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xoxo-susu · 4 months

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Coquettifying this semester ⋆。·˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧。⋆

Hello loves ♡

My first class of the semester starts this week, so I thought I'd make a lil post on my favorite school tips and tricks for Spring 2024 :)

Studying and homework ⋆。·˚ʚ 🩰 ɞ˚‧。⋆

🩰 White noise. If you struggle with zoning off while you work, white noise is exactly what you need. I personally prefer pink or brown noise because it's a little deeper and softer and white noise just makes me think of falling sand.

🩰 Stay on top of your assignments. In the beginning for me especially, it's so easy to let things slip. Do not do it. It will impact your grade for the rest of the semester. Trust me, I'm speaking from experience. Try and do your homework right when you get home. That way, you maximize relaxed time without worrying about assignments.

🩰 Keep your study space clean and cute. You're not going to feel motivated sitting at some grungy old cardboard box that smells like leftover pizza! Try and make your study place somewhere you enjoy to be. And keep it clean!

🩰 Pomodoros. I love love love pomodoros. They help me stay so much more focused because it's like a challenge to study through the whole time. If you don't know what a pomodoro is, this link explains it pretty well ♡

🩰 Find what works for you. I find I focus best in the morning. Some people feel like they're at their sharpest at 2:15 PM. Experiment a little with a low-pressure assignment and figure out when you work best. Once you do, schedule your assignments accordingly. The hardest go during that time, but the easiest go when you're least motivated. Also try and go to a coffee shop or the library! It's sooo motivational.

🩰 All nighters. These are great for romanticization purposes and nothing else. Get. Your. Eight. Hours. Of. Sleep! Unless you only found out about an assignment the night before its due and there's no other option, do not do it! You need rest for your brain to function properly. There was a study I remember hearing about where one group of students crammed for a test the night before and the others slept well, and the well-rested ones got higher scores.

🩰 Study groups. If you work well with other people, do this! But if you get too distracted, don't do it.

🩰 NOTION!!!! Notion is SUCH a great and aesthetic website to get organized.

At school ⋆。·˚ʚ 🎀 ɞ˚‧。⋆

🎀 Ribbons. Ribbons are such a coquette staple. Put them on everything! Especially your hair.

🎀 Take cute notes. Make them something you'd like to look back on! Buy yourself a new pack of pink highlighters, write in juicy black pen, doodle bows, use washi tape, whatever you think looks best. Even try and make your homework look pretty. My spanish midterm project was a coquette work of art.

🎀 Look your prettiest. Again with the ribbons--put them in your hair! Wear cute mary janes. Brush your hair. Take a shower before, if you can. Wear a vanilla or rose scented body mist. Put on some cute rings. If you have a uniform, wear a cozy scarf and as much jewelry as you can.

🎀 Books. Bring a book with you everywhere. It will make you look so educated and elegant. Some of my favorites are Little Women, Heaven to Betsy and Betsy in Spite of Herself, Jane Eyre, Sense and Sensibility, Sad Cypress, Death on the Nile, Anne of Green Gables, and Betsy was a Junior and Betsy and Joe. The Betsy books are perfect because each one is about a year in highschool, and they're so coquette and vintage and she's such a study icon and ugh.

🎀 Make good friends. Having a good group of people to motivate and uplift you is sosososo important. Get rid of the ones who hate to see you succeed. And it will make school feel like someplace you're genuinely excited to go to.

🎀 Don't skip classes. Just don't. It's not the vibe.

🎀 Be nice to your teachers. If they really suck then they really suck. But your school year will be so much easier if your teachers like you and know of you as a good student.

🎀 Try and find 'your place'. Not like that. Literally. Try and find a little nook you and your group can claim as your favorite.

🎀 Make your supplies as cute as possible! Get a cute bag or backpack if you can. Pretty stationary will help you romanticize so much. Get rid of the ugly neon yellow pencils.

Coquettifying ⋆。·˚ʚ 💌 ɞ˚‧。⋆

This is the best part!

💌 Watch GRWMS and coquette school vlogs.

💌 tie a bow on everything.

💌 Lipgloss, lipgloss, lipgloss! Pale pink and shimmery.

💌 Make a coquette academia pinterest board, like mine.

💌 In the words of our icon @coqxettee, "Study and work hard. Being intelligent is attractive, gorgeous and most of all, one of the keys to success." Read her posts too, all of them are just lovely for romanticizing.

💌 Take care of yourself. Face masks while studying, matchas on the way to school, gua sha before going to sleep. AND STAY HYDRATED!!!!

💌 Get a cute lotion for school. The glossier one is great but a bit on the pricier side. Bath and Body Works has a lot of great alternatives (but some of their stuff has been said to cause cancer so mb look into that)

💌 Cute little claw clips in your hair or on your bag. Emijay has an ADORABLE one, but there's also a really cute temu dupe.

💌 Find your signature scent, or make it seasonal like I do!

💌 Keep a diary. Fill it with sweet memories, funny pictures of you and your friends, deep quotes, and lipstick kisses.

💌 Mary Janes. Period.

💌 Get cute frilly socks and dainty jewelry.

💌 Shower every day.

💌 Go thrifting.

💌 Try and take a walk every day, even if it's just up and down your street.

💌 Keep a bouquet of fresh flowers in your room.

Okkkkk that's the end! I hope this helped out with any coquette issues. ily all smmmm byee! ⋆。·˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧。⋆

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riisinaakka-draws · 3 years

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1st part of my old Black Sails scraps and doodles from 2016–2021. Not in any particular order.

This post has a glimpse to one of my BS binders with the most less-effort-and-crack-idea doodles. Also lots of puns and the Walrus crew shenanigans. Flint is a dick and Billy is tall and Silver keeps bringing the parrot into canon one way or another.

And of course, please, do not steal and repost elsewhere! But if you do get inspired, feel free to make your own interpretations! :)

I put them under the cut, because this is a very long post!

Puns with “Black Sails” lead of course to all kinds of things, one of which ended up becoming the Full Walrus Speed! comic (2018). Here I was thinking how to convey “the scarf sails” with Silver as he sneaks out at night to test Flint’s words (and how the wind keeps blowing “the sail” onto his face) although it didn’t end up in the finished comic.

There’s also Eleanor holding a chart with Vane’s name and “black sales” as he wasn’t doing so well. The Death is sailing a variation the trash raft with “black sails” as it did in this other art: The Death following the Walrus (2016).

There’s also a comic with Flint, Thomas and Abigail’s letter, but that’s gonna be it’s own post when I finish it (but wanted to mention it here as it was related to these). It includes “Block Spoils”, “Block Soils”, and 2 x “Bleak Seals” ;)

“I’m going to make you the Princes of the New World!” and some of the Walrus crew as “princes”. Flint made them paper crowns and these were the very first BS doodles I ever drew, or at least one of the firsts (no date written tho). This was done right after I watched the first episode and when I got the spark that this show was going to be something... truly spectacular.

Also I hadn’t drawn anything for months (closer to a year) and even holding a pen and the thought of drawing anything felt almost nauseating at the time (I was crawling through depression) but I just had to do something with the excitement. And doodling ended up helping me a lot to get back on my feet, so thousands thanks, Flint’s bloody feral face (and billion thanks to Black Sails fans who have encouraged me during all these years!).

Around early season 3 by the looks of it. Doodling cool Flint with a felt tip and then the parrot and goofy Silver photobombed. The parrot is parroting Flint of course. I was wondering if they were going to include the bird in the show and this is how it manifested.

Season 1. “Framing problems” inspired by the scene with Flint and Billy (although in the doodle there’s also Silver’s top of the head)

...because the height difference and I wondered if it was hard to get them fit into the same frame lol

I love Silver’s face here and the sock-parrot although I didn’t even bother with Flint here other than the pose. This lead to the art: “Let Me Tell You A Story...” (2018) although the composition changed. Tbh I like this version a bit more in retrospect but I coudn’t make it work with the hammock/pallet at the time... Silver is trying to cheer up Flint.

Half way through of this post, btw!

Alternative scenes for this art: ”Neverland!crack!AU!” (2017) which features Captain Silver Hook, Billy Pan and Ginger Bell.

The texts are the bolded parts:

Gates dreamed it (he wakes up in cold sweat and is like NO.)

Israel Hands as Smee, and another one where Dufresne is Smee. Silver as Captain Hook as in the art too, although here it’s very obscure.

Billy as Peter Pan + lost boys and Silver saying “I thought you never grow up” and it ended up in the final piece too, but a bit differently.

Some texts in the lower left corner: “Robert Stevenson and Bay roll in their graves” (uh..Michael Bay? He’s not dead. I guess I added Bay later and lost the thought anyway)

“The hyena guy laughed when I was doodling these at 2 am” (I had a weird neighbour at the time and he’d randomly laugh like a hyena at nights and it happened again while I, too, was sniggering at my late night silly doodles because I couldn’t sleep). I didn’t bother to start cropping this snippet out :)

“Flint as Tinkerbell” and “Only one emotion per time, needs to be believed” (in). Here’s a close up:

The other doodle is Flint sleeping, because instead of Mr. Gates, maybe Flint dreamt this weird au with the faces of people around him. Silver (or Billy? Gates?) is trying to wake him up and he mumbles “Mmmh, NO, don’t throw food around” (this was a nod to the movie “Hook” and the Lost Boys waisting food in that one dinner scene).

“No, I’m the fairy!” (I can’t remember was I thinking of someone else to be Tinkerbell at the time or maybe it was because I was also thinking Flint as Hook? but instead he “wanted” to be Ginger Bell in his dream instead so...) and “Fuck you England crocodile!” (who’d be the antagonist in this au).

Mr. Gates: “Look at my lad!”

“The reason why Billy didn’t have a beard in early seasons.”

...was because otherwise he might have been pressured to style it like his father figure, lol. Also *sob* with Gates gone, Billy’s beard became wild in the show as the time goes on (remember beard of betrayl?).

Flint, after the fight with Singleton, here sleeping peacefully with a nosebleed. The text (someone saying it): “Gross.”

Flint: “I think I was in heaven for a sec” (because he bumbed into Billy). “It felt like hitting a brick wall”. Texts: Flint being a dick (and blind from blood-loss), and Billy thinking (and getting the idea for the legendary Black Spot early on): “I have been marked... with a red spot“ (and it’s his doom).

In the left corner: “favourite Billy Bones face”

inspired by this one:

And the last two doodles for this bunch:

“Someone get me a glass!” ... and the aftermath of Silver shouting for a spyglass and of course the Walrus crew providing “a glass”... which here is an hourglass, a wine glass and another one, a magnifying glass, a mirror (looking glass) although at first it was supposed to be an ice cream (Swedish word, because hey, there might be some Swedish pirates on the crew etc..) and some one bringing a glass of water but making it fancier with a coctail umbrella. For their beloved new quartermaster, you know. Oh yeah, and someone threw Dufresne’s glasses at him but they got stuck on the rope.

Aaaand doodles for “A Tattoo Boom on board the Walrus”. Everybody wants a walrus tattoo and there ends up being all kinds of variations on board. Cute ones, sexy ones, creepy ones, and so on, all featuring a walrus in some form xD

For a long time I was going to draw this properly but never really got into it, so feel free to draw bunch of pirates with cool Walrus tattoos if you need something to draw! (or need an excuse to practise anatomy, as I was planning to do...lol) :D

Thanks for reading, I hope you had fun <3

#black sails doodles #tag for Block Spoils doodles #(<- in case u wanna black list these)#from 2016-2020 but mostly from the early years #I always draw the first idea doodles on a cheap copy paper so I won't stress about getting things right #and... yeah it shows xD #recently I tried to organize my wip folders to get some kind of plan in which order to draw and finish things #and kept finding these kinds of doodles that still make me laugh but also agonize as simply cannot finish them all in proper manner #so I decided to share some of them and also have a look back into the early days xD #or how the doodles haven't actually gotten any better (and aren't meant to) but the art I post is just more refined these days

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belovedstill · 3 years

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hi!! i have a question... i saw your reblog about freewriting and i wanted to try it myself cause i have a hard time with writing because of my anxiety but i'm not sure i understood 100%. what do you actually write while you freewrite? is it related to what you're working on at the moment, like do you freewrite a scene (kind of like sprinting in a way) or just random words/thoughts in your head?

hi <3 i understand you 100% because sometimes (most of the time) when i sit down with the intention to write, my brain subconsciously goes "okay, the pressure's ON, everything i write must be useful for the fic" (and then i go "wait, @ brain, what fic? i don't even know what fic i would write, i just want to write" and brain says "it must be useful for the fic" (which btw doesn't help, thanks @ brain but no thanks))

i will start by honestly saying that while I've been doing this for many years, I've never had a word for it. If my memory's right, then I've never heard the term "freewriting" before. I'd either call it stream of consciousness or messaging a friend or word vomit or scribbling

(i'm going to share some photos & screenshots as examples because i personally appreciate examples for things i don't know how to even start doing; i'll include content warnings above the photos wherever applicable. These things were not meant to be seen by other people, obviously, so not all of them are neat, not all of them are in English or spelled correctly, and not all of them make sense, some might not even be Socially Acceptable (i'm very anxious as well, you see, so I ask people to be kind if you do take a look at the examples and decipher what's written), but that's the whole point of these: you let your mind go without worrying about where it's going)

I'm sure every person who does freewriting does it differently but here are several ways i do it (under the cut because it got very long as i pretty much (ayyyy) freewrote it):

test a pen/pencil! you know when you get a new pen and write down the most random thing on a piece of paper to see what the ink looks like and how it feels to write using that pen? for me it's usually a single word or a phrase from a song (my go-tos are hello, wait, Beloved (my MC's name, shhh) and other fictional characters' names or Why you gotta be so mean? from Taylor Swift's song "Mean", don't ask me why because i have no answer)

writing down the lyrics to a song that's currently stuck in your mind and living there rent-free, and if you forget the next line or if something else pops into your head - let it take you over

write on random pieces of paper! the less it reminds you of a notebook/blank page, the better! sometimes that means what's left of printer paper or post-it notes. actually, most of the photos of paper pages in this post are from my poor quality notebooks - the paper is too thin or not smooth or the pages are yellowish, so i don't feel bad """wasting""" the notebook for doodles, random scribbles, etc.

