#fear street packs twitter

[iconsfilm]

sadie sink icons + taylor swift headers PLEASE!!!!

like or reblog if you save | headers not mine cr to the owners

[jonahdeforest]

Zola: Digital Storytelling and Racial Performance

“Y'all Wanna Hear A Story?...”

Zola is a glittering piece of postmodernism, filtering the infinite jest of touch screen technology through the medium of film. This is appropriate, considering its source material – a 148-Twitter thread from 2015. Narrated with lacerating wit by Aziah “Zola” King, the thread details the Detroit-based waitress’ wayward excursion to Tampa. Packed with suspenseful twists and turns, it's only natural that it eventually became a feature length film. After years of middling in development hell, Zola was eventually released in 2020. Directed with auteur sensibilities by Janicza Bravo, Zola uses a road-trip from hell to interrogate (or subvert) American race-relations, transaction and bodily autonomy. 

The plot unfolds on the heels of a newfound friendship. Zola (the magnetic Taylour Paige) meets Stefani (Riley Keough) at her waitressing job and the two strike up a bond. Both strippers on the side, they appear to be cut from the same cloth – funny, street-smart hustlers and practitioners of a particular brand of femininity. This femininity is one patterned off of Black womanhood and Stefani, who is white, is shameless in her racial posturing. With stray braids, slicked down baby hairs and the unmistakable accent of a white girl imitating Blackness, Stefani represents a post-racial spectacle of appropriation. Keough delivers a comic tour-de-force performance, ringing each AAVE-inflect line with the appropriate amount of misplaced conviction. That Keough is the granddaughter of Elvis is not really relevant, but it does add just a pinch of subversiveness to the proceedings. 

Shortly after they meet, Stefani invites Zola to strip with her in Tampa. Joining them are Stefani’s misbegotten beau (Nicholas Braun, giving a masterclass in patheticism) and her enigmatic, increasingly shady “roommate” (Colman Domingo). Zola comes to discover that she is in the throes of a trafficking scheme and that Stefani’s intentions may not be as innocent as she proclaims them to be. In her essay “Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance,” author/academic bell hooks writes of cultural appropriation and its manifestation in the media at large. She writes that, “The overriding fear is that cultural, ethnic, and racial differences will be continually commodified and offered up as new dishes to enhance the white palate – that the Other will be eaten, consumed, and forgotten.”

In many ways, Zola functions as a story of otherness – specifically White consumption of the other. Stefani is the walking embodiment of white consumption and continual exploitation/coercion of Zola only emboldens this quality. Zola, on the other hand, is expected to look out for Stefani, opining at one point, “Who’s looking out for me?” This line is indicative of Zola’s compromised safety as a Black woman – a figure who is expected to take care of everyone but herself. When Stefani tells her pimp that, “Zola made me a whole new bitch,” she is literally referring to Zola’s help in increasing her net value in the realm of sex work, but more implicity speaking her debt to Black womanhood as a means of adornment. 

Zola and Stefani are depicted as mirror images of one another, both literally and figuratively. Bravo follows in the footsteps of many a psychodrama in her choice to present the two as spiritual twins. Walking down a hallway in corresponding outfits or gazing upon their reflections, they are both augmentations of one another and so completely diametrically opposed.

Elsewhere in her aforementioned essay, hooks states that, “Cultural appropriation of the Other assuages feelings of deprivation and lack that assault the psyches of radical white youth who choose to be disloyal to western civilization.” This feels like an appropriate diagnosis of Stefani, someone who exists outside of white parameters and thus adopts Blackness in relation to her perceived outsider status. 

Bravo has described her films as existing a step-away from reality. This is fitting for a film like Zola, which renders a stranger-than-fiction story into filmic material. In a profile of Bravo for The New York Times author Jenna Wortham wrote:

Her movies are reminiscent of being on psychedelics — the way even the most mundane interactions become revealing, exquisite and worthy of intense examination, and the way something humorous can seem sinister for a flicker of a second before shifting back into levity. Bravo specializes in exploring the way seeing clearly can happen in an instant and permanently alter your experience of yourself and your life.

Bravo walks a tonal tightrope, but through the imaginative force of her storytelling, manages to pull it off.

