#hmm. i also need to bring my bass guitar to my room to work on stuff as well... need to figure out when im gonna do that... | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

flipomatic · 4 years ago

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Choreography

Author Note: Here I am again, LisaYuki has reclaimed my soul.

Summary: “Lean in.” Those words, so simply escaping from Sayo’s lips, sent a tremor down Lisa’s spine.

“Y-you know we’re performing this on stage, right Sayo?” Lisa stuttered, her face warming as Yukina actually leaned in closer. Yukina was so close now; Lisa could feel her breath on her cheek. This was fine, she told herself. As long as she looked ahead at her mic during the song, she’d be fine.

Word Count: 1900

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Every time Roselia played their new song, Lisa was filled with overwhelming joy. The lyrics she wrote, the music Rinko composed, and the part she sang, all came perfectly together. The song was better than she ever expected it to be.

Soon they would perform Yakusoku for the first time, at an important concert. It had to be perfect by then, up to the high standard Roselia held for their music.

Today, on a cloudy afternoon, the final touches were being added. The song was almost ready to perform. Sayo had insisted on recording them playing it, so she could watch it back later for any errors. Her phone was set on a music stand in the back of the studio, capturing every note played.

Lisa focused on balancing playing and singing, making sure to be close enough to her mic. More than in any other song, she needed to be heard here. The notes from her bandmates flowed around her, with the drum carrying the heartbeat of the piece and the piano lifting it higher. She sang in reply to Yukina, as they built the song together.

Lisa’s heart always pounded in her chest when they reached the bridge of the song, where she alternated with Yukina. Lisa poured her feelings in every time, singing with everything she had. Her dedication, her loyalty, her affection; she wanted all of it to come through.

The last chorus was her favorite one, and she was sad to reach the end of the song.

Once the last note rang out, Lisa looked around at her bandmates. Rinko looked content as she slowly removed her hands from the keyboard. Ako was grinning from ear to ear. Sayo frowned slightly, but Lisa could tell that she was satisfied.

Yukina had turned to look at Lisa, their eyes locking when Lisa’s reached her. She nodded once, sending a wave of warmth and pride through Lisa.

Sayo stepped forward to stop the recording. “I’ll watch this later.” She said, holding up her phone. Lisa and Yukina broke eye contact to look at her. “But I think it’s ready.”

“I agree…” Rinko spoke quietly. Ako pumped one fist in agreement.

“The song has come together well.” Yukina deposited her mic on the stand. “Good work everyone. That’s all for today.”

With that dismissal, the band started to pack up. Lisa put her bass in its case, zipping it shut. She started to stow her music as well.

“The new song is so exciting!” Ako stood near Rinko as she packed up, talking excitedly about Yakusoku. “It builds really big!”

Rinko nodded in agreement. “I hope the audience… likes it.” She had finished stowing her keyboard, and was zipping up the case.

On the other side of the room, Sayo had finished putting her guitar away. Despite committing to do it later, she was already watching the recording. Yukina was with her, watching it as well. Lisa could barely hear it from here, though she thought it sounded good so far.

Lisa scooped up her bass case, slinging it over one shoulder. She approached the video watching pair as Rinko and Ako made their exit.

“How is it?” Lisa asked, drawing their eyes for a moment.

“The tempo has finally stabilized.” Despite the positive message, Sayo frowned. “It’s still missing something.” She looked irritated.

“Hmm…” Yukina mused, looking back down at the phone. Lisa stepped closer so she could do the same.

“I’m not sure it needs anything else.” Lisa said after thirty seconds of watching. It all looked good to her. The balance was perfect and as Sayo said, the tempo was under control. That had been their biggest problem when they started learning it.

Sayo was silent for a moment, as the video continued to play. Her eyes widened when the last chorus started. “That’s it.” She looked up at Yukina and Lisa. “We need choreography.”

“You’re right, I should’ve thought of that.” Yukina nodded, bringing one hand up to her face thoughtfully.

“It’ll boost engagement with the audience.” Sayo paused the video as she spoke, rewinding it to about the halfway point. “Especially if we time it right.” Her eyes practically glinted, in a sinister way that gave Lisa pause.

Lisa thought she might regret this, but she asked, “What do you have in mind?”

Now Sayo smiled sharply, the look of one who was satisfied with themself. “I’m not a hundred percent sure, I have to see how it looks.” She stepped away, back towards the center of the room. “Do you have a few minutes to try something?”

Lisa glanced at Yukina, who shrugged. “Yeah, we can stay.” Lisa replied.

“Great, go ahead and get back into position.” Sayo gave the instructions as she walked to the back of the room. She’d be able to see the whole area from there.

Lisa walked to where she’d been rehearsing before, while Yukina grabbed the mic stand and did the same. She set her bass case down.

Once they were in position, Sayo gave more directions. “I’m thinking of having it during the bridge, right before the last chorus.”

That made sense, since it was the largest point of build up in the song. “I assume I’ll stay here.” Lisa said, gesturing at her feet. “Since I need the mic.”

“Yes, that’s right.” Sayo turned up the volume on her phone, then played the video for a moment. “No one will move until the line ‘my beloved.’” She played the start of the bridge, which began with Yukina’s lines, before pausing it. “At the end of that line, Yukina you should walk towards Lisa. You have to be there by the start of your next line.”

Sayo gestured for Yukina to obey as she played the song again, which Yukina quickly did. Lisa glanced over and watched Yukina approach as her own voice singing ‘my beloved… the tender sights of your many smiles’ played from the phone. Lisa’s stomach flipped, perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea.

Sayo paused it at the end of the line, as with Yukina reaching Lisa just in time. “Put your hand on her shoulder.”

“Excuse me?” Yukina deadpanned. Lisa also wasn’t sure she had heard it right.

“You know what I said.” Sayo crossed her arms.

For a moment, the two stared at each other. Then Yukina complied, bringing her right hand up slowly to rest it on Lisa’s shoulder. Yukina’s own shoulder was still a good distance away.

“Lean in.” Those words, so simply escaping from Sayo’s lips, sent a tremor down Lisa’s spine.

“Yes.” Sayo replied bluntly. She lifted her phone again. “Yukina, you’ll sing your next line like that.” She played the audio for a moment, with Yukina’s voice singing ‘I’ve gently awoken’ before pausing it again. “Hold the mic for Lisa so she can sing her next line. Lisa, put your free hand over hers.”

Oh, no, no no no. As Lisa turned her head towards Yukina, realizing just how close their faces were, she knew that she could not handle this. Her cheeks had been warm before, but now they burned. Yukina wasn’t even looking at her, since she was focused on following Sayo’s directions, but she was far, far too close. Lisa could hardly breathe.

Yukina held the mic in front of Lisa’s face as Sayo played the last line of the bridge on her phone. Lisa slowly brought her hand up as directed, covering Yukina’s with it. Lisa’s voice on the recording, soft and oh god why had she written the song like this, sang ‘keep believing in me until the end’. Sayo paused it again.

This was like Hidamari Rhodonite, but even less outside of Lisa’s control. It felt intimate, terrifying. Yukina was right there. Her golden eyes, expressive to only those who knew her best, met Lisa’s.

For a moment, there was just the two of them.

Lisa pulled her hand away quickly and broke eye contact, reminding herself to breathe.

“Then Yukina will take one step away, for the line you sing together.” That was easy, that Lisa could do. Yukina moved away, back towards the side of the room. The recording played one last time, the last line ‘it’s a promise’ ringing through the room.

“I’ll make sure to go stand in the back, so all eyes are on you.” Sayo said with a nod. That provided no comfort to Lisa, who felt like she could collapse into a melted pile of mush. Only the bass would be left if she did.

“The crowd will love it.” Yukina said, cutting Lisa’s protest short before she could even start to voice it. She turned to Lisa, eyes widening slightly. They flicked down, then back to Lisa’s face. “Are you alright?” Her eyebrows were furrowed with concern.

Lisa was sweating and flushed; she must’ve looked incredibly stressed. Her words caught in her throat. “I, hehe,” She chuckled nervously. “I’m fine.” She was not fine. Lisa was very far from fine. “Are we sure about this?”

“I think it represents the song well.” Yukina replied, her mouth turning down into a frown. “If you’re not comfortable, we can change it.”

“I…” Lisa inhaled slowly, processing Yukina’s words. She was giving her an out, a chance to escape this. But, didn’t this choreography represent the heart of the song? Yukina and Lisa’s promise, how close they were, and their past together, were all on display here. Lisa had known that when she wrote the lyrics. This was just choreography to match, to show the parts of her she had filled the song with. If she thought calmly about it, which was admittedly hard right now, it made sense.

It would enhance the song, make it even better. That was enough to influence her decision. “We should do it.” Lisa settled on, accepting the moves even as her heart still raced. She’d dealt with being close to Yukina for many years, she could handle this.

Yukina’s lips quirked up, the smile reaching her eyes.

“We’ll keep practicing it next time.” Sayo interrupted, approaching the pair. “I think it’ll work.”

Yukina nodded, and the trio resumed getting ready to leave. Lisa picked up her bass as they put the mic stand back, then headed out from the studio.

The breeze outside helped cool Lisa’s warm cheeks, but it couldn’t do anything to calm her racing mind. She glanced at Yukina as she walked, marveling at how calm Yukina had been. She really was a professional, the best singer Roselia could ask for. Lisa wondered what she thought as they performed the new moves, but that was a question for another time.

Lisa still loved the song she wrote, though she was going to need to keep practicing it. It captured the spirit of her promise with Yukina, her feelings towards her best friend, which would only be performed by the best. Lisa would follow through on that promise, until the very end.

The next step was to perform it without nearly passing out.

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End Note: The translation of Yakusoku lyrics is from the wikia, linked here: https://bandori.fandom.com/wiki/Yakusoku

To see this choreography performed by Roselia, you can watch a video of Rausch Yakusoku here: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1DU4y147kS

#lisayuki #yukilisa #imai lisa #minato yukina #hikawa sayo #bandori fanfiction #bang dream fanfiction #flip writes #y'all i live for this #when i saw yakusoku choreography in rausch #i've been thinking about this ever since #it's wild #i had a lot of fun writing this

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some-dr-writings · 4 years ago

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Teruteru x M!Reader One-shot: Please Understand My Feelings!

Teruteru was so absolutely excited today! It was his birthday and there was only one thing he wanted. He wanted you! Well, that could be rephrased. To tell you he loved you! And he also wanted you. The two of you were instantly best friends the moment you met! You were hot, loved his cooking, and were overall an awesome and fun person to be with. Teruteru had tried confessing before but he always chickened out or turned it into another one of his innuendo laden remarks even when he was trying not to do that. But not today! He was going to confess to you no matter what it took! Even if it meant making the event into an extravagant show!... E-even if he had to outright just say it plainly. He’d rather just cook you something with “I love you” on the top. He wasn’t sure his heart could take saying it out loud. Even thinking about it sent his poor little heart a flutter beating faster and faster till Teru passed out. But hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. Maybe. Please.

Taking a deep breath, he pressed send on the text asking you to meet him in his lab for breakfast… At three in the morning. He needed time to cook and prepare. And he also couldn’t sleep a wink. He prepared an entire feast. He poured his soul into his dishes, needing everything to be absolutely perfect!

“Hanamura?” “Ah, Y/N. Perfect timing! Just take a seat and I’ll be out in a moment!” This was it; THIS WAS IT! He was finally going to confess to you and through his greatest passion no less! This was going to be the best confession! He had to take several trips in order to get all the dishes out to you. “What’s with the domes over everything?” You lightly scratched you head in confusion seeing most everything had a dome covering it. Teru normally only used those things when the food needed to be kept hot or needed moisture. In fact, because of the moisture Teru avoided the things since it could so easily ruin the food. “Should I remove them before the food get’s spoiled?” “No, no, no. The food’s fine. But if you simply can’t resist you can take a peek.” Though he said that, he wanted to see your reaction, but who was he to deny you satisfying your curiosity. Much to his delight you did in fact wait for him, tenderly smiling and giving him a small wave in greeting.

With flourish Teru removed the domes from each of the dishes revealing what was inside. Steamed rice in a heart shaped bowl with Natto in a heart shape on top, Miso soup with heart shaped tofu, eggs and bacon systematically placed to make a heart shape as well as the aebleskivers too, a German pancake drizzled in lemon, berries placed atop it spelling “I love you”, more berries spelling out his feelings atop French toast and pancakes and crapes and other such items. You gasped at the sight of it all. Everything glistened in a beautiful sheen, all the baked items were that perfect, crisp, golden-brown color. All the delectable smells melded together yet were still distinct making your mouth water from it all. Cutting a piece from the German pancake and French toast your ears tingled hearing that light crunch. You sighed and awed as the delectable tastes simply melted in your mouth and on your tongue. “This is amazing!” Your cheeks were sore from how much you were smiling.

