#i’m actually hillarious

[stuckcampinginalaska]

simon “receding hairline” henriksson

[stardynamite]

I found this doodle page that i made over the SUMMER (yeah it’s from a while back) and honestly? Its not as bad as i remembered it to be lmao (also, this was when mutant mayhem came out)

[aerinfrankellove]

CAPTAIN HILARY KNIGHT

[sallamie]

going as cadet kelly for halloween im hoping people will get it and if they don’t i will officially know that i am old

[ciderjacks]

men never had to live thru middle school 2016 listening to all ur male peers and acquaintances and friends start talking about how they hope every woman in power gets beheaded and how they think women are inherently lesser and calling women “bitches” on the reg and saying how they’d rape and murder Hillary if they could (“leave her out back still full of cum dissected and shit”) and claiming it would be “deserved”.

and it shows.

[shadathebookworm]

Love seeing posts going around now saying “hey remember how there were bots in 2016 painting Hillary Clinton as evil and that trump wouldn’t necessarily be worse doesn’t that feel familiar rn” and then saying to report people saying similar things or that not voting is the only moral choice

Your “better choice” is actively aiding a genocide

[qqueenofhades]

The 2025 project seems to reflect that the Republican Party is becoming more and more fascism, but it actually reflects the growing number of extreme nationalists, misogynists, and racists among ordinary Americans. US is a democracy, and politicians rely on votes to stay in power. The fact that the Republicans dare to draft such a project shows that they are confident it will gain significant public support. Politicians aren’t fools; they wouldn’t pursue something that only a small group agrees with while the majority opposes it. The global rightward shift is evident, and though I’m not American, my country is also deteriorating in many ways. Why is this happening? Because the economic base determines the superstructure?and in recent years, the global economy has been in decline?

Mmmm, I'm gonna have to challenge you here.

First of all, it's just flatly not true that there's a "growing number of extreme nationalists, misogynists, and racists among ordinary Americans." That movement has become more vocal and visible in post-2016 America, but there's absolutely no evidence -- and indeed, a lot of evidence to the contrary -- that their numbers are growing instead of shrinking. The Republicans got lucky with Trump's win in 2016 thanks to a combination of decades of anti-Hillary smears, extensive Russian interference/psyops, the anti-democratic Electoral College, and general misplaced complacence that he was never going to win and people didn't need to bother voting for two disliked candidates. They've flatly lost every competitive nationwide election since then -- 2018, 2020, 2022, and very probably 2024. In between, their hand-picked Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade (guaranteeing the right to an abortion in all 50 states) and set off a titanic tidal wave of voter support for abortion rights, even in very dark red states like Kansas and Kentucky (which are not liberal by any stretch of the word). In fact, the Republicans' (flatly false) excuse that they just wanted to "return [abortion rights to the states]" has been unveiled as another lie due to their desperate attempts in this election cycle to ratfuck voter-approved abortion questions off the ballot in Arkansas, Missouri, Florida, and elsewhere. This is a badly losing issue for them, even in deep red states, and they don't want people to vote on it, because they hate democracy. We'll get to that.

Likewise, polls of "culture war" issues like LGBTQ+ rights, abortion rights, immigrants' rights, etc., consistently get much more support among ordinary Americans than not. The ordinary public is becoming more liberal, not less, even in the face of constant aggressive and reactionary attempts to undo the sum total of social and civil rights movements from the 20th century. Republicans' views are getting less popular, not more, and this is also driven by the ongoing demographic change in America. Within a generation or two, whites may be in the statistical minority, and that deeply terrifies people whose entire political and social identity is built on ethnostate white supremacism. The reason Republicans are getting so extreme and antidemocratic now is because the electorate is getting younger and younger, more diverse, more accepting, and less tolerant of their age-old bullshit. As such, there is a very visible window of time outside which the Republicans will not be able to win competitive nationwide elections, even despite all the advantages they're building into the system and have always had. That terrifies them. It is also why they have decided to destroy democracy.

Which leads us into your next assertion that "US is a democracy, and politicians rely on votes to stay in power. The fact that the Republicans dare to draft such a project shows that they are confident it will gain significant public support. Politicians aren’t fools; they wouldn’t pursue something that only a small group agrees with while the majority opposes it." Yes, maybe, in some exceedingly generic logic that doesn't take any account of the actual situation in the US and the fact that the Republicans have made their hatred for democratic free and fair elections very, very clear. This is why Trump pushed the "election fraud" Big Lie in 2020 and sent a mob to attack the Capitol in an attempt to prevent the certification of Biden's win. This is why states controlled by Republicans have frantically enacted as many voter suppression and voter-removal laws as possible and conducted constant purges to get voters (especially the mysteriously missing 1 million Democrats in Florida) off the rolls. This is why they talk approvingly about Trump being "a dictator on day one." This is why they have pursued a decades-long strategy to capture the federal judiciary (by installing extreme right-wing hacks to the bench and then funneling extreme-right legislation into their courts to get a favorable ruling and/or send it to the extreme-right Supreme Court). And on, and on, and on. The Republicans are explicitly aware that their ideas cannot win in a free and fair election, because their ideas are terrible, and as such have been taking massive, ongoing, and coordinated efforts to disenfranchise American voters, expose them to lakes of sordid Russian propaganda/psyops in favor of Trump, double down on the xenophobia and white nationalism to stoke Fear Of The Other, and everything else they possibly can to prevent voters from voting for their opponents. They hate democracy and they are not counting on democratic methods to implement Project 2025. They intend to do it by secretive oligarch methods funded by right-wing billionaire dark money and their Russian friends. That's the whole point.

