#bolivia is rising up

[nanzyn]

not to sound like an old person but I'm sick of excuses

[ruthbancroftgarden]

Cleistocactus brookeae

Cleistocactus is a South American genus of slender-stemmed columnar cacti, often with narrow tubular flowers ("cleisto" means closed, because the flowers do not open widely like many other cactus flowers). This one is Cleistocactus brookeae, from Bolivia, notable for the way its flowers rise up alongside the stem and then bend outward at the tip - like little periscopes. Hummingbirds insert their beaks to gain access to the nectar within.

-Brian

[mariacallous]

Venezuela has been polarized almost since the election of Hugo Chávez in 1998, but last Sunday’s stolen presidential vote shows the rift has changed. Previously, it was between middle- and upper-class citizens who opposed Presidents Chávez and Nicolás Maduro and those leaders’ base, the poor. Now the rift is between a majority of citizens and Maduro’s discredited, autocratic government. Residents from the poor neighborhoods that ring Caracas are pouring into the capital to protest alongside the city’s better-off residents. To suppress them, Maduro and his government are unleashing their security apparatus, and as of Wednesday, government security and militia forces had arrested hundreds of protesters and killed more than a dozen people.

This is not a “civil war,” as Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab recently attempted to portray it—at least not in the traditional sense of citizens against fellow citizens. Instead, we are seeing the rising up of citizens against a government that, according to credible exit polls and opposition tallies of more than 80 percent of the ballots, stole an election from a popular presidential candidate, Edmundo González. There is no hard evidence to support the claim of the National Electoral Council (CNE)—packed with Maduro loyalists—that Maduro was reelected with 51 percent of the vote, to González’s 44 percent. And what’s certain is the division and turmoil revealed this week after the election are inimical to the social capital, stability, and predictability needed to rebuild the country’s battered economy.

Venezuelan citizens lined up for hours to cast their vote in Sunday’s presidential election. This demonstration of renewed faith in democracy followed decades of declining participation in voting, owing, in part, to the opposition’s abstentions. In preelection public opinion polls, more than 80 percent of registered voters said they wanted political change, and an almost equal number expressed an intent to vote. But Maduro never had any intention of allowing himself to be voted out of power.

Before and after, his government has displayed a refusal to adhere to standards of electoral transparency. Several months before the balloting, the CNE disinvited an election observation mission from the European Union. Days before the vote, Venezuelan authorities refused to allow ex-presidents from Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, and Panama to fly to the country observe the elections. And after governments from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay questioned the results, the Maduro government announced that it would shutter those countries’ embassies in Caracas. The willingness to break diplomatic practice has shocked the foreign-policy community, especially in Venezuela’s own neighborhood; solidarity and dialogue are firmly ingrained in the region’s diplomatic DNA.

Of course, fellow autocratic governments in China, Cuba, Iran, Nicaragua, and Russia immediately recognized Maduro’s win. For some of them, like China, the reasons are in part financial—Beijing wants to keep its access to Venezuela’s oil. For others, it is more out of solidarity in defying international scrutiny of human rights and elections. Meanwhile, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the EU, and the United States among others are calling on the government to release the paper ballots. But if the CNE never turns over the paper trail or if the evidence is demonstrated to be falsified, what those governments will or even can do is unclear. (A majority of governments denounced Maduro’s last election in 2018 as fraudulent with little effect, but since the opposition had boycotted the contest, the claims carried less import.)

Protests are likely to grow in the coming weeks, and the likelihood of broad international isolation—what one pro-government investor said at a recent conference in London would be just “some turbulence”—now looks more like a crash. Investors who bought distressed bonds after Venezuela defaulted on its debt are watching bond prices drop after rising in the weeks before the election. Energy companies in the United States and Europe that benefited from the U.S. liberalization of sanctions are now facing a possible return of those sanctions, and as Britain, the EU, and the United States discuss how to best punish the government and individuals within it for failing to meet Venezuela’s commitments under the 2023 Barbados Agreement to hold free and fair elections, there will likely be more targeted personal sanctions, too.

None of this bodes well for Maduro’s ability to maintain even his limited base of popular support, which includes corrupt businesses, politicians, and security officers. Further repression will likely follow. While China and Russia have pledged their support for the Maduro government, neither has the capacity to keep Venezuela’s battered economy afloat.

Whatever happens to Maduro’s government, the chaos and the economic pain it will inflict likely spell the end of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and the Bolivarian project that Chavez founded in 1998. There was a slim, perhaps unrealistic, hope among international diplomats and observers that more forward-thinking members of the government and party would consider their political future in a democratic Venezuela should a popular uproar follow a stolen election. That hope has vanished. For the majority of Venezuelans who supported González and had their hopes dashed, the PSUV will be associated with theft and cruelty, even more so than in the past. The legacy of Chavismo will be remembered for this.

The situation in Venezuela cries out for international mediation to restore order and defend the rights of Venezuelan citizens. The center-left governments of Colombia and Brazil could be well positioned to convene such a process.

But next steps are deeply unclear. Nor is it obvious after the Maduro government cut ties to neighboring governments that dared to question the results whether Brazil and Colombia would be able to maintain ties to the strategically thin-skinned PSUV regime should they criticize it.

The violence in recent days committed by state security forces and pro-government private militias—the colectivos—should preclude the government from staying in office, even if the opposition is declared victorious and is constitutionally sworn in on Jan. 10, 2025. Oddly, the Maduro government has called for a national dialogue. But an immediate change of government is necessary, if even a transitional government. That will first require understanding that instead of simple political polarization or even a civil war, a government has instead waged war on its own citizens and their popular will.

[bullet-prooflove]

Hey lovely!

For the 'send me a made up fic-title' could I request

"Starry Nights and Campsites" with Damien Powell? (If this works for you ofc ❤️)

Tagging: @kmc1989 @keabbs @jareaulamontagnes @hockeyshmockey @sunshinerapmonster @foxfabled

Companion piece to:

Live Stream - You recieve a lead on Damian's location.

Ravaged - You find Damian in a bad way.

After Damien returns home from Bolivia, you take some time off to tour Hungary in a camper van you borrow from your neighbour. The city is too busy for him and he needs some time to process to his new situation. Losing his eye and his career, it’s a blow that you aren’t sure he’ll recover from.

He’s quiet on the drive to the campsite, looking out of the window as he watches the countryside slip by.

“It’s the weirdest thing.” He says as he adjusts his eye patch over his left eye socket. “I have to keep turning my head to compensate. I don’t even realise I’m doing it anymore.”

“That’s good right?” You say as you focus on the road. “It means you’re adjusting.”

“I hope so.” He tells you, his cheek coming to rest against the head rest as he looks at you. “Otherwise we’re going to be keeping a tally of how many trees I bump into.”

There’s an edge of humour to his voice and you think he might just becoming through the depression that followed his injury. You still haven’t talked about the fact he disappeared for three months, that he left everything behind including you to go on his own unsanctioned undercover mission.

It's later that night when the two of you are lying on a blanket staring up at the stars that he rolls onto his side to face you. His thumb traces over the apple of your cheek as he studies your features with that dark eye of his.

“I’m sorry.” He says finally as he tucks a strand of your hair back behind your ear. “I shouldn’t have left the way I did, I should have told you what I was doing, I should have…”

His breath catches in his throat but he forces himself to continue because he owes you this much.

“I should have done a lot of things.” He says, his voice rough. “But I didn’t and now we’re here and I don’t know how to move forward. Everything just got fucked up and I don’t…”

He trails off, the emotion rising in his chest too much to bear.

“Damien.” You say softly, your lips brushing over the underside of his wrist. “You don’t need to have all the answers right now. You need to give yourself a little time and a little space to figure things out, that’s why we’re taking this trip, to give us the room to do that.”

He inhales then, for what feels like the first time since this whole nightmare began.

“I don’t know what I did to deserve you. Anyone else would have run from this…” He says as he gestures at the eye patch. “But you’re still here, still fighting in my corner.”

“I made a promise to you.” You remind him, taking his palm and placing it on the space where your heart resides in your chest. “I will always love you, I will always care for you even when you do dumb shit.”

He laughs then and that sound it echoes through the trees in a campsite in the middle of nowhere.

“No more dumb shit.” He promises, his nose bumping against yours as he leans in close to kiss you. “I’ll be good from now on.”

“Damien.” You whisper against his lips as his body covers yours, the heat of him warming your skin. “Let’s not pretend you don’t know how much I like a bad boy.”

Love Damien? Don’t miss any of his stories by joining the taglist here.

Like My Work? - Why Not Buy Me A Coffee

[herasversion]

"In the Bullet's Embrace"

Author's Note: This is my first story, so please be kind. English is not my first language. This is a Tangerine x female reader, but it can be read as Tangerine x gender-neutral reader until the smut. Please be aware that this story contains explicit content 18+. Feel free to reblog and leave comments.

summary: The story follows you boarding a bullet train, with the anticipation of a mysterious mission. As you realize Ladybird, another assassin, is on the same train, tension rises. You encounter Tangerine, a charming yet dangerous figure, leading to a series of confrontations. Amidst a struggle for a mysterious briefcase, Tangerine, and you end up outside the moving train.

"There are moments when one begins to question the nature of their profession. How many people can say they make a living off killing and still catch some decent sleep? Now, as I hop onto this bustling bullet train, it hits me – karma might be coming for me because there is no way that the unlucky bastard Ladybird is also on board.

Navigating through the crowd, I try not to draw attention, head down, steps quickened, hoping to dodge Ladybug's notice. Spotting my seat, I see someone's already occupying it as I glance across the train. The first person I notice is a handsome, roguish man with a porn 'stache and the most gorgeous blue eyes I've ever seen. Shifting my gaze to the person seated next to him, I realize he's equally handsome but not my type. The second thing I notice is that he's bleeding and consistently glancing to the left. The only thought racing through my mind is, 'Shit, it seems Ladybug and I aren't the only hired assassins on this train.'

Walking past the two intriguing figures who placed the unconscious man in my seat, my mind races with curiosity and concern. The handsome man with captivating blue eyes seems like a character straight out of a movie, but the blood on the companion next to him swiftly diminishes this dream. Trying to discreetly navigate past them, I keep my focus forward while stealing occasional glances. The allure of these mysterious men grabs my attention.

As I approach them, I overhear their conversation about lemons and tangerines. Instantly, a sense of panic sets in as I recall the notorious twin assassins associated with these fruit-coded names and their gruesome exploit in Bolivia."

Suddenly, the man with the gorgeous blue eyes snaps his gaze to me. I immediately freeze but try not to make it too obvious. He directs his eyes at me and asks, "Is there a problem, love?" all the while smirking at me.

Before I can answer, someone behind me hits the food cart, and it collides with me. I lose my balance and land on the man with the smirk and the beautiful blue eyes. After I collide with him, the man grumbles in a northern English accent, "Bloody hell, watch where you're fucking goin', will ya?" Then, his expression softens, and he asks, "Are you alright, darling?"

I stammer a "yes," all the while kicking myself for not being more aware of my surroundings. Suddenly, the man with the blood starts saying something about Thomas the Train. I quickly stand up and say, "I have to go," walking away before he can say anything more. I think to myself, "I need to find where I came from. How hard can it be to find a briefcase?"

While making my way to the next train compartment, I abruptly stop as I notice the white wolf, another assassin, lying dead. Ladybug, sporting his stupid glasses and bucket head, clutches my briefcase adorned with a Thomas the Train sticker. Instantly, I think, "fuck, the Thomas sticker can only mean that the twins are also on the hunt for it." Just as I'm about to approach Ladybug, he recognizes me as well and hastily darts off to the next compartment.

I dash after him, catching up just before the toilets. Our confrontation escalates into a fierce fight, exchanging punches and kicks. In the midst of the struggle, my lip gets cut, and Ladybug sports a bleeding nose. The intensity of our fight grows until we hear a man nearby exclaim in a northern British accent, "For fuck's sake!"

In response to the interruption, Ladybug swiftly seizes me, dragging us into a nearby closet, urgently muttering, "Tangerine."

The first thing that registers in my brain is that I've finally figured out which one is which, and it appears my roguish charming man with the blue eyes in a beautiful suit is Tangerine. The second thing is a resounding "fuck," all while I panic, stealing glances at Ladybug. Luckily, Tangerine is occupied grooming himself in the mirror until he shifts his gaze to Ladybug while I hide behind the curtain. He turns around, eyes narrowing, and in a strong northern British accent, he says, "Bloody disgusting creep." He walks away, slamming the door behind him.

As I lift my fist up again to hit Ladybug, he suddenly says, "Wait, who is your handler?" I retort, "None of your business!" Before I can land another blow, he shoves his earpiece into my ear, and I hear my handler. Realizing that Ladybug and I are on the same mission, I say to him, "Seems like somebody doesn't trust you to finish something as simple as getting a briefcase."

Ladybug gives me a funny face before I can say something about getting off at the next stop. We hear somebody coming our way. I push Ladybug and myself into the toilet, closing the door. Suddenly, somebody knocks on our door, and I reply at the same time as Ladybird, "Occupied," and give Ladybug an angry look.

Suddenly, the door swings open, and Tangerine stands there in his handsome glory, holding a phone that gives away the location of the briefcase. He pulls Ladybug out of the toilet and hits him until he's on the ground. Then, he looks at me and says, "Ain't this a lovely fucking surprise, darling." Before he can think, I punch him and quickly exit the toilet.

Tangerine, with a bloody lip from my hitting him, says, "Darling, hitting ain't fucking necessary; we can talk it out," all while grabbing my arms as I try to kick him. Suddenly, Ladybug stands up and tries to hit Tangerine. Tangerine drops his hold on me and tackles Ladybug to the ground.

Tangerine overpowers Ladybug, grabs my arm, and hauls me to the next compartment, leaving Ladybug on the ground. The next compartment is themed after some stupid anime character, and the mascot gives Tangerine a stuffed anime character. Tangerine says, "Fuck off," and hands the stuffed animal to me, pulling me through the compartment. However, the mascot keeps following us, so Tangerine takes the stuffed animal and throws it at the mascot, knocking it out.

While we're between compartments, I look at him and say, "That wasn't necessary." He lets out a laugh and looks at me, saying, "You got a problem, love? I can also hit you. After all, you're the one holding my case, aren't you, darling?"

I look up at him, angry, and hit him. He hits back, all the while laughing. I push him into the wall of the bullet train. He grabs my arms; I hit him and jump, putting his head between my thighs, trying to choke him. Suddenly, I see him lean in and sniff, saying, "Ain't this a lovely surprise." Frustrated, I pull his head more towards me, and we fall to the ground, with Tangerine on top of us.

Before i know it he is kissing me and i am kissing back all the while looking in his Beautiful blue eyes and forgetting everything. Tangerine hands keep on traveling lower and lower all the while my hands ar gripping his hair and my lips stay glued to his. Suddently his hand stop at top of my pants before they dive in and he starts to rub my pussy on top of my underwear. He feels how wet i am and stars to laugh and kisses along my throath and breast. Suddenly he pushes my underwear to the side and caresses my clit bare and pushes one finger inside. I moan and just as I am about to come he slips his fingers out of my and I moan at the empty feeling I get.

´´Dont wory darling, you ain´t staying empty for long.´´ he says while kissing te top of my head and lifst me up with one hand while the others is taking of his belt and tacking his cock out. Suddenly he puts his cock in my and I am hanging around him like a koala and he pushes us against the wall al the while fucking in us. Just as i feel my walls tigthen and hear tangirne moan the train stops. He keeps on fucking in to us and we come at the same time.

