#and especially people who have adult children with high support needs i applaud them

[barnbridges]

twofers and autism moms on the venn diagram should be like, 80% overlapping and 20% out, but it's so rare to see anyone with actual autism or awareness of that it's a fucking disability hang around the mommy circles it disappoints me endlessly.

[rampanttheories]

How the hell did the Weasleys seemingly just bounce back at the end of Chamber of Secrets? Until OotP Ginny having been possessed, kidnapped, used to almost murder multiple other students, and nearly murdered herself isn’t mentioned. at. all.

I can almost understand Arthur, Molly, Bill, and Charlie. The latter two are very removed from the situation thanks to literal physical distance and Arthur and Molly are some of Dumbledore’s most devout followers, so while they have a sense of the scale thanks to “basilisk” they are easily reassured that the danger has passed. It helps that a) wizarding society is creepily cool with a lot of dangerous nonsense in general b) they have no clue what horcruxes are, so the possessing diary is written off and c) Harry Potter was responsible for solving the situation aka the designated knight in shining armour figure for the entire society.

But what about Percy, the twins, and Ron? They carry the guilt that their youngest sibling could be possessed for hours at a time without them knowing, they know Harry well enough to see a person (and even more importantly, a child) and not the Boy-Who-Lived, and they saw how the adults utterly failed to keep them safe when literal pre-teens could figure everything out.

So how about an UA in which the younger Weasley children do not get over everything within a summer and a lottery-won vacation, but carry shadows in their eyes. The boys independently keep checking on Ginny until she explodes at them, because this kind of support is opressing to her. They band together, doing mental headcounts every once in a while until they have an instinctual awareness of each other. 

Ginny and Ron especially are rarely far from the other, united by having been in the chamber. It is written off as the youngest being close.

Fred and George grow less likely to rile their siblings up. Their eyes are still as sharp, but their jokes are designed to check in, to cheer up. They circle around their little siblings reminiscent of their tactics on the Quidditch pitch, ready to protect them at any moment and in any direction. Fred and George start teaching their most distracting charms in stolen hidden moments at the Burrow. Hogwarts failed to protect their youngest, Fred and George are not going to let that stand. Their sudden gentleness to Ron and Ginny is encouraged as them growing up.

Percy finds himself with a shattered faith in the system, no, the people filling it. He watches the twins teaching spells with hidden barbs and can’t find it in himself to care about future chaos. He runs interference, distracting the rest of the family with detailed questions on anything he can think of and he can think of plenty. He covers and then he joins, explaining patterns in organization and how to work with around With the rules. So what if he enables his siblings’ mayhem? What good is a system when it fails to protect his family? He doubles down on study: law books, schoolbooks, treaties, protocols. He smiles and preens and shows off his new Head Boy badge and talks about working for the Ministry while learning any and every loophole he can offer as escape routes and how to eventually change the very foundation of his world. His plans are applauded as following a respectable path and promising career.

Ginny takes to the twin’s teaching like a duck to water. She takes glee in every successful beam of light shooting from her wand and evaporating the twig she is practicing on. Every trap prank the twins fall into builds her confidence. She returns to Hogwarts with her head high and tricks up her sleeves and her brothers at her back. She tackles classes and learns to turn classmates pestering on them. Her eyes roam the halls for the unprotected and those who would abuse it. She knows what they look like. She is not letting that happen on her watch. Adults worry over how easily she seems to overcome the last year, but her new connections with classmates cause relief.

Ron needs a moment to figure out he is in the protected innermost circle instead of a layer of protection. Somehow, he doesn’t mind as much as he would have months ago. Where Ginny obliterates targets, he listens to Percy and picks up patterns in the rulings and how to force a specific reaction. He applies chess strategy to students, professors, apparently a mass murderer after his friend. He sees patterns in Fred and George’s tricks and points out flaws and new angles. He knows whatever he will find himself in, he has his siblings at his disposal and they will heed his call. His knight brothers, the twins ever unpredictable and quick to strike, his rook in Percy, ever the reliable cover. Ginny is still unshapen, but he can see the bishop in her straight-forwardness, a queen in her power. He draws Harry into the fold, his friend, his rook, his king, his to protect with his other siblings. Hermione is drawn in as well, his friend, the researcher, his bishop. They are his, the pieces that make up his heart,  and he will be damned if he looses them. His sudden uptick in grades and lack of temperamental outbreaks are welcomed. The way he eyes the world and points his questions cause wariness in his parents.

TL;DR: UA in which the younger Weasley children are more (?) traumatized by Chamber of Secrets and start seeing the world as an adversary and band together as a force of nature.

[onelastbreath-writes]

I’ll Meet You There (Part 1)

Pairing: Marcus Moreno/ Wife!Reader (AFAB, no y/n)

Word Count: 2.5K

Warnings: Mentions child loss, loss of a spouse, survivor’s guilt, vague references to suicide/suicidal thoughts after loss of child (all located in the first 500 words, so it’s brief and not too dark, but please take care) and violence, swearing, and action/fighting.

Summary: What if Marcus’s wife didn’t actually die? What if she and a few others were kidnapped during an attack on Heroics’ HQ, and then held captive for years without realizing? If the only thing you “remember” from your past is that your husband and daughter were killed, well, you surely wouldn’t want to go back to the people who you believe did it. But maybe, with the help of a tenacious child and some re-awaking parental instincts, you’ll be able to break through the brainwashing and forced amnesia, and find your way home.

Tags: Hurt/No comfort (for now), ANGST, eventual happy ending, one really sad man for whom I just keep making things worse, #sorrynotsorry

A/N: This is my first We Can Be Heroes fic, and first reader fic, so please be gentle. I’ve got the rest of the story outlined, so I hope I can get down to writing and posting it soonish, but my RL is busy and doesn’t leave much time/energy for quick updates. If you like it and want me to do a taglist, let me know so you can know when I update again. Also a big thank you to the amazing Jay @disgruntledspacedad​ and her fic The Right Thing for inspiring this one, and for allowing me to use her wife!reader idea. Please go check her blog out, and give her some love <3

AO3 Masterlist

---

“You’ve been in a terrible accident, Doctor, and I regret to inform you of your husband’s and daughter’s passing. Our rescue and recovery efforts after the incident were unfortunately unsuccessful, and you have our deepest sympathies.”

It took months for those words to even sink into you; months before you even remembered anything about who you were... the accident, or the attack, as it was more commonly known by you and the other victims, took your entire life away in an instant. You survived, physically, but at the cost of your partner? Your child? All the memories of your life together? How could you be worth it?

“Your transcripts and accomplishments are phenomenal, Doctor, and I’m in need of talented and capable individuals such as yourself to help right the wrongs, and demand justice, from those who have committed such heinous acts against us. The Heroics are murderers, destroyers of peace, and they have gotten away with their crimes for far too long. They’ve been praised and applauded and worshipped as gods while all they truly are, are terrorists. How many more innocent lives can we allow to be lost to their carelessness? ‘For the greater good’ is quite the insult when the people saying such things aren’t the ones losing their families to the chaos, wouldn’t you agree? Join me, Doctor, and we can make a difference.”

It was easy decision for you, even in the early days of your recovery. From the distant and foggy memories of your past, your anguish in what you could recall, you knew that if you could stop someone else from having to feel the loss and pain that comes from losing their spouse and children, you would do so in a heartbeat.

Your husband had been an incredible man, your Everything, you would imagine, going by the ache in your heart when you thought of being without him. His name, his appearance; that was all lost to you when you lost him. His existence in what could be healed of your memories was just a shadow, a shade, the vague impression of the man you loved. You remembered his warmth, his kindness and gentleness, his love and devotion to you and the child you created together.

And your beautiful baby girl... if thoughts of your husband left your heart aching, then thoughts of your daughter left you in unparalleled agony, completely inconsolable. You tried to avoid thinking of her, if you were being honest, tried to leave all what-ifs and could’ve/should’ve/would‘ve’s behind... you had worked with people, mothers, who had lost children before, had seen them tear themselves apart in their grief, taking the blame for something that was in no way their fault; you had seen them destroy their lives with their hoarded guilt and perceived crimes... you couldn’t allow yourself to fall for that, those falsehoods, you had to be alive if you wanted to honour your child and husband’s sacrifice.  

“We will make them pay for what they’ve done to us, Doctor, I promise you that. Together, we can get justice for your husband, for your little Missy.”

---

Marcus knew something was wrong as soon as his commlink started transmitting static instead of his teammates’ conversations. The Heroics had been deployed to stop a hoard of rogue security androids that were infected by a virus or something (he couldn’t usually follow the technobabble), which had led them to escape their testing facility and target nearby civilians with their advanced weapons technology.

Evacuating the citizens trapped in the line of fire was the team’s first objective, and once the area was cleared of potential victims, they moved onto the containment and neutralization of the enemy combatants. The Heroics team was decently cohesive; they could work together to ensure the protection of innocent lives while in a firefight, but once the civilians were in the clear and the stakes not so high, the supersized egos of the members emerged with a fiery passion. This particular firefight was no different.

“Hey ‘Legend, bet you a week of incident reports that my count is higher!” Miracle Guy’s voice broke out over the ‘link, as eager to show-boat as ever, from where he was steadily piling up his deactivated attackers.

“I’ll take that action, Miracle, easy. It’ll be like taking candy from a baby!” Crimson Legend wasn’t the type of person who could ignore a bet, especially one issued from Miracle.  “You’re probably so behind already that you don’t even stand a chance, ha!”

Of course, they just had to make it a game, keep the superiority contest going; like a single mistake couldn’t cost them a life or a limb. And just to further prove how amazingly mature the rest of Marcus’s team of Adult Superheroes were, they all started in on the bet too.  

“If I beat your totals, I want a week off from training!”

“Ha! Like any of you have a chance of winning against me! I want my on-call weekend, off”

“If I win, you’re all my personal slaves for the rest of the day!”

Did Marcus say Adult Superheroes? He meant infants.  

And they had started the mission so well, communicating and strategizing, actual teamwork instead of bickering and joking around like children. Hell, even their children didn’t get into as much trouble as their parents could.  

“Guys, it’s really not the best time to be playing around. We need to focus on-” He was cut off by the loud static burst of an out-of-range radio. Shit. That’s not good. If his comms unit was fried, he couldn’t direct his teammates, couldn’t keep track of them, couldn’t help them.

They were pretty spread out by now, giving everyone room to use their powers without worrying about another Heroic getting caught in the blast zone. He knew from their most recent locational sound off that Crushing Low and Invisi Girl were working together near the intersection two streets over from him, and if he could make his way over to them, he could figure out what was going on.

Marcus needed to know if it was just his commlink that was out of commission, or if their entire network had gone down. The former scenario was a minor inconvenience, the latter was a major issue. Either he’d have to lead his team by correspondence, or he’d have to worry about them being completely alone in the field, without support from HQ, and without any chance of backup or rescue.  

He couldn’t worry about the details now, he had to keep focused on finishing off the seemingly endless wave of androids. Androids with guns. Androids with guns that he was trying to kill with a pair of katanas... Maybe he hadn’t thought his primary weapon for this mission out very well... It was just something that he’d have to come back to later. For now: sword, robot, teammates.

---

They didn’t pay him enough for this. He should have gone into acting like he had planned before his powers manifested. This sort of shit didn’t happen to actors.  

Marcus had destroyed all the androids delaying him from reaching his nearest teammates and was finally able to move to their location with relative ease and only minor distraction. He could see Crushing Low laying waste to the few remaining functional robots in the area, and could assume that Invisi Girl was around somewhere, disabling any downed but not dead enemies while protecting ‘Low’s back.  

He was proven right when he heard a feminine voice call for him to “hit the deck, Moreno!”.

“Thanks Vis! You two doing alright? What’s your comms sitch?” He stood back up straight, just missing being nailed in the head by a flying metal limb had it not been for her heads-up.

