#sent february 11 2021

[hoovesandfloorpaws]

🌈 Harry&Louis and rings 🌹🗡

This post by @cosmicleeds from Nov 2022 sent me on a little 2024 Harry&Louis and The Rings deep dive.

Let's start with The One Ring - Harry's Peace Ring.

The Peace Ring was the successor of the (what is long-believed to be) dark silver Promise Ring that Louis gifted Harry on Feb 12th, 2012 in Stockholm. Harry and Louis entered the restaurant without any rings and Harry excited it with this one:

"The first ring that Harry was ever spotted in was a simple dark silver band (which sometimes appeared black) worn on his right middle finger or left index finger [x link leads to a timeline by @bulletprooflarry from 2015, incl. pictures of Harry wearing it on his left index finger].

I always felt that the dark silver band was very personal to Harry and he might have been hesitant to wear it all the time or maybe was not allowed to (just my personal interpretations), because at some award shows, he didn't wear it at all, i.e. The Brit Awards in February 2013. (source)

The dark silver ring made its first appearance on Feb 13, 2012 in Stockholm, after Louis had returned from an extended ski trip with his [...] beard, Eleanor Calder. [It] was spotted constantly for about 14 months while stunting was at its peak, until it was replaced with the Peace Ring [...in April 2013]." - via this article from NoStuntsMagazine from July 2022 + this short timeline post from 2021 by @onlyforthekings

The Peace Ring was first spotted in April 2013 and the simple dark silver band disappeared quickly after. It was always rumoured Louis gave it to Harry during a dinner at a restaurant called Rosso in Manchester, as Louis had tweeted about the restaurant, and Rosso Manchester had tweeted to Harry and Louis multiple times, but to this day it was never confirmed they were actually at that restaurant during that month. Los Angeles Airport on April 27th, 2013 on Harry's right index finger and 2013 and in Paris one day later, on the same finger.

The Dancing Bears Ring Harry got it around mid 2013 and it, too, is a ring tightly linked to the general theme of Gay/Queer Pride since it closely resembles a rainbow bear design by The Grateful Dead. Harry wore that ring pretty consistently up until 2019. (image source)

The Grateful Dead rainbow bears design compared to Harry's ring. It's the exact same! (x)

September 23rd, 2013 in Adelaide, Australia. Harry wearing the Peace Ring and the Bear Ring. (source)

Differently from the dark silver ring in early 2013, Harry did wear his Peace Ring and Bear Ring to award shows, i.e. the American Music Awards in November 2013. (source)

Back to the Peace Ring -- Harry wore that ring (and that ring only!) consistently for 8 years ('till 2021) and since then wore it on tour and special occasions, as well as showing it in his Tour Highlight videos. Meaning: he wears his Peace Ring for over 11 years now.

At the Grammy’s on March 14th, 2021 for the first time since he got it 8 years ago, Harry did not wear his Peace Ring, but a Bird Ring instead. Same at the Brits on May 11th, 2021.

4 months later, "[in] Denver on September 7th, 2021, [was] when he wore the Peace Ring [again]. [...] After that night, another 8 months passed. Finally on May 19th, 2022 the Peace Ring was back [...] during one performance in New York." Harry wore the ring for 17 public appearances in 2022, including the My Policeman premiere on Sep 9th. All this comes from this awesome post/these timelines with photos, made by @ishipmutualrespect. Definitely check it out, especially about very recent ring sightings.

Lastly, the Peace Ring made an appearance in his IG video recap for the Love On Tour tour 2023, where he shows his rings for a few seconds.

(gif credit, made by @delicatepointofview)

The Turquoise Ring "Harry added the Turquoise Ring in 2014 and wore it consistently for a while until, I believe, it broke. [...] it’s Louis’ birthstone (December birthstone is turquoise) and [...] turquoise is a blue/green stone (and, as you know, blue & green are Larry colours)." - via this post from 2017 by the wonderful @twopoppies "The turquoise Ring [...] is also the birthstone for December— who do we know born in December? Turquoise is also a literal mix of blue and green.." 💙💚 (x)

The Rose Ring Another ring was added to his collection -- one that again is tied to Louis' and his relationship. The Rose Ring that Louis bought for Harry in early 2017 at Dover street market.

"The rose ring popped up [...] in London [...] in March 2017. It also has a caterpillar inside. And Louis probably definitely* bought it for him. There’s also a lot of speculation about this being connected to Harry’s rose tattoo which is, of course, connected to Louis’ dagger tattoo." - (x) *content linked to is unfortunately no longer available

Harry sadly lost his Rose Ring at an Ariana Grande concert in August 2019. There's even a video of him searching for it with a flashlight in the crowd, poor bub 😔 You can hear him saying "I've lost my ring."🥀

(I also read that the H and S Rings that he got afterwards replaced his lost Rose Ring)

The Red Stone Ring "I’ve seen talk about it being Louis’ birthstone (he’s a Capricorn and the Capricorn birthstone is a garnet) and that it’s possibly also another engagement ring." (x)

It's almost important to note that during the 1D era, Harry often obviously messed and fiddled with all these rings that are tied to Louis whenever they were asked about marriage, kids, etc. And he did it very obviously so. I always thought that very meaningful and symbolistic.

This was while Louis said "Sometimes people get engaged for years…” (Harry plays with his Turquoise Ring)

Ring fam is all together 🌈 (RIP Turquoise Ring and Rose Ring, you are missed)

My personal thoughts Harry's bought and got gifted a lot more rings over time, of course; especially after 2018 and I'm sure that, i.e. the Pearl Ring might also be a Louis-ring, but I couldn't find many resources about it. (Feel free to add on to this post everyone!) The mentioned rings are the ones I personally find most significant, because they so clearly tie to Louis' and his relationship and to Harry's sense of self (Dancing Bears Ring as a Pride ring) and he's been wearing them for ages. They're all such Harry Staple rings. I really loved the Rose Ring that Louis got Harry in 2017 🌹🗡, it was so significantly tied to their matching tattoos and was so Harry. Classic, striking, delicately detailed, with big personal meaning referencing their shared history, and with a little secret stashed inside of it. The sad loss of the ring in 2019 could also possibly mean Harry has become more cautious about when to wear certain rings in general. I could imagine that the Turquoise Ring and the Red Ring Harry got himself to remind himself of Louis, but honestly, who knows? These two have always loved to spoil each other right from the start, haha ("Wrapped it myself. It even has a bow on it.")

And in the special case of the Peace Ring -- I never had any doubt that it's an engagement/promise/wedding ring, in whatever sense they wanted it to be. Since later that year, Sep 28th, 2013 became a very significant date to them (a believed-to-be wedding-of-sorts-date, since same sex marriage wasn't yet legal in the UK in 2013) and it's noteworthy that they didn't wear any type of rings right after that date or even got any tattoos. (Louis got his rope/infinity symbol in June 2013, Harry got his rose tattoo in early Sep 2013 and then nothing anymore until he also got his anchor on Jan 11th, 2014, covering up the "I can't change.." tattoo that he got in July 2012. (H&L tattoo timeline until 2018: here)) So I can imagine the Peace Ring had already been a symbol for their strong bond and that symbolism only got strengthened that day. Would I love to know more about that day? Absolutely. Do they owe that information to us? Absolutely not.

In conclusion, I have no doubt that Harry's Peace Ring stood and stands for their commitment to each other; for Harry belonging to Louis. We all know how possessive they were of each other from day 1, probably heavily increased by how much they had to constantly pretend they weren't in love with each other and with someone else instead. Also I find it such a beautiful fact that Harry has been wearing his ring for almost 12 years (in April 2025). I mean, gosh, Louis and him will have their 15th anniversary in 2025. That's huge! :') And I think the ring stands for all that -- for the essence of their relationship; that they are forever each other's ultimate peace, love, and home.

•

RESOURCES 💍 ☮ Harry's Rings tag by @daisiesonafield-blog ☮ A timeline from 2021 of Harry's rings on Twitter ☮ Peace Ring Masterpost/timeline posts by @ishipmutualrespect ☮ extensive Rings on Tour post by @ishipmutualrespect ☮ dedicated tumblr to when the Peace Ring appears: @thepeaceringtimeline ☮ Peace Ring Pride - NoStuntsMagazine from July 2022 ☮ Peace Ring tag by @daisiesonafield-blog ☮ Twitter account for the Peace Ring that is funny and cute

[shattered-pieces]

Tomorrow in Yekaterinburg an American woman will be sentenced for donating $51 to the Armed Forces of Ukraine 33-year-old Russian and US citizen Ksenia Karelina (Havana) admitted her guilt in financing the Ukrainian Armed Forces, SOTAvision reports . Ksenia is charged with treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) for transferring $51 to the Ukrainian foundation Razom for Ukraine on the third day of the war in 2022. Today, Karelina's parents were questioned in the case. According to lawyer Mikhail Mushailov, the parties will debate tomorrow and a verdict will be announced. US Consul General Stuart Wilson came to support Ksenia. The case is being heard by Judge Andrei Mineev, who also delivered the verdict in the case of Evan Gershkovich. The trial is closed to the press and the public. The daughter of Yekaterinburg businessman Pavel Karelin, Ksenia Karelina, moved to the United States in 2015, and in 2021 she got married there and received American citizenship. The girl was detained on January 27 this year, when she came to visit her family in her hometown. She was sentenced to 14 days of arrest for swearing in a public place; presumably, at the same time, security forces found information on her phone about the transfer of funds to a Ukrainian fund. Two weeks later, upon leaving the special detention center, Karelina was detained by FSB officers and charged with treason. On February 8, Ksenia was sent to a pretrial detention center. 📍 Sverdlovsk Regional Court, Yekaterinburg, Moskovskaya St., 120, Judge Mineev, Courtroom 5a, starts at 11:00

https://t.me/politzekinfo/6389

[mariacallous]

Owners of Spotify's soon-to-be-bricked Car Thing device are begging the company to open source the gadgets to save some the landfill. Spotify hasn't responded to pleas to salvage the hardware, which was originally intended to connect to car dashboards and auxiliary outlets to enable drivers to listen to and navigate Spotify.