Just then, Ladybug says, "What the fuck is going on?" I quickly straighten my clothes and pull up my pants, as Tangerine does the same and says, "That ain't your fucking business." Suddenly, the doors on the train open, and new passengers walk in. Ladybug gives me one look, and I step aside. He attacks Tangerine. While they fight, I grab the briefcase, only to notice it's a different one. I step closer to them, only for Ladybug to try and push Tangerine out of the train. Tangerine grabs me, and we both land outside of the bullet train as it leaves. I land on my head and feel drowsy. Suddenly, Tangerine puts his jacket around me and says, "Sorry, love." The next thing I know, I wake up three hours later without Tangerine. I can only hope Ladybug got the case, and I still get paid.

Author's Note: This was my first story, hope you liked it! Got any ideas or requests for the next one? Feel free to drop them!

[aggimaginary]

The Bad Guys Season 2: The Baddest Trip (chapter 2) - Piranha Comes Home To Bolivia

Previous Next

Hello everyone. I know we were going through some tough times here in South California because of the fire, but we’ll rise up from the ashes and get back out there again.

So, anyway, this chapter will be Piranha-centric and will reveal much about this original. You will be surprised what I wrote about Piranha.

So, enjoy this chapter.

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Previously on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip...

Snake: Hey, Wolf, what are you doing?

Wolf: I was looking back on our photo album about the places we’ve been to.

Hornet: I don’t remember some of them.

Wolf: You weren’t part of the team yet, bug.

Wolf: What if we can take another trip around the world, just for a good ol’ fun trip?

Diane: Wolf, what the heck! I gave you more than one chance to change your ways! I even let you have a double life as both criminals and vigilantes, and yet you stole a jet! A private jet!

Tarantula: Maybe we should go to places that we haven’t gone to yet.

Hornet: Or a place we were never heard of.

Wolf: We’ll just plan as we go.

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Piranha Comes Home To Bolivia

The Bad Guys were taking a private jet plane as their way to go on a trip round the world. Question was: Where would they go now?

Wolf was in the cockpit, piloting the jet. If he could drive a car, why not a jet? He put the jet into autopilot before leaving the cockpit to meet with his friends in the cabin. “So, any particular place we should go first?”

“Ooh, Mexico!” Tarantula raised her hand.

“The Caribbeans,” Snake said.

“Hawaii!” Shark shouted excitedly.

“What about Spain?” Piranha indicated.

“Why would you like to go to Spain?” Hornet arched a brow, giggling.

“Eh, I heard there’s a romantic city in Spain called Barcelona, and I would like to take you there,” Piranha gently held Hornet's tiny hand.

“Aww.” Hornet blushed at Piranha’s gesture.

Snake rolled his eyes at this. “Don’t tell me you want to go to Spain just for a date.”

“Well, yeah… why would it be?” Piranha smirked sheepishly.

Looking at Piranha, Hornet’s brain suddenly clicked as he asked his boyfriend, “Hey, Piranha, honey, why don’t we go to the place where you used to live?”

“What?!” Piranha exclaimed surprisingly.

“Piranha! Yeah!” Shark said excitedly as the rest of the Bad Guys chattered in agreement.

“You used to tell us you lived in Bolivia. Why don't we go there?" Wolf proclaimed.

Piranha was nervous about the idea of visiting his home as he said, “Umm, come on, amigos, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Why not? It’ll be fun to learn where you came from,” Hornet said while leaning himself on his Piranha's face.

“Plus, we want to know you even better,” Shark added.

“Come on, guys, it’s not a big deal,” the little fish pleaded.

“Oh, it is a big deal, hermano,” Wolf smiled as he walked back to the cockpit and took the wheel. “Let’s go to Bolivia!”

“But… but—” Piranha tried to stop his friends from agreeing with the idea, but the rest of the Bad Guys were too excited for their first destination trip. With that, they wouldn’t listen to Piranha in any way.

They’re going to Bolivia.

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The jet plane landed in the Amazon rainforest to keep the destination of the landed jet hidden. The Bad Guys had to find Piranha’s home by foot if they wanted to lay low for their vacation trip. They had to bring a bag for each of them in case of an emergency and survival if they ever got lost in the forest. As they got off the plane, the other five Bad Guys wondered where they would go since they had never been to Piranha’s hometown before, and they landed in the middle of the forest to avoid getting caught.

“You know, you never told us where you lived, Piranha,” Snake pointed out.

“Aww, too bad. Guess we’re getting out of here. He thought he was in the clear as Piranha headed back to the plane.

Hornet hovered in front of him to stop his way and begged at him, “Come on, Piranha. Only you know where your home is. Could you at least lead us there? Piranha still felt hesitant, especially for his boyfriend, but Hornet let out his puppy eyes at him with a pleading, “Please!”

Those eyes again! Who would resist those eyes? Piranha groaned in defeat, “Fine, but it won’t be easy in the forest. Let’s just find a bus once we get to the street.”

Piranha decided to lead the way as the Bad Guys followed him. They trusted him since he knew his way around the place better than they did.

Eventually, they found the street and a bus stop. What a stroke of luck. All they had to do was wait for the bug, especially when Piranha was extending his thumb up by the street.

While waiting, Snake and Shark noticed a lot of wanted posters of himself and his friends.

So much for laying low.

Not wanting anyone else to know they were wanted, Snake and Shark quietly nodded at each other, agreeing to take all the posters off. They put them all in their backpacks so no one would see them, not even the rest of the gang. They didn’t want to add problems for their trip.

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Once the bus arrived, the Bad Guys hopped in, but the bus was a bit crowded with not just people but also their bags and crates of chickens. Everyone in the bus must have squeezed in so that the bus had enough space for all of them.

Traveling through the forest wasn’t easy for a crowded bus. The driver had to drive slowly to avoid bumps, rocks, and potholes to keep the bus steady for a safe trip for the passengers. The Bad Guys were sitting at the back of the bus, as it was the only space for them to take.

“Well, the bus might be crowded, but at least we’re going to see your home,” Hornet nudged his elbow at Piranha, who was close to him.

“Yeah, I guess.” Piranha wasn’t so enthusiastic about coming home. He knew coming home wouldn’t be a happy moment for him.

As they took their time to wait to get to Piranha’s hometown, Shark could sense the silence in the bus, so he broke the silence, “I can get some Bolivian air right now,” he breathed the air from the window, “Kinda a little hot, huh?” Then, he let out an awkward chuckle, “Or more a little awkward when no one was gonna gossip about news and stuff?” When Shark said that, the other Bad Guys realized that no one in the bus stared at them as if they were strangers or unknown people to others. This meant that not everyone knew about the Bad Guys and their reputation. But Shark nearly gave them the idea.

To change the topic to avoid making things worse, he asked Piranha with an offensive question, “So, do you have a girlfriend back home?”

Surprisingly, Piranha punched Shark out of the bus.

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Later, the bus drove into the forest as Piranha called out to stop the bus.

“This is our stop!” The bus stopped at that spot as the Bad Guys got off the bus before Piranha told the driver, “Gracias!” and the bus continued its trip.

Piranha then turned to continue the journey to find his hometown and led his team with him.

Despite that, still following Piranha, the Bad Guys realized they were still in the middle of the forest. They weren’t in town or city at all. Just a lot of trees and flora everywhere.

 “Umm, Piranha, we’re still in the forest. You know that, right?” Snake pointed out.

“Just follow me,” Piranha said.

“Are you sure you didn’t get us lost?” Tarantula asked,

“If I intended to get us lost, I would’ve done that before when we left the plane.” The little fish said, feeling irritated by his friends’ doubts about finding the way to his town.

After a couple of miles of walking and trimming down bothersome plants, Piranha made the final stop between two giant trees.

“Well, here we are,” he declared.

The Bad Guys only stared at Piranha between the two trees, and they were puzzled by the place. There wasn’t anything behind the two trees, except the Amazon River was a few miles away. There was no town, no citizens, just another part of the forest.

“You’re seeing things, fish bro,” Shark spoke.

“Yeah, there’s nothing there but ahead was the Amazon River.” Wolf complained.

“You’ll be…” Piranha walked backwards until he suddenly disappeared. “Surprise!” His voice was still heard and echoed.

“Whoa!” The other Bad Guys gasped and widened their eyes.

Piranhas just disappeared when he walked backwards through the two trees. Where had he gone to?

“Piranha? Where are you?” Wolf was concerned for his little friend as he tried to find him by jumping through the gap between the two trees. This was where Piranha was last seen. Right before their eyes. But when he got through the gap, he also disappeared like Piranha’s, “Aahh!”

“WOLF!” Snake, Shark, Tarantula, and Hornet screamed. Wolf was also gone!

But to their surprise, half of Wolf appeared through the gap of the two trees, alive and okay, and told the rest of his friends, “Hey guys, take a look at this!”

When Wolf grabbed Shark’s fin, he pulled him and the rest of the Bad Guys through the gap.

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Snake, Shark, Tarantula, and Hornet stumbled on Wolf, squishing him a little, but when they opened their eyes, they were surprised to see what was right in front of them.

“Wow!”

A small town with a big community. Most of the citizens were humans who lived in huts as their homes. Some of the homes were cemented with colored roofs. And everyone in town was working very hard and helping each other to keep the town standing.

The other Bad Guys were amazed and surprised with the place. Just one second, the town wasn’t here, but after crossing the gap of two trees, the town magically appeared. But Piranha didn’t seem to be satisfied to be back home.

Hornet looked back to where they came from and figured what they had passed through: “An invisible barrier covering the town?”

“Yep. Hermanos, Hermana, welcome to Buenafecto,” Piranha declared, showing the town where he grew up in. As he continued to guide his friends through town, the Bad Guys wandered their eyes around the place.

It wasn’t like living in the city. People were working by hand, working very hard. They struggled, but they stood up and kept working. They greeted each other with happy faces, polite words, and giving thoughtful gifts. Children and young teens played with each other with electronics and old toys. Everyone was good and happy all around. The town was decorated with flowers, triangle flag banners, and music all around.

“Wow, Piranha, your hometown, it’s... it’s beautiful,” Hornet commented.

But Piranha wasn’t amazed as his friends, “Yeah, well, nothing changed since I left.”

“And what is that invisible barrier we passed through?” Tarantula questioned.

“Hmm, oh, it’s a long story.”

“You can tell us,” Hornet requested his boyfriend to tell them.

Piranha sighed but surrendered to tell the story about his hometown, “You see, years ago, before I was even born, my family found this place while swimming in the Amazon River, and this place, it just appeared right in front of my family’s eyes. Then, newcomers kept arriving, finding new homes. Then, everyone wants to stay here so they can live in peace and away from the chaos of the outside world.”

“So, this place is… magic?” Snake guessed.

Piranha rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t say that.”

“But why did you want to leave this place anyway? There’s nothing wrong with it,” Hornet said.

As they walked around, the residents of the town started to notice them. They dropped all of their routine and started staring at the team. They also started gossiping at each other while staring back at them.

The Bad Guys also noticed the citizens staring at them and probably gossiping about them. “Umm, why are people whispering while staring at us?” Tarantula alerted her friends quietly.

“Do they know who we are?” Snake inquired.

“No. This place and everyone in it were isolated from the outside world. They don’t check famous criminals or even the new president of America,” Piranha explained.

But the citizens weren’t gossiping about their new visitors at all. They were gossiping about Piranha. Their eyes were on him since he arrived, and Piranha knew this. He chose to ignore them because he knew how the citizens of his hometown would react upon his return.

News spread so fast as the gossip kept passing all over this hidden town until it passed down to a mystery person who was so shocked at the return of Mr. Piranha,

“Is it…” Piranha heard that familiar voice that echoed as he tried to not look ahead, but he couldn’t resist. He knew that voice. Ahead on his path was a female piranha wearing a dress and a hair tie wrapping around her head fin. The female piranha was. Very happy when she saw him, and rushed towards, “It’s true! It’s all true!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Piranha held his fins up, but he was caught in a hug.

The female piranha squeezed the young fish tightly before throwing him into the air and catching him back into her arms. “Aah! My little hermano has finally come home!” At first, the other Bad Guys were a little cautious that someone was running after Piranha.

They thought someone was attacking him, but they were surprised that a female piranha hugged him happily. Though, Tarantula and Hornet chuckled at this that someone snuggled Piranha that tight.

Piranhas felt embarrassed as he tried to struggle out of the embrace. “Come on, hermana, not in front of my guests.”

The female piranhas put him down before noticing a group of animals behind him. “And who are these muchachos?”

“Prima, these are my amigos.” Piranha introduced his friends to the female piranha before he introduced her to his friends. “Guys, this is my sister, Prima.”

Now this was a surprise.

Wolf gently took Prima’s hand and kissed it, “It’s an honor to meet you.”

“Good to see you,” Hornet greeted.

“Hi,” Tarantula waved her hand.

“Hello,” Snake waved his tail.

“You look like our friend here,” Shark observed.

“It’s good to meet you too,” Prima smiled before ruffling Piranha's head fins. “Pepe, I missed you, Chico! You should visit sometimes.”

Tarantula snorted as she tried to hold her laughter. “’Pepe’?”

The rest of the Bad Guys snickered as they tried not to laugh now that they finally knew what Piranha’s real name was.

Piranha felt so ashamed that his friends finally knew his real name through his older sister. He wasn’t ready to tell them his real name yet. His friends might not be either since their names are too confidential. Now, they’re gonna remember his name forever!

“Aww, ashamed to tell your friends your real name?” Prima cooed while pinching her little brother’s cheek before asking his friends, “What did he want to call with?”

“Just ‘Piranha,’” Hornet answered while gritting his teeth from laughing.

“Well, it’s not shameful to call yourself the name of our species,” Prima ruffled Piranha's head fins again before giving him a big hug. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Okay, Prima, you can let go of me now,” Piranha said, gently forcing Prima to let go of him.

 “You should come to our house. I’ll tell our Papà and the rest of our family. We’ll throw you a welcome home party tonight,” Prima announced.

“I… I don’t think it’s necessary…” Piranha hesitated with the idea, but he heard his friends excitedly murmur in agreement.

“A party?!” Shark squealed.

“Oh, we’ll definitely go,” Tarantula nodded.

“Yeah, we would be happy to meet the family,” Wolf added.

“Excelente. I’ll get back home to tell the others; you should go later,” she told them before running off to tell the entire family about Piranha’s return.

“Prima, no, please,” Piranha called out, trying to convince his sister, but it was already too late. She was already far away,

“Wow, Piranha, your sister is kinda cool,” Shark commented.

“Yeah, how come you never told us you have a sister?” Tarantula questioned.

“It’s not that I don’t like my sister. I love her, but we don’t get in touch with each other since I left,” Piranha replied.

“Maybe because you didn’t give your contacts,” Snake guessed, making Piranha roll his eyes.

“And your real name is ‘Pepe’?” Wolf snickered, making the rest of the Bad Guys release their laughter.

Piranha sighed, “It’s worse than I thought.”

Hornet hovered himself down at Piranha’s level and caressed his face. “Relax, sweetie, don’t be so hard on yourself. Besides, when we meet your family, you might introduce me as your boyfriend.”

“Oh, yeah, right,” Piranha chuckled doubtfully.

When his friends wanted to continue walking forward, Piranha followed his friends, hoping nothing bad would happen once they met his family at his childhood home.

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The Bad Guys made it to Piranha’s family house, and it was not what they expected. The house was big, fit for like hundreds of people. It was like a protruding mansion with wider spaces and just 7 stories tall and many small balconies located on the outside walls. The other five were so speechless with their mouths dropped that they couldn’t say anything about what they thought of Piranha’s childhood home. He could’ve been a rich kid. But Piranha wasn’t nostalgic about the place. He had been here before, so it wasn’t a surprise how big his house was, but he did miss this place. He just didn’t like to admit it. He only made a small smile to show the house that he missed it. To his friends’ surprise, the other Bad Guys noticed one of the window doors just waved at him back. They freaked out at first, but it was probably the wind… a light wind.

Before they could enter the house, they already noticed a lot of humans and piranhas walking in and out, getting ready for the “Welcome Home” party for Piranha. It would be a busy town then.