Indeed, you can see that in the fact that as soon as Project 2025 became widely known and therefore widely hated, the Republicans were thrown into a panicked fluster of disavowing it and insisting that Trump didn't actually know about it (which is a lie, but that's all the day). Because it is electoral kryptonite, they are trying every single method they can to lie to voters long enough to get into power and do it anyway. Authoritarians can often come to power through democratic elections, but once there, they do their utmost to degrade, erode, or otherwise destroy the institutional safeguards that prevent them from keeping power forever. Trump is a literally textbook example of this and he has made his intentions very clear. He flat-out told a group of Republicans at an event earlier this year that "we'll fix it so you won't have to vote again." He already tried a coup and somehow the Republicans nominated him again, because of the deep corruption of the party on every level, but the Republicans are not doing Project 2025 because they think it will organically generate popular support (and they know it doesn't.) It's a blueprint for a tiny group of extreme right-wing theocrats and fascists to get their way regardless of what the broader public says about it, and represents the culmination of decades of far-right power-play strategies related to exploiting economic, racial, social, and cultural grievances. They're doing this now in order to lock in their power before long-term demographic changes make it impossible for them to win another democratic American election. So their solution is to get rid of democratic American elections, the end. This is explicitly a project for permanent minority rule. They know that and that's what's driving their strategic choices here.

As such, essentially saying that the Republicans aren't really fascist, and/or the real problem and/or are just giving an increasingly fascist American population what they want, removes any moral responsibility for their deliberate choices and legitimizes the populist claim to be acting "for the people" instead of a corrupt institutional system. Everyone knows the many, MANY problems with American politics and government; we don't need to go through them again. But even if they were "just giving the people what they want," which as noted above they're not, it still wouldn't make it okay or defensible. To use the obvious example, just because Hitler was popular and democratically elected in 1933 doesn't make what he did right, and the social forces that propelled him to power weren't just a passive "reflection" of The People's Will but were shaped by the larger fascist-curious interwar 1930s. In fact, America also had a burgeoning fascist movement in the 1930s, driven by WWI and Great Depression fallout, but Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal explicitly created extensive government mechanisms to support society, provide new jobs and welfare, and other integrative and restorative economic methods. This crucial difference in approaches -- the New Deal vs. the Nazis -- is why America remained democratic despite the challenges and Germany fell into autocratic genocidal fascism.

This is because populism and dissatisfaction with democracy rises when people feel that the government is not listening to them, is not responsive to their needs, is ignoring them, or otherwise not doing what they want. It is driven by multiple factors, primarily but not only economic, and it is stoked by powerful interest groups who have a vested interest in using the fissures to discredit democratic governments and movements. It is also by no means limited to America, as you note at the end. Think of the decades-long campaign by the British media against the EU, driven by British isolationism and exceptionalism and a sense that the petty bureaucrats in Brussels had no right to be telling the almighty British Empire what to do. This created and stoked existing social grievances which were often domestically caused (since as Margaret Thatcher destroying the British social-welfare state in the 1980s) and turned that grievance against an external opponent who was easier to blame. As such, as we know, it led to the country voting for Brexit in 2016 despite what a whopping, overwhelming, incredible own goal that was and continues to be for the UK, especially economically and socially. It was obviously dependent on many contextual factors from British history, politics, and culture, and there were certainly many people who actually thought it was the right thing to do (and not just about racism, which uh, hmmm), but it's very difficult to think that this organically or naturally came about without a direct and extensive popular-pressure campaign designed to do just that.

People often vote against their own interests because they have been convinced that democracy is corrupt or ineffective or "just as bad" as authoritarianism, which allows illiberal populists to rise to power. These populists often use racial, religious, or cultural grievances, especially against perceived "outsiders," to artificially stoke existing prejudice and justify crackdowns and/or consolidations of their own personal power and destruction of institutional systems and safeguards meant to stop them from doing that. That's how we got Erdogan in Turkey, Bolsonaro in Brazil, Orban in Hungary, and Trump in the US. Other authoritarian movements around the world are also driven implicitly or explicitly by the massive autocratic and antidemocratic global influence disinformation machine headed by Putin in Russia. As such, it's not accurate to insist that this just represents a simple passive "rightward shift" among the global population overall. It is happening because it has been designed and manipulated and pressed into happening. It can still be electorally resisted, which is also the most effective strategy for removing authoritarians, but if we fail to vote out Trump once and for all in 2024, it will be MUCH harder and much more deadly.

Overall, to simplistically claim that the Republican party is just giving the increasingly fascist Americans what they want and expect it to derive broad popular support is, as I have demonstrated above, a diametrically backward conception of the problem. The Republicans are deliberately and increasingly fascist because they realize that very soon, if allowed to continue operating in its accustomed fashion, the American democratic system and American public opinion is going to make them obsolete. They're racing the clock to cement permanent super-minority rule, and to change the rules overall, before America's shifting demographic composition and ideological mindset locks them out. That is why they are throwing so much misinformation, fearmongering, lies, Russian propaganda, and everything else that they can think of at this election, to get Trump and loyal Project 2025 footsoldier Vance into the door before the door slams shut for a long time. That is why this election is so fucking existentially important and why it is so crucial to accurately conceptualize and describe the problem, what it is, and how to respond to it. As such, while I otherwise don't do this much anymore because I no longer have the desire to argue with the people who are likewise brainwashed in the opposite direction and insist it's a Pure Leftist Moral Duty not to vote against fascist authoritarianism (as, uh, also happened with the fragmented and infighting German left-wing opposition in 1932 and good thing nothing bad happened next):

