#simple comic where her and Abby meet!

[chloesimaginationthings]

Gregory, Abby and Cassie are the new FNAF trio

[kommandonuovidiavoli]

When did Wally and Kuki properly start their relationship?

Buckle up, this is gonna be a bit long!

[tw: toxic, abusive behavior]

As we saw at the end of I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S., they sort of kinda held hands and it was implied they accepted their crushes for each other.

And that's when problems started.

I can't see Wally being a very good boyfriend. Being that he is around 11, still pretty young and inexperienced, I somehow see him as being overly jealous and possessive.

No one look at Kuki. No one even TALK to her! She's HIS only!!!

And Kuki was flattered by that in the beginning, until it became too much. Him asking where she was, why she was talking with someone etc was becoming a bit too oppressive for her, and she started to slowly drift away. That caused them to start arguing, screaming, being overall toxic to each other, to the point that they broke up before Kuki's 13th birthday.

Wally didn't take that well at all. He started saying "I'll change, give me a chance", following her, getting angrier than normal, venting to Hoagie who tried HARD to make him understand that Kuki needed her space, but he just wouldn't listen.

He slowly started to disconnect from Hoagie, Abby and Kuki too, who tried many times to give him a chance but never worked (and here the whole "never got the chance to ask her to the ball on 8th grade" thing).

When he finally got into high school, he isolated himself. He would attend TND meetings but would be completely out of it mentally. That's when he met that Toxic Girlfriend from one of the very first comics appeared.

She was horrible to him. Forced him to cut his hair because "real boys have short hair", to wear what she wanted, do what she wanted, and all that sort of stuff.

It made him understand. It made him realize how bad he was with Kuki and why she wanted away from him. He felt alone.

But then the last person on Earth he thought about (because he thought he was still in space) appeared again.

Wally actually didn't know Nigel's parents died. That's how isolated he was from everything and everyone. That girl forced him into a cage he didn't know how to get out from. And Nigel simply broke it and helped him out.

Wally got the courage to break things off, and realized his friends were there for him. They have always been, he just couldn't see them. They started reconnecting, talking, hanging out, and Nigel made sure that "bxtch" was as far from Wally as possible.

Also, he and Kuki started talking again, as simple friends. They stayed friends for 2 years, and then slowly tried to start something again after talking a lot and in depth on how to make things work.

2 years later, present day Teen AU, it's still working. And they're more in love than ever! ❤️

[p-redux]

PSA:

Yes, I know about the podcast where a disgruntled would be lady friend of Sam's bashes him.

When I first was alerted to it, I didn't bother paying attention to what she was posting on social media leading up to her podcast because I was busy in RL and hadn't had time. Besides, I already knew, like I've been saying since 2014, that Sam is a heterosexual man who dates multiple women, and is not ready to settle down. I don't see anything wrong with that. Meh. This is NOT news.

Then today, I got a ton of DMs on here and some on Twitter, and I got a couple of Anon Asks about it asking me what my opinion is. I literally worked a 10 hour day today and then had some RL stuff to do after. I'm exhausted.

But I finally plopped on the couch and listened to her podcast because people were SO insistent about it. I guess at this point, my followers are wondering why I haven't said anything, and are looking to me to post what I think of it. TBH, I'm SO tired, brain function is slowing down. I'll probably write something when I gather my thoughts and have some time, and some coffee.

But here is my off the cuff initial reaction. Besides anything to do with what happened or didn't happen between Sam and the woman who did the podcast, my MAIN focus while listening to it tonight was: that what she posted sunk the SamCait ship for the millionth time, the "Sam is gay" false narrative got debunked AGAIN, AND we inadvertently got full CONFIRMATION that Sam DID date Georgia Ellenwood (athlete at track meet) and Danielle Kling (girl already living in Hawaii), Gia (new girl he met in Los Angeles and took to Hawaii during quarantine), and that Sam was thinking of rekindling with an ex (Mackenzie Mauzy, pic of her at Comic Con post break up wearing the Barbour jacket he gave her, and I was asked not to post the pic) HAHAHA. Just like I told the fandom. I LOVE when my info gets CONFIRMED. And THAT is and will always be what gets me off in this fandom. The only thing that keeps me here (besides my friends, of course). Sorry if you expected something more lofty...

Bottom line: Sam's a heterosexual human man who is not ready to settle down with one woman. Alert the presses! Lord.

Sam saying to her "Let's get together the next time I'm in town" is not a promise of a date, it's not a promise of anything, it's literally a flashing neon sign meaning "let's leave things open ended," "maybe," "let's play it by ear." And anyone and everyone who has dated enough human males knows this. Did she not get the Man Code Manual? I thought everyone knew this. When a man wants to see you, he doesn't say things like that, he makes CONCRETE plans with you and FOLLOWS THROUGH with them.

PROTIP: an actor who slides into your DMs and says let's get together when we're in the same town, and then doesn't, isn't "ghosting" or "gaslighting" you, he's letting you know without being direct that "he's just not that into you," but doesn't want to hurt your feelings. It seems to me that when the podcast woman figured out that there were women Sam WAS actually into and DID see in person, she got pissed...and got even. It really is a slap in the face to Sam that he helped her with raising funds and she went and badmouthed him publicly. Petty, petty.

MORE PROTIPS: When a man is into you, he, *taps chin* makes the effort to SEE you in person. Simple as that. The fact that Sam didn't, should have been the one and only clue needed to "move on" and find a man who is into you and will want to spend time with you in person. No need to keep waiting around, continuing to DM with or interact with a man who won't SEE you. Me, forever and ever 'splainin the facts of life.

I'm sorry she feels hurt, but it's way over the top that she now has taken it upon herself to "warn" women about Sam. Helloooo, he's not Shia LaBeouf or Armie Hammer FFS. By ALL accounts, pretty much EVERYONE who gets to know Sam says what a nice guy he is, including the women who dated him. Even his ex Cody Kennedy's MOM, Jinx said she didn't have anything bad to say about him, and said he was a "gentleman," and Sam broke up with Cody because, according to what Jinx publicly confirmed on Instagram, "he went back to his old girlfriend in London." (Abbie Salt in 2015)...just like I said sources told me months prior. :-). Sam broke up with her daughter and Jinx said nothing but nice things about Sam.

Is Sam a saint...or Jamie Fraser? NOPE. But, he's not a bad dude, and especially in Hollywood, he's, what I would call, one of the good ones. It's unfortunate that his name is getting smeared over something like this. Her reaction is totally disproportionate to what he actually did. Date a true Hollywood douche and then come back and talk to me. That's not Sam. Sam giving a woman his ubiquitous line "let's get together for a wee dram when you're in town" and then flaking, or flirting in DMs, and not having it lead to anything more did not warrant the bad press she is giving him. But I guess his fans can take solace in the fact that people who actually know Sam know who he really is, and his good heart.

Anyhoo, Imma pour myself a second glass of wine and I'll write something tonight or tomorrow or actually...I don't think I will...I kind of already did. :-).

Pssst: "He's just not that into you." Deal with it.

[continuityssue]

?Ideal? MCU Young Avengers Line-Up and Casting

Hawkeye/Kate Bishop

Kate Bishop has always been one of my favorite of the Young Avengers and it’s really hard for me to come up with casting. I think I’m kind of leaning towards one of the following three: Diana Silvers, Lulu Antariksa, or Seychelle Gabriel. I know the first two can do both the sort of stuck-up/full of themselves front that Kate could sometimes have especially early on and can also do that sort of awkward dorky attitude that she let through when she was hanging out with Clint or went off on her own in her own series and Seychelle Gabriel can at least voice that cool confident and intelligent side...I’ll admit that I’ve never seen her in live action and also, despite the fact that she still looks like a teenager, she is a bit older than almost everyone else on this list.

