#and somewhere a tv that the switch is known to be plugged in to

[impulsivelycontentious]

I bought a dvd player that has a usb a, c, and hdmi port ^_^

[purplesurveys]

1250

Do you own any Funko Pop! figurines?  No. I had a brief period where I wanted to start collecting them SO BAD and often went to toy stores to gawk at the figures I felt like I needed to have; but I grew out of that and I don’t even really give Funkos a second glance whenever I see them anymore haha.

How many cats and dogs have you had as pets in your lifetime?  We’ve had one cat and two dogs.

Can your mom and/or dad play any instruments, or how about anyone else in your family?  My dad can play the guitar; he just absolutely never shows it off, not even if you lay out ten guitars in front of him. I think my mom played the piano as a kid.

Have you ever colored in an adult coloring book as a stress reliever?  Yeah, it was my coping mechanism from a few years ago. I don’t do it nearly as often anymore, but I still have my coloring books and pencils stored in my room just in case I randomly want to get back to the hobby.

Can you crack crab legs without a tool?  No, I ask my parents or grandparents to do it haha.

How many light sources are in the room you’re in?  There are two, but I only use one. I never switch on my main bedroom light as I hate how brightly white it is.

What’s your favorite thing to put on bagels?  I never get bagels so I don’t really have a clue what I prefer on them.

Who’s your favorite director?  Stanley Kubrick.

Bats: cute or gross?  Neither side of the spectrum; I just don’t think about bats.

What was the last really intense pain you felt?  I got a particularly vicious scratch from Cooper around a month ago that left a deep cut on my thigh. The scar is still visible and I think it’s going to remain that way for a while haha I don’t see it fading out anytime soon.

Would you rather vacation by a beach or a lake?  Both sound extremely pleasant but I’ll take the lake trip because I’ve never seen one, or stayed near one.

How would you feel about traveling abroad alone?  I honestly feel like it’s going to be that way for me moving forward. I’m okay with it, though. I feel like it would be very calming and empowering to be able to explore the world on my own.

What is your father's middle name?  He doesn’t have a second name.

Where did your last kiss take place?  Outside my house, by her car.

Which movie villain do you find the most terrifying?  I haven’t encountered anyone yet that truly terrified me.

If you married your favorite celebrity what would your last name be?  Kim, hahaha.

Do you stick your tongue out often in pictures?  I wouldn’t say so. I pull up the peace sign most often.

Which one of your family members are you closest to?  My sister and my eldest cousin on my mom’s side.

Would you rather have name brand shoes or name brand clothes?  Shoes. They stand out more.

Are you a good liar?  Yes. Doesn’t mean I enjoy lying and take advantage of that skill as much as possible.

Are you proud of your parents?  Sure.

If you could get backstage tickets to ANY concert - which would you pick?  Paramore. I think Hozier would be neat as fuck too.

Which is better: orange or grape soda?  I don’t like soda, so neither.

Was the last thing you ate hot or cold?  They are meant to be consumed while hot.

Who was the last person in your house who isn’t family?  Angela and Hans.

What color was the last swimsuit you wore? Pink.

Can you remember the last song you listened to?  I just tuned into a random lo-fi playlist, so I’m not familiar with the tracks and the artists who made them.

Have you ever been dumped really harshly?  Yes.

Can you do a back flip, or anything else of that sort?  Nope.

Do you have any exes you can’t stand anymore?  To a considerable extent.

What happened to cause you to feel that way about them?  She is extremely selfish and the biggest coward I’ve ever met.

Are you more of a phone or a computer person?  Laptop.

Do you have a job, and if so, where do you work?  Yeah, I work at a PR firm.

If not, do you want one?   

Do any medical afflictions run in your family? I know hypertension is kind of a thing on my mom’s side, but I don’t know if there are any other conditions I should know about. 

What’s your favorite Mexican dish?  Burritos and enchiladas.

Have you ever been to a professional sports game?  No, just collegiate-league ones.

Do you prefer pads, tampons or something else?  I use pads. I’ve never used a tampon or any other product, so there’s no basis for me to make a comparison and establish preferences.

Have you ever ordered a specially made cake from a cake shop? Yeppp, I got a customized cake for my birthday.

What months were you and your siblings born in?  My brother and I were born in April; my sister was born in September.

What did you have for dinner last night?  Barbecue chicken.

Have you ever had sex in/on a vehicle?  In, yes. Do people have sex ON cars??????

Do you do anything to groom your eyebrows?  I will shave extremely occasionally. Otherwise no, I don’t touch them.

Has your town ever flooded?  This time of the year, always.

Have you ever played at the McDonald’s play place?  Yup. I preferred Burger King’s playplace, though; it was lesser-known so there were fewer kids I was forced to play with.

Have you ever taken a picture of snow?  I’ve never even seen it.

Do you cry easily?  I can.

Are you happy with where you live?  It’s quiet and safe, which is nice; but I think at this point I would be a lot happier and would be able to grow a lot if I moved to a big city.

Do people ever mistake you for being a different race?  Not really; but as a general thought, it is an extremly big pet peeve when people only take into account East Asians when the topic of Asia comes up.

Do you hate the last person you kissed?  I don’t hate her. But I can’t stand her.

What genre is your favorite movie?  Drama, romance, a hint of comedy.

Who was the last person you were in a car with?  My mom and my siblings.

Do you like the picture on your license/I.D. card?  Yeah haha. I was allowed to smile on my license, so at least my photo doesn’t look gloomy.

When was the last time somebody hit on you?  Hasn’t happened in a while.

Was the last person you met a male or female?  For the first time? She’s a girl.

What brand is your underwear?  I don’t remember the name anymore.

What’s your favorite Thanksgiving food?  I don’t celebrate that.

Do you have a TV in your room?  Nah. I don’t really watch the TV anymore, and using the living room TV to watch YouTube videos is enough for me.

Are any of your electronics charging right now?  My laptop is constantly plugged in. My speaker is also charging at the moment.

What was the last video game you played?  I have no clue, it’s been forever.

What’s the biggest promise someone’s ever made to you? Did they keep it?  That they’ll always stay. I didn’t make her keep it; I was the one who moved on.

Google, Bing, or Yahoo?  Google.

What was the last song you had on repeat?  It’s been a while since I set a song on repeat. Maybe Film Out? If not that, maybe UGH!

Who is your favorite person to watch on YouTube?  Rhett and Link or the Try Guys.

How many college degrees do you want?  I’m okay with the one I have.

Can you wink?  Yeah, but I’m substantially better at winking with my right eye than my left.

Do you own any jerseys?  I don’t think so.

Have you ever tried to snort Pixie Stix as a child, or even an adult?  No. I don’t even think I’ve had it ever.

Do you like going to baby showers? Do you go only for the cake?  I’ve never been to a baby shower. Not a thing here.

Has there ever been a time in your life, you felt sexually undecided?  I still am. I’m not bothered about it, though. Sex and who I have it with aren’t things I spend much time thinking about.

Do you think tattoos and piercings are sexy on the opposite sex?  Depends. It certainly suits some people better.

Do people ever ask you to do things they’re too short to accomplish?  No...I am the short person asking for help :)))))))

What color are the headphones you have at this moment in time?  I have black ones but I literally just took them off five minutes ago so I can transfer my music to the speaker I mentioned earlier.

Ever choked severely on something during lunch at your school?  I don’t think so.

Do you eat more vegetables or fruits? What’s your favorite fruit/veggie?  VEGETABLES. I love green beans, eggplants, and bell peppers the most. I can’t stand fruits, with the one exception of avocados.

What would you say is the color of your favorite bra?  Black.

Is anyone in your family a firefighter? Who is it anyway?  I don’t think so. 

What do you usually buy when you go to the dollar store?  We don’t have a dollar store, and that should be self-explanatory hah.

Ever peed in the pool? Be honest!  God no. That’s gross.

When you’re older, what kind of house do you want to live in?  Something modern and minimalist.

Where do you want to get married?  Idk, I’m pretty traditional when it comes to this. Booking an events place would be ideal for me; the only thing on my wishlist would probably be the fact that I hope my wedding could be held somewhere cold, like Baguio.

Do you plan on having both your parents at your wedding?  Uh yeah, sure.

What is your favorite childhood TV show? Spongebob.

Honestly, do you like school?  I liked it when I was granted more freedom to do things my own way, which is to say I really enjoyed college. But I didn’t mind school for the most part, especially since it meant being able to see my friends everyday.

Last thing that made you cry?  I was listening to a song that resonated a lot with me at that moment.

Honestly, are you keeping a big secret right now?  Nothing too big or life-changing to someone if they ever found out.

Last person you took a walk with?  Idk, that’s not an activity I tend to do with other people.

Have you ever liked someone who didn’t like you back? No.

Who was the last person to actually pick you up in the air?  My ex, probably.

Does any part of your body hurt?  My shoulders are constantly hurting these days. I really need to buy a new work chair :( 

If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to change a regret what would you do?  Million bucks. Easiest choice.

Can you keep a secret?  Sure.

Your favorite romantic movie?  The Proposal.

How do you feel about Valentine’s Day? I honestly like it, and I celebrated it when I was able to.

Who was the last person you took a picture with?  My sister and I took a silly selfie earlier.

Do your jeans have rips, tears, and holes in them?  Some of the pairs I have do, but they’re meant to be ripped jeans.

Do you celebrate 420? Nope.

Have you ever kicked a vending machine?  I don’t think so. I barely use them.

How do you eat Oreos?  I just bite into them. No patience do the whole twist-lick thing. Sometimes I’ll dip them in milk, if we happen to have some.

Do you wear your shoes in the house?  That is a big no-no.

Would you survive in prison?  I might not.

Ever been to Georgia?  No for both state and country.

Do you get your hair cut every month?  No, just once a year. Which reminds me, I finalllllllly had my hair trimmed yesterday hahaha I got sick of my long-ass hair, which was starting to feel like a bitch to maintain. It’s only up to my shoulders now.

Current relationship in detail.  I am single...nothing much to share about it. I get to enjoy to spend my money on myself, which is my favorite part about it hahaha.

If you were kicked out of your house, who would you call/go to?  My grandma.

List things you spend money on in an average week.  Food delivery and nearly every week, merch. I’ve considerably calmed down on the latter, though.

Rate each of your sexual partners (if any) from 1-10.  I’ve only had one...I guess I’d give her a 9. A bit TMI but the oral could’ve been a little better.

Post the last FB group/page that you joined.  I was looking for FB groups for a work deliverable, but I had to join one of them to give it a better scan. I don’t remember which group it had been, though.

Would you parents be mad if you were in a relationship?  No. If they did, I would be very surprised they would still be meddling with a 23 year old’s life.

Think of the last person you had sex with. Do you think they’ve slept with anyone else since they last slept with you?  I’m sure.

Is there someone that you believe you will always be attached to?  I’m not now, so no.

What board games are you good at?  I’m quite terrible at all of them, tbh. It’s why I’ve always preferred to simply watch over my friends when they do play board or card games.

Is there a sport/hobby you keep thinking about taking up, but that you’ve never quite gotten around to starting?  Wakeboarding. Do you think pranks like egging/toilet-papering someone's house are funny or immature?  Immature.

Do you think “sleeve tattoos” are a good idea?  I’m not totally obsessed with the idea, but they do look good on people.

Is there anything in particular that your parents argue about? What? I don’t know. 100% of the time they are caused by my grown-ass mother throwing a petty-ass tantrum, so I could not care less about the things they fight about. 

Do you ever actually read the “Terms and Services” when you sign up for websites and such?  Nah.

If you have a handheld games console (a DS or GameBoy, for example), how often do you use it?  I haven’t used the Switch since last year.

Your phone is ringing. It’s the person you fell hardest for, what do you say?  Pick it up and wait for them to talk.

If your best friend was kicked out, would your parents let him/her live with you?  Probably not, knowing my mom – but I would do absolutely anything else to help.

Are you afraid of falling in love?  I guess you can say that, yeah. I’m not headed towards that feeling again anytime soon, though.

Is there anybody you wish you could be with right now?  I wish I was with my friends now.

Have you ever kissed someone & wished you didn’t?  No.

Did you get kissed last night?  Nope.

Do you enjoy going through a carwash?  Idk, I’ve never taken my car to one. That’s something my parents take charge of.

How did you get most of your scars?  Cooper.

Ever had to take an inkblot test? I haven’t.

Have you ever been in trouble for something you honestly didn’t do?  Sure. Like back in high school when a group of friends had been caught cheating on our chemistry exam – and we were told that the entire batch would be given a formal warning. I was on the minority side that found the entire situation hilarious, because I know they wouldn’t dare mar the records of everyone else who took that stupid test honestly.

Have you ever seriously slapped someone in anger?  My brother, only because he put his hands on me first.

What/who woke you up this morning?  Just me.

Who was the last person to be in your bedroom besides you?  My mom, who always goes in there without knocking/warning.

What’s one of your locked text messages?  I don’t lock my texts and I’m not sure if that’s an available feature on my phone.

Have you ever finished a game of Monopoly?  I don’t even know how that game works lol.

Is there anyone you know who’s in any way paralyzed?  Yes.

The truth all comes out when someone is drunk, true?  I mean for the most part, yeah. It’s easier to be honest with a few drinks in you. 

When was the last time you felt disappointed in yourself?  Continued from the other day. Last week when I forgot about a virtual meeting and attended it 15 minutes after it started.

How about feeling disappointed in someone else?  Last Friday when I had to watch my dad treat a service crew member like shit.

For you, do you commonly feel more jealousy or envy?  Envy, I think. I don’t really feel jealous.

Do you rely on the heads/tails flipping of a coin sometimes for decisions?  Nope, but close. I’ll do eenie-meenie sometimes haha

Do you have any specific chores you do around the house?  Nothing I’m required to do but sometimes I’ll offer to wash the dishes or fold laundry.

For you, does comfort or fashion come first in dressing?  It’s like 70% fashion, 30% comfort. Looking nice makes me feel more comfortable lol.

Have you had two friends that absolutely hated each other?  Not each other; the dislike was one-sided. Gabie hated Andi for whatever reason, which in hindsight already should’ve been a red flag.

Do you like Laffy Taffy?  No, I’ve never had one.

Do you prefer electric or manual pencil sharpeners?  Manual, only because I’ve never seen, much less use, an electric one.

Are your biceps at all noticeable?  Nah.

Have you ever seen a walrus?  It’s possible, but I don’t have very good memories of it if I have seen one.

Did you ever have one of those Easy Bake ovens as a kid?  Not a popular toy here.

Does your bathroom have a theme to it?  It doesn’t. I think that would be a little tacky tbh.

From inside of your house, how many doors lead outside?  Three. We have doors in the kitchen, dining room, and our main door by the living room.

Are there a lot of trees in your yard?  Not really.

Have you ever liked someone that treated you like crap?  Yes.

Have a best friend?  Yup.

Does it bother you when your best friend does stuff without you?  No? That’s pretty petty. Both Angela and Andi have big circles of friends and that would be stressful on my end if I made a fuss every time they hung out with anyone that isn’t me lol.

Is there a secret you’ve never told your parents?  A bunch. I don’t count them as confidantes.

Does anyone hate you? It’s possible but I don’t care enough to want to know.

What’s the one thing you regret more than anything?  Not breaking up with Gabie earlier, even though all the red flags were there.

Do you remember important dates?  For the most part, yeah.

What’s some lyrics from a song that means a lot to you?  “Dream, may all of creation be with you til the end of your life Dream, wherever you are, will welcome you Dream, may your trials end in full bloom Dream, though your beginnings might be humble, may the end be prosperous.”

Who gives the best advice?  Andi. They’re able to tell me advice I don’t want to hear but am supposed to be hearing, which I appreciate.

Who do you usually see in your dreams? :)  It’s a random cast every time.

What type of cake did you last eat?  It was carrot cake with a really good cream cheese frosting.

How many of your friends are gay or bisexual?  Almost all of them are...it’s easier to count friends who are straight.

What’s your favorite type of sandwich?  Anything with pulled pork in it tbh.

When was the last time someone asked you out? Did you accept or decline?  I’ve never been asked out.

Do you like The Offspring?  I know a couple of songs but I definitely can’t call myself a fan.

One pillow or two?  Two.

Do you like Mad Libs?  I’ve never tried playing it.

Are you suicidal?  Not lately. I haven’t been for a while, actually. I’m really happy about that.

Where do your grandparents live?  My paternal grandparents live in the south. My maternal grandma lives in the village right next to ours haha, so not far away at all.

Do you cut yourself?  Yeesh. Can’t questions like this come with a trigger warning? Anyway, no I haven’t in a while as well.

What is your pet’s name?  Kimi and Cooper.

Have you ever been to Canada? No, but I'd love to visit. < Same!

Aren’t babies overrated?  I think they are overrated in a sense that everyone always seems to want one of their own, but the circle gets extremely smaller when it comes to those who actually have the capacity to take proper care of an infant.

Have a built-in pool in your backyard?  No.

Ever won yourself a stuffed animal? Sure, in like claw games and whatnot.

Ever had someone else win you a stuffed animal?  No. I don’t really like stuffed toys lol.

Ever been to a circus?  Nope.

Ever shot animals? I have not.

Do you consider yourself intelligent?  I guess I’m booksmart more than anything else. I had good grades and can handle myself in arguments and debates...but I have my weaknesses in other aspects too, like street smarts lol.

Have you ever run away from home?  I had a period when I wanted to, but never pushed through with it.

Do you put family first, friends, relationships, school, or something else?  Work > friends > family.

What’s something you’ve stood up for in the past?  I always shoot my mom a glare as if to say “be careful of the line you’re crossing” whenever she makes a homophobic, sexist, or racist remark.

What’s something you worked extremely hard to get?  The healthy and stable mental disposition I find myself in these days. I would never give it up for anything ever again.

Are you satisfied with your body image?  I mean not fully, but I also don’t have any complaints.

Have you ever been labeled negatively or otherwise been called something extremely derogatory?  I’ve been called a bitch by this girl that was just a terror to be classmates with back in middle school. She was known to a big war freak and had her fair share of behavioral/anger issues, so it didn’t really affect me once I knew I was her next target. I didn’t encounter her again until college when we ended up attending the same university, and she’s changed a lot for the better.

Have you ever seriously taken advantage of someone or been taken advantage of?  The former, no. Yes to the latter.

Have you ever been seriously ill?  My fever last year really felt like the end of me lmao, so I guess yeah. 

Have you ever befriended a former enemy?  She wasn’t an enemy per se, but I just found myself immensely irritated by Sofie during our first few meetings; but then she ended up being one of my best friends for a time

If you’re not religious, would you ever pray as a last resort? If you are religious, do you often pray for other people?  I did in the past. I wouldn’t do so these days.

Have you ever dated someone, then after you dated they came out of the closet or switched (for lack of a better word) sexual orientation?  That hasn’t happened to me.

Has a boy/girl ever walked a ridiculous distance just to see you? How about vice versa?  I think once? My ex was brewing a surprise for me for Valentine’s Day last year and to cut the long story short, she essentially walked a crazy long distance in my school to make the surprise a success. My university is huge and even I prefer to take my car whenever I have to go from one building to another, so I definitely saw the effort she had put in.

