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
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
I knew the basics before I got it, but I had no clue…
* The blood wouldn’t necessarily be red. When I first got my period, I spent a few min looking at my underwear wondering how I shit myself. I didn’t know the blood could look brown, or be thick.
* That tampons weren’t a good idea yet. I was 10 or 11 when I got my first period and physically smaller than an adult woman. My first attempt at inserting a tampon was very painful and unsuccessful. I wouldn’t use them until I was around 14 or so.
* That when you use pads the blood can get on your bottom and I’d have to occasionally clean off the toilet seat after using it.
* That getting your first period DOES NOT mean you’re fully developed and fully able to bear children. I could have technically gotten pregnant at that age, but I was still a child and pregnancy would have put my life in danger because I was still physically immature.
* That it wouldn’t be regular for another few years.
* That very painful cramping is NOT NORMAL once you reach your 20s and is cause for concern.
* That the blood and tissue you pass can look chunky or stringy and not like blood from a cut.
* That stress can halt your period for months BUT
* That doesn’t mean you can’t get pregnant
Feel free to add your own
Relatable
-passing blood clots is completely normal
-that your period may straight up skip a month when you first get it
-and then it’ll happen twice in the same month
-getting your period does NOT automatically make you a woman
Painful cramping isn’t normal in your 20’s? That’s a little concerning, mine have been getting exponentially worse
It is NOT normal.
I can 100% guarantee you have endometriosis, PCOS, or another hormone problem. If your doctor says it’s normal, DEMAND a second opinion.
Thinking that it’s normal is how people end up infertile or dead. It’s why so many women under 40 these days are having an almost impossible time either conceiving or preventing conception. Because no one teaches anyone that it’s the sign of trouble that can very seriously hurt you.
Anyone who has severe cramps, heavy bleeding, or irregular periods after about 19 years old should seek medical advice. None of those are normal.
If you have skin tags, a hard time losing weight, migraines related to your period, depression that is amplified when menstruating, severe mood swings, sleep disturbances that get worse with menstruation, or any other significant health problem that started with puberty and is worse when hormones are fluctuating you need to be checked.
None of the things that people relate to women on their periods is actually an example of a healthy woman. It’s an example of people who need one form of treatment or another.
Do NOT go to a general doctor. Find a women’s health center. Obgyn doctors. ASK SPECIFICALLY FOR A FEMALE DOCTOR. (Also helps with creating a demand for female doctors, win-win)
And if the doctor you do see tried to write you off as “nothing” or “its normal”? Politely insist for another doctor. People forget: you are paying them for a service. If you believe the doctor is not taking you or your problems seriously, ASK FOR ANOTHER DOCTOR. Specifically, “Do you have another doctor on staff who is more experienced with female health”. It is WELL within your right to change doctors as you see fit – you owe no loyalty to one specific doctor if they aren’t meeting your needs.
Reblogging for all my followers with vaginas. I have so many sisters and friends with vaginas and I didn’t know most of this. I turn 30 soon. You’d think I’d have pick up these bits of information over the years in conversation.
Hey!! Hey everybody with periods!!! If you have a period you should read this, because it’s helpful, and people with periods really aren’t taught enough about their own bodies.
even if u personally don’t get a period, someone u know/care abt prob does & u should pass this along
women’s health is health & we should all know these things, i feel
Gonna add to this:
– not all pads work for everyone; my sister and mum have sensitive skin but I cannot use the same pads as them because they hurt.
– buy tampons with an applicator (preferably plastic) if you’ve never used a tampon before bc the last thing you want is stressing out trying to insert a tampon by hand.
– period cramps might not just be on your uterus, they might spread all the way up your back or your sides (if it’s extremely painful please see a doctor).
– sometimes you might feel a leak and panic that it’s your period, it might not be. It might just be other discharge, you should still go to the toilet to check just in case but don’t worry discharge before your period is completely normal.
– I used to carry a small bag in my school bag with extra underwear, tampons, and pads just in case me or any of my friends needed them. (Also it would be cool if guys did this too but I always have spare anyway).
– your skin (acne or just general spots) will flare up at different points in your menstrual cycle, try cutting out greasy foods and eating green veg.
– sometimes, the best thing you can for yourself is take a bath and get an early night.
