flicker-serthes:

sebastianmichaelisthedevilwithin:

wortlby2:

germanamericanslavic:

Colorized footage of the legendary Annie Oakley speed shooting with her Winchester rifle, November 1, 1894

“When a man hits a target, they call him a marksman. When I hit a target, they call it a trick. Never did like that much.” - Annie Oakley

Idk who Annie Oakley is, but she’s so cool!

Annie Oakley was. BEAST of a marksman.

When she was fifteen, she went head-to-head in a shooting contest with a prize of $100, against a travelling exhibition marksman (Frank Butler). She beat him handily, and won the $100 (equivalent to over $2000 today). Please note that it was a shot-for-shot match, and he lost on the TWENTY-FIFTH clay pigeon (so it was a moving target, too). Twenty-five shots in a row, Annie hit them ALL.

This, understandably, resulted in Frank, who drank his respect women juice, to be like “Wow that is super hot and I’m in love.” They ended up getting married pretty soon after that, but didn’t have any kids (but IMAGINE IF THEY DID. A FAMILY OF SHARPSHOOTERS).

Some of her “trick” shooting (in other words, absolute badass nearly impossible shots given the sights on guns at the time and such) included:

Splitting a playing card clean in half from thirty paces while it was place on its edge.

Taking off the burning end of a cigarette placed in her husband’s mouth, from thirty+ paces.

Having someone throw a DIME into the air, and shooting it clean through.

She was lauded by Chief Sitting Bull for her marksmanship when he saw her blow out a candle with one shot, without damaging the wick or the candle itself.

Into her sixties, she continued breaking records as well as being a vocal women’s rights activist. She, in her later years, shot 100 clay pigeons in a row from 15 meters.

She died in 1915, and her husband was so consumed by grief that he stopped eating and died 18 days later because he couldn’t stand to be apart from her.

After her death it was discovered that her ENTIRE fortune (a tidy amount) had been secretly given to several charities, women’s rights groups, and her family in the last few months of her life.

She was legendary, and received numerous titles to go along with her abilities, but my favorite is definitely Annie Oakley, Little Sureshot of the West.

(via pancake-angst)

dragonsatmidnight:

maybe-this-time:

Everyone always wants to talk about Hook or Pan. Everyone always wants to debate which one is good and which is evil - who we’re supposed to follow and who we aren’t. The Peter Pan mythos has pretty much shrunk down to nothing but Hook and Pan (Hook, SyFy’s Neverland, Pan, OUAT, etc). Occasionally Tinkerbell factors in (Hook, Disney’s Tinkerbell, OUAT, etc). There’s one character, however, that always gets sidelined - which is puzzling since they are the main character of both the play and the book. That character is, of course, Wendy Darling.

Peter Pan is Wendy’s coming of age story. Wendy who decides to run away from home. Wendy who realizes that she must grow up - and that there’s no shame in that. Wendy who sees Peter as deficient and sees Hook as empty and decides that, no, she doesn’t want to be a part of that. Wendy gets the adventure she’s always wanted and she turns away because she realizes that it’s lacking. She’s the only one who truly sees the hollowness of being young forever. Barrie even says “You need not be sorry for her. She was one of the kind that likes to grow up. In the end she grew up of her own free will a day quicker than other girls.”

People always debate on who the hero is. When they learn that Peter could be horrid they assume it has to be Hook. Of course, the answer is that neither of them are the hero. Wendy is the hero of the story. You’re not supposed to be like Peter, who kept every good and bad aspects of being a child and can’t tell right from wrong. You’re not supposed to be Hook, either. He let go of everything childish and loving about him and became bitter and evil. They’re both the extreme ends of the scale. You’re supposed to fall in the middle, to hold onto the things about childhood that make it beautiful - the wonder, the imagination, the innocence - while still growing up and learning morality and responsibility. You’re not supposed to be Hook. You’re not supposed to be Peter Pan.