“We’re a-okay! Comms are out though. No known damage to them, no knocks or surges, might be the tech, or it might be the channel. We’ll have to see what Tech-No thinks.” She was still invisible, but Marcus could imagine her animated expressions and movements. She was one of the most... normal... of the Heroics, if normal could ever be used to describe any of the team. Reliable and observant, with a good sense of battle strategy. He greatly appreciated her skills and efficiency in the field; she and Tech-No being the most down-to-earth of the Heroics, most willing to help him keep the peace between the rest of them.

“I’ll watch Low’s back if you can go find Tech. We need to know what’s going on, ASAP. If all the comms are down, and Tech can’t get them back up, I need you to find everyone and tell them to meet back at the robotics facility. Get Miracle and Fast to help if you can. If anyone’s injured, they’re your first priority, okay? Thanks, Vis.”

---

Getting every member of the Heroics team back together took nearly an hour, all coming fresh from the fight but thankfully not too banged up or bruised. They set up a perimeter once enough of the team had arrived to their meeting spot, allowing Tech-No to deep-dive into  investigating their communications malfunction.

“It’s the network, not our comms. We’re dealing with a drop either from HQ’s side, or a forced drop here from RFI. But considering the standard distance and all the buildings and stuff around us, a radio frequency jammer wouldn’t be able to block our communications network as far out as we were. We must assume that the problem comes from HQ. which presents further concerns, obviously. I designed most of the technology there myself, so I know exactly how much work it would be to take down the whole system. We need to consider this as part of a bigger plot, and plan accordingly.” Tech-No’s eventual explanation hang heavy in the air, no one willing to break the silence following it... If something had happened to HQ… Their co-workers were there, their friends, their children…  

Marcus thought of his daughter and wife. They were both there today. His wife worked in the medical centre, and they brought their daughter there for daycare. If something happened there... shit. If he was panicking about his family already, his teammates were doing the same. He had to head this off. He couldn’t let this get out of control. He took a breath and squared his shoulders. It was time to be Marcus Moreno the leader of the Heroics, not Marcus the husband and father. Lead by example, they’re all counting on you.

“We have no proof that anything is actually wrong, and until we know for sure why we can’t reach them, we need to do our jobs. Finish the mission. We’ve always trusted our people to hold down the fort at home so we can help people out here, and they’ve never let us down before. We are not going to doubt them now, understood? Whatever happened? We know HQ is doing their best to keep our loved ones safe. So, we finish up here, quickly and thoroughly, and then we head back to base. Let’s get moving,” He met his teammates’ eyes, allowed them to witness his own fears, but also his stubborn determination. He wasn’t asking them to ignore or dismiss their worries, but rather, put it into finishing the mission so they could go home sooner.  

No one fought him; thankfully just picked their tasks and headed out.  

“Tech, we need transport. Now. I don’t care how you do it, just get it done, alright?” Marcus refused to acknowledge the slight tremble in his voice, tried to breathe around the lump in his throat and the dread sinking in his stomach. He desperately stopped himself from thinking about coincidences and probabilities. This was all a fluke, a random string of events that didn’t mean anything more was going on. They’d be able to laugh about it when they got home and saw everything was just as they’d left it. He had to believe that. He didn’t have any other choice.

—-

Transport home turned out to be a military helicopter big enough to fit the whole team, in addition to the fully outfitted squad of soldiers already inside.

“According to the press release your director gave, there was small but powerful group of gifted individuals who invaded Heroics’ Headquarters, intending to either kidnap or kill certain “important personnel” within the building. Didn’t specify much more than that, other than that your organization would be dedicating as much manpower as they could to bring “those who would cause such destruction and terror” to justice. The address was filmed in the parking lot, but there were a lot of emergency responders and vehicle in the background. I’m sorry we can’t tell you anything more, but well, we were scrambled to your location ASAP, barely had time for the news we got...” The staff sergeant sitting across from Marcus briefed the team about what the intel they had on the HQ attack. And that was what it was. An attack. The thing they all feared most.

“Thank you for the information, and for the ride back home; we lost communication in the middle of a battle, with no clue as to why. Now, at least, we have an idea of what we should expect when we arrive.” The mention of “important personnel” jump-started Marcus’s heart into overdrive. That was the code phrase they used when describing their most vulnerable people to the public, non-combatants and injured persons usually; a smokescreen meant to dissuade targeted attacks, and shift attention away from those who couldn’t protect themselves in the case of an emergency. It was also the code that frequently represented their children.  

The families of the Heroics were classified as high-risk targets; villains and enemies of their organization didn’t often have the moral decency to leave their loved ones out of the fight. So, to afford as much anonymity and protection possible, any time the team had to reference their partners and children in physical records and documentation, it was under that code phrase.  

This attack was centred on their kids.  

What kind of monster do you have to be to go after a bunch of kindergarten and primary school children?

Fuck.

The only good news was that there was no mention of the attack being a success.  

So, all the Heroics knew for certain was that a group of villains had tried to get to their children, and while obviously causing significant damage to HQ, they had been stopped. Were unsuccessful. The Home Team had saved the day again.  

Marcus thanked every deity he could think of for keeping his and his friends’ kids safe.  

The rest of the flight home was quiet. Him and teammates finally able to get some rest after all the fighting and panic, and the soldiers conversing just loud enough to be heard over the headsets and hum of the chopper’s motors.  

He was pulled back from the edge of unconsciousness he had been drifting along for a while when the pilot gave them their five-minute ETA.

They were home at long last, and everything was going to be just fine.

---

[Next Part]

[thebookofbri]

Things I Wish I Told My West Indian Parents - The Collective

Dear Kings and Queens , I come to you all with a warm heart of gratitude. I applaud your courage, your strength, and your voice! Thank you for trusting me enough to share these very sensitive thoughts and experiences that you have all held close to your heart. May these pieces serve as a R E L E A S E . May they BIND UP the negative impacts that they’ve caused and may they LOOSEN the beautiful souls that you all are evolving into.

Whether you are a viewer outside of the west Indian community, a west Indian parent, child(ren) of west indian parents, or a supportive friend, I ask you to open up your hearts and minds to these shared stories and experiences below:

“I wish I told my west Indian parents that disciplining your children doesn’t always have to mean putting your hands on us – A conversation here and there would’ve been enough. ”

_______________________________________________________________________

“ I wish I told my west Indian parents that  I was a bisexual”

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“I Wish I told my west Indian parents that I think I would’ve been into church wayyyyyyyyyyyyy more if not so forceful. Like I wish they would just talk to us as humans. Not as a thing. Don’t get me wrong I’m into church and love God. I’d give my life to stand up for him. But growing up I would’ve been this way if not so forceful”.

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“Communication especially about the uncomfortable topics like sex! Life isn’t just about education and working!

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“Growing up I was never truly allowed to express myself emotionally if physically. Like if I ever thought my parents were wrong and I dared to speak up about it no matter how respectful I was about it, I would get shut down disrespectfully as if I was in the wrong the whole time. It hurt me because I didn’t really know how to and it affected my school, work, and even personal/romantic relationships. I was also put under extremely high standards, this put a lot of pressure on me from and every young age. It was hard for me to learn how to let go, it was hard for me to learn it’s okay to not be perfect, it was hard for me to accept failure and truly I still struggle with it which also makes it hard for me to open up about things I’ve failed in or not being able to make those around me happy as I feel they should be”.

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Things I Wish I Told My West Indian Mom - When you tell your daughter “little girls should be seen and not heard” You’re teaching her to be submissive and passive. You’re teaching her that she has no voice and it’s not her place to speak on things she’s passionate of. You’re teaching her to sit by and watch men screw up everything consistently. Unfortunately, you’re teaching her that her voice doesn’t matter which is ruinous to her development because her voice is one of the most powerful tools in her belt.

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1. I wish I didn’t have to figure out that you loved me or that you were proud of me, I wish you would have just told me. For years, I worked to earn what should have been given to me as a birthright and in your inability to express this to me, I struggled to find it in myself and so sought it in the world. I didn’t find it there either.

2. The provisions you provided me, the house, the lights, the food, and the clothes; they were always appreciated but there was nothing I valued more and rarely received like your physical presence. You worked ceaselessly to provide and I will never forsake or undermine that sacrifice but you missed what mattered that most; the person I grew into. That person was more than a profession. That person was more than the education. That person was more than the expectations and I wish you had gotten to know her, because I struggled to find her, heal her, and forge her, to become her, and more likely than not; you’ve never had the pleasure of meeting her.

3. I wish your love language wasn’t physical discipline. In place of constructive affirmations or words of affections, your preferred course of action created more gaps in the love story you poorly narrated over the course of my life. It made resenting you second nature and resenting the world; first.

4. I wish I could carry the weight of dashed dreams, the ones you called expectations, as easily as I could shoulder the weight of the hurtful rhetoric that had become commonplace between us. Know that in spite of that, I tried and still try to live up to them, if only to give you the joy that seemed to escape you so often. If only to shrink the cost of your sacrifice.

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I Wish They Told Me That Silence is Not A Strength ! Since I was a little girl I’ve watched my mom bend over backwards for people whose sole intentions were to take advantage of her. Through and through, I always hear her say when people wrong you, just turn the other cheek. Now, don’t get me wrong it also says that in the Bible, but in the Haitian culture we tend to use The WORD out of context quite a lot. She was never truly happy, but never dared to speak up. Of course, I learned from her, after all, she was my mother ! THIS silence has broken me times and times again. Even when I was wronged in many ways imaginable, by family who was supposed to love me and care for me. Eventually, I came to the realization that if everything bad that happens to me I stay silent, then how can I help the next person who went through that situation or something? One of the main events in my life that lead to this realization was when a family member tried to abuse me sexually.

In that moment I told myself “ I can do two things scream so everyone in the house will come running, and he will stop or stay silent like I was taught” I went with option two.... I SCREAMED like my life depended on it. When asked why I was screaming, I explained that he ( my cousin) tried to touch me inappropriately. I was met with so much disappointment. My uncle asked me “ how could you even say that ? Are you trying to bring shame to my family ?”They told me to never repeat the occurrence of that event. It was killing me, so I decided to tell my dad . I was living with this family after my mom passed away, because it was too painful to stay in the house that mom and I shared almost all of my life. I told my dad all that happened, he was furious, and decided that I had to come back home.

My dad was the only person who believed me before I even uttered a word. I then moved to the United States, and told myself that this so called family was practically dead to me. The trauma was slowly killing me. At the age of 17, I decided to begin my own healing process, and started telling everyone who will listen, and I started to feel better because I could finally speak! I was free from the bondage of silence, It felt like I was almost completely in control of my voice again.

Finally, I decided to make the final process of my healing forgiveness. I forgave them, but I promised myself that I will never let anyone hurt by keeping my truth hidden, no matter how ugly it may be. I am now the mother of a beautiful littler girl, and I can never imagine her being in my position, but scared to speak up against injustices, unfair treatment, and things that make her uncomfortable.

Silence in our culture allow evil to repeat itself. Our culture is so good at sweeping things under the rug that it will eventually destroy our nation. However, I will continue to teach my daughter to always use her voice!!. I will teach her to be the voice of reason for her generation. I want her to know that I have her back no matter what, and I will choose to believe her story every single time. SILENCE is not a strength!

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I Wish my West Indian Parents Told Me that vulnerability does not equate weakness.

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I wish my west Indian parents told me that they loved me.

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“As an adult I struggle to have real genuine romantic relationships and friendships because I struggle with being emotionally intelligent and available to the ones I care about. I wish my parents taught me how to love – their example as a married couple seemed dull and lifeless. Their relationships with me and my siblings reflected that very same thing.”

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“As a young woman I wish my west Indian mother told me that being single after college and wanting to do my own thing is okay. I wish she told me that It didn’t and still doesn’t take a male figure to complete me”.

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“I wish my parents didn’t compare me to other people’s kids – all it did was embarrass me and make me feel like I wasn’t good enough”.

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“I wish my west Indian father would actually spend time with me – I know he has to work but his absence has impacted my life so much”.

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“I wish my west Indian parents knew that I am trying my best and that mental health is real. I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression and it’s not an excuse to do nothing - I just need help”.

