#i know i missed the first time he laughed and smiled with einar. i hate it

[the-light-finds-its-way]

It's Valentine's Day!! You know what that means?? Time for your favorite gay robots to be in the spotlight!!! :3

Misraaks wakes up to Anthem clutching him tightly. He chuckles, and gently shakes his husband to tell him to let go.

Anthem groans, and does as he's told. He says to Misraaks that there's something in the kitchen for him.

Confused, Misraaks gets up, and walks toward the kitchen. Suddenly, his eyes fall upon a gigantic 3 tiered cake made of Ether based flour and icing, decorated in rainbows and hearts, with writing on the base that says, "Love ya, Kell of m'heart!"

Immediately, Misraaks knows Anthem can't bake to save his life. He must have had this custom made.

Anthem walks downstairs groggy, and grins. "Do ya like it, hon?" he asks.

"Almost as much as I love you," Misraaks replies. "Where did you get this?"

"Gadrax. Commissioned it from'm." Anthem walks to his husband, and kisses him. "Dig in, sweetheart. May today be as sweet as you!"

------------

Magnus gets a mysterious encrypted message to go to the Tower. Raising an eyebrow, he wonders who this is from, but curiosity is his driving force. So, he follows the coordinates, and finds himself in the Tower, standing before a jump course.

The Titan groans. He HATES jump courses. He's a damn Titan, not a Hunter, and he can't aim his jumps for shit.

He receives another encrypted message. This one tells him a prize lay at the end, should he complete this course.

Groaning even louder, Magnus starts. He immediately falls off, dying at his first jump.

Einar knows he's going to have one hell of a day needing to revive Magnus a ton. And that's exactly what happens. After thirty revives, Einar stops counting.

Finally, Magnus is almost at the end. Taking a deep breath, he jumps, and tumbles onto a platform, then slams against something. Looking up, he sees Cayde looking over him with a grin, wearing a rainbow cape, and holding Ace. Above them both, there's a rainbow banner that says, "HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!" And Cayde blows a stupid popper thingy and everything, rainbow confetti flying all over Magnus.

Magnus laughs. He stands up, and hugs Cayde and Ace. He kisses his husband, and smiles. "How high up are we, and how'd you get our son up here safely?"

Cayde laughs now. "Unlike you, I'm good at coordination. Ace was strapped to me the whole time, and I made it without falling even once."

"Oh rub it in, why don't you?" Magnus chuckles happily.

Together, he and Cayde, with Ace, turn to look out toward the sky. The Traveler looms overhead, shining bright, its warmth filling them both.

----------

Kahun flies erratically to Neomuna. Rushing his way through asteroids, toward the balcony where Nimbus is. When he lands, he crashes the ship a little, the hull banging against the edge of the landing bay before he parks it.

Nimbus laughs. They know their boyfriend can't fly for shit. But here he is, trying anyway.

Kahun steps out of the ship, and runs to Nimbus, throwing his arms around them. "Hey babe!!!!" he shouts excitedly.

With a warm smile, Nimbus kisses Kahun. "Hey, hon!! I didn't know you were coming!!"

"How couldn't I?" Kahun says. "I missed you!!" He looks at Gul'tan, his Ghost, and nods. "Bring it in!"

Nimbus raises an eyebrow.

Gul'tan twirls about for a moment, and glows. Shining his light on the ground, something begins to materialize.

There, the tiniest sparrow ever made appears, in nonbinary colors. It's so small, it's like 1/3 the size of the giant Cloudstrider.

Nimbus laughs. They look at Kahun awkwardly.

Kahun grins. "For you!! I built it!! You can get around Neomuna faster with it!! Try it!!"

Laughing even more, Nimbus says they can't fit.

Kahun tells them they can! He measured it to be the minimum size needed for them.

Nimbus can't help but burst out in laughter now. They realize Kahun deliberately made this thing tiny. A small sparrow, for a giant person. They step into the sparrow, and, grinning, find that they fit perfectly.

"Love you, sweetie," Kahun says, and he bends down to kiss his partner.

----------

Gadrax scuttles up to Lord Shaxx, taking the man by surprise and throwing all four arms around him.

Shaxx laughs, smiling, and leans his head against the Eliksni Titan.

Gad proceeds to ask, "So? Crimson Days match. With or against each other?"

"I'll crush you like an ant either way," Shaxx replies, chuckling.

Gad's eyes grow big, and he smiles. "Crush me PLEASE!!" he begs.

Shaxx is now doubled over laughing uncontrollably. "In what way would you prefer?"

"You KNOW what way."

Shaxx literally cannot stop laughing. He hugs Gad tight, pressing the Eliksni's head to his chest. "Alright, fine. Meet me tonight, and make sure Dexo is ready to revive you."

Gadrax grins, nodding. "You got it!!"

Later that night, the entire Crucible arena is closed off. Gadrax and Shaxx meet, and proceed to beat the everloving shit out of one another with raw strength and guns.

Ultimately, Shaxx wins, and he and Gad both go out for ramen afterwards.

[monabela]

ha! here I am for the last day of @aphrarepairweek2020, magic, with another pairing I think is very interesting but had never written before. this was a lot of fun, and I really like this little au, tbh. I feel like there could be more stories in here. I guess I alluded to a bunch of pairings, but they’re really not important and can be Ignored :)

~~~

the bard’s song

pairings/characters: Iceland (Egill)/New Zealand (Riley), Liechtenstein (Erika), Hong Kong (Leon), Taiwan (Mei), Seychelles (Angélique), Latvia (Raivis) + mentioned Moldova (Luca), Australia (David) & Norway (Einar)

word count: 3182

summary:

Egill really wishes Riley’s stupid D&D character would stop trying to seduce his own character. Mostly, he wishes Riley would try to seduce him instead.

~~~

“Well, Riley, if you insist…”

Egill can feel his eye twitch while Erika gestures wearily across the table at Riley, who looks poised and ready and far too pleased with themself.

