#i am so sorry. i recognize that this is a Massive chunk of text

[heartofaspen]

i have never heard of sweeney todd can you tell me about it (including spoilers i loveee spoilers) -🍇

(SPOILERS!!! also warning for some sensitive topics ) okay so basically i thinkt here's multiple tellings of sweeney todd, but the musical i watched is about a barber named benjamen barker who lives in london. he's married to a beautiful woman named lucy and they have a baby named johanna. however there's this guy named judge turpin and HE thinks lucy is beautiful and wants to be with her, so he falsely accuses & convicts barker of a crime and has him shipped out of the country.

the movie STARTS however when barker comes back to london under the name sweeney todd, accompanied by a young sailor named fuckin uhh. fucking. i literally don't remember he was so forgettable. but anway they part ways. sweeney goes to the building he used to live in, where he meets mrs lovett, who runs an unsuccessful meat pie shop in his old home. she knows a lot about his story and gives him his older silver barber's tools, and when he asks "hey bro what happened to my family" and shes like "umm. well. the judge guy basically drugged and raped your wife at a party while onlookers laughed and it ruined her so horrifically she poisoned herself. also he adopted your kid lul." this sends todd into a rage and he resolves to kill judge turpin.

uhh after that some things go down, sweeney decides to start a barber business where people come into his shop and he MURDERS them after putting shaving cream on their faces. and then he gives the meat to lovett to use in her pies which make her business wildly successful! all while lovett is clearly madly in love with sweeney while he's like spaced out and enraged 24/7 still thinking about lucy and johanna. and there's a sort of side plot where Sailor Boy is trying to romance johanna and turpin is SUPER pissed about it. idk it was not a very interesting side plot

anyway the shop boy lovett hired and has began to become fond of starts to get suspicious and she locks him in the baking house (where sweeney dumps the corpses and they are baked into pies). meanwhile turpin comes for a shave- until this point he is unaware that sweeney is actually barker, and sweeney reveals this to him before murdering him and dumping him down a chute into the baking house. meanwhile the resident crazed woman character who roves the streets telling people lovett & sweeney are evil comes in and says "do i know you?" before sweeney kills her. then he goes down to the baking house w lovett where it is revealed that lovett LIED about lucy successfully killing herself and the crazed woman was Actually Lucy, with her mind scrambled from the poison. sweeney throws lovett into the baking oven and is murdered by the shop boy cradling the corpse of his wife, his throat slit by his own barber's tools.

it was really great and i reccomend!! the gore was not super realistic so if you wanna watch don't worry ab that, the music was AMAZING and depp really killed his role as sweeney =) i left out a bunch but ya there's the official b1rdza synopsis

[redfoxwritesstuff]

The Things You Find (In the Rain)

I completely forgot it was Friday. But hey, it’s posted before noon my time so that’s a win. Thank @winterisakiller who’s reactions as I write fuel me in the absence of reader tears. She’s been fueling my writing nearly as much as the coffee and whiskey does. I can’t thank her enough for letting me throw massive ass chunks of text at her fresh off the keyboard with demands of ‘tell me if this works?!’.

Chapter warnings: Really, don’t drink yourself into a mess when faced with a shitty situation in a place you don’t know. It’s not safe. It’s not healthy. Speaking of- Don’t go home when wasted with strangers- that’s also not safe. Not every handsome stranger is going to be the gentleman Tom is. 

~~~~~~

Last time on Rain:

“I don’t know.” She whispered, seemingly having finally spent all her tears. “I can’t go back.”

“Go back? Why not?” Bobby finally got off her lap and he could see her better. He hadn’t paid any mind to her before but she was clearly not dressed for the weather. Blood trickled down her heel from where the strap of her heeled sandals rubbed the skin open. “Is someone hurting you? Are you not safe where you are staying?” The more questions he had asked, the more he worried for the woman.

“What’s wrong with me?” She asked instead.

“You’re very drunk for one.” Tom mumbled to himself as he considered calling for a car. He wasn’t sure where he would take her but she clearly couldn’t stay here in the rain. He couldn’t really send her off alone with out a place to go. If she went back to where ever she was staying, he couldn’t be sure she was safe.

“Why’d he do it?” She whimpered.

“What did who do? Did he hurt you?” Tom asked. “Darling, let’s stand up and get you out of the rain.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 3

“Evan. Why’d he sleep with her? What’s wrong with me.” A shuddering breath worked its way through her as a new wave of tears spilled down her cheeks. Still, Tom softly wrapped his large hand under her arm and guided her to her feet. She came willingly enough. Thunder crashed in the distance as the wind began to pick up.

“Who’s Evan? Your boyfriend?” Oh good, now he would surely be photographed with a drunk girl who had a boyfriend. He urged her down the sidewalk slowly, not sure where to take her just yet.

“Husband.” She whimpered. Even better, Tom sighed and looked up to the sky wondering why him. “We just married yesterday. What’s wrong with me?”

“Darling, nothings wrong with you.”

“Am I that ugly?” Her knees buckled under her and if not for his arm quickly wrapping around her, she would have fallen to the ground in a heap.

“Not at all.” He glanced down at her. She was pretty enough by anyone’s standard. Small and thin with what appeared to be a cap of brown curly hair- she met most of the standards for pretty even with makeup smeared and puffy red rimmed eyes.  “Perhaps after a shower and dry clothes you’ll look even better.”

“I’m sorry.” When she looked up at him, he thought she recognized him for a moment. “You’ve got things to do, a sweet dog to take care of. I’m okay, thank you...”

“Tom. I’m Tom. It’s not safe for you to just sit out here in the storm. Do you have somewhere to go?”

“Maggie. I’ll be okay. I’ll figure something out.”