a diary entry? a diary entry, except there doesn't have to be depth to it, no journaling type of reflection on your feelings, on your experiences, on the Daily Journaling Prompt necessary--unless you want to. in my case it's mostly complaining about the pen i decided to use or the quality of the paper but!!! because i let myself write anything and everything on one page, at one point it feels natural to write some random story sentences on the other page

CW: implied past physical abuse

brainstorming! here's where, for me, the "messaging a friend" name came from. i have a very vague idea for what i want to write or a very small detail i want to write about, but nothing else. i set up a timer and write everything down (the screenshot is taken from my very own personal discord server, it's just me and a writing bot. at one point i realised that whenever i was brainstorming or writing cheer up ficlets in my friends' discord DMs, writing went super easy because my brain didn't register it as writing, but as chatting. At first, I formatted a new google doc so it looked exactly like discord's dark theme, but ultimately decided that just creating a new server just for my writing process/practice/etc and stuff is easier)

CW: harmful & discouraging stuff asexual people face

"I don't know what to write, I don't even think I want to write an actual story, it's not going to stop me" kind of writing. Anything goes and I mean anything. The sentences aren't connected. There's no actual idea or story behind the sentences. You're just writing a word after a word after a word. Sometimes a question appears in your mind, so you write it down. The question leads to more questions, or maybe an answer, or maybe you realise you like the feel/sound of one word so you write it again and again. After you wrote the word three times, tiny ideas form in your mind, things you relate to that word. Then you lose track of the thought so you write "I lost track", then a piece of dialogue floats in your mind that's probably inspired or part of a song lyric you wrote earlier

CW: unconventional/controversial lovers

if your writing anxiety is caused by fandom wank regarding some topics, tropes, themes, or even genres, know that if you freestyle about the thing you're worried somebody would judge you for, nobody else will read it. you can delete the doc afterwards. you can password protect it. you can tear the page out of your notebook and shred it to pieces. i won't include a photo example of this one (anxious, remember? also, it's nsfw) but i did this with smut-specific words and phrases. i got a blank piece of paper and wrote--first, just words (nouns for genitalia, verbs for action, etc. let me tell you - i was alone in the room and even trying to write the first word was difficult, in my head i kept thinking back to people's conversations on how "problematic these words are" etc etc etc and that fed my anxiety even further because "oh god what if they knew i was about to write this, what would they think of me"), then the words combined into phrases, then common smexy phrases that characters in smut say, and so on and so on. no punctuation because it's not a story. you know what happened after i put that first word on the page? nothing. i felt silly, sure, but i repeated the word several more times and still no People From the Internet barged into my room to ridicule & judge me. during that session, freestyling for that genre got easier and easier with every word.

Two posts that helped me realise that warming up for writing (and anything creative) is a good idea:

Writers need warm up sketches too (my way of warm up is usually either freewriting or using a typing speed website)

The anatomy of a pen/pencil etc

...and I think that's all from me 💕 apologies for how long this is but I hope it helps you in some way *hugs*

#shhh B #B replies #Anonymous #...aaa i don't want this to show up in the general tags but i want to find it later #you feel me?#writing #anyway i really hope it helps and if anything's too confusing please let me know and I'll try to explain better alter #*later

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secretshinigami · 6 years

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Departure

Title: Departure Author: @invcnio-patcr For: @realtruesuccessor Pairings/Characters: (slightly implied platonic)Near/Mello, Near, Roger Ruvie, Quillsh Wammy, Matt, Mello, OC Rating/Warnings: General Prompt: After Kira’s death, Near experiences a strange and unexpected series of events that can only be described as a haunting Author’s notes: I liked writing this a lot, and staying up until 4 AM two days in a row was worth it. 11/10 would write again. (Also, I really hope my Near was not too OOC, he was a fun challenge to write and really allowed me to step out of my comfort zone)

Near could not quite put his finger on what awoke him that dreadful, cold night – he knew for sure he had not been dreaming, for he always remembered them, he felt no discomfort or pain in his body, and his room was quiet as it could be. Instances such as these were rare – though one would have hardly dared to guess it from a boy – no, a man, he had to remind himself, he was grown-up – a man such he was, tiny and light, Near was quite heavy sleeper. Though he was not knowledgeable of it himself, Near’s sleeping habits were much less hectic and leaned towards being normal much more than his predecessor’s – unlike the original L, he slept most nights, and the longest time of him being awake stood currently at around fifty hours, last ten or so of them thoroughly unpleasant, sickening stupor filled with what seemed endless cups of iced coffee. Near remembered Roger’s fury when the older man had found out – though he had not exactly yelled at Near, he had still yanked the half-filled cup of coffee from the boy’s hands and taken him straight to the nurse who took care of the Wammy’s house children, proving once agan that though one could have hardly seen it from the fact that the man was not quite as affectionate to the children as Quillsh Wammy had once been, it was clear as day that despite everything Roger still loved them. It was the little things that showed that – how Roger did not hesitate to help children with their studies if needed, how the elder let younger ones partake in gardening while teaching them about various plants, how he often persuaded Near to come to eat when the younger found it easier to stay in his room, and once met with the younger’s stubborn refusal, brought him sandwiches he knew Near adored – plain, slightly toasted, with a light layer of butter and exactly four cucumber slices on the top, eight almost identical sandwiches that Near slowly ate thorough the day – not for his own sake, but to bring Roger peace of mind when the older came to check on him.

Near had been back in his old orphanage for a little more than a month now. The aftermath of Kira case had been wrapped up, and despite warm feelings towards his team, a part of Near still wanted to be in Winchester… It was a feeling Near could not quite point out, something between homesickness and desire for protection only certain places could give. Despite the pressure it had on him at times, in the end, Wammy’s house had been the closest thing to home Near had ever had. At times Near dreamt of being younger – before the Kira case, when his greatest problems were the location of an airplane he had lost somewhere(it had turned out in the living room, resting atop of a bookcase located directly behind a grand piano Roger liked to play at times) and whether or not he passed his Latin test, and even if now instead of studying and playing with his toys he solved cases in his room, he still felt closer to what could be considered the best times of his life here – before being caught by the System, Nate River had been but an occasional punching bag for his single mother every second day and on the rest of the days, someone to ask to bring her more vodka from the store, regardless of the weather, and afterwards his foul luck had sent him to an orphanage with staff that was not quite neglectful, but still lacked some kind of warmth that is needed for children to grow up happy, especially for those neglected and abused by their parents – though it would not have seemed so at the first glance, Near remembered Wammy’s house as home foremost, where Quillsh Wammy would read the children stories during the evenings in the living room, where lazy summer afternoons would be spent in the garden, laying beneath the trees – with Near placing a blanket under himself to avoid the dirt getting into his clothes – and cold winter mornings would have majority of the children drinking hot chocolate in front of the fireplace, sometimes having taken a plate from the dining hall with food with them and sometimes, albeit rarely, Roger would showcase his skills on the grand piano located in the living room – it puzzled Near at times, why Roger, such a talented man when it came to playing the piano, would choose biology as his passion, but in the end he supposed he could relate somewhat – he would spend hours in the orphanage’s art classroom, painting, despite in the end detective work remaining as his main “profession”, if one could call it that. He had left that hobby behind during the Kira case, but still he couldn’t help but doodle with the pens onto the edges of the paper at times.

Quietly, he slipped out of his bed and shivered at the sudden cool – Near had always liked having thick blankets, and at this time of the year especially, he preferred to bury himself under a pile of warm, heavy covers that covered his whole bed – the feeling of them was comforting in an odd way, it made him feel safe, as if the soft cocoon could protect him from the whole world. A memory came into his mind – he must have been eight or nine, just having arrived into the orphanage, when he got terribly ill to the state that he had to be spoonfed, for there was no strength in the boy to do it himself. He had been sleeping most of the time, and almost all of the memories from back then were hazy, but on one occasion, he remembered, he had felt oddly bare – like a snail without its shell, he had thrashed, reaching for something he could not reach, mouth forming feverous, muddled strings of words – then someone had gently covered him with thick blanket, and at once Near had felt at ease as he heard Roger’s words - “It’s all good, your blanket just slipped, sleep on now,”. Thinking back, it was logical that someone would look after him – even when he caught nothing more than just cold, it was not uncommon for one of the staff members to be beside his bed at least a few hours during day, and of course during sickness so severe someone would be with him constantly. Near still remembered this gesture by Roger, and it made him feel an odd sense of warmth towards the older – though Wammy was arguably more gentle with children, at times even coddlling, while Roger was quite straightforward and could be a bit too strict sometimes, Near preferred the latter – Roger would not try to treat him like a child, would not try to wrap him into cotton like Wammy tried to do at times, and would not be afraid to expose Near to truth, even if it was cold and uncomfortable.

The soft, fluffy socks on Near’s feet made his steps almost soundless – though there was no need to be quiet, for Roger had given him a separate room now that he was the next L, Near preferred making no noise, even if there was no danger of waking up a roommate. Still slightly shivering from the cold, Near made his way over to a dresser to pull out a light blue sweater, one the nurse had knit him as a welcome home gift – Esmeralda, she was called, a middle-aged woman who had always had a talent for knitting, and more often than not, when she was looking over a child fallen ill, a new scarf or hat would appear over the night onto their nightstand or around their neck. Over the years, Near had accumulated quite a collection of woolen scarves – before growing into a teenager, his immunity system had been terribly frail, and Near couldn’t help but be thankful for the fact he had grown out of it.

Though he did have a pocketwatch Wammy had left to him in his will – the old inventor had left something from his large amount of possessions for each and every child in the Wammy’s house – Near bore the time no mind – by his guesses, it must have been three or four in the morning, but did it truly matter? Right now, all he wanted was to take a walk, perhaps get himself some water and go back to sleep.

Unlike his room, the corridors had no windows, and so Near had no option but to navigate using a wall to his right – his night vision was quite poor, and he did not want to risk running into a wall. Again, his slow steps made no sound – Near couldn’t help but feel a strange uneasiness creep up in him – the silence was odd, felt unnatural, harmful even.

But like the waves of a small pebble seem like monstrous waves on a calm lake, the silence amplifies the sounds, making even the quietest cough, the smallest wind feel like an orchestra, or a train whistle – and so Near almost jumped as he heard the sudden whisper around the corner – but after the momentary first startle that usually tends to disappear, his fear only heightened – he knew this voice, had known it so well – why was it still here? Quillsh Wammy had been buried years ago, why could Near hear his voice whispering now?

“Ought you not be in the bed at this time, young man?” The old man – no, what was left of him – a translucent, bright white shape of Quillsh Wammy, in his plain black suit as always – had turned around the corner, and Near took an involuntary step back, his mind racing. This could not be happening – this was impossible, ghosts were not real – once a person was dead, they were gone – Quillsh Wammy, their father had died – Near had been to his funeral, had heard his will read out by Roger, had geen to his grave…

Near opened his mouth to scream, but nothing come out – all he could do was wheeze, and suddenly his cheeks were wet with trails of tears running down them, he realized he couldn’t breathe – his lungs were expanding and deflating uncontrollably, shallow breaths the only thing moving through his mouth – and a moment later Near fell into darkness, his last sight before succumbing to sleep being Father’s glowing shape.

When he awoke, it was bright – it took Near a moment to realize that he was back in his own bed, under a soft, white blanket, and another to notice that he was still wearing the light blue sweater. Yet the night’s events seemed unreal – Near had never been religious, nor had he believed in ghosts. But then what had been this thing whispering to him in the corridor? Near knew that Roger couldn’t have carried him here – he would have been awoken in the progress, and despite being small for his age, Near still was a considerable weight for an old man to carry.

A small cough escaped Near’s throat, and with that came a slight pain – the young man cursed internally, curling his fingers into a fist. Could it really be that he had gotten ill just from that night walk? Though he did not feel particularly awful, it was quite cold, even despite the thick blankets and sweater – well, it was not like he had any cases to solve as of now. He could stay in his room for a bit and perhaps spend the day napping – the thought seemed good enough, and Near turned himself to face the wall, when he felt something terribly rough brush his fingers – texture of something oddly familiar, yet he couldn’t quite point out what it was…

Carefully he picked up what felt like a thick piece of paper, and the young man’s eyes widened in sudden mix of confusion and horror as he drew out the item from under his blankets – his own faint, cracked reflection looked back from the slightly torn silver wrapping, and a moment later the smell hit him – sweet and thick, like the chocolate Mello used to eat – Near remembered this smell far too well, he had always had a very sharp sense of smell, and this particular one always made him a little sick with its overpowering sweetness that tore at him like thick, thick mud, covering everything in its vicinity – yet the wrapping was empty, devoid of any crumbs or pieces, and a moment later the smell was gone as well. Though it was trash, it did not belong here, should not have been here Near still held it, dark eyes inspecting every single detail, every single bend and tiny tear – he had never been fond of chocolate, and he would have certainly felt it had it been in his bed earlier.

A sudden knock tore him out of his inspection, and before he could even respond, Roger entered. “You’re awake, I see,” the old man gave him a small smile, before walking over to the bed, “Are you feeling unwell?” In response to Near’s nod, Roger placed a plate he had been carrying onto the younger’s bedside table, “I brought you something to eat. What is this?” Near handed Roger the wrapper, turning his head away. “I found it,” somehow, it had suddenly become much harder to speak – and the slight ache in his throat was the least discomfort about it, “It appeared here,” Near had to bite his tongue to stop himself from crying – why, why had he suddenly realized part of him missed a certain blonde-haired child who would always try his best? They had never been friends – not enemies either, but outside of being rivals they had gotten along reasonably well, unless it came to competition of any kind.