When was the last time you felt really uncomfortable?  Right now. It’s really humid and my electric fan isn’t really doing anything to curb the heat :/

Is there anything that your mom is really known for as to how she is as a person?  She is very uptight.

Who have you been talking to the most today?  My co-workers, albeit virtually.

Are you nosy?  Nah. I won’t really press and will wait for people to open up.

What’s the meanest thing you have done to a friend?  I don’t do mean things to my friends.

If your ex called you crying, what would it most likely be about?  Fuck if I know. Her pride is way up in the sky for her to do something like this.

Who was the best kisser out of all the people you have kissed?  I’ve only kissed one person.

Have you ever been told that you have an annoying laugh?  I don’t think so. It would be etched in my head if I was ever told this.

[savannahroleplays]

IN CHARACTER

CHARACTER NAME: Lizzie Heartland

FACE-CLAIM: Madelaine Petsch

GENDER & PRONOUNS: Female & She/Her

AGE: Twenty Nine Years Old

PLACE OF BIRTH: Savannah, Georgia

NEIGHBORHOOD: Skidaway Island

OCCUPATION: Savannah Spring Resorts Owner.

BIOGRAPHY

TRIGGERS: Divorce

Lizzie Heartland was a beautiful soul that stood at 5'6 with a wealth of strawberry blond hair and inquisitive moss colored eyes; too the unknowing eye she was a picture of pure innocence with a constant smile plastered across her porcelain features, but what lay behind them was a little more broken than was let on.

The beginning of Lizzie’s life was a pretty similar to the one’s you’ve heard about in your favorite novels or movies. Starting life in a larger than life setting, Lizzie’s mother was a world famous novelist named Marie Heartland and her business executive father who was known as a Tycoon, Lance Heartland. Growing up, money was there in wealth as she lived in a luxurious setting in the well-off neighborhood known as Skidaway Island.

With parents who were working to give their daughter everything, it often meant that she was alone. Her nannies were the best friends she could have asked for, more like present parents than her own. And their work schedules would also be the death of their relationship.

Lizzie was a hard worker when it came to school, often found with her head in a book she’d been on more of the reserved side. A small group of friends and a closed circle kept her feet on the ground; however, a cheerleader. But Lizzie was top of her class, best of the best and extremely clever — switched one was how she liked to describe herself.

Throughout school it was a lot more difficult than most people realized when it came to light that her parents had decided to get a divorce; busy work schedules and a lack of romance had dissolved the marriage. It came as a shock to Lizzie because there had never been any fighting or signs that they were unhappy.  And the panic really set in, especially with them being more high profile in the city, she knew that this would come with repreccussions for her popularity and how people would precieve their family.

When her dad left, he didn’t stay around and it was like Lizzie was forgotten. Lance didn’t fight for anything, he left everything to Marie and Lizzie, but left without another word and never looked back. Lizzie always wondered if she drove her father away, if it was because she wasn’t a good enough daughter, or if she’d been different he’d have stayed. But he didn’t, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t find him.

So Lizzie let herself fall into the life of her friends, partying, shopping on the weekends and being at all the cheerleading competitions. She was more sociable than she’d ever been. However, it didn’t stop her from writing the novel she’d been working on in her room. It was how she got rid of the emotion she was holding inside. Honestly, Lizzie couldn’t remember the last time she’d cried or allowed herself to feel anything but the fake happiness she drowned herself in — it was a dark place to be, but she kept breathing.

Lizzie was around seventeen years old when she realised there wasn’t just one thing she wanted to do in life, there was two. Lizzie’s passion for books was something she never grew out of, as time grew her own personal library in the house did too. It was how she kept away from the pain of her parents seperation; she constantly kept busy. But there was also a passion for owning something that would be passed down for generations after herself. A hotel. Lizzie loved staying in hotels, and when her mother took her with her on trips, Lizzie’s favorite part was the grand hotel rooms they’d reside in.

She wanted to open and own one herself one day.

Lizzie knew that University was the way she was going to go, but she had never really been keen on leaving Savannah, Georgia for a long time. She knew she was a home bug and would eventually come back as soon as her schooling was over. However, when she got accepted too Harvard Business School, she knew she was going to kick ass. It was the first time in a long time she felt like maybe she might be heading somewhere better than the dark place she’d allowed herself to fall into.  

Upon arrival she didn’t expect that she’d lead a similar life to school, but she was lucky enough to make an amazing group of friends who invited her to their Secret Society which hosted some of the most amazing balls, secret evetns and parties she’d ever been too. Alongside being apart of the cheer squad at the University, and keeping on top of her classes, she finally felt like maybe coming here was the best thing she’d ever done.

At least she travelled before heading back to Savannah.

While at Harvard she kept writing unable to stop when things got hard but she didn’t expect the novel to become a best seller when she sent it across to a publishing agent. It was a whirl wind that she never expected, her friends were her biggest fans as it was plugged all around the campus and then that one morning as she sipped her coffee, she found out that it was no longer just a book, but it was being splashed across The New York Times, TV shows and everywhere she turned, her book was there. It opened up another world for her, although she had known money and extravegance in Dallas, out here it was another world. It was like being put into a fish bowl as the smallest fish and trying to grow as quickly as she could to be apart of their world. With each day she realised as much as she loved it here, she would always and forever be an Georgian girl.

She graduated shortly after, knowing that she didn’t have to use her mothers money to open the Hotel she had been dreaming of, she moved back instantly. Straight away she felt like she was in the right place, although a niave girl who’d never really had to go through anything that would kill her or put her in a life or death situation — the girl who had everything.

Opening Savannah Spring Resorts was her second dream and as she watched it open, she was in love with every single part of it. The grand exterior, or the stair case of the interior. She’d made it a place for those with money to stay and lavish in the luxuries that could be provided. It was a place of hopes and dreams, and she watched it rise and become everything she wanted.

But she would be lying if she said she wasn’t lonely, along with writing her next novel, the parties she had to attend and keeping the hotel running with her staff; there were days where she felt like she was going to be alone for the rest of her life. Her life to busy, and she would never think that someone could deal with her lifestyle these days.

PERSONALITY

POSITIVE: Well Spoken, Intellectual, Creative & Organised

NEGATIVE: Void, Sarcastic, Pompous & Bossy

LIZZIE HEARTLAND IS WRITTEN BY ANGIE.

[heart-eyes-kippen]

You’re kind of amazing  (a tyrus oneshot)

Hello!! I just thought I’d preface this by saying that I wrote this for a different ship before I even knew about andi mack (so - a while ago!) but I was reading over it last night and I thought it fit tyrus so I edited it and it hopefully (?) shouldn’t be too different to my writing now, but if there’s discrepancies that’s why!! 

~

College was something that took up a lot of TJ’s mind, particularly seeing as it was his first year and there were so many aspects of it to adjust to. This was expected — TJ had known it wouldn’t be easy. One thing that had been unexpected however, was the person that had kept him awake at night throughout the year, the thoughts that had filled TJ’s mind and wound their way around his heart. That person, of course, was Cyrus. At any given moment TJ’s thoughts would wander to the increasingly lingering stares they shared, the way Cyrus had been laughing harder at TJ’s corny jokes as of late. 

 It didn’t even have to turn into a relationship, right? He could just ask him out on a date and go from there, he thought to himself. One look at Cyrus’ sparkling eyes as he laughed at something Buffy had told him confirmed that it certainly would not work out that way. TJ was a goner, and he was far beyond the point of trying to hide it. 

 He set down his can of beer, allowing his eyes to slide over Cyrus’ face, and the way it was lit up by the sunlight pouring inside. Everything blurred around him slightly as he stepped forward, making his way over to the group.

 “I don’t know what it is but Marty has been beating me at every single Mario Kart game, I swear. The universe hates me,” said Cyrus, leaning back against the couch with a stubborn huff. 

 “Maybe you’re just not cut out for Mario Kart, underdog,” TJ teased, feeling a small smirk creep onto his face when Cyrus caught his gaze and feigned a look of offence. 

 “Why TJ, fancy seeing you here! Come to find any and every opportunity to tear me down?” 

 “Of course not!” he exclaimed, collapsing down onto the couch beside him, “I think you’re great.” 

 “But you just think you’re better?” Cyrus questioned, arching an eyebrow. 

 TJ shrugged his shoulders, directing an innocent smile at him. 

 “TJ versus Cyrus in Mario Kart?” Andi suggested, shooting TJ a quick wink.

 “I’m not scared of anyone — not even handsome basketball-players! It is so on, Kippen.” 

 Cyrus was completely oblivious to the way TJ’s eyes widened at those words. He spluttered for a few moments, shooting Marty (who was laughing his ass off) a dirty look before managing to collect himself. 

 “Well, I’m not scared of...cute clumsy theatre nerds...” TJ retorted, smiling slightly when he noticed Andi roll her eyes. Cyrus’ face was lit up with laughter as he turned to find a pair of controllers amongst the pillows of the couch. 

 TJ was completely, utterly, soul-crushingly gone.

 “You two are something else,” Amber muttered, standing up to join Andi on the large bean bag next to the couch.

 TJ couldn’t help but let his gaze settle on Cyrus, who had concentration written across his face as he fiddled with a few of the plugs behind the TV. His eyes travelled from Cyrus’ dark hair, to his brown eyes, to his soft lips, to — oh crap he was looking back. TJ let out a fake cough and turned to face Marty, who was having a rather heated debate with Amber.

 “I don’t see the point,” Amber insisted.

 “It’s the experience Amber, the experience!” 

 “Cinema food is way overpriced — how is that an experience? You know what’s part of the cinema experience? Going to the grocery store to buy food and sneaking it into the theatre,” she said, and Marty just let out an annoyed huff.

 TJ rolled his eyes and turned back, deeming it safe to look at Cyrus again; except he had apparently chosen the wrong moment because suddenly their gazes were meeting and he felt the air seep from his lungs. Cyrus hastily averted his eyes and grabbed the controllers, dropping down next to TJ and handing him one.

 TJ would never tell anyone, but the way Cyrus looked at him as he passed the controller over made it slightly difficult to breathe.

 “Prepare for destruction, Goodman,” he said, tone a lot softer than he would’ve liked.

​

“You may play basketball, but no one can beat me at Mario kart,” said Cyrus, as he scrolled through the map options. 

 A vague look of amusement crossed Buffy’s face. “Except for me, Andi, Buffy, Jonah, Marty...”

 TJ couldn’t help but laugh at that, watching as the track Cyrus had selected loaded on screen. Despite actively trying not to look over at Cyrus, he yet again found his eyes wandering. There was an adorable look of determination on his face, which had TJ smiling despite his best efforts. Cyrus was possibly the sorest loser he knew, but he was Cyrus; cute, charming, helpful, funny—

 “TJ, you idiot!” Marty yelled with a laugh. 

 Oh crap — the race had started.

 Andi let out a soft laugh of her own as TJ realised his mistake and frantically drove forward. 

 “I must say TJ, your focus is outstanding,” Marty teased, poking at his side.

 “Shut up,” he mumbled, immediately throwing down a shell that he picked up. 

 Because Cyrus had distracted him (albeit unknowingly) from the race, TJ thought it was only fair to distract him back, just for a few seconds. He shuffled over from his end of the couch all the way to the other boy, giving a small cheer when he had overtaken a group of persistent karts. 

 A smile tugged at his lips when he realised that it was already working; Cyrus was hastily glancing over at him, eyebrows raised. 

 “What are you doing?” 

 TJ just shrugged and continued shuffling until he was right next to the Cyrus, their shoulders practically pressed up against one another. Cyrus shot him a bewildered look. 

 “Okay TJ, there’s this amazing term called ‘personal space’, invented by someone who clearly understood that it’s very much needed for people to — oh my god what, I’m second now?!” 

 TJ grinned, before hurriedly moving back over to his side of the couch. 

 Marty, Buffy, Amber and Andi had all begun chattering amongst themselves, rolling their eyes occasionally at the duo when they were being particularly dramatic.

 “Watch out Cyrus!” TJ called, tossing back a shell at his kart and watching as he spun across the track, veering right off it.

 “How could you!” gasped Cyrus.

 TJ honestly didn’t know what happened. It was as though one minute he was absolutely set on winning, then he was looking over at the adorable look of concentration painted across Cyrus’ face, and the way he was all curled up in the corner of the couch, brown eyes fixed on the screen. It was all too much.

 In what wasn’t his proudest moment by any means, he ended up letting Cyrus win. 

 Cyrus was absolutely thrilled about this, of course, a glowing smile spread across his face as he set down his controller. 

 “Oh hush, you got lucky, we get it,” TJ rolled his eyes, a blush warming his cheeks.

 “I haven’t even said anything yet!” he exclaimed, shuffling over to give TJ a playful smack on the arm. 

 Andi giggled at that and shook her head, turning to whisper something to Amber. TJ felt a small jolt of panic run through his veins. 

 “Hey, it’s rude to keep secrets!” said Cyrus, playfully narrowing his eyes. 

 “Take your own advice for once,” Buffy retorted, lifting an eyebrow when the boy’s face turned a deep shade of red.

 “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Buffy.”

 ~

 “I have to say TJ, you really seem to love...interesting...timing,” Cyrus mumbled, running a hand through his hair.

 “Thanks,” he responded, with no where near his usual playfulness.

 TJ was stood at the door of Cyrus’ shared apartment at 2 am, soaking wet due to the raging storm outside.

 “Try not to wake Buffy up, she has a long day tomorrow,” Cyrus whispered, gently closing the door behind him. Even then, the sounds of howling wind pierced right through the walls, seeping in through the cracks of their front door. TJ advanced hesitantly, slipping off his shoes. 

 “Hang on,” Cyrus whispered, practically stumbling his way down the hall and turning into his room. 

 He soon returned with a huge, fluffy towel, handing it over TJ with a small smile. 

 “There you go.” 

 “Thanks,” he said, wriggling out of Marty’s thick jacket and pulling his shirt over his head. Cyrus’ expression was all worry when he looked up, their gazes meeting. 

 “So what brings TJ Kippen to this apartment at 2 am in the morning?” he asked, in a way that almost seemed conversational. 

 “Just wanted to get away from the house for a bit,” TJ spoke softly.

 “Okay....for any particular reason?” Cyrus asked carefully, leading TJ into the living room.  It was pitch black apart from the faint glow of the moon, until Cyrus flicked a switch that had harsh light flooding it. 

 TJ hesitated before responding, taking a few moments to scan over the room. He’d been there multiple times, but for some reason he wanted to stall as much as he possibly could. 

 It was clear that Buffy and Cyrus had each left their own mark — there were shelves of books about athletes, about history and dinosaurs, sticky notes with various facts on them, a case full of DVD's and a box filled to the brim with bracelets Andi had made (and still makes) for them both. 

 When TJ finally tore his gaze away, Cyrus was still standing there, clearly unsure of whether he should repeat his question or drop the matter. TJ let out a small sigh. 

 “I couldn’t sleep.” 

 I just wanted to see your face. 

 When Cyrus just looked at him in puzzlement, TJ shifted uneasily.  

 “I was just...thinking. And I couldn’t really stop. I thought being somewhere else might help. So I took Amber’s car,” he winced slightly before continuing, “I should probably text her.” 

 “Oh.”

 “Yeah.”

 “Um...if you don’t mind me asking...what were you thinking about?” 

 TJ swallowed at that, shifting his gaze down towards the floor. There was silence for a few long beats.

 “I think I’m gay.” 

 The words were quiet, but with the deafening silence that followed (save for the storm outside) you would’ve thought they’d been an echoing shout. 

 Cyrus’ looked at him with vague surprise. TJ pulled the towel around himself, feeling oddly exposed all of a sudden.

 “I mean, I’ve known...well, not known per se, just...suspected for a while. Since high school.”

 Since becoming friends with you. 

 “Well, that’s okay! You know that, right? There’s nothing wrong with that,” said Cyrus, stepping forward to place a gentle hand on his shoulder. “And...I’m glad you felt comfortable enough to tell me.” 

 TJ nodded. “Yeah. I know. But when something’s been a secret for so long...”

 “I get it,” Cyrus nodded, and from the understanding on his face, TJ knew he did. “You can stay the night if you want, I’m sure Buffy won’t mind. She has to be up pretty early tomorrow anyway.” 

 TJ’s eyebrows furrowed slightly when he noticed Cyrus avert his gaze, biting his lip as he looked towards the hallway. 

 “What’s wrong?”

 “Oh, it’s nothing...it’s just that we only have my bed and Buffy’s bed...do you mind? My bed is pretty big, so...” 

 TJ’s breath caught in his throat. Before he could give it any thought whatsoever, he was speaking.

 “I don’t mind...uh, sleeping with you? If you don’t mind either. I mean we’re friends, right?”

 “That’s true.” 

 Silence fell for a moment. TJ fiddled slightly with the ends of the towel. 

 “Well, I’m kind of tired so...wanna just go?” asked Cyrus, and TJ swore he felt his heart skip a beat.

 “Yeah, sure.” 

 TJ desperately tried to calm his nerves as he followed Cyrus through the darkened hallway, turning off the living room light behind him. A smile crept onto his lips as they walked into Cyrus’ room. He wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but somehow he had always felt comfortable there. 

 “You got another succulent?” he asked, looking towards the bedside table. 

 Cyrus’ face turned a light shade of red. “Yeah. I did. They’re cute in my defence!” 

 TJ raised his arms in surrender, still smiling slightly as he placed the bag down and began rummaging through it for spare clothes. He entered the bathroom to change (and to assess the damage the rain had wreaked on his hair), emerging again soon enough and placing the towel in the small hamper by Cyrus’ bookshelf.

 Cyrus slipped underneath the blankets as TJ tossed his bag next to the bed, carefully climbing onto it and laying as far away from the other boy as he could.

 “I hope you can get to sleep okay,” Cyrus whispered. 

 TJ looked over at him, and although there was darkness obscuring his face, he could tell that Cyrus was nervous; it was practically radiating off of him. He couldn’t him; he felt nervous too. 

 “I think I’ll be okay.” 

 ~

 Golden sunlight poured in through the windows, illuminating Cyrus’ face and making his brown hair look a few shades lighter. TJ couldn’t find it within him to wake the boy up, so he spent a few moments just observing, slightly transfixed.

 He very nearly had a heart attack, however, when Cyrus’ eyes fluttered open, immediately landing on TJ. A jolt ran through him in, and he immediately shifted so that he was looking up at the ceiling instead, white turned a pale yellow due to the sun. 

 He heard Cyrus laugh, all gravel and rasp due to the fact that he’d just woken up.

 “Creep,” he mumbled, giving him a playful shove.

 TJ attempted to play it off with a smile as he got up and gathering his books for the morning. He shot a quick text to Amber and Marty as he searched through his bag for clothes to wear, completely oblivious to the pair of eyes that were on him. 

 ~

 As the sun began to hide behind the horizon, TJ and Cyrus made their way down to a nearby park to mess around. TJ always appreciated this time at dusk; the air was cool, the sky was a gradient of pinks and oranges, and the streets were relatively empty too, save for the cars that passed them. They were sat on a large swing, sitting back to back and using their legs to push off the ground and swing as high as they could. After almost falling multiple times, Cyrus decided to hop off, pulling TJ along with him.

 “Awww, but it was just getting fun!”

 “And dangerous,” said Cyrus, rolling his eyes. 