Spotify announced this week that it's bricking all purchased Car Things on December 9 and not offering refunds or trade-in options. On a support page, Spotify says:

We're discontinuing Car Thing as part of our ongoing efforts to streamline our product offerings. We understand it may be disappointing, but this decision allows us to focus on developing new features and enhancements that will ultimately provide a better experience to all Spotify users.

Spotify has no further guidance for device owners beyond asking them to reset the device to factory settings and “safely” get rid of the bricked gadget by “following local electronic waste guidelines.”

The company also said that it doesn’t plan to release a follow-up to the Car Thing.

Early Demise

Car Thing came out to limited subscribers in October 2021 before releasing to the general public in February 2022.

In its Q2 2022 earnings report released in July, Spotify revealed that it stopped making Car Things. In a chat with TechCrunch, it cited “several factors, including product demand and supply chain issues.” A Spotify rep also told the publication that the devices would continue to “perform as intended,” but that was apparently a temporary situation.

Halted production was a warning sign that Car Thing was in peril. However, at that time, Spotify also cut the device’s price from $90 to $50, which could have encouraged people to buy a device that would be useless a few years later.

Car Thing's usefulness was always dubious, though. The device has a 4-inch touchscreen and knob for easy navigation, as well as support for Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and voice control. But it also required users to subscribe to Spotify Premium, which starts at $11 per month. Worse, Car Thing requires a phone using data or Wi-Fi connected via Bluetooth in order to work, making the Thing seem redundant.

In its Q1 2022 report, Spotify said that quitting Car Thing hurt gross margins and that it took a 31 million euro (about $31.4 million at the time) hit on the venture.

Open Source Pleas

Spotify's announcement has sent some Car Thing owners to online forums to share their disappointment with Spotify and beg the company to open source the device instead of dooming it for recycling centers at best. As of this writing, there are more than 50 posts on the Spotify Community forums showing concern about the discontinuation, with many demanding a refund and/or calling for open sourcing. There are similar discussions happening elsewhere online, like on Reddit, where users have used phrases like “entirely unacceptable” to describe the news.

A Spotify Community member going by AaronMickDee, for example, said:

I'd rather not just dispose of the device. I think there is a community that would love the idea of having a device we can customize and use for other uses other than a song playback device. Would Spotify be willing to maybe unlock the system and allow users to write/flash 3rd party firmware to the device?

A Spotify spokesperson declined to answer Ars' questions about why Car Thing isn't being open sourced and concerns around e-waste and wasted money.

Instead, a company rep told Ars, in part: “The goal of our Car Thing exploration in the US was to learn more about how people listen in the car. In July 2022, we announced we’d stop further production and now it’s time to say goodbye to the devices entirely.” I followed up with Spotify's rep to ask again about making the device open source but didn't hear back.

At this point, encouraging customers to waste nearly $100 on a soon-obsolete device hasn't resulted in any groundbreaking innovations or lessons around “how people listen in the car.” In their initial response, Spotify's rep pointed me to a Spotify site that searches Spotify's newsroom for “how to listen to Spotify in the car.” One of the top posts is from 2019 and states that “if your car has an AUX or USB socket, using a cable is probably one of the fastest ways to connect by using your phone.”

As for Spotify, using customer dollars for company-serving learning experiences isn't the best business plan. And for regular users, it's best to avoid investing in an unproven hardware venture from a software company.

As Redditor Wemie1420 put it:

Doesn’t feel great that there is literally no alternative other than trashing it. Feels like we’re being punished for supporting them. Dissuades me from buying anything Spotify puts out in the future. I feel like there would be some way to approach this without being like, ‘yeah we’re done. Just throw it out it’s a waste of money now.’

[someoctober]

Home Video is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus.[4][5][6] It was released on June 25, 2021, via Matador.[7] It was promoted by the singles "Thumbs", "Hot & Heavy", "VBS", "Brando", and "Going Going Gone". The album received critical acclaim and placed on many critics' year-end lists.

Background[edit]

In late February 2021, certain fans of Dacus received a VHS tape of a new song in the mail. On March 9, 2021, the song was released using the title "Thumbs". It had long been a staple of Dacus' live performances prior to its release. Dacus explained the way the song came about in a press release.

Like most songs I write, I wasn't expecting it and it made me feel weird, almost sick.

Home video footage is used in the album's music videos, as Dacus "wanted to visualize the moment when you first reflect on your childhood, which I think can also be the moment that childhood is over."[9]

Promotion

Prior to the album's announcement, "Thumbs" was released as the lead single on March 9, 2021. On April 13, 2021, Dacus released the lead single for the album, "Hot & Heavy".[10] The release of "Hot & Heavy" was accompanied by the album's official announcement.[4] Dacus performed the song on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.[11] On May 19, 2021, Dacus released the album's third single, "VBS".[10] "Brando" was released as the fourth single on June 8, 2021. The song was sent to adult alternative radio on June 14, 2021.[12] Dacus promoted the album with a 28-city tour across North America in 2021.[6] A shortened version of "Going Going Gone" was released as a single on August 7, 2021.[13]

Critical reception

Home Video was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 85, based on 18 reviews.[14]

Reviewing for AllMusic, Marcy Donelson wrote that, "With Dacus' warm vocals and melodies leading the way throughout, Home Video is an engrossing set steeped in life lessons and nostalgia."[15] In Clash, Rebecca Sibley declared it "a powerful album" and "another exquisite offering from Lucy Dacus",[16] while Pitchfork's Peyton Thomas appraised it as "a bold statement, a powerful post-adolescent text in its own right".[2] Exclaim! reviewer Dylan Barnabe claimed that, "Dacus has long been heralded for her ability as a raconteur, and Home Video further cements this reputation. It is a deeply personal album filled with raw vignettes of young adulthood that claw at our collective consciousness."[17] Writing for NME, Rhian Daly believed that, "for the most part, Dacus proves that looking back at your past might make you cringe, but there is beauty and value in those faltering, gawky days."[18] Rolling Stone magazine's Angie Martoccio hailed the album as "her greatest work yet — a cohesive and poignant collection of tales from her teenage years in Richmond, Virginia", with stories "woven like a quilt, with several dark patches reminiscent of her hero Bruce Springsteen's The River".[19] Jeremy Winograd shared similar praise in his review for Slant Magazine, saying that, "Ultimately, it's less the nuances of Dacus's writing than her willingness to expose herself and her past so freely—even the most difficult parts—that make the strongest impression on Home Video."[20]

In June 2021, Home Video was listed as the 15th best album of the year so far by Stereogum and was included on a similar list by Slant.[22][23]

you are SO real for this

[fiercynn]

As it usually happens on here, we become fans of things by osmosis if we didn't seek it out for ourselves. So I've been following you for a bit and I have finally crossed the threshold from "this person I follow really loves this media and I love seeing their love for it on my dash, so glad they're having fun" over to "I wanna have fun, too." And that's all thanx to @thatgothsamurai's photobooth art.

So, I hope you can guide me on where I should start with patpran and inkpa, and the rest. Like, are they on separate shows that crossover? A spinoff? Like, what's going on, where do I start, how do I watch. Like you, I'm in the US. Any suggestions are appreciated.

AAAAAAAH THIS MAKES ME SO HAPPY and thank u @thatgothsamurai for the amazing fanart as always (the photobooth fanart in question, a classic in the fandom)

okay so both patpran and inkpa are canon pairings from the thai bl bad buddy and its related special episodes! all are produced by the thai production company gmmtv.

the show and all related episodes are available to watch on youtube with english subtitles - i'll link to relevant playlists.

THE MAIN SHOW: BAD BUDDY THE SERIES

directed by "aof" noppharnach chaiyahwimhon (who is gay himself), and starring "nanon" korapat kirdpan as pran, and "ohm" pawat chittsawangdee as pat. the original show is twelve episodes, which aired from october 2021 to january 2022. i watched it for the first time in february 2022 and have not known peace every since

the premise is that pat and pran, who have lived next door to each other since birth, have been rivals all their lives because their families hate each other. after pran's sent off to boarding school for three years, they are unexpectedly reunited at university - where they find that their friend groups are also enemies, so they have to keep up the pretense of hating each other. but of course they fall in love instead!

the main story is about patpran, but inkpa is a canon side pairing featuring "love" pattranite limpatiyakorn as pa, pat's younger sister, and "milk" pansa vosbein as ink, a classmate of pat and pran's. though they get less screentime, i still think they have a delightful romantic arc themselves!

SPECIAL EPISODES

zero photography: an inkpa special episode that is set after the main show. directed by "tee" bundit sintanaparadee, whom i don't know much about, and aired in august 2022

our skyy x bad buddy x a tale of thousand stars: so our skyy 2 was an anthology of special episodes released between april and june 2023 for a bunch of different gmmtv bls. each show was supposed to have two special eps for their characters, but since two shows directed by p'aof were getting special eps (the other one being a tale of thousand stars, also a delightful show), he decided to use four episodes as a crossover of the two shows. in the bad buddy timeline, these eps take place during a timeskip that happens in the original show between episodes 11 and 12, and features patpran but has a few great inkpa appearances too. you don't really need to have seen atots to understand the eps, i don't think? but they probably are more enjoyable if you have haha

EXTRAS

"just friend" music video: nanon sings two songs on the bad buddy soundtrack, and ohm sings one for our skyy 2, all of which have music videos, but i'm linking to this song of nanon's particularly because the music video its own story unrelated to the show at all! it's very cute and is basically an au where they are employees at the same hotel (and in love of course)

23.5 degrees the series: this is not technically related to bad buddy, but milk and love are going to be starring in gmmtv's first full-length gl, 23.5 degrees, which will be directed by "fon" kanittha kwunyoo (who i believe is a lesbian)! thai gls are just starting to get attention and backing by the major tv studios, and milklove's known chemistry from playing inkpa, as well as an exciting supporting cast and director, are making everyone super excited for this

there are also TONS of behind-the-scenes and making-of extras if you get into the show but i figured this was enough to start with :D

let me know if you have questions about any of this! i'm not sure how familiar you are with thai media or fandoms, so definitely happy to share/explain more as would be helpful! <3

[ranchracoon]

Devour Ch. 6: Cadou

Master Post

Chapter 5

POV: Alcina Dimitrescu’s Journal

First name: _____Y/N______

Last name: _____Unknown____

Gender: ____female_____

Age: __approximately 25 years old__

Skin Color: ____(Your skin color)_____

Eye Color: ____(Your eye color)_______

Hair Color: _____(Your hair color)_______

Height: _____6’_________

Blood type: ______O -_______

9 February, 2021

Y/N was found unconscious in the cellar laying on top of Bela who was nearly crystallized, had I been one more minute we would have lost both of them. I ordered Daniela to treat Bela, and brought Y/N down to the Chamber of Solace myself, followed by Cassandra. She was losing blood rapidly, for she had been hit in the artery and we had to act quickly. Cassandra begged for me to save her rather than drain her like I have done with previous maidens. I don’t know why my daughters are so concerned with this one in particular, but I digress; I presented Cadou to Y/N. 