“I see,” Though Near had turned away his eyes, he could hear that Roger’s voice was slightly shaking, “It must have fallen from somewhere.” Carefully, Roger reached to gently pet Near’s hair, and the younger could not help but relax a little, even if the touch made him shiver for some odd reason – he enjoyed receiving affection from someone he trusted, particularly when his hair was the one touched. Slowly looking up again, Near couldn’t help but smile a little at the sight of the plate on his nightstand – a bowl of porridge, with some honey on top – enough to keep the porridge from being bland, while also not overpowering with its sweetness. “Thank you,” Near muttered, adjusting himself to sit higher on the pillows and taking the plate in front of him with slightly shaky hands. As he raised a spoonful into his mouth, Near closed his eyes to indulge in taste – he loved it, the gentle sweetness of honey mixed with the porridge’s bland taste, but soft texture that made it easy to swallow and pleasant to feel with his tongue – even with a slight ache in his throat, Near could swallow without much pain, in fact it even seemed to ease it ever-so-slightly.

He was almost halfway finished with the bowl, when he looked up to Roger – the old man had been sitting in his chair the whole time, not saying a word. “Roger,” Near muttered, and received a hum as a signal to continue, “Do… No, rather, do you think that beings from afterlife, such as… ghosts, exist?” the night’s incident had suddenly resurfaced in his mind, and Near wanted some kind of confirmation – someone who would tell him whether or not he had been hallucinating, whether or not it was a dream – times such as these were rare, but even the greatest detective in the world needed support sometimes.

Roger chuckled at the question – a sound the old man had seldom made, especially over the last several years since the beginning of Kira case. “I never thought you would ask such things,” Roger’s face remained into a smile – though it was a sad one, “A child as oriented on science as you are… Well, I suppose there must be an afterlife of some kind, no?” Near nodded, continuing to eat as Roger spoke, “There is a belief ghosts are souls of the people who have passed on, but have not achieved peace and thus cannot move on to true afterlife. They are stranded here, some unable to ever leave, some only present for only long enough to say goodbye to the ones they care about.” Near looked up momentarily from his meal, and noticed tears that had come to Roger’s eyes. “Sir…?” The younger was at loss of words – never before had he seen Roger cry, besides Quillsh Wammy’s funeral, “Sir, what’s…” but he was interrupted. “Sorry, I lost control over myself,” Roger brushed away the tears, “You will understand when you are older, Near. Now eat and rest,” with that, the old man stood and left – Near couldn’t help but notice how pale Roger seemed – was the old man sick? Had it been just his own imagination? Deciding to pay it no mind for now, Near continued eating.

Several hours later, most of them filled with sleep, before he found himself unable to rest anymore, Near had found himself a piece of reading – Kafka’s The Trial, a book Near had wanted to read for a while, had even taken it to his room from the library a long time ago, but never had really gotten to it – when suddenly, just as he was about to finish the fifth chapter, he heard it – the faint sound of beeps coming from somewhere above. Dark eyes glanced to the ceiling – empty, just light wood, but nothing to cause the mechanical sounds – before going back to the book, and for a while Near managed to tune them out. However, the unmistakable whiff of cigarette smoke had him coughing and feeling sick just a mere few minutes later later – and then Near almost jumped at the sound of several books from his bookcase falling down.

With a sigh of annoyance, Near crawled out of the blankets – once again, shivering slightly at the sudden cold – and made his way over to the bookcase. He could not stand it when items were not as he had organized them, and books on the floor certainly were not part of the plan. However, as he glanced over the titles of the books, Near couldn’t help but stop for a moment. Two had fallen, and the names seemed to be too odd for conscience - “Fahrenheit 452,” Near muttered the titles aloud, “Basics of C++ programming language,” the former he had gotten as a gift long ago, and the latter he had bought a little before Kira case – now, too, he sometimes found himself indulging in books about computers and how they worked, but ever since Matt’s death Near found that it hurt in an odd way to think about such things, and so such things remained untouched.

As he stood up on his toes to reach the shelf from which the books had fallen, a tiny piece of paper fell from between the former book – Near picked it up as soon as he could, only to see no words written on it – just a single letter, written in a neat capitalised cursive.

Walking back to the bed, Near couldn’t help but gaze at the piece of paper – it could not have been his own handwriting, for his cursive had never been so good, and who would leave such thing between his books in the first place…?

His thoughts were interrupted by another series of beeping noises – Near had not even noticed that it had stopped for a moment, and this time they seemed have a pattern, one long, three short ones, one long, repeat, almost like a code of some kind – but the source still seemed to be from nowhere, (or was it everywhere?). No matter where Near seemed to walk, how he positioned himself, the beeps were same – when suddenly they stopped abruptly, ending with the last long one, and another whiff of cigarette smoke found itself into his nose, making him cough.

“I am losing my mind,” Near muttered to himself, returning to the book he had been reading before, “It is imagination,” one of pale hands wandered and found arm of a teddy bear he kept in his bed, squeezing it tightly for comfort, “It is just my imagination,” Near whispered again, putting down the book and letting himself lay down – he could not concentrate anymore, the sounds and sudden smell had been too distracting…

He did not notice falling asleep, but a knock on the door awoke him – this time it was Esmeralda, the nurse, a middle-aged woman with sharp face and dark hair put up in a bun. Almost immediately Near could tell something was wrong – there was something about her face that indicated it. “Hello, miss-,” he started, but was cut off.

“Near, darling,” the woman’s words were barely above a whisper, “I am sorry for not telling you earlier, I thought you were asleep…” “What is it?” His words came out sharper than he had wanted, but Near knew he had to know, had to learn – he felt that it was important, something he could not miss��

The nurse took in a breath, looking Near into eye, and letting out a mutter:

“Roger is dead.”

Near felt sick – the words were so simple, yet their meaning turned his world upside down, shook it all like a sudden stormwaves would shake a tiny fishing boat, and without even realizing it, Near’s mouth moved to let out a command, sharp and angry, rising in pitch: “Say it again.”

“Roger is dead – I’m sorry, Near, we thought you were-” “No,” In one quick motion, Near threw the blanket off himself, before bringing his knees to his chest and hugging them against himself, “He- Why?” He felt so utterly powerless, weak – just mere hours ago the old man had been here, talking to him, and now he was gone – Near wanted to run to his office and cling to him, scream at him – but Esmeralda was a serious woman, and Near knew she was not the kind to joke about such things – hell, nobody in this house would joke about such things.

“He died early in the morning,” Esmeralda’s voice tore Near out of his thoughts, “It must have been in his sleep, he passed peace-” “But he was here,” Near’s thoughts were racing once again, “He was here – he woke me up, he…” a sudden realization came onto him like an unexpected downpour – Roger’s words, the chuckle – the one Roger often made when a child’s guesses were quite close to the truth, but not completely – the paleness… There would be only one way to prove it – Near knew it was unlikely, but trying was the least he could do.

The rest of the day passed in an odd blur – Near slept a lot before the nightfall, and luckily for him his slumber was dreamless. When he was not sleeping he would be pacing around his room mindlessly, or staring into the ceiling, thinking before his eyelids would turn heavy once again. There were no beeps anymore, no falling books – only a few whiffs of cigarette smell, the only thing that grounded Near to the hope that he was right, for otherwise he would have thought everything else to be an odd dream of his.

Once again he woke early in the morning, and once again he slipped out of his bed quietly, once again he snuck into the corridor, hand on the right-side wall…

There was nothing but silence and darkness, and for a while Near roamed the halls, heart racing in anticipation, as he prayed to whatever deity might listen – please let me see them again, please let me see them again… And once again he flinched at the sudden whisper that came before the entity turned around the corner.

This time Quillsh Wammy was not the only one – Roger followed, a tired smile on his face, and behind him still in their teenage years, Matt and Mello. “Ought you not be asleep, young man?” Wammy’s voice was soft as it had been, but this time Near did not fear. “Father,” he whispered, “Roger, Matt, Mello-” the words caught in his throat, and a moment later Near realized he was crying. “Why are you here?” “I told you today,” Roger stepped closer, making Near shiver with the cold his soul emitted, “Some spirits need to bid farewell to their loved ones before being able to rest in peace. It seems they did not want to leave without me,” Roger knelt to Near’s eye level, “Don’t try to reach us, Near. At sunrise, we will go where we belong – humans cannot reach this place before their death.” Surprised by the words, Near nodded as Roger withdrew, and Quillsh came slightly closer instead. “Well done, my boy,” the elder smiled, “I am proud of you, especially for solving this case – I am sure L would be proud of you as well.” Matt followed, and Near noticed that unlike alive, his ghost form had no cigarette in his mouth - “Read the book, Near,” was all he said, “I know ya’re good at detective stuff, but programming is gonna be useful for ya,” and then, for a while, there was silence after Matt withdrew, before Mello turned to the youngest. “I hope I could at least help,” was all the second said, and this time Near respond to the ghost:

“Without you I would have died.” and a moment’s hesitation later, he reached out his hand, “Thank you, Mello. Was the paper from you?” As the ghost pressed his hand back, Near couldn’t help but shiver form the coldness, “It was,” Mello smiled a little, “I hope you will not forget me.” “I won’t.”

And then Mello was gone – stepped again behind Roger and Wammy, to be with Matt. “You ought to go back to sleep,” Wammy leaned slightly closer to him, “We wouldn’t want your cold to get worse, now would we?” At the elder’s words, Near noticed that the ache in his throat had returned – and what use would there be in trying to keep these ghosts here any longer? Without a word, Near nodded, and as he turned to look back one last time before turning around the corner, they were gone.

And no more did whiffs of cigarette smoke or chocolate wrappers appear in his room.

#fanfiction #submission #quillish wammy #Roger Ruvie #matt #mello #near #original character #Super Star Sayu 2k18

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shinobicyrus · 6 years

Note

I wish you would write a fic where... Jane Porter was replaced with Milo James Thatch in the Tarzan plotline or vice versa in the Atlantis: The Lost Empire plotline.

A response to This prompt challenge. Oh Anon, you gave me an in to write more about archaeology nerds and my favorite lost civilization, of course I jumped right on that second option.

After the third time waking up on the meager bedroll Ms. Sinclair had thrown at her to replace the one lost in the fire, Jane gave up trying to sleep. Days wandering in sunless tunnels miles below the earth had completely bollocksed her internal clock, and the weight of the day’s discoveries refused to settle soundly.

Somehow, the rest of the crew slept as though it all were a mere camping trip. Mister Santorini was content with a bag a volatile explosives as a pillow, Audrey was sleeping beneath a truck halfway through an overhaul, and Mole was…doing whatever Mole did in his holes.

She walked barefoot around her snoring crew, wearing the same sweaty shirt and begrimed skirt she’d been wearing since the Ulysses had sunk. There’d been so little time to grab what she could- besides the Journal, all Jane had of her luggage and equipment was the leather bag she’d carried around with her since university. Hardly what a sensible and proper adventurer would prioritize in dire circumstances.

What passed for nighttime in an underground cavern bigger than London slowly lightened into blue twilight. Jane’s feet padded across mossy stones that at one time might have been a street full of people busying about their day, thousands of years before the Roman empire had set foot in Britain with fancies of greatness.

Hiking up her skirt, Jane sat down at the water’s edge and dipped her feet to cool. The humidity was a ceaseless pressure since they’d arrived, unaffected by a lack of sun or conventional notions of weather. It took Jane back to her mother’s greenhouse in Kensington. The squish of soil between her fingers, dirt in her nails, quizzes for each plant’s name in Latin. Lonicera periclymenum. Digitalis purpurea. No, Janey dear, it’s pronounced Convallaria muh-jay-liss.

Undoing the snaps of her bag, Jane dug out her few effects that had miraculously survived the shipwreck intact. An engraved fountain pen her father gave her for her birthday, her personal journal, a few pages of scribbled notes about the Atlantean tongue, some pencils and a…

Oh. It was the telegram from the Museum board that her last expedition proposal had been denied. God, had that only been a month ago?

Tucking that carefully back into her bag, Jane tried and failed to catalogue her thoughts of the last few days. After some minutes of fruitless, scratched out attempts and resisting that old childish urge to chew at her pen, Jane looked up from the page and saw exactly what her words would never be able to impart with any due justice.

Pencils were more suitable for this sort of work. Already there were industrious fisherman out on the water in elaborately-carved junks, casting their nets out while distant cooking fires were lit in anticipation. Jane sketched them as quickly as she could, saving the details for the architectural backdrop behind them. A moss weathered dome surrounded by tents and rickety, stilted towers. A toppled pillar next to a half-submerged stone face like the fossilized head of some long dead giant.

It reminded her of Athens, or the holiday she’d taken with father to Rome. A people living in the literal shadows of their own history, monuments of proud glories turned bittersweet mausoleums to grander times long since past.

A single drop of water hit the page, smearing the lines of graphite. Jane sniffed and rubbed at her eye.

“Are you…alright?”

Jane squeaked and shot to her feet, nearly tangling in her own skirts and falling over right in front of-

Princess Kidagakash, looking every much like a warrior even absent of her stone spear and bits of armor. Her trim, muscled arms crossed over her chest and her brow furrowed, no doubt trying to figure out what nonsense Jane was embarrassing herself with.

“Princess!”Oh Lord, of all the people to have come along and catch her balling. Wiping her eyes as quickly as possible, Jane squared her shoulders and raised her chin properly. Kidagakash was royalty after all, not Jane’s royalty per se, but Father always stressed during travel it was only proper to respect the local customs. “No, I am not- that is to say, yes, I am quite all right. Very kind of you to ask. Is there something I can-?” Oh bollocks, Atlantean, Jane. Atlantean. “ T…taneb, gesu se kik?”