Meanwhile Teru stared at you absolutely baffled. Did… did you not notice? But HOW!? “Uh, but don’t you notice anything about your breakfast today?” “Hmm? Well… I notice there’s a lot more than usual, and there’s lots of hearts and you wrote ‘I love you’ a few times, but… Ah, I guess I didn’t really notice since I was expecting it!” … WHAT!? D-did you know already he liked you!? For how long!? “Today’s your birthday! It’s important to tell yourself you love yourself today! And I can taste it as well! I’m glad you have so much passion for your wellbeing!”

In that moment Teru began to question his life choices and how those lead him to falling so hard for such a sweet and kind dolt to the point of finding this alarming yet endearing at the same time. All he could bring himself to do was gently pat you on the head as you eagerly enjoyed your meal.

Alright, so breakfast was a bust, but Teru had other ideas for how to confess to you! “Ah! Class is starting soon! We should get going. I’ll come back at break to clean up, alright? I can at least do that so you can just enjoy today and relax!” You quickly got up from your seat and made your way for the door. “Now, hold on. I don’t want you slaving away cleaning dishes on my birthday.” He pinned you to the wall or tried to. He just slapped his hands against the wall blocking your way. “Kabedon?... Hanamura I think you’re a little short for this.” “I-what? NO! Listen to me! I much rather have you all to myself today.” “… OH! Yeah, I’m cool with hanging out! But… I do have a birthday surprise I’m still preparing so I can’t be with you all day, but when I have free time, I’ll come find you! Now let’s get to class before we’re late.” … Perhaps Teru should have been a bit more specific in his wording. Oh well. If you were going to be spending most of the day with him, at least that gave him more opportunities to confess. Or at this rate just keep trying too.

In class Teru wrote ‘I love you, Y/n. Yours truly Teruteru Hanamura’ on a piece of paper and folded it into a paper plane. Then ever so carefully, he tossed it to you. “Hmm?” You examined the paper for a moment before noticing Teru was waving at you. You waved back before your attention was drawn back to the plane. Teru intently watched as you began writing on the page! Oh no. What were you going to say? Did you like him back, did you not? What were you going to say!? Then you tossed it back! Unfolding the page Teru realized you just filled out the math sheet and never looked at the back where his message was. He was going to attempt this again this time with a complexly blank page but Miss Yukizome noticed and put a stop to it.

Okay, something else! Instead Teru wrote you a letter pouring all his feeling onto the page! THIS had to work! “Y/N! I need you to read this right now!” “Huh? Okay!” Teru fidgeted as you took what felt to be forever and a day reading that letter. “You used the wrong ‘your’ and ‘you’re’ through the whole thing. You are missing a few commas on the fifth, sixth, twelfth, and eighteenth lines. And… the line where you call me a hot stallion, I think you mean to compare me to a hot stallion. Now if you excuse me, I have a phone call to make!” Before leaving you passed him the letter back.

… Maybe writing his feelings out was the problem! “Mioda! I need your help!”

Finding it difficult to hear her on the other line you put in ear buds and turned your volume up hoping that would help. Unfortunately, she was also in a crowd, so it only helped so much. As you exited the building you found a stage had been set up. Not even a moment later you got a text from Chiaki asking you to come to said stage. And so, you did. Still trying to make the call work.

You were incredibly confused seeing Ibuki, Chiaki, Nagito, Kazuichi and Teruteru on stage, everyone with an instrument of some sort except for Teru who stood before a microphone. They began to play something, but of course in that moment your special guest was at a crucial juncture and you had to help her with directions and finding landmarks. You texted Chiaki an apology saying you had to go and would likely be busy for a while.

Of course as you were walking away was when the heart shaped fireworks went off and Teru belted out his feelings in an impromptu speech.

Teru sighed in defeat, falling to his knees seeing you dash away. “Y/n, darlin’ why must you be so elusive, like making the perfect mix of spices for Mama’s sweet and spicy chicken skewers.” Kazuichi kneeled down beside Teru, lightly patting his back. “Sorry man. Maybe next time.” Chiaki placed down the bass guitar she held and took out her Gameboy. “Yeah. You haven’t lost any lives yet. Keep trying and you’ll get him to notice… eventually.” Kazuichi nervously scratched his cheek as he stood up. “Yeah, that guy’s always been oblivious. Even from the start.” “Yes, I knew that when I fell for him.” Teru took out his phone, looking though the notes for ideas he came up for confessing to you. “Thank you for trying to help me.” Seeing what the next plan was, he got to his feet reinvigorated. “Alright! There’s only so many hours left in the day; I better get started on my next plan!” “Wonderful!” Of course, Nagito had to speak. “Go Hanamura! With that blooming hope in your heart go after Y/N!” Before Nagito could go on another of his hope rants, Teruteru ran away.

As you were rounding the corner to your dorms Teru jumped out dressed in a white suit with a bouquet in hand. “Y/N, watch this video!” “H-huh? Uh, sure?” The video was about the language of flowers and their meanings. When the video was finished you found Teru kneeling on one knee. “Cool. Though I’m not sure you have to get a bouquet of flowers meaning ‘I love you’ to show me the video. And I think kneeling like that is bad for people’s posture. If you’ll excuse me, I need to get to my dorm to check my reservation.” All Teru could do was just stand there dumbfounded. “… HOW!?”

You hurriedly placed on your windbreaker as you slammed the door open. “Hanamura? What are you doing here? And with an umbrella?” “Y/N, it’s raining! Share this umbrella with me!” “What? But there’s not a cloud in the sky. Wait, then why is there rain?” “Just… if you’d like please share this umbrella with me.” “Uh…” You walked out into the precipitation and looked up. “Oh. Hanamura, it’s fine.” You then waved up at the dorm ceiling. “Hey! Souda! Could you turn off the water hose and stop pointing it over Hanamura? He thinks it’s raining!” After a moment Kazuichi face-palmed and dropped the hose. “Hanamura, I think this is a lost cause.” Then Nagito popped out of the window to his dorm room. “Just hold on to that beautiful hope inside you! I believe in you Hanamura!” “Uhh, anyway! Hanamura! Your birthday surprise is ready! Well more like on it’s way. But! Please, please, please, come with me! I promise you won’t regret it!” “… Sure. I’ll come with you.” “Heck yeah! C’mon! We’ve waisted enough time already, I’m already a little late!”

“Hurry, Hanamura! We’ll be late!” “I-I’m hurrying as fast as I can!” You took Teru’s hand and dragged him along at your breakneck speed. “We can’t miss the train! Hurry up!” “Train?”

“T-thank goodness. We got here in time.” You both collapsed onto the train seats, completely winded, desperately catching your breath. “Yay. We made it before rush hour.” You slumped in your seat, looking out the window at that gorgeous sunset. You so goofily smiled to yourself imagining Teru’s reaction to your gift. You just couldn’t wait. “Hey, Hanamura. You just as excited as I am? … Hmm?” You got no response. “Hanamura? HANAMURA!”

…

You sighed in relieved seeing him waking up. “Just in time, we’re almost at our stop!” “Huh? Wa-? What happened?” “Uh, once we were on the train you keeled over and started foaming at the mouth. But you seem okay now! I think. How are you feeling? Please be okay.” “Oh, no, no, darlin’ I’m fine.” He was snapped out of that haze realizing he accidently let his accent slip out! Hopefully you didn’t notice. “Ah, your accent!” Of course you notice that! OF COURSE!... At least you seemed happy to hear it.

Once you got off at your train platform you swiftly lead Teru to a car lot. “You rented a car?” “Yeah! I’ve been saving for months for this and other things, and even took driving lessons for this, but it’s worth it! C’mon! Get in! We can’t be late!” You dragged him in by the collar of his shirt, too excited to wait for him.

“This shouldn’t be a long trip, but if you want, you could turn on the radio.” Taking you up on your offer he flipped it on, hoping it could distract him from wondering where you were taking him. A farm for fresh ingredients? But you said it wasn’t far and you were still in the city. A love hotel perhaps! That’d be a dream come true! Before his mind could start to run wild, he noticed the song that was playing. Yuki no Hana, Snow Flower. A classic. Odd it was playing though since it wasn’t winter yet. The song was literally about watching the snowfall with a lover. “… Y/N.” “Yeah.” “This song reminds me of you.” “… I remind you of winter?” “No, the other part.” “… Uh… The coming of winter?” “No, not winter.” “OH! About helping one another through hard times! Always being together!” Teru was silent for a moment, just taking in that moment. “Yeah. That part.” You weren’t wrong… It was close enough. “I’d like to stay by your side too! You’re my best friend.”

…

Maybe the only way to get it though your thick skull was to just out right, out loud, say it. But the question was… could he bring himself to tell you so directly without chickening out like he had done in the past.

“An airport?” You giddily chuckled seeing Hanamura trying to puzzle out why the two of you were here of all places. Once you finally found a parking space, you immediately stepped out to make a call. You then lead Teru into the airport. You looked around, trying to figure out if you had missed her already. “Did we pass by already?” “Mama!? Is that you!?” Teru raced to the woman, giving her the tightest hug he could. “Teru, my baby!” “Mama! How are you here! What about the diner!?” She simply pointed to you, who was mumbling to yourself about how she said she’d be by the shops which was where you were. “Y/N.” “The little sweetie. He’s been planning this for months now. Saving up money for plane tickets, my hotel, and covering the payment I would have gotten from working. The dear even tried tracking down your brother and sister but there just wasn’t enough time before your birthday.” The woman gently pat your arm, finally getting your attention. “Huh-Oh! There you are ma’am! I thought we missed you. Ah, let me take your luggage! I’ll take it all to the car while you and your son catch up!” “… Y/N.” “Yeah, Hanamura? OH! I forgot! Happy birthday! That’s what you were expecting, right? Sorry? I got caught up in th-” “I love you so much.” You simply stared at Teru as a bright red dusted your cheeks. “You… you love me? Wait…” One could see the cogs turning in your head as your blush darkened and spread to the tips of your ears. “I’M SO SORRY! I DIDN’T REALIZE SOONER!” “Sweetie-” He held one of your hands in both of his. “YOU WERE TRYING TO TELL ME ALL DAY!” “Darlin’-” “YOU LITERALLY WROTE ‘I LOVE YOU’ IN BERRIES!” “Y/N-” I’M SO SORRY I DIDN’T NOTICE! HOW COULD I BE SO DUMB!? I’VE HAD A CRUSH ON YOU SINCE WE MET! I LOVE YOU AND I DIDN’T EVEN NOTICE YOU-… you love… me too…” You buried your ever-reddening face in your hands realizing what you just said. “… So Mama, this is my boyfriend, Y/N.” “H-hi, Ma’am.” Teruteru’s mother simply looked at you two happily yet with confusion evident in her eyes. “I thought you two were already boyfriends since you write so much about Y/N in your letters and how Y/N went to all the effort to get me here.” “M-Mama! I-I don’t write about him that much in my letters!” “Oh, my mistake, there’s some other sweetest, kindest, most selfless dope in the world you’ve been trying to confess to for the past few months?” “YOU’VE BEEN TRYING TO TELL ME FOR MONTHS!?”

This… was certainly not how Teru imagined getting together with you but thinking about it on the ride to the hotel you got for his mother. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

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mirkwoodshewolf · 6 years ago

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Baby queen’s first word and steps; Queen x toddler reader

*Author’s note*

Hey guys well here we are with another request. This time this one came from my wattpad and it was fairly recently given to me so I just got it done and it’s too adorable to be kept on just wattpad for a few days before I also posted it onto here. So no warnings on this really except TEETH-ROTTING, UNADULTERATED FLUFF (with maybe a hint of swearing) but other than that enjoy you lovely darlings.

Edit 7-9-19*

SEQUEL IS OUT. PT. 2 I REPEAT PT.2 IS NOW OUT. Click here for the second part.

Taglist:

@psychosupernatural

@geek-and-proud

____________________________________________________________

*1974*

Rising star and front man of Queen Freddie Mercury had just woken up to see the sun blazing in through the curtains of his and Mary’s apartment. He reached over to feel if the love of his life was still in bed only to feel it empty and cold. He looked up and saw a note lying there along her pillow. He picked it up and it read out.

Work called in earlier than I expected. So sorry I couldn’t stay to greet you Freddie. Have a good day and record a new hit record, I love you Freddie.

-Mary

He smiled and kissed the note before setting it aside and got up to put on his robe before heading into the next room. The jointed room next to the main bedroom was decorated in pink with flowers and butterflies scattered everywhere (designed by Freddie himself) and lying right by the window was a white crib and as he looked over, there he saw the angel he had been blessed with.

Unexpectedly and unexplainable, in the midst of the early stages of them dating, Mary had fallen pregnant just as Freddie first started off with his new band. It threw him for a shock at first but he was determined to make this work and give Mary the support she needed, and to ensure that the baby did have their father in his or her life.

Then finally on Jan 13th, 1973 their daughter (y/n) Austin-Mercury was born. And the second Freddie stared down at the beautiful baby girl, he was smitten with her. As were his bandmates, they all helped and got involved with helping to raise their niece. Each of them loved (y/n) as if she were their own, but none so much more than the drummer Roger Taylor. He spoiled that girl to no end whether it was for Christmas or just recently her 1 year old birthday. In fact Roger even went to the extend to have a mini drum kit set out for her with her own customized drumsticks.