You’re supposed to be Wendy Darling. 

Hi!!!!!

I just want to point out this amazing eBook where Peter Pan IS Wendy Darling. Because trans representation is amazing.

https://lessthanthreepress.com/books/index.php?main_page=product_bookx_info&products_id=1295

You should buy this book and read it, I highly recommend it. 

brightlotusmoon:

(via mahanawhonahan)

robertreich:

A TALE OF TWO TICKETS

RR:  Hi, I’m Robert Reich.  

WKB: And I’m W. Kamau Bell.  

RR: We’re teaming up to highlight an issue that matters a lot to both of us. It starts with what you might call a “tale of two tickets.” Say you happen to be going for a drive in Oakland and your car has a broken tail light.  You see the flashing blue lights, and your heart drops. Oh no, you think, I’m going to get a ticket.

WKB: Oh c’mon, Robert. You aren’t going to get a ticket.  You’re a white, former secretary of labor. I’m 6’4’’ black guy! I’m going to get a ticket.  

RR: 6’4”?

WKB: Gentle Giant.

RR: You’re too tall.

WKB: That’s why this is “a tale of two tickets!”  You can have radically different experiences with getting pulled over depending on your skin color.

Number one: You’re more likely to get pulled over if you’re black. No surprise. In 2017 in Oakland, California, out of the almost 97,000 black people who live here, more than 19,000 got pulled over. But of the more than 116,000 white people who live here, more and more moving in every day, only a few over 2,800 were pulled over. That means you are 10 times more likely to be pulled over driving while black.  

Number two: When you get pulled over, if you are black, the officer is more likely to speak to you disrespectfully. You are much more likely to be searched, handcuffed, arrested, poked, prodded, and prosecuted. And almost all of what are called “use of force” incidents are against black people.  

RR: You know, it’s not just the likelihood of being pulled over. It’s also the consequences.

Start with the ticket itself. A broken taillight in California is usually a “fix it” ticket. If you can fix it, it costs about $35. But if you don’t or can’t pay, with penalties and assessments, it quickly goes up to $235. And in a year it can be as high as $835.

WKB: And for those who have a brush with the criminal justice system as a result of getting pulled over, who are almost all black, the costs can balloon quickly.

A so-called free public defender costs, on average, $500.

If you are convicted and put on probation, you will get a bill for $6,000 just to cover those costs.

RR: These fines and fees can easily put a family into debt – especially if you are black.  For example, the average black family as $5 in savings for every $100 of a typical white family.  

WKB: What the f***? (bleeped)

RR: Exactly.

With debt comes the risk of being hounded by predatory debt collectors.

Also, the arrest and conviction can result in the loss of a job and make it harder to get another one.

If you are on probation for a prior offense, failing to pay the debt can put you back in prison. In a tragic irony, it can also put pressure on an individual to commit a crime just to pay the debt.

This is what people politely call a cascade of consequences.  

WKB: And what I impolitely call a cascade of s*** (bleeped) on poor communities generally, and communities of color in particular.  

RR: It’s known academically as  “The Criminalization of Poverty.” And it has to be stopped.

WKB: Ok, you say, that sucks if you are poor and black. But I’m rich and white. Hey, I’ve got some news: it’s bad for you, too.

RR: In addition to being a massive drain on the economy, these fees don’t even help cash-strapped cities. Uncollected court debt for traffic and criminal offenses totaled $12.3 billion in 2016 in California alone. A lot of the fee revenue that does come in goes to collection services, that are private and for profit. Which means very little of the money that is collected winds up going to roads, bridges, schools, and other good things we all need.

WKB: That’s why we need to stop the criminalization of poverty. Have you heard of win-win? Well, this is lose-lose, non-win. It sucks. It’s bad for EVERYBODY.  

RR: Bad for poor people, bad for the social fabric, and doesn’t even help the bottom line for government.

