#so many broken rules

[trashyswitch]

Day 20: Relentless

Luigi, Mario, Dr. E. Gadd and the ghosts are renovating the hotel. But Mario starts practicing unsafe construction precautions. And Luigi...is forced to take the brunt of his mischief. And Dr. E. Gadd...is just having fun.

I hope you enjoy! :)

Polterpup and Luigi were working on the hotel with all the ghosts and Dr. E. Gadd. Mario was helping with some of the plumbing in the lobby, while Luigi was carrying over some flooring for the lobby, so it could be installed next. Luigi carried the flooring into the hall of the lobby, before placing it down and grabbing more from the truck. When Mario was done with the plumbing, he put the wrench back into his toolkit before walking up to Luigi. “Need help with that, Luigi?” Mario asked. 

“Nope. No, I got it.” Luigi replied, walking past him with a smile. 

Mario raised an eyebrow. “You sure?” He asked. 

Luigi nodded. “I’m sure.” He replied. 

Mario hummed with a smirk. “Look at you being all high and mighty.” Mario reacted, visibly impressed. “It’d be a shame if someone were to ruin that for you…” he teased, pushing Luigi’s shoulder gently. Luigi yelped and steadied himself, before looking at Mario with a warning look. “Don’t.” He warned. 

“Don’t what?” Mario asked, crouching under the flooring package and giving Luigi a push from the other side. “Don’t push you?” He asked, smirking. 

Luigi had to stop, and rebalance himself a bit. “Mario-” Luigi shot him an angry look. “If I fall and break my arm, it’ll be all your fault.” Luigi warned. 

Mario smirked and snuck under the flooring again back to the left side, and poked his side. “You ticklish?” Mario asked. 

Luigi squeaked and bit his lip, closing his right eye in an attempt to not double over. “NaA-! Mario!” Luigi let go of the flooring with one of his hands, and tried to push his brother away. But Mario dodged by stepping backwards, and poking his left side as he ran away. “MARIO!” Luigi shouted over his shoulder, only hearing the sound of Mario’s manic laughter as he kept running away. 

Luigi sighed and put the flooring in the correct area before turning back around. 

“Is Mario giving you trouble?” E. Gadd asked. 

Luigi chuckled. “A little bit.” He replied. 

“What will you do if he continues?” E. Gadd asked. 

“Get him back, probably.” Luigi replied. 

E. Gadd laughed and lowered his glasses so he could wink at him. “I’ll be sure to record you when the time comes.” He told him. 

Luigi smiled and winked back before turning to see where his brother was. Mario was grabbing the flooring as well, deciding to help Luigi load the flooring off the truck and into the lobby. Like Luigi, Mario carried it one at a time. 

Luigi walked up. “Want help?” Luigi asked. 

“Not if you’re gonna pull any tricks on me.” Mario warned him. 

Luigi grabbed the flooring. “Don’t you trust me?” Luigi asked. 

Mario sighed and let him carry it. “...Fair enough.” Mario muttered. 

While carrying the flooring, Luigi readied his shoulder under the flooring and checked to see if he could balance it on his shoulder alone. When he determined he could, Luigi readied his hands and poked both of Mario’s sides with 3 fingers each. “Boop!” Luigi added for extra effect. 

Mario shrieked and accidentally let go of the flooring, before dropping to the ground and holding his sides, giggling loudly. “Whahahat-” Mario looked up at Luigi, and widened his eyes. 

Luigi was holding the flooring, looking all tall and powerful above him. “Weakling.” Luigi teased.

Mario sighed and grabbed the flooring before putting it down onto the ground. “Okay.” He stood up and completely destroyed Luigi with tickles. “Take it back. Take it back, now!” Mario ordered. 

Luigi yelped and fell to the ground, rolling himself into a ball and covering up every ticklish spot he could using only his two arms. “MAHAHAHARIOHOHOHO! STTTAHAHAHAHAP!” Luigi yelled. 

“You asked for this the moment you offered to ‘help me’.” Mario told him before grabbing Luigi’s foot and removing the boot. “Now face your doom.” Mario ordered before tickling his brother’s foot. 