Shimmering in neons and buzzing like a smartphone, Zola occupies a distinctive sonic and visual landscape. There are qualities that seem like a callback to old Hollywood: orchestral swells and grandiose title cards. These stylistic nods come across a little cheeky, especially considering the ways in which Zola rejects the Hollywood formula. Aided by playwright provocateur Jeremey O. Harris (who co-wrote the screenplay), Bravo presents a narratively frenetic fever dream that sidesteps convention at every turn. Even though Zola is unequivocally the narrator, the nature of authorial authority is subverted in a sequence where Stefani speaks to the camera, telling her side of the story.   

In the Western sphere, stripping is one of the more fascinating, and literal, representations of our bodies’ entanglement with capitalism. The physicality, the need to appease and titilate, the showering of dollars. All of it seems like a particularly charged ritual of commerce. Zola does not incriminate the profession nor does it glorify it. For the titular character, the act of stripping has an autoerotic verve to it: through it she is able to explore the dimensionality of her selfhood. This is most evident in a sequence in which Zola envisions the different personas she can adopt before a performance. Repeating, “Who you gonna be tonight?,” she appears in multitudes, as if in an elaborate musical number (yet another moment that made me recall the stylistic grandeur of Old Hollywood).  

If this moment is any indication, Zola is a film in which pleasure and pain are offered up with equal aplomb. It is a disorienting and spellbinding exercise in absurdism, confounded by the fact that its story is ripped from the digital headlines.

Work Cited:

bell hooks, “Eating the other: Desire and resistance.” In Black Looks: Race and Representation, pp. 21–39. Boston: South End Press, 1992.

Wortham, Jenna. “How She Transformed a Viral Twitter Thread about Sex Work into a Sinister Comedy.” The New York Times, The New York Times Company, 16 June 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/06/16/magazine/how-she-transformed-a-viral-twitter-thread-about-sex-work-into-a-sinister-comedy.html.

@theuncannyprofessoro

[fruity-boy-bruno]

Hey guys look at this really cool and funny hylics fanfic my bf was too shy to post himself (Too many weird sex jokes)

Emperors new clothes 

by (my boyfriend)

Ozozoieer was pilligang and plunging and found this absolutely sickening new outfit for Lord Gibbulous and he thought wow he’s gonna look so hot in this I bet he’s shredded I bet he has a six pack I bet he’s gonna dick me down in this <3 

Wow ok

So Odozier immediately told gibby though his hylicsworld iPhone X and dmed him on hylics Twitter (Odozier is like Elon musk in hylicsworld btw and bought Hylics Twitter). 

Lord Gibbulous, I bear news of a sick new outfit that you’ll look tooootalyy hot in<3 xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoo odozier 

Anyways on his way back to lord Gibbys palace or whatever he lives in he ran into Wayne and freinds. They kicked his ass to Sunday and the outfit got completely ruined!!! 

Gibby was already on his way to see what this new outfit was all about and he did NOT have time to do more pillaging and plundering so he had to think of something fast. The water cup on his desk began to shake with Gibbys footsteps not because gibby was all that humongous I mean he was but not that big, it was mostly his huge ass pusspuss. 

He was almost at the door so our boy Odozier had to think fast! 

“Lord Gibbulous! How good to see you. Your sick new clothes are on the Hylics couch” “Odozier I will punt you into space for your indescretions. There is NO outfit on that Hylics couch. You have lied to me” said Gibby, with his face contorting in a mixture of disgust and disappointment. “Oh but you see my lord, look closer! Only the smartest and coolest and best people in hylicsworld can see these clothes.  Cant you see them, Lord Gibbulous your majesty?” Odozier looked away and giggled at the camera, giving the audience a knowing wink. “O-of course I can see them you fool!” Retorted Gibby. And with that, Gibby began to very sensually strip in front of Odozier who sneakily took out his Hylics phone and took a picture, uploading it to getaloadofthisguy.com. Gibby was now fully butt ass naked in the living room and pretended to pick up the “clothes” on the Hylics couch. Putting them on, he examined himself in the mirror, flexing a little bit and trying to hide his visceral fear that he could not see the clothes. Odozier feigned amazement and went on about how hot he looked and that they should have sex. 

Gibby brushed him off, saying that the people needed to observe his fine specimen and that sex could wait until after everyone knew how cool he looked in these clothes. 