Even at the disagreement with the rest of the band saying that she was too young, Roger was determined to turn his niece into a drummer, at least before Brian or Deacy had the chance to teach her guitar or bass. With all the love and attention Roger had given her, Freddie and Mary both had agreed to name Roger the godfather of little (y/n).

Of course when he was told by Freddie one rehearsal, he tried his best to keep his emotions in check but when he was finally alone the drummer actually broke down crying (to which Brian had overheard and got a good couple of months of blackmail out of him).

Now at a year and a half old, little (y/n) woke up to see her dad leaning over her crib. She reached out to him and Freddie couldn’t help but smile and pick her up as he cooed.

“Aww there’s my lovely darling. Oh you’re getting bigger every day aren’t you? Please stay this young forever. I don’t want to deal with the nasty little boys that’ll try to take you away from me just yet. With your mother’s looks it’ll be damn near impossible.” It was true, she inherited most of her looks from her mum minus the hair, that she inherited from Freddie. So a tuff of ‘long’ black hair covered her head.

(Y/n) babbled and touched her daddy’s face to which he smiled and brought her close before pecking her cheek multiple times making her laugh.

“Ohh you’re so cute darling.” He then went into the kitchen and set her in the highchair that his mum had given him. He fed his daughter her breakfast before getting her cleaned up and finally changed into clothes before he got dressed to head to the studio.

The phone rang and he answered it.

“Freddie Mercury darling, oh hi Maria when are you coming over?” He stood there in silence before he said, “What? What do you mean you can’t come over? Oh….I’m so sorry. Yes I—I understand, my regards to you and your family. Take care of yourself darling, bye.”

Maria was a friend of Mary’s who was also a coworker with her at Biba. Apparently she had called to tell Freddie that she couldn’t make it to watch over (y/n) because her mom had passed away from cancer. He hung up the phone and that’s when he realized he was in a bit of a situation.

He had to be in the studio in the next 25 minutes, Mary was at work and he had no babysitter to look after her. His sister Kash was still in school right now, he’d never want to ask his dad especially since he was at work all day till dark, and his mum was currently fighting a small cold. He thought and thought and debated long and hard. Sure he’s taken her to the studio before for rehearsals and all, however this time the boys were in the middle of recording their 3rd album “Sheer Heart Attack” and all of them needed to focus on the recording since the deadline was coming up.

“Hey darling, my beautiful baby girl. How would you like to see your uncles and godfather hmm?” Now she might have been a year and a half year old but she was a clever girl, at the mention of her godfather and uncles a huge smile came on her face. Seeing the smile on his daughter’s face, Freddie thought that with no other choice, he’d have to take her with him since there was no one else to watch her.

They arrived at the studio 15 minutes late and when Freddie walked in through the door with a baby bag over his shoulder and carrying (y/n) in his arms.

“About bloody time you show up Fred.”

“Relax Brian, had a bring in a little extra baggage.” At the sight of her, the boys all gathered around and fawned over their #1 fan. “Hope you lads don’t mind that I brought our littlest fan. Maria cancelled and I couldn’t find anyone else to look after her.”

“Oh not at all Fred, in fact things will be a lot more peaceful now that she’s here.” Deacy said as he took her from Freddie’s arms. Deacy lightly bounced her up and down cooing softly at her.

“Deacy darling you are such a pro. Any kids that you’re not telling us?” Freddie teased.

“Oh no. Veronica and I aren’t ready for that step quite yet.”

“Well hurry it up and give my lovely girl a best friend already. Unless it’s a boy then don’t bother.”

“Whys that?”

“Because if he’s a boy he’ll get a crush on her. And as the years go by that crush develop until by the time they’re teenagers that’ll—”

“Enough Fred. That’ll never happen to my beloved goddaughter, not as long as I’m around!” Roger spoke up as he came up and stood beside Deacy.

At the sight of seeing her godfather before her, she fussed as she reached out for him babbling and making fussy noises. Roger let out a playful gasp as he reached out for (y/n). “Mhm lovey, come here you.” He then gently took her into his arms.

She stared up at him in awe before reaching out to him, taking a handful of his hair but not pulling it. Thankfully unlike most babies (y/n) was well behaved and doesn’t pull hair, she just held his hair in her hands as she kept staring up at Roger. He gave her kisses all over her face even blowing raspberries into her cheek making her laugh which in turn made Roger smile and chuckle.

“Thank god you brought her here Fred, Rog was nearly about to blow his top because of a disagreement we had with a song, now (y/n) can help see the song my way.” Brian spoke up.

“Brian if anyone is to use my daughter to get what he wants, it’s me.” Freddie spoke up.

“Alright lads, let’s start up the recording.” Roy, their recording manager spoke up. Unpacking some of her favorite toys to keep her occupied from the bag, Freddie took his daughter from Roger’s arms and set her down on the floor and as soon as she saw her toys, (y/n) went right to them. Freddie kissed the top of her head, thinking she would be fine for now, in order to let them work.

She was a good girl after all.

“Don’t pout Roger, you’ll get your time back with her once you’ve done your bits. Alright my darlings let’s do this!” Freddie then strutted into the recording booth and got himself into position, followed by Brian and Deacy. Roger who looked toward his backpack before looking down at his goddaughter playing and softly babbling to herself thought before he’d get caught, he’d give her, her surprise now.

He got a small handbag present out from his pack and knelt down before his goddaughter and said.

“Hey lovey,” she immediately looked up and reached out for him. Roger chuckled and said, “Guess what, I was in the toy market yesterday and saw something I think you would love. You ready?” She babbled as Roger continued, “I’ll take that as a yes.” He waited for dramatic emphasis before finally pulling out a beautifully hand-made stuffed lion.

(Y/n)’s eyes widened and she babbled as she reached out for it. Roger smiled knowing that she liked it said.

“Yeah that’s my girl. Do you know what the lion sounds like? Huh what’s it say?” She babbled out and Roger said, “That’s right, Rawr!” He playfully shook the lion along her cheek and neck allowing it’s mane to tickle her which made her laugh as Roger continued to playfully roar at her.

“Roger there’s only room in her life for one spoiling father, and that right belongs to me.” Freddie’s voice soon spoke up from the piano. Roger looked up and he flipped Freddie off and said as he picked her up,

“Your daddy is just a jealous wanker; you love me more don’t you (n/n)? Huh don’t you?” He began to repeatedly peck kisses along her cheek and lightly tickled her tummy which made her laugh some more all the while locking his eyes with Freddie in a mocking matter. Freddie grinned at him and said.

“You’re playing a war you won’t win Roger dear.”

“We’ll see about that Fred, we’ll see.” He kissed the top of (y/n)’s head before forcing himself to set her down and gave her her new lion before walking in the booth.

As the day went on, (y/n) was fed her food, got her diaper changed whenever she was wet, and of course had her naps. She was currently napping against Roger’s chest as he sat on the couch while the other three were with Roy listening to the track to see if it was all good and what edits needed to be made.

“Don’t you think I sound like shit?” Freddie spoke out.

“No it’s good.” Brian spoke out naturally.

“Can we redo it from the second verse?” suggested Freddie. Roy allowed it and Fred went back into the booth and re-recorded his part for the song. Roger looked down to see his goddaughter still sleeping against his chest, her thumb in her mouth unconsciously sucking it.

He smiled and lightly kissed the top of her head as he gently rocked her back and forth until a voice broke him out of his trance with his goddaughter.

“Okay Rog, your turn now.” He looked up before looking down to see (y/n) was starting to stir from her nap. He hated to leave her but it was then Brian came up and said.

“I can take her Roger; don’t worry you’ll get her back soon.”

“Fine.” Carefully he handed (y/n) over to Brian and he held her against his chest. (Y/n) who was now wide awake began to cry as she reached out for him.

“Aww hey, he’ll be back love.” Brian tried to soothe her as (y/n) kept whimpering and crying out as she reached out to Roger. The drummer couldn’t help but kneel down and kiss her tiny little nose and he said.

“Don’t you worry lovey, I’ll just be right across the window, you’ll still see me.” He kissed her cheek this time before standing up and heading into the recording booth. Brian kept hold of (y/n) until he had to go up and record his bit alongside Roger.

He set her down with her toys in order to keep her occupied. Even though she did reach out for her lion, she still looked in the direction of where Roger had disappeared to.

After awhile they came back in but were gathered around the control booth in order to hear what their pieces sounded like and what they could do to improve the editing of whether one part should be louder or softer. It was then (y/n) in her little brain began thinking about trying something.

Seeing the couch she reached out for it and gripped the side of it with her tiny hand as she pulled herself up. She wobbled as most babies do when they first stand but eventually she took her first step, then her second and just kept walking and walking.

Deacy was the first to turn around and he gasped as he said.

“Lads look!” And when the rest of the band turned around, they were all in shock and awe at seeing (y/n) taking her first steps. She slowly wobbled as her steps got a little faster.

“That’s it! That’s it my darling come to daddy!” Freddie said as he knelt down before her and held out his arms so that she could come to him.

But to Freddie’s shock, his own daughter went up to Roger. He happily took her in his arms and playfully tossed her up in the air making her laugh as he praised on how good she did walking all the way across the room.

“I can’t believe it. My own flesh and blood, goes to you instead of me.” Fred said flabbergasted.

“I told you Fred, she loves me more than you.” He pecked kisses all over her face making her smile as the other two gathered around her praising her as well.

“Well I may have lost the battle but not the war. The first word she will say will have nothing to do with you.” Freddie proclaimed.

“What you’ve been trying to make her say dada?” Roger mocked teasingly.

“No. I predict she’ll say mama first. However Mary thinks she’ll say dada first since that’s what her first word was according to her father. But I swear to you her first word will be mama and yours will be last word she’ll ever learn.”

Later on that day as the boys were finishing up, as Roger and Deacy were with (y/n) taking their ‘playtime break’ as the four boys liked to call it. Deacy had her in his lap while Roger was making her newly gifted stuffed lion walk around and playfully roaring at her as he would tickle her with its mane.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to your godfather’s insanity as you get older. If not then you’ll always have a home with me, right love?”

“It’s not insanity, it’s me loving her.”

“Raw…” (y/n) spoke up.

“That’s right baby bird, that’s what a lion says.”

“Ra—ra….Rog.”

Both Deacy and Roger looked at each other in shock.

“D-did she just say….” Deacy started but Roger hissed out a shush toward him and he knelt down before her and said.

“What did you just say lovely?”

“Rog. Rog! Rog!” She began to chant out. Roger held his arms up in victory as he took his goddaughter in his arms and lightly spun her around proclaiming.

“Yes! Yes baby love ohh you did it! You’re first word. My name! Oh I’m so proud of you my little lion cub.” He began kissing all over her face and Deacy spoke up.

“Fred will not be pleased about that.”

“Oh he’s never going to hear the end of it.” He went over to the window to see Brian and Fred discussing their business inside the booth and he knocked on the window to get their attention. He waved them over and the two other band members came out and Brian said.

“What is it this time Roger?”

“You guys will be happy to know that our lovely baby Queen here just said her first word.” Both Freddie and Brian gasped and Freddie proclaimed.

“And I missed it?! Oh you cheeky darling say it again, say it again for daddy!” He took his daughter back into his arms and she chanted out.

“Rog-Rog!” At that his heart dropped and he glared at Roger.

“You are dead meat Taylor.” He handed Brian his daughter and soon Roger took off running as Fred began to chase him screaming out various profanities while Roger just kept taunting and teasing him that he won.

Both guitar players just stood there shaking their heads and Brian said.

“I can tell this little one will have them both killing each other by the time she’s 2.”

“I think she already knows she can do that now.” Deacy stated.

“One thing I do know is that I don’t think Roger’s ever gonna let Fred hear the end of this.” Deacy nodded in agreement.

And that was the truth. As (y/n) grew older, anytime she was around Roger was always the first one to greet her, and he would always in conversation whether she was there or not, speak up about how his goddaughter’s first steps and words were all for him.

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titanias-stolen-shoes · 5 years ago

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Crossing Paths: Part Four

Summary: Something happened to Ayda—she just doesn’t know it yet. With her internship at the Cross Points Public Library, absent mind but ever-present father, nothing feels out of place. That is, until she finds a journal in the library she can’t read and soon after a wild assortment of kids come in, asking for her help.

Together they work together to figure out their dreams, the journals, and whether they can figure their way back home from our world.

Read on AO3!

Ayda laid awake, wondering why she had avoided letting Garthy know the truth. She hadn’t lied to him. She never lied. She did, however, not tell them the whole truth. Just that loud teenagers had come to the library right as it was closing. They had laughed and joked that she should steer clear of them. “They’re probably a bunch of bad kids,” Garthy laughed, hopping off the table. “I’m joking, love, I’m sure they perfectly fine. Don’t be afraid to talk to them if you want to.”

“They seem… normal. And I can’t always be sure that what I say or do is normal.”

“Oh, love,” they said, flipping their dreads over their shoulder. “There no way to really know if what you say or do is normal, but it’s not just you. Everyone is worried about if what they’re doing is normal. You just have to be yourself and if you’re worried about it, take cues from someone you like.”