Luigi reached up to his brother as he shrieked, before flopping onto his back and wheezing. He covered his mouth with both his hands, muffling his newfound laughter. “MMMHMHMHMHMHMMM! MMMM! MMMHMHMHMHMHM!” Luigi shouted through his hand. 

“Awww, can’t take what you dish out?” Mario asked. 

Luigi uncovered his mouth. “YOHOHOHOU STAHAHARTED IHIHIT!” Luigi argued. 

“True…But I’m also going to end it.” Mario declared. “With TICKLES.” Mario yelled, going for his brother’s toes next. 

Luigi’s laughter went silent after that. Mario stopped a couple seconds later, letting Luigi breathe again. He patted his back and picked up the flooring, letting Luigi help him carry the flooring over. Finally, the boys were able to collaborate on helping with the renovation. 

Later, Dr. E. Gadd had bought pizza and was setting up dinner in the new lobby. Luigi was carrying a big table into the lobby, while a ghost was helping carry the table from the other side. While he was, Mario was holding the pizza and walking beside Luigi. 

“So tell me: How can I be strong like you? Tell me your ways.” Mario asked. 

Luigi chuckled. “Well…” Luigi adjusted the table in his grip. “First you gotta capture over a thousand ghosts of different shapes and sizes inside a vacuum on 3 separate occasions in your life…and then once you’ve done that, we’ll chat more.” Luigi replied. 

Mario laughed. “How many did you capture?” Mario asked. 

Luigi shook his head. “Too many.” He replied. 

Mario laughed. “Super Luigi captures thousands of ghosts 3 separate times…” Mario said. “And yet, the man still has a predictable weakness.” Mario teased, poking his side.

Luigi jumped and slapped Mario’s hand away as best he could. “Mario, stop!” Luigi warned. 

“Or what? You’re gonna defeat me with the power of suction, Mr. Clean?” Mario teased, poking his side a few more times. 

Luigi held his breath and tensed his abdomen, hoping the tickles would stop soon. Mario was playing the exact same dangerous game he had played earlier. He was poking him despite holding something heavy in his hands…and after all he’s been through, Luigi did NOT feel like breaking his arm today. Or any day! What happened to practicing safety first during construction projects?! 

The hammer ghost that was helping Luigi carry the table, had stopped for a moment to figure out what Mario was doing to him. Luigi was waving his hand around, trying to stop Mario’s fingers from hitting his side. But his tactics were ultimately fruitless, and Luigi was left standing in place, barely holding the table up while laughing hysterically. “YOHOHOHOU AHAHARE REHELENTLEHEHESS!” Luigi shouted at him.

“Would you kill me if I just…poked your hip?” Mario asked. 

“NOHOHO DOHOHON’T!” Luigi begged.

“No? No hip pokes?” Mario asked. “Not even a flutter?” He asked, bringing his fingers closer to his brother's hip. 

Luigi tried to step on his brother’s foot to stop him. “Duhude, I will kill you if you try it.” Luigi warned. 

Mario smirked and wiggled his fingers at him. “Do I dare risk ruining my relationship with my twin brother for a moment of personal gain?” Mario asked dramatically. 

Luigi managed to land one kick against the back of Mario’s knee. Trying to save the pizza, Mario fell over onto his knees and held the pizza outwards as he landed on his stomach. 

Seeing Mario’s face and reaction, Luigi started laughing at him as he walked away with the table still in hand. How Luigi was still holding onto that table, no one could say. 

Mario looked surprised and confused as to what had just happened. But the moment Luigi and the hammer ghost put the table down, Mario walked up, placed the pizza onto the table and squeezed both of his brother’s hips. “Screw brotherly love. Personal gain all the way.” Mario decided. 

Luigi shrieked and fell backwards right into Mario’s arms, cackling as he gripped Mario’s wrists. “GAAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHA- MAHAHARIO NOHOHOHO!” Luigi cackled. 

“But Mario, yes!” Mario replied, digging his fingers into his hips. “You’ve been carrying so many things on your shoulders…physically and mentally…” He reminded him. “You need a break.” Mario told him. 