When they entered the house, the house wasn’t full of just people; it was full of lots and lots of anthropomorphic piranhas, who all looked a lot like Piranha but had different clothing and hairstyles. They were all working together to make the house clean and decorative for the party. They were playing each other’s part to make this house ready.

As expected, everyone paused when Piranha first stepped into the house. They all stared at him. It was real. It was all true. The young piranha finally came home! Some of the piranhas greeted him with open arms and cheerful smiles, delighted to see him again after being gone for years, but some of them weren’t so delighted. Not a lot of piranhas liked their missing relative. They rather just ignored him and got back to work. Few of them made a small wave “hello” at him before proceeding to their work. Once happy greetings were done, the piranhas returned to their work.

Though the only thing Piranha expected was a greeting from his father.

And there he was, standing at the 2nd story railings and looking down at him. Piranha only stared at him, waiting for any response from his father, but the latter gave him a small smile and a nod before heading back to work and instructing his children and nephews what they would do.

Piranha knew his father wouldn’t give him a welcoming greeting or anything. Just a nod and nothing else.

But his sad thoughts were interrupted when Wolf gave him a nudge.

“Wow, Piranha, you had like hundreds of relatives,” the team leader complimented.

“900,542 brothers and cousins to be exact,” Piranha mentioned.

“Guess your records weren’t kidding about that number of relatives,” Tarantula remarked.

“Hey Pepe, I have a gift for you,” a young woman named Ria approached him with a basket of things. Quickly, Piranha took a hold of the basket when Ria dropped it in his arms. “It’s my welcome home gift with all of our famous Bolivian food and stuff.”

“Thank you,” Piranha grinned.

“And good luck on the party. Your whole family was devastated when you left. I bet tonight is gonna be great." Ria gave two thumbs up before glancing at the other Bad Guys without knowing who they were. “Oh, hello.”

The five waved hello at Ria before she left. While Piranha was still holding the basket, Shark took the chance to pick whatever was in it and held a Salteña before throwing it into his mouth.

As Piranha proceeded with his friends behind him, the house was filled with busy people arranging the furniture to add a lot of space and putting up some decorations. They also tried to avoid falling down into a huge circular pond in the middle of the main living room that was occupied by a Victoria Boliviana water lily. All they had to do was pass around it.

“That banner should be a little higher, please,” Piranha’s father, Primo Sr., instructed a town citizen who put a “Welcome Home” banner on top of Piranha’s bedroom door. Primo Sr. then instructed his twin sons, “Paz 67, Perez 67, help Inigo out.”

“Got it!” Paz 67 and Perez 67 saluted as Perez 67 stood up straight and Paz 67 jumped on top of him to help their human neighbor pin the other end of the banner on the wall.

“Perico 1 089, could you put the Bombo drums upstairs?” Primo Sr. ordered his nephew.

“I’ll handle it, Tio!” Perico 1 089 slowly put a stack of chairs down and ran past Piranha and his friends, “Careful, cuz!”

The Bad Guys moved out of the way to avoid the fast piranha’s path.

Pasqual 731 carried 2 towers of boxes and barrels with both of his little arms, and tried to balance them all, “I don’t know where I can put these barrels and boxes!”

“Can we put some more decorations up for this party?” Patricio 11 called out while holding a clipboard and pen.

“Don’t worry, I got it!” Pedro 1, the family’s golden child, exclaimed as he carried a tower of flowerpots and vases and gently put them all in a decorative arrangement.

Most of his relatives and the citizens cheered for him, but Piranha thought of him as a show-off, not that his friends and boyfriend knew that, as they were as impressed as everyone else in the whole town.

“Please, don’t clap. I’m doing my job here,” Pedro 1 chuckled before giving a woman flowers.

“Thank you, Pedro 1,” the woman said appreciatively.

“De nada,” Pedro 1 said before accidentally bumping into his little brother that he never got along with, “A little brotherly advice: if you weren’t always trying too hard to welcome yourself back home, you wouldn’t be in the way.”

“Actually, Pedro 1, I was gonna help out with the party since it’s my party. And I’m not in the way. You are,” When Piranha walked away while talking back to his older brother, he didn’t see where he was going as he bumped into a nearby pillar.

Feeling the pain on Piranha’s face, Shark and Hornet pulled Piranha from the pillar that had his face stuck onto it.

At the kitchen, another one of Piranha’s brothers, Prospero 172, was preparing the plates for the party but noticed his brother coming with a basket, and his friends were trying to help him.

“Whoa,”

“Excuse me,” Piranha grunted when he put the basket on the counter.

Wolf then noticed Prospero 172 and gave him a wave of his paw, “Hola!”

“Hola to you too,” Prospero 172 greeted nicely at who might’ve been Piranha’s guest. He turned to his brother and asked, “Mi hermano, you okay? You don’t have to work. This is your party of your return after all.”

“I know, Prospero 172, but I just want to do my part like the rest of the family,” Piranha said as he put the earthenware vase from the basket on the table.

“You don’t need to,” Cousin Paz 2 222 cut in, showing himself to be bruised. “Ever since you left, Papà was devastated, but sometimes, his feelings were mixed. We don’t want you home, or Papà will explode, but we didn’t expect him to be this calm.”

Cousin Palomo 480 joined the conversation as well, “And you didn’t leave a letter or any contacts when we tried to reach you, but instead, you just came back on your own, and you brought… unexpected guests,” he turned to stare at Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantulas, and Hornet.

“Hi,” Tarantula spoke.

“You know, I always know you have different taste with making friends,” Paz 2 222 complimented.

“Shut up and eat, Paz 2 222,” Prospero 172 shoved a Cuñapé into his cousin’s mouth to make him shut up before he could say anything hurtful towards Piranha and turned to comfort his youngest brother, “Pepe, if you ever wanna talk about what happened to you and where you had been…”

“I gotta put out the stuff. The house isn’t gonna decorate itself,” Piranha said, making the house squeak and the triangular banners lower. “Sorry, you could. You look great.”

The banners rose up again.

Once again the Bad Guys freaked out, and this time, they did notice the house just responded to Piranha, which was strange and scary.

 “Did the banner just… move?” Shark whispered.

“Did the house just squeak?” Snake added.

But when they noticed Piranha was walking out of the kitchen with the now-empty basket, the five Bad Guys tried to catch up with him.

“Hermano, remember!” Prospero 172 called

“Yeah, remember!” Palomo 480 repeated.

“You have nothing to prove!” The three piranhas chimed in unison.

As he walked off, Piranha responded with a soft, “Mm-hmm.”

Prospero 172 added when he watched the other 5 animals following his brother, “And take your friends with you! They’ll keep you company!”

Only Piranha’s thumb came back in sight as a response before disappearing.

As his brother and his friends were gone, Prospero 172 was free to say what he thought about the guests, “I like Pepe’s friends.”

“The wolf one was cool,” Paz 2 222 complimented.

“Funny. I like the spider one,” Palomo 480 admitted.

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Later, despite the effort of his family telling him not to help, Pirnaha ended up wanting to help anyway. He set up doilies that had each of his relatives; names on them and placed candles in the middle of each of them, including his father's. Pirnaha wanted to do it all by himself, but he would mind if he let his friends help. To be safe, Snake, Tarantula, and Hornet volunteered since Piranha had too many brothers, cousins, and a sister, and he couldn’t do all of these by himself. Wolf and Shark were wandering around the house while staring at photos of Piranha’s family. They even noticed the longest portrait of the Piraña Family, as its name was labeled at the bottom frame of the portrait.

“Wow, Piranha, I never thought your family could be this… big,” Wolf noticed as the rest of the Bad Guys gathered around to see the whole portrait.

The portrait definitely captured the whole family. All 900,546 of them.

“Aww, I saw the little you!” Hornet pointed Baby Piranha in the portrait.

Piranha stared at his own image as a baby. He did look cute that time. His baby self was carried by a female piranha, who was his mother, smiling at the camera. They were so happy that time. Oh, how he missed her.

Snake then turned his attention to a glass display next to the portrait. “Hey, what’s that?”

Inside the glass case inside the wall was a white water lily flower. It was kept there, protected, and it looked healthy and young.

“That’s our family’s prize possession. This was what my family found when we found our home,” Piranha answered. There was a story involving this flower. It was a life-changing flower for him and his family for years.

“Dinner at sunset!” His father’s voice was heard, making the Bad Guys back away from the portrait.

Piranha was startled and accidentally stepped on his father’s doily, making the candle tip and fall and causing its flames to burn a quarter of the doily.

Piranha quickly took the candle and tried to put the fire out. “No, no, no!” He tried waving the doily and even stepped on it, but it was unfortunate timing when his father came in front of him, and his friends stepped aside.

“Maybe you should leave the decorations to someone else?” Primo Sr. suggested.

“No, I actually made these as a surprise for you.” Piranha showed his father the doily, but it was already burned. “Ooh!” He threw the doily on the ground and stepped on it to stop the fire from spreading.

“Pepe, I know you want to help. But you just came home, and tonight must go perfectly, especially for you,” Primo Sr. explained, “The whole town relies on our family, on our reputation as the good family of piranhas. So, the best way for some of us to help is to step aside. Let the rest of the family do what they do best. Okay?”

Piranha was disheartened that his father didn’t want him to be included to help for the party. He could sense that his father was disappointed in him for leaving, and his return didn’t make him happy at all. But Piranha wanted to put on a brave face and understood without questioning the issue. He wanted to prove himself that he can be as good as the rest of the family, just like his father wanted, “Mm-hmm.”

“Besides, since you bring guests, why don’t you show them to your room? Let them know where you grew up,” Primo Sr. offered this idea, which Piranha slowly nodded in agreement.

Through this scene, the other Bad Guys could sense that Piranha and his father didn’t have a good relationship, probably before he left to join the team. It must’ve been a rough childhood for Piranha when it came to impressing his father. They felt bad for their little muscle. Not everyone respected him in this household.

Suddenly, the railings shook as Primo Sr. and Piranha knew where it came from.

From across the room, Primo Sr. called out to one of his paranoid sons, “Prudencio 12! You’re chittering hard again!”

“I know, Papà, but I’m nervous for this evening! What do you want from me?!” Prudencio 12 shouted in panic as he marched away.

Without hesitating, Piranha led his friends to his bedroom while hiding his distraught face. The rest of the Bad Guys could sense his sadness too. They felt bad for him that he was forced to step aside and be less helpful to his family. All 6 of them could hear the conversation of Primo Sr. and Prima from the stairs.

“Papà, be nice to Pepe, okay?” Prima pleaded, “You know tonight will be hard for him now that he has returned.”

“This is why I’m worried. Your brother came home for the first time in years. I don’t want this celebration to be perfect just for the family or the whole town, but for him too,” Primo Sr. told his daughter about his worries.

The Bad Guys wanted to hear the whole conversation before entering Piranha’s room and shut the door. Now that they were inside, no one would hear them talking about what they had just discovered new about Piranha, and they all put their bags down. It wasn’t what they had expected from him. He was known as the bravest and toughest guy around, but it turned out that he had a hard time connecting with his biological family.

“That… was a little intense, right? Heh,” Shark tried to lighten the mood a little, but it didn’t work.

“Piranha, your family is… good… and perfect,” Wolf observed from Piranha's relatives when they came in.

“Yeah, they were like… not bad, like we are now,” Snake added.

“They weren’t like you,” Tarantula commented, recalling that no one was crazy or a fighter like Piranha.

“At least your father was happy to see you, and your sister and some of your brothers and cousins are, too,” Hornet smiled, trying to cheer his boyfriend up, but Piranha was still sitting sulking on his bed. “Piranha, are you okay?”

“This is exactly why I left, guys,” Piranha responded as his friends were silent for a moment to listen to his reason why he left a perfect family behind. “My family… had this reputation. Since my family found this hidden town, and newcomers arrived and lived here, my father wanted our family to set up a good example for the whole town. He wanted our family to show us piranhas that we’re not harmful or not as bad as the rest of the world described us, so he wanted us to be perfect and proper. To be the good family of piranhas the whole town expected us to be,” he looked out the window and watched a few of his brothers and cousins help the townspeople lift heavy objects and arrange the garden ornaments.

“No wonder no one in this town was afraid of us, or you or your family,” Wolf recalled from earlier.

“Well, each of us serves the community without talents, like my older brother Pedro 1, who is a florist; Cousin Paz 2 222 was like a piranha shield; Prospero 172 was one of the cooks of this family, and Prima has good hearing. Each of us has a part to serve the community, and this is how we showed ourselves as examples of good role models for the town,” Piranha explained.

“But what about you, Piranha? It seems like you don’t have one." Snake pointed out

Wolf gave Snake a hard nudge, not wanting to hurt Piranha after what happened to him and his father. “Shh, Snake!”

“It’s true,” the little fish admitted, “I didn’t serve much, because… this isn’t what I want. Because… I want to be free. I could do what I want, good or bad. And ever since my Mamà was gone, my father pressured me. My father wanted me to be something I don't want to be. He wanted me to be a good model, but it was too much. That was how the chaotic side of me was triggered. I want to fight. I want to be bad. I want to be something my father was against! That is why I left. I want to find my own life. Then I went to California, and I met all of you.”

From Piranha’s story, Hornet realized that his boyfriend almost had a similar dark story with family as his, but a lot different. More like their stories were polar opposites, but it didn’t change the fact that they were both the “black sheep” of their respective families. “Oh, Piranha, I’m sorry you had to go through all that.”

“And I don’t want to come back. I tried to tell you guys.”

“You should’ve told us before,” Shark suggested.

“Yeah, and I regret keeping secrets from you guys,” Hornet reminded.

“I thought my life before wasn’t so important,” Piranha described.

Suddenly, the floorboards raised up and down, which made Piranha smile a little.

The other Bad Guys freaked out when the floor suddenly made the bed jump.

“Okay, I’m gonna say this: What is up with this house?!” Tarantula yelled in panic.

Piranha chuckled, “You guys won’t believe me when I tell you.”

His friends glanced at each other before Snake said, “Okay, then we don’t wanna know.”

Piranha rolled his eyes, confirming he was sarcastic about what he said, but he knew his friends were eager to know, so he confessed, “Fine! I’ll tell you! The flower you guys saw, the flower when my family found this place… well, it’s kinda magic. That flower is our light. Our way of finding our new home is like this town. And it just… made our house like this, this living house, Casamilia, and the magic barrier too, to keep us safe and hidden from the danger of the world. That flower never died down since my family found it, so we kept it protected… to keep this magic alive.”

The five Bad Guys were very speechless. Magic? Exist? In their world? They wanted it to be new and impossible to believe, but hearing from Piranha, it sounded so true and serious.

“Wow, that... incredible,” Hornet complimented, then finishing his sentence, “And totally impossible!”

Piranha clicked his tongue and groaned, “Grr, I knew you guys wouldn’t believe me.”

“No, Piranha, we do! It’s just that… It sounded crazy,” Wolf admitted while trying not to make fun out of it.

“Yeah, knowing you, you don’t look like a magical type,” Tarantula added.

“Well, it’s different when you look at other people,” Piranha stared at the window, looking outside and frowning, “All that flower ever did was bless us and protect us from the outside world when I feel like I belong in the outside world.”

To change the topic, Wolf then questioned, “So, did your family or any of them know what you had been up to while you were gone?”

“No. They don’t. I never stayed in touch with my family since I left. With that, I never told them I became part of a criminal gang. That’s why I never talked to them or visited them ever since,” Piranha answered.

“It explains a lot that nobody knows about us when we arrived,” Snake acknowledged from when they first came to town.

“Well, the good news is no one knows about us,” Tarantula sighed in relief.

