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bananaclinic · 2 years

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How to add footnote numbers in word

How to add footnote numbers in word how to#

Then, click the References tab on the Word toolbar. When you are ready to cite your first source in your paper, end your sentence and punctuation. You can save yourself a lot of time and effort if you use the features within Microsoft Word to automatically number and structure your footnotes. If a single paragraph of your paper contains several references from the same author, it is acceptable to use one number after the last quotation, paraphrase, or summary to indicate the source for all of the material used in that paragraph. The notes themselves are single-spaced, and the first line of each note is indented five spaces from the left margin. In the footnote itself, use the same number. To acknowledge a source in your paper, place a superscript number (raised slightly above the line) immediately after the end punctuation of a sentence containing the quotation, paraphrase, or summary - as, for example, at the end of this sentence.1 Do not put any punctuation after the number. In the Pages text box, type only the number of the page (s).Footnotes come at the bottom of each page, separated from the text with a typed line, 1 and ½ inches long. This works for both in-text and footnotes styles – provided the Cited Pages field is listed in the citation/footnote template of the output style being used, which is normally the caseĬlick on the Edit & Manage Citation (s) button and the dialogue box will open. Go to the EndNote tab and choose Edit and Manage Citation(s) Under Formatted Citation, type the page numbers in the Pages field. How can I add page numbers to my citations?Ĭlick within the citation you would like to modify. Otherwise you need to edit the output style citation template to include “Cited Pages” as a field. The easiest way is to edit the citation (right click) more and put the text with cited pages in the suffix, not the pages line. How to insert page numbers in EndNote citation? This updates all the figure number automatically. Instead of searching and replacing all the figure numbers in the text, click “Edit” -> “Select All” (or, Ctrl + A), which select the entire document, then, press “F9”. The bibliography of the work is arranged by the order in which the citations appear in the text. In the number reference system, a number is added in parentheses or square brackets in the appropriate place in the text, starting the numbering from 1. When writing a reference list, you only need page numbers for book chapters and articles. Fortunately, page numbers are usually only needed at the end of a sentence when citing a specific source. Page numbers are a small but important part of many APA citations. How do I cite a source with an unknown author or publication date in APA? Do you need to reference page numbers? Don’t include page numbers when referring to a work as a whole – for example, an entire book or journal article. In the dropdown menu that appears, enter your page number(s) in the field that says ‘Page’ eg.Īlways include page numbers in the APA in-text citation when quoting a source.Click the ‘Edit Citation’ button in the Mendeley toolbar.Place your cursor anywhere within the highlighted section of your reference in the Word document.Then Go back to your EndNote Library and go to “select another style”.Click on “File Menu” and choose “Close Style”.On the open style, go to “File Menu” and choose “Save As”.How do you add reference style to EndNote? Online sources: place the page numbers before the URL or DOI.Print sources: place page numbers at the end of the citation for print sources.If you do have to add page numbers to the reference, here are a few tips to follow: How do you number pages in a bibliography? Endnotes are listed at the end of the paper on separate pages. Footnotes appear on the bottom of the page that contains the sentence to which it refers. Click on File> Save As and save the file with the new name.Ī superscript number refers to a footnote or endnote which contains all of the publishing information and the page number for the information referenced.On the right, you will have “Bibliography Number.”.On the Left, select Layout, under Bibliography.Open EndNote, Edit> Output Styles> Open Style manager.How do you add numbers to EndNote bibliography? Can you add page numbers to a footnote?.How can I add page numbers to my citations?.

How to add footnote numbers in word how to#

How to insert page numbers in EndNote citation?.How do I fix reference numbers in Word?.Do you put page numbers on bibliography?.How do you add page numbers to Mendeley?.How do you add reference style to EndNote?.How do you number pages in a bibliography?.How do you add numbers to EndNote bibliography?.

#How to add footnote numbers in word

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psychopersonified · 4 years

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Tale of the second drawer...

Part of the prequel series to "Are we ever going to talk about this?".

I'll post little snippets of their 'not dating' days in this series. Little events that draw them together and the intimacy they share in plain sight.

--------

Q pokes at the plaster with his undamaged hand, tracing the outlines of what must be an impressive blister underneath. “Owww... With luck, I might end up with a wicked scar. Makes for an interesting conversation starter.”

Bond smiles indulgently at his exaggeration then lobs a half-hearted line at him, “Would you like me to kiss it better?” His calloused thumbs running back and forth lightly over the open palm.

Q can’t help but laugh at that,......

----------------------------------------------------

Agent 006

“Yes I know, our appointment was 2 hours ago. Sorry Q, M had me in his office for 2 more hours than expected,” Trevelyan apologises when he reports to Q.

Q looks up from the textbook he is consulting with and peers over his glasses at him. The text is a mass of hexagonal scribbles and lines that 006 recognises as chemistry symbols. There are handwritten notes in the margins and liberal application of highlighter all over the page.

“Ah 006, no worries. Your kit is waiting for you on the table,” Q gestures to the workbench behind 006 where a brushed aluminium case sits. Inside are what looks like a dozen silver pens.

“Deposit them around the areas of interest and it will detect any wireless enabled equipment within its radius. This will allow us to find the weakest link and likeliest backdoor where we can tunnel in with. As you can imagine, it only has a limited battery life, so you’ll need to be strategic about using them and coordinate with us for the timing—...”

Alec tries to listen carefully to the instructions, but his stomach objects to being ignored any longer and makes its displeasure known - loudly. The meeting with M ate (pun intended) into his lunch hour.

Q pauses going over the instructions. Trevelyan gives him a thin lipped smile hiding his embarrassment.

“...Hungry? There are some snacks in the second drawer.” Q motions to his desk with a tilt of his head.

“Ta!..” 006 all but skips to the desk. There is a selection of protein snacks and Alec rummages through the drawer to find a variety he likes. As he shuffles through the drawer, the other contents piques his interest. He peeks at Q who is still preoccupied with repacking his kit.

006 takes the opportunity to investigate:

a pair of solid gold cufflinks - judging by the weight

aviator sunglasses - non prescription, not Q’s

an Aston Martin car key fob with a separate key attached to it - the key does not correspond to the car, its for a door or a lock.

a neatly folded tie, heavy silk, designer label - not Q’s usual style

Curiouser and curiouser. Finally, an employee ID badge - he flips it over, a very familiar face is printed on the ID. James Bond.

Alec smiles -confirmation-. 006 sees it for what it is. But it is odd that the Quartermaster tolerates such territorial behaviour - unless a) the feeling is mutual or b) he’s not aware of it, which is more likely. He wouldn’t have let Alec rummage through his drawer otherwise. Oh James, you poor smitten sod.

“Anything to your liking 006?” Q catches him smiling.

Alec grabs a random protein snack, rips it open and takes a huge bite of the bar. “Oh…mmm….” he chews around his words, “—thank you.” He holds up the bar in thanks.

When Q turns back around, 006 thinks this is the perfect opportunity to screw with 007... but how? How do you piss off a possessive territorial lion? ...By planting blatant evidence of intrusion of course!

Alec checks himself, his tie-pin - gold and crusted with small diamonds. Much too gaudy for 007’s tastes. It’s the perfect juxtaposition. He unclips it and drops it into the drawer.

When he leaves Q-Branch, he’s feeling particularly wicked. Its ingrained in him, to look for and act on opportunities when it presents itself. The others would expect no less of him. He pulls out his phone to text 003 with his discovery.

Agent 003

Two weeks later, 003 returns from her mission seducing the son of a manufacturing tycoon in South East Asia, with links to human traffickers luring workers into modern slavery that span the region from Philippines to India.

She stops by Q’s desk to return her kit consisting mostly of trackers and hidden video cameras. They all served their purpose but one of them had an issue with the sound quality. She recalls the text 006 sent her weeks earlier so before leaving, she contrives feeling hungry.

“Q, you don’t happen to have something to munch on do you? I’m feeling… peckish.”

Q is pre-occupied, checking over the piece of equipment with a macroscope to understand what went wrong. “Oh, second drawer. Help yourself to whatever.”

Perfect. She goes to his desk to retrieve a snack. She only needs to remove the first packet and she has to stifle a laugh.

She spots 006’s panther shaped Cartier tie pin, next to it is 005’s Tiffany tanzanite and platinum drop earrings along with 002’s Bvlgari gold and onyx signet ring. Finally under all of it is 008’s Hermes silk pocket square.

Shoved further into the back of the drawer are the items that Alec told her about, those that belong to 007. The ID badge pushed right to the back facing down - you’d be hard pressed to notice it if you didn’t know it was there.

She had heard that 007 won’t back from Venezuela till Friday, so she’s just in time to add her calling card. She shifts around the snack packets to burry 007’s things and then drops in a stick of Chanel No5 lipstick in its signature flaming red tube - 007 will not be able to miss that.

----—

Quartermaster

Last 36 hours had been exhausting. Q had altogether probably 3 hours of sleep in that period. And he needs a shower. The cats are alright, he just checked the cameras - Q has an automated feeder set up for emergencies like this.

Q had spent the better part of the time hacking into system after system covering tracks, laying traps, planning infiltration and escape routes; all culminating in last night’s tense Ops trying to save 009 from premature death when his cover was blown by a double crossing informant. It was over now, with 009 safely extracted by their allies and on his way back to England with miraculously minor injuries all things considered.

So yes, his hand eye coordination is shot. His fingers slip on his mug handle and liquid sloshes over the top, splashing over his shirt and onto his desk. Q uses his tie to quickly mop up the spilled tea before it spreads onto the paper schematic open on his desk.

He takes the mess to the pantry sink to cleanup. The wet spot on his shirt sticking uncomfortably to his skin. Its a good thing he’d removed his cardigan earlier. He can hide the stain on his shirt under it.

As he’s attempting to remove the stain and dry his shirt as much as possible he feels his phone vibrating in his pocket. He pulls it out - its a text from Eve:

:: Where are you?? Meeting’s started ::

What meeting? Q tries to recall. He checks his calendar app. Shit! 2:00 pm Joint Executive Oversight meeting. He checks the time. 2:15pm!

He abandons the mug and tie next to the sink. No time to wash it now.

Q rushes back to his office to put on his cardigan. The cardigan doesn’t hide the topmost stain - a tie would do the trick. Also god forbid he walks into the meeting dressed so causally. They would think the young Quartermaster was starting a mutiny.

There must be a spare tie in his desk somewhere - Q thinks as he rummages through his drawers. He’s about to ask Nish to borrow his tie when his hand brushes fabric under the stash of snacks and protein bars. He fishes it out - a tie! Yes! He loops it around his neck and starts to tie it - the knot is uneven, but he has no time to worry about it now.

He grabs his laptop and rushes out the door - informing Nish about the meeting and the mess he left next to the pantry sink. He’ll clean it up later.

In the lift on the way up, as he adjusts the hastily knotted tie - he tries to remember when was it that he purchased an accessory this fancy.

——

After meeting. He tries to get back to being productive to make himself feel better. What an ordeal; he had to face-off with Timothy Hayden (IT-Branch HOD) in the meeting - no surprise there. Normally he’d be fine to hold his own. But today, suffering from sleep depravation and a wardrobe mishap meant that he was uncharacteristically flustered, which Hayden took advantage of.

His stained and slightly damp shirt front was passably hidden behind the cardigan and tie, but it still made him self-conscious. What was more, Tanner and Eve kept looking at him oddly. The navy replacement tie looked dark enough in warm light, but when it caught the harsher fluorescent light, it had a slight iridescence to it that clashed with his mustard cardigan - it clearly wasn’t his style nor his tie.

