#The amount of damage he'd do in a day would match that of a small army of pixies. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

frogzzai · 1 year

Note

do you have any headcanons of things the upper moons like to do when they’re not doing demon things? (specific hobbies or secret talents they have?)

I love this ask-

Ofc I do 🤞🤞

Send in requests I have no motivation :'( (I write for MHA, Creepypasta, Slashers, Demon Slayer, JJK, Harry Potter, Rick and Morty, Fantastic Beasts, Winx)

Characters included: Kokushibo, Douma, Akaza, Hantengu, Sekido, Urogi, Karaku, Aizetsu, Gyokko, Gyutaro, Daki

Uppermoon 1- Kokushibo

So we all know Kokushibo has a flute, right? This leads me to think he'd enjoy music in his spare time and also be quite talented at it.

He wouldn't be able to play any of his instruments inside the infinity castle because it has to be silent on Muzan's orders, so instead Kokushibo would ask Nakime to send him to the outskirts of a serene forest with pretty views and clearings where he can sit and recite different tunes on whatever instrument he wants.

I think he'd prefer the flute, pan pipes and the biwa, he took a liking to the biwa after hearing Nakime strum on it day in and day out.

Another hobby/ talent Kokushibo would have it hair styling and hair care. This man has some of the nicest hair in the demon slayer verse and he is well aware of that.

He dons his usual high ponytail when he's out but he's definitely tried different types of braids on his hair.

He enjoys trying new products on his hair to enhance its beauty.

He isn't a fan of curlers or straighteners, you won't find a single sign of heat damage on this mans head.

Uppermoon 2- Douma

Douma is a fashion fan. Fight me.

He enjoys scouting new outfits of different styles and trying them on to see what he likes best.

Probably one of the few demons that actually changes and washes their clothes.

He likes to try and match his outfits to his fans.

Speaking of his fans, he enjoys polishing them and sharpening up their edges.

If the colour gets chipped he'll carefully repaint them.

He doesn't do it often, but, Douma is a very neat painter. He isn't very good at drawing but he's great with all sorts of tone and texture.

Uppermoon 3- Akaza

Pretty self explanatory, he loves all sorts of combat sports. Judo, Kung-Fu, Thai, Taekwondo, Jiu Jitsu, Kendo.. you get the point.

He can't exactly go to a proper teaching place due to, well, he's a demon. However, there's definitely some sort of demon fight club that he attends, it's not exactly training for him because he's incredibly skillful, yet, he doesn't just do it to get better. He does it because it brings a strange sort of comfort to him.

When Akaza isn't training his combat skills he's reading up on different forms and types of fighting to see if there's anything he's missed despite reading the same content multiple times.

He's very selective on who he spars with. In the demon clubs that gather he only chooses those with the biggest and most noticeable fighting spirit, whether that's a good or bad thing is up to the demon he chooses I suppose.

Pretty much his whole personality revolves around forms of combat. He by far prefers hand on hand combat but occasionally takes a small amount of time to learn different weaponry and it's strengths and weaknesses.

Uppermoon 4- Hantengu

He's scared of literally everything.

I'm not really sure what hobby he'd have, nothing really fits his character.

I've been running through different things in my head and nothing clicks, I can't see him reading, drawing, enjoying music or enjoying nature.

He's just sort of, him?

I guess the one thing I can see him enjoying is people watching and day-dreaming about being in another persons shoes. He probably just sits in the shadows observing people and imagining what their individual lives are like.

Sekido

Enjoys rage rooms.

They fit well with his personality, he probably has his own makeshift rage room with things that are harder to break for a normal human.

I can see this man just hurling tables across the room or splitting a tire in half.

He likes to take out his unrelenting anger on inanimate objects in his spare time. It doesn't satisfy that angry itch inside of him but it lessens it.

That's one of the only things he's able to do, any other hobbies he's attempted lead to frustration and annoyance.

