#m; dual butterflies; Amber

[techfeels]

Thoughts on the New MacBook Air

Here's what I wrote two months ago about the rumoured MacBook Air redesign:

So here’s my best guess, and also what I’m kind of hoping for: The price will start at $999, for a 128GB SSD and 8GB of RAM. It will have a new chassis, smaller in size than the current Air, but with the same teardrop design. It’ll have a 13-inch Retina display, with the same resolution as the 13-inch MacBook Pro (2560x1600), but it won’t be True Tone, or have a Touch Bar or T2 chip — these will be reserved for the Pro laptops. The processor will be whatever the latest Intel 15W dual-core chip is. It’ll have the 3rd-gen butterfly keyboard from this year’s MacBook Pros, and a Force Touch trackpad. Ports-wise, I’m predicting two USB-C ports, which it’ll also use for charging — no more MagSafe — as well as a USB-A port, SD card slot, and headphone jack. It will probably come in the same colours as the MacBook: silver, space grey, gold and rose gold.

Overall I was pretty close — just let down by some wishful thinking/naiveté regarding the addition of legacy ports, and the price. Regarding the increased price, it seemed like a common refrain in yesterday's announcements was, 'we've made it better than the old version in a bunch of ways, but now it's $200 more expensive'. $1200 for a laptop with a measly 128GB storage capacity is pretty outrageous, in my opinion. The price gouging has certainly been reaching new levels in the last couple of years — the Mac mini used to start at $500, now it's $800. The cheapest laptop (with up-to-date internals) used to be $900, now it's $1200. The original stainless steel Apple Watch started at $550, now it's $700. I guess this is what happens when you have a bean counter at the helm.

Back to the MacBook Air, the Intel processor they're using is actually not in the 15W class, as was the case with previous versions — they've apparently switched to the same (weak-sauce) line of processors used in the 12" MacBook, but running at 7W instead of 5W. This means the battery life will be good, but it won't be a particularly powerful machine. 15W always seemed like such a good compromise between power and battery life, so it's a shame they've moved away from this class of processor — but it might not be a problem in day-to-day use.

I'm impressed they've put in a Touch ID sensor next to the traditional function keys for the first time, rather than persisting with the idea that it had to be tied to the (I-think-we-can-call-it-a-failure-now) Touch Bar. This is what I feel the majority of people, including myself, have been clamouring for. Great to see the T2 chip included as well; going forward I think we can expect to see it (or an improved version) on every Mac released from now on. Shame that's not also the case for True Tone, which seems to be a MacBook Pro (Touch Bar) exclusive for the time being.

Before these announcements, there was a sense of hope that this would be the event where Apple would tidy up its laptop line. But, alas, it's now even more of a convoluted mess than it was before. There are now five different options around the 12-13" screen size: 12" MacBook, 13" MacBook Air, 13" MacBook Air (old version), 13" MacBook Pro (Touch Bar), and 13" MacBook Pro (non-Touch Bar).

This is insanity. Why on Earth wasn't the 13" non-Touch Bar model discontinued? The differences between it, the 12" MacBook, and the new 13" MacBook Air are extremely slight: they all cost about the same, are all thin and light, have either one or two USB-C ports, and all have quite-low-powered processors. If you forget about the fact that this new laptop is called the MacBook Air (because, really, it bears almost no relation to the device it replaces), it's hard to see how this isn't just a rethought 13" MacBook Pro (non-Touch Bar).

And if ever there was a time to finally retire the old MacBook Air, last meaningfully updated in March 2015, you'd think the introduction of a new MacBook Air would be it.

But no. It's still here.

#tech #technology #apple #laptop #macbook air

[mcsesofhope]

@rcguna​ liked for a starter

“Oooh! is that a new traveler I see?” She’s practically jumping when she sees someone new come into Carnations. At least it was someone she hasn’t seen before.

“Are you here to buy flowers? Oh! or maybe you also wanna say hi to my friends!”

#rcguna #m; dual butterflies; Amber

[mcsesofhope]

“It’s a beautiful day outside...

“Birds are singing...flowers are blooming.”

“On days like these, Kids like you...”

“Should be given a flower!”

#m; dual butterflies; Amber

[mcsesofhope]

@heartbctrayed​

“....Are you a nice and quiet Red or one of those violent types?” Ambrosia sighed as she slightly kicked the ground with her shoes. This Red Sea shenanigans were beginning to stress her out. All she wants to do is free her ‘family’.

#Could be for Sal or Mikotsu #A-P; Ambrosia #m; dual butterflies; Amber #v; blue asclepias; Red!Amber

[mcsesofhope]

@imperiumgoddess​

“Lest!” She’s practically jumping up and down. “Do you remember when we planted those flowers near the the lake?! They’ve bloomed!” Amber’s holding on to Lest’s hand almost expectantly. “Let’s go check them out!”

#i'm referencing a town event : D #m; dual butterflies; Amber

[mcsesofhope]

karnakian

answered your ask

“Leon!” Amber is just gonna tackle hug him. “I had a really scary...”

“Yea. That’s what was wrong... In my nightmare, the entire town was empty and I was all alone...” She shivered a tiny little bit at the word alone. Still... She calmed down when her hair was being stroked.