“IHIHI DOHOHO NOHOHOT! IHIHIHIHI’M FIHINE! IHIHI SWEHEHEHEAR!” Luigi argued. 

Mario smirked and dug slightly deeper in the inner hip. This made Luigi shriek so loud, every ghost stopped working and turned to look at them. Mario even winced as the shriek pierced his ears a little bit. 

When his ears stopped ringing, Mario giggled and let go of him. “Sure you are.” Mario muttered, watching as Luigi rolled onto the ground in front of him. 

Luigi got himself up onto his knees, dusting the dirt off his face and looking up at the construction group. All the different ghosts were staring at Luigi with shock. That same man that sucked them up into the poltergust multiple times now…had just squealed at such a high octave from a simple squeeze to the hips. 

Luigi blinked and grew some confidence for a few seconds. “Y-Yeah, I sound like a girl. But I still subdued all of you.” Luigi mentioned. 

The ghosts shrugged their shoulders and looked at each other, agreeing with Luigi’s statement. He was right. Luigi had subdued them. 

“And yet…there is one person who can subdue Luigi…” Mario mentioned. 

Luigi turned to Mario with a nervous look on his face. “Mario…no.” He warned.

Mario squeezed both his sides. “And that’s me.” Mario replied.

“MarioNOHOHOHOHO-!” Luigi shouted, doubling over. 

“I am the one and only person who can subdue Luigi without fail.” Mario explained. “And it’ll stay that way till the day I die.” Mario concluded. 

Luigi kicked his feet as he struggled to get out of his brother’s grasp. Why?! Why was his brother tickling him so much today?! Is it entertaining seeing him laugh like that? Or did he want to make a fool of his brother? 

Will he ever get a proper answer? Probably not. 

And though Dr. E. Gadd DID end up getting a video recording…it ended up being of Luigi getting his comeuppance by Mario once again…

And all Luigi could do…was hide his face as he heard his own laughter through the recording.

[hiddenspriings]

  ♈︎ - Is everything a game to you? Well of course it is, you’re an Aries. First sign in the zodiac that also might be banned from playing simopoly. We admire a courageous spirit that knows what it wants, is driven, and is bluntly honest with us but can you let some of us, you know….win?! Not everything has to be a competition. Geez 

name: daphne potts lifetime wish: become a superstar athlete traits: athletic, hopeless romantic, hot-headed, slob, workaholic likes: color red, lobster thermidor, beach party music, winning

Excel and reach the top of their career

Fall In love and marry their first love fast

Has to do something athletic once a week

Master the athletic and handiness traits

Have them battle someone once a week

[slasherscream]

really wish people would read blog rules more, it makes running blogs like this very low reward and you feel like a machine if people aren't commenting and aren't even abiding by one of the, honestly, very few and politely phrased rules i even have

[nervousmonolith]

fruit saying if sapnap checked his bank account he'd see like 500 billion dollars in response to hearing sapnap is mad and is saying how sapnap doesnt need the money so real

[estradasphere]

the Palace of Mirrors short story takes up way too much space in my brain for how not very good it is

[hippolotamus]

Sevenish Sentence Sunday

Tagged by @elvensorceress and @alyxmastershipper for some variety of Sentences and Sundays. Thank you, lovelies 🥰 Sharing a bit of something in the works for my dearest @shortsighted-owl

“Does this thing actually work?”

Buck forces himself to open his eyes, pushing off the door and seeking out Eddie. He only has to take a few steps to find him casually tracing the edge of the record player. Buck would be lying if he said it didn’t immediately make him imagine what it would be like to have Eddie’s fingers touching him that carefully instead. 

“Uh, yeah. Of course it does.” Buck scrunches his eyebrows, choosing to sit on a stool at the kitchen island instead of drifting next to Eddie like he wants to. “Why?”

“I’ve just never heard you play anything on it. You didn’t even use it tonight. I guess I just… wondered,” Eddie replies quietly, as though he’s inquiring about more than the functionality of the player. 

Wondered what? Buck desperately wants to ask as Eddie rubs his thumb along the corner of the protective cover. 

