#she always gets a piece of paper that I've colored on or a test piece of crochet and she was upset i wasn't letting her in on Med Time

[crippledanarchy]

The Toe Beans of a girl who insists so strongly on mirroring that I had to put some dry food in an empty pill bottle so she'll stop trying to help me take my meds every day

[Image description: a sleeping black cat, curled up on a chair with one paw covering her face and the other facing up, showing off her toe beans]

[maelstrom-of-emotions]

I really don't mind fanon portrayals all that much, but I was reading a lot of Harry Potter fics lately and I've realized that "Lily was the smart one" and "James and Sirius preferred to goof off and weren't good at studies" is usually the trope.

Now, I love it when Lily gets more character depth, I've always thought of her as this potions whiz with a sharp tongue. But James and Sirius? You mean the same ones who made the Marauders Map? Managing to plot Hogwarts - which, if I'm remembering correctly is supposed to unplottable - and turned themselves into Animagi which is hinted to be a very impressive magic? Not to mention almost everyone else seems to mention them being bright? I'm not making this up, here are a couple of quotes:

"Your father and Sirius here were the cleverest students in the school, and lucky they were, because the Animagus transformation can go horribly wrong — one reason the Ministry keeps a close watch on those attempting to do it. Peter needed all the help he could get from James and Sirius."

Remus Lupin, Prisoner of Azkaban.

"Look, Harry, what you’ve got to understand is that your father and Sirius were the best in the school at whatever they did."

Remus again, Order of the Phoneix.

"Black and Potter. Ringleaders of their little gang. Both very bright, of course — exceptionally bright, in fact — but I don't think we've ever had such a pair of troublemakers —"

Minerva McGonagall, Prisoner of Azkaban.

And some might consider this over-confidence but they were both calm as can be after the OWLS, and were confident that they'd do well.

Well, I thought that paper was a piece of cake,' he heard Sirius say. ‘I’ll be surprised if I don’t get “Outstanding” on it at least.

You might,' said Lupin darkly from behind his book. ‘We’ve still got Transfiguration, if you’re bored you could test me. Here ...' and he held out his book. But Sirius snorted. ‘I don’t need to look at that rubbish, I know it all.'

From Order of The Phoenix.

So, you know, maybe check on that. I'm not bashing on anyone's portrayals. It's fanfiction, have fun! I just, it's concerning, because these characterizations have become the staple, you know? To the point where I feel like people sort of think it's canon. I'm not even joking, I had a friend tell me she wondered how James and Sirius managed to pass out of school, and I was like: "You did read the books, right?"

It's like how people think Harry and Ron barely passed when in the books, it's mention that they "passed with flying colors" if I'm not wrong. Just 'cause they don't study twenty-four/seven doesn't mean they're stupid, jeez.

[brokenpibx]

Today I would like to tell and show you behind the scenes of this special custom artwork I made last year. Are you ready ?

My client idea was to reunite a close friend with her beloved life companion Tintin, since he passed away. So she send me lots of photos of her friend as an adult, a couple of Tintin, and one very old photo of the two of them sitting on the grass of the backyard. With all that I made this sketch

Luckily my client really liked it, so I got to work and made some adjustments in Photoshop, such as the foot, which was terrible, and I also tested the colors and the background based on the backyard photo. Now I was ready to get back to paper and brushes

And here is the finished piece. Both my client and her friend were very happy and grateful with the result. It's always difficult for me to do this kind of work (emotionally speaking) but I feel honored to be able to contribute through my art so that someone can feel a little close to a loved one who is no longer here

If you have a similar idea for you or a loved one, remember that I'm offering a 10% DISCOUNT on portraits and custom artworks until monday. Let's make a unique art made to your liking !

You can contact me here or on my other socials (in wich I've been more active trough this past years)

Main ig (spanish) // ig in english // X 🔞

[lemontartca]

Layer 1 (fresh, it darkened as it dried) > 2 (fresh) > 3/sealed

I feel like I learned more on this doll than I did even on my first.

First of all, my plan was to use spray paint on her to "fake" an airbrush finish. Baaaad idea. She came out gritty and textured like sand. Seriously, I had to double check to see if the spray paint was supposed to be textured. I prepped the body right and everything, the paint was just like that, even on the cardboard I tested on. I don't know if that's a spray paint thing or the can I got was messed up but I'm not blowing more cash on finding out.

So I had to scrape/wash that off. By the time I was done with the acetone she was smooth and shiny like she was fresh off the factory lot after I spent so, so long sanding her to prep her before. It was a very frustrating day.

I decided to re-prime her with the plastic adhesion spray and to try just paint on the color even though I wasn't thrilled with the results I'd seen of that. The best ones I saw used a makeup sponge, so I picked up a set from the dollar store that were teeny tiny because they were literally the only ones they had, but they turned out to be the perfect size for dolls.

I don't know how to summarize my lessons learned when it comes to painting. I think they're this:

Paint doesn't dry out that fast. Cover it in plastic wrap and it will keep. You can afford to test what it will look like layered over the base doll color on a similarly colored piece of paper first. Won't be accurate, but probably better than going in blind.

Oh yeah use makeup sponges 100% and (if they’re cheap) DON’T saturate them in water first, it opened up the pores and left them behind in the finish. It's possible expensive sponges don't have that problem, but why would you be using an expensive sponge on a doll repaint.

Just mix the right color first. Seriously. I know it's not that easy but she ended up with such a thick layer of paint from me having to go back over because I thought she would lighten as she dried and she actually darkened.

Speaking of mixing, seriously just get a good quality blue, red, yellow, white, and black paint. You don't need more than that, Google how to mix them right for what you need. I tried to overcomplicate it with a brown base and it didn't work out.

Ideally you want just one or two thin layers of paint, especially if the doll's undertone is good (the pink gave her a lot of life when the tan layered over it was thin). Again, mix the right color first and this should be fine.

Start on a part of the body that will be covered up inthe planned outfit and away from a joint. I started on the legs here because they were going to be covered by tights, but if I ever make her other outfits, they're going to be on display. I should have started with her torso.

If you're going to do body mods, make sure they are 100% even, smooth, and blended in. Mine were close before I had to remove the disaster spray paint, and while I hoped the paint would cover up/fill in imperfections, it actually made blending her biceps in to the rest of the body a disaster.

If you add body mods that are a different color from the body (for example white clay on a pink body), it's going to take a lot more paint to make it look the same color as the rest of the body if that's your goal. Might be better off with a single layer of pink paint on just the mod before repainting the entire body the intended color.

I've got several more total body repaints left in this series, so hopefully those learnings help me when I go in for Perfuma. I'm planning to try to use pastels to get her skin tone a little less-orange and closer to how she looks in the show. Ironically, she matches her official doll I always thought was off now. Again, I would always rather be a shade too dark than too light, and I didn't want to use the pastels method because it seems like a mess and eats up a lot of MSC, but as a bit of color correction I think it will be fine. Hopefully my next update doesn't have another whole list of learnings lol

Preliminary faceup before I had to leave it for the night. Next is placing the brows and then the pastels. I wanted to have the face rough down first though so it could be included in that round of sealing. Her faceup plan is so stinking cute though it makes me forget my woes with the repaint! (Oh god I didn't even mention the nightmare of getting her head and limbs back on with the layers of paint - the paint under her chin wrinkled when her head stretched over the neck peg, which I even trimmed! Ugh, anyway) I'm hoping to make a lot of progress in the next layer, and then maybe have one or two more for finishing.

I also need to do her wig even though I said I would do that first from now on.... Listen I have other Drac's I plan to customize I can use as mannequins in necessary and I really needed the win of doing the fun faceup part after everything. I'll go buy supplies for the hair tomorrow, though. I'm going to be making her season four wig and maybe coming back for the OG to do a Princess Prom look eventually :)

[morning-jellyfish-in-a-teacup]

This whole week has been a fucking shit show.

