#the listener ctv

[thelistenerctv]

[six-of-ravens]

fun new things my news app now does: starts auto playing the sound for an ad even when the ad is NOT VISIBLE!

[clockwayswrites]

Like Betta Fish Do Part 27

Wc:3213 Masterpost CW: Hospitalization, discussions of temporary character deaths

The hospital was pure chaos. Reporters were at the door, police were at the reporters to stay back, and the Waynes were pacing.

None of them had wanted to be left behind, not with this, so as soon as those who had been playing hero changed, they all headed for the hospital. Bruce had met them in a waiting room that had been cleared out for their use. There were benefits to having a wing named after one’s father.

“Clear,” Babs said as she and Tim finished typing on the tablets that they had brought from WE. “CTV cameras will just loop past this room.”

“There are no bugs. I’ve activated scramblers for parabolic mics or anything, not that they should be able to get to us in here anyways,” Tim said.

“What happened?” Steph asked, looking to Bruce.

Bruce looked to Dick. The rest of the eyes followed.

Dick sighed.

“It’s not my secret to tell.”

“I believe we are past that, Richard,” Damian snapped.

“Why don’t you start with a debrief of tonight,” Bruce coached.

“I was almost in suit when Babs came over the comms, telling us they took Danny. I started to look for suspicious vehicles given the time frame. I wasn’t successful at spotting anything before the…” Dick was really glad that Jason was back with Danny and not here listening to this. “…before the trap went off. I saw one of the buildings go dark.

"Cass joined me. We took out the henchmen at the van and leading into the building. Based on intel, I headed straight for the basement. The place was flooded an inch or two deep. They broke the sprinkler valve, I believe. Danny was tied to a metal chair bolted in the middle of the room. A wire had been tapped into the circuit breaker and was at Danny’s feet. His shoes were off.”

Dick swallowed hard and let his arms drop to his side. That urge to punch something was still there. He flexed his hands and then purposefully relaxed them.

“I was sure he was dead, but when I called out his name he moved. I made sure the circuit breaker was off, disconnected the wire, and went to him. He was…” Dick snorted, shaking his head. “He was making jokes. He was conscious but not fully lucid. Confusion, slurred words, panic. He didn’t want to be taken to the hospital. He thought they would cut him open if ‘they knew’. I was able to convince him to come by saying we’d get Leslie and that we’d protect him.”

Damian scoffed. “Of course we will.”

“Case?” Cass signed, face scrunched up in question.

“And asked Alfred to bring a case, one that Jason put in the Cave that Danny gave him,” Dick confirmed.

“What’s in it?” Tim asked.

Dick just shook his head.

“He’s a Meta, isn’t he?” Duke asked. The question was quiet, but it felt loud in the tense air of the waiting room. He wasn’t staring at the ground rather than any of them. “Something new. Maybe something dangerous or, worse, something useful. It’s why he’s afraid they’ll cut him open.”

Steph cussed and turned to punch the wall only to be stopped by Tim.

“Is he?” Tim asked.

It seemed like there was no getting out of this question. “’Close enough’ was the way it was put when I stumbled in on… the secret.”

“Are his powers electricity based?” Babs asked. “Is that how he survived?”

Dick laughed. The bitter sound made a few of the others flinch or grimace.

“No, opposite, really. He’s weak to it. I think they only got him because they used tasers and it really knocks him out.” I’m so sorry, Danny, Dick thought. “Danny… Danny’s been electrocuted before when he was a kid. It killed him, however briefly. Really… I’m not sure if it didn’t actually kill him again tonight.”

This time Tim didn’t stop Stephanie from punching the wall.

“See, that wasn’t so bad,” Dr. Thompkins said as she peeled off her gloves.

Danny just glared at the IV in his hand that had been carefully tapped down and put under a mesh glove.

“It’s like she doesn’t trust me,” Danny whispered loudly to Jason.

“She’s right not to,” Jason said.

Danny pouted at him.

“Fish,” Jason said with a wet chuckle. He ran his hand through Danny’s hair again, which seemed to soothe him. “You said loudly and repeatedly that you were going to go out the window as soon as she stopped watching you or if she took your blood or if she put the IV in.”

“She did take it,” Danny whined.

“I did,” Leslie said, “and I also promised you no one else would get a hold of your blood and I meant it. I need a baseline for you though. It’s my job now to make sure that you’re well.”

“And no clones,” Danny said.

“And no clones,” Leslie said.

She shot Jason a look who just shrugged helplessly. He didn’t know enough about what went down with that to answer her questions.

Leslie gave up with a sigh. “You really went and found someone who fit right in with the family craziness I see.”

“Nah, Doc, he goes above and beyond.”

“Well… that should make for an interesting file.”

Danny flinched at that, hard enough for Leslie to notice and stop what she was doing.

“Danny, listen to me,” Leslie said. She waited until Danny met her eyes to continue. “No one else will see the file. It’s encrypted by Oracle, Batman’s tech person, and that’s understating them. I need to keep a file so that I can treat you and keep you healthy, that’s all.”

“No experiments,” Danny croaked.

Jason wanted to punch someone again.

“No experiments,” Leslie promised.

Danny gave a little nod, turned away from her, and all but climbed into Jason’s lap.

“Make sure he doesn’t pull that IV out,” Leslie ordered and went back to making her notes.

Not long after Jason had gotten him and Danny settled into the hospital bed, there was a knock at the door. Jason’s hand went immediately to the scalpel that Leslie had generously pretended not to notice Jason palming earlier. It didn’t matter that it was a knock Jason recognized, he wasn’t taking any chances with Danny right then.

Jason only relaxed when Dick had stepped fully through the door alone.

“Hey Danny, how are you doing?”

“Leslie took my blood.”

“Yeah, she does that,” Dick said. He was smiling, words cheerful, but Jason could see the cracks in his brother’s facade. “Alfred is going to be here in just a moment with the case. Can I send him in when he arrives? Or I can bring it myself? Or any of us. We’re all out there.”

Danny turned his head enough to be able to peer at Dick with one eye. “You’re worried.”

“Yeah, little fish, we’re all pretty worried. We care about you,” Dick said gently.

Jason resisted the urge to kiss Danny’s pout away as he shifted his gaze from Dick to Leslie.

