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gtseven7 · 4 years

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My Seven Idols

this is the picture mentioned in the story

Summary:

Got7 as highschoolers as they deal with graduation and college at the same time starting up their own Youtube channel as idols.

A/N:

So this is chapter 1. Really, I wasnt supposed to write this thing but it has been bugging me for months and I just cant shake it off okay? I tried resisting thinking, dude you're on your way to the juicy parts of Seven Princes. But whelp I lost a battle within myself and wrote this anyway. I hope you guys like it!

masterlist

//prev

The click-clacking of the keyboard echoed in the room as Y/N furiously typed the remaining subtitle of the video she had been editing the last few nights. Hitting the export button, the brunette could finally exhale and relax. The beach aesthetic video she had been working on was now in the process of being complete. She just has to wait till it loads to a hundred and her hard work will pay off. Smiling to herself, she minimized the editing software and opened up her InstaBook. She scrolled leisurely, seeing the pictures of her peers and some from her photographer idols. Y/N was examining an aesthetic cityscape picture from one of her favorite photo blogs, Def, when her notification alerted her of a great news. Ding! And the words that popped up from the right corner of her screen made her screech. As it was almost midnight, she had to restrain herself and not wake her parents. But she can’t help the giggle that escaped her mouth. She quickly clicked the pop up. It said: pjy_01 updated his profile picture. When the picture loaded, Y/N's jaw almost unhinged. Park Jinyoung a.k.a. Mr. Student Council President rarely posts a picture of himself. His feed was usually just books, food and random sceneries. He did have few self-taken pictures and Y/N was happy with it (some of them are really just bad quality but she’ll take it) but this one? This one’s just beautiful, amazing, gift from the heavens. He was sitting on a comfy white couch, staring directly at the camera with puppy eyes. His white button up was slightly unbuttoned(!!) as he wore an innocent face and a cute peace sign as a cherry on top. Y/N was just about to scream and jump around. But before that, she made sure to save the picture in her Jinyoung Stash folder. “Woah. What is this Jinyoung? You should always post things like this. I’ll be a happy woman.” She sighed dreamily, staring at her screen but missed the notification of her software that finished exporting her video.

Y/N was rudely interrupted when her phone suddenly rang. Not even looking at the caller id, she answered the call with an annoyed tone. “What?” No one would be phoning her at this time other than her best friend. “Yo chill out Y/N.” Youngjae laughed at the other end, knowing he most likely disturbed her from her hobby. Which isn’t entirely false, he just didn’t know that the hobby at the moment was staring at their president and not videography. ”It’s midnight Youngjae, what do you need?” She elicited another hearty laugh from the guy. Any other circumstance, she’ll laugh along since his laugh is contagious but this time was not it. “Well?”

“Geez, aren’t you such a joy tonight. I’m just gonna ask if you already finished the essay homework due tomorrow.”

Blank silence. It was then that Y/N laughed at the ridiculing situation. Homework? Was there ever one? And she voiced it out, still half cheerful and half threatening. Youngjae might be pranking her once again. “The essay homework Mr. Kwon asked us to do. The one about Romeo and Juliet. Don’t tell me you don’t remember?” Youngjae chuckled a little too, thinking that his friend was making fun of him. When the only sound he heard was the bark of his cute dog Coco beside him, Youngjae started to sweat. “You haven’t done a single thing didn’t you?!”

“I think I’m gonna puke. Youngjae-ahh~ What do I do?!”

Y/N's eyes bugged out, realizing that yes, there is indeed an essay due tomorrow. And it is for Mr. Kwon’s subject, her most feared teacher. Oh how that teacher terrifies her whole being. How could she be so stupid?! “Youngjae!!! What do I do? What do I do?!” Panic was starting to rise from her gut, her heart beating too fast that even midnight coffee can’t do. Add the obvious panic in her bestfriend’s voice on the other end, it made things worse for her. “I don’t know! Uh… I can lend you mine? Just modify some parts. Paraphrase things…”

“Oh my God Youngjae I love you. You’re the best!!”

“You owe me one Y/N.”

“I do, I do. Thanks so much.”

They bid goodnight to each other, Youngjae promising to pick her up from her house so she won’t be late; she once again praised his goodness before hanging up. And as promised, he sent her his homework, Jinyoung’s picture on her screen forgotten. Y/N once again typed relentlessly through the night.

“I bet Jinyoung never had a problem like this. Y/N you must do better!”

That motivation fueled her to write the essay about Romeo and Juliet even if she didn’t understand what it was about aside from it being a romance story. Little did the sophomore videographer know, her high pedestaled president sat on his chair under the dim light of his study desk at the same time as her. He was hunched in concentration on the essay he stalled on doing days before it was to be submitted.

No words flowed, his pen stuck mid-air. “Argh. What the heck is this shit about anyway?” Jinyoung huffed as he crumpled his nth paper and tossed it in the bin beside him. His brain was not cooperating with him that night and it’s just frustrating. Why does he have to explain why the economy of their country is not thriving as it used to? It’s just plain bullshit to be honest. He had mountains of council work the past few days and he wasn’t able to attend few classes including the class he was supposed to write this essay for. This is why he hates skipping, when things like this essay arrive, he doesn’t know what to do. He didn’t have time to read up everything that’s why he just went straight to bluffing his way out of the conclusion of the paper. The distracting noise of the instrument app on Jaebeom’s phone didn’t help him much either. “You have your own room, your own bed. Why are you always here?” His housemate just shrugged and continued his melody making. It was sounding good to be honest, not that his friend ever made a bad song but the other’s process was just making the writing too difficult for him. “How can I even finish when you distract me like this?”

