#Michael in particular I think would relish the opportunity

[ingravinoveritas]

The people that keep saying not to ship Michael and David together in real life because of their relationships to Georgia and Anna are also the same ones who keep begging to have the two girls appear in the next season of GO as a couple because of Anna’s little joke of making out with Georgia. Seriously people saw that tweet of hers and immediately decided to ship them together and call them the “ineffable wives” but Michael and David have come out with soooo much more adorable moments of the love and joy they have for each other and everyone starts saying that it’s disrespectful to ship them when their “married” to females in real life 🤷‍♀️ I mean…. The hypocrisy is astounding and disturbing on levels I can’t even comprehend. The fact that Georgia, who is known to search her and David’s name on Twitter and answers back to anyone that tags or even mentions her didn’t even acknowledge Anna’s tweet says sooooooo much about this “best friend dynamic duo”. The fact that Anna is resorting to jokes about kissing another woman just for attention also…. WHEW. If this isn’t the biggest cry for attention I don’t know what is. And the fact that people feed into her attempts also and are petitioning for them to kiss and show up in GO!

Lord. I've seen so much talk about casting female actresses in regard to fem-presenting Aziraphale/Crowley over the past week, and while it is disappointing, I am not at all surprised. The first inkling I had was upon seeing the reactions when a behind the scenes photo of Crowley as Bildad the Shuhite was posted just before the release of GO 2:

It seems that a lot of folks were expecting/hoping for fem!Crowley, as we saw in Golgotha in season 1 (on the right), and when that turned out not to be the case, the reaction was to call Bildad!Crowley ugly, to say that he should shave, and other comments essentially making fun of this particular look. Obviously, much of this could have (and likely was) made in jest, but the overall consensus was clear: You can't be feminine with a beard.

(Which...I'd like to see someone tell that to Michael Sheen, because yes, the fuck you can...)

So from the outset, I was already bothered by what seemed like the hypocrisy of on the one hand celebrating a show where the characters are genderfluid/nonbinary by definition, and then on the other hand getting upset when one character doesn't fit into a prescribed, conventional idea of femininity.

When Neil subsequently mentioned that there had been a storyline for female-presenting Aziraphale and Crowley in the 1960s, it was dismaying (but again, not surprising) to see these same fans casting female actresses in the roles. Never mind that you already had David playing female!Crowley and Nanny Ashtoreth in season 1. Never mind that both Michael and David have played...well, "drag" doesn't seem like exactly the right word, but they've played women, and brilliantly subverted gender roles in their own ways. There is no reason to think that they couldn't do a fabulous job as fem!presenting Aziraphale and Crowley, except that (again) some fans seem to have a specific idea of femininity that they think does not or cannot apply to Michael and David.

Which then brings us to the apparent clamoring for Anna and Georgia as female Aziraphale and Crowley, which has again left me scratching my head. In all of the tweets and hubbub, I have not seen one person say why they think AL and Georgia would do a good job in said roles--like, "Oh, Georgia was so good as [insert role]" or "I loved Anna as [insert role]"--only that they would be "so amazing." This leads me to think that the only reason these fans want AL and Georgia in the roles is because they are Michael and David's partners. They are assuming that this is somehow a guarantee of the same profound understanding of the characters and their connection, despite there being no evidence of such a correlation. (I mean...I fooled around with my former grad school professor last year, but that doesn't mean I have a PhD...)

What it also seems to indicate is that these folks are not thinking of what is best for the characters, either, or indeed if playing female!Aziraphale and Crowley is something AL or Georgia would even want to do. Neil recently said that Georgia turned down a role in GO 2 supposedly because the character was older than her and she didn't feel it was appropriate. If this is the case, why would Georgia want to play the role of a middle-aged character? Because that is what Aziraphale and Crowley are--ageless celestial beings, yes, but beings who have chosen to present as middle-aged. That is a key part of who they are, so to have the female versions of them played by younger actresses makes no sense and seems downright disrespectful.

There is also what you said, about AL's cringey tweet from a little over a week ago. Georgia could have absolutely responded to or acknowledged it by now, as she has responded to several other tweets since then...but she hasn't. Not a reply, not even a 'like.' And I agree with you that that seems to speak volumes, and that it would probably be a good idea if people looked beyond the Staged-driven narrative of "Georgia and AL are BFFs" to see how Georgia actually seems to feel about her.

(And to echo another thing you said, I will never understand how it is somehow completely fine for fans to ship Georgia and Anna/want to see them make out despite neither of them showing that level of affection toward each other or having any visible chemistry, yet not okay to ship Michael and David who do have that chemistry and have been making their feelings for each other very obvious for the last several years...)

So yes, those are my thoughts on the whole female Aziraphale/Crowley fancasting situation. I just hope that if we do get them as fem!presenting in season 3, that it is Michael and David, because there is no way any other two actors could give us what we got with Aziraphale and Crowley the way Michael and David did. I guess we'll see what happens...

#phantomstars24 #reply post #good omens 2 #aziraphale #crowley #michael sheen #welsh seduction machine #david tennant #soft scottish hipster gigolo #georgia tennant #this proves that michael and david's chemistry is what made go what it was #i love how they both say a big 'fuck you' to society's expectations #how they both play with gender and have both masculine and feminine qualities #and they would be incredible as fem!presenting Aziraphale and Crowley #Michael in particular I think would relish the opportunity #the irony of people wanting to shove him and David into the same boxes they want Aziraphale and Crowley removed from #fandom woes #anna lundberg #discourse

[22degreehalo]

So I have Thought About It and here is my proposed timeline r.e. Oscar and Hamilton.

Andy finds out about it very early on because he is a musical theatre nerd and probably keeps up with this stuff in general and also because he likes all this corny history stuff and so this musical in particular is probably RIGHT up his own personal alley.

Andy tells Oscar all about it because they’re boyfriends and he knows Oscar likes proper theatre and the whole race-blind casting thing and also it’s a super cool musical about an accountant!!!! (Not really but he is excited :) )

Oscar thinks that this sounds like the worst idea for a musical he has EVER heard and would only ever watch it out of bile fascination to see how bad it really is.

The early reviews start coming in (which Andy enthusiastically sends to Oscar and which he only reads out of aforementioned bile fascination) and Oscar starts to realise that huh maybe this actually IS a big deal?

They go see it together off-broadway and it’s a somewhat uncommon instance in which their interests completely intersect and they both have an amazing time!!! :)

Hamilton starts to become a big mainstream thing and Oscar becomes increasingly reluctant to gush about it in public because he is a Snob (Andy feels no such self-consciousness and is just really happy about it all!)

Michael discovers Hamilton and Oscar resolves to never ever mention aloud that he actually enjoyed it.

Pam and Jim try to commiserate with Andy over how hard it is to get tickets and he reveals he and Oscar already saw it together. Giving Oscar the perfect opportunity to smile sympathetically and say things like ‘yeah, if you get the chance to see it, go for SURE - it was absolutely incredible to see in-person, and if that’s how it was off-broadway, before it became this whole big thing, it must be even better now. Honestly, it’s been incredible to see how big this show has become!’ Which he takes advantage of with relish because he is, again, a Snob.

#the office

[regrettablewritings]

Slapped By Legal (Matt Murdock x Reader)

@locke-writes​ S u f f e r

‘Twas four weeks before Christmas, in a Hell’s Kitchen home, where you sat in the kitchen, feeling downtrodden and boned. Your laptop was open, the window filled with tabs Of all the potential gifts you could feasibly nab. But this was three hours into searching and nary a perfect gift could be found As your brain began contemplating just burning the building to the ground —

Okay, maybe don’t do that. But you would’ve been lying if you’d claimed you weren’t tempted to at least fling your laptop out the window. Buying gifts for one’s boyfriend was usually a point if glee for most couples. You had coworkers who would gush about what they’d gotten their partners, eagerly asking you if you wanted to see it. Even without you courteously saying yes, they would shove their phone into your face, forcing you to not only pretend to be interested, but also to remember that the clock was ticking — and you still didn’t have anything for your own partner.

At face value, Matt would presumably be a relatively easy man to but for. He lived well within his means, both to regard his disability but also because he was just simply a humble person. Most people like that would’ve been satisfied with, like, a bottle of wine.

But not your Matt: Your Matt was Matthew Michael Murdock, a man both blessed and cursed with sensitivities that made his tastes particular — literally. You had to sit on the side of caution when it came to nearly everything: Certain materials felt scratchy on his skin; certain foods and drinks tasted like every step of the factory that had contributed to their production; cologne bothered his nose; and he didn’t much listen to music anyway, so a radio or stereo would’ve been mostly pointless.

You released a loud, aggravated groan as you flopped in your seat. You were pretty positive that no matter where Matt was at this point in time, he probably heard you. Even if it was from Queens.

Fuck this, you thought as you grumpily scrolled further along your current tab. That bastard is getting a gift card. Or a wine-stopper. Or —

And that’s when you saw it. In an instant, your posture turned upright alongside your sense of hope.

— Or that!

Everything about it was perfect: The price, the content, the opportunity -- you simply had to have Matt have it!

Christmas tended to be a rather small affair for the Nelson & Murdock crew. With nobody having any real family to speak of (or, at the very least, any family worth visiting), the four of you were more than happy to make do with your own little traditions: Ordering Thai from down the street, drinking yourselves silly without the guilt, and just plain enjoying one another’s company. Oh, and opening presents together, of course.

And the entire while Foggy and Karen expressed excitement over their gifts, you sat there with a slight hint of smugness just barely nestled inside of you. When they gave Matt his own gift, you couldn’t help but feel some relief: A mug and a paperweight in the shape of an apple. Sure signs that even after all this time, they, too, struggled with what the hell to give the guy who generally wants for nothing.

You didn’t want to silently toot your own horn, but you already knew you had them beat. Hence why you saved the best for last. And although you weren’t quite certain as to how his innate lie detection worked, you couldn’t help but suspect that he was on to you. It was subtle, but it was like it was hidden in the crook of his brow every time he happened to face your direction. Not that he said anything, of course. He wasn’t new to your breed of mischief, after all.

Two could play at this game. All he needed to do was wait patiently until your dramatic self became too overwhelmed with eagerness to bear it.

The gusto with which you presented the parcel was met with further brow-cocking on Matt’s part.

“Matthew,” you spoke, enforcing an exaggeratory accent befitting of an American’s idea of a British butler, “your Yuletide endowment.”

Matt huffed with amusement. “‘Endowment’? What, are we living fancy now?” You made no response, perfectly content to simply watch him rip apart the colorful paper with anticipation. To be perfectly honest, Matt wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from you. Normally, he could tell what something was at a distance. But once boxes and further packaging got involved whatever his senses reported back to him got all fuzzy and muddled.

But surely whatever you’d gotten was something you were proud of. After all, he’d spent the entire gift-unwrapping listening to the small, telltale signs of your excitement.

“It’s a . . .” He lifted it from the ruins of tissue paper. “. . . T-shirt?”

“Uh-huuhhh!” you chriped. He could hear you practically vibrating. Matt wasn’t averse to t-shirts. But he had to admit, it was a bit of a strange thing for you to get so excited about. Though, feeling about the cotton, he could sense some roughness. Ink. Was there a design on this? Was it a graphic t-shirt?