“I guess you can roll to seduce the Owlbear. You know what to do,” Erika finishes. Riley is already throwing the twenty-sided die. On Egill’s other side, Leon is shaking with suppressed laughter, like he wasn’t the one who brought the menace of Riley Greenwood and their weirdly seductive halfling bard into their D&D group.

Riley actually pretends not to know what exactly they’re rolling for or what to add, as if they don’t try to seduce literally every NPC Erika throws at them, and then triumphantly declares it’s a seventeen. Egill pushes his hands into his hair, groaning. Erika just gives a resigned sigh, planting her elbows on the Monster Manual behind her little wall of books.

“It’s going to attack you anyway, I hope you know.”

“Can’t hurt to try,” Riley replies cheerfully.

“It literally can!” Egill says, and then he has to bite his lip and look away when Riley grins one of those mischievous grins of theirs, one that makes their eyes crinkle up and pulls at one corner of their mouth. Leon, who had just managed to calm himself, starts giggling again, and Egill elbows him.

“Egill, it’s your turn,” Erika says. He consults his character sheet.

“I could see Riley’s dumb bard being stupid, right?”

“Don’t talk about Minto like that!” Riley interjects, crossing their arms. “He’s wonderful and everyone loves him.”

“His wisdom modifier is minus two,” says Mei, who somehow always remembers everyone’s stats. Well, not that that particular tidbit is hard to remember. “I didn’t know you could get minus two.”

“Minto is special and I bet Yawen is jealous.” They raise their eyebrows at Egill. He sighs again.

“Well, I guess Dûrion is going to try and get Minto out of harm’s way.”

Riley beams from across the table, and it somehow makes Egill’s skin tingle. 

It’s very likely that everyone in their casual little D&D party is aware that it isn’t an accident, at least on his part, that Minto and Dûrion, Egill’s high elf artificer character, are so often off on their own or just helping each other out in their sessions. It’s embarrassing as fuck, of course, but Egill has long since given up on trying to do anything about it. Soon enough, Leon or Raivis or another one of their friends will do something dumb, and Egill’s crush on Riley will be completely forgotten. Maybe even by Egill himself, although that seems unlikely to him at this point.

Riley might be aware of it as well, or they might not. They’re notoriously difficult to get a read on. Even Angélique, who has known them the longest, seems to have trouble with it. Egill thinks Riley enjoys it that way. 

“Right, that’s fine,” Erika is saying, pushing her short hair behind her ears. “Tell me what Dûrion’s going to do, then.”

Egill manages to save Riley—well, Dûrion saves Minto from being eaten—and the rest of the party make quick work of the monster guarding the cave that contains whatever horrors Erika has in mind for them. For such an innocent-looking woman, she sure has a twisted imagination.

“Now that we’re out of combat,” Riley says, once Angélique’s druid has distributed some healing spells, “can I roll to seduce Dûrion?”

“Yes!” Angélique shouts, adding, “That’s in-character. Rovanon’s very keen on love.”

“Aryax hates love, and also Rovanon,” Leon puts in.

“Aryax hates everything, he’s just an excuse for you not to help.”

He finger-guns at her, and she shakes her head, smiling. 

“So,” Riley says, “can we get back to Minto seducing Dûrion?”

“Maybe Dûrion isn’t interested in being seduced,” Egill replies, raising his eyebrows and hoping he isn’t blushing.

“Does Dûrion want a long-term relationship?”

“Aryax vomits in disgust,” Leon says.

“No!” Raivis yells. “Daina immediately hides. Last time Aryax vomited, he barfed lightning everywhere and nearly killed her.”

“Not my fault Daina’s human.”

Erika, as per usual when they go off on tangents like this—which is most of the time—looks both pained and amused.

None of them are really cut out for Dungeons & Dragons, Egill thinks, at least not in any serious way. The whole thing started as a joke in his first year of university, with just him, Leon and Erika, because the three of them were procrastinating on assignments and wanted to have something to do. Egill had been the DM, because it was his idea and his brother did tabletop RPGs, so it was assumed he’d know how it worked. He did not.

His brother, Einar, was the one who pointed out how crap he was at it and that Erika would probably enjoy being the DM more. Leon keeps trying to convince Einar to join a session, and Egill spends much of his time trying not to think about his best friend’s weird crush on his brother.

In the four years since then, the three of them have accumulated the rest of the party. Raivis dated Erika for a while, and took over her character, Daina. He stayed after they broke up, having become a good friend to Egill over that time. Mei was Leon’s roommate for a hot minute, and Angélique was her friend. Riley, in turn, was Angélique’s friend, but Leon is the one who convinced them to join after they came to watch one day. Their last party member, Luca, is studying abroad at the moment, so his character has been captured and they’re technically always on a quest to free him, but Egill thinks it seems likely Luca won’t return to be Raivis’s roommate ever again, so their wizard will probably die.

It’s a shame. Luca was the only useful person. Certainly more than fucking Minto.

“Don’t take off your clothes!” Mei is yelling at Riley. Egill blinks dazedly.

To his disappointment, Riley isn’t actually taking off their clothes, just crossing their arms petulantly, only the edge of the intricate tattoo on one of their forearms visible.

“You’re on a mountain,” Erika reminds everyone. “If Minto takes his clothes off, I will need a saving throw to see if he freezes.”

“It’s fine,” Riley says, “he’ll bask in Dûrion’s hotness.”

Dûrion only knows ice spells because Egill thought that would be a cool theme to have, but he doesn’t point that out.

“Aryax vomits lightning,” Leon says, reaching for his dice.

“No!” Mei yells.

“At Minto,” he adds.

“I can’t believe Minto died,” Angélique says drily. “Can Rovanon have his bagpipes?”

“No one can have Minto’s bagpipes because Minto isn’t dead yet,” Erika interrupts before they descend into chaos again. “Leon, is Aryax actually attacking him?”