The end.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

aita for deceiving a psychiatrist with lies to get diagnosed with a psychological disorder so i could get attendance accommodations at school where it was really nazi strict and evil forced attendance and they would fail me for not going to class EVEN THO I DID EVERYTHING TO THE TOPS?????? Sick fucks tbh. May those “educators” burn in torment💖 i wasn’t allowed to have my anxiety/agoraphobia/aversion/truancy/YOUTHFUN absences excused bc of the fasc policies in place as a standard in our christofascist bluemaga joe biden hillary fucked bernie in the ass dry clinton fake woke coopting bullshit society. so because of their nazi policy i had to find a way to get accommodation bc clearly i couldnt be in class every day in a row and needed leniency, not academo nazi policy, i was like. Fuck it let me get my papers for that accommodations letter approval. Bc like i had already been going to the counselors for stress and general social bullshit So since i wasn’t allowed to use that for accommodation i hd to make sooo many months long appointments w this far af psych and i didnt have a car and what an added stress. They were like “we dont got a car to pick you up like a normal fucking doctors place. Take the bus!” Ok die first. Next fucking help me!!! I did the meds they really sucked bc i guess i didnt need it and it was all side effects, no benefits, and i was like FUCKING DIAGNOSE ME!!! after reading the DSM5 and “practicing whats wrong w me” so that they are like . Hm yeah that sounds bad. Then IN THE END IT WAS A FUCKING PERSONALITY INVENTORY THEY USED TO ASSESS MY ILLNESS. IT WAS A BAR GRAPH. It was bullshit service in the goddamn american healthcare system and then bullshit actual healthcare bc it was fucking fake. Dumb psych couldnt even tell i wasn a liar???? DUMBASS BITCH LOSER FAGGOT CUNT SCUM. I remember how they made me wait AND CHARGED ME WHEN I MISSED AN APP BC IT WAS SO FCKN FAR AND ANOTHER BC I TOOK A NAP. CHARGING UR POOR MENTALLY ILL CUSTOMERS??? They can explode forreal💖and so can the dumb school policy bitches who couldnt just let me get my A had to be like ohhh cant accomodate u even tho u hve a 98 u are gonna fail :/ DIE ON FIRE SCREAMING YOU SCUM BITCH!!!! <-me to that professor nazi. May she be tortured. ANNMYWAY im sorry to everyone who’s gone thru academic ableism and abuse by this bullshit system!!!!! my school ended up being transphobic and zionist so i transfered anyway bc i dont want that bullshit on my titles. I’m glad i got my classes accomodated tho! I only wonder if im legally beholden to that diagnosis or if we can just be like fuck that doctor. Hm. Like i lied 😂 ffbsjfbsjfbjsnfjekfnsjs FREE ATTENDANCEE THOOOOOOOOOO it should be like that always for everyone. Kill every nazi teacher forreal. And kill teachers who dont give free B’s. Fuck your grade curve bitch. Fuck your admin. FUCK IT ALL!!!!! And i know its possible bc ive had actually good teachers. Hmmm the nazis WISH they could hide!!!

[cleolinda]

A narrative in links

I want you to hear "In the Hall of the Mountain King" in your head while you read this:

Backlash after comedian at Trump rally calls Puerto Rico 'island of garbage'

Racist jokes about Puerto Rico at rally bring anger and disgust: ‘Truly how the Trump party sees us’

Why Trump can’t pretend his rally’s anti-Puerto Rican racism was just a joke

If That Puerto Rico Joke Doesn’t Cost Trump, [running mate] JD Vance’s Reaction Will ("I think that we have to stop getting offended at every little thing in the United States of America, I’m just so over it")

Tony Hinchcliffe doubles down on racist Trump rally jokes despite backlash: ‘Change your tampon’

Trump’s Shock Comic Was Set to Call Harris a ‘C*nt’

‘F*** These Racists’: Geraldo Rivera Tears Into MAGA After Trump’s MSG Rally

Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, Ricky Martin & More Amplify Kamala Harris After Trump Rally Comedian Trashes Puerto Rico

[GOP Speaker of the House Mike Johnson] fields questions from Latino voters about ‘stupid’ Puerto Rico joke

Trump’s Puerto Rico fallout is ‘spreading like wildfire’ in [swing state] Pennsylvania

Fallout from Florida Latinos fierce following racist jokes during former president’s NYC rally

Florida's Rick Scott [who is running for re-election] touts support for Puerto Rico after racist joke at Trump rally

Trump Rages at Fox News as His Allies Panic Over NYC Rally

Trump campaign struggles to contain Puerto Rico October surprise

It is absolutely sending me that this is what finally did it. To get everyone on the same page here, an "October surprise" in American politics is something unexpected that derails a political campaign at the last minute, right before Election Day in the U.S. (first Tuesday in November). Back in 2016, we thought it was the Access Hollywood "grab them by the pussy" tape, and then way too many people just shrugged and Trump won anyway, because the actual October surprise turned out to be FBI Director James Comey rocking up and announcing an investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server. But Her Emails, etc.

So this year, of course, I and the rest of r/politics have been sitting here waiting for shit to go down, most likely re: Trump rather than Harris (I say as I knock on my wooden kitchen table), but what could he do that's any worse than what he's already done this year? Than what we already know of his past?

Apparently, everyone has decided it's this. It's a dude who is not even Trump getting up at the Madison Square Garden Nazis-In-America nostalgia rally Sunday night and telling shitty racist jokes. Not the one about "Latinos coming," not the one about Black people and watermelons, not even other things Hinchcliffe said in the same speech. It's not any number of heinous things various other speakers said (scroll down). No, it's

"There’s a lot going on. I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico."

It's not thumbs up at Arlington Cemetery, it's not THEY'RE EATING THE DOGS, it's not "I wish I had generals like Hitler's" and all the other times Trump admired Nazis. It's this.

I mean, everyone is correct to be outraged about this, I'm glad that it's gained traction and more people than usual are actually shocked and politicians are panicking, and Puerto Ricans both on the island and the mainland have my deep I'm-sorry-sympathy that they have been insulted this way. But--maybe it's just the last-minute timing, but it is blowing my mind that THIS, finally, from a guy who isn't even Trump, is the October Surprise.

[notaplaceofhonour]

Understanding Alex Jones’s place in the Bush-era anti-war scene would do the left a lot of good in understanding (and not repeating) similar mistakes that the current anti-war scene is making today.

For those who aren’t old enough to remember, there was actually a time when Alex Jones had a decent amount of goodwill on the far left. He was obviously always a lunatic conspiracy theorist, and most everyday people saw him as such, but there was a significant enough portion of the anti-war left that liked him, that actually promoted InfoWars, appeared on AJ’s show, and linked arms with him at anti-war protests.

Without the momentum that his Bush-era popularity gave him, Jones would not have become a recognizable or relevant media figure like he did. The model InfoWars pioneered, which helped pave the way for the entire far right griftosphere that sprang up around it—from Breitbart to OAN & the Epoch Times to the sea of smaller Q-fluencers—owes its success in part to this diagonal reach across political lines. The extreme right wing conspiracy theory platform that has all but consumed the GOP would not have been able to gain nearly as much of a foothold if it were not for the years of work InfoWars & outlets like it did to normalize it in the Bush years.