Her reaction was immediate. The neck wound stopped bleeding and the artery healed but left the wound itself open. Even with my stitching skills she will, unfortunately, have a scar left. After I stitched her neck and removed the bullet from her leg, her body stopped convulsing. It will be interesting to see how the parasite will affect her. I pray, for my daughter’s sake, that she does not turn into a moroaică or samca.

10 February, 2021

My girls refused to leave Y/N’s side and took turns monitoring her condition until this morning at 0300 when they informed me that her condition had worsened. I immediately contacted Mother Miranda for more supplies; she begrudgingly came through with fluids and an IV, that I administered at 0400. I sent the girls on a hunt to see if any of the other staff had O- blood to give me time to examine Y/N’s body more in depth for any other injuries and to see if she responded further to the Cadou.

Hands: calloused from hard labor but are meticulously taken care of with manicured nails and lotioned skin, clearly indicating she takes great care of her body. 

Arms: speckled with beauty marks and old scars, and when I had to lift her sleeve for the IV, I noticed her biceps protruding through her shirt. 

Upper body: I checked her collarbone and ribs for any signs of deformities or crepitus. Her shoulders are broad with traps just visible under the fitted shirt draped over them. Her breasts are larger than expected but her ribs do show signs of her bra being too small, or perhaps she binds them. Unclear.

Lower body: Her hips show no signs of injury. I inspected her abdomen and felt the grooves of toned muscles underneath the layer fat. I also took this opportunity to check for spreading infection on her leg, and found that the wound had completely healed. The bullet did little damage thankfully, however her calf was swollen and red. She favors her right side due to the discrepancy between her left and right legs.

It’s clear from her sheer muscle mass and size that she had an extremely laborious job before coming here. More likely than not a field hand. While examining I accidentally struck a nerve, and the muscles in her thigh actively engaged. I could accurately name every muscle group present, but when they relaxed her thigh was smooth and connected perfectly with the curve of her hips. 

The girls returned with the only other maiden that had O- blood as soon as I had finished my examination: She showed no other signs of injuries, infection, or response to cadou. I administered the blood at 0530 and promptly ordered my daughters to inform me if anything else changed. At 1300 they told me her skin started to bubble, giving the illusion of water boiling over flame. Between the ripples, dark strands of hair poked through, and I was able to obtain a sample to observe it. I have a suspicion on the type of hair, but I sent it to Mother Miranda for further confirmation.

11 February, 2021

Y/N began to scream early this morning at approximately 0415. It was more of a howl than a scream, but a scream none-the-less. When I came down to see her, her body was flinging against the restraints that my daughters had to put on to keep her from falling off the table. Her face kept expanding into, what I can only describe as, a dog-like muzzle, and her teeth sharpened into fangs before returning back to its human form. Her fingers did the same; the skin tore open as long, black claws came out before returning back to fingers. Every extremity would grow and shrink in this manner, until she settled back to her human form at 0557.

Mother Miranda confirmed my findings: the hair that sprouted from under Y/N’s skin is a part of the Canis Lupus species. She is going to turn into a bloody lycan and all of this was a waste of time and a mistake. I wanted to pull the plug but again, my daughters insisted on giving her more time. They will be gravely disappointed when their precious maid turns into one of those foul smelling beasts.

12 February 2021

Bela has recovered and fed off an unfortunate maid who found herself in Bela’s room when she awoke. She too immediately came down and stayed by Y/N’s side, regardless how much I begged for her to rest. The wound on Y/N’s neck has already turned into a scar, and her other wounds have healed without a trace. She has not shown any other signs of lycanthropy since yesterday, and now has gone through all the blood retrieved from the maid, and all the fluids that Mother Miranda gave me. My daughters continue to ask about her condition, and to be candid I do not know how to answer them for nothing like has happened before.

13 February 2021

Y/N got a fever of 40 degrees Celsius (105 Fahrenheit), so I immediately put her in a bath filled with snow. Her temperature did drop but raised again the moment I took her out of her cold. I continued this with the same results until her body decided to hold at a steady 38 degrees Celsius (101 Fahrenheit). 

14-16 February 2021

No changes. Heart is beating normally, breathing is normal. The occasional scream or howl every few hours.

17 February 2021

Y/N woke up today.

***

Your eyes slowly open, looking for anything to latch onto but only seeing the grimy, black ceiling softly illuminated by a lantern. Everything hurts to some varying degree, your neck being the worst as each beat of your heart makes it throb. With a heavy sigh and groan, you slowly turned your head to see someone in a black cloak reading by the lantern. You can’t make out who it is, for their hood covers the hair, and your eyes are still adjusting to the light change. They look up at you, dropping the book and running to your side, hovering over you.

“You’re awake! I have to go get my mother and the others.” It’s Bela.

You didn’t want her to leave, but nothing left your mouth when it opened, only a pitiful puff of air. She’s alive. Bela is alive, and so are you. The brief moment of relief is overshadowed by a shooting pain coming from your back. You close your eyes again, trying to focus on anything other than the pain that consumes your body. Instead, you imagine looking down on your body from above, taking in everything touching you. The leather straps tied to your hands and feet are crusty with dried blood, when you try to move they rub against the raw and scarred skin. There is something soft conflicting with the dampness of your remaining clothes, it has to be a blanket of some sorts. The table underneath you is metal but not cold, clearly you have been laying in this position for some time. How long, you don't know. 

Familiar voices echo from the stairwell, they sound so close but the echoes confuse your perception. When you open your eyes again the people aren’t in view yet, but you can hear each individual person. From their voices, to their footsteps, to even the dragging of their clothing against the stone stairs. Light grows around the corner, and soon all of the Dimitrescu women come into focus, a cold breeze makes you shiver as the daughters surround you.

“We thought you would never wake up.” Daniela touches your arm but yanks her hands back when you suck in a sharp breath.

“It is good to see you awake Y/N.” Lady Dimitrescu looks down at you, her eyes reflecting the glow of the lantern. 

“I know you’re in pain and this isn’t going to be pleasant, but with you awake, we should get you somewhere more comfortable. Daughters, be gentle.”

You try to say something, but yet again the only thing that comes out is a puff of air, like your throat is coated in dust. The daughters remove the blanket covering your body, the sudden chill makes you want to curl into yourself but the restraints prevent that. Tears run down your cheeks as they unclasp the straps, your breathing becomes short, sucks of air, trying to hold back your cries of pain. Two arms snake their way under your shoulders, carefully assisting you to a sitting position. Every muscle spasms with the cold slowly spreading over your body.

Nothing is protecting your legs from the metal table, peeling them off feels as if you are ripping off the skin all together, and the stone floor sends icicles through your bare feet. At this point you’re convinced you’ll lose your toes from how cold they are. Two of the sisters brace under your arms, and the third holds your chest while familiar humming fills the air. Your body becomes weightless as their swarm carries you from the dark, dank room  and into another unfamiliar room. When the daughters form back into solid masses, your eyes look around with minimal neck movement, trying to place where you are. 

Recognizing your limited belongings in the room, they look out of place compared to the elegance of everything else. You’ve never seen this room before but it looks, and smells, freshly cleaned.The walls are a deep, midnight blue with the same golden trim that you only saw in the daughter's rooms. There’s one window that is covered of course, a small vanity desk underneath it, a trunk at the end of a very large bed, nightstands on each side, and a large standing closet that is far bigger than the one you had grown accustomed to. 

“We moved you out of that closet you called a room and into this one. It’s much bigger, and has a bed far more comfortable than that pile of rubble you used to sleep on.” Daniela gives you a soft smile.

“If it’s okay with you we should give you a proper bath. You smell like mold and old blood.” Cassandra suggests.

All you can muster is a simple nod. The ladies help you into your new bathroom, filling the in-ground tub with steaming hot water. Daniela removes your clothing, careful not to move your body anymore than needed and stopping when you protest. You have no energy to be embarrassed, being fully naked in front of the ladies you serve, it seems surreal. That is until you see Daniela undressing out of the corner of your eye, then you notice Cassandra undressing too. Bela is bearing your weight until the two others take you into their arms, bending down to your level to hoist your arms around their shoulders. Your heart is beating rapidly, making the throbbing in your neck more intense and forcing your eyes shut.

“Easy.” Cassandra whispers.

Both of them and you slowly make your way into the bath, both of them helping you sit down and letting the water soak into every pore of your skin. Unable to keep it upright, your head flops back against the edge, resting it against the slowly warming tile. When your head is lifted you open your eyes to find Bela above you, holding your head in her lap, and brushing through your hair with wet fingers.