They left after that, leaving Ayda to cook dinner for her Arthur. After an hour of waiting, she made him a plate in the microwave and went to her room. She had planned to sleep early so she could have enough energy for tomorrow, whatever it might bring. Instead, she tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

It wasn’t that she was nervous about meeting the other kids. In fact, she was excited. It would be nice to talk to other people her age. In school most people avoided her, saying she was “weird and hard to talk to”. She did her best not to talk as much after that. No, it actually wasn’t the kids. She was nervous about the journal. Not only did it incapacitate her, she learned nothing from the experience other than it was painful to try to read. And for them to come back to it, determined to figure out… she couldn’t imagine why they were after it.

The next morning, she walked to the library doors with heavy bags under her eyes, ready to call Rawlins to let her in. Before she could get to her phone, she saw a note on the door.

Ayda

Sorry for the short notice, but the library has been closed for the day. I will be back tomorrow afternoon. Enjoy your day off!

- Rawlins

She stared at the note, irritated and squinting. It didn’t make any sense to have the library suddenly be closed. As far as anyone knew, Rawlins didn’t do much outside of running the library. Unless it was library-related and he just forgot to tell her.

Behind her, a van rounded the corner into the parking lot, parking as close to the door as possible. All six of the kids she’d seen spilled out of the van, with two new additions (another tall man and a short girl with messy hair) surprised to see Ayda standing at the door.

Adaine shaded her eyes from the sun and said, “Are we too early?”

“Yes, but it doesn’t matter. The library is closed.”

“Really?” Her shoulders sagged in disappointment. “We came all the back for nothing. Do you know when it’ll be open?”

“Tomorrow afternoon.”

“Really?” Riz perked up, turning back to the van and grabbing his backpack. “Ayda, how do you feel about breaking and entering?”

“Ooh yes,” The punk girl clapped her hands, grinning. “I love it when we do illegal stuff.”

“Oh, hell yeah.” The new tall one grinned. “Do you need me to stand watch?”

“I don’t feel comfortable with illegal activity.” Then she paused, thinking about Garthy and how whatever it was they did, was probably very illegal. “Let me rephrase I am not comfortable with most illegal activity. Why are you all so interested in the journal?”

They were all quiet for a moment, exchanging looks then the tallest one piped up saying, “We’re not gonna get inside if we don’t tell her.”

“Yeah,” the redhead said. “There were letters that we found under Fabian’s house. We were just goofing around and there was a box hidden underneath a bunch of crap. Anyway, all these letters were addressed to us. There was a lot of weirdly specific stuff in them. Like how me and Tracker—”

“Babe, not that,” Tracker cut in. “It was weird, so we asked his parents about it and they both said the pages were blank. No one but us could see them.”

“And if we tried to read each other’s letters they wouldn’t make any sense. It would be a jumble of words that made no sense. And the only correlation any of them had was the Cross Points Library. So, we’re here to see if we can figure this out.”

“I see.” Ayda crossed her arms, quietly processing what they said. Much like the journal, what they said shouldn’t have been possible. And yet they were here, at a library in the middle of summer when they all (well, most) looked like they wouldn’t go near a library if they had a choice.

“Do you not believe us?”

“I do. I’ll overlook this transgression if you all introduce yourselves to me.”

They all stared for a moment before one by one looking a little embarrassed. Adaine smiled a little before pointing to each of her friends, “Tracker, Kristen, Riz, Gorgug, Fabian, Fig, and Ragh.”

“I’m Ayda. There are cameras pointed at this door. Follow me to the back.”

“So, Ayda,” Adaine said, doubling her pace to keep up with Ayda. “How long have you been working here?”

“A little under a month. I work an internship so I technically employed here.”

“Tell me you’re at least getting paid.”

“I am. I won’t work for free even if it’s work I enjoy. Equal exchange is important.”

“Hmm. Then our names were equal exchange for letting us break in?”

“Yes, I don’t know very many people my age and I’m also curious about the journal.” They stopped at the back of the building, less grand that the front and no cameras to catch what they were about to do. Ayda squatted down, feeling along the stone for a familiar carving. Almost toward the bottom, she pressed in on the one she’d carved an ‘A’ on and it came out of its place, leaving a perfectly size hole for her to pull the trick door open.

Riz looked far too excited as he picked up the stone and started to examine it. “How did you know about this?”

“Last year I spent almost all of my free time here.” She held her hand out and he gently gave her the brick. “A great deal of that time was spent wandering.”

They all shuffled in, watching their head on the low entrance and into the sublevel of the library. The door let out in the boiler room which was near inaccessible to people who didn’t know that the bookshelves on the far right didn’t touch the walls. Ayda wasn’t normally allowed in here for obvious reasons, but Rawlins had shown her just in case.

The room was as messy as the first time she had seen it. Boxes were haphazardly stacked against the far wall and an old workbench was shoved off to the right.

“Hey,” Fabian said, moving toward the pile of boxes. “This is the exact same box we found our letters in. The exact same.” He shifted the boxes on top and pulled out a small wooden chest with the same set of wings on the journal burned onto the top. Next to it, carved roughly, was a bass guitar.

“It’s locked,” Riz said, swinging his backpack off. “I’ll open it.”

“I’ll go get the books. Both of them are down here with us.” Ayda moved away from their group to the door. There was just enough space between the bookshelf and the wall that the door wouldn’t hit it. She grabbed Daya’s journal easily, always remember where it was. The second book was a little harder to find. Not that she didn’t know where it was, but every time she looked in that direction, she found herself looking elsewhere.

“Ayda!” Adaine popped out from behind the bookshelf, looking a little surprised. “I wanted to see where they were. The books.”

“Alright.”

“So… do you always spend your time here?”

“No. When I’m not here, I’m at home or helping my father with his research.”

“That sounds fun. Listen, I don’t have many… bookish people in my life.”

“Why? Are you hard to be around?”

“Uh, no, I— No? Are you hard to be around?”

“Yes. I’ve been told that many times.”

“Oh. Do you want a friend?”

They stopped in front of the shelf and Ayda turned to face Adaine. She looked sincere, fiddling with her crystal necklace. “Desperately.”

“I’ll be your friend. Would you like to hold my frog?” From her bag, she produced a small, plush frog. It was as spherical as one could make a frog without it being unrecognizable. It was cuter than it had any reason to be.

“I don’t take presents. I have nothing to give in exchange.”

“It’s not a present. I need Boggy.” She held him out and slowly Ayda took the plush. He was soft and Ayda felt calmer holding him.

“Magnificent.” Ayda gave him back and turned to the shelf, one her eyes had been scampering away from. In the very back of the autobiography section was the second book, but this one was three composition notebooks glued together. Messily written on the front was the name Iggy Fathe.

“Why is that so hard to look at?”

“I do not know.” Ayda frowned, trying to keep her gaze pinned to the name. It looked… wrong. Like it was missing something and she couldn’t place what.

“Adaine! Ayda!” Kristen’s voice called out from the other side. “We got the box open!”

“Maybe someone else will be able to look at it.”

Back in the boiler room, they were all crowding around the box, looking at a bundle of papers along with a few pictures. The pictures were blurry, but not in a way that would indicate whoever was taking them had been bad at it. No, the pictures were just blurry to her eyes and it made her not want to interact with them.

“Here’s your letter. No one but you can read it. And maybe Adaine depending.”

“Adaine?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know why, but I’m the only one who can sort of read everyone else’s letters. I can’t make out much, but I did make out enough to get us here.”

“Impressive.” Ayda unfolded the bunded of papers and felt… odd. Like something in her shifted out of place and back. Not like the journal, but almost a feeling of nostalgia.

She picked one of the boxes and settled down to read her letter.

Part One || Part Two || Part Three || Part Four

#fantasy high #fantasy high live #fantasy high fanfic #crossing paths #i wrote something!

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checkoutafrica · 4 years ago

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Manu Grace; the multi- insturmentalist

South African songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Manu Grace is one of the most striking acts to emerge from the South African alternative music scene. Her sound can be described as ‘Sensitive Pop’ — unguarded and groovy; appealing to both heart and feet alike. Raised in a creative family, Manu grew up with plenty of room for her imagination to thrive. For as long as she can remember, music has been her primary interest have always had a piano in the house, Manu begged and begged for lessons until her hands were finally deemed big enough. She later picked up guitar and bass, using her precious screen-time to print guitar tabs off the Internet. At 15, she wrote her first full composition the day her baby brother came home from the hospital. “It was a sweet tribute to the new little pipsqueak”. From there, songwriting became second nature and although she was shy in regular life, she had an innate drive to get on stage at any possible opportunity. “It’s weird how you can be so drawn to something with such a deep sense of knowing”.

No Room for Error. This EP reflects Manu’s inner and outer world over the course of an eventful couple of months of love, loss and visa runs. It trails her travels chronologically and the project reads like a story. No Room for Error is a bold unlocking of freedom and femininity — unabashed about desire; vulnerable and fierce. “I approached the process with a sense of freedom and fearlessness — no idea was ever too wild, and I really love working like that.”

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#fetchtheboltcutters (life is so wacky)

Sending love. Another offering later this week

A fun one ; can’t wait!

A post shared by MANU GRACE (@_manugrace) on Sep 1, 2020 at 4:19am PDT

For those that have never heard your music, how would you describe your sound?

That one is hard, hmm I don’t know? For a long time, I was allergic to the word pop but I think alternative pop is a good way to put it – there’s a lot of storytelling and maybe it’s too honest. I don’t know, I like to call it sensitive pop if that is even a thing ahaha.

You say you grew up in a creative family, so since you’re a musician, what do the rest of your family do?

My fathers an architect by profession but he’s an incredible poet and writer, my moms a novelist and screen writer, my brother is a film maker so we each kind of picked our niche! However, I do think that sometimes we can get a little over-involved in each others projects, like at the start of lockdown my older brother, myself and our two little brothers – we were all in our moms house, stuck at home and he’s a cinematographer so we shot a music video in the house with the children, the chickens and the dogs, so that’ll come out soon if we don’t change our minds ahaha.

What did you learn from being in a band – the Aztec sapphires”

It was a very short- lived experience but very fun. This was my first time playing with anyone, I did classical piano and my version of music was always me writing my own songs then playing base guitar by myself so they deffo taught me lot, especially in terms of performing.

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TikTok circa 2006 Try telling this kid that in fourteen years' time she'll have a single racking up tens of thousands of plays in just one week.

A post shared by MANU GRACE (@_manugrace) on Aug 11, 2020 at 2:41am PDT

No room for error what is it about?

I started on it last year may, I work with two collaborators – Russ and Robin and they were in cape town in may – whenever we’re in the same city we just cram. Then rob moved to berlin and Russ moved to London and we started working on a few tracks, I went to Italy to au pair in order to afford to be able to go to Berlin and record with them, with the intention of bringing the songs that we had already been working on. So we worked on it in Berlin, I spent every waking moment in the studio for like 10 whole days and it was really really fun, then i had to come back to cape town because of visa stuff, then I went back to London to finish all the vocal recordings. The intention was to move to London, i initially only came back thinking id be here for two, three weeks but thanks to lockdown I’ve been here ever since ahahaha

How does it compare to your debut ep June?

It feels a lot bolder, if i can say that. I just feel that over the course of making it I was growing a lot as a human and i think it shows. it’s also a lot less careful if that makes sense, I really love it, I don’t know if i can say that but I am really proud of it. It just feels really authentic. It feels more confident because I sound more confident

Do you have any expectations for your new ep, especially with how successful the last one was?

I just want to create music.

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World premiere of my new single 'Two Weeks' on @zanelowe 's @beats1official radio show in 30 minutes!!! Beside myself — I've been itching to have this music out in the world. Tune in on @applemusic at 18h30 SAST to be the first to hear it, and to get the scoop on my misadventures in Italy last Summer

Link in bio x

: @taofarren

A post shared by MANU GRACE (@_manugrace) on Aug 3, 2020 at 9:01am PDT

If you weren’t doing music, what would you be doing?

I think about that all the time. I have no idea because I feel like I have limited myself so much that there is no backup plan so this HAS to be my thing. But I don’t know, I mean I have done lots of things, I studied English at UCT and I have done teaching – teaching piano but I am realising now that whenever I have needed money, I have always gone for odd jobs that you can’t really turn into a career.

I saw that you used to be a shy person, over time have you gotten over this and gained more confidence?

I’ve always been quiet shy socially, but weirdly the performance thing has always come naturally and to this day I am still perplexed by it. It’s a very strange phenomenon

What valuable lessons have learned from Ross and Robin (of Beatenberg)

With them, it’s really fun because we’re really good friends and I just feel so safe with them and I don’t know, with this project especially, I was encouraged to have no inhibitions and I felt free to do what I wanted to do creatively. The whole process was really freeing and fun. I miss them!!!

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Obviosuly the dream is for my music to go as far as it possibly can, I just want it to be heard, if i can sustain myself all my life from just doing music then that’s it. That’s literally just it.

Listen to her top tracks here;

The post Manu Grace; the multi- insturmentalist appeared first on CheckoutAfrica.

