#reg is thirsty for james

[ultravioletbrit]

“invite” - Jegulus microfic - @into-the-jeggyverse - 116 words

 

The thing is, James knows. He knows what Regulus is. He knows what he does. And he knows Regulus is fixated on him.

Which means he knows why Regulus is here. He knows what Regulus wants to do with him; to him. He knows the danger he’s in and he knows he should be scared.

But he also knows Regulus can’t hurt him unless he’s in the house and he knows Regulus can’t come in the house unless James allows him in.

James knows all of this and yet….

“You gonna invite me in?” Regulus purrs as he looks up through dark lashes, his blood red eyes locked on James’.

James also knows he can’t resist.

[my-castles-crumbling]

run - @jegulus-microfic - word count: 181

The world was not fair.

Regulus was sure of that, because how could it be, when it made him watch James Potter cooling down after his daily run?

He was sitting on a bench outside, the sun beating on his back as he stared at Potter, who was completely oblivious to being admired as he stretched. Regulus barely choked down the groan in the back of his throat as Potter bent over.

And, of course, the damned sun made it worse. Because Potter had beads of sweat...dripping down his neck and over his bare chest, slowly sliding over sculpted muscles.

Regulus fought the insane urge to run over and lick them.

He was so distracted by the show in front of him that he didn't hear Barty approaching suspiciously until it was too late.

"Whoops!" his friend said far too casually as he spilled the bottle of water he was drinking all over Regulus. "Sorry, Reg. You just looked so thirsty!"

Regulus glowered so angrily at Barty's devilish grin that he almost missed the chuckle Potter let out behind him.

[toujoursrab]

Prompt: Pounce | Pairing: Jegulus (@into-the-jeggyverse) | Word Count: 946 Warnings: Light sexual undertones. Casual mentions of blood because Reg is a vampire and James makes him thirsty.

“I want him.” Regulus’ tone left no room for argument, his grip tightening around his glass of old fashioned. His eyes were dark but glowing red, determined as he looked across the club admiring the most beautiful man he had seen in centuries. Said man was in the middle of the dance floor, drink in his hand as a blonde woman pressed up against him with minimal space between, his head was tilted back in a laugh over something she had said. Regulus couldn’t hear the sound, but surely it was just as beautiful as he was. An image conjured up in his mind of the stranger beneath him, Regulus’ mouth nestled near the column of his throat before his sharp fangs pierced through tan skin and the first taste of syrupy copper exploded on his tongue. He would sound so fucking pretty, and Regulus would be so full, so satisfied, as he feasted on his prey. 

“Down, kitten.” His best friend smirked, gulping down his own drink; a vodka something. “You look like you’re gonna pounce. As much as I’d enjoy the show this isn’t the place for that.”

Even if it pained him, Regulus had to agree with Barty. They had chosen a human club to visit tonight, deciding to step out of their usual supernatural social rings in an attempt to be “adventurous”. Regulus wasn’t supposed to find his next meal, tonight was just meant for casual fun. There were a lot of human/vampire hangouts where humans willingly let vampires feed on them and this place wasn’t one of them. In fact, his older brother owned one of the oldest and most popular clubs for feeding (and more), Regulus usually ventured there because he was given special treatment from the patrons and the staff. As much as he pretended he didn’t like the attention, he loved being spoiled and given special treatment when he was in the mood for it.

With a disappointed sigh, he sipped his drink but kept his eyes on his prey. Every time he moved, the bright lights flashing over him, it was as if Regulus was noticing some new physical attribute. He was tall, had dark messy hair, and wore glasses. Hot. “I won’t pounce, Barty. I’ll just casually stroll over there.”

Barty gave him a side eye as if he didn’t believe him. Regulus wasn’t the type to be attracted to someone at first glance, but he also wasn’t the most subtle person. He was blunt and straight forward and this wasn’t the best place for that. Most people didn’t take too kindly to vampires even if they openly walked among humans and shared spaces. “And then…?”