“Will you?” Swaying, she looked down at her feet. It was an admission of defeat if Tom had ever seen one. “Come on then. Let’s get you inside and a towel and you can figure something out somewhere dry.”

“It’s fine, really. I’m not you’re problem.”

“I can’t leave you alone out here and feel right with myself. Bobby simply wouldn’t forgive me if I did. And honestly, I’m not sure I could forgive myself either. The wind’s picking up so we better get on with it.”

They walked in near silence for a bit. The only sounds were the occasional car passing, thunder crashing in the sky, the steady fall of rain, howling wind and the soft tears of the woman walking by his side. As they made their way closer to his home, Tom realized he had nowhere else to take her. For better or worse, he would let her into his home.

As they walked she both grew slowly more sober and more tired. Her feet hurt and she dragged her heels. Fatigue caused her to sway on her feet even more than the alcohol. “Are you okay?” Tom asked, feeling like a tit for asking again.

“Tired. Feet hurt. Head hurts. Heart hurts.” She admitted, sniffling and wiping at her eyes again. “I’m okay. I’ll be okay.”

“You’re a strong woman.”

Laughing hollowly, she shook her head at his words. She wasn’t. She drank herself into a fog and was being rescued by a handsome stranger who could very well intend her ill will. Yet she was going with him not because she trusted him but because she had nowhere else to go and nothing to go back to. It wasn’t strength she was showing at all. It was recklessness and disregard for her own well being. At this point, she wasn’t sure if she would struggle if this handsome stranger attempted to murder her.

“It’s okay to be weak sometimes though, to need help or a shoulder to lean on.” Tom wondered for a moment if his words were intended just for her. It was something he had needed to hear a few times over the years, something he could count on his mother to tell him when he was a young man.

“I’m…” Words trailed off as she shucked in a shaky breath and tried to blink away tears before trying again. “I’m going to be okay. I don’t know how or what I’m gonna do but I’m going to be okay.”

“Yeah, you are.” Tom agreed, handing Bobby’s leash to her with a soft smile. She really was a pretty girl under all the water and mess. It wasn’t right what this Evan did to her. “But right now your feet are bleeding and you’re shivering. Come here.”

She obeyed willingly enough, too tired to argue with him and he was thankful for that. They didn’t have far to go now at all and he had been sharing the umbrella with her before switching hands to reach out for her. She allowed him to pull her to him.

The weight of his arm settled around her shoulder as he pulled her into his chest. God was he strong. Through her muddled mind she felt nothing but firm muscle all around her in a way that made her feel safer than she had ever felt in Evan’s embrace. It wasn’t something she was aware of being missing with him.

He smelled amazing. A shuddering breath filled her sinuses with the warm smell of him. Mumbling something about getting him wet, she tried to pull out of his embrace when she realized he meant to carry her yet Tom held firm, resting his head against hers as he cradled her against his chest. The chill from her wet dress passed to him quickly and he hoped that she would benefit from his warmth.

“You didn’t deserve what he did to you. He doesn’t deserve you.” The soft spoken words were all it took for her to crumble apart again. Cold fingers bunched into the fabric of his gray jacket and her head rested against his chest. Tears she didn’t know she still had fell from her eyes as she clutched him as if he was the only thing saving her.

For a few moments he simply held her. “We’re almost to my flat. Let’s get you inside and warm.”

“Tom, I-”

“My bedroom door locks from the inside. It’s not a keyed lock and there is a loo off the room. You can take the room for the night and be safe. You won’t even have to worry about the stranger who took you home.”

“I can walk.” The protest was weak. “And I can’t take your room.”

“You don’t know me from Adam.” Tom pointed out. “I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable at all now or when you sober up.”

“You’re a good man.” Sleep was calling to her as she soaked up the warmth his now damp body offered.

“I endeavor to be but I am human.” It was nice that she didn’t recognize him. He wondered if she would know him if she was sober. In a way, the way she called him a ‘good man’ when she didn’t know him from his career, his public face meant more to him.

“You’re a good human.” She mumbled, eyes slipping closed. Before his eyes, he watched as Maggie fell asleep in his arms as he stood in the middle of the sidewalk, rain crashing down around him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tom carefully negotiated fetching his keys out of his pocket, unlocking and opening the door before getting them all inside somehow without waking the woman in his arms. As far as he could tell no one had paid him any mind on the way home and he counted his lucky stars for that. This wasn’t a conversation he was looking forward to having with Luke.

Bobby had behaved through the rest of the walk. It was as if the dog had felt called to this soggy woman lost in the rain. Tom wasn’t one to believe in fate or destiny but he knew animals seemed to have some sort of a special sense. He may not understand it, he may not have the words for it but he had a feeling that Bobby had been looking for this woman who needed him tonight.

Tom had been able to wiggle the leash out of Maggie’s relaxed grip, freeing the dog as soon as they made it in from the rain. Once he had her situated, he would see to Bobby.

Strong legs took them up the stairs easily without waking her. For a moment he thought about depositing her in the guest room as he walked by it. It would have been better, he could sleep in his own bed still but it lacked the locking door or the private loo of his own room.

She was very much a stranger and it was a risk to have her in his home. It was a risk to have her in his bedroom. Still, he wanted her to feel as safe as possible and in her position, he would want to be able to lock the door. Tom set her softly on the bed before shaking her shoulder.

“Maggie?” She hummed in response before opening her eyes. They were swollen worse now and she looked truly exhausted. The sight of her made his heart ache. “We’re here?”

“Yeah. Let me get you a shirt and some shorts to wear. It will be a bit big for you but it’s better than a wet dress.”

Maggie nodded and slowly sat up. “I’m getting the bed wet.”

“It’s fine, big enough you’ll have plenty of dry spots to sleep.” Tom came back over with a blue sweater that looked so damn soft that she couldn’t help but want to be wrapped up in it and what appeared to be a pair of his athletic shorts. “These should work.”