Urogi

His wings and abilities bring him great joy, (obviously).

He enjoys flying around, not really caring if he's seen. He likes to find high places out of reach of any ordinary person or demon and just sit there for a while.

As uncharacteristic as it sounds, he's seemingly one for stargazing, he can't observe the clouds so they're the next best things.

He takes great pride in his wings, he spends multiple hours a day preening and fluffing them.

Definitely parades around different forests showing off his wings to any bird or creature with wings he finds as if to say, 'Hah, my wings are way better, read it and weep bitches'. Urogi, honey, I don't think they care.

Likes to annoy his brothers about the fact they don't have wings, Sekido throws the closest object at him, Karaku uses his leaf to give Urogi 'extra flying lessons' and Aizetsu cries.

Karaku

Karaku's a menace.

One of his favourite past times is to sneak up behind his brothers and give them one of his famous 'free flying lessons'. Most of the time they know he's there and are able to evade his attacks but sometimes they pull the short straw and he's able to successfully sneak up on them.

If they do manage to evade him, they all have very different reactions. Sekido will throw something at him and use a very 'colourful' choice of vocabulary, Urogi will flip it back on him and instead give Karaku flying lessons by dropping him from at least a height of 120 feet and Aizetsu will run off to Sekido, most likely crying, for protection. It's impossible to tell if Sekido is more pissed at Aizetsu for bothering him or at Karaku for being the reason Aizetsu is bothering him.

Aside from bothering his brothers I feel like Karaku would enjoy studying different types of leaves and their qualities, not only does he like them for the fact his blood demon art uses one, he loves how they can vary in colour even if they're of the same species.

Aizetsu

We all know he's very sensitive, it's not exactly a secret. That doesn't necessarily mean he's soft though, (he is a bit).

He's a massive pushover when it comes to animals, it doesn't matter what it is, he finds it adorable and wants to keep it. He knows he can't though, Sekido wouldn't be happy having wherever they're residing at that time to turn into a jungle.

Aizetsu's favourtie animals to interact with are either extremely fluffy ones or ones that are a bit shy by nature like himself. One of his favourites are deer, the forests he visits are practically untouched by human so deer are common.

Aizetsu finds animals with defensive abilities fascinating, he's a massive fan of armadillos however he's never actually seen one. They aren't your everyday animal you'd find in a random forest in Japan, he's only seen them in little animal books he's got one of his brothers to steal for him. He's made it a mission of his to see one, however, seeing as they're only found in zoos or South America that might pose as a bit of a challenge.

Gyokko

Pottery.

Ironic huh?

Actually, it's kind of obvious if you think about it, he did it while human, he incorporates it into his demon activities so of course he does it in his free time.

He doesn't just make pots though.

Pots are his all-time favourite but he also enjoys making sculptures.

If he is fond of another demon he'll make a little sculpture of them as a gift. Along with a pot.

Douma has one, he gave Douma a pot with snowflake designs on it and put the little figurine inside as an extra gift.

He's made multiple of Muzan. Muzan doesn't really care for them but seeing as Gyokko's pots bring in such good money he'll take them and stick them on a shelf somewhere.

Another.. hobby? of Gyokko's is being carried around in his pots. He gets one of the other demons (not necessarily an uppermoon), to bring one of his pots with them on their travels so he can come and go from that pot when he pleases, sticking just his head out and enjoying the ride. It's a bit like having an annoying younger sibling really. Or a little dog that won't leave you alone.

Gyutaro

His main interest is looking after his sister and making sure she's content. That doesn't mean he stays inside of her body all the time though.

The times he's out, usually in her room as he'd stick out like a sore thumb anywhere else, he likes to paint his nails, Daki does it most of the time because she's neater than he is and it brings her joy. The only colours he'll do is black or grey.

Occasionally he does Daki's hair, contrary to popular belief he's actually quite skilled at it.

He doesn't go near her makeup though, he leaves that area for Daki to do herself.