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Thank you for your support and thank you for taking the time to read the experiences of others. .

I ask that you reflect on what you’ve read.

Has this raised any awareness for you?

Are there similarities or parallels that you can make from these stories in your own life?

If you are West Indian – what will you do differently as a parent? As a friend? As a daughter or son?

Any conversations you think you’d start?

Peace & Love Tribe 🌻❤️

[thechekhov]

ahhhh I have so many questions about living in Japan bc I am seriously considering doing so! could you please tell us some general stuff? or what is the view on homosexuality? on anime fans? are they really frowned upon? how well would I get by speaking only English at first? is vegetarianism common? what about yoga? sorry you don't have to answer all of that pick whatever you like better! ty!!

I applaud your ideals of living in a new place! That’s always an exciting type of goal - and also a very difficult one. Moving to a new apartment is hard enough - moving to a different country is much more so. 

Before approaching any of your other questions, I’m gonna play devil’s advocate for a second and ask you - WHY?

Now, I know that this seems a bit rude. You might say “Look, Chekhov, it’s none of your business. I’m trying to ask you a question, that’s all. It’s my decision, after all.”

And you would be right. But let me explain my reasoning.... Ever since I started blogging about my experience in Japan, I’ve started to get MANY of these types of questions. SO MANY. If I had to guess, everyone and their brother wants to live in Japan. And a lot of times... they want to do so because they are informed by only the media and tourism sold to them by Japan - in the form of anime, or manga, or TV. 

In other words... they’re misinformed, and they have a very narrow, warped view of the country, and they don’t really understand what they’re getting into. 

Now... I’m not judging you - or anyone else. But I want to be as realistic as possible. Because if you’re going to uproot your life and move somewhere across the sea, you need to have as much HONEST and straightforward information as you can before you end up coming here and realising that you didn’t fully prepare yourself. 

Still, you’re asking me questions now, so that’s great! It means that you’re seeking out the information and making an effort. That’s a great first step!

Let’s get started. 

I would recommend, first and foremost, starting with my ‘#japan’ tag on this tumblr. 

I have written lots about different topics - including LGBT discussions - from the perspective of someone who has lived in Japan a few years. Now, that is a disclaimer - a FEW YEARS! ONLY! I am not a Japanese native, I am not someone who has been here for a decade. I have lived here for 4 years, and no more. My point of view is limited, and my opinions should be taken with a grain of salt. 

The rest of your questions I’m gonna answer very simply, and you can read more on the tag if you want details.

1. Homosexuality in Japan?

Basically, there’s almost no violence towards lgbt community. However, there’s heavy ostracizing and ignoring they exist. Coming out as homosexual might still cost you your job, especially if you work with children. The homophobia and transphobia on national television makes this monster problem fatter. Also be prepared for “What’s ‘gay’?” and “That’s something the foreigners invented. We don’t have ‘gay’ people here.”

 2. Anime fans? In Japan? It’s more likely than you think.

I mean, I think this one is a little bit funny (sorry, I swear I’m not laughing at you). Anime is... it’s.... they’re cartoons! They’re cartoons, in Japan. Kids love cartoons no matter what country. Adults who like cartoons also exist in every country. How they’re treated usually depends on how they present themselves. Are you gonna get side-eye for wearing an anime-titties shirt to work? Hell yeah, don’t do that shit. But is someone going to bully you for having, idk, a Fullmetal Alchemist keychain on your backpack?? Hell no. Plenty of people like anime, especially the younger generation. 

The key is - there’s a solid difference between liking anime and enjoying it in your freetime, and... idk... not being able to identify the situations in which anime should not be your priority. 

3. "Can you speak English?”

Honestly, this one is something I’m gonna put my foot down on - as an immigrant myself, and as an English teacher, I say that.... If you are an immigrant that is WILLINGLY moving into a country, with plans to do so far in advance that you have a few years to prepare... you should study Japanese before you get here. It doesn’t have to be perfect, and it doesn’t have to be a lot. But you should at least do your best to pick up the basics.

If you’re planning to go into a metropolitan area like Tokyo or Osaka, then sure, you can get by with only English. But why should you wait to study the language until you arrive there? There’s plenty of free resources to at least learn the basic alphabet and a few key phrases before you arrive. It’s a giant help when you’re first settling in, and it’s also way more respectful to the people around you. They will also respond more kindly to you, knowing that you’re doing your best to communicate on their terms. 

4. “Do you have a vegetarian option?”

“Yes, sure, here’s a salad.“

“This has bacon bits on it...?”

“No, no, dear, that’s only for flavor. No meat.“

"Sorry, but I can’t eat meat.”

“Well, okay, let me get you one with chicken instead.”

Now, are you ready to have this conversation? I hope so, because I guarantee you, this WILL happen at least once. Probably more than once. 

Well, I’ll let up. Sure, Japan is slowly coming into the vegetarian-options. However, by and large the vegetarian options are limited. Fish stock is so common that it’s added to everything without marking it as being an animal product. 

It’s entirely possible to live as a happy vegetarian. I know many people that do! But I guarantee you it will be 200% harder if you don’t speak Japanese and can’t read food labels. 

5. Yo.... ga? 

Err, I’m not sure I get this one, actually. Like, is yoga popular? Is there a yoga studio? Sure, probably? Somewhere? I’m a bit lost on this one. I’m gonna say ‘yes, yoga.’

Some other points to consider:

Where do you want to live. In a big city like Tokyo? Prices are high, and apartments are tiny. Are you sure you can afford it? Often, getting an apartment involves paying something called Key Money AND a deposit. A deposit is one of your rent month’s worth of money. Key money is TWICE the amount of one month’s rent, and you don’t get it back. It’s just a gift to the person you’re renting from. Also, I don’t want to be even more depressing but many lenders don’t want to deal with foreigners and won’t rent to them as a rule unless they bring along a Japanese friend to translate for them. Sometimes not even then. 

What job will you be supporting yourself with? If you’re limited to jobs that don’t need a knowledge of Japanese, this will definitely be harder. Many of the jobs that will take you on despite no Japanese knowledge are limited to ‘English teacher‘ positions. Can you teach English? Do you like kids? 

Most of Japan isn’t like Tokyo. There’s a lot of countryside - where people speak even less English, and there’s no nearby shopping malls, and only one train station to take you out to a big city - that’s an hour away.

Sorry, I know this is kinda harsh and very negative. But moving to a different country isn’t something to be taken lightly, and you need to be realistic about your goals if you’re going to be aiming high. 

If you want some alternatives, I would recommend checking out the JET Program. It’s a government funded Teach-English-In-Japan type deal that is very supportive with participants and helps them get living situations set up and gets them jobs. It’s probably the easiest way to get into Japan.... but it also requires you to become a teacher. It’s not a fun touristy trip. It’s also highly selective, and the application process takes about a year. 

Either way, hope I wasn’t too discouraging! Good luck!

[dcarevu]

DCAU #11: Two-Face (Part 1)

“All men have something to hide. The brighter the picture, the darker the negative.”

We’ve made it, guys! We’ve made it past the developmental/establishment stage of Batman the Animated Series for the most part, and from here on out, the show elevates to a whole other level. Like virtually all tv shows, there will still be ups and downs, and a few bumps on the road, but it is pretty well known that not only does Two-Face mark the true start of the masterpiece that is this series, but is also one of the absolute greatest episodes.

Villain: Rupert Thorne Robin: No Writers: Randy Rogel (teleplay), Alan Burnett (story) Director: Kevin Altieri Animator: TMS Airdate: September 25, 1992 Episode Grade: A

Oh man, so what do I say about this one that hasn’t been said already? Probably not a whole lot. While not a lot of people set themselves up to look at, analyze, and write about every episode of the DCAU, doing just Batman is more common. And granted, I don’t allow myself to read any reviews of any episodes until after my posts on them are written, I am still for the most part aware of what people’s opinions are with some of these high-profile episodes. So I think the best thing to do is continue just like I intended. Not caring about necessarily writing something that people haven’t heard before, but instead just writing whatever is on my mind for reactions, and also expressing Char’s thoughts as someone who has never seen the series before. After all, most reviews of this show come from people who have seen it prior!

This is Alan Burnett’s first episode of the series, and once he and Dini were both activated, oh man. It is clear that they saw eye-to-eye with Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski, and it was a collection of the right people joining forces at just the right time. Both Dini and Burnett had worked on some pretty basic Saturday Morning Cartoons prior (along with some higher quality stuff), and writing for those types of shows must have felt like interning and doing nothing but pouring coffee for those that hold the job you truly want. They could use their creativity, sure, but knowing their visions for this show, it is apparent how stifled they must have been. Which is fine, they were still doing what they loved for a living, and getting very necessary experience. Maybe without these formative years and working on these cheesy cartoons from the 80’s, they wouldn’t have had the jobs to come up with the beautiful stories that they did. Creativity and writing is something that can get worse without practice and training, and sometimes that training truly does need to work much like it did in The Karate Kid, not being apparent until after it is completed. But while I’m not a fan of everything that Alan Burnett contributed to the DCAU, there is no denying what a valuable member to the team he was. Welcome aboard, Alan. But now let’s talk about the episode itself.

Two of the things mentioned in the series bible are as follows: the villains were to much of the time be human and have motivations, and the show was to be a noir crime drama, sometimes focusing more on everyday mobsters than colorful super villains, and not necessarily being a “monster of the week” type of show. And while Harvey Dent/Two-Face is very much a monster when it comes to appearance, this episode falls right in line with these rules. I had to think a little bit when I wrote who the villain would be for this episode, because yeah, Two-Face is a well known member of Batman’s rogues gallery, but Rupert Thorne is the real monster here. And goodness, what a cool villain he is. His voice actor, his lines, even his motivation, while not as sympathetic as Harvey’s, makes a lot of sense! He’s a mobster trying to do mobster things, and Harvey Dent is a real problem for him. But you also totally wanna see the creep get creamed by Harvey, because damn, you feel Harvey Dent’s pain tenfold. Leave the guy alone, he’s going through enough!

And throughout the episode, things just go further and further downhill for Harvey Dent, exponentially. He lashes out in public. Okay, that’s bad and gets a lot of press. But it’s nothing he can’t recover from. Then we find out it’s a recurring thing that he’s seeking professional help for, and just now getting worse. Then Rupert Thorne gets involved and severely threatens Harvey’s career as a politician. Then we have that god damn explosion, and at that point, you just know that there is no recovery, particularly as he flees the hospital, abandoning any hope for treatment. You feel the pain at the pit of your stomach as you watch, and let me tell you, even though I have seen this episode before (albeit only once), my heart was beating during certain scenes, particularly when he is talking with his psychiatrist and when he is at the “meeting” with Rupert Thorne and his goons. A couple times I heard Char gasp, and when that explosion happened, she had her mouth covered for a good while, hardly able to believe that Harvey Dent, one of Bruce Wayne’s best friends, a surprisingly clean-cut, honest politician, and someone we have seen a couple times now, is the villainous Two-Face that she has heard about before.

It’s not even just his character. It’s the fact that the episodes of this show so far have been good, but not this level. This is a serious, adult episode that I think would actually be pretty intense for children. I made a joke to Char when we were discussing the episode, and I said, “But it’s just a little kid’s cartoon!” and she responded with, “No it is not.” We deal with politics in a way that’s actually engaging. We deal with the struggle of a severe mental disorder and childhood trauma. Gosh jesus, the way this episode handles the mental disorder! Char and I both applauded it. Bruce Wayne telling Harvey how proud he is that he’s seeking mental help just warms your heart, and looking back after watching the episode (along with part 2, which has been watched, but we’ll discuss that next time), it almost brings a tear to your eye. Especially since all that could have been done was done. Harvey was getting help. His finance, who is a great character by the way, gave him all the love and support she could have. Bruce Wayne encouraged him to get better and even stepped in as Batman to try to save his friend. But sometimes with life, you can do everything right and it’s never enough. That is what makes this story a genius tragedy. Much better than what they were originally planning with the character, where they would have had him get acid thrown in his face like his traditional origin, and then develop the episodes. Him struggling with these mental problems for longer than his scars have existed feels so much more real, and adds to what makes this character so complex.

