A dazzling collection of photographs from around the globe documents different parts of the world from a beautiful but rarely seen perspective.

Hundreds of people used drone-operated cameras or climbed to towering heights to take part in an aerial image competition hosted by Photocrowd, an online community of photographers. It offers something for everyone ― featured submissions include wildlife, sports, nature, infrastructure and cultural activities.

The contest is judged by both the Photocrowd community and a panel of expert photographers who sifted through nearly 1,000 entries to choose the winning shots.

Check out some of the competition’s most popular aerial photographs:

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For 4-year-old Willow, October is all about the costumes.

With help from her mom, photographer Gina Lee, Willow dresses up every day of the month leading up to Halloween. It’s an annual tradition they call “Dress Up Willow Month.”

Willow’s mom told HuffPost that the costumes are mostly DIY, made with felt, a glue gun and random items lying around the house. Lee said they reuse many of the costumes by turning them inside out or adding different dyes ― though they also purchase a few items, like wigs on sale or dollar store props. 

They try to create costumes that are relevant to current events and pop culture, like the man who scaled Trump Tower this summer or their tribute to James Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke.” HGTV’s Joanna Gaines even reposted Willow’s “Fixer Upper” costume, which was very exciting for the mother-daughter duo. 

Lee said Willow loves dressing up, especially when dresses, tutus and tiaras are involved. This year, her BFF Cooper is involved in several of the costumes, which also makes the experience especially fun. 

“I hope she will keep doing dress up, but just as long as she is having fun,” Lee told HuffPost. “If she is not, then we will stop ... but so far, she loves it, especially when she does it with her friends.”

As for Willow’s final costume for Halloween night ... we’ll have to stay tuned!

Keep scrolling and visit Lee’s Instagram to see Willow’s magnificent costumes, and check out previous years’ editions here and here.

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Amazon show “Good Girls Revolt” focuses on the lives of a very particular group of New York women in the late 1960s. But the issues it zeroes in on are still painfully relevant to many American women.

“Good Girls Revolt” is centered around a group of women who work as researchers (never writers or editors ― those jobs are reserved for their male colleagues) at the fictional News of the Week magazine. Eventually, they decide to file a lawsuit against their company for gender discrimination.

The premise is a fascinating one, even more so because it’s based on a real landmark discrimination case filed against Newsweek magazine in 1970. The experience prompted Lynn Povich, one of the women behind the suit, to write the 2012 book The Good Girls Revolt. Actress Joy Bryant plays Eleanor Holmes Norton, the lawyer who represented the women ― and who went on to become a U.S. congresswoman. Bryant told The Huffington Post she was “so honored” to portray Norton, a game-changing presence in both the civil rights and women’s movement.

“She is, was and will always be a badass, and she was a badass during a time where it was very dangerous for women or black women or black people to be badasses,” Bryant said.

HuffPost spoke to Bryant about her portrayal of Norton, the feminist movement of the ‘60s and today, and her character’s “amazing” afro. 

Did you get to meet Eleanor Holmes Norton?

I did. I met her right before we began filming and have seen her since.

What was she like?

Every bit as awesome as I imagined her to be. I was honestly very intimidated prior to meeting her because here is a woman who has accomplished so many great things, especially during a time when she was coming up as an esteemed civil rights lawyer and she was always at the front lines of the civil rights movement and the women’s movement. She is lovely. She is brilliant. She is committed. And she’s serious about what she does, but she has a wonderful sense of humor ― and you need to, especially doing the things that she has done.

What was it like to portray her after meeting her?

It calmed me in a way. I think she liked me when she met me so we hit it off. The next thing was thinking, “I hope she likes what I do.” The last thing I would want is for her to be like, “Ugh, why didn’t they get somebody else to play me?” So there was that for sure, but I tried to put that out of my mind as much as possible and just trust that my conversations with her and my own research meant I would do her justice and I really hope that I have.

Watch the trailer for “Good Girls Revolt” below.

Early on in “Good Girls Revolt,” one of the characters explains that when she decides to have a kid she’s going to quit her job at News of the Week so she can focus on her family. When Norton decides to represent the women at the company, she’s pregnant. Was that contrast intentional?

Eleanor was and is a woman who is self-possessed and was comfortable in the work-life balance. Her career was very important to her as was being a mother, but she didn’t see there being issue with her having both of them. And it’s not so much about having it all because no one can have it all, but you can have a lot of what you want. I think at the end of the day the fight is for the choice to live your life the way that you want to live it. If you want to work and have a family, then you should be supported in that. If you decide that you want to take a break from your career to stay at home, then you should be supported in that as well.