“Can they come in?” Danny asked.

Leslie pursed her lips. “Only for a half hour. After that, it’s only Jason and one other allowed at a time and that’s only because I want Jason to try to get some rest too. Whoever else is in here is on a minimum two hour shift so not to wake you up every five minutes.”

“Yes ma’am,” Dick chirped.

“And tell them to keep it calm,” Leslie called after Dick as he slipped back out the door. She sighed and shook her head before focusing back on Danny. “Now, there will be nurses who come in.”

“Noooo,” Danny whined.

“Yes,” Leslie said. “They’ll just be taking your blood pressure, which they’ll know to expect to be low, and changing out your saline and pain medication. I’ll be back in the morning myself to check on your burns. Everyone who steps foot in this room will be approved by Bruce and I. Someone from the family will be with you the whole time, you’ll be safe in every way.”

Danny’s pout deepened before he sighed heavily and seemed to deflate. “Fine.”

“Thank you, Danny. Now please try to rest after the group leaves, both of you.”

“Sure, Doc,” Jason answered and sent her a smile. He’d have to do something to help her clinic out soon, she really went above and beyond for them tonight. He managed to get Danny turned around so that his boyfriend wasn’t buried face first into his pecs before his family invaded.

It seemed like everyone was really trying to listen to Leslie and they all filed in orderly and tucked themselves onto the couch and chairs and each other. Bruce and Alfred stayed standing.

“Hi guys,” Danny said with a wobbly smile.

Some of the family flinched at how ruined Danny’s voice sounded. The flinches weren’t obvious to be noticed by anyone by a Bat, except maybe for Duke’s, but they still happened and Jason noticed. They all looked wrecked, really, in various ways. One would almost think they had been the ones kidnapped and murdered tonight.

It was Jason’s turn to flinch at his own thoughts. Greedily, he soothed himself by pressing a kiss to Danny’s temple.

“Hi Danny,” Duke said back. “How are you?”

“You know, feeling a little extra crispy,” he joked.

The room seemed to lose all the air for a moment before Tim groaned. “God, there are two of them now. No wonder you’re dating Jason, you have the same morbid sense of humor.”

The tension in the room broke and Barbie even laughed. (They all ignored how the laugh was a little too tinged with hysteria to be truly happy.)

Alfred cleared his throat and stepped forward. “The case, Master Jason.”

“Ooh, is that…” Danny asked, zeroing in on the case.

“Yep,” Jason confirmed, popping the ‘p’.

Danny held out his arms, making grabby hands at the case. Alfred raised a brow, looking to Jason for permission, before he moved forward and handed over the case. Jason rested his hand on the lid before Danny could open it.

“So,” Jason started. He cleared his throat awkwardly, “no one freak out, okay? What’s in the case isn’t what it looks like. And… and we’ll explain?”

He wasn’t sure if they would.

He wasn’t sure if they could afford not to.

“We’ll explain,” Danny confirmed.

“Okay, Jay-lad,” Bruce agreed, though Jason could tell he didn’t know what he was agreeing to, other than trusting his son.

Jason took a breath and removed his hand. Danny flipped the lid open. It was innocuous at first, a simple black padded case. Then Danny plucked out one of the glowing, Lazarus green ectoshots and the stances of several Bats shifted.

“That is—” Damian started.

“Nope,” Jason interrupted.

“Jay—” Bruce rumbled.

“I’m sure,” Jason said. He glanced at Cass. “Really.”

“What are you going to do with it?” Tim asked, sounding a little strangled.

“Drink it,” Danny answered.

“Drink it?!”

Danny’s nose wrinkled. “Does everyone in this room have issues with that— what did you call it— Pit water?”

“Pit water or Lazarus water,” Jason said. He calmly ran his fingers through Danny’s hair as he made sure to not have a reaction to the ectoshots. Danny needed to drink them, he couldn’t have any of it spilled from misplaced panic. “And a lot of us, yeah. It’s… been a thing. My situation didn’t help any.”

Tim frowned at the vial, clearly itching to get his hands on it. “If that’s not Lazarus water, what is it?”

“Ectoplasm,” Danny sing songed and then just downed the vial to the wince of the room. A shudder ran through his body before he slumped bonelessly against Jason.

Jason plucked the empty vial from Danny’s limp fingers, pressed a kiss to his temple, and put it back in the case. “From best we can think without getting our hands on Lazarus water, they’re a bit related, but ectoplasm is a pure source where as whatever Lazarus water is, it’s fucked up. Beyond that, I think…”

Jason sighed and buried his face in the top of Danny’s head. He didn’t know how to explain the next part to his family. He didn’t know how to tell them he was still, at least a little, dead. He didn’t want to hurt them like that.

“Ectoplasm isn’t a miracle cure, not like it sounds they use Lazarus water for,” Danny said around a jaw cracking yawn. “Doesn’t work for normal people.”

“Does it work for you because you’re a meta?” Duke asked. The sympathy in his voice was hard to hear.

Danny’s laugh wasn’t any easier to hear. “Nope! I mean, like, sure how you count Superman as a meta I’m a meta, I guess. More a different species.”

Steph made an incredulous noise. “You’re an alien?”

“I wish,” Danny snickered. “I’m dead.”

“That is not funny, Nightingale,” Damian snapped.

Jason peered up at his bristling little brother. Demon brat really was already attached to Danny. “He’s not trying to be funny, Dami. Danny is half dead or, rather, half ghost.”

“Okay, which of your parents fucked a ghost?”

“Miss Stephanie,” Alfred chastised.

“Sorry Alfie,” Stephanie mumbled under Danny’s snickering.

At least having almost died (again) tonight saved Danny from being admonished too.

“Ancient, no, my parents hate ghosts,” Danny said.

“But you’re half ghost,” Babs pointed out, gently.

“Yeah. And there’s a reason that I changed my last name and don’t talk to them anymore, not that they know,” Danny said. He stretched out his arms, arching like a cat. Clearly the ectoshot was starting to have an effect. “No, I’m half dead ‘cause I died and then didn’t.”

“You’ve died before, Danny?” Bruce asked, voice carefully gentle in that way he used only when talking to his kids or those who were basically family through his kids.