Q fires up the soldering iron. He plans to finish the circuit board for the prototype controller that will be used in a portable drone. Once he confirms it works, he’ll have the schematics sent to a manufacturer to have it miniaturised. He could at least get this bit done today.

Twenty minutes into the ‘zone’ and he has finished a round of soldering. He pauses to check his work against the overall drawing. It doesn’t look quite right.

What? He flips the drawing around. Argh! He grabs a fistful of his hair in frustration. It’s upside down!

He slams his hands down on the work table. The vibration causes the soldering iron resting on its holder to tip over. The weight of its power cord starts to pull it off the table.

Reflex makes him shoot out his hand to grab the iron. But instead of grabbing the handle he misjudges and grabs the tip instead. The 400’C tip burns his palm instantly.

“Ah!!” Q yelps and jolts back in pain. The pain makes him drop the iron - right into his lap.

He stands hastily to avoid the heated tip - and bangs the back of his head against the top baffle of the fume cabinet as well as upending the stool he was sitting on.

“Fuck!!” The escaped curse is something between a hiss and a yell.

His pained curses and bangs draws his minions to investigate. Nish pokes his head around the corner and asks “You alright sir?”

Nish takes in the toppled chair, the disheveled hair, and the way Q is holding on to his hand and makes the correct deduction. Who hasn’t burned themselves soldering?

“Go to medical boss. I’ll tidy this up for you.”

Q hangs his head in utter defeat and sighs heavily. “I’m done for the day I think. Thanks Nish.”

--—-

Agent 007

Bond is back at HQ. Ops had made it clear that he must hand them the USB stick with the time sensitive info he stole as soon as he gets back. They need to link together the web of supply chain involving the cocaine shipment from Venezuela-France-England before the people involved go back into hiding.

So here he is, direct delivery from Heathrow. He had handed the USB stick to R since Q wasn’t around. Then he had gone to the Quartermaster’s desk and the second drawer to retrieve a snack while he waits for Q to return. As jet-lagged as he is, he hasn’t seen the quartermaster for nearly a month and well... he wants more than just the voice to sustain him.

Something on top of the packet grabs his attention. A bright red tube of lipstick. What the...? He shifts the contents around, a gaudy diamond and gold panther tie pin?? And whose bloody pocket square is that???

He checks the lipstick label - Chanel No5… Bloody 003!

He takes stock of the other items again, they -all- look familiar. How do they even know about this drawer? Did Q just let anyone rummage though his desk? Worse, are those snacks not just for him?

And what about his things? A first he can’t find them, then he pulls the drawer all the way out, until the wheels catch on the stoppers. They’re buried under a pile of snacks and shoved all the way to the back. Everything is there, no wait - except the tie.

He slams the drawer shut with enough force to move the desk a few centimetres. Those bastards!

Bond storms out of Q-Branch. None of them better be in the building, especially Trevelyan. This whole thing reeks of his idea.

——

Quartermaster

Medical patched him up and sent him away with a box of hydrogel burn plasters. Dr Chen tells him that they stock it specially for Q-Branch. But that also means she is obligated to report the incident as a work place accident. Great, more paperwork and the irony of having the HOD become a statistic.

Q shuffles morosely back to Q-Branch - will this day end already. He figures he should have a nap before going home. At this rate he is likely to accidentally walk right into the path of a moving bus on the way home.

There is a set of old brown leather Chesterfield sofas, deliberately semi-hidden behind a rack of storage shelves on this floor of Q-Branch. A relic of the 1950s in perfect condition that they found in storage during one of their inventory audits. Q had it brought out to serve as a makeshift lounge, usually used by those working late nights or during pizza parties after CyberWar nights.

He removes his cardigan to use as a blanket and flops onto the sofa.

Hours later, he wakes up and the place is mostly dark except for the safety lighting. Most of his minions have gone home. It’s not uncommon to leave Q here alone when he’s pulling all nighters, but the last person would usually check in on him before they left. Not tonight.

Q indulges in a good stretch and sits up. His head feels better. It doesn’t feel like its swimming or floating anymore. But he is hungry.

He makes way to his desk to collect his things but stops short - startled by the sight of 007 lounging in his chair, feet propped up on the desk, a textbook on Advanced Biofuels open in his hands. He’s not wearing a suit, just a button down shirt and khakis which probably means he just got back from Caracas and hasn’t gone home yet.

“You’re back. What are you doing here?” Q asks softly. Genuine question, what is he doing sitting in a darkened Q-Branch.

“Came to drop off the usb drive. I’ve given it to R since the Quartermaster was temporarily out of commission.”

“Ah. Sorry about that — “ checks his watch and yawns. “That must have been hours ago. What are you still doing here then?”

Bond doesn’t answer. Instead he asks, “Is that my tie?” gestures to the loosened tie around his neck.

“Is it yours? I was wondering about it. I found it in my desk.” Q undos the tie and folds it back neatly before handing it over to Bond. As he does, he notices his own tie now hanging on the shade of his desk worklamp. He reaches for it.

“Leave it. It should dry by Monday.” Bond tells him.

Q opens his mouth to tell him that it needs a wash, but pauses when he catches sight of his Scrabble mug on the table under the light of the worklamp, the white porcelain gleaming pristine - he peeks inside, even the stubborn tea stains are gone. Q blinks in confusion.

Something about the way the two items are arranged prominently on his desk and the feigned nonchalance hiding a pleased look on Bond’s face that makes him wonder.

“Did you.. wash my tie and mug?” Q is having trouble putting together the image of 007 fresh from an infiltration job in Venezuela that involved drug trafficking and a traitorous national guard, then returning to England to do something so mundanely domestic in the pantry sink - by hand no less.

Bond doesn’t answer, then again Q doesn’t expect him to admit it even if he did. He just opens the second desk drawer purposefully and deposits the borrowed tie back in there.

“Are you hungry Q?” Bond asks instead. “Can I tempt you with supper?”

There it is. That odd way that Bond sometimes says ‘Q’ when they are alone. That slight change in tone - softer, less clipped and almost affectionate. He’s beginning to be able to tell Bond’s ‘Qs’ apart.

At the mention of food, Q’s stomach responds with an embarrassing gurgle. “Famished. Something hot with fast service please. I don’t know how much longer I can survive without solid food.”

Bond smiles, pivoting in the chair to put his feet down. He picks up and hands Q his messenger bag - laptop and charger already packed inside, keys and phone in their usual compartments.

Then he switches off the worklamp and picks up an unsealed brown envelope from the desk before ushering Q out of his own office. The package rustles-jingles with the sound of loose items sliding about inside.

“Advanced Biofuels.... How did you like the book?”

“The scribbles in the margins were enlightening,” Bond smiles wryly, “Was it even written in English?”

In the brighter lights of the lift lobby, Q can see his own refection in the lift doors - the washed out tea stains still visible on his shirt and his frightfully mussed hair from the nap. He thinks he should be embarrassed, but can’t bring himself to care. When he looks up, he sees Bond staring him through the reflection.

“Don’t ask—“

“I figured… the mug and tie in the pantry, and the splotch on your desk.”

“Bloody spies.” Q accuses fondly as they step into the lift. He tries to adjust his cardigan so that it hides most of the stains.

“How’s the hand?” Bond asks concerned, his warm fingers reaching out and curling around Q’s that were fussing with his cardigan. He pulls them away from their fussing and spreads them palm up so he can see for himself.

Bond smiles indulgently at his exaggeration then lobs a half-hearted line at him, “Would you like me to kiss it better?” His calloused thumb running back and forth lightly over the open palm.

Q can’t help but laugh at that, the flirting is so ingrained into their banter now that both of them recognise the ridiculousness of it. With the others, it is still a competition, a display of one up-manship - but with 007, it has shifted. Like they’ve called a truce, or simply didn’t care about the outcome anymore. Between them, the rules have changed. The fun was no longer in deciding a winner with a knockout blow, but in the simple joy of engaging in comfortable playfulness for as long as possible.

“I don’t know about the science of that; but I will give you the honour of hand feeding an invalid,” Q counters with a line of his own.

At the mention of hand feeding, Bond’s eyes go darker, pupils dilating. He doesn’t say anything, but doesn’t release Q’s hand until the lift dings on their floor which was (un)fortunately just a moment after.

On their way out to Bond’s car they stop at a security desk. Bond tips out the contents of the envelope onto her desk and leaves the empty envelope next to the items. The night guard’s eyes grow wide at the collection of expensive trinkets.

“Would you mind putting these in the Lost and Found please? Their owners are probably anxious to have them back. Thank you.” He walks back to a waiting Q with a smug smile.

—————-----------------

Note: If you liked this fic, there’s more like it on the blog. Including my take on a kidnapped Q. Enjoy!

#00Q #00q fanfiction #00q fic #q #Quartermaster

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mikeyhatesit113 · 3 years

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forever and never: Chapter 13

November 4th, 2007.

“Welcome to Sunday Night Football! The Dallas Cowboys take on the Philadelphia Eagles...”

The lights in the sports bar had dimmed for the night game, which was being broadcast from the three large projector screens at the front of the dining area. The commentator gave his pre-game introduction as I settled excitedly in my chair at the table.

My favorite team was about to play...and she was coming.

She had just gotten back from her weekend trip to a college football game, and she wanted to see me. I told her my whereabouts, and she was en route. She even had arranged it so that a fellow couple from the daycare center would meet us there, as the husband of the other couple was a trash-talking Eagles fan who loved to mock my Dallas Cowboys fanship.

But his opportunity to taunt me served only as a pawn in a larger game he didn’t know was being played.

The other couple would give us our perfect cover from curious eyes. Janie and I would be just two friends, meeting up with some other people to watch a football game in a public setting.

But the game itself was the furthest thing from my mind. The only thought that highlighted the evening was our first kiss, which had occurred 3 days earlier.

She appeared in the doorway a short time later, looking for me. The buzz and conversation around the bar went on normally, the patrons guzzling their beers and unaware of the forbidden scandal playing out between two people before their very eyes.

I caught her eye and waved her over, and she sat down in the seat next to me.

What now? It’s not like we were an item, or in an official relationship.

Our exchange of small words was interrupted by the arrival of the other couple, and the stage was set.

Regardless of the occasion and company, we were where both of us seemingly wanted to be...together.

It’s what made me think this was genuine. Her efforts to see me, even under the most mundane circumstances, are what made me believe I was the exception.

Her “Happily Ever After”.

Her “Forever and Ever”.

The game began, animated conversation ensued, and what seemed like a year of fateful good luck continued as my Cowboys beat the living hell out of his Eagles, effectively silencing him.

Victory was sweet.

The game ended too soon, and the other couple bid their farewell. Janie and I sat at the table after their departure, continuing our conversation.

“I couldn’t get you out of my mind all weekend,” she admitted.

The bar closed, and we went and sat in her van, as we weren’t ready to go home yet.

She turned on her radio, and the CD in her changer started playing.

Hinder’s “Extreme Behavior”, an album by a popular rock band that would play as the soundtrack to that entire stage of our relationship. Years later, I look back on how appropriately the album was titled.

“Lips of an Angel” hummed from the speakers as our lips found eachother once again...

...”And I never want to say goodbye, but girl you make it hard to be faithful, with the lips of an angel”...

November 4th, 2012.