#karnakian #m; dual butterflies; Amber #no worries! #I'm happy you answered!'

[mcsesofhope]

@lonely-red-residents​

“I made this... It’s for Valentine’s Day.” Ambrosia pushes her hand forward and showed a cookie for Stella. 

#A-P; Ambrosia #m; dual butterflies; Amber #v; blue asclepias; Red!Amber

[mcsesofhope]

@lonely-red-residents​

“....You’re one of those Reds aren’t you.” The girl noted. Red eyes. Perhaps it was a bit of prejudice but everyone with red eyes have been part of the Red... Though, perhaps the other would mistake her for a red. After all, the body she was possessing is a member of that despicable Red Sea.

“It seems all I’ve been doing lately is meeting with Reds. I do hope that you aren’t completely violent.”

#A-P; Ambrosia #m; dual butterflies; Amber #v; blue asclepias; Red!Amber

[mcsesofhope]

Can’t Be With You (Drabble)

“...You always were happy when I gave you flowers right?” Amber stepped forward, still young... forever young, all due to being a Guardian. She doesn’t regret becoming one. Not at all. She was able to save the life of a dear friend as well as meet all the friends she loves to this day... As well as meet the love of her life. Yet it was moments like this that hurts a lot. Still, she’s doing her best not to cry.

Not because she felt like she had to, but because she wanted to.

She wanted to show her precious love that she was strong. She had to be. Amber has a long... long life ahead of her. The butterfly girl needed to be the happy girl. Yet, even her love knew her fears... her insecurities.

Her desire to not be alone.

“I got you some.” She finally spoke up, almost as if she had to prepare the line. “It’s been a few months since I’ve last seen you. Hasn’t felt that long. Our daughter is doing just fine. She’s sad... I am too. Really sad. I...” It was almost as if the confirmation of her true feelings that something finally broke. Her head moved down, trying to hide the dam that’s about to break.

“I’m sorry. I’m really really sorry! I know I’m not supposed to cry but I’m sad. I miss you so much, so much that it hurts. You mean everything to me and-” She cut herself off when she felt a hand pat her back. Luna was so kind.

“I...I can’t be with you. Not yet... no matter how much I want to be with you. I can’t... I’m sorry Lest. I love you.”

#m; dual butterflies; Amber #using default name for the daughter

[mcsesofhope]

@catacombofsouls​ here have Ambrosia.

“... You hurt another person have you?” Not like she was surprised.  “This doesn’t make me happy you know, to see this violence from you. Though, with the current state the both of you are in, I can’t blame you.”

#A-P; Ambrosia #m; dual butterflies; Amber #v; blue asclepias; Red!Amber

[mcsesofhope]

@unhingedsea​ liked for a starter

“Is.... Is the Red really so good?” Huh... This was odd for the Red Amber. “I Just feel like something’s off. I feel happy but I feel like I’ve... forgotten who I was .“

#v; blue asclepias; Red!Amber #m; dual butterflies; Amber #unhingedsea #i hope this is okay!

[mcsesofhope]

@theirsalvation wanted me to give them a corrupt amber

“Hey Forte! You know what the water here needs? I think it needs to be dyed red!”

“Oh! What about a red sky?! I think that’ll make everyone happy!”

#m; dual butterflies; Amber #v; blue asclepias; Red!Amber

[mcsesofhope]

@muselived WE NEED A CUTE FLUFFY THREAD OKAY?

“Forteee! Are you hungry? Here!” Here she gives the other a jar of honey. If she’s giving you that much, that’s how you know she loves you dearly.

#m; dual butterflies; Amber

[mcsesofhope]

@malicioussouls

“Lest!” She couldn’t help but tackle hug the other. The Red was excited when she saw the other with red eyes. Did this mean that Lest is now one of them? The thought of that sounded so fun

“The Red feels so amazing! Doesn’t it! I’m so happy you are one of us now!”

#m; dual butterflies; Amber #v; blue asclepias; Red!Amber #malicioussouls

[mcsesofhope]

@askthedivinewind

“Hey Venti. Do you think I’m being weird? Frey says my eyes being red is really creepy but I like it.”

#m; dual butterflies; Amber #v; blue asclepias; Red!Amber

[mcsesofhope]

Blue Asclepias ; Red Amber

Asclepias in flower language means remembrance, dignity and freedom.

As a reference to another game, Trauma team, the asclepias species used in that game was orange/yellow. Though it turned blue when it came across blood infected by the Rosalia virus. It became tainted. That’s the inspiration behind the verse name

Amber’s transformation into Red starts off similar to Sana’s. An eagerness for the color red and lack of a sense of right and wrong. It won’t be long until she actually tries hurting people and discovering that, well thanks to the Red infecting her, she deeply enjoys hurting others and it makes her happy.

Though this isn’t as simple as pure psychopathy, she begins to lose her self of identity, and for Amber who came from the past, that’s all she has. She goes into a self-induced paranoia, trying to reclaim who she was before. Of course, these are only on days when the influence is not as strong. The urges are still there even when her mind isn’t clouded up by the Red, since hurting people and making them miserable still makes her happy.

#m; dual butterflies; Amber #v; blue asclepias; Red!Amber