#karen bryson

[mndvx]

ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE: JUSTICE IS GRAY (2021) ››› Ray Fisher as Victor Stone ››› Karen Bryson as Elinore Stone

[kenpiercemedia]

HBO Max Presents: "Zack Snyder's Justice League" Trilogy Trailer

So considering that we’ve already shared a few trailer posts and announced the premiere day of “Zack Snyder’s Justice League”, I will admit that I was a little bit surprised to find this “ZSJL” Trilogy Trailer being released almost a month later. By now the fans of these films know that Snyder is no longer involved in the still very uneven DC Extended Universe and that his “Man Of Steel” and…

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

WA Senate passes bill to bar hiring discrimination for cannabis use

BY CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE

Washington employers would be prohibited from refusing to hire a potential worker solely because of a drug test showing they had used cannabis under a bill that passed the state Senate on Wednesday.

Washington voters approved recreational marijuana in 2012 through Initiative 502. More than a decade later, though, as more states have moved to legalize the drug, Washington employers can still screen out applicants who use cannabis.

If Senate Bill 5123 becomes law, Washington would join several other states that have enacted laws shielding employees from workplace penalties for off-duty cannabis use. The bill passed the state Senate on a 28-21 vote Wednesday, sending it to the House for further consideration.

In 2019, Nevada became the first state to stop employers from rejecting an applicant because of a drug test showing cannabis use. Last year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill barring discrimination in hiring, firing and other conditions of employment if a worker uses cannabis while off duty.

The Washington bill’s sponsor, Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines, introduced a similar proposal last year, but it didn’t get to the floor for a vote. Washington’s bill only covers drug tests before hiring, Keiser said. An employer could still test you for cannabis once you have a job, and could still make a hiring decision based on a drug test that doesn’t include cannabis.

“If your employer wants to test you every week after you’re hired, they’re still able to do that,” Keiser said. “This is simply opening the front door of getting into a job. Because too many people who see that they have to take a drug test to even apply, don’t even apply.”

Certain jobs are excluded from the bill, including in the airline and aerospace industries and those requiring a federal background investigation or security clearance. Employers could still screen workers for cannabis after an accident or if they suspect impairment on the job.

Thanks to an amendment from Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, the bill also excludes professions where impairment on the job means “substantial risk of death.”

A central challenge in regulating cannabis use in the workplace is that a test that measures impairment from the drug is not yet available. That poses a problem especially for workers and employers who are subject to federal regulations, including through contracts with the federal government or because workers must have commercial driver’s licenses.

Burl Bryson, executive director of The Cannabis Alliance, told lawmakers in a public hearing Jan. 10 that potential candidates can consume cannabis legally “and still test positive for weeks later.”

“If the same approach were applied to alcohol, employers would refuse employment to anyone who enjoyed a beer or glass of wine on the weekend,” Bryson said.

“It simply doesn’t make sense to base an employment decision on that kind of unreliable outcome and test,” Keiser said on the Senate floor just before the vote Wednesday.

The bill had drawn some opposition from business lobbyists, who expressed worries about employers’ responsibility for safety problems in the workplace.

Bob Battles, general counsel and government affairs director for the Association of Washington Business, which has 7,000 members including major employers Boeing and Microsoft, said Wednesday the organization shifted to a more neutral position, citing changes clarifying that it covered only preemployment screening, as well as King’s amendment to exclude positions where impairment could be deadly.

[poemsandpromises]

The Split, Season 3 Behind the scenes shared by Karen Bryson on Instagram ❤️

[is-this-really--life]

I don't call myself a TERF. I think that term is stupid, quite frankly. I do actually think trans people are oppressed by patriarchy and it's strict enforcement of gender roles. I am not a Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist. Other people gave me that label.

I am a gender critical feminist. Also known as critical of gender: the system of roles and stereotypes that differentiate how we treat men and women. I think cis people uphold the gender system even more than trans people do in some ways. And I hate that they do.

I don't think trans women are more likely to be perverts or predators than cis men. I do think policies that try to get rid of sex as a protected class in favor of gender identity allow predators the *access* to be predatory. Ex. trans women in female prisons leading to cases such as Karen White, Janiah Monroe, Isla Bryson, Katie Dolatowski...

I also hate men. I hate the fact that I have to fear them and can never trust them and the fact that so many dehumanize women. Often for their sexual pleasure, but also in other ways. The female sex has been left out of power and recognition and respect in every field and nearly every hobby for centuries. We are raped and abused at higher rates in almost every culture. I dont believe the patriarchy victimizes men the same as women. Men benefit from the patriarchy, and they uphold it. Poor and oppressed men also uphold the patriarchy. Ask any poor & oppressed woman her experiences with her male peers.

This is feminism from a systemic lens. That is where my belief system is rooted.

For this belief system, I am told I am a "TERF." Because I am called "TERF," it is okay to call me a fascist, a nazi that deserves to be assaulted, raped, killed, pissed on, violated, hated, hated, hated.

This is *wrong*. This belief system is not what is harming trans people. Right wing enforcement of gender roles is. Hatred for gender nonconformity is. Lack of access to mental health resources is. Social norms are. Radical feminists are not your enemy until you make us your enemy. You have to stop hating people blindly.