Gibby walked out of his palace butt ass naked with his ass hanging out and his pussy trying to escape, slapping the ground as he walked. 

everywhere Gibby went, people looked at him in shock and awe. Not because he was wearing a really really sick outfit, but because he was just butt ass naked in the middle of the street and everyone was running and covering their children’s eyes. “Lord Gibbulous, why are you out in the streets in your birthday suit?!” Said the people, their children running inside. “You fools! You absolute morons! You buffoons! You peasants! You dumbasses! You uneducated baboons! You simpletons! You weak minded animals! You slack jawed idiots! These are clothes only visible to specimens of the highest Hylics IQ such as myself” “Gibby you are straight up NAKED!” Shouted a familiar voice from afar. It was… Wayne Hylics! “No Wayne. Of course you’re too much of a simple minded slack jawed fool to see my outfit. I assure you I am fully clothed” said Gibby with a smirk. “EW WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT” shouted Dedusmuln gesturing to Gibby’s “fat gibbulous” otherwise known as his ASS. Everyone wished they were back under the spell of madness now so they wouldn’t have to see his gaping gussy (gibbulous pussy) and “waning moons” (ass). “Do you like my outfit, Dedusmuln?” Asked Gibby. “No” he said as they all rolled d20s for initiative because that’s how Hylics works. Somnsosa got initiative and they all snapped and slapped and soul crispered each other until gibby got his ass kicked because he was naked and didn’t have any garbs or items because he had no pockets to keep jack shit in. The end

Epilogue

Gibby and Odozier fuckednasty the end 

[drsonnet]

The moment Israel BOMBED Gaza’s Baptist Hospital. Over 500 are reported dead. This is a crime against humanity.

quotes from Twitter:

Al Jazeera correspondent, Wael Al-Dahdouh: 🔴 What we witnessed in the Baptist Hospital were horrific, horrific images: body parts and dismembered bodies of children, young people, old men, and women. 🔴 We cannot speak from the horror of what we witnessed. 🔴 We saw piles of meat packed in bags.

BREAKING: Israel bombed the Baptist Hospital in Gaza, killing at least 500 Palestinians – patients, nurses, doctors, sheltering refugees. The hundreds injured may die soon as Israel is still refusing to allow aid, including medical supplies. This is a grave war crime.

The #IOF airstrikes have just hit Al-Ahli hospital (a Christian missionary hospital) in central #Gaza where 1000s of people were sheltering & getting treatment from prior bombardments. About 500 were killed and thousands injured. Another carnage has been committed! #MedTwitter

Israël vient de bombarder un Hôpital à #Gaza tuant entre 200 et 300 personnes. Un crime de guerre atroce #Gaza_Genocide #Gaza_under_attack

(At the hospital. I saw dead bodies, people covered in blood (theirs and their loved ones). I saw children screaming out of fear. I saw entire families sleeping on the floor, in the streets. They told me they’re hungry, they’re tired. They just want this genocide to stop.

[cowboytarlos]

Wilmon head-cannons:

>Wilhelm startles super easily. Like super easily. Simon doesn’t. Like at all. Wilhem has tried, not once has he succeeded.

>Simon hates crowed spaces. Wilhelm hates them too, but for different reasons. Simon doesn’t like how crowded it is, how it absorbs his personal space. Wilhelm hates the loud noise. The noise is too overwhelming.

>Simon is incredibly clumsy. Can’t walk in a straight line, bumps in everything (has bruises all up his shins), constantly drops things. Wilhelm will hold on to him when they are near roads so he doesn’t walk into moving traffic (it’s never happened but it’s his biggest fear).

>Simon is scared of dark. Wilhelm can’t sleep unless it’s pitch black. Simon will have some sort of light on when he falls asleep, Wilhelm has learnt to sleep with it, as he’d rather that than Simon be nervous.

>Simon can’t do his shoelaces. His mum desperately tried to teach him, but it just never clicked with him. Wilhelm will always do them for him. Simon at this point doesn’t even need to ask.

>Wilhelm has a really bad peanut allergy. Like people around him can’t have it, sort of bad. Since Simon found out, he hasn’t eaten it since, and makes sure every-time he comes round it isn’t in the house.

>When Simon is tired or anxious or stressed, he’ll go very silent. It freaks Wilhelm out every-time. Because he doesn’t know what to do to help, and it scares him. Simon has reassured him multiple times him being there is enough, but Wilhelm will always try and cheer him up.

