#bstormhand's stuff

[bstormhands]

Heya!

You're my Rapunzel expert mutual (from my Professor Almashys blog) and I've been wondering what kind of dragon Rapunzel would have, like colour scheme and general origin like more northern/Celtic, Asian or more native tribes of Australia/New Zealand

Cause I feel like you know her character best and I want to get the essence of her character right when I draw her alongside the dragon

*leaves cookies*

A most interesting question. I technically she has Little Big Guy for a dragon, but my idea for this would be a golden Northern European dragon, along the lines of Smaug after emerging from the molten gold, but not as spiky.

[bstormhands]

Calling the Fifth Spirit

I don’t think Iduna was calling Gale when she tried to help Prince Agnarr.

She’s playing in the forest with Gale, doing some low level flying. Then all hell breaks loose. She knows that a battle is going on, but she doesn’t know why. I think it is safe to say that Prince Agnarr was introduced to everyone at the dedication of the dam. So she would know who he was. Agnarr does not know who she is. 

We know Iduna is part of one of the oldest families of the Northuldra. Her shawl has the symbols of the elements and the Fifth Spirit woven into it. She also has a lullaby that basically teaches who wish to enter Ahtohallan what they need to know to do it successfully and a warning about what can be found therein. 

Its very likely that the Fifth Spirit would be part of the oldest family of the Northuldra. So I am considering that Iduna’s father is the Fifth Spirit. Iduna wasn’t calling Gale, she was calling her dad using a special call just for the Fifth Spirit.

Why call Gale when she knows they need balance to stop the fighting, the Fifth Spirit can do that. But she doesn’t know that Agnarr’s father had just killing him. As the child of the Fifth Spirit she would be in line to be the next Fifth Spirit. She was calling herself for help but she couldn’t really help herself as a kid. 

I think the magical spirits saw an opportunity. Iduna and Agnarr had a connection. And the magical spirits shipped them too. The magical spirits sent Iduna away to Arendelle to find a way to create a bridge to return balance. The Earth Giants obviously are powerful enough to break the dam, but they wanted something more then flowing water. There was the possibility of fixing the harm King Runeard caused but it required some right choices and it would require a new bridge, not just between the magical spirits but Northuldra and Arendelle. A new kind of Fifth Spirit. 

While it doesn’t look like the magical spirits are omniscient and are obviously limited in power they do appear to be able to influence places outside of the Enchanted Forest. Arendelle would have to rebuild after losing their entire military. But the magical spirits might have influenced things subtly to make sure Arendelle prospered while a new Fifth Spirit was born. 

That was Elsa who the magical spirits gave powers too and also Anna who might not have magical powers but is a power all her own that was needed for the bridge both sides needed. I don’t think the Fifth Spirit is a hereditary position, but if history is anything to go by, some families would be more likely to gain the position than others. 

The call to the Fifth Spirit Iduna setup echoed until her daughter was powerful enough to become the Fifth Spirit that Ahtohallan, the Enchanted Forest and Arendelle needed. 

[bstormhands]

Overwhelm

here’s the thing about overwhelm. sometimes its not about a lot of bad stuff, sometimes it also happens with good stuff. 

I had an aunt that visited from East Germany, I'm not going to do into depth here but it is important to understand where she was coming from. I’d been there before and knew their stores. There was a corner shop for a supermarket, think bodega or 7-11, not Super Walmart, but it was still represented the majority of their economic output. 

You had soda and beer, in identical bottle for reuse, but you had to shake the bottle to figure out what was inside because the labels fell off from pathetic glue. Eggs and milk were fresh, they had to be because they didn’t refrigerate them. Sturdy rye and wheat breads, fluffy white rolls though. a children's cereal and an adult cereal for breakfast and so on. The worse toilet paper I have ever run across, raffia is softer. A 1000 sq ft store front represented pretty much everything they could buy. 

And she was able to get a visa to visit family in America. 

On the way home from the airport we stopped at Walbaums (think smiths/alberstons/kroger) for some things for dinner. She stopped dead in her track as we entered to stare at all the fruits and vegetables, she had to ask what most of them were, because she had never seen most of them. 

then we turned the corner to the cereal aisle. You know that aisle. 100 feet dedicated to all the different ways to turn grains and sugar into something you can eat from a bowl of milk with a spoon. She came from a place with 2, just two kinds of cereal, and now in front of her were thousands of different kinds of just cereal, and she could see aisle after aisle of just food, 40,000 sq ft of mostly food. 

She broke down sobbing because the sheer variety of everything was more then she had ever had access to, it was a thousand times more than she had ever imagined could exist. 

While we couldn’t get everything we got her a few things we liked that we knew she would like too, because you have to start somewhere. Later we hit up the ethnic food aisle to really blow her mind. 