Leon nods, in response to which Riley throws Egill an imploring look, which is just unfair. He tries to frown back, but Riley just smiles in a surprisingly soft way he’s never seen before, pushing their brown curls out of their face, as if they know Egill will help anyway, and not just because Dûrion has a good alignment.

Leon elbows him, and he snaps back.

“What?”

“Aryax missed,” he says sadly.

“Oh!” He turns to Erika. “Is anything on fire?”

She considers this for a moment.

“Yes. Minto’s bagpipes are on fire.”

“Nice.” Leon grins, and even Riley has to laugh at that. Egill decides Dûrion definitely won’t use a spell to douse those flames, and hopes Riley doesn’t remember anytime soon that Minto has more bagpipes. He exchanges an anxious look with Mei, who obviously does remember.

“Are we ever going into this cave?” Raivis asks.

“Daina is hidden, no one can hear her,”  Erika reminds him.

“Guys, where’s Daina?” Angélique says, pretending to be distressed. “She must have gone into the cave! We have to help her! Rovanon charges into the cave.”

“I can’t believe Rovanon died,” Riley says. “He will be remembered. Minto composes a song for him on his… Flute, I guess.”

“Make… Make a performance roll for how good the song is,” Erika says, probably just to annoy everyone by making Riley look at their character sheet and remember they have no flute, because Minto traded it for more bagpipes.

Riley rolls the die, and starts to giggle. Angélique and Raivis peer over, and groan in unison.

“Erika, I’m delighted to tell you… It’s a thirty-three on how good the song is. Does everyone cry?” They lift the die to show off the twenty they got.

“Everyone weeps and your bagpipes are magically restored,” Erika confirms, much to everyone else’s horror. And, while Riley holds both hands up for high-fives that go unanswered, “And I think we’ll have to end it there, because I have to go.”

“Boo,” Mei says, winking. Erika ducks her head, cheeks turning rosy, and Raivis raises his eyebrows, looking between them. That’s pretty interesting.

“Sorry. Everyone, remember where you are.” She makes some notes behind her book partition before starting to dismantle it.

“Well, Rovanon is apparently in heaven,” Angélique says. “Mei, can Yawen come and get him? She can fly.”

“Possibly,” Mei muses. “We’ll see what Erika thinks.”

“I think Rovanon is in a cave and can see in the dark because he’s a half-orc, so he’s probably not dead,” she says, putting her bag on her lap and starting to stuff her books into it.

“Aw, I never get to fly,” Mei says, sadly. Angélique pats her hand. “Thanks.”

“I’ll find a way to make you fly,” Erika tells her, pushing herself backwards. Mei makes a face at the whole table. That sounds ominous.

Everyone puts away their dice and character sheets. Leon sweeps the blueberries he was eating into his bag wholesale, as he usually does. Egill is afraid to find out what the inside of his bag looks like.

Mei pushes the door open for Erika, who smiles gratefully up at her and wheels herself into the front room of her brother’s bakery. They’ve been meeting here for a while now, but he still won’t give them any free pastries. Luca had been getting through to him, but, well…

“Hey, Riley,” Angélique is saying, walking backwards to the door while looking at her phone, “do you want a ride? Me and David are going to the beach, we could drop you off. Or you can come along, if you want.”

“Ah, sure, because my middle name is Third Wheel,” they joke. “I’m good, thanks. Tell Dave he’s an idiot for me.”

“Will do. Bye, everyone!” She flits off, almost tripping over Erika’s wheelchair as she somehow always manages to do. “Sorry!”

Raivis just waves, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and picking up his longboard. He hurries through the bakery, apparently still convinced Erika’s brother hates him for breaking up with her. Riley chuckles next to Egill, hands in the pockets of their maroon pants. They rock back on their heels when Egill looks down at them and smile at him while Leon exits as well, crunching on something he unearthed from his bag on the way.

“Well,” Egill says, absently pushing his tongue against his lip piercing, “guess I should go.”

“Yes. No.” Riley blinks and takes a deep breath. They smooth an errant curl off their forehead. It bounces right back. “Actually, I wanted to ask…”

“Do… You need a ride with me?” Egill asks. “It’s no problem, I’ve got a spare helmet.”

“No. Well, I mean, hell yeah, that sounds amazing,” they reply, hazel eyes lighting up. “But no, that’s not it.”

“Okay.” Egill watches curiously while Riley fidgets with their belt buckle. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen Riley fidget before; they always seem to know what they’re doing, even when what they’re doing is pretending to be unaware what’s going on when they most likely caused it.

“I wanted to know… Well, I know Dûrion isn’t interested in being seduced and all, but I kind of hope you are.” They gesture helplessly as Egill’s breath hitches. “I’ve got a feeling you are, and I’d like to try, eh? I’d like to—I like you, is what I’m trying to say. And I’d like to take you on a date?”

“Okay,” is all Egill can say, dumbstruck. And then, “Really?”

That, thankfully, gets him one of those smiles that pulls at Riley’s eyes and makes them twinkle.

“Yeah, Egill, really. You’re interesting, and I like that.”

He pushes his tongue against his piercing again.

“And also, that’s ridiculously hot and I don’t think you’re aware,” Riley blurts, eyes wide. 

Egill stills, biting his lip, and just blinks down at them.

“It’s offensive.”

“Sorry?”

“Minto almost died because of that, you know? It’s distracting as fuck.”

“You’re, hm… You’re better at hiding it than I am,” Egill stutters. Laughing, Riley grasps his forearm, thumb stroking the pale skin as if on instinct.

“You do realize I’ve tried to seduce you and no other party members during every session for the past six months?”

“I—Riley, it doesn’t work like that!”

“Yeah, I get that now.” They shrug apologetically. “I thought it was fairly obvious. Everyone else seemed to know. I thought maybe you weren’t interested, but then it seemed like you were so I thought, you know, take a page out of Minto’s book and try it.”