At the start of the week, I finally got the grade for the six cylinders I made. Got an 86. Not a terrible grade, but it's not great. I'm only taking studio classes this semester, meaning all my classes are project based rather than quiz/test based. That means I only have 4 or 5 project grades + attendance and participation grades. This translates to less than 10 grades in all my classes. Every grade is super important because I won't have chances to make them up. Specifically for the ceramics class, since it's not an advanced elective, my final grade can't be below an 80 or else I won't get the credits and risk not graduating. My GPA can't drop below a 2.5 or else I risk not graduating. That's something I normally wouldn't be worried about, but I'm only taking 4 classes instead of 5 this semester, so that makes everything weigh even more.

I told my friend about the grade and tried explaining why I'm so stressed about it but it felt like she wasn't really listening to me. I know she was and was just trying to make me feel better about the grade but telling me about how she failed a quiz but isn't worried about it because she has all these other grades to make up for it ... that's not my situation. I don't have that luxury. Again, I have less than 10 grades for the whole semester in each of my classes! I know her intent was just to show "you got an 86, I got a 33, things could always be worse" but fuck dude. That doesn't help.

After this conversation, I started to feel really bad. Just about everything. I felt guilty for being annoyed with my friend, I felt upset with myself for not doing better on the project, I felt really lonely. Things just started to get really bad. Then my friend emailed me journal entries to keep trying to make me feel better. I asked her not to but she'd already sent them. I haven't read them. In July, I got into an exhibit and things - in general - just haven't been the same. Especially with her. I don't feel like I'm close enough to her to read her journal entries even though she sent them. Everything that happened surrounding the show caused a rift between us. I don't know if it's just me, though. I feel this distance between us everytime we're together or talk now, and I don't know how to fix. I tried ignoring it and that made things worse. I've tried talking to her about things that are stressing me out, like the 86, and she doesn't seem to acknowledge what I'm trying to tell her. I haven't directly told her I feel like there's a distance between us because I'm scared if I do, the friendship will really end. So idk what to do

Thursday, I had my first critiques in both of my painting classes. Both of them were terrible. No one really had anything to say about my work or respondes to it in anyway. One class is all about experimentation in art approaches so I put thought into methodology rather than final product. I used watercolor paper and food dye to create markings on the paper. I played around with dry paper and wet and how the dye reacted to the different papers and moved around on the surface. No one said anything about that. The only comments I got were "the colors are kinda muddy and run together a lot" which like ... yeah, maybe, but it was an experimental piece. It was supposed to be more about method than final! And no one responded to it. In the next class .... it was literally just silence. No one said anything about it. My teacher made some comments about stuff we talked about, what improved and what could be pushed further. Everyone else just sat in silence. So that fully drained. I thought critique might be able to give me a small positive after the way everything else had gone, but my energy just dropped. So much so that I ended up skipping my ceramics class, a self destructive choice that will hurt my grade even more (haven't even told my friend that because she'll probably just say it's fine).

Friday, I went to the ceramic building to make up for missing class and spent 5 hours there. Managed to only make 2 bowls beforw running out of clay. 1 is okay, the other just hasn't fallen apart yet. As I was leaving, I got an email about another open call I applied to, same gallery as the place in July. Normally, I would've immeadietly texted my friend to tell her but everything from July just rushed back so I didn't. Messaged my mom about it to let her know the shipping plans so she'd be aware of what's going on. We have more of a business relationship than a close one, so it wasn't an "omg I got into another show" text, it was more of an "this needs to get shipped by this date in order to arrive on time, but I'm not able to come back because of school so could you mail it if I prepare everything else" text. Then I messaged an online friend about it who knew I applied, then the friend I have a complicated relationship with. Wasn't going to tell my friend about getting it, just didn't feel right. Against my better judgement, though, I did end up telling her because I remembered her asking me to tell her next time I got into something. She didn't remember telling me this. She said she's happy for me and all this other stuff, but I can't help doubting it after the July show. That whole experience ... it fucking broke me. May and June were rough for me and everything that happened surrounding the show - with thw exhibit being the focal point of most of it - I just got crushed. Haven't been able to fix things since and the depressive episode I've been in has just been getting worse and worse. I honestly regret telling her. I shouldn't have done that. It just makes the distance between us feel even wider.

So now ... here we are. Saturday afternoon. I cleaned up my apartment a bit and am currently drying a load of laundry and watching Bojack Horseman. Waiting for my mom to arrive so she can give me some medicine that finally arrived and my photo paper that also finally arrived. After that, she's taking me to the art building so I can print one of the pieces that got accepted (the other is a fabric piece). Then she said she'd take me grocery shopping. After that, I'll come back to the apartment and ... idk what. Maybe make something to eat, make some tea, and watch morw Bojack? I don't have any plans or any energy to even do anything right now. I texted my friend a photo of a cute squirrel I saw yesterday but haven't heard anything back. I don't know what to even say to her or how to text like I was literally a week ago. I just don't know what to do about it or if this is even a real issue or one I'm just imagining because of how depressed I've been. Before school, she invited me to be her plus one to a wedding she was invited to. I said okay at the time but now I don't know about it. Honestly, knowing her, she probably doesn't even remember inviting me. She also asked me while drunk so idek if it was a serious invitation. For now, I'm just going to ignore it. I was looking forward to going with her and just spending time together but now ... idfk.

Honestly, my weight and diet isn't really a priority right now. Idk how active I'll be posting about that. If I lose weight, great. If I gain, okay. I lost 25lbs just in July because of how stressed and depressed I was. If that happens again now ... okay.

[insertdragonpun]

⚠️⚠️Warning! This post is about a dark and gory story that I might write. If you are not comfortable with stories like this please skip. I also have swearing in this, no slurs, there are never slurs on my posts. The worst I get is the f-bomb being used very casually. Be safe people :)⚠️⚠️

SUPRISE!! I'm alive :)

Anyway, have a character from a "monster apocalypse" story that I'm debating about writing

She thinks her name is Dim

She woke up from a year long coma as a Jane doe

She also has Marie Antoinette syndrome

(Naturally white hair/premature graying for those who didn't know)

And because I felt like it she has heterochromania

(Two different colored eyes)

I was (and still am) planning on making this into a comic instead of just a book, so I wanted her to be visually distinctive

Let me explain the plot

Basically she wakes up from a year long coma with no identifications. No family. No name. Just a piece of paper in her pocket that kept confusing all of the staff at the hospital she was in.

All the paper said was "Do not pull the plug" signed (here's the fun part) a constantly changing stream of the names of everyone on the planet. :)

When she woke up a doctor started asking her what she remembered and she said (this is where the story would actually start the previous stuff would've been explained after this) she remembered wandering a strange place with giant butterflies and living stone. She had do defeat ~something~ with a group of 9 other people. They were close but one by one the enemy stole her party away. Eventually it was just her traveling through an unwelcoming land. She found the enemy and took it down with everything she had. Suddenly her friends were free and surrounding her. She collapsed with exhaustion only closing her eyes once they reassured her that they'd still be there when she woke up.

She then opened her eyes in a strange white room with only a faint memory of how they looked. (If I did this as a comic the first chapter would be her adventuring with blurs, probably only seeing them from their backs or focusing on a smile and what not. The chapter would end with her sitting up in the hospital bed saying "hello?")

The doctor explains the letter and asks her name

"Dim, I think. That's what the people in my dream always called me."