This has to be a dream. No. If it was a dream you would be enjoying yourself to the fullest. Instead you lay there like a corpse, unable to move any part of your body meaning you are at the sister’s disposal. Your eyes focus on Bela's, her golden eyes study your face and, for the first time ever, you notice a sliver of blue around her iris. This makes your head melt further into her lap, a content sigh leaving you. Her eyes are filled with concern, yet her smile is warm and inviting, and the repetitive motion of her brushing your hair was hypnotic, making your eyes heavy. Cassandra and Daniela carefully clean the dried blood along your wrists and ankles, turning the bath water pink. The three of them chuckle at each other when they realize your breathing and heartbeat have become rhythmic, seeing that you have fallen asleep.

Continue Reading

[ghostofbambifanfiction]

CYOA Snippet

From: Paul Barfleet <pauliebigfleet@yahoo.com> To: Lily Evans <Lily.Evans@spiceasnice.com> Sent: Wednesday 23rd February, 2022, 09:11 GMT

Subject: Missing items

Wendy said to email you and ask you where the panini press is it was missing from the kitchen yesterday and wasn't in your bedroom when I went in to look for it did you give it away or sell it? You're not supposed to remove an appliance we all use, an appliance that resides in the shared kitchen area is a shared appliance. Kindly return it to its usual cupboard at your earliest convenience.

*

From: Lily Evans <Lily.Evans@spiceasnice.com> To: Paul Barfleet <pauliebigfleet@yahoo.com> CC: Wendy Wilde <Wendy.Wilde@royalandwest.co.uk>, Celeste Lewandowska <celestelewandowska75@gmail.com> Sent: Wednesday 23rd February, 2022, 10:42 GMT

Subject: RE: Missing items

Hi Paul,

Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention.

As I'm sure you are aware, I make a habit of locking my bedroom door whenever I am not going to be present in the flat we share at 2 Claylands Road, London, SW8 1NY. Furthermore, I distinctly recall locking my bedroom door on the morning of Tuesday 22nd February 2022, shortly before I departed for work*. At the time of my departure, I observed from the familiar sound of your monstrous snoring that you were still asleep in the room you share with Wendy, so I have no choice but to conclude that this unauthorised visit to my room took place after I left the flat. I found my bedroom door to be locked when I returned home. As there were no signs of forced entry that I could observe, I must also conclude that you are in possession of a spare key to my room that you are not permitted to have without authorisation from myself or from our landlord, per the renewed tenancy agreement we all signed when you moved in on Friday 8th October 2021.

Needless to say, I have never given you permission to enter my room or make a copy of my room key, so you can imagine my confusion upon learning that you have, in fact, been poking around in there.

I then decided to telephone Celeste to ascertain the truth, and she has confirmed that she did not grant you permission to enter my room or possess an extra key. She also confirmed that the only spare key to my bedroom that she is aware of is currently in her possession. She is quite happy to confirm the same with you and Wendy, and will be calling you both shortly to request the return of the spare key.

As I have suffered no material loss following this act of trespass, there is no legal action that I can take against you, however I feel it incumbent upon me to warn you that any further attempts to enter my bedroom without permission from myself or Celeste can be construed as harassment. Furthermore, Celeste has agreed to employ the services of a locksmith to change the lock on my door as a preventative measure. Again, she will explain this to you and Wendy when she calls you later this morning.

As for the panini press, I will not be returning it to the kitchen. The panini press is not yours. The panini press is not Wendy's. The panini press was never a shared appliance. The panini press belonged solely to me. Neither of you have ever made a single monetary contribution towards the panini press, which I allowed you to use in the spirit of being a good housemate until I gave it to a friend who was in need of one. The panini press is now his property.

Again, I must thank you for bringing this serious matter to my attention.

Regards,

Lily Evans

Assistant to the CEO

*a place where you go to earn money

*

iPhone Notification Centre

Phone Wendy Wilde Voicemail

Phone Wendy Wilde Missed Call (6)

WhatsApp Wendy Wilde Lily will you please pick up

WhatsApp Kingsley Shacklebolt Yesterday's Wordle was fucking stupid. Done with it.

Instagram[rubyraptor] James Potter Liked a message that you sent 

*

Private WhatsApp Chat Resumed: Wednesday 23rd February, 2022, 16:03 Members: Lily Evans, James Potter

================================

James Potter: mum texted and said that you need to move into my house?

Lily Evans: What?!

James Potter: what?

[newstfionline]

Friday, October 18, 2024

Big Tech Goes Nuclear (1440) Amazon is investing $500M toward nuclear power to meet the rising energy demands of its data centers and artificial intelligence initiatives. Yesterday’s announcement comes two days after Google unveiled plans to purchase nuclear power and less than a month after Microsoft said it would reopen the Three Mile Island plant—home to the worst nuclear accident in US history—to fuel its AI efforts. Nuclear power accounts for 19% of US electricity generation and comes from energy released when the nucleus of a heavy atom splits into lighter atoms. While expensive and potentially hazardous, proponents pitch nuclear power as a clean alternative to greenhouse gas-emitting energy sources like coal, oil, and gas. Energy-intensive generative AI applications and data centers are expected to account for roughly 9% of total US power consumption by 2030.

Many schools are still closed weeks after Hurricane Helene. Teachers worry about long-term impact (AP) Tens of thousands of students in the Southeast are dealing with school disruptions after Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc so severe—on homes, campuses and municipal power and water systems—that some districts have no idea when they will reopen. While virtual learning helped during the COVID-19 school closures, that has not been an option for this crisis because internet and cellphone service has remained spotty since the storm struck in late September. In hard-hit western North Carolina, some districts warn students will miss up to a month of school, and others say they can’t yet determine a timeline for returning to classrooms. “I feel like a month is a lot, but it’s not something that can’t be overcome,” said Marissa Coleman, who has sent her four children to stay with grandparents in Texas because their home in North Carolina’s Buncombe County has no running water. “But if we get further into Thanksgiving and Christmas, it’s like, how are they actually going to make this up?”

Anguilla has turned the AI boom into a digital gold mine (AP) The artificial intelligence boom has benefited chatbot makers, computer scientists and Nvidia investors. It’s also providing an unusual windfall for Anguilla, a tiny island in the Caribbean. The British territory was allotted control of the .ai internet address in the 1990s. It was one of hundreds of obscure top-level domains assigned to individual countries and territories based on their names. While the domains are supposed to indicate a website has a link to a particular region or language, it’s not always a requirement. Google uses google.ai to showcase its artificial intelligence services while Elon Musk uses x.ai as the homepage for his Grok AI chatbot. Startups like AI search engine Perplexity have also snapped up .ai web addresses. Anguilla’s earnings from web domain registration fees quadrupled last year to $32 million, fueled by the surging interest in AI. The income now accounts for about 20% of Anguilla’s total government revenue.

Is Brazil’s Supreme Court Saving Democracy or Threatening It? (NYT) Daniel Silveira, a policeman turned far-right Brazilian congressman, was furious. He believed Brazil’s Supreme Court was persecuting conservatives and silencing them on social media, and he wanted to do something about it. So he sat on his couch and began recording. “How many times have I imagined you getting beat up on the street,” he said in a 19-minute diatribe against the court’s justices. He posted the video on YouTube in February 2021, adding, “I’ll say what I want on here.” A Brazilian Supreme Court justice immediately ordered his arrest. A year later, 10 of the court’s 11 justices convicted and sentenced him to nearly nine years in prison for threatening them. Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s president at the time, pardoned Mr. Silveira, but the Supreme Court overruled him. Today, Mr. Silveira remains in prison. There is no room for appeal past the Supreme Court. Mr. Silveira’s case is part of a creeping institutional crisis for Brazil. For the past five years, the nation’s Supreme Court has expanded its power to carry out a sweeping campaign to protect Brazilian institutions from attacks, many of them online. To the Brazilian left, the offensive has helped rescue Brazil’s democracy. To the right, it has made the court a threat to democracy itself.

France's Macron calls for an end to arms exports used in Gaza and Lebanon (Reuters) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and French President Emmanuel Macron are getting into a mud-slinging fight for all the world to see. Last week, Macron called for an arms embargo on Israel, saying that the country needed to find a political solution to its issues in Gaza and Lebanon. Netanyahu responded with an angry video posted on X, calling Macron (and others calling for an arms embargo on Israel) a “disgrace.” On Tuesday (this week), Macron reportedly made statements during a closed-door meeting with French ministers, saying that Netanyahu should not “ignore United Nations decisions” because “his country was created by a U.N. decision.” Israel has repeatedly called for the dismantling of UNRWA, the UN agency that provides aid for Palestinian refugees, and is looking to pass legislation barring the organization from operating in Israeli territory—a decision the UNRWA warns will essentially “disintegrate” its services in Gaza and the West Bank. Israeli soldiers have also targeted U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon on multiple occasions since the IDF’s ground invasion of the country began earlier this month. Netanyahu clapped back at Macron soon after his statements, saying, “It was not the U.N. resolution that established the State of Israel, but rather the victory achieved in the War of Independence with the blood of heroic fighters, many of whom were Holocaust survivors—including from the Vichy regime in France.”

Zelenskyy outlines his ‘victory plan’ to Ukraine’s lawmakers (Politico) Yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy unveiled his grand “victory plan” to Ukraine’s parliament. It’s made up of five main points and three secret annexes—we’re not privy to the annexes, but here are the five main points: an invitation to join NATO, a larger and faster supply of Western weapons with no restrictions on their use, a non-nuclear strategic deterrence package, deals which would trade Ukraine’s energy resources for money up front, and the possibility of U.S. forces training with battle-hardened Ukrainian forces after the war. Kyiv’s Western allies have not met the plan with the enthusiasm Ukraine might have been expecting. Meanwhile, Russia is getting a new infusion of troops. According to a senior Ukrainian military intelligence official, Russia has gathered over 3,000 North Koreans to fight in Ukraine. Russia disputes this and it’s unconfirmed.

Monsoon flooding closes schools and offices in India’s southern IT hubs (AP) Schools, colleges and government offices were shut Wednesday in parts of southern India as heavy monsoon rains triggered severe flooding. The worst-hit cities included Chennai and Bengaluru, the country’s industrial and information technology hubs. Power cuts and flight cancellations caused disruption, and thousands of residents prepared for more downpours over the next 48 hours. The June-September monsoon season has receded in northern parts of the country. However, the northeast monsoon has brought heavy rains to coastal Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and southern Karnataka state. At least 33 people died last month in rains and floods.