[gayhomebody]

Books I've read in 2024

'Bleak House' by Charles Dickens

'Bandits' by Eric Hobsbawm

'Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson' by George Jackson

'The Violence of Britishness: Racism, Borders and the Conditions of Citizenship' by Nadya Ali

'Black Power' by Kwame Ture and Charles V. Hamilton

History Today February 2024 Vol. 74 Issue 2

'The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian' by Nirad C. Chaudhuri

'Booth' by Karen Joy Fowler

'Making Sense of Russia's Invasion of Ukraine' by Paul Le Blanc

History Today March 2024 Vol. 74 Issue 3

'Walter Benjamin's Archive'

Granta 15, Spring 1985, 'The Fall of Saigon' by James Fenton

'Kitchen Confidential: Insider's Edition' by Anthony Bourdain

'End British Support for Zionism, Isolate the Israeli State' by FRFI

'East into Upper East: Plain Tales from New York and New Delhi' by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

'From the Four Corners' by Jan Morris

'Common Sense and The American Crisis I' by Thomas Paine

'Renaissance Europe, 1480-1520' by J. R. Hale

'Reformation Europe, 1517-1559' by G. R. Elton

'Europe Divided, 1559-1598' by J. H. Elliott

'Bukharin and the Bolshevik Revolution: A Political Biography, 1888-1938' by Stephen F. Cohen

'A Short History of Nearly Everything' by Bill Bryson

'Israel's War on Gaza' by Gilbert Achcar

'What does Israel fear from Palestine?' by Raja Shehadeh

'Fascism and Dictatorship: The Third International and the Problem of Fascism' by Nicos Poulantzas

'A Grand Tour of the Roman Empire' by Marcus Sidonius Falx with Jerry Toner

'The Roman Empire' by Colin Wells

'Lessons of October' by Leon Trotsky (Reread)

'Coming up for Air' by George Orwell

[youre-my-worst-nightmare]

Warning for topics of rape and sexual assault

Why are these stories never talked about? Oh! Because it’s exposing the fact that most trans women want to invade women’s spaces for dangerous reasons.

[bigbadripley]

Angst challenge! Give me reader is Matt Murdock's ex girlfriend and she's deep in her feelings

Me and You isn't the Answer

Pairing: Matt Murdock x ex!fem!reader

Warnings: No use of y/n, angsty, thinking too much about your ex

Title based on "Could've Been" by H.E.R. ft. Bryson Tiller

You ran into Foggy Nelson at the market today, and it took you to a place you hadn't been in months. Something like this happens every time you think you've gotten over it. 

"You know, things don't have to be awkward. We still miss you around Josie's." Foggy told you as he twirled the plastic bag of oranges in his hand. You missed hanging out with them at that old bar but couldn't. All you could tell Fog was that you'd try to come around more with a nod. He knew you were lying. 

You didn't want to be made a liar, so you attempted to stop by Josie's. You stood outside the building, staring into the window at Karen, Marci, Foggy, and Matt, who looked like he was having a great time. The thought of walking in played in your brain repeatedly, but your feet stayed glued to the pavement until you eventually turned and went home. Not today. 

Matt said you would still be friends, but you weren't making much effort to be that for him. Every time you saw him, your heart ached. Imagine how you would feel if you spoke to him. To think, you only broke up because of the dangers that seek him out, and it hurt you more than any bad guy ever could. 

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🗞️📖 Bookish News - February Edition

🦇 Extra, extra. Read all about it! 📖 Good evening, bookish bats! A lot happened in the publishing industry this month, but here are a few highlights you may have missed! Check below the cut for details.

Adaptations: 🗞️ Chloé Zhao will direct a film adaptation of Hamnet (Maggie O'Farrell) starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal 📖 HBO is adapting Dark Places (Gillian Flynn) as a limited series. Flynn will serve as co-creator, writer, and co-showrunner 🗞️ FX has ordered a limited series adaptation of Say Nothing (Patrick Radden Keefe), directed by Michael Lennox 📖 Taika Waititi will direct an adaptation of Klara and the Sun (Kazuo Ishiguro), potentially starring Amy Adams and Jenna Ortega 🗞️ The Terror will base season 3 on The Devil in Silver (Victor LaValle) 📖 The Man in My Basement (Walter Mosley), directed by Nadia Latif, will star Anna Diop, Corey Hawkins, and Willem Dafoe 🗞️ Dark Matter (Blake Crouch) has a trailer 📖 America Ferrera's feature directorial debut for I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter (Erika Sánchez) is in development 🗞️ The adaptation of Turtles All the Way Down (John Green) will stream on MAX this year 📖 Hook’s Daughter: The Pirate Princess Chronicles (R. V. Bowman) is getting a live-action adaptation 🗞️ Interview with the Vampire (based on Anne Rice's novel) is getting a second season 📖 Percy Jackson and the Olympians is getting a second season 🗞️ Seven Days in June (Tia Williams) is being adapted for Prime Video 📖 The adaptation of A Gentleman in Moscow, (Amor Towles) will star Ewan McGregor 🗞️ The Color Purple movie musical will stream on MAX (Feb. 16) 📖 Hulu’s adaptation of A Court of Thorns and Roses was axed 🗞️ The Alex Van Helsing YA books are being adapted for a television series 📖 Ryan Reynolds and Paramount are working on an adaptation of Starter Villain (John Scalzi) 🗞️ A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bill Bryson) will be adapted as an animated TV series 📖 The trailer for the film adaptation of Wicked is up 🗞️ Netflix renewed Survival of the Thickest for season 2 📖 The cast for Marvel’s Fantastic Four has been announced (July 25, 2025) 🗞️ The trailer for the new X-Men animated series is up (Mar. 20) 📖 The Oscar-nominated animated film Nimona is now available to watch for free on YouTube! 🗞️ Reese Witherspoon is producing a film adaptation of Romantic Comedy (Curtis Sittenfeld) 📖 Photos are up for the adaptation of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (Holly Jackson)