The Princess’ lips quirked as though Jane had told a joke. “Close. ‘Se kik’ would be you asking if you are helping me at this moment. Gesu go mik is closer to offering future assistance.”

Convallaria muh-jay-liss, Janey dear.

“Agh, of course.” Jane reprimanded herself and, cursing her lack of bloody pockets, dived down to one of her available papers and scribbled a note about tense suffixes. “I apologize, Princess. Please, how may I be of service?”

She chuckled, a low dignified sound. “You may start by unburdening both of us with the heavy ceremony, Jane Porter. My friends call me Kida.”

“Ah, well if we are to be dropping formality Prin- Kida,” she hastily corrected herself. “My friends call me Jane.”

“As you say.” That smirk was back, teasing Jane in a way that made her feel like she were a small mouse at the mercies of a smug cat. Kida walked to the water’s edge next to Jane, bent down and picked up Jane’s journal with the page open to an unfinished sketch. First name basis or not, Jane wrestled back her urge to rush up and snatch it from Kida’s curious hands.

She flipped through the pages crammed with Jane’s writing with little patience, pausing at a quick doodle perhaps, before finally ending on the last page. Her finger brushed against the paper, testing something, and abruptly snapped the journal shut.

“You are very talented,” Kida handed it back to her. Turning towards the city, with its toppled edifices and sleepy junks floating in the water, she said- almost to herself. “You see it too, do you not? How we live surrounded with constant reminders of what we once were, so that we can never escape from just how far we have fallen.”

She looked to Jane, her face grim. “It moved me to tears too, long ago. Now I fear I have little to spare.”

“I don’t think you- it is nothing of the sort.” Jane assured her. “We came down here expecting ruins. Instead we have…what must be the greatest single archaeological discovery in human history: a living, breathing, thriving culture!”

Kida shook her head. “It is true, our people live, but we are not thriving down here. Barely eking enough to last to the next day, while the dream of all that we were slowly wears away like water on a stone.”

Jane worried at her lower lip, hugging her journal to her chest and exhaled- “I- it was. When you came. I was looking at the city- your city- and it struck me at that moment how unbelievable it was that it was real and I was there to see it. And I only thought: if only my father were here to see this, and it got me to blubbering a little.”

She sniffled again, because that was exactly what she needed, losing her composure in front of a stranger, first names or not.

“I…am sorry,” Kida said. “I should not have-” She frowned, grasping at unfamiliar words. “May I ask why he could not participate in your journey?”

“He died.” Jane said, because it was easier to keep it simple. “Not even a year ago.”

Kida put her hand on her heart, grasping the crystal on her neck, and uttered what must have been a prayer- the words too low for Jane to fully make out. Nish…may his spirit? Embrace the…kerod? Heart? Or the spirits embrace his heart?

It was a lovely sentiment, and as much as Jane was touched it could not dull the bite out of her bitterness. “When he died, it was in disgrace. His colleagues saw to that.”

Kida raised an eyebrow. “Disgrace? What act would disgrace his honor?”

“He believed in you.” At her taken-aback look, Jane quickly corrected herself. “That is- in all of you. In Atlantis.” She gestured up at the world above the unseen ceiling of the cavern. “Back on the surface Atlantis is less than a myth. It’s a fairy tale, mere allegoric…cannon fodder for Plato’s ideal of some male-dominated utopia. Nothing a real scholar would waste a career pursuing.”

All the petty snickers, snide commentary and peer-reviewed floggings of so-called legitimate scholars. She choked on that anger she’d been swallowing down for years- less she wind up crying after all.

“Being here is your way to honor him,” Kida said.

“Something of that sort, I suppose.”

“And…your mother?”

“With father,” Jane replied with more aplomb. “The pox took her when I was a little girl.”

“I lost my mother as well,” Kida said sympathetically. “In the Mebelmok. I do not remember much of her- it happened when I was small, and it was so long ago. I cannot even recall what her voice sounded like.”

“If it weren’t for photographs I’m not sure I would remember her face,” Jane said. “Father let me keep some of her perfume- and sometimes when I smell it I remember- wait. Mebelmok. That means…’Great Flood’.”

Kida blinked at the change of topic, but nodded. “Yes, that is correct.”

“But I thought- the original fall of Atlantis-” Jane shuffled through her journal- her theories about the alleged single-night calamity. “Yes, it is also called the Great Flood.”

“There is no ‘also,’” Kida explained. “The Mebelmok brought an end to our empire and cast us below the waves.”

“But the way you spoke of it sounds as if…if you had been there.”

“Of course. I was very young, but I still remember the panic, the people fleeing, my mother-” Kida’s fingers wrapped around her bare wrist. “It is a difficult thing to forget.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to insinuate, but if what you’re saying is true, then you must be…” Jane boggled at the math. “Eight and half thousand years old?”

Kida shrugged. “Give or take a century.”

Jane swallowed around the foot in her mouth. White hair notwithstanding, She looked no older than Jane was- albeit far…fitter. “I. Well. You…look. You look lovely.”

“Pag en,” Kida thanked her with a pleased smile.

“But…but…how is this even possible?”

“It is our yoben,” Kida lifted the crystal hanging around her neck, set right near her heart, and cupped it in her hand like one would a butterfly. “Every Atlantean is gifted one on their naming, granting us long life and healing our hurts.”

“Like back at the cavern,” Jane almost felt the twinge in her chest, remembering the strange sensation of Kida’s hand pressed the crystal to the wound. Her reticence forgotten in the purest curiosity, Jane thoughtlessly closed the distance between them and took the crystal from Kida’s hand, examining its shape and facets, mesmerized by its gentle glow.

“But where do they all come from?” Jane looked up from the crystal to ask her, and realized too late how Kida had stiffened. “Is something wrong?”

Kida moved slowly to reclaim her crystal from Jane’s unresistant fingers, remembering just how easily this hardened woman with a body like a dagger could have done so much more forcefully.

“Among my people…” Kida explained slowly. “Taking hold of another’s yob is a very…familiar gesture.”

Jane already felt a self-conscious heat flush her cheeks. “Familiar?”

“How do I say…? It is like holding another’s…nish? No, their…karod.”

Karod? Wait which one was that? “Their…heart?”

“Yes! Like holding another persons’ heart in your hand. It is a…powerful gesture of trust.”

Mortified, Jane let the crystal drop and took a step backwards, stammering. “Kida, I am so- I didn’t mean t-”

“You did not know,” Kida shook her head, smile surprisingly gentle for having her person so rudely trespassed. “Ignorance is no grave sin, so long as it is rectified.”

“Thank you.” Jane ducked her head, still completely appalled with herself. “You’ve already been far too generous with the likes of me.”

“A thousand years ago, I might not have been.” The gentle, patient smile on Kida’s face passed into something grim and unrecognizable; only then did the full weight of Kida’s admission of her age truly settled on Jane.

“Kida-” Jane opened her mouth and faltered on a question she did not even know.

Like a fresh tide, the distant expression on Kida’s face was gone, and she looked up at Jane to declare: “I find myself hungry. Would you like to break your fast with me?”

“I think the camp can do without me, for a while longer.”

The morning meal was served in a large communal hut on the water, open on all sides to keep the air free of smoke from the central cooking pot.

Jane was personally not one for seafood, but with eighty or so centuries of practice, Atlanteans had learned how to prepare their constant diet of fish, moss, mushroom, mollusk, and seaweed with enough variety that Jane found a few dishes she enjoyed, though she was still averse to the grotesque giant prawn-like creatures Kida and Cookie had enjoyed eviscerating with gusto.

Many Atlanteans entered and left the hut without even touching any of the dishes. They were certainly obvious about their curiosity of the weydagosen, the outsider, but ultimately they only had eyes for their Princess.

Kida held a impromptu court of sorts while she sat on the floor cross-legged, ate, and spoke with her people. They brought their complaints of fish shortages in their districts, came to her to arbitrate disputes between neighbors, or ask for her opinion on matters of policy and distribution of scarce resources.

Her father may still had been considered King, but Jane wondered if Kida were aware of the mantle of queenship about her as she patiently listened to her people’s concerns. Precious wood from a section of the city overgrown with thin, reedy trees were deemed a fair exchange for another’s fresh clay. A pair of squabbling men left mutually dour but respectful of their Princess’ verdict. Frustrated fishermen were sternly reminded that spawning grounds were to be left in peace to maintain their fragile population of food, and that royal guards would not be lenient to those that favored selfishness above the needs of the community.

Jane stayed quiet and jotted down as much as she could in her journal, taking careful note of the words and inflections of the conversations to mortar the gaps of her knowledge of Atlantean. She attempted to draw Kida as well, but her pencils faltered at the curve of her bare shoulder or the details of her muscled middle. Most of Jane’s artistic expertise was calligraphy and blocky ruins, and after several failed attempts to properly depict the inimitable shape of her lips, Jane returned to the much more manageable task of learning a lost language.

The universal shriek of children at play made her start, and Jane watched a group of them scamper by and jump into the water like otters at play. When they dove below the water, the light of their crystals danced beneath the surface.

If Kida were truly that age or younger during the Great Flood, then those five year-olds could very well be older than Charlemagne. Jane was both in awe and a little envious- but quickly blanched at the thought of having her awkward teen years extended by a few centuries.

Her eyes drew themselves to Kida’s crystal again. It was no more remarkable than any of the others her fellow Atlanteans wore, but like the icy fractals of a snowflake, its cut was unique, and the glow shining through its facets painted interested shadows across Kida’s chest as it swayed on its cord.

Jane’s hand unconsciously felt the scar on her own chest. The wound had been deep and stinging when Kida had pressed crystal against it, briefly leaving a ghostly hand print at the spot. Now it was nothing more than a numb scar that looked years old.

“Does that still pain you?”

Kida’s voice made Jane start. A pair of ageless women across the room whispered something and giggled.

“No,” Jane forced the hand from the scar to her lap and held it there. “Not at all. I’m quite alright, thank you.”

“Good. I was not sure it was going to work on you, when I had tried it. We rarely have need to heal any wounds but our own, and never an Outsider’s.”

Jane nodded, made wordless by a thought:

What did such a thing signify, to use your heart on another person?

“Are you busy tonight?” Kida asked her. Jane nearly choked on her seaweed dish.

She swallowed and coughed. “I beg your pardon?”

Kida glanced around the hut at the other Atlanteans busy with food and conversation. “There is something I wish to show you later. Alone. Can you come?”

“Show me what?”

“Something I have managed to keep hidden for a long time.” Considering something, she looked Jane up and down. “Do you swim?”

“Well…yes, but I-” Jane gestured at her stained shirt and long skirt. “I didn’t exactly come prepared to.”

“Oh, that is alright,” Kida said agreeably. “It will only be the two of us, after all.”

For the remainder of the meal, Kida shared her giant prawn with a small girl that had sat down on her lap and chatted with the girls’ parents, all the while Jane felt she was perhaps sitting too close to the the cooking fire, her journal and bag untouched until they finally left.

#asks #Kida Nedakh #Jane Porter #Atlantis: The Lost Empire #Atlantis AU #(kinda)#well this sort of happened out of nowhere #what is it about this movie #I spent waaaay too much time researching the Atlantean language for a simple little oneshot #what the hell me #oh well here you go #Anon #sorry about the delay #my writing #my fanfiction #challenge fic

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starlit-scifi · 5 years

Text

Chapter 4

First•Previous•Next

Colab isn’t that bad anymore with Lori there to walk you through it. Your study group soon gains another pair: Chemical Engineering major Manda Yu and Astrophysics major Hayleen Danara. They’re the only other female duo in your year, were paired up last term, and are now preparing for their six-week training mission scheduled for the end of this term.

Manda and Lori have been roommates since their first year, and spend most of their time together making snarky comments at each other about whatever ridiculousness goes on with the mils. You and Hayleen quickly lose track of the conversation through all the slang and jargon, and end up trading small talk. She’s also a Tusie, a year older than you, and from the complete opposite end of the habitable zone, but there’s still enough to chat about while you study.

“You really like Lori, huh?” she asks as you doodle in the margin of your notes, lulled by the virtual lecturer's voice. Your hand jerks and the stylus pen draws a broad streak across Diplomatic Practices of the New Space Age, 6th ed., before you lose control of it altogether. You fumble under the desk until you manage to grab it, then sit up with calm and collected poise, you hope. Lorina and Manda have noticed the disturbance, and Lori, apparently amused, gives a totally ladylike snort before she turns back to gossiping with Manda. Hayleen raises her eyebrow at you.

"She's a good partner," you say simply, once you’ve paused the recording.

She smiles. “That’s good to hear.”

“How about Manda?” You ask quickly, because that’s just how normal conversations work, you think.

“She’s wonderful. Best friend I’ve made here so far, honestly.”

“I’m glad.”

She nods. “The whole Colab thing is a lot easier when you’re with someone you like. Granted, a pair isn’t truly tested until they’ve been on the mission, but I can at least be pretty sure Manda won’t murder me in cold blood.”

“Don’t get your hopes up, honey,” Manda teases. “We haven’t even gotten to the stressful part yet. Lori, remember our first year, when our third-years were prepping? Remember Sandro?”

Lori grimaces. “Oh boy, do I remember.”

Manda turns back at you, smiling grimly. “We’ll spare you the gory details, but let’s just say the way some people behave under pressure while in positions of authority isn’t exactly pleasant.” Lori nods along.

You raise your eyebrows at Hay and she rolls her eyes. “I’ve heard the story. It wasn’t really that bad. She’s just being dramatic, as usual,” she adds, rolling her eyes.

“You know you love it,” Manda teases.

“Oh, you know I do,” Hay returns. And it’s all just good-natured teasing, girls amongst girls. Something your introverted self never had as a kid, never grew into during school.

You fiddle with your stylus as the two of them joke around, suddenly aware that you’re not really part of this bubble of laughter and happiness. And you never have been.