That’s what it’s all about. It’s having the freedom to make the choices that we want and feeling comfortable and supported in the choices that we make. I think that’s what the ultimate fight of feminism is all about really. I think that Eleanor from the very beginning understood the intersection between feminism and civil rights, feminism and the struggle for black liberation, and she was always at the forefront of those issues.

In one scene, Norton tries to persuade another woman of color to join the lawsuit against the magazine. What was creating that scene like?

That was one of my favorite scenes, and it was very important to me that in my appealing to her that I try to express to her our commonality. [In the show I tell her something like], even though the box that [a white character] is in looks prettier than yours, she’s still in a box. We are connected and her fight is our fight and our fight should be theirs as well.

In actuality, the black researchers were not a part of the lawsuit, but I think that what was interesting about playing it this way is that it was great to have that conversation. It really touches on not just feminism as a whole, but also white feminism or mainstream feminism vs. black feminism, feminism of women of color. With women back then and even now, there’s often a tone deafness when it comes to women of color within the women’s movement. We all have to understand that as we talk about feminism, as we talk about things that affect women, we have to address race and we have to understand intersectionality of all these things. I feel like that scene touches on that.

I’m just wearing an afro and we’re wearing period clothes. That’s the only difference. We’re still having these conversations. We’re still breaking glass ceilings. We’re still fighting for reproductive rights. We’re still fighting for the same things.

You’ve mentioned how the show focuses on issues that are still important today even though it’s set in the late 1960s. What was it like portraying a character in the past while also acknowledging that women and people of color are still fighting for equality today?

What’s crazy and wonderful about being involved in this show is that we’re not just talking about history. I mean we are, but it’s not just something that happened in the past and that’s it. We’re talking about issues then that are still relevant now. On one side, women like the women who filed the suit, women like Eleanor Holmes Norton, the fight that they gave back then continues today and we are all beneficiaries of that. But on the other side, we’re talking about the same thing. I’m just wearing an afro and we’re wearing period clothes. That’s the only difference. We’re still having these conversations. We’re still breaking glass ceilings. We’re still fighting for reproductive rights. We’re still fighting for the same things. If anything, being a part of this show and having these conversations, I think that it made being a sister even more important to me, not that it wasn’t before but to see myself within this struggle more clearly I walked away with a stronger sense of sisterhood. Also it was frustrating because it’s like, “We’re still talking about this shit.”

It’s only as the people in power start to see their power slipping away that they grab harder and tighter.

It’s so relevant and now as we’re approaching the dawn of the first female president ― please, Jesus [laughs] ― it is more relevant than ever before. The same way we were when we elected a black president, some people thought that we were automatically post-racial. Electing a female president doesn’t mean that we’re post-sexism or post-misogyny at all. It’s only as the people in power start to see their power slipping away that they grab harder and tighter, so I think it’s only going to get gnarlier. We will be on equal footing one day, but the fight continues. And I think being on this show really brought that home. It’s not just a story that I read. It’s not just something that happened. It’s still happening and we, beneficiaries and fighters, are very much a part of the fight still.

Did you find any scenes especially difficult to shoot?

As we were filming, one more black body after another black body was being gunned down by police ― unarmed citizens, unarmed black citizens. It felt like as we were filming it was just like, “Jesus Christ.” And I think that everyone is feeling that in a way, or they should. As this show is primarily focused on the women’s aspect of human rights and civil rights, it was also a volatile time then in our country when black people and people of color were fighting for their lives. And we’re still doing that. We’re still talking about gender equality and workplace discrimination and we’re still talking about segregation and we’re still talking about police brutality and we’re still talking about these things. I think the current times definitely affected me to play the past in a way.

I think it’s difficult in general to constantly see these images and hear the stories of unarmed black people or just black people in general being murdered by police. That is traumatic. That is race-based trauma and as a black woman how could I not be affected by that? As I’m playing a woman who again was at the front lines, who was with Medgar Evers hours before he died before he was assassinated, who was down in Mississippi, who was fighting a fight. So I can’t help but be even more charged coming on set every day because it’s like, “Damn, when are things really going to change?” Again the fight must go on.

So now that the show is finally about to come out, why should people watch “Good Girls Revolt?”

“Good Girls Revolt” is a great show touching on some issues that everyone can still relate to now, but also shining light on some really great women who fought for their right to write. So many women have benefited from it. I think it’s a great moment in history that has gone unsung for a long time. And who doesn’t love the ‘60s?

