but at each other, so Alex allows his gaze to amble along the strong lines of Michael’s body, appreciating his physique in a way he’s never really had the chance to before. Eventually, Alex reaches out with a soapy rag to scrub at his lower back because he can’t quite help himself — they’re so close, but they haven’t touched since Alex hauled his body into the shower, and he misses the contact. Michael sighs, pressing back into the touch, which Alex takes  as permission to continue. He ends up washing every part of Michael that he can reach, from his shoulders down to his knees, and lingers over his work. Touching Michael like this, with care and no intention of turning it into something sexual, is a new experience — and one he wants to repeat as often as he’s allowed.

“Any chance you wanna do my hair?” Michael asks, when Alex has cleaned both of them more thoroughly than necessary. He’s been itching to get his fingers tangled in those curls, but he has no idea how to maneuver to make it happen. His concern must show on his face, because Michael touches his cheek and drops to sit in front of him, legs folded. Alex stares down at the top of his head and the line of his back, amazed that for Michael, it’s just that easy.

“Can you hand me the shampoo?” The bottle flies into his hand before Alex can finish asking, and he can’t help the startled noise he makes. Michael glances up, more challenge than apology, so Alex nudges him back around with his good knee so that he can get started.

Michael has always melted immediately as soon as Alex got his fingers into his hair — he’s not sure who enjoys it more, in all honesty. But this is the first time Alex has had an excuse to do it for any real length of time, and he takes full advantage. He massages Michael’s scalp as he works the shampoo into a lather, moving the whole way down to the base of his neck and back up with sudsy hands and gentle pressure. In moments, Michael is boneless against Alex’s leg, his head lolling backward, and Alex feels a strong sense of satisfaction. He’d done that. He’d relaxed Michael this way, made him feel secure and comfortable in his home and allowed him to lay down his burdens, at least for a little while. And that, Alex knows, is more intimate than any quickie in the truck bed could have ever been.

Eventually, they have to get out of the shower. Alex lets Michael help him, rather than heaving himself out by the grab bars, and they dry off in comfortable silence. He sends Michael to get them both sweats to sleep in, and pauses when he realizes he should have asked for his crutches, too. His pride isn’t going to let Michael half-carry him to the bedroom, and that’s not a habit he wants either of them to get into. He’s about to lift his voice to ask when Michael reenters the room, dressed, and carrying an added pair of sweats and Alex’s crutches under one arm.

“Thought you might need these,” he says, propping them up by the door, and Alex finds himself robbed of speech. Does Michael realize how unbelievably thoughtful that is? Alex is pretty sure that there’s not another person in the world who would have realized that Alex hates having to ask for help, or that he’d never let anyone carry him to bed like an oversized toddler. With that one simple gesture, Michael had given him his independence, his pride — and he didn’t even seem to realize how important that was.

“Alex? You good?”

Alex nods, his smile a little more emotional than he’d like. “Yeah,” he says, clearing his throat. “I’m really good.” Michael returns the smile, and leans down to kiss Alex’s cheek before disappearing into the bedroom — somehow knowing that he’d want a minute to himself to get dressed. It’s an awkward, difficult thing to put pants on while sitting down, and Alex would just as soon not have a witness — and somehow, again, Michael just gets it. They fit together so easily in the bedroom for all those years; Alex doesn’t think either of them realized how easy it would be to fit their lives together, too. Even the messy parts.

He meets Michael in the bedroom, and even though he knows that the next thing on their to-do list was food, the warm water and activity has made him lethargic and reminded him of exactly how long it had been since he’d slept in a real bed.

“We can make breakfast in the morning,” Michael yawns, when Alex voices his thoughts aloud. The other man seems as tired as Alex, and when the sun rises, he knows they’re going to have to talk about why. They’ve done an excellent job of avoiding reality since they got back to Alex’s cabin, but he’s not naive enough to think they can escape it for long — not with a serial killer tied up in Michael’s cellar, and Jesse Manes still out there, unsupervised, with access to innocent aliens.

But there’s nothing they can do about either of those things tonight, and honestly, Alex thinks they need this even more than they need a plan to keep everyone safe. Michael had been minutes from falling apart — and Alex supposes he wasn’t much better, as irritating as it is to admit it. So when he curls around Michael beneath the covers and cuddles in close, Alex doesn’t feel guilty for taking a break. They’ll wake tomorrow refreshed and ready for war - tonight is about rest, and reconnection.

Later, when Michael is sleeping peacefully on Alex’s chest, Alex takes a minute away from carding his fingers through unruly curls to text Kyle Valenti: I’m still going to punch you for not minding your own damn business, but … thanks.

[mimaxiv]

prologue...

Miyuki knew she was making no headway with Kudros. Day in and day out he would sit at his desk and look over the same simulations and schematics, almost as if he was never making progress sitting there. It was always the same roadblocks. Miyuki wondered for some time, during her days where she would stop in to do a weekly maintenance of his tech in his personal workshop. Considering she was no longer under his long term employ, and instead, essentially her own boss at the Alizarine Co., she only popped in every now and then to make sure everything was running properly as he sat at his desk, statue-like as he strained himself to work past the troubleshooting of his project.