 They made their way over to a bench instead, despite TJ’s complaints, and despite the pouty look he gave Cyrus as they sat down. Cyrus just shook his head however, the beginnings of a fond smile on his face. 

 They both went quiet for a few minutes as they observed the final streaks of colour in the sky. TJ was acutely aware of the space (or lack thereof) separating them. 

 “After years of knowing you TJ, I never knew you played piano,” Cyrus spoke suddenly. 

 TJ just laughed. “I didn’t think it was information worth sharing.”

 “What?! If I were as good at piano as you are, or even half that, I’d boast to the whole world!”

 TJ just shrugged, dragging his feet along the wood chips beneath him. 

 “I don’t know.”

 “I don’t think you give yourself enough credit sometimes,” Cyrus declared.

 TJ raised an eyebrow at him. 

 “Okay, okay, asides from bragging about your ‘dashing good looks’,”

 “Cyrus—“

 “You’re kind of amazing, TJ.” 

 TJ looked down at his hands, knowing well that his face was probably a deep shade of red.

 “What about you? You’re great at helping people, you’re great at exams, you’re like, amazing at taking photos, you’re pretty much the nicest person I know...I guess I can look past the star wars obsession...”

 Cyrus gave him a beaming smile at that, one that had TJ’s heart soaring.

 TJ wasn’t exactly sure what happened — one minute it seemed they were looking at one another with soft smiles, then the next minute TJ was closing the distance between their lips and Cyrus was stilling with shock. When TJ realised this he immediately pulled away.

 Mortified at the pure shock on Cyrus’ face, TJ got up from the bench and began fast-walking away, still reeling from the fact that he had actually kissed Cyrus. What had he been thinking?

 His fast-walk quickly turned to a run, one fuelled almost entire by adrenaline. He shoved a few protruding branches out of his way as he sprinted up the path, his panicked, muddled brain somehow remembering the route back to Cyrus’ apartment. Icy air filled his lungs, and his breaths had become ragged by the time he finally arrived at the front door, darkness enveloping him. 

 Cyrus was left on the bench, blushing crimson as he brought a hand up to his face and watched TJ’s form disappear into the night. 

 ~

 “Hi Buffy,” TJ panted as he hurried inside. 

 “Hi...”

 Buffy raised an eyebrow, watching as TJ scrambled about the apartment to grab his things. She hesitantly followed him into Cyrus’ room, where he was tossing his clothes into a bag.

 “In a hurry to leave?”

 TJ gave her a small smile. “Yeah...I just wanna get home.” 

 TJ rushed into the bathroom, grabbing his toothbrush and heading for the door again. To his surprise however, Buffy seemed to be blocking it.

 “Buffy. What are you doing?”

 “Look TJ...” she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, “I know it might be scary for you...to like someone and have them like you back. But as someone who’s known Cyrus for like 10 years now, I know he’d never hurt you on purpose. He cares about you.”

 TJ felt his face pale at those words. 

 “What are you saying?” he asked quietly.

 Buffy’ eyebrows were furrowed slightly with puzzlement. “He didn’t tell you?” 

 TJ’s heart began to race. “You’re saying he likes me? Is that what you mean? Cyrus Goodman likes me?”

 Buffy just stared for a moment, clearly taken aback. TJ could feel himself growing somewhat desperate for an answer. 

 “That’s exactly what she’s saying,” a voice chimed in from behind her. 

 If TJ wasn’t shocked before, he most certainly was now. All he could do was watch, completely frozen, as Buffy stepped back to allow Cyrus in, giving them both a knowing smile before closing the door behind her with a soft thud. 

 There they were — TJ stood in the centre of the room, a toothbrush in one hand and a bag full of things in the other, the colour almost completely drained from his face. Cyrus on the other hand, with some sort of newfound confidence, was approaching him with a small smile. 

 TJ could barely help himself. 

 “I’m sorry for kissing you. I really shouldn’t have, I didn’t ask or anything beforehand. It was...it was dumb. But I’m sorry — do you like me? Because...because I like you. I kind of have for years.” 

 TJ normally prided himself on his ability to word his thoughts at least somewhat eloquently, but at that moment he wasn’t even fully aware of what was leaving his mouth. He just knew that Cyrus was getting ridiculously close now, and he was standing up on his tip-toes, and then — as if TJ had never run away in the first place — they were kissing again, slower this time. 

 It took TJ a moment or two, but he began to melt into it, drawing Cyrus in and holding him steady. For a brief moment he worried that his lips would be slightly chapped from the cold, but if the bright smile on Cyrus’ face as he pulled away was any indicator, he didn’t seem to mind.

 Cyrus brought a gentle hand up to cup TJ’s face, head tipped to the side. 

 “Yes, I like you TJ. I have since like...forever.” 

 TJ let out a breathless laugh, still reeling and still in total disbelief. 

 “Since forever? Now that’s embarrassing.”

 Cyrus just rolled his eyes, gently sliding his hand down TJ’s arm and grabbing his bag from him, setting it down on his bed.

 “You kissed me and then ran away before I could tell you that I liked you? Now that’s embarrassing.”

 TJ felt himself blush at that.

 “Touché,” he remarked, as he walked over to the bed and collapsed down onto it, gazing up at the other boy. For a moment, he felt the urge to look away from the returning stare, but he couldn’t drag his eyes away even if he wanted to.

 Cyrus ended up settling down beside him, wrapping his arms around TJ’s waist. “I’m kind of glad you decided to come over.”

 TJ smiled, running a gentle hand through Cyrus’ hair. “Me too.” 

 ~

 (The following morning) 

 Group chat: this is a gay/bi/pan event only. go home. 

 Buffy: I KNEW IT WOULD WORK OUT EVEN IF U TWO ARE IDIOTS

 Amber: good!!!! i might’ve died if u two kept flirting for all of eternity 

 Andi: tj if u hurt cyrus i will end u. cyrus if u hurt tj i will end u. LOVE U GUYS <3 

 Marty: TJ BROOOO u finally did it!! i’m proud of u (and cyrus) <3 

 Cyrus: i love u all omg 

 TJ: what am i doing here?? who even are u guys i don’t know any of u 

 Cyrus: yeah what ARE u doing here

 TJ: wait i think i vaguely recognise u. cute guy with brown eyes. 

 Buffy: i’m already tired of this.

 Marty: buffy i love u

 Buffy: love u too!!! <33 

 TJ: Now that’s what we call a hypocrite. 

 Cyrus: why are we all a mess 

 TJ: You’re not a mess!!! you’re beautiful and amazing!!! 

 Andi: tj u have to stop rn, he’s blushing like crazy

 Cyrus: LIES 

 TJ: cyrus goodman u are talented, smart, funny, wonderful, i could kiss u all day, 

 Andi: okay! you’ve officially killed him.

 Cyrus: SKDEKJSJSJ  

 Cyrus: TJ. come over rn 

 TJ: I’M ON MY WAY 

 Cyrus: <33 

[descendantofthesparrow]

Daughter of the Honorable Thief - Harry Hook x reader – part 7 – park p1

Harry Hook x Daughter of Robin Hood!Reader

key

 h/c- hair color

 e/c- eye color

 h/l- hair length

 s/c- skin color

 y/n- your name

 clothing reference:

  ---Harry Hook POV---

Its been a week and a half since (y/n) and Erza joined our little group, both even going so far to let me tattoo them with an anchor, the same one me, Uma, gil, and the rest of the crew had. Erza getting it just behind her left ear, and (y/n) on the side of her left ring finger.

Ben had bought me a proper tattoo machine a while back, after learning I was skilled in it, he and his mother had even gotten tattoos.

Which is still weird to me, but whatever. At the moment I was packing my clothes, because Fairy Godmother had announced earlier that week that the seniors (a/n: im making Carlos a senior, he skipped a grade) are going on a trip to an amusement park, somewhere called…��notts berry farm”? I think.

FG had also suggested bringing money because while all students going would be given an amount of money for the three days at the park for food, drinks, or items they wanted to get. it's not so bad to have extra, so I would be bringing the money I gained from doing tattoos.

Grunting as I closed my suitcase, I grabbed my hook before remembering Fairy Godmother telling me that I couldn’t bring it into the part unless I had a weapons permit, and even then it would be hard for me to enter.

Sighing I placed the hook into a protective box, sliding it into a hidden compartment in my closet.

Gil exited the bathroom, an excited grin on his face, placing his toothbrush in his travel bag.

“I really hope the place has a lot of food, jay said that amusement parks have really good junk food.”

I hummed, not really listening, more focused on getting my sketchbook into my bag. “probably, Auradon is kinda known for their food yeh know”

Gil nodded, throwing his bag over his shoulder, grabbing his wallet and phone, checking to make sure he had his charger.

“got everything,” he asked, glancing at me. I nodded, patting my pockets, phone in my pocket and wallet in the other.

“aye, let's go”

Lifting my suitcase I trailed after Gil, leaving the room, and locking it behind me.

Walking down the hall, we stopped in front of Umas dorm, knocking in a pattern to let her know it was us.

“yeah”

Opening the door, I saw (y/n) and Erza helping Uma pack, just like they had helped us an hour before.

I raised my brow, huh, “are yeh having a tough time deciding on what teh bring?”

Uma huffed and nodded, flopping on her bed. “I don’t know what's appropriate for an amusement park, so they’re helping me”

“a lot of the stuff Uma chose to bring was for colder weather, so we had to raid mine and Erzas closet for stuff we didn’t use anymore, luckily a lot of them fit Uma.”

I nodded, dropping my stuff on the floor, and making my way over to Uma, grabbing her hands to pull her up.

“come on Uma, pack up” Uma groaned, not wanting to leave her bed, hanging back on her weight.

“don’ wanna~”

Erza rolled her eyes, tossing a t-shirt at Uma’s face. Uma yelped, pulling on my hands to sit herself up, glaring at erza.

“Really?” she seethed, glaring down the smirking erza.

“yep, come on buses leave in an hour, and we don’t want to be left behind” uma huffed, standing and throwing her…undergarments into her suitcase.

Gil and I glanced at each other, before picking up our stuff, “we’re gonna put our stuff with the buses, see yeh soon”

The girls just waved us off, so we left the room and headed outside, placing our suitcases in the storage space in our designated bus, putting our bags with jays and Carlos’

We turned to head back to the girls, but they emerged from the dorm building with Uma’s stuff in tow. I raised my brow, Erza and (y/n) didn’t have their stuff.

“wheres yer stuff?” I asked, helping (y/n) load Uma’s suitcase into the storage space.

“oh, it's already loaded, my bags over there” (y/n) answered, pointing over to where her and Erzas bags lay.

I nodded, pushing in Uma’s case. We backed away when the man standing at the bus doors came forward and closed the storage gate.

Fairy godmothers voice came over the speakers “all students going on the trip please make your way to your designated buses.”

Gil tossed my bag to me, I nodded my thanks and climbed into the bus, flashing my bus ticket to the driver, she nodded and motioned me to move on, I made my way to the back, Gil, Uma, (y/n) and Erza close behind.

I took a window seat, (y/n) plopping next to me, Erza and Uma taking the seat across from us.

Harriet stomped onto the bus, flopping next to Gil.

She had that, ‘im exhausted don’t talk to me’ look.

I snorted, plugging in my earbuds, and turning on my music, preparing for the three-hour bus ride.

----

Fukcing finally!!!!! Hades Christ, I need to fucking pee.

Hopping out of the bus, I speed-walked over to beasty boy.

“oi beasty, wheres the loo, I need teh leak”

Ben sputtered for a moment, before saying; “in the hotel should be a sign for the bathrooms”

I didn’t even wait, rushing to the hotel and making my way to the bathrooms, I heard footsteps behind me, glancing back, I saw Gil trailing after me.

---

Ahhh much better, I washed my hands before leaving the bathroom, because not doing that is nasty.

I made my way into the lobby Gil once again following behind me.

“Harry!” I turned to the voice, Ben, he jogged up to me, handing me a card key.

“here your room key, oh, Gil here's yours,” Ben handed Gil his key, then he handed me a paper as well, the room number and floor our room was on.

“meet up down here in an hour, Fairy Godmothers going to assign groups and meet up times”

I nodded, pushing past ben. I looked down at the paper

‘ room A113, floor 7’  

And bellow that was FGs handwriting

‘your suitcases have already been taken to your rooms’

I nodded to Gil, heading over to the elevators, pressing for floor 7.

---

The room was pretty big, two queen-sized beds, a full bathroom, 1 large dresser, a full-body mirror, a desk with a vanity mirror, and a mini-fridge, with a note attached to it.

‘all snacks and drinks in this fridge are paid for by the school.- FG’

I checked my phone, 45 minutes until we needed to head down to the lobby, I relayed that to Gil and started to unpack, shirts in the top drawer on the left, pants and shorts in the middle drawer on the left, underpants in the bottom drawer on the left, Gil putting his stuff in the same order on the right side of the dresser.

I flopped on the bed, sighing

“not as good as our beds at the dorm building but it'll do”

“yeah” Gil nodded, pressing his hands to the mattress “but anythings better than the isle”

“aye right aye right”

I turned on the tv, sitting up when I saw Doctor Strange playing.

“hell yeah!!!”

Gil grinned, sitting cross-legged on the floor.

----

I sat with Gil, Uma, Erza, and (y/n) in the lounge chairs in the lobby, waiting for FG to assign groups and give us our cards (that had our money in them) and our tickets.

Gil and Uma were playing on Erzas switch, while (y/n) and I just chatted about….whatever was on our minds.

“alright children!!” FG stood at the doors, smiling at all the students gathered at the lobby.

“I want you all to line up and when a teacher calls your name, go to them and grab your papers, you will need them to enter the park, they will also tell you who your group is for the trip.”

the group of 45 students whispered among each other, waiting to be called, soon my name was called.

“Hook, Harry”

Walking up I took the papers and walked back over to my friends.

Glancing down, I saw a card with a note on it $150 dollars per day, a ticket with three days entrance to both parks, and a slip with fellow students names on it.

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

Your group for this trip

Harry hook

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

Uma Triskatillion

Gil legume

Erza O'Hara

(y/n) Hood

Harriet Hook

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

I sighed in relief, okay, people I get along with…and my sister.

“I guess were hanging out for the trip huh?” glancing down I saw (y/n) grinning up at me, her own papers in her hand.

“ya I guess, have yeh been here before?” I asked, raising my brow, (y/n) nodded, her eyes sparkling,

“yeah!! There are so many cool rides here, and so much to do, there's live-action plays and actors running around, each day is a different experience!”

“cool.”

Gil, Uma, Erza, and Harriet came over, all three glad to be with known people instead of getting forced with those they didn’t know.

“alright, students let's go!!”

The large group followed FG out, walking down the long path to….Knotts berry farm I think? I still don’t really know the name.

We passed through the metal detectors, reaching the entrance lines. I snatched a map as I passed through. I wanted to know exactly where to go.

“im hungry!” Gil whined, leaning on uma, making her stumble slightly from his weight.

“get off me Gil, you're heavy!”

“Thanks, im still hungry”

“well” (y/n) stepped through Harriet and erza “there's quite a lot of places to eat, there's a Jhonny rockets and panda express over that way and there's some country-themed places over that way in ghost town”

“panda express sounds good,” Harriet mumbled, looking down at my map. “Chinese place right?”

“yep, it's one of my favorite places to eat.”

“panda express it is” Uma announced, gesturing (y/n) to lead the way.

(y/n) nodded, passing through a walkway, under a huge hanging coaster. I glanced up at the red and silver coaster, my hands shaking slightly, I hated heights, my sister seemed to sense my brain going haywire, so she quickly snatched my wrist, grounding me.

“You good?” she whispered, a concerned frown on her face. Ever since leaving the isle, Harriet was more willing to show that she cared about her family.

I nodded, breathing deeply to calm myself “aye, just, yeh know, don’t like heights”

She nodded, squeezing my wrist lightly before releasing it.

---

“Alright I admit, this Is fucking delicious.” I praised, stabbing some orange chicken with my fork, “now wha’ are we doin’ after thi’s?”

(y/n) hummed, tapping her chin as she grabbed my map and scanned through it. “well we could go do a ride next, probably a calm one as we just ate….maybe?...”

“How bout that one?” Gil offered, pointing to his right, at the log ride next to us. (y/n) brightened grinning at Gil, he smiled back.

“that’s, that’s a good idea gil!” (y/n) praised “its pretty calm the entire ride, only two drops”

I froze, drops? I glanced at uma, she shrugged, patting my hand.

“How deep are the drops?”Harriet asked, sipping on her soda.

Erza tapped the table, answering for (y/n)

“The first one is….18 feet? I think? And the last drop is 42 feet, but they're not straight down, they're at an angle. So it's not bad, and this is coming from someone with Acrophobia, so that’s how you know it’s a good ride.”

My shoulders untensed slightly, okay, I think I could deal with that, wait Erza also feared hights?

“if I remember correctly, it's four people per log, so two of us are going to be on our own” Erza turned to (y/n) an odd gleam in her eye.

She just rolled her eyes, seeming to have a silent conversation with Erza.

“that’s fine” Harriet grumbled, getting up to toss her trash away. “as long as im not paired with a random stranger”

“kay let's go” I nodded, shoving my fortune cookie in my mouth (and yes I read the fortune before eating it, I almost didn’t, before (y/n) stopped me) and stood, tossing my trash away.

---

I ended up in the back seat with (y/n) in front of me, Erza and Uma sitting in the front. Gil and Harriet in the log behind us.

“warning we’re gonna get wet, especially Erza and Uma!”

I cackled, gripping the metal bars on the sides.

Uma looked over Erzas shoulder and flipped me off, only making me laugh louder.

The ride was pretty fast, faster than I thought it would be, the water splashing up and hitting my cheek. The fucking mannequins were real fucking freaky though.

Then came the first drop, “first drop!!” (y/n) called as we were cast into darkness. I was glad for the dark, I wouldn’t be able to see the hight of the drop.

“whoooo!!!!”

I yelped as we went down, water crashing as we hit the bottom, soaking my pants and shoes.

I heard Gil laughing behind us, Harriet's cursing mixing with it.

More freaky ass mannequins then came the final drop, as we reached the top, I was distracted by the overlook of the park.

‘impressive’ I thought, then the feeling of falling split through my chest, and I leaned forward, wrapping my arms around (y/n)s waist.

“FUCK” (y/n) just laughed, holding her hands to the sky.

Water splashed up, mostly hitting uma and erza, but my pants still got soaked.

“eehg” I groaned, lifting my pants away from my leg, the fabric sticking. “that feels so weird!”

(y/n) snorted, peeling her shirt away “Yeah, but at least it cooled us down”

Oh, I forgot to mention that it was 87 degrees outside today, a contrast from Auradons weather, which always had perfect 75-degree weather, if it got hot, it only raised to 82.

“yeah,” I mumbled, releasing my pants, they made a squishy slap sound as they hit my skin. “that’s something”

The log entered the loading area, and I let (y/n) grip my shoulder as she exited the log.

(y/n) lead the way out, stopping at a hut, that had multiple screens on it, with pictures on them, (y/n) scanned them before stopping and pointing at one.

“there's ours!”

Following her hand, I saw a picture of us in the log, on the tall drop.