“I’ll get close enough to smell his blood.” There were too many scents in here, most of them not pleasant, for Regulus to make out the scent of the guy who made his fangs ache with desire.

“Annnnnd then….?”

“If he smells disgusting, I’ll walk away. But if he doesn’t…..” and Regulus had a strong feeling that he wouldn’t. “I ask him to dance, flirt a little. The bathroom of the club didn’t look that disgusting.”

Barty almost spit out his drink. “You—the biggest prude I know—are going to—in the bathroom of a club?”

Regulus hit the other’s bare arm with the back of his hand in offense, Barty’s face scrunching up as he rubbed the back of his arm. Regulus may have small hands, but the sharpness of the blow stung. “Sirius always says—”

“Stop right there. The last time you quoted something from your brother you decided to go skydiving even though you’re scared of heights.”

“It was for the experience.”

“You clung to Remus for ten minutes crying and hyperventilating, and then had him tell the instructor he was the one who was scared so you both wouldn’t be diving.”

“He took one for the team.”  A huff left the vampire while Barty looked smug to have made his point. It was quiet for a few moments, Barty ordering a new drink and Regulus scanning the crowd for the beautiful guy in glasses, somehow he had lost him. “Fuck, Barty. He’s gone.” His nose twitched just as Barty’s new drink was set down on the bar top. It smelt sweet and alluring, flowery in a way he couldn’t pinpoint, and almost intoxicating as he leaned in to try and get a whiff of more but was left disappointed when he realized it wasn’t coming from the drink placed on the bar. Before Regulus could blink, he was elbowed into his ribs.

“Ow, what the bloody h—” But he stopped speaking, feeling a warmth behind him as he turned. Oh—not only was he met with the beautiful man from the dance floor, but also that sweet intoxicating scent. He almost leaned in just so he could get a whiff, but decided that was weird at the last moment.

“Hi!” the glasses guy looked sheepish, running his fingers through his already messy and lightly damped hair. It was all very endearing, Regulus breathed in and allowed the human’s scent to cloud his senses; it felt like he was floating. “I’m James. I noticed you watching me, thought you might want a closer view.”

Regulus was momentarily stunned. No amount of time spent on this Earth—463 years—could have prepared him for this moment.

“Oh trust me, he bloody well does.” Barty answered with a laugh, almost knocking Regulus off the barstool and right into James.

[prtfrmhrtbrn]

june 8: ‘taking chances’. 495 words; prompt via @jegulus-microfic !!

(possible cws: drowning & descriptions of pain. whoops!)

The potion slips down his throat easily, like he was born to drink it. James’ hand is in his, holding it tightly, like it was crafted to hold it. Like they were etched particularly, to fit together like they do; not conceived but instead poured into candle-moulds that match only with each other. One-of-a-kind.

The potion slips down his throat easily, but the oyster shell is heavy in his hand, and only getting heavier. It’s hard to lift, even with James’ help; he sobs and begs and pleads, says, “James, anything but more, please, I’m going to die, it’s going to kill me,” but he knows that the agony is as much the potion talking as it is himself, and James lifts the shell back to his lips once more and despite everything in his body crying for the opposite, he drinks.

And drinks. And drinks.

The risk of drinking it sends cold shivers through his body, but they’re so indistinguishable from the nervous tremors- from the knowledge that this is probably what they call ‘the right thing’- that there’s no real difference.

The potion seems bottomless, so much so that when he comes to the end of it, his mouth is open for more; ready, waiting. James looks at him, and smiles, and reaches into the basin to grab at the locket, and he says, “you did it, Reg.”

(Shouldn’t it be- “we did it”?)

He sounds so pure; sweet; happy. Things so unreasonable for a nineteen-year-old who’s in a cave in the middle of nowhere to help his boyfriend kill an immortal to end a war. A nineteen-year-old who’s dealing with undue responsibilities because of a would-be Lord, a false god, a man who panned for gold and found pyrite and convinced everyone that it was authentic. And he’s ruining their lives.