Obviously I am not going so far as to say “The Left Is Solely Responsible For Alex Jones™️”. But much of the anti-war/anti-government left absolutely participated in helping him rise to prominence. They were willing to jump in bed with Jones without paying attention to his work or else were willing to turn a blind eye to who Jones was, all because he was saying things that were convenient to their cause. It didn’t matter that he was a rightwing or grade-A bigot; he opposed the US government & the war.

And I’m fully aware that there’s a common refrain among a lot of that “I used to listen to InfoWars” section of the left that would push back against this and say, “well, yeah, Jones is obviously a fascist now, but back then he wasn’t like that; he was kooky back then, sure, but the pre-Sandy Hook, pre-Gay Frogs Jones wasn’t nearly as bigoted or rightwing as the ‘Hillary For Prison’ Trump-era Jones became”.

To that I say, no, that’s bullshit. If you actually go back and listen to his show from back then… holy shit. He was homophobic as fuck. He was racist as fuck. The entire NWO/Globalist framework that he hangs all his other conspiracy theories on is built around antisemitic tropes from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion he regularly hosted & promoted explicit antisemites like his pastor Texe Marrs, who openly espoused that Jews (often named as such) controlled the world politically, financially, and religiously through Zionism, a global banking cartel, and Communism. In some ways, Jones was even more transparent then than he is now.

“Okay, but what does this have to do with the current anti-war movement?” I hear you say. “I never fell for Alex Jones; I’ve always hated that guy.”

To begin with, you should be on the lookout for the internal biases and lack of vetting that lead the left to tolerate Jones in the first place, whether you think you’re liable to or not (arguably, it is all that much more important when you think you aren’t, because you are never more susceptible than when you think you aren’t). But unfortunately much of the anti-war left of today has been making the same mistake, just with different people and organizations.

Take for instance Jackson Hinkle, a tradcath & self-described “MAGA Communist”, who has gotten a lot of traction with the leftwing anti-Zionist crowd (and I would be remiss not to mention, has also been a guest on InfoWars). Or take another AJ, the media outlet Al Jazeera, which says a lot of things that are attractive to the left out one side of its mouth while spewing a bunch of rightwing theocratic garbage out the other, much like Bush-era InfoWars did. Take PSL/ANSWER (Pro-Putin Pro-Assad Pro-Xi atrocity denialists & conspiracy theorists) are one of the most common fixtures of the current protest movement, regularly advertised as organizers by other prominent organizations like JVP & SJP. A lot of people on the left have been embracing figures and organizations that espouse Khazar Theory, Deicide, Media Control, and Blood Libels not at all dissimilar to the accusations you could hear from Jones and his pastor friend Texe Marrs, with the same figleaf of “anti-Zionism” that Marrs frequently used himself.

Whether by sheer ignorance or willfully turning a blind eye, the left keeps making the same mistake of tolerating & even embracing figures & organizations with similarly noxious politics & conspiracy thinking now that was made with Bush-era InfoWars. We need to do better. We need to learn from the past so we can stop repeating its mistakes.

[swholli]

In my opinion, Trump is cooked.

I’m not counting baskets before they chicken, but Biden’s biggest weakness was himself (and the thing the Trump campaign has been very worried was going to happen, him dropping out).

This decision draws a very clear distinction between the two parties. Biden was keen on staying in for his ego, his party and voters were able to talk him out of it. If the fate of the country really is at stake (and it is) Biden running on ego is exactly what Trump is doing (but Trump has the benefit of a cult).

Now, Harris gets her cake and can eat it too. She can claim responsibility for all of Biden’s successes as she was his VP, but can distance herself from all of his failures as a new candidate, essentially flipping the script making Trump an incumbent candidate despite her being apart of the previous admin.

And on top of all of that, she can be the first woman president during an election where her opponent literally claimed responsibility for overturning Roe v Wade, the thing that stopped the big red wave in '22.

And she's not pushing 80, a convicted felon and rapist, and she's not Hillary.

Kamala’s still a cop, don’t get me wrong. I’m still not happy with the capital D democratic establishment, but if I’ve gotta play this stupid 270 point game at least I can do so with a candidate who can actually entice normies to turn out to vote. And then after this shit we either go ranked choice or we riot.

[redroomreflections]

A Covenless Witch

Agatha Harkness x original child character (don't know what to tag this as)

Summary: Agatha encounters a curious young witch in the Woods who won't leave her alone. Soon enough she finds out the girl knows more about her than she lets on.

Note This is kind of an open one shot. Actually Idk what it is. I just wanted to write it since I loved Hillary Duff in Casper Meets Wendy and thought of her.

W/c: 3k

Agatha’s boot crushed a brittle stick as she made her way through the dense undergrowth, each step slow and deliberate. The forest was quiet at this hour, and she found a strange comfort. She shifted her grip on the firewood under her arms. She'd been needing it for a long time now.

As she approached the mouth of her base, her pace slowed to a crawl, taking every chance to enjoy the silence before the inevitable. Soon enough, she would encounter more witches who wanted to find the road. For now, she would enjoy the silence. It had taken her longer than expected to gather enough. It always did, but she couldn’t bring herself to hurry. This time of year always made her a bit antsy. She refused to acknowledge the tickling in the back of her throat or the burn in her eyes. It had been… what, a century and a half since Nicholas had gone? Two? The years blurred together now. All she remembered clearly was the ache. She sighed and shook her head. There was no use in getting emotional about it. What was done was done.

The sting had dulled with time, but the hollow it left behind remained a permanent part of her, like a scar too deep to heal. As she trudged forward, a flicker of color caught her eye, snapping her out of her thoughts. She paused, watching a small flower bloom at her feet, its petals unfurling in slow, careful movements.

"Interesting," She murmured to herself. Flowers of that kind didn't usually bloom in this part of the country.

She knelt down and brushed her fingers over the silky petals. She couldn't help the smile that graced her lips. "Aren't you a pretty little thing?" She mused. She felt a tingling on her fingers and a gentle warmth. A soft, white glow filled the space between her hand and the flower. Slowly, the petals turned into a rosy pink. However, it wasn't her magic that had done it. It was more light, airy, pure. It made her roll her eyes. She stood straight and scanned the trees, feeling the energy pulse like a heartbeat.