“Put it on, put it on!” you cheered. He did so, not able to think of a reason why he shouldn’t. Besides, well, the fact that he knew you were being highly suspicious. The brief moment it took for him to pop his head through the neck hole, he could hear rustling coming from your part of the little circle. He also heard Foggy snort before weakly attempting to stifle his obvious laugh. He heard Karen’s breath hitch as well, though not in any way that denoted discomfort. In fact, he heard heartbeats quicken and lungs practically spasming.

What the hell had you done.

“Okay, I give up, what does it say?” Matt demanded.

“Nothing!” Foggy squeaked.

Matt’s lips pressed into a thing, unimpressed line. “Yeah, that’s bullshit. I don’t even need to hear for a lie, what is it? What does it say?”

“It, um,” Karen offered fruitlessly, “It says ‘World’s Best Boyfriend’, that’s all.”

“Seriously?” Matt sighed, though not without cracking a hint of a smile. “You’re going to lie to a blind guy? And to me of all blind guys?” He heard you shuffling towards him, walking on your knees. 

“Don’t worry about it, Babe,” you insisted, pressing a kiss to his scruffy cheek. In the moment you leaned towards him, he could smell a new smell on you: It wasn’t unlike the one that belonged to his brand-new shirt.

But before he could demand the truth any further, Foggy cut in with a giggle-wobbled, “Time for Christmas photos! Say cheese, Lovebirds!”

Matt could only give in; there was no point in trying to wedge the truth out of any of you. All he knew was that he knew you three were lying about . . . something.

Ah, well, he decided as he heard the click of Foggy’s camera phone going off. Perhaps there was a way to get the truth out of you . . .

It didn’t work. In spite of his best efforts (and damn, were they his best), he couldn’t get it out of you. However, that wasn’t to say that he didn’t get anything he wanted out of you. And as he began to fall prey to his exhaustion, the events of the day finally catching up to him, he snuggled his naked form loser to yours. Perhaps the truth would have to wait for another day . . .

For your part, you were proud of yourself. Admittedly, part of the pride’s source came from the fact that you were able to hold your ground in the end (Matt was just too giving of a lover to be good at torturing you). But for the most part, it came from the fact that you were able to execute your plan as you intended it. In a way, it was also like a little bit of revenge: Revenge on Matt for being one of the absolute worst people to shop for. And for that, maybe you’d hold on to your not-so-secret secret. Just for a little while longer . . .

But first, one last relishing in your success before you succumbed to sleep.

You carefully and slowly made your way to your side of the bed. Not enough to properly wake up your sleeping boyfriend, but just so that you could reach your phone from its resting place on the nightstand. Once acquired, you pressed the home button and set your sights aglow with the image you had last had your phone on before your and Matt’s little session.

It was the picture Foggy had taken earlier of you and Matt, dressed in the matching T-shirts you had acquired for yourselves. You grinned cheekily at the camera, making sure that the bubbly white writing on the black fabric was perfectly legible: “My Ass Got Slapped By Legal.”

And next to you was Matt, a smile planted on his handsome face but altogether tainted with confusion and growing insanity over what the hell you had him wearing -- an equally black t-shirt with equally bubbly white writing: “I Am Legal.”

Oh, yeah, you decided as you smiled to yourself. This was going on the Christmas cards next year.

#matt murdock x reader #matt murdock imagine #daredevil imagine #daredevil x reader #daredevil imagines #matt murdock imagines #MURRY CRINGUS #i am dumb ignore me #i've had this idea in my head a pathetic amount of time

[nothingunrealistic]

From the first scene that Asia Kate Dillon's Taylor Mason was introduced in Season 2 at a charity poker game between "the billies" (as Paul Giamatti's Chuck Rhoades now classifies them), Billions transformed from a cheeky finance bro faceoff between District Attorney Rhoades and billionaire hedge-fund visionary Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis) to a richly layered show about the cost of insidious greed. And no one has been fucked over more, especially by Axe's self-centered plays, than his own genius protegé, the young financial advisor Taylor. Even though he hardly batted an eye destroying Taylor's relationship with Mike Birbiglia's Oscar Landstraat in Season 3, and even relished squashing their independence in starting the environmentally focused Taylor Mason Carbon, Axe drew battle lines against anyone who would misgender Taylor, who uses they/them pronouns, as does Dillon, who called for the end of gendering acting categories in award shows years ago.

As the first ever non-binary lead character in a TV show, Taylor's enemies and allies can be often be identified by how a person genders them. They come in blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments, but if you're sensitive to it, those quick lines shoot like barbs. And while Billions writes in those infractions, it's used sparingly, never becoming a punchline or defining Taylor as One Thing.

[…]

And, of course, Taylor is so much more complex than merely their gender identity, clawing out of those instances of being fucked over, doing business with shady Russian oligarchs (John Malkovich), and pinpointing the opportunities in the financial playing field that others have missed, just as their former mentor Axe taught them. In the Season 5 finale, Axe and Taylor have a heart-to-heart before he jets off to Switzerland to avoid arrest, in a trap to finally catch Axe that Taylor helped set along with Chuck and their now-boss, Corey Stoll's Michael Thomas Aquinas Prince. ("What a name," I say. "I know!" Dillon agrees.) As a viewer, their conversation is bittersweet, both because Axe finally acknowledges Taylor as a peer and because we might not ever see the two together again. […] It's the first time Taylor has ever seen Axe with his knees taken out—and at their own hand, no less—and, even in defeat, recognizes that he's learned nothing.

"There's something very sad about Axe in that moment for Taylor," Dillion continues. "Taylor's like, 'I really am sorry it went this way. I wish you'd made better choices, man.' It is a moment of them being like, 'Wow, we're actually peers. I'm not your mentee anymore. You're not my mentor. That relationship is done, and I think that means that we're done'—at least for now."

Though Taylor is officially without a mentor, they've taken on a mentee in their newer hire Rian (Eva Victor). Their scenes together are episode highlights; their rapport is hilarious, with Taylor's advice often falling into "the wrong side of a generation," as they describe in a Season 5 episode, and Rian's Millenial-Gen Z cusper attitude challenging how Taylor's been reared to make money in the cutthroat financial industry.

"One of the things that Taylor sees in Rian, as Taylor says, is that Rian is also struggling with how to be a good person, a respectable capitalist, if that's possible," Dillon says. "Taylor is trying to be the mentor that Axe wasn't to them, meaning tell Rian the truth about what this job is. The only thing that Axe ever told Taylor was, 'Turn your [hate] into fuel and you'll make millions of dollars.' Taylor's been able to paint a much broader picture for Rian. That is also an interesting part of the dynamic: Rian's got the whole picture and is still wanting to be in this world. What does that say about Rian?"

For one, it says that Rian is the type of person who would like to buy $5k worth of brand-new camping equipment whenever she feels like it, as exposed in Sunday's "Burn Rate." The Season 6 episode plastered the line-item expenses of its core characters on the screen in another move of showing exactly how wealthy the people of this world are are while revealing fun insight into their taste. Like, who knew Wendy Rhoades (Maggie Siff) would be so fond of Mejuri jewelry?

[…]

Taylor is one of the first casualties of financial transparency, whose nondescript fit clocks in at a cool $182,615, including an $180k Patek Philippe watch you'd otherwise never notice. Compared to that time keeping sticker shock, their $1,850 custom blazer seems downright reasonable.

"You just look like you're wearing a turtleneck sweater and a blazer, but that character knows that actually cost 10 grand," says Dillion. "What does that do to that character's attitude? Can you imagine walking into your first day at a new job, knowing you're wearing $34,000 worth of whatever?" Dillion is referencing the moment Kate Sacker (Condola Rashad), poached from the State's Attorney's office, confidently marches into her first day working at the newly minted Mike Prince Capital as legal council for Prince's lofty plans to bring the 2028 Olympics to New York City. "The onion continues to be peeled over the course of Season 6."

With Axe out of the picture, Season 6 clears the way for Mike Prince to fill in as the new billionaire figurehead of Billions moving forward, buying up every asset once under Axe Cap. By the middle of Episode 4, Prince seems to have won over the office's most important stakeholders, including Wendy and Wags (David Costible), after a contentious first three episodes, but not Taylor, at least just yet. "Burn Rate," like the character's expenses, exposes Taylor's "number"—that is, how much money they need to make before leaving the firm for greater pastures—first set at $100 million, with the intention of using the wealth they've accumulated to make real social change for good, harking back to the starry-eyed Taylor of Season 2.

"I've always known that Taylor was trying to figure out if they could stay a morally centered person in this world, but I didn't know that their ultimate goal was actually to be a philanthropist," says Dillion. "There's now a deeper why, which is, is Taylor doing that because they're trying to make up for all of the shit that they did to get to where they currently are? Or are they doing it because it's something they've always wanted to do?"

In singlehandedly killing Taylor's first philanthropic idea under Prince—to build the infrastructure for free Wi-Fi in both New York City, to be a more attractive destination for the Olympics Committee, and, broadly, Africa—he recalibrates their (mis)conception of how much their Number can truly achieve. The $10 billion boy Prince calls Taylor "kind of rich," even when they're in striking distance of $100 million, and reality-checks their dreams. "If you want to change the world, nine digits ain't gonna do it," he says at the end of the episode.

"What Taylor is going through is a great illustration of a person who is complicated, and is at all times trying to do what is in both their best interest and in the highest interest of all," Dillon says. "It is at the times when those things come into conflict that create the most internal conflict for Taylor."

With a newfound hunger to show up Prince and change the world—their best interest and the highest interest of all aligned—Taylor instantly conjures a new number for their exit strategy. I bet you can guess exactly what it is.

#asia kate dillon #billions #taylor mason #2022 will be the year of the akd renaissance and i am so ready #i do take issue with 1) the opening paragraph suggesting the poker tournament is taylor's first appearance in the show #2) the claim that no one would notice taylor's watch if not for the price tag. i noticed! i've been noticing!! it's a relevant watch!!! #also 3) the multiple misspellings of actors' names in this. cmon #bobby axelrod #mike prince #rian billions #6x04

[unholyplumpprincess]

Call Me! Xoxo

Commission for @realityinspace with their OC Alex with the new killer of Ghostface!

(Older content)

Relationship: Alex(OC)/The Ghostface

Fandom: Dead By Daylight

Warnings: NSFT/R18, Blood, threat of wound fucking, violence, typical horror themes of dbd, bondage, marking with bruises and cutting, name calling/degradation.

Words: 3.1k

___________________

There was a new killer entering the realm and all of them knew it. Once another survivor joined their fray, they were all sure of it. Yet, for multiple trials, it was the same ole’ same ole’. Killers who they’d all fought against were still there, and yet no new one.

So, the survivors all branched together and assumed that perhaps, maybe, there wouldn’t BE a new killer.  

No one trained for anyone who might be new, nobody thought up new strategies for a new ability or weaponry. Devising plans against the current reign of terror from the original ones they fought against would do just fine.