But when Hornet hovered backwards, he accidentally bumped into their bags, but Snake and Shark’s bags were left unopened. He could see what was inside each bag, and two of them were filled with papers. Curiously, Hornet opened Shark’s bag and noticed the wanted posters of him and his team. “What the?” Hornet opened Snake’s bag next, and it contained the same waned posters. “Shark, Snake, what is this?”

This caught everyone’s attention as Wolf wanted to look for himself. He took the wanted posters from the bag, and it have his and his team’s pictures on them.

“Where did these come from?” He inquired, showing Snake and Shark the posters.

“Snake and I found these at the bus stop. We took them all so no one would recognize us,” Shark replied.

“And you didn’t throw them in the trash?” Tarantula queried.

“There was no trash bin back there, and the bus arrived when we finished taking them off,” Snake noted.

Piranha hopped off the bed and looked at the posters himself. The posters also have his name and face on them too. “If Papà finds out about this, he’ll be furious, guys! And he depends on our family to have a good reputation for the whole town!”

They all turned to Wolf. As the team leader, he knew what to do. As they waited, Wolf stared at the posters and imagined how Piranha’s family would react if they found out about this. Not only the family but the whole town will be distraught and angered, and their homes will fall and crumble, like a disaster movie.

“We say nothing,” Wolf suggested as he gathered all of the posters, crumpled them, and put some of them in his pockets while lowering his voice into a whisper. “I know your dad wants this welcome home party tonight to be perfect. Until the party is finished, we don’t have these posters. We’re not criminals. We’re not called ‘The Bad Guys.’ We’re just good, perfect role models. No one will know that we're the Bad Guys, and no one will know we're infamous criminals. No one will know. Just act normal. No one has to know.”

Piranha’s door suddenly slowly opened and revealed that Prima was standing in front of the door this whole time and probably heard everything the Bad Guys just said. She made a small squeak, causing the Bad Guys to hear her, and slowly turned around to see her with her eyes widened, and she was frozen in place.

“I know,” Prima whispered and squeaked again before running away.

Now someone else knew about their secret; the Bad Guys knew they screwed up.

“She’s gonna tell everyone,” Piranha said quietly.

“Time to eat!” Primo Sr. called out that it’s dinner time.

“Mierda,” Wolf said in Spanish. 

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At the dining room, the very large dining room, the eating table was wide and large for all 900545 family members and guests to get together and eat together. The Bad Guys sat on one side of the end of the table, where they could keep an eye on Prima, who sat across the table. They had to make sure she won’t tell anyone.

Primo Sr. hosted the party as he announced to the entire family, “We are gathered here tonight to celebrate the return of little Pepe. The prodigal son has finally come home." He was referred to his youngest son. He sounded so calm and gentle, but Piranha tried to hide his grudge as he knew his father wasn’t so happy to have him home. Primo Sr. had to put himself in a ”loving father” mode to protect his family reputation as the good piranha family, “I’m so happy that my youngest son has finally returned to where he truly belongs." He then referred to the rest of the Bad Guys, “And we welcomed his friends, uh…” He hadn’t gotten their names yet.

Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantula, and Hornet never shared each other’s names yet, and they couldn’t reveal their real names yet as they were too ashamed to speak about their real names.

“Um, my name is Oliver Poodleton,” Wolf reused his fake name before introducing the rest of his friends, “And my Snake friend is Greg Scales, the Shark is Craig Seawell, the spider is Charlotte Arachnidia, and the little Hornet is Buzz Stingerson.”

“Whaaat?” Hornet wasn’t satisfied with Wolf’s fake name for him.

“To Pepe and his friends!” Cousin Patricio 11 raised his glass, “Salud!”

“Salud!” The rest of the family cheered.

While the other piranhas were talking to each other, the Bad Guys kept their eyes on Prima, making sure she wouldn’t do anything to tell the others about their secret. Even if they had to scoop their own food onto their plates, they had to have their eyes on her.

Prima was a bit afraid when her brother and his friends had their eyes on her. She also had her eyes stare back at them, but she kept making soft squeaks, feeling nervous to try to keep the secret to herself.

The Bad Guys still had their eyes open for Prima, without even a blink. That was until someone shoved a bowl of avocado in front of them.

“Avocado,” Paquito 4 007 said while serving the avocado to his younger cousin and his friends.

This distracted the Bad Guys as Piranha held the bowl, and they all turned their gaze back at Prima, but she had already turned her gaze away from them and whispered to her Cousin Perfecto 45, who was sitting next to her.

Prima’s news startled Perfecto 45 as he choked on his food and gritted his teeth in shock. Primo Sr. and some of his sons and nephews noticed Perfecto 45’s cough but tried to ignore him as he looked okay from their sight.

His brother Pablo 61, noticed the look on Perfecto 45’s face as he whispered to him, “Perfecto 45. Relax your face.”

Perfecto 45 shook his head to relax his face from cringing. Now Perfecto 45 knew about his youngest cousin’s secret.

The Bad Guys gasped in worry, but someone offered a pitcher of water in front of them.

“Water?” Piranha’s brother, Prospero 1 333, served water to his little brother.

The pitcher blocked the Bad Guys’ sight of Prima and Perfecto 45 as Wolf tried to move the pitcher aside; they saw Perfecto 45 telling the news to his brother.

When Pablo 61, learned about the news, it was a surprise to him as he spat water onto Wolf, which startled everyone.

Realizing he made a fool of himself because of the news about his cousin and his friends, Pablo 61 cleared his throat and tried to act casually.

“Pepe,” Primo Sr. called to his youngest son, “The cream, please.”

The small cup of cream was next to Snake as Piranha requested him, “Greg, the cream.”

Snake chuckled softly and nervously as he kept gritting his teeth while shakily giving the cream to Piranha to pass it on.

Piranha then noticed Pablo 61 passed the secret to his cousin, Prudencio 12, who suddenly chittered while shaking the table as he learned about his little brother being a criminal.

“Prudencio 12, you’re chittering.” Primo Sr. said when he noticed the table was shaking.

“Calm down, calm down, calm down,” Prudencio 12 whispered while trying to calm down.

His eyes were on the shaky table as Piranha failed to notice that his brother told Prospero 172 about this secret, which shocked him as well while staring at him with concern.

Piranha tried to look away from his brother’s gaze while drinking a glass of Chicha de piña.

But then, Hornet hovered towards Piranha and whispered to him, “Piranha, why is the floor cracking?”

“What?” This was new to Piranha, or in this house. There were never cracks in this house in forever. He looked under his chair and noticed the crack started growing. He didn’t know why these cracks grew, but this was unusual. There was no earthquake. The cracks just appeared and grew. Piranha looked closely at the cracks as he put his head under the table.

“Pepe?” Palacido 1 112 called for his little brother as Piranha bumped his head under the table before freeing himself up and rubbed his head, “Everything okay?”

Piranha didn’t know what to answer to his concerned brother until “Craig Seawell” answered for him.

“Everything is great. He was just happy that he’s finally home.”

“Yep, very happy,” Piranha lied but tried to smile for it.

“That’s very good. I do hope you’ll stay here forever.,” Primo Sr. said as he poured some wine in his glass. This shocked Piranha, as this wasn’t part of the idea once he came home. Even the other Bad Guys didn’t want that either. They didn’t want to leave without Piranha. Primo Sr. started to question his son, “So, Pepe, where were you these past few years?”

“Well, I…” Piranha tried to think of something without revealing much about his crime life.

“Do you have a job?” Pedro 1 asked, hoping his brother didn’t have one.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” Cousin Perdido 9 questioned dreamily.

“Are you famous?” Panchito 7 017 inquired.

All three questions were too confidential for Piranha from his family. What would he say to the ones who haven’t found out his secret yet? His job is being a criminal and a vigilante. He didn’t have a girlfriend but a hornet boyfriend? Is he even famous or infamous?

“Well, I am famous for something.” Half of it was a lie.

“Tell us,” Pio 9 231 asked excitedly as the rest of his family were all ears, wanting to hear the whole story.

Piranha couldn’t come up with another lie as he stared at Prima, Perfecto 45, Pablo 61, Prudencio 12, and Prospero 172, hoping they wouldn’t say a word about the truth of his real criminal life.

But his friends cut in to save his rear end.

“Why don’t we tell you for him?” “Charlotte Arachnidia” volunteered,

“Yeah, because we’re… Pepe’s best friends!” “Buzz Stingerson” added, not wanting to reveal he was Piranha’s boyfriend, and he would lie about his life for him.

His family stared at them in confusion if it was necessary for the youngest piranha to let his guests speak for him.

“Yeah, let them tell you!” Piranha chuckled as he got off the seat and watched his friends and biological family talk to each other.

Since this was about saving Piranha’s little butt, they might as well come up with some stories to cover up their crime lives.

“Well, Pepe is a good singer, and he’s good at defending us when we’re helpless…” “Greg Scales” explained that his indication for Piranha’s being a good singer was true, but “defending” was a translation of Piranha’s good side of being the team’s “muscle.”

While his friends distracted his family, Piranha heard a crack growing behind him. Piranha jumped on the crack to cover it with his whole body. This caught everyone's attention as they all looked at Piranha, thinking he was acting weird.

“You’re doing great,” Piranha winked at his friends, complimenting them on making up lies.

The Bad Guys continued with “Craig Seawell” adding the story, “And he also cooks breakfast for us every morning.” It wasn’t a total lie. Piranha did cook breakfast for the team.

But then, Piranha noticed his older twin brothers, Paz 67 and Perez 67, sneaking crumpled paper from Wolf’s pocket without Wolf himself noticing as he was busy distracting Piranha’s family. They were as better pickpockets than he was.

“No, no,” Piranha whispered, trying to stop his brothers, but they were alerted by him as they quickly took all the crumpled papers from Wolf’s pocket and rushed off under the table.

Even if the other Bad Guys’ made-up stories were true, Primo Sr. had doubts about his youngest son, “My Pepe wasn’t all perfect, you know. Did he do something… bad?”

Piranha watched in horror as Paz 67 and Perez 67 uncrumpled the papers, half-revealing the wanted posters right in front of their very eyes.

“Uhh…” the five Bad Guys tried to come up with another lie, but they couldn’t think of anything else.

“No!” Piranha shouted as he jumped under the table to chase his brothers, but the twins ran with the posters under their possession.

The cracks started to grow more at the ceiling, causing leaks with a few amounts of water dropping down, and birds started to fly inside through open windows, flying around chaotically and in fear.

“What is happening?!” Perfecto 886 cried in distress.

Prima couldn’t take it anymore as she screamed out loud, “Pepe is a criminal, and he and his friends are a wanted criminal gang called ‘The Bad Guys,’ and our reputation is ruined!”

Unexpectedly, Piranha caught Paz 67 and Perez 67 on top of the table and pinned them down, causing the twins to release the uncrumpled papers from their little fins and the posters to slowly fall down on the table, revealing Piranha, Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantula, and Hornet’s faces with the word “Wanted” under them, and other posters revealing all 6 of them together as a group with their title “The Bad Guys.” Primo Sr. and the family were shocked by the posters. They stared at the posters in horror as they realized the prodigal son and his guests were infamous wanted criminals. They all turned to the Bad Guys with horrified faces.

The Bad Guys stood up frozen, not knowing how to explain all this.

“It’s not what it looks like,” Wolf grinned sheepishly.

That was until cracks started to grow and spread more across the room; the walls and the floor, starting from behind the Bad Guys. The cracks at the ceiling got bigger, causing more water to come out, and the windows and doors opened, revealing the citizens of the town standing outside with a big “Welcome Home” banner for Piranha.

“¡Bienvenido a casa!” They shouted cheerfully until they noticed something was wrong inside, as it wasn’t a happy party anymore with water dripping down on the family like rain.

Primo Sr. stared at Piranha in shock. He couldn’t believe that his son, his youngest son, was a criminal, and he was friends with other criminals. He couldn’t believe that he ruined the family’s good reputation, and his son’s reputation was so sinister. He ruined his own life. He left home just to live a life of crime.

Piranha and the other Bad Guys were speechless. Their cover was finally blown. They never expected this dinner and meeting the family was a total disaster. 

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The entire house went into chaos as the Piraña family ran around in panic, thinking that their lives were changing. Now that they knew their little Pepe was a criminal, they couldn’t imagine how this would affect the family and the entire town.

“Everyone, please, calm down!” Primo Sr. tried to calm his sons and nephews. Some of them ran out of the doors, thus alerting the town that everything was not okay.

“Papà, please, let me explain!” Piranha tried to reason with his father, but the latter was distracted by keeping the family calm.

“I hate you!” Pedro 1 shouted at his youngest brother while marching away angrily.

“We’re so doomed!” Palacido 1 112 cried.

“What did you do?!” Cousin Pasqual 405 scolded while trying to help his uncle and his brothers and cousins to stop panicking.

“Why are you doing this?!” Piranha’s brother, Primo Jr., added while crying.

“I… don’t… know,” Piranha slowly answered as he looked around and watched his panicking family. He didn’t know why he was doing this anymore.

He was trapped in his thoughts as he failed to feel that Wolf was grabbing his fin. “Piranha, come on,” he dragged the little fish with him when the Bad Guys were rushing upstairs to hide in Piranha’s bedroom to avoid being part of the chaos or being finger-pointing about Piranha’s family.

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Primo Sr. walked outside, where the citizens of Buenafecto showed their concerned faces about what was going on in their households.

“Look, nothing is wrong here. We are good! We are not evil! We are the Piraña Family! We do good for Buenafecto!” Primo Sr. declared before shutting the door, but his voice can still be heard from both inside and out, “Pepe!”

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In Piranhas’ bedroom, Hornet took a peek through the window and watched as a lot of piranhas were arguing, chattering, and panicking with each other about what they should do now.

“Things aren’t looking good out there,” the insect observed and told his friends.

Wolf, Snake, and Shark were packing up everything and putting them in their backpacks if they had enough space for their things.

“We should leave quickly, right now, before they come after you, Piranha,” Shark told Piranha, but the latter was still silent while sitting on his bed and staring at the floor. He was still lost in his mind.

“Maybe we should sneak through the window and find the way out to where we came from,” Snake suggested with the plan.

“Good plan, except someone might see us!” Tarantula shouted, pointing out the obvious backfire of Snake’s plan.

“Piranha, what do you think we should do?” Wolf asked him if Piranha knew about this town, so he might know where to escape without being seen, but the little fish didn’t answer. He was still in the middle of his mindspace, “Piranha?”

Piranha didn’t speak for the past five minutes. His head was in the air, trying to reflect on what he had caused tonight or all his life. He was thinking that if it was worth leaving the family to start a new life in America just to get away from his father and begin a life of crime, but this hurt the family in the process. He didn’t want to hurt his family. He loved his family. But he wasn’t happy for a long time when he lived here, not even since his mother passed away. He couldn’t do anything for himself anymore as long as he was living under his father’s will or this town’s satisfaction.

“All this time, I thought I was meant to live under my family’s shadow…” Piranha paused for a moment. “That I should be good… like them.”

The other Bad Guys thought he felt bad for ruining his life and his family for joining the crime world. They felt bad for him that he had a perfect life, and he ruined it just to be with them.

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Back with Primo Sr., he was busy trying to calm his sons and nephews down while scolding Prima for knowing the truth and not being able to tell right away before the dinner.

“You should have told me the second you heard that Pepe and his friends were criminals,” the elderly piranha bellowed at his daughter. “Think of the family.”

“I was thinking of my brother, Papà,” Prima glared back at her father.

Primo Sr. could hear more chattering as he told another one of his panicky sons, “Pablo 12, calm down!”

“I’m doing my best!” Pablo 12 tried to stop himself from chattering his teeth.

“Yes. He’s trying, Papà,” Paciano 83 said while trying to calm his brother down.

"You’re lucky he didn’t shake the whole house,” Prudencio 12 commented.

“Papà, you’ve always been too hard on Pepe, especially ever since Mamà died,” Prospero 172 pointed out.