“Yeah,” Danny sighed. “It was, um, don’t like talking about it. It’s a ghost thing. But my parents built a portal to the ghost’s realm to try and study them. It didn’t work, not at first. I stepped in it, tripped, hit the on button and bam… ten thousand volts of electricity later and I’m dead.”

Tim and Cass both reached out to stop Steph from moving.

“Thing is, the portal turned on,” Danny continued. “So I also got pure ectoplasm shot right through me. It brought me back, kinda. I’m a halfa; half ghost and half human. Half dead and half alive.”

“You’ve died by electricity before,” Bruce said into the silence of the room.

“Probably died again to it tonight,” Danny said with a casualness that had Jason tightening his arms around Danny. Danny just giggled. “But like I told Dick, I’m immune now.”

“You know,” Barbie said. She narrowed her eyes as Danny shrugged before she glanced to Dick. “And you knew.”

Dick sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Little wing?”

“Go ahead, Dick. I’m pretty sure you’ve connected all the dots now,” Jason said. Maybe it would be easier, no, smoother if Dick explained it. He was better at hiding his anger.

Though by the way Dick had to shift on his feet, maybe not. “I… I think I have. Then you’re…?”

Jason nodded.

“Fuck!” Dick twisted and paced to the door and back again.

“Master Richard!”

“Don’t be so harsh, Alfie,” Jason said. He couldn’t make Dick be the one to tell them; that had been a selfish hope. “Dick just put two and two together that if the ectoshots only help Danny because he’s dead—”

“Part dead,” Danny chimed in brightly.

“—then that means I’m still part dead too.”

“Jay-lad?” Bruce prompted after a tense moment, voice rough.

Jason just smiled sadly. “The Pits healed me. It sorta… filled in the cracks, but it couldn’t fix that whatever brought me back didn’t bring all of me back… or couldn’t bring all of me back. I think that’s part of why the Pits had such a hold on me. Not that it’s an excuse, but just… whatever. Point is, I’m a halfa too, even if I’m still healing enough to be a proper one.”

The family practically curled around each other in grief. Dick tucked Damian against his side. Tim slumped into Steph and Cass. Steph reached out to squeeze Bab’s hand. Bruce took an aborted step towards them. Even Alfred raised a hand to his mouth.

“I’m alright,” Jason assured them.

“You’re still dead!” Dick snapped.

“I’m half alive, that’s more than I was before,” Jason pointed out.

Dick hunched into himself at that, prompting Damian to give Dick an awkward looking hug.

“What all does that mean, being a halfa?” Bruce asked. He held up a hand as he paused and took a measured breath. “I don’t mean that as an interrogation. Right now, what’s important for us to know to make sure you’re both healthy? Or is there anything that we should avoid doing?”

Jason snorted. He appreciated the clarification, the attempt at being gentle, he did, but, “I know you want to know more than that.”

Bruce smiled, though the expression was more mocking himself than anything. “Of course I do. You know me, chum, I don’t do good with only pieces of information, but right now I’m not the important one. I can deal with some… unease so that we can focus on you and Danny.”

“Danny should drink at least another ectoshot in a bit. They help us heal as halfas. Dick knows because there was an incident where I got stabbed. Danny sensed my distress and showed up to give me an ectoshot. I had called Dick already. Which means Danny also knows about everything.”

“Danny sensed your distress?” Tim asked.

“It’s a ghost thing,” Jason said with a shrug, unsure how to really explain it. “It comes from ghosts having cores which are sort of their central organ.”

“You core?” Cass asked, clearly struggling to verbalize right then with how her nose wrinkled.

“I do. Or, I’m getting more of one. Because the Pits put me back together badly I was really messed up.”

“It’s coming in well,” Danny said sleepily. He yawned wildly (a little too widely) and turned to bury his face into Jason’s chest. “Pretty lava core too. It’s good to have close for healing. It’s warm and lovely.”

Jason snorted and kissed the top of Danny’s head. “Go to sleep if you can. You’ll need lots of rest.”

Danny huffed a mumbled protest, but Jason could tell that Danny was fading fast.

“We’ll talk more later, Jay-lad,” Bruce said as he finally let himself come close to help Danny and Jason better settle into the hospital bed to sleep.

“Yeah,” Jason said as he fought his own yawn as the head of the bed lowered. “Have to have Danny show you his ghost form, it’s really something.”

Tim echoed ‘ghost form’ quietly in the background as Alfred murmured something to the group.

“Do you want myself or Dick here for the first shift?” Bruce asked.

“Stay?” Jason asked. His eyes dropped closed as his dad ran a hand through his hair.

“Always.”

---

AN: a very tired taaaaaada. They got the bulk of the explanation! Though still things to learn and talk about. I was going to put in more bits, but this felt full the way it was! Next chapter more answers, more questions, and someone shows up.

I no longer tag people but you can subscribe on the masterpost.

[paperstorm]

Hey 911 Lone Star fans, I have been listening to the Scrubs podcast and Donald Faison (whose new sitcom just got cancelled despite good ratings) has been talking about how important next-day or next-week streaming numbers are to studios. Even tho his show was doing well in terms of live watchers, the episodes were not performing as well on Peacock when they went up the next day.

SO. If we want a chance at a sixth season it's important to watch live on Fox or CTV if you can but it's even more important to stream the episodes in the following week when they go up on Hulu or wherever else you can watch them and to stream older seasons as well ✌

[sixteenseveredhands]

Gold Tablet from the Temple of Ištar in Aššur, Assyria (modern-day Iraq) c.1243-1207 BCE: this tablet was discovered within the foundations of the ancient temple; it measures just over 3cm (1in) in length

The cuneiform inscription honors King Tukulti-Ninurta I, who had ordered the construction of the temple, and describes how the building was constructed. This is just one of the many items that had been buried around the temple with similar inscriptions.

As this article explains:

Most of [the inscriptions installed in the temple] would not have been visible while the temple was still in use, as they were laid into the sanctuary’s foundations or walls. Tukulti-Ninurta commissioned a great number of objects carrying variations of the inscription commemorating his achievement of erecting the new temple.

The practice of depositing inscriptions directed at the gods as well as future generations had become a central element of the temple building process since the Early Dynastic Period, and was employed to immortalize the ruler by eternally associating his name with a monumental building such as the Ištar temple - a process that also transformed a sanctuary into a votive object dedicated to a deity.