So: Diana Silvers or Lulu Antariksa or Seychelle Gabriel

Hulkling/Teddy Altman

Peyton Meyer. I haven’t seen him since he was on Girl Meets World three year ago when he was like seventeen or eighteen (if I’m doing my math right), but he could do the sweet and he could do the goofy and he could do the intense and he could switch at the drop of a cowboy hat and he’s cute as well. I think he’d make a swell Teddy Altman.

Alternatively, I considered Charles Melton. I’ve seen him do all of the above and the only reasons I put Peyton Meyer above him are that 1)Peyton Meyer would be a little more comic accurate in looks and 2)Charles Melton is almost 30 and most of the rest of this cast is closer to late teens to early twenties.

So: Peyton Meyer or Charles Melton

Wiccan/Billy Kaplan and Speed/Tommy Shepherd

This one basically took the longest because I was trying to get the same actor to be both Billy and Tommy for the simple fact that I think I remember this one scene when Tommy was first introduced where someone (Kate. I think edit: I looked it up. It was actually Cassie.) immediately took him for Billy. I can definitely see Charlie Rowe playing Billy Kaplan and at a stretch he might be able to build up enough manic energy to play Tommy as well. I also played around with having a gender swapped Tommy (the original twins were Pietro and Wanda anyway so) and considered Ivanna Sakhno because she can definitely pull off that arrogance that early Tommy has and when Pacific Rim: Uprising (not where I’ve seen her) came out everyone was saying she looked like a cross between Elizabeth Olsen (mom!!) and Scarlett Johansson(less relevant to this pick). And since the Maximoff twins weren’t exactly identical in the MCU and our Young Avenger twins weren’t even really born to the same family so why couldn’t they be born in different countries, I could keep Charlie Rowe as Billy.

So:Charlie Rowe or Charlie Rowe and Ivanna Sakhno

Stature/Cassie Lang

Endgame already cast a teenage Cassie Lang and, while we didn’t get to see her do much, Emma Fuhrmann did pretty well with what there was. Ideally, I kind of would have liked to wait until Abby Ryder Fortson was old enough, because I loved her in the first two Ant-Man movies, but I think either way would be good.

So: Emma Fuhrmann or Abby Ryder Forston

Ms. America/America Chavez

This one was hard. I finally settled on Adria Arjona. I played with Becky G, but finally decided that she was kind of flat in Power Rangers. Adria Arjona can do play tough without playing flat and she can also go soft or playful. The fact that Adria Arjona is another one of my picks who is slightly older than the others actually feels okay to me as she’s not that much older and for some reason America Chavez always read a little older to me. Probably because I’m more familiar with her from her time in Young Avengers or even later (when she was a college student) whereas most of the rest of the cast I remember from their teen origins more than anything.

So: Adria Arjona

Spider-Girl/Anya Corazon

I didn’t think I would say this before September 10 2020, but I think Jenna Ortega would actually make a good Spider-Girl. I had only ever seen her while flipping past Disney Channel, but I recently watched her in The Babysitter: Killer Queen and she pulled off all of the things you need for a good Spider-folk, she had the tough, she had the vulnerable, she had the quip, and she had the wtf is  going on. I think she would be a fine addition. And for all of you going “But Spider-Girl was never a member of the Young Avengers!”, I say that she was apparently on the Avengers Fail-Safe Program list, so why not make her a Young Avenger?

So: Jenna Ortega

X-23/Laura Kinney

I don’t care that the old X-Men Cinematic Universe is not only seperate, but is going bye-bye. Just bring back Dafne Keene or, failing that, cast Esme Creed-Miles...Hanna has always been a rip-off of the X-23 backstory anyway. And like Spider-Girl, she is apparently on the Avengers Fail-Safe Program List, so why not make her a Young Avenger?

So: Dafne Keene or Esme Creed-Miles

Iron Lad/Vision/Nathaniel Richards

This one actually surprised me, but I think Dylan Sprayberry could do a good job at this role. For those of you who don’t know him from Teen Wolf, you might recognize him as teenage Clark Kent from Man of Steel and if you squint he plays a young Matt Bomer in one episode of Glee. From what I’ve seen, he tends to play characters that straddle the line between I don’t want to be a monster, but I have so much anger and a dangerous possible outlet, but I can’t do anything about it. I think this would be perfect for the Iron Lad half of the role if not the Vision half of the role, but I think he could probably handle that as well.

So: Dylan Sprayberry

Cloak/Tyrone Johnson and Dagger/Tandy Bowen

I just want Cloak and Dagger back so obviously this is going to be Aubrey Joseph and Olivia Holt. To be fair to these two and the next one on the list, they may not have been members of the Young Avengers in the comics, but they were members of The Ultimate Marvel equivalent and the show’s backstory for them was actually a lot closer to the Ultimate backstory anyway.

So: Aubrey Joseph and Olivia Holt

Bombshell/Lana Baumgartner

Honestly part of this is me wanting to work another Young Ultimate on to the team and also wanting to see more with Thomasin McKenzie, but seriously...did you see her intensity in Jojo Rabbit and then she would turn around and be goofy and that second part doesn’t exactly scream Bombshell, but it would be a good way to keep that tension between “she is totally one of us” and “she is completely her mother’s daughter.

So: Thomasin McKenzie

Sister Grimm/Nico Minoru and Lucy in the Sky/Karolina Dean

Much like with Cloak and Dagger, I basically miss The Runaways and there was a Marvel What If? where The Runaways were the Young Avengers. I didn’t feel like I could just put the entirety of The Runaways cast on this list, so I put my favorite (both from the comics and the show) and then I put my favorite’s wife (who also happens to be my second favorite from the comics and the show) because there was no way I was going to separate them.

So: Lyrica Okano and Ginny Gardner

Bonus

If we wanted to go the alternate origin route and have Kid Loki bring them together...

Kid Loki/Teen Loki:

I think a good Kid Loki would be Asa Butterfield. He is a teenager now, but he’s still got that soft kid look and he can do both sweet and if you remember his glare from when he was a fetus on Merlin, he can do the whole dark thing too. Alternatively, we could go with the slightly older slightly more suave Teenish Loki (I miss Agent of Asgard so much) and (as much as I hate to say this)Timothée Chalamet would probably do a decent job. I’ve only seen him in Little Women, but he’s got the look and he was able to do nice/playful and angry/cutting and those are both a must for any Loki. Alternatively, Teenish Lady Loki would work for Julia Goldani Telles. She’s kept up on two Amy Sherman Palladino shows and she did both snarky and vulnerable (sometimes at the same time) on one of them. Of course, this being Loki, we could have both Chalamet and Goldani Telles switching off between shots. I love Loki: Agent of Asgard sooo much.

So: Asa Butterfield or Timothée Chalamet and/or Julia Goldani Telles

Part 2  Part 3

[blodreina-noumou]

Throwback Thursday - Season 2 - Tag Game

Tagged by the wonderful @boomheda @osleyakomwonkru and @johnmurphysreddit Thanks as always, my friends.

Favourite look:

Lexa’s commander gear, specifically the moment where she and Clarke first meet, and she’s toying around with that little knife.

Iconic, cool, just a lil bit extra. And so very like Lexa, to keep a weapon directly on hand while first meeting an adversary, yet remain cool as a cucumber during the conversation itself.

Favourite episode:

2x08 - “Spacewalker”

In this moment, from this very line, you know Finn is gonna die. The rest of the episode is an excellent, slowly building tension, culminating with Clarke mercy-killing her first love, in front of their enemies, Finn’s people, and Finn’s only surviving family.