“One, Jinyoung, it was your fault for not doing it earlier. Two, you are not distracted by my music. You just don’t want to do that stupid paper.”

And it hit him too well. He’s right. Most times, Jaebeom’s music calms him but this time his brain just straight up refuses to do a thing. His long haired companion exited the app after saving his work. Jaebeom laid down on Jinyoung’s bed. He patted the space beside him, encouraging the other to lie down with him and sleep. “Don’t push yourself too hard. Get some sleep first, you’ve had a harsh week.”

“Get out of my bed.”

“Hmm…”

And with that, Jaebeom closed his eyes to sleep. He’s not a fast sleeper per se, he’s just waiting for Jinyoung to join him but he didn’t. He opened his eyes just a slit saw the student body president scribbling again with a determined face.

Few hours after, it was almost three in the morning. Jinyoung has to get up at six to prepare for their eight o’clock class. He doesn’t like not sleeping properly but for the sake of that damned paper, he had to sacrifice. He sighed once again and turned off the lamp. Looking to his right, he saw his friend sleeping peacefully, facing him from the farther half of the bed. Jinyoung shook his head in exasperation. He sat on the unoccupied side and stared at his friend of ten years. His face lax and serene. The nose ring glints under the soft glow of the stars from the window. Jinyoung’s hand inched towards the other’s face, stopping midway. He clenched his fist and brought it back to himself. ‘Ah, I really wanna remove that nose ring so badly.’

Morning came and the sunlight was harsh on Y/N’s face. She finished her essay in time, luckily. She trudged along the hallways of their small house, the only thing that woke her up completely was the smell of fresh bacon being cooked. She quickly ate her breakfast, showered and said goodbye to her parents with a tired smile. The sound of the bell announced the arrival of Youngjae by their door. She opened it and her friend almost screamed bloody murder. “I thought a zombie came out to eat me.”

“Shut up.”

Youngjae laughed and slung an arm on her shoulders. He ruffled her already messy hair further. “Did you finish the write up?” She gave a gloomy thumb’s up while yawning, earning a giggle from the boy. “Ah seriously, you should take care of your studies more Y/N.”

“Says you. You were up all night long playing. I can see it on the bags under your eyes.”

“At least I finished my work before doing so, unlike someone I know…”

Y/N clicked her tongue in disapproval but she knows he’s right though. “I got carried away with the good shots I had when me and Yeji went to the beach last week. Aah, I made such a good video last night.” Youngjae smiled at her friend as he watched her walk half asleep.

Y/N and Youngjae were friends since they were toddlers. With their mothers practically sisters because of their closeness, and their houses are just one backyard away from each other, the two developed a close friendship. Oftentimes they’d be hanging out in their places, playing video games or reading comics. Although when they started to grow up more, they drifted away slightly, having different circles of friends. That didn’t bother the two of them though. They thought that it’s better to have their friendship outside school so that they won’t get sick seeing each other’s faces all the time. With this, they rarely go to school together anymore. Their classmates are in the dark about their closeness as well.

Youngjae pulled out his phone and scrolled his pictures. He suddenly got excited about showing his bestfriend about his dog’s new outfit he bought recently. “Y/N, Y/N, look at Coco. I bought a new shirt. It’s so cute.” He practically shoved the phone on her eyes but it didn’t matter much to her as she was as excited as him. They practically raised that cute dog together. “Omo! Coco’s so adorable!” They were both bouncing on their steps as they look at the dog’s pictures posing differently with each new clothing. The two of them were cooing. “Ah, Coco is such a joy.”

"Y/N!”

They both stopped on their tracks when they heard a familiar voice. It was Yeji, Y/Ns other bestfriend outside Youngjae (he’s still the bestest but Yeji doesn’t know that). She happily waved at her two classmates, a teasing smile forming on her face already. ‘Youngjae and Y/N walking together eh? How interesting!’

Yeji’s appearance was their cue to head apart so Y/N smiled at Youngjae and said goodbye. “See ya later in class!” He just hummed in agreement, seeing as his peers are also in sight. He waved at Yeji and parted with Y/N He walked towards his other friends and greeted them.

"So Youngjae huh?”

“What about him?”

“Nothing…” Which wasn’t true because now she is sporting a silly smile on her face. Probably imagining things outside of this world and conjuring up different ways how her friend and Youngjae fall in love. Yeji is a fangirl at heart and she just ships everybody. She never imposes it to everyone though, she’s just happy to think about it and keep it to herself. Amazingly enough though, the people she secretly shipped usually ends up together at some point. But Y/N knows her too well and she knows the outlandish things going in her mind right now. “We just happened to meet along the way Yeji.”

“I didn’t say anything!”

The school entrance as it always is, was full of commotion. More so today than usual. Y/N saw a hoard of students lining up the gate with annoyed expressions. ‘Ah, it’s probably President Jinyoung.’ She giggled to herself, happy to see him early in the morning. She’s still a little bit over the moon with his latest picture. “Do I look okay?”, that question snapped Y/N out of her daydream (the picture still lingering at the back of her mind). Yeji took out a small mirror and checked herself out. She combed her hair with her fingers, checked her uniform, straightened everything that doesn’t look ironed out. “You know he just nags at those who violate badly. We’ll never get reprimanded.” Yeji breathed deeply as she puts her mirror back to her bag. “I’m just making sure you know. I don’t want those cold eyes stare at me. It’s scary.” Y/N wanted to protest, ‘Jinyoung’s not scary! It’s a part of his charm!’ but a whine stopped her from doing so. While they were talking, they have pushed inside the crowd to get in and not be late for class. They reached the front where Jinyoung was standing sternly, his mouth thinned in disapproval. “Bhuwakul. How many times do I have to confiscate that earrings of yours?!”