>When on buses, they’ll share headphones.

>Wilhelm can’t count the amount of times Simon has fallen asleep on his shoulder. He’ll take photos of him asleep of him every-time with the intention of making fun of him when he wakes up. But he finds Simon too cute when he’s just waken up to ever actually do it.

>Simon loved the intricate lego sets as a kid, but could only ever afford the large box with random lego pieces in. When Wilhelm found out, he bought him one of the rocket packs cause Simon talked about it a lot.

>Wilhelm can wake up with one alarm. Simon takes like ten before even considering it.

>Simon loves cats. He’ll pet every single cat he sees on the street and follows twitter feeds which post cat videos. But he’s allergic. Wilhelm tells him every-time it’s isn’t worth it but Simon never stops.

>Wilhelm will never shout around Simon. Goes out of his way not to, because he knows it makes him anxious.

>Simon’s hands are always cold. Wilhelm’s are always warm.

>Simon is, well how Wilhelm has nicknamed it, a master of his emotions. What he means by this is, he really good at covering up how he’s feeling, mainly ‘bad’ emotions. If he isn’t feeling happy, Wilhelm can’t figure out from his face how he’s feeling.

>Simon is really bad with wearing sunscreen but never burns, only tans. Wilhelm wears 50 spf and burns still.

>Wilhelm makes fun of their height difference all the time. Simon doesn’t find it funny. (He finds it alittle funny, but he’ll never admit that)

>Simon is dyslexic, was diagnosed when he was 7. Wilhelm never comments on misspelt messages.

>Wilhelm gets carsick, Simon gets seasick.

[kellysbookblog]

GOD OF VENGEANCE BY MICHELLE HEARD

Release date: August 26th

Genre/Tropes: GrumpyVsSunshine / TT Jealous/Possessive / Arranged/Forced Marriage / Touch her and die

Series: Book 5 of the Kings of Mafia Series

Complete standalone!

CHECK OUT THIS GORGEOUS COVER!

Mark your calendars for August 26th, because GOD OF VENGEANCE by Michelle Heard is coming your way!

Make sure to preorder this all-new standalone, forced/arranged marriage, mafia romance TODAY!!

Pre-Order on Amazon!

US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D5JHSD15

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0D5JHSD15

CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0D5JHSD15

AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0D5JHSD15

Add to GR:

 BLURB

From USA Today & Wall Street Journal bestselling author Michelle Heard comes a new STANDALONE, full-length MAFIA ROMANCE novel.

I was born into the Cosa Nostra, so I've always known an arranged marriage loomed in my future.

When the Capo dei Capi of the Cosa Nostra comes to Sicily to give his approval for his cousin, Stefano, to take me as his bride, I know my fate is all but sealed. Marrying Stefano is the last thing I want, but being a woman, I don't have a say in the matter.

Damiano Falco is merciless and rules the Cosa Nostra with an iron fist. Everyone fears him and won't dare go against him.

I'm still trying to accept that I'll have no choice but to marry Stefano when Damiano utters the last word anyone expects to hear.

"No."

He doesn't give his approval, nor does he offer any explanation.

But if I think his refusal will set me free, I have another thing coming. Instead, my bags are packed, and within hours, I find myself sitting on a private jet with the head of the Costa Nostra.

The ruthless man doesn't tell me anything, and I have no idea what my future holds.

To say I'm terrified is the understatement of the century.

About Michelle Heard:

Michelle Heard is a Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling Author who loves creating stories her readers can get lost in. She resides in South Africa with her son where she's always planning her next book to write, and trip to take.

Connect w/Michelle:

Website: https://michelleheardauthor.wordpress.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHeardAuthor

FB Readers Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/118971435201074

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authormichelleheard

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MichelleAHorst

Amazon: https://amazon.com/author/michellehorst

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18108320.Michelle_Heard

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/michelle-heard

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@michelleheard_authorNewsletter Signup: https://preview.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/p6m4o4

[difficultdomains]

affection

summary: after suguru leaves, you notice curses lingering around you. you go to confront him about it, but by meeting him again, you discover that some things seem to remain intact, even when you expect them to have been broken long ago.

c/w: sfw, sorcerer!reader, cultleader!geto, swearing, smoking & cigarettes, lovers to enemies to lovers kind of??, reader was negatively impacted by geto leaving & is lowkey obsessed with him, geto is lowkey obsessed with reader hehe, POV switches, no use of y/n

w/c: 1.2k

a/n: this was a just random thought that refused to leave my brain after i saw this (artwork by the great @521jie on X/Twitter!!). this is the verY first time i’ve ever written a proper fic (in my noTES APP ekkxkd) and posted it soooo (hELP LMAO) see it as an experiment. anyways enjoy - or don’t, your choice.