I’d been hot and cold on this show since 1x05, waiting for it to make full use of its premise in a compelling way. This episode, and the scene where Clarke kills Finn, is still the peak. It’s what finally let this show sink its claws into me, and somehow, years later, I’m still watching. Genuinely shocking, gut-wrenchingly emotional, and full of the interpersonal character moments that make such epic and difficult scenes worth it. From Finn and Raven’s last goodbye, to Clarke impaling herself on Indra’s pike to prove her determination, to Raven’s soul-searing shriek of despair when she realizes Finn is dead. It’s tense, emotional, and maybe my favorite episode of television, ever.

Favourite song: 

I also love the soundtrack of this series, so I’m 100% with you, Luce. I think “Home” is a great contender (linked here). It’s emotional without being overwrought, epic and soaring without being cheesy. It sets the tone for the rest of the season really well.

I also really love “Couldn’t Stop Caring” playing behind the moments where Abby confronts Clarke about the bombing of Tondc (linked here). The song doesn’t kick in until towards the end of the scene, and I think it’s a well done moment of soundtrack. It’s an interesting juxtaposition, because, at this point, Clarke has really lost touch with a lot of her humanity in her quest to save The 47 from Mt Weather. She’s embraced “love is weakness” - yet the climax of the song states: “I couldn’t stop caring.” The heavy beat, the rising wall of sound, the grim tone and expression on everyone’s faces as they march towards war - it’s effective, chilling, and kind of badass all at the same time.

Favourite scene: 

Season two is full of good scenes, honestly. I think one underrated, really well-done moment is Lincoln’s resurrection in 2x07, “Long Into an Abyss”. I was genuinely so scared as Lincoln seized and died, all while Lexa is approaching the dropship. She’s staring around in horror and rage at the burned bodies of the 300 warriors she sent to attack The Hundred.

You can see how ready for vengeance she is - and then, she arrives in the dropship, and it could not be clearer to her that Skaikru lied, that they couldn’t cure reapers, that Lincoln is dead. Octavia’s wailing, undercut by the tense, scared glances Skaikru share with one another, realizing they’re doomed -

- and then, Clarke saves the day, telling Abby to use a shocklash as a makeshift defibrillator. Miraculously, it works. In the most dramatic, tense way possible, Skaikru proves their value to Lexa and to the grounders at large, and for a moment, it seems like things will be simple.

Least favourite scene:

Probably Ghost Finn, tbh. Wtf was that?? Clarke banished her delusions with the power of “love is weakness”! That’s so dumb!! Grief will do crazy things to a person, but damn!

Most interesting character on first watch: This is Clarke’s best season, hands down. She struggles so hard, but finds herself getting the short end of the stick, again and again. It turns her ruthless.

Her desperation and slow descent into genocide is very compelling to watch. She goes through so much, and it’s only her single-minded determination to free her friends that keeps her going. She loses almost everything, is betrayed time and again, comes up against countless obstacles. At the end of it all, she finds herself with the blood of a civilization on her hands, and at a complete loss for who she is. That’s a compelling story.

Most interesting character on rewatch: 

Octavia Blake. It’s a sleeper season for her, but her transformation from plucky, mouthy scrapper into full-blown warrior is incredible.

It has its downs. I don’t love the way she treats Lincoln upon his return from reaperdom, but overall, it’s a really exciting storyline, with a satisfying payoff. Seeing Octavia march among the rest of the grounders, finally content in her place, secure in her role, is so satisfying.

Favourite arc/storyline:  

This season is still my favorite, so it’s hard to choose. 

The beginnings of Clexa are the best part of Clexa - their uncertain yet undeniable connection carries the season through its lowest moments. 

Pike’s journey into the desert, Murphy tagging along because he “has nothing better to do.” That thread eventually leading to the insanity that is the CoL storyline - but the Prophet’s Quest through the Dead Zone is a really fun diversion from the rest of the season, which is particularly heavy.

Raven and Wick, genius-rivals-turned-lovers, providing a lot of very necessary comic relief. Raven’s struggle to adapt to life, now that her leg doesn’t work.

The struggle of The Delinquents inside Mt Weather, especially Jasper’s. He’s really the main character of that location, and it’s his best season. Watching him fall for Maya, feeling the dramatic tension of him trying to grab ahold of his own story, like the main protagonist he wants to be, only to have the actual main protagonists intervene out of nowhere, and ruin his life. It’s tragic. But getting there is actually a lot of fun, with juvenile delinquent shenanigans and scrappy underdog vibes.

Getting to know the Grounders on a cultural level, seeing what makes them tick, learning a bit more about how humanity survived in the 97 years since the bombs.

Favourite dynamic:

Clarke and Lexa; Octavia and Lincoln; Jasper and Monty; Jaha and Murphy; Raven and Wick; Bellamy and Octavia...

It’s a good season for most of the character dynamics, tbh.

Favourite New character introduced this season: 

It’s a toss-up between two of the best grounder women to ever exist -

Favourite quote:

“Thanks, princess” is definitely up there. Heartbreaking, succinct, too perfect.

“We’ve all got a monster inside of us, and we’re all responsible for what it does when we let it out.” Lincoln was too good for this show.

“Yu gonplei ste udon” - I gotta include some Trigedasleng, as this was the season where it’s introduced.

Tagging: @lovelyrosaye @blodkru @captainwilldameron @dylanobrienisbatman @nightbleeder @bellarke-addict @spacegamora @imacreepygirl and anyone else who sees this and wants to throw it back!

[acaseforpencils]

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:

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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!

[windskull]

Things to read waiting for an update

Updated 8/20/19 to add some pokemon fics unfortunately, I haven’t read any more zelda fics I’ve liked, but I have added a comic.

Just thought I’d share a couple personal favorites I’ve enjoyed reading since updates can be sporadic I know. Under readmore because it’s growing long.

For Zelda Fics...

Back To Your Roots by QueenieZ is a collection of three short stories regarding Twilight Princess Link learning about his ancestor. I initially found the second one, Back To The Forest, while binge-reading Skull Kid related fics, before going back to read the other two. 

Amber Blood and Blue Bells by Random_ag was another one of these binge fics, this one relating to an what-if scenario for BOTW.

The third one, though I personally did not enjoy much myself, I feel like I should share anyways, as although it didn’t quite fit my tastes, others might like it. Majora’s Mask by FakeJake93 is a Novelization of Majora’s Mask that was imagined prior to Hyrule Historia. As such, it takes a different approach to the timeline, namely trying to fit together windwaker with after the events of Majora’s Mask. Be warned though. This fic is highly-action packed and very very dark and somber. Several major characters die in brutal ways throughout the time loops. There are very few slow points in the fic. If you like dark fiction and like to focus more on the drearyness of Majora’s Mask over the surrealism, this is for you. Otherwise, best to skip out on this one (also, this fic is over 700k words, so it’s a long one!)

I also have three Zelda comics I keep up with, namely @growingupgerudo, @linkeduniverse​ and @figmentforms‘ A Tale of Two Rulers

A Tale of Two Rulers I would describe as a Romantic Commedy/Drama where Zelda and Gannondorf get married. Also, Link’s reincarnation is a young princess. Also, Skull Kid is there. It’s hard for me to describe this comic just trust me I love it. Just, be aware of some dark themes (mentions/discussion of rape) and some gore (someone gets beheaded at some point).

I don’t really have a lot to say about growing up gerudo because I just started reading it last week but my understanding is that the story is about a young Link being adopted and raised by Gannondorf. Has a lot of the political aspects and deals a bit with the racism towards the Gerudo people.

Linked Universe is a story where all the Links are in one universe. Need I say more?

Here’s some Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Fics I’ve been reading.