“I used to. When I first moved in. I stopped after the whole leg getting crushed under a ladder truck incident. Kind of a literal pain to switch tracks.” Buck huffs out a humorless laugh. “After that I’m not really sure why I didn’t start again? I guess it didn’t seem worth it when Ali left, and Taylor found it, uh, distracting.”

“Hmm,” Eddie hums, pointing to the cabinet below. “This where you keep your collection?”

“I don’t know if I’d call it a collection, but yeah.” 

It’s rude to stare, Buck knows that, but he can’t seem to stop. Not when Eddie slides the top drawer out, smooth and easy, gingerly lifting the stack of LPs, setting them upright. He handles them with care - like Eddie does with everything he touches. He flips through one by one, his tongue poking out between his lips as he inspects front-to-back then back-to-front again. 

“God, I haven’t heard some of these since I was a kid,” Eddie remarks. “Abuela would play them when I stayed at her house."

He looks over at Buck, deep brown eyes bright and playful and curious. "Which one should we listen to?”

no pressure tagging @vanillahigh00 @stereopticons @blackandwhiteandrose @ajunerose @shortsighted-owl @rmd-writes @apothecarose @alysiswriting loml @lizzie-bennetdarcy @jesuisici33 @fatedbuck @spotsandsocks and anyone else who would like to share what they're working on 💙

[qumiiiquinnquin]

this is legit the dumbest line of thinking but i kinda feel like i failed as a teenager for i guess not doing most things other people did as teens. or just in high school. like date, go to parties, do drvgs, have s*x, .. of course not everyone has done these things either and at least a couple are probably way less common than i think they are. i gather these things from friends and things i overheard at my own middle and high schools and reading other people's experiences when they were teenagers. but like i feel like i failed somewhere along the way for not doing any of these things due to lack of interest or finding some of it wrong. and now im almost 19, still havent done any of these things, im an adult and starting off as a failure. at least thats what it feels like

[erstwhilesparrow]

double life fic recs

organized by session! (i.e., fics under session 4 will have spoilers up to and including session 4, fics under session 5 will have spoilers for session 5, etc.)

session 1:

these old ghosts; Thunderbirds_and_Lightning - Team Rancher Pacific Rim AU. Brutally sad, but also features: a terrific action sequence, gorgeous prose, unspeakable grief about Flower Husbands, and incredible jaeger and kaiju names.

the right thing; sparxwrites - Cleo and Scott talk the night after the first session. Short and tender and sort of a character study for all of Divorce Quartet despite the other two not being there. Joe Hills, despite also not being there, is a significant presence, which I think really elevates the whole experience.

session 2:

all is fair in love and war but i can't fight with you anymore; wizardlover - Scarian angst with a happy ending. Scar isn't stupid and also he should be allowed to go apeshit. The author is correct on both counts about this. Works out to be very sweet. (Psst. This author does great Scarian just in general -- it is worth checking out the other works in the series this fic is in!)

Detail of the Fire; canarydarity - Team Rancher hurt/comfort, patching each other up after the fire. This one feels a little like walking slowly through an art gallery -- lingering on beautiful / stately / lonely images. Inspired by a Richard Siken poem and does fun things with excerpts from the poem.

those were kinder times; SurrealSupernaturalist - Team Rancher Actually-Ranchers-Not-In-A-Death-Game AU! They escape to a farm and go on a healing arc that is nearly 10k words long. Incredibly sweet, domestic, and warm, plus angst about Jimmy as Omen of Misfortune.

session 3:

[When BigB returned from his rendezvous with Grian,]; orangeocelotmartyn - Ren and Bigb go red and figure out that this isn't going to work. They eat golden apples about it. Very good for Bigb and Ren talking about their relationship! Parting ways basically amicably! Realizing the soulmate thing is bullshit and they can and will pursue what they want!

under my skin?; Sixteenthdays - The soulbound pairs discover that their partnerships are literally, physically changing them. Features snapshot scenes from every soulbound pair as they attempt to cope with this change to varying degrees of success. A total delight all around.

you're the fool, i'm just as well; honeyblock - Pearl gets sick. Scott attempts to soldier through the effects this is having on him to deal with her. Contains: really fun / creative / piercing turns of phrase, Scott and Pearl doing that thing where it feels like they almost understand each other and then everything falls apart again, soulbonds being upsetting.

