brunhielda - Tumblr blog

[brunhielda]

Sometimes they stop by my desk and hand me art- “this is for you!” Obviously, those are hung up on the wall.

But sometimes… sometimes I just find something- a unicorn with surprisingly dainty hair left out on a table, doodles on the corners of activity pages in the teen room.

Those go up too.

Because it makes me smile to think of someone doodling: as they wait for a friend to finish homework or find the right book, or for a parent to come into town to collect them.

Art isn’t just the stuff that makes it into galleries.

Sometimes it’s just the butterfly girl who sits above the Librarian’s desk.

[brunhielda]

You guys rlly don't realise how much knowledge is still not committed to the internet. I find books all the time with stuff that is impossible to find through a search engine- most people do not put their magnum opus research online for free and the more niche a skill is the less likely you are to have people who will leak those books online. (Nevermind all the books written prior to the internet that have knowledge that is not considered "relevant" enough to digitise).

Whenever people say that we r growing up with all the world's knowledge at our fingertips...it's not necessarily true. Is the amount of knowledge online potentially infinite? Yes. Is it all knowledge? No. You will be surprised at the niche things you can discover at a local archive or library.

[brunhielda]

Discworld is Science Fiction in fantasy trappings.

Star Wars is Fantasy in Science Fiction trappings.

Star Trek is Science Fiction.

LOTR is Fantasy.

Now- someone go make a diagram and fill in more titles.

It’s been said before but it bears repeating that Discworld is science fiction wearing the skin of fantasy.

Discworld tells science fiction plots and builds them from the material of fantasy. Feet of Clay is about robots and the ethics of artificial intelligence. Lords and Ladies is an alien invasion story. Moving Pictures and The Truth and Raising Steam are about the impact of new technologies on society.

Going Postal has hackers. They hack telegraphs, but they’re explicitly hackers.

Hex is made of magic and bees and ram skulls, but it is a super-computer. Discworld is built out of fairy tales and myths and swords and sorcery and a big hearty helping of Tolkien, but somewhere, deep down in its bones, it has a core of science fiction.

[brunhielda]

Truer words be a random internet creative have never been spoken.

There is always “a fic somewhere.”

9/10 times it has not yet been written down.

i am. so sorry if i have ever used the phrase “i have an au where—” and led you to believe that there is an actual fic out there for you to read rather than, at best, a post where i explain the concept, and at worst it is simply something that lives in my brain

[brunhielda]

Tell me, do you also now watch/read stories with teen/child “chosen ones” and think “Someone needs to step up and be a fucking adult here and I volunteer”?

Like- I once thought I was going to be a camper at Camp Half Blood or make friends with the Ninja Turtles.

I now think Camp Half Blood needs an actual adult nurse who advocates for them and gets in people’s faces about mandatory movie nights for family bonding.

I now think I want an apartment in NYC so I can tell the turtles- “in here there will be no ninja save the city anything, and I expect you to play video games and eat all these snacks and maybe take a nap.”

I think I have an earlier post on here about an “angry aunty” corner of fandom where we drink wine and commiserate about how badly these children are being treated by thier universe and the adults in it. We can definitely add in the “evil children from horror films.” All children need the aunty love.

my toxic trait is anytime i watch a show or movie that involves an evil child i always think "i could've raised them right"

[brunhielda]

Sometime I really can’t handle “spring” (we call it mud season).

You see the sun shining outside, and, your body craving warmth, you step outside (in a sweater at most) only to be blasted with all of winter’s icy fury.

Every time it happens, I have the same thought.

“The sun. It lies.”

[brunhielda]

When you are under 10 yrs old with siblings or cousins, WAR is so freaking iconic.

Everyone can play. If you know which numbers are higher or lower, EVERYONE can play. Only two people at a time, but it doesn’t matter if one is 3 yrs old and one is 8 years old, they are having a good time.

Kids make that “WAR” bit DRAMATIC. Once you have gathered a crowd (and you will) this is the part when a hush lays over it- just as the last card flips. Double war? Insane. Shouts of disbelief. Clutching of hats. Jumping in the air. Parents come over to ask what everyone is doing. Peak bonding time.

Do y'all have any favorite card games?

[brunhielda]

Someone put it in words.