Cover Reveals: 🗞️ When Haru Was Here - Dustin Thao (Sept. 3) 📖 Trick or Treat on Scary Street - Lance Bass (July 23) 🗞️ The Bletchley Riddle - Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin (Oct. 8) 📖 The Rules of Royalty - Cale Dietrich (Dec. 10) 🗞️ Colored Television - Danzy Senna (July 30) 📖 Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me - Whoopie Goldberg (May 7) 🗞️ House of Bone and Rain - Gabino Iglesias (Aug. 6) 📖 Rani Choudhury Must Die - Adiba Jaigirdar (Nov. 12) 🗞️ Night Owls - A.R. Vishny (Sept. 17) 📖 The Dixon Rule - Elle Kennedy (May 14) 🗞️ A Bánh Mì for Two - Trinity Nguyen (Aug. 27) 📖 The Hitchcock Hotel - Stephanie Wrobel (Sept. 24) 🗞️ In Want of a Suspect - Tirzah Price (Nov. 12) 📖 Memorials - Richard Chizmar (Oct. 22) 🗞️ The Empusium - Olga Tokarczuk (Sept. 24) 📖 Unsinkable Cayenne - Jessica Vitalis (Oct. 29) 🗞️ Cue the Sun! - Emily Nussbaum (June 25) 📖 We're Alone - Edwidge Danticat (Sept. 3) 🗞️ The Sherlock Society - James Ponti (Sept. 3) 📖 The Enchanted Hacienda by J.C. Cervantes (May 21) 🗞️ The Baby-sitters Club: Kristy and the Walking Disaster - Ellen T. Crenshaw (Sept.) 📖 The Baby-sitters Litter Sister: Karen’s Grandmothers - DK Yingst (Oct.) 🗞️ The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science - Kate McKinnon (Oct. 1) 📖 The Life Impossible - Matt Haig (Sept. 3) 🗞️ Ruin Road - Lamar Giles (Sept.) 📖 Yours Truly by Katie Shepard (Sept. 3) 🗞️ Wishbone - Justine Pucella Winan (Sep. 17) 📖 Haunt Your Heart Out - Amber Roberts (Oct. 8) 🗞️ The Dividing Sky - Jill Tew (Oct. 8) 📖 Heir - Sabaa Tahir (Oct. 1) 🗞️ Beautiful Dreamers - Minrose Gwin (Aug. 27) 📖 We Solve Murders - Richard Osman (Fall) 🗞️ Till the Last Beat of My Heart - Louangie Bou-Montes (Sept. 10) 📖 Aisle Nine by Ian X (Sept. 24) 🗞️ Warrior of Legend - Kendare Blake (Sept. 17) 📖 The Ancient’s Game - Loni Crittenden (Oct. 29) 🗞️ The Witch of Wol Sin Lake - Lega Jeong (Oct. 29)

Upcoming Releases: 🗞️ Tiny Reparations Books has secured North American rights to two new books by National Book Award–longlisted author LaToya Watkins. The first book, The Book of Chuck, will be published in spring 2026. 📖 Tia Williams has sold North American rights to two new novels to Grand Central. 🗞️ LeVar Burton is releasing two new books

Other News: 🗞️ The Dylan Thomas Prize 2024 longlist is up 📖 The finalists for the 2024 National Book Critics Circle Awards were announced 🗞️ The finalists for the 2024 Audie Awards were announced 📖 Pulitzer-winning author N. Scott Momaday passed away (first Native American author to win a Pulitzer) 🗞️ OCLC has filed a lawsuit against the shadow library search engine Anna’s Archive for allegedly stealing 2.2 TB of data from WorldCat 📖 The St. Paul Public Library launched a laser-eyed loon library card 🗞️ Writers Against the War on Gaza have written an open letter to PEN/America to release an official statement about the “225 poets, playwrights, journalists, scholars, and novelists killed in Gaza” by Israeli forces 📖 Andy Weir released a series of “lost” journal entries from Mark Watney to celebrate The Martian’s 10th anniversary 🗞️ Amazon removed multiple titles about King Charles’ recent cancer diagnoses amid concerns that they were written by AI 📖 This year’s winners and finalists of the Cybils Awards were announced 🗞️ Delacorte is launching a new YA romance imprint

[fanfic-wonderland]

NOTHING CHANGES ANYTHING {TEEN WOLF}

Synopsis: Penny Brooke is an ordinary sixteen-year-old girl; with an ordinary family, ordinary friends, and a plain old ordinary life. Nothing unusual seems to happen until her all-time crush and best friend, Scott McCall, gets bitten by a werewolf. From that moment on, Penny and her friends find themselves living through dangerous events happening at Beacon Hills, and all of their lives turn upside down...

**This is a rewriting of my old Teen Wolf fanfic of the same name.**

Word count: 1.9k

Ch.1 | Ch.2

————————————————————

CHAPTER ONE: SEARCHING

“… In other news, two men have found half of the body of a girl, who is yet to be identified, while jogging through the Beacon Hills’ preserve. The Beacon County Department and the State Police are currently on the scene searching for the other half and perhaps for something that could lead them to solve this horrifying mystery…”

“Bryson, can you please just change the channel already?” Karen groaned from the other side of the couch. Her head was propped up on her hand and she looked like she was about to die of boredom soon.

