#that's a doozy of a headline

[beardedmrbean]

Jörg Dornau, a member of the far-right Alternative for Germany party in the Saxony state parliament, has used political prisoners to work on his onion plantation in Belarus, a Belarusian news outlet reported Tuesday.

Dornau inked a deal with a local Center for the Isolation of Offenders to employ Belarusians convicted of political infractions at his Belarus-based agricultural company, OOO Zybulka-Bel, according to independent local outlet Reform.news.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko ramped up political repression and instituted a mass crackdown on dissent, locking up opponents, in the aftermath of a 2020 presidential election widely dismissed as fraudulent.

One of the laborers at Dornau’s farm told the outlet he sorted onions for about €5 per day after being detained in February 2024 for liking a post on social media.

He described difficult working conditions, with breakfast at 7 a.m. and no food or water until the end of the working day at 8 p.m.

“We were brought to a shelter,” he said. “It was a horrible basement, people had all kinds of clothes on, so our hands and feet were freezing.”

The onions, he noted, “were tasty.”

The work was overseen by a foreman who would decide whether the detainee would be paid, he said. The labor was not forced, according to the prisoner, and the earned money was supposed to go toward the maintenance of the detention center.

Dornau, according to the report, made at least one visit to his onion plantation to see his employees in person.

“I’ve even seen him. A tall, bald man,” the prisoner said, with a description that matches Dornau’s physical traits. “He came once in his car with German registration. He came into the shelter where we were picking onions together with hired workers.”

Dornau did not respond to multiple requests for comment by POLITICO on Tuesday.

“The presumption of innocence applies until full legal clarification,” Andreas Harlaß, a spokesperson for the AfD in Saxony, told POLITICO.

He has represented the far-right populist AfD party in the Saxony parliament in eastern Germany since 2019 and has come under scrutiny for his business dealings in Belarus, a Russia-friendly dictatorship ruled with an iron fist by Lukashenko.

Dornau was ordered to pay a fine of €20,862 by the Saxony parliament last month for failing to reveal his involvement in Zybulka-Bel. The company was registered in Belarus in October 2020, even as pro-democracy protests roiled the country.

As of Tuesday, there are more than 1,300 political prisoners in Belarus, according to the Belarusian human rights organization Viasna.

Belarus has been targeted by waves of sanctions by the European Union over the years, most recently in August for ongoing internal repression and human rights violations.

[leclarifies]

i love you. it's ruining my life. (MV33)

✰ max verstappen x popstar!ex!reader ✰

summary: you and max have been broken up for four years now, going no contact for the entirety of those years. never bothering to contact eachother but he invites you to one of his races one day after the last show of your tour, who were you to say no?

genre: angst (im sorry)

wc: 3k

a/n: AHHH, THIS WAS WAS A DOOZY!!!!! i loved writing this (i mostly just like hurting myself more than anything). kind of dark themes tho, ooc max bc he vvv loving and would never cheat on his lover. thank you so much for 100 followers btw!!!!!! i wrote this as a 100 follower special :3 thank you so much for my supporting my short journey as a tumblr writer, you guys inspire me to write even more for you guys. can you imagine that's it's been a week of writing and i've already gained 100 followers?? i love you guys so much.

warnings: mentions of existing relationship with kelly, cheating

"thought of calling ya, but you won't pick up. another fortnight lost in america." - taylor swift, 'fortnight'

isn't it ironic that careers can really separate you from what truly made you, you? being a popstar, touring for months on end, surrounding yourself with new people, new opportunities, made it hard for you to reconnect with the people that helped you from day one.

it wasn't like you cut them off, or stopped talking to them. you tried. you really tried, but sometimes life goes on and people forgive and forget. your old life before you started your career was slowly being etched away and replaced with new pieces.

and maybe that was a bad thing.

"on stage in 2 minutes," a voice snapped you out of your trance, you looked up. you looked amazing in your sparkly dress, it was the last leg of your tour and you were touring in europe.

you had been offered to attend a formula one race this weekend after all of your shows had been concluded, you've been thinking about it, but you're not sure you want to go. one of the people from said past was in attendance and you're not sure if you wanted to immerse yourself in that again.

you didn't think about it for long though, you were due for a show and a show was what you're going to give.

it wasn't long until the weekend, friday to be exact and you had accepted the offer of being on the formula one paddock, you knew that a certain ex-boyfriend was going to be there, racing on the track and you were invited personally by him, which was why you were so skeptical to go.

POPSTAR Y/N BREAKS UP WITH F1 DRIVER MAX VERSTAPPEN.

you remembered the headlines, you remembered what you let go of but seeing someone you still loved after your break up almost four years ago stung a little bit.

you couldn't blame him though, you were the one to break things off all those years ago. it wasn't because you had a terrible relationship with him, but it was more because you both didn't have time for eachother and you could see it in his face everytime you came home to monaco after a long show.

"i miss you, when can you finally stay and actually stay awhile?" max's face looked pitiful and you could only look down at your feet, you felt guilty. you wanted this career, he pushed you for this career but sometimes you wished that you could split yourself in two to cater to both his needs and yours.

you look back up at him, locking eyes with his stormy blue eyes, "i don't know maxie, maybe next month? i don't really have a schedule for next month, i can stay in monaco with you for awhile—"

"you said that last month, when are you actually going to be free schatje?"