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#Interviews #Music #African music #african musician #alternative pop #interview #music #south african

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japanessie · 6 years ago

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Hii Shelly! Been reading your blog and it's extremely informative, so thank you for that! Anyways, i was really wondering what are your favourite songs from MFS! Thank you!

Hi there!!! 😁✌️

Hmm ….. that’s an interesting question 🤔. OK, my list changes with times I must say. There was a time when I used to listen to the album 虚言NEUROSE everyday during my daily commute to work as I liked ZERO Gravity and ROOM very much. I used to like What’s My Name? from BONEDS split album a lot too. Apart from the 1st song in the following list which is a crucial song to me, the rest are songs that I’ve noticed I tend to repeat every time I listen to them nowadays.

WARNING: I will be mentioning Taka and OOR a lot here. Read on to understand why.

1. 最終回STORY [Saishuukai STORY]

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This is the most important MFS song for me because THIS is the song through which they stole my heart at the height of my “love affair” with OOR back in 2013. The one that turned me into an MFS fan. Don’t get me wrong, I still am an OOR fan. It’s just that I was also looking for something else I wasn’t getting from them. A certain kind of aggressiveness. Not necessarily had to be appealing to the commercial mass market. Something more metal yet still melodic and accessible. I was in love with the song March of Mephisto by Kamelot at the time and I wanted something that leaned more towards that. Then, I heard 最終回STORY. BAM! I found what I was looking for 😍! Different from OOR. Played it on repeat that night and it became the most played song on my phone quickly. I love everything about it and the MV, which somewhat hides the band members’ faces, is just right for it. It makes us focus on the amazing music and not their pretty faces.

* Though I feel Hiro somewhat ruined it when he swang his mic at one point in the MV (one short second of a movement that his Onii-chan is famous for is enough to tarnish Hiro’s image for life 😖), but overall especially the angles that the video was shot, more than makes up for that “oops …” moment 😊.

2. 終焉レクイエム [Shuuen Requiem]

I do love string sections anywhere and the orchestral arrangement intensifies the song’s melancholic melody. Furthermore, I like how musically, this one leans more towards the work of older rock artists from HYDE’s generation than the younger OOR kind of crowds. It reminds me a lot of my favourite song Gekoukka by Janne da Arc from the anime Dr. Black Jack.

While I understand Hiro’s intention with BLACK RAIL, this one has a lot more depth and is far more revealing of his feelings about being cyber-bullied by some of his brother’s fans. I talked a lot more about it here.

3. 君のいない夜を越えて [Kimi no Inai Yoru o Koete]

Part of Sho’s musical works for Ochanomizu Rock. Musically, it’s safe and sweet.While it wasn’t love at first listen to me but thanks to the drama series, I got drawn more and more towards it. Upon finding out that Hiro cleverly inserted a lyric line that clearly mentions “my first story” which also seems to answer why he and big bro Taka appear detached in public, the song then totally etched itself on my heart. I wrote what I thought about that “hidden” message here. Despite the crazy accusations about him hating Taka, Hiro once again wants us to decipher all the clues he left here and there indicating how he carries his big brother in his heart very much ❤️.

4. FAKE

Surprised to see this one? This one is in a league of its own to me. I wrote my thoughts on it back in 2015 here. OK, this one represents the time when I was adjusting to the fact that Hiro was no longer a boy when I first saw the trailer. How he had blossomed into a man. I remember that day very well. My hands felt cold and my heartbeat was racing, telling myself, “He’s not a baby anymore. Accept it,” 😮.

Just look at how he flirted with the viewers through the camera lens 😍.

He ended it with alternate wink of one eye! Oh my kokoro ❤️❤️❤️

The song also has a different and sexier groove that sets itself apart from other MFS songs. Listen to those crunchy rhythm guitars 😙!! My favourite part is when they put Hiro’s voice through that “groveling” vocal effect about 1 min into the song. Come on, how can I not find that sexy 😉? You don’t often get to hear Hiro sounding masculine, thanks to his high-pitched natural voice. So, this is where the right voice effect works very well to enhance the man side of him. I also love how schizophrenic the song arrangement is. How it twists to different turns one after another. Weird but good weird 😉. Whether you like the song or not, you have to admit that this song is only one of its kind in their repertoire as they have never made another song that sounds like FAKE again.

* Some fans compared the chorus to OOR’s Never Let It Go but still the overall feels of both songs are worlds apart. The former is an arena rock anthem with a soaring chorus. The latter is just weird but a deliciously sexy groovy kind of weird.

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5. The Puzzle

The song that didn’t impress me AT ALL during the trailer. Then they released the video on STORYTELLER in full. Wow! Suddenly I knew how to appreciate it. You can feel the raw feelings and vulnerability they exuded with that video. The video was recorded at their 1st public performance after the lineup change. It was a period of MAJOR adjustment especially for the 3 youngest members Hiro, Teru and Kid’z. Hiro trying to hold back his tears mid-song, Teru still playing under Sho’s shadow and Kid’z (who was still worrying about fans’acceptance) doing his best to prove his worth by elevating the song through his own style of drumming. I almost feel like Kid’z was making his drum beats “sing” with Hiro at certain parts.

* For those just joining STORYTELLER Club, you can watch The Puzzle MV only after being a member for 90 days. Be patient, OK? It’s worth waiting to see Hiro’s raw pain when he sang the line “boku dake / only me”.

6. BOOM

I love heavy sounding bass lines which this song has in abundance. TQ Nob for your awesome work! What a pity it was not made into an MV. To me, this song is a missed opportunity for MFS to show the world especially the skeptics that they really do play a different kind of music from big brother band OOR. Where the big bro is more Good Charlotte & Yellowcard, this one has Limp Bizkit running through its veins. Different leagues. Fred Durst would be proud 😉

7. 悪戯フィクション [Itazura FICTION]

It’s dark and lyrically intense! I wrote about what I think the lyrics are about here, here and here. Also, why I think it inspired the lyrics to LET IT DIE here. Then how to not fall head over heel over that drumming ❤️? Turned out it was the most challenging arrangement to Kid’z from that album and the one he worked the hardest on to get it right. Hmm …. does that mean I can now trust my ears to detect quality work? Hehe 😁. That sounds like bragging but, from the start, the drumming had been the part that drew me to this song 😊. A song meant to be performed in large halls/arenas.

8. 不可逆リプレース [Fukagyaku REPLACE] acoustic version

The reason? My mind likes to imagine Taka singing with Hiro on this version. Somehow I think the gentler music arrangement fits to bring the two brothers’ voices together onstage. Imagine them singing the lines “… I will follow you … follow you ….“ and “keep you close to me …. close to me ….” to each other. But, I want to see them both together onstage NOT because I think it would be an explosive collaboration. Instead, I want to see the “tears fest” that would happen on that stage. My mind also likes to make a bet who from each band would cry first watching them. My bet ….. from MFS, it’s a toss between Nob and Teru. Then from OOR, it’s Ryota. Am I sadistic or what 😮? Wanting a song to be performed just to see people cry 😄?

9. REVIVER

I love how somewhat 80′s rock and old school this song is. I talked about that in this post. Even the MV’s aspect ratio is old school! Teruki shines here 😊. Proudly wearing an Ozzy Osbourne T-shirt. Basically declaring where his musical influences came from. OK. I don’t need to repeat REVIVER because they actually made TWO equally excellent versions of it and now they added the orchestral version too. Aah …. MFS loves me 😍!

Of course, like the rest of you, I love ALONE, LET IT DIE, Missing You etc. Special mention for AWAKE which I call “the song Hiro has never screwed up Live”. An older song Warning always makes me happy too. Another special mention is If I Am which everyone else seems to find lame but I, on the other hand, think that it has an epic acoustic potential LOL. Did you all see how dead and quiet the crowd was when they performed this song in the ITSUWARI NEUROSE Tour Final DVD 😂? Yeah, I think the guys need to revive the song with a different arrangement.

Sorry this got too long 😮

#my first story #hiroki moriuchi #teruki nishizawa #sho tsuchiya #nobuaki katou #kid'z

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rqs902 · 5 years ago

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ah hyt’s issues with being too passive and not wanting to speak up about problems bc he’s worried about hurting other people’s feelings reminds me of what happened to jin fan on snzm this week :\ except hyt had to figure it out on his own bc no one else noticed and he didnt say anything about it to anyone. jin fan was urged to speak up but hyt had to mull it over in his head and stress over it until he could come to the decision that he needed to do something to help his team.

i respect that he came to that decision on his own and acted on it. as someone who’s relatively passive and conflict-avoidant myself, i think that takes a lot of resolve and courage.

aw im happy xiao li got to sing too bc i really like his voice. what a talented boy! i think hyt is lucky the two of them give off the kind/gentle vibes so that he can pull them together. i dont know much about him, but i wonder if gem is right that hes had bad experiences with communicating with teammates (and aligning their hearts, as he said) before that’s led him to be more scared to be honest now. the 2 kids are like optimistic but you can tell hyt is so worried with their score ouch.

wu xing’s voice is nice. im a wind player but with my limited knowledge of string instruments I feel like pengpeng’s playing is okay but not amazing. fsc’s bass is questionably out of tune?? or is it just me? something feels weird about his bass playing, it sounds kinda scratchy and sticks out to me too much, in like a weird way :\ but maybe its just because im used to hearing bass in classical music and not like this

LOL qiang ge being the buffer between jym and zk, are you sure youre gonna be okay child? the more i see qiang ge, the more smol he seems to me, like a cute child, who just happens to play the most blaring instrument LOL he seems very insecure about belonging on this show. he didnt want people to choose him unless they were absolutely sure in the first round, and then in the second round, he was so scared of ruining the next group that chose him and so grateful that they were willing to choose him and that they gave him so much encouragement to join their group. the fact that he needed that much encouragement and still felt undeserving is telling. the matching photo tshirts he custom ordered are cute! what a nice friend, to spend money on this to make everyone a little happier. i think its mature of him to encourage jym by saying he should think of the worst possible happening and try to accept it, to lessen his pressure. its still weird for me to realize people call zzn “nan ge” because he just seems so young in my mind lol but then you realize there are even younger kids on this show.

zhao ke’s rap was pretty good, i respect it. with that score i bet qiang ge’s gonna feel like it’s all his fault. i wonder if he blames himself or the instrument more for the fact that he was criticized for being too unvaried, but i feel like either of those is bad bc i feel like he should be proud of his instrument.

aw maomao’s message and ljt’s response hahahhaha

LOL ljt playing “who” and cutting it off abruptly. gao xin tai LOL

ljt’s group’s perf def felt more complete. his voice is so nice, i still love it. i will say, i remember zhao tianyu sang this song on mrzz. i wonder if ljt remembers that too.

hmm i really liked kxy’s singing voice, i thought it was really good, nicer than mz’s LOL but honestly i feel like i also understand from the teacher’s point of view, that he wasted their time and just didnt take their advice when they were trying to help him. hmm he seems likes hes very stubborn in doing what he believes, which isnt bad, he’s standing up for what he wants, but also then he immediately started crying when questioned about it. which makes me think hes not very confident in his choice and/or feels victimized/attacked for just doing what he wants. either way, kxy has shown he cries very easily lol. but i have mixed feelings about whether he’s handling criticism well. im not sure how old he is but he seems young

LOL muji and swh just being like DELETE to wjy and being like straight up “it sounds bad” HAH im glad at least having two of them on the same page can put wjy in his place more LOL

during the perf was muji holding the pick in his mouth? lol muji is such a 寶藏 with the bass guitar along with all his unique talents. this was a pretty epic perf, i thought theyd get a better score than that.

hm interesting that the uptown funk people told them tencent they needed to pay them more and tencent DIDNT, but they were still nice enough to approve their use of the song anyway bc of their “sincere” messages. wtf tencent. im pretty sure they have money to pay them more lol.

i kinda think yrz still seems a bit stiff to me onstage, like look at xiao zhi, hes literally so comfortable and free and hes so enjoying playing his bass guitar hes like having so much fun and is super into the music. at first i wasnt sure how well him and zy would mesh but wow hes really owned up to the avocado name LOL i feel like him and zy are really really caring older bros to yrz and hopefully yrz is super grateful bc he got super lucky.

LOL TYLER FREAKING OUT OVER YRZ’S SMILE

“NA GE XIAO RONG!!!!”

HAHAHHAHAHAH

i think it does say a lot that this perf got everyone like on their feet and grooving along, i see why they ranked 1st!

kinda sad wsh was like yea no ones gonna notice us and then tencent proceeds to give them 5 seconds of practice room footage and the mentors are all shocked by the lowness of their score

hm :\ i kinda wanted to hear more about how they resolved the conflict between rainbow feeling too restricted by da xi’s more methodical approach to music. i think thats an interesting discussion, because i think both sides have their merits, so what kind of blend of a compromise will they come up with? and it does say a lot about their personalities. rainbow also feels similarly hesitant to reveal his feelings because of his friendship with da xi, which reminds me of hyt yet again but then this group got 5 seconds of footage in comparison so we dont really know how any of this got resolved. also how do they deal with mty sleeping and disappearing all the time?? i do think its kind of cute how mty seems to bend down and really direct his speaking towards the audience when talking to them. i really like their performance, this music style and fun-ness!