5 Years Later.

“Welcome to Sunday Night Football! The Dallas Cowboys take on the Atlanta Falcons...”

I settled onto the couch, placing my cold beverage on the coffee table in front of me. I laid my lifeless cell phone beside my cup.

Janie was laying on the love seat a few feet from me, her phone tucked under her leg as she snoozed.

The face under my skin, the voice in the back of my mind spoke to me...urging me that this wasn’t normal behavior...

But I shook it off. After all that had happened...

...all the fights, the men, and the questions, this was my last stand.

This was my last chance to trust her. If I couldn’t trust the location of her cell phone, then I couldn’t trust anything.

The game started, and though the action and cheers on the television were non-stop, our living room was quiet, save for my occasional curse word.

The game drug on, and as the fourth quarter got underway, it became clear that I was watching my team’s loss in progress.

In a year of what was seemingly fateful, endless bad luck, Dallas lost 19-13.

The game wasn’t over quite yet, but I angrily shut the TV off. I had to work in the morning, and I wasn’t going to lose anymore sleep over this game.

“I’ve seen this story before,” I said, my finger angrily pressing the OFF button on the remote.

Janie’s eyes shot open, awakened from her slumber by my words.

“Whatever, Ekim,” she said, grabbing her phone from under her leg and standing up before marching towards the staircase.

“What’s your problem?” I asked, dumbfounded by her reaction.

Apparently, she thought my words were directed towards something else.

Could have been a guilty conscience. What else would she think “I’ve seen this story before” meant?

The sad thing is, we indeed had seen this story before. Too many times.

I stood downstairs in silence, hearing her move around and then get into bed.

Unconcerned.

Not giving a single shit I didn’t follow her up that staircase.

My temper soared. I reached another boiling point.

Treat me like this, huh? I’m this disposable, right? You’re invincible, correct?

I marched up the stairs and walked to our bedroom doorway, observing her get comfortable and curl up under the covers.

“You just think you’re hot shit, don’t you?” I fired.

“Whatever, Ekim. Just come to bed,” she said dully.

We exchanged some more words, and I spilled what was on my mind.

“All I want is you,” she said.

Following this fight, we made love, but neither of us knew it would be for the final time.

Few people ever know when it’s the last time for anything.

The next day, I woke up early and went to work, and throughout the morning, I was encouraged by normal, jovial rounds of text exchanges with Janie.

By mid-morning, they stopped.

And for the next few hours, it was complete silence.

I went about my day, unable to focus on anything but her silence.

She still worked in the same building as Steppenwolf...

After work, she finally contacted me and I felt instant relief.

“Sorry, busy day,” she said shortly.

“Did you want me to pick up a pizza?” I asked her.

“...what are we doing, Ekim?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“All we do is fight,” she said.

“Janie, don’t start this shit with me,” I shot.

An argument instantly erupted, and I couldn’t help but notice that she was trying to cut me short and get off the phone.

“Why are you trying to get off the phone so fast?” I asked.

“Because I stopped for gas and I have to use the bathroom, is that OK with you?” she asked savagely.

“Fine,” I said.

“Do you want me to call you right back?” she asked.

“Whatever,” I replied.

But that call didn’t come. I arrived home, and I determined that this was no good anymore...or at least I thought I had.

Packing my things was more for presentation for her to walk through the door and see how serious I was. But was I?

If I wasn’t, it was about to get serious real quick.

More sadly yet, there wasn’t much for me to pack. Just some clothes and small belongings, as I had left the majority of it in my storage and at my grandma’s house.

The safe zones.

Janie arrived home soon after, and watched me condescendingly as I packed up my things and put them in my car.

She was flawless at making me feel like this was all my fault, and I was the one leaving.

But she wasn’t backing down. In fact, she marched upstairs and packed a bag of her own.

Gym clothes, and a bottle of vodka.

She walked out the front door, and this was my last stand.

I followed her across the street to her mom’s house.

Just like I had done so many times before, in the bad times and the good.

“Leave me alone, Ekim.”

“Tell me it’s over,” I said.

“What?”

“I won’t end this until you tell me it’s over,” I said.

“Ok, Ekim. It’s over,” she said, not bothering to look back at me as she continued walking through her mom’s backyard.

But I needed more. I needed a whole lot more to end this.

5 Years...could a simple declaration just end that?

I continued following her as we made our way up the steps to her mom’s back deck.

“Tell me you’re done,” I begged.

“Why?” she asked angrily, turning around to face me.

Her husband. My wife. A union in splinters.

“Because I can’t walk away until I know you’re done,” I said, my eyes welling with tears.

Inside her mother’s house, everything was normal and happy conversations could be heard.

Outside on that wooden deck in the cold November sunset, there was an emptiness.

“Ok Ekim, I’m done,” she said emphatically, looking into my eyes.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Yes. I’m. Done.”

She walked inside the sliding glass door and shut it behind her.

I stood there for a moment, soaking in the finality.

Tonight, there would be no pestering her. No knocking on the back door, pawing at it like a stray no one wanted.

This was my apocalypse, and I was standing in the middle of it.

I slowly walked off the back deck and back across the street to our empty home.

A home that held secrets. A home that would thrive without me.

A home that was no longer mine.

I finished packing, and as I was loading my final things in the car, Janie emerged from the darkness and walked inside the house.

I shut my car door and walked inside the house, the ghost of hope slightly rising in my chest.

My last stand.

Janie stood there, leaning up against the living room wall as she looked around wistfully, completely silent.

I was silent too, but I couldn’t help myself.

I walked toward her and reached out to hug her.

I wanted to hold her. I wanted to be those two people again who did everything they could to be together.

Sports bars. Stores. Hidden parks. Her van, listening to Hinder.

Anything to be together.

I reached out to embrace her, and she ducked under my left arm and marched to the staircase.

She trotted up the stairs, and on instinct, I went to follow her.

I put one foot on the bottom stair.

SNAP.

I felt it. It wasn’t physical whatsoever, but I felt it nonetheless.

I broke.

My resolve to fight for her snapped in two.

I stood there, in complete silence, staring up the stairs.

Silence.

Deafening silence.

Except for one single thought that verbalized itself in my head.

“It’s time. You’re done.”

I turned around slowly and walked out the front door.

I walked to my car in complete defeat, understanding for the first time in years what was happening inside of me.

I reached my limit. It was time to go.

As I sat in my car and turned the key, the bright lights of my dashboard lit up my car’s interior. But something else caught my eye.

Janie had stepped out onto the front porch. She stared at me, her arms crossed, and her face without emotion.

But there was no looking back. No turning back.

My engine roared to life.

I put the car in DRIVE and put my foot on the gas.

I was going home, where there’d be no more hurt.

No more abuse. No more confusion. No more pain.

Not like this.

That night, I slept soundly for the first time in months.

Alone.

And safe.

The next day, a co-worker gave me a ride back to Janie’s house where I picked up my Lancer.

I thanked him and got behind the wheel.

I turned on the ignition.

Gas Tank on E.

Stopped for gas and had to use the bathroom, huh?

There was paperwork that needed to be filed.

The games were far from over.

“There's nothing you can say Nothing you can do There's nothing in between, You know the truth.

Nothing left to face There's nothing left to lose, Nothing takes your place.

When they say You're not that strong You're not that weak It's not your fault And when you climb up to your hill Up to your place I hope you're well.”

Our Lady Peace “Not Enough”

NOTE: Though this is my side of the story, including my own personal recollections and opinions, the reader should not consider this note anything other than a work of literature. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

#relationships #breakups #depression #relationship advice #forever #dating #love #hate #self help #counselling #suicide #cheating

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saltskinandasociopath · 4 years

Text

welcome home

summary:

“I lied. I told him I was looking at a photo of my husband - my accomplished, intelligent husband who I didn’t deserve at all. Not a dumb, pathetic boy who can’t keep a thought in his head, " Kibum says.

The blood rushes to Jinki’s cheeks as he feels the familiar, overwhelming burn of embarrassment and insult. His whole world is turning soft and pink and malleable with him.

pairing: onew/key

notes/warnings: written for the summerof5hinee kinktober festival, for the spaces humiliation, dirty talk, and filming/picture/video kink.

The photo is abstract in close-up, a constellation of blurry moles and freckles across a pale swatch.

If Jinki lays it across the top of his naked thigh, it’s almost a perfect match.

1 reads the ink on the back, if he chose to look. Its edges are soft over the years, just over a decade since Kibum clicked the button. A sweet memento of their relationship: the only one of its genre Jinki gets to keep.

The rest of them are wherever Kibum sees fit. One morning he woke to find them laid out in neat rows and columns on the kitchen table. A chronological review showed the gradual dissolution of Jinki’s state of mind. All thoughts discarded from him at that moment, the plan executed as perfect as Kibum’s smile.

He’s made jokes about putting all his photos into flipbooks, something he can tuck into his back pocket beside his wallet and phone. A bland, generic cover to them, so he can review Jinki’s spread form in meetings and on lunch breaks. No one will know what’s behind his smile is his husband of ten years, deep in subspace, eyes glassy with arousal.

Jinki only gets to keep this one, this innocuous close-up. Beyond the edges is the hem of pale pink shorts pushed into a wrinkled mess. The story that preceded it: Kibum’s large hand sliding possessively up from his knee, his other hand clutching the camera and pressing the click . It doesn’t include Jinki’s pleading erection, highlighted by the bunched-up, thin material. It doesn’t include his furious sobs when Kibum finally lets him release.

Jinki clears his throat and puts the photo to the side. Kibum will be home soon enough from his latest trip, peppered throughout with texts and the more typical photos of the well-heeled traveler, sustained on long phone calls in which he complained loudly and often about the assholes he was forced to do business with, to start, and ending with quiet i love you ’s and the even sound of sleeping Jinki has to hang up on. Welcoming him home is enough of a pleasure on its own, regardless of the shade. They’ve toasted his return with soft nights in, cuddling in bed; going out to Kibum’s favorite restaurant and Jinki’s favorite bar, pleasant tipsiness and goofy flirtations like they’re near-strangers again, only imagining falling into bed together.

They could celebrate along the lines of the photo, which Jinki would prefer tonight. Kibum had sent him a photo of his own earlier, himself seated in the airplane. His eyes were sharp and intelligent above the mask. After the airplane would be the taxi that took him home to Jinki, and he had received a quick text assuring him he had landed safely over an hour ago.

Lost in his thoughts, he’s only brought out of it by the sound of a key turning in the door. The stiffness of his movements belie how long he had been adrift in his own wonderings; he sputters along in his mind trying to bring it back to the here and now. He slips on his socked feet, victim of the wood flooring Kibum praised when they first saw the place. The hallway is lined with picture frames of their life together, incredible artwork Kibum picks with care, and the odd plant. At the end of it he sees a dark head bent forward, no doubt setting his bags on the floor. Jinki’s heart patters that furious, familiar rhythm of relief and pleasure from seeing Kibum.

“Hey you,” Kibum says as soon as he sees him. He wears a small smile that Jinki meets with a bigger one that only disappears when their kiss takes its place. It reappears as soon as Kibum pulls away slightly, immediate need to touch satisfied. The bag still on Kibum’s shoulder is starting to fall down to his elbow. Jinki goes to save it and put it on the counter.

“Was your trip good?” he asks. “You want to go take a shower? I can start putting your things away.”

From behind him, Kibum makes a noncommittal noise that Jinki turns to decipher.