"Show yourself," She demanded. She was met with another flower much bigger than the last. Then, a giggle. Agatha scowled, dropping the wood to the ground. She took a step towards the flower, reaching her hand out to rip it out of the ground. "Fine, you want to play hardball." Agatha raised a hand, bending her fingers to emit her purple magic.

"You have to find me, silly." The voice, childlike in nature, called out to her.

Agatha let out an exasperated sigh, folding her arms as she surveyed the forest with narrowed eyes. “A game of hide and seek, is it?” Her voice held a faint, mocking tone, but her fingers twitched with purple sparks, ready to snap at the first sign of trouble. Whoever—or whatever—this was, it had no idea who it was dealing with.

Another giggle drifted through the trees, high and sweet, like bells in a soft breeze. Agatha’s scowl deepened.

“Oh, very cute,” she muttered, stepping closer to where the sound had come from. As her boot crunched against the leaf-strewn forest floor, another flower unfurled at her feet, this one larger than the last. Its petals were soft lavender, shimmering with that same pure light that made Agatha’s skin crawl.

“Enough with the flowers,” she snapped. “I’m not impressed with nature’s little parlor tricks.”

The voice didn’t giggle this time—it sighed, sounding almost disappointed. “You’re not much fun,” it replied, petulant, and Agatha could practically hear the pout in the words. “My coven always likes the flowers.”

A spark of curiosity lit up within her, and her brow furrowed. What in the world was this?

"Coven?" She scoffed a smile of disbelief on her lips. "What kind of a coven sends a child out to do their dirty work?" She had her doubts this was a child, though. "I don't see anyone else. You must be terribly brave or terribly stupid."

"I'm not stupid," The child stepped out from behind the trees. She was sporting a solid red hat and red overalls. Her blonde bangs swept past her eyebrows, and her glasses were so perfectly rounded it was almost cartoonish. The girl, perhaps no older than eight or nine, stood there, looking up at Agatha with wide eyes and an impish smile.

Agatha, however, didn't smile. She looked the girl up and down, then scoffed again.

"If you say so," she muttered, waving her hand. Purple tendrils snaked around the child's wrists, forcing them together and pulling her towards Agatha. The girl responded with her magic wave, prompting a dozen little spiders to travel up Agatha's body.

Agatha’s eyes widened for a split second before narrowing to dangerous slits. She grimaced as the tiny spiders skittered up her arms and shoulders, their little legs pricking against her skin. Oh, the nerve of this child.

“Cute trick,” Agatha said coolly, though her fingers twitched with the urge to flick the creatures off. With another wave of her hand, the purple tendrils around Winnie’s wrists tightened, pulling her closer until the girl stood mere inches away. The spiders paused unison, sensing Agatha’s magic, but the girl’s innocent smile didn’t waver.

Winnie looked up, not showing the slightest bit of fear. “You don’t like spiders?” she asked, her voice sweet and playful, but a glint in her eyes told Agatha this girl knew exactly what she was doing.

“Not particularly,” Agatha replied, voice low, her smirk sharp enough to cut. “But you don’t like being tied up, do you?” She gave a little tug on the magical tendrils, just enough to make the child stumble.

Winnie only grinned wider, not the least bit phased. “My magic’s stronger than it looks,” she said, tilting her head as though sizing Agatha up. As if commanded by an invisible signal, the spiders scurried up toward Agatha’s neck, their tiny legs prickling against her collarbone.

With an irritated flick of her wrist, Agatha summoned a gust of wind that swept the spiders away, scattering them into the underbrush. “Adorable,” she drawled, though her tone was more sinister than amused. “You’re testing your limits, aren’t you?”

Winnie gave her a sly smile. “You’re fun,” she declared, as though that settled things. “The others just tell me what to do. But you’re… different.”

Agatha scoffed, but there was a hint of satisfaction behind her disdain. She released the magic around the girl’s wrists, letting her hands drop. “Different? You’re quick to judge for someone who couldn’t tell a deer from a danger.”

"What's that even mean?" The girl narrowed her eyes.

"It means you're reckless, and you're lucky I'm in a good mood today. What do you want, kid?"

Winnie tilted her head. "Why do you keep calling me a kid? I'm a witch, just like you. You're old and boring."

"Oh, I'm a witch, am I? How presumptuous."

"Well, if it walks like a duck," She shrugged.

"And if it talks like a duck."

Winnie giggled. "Are all grown-ups so stubborn?"

"Mostly," She smirked.

"Do you have a name, or can I just call you boring?"

Agatha rolled her eyes. "If you must know, it's Agatha."

"Well, that's not boring."

Agatha began to walk away. She gathered her firewood with a flick and began to walk forward. "Go back to your coven, kid. I know your Mommy is looking for you or something." The word Mommy was dripping with disdain. 

"I'd much rather spend time with you," The girl practically tripped over her feet to follow her. "You're powerful."

"Thank you," Agatha didn't bother to look behind her. "Now run along."

"I'm Winnie," She introduced herself.

"Winnie," Agatha echoed. "Wouldn't have been in my wheelhouse for a name."

"Do you have kids?"

Agatha stopped short and glared at her. "No,"

"Then why would it be in your wheelhouse?" Winnie raised an eyebrow.

"Shut up, kid."

"Okay," She fell into step beside her, a skip in her step. "Can I walk with you?"

"No."

"Oh, please," Winnie whined. "It's a long walk to the town. And it's cold and dark. I bet you can't protect me very well if I get lost. I could die."

"If that were the case, it would be no loss," Agatha muttered.

"Wow," Winnie scoffed. "You're rude."

"I've been told," Agatha shrugged. "How'd you find your way out here anyway? I live away from town for a reason."

"I have my ways," Winnie grabbed a piece of firewood she saw on the path. She held it out to Agatha as some sort of peace offering.

Agatha snatched the wood, shooting the girl a warning glare, then tucked the firewood back under her arm.

"So," Winnie began. "How did you end up in the woods, anyway?"

"How did you, kid?"

"I'm not a kid. I'm a witch. And I'm eight. How old are you? You look really old."