Then we have the style and animation, and it does nothing but enhance everything. Director Kevin Altieri outdid himself here. Some of the shots, including one of the most iconic images ever of his other face being revealed for a second when the lightning strikes, are simply beautiful. There were a lot of other little things like the rain on the window at night, which Char specifically noted. There was a specific close-up shot as well when Harvey was bandaged in the hospital that was extra stylized, but it standing out and being different than the other animation worked in its favor. It fit the mood so well. A different animation studio would do Part 2, which is a bit of a shame, as it didn’t end up looking nearly as good as this one, but I’m glad they blew their load on this one at the same time and made the visuals match the episode concept so well. Animation similar to some of the first episodes of the series would have killed the vibes which they were going for. It was a mini horror movie, lacking any amount of camp (something that Nothing to Fear didn’t do nearly as well). Also, TMS is very well known for being a studio of amazing quality and detail.

Something cool that Char noticed was that Grace, Dent’s fiancé, didn't touch him when it came to calming him down and forcing “Big Bad Harv” away, and it’s evident at another section of the episode that touching him in this state tends to set him off a lot more. This is a cool subtlety, and it shows that Grace is very in tune and familia with Harvey, and is definitely the closest thing to a safe-haven that he has. When he is with Grace, it gives you hope, when he is with almost anyone else, well, Char put it best, you could cut the tension with a knife. I think this is what leaves your heart beating throughout the episode, and what makes it so suspenseful. That tension. But while watching, you hope that the pressure is relieved. Instead, it ends with quite literally an explosion. We’ll see how things resolve next time.

Char’s grade: A Major firsts: Rupert Thorne, Two-Face, a two-part episode

Next time: Two-Face (Part 2)

Full episode list here!

[mark-zuckerburg-x-siri-fanfic]

On the Adult Content Ban:

There was a trend in web design where organization and ai-led effieciency were prioritized, beginning with those terrible 2010 insanely slow forums and ended with YouTube. The rejection of 4chan-like simplicity and human based moderation was better in pretty much every way (their format, not the site and people on it ofc), but in a corporate attempt to make "the future, now!", nearly every site is a piece of shit that's hard to use. But most websites tried to at least somewhat undo this damage in late 2017. Tumblr, on the other hand, never left that stage in web design evolution. Being on the site is like stepping into a steampunk version of the information age.

What's really strange about Tumblr though is staff. Staff doesn't seem to be in it for the money like other social media companies. In fact, they don't seem to be in it for anything. It's like the rest of the programming world used up all the Adderall and staff looked at a bottle of NyQuil and said "yeah, it's basically the same thing"

And to add to staff's apathy, they took the "easy solution" of just banning nsfw content. Artists who rely on nsfw commissions, and even men/women who, sadly, have to sell nude pictures to support themselves, now have lost a platform and following, and for many that is their livelyhood (reminder that although the practice of selling your nudes is exploitative and bad in general, the current state of the economy has made it necessary for many people, and to ban it altogether hurts people in the name of "morality")

Furthermore, the new policy explicitly states that female presenting nipples (and breasts) are permitted post-surgery. This is a stupid rule, because first of all, you should treat cis and trans breasts the same. Secondly, however, this is INSANELY problematic. Cis people will begin posting their breasts and tagging them #postop to avoid ban, and as there's no way to prove it without Tumblr illegally asking for medical documents, pretty much nothing can be done with this. Not only will trans people searching through postop tags be bombarded with porn, but the allowing of transfeminine breasts GREATLY reinforces the already-too-prevalent sexualization of trans women.

As for the official post itself:

Ok so right off the bat they're taking the moral high ground with a "we've helped empower change!! Look at how good we are!!", a fraudulent attempt at establishing credibility. Running the site that things happen on means nothing. Any societal change that happened on Tumblr would have happened anyway on any other site, and staff deserves no credit, especially due to the fact that they have a history of marking tags like #lesbian as nsfw while leaving the #gay tag non-nsfw, which is sexist at the bare minimum. And from what I can see from my skimming this is their only attempt at ethos, so their argument is already fractured in the first paragraph.

In the second paragraph, staff first announces that all sexual content would be banned. This is the ANTITHESIS of their previous "being part of social change" statement. Countless activists on Tumblr have shown how being sex-positive is good for a society. Tumblr can't claim to "foster change" while also actively working against that change.

Staff then links to a September post with the link text being "fostering more constructive dialogue", while talking about the coming change. However, when you click on the link, you DON'T get sent to a post in which Staff asks us our opinions and solutions, you get sent to a post where they announced the report button. This has 1 of 2 implications: staff is somehow trying to say "Trust us! This is good! See! We aren't racist!", even though that has nothing to do with the situation, OR it is an attempt to pin the changes on the community, with whoever wrote the post just making a link, hoping nobody would click it.

In the next paragraph, Staff makes a bold-faced lie, stating that "We have always had a zero-tolerance policy [for child porn)". Sites with a zero-tolerance policy for child porn don't get removed from the app store, nor do they end up banning nsfw content. When Reddit had a child porn problem, they dealt with it swiftly and fairly. Same with Facebook. Hell, even 4chan isn't a pedohaven anymore. The fact that Tumblr is so behind on this is a message not only that they don't want to deal with the issue, but that they genuinely don't care about exploited and abused children.

I will say, however, that they made a step in the right direction with their team-up with the NCEMC and IWF, though it hardly excuses their recent behavior.

Despite all of this, one might be able to rationalize that the fact that staff is finally doing something about this is good in general. While I agree that the elimination of child porn is very important, I would like to bring up the fact that staff is subtly dissuading the community from doing anything to fix the site by using OUTRIGHT PUNISHMENT.

Let me ask you, who exactly were the ones seeing, reporting, and generally crusading against child porn? People who browse nsfw content of course. Tumblr isn't banning all pornographic content to wipe out child exploitation, they're making a conscious decision to remove the GOOD GUYS from the site. These people should be applauded for bringing this issue into the light, not told "we don't want you here". And if this is the precedent set for the future, it means more punishments will be handed out any time staff is criticized.

At the forefront of staff's mind are three words: "Leave us alone!" Staff doesn't care about exploited children, artists, activists, or the struggling e-sexworker. Staff doesn't even care about money, ad revenue, or profit. Staff is lazy and apathetic, and want us to stop complaining. They want to get paid without doing anything for the site. The only way Tumblr can be saved at this point is if the entirety of staff is let go and hard-working people replace them. They need a change in work ethic, and they need to begin to care about others.

[miss-cat14-blog]

The Illusion of Innocence

Prompt: A world famous magician randomly selects a small child from the audience to come on stage and assist in an illusion. Little does the magician know, the child is capable of real magic.

Minor Alterations: A famous circus magician randomly selects a small child from the audience to come into the ring and assist in an illusion.

The roaring applause of the crowd is music to my ears. The adoring screams of the fans who so adore the trick of the eye. Despite the knowledge that it is purely illusion, they will always come back for more. The rabbit in my hat was in the cage under the black cloth. The doves that emerge from the smoke came from the rafters, set loose by my gorgeous assistant, and wife. Card tricks are especially easy. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen of the crowd, do you believe in magic?” I call from the hidden crates in the center of my ring, my microphone causing a resounding echo, challenged only by the bellowing approval of the crowd. “Then my darlings, you have come to the right place. For in this humble tent of mine, you will experience the wonderful illusion of a magician’s work!” A thundering boom, and a smoke screen shields the eyes of the gasping audience as I jump into the ring. The lights dim, and the spotlight shines onto me. The applause and shouts are deafening.

“Thank you kindly. Your support is overwhelming, it brings tears to these old eyes.” I let out a sob, and bring a handkerchief to my face, and the crowd laughs as a yard of brightly colored fabric falls out of my sleeve. “Oh my, what a mess I am today. Perhaps I should be a clown, instead of a magician yes?” I take a handkerchief, one very specific, and rub it onto my face, wiping red lipstick and white face paint onto me. A special trick taught to me by my wife, if you place the make up in a very special way, it will rub off onto your face perfectly, and the sounds made by those who watch tell me I’ve executed the trick perfectly.

“My darling husband, you seem to have turned to the very profession you mimic. Look at the make up on your face.” My wife, dressed in a shimmering gold leotard, with a crimson hues, and a black tulle shirt that flares out at her knees. Her knee high, golden stiletto sandals compliment the outfit perfectly, and she is finished with a bedazzled make up bringing a look of fierceness to her that makes my stomach drop.

“Perhaps you are seeing my natural form, my love, you seem to have married a clown!” 

“Nonsense!” She sends a slap across my face, with a spray of water mixed with a gentle soap mixture perfected over the ages to remove make up. “Take off that silly garb this instant!”

“As you say love.” With a simple flick of a towel and the face of a clown is gone, and the crowd roars. “Thank you, thank you. And applause for my lovely wife!” The crowd whistles and shouts, as my wife bows. “My love, if you wouldn’t mind, I would like you to prepare for my next act, while I pick a lucky member of the audience.”

The crowd went absolutely wild, parents lifting their children, adults pushing each other, teens jumping and waving. The kind of chaos that puts money in my bulging pockets. I waltz through the crowd, whistling a tune, smirking at the love and adoration of those screaming my name when a child catches my eyes. A small boy, can’t be much older than about eight, hiding right outside of the tent. Judging by the rags on his body and the dirt on his face and hair, he can’t afford entry. His eyes sparkle with the innocent joy of many when watching their passion before them. A feeling I find myself sympathizing with. He sees me stare, and the spark of fire is snuffed out with fear and he turns to run.

“Little boy!” I call out to him and he stops. “Come here.” The crowd goes silent as he walks in. I see the higher class in my audience sneer in arrogance and disgust.

“I can explain..!” The boy started, but I placed a gloved finger over his chapped lips. I unhook the microphone from my jacked and speak in a whisper.

“Hush my boy. I see the passion in your eyes. Do you believe in magic?”

The fear melted away, and he nodded. “Yes sir, I do.”

“Then you will always be welcome at my show.” I unhook a pin from my coat, a star, and put it in his hands. “Use this, and you will always be allowed access to my circus. No matter where we are.” The boy smiled from ear to ear, and I ruffled his hair as I stand, reattaching my microphone. “Ladies and Gentlemen we have our volunteer! Please help me in welcoming this young boy into my ring!” A weak, hesitant applause met my words. “Now, now. There is no room in my audience for bitter feelings. This child is my personal guest. Now I ask again, please assist me in welcoming him.” I clap loudly, and more people join. “Better. Now my boy, if you would just follow me over to here, we will be showing our fans the art of levitation.” 

I could see the boy shaking. Out of nerves, or excitement, I couldn’t tell. My wife was long since ready, was already laying on the three stools we used, despite the illusion that there are only two. Once the two visible are removed, and the audience is stunned, they never notice the hoop that is split down the middle pass over the body. The trick to this illusion, is balance and concentration.

“As you can see here, my lovely wife is laying on two stools,” the boy beside me shifted, I ignored it. “I shall have my assistant here chant the spell to knock her unconscious, for in this trick, silence and concentration is key. After my wife is blissfully asleep, I shall remove the stools and have my assistant here crawl underneath her to prove there are no tricks. If you still don’t believe me, I shall run this hoop under her.” I raise the hoop and spin it around my arm, unhooking the clasp keeping it in one piece.

To keep authenticity, I do my research and I use genuine spells. We know they mean nothing, but the looks on the stunned faces of the audience makes learning the gibberish worth it. “When you are ready my boy, chant the spell, ‘Satiatusque somno ponere, levitate,’ and my wife will fall into a death like slumber.”

The boy closed his dazzling green eyes, and held up a hand. “Satiatusque somno ponere. Levitate.” In a voice much too deep to belong to one of his age. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and a chill went down my spine. I shuddered and let out a breath, struggling to regain my composure.