Maggie nodded. She was too tired to care much about wearing a strangers clothes. Her heart hurt. Her head hurt. Her feet hurt. She was cold and in all honesty, she wasn’t sure that she could ever warm up again. Turning around, she reached behind her for the zipper to her dress.

Tom was quick to turn around with a mumbled curse. With the whiskey still in her system, Maggie didn’t care if he saw her. He was cute enough to spend a drunken night with but it didn’t matter. Clearly she wasn’t good enough for Evan, she wouldn’t be good enough for him.

The zipper slipped out of her fingers and she cursed. Her shoulder hurt from trying to reach it. Without knowing, she leaned more and more of her weight on one leg. Reaching, she finally pinched it between her fingers just in time to tip over and crash into Tom’s dresser.

“Maggie?!” Tom quickly turned around and grabbed her, pulling her up and steadying her on her feet. “Are you alright?”

“I can’t get it.” She sniffled, tears again welling in her eyes. This time frustration and embarrassment was the source. This man, clearly well off and attractive was stuck babysitting her while she was in such a sorry state that she couldn’t even get out of her dress.

“Get what?”

“The zipper. Can you?” Tom sighed and nodded.

“Turn around.”

Brushing her wet hair forward, over her shoulders he stepped up toward her. Her skin was freezing under his fingers and she was shivering. Slowly, he worked the zipper of her dress down her back. Much to his dismay, she wasn’t wearing a bra. On her side, where she had collided with the dresser was a large red mark that would likely become a painful bruise by morning.

“Do you need anything else?” Dropping his hands, he took half a step back.

“Don’t let me fall on the dresser again?” She glanced over her shoulder at him.

“Right.” Tom nodded, trying to keep his eyes in appropriate places as she shimmied out of the dress and stood with her back toward him in nothing but a very small pair of red lace panties.

Lifting one foot to step out of her dress, she swayed to the side so much that Tom was sure he was going to have to catch her. Correcting her balance at the last second, she remained upright and Tom let out a breath. Thinking he was finally in the clear, she stood up straight and pulled the shirt up over her head only to promptly fall over backward.

His hands went to her waist on reflex as she settled against his chest. Again he was struck at how cold her body was, chilled to the bone. His jumper was tangled around her head and she was struggling to get her arms through it. Keeping one hand on her waist, he reached up and straightened the sleeves as she wiggled around.

The dim light in the room highlighted every curve he was trying so hard to ignore. She was pretty and had a fine body with soft curves and Tom couldn’t even begin to understand why a man would cast her aside for another. She seemed kind enough. She was pretty. He needed to take a moment to remind himself that she was both very drunk and very much still another man’s wife.

Part of him, that part he wasn’t proud of, was sad to see the thin blue fabric drop down and cover her perky breasts. Still her cold damp back was pressed against his front and she seemed reluctant to step away. His hand still rested on her hip and he could feel where the skin was just a bit warmer. She seemed to be soaking up his warmth and he used that as an excuse to linger just a moment longer.

“You good?” He mumbled as he took his hand from her waist for a moment, letting the fabric cover her. It reached to her mid thigh, covering her completely leaving him both thankful and disappointed both.

“You’re warm.” She mumbled as she turned against him, nuzzling into his chest and wrapping her arms loosely around his waist.

“Yes, well- You’ll be nice and warm in the bed, I promise.” Tom softly guided her as best he could toward the bed and pushed the blankets back. Sitting discarded on the edge of the bed were the shorts he quickly was giving up hope of her wearing.

“It’s your bed.” She mumbled, head resting against the pillow as he lifted her legs into the bed. “Smells like you. I can’t take your bed. That’d be rude.”

“I’ll be fine- I’ll sleep in the guest and lock the door for you on my way out. Just go to sleep.” Tom glanced down at her as he pulled the blankets up over her legs.

“Don’t wanna be alone and ‘m cold.”

“You’ll feel better in the morning, go to sleep.” Cold fingers wrapped around his hand as Tom went to walk away.

“Stay. Please?” He sighed and squeezed his eyes closed, allowing himself a short moment to debate what to do.  

“Alright, until you fall asleep only.”

She sat up and drew her knees up as he slipped his shoes off and turned off the light. Wearily, he watched as she pushed the blankets down next to her, clearly wanting him to get into the bed. He was far too tired for this. Still, it was easier to give in. She’d stop talking, fall asleep and he could leave. Then he could go, cuddle with Bobby and reclaim the rest of his night.

As he laid down, resting his head back against his pillow, he closed his eyes. God he was so tired. At first he didn’t feel the bed shifting but opened his eyes when he felt her scoot toward him.

“You’re warm.”

“You’ll warm up in no time.” Tom shifted. “Go to sleep.”

“I’m scared.” Her voice was watery again and he looked at her in the dim light from the window. She was pretty and seemed so sweet. It made no sense that someone would hurt her like that.

“I can leave. You can lock the door.”

“No. Not of you.” He was thankful to hear it though he couldn’t be sure how much of her trust was from being drunk.

“What are you scared of then?” After a beat he adds, “Does he hit you? Hurt you?”

“No! No. It’s just…” Tom turned onto his side to face her. Reaching up he ran his knuckles down the side of her face. She was still so cold but at least she was warming up. He could feel the chill radiating off of her. “We just got married. I just moved in with him a week ago. I don’t have anywhere else to live. I… I combined my whole life with his. Now I have nothing and nowhere to go. I- he even has my credit cards.”

Tom reached out and pulled her closer, giving into the urge to hold her. She was still cold, far too cold. “Did he take them from you?”

“No. I just. I left everything when I left. I wasn’t thinking.” The warmth of his embrace was welcome, more so than the blankets even. It made her feel so much less alone in the world.