Claudette and Laurie weren’t so sure. Alex had taken to listening to whatever Claudette had to say- he was sure she was the smartest person there. When she said it was a no-go to drop your guard, he believed her. And Laurie, well, Laurie had been struggling all her life against fighting one particular killer. If anyone had battle-ridden eyes, it was her.  

And if she agreed to not drop your guard, Alex knew damn well not to do it.

~Rest under the cut~

After his run in with the Trapper and the infamous Michael Myers, Alex had gotten a little reputation around camp. He didn’t get hooked because he spread his legs- and honestly, a few of them said he was smart for it. It provided distraction not only for them to escape and get out, it meant the killer was distracted and the Entity would become displeased with them.

It also meant, to Alex, that they saw him as useful. An asset to the team rather than just going out and whoring himself. Who knew getting laid could have such perks?

David joked, asked how good a lay Alex was that killers were willing to take punishments for a piece of him. Claudette had worried, said that maybe another time a killer wouldn’t think twice before ending him right where he stood. Dwight, well, Dwight just wouldn’t make eye contact with him. Alex’s bad.

His survivor’s spirit still stood strong, it wasn’t Alex’s fault that changing the game was just in his nature. So, what if he just had to bend over and take it like a good boy to get out alive and well, it worked, didn’t it?

At least.

It had thus far.

The current match should have been easy. Crotus Penn Asylum was one of the familiar places to them, despite it being rather open. The thick fog and thick brush of grass made it easier to hide- especially with all the trees.

A tricky map for those who were new, but who entered the match with him were rather veterans at this point. Himself, Laurie, Dwight, and Quentin. Quentin was still one of the more anxious people, but he got the job done. As long as it wasn’t a certain killer that had his sights set on Quentin in particular that round.

There was no humming or children singing, so that ruled out two of them. No traps set around, no chainsaw revving- there was nothing.

It was eerily quiet.

Alex was working on a generator alone at the time. Carefully making sure that every wire went to where it was supposed to. It seemed like this match would be a breeze when he hears a nearby generator go off, lighting up the area in front of him.  

That should have been a hint that this was going too smoothly, that he was being watched. Waiting for his gaze to go from the generator to an area in front of him.

Of course, that’s when he feels a gloved hand yank him off the generator swiftly and tug him onto a broad shoulder.

Alex’s eyes widen, not familiar with the pitch black...cloak? This guy was wearing. Nor was he someone he recognized- he didn’t even HEAR this guy come up behind him! Was it The Shape? No, too lithe to be Michael—someone new?!

“What the fuck?!” Is the perfectly intelligent thing that comes out of his mouth from shock. Immediately starting to wiggle and squirm, kicking at this guy’s chest and beating on his back. He can feel himself getting looser, watching the world shift from left to right and he’s almost there. Can feel himself slipping and-

A scream pierces through the air, one he doesn’t recognize as himself but can feel how hoarse his throat is. His eyes are huge, looking down in disbelief to a hook through his shoulder. He...He got hooked.

And then, Alex’s eyes shift to the killer in front of him and he understands why.

The new guy- the words ‘The Ghostface’ echo through his head and he knows the Entity has given this killer a name. A new champion.

He lets out a whimper in pain, reaching for the hook just as the killer tilts his head. As if amused, the Ghostface even lets out a laugh. “Wow, you were almost TOO easy to get. Man, you really let me down, kid. Thought you were a bit of a legend.”

The speaking part startled Alex enough- but being taunted? That just makes him kick out, watching the killer jerk back a step and just laugh at him as Alex groans in pain.

A sneer settles on his face as the asshole just turns around and skips off- LITERALLY skipping off! Like this was such a fun game!

Perhaps to a killer it was, to Alex, this was someone taking his pride. He feels himself growl in his chest once Ghostface is out of his sight, his spirit strong and coursing through him. He swears he sees red in anger, swinging his legs back, then forth, then one more time and managing to lift himself off the hook enough to swing to the floor. An aching tear in his shoulder and leaking blood onto his shirt and staining the white color.

He’s never been so mad in his life. Stalking the stalker as he follows where he notices the grass has been shifted, soon leading him into the actual building of the asylum.

Steam practically is pouring from him in rage, able to ignore the pain stinging his shoulder when he sees the black cloaked form seem to take note he’s no longer on the hook. Looking outside the window where Alex SHOULD have been.

He seizes the opportunity and does something never heard of.

He tackles that son of a bitch.

Running gets him enough ‘oomph’ to knock the bastard over. Hearing the clanking of a knife clatter to the floor nearby as he slams the Ghostface into the ground. That earns Alex a yelp, followed by the larger of the two to roll to try and get on top of Alex. Successfully rolling over until Alex could outstretch his fingers and snatch the shining blade, using his powerful thighs to slam the killer back to the floor and straddle his waist.

The blade in his hand is held to the throat of the Ghostface, his other shoulder screaming from pain from the wound and dripping blood down onto the killer’s nice black cloak.

“Yeah, how do you like that, huh? Not so fucking tough now.” Alex snarls down at him, pressing the sharp blade against the flesh he can see peering out from underneath the mask. He almost relishes the way the killer underneath him shudders- almost.

His mistake is letting his nature get the better of him. Because he notices just how hard this asshole was under him.

Upon sensing his shock, Ghostface bucks his hips and knocks Alex off balance. Giving him enough time to roll them over, pluck his knife from his grasp, and slam an arm into Alex’s chest to effectively pin him. Holding the knife to the corner of Alex’s lips who can practically hear the killer above him grinning.

“I like that very much. Very. Very much. Taking down a legend AND making him my bitch? Sounds just fine to me- ah, ah, ah, don’t make that face. Heard you were a great lay, like spreading your legs, huh?” His voice shouldn’t be that attractive, muffled even behind a mask. And Alex should not- should NOT be getting hard because of how he’s speaking to him. Like he was a child getting scolded for all the wrong reasons.

Man, his sexual tastes really did get fucked up the more time he spends in this realm.

Alex holds his tongue but keeps up the face. Furrowed brows and a near snarl on his face. But, he lies there. Legs open on instinct to allow Ghostface to sit between them. An arm belonging to the killer crossed over his chest and too much weight on top of him. Yet, the threat of a knife at the corner of his mouth keeps him from barking back at him.

That’s how Alex ends up tied up. Rope he didn’t see on the Ghostface being brandished. He’s humiliatingly on his knees, having kicked and hissed and put up a fuss as his lower clothing was removed. Leaving him in just his bloodied shirt and a sneer on his face.

The rope ties his arms behind his back, bound tight enough he can’t jerk from them. Tied down to his calves and ankles with an inter-looping rope and forcing his legs apart. Sat up on his knees and trying to fight back his arousal.

He sure makes the faces, sneering and huffing, jerking his head away when a gloved hand trails along his jawline and the killer calls him a ‘pretty boy’.

Alex hates when his cock jumps at the praise. Hardened and reddened at the head, shiny with pre-cum.

He hates it even more when he hears the groan of approval above him and a boot being pressed underneath his cock. Nudging at his balls and sliding the smooth boot up the length of his cock. Pre-cum collected on the leather and making it shinier than before.

There’s a pause, a shuffle, and Alex lifts his gaze up. Peering underneath his lashes as he watches the Ghostface move his cloak off to the side and fish his own hardened dick from his pants. The only hint of skin Alex would see. Tanned, flushed at the head to show just how affected he was by all of this. The foreskin allowing a peek of a generously pink, bulbous head that makes his mouth water.

He’s a decent length too, six or seven inches with a thickness about him that makes Alex’s toes curl. If this killer got off on him being bratty, so he would be if it got him a good lay. Already bondage was a good start.

Alex huffs, almost a snort when the thick cock is taken in a gloved hand. Slapping the heat of it against his cheek and leaving a sliver of pre-cum sticking to his cheekbone and connecting him to the Ghostface’s cock.

“Got a mouth on you, kid. Bet you could put it to better use, don’t you think?” Ghostface grumbles nice and low, moving his cock to rub against Alex’s lips that stay shut. Teeth clenched even if he wants to flick his tongue out, show him what he could really do.

What? Old habits died hard. You’d have a hard time too if such a pretty dick was against your mouth!

“Aww, come on baby, don’t be like that. Be nice and open up.” His voice turns to almost a sing song, and yet Alex still refuses. Even as the tempting head is revealed with a small stroke by Ghostface to his own cock. Smearing the pre-cum across Alex’s lips and making them shiny like they had lipgloss.

“Go fuck yourself- even better, suck MY dick.” Alex snarks back, turning his head to the side to make sure Ghostface couldn’t just shove his cock in his mouth mid-sentence. He feels kinda tough, puffing out his chest and feeling rather good of his grumble.

Except, well, he’s going to give up on the third try before Ghostface makes a low noise in his throat like he’s disappointed. “Ohh, well. Figured you would have preferred your mouth but...You leave me no choice.” He says, all whilst sounding like he’s disappointed with a sigh included.

Confused, Alex goes to ask what he means before his shirt is torn open further. Fingers teasing around the rim of his wound. The tear is decent from the hook, and his eyes only widen bigger when the figure in front of him moves somewhere behind him and he can feel his cock slide across the wound. The salty sting of pre-cum edging on the wound.

Oh no- no he WOULDN’T-

“Wait, wait, no don’t-” Alex whimpers out in reply, his body jerking and his head trying to whip over his shoulder to see what’s about to happen. But a handful of his hair is grabbed, forcing his head forward and down. The threat is clear.

“Aww, pretty boy ain’t so tough now, is he? ...Tell ya what, you scream for me- open that pretty mouth wide and moan and moan like the whore you are. And this-” Ghostface pauses to use two fingers to spread open the wound as if another hole to fuck as he puts emphasis to his next words. “Forbidden little hole won’t be fucked. Sound like a deal?”

--

Alex finds himself soon enough pushed onto his bad soon after that. Lubed up fingers from his spit fucking him open with two gloved fingers. Scissoring him open as another gloved hand strokes his cock expertly. From root to tip, twisting his wrist and squeezing the head juuuust right and making Alex’s eyes about cross.

He tries to press his ankles to the floor, fuck up into the rhythm, but Ghostface is cruel. Squeezing at his cock until he yelps and relents, falling to the floor.

Alex keeps up his end of the bargain, crying out, nails scrambling at the floor under his back. On the lower floor of this building in one of the open rooms full of windows, his voice carries. And all he can hope for at this point is that everyone takes the hint, avoiding going into the building and avoiding looking into the windows.

He’s sure he looks pretty. Bruises line up his arms where Ghostface had thrown him back down onto his back with rough hands. His lips are red from biting at them and wet from his own drool. His eyes glassy, half lidded as his face is flushed, body just as flushed and cock straining with every touch. Every whine and moan is timed juuuust right. It could have driven anyone insane.

A third finger joins the other two and he sobs out as they’re quirked upwards. Rubbing and pressing right at the spot and Alex can feel pre-cum pooling from him. Just a little more-

Of course he doesn’t get it. Forgetting his promise and having broken down to whimpers.

“Told ya to be loud.” Ghostface coos. But before Alex can beg for forgiveness, a little black ribbon is brandished from his pocket. Tying perfectly around the base of his cock and straining blood flow. A makeshift cock ring.

Alex about cries. Tears spilling over his pretty red cheeks and his hips humping up into the air. Sensitive and wanting.