I don’t know if it is better or worse to be IN the production (or Directing) but- it is this same thing, and also in an entirely different way I cannot articulate.

What I know about Robinhood now can never be unlearned.

the curse of local theatre is that a show can change you forever and there is no recording of it anywhere at all and after a few years all you have are scattered memories and the knowledge that you were different before.

[brunhielda]

Because this has become THAT account:

I am 33 years old and just watched “Beverly Hills Cop” for the first time- I think it broke my brain.

Ok- so I watched Beverly Hills Cop II, and missed some of the beginning. I watched because my dad had it on while I was grabbing dinner, and I got pulled in.

1) How did I not know that was the theme to Beverly Hills Cop? I have heard that all over the internet since its infancy and had no clue. It just goes to show what I always say- a good piece of music will outlive the movie it was written for, and many iconic favorites are made for films.

2) Oof. This movie could NOT be made today. That is an officer of the law consistently breaking the law and skirting morality. The sexism ain’t great either.

That said- he never broke laws to physically hurt people. In fact, the film continually compared his method of talking his way in and out of things with the “bad guys” who shot up rooms full of people when they already had cover stories and could have been in and out with few to no questions asked.

No one put hands on women. They gawked at them, made a few rude comments. Our hero did have a creepy pick up line about shaving long legs. But for the 80s, I recognize that no one put hands on women- not even the bad guys. The heroes also had a female helper who was never sexualized at all and had crucial info. So… you get a “less creepy than you could be” pass 🤷🏻‍♀️

All that said, I really do understand the appeal. I got sucked in after all. Which brings me to 3 & 4.

3) This is going to make the male fans of this movie mad and the female fans giggle.

That was an R rated little boy adventure story along the lines of Goonies. As someone who regularly tries to convince people to enjoy more children’s literature, I am not complaining. I am saying they snuck it in there really well.

The humor was all stuff you would expect a 12-13 yr old to crack, including the sex jokes.

One of the most fun parts of the film was the somewhat quiet nerdy one slowly become more weapon obsessed and getting gleeful over pistols and rocket launchers. The punchline being is the correct personality types to actually read the instructions to be able to USE the rocket launcher when they needed it.

Which brings me to the biggest point here- our main trio is the exact personality profile one would expect in a “kids on bikes” storyline. Which is highlighted in their middle of the night raid on the shooting range. Our main hero- the “cool” one with all the best plans and sneaky skills, in a sports jacket and tennis shoes. Our excited “nerdy” one who just wants to be involved in the “cool guy’s” shenanigans is in a grey hoody. And then, the sarge- the character with money and reputation to lose but has been dragged along for moral reasons, dressed up in a sports coat and snappy polo like the rich kid dressed by his mom. I will add this is the character who is a little tubby and keeps pointing out that they are all going to be “in so much trouble.”

Like- remove the authority as cops and age them down to 13 and it would be the same movie. In the 80s, they would even have let them have guns by the end of film.

Then Murphy sells it with his absolute child like joy at getting away with all this crap.

This film revels in all the little boy dreams of solving the mystery, blowing shit up, getting to see pretty girls, and saving the day. Good for them.

4) Eddie Murphy is playing Bugs Bunny as a Cop.

This is the part that broke my brain.

I’m good with the chaotic “talk your ways past everyone” shenanigans. It was well done, and what sucked me in. Even while acknowledging how problematic it is, you cheer for him. You can’t help it. He has charm.

The fact that he pulled it off without any costume changes was impressive. I would have expected coat changed and fake mustaches. Nope. Just chatter.

It’s the cop part that is messing with me.

The type of character he is playing here is the “chaotic hero.” This is the sort of hero that comes along to break unjust systems and reorder everything by being so out of left field no one can predict them.

This is Robinhood. This is Vishnu. This is Scarlet Pimpernel. This is Zorro.

The pattern here is- these guys are from the position of power, use or reject it in some way, then destroy things as your everyday man or straight up criminal.

If you are talking even more chaotic, we come across Ananzi, Loki, Coyote, and Bugs Bunny. These guys aren’t always good. They are chaotic neutral who occasionally find themselves being heroes in a specific situation- not to do the right thing, but because it is fun to mess with the blow hard bad guy.