It’s not so bad, not anymore. The potion stung and hurt and burned and made him feel lke he was being cauterised from the inside out, but it’s not so bad. It had left him achingly thirsty, but the lake surrounding the island is full of cool water that eases the pain, and when arms start to grab; scratch; claw, he doesn’t really notice, not until James starts screaming from on the shore.

“Reg!” He calls, anxiety and panic threaded through his tone; an expert weaver, the way that they’re so intrinsic to the way that Regulus’ name falls from his mouth. “Reg, swim away! Please, I-”

And then he’s in the water too, trying to drag him out; fruitless, because the grab-scratch-claw had left him weak and he’s all dead weight. Not even James is strong enough to pull him away from that, though he tries; he always tries. Has never stopped trying. It’s one of Regulus’ favourite things about him.

(Or, well. It used to be.)

(He’s the one who dies first, of the two of them, but it’s a ‘used to be’ no matter how the order looks.)

[theratkingsfool]

(TW) child abuse /mostly implied/ and character death

Regulus black knew he was nothing short of a coward, a selfish bastard who could only scourge up the little slivers of bravery to do the right thing after following a man who would perform magic that went against nature itself.

He thought about kreacher and what the dark lord had done to him to test the defences for his horocrux, anger and vengeance fuelled him forward to drink the emerald liquid, gulping down mouthfuls until his stomach cramped and intense emotions locked him in place.

“Kreacher” he gasped out desperately trying to power through before fear and self perseverance stopped him “force it down my throat”

“Master” kreacher croaked and regulus knew if he looked he would see tears in his large round eyes so he didn’t, instead he gripped the basin tightly trying to remember why he was doing this, what made this worth fighting for.

“Please kreacher, it’s all I ask of you…you know the plan please…please follow it” he begged, his voice rough and he felt a hand force his face forward before the poison was pushed into his mouth over and over again until the locket was visible. Once the locket was pressed into kreachers hand regulus forced down his sobs.

“Now old friend I leave destroying the locket to you and you must never tell the family about this…never” his hands were shaking from the pain and despair coursing through him “go and please..don’t forget me”

“Yes master” it was barely a whisper and in an instant kreacher was gone and he was left alone beside the refilled basin, it was dark as he lay there in the dark with only the green glow of the poison. Memories filtered through his mind, of his mothers contempt and the cruciatius curse ripping through him, of his father with heavy hands and a thin metal cane splitting the skin of his knuckles, of kreacher and the fact that he’ll be left alone with mother and father.

Of Sirius a brother that left him behind to follow a boy with wild hair and wilder dreams, a brother that left him alone in a house filled to the brim with misery, a brother that once held him during nightmares, a brother that would act out fighting off monsters to bring him comfort, a brother that would take every punishment meant for regulus…a brother that loved him and that he loved dearly.

“Reg! Aren’t you listening?” Sirius sat with a pout holding an old story book, he was attempting to read a story in which a brave knight defeated a dragon to save a princess but regulus had been lost in thought, he knew mother had talked to madam Loswick earlier about how he was going during tutoring which wouldn’t be good enough for mother and he would have to be punished.

Maybe Sirius already knew because he reached out a small grubby hand to hold his.

“Don’t worry mother will be distracted by her favourite dress turning an unfortunate shade of pink” Sirius’ grin was forced, regulus could always tell when it wasn’t genuine, but before he could respond he could hear footsteps growing closer

As memories that regulus forced himself forget, of the sacrifices made to protect him, he sobbed harder begging the seven year old version of his brother to stop being an idiot and let him take the punishment as intended.

His throat was dry..thirsty..he was so very thirsty and so he dragged himself to the water surrounding the small island and drank but it wasn’t working, wasn’t quenching his thirst so when cold hands pulled him down into the icy water he let them.

Was this enough for redemption? Did he do the right thing? Would Sirius be safe because of this sacrifice? Would he be proud of him? His last thought was Sirius laughing with James potter and he smiled as the darkness faded into nothingness.