"max, i can't give you a definite timeline—"

"what's the point of me being in a relationship with you when i can barely see you?"

it hurt to hear those words come out of his mouth.

maybe that's when you finally realized that he deserved someone normal, someone who wasn't a famous singer and could actually spend time and be there for him.

but here you were, amidst the paddock with a singular security guard because you didn't think you needed more than one, considering security around the paddock was tight in of itself.

the red bull's garage had been nice to you, offering you anything you possibly could need while being on a grand prix, you had politely declined any type of special treatment though, wanting to feel like a person for once in your life.

you wouldn't say your job is the hardest in the world, never. doing what you loved while meeting all of your fans was going to be the highlight of your day, but sometimes the job came with crazy fans that would invade your privacy for selfish reasons, and it made you a tiny bit stressed.

you remember starting out from the netherlands, starring in small gigs before getting signed to a mega corporation in america, which was when you moved. you slowly lost contact with your friends, but you were sure they were proud of you although you weren't proud that you lost contact with them.

you knew that if you contacted them that it would be awkward, there was just no way they would even remember you, right?

you were walking about aimlessly around the paddock, it was free practice day which meant that after the allotted time of the free practice, drivers were free to roam around the paddock however they wanted. you were scared on what you had to face today.

you told yourself to just keep calm, take whatever you got this weekend and just react like a sane person.

saturday came and went, you attended the paddock to watch the qualifying session, of course, max came out on top. was it even a surprise to you? you knew he was the best of the best, you never expected less of him, even after all these years.

sunday was here and maybe it was the anxiety, but you felt like throwing up when you saw max approach you.

"y/n, it's good to see you."

god, those eye-smiles. you could never get tired of them.

"hi max, congrats on starting out pole for this weekend," you told him as you shook hands with him, he was all smiles.

it felt good to see him happy.

"how has the paddock been treating you?" max asked, gesturing all around him, "have you tried the food? it's really good."

you nod as you let go of his hand, clasping it with your other hand, a nervous habit, "yeah, the food's good. how have you been? i haven't talked to you in awhile," a nervous laugh bubbled up from your throat, you were nervous to see him, maybe it was those damn butterflies in your stomach that you couldn't get rid of when he looked at you with those blue eyes of his.

"i know, you've been quite busy right?" max laughed at you, he felt silly conversing with his ex-girlfriend like this, like they didn't have a past.

you could only nod and smile back at him, shoulders tense, "yeah, touring's been eventful. it's the last leg of the tour so i decided to come, thank you for the invite by the way, i really appreciate—"

"max, who's this?" a voice came from behind you, quite condescending if you did say so yourself, cutting you off, you turned your head around to see his girlfriend and his girlfriend's child coming into view, walking towards max and wrapping max with her arm as a possessive embrace.

max kissed her cheek, and that hurt. you didn't want to know why, but you knew. he spoke up afterwards, "this is y/n, she's a singer. i wanted her to come because she had a show here, thought the timing was quite convenient for her. y/n, this is my girlfriend, kelly piquet. she's a model."

you extended your hand as a form of hello before introducing yourself, "hello, i'm y/n—"

"yeah, i know who you are," kelly cut you off again, you were quite taken aback by the hostility, your hand left hanging but then again, max was talking to one of his ex-girlfriends. you thought you would react the same way, so you didn't take it too much to heart. her face was something you'd describe as an angry, possessive tiger, brows furrowed, frown on full display.

"i didn't mean to take time away from your boyfriend. i was just having a little chat pre-race," you tried to give her a smile while returning your hand back to your side, but kelly was adamant about standing her ground.

little penelope was looking at you like she had stars in her eyes, you smiled at her. as if it was a sign of whether she should speak up, she starting speaking to you directly, "hi, i really love your songs. do you think you can stay in the red bull garage and we can take pictures together?"

you giggle and bend down to her level and pat her head, "hi little p, of course we can take pictures together— that's if your mother lets me," you acknowledged that this little girl was no ordinary little girl and was your ex-boyfriend's girlfriend's child.

"can we all talk in private please?" kelly excused the three of them away before you could even give her a response but you understood her. standing back up before walking off deeper into the paddock.

MAX'S POV

"i don't understand why you would invite her!" kelly was pacing around the motorhome, here we were fifteen minutes before race start and here my girlfriend was still yelling over something that happened two hours ago.

"kelly, i just thought it was a good idea. i wanted to invite her because i know p was such a big fan of hers—"

"she's your ex for god's sake, max!" kelly yelled out yet again, "why would i ever approve of her coming to one of your races? let alone be near to p??" her pacing was more feverish now, like she was scared.

i could only sigh, honestly i wasn't too worried about this problem at the moment. the only thing on my mind was the race and only the race.

"look, can we talk about this when i've finished with my race? i really need to focus and you keeping me locked up in here isn't going to help with it," i stood up from my seat, i didn't want to hear anything else come out of her mouth other than a 'okay' and letting me walk out of here.

"don't you think our relationship is at stake here—?"

"if you don't let me go out into the garage, then we're nothing kelly," i say with finality, i wasn't going to let her ruin a race, "i told you, we will solve and talk about this issue later, but you chose to lock me up in here. there will be nothing to salvage if you don't let me do my job."

kelly wordlessly stepped out of the way of the door and let me go, thankfully just with enough time where i could run down and get into the garage, getting me in racing gear.

thankfully the red bull mechanics and officials were understanding enough to let me rush and get inside of my car, getting into the chasis just at the right moment where we would need to drive out.

it was going to be a fine race for me. i knew it. i had enough confidence in myself to know whether i could win a race, and this was one of them.