Now we come to Axel.

He is conning his friends into dangerous situations, steamrolling his boss at taxpayer expense, and laughing at other’s justified fears. He breaks the law consistently. Is he a bad guy? He backs up his friend who needs help, never takes anything to keep, and seems to make sure to pay back everyone who has been inconvenienced with political praise, favors they really like, or straight up cash. Is he the good guy?

He is NOT Robinhood or Zorro. There is no moral mission. He also does not come from a place of power that he leaves behind. He pulled himself out of a place of poverty to gain the power he needed to pull off this nonsense with impunity.

He is neutral chaos with a streak of loyalty, well wishes, and simplistic gleeful fun. He is, in fact, a cartoon.

In our minds that does not fit in with the authority of the police force. Neither does he.

He flashes his badge around, but often not to be a “cop” but to be “health inspector” or “building manager” or whatever else he needs at the moment.

He is consistently at odds with the chief of police and if he thinks you are terrible at your job he will ruin you, slowly and painfully. The chief in this film dug his own grave one step at a time and you wonder “did he plan it? Was it improved? What just happened?”

Now that I type this out, the closest character I have to this is Jack Sparrow. Again, but necessity of personality, Sparrow is a PIRATE.

The best thing you can say about Axel being a cop is that he seems to be slowly cleaning it out from the inside. The reverse Robinhood- he went up to the power structure to show them a thing or two about how it ought to be done. 😂

They make a point of all the cops who work with him slowly becoming more like him and becoming better at thier jobs, happier in thier lives, and generally better off for having met him. I suppose he works, even in this system of power, because he never FEELS like he is a part of it. He is a force, sweeping through, and sweeping back out.

He is less a chaotic hero, and more a chaos god. Sparrow was similar until they brought him down to earth in movie 4.

Speaking of which- I got all this from exactly one film. There are like what- 3 of these with another on the way? I cannot be the only person who saw this. Tell me someone somewhere did a full deep dive academic analysis on this character as a “trickster god” type. It was done too well.

Also realizing I started this by saying the film couldn’t be made today, and they are going to try. That will be a train wreck. I must go see it. 😈

[brunhielda]

I am a children’s librarian, so forgive me, but I enjoy bragging about how children’s literature has been stepping up and doing better than adult media for literal decades.

This is a newer book but made me so joyfully happy.

First, the representation for these books is amazing. All different kinds of people from all different kinds of cultures, and no member of the “Dagon Masters” is a one off special guest who never shows up again. Once they exist in world they are included on a regular basis. The books emphasize team work, strategy, mental and physical health boundaries, and knowing your and others responsibilities (main character doesn’t do everything). I freaking love this series.

This boy is Rune. He is a deaf little boy with long red hair. He is teamed up with a light dragon that deals in images.

When our heroes meet him, they figure out how to telepathically talk to him through the dragons. THEY STILL LEARN HIS LANGUAGE. They don’t learn it all in one day. They talk about trying to remember things they just learned. But they learn. Because he is a new friend and they want to speak to him in his language is they can. Is there a moment when they need it because the telepathy doesn’t work? Of course- tis an adventure tale and that was obvious set up. The point is, they continue to use what signs they remember even when the “easier” method is available.

Darma is from a South Eastern based culture. He has learned signs from the monks he lives with- they use sign when doing periods of contemplative silence. IT IS NOT THE SAME LANGUAGE RUNE SPEAKS. He is excited to learn a whole new language, and cautions Drake that it will take patience. Drake is a good listener and learner, those are his character traits, so he goes along with this happily and puts in the work.

All three boys play equal roles in solving the mystery and completing their mission, bringing different strengths. Rune’s specialty is puzzles.

Let that sink in.

This is a fantasy world. The author has all the arguments to make it easier for herself. She did not.

Instead, she highlights 3 distinct cultures for one short chapter book, brings up differences in abilities between 3 capable little boys, and has pictures for every sign they learn.

I’m not just saying you all should read more children’s books. You should. They are great and bring joy into your life.

But also- adult fiction media needs to step the fuck up.

this is a niche one but instead of "they would not fuckin say that" it's "they would not fucking use American sign language".

