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| Zach Clemens by NICKET |
Monday, November 21, 2016
Former NSA Director Doesn’t Think Michael Flynn Is Up To The Job
Flynn might be a little “extended,” said former NSA chief Michael Hayden.
From: Huffington Post
From: Huffington Post
Former National Security Agency director and CIA director Michael Hayden expressed concern about President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for national security advisor, Michael Flynn (left), saying Flynn, the former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, would be “stretched a bit” by his new role.
“But by and large he’s been successful at the tactical operational level,” Hayden said during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week.” “This is a strategic global job. And so I think he’ll be stretched a bit by this.”
Trump’s choice of Flynn was met with alarm in many circles for his repeated anti-Muslim comments. “Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL: please forward this to others: the truth fears no questions,” Flynn tweeted in February. He has repeatedly called Islam a “political ideology,” a “cancer” and said the Islamic world is a “failure.”
Flynn was fired from his DIA job in 2014, which he claimed was over disagreements with President Barack Obama on his approach to combatting terrorism. Since that time, Flynn’s consulting firm, The Flynn Intel Group, has come under scrutiny for its ties to the government of Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and a number of Middle Eastern governments. Flynn has also since accepted a paid speaking engagement with the Russian government-backed Russia Today television network.
Though Hayden confined his remarks about Flynn to his role as a military intelligence official, he appeared to indirectly criticize Flynn’s increasing tendency for alarmist statements and behavior, by citing the equanimity and intellectual rigor of past national security advisors.
“Mike’s got great ideas. But unless you’re hiring a Kissinger or a Brzezinski or a Scowcroft in that job, what you really want is a process guy in the job, the one who tees up issues, makes sure all elements of the government have a voice,” Hayden said, referencing former national security advisors Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft. “So that’s going to extend Mike as well.”
Fine Ass Pics Of Yale Students Stripping At Football Game
From: Fleshbot
This weekend marked the famed Yale vs Harvard football game, and in carrying on 45 years of tradition, Yale students went buck ass nude in front of the entire stadium! The act resulted in some amazing pics of some pretty hot butts, and we've got them here for you to ogle at.
I don't believe for a second that all Ivy League guys don't want to be penetrated in a serious way, and this annual stunt all but confirms it in my mind. Ivy League kids love boasting their wacky and wild traditions, and while this annual streaking stunt is the most highly-publicized one, you just know that five minutes after heading back to the frat house they looked like a scene from The Human Centipede. Tradition! "Brah, your girlfriend is so fucking fuckable, and your ass tastes great."
This weekend's game took place at Harvard Stadium, so while the Yalies mooned the opposing team by standing on the peripheral stadium wall, they oddly enough gave their own classmates a face full of dick and balls. Tradition! Yalies must be thirsty as fuck, because all of the students in the first few rows look like they're at a damn strip club. Except for the few women who look like they have to participate to be accepted even though they're uncomfortable. Tradition! Do you have a favorite Yale student ass in these pictures? Some of these guys are definitely in a hairy situation, and I don't hate it!
EX-TEAM GB STAR MATT LISTER SHOWS WHY HAIRY IS HOT IN STUNNING NEW SHOOT FOR FANTASTICS MAGAZINE
From: Bear World
Former Team GB canoeist and Attitude cover star Matt Lister is kindly helping us get through Monday with a hot new shoot for Fantastics Magazine.
After coming out in 2012, the Attitude fitness columnist and British Athletics Commission LGB ambassador has left behind the world of professional sport this year for a career in modelling – and on the basis of these new shots by Colorado photography Lee Faircloth, it’s not hard to see why.
Joined by model and palaeontologist (we know, what a combo!) Francesc Gascó, the pair celebrate all things hairy over the course of a stunning 21-page spread, entitled ‘Growl’.
You can see some of the highlights, and be sure to check out the full shoot here.
Cristiano Ronaldo Responds to Anti-Gay Slur on Field: ‘A Faggot, Yes, but a Rich One’
From: Towleroad
Cristiano Ronaldo butted heads with Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke during Real Madrid’s 3-0 win on Sunday after Koke allegedly called Ronaldo a “faggot.”
The Sun reports:
Television viewers even claimed that the Bernabeu icon threw a punch at the Atleti acein the incident.And, according to Cadena Cope, the fuse was lit when Koke called Ronaldo a ‘faggot’.To which the three-time Ballon d’Or winner allegedly replied: “A faggot, yes. But a rich one, bastard.”The Spanish radio station claims to have heard the conversation Ronaldo, 31, had with team-mates in the visitor’s changing room after the game.