Kibum holds one of his photos in his palm, careful only to touch the edges. Otherwise it would grease up the image: a slightly younger Jinki, his lips bitten red, a tear formed at the corner of his eye.

“Oh,” he says. Kibum was never inclined to slow plays or insinuations, and his lack of patience is only amplified after weeks apart. He should have seen this coming, but Jinki always makes room for him to feel otherwise. Sometimes it makes him a little slow.

Kibum carefully reaches around him to put the photo on the counter. He lays a kiss at the side of Jinki’s neck, nosing away the soft collar of his sweater.

“Do you want to?” he asks. His breath skirts across Jinki’s skin teasingly. Jinki nods and Kibum closes the distance to press a chaste, sweet kiss once more before he pulls back and they begin.

“I was looking at that on the way home. I had to lie to the driver about what it was, when he asked. You know what I told him?”

Jinki shakes his head, and Kibum tuts.

“I told him I was looking at my husband - my accomplished, intelligent husband who I didn’t deserve at all. Not a dumb, pathetic boy who can’t keep a thought in his head.”

The blood rushes to Jinki’s cheeks as he feels the familiar, overwhelming burn of embarrassment and insult. His whole world is turning soft and pink and malleable with him.

“Can you do something if I ask you to?” Kibum says. Jinki’s tongue is dry, so he nods quickly, eyes to the floor. “I need to set something up and not have it spoiled by clumsy hands. Go get dressed for me the way I like. You can remember that, can’t you?”

“Yes,” he says. Kibum starts at his response, and Jinki can sense the doubting, incredulous curve of his smile, the burning edges of it.

“If you can manage that, then you can wait until I say so. You can come when you’re called.”

“Yes,” Jinki says again, and when Kibum kisses him in dismissal it’s hard, demanding. He hasn’t said a thing about if Jinki can touch himself, but Jinki is dumb but trained well, not about to take the liberty without Kibum’s explicit word.

Jinki fights the urge to ask for one more kiss, one more soft caress, because he’s missed Kibum so much, but the play has already started, and his options are limited. This is what he wanted, and there will be time for that after. There always is.

-------------------

His mind was already lodged in the past, so he digs out the pink shorts. The hem brushes the edges of his palm when he has his arms at his side. They leave his legs bare and shyly exposed, and what is covered is thin and wispy. He pulls his socks off next, flexing his toes cautiously against the cold floor. Last to adjust is his sweater and shirt, gone in a single swoop and deposited in a pile on the chair in the corner. He’s hungry for the embarrassment, the vulnerability and pathetic sight of his arms crossed protectively across his chest, the involuntary disclosure of his belly muscles jumping at Kibum’s knowing touch.

They both would like that.

The change only takes a few moments; it makes sense Kibum hasn’t called yet, but it doesn’t make his hunger any less. He leans his forehead against the wall, creating a strain that prevents him from wondering too expansively about what Kibum has in mind. It could be anything. Kibum is creative, and smart, even after the years they’ve spent together. This dynamic is reliable, trustworthy in how it plays on each of their needs - Kibum likes to tease, to push. Jinki likes to be diminished, naturally sensitive and retiring. Even so, Kibum tries to find new things that inject the sense of discovery once again.

It’s okay. They trust each other. They know their boundaries. And even if Kibum will put him off-balance, he will always pull Jinki back. It’s non-negotiable.

His palms are sweating, he realizes. He rubs them against his side and shivers at the cool brush of air conditioning against his wet skin. It wasn’t on earlier; Kibum must have turned it on. It has the effect he suspects Kibum was seeking - his nipples have stiffened and would brush, sensitive, against any shirt he dared to put on.

Maybe Kibum was trying to keep him from putting a shirt on, but Jinki latches onto this new idea, the awareness of how they would stand out apparent beneath thin, white material. He throws the shirt over his head and takes a moment to look at himself in the mirror, the bashful pale skin exposed on his legs, the dark suggestions dotted on his chest, begging to be tweaked.

He’s a dumb boy, but even a dumb boy can figure out the math that will get him fucked.

There’s a knock on the door, followed by Kibum’s voice.

“Come out for me.”

Jinki follows his summons, opening the door. Kibum’s hand closes around his and guides him out with determination. At first nothing seems different at all, focused as he is on Kibum, the freshly showered smell of him, the dusting of water around the shell of his ear. But then he pauses, beside their wedding photo.

Another photo has taken over its corner, Jinki, eyes closed, mouth open to accommodate Kibum’s slender cock. The tip of it rests on his fat bottom lip. The camera flush has illuminated the wetness of saliva on Jinki’s waiting tongue.

“Something wrong?” Kibum asks, as if he’s stupid for pausing at such a sight. Jinki hasn’t seen that one, but the memory of it comes in a rush. Kibum had been lounging casually on the couch, and Jinki bracketed by his knees, lazily nudging at Kibum’s zipper until he had feigned impatience and relented. The TV had buzzed with meaningless chatter behind him, reflecting off of Kibum’s glasses. The small sounds of the camera on the phone being turned on, the fake shutter sound and flash stuttering his eyes open for a moment. Stars into his vision, fading out into a red and pink miasma as Jinki sunk down the length of Kibum’s cock and swallowed.

The photo obscures most of Jinki’s body in the original image, replacing his public politesse, neat and purposeful in its placement.

“A good day,” Kibum says. His voice is so beige he could be talking about either scenario.

Jinki agrees mutely with a nod, and continues to be towed along, helpless in its Kibum’ wake. He’s given a similar treatment to the other hallway decor, and pauses occasionally to let Jinki stare. It reminds Jinki of a dog owner pausing to let the dog sniff at something utterly ordinary to the owner. So Jinki lingers at this image: of himself, supine, smearing at the corners of his mouth; his legs stretched out, his cock peeking out of his boxers. The last one is one Jinki hasn’t seen before: it’s mostly of Kibum, unlike the rest of them, his face in profile. It’s taken over Jinki’s shoulder, the line of it along the bottom of the frame. He must be seated in Kibum’s lap. He can barely see how his mouth is hanging open, a fringe of hair disarrayed and obscuring even that. Kibum in the photo looks up at him, tenderness in the lines of his face..

It’s the edge of Jinki’s climax, it must be - the moment before Kibum lets the interplay’s premise fall apart, the hands that catch Jinki’s descent gentle and tender.

Kibum took him from their bedroom centuries ago, it seems. The last photo is meant as an out, but Jinki doesn’t want it. Everything else has been steadily building up sturdy walls of self-consciousness in Jinki, like he can hardly bear to be in a body so faithfully and intimately documented.

They reach the living room, where Kibum’s bags have been replaced by more photos, placed with care among their daily items: another on the fridge, another leant against the television. There’s a small, polite display of them on the couch. When Jinki starts towards them silently, he sees the category of them: the dildo by itself, his own fingers spreading his cheeks apart, the slow, methodical entry of it. Jinki remembers the broken sounds that tumbled out of his mouth.

Kibum prompts him, asking if he likes it. By his tone it’s obvious he’s repeating himself.

“Yes,” he answers, looking at Kibum properly. The other man looks briefly pleased, and just as swiftly replaces it with an airy sense of dismissal.

“I can do a lot when you’re not here distracting me with your begging,” he says. Jinki flushes again, and Kibum looks at him more critically. His gaze sweeps up and down. He suddenly reaches out to pluck at Jinki’s nipple.

“I like this. You managed to keep blood flowing to what you call a brain long enough.”

Jinki squirms, uncomfortable with the compliment.

“Oh, you think you’re cute. Don’t you?” Kibum asks dangerously.

Jinki gives a shy shrug, blush crawling down his chest.

“And do you think being cute and dumb is reason enough to fuck you?” Kibum presses on. He pushes the heels of his hands against Jinki’s hips until he falls to the floor. He scoots clumsily backwards, the rug pulling at the elastic of his shorts, pulling them down and exposing a dark tumble of hair. Kibum only pauses once Jinki’s back is against the couch. He reaches down and out, like he’s going to run long fingers through Jinki’s hair. Instead, he skirts past the contact, an insubstantial phantom suggestion of soothing. One of the photos is plucked between his fingers when he pulls back. He flutters it in front of Jinki’s eyes too fast for him to tell what it is.

He’s already gasping from excitement, already crumbling into a pink haze.

“I spent my entire trip thinking about this. This - “ he pauses and lets Jinki’s eyes adjust to understand the photo, the half-moon circles left by Kibum’s hands into the thick flesh of his ass. “- pathetic, slutty boy who could barely speak to ask me to fill him up. I asked him what he wanted, and all he could say was yes, yes . Pathetic. How he manages to make believe he can function is fucking beyond me.”

A bizarre giddiness sweeps over Jinki. It’s circular, a perfect circular route that takes one moment of humiliation and builds on it. As soon as they knew their limits, and that first photo was taken, printed, pressed into Jinki’s hands by a curiously hopeful Kibum, they would be able to perpetuate. All the divots and grooves of pleasure are well known now, committed in ink that can be pulled out at any time, and send Jinki careening down again. Kibum loves to take the photos, a meticulous record Jinki delights in, knowing they are secure and safely entrusted to Kibum alone. It’s for the two of them, a constancy that shows with every shade their trust and love.

It roils within him, the eroticism of now, the warm memory of pleasures past, and the steadfast trust Jinki has in Kibum. The tight pressure points of Kibum’s finger against his scalp; the line of his arm as he braces forward; the glint of his eyes - they are all parts of what they’ve built together. And here is Jinki’s role: a pleasurable surrender to sensation, a yielding up of his body, a confession of inadequacy. It’s all Kibum’s to trigger; all Kibum’s to tease out.

In this space, it’s just Kibum and the disparate pieces that may reform into Jinki afterwards. Kibum uses the hand holding the photo to tilt Jinki’s chin back until it’s lying flat on the couch cushion. Distantly, he can hear the sounds of Kibum brushing away the other photos. His eyes focus as he begins to loom over Jinki. There’s a bulge in his pants. Jinki’s mouth starts to water.

His mouth is already open obediently, but Kibum squeezes, pressing his thumb and fingers on either side to force Jinki’s tongue out, pink and wet. With his other hand, he undoes his belt, button, and zipper. Jinki looks up at him.

“Too much coordination to ask of you,” Kibum says, and Jinki nods - of course. He can’t be counted on. He pushes his tongue out further.

Kibum releases the grip on his face and moves up to sweep Jinki’s eyelids down, gentle in his touch. His body relaxed, his mouth open and waiting, the first press of Kibum’s cock against his tongue is bliss.

His length is moved in gradual, deliberate motions; he raises to kneel partly on the couch and push his cock further in, to the back of Jinki’s throat. The change in position blankets Jinki’s sense - the smell and taste of his cock, the fresh smell of the shower and soap on his skin; his arm to the one side, balancing, and his leg to the other. Above Jinki is Kibum’s chest, his shoulders, his neck, his lovely face.

It’s what he wanted, when he was waiting, and he could always trust Kibum to know and to bring him to this place. He was more generous than he deserved, to not only press him into the headspace of comfortable dumbness and submission, but to do so in his own artful way that made the descent an easy, inevitable slide. His cock is a hard length in Jinki’s mouth, the weight of his presence intoxicating and smothering. Jinki doesn’t deserve the gift of it.

He lies there, embarrassed and humiliated just to be in Kibum’s impeccable orbit, even as he yearns to be used in some way, to have his face fucked, to be a cute, dumb afterthought for Kibum to indulge in. As frivolous and empty as could be asked for, that’s what he will be. The humiliation of it all, the unflinching documentation of how long Jinki has sought this out, how long Kibum has tolerated it: it’s warmth, it’s pleasure.