Exactly.

Oh, and my afro is amazing! That is actually the main reason that they should watch the show. My afro is doing all kinds of things.

I’ll just put that down as your answer then. 

That’s right. Two words: my afro.

“Good Girls Revolt” will be released on Amazon on Friday. The pilot is currently available to watch for free.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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One mom’s love for fairy tales sparked the idea for a magical mural in her daughter’s room.

Jennifer Treece of Livonia, Michigan, painted a mural inspired by the Disney movie “Tangled” for her daughter, 8-year-old Gianna. The mural on Gianna’s bedroom wall features the movie’s famous floating lanterns and its characters, Rapunzel and Flynn Rider, in a boat on the water.

Treece has always had an interest in art, but she only began painting seven years ago.

“I have been creative since I was a child, but I chickened out in art school right away and switched to advertising,” she told The Huffington Post. “I attended one of the best art schools, the College for Creative Studies, but I never even took a painting class.”

After about a decade of not thinking about fine art, Treece took some painting lessons with a colleague and painted a vineyard in one of her friend’s dining rooms. Now, she especially loves painting pieces inspired by fairy tales. The “Tangled” mural she painted took 60 hours, and her daughter was there every step of the way.

“She saw me painting it from beginning to finish. She would come home from school and run in her room to see what progress I had made,” Treece said. “I always had the movie playing on repeat as I painted and after it was completed she said she missed seeing me paint and hearing the movie playing.”

Now that the mural is complete, Treece and her daughter love reading books before bed and admiring her work. The talented mom plans to add a few more finishing touches to make the mural come to life even more.

“I plan to paint some clear UV paint over the lanterns and put a black light between her bed and the wall and I’m pretty sure they’ll actually look like they’re glowing,” she said.

Treece has also done paintings featuring Belle from “Beauty and the Beast” and Sleeping Beauty. She told HuffPost she can’t put her love for fairy tales into words and lets her art do the talking for her. Treece especially enjoys Disney-inspired pieces because of the nostalgia they bring.

“It gives me genuine joy,” she said. “I love playing the movie while I paint and its like I’m transported into my favorite worlds and I get to create my very own scenes in them. It feels magical.”

Treece hopes to one day become a licensed Disney artist as well as a children’s book illustrator, two occupations that will ensure her love for art will last a long time. 

“Similar to when you finish a good book and you don’t want it to end, I get to jump back in and spend time there and make my own creations in them,” she said.

See more photos of the “Tangled” mural below. For more of Treece’s work, head to her site or her Facebook. 

H/T ABC News

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“Don’t play stupid / don’t play dumb / vagina’s where you’re really from!*” These glorious words comprise the powerful (and dangerously catchy) chorus to Pussy Riot’s new song “Straight Outta Vagina.”

The danceable number, which features Desi Mo and Leikeli47, is the latest from the Russian punk group, whose members spent nearly two years in a Russian prison after criticizing Vladimir Putin in their 2012 performance “Punk Prayer.” 

In their newest song, Pussy Riot lodges their message at Putin’s non-best friend Donald Trump, whose history of verbally and physically abusing women is truly sickening. 

It’s ironic, Pussy Riot reminds us, that the man who so cavalierly bragged about grabbing women “by the pussy” owes his very existence to it. Although it’s hard to listen to the song without thinking of all that’s at stake in this maddening current political climate, the powerful lyrics are about so much more.

“This song could be considered an answer to Trump,” Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova told The Guardian. “But I believe the idea of powerful female sexuality is much bigger than any populist megalomaniac man … Vagina is bigger than Trump.”

Check out the full video below, and keep reading to memorize the lyrics. Nasty women of the world, we hope you’re singing them all the way to the ballot box.

*We don’t know if Trump was born via Caesarean section ― and frankly, he probably doesn’t either ― but we assume Pussy Riot is using “vagina” pretty loosely here.

Does your vagina have a brand?
Let your vagina start a band
If your vagina lands in prison
Then the world is gonna listen
 
My vagina is tough and dangerous
Shaking up the major labels
Vagina gonna take the stage
Cuz vagina’s got a lot to say
 
Don’t play stupid
Don’t play dumb
Vagina’s where you’re really from

Don’t play stupid
Don’t play dumb
Vagina’s where you’re really from
(Where you from?)
(Where you from?)

Vagina gonna win the race
Vagina gonna play in space
Vagina gonna top the charts
Vaginas fill your shopping carts

Vaginas in the art museum
And people buying tickets just to see ‘em
Put your pussy on a diet
Then paparazzi gonna start a riot
 
Don’t play stupid
Don’t play dumb
Vagina’s where you’re really from

Don’t play stupid
Don’t play dumb
Vagina’s where you’re really from
(Where you from?)
(Where you from?)
 