It took several hours of searching (i.e. scouring through old artifact catalogs) for me to find a direct translation of the inscription on this particular tablet, and I could basically only find it in a PDF of an old bibliographic manuscript that isn't even in print anymore, but here it is:

Tukulti-Ninurta, king of the universe, king of Assyria, son of Shalmaneser, king of Assyria: at that time the temple of the goddess Ištar, my mistress, which Ilu-šumma, my forefather, the prince, had previously built — that temple had become dilapidated. I cleared away its debris down to the bottom of the foundation pit. I rebuilt from top to bottom and deposited my monumental inscription. May a later prince restore it and return my inscribed name to its place. Then Aššur will listen to his prayers.

This tablet was stolen from the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin back in 1945, during the chaotic final days of WWII. It was then lost for almost 60 years before it finally re-emerged in 2006, when a Holocaust survivor named Riven Flamenbaum passed away and the tablet was found among his belongings. According to his family, Flamenbaum had gotten the tablet from a Soviet soldier (in exchange for two packs of cigarettes) at the end of the war.

In 2013, following a lengthy legal battle between Riven Flamenbaum's family and the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Germany, a court in New York ordered the family to return the tablet back to the museum.

Sources & More Info:

Albert Kirk Grayson: Assyrian Rulers of the Third and Second Millennia BC (to 1115 BC) (the translation appears on p.261)

Daniel Luckenbill: Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, Volume 1 (PDF download; p.65 contains relevant info)

CTV News: 3,000-year-old Assyrian Gold Tablet Returned to German Museum

[lazyapperence9754]

The mental facility AU is an AU where, you guessed it, everyone is in a mental hospital due to their “vibrant” personalities (ie. mental disorders).

Hero- Severe depression (Chronic depression)

Was placed in the “hospice care” area of the facility.

He had already had underlying symptoms of his condition for a while before the accident, but after his only flicker of hope disappeared, he fell so deep into his sadness that by the time his parents realized something was very, very wrong, he was close enough to death to kiss Mari on the lips.

He resides in bed for the time being, sometimes awake and sometimes asleep, but never up and around. Nothing the doctors pump into his system does anything to him.

Sunny- Schizophrenic symptoms / hallucinations (Schizophrenia)

Was placed in the “major risk” area of the facility.

After killing his sister and being caught by his parents after taking her to bed, he pleaded insanity in court and was sent to the hospital to “get better”. His father doesn’t come by to visit anymore. He’s convinced that Mari isn’t dead, and is still sleeping in her bed, waiting for him to come home. She even visits him sometimes, but when she does, she wears this really scary costume that makes her look like a ghost. She doesn’t listen when he tells her it isn’t Halloween anymore.

He resides in his room most of the time, drawing his friends and his special world over and over again. When group therapy sessions happen, he’s the one staring off into space as everyone else talks. Everyone else thinks he’s weird, at least, everyone but his friends.

Kel- Bipolar disorder (BPD)

Was placed in the “high risk” area of the facility.

Kel was someone who couldn’t control himself very well. He smiled when everyone cried and cried when everything was fine. He felt nothing and everything at the same time, and the only thing that changed was which emotion was stronger. It came to a boiling point when Mari died. At last, his emotions exploded and so did his fireworks, setting the entire park on fire. He smiled as everyone screamed and laughed as his dog Hector and everything else left behind burned to a crisp in the flames. In court, he was determined as mentally unstable and sent to the hospital for psychiatric treatment. Nobody visited him.

He resides in the hospital lobby most of the time, greeting newcomers and waving goodbye to the old comers leaving the place. He helps in any way that he can around the place, and everyone likes him, even if it’s just a little, though he can’t be trusted with any chores like serving food. When he told people the reason why he was there, they gapped their mouths in disbelief. It made him laugh.

Aubrey- Anger management (Anger issues)

Was placed in the “minor risk” area of the facility.

Living with her abusive mother, it was no wonder where Aubrey inherited her mean streak from. Her anger knew no bounds, and she could bark as much as she could bite, which was quite a lot. But when she met her friends, her anger subsided a bit. She became nicer, more calm. But the people she went to school with saw this as a weakness, and so they tried to bite. When Mari passed away, the kids at school cornered her with knives and broken beer bottles, and she did what she had to to get out of there alive. She was arrested later that day after the cops found the seven beaten up children in the alley behind Geno’s. In court, she was free of charge after CTV footage of the interaction was retrieved, showing she was (mostly) innocent, though, she was still sent to the hospital anyways. Her mother had disowned her after she was arrested.

She resides in the cafeteria, serving food and greeting newcomers. It was either that or garbage duty. She likes hanging out with Kel sometimes, but to her, the guy really gets on her nerves most of the time.

Basil- Self harm / Suicidal thoughts (SH)

Was placed in the “major risk” area of the facility.

Basil was there when the accident happened. He stood at the stair well as Mari descended in seemingly slow motion, like an angel from heaven. But when she hit the ground, she looked more like the embodiment of hell. And Basil ran. He ran as fast as he could, away from the stairs and away from the house. He was a coward. After she was announced dead, Basil’s mental decline began quickly. It started with him skipping school, then meals, then just eventually going in for the kill with a pair of gardening shears and some pesticide. He survived, unfortunately for him, and was transported to the hospital for treatment. How horrible it was that Sunny and Basil had adjourning rooms.

Basil doesn’t leave his room unless required, and he straight up refuses to be put in the same room as any of his friends.

Mari- Deceased

Was killed on accident by Sunny during a schizophrenic episode.

But she isn’t really dead, is she? Sunny is keeping her alive. Just the force of his will keeps her on this earth, forever in sadness and longing for life again. She even still visits Sunny sometimes.

[tamapalace]

Toronto Tamagotchi Club Featured on CTV News & Global News Talk Radio

The Tamagotchi movement continues to grow! The folks over at the Toronto Tamagotchi club, which a club within Toronto Canada that hosts local meetups for Tamagotchi fans to make meaningful connections and to make friends within the community. Love this!

CTV News is a national broadcast in Canada, so this is a big deal! The article is written by Hannah Alberga who provides details about the Toronto Tamagotchi club, and interviews Twoey Gray, who is the founder of the Toronto Tamagotchi Club.