“Why are you so keen on getting these anyway? Would I do better in my tests if I don’t wear them?” The boy, with his id lace yellow (which means he’s a *freshie), was so close to stomping his feet. But Jinyoung was not fazed and just stared at the boy with a piercing stare. “If you wear them, would you do better? No right? So hand them to me. You violated the school dress code. Come get it at my office after school.”

The people around them were murmuring, Y/N even caught what the others are saying. They think that Jinyoung was being unreasonable and harsh for no reason. ‘Which isn’t true! He just cares about what the students of this school looks like.' The sophomore turned to glare at the onlookers that defamed their president. ‘Ungrateful fools.’ But she was startled when the tall boy (oh my he’s tall) beside the one named Bhuwakul spoke innocently. “Let him be, he probably just wants to wear your earrings.” Even Yuna, the student council secretary, was shocked at the carefree manner of his dialogue. The president just raised his right eyebrow, “Kim Yugyeom, button up your uniform and tie your necktie properly.” and reprimanded the other freshie without hesitation. Yugyeom grimaced a bit but did what he was told. ‘You should be the one buttoning your clothes last night President huhu’

Despite the commotion at the front gate (which happens almost everyday as Jinyoung loves to greet the student body with “Rule # 5 under the clause of the dress code law….), Y/N and the students of their campus managed to get to their class safely. When they entered their homeroom, Y/N and Yeji was greeted by Ga Young, another friend of theirs. It seemed that she had only arrived a few minutes before them. “Yo! Entrance was pretty hectic today.”

Yeji made a face and flipped her brow wavy hair away from her face as if she was hassled on their way over. “Ugh, don’t tell us. We had to push our way out earlier.” They both giggled and chattered mindlessly about the events that morning.

“Don’t you think the foreigner freshie earlier was kind of cute?” Ga Young said dreamily, looking at the ceiling as if he could see his face there. “Oh, that one with the earrings?”

“Yep. We’re blessed with another foreigner beauty.” That’s true, the videographer thought. He’d look good on camera.

“Yeon Seo isn’t a foreigner.” Y/N countered, debating that her friend’s crush wasn’t exactly from another country. He grew up in their city just like everyone else is.

“He’s a half-half though.”

“The tall freshie had a face too.”

Yeji and Ga Young started to talk about the new eye candy they found. Those two are fans of idols, especially the amateur ones they have in their school. Y/N absentmindedly listened to the two’s gossip. Sometimes she thinks she’s in a webtoon or something. These kinds of things exist on books and comics even dramas that she consumes. Y/N still can’t believe such things are in her reality. Aren’t groups of popular boys with a cheesy group name only in fiction? She wondered if it’s possible that this is not a real world.

“But you know, I heard rumors that Bhuwakul's gay.”

That piqued Y/N's interest. Not that there’s any problem with being gay, the rumor just caught her interest. Not many people are brave enough to admit their sexuality in their community so it was pretty interesting.

“Eh? Who told you?”

“My freshie cousin told me. He said that he’s close with girls and gives fashion advice. He’s on the softer side as well.”

Huh… Y/N thought it was a baseless rumor after all. “That doesn’t mean he’s gay though.”

“That’s true.”

When the talk about the foreign freshie Bhuwakul ended, the other two started to talk about their favorite topic once again. The Five Roses. Y/N was just done with that subject and had heard enough to last her a lifetime. She couldn’t even understand why the girls in their school seemed to be under their spell. In Y/N’s opinion, they aren’t that good looking. Heck, even Mr. Cold Eyes Jinyoung was much more handsome. ‘Especially if they saw last night’s picture. How come they don’t talk about it?!’

“Ji Woo looked handsome today too!”

‘Oh come on, even Youngjae looks better than that guy.’ At the thought of her bestfriend, she turned to glance at him. He seemed to have caught her and gave him those warm sunny smiles that made her heart beat a bit faster. Even if she doesn’t consider her childhood friend as a man, she’s sure that he’s a good looking guy.

//next

#got7 #got7 fanfic #got7 scenarios #got7 imagines #jackson wang #park jinyoung #kim yugyeom #mark tuan #bambam #choi youngjae #im jaeboem #got7 fic #my seven idols

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droneseco · 3 years

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Gravastar Mars Is a Portable Speaker From Our Apocalyptic Future

Gravastar Mars Damaged Yellow Edition

8.00 / 10

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The Gravastar Mars is unique, beautiful, and sounds rather good too. It's the perfect little buddy to usher in the apocalypse with you. At $300 for the Damaged Yellow edition, it certainly isn't cheap. But nice things generally aren't.

Specifications

Brand: Gravastar / Zoeao

Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0, 3.5mm AUX

Battery: ~20 hours, charged by USB-C

Water Resistance: None

Pros

I mean... just look at it! It's gorgeous.

Cons

Audio is a little mid and top heavy

Pricey

Volume control is too sensitive

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The Gravastar Mars is both an eye-catching work of art and a great portable or desktop speaker. Taking the form of a scuttling drone from the far-flung war-torn future apocalypse (so... probably next year at this rate), the spherical-shaped Mars with three extendable legs features attractive lighting focussed around the eyeball in the center.

Today we're taking a look at the War Damaged Yellow edition, which is hand-painted with blue lighting and retails at $300.

youtube

Also available is a Damaged Red edition (with yellow lighting), as well undamaged editions in "space gray" with green lighting, or "sci-fi blue" with blue lighting. The undamaged models are $100 cheaper at $200, which is still a fair chunk of change for a portable Bluetooth speaker.