Other outlets translated the response as ‘A faggot with a lot of money, you bastard’.’
Watch:
Ronaldo was taunted by fans last April after rumors about an alleged relationship with Moroccan kickboxer Badr Hadri.
Morocco World News reported, “the crowd were heard chanting ‘Vete a Marruecos,’ or ‘Go to Morocco,’ in reference to the player’s regular visits to Morocco.”
Ronaldo was also targeted with chants of “maricon”, a Spanish anti-gay slur comparable to “faggot.”
Cock Teaser
From: Boy Culture
The short film "Toto Forever" is about the love affair between a young postal worker and a rugged gangster. It's not porn, but it's not unporn either, judging from the sensual teaser kindly provided by its maker, Roberto F. Canuto:
Starring Kjord Davis (who has a bit of a young Dolph Lundgren thing going on) as the gangster and doe-eyed Kylan James as his moll, "Toto Forever" looks more poetic than pornographic, reminding me a bit of the too rarely seen Broken Sky.
Starring Kjord Davis (who has a bit of a young Dolph Lundgren thing going on) as the gangster and doe-eyed Kylan James as his moll, "Toto Forever" looks more poetic than pornographic, reminding me a bit of the too rarely seen Broken Sky.
Björn Borg and Chris Evert Catch the Night Fever
From: kenneth in the (212)
These popped up on a Chris Evert Facebook page I'm on. You'd be forgiven if you thought they were taken at Studio 54, when in fact they were taken at the 1976 Wimbledon Champions Ball!
Alt-right celebrates Trump’s election at D.C. meeting
From: Politco
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| The alt-right gathered over the weekend at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center downtown to regroup after the election and plot a path forward. John Shinkle/POLITICO |
Just down the street from the Trump Hotel and six blocks from President-elect Donald Trump’s soon-to-be White House, the alt-right movement gathered on Pennsylvania Avenue and declared victory Saturday.
“Donald Trump’s campaign was the first step towards identity politics in the United States,” cheered Richard Spencer, the president of the National Policy Institute, an arm of the alt-right, at an afternoon press conference. “…I do think we have a psychic connection, a deeper connection with Donald Trump, in a way we simply do not have with most Republicans.”
The alt-right, a nationalist movement that embraces white identity politics and has been associated with racism and anti-Semitism, gathered over the weekend at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center downtown to regroup after the election and plot a path forward.
Spencer made clear that he doesn’t think Trump is a member of the alt-right, and Trump himself has condemned bigoted attacks from his supporters. But the alt-right views his election as a validation of sorts, and in an hour-long press availability, Spencer and several other leaders of the movement said they expected Trump’s successful campaign to usher in a new era of populism, hard line immigration policy and a foreign policy that deemphasizes NATO and rebuilds strong ties with Russia.
Spencer, who cheered the selection of anti-immigration hardliner Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general in Trump’s administration, said the alt-right plans to routinely issue policy papers on subjects like immigration and foreign policy, seeing the moment as an opportunity to pair far-right policy prescriptions with an energized movement.
“I think the alt-right, in a way, was too often talking to itself, a head without a body,” he said. “…The Trump movement was a body without a head.”
“I think, moving forward, the alt-right can, as an intellectual vanguard, complete Trump,” he continued.
Pressed by a reporter on the feasibility of Spencer’s call for enacting a 50-year “break” with most immigration (with preference still given to European immigrants) — something Trump himself has not pushed -- Spencer replied, “it’s obviously possible. Trump, the Republican Party, has a new voting constituency. Trump has proven the power of these ideas, proven the power of populism.”
The meeting attendees — an overwhelmingly white and male audience, with many sporting closely cropped faux hawk-like haircuts, though one was spotted wearing a yarmulke — gathered in the atrium were an engaged group, often booing journalists asking questions. Outside, the scene was more rambunctious: protests raged off of Pennsylvania Ave., and one man with a bloody face was seen seeking police assistance, though the circumstances of his injury were unclear. Tila Tequila, a reality TV personality who was listed by event organizers as a guest, posted a picture of herself on Twitter engaged in a Nazi-style salute.
“Seig [sic] heil!” the tweet read.
Back in the room, some applauded when the Daily Stormer, the neo-Nazi website, was mentioned.