It’s what he needs, and he opens his mouth wider. He lays slack and free for Kibum to bury his cock in.

“There he is,” Kibum says roughly. He rewards Jinki with a sweet touch to his cheek. “There’s that sad, slutty boy of mine. You never can hide it, can you, Jinki?”

Jinki shakes his head. He can feel a tear bud to life at the corner of his eyes. Kibum’s thumb lurches out its path so it can streak his skin, another mark to his vulnerability in this moment.

“I missed you,” Kibum continues on. His voice remains tinged with roughness. Jinki fights not to gag, eager for more. “I missed you so, so much.”

Jinki breathes in through his nose, sharp and keenly aware of his own hardness, the dark streaks betraying his leaking cock. The lights surrounding Kibum’s head make it difficult to see the features of his face, and sting when Jinki tries to see.

He shouldn’t even be trying to see. He knows it’s Kibum there; he knows the weight of him, the smell of him, better than he knows himself. If Kibum’s here, if Kibum’s is deigning to use him, he has no right to ask for anything else.

He knows well the sound of Kibum approaching the finish, the near erraticism it brings about in his rhythm. There’s no denying it, and he hopes that this’ll be another photo, another memory to cherish and hide away for their future. Jinki’s head is full of fuzzy anticipation for the stagger-shot moment, when Kibum will gasp and fold over, press a kiss to the back of Jinki’s head, guide his cock out of Jinki’s mouth, ask him to swallow like a good boy. And then he can start thinking about his own relief, jerking himself off as Kibum watches, criticism lurking at the tip of his tongue.

It changes in a moment, though. Kibum pulls out of his mouth and kneels over Jinki’s bare legs. He roughly pulls at Jinki’s shorts, making him cry out in a startle as his own cock is revealed. Kibum smiles, breathless, wolfish.

“Let’s compare,” he says, and Jinki doesn’t understand, not until Kibum presses his own cock against Jinki’s and wraps his hand around it, pumping them both off at the same time. Jinki moans helplessly at the sight, at Kibum’s insistent placement of the two of them together. His cock next to Kibum’s is fat and purpled with pathetic need, and Kibum’s is slender and slick and primed to finish. He could have just let him come after, in the afterthought of Kibum’s usage, a scrap of his own pleasure, but Kibum is continuing to chase after Jinki’s orgasm, refusing to let him go until he collapses.

What can he do but accede, as humiliating as it is, his own issue pulsing out and coating his dusky hair right alongside Kibum’s. Kibum has his left hand wrapped possessively around the back of Jinki’s neck in a familiar motion even as he shudders through it. A few moments to breathe squeeze their way into this space. The fuzz in Jinki’s head is like steel wool, sharp in its conflicting feelings.

Kibum pulls his hand back and digs into his pocket. The disruption of it pulls Jinki into a sleepy, blinking awareness.

His other hand, the one sticky with their cum, is held out expectantly. Kibum is his steady ground, his rock. He puts Jinki back together again, when Jinki breaks apart in his hands.

Gravity is what it is. The shutter of the camera goes off as Jinki’s tongue flickers out to clean up the mess.

He wonders when he’ll get to see that one.

#salt writes #onkey #onkey fic #onew x key #shinee fic

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the-strawzish-clownfish · 4 years

Note

Oh, you wanted me to hit you with some? Bet. Do all of them Strawberry

YOBI I LEGIT JUST ASKED SOMEONE THE SAME THING

YOU’RE OMNISCIENT I SWEAR

1. Do you ever doubt the existence of others than you?

I have never considered that before now but thanks for that

2. On a scale of 1-5, how afraid of the dark are you?

3 probably, I’m not really scared of the dark most of the time (unless it’s literally pitch black), but every once in a while i get really unnerved bc i get rlly paranoid

3. The person you would never want to meet?

Satan

4. What is your favorite word?

“faith” bc my faith and bc synesthesia

5. If you were a type of tree, what would you be?

uhhh flowering cherry bc at my old house my brothers and I each had a tree that my dad planted for us when we were each born and mine was a flowering cherry

6. When you looked in the mirror this morning what was the first thing you thought?

I looked in the mirror this morning?

7. What shirt are you wearing?

coral pink bubba gump shrimp co. t shirt

8. What do you label yourself as?

child of God, daughter of Sappho

9. Bright room or dark room?

bright if we’re talking natural light being let in through my windows, dark if we’re talking just normally bc rlly bright lights mess w my sensory issues

10. What were you doing at midnight last night?

talking to you yobi

11. Favorite age you’ve been so far?

this age, I’m a firm believer in that things will always get better, even if only one small thing does improve, when i think back on past years i get anxious and nostalgia isn’t good for me

12. Who told you they loved you last?

@toomanyfanfics that one

13. Your worst enemy?

my mental health tbh

14. What is your current desktop picture?

15. Do you like someone?

never experienced romantic attraction, i used to have a plush (qp crush) on one of my best irl friends tho (@ blob have fun with this fact)

16. The last song you listened to?

I am listening to Echosmith’s Cool Kids as I am writing this, before that I was listening to Girls by Marina and the Diamonds, which is a hilarious song i 11/10 recommend

17. You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up?

myself, I’m not s*icidal but I’m not killing someone else

18. Who would you really like to just punch in the face?

whoever the person who decided Teen Vogue should endorse child pornography was

19. If anyone could be your slave for a day, who would it be and what would they have to do?

me, I would make myself do actual work for once

20. What is your best physical attribute?

my eyes, i just like them. fun fact this one kid i used to be kinda good friends with was talking with me on snapchat once (bc we did that a lot, back when i had snapchat) and i don’t remember how we got into this but he ended up describing my eyes really weirdly? it was really deep and got kinda strange? it was like a movie scene but via text message and then in the middle of it he was like “wtf am i doing” and i will always remember that (dude if you are for some reason reading this then idek what to say man. sorry). anyone who knows me irl (@ you blob) can take a guess as to who this is

21. If you were the opposite sex for one day, what would you look like and what would you do?

idk the answer to either of those questions tbh

22. Do you have a secret talent? If yes, what is it?

idek man sorry

23. What is one unique thing you’re afraid of?

weed, like i’m genuinely terrified of being in its presence (never been in its presence before), i’ve had nightmares about it

24. You can only have one kind of sandwich. Every sandwich ingredient known to humankind is at your disposal.

EVERY TIME I GO TO SUBWAY I GET THE SAME THING. BUFFALO CHICKEN, RANCH, AND CHEESE ON ITALIAN HERBS AND CHEESE TOASTED. I WOULD REPLICATE THAT

25. You just found $100! How are you going to spend it?

go to Atlanta and find a homeless person and buy them some clothes and food and some blankets

26. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere in the world, but you have to leave immediately. Where are you going to go?

CANADA

27. An angel appears out of Heaven and offers you a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. “Be brand-specific” it says. Man! What are you gonna say about that? Even if you don’t drink booze there’s something you can figure out… so what’s it gonna be?

first of all why is an angel giving me unlimited alcohol that’s just kinda strange second of all i am a MINOR i am not legally ALLOWED however i will probably just take whatever and give it to some people, someone will like it

28. You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. You make the rules. What is the first rule you put into place?

be kind and do good where you can and if someone wrongs you forgive them

29. What is your favorite expletive?

as;ldkfjasdkgaj;lsdf

30. Your house is on fire, holy shit! You have just enough time to run in there and grab ONE inanimate object. Don’t worry, your loved ones and pets have already made it out safely. So what’s the one thing you’re going to save from that blazing inferno?

my cactus!! she is v important to me

31. You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?

the first thing that comes to mind was really traumatic for me, but it’s what brought me as close as i am to God now so idk that i would get rid of it. idrk man, it really sucked but i’m glad that I’m so much closer to God now

32. You got kicked out of the country for being a [redacted bc even though this is a hypothetical i absolutely would never do this and refuse to acknowledge it even in a hypothetical situation]. But check out this cool shit… you can move to anywhere else in the world!

….Canada?

33. The Celestial Gates Of Beyond have opened, much to your surprise because you didn’t think such a thing existed. Death appears. As it turns out, Death is actually a pretty cool entity, and happens to be in a fantastic mood. Death offers to return the friend/family-member/person/etc. of your choice to the living world. Who will you bring back?

idk, peeps are in heaven now and i don’t really wanna take that away from them

34. What was your last dream about?

ask God not me

35. Are you a good….[insert anything you’d like here]?

36. Have you ever been admitted to the hospital?

not really, however i have had several surgeries (all on my mouth) so i was in the hospital for those

37. Have you ever built a snowman?

I have built a real, genuine snowman once in my life, and the only proof is a picture i have bc i was so little i can’t even remember it. it doesn’t snow in georgia

38. What is the color of your socks?

ain’t wearing em, however most of mine are gray with some colorful bits

39. What type of music do you like?

I have an eclectic mix of favorites.

40. Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets?

sunrises all the way, the afternoon and evening make me anxious but nighttime and dawn and early morning are the best times

41. What is your favorite milkshake flavor?

vanilla bitch

42. What football team do you support? (I will answer in terms of American football as well as soccer)

UGA i guess bc it’s ga and that’s a safe answer, i don’t really follow sports (i watch baseball sometimes though)

43. Do you have any scars?

oh i’m covered in tiny ones, the most notable being one on my thigh that was on my knee when i first noticed it. to this day i do not know how i got it

44. What do you want to be when you graduate?

gay

45. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

i wanna be better about lying

46. Are you reliable?

heh depends, when it comes to knowing random things or being stupid, yes, but when it comes to remembering things, such as dates and times and things? absolutely not

47. If you could ask your future self one question, what would it be?

Has it gotten easier?

48. Do you hold grudges?

yes and no

49. If you could breed two animals together to defy the laws of nature, what new animal would you create?

a whelk and a quetzalcoatlus, no i do not accept constructive criticism

50. What is the most unusual conversation you’ve ever had?

i once spent hours talking to myself about if it is possible for a perfectly fair coin to exist outside of theory

51. Are you a good liar?

I like to think so

52. How long could you go without talking?

Oh I could go a looooooooooooooong time, however i do have my chatterbox days and i am known for not shutting up so it’s really a tossup on that one

53. What has been you worst haircut/style?

when i was 3 my mom put blonde highlights in my hair and it was absolutely absurd

54. Have you ever baked your own cake?

i cannot bake to save my life, however i have made my father cheesecakes for his birthday and they turned out okay so idk

55. Can you do any accents other than your own?

sco-ish

56. What do you like on your toast?

a crap ton of butter

57. What is the last thing you drew a picture of?

dude in a graduation cap

58. What would be you dream car?

idk whatever’s cheap and works

59. Do you sing in the shower? Or do anything unusual in the shower? Explain.

uhhh not really no

60. Do you believe in aliens?

i mean i don’t think we’re the only life in the entire universe, so yeah (and also they’ve found traces of ancient bacteria on Mars so if you don’t believe then who are you kidding)

61. Do you often read your horoscope?

occasionally, i don’t believe in astrology but it’s at least somewhat accurate a lot of the time and i like to freak myself out

62. What is your favorite letter of the alphabet?

you’d think i’d have an answer for this, however i have never thought about this before. so e ig

63. Which is cooler: dinosaurs or dragons?

if your answer to this is dinosaurs then get out of my house

64. What do you think about babies?

they’re good at shrieking, and for that i admire them

65. Freebie! Ask anything interesting you can think of.

i am not interesting

#are you pleased with yourself yobi #sorry this took so long #strawzy answers #fucking yobi #tw swearing #cw swearing #strawzy cleans out dus inbox

3 notes · View notes

bizmediaweb · 6 years

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How to Make a GIF: The Complete Guide

If you want to take your social media strategy to the next level and really say what you mean online, it’s essential that you know how to make a GIF. You can use GIFs to create eye-catching ads, or to connect with your followers through relatable moments from pop culture.