[cuckoo-on-a-string]

Zemo Fic Teaser (Soft Target)

U want sum fic?

Edit: You did it! First chapter here!

Not technically reader x Zemo but so close they could kiss.

There isn’t much of Zemo in this first scene, but this is a slow-burn ZemoxOc. He gets in a lot of things later, I promise.

She’d been having a good day. She’d been having such a good day. It had been such a wonderful, uplifting, hopeful sort of afternoon, she didn’t immediately think the worst when Sam Wilson and James Barnes appeared at the bar. Sam had his friendly face on, the slightly strained one he wore when they first met. It probably meant trouble, but she was behind the bar – and she really had been enjoying her day – so her bartender smile lit up on instinct. Barnes looked less comfortable, his big expressive mouth warring with a frown, and she decided to take the initiative and assume the burden of breaking the ice.

“Would you like an old fashioned?” she asked him, leaning down on her elbows with a shit eating grin. “Or an old fashioned?”

He rolled his eyes, but while the tension lingered in his shoulders, the frown stopped yanking at his face. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself.” She looked between the two men, surprised to see them together but still expecting something good from the universe.

She should’ve known better.

“It’s good to see you again,” Sam said. A polite opener.

And probably bullshit. While the smile stayed on her face, her optimism cracked. Familiar doubt and disappointment leaked through the gaps, happy to drown her good mood. It had yet to fail entirely, but she knew. If it was good to see her, he would’ve made some kind of effort before this. If he was really seeking a friendship of some kind, he wouldn’t begin by trying to establish they already had one.

Sam pressed ahead, unaware he’d lost the edge in the coming fight. “We need your help.”

“I’m at work.”

She’d been practicing for moments like this, learning how to say no. This would test her mettle though. Sam was good at what he did, and he talked people into and out of trouble as part of his job.

“Sorry.” And he actually sounded like he meant it. “But we only have your work address.”

Her smile turned Midwestern – flat and polite, nearly apologetic. “I gave you my cell number, though. What’s so important you had to ambush me at my job?”

She took the opportunity to start making the old fashioned she’d promised. Whether or not either of them drank it was nothing to her. Well. That wasn’t true. Her professional pride would be hurt if they didn’t enjoy it.

Her two coworkers started sending her looks. A few customers tried getting her attention beside and behind the two men. Whether she caved or not, this conversation needed to be put on hold.

“Look,” she nodded to the back corner, where a gaggle of grad students had just evacuated a booth. “I’ll talk to you on my break. Seriously. I’m at work.”

She slid the old fashioned to Barnes across the bar, and he caught it through instinct rather than attention. “On the house. Go away. Sit. Stay. Whatever.”

To his credit, Sam followed her order. A polite nod, and he disengaged. Barnes hesitated with a question on his lips, eyes moving between his friend and the girl at the bar, but in the end, he followed Sam with his own nod as he retreated. At least he took the damn drink.

She lifted her fingers to her face, briefly exploring the frown she’d grown. When did that get there? Fuck. She’d been having such a good day.

A third man joined Steve’s old friends in the booth – he looked like money, and she disliked him on principle. The tips men like him offered rarely compensated for the aggravation. More than one asshole tried paying his way out getting bounced after groping the staff, or breaking furniture, or asking a bartender to run an errand. She wondered what the three men had in common, what brought them to her place of work without a call.

Her mood continued to sour.

Bottles, shakers, and spoons moved through her hands in a glittering parade as drink after drink came together for thirsty strangers and regulars crowding the old wooden bar. A professional smile masked the churning frustration, proof of her charade gathering in the tip jar.

Six months. Why did they have to ruin one of her good days? She had plenty of bad ones; she might even enjoy the distraction on one of those.

An hour ticked by, and customers started going home. It was a weeknight. Some people had places to be in the morning, though enough lingered to justify keeping the doors open, and night owls and tourists kept trickling in from establishments down the street.