Looking back, sure, it’s perfectly Riley to go about—about flirting so completely backwards, because just flirting like normal people do seems to be how Riley communicates with almost everyone. They can’t seem to help it. Egill thinks it’s charming. Mostly.

“That’s fair,” he says.

“I guess it works better for me than Minto, eh?”

“Unsurprisingly, yeah.” He wants to say something about Riley being much more attractive than fucking Minto, but doesn’t quite know how without embarrassing himself to death, so he just bites his lip again and smiles. Luckily, Riley seems a little unsure of themself as well, for once. It’s strangely bolstering. Egill leans a little towards them, catching the hazel gaze.

“Woo!” Mei suddenly says, from by the door, and Egill jerks up. “Sorry! I left my hair tie.”

Flushing, Egill just stands there awkwardly, with Riley still holding his arm, while she grabs the accessory and then pauses by the door on her way back out.

“Good for you guys,” she says, then flashes a peace sign and disappears back into the bakery. Riley clears their throat. Egill huffs.

“Well, that saves us the trouble of having to tell everyone,” Riley says, chuckling. 

The idea of this being something that’s serious enough to tell their friends about is exciting. Mei is a notorious gossip, so Egill thinks Riley might have a point. He leans back over again, cautiously touching their shoulder, and they grin up at him, hair brushing his hand. It’s as soft as he always imagined it would be, and the curls bounce as they move their head. 

By the quirk of Riley’s mouth, they can read the desire to run his hands through their hair on his face, which is probably still red too. Riley’s tan skin is only slightly flushed.

He bites his lip. Watches Riley’s eyes widen again, lips parting. Some eyeliner has smudged on their eyelid, and this is the first time he notices just how many faint freckles there are scattered across the bridge of their nose. It’s exhilarating to be able to look.

“So, you said something about a spare helmet?” Riley asks, a little breathier than usual, their eyes still fixated on his mouth.

“I did.” He takes a step back, then a step forward, back into Riley’s space. A wayward curl brushes against his nose, where the top of their head is, as they look up. “Where do you wanna go?”

“Well… I’m hungry. We could go eat something.”

Egill pulls out his phone to check the time. It’s going on five in the afternoon. He nearly drops his phone when Riley touches his hip, but smiles when they aim a questioning look at him. He isn’t very used to dating, hasn’t done so in a while, but this is good. And, really, he didn’t know if Riley dated at all; he’s never heard anything about it.

Evidently, they do.

“We could go for dinner, then?” He thinks about it. “We should take something out to the boulevard, it’ll be nice.”

Riley nods, grinning. 

When they both start towards the door, Egill bites his lip and reaches for their hand, knocking their fingers together. Grinning even more, so much it almost looks painful but is very flattering at the same time, Riley grasps his hand and swings it between the two of them as they leave through the bakery.

Outside, they wave merrily at Erika and Mei, who are chatting on the sidewalk. Mei grins. Erika raises her eyebrows, resting her elbow on her bag and her chin in her hand. Egill blushes again, and Riley squeezes his fingers.

“Have fun,” Erika says, sketching a little wave. Just then, Raivis flies past on his longboard. He slows down and grins an uncharacteristically vibrant grin before speeding off down the winding street. Egill blinks after him.

“Hey, Erika!” Angélique calls from the passenger seat of a Jeep reversing out of the parking lot next to the bakery, poking her head out of the window. “I have—”

She hits her head on the top of the car when she spots him and Riley, and swears loudly, which is rare. Riley snorts, knocking their shoulder into Egill.

“Yeah, me too!” Erika calls back to Angélique, laughing.

“I regret this already,” Egill says, turning his head just enough that Riley’s hair blows into his face again. Riley just grasps his arm with their free hand and leans even more into him, so it isn’t all bad, really.

From the Jeep’s driver’s seat, Riley’s best friend, David, shouts something as he drives by, and they flip him off in response, letting go of Egill for a second. Angélique laughs, and David honks as they drive off.

“Come on,” Egill says, pulling Riley with him to the parking lot, where his motorcycle is. It used to be Einar’s, but he finally painted over the emblems his brother put on it, and it really feels like it’s his now. Riley gets an excited spring in their step as they near.

Of course, Leon is there, because why wouldn’t he be, sitting on his bicycle and looking at his phone. He glances up, thick eyebrows twitching.

“Oh, nice,” he just comments, and looks back down.

“Text Luca while we’re at it,” Riley says, dry as bone. Leon smiles.

“Maybe. Hey, I could text Einar.”

“Fuck off,” Egill tells him. He winks, puts his phone away, and bikes off.

So they finally leave, Riley hanging on to Egill and whooping excitedly at every turn and bump on the way to the boulevard, and the evening is wonderfully sun-soaked and bright, and Riley tastes like cheap wine at the end of it, so all in all… Maybe that dumb bard is good for something, after all.

[shemakesmusic-uk]

After releasing her film Black Is King as a Disney+ exclusive a few weeks ago, Beyoncé has shared the visual 'Brown Skin Girl' on YouTube. Featuring SAINt JHN, WizKid, and daughter Blue Ivy, the clip features appearances by former bandmate Kelly Rowland, Noami Campell, Lupita Nyong’o, and more. The video coincided with a special message the star shared with Good Morning America. "It was so important to me in 'Brown Skin Girl' that we represented all different shades of brown," Beyoncé said of the video, crediting director Jenn Nkiru with the concept. "It was important that we are all in this together and we're all celebrating each other." [via The FADER]

Eivør releases a new single and video, ‘Let It Come’, the latest lifted from her forthcoming album Segl. The transportive new clip - filmed in Iceland - is a prequel to the video for previous single release ‘Sleep On It’, which Eivør released last month. Both videos are directed by Einar Egils and feature actor Tómas Lemarquis (Blade Runner 2049, X-Men: Apocalypse). Speaking about ‘Let It Come’, Eivør says; "It’s one of those songs that took many shapes before it reached its final destination and I guess the opening line pretty much explains it all: “Sometimes I overthink the most simple things”. This song is a follow up to my previous single 'Sleep On It' - whilst that was about insomnia and making difficult choices, 'Let It Come' is about coming out at the other end of this struggle, embracing the uncertainties you might find yourself in and finding the courage to believe that something good will come your way." Of the interplay between the two music videos he has created for Eivør, director Einar Eglis adds; "'Let It Come' is a prequel to the end of the world that was portrayed in the ‘Sleep On It’ video. Eivør has been stuck in a loop of uncertainty for years, until she sees a vision that will end everything as we know it, and she is the key towards redemption. She must face these facts and embrace the golden idol she is to become."