Fledglings by Fobby is a huge adventure story in an original universe, involving a young fledgling rescuer accidently finding her island’s protector in a dungeon, a young Lugia. But unfortunately, there are groups out on the sea that are looking to take that Lugia’s power for themselves, and are willing to do anything to get ahold of the legendary... (currently at 750k+ words)

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation by Namosyip has been a joy to read. It’s a story about a late blooming charmander who’s ready to evolve already, getting ready to become a member fo the Thousand Heart Association, a rescue and explorer group. But after meeting a team of three other “late blooming” pokemon and then finding a mysterious orb, well, let’s just say that he begins to learn there’s a lot about his life he doesn’t know about. (430k+ words currently)

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: The Dreamstone by Slink34884 is a curious story set in a world loosely based on the world of Super Mystery Dungeon, though much later. It follows the story of Slink, a Fennekin, as he looks for the one thing his father told him to find before he died: The Dreamstone. Along the way, however, he’ll have to deal with an organization that indocrinates shiny pokemon and terrorizes the continent: the hatred. Fortunately, he’ll have his team to help him out along the way: Eve, an espeon with ties to The Hatred, Vix, a young vulpix with special powers that help her navigate dungeons, and Abby and Sierra, a father-daughter absol duo. (140k+ words currently)

PMD: Warped Skies by Team_Ion is an explorers of sky adaptation. It has some interesting changes however. For one thing our hero, Sean, is a human from our world with knowledge of the game. Although it may sound straightforward at first, things begin to diverge as events don’t happen the way they should, and the consequences run deep. As an example of things changing, the pair fail to retrieve the relic fragment at the beginning, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg.(200k+words currently)

Sparks of the Future By NaturallyDark is also a Sky adaptation, but instead follows 4 characters. Our human turned pokemon, the partner, an established explorer that already graduated, and an mouthy feral. The differences start off right at the beginning here as well, with the partner joining the guild alone, and the hero joining Team Skull. There’s some... interesting things happening later, but I’ll leave that a surprise

I have several more of these but a lot of them are early on, so I’ll save them for later.

Other:

I usually don’t enjoy gijinka fics, but Dreamland University by RadiantSeraphina has been quite enjoyable. It’s a Kirby gijinka fic with many of the major characters in college. Sounds simple enough at the premise, but things start to get dicey when reincarnation comes into play. Several of the major Kirby games are adapted into the universe. Be aware, lots of Meta/Dedede. I’ve enjoyed it overall though, even not being real big into that ship. (really, I’ve enjoyed everything RadiantSeraphina has written and highly recommend their stuff if you like Kirby. It’s a fun time.)(currently at about 225k words)

[frederator-studios]

Meet D.R. Beitzel, Creator of “The Bagheads”

DR Beitzel is a cartoonist, creative producer, and Pennsylvania fellow living a NYC dream. His day job is playing video games in a Times Square skyscraper; his evenings are occupied writing funnies and drawing comics for the likes of MAD Magazine, McSweeneys, and his own Phatypus Comics. And like several of his idols before him - Matt Groening, anyone? - he’s now making the petite leap from comics to cartoons.  His GO! Cartoon “The Bagheads” is a historically accurate depiction of trash take-out travails with former roommates and his competitive clashes with his older brother. He maintains that the Goat (”Goooat”) is its sole foray into the cartoonish make-believe. He studied politics, so you know that he has 0 capacity to - dare I even suggest it!? - fib.

Sooo, where’d you study animation?

I didn’t! I first went to a community college in central Pennsylvania. It was full of a bunch of cool people - unfortunately not Donald Glover or Alison Brie, but fortunately also not Chevy Chase. Then I went to University of Pittsburgh and studied communications and political science.

Poli- what now?

Yeah... it was the Obama era. I thought “It’s all uphill from here! We’re just riding this political train into the Promised Land!” Reality hit hard. Back then, Jon Favreau was writing Obama’s ‘Yes We Can’ speeches, and I was all riled up. I wanted to be a speechwriter.

At one point a local city councilman asked me to write some remarks for him to use on Martin Luther King Day. I was idealistic and had a head full of steam, so I wrote this fiery, passionate stemwinder that drew on self-sacrifice and righteousness. I even referenced "Letter from Birmingham Jail”. The thing was, it was for a pancake breakfast at a rural Pennsylvania fire hall. So, I'm pretty sure he went out and said something like, "Thanks for coming. Go Eagles”.  I was young and naive, and didn't realize that every speech didn't have to be "Ask not what your country can do for you ..."

When did you decide to NOT work in politics?

When I met a real life politician. (I laugh) No, really! He was a hometown representative - I’m from the Pennsylvania boonies. And he was a Republican, which was fine; I was just looking for a foot in the door. But when he found out I wasn’t, he asked me if I was a double agent. Like he actually suspected me of being in cahoots with the Dems to get dirt on him! So weird. And then finally, it came down to either an unpaid internship with a politician or a paid gig without a politician, so I chose to get paid.

Chasing that dollar. What was the paid gig?

I started out as a freelance editor for fashion and fitness blogs. The biggest perk - and irony - was that I was working in sweatpants from my couch. I got jobs at some TV and radio stations. At the end of college, I did do one unpaid internship, which was the best free work I ever did. It was at WQED, the PBS affiliate in Pittsburgh where Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was filmed back in the day. They still had a bunch of the sets just hanging around the hallways - and I even got to meet Mr. McFeely, who was exactly as nice as you’d hope. Eventually, I decided to leave Pennsylvania and move to New York, probably for the cheap rent. And I’ve been here ever since, working with mobile games. I even got to visit the old MAD Magazine office when I did a comic with them. It was covered in original art from some of the all-time greats.

What kinda stuff have you done for MAD Mag and others?

For MAD, I did a comic parody called “Captain Red America”. He’s like Captain America but only represents conservative states, so a lot of his enemies are things he doesn’t actually believe in. So, when he fights the super villain Climate Change, Cap can’t fight back because he doesn’t believe in climate change, so it just beats him up. I also did some writing for McSweeneys. They have some of the funniest stuff published anywhere, and I always wanted to write for them. I love doing comics, too, because if I have an idea, I can just put it out there—there aren’t really stakeholders involved. Recently, I just finished a Valentines comic for Bushwick Daily, a local Brooklyn blog, about the types of people you meet on Tinder.

How was transplanting to NYC - did you always want to move there?

Ehhh… I’m one of those unwilling New Yorkers who loves to hate it. The city has its upsides; it’s the best comedy scene. When I first arrived I joined UCB, which I think is mandatory when you move to New York - they just issue you a membership with your MetroCard. I always brag that I got to see Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson perform their Broad City stage show before it became a TV show. I love that community, and part of me wishes I’d have stuck with it longer, but I was getting pulled in a bunch of different directions, including a new job.

Oh yeah? Where at?

At Nickelodeon! I got the opportunity very randomly, about a month after I arrived. My (soon-to-be) boss called two people in for interviews, and I guess all that theatrical training from UCB paid off, because I was able to fake being a functional person long enough for her to hire me. It’s a really fun place to work: talented artists, toys everywhere, and sometimes wide-eyed kids are touring the office or testing games for us and you remember what we’re all doing there. The downside is that we’re in Times Square, so when I venture into the street I’m guaranteed to get a face-full of armpit. But playing video games is part of my job - I produce apps and games related to Nick shows.

That is the Dream. What’s your favorite game you’ve worked on?

Probably TMNT: Legends. We had a tremendous team of real fans, and the game looks great. Plus, I got to go visit Montreal where the team is based. I highly recommend that everyone spend years developing a game with a blockbuster studio, so you can visit, too.

Did you choose the cartoon life, or did the cartoon life choose you?

Wow, I really need to get “Cartoon Life” tattooed across my stomach. It was mutual selection. As a kid, I’d go to my grandma’s house and draw through all the paper she had. I looked up to Sergio Aragones of MAD. I was always drawing in the margins of the handouts at church - that’s the only way I’d sit still. But in high school, I stopped drawing for a bit - I guess I was partying too much, or maybe I just lost all my pencils in one of my oversized neon Tommy Hilfiger jackets. Then, I got back into it in college, drawing editorial comics at my school newspapers. I get inspired by people like Matt Groening. He was grinding out “Life in Hell” for like 40 years - well after he became a TV tycoon with The Simpsons and Futurama - just for the love of it.