“We’ll I’ve got nothing planned for tomorrow.” Tom knew Luke would skin him alive for what he was about to suggest. “If in the morning you still trust me sober- you can stay here for a few days while you figure things out. We can figure out what hotel you were at and pick up your things.”

“Will I be okay?” Sniffling, she fought back tears. Tom pulled her closer still, until her chilled frame was huddled into his chest. Her thighs came to rest against his and he hooked his leg around one of her ankles. Every part of her he touched was chilled.

“You’ll be okay. I know it hurts now but you’ll make it through.” His large hand rubbed her back in an effort to lull her to sleep. In the end, he wasn’t sure who fell asleep first that night. Good intentions be damned, Tom fell asleep that night with Maggie held tightly in his arms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``

Tag list: @just-the-hiddles, @jennytwoshoes, @alexakeyloveloki, @dangertoozmanykids101, @theoneanna, @0-0-0-0-0-0-0-7, @bambamwolf87, @missaphrodite23, @j-u-s-t-4, @wegingerangelica, @nonsensicalobsessions, @tinchentitri, @michelegurl

[fictional-scenarios]

scenario where Toshinori reveals he's All Might in secret when his s/o is put in danger?? owo

here you go! hope you enjoy it, and sorry it took so long to get around to! -mod cass

All in all, the day had started out as casual as it ever did. You woke up to the sound of birds chirping almost annoying in your ear, the curtains swaying with the midsummer’s breeze. The chimes hanging outside rang in harmony, and you urged yourself out of bed to start the day once more. Breakfast was first, and it was a pleasant one at that. Today was your day off, and thinking Toshinori was busy at the Hero’s Academy, you weren’t going to let the mild loneliness tip you off. But, as you sat in your empty house eating breakfast alone, you sighed.

“We could use a dog,” you mumbled to yourself as you stood from the table. Setting the dish into the sink to be washed later, you glanced out the window and watched the clouds haze by in serenity. Then, you giggled to yourself at the image of Toshinori playing tug of war with a Sheppard. “Or maybe a cat.”

Getting dressed, you were almost startled by the sudden chime of your ringtone alerting you that you had a text message. The message perplexed you.

“I’m locked out.”

For a long moment, you just read the text with a cocked head. Then you glanced at the sender, which riled yet another giggle. Dressed for the day you padded down the hallway to the front door, where you stood on the other side unmoving. Through the window you could see Toshinori standing there like a puppy left out in the rain. You crossed your arms teasingly, staying in your spot.

“Where’s your key?” You asked, though you knew the answer. He left them-

“On the dresser.” Toshinori hung his head.

With an over dramatic sigh you unlocked the door and swung it open, leaning against the doorway. “What am I ever going to do with you?”

He sheepishly smiled. “You could let me treat you to a great lunch.”

You blinked at him, taken back by his offer. “What about the Academy?”

“They’re strong kids,” he said, nodding proudly. “I trust them to make good choices.”

You grinned and clicked your tongue. “They’re not training today, are they?”

Once more, he hung his head. “Nope. Indoors all day.”

“And let me guess,” you laughed, “You were told to take the day off.”

Toshinori’s nod confirmed your guess and you reached out, patting his head. “Don’t worry, love. We can get lunch and you’ll forget all about it. I have to grab some things before we go, though.”

Yes, at first the day viewed promising. As fate would it, you wouldn’t be spending your day off alone. The world was giving you a thumbs up, and the bluebirds sang high overhead while you walked alongside Toshinori to your favorite restaurant just a few blocks down. It was a small and quaint building, and the short walk was convenient given Toshinori’s wound (which you were always curious about, but he never spoke much of it).

Everything changed in a heartbeat- one minute you’re walking with a pep in your step and the next you’re practically thrown onto the floor, the ground in front of you literally splitting open as a tall, winding, creature with four arms erupted from the cement. You couldn’t get a clear look at it with how fast it had all happened, but you swore you saw what looked like some sort of drill spinning just above it’s eyes. Somewhere nearby a pedestrian screamed and ran, and as you watched them go in the corner of your eyes you saw it- a thick chunk of rock hurdling right towards you. Before you could shield yourself with your hands, still on the ground from the impact, everything suddenly became dark. You barely registered the arms suddenly wrapped around you until you were being shaken with the force of your holder running, literally hopping from roof to roof. In seconds you were feet, meters, and then out of sight from whatever villain that just sprouted in front of you.

Your head spun with the intensity of it all, but when your feet were planted on the concrete roof of a random building, you were able to catch your breath for just a moment. Those huge arms left you, but a hand remained to rest on your upper back soothingly while you tried to collect yourself. Something was oddly familiar about the gesture, and if those hands were smaller, thinner, you’d swear you recognize them.

“Thank you,” you managed as you turned to face your savior. You froze when you did.

Just as he had felt, the person standing before you was massive. Broad shoulders, blond hair, large arms and hands to match. Your mouth went dry. All Might.

Something was stopping you from losing your entire head about having being rescued by All Might himself. You knew of this hero- everyone did. He was an all around hero, an angel and protector. You’d heard all the stories, seen his photos on the papers and television, but you’d never seen him face to face like this. Now, there was something you’d never seen before.

You did recognize him. You weren’t entirely sure how, but you did. You knew a face you’d never seen before but it wasn’t just from looking at him. There was a bond, a familiarity between the two of your figures, between the way he crouched to comfort you and the way his hand still lingered on your back, just like…

Eyes wide, mouth dry, you whispered. “Yagi?”

The hand on your back faltered, but it returned a second later. He nodded once, then stood straight up, his physique quite literally towering over yours. Shrouded in the light, he looked like he was glowing.

“I’ll have to treat you another day,” he said sullenly. “I’m afraid I have some pressing matters.”