LOL the way ruiyang and yingge look at tyler is literally with such adoration wtf hahahahahaa and tyler buying them the bunny hats wtf this is so cute. feels very parental LOL theyre so supportive of him and helping him shine and tyler’s just like a child bringing them happiness LOL i think its notable that yingge says he feels like theyre all using their strengths in this perf bc thats #goals

why do i feel like tyler and ruiyang ave absorbed yingge’s fashion LOL

THIS AESTHETIC

i think u can tell like they (yingge?) put a lot of effort into communicating with the production team about their stage design. its not just about the music for them. lol this perf is shot like a music videoooo

ok im hesitant to comment on tyler’s trumpet playing bc it’s not very clean sounding to me, but you can tell hes putting a lot of effort into the small details still. and if hes been practicing a ton, i know it can be painful to try to play into that kind of mouthpiece cleanly with tired lips. he has yet to amaze me but it seems like he’s working hard so i respect that. hes also very lucky to be in a group with two supportive geges. like ps said, i think it is notable that ruiyang is doing so well in a genre of music he wasnt previously into. and yingge’s personality must be some kind of strong to really influence the other 2 so much

aw tyler crying out of happiness and ruiyang just bursting out laughing and pats tyler’s head with a “早講嗎!" bc he was worried about tyler being sad hahahahaha he just sounded so taiwanese there it made me happy. aw tyler must be really well loved by all the geges who crowd him with hugs when they see him crying like xiao zhi ahahah

oof samhar being brought to tears when gem notes how hard he worked on the composition. (oo xiao zhi helped him! - that’s it, im curious how old he is, so i went to his weibo and he’s just a little older than me! born in 95. but then i saw he and zy have made some conflict-confronting posts today and im like .-. what happened? not sure whats up, but it seems like theyre generally okay, fans seem mad tho)

actually tbh totally makes sense to me why xiao zhi, rainbow, and yingge’s groups are the top 3 in that order, like their stages were really good and memorable.

ouch qiang ge feeling all the guilt and like he doesn’t have the skills to do better :( why is the show ok with jym acting this way? why is there a lack of communication that leads him to not understand what’s going on with the votes? they chase after him, he’s moping, they just film him and are barely encouraging enough to get him to come back at the very last minute. im sure he’s very frustrated but its also unprofessional and disrespectful of him to leave like that. how does that make his group mates feel that hes just gone? this is all very questionable to me.

wait i havent been keeping up with their current rankings but wtf the kids who are like super worried are like ranked super high??? like im assuming they’ll be fine?? like jym and hyt’s group members are all relatively high... (I realize now why hyt got so much screentime LOL hes #1....) im surprised tyler is so low and i wonder if he’ll get more popular after this ep lol

anyyywayyy so it looks like they’re having a party and elims next week so im sure thatll be an emotional roller coaster... and snzm is having elims next week too so thats just great... double the disaster

#rants

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terrifyingrenegadelibrary · 8 years ago

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New Story

Hi! So, the main reason for the existence of this blog is so I have somewhere to post a story I’ve been working on for a couple years now.

That story is called This Show Sponsored by Death! (exclamation point mandatory), and it’s about a girl named Morgan.

Because I’m that sort of person, this story has only ever been written in script format, so that’s probably a fair thing to be aware of before going in.

The other primary thing to be aware of is that, while hopefully reasonably humorous, this story has the trigger warnings you might expect from a story with “death” as one of the words in its title. That being...you know. Death, death-adjacent, violence, etc. No sex though.

Anyway, without further ado, the first chapter of This Show Sponsored by Death! (exclamation point included here both because it’s mandatory and because I’m excited)

Draw Aside the Veil

-a band’s playing-

-bass thumping-

-electric guitars strumming-

-singers singing-

-and flames arcing through the air around them-

Morgan (off): There but for pretty much everything go we.

-the band is only a scene on a phone screen, being watched by four people. The one who just spoke, a tall, pale girl with dark curly hair, is Morgan. Next to her is a much shorter, dark-skinned girl with short curls-

Quinn: And a brutal strike by Morgan to Allen’s self-esteem. But wait, there’s more…

-the two turn to Allen, a tall, dark-skinned boy with close-cropped hair. He sighs-

Allen: We’re never going to be as big as the Firestarters if that’s your attitude. Where’s your team spirit?

Quinn: Here it comes…

Morgan: I think my team spirit gave up the ghost when we spent an entire practice session just watching other people perform.

Quinn: And there it is. Pack it in, everyone, Allen’s dead. This is a murder scene, nothing to see here, just move along…

Allen: Quinn…

Quinn: Time of death, 3:41 PM, September 16, 2089…

Allen: Come on.

Quinn: Cause of death, Morgan Stein.

Allen: Quinn, this isn’t funny.

Morgan: …It’s a little funny.

-she and Quinn high-five-

Allen: Jacob, back me up!

-the three turn to Jacob, a heavyset, pale, and very, very pretty boy. Who is also fast asleep-

Allen: …Maybe you’re right.

Quinn: Yeah, what’s a band without its triangle guy?

Allen: Morgan’s the one who said he should play the triangle.

Morgan: You wanted him in the band. Not my fault you made it my job to find him an instrument he’d play.

Allen: But the triangle?

Morgan: What can I say? I’m a problem-solver.

-Allen laughs, despite himself-

Allen: Okay, okay, go away. Shoo. You’re obviously not taking this seriously, so practice over.

Quinn: I’m beginning to pick up a sense that we’re not wanted, Morgan.

Morgan: Such a shame. See you at school, Allen. Bring Jacob if he ever wakes up.

Quinn: Boom. Roasted. Back me up, Morgan.

-Morgan snaps her fingers, and a small firework explodes-

Quinn: And we’re out.

-and off they go with Morgan’s drums, laughing-

-cut to the two walking-

Morgan: Do you think Allen is ever going to realize that the only thing we’ll ever have in common with the Firestarters is an attractive lead singer?

-Quinn turns a vague red. Morgan doesn’t appear to notice-

Quinn: Oh, he’s pretty hopeless.

Morgan: Poor guy.

-she fiddles with a fireball, making it detonate playfully-

Quinn: It doesn’t bother you at all that you don’t know why you can do that?

Morgan: It doesn’t bother me that we don’t know why electrons do the thing, right?

Quinn: …Do the thing?

Morgan: Magic’s like that, I think. It just sort of is. I turned 13, I relit the candles on my birthday cake because I was mad at Holly for blowing them out first, and now I can do magic. That’s how it is.

Quinn: I think people do know how electrons work…

Morgan: ….Quarks?

Quinn: …I wouldn’t know.

Morgan: I rest my case.

-Quinn sweatdrops-

Quinn: As long as you’re happy.

-Morgan makes the fireball detonate-

Morgan: Everyone needs a little mystery in life.

-Quinn smiles as the two reach a house-

Morgan: I’ll see you tomorrow?

Quinn: Yeah.

-she pauses-

Quinn: I—

Morgan: Huh?

Quinn: Nothing. I’ll see you.

-Quinn smiles again and walks off as Morgan goes home. Morgan seems to see something in the bushes, but she shrugs and goes inside anyway. Inside, there’s a girl who looks almost exactly like Morgan, but with a different haircut and dressed in purple instead of black, sitting on a couch using a tablet to do something-

Holly: Practice go well?

Morgan: Allen mostly just wanted to show us inspirational videos of better musicians.

Holly: Somehow I had a feeling.

Morgan: Hence why you didn’t show up?

Holly: Some of us have homework on Sundays, Morgan.

Morgan: Well, uh…you’re a nerd.

Holly: You’re not wrong.

Morgan: I’m going to get some fresh air, nerd.

Holly: You haven’t gotten enough?

Morgan: Some of us like more than an hour or two a day of it, Holly.

Holly: I’ve never been partial.

Morgan: And that’s because you’re a nerd. Bye, nerd!

Holly: Mmm-hmm.

-Morgan deposits her drum, and goes back outside-

-cut to her in a graveyard, where she’s standing in front of an angel statue-

Morgan: Dear Creepy Angel Statue in the Cemetery…

Today was a pretty good day. Practice was…uh, impractical, but I think Allen’s maybe starting to get that we’re never going to be that good. Hopefully the next step is where he stops taking Gazillion Degrees so seriously and just lets us have fun?

The world can only hope.

-Morgan giggles, and then pauses as she seems to see something move-

Morgan: Did you…

-she sighs-

Morgan: Probably nothing.

-she turns to the statue-

Morgan: You think spending time talking to statues is making me see things?

-cut back to Morgan at home, Holly still on the couch.-

Morgan: You’re right where I left you.

Holly: A little consistency in life is important.

Morgan: Whatever you say.

-she goes further into the house, and then sticks her head back out-

Morgan: Nerd!

Holly: Good night, Morgan.

-Morgan ruffles Holly’s hair before retreating-

-In Morgan’s room, she looks out of the window, frowning as she examines the darkening street-

Morgan: …Just a shadow.

-and she goes online-

-until she sees it again. There’s a dark shape in the bushes outside Quinn’s house-

Morgan: …Okay then.

-cut to her leaving the house-

Holly: Are you going somewhere?

Morgan: Yep.

Holly: Again?

Morgan: (sharply) Yep!

-and she goes out the door, sprinting towards the shape in the bushes as flames flicker from her hands-

Morgan: Hey! Get away from my friend’s house!

-the shape moves to see Morgan, and then flickers away, taking off down the street-

Morgan: …Okay, I know I said get away, but actually stay right there so I can kick your ass!

-and she’s off after it-

-it flees through the town, Morgan pursuing it and passing a number of interested-looking people along the way. Despite the figure’s speed, Morgan manages to keep up with it, pulling some reasonably impressive parkour moves-

-until she loses it at the graveyard-

Morgan: What, you think this creeps me out? I practically live here, asshole.

-fire still sparking from her hands, she makes her way into the graveyard-

-she slowly moves by tombstones-

-and suddenly the figure is in her face. It’s what appears to be a black cloak, but there’s nothing underneath it but an inky darkness-

Morgan: Ah!

-She jumps back. The cloak regards her in almost a quizzical way, and she quickly recovers her composure-

Morgan: What the hell are you doing, stalking my friend?

-no response. Morgan holds up a crackling fireball-

Morgan: Well?

-the cloak lets out a hissing noise and pulls back. In a shower of black sparks, a wickedly sharp knife appears in its hand, and it lunges at Morgan, who jumps out of the way-

Morgan: Got it. No clue what you are, but I’m going to make you burn.

-Morgan sends a fireball flying at the cloak, which dodges easily-

Morgan: Okay, you’re fast. I can deal with that.

-she launches more fireballs, but the cloak zips around them and strikes with the knife. This time, it manages to cut Morgan’s shoulder-

Morgan: Aaah!

-she clutches her shoulder, but oddly, while it’s clearly causing pain, there doesn’t seem to be any damage-

Morgan: Was that…was that magic?

-the cloak gives no answer, instead continuing to slash at her, but this time she’s more careful to keep out of the way-

-at least until it tackles her to the ground-

Morgan: Ack!

-she grabs up a handful of dirt from the ground, and jams it into the cloak, but there’s no reaction. The cloak summons another knife and brings it down, but Morgan catches it by the handle-

-the knife starts to glow black, and Morgan winces in pain-

Morgan: Come on…what kind of magic even is this?

-little flickers build up around her hands-

-the cloak, meanwhile, summons a second knife and brings it down, Morgan only just moving her head out of the way. More knives appear, spreading out to different angles-

Morgan: No…

-and then something clicks-

Morgan: No!

-a spiral of fireworks burst from Morgan’s palm, throwing the cloak away. She leaps to her feet, flames whirling around her-

Morgan: I don’t have the slightest clue what’s going on here, fine! But let me tell you something, tall, dark, and silent! Nobody creeps on my friend and gets away with it!

-the cloak hisses, dozens of knives appearing, and lunges at Morgan-

-and a column of fire bursts from her palms, swirling around the cloak and knives-

-Morgan stares at the fire, eventually clenching her fists to cut it off-

-she’s left in an empty graveyard, staring at where a cloak used to be-

Morgan: …What just happened?

-suddenly, a pulse of black energy lights up behind her neck. She screams-

-pan around to the cut on her shoulder, which is glowing with black energy and appears to have become necrotic very rapidly. Morgan topples to the ground as her vision starts to fade-

Morgan: This…sucks…

-cut to a boy and girl standing over her-

Boy: She really killed it in one hit? That’s fairly impressive.

Girl: Is that really the immediate concern?

Boy: Whatever.

-The boy reaches down and says something that Morgan can’t make out, and suddenly the pulse goes away-

Boy: See? I saved her life. Are you happy now?

Girl: You don’t think that was sort of the least we could have done for her?

Boy: Ugh. Tell me if she lives or dies.