How did you come to pitch for GO! Cartoons?

Just a random Google search, looking for places to send some stuff. I only barely met the deadline. I put together a thumbnail pitch and sent it on in.

Did “The Bagheads” change much from pitch through production?

The core story was always a brother and sister arguing over trash take-out. But it fluctuated in length quite a bit. There were a lot parts I added and then we condensed or cut out. There were intros, flashbacks - at some point, probably dragons and ice zombies - a lot did have to be trimmed down. Which was tough, because as you can probably tell, I’m a pretty big blowhard.

Who inspired the Bagheads, and were they always, you know… bag headed?

The Bagheads were always bagheads. As a little kid, I used to doodle baghead people with my brother, who inspired me to start drawing at all. We’d draw the guys from Guns ‘N Roses, but with bags over their heads—I have no idea why, but probably because I was kid who was crappy at drawing and couldn’t draw faces. Anyway, it became a running gag between us, we called them Guns ‘N Baggies. And over the years since, I’d draw those types every now and then -- a muscle baggie, an old baggie, whatever. So when I was getting ready to submit to Frederator, I knew the character’s personalities, but I didn’t know their appearances. So I reached into my childhood and pulled out the Bagheads.

What do you enjoy the most about Elbow and Artemis?

Well, what I enjoyed most about the short in general was working with so many talented people to bring it to life. I gotta give a big shout out to Eric, Kelsey, Michelle, JoJo, Sylvia, Paul, Bill, Kevin, Stephen, our cast and everyone else at Frederator and Salami Studios who made this happen. I did not do this alone - nowhere near it.  

As for Artemis and Elbow, I’ve always liked duos with friendly antagonism, like Ren and Stimpy, Bugs and Daffy. Those good-natured conflicts where you’re kinda buddies, but you’re also kinda at each other’s throat. I like that Artemis and Elbow’s personalities create conflict: she’s hyper-competitive, he’s lazy. And then there’s their poor clueless dad, who’s working too much and constantly worried about the safety of his kids but doesn’t realize the biggest danger to them is each other. Those relationships can serve up a lot of fun, simple stories.

What inspired Nuke Man Jones, who’s still pulling off the eternal dunk as we speak?

Harlem Globe Trotters, for sure. They basically have superpowers. I was really looking for things that Elbow might see at a high altitude and I wanted something silly. Nuke Man is stuck up there in Earth’s orbit now, cursed to never complete that dunk like some Sisyphean baller fate.

The billion dollar question: do the Bagheads have bags for heads, or are they wearing bags over regular people heads?

Ya know, I’m gonna opt not to answer that one. The question of the bags can remain an unanswered mystery if it gets a series. It’ll be like The Leftovers for kids.

How about some favorite cartoons?

I mean, my Top 10 would just be The Simpsons, Seasons 1 through 10: that’s my all-time favorite TV, right there. South Park can’t get enough love—those guys have turned out classic after classic, and they’re the smartest gross-out humor in history. Looney Tunes, Ren & Stimpy, Beavis and Butthead - Mike Judge is a genius. Jim Henson and The Muppets, even though it’s not a cartoon; puppets count, right? MAD Magazine stuff like Sergio Aragones features or “Spy vs. Spy,” which was an inspiration for this Bagheads short.

I’m also really inspired by old school newspaper comics. It breaks my heart that they’re disappearing. Calvin and Hobbes is gorgeous and the most inspiring thing to me. I just read the entire series again, and it’s as good as ever. I appreciate that Bill Watterson refused all the licensing and merch deals people wanted to make for it. I read once that he left something like $400 million on the table.

That’s amazing.

Yeah. Once, I made a parody album cover for a local comic shop’s art show, and I made one based off of Notorious BIG’s “Ready to Die” cover: Notorious HOB’s “Ready to Live”. People wanted prints so I started selling them, and then it dawned on me that I was breaking the spirit of Watterson’s anti-commercial stance. So I stopped selling them, and just told people, “Sorry, they’re gone!” 

What do you like to do outside of your work*? (*everybody else’s play)

I like to connect with my inner hillbilly - errr, inner hippie - whatever it is. I go to the beach and state parks pretty often. And I love stand-up: I just saw Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Amy Schumer, Jeff Ross and Kevin Hart at Radio City Music Hall. It was insane.

What are you working on now?

At the moment, I’m investing all my resources in trying to score “Black Panther” tickets. Otherwise, I'm working on a musical animated series idea with two musician friends, Jeff and Matt. It's really cool and is somewhere between Hamilton and Freaks & Geeks. I'm also working on a comic strip about animals in a post-human world. It's really cartoony, except the president is a photo-realistic opossum whose speeches are just incoherent, ear-piercing screeches.  I'm not sure where that falls on the fiction/non-fiction spectrum. So much for giving up politics!

Great talking with you D.R., thanks for the interview! Looking forward to all of your future endeavors. And I’ll be sure to vote for you if you ever return to politics / being a spy for those wily Pennsylvania Dems.

Everybody: keep up with Phatypus Comics on Facebook and Instagram, @phatypus! And here on Tumblr: @phatypuscomics

- Cooper

[inaneswine]

I decided to continue watching The Walking Dead (SPOILERS)

So it’s currently nine days away from the premiere of season 7B of The Walking Dead (not that I’m counting, at all), and I was sort of in two minds about whether to tune in at all. I’ve decided I will, but I haven’t been too thrilled with what the last couple of seasons have had to offer.

I have loved The Walking Dead since it first appeared. I have been a lover of all things zombie since I was a child – first getting into the Resident Evil video games and series of film adaptations that followed, Danny Boyle’s modern classic 28 Days Later, and then finally getting into the classic Romero Living Dead films. However, when The Walking Dead first aired in 2010, it was before Netflix, box sets and binge-watching were a big thing, and not too many people this side of the pond had heard of Breaking Bad, so television wasn’t quite in its golden age yet. The only zombie series worthy of note that had ever been broadcast either here or in the states was the Charlie Brooker penned miniseries Dead Set, a fantastically cynical satire which places a zombie apocalypse on the eviction night of reality television series Big Brother. While its premise may have been laughable, it was incredibly well-written and executed, and it was also intensely frightening. I like to view it myself as a pilot to Brooker’s Black Mirror anthology series, as its nihilistic tone and darkly comic style are very similar.

However, post-apocalyptic drama wasn’t especially new to television. In 2008, the same year as Dead Set aired, the BBC began airing a remake of 1970s drama Survivors. It starred Julie Graham as Abby Grant, one of the few survivors of a flu pandemic that has almost wiped out the human race. She meets and bands together with other survivors and together, they attempt to stay alive, and try to avoid the dangers of this new, quieter world they inhabit. It lasted a mere two seasons before its cancellation in 2010 (the same year Walking Dead began to air). Predating Walking Dead by a good couple of years (though airing after the Dead comics began publication In 2003), Survivors explores very similar themes, such as community spirit, reconnecting with family and fighting oppressive leadership – characterised here by the last surviving government official. It was a terrific series – great writing, excellent performances and stunning cinematography and visual effects. It also hammered home the idea that no character is safe at any time, as two of the most arguably well known actors in the show – Freema Agyeman and Shaun Dingwall – succumb to the deadly flu in the very first episode. Unfortunately, it seemed that the viewing figures weren’t meeting the standards set by the show’s high budget, and it was not renewed for a third season.