You nodded understandingly and watched him standing at the edge of the roof. “Be careful!” You called.

Toshinori looked back at you over his shoulder, a large grin splayed on his face. He gave you an about thumbs up, and leapt.

[rudeboyy401]

  Google officially unveiled its new flagship ‘Pixel 4’ smartphone today.

With a camera that captures detail that others can’t, a new way to use your phone without touching it, a new Google Assistant, and a fast and responsive display, Pixel 4 packs new technology into a new design. Best of all, Pixel includes the latest version of Android, which gets better with each update.

  Google’s Pixel 4 and 4 XL have been leaked so often, and so thoroughly, that it’s hard to imagine it contains any surprises at all. Thankfully, that’s not completely true. Yes, early reports — including dispatches from Google itself — have exposed just about every component the folks in Mountain View used here. What most of them couldn’t fully describe was how different it feels from any of Google’s other phones. That’s partly because of their tweaked designs, but also because Google is trying to define the Pixels by more than just clean software and great cameras.

The basics

As usual, the Pixel 4 and 4 XL share a common foundation: They both use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 chipset with 6GB of RAM, they both come with either 64GB or 128GB of storage. The rest of those leaks were spot-on, too. The Pixel 4 and 4XL come in three colors (including a fetching new orange that’s easily this year’s fashionista pick), and have big triple-camera arrays sitting high on their backs.

With the possible exception of the charming “panda” 2 XL, Google’s smartphones have never really been known for their striking designs. That streak continues this year, too — their designs still come off a little utilitarian compared to some of its rivals. Some people might balk at the phones’ simple aesthetic, but I can’t say I mind; after all, the Pixels have always tended to prioritize substance over style.

It certainly doesn’t hurt that Google has completely changed the way these phones feel — if you’re considering one of the black models, get ready for a glossy, piano-like finish. Only the white and orange variants have matte glass backs, and because of that, they’re easily my favorites of the bunch. No matter which Pixel strikes your fancy, though, all of them now have what feel like grippy plastic running around their edges. It was a little disconcerting at first, and even now I can’t help but think they feel a little cheap, but at least I didn’t have to worry about dropping a demo phone.

Both of these phones also pack what 19:9 “Smooth” displays, which can refresh as quickly as 90 times per second in certain situations — say, when you’re scrolling through long chunks of text. It’s not always the most noticeable change, but when you do spot it, it’s hard not to wish the screen moved that fast all the time.

More control

As always, you can poke at the Pixel 4’s touchscreen, or squeeze its body if you want to invoke Google’s updated Assistant. (More on that in a bit.) Thanks to the company’s incredibly tiny Soli radar sensor, though, you can now just wave your hand in front of a Pixel 4 to control it. It’s all very Jedi when it works.

At least, in theory, the Pixel 4’s Soli system works a lot like the LG G8’s Z Camera: some extra hardware spots your hand in front of the phone and prompts the phone to react to your hand gestures. The difference is, using Soli doesn’t make me want to tear my hair out. In my very limited time playing with it, Soli did a much better job of recognizing mid-air swipes in front of the phone than the Z Camera ever did, which I guess shouldn’t be much surprise.

That said, I am a little surprised at how limited Soli feels right now — at least on the demo units made available to us, you could flick back and forth between songs using those flicks I mentioned, or disable an alarm by moving your hand closer to the phone. Soli also helps the Pixel 4’s face unlock happen faster, by using radar readings to determine when to fire up the front-facing camera. Sure, that’s helpful, but hardly what I’d call an exciting use-case. With all that said, though, it’s far too early to make a call on Soli’s overall helpfulness — Google had to start somewhere, and it’ll take time for developers to embrace it. (Or, you know, decide not to embrace it. We’ll see.)

Google’s Assistant got a big update here, too — one that makes it terribly small. As Google said back at its I/O developer conference, the company shrank down its Assistant model to the point where it actually fits inside a smartphone; the benefit here is that many common Assistant commands can be processed without being farmed out to some to the remote server. It’s a great idea in theory and Google’s demos paint an ambitious picture of what the new Assistant can do, but my quick demo experience wasn’t nearly as fruitful — the Pixel 4 had trouble remembering an earlier command when I gave it a new one, so I couldn’t have the sorts of lightning-fast conversations I’d hoped for. We’ll try this again when we’re outside a massively crowded demo room to see if that fixes things.

The camera

Unfortunately, there’s only so much we can test about the camera in a crowded demo area, but one thing I can definitely say is that Google’s implementation of zoom is extremely impressive. Last year, Google used computational photography to account for the lack of a dedicated telephoto lens like its competitors have, but this year Google added a second lens and paired it with its AI smarts. At first glance, it’s an impressive combination. You don’t even need to worry about switching between the Pixel 4’s two back lenses, you just slide the zoom bar to where you like, shoot the photo, and Google’s software takes care of the rest.

Google’s implementation dual sliders to let you capture more detail in both dark and light parts of a frame is simple in practice but should be very handy for anyone who wants a little more flexibility in how they shoot. Other features, like shooting a night sky to capture a dark, detailed star field we’ll obviously have to try out on our own.

Everything else

That Recorder app: I’ve long relied on an AI transcription app called Otter.ai to do the exact same thing the Pixel’s new Recorder app does, and Google’s live transcriptions work well enough that I just might have to cancel my Otter subscription. Sorry guys, no hard feelings!

These batteries: Reports published prior to the event claimed the smaller Pixel would pack a 2,800mAh battery, and that the XL would use a 3,700mAh cell. I haven’t been able to confirm that just yet, but if true, we could be looking at another year of disappointing Pixel battery life. There’s no word yet on how much power the Soli radar requires, but driving these displays at 90Hz is no small feat, and devices like the OnePlus 7 Pro and Razer Phone 2 with similarly fast screens pack bigger batteries to cope. This would also mean the Pixel 4 has a slightly lower capacity battery than last year’s Pixel 3, which, yeah, doesn’t feel great.