Gravastar Mars Design

Looking like something that escaped from the Aperture Laboratories (in fact, Gravastar did have a white edition at one point, though it's either out of stock or withdrawn from sale), the Gravastar Mars weighs a hefty 3.5lbs (1.6kg), and stands a full 7.5 inches. It's quite a beast to behold. In a cute sort of way.

The case is predominantly a strong zinc alloy on the top and underside, though the mid-section appears to be plastic.

The LED lighting is focused on the front, but you'll also find smaller accent lighting on the side grills, and the legs, which can fold for storage.

On the underside, you'll find the USB-C charging port, and 3.5mm Aux input. I found myself wanting to apologize to the lil guy for exposing his sensitive belly like this.

A fabric-covered charging cable is included in the box, as well as a stereo cable. The charging cable is right-angled on one end, so it can be fitted to charge the unit without needing to leave him rolled over in a most undignified manner.

You can also purchase an optional charging base for $60, though we didn't receive one for testing.

Around the rear is a separate bass driver (no special lighting around that), and above that sit three buttons for controlling the device. These consist of main power, LED, and Bluetooth buttons.

Long pressing on the power button plays a neat deactivation or power-on sequence, while the LED button can be used to turn on or off the integrated lighting if you want.

The Bluetooth functions much as expected, with a long press of the button to enter pairing mode. The device utilizes Bluetooth 5.0 for latency-free audio, and I was more than happy streaming YouTube to it without experiencing the timing mismatch that sometimes occurred on older wireless speakers. But if you did have problems, there's always the aux input underneath.

On the very top of the main body there's a touch-sensitive volume slider with more blue LEDs to indicate the current volume level.

While visually impressive, you do need to be careful. Just picking the Mars up or brushing your hand across the top can result in an auditory bomb as the volume goes from o to 100 in no time at all. Perhaps two touch-sensitive buttons to increase the volume in discrete stages would have been less dangerous to my ears. I may sound old, but this thing can get ridiculously loud.

In terms of functionality, there's nothing else to be found here. There's no robotic voice assistant integration. It doesn't have an actual pew-pew laser. And the legs are purely there for stability—you can't remote control it.

As a single speaker, both channels are mixed together for mono output. But if your pockets are deep enough, you can hook up two for stereo sound.

Audio Quality

As a $300 speaker (admittedly, the "undamaged" editions are $200, so a fair chunk of this cost goes on the hand-painted finishing process), I expect the Gravastar Mars to sound as good as it looks. Thankfully it lived up to my expectations.

I ran through a selection of audio tests from AudioCheck.net, and couldn't identify any glaring issues. I will note that on the bass response test, I could only hear down to 40Hz, while 30Hz and 20Hz produced no audible bass, but did result in a small amount of distortion noise. I couldn't hear this during regular usage, however.

48dB below full-scale volume was about the limit of the dynamic range I could identify.

More importantly, I ran through a range of songs I'm familiar with, and they all sounded decent enough. You should however bear in mind that the laws of physics prevent something this small from producing floor-shaking bass. It's a good speaker for its size that punches well above its weight, but it's still a little top and mid-heavy for my tastes.

You aren't going to run a DJ set from this, but you might take it down the park for a post-apocalypse picnic.

Repairability

On a device of this size, it's nice to see exposed bolts and screws as such an integral part of the overall design aesthetic.

Though I haven't fully disassembled it, the upper zinc-alloy casing is for looks only and is secured by two hex bolts on the sides. Pulling this shell away reveals the main body of the device, in the same strong plastic as the middle section. A number of smaller hex bolts also secure the bass driver. You'll need a precision repair kit such as the iFixit Mahi to open this.

A set of small Phillips-head screws then secures the control circuitry to the main body, and I suspect the entire thing could be disassembled relatively easily to its component level.

iFixit doesn't have a repairability rating, but in my opinion the prospects are good. I'll update if I ever have the need to try.

Battery Life

The internal 10,000mAh battery provides a stated 20 hours playback. I streamed Spotify to it for around four hours a day at medium volume, with the lighting on, and it lasted into the fifth day, so this seems accurate enough. A full charge takes around four hours.

It's not the best in class battery life by any means, but then again, I don't think the battery matters too much in this type of product. It's an objet d'art for your desktop; not your one and only block-party speaker. Chances are you won't be far from a charger.

Best Collapse Buddy

The Gravastar Mars is beautifully designed, sounds good, and is truly unique. Yes, it's expensive, but well-made and unique things tend to be. If you want something a little different on your desktop or are looking for the perfect gift for gaming obsessed teenager, the Gravastar Mars would be well received.

If you just want some generic rectangular-shaped black plastic tat to take to the beach, then I'm sure Amazon can cater to your whims with 6,000 identical product listings at bargain prices.

The Gravastar Mars is the perfect little buddy to rock out with as modern society crumbles around us. I just wish he was a little more talkative and would stop staring at me so intently with his ominous blue eye.

Gravastar Mars Is a Portable Speaker From Our Apocalyptic Future published first on http://droneseco.tumblr.com/

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ilovelocust · 6 years

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The Price Of Flowers - Chap 3

Note: Well nice thing about going back to edit. All these chapters are getting larger and read better than when I first wrote them. Only downside is this editing is taking way longer than I expected it to. I’m going to keep the once a day update schedule, but I don’t know how much spare time I’m going to get to write newer chapters after I run out of buffer.

Under a cut now, because I didn’t realize how long this post was when I posted it. Let me know if the cut is causing issues where you can’t read the entire thing on mobile, and I will remove it.

<< First < Prev.

