notsobadjuju

[notsobadjuju]

The moon is beautiful tonight. I looked at it, sighing. It had seemed like the only constant thing in my life. It waxed and waned, became full, became new. On special occasions she'd dress up in different colors. But she was always there. Always. In my series of foster homes, I learned to always be on my feet. Always ready to move on at a moment's notice. I wasn't a problem child or anything, time just ran out. No one really wanted me. The foster parents were kind and helpful, but mostly they were just helping out. None of them really wanted another mouth to feed permanently. They weren't ready for that. As I grew, I became good with kids. I tried to help out with the chores and the childcare, I wanted to not be a burden. A burden... was I a burden on my birth family, could they not take care of their scrawny, pale little girl? Was I unplanned? Unwanted? I've never seen my birth records. There were none, according to the agency. No name, parents, anything. Just a little bundle of crying baby. That was eighteen years ago. Eighteen years of instability. Eighteen years of "Lily Foster, the nobody girl", "do you really have no family?" "So you were named by the orphanage?". I can't really resent them. It's a weird situation. I have questions too. Somehow looking at the moon tonight gives me the hope that maybe those questions will be answered. I turn away from the window of my new apartment, and pad over to my bathroom. I moved into this apartment this morning, with help from the adoption agency. They offered me a small loan to get me into the apartment. My job at the furniture market will help with the rest of the bills and food. I'll be promoted to assistant manager soon, and hopefully that will boost my savings enough to get a cheap car. My meager belongings are already arranged and stowed away in this new place. Now that I'm ready for bed the moon seems exceptionally bright. I roll over, attempting to block the light. Slowly, slowly, my body drifts off to sleep. "Selene" a voice whispers. "Selene, don't open your eyes. Stay asleep." The voice sounds like music. "Selene, I have come to you, now, after so many years." A bright light appeared in my dreams, then a figure formed. It was feminine, but also shapeless as if it were a woman made of light, shimmering in and out of existence. Her features were indecernable, but almost ethereal in their beauty. "Selene, I have something important to tell you. Pay attention" something in me straightened. What was going on? Who is Selene? "You are Selene. Daughter of the moon." The woman said, almost in answer. "My daughter. I've missed you so." I bolted awake. I was dreaming. That must have been a figment of my imagination. I loved the moon, sure, but not as a daughter. "I must finally be cracking." I whisper to myself. "I really must be cracking." In the window by my bed, the moon brightened in a sort of response to my revelations. I shook my head. "I'm seeing things." I admonish to myself. Then I drift off again.

During your childhood, you believed that the moon was following you while you were sitting in the backseat of the car. As you grew older, you passed it off as a product of your wild imagination. Unbeknownst to you, the moon has actually been following you your entire life. You are the child of the moon.

[notsobadjuju]

P.S. A bonus episode where Todd notices the "darkness" falling away from him. He's a third generation demon, "evil"as they come, but it's when he notices his features becoming softer, and his heart feel lighter that he realises what is happening. He rushes to Annette. "Grandma, look!" She looks up to see her adopted grandson, wings no longer deformed, robes no longer the colors of soot and flame, but of clouds and skies. She chuckles knowingly. "Oh, sugar, I always knew you were an angel, you just hadn't realized it yet."

"Toddy" became the guardian angel of the elderly and the lonely, guiding the souls of the downtrodden and lost.

An old and homely grandmother accidentally summons a demon. She mistakes him for her gothic-phase teenage grandson and takes care of him. The demon decides to stay at his new home.

[notsobadjuju]

Music is like the blood in my veins, a life force. Music is like ideas in my brain, a driving force. It’s an escape, a prison, an enemy, and an old friend. Sometimes it curls up in my lap, and purrs like a cat, sometimes it bounces and rushes, skidding and turning like some wild bull. And other times, it hovers over me, a black cloud, sucking life out of me, tearing my mind to shreds, dancing with the ribbons it made. Why does it haunt me? Why does it comfort me? Why, when I write these phrases, do they come into a life of their own? I shall never be it’s master, I shall never own it. It only flows from me when it wishes.