"I don't look a day over thirty-four," Agatha frowned.

"So, you're old, but not too old," Winnie concluded. "And I found you because I can smell a powerful witch from miles away. Can you?"

Agatha huffed, but there was a hint of a smirk on her lips. “Smell a powerful witch from miles away? Not exactly. That’s a cute little trick you’ve got there, though. Very… convenient.”

Winnie’s grin widened, undeterred by the sarcasm. “It is! My coven taught me. They say a good witch should know who she’s dealing with.” She tilted her head, studying Agatha as if assessing her strength. “And you… you’ve got a lot of magic. More than anyone I’ve met.”

Agatha arched an eyebrow, a little flattered but more annoyed. “And you’ve met exactly how many witches, little Miss Flower Petal?”

“Enough,” Winnie said, her tone proud, chin lifting a bit. “They tell me I’m the best in my coven for my age. I can tell you’re strong, but you hide yourself. My coven doesn’t do that.”

Agatha’s expression darkened slightly, though she kept her gaze steady on the child. “Hiding has its advantages, trust me,” she muttered. “Keeps nosy little witches from sniffing around places they don’t belong.”

"Sounds lonely," Winnie shook her head. "What are you hiding from?"

"I'm not hiding. It's just not your business," Agatha shot back, her tone harsher than she intended.

Winnie was quiet for a few moments. "You remind me of my Mom. She doesn't let me have a lot of friends."

Agatha couldn't help the laugh that escaped her. "Your mother sounds wise," She paused and looked over at Winnie. Agatha knew she had been entertaining this little girl long enough. She should just leave her in the woods and never look back, but Agatha's curiosity was piqued. There was something about this child, something powerful yet not entirely tainted by the world. Agatha wondered if she could have been like that if Nicholas hadn't... No, that was a train of thought, and she had no interest in boarding.

"Your mom should be worried about you being a friendless loser," Agatha finally said.

"You sure do have a lot of insults," Winnie commented. "I didn't see anyone coming out of your cabin, by the way."

Agatha narrowed her eyes. "You've been watching me." She figured there was more to this little girl than getting lost in the woods. 

"Yeah," Winnie said as if it were the most obvious thing. “Sorry, I lied earlier. Had to get you to trust me.”

"I don’t, and that's a bit creepy."

"Only a little."

Agatha rolled her eyes and picked up her pace. Winnie jogged to keep up with her.

“So,” she began again, her voice cutting through the stillness of the woods, “you know this road, right? The one that goes on forever?”

Agatha shot her a sideways glance, her brows furrowing at the sudden shift. “What are you talking about?” She was trying to play it cool, but the mention of The Witches' Road had her on edge.

Winnie’s eyes shone with the excitement of someone who’d just stumbled upon an old secret. “The Witches' Road. I’ve heard stories. They say it’s not just a road. It’s... a place where witches walk when they’re lost. A place between here and... somewhere else.”

Agatha’s lips tightened into a thin line. She didn’t like where this conversation was going. “Stories, huh? And where did you hear these ‘stories’ from, exactly?”

Winnie didn’t hesitate. “My mom says it’s not a place you go unless you really need it. But she didn't - I mean, she doesn't talk about it much. She doesn’t like to tell me about the road because she says it's dangerous.”

"Your mother is a smart woman," Agatha muttered.

"Well, I also heard you're the person to find," Winnie hinted. "You know how to get to the Witches' Road."

"I didn't realize you were looking to leave."

"I'm not," Winnie smiled. "I just want to see it. To prove I could."

Agatha hummed, her eyes scanning the trees, wondering if she would find more witches hiding in the shadows.

"So, you survived the Witches Road, right?" Winnie continued.

"I've never seen the Witches Road," Agatha shrugged.

"You're Agatha Harkness," Winnie furrowed her brows. "I was told you would know how to get there."

"You seem to know a lot about me, you little liar."

"I asked around," She shrugged. "My mom isn't a big fan."

"And I can't blame her," Agatha smirked.

"Can you show me?"

"No."

"But-"

"You shouldn't mess with the Witches' Road, kid." Agatha wanted. "I'm only trying to save you."

"I knew it was too good to be true," Winnie sighed.

Agatha's eyes narrowed as she scanned her, trying to keep the edge from her voice. "Who sent you, exactly?" she asked, the suspicion growing in her chest. This wasn't just some random curious witchling asking about the Witches' Road—this felt like something more.

Winnie didn't seem to notice the sudden tension in the air. She only shrugged, offering a mischievous grin. "A woman. She said her name was Royal or maybe Rocky. Something like that." Her expression shifted to confusion, as though she wasn’t entirely sure. "She said you’d know what to do."

Agatha froze.

The air around her seemed to thicken momentarily, a dull ringing in her ears as her mind raced. Royal. Rocky. She didn't even want to think her name for fear of the woman showing up. She hadn't seen her in at least fifty years. Avoiding death was one of her strong suits.

"Right," she forced out, trying to keep her voice casual. "She did, did she? And why exactly does she think I can help?"

"She didn't say," Winnie replied, and Agatha could see her eyes scanning her face, watching for her reaction. "She was pretty vague. I guess that's part of her job. She's a seer or something, right?"

"Something," Agatha muttered. Her jaw clenched, a muscle jumping at the corner, but her eyes remained steady on the girl. "Did she say anything else? Or just send you to find the nearest old witch in the woods?"

"She said a lot," Winnie replied with another shrug, her innocent gaze unwavering. "But most of it didn't make any sense. She also said she wasn't supposed to talk to me. She's kind of creepy."

"Aren't we all," Agatha replied, her own mind spinning. Winnie paused, glancing up at the darkening sky, the first hints of twilight creeping over the treetops. The air was cooler now, a soft chill settling over the woods.

“I should get back,” Winnie said, her tone thoughtful but resolute. “But I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Agatha didn’t respond immediately. She just watched the little girl turn and begin to walk away. It was strange—she wasn’t sure why she felt the urge to keep an eye on her. There was something about Winnie, something far too self-assured for her age, but Agatha couldn’t quite place it.