V.A.G.I.N.A.
We got pussy for days
Back up, pussy don’t play
First they come and then they stay

You gon’ always gonna find it when you need it
You gone’ always come back and repeat it
Oh, cuz you know where home is
Go down like you know what dome is

Woah now man I’m losin focus
Va jay jay on hocus pocus
Don’t act like you don’t notice
Girls run it like U.S. Open
Throw a fit right now (right now)
Put up a fist right now (right now)
Cuz you the shit right now (right now)
Probably acting like a bitch right now
 
Don’t play stupid
Don’t play dumb
Vagina’s where you’re really from

Don’t play stupid
Don’t play dumb
Vagina’s where you’re really from
(Where you from?)
(Where you from?)
 
My pussy my pussy
Is sweet just like a cookie
It goes to work
It makes the beats
It’s CEO, no rookie
From senator to bookie
We run this shit, go lookie
You can turn any page, any race, any age
From Russia to the states
We tearing up the place
 
I rip shit like Sinead O’Connor
I wear my vag as a badge of honor
I take pride in the way we rise
One love to Maya Angelou, the 8th world wonder
How we do it all sometimes I wonder
I could play nice so I can bring that thunder
So sad I gotta end right here
But this vagina gotta go make them numbers
 
Don’t play stupid
Don’t play dumb
Vagina’s where you’re really from

Don’t play stupid
Don’t play dumb
Vagina’s where you’re really from
(Where you from?)
(Where you from?)”

CORRECTION: An earlier version included the wrong among of prison time served by Pussy Riot members. Two members of the group were locked up for nearly two years. 

Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.

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On Monday, Drake released a controversial new song which appears to take aim at fellow rapper Kid Cudi over his recently publicized battle with mental illness.

Needless to say, the blob from those Zoloft commercials wasn’t happy. He swiftly released a no-holds-barred rap diss (above) about his newfound beef with Drake.

Beat courtesy of The Passion HiFi.

If you or someone you know needs help, call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Outside of the U.S., please visit the International Association for Suicide Prevention for a database of resources.

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Paul Beatty was on Tuesday named as the first American to win the prestigious Man Booker fiction prize, for “The Sellout,” a biting satire on race relations in the United States.

The narrator of “The Sellout,” an African-American called “Bonbon” tries to put his Californian town back on the map, from which it has been officially removed, by re-introducing slavery and segregation in its high school.

The 289-page novel begins with “Bonbon” facing a hearing in the Supreme Court, looking back over the events that led up to that point.

The language is uncompromising and may offend some readers. So might some of the content - one old black film actor asks to become Bonbon’s slave - as Beatty lampoons racial stereotypes. The protagonist’s father is unjustly shot by police.

“This is a hard book. It was hard for me to write, it’s hard to read,” said a tearful Beatty immediately after winning the award at a ceremony at London’s historic Guildhall.

“For me, it’s just really gratifying that something that’s important to me is also important for other people,” he later told a news conference.

Chair of the five judges for the 50,000 pound ($60,900) prize Amanda Foreman said “The Sellout” had been a unanimous choice, reached after a meeting lasting some four hours.

“It plunges into the heart of contemporary American society with absolutely savage wit of the kind I haven’t seen since Swift or Twain,” she said.

“It manages to eviscerate every social nuance, every sacred cow, while making us laugh and also making us wince ... It is really a novel for our times.”

Asked about the language, Foreman said, “Paul Beatty has said being offended is not an emotion. That’s his answer to the reader,” Foreman said.

“The Sellout” is 54-year-old Beatty’s fourth novel. He has also edited an anthology of African-American humor.

It was publisher Oneworld’s second Man Booker victory after winning the 2015 prize for “A Brief History of Seven Killings” by Jamaican Marlon James.

Beatty said he would not have written the book had his partner not persuaded him to apply for a grant that allowed him time to complete the book.

“I don’t like writing,” he said. “I’m a perfectionist in some ways and I get easily disgruntled and discouraged with what I’m doing.”

Apart from the 50,000 pound prize, each of the six shortlisted authors wins 2,500 pounds ($3,045) winning the Man Booker can have a major impact on a writer’s sales and readership. James told Reuters recently that winning the prize can have a “seismic” impact.

