#like canonically. so i think they gave her the phone as a keyboard replacement and then she uses it for other stuff

[brittlebutch]

it has come to me in a vision (Lila using phone AAC app to write her essays when she goes to college)

[nedmallory]

Weird question but do you recommend a chrome book for like studying and work like that bc I’ve heard they can be slow

Hey, not weird at all! I just got mine mid March, but I haven’t noticed it being slow at all! My laptop completely died on me during midterm season and I had a ton of papers and online exams to do, so my plan was to just use this in the meantime and return it to best buy as soon as my work was done and then I could buy an actual laptop. I obviously decided to keep it. I would recommend using a Chromebook for schooling, but only if it’s not going to be your primary device at home like it is mine (if you spend a ton of time on it, anyway)

First off, before I go into pros and cons (no false sense of hope here… under the cut I’ll tell you everything I love about it and everything I hate or get annoyed at), I should mention I’m using the Samsung Chromebook Plus 

All in all, I LOVE my chromebook. It’s got its flaws, but most of them have easy fixes. I hope this full length article helps you decide what to do! If your main concern is getting you through school/work, I say go for it! 

8/10 would recommend! I’d love to say 10/10, but there are enough flaws that I can’t in good conscience tell you to go get yourself a chromebook knowing it does some real stupid stuff.

Pros:

lightweight - seriously, I spent all day on campus carrying my Dell around in my bookbag and I’ve never been one to have back problems but carrying it around all day hurt. Sometimes I’d literally just abandon my bookbag (with my laptop in it) in the hall in one of the academic buildings while I went to find something to eat all the way across campus. Like, seriously. According to google the UCF campus is 1415 acres. I don’t even feel weight from my Chromebook while I’m walking campus with it in my bag.

Convenience - It’s essentially half laptop, half tablet. You’re getting the best of both worlds. Google play store (so you can play games and use the device as an e-reader) but you also get the internet at full capacity rather than the dullness of a mobile browser.

Stylus apps - This stylus was a lifesaver for me last semester. I had college algebra last semester, and with math I’m always wasting a ton of paper, so I bought a whiteboard I could carry around with me but it took up too much space at the desks in classrooms. With a Chromebook, Google Keep (note taking app) is built in. when I didn’t feel like wasting space (and dropping my calculator, pen, eraser, markers, board) I could just pull up my stylus apps on half my screen and my math modules on the other half.

Also, have you seen my newer editing attempts? Working with just my finger on this device was already pretty good, compared to on my phone. But using the stylus helped me to get a clearer view of everything I was erasing and more wiggle control

Quick boot up time - In the manual, it claims that the chromebook boots up in 10 seconds. I’ve found that it takes about half that time to start up

2 in one - it does have 360 mode, so you don’t have to use it as a laptop all the time. In tablet mode, you get all the essential uses you get in laptop mode (except the ability to split the screen) plus you can use emojis on the touchscreen keyboard that pops up

Apple Music - On my samsung tablet, I can’t access apple music (the app shows up, but I can’t download it). On chromebook, I can. No itunes though, which is a bummer, but I don’t really need it.

Easy streaming - Watching Netflix/Hulu is such a breeze. I haven’t experienced any buffering issues like i constantly did with my last laptop

Amazing touchscreen - With my Dell laptop (which, again, gave out on me) my touch screen often had meltdowns or prevented my touchpad from working. Seeing as how Samsung has essential experience in touchscreen development, I’m not shocked that I’ve never had an issue with this touchscreen

Have trouble remembering urls? no more - Built into the computer, you have what appear to be google (and other brand) apps, but they’re actually shortcuts that take you directly to their respectful websites. Google drive (which is also built in through the files app), Lookout, Google Maps, Weather Channel, etc. I don’t use them, but it’s such a great gesture.

Memory - I use a lot of space and I haven’t even begun to run out yet! There’s also a slot for external memory (an SD card like what you’d insert into your phone something I wish Apple would do instead of making me pay for more storage every month. Unfortunately for me, this doesn’t work for apps. It’s only so that you have another storage method for your files. After my previous laptop died I lost all my running club pics, so with this chromebook, I have the option to just go ahead and save them directly to my SD card so that doesn’t happen again. It’s kind of like using a flash drive for safe keeping except, ya know, it’s not a flash drive replacement.