The article details how the Toronto Tamagotchi Club was founded by Twoey Gray which all started with a post during the pandemic about their Tamagotchi being lonely. Twoey thought there must be others in Toronto that play with Tamagotchi, and they were right!

Twoey advertised a first meetup which was at Allan Gardens Conservatory in Toronto where a dozen people attended, and new friendships were made. The second meet up was in Kensington Market, and Twoey already has another event for the summer on deck.

“Being able to nerd out with people who share your experiences … is something a lot of people have been craving for a long time,” she said.”

Be sure to read the CTV News article here.

Next up is the feature on Global News Talk Radio, which is a national talk radio station. Twoey Gray was also featured on the talk radio show where they elaborate on their love for Tamagotchi, and the creation of the Toronto Tamagotchi Club.

Twoey also spends some time explaining Tamagotchi to the talk show host, and how there is a community of Tamagotchi lovers, and the Toronto Tamagotchi Club’s goal is to bring people together. Definitely worth a listen and the audio is featured on their Instagram post here.

These features made the national news! Keep up the awesome work, Toronto Tamagotchi Club!

[ceasarslegion]

Pls tell me more about ur news experience while protesting the Ford gov and their shitty choices?

I was going to UofT at the time when the ford government gutted OSAP, the ontario student aid program for those out of the know. They converted all grants into loans and no longer gave money to cover living expenses, and they struck down the 6 month grace period ontario students had after graduation to find well-paying jobs before their repayment started.

For the americans here, i should contextualize that student loans in canada do not at all work like they do in the US. We take out loans from a combination of the federal government (known as NSLSC loans) and our provinces of residence specifically. When we apply, we fill out our financial info including our income and if we are considered an "independent" student or not, the legal definition of which differs depending on your province of residence. The main difference being that independent students dont include their parents' incomes when they first apply, theyre considered their sole and only breadwinner. Depending on that income and a few other personal points, you get a combination of loans and grants that cover both tuition and partial living expenses, and when you graduate, the federal government takes all your loan and income info and doles you out a personalized regular payment plan so you have it completely paid off after 10 years if you follow it. And you have 6 months after you graduate uni to find a job and get settled where you don't pay anything. Theres also other options if you still cant pay like the repayment assistance program that freezes your payments entirely if you prove youre below a certain wealth bracket, but thats the gist of it.

Now that everyone knows the context i can tell the story. The ford government of ontario circa 2019 decided that ontario university students dont need living expense coverage, that it would universally be loans regardless of any low income status, and that the post-grad grace period wasnt necessary. And being in one of the most expensive cities in the country, that was not going to fly with my peers.

I personally took out my provincial loans from alberta student aid that has all those benefits, so the OSAP gut didnt actually affect me at all, but injustice is still injustice even if it doesnt affect me, so i joined the student protests against the ford government that people were bussing in from the other side of the province to attend. At some point along the line, other folks noticed that i was comfortable around the news cameras and my main strengths were in public speaking, so when cameras were around asking for interviews i was pushed in front of them a lot to be trusted to explain our grievances and goals without getting noticeably hotheaded, so i did a lot of live interviews for CTV and citynews toronto during those few months.

And they were kinda right to do that. Im really good at interviews and public speaking and arguing points in general, and not the best at more hands-on things when it comes to activism. And like, you do need PR people to get support for a cause, contrary to what a lot of tumblr users seem to think. Like you need people whose jobs are to present your grievances and reasons for marching in a way that presents you as respectful and worth listening to and considering the points of. So that was mainly my role in those protests. I dont know if you can still easily find those interviews buried in their broadcast archives but if you want to look for me be my guest

[allthecanadianpolitics]

(Part 2) MAID has been operating since 2021 - it is an offered service, one that was also requested for by disabled advocates. Does there need to be changes to poverty plans? Yes, and that's three different recommendations in the plan that are not mentioned by the right-wing poster. If ur going to assert that consultation plans are akin to genocide, then poverty-affirming plans are the same as a fix to poverty. Neither are true, that's an oversimplification of the issue and dishonest reporting.

Please listen to Disabled Canadians.

[jinxquickfoot]

@badthingshappenbingo prompt: Mind Control

Find the fic on Ao3

“Well. This is ominous.”

Tony stares around the deserted Times Square, his suit not picking up a single heat signature in a five-mile radius. Abandoned cars surround him, their doors gaping open. Some even have their engines and radios running. As though everyone in the city center has vanished into thin air.

“Yeah, you don’t say.” Rhodey lands beside him, keeping the War Machine faceplate down, making sure he and Tony can’t hear anything but each other. “I knew Kilgrave was making himself more powerful, but he can control a whole city now?”

“Not a whole city,” Tony reminds him. “Just… the parts we can currently see.”

“Uh-huh. Very accurate, Sherlock.” Rhodey exhales, the sound crackly over the comms. “He said we had until sundown. Drama queen.”

“Yeah, yeah, revenge, power, discredit my name, I’ve heard it all.” Tony makes another slow circle, taking in the eerie landscape. His heart leaps when he sees just how close the sun is to touching the horizon. “Any luck on finding the missing civilians, J?”

“If I had, I would have updated you, Sir.”

“Cranky,” Tony comments. He turns to Rhodey instead. “Okay, hot shot. Give me ideas.”

“You’re the genius, make your own.”

“That’s not how it works.”

“No? Really, that’s not how it works?”

“No, how it works is that you voice the stupid ideas, we get those out of the way, and then I take what’s left and make magic happen.”

“You getting enough oxygen in that helmet? You’re sounding a little—”

“Delirious? That’s just how genius sounds, honey bear, you’ve been around me long enough to know that.”

“If we could please focus, we have hundreds of missing hostages to locate.”

Tony clears his throat. “I know, I know, we’ll find them. Kilgrave’s a pain in the ass but he’s just one guy.”

“With mind control powers,” Rhodey reminds him dryly. “Very powerful mind control powers that he then made even more powerful.”

“I’m sorry, I believe JARVIS just scolded us into focusing?”

“I am so glad you are listening to me, Sir. It’s refreshing.”

“Yeah, maybe let’s reduce sassiness by a good twelve per cent there. So. We've got a supervillain with mind control and an affinity for purple that makes Barton’s look tame. We've got missing civilians. We know that said purple supervillain got to all the hostages at once. We know that all the CTV footage shorted out. We know—”

“It’s the radios.”