Someone's foot taps you under the table and you look up. Lori smiles at you.

You smile back.

You're partners, after all.

You're not alone.

---

There's a couple of downsides to having Lori as a partner. For one, she holds a few leadership positions that take up quite a bit of her already limited time. This occasionally means she’s suddenly forced to back out on study sessions in order to deal with issues (she uses a few more curse words than you personally would to describe said issues, but you understand).

In addition to being heavily involved with mil stuff, she’s also been romantically involved with more than a few people on either side of Unity. Word gets around pretty quickly that you’re the newest subject of her affections-- which you’re not, of course, you’re project partners and you really wonder how the gossip mill has managed to disregard that glaringly important fact. Still, her admirers and/or exes make their displeasure with your continued existence known. This is mostly by giving you dirty looks, but occasionally they try to start things with you.

You find yourself getting a lot of practice with being diplomatic lately.

One afternoon you’ve decided to study in the library during your free time. You’ve just set down your things when someone sits across from you. She’s a second-year suppie, and you’re pretty sure she’s not in your dorm or any of your classes, so you wonder why she’s here.

“Excuse me,” she says curtly.

“Yes?”

“I just hope you know what you're getting into.” Dark eyes glitter against her olive skin and you feel the dread of yet another unpleasant social interaction settle in the pit of your stomach.

“...Excuse me?”

She sighs loudly. “Look. I know you’re getting all buddy-buddy with Lorina. If you take it any further, it’s not going to go well for you.”

“We're not--” you find yourself struggling for words suddenly, “We're just colab partners-- I don’t even know you.”

Another sigh, more disgusted than the last, and she stretches out a hand. “Tereza Unde, I’m a second-year comm major. We had a composition class together first term last year.”

“Oh. Okay.” You hesitate, but take her hand anyway. “Aurora Delenz, bio and relations double major. Nice to meet you,” you add. It sounds more like a question than it should, but you’re actually kind of unsure whether this interaction is even a good thing.

“Nice to meet you too. I’m just trying to watch out for you,” she adds, and somehow you don’t quite believe her.

“I can handle my personal matters myself,” you say firmly.

“Not with her, you can’t. Trust me. She’ll sweep you off your feet and leave you with nothing. She doesn’t actually care about you as much as you think, ever.” There’s painful resentment in her words. You don’t know anything about the situation, and you’re not sure you want to know-- mostly because you have an assignment due tonight and don't exactly have the time to listen to a complete stranger rant about her ex.

“As long as she cares about me enough to not fail the both of us, I’m happy. We’re just project partners, and that’s not going to change.”

She scoffs, sliding her chair back. “Yeah. Right. Don’t say I didn't warn you, Delenz.”

There’s a good half dozen things you want to say to her as she walks off, but you hold your tongue. No point in starting a fight.

No point in relying on her words alone, either.

---

-Do you have time to meet up right now?

-Yes, I was actually about to ask you.

-I’m in the library, usual spot

-Be there in a bit

A few minutes later she comes in, coffee in hand, glancing around the room. Her eyes light up when she spots you, and you smile.

“Have you started on the assignment yet?” she asks as she sits down.

You sigh. “Not really... I have a quiz tomorrow for another class, so I’m looking through those notes right now.” Or at least, I was trying to...

“That’s fine. I’m sort of putting it off too, this one looks like it’ll be rough.”

“Yeah.”

Silence falls. It’s a cozy silence, filled with the murmur of your fellow students around you and the smell of hot coffee. You breathe it in for a moment.

“So… I met a friend of yours named Tereza earlier,” you mention casually as you flick through your notes.

Lori’s eyebrows go all the way up as she sips her coffee. She clears her throat before she says, “Oh. How is she?”

Your fingers go still. “...to be honest, she seemed… kind of bitter.”

She sighs quietly. “That would be her.” She stares into her cup. “I don’t want to really get into it, but… I did mess up. But I apologized, and I tried to fix it… She’d rather stay bitter.”

“I figured.”

She shrugs. “Dating scene’s rough here anyway.”

You can tell she’s trying to change the subject, and you decide you’d rather just play along. “How else would it be, with a bunch of older teens and twenty-somethings stuck on a ship for ages?”

She shakes her head with a humorless smile. “Half of the issues I deal with involve the fact that most of the people in my unit have slept with each other and it's stupid.” She rips into a packet of crackers. “At least date outside,” she says between bites, “It's not that hard.”

“I guess,” you say with a shrug. She turns the package toward you and you take one, trying to eat at least a little more gracefully.

She looks at you pensively as she chews, then swallows. “You… never have really dated around, have you?”

“No,” you admit. Why do you feel so shy about it? “I never had the time, especially during secondary.” You snap a cracker in half. “Besides, my parents…”

“Oh, I forgot about Tusies and their arranged marriages. Up here, most of them ignore those arrangements; after all, who needs to know, right? We’re all going back eventually anyway, or something.” She looks down at her coffee. “Is he… nice, at least?”

Thinking of him for honestly the first time in months because the boy can’t be bothered to even write you, you can’t help but make a face. “He’s boring. It’s not like he's mean, or even really scummy or anything, but he’s not doing anything with his life, so I’m pretty sure my parents are going to break it off for me next time I go home.”

She snorts. “How convenient.”

“I guess?” You shrug uncomfortably. “It’s not exactly convenient, there’s paperwork and awkward fancy dinners involved. Plus it’ll just be awkward after I graduate since I’ll inevitably run into him everywhere. Ugh.”

She laughs. “I’m sorry, but I just don’t see how you can get a functioning society out of that mess,” she says, shaking her head.

You mimic a snooty old-fashioned voice as you say, “Genetic compatibility coupled with economic and political advancement…” Lori laughs again, and you shrug. “It was supposed to yield the ideal society back in the Separation Times, but now that the colonies are back in contact and population size has stabilized, it’s mostly done for political reasons.”

“And you…” she frowns. “Damn. I’m sorry your parents put you through that, like…”

“Making me a pawn? It’s not like that. It was more of a genetic match in my case. His family would actually get the better end of the deal, mine just wanted the lowest possible chance of recessive diseases. You know how it is.”

She makes a face. “Mm. Yeah, okay.”

You can tell she doesn’t really accept that, but it’s nothing you can change. She sips her coffee in silence, and you pick at a hangnail on your index finger, wincing at the pop of pain and blood when you pull too hard. You notice her watching as you put your finger in your mouth and you raise an eyebrow at her. She shakes her head at you with a small smile.

A question comes to mind by the time you've stopped bleeding. “Excuse me if it's a rude question, but don’t your people have a polyamorous family arrangement?”

Lori shrugs. “Eh… not… exactly? There’s two genetic parents, obviously, but a marriage is between three people,” she says as she draws a triangle in the air with her finger, lingering at the third vertex. “The third is a caretaker and mediator, and can be a parent outside the relationship, but is a part of both households, so usually extended families just live close together.” She retraces one imaginary line, drawing an adjoining triangle as she goes on. “My mimi-- our family’s third--took my dad as her third, so our immediate family is very small, but I was still never lonely growing up. Cousins, and all that.” She laughs. “So many cousins.”

“Sounds nice…” You look down at the painful mess you’ve made of your cuticles. “My parents were an arranged marriage. They were the children of politicians from formerly competing political factions, different bloodlines, a good match all around.” She nods slowly, but you can sense that it’ll take a while for her to warm up to the idea, if ever. “My mom’s side was mostly Workers, and my dad's was more part of the Old Earth elite, so my parents were sort of the face of this new, centralized vision for humanity. Basically, they traveled a lot trying to promote intercolonial policy, and still do. So…” Your mangled finger throbs, and you bite your lip. “I was almost always alone when I was growing up. Our house was programmed well, though, so I wasn’t raised too badly,” you add, purposely over-cheery.

She laughs and shakes her head. Even though you were trying to make light of it, that kind of hurts.

“What?” You ask, trying not to let it show.

“No, not too bad at all. You're okay.” She smiles fondly at you. “You don’t have to feel lonely anymore.”

“I don’t, not with you,” you say truthfully. Then you realize how that sounds and add hurriedly, “W-with you, and Hay and Manda. It’s nice.”

There’s something strange in her expression now, but you don’t understand it.

“It is,” she says simply.

But why does it all feel so complicated?

Her airscreen goes off and she checks the notification and groans. “I need to go work out. Wanna come?” She asks with a smirk, already knowing your answer.

“Nope,” you say emphatically. “Look, look, I’m injured.” You pout, showing her your finger. She takes your hand and you freeze up, but she’s warm and gentle, even though she’s only doing it to play along.

“That looks serious,” she says gravely, with barely contained mirth in her eyes. “Ice it and go lie down, but that’s no excuse to skip class tomorrow.”

You scoff and withdraw your hand, mock-offended. “Like I ever would.” And honestly, with her sitting beside you every day, you wouldn’t.

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ashafriesen · 4 years

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Expert roundup

Christina Nicholson – Christina All Day

Every ten-year-old girl is different and likes different things. Here, in my house, it’s arts and crafts. Any kind of creative gift like this is a gift that keeps on giving because it keeps her busy and is something she can use repeatedly.

Some of these gifts include colorful rubber bands and beads used to make bracelets, canvases with paints, activity books with crayons and markers, and even educational workbooks are a hit in my house.

In addition to creative gifts, games are popular because we have a big family to play games with. We also have some fun cooking and baking tools like kids measuring cups and spoons as well as cute aprons and chef’s hats to help in the kitchen.

Again, I think the best gifts are those that can be used to entertain, especially now during COVID-19 while we’re spending a lot of time at home.

Rebecca Smith – I Always Believed In Futures

I think the best gift for a ten-year-old girl right now has to be a book, especially something like Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World, a great look at women in our history or a kid’s classic series such as the Harry Potter series.

With the world ever-changing, it is important to help our kids learn about the world around us as it is right now and the history of great people who have been. I find that young children love books and as they get older, their appetite for reading increases.

As they become pre-teens, they develop even more of a thirst for learning, and nonfiction books such as the one I mentioned above seem increasingly popular, selling out across the world.

The reason I think this is a great gift is that it will last the test of time – she can constantly go back to it over and over again as the years progress. Better still, it isn’t made of plastic and doesn’t need batteries which a lot of toys and products for ten-year-olds do.

Far too often, a girl of that age will end up with a lot of toys that are either not age-appropriate or require an obscene amount of batteries or power.

Erica Schmidt Jabali – I Spy Fabulous

There are so many great gifts for tween girls, but they can all start to look the same. That’s why I created an empowering coloring book and journal for the tween girls in my life. You Are Enough has 55 pages of encouraging quotes, coloring pages, journal prompts, doodle pages, and more, to lift up the young girls in our life.

With powerful messages like, “You CAN do hard things!” and quotes from thought leaders like Michelle Obama, Amelia Earhart, Oprah, and many more, this is a journal designed to give them the boost and make them feel as strong, smart and beautiful as they are.

Plus, with plenty of space to dream, vent, doodle, and draw, this book will be the stress and anxiety reliever they need, too. Pair this journal with a pack of fun pens, coloring pencils or markers and let her creativity run wild.

Plus, you can grab the book and a pack of pencils for around $20, making it a very affordable option for the young girls in your life. It’s a jungle out there. Give your favorite girls the gift of a safe space to be built up and share their feelings.

Allie Edwards – The Perfect Pregnancy Plan

For any 10-year-old girl that is interested in animals and or nature a photograph loaded encyclopedia especially about her favorite animals is a wonderful gift.

It’s great to be able to get something that is educational but fun at the same time. There are so many beautiful encyclopedias about whatever topic your 10-year-old girl is interested in these days.

Just this year we got my daughter an encyclopedia of cat breeds, and encyclopedia of dog breeds, a bug-o-pedia, and one of rocks and minerals!

So I suppose you don’t even have to keep the topic to animals if there is a great encyclopedia available about another of her interests.

Because we don’t need them to look up information anymore, thanks to Google, encyclopedias have taken on a whole new life from the boring ones that we, as moms, can picture from our childhoods that took up an entire shelf in our houses and at the libraries.

Encyclopedias nowadays are focused on a particular interest, loaded with pictures, and put together in a very captivating way. Broaden your 10-year-old girls’ knowledge by fostering some of her interests.

It’s amazing how much more a kid will learn and study just on their own accord when it’s something they are passionate about.

Lauren Tingley – Simply-Well-Balanced

As a mother of a 10-year-old girl and child development professional, I know that it’s important for girls this age to feel confident, empowered, and strong.

As they enter their tween years they will face a lot of pressure from peers and from themselves. That’s why it’s important to build up their sense of self and help them to develop a strong identity as soon as possible.

I always recommend The Confidence Code for Girls as one of the best gifts you could give a 10-year-old girl. It’s a New York Times Bestseller.

It’s an interactive book with fun quizzes, comic strips, and stories from real girls that will encourage your daughter to become her most confident, amazing self.

Abbie Alter – Plano Moms

I have a 10-year-old daughter and recently gifted her a Kindle Unlimited subscription, so she can download books to her iPad (and read using the Kindle app).

A 6-month deal is currently less than $50, and $10 per month thereafter. They also offer a 30-day free trial which gives the chance to really try it out at no risk. The alternative to this type of subscription is to download each book separately (the cost adds up quickly!).

I have an app that checks what she is using and how much time is being spent on different activities online.

So, when YouTube Kids and Roblox time is restricted, she can read a number of different books without trips to the library to pick up books curbside.

There are thousands of amazing kids’ books. I spotted Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts and so many more.

If your 10 years old prefers to listen, they also have a great selection of books that they can listen to on the Audible app too. This is helpful on long car journeys or road trips, where we can listen to books together to pass the time!