@fairytalepsuedonym - an elaboration 

[bstormhands]

The Tenth Anniversary of Tangled

Tangled is my favorite movie, because it saved my life.

The Great Recession (lol good old days) hit us pretty hard. By the time the 2010 holiday season rolled around we were living in my sister’s house while they took helped their children in another part of the country. One day we received a knock on the door, and the stoop was piled with food and gifts. You know one of those feel good Christmas miracles you see in the movie. But to tell you the truth, I just wanted to die. Sure, food and presents were nice, but work and dignity would have been more helpful. 

Tangled was in theaters but we didn’t notice because no money for something like that and at the time I didn’t care. I had bigger problems, getting work in the best of times is difficult for my, the holidays were the worst time of all. We had lost a child a decade before. Everything hurt and nothing worked. But in the presents there were gift cards to the local movie theater and the restaurant next to it. Well I set that aside and forgot about them until Valentine’s day came around. Our situation had not gotten any better and by this time dispair had set in. I found the gift cards and we went out as one last hurrah, because at this point I had given up. I had applied for nearly 3000 jobs and I hadn’t had an interview in ages.

We were looking at what movies were available and we chose Tangled because Disney always gives a happy ending even if we didn’t seem to deserve one ourselves. 

Tangled was fun, we laughed for the first time in months. But then the scene just before the lantern scene came up, and the king wept for his lost princess. And I lost it. I never cried in movies but in that moment, I saw someone else that knew my pain. And wept for him pain and mine and our lost children. 

I was a mess, but I was less less broken then I had been before the movie. I felt the first stirring of hope then I had in a long time. I was glad that the theater was basically empty and I could clean myself up. 

Yet on the way home I had questions about how things happened and they didn’t go away so I started writing how I thought it went. I wrote Rapunzel Goes Home and it was something for me and my pain and it helped. I am a writer now because of that movie and I am glad I saw it. 

I don’’t expect anyone to get the same revelation from Tangled but for me it is the greatest movie every made. 

[bstormhands]

Kinds of space ships

Thinking about spaceships for a possible setting and I was looking through the various ships that exist right now. 

So assuming you have a galaxy spanning civilization or at least a good sized chuck of one and it needs spaceships to move things around and they go fast enough that it is worth the effort. What kinds of space ships do you need?

For civillians you need starliners and cargo ships. 

For starliners I can see a few different general types:

Small, fast  and expensive. 

Large, slow and cheap. 

Mixed cargo and passenger liner. More often used between smaller planets. 

Cargo ships would include, container ships, and bulk carriers or ore, gasses and the like.

For the military they would need things like:

Corvettes, frigates, destroyers, cruisers, capital ships, replenishment ships, and tugs.

[bstormhands]

Cassandra's Revenge

It looks like they restored the bridge they broke in “Rapunzel’s Enemy”, though it still looks broken down on the one side. 

The palace sure is decked out.

Nice song, but you don’t have everything yet Rapunzel.  Ha, nice callback to the movie painting over the screen. But I notice Cass is missing from the mural, but she’s left some room for hope.

Cassandra walking through the forest is ominous. 

He’s going to try proposing again.

Old lady Crowely singing!

Poor Eugene, he’s so nervous he asked Old Lady Crowley if it was a good time to propose, yeah, not your type. 

The throne room being decked out is pretty awesome. Keira and Catalina having fun and laughing warms my heart.

Surprise!

All the royals are there, nice.

Oh Edmund, never change. Hamuel, you need some work.

Aww, she’s going to try proposing too. Squee! Its the ring!

Nice reprise and she drew herself with a ring!

Lance, you’re great. 

Surprise! I think she shorted-out his brain with him seeing her like that. 

Aww, he’s so excited.

Shorty, how did you survive in the cake like that?

Poor Eugene. He’s 26.

I love how Hamuel comments just as Eugene says crow’s feet. Vain as ever.

Here it comes. 

Ugh, and here comes Cassandra. Right on cue. How did she know?

Ooo, Cass takes the part of the cake representing Rapunzel’s room. She wants what Rapunzel has.

I can’t believe how extra the animation is. Thank you Mercury.

Why is she discussing this with Eugene, Lance, Keira and Catalina?

Deathmatch: Steel v Iron. Varian needs to use the sleep.

Um, maybe someone needs to update Varian about the situation. 

Excellent timing.

Oh hey, he’s in the Demanitus Chamber, why are some of rocks yellow? Maybe the amber potion did something to the red rocks.

Eugene, never touch things in Varian’s lab. 

Four incantations: Healing Incantation, Hurt Incantation, Black Rock incantation and another. 

And Cassandra is here again, how does she do that?

Varian, please stop saying things like that out loud.

Eugene, you need to pay more attention, you saw the armor form around her, what did you think would happen. 