That’s when he really gets it. A thick cock replacing gloved fingers. A hand around his throat, another at his hip and forcing him onto Ghostface’s dick again and again. He’s loud then as Ghostface laughs, snarling out. “That’s it baby, cry for me. Let them know who you belong to.”

Alex wails. Head thrown back in anguish and practically screaming out as hips slam into his ass again and again. Too rough, it makes him sore quickly but oh by god- or whoever is listening does he love it.

“Please! Please please- oh God let me cum- oh PLEASE, please I’ll do anything fuck please just- hhh!” Alex’s voice trails off into a low whine when a leather clad finger slides up the underside of his dick, causing the purpling flesh to throb weakly.

“Say you’re my little slut.” Ghostface murmurs back.

“What-” Alex starts weakly, shaking his head but quickly whimpers when the hand moves from his cock. Hips stilling inside of him even if Ghostface’s dick is throbbing inside of him .Fucking bastard was willing to edge himself just to hear it.

“I’m your little slut.” He starts in a murmur, shuddering weakly.

“Louder.”

Alex whimpers in reply, humiliated and weak. Squeezing around the thickness inside of him and receiving a harsh thrust in reply.

That does the trick.

“I’m your little slut!” He wails back, head thrown back as Ghostface picks up speed again. Bruising his hips with his grip, forcing Alex into the floor as his thrusting gets more and more desperate as Alex keeps wailing the words he wants to hear.

The ribbon is removed and Alex doesn’t even need to hear the command for him to cum. He’s off. Blurry eyed, broken, drooling, crying, squirming and kicking as best as he could in his bound position as he’s filled in reply. Cum drooling inside of his hole that squeezes and squeezes for more even as there’s nothing left to give.

He’s left numb, panting on the floor as Ghostface moves off him. Alex vaguely hears the click of a camera, the flash blinding him further but he can’t care.

The loud hum of the last generator goes off, followed by the gates beeping to signal it’s time to go. To escape.

Alex hardly feels the rope being cut off him. Hardly even feels being rolled onto his side.

“Damn, you were a good lay.” He hears chuckled above him. A boot nudging at his side but he only hums in reply. Broken and willing.

Alex only winces and feels something when he can feel a knife in his skin on his thigh and hip area. The blade slices easily enough, feeling warm, sticky blood leaking from whatever new wound is being made. It feels like letters, but he can hardly tell.

The walk of shame was something he was familiar with. Being laid out near the door in due time- but he isn’t even given the ability to put back on his clothes. Left in his bloody shirt stained with cum and sweat as Quentin meets him at the door, having waited for him. Good boy, Alex thinks, his eyes sleepy and thighs shaking.

Quentin’s cheeks flush and he offers his jacket to cover Alex with.

All four survive.

And later, later Alex is able to see in the broken mirror of the cabin’s shower rooms what wound was left on him.

In a sore, scabbing over wound, written into him in bright pinks and reds of his own flesh is: ‘Call me! Xoxo’ with a heart at the end.

Fuck.

#Ghostface x Oc #Ghostface #Dbd #Dead by daylight #dick by daylight #nsft #lemon #Alex (Oc) #commissions #princess writing

[technouk]