She kept glancing towards the booth, where the three men sat in sullen silence punctuated with arguments muted by distance and the low thrum of music from the bar’s overhead speakers. It looked like an old married couple fighting – too stuck in habit and necessity to split, but too far from the honeymoon to care for the relationship.

They looked back, sometimes, and she always turned away first. She didn’t need a staring contest to assert herself here. She was a bartender. She was behind the bar. A mere glance towards the bouncer would send them packing. They’d wait to talk until she’d done her time and ensured she had rent covered for the month.

And then a new asshole joined the party.

He came in like a man on a mission, which was never a great start. Bros with the muscles and haircut he sported came to bars to relax, play the pick-up artist, or pick a fight – and he didn’t look like he wanted to relax. His march led him straight to the bar when his initial sweep of the place failed to deliver… whatever he was looking for. As he approached, she couldn’t help noting the recessed booth where her three unwanted guests lurked wasn’t visible from the door. She’d sent them there because it was out of the way. Was that decision about to bite her?

The big man – all buzz cut and undersized t-shirt – grabbed her arm as she reached to retrieve an empty glass. She froze. Her thoughts had a counterpoint, and it was loud.

Angry and afraid: her feelings.

Angry and looking to hurt someone: his feelings.

A few faces flickered through his surface thoughts, and she recognized them all. He’d followed Steve’s friends and the man with them through Manhattan, despite obvious efforts to throw a tail.

Well. At least they’d tried.

“You should really let go of my arm,” she said, softly, like a firm suggestion.

That amused him, and his thoughts went very dark. He wondered what sounds she’d make if he crushed her arm in his fist, what sounds she’d make if he broke her apart in other ways.

Retrieving the glass with her free hand, she subtly signaled Jack, the bouncer, and tucked the dirty dish in the bin under behind the bar. The hand flexed on her arm, and she brought up a fresh glass as Jack made his way across the room, and she began pouring her favorite overproof rum.

The man’s head was a mess, and she caught glimpses of lots of things she’d rather not see along with things that may be useful in solving this mess as his attention fluttered. She wouldn’t be the first girl behind a bar he’d hurt. Too bad he couldn’t go to the Clover anymore. So close to base and all – Maybe after they took care of the snooping problem he could –

“Hey.” Jack put his hand on the man’s shoulder. “Time to go, pal.”

She returned the rum to its place and slipped her hand back under the counter. She felt bad for Jack, but she needed the distraction.

The stranger – well, not a stranger to her anymore – backhanded the bouncer hard enough to send him flying the length of the bar. Patrons jumped up, shouting, as some ran for the exit and some looked for an excuse to join the fight.

While he watched his target crash through a table, she whipped out the sturdy pairing knife she used for lemons and limes, and drove it clean through her assailant’s wrist and into the bar. The pain surprised him. It wasn’t great secondhand, either, sparking across the connection, but he released his grip, and she pressed her attack. Both hands free, she hurled the glass of rum in his face, and as he instinctively tried wiping it out of his eyes with his free hand, she thumbed the wheel of the bar’s lighter. She snarled, hurling it after the alcohol. The instant the open flame touched his soaked shirt, it burst into flames. He howled, flailing to put out the fire dancing over his chest, arms, face.

A metal arm swung from behind, into the side of his skull. The crack echoed as two more big men with bad haircuts kicked through the very open and innocent door. They looked pissed.

Sam vaulted over the bar, the third wheel from the booth slipping under the bar hatch as Bucky hurled the – still flaming – assailant towards the new threats.

“We need to go,” Sam shouted. He didn’t touch her, but his arms hovered in a vaguely protective fashion, herding her towards the back door.

She didn’t need to be told twice. By the time Bucky swung across the bar top to join them, she’d pushed through to the little hallway that led to the employee bathrooms, breakroom, and back entrance. She didn’t have to stop as she yanked her purse and coat from the hook on the wall, suddenly glad for the bar’s poor security for personal effects. Her bag was more backpack than purse. It hung heavy with all the things she needed most, including her laptop and a change of clothes. Just in case, she’d always told herself. Just in case, for whatever reason, you have to run.