For Working Women in India, Staying Safe Can Feel Like a Full-Time Job (WSJ) When Ajita Topo, a cook in an affluent neighborhood in Delhi, leaves work in the evening, she holds her bag like a shield against her chest, keeps her fists clenched and carries a black umbrella with a very sharp end to ward off a possible attack. She makes sure to wear lots of layers—no matter how hot it is—to deter someone from trying to grope her chest, and secures her bun with a sharp metal stick as an additional weapon. Topo isn’t being paranoid. Last year, she was followed by two men when she left work after 10 p.m. She managed to scare them away by shouting as she passed homes with guards outside. “Workplace, public transport, public places, we feel safe nowhere,” said Topo, the sole breadwinner for her two children. “The only solution is to stay alert at all times.” For many women in India, taking steps to ward off a violent attack—and reassuring their families they are safe while at work and on their commutes—is an invisible form of labor that is a central element of their work life. The killing and rape of a trainee doctor in the city of Kolkata in August was a fresh reminder for Indian women who work of the dangers lurking in public spaces where women are far less visible than men.

Where a Million Desperate People Are Finding Shelter in Lebanon (NYT) At dusk, the parking lot of Tripoli’s Quality Inn is packed with cars and families milling about. Children’s shouts fill the air, reminding some of better times, when the hotel hosted weddings and birthdays parties. Now, though, the cars in the lot are dusty and battered, the families sit on patches of grass, their faces worn with worry, and the children play in a drained swimming pool. That is because the Quality Inn has been transformed into one of the biggest shelters in Tripoli for displaced Lebanese fleeing Israeli bombing in the country’s south. In Lebanon, the displaced are practically everywhere. In Beirut, the capital, where many are staying, they have set up makeshift tents on the corniche by the sea, crafting shelters out of stray metal poles, bits of awnings and blankets. In the city’s parks and squares, some families have placed floor coverings on the ground, anchoring them with cases of water and folded blankets. Others are taking shelter anywhere that they can, mostly in schools but also in unfinished buildings. Of a population of around six million, including about two million Syrian refugees, just over one million people have been forced from their homes by the bombings, the United Nations and the Lebanese authorities say.

IDF says it killed top Hamas leader (Politico) The Israel Defense Force confirmed it has killed top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the lead architect of the Oct. 7 attack and the No. 1 target of its yearlong campaign in Gaza. Details of Sinwar’s death remain sketchy, but he appears to have been killed in an operation in southern Gaza that was not specifically targeting him. It is unclear what effect, if any, Sinwar’s death will have on the future of Israel’s campaign in Gaza, let alone on the newly emerging front against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israeli attacks on aid convoys in Gaza persist, U.N. says (Washington Post) Israeli troops have opened fire on U.N. aid convoys to northern Gaza at least four times in three months, according to U.N. and other humanitarian officials, damaging the vehicles and narrowly missing staff members inside. On Sept. 9, the officials said, the Israeli army held a convoy involved in the United Nations’ polio response at gunpoint for 7½ hours, claiming that several people in the vehicles were wanted men. They were questioned and eventually allowed to proceed. “They basically surrounded our vehicles, pointing assault rifles at our cars, and they were shouting that we’re terrorists,” said one U.N. staffer. U.N. officials describe the Sept. 9 incident as emblematic of an environment of mistrust, in which Israeli soldiers, many of them reservists, command significant power at the checkpoints that humanitarian workers must cross to enter northern Gaza and face few consequences for their actions.

Why Big Pharma refuses to take on the threat of antibiotic-resistant germs (Die Zeit/Germany) Some 40 million people will die from antibiotic-resistant germs in the next 25 years, according to the latest estimate. All reasonable experts agree: New medicines must be developed urgently, otherwise we will face the threat of living in a post-antibiotic era, an era in which people die from simple infections because doctors can no longer treat them. Yet although the problem and solutions are obvious, there are very few new antibiotics in the research pipelines of the big pharmaceutical companies. More and more companies are even closing down their antibiotics divisions. The reason? Antibiotics are not profitable. Poor countries are not lucrative sales markets. Companies would rather focus on another cancer drug that marginally improves the prognosis for lung cancer; another cholesterol-lowering drug that is slightly more effective than its predecessor and is so inexpensive to develop that it brings in billions without any major risks; or yet another anticoagulant. And so billions of dollars in development costs are spent on drugs that have little impact on people’s health, while virtually nothing is spent on developing drugs that could save millions of lives.

[mirageofficial]

MIRAGE'S DISCOGRAPHY [2020-2022]

⩇﹒⺌ more below the cut﹒﹗﹒

𖤐 ⤸ ₊ ִ ˚ ࣪ ˖ DEBUT

TITLE ╱ LUCID DREAMING : LEVEL1

TYPE ╱ mini album [all tracks are in korean]

RELEASE DATE ╱ february 7, 2020

RELEASED BY ╱ KQ entertainment

TITLE TRACK(S) ╱ "BLACK MAMBA"

MEANING OF TITLE TRACK(S) ╱ introduces the heart of the group's lore; shows viewers the numerous battles MIRAGE now must take on after their enemy sends them back through time.

SPECIAL STAGE(S) ╱ "NEXT LEVEL" & "LUCID DREAM"

TRACK COUNT ╱ 05

TRACKLIST ╱

[01] — BLACK MAMBA

[02] — LOUDER

[03] — NEXT LEVEL

[04] — CHERRY ON TOP

[05] — LUCID DREAM

𖤐 ⤸ ₊ ִ ˚ ࣪ ˖ THE FIRST COMEBACK

TITLE ╱ TREASURE MAP : LEVEL2

TYPE ╱ mini album [all tracks are in korean]

RELEASE DATE ╱ june 15, 2020

RELEASED BY ╱ KQ entertainment

TITLE TRACK(S) ╱ "ILLUSION" & "DREAMS COME TRUE"

MEANING OF TITLE TRACK(S) ╱ the girls learn that they are more than their surface-level image, so they decide to come together against the enemy.

SPECIAL STAGE(S) ╱ "THE GIRLS" & "NOT A STEREOTYPE"

TRACK COUNT ╱ 06

TRACKLIST ╱

[01] — ILLUSION

[02] — THE GIRLS

[03] — NOT A STEREOTYPE

[04] — OUR PROMISE

[05] — DREAMS COME TRUE

[06] — DREAMS COME TRUE (instrumental)

𖤐 ⤸ ₊ ִ ˚ ࣪ ˖ THE SECOND COMEBACK

TITLE ╱ THE QUEEN'S JEWELS : FINAL LEVEL

TYPE ╱ mini album [all tracks are in korean. tracks 05, 06, & 07 include english]

RELEASE DATE ╱ september 25, 2020

RELEASED BY ╱ KQ entertainment

TITLE TRACK(S) ╱ "SAVAGE"

MEANING OF TITLE TRACK(S) ╱ thanks to their bond and incredible endurance, the group has the upper hand against the enemy.

SPECIAL STAGE(S) ╱ "WANNA:BE" & "A LITTLE DIFFERENT"

TRACK COUNT ╱ 07

TRACKLIST ╱

[01] — SAVAGE

[02] — WANNA:BE

[03] — HANDS UP

[04] — A LITTLE DIFFERENT

[05] — RE-LAPSE

[06] — WANNA:BE (eng. version) [translated by NARI & EUNAE]

[07] — A LITTLE DIFFERENT (eng. version) [translated by NARI & EUNAE]

𖤐 ⤸ ₊ ִ ˚ ࣪ ˖ THE THIRD COMEBACK

TITLE ╱ WE NEED LOVE

TYPE ╱ single album, pre-release single(s) [all tracks are in korean]

RELEASE DATE ╱ june 17, 2021

RELEASED BY ╱ KQ entertainment

TITLE TRACK(S) ╱ "I'M READY FOR LOVE"

MEANING OF TITLE TRACK(S) ╱ along their time-traveling adventure, the members fall in love and feel like they’ve grown up enough to be ready for it.

SPECIAL STAGE(S) ╱ "LOVE DIVE"

TRACK COUNT ╱ 03

TRACKLIST ╱

[01] — I'M READY FOR LOVE

[02] — LOVE DIVE

[03] — LOVE IS…

𖤐 ⤸ ₊ ִ ˚ ࣪ ˖ THE FOURTH COMEBACK

TITLE ╱ FESTIVAL : THE 1ST ALBUM

TYPE ╱ full-length album [all tracks are in korean. tracks 01 & 11 include english]

RELEASE DATE ╱ august 19, 2021

RELEASED BY ╱ KQ entertainment

TITLE TRACK(S) ╱ "MAGO"

MEANING OF TITLE TRACK(S) ╱ MIRAGE feels indestructible, they’re on cloud nine as they gain full advantage over the enemy — they start to think they’ve won, and have a chance at making it back to present day.

SPECIAL STAGE(S) ╱ "STARLIGHT" & "SPECIAL GIRL"

TRACK COUNT ╱ 14

TRACKLIST ╱

[01] — LOCO

[02] — ALIVE

[03] — OH MY GOSH

[04] — HUSH

[05] — AFTER SCHOOL

[06] — LA VIE EN ROSE

[07] — SHOOT!

[08] — SWIPE

[09] — BEAUTIFUL ME

[10] — MAGO

[11] — STARLIGHT

[12] — SPECIAL GIRL

[13] — CHILLIN' WITH YOU

[14] — DOMINO

𖤐 ⤸ ₊ ִ ˚ ࣪ ˖ THE FIFTH COMEBACK

TITLE ╱ ONEIRIC

TYPE ╱ mini album [all tracks are in korean. track 06 includes english]

RELEASE DATE ╱ april 7, 2022

RELEASED BY ╱ KQ entertainment

TITLE TRACK(S) ╱ "SECRET STORY OF THE SWAN"

MEANING OF TITLE TRACK(S) ╱ the girls receive a harsh wake-up call when they realize one morning that they’ve been sent through time again… and that the world they’re in is far from a fairytale.