to catch a secret soulmate; wormcity - The entire server gets looped in on an attempt to find Bigb's secret soulmate. Bets are made, shenanigans are had, the sitcom energy is through the roof. Incredible character voices, and also just generally really fucking funny.

rainy day; whatcaniwriteinthis - It's a rainy day on the Double Life server, and people are waiting it out, or finding ways to occupy themselves, or reflecting on the game so far. The narration style is lots of fun, and it perfectly captures the vibes of hanging out somewhere during a torrential downpour in the late afternoon.

session 4:

[Once a week, the double life players each get one phone call to someone in the outside world.]; dmwrites - The Double Life players make off-world phone calls after session four. They gossip, or pass along life updates, or share blueprints for death machines. Hilarious, and also makes me so goddamn sad about ZombieCleo.

Soulmate-Things With Other People; savannah_owl - During the Homewreckers's pool party, people sneak off in pairs to, shall we say, hang out without their soulmates. There are good times had all around. Features relationships from Third Life, Hermitcraft, and Last Life. (savannah_owl also just has a bunch of really good Double Life fic? Worth taking a look!)

session 5:

hit the ground running; jelliegiggle, rosycheeked - Scar and Grian have a talk at Bigb's grave. Bigb is not, of course, physically there, but it is very much a fic where someone's absence is distinct and palpable. Really really good Desertduo Being Sad And Complicated And Intertwined.

session 6:

[The room is a dim basement room.]; theminecraftbee - Pearl and Scott have a bad time. Superhero AU, featuring a clandestine meeting between two people who hate each other and have no one else who will ever know them the same way. Months after reading it, I'm still obsessed with this one.

and by resilient i mean which holds; TheYesterdayShow - Martyn and Cleo have a bad time. Canon divergent: Cleo and Martyn survive to the end, and wind up talking about what they were supposed to mean to each other and what happens next. Absolutely brilliant characterization for both of them.

sugar, we're going down swinging; BananasofThorns - Etho and Joel have a-- Wait. [checks notes] Okay, honestly, they seem like they're having a fine time. Canon divergence where after outliving every other pair, Boat Boys fight to the bloody death. It's incredibly pretty and perfectly paced.

[wizardlyghost]

yknow i think i would maybe have had an easier time in life if i had been a little less autistic :/

[aeide-thea]

the real issue with modern AUs: their potential to reveal an author’s mesmerizingly bad taste in contemporary menswear 🫣

[crescentmp3]

ehehe...

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

The worst thing about my brain being an autopilot grammar nazi is that every single time I see people misuse “it’s” and “its” as well as apostrophe placements is that I don’t want to be rude and correct people... but my brain still is like UGH THIS IS THE WORST.

“It’s” and “Its” are more just my brain going weeo weeo on me when that’s a more understandable one bc “its” is literally the exception to a rule (because “it’s” actually means “it is”, so to avoid it being used for two meanings the apostrophe is removed for ownership cases), but when I see apostrophes before an S for plural wording and I know they speak English properly I’m just like. ugh. damn. bruh. please. go back to school.

Less severe cases of incorrect apostrophe use tends to be like, when people are playing Heroes and have duplicates of units and are like “my Ike’s” instead of “my Ikes”, because I think people are trying to... make it more clear that it’s referring to more than one? I think? Maybe? Or they literally just don’t realize it’s incorrect grammar, idk lol. Still can’t get past my weeo weeo autopilot brain though sadly.

LIKE. IT’S NOT ANYONE’S FAULT THAT MY BRAIN IS WEEO WEEO, IT JUST IS.

Which speaking of Heroes, FE in general seems to have its script in every single game ever coded to always use apostrophes for ownership cases even when the word ends in S, so don’t worry folks. IntSys isn’t getting off scot free from my brain either LOL. No amount of “princess’s” is ever gonna fly with my weeo weeo brain.

this has been a psa

mainly a psa of my brain weeo weeos

[softgrungeprophet]

amazing spider-man annual #5 add that to the list of comics in which peter is indirectly responsible for the death of someone trying to kill him lol

[dawnleaf37]

there were two one guy was just being really uncomfortable the other quit because of an arguement

[ms-demeanor]

So You Need To Buy A Computer But You Don't Know What Specs Are Good These Days

Hi.