The gentle, hypnotic sway of 'god's chariots' is central to MaryLou Mayniel's first full-length project Galore. Her catalogue of experimental electronica is impressive whichever way you look at it. Creating everything from video game soundtracks to an EP sampling the likes of Miley Cyrus and Carly Rae Jepsen to vast instrumental odysseys and empowering pop anthems, Mayniel can turn her hand to almost anything. 'god's chariots' is at the helm of the singer-songwriter's latest drop of new music. “It’s a fantasy, a place you’re in to escape reality, but it’s also about being so lonely that you kind of lose your mind,” explains Manyiel. A fragment of her forthcoming debut full-length project 'god's chariots' is just one piece of the ever-expanding story which Oklou shares on Galore. With additional tracks 'nightmare' and 'rosebud', also out n ow, we get to piece more of Galore's narrative of emotional rebirth together. Already an illuminating experience with its first six songs out in the world, soon you'll be able to witness Manyiel's first masterpiece in all its glory when the rest of the project is released next month. [via Line Of Best Fit]

Madeline Kenney has shared the visual for her Sucker's Lunch album track 'Cut the Real'. 'Cut the Real' is one of the most lyrically confrontational tracks on Kenney's new album Sucker's Lunch. Kenney has unveiled the accompanying self-directed visual filmed in Oakland that sees her dressed in a Rococo style suit and makeup, giving a heartfelt performance of the song's fierce lyrics. Madeline Kenney: "I wrote 'Cut the Real' when I was feeling particularly insane / depressed /"out of my mind" as I was starting a new relationship. I really struggle with self confidence and found myself spiraling out into deep holes of self-loathing -- even though I knew what was going on I couldn't stop that cycle. The concept was inspired by the aesthetic choices in recent Aldous Harding videos as well as old Annie Lennox videos. I wanted to put on a gender-neutral Rococo outfit and just really allow myself to ham it up, and occupy that same spinning-out headspace as I was in while writing the song." [via Line Of Best Fit]

Four years after she released her solo debut Slugger, Speedy Ortiz leader Sadie Dupuis is getting ready to release Haunted Painting, the second album released under her Sad13 alias. The album comes out next month, and  now we get another new song, and it’s got a pretty great music video attached. The new Sad13 track is called 'Hysterical,' and it’s a zippy synthpop track with layered lyrics: “I wanna see you disappear and laugh like I don’t need permission.” In a press release, Dupuis says that the song is about “unfunny comedians [who] love to argue that ‘PC culture’ destroys comedy.” Dupuis plays almost all the instruments herself. The video, directed by Kate Banford and Jamie Loftus, features Dupuis alongside comedy-world mainstays like Loftus, Mitra Jouhari, and Demi Adejuyigbe. Like the new horror movie Host, the whole thing takes place on a computer screen, and it’s all about what happens when a ghost shows up in a Zoom party and kills everyone. [via Stereogum]

When Cross Record’s Emily Cross and Dan Duszynski teamed up with Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg to form Loma, it seemed like it might be one-off endeavor. But then last month we got news that they’d be following their 2017 debut with a new album, Don’t Shy Away. Along with the announcement, they shared a stunning new track called 'Ocotillo'. Today, they’re back with another one.  The latest preview of Don’t Shy Away arrives in the form of 'Half Silences,' which the band shared an earlier iteration of last year. 'Half Silences' was the first song we recorded for Don’t Shy Away, and we kept tinkering with it after we soft-released an early version last year,” Meiburg explained in a statement. “When you start making a record, you don’t know which songs will make the cut — but this one always seemed to belong, and we wanted to give the final mix (and its DIY video) a proper debut. People have asked if the fireworks are CGI. They aren’t.” 'Ocotillo' was an almost foreboding song, cresting into horn arrangements that teetered on the brink of chaos. In comparison, 'Half Silences' is a dreamier and hazier composition. But in either form, Loma are making some gorgeous, otherworldly music. [via Stereogum]

Back in June, the Bristol songwriter Fenne Lily announced her sophomore album, BREACH. So far we’ve heard advance singles 'Alapathy' and 'Berlin,' and today she’s back with another one. Lily’s latest is called 'Solipsism.' Here’s what she had to say about it: "A lot of situations make me uncomfortable — some parties, most dates, every time I’m stoned in the supermarket. 'Solipsism' is a song about being comfortable with being uncomfortable and the freedom that comes with that. If you feel weird for long enough it becomes normal, and feeling anything is better than feeling nothing. I wanted this video to be a reflection of the scary thought that I’ll have to live with myself forever. It’s surreal to realize you’ll never live apart from someone you sometimes hate. Dad, if you’re reading this you killed it as shopper number 2." The song comes with a video directed by Tom Clover with the non-profit Film Co. “I asked Fenne what products she wanted to be and then worked backwards from there with the illustrators,” Clover explained. “Most of the references came from Asian Supermarket packaging — they are way more interesting. The most important thing was making sure that it reflected upon Fenne’s personality — there’s a bunch of details you might miss on the first watch!” [via Stereogum]