"and that's p1 max, great race," gp was in my ear, i was proud of myself for winning, but kelly was gnawing the back of my mind. although, the first face i saw when i got out of the car was y/n's.

it felt like my heart stopped beating, i thought i got rid of those stupid butterflies ages ago, but nothing ever beat seeing her smile after i finished a race. she looked so beautiful, so ethereal but i washed those thoughts out of my head.

i had a girlfriend.

i can't run up and hug her because she's my ex. i have a loving relationship in front of me. what was i thinking?

kelly was nowhere to be found in the celebratory pit, i thought that maybe she was still too angry to face me at the moment. it stung a little bit, but she'll get over it. i'm sure.

the night moves on fast, and somehow i found myself still in the garage fixing a few things with the sim, most of the mechanics and staff were long gone. with kelly nowhere to be found. sometimes i felt bad, for still harboring feelings for an ex that left me four years ago.

my relationship with her felt so different with kelly's...

she was like fresh air you would breathe after exiting a club in the middle of the night, the smoke that clouded the air dissipating almost instantly after that fresh air hit your lungs. somehow, even four years later i still find her in little things i do everyday.

against my better judgement, i picked up my phone and i gave her a call.

"hello?"

i breathed out a sigh of relief when i realized she hadn't changed her phone number yet.

"it's me," were the words that left my lips, "you wanna come celebrate with me tonight?" i was picking on my jeans, i didn't want her to say no. i just wanted to spend a little time with her.

"what about your girlfriend? isn't she going to be even more upset with you—"

"can we not talk about her right now?" i closed my eyes and leaned back against the chair i was sitting on, hearing her voice again after a long time just... it felt right.

"max..."

"don't... just don't. i know what you're gonna say and i know it's wrong but i just... i can't do this today. i just won today and the first face i saw was yours, she didn't bother to show up. you can't tell me how to feel, y/n," i rubbed my temples, "meet me in the lobby of my hotel tonight. i just wanna see you."

"if i say okay, will this be a one-time thing?" y/n asked, i could hear the soft rustles of her moving things around, she was probably already in her hotel, resting from her tour when i had called.

"better yet, just drop the address of where you're staying. i'll come to you."

the first thing max did when he saw you was crash his lips into yours, you wanted to push him away, be the better person and tell him that he has a girlfriend but your arms couldn't do it.

your lips disconnected after awhile, he was breathing heavy, face flushed, hands all over you, "i've missed you."

you hum a response, you could barely get out a response when you feel his lips on yours again, this was wrong. all the alarms in your body were telling you to push him off, to yell at him, to reprimand him for basically cheating on his girlfriend.

but you didn't.

and maybe that made you a bad person, but at the moment you didn't care. you just wanted to feel him once more.

you woke up the next morning, cuddled up against max, both of you bare and indecent. he hadn't left yet, maybe he didn't want to leave.

the reality of last night crashed down onto you as you realized what you've done.

"max?"

"yes, schatje?"

the little nickname he gave you never went away. he used to call you that all the time but the feelings that came with it was no longer endearment but horror.

"you need to get back to your girlfriend, i don't think i can do this," you unwrap yourself from his grasps and sit up, back facing him, tears filling your eyes.

"woah, woah. schatje—"

"please, max. i feel like shit. you have a girlfriend and i just slept with you. last night was a mistake," you breathed out and hugged your knees close to your chest. you felt his hand on your back.

"y/n, what are you saying—" you cut him off before he could say anything else.

"i can't give you what you want max. we can't be together anymore. our story ended four years ago, please don't make this mistake. you're going to regret it," you quickly got up and away from his close proximity and got dressed.

you didn't know how to face him anymore.

"can we please talk about it at least? you can't lie and say that you don't feel the same way i do," max's voice came from behind you, you were pacing around the room, you were stressed. he was sitting there, shirtless with his pants on now.

"i do max! and that's the worst part because i knew you're in a relationship but i still let this happen. i am a horrible person. i love you and it's slowly ruining my life. i should've known better!" you turn around to face him, your face red, tears streaming down your face.

max could only sigh and raked a hand through his hair, "schatje..."

"we can't be together max, you know it. i can never give you what she gives you. she can be with you almost all the time max, you threw that all away for me? for someone who can't give you time of day?!" you sob into your hands.

you felt arms wrapping around you as you sob into his embrace.

MAX VERSTAPPEN BREAKS UP WITH GIRLFRIEND KELLY PIQUET ONLY AFTER A FEW MONTHS OF BEING TOGETHER.

you scroll past that headline as you got ready for your appearance to promote your new album, it came out two days ago and you were to debut the new songs on jimmy kimmel.

the tortured poets department.

you hadn't talked to max ever since that night, ever since he tenderly kissed your forehead and told you it was going to be okay and that he would figure it out. he had been blowing up your phone, asking to meet but you didn't have it in your heart to meet him after destroying his relationship like that.

that was two months ago.

you were due on stage in around an hour and that's where you would sing your heart out, leaving whatever pieces of your old self behind when you slept with max for the final time.

"i love you, it's ruining my life. i touched you for only a fortnight."

hello! thank u for reading this fic hehe, hope u guys enjoyed it. thank you again for 100 followers!!!!

[confessedlyfannish]

DP x DC Writing Prompt #8

The day Bruce Wayne knocks on her apartment door Sam knows it's going to be a doozy.

"Mr. Wayne, I really do hope no one saw you," she says, ushering him in. "And for the record, a text ahead of time would be appreciated."

"I parked the car a few streets away," Bruce says, sticking a finger in his heel to peel his polished leather shoes off. Sam raises an eyebrow. "It's a sedan, not a Lamborghini."

"You own a sedan?"

"Taught Dick to drive in it...after he crashed the Lamborghini."

Sam snorts despite herself. The charm Bruce Wayne exhibits would usually rub her the wrong way, too reminiscent of wealthy men that feel comfortable placing a hand on the small of your back at a crowded gala, but Bruce is honest enough about his playacting that she has come to find its insincerity comforting. She's actually sought him out more than once, leading to several annoying headlines that can't seem to decide if she's aiming to date him or one of his eligible sons. None of whom are eligible by the way, as they are a) taken, b) legally dead, c) practically a minor, and d) an actual minor.