ASL is not the only sign language. two british characters in your fanfiction would not be using ASL. England in fact has its own kind of sign language, BSL, that forms a sign family with many other sign languages around the world.

ASL isn't even the original member of its sign family, it comes from french sign language. do you know sign languages aren't related to spoken languages? that's an important one! it's not a direct 1:1 with people speaking English around the world. people in other countries don't learn ASL just in case they run into an usamerican or Canadian (who do often use it)

i know the entire world is the USA or whatever and sign languages do sometimes borrow from ASL for signs they don't have, but please be aware that there are other sign languages and families in the world that are not in fact ASL.

[brunhielda]

Update as we get later in the month- I wanted to give out some details.

There are some pictures that have to be replaced more than others, and they aren’t the ones I found all on my own.

@bucephaly - people LOVED your frog. That guy was colored in all the rainbow colors, and had to be replaced so often. The adults appreciated the language beneath- I think the kiddos loved the spiked sun in comparison to the frog.

@toofewtrueblue - I saw more adults picking up the Japanese story, but the whole table giggled as I explained about the sibling fight ending with a horse through a loom, and the goddess coming out to party only to be trapped by her own pretty reflection. Definitely a hit at Storytime.

@yellowhat-co So many children reached for the Norse wolves only to spot your adorable dog, grin, cry “doggy!” And decide that was the one for them. 😊 It was also a good art lesson in how to color in something where the lines don’t all connect- no one had told them they could make up their own lines before! The result was a variety of suns being chomped on by very cute puppies. 🐶

@deathsmallcaps - the most reached for pictures, tied with bucepaly’s frog, were the jaguar and the Chinese dragon. The dragon does not surprise me- the children in my library cannot get enough of dragons. I forgot how much tiny people love them a spotted cat, 😂. They got even more excited when I told them in the story he is blue- lost their little minds. Will it be yellow with blue spots? Blue with black spots? Two different shades of blue? Craziest of all- blue with yellow spots??!! It was a mind puzzler for sure.

The adults loved the story of the sun and moon loving couple- that one was picked up by adults and teens more than the little kids, but also a favorite.

I wish I had pictures for you, but kids either colored and took home or took pictures to color at home. We had locals grab copies for something to do with guests at home. The ones that came to story night felt very impressive to retell everything to their out of town relatives 😁

There is still the occasional child running upstairs to color, but it is mud season where I am, and things are slowing down to a very dull trickle of patrons, so this chapter is pretty much over.

I just wanted to say thank you again for either finding and fixing work for me, or your hand drawn artwork. Everyone was touched that random artists online would do that for us. I also was happy to learn more stories to tell. So thank you for taking the time and effort. It helped make our event special. 🥰

Gonna throw out something crazy. See what sticks. Maybe nothing, hopefully something:

In about 3 months, the US is getting a total solar eclipse. I am a Librarian at a Public Library hosting an event.

Now, I KNOW every corner of the globe has mythology on this very cool astrological event. Many with neat monsters/creatures to go with. It is difficult to find images of said creatures. Sometimes even difficult to find the mythology from various parts of the world. Almost impossible to find coloring pages.

I live in a tiny town, and I am doing everything I can to expand the horizons of the kiddos who live here, and they go bananas for a good story out loud, especially if they have something to do with their hands while listening, like pictures to color in.

I call on the artists of the internet. If you know of a myth about Solar Eclipse, please add on to this post. Tell me the basic myth, tell me the country/culture of origin, and please please please, add a cool picture I can turn into a coloring page. Artist names will be left on pictures for admirers to go look them up, and I hope artists see this as a fun challenge.

I don’t even know if Tumbler in English language has that much of an international presence but… 🤷🏻‍♀️ Here’s hoping.

[brunhielda]

[brunhielda]

Sometimes the wind blows in a storm from the southern coast. Not often. Not often enough to really remember what will happen to me and prepare myself, but often enough.

The smell of salt water. The brine. The seaweed. It hangs there in the clouds before the storm ever reaches us. I walk out of my work place at 3pm and suddenly need to cry.

There was a life. A life I spend walking the cliffside and the sandy strip below, everyday, breathing in the salt, breathing out contentment. There is a garden with wild roses. In my wildest of imaginings, there is a beautiful copper horse, and the laughter of children. But mostly there is the sound of waves, and the smell of salt.