About two weeks ago Oceanator shared 'Heartbeat,' the third and final single from their upcoming full length debut, Things I Never Said and now it has a video. The highly anticipated album via Plastic Miracles captures Elise Okusami’s songwriting at it’s best, a strong effort that sits between pop, rock, fuzzy punk, and alternative radio gold. The video, directed by David Combs and Ben Epstein, is every bit as delightful as the song itself, opening with the same magnetic energy as we find Okusami seemingly lost and looking for companionship. She finds it eventually in the form of herself, quite literally, as she joins herself at a bus stop, and then again in a field, with ten of more copies, al rocking out, all enjoying each other’s company. There’s a brilliant barbershop quartet moment, cool animation, and enough smiles to keep you going throughout your day. Speaking about the song, Okusami shared: “This song is loosely about having a crush, and both the grounding feeling and the anxiety that feeling brings. We recorded it all together like a live performance, and then I went back and added the lead guitars and the vocals. Guitar and vocals by me, bass Eva Lawitts (they), drums Aaron Silberstein (he)." [via Post Trash]

Ontario-based project Falcon Jane – the moniker for primary songwriter of the group, Sara May – have released their soaring new single, ‘The Other Moon’ via Pittsburgh-based label, Darling Recordings – you can watch the new video that comes co-directed by May and Dominique van Olm above. ‘The Other Moon’, which is lifted from a larger body of material set to come from Sara May further down the line, finds the artist exploring deeply sentimental and personal themes, from death to memory, and the miscommunication that can take place between generations. May has a penchant for unpacking these emotions in succinct and comprehensible forms, making something so personal and idiosyncratic to her feel so familiar to the rest of us. Much of May’s forthcoming work found its source of inspiration in early 2019 when her songwriting synched up with a string of deaths that occurred in her immediate family; ‘The Other Moon’ pays a touching testament to her Nonna with May lacing the track’s stark honesty with swooning guitar and her enchanting vocal palette, a sound that co-director, van Olm visualized as May’s DIY journey through space. Speaking about the new track, May says: “‘The Other Moon’ is a letter and tribute to my late Nonna whose death inspired me to start recording this album. Despite being from two completely different generations, and speaking two different languages, my Nonna and I had a very special connection. We understood each other and cared about each other, even if we couldn’t find the words to express it. My Nonna would always cheekily joke about her own death, and through her broken English, she claimed that when she died she’d be going to “The Other Moon”. This song is not a story about a happy-go-lucky relationship between grandmother and granddaughter,” May continues. “It accurately depicts the contrasting dynamic of a very loving friendship mixed with a lifelong trauma-ridden miscommunication. The big hole in my heart, the black cloud over our love. This song feels like the message I always wanted to send to her; pushing through the darkness to find the deep love we shared and continue to share now.”

Baby Queen has released her third track 'Medicine' with a fab new video. The follow-up to ‘Buzzkill', it arrives ahead of her debut EP later this year. "It's about a tangle of mental health and navigating your way through this world,” Bella says of the song, “whilst being so unhappy and equally disillusioned with the cyber landscape that we are forced to live inside, and the different ways people might numb themselves, or try to find a place where they can exist in amongst all of this fucking chaos." [via Dork]

Oklahoma-born, LA-based electro-pop songstress Mothica has released her debut album Blue Hour, accompanied by the official music video for her single 'VICES.' The album was written over the course of a few months, starting with one of the worst moments of Mothica’s life: a psych ward stay for self-harm and ends with a song about never wanting to feel the “crash” of drugs ever again. “Following that incident, I sought therapy and wrote lyrics detailing my journey into sobriety. I am now 13 months sober at the time of writing this, and have never been in a better place emotionally.” With her new album Blue Hour, she chronicles her deep struggle with addiction + mental health and the process of getting sober. “Someone told me that every artist has their ‘getting sober album’ eventually,” she explains. “I find it ironic that my debut album is my ‘getting sober’ album, because I think that’s indicative of how quickly I was forced to grow up."

FKA twigs has always made incredible music videos, and 'sad day' ranks right up there with her best. For this clip, twigs worked with the director Hiro Murai, one of the best music-video directors to emerge in the last decade. Murai has mostly moved on from music videos in recent years. Instead, he’s directed episodes of Atlanta and Barry, two of the best shows on TV, as well as Donald Glover’s Amazon short film Guava Island and the forthcoming apocalyptic miniseries Station Eleven. The 'sad day' video is Murai’s first clip since he made the instantly iconic 'This Is America' with Donald Glover in 2018. I don’t want to give away much of the 'sad day' video, which starts out in a dingy takeout spot and transforms into a surreal dream-logic head trip. But you should know that twigs only made this video after spending three years studying martial arts at the Shaolin Wushu Center, and you can tell. A dancer named Teake, who twigs discovered via social media, co-stars. [via Stereogum]

The latest of Silly Boy Blue's ongoing build is 'Hi, It's Me Again,' a song she describes as the "too long text I didn't want to send at 3 AM to my ex." Like the rumination behind a loaded, emotional message to a former lover, she adds that it took months to assemble the words in her head but only one night to write out the lyrics. "I needed to write a song about this, because it's a very special place between the hate and the void during a breakup." With an almost lullaby melody, the spacey tune slowly builds into the ultimate warning: "You'll be the one I always haunt," Silly Boy Blue sings, her voice beautifully layered and atmospheric. All her thoughts throughout the song are interlaced with the relatable, somewhat insecure backpedal, "I'm sorry," capturing the headspace "just before resilience," as she describes. It's "when you start to understand the breakup, but you still have so many questions popping in your head." In the 'Hi, It's Me Again' video, Silly Boy Blue says she "needed to show the different parts" of her identity. "Some of them are masculine, some of them are feminine, some of them seem confident, some seem shy, some seem to suffocate, some stand proudly." Much like the nuanced feelings during a breakup, she expresses without binaries — and especially through fashion, as she opens the clip in only an oversized men's button-down. Scenes in the new visual roll by like memories or fleeting emotions, ranging from subdued drama to full on meltdowns. At one point, she's shown with a plastic bag pulled over her head to capture the most extreme feelings of dread, juxtaposed against a more innocent shot of Silly Boy Blue in all white with two lone tear drops fixated on her cheek. The artist also loaded in "important" references to her favorite movies, from the Titanic's necklace to The Rocky Horror Picture Show's big mouth. [via PAPER]