Bryson ignored her.

“Since when are you even interested in watching the news?”

“Since there’s been a killer on the loose around Beacon Hills,” He answered without taking his eyes off the screen. "Honestly, Karen, aren't you the least bothered by this?”

“I'm more bothered by the fact that Jersey Shore is on right now and I'm missing it thanks to you. You have your own TV upstairs, you know.”

“You do, too!"

"Well, I want to use this one.”

"So do I—"

“Mom,” I called to her, loud enough so she could hear me from the kitchen. "they’re fighting, again!”

Seconds later, she appeared and stood behind the couch, drying her hands with a piece of white cloth and looking annoyed. "Are you guys seriously doing this right now? On pasta night? While I'm making Carbonara for all of you to enjoy?”

Karen and Bryson looked at each other for a brief moment. "We were just about to solve the issue, mom.” Bryson told her.

"Yeah," Karen added before glaring at me. "Penny just had to go and open her big dumb mouth.”

I raised my hands up in defense. "Look, I'm just trying to watch TV without you guys arguing over the stupidest thing for once.”

"Fine," she folded her arms across her chest. Through the corner of my eye, I saw mom rolling her eyes and walking back to the kitchen. I could’ve sworn I heard her mumbling something under her breath. "Then, maybe you should go to your room.”

"Yeah, and leave us alone, won’t you?” Bryson backed her up.

I stared at them in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? I was here first!”

Both of them shrugged at the same time.

“And I'm the oldest.”

"Well, there’s two of us so if you sum up our ages we’re actually way older than you.” Bryson said. Karen was nodding in agreement, both of them looking like they’d just won a long-running debate.

Was this a twin thing, when one moment they were arguing over something so insignificant and the next they were just working together to go against their oldest sibling? If it was, then I guess I would never understand, but I was sure of something: it was fucking annoying.

“You know what? Fine,” I threw the cushion I was holding onto aside and stood up. "I'll leave before there’s a second killer on the loose.”

As lame as it sounded, that was what my life consisted of on a daily basis. It was never something interesting or new, but I had learned to live with it. I had to, or I probably would’ve gone insane by now.

When I found a random low budget horror movie while browsing through the internet, I threw myself on the bed and got comfortable. Twenty minutes into the movie, and my eyelids began to droop. Either the movie was too shitty for me to stay awake or it was getting late. Regardless, I tried my best to get through it… with no success.

Just as I was finally giving in to sleep, though, I heard a tapping on my window. Jumping on my spot by the sudden sound, I craned my head to take a better look. My first thought was that maybe I had imagined it; it seemed like the most logical thing.

The room was dark and the sky was too, but somehow I managed to make out the figure of someone staring back at me through the glass and my heart almost leaped out of my chest. I rubbed my eyes just in case I was just dreaming, and then I pinched myself for reassurance but even now when I was wide awake the figure was still there.

My body froze and my mind went completely blank; I did not know what to do. What would a person have to do in a situation like this? Could I try and crawl my way out of the room? Should I have made a run for it instead? Could I scream until someone came to the rescue? (Would they even rescue me?) Or could I just simply stay there and fight back?

All of those thoughts were running wild through my head and yet my body was still not responding.

The person tapped on the glass a few more times and I jumped once again. This time, I managed to stand up from my bed, slowly but surely. My eyes never left the figure in case they tried anything to break in, and even though I tried to stay strong my legs were shaking harder with every clumsy step that I took.

When I stood in the middle of the room, the face of the person became much clearer. It was a guy —someone I knew. Someone I knew very well, in fact.

He saw me  staring and waved, his white teeth sticking out in the darkness. I let out a breath that I didn't even realize I was holding and went to pause the movie. When I opened the window, I glared at him. "Scott, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

He was still grinning. "Visiting.”

"You know, a normal person would just knock on someone’s door instead of climbing up on their window and almost giving them a heart attack."

“This was easier, though.” He said, as I stepped aside to let him in.

I quirked a brow. "It’s easier to climb a window than to knock on a door?”

"Well, it got me to your room faster and it avoided me having to explain to your mom why I’m here at this hour and on such a short notice.” Scott sat down on the edge of my bed.

“What are you doing here?”

“I need to borrow your baseball bat.”

I stared at him blankly. "You came all the way to borrow my bat?”

"Mine’s not as sturdy." He explained before glancing at my computer screen, where the movie was still paused. " And I see you’re…. watching a crappy looking movie, where apparently the killer is a—" He did a double, furrowing his eyebrows. "—man in a bunny suit?"

"Yeah," I smiled and batted my eyelashes exaggeratedly. "Want to join me?"

He sighed dramatically as I opened the closet door, grabbing the baseball bat he was looking for. It was my special metal bat, used only for emergencies and drastic situations. It also worked for threats. ''It sounds very, very tempting, but we were just passing by. We can’t stay out for too long, anyways.''

I gave him a confused look while handing him the bat. "We?”

"Stiles is outside."

“Of course, I should’ve known,” I rolled my eyes. ''And why did you guys make plans without me?"

He shrugged. "We're just going to take a late night walk through the preserve. No big deal,  nothing interesting."

I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Please don’t tell me that you guys are stupid enough to go and look for the missing body…”

Scott didn't say anything, but one look at him told me everything that I needed to know.

“Did Stiles come up with this idea?” I asked him.

He scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Maybe.”

I groaned. "How many times have I told you not to go through with what Stiles tells you?”