This is literally my job.

Lots of people are buying computers for school right now or are replacing computers as their five-year-old college laptop craps out so here's the standard specs you should be looking for in a (windows) computer purchase in August 2023.

PROCESSOR

Intel i5 (no older than 10th Gen)

Ryzen 7

You can get away with a Ryzen 5 but an intel i3 should be an absolute last resort. You want at least an intel i5 or a Ryzen 7 processor. The current generation of intel processors is 13, but anything 10 or newer is perfectly fine. DO NOT get a higher performance line with an older generation; a 13th gen i5 is better than an 8th gen i7. (Unfortunately I don't know enough about ryzens to tell you which generation is the earliest you should get, but staying within 3 generations is a good rule of thumb)

RAM

8GB absolute minimum

If you don't have at least 8GB RAM on a modern computer it's going to be very, very slow. Ideally you want a computer with at least 16GB, and it's a good idea to get a computer that will let you add or swap RAM down the line (nearly all desktops will let you do this, for laptops you need to check the specs for Memory and see how many slots there are and how many slots are available; laptops with soldered RAM cannot have the memory upgraded - this is common in very slim laptops)

STORAGE

256GB SSD

Computers mostly come with SSDs these days; SSDs are faster than HDDs but typically have lower storage for the same price. That being said: SSDs are coming down in price and if you're installing your own drive you can easily upgrade the size for a low cost. Unfortunately that doesn't do anything for you for the initial purchase.

A lot of cheaper laptops will have a 128GB SSD and, because a lot of stuff is stored in the cloud these days, that can be functional. I still recommend getting a bit more storage than that because it's nice if you can store your music and documents and photos on your device instead of on the cloud. You want to be able to access your files even if you don't have internet access.

But don't get a computer with a big HDD instead of getting a computer with a small SSD. The difference in speed is noticeable.

SCREEN (laptop specific)

Personally I find that touchscreens have a negative impact on battery life and are easier to fuck up than standard screens. They are also harder to replace if they get broken. I do not recommend getting a touch screen unless you absolutely have to.

A lot of college students especially tend to look for the biggest laptop screen possible; don't do that. It's a pain in the ass to carry a 17" laptop around campus and with the way that everything is so thin these days it's easier to damage a 17" screen than a 14" screen.

On the other end of that: laptops with 13" screens tend to be very slim devices that are glued shut and impossible to work on or upgrade.

Your best bet (for both functionality and price) is either a 14" or a 15.6" screen. If you absolutely positively need to have a 10-key keyboard on your laptop, get the 15.6". If you need something portable more than you need 10-key, get a 14"

FORM FACTOR (desktop specific)

If you purchase an all-in-one desktop computer I will begin manifesting in your house physically. All-in-ones take away every advantage desktops have in terms of upgradeability and maintenance; they are expensive and difficult to repair and usually not worth the cost of disassembling to upgrade.

There are about four standard sizes of desktop PC: All-in-One (the size of a monitor with no other footprint), Tower (Big! probably at least two feet long in two directions), Small Form Factor Tower (Very moderate - about the size of a large shoebox), and Mini/Micro/Tiny (Small! about the size of a small hardcover book).

If you are concerned about space you are much better off getting a MicroPC and a bracket to put it on your monitor than you are getting an all-in-one. This will be about a million percent easier to work on than an all-in-one and this way if your monitor dies your computer is still functional.

Small form factor towers and towers are the easiest to work on and upgrade; if you need a burly graphics card you need to get a full size tower, but for everything else a small form factor tower will be fine. Most of our business sales are SFF towers and MicroPCs, the only time we get something larger is if we have to put a $700 graphics card in it. SFF towers will accept small graphics cards and can handle upgrades to the power supply; MicroPCs can only have the RAM and SSD upgraded and don't have room for any other components or their own internal power supply.