Chapter Three - What Goes Unsaid

Hunk is extremely grateful for Keith taking his place. Thanking him more than once over the phone before telling him when Lance will be by. It’s a little weird honestly. Hunk must have felt extremely bad about having dropped his plans with Lance to be so pleased.

Lance picks Keith up driving Hunk’s car, most likely another apology for ditching last minute. It hadn’t been strictly necessary. Keith could have taken them on his motorcycle, but the car did have the advantage of being much more GPS navigation friendly.

That being said, if they’d taken his bike, he’d actually know where they were going, “Seriously, I’m already in the car, it’s not like I can get out of this now. You can tell me,” Keith says, on round five of trying to convince Lance to spill the beans. Not that there is much hope of this time ending any differently than the last four rounds. Lance is by far the most stubborn member of their group. When he gets excited by something there is no talking him out of it.

“Nope, nope, nope, that would ruin the surprise,” Lance says with far too much excitement. Keith snorts, “Don’t worry you’re going to have fun, I promise. You can trust me.” Lance says grinning ear to ear, and are his eyebrows? How does somebody even move their eyebrows like that?

Keith crosses his arms, “Last time I trusted you, you picked that awful movie for us to watch,” He’s teasing, but also the melodrama really had been horrible. If they hadn’t been in a proper theater, he’s pretty sure the whole group of them would have been riffing the thing the whole way through. Probably would have improved the quality of the plot if they had.

“Hey!” Lance gasps, “I will have you know, that was a classic romance.” Lance takes a hand off the wheel to poke Keith for emphasis, “It’s not my fault your too uncultured to appreciate it.”

“It was a Disney wannabe at best,” Keith says, grinning. There is no way Lance is convincing him that that mess was a classic.

“Hmphh,” Lance turns up his nose, offended. Before Lance can come up with some biting response, he spots something in the distance and beams once again, “Hah!” Lance crows, “You’re going to eat your words. We’re here and this is going to be awesome.”

Lance pulls off into a dusty gravel parking lot, and Keith gets his first look at what he’s going to be spending the rest of his day doing.

A cheap metal building sits on the edge of some enclosed fields with what looks to be faux buildings, ramps, and various other interesting structure erected in the middle of them. Off in the distance is a forested area with a cheap wooden fort hidden behind some trees. Keith doesn’t even need to read the sign to know where he is now. Lance is right, this is going to be a blast. He hasn’t been paintballing in forever.

The final member of the enemy team rounds the corner, and Keith puts a yellow splash of paint across his mask before he even realizes who he has stumbled into. That’s game, and a good victory to end the day on.

“Wow,” Lance says from behind him. He looks nearly as surprised as the man who’d been shot does. Today had revealed that Lance had phenomenal aim at a distance, but up close he couldn’t match Keith’s finely honed, if a bit rusty, reaction times, “You’re really good at this,” Lance blurts out, almost like he hadn’t meant to say anything at all.

“Thanks,” Keith says, shoulder his paint gun and beginning the trudge back to the entrance, “I used to play in high school,” He and Shiro had spent many an exciting summer afternoon running around fields just like this one, “You’re not half bad yourself.”

Lance had needed some help in the beginning. Figuring out how to breathe behind the mask without fogging up his glass and other newbie problems, but by the third game he’d been fully in the swing of things. They’d made a pretty good team. Certainly winning more games than they lost, and leaving Keith with only a minimal amount of bruises for Shiro to kiss better tonight.

That being said, Lance could really use getting more exercise. He’d gotten winded so easily today, any running at all and he was panting for breath, but then, maybe that had just been his allergies. He’d had some pretty impressive coughing fits between bouts. Keith would have thought he was coming down with something if Lance hadn’t told him otherwise.

There is small line forming in front of the equipment stall, as they cross the border for the playing field. Lance tugs off his mask, and he’s smiling, high on their win. Keith follows his lead, and he knows he’s smiling too. He’s glad he came, this had been a lot of fun. Much more so than watching a couple more episodes on Netflix would have been.

“You know,” Lance says, sounding almost sly, as they step in to wait their turn to return equipment, “We should come back here again sometime.”

That sounds like an excellent idea. Maybe next time he could bring Shiro with them. He’d have a ball getting a chance to play again, and with him and Keith on the same team, they really would dominate the entire field, “Sure, maybe next weekend?” Both he and Shiro should be free then. It didn’t seem possible, but Lance’s face lit up even more, “Shiro can come, and we’ll have a three man team.”

The light went out. Lance’s face falls, “Oh,” Lance says quietly.

Huh, what’s with that response. Did Lance and Shiro somehow have a falling out without him noticing? “Is that okay with you?” Keith asks, maybe it’s something else bothering him?

“No it’s fine, just,” Lance rubs the back of his neck, “Are you sure Shiro would want to do something like this?”

What an odd question, “Oh course he would,” Keith says, one of the worst things for Shiro while he was healing was how it limited his activity, “He loves this sort of thing.” Their mutual love of things like this was a big part of their bonding when they first met.

Lance’s expression doesn’t pick up with Keith’s assurance. They reach the front of the line, and the conversation is quickly dropped as they exchange equipment for driver’s licenses.

Lance doesn’t pick it back up until they are walking back to Hunk’s car, “The thing is,” Lance says suddenly, “There are so many guns, and you’re being shot at and…” Lance pauses obviously searching for the right words. Keith uses the time to remember what they were talking about in the first place.