SPECIAL STAGE(S) ╱ "PANORAMA"

TRACK COUNT ╱ 06

TRACKLIST ╱

[01] — SECRET STORY OF THE SWAN

[02] — PANORAMA

[03] — HIDDEN SIDE OF THE MOON

[04] — INSOMNIAC

[05] — GREEDY FOR LOVE

[06] — TIPTOE

𖤐 ⤸ ₊ ִ ˚ ࣪ ˖ THE SIXTH COMEBACK

TITLE ╱ THIS IS A MIRAGE : THE 2ND ALBUM

TYPE ╱ full-length album [all tracks are in korean. tracks 03, 06, 08, 09, & 10 includes english]

RELEASE DATE ╱ august 11, 2022

RELEASED BY ╱ KQ entertainment

TITLE TRACK(S) ╱ "OUTRO: VIVACE"

MEANING OF TITLE TRACK(S) ╱ accepting that they cannot alter their past decisions that led them to where they now are, MIRAGE reflects on growing up & heartbreak while trying to make the most of a bad situation together… which has been the answer to freedom all along. one half of the album reflects their girl crush-type of sound from their debut, while the other half reflects the ongoing pure pop energy they’ve been putting out recently.

SPECIAL STAGE(S) ╱ "ADDICTED"

TRACK COUNT ╱ 14

TRACKLIST ╱

[01] — INTRO: END OF THE WORLD

[02] — THE LAST DANCE

[03] — CHANGES

[04] — ADDICTED

[05] — MAKE YOU CRY

[06] — LOVE ME / LEAVE ME

[07] — INTERLUDE: ILLUSIONS

[08] — THERE FOR YOU

[09] — THE HAPPIEST GIRL

[10] — LIFE'S TOO SHORT

[11] — MIRROR

[12] — POLAROIDS

[13] — WHEN WE WERE KIDS

[14] — OUTRO: VIVACE

𖤐 ⤸ ₊ ִ ˚ ࣪ ˖ CLICK HERE FOR MIRAGE'S OFFICIAL SPOTIFY PLAYLIST!

[warningsine]

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — A bomb threat sent an anti-explosives unit scrambling into a bustling area of Ecuador’s tense capital Thursday while authorities in an eastern city reported a nightclub arson killed two people as the South American country staggers under a spike of violence blamed on drug gangs.

Police in the capital, Quito, said they evacuated people from the area surrounding the Playón de la Marín bus station when they were alerted about a backpack with an alleged explosive placed in a garbage can.

The backpack turned out to not have any explosives, authorities said, but it followed five similar incidents in the capital Wednesday with actual explosives. Those bombs — in two vehicles, at a pedestrian bridge and near a prison — caused minor damage but no deaths or injuries.

Meanwhile, authorities said unknown suspects set fire to a nightclub in the Amazon city of Coca, killing at least two people and injuring nine others. The blaze, which spread to 11 nearby stores, is under investigation, officials said.

Ecuador is in the grips of a crime wave tied to drug trafficking gangs. Ecuadoreans worry the violence will only escalate in a country where a presidential candidate was assassinated last year.

President Daniel Noboa, who earlier this week declared an emergency and a virtual war on the gangs by authorizing the military to act against them, said Thursday that Ecuador needs “tougher laws, honest judges” and the possibility of extraditing dangerous criminals in order to fight terrorism and organized crime.

“We are not going to let a group of terrorists stop the country,” Noboa said in a recorded message sent to media outlets in which he also presented the design of two new prisons. He said the corrections system has been “controlled by mafias” for decades and is in urgent need of new facilities.

Noboa said prisons will be built in two provinces and each will have super-, maximum- and high-security units and will be equipped with technology to block cellphone and satellite signals. He previously said the new prisons would be ready in 10 to 11 months.

Many people are staying at home and schools and stores have been shuttered as soldiers patrol the streets of Ecuador’s biggest cities.

Tensions heightened Tuesday when a group of men wielding explosives and guns invaded a television station’s live afternoon newscast in Guayaquil, the Pacific port city that has been the epicenter of a surge in violence that began roughly three years ago. Ecuadorians watched as the intruders threatened and assaulted employees at the station. No one was killed and 13 suspects were arrested, but the violent broadcast stunned much of the region.

Ecuadorian authorities attribute the country’s spike in violence to a power vacuum prompted by the killing in 2020 of Jorge Zambrano, alias “Rasquiña” or “JL,” the then-leader of the local Los Choneros gang. Members carry out contract killings, run extortion operations, move and sell drugs, and rule prisons.

Ecuador’s neighbors, Colombia and Peru, are the world’s largest cocaine producers. Los Choneros, one of the country’s most violent gangs, and similar groups linked to Mexican and Colombian cartels are fighting over drug-trafficking routes and control of territory, including in prisons, where more than 450 inmates have been slain since 2021.

A February 2021 riot among rival gang members at Ecuador’s most violent prison left at least 79 inmates dead. The following September, 116 inmates were killed in another gang battle at the same Litoral prison, with several of them beheaded.

The violence has spread from prisons to the streets, turning the once-peaceful Ecuador into one of the most violent countries in the region. Last year was Ecuador’s bloodiest on record, with more than 7,600 homicides, up from 4,600 in the prior year.

Gang members in prisons throughout the country have taken corrections personnel hostage since Sunday, when the current leader of Los Choneros vanished from prison.

On Thursday, inmates managed to increase to 178 the number of corrections personnel they are holding hostage, according to the prisons agency. A union that represents prison employees has asked officials to guarantee the “physical and psychological integrity” of the hostages.

Noboa, who took office in November, won a special presidential election with the promise of reducing the terrifying, drug-driven crime wave within 1 1/2 years in office. His anti-crime campaign proposals range from turning ships into floating jails to getting police more equipment.

[a9saga]

i mentioned this but my grandfather passed away last week. he was 95. my grandmother died in february of 2021 and it's really something that he made it that long without her at his age. they were married 69 years and had 7 children and 21 grandchildren, as well as 11 great grandchildren now with two more on the way. his wake was wednesday night and the memorial mass and burial were yesterday.

my auntie cindy married my dad's oldest brother i believe 50 years ago now. they were high school sweethearts. she knew my grandparents since she was a child, so did the rest of her family for that matter. my grandmother or sometimes my father used to mention a boy in the neighborhood who had unfortunately died very young of a drug overdose. no one outright told me this but i put together when i got older that that was cindy's brother. this is to say of all the in laws that cindy was well acquainted with my family for the longest time, and my family with hers as well.

some months after my grandmother's death, that spring or early summer, cindy had sent out a letter to everyone recalling growing up around my grandmother and marrying into the family, maintaining that relationship for decades. she mentioned something her brother used to say that my grandmother would often quote when cindy wasn't around. she closed the letter with, "i just wanted you to know that i loved your mother like she was my own," which i think was always very evident. cindy's own mother had passed away somewhere over a decade earlier. 4 or 5 years ago diana and i were over her house with our mother, cindy referred to a picture of her mother in the kitchen and said "i talk to her all the time." she's not religious, if that makes it any different. she and everyone else in my family were raised catholic but if you ever get on the topic with her, she thinks the bible and christianity and everything are a load of bullshit. but regardless she does speak to a picture of her mother, which i think is pretty interesting. but i digress.

at the wake, there was a line to the coffin with my grandfather in it. cindy's a sociable person. i got in line behind someone i didn't know. a lot of family friends showed up. cindy came and started chatting her up and she introduced me, and then she told me she'd gotten in line about 6 times but shied away from actually paying her final respects. i was like, wanna do it with me? and she did. so we kneeled before the coffin and she caressed the rosary in his hands, and when we got up i mentioned how much i appreciated her letter in 2021, and it took her by surprise. she said she had wanted to read it as a eulogy at her mother-in-law's funeral but she and my other aunt ended up in a bad argument around it. neither of them are perfect, to be clear. that's not why i'm making this post and i don't plan to elaborate on that.

but anyway, after the burial yesterday everyone went to lunch. i could tell all of my dad's siblings appreciated having each other after both of their parents have died. last weekend my dad and his brother that he's closest to went out to lunch because both my mom and aunt thought they needed it, i know first hand my dad has been very down in the dumps about everything. but anyway, after lunch yesterday when cindy was saying goodbye to me, she rubbed my chin and said "thank you, that was so sweet of you to bring up the letter about connie last night. do you know you had me crying on the way home?"--i don't think i have ever seen cindy cry.

[coochiequeens]

According to data from the Observatory of the Public Ministry of Paraguay published this Saturday on the occasion of Paraguayan Women’s Day, so far in the first two months of 2024, five cases of feminicide have been reported in the two months of 2024, five cases of feminicide have been reported in the country.

All of these cases, between January and February, left fifteen orphaned children, of which four are minors, according to the Prosecutor’s Office report sent to the media.

“A total of four alleged attackers were charged and one took his own life,” the communication detailed.

These data were released in the midst of the commemoration of the Paraguayan national women’s day, a date that celebrates the role of women in the reconstruction of the nation after the War of the Triple Alliance (1864-1870) that the Paraguayan army fought against Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.

The Observatory of the Prosecutor’s Office of Paraguay also reported 50 victims of attempted feminicide from January to December 2023.

In total, 44 cases are being investigated for this punishable act. 28% of the victims (14 women) are between 30 and 45 years old and 22% (11 women) are between 18 and 29 years old.

The data showed that six adult women between 46 and 65 years old (6%), two women between 0 and 13 years old and one adolescent between 14 and 17 years old also suffered attacks.

The age of 16 victims of attempted feminicide last year was not specified, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.

According to the data, 68% of the complaints, representing 30 causes, were registered in the months of March, June, August, September and October 2023.

The Paraguayan Penal Code states that “the criminal frameworks provided for completed punishable acts are applicable to the attempt, therefore the expected penalty is up to 30 years of imprisonment,” stated the communication from the Public Ministry.