She's then checked over, a lot of test are done, none of them have any explanation to her coma. She's healthy as can be. She's released once they're done (actually a nurse helps her escape because he doesn't want to see her become a lab rat)

She leaves with the only item that was on her person. A necklace of rings stuck in an undefined shape (does that make sense? Basically they looked like the "closed" image on the picture)

She's walking down the street and a little kid rums into her. The kid is ratty and filthy, must've been living on the streets for a long time. (Note: I'm not yet decided on if I want to set this on earth or not. If I do I've got a lot of medical procedures to research T_T) the kid asks if they know her, to which she says "I don't know" (note 2: I'm describing the kid as kid with they/them even though the kid is she/her because I want to make her as androgynous as possible when we first meet her. You know, ratty kids on the street have more problems to worry about than (for the love of life I forget the word but it's basically looking like the stereotypical form of your gender)

She keeps moving and the people she sees on the street makes her mind hurt more and more like it's trying to pull memories from no where. Faces that used to be blurs. Etc etc. Like she sees a couple leave their home to go shopping, a pair of twins on their way to school. All that fun stuff.

She's overwhelmed (I think to show this in the comic I would make everything blur except the people that spark missing connections in her mind. Jumping from one to another) she ends up in a park. No one around just a pretty cherry blossom tree blooming (1. Because I love how these trees look 2. Because of a fun little mechanic I have for this story I needed a blossoming tree for her lovely little blooming antlers asthetic)

She holds her head and watches. A kid is running around, and a teen just caught a butterfly and is going to show their friends (why only young people? A way to show how bad this is gonna get :D)

She closes her eyes and when she opens them again the world is changed forever. (Yay! If you are like me, and read way to many of those fantasy monsters in a modern world stories on webtoon you know what's happening)

The teen is gone, all that's left is ( ⚠️⚠️warning this story is going to get dark because violence is dark and this story focuses on violence. The rest of this post is going to be dark and gory. You have been warned⚠️⚠️) an arm twitching on the ground with a giant butterfly tearing at flesh. (Gross)

Dim gets up (she was sitting on a bench) obviously freaking out and tries to back away from the maneating bug when it turns to her. It looks just like the bugs from her dream. She trips and falls stabbing her hand on a trimmed branch from the cherry blossom tree (time to start my favorite part of this brain baby :D )

The butterfly (will probably have them called slaughterbugs once society starts to kinda function again) launches itself towards her and she bats it off with the branch.

She stands up and runs. Just fucking books it. Branch in hand she turns around and the butterfly is fluttering ominously behind her (I don't know why but 'fluttering' and 'ominous' in the same sentence makes me ridiculous happy)

She backs up into another tree (still deciding if itshould be another cherry blossom tree or not) and instinct takes over. Her muscles move with practices ease for something she only saw herself do in her dream. She uses the branch like a fucking sword (she's a bad bitch of course I give her a damn sword) and just shanks the butterfly-of-doom straight through its head.

"Wait!", I can hear you think, "how the fuck did she stab a giant bug with a stick? The exoskeleton has to be like super hard!" Well my lovely little person behind a screen, shush. For plot reasons the first monster is easy for everyone to kill one if they are capable of doing so. Half of the population was wiped out by the tutorial; having them fall to ridiculous nerfed monsters is part of the devastating truth of their new world :D

The bug is dead and Dim collapses against the tree and sinks until she's sitting on the ground. A screen appears in front of her [Congratulations, player! You have completed the tutorial! Please wait while we develop your character based on your actions :) NOTE: YOU ARE NOT IMMUNE TO ATTACKS WHILE YOU WAIT. ANY ACTIONS AFTER THIS MESSAGE WILL NOT COUNT TOWARDS YOUR CHARACTER.]

Dim is very confused, for obvious reasons. She sees other bugs around the park eating the other people. She just finished a panic attack and was not ready for another one, but oh well here it is!

"Damn, I can't decide whether or not you changed Dim."

Random ass voice scares the living shit out of her, and she grasps the necklace (she's been grabbing it as a nervous habit ever since she woke up. The only thing she remembers, could you blame her for getting attached to it?)

The voice is now muffled and very grumpy. Her hand grows hot as her face pales. Suddenly something is pushing its way out of her grasp as a sphere of what will eventually be known as magic surrounds her. The necklace that used to be a jumble of rings is now shaped like an eye and is looking right at her while it floats.

"Ow"

Yeah no Dim doesn't respond to that, her eyes focus on the sphere around her as she realizes that the giant bugs can't get it. They just burn on contact. She now takes the time to freak the fuck out, just to get it out of her system.

"You haven't changed a bit, Dim."

The eye almost seems fond as she finishes her little panic attack (did the eye help coach her through it? Maybe/maybe not i haven't decided yet) it then tells her that it fell asleep after they saved her and her friends from the other world. They all arrived here at different times because it couldn't get the spell perfect when it had to rush in order to save them from the worse ~something~ she was the only one that wasn't dead, but she was really fuxking badly hurt. Hence the coma to let her heal. The eye didn't know that science was as advanced as it is in this world so it panicked and shut off.

"You didn't write the note?"

"What note?"

"..."

"What fucking note, Dim."

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Suddenly the screen is in front of her again

[Congratulations on surviving after the tutorial! All of the creatures you have destroyed will now be turned into skill points! NOTE: SKILL POINTS WILL ONLY BE ACCESSIBLE IN SHELTERS AND NEUTRAL ZONES. Your character has been decided! Welcome to the game, Dryad knight Dim!]

(Okay okay, what the fuck right? Basically how the system decides your class and race, i.e. dryad or giant, is by what you use to defend yourself and how you use it. Dim used a tree branch like a sword, so dryad knight. For those who don't know dryads are tree spirits from Greek mythos)

Suddenly Dim is in a FUCK TONNE of pain. Like her skulls being torn apart pain. Like lazers searing her skin pain. It's fun for me, not for her.

And now she looks like she does it the top to images on the picture. Except a lot bloodier because theose just grew out of her (also no flowers. Those take a while to grow and if I make this a comic I want some cool symbolism with them like the new world blooms or some sappy shit like that)

Suddenly (i love that wors if you couldn't tell) the bark from the tree behind her breaks and starts to grow around her. Yep. Wooden armor. Except it's not! (Duh duh DUH!!) The wood heats up like it's burning and all of the little buggies hiding in and on it come out just to fucking melt instantly and become engraved in the armor. It's wood, but it's not wood. Eh, who cares Dim is now clothed.

The branch she had does the same thing except it sharpens into a sword with a little cherry blossom where the hilt meets the hand guard. A little charm hangs at the bottom of it. An eyeball.

"Well, at least you look like you did when you started out."

"What."

Yeah if I make this a comic expect these two to banter and just lighten the mood at the end of every chapter. (If I make this a webtoon comic it'd be at the end of every episode I guess)

Anyway, it's almost 12 am and I have school in the morning. Goodnight!

[sillyguygraduate]

The Colour Song by Songdrops (Bryant Oden (the duck song guy)) is a little disturbing

In primary school we'd often watch the colour song in assemblies and one of my friends would always look away whenever the girl was on screen, which I found a bit weird but...yeah I get it now. There's apparently a whole lore behind the songs by this guy but I'm just gonna talk about this one because it's a lot creepier than I remembered.

First off: The weird recorded voice at the start and end.

This a test of the Color Identification System. This is only a test.

This has been a test of the Color Identification System. This was only a test.

The audio is a bit static-y, and ends and starts with a sound similar to walky-talky turning on and off, so you can assume it's some kind of recording. But for what? What is the Color Identification System?

Throughout the video, you're shown crayons doing actions that rhyme with their names ("it's hard to think when I see pink"). This is seemingly the Color Identification Test. But what's the point of it?

2. The colours act weird a lot of the time. Red hides in their bed, brown sees something and gets scared, grey seems to be hiding from something. (And if you watch the later made Girl Power version of the video, there's a monster seen chasing grey, but then they show up fine.)

3. Orange. All the other colours are introduced normally in one line, but orange isn't. Before each chorus, the crayons sing "I open the door hinge, when I see" and you see a crowbar going to open a door that changes colour each time. At the end, orange is behind the door, and then all the other characters turn orange too. If you look at the genius lyrics page for the song, it's theorised that orange is a parasite that infects the other colours, which seems quite possible. But it's not just the crayons.