Google Officially Unveils the Pixel 4

Google officially unveiled its new flagship ‘Pixel 4’ smartphone today. With a camera that captures detail that others can’t, a new way to use your phone without touching it, a new Google Assistant, and a fast and responsive display, Pixel 4 packs new technology into a new design.

Google Officially Unveils the Pixel 4 Google officially unveiled its new flagship 'Pixel 4' smartphone today. With a camera that captures detail that others can't, a new way to use your phone without touching it, a new Google Assistant, and a fast and responsive display, Pixel 4 packs new technology into a new design.

[rudeboysworld]

  Google officially unveiled its new flagship ‘Pixel 4’ smartphone today.

With a camera that captures detail that others can’t, a new way to use your phone without touching it, a new Google Assistant, and a fast and responsive display, Pixel 4 packs new technology into a new design. Best of all, Pixel includes the latest version of Android, which gets better with each update.

  Google’s Pixel 4 and 4 XL have been leaked so often, and so thoroughly, that it’s hard to imagine it contains any surprises at all. Thankfully, that’s not completely true. Yes, early reports — including dispatches from Google itself — have exposed just about every component the folks in Mountain View used here. What most of them couldn’t fully describe was how different it feels from any of Google’s other phones. That’s partly because of their tweaked designs, but also because Google is trying to define the Pixels by more than just clean software and great cameras.

The basics

As usual, the Pixel 4 and 4 XL share a common foundation: They both use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 chipset with 6GB of RAM, they both come with either 64GB or 128GB of storage. The rest of those leaks were spot-on, too. The Pixel 4 and 4XL come in three colors (including a fetching new orange that’s easily this year’s fashionista pick), and have big triple-camera arrays sitting high on their backs.

With the possible exception of the charming “panda” 2 XL, Google’s smartphones have never really been known for their striking designs. That streak continues this year, too — their designs still come off a little utilitarian compared to some of its rivals. Some people might balk at the phones’ simple aesthetic, but I can’t say I mind; after all, the Pixels have always tended to prioritize substance over style.

It certainly doesn’t hurt that Google has completely changed the way these phones feel — if you’re considering one of the black models, get ready for a glossy, piano-like finish. Only the white and orange variants have matte glass backs, and because of that, they’re easily my favorites of the bunch. No matter which Pixel strikes your fancy, though, all of them now have what feel like grippy plastic running around their edges. It was a little disconcerting at first, and even now I can’t help but think they feel a little cheap, but at least I didn’t have to worry about dropping a demo phone.

Both of these phones also pack what 19:9 “Smooth” displays, which can refresh as quickly as 90 times per second in certain situations — say, when you’re scrolling through long chunks of text. It’s not always the most noticeable change, but when you do spot it, it’s hard not to wish the screen moved that fast all the time.

More control

As always, you can poke at the Pixel 4’s touchscreen, or squeeze its body if you want to invoke Google’s updated Assistant. (More on that in a bit.) Thanks to the company’s incredibly tiny Soli radar sensor, though, you can now just wave your hand in front of a Pixel 4 to control it. It’s all very Jedi when it works.

At least, in theory, the Pixel 4’s Soli system works a lot like the LG G8’s Z Camera: some extra hardware spots your hand in front of the phone and prompts the phone to react to your hand gestures. The difference is, using Soli doesn’t make me want to tear my hair out. In my very limited time playing with it, Soli did a much better job of recognizing mid-air swipes in front of the phone than the Z Camera ever did, which I guess shouldn’t be much surprise.

That said, I am a little surprised at how limited Soli feels right now — at least on the demo units made available to us, you could flick back and forth between songs using those flicks I mentioned, or disable an alarm by moving your hand closer to the phone. Soli also helps the Pixel 4’s face unlock happen faster, by using radar readings to determine when to fire up the front-facing camera. Sure, that’s helpful, but hardly what I’d call an exciting use-case. With all that said, though, it’s far too early to make a call on Soli’s overall helpfulness — Google had to start somewhere, and it’ll take time for developers to embrace it. (Or, you know, decide not to embrace it. We’ll see.)

Google’s Assistant got a big update here, too — one that makes it terribly small. As Google said back at its I/O developer conference, the company shrank down its Assistant model to the point where it actually fits inside a smartphone; the benefit here is that many common Assistant commands can be processed without being farmed out to some to the remote server. It’s a great idea in theory and Google’s demos paint an ambitious picture of what the new Assistant can do, but my quick demo experience wasn’t nearly as fruitful — the Pixel 4 had trouble remembering an earlier command when I gave it a new one, so I couldn’t have the sorts of lightning-fast conversations I’d hoped for. We’ll try this again when we’re outside a massively crowded demo room to see if that fixes things.

The camera

Unfortunately, there’s only so much we can test about the camera in a crowded demo area, but one thing I can definitely say is that Google’s implementation of zoom is extremely impressive. Last year, Google used computational photography to account for the lack of a dedicated telephoto lens like its competitors have, but this year Google added a second lens and paired it with its AI smarts. At first glance, it’s an impressive combination. You don’t even need to worry about switching between the Pixel 4’s two back lenses, you just slide the zoom bar to where you like, shoot the photo, and Google’s software takes care of the rest.

Google’s implementation dual sliders to let you capture more detail in both dark and light parts of a frame is simple in practice but should be very handy for anyone who wants a little more flexibility in how they shoot. Other features, like shooting a night sky to capture a dark, detailed star field we’ll obviously have to try out on our own.

Everything else

That Recorder app: I’ve long relied on an AI transcription app called Otter.ai to do the exact same thing the Pixel’s new Recorder app does, and Google’s live transcriptions work well enough that I just might have to cancel my Otter subscription. Sorry guys, no hard feelings!