It’s made to fit YOU - If you don’t want someone to get into your files, they can’t. You sign in with your google account, but you CAN create additional user accounts (which includes a guest account)

Resetting the computer is easy! - You can’t go wrong. Your options are

restore default settings

COMPLETELY wipe the computer of all info (the option you’d choose if you wanted the get rid of the computer, so it’s essentially… factory reset)

Virus control - While there’s no harm in buying yourself an antivirus program, you don’t necessarily need it with Chromebook because google’s actively fighting off viruses for you. I started out using antivirus programs before I realized I didn’t need it. I haven’t had any issues at all with the security of my computer, with or without any kind of protection

Cons

Limited keys - You have to make sure you remember key combinations to perform certain tasks. For example, at first I thought I couldn’t get caps lock on this computer. To do that, it’s alt+search key. scroll to the top of the page? alt+ctrl+up arrow. screenshot in laptop mode? still can’t remember which symbol matches up with that one.

Ctrl Alt…. What? - You don’t have control alt delete anymore. The task manager apparently can only be accessed through settings, which if your chromebook freaks out on you either wait for it to settle down or shut it down are your only two options. Which brings us to con #3.

Freaking out - Lately I’ve been noticing that if I have too many apps open at once, my chromebook will stop funtioning properly for a couple minutes and it’ll do one of two things

shut all my apps down without warning

system reboot

Google Print - It wants to hijack your printer, but I refuse to give google access to store info from my printer. I have my Canon hooked up to my chromebook, but I won’t allow google access to it. They’re basically asking to save the info of everything you print to their servers and your printer will only be available for devices you allow access to your google print account (can’t be set up from chromebook anyway).

USB C ports - Okay admittedly I do like these ports, It serves as the charging port, so you can charge the computer on either side. You can also use it as a normal USB port so long as you find devices with the usb c tip BUT this means you need to buy an adapter if you want to use HDMI or a flash drive/other devices that use usb 2.0/3.0 ports

Speaker location - They’re on the bottom, so as long as you’re not covering them up, your audio should be pretty decent

Google Chrome - What I LOVED about using Chrome on actual laptops was that you could have several different user profiles under the same google email on your browser. I had 2. One for my personal multi fandom tumblr, and the other for my marrish tumblr accounts. That way I could just switch windows to change tumblr accounts. You can’t do that on Chromebook. You’d need to create different accounts for your log in screen… which… is it really worth creating new emails? (says the girl who creates a new email everytime she wants to get a new free trial) Now my only option is to use 3 different devices for different tumblr accounts (I just created a choices safe main blog so I can actually find choices posts without doing a ton of searching, so I need an extra layer now)

Microsoft Office/One Drive - Who’s that? We don’t like her apparently. Seriously. You can’t have microsoft office, because all downloads come from the play store. If you like the mobile version of Word, congrats! This system is a winner for you! If not, you can always use the online version on Outlook’s website if you use that. Don’t even THINK about trying to download the one drive app. Seriously, it doesn’t work on Chromebook. I’ve been trying to sign into it since I first bought this laptop. Only when I looked at the horrible reviews last week did I realize I’d NEVER be able to log into the app.

Also streaming - There’s this god awful sound that sometimes plays when streaming on the CBS website. It usually isn’t there, but I gave up on watching SWAT (sorry shemar and criminal minds, I still love you) because I never know if this’ll be the moment when that screeching will begin. It only happens on the CBS website though (while it’s hooked up to my tv)

Ooh speaking of hooking up to my tv - HDMI sucks. that’s all. I hate the border that surrounds the chromebook’s visual. And if you’re watching videos that already aren’t full screen? Good luck streaming comfortably.

Digital Textbook app used for UCF - Okay so we use Yuzu for digital textbooks at my uni and I can’t figure out how to get the app to let me in. Pretty sure that’s the app’s fault though. You have to sign in through a mobile browser to use the app, but the chromebook uses a full capacity desktop browser so I CANT log into the app. I have to use the online version if I take my chromebook to school with me instead of my actual tablet. So whether or not this is the chromebook’s fault is a bit iffy.

Here are some photos for proof if you need to see what you’d be signing up for!

Nobody can….

Instead of a “start” menu… we have a search menu. The top bar shows your most recently used apps. 

[millennial-ring]

Haunted Chapter 26.5

Tobi sat upright in bed, back against the wall and laptop resting on her outstretched legs that were tucked under the blankets despite the summer heat. Her bright green hair was pulled into a messy bun, stray pieces of hair falling out to frame her face. She kept having to push them behind her ears because they annoyed her, but she made no effort to properly pin them back. It was 5pm on her day off, and she still wore her pajamas, not bothering to change into real clothes despite her and her roommate’s plans to get Chinese before her roommate had to work. They’d both slept all day, exhausted and overworked.

 Tobi’s hands hovered above the keyboard uncertainly, the exhaustion showing on her pale face. The bags under her eyes –which she usually liked having, since they gave her a “dead inside” look without having to apply make up at 7am- were much darker thanks to the 18 hours she worked in the last two days. She was attempting –and failing- to write the next chapter of her fanfiction, Haunted. She kept writing one or two sentences, then deleting them. Now she stared at the blank word document like it was mocking her.