WKB: Our home state of California is helping to lead the charge to stop the criminalization of poverty.  Go to CAdebtjustice.org for more information. Go. Don’t just watch the video. Go.

(Source: robertreich, via wilwheaton)

cinderteethe:

cedrwydden:

everydayanth:

bookwormwinnetou:

pinkbaron:

mszombi:

rabbittrabbitt:

taavot:

remember being little and thinking dandelions were fun or a pretty color or something and every adult in an 80 mile radius wouldn’t let you say that without screaming ITS A WEED

also like:

• dandelions are edible, easy to grow, and are rich in vitamins a, c, k, beta-carotene, calcium, iron, manganese, and potassium
  
• dandelions can be made into wine, tea, soft drinks, and a coffee substitute
• they are used in herbal remedies to treat liver and digestive problems and as a diuretic
• they’re good for bees!
• they make good companion plants for various herbs and tomatoes; their long taproot helps bring up nutrients in the soil and they release ethylene gas which ripens fruit
• dandelions secrete latex which means they can be used to make natural rubber 
• they make great flower crowns 

Why ARE they considered a weed? They’re a good flower? Who decided they were bad? =(

lawn culture made the decision to consider dandelions weeds

• They make great honey

“lawn culture” is such an interesting concept!

I can definitely see my neighbour back home embody it. We live in a rural area but he’s desperate to live like it’s the suburbs, and he’s trying to coerce the land around his house into being a uniform grassy lawn. So he blasts the hell out of it with herbicide and he kills the grass too, along with the lovely wildflowers. So he just has bare dirt that flows away down the hill when it rains, and he gives the bees nothing to eat.

He’s offered to spray my family’s property too, but my anti-lawn hippie dad politely but firmly declined.

Team dandelion for the fucking win!!!

Originally posted by civisiii

(via geekyday)

daybreakx:

(via shakespearevillain)

heallbeecat:

geekgirlnd:

skellerbvvt:

You know. It’d explain a lot if dragon eggs were this impenetrable substance that only could break down and safely release the fledgling if it was sufficiently surrounded by gold. And for centuries dragons just needed to dig down and find a gold vein in the mountains, and they’d return and return and return to the same area, up until human were like: hey, we have no actual use for this super soft inert metal, but we like it, so it’s ours now.

And the dragons were then forced to go: hello! I see your capitalist nightmare society is hoarding gold because it decided it had value for no reason. We need it for actual reasons. We would like ti back now.

Humanity: We sort of based our entire value system off it? So no?

Dragons: But you aren’t using it and we need it.

Humanity: Sweet. Can you pay us for it? 

Dragons: Do you accept UNENDING FIRE TERROR as payment?

So humanity was just like: ooh noooo. The dragons just like sleeping on top of gold for no reeeeason. They stole all of it because they are just terrible and greedy. So terrible. Our gold. Oh no. We need it. For richness. Oh nooooooo. You have to save us then you can be rich too.

@editorincreeps

that explains EVERYTHING

(via pancake-angst)

toastyhat:

exploring writing advice: okay…I’m gonna FOCUS. I’m gonna get my shit together, I’m gonna make every piece of this story essential and affecting and I will guide the reader to a satisfying conclusion with an imperceptible touch, like the fingers of god. this draft, for sure, will be the best one

actually writing: what do I want? what does ANYONE want? how do I know if this is ANYTHING?

(Source: toastyglow)

m-l-rio:

heywriters:

moriartysweb:

don’t hate female characters for things that you love male characters for

don’t condemn female characters for things you excuse male characters for

well wouldja look what just happened across my dash

(Source: moriartysweb-blog, via faireladypenumbra)

scripturient-manipulator:

bookmania:

Seven years after, I see you again 😚

Guys this completely changed my writing, heed it. I often do an entire draft just looking at sentence variation and oftentimes the results are absolutely transformative in the difference.

(Source: bookmania, via opalhonors)