“In theory, she should be asleep. Allow me to test this now.” I snapped once, twice, three times above my wife’s face. She didn’t even flinch. She usually squints as signal that she is ready. The show must go on. “Now I shall remove the stools, and we shall see if our spell has worked.” I begin to pull the first stool out from under her legs, and I toss it aside. I go to the second under her head, and I begin to pull and the crowd lets out a gasp. I toss it away just the same and the crowd begins to applaud when she remains up. I wave my hand under her, and the boy crawls under her head, and I notice his eyes travel toward her waist. 

“Sir, you’ve forgotten the third stool.” My blood went cold and the crowd went quiet. 

I smile, and laugh. “Why, I’m not quite sure what you mean.”

“There is a third stool under your wife, hidden by her skirt. How can we prove she is levitating if she’s on a stool?” The crowd began muttering and I grew hot under my suit. “You don’t need to worry sir, I’ve cast the spell on her, she can’t fall.”

The innocence of youth. I couldn’t disappoint my fans. I wiped the sweat from my brow and took the stool from under her waist, preparing for the worst. I opened my eyes and yelped. She was actually floating! The crowd went absolutely wild. 

I cover the microphone and look at the kid. “What are you playing at?”

He smiled at me and simply said, “I’m a magician like you!” He waved his hands in the air, my wife awoke, and gently fell onto her back. He looked at me, winked, and vanished in a puff of smoke.

[aion-rsa]

Toronto International Film Festival 2020 Movie Round-Up

https://ift.tt/2ZPmb1K

It really is a festival like no other. That’s something critics and journalists probably write every year about the Toronto International Film Festival. After all, TIFF (along with Venice) is considered the kickoff of awards season. Studios and independent distributors alike bringing their biggest hopes and brightest dreams to Canada, where a positive reception can make or break early Oscar buzz. However, in the case of TIFF 2020, there really has not been a film festival like this.

In the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the entire press component, including our attendance to the festival, was virtual; the red carpet was permanently rolled up; and even the stars and filmmakers stayed away, giving rare publicity one press conference on zoom at a time.

In this environment, and with studios keeping their traditional highly marketed end of year wares in indefinite stasis, some worried that the show couldn’t go on. But as glimpsed in our notes on the handful of movies we screened during this year’s festivities, there remained as great a range as ever of cinematic stories and triumphant debuts. Some of these projects shined, and others revealed illuminating facets of talent we only thought we knew. Despite so much other anxiety in the world, Toronto’s show did, in fact, go on. Here’s why we can be glad it did.

Another Round

In the abstract, most people are smart enough to know they shouldn’t stare at the carnage left by a wreck. It’s unseemly and never leaves you feeling good about yourself. But that sensation of indulging what you should know better about permeates director Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round, both for audiences and its protagonists. As Vinterberg and star Mads Mikkelsen’s reunion after the masterful The Hunt, their follow-up once again documents the fragility and unspoken lunacies of upper middle class life.

Take Mikkelsen’s Martin in Another Round. As a history teacher, he should know better than to think alcohol can fill the void of years of encroaching ennui. But when his old school buddies and fellow teachers buy into pseudo-science that claims keeping a buzz up at 0.09 BAC will wake you out of the doldrums, it’s drinks in the morning and evening. Martin leans on historic figures like Churchill and Grant to excuse his mistakes, but we all know where this is going. Vinterberg’s intelligence is that he gets there in an immersive and morally ambiguous, if not outright indifferent manner. The excellent ensemble cast, and Mikkelsen’s slick jazz ballet dance moves (really), also make this stiff drink go down all the smoother.

Concrete Cowboy

As the other artful indie that relies on real people from a real subculture to give its film texture (see Nomadland below), Ricky Staub’s Concrete Cowboy is fascinating whenever it’s about the actual culture of Fletcher Street Stables. A last holdout for a Black population of horsemen and women in north Philly, these stables are where honest to God urban cowboys still ride. And they pass like ghosts in a city that left their community behind nearly a century ago—and is now coming for the last few blocks.

That is the documentarian aspect of Concrete Cowboy that is, at times, engrossing. Unfortunately, it suffers from being background to a rather generic and aloof coming-of-age story that is the film’s center. Both Idris Elba, as the laconic father who hasn’t seen his son in years, and Caleb McLaughlin, as the wayward lad who’s been unexpectedly dropped on his doorstep, do fine work. McLaughin is especially good in a part which is outside Stranger Things’ nostalgic suburbia. But every narrative beat in his and Elba’s relationship arrives minutes or hours after you’ve guessed the whole familiar yarn. And it makes you wish the film belonged more to the horses and their real riders.

Get the Hell Out

In this day and age, it’s easy to feel like politicians have turned us all into monsters. People who once went about their day helping their neighbor are now ready to attack them over a bumper sticker, and cheer on the verbal theatrics in legislatures in seemingly every seat of government in the world. Wouldn’t it just be better if these pols had it out already? They finally do with maximum amounts of bloodlust in I-Fan Wang’s Get the Hell Out, a bizzaro horror comedy where the Taiwanese Parliament is infected with a zombie virus.

It’s an amusing premise that could make for terrific sketch comedy or a YouTube video, which is about how long Get the Hell Out works. Opening with a bugnut montage of MPs ripping at each other’s throats and spilling blood on the floor, the movie promises midnight madness, but you may be asleep much earlier with the often cliché-riddled script. The film attempts to make up for its narrative thinness by using stylish graphic introductions for characters, and freeze frames that wouldn’t be out of place in anime or video games, but all the hyper-kinetic energy here ends up being hyperbolic.

Good Joe Bell

If you lived only in social media threads where like-minded people discuss the need for inclusivity, you might convince yourself the world really has changed. But take a few steps outside of that safe space, and reality will inevitably rear its messier, and often tragic, head. And it’s a messy reality, indeed, that Jadin Bell (Reid Miller) and his father Joe (Mark Wahlberg) are forced to confront in Good Joe Bell.

A well-intentioned drama about a traditional American father in the Oregon heartland trying to understand and then honor his gay son, the movie casts Wahlberg in perhaps his quietest and most circumspect performance to date. But that is of course Joe’s parat of the tragedy: He mistakes silent resignation to his son coming out of the closet as loving support; and then after his son’s suicide following years of bullying, Joe attempts to make sense of his child’s life and death by again stepping out, now by walking from Oregon to New York in his son’s memory. It’s a noble gesture, as is the film, even as they both leave you wanting.

Written by Larry McMurty and Diana Ossana (Brokeback Mountain) and directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green (Monsters and Men), Good Joe Bell is a sweet but emotionally distancing experience. Told in a nonlinear fashion in which vignettes of Joe and Jadin’s relationship are interspersed with Joe walking in his son’s name, the mounting awareness by Joe in the present, or despair of Jadin in the past, is consistently fractured and strangely muted. There are moments of grace, especially when the very strong Miller as a distraught youth can (or can’t) connect with his father. But as even Joe admits late in the picture, “I just made this all about Joe Bell.” That’s a problem when the movie’s stronger with his son.

I Am Greta

“I shouldn’t be here.” It’s a refrain teenager Greta Thunberg repeats time and again, whether she’s speaking before the UK House of Commons or the General Assembly at the United Nations. And yet, here she is: one of the most effective advocates for addressing the climate change crisis in the last 30 years. It’s a painful paradox that the all-too-young public figure struggles with in I Am Greta. She’s aware that nothing changes year after year, applauded speech after applauded speech.

The power of Nathan Grossman’s new documentary is not that it only chronicles Greta’s high points of speaking truth to power (though it does), but it also undercuts some of the nastiest criticisms lobbied at her by certain world leaders and their supporters. By following Thunberg’s journey from speaking with random disinterested Swedish adults on the side of a Stockholm street to standing before the world, we see how her message has remained as laser-focused as her love for her family, their dogs, and being a kid surrounded by stuffed animals and often sudden bursts of hyper energy.

She really shouldn’t have to be in these places and focused so severely with having the weight of the world on her shoulders. Really. As the film documents the growing stress this child is under while crossing the Atlantic in a boat that’s little better than a skiff, one is forced to question the healthiness of such pressure. But her ability to actually grab attention is as evident as the endless loop of world leaders, legislators, and one bodybuilder turned Governor of California line-up to extol their admiration… and then change nothing. That’s the real honest takeaway, though the doc errs on a cheery message in the last few minutes about how children will save us all. I suspect the real Greta might have her own doubts about those attempts at uplift.

I Care a Lot

Not since Gone Girl has Rosamund Pike been so perilously irresistible. All toothy grins and smiling eyes, Pike’s Marla Grayson enters every room in I Care a Lot as a ball of sunshine. But also like the sun, if you get too close to this woman, she’ll burn you alive—all while dipping into your savings account and selling the family home. That’s literally her job as a legal guardian: She takes care of people the state deems incapable of caring for themselves… and she’s made a hell of a mint doing it.

Read the full review here.

MLK/FBI

The FBI spied on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It’s a simple fact, but the uncomfortable implications of the federal government attempting to undermine and eventually intimidate a Civil Rights leader are unpacked in full, disquieting detail via this Sam Pollard documentary. In this way, it’s a sobering record of the salacious details about King’s private life that the feds unearthed and a chance to remember perceptions of King during his lifetime.

As the film strikingly reminds viewers, during a public dispute between FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and the Nobel Prize winning King, polls showed 50 percent of Americans believed Hoover when he called King “the most notorious liar in the country.” Only 15 percent of Americans believed King’s protestations. It’s a glimpse into how a figure now considered saintly in U.S. history could be smeared as a radical in his time when juxtaposed with the self-anointed gatekeeper of American values. It also helps understand why Hoover thought he had the right to anonymously tell King he should kill himself.

This sordid shadow conflict between one of the most influential leaders of the Civil Rights Movement and the feds is examined with the precision of an anthropologist’s chisel. But what’s most surprising about MLK/FBI is what it doesn’t show. Until the end of the film, the sources and interview subjects remain unseen and uncredited, while only the most sordid words from the FBI’s declassified documents tease the extent of King’s apparently numerous infidelities. Yet the film doesn’t ask to judge King so much as consider a broader portrait, bigger than the tabloid muck the FBI peddled, but maybe more complex and dimensional than what our marble statues also suggest. It makes him loom larger.

Nomadland

Frances McDormand’s Fern is a gateway into a 21st century heartache, representing thousands of similar stories of Americans who’ve turned to a nomadic lifestyle of transient existence and seasonal gigs. One of the most fantastic actors of her generation, McDormand is searing as the hardscrabble heroine, yet she is matched by a troupe of real-life nomads whom Chloé Zhao has populated her film with. Images of these displaced Americans persevering in the margins where they’d been pushed can at times make Nomadland feel like a modern day Grapes of Wrath, save McDormand’s version of Ma Joad travels only with her ghosts. And yet, the beauty of the movie comes from her visible enjoyment of that specific kind of company.

Read the full review here.

One Night in Miami

These are the benefits that come from Regina King and Kemp Powers—the latter drawing from his stage play of the same name—using extreme artistic license to put Ali (El Goree), Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.), and football star Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge) alone together for most of One Night in Miami’s running time. But while the situation may be fictional, the textures and paradoxes it reveals among these four real-life friends is luminously authentic. It’s also a feat more lasting than traditional biopics, which posit themselves as allegedly true accounts of a person’s entire life. Instead One Night in Miami prefers examining the legion of pressures facing Black artists and leaders who hold the double-edged sword of America’s undivided attention.

Read the full review here.

Pieces of a Woman

If movies could win awards for their first 30 minutes, Pieces of a Woman would be a shoo-in. With a single tracking shot that details the anxiety, terror, and (brief) joy of giving birth over nearly half an hour, the movie begins with a stunning piece of emotional whiplash and theatrical bonafides from its leads, particularly Vanessa Kirby as the expecting mother. But as her home birth goes awry, and the worst fear of every parent comes true, all the vital oxygen escapes Pieces of a Woman’s balloon, never to return save for a brief, devastating monologue.