If she needs a container holding he'll do that but he'll never help her apply it. He doesn't want to taint her beauty.

Another one of his hobbies is people watching. He'll sit at the window, occasionally accompanied by Daki, and will mutter to himself about the different people walking by and what he thinks of them. Most of the time it's about how they could never even dream of being as gifted in looks as his sister is. He sneers at them from under the cover of darkness where they'll never see him even if they're looking around at the feeling of being watched.

Daki

Fashion.

Makeup.

Hairdos.

Anything like that and she's into it.

Seeing as she can pass off as human, she's often seen buying an average persons yearly salary worth of high-quality makeup and hair accessories. Nail polish and designer clothes. Expensive lotions and perfumes. Hair products and stylers. You name it, she's bought it.

He favourite things things to buy are hairpins. Even if she'll never wear them, she'll buy them just for the pretty jewels and designs.

She's got a glass cabinet specially designed to hold up her hairpins so they're on full display to anybody who enters her room.

Her wardrobe has a glass door to put her best clothes on display but still protect them from moths and other bugs.

She has different vanity cabinets and desks in her room all for designated items, one for perfumes, another for lotions, multiple for nail polish and many more for different makeup bits and bobs.

70 notes · View notes

goldentemplariumcrow · 7 months

Text

@whxlmedwing

How long had it been since the vampire last saw the outside world? Long enough that the walls in his cell didn't have space for any more marks. When was the last time he had the taste of... well, anything that could nurish him? A month, maybe two? It was hard to keep track of time when all his brain could focus on was the pain on his wrists. A pain that he could bear at first, but that escalated over the months and now, was so strong that it even tramped his hunger ─ he'd felt it in the beginning, even raged and tried to escape and run away, only to be captured and forced back into this damp cell.

His punishment. For what exactly, Dionisus wasn't sure. His ex-lover, the vampire he helped for nearly six decades with his strategies and advices decided one day that the blond was going behind his back and betraying him, giving information to some usurper or something. Accusations happened and someone else fanned the flames of his paranoia to a point where madness began to fester in his mind. Lorenzo lost it all at the mere mention of a possible revolt against his ruling... And Dionisus paid the price for it all.

An almost innaudible whimper escapes his dry lips when he looks at his wrists and sees the painful burns on his marbled skin.

Dionisus was beautiful before his incarceration, skin pale as marble with some lingering red on his cheeks, shoulders, knees, and joints of his hands and feet, the marks he received when he was born into his vampiric form were golden and bright, his hair was soft as silk and the color of his locks never faded like those of the rest of his coven and family, and he had a certain air to himself that made him appear lofty, but those who were brave enough to approach knew better of his kindness to his own kin, allways listening and advising his Prince. It's all gone now. His once regal yet simple clothes are little more than rags, his hair is so dirty the gold in it has turned to brown and the locks stick together in crusty masses, his eyes lack any shine to them, welts linger all over his face, just like the marks of whipping on his back, and upon better inspection, the burns on his wrists aren't reserved to the small area alone, they extend all the way to the middle of both of his forearms on the inner sides... if anyone were to find him in the streets looking like this, they'd never know he was their Prince's advisor up until maybe five or six years in the past.

Another whimper and a hiss come out of his barely open lips when Dionisus tries touching the damaged skin of his left side, even with healthy and young blood, that would take months, if not a whole year, to heal properly. It hurts so bad, he can only pull his index and middle fingers back and curl in the corner of his cell even more as his senses begin to fade.

Slumber helps him get through it all, conserving some of what he has left of energy.

He's kicked back to hyper-awareness when the distant sound of something, or someone coming down the hall where his cell is reaches his ears though. It doesn't sound like the heavy steps of his ex-partner, nor of any of his court members. Dionisus also doesn't hear the usual sound of swords or metal that follows Lorenzo everywhere, nor the boasterous sound of voices, in fact, it's too quiet outside, but he can still hear the steps, which he counts and realizes the pauses match the amount required to check every cell down the hall.