Sam's generational wealth is peanuts compared to Wayne Industries, so naturally her parents have been thrilled and rooting for option c.

"I also didn't want Danny to see I'd texted you. Or force you to lie to him."

Sam doesn't quite tense, but it's a near thing. She does slide to the other side of her kitchen island, under the context of finishing prepping her feta fried eggs, laid on a bed of smashed avocado and warm tortilla. She pulls a bottle of crunchy garlic oil out of the fridge and drizzles hot red crisps across the runny yolk. She takes a bite, chewing thoughtfully, not so much as offering him a glass of water.

"You realize, Mr. Wayne, I have no intention of lying to Danny now?"

Bruce sits at the stool on the opposite side of the island. "I understand. And if you want to ask Danny to return home before we continue, I'd understand that as well. I didn't mean to discomfit you--"

"Please do not lie to me now, Mr. Wayne," Sam says, rolling her eyes. "By your own admission you showed up at noon without warning knowing my superhero boyfriend wouldn't be present. If I am discomfited, all the more likely you get your information, right?" Golden yolk runs down her fingers, and she sacrifices it to the napkin rather than lick up her arm in front of her boss, with no small amount of resentment. The yolk is the best part.

"Get to it then," she demands.

Bruce straightens in his stool, chin raising and firming in a jawline she most often sees under a cowl. His eyes attempt to pin her in place, but Sam has stared the Master of Time in the face and demand he reschedule so she is built. different. She takes another bite of egg taco.

"I was not aiming for you to feel threatened, and moreover, I doubt you could be."

Except a smart person should always feel threatened by a threat, no matter their capability of handling one. It keeps them alive.

"Can you tell me how I'm not like all the other girls after lunch? You'll spoil my appetite."

Bruce clears his throat. "I'll get to the point--"

"Thank you."

"--Danny has been exhibiting paranormal behaviors beyond his baseline. We welcome all biologies; human, alien, and paranormal alike, but I have observed actions unlike what he had previously established as his, for lack of a better word, 'normal'

"I want to make sure he is not experiencing any unwelcome outside influence. Or, if this is merely a facet of his evolution, I'd like to know if this is something we or his family should be monitoring."

Sam has been an eco-consultant with Wayne Industries and unofficially, the Batfamily, for half a year now and this is the most she's ever heard the man speak in one sitting.

"Wow," she says. "How long have you been rehearsing that one?"

"A while." Bruce grunts, voice finally taking that final drop into Batman's gravelly rasp. "I see you're not surprised by any of this."

"No, not really," Sam says. She pours him a tall glass of lemon water from the pitcher, freshly sliced that morning, and he takes a polite sip.

"So what can you tell me?"

"Probably a lot. And Danny would probably prefer that I do, knowing him, the big baby," Sam sighs. "Listen Mr. Wayne, I can appreciate that you came here from a place of caution rather than intrusion. And if Danny was undergoing something negative or from an 'unwelcome outside influence' that would be the right call, and I, albeit begrudgingly, encourage you to do so in the future."

"But he's not."

"He's not," Sam confirms. "And in fact, I think he could really use someone to talk to about it. Outside of his family."

"I see..." Bruce says, shifting.

"If you want to tag team this one with one of the higher EQ players, such as Superman, I give you permission." Sam does not think she's imagining that slight sag of relief.

"Thank you," Bruce says, sliding off the stool. "I don't suppose you have material we could consult...?"

"Actually yes, I happen to have a pamphlet right here. 'So your ghostly body is changing, and how.'"

"You're being more sarcastic than usual."

"You interrupted my lunch, Mr. Wayne."

[thegroundsofbrooklyn]

ily: i love you

ilysm: i love you so much

gafbthismahpagslwwgtabdiadbappfdkabwtmandiwsotcatsstcrhbwigttwswahchigtwldigaptpwaldahfthttwujibiijsallatc: got a feeling bout the headline i smells me a headline papes are gonna sell like we was givin them away betcha dinner is a doozy bout a pistol packing floozy don't know any better way to make a newsie's day i was staking out the circus and then someone said that coney's really hot but when i got there there was spot with all his cronies heck i'm gonna take what little dough i got and play the ponies we at least deserves a headline for the hours that they work us jeez i bet if i just stayed a little longer at the circus

[dear-ao3]

gotta feeling bout a headline i smells me a headline, papes are gonna sell like we was giving them away i betcha dinner its a doozy bout a pistol packin floozy dont know any better way to make a newsies day! i was stakin out the circus then someone said that coneys really hot but when i got there there was spot and all his cronies, heck im gonna take what little dough i got and play with the ponies, we at least deserve a headline for the hours that they work us jeez i bet if i stayed a little longer at the circus

[ey-theys-was-coronas]

GOT A FEELING BOUT THE HEADLINE I SMELLS ME A HEADLINE PAPES ARE GONNA SELL LIKE WE WAS GIVING EM AWAY BETCHA DINNER ITS A DOOZY BOUT A PISTOL PACKIN FLOOZY DONT KNOW ANY BETTER WAY TO MAKE A NEWSIES DAY I WAS STAKING OUT A CIRCUS AND THEN SOMEONE TOLD ME CONEYS REALLY HOT BUT WHEN I GOT THERE THERE WAS SPOT AND ALL HIS CLOONEYS HECK IM GONNA TAKE WHAT LITTLE DOUGH I GOT AND PLAY THE PONIES WE AT LEAST DESERVES A HEADLINE FOR THE HOURS THAT THEY WORK US JEEZ I BET IF I JUST STAYED A LITTLE LONGER AT THE CIRCUS