Her paranoia had paid off, and she hated it.

Smoggy spring air full of car exhaust and the tempting smells of the Italian restaurant across the alley welcomed them into the world outside the bar. She gulped it in, wondering if this was a particular flavor she’d cringe over again the wee hours of the morning. No. Of course not. Someone thought she’d be useful, and another chapter of her life closed.

As the men piled out behind her, she turned to Sam, arms half-raised at her sides, asking as much with her body as her words what happened next.

“Looks like I’m involved,” she said. “Where are we going?”

The third man took point, politely gesturing towards the north end of the alley even as he stepped forward to guide them. “The car is this way.”

As she let herself be pulled along in the tide of trouble crashing around the three men, dimly aware of how useless it would be to say no, she could only – desperately – remember: it had been such a good day.

[blackkudos]

Carl Hancock Rux

Carl Hancock Rux (born March 24, 1975) is an American poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, actor, director, singer/ songwriter. He is the author of several books including the Village Voice Literary Prize-winning "Pagan Operetta," the novel, Asphalt, and the Obie Award-winning play, Talk. Rux is also a singer/songwriter with four CDs to his credit, as well as a frequent collaborator in the fields of dance, theater, film, and contemporary art . Notable collaborators include Nona Hendryx, Toshi Reagon, Bill T. Jones, Ronald K. Brown, Nick Cave, Anne Bogart, Robert Wilson, Kenny Leon, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Jonathan Demme, Stanley Nelson Jr., Carrie Mae Weems, Glenn Ligon and others. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Doris Duke Award for New Works, the Doris Duke Charitable Fund, the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Prize, the Bessie Award and the Alpert Award in the Arts, and a 2019 Global Change Maker award by WeMakeChange.Org. . His archives are housed at the Billy Rose Theater Division of the New York Public Library, the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution as well as the Film and Video/Theater and Dance Library of the California Institute of the Arts.

Early life

Rux was born Carl Stephen Hancock in Harlem, New York. His biological mother, Carol Jean Hancock, suffered from chronic mental illness, was diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, and was institutionalized shortly after the birth of his older brother. Rux was born the result of an illegitimate pregnancy (while his mother was under the care of a New York City psychiatric institution) and the identity of Rux's biological father is unknown. Rux was placed under the guardianship of his maternal grandmother, Geneva Hancock (née Rux), until her death of cirrhosis of the liver due to alcoholism. At four years of age he entered the New York City foster care system where he remained until he was eventually placed under the legal guardianship of his great uncle (grandmother's brother) James Henry Rux and his wife Arsula (née Cottrell) and raised on a step street in the Highbridge section of the Bronx, later used as the filming location for the stairway dance scene in the 2019 film Joker.

Rux attended PS 73, Roberto Clemente Junior High School and received a scholarship to the Horace Mann School, an independent Ivy college preparatory school in the Riverdale section of the Bronx before transferring to the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts where he studied visual art. Exposed to jazz music by his legal guardians, including the work of Oscar Brown Jr., John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln, Rux eventually double-majored in music/voice, and sang with the Boys Choir of Harlem. He also became a member of the Harlem Writers Workshop, a summer journalism training program for inner-city youth founded by African-American journalists, sponsored by Columbia University and The Xerox Corporation. At the age of 15, Rux was legally adopted by his guardians and his surname changed to Rux. Upon graduation from high school he entered Columbia College where he studied in the Creative Writing Program; took private acting classes at both HB studios; and trained with Gertrude Jeanette's Hadley Players as well as actor Robert Earl Jones (father of actor James Earl Jones). Rux continued his studies at Columbia University, American University of Paris, as well as the University of Ghana at Legon.