This article will show you how to make a GIF, and also explore the most effective ways to use them on social media and beyond.

What is a GIF?

How do you pronounce GIF?

How to make a GIF: the basics

How to make a GIF with Photoshop

How to make a GIF without Photoshop

How to make a GIF on mobile

How to create screen-recording GIFs

Tips for using GIFs on social media

Bonus: Download a free cheat sheet to quickly find the best image sizes for every social network and learn how you can use Hootsuite to easily add them to any post.

What is a GIF?

The Graphics Interchange Format, or GIF, chains together multiple bitmap (BMP) files into a single animated image. Each pixel within a GIF can be one of 256 colors, which is why GIFs generally look low-res compared to other videos we see online. GIF have lower frame rates, too, which works to their advantage. More frames equal bigger files, and GIFs need to stay small and shareable.

You could think of GIFs as the midpoint between images and videos. The main advantage of using GIFs is that you can tell a story quickly, and it doesn’t take much bandwidth to load them—making them perfect for mobile.

If you’ve ever thought GIFs seem a little primitive, well, that’s because they are: the animated GIF has existed in its current state for 30 years, predating the Internet itself!

GIFs have exploded in popularity in recent years. GIPHY, one of the web’s more popular GIF databases, claims to have over 300 million daily active users. Last month, Google acquired Tenor, a keyboard app and GIF archive designed to help iOS, Android and desktop users find the GIFs they want quickly. Tenor processes over 400 million GIF searches per day.

How do you pronounce GIF?

GIF was 2012’s Word of the Year, and even though we engage with GIFs every day, we can’t seem to agree on their pronunciation. Is the G soft (like gin) or hard (like giggle)?

In my humble opinion, it’s “GIF”, not “JIF.” Remember, GIF stands for Graphic Interchange Format: that’s graphic, not jraphic.

I’m willing to die on this hill, but you don’t have to agree with me.

Steve Wilhite, grandfather of GIFs, initiated a storm of Internet discussion when he accepted a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Webby’s in 2013. His five-word speech expressed solidarity with the soft G camp, proclaiming, “It’s pronounced ‘JIF’ not ‘GIF!”

Cue side-eyes from half of the Internet.

Ultimately, there’s no right way to say GIF. Even the Oxford English Dictionary has remained neutral on the issue. The debate will probably rage on until we invent a new file type to express our feelings online.

Even if you can’t decide how to say it, it’s still fundamental that you learn how to make a GIF. Let’s check out the basic steps, then explore some tools to help you make GIFs in a jiffy.

How to make a GIF: the basics

If you’re looking to make a GIF quickly, the best approach is using a GIF conversion site like GIPHY, Make A Gif, or Gifs.com. These platforms all function slightly differently, but the following steps will give you a rough idea of what to expect when you’re using them to make a GIF for the first time.

1. Choose the video you’d like to make into a GIF

The best GIFs target relatable moments that apply to specific feelings or situations. Pick something that will resonate with your target audience. For example, in my article about YouTube ads, I used a GIF of someone angrily smashing their computer with a hammer. If you’ve ever had your solo kitchen dance party interrupted by an unskippable ad, you can probably relate.

Find a video that captures your moment. You can use one you’ve saved to your computer or mobile device, or search online: YouTube and Vimeo are widely-used resources for clips.

2. Upload the video for conversion

If you’re uploading your own video, select that option within the converter you’ve chosen, and upload the video. If you’re using a video hosted on YouTube or Vimeo, paste the complete URL into the converter’s URL field.

3. Establish the length of your GIF

When you’ve uploaded your video file, isolate the moment you’d like to capture by bookending it with timestamps. GIFs support up to 3 minutes of footage, but two to six seconds is more than ideal.

4. Optional step: add text

GIFs don’t include sound, so you can add text for extra direction or meaning. Subtitles can provide context if you’re GIF-ing a quotable moment. Alternatively, you can use text to highlight a situation or feeling you’re hoping to express with the GIF (e.g., “Social media influencers be like…”).

5. Download your GIF

If you’re on desktop, you’ll notice that if you try to open the newly-downloaded GIF file it won’t be animated, and instead shows a series of frames. Don’t panic! Simply drag the GIF into your web browser and the animation will start looping. On mobile, GIFs play instantly when opened.

These are the basic steps of how to make a GIF, but there are actually several different approaches, especially if you want to use your own source material.

Let’s start with the most complicated option: how to make a GIF using Photoshop.

How to make a GIF with Photoshop

Note: all screenshots used in this article are from Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 (19.1.2 release).

In Photoshop, you can string together a collection of images into a GIF. To make the following GIF (which I’m probably a little too proud of…) I saved about 20 screenshots I’d taken in Photo Booth.

You can also use a short video file to make GIFs in Photoshop. The process is almost the same, except for the first step.

If you’re starting with a photo series, begin at step 1A.

If you’re converting a video into a GIF using Photoshop, start at step 1B.

1A. Load your deck of photos into Photoshop

In Photoshop, go to File > Stack > Load Files into Stack. Click Browse, then select the range of photos (“layers”) you’d like to make up your GIF by shift-clicking on the full list.

The “Load Layers” screen should look like this one below. Click OK and head to step 2!

1B. Load your video file into Photoshop

To turn a short video into a GIF using Photoshop, you’ll need to make layers out of the existing video frames. First, click File > Import > Video Frames to Layers…

A new window will pop up asking which portion of the video you’d like to import. It isn’t necessary to import every single frame to make a GIF. In this case, I imported every 3 frames, and only half of my video footage. When you’re satisfied, click OK.

Once you’ve imported your video file into layers, skip to Step 4.

2. Create a Timeline for your GIF

Under the “Window” menu, scroll down and click Timeline.

A small box will appear under the first image in your list: Create Video Timeline. Click this and change it to Create Frame Animation.

3. Convert your photo layers into a set of looping animation frames

In the top right of the “Timeline” panel you’ll see a little hamburger menu (outlined in yellow).

Click on the hamburger menu, scroll down, and click on Make Frames From Layers.

The “Timeline” panel will now show your animation frames in sequence. You can drag these around to reorder them (I named my files in sequence to skip this step).

Press the triangular Play icon (outlined in red below) to get an idea of how your GIF will look. Also, make sure Forever is selected in the drop down menu to the left (outlined in yellow), otherwise your GIF will only loop a set number of times.

4. Export your GIF Click File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy)…

You’ll come to this menu below. It looks a little overwhelming, but don’t worry. Under the “Preset” menu, select GIF 128 Dithered.

Next, change your Colors setting to 256 (the max number for a GIF).

Now you’re ready to export your GIF. To see how it turned out, press Preview… in the bottom left corner. It’ll open your default web browser and play a looping preview of your GIF.

Next, click Save… to name your GIF file, and download the GIF to your computer.

And that’s it! Congratulations! You know how to make a GIF in Photoshop.

How to make a GIF without Photoshop,

If you don’t have access to an Adobe Creative Suite subscription, don’t despair: there’s more than one way to GIF a cat.

Make your own GIF from a YouTube video

1. Head to GIPHY.com and click Create

2. Add the URL of the video you’d like to make into a GIF

3. Find the moment you’d like to capture, and establish your GIF’s duration

4. Optional step: decorate your GIF

There are a variety of options in here. You can add text (GIPHY has several different typefaces and colors to choose from), or jazz up the GIF with stickers, filters, or even hand-drawn annotations. I didn’t add anything because I didn’t want to distract from AyaBambi’s sweet dance moves.

5. Optional step: add hashtags to your GIF

Add hashtags if you want people to find your GIF and share it widely. Include your brand name and some common related terms in your list so it’s easily searchable.

6. Upload your GIF to GIPHY

And with that, you’re done! To include the GIF in your social media posts, simply insert the Giphy link or download the Giphy file and attach it (the method required will vary depending on the platform, but more on that below).

PS: You can follow these same steps to upload a GIF you’ve made previously. Just add a link to the GIF URL in place of the YouTube video link at the start.

How to make a GIF on mobile

Mobile apps like GIPHY Cam allow you to make GIFs on your phone. These are extremely easy to use: if you’ve ever used Snapchat, you can handle GIPHY Cam.

1. Launch the app and record your GIF

Tap the photo button to take a short burst of photos, or hold it for a longer GIF.

2. Optional step: choose a filter, or add stickers/text

3. Save your GIF and share it with the world

How to create screen-recording GIFs

Apps like GIPHY Capture, ScreenToGif, LICECap and GifCam allow you to make GIFs of your on-screen activity. This is a great option if you’re writing a short instructional article (like something for an online help center) and want to show steps visually.

1. Launch the screen-recording GIF software

When you launch the software, you’ll see a recording overlay like the red-outlined section in the screenshot below.

2. Pull the mask over the area you want to record

With GIPHY Capture, you can record anything within the recording overlay (again, outlined in red). To enlarge this area, click and drag the bottom-right corner (outlined in yellow).

Bonus: Download a free cheat sheet to quickly find the best image sizes for every social network and learn how you can use Hootsuite to easily add them to any post.

Get the free guide right now!

3. Record your on-screen activity

Press the circular red button in the center to record, then press it again to stop recording. You should see a thumbnail preview of your GIF pop up in the bar below the recording overlay.

4. Customize your GIF settings

Minimize the recording overlay and take a look at the GIF options menu. Here you can customize various aspects of your GIF, including the loop type—normal, reverse, or ping-pong—pixel size, and frame rate. Drag the tabs in from the left or right to trim your GIF. You can also add captions from this menu.

When you’re ready, you can click the blue “Calculate size” text to get an idea of how big your GIF file will be. I reduced the quality of my GIF when I realized it was going to be over 8 MB (under 3 MB is ideal).

5. Save your GIF

You can choose to save your GIF to your computer, or, in the case of GIPHY Capture, upload it straight to GIPHY’s online archive.

Tips for using GIFs on social media

The best social media platforms to use GIFs on are Facebook and Twitter—as of April 2018, Instagram only supports GIFs uploaded as video files.

Sharing a GIF on Facebook

Sharing a GIF on Facebook is easy: simply copy and paste the link to your GIF, wait for the preview to appear, and you’re golden. For best results, Facebook recommends:

High quality animations

Links ending with .gif

GIFs with a file size less than 8 MB

GIFs with less than 20 percent text on the image

Avoiding flashy, excessively grainy GIFs (stay compliant with their advertising rules)

Sharing a GIF on Twitter

Here’s how to share a GIF on Twitter:

1. Type your Tweet into the text field (or a GIF URL), or click the Tweet button. 2. Click the camera icon and upload a GIF from your computer. OR Choose a GIF from Twitter’s built-in GIF search library, and click the GIF icon. (Note: you’re limited to one GIF per Tweet) 3. Once you’ve selected your GIF, you’ll see it attach to your Tweet. 4. Click “Tweet” to post.