“I wasn’t finished.”

“Tony, it’s the radios.” Rhodey stomps the War Machine suit over to the nearest abandoned taxi, pointing at the dashboard. “Is that still playing, JARVIS?”

“I believe so.”

“What’s this believe business?” Tony interjects. “You’re an AI with access to the entire internet and several data banks that don’t want yours truly in there.”

“Whatever affected the cameras appears also to be affecting me. I am aware that the radio is playing, but the words are distorted.”

“But they can’t be distorted if people heard Kilgrave’s orders…” Tony trails off, “Ah, shit. So we can't listen to where Kilgrave told the hostages to go without falling under his control too. So we find a workaround. We’ve got, what, twenty minutes before whatever grand spectacle Kilgrave is trying to pull off? That’s time, we’ve got time.”

“Tony.”

Tony can’t see Rhodey’s face, but he can tell by the set of his shoulders that his friend is about to pull something Tony is not going to like. “Rhodes. We have time.”

“No, we don’t. We need to know where Kilgrave has the hostages, and we need to know right now. It’s hundreds of lives at risk.” Rhodey turns to face him. “Once I know where I’m going, all you have to do is follow me, and I’ll lead you right to them.”

“Yes, and you’ll be a magenta zombie. We’ll find another way.”

“No, we won’t. Not quickly enough.”

“Rhodey, once you’re under his control, I have no idea how to break you out of it.” Panic is rising, his mind racing as he tries to find any other path but this one. “He could make you do anything.”

“Well, you’ll just have to stop him and get me back then.”

“So, your plan is to be the damsel in distress until I can save you?”

“Well, generally as I’m the one doing the saving, I think that’s fair.”

“You’re the one doing the— what about Hammer? The Expo?”

“What about Afghanistan?”

“Um, I think you’ll find I saved myself.”

“And then you would have dehydrated to death unless I saved you.”

“The Expo was more recent so if we’re taking turns—”

“We save each other, how about that, does that sound okay to you? Tony,” Rhodey cuts him off when he goes to protest again. “I trust you to save me. And I’ll save you next time. We save each other.”

And he flips up his faceplate, letting Kilgrave’s voice in.

Tony’s protest dies on his lips as he sees Rhodey’s face go horribly blank. “Tell me what the radio is saying,” Tony demands. “Come on, just tell me where he’s telling you to go, then I can lock off the suit and you won’t be able to go anywhere, Rhodes—Rhodey!”

Rhodey doesn’t say a word. He just starts flying.

Tony swears, taking off after him. “The bad guys could make it easy just one time, is that so much to ask for?”

The flight is short, but Tony is still all too aware of the sinking sun. It glints off the War Machine suit as it begins to descend, touching down in what appears to be an abandoned quarry. Abandoned buildings surround the disrupted rock, towering above Tony as he lands behind Rhodey. “Heat signatures, J? J. JARVIS, come in?”

“I’m sorry…interference…War Machine…”

That’s as much warning Tony gets before Rhodey turns around and fires right into Tony’s chest.

The Iron Man suit is built for a lot, but an unexpected hit from his own team isn’t on the list. Tony finds himself catapulted backward, doing a not-so-elegant somersault along the dusty ground. “Ow. Uncalled for, Rhodes, even if you are—” He breaks off when he straightens up and sees the War Machine suit is empty. “Oh, shit.”

“Sir, I am receiving an incoming message.”

“Kilgrave sent a voice message? That can cause interference in you? Yeah, I’m not listening to that.”

“It is text-based. It should be safe for me to read it to you. It begins with: Look up.”

Dread pooling in his gut, Tony cranes his neck upwards just as the sun slips below the horizon. Floodlights burst to life around the quarry, and only the Iron Man helmet keeps Tony from being blinded. “Well. Guess we found the hostages.”

Hundreds of people line the roofs above him. They teeter on the edge, all staring eerily ahead, young, old, even some kids. And then, atop the building right in front him, now very much without a flying suit, is Rhodey.

I trust you to save me. And I’ll save you next time.

“Keep reading, J.”

“Know that the city is watching this live, Iron Man. Even your technology cannot save them all. Every day, you choose who lives and who dies, and they call you a hero regardless. Not today. Today, they will see how useless you really are.”

Tony bites his lip, feeling his heart pound. No one is dying today, that’s not an option. When people step forward, he’s not going to choose whether he catches Rhodey or the girl three hostages down from him who can’t be older than nine.

“But there’s a twist, Iron Man. My final order to them? To follow the next words out of your mouth.”

Tony stills, confused. “Keep reading, J.”

“Of course, I’ve laid some groundwork for how they might interpret your words. Tell them to leave the roof? They will jump. Tell them to delay? They will jump. Tell them in any way to save themselves, and they all jump. Say nothing—they jump. Good luck, Iron Man. You have ten seconds to decide what you would like to say.”

And then, as one, all the hostages swing one leg forward, balancing on one foot. Tony starts, ready to start flying and catching regardless, he at least has to save some of them, but they freeze in place. So the ten-second countdown is real, then.

“J, what do we do?”

“I’m calculating a flight path. You should at least be able to catch Colonel Rhodes and some of the children if I remotely pilot the War Machine suit.”

“And let hundreds of others die?” Not to mention that Rhodey would kill him if Tony chose to save him over innocent civilians. “So, my choices are to let people die, or…”

“Give a final order that makes them look like you made them jump yourself, which appears to be Kilgrave’s plan to turn the city against you. If you’re blamed for this—”

“They lock me up and Kilgrave gets free reign of the city, I get it.” Tony grits his teeth, forcing his brain into overdrive. There has to be a way out, there’s always a way out. “Put me on speaker, J. Make sure everyone can hear me.”

“Done.”

“Listen to me, you’re going to be okay,” Tony calls out, his voice echoing around the quarry. He’s speaking to everyone, but he fixates on Rhodey. No falls for his best friend today. He can do this. “You know the next order you have to follow is mine. But I can’t order you to save yourselves. And I can’t save all of you, either.”

That’s what we do—we save each other.

Tony squeezes his eyes shut, praying for this to work. “So if I can’t save you, and you can’t save yourselves, my order to you is this: save each other.”