"We’ll only be looking for a few minutes, I promise.” He said quickly.

“There is something out there, Scott,” I argued. "A girl is missing half of her body—”

"But we’ll be fine,” Scott cut me off. "And besides, It’s not like we’re going to be alone, Stiles’ dad is also helping with the search.”

I narrowed my eyes at him and scoffed. "Yeah, and I'm sure that Sheriff Stilinski will really appreciate you and Stiles being there.”

“He will once we successfully locate the body.” He smiled proudly. I must’ve not looked too convinced still because he then grabbed me by the shoulders in a reassuring way. It sent an involuntary bolt of electricity all over my body.

I guess I forgot to mention that this is the cliché story of a girl who had a huge crush on her best friend. A crush that she has had on him since elementary school, but he had ever noticed because he was too much of an idiot.

“Trust me, please?” Scott said, looking at me with those sweet brown eyes that make me melt every single freaking time.

I sighed in defeat. "I... trust you. I don’t trust Stiles, though.”

He chuckled. "You love him.”

"Yeah, but trusting him is hard a lot of times.”

"Okay, but I’m not, right?” He smiled innocently.

I hesitated before saying, "Of course not.”

At the end of the day, however, both of them were equally as dumb in my eyes; I trusted neither of them when it came to making important decisions. Besides, they were boys.

“Good,” Scott said. "So, I'll see you tomorrow, then."

I gave a small shrug. ''Sure, It’s not like I’ll be doing anything else. Poor Penny will be here all alone, watching a movie about a killer bunny man, and then she’ll go to school tomorrow because she actually follows the rules and has a sense of logic.''

"Okay, now you’re just being dramatic.” He rolled his eyes and I laughed.

At that same time, a very familiar voice was heard from outside. ''Scott, hurry up, we're leaving!''

Scott looked out the window. "I'm coming!"

"That's the devil's voice, Scott, I’m telling you, you should not listen to it.”

“Again, dramatic,” He said after he turned back to me. ''I better go.''

I nodded. Whatever happened to them from that point forward would be their own fault. ''See you tomorrow... if you're not dead by then.''

"Yeah, okay," He chuckled, kissing my cheek. ''Bye, Penny.''

''Bye.''

And with one last smile, he stepped out of the room and climbed down, bat still in hand. When I looked out the window, Scott and Stiles were already out of sight. I sighed, reaching for the spot where his lips were still tingling in my skin. Scott would often do those little things —kiss my cheek, hold my hand, wrap an arm around my shoulders— where he had me questioning if maybe, just maybe, he felt the same way. It would never get anywhere, though, but I still remained hopeful that in a future he would realize that he had feelings for me, too. It wouldn’t kill me being this hopeful, even after all these years, right?

Before heading back to bed, I made sure to close the curtains this time. I was not up for another jump scare, unless it was from the crappy movie that I was watching.

When I finally decided to resume watching it, I found it hard to concentrate due to the constant worrying going around in my head. I just hope they’re okay…

[lboogie1906]

Donald Lawrence (born May 4, 1961, in Gastonia, North Carolina) is a gospel music songwriter, record producer, and artist. He is known for his Grammy Award-nominated songs “The Blessing of Abraham” and “Encourage Yourself”.

He studied at Cincinnati Conservatory, where he earned a BFA in Music. He has received multiple Grammy and Stellar Award honors and served as vocal coach to the R&B group En Vogue, was the musical director for Stephanie Mills, songwriter for The Clark Sisters, and collaborator with a host of artists including Peabo Bryson, Kirk Franklin, Karen Clark Sheard, Donnie McClurkin, and Mary J. Blige.

He took on The Tri-City Singers. (The three cities that The Tri-City Singers come from are Spartanburg, Gastonia, and Charlotte) The group debuted in 1993 with A Songwriter’s Point Of View. The set debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top Gospel Charts. The group’s follow-up release Bible Stories would top those same charts.

He produced the live portion of Karen Clark Sheard’s Grammy-nominated Finally Karen debut. Lawrence & Tri-City released the seasonal Hello Christmas.

The next album would mark a fresh start for Donald Lawrence. I Speak Life was his first solo album. Donnie McClurkin, Hezekiah Walker, Faith Evans, Richard Smallwood, and Carl Thomasall contributed to the album. Jazz notables Ramsey Lewis and Lalah Hathaway were on hand for a remake of the Bible Stories classic “Don’t Forget To Remember”. He earned a total of 7 Stellar Award nominations and 6 wins.

The Tri-City Singers announced that they would retire, but not before one last live recording. Finale: Act One and Finale: Act Two were released. The concert included guest appearances from Bishop Walter Hawkins, Karen Clark Sheard, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Daryl Coley, LaShun Pace, Darwin Hobbs, and many other gospel luminaries. The album’s lead single “The Blessing Of Abraham” was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance. The Law of Confession Part I was released in February 2009.

He was featured on the title track “Released” by Bill Winston presents Living Word”. He was the host of Verizon’s “How Sweet The Sound Choir Competition”. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[renfos]

Why do you reblog posts about being a safe space for trans people and then make an entire essay about how men dress up as women and rape women in womens bathrooms? are you stupid?

Edit: Yes, I should have checked it's a 13 year old trolling. Stay in school kid. Read that 'entire essasy' again then feel free to google, it all happens. Men in dresses aren't trans people. Or do you think women have less right to be safe than man pretending to be trans do? You really have to understand that womens safety doesn't exclude trans peoples safety. Ok? Are you a rape apologist? Are you that daft? How can you try to advocate for peoples safety and be a rape apologist?