Primo Sr. noticed another crack as he told his children, “Look around. We must protect our family, our Buenafecto. We cannot lose our home.”

The door opened when Ria came in to speak with the patriarch, Señor, perdon. People in town are becoming anxious about the town, the magic, and everything that is going on with the family. They want to see you.”

Primo Sr. sighed as it was his duty to ease the whole town. He turned to Prospero 172 and Prima and instructed, “Find your brother. I must have a talk with him when I return,” he said as he headed outside as the door shut behind him.

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Back in Piranha’s room, the five Bad Guys tried to comfort Piranha from his shameful feeling while wanting to snap him out of his reflection so they could leave as soon as possible.

“Piranha, we’re sorry about tonight. We didn’t want you to humiliate us or your crime life with us,” Wolf said.

“Yeah, we tried to impress your family that you were good, but…” Shark admitted with a sigh, “It’s not that easy, just like when you tried to have your life that was against your father’s wishes.”

“Come on, Piranha, bring it in,” Hornet said as he opened his arms to give his boyfriend a hug. The rest of the Bad Guys did the same. Though Snake didn’t have any arms, his tail is still open for Piranha too. But Piranha was still frozen out of realization. He couldn’t speak or move or engage in a hug. “Umm, Piranha, honey,” Hornet called it, waiting for Piranha to hug the team.

But instead of rushing into his friends’ hug, there was something inside of Piranha that he had been dying to release, especially in this house. Something he had always wanted to do his whole life. He never felt free when he was still under the roof before, and he could finally release that feeling that he had been bottling inside.

Piranha: I just made something unexpected Something crazy, something bad “Piranha, uhh, maybe we should...,” Wolf called out, but Piranha continued to sing. Piranha: It's not good or perfect But it's amazing and it's me What else can I do?

Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantula & Hornet: Wait. Bring it in, bring it in Piranha: (What else can I do?)

Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantula & Hornet: Good talk, bring it in, bring it in Let's walk, bring it in, bring it in Free hugs, bring it in, bring it in

Piranha: I show a good reputation to the world. Actúo amable, all the while. I make perfect, polite words So much hides behind my smile What could I do if I just thought what I was feelin' in the moment?

Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantula & Hornet: (Do you know where you're going? Whoa)

Piranha: What could I do if I just knew it didn't need to be good or perfect? I just needed to be? And they'd let me be?

My bad streak runs salvaje y loca! Intense fights

Shark: (Yep)

Piranha: Thrill of crime!

Wolf: (That was fine!)

Piranha: Sin sensación de miedos fills the air as I climb And I push through What else can I do?

The floor of Piranha’s bedroom suddenly rise up with Piranha on top while his friends trieds to catch up with him from below.

Piranha: Can I create a wave of chaos and come anew? Wow, man, my heart is racing; but it's so fun too! I wanna feel the shiver of something new I'm so sick of pretending, I want to be true, don't you?

Hornet: You just seem like your life's been a dream Since the moment you opened your eyes

Piranha: (How far do these roots go down?)

Hornet: All I know is how much you grow

Shark, Tarantula & Hornet: But it's awesome to see how you rise

Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantula, Hornet & Piranha: How far can you/I rise? The Bad Guys: Through the roof, to the skies Let's go

All the way up to the ceiling, the Bad Guys were sent up on top of the roof of the house.

The Bad Guys: My bad streak runs salvaje y loca!

Piranha: Intense fights

Snake: (Go!)

Piranha: Thrill of crime!

Tarantula: (Yeah!)

Piranha: Sin sensación de miedos fills the air as I climb And I push through What else, what else?

The Bad Guys: What can you do when you are deeply, madly, truly in the moment?

Wolf: (Seize the moment, keep goin')

The Bad Guys: What can you do when you know who you wanna be is bad and imperfect?

Piranha: But I'll still be okay

Hornet: Hey, everybody clear the way, woo

The commotion caught the whole town's attention, including Primo Sr., who was trying to reason with the townsfolk. When he looked at the top of the roof of his house, he saw his youngest son singing and dancing with his friends, which made some conclusions about them that disappointed the patriarch.

  Piranha: I'm comin' through with un amor por el lado mala!

Shark: (He's comin' through with that boo-yeah)

Piranha: Making waves

Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantula & Hornet: (Making waves)

Piranha: Changing minds

Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantula & Hornet: You've changed mine

Piranha: The way is clearer 'cause you're here, and well I owe this all to all of you What else can I do?

Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantula & Hornet: (Show 'em what you can do)

As they hugged, they noticed the white waterlily glowed, and the cracks of the walls around it started to disappear.

Piranha: What else can I do?

Wolf, Snake, Shark, Tarantula & Hornet: (There's nothing you can't do)

Piranha: What else can I do?!

As they dove down, they were caught by a giant waterlily around the circular pond, landing them back on the ground safely.

“You guys are bad influences,” Piranha threw one of the small lilies as the Bad Guys laughed joyfully.

“What is going on here?!” Primo Sr. shouted as he entered the house with a mix of confusion and anger on his face.

“Papà, it’s okay! Everything’s okay.” Piranha jumped out of the lily and landed on his feet out of the pond.

The other Bad Guys followed as well, very carefully, when Wolf, Snake, and Shark avoided touching the pond. The rest of the Piraña family heard Primo Sr. yelling as they came out from every

“Mr. Piraña, everything’s gonna be fine,” Hornet spoke.

“What are you talking about? Look at our home! Look at my son,” Primo Sr. pointed at Piranha, who was standing straight and looked down, feeling trapped in a box of shame again.

“Please just… Piranha wasn’t happy,” Tarantula pointed out.

“Of course Pepe isn’t happy. You made him turn into a criminal!” the elderly piranha scolded.

“No, no, no. He didn’t want to be perfect like the rest of you. He wanted to decide for himself. And then we did all this!” Shark exclaimed.

Wolf cut in, “We can fix the cracks too if you could let us…”

“Enough!” Primo Sr. shouted, halting the Bad Guys from rambling. He turned his glare to the leader of the gang, “Mr. Poodleton… Mr. Wolf, or whoever you are. You made my son into a bad guy. You all do! You are all bad influences on my son! If my son hadn’t met you, he wouldn’t leave this family, and he would be a good and perfect example of a piranha for our town! You ruined his life! You ruined his future! You even ruined this family!”

Wolf had nothing else to say to defend himself or his friends. The rest of the gang couldn’t say a word. They wanted to prove themselves to Primo Sr. that it wasn’t their fault, or this wasn’t what he thought of them. It hurt them. His words hurt them more than being seen as criminals. They would try to understand a parent was looking out for their children, but they would never intend to ruin someone else’s life, especially if it would be their friend. They realized they would never be good enough to be part of Piranha’s life if his father never approached them.

“Bad Guys, I think you should leave. Leave now, and never come back,” Primo Sr. ordered strictly at the Bad Guys before passing through them and commanded his son, “Come on, Pepe. Go to your room." But Piranha just stood there, frozen, and his fins clenched. Primo Sr. noticed out of the corner of his eye that his son didn’t move. He turned and demanded, “I said, go to your room, Pepe!”

Piranha turned to face his father with glaring eyes. “You know what, Papà? You don’t have the rights.”

“Excuse me?” Primo Sr. inquired sternly.

“You don’t have the right to say all that to my friends!” Piranha yelled, much to his entire family and friends’ horror. They've never seen anyone stand up to the patriarch like that.

“Do you even listen to yourself?!” the piranha father spoke through his gritted teeth.

“Oh, I am! I am listening! I’m defending my friends from the likes of you!” Piranha shouted.

“Enough, Pepe! Would you rather defend your friends over your own family? You'd rather choose them over us?! You want to be with this big bad Wolf, a sinister Snake, a dangerous Shark, a menacing Tarantula, and a stupid Hornet?!”

“Shut up, Papà! Don’t you dare call Hornet stupid! Don’t ever call that to my boyfriend!”

All of his brothers, cousins, and sister gasped in shock. It wasn’t the fact that their youngest brother/cousin was in a relationship with a guy, but it was his relationship with a bug. A Hornet. A different species. It has never been planned by their father/uncle.

But, out of all of the piranhas in the room, Primo Sr. has the most disappointed reaction. He never planned for his son to be matched with someone outside of his species. His son wasn’t just a criminal, but also a disgrace of his kind. “No! Are you out of your mind?! Do you know what you put yourself into?!”

“I know where I am now, Papà! This is my decision! This is me! This is what I want to be! It was never my friend’s fault. I wanted to take this path for my life! I would feel bad if I hurt you, but we both know I didn't do that. I tried for so many years to make it comfortable for all of us to have this family, but it was never enough. The only reason I have sacrificed my own likings and happiness from your pressure and expectations for all of us to be good and perfect is for this family to be happy and complete and to satisfy you like everyone else did for you and the whole town,” Piranha blinked and panted, finally unleashing all his anger onto his father that he had kept holding for a long time. “I can’t do this anymore! I want out! Now!”

“What do you mean, out?”

“I mean out! Out of this place, out of your roof! I’m leaving this family FOR GOOD!”

“HOW DARE YOU!“ Primo Sr. marched forwards as Piranha shrank backwards, looking slightly frightened of him. “What do you think the rest of the Buenafecto will think?” He lifted his fin and didn’t hesitate to hit his son, “And Pepa—!”

Piranha caught his father’s fin, stopping him before he could hit his face and cutting him off, “Leave Mamà out of this! And I’m already 26, so I’m old enough to make my own life and my own decisions myself. So, it’s over! I’m done!”

This was the first time ever that Primo Sr. had his fin stopped from hitting his own children and nephews.

Both father and son stared intensely before the father pulled his fin away from his son in a silent rage. “Fine! I don’t want any criminal to stay in my house. You’re a disgrace, Pepe. A disgrace to our family, our town, and our species. You have fallen from what little dignity you had, and I know you'll pay for it.”

When Primo Sr. walked away, Piranha got a chance to glance at his brothers, cousins, and sister, who silently watched the entire scene. He could sense they were disappointed in him for bringing disgrace to their family and ruining their reputation in the town.

It was true.

His family wanted nothing to do with him anymore. It was his fault he chose this life, and they didn’t want to be part of it. They all left the area, turning their heads away from him, showing their disapproval for Piranha behavior and life decisions.

All that was left was his sister. Piranha hoped Prima would understand him. The two have always been inseparable, but this was the first Prima hesitated to defend him. She was as disappointed as the rest of the family. She still loved her brother, but she didn’t want to be part of her brother’s criminal life. She sadly hung her head down and walked away.

That was it. Feeling hopeless, Piranha accepted his family didn’t love him anymore because of his choice. There was nothing for him left in this house anymore.

The Bad Guys approached Piranha closely to check if he was okay. Piranha turned to his friends, and he had no response to their comfort, but he appreciated their gesture.

On their way across town, the Bad Guys were heading back to where they came in. Along the way, the townsfolk started to glare at them and spread gossips about them silently. When the Bad Guys got here, the people didn’t know about them and were happy to welcome guests, but now, they were angry at them and finally knew that they were the Bad Guys. They were no longer welcome in this town anymore. Instead of hearing screams or being thrown by garbage and rotten food, it was more hurtful to watch other people talking about them so cruelly and harshly.

The Bad Guys made it to the entrance, or exit. When they passed through the invisible barrier, Piranha gave one last look at his hometown. No one gave him a smile or a goodbye this time. Everyone hated him now. He accepted this fate as he stepped out of the barrier.

He was back in the Amazon forest with his friends. There was no turning back now since he was disowned by his family, and he was self-exiled. It was his choice to leave, and he had no regrets for this. He had no regrets for defending his friends and joined them out of town. This was the life he wanted now.

Hornet could help but felt sorry for Piranha. He didn’t want him to defend him and the team from his father. It was the bravest thing Piranha ever did for them. He hovered down to his boyfriend’s face to look at him. “Piranha, are you okay?”

Deep down, he wasn’t okay. He just got disowned. But he still has no regrets about choosing his friends over his biological family. His friends are his family now too, and he would do whatever it takes to defend his family. “Yeah, I’m good.”

It was an intense trip. Wolf sighed as he declared to his team, “Come on. Let’s get back to the jet, even if it means we’ll be walking back.”

As the team agreed and followed Wolf’s lead, Piranha was done sulking. He stood up and decided to walk with them. The Bad Guys are his home now. He would stay closer to them, wherever they go.

“Too bad we never get to see Piranha’s girlfriend,” Shark mentioned.

Piranha instantly punched him on the side, causing Shark to stumble into the bushes.

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Back in Buenafecto, the town remained the same, untouched and calm, but the Casa Piraña still had cracks all over. There weren’t any more cracks formed or disappeared either. Just the cracks that were already formed. Casamilia remained normal but silent. The glowing white waterlily was still safe… but began to lose its glow.

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Cast:

Anthony Ramos - Mr. Piranha, Paciano 83, Panchito 7, 017

Sam Rockwell - Mr. Wolf

Marc Maron - Mr. Snake

Craig Robinson - Mr. Shark

Awkwafina - Ms. Tarantula

Rhenzy Feliz - Mr. Hornet

Adassa – Prima

Mauro Castillo – Primo Sr.

John Leguizamo - Paz 67, Perez 67

Pedro Pascal - Paz 2 222

Cheech Marin - Pablo 61, Pablo 12

Harvey Gullian - Palacido 1112, Palomo 480, Paquito 4007

Diego Luna - Pasqual 731, Pasqual 405

Andre Cisneros - Patricio 11

Freddie Prinze Jr. - Perdido 9, Perico 1089

George Lopez - Perfecto 45, Perfecto 886

Rico Rodriguez - Prospero 172

Danny Trejo - Prudencio 12

Melissa Villaseñor - Ria

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Author aggimaginary

Co-Author MasterClass60 TU4QU0I53T4IAN6L3

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Next on The Bad Guys: The Baddest Trip...

Hornet: I always wondered what it was like to be in the origin of my species. I was called an “Asian Giant Hornet," but another term for that was a "Japanese Hornet." But I don’t feel Japanese.

Snake: It’s because you’ve never been to Japan.

Shark: Why don’t we go there?

Hornet: But you promised me we'd do something Japanese.

Piranha: Mi amor, I know you wanna see Japan... but we're down to our last million yen.

Shark: It's a crane. The Japanese believe they bring good luck.

Hornet: Oh, it's beautiful, Shark.

This chapter might be one of the longest chapters I’ve ever written in season 2 due to many, MANY references and a song inserted.

This chapter was mostly referenced by Encanto. I loved this movie since it came out in 2021. Its story made me come up with an idea for Piranha. It wasn’t my intention to make this concept of Piranha’s origin story to be magical, but I had to incorporate some elements from Encanto to make this story accurate and enjoyable. The only difference was that none of the characters in this chapter had magical powers, but only talents and skills, in contrast to the Madrigal Family. So far, Casamilia, the Piraña household, the invisible barrier, and the glowing water lily were the only elements that were magical. The water lily flower of the Piraña family was equivalent to the Madrigal Family’s candle.

Casamilia was based on Casita. Like the latter, Casamilia’s name came from the word “Casa,” which means home or house in Spanish, and was combined with the word “familia,” which means family.

The invisible barrier around Buenafecto was based on the barrier from The Smurfs (2011), protecting the whole town from the outside world.

The Buenafecto town got its name from the words “Buena,” which means good, and “Perfecto,” which means perfect, which both described Piranha’s family.

Speaking of that, Piranha’s family was named “The Piraña Family, which “piraña” means piranha in Spanish. Most of Piranha’s brothers and cousins shared the same names, and adding numerical numbers next to their names will tell the difference between relatives. Since there were 900,542 brothers and cousins, there were a lot of them who shared the same name. Primo Sr.’s name meant “first,” as he was the patriarch of the family. Prima and Piranha (Pepe) were the only ones to have unique names. Prima was named after her father, and it was short for “Primrosa,” which means “first rose,” as she was the first and only daughter. Besides his real name being based in the books, Piranha was named after his late mother, Pepa. Sometimes, their names gave meaning to their personalities. They also shared each other’s talents and skills, but in different ways.