Erza and Uma were in the front, uma making devil horn signs in the hair, her eyes scrunched closed. Erza had her hands crossed in front of her, her aviators on, her thumb and middle fingers down.

Then there was (y/n) and me, (y/n) had her hands up, and I was behind her, arms around her torso and face in her neck.

Then Gil and Harriet's picture came up.

They each got their own seat, Harriet in the back, her face scrunched and she was gripping the metal bars beside her in a death grip.

Gil in the front, face beaming as he was in mid-laugh, hands in the air.

“do yall wanna buy them?” Erza broke through my thoughts, stepping towards the computers.

“sure” uma mumbled, smiling at the photos.

Harriet and Gil emerged from the exit, their pants and shoes wet.

“That was fun!” Gil beamed, shaking his head to rid it of excess water.

“that was wet” Harriet grumbled, taking off her beanie and flipping her hair back, putting the beanie back on.

(y/n)s phone beeped, she fished it out of her backpack, glancing at it.

“got the photo, thanks Erza”

“no prob”

“Okay, what's next?” (y/n) asked, glancing around at us, I pulled my map out, letting the others look at it.

Gil glanced at my map, pointing at the area next to us “oh how bout those!!!”

(y/n) looked to where he was pointing, nodding. “oh the games? Yeah that could be fun”

“let's go!!” Erza cheered, locking arms with uma and leading her to the games.

----(y/n) POV----

Games were a good idea, Erza had done an accuracy game, earning a teal seahorse, which she gave to Uma, Uma tried to deny it, not wanting to take something Erza worked hard for.

Then Erza made a comment, which made Uma go red.

“a pretty seahorse for a pretty sea witch”

“u-umm…thanks”

Harriet had joined Harry in a wobbly ladder challenge. Which somehow they competed it, getting coupons for anything under $20 is free.

Harry got a novelty Knotts berry farm drink. Harriet had also gotten herself a Knotts drink.

Gil did a strong man contest, the one with a hammer that you need to rocket the little thing to hit the bell.

He won against 5 other people, choosing a string bag.

You yourself just stood and watched, simply enjoying the vks having fun, they deserved it.

“(y/n)!” Gil called to you, some dip in dots in his hand. “can we go on a ride now!?”

You nodded, looking around for a ride, your eyes landed on wipeout, oh this would be fun!

“that one!”

Your friends glanced at it, and nodded, not knowing what to expect, except Erza, she just grinned and fist-bumped you, “amazing choice Hood”

----

You were fucking right, seeing harry and his sister clutch onto each other yelping when the ride simultaneously rose and dropped at the same time.

You and erza cackled, looking over Harry and Harriet to see uma and gil, uma was clutching her seat bar for dear life, gil was laughing his head off, “this feels so weird!!!”

Harriet and Harry jumped off the ride as soon as they got the chance, stumbling slightly from the ride making them dizzy.

“never again” Harriet groaned, leaning on harry. Harry nodded in agreement, pouting.

Gil and Erza wanted to do hangtime, but you hated that ride, so you declined, Uma wasn’t in the mood, and Harry and Harriet were still dizzy from Wipeout. So they went on it alone.

It was fun to see them hang over the first drop.

You and Uma went on scrambler in the meantime, harry and Harriet going on the sail ride next to it.

Gil and Erza suggested either Uma or Harry suggest the next ride, so harry chose Voyage to the Iron Reef, which was air-conditioned and a blasting game, a good cool down from the last couple rides.

You and Gil had a mini competition, both being descendants of archers, so you wanted to know who would get the higher score, loser gets the other a cinnamon bun from the Cinnabon outside, needless to say, you won.

You getting 221,900, while Gil was close behind with 89,000. You both congratulated each other on getting the highest scores of the day.

You agreed you would claim your prize later, so you continued on, Harriet choosing the bumper carts.

Uma wouldn’t stop crashing into you, Erza teaming up with her.

You got your revenge later that night when a lot of you played I dare you in bens room.

Then uma chose the bigfoot river rapids, which you all agreed to, you all were really warm and needed to cool down.

Uma, now around free moving white rapid waters, used her powers to soak Harriet and you, letting natural water hit herself, so it didn't seem like she was using her powers.

By the end, Harry's shoes were speaking as he took steps, uma was once again using her powers to dry her stuffed seahorse, she seemed to already cherish it after having it for only an hour.

Erza is very pleased.

Now…ghost rider.

Harriet walked up to you, grasping your shoulder, whispering to you “hey, Harrys not a big fan of heights, if he wants can he sit this out”

“Hettie I can hear you!”

“I was trying to be discreet!”

“well great fukin-“

“well” you interrupted, stopping the oncoming argument of the hook siblings. “if he doesn’t want to he doesn’t have too, he can walk in line with us, but he doesn’t have to ride it if he doesn’t want to”

Harry nodded, silently thankful. But….he kinda wanted to go on, erza telling him that most of the ride was within itself, and even with her phobia, the adrenaline distracted her from the height of the ride.

He had ultimately decided to ride, sitting next to you and gripping your arm in a death grip.

After the first drop, Harry loved it, releasing one of his hands to hold it in the air, screaming along with you and the others.

“again again again again!”

You laughed, patting Harry's knee, “if we have time sure! And if the others want to as well”

Erza and Gil joined harry in his chores of “again”

“one more time, one more time, one more time!”

You, Harry, Erza, and Gil went once more, Uma and Harriet chilling in a jewelry store.

Soon you had all gotten a text from FG, telling you that you all had one more hour at the park before we were all supposed to return to the hotel.

So you proposed one last ride, the silver bullet.

As you arrived, you noticed both Erza and Harry tense, harry seemed to suffer from the same phobia that erza did, now erza loved roller coasters, so she would usually grip onto you till you were in the cart. Then she'd be fine.

Now you didn’t know how Harry would react, so you repeated your words from earlier.

“if you don’t want to, you don’t have to”

Harry nodded and ended up waiting for you at the exit.

Erza and Harriet's hair looked crazy after hopping off, you definitely took a picture of that.

“I’ll admit,” Uma said as she leaned into Erza, smiling softly, Erza was pink, grinning happily. You gave her a thumbs up “today was really fun, I thought I would be a bust.”

“yeah,” you hummed, drinking the last of your soda, placing the straw into the cap “my cousin hates amusement parts, always saying that the rides or aesthetic were really boring, but they really enjoy Knotts, it has such thrilling rides.”

“agreed” Harriet hummed, chewing on her Cinnabon. “I wonder what the water park is like?”

Gil agreed, beaming, exited for the rest of the trip.

“well I wouldn’t know, I've never really been to the water park part of Knotts” you mumbled biting into your prize for winning against gil in the shotting game earlier

“why?” uma inquired, playing with the tail of her seahorse.

“just never really had the opportunity”

“kay”

You arrived at the hotel, running into ben immediately, who informed that in party room 2 was pizza.

“yes!” Erza squealed bolting away, uma trailing after her. Gil and Harry following Uma.

“Hey (y/n)” Harriet called, you turned and tilted your head. Humming for Harriet to continue

"Thanks for helping out harry today, he usually has panic attacks about stuff dealing with hights, but yeh helped him through it, so…thank yeh”

You teared up a little, you have known Harriet to be hard and closed hearted, so for her to be this open with you…just made you tear up a little.

”he doesn’t deserve to live in fear Harriet, he deserves to live life without fearing a thing like heights. ”

Harriet smirked, wrapping her arm around your shoulders, winking at you.

”I knew there was a reason I liked yeh”

You laughed, wrapping your own arm around her shoulder.

”and I knew there was a reason I liked you! ”

---end of part 7---

Comment or message me for part 8

[madrut16]

Happy New Year! Thanks for doing this fun set of asks! ❤ 1. Where do you want to travel in the next decade? 2. And a drabble prompt for you: Falling asleep before midnight (your choice of character)

Hi! I've finally finished the drabble so now I can answer these. 

1. Where do I want to travel

Oh gosh, the bigger question is where don’t I. Anywhere in Europe definitely. There are so many sites I want to see, including many famous historical landmarks. Somewhere in Asia like Japan, India, Thailand, etc. I’d even love to go to South America and Africa. So, basically everywhere. But, it’ll be amazing if I get to all of that by then. 

Drabble - Bryce x MC

"Why didn't you wake me?" Ally whined, sitting up in her still dark bedroom.

It was barely morning on January 1st, 4:35 to be exact which meant for the first time since childhood she fell asleep before midnight. She pouted at the person next to her who she had invited over in part to make sure she was awake in time.

Bryce let out a chuckle before it got silenced with a glare. "I tried Ally, you wouldn't respond. Which means you clearly needed the rest. And we both know that waking you prematurely does not end well."

The numerous times within the year they'd known each other he'd have to wake her for work flashed through his mind. All of the interns and residents at Edenbrook knew that the young diagnostics fellow was not to be messed with before a cup of coffee.

She rolled her eyes at him. "That's on a normal occasion, Bryce." She swung her legs out of the warm covers and placing her bare feet on the carpeted ground. Looking back at him, she sighed feeling bad. "It doesn't matter now. I'll just have to plan better next year."

She knew deep down it wasn't his fault. She was the one who volunteered to work the late shift so that her friends could have an extra week out of town. But, she needed somewhere to direct her frustration and he was the closest person available.  

However, if he was upset at her, he didn't show it. Instead, his expression was a mix of amusement and guilt.

"I'm sorry, I know how much it means to you."

She shrugged, her frown not budging from her face. "It's fine," she dismissed glumly. "My mother says I'm way too obsessed with this anyway."

With a huff, she stood up and instinctively stretched her dormant muscles. As much as she would've liked to rest for at least another couple of hours, she knew it would be impossible. Once her body got up, it couldn't go back to sleep.

Bryce watched her exit the room, no doubt to turn the coffee maker on. Staring at the open door for a few minutes, he realized with a start that it wasn't 2020 everywhere. In Hawaii. He had been so wrapped up in her quest to stay awake that he'd forgotten all about his New Year's tradition. Looking at the alarm clock on the bedside table, an idea sparked in his mind seeing that he had fifteen minutes to spare.

Springing up from the bed, he searched for his laptop and smiled when his fingers wrapped around its cool surface. Maybe Ally wouldn't have to miss her favorite tradition after all.

He quickly found her in the kitchen impatiently waiting for the machine to finish spitting out coffee. At his loud footsteps, she looked in his direction and her brows knit.

"Bryce?"

He smiled at her coyly, not wanting to give his spontaneous plan away. "Just wait a few minutes until I get this setup."

This only puzzled her further and she watched him with interest as he plugged his computer into the TV she shared with her friends. He did this numerous times before since he had Hulu and she didn't. However, this wasn't what he chose this time, going instead to a website she'd never seen before that appeared to be a tourist page for Hawaii.

"What are you doing?" she pressed, her eyebrows practically shooting off her forehead.

He stood up and walked towards her as his signature smirk turned into a sheepish smile. "You didn't miss New Year's Ally," he told her elusively. "In fact, you're just in time."

The creases on her forehead deepened. "But it's almost five."

Clearly, her brain hadn’t switched on for the day. 

"Here it is. But across the country, it's not,” he told her, leading her towards the screen so that she could see the details. 

It took a minute but, her face soon brightened. "Honolulu. It's...not midnight yet there...is it?"

He shook his head. "Not for another eleven minutes."

Now she started to catch on to his plans. "Wait...is that...live?"

"It is,” he said, with his cheekily proud grin. Yet, she knew him well enough to be able to spot the hint of nervousness he tried to hide.“I wanted to show you my tradition."

She looked at him in shock. The number of times he mentioned anything to do with where he was from she could count on one hand. She was always curious about that part of him but, it was clearly a difficult subject and so she didn't press him on. As someone who held a big portion of her past from him, she understood the need to keep secrets.

"But, I thought you hated Hawaii."

His voice was quiet but in the hush of near dawn, she heard it clearly. "That's the thing, I don't really. I loved living there. I just don't like my family. If it weren't for them...I'd visit all the time."

It was something he hadn't admitted out loud until now. His expression was bittersweet, almost wistful as if he wished that things were different. But, it was gone in a flash and the mask returned.

Clearing his throat, he continued. "Anyway, this is one of the things I enjoy most. I watch it every year. And I want you to have your countdown."

"Really?" Her eyes widened in disbelief.

Once again, she drew a laugh from him. “Yes, really. It's important to you, isn't it?" he replied.

She bit her lip, looking at him sheepishly. "Well, yeah but--"

"Then I'm making sure you get it,” he insisted, interrupting her. 

Ally's smile widened as the last minute in 2019 ticked by on the live-stream. In fact, as the fireworks started, she couldn't think of a better way to ring in the new year. 

[liveoutimagination]

Better Me, Better You pt. I - Bob Morley Imagine

requested: no word count: 2618 warnings: mention of mental illness pairing: fem!reader x bob morley

summary: y/n, the daughter of a wealthy family, sees a therapist for a while now. whenever she’s there, she runs into this one guy. after a while, they started talking to each other between their appointments until one day, he asks her to grab a drink together. y/n, who isn’t much into tv shows and celebrities in general, prefers spending her time drawing. that’s why she doesn’t even realize who she is spending her time with.

A/N: first time writing 2nd person, but i thought i should give it a try. also - this series is going to turn quite dark as it continues. just a warning beforehand, so you can prepare yourself for it. after all, mental illness is a core element of the story. also, nevermind the misspellings and stuff. Y/NN - your nickname

feedback is welcome! also, feel free to hmu if you want to be added to the tag-list for the next part, so you won’t miss it. prompts & requests are currently open!

It was clear as day – the tension sitting in the back of your neck, digging deeper into your flesh and bones. Yet it was nothing new to you. In fact, you got quite used to it over the past years. After all, that was one of the reasons you were sitting on these stone-cold stairs, gazing in abstraction, the coffee in your hands almost completely cooled down.

As most times you had been way too early for your weekly appointment with Dr. Ainsley. It became quite the habit within the past few months – ever since your parents arranged the first meeting with the middle-aged therapist. You still remember the argument you had back then like it was yesterday.

You didn't even live at home anymore and yet they still couldn't help but interfere with your life. While the reasonable part of you could fully understand their motives, you had never been one to keep their cool. Actually, it was quite the opposite. No matter how big or small – as soon as something got to you, your emotions took control. It had been this way since you were young and while you were pretty sure it was due to the lack of shown feelings in your family, your parents never seemed like giving proper thought to it.

Taking a sip from your coffee, you creased your face into a frown. The well-known question whether your parents thought showing affection was the same as giving you money came to your mind. Since you grew up in a material world, it didn't seem that far off the reality. But even though you were curious about an answer, by now you had given up on ever receiving one.

A sigh escaped your lips, letting your head fall back against the wall. Why were you even sitting here? Not like, here in general but still outside? You knew very well you could waste your time inside the building. Another sigh, another sip as you closed your eyes for a brief moment.

“Impressive. You haven't even been in there and yet you're already exhausted?”, a male voice reached your ears.

“Yeah, why wait? Wanna cross that off my list as soon as possible.” You replied, your eyes still closed.

You knew exactly who just left the building. Even without looking you saw his curly dark hair and brown eyes right in front of you. It'd been weeks since you first met and while you didn't pay much attention to each other at first, you soon realized your appointments were almost always at the same day, which is why after a while you started talking to each other. Yet you never changed any important information so far.

Eventually opening your eyes again, you gave him a tired yet encouraging smile.

“Didn't go that well, huh?”, you said as you got a glance at his face.

The expression he gave you made any comment superfluous, which was probably the reason he only shook his head as he sat down next to you.

“She's in a nasty mood today. So you better prepare yourself.”, he exclaimed in a sigh, leaning back as well. Rubbing his eyes, before stopping at the back of his nose.

“Great. Can't wait.”, you replied sarcastically, emptying your cup in one sip.

Slowly standing up, you stretched a little.

“Well, I better get going then. Wouldn't want to provoke her by being late, now would I?”

“Probably not.”

He sounded tired, not as cheerful as you had known him before. This time surely got him and you couldn't help the feeling of anxiety spreading in your whole body as you wondered if you'd feel the same once you were done.

After throwing your cup into the bin a few steps away from the entrance, you took a deep breath, hand placed at the door handle.

“See you next week.” You addressed him, as you pushed the door open.

____________________

He was right. So right, you just should have skipped today's appointment. You brows were in a constant frown, even after you left the room and took a moment to gather yourself in the waiting room. Pulling your hair back, you stretched your neck, searching your purse for your headphones. While most time you enjoyed the sound of your environment, right now you couldn't bare anything but your favorite songs.

Leaving the counselors office, you plugged your headphones into your phone, everything good to go once you were outside. Consumed by the thoughts rushing through your mind, you barely paid attention to anything at all, not even after pushing open the front door. You didn't even notice the silhouette moving next to the entrance. Nor did you hear anyone calling out for you. Not until you felt a tap on your shoulder.

You flipped around, more startled than you should have been. Especially once you realized it was the guy from before.

“Whoa...! No one ever told you not to creep up on someone?”, you hissed, your voice more defensive than it was supposed to be.

He rose his hands in defense, an apologetic expression on his face.

“Actually, I've been calling you a few times.”, he added, a little laughter following.

Apparently, your roles switched. Now you were the one too weary to even bring up the courage to smile, why you only shrugged your shoulders.

“Whatever. What are you still doing here?”, you asked, barely interested in the answer.

You just wanted to get home, be by yourself and ignore everything and everyone. You would have given anything just so you could...

“Waiting for you.”, he interrupted your thoughts, catching you off guard and causing you to narrow your eyes to slits – looking at him skeptically.

“Why?”, you responded harshly.

He let out a sigh, before scratching his neck.

“Let's say I had a feeling you wouldn't feel that peachy. Thought you could need a drink when you're done?”, he explained, giving you a little smile.

“You do realize it's only afternoon...” One of your eyebrows raised as you were about to explain that it was way too early for a drink when you changed your mind within a matter of seconds.

“You know what? Screw that. Count me in. Where are we going?”

You got in motion before you could change your mind. As if he could sense it, he followed your lead, soon catching up to you.

“I can't actually go somewhere public so...” “Why's that?”, you interrupted him, completely forgetting about your manners.

That was if you even had some – like your parents often would say. Another wave of anger rose, even though you only thought about them a split second. Yes, today's session definitely got to you.

“Are you serious? I can't just... Forget about that. I just don't feel like surrounding myself with tons of people right now and I'm sure the same goes for you.”

Without even turning your head, you eyed him for a moment. Even without looking at him properly, you could tell his sudden change of mind, yet you were too preoccupied with your own worries to dig deeper into the topic.

“Fine with me. My place isn't far from here. Private enough?”

You didn't even take a moment to reconsider what you just offered. You barely knew this guy and yet you invited him to your place? Usually, you even argued with your friends and family if one of them wanted to come around and yet you were completely fine with some stranger invading your private space.

“You sure about that?”, he asked and you could feel his deep brown eyes resting on you.

Shrugging yet again, you mended your pace.

“As long as you are with gin and tonic or beer.”, you stated, making it clear you didn't have anything else to offer once you were there.

“Sure. Next time's my treat then.”

You frowned as you couldn't help but wonder if he really expected you two to hang out after today again. After all, you were pretty sure this was only a one-time thing – a chance for both of you to get your mind off literally everything.

____________________

“Home, sweet home!”