An executioner?

He hides even deeper in the corner and, despite the pain he feels when his skin touches the fabric of his pants, hugs his own legs to try to make himself smaller. Maybe they can miss him if he just doesn't move and hide ─ not like he can hide the scent of burned skin, but knowing the kind of people Lorenzo hired to do his dirty work, chances were they couldn't even distinguish that scent anymore. Anything to avoid a confrontation, because in this state, he can't fight — it did take a small army to get him to this cell when he was in full health, and the subsequent visits were far from different, however, now he was barely a shadow of the vampire he once was.

#whxlmedwing #》muse:dionisus #》verse:bluemoonclan

16 notes · View notes

waitingforminjae · 2 years

Text

would anybody like to hear my cutie pie rewrite? too bad here it is:

same initial premise - kuea's parents groomed him to be lian's child bride + forced lian into the engagement via their monetary power over lian and his family. as a result kuea would do literally anything for lian to love him back, but lian doesn't love him like that, and can't.

however, in my version, lian became woke to all this and unlearned a lot of that shit and saw it for what it was when he was in college, in part thanks to his friend's pointing out that being engaged to a 10 yr old was "fucking pedo shit". he's been working for years to get out from under the thumb of kuea's family, and harbors an immense amount of guilt and responsibility towards kuea for the part he played in kuea's grooming - which has severely fucked up kuea in incredibly damaging ways.

for kuea, he had his eyes opened by diao when they met in the uk, who was also like "um bestie u were fucking groomed holy shit". while in the uk, diao helps kuea find things that he likes (drumming, singing, motorcycles) and slowly kuea begins to build his real self and identity that isn't tied to lian's happiness/love. he doesn't trust lian, because he is still too young to understand that lian was forced into this - and as the minor who was groomed, he doesn't particularly care. lian was still an adult who hurt him.

lian and yi are involved in a batshit toxic friends w benefits situation that involves a lot of angry sex and frustrated blowjobs in bathrooms that everyone knows about but that both of them refuse to acknowledge. yi's been in love w lian since college but is too emotionally repressed to acknowledge it even tho everyone knows, including lian who still uses him for sex and knows that it's all fucked up and is absolutely gonna implode one day but it hasn't yet so they just kinda keep doing it.

yi is the one who introduced diao to motorbiking, and then diao got in a wreck and got a brain injury and lost his memories and yi, who liked the boy (platonically) even tho he'd never admit it, freaked out and felt guilty so now he's overprotective to the point of being abusive of diao, who is initially milder after his injury bc he's lost and confused bc yi won't fucking tell him anything. but he has a spine of steel and a temper and most importantly serves major cunt so he doesn't let yi push him around for long before he snaps. so they're having screaming matches all the time bc diao needs freedom and yi needs control and it's intense and (mutually) violent. yet, at the same time yi likes that diao is so bold and self-confident because he desperately wishes he was that way, but he's just a loser and he knows it. so he's jealous, too.

kuea and diao have a healthy college friends w benefits thing going on but mostly they're just dating in a way that just kinda happened naturally so neither of them are quiet aware of it. they mostly just go motorbiking, hanging out at that club where kuea performs, and studying/playing w their friends.

lian has been slowing transferring all of kuea's families assets to his own accounts, in addition to doing his best to separate his money and businesses from their influence. he's does all this under the guise of still being 100% locked into this engagement and pretending to be on their side - which further confuses kuea bc lian doesn't tell him his actual plans, even though he's also been secretly putting some of the money/assets into an account for kuea so he can be financially independent from his family. he also helps him w his music career. anything he can do to help and support kuea, to make up in some small way for what he allowed to happen to him.

at no point does the story let you forget that kuea was groomed, and lian was forced to be an accomplice in that grooming. they are both victims - and how they respond to that "engagement" and the trauma and life-long damage it has inflicted on their pysches and lives is what drives the characters and narrative. kuea's family are explicitly the antagonists.