In its 48-year history, the prize has gone to authors including Salman Rushdie, Hilary Mantel and Margaret Atwood. Three years ago the rules were changed to cover any novel written in English, regardless of the writer’s nationality, and published in Britain. Previously it was confined largely to authors from the Commonwealth.

Since January, the judges have read 155 novels before whittling the pile down to a “longlist” of 13 then a shortlist of six.

This year’s shortlist comprised works by two Britons, a Briton born in Canada, a Canadian and two Americans.

Deborah Levy, whose “Hot Milk” was in the final six this year, has been on the shortlist before, while Ottessa Moshfegh’s “Eileen” was her debut novel.

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On the heels of Pussy Riot’s “Straight Outta Vagina” video comes “Organs,” the new music video from Nadya Tolokonnikova, founder of the Russian punk group.

The latest video, which makes its premiere on The Huffington Post, finds Tolokonnikova in a bathtub, surrounded by blood, with a rubber duck in tow. 

Sung in Russian, the politically-charged song takes on law enforcement and women’s rights, as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the lyrics: “Putin’s gofers, crooks, thieves / Iron curtains, prison grub, locks / Jail corridors, chords of bars.”

The lyrics are especially poignant as the members of Pussy Riot served nearly two years in a Russian prison after criticizing Putin in their 2012 “Punk Prayer” performance in Moscow.

“There are a lot of scary ways how government could try to suck on your energy and life,” Tolokonnikova told HuffPost. “They could imprison you for singing. Or they could kill you for speaking up against them as they did with Russian anti-Putin politician Boris Nemtsov. They could close all independent media outlets. And they could control your body and sexuality. They could try to swallow your vitality and creativity.”

Tolokonnikova also drew a comparison between Russia and the United States, addressing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. “Strangely and frightening, this bullshit, which is happening in Russia, goes in line with what’s going on in U.S., in some European countries, such as Poland. Attacks on Planned Parenthood, Trump’s willingness to make abortions illegal.”

She added, “Do you really want to live according to tradition? Do you want to make America or Russia great again? OK, go for it. You’re living in a free country, as they say. You don’t want to end unwilling pregnancies with an abortion, like Trump? Then cut your balls, motherfucker, and there will be no need for abortions. But leave my pussy alone and don’t touch me with your dirty tradition. Relax, man.” 

Watch the exclusive premiere above.

Check out the song’s English lyrics below:

 Law enforcement bodies, bodies, bodies, bodies
Bodies in cassocks and bodies in uniforms
Bodies, bodies, bodies, bodies
Bodies, bodies, bodies in uniforms

 Female orgasm faces obstacles 
My strap ons are being replaced with uniforms and icons
Shitfaced parliament bans condoms
Agony, spasm, big bang of the falling down crown
My country is suffering from neurosis worse than Anna O’s
My government is total waste, laws are useless
They promised us economy and military defense, but we’ve got none of these
See what we’ve got instead: FSB, prison camps, handcuffs, fences,
Putin’s gofers, crooks, thieves,
Iron curtains, prison grub, locks, 
Jail corridors, chords of bars
Why i have to see just damn jerks’ faces in the homeland of avant-garde?
Dickheads!
Lockdown make me even meaner
While i’m eating shitty brick food in a jail wagon
Looking at wardens’ snouts

 Law enforcement bodies, bodies, bodies, bodies
Bodies in cassocks and bodies in uniforms
Bodies, bodies, bodies, bodies
Uniforms in heads, uniforms in prisons

 My president replaced his dick with an ICBM
Freedom and bondage is the same shit now
But when instead of inserting cocks they insert tanks in my town
I refuse to be just a proton
The theatre is over, the wars began
I’m a grandma who has changed her sex and became a grandpa
Fuck you, dear pigs
I reject you and your Putinist crap
I never know which one of my moves will become my last moan

 Law enforcement bodies, bodies, bodies, bodies
Bodies in cassocks and bodies in uniforms
Bodies, bodies, bodies, bodies
Bodies. I set a bickford fuse on fire

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The apocalyptic nightmare that is the 2016 election is almost, really truly, so close to being over.

If, for any reason, you are not already haunted by the dank trash that Republican nominee Donald Trump has littered all over the American people’s consciousness, photographer Jean Malek is here to summarize all the very worst moments, in photographic form. 

In his series “Locker Room,” Malek revisits the most grotesque instances of trumpery that occurred throughout the campaign. “The current campaign is unique and very entertaining,” the photographer wrote in an email to The Huffington Post. “I wanted to visualize what felt like a significant moment in contemporary culture.”