Dream Nails have released a video for their new single, 'This Is The Summer'. It's a song from their new Tarek Musa of Spring King-produced, self-titled record out now via Alcopop!. “[It's] a song about how our climate is breaking down irreversibly,” says singer Janey Starling. “Colonial capitalism, waged by UK governments and corporations for centuries, has ravaged our earth. “We need to be urgently fighting for migrant rights so the UK welcomes climate refugees displaced by countries hit by extreme weather. We must demand transparency from oil companies who relentlessly put profit before people, even as the world burns." Guitarist Anya Pearson adds: “We wrote ‘This Is The Summer’ in the heatwave of 2018, recorded it in another heatwave in 2019 and now we are releasing it in yet another heatwave! Our video for the track shows how the current pandemic, white supremacy and climate change are not separate issues but interlinked. The song is about the brazen complacency of getting drunk and catching a tan in the park while the world burns.” [via Dork]

BBC Sound Of 2020 winner Celeste has shared her new single 'Little Runaway'. Out now, the single is about a crisis of faith, and features a towering vocal from the London artist. A song about succumbing to the depths before emerging renewed, 'Little Runaway' began as a jazz sample, before taking on a life of its own. Celeste says... “‘Little Runaway’ is a song about losing your faith, even if just momentarily, and seeking answers from spirits and ghosts as nothing seems to make sense on this planet. My favourite line in the song is ‘good news I could use some’ – I believe everyone has a guardian angel, a protector, and this is me talking to mine.” “The verses actually started as this saxophone sample we were playing around with and eventually it transformed into the melody. I always play the sax back in my head even though it’s not in the song.” 'Little Runaway' features an innovative music video, steered by Celeste’s frequent collaborator Sophie Jones. [via Clash]

Anna Sofia released a brand new music video for her song 'Don’t Play Pretend'. 'Don’t Play Pretend' is from her latest EP Broken Perfection. Over a million streams into her career, Anna Sofia sings this song about her own life. She might not be perfect. She might make mistakes. All that said, at least she doesn’t pretend to be something she’s not. Sofia said she doesn’t have a message. “It’s just real life,” she said. “One day, I hope to fill stadiums all over the world. I want to have fans everywhere and have some way of helping them or guiding them through my music. My confidence comes from being myself and connecting with people.” [via The 360 Mag]

Last year, the K-pop group BLACKPINK made big moves in America with their Kill This Love EP, becoming the highest-charting women-led Korean act on both the Billboard 200 and the Hot 100 (with its title track). They also played Coachella. Earlier this year, they had a guest feature on Lady Gaga’s Chromatica with ‘Sour Candy,’ a single that matched their previous chart record at #33. They’re releasing a new album in a couple months, which was led off by ‘How You Like That’ in June. Now, they’re putting out another song from it, a collaboration with Selena Gomez called ‘Ice Cream.’ The food angle of the track is appropriate for Gomez, who has most recently been in the headlines for her new HBO Max cooking show. [via Stereogum]

Tel-Aviv based artist Noga Erez shares the next in a series of game-changing singles leading into her mysterious second album (details yet to be announced). 'You So Done' and its striking accompanying video are out now via City Slang. Following the sparkling sass of 'VIEWS' and the irresistibly upbeat lockdown anthem 'NO news on TV', Noga Erez and her collaborative partner Ori Rousso's latest offering 'You So Done' has been highly anticipated online since appearing on NBC's Good Girls earlier this year. It sees Erez shift from outward looking political themes to personal soul-searching, opening up for a stirring track about rejection, toxic and emotionally violent relationships, and ones own inner violence. Along with the track she has shared a moving statement, saying: "At some point, exactly one year ago, I started flashing back to one of the darkest times in my life. I was young, incredibly confused and lonely... There was a moment during this period where I was actually so weak, insecure and in need of love that I was not able to step out of what I know now to be an emotionally abusive relationship." She concludes: "It really, truly means the world to me to give this song to you. I hope this story can help some of you to realise that you are not alone. And I really do hope to make it clear that even the darkest places are not impossible to free yourself from. They are eventually an opportunity to learn, grow and to become a stronger person." Erez has created a reputation for the captivating videos that accompany her songs, and this latest video sees her step it up a level yet again. Her third collaboration with Tel Aviv-based director Indy Hait sees Erez as a puppet in a dystopian future, being violently flung to-and-fro by an unknown captor. "The video for 'You So Done' was a big risk taker for me" she comments. "Usually, I have an idea or I work with a director on an idea together. Since this was my third video with Indy Hait, I decided to let him do his thing. He offered up an idea that included a robot and I immediately hated it. I was just not able to imagine how it wouldn't come off as a science fiction video and felt it wasn't my style. But after talking and tearing the idea apart, I realised that this is a truly meaningful character. The robot in this video is actually not the violent character.  Its job was to portray the act of violence through transferring the moves from an unseen character and helping them come alive visually. The video uses muscle memory as the 'engine' to that violent dance act, and muscle memory is something that fascinates me. Eventually this video is far from being science fiction, it is my most personal video to date."

[imagine-loki]

A Warrior’s Life

TITLE: A Warrior’s Life

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter One Hundred and Three

AUTHOR: wolfpawn ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Viking Loki coming to your village, raiding, and pillaging, before deciding there is something about you that intrigues him and deciding to take you back to Asgard with him. There, you are forced to learn a new life and language, and though you hate what has happened to you, you learn that Loki is not as bad as you think.

RATING: Mature

The boats, though they were slow because of the Northern wind at sea, were sheltered in the river upstream to the village and moved faster, though still not fast enough for Maebh’s liking. She looked at the land she was so sure she would never see again and felt herself feel almost overwhelmed with joy to see it. Danu spoke to her sleeping younger brother as they passed different points, checking with her father that she was correct.