For many, immigration was top of mind. When one reporter asked the panelists about the biggest priority for pro-Trump alt-righters, the audience burst into chants of “build the wall!” One man jumped up from his seat, shaking his fists as he roared the slogan that was a fixture at Trump campaign rallies. And reporters were greeted by a “Make America Great Again” hat perched on the press sign-in table.
Still, Spencer took pains to distinguish between the alt-right movement and the incoming Trump administration.
Steve Bannon, the president-elect’s newly named chief strategist who has served as the executive chairman of Breitbart News, described that media outlet over the summer as “the platform for the alt-right.” Spencer largely agreed with that assessment, but he also insisted he didn’t see either Trump or Bannon as members of the movement themselves, though they have given him “hope.”
“I would say Steve Bannon’s comment that [Breitbart is] a platform of the alt-right is probably something I could agree with, say 90 percent, just in the sense that it’s clearly moved away from the conservative movement,” Spencer said. “It was pro-Trump, it was also a site that tons of people on the alt-right [go] to get their news from, they share [it]. I don’t think Breitbart is really ideologically alt-right, no, but it’s interesting and very hopeful for me that Bannon is at least open to these things.”
Spencer was perhaps more unsparing in his criticism of conservatives than of the left, cracking disparaging jokes about the “freedom fries” of the George W. Bush era and railing against the “neocons” who push, in his view, overly muscular foreign policy proposals. He said he would strongly oppose the appointment of the hawkish former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton to a potential Trump administration cabinet position, like secretary of state, and he blasted a Bush-inspired, interventionist-oriented foreign policy.
“NATO was once about keeping the Germans down, the Russians out, the Americans in Europe. NATO has no reason for being in the 21st century,” he said. “NATO is obviously a clumsy, very ineffective way of dealing with terrorism” and with Russia.
He went on to praise Trump’s “instincts” toward more overtures to Russia and Vladimir Putin, in contrast to those of Hillary Clinton and the “neocons.”
“The Cold War is over,” he said.
The discussion did not always stay focused on policy: Spencer doubled down on his defense of Trump’s comments, recorded by Access Hollywood, on which the president-elect could be heard bragging about sexual assault.
“Yes, women, deep down, do want to be taken by a strong man,” Spencer said, though added he wasn’t advocating harassment. “I’ve looked at a lot of romance novels women read. I’ve noticed a distinct pattern.”
Spencer, who was swarmed by reporters when the event finished, wrapped up his introductory remarks with an admonition: “The alt-right is here, the alt-right is not going anywhere, the alt-right is going to change the world. And you all need to pay attention to this.”
A Little More Of Joe Jonas Than We're Used To Seeing
From: Boy Culture
This Notion magazine outtake of Joe Jonas is the gayest thing he's ever done.
In public.
Keep reading for a refresher of the rest of his Notion shoot, captured on video last month ...
7 Things We’re Thankful For This Thanksgiving
From: NewNowNext
4
Drag Queens
Queens are always on the front lines—from Stonewall to the Facebook-name policy controversy; drag queens (and kings) are always there to lend a hand. Plus, we think they make great television.
Thank your favorite local drag star by inviting them to dinner! Nothing turns Thanksgiving into a kiki like a queen.
Happy Birthday today November 21st
Happy 34th to actor Ryan Carnes
From: Favorite Hunks & Other Things
From: Favorite Hunks & Other Things
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| My favorites shots of Ryan remain Jeff Slater's 2010 shoot. |
8-Year-Old Sticks Up For Her Gay Grandpas, Gives Us Hope For The Future
"I started bawling immediately..."From: NewNowNext
Shay, a member of Pantsuit Nation, shared a story on Facebook that’s given us hope for America in these dark times.
She was picking up her 8-year-old daughter, Addison, from school on Wednesday, when her teacher rushed down the stairs to share “a very proud moment.”
The third-grade class was given a writing assignment and Addison chose to write about her Papa and Grandpa.
While she read her story, her teacher stopped her to clarify the relationship of these grandfathers: Were these the dads to both myself and her dad?
She went on to tell her teacher and class “No, these are my two grandpas who have been married to each other for a long time. My grandpas are gay!”
Right then, a little boy in her class immediately started laughing, pointing and yelling “Ew, that’s disgusting. Two boys can’t be married, that’s so gross. Your family is disgusting!”
Her teacher stood up quickly ready to address the issue but she said Addi jumped from her seat even quicker, threw her hand up in a STOP ✋🏼 sign and said in a very firm tone to him:
“The only thing disgusting is your attitude right now. There is nothing wrong with two boys or two girls loving and marrying each other. You love who you love, you don’t choose who that is and you’re not gross or disgusting for it either.”