In “Miss Housekeeping,” a reference to Donald’s abuse of former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, a beauty queen in a bikini and Mexico sash reclines sensually on the carpet, holding a feather duster. In “Second Amendment,” a toddler in a superhero outfit plays in dangerous proximity to a rifle.

The most disturbing image is easily “#GHBTP,” a close-up shot of a Trump lookalike groping a woman’s genitals. The title references Trump’s now notorious gloat about grabbing women “by the pussy” without their consent. 

Trump grossly wrote the comments off as “locker room talk” ― Malek directly references this moment in his series title. Yet, the running list of women who’ve accused Trump of sexual assault in recent weeks proves otherwise. 

If you recently woke up from a coma, relocated to the U.S. from outer space, or for any other reason were somehow unaware of the horrid circus going down in American politics right now, please enjoy this summary of recent and truly disturbing events. 

When asked what he hopes viewers take away from the series, Malek responded appropriately: “I like to leave it up the the viewers. I never wanna dictate what people take away from my images. What I’m saying is that [I] will tell you at the time. I’ll keep you in suspense, OK?”

We’re so close, everyone. 

Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly
incites
political violence and is a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-911_565b1950e4b08e945feb7326"> style="font-weight: 400;">serial liar, href="http://www.huffingtonpost
.com/entry/9-outrageous-things-donald-trump-has-said-about-latinos_55e483a1e4b0c818f618904b"> style="font-weight: 400;">rampant xenophobe,
racist, style="font-weight: 400;">misogynist and href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-stephen-colbert-birther_56022a33e4b00310edf92f7a"> >birther who has
repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from
entering the U.S.

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Halloween is around the corner ... are you going to throw away your shot?

With the popularity of “Hamilton: An American Musical,” it’s only natural that Hamilmania has extended to All Hallows’ Eve. Last year was the first Halloween #Hamilween started cropping up on social media, but this year there’s been a full-on explosion. 

Look at how lucky we are to be alive right now:

The costumes this year have been beyond impressive ― a lot of them homemade. 

Even Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda’s been loving the Hallow-hype.

Which is good, because people are even dressing as Lin himself.

Then of course, because we can’t have anything nice, there’s also this Ali Hamilton costume. 

Yeah, it’s a sexy Alexander Hamilton costume. But, you know, just pretend you didn’t see that. Here are some more #Hamilween-ers.

 Now, go forth with your own Hamil-costume and ... blow us all away.

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How are these legs so shiny? Or are they shiny at all?

This photo, shared by Instagram user leonardhoespams, launched a debate approaching “The Dress” proportions over the impossible glossiness of the legs.

LOOK AT THESE LEGS:

It turns out, the legs’ polished appearance comes from a few well-placed streaks of white paint. And, as we all know, once you see it, you can’t un-see it. 

The photo was originally posted in September, but a Twitter repost caused it to go viral, Mashable notes.

As always, folks on Twitter gave this a lot of thought:

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Jovan Israel, a 25-year-old Mexican artist, is making it his mission to create artwork that represents the experiences of the LGBTQ community in Mexico.

The Mexican government is trying to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide, and lawmakers have recently passed a series of anti-discrimination laws to protect gay rights. But members of the LGBTQ community still face several challenges within the devoutly Catholic, macho culture. Rates of transphobic violence in the country are among the world’s highest — a report this year estimated that a total of 120 transphobic murders took place in the country between 2008 and 2013.

Besides physical violence, Israel picked up on the Mexican media’s failure to represent the LGBTQ community. “We are a country that does not consider our ‘minorities,’” the artist told HuffPost Mexico. “There is no inclusion in mass media, and, if there is, it is limited such that it generalizes these identities.”

Israel’s illustrations, which are often inspired by dreams, ex-lovers, friends, or “people who don’t even exist,” aim to question and explore the lives of the LGBTQ community, to which he belongs.

The artist thinks of his work as a tool to empower communities that society tries to “conceal and stigmatize.”

“We are not viewed as people: We are treated as ‘deviants,’ ‘freaks’ or ‘sickos.’ Someone must take the responsibility of representing the other side, and representing the thousands of ways which we can actually be,” he told HuffPost Mexico.

“It is of the utmost importance to show people that there is a world beyond heterosexuality, the binary, and all the imposed identities.”

More of Jovan Israel’s illustrations appear below (note that several of them are explicit and may not be appropriate for all readers):

This piece originally appeared on HuffPost Mexico. It has been translated into English and edited for clarity. 

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Ariell Johnson, the Philadelphia woman who made history in January by becoming the first black female owner of a comic book store on the East Coast, is making big moves once again.  