Then, in October 2010, The Walking Dead began to air. I had never heard of the comics and, to this day, still haven’t read them, so it was all new to me. But from the moment Rick pulled the trigger on that small girl with the half-missing cheek as she quickly staggered towards him, I was hooked. Its first season’s relatively short running time of six episodes was a welcome change from the usual American television dramas which, at this time, usually stretched out to a good 24 or so episodes. Thankfully, Americans are beginning to learn that it’s about quality not quantity, and they delivered six action-packed, thoughtful and scary episodes of character-driven – as opposed to gore-driven – drama. (Having said that, there was still gore a-plenty.)

First of all, the show presented a group of diverse, flawed, but very likeable characters. With the exceptions of Carol’s abusive husband Ed, our initial introduction to Daryl and, as the first two seasons progressed, the mentally unstable Shane, it was a show about relatively decent, ordinary people coming to terms with a terrible predicament that they neither deserved nor asked for. The early seasons remain my favourites, as our group takes refuge at a secluded camp, and then at a farmhouse in rural Georgia. Though several are very vocally critical of the second season, I seriously adored it, as it gave the characters some time for respite and allowed for thorough character exposition, almost crossing into Shakespearian territory as the Rick-Lori-Shayne love triangle complicated further and further. It also echoed the “cosy catastrophe” element of post-apocalyptic fiction – the idea that a group of protagonists can live a relatively comfortable life in the face of a great disaster, or that the apocalypse has freed them from the constraints of society – present in the works of John Wyndham and George A. Romero. Additionally, it was refreshing to see that the old classic style of zombies – the slow, Romero-esque shamblers – were not only being used, but were being made threatening and scary again. While Romero somehow managed to imbue his zombies with a sense of character and intelligence – by the end of 1985’s Day Of The Dead, one zombie even understands the concept of sarcasm – Walking Dead’s zombies are just beasts, plain and simple.

However, season three was a game-changer in this respect. Life became so much more difficult for the survivors after they lost their home at the end of season two, and additional threat was added by the tyrannical and psychotic rule of the Governor, expertly played by David Morrissey. Walking Dead began to let viewers know that not everyone in the zombie apocalypse was very nice.

As each season passed, the show became more harrowing and difficult to watch, with some standout moments being the death of Hershel, Carol’s “look at the flowers” moment and the group’s arrival at Terminus. As a matter of fact, the opening scene of season five’s first episode, “No Sanctuary”, was perhaps the most disturbing five minutes in television that I’ve ever seen. But just when it looks like there’s no hope for our survivors, viewers were uplifted and rejoicing by the end of the episode as Carol stepped in to save the day in some of the most spectacular scenes of the series yet. They all still stuck together, and seemed to be able to overcome any dangers they faced.

Season six was fairly uneven, with some outstanding zombie horde scenes, excellent fight scenes involving the Wolves, but also a poorly executed and frustrating red herring involving the alleged death of Glenn (who didn’t really die, he just fell off a bin). Nonetheless, it was still enjoyable to watch and fascinating to watch the characters develop. An easy example would be the episode “Here’s Not Here”, which may just be the finest episode of the whole series.

Now, onto season seven. As I’ve said, I understand that it’s a zombie apocalypse, and things are likely to get rather unpleasant, but this season has been damn near unwatchable. We have seen remarkable character exposition and fantastic human drama, but the untold misery and cruelty inflicted upon our heroes episode by episode became just too much to take, and sitting through it each week was extremely hard work. I’m not criticising the writing or the acting, as both have been beautiful, I just wanted some relief for our poor friends that never seemed to come. It hasn’t just been tough, it’s been thoroughly depressing.

I was at a point during the mid-season finale, just as Spencer was disembowelled by Negan, returned as the living dead and was subsequently shot by Rick, where I expected the end credits to pop up right after that scene. If it had ended there, I’m pretty certain I would have stopped watching The Walking Dead. However, the last few minutes as the cast reunited at the hilltop community was virtually the only saving grace of this season so far (except Carol and Morgan’s wonderful episode entitled “The Well”). I simply hope that the next eight episodes can give us at least some glimmer of hope.

I think I’m beginning to look at antagonists differently at the moment. Characters such as Negan used to annoy me, as I simply wanted to meet nice people onscreen, and I couldn’t believe that a character could be so sadistic and brutal. Sure, the Governor was wicked, but his killing just seemed like a means to an end and, later, revenge. But Negan, he just gets off on watching people suffer.

A similar thought came recently when I watched a Korean zombie film entitled Train To Busan, which featured a fairly stereotypical “business man” character whose sole purpose was to survive the movie by sacrificing anything and anyone in his way. Again, I thought to myself, who would behave like that?

Then, another thought washed over me. And it chilled me to the bone.

Donald Trump in a zombie apocalypse.

I’ll just let you think about that.

[movietvtechgeeks]

Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/2017-sundance-film-festival-day-2-discovery-landline-big-sick/

2017 Sundance Film Festival Day 2: 'Discovery,' 'Landline' and 'The Big Sick'

Day 2 at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival felt like the old days checking out Charlie McDowell’s follow-up to the brilliant The One I Love. Rather than follow a formula for The Discovery, McDowell gets darker, more terrifying and abstract. The subject matter of mass suicides is dark, but he manages to take it to depths most filmmakers would be afraid of.

We also got to check out The Big Sick, Trophy and Landline which you can see below along with the Q&A’s after each one.

The Discovery

Just a day after opening the festival with the annual Day One press conference, and giving a very personal introduction of former Vice President Al Gore and his Inconvenient Sequel, Festival founder Robert Redford was back in the spotlight at the Eccles Theater on Friday night. Reporting to work for his original day job, the legendary actor was on hand for the world premiere of The Discovery, in which he plays Dr. Thomas Harber, a renowned physicist who has scientifically unearthed evidence of the afterlife.

Directed by Charlie McDowell and written by McDowell and Justin Lader, the haunting The Discovery posits a future in which millions of people hasten their own deaths in order to “get there” and find another plane of existence. Jason Segel stars as Harber’s estranged son Will, who’s determined to have his father’s discoveries rescinded in order to stem these viral suicides, which emerging love interest Isla, played by Rooney Mara, threatens to join.

During the post-screening Q&A, there were numerous questions about what certain elements of the film might mean or augur, particularly regarding the provocative notion of an afterlife that might improve upon our natural one. But McDowell held true to the idea of leaving things open-ended for a premise that “lends itself to a million more questions.”

“Justin and I were really interested in this idea of what if science and religion came together, and we all have to agree to believe that the afterlife is a real place,” McDowell said, referring to his writing partner Lader. “It’s less about where we specifically believe we go, and more about creating this question, and the hope is that the audience brings the history of themselves into the film. That’s something we did with our first film, The One I Love, and it’s something that really intrigues us. We’re much more interested in the audience bringing the makeup of who they are into the film, and us not preaching or saying that this is exactly what we believe, or specifically where we go.”

Redford followed by praising McDowell’s daring as a storyteller, which echoed with things he’s often said about the importance of Sundance as a platform for free expression, and hinted at why this collaboration came to pass. “He has a vision. I mean, this work was really out there,” Redford said. “Charlie is a director that takes risks, and then stands by them. And he’s fierce in his stance. I think he’s going to have a wonderful career.”

If only in jest, McDowell wasn’t about to chance a different evaluation than that one.

“I’d like to announce my retirement now. This is it. I’m done,” McDowell said. To which Lader provided the kicker.

“That’s what it’s like when the afterlife is perfect,” he said.

Trophy

Should economics determine the fate of endangered species?

Director Shaul Schwarz, who returns to the Festival after his 2013 documentary Narco Cultura, and screenwriter Christina Clusiau explore the industry of big-game hunting in Trophy.

“We started this film by me sitting in the kitchen and going online and stumbling on a picture of a guy posing next to [a dead] elephant,” Schwarz explained. “I wanted to kill him – I thought he was the most disgusting individual.” Schwarz, who is from Israel, had never been exposed to trophy hunting and was horrified at what he found.