Career

Working as a Social Work Trainer while moonlighting as a freelance art and music critic, Rux became a founding member of Hezekiah Walker's Love Fellowship gospel choir and later found himself influenced by the Lower East Side poetry and experimental theater scene, collaborating with poets Miguel Algarin, Bob Holman, Jayne Cortez, Sekou Sundiata, Ntozake Shange; experimental musicians David Murray, Mal Waldron, Butch Morris, Craig Harris, Jeanne Lee, Leroy Jenkins as well as experimental theater artists Laurie Carlos, Robbie McCauley, Ruth Maleczech, Lee Breuer, Reza Abdoh and others.

He is one of several poets (including Paul Beatty, Tracie Morris, Dael Orlandersmith, Willie Perdomo, Kevin Powell, Maggie Estep, Reg E. Gaines, Edwin Torres and Saul Williams) to emerge from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, most of whom were included in the poetry anthology Aloud, Voices From the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, winner of the 1994 American Book Award. His first book of poetry, Pagan Operetta, received the Village Voice Literary prize and was featured on the weekly's cover story: "Eight Writers on the Verge of (Impacting) the Literary Landscape". Rux is the author of the novel Asphalt and the author of several plays. His first play, Song of Sad Young Men (written in response to his older brother's death from AIDS), was directed by Trazana Beverly and starred actor Isaiah Washington. The play received eleven AUDELCO nominations. His most notable play is the OBIE Award-winning Talk, first produced at the Joseph Papp Public Theater in 2002. Directed by Marion McClinton and starring actor Anthony Mackie, the play won seven OBIE awards.

Rux is also a recording artist, first featured on Reg E. Gaines CD Sweeper Don't Clean My Streets (Polygram). As a musician, his work is known to encompass an eclectic mixture of blues, rock, vintage R&B, classical music, futuristic pop, soul, poetry, folk, psychedelic music and jazz. His debut CD, Cornbread, Cognac & Collard Green Revolution (unreleased) was produced by Nona Hendryx and Mark Batson, featuring musicians Craig Harris, Ronnie Drayton and Lonnie Plaxico. His CD Rux Revue was recorded and produced in Los Angeles by the Dust Brothers, Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf. Rux recorded a follow up album, Apothecary Rx, (selected by French writer Phillippe Robert for his 2008 publication "Great Black Music": an exhaustive tribute of 110 albums including 1954's "Lady Sings The Blues" by Billie Holiday, the work of Jazz artists Oliver Nelson, Max Roach, John Coltrane, rhythm and blues artists Otis Redding, Ike & Tina Turner, Curtis Mayfield, George Clinton; as well as individual impressions of Fela Kuti, Jimi Hendrix, and Mos Def.) His fourth studio CD, Good Bread Alley, was released by Thirsty Ear Records, and his fifth "Homeostasis" (CD Baby) was released in May 2013. Rux has written and performed (or contributed music) to a proportionate number of dance companies including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company; Jane Comfort & Co. and Ronald K. Brown's "Evidence" among others.

Literature

Books by author

Elmina Blues (poetry)

Pagan Operetta (poetry/Short Fiction/SemioText)

Asphalt (novel/Simon & Schuster)

Talk (drama/TCG Press)

Literary fiction

Asphalt (novel) (Atria, Simon & Schuster)

The Exalted (novel) forthcoming

Selected plays

Song of Sad Young Men

Talk

Geneva Cottrell, Waiting for the Dog to Die

Smoke, Lilies and Jade

Song of Sad Young Men

Chapter & Verse

Pipe

Pork Dream in the American House of Image

Not the Flesh of Others

Singing In the Womb of Angels

Better Dayz Jones (Harlem Stage)

"Stranger On Earth" (Harlem Stage)

The (No) Black Male Show

Mycenaean

Asphalt (directed by Talvin Wilkes)

Etudes for the Sleep of Other Sleepers (directed by Laurie Carlos)

Steel Hammer (co-written by Will Power, Kia Cothran and Regina Taylor for the SITI company, directed by Anne Bogart).