Girl: Yeah…

-he wanders off as Morgan blacks out-

-Morgan awakens, still in the graveyard, a little while later. She sees someone leaving, but can’t make out who-

-she looks around, seeing no evidence of the fight from earlier-

Morgan: …Did I really just fall asleep in the graveyard? And it was such a weird dream, too…

-she makes her way back home, ignoring the long, thin scar now present on her shoulder-

-when she gets there, she’s greeted by Holly-

Holly: Where were you?

Morgan: Uh.

Holly: I called your phone, and you didn’t answer. Was something wrong?

Morgan: Oh, no. I…uh…I fell asleep in the graveyard.

Holly: What?

Morgan: I’m as surprised as you.

Holly: I don’t think that’s possible.

Morgan: Well, I thought I saw someone outside Quinn’s house, so I chased them away, and somehow I ended up at the graveyard again--

Holly: As per usual—

Morgan: And then I was really tired so I guess I took a nap. Had the weirdest dream.

Holly: Your dreams aren’t really my priority here.

Morgan: Anyway, I’m home now.

Holly: …You should go to bed.

Morgan: Probably.

-Morgan walks past Holly-

Holly: Hey, Morgan?

Morgan: Huh?

Holly: Where’d you get that scar?

Morgan: Scar?

Holly: On your shoulder. Look.

-Morgan looks. Where she was sliced by the Reaper, there is a thin line that looks marked with a small burn-

Morgan: …Huh. Looks like a glue gun accident to me.

Holly: Really?

-she sighs-

Holly: Honestly, what you’d do without me…

-another timeskip. Morgan is in school, looking largely uninterested as she stares uncomfortably out the window. Quinn is more attentive. Allen is deeply focused on something else. Jacob is asleep-

-the day ends, and everyone mills out of the classroom, Quinn and Morgan going together-

Quinn: I think that’s probably an all-time low for attention.

Morgan: Uh…yeah.

Quinn: Including right now. Something on your mind?

Morgan: …Nah. Start-of-year doldrums.

Quinn: As opposed to your usual end-of-year apathy, and the middle-of-the-year exhaustion, I guess?

Morgan: Uh, right!

Quinn: Well, consistency’s important.

Morgan: You sound like my sister.

Quinn: Yikes. Walk you home?

Morgan: You say this like we don’t live next to each other.

-even so, she follows along-

-cut to the house. Morgan and Quinn are walking along, Morgan playing with a fireball again-

Quinn: So, uh, Morgan.

Morgan: Yeah?

Quinn: We’ve been friends for a while, yeah?

Morgan: Sure. What’s going on?

Quinn: Well, I was thinking...

Morgan: I’m not gonna kill Jacob for you, no matter how much you beg.

Quinn: No, Morgan, that’s not it. I—

Morgan: Quinn, have you been a ghost the whole time? Or wait. Are you a magician? I could use another magician friend. There’s like one other person in town, and he’s weird.

Quinn: Morgan! This is important!

Morgan: -laughing- Sorry, sorry. I’ll be serious. –swipes hand across face- See? Serious Morgan. What’s on your mind?

Quinn: Morgan, I think I-

-Morgan’s phone rings-

Morgan: Um, sorry, is it okay if I get this?

Quinn: Uh, yeah, fine.

-Morgan checks her phone-

Quinn: Sooooo? What is it?

Morgan: …Holly got hit by a car.

SCENE FADE

-Quinn and Morgan are in the hospital. They’re looking at Holly, who’s unconscious in a hospital bed-

Quinn: Is…is she going to be okay?

Morgan: (quietly) The doctors don’t think so.

Quinn: Morgan…I’m sorry.

-she puts a hand on Morgan’s shoulder. Morgan subtly shrugs it off-

Morgan: …I need some fresh air.

Quinn: Oh, I’ll come—

Morgan: Empty air. Thanks.

-She’s gone before Quinn can protest. She walks through the town, passing by people. A number of people recur periodically-

-suddenly, a boy appears out of nowhere. He’s about Morgan’s height, with light skin, soft features, and rather long hair-

Boy: Excuse me, I—

-she brushes past him-

-the camera pans to her perspective, showing the angel statue, and she begins to speak-

Morgan: So look. I don’t know who to talk to right now, but you and I? We get along. I don’t know if you’re supposed to be a real angel, but just in case anyone’s listening, maybe pay me back for the years of conversation?

-she stares hard at the statue, looking it in the eyes-

Morgan: Please, just…give me my sister back.

-Silence-

???: And if I do? What do I get in return?

-Morgan looks around-

Morgan: Who said that? This isn’t funny.

???: It is not funny at all. I can offer you your sister back, in exchange for your service.

Morgan: -pops a fireball- If you’re some ventriloquist with a sick sense of humor, I’m gonna roast you. But if you can really save Holly…you’ve got whatever you want.

???: Then the Contract is made.

Morgan: What?

???: Under normal circumstances, I might demand a task of you as a token of your service, but you have already assisted me once.

Morgan: I have?

???: The creature from earlier. It was a threat to the town, and I had been tracking it for some time, but you destroyed it for me. So thank you.

Morgan: Wait, what was it?

???: It was a Spirit of Death, a Reaper. A creature made of pure magic given physical form. Nominally a servant, but as demonstrated here…occasionally dangerous.

Morgan: Wait, but—I killed it. How did I do that? Since when can magic be a weapon?

???: Magic has always been a weapon. It is in your genes. You simply needed the proper impetus to tap into it. Now, I believe I owe you a favor.

-Morgan’s phone buzzes-

Phone: Holly’s up and fine

Morgan: Wait, what?

Phone: Total miracle. Someone’s looking out for us.

-Morgan stares at her phone, and then looks up at the statue-

Morgan: …Did you do this?

???: I certainly did.

Morgan: …

-she drops to her knees-

Morgan: Thank you.

???: Think nothing of it. Welcome to my service.

Morgan: Who are you?

???: I am Zaresi. Goddess of Death.

-Morgan blinks-

Zaresi: I will be in touch.

-the presence fades from the area. Morgan slowly rises to her feet-

???: Uh, welcome to the team.

-Morgan leaps to her feet, reaching for magic-

-energy pulses from her hands, but unlike before, it’s black, and instead of fireworks, it twists into the shape of a scythe-

-or begins to, but is destroyed by a sphere of black light. Standing behind the sphere is a girl about Morgan’s age, with brown skin, straight black hair, and at the moment, a look of shock-

Girl: Dios mio, we’re on the—

-she sees Morgan’s face, and pauses. She coughs. Morgan stares at her for a long time as well, before eventually speaking-

Morgan: We’re on the?

Girl: …Uh. We’re on the same side, is what I was going to say. I’m—

Morgan: Wait, so what happened to my magic?

Girl: Well, you work for a goddess of Death now, so you use Death magic, not Fire magic. Anyway, I’m—

Morgan: Wait, what?

Girl: Uh, look, this isn’t the best time for me to be explaining this. I’m—

Morgan: So what just happened?

-the girl sighs-

Girl: Si pararia de hablar por un segundo…long story short, the Reaper used to work for us, but it went nuts, so when you killed it, we wanted to hire you.

Morgan: …Right. I’m going to write this off as a hallucination and go see my sister.

-she walks off-

Girl: Hey, w-wait!

Morgan: What?

Girl: I’m Laura! It’s nice to meet you!

-she gives a weak grin-

Morgan: …Yeah. Bye.

-as Morgan leaves the graveyard, she nearly runs into a boy about her height, with long hair and soft features. As Morgan attempts to step past him, he coughs politely-

Boy: Ah, hello there. Again.

Morgan: Hi. Look, I’m trying to get home, so I’m not really in the mood to talk with people. Can you—

Boy: So, I heard you swore in with Zaresi. Shame. I heard the news, and I was hoping this might be an opportunity to make an overture, but I guess it’s too late now.

Morgan: …Who are you?

Boy: An enemy, at least for the time being. See you around!

-he strolls off lazily. Morgan stares after him uncomfortably-

Morgan: …Whatever. Too many weird things for one day.

-and she continues walking-

-Morgan arrives home, to see Holly, who is standing up, and immediately runs to hug her-

Holly: Hello to you too, Morgan.

Morgan: You’re… okay!

Holly: I certainly am. I can’t say I understand how, though.

Morgan: Yeah, been hearing that a lot lately…

Holly: Huh?

Morgan: Nothing.

Holly: Well, it’s good to be up and about again.

Morgan: Hey, Holly?

Holly: What’s up?

Morgan: You know I love you, right?

Holly: Of course I know that. You’re my sister.

Morgan: Just thought you should know. Get some sleep, okay?

Holly: Don’t act like you’re older than I am.

Morgan: Last time I checked, I was.

Holly: By eight minutes!

Morgan: Just go to bed. Love you, nerd.

Holly: Good night, Morgan.

-cut to class the next day-

Quinn: --She just woke up! It was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.

Morgan: It was lucky. I don’t know what I would’ve done otherwise.

-Quinn hugs her-

Quinn: She in school today? We should go bug her.

Morgan: She’s still at home, despite her best efforts. I thought it was better if she stayed home to rest up, and my parents agreed.

Quinn: Can’t hurt.

Morgan: Unless you’re a perfectionist like Holly, of course.

Quinn: Still can’t hurt to live life like the rest of us people who are occasionally sick.

Morgan: Or just playing hooky.

Quinn: Or just playing hooky.

-she laughs-

Quinn: So, Morgan, do you have some time? I was kind of hoping to talk to y—

-the window shatters, and a massive tendril of darkness rushes in, knocking Quinn into a wall. She doesn’t get back up. Morgan steps in front of her, hands flickering. The tendril expands outwards, surrounding Morgan in darkness-

Morgan: What.

-the cloud continues swirling around her, before looming in on Quinn-

Morgan: Hey, don’t touch her!

-the flickers grow stronger-

-the cloud doesn’t pay any attention, and tendrils begin growing out of it, wrapping around Quinn-

Morgan: I said…

-the flickers form a cohesive shape-

Morgan: Don’t touch her!

-and she lashes out, the flickers solidifying into the shape of a wickedly curved scythe. It slashes through the tendrils, which withdraw. Morgan stares at the scythe-

Morgan: What…

-and then her face hardens, as the tendrils start regrowing, and she slashes at them again-

Morgan: Hey! Maybe I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m pretty sure that attacking my friends isn’t part of the water cycle!

???: I’ll give it a 5 out of 10. That’s not a cloud.

-a boy slips around the fog, strolling over to Morgan. He’s white, with bright green eyes and buzzed brown hair, and while he’s shorter than Morgan he’s still of reasonably average height-

Morgan: I don’t know who you are, but I think I hate you.

Boy: Evan. Zaresi’s right-hand magician. Pleasure. You’re the new girl, right? Laura mentioned you. I’m on your side.

Morgan: That’s great for you. Mind helping out?

Evan: What, with this?

Morgan: Yeah. It’s another Reaper, right?

Evan: Obviously not. Reapers are Spirits. This is just a Fae; it causes trouble from time to time. You seem to have things well in hand.

Morgan: I do?

Evan: Of course not. You’re hopeless. Now distract it while I do something that works.

Morgan: Aren’t you a ray of sunshine?

-nonetheless, she moves to the side as much as she can while still slashing away-

Morgan: Uh…distraction!

-Evan takes her spot, removing a small mat from his backpack and unrolling it. It’s covered with runes and a pentagram-

Evan: Not the most creative, but I suppose it’ll do.

-he steps onto the pentagram-

Evan: Fae, understand that your actions here today are in violation of the Divine Convocation. While it is indeed perfectly plausible that you are not necessarily self-aware in a way humans would understand, ignorance of the law is no excuse. Larus.

-the runes glow as Evan steps onto the carpet. A tendril of shadow reaches for him, but is burnt away by a sudden burst of black light-

Evan: Now for some real magic. Argentatus.

-a beam of darkness blasts out from the runes, piercing through the cloud of shadow. It recoils, and retreats back out of the window, coiling away into the sky and dissipating-

Morgan: …Handy. Don’t suppose I could get my hands on one?

Evan: If you’re nice, I’ll teach you how.

Morgan: So, situation dealt with, right?

Evan: It’s not dead, so it could definitely be more dealt with. But I guess that’s not bad for your first fight.

Morgan: Second fight.

Evan: Definitely bad then.

Morgan: Great. So, I’m going to go out on a limb and assume—or, perhaps, pray—that we have some masquerade to keep up, and I can pretend I don’t know you when we’re not working together to kill angry thunderclouds.

Evan: Nah, that won’t be necessary.

Morgan: Damn it.

Evan: Watch and learn.

-he saunters over to Quinn, who is still out cold, and pulls a pouch from his backpack, taking a pinch of clay out of it and making a small circle on her forehead-

Morgan: Hey, what are you doing?

Evan: Nothing dangerous. Buteo.

-the clay fizzes and vanishes, and Quinn’s eyes snap open-

Quinn: What happened? Who are you?

Evan: There was a little storm, and a tree branch went through a window and conked you on the head. Don’t worry, I saved you.

Quinn: …That’s nice?

Evan: Yes, yes it was. Anyway, I’m borrowing Morgan.

Morgan: You are?

Evan: Yes. Aren’t you excited?