Lance starts again hesitantly, “I don’t know. After the whole thing with the war, sometimes Shiro has…problems. Like do you remember what happened at the 4th,” Keith does. Everyone had gotten together for the fourth of July to celebrate. Everything had been fine, but then Lance and Hunk had set off a rope of those little red firecrackers. The big displays and tiny light shows hadn’t bothered Shiro, but those little ones, those little ones had sounded a bit too much like gunfire. Keith had taken Shiro home early after that, and eventually he’d convinced Shiro that he really hadn’t minded. Shiro’s mental heal is far more important to him than some pretty lights he’s seen dozens of times before, “Sometimes he’s not okay with things that used to be fine.” Lance finishes lamely.

Keith bites back his first instinct to defensively snap at Lance. His little speech might not have been worded eloquently, but Lance’s concern for Shiro’s possible triggers is coming from a good place. Keith is not someone who gets to judge others for sticking their foot in their mouths, “Thank you for worrying about him,” Keith starts, thank then explain. Just like Shiro would, “But at the same time, you don’t need to worry,” Keith forces a reassuring smile, “Shiro will let me know if this will be too much for him to handle, and if he misjudges, we’ll just grab dinner early or head home instead,” Not that that is likely to happen. They’ve played laser tag since Shiro came back with little to no issues. Just because something has the possibility of being a trigger, doesn’t mean that it will be.

“Oh…Okay then,” Lance looks morose for a few seconds longer, then brightens up with a smile, “Well it’s not like it matters either way,” He waves his hands around as if to wave the whole matter away, “I’m busy next weekend, so we couldn’t meet up then anyways.” Lance unlocks the doors and gets in.

Keith crawls into the passenger side, “We’ll have to pick another date then.” He says. Though, he may still come back here with Shiro on his own next weekend. The nostalgia alone would be worth it.

“Yep,” Lance says, popping his p. He looks straight ahead and cranks up the music.

They don’t really speak as Lance drives him home. It’s a nice change to the constant chatter than normally accompanies Lance. A little silence to decompress in is a blessed relief after an outing, even if it is a bit of unusual behavior for his driver…Well that’s a thought to get stuck on. This was pretty weird for the typically loud mouthed Lance. There were times he thought the boy might explode if he had to be quiet for too long. Had he said something wrong? Or was Lance still worrying over Shiro? Should he even ask?

They are friends sure, but they aren’t the type of close friends who share deep dark secrets. He’s fairly certain he’s never even shared what happened to his dad with Lance. If there positions were reversed, he’d likely hate it if Lance tried to pry into why he was in a mood. Sometimes people did want to bare their souls everyone in a nearby vicinity. Best to keep his questions to himself. Besides, his apartment was just up ahead. There wouldn’t really be time for that type of conversation anyways.

Lance pulls up to the curb and turns the music down, “Hey Keith,” Lance says.

Keith’s already out of his seatbelt and halfway out the door. He has to duck back down to respond, “Yeah?”

“I had a lot of fun today, did you?” Lance asks, and there is something pinched about his expression. Some subtext Keith knows he’s missing, but knowing doesn’t help him decipher it.

“I did,” Keith says, and then tacks on, “Thanks for inviting me.”

Lance nods, then sucks in a deep breath. Holding it like he’s working himself up to something, but he loses his nerve. Lance blows out the breath and slumps. Keith quirks his head, but doesn’t comment on it, “I’m going to head inside now,” Keith says.

Lance straightens up immediately, “Wait!” Lance says, Keith pauses, “I’ve got two tickets for a thing tomorrow. Will you come with me?”

A thing? Why would he be inviting Keith again? Isn’t this normally the sort of thing he does with Hunk? Oh…Oh, no wonder Lance is morose. His best friend is too busy for him. Well now he just feels bad for him. Pity is rarely appreciated, so Keith keeps it out of his eyes.

“Sure, text me the details. If it’s after my classes, I’ll go.” Keith says. He waves as he steps away from the car. waving as he steps out. Hopefully that will cheer Lance up.

It does the trick, Lance springs back to his normal form at Keith’s words, “Alright! I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Lance waves back at him. There you go. Good deed of the week accomplished. He can go to sleep knowing he’s brightened up a friend’s day.

Keith walks into his apartment with a clear conscience.

Next >

#Sheith #Klance #Keith #Shiro #Voltron #The Price Of Flowers #My fic

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Mixone - WordPress Music Magazine with Ajax and Continuous Playback

New Post has been published on https://intramate.com/wordpress-themes/mixone-wordpress-music-magazine-with-ajax-and-continuous-playback/

Mixone - WordPress Music Magazine with Ajax and Continuous Playback

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Read More Reviews

See on amazon

If you're looking for a starter camera that makes your photos and videos pop, you can’t go wrong with the EOS M50 Mk II.

Key Features

Lightweight

YouTube Streaming

Vertical Shooting Mode

4K video (Cropped)

Flip-Out Display

Mirrorless

Hot Shoe Mount

Specifications

Brand: Canon

Sensor Size: CMOS APS-C 22.3mm x 14.9mm

Video Resolution: 3840 x 2160

Photo Resolution: 6000 x 4000

Battery: Yes

Connection: USB, HDMI, Audio In

Size: 4.6 x 3.5 x 2.3 inches (Body only)

Weight: 387 g

Water Resistance: No

Lens: 15 - 45 mm kit lens ; EF-M mount

Pros

Easy to Use

Onboard Mic Input

Clean HDMI Out

Vlogging Beast

Wide Range of Accessories

Photos and Videos are Stunning

Durablity

Cons

Battery Life

Only Slight Upgrade from Original

Kit Lens is Just Okay

Canon App is Terrible

Buy This Product

Canon M50 Mk II amazon

Shop

F-Stops. ISO. Shutter Speed. Autofocus. The Exposure Triangle. Focal Length. 35mm vs. 50mm. Full-Frame vs. Micro Four Thirds. Mirrorless vs. DSLR. As a beginner, this is a short list of terms that you’ll be expected to know to get the best out of a consumer-grade camera.