Directed by Kornél Mundruczó, working from a screenplay by Kata Wéber, the movie remains watchable due to the strength of its ensemble performances. As the anchor, Kirby is sure to be a frontrunner in the Oscar race, while Shia LaBeouf does fine supporting work as her partner Sean. My personal favorite performance, however, belongs to Ellen Burstyn, who’s late in the picture speech is the single other time the movie sizzles—even if it’s out of absolute fear of this wrathful, denied grandmother-to-be.

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Yet performances alone cannot carry a movie, and beyond that early opening salvo, Pieces of a Woman is a movie left adrift, unsure of where to go, or how to keep the viewer engaged with getting there. It wants to be a chilly intellectual melodrama in the vein of latter day Ingmar Bergman. Instead it’s just chilly.

Shadow in the Cloud

Yes, there is a gremlin in Shadow in the Cloud, and like the claustrophobic verticality of the movie’s setting, its presence is always felt like a breath on the back of the neck during a stormy flight. Granted this makes for a more effective first act than second (there is no third). Yet when the film turns into an all-out creature feature with more pulp than an orange grove, there’s still enjoyment to be found for horror fans who always wanted to know what would happen in one of these old school gremlin stories if the monster got through the glass.

Read the full review here.

The Water Man

David Oyelowo is another actor who tried his hand at directing this year via The Water Man. Decidedly family friendly in his first behind-the-camera effort, Oyelowo offers a sweet and gentle children’s adventure story that will land right in the sweet spot for distributor Disney’s target audience. It’s a ghost story for all ages, and like the best spectral yarns from your youth, it is about setting the imagination free to look beyond its backyard.

Oyelowo has a supporting part in the film as a second-guessing father, but The Water Man belongs to the impressive Lonnie Chavis as Gunner, his sensitive son. Gunner is a kid more inclined to sketch his graphic novel than engage with his father, but after realizing his mother (Rosario Dawson) is ill, Gunner and cool girl next door, Jo (Amiah Miller), set off into the woods to find a local legend: to find the Water Man, who’s discovered a way to cheat death. More classical Walt Disney than modern day Guillermo del Toro, there’s still just enough shadow in Oyelowo’s direction to give The Water Man shading. And in those dark pools, young ones can carry much out after the closing credits.

The Way I See It

So much of our collective memory of the men who’ve occupied the Oval Office in the last 50 years is shaped by the invisible hand (and eye) of the Chief Official White House Photographer. Most Americans don’t know the job title, but ever since the Kennedy administration, we’ve known the work. Lyndon Johnson standing next to Jackie Kennedy while being sworn in on Air Force One; Richard Nixon shaking hands with a spaced out Elvis Presley; Bill Clinton blowing hot air into the saxophone in front of Boris Yeltsin; and everything from Barack Obama playing Spider-Man with a young boy to being wound tighter than piano wire while watching the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

More than any other president, Obama’s tenure was defined by a cornucopia of history-making photographs taken by one man: Pete Souza. An old school photojournalist who’d been freelancing around D.C. for decades, Souza made his bones as a White House shutter fly during the much more private second term of Ronald Reagan. But even in his younger days, Souza dreamed of one day getting to go on the full ride of a presidency as its visual historian… little could he suspect he’d do that with the first Black President of the United States.

The Way I See It showcases some of Souza’s most famous images and unpacks the stories behind them, just as Souza unpacks his own life story and career. Directed by Dawn Porter, this documentary offers an astonishing bit of whiplash by transporting us to the Obama Years—an era which feels like four years and a lifetime ago. Warmly nostalgic, the movie ultimately acts like a wonderful exhibition for Souza’s artwork while rarely diving deeper than museum placards with bite-sized information and background. Thus the film is mostly a chance for Obama lovers to get wistful, and for Souza to hone his own political attack ad against Donald Trump by reminding us how much better the world used to be. Which… fair.

The post Toronto International Film Festival 2020 Movie Round-Up appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[jonahbex]

“Were We Ever?” has me S H O O K

GUYS I have so much to say about episode 11. I’ll make this a “read more” post to avoid spoiling anything for anyone.

So overall it was so good and I applaud Disney Channel for making its displays of feminism more nuanced over the years. Like yes the “girls can do anything boys can do” sentiment from Teen Beach Movie was good too, along with episodes like Girl Meets STEM, but Andi Mack is so mature that it presents the same messages that DC has been so blatantly stating for the past few years in such a subtle, non-preachy way that still gets through to kids. They never directly say “it’s okay for girls to put themselves first,” but it gets through when Andi tells Jonah she’s done doing emotional labor for him just because he expects her to. Andi Mack just singlehandedly set an example for kids everywhere to stand up for themselves, young women of color especially.

Also I love that they’ve been building the Jonah/ Andi unhealthy friendship plot since the beginning??? I rewatched the first episode a few days ago and noticed that when Jonah asked Andi to join the team he said “Come on, you like this; I know you do,” and I thought there was something kind of wrong with that but still skipped over it bc it was just one tiny piece of dialogue. I legitimately did not even notice all the shit that Andi did just for Jonah until it was pointed out in this episode, and I’m glad that Andi explained it all again when she confronted Jonah.

Next I want to talk about the dresscode plot. Wow. So good. A bit unrealistic since they got the dresscode changed in one day, but other than that minor detail, it was so well addressed and so important. It showcases an issue that kids actually face in schools, where literal children are told that their body parts are inappropriate or “distracting” in school long before they know what that means. And the fact that Andi pointed out that dresscodes are especially biased against girls earns yet another feminism point for Disney Channel. Also, I LOVED Bex’s role in this plotline. She is a strong woman raising her daughter to be a strong woman, and I love that that layer was included; it’s nice to see the kids come up with ideas for themselves, but often kids don’t know what they’re capable of until someone in their life empowers them to fight for something they didn’t know they could fight for. It reminds me of the racism episode of That’s So Raven, when Raven herself knew the situation was wrong but didn’t know what to do about it until her parents taught her how to fight it and expose the bigotry. Positive role models are so important in a child’s life, and it was so great to see Bex helping Andi fight against an injustice, and inspiring her to carry it over into other parts of her life.

Other random thoughts: *Cyrus was so adorable obsessing over picture day. I love my son. *Where did Bex get 40 prison uniforms in one night? *I actually loved that Celia wasn’t in this episode? She’s okay, but not my favorite, and it was nice to see a mature moment in the show that didn’t involve her at all, since she and Ham are the only “adulty” adults and typically talk out the difficult stuff. It was nice to see Andi do that without them. *Cyrus and Buffy’s pictures were so cute!

Moving forward into the finale I’m excited/ anxious to see a few things happen.

First, after Andi ends her friendship with Jonah, how is he going to handle it? The preview shows that he’s obviously broken up about it, and he dumps Amber’s abusive ass which is good, but what if that’s not enough? Jonah Beck needs more real friends in his life, people who actually care, and Andi seemed to be the only one, but even she had enough of giving so much without receiving. I truly think that the abuse Jonah suffers from Amber causes him to reach out for support in other places, like Andi, but he can’t see how it affects others because he’s so preoccupied with his own problems. He’s Jonah Beck. He’s popular, well liked, and happy on the outside, but on the inside he’s probably struggling with the fact that he doesn’t really have any close friends, and Amber isn’t emotionally there for him, even though he is for her. I don’t think Jonah is a bad person at all, but I like that he’s getting depth and flaws, and we get to see that our lil human sunbeam isn’t perfect. All that said, I still think Andi and Jonah are going to end up together because, well, he’s dumping his gf and it’s Disney Channel. They’re not going to write him out of the show, and I doubt they could keep him there without his actions pertaining to the main character(s). Like yeah, I’m so glad Andi stood up for herself and ended it, but it’s definitely not over for good.

Next thing: CYRUS!!! There’s literally one episode left in the season, so my hopes aren’t that high for his gay story arc anymore. He had a nice date with Jonah last week, but it means nothing if the show doesn’t display Cyrus’s feelings as distinctly romantic rather than just reeeally wanting Jonah to be his friend. It goes right over kids’ heads if they don’t say it, because kids aren’t used to seeing LGBTQ people in the media; adults really aren’t, either. I can only hope they pull one of those dramatic twists that we’ve come to expect from this show and throw it (stated explicitly) in the last five seconds, then leave it as a cliffhanger for next season. I can totally see them doing that. But will they?

I’m glad there will be some more Buffy and Marty in the finale; I like them together. And hopefully we’ll get some sort of momentary closure on the Bowie situation? There’s just so much to do and only one episode left to do it in. I’m expecting some stuff to be left unresolved in this season.

TL;DR: Andi Mack has so many layers to its plots, with carefully planned story arcs and surprises in every episode. It is handling mature concepts like feminism, abuse, unhealthy friendships, and queer identities and I’m so here for it. I’m expecting some risks and surprises in the finale, along with some unanswered questions going into season 2. Episode 11 was amazing, and I definitely chose the best show to stan.

[satrughankhare]

ToTok Apk For Android, iphone, ios and PC

3 Best Android Apps for Android, ios and PC

1. ToTok Apk is a messaging app for Android users developed in Abu Dhabi. The app allows you to make free video calls and video chats. All you need is a good internet connection.

Did I mention that ToTok Apk is fast yet very safe? By "secure" we mean that all your messages are completely private and you never have to deal with leaked information. The app quickly gained popularity in the UAE as many people in the region have always preferred it over other messaging platforms. Why is that Stay with us to find out why it has become so popular.

Direct Install Google Play Store

First, who doesn't want the app to make free video calls or video chats? This is the first reason the app has gained popularity so quickly. Another factor is that, unlike many video chat platforms, tot ok starts a video call or chats very quickly. You would expect the fact that it is free to slow down, but the break is very fast.

The second third factor is that Tutok is built specifically for Android phones and a large number of people in the UAE use Android devices to communicate. The app provides users with explicit HD video calls and chats, making communication about videos more interesting. Well, these are some of the factors that have made this app so popular in the UAE. The app was launched in early 2019, and by the end of 2019, the app had received 7.9 million downloads. The app was divided into the first 50 popular apps that can be used for free.

Free unlimited voice calls and chats – With ToTok, all you need is a stable internet connection that will allow you to keep calling and chatting. You can either video chat your friends or video call them all for free. The app uses the internet to enable its users to make calls or text their loved ones. Thus you will only need an internet connection and a good data plan. Charges may apply for the data you use.

HD quality videos – The app uses AI technology to ensure that its users are enjoying high-quality videos. With quality, it does not mean that only the videos will be of quality; it means that also the voice will be of quality.

HD group chat – To make it more fun ToTok allows users to invite others into a group chat of up to 20 people per group chat. This feature is excellent, especially if you are a group of people who would want to do a group discussion together.

Retouch filter – The app also doesn’t force you to appear gross on a video call. There is a filter feature that allows users to smoothen their skin for a video call. You can hide blemishes from your face in just a single tap.

Secure – ToTok knows that your security is the most important aspect of communication and so the app takes this very seriously. The app uses different encryption technology to ensure that your information is safe as you chat with your friends online.

Those are the most relevant features that ToTok has, and the user can enjoy it. So you might be asking after reading about all the fantastic features that ToTok has; is ToTok app safe to use? Yes. ToTok is very reliable to use, your information is encrypted, and no one may see your details without your consent.

How to Download and Install ToTok App for PC (Windows and Mac)

As mentioned earlier, ToTok is designed to work on Android devices, but if you need to use a larger screen to use ToTok stick around, we are going to unveil a way to download it on your PC.

ToTok App for PC Download - Free Contomize

Download Bluestacks Android emulator on your PC.

Locate the exe file from your computer and double click on it to start the installation process and wait as Bluestacks is installing.

After installation, complete the one-time setup process on Bluestacks. Bluestacks will prompt you to sign in with your Google account to access play store services. Here, you will just log in to your Gmail account and all permissions.

On Bluestacks home page, go to the Google play store and search for ToTok free HD video chats and calls and click on the app to install.

After installation of ToTok, you will see its icon on Bluestacks home screen, click on it and start using ToTok.

So that’s all about ToTok video player app for PC. It is an excellent app, especially for people who love video calls and video chats. It is also free and effortless to use.