The proud mom admitted “I started bawling immediately and grabbed my daughter and told her how proud I was of her and how much I appreciated her standing up to this little bully.”
Addison’s teacher hugged both mother and child, and said she was doing a great job raising such an amazing young woman.
“I’m not sure if you guys know this about me but there’s two mommies in our house too,” added the tearful teacher.
Shay beamed with pride, and declared her daughter’s actions “has given me more hope for our country’s future today than I’ve had in quite some time.”
Us too, Shay!
“Scream” Actress Bex Taylor-Klaus Comes Out: “We Need To Stand Up And Say… I’m Not Afraid”
"I am who I am and you can’t take that away from me.”From: NewNowNext
Scream actress Bex Taylor-Klaus came out as a lesbian Wednesday night to fans via Twitter’s live-streaming video platform YouNow.
The 22-year-old Atlanta native announced her sexuality in a simple tweet before starting the live stream.
hello my name is bex and yes the rumors are true I am v gayLive on YouNow in 10 minutes
— Bex Taylor-Klaus (@IBexWeBex) November 17, 2016
Taylor-Klaus’ first major role was as Bullet, a butch lesbian runaway on the third season of The Killing in 2013.
She would go on to play genderqueer basketball player Lex for six episodes on House of Lies before landing the lead role of bisexual teenager Audrey Jensen on MTV’s Scream.
Throughout her career, Bex has been somewhat of a lesbian heartthrob, though she maintained she
was straight until her live Q&A Wednesday night.
In the stream, she took questions from several fans. Though most of the interactions consisted of simple “I love you!” and “Oh my God!” statements, one fan did ask if she was scared to come out now in light of the recent Presidential election.
“Terrified, absolutely terrified,” the actress admitted. “Part of why I’m coming out is because there’s so much hate and fear in and around the LGBT community right now and it’s important for us not to halt progress out of fear.”
“Yes, it’s a scary time,” she continued, “but we need to stand up and say, even if you are afraid, I’m not afraid, or even if I am afraid, I’m strong. I am who I am and you can’t take that away from me.”
As hate crime numbers continue to soar in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory last week, it’s more important now than ever for LGBT public figures to stand up and proudly assume their identities.
Congratulations Bex and thanks for being a great role model!
‘Servile Puppy Dog’ Ted Cruz Now Hoping for Supreme Court Gig After Sessions Named AG
From: Towleroad
Texas Senator Ted Cruz is keeping the door open on being appointed to the Supreme Court by Donald Trump.
Cruz had reportedly expressed interest in becoming Trump’s attorney general. Those hopes however were dashed when Trump named racist and homophobic Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions for the job.
The Hill reports on Cruz and SCOTUS:
Asked Friday at a National Lawyers Convention event whether he’d accept a high court nomination, Cruz responded, “What I will say is that history is long and can take unexpected paths.”“I think it is absolutely vital that that seat and every other seat that comes vacant on the court be filled principle constitutionalists who will be faithful to the law and will check their own policy preferences at the door,” he added.
Talk of Cruz on the Supreme Court began this past weekend when Sen. Lindsey Graham threw out the idea.
However, when asked whether Trump would Cruz to fill the vacancy left by Antonin Scalia, Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway suggested it would not. Conway insisted that the new administration would only name someone from the list of 21 potential SCOTUS nominees it previously announced.
Watch a news report of Cruz talk about his meeting with Trump this week, below.
And also watch Rachel Maddow poke fun at Cruz who now, despite all his protestations at the end of the primary season, is essentially Trump’s “servile puppy dog.”
Pope Calls Teaching Kids About Gender Change ‘Against Nature’, Says Jesus Would Never Reject Gays
From: Towleroad
Pope Francis made several remarks about LGBT people aboard the papal plane en route to Rome following a trip to the former Soviet republic of Georgia, lashing out about the teaching of “gender theory” to children, and elaborating on his remarks about gay people.
CNN reports:
The Pope recounted a meeting with a French father whose young son wanted to be a girl after reading about it in a textbook.“This is against nature,” he said. “It is one thing when someone has this tendency … and it is another matter to teach this in school.”“To change the mentality — I call this ideological colonization,” the Pope said.
The Pope denounced schools teaching gender theory for “indoctrination” but said that trans people and people who are gay should receive pastoral care.