As he and Clusiau began digging deeper, however, they soon realized it wasn’t that simple. “We very quickly understood that we don’t know that much and it is a much more complex issue than we thought it was.”

The pair went to meet South African rhino farmer John Hume, an ostensibly greedy businessman who trimmed his rhinos’ horns to sell the ivory. Instead, Schwarz and Clusiau found a man who proclaimed he had the solution to saving the rhinos, and argued that he wanted to see them alive rather than be killed by poachers. To his point, when ivory trade was declared illegal, Hume struggled to take care of his rhinos, and the poaching skyrocketed.

The rightness of the “if it pays, it stays” mentality is interrogated throughout the film. If a laissez-faire, self-interest-based approach at least achieves the goal of keeping these animals alive, should it be considered?

The Big Sick

Michael Showalter’s dazzling The Big Sick is many things. It’s a culture clash tale, a story about how we often end up dating our partner’s parents, but it’s mostly a smart, superb and consistently surprising comedy romance that played like gangbusters at its premiere Friday at the Eccles Theatre.

Silicon Valley star Kumail Nanjiani and wife writer-producer Emily V. Gordon co-wrote the screenplay based on their own real-life romance. Nanjiani is a Chicago-based, mildly successful stand-up comic who is at odds with his tradition-based Pakistani family. He’s forever dodging his domineering mother’s endless introductions to potential brides for an arranged marriage. At a comedy club, he meets spunky blond American Emily (a terrific Zoe Kazan), and the two begin a passionate romance before the difference in their cultures drive a wedge in their relationship. When Emily falls mysteriously ill and lands in the hospital, Nanjiani is forced to impulsively sign off on placing her in a medically induced coma. He soon finds himself becoming close to Emily’s parents (Holly Hunter and Ray Romano) and realizes that he needs to find a way to love Emily and overcome the estrangement from his own family.

The challenging material is a change of pace for Showalter, noted for writing comedies such as Wet Hot American Summer. But as last year’s Hello, My Name Is Doris proved, he’s evolving into an accomplished filmmaker. Showalter deftly balances the more dramatic elements of the screenplay with rapid-fire humor and is ably assisted by his talented cast. Nanjiani emerges as a charismatic leading man who capably plays every facet of his filmic self.

As she often does, Hunter steals every scene she’s in. During the Q&A that followed the screening, former sitcom star Romano explained that he was at first intimidated to appear opposite the Oscar-winner. “When you work with Holly, you have to bring out the truth in each scene,” he admitted. “I figured she’d be an intense actor and would scare me. She was intense, but she was also the warmest intense person I’ve ever met.”

Nanjiani and Gordon worked on the screenplay for more than three years before they felt they got it just right. “People deal with very difficult uncomfortable situations, and in this movie these are people who are trying to maintain a sense of humor through something that is excruciatingly painful,” he told the audience. “That’s something we kept coming back to. You try to explore that side of it. It’s the only way to survive.”

Landline

In Gillian Robespierre’s energetic, observant Landline, sisters Dana and Ali (Jenny Slate and newcomer Abby Quinn) navigate 1995 Manhattan with its CD-listening stations, eyebrow rings, rave parties, Lorena Bobbitt headlines and, yes, landline phones, until two affairs threaten their relationship. Dana cheats on her fiancé (Jay Duplass) with an edgier man she knew from college (Finn Wittrock). Meanwhile, Ali has discovered, thanks to a mysterious floppy disk, that her unsuccessful playwright father (John Turturro) has also been stepping out and decides whether to expose his affair to their mother (Edie Falco), a sharp businesswoman with a yen for Hillary Clinton’s power suits.

Introducing Robespierre before her comedy premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition Friday, Sundance Film Festival director John Cooper told the audience at the Eccles Theatre that his team was pleased to have her back three years after her Obvious Child (also with Slate) was a breakout hit at the 2014 Festival. “One of the proudest moments for all of us at Sundance is when filmmakers return to us with works that transcend even the great things they did before,” Cooper said. “Gillian is one of those directors who continues to surprise us.”

The director revealed that the idea for Landline grew out of conversations she, Slate, and co-producer/screenwriter Elisabeth Holm had on the road promoting their award-winning 2014 film. “We started talking about our families and how we all grew up in New York City in the ’90s and our parents are divorced,” she explained. “We had a similar experience in that divorce was kind of cool for us in a way and brought our families together. We wanted to make a movie about a family that wasn’t torn apart by divorce.”

As for any hidden significance in the title, Robespierre remarked that it was a way to set the tone of the ’90s before anyone began watching the film. “We all had one for many years and we were tied to it,” she said. “We didn’t have tiny computers in our pockets at all times.”

Robespierre also shared that even with the decision to set the film in the mid-’90s, she and Holm never intended to create a nostalgia piece but rather something more subtle. “When we started writing the movie, we didn’t want to have to rely on Facebook and Instagram as a story device,” she added. “Stalking your loved one is easy to do now.”

Movie TV Tech Geeks News

[choiceslife]

When Worlds Collide: Part Five (Limited Series)

Disclaimer: Based upon characters in Choices - Endless Summer, It Lives in the Woods, The Royal Romance, #LoveHacks, Home for the Holidays, and The Elementalists series. All characters presented are the property of Pixelberry Studios. I claim no ownership. This story is purely the work of the poster as fanfiction.

Overall Series Rating: 18+

Warnings: Adult Language, Adult Content, Sexual Discussions. Future chapters may contain SMUT and Gratuitous Sexual Descriptions

Overall Series Summary: The sisters are together again and Ava Cunningham believes only they can help her.

Author’s Note: This Limited Series is a companion/sequel to Divided By Circumstance. I suggest you at least read that series in order to understand this one. As with most of my stories, this is a crossover and is part of my interconnected Chromatic AU. My MC’s are as follows: Carrissa Monroe (TRR), Abby Bennett (#LH), Scarlett Joy (HFTH), Taylor Reed (ES), and Donovan Bailey (TE). Previous Chapters can be found in my Master List located in my header.

Tag List: @cinnamonroll-duffy @darley1101 @debramcg1106 @brightpinkpeppercorn @katurrade @ladynonsense @luxurylives @regrettingnathan @teamtomsato @akrenich @riseandshinelittleblossom @kinkykingliam @jlouise88 @eileendannie @marshmallow-ortega @littlecrookedheart @i-choose-liam @tmarie82 @bobasheebaby @boneandfur @europeanguy @walkerismychoice @pixieferry @sstee1 @endlessly-searching-for-you

***

New York City, New York

Carissa, Abby, and Scarlett removed their hands from the amulet that Ava had instructed them to hold. They couldn’t believe the visions the ornate piece of jewelry projected into their minds. As sad as the three women felt to learn of the terrible price their mother paid to bring them into this world; just knowing the lengths she went to protect them gave the sisters some closure.

“So our mom knew about the powers we possessed? And she knew that birthing us would kill her?” Abby wiped a stray tear from her eye. Knowing the sacrifice her birth mother made broke her heart.

Ava placed the amulet back into the black velvet bag which Cora kept it stored. She could have told the sisters the lengths Cora went to hide them from the world, but Ava thought it better for the three to see for themselves. “From what I could gather from the amulet and Cora’s journals, Anastasia figured out sometime after the first trimester that she was carrying babies with extraordinary abilities. It was Cora that let your mother know the likelihood of her surviving the birth was extremely low. Carrying three of the most powerful beings in the universe takes a toll on the human body.”

“What about the fact that the late Senator Vega is our father?” Carissa questioned. “Mom clearly feared him finding out about us.”

“Thankfully we won’t have to worry about him.” Abby placed her hand onto Carissa’s shoulder to calm her worries.