#this is so long sorryyyyyyy but the worst part is that i rlly think the actors could've done this!!!!!#f: cutie pie #minors dni

9 notes · View notes

tranquil-sinew · 8 months

Text

"Just Say 'I Do'"

~~~

Ever since Conner asked Zach to marry him, a lot of things happened. There was, of course, the wedding planning and meeting more of Conner's family; his cousins, aunts and uncles, and Valerie who was also one of Conner's cousin but the one he was closest to. Meeting her had been a big thing for Zach because she was so important to Conner and they grew up so close together.

There also was the matter of fixing things with Braxton because they had been falling apart. The two of them had a breakthrough in their relationship, though, and managed to mend what had been damaged between them. They were closer than ever after that, and Zach even recruited Braxton to to with him and help him pick out a ring for Conner. The plan all along for that had been gold, because Conner absolutely loved gold, and Zach knew that getting him a gold band to give him when they finally got married would be absolutely perfect. "Find one that reminds you of his eyes", that was what Braxton had told Zach when he asked what he should have been looking for. He found a simple but beautiful rounded gold band that matched Conner's eyes, and he couldn't take his eyes off it, so he pointed to it with a soft "that's the one".

Once he'd gotten the ring, he only managed to keep it a secret for a day before he couldn't anymore, so the next night, while Conner was out, Zach bought flowers, dessert, and ingredients for a special dinner that he made himself, and greeted Conner with a smile, a bouquet of flowers, and a kiss and made sure everything was set up perfectly for when Conner came back down stairs after he'd changed and gotten all cleaned up. The plan was to spend time with him, enjoy the dinner and dessert, and give Conner his ring so he could wear it for at least a little while before they got married. It was a huge success and Conner absolutely loved his ring, which made Zach feel like he was on cloud nine, and when he slid the ring onto Conner's left hand, it sent a wave of absolute happiness and bliss through him. The ring was absolutely perfect and looked like it had been made to be on Conner's left hand. The rest of the night was blissful; they basked in the glow of each other's company and shared their excitement about getting married.

In between all of the pre-wedding bliss, Conner and Zach had hit a bit of a rough patch in the form of Zach learning things about Conner that he wasn't aware of before and it driving a bit of a wedge between them for a bit. Conner wrote Zach a letter and gave it to him once Zach's fear and discomfort toward Conner and the things it had been revealed that he had done subsided, and it was very sweet. Some of it was hard to read, but it was also very important and it helped with mending that little part of their relationship that had been affected for a short amount of time. After that, the pre-wedding bliss returned for both of them full force and they got back to planning the wedding and making sure that every detail of it was what they wanted and was perfect.

》》》》

~Wedding Day~

In usual fashion, Conner had woken up before Zach and woke him up with lots of kisses while telling him it was their wedding day and he was going to be "Mr. Zach McAlister" in just a few hours. The sound of his new name made his heart flutter, and he couldn't help but smile brightly and giggle excitedly at the thought. They had known each other for over 10 years, had been together as a couple for over 4 years, and engaged for almost 2 years and the day for them to get married had finally come. It was one of the best days of Zach's life, and he couldn't have been happier and more excited than he was to get to marry his best friend, his favorite person, his other half. Zach didn't want to part ways with Conner when it came time for them to swap rings and go their separate ways so they could get ready to meet at the altar. He was being clingy and overly affectionate, telling Conner with a small pout that he wanted to just stay with him and not go separate ways, but Conner just chuckled and softly reminded him that they needed to because they had to get ready to get married. It worked, because Zach relented, not before clinging to Conner more and smothering him with kisses and affection, but then he exchanged rings with Conner, gave him a few more kisses and told him he loved him before letting Conner go his way and then going to meet up with Tara, Elijah and Braxton so that he could get his tux and get ready to go wait at the altar.