[adonischildsupportcase]

A doozy of a headline from start to finish

[goldennika]

Initial Thoughts on TOMORROW X TOGETHER's The Name Chapter: Freefall

Ok so i just listened to TNC: Freefall in full and damn, okay. Really solid album, sonically. And i say sonically bc i haven't read up on the lyrics just yet (i don't think the eng trans are out yet ☹️)

Am loving how they're showcasing more of their vocals (txt lower register enthusiasts, we are being fed at last 😭) and the whole band/session feels of the music really emphasizes that.

can we take a minute to talk about beomkai's vocals?? bc i really think this might be their era 🥹 and seeing as all of the boys have at least 2 credits to their name in this album, it really feels like this is their sound, and their personal music preferences came through too

i'm on the fence about DILT's inclusion in the album though. we all know it was not a planned track at all but it was a really good opportunity for them to collaborate and have a fun summer track out before headlining lolla 2023.

that said, it just doesn't seem to fit in (at least sonically) in this album. i don't know if moving it higher up in the tracklist would have been better since i haven't read the lyrics yet but sonically, it might have worked more since the more powerful/complex sounding tracks are in the first half, imo

but overall, this album is full of surprises, and very good ones at that!! I'm sure i'll love it even more when i listen to it again but yeah, from the first listen alone, i would recommend this album!!!

Track first impressions under the cut! very raw reactions ahead haha

Track 1: Growing Pain

oh damn gritty TXT ???

LOWER REGISTER LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOO

legitimately gave me goosebumps

EXCUSE ME THE OOH's IN THE CHORUS???? DELICIOUS

H U E N I N G K A I

that's it. that's the thought.

the guitar is so good ugh

ROCK BAND TXT LET'S GOOOOOOO

this will absolutely kill when performed live 😵‍💫

Track 2: Chasing That Feeling

HERE FOR THE SYNTHS(??)

giving TCHFTG and Blinding Lights by The Weeknd (i love The Weeknd btw)

Yeonjun's voice is so soothing??????

wait is the nod to the TCHFTG instrumentals intentional??????

maybe this is just me but their choreo (based on the MV) looks like it goes so hard but this song feels relatively chill/easy listening (esp compared to their last few title tracks bc sugar rush ride was a doozy to take in) so it seems a bit... off? idk idk

looking forward to a stage/practice vid to come out to appreciate their performance more!

Track 3: Back for More (TXT Ver)

already reacted to this before and ugh so good

HUENINGKAI POPPED OFF IN HIS VERSE UGH

Yeonjun's is also so good

love their adlibs so much 🥹

super interesting to place this track right after Chasing That Feeling 🤔

dance break instrumental and adlibs have my whole heart actually

like i can see them dancing in my head even if i'm just listening

Track 4: Dreamer

oh shit i love the bass already??????

FIRST LINE IN AND I'M IN LOVE ALREADY???

kinda scared to check the lyrics ngl

oh this song is delicious

i can already see all the tiktok edits happening (not necessarily a bad thing for them imo)

ooh shit "let me break it down for you" jdfh;kdjsfb;nsfkja

I LVOE THIS TRACK?????????

WAIT IS TAHT ALL SOOBIN IN THE CHORUS??????????

or is taehyun there too?

the "let me break it down for you" is going to haunt me in my dreams thanks

Track 5: Deep Down

strong start. nice

WTF IS THIS DIRECTION THEY'RE TAKING I LOVE IT????? 😳

yooo the minimal instrumentals in the start was so good

oh it got clubby in the chorus

OH HELL BEOMGYU IN THE CHORUS SHOULD HAVE COME WITH A WARNING (deep down i need you more)

this feels so different from the usual TXT but it works??

okayyyy the trumpet sounding stuff in the outro was a nice touch

Track 6: Happily Ever After

pretty sure i'll cry if i read up the lyrics of this one haha 🥲

oh this track is so smooothhhh in the pre-chorus

oohhh the la la la's are growing on me

it's like happy fools but more refined?????

LOVE the blending/harmonization 😩

GIVE ME ALL THE LAYERED VOCALS @ BIG HIT

SOOBIN I LOVE YOU (outro ver) 🥹😭

Track 7: Skipping Stones

the cymbals? hi-hats? at the start oh god *chef's kiss*

feels like a band session up in here!!!

HUENINGKAI LET'S FUCKING GOOOOO

oh damn beomgyu???

taehyun with the high notes mhmmm

band txt is the future i can see it all so clearly now

LOVE the way they start off each line durign the verses. scratches my brain sooooo good when they give the little oomph then blend it down ugh (sorry idk musical terms)

kinda obsessed with this music already wtf

the female vocals too!!

HUENINGKAI EXTENDED NOTE LET'S FUCKING GOOOO

HE MADE IT SOUND SO EASY?????????????

mhmmm soobin's falsetto

wow

just wow

FUCK ME WITH THOSE OHs AT THE END OF THE SONG GODDAMN

Track 8: Blue Spring

i know we were joking around about band txt but what if it's not a joke anymore bc we've had track after track of band/session sounds and i am not okay anymore

i'm never gonna be normal about this song sorry not sorry

POP OFF HUENINGKAI GODDAMN

what if i cry.....

hmmm the rest of the instrumentals kicking in. so good.

and then they strip it down??? to let the vocals shine????

so so good

COME THROUGH WITH THE DRUMS

soobin's verse with yeonjun's adlibs is what dreams are made of actually

god yeonjun and hueningkai are gonna make me cry

NO FUCKIGN WAY THEY ADDED MORE OF TAEHYUN'S ADLIBS????