You stepped into your apartment, leaving the door open so he could follow you.

“Don't mind the mess. I didn't really any visitors today.”, you explained, slipping out of your shoes.

“No need to worry. Didn't come here to judge you.”, he said in an understanding tone after he closed the door behind him.

“Yeah, you say that now. Anyway, I'm going to slip into something more comfy. What do you want to drink? I'm getting a g and t.” With that you crossed the room, opening the door to your left, before heading to the one at the end of the floor.

“Make it two.”, he responded.

“Gotcha. Living room's that way. Make yourself at home.”, you explained, pointing at the door you just opened seconds ago before disappearing into your bedroom.

That's when it first hit you. There was a stranger, a guy, in your living room. A random dude you met at your therapist's. You didn't know anything about this dude. Why did you think it was a bright idea to bring some stranger who clearly had some issues over to your place.

“You're not going to kill me, are you?”, you raised your voice, trying to push your plausible worries aside as you changed into something more comfortable than the fashionable outfit you wore in public just so no one your family knew would see you in anything unworthy your social rank. Wearing your favorite shorts and a loosely fitting top, you left your bedroom within minutes.

“You're only thinking about that now? Isn't it a bit too late for that? I mean, even if I wanted to kill you – there isn't much you could do about that now, is there?”, he said the moment you entered the living room. He stood in the other side of the room, looking right at some of your drawings and while you felt a rush of shame manifesting as soft red on your cheeks, you remained quiet about it.

“Yeah, probably right, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask. Just n case you're an honest serial killer, you know?”, you joked halfhearted, taking a few steps towards the counter, which separated the kitchen from the living room.

You heard him laugh for a moment. “No, you're safe. I didn't plan on killing you... not today anyway.”, which made you chuckle in return.

On your way, you took two glasses, before you placed them said counter. The next moment you were already gathering everything needed for your drinks.

“Well, that sure as hell sounds reassuring.”, you laughed dryly. “Cucumber? Yay or nay?”, you added as you cut a few sliced or your own drink.

“Nay on that.”, he responded and for a second you were sure he was copying you.

Pushing the sudden wave of insecurity aside, you nodded, not even sure whether or not he could see your reaction.

Both glasses in hands, you walked back into the living room, taking a seat at your sofa. He must have heard your steps, since it didn't take long for him to join you, accepting the glass you handed him the moment he sat down. For a moment you both fell quite as you noticed him eyeing you up and down. Well, no surprise since it was the first time he saw you wearing something other than those fancy clothes you wore whenever you ran into each other so far. While you tried to figure out what the expression he gave you meant, you couldn't help but wonder whether he was disappointed. Not that it mattered anyway. Sure, he was incredibly handsome and some part of you felt attracted to his appearance, but what would it change if you freaked out about something so trivial? Nothing. Which is exactly, why you shook your head to scare your thoughts away before averting your glance and clearing your throat.

“By the way... “, you began as you were about to take a sip. “What should I call you? Or are you just fine with my friendly neighborhood psychopath?”, you asked, the hint of a smile on your lips.

Raising the glass to your lips, you had a sip, your eyes turning back at him. Something that felt like confusion mirrored in his eyes, as he regarded you intently.

“The name's Robert, but I usually go by Bob or Bobby.”, he eventually responded, still a skeptical look on his face.

Nodding, you slowly leaned back, pulling your legs up to sit cross-legged, facing his direction.

“Alright, although I think... Yep, I'm going to call you Rob. Or would you prefer Bert?” you said jokingly, your smile becoming clearer this time. For a second he pursed his lips before letting out a brief sigh.

“If you really have to, I'd prefer Rob.”, he responded, one brow raised.

“Perfect! I'm Y/N, but my friends call me Y/NN.”, you replied grinning.

“So, Y/NN.”

“Oh okay, so we friends now?”, you kept joking.

“Well, who else would you invite to your place?”

“No one, duh!”

“Meaning we're best friends?” Bobby gave you a little smile, teasing you as well.

“Getting there quickly, aren't we? But sure, fine with me, mate.”, you played along – obviously enjoying the light conversation you were having.

“Great! Now, since that's settled… ”, he said, taking a gulp himself before leaning back.

“Wow. You feeling this terrible, you can't even enjoy a drink?”, you teased him.

“You have no idea! But are you sure you wanna talk about this of all things?”

Shaking your head, you pursed your lips. “Hell, no! As far as I'm concerned, that's been enough therapy for a lifetime.”

“Makes two of us.”, he agreed. “So, Y/NN, tell me about you. What do you do for fun?”

“Nothing much to be honest. Just playing video games and... “, your eyes turned back at the pictures across the room. “... drawing, kinda.”, you finished, insecurity in your voice. While it was your passion, you felt insecure about it especially since your parents were anything but supportive about it. This time you were the one who took a generous gulp.

“What about you? Anything more exciting?”, you added quickly, nervous laughter on your lips, hoping to avoid getting deeper into topic.

Shaking his head, the corners of his lips drew the ghost of a smile. “Unfortunately not. My life's pretty busy, so I'm glad if I have a few days off to relax.” For a brief moment, he turned quiet until realizing he didn't give you much of an answer. “Though I do love my job. Also, count me in on the video games.”, he smiled.

“Then...”, you began, as you placed your glass on the table in front of you before standing up, “...we got ourselves something to do.”, you grinned, walking towards your TV and consoles.

“You fine with Rayman? You can pick the next.”, you asked while getting your PlayStation 4 ready.

“Sounds perfect!”, Bobby agreed as you handed him the second controller over. “I loved playing it when I was younger.”

“Yush, same here. Takes me back to the days.” you said, a warm smile on your lips. Only seconds later you started the game.

[peacockpremium]

Should Chapels Have A Podcast?

Podcasts are quickly developing into a huge vehicle of correspondence. As per an Edison Exploration Study in 2019, 90 million Americans pay attention to a podcast every month. Of these audience members, they are probably going to be between the age of 18-34. What's more that is simply in the US!

Why are podcasts developing so rapidly?

1. Podcasts are extremely conservative to deliver.

In contrast to television or radio, podcasts have an extremely low passage cost. Truth be told, the main thing an individual necessities to begin a podcast is a PC associated with the web! Also nearly everybody has one of those!

With a PC that has quite recently an essential recording programming, connected to a nice mouthpiece, you can assemble a podcast that can match the very degree of value that you would expect in well known public broadcasts paid attention to by millions.

2. Podcasts have restricted (or no) plugs.

Individuals today intensely depend on real time features like Netflix and Hulu like never before previously. These real time features empower individuals to watch anything they desire with restricted or no plugs to endure. Buyers of media are less inclined to commit time to watch a show or a film assuming that implies they should watch or pay attention to plugs.

I realize I record practically 90% of the TV programs I observe today. I'm ready to quick advance through the business breaks and watch the whole one hour show in around 42 minutes. Furthermore the comfort of watching them "on my timetable" and not on the transmission channel plan.

3. Podcasts are effectively open.

You can pay attention to a podcast on any shrewd gadget. That gadget can be a PC, a cell phone, a tablet, and surprisingly a few brilliant TVs! It doesn't make any difference on the off chance that you're sitting working, driving in the vehicle, or working out in the rec center, your podcast can go with you.

Temples and Podcasting

In light of the above reasons, podcasts have been gigantic for temples. Indeed, you would be unable to track down a congregation with north of 1,000 individuals that doesn't as of now have a podcast! Yet, this isn't just for enormous houses of worship. There are many places of worship under 300 individuals that have been doing a podcast throughout recent years.

Looking at this logically, a podcast is just changing the medium your individuals can pay attention to recorded messages. Rather than offering your minister's lesson as a tape or Cd, you are simply advising your assembly to visit your site and tune in at their relaxation. See more Peacock Free Trial

Not at all like passing out lesson Album's to guests and individuals, podcasts are accessible to anybody on the web. There are many individuals who will stand by listening to a congregation's podcast before they really choose to visit the congregation face to face.

How treats mean? It implies your podcast can be your congregation's initial feeling. You need to establish a decent first connection with those audience members.

Your podcast should be proficient and with a decent strong quality. On the off chance that your podcast needs quality and isn't proficient, you will really chance dismissing individuals!

It sounds inconsequential that individuals might pass on your congregation assuming it has an awful podcast. However, it's reality. In this advanced, PDA period in which we live, numerous choices are made in light of availability and the nature of the substance.

You don't need your recorded messages to be awful to the point that no one will need to tune in.

The substance might be incredible. Be that as it may, assuming the nature of the recording is diverting from the message, individuals will switch you off and go somewhere else (carefully and truly).

So... it's an ideal opportunity to respond to the primary question: Should your congregation podcast?

Indeed!

Yet, provided that your congregation can do the accompanying:

1. Record the message with top notch sound (by means of the blender or a decent mic).

2. Commit an opportunity to alter the sound appropriately and add the introduction and outro to every episode.

3. Reliably post the podcast consistently to the site (or to a podcast facilitating stage) so it is accessible to anybody whenever.

4. Have an individual/group with the ability (or is workable) to deal with the podcast and the accounts.

In the event that you have those 4 components, you ought to consider beginning a podcast for your congregation today. Having a podcast can develop your congregation's scope (locally and worldwide). It will likewise give individuals serving in different services (nursery, parking garage, security, and so forth) a method for paying attention to the message assuming they miss it.

Podcasting is digging in for the long haul. Podcasting ubiquity is developing. Many places of worship that have executed podcasting have seen their in person participation develop.

In the event that your congregation presently doesn't have a podcast, you ought to genuinely consider executing one. The innovation is accessible. The time has come to develop with the times.

[marvel-ously-blog]

Hidden Voicemails

Tom Holland x Reader

Author: Grae

Word Count: 1844   |   Warnings: mentions of abuse, language, angst

Summary: Spoiler: he’s not a prince charming.

A/N: So I've been having some really shitty writer's block but I finally have this out! So that's a victory. This is kind of inspired by the American Shameless between a scene with Lip and Mandy that I cried at honestly. 

You were sitting on the steps of the electronic store as always. Your foot stomping to whatever music was playing off the phone your friend had covered by a solo cup to magnify the sound. You looked beautiful to him in the ugly orange street light, even in the shitty neon signs light. Different, he thought, but beautiful. Even with the neighborhood that smelled of vomit, cigarettes, and alcohol, you still managed to radiate.

You noticed him immediately, the corner of her mouth tugging itself up into that smirk. If he wasn’t already smiling he was now.

“Hey, what’re you doing here movie star?” You asked there was a fake ease to your voice. It had been a while after Tom got cast as Spider-man since you had seen him. The urge to run off the steps and go hug him was beat down as you held your cup tighter in your lap. He looked better, his muscles more pronounced and he even seemed to stand with more confidence. In this setting he looked so out of place, like he was cut out and pasted.

“Well, I had to come visit my best girl.”

Your heart seemed to skip a beat but not in the way that all the grown-ups told you it would when you loved someone. It seemed to skip right off the edge with a cinder block tied to it and sink right down.

“And I just happened to be in the neighborhood,” he said with a smile. You couldn’t tell which one was more of a falsehood, his reason or his smile. “Now where’s this big scary boyfriend that Haz told me about,” he asked, looking around with a small chuckle.

“Poker night,” you said shortly, taking another sip of what needed to be stronger liquid courage. Your friends were eyeing Tom like a piece of meat. You had known them before you moved and they had been filled into the shit hole you were left in after he was cast.

Two years of serious dating went down the drain when he left. The whole long distance thing went to shambles within a couple weeks. He could only call you for five minutes every couple days or when he was finally allowed to go to the house they gave him, but even then he was too tired to talk to you. After seeing the rumors of him and Zendaya you called it off. He tried for a couple days after you broke up with him, calling and texting constantly but you just seemed forced yourself to block his number.

That’s when Alex managed to pop up. He had been your knight in shining armor until you moved in with him. You knew it was a downsize from your apartment in London and you even had to switch jobs and eventually quit because he could take care of you just fine. But he was the best thing in your life and you needed a rock to keep you on the ground. He never hit you so it wasn’t technically abuse and you fucked up a lot so why did his language matter.

There was always that little voice telling you that it was wrong, but he loved you and just wanted to grow with you. As of late, he thought that growing should be done in America, with his new job. You weren’t completely sure whether or not you wanted to go that far out and when you asked Harrison, who you managed to keep in contact with, he must have passed it on to Tom.

“Can we uh, go talk somewhere private?” Tom asked, kind of snapping your attention back to him. You looked up at your friends and tipped your cup to them as a goodbye.

You were both blocks down the street before you spoke.

“So what exactly did Harrison tell you?” you said bluntly.

“Enough,” he returned your tone. You barely registered his hand tugging at your wrist before you were face to face with him. His hand moved to behind your neck, there was force in the motion but no malice. He started kissing you, in the deep and passionate way he always had. You stood still. The look he gave you after he pulled back was full of pain, part of you was glad he felt it too.

His other hand raised to the other side of your face and pushed your shaggy hair to the side. His thumbs were warm as they tugged on your skin gently. He was looking directly into your eyes as he spoke leaving small pauses between each statement. “You are beautiful Y/N. You are sweet. You are funny. You are so very smart”

You were still as his eyes teared up. Nothing in your expression changing.

He continued though. “You know that right? You know that I would never cheat on you. You know that you don’t deserve his bullshit.”

Your patience had finally worn off. “And what? I’m going to just leave him for you?” you spoke with a certain coldness and when you pushed him away you noticed his eyes let off a single tear, then another.

“You can’t just show up and sweep me back off my fucking feet Tom. You moved on and so did I. And I’m happy now, at least I know he’ll never leave me.”

Tom was yelling now, “But you’re so much better than him! And what the hell are you going to do in bloody America? They don’t have what you have here.”

“Oh, you checked didn’t you.”

There was a silent tension that neither of you could remedy. There was nothing to be done and nothing that was going to be said. Everything inside you was screaming at you to cry but your eyes remained dry. You would not let this fucker see you cry. Not after what he did.

“Go tell Harrison to fuck off.” You turned on your heel and walked away.

After a tantrum that managed to smash two cups and an unused picture frame, you finally settled into bed. Your knees were at your chest and the tears were falling harder than you had ever felt. It wasn’t until your phone beeped that you finally looked up.

Fumbling for your phone you noticed a text from the snitch of the hour.

Haz-

Hey Tom told me what happened, I'm sorry you ok?

You almost crushed the phone in hand but still ignored it. Something had taken over your fingers and you were brought to your voicemail. You hadn’t opened it since before you broke up with Tom. It was too painful to hear his voice anymore and since you barely got any voicemails regularly, it wasn’t a big deal if you just ignored it.

Your fingers still managed to move on their own to open it up.

1st Tom:

I love you so much, I couldn’t be here without you! I miss you so much and you wouldn’t believe what happened on set today! Just uh call me back when you get this I miss you!

2nd Tom:

Um I just got your voicemail and I wanted to talk to you about it. I know I’ve been busy but I can do better I swear. Please just call me so we can work this out. It seems silly to do it over a voicemail.

3rd Tom:

If this is about the thing with Zendaya, it’s nonsense, I told you that just please pick up the phone. I need to hear your voice.

4th Zendaya:

Hey uh Y/N its Zendaya and Tom wanted me to tell you that there’s nothing going on between us. He never shuts up about you and I look forward to meeting you at the premiere!

5th Tom:

Hey it’s late and I haven’t been able to sleep without you on the phone. I miss the way your hair smells when you’re sleeping next to me and I miss hearing you sing in the shower. I miss the way you always had to dunk your oreos in 10 times before eating them and how sometimes you would count out loud without realizing it. I miss that stupid song you played on repeat for a solid week and I miss the way you danced to it. I just need you right now. I don’t even know if you’re getting these messages anymore but I need you. Please call me back.

6th Tom:

You’re a bloody bitch you got that! I get offered the role of a lifetime something you supposedly wanted from me and now that it’s here you just bloody bail on me! You know what fuck you.

7th Tom:

I’m sorry about last night. Um Harrison somehow brought home a lot of beer and said I needed to drink it out. I still love you. I really just want to hear your voice again.

8th Alex:

Hey this is the hot guy you met at the bar yesterday. Was curious if I could show you that bass I was telling you about sometime. Maybe a cheap bottle of vodka to go with it?

9th Harrison:

Hey Tom’s really beat up could you just call him to talk to him one last time

10th Alex:

Hey babe just calling to tell you happy birthday! Bring a bag to my place tonight and we’ll have some fun.

11th Tom:

I’m not going to call you anymore.

12th Alex:

I fucking told you this morning I was picking you up for lunch where the fuck are you?

13th Alex:

Your fucking mother just called me telling me to back off of you. What the bloody hell did you tell her?

14th Tom:

I know I said I wouldn’t call but I needed to be reminded that you still exist. I don’t want to give up on us even though that’s what everyone is saying I need to do. You were always so good at knowing what I needed and I’m so lost without you. I’m sorry I fucked up but I still love you and I’d give up the movie just to be with you again.

You weren’t crying when he finished. Your eyes were raw and there were no tears left even though your heart was crushed with a mallet on the floor. You hadn’t moved at all during the messages and your knees were aching but you couldn’t get yourself to budge.

It wasn’t till you heard the front door to the apartment unlock that you laid down in your bed, put your phone under the pillow and pretended to be asleep. When the bedroom door opened you heard Alex sigh and close it again. The refrigerator opened and you heard the clanking of his beer and the sound of the TV.

You felt around the bed stand for your earbuds and plugged it into your phone.

1st Tom:

I love you so much, I couldn’t be here without you! I miss you so much and ...

[dipulb3]

The Anker Nebula Mars II Pro portable projector performs proficiently

New Post has been published on https://appradab.com/the-anker-nebula-mars-ii-pro-portable-projector-performs-proficiently/

The Anker Nebula Mars II Pro portable projector performs proficiently

The Nebula Mars II Pro by Anker is a cute, tiny portable projector.

Geoffrey Morrison/CNET

Anker’s Nebula Mars II Pro is a surprising little projector. And I do mean little. It’s small enough to hide completely under a six-pack of Coke. With built-in streaming and a battery good for around three and a half hours of projection, the Mars II Pro is a great companion for a movie night in the backyard or somewhere farther afield. And in addition to being a projector, it’s also a big Bluetooth speaker.

Like

Compact size

Built-in battery lasts up to 3.5 hours

Surprisingly loud speakers

Don’t Like

Poor brightness and contrast

Inaccurate color

Limited app store

Requires charging brick

Video quality will be good enough for many viewers, but compared with a similarly priced home projector it’s far dimmer, with worse contrast ratio and color accuracy. Compared with other tiny, battery-powered projectors however, the image is very watchable and speakers sound surprisingly powerful. 

The main reason to get the Mars II Pro is if you want ultra-portable video, especially outdoors. It’s easy to put near a wall or screen and stream some Netflix within minutes, anywhere. If you plan to use it regularly in the same room inside, however, you’re probably better off with a more traditional projector.

Basic specs

Native resolution: 1,280×720 pixels

HDR-compatible: No

4K-compatible: No

3D-compatible: No

Lumens spec: 500

Zoom: None

Lens shift: None

Lamp life (Normal mode): 30,000 hours

The Mars II Pro is smaller than you might think. It would fit easily inside any backpack with plenty of room to spare for a water bottle, hoodie or camera. Anker could have made the carrying strap out of cheap-feeling plastic, but has a faux-leather top and is soft underneath. It’s nice to touch.