 “Fuck this,” she muttered, setting the laptop aside and getting out of bed. Her little black cat, Salem, chirped in protest at being woken up, and Tobi proceeded to get distracted with petting the cat for a good 5 minutes before she managed to make her way to the kitchen.

 “Drink of champions,” she said to herself as she pulled out her third Vanilla Coca-Cola and cracked open the can. As she took the first few too-big mandatory gulps she recalled that this very drink had inspired her Fanfiction.net username –VanillaKokain, because the sweet vanilla-laced beverage was just as addicting as that white powder.

 (In the real world, not fanfic self-insert land, the Real Tobi takes a second to retrieve her own Vanilla Coke from the kitchen before resuming the crack fic.)

 Though she really hadn’t done much but write maybe two paragraphs, collectively, she considered taking a break and making something to eat. She wasn’t particularly hungry, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had anything to eat, so she set down her Coke and grabbed a box of Kraft Mac and Cheese – the new Star Wars shapes, because fuck you, the shapes taste better.

 As she was turning to grab a pan from the cupboard above the sink, she spotted two people who were definitely not her roommate or friends, and dropped the box of BB-8 shaped noodles.

 Sitting there on her couch among the dozens of decorative pillows were none other than Malik and Bakura; more specifically, the versions of the two characters that existed in the Haunted universe. 

Malik wore his beautiful golden hair up in a ponytail, his outfit consisting of black skinny jeans and a white-to-lavender gradient tank top that Tobi had wanted to draw him in again. Bakura, meanwhile, wore his baggy red hoodie and grey sweat pants, his body surrounded by the weird, other worldly shimmering that Tobi always worried she didn’t describe very well.

 The two men stared at Tobi, and for a long moment, Tobi stared back, too shocked to do anything but try and control her breathing so she didn’t scream. At length she picked up the can of Coke and checked the ingredients. “Did they start putting actual cocaine in this shit?”

 “I’m pretty sure cocaine doesn’t make you hallucinate after one hit.”

Tobi shook her head, her eyes wide and an unhinged smile working its way over her lips. “No, you’re right, of course, I knew that. So this must just be a hallucination brought on by exhaustion and sleep deprivation and where is my phone I need to call chef and ask for some time off because I obviously need a damn vacation if I’m starting to talk to hallucinations of my two favorite YuGiOh villains!” The more she spoke, the more shrill her voice got, and at the end she took a deep gasp of air after not taking a single breath.

 “Oh, we aren’t hallucinations, sweet heart,” Bakura purred, and Fanfic Tobi didn’t know whether to laugh or cringe at the pet name. Real Life Tobi thought it was hilarious, though, so she left it in there.

 Tobi stared at them a moment longer before suddenly grabbing a ghost shaped salt shaker and chucking it at Malik. It hit him solidly in the shoulder and spilled salt everywhere.

 “Ow! What the fuck!” Malik rubbed his shoulder and stood, shaking and brushing the salt from his clothes.

 “Holyshityou’reREAL.”

 “Yeah, Bakura literally just said that.”

 “But- how- I don’t- you’re fucking fictional! Okay, this has to be a dream.”

 “We aren’t a dream, either.”

 “No, you totally are, because I have weird dreams about anime characters all the time.”

 “But in how many of those dreams do you acknowledge it’s crazy to see two anime characters in your house?”

 Tobi opened her mouth, a finger raised in her customary “Well, actually,” pose. She closed and opened her mouth a few times, trying to think of something to say, but in the end she gave up and pinched herself.

 Fuck. Definitely not a dream.

 Malik smirked as the reality finally, finally dawned on Tobi.

 “Okay, but how, and why, are you two fuck heads in my living room.”

 Bakura snickered. Malik pulled something from his pocket and held it out for Tobi to see. A glowing golden cube floated above his palm, one corner sheared off and replaced with a YGO-styled Eye of Horus.

 “Ah. Yes. The Fanfic Device. Of course.” She paused for a moment, then frowned. “But how the hell did you get that? You guys are totally AU. There’s some stuff in your universe that’s based on canon, but the Dimensional Cube shouldn’t exist at all. Neither should any of the other Items.”

 Malik nodded, tossing the cube from hand to hand. “You’re right, it doesn’t exist in our universe. We stole it from our Abridged counterparts when they entered our universe.”

 “Your Abridged counterparts? I never wrote- oh shit. A Way Home.”

 “Precisely.”

 Tobi shook her head, raking her fingers through her hair and managing to pull more out of her bun. “No way. I just reread that fic a few days ago and YGOTAS Malik and Bakura never visited Haunted. It wasn’t even referenced.”

 “It was off screen.”

 “That’s…convenient.”

 “Right? Anyway, point is we stole the Cube and used it to travel to this stupid self-insert crack fic you’re writing like it’s fucking 2005 again.”