STOP THE FUCKING CAR THEY'RE HARMONIZING INT EH CHORUS TOO??????????????

TYUNNING ADLIBS IN THE OUTRO????????????????

MY JAW IS DROPPED AND I CANNOT BREATHEEEEEEEEE

Track 9: Do It Like That

ok yeah ngl the mood shifted dramatically after all the band txt sounds lol

DILT is a cute song but i don't think it makes sense in this album

or at least not in this placement???

i may reconsider if this was a TXT ver lol

or maybe they were thinking about our mental health when they decided to keep it in the album

i would probs be a sobbing mess if tnc: freefall rly just ended with the studio ver of blue spring 🥹

Track 10: Chasing That Feeling (English Ver)

including this here bc why not it's on the tracklist anyway haha

tbh i wasn't feeling this track much from the teasers

but hearing the song in full changed my mind

the build up is good

why does yeonjun's voice sound so good in this genre like how is it soooo good

time's a thief that won't stop stealing -- well damn did i feel that

taehyun our belting star 🥺

[thewittyphantom]

Here’s Yugo’s dialogue with Sylvio and Declan.

Yugo: It’s you... Sylvio: Oh my! Yugo! Haven’t seen you in more than a while! Yugo: Sylvio! Doing good? Sylvio: Of course! ...Wait a sec. Didn’t you and Yuya merge into one? Yugo: We did...But I’m back! Even though how is a mystery... Sylvio: Eh. no need to dwell on that. It’s not a big deal. Yugo: It’s a huge deal! Sylvio: All I care about is that you’re back...So I can get payback! Yugo: ...Payback? Oh! You mean payback for losing against me in the Friendship Cup. Sylvio: Gah! [flashback] Yugo: Go, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon! Spin Storm Sky Strike! Sylvio: Aaaaahhhh! Melissa Trail: In the end, Yugo pulled off one doozy of a win! Sylvio: Argh! I was so close to winning I could taste it! Crowd: That was fantastic, Sylvio! Your Dueltaining style rocks! Sylvio: Ah...Hahaha! Yugo: ............. Sylvio: Hey! Give ‘em a little love back! Yugo: Huh? Sylvio: Don’t you hear that cheering? We brought these fans to their feet! [end flashback] Yugo: That was a really great Duel! Sylvio: Which only we could pull off! Because to get the best performance, you need the best performers! You played your role perfectly as the villain who loses to the hero! Yugo: Wait...But you lost. Sylvio: Because you went off-script. But as the headliner, I’m going to win this time! Yugo: Huh... Is that what happened? Whatever - it’s fine! Cuz I want to Duel you, too! Sylvio: That’s the spirit! Let’s put on a fantastic show together!

Declan: So you have finally arrived in this world... Yugo: Who are you!? Declan: My name is Declan Akaba. Yugo: Ah! Even though it’s the first time I’m meeting you, I’ve heard a lot about ya! Declan: I know a lot about you too. I’ve even seen you Duel. Yugo: Oh yeah? i can guess why you’re keeping your eye out for us. You’re worried that Z-ARC is gonna come back. That he might be the next one to show up. Declan: You’re right. Yugo: Well, you have every right to be alarmed. Judging by all the chaos we caused. But you don’t have to worry just yet. I’m Yugo, not Z-ARC. Declan: I guess so. Yugo: Hey...Do you think my friend Rin will come here too? Declan: I don’t know much about her. However...I believe the possibility is high. Yugo: If she does show up...You’re not gonna do anything to her, are ya? Declan: I will do whatever it takes to stop Z-ARC from returning. But those who were part of Ray - like Rin - have no direct connection to Z-ARC’s resurrection. And if it turns out that we must battle Z-ARC, she may prove to be an asset in stopping him. That’s why I won’t do anything to prevent her return. Yugo: That’s a relief! Declan: I wish I could help you more, but there’s nothing I can do. Yugo: Thanks - don’t worry about it. There’s nothing I can do either. Oh - but what you can do is Duel me! That’ll help you get to know me better! Declan: Heh...I accept your challenge!

[bizarrepotpourri]

Behind the Scenes: The Murderous Brat

[Previously on: Unlucky Thirteen]

As promised, this time we focus on the case of a "depraved murderer barely out of high school", written all on my own without asking other users of A Certain Website for inspiration.

This post, of course, contains mentions of violent crime, death and hornyposting again, so everything is under the cut. Proceed at your own risk.

Important info: you can access the link only if you set explicit material to be shown in your Pixiv settings. For a good reason.

As I said, the idea for this one hit me during the writing of "Unlucky Thirteen", sending me down a rabbit hole of outlining the concept through important-sounding legalese, and that it's based on an actual case. Well, two actual cases and each one of them is a doozy.

The original idea came from a discussion with one of the users of A Certain Website about a fairly recent case of parricide over here in Poland. But when I picked up speed and decided to google the details to confirm a few things, it turned out that I misremembered a crucial detail.

Namely, that the perpetrator wasn't a 19-year-old girl (that was the accomplice), but a 40-year-old woman. How she got a 19-year-old to help is less important - the main sell just got shot down, and that while I already had a full page of the notes including made-up press article headlines and ledes and about a third of the story proper written down. But, good for the story and bad for the real world, my lovely country also had another case of parricide involving high-schoolers a few years earlier. A boy and his angsty artist girlfriend stabbed his parents to death and then some, and by "and then some" I mean the investigators describing the crime scene as something straight from a horror movie.