Those are mostly UK cases, feel free to google, its really that easy, then come back and we can talk, once you grow a brain. We all deserve to be safe, but you coming here with you bs just shows again how mental peopel can be nowadays. Either or, you take trans peoples safety over your own. Too dum to understand that they are not mutualy exclusive. Since youre dumb and lazy, here are the links:

Two different cases of rape in a school bathroom: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11512735/Father-girl-raped-trans-friendly-toilet-slams-grand-jury-not-finding-school-responsible.html https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/11/virginia-governor-pardons-father-school-girl-sexually-assaulted Here you have some information about physcially male convicted sexual ofenders being sent to womens prisons: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jan/25/trans-woman-isla-bryson-guilty-raping-two-women-remanded-in-female-prison-scotland https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/seven-sex-attacks-in-womens-jails-by-transgender-convicts-cx9m8zqpg

[astraykiel]

Sims Introduction [2nd gen]

Harris-Vector Family [oldest to youngest] :

Maverick Harris-Vector [left]

✽Human | Adult | Actor

✽Traits: Family-oriented, Bro, Active

✽Persoanlity type: ESFJ

✽Not a fun fact, but he's so baby<3 the most wholesome dad

Yasmine Bailey-Moon [right] aka Yasmine Harris Vector

✽Human | Adult | Civic Designer

✽Traits: Dog Lover, Loner, Active

✽Persoanlity type: ISFJ

✽Relationship Status: Married to Maverick

✽Fun fact: She's a random sim I found in a park one day, she's the child of Orange Bailey-Moon and Yuki Behr(? I think

Bryson Harris-Vector

✽Human | Adult | Just imagine him as a Karen who's also obsessed with lively off the grid and sustainably

✽Traits: Genius, Squeamish, Green Fiend

✽Persoanlity type: ISTP

✽Relationship Status: Single [forever and indefinitely]

✽Fun Fact: He probably grows his own meat

Lola Harris-Vector [left] aka Lola Feng

✽Human | YA | Actress

✽Traits: Perfectionist, Genius, Romantic

✽Persoanlity type: ESFJ

✽Relationship Status: Married to Vivek

✽Not a fun fact but they'd look so badass and hawt as vampires

Vivek Feng [right]

✽Human | YA | Actor

✽Traits: Overachiever, Jealous, Romantic

✽Persoanlity type: ESFJ

✽Fun Fact: He's the children of Victor and Lily Feng (but they died- so his sister raised him up on her own)

Lori Harris-Vector [left] aka Lori Hedrick

✽Spellcaster | YA/Immortal | Housewife

✽Traits: Loner, Good, Childish

✽Persoanlity type: INFP

✽Relationship Status: Married to Kian

✽Fun Fact: She was cursed by some alien cause her dad is a space ranger. I supposed he angered some of them while on a mission so they cursed his daughter:) She spent most of her childhood/teenhood with her mum's vampire friend(Ella and Clyde) trying to understand about her powers and abilities. Then she met Kian in the magic realm!

Kian Hedrick [right]

✽Spellcaster | YA/Immortal | Paranormal Investigator

✽Traits: Cat Lover, Romantic, Good

✽Persoanlity type: INFJ

✽Fun Fact: This guy is a hopeless romantic at heart. He spent decades just waiting for his true love❤️

Also! He has a cat familiar and they're bonded by soul, meaning that the cat will only die if Kian dies p.s. the cat is called Sir Swartz

Bree Harris-Vector [left]

✽Human | YA | Teacher

✽Traits: Art Lover, Cheerful, Goofball

✽Persoanlity type: INFJ

✽Relationship Status: Married to Kenji

✽I dont play with her- I'll just let neighbourhood stories work its magic

Calum Harris-Vector [right]

✽Human | YA | Space Ranger

✽Traits: Cheerful, Active, Bro

✽Persoanlity type: ESFP

✽Relationship Status: Married to Carrisa

✽same thing, i dont play with him

[lainereclipse]

After the graphic novel - After volume 1 BY Anna Todd

BOOK REVIEW BY LAINER ECLIPSE 23/10/24

NUMBER OF BOOK IN BOOK SERIES : #1

Author of this book : Anna Todd

Illustration by - Pablo Andres

Star rating - 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜🩶

Spoiler warning : Yes

Triggers are - (Moderate)

-Drug use (smoking or vaping “weed”) and drinking (alcohol)

-Lack of actual nudity

-Toxic/controlling/abuse relationship

-Emotional abuse,guilt trip and gaslighting

-Sex, parties, fighting , broken marriages

- Language ( a use of "s--t," plus "hell," "damn." , Mouthed but unspoken use of "f--k.")

Other notes

Genres - Teen fiction, Contemporary romance, comic/graphic novels, new adult /young adult fiction, and drama romance.

Pages : 192

Year this book was published : May 3, 2022

Base of off - The world phenomenon novel and movie series after

Rated - PG (MOVIE) BOOKS/COMIC NO AGE RATING

Quote #1- “Just because he can’t love you the way you want him too, doesn't mean he doesn't love you with everything he has” - Landon

Fall in love all over again in volume one of the graphic novel adaptation of the global phenomenon AFTER! Uncover Tessa and Hardin's love story as you've never seen it before . . . Anna Todd's original story comes to life with breathtaking illustrations by Pablo Andres.

Blurb - There was the time before Tessa met Hardin, and then there’s everything AFTER . . .