Now that you know how to share GIFs on Facebook and Twitter, here’s a few different approaches to incorporating them into your social media strategy.

1. Engage your audience

Remember, social media strategy isn’t all about conversions and sales. A huge part of the fun of social media is finding GIFs and sharing them with friends.

Humor is one of the most powerful ways to connect with your audience and keep them engaged. Pick GIFs that will resonate with your audience and make them feel personally connected to your brand.

And remember…

You don’t need to smother your GIFs in branding—it’ll just end up alienating your customers. Make sure your cultural references on social media are current, or have a timeless quality. You don’t want to look out of touch.

2. Enhance your how-to guides

GIFs are great for adding a visual dimension to instructions. InStyle’s 18 Ways to Wear a Scarf is an awesome example of the power of instructional GIFs. The GIFs in this article work so well because they show you what to do and what the end result looks like—all in less than five seconds!

The Huffington Post recently published a huge directory of exercise-related GIFs for the gym-shy among us. Each GIF shows a short loop of an exercise technique using the proper form. This saves you the hassle of clicking back and forth through YouTube videos (or dragging yourself to a personal trainer).

3. Promote your products

The shareable nature of GIFs—and their potential to go viral—mean they’re a powerful medium for advertising.

Last year, Converse and ad agency Big Spaceship partnered up for a back-to-school marketing campaign starring Millie Bobby Brown. The “First Day Feels” campaign included 32 reaction GIFs from the Stranger Things actress; they were wildly successful, generating over 276MM views and 11.5k shares between GIPHY and Tenor, and firmly establishing Converse as the back-to-school shoes brand of choice for tweens and teenagers.

4. Strengthen your visual branding

GIFs are definitely more stimulating than a static image, provided they’re used sparingly—it’s easy to go overboard and descend into a 1990s GeoCities nightmare (unless that’s what you’re going for). You can avoid this by choosing GIFs with muted colors and tones that don’t disrupt the browsing experience—like this cool, understated GIF from Nike.

You could also do the opposite and make an eye-catching GIF that’s totally extra.

Blackbox, a shipping company founded by the creators of Cards Against Humanity, recently added this insane GIF by pixel artist Paul Robertson to their website’s front page.

This overstimulating GIF celebrates what Blackbox is all about: shipping products from indie artists around the world, and having fun doing it. Robertson’s GIF was extremely well-received on Twitter, with over 850 retweets and 2,500 likes!

5. Make your data more visual

GIFs are also a good way to add dynamic elements to graphs and flowcharts. This makes them more visually interesting, showcasing the progression and aggregation of data, bringing it to life. I really liked this example from info we trust. that maps out the seasonal growth of 212 flowers in Jefferson’s Monticello garden.

This is a complex example, but there are simpler ways to visualize your data using GIFs. Last year, Google launched Data GIF Maker. All you need to do is plug in your numbers, and Google takes care of the rest!

However you choose to use GIFs in your marketing strategy—social or otherwise—make sure your approach is carefully considered and stays true to your brand values. And don’t forget to have fun with it!

You can add your newly created, hilarious GIFs to social media posts with Hootsuite. Easily manage your social channels and engage followers across networks from a single dashboard. Try it free today.

Get Started

The post How to Make a GIF: The Complete Guide appeared first on Hootsuite Social Media Management.

How to Make a GIF: The Complete Guide published first on https://themarketingheaven.tumblr.com/

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euro3plast-fr · 7 years

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12 ways you can use psychology in your marketing

Psychology research that will help you subtly convince your leads

Ever wanted to get into the minds of your customers and figure out how they think? Ever wanted to know the best methods to convince someone to do something?

As the study of the human mind and behavior, psychology has answers to what you're looking for. Psychology is applicable to a wide range of fields, from daily life to counseling to human resources. But what you're probably more concerned about is the intersection of psychology and marketing

1. Relate to your customer

Goldstein, Cialdini, and Griskevicius (2008) conducted a study on Using Social Norms to Motivate Environmental Conservation in Hotels. In particular, they tried to determine what kind of message would get hotel guests to reuse their towels. They used three variations, paraphrased below:

Standard message: 'help save the environment'

75% of hotel guests in this hotel reuse their towels

75% of hotel guests in this room reuse their towels

Messages that related to the participant - other guests reuses towels - increased participants reusing them by 10-15%.

How does this apply to marketing?

This phenomenon where people tend to view others who are similar to them more favorably is called in-group favoritism.

All in all, the best way to motivate your customers to do something is to say that customers in their situation have done so. Try to find common ground and draw similarities among your customers as well as between your company and your customers.

2. Start small

This is commonly known as the foot-in-the-door technique.

Freedman and Fraser (1966) knocked on doors asking if residents could do something small, such as sign a petition or put a sticker on their windows. For their control group, they skipped some houses and didn't speak to them at all.

Sometime later, Freedman and Fraser went to the exact same houses with a larger request, such as putting a large sign on their lawn, which was either related to the same issue as the previous request or related to a different issue.

They found that people whom they had already approached were much more willing to agree to their large request, nearly 3 times more willing if the request pertained to a different issue and more than 4 times more willing if the request pertained to the same issue!

How does this apply to marketing?

Starting small and then gradually scaling up your requests is one way to convince your customers to do something. We see examples of this everywhere. First, a non-profit organization simply asks for your email address. Next, they keep you updated regarding their events and progress. Before you know it, they're asking you to donate.

The opposite of the foot-in-the-door technique is the door-in-the-face technique, where instead of starting small, you start big. You make a large request from the get-go, maybe something ridiculous that the customer unsurprisingly turns down. Then, you make a smaller request. In this case, the customer is more likely to agree to your smaller request since it's much less ridiculous than the large request you started off with.

3. Use random reward schedules

You know those stamp cards that some restaurants and coffee shops give you that allow you to get a free drink on the 10th time you come? Actually, although those cards can be effective, they're not the most effective way of incentivizing customers to come back. Instead of having a fixed ratio reinforcement schedule, where customers get rewarded every 10th time they come, you should have variable reinforcement, where customers get rewarded randomly.

This draws on a concept called operant conditioning in psychology, where we learn to associate our behaviors with events, for example, associating going back to a restaurant with getting a free drink. Operant conditioning commonly involves rewarding a behavior to get more of that behavior.

Skinner showed this by rewarding a mouse with food in two different ways:

rewarding every 5th time it pressed a bar (fixed ratio scheduled)

rewarding randomly (variable reinforcement).

He found that the second option was more long-lasting and required less reinforcement (less food)!

How does this apply to marketing?

Although humans and animals are very different, we are also very similar. Imagine if a restaurant didn't tell us when they're going to give us a free drink. We'd probably be going back as much as we could to maximize our chances of getting that free drink! Cereal brands and Willy Wonka's chocolate factory take advantage of variable reinforcement by putting golden tickets in some of their cereal boxes or candy bars, spurring us to want to buy more for a shot to win!

4. Frame your sales pitches in an appealing way

Consider two different situations below.

The original price of the outdoor jacket is $125; $23 for the tripod. There are two different ways to pitch this:

£113.50 for the outdoor jacket; $23 for the tripod

$125 for the jacket; 50% OFF. $11.50 for the tripod

Which one would you be more willing to buy if you had to drive 20 minutes to the store?

This adapted example is based on Kahneman and Tversky's (1984) study. They found that 68% of respondents were willing to buy the tripod whereas only 29% were willing to buy the jacket. You might've realized that in both cases, consumers are saving the same amount: $11.50!

The point is that consumers think about gains and losses in relative terms, not absolute terms. In other words, they think in percentages, not dollars. A discount of $11.50 for the tripod is a larger percentage than a discount of $11.50 for the jacket.

When coming up with your sales pitches and marketing messages, be sure to take this into account! Think of more appealing ways of framing your messages - even if your messages are describing the same thing!

5. Appeal to your customers' senses

Sight

Sight comes first because it's probably the most important and effective sense for us. Brady, Konkle, Alvarez, and Oliva (2008) conducted an experiment where they flashed images of objects to participants. The images below are examples of ones that they flashed.

After flashing a certain number of images, the researchers then presented 2 similar images to participants. One image was an actual image that was flashed but the other was one that looked similar to the actual image that was flashed. They then asked participants, of the two images below, which was the one that you actually saw?

They found that participants were shockingly accurate at identifying the images that were actually flashed and were not fooled by images that were incredibly similar. In other words, they remembered the visual details of the images that were flashed and could distinguish subtle differences between the images that were flashed and the images that looked similar but were not actually flashed. In fact, for 2,500 images that were flashed, the accuracy was around a whopping 90%!

Participants' responses were also very accurate when considering the number of items that appeared between the actual item and its match.

How does this apply to marketing?

What does this mean for your marketing? USE VISUALS! A lot of them! Make all of your marketing material (ads, brochures, flyers, websites, emails, blog posts, social media, etc.) visually appealing and colorful. Don't just overwhelm your audience with tons of text! Include images, videos, and other multimedia to spice things up whenever possible.

Sound

Commercial ads are great at creating jingles and sound content to get you remember the brand.

Take for instance comparison site Go Compare - their ads were featuring an irritating opera singer was the most complained about ad in 2012, yet we all find ourselves remembering the song 'Go compare':

youtube

Another example:

1-877-KARS-4-KIDS

K-A-R-S Kars4Kids

1-877-KARS-4-KIDS

Donate your car today.

youtube

I bet you sang those jingles in your head just now. How can we still remember it now?

All thanks to great marketing!

On top of that, the famous experiment with Pavlov's dogs highlighted the phenomenon of classical conditioning. Pavlov rang a bell, served his dog with meat, measured the amount of salivation, and repeated this. After several trials, he found that even if he rang a bell and didn't serve his dog with meat, his dog would still salivate. His dog had created a learned association between the bell ringing and being served meat.

We, as humans, can be classically conditioned too. If you, as a marketer, can create a jingle that gets stuck in everyone's heads for very long and creates a learned association between the jingle and your brand, then you're golden. Think about the McDonald's jingle!

6. Capture your audience's attention

Castel, Vendetti, and Holyoak (2012) surveyed employees in a building. Although the average time that the employees had worked in the building was 4.5 years, only 1 in 4 people knew where the nearest fire extinguisher was. Not devoting attention to these sorts of things could be very dangerous!

How does this apply to marketing?

Make sure to capture and direct your audience's attention. If you're writing a blog and want your audience to pay attention to an important call to action, image, video, or link, be sure to call your audience's attention to that, maybe by mentioning it explicitly in your writing or by making it stand out on the screen.

Also, don't clutter your webpages! I think we've all been victim to webpages with lots of ads and content, which can be incredibly overwhelming and make it difficult to find what exactly to focus on. In these scenarios, if I'm reading an article, for example, I find myself scrolling past and ignoring anything other than the text. But sometimes, I find out that there was an image or table I missed that was actually relevant to the article. You don't want this to happen with the amazing content you've created! Especially in this age of information overload, which has resulted in short attention spans. Strive to engage your audience and capture their undivided attention. Appealing to the senses works here as well!

7. Use eye contact

How should you use eye contact in marketing without creeping out your customers?

If you're pitching to a customer or investor, be sure to make eye contact with them. Try to incorporate eye contact into your ads and marketing material. Ever wonder why the Trix bunny and the Cap'n Crunch captain are looking down? To make eye contact with the kids who want the cereal!

8. Throw your customers an anchor

Customers that many not be knowledgeable in your field or product price range may scamble for a reference point or anchor to go off of, and if this is provided in the question, you immediately seize it and base/pivot your thinking off of that.