There are buttons on the top for all the basic functions, but no controls for zoom or focus. This is logical since there’s no zoom and focus is automatic. An integrated slide-open lens cap also turns the projector on and off.

To get a 100-inch image, the Mars II Pro needs to be about nine feet from the screen. Resolution is 720p, which is pretty low for a projector these days and lower than the competing ViewSonic M2, which is 1080p. The LED lamp is rated at 30,000 hours. 

Max brightness is a claimed 500 lumens. I measured about 37 nits, which calculates out to about 337 lumens. For comparison, the ViewSonic M2 produces 349 lumens by my measurements, while the slightly more expensive, but far less portable, Optoma HD146X puts out around 1,146. 

Anker claims the internal 12,500-mAh battery is good for about three and a half hours viewing time, and about that long to charge back up again. If you keep it in the high brightness mode, that drops to one and a half hours. If you’re just using the Mars II as a Bluetooth speaker, Anker claims about 30 hours for audio-only playback.

Though not specifically mentioned as a feature by Anker, some apps treat the Mars II Pro as a mobile device, so you can actually download shows to its 8GB internal storage. 

Geoffrey Morrison/CNET

Connectivity and convenience

HDMI inputs: 1

USB port: 1 

Audio input and output: 3.5mm output

Digital audio output: None

Wi-Fi: 802.11a/b/g/n

Remote: Not backlit

There is one HDMI input, which is plenty on a projector like this. The USB port lets you stream content from a USB memory stick, or you can charge a device (like your phone), using the Mars II Pro’s beefy battery. 

That’s it for physical connections, other than the power port, which requires a separate power brick. That’s a bummer: I’m a hardliner “everything portable should charge via USB.” If you want to charge the projector away from home, you’ll have to pack the brick too.

The Mars II Pro’s runs Android 7.1, which puts all the streaming capability inside the PJ. So all you need is to tether the projector to your phone or connect to some available Wi-Fi. 

You don’t get the full Google Play Store, however, or even Android TV. Instead, it’s Aptoide, a sort of culled or curated version of the Play Store. It’s a bit of a liability with the ViewSonic M2, and it’s no better here. There’s Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney Plus and others you may or may not recognize. There’s HBO Nordic and HBO Go, but no US HBO or HBO Max. Chromecast is not supported. Overall it’s not bad, but you might not be able to find every service you’re used to.

The remote is wafer thin, but not backlit. That’s fine because you’re probably not going to use it. Instead, there’s the Anker Connect app (Android and iOS), which connects easily and does all the same things. In fact, some of the apps actually require the app. Control in the projector’s menus works fine, but it’s a bit clunky in the Netflix app for instance. Not a big issue, but it could be smoother.

There are two side-firing 10-watt speakers and a rectangular passive radiator in the front. That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s fairly loud and the sound quality is better than I expected from such a small device. This is one of the few projectors I’ve actually turned down to achieve a normal listening level.

Geoffrey Morrison/CNET

Picture quality comparisons

I compared the Mars II Pro to the ViewSonic M2, another portable projector, and the Optoma HD146X, a traditional plug-in PJ. The M2 is very similar to the Anker, can run off a battery and also runs apps from the Aptoide store. The Optoma is a very different projector, and only a direct competitor in one sense: price. 

I have a feeling the Mars II Pro might attract the attention of someone not typically interested in projectors, so the Optoma is here as an example of what similar money can get you in a non-portable, standard projector. I connected these via a Monoprice 1×4 distribution amplifier and viewed all on a 102-inch 1.0-gain screen.

Top view with carrying strap

Geoffrey Morrison/CNET

First up is brightness. The M2 and Mars II are remarkably similar. Their light outputs and contrast ratios are basically identical. In both cases, this amount is “fine.” Considering the size and their ability to run off batteries, somewhere around 300 lumens is acceptable. When creating a 100-inch image that equates to about 37 nits. That’s enough for a watchable, albeit dim, image. You’re better off moving the Anker closer, which will create a smaller but brighter image.

The Optoma, on the other hand, is significantly brighter than either one. On a same size screen I measured over 127 nits, which is over five times brighter than the Mars II. The Optoma is much more watchable at 100 inches. And if you use the Optoma’s most color accurate mode, it’s still twice as bright as the other two. 

And we definitely need to talk about color. The Mars II Pro has some of the least accurate colors of any projector I’ve ever reviewed. Blue is the only color out of the three primary and three secondary colors that is accurate. Green is oversaturated. Yellow isn’t but is quite greenish-yellow. Magenta is oversaturated and too blue. The result looks like you’ve got the color control a few ticks above where it should be. It’s not weird, per se, and overall it still looks better than the M2, but overall it’s definitely more Speed Racer than The Grand Budapest Hotel. 

Side by side with the Optoma, it’s night and day. Or at least Technicolor and Kodachrome. The Optoma isn’t super accurate itself, and actually errs on the side of being undersaturated, but its colors look far more natural than the Anker.

Unlike the Optoma, the Mars II doesn’t have extensive picture settings. It has two. You can adjust the color temperature: Normal, Cool and Warm, and even the most accurate (Warm) is still way too cool. You can adjust the lamp settings: Standard, Battery and Auto. Standard is its brightest. Battery is dim but gets you that three-plus hour view time. Auto switches between the two other modes depending on whether or not the projector is plugged in. That’s it. No brightness, contrast, tint. One result is that you can’t adjust contrast to restore clipped details in bright whites.

Geoffrey Morrison/CNET

Contrast ratio, like the brightness, is acceptable given the category. I measured an average of 354:1 across all modes. That seems low, and it is, but the majority of sub-$1,000 projectors are only two or three times that. The high end of that performance range, the BenQ HT2050A is 2,094:1. The ViewSonic is basically the same as the Anker, at 376:1. The Optoma is 568:1. 

The Anker’s image lacks punch but not as much as you might think. In fact, because the Anker’s black level is a little lower than the M2 it looks a little better. The M2 is very slightly brighter, which isn’t noticeable. That black level is even lower than the Optoma, but that projector is so much brighter this edge isn’t relevant. 

Lastly we come to detail. Both the M2 and HD146X are 1080p to the Anker’s 720p. On a 100-inch screen this is most noticeable if you’re close enough to notice the individual pixels, which are fairly large. If you shrink the image down to 60-80 inches, it looks detailed enough that it doesn’t look soft. 

Conclusion

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from the Mars II Pro. I’ve been underwhelmed with most battery-powered portable projectors I’ve reviewed. I’ve also found that companies not known for video gear tend to miss some important things when it comes to projectors. For instance, picture quality. 

Overall I’m impressed that Anker got a lot right with the Mars II Pro. At least when graded on the curve of price, size and battery power. Compared with an average home projector it comes up short in every performance metric, so If you’re looking for something that will never stray too far from an outlet, you’re better off with a more “traditional” projector. But if you want something portable to watch movies outside, the Mars II Pro has a great design, sounds good, is easy to use and has a more watchable image than the ViewSonic M2 — all for less money.

As well as covering TV and other display tech, Geoff does photo tours of cool museums and locations around the world, including nuclear submarines, massive aircraft carriers, medieval castles, airplane graveyards and more. 

You can follow his exploits on Instagram and YouTube, and on his travel blog, BaldNomad. He also wrote a bestselling sci-fi novel about city-sized submarines, along with a sequel.

[nicholas-martin]

Will Streaming Kill The Games Console?

Have you heard of cloud gaming? Your game runs on a powerful computer somewhere else and you just connect to it. It means players can access big, processor-hungry games on simple devices - cheap tablet computers, even. While such a set-up has been possible for some time, cloud gaming will soon be available from Google, and Microsoft as well. This month Google will launch its Stadia service in the US, UK, Europe and Canada, and Microsoft has just begun previewing its Project xCloud. Nvidia is also preparing its GeForce Now streaming product. And Sony already supplies games on-demand via PlayStation Now to PS4 consoles and PC's. Some of these services involve monthly subscription costs, and in Stadia's case, gamers are being encouraged to buy a new controller (£59.99 each). It connects directly via wifi to the game you're playing, rather than being plugged into a device in your home that then sends the controller data over the internet. But the key element with all these services is that fundamental shift away from running games on hardware in your home, to running them on a beefed-up server somewhere else instead. By offering this flexible, play-anywhere option, some think it could mean the death of the home video games console.

The first home video games console that could connect to a TV was the Magnavox Odyssey, released in 1972. Today, the market for consoles is sizeable. If you add up all the PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch devices that have been sold, you get roughly 180 million units. But the number of people around the world who buy such devices hasn't been growing and has remained at that level for 15, 20 years. On the other hand, cloud gaming is an attempt to make video games more accessible, potentially having a democratising effect and opening games up to a wider audience. It may also appeal to people who already enjoy games but who might be spending less and less time on them because of other commitments.

Now, cloud gaming of this type has already been attempted, 10 years ago, with a service called OnLive. It was reasonably successful, perhaps even ahead of its time, but it went the way of the dodo. Partly because back then internet infrastructure was not as robust as it is today, and connection speeds were slower. It cost too much to stream the content, and that left the company behind the service with very little room to manoeuvre in terms of acquiring content. And that content, is make or break. Services like Stadia and xCloud will be vying to have exclusive rights to the biggest games. Currently, few exclusives have been announced for Stadia, for example, which has not gone unnoticed. As with Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, these rights deals could mean everything in terms of popularity with the target audience. Consoles also rely on exclusivity to some extent - these tie-ups are already de rigueur in the industry. Cloud services may find themselves competing for exclusivity not just with each other but with the traditional console market too.

There are also technical hurdles. When playing most video games, it's essential to have constant, uninterrupted control, and clear video output of the game world. A dodgy internet connection means your killer move at the key point in a battle might not transmit in time - costing you your virtual life. It's a problem known as input lag. Google's wi-fi controller is an attempt to conquer it by transmitting commands directly to the game server. Having a good internet connection will soon be the only barrier to gaming - but your bandwidth might depend on how close you happen to live to the nearest cloud gaming data centre. 

Most importantly, however, is the effect data caps will have on your ability to use cloud gaming services. With Stadia specifically, those with a 1TB monthly data cap will use up their entire allotted data in 65 hours of 4K gameplay. Data caps are very common in the United States, and though unlimited plans are available for cellular usage, the speeds available aren’t always going to give you the same quality as a home Wi-Fi connection.

[snkret-photography]

Time

I secretly like being overwhelmingly busy. Having a million to-do lists where half of the items are cross-referenced simply because you forgot if you already forgot something. It’s rather rewarding to know that I have enough going on to the point I feel overwhelmed. But alas we’re on a plane again so I have time because can’t do shit in the air. These are prime reflection hours for me. It’s a good time to plug in your headphones, put on a movie you have seen a million times and love, and feel the turbulence and discomfort that comes from sitting in the same mildly comfortable seat for hours on end praying the person behind you falls asleep peacefully. But one thing really stuck out during this leg of the trip: I cannot attribute time or relation to the value of a person in my life. 

I recently was down south in Dallas, TX for a weekend to spend with some friends I never get to interact with much due to distance and life circumstances. I’d say I seem them maybe once a year on average, but not once has it been a bad time. Now these are authentic southern girls with very traditional families and values; I have not once felt tension at the crossroads of us openly discussing our different opinions on government policy, immigration, NRA, home ownership, family structures, etc. We’ve always had very open conversation on topics that are always slated to be avoided on first dates and amongst groups of unlike minds. Never unpleasant, never any animosity for differing opinions, no yelling, no silent treatments or anything of the like. I’ve known them for maybe the last 6 years and every time we see each other, I cannot wait until the next occasion. 

In the last 6 years, I’ve made many friends of this particular caliber and interactive structure. These are the friends I believe to last a lifetime. Yes, I have older friends who I am still close with and have no indication that it is coming to an end. But on the original premise of time vs quality, in the last 6 years, I’ve lost a lot more friends than I’ve gained. I heavily like the friends I’ve gained more than I loss. Letting time be a supportive reason to maintain a relationship that brought me little to nothing in any particular realm other than dissonance, occasional good conversation, and some reality tv bullshit to remind me why I avoid relationships in almost any capacity. And for anyone who has friends who might as well be on Mona Scott’s payroll, you know letting them go is probably the best thing you can do in your life but damn if they don’t have good storylines out here. Just imagine all the fights, pregnancy scares as the other woman and drinks being thrown; never a filler episode. However, there is a certain level of peace that comes knowing your phone isn’t going to go off at 2am because they’re a dumbass and your loyalty fails you. And it’s one of those things, where you become a walk-on character wrapped up in a storyline you want nothing to do with basically trying to secure a spot in the opening line-up and permanent seat on the reunion couch. And there also comes a point where you realize how far down your life is going that you’re not only at the reunion on the couch, but you don’t have to move as they cycle storylines and you also came ready to fight at least one cast member or they are ready to fight you but you act all grown with a lot of mouth and no bite. Basically, a housewife. 

I’m digressing, it’s been a week without reality tv, we’re switching locations on Love & Hip Hop, I apologize. But the analogy still works. And the point remains, that we allow toxic people to permeate our lives and act as influence on us due to the joy of onlooking and external excitement that their mess brings us, until we’re brought into the mess, which is inevitable. Messy people leave their house because it’s too crowded… they’re just looking for more space, protect your peace. Have you ever heard a friend complain about their toxic relationship but then use the length of the relationship as justification on why they should work it out? Bad friend you constantly complain about, but they did one nice thing for you ages ago when no one else would and now you’re carrying all this extra stress waiting for whatever they’re going to ask you for? We all do it to some degree. We hold onto the people who have been with us the longest because longevity and consistency is a quality in which many don’t have. Allowing their consistency of showing up in your life to overshadow the lesser qualities and actions that permeate their character as a whole. You are not for everyone and everyone is not for you, no matter what similarities you try to use to bridge that gap. We are all human beings with organs and limbs and functional muscle. In the basic sense of being a homo-sapien, there is no difference derived other than the classifications and bucketing we project out onto the world and use to separate ourselves. And when looking for people to connect with, we look for people that we align with on the different bucketing aspects of life from race to religion to political ideologies and so much more. But it is the people with traits that I align with rather than outlooks or bucketing classifications. I have a lot of minority friends who we always tend to connect while being the only colored folk in a room full of white people. Once we get past that surface level connection, it tends to lead us down a path of commonality and good discourse but sometimes with completely different opinions on the world and manners of operations. It doesn’t always work out but there is an instant level of respect that permeates that connection and I can attest that these minimally grow towards anything in the grand scheme of encounters to genuine friendships. The things that have allowed for the greatest growth of friendships is a large respect for differing opinions, a desire to understand the other side, and most importantly (what a lot of people seem to lack) the ability to communicate your opinion with a base from which you derived it and can defend it. It honestly boils down to flexibility to acknowledge that the rest of the world does not think like you or operate like you, but you also are not required to sacrifice your own for others. That discourse on opposing views help you identify the middle ground upon which to build new perspective. That continuous education is the gift of life, not the thing you’re required to do until you’re 16 and 22 if you want to make more money. 

Our differences aren’t what divide us. It is our inexperience, intolerance, ignorance, and inflexibility with difference is what divides us. Someone in your immediate surroundings could be your best friend for life, should you give them the opportunity to prove what you have in common rather than looking at the situation from what you’ve already established you don’t. Have you ever even looked at your relationship with your friends? Do you all just sit around and discuss whatever pops up on someone’s feed or can you have deeply intellectual and often dividing conversation? If that is bringing your life fulfillment, then go on and do you. But for those of us who strive for more and recognize the impact that our affirmed circle has on us, it’s time we let go of people that don’t care whether we sink or swim. Throwing us the life jacket 10 years ago does not aid me when I fall off the boat in a month, again, because you can’t drive nor swim so I’m stuck wherever you left me. Now let’s not discount personal responsibility of ending up somewhere you don’t want to be and it being more attributable to someone else’s actions. You choose where you show up and what you put up with, but others have the responsibility to not take advantage of that. In many cases, the people I’ve known in short fragments of time prove more loyal than those I’ve know my entire life. They show up more, they respond more, check in, support my adventures and provide me the comforts in relations that I seek. When it comes to who you’re going to surround yourself with, you need to be selfish in the decision of what is required for them to do or possess to be in your circle. Time should not be a determinant of them being a friend but rather the caliber of friend that they are. It is the final thing to matter in the grand scheme. Pick what is important for you to thrive and feel well supported and find people who do more than speak on those things. Find people who emulate, live and act on those values because many people will come to take what you’re offering and give you nothing. Many people will “support” you but not take the seconds it takes to actually provide the support that you need. Their words of encouragement exist in only such form, in only your face. Their actions need to live up both when you are around and when you are absent. Their actions need to be consistent for years upon years. It doesn’t matter if they’ve only been showing up for years upon years. A dog will follow you around once it learns that you provide it food. It will attack people who threaten you if you’ve trained it to do such or it has a developed that attachment. But dogs are domesticated and trained to be loyal for years. Humans… friends… they’re trained by others before you meet them. Conditioned to their traits be it by nature or nurture. But some people are dogs… it’s in some people’s nature to emulate that trait.

[theessaflett]

48 Hours In...OXFORD

Your friendly neighbourhood Essa has a look round the town known from…so many things, from the hit TV programme Lewis to being the home of Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and many more generally famous people

Day 1

My trip to Oxford started a little differently to how I’d initially planned. Cramming toast into my mouth as I stuffed clothes into a rucksack and tried to get my shoes on at the same time, a feat at which I attempt to succeed probably too many mornings in an average week for someone now old enough to be very comfortably in the “mid-twenties” age bracket, I hastily checked Google Maps for the best way to get to Oxford in time for my 2.30pm booked museum ticket and discovered that due to planned engineering works the “Oxford Tube” was going to have to be my transport of choice. Great, thought I. It must be a fast track train.

Dear reader, I was wrong. When Google Maps cheerfully led me to a bus stop outside Marble Arch station I realised just how wrong I was. Somehow, for whatever unidentifiable reason, the “Oxford Tube” is a bus. (Or a “luxury coach”, if you believe their website.) As someone who gets travel sick at the best of times, never mind on what was going to be a  nearly-two hour bus journey, I wasn’t thrilled by this development but did cheer up when I discovered that a Youth Return would now cost me only £13 - and it was valid for an entire month so if I decided that Oxford was actually much nicer than London and I would just stay there, thank you very much, I would admittedly have several things to sort out but another bus ticket wouldn’t be one of them.