Oaksie

[notsobadjuju]

Fun Random Facts About the LOTR Soundtrack

Most composers spend just 10-12ish weeks working on a film’s music. John Williams spent around 14 weeks on each Star Wars movie, 40ish weeks total for the whole OT……but composing the LOTR trilogy’s soundtrack took four years

The vocals you hear in the soundtrack are usually in one of Tolkien’s languages (esp. Elvish). The English translations of the lyrics are all poems, or quotes from the book, or occasionally even quotes from other parts of the films that are relevant to the scene

When there were no finished scenes for him to score, Howard Shore would develop musical themes inspired by the scripts or passages from the book. That’s how he got all Middle-Earth locations have their own unique sound: he was able to compose drafts of “what Gondor would sound like” and “what Lorien would sound like” long before any scenes in those places were filmed

Shore has said his favorite parts to score were always the little heartfelt moments between Frodo and Sam

Shore wrote over 100 unique leitmotifs/musical themes to represent specific people, places, and things in Middle Earth (over 160 if you count The Hobbit)

The ones we all talk about are the Fellowship theme, the main Shire Theme, and the themes for places like Gondor, Mordor, Rohan, and Rivendell…but a lot of the more subtle ones get overlooked and underappreciated

Like Aragorn’s theme. It’s a lot less “obvious” than the others because, like Aragorn himself, it adapts to take on the color of whatever place Aragorn is in: it’s played on dramatic broody stringed instruments in Bree, on horns in  battle scenes, softly on the flute with Arwen in Rivendell….

Eowyn has not just one but three different leitmotifs to represent her

Gollum and Smeagol both have their own leitmotifs! Whose theme music is playing in the scene can often tell you whether the Gollum or Smeagol side is “winning” at the moment

The melody for Gollum’s Song in the end credits of the The Two Towers is the Smeagol and Gollum themes smushed together (it’s Symbolic)

And then there’s the really obscure ones. Like there’s a melody that plays at Boromir’s death that shows up again in ROTK in scenes that foreshadow a major death or loss

Wikipedia actually has a list of these leitmotifs, click this link and scroll down to check it out if you’re bored

Shore wanted the theme music to grow alongside the characters– so that as the characters changed, their theme music would change with them.  

You can hear that most clearly in the Shire theme. Like the hobbits, it goes through A Lot 

Like compare the childish lil penny whistle theme you hear in Concerning Hobbits/the beginning of FOTR with (throws a dart at random Beautiful Tragic Hobbit Character Development scene because there WAY TOO MANY to choose from) the scene when Pippin finds Merry on the battlefield, where you hear a kind of shattered and broken but more mature version of that same theme in the background 

I could write you a book on how much I love the way the Shire theme grows across the course of these films 

Unlike the hero’s themes, which constantly change and grow, the villain’s themes (The One Ring theme, the Isengard theme, etc) remain basically the same from the very beginning of FOTR to the end of ROTK. Shore said this was an intentional choice: to emphasize that evil is static, while good is capable of change

Shore has said that between all the music that made into the movies and the music that didn’t, he composed enough for “a month of continuous listening”……..where can I sign up

[notsobadjuju]

Miss Orchid makes a purrrfect companion. 😻❤

[notsobadjuju]

Pure POEtry

Upon hearing my choral piece based on works by Edgar Allen Poe, a fellow choir kid said: “It sounds like one of those old white guys.” Me: “The ones that make a ton of money off of cultural appropriation and dumb kid’s songs?” Choir Kid: “no no, like the old dead white guys.” Me: “Wait-like classical composers? Like Beethoven?” CK: “Yeah. Those guys.” Lol, I think that was a compliment???

[notsobadjuju]

Miss Orchid makes a purrrfect companion. 😻❤

[notsobadjuju]

Spring has Sprung! 🦇🌹🥀⚘🌻🌼😄

[notsobadjuju]

Spring has sprung!

[notsobadjuju]

YouTube

Alright, YouTube channel for my music is up. Only have two videos, but whatever. Oak Tree Music is the channel.

[notsobadjuju]

I think it's time to share my music with the world. Will update soon with details.

[notsobadjuju]

Thank you @roguehorses for the profile pic. It's perfect.