-Morgan and Evan are now outside-

Morgan: What did you do to her?

Evan: Memory spell. Pretty simple, really. We use them all the time when people see things they shouldn’t.

Morgan: …That can’t be ethical.

Evan: Oh, don’t worry. You get good at making things up after your first few days on the job.

-Evan shrugs and continues walking. Morgan stares after him for a moment, her face hardening, but she follows-

Morgan: What about the rest of the school? Didn’t they see the Fae too?

Evan: Of course not. Only Magicians see magic. And only Magicians who are contracted to a proper god can see everything.

Morgan: But…when I cast for the band, everyone sees the fire.

Evan: Sure, because that’s a side effect. But only you can see the magic keeping it all in shape. The only people we need to wipe are the ones who were actually in the middle of the whole mess, like your friend back there. Everyone else, they’ll just assume there really was a little freak storm.

-there’s a pause, and Evan snickers-

Evan: Did you really think the gods could keep themselves secret if John Q. Public could see them walking down the street?

Morgan: This is the third time in the past two days someone’s mentioned gods. What are you talking about?

Evan: …Didn’t Laura explain anything to you?

Morgan: I think she might have tried to.

-Evan gives a sigh of disgust-

Evan: Look, a thousand years ago or so magic was a big deal, and it was apportioned out by real gods, not whatever crappy two-bit Spirit was managing you.

Morgan: Hey!

Evan: But then there were a ton of wars over territory and magic and whatnot, they held the Divine Convocation, the gods all agreed to go into hiding, and magic turned into a cheap joke. Nobody knows how it works, and everyone thinks all it’s good for is bands.

Morgan: The voice in the graveyard, uh, the goddess of Death…Zaresi?

Evan: That’s the one.

Morgan: She said magic was always meant as a weapon, and that I knew how to use it like that. And she was right.

Evan: Well, of course.

Morgan: And my magic is different now.

Evan: Obviously.

-Morgan glares-

Morgan: So people do know how magic works?

Evan: You thought it was all a big mystery? Nah. A lot of work goes into keeping that true, but the people who matter? They know what’s up.

Morgan: I don’t know if I agree with your assessment of who matters or not.

Evan: Fortunately, I don’t care what you think.

Morgan: I don’t like you.

Evan: See previous comment.

-Morgan sighs-

Morgan: Okay, but if the gods all hid, what’s going on now?

Evan: Well, nothing stays hidden forever, obviously. After a while, gods started resurging, just a whole lot more secretively. Now we’re here, and I’m standing in front of you explaining what a blinkered moron you and everyone else in the world is. Any more questions?

Morgan: …Can I talk to Laura instead?

Evan: Nah, she takes online classes. Point is, Zaresi has the two of us and a few odd Spirits, and that’s just one god. Maybe there aren't so many Magicians in this town, but believe me, there’s plenty of mind-wiping to go around. The Fae could have killed half the people in the school, and after five minutes, the survivors would be going along with their day.

Morgan: And you’ve done this before?

Evan: Pretty frequently.

Morgan: To me? Or my sister?

Evan: -shrugs- Probably. You people all just blur together after a while, honestly.

Morgan: …You’re sure I can’t talk to Laura? I think I liked her better.

Evan: Funny, she said the same thing. But no, you’re stuck with me. Exciting, isn’t it?

Morgan: In a Russian Roulette-y sort of way, sure.

Evan: I’ll take it.

-he starts to walk off-

Morgan: Evan!

Evan: Morgan.

Morgan: You can wipe minds, right? Can’t you just…wipe mine? Make me forget I saw this, and let me go back to a normal life where magic’s just a cool thing some people can do and nobody really cares about it past the icebreakers?

Evan: I could.

Morgan: Great.

Evan: Seems a bit cowardly, though. You’ve already had two encounters with the magical side of the world, the Reaper in the graveyard and the Fae here.

Morgan: So what’s a Fae?

-Evan waves a hand dismissively-

Evan: I’ll explain it later. There’s all sorts of supernatural mischief going on, even in a small town like this one. It’s our job to keep people safe from it.

Morgan: I can’t picture you being into that line of work.

Evan: I’m insulted.

Morgan: Look. I only fought the Reaper to keep my friend safe, and I only agreed to work for Zaresi to save my sister. Zaresi did something for me, I did something for her, so why can’t I just be done?

Evan: The agreement you made was your service for your sister’s life. By backing out now, you’d be reneging on your Contract.

Morgan: What?

Evan: If you aren’t willing to hold up your end of the deal…

Morgan: You wouldn’t.

Evan: Of course I wouldn’t. Just making a point. You’re kind of a limited resource, and we’re fairly invested in you sticking around.

-Morgan glares. A spark plays around her hand-

Evan: So, Morgan. Are you in, or are you out?

-he walks off without a backwards glance-

-Morgan stares after him for a while, until her gaze hardens, and she follows-

#This Show Sponsored by Death!#writing

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eurolinguiste · 8 years ago

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The following post is a guest post from fellow language learner and musician Fiel Sahir. He came to me with this excellent idea on how to apply music study techniques to language learning and I just love what he came up with.

So take it away, Fiel!

This is it.

Lots of crazy things going on in the world, so it’s time to bring in some positive energy. Let’s make 2017 something worth looking back on.

Losing weight is good, hiking up Everest is always prospect, as is finally getting to those cooking classes. There are always more ideas floating around than we realistically have time for. It’s hard to know what to choose.

Already, it’s February. There’s a pretty good chance that so far, you’re not quite where you want to be with your goals for the new year. Kinda frustrating, isn’t it?

Maybe trying to tackle Mandarin from scratch was too difficult, and now it’s crunch time at work. All those characters! UGH! If only the boss was more lenient so that you’d have a bit more free time. Or maybe you were still just wishing you had a better plan or strategy.

As humans we often tend to think too big. We love to dream about end results as if they were as easy as picking an apple off a tree. It’s easy to forget that there’s work that needs to go on behind the scenes to make those end results a reality.

I’m not saying goals and resolutions are bad. Not at all. It’s a sign that you are a responsible individual and that you want to take charge of your life! The world needs people like you.

The problem is that these goals are often too big.

As the days roll by, life happens. You’ve find your progress up that mountain has halted and you’re frustrated about why you aren’t at the peak yet. You start to wonder if you’ll ever arrive.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was an easy way to learn languages?

What makes ordinary people do great things is not because they themselves were great. Rather, it’s all about how normal people tackle great adversity.

If you’re short on time, and want to get to the specifics there’s a detailed video explaining how things work in this post.

What in the world is chunking?

I’ll let you in on a secret: Just doing something repetitively won’t solve your problems.

Instead, you need to be more mindful of how you spend your study time and develop a series of tactics that work for you. Chunking is a technique that musicians use and I’ve also found it useful in language learning and it may be the right choice for you.

For those of you unfamiliar with chunking, it is the practice of breaking things down into bitesize pieces. Whether you like it or not, your brain can only process a limited amount of information. You cannot absorb everything at once. But if you give it breathing room, the brain can absorb more effectively.

Let’s say you want to go to the US for college. It’s tempting to throw up your hands in desperation exclaiming, “OH MY GOD. I HAVE TO LEARN ENGLISH!!” While that may be your current mountain, take a breath. Do what Benny Lewis the Irish Polyglot does instead:

“Today I need to learn how to introduce myself. Tomorrow I’d like to order a coffee. Hmm… maybe I’d like to talk with a waitress at a café today.”

See how much less pressure that carries? You can even go further still!

You might find something similar to the following dialogue in your course book: Jack: Hey! My name’s Jack. Where are you from? Ann: Oh, hi! I’m Ann. Nice to meet you! I’m from Seattle. Jack: Nice… I’m from Nebraska. It’s a pretty cold place. I hear Seattle gets TONS of rain!

Let’s say this is your first ever English dialogue. What the heck is Nebraska? After looking it up, you breathe a sigh of relief. It’s just a place name.

You naturally read it over and over again from beginning to end and soon find the rhythm in your voice. After having done that multiple times, you realize it’s not sinking in as well as you hoped. You look at it and shake your head thinking, “How can I learn this in the most efficient way possible?”

Spending a lot of time on something doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get anything done…. Click To Tweet

Simple Repetition isn’t the Answer

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Unknown but falsely attributed to Einstein

I recently sat down with a polyglot friend over Skype who wanted some guitar advice before he recorded a video for YouTube.

One of his enduring questions was, “Do you ever get stuck in a song and then have to play from the beginning all over again? I never seem able to just pick up where I messed up!“

I then asked him how he was practicing, and therein lay the answer.

For anyone who’s studied music (particularly classical), this is a problematic reality. Many people look at sheet music and “practice” by playing from beginning to end.

While a Freshman at the New England Conservatory, that was my routine. I thought, as long as I spent two hours on this piece everyday, it would get better. Two hours of putting something on repeat and stopping to fix mistakes only once as you plow through doesn’t do much. Why? Because you’ll only make them again. You’re not giving your brain enough time to process and reprogram what you’ve learned.

Just as you can learn to play the right notes, you can also program yourself to play mistakes. And…

Mistakes don’t fix themselves. If they do, it’s never at the speed you need or want. This problem plagues everyone from the amateur to the seasoned professional. Music is enjoyable and it’s easy to get lost in it.

“Playing is simply intoxicating!” – Adam Holzman, Classical Guitarist and Pedagogue

One of the problems many musicians face is relying too much on muscle memory. On the other hand, language learners focus too much on the script in front of them. After spending a good amount of time with the music or text you begin to feel pretty great.

The reason is, no one is there to judge but ourselves.

Then comes the moment when you have to practice in front of our language partner or tutor. Half a sentence leaves our lips, and then our nerves kick in and you forget the rest. This happens multiple times within one session. It’s pretty embarrassing!

Everyone has problems and challenges. Nothing new. How you address them, especially through chunking will change everything.

Building better “practice” habits.

“Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.” – Doug Yeo former BSO Bass Trombonist

Being a Classical Guitarist by trade, these are techniques I’ve learned over the years that push me in the right direction. I’m in the business of having to learn music for concerts and competitions. Without these ideas, I’d end up just playing my pieces over and over again.

What I’m about to describe is invaluable information. It’s the behind-the-scenes work of professional musicians and actors. It’s how they perfect their craft. I’m sure Shannon can attest to having used these techniques herself.

1. Take it slow, phrase by phrase.

Ignore the temptation is to take it in all at once. Don’t forget the brain can only process a certain amount of information.

As you look at a dialogue, feel the words in your mouth, and the weird shapes and sounds of this new language. Give your body time to adjust. It’s like stretching into a new yoga pose.

Maybe your accent is really bothering you and you’re not sure how to fix it. There is hope!

I highly recommend Idahosa Ness’ MimicMethod or Gabriel Wyner’s Pronunciation-Trainers. What makes them work is the musical philosophy behind their methods.

“If you can’t hear it you can’t imitate (pronounce) it.”

2. Prioritize.

Scratch out words you do know and circle ones you don’t.

Take charge by deciding what is priority and work with that. Knowing how to say “Nice to meet you” is much more important than knowing what Nebraska is.

Sorry Nebraskans…

3. Drill it again and again.

Although it may sound like it, I’m not saying you shouldn’t do repetitions.

What makes musicians learn music quickly is by changing how you repeat! Artists make it fun and useful. Keeping it varied also helps avoid burn-out.

Try the following options:

Read a phrase syllable by syllable.

Again, but this time In different rhythms or speeds.

Use what opera singers and actors call “back-chaining.” Back-chaining is the practice of going backwards and building up a word one syllable at a time. (More on this in the video.)

4. Record yourself at normal speed to listen to and identify problems.

After practicing something for awhile it’s easy to feel proud of yourself. Sometimes you might even feel as though you can take on the world.

The fix for that is recording yourself. Why?

Once you hit the record button, something clicks. You’ll be making mistakes you’ve never made before and it’ll show you what to improve. Being under stress no matter how small, produces changes in performance.

Speaking of which, Lindsay Does Languages is doing what’s called the Instagram Language Challenge (#IGLC). I can tell you from personal experience that it’s nerve wracking. So why do I still do it? Because afterwards, I can evaluate my mistakes and fix them! The other participants are also quite helpful in correcting any mistakes. And best of all, it’s FREE.

5. Practice again with these new ideas

Review the various points as well as the video. As you wrestle with the ideas I’ve shared with you, adjust them to how you learn best. Our goal is to turn you into a highly effective independent learner.

6. Go public!

Assuming you haven’t already done this step, going public sets you up for accountability. When people are watching what you’re doing, you’re less likely to slack off.

One last idea. Never be afraid to keep asking for a second opinion. When you let others check your progress, you’ll find that their insight is priceless.

Now, enough theory. Go practice!

There’s a lot of information here in this post, so feel free to come back to it whenever you’re feeling stuck.

For now, get out there and apply what you’ve learnt today. Whether it be language learning, cooking, music practice, it’s time to do things better.

Here’s to a productive 2017!

Want more tips on language learning from a musical perspective? Be sure to check out Fiel’s presentation at the Polyglot Gathering in 2016.

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