This meant I had the crime implement (a silenced submachine gun), the motive ("I really, really hate my parents" - and I omitted the previous attempt using horse sedative) and the name from one case, and approximate age, accomplice and "angsty artist" schtick from the other one. I even cooked up bad angsty teen free verse while I was making dinner, and in two languages while we're at it. With that, I got to writing the most important part of the story - the conversation.

My idea was to have the condemned have a talk with the executioner as a last wish, in order to highlight her pretentious, insufferable Angsty Teenage Artist personality. I joked to another user of A Certain Website that I was imagining Julianne as a cross between Hannibal Lecter and Wednesday Addams in a private school sweater, and noted down that she was supposed to be "passive-aggressive" and "morbidly curious" - as expected from someone who shot their parents, cut them up, packed the remains in suitcases and finally dumped the suitcases in several different spots in the wild. Putting it together took me three days, and my original idea of making Julianne a psychotic hate sink just couldn't click. Even the “blue and poo” line that I shamelessly stole from the testimony of one of Australian serial killers (I can’t remember which one, though - I’m fairly certain it was either Ivan Milat or the Barrel Killers, but couldn’t find a source confirming either), who described strangling people as “smurfing”, because “first you go blue, and then you go poo”, didn't quite do it - mostly because its context in the story went from complete sociopathic insanity to gallows humor. Sure, she's still impudent, sarcastic and has ridiculously skewed priorities throughout her life - while I haven’t explicitly put the pedicure line in my notes, I had it in my mind pretty much since I started writing the scene. But then, when I started basing the way Julianne acts while smoking and talking on a former friend of mine, I got two ideas from that: obvious posturing and an apparent addiction to bad choices in life. I mean, I couldn’t have come up with the entire footjob situation if I didn’t know someone operating on similarly fucked-up logic. And to top it all off, one reader's opinion on Julianne as a character was "I don't condone her actions, but I understand her." And that means I achieved the exact opposite of my original idea: of course she thinks entirely too highly of herself and sounds a lot like a countercultural caricature, but on the other hand, you can feel sorry for her being treated like a failure through no fault of her own.

There's a lot of emphasis on Julianne being the youngest woman executed in the Kingdom in this century, for two reasons, both related to the twist in the case with Prosecution appealing the original life sentence soon after Julianne’s 18th birthday: first, long ago I had an idea for a still-unfinished story in which a group execution was delayed until after the 18th birthday of the youngest of the condemned, just so nobody could accuse the justice system of putting children to death. Second, they really wanted to get her: the Kingdom wants to be seen as modern and civilized, even if it has teenage skeletons in its closet, but on the other hand, it doesn't want to be seen as soft on crime as heinous as a double murder using a very illegal weapon. So if you're thinking that it was a setup and the entire schpiel about "psychiatric evaluations" was just an excuse, you're most probably right.

The story also gives some insight into the secrecy surrounding executions in the Kingdom. My original idea was that the names of Special Correctional Officers are confidential and listed only in Ministry of Justice personal files - even the Regional Courts and prison wardens know only the Officer’s badge number and it’s all that goes into the case files. There are also non-disclosure agreements and gag orders, so while the journalists attending the execution get to know the last words of the condemned and witness them being taken away, they not only don’t see the grisly end in person, but are also forbidden from probing the involved people for details. Meaning, Missis Officer won’t get to write a tell-all when retired, as opposed to Albert Pierrepoint, for example. Not that she would - the introduction describes her feelings toward the press fairly well, and she can't help but agree with Julianne when she mentions her hate for tabloids. Not only the "reporting" on high-profile trials often turns out to be sensationalist bullshit that skews reality into unrecognizable mess, with "unbridled joy" being an euphemism for baying for blood, but also the condemned often get the wrong ideas from seeing themselves on the front page. After all, there's no such thing as bad publicity.

Since the city of Blackmill is a stand-in for Manchester, the Raymouth prison is mostly based on HMP Strangeways, but when I got an interesting image of Julianne hanged in an industrial-looking room generated by AI, I decided to abandon the original plan of making it more typical and similar to Wandsworth and Holloway and go with basing the execution chamber on the former Nottingham Gaol (more precisely, their current museum exhibit of 19th century gallows), and the post-WW2 execution sheds built in German prisons, based on the stills from "Pierrepoint" again.

And finally, THE SPLOOSH. While Nicole in "Unlucky Thirteen" might have gotten wet at the last moment for an unspecified reason, Julianne is an utter little freak. While she was mostly trying to get a rise out of Missis Officer with the remarks on leather and masturbating in the noose in front of an audience, she was playing up her actual kinks for shock value. If she wasn’t warned beforehand that any stupid stunt means that her conversation with the executioner is over and she’ll be dragged back to her cell with all the remaining privileges forfeit, she’d probably do something like pulling up her dress and pressing her tits against the glass. But still, in her last moments she went like Madeline in my story “Worst Day of the Year”, just witnessed from an outside perspective.

[1nm806]

got a feelin bout a headline!???? i smells me a headline??!!:!! papes are gonna sell like we was givin em away!!!!!

betcha dinner its a doozy bout a pistol packin floozy, aint no better way to make a newsies day !!

[bllsbailey]

Biden the Invisible President Lies Without Consequence

Joe Biden may still hold the office of President of the United States, but the media are treating him like he's anything but a newsmaker. For much of Biden's presidency, reporters were much more energized to cover the apparent menace of Donald Trump than agitate the officials that were always hiding Biden. Now he seems invisible.

On Dec. 15, the president spoke to a Democratic National Committee holiday party. Any reporter would expect a pep talk, with all the echoes of "we'll get them next time." Biden simply lied about the state of the country. In discussing PolitiFact's latest Trump-trashing "Lie of the Year" campaign, Matt Kittle of The Federalist re-racked this doozy:

"One thing I've always believed about public service, especially about the presidency, is the importance of asking yourself, 'Have we left the country in better shape than we found it?' Today, I can say without, with every fiber of my being, with all my heart, the answer to the question is a resounding yes," Biden said.