Between 2018 and so far in 2024, 244 women were victims of feminicide.

In 2018, 50 victims were registered; in 2019, 37; in 2020, 36; in 2021, 37; in 2022, 36; and in 2023, women murdered for sexist reasons rose to 43.

[mariacallous]

International sanctions failed to stop the Russian economy from recovering to near prewar levels earlier this year, according to the latest statistics from the nation’s Federal State Statistics Service. Western news outlets and analysts now acknowledge it, too. Vladimir Putin is dancing on the bones of John McCain, declaring that Russia is no “gas station,” while presidential economic adviser Maxim Oreshkin insists that Europe has suffered more from its sanctions against Moscow than Russia itself. But not everything is sunshine and lollipops; millions of Russians are paying for the surge in military production as inflation reaches 7.5 percent. Amid indications of an overheating economy, a slowdown or perhaps even a recession is expected in 2024.

Western sanctions sent Russia into a recession after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but the economy has bounced back, at least in certain metrics, and the downturn ended in August after a mere 10 months, according to the Center for Macroeconomic Analysis and Short-Term Forecasting. While TsMAKP perhaps isn’t the most objective think tank (its director, Dmitry Belousov, is the brother of First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov), Russia’s gross domestic product did grow 5.5 percent in the third quarter of 2023 and rose 3.2 percent in the first 10 months of the year. GDP was 1.1 percent greater in 2023 than during the same period in 2021, before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the West’s supposedly crippling sanctions.

Russia has outperformed the forecasts of its own Economic Development Ministry and Central Bank, which said in the spring that GDP growth on the year wouldn’t exceed 2 percent. Now even analysts at Bloomberg Economics say the rise in 2023 will surpass 3 percent. 

This week, Vladimir Putin declared triumphantly that Russia’s annual GDP growth will exceed 3.5 percent. “Any intelligent person must agree that this is a good indicator for the Russian economy,” the president explained, adding that only 2 percent of the country’s growth came from resource extraction. 

The spike in economic output this year is remarkable, but these indicators capture the nation’s recovery from a slump, like in 2021 after the coronavirus pandemic. In other words, Russia’s surging GDP isn’t the evidence of sustainable development that Putin claims.

From subsidized recovery to overheated economy

Russia’s manufacturing output has been booming, but money from the oil and gas industries nevertheless made up roughly a third of all federal budget revenue between January and October 2023. Yes, oil and gas production declined by 2 and 5 percent, respectively, but this was due primarily to obligations Russia accepted in a deal with OPEC to cut supplies. According to former Central Bank Deputy Chairman Sergey Aleksashenko, the primitive structure of Russia’s reliance on oil and gas exports has actually insulated its economy against international sanctions and helped the Kremlin sustain the war in Ukraine.

The federal deficit in 2023 is expected to be just 1 percent of GDP — half the authorities’ original estimate — despite skyrocketing allocations to military production. At the same time, annual spending on “national defense” and “national security” will exceed 6.2 percent of annual GDP and rise to almost 8 percent of GDP in 2024, reaching nearly 40 percent of all budget expenditures. 

Russia finances its deficit spending through reserves held in the National Wealth Fund (the liquidity of which the Finance Ministry currently estimates to be 6.94 trillion rubles, or 4.6 percent of GDP) and through government loans. By November 1, the total volume of soft loans had reached 11 trillion rubles — 7 percent of GDP and more than 14 percent of the credit portfolio of Russian banks. Major enterprises with state ownership (including Russian Railways, AvtoVAZ, Aeroflot, and Roscosmos) have started lobbying for preferential terms on loans.

Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina has warned that the government fuels inflation by subsidizing more and more borrowing, which forces her office to maintain a high key rate. In November, inflation in annual terms reached 7.5 percent and showed no signs of slowing. Something that is slowing: Russia’s economic growth. According to the Central Bank, the recovery peaked in the third quarter of 2023.

Russia’s human problem

Shortages of industrial capacity and labor will also limit Russia’s manufacturing development, says Raiffeisenbank analyst Stanislav Murashov. Additionally, further hikes to the key interest rate will slow the growth of wages and complicate the work of upgrading enterprises technologically. With nearly full employment, labor will redistribute across sectors, driving workers from areas hit by rising interest rates like construction, retail, and finance into enterprises in Russia’s military-industrial complex, predicts Bloomberg Economics chief economist Alexander Isakov, who says future rate hikes will reduce lending and, in turn, consumer demand, raising the risk of another recession in the next six months to more than 70 percent.

More than 85 percent of companies are experiencing staff shortages, and skilled workers are the most scarce of all. Wages rose nominally by 13.2 percent in the first nine months of 2023, and unemployment fell to 2.9 percent (the lowest level in post-Soviet history), but these impressive statistics conceal major problems with labor productivity, which fell by 3.6 percent compared to 2021 — the worst decline since 2009. The emigration of skilled workers fleeing the war and political repressions, not to mention the participation and deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in the war, has removed from Russia’s labor pool another million or so workers.

While the invasion remains the government’s top priority, there will be relatively less funding for developing Russia’s human capital through spending on education and healthcare. The longer this continues, the harder it will be for the Kremlin to return to solving complex “civilian” issues, and the easier it will be to drag out the war.

[mtel420]

Counter-Exposing Banjo/Tiredite/Lunar Moonyu/Lunar Cheese - Part 2

If you want the whole backstory- https://www.tumblr.com/htcsense5/732278019975151616/counter-exposing-banjotireditelunar-moonyulunar?source=share

Hey guys.

NKYT here.

As you guys know in October, we have exposed banjo for her past self for trying to expose arsik and since our expose did nothing to her, i deciced to speak on my side of my interactions with her that i had back in July 2021 - January 2022 with banjo before i disappeared because of her (we will get to that later on). So i guess let's start with the story..

After the March-June war was declared, i gave banjo a second chance, because i thought she truly changed and won't do those mistakes again but unfortunately, we were all wrong….

In the end of July 2021, things started to get worse because i saw David saying "binoi sucks" and i instantely sended that to my now ex-friend banjo and she wanted me to ask him "is that a joke?". And from there on, people, including my friends thought i was choosing her side, which would come to appearant when she stole me from my friends in August 2021 with some weird ass love message. And everything after that my career was gonna go downhill.

In September 2021, she began going "me mad" over David, doing his series of "Live streams for phones" when i was featured. She started accusing me of her being disappointed of David and then me like YOU SAID YOU WERE GONNA IGNORE VCS WHAT IS THIS???

Then things will get worse when in October 2021, banjo started using "gay jokes" on David for vcing with me which i wasnt ok with her making those jokes to both of us, but she kept going.

In November 2021, it got even worse when she heavily continued calling david gay and thinking of drawing a ship between me and david because we were just only vcing. She was also saying things like "imaging saying gay things to him" and shockingly "imma burn david for being gay" showing homophobia, which is pretty ironic since now in 2023 she became pansexual.

She has already stolen me from my friends but things will get even worse in December 2021, specifically on December 31st 2021 8:28 PM. Hours prior to that, banjo started to get me into Touhou characters by guessing them in what we call her stupid edition server, also known as "The Mayakou Server" thing. While i was already doing the things banjo told me to do, my friends started posting some memes in that bot guessing channel and then something in my brain was like they were trolling me so i sent a meme that had a guy reading a book said "how to deal with idiots" or something like that i dont remember. And then the worst happened. Arsik blocked me shortly after that and there was exchanges between me and my friends.

It makes me sad to know that banjo made me hate my own friends, my own community, the people that made me successful, and i blew it all out because of that one whore. People after that started to hate me for choosing banjo and for insulting one of my best friends over some petty drama. I was already cancelled because of the drama i had with my friends thanks to banjo and in the result that made me quit all social media on January 15th 2022.

When i was out of Discord by that time, i was on still on David's streams and then banjo saw that and started harassing David for being "gay" because he made me alive (umm what?) and she tried to revealed his full name.

11 months later, i would finally apologise for all of the wrong things that i've done in the community and thankfully everyone gave me another chance. 2 days after i returned to Discord (26th of December 2022), Banjo would try to friend me on my new account, but i've ignored it, because if i have accepted her again, everything would have gone downhill just like in December 2021.

Anyways we wouldn’t get any updates from her until February 11th when a weird account by the name of "私について読んでください#4082" sent me a friend request that had a pastebin link which at first didn’t work. But after it got edited to work, it was clear that banjo was again trying to apologise to us and get us back, but we declined it.

Then on April 2nd, Banjo would try to friend me again on her main account, this time with her about me page being "nick i only came to talk to you" which i was suspicious what was she going to talk about so this time i accepted it to see what she wanted to say and a day later, i got a response by her and again SHE WANTED TO APOLOGISE. sigh. So i told her that "it’s impossible to move on to another chapter of your life, if you keep re-reading the last one" and blocked her after that.

Things would finally go back to normal after she stopped trying to get us back, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the end. On June 9th 2023, Banjo again tried to get me to respond on Instagram by her saying that she can’t forget me and that when she sees a bulgarian person, it reminds her of me for some reason (like why?). But anyways, i didn’t bother responding to her so i ghosted her.

But then on July 3rd, i wanted to talk to Banjo for the last time, because she was mentioning our names and i wanted to put an end to this, by saying that she needs to keep our names out of her mouth.

She was like "ok, i will move on for real" on my dms, but in reality, the next day (4th of July), she says that we are ignorant like wtf and wanted to be racist by saying that she wants to be a bulgarianphobe and supporting Macedonia. She was saying such nasty things even after i told her to stop, but nothing help, same thing on August 20th (our next confrontation, this time in a gc), nothing helped.

Like imagine hating a WHOLE country only because your crush rejected you like wtaf💀.

And here we are on August 20th 2023. A day prior to that, she tried to befriend our friend and owner of Project Mobile "Gunbo" who actually accepted her friend request which prompted us to tell him to add us to a group with her so we could tell her to just leave us alone for the last time, but while she was like "I will try i will try" she once again was mentioning her drama with us and referred to us as "the nkits" so yeah, nothing helped.