💿: no devotion - TENDER (A-side) // ache - FKA twigs (B-side)

An auditory hallucination.

There was no other plausible way to explain this.

When he heard his own name cutting through the pattering hum of the rain, he couldn’t help but choke on the cigarette smoke he’d just inhaled, violent coughs instantly ripping through his lungs.

Lured into turning towards the strangely familiar voice, he expected to be met with nothing but endless rows of trees surrounding his temple.

Auditory and visual? Can‘t be.

It really was you - stalking towards him through the muddy grass, hair glued to your wet cheeks, and wearing a scowl he had never seen on your face before.

His name slipped over your lips again, raw animosity packed tightly into each syllable. It made his heartbeat stutter - but not out of fear. He tried his best to suppress a smile.

”You need to stay the fuck out of my business,” you snarled, almost baring your teeth at him like a wild animal.

You looked disheveled at best, uniform dirty and ripped like you‘d just come from a fight - or a particularly rough mission.

He tilted his head, losing against the lopsided grin that spread across his lips.

You were even more alluring than he remembered.

Your stance, your demeanor, your energy - you were there, right in front of him - but you felt so different.

It must be true then.

Mere months after he had left, the rumours surrounding you caught up to him. You had changed, evolved, fallen heir to that damned position that previously belonged to him.

It had made you impulsive. Reckless even.

There were whispers of binding vows and devilish pacts - your soul exchanged for power. That one he could only ever scoff at.

Ridiculous.

Your soul was already spoken for, traded on a mellow spring evening many years ago, the same day he had lost his own.

Through the nagging ache in his stomach he had tried to convince himself that you were someone who wouldn’t venture out and look for trouble - just because you could.

At least that’s who you used to be.

So the very moment he sent out that first curse, tasked solely with keeping a watchful eye over you while you complete your missions, he was aware that you would absolutely hate this - if you ever found out.

And now it seemed like you had.

”You came all this way just to tell me that?“

He took another drag of his burned-out cigarette, feigning nonchalance to conceal his shaky hands. Fucking adrenaline.

”This could’ve been a text, darling.“

Withstanding the look of your frozen-over eyes was easy. But he did wonder if the ice around your irises was unbreakable.

You scoffed at him. What a bastard.

Three years.

For three whole years, you had seen remnants of his face in every person you passed on the street. Found traces of his energy in every grotesque curse you exorcised.

The slope of his nose, the curve of his lips, the limitless patience in his eyes - you were cursed with never forgetting them. There was hardly a day where your subconscious hadn‘t forced you to face him, awake or asleep.

And now there he was - flashing you that same old stupid smile. Your lungs constricted with every breath.

His hair was longer than the last time you’d seen him, his features sharper, more refined. You clenched your cold fingers into fists, physically denying yourself the primal urge to just reach out and touch.

He must have been woven out of pure magnetism, his mere presence was enough to pull you towards him. It was impossible to blame anyone for mistaking him for some celestial being and finding themself trapped in his orbit.

You had been his first victim, after all.

However, he had made his choice.

And you had made yours.

A definite, irreversible reminder, stomping out any links that existed between you two.

Or at least it should have.

The driving anger that had brought you here in the first place crept its way back into your guts, pushing away any residual fondness and making you cross your arms and lift your chin. You were not going to humor his remark with a response.

“Why?“ A demand, not a question.

“Why do you send them after me?“

No combination of words could answer this without revealing to you what was locked away deep in his chest.

He chuckled quietly, seemingly unbothered, but his restless hands gave him away, driving cracks into his carefully crafted facade. They disappeared into his pockets, only to pull out a pack of cigarettes.

“For old times‘ sake?“

He extended his arm, just enough so you could reach the top of the pack but not the fingers that held it at the bottom.

You glared at him with knitted eyebrows when a bright orange something, carefully stuffed between the remaining cigarettes, caught your attention.