These batteries: Reports published prior to the event claimed the smaller Pixel would pack a 2,800mAh battery, and that the XL would use a 3,700mAh cell. I haven’t been able to confirm that just yet, but if true, we could be looking at another year of disappointing Pixel battery life. There’s no word yet on how much power the Soli radar requires, but driving these displays at 90Hz is no small feat, and devices like the OnePlus 7 Pro and Razer Phone 2 with similarly fast screens pack bigger batteries to cope. This would also mean the Pixel 4 has a slightly lower capacity battery than last year’s Pixel 3, which, yeah, doesn’t feel great.

Google Officially Unveils the Pixel 4 Google officially unveiled its new flagship 'Pixel 4' smartphone today. With a camera that captures detail that others can't, a new way to use your phone without touching it, a new Google Assistant, and a fast and responsive display, Pixel 4 packs new technology into a new design.

[ark-of-eden]

R is drunk and raving (not in the party way).

(R:) Additionally, I’m procrastinating like a fucking champion at working on fic construction, so you know the best use of my time is going off about random social media crap on the internet.

tl;dr: Putting all commentary in tags on Tumblr makes R cry and shit thousands of words into the Internet.

Every social media site inevitably develops sets of unwritten social conventions. Some of them actually make sense as being derived from meatspace etiquette and therefore you don’t really have to stress about remembering them as long as you play nice like a decent creature.

And some of them just don’t make any fucking sense that I can see. Folks on Twitter using a deliberately space-limited form of media to write a page’s worth or more in a string of 30+ rapidfire tweets? This is just how it’s done over there? (Tweetlonger exists but for some reason these massive chain-tweeters never seem to use it. Same with posting the whole thing in a long-form site like LJ/DW/Tumblr and just linking it to a tweet.)

And Tumblr has things that I literally had to put effort into learning after I migrated here, and after I learned about them I frankly decided to ignore them because I couldn’t see the point in them. Tumblr has this bizarre allergy to commentary and, likely derived from that, the practice of instead commenting by putting it all in awkward tags that render the tagging system not especially useful and are harder to get to if you’re actually interested in an individual’s thoughts about a thing and not just the twelfth instance of the same post crossing your dash in a day or two. It’s not like you can’t engage with people, because asks and messaging and such exist, but like...there’s this strong sense that it’s Terribly Ill-Mannered to weigh in with your own impressions right there, in the body of the post, typing your own words in that seductive, wide-open text box that appears all on its own when you go to reblog something. The properly-socialized Tumblrite eschews that tempting text field and instead posts weird sentence fragments in tag form (interspersed with actual tags that might serve to usefully categorize the post’s content), to the extent that some people can add on a good couple paragraphs of material down among the hashtags where others need to go looking for it on purpose if they want it. (I, at least, haven’t been able to find a plugin or something that automatically expands full tags on all posts so that I don’t have to fuck around with extra interface elements to get to them. I admit that I haven’t looked super hard, though.)

Preserving the original form of the OP’s post is a noble practice that I heartily support, but how is adding commentary a problem if you’re only adding a separate thing, not taking away or altering anything in the original...? This was already a practice/convention/code of social interaction on Tumblr when I got here, so I was never in the front row to witness this element taking shape. I suppose it must have made good sense at the time, but every time I see ten people reblogging the same post with no additions and a paragraph of tags appended to it, it’s like a splinter in my brain that has been digging into me for years now.

And I’m not hating on people who do that! I get that that’s The Way It’s Done Here and I am the deviant weirdo for continually adding comments directly onto things that I reblog. Tags are where individuality lives here, unless you’re producing your own original posts, which I guess other people are then supposed to reblog without commentary so that you have to go hunting after all the reblogs individually if you want to get an actual sense of what these people were all thinking when they reblogged your thing. It all just seems...so...WORK INTENSIVE, refusing to use site functions as they were intended??

Look, I absolutely know that my commentary is not the work of incisive genius that unfailingly adds value to every post I find worthy of my attention. We’re pretty much solid shitposting on this blog. Because I’m a little loaded at the moment and that gives me a handy excuse to run my fingers like an idiot (plus I put that readmore up there, so if your eyes are actually consuming these words, you have only yourself to blame for being here), let me run down relevant history of how we got here.

LJ was home for a good long while. Then shit got seriously messed up and Dreamwidth was created as a better LJ, so we migrated all our stuff over there. And journaling sites along those lines still feel like a native environment. I, in particular, am the most long-winded piece of shit we know and I am honestly incapable of talking about anything of worth in short form. It’s a sickness and I just sort of have to own it. :/ But that’s why journaling sites are a good place for me to live, because that’s where people go when they have the inclination to read meandering scrawls about the depths of other people’s lives or whatever.

We went to Twitter for a good while because all the cool people we knew from LJ were going there for some unfathomable reason. These people wrote things that were complex and fascinating to read, so all of them jumping ship to a place that limited them to 140-character chunks made no damn sense, but we loved those people and wanted to trust that they knew what the hell they were doing. And they probably did, and a couple of us were actually okay with Twitter, but I, being the long-winded shitpiece, spent a lot of time frustrated and kind of overstimulated.

Then things started going to hell more and more consistently for me personally (and us generally by extension, but that’s unnecessary detail). Bunkering down specifically to protect people that you care about from the fallout of your crazy is a fairly common thing for mentally-ill people to do, I think. So I’d shut up online until I felt stable enough to talk to people again. Those periods lasted a few days, then a week or more, then a month, then eventually I stopped talking entirely. I missed the LJ/DW format, but in the past I’d written about life events and things I was thinking about and such, so...at the time, all I really had to write about was the bad stuff. So LJ/DW was basically unusable as well.