Winnie was almost out of sight when Agatha took a slow breath, her eyes narrowing. She wasn't about to let the kid walk off alone, not when she had made it clear she was headed for something dangerous. There was a reason Rio had sent this child to Agatha. She didn't want to think of the implications of that.

Agatha sighed, her mouth set in a firm line. “Tomorrow, huh?” she muttered under her breath, more to herself than to anyone else.

She let Winnie get a little farther before she fell back into the shadows, deliberately putting enough distance between them. It was the kind of trick she knew well—watching without being seen. No one needed to know that Agatha Harkness had decided to stick around. Not just yet. She followed Winnie into another desolate part of the woods. This time, she noticed a few things. There was no one calling out for Winnie. There was no one looking for her.

"A covenless witch?" Agatha questioned aloud. That was highly uncommon. A witch without a coven was a danger to everyone around them. Covens taught witches control. Without that, a witch could become volatile and unpredictable.

Winnie had reached the end of the trail. It opened up to a small, dilapidated cabin. The roof sagged, and the windows were boarded shut. The door was crooked, held up only by a single rusty hinge. Winnie pushed the door open with a grunt, and Agatha watched, still hidden in the shadows. The little girl disappeared inside, and for a moment, all was quiet. Agatha stayed back, unwilling to risk being seen, though her curiosity burned.

After a few moments, she saw the flicker of a candlelight from within, casting a dim glow on the cabin's warped wooden walls. Agatha’s lips curled into a soft smirk. The child had found her way home to some quiet, forgotten place, far from the eyes of others. For now, at least.

As the light dimmed, signaling that Winnie had settled in, Agatha’s gaze lingered on the cabin for just a beat longer before she turned away. She didn't know why she saved the little girl from the wrath of the Witches Road. She didn't need to build a moral compass now. She almost couldn’t believe what she was doing. She had created the Witches' Road to trap witches, to harvest their power, to turn them into something she could control. It was supposed to be a tool—a means to an end.

But Winnie wasn’t just some witch she could use. She wasn’t a pawn. Agatha’s lips tightened, her mind wrestling with a truth she didn’t want to face.

She had expected to send Winnie to the Road after her probing, just like she had with countless others before, but something about the child had stopped her. Maybe it was the innocence, the purity of a witch still untouched by the harshness of the world. Maybe it was the curiosity in her eyes, the one that mirrored Agatha’s own when she was younger, when she still believed she could change her fate.

Her fingers curled into a fist, her thoughts spiraling. She had wanted power and control, and now, she was letting the child go free. With one last glance at the cabin, Agatha turned on her heel and disappeared into the woods. She wasn’t ready to confront what that decision meant. Not yet.

[simply-ivanka]

Why Do the Young Vote Left?

Socialist teachers lead them to think of government as a free-money tree.

It’s the gifts. The progressive vibe is that big government will take care of you. It knows what’s best for you. It will redistribute money how it pleases. You need to put a smile on your face while it takes away your laurels, guns and money. “We believe in the collective,” Ms. Harris declared, much like Hillary Clinton’s “it takes a village.” Equity in Schenectady. Handouts for all.

You want proof? Ms. Harris’s Senate voting record is leftward of socialist Bernie Sanders. Vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz fawns over China, saying “everyone is the same and everyone shares.” Viva la revolución and Che Guevara T-shirts for all.

This is antifreedom. Too many of today’s youth fall in line with progressives because they’re undereducated and overindoctrinated with someone else’s agenda. I watched in horror as local high-school biology classes spent weeks on the science of recycling centers and only a short afternoon on mitochondria and mitosis. Profit is a bad word. It’s gimme, gimme, whether it’s student loan forgiveness, free healthcare or tax credits.

Who’s to blame? Misguided capitalism-hating social-studies teachers to start, with Tim Walzian thinking: “One person’s socialism is another person’s neighborliness.” Who is he, Mr. Rogers? Add like-minded college professors. Work ethic and ambition are evaporating.

Worse, Pew Research notes almost a third of currently childless 18- to 34-year-olds aren’t sure if they ever want children. Why? The Harris campaign’s “climate engagement director,” Camila Thorndike, is among the hesitant, telling the Washington Post, “I want to protect them from suffering.” Perpetually pessimistic progressive prognostications induce fear. No wonder U.S. fertility rates are at historic lows.

OK, I know I’m asking for trouble. Every time I write about youth, I get a chorus of comments and tweets telling me I’m an old man screaming, “Hey you kids, get off my lawn.” Yeah, yeah. Very clever. I’m not that old. But in the Kamala collective—as California attempted—private “ornamental” lawns are out, and drought-resistant vegetation is in. Progressives literally want you off your own lawn.

My conversations with young folks who do exhibit some actual drive show their confusion: “I want to do a startup.” Great! To do what? “A sustainable something or other. To save the planet.” OK, is it productive? “What’s that?” Does it scale? “Huh?” Will it do more with less? “Not really, it needs lots of money to keep going and save more of the world.” Sounds like a nonprofit. (That usually invokes a smile.) Actually, wealth comes from delivering ever-cheaper stuff to millions of people, not handouts. “I don’t care about money.”

OK, I say, but progress and societal wealth happen when you delight customers and postpone consumption to reinvest profits into better products. The looks on their faces are as if I’m describing Chinese arithmetic.

Our youth aren’t lazy but lost. Progressives have strong opinions about society but no viable solution beyond handing out other people’s money—taken from the few who actually are productive, drive progress and generate wealth by fulfilling customer needs. It’s a downward spiral: When progressives tax—screaming “fair share!”—they cripple the productive few who actually create the real non-burger-flipping, get-out-of-your-parent’s-basement jobs.

To aggressive progressives, government is simply a magic money tree. Vote left and dollars appear. The gross incompetence of government—think billions for eight electric vehicle chargers—destroyed healthcare (thank you, ObamaCare) and education (assisted by Randi Weingarten’s teachers union) and is close to destroying energy (net zero), even while the Biden-Harris administration works hard to destroy Big Tech—one of the few productive industries. And I’ll never forgive progressive Hollywood for turning “Star Wars” into unwatchable wokey Wookiee drivel.