4. The girl kind of...dies. Maybe. Next time we see her, she's laying unconscious on her desk, with orange scribbled all over her colouring page (the other piece of paper you see at the start is strangely missing). Overlapping the song is the end of the test audio, and the screen fades to orange.

So, what does it mean?

The best theory is probably but organge infected the other colours and killed the girl as an experiment by whoever runs the Color Identification Test, but the only other place I've seen people talk about this is on genius lyrics so there's probably a better explanation.

But yeah, it certainly is a strange video, but it's kid friendly enough for teachers to show it to their students.

[themetaphorgirl]

(1/1) This is at_the_chamber_door from A03. I've got a Boarding Alternate Universe headcanon--study groups! Maybe if everyone's loaded with work, projects, or upcoming tests, they'll get together at night (preferably at a round table, ha) and work. Well, work-ish: The only people actually working the entire time are Hotch, Alex, and JJ. I'm running out of characters so I shall send another ask with a part 2!

drabbles are supposed to be short. this is about 2,000 words. oops.

I hope y’all like it though! I love these kids with my whole heart.

my writing tag | the boarding school AU

----------

JJ rifled through her piles of papers, frowning. Her biology info packet was in there somewhere, she just knew it. But maybe she could wait and work on biology later, maybe she should work on history first.

“Okay, you guys, I’m starting to freak out,” Penelope said, knocking over her stack of rainbow-colored gel pens. “How bad are midterms? Like...really. What should I expect?”

“They’re not bad, as long as you study,” Hotch said absently.

Penelope dropped the gel pens she’d started to pick up. “I’ve forgotten how to study!” she shrieked. “Oh my god! Everything in my brain has been erased!”

Spencer perked up. “Ooh! It could be lacunar amnesia!” he said. “That’s when-”

“Spencer, no,” Hotch sighed. 

“Take a breath, baby girl,” Derek said, scooping up the pens and handing them back. “You’re smart, you’ll remember stuff.”

She set the pens back into rainbow order. “You say that now,” she said. “What if I do forget? Or I forget which exam is at which time? Oh, god, what if I sleep through them!”

“You’re not going to sleep through them,” JJ reassured her. “I’ll wake you up.”

She turned back to her own piles of notes and worksheets. This was the sixth time that Penelope had freaked out in the last two hours, and doubtless she’d freak out a few more times until midterms were over. At least since they were studying together, other people could chime in and help calm her down.

They’d agree collectively to spend Sunday studying together for their respective tests. As a group they had overtaken the seventh floor common room, lounging around in their pajamas, piling up textbooks and coffee cups and snacks. Hotch, Alex, and Spencer sat at the round table while Dave sat between James and Emily on the couch; Penelope and Derek sprawled on the rug in front of the silent television. JJ had claimed a corner of the room for herself, spreading out her papers in small piles.

James pulled his binder close to his chest and frowned. “Dave, are you copying off me?” he asked.

“No, never,” Dave said. He ate another handful of pretzels. “Absolutely not. I’m copying off Emily.”

James squinted at Dave’s mostly-empty notebook page. “You are copying off me!” he accused. “Do your own work, Rossi, Jesus.”

“Okay, then I will copy off Emily,” Dave said. “And she won’t know because she’s listening to music.”

“Fuck off,” Emily said absently, her airpods still tucked in her ears.

“She’s not even in any of your classes,” James pointed out.

Dave shrugged. “Whatever, it’s fine,” he said. “I’ll get into college either way.”

Penelope dropped her sticker-covered composition book. “Oh, god! What if I don’t get into college?” she said.

“You’ll get into college, Pen,” Alex said. “Don’t look so far ahead. Focus on this week’s tests.”

Penelope huffed in frustration. “JJ, do you have your notes from biology class?” she asked.

“Uh...yeah, somewhere,” she said. She rummaged through a stack. “Hold on…”

“JJ, can you find anything in there?” James asked. “It looks like everything you own exploded.”

“I have a system,” she explained.

“You can borrow my notes!” Spencer said. He leaned forward to stretch across the table; Alex caught him before he could tip out of his chair. “Here! Do you have any questions?”

Penelope frowned. “That’s it?” she said. “A single piece of paper? And...your handwriting is completely illegible.”

He shrugged. “It makes sense to me,” he said.

“Spencer, sit down before you fall on your face,” Hotch said. “You’re going to give me a heart attack.”

Dave threw a pretzel at Emily. “Hey! She’s not studying!” he said. “Repeat, Emily Prentiss is not studying!”

“Narc,” she shot back, scooping pretzels off the couch and throwing them back at his face.

“Everyone!” Dave said, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Emily Prentiss is online shopping! Shopping for-” He leaned over her shoulders. “She’s bidding on a seventy-five dollar tee shirt on eBay.”

Emily slammed the lid of her macbook shut. “That tour got canceled after three stops, it’s a collector’s item!” she said.

“Emily, didn’t your mom say that she was going to cancel your credit card if you got below a C on your history midterm?” Alex asked, tapping her pen against her chin.

“Just the Amex,” Emily shrugged. “Also, that pen isn’t capped.”

“Oh! Shit.”

Spencer frowned. “Can I borrow somebody’s computer really fast?” he asked. “I don’t think this source is correct.”

“Here, munchkin,” Emily said, holding out her macbook. “Just for Miller’s satisfaction, I’ll study for my history test. You can borrow it for now.”

Hotch caught the laptop from Spencer’s small hands and set it down on the table. Spencer squinted at the keyboard. “Where’s the control key?” he asked.

“It’s a macbook, squirt, it’s a command key.”

Alex rolled her eyes. “God, see, this is why I stick to my chromebook,” she said. “Everything makes sense.”

“Your chromebook is the size of a novel.”

“I know, it’s easy to carry.”

Spencer scrunched up his face, pecking at the keyboard letter by letter with his index fingers. “Can somebody type this for me?” he asked. Hotch silently pulled the laptop closer and typed as Spencer spelled out his question.

With Emily distracted by her argument, JJ stole her pillow from the couch and propped it up with her piles of papers, getting comfortable. She bit back a yawn. Studying was exhausting work. 

“Okay, I’m done,” Spencer announced. “You can have your computer back, Emily.”

“Thank god, there’s only ten minutes left in this auction and I need this shirt,” she said. Alex rolled her eyes and put on her headphones. 

Derek pushed himself off the floor. “Pretty boy, if you’re taking a break-”

“Oh, it’s not a break, I’ve memorized everything.”

“Show off,” Dave grinned.

“Okay, since you’ve memorized everything, you wanna go down to the vending machine in the lobby and get more drinks?” Derek continued. Spencer frowned. “You can pick out something for yourself.”

“Deal!” Spencer said. Derek handed him a handful of crumpled dollar bills.

“Hold on, caro,” Dave said. He dug out his wallet and handed him several more dollars. “Get enough for everybody.”

“Thanks!” Spencer said, and he took off, his little socked feet thumping down the stairs.

“Walk, please, before you faceplant again!” Hotch called. The footsteps faded, but did not slow down. Hotch sighed.

“Derek,” Penelope said. “Derek. Derek Morgan. Chocolate thunder. Pay attention to me.”

“What?” 

She thrust a folded paper fortune teller in his face. “Pick one!” she said.

“Pick one what?”

“You have four options, pick one!”

JJ raised an eyebrow. “You’re making cootie catchers?” she said. “I thought you were worried about getting into college.”

“First of all, where I come from, we call them fortune tellers,” Penelope said. “Second of all, I’ve decided I’m not going to college, I will never be able to pass these tests, so I will never get a college degree, so I will just play my ukulele on street corners for the rest of my life.”

“You can always get a college degree and play your ukulele on street corners,” Dave pointed out.