 Tobi rolled her eyes. “Why? Why would you come to this fic when there are a thousand others you could go to?”

 “Because we needed to talk to you, and this is the only YuGiOh fanfic where you exist, aside from Where’s The Tan.”

 “We don’t speak that name in this house.”

 It was Malik’s turn to roll his eyes at Tobi’s dramatic reaction. “Believe me, I want to forget it exists, too. Thank god you only got three chapters in.”

 “Anyway,” Bakura cut in, moving to stand beside Malik. “We’re here to tell you to get off your lazy ass and start writing our story again.”

 Malik nodded in agreement. “We’ve been stuck in fanfic purgatory for five months, Tobi. Five months!”

 “And you left the last chapter on such a cliffhanger, too!”

 Tobi raised a brow. “It wasn’t that much of a cliff hanger.”

 “My clothes just disappeared. You were definitely implying I passed on. But even we-“ he motioned between himself and Malik- “don’t know if I did or not because you haven’t even started the next chapter!”

 “I’ve started the next chapter,” Tobi said indignantly.

 “Yeah, because writing two sentences and then deleting them is definitely starting a chapter.”

 “Hey, it’s an emotional chapter! And how do you not know what happens when I’ve outlined up to chapter 30?”

 “Because that doesn’t count as a fanfic. We can’t travel to it and see what happens.”

 Tobi grumbled something under her breath and rubbed her forehead. “So you stole the Fanfic Device from Sitabethel’s Abridged-based Verse and traveled to this specific fic to chew me out for not updating?”

 “Yup.”

 “Oh my fucking god that’s so stupid.”

 “You’re the one writing it.”

 “What?”

 “What?”

 The three stared at each other again in silence before Bakura scoffed.

 “Come on, how hard can it be? Just write the rough draft, at least! That technically counts as fic, and we’ll be able to travel to it and see what happens.”

 “If it was so easy I wouldn’t really be struggling so much to write this chapter, would I?”

 Bakura opened his mouth to retort, but Malik shushed him.

 “Just do what you can, Tobi. We’re just anxious to see if we get a happy ending or not.”

 Tobi winced. “I mean…Do you want spoilers? Because I can tell you what happens.”

 Malik shook his head. “I’d rather experience it.”

 “Same,” Bakura agreed.

 Tobi sighed and picked up her forgotten box of Mac and Cheese, brushing a tuft of white cat fur from it. “Alright, I’ll see what I can do. But I really am exhausted from work, so I don’t know how soon I can get it done.”

 “Like I said, just do what you can. Just don’t keep us waiting another five months, yeah?”

 Tobi huffed and smiled. “I’ll do my best.”

 Malik nodded and activated the Fanfic Device. A projection of various fanfics appeared in front of him and he began scrolling through realities in search of their own universe. Tobi watched, fascinated with the variety of AUs. While he was looking for the Haunted dimension, Tobi spotted a familiar scene and tensed.

 “Wait, go back!”

 Malik looked at her oddly but did just that, scrolling backwards. The scene on display was one of Malik spooning Ryou, while on the other side, “Amir” was spooning Bakura. Bakura and Malik exchanged confused looks, but Tobi was grinning.

 “The Only Human universe! I’ve been obsessed with this fic forever!” She turned to Malik, giving him a puppy dog eyed expression that would have been adorable in an anime or cartoony style, but in the real world where shit was 3-dimensional it looked awkward. “Can you please go there and see how many chapters it takes until that Marik get truly comfortable with Kek and Ryou?”

 “You mean, how many chapters are left until the big conspireshipping lemon?”

 Tobi just grinned.

 “No.”

 Tobi’s face fell.

 Malik flipped forward to their own dimension, the screen displaying Malik’s empty bedroom, exactly how she’d always imagined it. He tilted his head to the portal. “Come on, Bakura. Let’s go relive chapter 25.”

 Bakura grinned. “I thought you’d never ask.” Without ceremony he slipped into the portal and disappeared.

 Malik took a step forward, paused, turned back to Tobi. He looked troubled. “I…don’t want spoilers, but… Is there actually a happy ending?”

 Tobi chewed her lip. “There’s a lot of pain coming your way but…technically speaking, yes. There’s a happy ending. For everyone.”

 Malik smiled. “That’s all I needed to know.” With that he stepped through the portal and, just like that, Tobi was alone again.

 Tobi rubbed her forehead, glancing down at her half-finished Coke. With a frown, she grabbed the can, chugged the remaining refreshing beverage, and slammed the can back down onto the counter. She took a few steps towards the bedroom, determined to actually properly begin that rough draft, but her growling stomach stopped her.

 “Okay… First, Mac and fucking Cheese. Then I’ll write some angst.”