When you realized what you were looking at, your eyes widened, instantly shooting back up to his face.

His grin had turned sheepish. Caught.

”Your lighter. Is it-„

”Yes.“

Slender fingers quickly pulled the lighter out, throwing it to you effortlessly.

You managed to catch it, flipping it around in your palm a couple of times. It was cheap, worn out from extensive use, and painfully ordinary.

Scribbled on the back, however, was an almost faded, uneven black heart. Done with an equally cheap permanent marker and by no one other than yourself.

You had given it to him a lifetime ago, shortly after the two of you had acquired your first shared pack. You had felt so awfully grown up back then.

”I can’t believe that thing still works,” you whispered, more to yourself than to him.

His eyes darted away from you as if you had turned into the blinding sun herself.

”I take care of it, you know.“

Did you just walk into a trap?

You took in a sharp breath, the implication that came with the tiny mundane object in your hand was more than you could handle.

Your vision blurred for a fraction of a second, you tried to blink it away - but all you could see in front of you was him. Not the cult leader, the murderer, the curse user. Just him.

He’d expected many things to happen between the two of you, but not this kind of silence. Curiosity overwhelmed him, forcing his gaze back onto your face.

What he found there was a kaleidoscope of emotions, rapidly flickering across your features. Like hinges on a rusty old gate, they broke, tearing down what you had so rigorously molded around yourself.

The window he was peering through was small - and he could feel that he had absolutely no time to lose.

So he gave in, cutting across the two wooden steps leading down from the veranda, cigarettes long forgotten and dropped. Cold, merciless little daggers of rain immediately punctured his skin, but when his hands found your skin, it was so velvety, so warm under his touch.

You flinched at the familiar contact and closed your eyes. The soft pads of his fingers on your cheeks were a siren’s song, engulfing you, tugging you further and further into depths that you knew you wouldn’t ever be able to emerge from.

He didn‘t move his hands away.

You didn’t want him to.

His fingers brushed across your right cheekbone until they found their way through the tangles of your hair and to the back of your neck. He gently pulled you towards him, until your foreheads met and the air you breathed became the same.

”I‘ve been expecting you. Every day.“

Eternity passed.

You opened your eyes.

Maybe it was just the reflection of his own eyes in your blown-out pupils.

But there it was again.

Affection.

I’m kinda playing with the idea of writing a what happens after to this, but who knows…

[mybookplacenet]

Featured Post: Do You Believe in Magic? by Jim Melvin

About Do You Believe in Magic?: From the author of The Death Wizard Chronicles comes a new adventure suitable for teens and adults. Do You Believe in Magic? is book 1 of Dark Circles, a fantasy trilogy for readers 13 and older. This is a great coming of age series for fans of J.K. Rowling, Neil Gaiman, and Brandon Sanderson. Book 1: Do You Believe in Magic? (May 25, 2023) Book 2: Do You Believe in Monsters? (Oct. 30, 2023) Book 3: Do You Believe in Miracles? (February 2024) Book 1 synopsis: After discovering a magical waterfall deep in the forest, a boy and his dog embark on an epic adventure in a fantastical world filled with monsters and magic. In the real world, Charlie is a 13-year-old nerd picked on by bullies. But in the fantasy world, he becomes a wizard wielding formidable powers. Standing in his way is a vile monster bent on destruction. Only those with a hero’s heart will have the courage to stand at Charlie’s side when the war begins. Targeted Age Group: 13 and older Written by: Jim Melvin Buy the ebook: Buy the Book On Amazon Link to Series Buy the Print Book: Buy the Book On Amazon Author Bio: Jim grew up on the shores of western Florida, and he spent much of his childhood swimming in shark-infested waters long before the movie "Jaws" put a scare into everyone. At the time, he probably was too skinny to attract a bull shark's attention. About ten other boys Jim's age lived on his same street, and they hung out morning, noon and night playing the usual sports that young boys love — football, baseball, "kill the carrier," etc. — but as a group they also played fantastical games that contained magic, monsters and superheroes. It was in this setting that Jim's imagination was born and nurtured. Jim's latest work is book 1 of a teen fantasy adventure trilogy titled "Dark Circles," which is about a group of kids who are transported to a magical land where it can be deadly to sleep. Book 1 titled "Do You Believe in Magic?" is now available on Amazon and officially launched on May 25, 2023. Book 2 titled "Do You Believe in Monsters?" debuted on Oct. 30, 2023. Book 3 titled "Do You Believe in Miracles?" is set for February 2024. The "Dark Circles" series is appropriate for ages 13 and older. This is a great coming-of-age series for fans of J.K. Rowling, Neil Gaiman, and Brandon Sanderson. Jim is the author of "The Death Wizard Chronicles," an action-packed, six-book epic fantasy for mature readers that was published by Bell Bridge Books. Book 1 is titled "Forged in Death." It is followed by "Chained by Fear," "Shadowed by Demons," "Torn by War," "Blinded by Power" and "Healed by Hope." Jim also has three short stories related to the series: "Torg's First Death," "The Black Fortress," and "Rise of the Sun God." "The Death Wizard Chronicles" is appropriate for ages 18 and older. Jim is also the lead writer and editor for the nonfiction book "Eclipse Over Clemson: The day Tigertown will never forget," which chronicled the Aug. 21, 2017, total solar eclipse that passed over Clemson University. The on-campus event which Jim coordinated was a once-in-a-lifetime experience attended by more than 50,000 people. Jim lives in a valley surrounded by mountains in the Southern Appalachians. He was previously an award-winning journalist at several large newspapers and a communications director at Clemson. Follow the author on social media: Learn more about the writer. Visit the Author's Website Facebook Fan Page Twitter Read the full article