Everyman Superstar DJ Carl Cox On Techno, Ibiza, Burning Man And Life In The Fast Lane Carl Cox Photo credit Dan Reid Carl Cox has provided the soundtrack for some of the best nights out for millions of clubbers and music lovers all over the world. "Coxy," as he is affectionately known, is one of the most famous DJs on the planet. It is not every day one speaks to such an iconic figure, so in advance of our interview, I talked to a couple of experts to hear their thoughts. Author, DJ and techno editor at Mixmag, Marcus Golden Barnes, is glowing in his appraisal. "I love Carl! He has worked tirelessly to transmit his unwavering love for music to millions of people all over the world. He is always buoyant and positive, and clearly revels in his job every single time he plays. Carl is a remarkable character who lives for music, there's no superficial facade, just pure, sincere love and soul." Ministry Of Sound DJ, journalist and Ibiza stalwart Timmy Sheridan is renowned for deflating the pretensions of many a superstar DJ with his withering editorial putdowns, and is not a man to suffer pretenders gladly. His evaluation of Carl Cox is telling. "Everybody loves Carl. He is unique because you get a sense that absolutely everything you see is what you get. He's literally the only survivor of the process of becoming famous I can think of in our scene. He is utterly without guile, couldn't be less of a diva if he tried and most miraculous of all, still has a fully functioning sense of humor. On top of all this, he is an unwavering standard of excellence. He's never sold out, faked it or failed to deliver over something like 35 years. Few can say that, almost none in the UK." Sheridan continues, not without a sense of humor himself, "As a footnote, I should add, I also get the impression that if something broke, Carl would be the first one to know and to try to fix it. Most DJs can't even mix, never mind solder, splice or make a cabinet." Sheridan is probably not wrong, Cox worked in all aspects of the building trade before getting into DJing, he tells me by phone from his home in Australia. "My last job before I was a DJ was a scaffolder, and before that, I was a painter and decorator, and before that I was I was a builder's mate, a plasterer's mate and a chippy." Perhaps as a result of his unpretentious roots, Cox has always been alive to his opportunities with a clarity which might elude those with less varied life experience. "I know what it's like to be on the other side of the coin. I know what it's like to wait in a queue, to save up my money to go to an event, when I couldn't wait to hear the DJ play. I was right in the middle of the dance floor listening to the sound system with a big smile on my face, and dancing my ass off! Most DJs don't have that experience, most go straight into the DJ booth. But I was a clubber for a least 10 to 15 years before I was DJing. The only reason that I DJed was that - all the time I was dancing - the DJ wasn't really giving me what I wanted. So I thought, the only way I can do that is to do it myself. So that's what I did, I became a DJ." Carl Cox Photo (c) www.visionseven.co.uk After years of perfecting his craft alongside luminaries such as Paul Oakenfold and Danny Rampling, his big break came when he was invited to perform on three decks at a 1988 Sunrise event in Oxford at 10am. "Since that day I haven't looked back," he reflects. His motivation has remained constant, "I just always love the gift of sharing the love of music. If it moves me then hopefully it moves others." Cox describes the early rave scene as a "Woodstock" for his generation, and is delighted to see new generations embracing aspects of dance music culture, decades later. His distinctive smile behind the decks is a sight welcomed by clubbers of all ages, and one gets a sense that he is still genuinely grateful for every moment. This is no mean feat considering his career is one marked by tireless productivity. "It's taken me a long time to get to where I am," he admits. Cox has performed at over 5,000 events the last 30 years, that's over 166 times a year on average, a punishing schedule when one takes into account the travel needed between events. Cox was one of the first DJ/producers to have a chart hit with "I Want You (Forever)" in 1991, and has sold well over 100,000 records as a solo artist. His 1995 mix CD, 'F.A.C.T.,' set a new benchmark for techno, selling over 250,000 copies, while his label Intec has sold over 600,000 copies of their vinyl and digital releases combined. At the time of his last "Global" radio show, his listenership was a phenomenal 17 million people worldwide. With these staggering levels of reach and influence, Cox is, of course, aware of his role as an ambassador for the music he loves. But he speaks with a palpable enthusiasm when talking about supporting the next generation of techno stars. In particular, he name-checks two young artists signed to his label. "We have a lady called Anfisa Letyago and another guy called Vikthor, both making some really amazing music. Most people don't know these artists, but they are the 'now generation' putting out their own new music." Anfisa Letyago's recent Intec release "Catch The Spirit" is indeed a thunderously euphoric techno banger. One can see why Cox is so excited to be supporting this new wave of the music he loves. Cox is also increasingly involved with events as not just a headliner, but also as a curator. His involvement with the massive US dance music festival Ultra started by curating a relatively small "Carl Cox & Friends" tent which would hold around 2,500 people. The festival quickly had to upscale their allocation for his lineup, and today a purpose-built "Carl Cox Megastructure" holds up to 20,000 clubbers for his specially curated experiences. He admits that the music industry is more demanding now than ever, and DJ/producers also need to be able to perform their music live in order to survive. "People really need to see something tangible," he reflects, name-checking Paul Kalkbrenner, Stephan Bodzin and KiNK as exemplars of the art. The name Carl Cox is also synonymous with the clubbing scene of Ibiza. He has been there since its inception and reminisces fondly about the early days. "You always have certain years in life where it was the best. In the '80s none of the clubs had roofs, you danced under the stars, it was phenomenal. When those roofs went on the clubs, everything changed." Cox's 15-year residency at Ibiza venue Space helped to establish it as one of the most important club nights in the world. "Space was always a club which was a catalyst of how people felt about the island, because it was very much for the people who lived on the island, for the workers and also people who came to club. It had that Spanish feel about it. It was always a non-VIP orientated club, it was a dancefloor club for people who really wanted to have a great time." Cox is well placed to comment on the changes in the island's culture and ethos. "Today there is a VIP 'three-tier system' in most places, and DJs are playing more commercially to get more people in the clubs. It's all progression, it's nothing more than that." While he is pragmatic about the changing emphasis of Ibiza clubland, he is singularly unimpressed with new opportunities to buy overpriced sushi from star chefs. He remembers well being able to get beautiful locally-caught and cooked fish for 15 euros, and reflects on the loss of these simpler times on the island with a hint of sadness. "Well, it's disappeared, that whole idea now is gone. When people are flying in on a private jet or arriving in a superyacht, it's kind of taking away the true essence of what made Ibiza great in the first place." As this gradual transformation of Ibiza was underway, Cox made his first visit to the Burning Man festival in 2008. "As soon as I got onto the playa, I was a Burner, I was just into it." Cox found an opportunity for creative expression unlike anything he had experienced before. "I thought, this is something else, a gathering of like-minded people who go there to be creative, to gift in a way of being able to express themselves, from the biggest sculpture to the smallest detail of something meaningful." Now a regular Burning Man DJ, Cox still relishes the creative canvas, which he has chosen to paint purple in homage to one of his musical heroes. "I decided after three years that I wanted to build a camp at Burning Man, and to have The Purple Party in tribute to Prince. Everyone dressed in purple, and I just played Prince records and '80s music." These days, Cox is spending more time with another lifelong passion, motor racing. He started in 2013 by sponsoring the New Zealand-based sidecar team of his friend, Gavin Sokolich. When they zoomed to victory at the first championship that year, Cox recalls thinking "Wow, this is cool. I wonder what else we can do." True to his nature, Cox embraced the opportunity with gusto. He bought a racing bike, another sidecar, and revamped his team over the course to two infamously demanding Isle Of Man TT races. His team, CC Motorsport, finished in the top three of the TT races last year. Cox also sponsors 15-time Isle of Man TT winner Michael Dunlop, seven-time World Champion Tim Reeves and his passenger Mark Wilkes. He is also a partner in the boutique motorcycle restoration company TT Motorcycles, and obviously loves the work they do, bringing classic '80s Honda and Yamaha motorbikes back to pristine condition. After speaking at length about his teammates and colleagues, he mentions almost as an aside, "I also drag race myself. I have a Mark One Ford Capri, which is very very fast, over two thousand horsepower. It runs this quarter mile from seven seconds dead, at over 200 mph a quarter mile." As our conversation returns to his first love, Cox still speaks with the untainted enthusiasm of his teenage self, unselfconsciously "dancing his ass off" in the middle of the dance floor. He mentions forthcoming gigs at Tomorrowland and Space Ibiza On Tour, recent remixes for Matthew Bushwacker and Yothu Yindi, his Dr. Funk "El Rancho" remix, and his remake of "Dark Alleys". Throughout our entire conversation, his gratitude for his place in the world is obvious. "I'm so happy, I feel blessed and honored to be doing what I'm doing. At the end of the day I feel privileged to be able to be in this position, and to give you what you believe you should be getting from me as a DJ, but also as a person, because at the end of the day I'll have a beer with anyone, "I'll have a shot with everyone. I don't see myself any higher than anyone else." " There is some poetic justice in this self-effacing superstar DJ rising to the highest point in the dance music industry, using his position to inspire and support others, while indulging his passion for life in the fast lane and loving every sweet minute of it. By all accounts, it could not have happened to a nicer guy. Carl Cox Photo by Dan Reid Carl Cox ‘Dark Alleys’ (Remixes) is out now via Circus Recordings. Carl Cox tour dates: Fri, JUN 14 - Kings Hall at Avant Gardner, Brooklyn, NY Sat, JUN 15 - Brooklyn Mirage, Brooklyn, NY Sun, JUN 16 - Olympic Stadium, Montréal, Canada Wed, JUN 19 - Ushuaa Beach Hotel, Ibiza, Spain Fri, JUN 21 - Ciudad del Rock, Monteagudo Del Castillo, Spain Sat, JUN 22 - Marenostrum Fuengirola, Spain Wed, JUN 26 - Glastonbury Festival, Pilton Green, U.K. Thu, JUL 4 - Petrovaradin Fortress, Novi Sad, Serbia Sat, JUL 6 - Parco Dora, Piemont, Italy Sat, JUL 6 - Kappa Futur Festival, Turin, Italy Thu, JUL 11 - Stadion Poljud, Split, Croatia Fri, JUL 12 - DC10, Ibiza, Spain Fri, JUL 19 - De Schorre Recreation Ground, Boom, Belgium Sun, JUL 21 - Poble Espanyol, Barcelona, Spain Fri, JUL 26 - Tomorrowland, Boom, Belgium Tue, JUL 30 - Privilege, Ibiza, Spain AUG 7-12 - Boomtown, Hampshire, U.K. For more live dates visit carlcox.com/tours " readability="191.56632781652"> Carl Cox has provided the soundtrack for some of the best nights out for millions of clubbers and music lovers all over the world. "Coxy," as he is affectionately known, is one of the most famous DJs on the planet. It is not every day one speaks to such an iconic figure, so in advance of our interview, I talked to a couple of experts to hear their thoughts. Author, DJ and techno editor at Mixmag, Marcus Golden Barnes, is glowing in his appraisal. "I love Carl! He has worked tirelessly to transmit his unwavering love for music to millions of people all over the world. He is always buoyant and positive, and clearly revels in his job every single time he plays. Carl is a remarkable character who lives for music, there's no superficial facade, just pure, sincere love and soul." Ministry Of Sound DJ, journalist and Ibiza stalwart Timmy Sheridan is renowned for deflating the pretensions of many a superstar DJ with his withering editorial putdowns, and is not a man to suffer pretenders gladly. His evaluation of Carl Cox is telling. "Everybody loves Carl. He is unique because you get a sense that absolutely everything you see is what you get. He's literally the only survivor of the process of becoming famous I can think of in our scene. He is utterly without guile, couldn't be less of a diva if he tried and most miraculous of all, still has a fully functioning sense of humor. On top of all this, he is an unwavering standard of excellence. He's never sold out, faked it or failed to deliver over something like 35 years. Few can say that, almost none in the UK." Sheridan continues, not without a sense of humor himself, "As a footnote, I should add, I also get the impression that if something broke, Carl would be the first one to know and to try to fix it. Most DJs can't even mix, never mind solder, splice or make a cabinet." Sheridan is probably not wrong, Cox worked in all aspects of the building trade before getting into DJing, he tells me by phone from his home in Australia. "My last job before I was a DJ was a scaffolder, and before that, I was a painter and decorator, and before that I was I was a builder's mate, a plasterer's mate and a chippy." Perhaps as a result of his unpretentious roots, Cox has always been alive to his opportunities with a clarity which might elude those with less varied life experience. "I know what it's like to be on the other side of the coin. I know what it's like to wait in a queue, to save up my money to go to an event, when I couldn't wait to hear the DJ play. I was right in the middle of the dance floor listening to the sound system with a big smile on my face, and dancing my ass off! Most DJs don't have that experience, most go straight into the DJ booth. But I was a clubber for a least 10 to 15 years before I was DJing. The only reason that I DJed was that - all the time I was dancing - the DJ wasn't really giving me what I wanted. So I thought, the only way I can do that is to do it myself. So that's what I did, I became a DJ." After years of perfecting his craft alongside luminaries such as Paul Oakenfold and Danny Rampling, his big break came when he was invited to perform on three decks at a 1988 Sunrise event in Oxford at 10am. "Since that day I haven't looked back," he reflects. His motivation has remained constant, "I just always love the gift of sharing the love of music. If it moves me then hopefully it moves others." Cox describes the early rave scene as a "Woodstock" for his generation, and is delighted to see new generations embracing aspects of dance music culture, decades later. His distinctive smile behind the decks is a sight welcomed by clubbers of all ages, and one gets a sense that he is still genuinely grateful for every moment. This is no mean feat considering his career is one marked by tireless productivity. "It's taken me a long time to get to where I am," he admits. Cox has performed at over 5,000 events the last 30 years, that's over 166 times a year on average, a punishing schedule when one takes into account the travel needed between events. Cox was one of the first DJ/producers to have a chart hit with "I Want You (Forever)" in 1991, and has sold well over 100,000 records as a solo artist. His 1995 mix CD, 'F.A.C.T.,' set a new benchmark for techno, selling over 250,000 copies, while his label Intec has sold over 600,000 copies of their vinyl and digital releases combined. At the time of his last "Global" radio show, his listenership was a phenomenal 17 million people worldwide. With these staggering levels of reach and influence, Cox is, of course, aware of his role as an ambassador for the music he loves. But he speaks with a palpable enthusiasm when talking about supporting the next generation of techno stars. In particular, he name-checks two young artists signed to his label. "We have a lady called Anfisa Letyago and another guy called Vikthor, both making some really amazing music. Most people don't know these artists, but they are the 'now generation' putting out their own new music." Anfisa Letyago's recent Intec release "Catch The Spirit" is indeed a thunderously euphoric techno banger. One can see why Cox is so excited to be supporting this new wave of the music he loves. Cox is also increasingly involved with events as not just a headliner, but also as a curator. His involvement with the massive US dance music festival Ultra started by curating a relatively small "Carl Cox & Friends" tent which would hold around 2,500 people. The festival quickly had to upscale their allocation for his lineup, and today a purpose-built "Carl Cox Megastructure" holds up to 20,000 clubbers for his specially curated experiences. He admits that the music industry is more demanding now than ever, and DJ/producers also need to be able to perform their music live in order to survive. "People really need to see something tangible," he reflects, name-checking Paul Kalkbrenner, Stephan Bodzin and KiNK as exemplars of the art. The name Carl Cox is also synonymous with the clubbing scene of Ibiza. He has been there since its inception and reminisces fondly about the early days. "You always have certain years in life where it was the best. In the '80s none of the clubs had roofs, you danced under the stars, it was phenomenal. When those roofs went on the clubs, everything changed." Cox's 15-year residency at Ibiza venue Space helped to establish it as one of the most important club nights in the world. "Space was always a club which was a catalyst of how people felt about the island, because it was very much for the people who lived on the island, for the workers and also people who came to club. It had that Spanish feel about it. It was always a non-VIP orientated club, it was a dancefloor club for people who really wanted to have a great time." Cox is well placed to comment on the changes in the island's culture and ethos. "Today there is a VIP 'three-tier system' in most places, and DJs are playing more commercially to get more people in the clubs. It's all progression, it's nothing more than that." While he is pragmatic about the changing emphasis of Ibiza clubland, he is singularly unimpressed with new opportunities to buy overpriced sushi from star chefs. He remembers well being able to get beautiful locally-caught and cooked fish for 15 euros, and reflects on the loss of these simpler times on the island with a hint of sadness. "Well, it's disappeared, that whole idea now is gone. When people are flying in on a private jet or arriving in a superyacht, it's kind of taking away the true essence of what made Ibiza great in the first place." As this gradual transformation of Ibiza was underway, Cox made his first visit to the Burning Man festival in 2008. "As soon as I got onto the playa, I was a Burner, I was just into it." Cox found an opportunity for creative expression unlike anything he had experienced before. "I thought, this is something else, a gathering of like-minded people who go there to be creative, to gift in a way of being able to express themselves, from the biggest sculpture to the smallest detail of something meaningful." Now a regular Burning Man DJ, Cox still relishes the creative canvas, which he has chosen to paint purple in homage to one of his musical heroes. "I decided after three years that I wanted to build a camp at Burning Man, and to have The Purple Party in tribute to Prince. Everyone dressed in purple, and I just played Prince records and '80s music." These days, Cox is spending more time with another lifelong passion, motor racing. He started in 2013 by sponsoring the New Zealand-based sidecar team of his friend, Gavin Sokolich. When they zoomed to victory at the first championship that year, Cox recalls thinking "Wow, this is cool. I wonder what else we can do." True to his nature, Cox embraced the opportunity with gusto. He bought a racing bike, another sidecar, and revamped his team over the course to two infamously demanding Isle Of Man TT races. His team, CC Motorsport, finished in the top three of the TT races last year. Cox also sponsors 15-time Isle of Man TT winner Michael Dunlop, seven-time World Champion Tim Reeves and his passenger Mark Wilkes. He is also a partner in the boutique motorcycle restoration company TT Motorcycles, and obviously loves the work they do, bringing classic '80s Honda and Yamaha motorbikes back to pristine condition. After speaking at length about his teammates and colleagues, he mentions almost as an aside, "I also drag race myself. I have a Mark One Ford Capri, which is very very fast, over two thousand horsepower. It runs this quarter mile from seven seconds dead, at over 200 mph a quarter mile." As our conversation returns to his first love, Cox still speaks with the untainted enthusiasm of his teenage self, unselfconsciously "dancing his ass off" in the middle of the dance floor. He mentions forthcoming gigs at Tomorrowland and Space Ibiza On Tour, recent remixes for Matthew Bushwacker and Yothu Yindi, his Dr. Funk "El Rancho" remix, and his remake of "Dark Alleys". Throughout our entire conversation, his gratitude for his place in the world is obvious. "I'm so happy, I feel blessed and honored to be doing what I'm doing. At the end of the day I feel privileged to be able to be in this position, and to give you what you believe you should be getting from me as a DJ, but also as a person, because at the end of the day I'll have a beer with anyone, "I'll have a shot with everyone. I don't see myself any higher than anyone else." " There is some poetic justice in this self-effacing superstar DJ rising to the highest point in the dance music industry, using his position to inspire and support others, while indulging his passion for life in the fast lane and loving every sweet minute of it. By all accounts, it could not have happened to a nicer guy. Carl Cox ‘Dark Alleys’ (Remixes) is out now via Circus Recordings. Carl Cox tour dates: Fri, JUN 14 - Kings Hall at Avant Gardner, Brooklyn, NY Sat, JUN 15 - Brooklyn Mirage, Brooklyn, NY Sun, JUN 16 - Olympic Stadium, Montréal, Canada Wed, JUN 19 - Ushuaa Beach Hotel, Ibiza, Spain Fri, JUN 21 - Ciudad del Rock, Monteagudo Del Castillo, Spain Sat, JUN 22 - Marenostrum Fuengirola, Spain Wed, JUN 26 - Glastonbury Festival, Pilton Green, U.K. Thu, JUL 4 - Petrovaradin Fortress, Novi Sad, Serbia Sat, JUL 6 - Parco Dora, Piemont, Italy Sat, JUL 6 - Kappa Futur Festival, Turin, Italy Thu, JUL 11 - Stadion Poljud, Split, Croatia Fri, JUL 12 - DC10, Ibiza, Spain Fri, JUL 19 - De Schorre Recreation Ground, Boom, Belgium Sun, JUL 21 - Poble Espanyol, Barcelona, Spain Fri, JUL 26 - Tomorrowland, Boom, Belgium Tue, JUL 30 - Privilege, Ibiza, Spain AUG 7-12 - Boomtown, Hampshire, U.K. For more live dates visit carlcox.com/tours Read More