As soon as he says the final word, every hostage is stepping forward. His time is up. They’re going to fall.

And then… movement. Not forward. Sideways. As the hostages reach out and grab each other, tugging their neighbors back onto the safety of the rooftops.

“Hey, J?” Tony is breathless, sinking to one knee with relief. “Any sign of Kilgrave in the area?”

“None, Sir, but we have citywide surveillance looking for him.”

“Turn on the speakers, then.” Sound floods back to him all at once. It’s loud and terrified and relieved all at once. Tony risks a look upwards, a smile curving his lips as he sees hundreds of strangers all hugging and celebrating the joys of being alive.

Rhodey disentangles himself from the crowd, yelling down something Tony can’t hear.

“Did you get that, JARVIS?”

“Colonel Rhodes is requesting that you, quote, hurry up and come and get him.”

A laugh bursts out of Tony, pure relief flooding him. “I just saved his ass, he can wait a damn minute.”

“I’m sure he will remember that the next time he saves you, Sir.”

“Yeah,” Tony agrees. He doesn’t get a lot of good days. But today is one of them. “When he comes to save me next, I’m sure he will.”

[fatehbaz]

Several hundred representatives from Indigenous communities across Canada attended the 2nd National Climate Gathering organized by The Assembly of First Nations. The event was held in Fredericton (New Brunswick) just a few days after Hurricane Fiona (down-graded to a “tropical storm”) hit the province and coastal Atlantic/Maritime Canada, causing “historic” devastation, disrupting services/industry, and leaving thousands in New Brunswick without power.

---

On the tails of [Hurricane] Fiona, Fredericton hosted this year’s Assembly of First Nations Climate Gathering.

First Nations peoples from across Canada came together to discuss action strategies and impact.

"It's good to compare notes back and forth,” said Alan Knockwood, a Shubenacadie Elder.

About 400 Indigenous peoples, scientists, and researches [sic] gathered in New Brunswick’s capital.

"It's really, really interesting to be coming to the AFN climate gathering just after a hurricane hit the East Coast,” said Eriel Deranger, Indigenous Climate Action executive director. [...]

Friday’s keynote address was made by Lorraine Netro, an elder and chiefs committee member in Old Crow Yukon.

"It's just devastating. Every year, for the last number of years, there's been natural disasters,” Netro said. “Last year it was B.C. with the fires and the floods, this year it's Atlantic Canada.”

Old Crow Yukon is the most northern Indigenous community in Canada. "We are successful with the solar project up and running,” Netro said. [...] Elder Alan Knockwood took in Netro’s keynote address. "Listen to the people of the north,” Knockwood said. [...]

This is the second annual Assembly of First Nations Climate Gathering.

"I'm coming away from this hopeful and with a positive attitude towards the change,” Knockwood said. “Because of the youth that are working here.”

---

Headline and text published by: Alyson Samson. “Fredericton hosts Assembly of First Nations Climate Gathering post-Fiona.” CTV News. 29 September 2022. [Italicized first paragraph added by me.]

[leam1983]

On Rememberance

Correct me if I'm wrong, but September 11th is, for obvious reasons, a mostly American day of semi-official observance. I remember hearing news coverage on the weeks that had followed the attack that mentioned the handful of Canadian expats to be found in the victims, but the brunt of the memorial-related coverage has understandably consisted on lots of stars-and-stripes displays that the local Global and CTV stations picked up, when you didn't just tune into a Vermont-based station and get access to American coverage there.

The point I'm trying to make is that the grief being expressed feels like it's almost strictly the domain of our American friends - to the point where plastering glowing Americana in their support on a Canadian workplace messaging portal feels a little... insincere to me, maybe? I'm all for empathy, but I'm more the type to sit by my American expat colleagues and offer a listening ear, than I am to drape myself in a flag that's not even mine for the sake of somehow offering comfort by proxy.

A colleague of mine's just posted a very solemn Never Forget GIF on the main Slack channel, asking us to "remember those of us who didn't get to go home, on that day" and I'm just torn between thinking this is a fine display of support and actually covering a wince with "Dude, shut up, this might be in poor taste! We're Canadians, damnit!"

[atlanticcanada]

New Brunswick Progressive Conservative party takes 1st step to remove Higgs as leader

New Brunswick's Progressive Conservative party members who want Premier Blaine Higgs to step down as leader say they've taken the first step to oust him.

Marc Savoie, president of the Progressive Conservative riding association in Moncton East, said the dissenting party members, which include 26 riding presidents, have the necessary paperwork to start the process to remove Higgs. The PC constitution says 50 members of the party -- including at least 20 riding presidents -- can trigger a leadership review.

"The party doesn't have to issue an answer at the moment,"

Savoie said in an interview Friday.

"All it's obligated to do is put this on the agenda for next provincial council meeting, which will happen at some point in September."

A two-thirds majority of the council is needed to officially launch the review vote by PC party members. If the vote is defeated, Savoie said, Higgs is free to continue as leader of the New Brunswick Tories and premier of the province. If Higgs loses, however, he's welcome to contest again as party leader, Savoie added.

Dissenting party members have numerous problems with Higgs' leadership, Savoie said. These include Higgs' changes to the policy on sexual orientation and gender identity in schools; his attempted cuts to the French immersion program for anglophone students; his decision to close six rural hospital emergency rooms; and his elimination of elected representatives from regional health authorities and the anglophone education system.

Higgs' condescension and neglect toward the francophone and Indigenous communities have led to drastically reduced participation in the party's northern riding associations, Savoie added.

He said the premier has been claiming that dissenting presidents want to bring about a leadership review because of changes to the LGBTQ policy. The changes include making it no longer mandatory for teachers to use the preferred pronouns and names of transgender and nonbinary students under 16.

Savoie, however, says changes to Policy 713 are "the tip of the iceberg."

"That's just the straw that broke the camel's back," he said. "It's the prime example of how he is ruling the party in relation to the people."

"He listens to the people who say what he wants them to say. And that's how he bases his decisions."

Earlier this month, two ministers resigned from Higgs' cabinet citing his leadership style, leading to a shuffle during which the premier named five new people to portfolios. After the cabinet shuffle Tuesday, Higgs told reporters he needed to rebuild relationships with dissenting riding presidents.