Nerves hit him when he got to the venue with his aunt and uncle, and it crossed his mind full force that he was getting married /for real/. He wasn't just planning it and talking about it anymore, it actually was about to happen and it made his heart beat like a drum, to the point where his heartbeat was all he could hear because it was so fast and so loud. His aunt and uncle stayed with him for a bit and kept reassuring Zach, as much as they could, that nerves were a normal part of a wedding, it was okay to be nervous and was to be expected, but they also told him that once they're up there actually getting married, those nerves will go away and all he'll be focused on is Conner and the fact that he's marrying him. They both gave Zach hugs, told him they loved him and that they'd see him out there, and then left so that he could get ready and go get Braxton to make sure he was there getting ready, too. Zach got to work on getting into his tux, knowing that he was going to have to get Braxton to help him with his bowtie because he couldn't tie it anyway, but the nerves he felt made it so that he fumbled with it even more than he had when he'd tried on the tuxedo beforehand. So he got all dressed, making sure the buttons on the shirt were done right, the pants were button and everything looked the way it was supposed to before he put on his shoes and then went to go find Brax. He looked at Braxton once he'd found him and held the bow tie up with a soft "will you help me, please?" Braxton had known that Zach was going to come to him and ask for help, so he playfully rolled his eyes and held his hand out with a "give it here" before helping Zach with it.

Once they were both ready, the nerves set in even more, and Zach didn't even have to say anything for Braxton to know that he was /very/ nervous about getting married. He talked Zach through it as they made their way out to the altar together, and Zach looked around at everyone and was hit with another wave of nerves as he saw that they were all focused on him. He waved to Penny and Matteo, and then to his Irish mom and dad, before going to stand in the middle of the altar where he was supposed to stand, Conner's ring and the piece of paper with his vows written on it all the sudden feeling like metal weights in his jacket pocket as he stood there and /really/ let it sink in that he was getting married. That was it, it was time. The day had finally come and as soon as Conner came out and met him there at the altar, he was going to go from being Zach's fiancé to Zach's husband.

0 notes

acaseforpencils · 5 years

Text

The Ink Well Foundation.

The Ink Well Foundation is a non-profit that helps bring smiles to the faces of children facing adversity such as illness, neglect, and abuse. I cannot begin to express how big of an honor it is to have Elizabeth Winter on Case—this interview brought me to tears, and it means a lot to share her message on here, so that you all can help more children in need to be able to connect with this incredible foundation.

Bio: I am the Founder and Executive Director of the Ink Well Foundation. Growing up, I had cancer my entire childhood—it was a rare cancer that kept getting misdiagnosed, which meant a fair amount of biopsies and days in the hospital, and finally major surgery where I was told I might wake up without a leg. I am very fortunate in that the doctors were able to remove all the cancer without amputating, and I have been cancer-free since I was about 20 years old.

That experience gave me a lot of empathy and compassion for kids facing long, isolating hospital stays. There were also other issues during my childhood: I experienced a lot of abandonment with a mother who just could not play the role of mother, and who eventually died when I was fifteen. In general, I just had a pretty severe lack of affection and emotional support growing up. All that made me very tough, in some ways too tough and it wound up creating only further isolation and pain.

As an adult, I saw that pain mirrored in other children's eyes and I began to seek out a way to connect with them, to help them and myself learn to nurture and heal together. I strongly feel that genuine human bonding can fuel both physical and emotional healing. I also think getting out into nature and carrying that same respect to all wildlife helps us to become humble and connected in a very powerful way, so we stress those ideas in our work often.

In 2005, I was working in animation in New York City, and I stood up in a meeting at work one day, and asked if any of the other artists would like to come along with me to draw with kids facing illness and hardship. A couple people raised their hands, and we went together to Gilda's Club out in Brooklyn (that club house has since closed, but we still go to the one in Manhattan). The artists who came along in those early years, like Rami Efal and Ray Alma, Pedro Delgado and Sergei Aniskov—those people are all still volunteers today! That says so much to me about the kind of people this work attracts. We've all become like family over the years and I love those guys so much.