There was a life I have never lived. It haunts me when the storms roll in.

are u ever sick w longing. and i don't just mean romantic longing. i mean longing for a place you barely get to see, longing for friends you no longer have, longing for feelings you might have left behind in your childhood, longing for creativity, longing for a rich and more expansive life, longing for less inhibition. longing for more passion. longing for ur life to be so incandescent w something it thaws all the frost in ur bones. are u ever so consumed w it it rends ur heart in two. do u understand me

[brunhielda]

I feel like I have seen one of all of these recently? 😂

Those independent authors on TikTok are really something else. 😂

My latest @guardian books cartoon.

[brunhielda]

We did it everyone!!!

I had two evenings with a total of 13 people. For my town in the middle of Mud Season? Phenomenal. Above and beyond.

I told stories, they colored.

I had people in thier 80s, people in thier 50s, children as young as 3.

The pictures will be out on tables over the weekend as kids flow in and out looking for things to do in town. I expect all my copies to be used up (about 50), and maybe even need to make more before Monday.

Thank you all so very much for your help. People were really touch when I pointed out all the drawing done especially for us. The artists on this site are really something else. 🥹🥰

Gonna throw out something crazy. See what sticks. Maybe nothing, hopefully something:

In about 3 months, the US is getting a total solar eclipse. I am a Librarian at a Public Library hosting an event.

Now, I KNOW every corner of the globe has mythology on this very cool astrological event. Many with neat monsters/creatures to go with. It is difficult to find images of said creatures. Sometimes even difficult to find the mythology from various parts of the world. Almost impossible to find coloring pages.

I live in a tiny town, and I am doing everything I can to expand the horizons of the kiddos who live here, and they go bananas for a good story out loud, especially if they have something to do with their hands while listening, like pictures to color in.

I call on the artists of the internet. If you know of a myth about Solar Eclipse, please add on to this post. Tell me the basic myth, tell me the country/culture of origin, and please please please, add a cool picture I can turn into a coloring page. Artist names will be left on pictures for admirers to go look them up, and I hope artists see this as a fun challenge.

I don’t even know if Tumbler in English language has that much of an international presence but… 🤷🏻‍♀️ Here’s hoping.

[brunhielda]

Because I am always demanding artists on this site to make me pretty things. 😂

Feels like I should give back occasionally.

hot artists don't gatekeep

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.

Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.

Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.

Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.

[brunhielda]

While I was looking for cultural myths over fictional stories, I will repost because I am IN LOVE with this movie.

Yes I know it, I have dug through the internet multiple times just to get decent playable copies of it.

This is the best of quest fantasy for me. The main quest is centered on two characters (our romantic leads) but the STORY is centered on the two other members of the group just doing thier best to help out, and it is as hilarious as it is poignant.

A street thief goes from a self serving survivalist to the kind of friend who will let you tear him to pieces in your madness and still let you yell at him the next day because he just wants to help you through your pain. And he is still the SAME PERSONALITY throughout it all. Like- THIS is peak story and I ADORE it.

Everyone go find and watch this movie to celebrate the eclipse. DO IT.

Gonna throw out something crazy. See what sticks. Maybe nothing, hopefully something:

In about 3 months, the US is getting a total solar eclipse. I am a Librarian at a Public Library hosting an event.

Now, I KNOW every corner of the globe has mythology on this very cool astrological event. Many with neat monsters/creatures to go with. It is difficult to find images of said creatures. Sometimes even difficult to find the mythology from various parts of the world. Almost impossible to find coloring pages.

I live in a tiny town, and I am doing everything I can to expand the horizons of the kiddos who live here, and they go bananas for a good story out loud, especially if they have something to do with their hands while listening, like pictures to color in.

I call on the artists of the internet. If you know of a myth about Solar Eclipse, please add on to this post. Tell me the basic myth, tell me the country/culture of origin, and please please please, add a cool picture I can turn into a coloring page. Artist names will be left on pictures for admirers to go look them up, and I hope artists see this as a fun challenge.

I don’t even know if Tumbler in English language has that much of an international presence but… 🤷🏻‍♀️ Here’s hoping.