I got a few elements from The Bad Guys Book 10 where Piranha’s family appeared, and they appeared as bad as him. In this adaptation, it was quite the opposite. Piranha’s family tried to maintain a good and perfect reputation in their town to avoid being judged by stereotypes of their species. And like in Book 10, Piranha’s real name was revealed. I don’t know if his real name will be kept for the animated movies and (possible) series either, so, for now, I decided to use his real name in the book. So far, Piranha is the only one of the Bad Guys with his real name revealed while the rest still remain confidential. He was also the youngest of all in his family, like his book counterpart. I also added a sister for him since it was never revealed Piranha had female relatives. His mother never appeared or was mentioned in the books, but his mother appeared in pictures and was mentioned a few times and revealed to have passed away years ago. Since then, only Casamilia and Prima stood out as Piranha’s mother figures.

Some of the Piraña family members were also based on the Madrigal Family members in Encanto: Pedro 1 shared the same characteristics as Isabela Madrigal for being the golden child, a florist, and a bully to his youngest sibling. Most of the panicky Piraña family members, notably the ones with the names “Pablo” and “Prudencio,” had the same characteristics as Pepa Madrigal. Prima was based on Dolores Madrigal, who had sharp hearing and couldn’t keep secrets. They also shared the same squeak.

The scenes about Shark mentioning if Piranha had a girlfriend were references to Amphibia: Quarreler's Pass.

Piranha and Primo Sr.'s argument was referenced in Helluva Boss: The Circus.

The song in this chapter, “What Else Can I Do?” was a parody of the original song with the same name from Encanto, with some lyrics changing.

Spanish translation: Hermano – brother Hermana – sister Chico – boy/kid De nada – You’re welcome Mierda – (You don’t wanna know) ¡Bienvenido a casa! – Welcome home Actúo amable – I act nice salvaje y loca - wild and crazy Sin sensación de miedos -  Without feeling of fear Un amor por el lado mala - a love on the bad side

Special thanks to Masterclass60 for helping me with this chapter, and thanks to an acquaintance, TU4QU0I53T4IAN6L3, for helping me too with names

Well, I'm glad you guys enjoyed this chapter so far. I hope you do. Tune in for more chapters soon!

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[5-7-9]

This panel is pretty funny 😂 just because of how wish fulfillment it is

Like, you wish this happened, huh?

I don’t like it when stories use their citizens as some kind of monolith hive mind, they just suddenly get inspired to do good or bad for no reason or the reason is too superficial. It bugs me, what can i say? 🤷

Interesting part to note is how they treated people taking up Joker's masks though.

Joker’s mask seems to be what gives these hooligans the freedom to cause mayhem. I’ve already said it before, but this comic treats Joker’s smile as insincere, something to hide, fake. As if being allowed to a secretive identity removes guilt over responsibility. Like when internet trolls can’t be tied to their face. This is expanded on through Alex Kayes the best. Although I don’t like her character’s existence, she highlights the part of Joker’s legacy that was perhaps misguidedly applied to Joker. Social media and public outcry.

Remember Logan Paul’s infamous apology video? James Charles? Etc. social media people? The comic even got the YouTube logo on it.

Red Flag is having a political podcast 🚩😙 sorry~ but if you’re anything like Andrew Tate, the alt-right pipeline is one you don’t want to stay in. Don’t believe everything you hear.

“It’s about sending a message” …was it hate speech? Jkjk. But this is exactly what Heath Ledger’s Joker’s mission in The Dark Knight Rises movie by Chris Nolan was like.

He was also described by Alfred as “Someone people just want to watch the world burn” with absolutely no reason to be evil, he just is evil 🙃 So there is some similarity to Punchline to this movie’s Joker.

Social media and the constant criticisms done by people reacting and adding their own stuff like idk tiktok i guess? Oh right, the comic said it, yeah. Idk any tiktok challenges like this one, so no video example 🤷

Joker War was also mentioned in other comics. I think it’s interesting how Bao Pham’s origins with Joker and Harley was, and his eventual rise to being Joker Hunter and protecting his city. Then i think he left eventually (idk). Huh.

More Punchline, this time from oftentimes copaganda and all times police commissioner Jim Gordon! More teenagers that support Punchline being bullies, what else is new. I totally forgot what I wanted to say, so I’ll just skip to the end of what I really wanted to comment on. Y’know I only recently learned about this so that’s why I’m talking about it but I think it was really awesome that Joker 2019 traveled all the way around the world because people were using his face masks in activism. That’s the positive side of having a brand, DC comics can go across countries and be recognizable. The more recognizable you are, the more people hear you. That’s what happened in the case with the Joker from the protests in Lebonon, Chile, Hong Kong, Bolivia, Colombia, Spain, Catalonia, and Ecuador (there may have been more but idk). (Warning! Talks of death and possible SA in this video!)

(I’d like to take a special time to acknowledge the Iraq Joker (mustafa makki kareem) since I found a rather in-depth interview video of his efforts). (This was 4 years ago, so I’m afraid the political landscape of Iraq has taken a turn… I hope he’s okay).

An interview with some Hong Kong protestors that wear masks to protect their identity. Interestingly enough, this video calls the mask similar to Batman :)

Also they mention reasons for hiding their identity, and methods!

There’s a few clips of Bolivia’s Joker too

Some faces of Lebonon Jokers (this video is edited with TDK Bane’s message but the original video isn’t allowed in my country?)

More edits of Chile Lebonon and Hong Kong (again, original video linked in description but unavailable to me)

In fact, that’s what happened to the Joker 2019 movie. Nowhere in the comics had Joker been depicted as he was in that movie, a victim of an oppressive system. That movie essentially took back a villain and made him this icon. That was the first time ever after Joker’s further evilization after “The Dark Knight Rises” and “Death In The Family” and “The Killing Joke” made Joker one of the evilest Batman characters (considering the ever so slightly sympathetic side to the rest of the rouges). Not to go off on it, but I think it really was a good thing for Joker. I think his criminalization crossed a line at some point, so in a way, this makes up for it.

Of course, even with all of this, it’d be unfair of me to not mention all the bad that did come from Joker. I will not discount that. And no- the 2012 Aurora shooter James Holms had orange dyed hair and is NOT inspired by Joker, he didn’t even know the movie was going on, fyi. • The Florida man Lawrence Sullivan who was arrested in 2017 for allegedly pointing a firearm at an officer. (I reached my 10 video limit 😭). • The recreation of Joker 2019 bus killing scene with suicidal 24-year-old Kyota Hattori in Tokyo train. • The “Gypsy Crusader” or Paul Nicholas Miller was a popular troll that liked to cosplay as Joker in the 2019 movie and comics Riddler while making jokes (i think he did offensive humor?) of the “radical” alt-right stance. (Ironically, the racists didn’t want a Roma descent racist on their side 💀). He was arrested for possession of an unregistered rifle and a lot of ammunition. He also lived in New Jersey…

• 2014 Jerad Miller from Las Vadas Nevada shot two police officers and one bystander dressed as the Joker with an accomplice. Essentially doing a murder-suicide when they then shot themselves. He posted videos to Youtube of his messages. (I think there was some mental illness going on? But idk) (there is also mentions of political stuff like angry at drug laws and the corrupted government and a swatsika?) (yeah idk, it was confusing).

Yes, the criminal turned devil turned sympathetic villain leads to multiple interpretations of Joker, who would’ve guessed? (sarcasm). Even London and Clermont mocked their presidents with the clown face. It’s not entirely black and white 🤷

Still, despite all the flaws in Joker 2019’s movie, all the good that came out of it… I feel as though it outweighed the bad. So, it’s not easy to hate it. Shout out to this video analysis essay that made me critically think about the Batman movies!

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from The Revelator:

Last summer I took advantage of my break from teaching by enjoying long, daily walks around my neighborhood. I indulged my mind and body in the blueness, stillness, and leafiness that is North Carolina in June and July. It’s truly astounding how many leaves a willow oak can cram into one tiny piece of sky.

On my walks, the yard of one house stuck out. It was unlike any yard I’ve seen around my city or in any of the other cities in the United States, Canada, and Australia where I’ve lived. It is a forest yard. Nearly a dozen large trees are interspersed amid a dense stand of saplings and shrubs. That summer, leaf litter covered the ground. The top of the house was only visible if I craned my neck to see down the paved driveway, itself narrowing and crumbling as roots, lichens, and fungi worked their inexorable magic.

Depending on your perspective, the house with the forest yard could be seen either as an eyesore — and the scariest place to trick-or-treat — or, as in my case, the most splendid place imaginable.

At this point, I should probably mention that I’m an urban ecologist and that the forest yard makes my heart flutter at the possibility and hope of nature in cities.

I looked at aerial images for the area, and they revealed that the trees around that home, which haven’t been actively “managed,” are about 50 years old. Over that time the forest yard has accumulated a bewildering array of species and ecological interactions. Its tulip poplars, walnuts, cedars, redbuds, pines, and willow oaks have soaked up the atmosphere’s carbon dioxide and turned it into much-needed habitat for wildlife: butterflies, bees, and other insects; lizards, snakes, and turtles; frogs and toads; birds; and mammals. It’s home to a multitude of soil invertebrates and fungi that keep the business side of an ecosystem — aka decomposition — going. All the species that share this shady third-of-an-acre lot are intertwined in a complex tangle of relationships that keeps them fed and feeding on one another, interdependent to varying degrees for their life and livelihood.

And all of this exists amidst a matrix of roads, single-family and multiplex housing, commercial plazas, light industry, and high rises that make up a medium-sized city in the Southeast. The forest yard is a little island of nature in a nearly lifeless sea of concrete, asphalt and lawn.

But, to my inexhaustible surprise, that sea of concrete, asphalt, and lawn is not as empty as we tend to assume. Very far from it. Places of dense human habitation are also where many species reside, including some that are threatened. A recent analysis of the birds and plants that occur in 147 cities across the globe revealed that the sampled cities were home to 2,041 bird species — about one-fifth of Earth’s total avian diversity — and 14,240 plant species. These include 36 bird and 65 plant species threatened with global extinction.

To get a better idea of just how much of the urban biodiversity iceberg lies below the surface of our awareness, consider this: Last year participants in the City Nature Challenge made nearly 1.9 million observations in 480 cities, with the residents of the La Paz metropolitan area in Bolivia recording the high score of 5,320 species.

Add to this the estimate that we share our homes and yards with an average of 9,000 species of fungi and bacteria and you’ll begin to suspect, as I do, that cities are in fact incredibly biodiverse. And it’s not just the all-too-rare forest yard: Scientific evidence shows that the more people you find in a place, the more types of birds, mammals, and plants you’ll find there too.

So why don’t we see it that way? Why do we perceive our urban centers as unworthy and undeserving of our conservation efforts and attention?

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

South America Is Drying Up

A new study shows that dry, warm, and flammable conditions have skyrocketed across the continent, favoring the spread of uncontrolled fire.

In August and September, huge portions of South America were shrouded in intense smoke from wildfires raging in the Amazon and other parts of Brazil and Bolivia. The Brazilian Pantanal—the world’s largest tropical wetland—had an almost eightfold increase in wildfires this year compared to 2023. From Manaus to São Paulo and Buenos Aires, the smoke, visible from space, blurred sunlight for weeks and posed a threat to the health of millions.

The occurrence raised alarms, but some experts warn that in the future, it might not be such an extraordinary episode. Nor was it an isolated incident over the past few years.

South America, according to a new study published in Communications Earth and Environment, is becoming drier, warmer, and more flammable. These conditions favor not only natural wildfires but also the uncontrolled spread of human-caused fire.

Even though general warming trends extend across the continent, some zones are enduring a steeper temperature rise than others. And this rise comes with more droughts and higher fire risk.

Continue reading.

[dailyanarchistposts]

Introduction

Authoritarianism is on the rise as a key talking point when it comes to finding solutions to the ecological crisis. The same attributes that predominate technological society – apathy, fear, cognitive overload and feeling a lack of agency[1] – are more and more reflected in the mainstream environmental movement, leading us to believe in new leaders, figureheads and ideas, such as green growth.[2] More on this later.

Lately, I have come across multiple texts by Andreas Malm, author and associate senior lecturer at Lund University, who is one such authoritarian calling for an “Ecological Leninism”.

In his recent interview with Verso books[3] he was asked:

How do you explain the gap between the relative dynamism of ecological Marxist theories – in Anglo-Saxon countries in particular – and the weakness of the political intervention of Marxists in these movements?

Malm answers:

Ecological Marxism has a tendency to cripple itself by staying inside academia. It needs to engage with and reach out to the actual movements in the field. Anarchist ideas should be combated; they will take us nowhere. I think it’s time to start experimenting with things like ecological Leninism or Luxemburgism or Blanquism. But the weakness of Marxism in ecological politics is of course inextricable from its nearly universal weakness at this moment in time (i.e., one symptom of the crisis of humanity, alongside acidification of the oceans and everything else).

Malm represents a Nordic example of eco-modernist [R.F. – see ‘The Decoupling Thesis’] authoritarian thought. Establishing a false dichotomy (e.g. centralized vs decentralized) between anarchistic approaches to change making, Malm meanwhile fails to reflect on the impacts of authoritarian systems in any honest way. This combines with a detached and warped perception of the environmental movement’s recent history.

In How to Blow Up a Pipeline, Malm advocates, but also shits on direct action. Clearly detached from ecological struggles, referring to anarchists attacks as not big enough, he draws on the work of Micheal Loadenthal who documented “27,100 actions between 1973 and 2010,” in an attempt to discredit decentralized action.[4]

“All those thousands of monkeywrenching actions achieved little if anything,” explains Malm, “and had no lasting gains to show for them. They were not performed in a dynamic relation to a mass movement, but largely in a void.”

Ignoring the actions of the remaining Leftist governments (Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, etc.), it is clear Malm has no idea what these actions advocate, let alone the continuation and intensification of eco-anarchist attacks in Europe and the rest of the world between 2010–2016 (see Return Fire magazine, 325, Act for Freedom Now, Avalanche etc.). More still, many of these actions, especially Earth Liberation Front (ELF) actions, were supported by local struggles.[5]

He conveniently forgets all the direct actions and sabotage in direct connection to popular movements that helped save wetlands and stop motorways across the UK [R.F. – see Return Fire vol.4 pg89], or the vital role decentralized direct action and sabotage play in the highly effective struggle of the Mapuche people to recover their territory [R.F. – see Return Fire vol.3 pg59], to name just two examples – and there are countless.

And because environmental justice and social justice go hand in hand, we shouldn’t forget the vital role that arson attacks and other major decentralized sabotage actions had in the divestment campaign against the apartheid government of South Africa in the 1980s, or the change in public attitudes towards the racist police in the United States accomplished by direct and decentralized attacks across that country [R.F. – see The Siege of the Third Precinct in Minneapolis].

Popular rejection of the police is now so strong, many cities face a shortage of recruits for their police forces, even as local governments fight to expand funding. This example shows the relative merits of the decentralized, grassroots action that Malm derides, versus the government action pushed by leftwing parties. It is also worth noting that Malm is decidedly uninterested in and uninformed regarding antiracist struggles, while also using racist tropes and promoting the technocratic, institutional framework of colonialism in his writings.

Malm’s limited view is not just a defect of his own thinking. The tendency of technocrats to reduce the interrelated problems of widespread ecological devastation, borders and migration, global hunger and lack of food sovereignty caused by the so-called Green Revolution, is a huge problem.