It all began at Gilda's Club, but then I reached out to places like the Ronald McDonald House, St. Mary's Hospital and Bellevue Hospitals, and we slowly but surely became accepted and welcomed at healthcare and at-risk support centers all across New York, because the kids loved what we did, and at then end of every event they were begging us to come back. So we always did! That is the true mark of success for me every time, when the kids are yelling at us to get back there as soon as we can.

A few years ago, I learned about the great organization on the Upper East Side, The Society of Illustrators. Their Executive Director, Anelle Miller, connected me with all these other great artists like Stefano Imbert, Bil Donovan, Abby Merrill, and Elana Amity (who is now our Event Director at Mount Sinai Hospital, where she hosts a monthly live drawing call-in show that beams to all the kids' hospital rooms at once). They draw along with us and call or text in with questions and comments. It's hilarious and adorable. We also connected with the great people of the National Cartoonists Society, and wonderful artists like Ed Steckley, Adrian Sinnott, Howard Beckerman, Tim Savage, Marty Macaluso, Joe Vissichelli and so many more.

After MTV Animation New York shut down, pretty much all my colleagues and I from great shows like Beavis and Butthead, Daria, The Head, and Celebrity Death Match all moved out west. So I had this great group of talented friends still living there, and based on the Ink Well's popularity in NYC, I thought, let's give it a shot there too! I reached out to my former colleague from Rugrats and Wild Thornberrys, Joseph Scott, and asked if he'd be interested in running things there. He is now heading up all our operations in L.A. and he is just the most phenomenally kind and talented person on earth. With his art skills he could do whatever he wanted but he devotes a huge amount of time to the kids we work with and I'm so moved by his giving spirit and boundless good energy. And Michael Daedalus Kenny is also stepping up in a leadership role as our newest Event Director, we've got amazing artists like Marla Frazee of Boss Baby genius, Monica Tomova from SpongeBob, Jeanette Moreno, king of The Simpsons, Chris Harmon from Futurama, Ashley Simpson from Phineas and Ferb, Christian Lignan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, graphic novelist, Jeremy Arambulo and so many others so we're in great hands there. I just wish the traffic weren't such a problem! It really is tough to get around that city, unlike NYC where there's a decently functioning subway that goes to all our locations, so getting around is no real trouble comparatively.

Tools of choice: Our events are usually very handmade by design so that the kids can feel like they could do all of this easily by themselves. So we come up with themes like, “Who is your Superhero?,” and we ask the kids to focus on their strengths and what superpowers they wish they would have, and we draw their portraits as such. We are not art therapists, but we feel these event themes help to make the kids focus on positivity and their potential, and therefore help them to bond and heal.

We do sometimes get more elaborate, like when we teach stop motion, claymation, and we once even taught them how to build homemade rockets on the roof of Bellevue Hospital! One of our Event Directors at the time, Nathan Schreiber, used to come up with the most fantastic science-focused events. He now runs a company called Science Ninjas, that helps kids learn about science with fun card games. But usually it's simple by design.

We are extremely fortunate to have Blick Arts as a sponsor. Their support enables us to provide each child with their own art kit after each event so that they can keep creating on their own after they learn new skills with us so thanks to them we have a lot of the arts tools we need.

Tool I wish existed: I think we do great working with anything we've got lying around- we emphasize the potential of just about anything to become art: we often create characters out of inanimate objects, make flip books, sculptures and puppets— using everything from card stock to socks to toothpicks and gum drops. We keep it accessible and inventive.

How can we support The Ink Well Foundation? Because our volunteers are by definition "the artists behind the kids' favorite books, films, comics, and TV shows," we don't solicit volunteers from the general public. We do have an online application on our site, so other professionals that meet our criteria in the illustration, animation, and cartooning industries are welcome to apply there.