And then here comes October 22nd, 2023 when a guy attacked servers Arsik was in with an exposé of him, in it banjo’s tried to expose our good friend Arsik for him acting sexually to banjo when in reality arsik was 11 and banjo was 13, and she even thought that arsik was 10. And also she purposely hid her name so that people wouldn’t hate her for erping with a 10 year old. So we fought back with our expose which people called "baby drama". And this is where i lost it. HOW CAN YOU CALL ALL OF THIS TRAUMA THAT WE HAD TO SUFFER BABY DRAMA??

Anyways before i go off more, i just want to say that this drama isnt baby drama. This is serious shit that people need into, by taking a look at our exposés against banjo and realise that this is all serious and we aren’t joking around, but sadly banjo didn’t get cancelled over our exposé and people were still supporting her, despite the expose that arsik made being already public, but no one gave a damn sadly. But here i am shining the light on the fact that banjo is an full-on creep who sexualises minors and hypnotises her friends into being on her side.

And now comes December 16th 2023. The day we joined the Java-oriented server "Kahvibreak". We wanted to join with my friend because we were interested in java preservation too, but we knew that banjo was there thought we joined nonetheless since it’s a good server. And hours later, banjo saw that we were in the server and she went "baiii my enemies are here" which made the people in kahvibreak become suspicious that we came to harass her, when in reality, we didn’t want to harass anyone. Soon after she left, she changed her Discord name to "JUST DESTROY ME.." to now "A....". (update: she has returned. no surprise)

So yeah this is the whole story of my own point of view of what is like to be friends with a creep and a nsfw artist. And to everyone who is reading this. It's best to avoid any interactions with Banjo because she is a manipulator and a creep that has been known by our community, but despite that she wanted to return after we told her to move on, but as of now she’s trying to join other corners of our community, never missing the opportunity to say something about us and how we cancelled her and whatnot. It's crazy that people like banjo exist and makes me furious that people call our drama childish. Like can you just take a quick second to see that this is very real and serious? Banjo traumatised us with her explicit art and it’s not a joke. Anyways, i hope we can spread this message across our community and her community so people could very well know her backstory and why they should not be friends with banjo.

Banjo is an attention seeker who would do anything to bring light to her dying career, including in some rather shady ways. She’s using her past for attention and it’s rather pathetic.

Anyways, im working on a folder called "Banjo's Hellhole" which includes all of her moments and once the project gets finished, i will provide a Google Drive link for it so you can guys get a better look at her. But for now, that's all that i have to say about her.

Thank you all for reading this and Fuck You Banjo!😉

[bookofbolden]

Eleanor Marie Bolden: A Timeline

trigger(s): kidnapping mention towards end

January 13, 1995 (Albany, New York): Born with the name Emily Moore to Stephanie Moore, a 16-year-old high school cheerleader.

January 17, 1995 (Albany, New York): Sent to live with the Britton Family.

June 12, 2000 (Albany, New York): Attends her first ballet class.

October 4, 2002 (Rochester, New York): Sent to live with the Wortham Family.

December 25, 2002 (Rochester, New York): Completes her first original fairy tale written exclusively in green crayon.

May 12, 2004 (Buffalo, New York): Sent to live with the Dixon Family.

August 28, 2004 (Albany, New York): Sent to live with the Barker Family.

January 13, 2006 (Albany, New York): Receives a camera for her birthday and develops an interest in photography.

March 11, 2006 (Albany, New York): Enters a short story into her school's writing contest, wins first place (the prize money of $100 soon turns up missing from her piggy bank).

June 1, 2006 (Syracuse, New York): Sent to live with the Hughes Family.

November 25, 2007 (New Rochelle, New York): Sent to live with the Bolden Family.

January 13, 2009 (New Rochelle, New York): Adopted by Dennis and Mary Bolden, legally changes name to Eleanor Marie Bolden (her choice, after Elinor Dashwood from Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility and Marie Antoinette).

August 19, 2013 (New York, New York): Begins classes at Columbia university.

February 6, 2015 (Worldwide): "A Season of Secrets", novella by Eleanor Bolden is published.

May 13, 2017 (New York, New York): Graduates with Bachelors in English Language and Literature

January 26, 2019 (New York, New York): Meets Lillian "Lily" Murphy.

April 19, 2019 (Worldwide): "The Lost Art of Being Yourself", novella by Eleanor Bolden is published.

July 4, 2019 (New York, New York): Becomes the girlfriend of Lily Murphy.

May 16, 2020 (New York, New York): Graduates with Masters in English Language and Literature.

September 4, 2021 (Portland, Maine): Moves in with Lily Murphy.

June 12, 2023 (Portland, Maine): Lily Murphy is kidnapped.

July 15, 2023 (Wicked's Rest, Maine): Moves to Wicked's Rest alone.

[ausetkmt]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Nine current or former Northern California police officers were charged Thursday in a federal corruption investigation that found evidence they committed civil rights violations and fraud in an effort to get a pay raise and lied on reports to cover up the use of excessive force, U.S. authorities said.

Ismail J. Ramsey, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, filed four indictments that outlined charges including wire fraud, deprivation of rights under color of law, conspiracy against rights, and conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids. Nine police officers and one community service officer are named in the charges, though only two are charged in multiple indictments.

The investigation centered on the departments in Antioch and Pittsburg, two cities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Only three of the officers remain employed by the departments and were not on active duty, officials said.

Arrest warrants were served Thursday in California, Texas and Hawaii, said Robert Tripp, special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Francisco Field Office. One has not yet been arrested, officials said.

Morteza Amiri, Eric Allen Rombough, Patrick Berhan, Samantha Peterson, Brauli Rodriguez Jalapa and Ernesto Juan Mejia-Orozco pleaded not guilty to various charges, and most were released on condition that they posted property bonds, the Bay Area News Group reported.

Rombough appeared in Oakland federal court dressed in ripped clothes, with bloody hands and knees and wearing a shirt that read: “don’t weaken,” the Bay Area News Group reported.

His attorney, Will Edelman, told the judge that there was “absolutely no reason” that his client had to be taken into custody and handcuffed because he would have willingly appeared if ordered.

The defendants could face decades in federal prison if convicted of the charges.

Tripp said the arrests were the result of a two-year investigation.

“Any breach of the public’s trust is absolutely unacceptable,” Tripp said while discussing charges against Antioch officers that include using their official positions as officers to deprive people of their rights.

Charges against Amiri, Rombough and Devon Christopher Wenger say the three Antioch police officers conspired between February 2019 and March 2022 “to injure, oppress, threaten and intimidate residents of Antioch, California” and later falsified reports about the encounters.

In obscenity-laden text messages, the three men referred to some suspects as “gorillas.” They laughed and joked about harming people who apparently had surrendered or appeared to be asleep by setting Amiri’s police dog on them or Rombough shooting them with a 40mm “less-lethal” projectile launcher, the indictment said.

Prosecutors say from 2019 to 2021, the dog bit 28 people while Rombough used the launcher 11 times in 2020 and 2021.

Amiri posted graphic photos of the dog wounds, and Rombough said he was keeping the projectiles to make a trophy flag, according to the indictment.

In one case, a man suspected of five armed robberies had given up and was lying on the ground when Amiri’s K-9 bit him, the indictment alleged.

In one text, Amiri wrote: “let’s (f-obscenity) some people up next work week.”

Amiri says that he will find some action and write up the police report, adding: “Just come over and crush some skulls.”

In one 2020 text sequence, Amiri says that he confronted a transient he believed had stolen his mail “and dragged him to the back of a car to ‘discuss’ the matter.”

“Lol. Putting a pistol in someone’s mouth and telling them to stop stealing isn’t illegal,” he texted. “It’s an act of public service to prevent further victims of crimes”

“Defendants authored police reports containing false and misleading statements to suggest that the force they used was necessary and justifiable,” the indictment said. “In truth and in fact, and as the Defendants well knew, Defendants willfully used excessive force in numerous incidents, including those identified in this Indictment.”

Police unions did not immediately respond to requests for information on whether the defendants had lawyers who can speak on their behalf. Emails to the Pittsburg and Antioch police departments seeking comment were not immediately returned.

Thousands of incendiary text messages by more than a dozen officers in the Antioch Police Department had previously come to light and led to a federal lawsuit. The texts contained derogatory, racist, homophobic and sexually explicit language. In some of them, the officers bragged about making up evidence and beating up suspects. They freely used racial slurs and made light of the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.

The city of Antioch, with about 115,000 residents 45 miles (72 kilometers) east of San Francisco, was once predominantly white but has diversified in the last 30 years. Federal and state prosecutors have dropped or dismissed dozens of cases that relied on the impugned officers, and the city now faces a federal civil rights lawsuit over the text messages.

Jalapa, Mejia-Orozco and Amanda Carmella Theodosy/Nash, as well as Antioch community service officer Peterson, were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud surrounding allegations they had other people take and complete online university courses toward a criminal justice degree. The police departments offered reimbursement for college tuition and pay raises for those who graduate college, prosecutors said.

Two Antioch officers, Daniel Harris and Wenger, were charged with several counts related to distributing anabolic steroids.

Another Antioch officer, Timothy Manly Williams, faces charges related to the obstruction of a federal investigation for allegedly using a personal cellphone in 2021 to talk to the target of an FBI wiretap investigation and then made sure the call wasn’t recorded or accurately logged.

“Today is a dark day in our city’s history, as people trusted to uphold the law, allegedly breached that trust and were arrested by the FBI,” Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe said in a statement. “As our city absorbs this tragic news, we must come together as one. Today’s actions are the beginning of the end of a long and arduous process.”

Thorpe is among three Black, progressive members of the five-person council who have said they are committed to holding police accountable.

“To those that have accused me and others of being anti-police for seeking to reform the Antioch Police Department, today’s arrests are demonstrative of the issues that have plagued the Antioch Police Department for decades,” he added.