The luxury coach experience turned out to be, if not fully luxury, decidedly acceptable: there were fancy lights that went on in the roof when the sky became so dark with heavy rain the bus thought that it was night time; the seats were definitely clean; there were USB plug sockets everywhere you looked and an on-board loo. The only real issue was the fact that whoever had decided on the on-board thermostat temperature that morning clearly thought we were on the brink of the next Ice Age and there were no windows to yank open to ease the oppressive heat. Red-faced and sweaty, I eventually cracked and tried pushing all of the frightening- looking buttons above me. Five minutes later, I had switched two brutally harsh little lights on  - and thankfully had managed not to set off any alarms - but had failed to work the air-con. It was a very warm journey…

After seeing many, many highways and byways of London suburbs and rolling English countryside  we finally arrived in Oxford Bus Station. It was wet. It was cold. It was, in fact, exactly the same weather as the last time I visited Oxford. I trudged through a square full of wet leaves and sad looking trees and along a few side streets, unusually ending up exactly where I wanted to be: outside the Ashmolean Museum. I was, however, very early for my timed ticket so nipped over to the Odeon across the road and sat in Costas watching cold-looking people hurry past the window as I slurped my tea. Now, what happened next could have been forewarned had I only joined enough dots in my head as I sat there enjoying being warm. …After all, the hanging banners proclaiming Bible verses, “Welcome to Hill Song!” pop-up signs and the two display tables of Hill Song paraphernalia might, just possibly, have given me a small clue that there might be something to do with Hill Song currently happening in the building - and yet, it was still somewhat a surprise to suddenly find myself re-enacting Mufasa’s death scene from the Lion King (if Mufasa had been a bemusedly alarmed young woman sitting with a cup of tea and the antelopes hipster Christians proclaiming the Lord’s salvation to each other as they poured out of Cinema 1 to the sound of loud rock music). I downed my tea and dodged outside away from the manic grins of the “Official Church Greeters” and towards the impressive grandeur of the Ashmolean.

It is hard to describe how awe-inspiringly large the The Ashmolean is. As you walk past the modern, spiky dog-like sculptures and through the towering front doors it’s easy to imagine previous visitors through the centuries also craning their heads up to look at the ceiling high above them and making the universal “Ooooooohhhhhh” noise that humans make when they’re in somewhere really big. However, the Victorians probably weren’t stopped by an over-zealous security guard who was very suspicious about my admittedly massive rucksack and wanted me to wear it on my front like some sort of kangaroo. That was not going to work so I ended up finding the lockers - deep in the bowels of the building - to dump my stuff. (Word of warning: your £1 gets donated to the Ashmolean on your behalf! Don’t spend an embarrassing amount of time scrabbling around trying to find where your £1 went like I did.)

After spending a quick fifteen minutes looking round the “Founding of the Ashmolean Museum” exhibit on the bottom floor (fifteen minutes barely scratched the surface) I then trekked up the three floors to the SpellBound exhibition. If my first impression had been that the museum was large, I now mentally expanded that to bloody massive. I would recommend always having an idea of what it is that you want to see if you go to the Ashmolean, otherwise you might start your day on the Islamic Art floor and discover that you had somehow only made it to Medieval Glassworks by hour four. As my timed ticket turned out to be a very strictly timed ticket I killed some time in the exhibition shop (yes, every floor has its own shop. It’s very lavish.) looking at the toy skulls and DIY Spell Books. My vague thought that the Ashmolean didn’t seem to be treating the subject of spells and witchcraft particularly seriously was confirmed by reading a note written by a practising pagan and pinned on the feedback board with some annoyance. “I felt like this exhibition laughed at my religion,” Jeremy the Pagan complained. “Next time maybe ask for advice from real Pagans first!! Very insulting.” Poor Jeremy. I could see what he meant as I perused the gimmicky sage bundles, black cat design socks and  and “Which Witch Are You?” colouring books… Now even more curious to see what the exhibition was going to be like, my sketch book and I (phones weren’t allowed inside) headed in with a woman that was either into Gothic Paganism or just really liked long velvet coats, dark lipstick and black heeled boots. I spent two hours looking round the exhibition and gamely trying to draw everything I found interesting  - and gathering a small crowd of people staring at me and pointing out their favourite sketches as I did…slightly unnerving - and these are my thoughts on what SpellBound had to offer…

First of all, the first thing that really stood out about this exhibition was how dark it was, and I mean that literally. The lighting was virtually non-existent, two out of three of the rooms virtually completely dark apart from the weak glow of the exhibit cabinets. I didn’t notice it until I heard an elderly man grumbling about it and threatening to file an official complaint form and then it was all I could think about. Was it too dark? Very possibly. Did it add atmosphere? Probably. Did I nearly bump into someone several times? Yes, and I wasn’t the only one.

There were some pretty gruesome exhibits and quite a lot of children being traumatised by them. Now, as someone who had a “sitting in graveyards reading Poe phase” in my early teens and was obsessed with Marcus Sedgewick books from the age of eleven I’m all for children experiencing Gothic things. However, having a DRIED-UP HUMAN HEART cheerfully sitting in the same cabinet as old books and mystic mirrors without any warning whatsoever seemed slightly bold for an exhibition with no age rating! “Dad,” I heard a horrified seven year old whisper. “Dad. It’s a heart. It’s a heart, Dad. IT’S A HEART, LIKE, FROM A PERSON.” Beautiful family memories in the making, right there.

There were some token gestures here and there - a poppet from Scotland, a witch scarer charm from Africa - but the overall country of origin of the exhibits was English, and the history told was the history primarily of English witchcraft. Was this a bad thing? Not necessarily since we were in an English museum, but it might have been worth advertising it as a exhibition of English Witchcraft rather than Witchcraft in general.

There were two very confusing modern art installations. Several people, including myself, sat in both of them waiting for the installation to start for quite a long time before realising that what we thought was the “loading screen” was, in fact, the actual installation.

My favourite part of the exhibition was a very large (and did I mention, dark) room full of the stashes of objects found in walls and under floorboards across the UK, largely in England, mysterious piles of objects that seem to have been intended as a sort of good luck charm for the house. I was surprised by how uneasy I felt about the idea of these “good fortune bundles” being taken out of their carefully chosen places and found myself wondering if the house minded after having them for so many years. (Yes, I’m sure this sounds very silly, but do bear in mind I’d been listening to the “eerily atmospheric soundscape” track and creeping around shadowy rooms for over an hour by this point.) The caches showed fascinating insights into everyday objects of different eras - the last cache being from around 1915, which I found surprisingly recent - and just about made up for the fact that there was also a mummified cat and mouse with their dried-up guts in clear view also in pride of place with a cabinet all to themselves. “DAD, THERE’S A DEAD CAT IN THIS ROOM!!!” That poor kid will be bringing this up in therapy for years to come.

The most striking absence in the exhibition was the lack of a “modern witch-craft” section. There was the medieval room, the 17th century room, the 18th and 19th century room and then that, pretty much, was it apart from a poppet doll someone made in 1915 to try and kill their neighbour and a small display cabinet about fraudulent physics of the 1920s. No wonder Jeremy was annoyed. …Now, I personally am not someone who practices the Pagan faith. But I know people who do, and to them their religion is something real, relevant, and very much valid. Paganism deserves to be treated with the same respect as Christianity, Islam and other major religions, and I did sort of feel like an entire exhibition that focussed on all the different ways “witches” (often just unfortunate non-magic-practising women) were horribly persecuted for practising witchcraft and then ignored the fact that here in the twenty-first century witches now peacefully worship across England and beyond missed a trick in an opportunity for a more positive ending section. Maybe they just felt it wasn’t in keeping with the “horror vibe”.

The Ashmolean cafe shut at the very-not-London time of 4.30pm so after rescuing my stuff from the locker and buying the obligatory souvenir postcard I headed off to my accommodation, Oxford Backpackers Hostel. Oxford Backpackers Hostel is exactly what one might expect for £17. It is mostly clean, offers a communal kitchen with free tea and coffee and there’s a reassuring lack of mice, but the sad lack of plugs and heaters makes for a slightly old-fashioned experience of everyone waiting to use the common room sockets whilst huddled against the radiator. My four-person dorm was mixed so I was with two guys - which was particularly memorable when I rolled over early the next morning and accidentally caught an eyeful of the member of my lower bunk getting dressed right in the middle of the room - and the hostel communal bathroom floor looked disgusting enough for me to decide that I could go 48 hours without a shower. (I was particularly glad of this decision when I heard a sound from one of the shower cubicles that was almost definitely someone taking a dump. Definitely one of those “once experienced, never forgotten” moments.)

After shivering next to the plug socket for a while to charge my phone I headed out to find the Eagle & Child pub, famous for being the favoured writing spot of C.S. Lewis and Tolkien. After getting thoroughly and needlessly confused by the ordering system  - turns out it operates on the Wetherspoon system of knowing your table number and then going to the till, not my system of going to the till first and getting confused about why the nice lady is asking you for “your number”…misunderstanding directions to the water jugs and trying to find a clean glass in the pile of plates waiting to be put in the dishwasher and then being shouted at by a confused member of staff also optional  - I sat down in what is definitely a gloriously old-timey pub. Full of low-hanging timbers of stained dark wood, the seats lined with creaking old leather, the building is not your average open space but a a snaking pathway full of tables tucked away in odd corners, many next to log fires and lopsided book cases. It wasn’t hard to imagine Tolkien dreaming up a Hobbit’s cosy house somewhere in here, or C.S. Lewis writing about Mr Tumnus and Lucy having tea. My veggie burger came with quite limp sweet potato chips so I don’t know if I’d recommend the food, but I would recommend going for a pint. (Ideally with a LOTR or Narnia book to really get the full experience!)

I finished off my first day in Oxford with a trip to the cinema. Not the tiny Odeon I’d accidentally discovered that morning, but a bigger one on George Street which only had large popcorn containers left so I ended up being given a medium popcorn for the price of a small. I already liked this cinema. Myself and three other people watched the admittedly quite bad Johnny English film…slightly annoying as I’d paid extra to splash out on a “Premium Seat” (which turned out to just be a normal seat coloured red rather than black) when I could’ve paid for a normal ticket and then lain across four premium seats underneath a duvet. In my PJs. I’m not sure whether it’s because I’ve ended up having my mini-break in a very compact area of Oxford of if Oxford is actually this small, but after the cinema I discovered that I had a total of five minutes to walk back to the Backpackers Hostel so that was a cheerful end to a highly enjoyable first day. (Well, it wasn’t quite the end of the day. My actual end to the day was trying to watch Doctor Who on my laptop next to the free common room plug socket at midnight, surrounded by high 20-year-olds listening to a Reggae version of “Don’t Stop Me Now”. Yes, I also had several questions about what decisions led to a Reggae version of a Queen masterpiece but I have to admit by the end of the track I didn’t hate it…It was definitely, I decided, time to go to bed.)

Day 2

After lying in bed for half an hour listening to one of my dorm-mate’s chirpy bird alarm (unfortunately the alarm woke me up rather than him. The only other person still in the dorm, I considered trying to wake him up myself but then decided the fact that he seemed to have gone to bed in his suit without even taking his shoes off suggested that he might not be very happy and possibly angrily hungover at whoever woke him up…) I called it quits on trying to sleep and headed out for the day, downing the only thing this gluten and dairy intolerant vegetarian could have from their free breakfast table: a glass of watery orange squash. I headed onto Oxford high street and soon had more success in my breakfast options at possibly the fanciest Pret I have ever seen in my life. 

Eating my granola pot in a building that looked like a set piece from a Shakespearean costume drama from the outside and like a particularly posh London cafe inside was definitely fun, and after charging everything electronic I could possibly think of with their definitely less dodgy-looking plugs I headed off to my first museum of the day, the Pitts Rivers Museum. (With a very quick detour into the church next door, which was quicker than anticipated due to the fact that I popped my head in five minutes before a 50-minute organ recital was due to start and, although beautiful, the church was not quite interesting enough to keep me entertained through that much Bach.)

I got a more normal amount of lost on my way to the Pitts Williams museum and therefore enjoyed lots of windy side streets and passageways, the bright blue sky, leafy trees full of autumnal colours, cobbled pavements and brightly painted old buildings making me feel like I was in the televised Lewis version of Oxford rather than the real thing. Where was the bad weather and average buildings I was used to experiencing in this city?! In the end I realised where my destination confusion was coming from; the Museum of Natural History, the building in which the Pitts Williams museum resides, only had one small sign next to a whole load of much bigger warning signs about parking and loitering, and the massive building I had wrongly assumed was part of a university block was in fact what I was looking for. 

One squelchy walk across the muddy quad later I was inside the Natural History museum and my- it was pretty spectacular. A vaulted ceiling stretched upwards with seemingly no end, the glass panels making the museum space bright and full of light, and under this majestic dome there were skeletons of practically any and all impressively large animal that has ever been known to humankind. Dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes, whales, bears, bison, not one but two elephants (I personally had no idea elephants were that big) - if it was large, they had the skeleton. If that wasn’t enough they also had enough unnerving taxidermy to fulfil the dreams of even the wildest enthusiast of icky dead animals and an absolutely gigantic 3D model of E. Coli hanging from the ceiling. Truly something for all the family.

After wandering around for a bit I found the entrance to the Pitts Williams museum at the back, looking a little unexciting after my journey through Stegosaurus and Triceratops bones, and stepped through into what can only be described as an alternate world. The bright, cheerful sunlight of the main museum space was replaced with dim gloom, my eyes straining to pick out what exactly was in front of me. And then, as my sight adjusted, I realised what I was looking at: a sprawling floor space full to the brim of dozens upon dozens of glass cabinets, some tall, some small, some lining the walls, the rest crammed together side by side across the massive hall. Looking up, I realised that the two levels above me were also equally full of items. This was going to be a pretty intense museum. The problem about there being that much stuff is that it is literally impossible to absorb even 50% of what you’re looking at. It took me twenty minutes to notice a totem pole that stretched to the top floor!

 The Pitts Williams is a museum dedicated to learning about the human experience, and it certainly takes that description to heart. If humans do something, there will be an exhibit about it - I found two glass cabinets for dulcimers alone in the music section, which did seem to be edging on overkill. One thing about the Pitts Williams was obvious right from the word go however, and it needs to be said. It is, without question, a deeply, deeply creepy museum. 

Possibly one of the top three creepy museums I have ever been to, and I have been to a museum dedicated to dead animals in jars. 

As I wandered alone through row upon row of ancient war masks, dolls, mummies and, god forbid, puppets, it was hard to find the most unsettling part of the museum  - until I found it, the unequivocally most disturbing exhibit of them all. The cabinet called, “Treatment of Dead Enemies”. The title itself is nightmare fuel, but when I suddenly realised that what I was looking at was the skulls of two murdered children a warrior had tied to some sacred feathers and bits of wood so that they swung outside his hut as a warning to others, and that those skulls were surrounded by other mummified heads, I suddenly decided that it might be a good idea for this to be lunchtime. Outside. Suddenly SpellBound’s dried human heart didn’t seem all that bad.

I slightly queasily made my way back out to the soggy quad and ate my unexciting lunch of gluten-free oatcakes, nervously looking out for rain. I had just one last stop on my sightseeing checklist; the Bodleian Library.

The Bodleian was also puzzlingly difficult to find, until it suddenly wasn’t difficult to find at all; I was looking for the building I’d once visited as part of a Broadside Ballad conference (I know, I live an exciting life), but that was actually just the modern library. Once I’d turned round, looked properly at all those big old buildings across the road and realised that they were all part of the Bodleian library it became very easy to find indeed…  The Bodleian is an awe-inspiring complex of really quite ridiculously beautiful buildings. 

As impressive now as it was when first built, I started off wandering around the main square taking photos but ended up just standing in the middle staring around, ruefully accepting that no phone camera was going to capture the majesty of the 17th century architecture. Most of the library isn’t open to the public but a a £6 ticket gets you a 30 minute sneak peek at what’s inside, so I joined a various assortment of tourists, waved my E- ticket and walked through the grand wooden doors to find out just how much like a Harry Potter set it actually looked on the inside. (It would look very much indeed like a Harry Potter set, I discovered; many HP scenes were actually filmed at the Bodleian.)

After a bit of a rocky start where the guide tried to get a French woman who was very clearly fluent in English to take a translation booklet despite the woman telling her multiple times that she didn’t need a booklet because she could speak English (she then moved onto apologising slowly and clearly to the Finnish tourist that they didn’t have a Finnish leaflet, which the Finn thought was very funny. Clearly the guide has never been to Finland!) we dumped our stuff in the obligatory stuff dump box - the woman with the massive trundly suitcase posed a bit of a problem - and fought with our fiddly personal microphones so we could hear the guide’s whispered talking in the quieter sections of the library. We all trooped up the stairs to the original heart of the library, dating from the 15th century, and the 17th century extension built on by Bodleian, still used as a working library by students at Oxford. I’m conscious I’ve already used a lot of words to try and describe big, impressive things during this short trip so I’ll just save time and say that the library was all of the words I’ve used so far, combined. Endless bookcases of gorgeous dark wood and intricately painted panels were everywhere, as were the books; big, fat tomes that stood there proudly row upon row, as they had for four hundred years and will hopefully for centuries to come. We all behaved ourselves and the trip passed without incident apart from one poor German tourist being shouted at by the security guard for sitting on a chair that looked very inviting but was seemingly not for sitting, and before long we were all plodding back down the staircase away from book nirvana. If you’re ever in Oxford I would really recommend paying £6 to have a look, even if you just want to see what heaven looks like for 25 minutes.

My trip was nearly at an end, and I wandered along Oxford high street with a real sense of sadness at leaving what I now realised is a very attractive city. Turns out nice weather, not too much stuff to carry and appropriate clothing can do the world of wonders for one’s view of a place! I ducked into the Indoor Market and discovered a baffling, intricate maze of shops, ranging from local butchers and bakers to an upmarket garden ornaments store, and ended up at a tiny Korean cafe called Jeong’s Dosirak, ordering what my £5 could buy: a Kimbab. 

Unsure as to what kimbab was exactly, I was very much surprised to discover that I had bought quite a lot of what I would have called sushi, though I didn’t at all regret the choice as I munched my way through the generous helping on a bench outside. Clearly £5 gets you a lot more for your money here compared to London! 

The only thing left to do before getting the bus back to London was head into a Starbucks to charge my phone and check my emails as I started to re-enter working life. As I settled back in my seat on the Oxford Tube-which-is-actually-a-bus and watched the city disappear behind me, I sent it a mental apology for being initially unfair. Oxford is full of interesting things, and it’s really quite beautiful. Particularly when it’s not raining.

What Essa saw:

Ashmolean Museum (Entrance Free, SpellBound Under 25s ticket £6) 

https://www.ashmolean.org/spellbound

Eagle & Child Pub 

https://www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/restaurants/southeast/theeagleandchildoxford

Oxford Natural History Museum (Entrance Free)

https://www.oumnh.ox.ac.uk/ 

Bodleian Libraries (Some areas Entrance Free, Tours from £6)

https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/

Where Essa Stayed: 

Oxford Backpackers Hostel (rooms from £15 per night)

http://www.hostels.co.uk/ 

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

HitClips: Remembering the most absurd way we listened to music

If you were a child growing up in the late 90s or early 2000s, odds are you remember the most entertaining and hilariously nonsensical way of listening to music: HitClips.

In 1999, Hasbro's Tiger Electronics released the "slick micro audio systems" known as HitClips, tiny  memory card-like chips that contained a 60-second "clip" of a super popular song. In the early days, that meant tracks from Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, and Britney Spears, and later they included middle school anthems from Avril Lavigne, Hilary Duff, Simple Plan, and more.

SEE ALSO: Outdated ways of listening to music, ranked

While, from a tech standpoint, HitClips clearly weren't the most innovative devices, they had such a strong cultural impact that for years, people actually felt compelled to spend money on tiny snippets of full songs — a concept that, in hindsight, seems impossibly absurd.