Life will never be the same. #Tessa Tessa is a good girl with a sweet, reliable boyfriend back home. She’s got direction, ambition, and a mother determined to keep her on course. But she’s barely moved into her freshman dorm when she runs into Hardin, with his tousled brown hair, cocky British accent, and tattoos. Good looking, confident . . . and rather rude, even a bit cruel. For all his attitude and insults, Tessa should hate Hardin. And she does―until she finds herself alone with him in his room. Something about his dark mood grabs her, and when they kiss it ignites a passion she’s never known before. He'll call her beautiful, then insist he isn’t the one for her, making excuses and disappearing, again and again. He’ll turn away, yet every time when she pushes back, he’ll only pull her in deeper. Despite the reckless way Hardin treats her, Tessa is drawn to his vulnerability, determined to unmask the real Hardin beneath all the lies. A good girl . . . a bad boy . . . something undeniable . . . and everything AFTER.

Short summary - After tells the story of Tessa, an intelligent and conservative young woman who has been raised by an overprotective single mother. When she begins college she finds herself constantly thrown in the way of Hardin, the baddest, bad boy of them all who has cruel intentions.

Character list :

Tessa Young (Staring main character) - Hardin scott (Staring main character)

Landon Gibson (Semi main character) - Noah Porter (Semi main character)

Kenneth “Ken” Scott (Semi main character) - Karen Gibson (Semi main character)

Carol Young (Recurring character) - Molly Sanbels (Recurring character)

Tristan Thomals (Recurring character) - Steph Jones (Recurring character)

Nate Bryson (Recurring character) - Zed Evans (Recurring character)

-My Final thoughts (likes,dislikes and recommend for) are -

I love this book but I still hate the fact that Tessa cheated so many times on Noah and not only did he know about it but also kept giving her so many more chances. I also didn’t like the fact that Noah kept telling her what she could and couldn't do even telling her who she can and can’t hangout with. This graphic novel is one of my favorite graphic novels and the designs and colors that they have chosen to use in this graphic novel complements the storyline very well. I love the fact that they used Dark colors to show more intense movements and happy bright colors to lighter scenes. The drawings and graphic art in this graphic novel are amazing. The artwork stays true to the novels and the movie scenes as well which I love.

Just make sure you read the triggered warning first if you struggle with getting triggered from something that has happened to you or is still happening to you or someone you know. Then decide if you feel comfortable enough reading this, but this book is great for young adults and late teenagers since it explores relationships, friendships and college life. In my opinion the novel series is even more full on and the movie series is heaps less full on especially the first movie . In my opinion I would first start out with watching the movies series, of which there are five movies now. Then reading the graphic novels, then go onto reading the novel series just to make sure you won’t get triggered.

-Why I chose this book to do a book review on?

Reason one - Being because I love this franchise so much including the novel and movies. I also really wanted to get back into reading and so wanted to re-read this graphic novel in time for the second graphic novel after vol 2 release date.

Reason two - I also wanted to share with others the storyline and how there are good morels and things that you can learn from in this book, but also if you love the movies but feel like the novel series may be too full on for you now there is a less full on version for you to read. The graphic novel is between the movie and novel series more on the novel storyline but like the movie series in which it is heaps less full on.

Also in this series:

Quote #2 - “After everything, we made it. Whatever the hell our souls are made of, they are the same” - Hardin

The first two movies in the movie franchise

1 - AFTER 2 - AFTER WE COLLIDED

The first two novels in the book series

1 - AFTER 2 - AFTER WE COLLIDED

Other books you may like to read

1 - THE 100 BY KASS MORGAN

2 - PRETTY LITTLE LIARS BY SARA SHERARD

3 - ONE OF US IS LYING BY KAREN M . McMANUS

4 - LOOKING FOR ALASKA BY JOHN GREEN

More books written by Anna Todd that i also used to read

- THE LANDON SERIES (TWO NOVELS)

- BRIGHTEST STAR SERIES (FIVE NOVELS)

More books Illustration by Pablo Andres that i also used to read

- SCOOP’S (GRAPHIC NOVEL SERIES)

- ILLENIUM PRESENTS (GRAPHIC NOVEL SERIES)

💜Thank you for reading my Second book review 🩶

[xtruss]

The Tragic Backstory Of One Of The Most Haunted Roads In America

Generations Continue to Grapple with Ghostly Tales Along the Incomplete "Road to Nowhere" and Its Dead-end Tunnel in North Carolina.

— By Sara Murphy | May 30, 2024

Lakeview Drive in North Carolina, popularly known as the “Road to Nowhere,” was meant to connect areas affected by Fontana Dam’s construction. However, due to environmental concerns and budgetary constraints, the road project was never completed beyond a 6.5-mile road that leads to a dead end tunnel. Photograph By David Haas

High above Fontana Lake on the North Carolina side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park lies the Road to Nowhere: a winding 6.5-mile pass that dead ends at a 1200-foot tunnel accessible only by foot. If you walk it at night, the wind blows cold, voices carry, and the darkness seems to last forever. The park and nearby town Bryson City market the as a tourist attraction, and locals like Eligiah Thornton grew up hearing chilling tales of supernatural danger. There’s “a weird shadow over the place,” he says.