“Derek, please, pick one,” Penelope begged.

He looked at the phrases. “Uh…koala bear, I guess,” he said.

“Now pick a number.”

“Um...three.”

Penelope unfolded the fortune. “You will fail your midterms, flunk out of school, and play the dulcimer in Penelope Garcia’s busking band,” she read. “Oh, that’ll work out nicely.” Derek shook his head. 

Spencer ran up the stairs, arms laden down with soda cans. “I’m back!” he said. He dumped them on the floor. “Maybe don’t open them right this second. The carbonation-”

“We’re cramming enough knowledge in our heads today, we don’t need an extra lesson,” Emily said, scowling at her history textbook.

Spencer’s lower lip dropped in a pout. “Don’t make that face,” Hotch warned. “We’ve talked about how sometimes it’s a bad time for facts.”

“I’m not pouting. And there’s never a bad time for facts.”

“Yes, there is,” Derek said. “Like now, when we’re all trying to study.”

“Except me, I’m going to join the circus,” Penelope informed them.

“I’m trying to study too, you guys,” JJ called from her fortress of papers and books.

James rubbed his temples. “Guys...please…” Dave threw a pretzel at him. “Goddammit, David.”

“I was just trying to explain that the carbonation-”

“No!” Emily said, tossing a pillow at Spencer. It bopped him in the face and knocked him backwards.

“Jesus, Emily!” Derek exclaimed.

Hotch buried his face in his hands. “For the love of god, you guys, stop.” he said.

“I’m sorry!” Emily said. “Spencer, wait, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to smack you, you were just really getting on my nerves, please don’t tell Alex.”

Alex looked up from her chromebook and took out her earbuds. “Hm?” she said. “What’s going on?”

“Emily hit-”

“Penelope said-”

“David threw-”

“Oh my god,” Alex said. “Okay, okay, stop. Just...stop, everybody. One at a time, please.”

Hotch dragged his hands over his face. “I just want a little peace and quiet,” he mumbled into his palms. 

“Spence, I’m sorry, really,” Emily said earnestly. “Are you okay?”

Spencer sat up. “To quote Anne Shirley...I am well in body but distinctly rumpled in spirit,” he said, rubbing his eyes. 

“What’s the translation?” Emily asked.

He pushed himself up off the floor. “You threw a pillow at my face, and I think I’m mad about it!” he accused. “And yes, I know I’m pouting, and I don’t care!”

“Oh, now you’ve done it, Prentiss,” Dave said.

Hotch got up from the table and stomped over to them. “That’s enough,” he said. He picked up Spencer under his arms and plunked him down on Alex’s lap. “Emily, you are six years older than him. Chill.” Dave snickered. “Dave, stop making it worse.” 

“Penelope, you’re not going to busk on street corners or join the circus, if you take a second and stop freaking out you’ll realize that you know more than you think you do,” James added. 

“Yes! Thank you,” Hotch said. “Derek, you need to take this seriously. You have to keep your grades up or they’ll move you from varsity down to JV. And Wallace will get your spot.”

Derek scowled. “Fuck Wallace,” he grumbled.

“And JJ…” Hotch paused. 

“What?” she said. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“No, you’re the most well-behaved, but...why are you upside down?”

JJ blinked. She hadn’t realized how she got there, but sure enough, she was lying on a scattered heap of worksheets with her heels propped up on the wall. “I don’t know, these things happen,” she said. Hotch sighed.

Emily scrambled off the couch. “Okay, okay, I know tensions are running really high right now,” she said. “And I know some of it is my fault-”

“You knocked me over like a bowling pin,” Spencer sulked.

Alex adjusted him on her lap. “I think you’ll live,” she said, and he crossed his arms. 

“Stop reminding me! Jesus, I’m trying to apologize!” Emily said. “What if I order pizza for everybody? It’s almost dinner time anyway and we’re all stressed, we should take a break. Will I finally be forgiven?”

Spencer opened his mouth to argue. “Yes,” JJ said immediately. She rolled over to sit up, shifting her papers around. “Oh my god, yes, please.”

“I’ll always vote for pizza,” Derek said.

Penelope looked down at the half-a-dozen fortune tellers scattered around her. “Maybe a break will help me focus again,” she said sadly.

Emily crouched down next to Alex’s chair. “Spencer?” she said sweetly. “Am I forgiven?” He huffed, blowing a lock of hair off his forehead. She poked him lightly. “Am I? Am? Am I?”

His mouth tilted. “Can I tell you the facts I was going to say?” he asked.

Emily sighed. “Yes,” she said. “Go ahead, Dr. Reid. Tell me everything you know about carbonation.”

“You brought this on yourself, Prentiss,” Hotch pointed out.

“I know. I know.”

[dannyphantomisameme]

DNA TEST (Part 1)

"Please do not open the packets unless instructed to do so!

"Dash Baxter,

"Tucker Foley,

"Star Fredrickson,

"…. I said, do not open the packets…" Mr. Smith (haha basic name) groaned as he saw his students begin to open the packets after strictly instructing them not to. Danny reluctantly sat in his seat, waiting for his name to be called. Biology was a boring class, he often felt the need to just make up an excuse to get out, but he needed the attendance for his grade. It was on the verge of failure. Currently he was balancing his pencil on his finger, the lead pressed against his skin.

"Daniel Fenton" Mr. Smith shouted over the commotion of the classroom as Danny's pencil fell. He sighed and hopped out of his seat, shuffling towards the front of the room. He grabbed the paper from his teacher's hand and returned to his desk. His eyes roamed the object, but he could not gather any new information from it.

Finally, after Mr. Smith finished handing out all the packets, he instructed the students to open them. Danny flipped through the pages slowly, looking for possible information that would free him of his boredom.

He stared at the numbers, not comprehending the message they were conveying. He looked over to Sam whose eyes darted from side to side as she read her packet.

"Now class, let's go through it together. On the second page you will see your ethnicities. Such as 15% German or 25% Chinese." Mr. Smith paused for a moment, giving students the opportunity to read their results.

Danny turned back to his own sheet. 35% British, 30% German, 25% Irish, 5% Italian, and 5% unknown. Ok, so now I know I'm white. He chuckled a bit at his own joke. It wasn't like he was going to find any shocking evidence from this packet. It was only a DNA test. Unless his ghost half decided to screw things up.

He glanced over at Sam's paper on his right, but he couldn't read the small font. He then switched over to Tucker who was reading his paper thoroughly. He wanted to talk to his friends, but they seemed preoccupied. Danny eased back in his chair, waiting for the teacher's next direction.

"On page 3 you will find the DNA sequences that matches your mother as well the traits you two share. One page four you will see the DNA sequences that match with your father. Go ahead and look through the rest of the packet if you want. It includes any specific details or abnormalities the test may have found. After you're done, work on your assignments till the end of class." With that final declaration, Mr. Smith sat down on his desk chair with a soft thud.

Danny flipped to the next page and eyed his and his mother's matching genotype. There were tons of similarities, including skin color, nose shape, body traits, etc. About 45% of Danny's DNA matched with his mom. He flipped to the next page and immediately furrowed his eyebrows. Barely any of Danny's DNA matched his father. Other than the hair color and the eyes, he was nothing like his father. The test gave him a 10% similarity between the two.

Danny clutched his papers in his hand and stood up, walking towards the front of the room. He stopped at Mr. Smith's desk and slid the paper onto its surface. "Mr. Smith? I have a question…"

"How can I help you Daniel?" the teacher said as he swiveled away from his computer to face his student.

"This doesn't make sense." Danny said pointing to the page with his and his father's DNA. Mr. Smith pushed his glasses up his nose and picked up the packet, scrutinizing it thoroughly. He placed the papers down and slid them towards Danny.

"I don't know what to tell you Daniel. I'll look into the testing program and ask them." Mr. Smith said with a smile. Danny just nodded and returned to his seat in the back of the classroom.