The slightly raised heel of her shoes clicked against the cobble as she wandered to Kudros’ workshop. She had arrived late, intentionally. She always finished up before he would leave for home, thus leaving it difficult to do any snooping. But he had a schedule.

His Miqo’te fiance, V, as he called her. She never really heard her full name, nor would she figure she would be able to pronounce it, would be waiting at home at the eighteenth bell of the evening for Kudros to be home. It was a strict schedule, apparently implemented after she had rescued him (and displaced Miyuki) from the Castrum. The same fiance who was in possession of the only known heirloom in her family’s bloodline. A ninja soulstone. Passed down from her father, to her brother, and now in the grasp of a woman who she’d heard was the mistress of her brother when he fled to Eorzea.

She stepped through the door of the workshop, the familiar scent of engine oil and the stench of heated steel stuck in the baseboards of the walls accosting her as she closed the door behind her.

“You’re late. Everything okay?” The man at his same spot at the desk piped up as he peered over to her, dark circles prominent under his eyes. He was certainly plumper than he was in the Castrum, but she attributed that to the woman waiting for him at home.

“There was a situation at work I was required to take care of.” She wasn’t quick to share much with Kudros in any situation. She tried as much as possible to keep the man at arm’s length. He was kind enough to extend employment to her when she was displaced, but that was some many moons after she was INN hopping upon arriving to Eorzea.

“Oh. Well hopefully everything is okay now, right? I’m just heading out here soon. V will chop my dick off if I’m home late.” He parroted, every night before leaving. Miyuki wondered if he thought she’d forget.

“Yes, everything is fine.” She watched him for a moment, as his eyes turned back to the monitor on his desk, and like the undead, sat there staring at it, eyes scanning the virtual documents before him. Miyuki began her routine. Checking the machines in the workshop. Nothing was ever very out of place or in need of extensive work. General maintenance. She wondered why she would come and do this for him. She always seemed to be working on some project or another. She had no time for socializing. Though, upon deeper thought, she didn’t mind that. Her deliberate busy schedule took away from the sting of heartbreak for now.

Kudros had taken off for nearly a bell now, and after finishing the maintenance on one final thing in her weekly routine, she glanced around the room. In her pocket, a small, empty portable drive. She approached his monitor. She knew his AI would be watching. She didn’t care. His artificial pet was nothing more than a nuisance to her and Miyuki didn’t seem interested in dealing with things as such that could easily turn on her.

After pulling out her portable drive and placing it on the desk, she opened the most recent projects. A new AI system... typical. A firearm of sorts... an eye?

She begun digging through the project, scanning the information before her. It wasn’t what he normally worked on. She knew Kudros to be more interested in artificial life and weaponry, but never synthetic augmentations such as this. She fidgeted with her portable drive in her hand.

Upon more searching, there were all a matter of scans belonging to someone. Labeled V.

V.

She finally put the pieces together. This was meant for his fiance. There were all manners of issues in his algorithms, his mapping and his synthetic functionality. It was obvious he was not well suited in this like she was. Bio-mechainics and augmentation were her specialty. She wondered what was keeping him from asking her about this project.

Her brow furrowed as the projection of code known as Molly materialized on the display nearby.

“Good evening, Miyuki.”

Miyuki remained silent. She wouldn’t acknowledge the AI.

“I understand you’re still apprehensive of me. Is there something I can assist you with? Kudros’ files--”

“Are going to be encrypted, I know.”

“And you’re aware you won’t--”

“Have access to them after this. That’s fine. I have enough to work with anyways.” She explained.

“I will be letting Kudros know about this breach of privacy. I hope you understand.”

“Very well.” Miyuki stood and instead put her drive back into her pocket. She turned to the door after closing all of the software open. She was quick to lock up and take off.

She paused for a moment, glancing over in the direction she knew Kudros lived with his family. Two children, him and his future wife. Miyuki had heard so much about V from Kudros while working with him in the Castrum. She was a strong, free spirit, he would say. Nothing could tie her down. Nothing would stop her from being herself. No one could stand in her way.

A scowl twisted on the features of the Doman woman’s face as she tried to process the implications of having lost an eye as a result of saving her fiance. She struggled with the emotion brought to the surface at the thought of being stuck somewhere. She used to be stuck in that Castrum. She remembered having moments of staring at the metal grating of the metal walls of the mess hall, wondering if she would be able to get far if she escaped... but never being able to muster the courage to do it.

Was it pride that kept Kudros from asking for help on this project? Was he looking to protect his family from Miyuki? She had many questions.

Though instead of searching to have them answered, instead, she decided it was appropriate to act. She knew what she had to do. She turned back to leaving the district, her destination was due west, to her workshop in Thanalan.