In psychology, this phenomenon, "activating particular representations or associations in memory just before carrying out an action or task," is called priming, which is one way to explain anchoring. The effort of adjustment also explains the small adjustments around the anchor.

But how is this related to marketing? As shocking as this is in terms of the ethics of deciding on a criminal sentence, you can still use this in an ethical way to maximize your revenues. Let's pretend that you're on the phone with a potential customer. Let's also say that this customer might not be very knowledgeable of a suitable price range for your product. Maybe he/she doesn't know much about the pricing of competing products or the prospective value of your product. With an email, your customer would have time to do some research and think through the pricing more, but when he/she is on the phone in the hot seat, time is constrained, and he/she needs to think and respond quickly on the spot.

This would be an ideal situation for you to use anchoring. What's the best thing for you to do here? Maybe start off by suggesting a relatively high price (but not absurdly high) that sets an anchor for your customer to base off of. With little prior knowledge, he/she would use this as his/her single data point. Further thinking and discussion will likely be clustered around this reference point.

This overlaps with the door-in-the-face technique mentioned above, where you start high and then potentially negotiate a bit lower later on.

A word of caution: Be very careful in gauging whether or not your customer is knowledgeable about the field. You don't want to risk angering a knowledgeable customer by assuming he/she wasn't knowledgeable and offering a price that he/she knows is too high compared to competing products. Some knowledgeable customers might take it well, but others might not. Ultimately, starting with a relatively high price is merely a suggestion. Anchoring is backed up with empirical evidence, and you can feel free to keep it in mind and use your judgment to decide how best to adapt and apply it to your specific situations.

9. Put your audience to work

If you want someone to remember something longer, Craik and Tulving (1975) showed that you need to get them to work and put in more effort. In other words, the depth of processing is key.

Craik and Tulving showed subjects a list of words and asked them to do a task for each word. Then, they asked subjects to recall as many words as they could.

Press button 'a' if the word is in caps 'b' if not (15%), press button 'a' if word rhymes with train, 'b' if not (47%) and press button 'a' if word makes sense in "he saw a ____ in the street" (81%).

As you can see, the more work the subjects had to put into their thinking (the greater their depth of processing), the more words they remembered.

So how can you put your audience to work, but not in a dreadful way? Think about the content in your Facebook or Twitter feed that piques your interest the most. Is it the ads that are mixed into the photos of puppies on your feed? Or is it the BuzzFeed quizzes such as "Which Disney Princess Are You?"

Probably the latter! That said, think about how to incorporate similar quizzes and activities into your marketing campaigns. If you work for a laptop company, maybe you could create a quiz, "Which Laptop Are You?" In fact, if you're at any company that sells a range of products, you can create a quiz that determines "Which _____ Are You?" to help customers with their buying decisions.

Another way to apply this psychology study is to ask your audience rhetorical questions. Why are rhetorical questions so effective in ads, presentations, and more? Because they get your audience actively thinking rather than passively observing. It increases the depth of processing.

Dale's Cone of Experience summarizes this idea nicely in a visual.

The moral of the story is that making something more engaging and hands-on is more effective in getting someone to remember it. Remember: Dale's cone of experience, Strive to effectively engage your audience.

10. Invite your friends

In terms of marketing, why do you think so many marketing campaigns are founded on "Invite your friends"? The truth is that your friends have a lot of influence on you. Think about all those times you tried something new just because your friends did it and encouraged you to do it too!

Harness the power of social groups in your marketing, and you can drive the next trend.

11. Ask your customers to pay in advance

Think back to your favorite band 5 years ago. What is the maximum amount you'd pay to see them now?

Now think about your current favorite band. What is the maximum amount you'd pay to see them in 5 years?

What you're realizing now is that you probably answered a higher amount for the second question than the first, even though it doesn't really make sense rationally. Well, you're in the same boat as the subjects in a study conducted by Quoidbach, Gilbert, and Wilson (2013).

The mean for the first question was $80 and for the second question $129.

They concluded that “participants substantially overpaid for a future opportunity to indulge a current preference.”

You could potentially take advantage of this by asking your customers to pay in advance for what they want before they have time to change their preferences!

Now, time to put the theory to practice and apply psychology to YOUR marketing!

Thanks to Jay Hu for sharing their advice and opinion in this post. Jay is a Strategy Analyst at Woveon. He works on marketing, advertising, promotions, strategic development, and business development.

from Blog – Smart Insights http://www.smartinsights.com/marketing-planning/marketing-strategy/12-ways-can-use-psychology-marketing/

#Blog – Smart Insights

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blanchemonjuvent-blog · 7 years

Text

Week 3 (Academic Week 15)

Tuesday, January 31st 2017

Our third week of rehearsals began with Melissa’s feedback and advice. She enjoyed listening to our three monologues; however, she underlined the fact that Nayantara’s text, which is about passion and the ecstasy of falling in love, doesn’t really fit with the two other pieces of writing. It is not the same topic. A solution would then be to find two other monologues that could intertwine with 9’s and to save the two others for another part of the performance.

As for my performance, Melissa felt confused about the focus. Indeed, it is about three boys whom I met during a party and who are soon attracted to me. I may then find three members of the audience and keep an eye contact with every of them, each time I mention one of the three male characters. Melissa added that my text shall be shorter.

Furthermore, if we all share our stories at the same time, we should do similar things (ex: domestic tasks, or talking directly to the audience, etc…).

Melissa also suggested a scene about the madness/foolishness of love. As for our rough idea about a Bollywood dance in a section on romantic love or clichés, we need to get some structure around our writing.

As the end of this session drew near, Melissa gave us a task: we share our stories while sitting. We still cut each other during our story telling. Nayantara starts, but neither Tendai nor I seem to pay attention to Nayantara. Sometimes I do look at her, but it is very brief. This alternative was very interesting as it gave another dimension and dynamic to this scene. However, Melissa highlighted the importance of being careful with pace: we must share the same kind of energy.

After this meeting full of sound advice, we wrote down a list of the sections we would like to put in our performance:

- Ecstasy of love

- Not finding the right love

- Heartbreak

- Sex (empowerment; vagina)

- Getting out of the friend zone

- Unrequited love

- Flings and rebounds

- I’m not too young

- Marriage

- Societal pressures

Our assignment is now to produce pieces of writing for each section, so that we gather enough material which we can build on.

Wednesday, February 1st 2017

We all came to this session with a new monologue. Mine is a paragraph from the novel called Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead. The quote is about the feelings of a woman being kissed by her lover from the first time. I read it out loud, as if it were my own work and experience. My colleagues fell for it, until I revealed the name of the writer. We agreed that using author’s texts within our show is a relevant idea.

10 brought spoken words that fit better in other sections such as heartbreaks or unrequited love.

9’s text was about a friend who always gave her advice and pushed her to find the right love. This monologue corresponds to the section about the inability of finding the right love. Moreover, this text could probably fit with my story about the three boys at the party.

After our talk yesterday, we thought of starting our performance with a Bollywood dance. It would definitely set high energy for what follows!

10 rewrote her very first monologue which is about three boys with whom it didn’t work out. This time she used the 2nd person, a rectification that shows the acknowledgment of her past lover. She tells them/public directly why it couldn’t work.

During this time of rehearsal, we also deliberated about how to link each section to the other. We may use interludes/transitions between all sections which may be based on one common theme: the inability of finding the right one.

Thursday, February 2nd 2017

Unfortunately, we are once more not very lucky with the keys: today there was a problem of organisation at the security, so we lost a bit of time…

This session started in a very cheerful way! Indeed, it was our first Bollywood dance rehearsal! Bollywood perfectly integrates our show theme, as this dance has sexual overtones and refers to desire and sensuality.

Then we had a great discussion about the potential presence of male characters on stage:

1) 10 would like to bring different male performers at different points of the show, each time for a short term only, for dialogues for example. I am not totally convinced by this idea as it would give a face to the protagonists of our stories. 9 also worries about the fact that those men could become props if we don’t use them enough.

2) My idea was therefore to enter ourselves the roles of the men during our stories: it would be more performative and original. Moreover, it would allow to keep the secret regarding the characters’ identity and the audience would freely guess how they would look like. If we perform it well, the spectators would be able to see the male characters via our female bodies.

3) 9 suggested an alternative: In order to bring 10’s text into life, she could take a man from the audience. The implication of someone from the public fits with the subject Unrequited love: indeed, 10 would hug him or take his hand and hold it during the entire recording of a male voice. The embarrassment of the spectator would then remind of 10’s crush who didn’t really care for her.

We adjusted our list of sections, here’s the (definite?) one:

- Ecstasy

- Inability of finding the right love (=> interludes)

- Heartbreak

- Sex

- Flings and rebounds

- Unrequited love

- Marriage

- Societal pressure

Friday, February 3rd and Sunday, February 5th 2017.

First of all, we re-organised our deadlines. Then we learnt the second part of our Bollywood dance. It already looks great! We might all be already on stage at the beginning of the performance, doing different everyday tasks.

We also spent a lot of time on my monologue about Unrequited love called “Two Years”. My idea was to share my story next to a fan, an almanac in my hand. I would replace the pages of the almanac as the story unfolds, so that the fan would “blow the days away”. Yet 10 found this scene too two dimensional and too flat. Also, I entered a delicate persona, which is fine because “delicate and pretty people also experience bad times”. However, her request was to break it through. The explanation of my love is wistful and dainty: I should therefor break this mood halfway through, engage more dynamic and a more precise pace.

9 and 10 thus asked me to shout the whole monologue. It was a delicate exercise as I am quite a silent person and I often forgot to maintain the big voice. Still, this time my performance was more engaging, my anger even made sense in some parts of my story.

I then had another idea for this scene: why not use food, eat until I am stuffed until I am stuffed while sharing my story? 9 and 10 suggested another task: I should improvise a baking show in the kitchen, sharing the recipe of one of my favourite cakes. I have small confidence in my ability to speak correct English spontaneously, so this task quickly became a big challenge for me. Improvising in English is hard for me and I felt very confused. I then decided to try this baking scene once more, this time in French. My diction and my pace were quite better; even if 9 and 10 could not understand everything I said, they confirmed that I seemed to enjoy more my task and therefore I was more eye-catching and interesting. Now I need to trust my English a bit more and to allow myself to make mistakes. My colleagues suggested that if I have any big doubts, I am allowed to use French words: moreover, it may give some originality and good spirit in my talk.

9 and 10 also worked on their monologues about unrequited love:

10 danced with music, surrounded by what looked like male clothes; put some on; she finally threw them with anger on the floor and store some others in a backpack. She then came into the audience and without any words, chose a man from the public. She brought him on stage and took his other hand. A recording of a male’s voice rose while she kept staring at the man. She started dancing again, and finally let go his hand with a disenchanted expression. She took the backpack, gave it roughly to him and begged the spectator to go with a simple wave.

9 did her monologue while running on a treadmill. She pressed the buttons relevantly at different parts of her speech to change the velocity of the treadmill: she got more tired and less trustworthy along with the difficulty of the exercise, until she got exhausted.

Moreover, small texts appeared on a screen behind her as she read her monologue, a sort of conscience objecting her allegations and proclaiming the unwanted truth. Still she didn’t notice the board until the very end, when she finally saw the last word.

See you next week!

Blanche

#lemons or limes #devisingprocess #cpp #contemporary performance

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