"What was that about?" Sam asked as he sat down.

"Nothing… I just didn't understand something." Danny said avoiding telling the entire truth. Sam simply nodded in reply and returned to her paper. Danny flipped to the next page in his packet. There were no outstanding abnormalities, other than a few never before seen pieces of DNA. Probably my ghost half,he thought.

As Danny continued reading the rest of the packet the bell rang, signaling the end of the day. The trio filed out of the classroom with the other students, each member going to their respective lockers. They grabbed the materials they each needed to take home and met up at the front door.

Danny shoved his hands in his pockets as they walked down the stairs and out of the school. The leaves on the ground crunched under their footsteps as the chilly fall wind flew through their hair. Sam zipped up her jacket as Danny lifted the hood of his sweatshirt and placed it upon his head, hiding his face under his bangs.

Sam and Tucker chatted about their classes as they walked while Danny kept silent. He stared at his muddy red converse as they strolled. The other two didn't bother to question his silence, already sensing he wouldn't tell them even if they asked. When they reached a fork in the sidewalk, the members said their goodbyes as they each left for their respective houses. Today was Wednesday, meaning they wouldn't hang out after school with all the homework they received.

Danny took out his phone from his pocket and plugged in his earbuds. He needed to redirect his thoughts and he knew music would help him do just that. He placed the earbuds into his ears and pressed the shuffle button on his Spotify playlist. He nodded his head to the rhythm of some super catchy theme song. Yo Danny Fenton he was just 14 when his parents built a very strange machine… (I swear it isn't young, Bitch Fartman is a liar) Surprisingly, the lyrics matched his life accurately. Even the song was about a dude who had the same name as him. Haha… wait… never mind.

He looked around at his environment. A group of children were playing in the driveway of a house across the street. Two of them were chasing the other three in circles and holding their hands up as if they were guns. Danny chuckled at the scene, reminding him of his childhood. He, Tuck, and Sam used to play cops and robbers all the time. Danny turned and saw an elderly woman gardening in her front lawn. When she noticed him, Danny waved as a smile crawled across his features. Danny recognized the woman, one he had saved after a ghost attack at the mall. She waved back in reply. He strutted along the gray sidewalk until he reached his house. The trees in the front yard displayed vibrant colors of red and orange in their leaves; few leaves littered the dying grass.

Danny walked up the stairs and brought his house keys out from his pocket. Unlocking the front door, he slammed it shut once he was inside. "MOOOOOMMM I'M HOME!" he yelled as he chucked his backpack onto the couch. He entered the kitchen and opened the fridge. He immediately closed the fridge. Yesterday's dinner was reanimated again. He sighed and went to the cupboard, grabbing some bread and made a quick PB and J sandwich. He didn't necessarily like toast, but it was the only food in the house that was edible.

He chewed on his sandwich as he entered the basement. He really hated this place. It terrified him with the possibilities of being dissected. His gut twisted within him, the feeling he always got when entering the lab.

"What did I tell you about bringing food into the lab?" Maddie scolded without lifting her head. She was in the back corner working on a new ghost weapon. Danny walked up to her, her face was painted with concentration.

"Fofwy.." Danny mumbled through his mouth full of bread. He quickly chomped down the remains of his sandwich and stood near his mother. He wiped his hands together, lettings the crumbs from his snack fall onto the cement floor.

"Danny you're not going to believe what this weapon can do! It's going to finally allow us to bring down Phantom!" Maddie excitedly exclaimed as she held up the invention. Danny hesitantly took a step back, hoping his mother didn't notice. "I've calibrated this gun to shoot ectoblasts so powerful that they exceed his ecto entity level! He'll never see it coming!" Maddie held up the machine and cocked it, as if ready to shoot, peering through the eye hole with one eye open.

"That's great mom…" Danny said off to the side. He did not want to get in the way of that. "Uh mom, I uh- can you take a look at this?" Danny fumbled through his pocket and grabbed the crumbled-up packet. He handed it over to his mom as she pushed her goggles up onto her head. She raised an eyebrow at him before accepting the packet and looking it over. Danny quietly waited for a response, fidgeting with his hands behind his back. The only noise within the lab was the sound of paper being flipped to the next page.

Maddie's eyes went wide for a moment as she placed the papers down. She stared at it intently, her body going stiff without motion. A minute of silence passed as Danny looked at his mother questioningly. Multiple emotions clouded her face as she tried to understand. She suddenly glanced at Danny, her eyes a hazy violet.

"I-" she choked up as tears threatened to emerge from her eyes. "I'm sorry Danny. I – I didn't know…"

"Mom, what are you talking about?" Danny said anxiously as he took a step forward. His mother burst into nonsensical mutterings.

"I didn't mean to! It – it wasn't supposed to mean anything! I didn't think to check. I – I" She stuttered as her hands flew up to her face, covering her emotions effectively.

Danny stood there uselessly, unable to comprehend his mothers' words. "Mom you're not making sense!" He shouted over her mumbling.

"I thought you were Jack's!" She exclaimed as her hands immediately jumped to cover her mouth. Danny felt his world crumble upon him, the weight of his mother's words heavy upon his shoulders. He felt his heart skip a beat within his chest. The dread rose up within his being, enveloping his mind.

"Who's my father…" he whispered in the silence. He couldn't even look his mother in the eye. He glared at the papers, the source of this new revelation. His mothers' sobs were the only thing audible in the quiet.

"It was a one-time thing! He said he would in exchange for some crucial parts… We needed them Danny! Jack would have been devastated!"

"Who's my father!" Danny said furiously as he lunged forward and grabbed his mother by her hazmat suit. He was taller than her now, easily towering over her. The fabric felt uncomfortable bunched up in his hands. He suddenly let go, realizing the brute of his actions and taking a step back. He rubbed the back of his neck and stared at the ground, a nervous habit of his.

Maddie stood there dismayed, staring at her son with wide eyes. The word reluctantly rolled off her lips, crushing her son into a million pieces. Maddie suddenly felt weak, her knees buckling as she dropped to the ground. Her hand ran through her hair as she held the table for support with the other hand. She closed her eyes for a moment, but before she could say anything, he was already gone...

[tmblake130]

The Glass Bowl

Short Story By T M. BLAKE

"Ichiroll hurry if we're going to make it to the portals in time!" Ichiro's mother yells. Ichiro stuffs the last of his breakfast in his mouth and deposes of his trash. He rushes to the door where his mother waits for him with her hand outstretched, taking it as they both exit their home.

It is a sunny day on the streets of Preo. They follow the familiar path to the portal station, blending in with the sea of tamers of all snakes and sizes.

When they reach their destination, Ichiro's mother leads him over to one of the oval-shaped portals that sucks in the air around it.

Squatting down to meet his eyes, Ichiro's mother fixes the collar of his shirt. "Have a good day my Ichiroll."

Ichiro gave her a quick hug before moving past her. He was scared of the kids from his school seeing him hugging his mother as if he was a small child.

Fighting against the wind of the portal as it swirls, Ichiro steps through, finding himself in front of a tan overwater bungalow hut. It has a grey roof and several square windows and it stands on stilts that led to the bottom of the ocean. Ichiro's sandals rest on the grey boardwalk that separates each line of huts. At the top of the door sat an elegant painting of a pygmy rattlesnake so he knows he is in the right place.

As his peers plop out of other portals around him, Ichiro gazes at his wrist nervously. When he comes to school every day, he strives to do his best to get closer and closer to his dream.

The memory of his father's last visit flashes through Ichiro's mind. His father is a well-known military General so he is rarely home. When he comes back home, Ichiro tries to make the most of the time his dad takes off to be with his family. They were sitting around the table. His father smiled down proudly at Ichiro as he told him that once he completed his training, he would become a warrior and fight under his father's command. If he worked hard, he would become a General himself.