The sign “Welcome to the Road to Nowhere—a broken promise! 1943-?” reflects the disappointment felt by locals when the government failed to finish the road, which was originally planned in 1943 but remains incomplete. Photograph By David Haas

But what’s truly haunting is the tunnel’s unsettling history. In the 1940s, to facilitate the construction of Fontana Lake and Dam, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) assured approximately 200 Appalachia families that they would construct a road to enable them to visit their ancestral cemeteries in exchange for relocating their homes. However, in 1969, the government halted construction due to concerns about potential acid runoff from exposed rocks.

Although the National Park Service eventually agreed to compensate Swain County with $52 million instead of completing the road in 2010, this financial settlement has not resolved the ongoing issue: providing these families assistance accessing the 26 cemeteries now situated miles away from the lakeshore, accessible only via steep and poorly maintained trails.

“The promise was not a financial settlement. The promise was to build the road,” says Karen Marcus, a psychologist in her 60s who has five generations of ancestors across multiple gravesites. “The promise will never be kept.”

A History Buried Underwater

The Road to Nowhere families were the last of 50,000 people across six Southern Appalachian states forced to relocate so the TVA could build 15 hydroelectric dams from 1933 to 1943. While the company claims this decade of construction “transform[ed] the poverty-stricken, often-flooded Valley into a modern, electrified, and developed slice of America,” the reality of life in the Fontana Basin was far from the stereotype of the isolated, uneducated, impoverished mountain dweller.

Fontana Dam, located in western North Carolina on the Little Tennessee River, was constructed as part of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) project during World War II, primarily to provide electricity for wartime production efforts. Completed in 1944, Fontana Dam stands as the tallest dam in the eastern United States, with a height of 480 feet. Photograph By David Haas

“This was an industrial area,” says Daniel S. Pierce, a history professor at the University of North Carolina, Asheville.

As railroads began winding through the rugged terrain in the late 1880s, logging and mining companies followed closely behind, giving rise to thriving towns such as Proctor, Bushnell, and Judson—all of which were flooded and destroyed when the Fontana Dam, the largest east of the Mississippi River, was created in the wake of the Pearl Harbor attack to power a nearby aluminum plant.

While most families impacted saw their towns buried underwater, the homes of the 200 families on what’s now called the North Shore sat above the watermark. But their only access road to their family cemeteries, did not. Instead of moving these families’ loved ones, the TVA promised to build a new road so Decoration Days, an annual Appalachian tradition, which folklorist Alan Jabbour described as “an act of respect for the dead that reaffirms one’s bonds with those who have gone before,” could continue.

“You couldn’t have found a better people—mountain people—to be understand[ing of] the war effort and want to contribute,” says Leeunah Woods, whose mother, Helen Cable Vance, grew up there.

According to Lance Hardin, who studied the dam’s impact on these families, the TVA took advantage of this generosity of spirit, paying property owners an average of $38 per acre—less than most relocated families received.

As a result, land ownership among North Shore residents dropped by a quarter, and home ownership fell by nearly half. “A lot of the available, small farms were gone, and so a lot of them really struggled to find something nearby that could be a replacement to what they were losing,” says Hardin.

Pierce says that’s a key reason why the cemeteries hold such profound importance for these families: “They’ve lost their homes, they’ve lost their businesses, they lost their schools—you know, all the markers of community. But here’s what’s left.”

Keeping Tradition Alive

As years passed and no road appeared, families would make their own way to their cemeteries for Decoration Days. In the 1960s, “us boys would go fishing, and the men would go to the cemeteries and clean them off,” says Henry Chambers, chairman of the North Shore Cemetery Association. “Just being able to come over here was special.”

In 1977, after over 650 people attended a reunion the year prior for the nation’s Bicentennial, Helen Vance and her kin created the North Shore Cemetery Association to advocate for the road to be finished and, in the meantime, get government help to access their cemeteries. Since 1984, park rangers have ferried families across Fontana Lake and maintained trails for these annual visits from April to October. Chambers estimates the yearly costs, from travel costs to repairing graves damaged by weather and wild animals, to be about $8,000.

To attend a Decoration Day is to understand how connected these families are to their shared history and what they call the “homeplace.” They clean the tombstones and decorate the graves with colorful cloth flowers. After the group sings “Amazing Grace,” Marcus reads a self-penned reflection before leading a prayer. Then it’s time for a potluck, when the stories flow long and winding as the creeks that rush nearby.

Lillian Hyatt shared her scrapbook with articles profiling her great-grandmother Sarah Palestine “Tiney” Kirkland, a midwife who delivered 627 babies and designed many home chimneys. Frank March, an amateur historian from Tennessee, recalled the day 83-year-old Joe Cable, Sr. said that the sheet metal March found on his family’s old chimney was the fender of his brother’s bicycle. “He was so excited to be back there,” March says.

“The park wants everybody to believe the Smokies is wilderness. [But] it has never been wilderness,” Chambers says. Together and independently, he and March have mapped over 2700 sites—including homes, churches, schools, and mills—across the park’s 522,000 acres to prove their point.

As for the Road to Nowhere’s reputation, the North Shore families don’t put much store in it. “There’s no ghostly whatever,” says Woods. “It’s just an eerie feeling in that long of a tunnel to walk.”

With its cold concrete and graffitied stone, the Road to Nowhere is a dead place, not a place of the dead. The dead rest in the cemeteries that honor the generations of Appalachians who called this land their home.

“They need to come and see it,” says 94-year-old Carrie Laney when asked what people should know about the Decoration Days. “They’ll come back if they do.”

[izolda1]

Dr. Karen M. Bryson - Reinventing the Storyteller: From Bestselling Author and Professor to Award-Winning Filmmaker