So what exactly made HitClips so successful? And could they ever follow vinyl's path and make a comeback in today's world? To answer these questions, let's take a trip down memory lane.

y'all remember hit clips? i had all the slaps lmao pic.twitter.com/pzGbcOU2fO

— baby💮 (@m0delofiend) August 23, 2018

I recently uncovered my old HitClips players when attempting to clean my basement, but much to my dismay, my extensive song library — hot jams by A*Teens, Baha Men, Aaron Carter, Destiny’s Child, Dream Street, and dozens more — is still packed away somewhere.

Luckily, a single chip was with the devices. Unfortunately for us, that chip happened to be *NSYNC's "It's Gonna Be Me," which is now almost exclusively associated with memes.

The history of HitClips

HitClips initially debuted as toys in select McDonald's kids meals, but became so popular that they transitioned to the main toy/electronics market. That's when things got really exciting.

From 1999 to 2004, HitClips captivated the minds of budding young music lovers, and over the years, the brand ambitiously moved from basic listening devices to tiny CD players and fun extras.

Back in the day, a player cost $20.00 and a cartridge went for $3.99, which seems like a lot of money, even now. But the price seemed worth it back then considering the collectible tunes quickly became status symbols for America's youth. In school hallways and on playgrounds, the more clips that swung from your keychains, backpacks, or belt loops, the cooler you were. Life was once as simple as that.

The basic player 🎶

Image: martha tesema/mashable

The anatomy of most original HitClips devices were the same. Each player was about two inches long, had a slot for the chip, a single headphone wire that connected to an earpiece, a "Play" button, and a clip on the back so that users could conveniently fasten the devices to their clothing.

One of the first HitClips players I ever purchased (picture above) had a headphone wire that was just 12 inches long, which essentially meant that unless you were extremely petite, there was no way you could clip that thing on your belt and listen to music at the same time.

HitClips eventually remedied this flaw, and though users still dealt with poor sound quality, no volume control, and an inability to enjoy music in both ears, I like other naive children considered these toys among my most prized possessions.

HitClips Discs 💿

Image: martha tesema/mashable

As if the tiny versions of cassette tapes weren't adorable (and unnecessary) enough, in 2003 (near HitClips' retirement,) Tiger Electronics created HitClips Discs that played not one, but TWO minutes of music. Ca-chingggg.

These li'l Oreo-creme-filling-sized discs completely upped the game, but also required completely new players. So in the spirit of not making the original HitClips chips completely irrelevant (they were pricey, after all,) several hybrid devices that played both varieties were invented.

The extras 😎

Image: martha tesema/mashable

As any true fan of the amateur listening device will tell you, the real HitClips magic lay beyond the straightforward players.

You were nothing unless you had some snazzy HitClips extras, like an FM radio scanner attachment, or a three-inch-long boom box that played your tunes out loud for all to enjoy. There was an alarm clock, a Dance Bot, and even a karaoke device called the HitClips Groove Machine that somehow featured Destiny's Child in its commercial.

one time as a kid my parents wanted to follow a big gator football game, but it wasn't being aired on tv on a channel we got so they used the only working radio we had: my little hit clips boom box with the radio receiver cartridge plugged in pic.twitter.com/2NGiWROzg9

— Bobby Schroeder (@ponettplus) July 3, 2018

These came in handy and made the very limited devices a bit more functional. Who wouldn't want to blast a minute of Smash Mouth's "All Star" over and over again?

Less is more: An elaborate sham

The allure of HitClips is best summed by a moment from an episode of The Office where Michael Scott keeps listening to the iTunes Music Store preview of James Blunt's "Goodbye My Lover" on repeat after breaking up with his girlfriend Carol.

When his colleague Dwight Schrute asks, "Why don't you just buy the whole song?" Michael replies, "I don't have to buy it. I just want a taste of it."

Now, in this particular scenario, Michael was likely too cheap to purchase the full song. But the sentiment still remains. HitClips did an excellent job of making consumers feel like they needed only a taste of a song to be satisfied. And our silly little brains — distracted by the novelty of miniature music players and more collectible clutter for our keychains — cast aside any shred of reasonable thinking and believed this to be true.

Think about it: People were willing to spend money on part of a song when FULL SONGS existed for less. And in some cases, people (me) already owned the full songs and even full ALBUMS, but still chose to pay more money for a song clip. That's madness. And it worked, because by 2002, Tiger Electronics had reportedly sold more than 20 million HitClips devices, bringing in $80 million. And that doesn't include sales through 2004.

There's certainly an argument that HitClips were more convenient to carry around than Walkmans or CD players, but when you really sit back and think about the logic of it all, it doesn't seem to hold up. In reality, we all got duped with HitClips. But in the moment, all that really mattered was that we felt trendy AF.

Can HitClips make a comeback?

It's been about fourteen years since HitClips were discontinued, and though they'll always hold a special place in our nostalgia-hungry hearts, the thought of a resurgence today is truly laughable.

Nowadays iTunes gives you a 1:30 song preview for FREE, and charges $1.29 on average for a single track. So why would anyone go back to paying more for less music? 

Kids these days will never appreciate hit clips keychains and that makes me a little sad

— Tabby Moore (@tabbykmoore) August 27, 2018

Today we're accustomed to high-tech touch screens, shareable playlists, and instant gratification. In other words, we're spoiled. Imagine paying money for iTunes and Spotify song previews. You would NEVER — especially when you have access to free songs on YouTube and Spotify (if you're willing to endure a few occasional advertisements). And since streaming caught on, most people have stopped purchasing music altogether in favor of streaming service subscriptions. 

Though HitClips would likely still capture the interest of kids, for the adults who once owned them, reverting back song clips would be a bit like trying to switch back to dial-up internet. (Okay, MUCH less painful than that.) The point is, we're too advanced and too impatient now.

I will say, when I brought my devices to the office, my coworkers were really feeling them. And HitClips still remain a topic of nostalgia-tinged jokes.

When will sweetener be released on hitclips?? @ArianaGrande

— matt (@mattdaly) August 20, 2018

Fixin’ to drop my first mixtape, available on Hit Clips everywhere pic.twitter.com/86QYzQtZjx

— Tom Simmermaker (@tomsimmo) August 21, 2018

THIS JUST IN: OMAROSA SAID TO HAVE OVER 200 HITCLIPS OF THE PRESIDENT AND ALSO THE SPICE GIRLS pic.twitter.com/73ofq1G7HW

— Anthony Carboni (@acarboni) August 17, 2018

Foolish or not, these toys were an important step in music history that helped prep the world for the iPod's release in 2001. For many people, HitClips served as a first experience with a handheld, deconstructed mix tape. Unlike Walkmans and CD players, HitClips let you switch between songs and artists with ease. There was no skipping through tracks you didn't like — you simply selected the song you wanted from your collection of clips.

Sure, they were much less advanced than iPods, but the concept foreshadowed the mind-blowing tech to come. And after the iPod came out, HitClips helped fill voids in the hearts of those who were still too young to own an Apple product.

HitClips aren't likely to make a comeback, unless, as Twitter user @punchworm suggests, an ~extra~ brand tries to revive them for nostalgia's sake.

i just know that the product manager at urban outfitters is waiting for just the right moment to bring back hitclips

— nia (@punchworm) August 26, 2018

But if you're dying to live the HitClips lifestyle now, you can buy them on Amazon or eBay for a pretty penny. Until then, I offer you the best of both worlds with this HitClips-themed Spotify playlists.

But remember, you should listen to just a minute each song if you really want that nostalgic vibe.

WATCH: This multi-instrumentalist understands the rhythm of the subway

[courmelimar-blog]

Tagged

About Me - 2018 Style

“Since it’s a New Year, we all might be changing some things about us. Let’s find out! I am going to start a new “About Me” questionnaire and see how far this goes.”

Rules: Tag some of your followers or even people you’re following and see their differences/similarities for 2018!

Thank you to my fave @antlers-inallofmy-decorating for tagging me in this! I love this one, I’m excited to fill it out!

This is my second time filling this out because I tapped on the screen and lost all of it 😫

Questions:

Favorite Food: Steak and Garlic Bread (they are always together therefore they are one)

Foods I’d Rather Avoid: Anything that has a weird texture to me (which is a lot). I’m also just generally a picky eater

Favorite Things to Learn About: As some of you know, I started a witchcraft side blog (@healinghedge shameless plug) so I’m learning about herbology and crystals for overall self-improvement. I also love theatre production and movie trivia

Fave Color: Pastels (pink, blue, green, and blue) and grayscale

Best Friends: David who I’ve known for five years and now lives in California (I’m in Arizona). I haven’t seen him in a while and I miss him so much.

Favorite Games to Play: I got myself a Switch for Christmas and I play Mario Kart and LA Noire. I also play League of Legends occasionally.

When I have free time, I like to: It depends. But I need something to consume my attention, because my anxiety cannot tolerate any room to overthink.

Favorite Books: I rarely read, and when I do it’s mostly plays. But I like The Great Gatsby, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Looking for Alaska.

Favorite Movies: The all time favorite is Willy Wonka and the Chocoalte Factory. Right now favorites are: Singin in the Rain, How to Marry a Millionaire, Some Like it Hot, and Me Before You.

Favorite TV Shows: Big Bang Theory, The Good Doctor, House Hunters, Fixer Upper, Reign

Favorite Holiday: Christmas

Things I do well: Directing stage plays, dessert making/decorating, singing, making costumes (occasionally), sfx makeup.

Things I need to practice more: Chilling out, my anxiety has good and bad times and everyday I’m finding new coping mechanisms. Acting and sewing

Favorite Places to go: Disney parks, New York City

Favorite Family Activities: We don’t do much together since I’ve moved out but vacations are pretty chill.

Favorite thing to do outside: I’m rarely outside but I would like to go to cool forests somewhere in upstate New York or Pacific Northwest.

Favorite Song: At the moment, it’s Like This by Shawn Mendes. It really speaks to me about how I feel about this guy.

A Place I Want to Visit: London and Japan, but also all the Disney parks in the world.

Favorite Part of Last Year: It was a pretty crappy year, but we went to Disney World because I graduated college.

Something sad that happened last year: Let’s not go here...

When I get up in the morning, I like to: Make breakfast, lounge around, just enjoy the solace and quiet of the morning

Favorite Drink: Probably Sprite

Something new I’d like to learn this year: I’ve got plenty on my plate right now, so I’ll just continue learning witchcraft since it is technically new this year already.

I tag @wordbirdnaomi @buddha-loves-metal @lukeevanss @painfullythickimagines

OK, I’m gonna go before I lose the post again!

[bestuni-blog1]

Contract definition: the Ars A/V Club says something regarding the eventual fate of TV In our mission to get a photo of the close term eventual fate of TV, we asked our.

2010 saw two noteworthy advancements in the TV showcase: 3D, and the Web. Television producers are as yet trusting that buyers will overhaul their plain old 2D and Web-less boards with models that will give them a chance to bring the Internet into their front rooms without expecting them to add another container to their stimulation focus. In this five-section arrangement on the Future of TV, Ars investigates the significant move that TV is at present experiencing.

In our journey to get a photo of the close term fate of TV, we solicited our discussion group from early adopters to give us a gander at the arrangement of their present home theater frameworks. The Ars A/V swarm is about more or less wired, whatever they're utilizing can give some understanding about the genuine cutting edge in TV—not the promoting driven condition of-the-buildup, but rather where things are at in this present reality, and where they may go in the blink of an eye.

Before we delve into the subtle elements of the answers, it's significant a couple of parts of the reactions overall. The primary thing that jumps out at me as I read through the gathering string is that TV has unquestionably been re-imagined. I addressed this redefinition in my bit of our current CES wrap-up, yet it merits returning to here.

The substance

For the greater part of its reality, the expression "TV" has for the most part connoted a blend of a screen and an administration, where the administration is fundamentally a wellspring of channels that show diverse shows at various circumstances. In any case, as of late—and this is particularly valid for early adopters—the term has come to mean a developing pool of cloud-facilitated content, available on-request. As it were, TV is moving from being a 24-hour display that you can look in on, to being an advanced library. The transient angle hasn't completely left, obviously, yet for the early adopter swarm it's less and less critical.

This move in what TV is and how it's expended is conveniently exemplified in the accompanying post by client Commodus:

You need to see basic? I'll give you basic!

Television: Samsung LNT-4069FX (40-inch, 120Hz)

Speakers: Logitech Z-2300 (no doubt, the truth is out, PC speakers)

Apple TV

PlayStation 3

Xbox 360

... what's more, no link or satellite TV.

I can lease motion pictures on the web, watch them (and TV appears) on memberships, or play Blu-beam films... What's more, I don't need to drop many dollars a month on a digital TV bundle where I just ever need to watch a couple of TV arrangement every month. A touch of excess, beyond any doubt, however it additionally gives me a chance to get at all the real video administrations I think about."

Commodus' decision in home theater sound aside, his moderate setup is excellent of a couple of the fundamental patterns that the string turned up.

The principal incline isn't so much a pattern as it is a perception: the mix of Netflix spilling and Hulu has ended up being an extremely powerful and prominent other option to conventional link or over-the-air (OTA) programming. Netflix specifically is to a great degree well known, and a large number of our the string's members are utilizing Netflix gushing, regularly on the PS3, where Netflix streams in 1080p.

As a gushing just Netflix client myself, I can affirm that the capacity to begin a show down the stairs on an amusement support or AppleTV, at that point continue it upstairs on an iPad, portable workstation, or desktop, is incredibly capable. Truth be told, everybody I realize that has an iPad and a PS3 is doing this. On the off chance that contenders don't keep an eye out, Netflix is ready to wind up noticeably the Amazon Kindle of the new TV—your substance on any screen, whenever, with advance matching up tossed in.

Concerning Hulu, I for one don't utilize it, yet a lot of our discussion individuals do. This administration gives individuals access to the more present parts of the TV-as-cloud, while Netflix gives them access to whatever remains of the file. (Eventually, on the off chance that you need to know why nerds fear the Comcast/NBC merger, this Netflix + Hulu combo is it... however, that is a subject for an alternate day.)

The other piece of the substance picture is, obviously, Bittorrent. In spite of the fact that the word didn't come up much in the string, there was sufficient confirmation that the convention is as yet a well known substance circulation vehicle in the event that you comprehend what to search for. That early adopters utilize Bittorrent isn't news, yet the ascent in prevalence of Netflix spilling recommends that the administration may now be restricted to current-run TV and motion pictures, i.e., as a Hulu and DVD/Blu-beam elective. All things considered, why might anybody download films and TV indicates by means of Bittorrent and hazard getting a letter on the off chance that they can stream that same substance in HD from Netflix for $8 a month?

The equipment and programming

The most prevalent alternative for spilling video by a long shot is a HTPC. A significant number of our clients list a HTPC as a center piece of their home theater setup, and a not very many indicate the Mac little, abandoning me to infer that the rest are running Windows or Linux. This bodes well, in light of the fact that the value/execution proportion for the small scale is completely awful. I as of late grabbed a smaller than normal to run Plex on, however the buy felt greatly paltry, given that the $600 I spent on it could've gotten me a considerably more capable Windows box that I could really do some light gaming on. So for the home theater setup, Windows 7 is by all accounts where it's (at any rate on the off chance that you pass by what clients indicated in their builds).As for media extenders, the PS3 and AppleTV appear to be the most well known, particularly the previous. Various discussion members are utilizing the PS3 as a blend Blu-beam drive, media extender, and Netflix customer. For the media extender part, PS3MediaServer is by all accounts well known, particularly since in the event that you run it on a sufficiently robust PC you can transcode prevalent configurations for PS3 playback.

The PS3MediaServer issue conveys me to my next point: the desktop PC is quite of many individuals' home stimulation framework. Also, it bodes well: in case you're doing gaming or media creation on your desktop, you most likely have a lot of CPU power and capacity, so why not set some of that to chip away at your media library?

I don't by and by do any transcoding, however the quantity of individuals doing as such proposes that Intel is onto something with its QuickSync innovation. A QuickSync-empowered form of PS3MediaCenter will make a great deal of clients extremely upbeat.

Other non-comfort and non-Apple media extenders are additionally still being used; the ever-mainstream WD Live was said a couple of times, as were items from Popcorn Hour and Sage TV. These extenders are frequently matched with a NAS, which is by all accounts well known as a capacity pool for media. In fact, clients appear to lean toward a NAS in addition to media extender or HTPC combo to Windows Home Server in addition to Xbox 360 by a wide edge, given that no one said they're utilizing the last mentioned.

In my own particular amusement framework, I've by and by moved far from a NAS, since I have a lot of circle space scattered over my LAN. I simply deal with the diverse stockpiling pools with some bunch duplicate/synchronize programming, and that works preferable on my system over pooling the greater part of the capacity in one place and afterward attempting to stream it. In the event that I had my entire house set up with class 6 cabling, similar to one publication, I'd most likely lean toward the NAS, yet given that my LAN utilizes a blend of WiFi and Netgear Ethernet-over-persuade connectors, I stick to playing media records from neighborhood pools.

The one thing that the majority of the blurbs concurred on is that with regards to interfacing the excitement focus gadgets to the system, wired Ethernet is the best way to go. Everybody is utilizing Gigabit Ethernet to associate their rigging, and it bodes well. To start with, you get dead-straightforward, ensured transfer speed. No particular remote associations that can drop or falter. At that point there's the security issue—to get the majority of your home theater gadgets onto a remote system, you'll likely need to forego WPA2 PSK for something weaker. Better to wire the home theater gadgets and spare the WiFi for customers that can do WPA2. At long last, it's likewise the case that some top of the line and mid-run home theater gadgets are currently delivering with Ethernet ports for control and, now and again, content gushing. At last, the inclination for wired Ethernet comes down to the way that a few gadgets will require it, and on the off chance that you as of now have a switch staying there then you should plug whatever is left of your hardware into it.

For controlling the home theater setup, the Logitech Harmony despite everything one gets the most specifies. This has been run of the mill in any home theater overviews or surveying that we've accomplished for as far back as two years or somewhere in the vicinity, and now I feel abandoned as a spouse for not lifting one up, myself. (The heap of remote controls is a steady wellspring of disappointment for my significant other.)

Back to a solitary box?

One of the greatest impacts of the definitional move in "television" from a communicate model to an on-request advanced model, is that the home theater may really wind up appropriate back where it began: with only a TV and a sound framework. As more gadgets bolster more Internet and neighborhood spilling administrations, there will be less motivations to have distinctive boxes that do diverse things. Also, as more silicon and capacity advances into the TV itself, there will be less motivations to have anything other than a TV. Consider it.

On the off chance that the arranged TV of 2013 has as much CPU and GPU torque as, say, the iMac of 2010, and if the product condition is reasonably adaptable and extensible (by means of application stores or hacking), at that point why might you require a HTPC, AppleTV, media extender, or DVR? In reality, such a TV would have a great deal more gaming drive than the present era of consoles, so you may have the capacity to skirt those, as well. Furthermore, if 2TB or so of capacity is adequate for you, why might you require isolate NAS or fileserver.

Given where things are going, I can undoubtedly envision the aficionado home theater of 2013 comprising of a TV and perhaps a diversion reassure, and that is it. Sooner or later, discussing home theater may at the end of the day add up to discussing TVs, recipients, speakers, and very little else.