Kano, his snake companion, sits on his wrist in the form of a knitted bracelet. It is a trick he learned a year ago, a simple altercation of the snake's original form. Hiroyuki snakes were magical creatures and Ichiro looked forward to each day he gets closer and closer to discovering Kano's full potential. Kano was a pygmy rattlesnake, granting him the power to make things invincible with physical touch.

Taking a deep breath, he climbs the short, wooden ladder and enters the hut. It is filled with small children and Ichiro's teacher, Sensei Misaki. She is wrapped in a pink and purple Kimono. Her black hair is longer than Ichiro's mother's hair, cascading down to her knees. She is instructing everyone to sit on the floor with their legs crossed. Once everyone was accounted for, she clasps her thin fingers together, her thin cherry-colored lips bending into a kind smile.

"Good morning class!"

"Good Morning Sensei Misaki!" the class says in unison.

Sensei Misaki's smile brightens. "Let's see. Does anyone remember what we've been studying in class for the last three weeks?"

Most of the students raise their hands, but Sensei Misaki points to a girl in the front.

"Water Damage and Shattering Prevention."

"That is right Hana-chan."

She holds out her hands as her brown pygmy rattlesnake slithers from inside the sleeve of her kimono, spiraling around her hands and fingers before turning into a purple glass bowl. The students jump in surprise when she lets it crash to the ground, watching it break into a thousand pieces. A second later, the pieces gravitate towards each other until they form a perfectly undamaged bowl again.

"Today, I will be measuring your skill level with each of these preventions. It is okay if everyone doesn't pass. I just want to assess where you are in your training so far."

She asks the three weekly helpers to bring a small table, a translucent square pail, a jar of seawater, and a stack of paper to the front of the classroom.

When it was their turn, each student takes a piece of paper, holding it for a moment, and then dips it into the pail of water. When they take it out of the water, the piece of paper is either a mushy white mess barely holding itself together or perfectly intact.

When it is Ichiro's turn, his belly rolls in anticipation. He'd practiced this exercise at home countless times. Still, he is scared of messing up in front of his teacher and classmates. He closes his eyes and holds the thin piece of paper, focusing his energy on his fingers. He images the paper coming out completely intact. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes and dipped the paper into the seawater. After holding it there for a couple of seconds, he brings a damped piece of paper back to the surface. The writing is still visible. His heart swells with triumph as he steps aside for the next person.

After everyone has their turn, Sensei Misaki switches to the shattering exercise. Sensei Misaki asks the three helpers to retrieve a stack of plain, porcelain bowls each. Once they sit them down in front of the class, Sensei Misaki touches the top of each stack before instructing everyone to take one. She then instructs the helpers to pass out arts and crafts supplies to the class.

Using the supplies, the students decorate their porcelain. Ichiro covers his paintbrush in a mixture of orange, yellow, and red, drawing random lines along the exterior of his bowl.

While the bowls dry, Sensei Misaki begins a history lesson. At the end of class, she lets everyone take their bowls home with an assignment.

"I want to congratulate you all for doing so well today. However, I've decided to give you guys one final test." The class erupted into mild chatter, but their teacher quickly shushes them. "You will be responsible for keeping your bowl unharmed for the rest of the day. Tomorrow, those that bring their bowl back undamaged will receive a special prize. I hope you guys have a good rest of the day!"

Ichiro and his classmates form a line as Sensei Misaki leads them to the portal station. It is crowded. Children from other huts wait for their parents and guardians.

His mother is waiting for him as always. He walks over to her and they take a portal back home.

Ichiro wraps his hand around his bowl protectively the entire time. When he gets home, he sits the bowl on a cushioned pillow, scared it might break. As he does his homework, he feels something small bounces off his head.

In a mixture of curiosity and irritation, he picks up a pebble that hit him. Looking in the direction the pebble came from, he finds his window halfway ajar. Kano, who had been peacefully sleeping, arose and hisses at the window. Peeping out, he comes face to face with two of his classmates, Itsuki and Kai. He plays with them sometimes when he's not at school, practicing, or doing homework.

"Hi Ichiro-san," they say in unison.

"Hai Itsuki-san and Kai-san."

Itsuki is the first to speak. "Tough assignment Sensei gave us. I didn't get a good look at the paintings on yours. Can you bring it out here so we can get a better look? We'll see who's looks the coolest."

I don't know if that's a good idea, Kano's voice is thick with concern and uncertainty. Ichiro quickly reassures him with a meer thought. It is rude to respond to the voice of your snake spirit in front of other people. He learned that the hard way.

"Hmm. It's not safe for it to come out there."

"You used your powers on it Ichiro," Itsuki smirks. "It can't break. You're the top of the class so this should be an easy assignment for you."

"I guess you're right. Hold on." Ichiro hurries away from the window, grabbing the bowl and tucking it under his arm. "I'll be out."

"Where are you going?" Ichiro's mother asks once he comes out of his room. She is in the living room with one of her clients.

"Outside to play with some friends" Ichiro answers, zooming out the door before his mother could see what he is carrying.

"Okay, stay where I can see you!"

He meets Kai and Itsuki on the side of Kai's house. They both lean forward as Ichiro shows them the bowl.

"Can I hold it?" Kai asks. He holds out his hands, a mischievous smile spreading on his face.

"I—I don't think so." Ichiro backs away from the two boys, but they only walk closer. His eyes wander to their empty hands. "Where are your bowls?"

"C'mon Ichiro, give us the bowl." A crooked smile spreads over Itsuki, his words spitting like acid.

"What are you going to do with it?"

"We're to break it, of course, Ichiro — or should I say Ichiroll."

Heat rises to Ichiro's cheeks at the sound of his mother's nickname for him. "W—w—why would you do that?"

"Because you act like your better than everyone else. You're the general's son and we know you get special treatment. Your rich dad is probably paying Sensei to give you private lessons. That's why you're so good. The best in the class."

"Special treatment? Sensei Misaki treats me like anyone else. I just practice and study. You're supposed to be my friends."

"You were supposed to be our friend Ichiro." Itsuki and Kai came closer to him, ready to snatch the bowl from his hands. Their smiles had turned into glares. They circled Ichiro ready to pounce. "But friends don't cheat!"

Itsuki jumps at Ichiro first. Ichiro quickly dodges his attackers and dashes into Kai's front yard.

The boys chase Ichiro through the neighborhood. They nearly bulldoze stands, clotheslines, animals, and people. After zigzagging through the neighborhood, Ichiro finds himself at a dead end. Looking around, he tries to find a way out of this sticky situation.

Ichiro! Kano's deep voice echoed through his skull. Throw me on the ground!

Ichiro rips the bracelet from his wrist and tosses it to the ground. A big brown mud puddle appears before him. He plunges into it, surrounding himself with dark water.

Itsuki and Kai arrive a second later looking around for Ichiro. He watches through the murky water as they look around before turning around. He waits a couple of minutes before climbing out of the mud puddle, his clothes surprisingly dry.

He clinches the bowl to his chest as he thinks of a shortcut home. He is about to walk forward when his toe bumps against a rock mounted in the ground. His toe curls in pain and he quickly nurses it. The bowl slips out of his grasp. Its fragile form collides with the ground, breaking into pieces.

A cloud of shame surrounds Ichiro as he walks home without the bowl. He'd let everyone down. Sensei Misaki. His mother. His father. Himself. He is stripped of his confidence.

His mother waits for him outside the house. Her hands are crossed over her chest and the disappointed look on her face makes Ichiro drain of color.

His mother already knows. She always knows about everything. He doesn't have to say a word before she points a stern finger towards the house.

Within minutes, he finds himself in his room. As he lays on his bed, Kano slithers from around his wrist and morphs into a pillow. Ichiro lays on his side and hugs the pillow close to him.