The Washington Post adds:
Francis was asked Sunday en route home aboard the papal plane how, given his firm denunciation of gender theory, he would minister to Catholics who had struggled all their lives feeling that their bodies physically didn’t match their gender or sexual orientation.Francis said he had ministered to such Catholics as a priest, bishop and now pope.“I’ve never abandoned them,” he said. “When someone who has this condition comes before Jesus, Jesus would surely never say ‘go away because you’re gay.’”
Reuters adds:
“Life is life, and things should be taken as they come,” the pope said. “Sin is sin, but tendencies or hormonal imbalances … can cause many problems and we have to be careful.“But each case must be welcomed, accompanied, studied, discerned and integrated. This is what Jesus would do today.”He then joked: “Please don’t write that the pope will sanctify transsexuals. I can see the front pages of papers now. But no, it is a moral question. It is a human question, and it must be resolved as best as possible, always with the mercy of God, the truth … always with an open heart.”
Pope Francis has spoken out against teaching gender theory before, writing about it in a book:
“Let’s think of the nuclear arms, of the possibility to annihilate in a few instants a very high number of human beings,” he continues. “Let’s think also of genetic manipulation, of the manipulation of life, or of the gender theory, that does not recognize the order of creation.”“With this attitude, man commits a new sin, that against God the Creator,” the pope says. “The true custody of creation does not have anything to do with the ideologies that consider man like an accident, like a problem to eliminate.”
He also spoke about it on a trip to Poland in August. Francis said it is “terrible” that “today in schools, they are teaching this to children — to children! — that everyone can choose their own gender.”
Pageantry And Pride On Display At Mr. Gay World Philippines Contest
Winner John Raspado will face off against global competition at Mr. Gay World 2017.
From: NewNowNext
From: NewNowNext
Filipinos love a good beauty pageant, so it’s no surprise the 2017 Mr Gay World Philippines pageant was a panoply of colors, costumes and more.
John Raspado of Baguio City was crowned winner at this year’s event, held October 2 in Quezon City.
The 35-year-old will now represent the Philippines in the Mr Gay World competition next year.
Khalil Vera Cruz and Bench Ortiz were named first and second runner up, respectively. Christian Lacsamana, Mr. Gay World Philippines 2015, won second runner-up at this year’s Mr. Gay World competition in Malta.
Raspado, who works in online marketing, competed in categories include casual wear, talent and national costume.
And, of course, swimwear.
In his interview segment, Raspado was asked what was the most challenging aspect of being gay in the Philippines.
During the competition, he discussed his family, including his brother, who suffered a debilitating stroke early this year.
“It breaks my heart seeing him incapable of doing things,” he said. “When I was growing up, my brother’s the one [who came] to the rescue when I was bullied. Now. it’s my time to take care of him.”
He called his win “overwhelming,” and said taking top honors at Mr. Gay World was “the next step” for his advocacy work, helping to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS and “eradicating stereotypes and creating an [more positive] image for gay men” in the Philippines.
Older Guys Discuss The First Time Someone Called Them “Daddy”
From: Queerty
It’s started happening to us, and we’re not all too pleased: Younger bucks casually calling us “daddy.” Should we be faintly annoyed and more-than-faintly turned off by the whole thing?
At the very least, we’re far from alone in our torment. A Redditor named AskGayBros wonders, “Older gays, at what age did you start realizing guys were messaging you and seeing you as a daddy?”
Well. First off, we’ll take “daddy” over “older gay” any day, but moving on.
One commenter named TheBestof73 insists that 30 is “gay death”:
It’s the point you become completely unwanted in the gay community. You’re old, a creeper, a target for young gays who see you are a source of “generosity.” I didn’t think that shit was real until the most obnoxious thing happened to me.
True story.
I was 29 and had been chatting with this 22yo on some site. It wasn’t anything serious, just hooking up type stuff. About two weeks or so go by before our schedules line up to where we can meet and fool around. We arranged to meet while on-line and before he left he asked me my age again. So happened, my birthday was the week before, and I mentioned that I had just turned 30.
No lie!
He says “Oh, really? 30?? That’s a little outta my age range.” I remind him we met when I was 29, just two weeks or so previous but he says “29 is different..it’s not 30.”
Genialerarchitekt ardently disagrees with sluttydude0‘s assertion that 40 is when “Grindr e-mails you your death certificate.”
“It’s not true,” he says. ” ‘m 44 and get way more hookups now than when I was 30.”