[vileart]

God Dramaturgy: The University of Manchester Musical Theatre Society @ Edfringe 2017

The University of Manchester Musical Theatre Society presents

Godspell

By John-Michael Tebelak

Godspell ascends to the Fringe as a festival-themed musical extravaganza that follows the Gospel of Matthew.

The Sanctuary, Paradise in Augustines (Venue 152)

George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL

21st-27th August, 15:05 – 16:50 (105 minutes)

Tickets: £8, £5 concessions

Link: http://ift.tt/2u6ffzh / 0131 226 0000

Godspell is composed of various musical parables from the Gospel of Matthew and contains the hits Bless the Lord, Day by Day and Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord. This reimagining of Godspell is set in a festival tent, where bread and wine are exchanged for LSD and Jesus is a rock star. 

The eleven cast members, hand picked from Manchester’s considerable pool of musical theatre talent, take the audience on a journey of hilarity to tragedy and back again, accompanied by infectiously catchy and heartbreakingly beautiful music. Audience members leave uplifted, and with considerably more glitter than when they entered. 

What was the inspiration for this performance?

I can’t remember exactly what gave me the idea to do a version of Godspell at a festival.  I pitched the idea to the society committee during summer and I think I’d just bought a ticket to a festival and it just seemed like the perfect way of updating the original hippy/clown theme to make it relevant to audiences my age, but having Jesus as a rock star and having the band on stage dressed as a typical Indie band just seemed like such a fun way of performing a rock musical!  

It was also partly because the venue for the society is this tiny room in the top of the SU which could be transformed so easily into a festival tent with just some fairylights and glitter.

The musical is loosely based on Matthew’s gospel.  I have taken inspiration from Peter Sellars’ unique setting of Bach’s St Matthew Passion as well as Pasolini’s film.  For example, one of Seller’s most effective Chorale settings was having the singers simply hug each other, and a lot of my direction was just telling the cast to do things like ‘dance around and hug each other’ which they did very well.

Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas?

Yes definitely. My setting Godspell in a festival tent, having Jesus dressed as a rock star etc. is a metaphor for modern day idols: we still worship gods as fanatically as ever, just different gods; electronic dance music is the new religious sound track.   A lot of people dislike Godspell, and those that don’t know it are sort of taken aback when I just say ‘it’s a musical about Jesus’.  It’s not satire but quite earnest in its message, it’s very fashionable to be a complete atheist and be quite anti-religion at the moment, especially amongst students.  

There are these huge religious communities at Manchester University, for example the Christian Union, but there isn’t much conversation between people of different religions and beliefs.   In fact I don’t think our version is particularly religious with the setting, what I think it beautiful about Godspell is that it’s not preachy, but simply tells stories from the bible, and in the second half the story of the crucifixion, in a funny, light-hearted way, and I think whatever your beliefs it is worth watching because these are moral stories, and although nowadays the general consensus among a lot of students is that religion is more negative and is often linked to war and violence, this is taking a step back and looking at some of the actual teachings or goodness and morality.

On the other hand, Godspell is also about love and joy and forming a community.  You cannot help but be swept up by energy of this cast and uplifted by the infectious music.  I think that there is something special about performance which involves music in contrast to a straight play, because so much of what you take away is the emotions you feel because of the music, and this is perhaps much more raw than the themes and ideas you get in a play.   For example instead of Judas having a long monologue about his mixed emotions about betraying Jesus you simply have the heart-breaking song ‘On the Willows’ which says it all.

How did you become interested in making performance?

I’ve performed on stage pretty much all my life, from operas and ballets to musicals, and plays, and I had never taken an interest in the behind-the-scenes side of things until I pitched Godspell as an idea to the society committee.  I am a music student but I’m a violinist rather than a singer, so the only way to really combine my love of acting and music professionally would be through directing, although this is something I’ve only really come to within the last year.   Although I firmly went down the music rather than theatre route during A Levels and applying to University, my mum used to be a drama teacher and I spent a lot of my childhood just doing improv in her after-school classes, so I think some of that quick way of creating performance has resurfaced in me now!  The hardest thing I’ve found about directing rather than performing myself is that you get just as nervous before the shows but there’s no way of relieving the tension with the actual physical performance, so I was a bit of a wreck for the original show week.

Is there any particular approach to the making of the show?

It was mostly just messing about in rehearsals.  For most of the numbers such as the opening, and things like the last supper I would come with ideas of what exactly I wanted, but I had absolutely no idea how most of the scenes were going to be set before I turned up to rehearsals, it was a mixture of me throwing out random silly suggestions and seeing what happened and the cast suggesting things themselves.  The book of Godspell must be one of the weirdest of all musicals. There is no actual story, the first half is just a string of parables, linked by musical numbers (one of the biggest challenges for the cast is remembering what order things go in as its pretty mad, just jumping from one random thing to the next). Its extremely bare and quite strange, and so many of the jokes in it are completely dated (just watch the 70s film version to see how weird it is) so beginning the process armed with this weird libretto was extremely daunting, and there are some very bad versions out there on YouTube.   However the pro to this is its malleability as a show.  You can completely make it your own and I really relished this and found it quite rewarding.  Without a doubt all the funniest moments in the show are things the cast came up with themselves, and I think they all really enjoyed working on something that they had a say in and helped create.  Talking of the cast – as well as being some of the most gifted singers I have ever met some of them have extreme amounts of comic talent, and so it was an absolute pleasure to give them free reign with something as blank-canvas as Godspell. As a director, what I love about it is the lack of boring practical details you have to think about with other shows in terms of props and entrances/exits because there are almost no props and the entire cast are on stage the whole time, which makes it a joy to direct - because its just about them. We basically just had a lot of fun!  I know the cast has a huge amount of fun performing it and I think the audience can’t help but be caught up in it too!

Does the show fit with your usual productions?

Well the only other thing I’ve directed is a medley of the first and last numbers from the musical Hair, which is basically Godspell for adults, so I guess at the moment I seem to be attracted to rock musicals with a hippy vibe, a little niche maybe.  I am not really your average musical theatre fan - I am more drawn to the idea of directing opera, and I hope that I get the opportunity to do some of that next year.  Opera gives you quite a clean slate in terms of how to creatively set say something by Montiverdi from hundreds of years ago, bringing the music to life in a modern and refreshing way.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

I hope that they will find the show funny. Previously, most of the jokes were aimed towards our peers at university, so it will be a challenge to adapt it for the different fringe audience.  I hope that the audience will be moved by the more emotive parts of the show, but most of all I hope they will be uplifted.  Godspell is one of the most joyous musicals I know and the most important thing is that the music created by the cast and (an incredibly talented and funky) band, are enjoyed by the audience. I hope they are caught in the moment and also provoked to think about the subject matter that is explored within the show.

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?

For the show in November we used glow sticks instead of tickets and glittered people’s faces as they walked in, and surprisingly, people found this simple effect very exciting!

The costumes are entirely created by the cast themselves – I told them to just wear an extreme version of what they would wear to a festival (bum bags and all), and the set was literally 4 beer crates which we borrowed from behind the Student Union bar, and a stepladder.  I think the only thing we actually spent money on was the glitter and glow sticks. Don’t forget it is easier for a camel to get through a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven… 

The University of Manchester Musical Theatre Society (UMMTS) is thrilled to be taking their first show up to the Edinburgh Fringe this year. UMMTS is an exciting, experimental and collaborative student society that aims to create spectacle and professionalism with every show it produces. The Godspell team is made up of over twenty young, experienced theatre and music makers who have been working on this project for over ten months. After experiencing a sell-out run in November, Godspell was also nominated for four National Operatic and Dramatic Association Awards (Best Ensemble Number, Best Supporting Actress, Best Poster (w), Best Programme). 

Mark Dee (North West End):  ‘This was easily the most competent, confident, complete and mature    production I have thus seen from this society…one of the most enjoyable, fresh and alive productions I have seen’ 

Rhiannon Symonds (NODA North West): ‘There was not a dry eye in the house…’

Director - Madeleine Brooks is an experienced musical theatre performer, taking lead roles in the NODA award-winning production of Grand Hotel and most recently in A Chorus Line. She made her directing debut with Godspell in UMMTS’ sell-out run of Godspell in November 2017. 

Musical Director - Matthew Quinn directed the National Stage School of Ireland’s 2017 production of Les Misérables and played also played Valjean in the Belfast Opera House’s production. He is a UoM Music Society conductor under Mark Heron and has taken lead roles in UMMTS productions, such as Baron Von Gagern in Grand Hotel. 

Producers - Méabh Kennedy was President of UMMTS 2016/17 and has extensive experience in producing musicals, such as the NODA award-winning Songs of a New World, Godspell and The 25th Putnam County Spelling Bee. Marina Jenkins is President of the UoM Drama Society 2017/18 and whilst Godspell is her first producing role, she has experience in writing, directing, stage and technically managing plays part of the UoM Drama Society. 

from the vileblog http://ift.tt/2u5rP1M

#Theatre #Blogger #visual art #Edinburgh Fringe #Experimental Critique

[the-connection]

The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is lighter, brighter, and now waterproof . figcaption>

Image: Amazon

There are very few gadgets in this world-wide I consider to be perfect. But one of them, or at least one that comes jolly damn close, is my Amazon Kindle e-reader. I’ve been a huge fan since I bought my first Kindle( third-generation) back in 2007, and my admiration for these wonderfully simple machines merely grew when I upgraded to the frontlit Kindle Voyage in 2014.