ToTok’s chat system comes with the basic features you would usually expect. Multimedia support is abundant in this app, so you can send audio files via on-the-spot voice messages, and video and image files by uploading. You can also snap pictures to send via camera, upload other types of files, and send your location and events. Plus, you have emojis, GIFs, and name cards for messaging. 

Alongside the ability to see statuses, another great little feature in ToTok is the ability to see your contacts’ local time on their side of the world, so you won’t disturb them if you don’t want to. When it comes to video and voice calls, ToTok adjusts your call quality by clarity and echo reduction, so it won’t be a hassle trying to repeat anything you couldn’t catch clearly. 

ToTok calls are free of charge when it comes to phone credits—although data charges will, of course, apply on your internet connection—and you can even host a call of up to 20 participants if you’d like. If you’re the type to like using beauty filters on calls, ToTok also offers some with its built-in real-time retouch filter, which smoothens skin and conceals flaws during those live video calls.

Lastly, ToTok takes pride in its security, providing various measurements to preserve its users’ privacy. Using 256-bit AES encryption, 2048-bit RSA encryption, and constant syncing with ToTok’s heavily-encrypted servers, you can be sure that your data is safe. While the app may ask for a lot of permissions, you can easily just decline them. ToTok will always need to access your phone contacts, however—especially if you’re going to encourage your friends and family to try the app, and be able to use its call features. 

If you’re looking for a messaging app alternative that’s free and available anywhere, ToTok may be the one for you. It has all these neat little extra features that make it a worthwhile program to keep on your phone. If you’re the type to worry constantly about privacy, you might have heard of ToTok’s reputation as a supposed spying app for a certain country’s government, but ToTok continuously improves its security to be up to standards for everyone. Probably the most issues you’ll find are those of its unintuitive user interface that really need more polishing.

=============================================================2. Tamildhool APK

Tamildhool Apk Android

Tamildhool Apk ios

Tamildhool Apk pc

Download the latest version of Tamildhool APK V1.1 for Android

As the name suggests, the Tamildhul app is an application that allows you to watch movies, series, shows and news in Tamil language.

Today I am going to give you an app that will help you to find excellent TV series and shows. In addition, you can stream them online with the best video quality. If you want to get this app, "Tamildhool App" is the right destination for your Android mobile devices.

If you run an Android emulator there you can also buy it for your laptop and system. However, it is not available in Excel file format for these devices. But I suggest that if you want to enjoy your favorite series on the big screen, you will find an emulator.

Mobile phones, tablets or smartphones, however, are very easy to transport and you can stream anytime, anywhere through the app. So, it is appropriate that you stream when you have free time or free time.

So today I am going to give a brief overview of this remarkable application. You can also download from this article.

If you know enough about this app, you can ignore it. If you are new to the app, please continue.

If you want to share this post with your friends and relatives, it is good if you also want to enjoy it, as it can be downloaded and used for free.

Tamildhool is a package file for Android phones so you can install it on your mobile devices. It is an excellent platform for thousands of Indians and people from other countries to speak Tamil. So you can watch TV series and other programs for free. In addition, registration or paid membership is not required. It gives you direct access to its content.

This amazing app has a huge collection of drama series, movies and TV series from the state. It is very popular in India because it only appeals to the Indian audience. In addition, it was developed specifically for users from countries, but there are no restrictions on its use as it is free for everyone without age restrictions. Because it provides the right content for all ages. But even if you are an adult, it would still be appropriate if you let your children have fun under your supervision.

To make it suitable for the audience, Tamildhool simply arranged its entire content. This way, people can easily navigate their favorite luggage without any interruptions. You can play or stream all your favorite items directly in the app as it has its own built-in player.

In this section, I will share its full categories and what you will find from these groups. So I hope it will be easy for you to get a clear overview of the app. This way you can determine if you need to download it. Because sometimes people want to know what product they get for their consumption.

In the top corner of the app you will find a long list of television series in the country. However, these channels offer you more subcategories in which you can choose between TV series, programs or TV programs.

Therefore, there are usually seven to eight types of channels to choose from. Remember they are national and you do not have an international class or station.

Tamildhool gives you Vijay TV, Sun TV, Zee Tamil Programs, Polymer TV, Colors TV, Jaya TV and some new channels.

Apart from that, you will also find programs where you can applaud celebrities.

You can get to know your favorite stars and have fun conversations as well as plays and shows.

=============================================================

2. Zarchiver Apk Android

Zarchiver Apk ios

Zarchiver PC

Zarchiver is an application that allows you to edit all filled documents from your Android smartphone. In closed cases, it doesn't matter if you need to look inside a pack record or create a compact document using some documents primarily on your SD card. With ZArchiver you can do this in just a few moments. The system gives you the possibility to create packed data records in any of the associated configurations: 7z (7zip), zip, bzip2 (bz2), gzip (gz), xz, tar. It also decompresses documents coming in 7z, second, rare, bzip2, gzip, xz, iso, tar, urge, taxi, lz, lha, lzma, xar, tubes, tubes, tubes, z, deb, rpm. What to do. , zipx, mtz With ZArchiver you can also display the contents of data records in 7z, zip, rar, bzip2, gzip, xz, iso, teer, arj, taxi, lz, lha, lzma, xar, tgz, tbz. I. Z, DEB, RPM, Zipx and MTZ. More importantly, you will have the opportunity to see the object regardless of the probability that its secret key is safe (of course, your length is a buzzword). Zarchiver Documentation Pointer packs some requirements that each client needs to work with these types of records on his Android gadgets.

[dinafbrownil]

Readers React: UVA Doctors Outraged Over Their Own Health System’s Billing Practices

Letters to the Editor is a periodic feature. We welcome all comments and will publish a selection. We edit for length and clarity and require full names.

First Do No Harm: When Financing Health Care Becomes Unethical

We attribute the oldest text of ethics in Western medical practice to Hippocrates (460-370 A.D.), a Greek physician whose oath instructs, “I will use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment, but never with a view to injury and wrong-doing.” Most doctors, having pledged that oath upon entering the profession, recall best its later paraphrasing primum non nocere, first do no harm.

As physicians at UVA Health and educators at the University of Virginia, we were appalled by the revelations of the aggressive, pitiless billing and collections practices, first reported in The Washington Post based on an investigation by Kaiser Health News (“‘UVA Has Ruined Us’: Health System Sues Thousands Of Patients, Seizing Paychecks And Claiming Homes,” Sept. 10). We felt betrayed and we had, by extension, betrayed those who had relied on us. We had harmed.

When we began our positions at UVA, we did so with the understanding that, as clinicians at a public institution, we were privileged to care for all people, including those with limited ability to pay. Many of us chose academic medicine, and UVA specifically, so that we could partner with our patients to improve health and well-being thanks to the social contract specific to tax-exempt hospitals to provide low-cost care to people of all incomes. As we have learned recently about UVA and from stories reported from other states and institutions for more than a decade, avaricious billing and collections practices have broken the spirit, if not the letter, of that social contract (“UVA Doctors Decry Aggressive Billing Practices By Their Own Hospital,” Nov. 23).

The individual stories are heart-rending, and the extent of the collective impact is staggering. Indeed, based on an analysis by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2014, over half of all collections items in credit reports are associated with medical debt. A recent study of people with new diagnoses of cancer and a representative insurance mix, including the uniquely American categorization of people underinsured, found 42% had depleted their life savings 2½ years after their diagnosis. To be sure, academic medical centers must function within the competitive and revenue-driven environment of our country’s approach to health care, and some, like Hahnemann Hospital in Pennsylvania, have not survived. However, the survival of not-for-profit hospitals cannot be assured by the relentless pursuit of debt from the very patients for whom we are expected to be the safety net.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent a letter on Oct. 17 to the UVA Health System’s acting executive vice president for Health Affairs that detailed questions about billing and collections practices at our institution. We have similar questions. While we applaud UVA for the rapidity with which it has announced reforms aimed at reducing the numbers of lawsuits and making more financial support available, we are uncertain how many future lawsuits will be prevented by restricting that punitive action to those with bills of more than $1,000, and why UVA cannot join other public hospitals that have effectively stopped suing patients altogether?

We simply cannot accept one-off solutions. Over half of all hospitals in the U.S. are not-for-profits, and the regulations that govern billing and collections practices vary by state and fail to offer adequate protection in most. Continued identification of egregious practices at individual institutions is essential, and we are grateful for the work of health care journalists and of members of Congress who have prioritized these issues in the national discourse. Public pressure placed on hospitals has frequently resulted in forgiveness of debt and, in some cases, changes in billing practices. Yet, until we achieve a truly universal health system modeled after other countries with similarly vast monetary wealth but more concrete social moorings, we must pursue an immediate solution to address health care pricing and billing. Such a solution must ensure transparency, as Sen. Grassley rightly highlights in his requests of UVA, and therefore allows for honest conversations about how we, as a country, hope to continue to provide excellent care to all Americans. The National Consumer Law Center’s Model Medical Debt Protection Act could serve as an important starting point.

To be clear, we are outraged. We stand with those that have been financially injured, whose bank accounts have been looted, whose homes have been swallowed as if they were built on quicksand, whose credit scores were ruined and whose mental health and energy were spent in a courtroom or in anxious conversations with lawyers — all as a result of having sought our care. We commit to working at UVA, our beloved professional home, to advocate for leaders of high moral integrity, to regain the trust of our patients and to repair to the greatest extent possible the damage that has been done. We call on our community, and especially our fellow clinicians, to demand that the precious resource of our public, not-for-profit hospitals protect our ethical responsibility to first do no harm.

— Drs. Scott K. Heysell, Michael D. Williams and Rebecca A. Dillingham, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.

It’s good news that predatory hospital billing and collection practices are being questioned (this time at a location we get care from): https://t.co/rT2MlRdnZo

— Jan Oldenburg (@janoldenburg) October 18, 2019

— Jan Oldenburg, Richmond, Va.

The Slippery Slope Of Preventing Falls

I commend Kaiser Health News for shining a light on the dangers of senior falls ― the most common cause of nonfatal trauma-related hospital admissions (“‘Fear Of Falling’: How Hospitals Do Even More Harm By Keeping Patients In Bed,” Oct. 17).

Fears over patient falls are warranted; however, steps should be taken to provide patients with access to physical therapy while in the hospital to prevent loss of strength and mobility. Further, access to physical therapy can help reduce the steep costs associated with falls, which total roughly $50 billion annually.

In the outpatient setting, physical therapists are uniquely qualified to improve a patient’s functional ability and recommend the home modifications necessary to allow them to remain independent.

Whether inside the hospital or in the outpatient setting, patients need to be allowed and encouraged to move and walk under the supervision of a physical therapist. Promoting access to physical therapy will ultimately keep our seniors independent, prevent adverse events and drive down health care costs.

― Nikesh Patel, PT, DPT, executive director of the Alliance for Physical Therapy Quality & Innovation, Washington, D.C.

Another poorly thought through CMS regulation. Quality healthcare cannot be reduced to yes or no questions. ‘Fear Of Falling’: How Hospitals Do Even More Harm By Keeping Patients In Bed https://t.co/GTO1xLTDU6 via @khnews

— Cat Shah (@CatherineShah8) October 22, 2019

— Catherine Shah, Charlotte, N.C.

Kaiser Permanente Therapists Sing The Blues

I’ve been a Kaiser Permanente psychologist for over 25 years. I have seen many changes with Kaiser and I am tired of having to shortchange my patients of much-needed treatment services (“Bruising Labor Battles Put Kaiser Permanente’s Reputation On The Line,” Nov. 8). I wrote this song on behalf of my therapist colleagues in protest for better working conditions for patient care in the Department of Psychiatry at Kaiser. I recorded it with another colleague, Matt Torres, and two musician friends who are Kaiser members and sympathetic to the NUHW cause.

― Eugenie Hsu, Oakland, Calif.

Not Either/Or, But Sometimes Both

The article “Meth Trip Or Mental Illness? Police Who Need To Know Often Can’t Tell” (Nov. 1) failed to delve into how often individuals whom police interact with are experiencing mental health or behavioral problems in conjunction with substance use disorders.