While there is no substitute for good-old-fashioned-experimentation when it comes to shooting photos, sometimes you want to grab your camera and take a decent picture. But maybe you want to live out your Casey Neistat dreams of being the next Youtube Vlog sensation. Heck, maybe you'd like to use a camera that doesn’t come with a monthly service plan or double as a handheld Bejeweled Blitz machine.

youtube

If only there were an entry-level camera that could help you solve those problems without costing a small fortune. If only a camera could take great photos without generating snotty looks from mustachioed hipsters effortlessly wielding their $8,000 Leicas. Well, folks, allow me to introduce you to the Canon EOS M50 Mk II.

The EOS M50 Mk II is the new 24.1-megapixel, mirrorless camera that improves upon the M50 Mk I from 2018. It uses the DIGIC 8 processor, designed to improve image quality even at higher ISO speeds. The EOS M50 Mk II can shoot 4K—more on that in a moment—at 24 frames per second (FPS); and shoot 1080P up to 60 FPS. The maximum video image size is 3840 x 2160.

Canon considers this its "entry-level" offering, and I am inclined to agree. But, with the entry-level price point and consumer in mind, that means the camera offers several features that make it easy for the average person to use. I think that's one of the EOS M50 Mk II's biggest strengths.

What’s in the Box?

The Canon EOS M50 Mk II Body

15-45mm Zoom lens

Owner’s Manual

Battery

Charger

Lens caps

The Canon M50 Mk II is the second iteration of the previous Canon M50 mirrorless camera staple in the YouTube vlogging world. A search on YouTube yields an almost endless supply of M50 videos. Seriously, everyone has this camera.

The wide use means there's also an abundance of accessories available for the M50 Mark II, including lenses, cages, speed-boosters, USB power adapters, 110v A/C plug-in power supplies, and much more.

So, what makes the EOS M50 Mk II better than the original? And why should you fork over an additional $50 bucks on top of the price of the original M50 for the standard Mk II body-and-kit-lens package? And what about all that negative press?! Isn’t the M50 Mk II just a software update to the original M50?

Yes. Essentially the hardware for the M50 Mk II is the same as the original M50. And Yes, the Mk II is essentially just a software update from the original. Don’t listen to the haters, though. You should still buy the Mk II unless you're only planning on taking photos.

Related: Common Camera Lenses and When to Use Them

But why? Well, mostly because I think it adds $50 worth of additional features that you’re not going to get if you decide to buy the original.

Features like autofocus improvements, and a clean HDMI out, which means that you can plug the M50 MK II into a desktop monitor to gaze into your own pretty face while filming for your adoring YouTube fanbase, or record to an external device.

There’s also better battery life. That means about 1/3 more photos than the original M50, not to mention more video footage. And the Mk II offers improvements to autofocus, as well as a new feature—eye-tracking focus. Plus, you can use autofocus while the AI Servo AF is active—a feature that makes motion capture simple and is absent from the original M50.

Is the EOS M50 Mk II an Upgrade?

If you’re going to make a decently large purchase for a camera that is around $700, then you want the absolute maximum of features packed into whatever you buy. While the original M50 is still a great camera, it’s not the best for vlogging, and the camera’s anemic battery life has been flagged more than once. Of course, you could always spend a little extra and buy another battery if you like. That’s a great way to go as well. Or you could buy the Mk II.

Then there's the autofocus. Canon is famous for its dual pixel autofocus. I won’t get into the jargon-y specifics because I don’t like to bore my readers, but what you need to know is this: Canon's dual pixel autofocus is awesome.

youtube

It’s great for videos and normal photography alike. It’s also fast. Eye-controlled focus (eye-tracking) adds to the dual pixel autofocus by accentuating the subject’s eyes while shooting.

It’s generally accepted that if you want to take good portraits, then you should focus—no pun—on the eyes of your subject. The eye-tracking focus feature makes it easy to do just that.

In addition to the improvements in autofocus, Canon added a vertical video shooting mode designed for your favorite photo and video-based social media platforms. The company has added wireless YouTube streaming (though YouTube restrictions mean you'll need over 1,000 subscribers), and you get that clean HDMI out so that if you’re streaming via the HDMI port, you don’t have to stare at the on-camera settings.

Related: A Complete Guide to the Exposure Triangle in Photography

This on-camera info display was a huge gripe for a lot of folks with the original EOS M50. With that model, whenever you connected an external display, there was no way to turn off the busy informational display settings. The Mk II changes that.

While we’re on the subject of minor gripes with the M50 Mark I, let’s talk about a feature that the Mark II has that the Mark I didn't. The flip-out screen record button.

That means you can now reach over and tap the on-screen button to start your video while you can still see yourself in the frame. The new on-screen record button is a little thing, but it’s something that the vlogging crowd and I certainly appreciate.

The M50 Mark II also makes it quick to get up and running. Charge the battery, pop on the lens, insert a memory card and get shooting. Additionally, for all of you colorists, the Mk II can shoot in a mostly flat color profile with a little software tweaking. But, I should note that it won't shoot LOG.

Did I mention that the M50 Mk II can be used with Zoom and OBS or the Canon EOS Webcam Utility as a webcam? It can, and it is also fabulous for this purpose as long as you have enough battery life to support it.

Personally, I bought an adapter that allows me to plug the camera into an AC cable and plug that cable into the wall. I love it. Every time I use the M50 Mk II as a webcam, I get bombarded with questions about my setup.