His mother enters his room shortly after. She sits on his bed. "I'll have to talk to Kai and Itsuki's parents and contact your teacher to tell her what happened." His mother's voice was softer than when he got home. "It's okay my little Ichiroll. It will all be okay."

"Can you not call me that? It's embarrassing." Ichiro's heart is halfway into the words are they slip out of his mouth. He loves his mother's nickname for him, but not if it was going to cause his peers to laugh at him.

"What? You are my little Ichiroll. You will always be my little Ichiroll no matter how strong or handsome you become. You shouldn't be ashamed of me showing you that. You're lucky to have a loving parent like me. Some children don't ever get to hear their mother's voices or feel their embrace. If your friends make fun of you loving your mother, they don't deserve to be friends with an amazing person like you."

Ichiro's cheeks are covered with tears as he turns to look at her. "But they said that I wasn't a good friend because I cheated. Misaki Sensei is giving me special treatment and that is why I'm at the top of my class. I just practice and study."

"They don't understand. They don't see how hard you work. I thought they were good boys too. You have to understand that with everything comes a price. They're just jealous that you work hard and receive promising results."

"But what am I going to do about the bowl? Sensei Misaki will be disappointed and I will fail my test."

"I will handle the situation. I know they were your friends Ichiroll and they betrayed you today. Keep working hard and don't let jealous people stop you."

Ichiro lets go of Kano in pillow form. He hugs his mother, his father's last visit coming back to him. He would work hard to make him proud no matter what it took. He decided from that day forward that no one was going to get in the way of that ever again.

No one.

[wp-yahoo-style-1042-yahoopa-blog]

I've tested just about every weird cleaning product — here are the 10 that were truly life-changing

The best cleaning products to inspire you to get your home in shipshape (Photo: Getty Images)

As a former Home editor at Real Simple magazine, I’ve come across my share of domestic products. Cleaning was one of my beats, so I was always testing out the latest mop or updated scrub brush. (What can I say, it was a glamorous job.)

And now that I’m a freelance writer and a mom of two amazing but ridiculously messy children, I’ve really put these cleaning products to use. I definitely have my favorites—the ones I reach for whenever soy sauce finds its way onto the walls or cracker crumbs invade my keyboard crevices (which unfortunately happens more than I care to admit).

So with spring cleaning right around the corner, I’ve decided to share my top 10 products with you. Some are the best of the basics — like these color-coded microfiber cloths. And others are brilliant new inventions, like a mini power tool for grout that looks like an electric toothbrush. To say these are satisfying is an understatement. Put some in your cart, and get to cleaning!

Magic Silicone Dishwashing Scrub Gloves

Magic Silicone Dishwashing Scrub Gloves (Photo: Amazon)

These might be one of my favorite inventions ever. BPA-free silicone gloves with built-in grippy scrubbers for cleaning dishes? Brilliant! They eliminate the need for a scrub brush, keep my manicure intact, and they can be tossed in the dishwasher.

Shop it: Magic Silicone Dishwashing Scrub Gloves, $11, amazon.com

Rubbermaid Reveal Power Scrubber

Rubbermaid Reveal Power Scrubber (Photo: Walmart)

I live in a rental apartment, and when I moved in, the grout around my tub was, shall we say, grout-y. Meaning, stains everywhere. Ew. This tool makes light work of scum. The company says it’s twice as powerful as manual scrubbing, and I have to agree. Use it on everything from faucets and grills to sliding door tracks—you won’t want to put it down. 

Shop it: Rubbermaid Reveal Power Scrubber, $20, walmart.com

Angry Mama Microwave Cleaner

Angry Mama Microwave Cleaner (Photo: Amazon)

I can’t count how many times tomato sauce has splattered in my microwave. And even though I know I should clean those splotches right away, I never do. The result? Crud. This gizmo uses steam to loosen all that baked-on grime. Just take off the hair, fill with water and vinegar, and watch Angry Mama get really pissed off as she spews hot steam all over the interior. Then wipe with a damp cloth. She’s incredibly fun to use!

Shop it: Angry Mama Microwave Cleaner, $9, amazon.com

Stainless Steel Kitchenware Cleaner Cast Iron Cleaner Chainmail Scrubber

Stainless Steel Kitchenware Cleaner Cast Iron Cleaner Chainmail Scrubber (Photo: Walmart)

I don’t like how traditional steel wool scrubbers always seem to leave behind steel remnants. (Once I found a little piece wedged in a burner on my stovetop, causing it not to light.) Then I found this medieval-looking cleaner and never looked back. It’s gentle enough for cast iron pans, but won’t scratch. And it happily hangs on a hook.

Shop it: Stainless Steel Kitchenware Cleaner Cast Iron Cleaner Chainmail Scrubber, $11, walmart.com

Microfiber Venetian Blind Blade Cleaner

Microfiber Venetian Blind Blade Cleaner (Photo: Walmart)

I can’t get enough of this microfiber blade cleaner. I use it on my blinds and my air conditioner fins—which get particularly nasty because I live in a city. Just spritz with a little water and go nuts.

Shop it: Microfiber Venetian Blind Blade Cleaner, $6, walmart.com

Hiware Drinking Straw Brush Set

Hiware Drinking Straw Brush Set (Photo: Amazon)

If I gave my kids only straws in their stockings for Christmas, they’d be thrilled. They ask for straws so often, I should buy stock in them. And now that reusable straws are all the rage (and with good reason), these tools get more use in my house than ever.

Shop it: $5 for eight brushes in two widths, amazon.com

Quickie Household Surface Microfiber Cleaning Cloths Variety Pack

Quickie Household Surface Microfiber Cleaning Cloths Variety Pack (Photo: Amazon)

The amount of paper towels I use daily is criminal. These microfiber cloths have drastically cut down my usage—so they save money and trees—and I’ve noticed they get surfaces sparkling clean. Designate one color for each surface: glass; stainless steel; wood; countertops. You can use cleaning products with them but you don’t have to, and I don’t—water works just fine. And they’re machine washable!

Shop it: Quickie Household Surface Microfiber Cleaning Cloths Variety Pack, $14, amazon.com

Scratch Free Reusable Nylon Pot Pan Scrapers

Scratch Free Reusable Nylon Pot Pan Scrapers (Photo: Walmart)

I eat eggs every morning, and I’m messy. So these two things together means my pan stays in the sink for most of the day and then I’m left with a disaster come evening. Before these brilliant gizmos, I’d grab a paper towel (see, I told you I used a lot of them) to clean off the egg remnants before using a scrub brush. But it’s gross and annoying. These pan scrapers are a breeze and can also be used for getting stickers off new glassware or plates.

Shop it: Scratch Free Reusable Nylon Pot Pan Scrapers, $7 for two (free shipping), walmart.com

Baseboard Buddy Extendable Microfiber Duster

Baseboard Buddy Extendable Microfiber Duster

Do my kids walk on the baseboards? They get so grimy that sometimes I think they do. And I’m not getting on my hands and knees for anything. The Baseboard Buddy is my friend, for both low  baseboards and high moldings. The head swivels to get into angles and can be used dry for dusting or wet for deeper cleaning.

Shop it: Baseboard Buddy Extendable Microfiber Duster, $15, amazon.com

OXO Good Grips Electronics Cleaning Brush

OXO Good Grips Electronics Cleaning Brush (Photo: Amazon)

I eat over my keyboard. There, I said it. This retractable cleaning tool makes me feel like a detective working on a top-secret case. I whip it out and brush crumbs from those keys, then use the silicone side to pick off any crud. Great for detailing watches, cameras, and cell phones too.

Shop it: OXO Good Grips Electronics Cleaning Brush, $5, amazon.com

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

100 natural cleaning products that are worth the green this spring

The cheap cooking tool Taylor Swift calls a ‘game changer’

Amazon shoppers can’t stop buying this $17 packable backpack — here’s why

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.