The 33-year-old, who owns and operates Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse in Philly, currently appears on a variant cover for the latest issue of Marvel’s “Invincible Iron Man #1.”

Johnson, whose store promotes diversity and inclusion in geek culture, shares the cover with fictional character RiRi Williams, the teenaged black girl genius who also just happens to be the new Iron Man.

Randy Green, a colleague of Johnson’s, petitioned for her to be included on a cover after an email went out about potential variants for stores earlier this year. 

“I knew what it was supposed to look like,” Johnson told ABC News, “But having the actual art in front of you is so much different. It’s really exciting.”

She added: “When you are a person of color, you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel to find someone you can identify with. I always felt like I was watching other people’s adventures.”

Now, not only does Johnson share a cover with black female superhero, she also serves as a real-life superhero for young people of color interested in comics, gaming, and all things geek culture. 

The variant cover will go on sale in November, sold exclusively at Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse. 

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Sharbat Gula, who appeared in the iconic “Afghan Girl” image on a National Geographic magazine cover, was arrested in Pakistan for identity fraud on Wednesday.

She now faces up to 14 years in prison and a fine of several thousand dollars, according to Agence-France Presse.

Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency had been investigating Gula since 2014 for living in Pakistan with fake ID cards as part of a nationwide crackdown on the practice. She used the name Sharbat Bibi, officials said.

“FIA along with security forces came, entered her house, searched all belongings and took important papers including $2,800,” her brother-in-law, Shahshad Khan, told Reuters. He claimed that she was living in Pakistan legally.

Photographer Steve McCurry took her picture when she was a young refugee who had fled a Soviet-invaded Afghanistan to the Pakistan camp.

The haunting image became a symbol of the plight of refugees after National Geographic published it on its June 1985 cover. It was even compared to Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting The Mona Lisa because her green-eyed stare is so haunting. NatGeo has also made a documentary about her life called “Mona Lisa of Afghan War.”

McCurry went searching for her 17 years later and found her living in Afghanistan’s Tora Bora region. Her husband was already living in Peshawar, Pakistan, and working in a bakery.

“She rises before sunrise and prays. She fetches water from the stream. She cooks, cleans, does laundry,” NatGeo writer Cathy Newman said in 2002 after finding Gula for the second time. “She cares for her children; they are the center of her life.” 

There are almost 1.6 million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan, according to United Nations Refugee Agency data. The UNHCR plans to assist in repatriating 60,000 people to Afghanistan, but it said that many are reticent to make the journey back to their home country out of fear of losing economic stability.

Tens of thousands of Afghans have also fled toward Europe in recent months, but the European Union struck a deal earlier this month to send them home.

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The world has changed a lot since 1908, when the Chicago Cubs last won a World Series.

Back then, Orville Wright was trying to fly a plane. Henry Ford had just produced his first Model T automobile. The radio was only a few years old (and podcasts were but a dream).

With the Cubs back in the World Series for the first time since 1945 ― trying to end the longest championship drought in all of the American professional sports ― we decided to pull together some photos to show just how long it has been.

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There was Jean Valjean. Then Alexander Hamilton. Now there’s Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. Let’s face it ― Broadway has always had a thing for scrappy characters in period garb.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ice Cube and “Hamilton” director Thomas Kail are working on a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ beloved novel Oliver Twist. And ― wait for it ― the modern take on an English classic will also be a genre-crossing production reportedly involving hip-hop. Sound familiar?

THR reported that Disney Studios is producing the theatrical take along with Cube Vision and production stalwart Marc Platt. Cube and Jeff Kwatinetz are writing the musical treatment.

Need an Oliver Twist refresh? Dickens’ frequently adapted 1830s novel tells the grim story of a child laborer named Oliver who, after being sold into apprenticeship with an undertaker, escapes into a world of street crime led by the petty thief Artful Dodger. Cube, who’s co-writing and starring in the musical adaptation, will play Fagin, the leader of Dodger’s crew of young pickpockets. 

We shouldn’t necessarily expect the musical version of Twist to feature the pickpockets, porridge and cap hats we know from Dickens’ original, though. (In fact, a Lionel Bart musical already did that.) If it’s a “modern” riff on Oliver and co., anything is possible.

If you remember, “Hamilton” ― the hip-hop sensation that’s smashed records and influenced Democratic National Convention speeches ― was almost set in modern times, too. In a previous interview with The Huffington Post, designer David Korins explained that, initially, the cast members were going to be in high-tops and jeans, singing and dancing on an all-black set with a metal catwalk.