What industries will be left standing? Who cares, because the dreamy types think generative artificial intelligence will kill all jobs and government will provide universal basic income so they can Zyn, TikTok and play College Football 25 videogames all day. A naive youthful triumphalism.

This is a false endgame. There is so much more to be invented: drugs, immunotherapy, fusion, self-folding clothes, humanoid robotics, flying cars. Hard brain work plus quality recharging leisure time is the goal, not a nation of welfare queens.

I feel sorry for the youth that do care, do work hard, are productive and help push the boulder of progress up that steep slope, while essentially carrying all the others on their backs. It’s you against the collective, the village, which is always about being supported, pampered, living off someone else’s hard work and then complaining that the handouts aren’t big enough. So, yeah, get off my lawn, while lawns are still allowed.

[pine-rhyme]

Pine I’m going insane please clear something up about tlt

I keep seeing art of two(?) v similar looking people, one with short hair and another with pigtails and I’ve seen both being referred to as Harrow or Nona or similar. I thought they were the same person (with Nona being a nickname of Harrowharks family name) but I saw some art that’d imply they’re two different people???

I always interpreted it as ‘Nona is what Harrow would be without the Horrors’ since she’s v cheerful. Like a sort of collective fandom oc. But now I think that’s wrong. Pls advise T^T

(Also hiiiiiiii hope you’re having a nice day ೕ(•̀ᴗ•́) )

OMG THANK YOU I AM SO GLAD I GET TO EXPLAIN THIS TO YOU BECAUSE THIS IS GENUIENLY MY FAVOURITE THING OUT OF THIS SERIES!!!!!

That and the wild contrast between Harrowhark and Nona makes me giggle maniacally every time.

Here is some sketchy art and rambling under the cut because I LOVE LOVE LOVE NONA!!!! And by extension the book she stars in!

Nona is a real character! But very well pointed that her name derives from Harrow's NONAgesimus! She is the narrator and main lady of the 3rd book (Nona the Ninth :DDD).

The thing about Harrow and Nona is that yes! They share the same body! Harrow is such a haunted character that it is already ridiculous how many other ghosts could take over her body if she falls unconscious (which already happened a few times and ngl it was very sexy).

But this time, in Nona's case it is unclear if it is one of her many ghosts piloting her body or if it is really Harrow whose trauma caught up with her and got her brain reset (you already know it wouldn't be her first rodeo given that she already has had the lobotomy experience :)) but the thing is, Nona can't remember a thing from before she got saved by Harrow's... friends? Acquaintances? People that owned her a favour?

The beautiful thing is that you have this vulnerable person, who doesn't know anything about herself is getting taken care of by these people that? Genuinely cared about the old Harrow? And are actively trying to figure out who Nona actually is. And how she can be helped. All we know is that Nona is uncharacteristically kind and sweet-natured for the tlt world :)))

She is deeply aware that she is unlikely to survive for much longer and experiences everything around her with a deep sense of wonder. She has only been alive for 6 months and it was a gift. The world is slowly crumbling around her and her body is slowly dying but she loves the people that take care of her nevertheless. She looks in the mirror and finds herself truly beautiful and she is openly grateful for the girl who let her borrow her body to experience this life. It is a bittersweet story and a very big tonal shift from the intense and alienating POV of the previous book (Harrow the Ninth), focusing more on the domesticity and closure nurtured in a wartorn refugee camp, between unlikely characters.

AND IT IS JUST HILLARIOUS to encounter characters with whom Harrow has been AT LEAST highly disagreeable, getting absolutely showered in affection by Nona. Nona herself being so full of love and admiration for everything and everyone she meets is just amazing when you remember that's HARROW'S body she's piloting. Harrow who is easily the most people-allergic character out of this whole series lmao. AND NONA IS WEARING HER HAIR LONG AND BRAIDED! AND PARADES AROUND IN THE MOST INSANE GRAPHIC T-SHIRTS. SHE WANTS TO DYE HER HAIR ELECTRIC BLUE LIKE HER CRUSH!

I absolutely love Nona she is my favourite character in this series. It is because of her that Harrow started to grow on me as well. It is just wonderful to find, after how distressed and alone Harrow is during the 2nd book, she has people that would go to such lengths to care for her, despite the fact that she lost her necromacy, genius and aptitudes, along with her memories and, in fact her body might be the only thing that remained out of her because, by the end, Nona might indeed be somebody else entirely.

More than that it is a story about a girl with no past and no future loving unconditionally and getting unconditionally loved in return by her friends and family. Even when it gets very complicated and twisted and at times you are forced to question what is everybody's hidden intentions or what is the meaning of it all. It is just as grim (and upsetting at times) as the rest of the series but having for once an optimistic pov (even tho it comes with her forcing herself to suppress her ugly feelings because her life is very short and she needs to enjoy everything while it lasts) feels almost like a fever dream.

"Life is too short and love is too long."

(This is Nona with Pyrrha! Pyrrha loves Nona so much it makes me sick to my stomach and I could talk for hours on end about them. )

Thank you so much for this ask and for indulging me in my madness!!!!!!! MMMMWAH!

[askinnyblackman]

i feel like kamala could’ve had a better chance if she just didn’t open her mouth. like, when biden dropped out and endorsed her it was pandemonium. then she picked time walz, which was great because we were like “oh shit he’s the guy who gave kids free lunches at school! if that’s the kind of policy she’ll give us I’m on board” and then they started calling republicans weird and i was like “oh shit are they cooking? are democrats actually going on the offensive? could something good happen?” then she took a thousand steps back and ran the hillary 2016 playbook but without the “progressive” talking points, and here we are

[mostlysignssomeportents]

How it started/how it's going

At his sentencing, Debs spoke these words: “While there is a lower class, I am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.” What might Trump say at his sentencing? Perhaps, “While there is an upper class, I am in it—actually, I’m above it; while there is a criminal element, it’s not white-collar—everyone knows it’s Blacks, Latinos, immigrants (they’re all terrorists), Sleepy Joe, Crooked Hillary, the lamestream media, that judge and that fucking jury; while there is a soul in prison, I’ll pardon my supporters (those January 6 guys, really great Americans, really great) and execute everyone else. Fry them. I’ll fry them.”

-Harold Meyerson