It opens the door to eco-fascism, and gives the fascists and other racists a seat at the table. If we only think about climate, as though it were distinct from all the other entangled social and ecological problems, then we are forced to focus narrowly on bringing down Co2 within the existing institutional framework of states, NGOs, and corporations. This means that ultimately, each state (as the chief administrative unit) is responsible for bringing down its own emissions.

This leads to an entire accounting game of pushing off emissions responsibility onto poorer countries, closing borders, blaming immigrants, promoting socially and ecologically destructive technologies (e.g. ‘smart’ cities [R.F. – see Return Fire vol.3 pg31], low-carbon infrastructures, idiotic conservation schemes). From Austria to the UK, Green Parties and mainstream environmental movements have already been making alliances of convenience with far right parties and organizations. Now, Malm is trying to put Leninism back on the table, mirroring the resurgence of classical fascist groups and authoritarian governments.

Malm unapologetically remains politically naïve to the realities of repression and state violence endured by people engaging in non-violent sabotage and vandalism actions. In a review by Gabriel Kuhn, an Austrian political author based in Sweden, he calls Malm’s ignorance of struggles and movements “offensive,” pointing out how he ignores “The Green Scare” [R.F. – see Return Fire vol.4 pg82] and how, despite minimizing decentralized action, the ELF and eco-anarchist actions were labeled by the FBI as the “number one domestic terrorist threat.”[6]

People are fighting, dying [R.F. – see Return Fire vol.5 pg56], and serving extended sentences in prison (9–22 years, see June11.org or any Anarchist Black Cross), which Malm flagrantly disrespects for his pseudo-academic circus and attempted revival of Leninism. More importantly, however, many fighters are getting away with these actions inflicting economic costs and real delays. Right now, supposedly ecologically militant people like Malm, should be working to socially normalize committed non-violent (but not pacifist) struggles and spread it to this new generations of “climate youth” continues who are eager to make a difference. Yet Malm instead vomits political ignorance, authoritarian romantics, flagrant disrespect and concerted hostility to the people engaged in this fight.

Malm does not have to be a self-absorbed academic unaccountable to reality. All of us, instead, can think like outlaws, like feral cats, and organize with our friends to destroy what destroys us. While I am unsure if their actions were “performed in a dynamic relation to a mass movement” (whatever that means), most participants were entrenched in various “activist” or non-activist communities (for better and worse).[7] There is a relatively small, but viral movement – everywhere – already in place risking life and limb to confront mines, pipelines, energy infrastructure and the authoritarian systems that maintain them.

Malm’s analysis widely ignores how environmental struggles have so far required all kinds of actors, from saboteurs to lawyers, journalists and lawmakers: There is no either/or. Rather than making a career out of bashing them and for a perverse authoritarian leftist agenda, Malm should be part of organizing prisoner support for eco-warriors, curating information nights on struggles, securing lawyers, influencing public policy to eliminate terrorism enhancement charges and so on. There is so much people can do in general, but also established academics. Why not support Indigenous land defense, eco-anarchist attack and actually begin organizing against the sources of ecological degradation, instead of promoting some hair brained Leninist scheme? The Trotskyites at Verso should also take a good look into the mirror and reconsider their political values, but more so it seems unwise to publish and give a platform to uneducated and poorly researched work like this. Where is the pushback?

[newstfionline]

Wednesday, December 18, 2024

Canada promised Trump a border crackdown. Easier said than done. (Reuters) Six Lego-like concrete blocks mark the end of a rural road at the U.S.-Canada border. The police vehicle, revving through blowing snow, crunches to a stop. The barriers, installed last August in a joint venture with President Joe Biden’s administration, stop vehicles bearing migrants from barreling across the border into the United States. But they do not stop migrants crossing on foot. “People can still hop over them,” said Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Sergeant Daniel Dubois. Canadian police say they have installed more cameras and sensors over this section of the border over the last four years. But Canadian law enforcement officials acknowledge they are limited in what they can do to stop southbound migrants. “Even if we were everywhere, we couldn’t stop it,” said Charles Poirier, an RCMP spokesperson in Quebec. Securing the world’s longest land border—about 4,000 miles (6,400 km) across forests, fields, ditches and lakes—is a gargantuan task. And police cannot arrest migrants who are in Canada legally, even if they suspect they intend to cross, Poirier said.

Americans’ trust in nation’s court system hits record low, survey finds (AP) At a time of heightened political division, Americans’ confidence in their country’s judicial system and courts dropped to a record low of 35% this year, according to a new Gallup poll. The United States saw a sharp drop of 24 percentage points over the last four years, setting the country apart from other wealthy nations where most people on average still express trust in their systems. It’s become normal for people who disapprove of the country’s leadership to also lose at least some confidence in the court system. Still, the 17-point drop recorded among that group under Biden was precipitous, and the cases filed against Trump were likely factors, Gallup said.

Weeks of Upheaval Have Paralyzed Bolivia (NYT) Demonstrations have rocked Bolivia for more than two months. A longstanding political rivalry has boiled over, with supporters of the president and his chief opponent clashing in the streets. Protests have blocked the movement of goods, exacerbating fuel shortages. Some Bolivians lined up for days to buy gas. The upheaval is part of a broad level of unrest across the Andean region of Latin America. Ecuador, Peru and Colombia—Bolivia’s neighbors to the west and north—are all facing significant levels of political turmoil, causing intense anger among their populations. Behind the discontent in Bolivia is a rupture within the Movement for Socialism, or MAS, a leftist party that has dominated the country’s political landscape for two decades. Bolivia’s president, Luis Arce, and his onetime mentor, former president Evo Morales, are fighting over the party’s leadership—and both insist that they will be the party’s candidate in next year’s presidential elections.

The Housing Affordability Crisis Is Going Global (WSJ) When Mikey Cullen’s parents were in their early 20s, they earned enough as public-sector workers to buy a house in Dublin. Today, Cullen is a 27-year-old high-school teacher who lives with his mother. Cullen had been sharing a house with nine roommates, but he moved back home when he realized he couldn’t afford his own place even in the cheaper parts of Dublin. Renting a one-bedroom apartment, he said, would consume most of his paycheck, and buying something was out of the question because the median home price is eight times his annual salary. Many Irish of his generation are in a similar bind. Fifty-nine percent of Irish adults ages 20 to 34 were living with their parents in 2022, up from 38% a decade earlier. The housing affordability crisis that has frustrated young Americans for a decade has now taken hold in many big cities in Europe and beyond. The common threads: robust job growth, rising demand and not enough new development, causing rents and sales prices rising faster than wages. The resulting housing crunches are eroding living standards for poor and middle-class workers, intensifying wealth inequality and stoking political tensions.

Sweden’s Epidemic of Gang Violence (NYT) We used to believe in Sweden that the rights and well-being of children should always come first. But over the past two decades, a surge in gang violence has shaken that commitment. In 2023, 363 shootings took the lives of 53 people; this year, over 100 bombings stemming from gang violence had already been recorded by November. Our country now has one of the highest per capita rates of gun violence in the European Union. One key factor in the phenomenon: Gangs are grooming and recruiting children as young as 11, the police say, as contract killers.

Germany’s Government Collapses (1440) Germany’s government collapsed yesterday after Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a vote of confidence. A caretaker government is now steering Europe’s largest economy, with snap elections planned for Feb. 23. Scholz called the unusual vote last month after firing his finance minister over differences on tax and debt policy, triggering his coalition’s collapse. Some analysts suggest the vote played out as intended, spurring early elections Scholz hopes will deliver his center-left Social Democratic Party an outright majority. The collapse of Germany’s government is the latest in a string of political upheavals this year; incumbent parties suffered losses or setbacks in at least a dozen countries. The economy is regularly cited as a leading concern for voters, with inflation up across the globe.

Ukraine kills top Russian general in Moscow it accuses of chemical weapons crimes (Reuters) A top Russian general accused by Ukraine of being responsible for the use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops was assassinated in Moscow by Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service on Tuesday morning in the most high-profile killing of its kind. Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who was chief of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, was killed outside an apartment building along with his assistant when a bomb hidden in an electric scooter went off. An SBU source confirmed to Reuters that the Ukrainian intelligence agency had been behind the hit. Kirillov, 54, is the most senior Russian military officer to be assassinated inside Russia by Ukraine and his murder is likely to prompt the Russian authorities to review security protocols for the army’s top brass and to find a way to avenge his killing.

Myanmar’s War Has Forced Doctors and Nurses Into Prostitution (NYT) After seven years of medical school in Myanmar, May finally achieved her goal of becoming a doctor. But a month after she graduated and found a job, her dreams started unraveling. In February 2021, Myanmar’s military seized power in a coup, and the country’s economy, already hammered by the pandemic, started to buckle. Prices soared and May’s paycheck, the equivalent of $415 a month, evaporated even faster. With her father suffering from kidney disease, she grew more and more desperate. Then she met “date girls,” who were making twice as much as her. The money was enticing—even if it involved sex with men. “It’s difficult to accept that, despite all my years of study to become a doctor, I’m now doing this kind of work just to make ends meet,” said May, 26, who has been working as a prostitute for over a year in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city. The coup and ensuing civil war have ravaged Myanmar’s economy. Inflation soared to 26 percent this year as power shortages crippled factories, unseasonal rain flooded farms and fighting in areas near China and Thailand decimated cross-border trade. The currency, the kyat, has lost two-fifths of its value against the dollar this year. Nearly half of Myanmar’s people now live in poverty, according to the World Bank.

China is losing interest in English (Economist) For much of the 40 years since China began opening up to the world, “English fever” was a common catchphrase. People were eager to learn foreign languages, English most of all. Many hoped the skill would lead to jobs with international firms. Others wanted to do business with foreign companies. Some dreamed of moving abroad. But enthusiasm for learning English has waned in recent years. According to one ranking, by EF Education First, an international language-training firm, China ranks 91st among 116 countries and regions in terms of English proficiency. Just four years ago it ranked 38th out of 100. Over that time its rating has slipped from “moderate” to “low” proficiency. Some in China question the accuracy of the EF index. But others note that this apparent trend is happening when China is also growing more insular. During the covid-19 pandemic, for example, China shut its borders. Officials and businessmen, let alone ordinary citizens, made few trips abroad. Long after the rest of the world began opening up, China remained closed. At the same time, China’s relations with the world’s biggest English-speaking countries soured. Trade wars and diplomatic tiffs strained its ties with America, Australia, Britain and Canada. The mood is such that legislators and school administrators have tried to limit the amount of time devoted to the study of English, and many students consider English less important than it used to be and are less interested in learning it.

Magnitude 7.3 earthquake causes widespread damage in Pacific island nation of Vanuatu (AP) A powerful magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck just off the coast of Vanuatu on Tuesday, causing widespread destruction in the South Pacific island nation as the injured began arriving at a hospital and unconfirmed reports of casualties emerged. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 57 kilometers (35 miles) and was centered 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of Port Vila, the largest city in Vanuatu, a group of 80 islands that is home to about 330,000 people. The jolt was followed by a magnitude 5.5 aftershock near the same location and the shudders continued throughout the afternoon and evening local time.

EU seeks assurances from Syria’s new leaders in exchange for dropping sanctions (AP) European Union nations on Monday set out conditions for lifting sanctions on Syria and kick-starting aid to the conflict-ravaged country amid uncertainty about its new leaders’ intentions just over a week after they seized power. At a meeting in Brussels, the EU’s top diplomats said they want guarantees from members of Syria’s interim government that they are preparing for a peaceful political future involving all minority groups, one in which extremism and former allies Russia and Iran have no place. Since Damascus fell on Dec. 8 and leader Bashar Assad fled to Moscow, Syria’s transition has been surprisingly smooth. Few reports have surfaced of reprisals, revenge killings or sectarian violence. Most looting or destruction has been quickly contained.

Israel plans to double population on occupied Golan, citing threats from Syria (Reuters) Israel agreed on Sunday to double its population on the occupied Golan Heights while saying threats from Syria remained despite the moderate tone of rebel leaders who ousted President Bashar al-Assad a week ago. Israel captured most of the strategic plateau from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War, annexing it in 1981. In 2019 then-President Donald Trump declared U.S. support for Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, but the annexation has not been recognised by most countries. Syria demands Israel withdraw but Israel refuses, citing security concerns. Various peace efforts have failed.

France rushes aid to Mayotte after Cyclone Chido leaves hundreds feared dead (AP) France used ships and military aircraft to rush rescuers and supplies to Mayotte on Monday after the tiny French island territory off Africa was battered by its worst cyclone in nearly a century. Authorities fear hundreds and possibly thousands of people have died. Survivors wandered through streets littered with debris, searching for water and shelter, after Cyclone Chido leveled entire neighborhoods on Saturday when it hit Mayotte, the poorest territory of France and, by extension, the European Union. Mayotte resident Fahar Abdoulhamidi described the aftermath as chaotic. In Mamoudzou, the capital, destruction was total—schools, hospitals, restaurants and offices were in ruins. Roofs were ripped from homes, and palm trees were half-shorn from winds that exceeded 220 kph (136 mph), according to the French weather service.

[aleyn-de-vries]

Diabolik Lovers: Rebirth And Royalty Chapter 1

NA. Hello, first written post, I think hahaha. Well I decided to create a fanfic of Kino and my OC that I have been putting off for a LONG LONG time and probably after this chapter I will put it off again because university takes up time (Understand, please). But well, here is the first written chapter. Unfortunately Kino won't appear so soon because these first chapters focus on Carolyne adapting to the life of the ghouls, so, enjoy.

Chapter 1: The Day That Everything Ended

It was the rainy season in the valleys of Cochabamba, after the December holidays. It was the night of January 15, 2020 to be precise. A girl with blue hair and a silver streak was trying to walk as best she could. With a broken ankle and supporting herself with a grab stick, it was not a good strategy to wander through the valley at night, especially since she did not know the environment where she fell. The sounds of nocturnal birds such as owls singing or the sound of crickets and toads could also be heard, which was the only thing that accompanied the young woman in this thick darkness. The phone she had had no signal and the battery was running out. If only she could find the Cochabamba - Oruro highway and wait for a bus that could take her back to Cochabamba or to the nearest town for medical attention. But with each step she took, the young woman did not know if she was getting closer or further away from civilization. It was supposed to be a memorable reunion. Her brother Kevin was the one who came to visit from Miami to see the rest of the family and also to go to the funeral of their maternal grandmother who passed away in Cochabamba. Both Carolyne and Kevin traveled from La Paz and Miami respectively to go to the funeral. Both of their parents and maternal aunt were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Gomez brothers, who only had to board a flight from Cochabamba - La Paz that was supposed to take 30 minutes at the latest. The young woman began to remember everything that happened to get to the point where she is.

Let's go back a couple of hours, it was 6 in the afternoon at the Jorge Wilstermann airport. Both siblings were listening to music while waiting for the next flight that would take them to their family. Kevin was more of an electronic music fan, while Carolyne listened to a band called “Rise Against,” a band he became a fan of after playing one of their songs “Prayer of the Refugee” on “Guitar Hero 3” and the song “Re-education (Through Labor)” on “Guitar Hero World Tour.”

“Carolyne, could you pay attention for a moment?” Kevin asked the girl who was listening to the music.

“Of course I'm listening to you, am I paying a lot of attention to you?” Carolyne replied.

“Then tell me, which of the gifts are you going to give to the aunt and which is yours?” Kevin asked, somewhat annoyed.

“Auntie gets the necklace and I get the sweater?” Carolyne asked curiously, frustrating her brother in the process.

“It’s the other way around, kid,” Kevin said, annoyed.

“Oh, right, so that's it,” Carolyne replied.

“Oh, when will you change? You’re always in your own world. "Wake up, you're going to be a college student soon!" her older brother asked her.

Young Carolyne was a kind, quiet girl with few friends. She always liked to stay at home reading a fantasy book or a programming book, since the Academic Proficiency Test (APT) exams were just around the corner, which would determine Carolyne's future.