Melinda Ashley – Unfrazzled Mama

Ten-year-old girls are hard to buy gifts for because they’re in a period of such transition. They’re no longer interested in the “kiddish” toys that they may have enjoyed a year or two ago, but may not yet be mature enough for the products geared towards teenagers.

Though this age is tricky, you can never go wrong with a good book! Books make great gifts for a preteen girl because it doesn’t matter if they’re totally into hair and makeup or still love to play with their stuffed animals.

There’s a good book out there for everyone. I love to give books as gifts because they provide hours of screen-free entertainment, and they are relatively clutter-free as well!

My top pick for a gift for a ten-year-old girl would be a book subscription from a company like My First Reading Club or Reading Bug Books. What’s better than new, age-appropriate books arriving in the mail every month?

The great news for the gift-giver is that you don’t have to try to figure out what books she enjoys. The curators of these subscription boxes know what kids like and do the work for you. With fantastic books arriving each month, it’s practically a guarantee that the recipient of your gift will find at least one book or two that she loves!

A book subscription is a gift a young girl can look forward to receiving and enjoy for months to come!

Barbara Nevers – NeoLittle

Ten-year-old girls are on the stage of great curiosity. They can understand a lot of things already, and are keen to discover everything that they can see. They are also starting to play a lot with other children and are learning how to adapt to different kinds of environments.

As for me, here are three of the best gifts that I would like my ten-year-old girl to receive: 1. Walkie Chalk Stand Up Sidewalk Chalk Holder. This is great for outdoor activities. They can draw a lot of things on the road, and play with their playmates outside.

This chalk holder will also make you join them and not worry about back pains. This can also develop their physical and writing skills while playing.

2. Books about Family and Friendship. Since they can understand most of the things happening around them during this age, you can start giving them good books to read. This can help them to acknowledge and appreciate different relationships in her life.

3. A set of Coloring Materials / Gel pens For them, these will be one of the coolest gifts ever! They will get giddy and excited about coloring, drawing, and sketching. This will help them develop their creativity and express their feelings through art.

Jo Middleton – Slummy Single Mummy

I’ve actually just bought a birthday gift for my niece – ‘Escape This Book! Titantic’

It’s a bit like a classic choose your own adventure book, which I absolutely used to love as a child, with a bit of escape room thrown in!

As well as just solving puzzles, there are interactive activities to complete like doodling and drawing elements, and it would be perfect for taking on trips or holidays as it’s so lightweight and doesn’t need any extra pieces or batteries.

I’m a sucker for a mystery myself and I love that I can nurture this same love in her.

Claire Thrifty – Thrify Parent

Our gift idea for a ten-year-old girl is SmartLab Squishy Human Body Model.

It’s not your standard ‘girls toy’ but for those girls that don’t want to be a Princess or dress like a unicorn (not that there’s anything wrong with unicorns or princesses!), this is great.

It’s fun, educational, affordable and it teaches them something (the kids’ parents will love you!).

No batteries required, this 12″ model comes with 21 removable bones and organs, that then have to be reassembled in the correct order.

It’s a terrific gift for a budding young doctor or surgeon – or just a girl that loves science, biology, and finding out how stuff works!

Evan Porter – Dad Fixes Everything

We desperately need to encourage more young girls to get involved in STEM fields. In my opinion, the best gift for a 10-year-old girl would be one that helps her learn skills like coding, engineering, or science.

I love play robots like the Wonder Workshop Dash Robot that allow kids to program their own commands and functions.

It comes ready to use right out of the box and girls can work their way up using different apps to enable basic behaviors all the way up to more advanced sequences, depending on their age and how quickly they pick up the programming language.

This robot (and others like it) are used in schools all over the country to introduce kids to science, engineering, and coding — and they work so well because they’re actually fun to play with!

This toy comes with a rechargeable internal battery so kids can use it again and again and again.

It’s an awesome first step for girls that will give them the confidence to keep pursuing STEM as they grow into middle school and beyond.

Balint Horvath – Project Father

Well, as you know, just a few days ago a historic event happened: SpaceX and NASA launched astronauts to the ISS. This is a major event that sparks the curiosity of not only many adults, but also children. It’s easy to see that almost all children are fascinated by the night sky and at some point, many of us wanted to be astronauts.

It’s a shame that at some point during a girl’s development, her attention shifts to activities that are supposed to be reserved for girls only. They play with dolls, they want to help mummy cook. That’s all nice, but what about science or engineering fields where there’s a severe lack of women?

My recommendation for a gift for a 10-year-old girl is this toy. It includes 4 women astronauts, showing girls that their dreams can become true even if they are girls. Not only boys can dream big. Needless to say, since it’s a LEGO toy, it offers other benefits, too which boosts kids’ creativity.

Leisa Papa – Little Kids Business

If you have a ten-year-old girl’s birthday on the horizon you will know that every girl is different however most have one thing in common and that is the love of creating music.

What better way to give the gift of music and enable your child to create learn along the way. Smartivity Mechanical Xylofun Music Fun – Let’s make music is one of the coolest and latest S.T.E.M toys.

Affordably priced, with learning based on a D.I.Y. kit, your child can create their very own music for every ear. This gift includes all the elements required to build a music machine, including pegs for arranging and rearranging notes.

Once assembled, children learn about music notations and can compose their own tunes by placing the pegs in different slots.

For those a little nervous, there are easy to read instructions for composing two simple tunes to allow children to explore the magical and wonderful world of music.

For Ages: 8 years and older, this gift will take approximately 90 min to build with no batteries required. With the ability to develop unlimited Analytical, Creative, Motor and Practical Skills, children will love to actually compose their own music tunes on something they made. Show and tell is going to be exciting.

Denise Lisi DeRosa – Cyber Sensible

Get Girls Tech!

More and more our lives, relationships, knowledge, education, and careers are centered around technological literacy so I say, get the girls some tech!

My suggestion is to start with video games. This may seem counter-intuitive given that much of our discussions about technology center around screen time overuse concerns and gaming addiction.

So, why am I suggesting video games? Studies have shown that girls’ interest in STEM diminishes due to the lack of digital products marketed specifically to girls.

We need to make sure that girls are provided the same on-ramps to the tech industry as boys. This starts with games that are created with girls in mind.

For 10-year-old girls, I suggest the Nintendo Switch. There are a number of games that can be played together with family or friends and several titles are geared toward girls.

In addition to popular games like Animal Crossing, Minecraft, Super Mario Party or Pokemon are titles like Just Dance, The Legend of Zelda, Gris, Spyro Reignited Trilogy, and Ori and the Blind Forest.

If we encourage girls to enjoy tech when they are young, maybe they’ll become the powerful tech leaders of tomorrow.

Mikaela Walker – Orlando Parents Magazine

The best gift for a 10-year-old girl is a Nintendo Switch Lite (my daughter will be getting one for her birthday). At this age, girls seem to have grown out of pretty much everything except electronics, so a Nintendo Switch Lite is a perfect choice, as she will still be delighted with it, but it is much cheaper than a tablet or a computer.

She will be able to take the Switch Lite in the car with her on longer car rides or on road trips. This will keep her fully occupied so that the travel time will fly by. Parents will no longer hear the dreaded words of I am bored and how much longer until we get there.

The Nintendo Switch Lite is also perfect for taking along on plane rides, as it is compact and won’t take up too much space in a carry-on. Your daughter won’t care how long your layover is or how the flight takes as she will have something to entertain her.

Claudie Pomares – Mendability

The best gift for today’s ten-year-old girl is a smartphone without a plan but with Facetime style apps.

Ten-year-olds do not yet have a clear sense of identity and they define their universe by parents’ approval and peers’ acceptance. They are not anxious to grow older and mimic the look and behaviour of adults which is still too confusing and beyond their psychological horizons.

They surrender to cravings, only exercise if their lives depend on it and are happy in their temporary cocoon.

The magic of childhood which gave life to dolls and plush toys is fading rapidly and they rarely find interest in what demands steady focus or effort.

The first feminine trait to blossom in ten-year-olds is the imperative need for unending chatter with other little girls, nose-to-nose, joy to joy, jumping from whispers to shouts in an adorable frenzie.

Little girls of today only envy one thing their older siblings possess: a phone which opens wide the wonders of timeless and location free conversations with all their best friends.

They will become egocentric teenagers soon enough. It is best to provide a phone early, at an age when they still can be taught about the safe use of the inernet.

Christina Cay – C’MON MAMA

For a 10-year-old girl, the best gift is one that gives her a sense of autonomy. Ten years old is a key age in terms of overflowing curiosity & the desire for some level of independence.

Her own digital camera is one of the best gifts you could give a 10-year-old girl! It is something she can easily learn to operate on her own, it fosters exploration, and it will enable her to share how she sees the world with others.

A digital camera is also a “nice” gift that will make her feel special & important, and a gift like that will encourage her to take care of her things. She will also learn to make sure it is charged before she intends to use it, which further teaches personal responsibility.

But the bottom line is—she’ll love it.

Bonus points if you throw in a tiny photo printer she can keep in her room & operate independently so she can print her favorite snapshots on demand. We used to decorate our walls with posters—how about decorating her wall with pictures & portraits she took herself?

We often say if only we could see the world through a child’s eyes. Let’s give them the tools to show us.

Jane Wilson – Modern Housewives

In my opinion, the perfect gift for a 10 years old girl, is an Instax Mini 9 Instant Camera. It’s a great gift because it’s cool and classical at the same time.

It’s not a digital camera, but the pictures get developed instantly, which is pretty awesome and impressive.

She can run around, make memories, and get cool images she can later on present as cards or just glue them to a notebook or anything else she likes.

These cameras also come in many nice and vivid colours, like flamingo pink or lime green. You can see the product here.

Tracy Murdock – Your Twin Mom

A camera would be a fun gift for a ten-year-old girl.

She could take photos of nature or family. She could create a collage of pictures. She could add pictures to a journal to create a story.

She could set up a photoshoot with her favorite dolls dressed up. She could create a keepsake journal of fun memories with her family that summer.

She could take pictures of animals she observes and adds them to a science journal with animal reports.

Lauren Schmitz – The Simple Homeschooler

We are actually celebrating a birthday for my oldest daughter very soon, so I have been doing a lot of gift shopping lately.

I think the best gift you can give a 10-year-old girl is lego sets. They are an incredible screen-free way to get your girl thinking, building, and creating!

There are endless options to pick from – your daughter could build a palace, a treehouse, or a rocket ship! She will be amazed at what she is capable of building by just following the step by step directions.

Once she has put her lego set together, she can display it – or more likely, take it apart and make something completely different!

She is challenging herself, learning so much, taking pride in her work, and having so much fun!

Definitely a win-win!

Dave Pedley – Your Cub

Finding good gifts for a 10-year-old girl can be challenging, it’s that in-between stage where they’re “leaving” childhood and entering the tricky pre-teen years.

They’re probably seeking more independence than usual and forming their specific tastes and styles.

Personally, I love crafting kits. These kits come in a variety of ways and you’re sure to find an option suitable for the girl you’re gifting… it’s a great activity that doesn’t involve the screen, she can get her friends involved and you have an end-product that serves as a great memory.

Dhanya – Parenting Passage

I believe that gifts for children should have an educational aspect as well as being fun. The best gifts are those that allow children to apply knowledge learned in school to real-life activities that they enjoy.

At 10 years old a child can be enrolled into a PADI Scuba Diver certification course. At school, they will be starting to learn about biology, physics, and the environment. During the course, they will cover all these subjects and put them into practical use in the water hopefully seeing Nemo at the same time!

The course has 3 parts:

– 3 Knowledge Development Sections (eLearning, independent study or in a classroom) to understand basic principles of scuba diving

– 3 Confined Water Dives to learn basic scuba skills which can be done in the pool or in swimming pool-like conditions

– 2 Open Water Dives to use the skills and knowledge to learn and explore the underwater world.

The Open Water dives can be completed on holiday in warm water within a year of passing the first 2 parts. This really is a sport that keeps families holidaying and taking breaks together for years and spans generations.

Shannon Serpette – Mom Loves Best

I’d recommend a Razor A Kick scooter for a 10-year-old girl. My daughter got so much use out of her scooter at that age. Whenever she’d want to go to a friend’s house, she’d hop on her scooter and get there faster.

You don’t need any batteries for this product, and there are several color choices. If your daughter doesn’t like pink, she can opt for other less-girly colors.

They are much more affordable than bikes, less intimidating for kids to try, and they take up far less storage room.

Also, it’s a gift that will help kids stay active and keep those unwanted pounds off. It’s a good exercise for kids, and it can help teach your child how to ride a bike when all else fails.

After a year of riding her scooter, my daughter, who had never learned how to ride a bike, hopped right on a bike and was able to ride it with no problems.

Katie Green – Green Active Family

To me, the best gift for a pre-teen girl is one that’s going to get her away from screen time and outside to enjoy sunny, active days.

To this end, I’d recommend an age-appropriate kick scooter that’s going to grow with her throughout her teen years, too. Scooters are a great gift because they can be used independently or with friends.

They’re a good option for encouraging an active lifestyle on days when friends aren’t around to hang out. She’ll also be able to scoot with friends, either by sharing her own scooter or with friends who have their own.

Scooters are also super practical for getting to and from school and after school activities – doubly so for parents who might be concerned about germs spreading via a school bus. Just double-check your school’s policy before bringing the scooter for the first time.

When shopping for a scooter for a 10-year-old-girl, look for a model that’s going to last a few years, at minimum. Most pre-teen and teen scooters will be suitable, in terms of weight and height, so look for something with good reviews in relation to the price point.

Personally, I like Lascoota’s teen scooter. Despite the name, it’s suitable from ages 8 and up. The handlebar is height adjustable, so this scooter should last well into her teen years.

Joel Flynn – Gentleman Zone

Girls are very tricky at this age. Dolls and construction playsets won’t work on your typical 10-year old.

In their heads, they see themselves as “almost teens” and you just can’t argue with their logic.