I literally came here to be as shallow as I could possibly manage. Tumblr had a rapid, chaotic flow similar to Twitter, but could hold longer content like LJ/DW. We’ve never really used the site’s full functionality at any point, though. For at least a year, all we were following was the most lightweight, zero-calorie entertainment that we could find. (We actually came here for Flight Rising content, so there was a lot of that.) Being engaged with fandom in any consistent respect is an extremely recent thing.

And I’m not saying that fandom hasn’t got depth and complexity because it absolutely does and that’s one of the beautiful things about shared fan experiences. I kind of got into that sort of fandom by accident after getting here and rediscovering Transformers. But the unvoiced policy that I’ve always had here is to avoid the Too Real and dodge serious topics whenever possible. Thus, no gender theory, no neurodivergence or multiplicity, no nonhumanity, no religion or UPG, nothing with real substance behind it that bared real vulnerabilities. (Apparently this was a good move anyway because the nonhuman and multiplicity situation here on Tumblr is a bit of a clusterfuck? I honestly wouldn’t know, as I haven’t made a lot of effort to link up with those folks.) That’s still the policy. That might remain the policy forever until I reach some vaguely-defined threshold of sanity that makes me worthy of talking about those things in places and formats that other people can interact with.

And I’m sorry for all this talk about mental illness, but it’s simpler just to explain things clearly. I likely won’t go into any more detail about it on Tumblr. Or anywhere else, because I care about people even if I’ve never met them or talked to them at all and I still want to keep it all in the bunker to protect good people from the crazy. Sometimes, all you can do is just prevent the damage from spilling out into other people’s lives, and that’s the place that I usually operate from.

I’m still pretty drunk, so I’m allowed to ramble from too much truth serum, but all of that explanation was to get around to saying that the format of online communication that is most intuitive to me is the long, oversharing gut-spill of random people talking about things that are really meaningful to them - not in the sense of elaborate philosophy or artsy epistles to the cosmos, but just people being super real about things that are meaningful to them and going into lots of detail about them because gushing about things you love is great. And it’s possible to get that sort of discussion and gushing in Tumblr fandom, and I love it because it reminds me of better times, and the fact that I love it is WHY IT MAKES ME SO GODDAMN FRUSTRATED that Tumblr culture is basically stifling discussion and feedback and RESPONSE to things that people find interesting!!

Like, here’s how I see it. Unlike on LJ/DW, where you were limited to hyperlinking to a cool post in one of your own posts if you wanted your readers to go check it out, on Tumblr, if you find a super cool thing, you can pull it directly into your space and let other people experience it directly, exactly as you experienced it. But the thing is, I also subscribe to the My Blog My House concept. If I pull a thing into my “home,” I do it because there’s something homelike about it; it belongs in my home for some specific reason. I don’t take “ownership” of an item in the sense that I’m claiming it in place of its creator, but I’m taking ownership of it in the sense that it’s part of my Stuff now and it’ll get my fingerprints all over it and be blended into the general morass of Stuff that I recognize as my home. I don’t just pull random crap into my home for no reason at all.

And I just figure that other people are similar in the sense that they reblog things for distinct, unique reasons, not in the sense that they have some master plan for their blog content (some do, but it’s not necessary), but just that they have compelling reasons why they pick certain bits of content out of the larger river of their dashboard and put it in their own space for people to experience with them. I follow people based on the interesting things that they find interesting. I’m interested in why they’re interested in those things. They seem like interesting people to me because they’re interested in what they’re interested in.

But the WHY is a really important part of the equation for me. Did this person reblog that photo because they’ve been to that place themselves, because they like that kind of tree, because they reblog photos with that color scheme every Thursday? Did that person reblog that piece of art because they love that character, because they’re studying that art medium, because it reminded them of something funny they saw somewhere else? People attach their own context to things that they latch onto. It’s so freaking weird to me that people have to hide their interpretations or impressions in tags here on Tumblr, making them unimportant and optional in the process of sharing things they like with others. (Okay, people also share a lot of things they hate, but reasons for outrage are still part of the context that one adds to content.)

I WANT TO KNOW WHY YOU CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE SHOWING ME. I WANT TO KNOW WHAT MAKES IT IMPORTANT TO YOU. I WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT MAKES YOU THINK AND FEEL. Even if it’s a blurb about how giant robots fuck or a cute kitten video, I NEED TO KNOW THESE THINGS.

Not in excruciating detail or with insightful analysis or even a lot of text at all. Mostly, the things that people put in tags are things that, to me, are a really crucial part of the experience of being able to go into someone’s “home” and see the Stuff that they chose to put in it. Reducing oneself to a glorified signal repeater is...okay, I guess, though it turns a Tumblr blog into a kind of faceless stream of other people’s material a lot of the time. The personal touch is what makes it all interesting. And I’m just unutterably frustrated that, somewhere along the line, it was decided that personalizing an experience by sharing one’s own impressions of it became rude enough that polite society decided that it had to be hidden away in tags. I want all of it, so I do go looking for it, but omg it requires MORE EFFORT and BURNING CALORIES and BODILY MOVEMENT and WAAAAH, you know what I mean. :P

And possibly Tumblr society is right and it’s done for a good, decent purpose and I’m being pigheaded and uncool by insisting on doing things my way without bothering to try and understand the local customs. I’m not usually that much of an asshole, but I am about this, for some reason. And I admit that my craving for those personal touches could very well spring from how utterly isolated and lonely I am, so maybe normal people really don’t need all the extra info and actually do just want mostly-impersonal streams of content. And that’s fine, since I know I’m kind of a weirdo even on my best days.

I’m pretty sure that that was all that I really wanted to say. I’m probably overreacting about the whole comments-in-tags thing. Like I said, it’s kind of an irrational irritation. Also, I need to stop before I write myself sober and no longer have an excuse for all of this. If you actually read all of that, you are an awesome, generous person and I’m pretty damn certain that I love you even though I have no idea who you are.