“Are either of you upset that everything we have is because Cora set things in motion to keep us apart as her way of keeping us safe?” Scarlett questioned. Tears were also in her eyes as she looked at the tall woman standing before her. “Why couldn’t she find us when we became adults and tell us about our birthright?”

“I think Cora did what she felt was best. She certainly nudged some things, but you three are where you are because of your own strengths.” Ava took a seat across from the sisters. She took a deep breath, knowing that the trio had a lot to process. “Perhaps we should...”

Carissa rose from her seat on the couch, which immediately silenced Ava mid-sentence. “It seems that Cora went to great lengths to keep my sisters and I apart. Fate of the world and all that. But you’re wanting us to use our powers for some purpose that you haven’t quite explained. Why risk something that Cora worked so hard to prevent?”

“Fate actually brought you together with your sisters after Cora’s death, Your Majesty,” Ava answered. It was true. Without Cora Pritchard around, the universe set in motion to bring The Sisters back together. “When you three came together, you felt something. A spark. You broke Cora’s binding spell. My original plan was to come tell you about your powers and then re-engage the binding spell with some tweaks so that mere touches between each other wouldn’t break it again.”

“Original plan? What changed?” Carissa asked.

___

The groups stepped away to mingle, giving Ava some private time with Carissa, Abby, and Scarlett. The shaggy haired pilot found a corner of the room that gave him a vantage point to watch the others while he got lost in his own thoughts.

Cade mingled with Griffin and Zeph, taking a moment to feel the former’s biceps, while Lucas teetered on the edge of the group. Stacy seemed to marvel at Shreya’s fashion, while Donovan and Beckett snuck flirtatious little finger grabs with each other. Mara checked up on Eagle Eye stationed outside the door, as Dan pulled up a seat beside Jake.

“You’re never much for group chats are you?” Dan questioned as he playfully punched Jake on the knee. The pilot smiled back with a low laugh that caused Dan to tingle inside. Something kept pulling him back to the gruff smart ass he’d known for all of a few days, despite Jake’s attempt to steer him towards Lucas. Dan liked Lucas for sure. He’s smart, attractive, and a phenomenal friend. Yet something was missing. Dan didn’t feel that spark. His breath didn’t hitch in his throat like it did the first time he saw Jake. It was wrong to feel this way. Dan knew he was here to help Jake get Taylor back; but part of him imagined a future involving the brash, ex-military guy with a penchant for nicknames.

“Not particularly Mop Top, but I don’t mind talking to you.” Jake flashed that underwear dropping grin of his and Dan swore he felt himself tighten against his jeans. Jake noticed, but before he could give his new friend grief, he spotted the Queen approaching out of the corner of his eye. “Your Majesty,” Jake said jumping to his feet and pulling Dan up with him in the process.

“Please, you don’t have to do that. Sit, sit. Call me Carissa. You’re Jake, right?” The Queen inquired, extending her hand to the shaggy haired man before her.

“Yes ma’am...err...Carissa. And this here is Mop...Dan.”

“Pleasure to officially meet you both.” Carissa took a seat beside the two men, gesturing for them to sit back down. Although she didn’t know him, the dog tags around his neck gave her some confidence that Jake would be trustworthy and honorable enough to be forthright with her. She had been through so much in Cordonia before marrying Liam and her emotions were on overdrive the past week after meeting her sisters. And now she had a gaggle of strangers telling her that she was part of a powerful witch trio. To say that her mind was blown would be an understatement. At this point, Carissa was beginning to doubt her sanity. The scariest part to her was that she believed them. Hell, someone could show up next week and tell her that Justin was abducted by an evil corporation and replaced with a murder prone robot and she’d believe it. “So Jake, tell me something. What made you believe Ava’s words? I have to think a military man like yourself isn’t someone that is easily swayed by simple stories.”

Jake ran a hand through his hair as he contemplated Carissa’s question. Why did he believe Ava? His very first interaction with her, she used her friend Dan as a thirst trap. Yet it worked and after speaking with the two, Jake felt a level of comfort that was quite rare for him. The last time he trusted that quickly was the day he met Taylor. “To be honest Carissa, I wasn’t swayed by Ava’s words. Something inside told me that I could trust her and Dan.”

“She believes that Taylor left a bigger impression upon you and your friends than Vaanu expected. The feeling Ava got from her interactions with Taylor was that he was supposed to fade from your memories in short order after he left, but the love you all have is willing him back into existence.”

“Sounds like Taylor,” Jake chuckled. “Things happened on La Huerta that nobody will ever know. Taylor saved the world, but he also saved me as a person.”

“Thank you Jake,” Carissa said as she clasped his hands between her own. She left the two men back to return to their conversation while she rejoined her sisters.

“So? What do you think?” Abby asked with baited breath. Her mind had been made up rather quickly. Abby thought it would be super fun to experience magical powers. It must have been Ben’s comic book imagination rubbing off on her. Scarlett was a little more reserved, but was willing to try if precautions were in place. All that remained was Carissa.

___

Griffin gathered his friends beside Ava. It was time for them to return to Penderghast. The had work to do on their own mission. “I wish we could stay cousin, but circumstances beckon us back home.”

“Yeah. Donovan has Thief practice tomorrow and he’s gonna need to focus. Especially since he missed the first game,” Zeph remarked.

“Thief practice?” Stacy arched an eyebrow at Zeph’s words.

“It’s like flag football,” Donovan answered. “Just with magic.”

“Yes. Well, while you all entertain yourselves with sport, I’ll be studying in the library,” Beckett scoffed.

Shreya and Zeph chuckled at Beckett’s expense before the two groups said their goodbyes. Cade hugged Griffin just a little longer and tighter than the others, much to Stacy’s chagrin. Ava watched her girlfriend forcefully whisper to their friend after his embrace as Griffin’s friends made their way back through the mirror portals.

“So you’re all going to forget about this as soon as you go through?” Ava questioned as she hooked Griffin’s arm before he could depart.

Griffin nodded to his cousin. He knew she was slightly sad that he’d forget seeing her again after so many years apart. “It’s for the best. The Sisters need to stay safe. Just remember what I told you about the potions and the talisman. If they agree to help you, the talisman will keep your location hidden. I imagine magic that powerful will be sensed by many attuned beings rather quickly. Once you’ve completed your task, use the potions for binding and memory alteration.” Ava hugged her cousin one last time before watching him disappear through the mirror to rejoin his friends.

___

The Queen and her sister’s gathered the attention of those that remained. “I’m surprised to see your cousin leave us so soon Ava,” Carissa said, a hint of dejection in her voice

“He and his friends have some matters to handle back in their realm, but I assure you that Griffin put precautions in place to keep your secrets safe. He also provided me with a few items that should assist with the spell if you, Abby, and Scarlett are willing to help.”

Carissa looked between her two sisters, both of whom were smiling greatly before confirming to Ava their willingness to try and restore Taylor to the timeline. “We were talking between ourselves about what to do. Something you and Jake mentioned struck a chord with us. You said Taylor has been trying to will himself back into existence. And Jake mentioned that lots of things went down on La Huerta. If we are going to have the best chance of being successful, I think we need to go where Taylor’s Earth presence was strongest.”

“You’re saying we need to go to La Huerta,” Jake grinned.

“Precisely.”

“Well then Your Majesty, I’m sure you’ve got access to a Royal jet. Think you can take this motley crew with you? I need to make some phone calls and arrangements for some others to join us. If we are going to be successful, then we won’t only need La Huerta. We’ll need those that still have Taylor in their hearts.”

The Queen nodded in agreement while Stacy practically bounced off the walls, excited no doubt to get to fly on a luxurious royal airplane replete with every amenity imaginable.

“Excellent,” Jake replied. “I’ll send you the coordinates and let Malfoy... errr, Aleister know we’re coming so arrangements can be made for your arrival. La Huerta here we come.”

***

(To be continued)