For the best use of this feature, I'd recommend you look into the 22mm f2.0 lens that Canon offers for the EF-M mount cameras. This lens gives you a wider shot and a larger aperture than the 15-45mm kit lens that the M50 ships with.

Related: Simple Ways to Improve the Quality of Your Photos

Ease of Use

Arguably the biggest benefit of the Mark II is how easy it is to pick up and use. Unfortunately, the kit lens isn’t the sharpest, and the f/3.5 aperture doesn’t lend itself to the type of creamy bokeh that you’re used to seeing in professional portrait photography. Still, for amateur photographers looking to get their feet wet, this is a great package.

For point-and-shoot photography, the 15-45mm kit lens is more than enough to make your photos pop. Though, you should know that low-light settings are going to require increased ISO. Past 400 things start to get a little grainy, but most photos don’t really suffer until you’re around the 800+ mark.

The one thing the 15-45mm kit lens is excellent at is vlog content creation. Paired with a small on-camera shotgun mic and a gimbal or GorillaPod, this setup is a vlogging beast. It’s no wonder so many YouTubers—some with several hundred thousand followers—use their EOS M50 as their primary run-and-gun rig.

While the Canon’s mic preamp is slightly lacking, using this setup with both the Rode VideoMicro and the Takstar Sgc-598 provided plenty of decent quality audio capture. A little normalization and compression in post were all it took to get decent quality sound.

Related: How to Take Care of Your Camera Lenses

Is the M50 Mk II Durable?

It is, and I want to take a moment to focus on its durability. Now I admit, I am not the most careful person when it comes to my equipment. That’s why, when I managed to knock over my tripod not once but twice, with the M50 Mk II on top of it, I almost wound up on blood pressure meds.

Both times I thought I was going to scoop up a camera with some extreme damage. Maybe a broken viewfinder or a smashed touch screen.

Well, I am happy to report that my Canon M50 Mk II doesn’t have a scratch on it. The lenses aren’t cracked or damaged, and the display is clear and sharp. The body of the camera looks like it was just taken out of the box.

There are really only two possibilities for why this is: either I’m lucky (and I certainly need to be more careful with my equipment) or, maybe the M50 Mk II is a pretty durable unit for even the most buttery of fingers.

What's Not to Love About the M50 Mk II?

After a few weeks using the M50 MK II, I can honestly say I have only a couple of complaints. First is the cropped image in 4K. While this camera is touted as a 4K camera and perfectly capable of recording in 4K, the sensor will dump a large portion of its field of view. This is an additional 1.6x crop over the APS-C crop of 1.6x (2.56x total). Also, while in the 4K mode, you lose Canon’s delicious dual pixel autofocus.

This isn’t really a problem for me, as I don’t like shooting in 4K anyway. Even when I am creating content, I prefer to shoot at 24 FPS in 1080p full HD. Footage shot at 24 FPS has that cinematic look that I adore, and I can use the autofocus to make sure all of my shots are effortlessly tack sharp.

Second, on this list is the Canon iOS app. I hate it. It’s buggy, it’s clunky, it crashes often, and it constantly makes me reset the Wi-Fi settings of the camera to use my phone as a wireless display. The app drives me absolutely insane, and if any Canon app developers are reading—shame on you.

Last on the list is the digital viewfinder. While it works well as a viewfinder, the sensor next to the viewfinder might give me an aneurysm. Whenever I am using the camera for Zoom meetings, I find the sensor will shut off the external display if it is near a reflective surface—namely, the watercolor painting hanging above my desk. Fortunately, this sensor can be disabled in the menu for the M50 Mk II.

Should You Buy the Canon EOS M50 Mk II?

I think you know the answer to this question by now. If you don’t, then get your credit card out; it’s time to do some camera buying. The original M50 was a great all-around camera. The Mark II adds several improvements aimed at content creators and vloggers. If you fit that description, and you can’t afford to spend $3,000 to improve your smartphone shots, then the M50 MK II is a great choice.

If you are looking to start a YouTube channel, then the M50 Mk II has enough features to keep you busy for a while. You might eventually outgrow it, though some YouTubers continue with the M50 well into the six-figure subscriber counts.

If you need a camera that will allow you to level up your photographs, this is the camera to buy. And while you’re at it, think about upgrading from the kit lens to the Canon 32mm F1.4. It’s how I get most of my product photography shots. Finally, if you need a small and lightweight camera for taking on the road or for street photography, the M50 Mark II isn’t cumbersome and doesn’t draw a lot of attention.

On the other hand, if you’re a die-hard camera enthusiast who breathes shutter speeds, or if you can spot the difference between a nifty 50 and a 35mm at 300 yards, then you’re better off buying something a little more high-end. Additionally, if the thought of auto-anything makes you shudder (pun intended), then save up for a while and buy a Sony A7s III. You’ll be much happier.

Final Focus on the EOS M50 Mark II

Overall, the M50 Mk II is a delightful starter camera. Canon makes it easy for a total beginner to pick up the unit and get some great photos off the rip. That’s really what makes it excellent. It has a diverse range of functions for both budding photogs and experienced users alike. Unfortunately, it won’t compete with some of the more expensive models, but for regular people who want a camera that makes their photos look great without much effort, you can’t go wrong with the EOS M50 Mk II.

Ignore the crowd that says this camera is “disappointing.” It’s not. It just has a specific purpose, and what it is designed to do—namely, be an entry-level vlogging camera with excellent photo capability—it does well.

Though the M50 Mark II might not make you a YouTube star, it will help you get started.

Canon M50 Mk II: Is It Really That Bad? published first on http://droneseco.tumblr.com/

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