If the kid is into sports, your best bet is going to be a skateboard or bicycle.

If she is on the artistic side, a secret diary or a fancy fashion coloring book is the way to go.

Also, a pet is always a good alternative – there isn’t a kid on this planet that won’t be happy with a hamster.

Whatever you do, DO NOT buy her a stuffed animal – you won’t hear the end of it.

Scarlet Paolicchi – Family Focus Blog

I would say that the best gift for a ten-year-old is one that encourages her interests. This lets her know that you pay attention to what interests her and that you value her thoughts and feelings.

So if you notice she is quite the reader, some nicely bound copies of books in the genre she enjoys would be perfect.

If you notice she is a writer, a pretty journal and some fancy calligraphy pens may be just the ticket.

If you have a budding scientist on your hands, a telescope, chemistry kit, or crystal making kit may be perfect for her.

If you don’t know the girl well enough to know her interests, I would suggest a craft kit a great all-purpose gift. Crafts are great for encouraging creativity and can be personalized by the girl to suit her style.

They also involve a lot of elements that are great for children, following directions, often learning new skills, problem-solving, and more.

There are all kinds of fun craft kits available or you could even create your own if you have a particular ability you’d like to share such as jewelry making, crocheting, etc. A craft gift is a great experience gift that they then get to keep as decoration.

Pinky McKay

I bought my granddaughter a sewing machine for her 10th birthday, she had been sewing with me when she visited, asking to sew every time she stayed overnight.

She had started making dolls clothes, scrunchies, a reusable bag and a baby carrier for her dolls, we have drafted patterns together, she has learned how to create and follow a pattern, use various seams eg french seams when she made her doll’s pants.

A sewing machine is a vehicle to encourage creativity, confidence, self-sufficiency, and self-esteem as the ten-year-old learns useful, practical life skills.

Erum Zehra – Muslim Moms

I recommend these card games as gifts for ten-year-old girls.

Mad Dragon: An Anger Control Card Game

Young children often have trouble understanding their feelings and emotions and what causes them. This makes it harder for parents to understand and deal with them as well. These card games help children understand emotions, express them and communicate them while playing a game with their parents.

This results in a therapeutic experience for both the parent and the child and they are able to understand each other better and communicate better.

Helen Wills – Actually Mummy

I would say every 10-year-old girl loves glitter! And as girls around this age are starting to become interested in making their own fashion statements, experimenting with face glitter and gems is a wonderful way to let them unleash their creativity.

These Gypsy Shrine face jewels are fun for tween girls who want to dress up for a party, or for creating ‘looks’ on a sleepover. They can go for the full face or hair-parting glitter look, or just use a crystal teardrop for a bit of dazzle. They stick really well and come off with normal makeup remover.

I don’t think parents should be worried about their daughters experimenting with makeup at this age either.

My own daughter became very interested in makeup techniques from YouTube tutorials and started appearing with beautiful eye makeup that was totally beyond her years.

I worried for a long time, but eventually, she stopped, and now at 15 goes for a very natural look.

My point is, it’s just creativity – basically colouring and craft for older girls! Let them enjoy creating fun looks for parties with glitter and gems, and they will love you for it.

Samantha Radford – Evidence-based Mommy

My daughter loves figures from the Schleich Bayala set. These beautifully crafted figurines include elves, unicorns, mermaids… everything from a little girl’s fantasy world! These realistic toys contain a lot of detail, making them super fun to play with.

The Glittering Flower House (with a stable for the horses) comes with a tiny kitchen, a dining area, and more. In addition, you can buy several separately sold unicorns, elves, and dragons to build a whole universe.

The best part about the Bayala set is how it inspires imaginative play. I love listening to the adventures my daughters come up with while playing with their unicorns and fairies. The girls have the fairies cook, ride their unicorns (each fairy and unicorn pair have magnets to make sure they stay together during play).

Schleich toys are beautifully made. My daughter knows that these figures are special toys and takes care of them.

And if your daughter isn’t into unicorns and fantasy, Schleich also offers other playsets – including all sorts of animals, dinosaurs, horse stable sets… There are a lot of options out of this company.

In a world where most toys are electronic and we’re pushing kids to grow up faster and faster, I love that these toys don’t require batteries, just creativity. They’re a great way to get your kids playing and actually enjoying childhood.

Christopher Byrne – The Toy Guy

Tie-Dye is back in a big way. Major designers like Prada and Burberry have been showing the treatment on the runway.

It was featured in a huge Project Runway episode earlier this year.

10-Year-Old girls are aware of fashion in the larger culture, and, of course, want to be cool.

Highly recommended for the opportunity for creativity and self-expression, plus the fun of wearing (or sharing) something you made yourself.

Plus, this combines creativity, fashion, sharing, and social play (Probably just within the family for now.)

This is very easy to use. Tie up the fabric (like a t-shirt up to a Men’s L) put it in the spherical container. Mix up the dyes. Turn the crank, and squirt in the dyes from the one-direction openings, which means NO MESS.

Easy to rinse, wash, wear, and share.

You can make multiple designs with the materials provided, and the instructions show kids how to tie up their fabrics for optimal results.

Plus, it’s a great value at $19.99.

The only drawback: It’s selling out as fast as they can get it in stock! Truly one of the hottest toys for the first half of the year.

Oh, and boys can play, too!

Available at Target, Walmart, and Amazon.

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doodlewash · 4 years

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Hello friends! My name is Milena Guberinic. I was born in Yugoslavia and moved to Canada during the Yugoslav Wars of the 90s. I have mostly lived in Toronto since then. I always loved drawing, doodling, coloring, and creating all kinds of contraptions, but my first memory of falling in love with capturing something out in the world on paper was just before my family’s move to Canada.

I wanted so badly to keep close the image of my grandparents’ summer house that I spent hours and days working out exactly how to draw, shade, and render the thing to my satisfaction. It was in the course of that drawing that I figured out how to handle perspective, and it was in the course of that drawing that I first felt the true thrill of discovery in the art process. After that, I wanted to do nothing else! But life has its ways (and opinionated parental units) and those steered me away from art, into science and math, and finally, Japan.

I ended up learning Japanese, attending a university program in Tokyo, and later working in the south of Japan. While there, I finally had time and space to breathe and felt inspired by my surroundings to resume my childhood art ventures. I spent a great deal of my free time drawing everything I could, but didn’t do any painting, as the process of “proper” (i.e. oil) painting was just too laborious and demanding for me.

Upon my return to Canada, I became a Japanese-English translator. I also started a board game blog and Instagram account that grew in popularity, but I soon realized that my favorite part of doing any of it was producing the vibrant visuals. And so, I turned my eyes back to my pencil box and started drawing again… and eventually painting.

That was about two years ago. I felt like I was starting from scratch, but having access to online resources like Artists’ Network and Schoolism gave me a wealth of material to devour. And devour it I did. I learned everything I could and explored a great variety of media. In fact, I continue to do that daily and believe that we are all students for life.

I truly latched onto watercolor when I discovered the watercolor works of Charles Reid. Since then, he has been my greatest teacher and inspiration, and watercolor has become my greatest comfort and joy. I love the fluidity, immediacy, and quick turnaround time of watercolor, the ease of drawing the brush across the paper, and the wondrous effects that the pigments produce. And with a full-time job and a slew of health issues, I don’t have much time or patience to wait for oil paint to dry or to fiddle with cleaning supplies and toxic solvents.

Ultimately, watercolor simply suits my personality. It can be as spontaneous and fluid as it can be meticulously controlled and as soft and polite as loud and demanding, but it is always a lot of fun. I think everyone needs more fun in their lives. And I do try my best not to take things too seriously in art or life. It isn’t always possible, but I think that watercolor encourages a more fun and fluid approach, at least in producing the watercolor work I tend to find attractive.

As for subject matter, I am primarily drawn to life. I most love animals and humans and life drawing/painting and portraiture are my primary means of expression. I’ve had to leave many beloved humans behind and lost my closest family members far too early, so I wish to immortalize people in paint. I sometimes use multiple faces to imagine what my father might have looked like if he had had a chance to grow old. And, I often paint relatives. Ultimately, life attracts me because it is so short and fleeting and I feel a strong need to give it a more solid form.

Materials

As for materials, I am a shameless art supply junkie. I love paint, markers, pencils, and papers of all varieties, but most of all, I simply love color itself. I have no qualms with using funky assortments of craft paint like Prima when I just want to practice, play, and explore. And I love learning about other artists’ preferred palettes. In fact, Charlie’s “Vintage Trio” set from Da Vinci was the first artist-curated sets of paint I ever bought!

However, most of the time, I will use my own palettes of artist-grade paint from Daniel Smith, Schmincke, and Holbein. I also recently discovered Roman Szmal Aquarius watercolor and have been hooked on that since, as it is very affordable and rewets beautifully into gooeyness I can slap onto paper with abandon. I tend not to mix my paint on the palette and do tend to use a lot of paint, so my palettes are extensive and filled either with fresh paint from tubes or with highly rewettable pans like Schmincke and Roman Szmal.

I am attracted to a broad range of colors and pigments, but there is one thing that I never compromise, and that is Winsor & Newton PB 35 cerulean. I have a terrible addiction to cerulean and wish Winsor & Newton would make their PB35 available for sale in buckets! I go through it like a woman possessed, truly.

When working in ink, my favorite thing to use is Rohrer & Klingner Sketch Ink. It is suitable for use under watercolor as it dries very quickly and is nice and matte. The shade “Thea” is my favorite grey. I also use a variety of ink brush pens, but my most highly used ones are the Pentel pocket brush pen and the Akashiya thin line brush pen – the Pentel is great for covering larger areas and the thin line for very tiny details. I like to make very small drawings and the Akashiya thin line pens just feed that addiction.

As for brushes, I prefer the Escoda Perla range. They hold plenty of pigment and water while providing good control. I also use various synthetic flats, some of which are better suited for acrylic painting. I tend to use flats for quick studies and tests because they allow me to cover a lot of ground in a short time and make very definitive shapes with ease.

For daily work, I love to use watercolor sketchbooks. I live in a very small apartment with many things and not a lot of space, so I have no special storage space for work on loose sheets of paper. Any work in such a format ends up crumpled and stained. I also feel much less pressure when working in a sketchbook, so I stick to that when I’m working for myself.

With many fine options made of cellulose and even 100% cotton from Stillman & Birn (I love Delta and Zeta) and Strathmore (specifically, their new cotton travel journals and 400 Series watercolor sketchbooks), I don’t feel a need to stray too far from my preferred “book” format. The Stillman & Birn Zeta is a particular favorite because of the unorthodox effects it can help produce. However, I do also work on Fabriano Artistico and Arches cold press when doing work I do not intend to keep for myself.

Truly, I could go on about materials for ages and pages, but I’ll stop here. If you would like to discuss art “stuff,” I am always open for a good chat!

Closing Words

I will forever be indebted to the online art community and to Charlie’s generous gift of the space to share my passion with the world. I suppressed my natural urge to create for many years, but it always managed to manifest itself in my life in some form. I didn’t feel like I deserved to make art, and I didn’t feel I could create anything worthy of sharing.

However, starting an Instagram account during Inktober taught me that planning, creating, and sharing daily can be a worthy and awarding endeavor. With encouragements and opportunities to learn and create every day, like the Doodlewash prompts and community, it is easier than ever to find a place to belong. And to feel deserving of that place. Thank you.

Milena Guberinic Instagram

GUEST ARTIST: "Ends and Beginnings, Beginnings and Ends" by Milena Guberinic - #doodlewash #WorldWatercolorGroup #watercolor #watercolour Hello friends! My name is Milena Guberinic. I was born in Yugoslavia and moved to Canada during the Yugoslav Wars of the 90s.

#WorldWatercolorGroup #animals #doodlewash #drawing #featured #figuredrawing #illustration #painting #portraits #sketching #watercolor #watercolour

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jackieisonline · 6 years

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[Drawing on Everything] Week One

~~Part 1: 10 Different Drawing Apps/Software~~

[Note: After I wrote about these I then got the instructions that we should research software, so I’m not sure that I should have picked ones that I already have used. Hopefully this list is still insightful though!]

My formative childhood years were defined by learning how to use the computer to draw, so picking 10 different drawing apps/software is a nostalgic exercise for me. This list will be vaguely chronological, starting from the first drawing software I’ve ever used, and the years that I’ve used them.

1. MS Paint (2000ish-2007)

My first experience with drawing on the computer was MS Paint.

2. Oekaki (2006-2008ish?)

Around age 10 I discovered that the internet was a thing that had communities, so I joined something called an “Oekaki board” - these were forum-like environments where you used an online drawing applet to post your art, and other users could comment and critique on your work. There were a lot of these different boards around - in particular I was really (cough, am still) obsessed with this one Nickelodeon show, “Avatar: The Last Airbender”, and spent the good amount of my pre-teenage years learning to draw by joining related boards and creating fan-art.

The actual drawing applets on these boards were varied - there was one called “Shipainter” which I liked to use, especially for its watercolor brush with a dynamic range of opacity. I think this program was conducive to developing a soft coloring/shading style, which is still part of my current style.

(2007) I also became really into Naruto fanart communities as well. 10+ years later I’ve started watching the series again, so life really starts to surprise you.

3. Corel Painter (2007-2008ish?)

I think this came free with my Wacom tablet, so I played around with it a bit when I was 11ish - but I remember it confusing the hell out of me. I think it was the “oil-painting” effects that added some 3D texture to your drawing, that I just didn’t know how to wield at that age.

3. Photoshop (2008-present)

I started to feel at the age 11 that drawing on the computer was really my passion, so I asked for Photoshop Elements for as a Christmas gift. I really got into Photoshop and started to do more elaborate digital painting. I also used it to go extremely overboard in any middle school projects that involved some type of graphic design or illustration work. Past me was really excessive, but I guess that took me to where I am today.