That sounds like dementia, not truth. Yes, the pandemic ended ... and all of Biden's policy failures began. A few sentences later, he added, "I fully believe that America is better positioned, because of all of you, to lead the world today than [at] any point in the last 50 years of my career ... Again, not hyperbole!"

None of the broadcast networks covered this oratorical face-plant on air -- ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS or NPR. It came on a Sunday, a slow day. But ABCNews.com published what sounded like a sterile press release from Michelle Stoddart. She repeated this blatantly false quote -- that Biden left the country in better shape -- and helpfully added, "Biden did try to make the pitch that many of the benefits of his actions in office won't be fully felt by Americans for some time." Keep hope alive, Joe.

In all my searching, I couldn't find an Associated Press dispatch on these remarks. The Monday papers didn't have it -- not The New York Times, The Washington Post or USA Today. But the Post and USA Today both quoted from Biden's self-defense the previous Tuesday at the Brookings Institution. Both must have been written before Sunday's DNC speech.

In his "Biden touts his legacy" piece, Post reporter Cleve R. Wootson captured this similar claim 19 paragraphs deep in his dispatch:

"I know it's been hard for many Americans to see, and I understand it. They're just trying to figure out how to put three squares on the table," Biden said at Brookings. "But I believe it was the right thing to do, not only to lift Americans out of economic crisis caused by a pandemic, but set America on a stronger course for the future. And we did that."

Like Carter-style inflation never happened? "Many Americans" are blind to reason?

Wootson added that Biden recounted an insanely supportive quote from Time magazine: "President-elect Trump is receiving the strongest economy in modern history, which is the envy of the world." That came in a November 14 piece, headlined "Don't Give Trump Credit for the Success of the Biden Economy." It was an opinion piece by Yale officials Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Stephen Henriques. Fun fact: Sonnenfeld donated $2,800 to Biden in 2019.

This piece also mangled the facts, as they claimed under Biden, "prices continue to fall as wages rise." Prices haven't fallen. The rate of inflation has, but not prices.

The American electorate rejected Biden's policies at the polls. The distraught Democrat reporters would rather forget that happened. So Biden can lie about his legacy without consequence.

[darkmaga-returns]

Evie Solheim

Nov 26, 2024

Universities are known for taking pains to avoid bad publicity, so when a top university makes an unforced error in its treatment of a student, it’s always interesting to ask why. A petition to allow a pregnant second-year law student to move up her final exams at Georgetown Law School made headlines on Friday. School administrators eventually caved to public pressure and allowed the student, Brittany Lovely, more flexibility for scheduling her exam, but not before giving Georgetown’s PR team a doozy of a day. 

Lovely said she had been fighting with the administration for months but was told she would have to take the exam in person 11 days after her due date, with two extra hours to allow for breastfeeding, the Washington Post reported. Lovely’s request to take the exam early or at home was denied for being “inequitable” for her fellow students, according to the petition. Luckily for Lovely, her classmates came to her aid to protest the possible Title IX violation, and a bipartisan crew of pro-natalist conservatives and pronouns-in-bio liberals raised an outcry online. 

How could a group of highly credentialed and presumably intelligent school officials have handled this situation so poorly? Leave aside the fact that Lovely is a black woman facing an unplanned pregnancy (her partner, fellow Georgetown Law student Tyler Zirker, spoke in support of her to the Washington Post). Leave aside the fact that at-home exams were more than good enough for the university during the Covid-19 lockdowns (Georgetown University’s student body wasn’t allowed back on campus until the fall of 2021). To anyone with common sense, telling a nine-months-pregnant woman that she must appear in person for anything on a specific day sounds crazy. Not to mention it creates more complications for everyone when said woman fails to appear because she’s in labor.

[fiercemillennial]

No Degree, No Problem? The Cost of Activism on Campus

Are universities silencing student voices? When pro-Palestinian protests lead to withheld degrees, we gotta ask: who's really losing here? Read our latest article. #FierceMillennial #TrendingTopics

When universities punish students for speaking out, who’s really losing? Alright, fam, buckle up because this one’s a doozy. We’ve all seen the headlines: colleges withholding degrees from students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests. Now, before you roll your eyes and think, “Oh, not this again,” hear me out. This isn’t just about politics; it’s about free speech, activism, and the…

[tellurian-in-aristasia]

Sunday Telegraph Jan 10, 1993 This post is a doozy, and I do apologize for the scandalous headline, showing up big and loud on your feed. But it is worth reading. This is a couple of letters to the editor about the allegations aimed at the Silver Sisterhood of St. Bride's School, one from Mr. Tyndall himself (infamous neo-Nazi, see his wiki page if you're unfamiliar with him) saying he was in correspondence with Lucinda Tyrrell for 2 years, and she initially contacted him, but it had nothing to do with silly monkey school girl stuff. If you recall, the woman also known as Miss Martindale went by the name Clare Tyrrell, another woman who she referred to as her cousin went by the name Lucinda Tyrrell. There is no picture of this mysterious cousin Tyrrell, so I would be willing to bet it was another name used by Miss Priscilla Langridge, as the two often worked and lived together, and Miss Langridge was notoriously camera shy. The other letter to the editor is by a Miss Lindendorvf, presumably the same Miss Linden Dorvf the previous article mentioned sounded a lot like the woman who was also Miss Martindale, and her letter clears up the trouble with who owned St. Bride's School and clarifies no such correspondence took place with Mr. Tyndall.