BooBerry’s been lying to Cass, Rapunzel did not push Gothel out the window. No one did. She tripped over the dead hair with a little help from Pascal.

Wow, Rudiger to the rescue!

Let go of the anger Cassandra, please.

And there’s BooBerry.

Whoa, the frills on the armor are giving away her emotional state.

Rapunzel can’t hear BooBerry!

Holy Crap, how strong is Rapunzel!?

Varian, I know you’re trying to help but really?

And there goes the Demanitus Device.

Aw, sad horse is sad. 

I really want to smack the grin off BooBerry’s face with a nuke. And she continues to goad Cassandra. 

A strong hold, at the site of the tower, of course. 

And the truth serum is back.

Black Rock Incantation

Crescent high above

Evolving as you go

Raise what lies beneath

Let the darkness grow

Bend it to my will

Consume the sunlight’s glow

Rise into the sky

And let the darkness grow

Let darkness grow

Impressive tower stronghold

Raps, girl, you have more important things to worry about now then Eugene’s birthday or the proposal. Like the end of the world!

Cass, can we talk about accessibility?

Ooo, she does have impressive control over the rocks. And those hips! Elsa you have some competition.

“Nothing Left to Lose” Song time! He’s one who can say those things. He really does know.

Cass why are you sharpening the Shadowblade? All you’re doing is grinding down the rock.

Dude! Grab the sword!

She kept Rapunzel’s floating lights portrait. 

Did she just grow a blade from her hand? Fullmetal Alchemist! Varian, you’re a good guy, you’re amazing.

The hands holding Varian down do recall the time Varian almost crushed her in his mecha hands.

Dang she did it, but she doesn’t look happy. Nothing left to lose.

In any case, that is a really extra throne. Eat it Iron Throne.

Blue fire too. Extra, extra.

Climbing the tower, homage to “Emperor’s New Groove”, nice comedy, we needed that. 

What is with you, BooBerry?

Celebreture, I wonder how that’s spelled? NO, No, no, never, ever split up. 

That’s the Zhan Tiri tree from Janus Point! BooBerry must be Zhan Tiri!

Don’t Trust Her! Varian. What the heck? How are you trying to get Varian’s attention be splitting in half and turn your flipping head around like that. 

Use the sun to see the sun?

Yeah, yeah, we get, you’re playing both sides. You’re trying for MAD.

Pascal does make a great scout. Lance not so much.

So, Cassandra invented the elevator.

Oh, ah, hey, we’re doing that now!

Cassandra with the dramatic entrance again.

Um, you do remember shield mode, right? Guess not. That gets more impressive.

Do they have to destroy everything Demanitus every made?

Homage to Frozen.

Sundrop incantation (Avatar Mode)

Power of the sun

Gift me with your light

Shine into the dark

Restore our fading sight

Rise into the dawn

Blazing star so bright

Burn away the strife

Let my hope ignite

Let hope ignite

BooBerry is Zhan Tiri: Confirmed!

Are we creating a fricking black hole! Oh no, BooBerry is getting away.

She broke it!? How do you break something like that!?

Oh no.

Wait, what, how are we back in the palace?

Yeah, getting old with your true love is not so bad at all.

They just left Cass out there? 

Oh BooBerry has a body now. Well, that’s useful 

Ooo, dramatic end credit music.

[bstormhands]

Watched the Into The Unknown Frozen II documentary while pet sitting for family and I can’t believe how much it hurts to watch these things. I love to watch them, Lord of the Rings has tons of them and their are great. But I am torturing myself watching these things. 

I see such teamwork, creativity, leadership and friendship. 

I’ve never experienced that but I would like too.

[bstormhands]

Crispy Brussel Sprouts

INGREDIENTS

1½ lb. brussels sprouts, trimmed, halved

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

½ tsp. kosher salt, plus more

Freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup honey

⅓ cup sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar

¾ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter

3 scallions, thinly sliced on a diagonal

1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

 RECIPE PREPARATION

Place a rimmed baking sheet on bottom rack of oven; preheat to 450°. Toss brussels sprouts and oil in a large bowl; season with salt and black pepper.

Carefully remove baking sheet from oven. Using tongs, arrange brussels cut side down on baking sheet. Roast brussels on bottom rack until softened and deeply browned, 20–25 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring honey to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring often, until honey is a deep amber color but not burnt (it will be foamy, that’s okay), 3–4 minutes.

Remove from heat and add vinegar and red pepper flakes, if using, and whisk until sauce is smooth (it will bubble up quite aggressively when you add the vinegar before settling). Return saucepan to medium heat, add butter and ½ tsp. salt, and cook, whisking constantly, until glaze is glossy, bubbling, and slightly thickened, 3–4 minutes.

Transfer brussels sprouts to a large bowl. Add glaze and scallions and toss to combine. Transfer to a platter and top with lemon zest.