My first Photoshop Elements creation. I named it, “In Those Eyes”. Fitting.

4. Drawing Games: Draw My Thing (2011ish?)

In high school I would go on this site called OmgPop and play this online, multiplayer Pictionary style game. Obviously I wasn’t trying to build my art portfolio through this game, but I think in a sense it’s a good test about how to sharpen your symbolic thinking and drawing skills in a timed setting. Whatever phenomena happens during this is really interesting and probably relates to big ideas about human intelligence and communication - it’d be cool to do some further research on this.

6. OneNote (2014-2016)

I had a windows laptop at the beginning of my undergrad that let you draw on the screen with a pressure-sensitive Pen. It was a Lenovo Yoga Thinkpad. I remember taking notes in OneNote for my classes but also using it to doodle.

I drew this in OneNote, before going to college. I just went to visit Japan in the summer so I referenced this from a magazine I got.

6. Sketch (2016-present)

Sketch is a vector based software for doing things like UI design. Because I’ve kind of veered toward UX design as a career path lately, I’ve been using it a lot in the work that I do for internships but also to design personal projects, and sometimes create illustrations.

One of the first things I made while learning this software was a set of avatars for myself.

7. Mischief (2017)

Mischief is this software I downloaded a free trial for. Apparently it’s raster based drawing software (like Photoshop), but allows you to infinitely zoom into your drawings without quality loss the way vector based software works.

8. Google Machine Learning Drawing Game (2017?)

This came out a bit ago - it’s like pictionary in that you have to draw an object and others guess, but in this case “others” is a machine learning model trained to recognize drawn objects. I have similar thoughts/questions to my Draw My Thing example.

9. TV Paint (2017)

One year ago I took an animation class at Harvard. This is more like software dedicated for animation but has a pretty robust brush set and features, which is nice since you can just create the art directly in the program as you animate.

10. Piskel (2018)

I used this tool when I was making animated sprites for a video game group project during my final semester at MIT. I later moved to Photoshop because it was getting difficult to manage files only using the website’s interface.

~~Part 2: Drawing in the Present~~~

That was a rather intimate history of my prolific but embarrassing pre-teen self. Let’s draw some stuff today, as a 22 year old grad student.

For each type of software, I’m giving myself 20 minutes to draw whatever my hands/mind gravitate to. Apparently today it’s colorful girls.

1. Photoshop

2. Sketch

3. Piskel

#drawingoneverything

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ashafriesen · 4 years

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Expert roundup

Christina Nicholson – Christina All Day

Again, I think the best gifts are those that can be used to entertain, especially now during COVID-19 while we’re spending a lot of time at home.

Rebecca Smith – I Always Believed In Futures

As they become pre-teens, they develop even more of a thirst for learning, and nonfiction books such as the one I mentioned above seem increasingly popular, selling out across the world.

Far too often, a girl of that age will end up with a lot of toys that are either not age-appropriate or require an obscene amount of batteries or power.

Erica Schmidt Jabali – I Spy Fabulous

Allie Edwards – The Perfect Pregnancy Plan

For any 10-year-old girl that is interested in animals and or nature a photograph loaded encyclopedia especially about her favorite animals is a wonderful gift.

Just this year we got my daughter an encyclopedia of cat breeds, and encyclopedia of dog breeds, a bug-o-pedia, and one of rocks and minerals!

So I suppose you don’t even have to keep the topic to animals if there is a great encyclopedia available about another of her interests.

It’s amazing how much more a kid will learn and study just on their own accord when it’s something they are passionate about.

Lauren Tingley – Simply-Well-Balanced

As a mother of a 10-year-old girl and child development professional, I know that it’s important for girls this age to feel confident, empowered, and strong.

I always recommend The Confidence Code for Girls as one of the best gifts you could give a 10-year-old girl. It’s a New York Times Bestseller.

It’s an interactive book with fun quizzes, comic strips, and stories from real girls that will encourage your daughter to become her most confident, amazing self.

Abbie Alter – Plano Moms

I have a 10-year-old daughter and recently gifted her a Kindle Unlimited subscription, so she can download books to her iPad (and read using the Kindle app).

I have an app that checks what she is using and how much time is being spent on different activities online.

So, when YouTube Kids and Roblox time is restricted, she can read a number of different books without trips to the library to pick up books curbside.

There are thousands of amazing kids’ books. I spotted Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts and so many more.

Melinda Ashley – Unfrazzled Mama

There’s a good book out there for everyone. I love to give books as gifts because they provide hours of screen-free entertainment, and they are relatively clutter-free as well!

A book subscription is a gift a young girl can look forward to receiving and enjoy for months to come!

Barbara Nevers – NeoLittle

This chalk holder will also make you join them and not worry about back pains. This can also develop their physical and writing skills while playing.

Jo Middleton – Slummy Single Mummy

I’ve actually just bought a birthday gift for my niece – ‘Escape This Book! Titantic’

It’s a bit like a classic choose your own adventure book, which I absolutely used to love as a child, with a bit of escape room thrown in!

I’m a sucker for a mystery myself and I love that I can nurture this same love in her.

Claire Thrifty – Thrify Parent

Our gift idea for a ten-year-old girl is SmartLab Squishy Human Body Model.

It’s fun, educational, affordable and it teaches them something (the kids’ parents will love you!).

No batteries required, this 12″ model comes with 21 removable bones and organs, that then have to be reassembled in the correct order.

It’s a terrific gift for a budding young doctor or surgeon – or just a girl that loves science, biology, and finding out how stuff works!

Evan Porter – Dad Fixes Everything

I love play robots like the Wonder Workshop Dash Robot that allow kids to program their own commands and functions.

This robot (and others like it) are used in schools all over the country to introduce kids to science, engineering, and coding — and they work so well because they’re actually fun to play with!

This toy comes with a rechargeable internal battery so kids can use it again and again and again.

It’s an awesome first step for girls that will give them the confidence to keep pursuing STEM as they grow into middle school and beyond.

Balint Horvath – Project Father

Leisa Papa – Little Kids Business

If you have a ten-year-old girl’s birthday on the horizon you will know that every girl is different however most have one thing in common and that is the love of creating music.

Once assembled, children learn about music notations and can compose their own tunes by placing the pegs in different slots.

For those a little nervous, there are easy to read instructions for composing two simple tunes to allow children to explore the magical and wonderful world of music.

Denise Lisi DeRosa – Cyber Sensible

Get Girls Tech!

More and more our lives, relationships, knowledge, education, and careers are centered around technological literacy so I say, get the girls some tech!

My suggestion is to start with video games. This may seem counter-intuitive given that much of our discussions about technology center around screen time overuse concerns and gaming addiction.

So, why am I suggesting video games? Studies have shown that girls’ interest in STEM diminishes due to the lack of digital products marketed specifically to girls.

We need to make sure that girls are provided the same on-ramps to the tech industry as boys. This starts with games that are created with girls in mind.

For 10-year-old girls, I suggest the Nintendo Switch. There are a number of games that can be played together with family or friends and several titles are geared toward girls.

If we encourage girls to enjoy tech when they are young, maybe they’ll become the powerful tech leaders of tomorrow.

Mikaela Walker – Orlando Parents Magazine

Claudie Pomares – Mendability

The best gift for today’s ten-year-old girl is a smartphone without a plan but with Facetime style apps.

They surrender to cravings, only exercise if their lives depend on it and are happy in their temporary cocoon.

The magic of childhood which gave life to dolls and plush toys is fading rapidly and they rarely find interest in what demands steady focus or effort.

Little girls of today only envy one thing their older siblings possess: a phone which opens wide the wonders of timeless and location free conversations with all their best friends.

They will become egocentric teenagers soon enough. It is best to provide a phone early, at an age when they still can be taught about the safe use of the inernet.

Christina Cay – C’MON MAMA

For a 10-year-old girl, the best gift is one that gives her a sense of autonomy. Ten years old is a key age in terms of overflowing curiosity & the desire for some level of independence.

But the bottom line is—she’ll love it.

We often say if only we could see the world through a child’s eyes. Let’s give them the tools to show us.

Jane Wilson – Modern Housewives

In my opinion, the perfect gift for a 10 years old girl, is an Instax Mini 9 Instant Camera. It’s a great gift because it’s cool and classical at the same time.

It’s not a digital camera, but the pictures get developed instantly, which is pretty awesome and impressive.

She can run around, make memories, and get cool images she can later on present as cards or just glue them to a notebook or anything else she likes.

These cameras also come in many nice and vivid colours, like flamingo pink or lime green. You can see the product here.

Tracy Murdock – Your Twin Mom

A camera would be a fun gift for a ten-year-old girl.

She could take photos of nature or family. She could create a collage of pictures. She could add pictures to a journal to create a story.

She could set up a photoshoot with her favorite dolls dressed up. She could create a keepsake journal of fun memories with her family that summer.

She could take pictures of animals she observes and adds them to a science journal with animal reports.

Lauren Schmitz – The Simple Homeschooler

We are actually celebrating a birthday for my oldest daughter very soon, so I have been doing a lot of gift shopping lately.

I think the best gift you can give a 10-year-old girl is lego sets. They are an incredible screen-free way to get your girl thinking, building, and creating!

Once she has put her lego set together, she can display it – or more likely, take it apart and make something completely different!

She is challenging herself, learning so much, taking pride in her work, and having so much fun!

Definitely a win-win!

Dave Pedley – Your Cub

Finding good gifts for a 10-year-old girl can be challenging, it’s that in-between stage where they’re “leaving” childhood and entering the tricky pre-teen years.

They’re probably seeking more independence than usual and forming their specific tastes and styles.

Dhanya – Parenting Passage

The course has 3 parts:

– 3 Knowledge Development Sections (eLearning, independent study or in a classroom) to understand basic principles of scuba diving

– 3 Confined Water Dives to learn basic scuba skills which can be done in the pool or in swimming pool-like conditions

– 2 Open Water Dives to use the skills and knowledge to learn and explore the underwater world.

Shannon Serpette – Mom Loves Best

You don’t need any batteries for this product, and there are several color choices. If your daughter doesn’t like pink, she can opt for other less-girly colors.

They are much more affordable than bikes, less intimidating for kids to try, and they take up far less storage room.

Also, it’s a gift that will help kids stay active and keep those unwanted pounds off. It’s a good exercise for kids, and it can help teach your child how to ride a bike when all else fails.

After a year of riding her scooter, my daughter, who had never learned how to ride a bike, hopped right on a bike and was able to ride it with no problems.

Katie Green – Green Active Family

To me, the best gift for a pre-teen girl is one that’s going to get her away from screen time and outside to enjoy sunny, active days.

Personally, I like Lascoota’s teen scooter. Despite the name, it’s suitable from ages 8 and up. The handlebar is height adjustable, so this scooter should last well into her teen years.

Joel Flynn – Gentleman Zone

Girls are very tricky at this age. Dolls and construction playsets won’t work on your typical 10-year old.

In their heads, they see themselves as “almost teens” and you just can’t argue with their logic.

If the kid is into sports, your best bet is going to be a skateboard or bicycle.

If she is on the artistic side, a secret diary or a fancy fashion coloring book is the way to go.

Also, a pet is always a good alternative – there isn’t a kid on this planet that won’t be happy with a hamster.

Whatever you do, DO NOT buy her a stuffed animal – you won’t hear the end of it.

Scarlet Paolicchi – Family Focus Blog

I would say that the best gift for a ten-year-old is one that encourages her interests. This lets her know that you pay attention to what interests her and that you value her thoughts and feelings.

So if you notice she is quite the reader, some nicely bound copies of books in the genre she enjoys would be perfect.

If you notice she is a writer, a pretty journal and some fancy calligraphy pens may be just the ticket.

If you have a budding scientist on your hands, a telescope, chemistry kit, or crystal making kit may be perfect for her.

They also involve a lot of elements that are great for children, following directions, often learning new skills, problem-solving, and more.

Pinky McKay

I bought my granddaughter a sewing machine for her 10th birthday, she had been sewing with me when she visited, asking to sew every time she stayed overnight.

A sewing machine is a vehicle to encourage creativity, confidence, self-sufficiency, and self-esteem as the ten-year-old learns useful, practical life skills.

Erum Zehra – Muslim Moms

I recommend these card games as gifts for ten-year-old girls.

Mad Dragon: An Anger Control Card Game

This results in a therapeutic experience for both the parent and the child and they are able to understand each other better and communicate better.

Helen Wills – Actually Mummy

I don’t think parents should be worried about their daughters experimenting with makeup at this age either.

My own daughter became very interested in makeup techniques from YouTube tutorials and started appearing with beautiful eye makeup that was totally beyond her years.

I worried for a long time, but eventually, she stopped, and now at 15 goes for a very natural look.

My point is, it’s just creativity – basically colouring and craft for older girls! Let them enjoy creating fun looks for parties with glitter and gems, and they will love you for it.

Samantha Radford – Evidence-based Mommy

Schleich toys are beautifully made. My daughter knows that these figures are special toys and takes care of them.

Christopher Byrne – The Toy Guy

Tie-Dye is back in a big way. Major designers like Prada and Burberry have been showing the treatment on the runway.

It was featured in a huge Project Runway episode earlier this year.

10-Year-Old girls are aware of fashion in the larger culture, and, of course, want to be cool.

Highly recommended for the opportunity for creativity and self-expression, plus the fun of wearing (or sharing) something you made yourself.

Plus, this combines creativity, fashion, sharing, and social play (Probably just within the family for now.)

Easy to rinse, wash, wear, and share.

You can make multiple designs with the materials provided, and the instructions show kids how to tie up their fabrics for optimal results.

Plus, it’s a great value at $19.99.

The only drawback: It’s selling out as fast as they can get it in stock! Truly one of the hottest toys for the first half of the year.

Oh, and boys can play, too!

Available at Target, Walmart, and Amazon.

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