What the general public can do is to help us spread the word so that more children can see that others are going through what they're going through, and also so that they see examples of adults believing in them and encouraging them. We try to promote the idea of art as self-expression and a way to get through trying times, ideally together. Connectivity and encouragement are critical to healing, and honestly, to just building a better world. So we talk about that a lot on our social media and at the events themselves. We also honor the kids' intelligence by talking about art in general there— we highlight classic and new artists and ideas and encourage them to learn from those masters as they develop their own skills.

Because we are a very small 100% volunteer-run organization, we focus on giving the kids the greatest events possible, and sometimes that means we don't have a lot of time for social media, self-promotion, and fund-raising. So spreading the word is huge and we are always extremely grateful for, and in need of, any financial donations.

Where are Ink Well Foundation events held? We operate in New York City and Los Angeles because that's where the top artists in our fields are concentrated. We go to hospitals and at-risk support centers like Ronald McDonald House, Gilda's Club, Bellevue, St. Mary's, Mount Sinai, Childhelp, Covenant House and more. You can see the full list here.

How can children who don't live near Ink Well Foundation events benefit from your Pen Pals Program? This is another reason we want people to spread the word. Loved ones of a child experiencing serious illness or hardship, who is physically or geographically unable to attend our events, can apply to have a special artwork sent straight to them. We ask the kids what their favorite animated films, TV shows, or illustrated books are, and then we have an artist who actually worked on that production make something tailored to that child. We then frame it up, and send it off to them by mail.

We've done this with artists from SpongeBob, Captain Underpants, and just a week ago, we delivered a beautiful drawing of Curious George that our Event Directors, Franz Palomares and Lisa LaBracio (both of whom worked on Curious George) lovingly made. This was for a girl named, Maryanne who lives in Florida. She suffers from a rare disease called, vein of galen malformation that has led to brain damage and vision loss. She is unable to talk or walk or eat through her mouth and she suffers seizures but she understands everything around her, and she can feel texture. So Franz and Lisa made her Curious George playing in a sand box, and they glued real sand into the picture, so that Maryanne could feel that, and enjoy the art on multiple levels. Maryanne's mother, Sandra, said that she was thrilled, and that she loves to hold it.

Our hearts are full being able to share these works with kids who need that moment of light, and that knowledge that an adult they admire, someone who doesn't even know them well, can care enough about them to take the time to create careful, tailor-made artworks just for them. We hope that helps to bring a smile in the moment, and build self-worth long term.

Misc. I'd like to mention that everything we do is 100% free of charge. No one gets paid, no money ever changes hands for the art. We have brilliant artists like Peter de Séve who is on our board and attends many events, while also creating characters for Ice Age, The Little Prince, and all his New Yorker covers. He could get a mint for his works, but he comes down and does this for free, and that's a testament to the power of that loving connection we all feel when we are just selflessly helping one another.

I feel this most acutely when I'm working with youth who have suffered abuse and neglect. We have an Event Director, Jane Archer, who leads our work at Bellevue Hospital. Many of those kids are there because they have been through unendurable trauma, and Jane connects with them beautifully. She begins with a meditation where we all envision our strengths together, we talk about our talents, and hopes for a brighter day, we imagine embodying those gifts and then we gently, patiently, ask the kids to help us draw characters step by step. Many kids start out very suspicious and resistant, even angry. But by the end of the events they are almost always laughing and teasing us, and they don't want to stop creating. It is my greatest joy to experience that transition and I hope we may continue to spread this support and faith in one another for many years to come.

Website, Etc:

We are @inkwellkids on every platform:

Website

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Find more posts about art supplies on Case’s Instagram! There is a Twitter as well. If you enjoy this blog, and would like to contribute to labor and maintenance costs, there is also a Patreon!

#ink well foundation #elizabeth winter #ink well foundation kids

7 notes · View notes