WARRANTY

Most desktops come with either a 1 or 3 year warranty; either of these is fine and if you want to upgrade a 1 year to a 3 year that is also fine. I've generally found that if something is going to do a warranty failure on desktop it's going to do it the first year, so you don't get a hell of a lot of added mileage out of an extended warranty but it doesn't hurt and sometimes pays off to do a 3-year.

Laptops are a different story. Laptops mostly come with a 1-year warranty and what I recommend everyone does for every laptop that will allow it is to upgrade that to the longest warranty you can get with added drop/damage protection. The most common question our customers have about laptops is if we can replace a screen and the answer is usually "yes, but it's going to be expensive." If you're purchasing a low-end laptop, the parts and labor for replacing a screen can easily cost more than half the price of a new laptop. HOWEVER, the way that most screens get broken is by getting dropped. So if you have a warranty with drop protection, you just send that sucker back to the factory and they fix it for you.

So, if it is at all possible, check if the manufacturer of a laptop you're looking at has a warranty option with drop protection. Then, within 30 days (though ideally on the first day you get it) of owning your laptop, go to the manufacturer site, register your serial number, and upgrade the warranty. If you can't afford a 3-year upgrade at once set a reminder for yourself to annually renew. But get that drop protection, especially if you are a college student or if you've got kids.

And never, ever put pens or pencils on your laptop keyboard. I've seen people ruin thousand dollar, brand-new laptops that they can't afford to fix because they closed the screen on a ten cent pencil. Keep liquids away from them too.

LIFESPAN

There's a reasonable chance that any computer you buy today will still be able to turn on and run a program or two in ten years. That does not mean that it is "functional."

At my office we estimate that the functional lifespan of desktops is 5-7 years and the functional lifespan of laptops is 3-5 years. Laptops get more wear and tear than desktops and desktops are easier to upgrade to keep them running. At 5 years for desktops and 3 years for laptops you should look at upgrading the RAM in the device and possibly consider replacing the SSD with a new (possibly larger) model, because SSDs and HDDs don't last forever.

COST

This means that you should think of your computers as an annual investment rather than as a one-time purchase. It is more worthwhile to pay $700 for a laptop that will work well for five years than it is to pay $300 for a laptop that will be outdated and slow in one year (which is what will happen if you get an 8th gen i3 with 8GB RAM). If you are going to get a $300 laptop try to get specs as close as possible to the minimums I've laid out here.

If you have to compromise on these specs, the one that is least fixable is the processor. If you get a laptop with an i3 processor you aren't going to be able to upgrade it even if you can add more RAM or a bigger SSD. If you have to get lower specs in order to afford the device put your money into the processor and make sure that the computer has available slots for upgrade and that neither the RAM nor the SSD is soldered to the motherboard. (one easy way to check this is to search "[computer model] RAM upgrade" on youtube and see if anyone has made a video showing what the inside of the laptop looks like and how much effort it takes to replace parts)

Computers are expensive right now. This is frustrating, because historically consumer computer prices have been on a downward trend but since 2020 that trend has been all over the place. Desktop computers are quite expensive at the moment (August 2023) and decent laptops are extremely variably priced.

If you are looking for a decent, upgradeable laptop that will last you a few years, here are a couple of options that you can purchase in August 2023 that have good prices for their specs:

14" Lenovo - $670 - 11th-gen i5, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD

15.6" HP - $540 - 11th-gen i5, 16GB RAM, and 256GB SSD

14" Dell - $710 - 12th-gen i5, 16GB RAM, and 256GB SSD

If you are looking for a decent, affordable desktop that will last you a few years, here are a couple of options that you can purchase in August 2023 that have good prices for their specs:

SFF HP - $620 - 10th-gen i5, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD

SFF Lenovo - $560 - Ryzen 7 5000 series, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD

Dell Tower - $800 - 10th-gen i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD

If I were going to buy any of these I'd probably get the HP laptop or the Dell Tower. The HP Laptop is actually a really good price for what it is.

Anyway happy computering.

[sensenotsense]

thinking about all the groups/comebacks/debuts i wanna get.... txt, seventeen, stray kids, chuu, jungkook, (g)-idle, nct 127, and i feel like im forgetting some too