"I think we have some building to do," he said. "There's no question about that, and I need to play a key role in that -- reaching out to the membership, to the executives throughout the province, and be able to sit down and have some very good discussions."

Higgs' office did not immediately return a request for comment.

Savoie said he is not sure about the premier's intentions on healing the divisions in the party.

"He's been saying that for years now. He's been saying that he wants to work together with people. He's done the exact opposite. He's alienated his caucus members, party members. He goes ahead and makes decisions without listening to his close allies, to his ministers, to his (members of legislative assembly)," he said.

"He did nothing to nobody but himself. So for those reasons, we strongly believe that when he says those words, it is just to try to stop the discussion that we're having at the moment."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 30, 2023.

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/4TkYcXS

[bollywoodisforlovers]

Supplemental Episode 14: Nobody Does It Better, or Pathaan with MapleBrownie

Is Shah Rukh Khan here to save Bollywood? A special guest drops by to weigh in on Pathaan!

Show notes:

Thank you Nim aka MapleBrownie for inviting us out and joining us for this review!

“Cinema in northeast Edmonton closed permanently“ via CTV

“India’s Right Wing Tried to Scuttle a Film. Fans Helped It Break Records” via the New York Times

Mike McCahill’s take “The spy who came in from the cold: ‘Pathaan’“

NEXT TIME: Netflix and Dil Cinema Marte Dum Tak and The Romantics

Bollywood is For Lovers is a member of the Alberta Podcast Network

Listen to The Well Endowed Podcast! Check out Park Power!

Find us on Apple Podcasts! and Stitcher! and audioBoom! and iHeartRadio! and Spotify! and Google Podcasts! and Saavn! and Hubhopper!

Thank you to Becca Dalke for the artwork!

Follow us on Twitter! Like us on Facebook!

[laresearchette]

Sunday, October 02, 2022 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: JACK OSBOURNE’S HAUNTED HOMECOMING (discovery +) AMERICA’S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS (CHCH/ABC Feed/Check Local Listings) THE EQUALIZER (Global) 8:30pm EAST NEW YORK (CTV) 9:00pm THE WALKING DEAD (AMC Canada) 8:00pm INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE (AMC Canada) 10:00pm OUTRAGEOUS PUMPKINS (Food Network Canada) 10:00pm NOTHING COMPARES (Crave) 10:00pm

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT: ALASKAN BUSH PEOPLE (Premiering on October 03 on Discovery Canada at 8:00pm) A COUNTRY ROMANCE (Premiering on October 05 on Super Channel Heart & Home at 8:00pm) NIKKI & NORA: SISTER SLEUTHS (Premiering on October 7 on W Network at 8:00pm)

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

AMAZON PRIME A QUIET PLACE VERONICA MARS

NETFLIX CANADA THE CONJURING FOREVER QUEENS SEVEN THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION THE WITCHES (1990)

NFL FOOTBALL (TSN/TSN4) 1:00pm: Bears vs. Giants (TSN/TSN4) 4:00pm: Cardinals vs. Panthers (TSN/TSN3/TSN4/TSN5) 8:15pm: Chiefs 49 vs. Buccaneers

MLB BASEBALL (SN) 1:30pm: Red Sox vs. Jays (SN1) 2:10pm: Orioles vs. Yankees (SN Now) 4:00pm: A’s vs. Mariners (TSN2) 7:00pm: Mets vs. Braves

PRE-SEASON NBA BASKETBALL (SN) 6:00pm: Jazz vs. Raptors

HEARTLAND (CBC) 7:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE):  After another "Miracle Girl" moment, Amy reconsiders her role at the Youth Centre; Jack misses Lisa, especially after Tim and Jessica are forced to move into the house...away from THE HORSIES!

BEARS' LAIR (APTN) 7:00pm: Three Indigenous innovators impress the Bears with their new products and technologies that tackle challenges in health and safety, baby care and food security.

FRIDAY NIGHT THUNDER (APTN) 7:30pm: Humberstone's double-header weekend wraps up with a top 10 finish for Aaron, who proves the following week that he's on a roll.

THE GREAT CANADIAN BAKING SHOW (CBC) 8:00pm:  Ann Pornel and Alan Shane Lewis host 10 of the country's best amateur bakers in the baking tent; esteemed Judges Kyla Kennaley and Bruno Feldeisen declare the first Star Baker of the season and decide which baker is first to leave the tent.

HUDSON & REX (City TV) 8:00pm: When Charlie's estranged brother is accused of the death of his recent boxing opponent, Charlie and the team wrestle with the possibility of his guilt.

THE BIG BAKE (Food Network Canada) 8:00pm: Host Brad Smith sees which baking team is top of the class when they use their brains to create some cakes of a zombie high school for judges Danni Rose, Eddie Jackson and Ron Ben-Israel.

SINGLE BLACK FEMALE (Lifetime Canada) 8:00pm:  Monica looks for a fresh start as she tries to land a gig as the host of an afternoon talk show. She soon becomes close friends with her new assistant, Simone, a deranged woman who plans to take over Monica's life for good.

PRE-SEASON NHL HOCKEY (SN Now) 9:00pm: Ducks vs. Kings

MOONSHINE (CBC) 9:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE): When a mysterious package arrives at the Moonshine, it makes the Finley-Cullens question their fates and whether the road to their destinies begin -- or end -- at the Moonshine.

LISTEN OUT FOR LOVE (City TV) 9:00pm:  A driven podcast producer is forced to make a loose cannon into her next star and save both of their careers with a new show focused on her search for love. As the duo go along for the ride, they start to listen and open their hearts.

AUSSIE GOLD HUNTERS (Discovery Canada) 9:00pm:

ISLAND OF BRYAN (HGTV Canada) 10:00pm: Bryan and Sarah make a big decision about the hotel. Bryan has a hard time understanding the design vision for their pool bathroom.

OUTBACK OPAL HUNTERS (Discovery Canada) 10:00pm:  The Young Guns face a tough decision; the Cheals break through to an underground mine in Lightning Ridge and it looks like The Poms' dream may be about to shatter.

CAR S.O.S (Nat Geo Canada) 10:00pm (SEASON PREMIERE):  Tim Shaw and Fuzz Townshend undertake dramatic automobile interventions across the U.K.