So when Amazon asked if I wanted to try the brand new Kindle Paperwhite -- available for purposes of pre-order today for $129.99 -- I couldn't pass up the opportunity. And as it is about to change, I was stunned during my short time messing around with it. Amazon, somehow, continues to refine a invention that now is teetering on the brink of perfection.

SEE ALSO: Here's how to get verified on Instagram

There's a lot to go over with the brand new Kindle Paperwhite, so let's is moving forward and lurch right in. The brand-new Kindle boasts lighter equipment, better stability, and more bonus content than ever before. So without giving further adieu, here are my first impressions of the new Kindle Paperwhite.

The brand-new Kindle Paperwhite is 10 percent lighter and thinner than the previous generation.

Image: Michael Nunez/ mashable

Thinner and lighter than ever

One thing I’ve always loved about the Amazon Kindle e-readers is that they’re made for one particular purpose: displaying verse on a screen for a long period. I first fell in love with my Amazon Kindle while I was living in Seoul, Korea. I was speaking more novels than I ever had, and I desired that I could wander everywhere with my part library. Plus, it didn't add much weight to my luggage.

The new Kindle Paperwhite builds on some of the best elements of previous Kindle makes. It inspects nearly identical to the previous-generation Paperwhite, but it's 10 percent lighter, 10 percent brighter, and 10 percent thinner is in accordance with Amazon. It also has more storage than before, starting at 8 GB( twice the older generation) and maxing out at 32 GB. This ultimately means you can save more content on your manoeuvre than you are able in the past.

These tiny amends aren't accurately pronounced when you first pick up the maneuver, but the Kindle Paperwhite is still as impressive as ever. It's illuminated fairly that you can imagine read it for hours at a time without going a contraction in your hand( something I dealt with using previous-generation Kindles ). And the brand-new soft textile on the back is a nice bonus -- but surely not something I'd base an entire purchasing decision on.

Another small-time nip Amazon became was constituting the breast of the device totally flush, or flat, rather than having the screen ever-so-slightly set into the body of the maneuver. Consequently, the brand-new flat blueprint does not make a difference to the speak event, but it does help with the Kindle's durability.( We'll get deeper into that last-minute .) The presentation is still a touchscreen, means that you tap to steer, and sounds the right and left sides to flip-flop sheets forward and backward. It's still super instinctive, and frankly, almost impossible to mess up. This is why the make is damn near perfect!

Loaded with helpful features

The Kindle Paperwhite too comes compressed with a cluster of new facets, but none is more interesting than the inclusion of Amazon's Whispersync For Voice engineering. What this necessitates is that you can now sync your reading progress, bookmarks, and digital annotations across all Kindle devices -- and also sync your progression with Audible audiobooks.

What this makes in practical terms is you can easily swap between the text and audio versions of the same bible. For precedent, you can start speaking something on your Kindle Paperwhite before bed, then switch to the Audible audiobook during your commute. This is a feature I had a limited time experimenting( only a few minutes ), but I plan to stress measure for our official recollect. It's a great use of Amazon's potent vapour engineering and one boast I can easily dream myself using.

Another great inclusion is X-Ray, though we should note that it was included on the previous explanation of the Kindle Paperwhite. The facet tells you soon search for situations mentioned in records such as ideas, fictional characters, historic representations, situates, and topics by sounding on them. An Amazon spokesperson said this can be especially helpful for young readers who might be wondering whether a word is a magical spell in Harry Potter, or whether it's a real oath. I'm a little skeptical of determining whether I'd actually use this piece( I'd probably just Google it ), but again, it's something that we'll have to measure in detail during our official review.

Finally, Amazon is obligating it easier for families to share a Kindle device by including personalized learning directs. Now you can save font size, boldness, and direction settles as a profile, and you can quickly switch between profiles from the residence screen. There is also the added bonus of including lineage libraries, which constitutes it easier for people to retrieve records from an account of a marriage or collaborator. In summarize, the Kindle Paperwhite does a lot more than expose text -- but it crucially remains free of distractions, which I consider to be quite an astonishing feat.

The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is now waterproof.

Image: Amazon

Drop it in the freaking hot tub

You’re maybe not going to be reading underwater very much, but now, technically, if you really want to, you are able to. The new Kindle Paperwhite is perfectly waterproof( IPX8 rated) in up to two rhythms of irrigate for 60 minutes. What that surely means is you can literally throw your Kindle Paperwhite in your swimming pool, represent video games of Marco Polo, then swim down to the surface to fish it out an hour eventually -- and it will still work.

The more practical use case is probably sitting by the coast or by the pond. The Kindle’s IPX8 rating means that you don’t have to worry about get sand on it or removing it, either. This is the most durable Kindle hitherto -- something that comes as a welcome acquittal to someone who shattered his old Kindle on an airplane. Now, the Kindle is ready to take a beating, and as someone who frequently convulses his in a case last minute, I genuinely appreciate this.

The Kindle Paperwhite comes with six months of Kindle Unlimited for free ($ 60 significance ).

Image: Michael Nunez/ mashable

So. Many. Extras.

The Kindle Paperwhite is a great make on its own, but what really sweetens the administer this time around are all the different freebies. Let’s start with Kindle Unlimited.

Kindle Unlimited is a subscription service that costs $10/ month and gives you access to more than one million deeds from the Kindle Store. It includes bibles, audiobooks, and periodicals, and it also includes thousands of audiobooks on Audible( one of the things that stirs it such a great deal, in my view ).

Basically, if you’re reading anything favourite at the moment, it’s possibly available through Kindle Unlimited. What's immense about this consider is that most people maybe wouldn't buy Kindle Unlimited right after purchasing their e-reader( unless they expect to devour various journals every month ), but Amazon is manufacturing is much easier to justify by yielding owneds about half off of the first year.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite owners will now get a six-month free experiment ($ 60 significance) with the purchase of the invention. The catch is that you need to remember to cancel your due at the end of the contest -- or obstruct experiencing the prodigious library and paying off full cost. Whether Kindle Unlimited is a good deal for you is dependent on how many works you plan to read each year, but six free months should be enough time to utter that determination.

Finally, there's the additive of Bluetooth and the Audible library. The inclusion of these is a great bonus for anyone who prefers to listen to records -- but I don't think it should really be confused with the core purpose of the maneuver. At the end of the day, if you buy a brand-new Kindle Paperwhite, you are able to invest the majority of members of your time on it reading and enjoying the weeks-long battery life. Audible is better on a smartphone or Amazon Echo speaker.

Final Thoughts

The brand-new Kindle Paperwhite is immense. In fact, it's better than I ever could have possibly imagined. As an owner and missionary of one of the best available Kindle concoctions to date( Kindle Voyage ), I was surprised by how much I relished each elaboration in the brand-new version.

With my limited time available of use, this seems to be the best available e-reader in terms of value. It's hard to say for sure, since I haven't spent days or weeks with the machine like I usually would for a full review, but my first impressions are immense. Who says e-readers don't have any more chamber to innovate?

WATCH: Does the Google Pixel 3 have the best smartphone camera? -- Mashable Reviews

Read more: http :// mashable.com /

[thegloober]

The Emmys Awarded with Terrible Reviews and the Worst Ratings Ever

The Emmys came and went with a whimper and a marriage proposal on Monday night, leaving most television critics disappointed in just about everything: the hosts, the writing and the winners.

FX’s critically acclaimed spy series “The Americans” never won an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series in its flawless six-year run, and “Killing Eve” star Sandra Oh did not make history as the first actress of Asian descent to take home the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. (But at least she made history simply by being nominated.)

Actually, even Oscars telecast director Glenn Weiss’s successful proposal to his girlfriend got slammed by the ladies of “The View,” so there was very little everyone could collectively delight in.

But before we get into all of the reasons critics hated this year’s ceremony, a few exceptions to this generality: Henry Winkler finally winning an Emmy for his performance in HBO comedy “Barry,” Regina King winning a trophy for her Netflix limited series “Seven Seconds,” comedian Hannah Gadsby hilariously presenting an award to a winner who wasn’t around to accept it, and a fun sketch handing out “reparation Emmys” to prominent black entertainers from the past.

The rest was generally met with a shrug, culminating in a landslide of bad reviews and news about all-time low ratings landing online Tuesday morning. Deadline reported only 10.172 million viewers tuned in — an 11 percent decrease from last year, which also set a new low at the time.

“The real problem was simply a preponderance of bad ideas and feeble writing, typified by a recurring series of skits featuring Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen as bored and clueless Emmys ‘experts’ that set back the alt-comedy cause by decades,” The New York Times critic Mike Hale wrote, also dinging the producers for having popular animated characters Rick and Morty ask “How do you think ‘Atlanta’’s doing?” after the FX comedy had lost in five of its six categories.

As TooFab noted in our coverage, we expected more from hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che — the “Saturday Night Live�� head writers who co-anchor “Weekend Update.” And we weren’t alone.

Vulture critic Jen Chaney described their performance as “more listless than I expected them to be” and complained they “somehow managed to suck the funny out of Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen, which is a thing I did not think was possible.”

“Every time two people walked out to present an award, I thought, ‘Why didn’t they ask them to host this thing instead?'” Chaney continued. “Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan? Would have been better. Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson? Also a stronger choice. Connie Britton and Eric Bana? Look, I don’t know if they have comedic chemistry, but I am willing to find out. Also, even though they didn’t present anything, I will sign any petition necessary to get Keri Russell, who was robbed of an Emmy for ‘The Americans,’ and Matthew Rhys, who was not, to co-host this sucker next year.”

In one of the more brutal reviews, Rolling Stone critic Rob Sheffield described the show as “toothless, flaccid, cramped and tedious.”

“What can you say about a show-biz gala where the highlight is Betty White picking up a lifetime achievement award? Or the guy who directed the Oscars dropping to his knees to ask his girlfriend to marry him? All you can really say is it was the Emmys —- now and always, the dorky underling of the glitzy award shows,” he wrote. “Bumping it to a Monday night is just a polite way of saying ‘Yeah, we got nothing’ —- kind of like bringing in hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che to do agonizingly bland ‘Weekend Update’ schtick. ‘Jesus Christ Superstar Live’ might have turned John Legend into an EGOT winner, but not even he could raise this ceremony from the dead.”

Ouch.

Hollywood Reporter critic Daniel Fienberg piled on the hosts, too, noting they “did a flat monologue and essentially vanished, confirming pre-show suspicions that the ‘Weekend Update’ anchors were ill-matched to the event.”

He also thought the new format for handing out awards made for awkward presentations, which are normally opportunities for writers and performers to liven up the evening with short and sweet hits.

“For the most part, presenters were shoehorned in as part of a rarely attempted innovation in show structure. Categories were introduced and clips were played and then presenters came out. Getting clips in always benefits awards shows, and I’m sure there’s some way that this improved show efficiency, but it left presenters doing banter between the reading of nominee names and the announcement of winners, a major momentum suck,” Fienberg wrote. “When the presenters didn’t have funny things to do, the result was both peculiar and awkward, like, why did they bother having Eric Bana come out onstage at all if he was just going to say “They make the news funny” and leave?”

Kevin Fallon’s Daily Beast review was bluntly headline, “The Emmys Telecast Was a Cringe-Worthy, Tone-Deaf Embarrassment.”