“Well, you are starting a new stage. You will take your exam for the college you want to go to, you will go to college at one of the best universities in Bolivia… And when you finish everything, we will do the paperwork for your American residency so that you have better opportunities in life.”

Indeed. Her brother moved to Miami as soon as he graduated from school, having been born there, and he took their mother with him to attend residency. All that was left was to save a lot and for Carolyne to finish her degree so that she could have a prosperous life. It seemed like the perfect plan when…

Two people were talking at a distance, they were the pilot and the traffic control. The traffic control man warned that a small radar was not working, but if the flight was wanted it could depart calmly, it was only a matter of visual planning. With that in mind, the pilots thought it was a better idea for the plane to take off that same night, after all, everyone had already paid for their tickets and the flight was only 30 minutes long. So they decided to board all the passengers and the flight took off. Apparently there were no problems… But as the saying goes, it is better to waste a minute in life than life in a minute. Meanwhile, on the plane, Carolyne looked at the landscape outside and Kevin was sitting next to her.

“I hope these days turn out to be better, Carol. You promised grandma at the funeral that you would do your best,” Kevin said and the girl just nodded.

“I am so excited! I want to see my dad, my mom and my aunt,” Carolyne said.

“So, tell me, what do you plan to study? Remember that you are already 18 years old,” the older brother asked her.

“What I plan to study is…”, the girl was interrupted by a sudden movement.

The plane had the bad luck of entering a storm cloud, so they decided to go inside. Suddenly, there was a jolt, then another stronger than the previous one. The wind shears, also called turbulence, were trying to destabilize the flight and the desperate screams of the passengers were getting louder. Kevin asked Carolyne to imitate what he did when a thunderclap hit the side where Carolyne was sitting, causing her chair and seat to come off the plane. The girl could only watch nervously as she fell 10,000 meters in free fall, getting soaked by the torrential rain as she watched the plane pass by and fainted thinking it was a dream.

Fortunately for her, the blue-haired girl fell in the valleys of Cochabamba. The treetops and the fact that she fell with her seat were what cushioned the fall. Meanwhile, when she reacted, she saw a horrible scene. At a distance from her, a thick ball of smoke could be seen ascending... It was the plane that fell a few kilometers from her.

“Kevin…” Carolyne said when she saw the thick cloud of smoke, her brother probably already passed away. The girl tried to get up but a slight pain wouldn't let her. Her right ankle ended up fractured, so she crawled and found a stick that fit her, so she leaned on the stick and started walking. Her goal was to find the road and say that she was the only survivor of that fateful flight. As she wandered further and further, she began to get lost in the valley, so she decided to continue looking for help, this time from a peasant. The bad thing is that probably in those places, most of the peasants speak Quechua, but Carolyne didn't know how to speak that language, she only learned English and French, but she never lost her curiosity to learn an indigenous language because she saw it as useless, but in this situation she swallowed her words and saw that it wasn't so bad to learn an indigenous language at this time. She only hoped that the person who finds her is someone kind and not hostile.

“I don’t care if the peasants call me privileged… I need help…”, the young girl thought.

She saw a small tunnel that would connect to the other side. The fame of the valley tunnels is that they connect different towns, so she decided to enter there to seek shelter from the rain or find another small town. The young girl continued walking deeper into the tunnel. After about 15 minutes, she reached the exit of the tunnel which was a place full of fig crops. The young girl tried to take a couple of figs for the road, when suddenly, the young girl began to cough up blood. She was not quite okay, she had internal bleeding that was aggravated by the effort she put in.

“N-No… I don’t want to die…”

The young girl tried to keep walking, but the tiredness made her fall into the mud. Carolyne ended up crying out of frustration. Her family already had a funeral... And now they will have two new ones, causing more pain to her hurt family. With those thoughts, the young woman closed her eyes and her heart stopped beating... Or at least, that's what she thinks.

[where-the-sabia-sings]

To be honest, i think that some of spain's

And portugal's children are adopted..but some of them were born when the indigenous groups and the europeans collided.. (sorry if i have bad inglish, inglish is not my first language.)

It’s okay, don’t worry about your English, it’s also not my first language hahahah ☺️

Sooo I have a different vision when it’s comes to family bonds between nations. I don’t believe they are biological born and more like just pop up u know? Or rise from the rivers, sea or soil something like that. When I say that some nations view others in a fatherly/motherly way it’s more in the sense of they recognizing the role of the other in face of their creation.

Like Angola doesn’t see Portugal as her father because she was already a nation with her solid bases, she existed before the Portuguese colonization while Brazil is literally born after the colonization project of Portuguese empire. Manuela knows very well she’s her own nation, with her own bases and history but recognizes the very importance Afonso had in her creation, even though it was gruesome process with a lot a violence perpetrated, perhaps not directly at her, but sure towards her indigenous parents and the African diaspora in her country.

It’s a complex question because I too believe that father-children relationship needs recognition from both sides, and sometimes siblings don’t share the same plethora of parents. For example, Peru and Bolivia are definitely brothers but Bolivia doesn’t see Spain as his father as Peru does.

[askyeehan]

Do you guys have favorite animals?

Cole: I really like armadillos. Saw a lot of them growin' up, always thought they were neat little critters. Helpful too! I remember having to fight my Paw on that. He insisted they were pests, but they're actually quite good at eating the insects that'll eat your crops.

The ones in Texas don't roll up into a ball, though. Those kinds of armadillos are three-banded and live further south, in Bolivia and southwestern Brazil.

As far as mythical creatures go, Centaurs are pretty badass! I think I'd make a pretty good one myself.

Hanzo: Hmm, my favorite animal…I quite enjoy the tanuki. They keep small social circles, focusing on quality of relationships over quantity. Once they choose a mate, they are monogamous. They have a rather amusing cultural history as well, being trickster gods in Japanese folklore.

Fictional animals…hmm. There's something admirable about the Phoenix. Finding the strength and courage to rise from nothing…it would be a truly magnificent sight to behold in person.

[haggishlyhagging]

‘Onwards and upwards’ may be a deeply familiar metaphor for progress, but in terms of the economy that we know, it has taken us into dangerous terrain. ‘Humanity can affect the functioning of its own life-support systems,’ says the ocean scientist Katherine Richardson. ‘There are tipping points we are pushing on. How does this change our definition of progress?’

For over 60 years, economic thinking told us that GDP growth was a good enough proxy for progress and that it looked like an ever-rising line. But this century calls for quite a different shape and direction of progress. At this point in human history, the movement that best describes the progress we need is coming into dynamic balance by moving into the Doughnut’s safe and just space, eliminating both its shortfall and overshoot at the same time. That calls for a profound shift in our metaphors: from ‘good is forwards-and-up’ to ‘good is in-balance.’ And it shifts the image of economic progress from endless GDP growth to thriving-in-balance in the Doughnut.

The image of the Doughnut, and the science behind it, might be new, but the sense of dynamic balance that it invokes resonates with decades of thinking about sustainable development. The idea of Earth as a spaceship—a self-contained living capsule—gained popularity in the 1960s, prompting the economist Robert Heilbroner to point out that, ‘As in all spaceships, sustained life requires that a meticulous balance be maintained between the capability of the vehicle to support life and the demands made by the inhabitants of the craft.’ In the 1970s, the economist Barbara Ward—a pioneer of sustainable development—called for global action to tackle both the ‘inner limits’ of human needs and rights and the ‘outer limits’ of environmental stress that Earth can endure: she was effectively drawing the Doughnut with words rather than with a pen. Later, in the 1990s, the campaigning organisation Friends of the Earth advocated the concept of ‘environmental space,’ arguing that all people have the right to an equitable share of water, food, air, land, and other resources within the carrying capacity of the Earth.

In some cultures, the idea of thriving in balance goes back much further. Pan metron ariston, said the Ancient Greeks: ‘all things in good measure is best.’ In Maori culture, the concept of well-being combines spiritual, ecological, kinship and economic well-being, interwoven as interdependent dimensions. In Andean cultures, buen vivir—literally ‘living well’—is a worldview that values ‘a fullness of life in a community with others and with Nature.’ In recent years, Bolivia has incorporated buen vivir into its constitution as an ethical principle to guide the state, while Ecuador's constitution became the world's first, in 2008, to recognise that Nature, or Pachamama, ‘has the right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles.’ Such holistic and balanced conceptions of well-being are reflected in the traditional symbols of many ancient cultures, too. From Taoism's yin yang and the Māori takarangi to Buddhism's endless knot and the Celtic double spiral, each design invokes a continual dynamic dance between complementary forces.

-Kate Raworth, Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist

[sarcasticsciencefictionwriter]

I wrote a Sanctuary story for Helen Magnus's birthday! (It's still her birthday my time). Wrote it on day of posting, cross posting on my fic accounts as well. I thought about only posting part of it and linking the rest, but I don't feel like struggling with the link right now.

Enjoy!

____

And (How) Many More

____

It was only because of the newspaper that she realized what day it was.

Really, Helen ought to have known well before she saw the paper being sold on the street, but she'd had other things on her mind.

She had to stop and stare at the paper, picking it up and staring at the front page. Right there, under the name of the paper, was today's date.

August twenty-seventh, nineteen sixty-three.

Helen had to stare at it, do math in her head, even though the evidence was right in front of her. She hadn't thought of it, even though she knew it was that time of year. That time of year hadn't truly crossed her mind either, because it was so cool.

August was winter here and Helen usually associated heat or humidity with her birthday, so that may have had something to do with it.

The boy selling the newspapers cleared his throat and Helen paid him for the paper, taking it with her as she continued walking, breathing in the salty air blowing off the ocean.

Helen wasn't certain why it mattered, really. She hadn't celebrated her birthday in decades. She had not truly celebrated it long before she had pursued Adam into the past. It shouldn't have mattered now. But, for some reason, it did.

Because it reminded her of Henry and Ashley.

When they had been children, they had insisted on celebrating her birthday with slightly sloppy, homemade cakes her old friend had helped them make and homemade gifts that were, in the future, still stored in a drawer in her room.

Helen's heart ached as she thought of her children, the memories rising to the point where she could taste the frosting and see their eager and pleased faces.

Tears burned her eyes. She pressed a hand over them and let out a deep breath.

Two hundred and twenty-six years old and she was about to be crying in the street. Sixty-five years since she had arrived back in the past. So much time alone.

Oh, she had done things in that time. Met people, established things, earned degrees. But it had always been at a distance and her heart ached as she thought of the people she had left behind. People that hadn't even been born yet.

Sixty-five years out of one hundred and thirteen. Sixty-four birthdays.

Helen started walking again, her shoulders curling slightly as she did.

Birthdays didn't matter, but time did.

Helen knew that well. She'd had far more than her allotted time on this Earth.

She felt sometimes that she was being punished for it.

She recited the names, conjured their faces, as she walked. It was a habit Helen had developed. Due to the Source Blood and what it had given her, she had a very remarkable memory for how much was in her mind, but she was terrified she would begin to forget.

She needed to hold on to these things or going home would be so much harder.

Helen made it back to the small house--really, it was barely more than three rooms--that she was living in on the edge of town. Streaky Bay was a small town, but she was always afraid that she was taking the place someone else would have needed. Should have had.

She was altering things for the future, but she was terrified of altering things in the past.

Helen sighed heavily as she walked into the house. It was nearing evening and she needed to do some shopping.

Even that was risky business, filled with doubts of what she should and should not do, because she was an extra person. Someone who shouldn't have been here.

Helen gathered some more money and headed out.

She had had to leave Bolivia earlier this year. She had established what she needed to establish and things had been unstable for quite some time. It had been time to move on.

So she had come to Australia and, honestly, Helen wasn't certain what to do with herself yet.

As she shopped, Helen's mind was on her past birthdays with her children. She was almost tempted to make herself a cake, just to try and capture the memory, the love, but she knew it would just hurt her more.

She did indulge herself slightly, however, purchasing some freshly made short-bread and tea.

Whether she cared for birthdays or not, two hundred and twenty-six was something hardly anyone had--or would--reached.

She found a package, slightly battered from the journey it had taken, had arrived from James. He did that sometimes. He kept track of her, to make sure to guide her younger self away. He always seemed to know when she might need something to cheer her up.

He'd send her little things, meaningless really, but a slight indulgence in a busy life that sometimes didn't leave room for her herself. He'd laugh if he saw what she was considering a luxury on her birthday now.

Walking 'home', she continued to recite the names and imagine their faces.

Ashley.

Henry.

Her old friend.

Will.

Kate.

Declan.

Nikola.

The list went on, but those were the people she would see again.

Others she would never see again, in this life or in the future.

Nigel had died just months ago.

A sob escaped Helen's throat as she reentered her temporary home, tears welling. She had known the date and it hurt all over again, as if it had happened again. Because it had.

She put her groceries away, opened the package, and drew herself a bath, placing James's gift in the water.

Perfumed rose petals.

Expensive and a definite luxury, but they reminded Helen of times long gone. And better yet, they didn't smell like melting wax or sugar sweetened vanilla and they did not bring forth memories of other people.

Helen slid her body into the hot water and closed her eyes.

Closing her eyes brought forth images that she didn't want in her mind. In her mind's eye, Ashley died again. Will, as a child, screamed for his mother. Nikola's face as he became human all over again.

Tears rolled down Helen's face.

She was weary. Bone and soul tired.

She still had so far to go before she could go home. Before her plans could come to fruition.

Helen was sick of it.

And it wouldn't end when she finally went home.

Oh no. Things would be hard in a different way. Her Sanctuaries needed her. Her family needed her. So many people would need her.

She would still have to go on.

More birthdays lay ahead of her, stretching infinitely. She didn't know when it would stop. She didn't know if it could stop by natural means. She just knew that she had to go on, for as long as she walked the earth, she had a duty.

The tears spilled faster.

In truth, the tears were the indulgence, not the perfumed petals.

Helen was a woman that hardly ever let herself cry, even in private. She couldn't remember the last time she had cried. Not in this lifetime.

Her heart throbbed. Her throat ached. The sobs escaped her throat unbidden.

Helen had taken on the mantle of responsibility. No one had forced it on to her. But sometimes, especially in her second lifetime, it stretched too far and weighed too heavily for her to feel all right.

Sometimes it suffocated her.

It had more and more lately, so alone and waiting her meaning, her duty, to come back to her.

Today just made it worse, reminding her of how much time was gone and how much still lay ahead of her.

The tears stopped and a part of Helen was tempted to just stay in the water. Give up, somehow.

But she never could.

Helen soaked in the scented water until it was truly dark outside, until the water was cold. She hadn't used all of them and she supposed she had something to look forward too now.

She lit a candle because the electricity was finicky in the night, made herself some tea and bit into one of the cookies, savoring the sugar-and-butter taste of it as she skimmed the newspaper.

Nothing of interest, not truly. Helen was trying to settle her mind and her emotions. Crying had left her feeling wrung out, but better, somehow.

She paused on a small piece about Coober Pedy and its mining. How remote it was and how the people there struggled to procure the basic things they needed, how it was overpopulated for what it was currently able to sustain.

It was unlikely the problem would be resolved, due to the attraction of the opal mines.

Hmm.

Images were already conjuring themselves in Helen's mind. Of what could be done to help those people, because things wouldn't just go away. Of how useful it might be to be in such a place.

Coober Pedy, Helen decided, was worth a trip out. It wouldn't be hard to procure land, not with the funds in Helen Bancroft's name.

Despite herself, Helen found her mouth twitching towards a small smile.

She had been feeling lost and alone on her birthday, thinking of how much time still stretched ahead of her, but somehow a solution for the now had presented itself to her. Perhaps the day still meant something after all.

It was late now, however. Coober Pedy and whatever it had to offer could come tomorrow.

That small smile on her lips, Helen set the paper down, leaned forward, and blew out the candle.