And even more than when I was 20. It started when I was 40. Suddenly all the cute, slim twinks I used to want to be with but was too shy to ask are hitting on me. I have no idea wtf is going on. Please help, I can’t cope with so many hookups.
“I hate hearing ‘dad’ for anything sexual,” writes BrobearBerbil. “It just triggers my ick factor pretty hard.”
You’re probably wondering what pr0nm0n thinks of all this. We’ll tell you.
“I was always a big guy with a muscular frame,” he writes. “Being 6’4 didn’t help so I started being called ‘daddy’ at 21 even though I have a baby face.”
It’s more of a mentality thing. Guys like being dominated, and most gay guys have father complexes. I’m 28 now and I’m loving it. Ass everywhere.
It happened to VeitPogner in his late 30s. “It was surprising — and took adjusting to accept — that some guys were attracted because of certain signs of middle age, not in spite of them.”
But for genialerarchitekt? It happened in his forties:
I’m 44 and younger guys hit on me all the time. It surprises me no end. I would prefer a fit guy my own age but they’re all into twinks. So apparently I’m a really “nice guy” lol and I look younger about 35 although I disagree. I know what I looked like at 35 and I have definitely got older since then….I’m not comfortable playing the daddy role but at a certain age you realize you just are without even thinking about it. For me that was around 40.
What about you? Have you been called Daddy? At what age did it begin? Does it make you swell with pride or, erm, annoying the living furrrkout of you?
Weigh in in the comments below.
Obsidian Remains Gay, Green Lantern’s Son, In “DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow”
"It’s treated, honestly, kind of ungently," says actor Lance Henriksen.
From: NewNowNext
From: NewNowNext
The CW is introducing a slew of new super-characters on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow's second season, including Obsidian, a gay hero with a complicated past.
When Obsidian was introduced in the comics in 1983, he was the son of golden-age Green Lantern Alan Scott. Over the years, the shadow-powered champion occasionally succumbed to his dark side and struggled to keep his sanity.
More recently, he came out as gay and even had a boyfriend.
Veteran actor Lance Henriksen (Millennium) told ComicBook.com the TV version of the character will remain true to that portrayal—sexuality and all.
“Yeah, being Green Lantern’s son and all that stuff and him being gay is all in there,” he explained. “It’s treated, honestly, kind of ungently. It’s a real thing”
Henriksen, who plays an older version of the character, says his dialogue includes the lines, ‘If you’re lucky enough to find love again, after anything has ever happened to you, well, embrace it.”
Obsidian also tells another hero, “Son, he’s waiting for me at home.”
Legends of Tomorrow sees a cast of heroes and villains traveling through time and space to prevent catastrophe. They actually encounter two versions of Obsidian—the older version played by Henriksen, and a younger costumed version played by Dan Payne.
Legends of Tomorrow airs Thursdays, at 8 pm on The CW.
The Visual Variance: James Alejandro by Karl Royce
From: Favorite Hunks & Other Things
'The models in Karl's images appear unbounded, as if the limits of movement, space and gravity do not exist. Some of the men appeared in mid air, others grounded, but lightly so as if floating near, but planted on the ground.'
I pulled the quote above from my story The Chair, which featured the work of London photographer Karl Royce. When constructing the piece, one of the shoots Karl had sent on featured model James Alejandro. I loved the images, but given they didn't as closely fit the theme I was going for, I decided to set Karl's work with James aside to post on their own.
Although there is a bit of a feel of floating in the clouds, for this shoot, Karl planted James gently, but firmly on the bed. What most struck me when viewing this shoot were the visual variants that blended so well together to create erotic and starkly beautiful final images. Although James is six feet tall, the bed was large enough both embrace, and display his form so beautifully. I also loved the contrast between James dark features against the white, with the small color flash of the red from the jock strap jumping out at you. James' hair, both on his head, and body especially on his legs took on great importance visually with the white, and the poses Karl chose to capture.
'It was a pleasure to work with Karl! He made it incredibly easy to work with him and I love that he understands the naked form and views it as a thing of beauty!'
'I wanted to work with James initially, for not just his obvious good looks and natural body hair, but for that amazing shaped mouth; he has the most beautiful shaped lips. He's very easy to work with so will be a model I'll definitely be booking again and just focusing on his raw masculinity. I chose to shoot him on the bed was mainly because on the day there was this golden light coming through that particular window and as the concept was meant to be "dreamscape" inspired. It seemed the obvious choice.'