– using only pads and never tampons is NOT something you should be ashamed of. It’s the same difference. Don’t let people shame you for using pads. Tampons aren’t for everyone.
and following that:
– tampons can HURT. I’ve never been able to use tampons because it fucking hurts in my vagina. If it hurts, don’t use them. Don’t suffer because people think it’s “immature” or “gross” that you only use pads.
people typing out accents in joke posts for critrole is funny but if any of you do it in fic i will strike you down myself
Ok I’m actually reblogging this twice because I just realized that if you don’t have practice at it, trying to express accents through dialogue can be really hard and it can be really tempting to just…type ‘em out, so I have five quick tips here:
1) Read your dialogue out loud. Do your best fake accent. Swear to god this is the best way to check if any dialogue works, accent or no. Eventually you’ll recognize that some accents have melodies. There’s a reason why they call Texan accents a drawl, so use long vowels, heavy words. Irish is quick, rolling and singsong – the more pitter-patter fast-pace you can make your verbs, the better.
2) Pay attention to sentence structure. People from different places will build sentences differently. E.g., people with particularly uppity-sounding English accents tend to say “I’ve not” rather than “I haven’t,” so I always use the former for Percy. The Texan accent Fjord uses is pretty easily evoked by dropping articles at the beginning of sentences (e.g., use “Can’t have you getting away” instead of “We can’t have you getting away”), and Jester’s Eastern European accent keeps her away from certain contractions (she’ll say “I do not” more than “I don’t” – not all the time b/c of improv, but you can use that to your advantage in fic). Molly’s Irish accent is a fun one: most other people will curse throughout their sentences, but Irish accents are one of the few that curse RIGHT at the beginning, and then you can make up fun fantasy swears!! “Hells and devils, you’ve got us in a pickle, haven’t you?”
3) Keywords and word choice. Similar to the above! Pay attention to words characters like to repeat, or synonyms they prefer over others. I already noticed Molly and Fjord prefer “coin”, while Jester and Beau say “money”. And if you think about it, both those words sound better in their respective accents! While VAs are in character, they lean almost automatically towards words that sound better in that accent, I find. It’s even better if the characters have catchphrases or signature words, because dropping those into fanfic can have readers thinking in the character’s accent and you don’t have to do too much hard work to maintain the illusion after that (be careful with overusing them, though. It’s way too easy to have Vex saying “darling” every paragraph).
4) Exceptions / onomatopoeia. Some accent-evoking misspellings or not-quite-words are common enough that writing them with apostrophes won’t kick your reader out of a story. I use “ain’t”, “oi”, and “aye” a lot for Grog, and I occasionally end his -ing words with -n’ (particularly “fuckin’”) because that’s not too intrusive. Fjord will probably drop the “ing” as well, but he’s well-spoken enough that his verbs don’t DEMAND the -n’ the way Grog’s do – but that’s my opinion! Feel it out, and remember to put apostrophes in when you drop letters o/ it’s good grammar manners.
5) Remove problem words from your dialogue. This feels kiiiiiind of like cheating but also it helps, sort of? Like I mentioned, I’ll drop the -ing when I’m writin’ Grog, but I don’t want to do that too often, so I try to write as much of his dialogue as I can without -ing words (and…it’s hard. It’s Grog challenge mode, but it’s the only way to make him sound like himself without too many apostrophes). If you come across a word that sounds SO wrong that you feel like you NEED to write it out phonetically – use a different word. Rebuild the whole phrase if you must!
I find it fascinating that people who choose not to have children are generally assumed to feel really strongly about not having children (or even to feel really strongly against children, anyone’s children, in general). I am probably not going to have children, not because I REALLY REALLY HATE the idea of having children, but because I don’t really really love it. Out of all the major decisions I will make in my life, this one is the only irreversible one. I can sell a house, quit a job, divorce a spouse, whatever. I cannot unhave a child. I cannot opt out of being a parent once I become a parent. I can’t even take a step back for the sake of self-care or whatever, or else my child will suffer.
So for me, having children is fuck yes or not at all. The default will be to remain childfree. Having children should be an opt-in decision, not an opt-out one. Until/unless I develop really strong feelings about wanting to have children, I won’t have them, even if that means I never end up having them at all.
As a mother, I really wish more people gave having children this kind of clear contemplation and thought. It’s an irreversible decision. Too many people don’t understand that.
Time's Vengeance 