[toughgirlchallenges]

Rav Billan - Passionate runner; running for fun, her mental health and to keep fit. Run streaking outside for the past 5 years, and completing the London Marathon in 2022!

Rav is a mum of 3 teenagers and works as a management consultant. 

Rav only found running later on in life when she was in her late 30’s. She started running to prove a point to someone who said she couldn’t run. Rav soon realised that fitness initiatives such as Park Run and races just weren’t for her.  

Her joy for running came from the solitude and peace she found while on an empty trail or a calm street.  

Rav now runs for fun, for her mental well being and to keep fit. In 2022 she completed a goal she had had for 20 years - running the London Marathon.

  Rav is currently on a run streak where she has been running outside every day for almost 5 years. She is also training for her next challenge: a 32 mile / 52k Ultra Marathon in the Peak District taking place in the Summer of 2023! 

“Find what makes you happy. Do more of it”

  New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast go live every Tuesday and Thursday at 7am UK time - Subscribe so you don’t miss out. 

The Tough Girl Podcast is being sponsored throughout March by Inov-8. www.inov-8.com

Get involved with the #MarchDailyMile Challenge. Run 1 mile everyday in March. 

  Show Notes

Who is Rav

42 year old, mum of 3 teenagers

Celebrating her 5 year run streak in March 2023

Her early years and growing up in a strict Indian family 

Not being sporty

Being pushed down the academic route

Deciding to join a gym

Getting her first pair of trainers when she was 36

Joining a hotel gym and going at night

Getting into swimming 

Starting her IG account to document her fitness journey 

Buying trainers

The motivation behind wanting to run

Wanting to prove people wrong

Not wanting to be seen in public

Deciding to run outside on the 17th May 2017

Doing a 12 week fitness challenge which involved running 200 miles

Setting running goals

RED January

The power of spending 30 mins outside each day

Meeting Scott who was run streaking 

How the purpose of the run streak has changed since she started

Motivating herself to run on the tough days

London Marathon 26.2 miles 

Dealing with imposter syndrome

Having social anxiety while running and not being able to do park run 

Getting a plan in places for races 

Running plans being stopped due to covid and doing the virtual London Marathon 

Doing 9 virtual marathons in 12 weeks 

Finding the training hard when running 18 miles+

Joining a fitness program - Six Pack Revolution

Not being able to run the London Marathon in 2021

Dealing with injury and the recovery process while still running every day

Losing her running confidence

The unofficial running community!

Getting over her mental block when running longer distances

Getting her running confidence back and starting to work with a running coach

Dealing with the fear of getting injured again 

The start line of the London Marathon 2022

Being a glam runner - hot pink lipstick and shades!

Being supported by friends 

Wanting to make the most of the day

The toughest part of the race and struggling around mile 16 and mile 24

Not wanting to do another road marathon again 

How to connect with Rav

Top tips and advice to help you get out running 

  Social Media

  Twitter @ravbillan 

  Instagram @ravbillan 

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