“It was going to be a slick modern thing to match the language,” he said. Of course, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award–winning show didn’t end up being modern. It took place before and after the American Revolutionary War, muskets, cravats and all. 

We have reached out to Disney for comment on the production but have yet to hear back. There’s no date attached to the “Oliver Twist” musical per THR, so you have plenty of time to speculate on where and when the modern version of the story will take place. 

Editor’s Note: We successfully avoided making a joke about “Hamilton” fans who thanked Broadway but asked for another. You’re welcome.

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Deep breaths, everyone. There are less than two weeks till the 2016 election comes to an end. We thought this might be a good time to look back at some of the most absurd and most iconic photos of this campaign season.

From Donald Trump’s escalator announcement to that time a bird landed on Bernie Sanders’ lectern to Hillary Clinton’s major enthusiasm for balloons ― yep, those all happened. 

Check out the photos below and remember we’re almost done. 

Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.

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With Halloween and Election Day occurring so close together, it’s only natural that revelers may want to get political with their costumes on October 31. 

But election-themed Halloween costumes aren’t just for grown-ups. These adorable babies and kids are showing how to get into the political spirit. 

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If reality looked like Tom Curtis’ son’s art, we’d live in a pretty strange but awesome world.

Curtis, who lives near London, uses Photoshop on artwork his son, Dominic, makes to combine his drawings with reality. The dad has been adding these effects since Dominic was 5 and began posting them on an Instagram account called Things I Have Drawn when Dominic was 6. Dominic, now 7, creates eccentric animals, houses, boats and even people through art.

Curtis told The Huffington Post that he and Dominic often go out and take the specific photos that he later Photoshops to mimic his son’s art. Dominic loves seeing his dad’s final results, and his favorite one so far is the “flying robot dinosaur” ― for obvious reasons.

“Probably because of the fire out of his bum,” his dad said.

Curtis’ Instagram account that features his son’s art and his images has 48,000 followers as of Wednesday. He said the attention his work has received in the last week alone has been “a bit surreal.” He has also posted art from Dominic’s sibling, Alistair.

The creative dad wants the project to go beyond Dominic and Alistair by sparking creativity in all kids. 

“This isn’t just about Dom and Al. There are loads of kids out there with a huge amount of talent,” he said. “I think creativity is under threat a bit and kids need to be encouraged.”

See more of posts from the Things I Have Drawn Instagram below.

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It’s been almost 20 years since “My Best Friend’s Wedding” debuted, and ultimately became one of the best rom-coms ever made. So, why the heck haven’t we been given a sequel yet??

Well, according to Dermot Mulroney, who played Julia Roberts’ best friend Michael in the 1997 movie, a spinoff could happen ... maybe ... one day. 

“I’ll say whatever I want about the sequel ― the phantom sequel for ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding,’ but it’s not real, people!” he told The Huffington Post during an interview on Tuesday. “I’m supporting the fact that this seems like a good idea, but I want to emphasize that it isn’t a real thing,” he added, laughing about the fact that these kind of stories go crazy due to the internet age.

“I started getting asked that [during the ‘August: Osage County’ press tour] and then it becomes a whole thing!”

Still, the actor is well aware that “My Best Friend’s Wedding” is very beloved, and that fans would love to check in on Michael and Kimmie (Cameron Diaz), as well as find out what happened to Julianne (Roberts).

“I guess we can’t call it a classic yet [but] there’s so few [rom-coms] since then that were as well made or that just had the same kind of legs that this has,” Mulroney said, explaining his secret to rom-com success. “It took me this long to actually analyze why that movie stands out from the crowd of romantic comedies ― it’s, she’s a sad clown. It’s a melancholy movie. And that’s what’s funny about it. It’s like somebody slipping on a banana peel. We love that. And all of the other romantic comedies, they’re focused on the girl and the guy getting together. ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ is the exact opposite. So I’ve just given away a secret formula.” 

When push comes to shove, Mulroney, who is currently starring in “Pure Genius” on CBS, seems like he’d be more than happy to reunite with his real-life friend Roberts if the time was ever right. (Screenwriters of the world, make the time right!)

“I have nothing but great memories of that [movie],” Mulroney gushed. “There was a period shortly after it was out that was like, ‘Oh, please, go away, leave me alone.’ And that passed, and I’m back to really just, I can’t believe that I’m in a movie that has that kind of staying power.” 

For more with Dermot Mulroney, watch our full interview below. 

Hit Backspace for a regular dose of pop culture nostalgia. 

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