“From lackluster hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che to an unearned demand to be applauded for meager steps toward diversity and inclusion, this was the worst award show in years,” the critic wrote at the top of his blistering review, criticizing the show for relishing in the Emmys most diverse and inclusive group of nominees ever, then making viewers wait 75 minutes for a person of color to win anything.

“It was a show that treated its progress in nomination diversity as a finish line, expecting the telecast to function as a victory lap, cheering for a job well done when it should have fired a starting gun for the work just getting started,” Fallon wrote. “Most confusingly, however, is how the show opened with what was supposed to be a self-aware joke about the fallacy of that exact attitude, the one it then seemed intent on parading around like a proud peacock.”

April Reign, the activist who sparked the #OscarSoWhite movement, also complained the Emmys weren’t truly as diverse as the show was touting. Read her Twitter thoughts below, complete with fun GIFs and memes.

Let’s talk a bit more about what “diversity” is and isn’t, and whether that should be the goal. Last night, @TheEmmys Chairman/CEO Hayma Washington encouraged everyone to give themselves a round of applause for diversity. But… why? pic.twitter.com/wTzU9siKQh

— April (@ReignOfApril) September 18, 2018

We should start with the fact that @TheEmmys made history less than two years ago by making Hayma Washington the first…. THE FIRST…. Black Chairman & CEO. In 2016. But they want to be proud of their “diversity.” pic.twitter.com/IG4vSi54FP

— April (@ReignOfApril) September 18, 2018

I also want to make clear to @theEmmys and anyone else who is under a mistaken impression, that “diversity” doesn’t just mean “more Blacks.” That was never the point of #OscarsSoWhite. I’m sure that wasn’t the point of @JKCorden saying #EmmysSoWhite last night. #Emmys pic.twitter.com/z0rxgO9XXX

— April (@ReignOfApril) September 18, 2018

In other words, how many non-Black people of color do you remember during @TheEmmys last night? How many openly LGBT+ people? How many visibly disabled folks were part of the staff handing out awards? Right. #Emmys pic.twitter.com/ZztiEucJM0

— April (@ReignOfApril) September 18, 2018

I saw it described this way recently and really love it:

Diversity is inviting everyone to the party. Equity is making sure tickets are of a manageable price to everyone invited. Inclusion is asking folks to dance.

So… yeah. @TheEmmys were “diverse.” But go further. #Emmys pic.twitter.com/3KyDVsD8io

— April (@ReignOfApril) September 18, 2018

If you can count on one hand the number of people from a particular marginalized community that were on @TheEmmys stage last night, and still have fingers left over? You’re not doing enough. Especially w/ the shows on TV today. #Emmys <== Nor will this cutesy emoji do it. pic.twitter.com/gpMPjrixsF

— April (@ReignOfApril) September 18, 2018

To tout “diversity” improvements, when I can only remember two AAPI presenters (Constance Wu and Sandra Oh), to literally have a song & dance routine when I can only remember two Latinx presenters (Gina Rodriguez & Benicio Del Toro), seems to have missed @Theemmys mark. #Emmys pic.twitter.com/q2hAxAILGM

— April (@ReignOfApril) September 18, 2018

View Photos Getty Emmy Awards: See Who Switched Up Their Style for the After-Parties

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[democratsunited-blog]

Political Scene: Politically energized women running for office in record numbers - News - providencejournal.com

https://uniteddemocrats.net/?p=5545

Political Scene: Politically energized women running for office in record numbers - News - providencejournal.com

This month’s endorsement controversy has emboldened the movement to elect more women, already galvanized by the election of Donald Trump, the Women’s Marches here and across the country, election gains in 2016 and the #MeToo movement.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Long before Democratic Party leaders endorsed a Donald Trump voter over one of their own incumbents, and before the party’s Women’s Caucus met in a local bar to escape the watch of party minders, a movement to elect more women to the Rhode Island General Assembly — progressive women in particular — had begun.

It was energized by Trump’s victory, shaped by the Women’s Marches here and across the country, encouraged by election gains in 2016 and hardened by the #MeToo movement.

Women are running for office in record numbers across the country this year and Rhode Island is no exception.

Out of the 274 candidates who declared for statewide office, Congress or the General Assembly at the end of June, 79 of them, or 29 percent, were women. There are 37 female office-holders now, including 23 state representatives, 13 senators, Gov. Gina Raimondo and Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea.

Whether 29 percent is a lot depends on your perspective. It’s still less than a third of all Rhode Islanders running, but it’s the most since digital statewide records of declared candidates became available in 2006. The previous high-water mark was 75 women in 2010, which was 20 percent of all candidates that year.

In April, state Rep. Moira Walsh organized a gathering outside the State House to encourage more women to run, drawing more than a dozen people including Democratic candidates Justine Caldwell, Bridget Valverde and Melanie Dupont.

“I think this is a really great start,” Sulina Mohanty, chairwoman of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, told Political Scene last week about this year’s slate.

“What happened nationally really sparked a lot of energy locally where people were able to build networks, make connections and encourage each other,” she said. “That contributed to the number of women running.”

The real test, she said, is how many can get elected.

Even before a vote is cast, the Women’s Caucus is in good position to pick up a House seat in Pawtucket where Karen Alzate is the only declared candidate to replace Rep. David Coughlin, who is not seeking reelection.

Of the 79 women running this year, 58 are Democrats. Even more so than usual this year, the push for political gender parity in Rhode Island has been linked with the Assembly’s progressive lawmakers, who waged campaigns for pay equity, abortion rights and new laws to combat sexual harassment.

None of the legislation they backed on those issues cleared the Assembly as establishment and liberal Democrats clashed, culminating in this month’s endorsement controversy where the party backed the primary opponents of three female incumbents (including Walsh) and several other progressives.

Brown University political science professor Wendy Schiller said leadership’s pushback, and the stinging national media attention its received, could ultimately help Walsh and fellow progressives by making usually low-profile Assembly races a “cause célèbre” among liberals.

“I think that is a huge mistake in 2018, even in a Democratic state,” Schiller said of the party endorsement of Walsh challenger Michael Earnheart, a Trump-voter who was a Republican until last December. “I think it helps the progressives in that it mobilizes people working on progressive campaigns.”

In addition to Walsh herself — who received shoutouts from celebrities and may get a fundraising boost — Schiller said the endorsement flap could increase Democratic turnout and benefit progressives like lieutenant governor candidate Aaron Regunberg.

At the same time, the progressive campaign to elect more women could help Raimondo blunt primary challenger Matt Brown’s appeal to liberal female voters, Schiller said.

“These endorsements showed how out of touch the Rhode Island Democratic Party is — more concerned with maintaining and wielding power than the interests of every day Rhode Islanders,” said Georgia Hollister Isman, state director of the Rhode Island Working Families Party, which backed Walsh and the two other female Democratic incumbents who did not get their party’s endorsement this year, Rep. Marcia Ranglin-Vassell and Sen. Jeanine Calkin.

Rhode Island Republicans have relished this most recent round of Democratic infighting.

Despite the potential danger of an energized liberal base, GOP state party Chairman Brandon Bell, who is also running for a House seat in Cumberland, said the recent tempest gives Republican candidates more campaign ammunition.

“My grass-roots people do not appreciate unethical leadership and don’t like it,” he said.

Among the female lawmakers frustrated at the end of the 2018 legislative session was Sen. Gayle Goldin, who spearheaded the push for the stalled pay equity legislation.

In the late-night hours of the year’s final Senate session, Goldin highlighted another area where women are under-represented: only seven of 45 public buildings, infrastructure and monuments are named after women.

“So I thought I would use this as an opportunity to make sure next year when we are naming things we put some thought into that,” Goldin told fellow senators.

A third candidate

Who is William Beeley?

The newest entrant in this year’s closely-watched Democratic primary race for lieutenant governor, of course.

A Johnston resident, Beeley, 42, has never run for public office before, but says he jumped in this year after becoming frustrated at the State House status quo.

“No one cares up there,” he said in a Friday phone interview about Smith Hill.

The owner of a fast food franchise, Beeley’s agenda includes legalizing recreational cannabis to fund property tax cuts and repairing schools.

If he can collect the 500 nomination signatures he needs to get on the ballot, Beeley would face the incumbent Lt. Gov.  Dan McKee and state Rep. Aaron Regunberg in a Democratic primary clash pitting the party’s conservative and progressive blocs.

Beeley says he is on the conservative side of the Democratic political spectrum. He won’t say who got his vote in the 2016 presidential election.

Introducing a third candidate to a race often splits the anti-incumbent vote, but Beeley could just as well take votes from McKee as Regunberg.

Beeley said no one in the political world had recruited him and he does not personally know Johnston Mayor Joseph Polisena, who lives just down the street and has been a vocal Regunberg critic.

Spicer back in R.I.

Barrington native — and former White House press secretary — Sean Spicer is returning home to Rhode Island on July 28 to pitch his book “The Briefing: Politics, The Press and The President.”

He is scheduled for two book-signings hosted by Barrington Books — at its Barrington (2-3:30 p.m.) and Garden City (5-6:30 p.m.) locations — coupled with “moderated question and answer’’ sessions. The moderator: former Providence mayor — and current Democratic National Committee-member — Joseph Paolino Jr.

Constituent Coolman

More than a year before Providence College theology teacher Holly Taylor Coolman launched her campaign to unseat Rep. Marcia Ranglin-Vassell in Providence’s House District 5, she launched a failed campaign to try to change the freshman lawmaker’s mind about abortion.

The subject line for Coolman’s Feb. 2, 2017 email to Ranglin-Vassell read: “Please rethink this abortion advocacy.”

Referencing legislation signed by more than a third of the lawmakers in the House — including Ranglin-Vassell — to enshrine the protections of Roe v. Wade in state law, Coolman wrote:

“I am DEEPLY DISTURBED by the extreme position you have taken on abortion. Because it is possible that you may not have read or understood what you signed on to, I will walk you through it.”

“Amongst other very serious issues the bill would: Prohibit the state of Rhode Island from banning any “method” of abortion, even PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTION,” she wrote. “The bill amounts to a virtually complete deregulation of the abortion industry in Rhode Island.” (Backers of the bill disputed these characterizations.)

“As your constituent, I urge you to immediately inform Speaker Mattiello AND THE MEDIA that you have reconsidered your position and are withdrawing your co sponsorship. And I expect that you will call me or email me to explain how it is that you signed on to this bill in the first place.”

Ranglin-Vassell’s response to Coolman that day: “Thank you for your email and your thoughts. I want you to know that I would never sign a bill that I did not believe in. I strongly believe that women — all women have full and total control over her body.”

Coolman responded on Feb. 18, 2017: “I understand the concerns about women’s control over their bodies — especially in a society that often devalues women … My concerns about H5343, though, are not simply that it is a pro-choice piece of legislation, but that it is so extreme … Even if you yourself believe abortion should never be restricted for any reason, it’s important to note that the majority of your constituents, and a majority of the American people, do not feel the same way.”

“Why introduce this divisive piece of legislation, one that completely ignores these views?” she argued.

The two women now face each other in the September Democratic primary. In a recent blog post, Coolman stressed that she is not a one-issue candidate.

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