The police in this article said they need to know whether they’re dealing with a mental health issue or drugs in order to respond appropriately. In Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s 2018 report “Key Substance Use and Mental Health Indicators in the United States,” the percentages of adults who used illicit drugs in the past year were higher among those with serious mental illness (49.4%) and adults with any mental illness (36.7%), compared with those without any mental illness (15.7%).

Since there is such a high chance that people with mental illness are also using substances that can alter their clinical presentation, the police should be trained to prepare for modalities that can accommodate that, keeping themselves and those they serve safe.

― Xi Lucy Shi, Pittsburgh

Standing By Drug Treatment For ADHD

I am a child psychiatrist with a research and clinical focus on treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. I recently submitted a grant to the National Institute of Mental Health examining the evidence for and against stimulant treatment. The individuals quoted in the article “Pediatricians Stand By Meds For ADHD, But Some Say Therapy Should Come First” (Sept. 30), arguing that behavioral interventions are effective enough to be considered the first choice in ADHD treatment, aren’t correct.

Repeated, large-scale, well-controlled double-blind studies have shown that, with the exception of preschool/kindergarten children: (1) Medication for ADHD is shown to be significantly more effective than behavioral interventions, with behavioral treatments for ADHD only mildly effective or not effective at all. (2) Medication improves long-term outcomes, such as reduction of motor vehicle accidents, accidental physical injury and delayed educational progression. (3) Untreated ADHD is associated with increases in suicide risk, legal issues, divorce rate, job loss, substance use, motor vehicle accidents and self-esteem issues.

While the 6-year-old child in this article has tantrums (which might improve with only behavioral interventions), a school-aged or older child with ADHD would have problems with attention and concentration in school ― hurting his/her early learning. Symptoms of attention and concentration are particularly poorly responsive to behavioral interventions.

Behavioral treatment is not the first choice because delaying treatment can quickly have consequences, while medication treatment is very low-risk, yet dramatically effective.

― Dr. Ryan S. Sultan, New York City

Modifying classroom instruction and using behavioral supports should be first. Then meds if they are needed at the lowest effective dose along with modification and behavioral support. Jeez

— Terri Lewis, PhD 和平抵抗 (@tal7291) October 1, 2019

— Terri Lewis, Silver Point, Tenn.

On Astronomical Air Ambulance Costs

Your recent story about the cost of air ambulance services (“Bill of the Month: The Air Ambulance Billed More Than His Surgeon Did For A Lung Transplant,” Nov. 6) failed to paint the full picture. Recently, my wife had a Type A aortic dissection. She was transported to emergency surgery via helicopter air ambulance for a six-hour-long heart operation that saved her life. Our bill for the air ambulance was over $81,000 for the hour-long flight. What I learned from this incident is that there are only four hospitals in all of California where this operation is performed. Without the air ambulance, I would have likely been planning a funeral instead of dealing with over $750,000 in medical bills. The highly trained crews of these operations save lives every day. Most fly a helicopter, which costs $6,000,000 before it is equipped as a flying ICU. Most fly between one and three flights in a 24-hour period, on average. They are manned 24/7, equipped to fly in the clouds and equipped with night-vision capability. Nearly all are single-pilot crews (to keep costs lower) and have at least one flight nurse (most have two). All have training and qualification maintenance costs for the equipment and personnel. In consideration of all of these costs (note: I did not include facility or insurance costs), I think their cost to the patient is not out of line with other medical costs today.

I noted there was no talk of using a ground ambulance in the article. Was it time-critical for the patient? In other words, would it have had a similar outcome if a ground ambulance been used? In our case, the two extra hours a ground ambulance would have consumed would have likely concluded in a fatality.

The other side of this conversation revolves around how patients are billed and how our current system works to be the most expensive system in the world with only mediocre results. Nearly all billing is reduced by some amount by the insurance ― often called a discount. Because doctors and hospitals know they will receive only between half and three-quarters of what they bill, they inflate the billing so they get what the need to cover most costs. The big loser is the patient, who is underinsured or not insured at all.

The article as written is a very incomplete picture of the air ambulance world and a disservice to your readers.

― Dennis Lyons, Paso Robles, Calif.

Just read your article about helicopter charges. Why not educate the public that they can purchase helicopter insurance, which is very cheap? I highly recommend it to friends who live in rural areas with hospitals that do not offer a full range of services or who need transportation to receive a higher level of trauma care. A bigger problem: the huge health care systems ― whether privately managed or government-run ― that have associates with these rural hospitals or own them. They want patients to stay in their system and will bypass other hospitals that are closer and offer the same services. Choices of care are not always given to patients, or when they are given, they are brief and come in a moment of crisis when patients and families can’t take it all in. How about educating the public on what really is happening and how we continue to waste health care dollars and how they can protect themselves in advance? Call the air transport company and learn about their insurance.

― Nina Jeffords, Miramar Beach, Fla.

The associated "fact sheet" was equally bizarre and rather incoherent..this is a far cry from the normal professional and policy-oriented communications we expect from HHS.

— Dr. Cheryl Phillips (@phillic58) October 4, 2019

— Dr. Cheryl Phillips, Washington, D.C.

Don’t Let Fact Check Undermine Facts

Shefali Luthra did an excellent point-for-point takedown of President Donald Trump’s speech at a conservative retirement community in Florida, which amounted to a cynical gambit of frightening Caucasian seniors into believing that their long-cherished Medicare was under attack from the Democratic “socialist” and the freeloading communities they represent (“KHN & PolitiFact HealthCheck: Trump Speech Offers Dizzying Preview Of His Health Care Campaign Strategy,” Oct. 3).

One critical point that she and others, including the Democratic candidates for president, however, have failed to give sufficient emphasis to, is the degree that household income will actually increase in response to a “Medicare for All” plan. Trump stated in this speech, with no evidence, that household income will go down $17,000 a year with Medicare for all. Although there will be a tax increase to fund this program, the increase will pale in comparison to what we are already paying in premiums and deductibles to a predatory insurance industry. Ms. Luthra only went so far as to question the accuracy of that absurd assertion. Failure to drive this point home will invariably allow the masses to revert to the default mode of “socialized equals a tax increase ― end of story,” and put its long-overdue implementation at risk.

― Samantha Derrick, Berkeley, Calif.

Good, in-story fact check.But could context that current efforts aimed at serious reducing protections through ACA and #GOP has never offered any legitimate alternative > Trump Speech Offers Dizzying Preview Of His Health Care Campaign Strategy https://t.co/8waboBoT1B via @khnews

— jerrymberger (@jerrymberger) October 4, 2019

— Jerry M. Berger, Boston

Under Pressure To Treat Lymphedema

Great story about a little-known expense patients have for compression garments (“Compression Garments Can Ease Lymphedema. Covering Costs? Not So Easy,” Oct. 23). I had to purchase some to wear for a short time for lupus-related swelling and I was shocked at how much they cost. They definitely make a big difference in comfort, and I really think insurers should pay. As they also help to prevent infection, it may make coverage cost-effective in the long run. Is there a petition I can sign to support legislation? I will call my Congress members as well. Thanks for the article!

― Kristan Thompson, Savannah, Ga.

Penalties Run Afoul

In response to Jordan Rau’s article on Medscape.com (“New Round of Medicare Readmission Penalties Hits 2,583 Hospitals,” Oct. 1): If the hospital does not want to be penalized for readmission, well, the hospital staff can just let the patient die. On the contrary, the hospital should be rewarded for saving the life of the patient, and that is all that should concern Medicare. The hospital should be penalized for any patient deaths, period! Because the way around that penalty from Medicare is to just let the patient die in the hospital. It should be that the hospital is recognized for giving treatment to the best quality care that the hospital can provide! Someone should look into Medicare’s revolting penalty system.

― Lois Greene, Sacramento, Calif.

Wow! 2,583 hospitals were penalized for heart failure readmissions in 2020, including @BrighamWomens, @MassGeneralNews, and @BIDMChealth. If everyone is penalized, is the program actually effective? @kejoynt @rkwadhera https://t.co/KAIELu819A

— Aaron Paul Kithcart (@APKithcartMDPhD) October 2, 2019

— Dr. Aaron Paul Kithcart, Boston

Entrenched Stigma

The cumulative effect of “experts” telling the public there is a stigma to mental illnesses (“Taking The Cops Out Of Mental Health-Related 911 Rescues,” Oct. 11) ought to draw considerably more attention.

― Harold A. Maio, Fort Myers, Fla., former editor of Boston University’s Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal

I had injured/panicked bipolar client strapped on board call me frm accident scene bc cops on the way. She was afraid they’d shoot her. I get there, find Fire Capt next 2 her ready 2 protect her. Taking The Cops Out Of Mental Health-Related 911 Rescues – https://t.co/6f7k9Ehdf7

— R. Ruth Linden, PhD (@TOLHlthAdvocate) October 21, 2019

― R. Ruth Linden, San Francisco

Nurse Practitioners Answer The Call

Your Oct. 9 article “They Enrolled In Medical School To Practice Rural Medicine. What Happened?” underscores the growing primary care provider crisis in rural America. Nationwide, the demand and need for primary care, especially in rural areas, leaves patients without care.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 80 million Americans lack access to primary care, with the most significant shortages in rural areas. By 2030, the country is expected to face shortages of more than 120,000 primary care physicians.

The nation’s 270,000 nurse practitioners (NPs) can address the shortage. In fact, a study in Health Affairs found NPs now represent 1 out of 4 health care providers in rural health practices. NPs assess patients, order and interpret tests, develop treatment plans and prescribe medications in all 50 states ― yet outdated state laws stand in the way.

Forty percent of states authorize full practice authority (FPA) for NPs, ensuring patients full and direct access to NP care. The remaining states limit NPs from practicing to the top of their education and training.

NPs can meet the demand for high-quality primary care nationwide. It’s time the remaining states update their laws so that all patients can access the care they deserve.

― Sophia L. Thomas, president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, Austin, Texas

The Plus Side Of 3D Mammograms

As a clinical researcher and diagnostic radiologist who reads thousands of mammograms each year, I was dismayed to read the KHN investigation “A Million-Dollar Marketing Juggernaut Pushes 3D Mammograms” (Oct. 22), which stated “there’s no evidence they are more effective than traditional screenings.” Hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific articles substantiate improved recall rates and cancer detection rates associated with 3D mammography. This article fails to present this information to readers and causes significant confusion in patients and physicians nationwide.

Recalls ― or “callbacks” — from screening mammography impose a tremendous psychosocial and economic burden on patients. Not only do patients and their families experience fear and anxiety due to a potential cancer diagnosis, but recalls also lead to downstream noncompliance with future screening recommendations and, on average, a 13-month delay to returning to screening mammography. Experiencing a recall or false positive increases the risk of late-stage diagnosis, when breast cancers are larger and harder to treat.

The experience of radiologists reading thousands of mammograms is not anecdotal. It is rooted in evidence-based medicine and data. These are not my opinions, they are facts.

― Dr. Nila H. Alsheik, chair of breast imaging, Advocate Aurora Health Care, Chicago

How High Is High?

The article “Employers Are Scaling Back Their Dependence On High-Deductible Health Plans” (Oct. 29) did not provide enough detail to confirm whether the cost to the employer of the PPO options was the same, more or less than the cost of the “high”-deductible health option. For example, it wasn’t clear whether the employer was making a contribution to the Health Savings Account or Health Reimbursement Account for the high-deductible health option.

Assuming the PPOs and the high-deductible health option all use an 80%-20% coinsurance formula after the deductible up to the same out-of-pocket expense maximum, the employee contributions you quoted give the appearance that the PPO options are much more attractive to almost every employee. For that result to occur, the cost to the employer for the PPO options would have to be substantially greater than the cost to the employer of the high-deductible health option.

― Jack Towarnicky, Powell, Ohio

from Updates By Dina https://khn.org/news/readers-tweeters-letters-to-editor-uva-doctors-outraged-over-their-health-systems-billing-practices/