‘You could have helped with that somewhat, I have to teach four boys, you only had to do one girl.’

‘I think you handled it well enough.’ Maebh grinned back as Loki gave her a less than impressed look. He gave the somewhat vague and mostly inaccurate “when a mother and a father are married and love each other” spiel, but for a seven-year-old, it was enough.

‘She is seven.’

‘Yes.’

‘We missed the twins birthday.’

‘We can make it up to them now.’ Maebh stated. ‘Now that we are home, Vali’s is only another two weeks.’

‘Is it not odd that all of our children are born in early Summer?’

Maebh thought for a moment. There was only a short time between the twins being born and Vali’s first birthday, four weeks, then Liulf had been born a mere three weeks before the twins had turned three, now Einar was born in the same timeframe as well. ‘Norns, it is the harvests, that is how you have done this to me again and again. You are never touching me again near a harvest.’

‘It is the harvest again soon.’ Thor pointed out.

‘Do not even dare.’ She warned.

Loki was about to make a comment back when he noticed something on the river bank and smiled. ‘We are spotted.’ Danu and Maebh looked to the side of the boat to see two boys running along the bank, away from a grouping that was clearly being taught about fishing, going by the nets they were all holding. ‘Remember to wait until the boat docks.’ Loki reminded his wife.

Maebh paid him no heed, instead, she found herself nearly in tears as she looked at her black-haired, grey-eyed boy and his cousin running to the dock to see them. The boat had not even been tied to the shore when she jumped off and rushed towards him.

‘Mother.’ Vali sobbed as he ran into her arms. ‘Mother.’

‘My boy, my big handsome boy.’ She did not want to let go of him. A moment later, Modi came up to them, she wrapped an arm around him too. ‘My big boys. I missed you.’

‘I am so sorry.’ Vali hiccupped out between sobs.

‘No darling, no. Do not apologise, none of this was your fault. Those men did this, not you. They waited for you to leave. I am so relieved they did, you would have been killed.’

‘I would have fought them.’

‘I know, darling. That is how I know you would have been killed, I could not let that happen you.’

A moment later, Danu rushed her brother, who took her in one arm, not letting go of his mother with the other. ‘Of course, you lived, you cannot kill a bad thing.’ He joked to his sister.

‘And I am the worst.’ She sniffed and laughed against him. Vali said nothing more, he just held onto them.

When he looked to his father, who was getting out of the boat, Thor helping him with a small bundle, Vali froze. ‘The baby….’

‘Your new brother.’ Maebh smiled.

Vali walked over to his father, who showed him the newest Lokison. ‘Vali, this is Einar.’

‘He is your brother alright, look at all that hair.’ Modi laughed looking at his cousin.

‘But…..everyone said it would not…..’

‘My dear nephew, you forget who you and your siblings are born to.’ Thor laughed. ‘Any child of your family line is resilient and able.’

‘We are all home safe?’

‘Our family is as one again.’ Loki confirmed as he pulled his son to him.

‘No more Midgard?’

‘The ones that harmed us, they all met the cold steel of your mother’s wrath and ire.’

‘I do not get it.’ Vali confessed.

‘Those are the names of her daggers,’ Thor explained.

‘That makes sense.’ Vali conceded. ‘Are we going home?’

‘What about your learning?’ Thor asked the two boys.

‘Father, please, you have to see what is going on, you will not think to force us back when you see who is here.’

The adults frowned. ‘Who is here?’ Loki asked worriedly.

‘You will see, they heard our plight and came.’ Vali pulled his mother forward.

Worried, Maebh allowed him to pull her, Loki right behind with Einar in his arms, Danu by his side. They walked to the centre of the town to the sound of people cheering at the return of their stolen warrior and her daughter, as well as the safe return of the men that had gone in search of them. But Maebh took little notice, she was still wondering who was Vali referring to. When a call was given out and Sif exited the home she shared with her husband, she smiled and rushed forward to embrace Maebh.

‘Only you could come back from something like this alive.’ She wept as she held Maebh to her.

‘I must confess, I had my doubts. I may also have given your husband a small kiss of joy on seeing him.’

‘I cannot blame you.’ Sif laughed through her tears before looking at her stomach.

‘Are you looking for this little guy?’ Loki smiled, showing a now awake and confused looking Einar to his aunt.

‘Little? He is a right big buster, hello handsome. Look at this hair.’ She stole the child from his father. ‘He is a good weight too I see. How old?’

‘Nine days.’ Sif stared at her in shock. ‘Yes, only nine days.’

‘He is bigger than Modi was.’

‘I know, my mocking of you came back to haunt me.’ Maebh laughed. ‘I will never sit properly again.’

Sif erupted in laughter at her words before looking to Einar and kissing his forehead. ‘You are such a strong and incredible boy.’ She smiled lovingly. ‘You are going to be doted on so much.’ She turned and hugged Danu into her too. ‘Our little girl, the only one.’ She kissed her head. ‘You came home.’

‘I could not let us be too outnumbered by boys.’ Danu beamed, causing her aunt to laugh again.

‘I never thought it possible to smile this much anymore, everything considered. I am so happy to be proven wrong.’ She looked at Loki and Maebh. ‘You have someone who will be very much wanting to meet you.’ She informed them.

‘I am worrying as to who this is.’ Maebh exclaimed. ‘Why the secretiveness?’

‘Because it adds to the suspense.’ Sif beamed.

‘This is only adding to it more.’ Loki commented, looking at his wife who was looking at him in concern. ‘Come on, the sooner we see who it is, the sooner we are out of our misery.’

They were about to walk into the house when someone walked out, causing them to pause before the person in question rushed to Maebh, the woman so startled she could not compute what she was saying. ‘I knew it. I knew you would survive.’

‘But….’ Loki looked in shock.