The Exalted (directed by Anne Bogart)

NPR Presents WATER ± (co-written by Arthur Yorinks, directed by Kenny Leon)

Selected essays

"Eminem: The New White Negro

"Dream Work and the Mimesis of Carrie Mae Weems"

"Belief and the Invisible Playwright"

"In Memoriam: Ruby Dee (1922–2014)"

"Up From The Mississippi Delta"

"Democratic Vistas of Space and Light"

"A Rage In Harlem"

Selected anthologies

Experiments in a Jazz Aesthetic: Art, Activism, Academia, and the Austin Project University of Texas Press

Soul: Black Power, Politics, and Pleasure NYU Press

Heights of the Marvelous NYU Press

Juncture: 25 Very Good Stories and 12 Excellent Drawings Soft Skull Press

Da Capo Best Music Writing 2004: The Year's Finest Writing on Rock, Hip-hop, Jazz, Pop, Country, and More, DeCapo Press

Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam, Counterpoint Press

Humana Festival 2014: The Complete Plays, Playscripts, Incorporated

Action: The Nuyorican Poets Cafe Theatre, Simon & Schuster

Bum Rush the Page: A Def Poetry Jam, Three Rivers Press

The African American Male, Writing, and Difference: A Polycentric Approach to African American Literature, Criticism, and History, State University of New York Press

Meditations and Ascensions: Black Writers on Writing, Third World Press

Plays from the Boom Box Galaxy: Theater from the Hip-hop Generation, Theatre Communications Group

Bad Behavior, Random House

Verse: An Introduction to Prosody, John Wiley & Sons Press

Significations of Blackness: American Cinema and the Idea of a Black Film, UMI Press

So Much Things to Say: 100 Poets from the First Ten Years of the Calabash International Literary Festival, Akashic Books

Black Men In Their Own Words, Crown Publishers

Bulletproof Diva, Knopf Doubleday

Race Manners: Navigating the Minefield Between Black and White Americans, Skyhorse Publishing

In Their Company: Portraits of American Playwrights, Umbrage Press

Listen Again: a Momentary History of Pop Music, Duke University Press

Journalism

Rux has been published as a contributing writer in numerous journals, catalogs, anthologies, and magazines including Interview magazine, Essence magazine, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, aRude Magazine, Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art (founded by fellow art critics Okwui Enwezor, Chika Okeke-Agulu and Salah Hassan) and American Theater Magazine.

Libretti

Makandal (music by Yosvaney Terry, stage design and costumes by Edouard Duval Carrie, directed by Lars Jan) Harlem Stage

Blackamoor Angel (music by Deidre Murray; directed by Karin Coonrod) Bard Spiegeltent/Joseph Papp Public Theater

Kingmaker (music by Toshi Reagon) BRIC Arts Media

Perfect Beauty" (music by Tamar Muskal)

Music

Solo albums

Cornbread, Cognac, Collard Green Revolution

Rux Revue Sony/550 Music

Apothecary Rx Giant Step

Good Bread Alley Thirsty Ear

Homeostasis CD Baby

Singles

"Miguel" (Sony) 1999

"Wasted Seed" (Sony) 1999

"Fall Down" (Sony) 1999

"No Black Male Show" (Sony) 1999

"Good Bread Alley" (Thirsty Ear) 2006

"Thadius Star" (Thirsty Ear) 2006

"Living Room" (Thirsty Ear) 2006

"Disrupted Dreams" (Giant Step) 2010

"Eleven More Days" (Giant Step) 2010

"I Got A Name" (Giant Step) 2010

"Living Room" (Kevin Shields Remix) (Mercury) 2013

12-inch singles

"Lamentations (You, Son)" Giant Step Records

EP

Carl Hancock Rux Live at Joe's Pub (forthcoming)

Collaborations

Sweeper Don't Clean My Streets Reg E. Gaines Polygram

Eargasms Vol. 1

70 Years Coming R. L. Burnside Bongload/Acid Blues Records

Our Souls Have Grown Deep Like the Rivers: Black Poets Read Their Works, Rhino

Bow Down to the Exit Sign David Holmes Go! Beat

Love Each Other Yukihiro Fukutomi Sony/ Japan

Optometry DJ Spooky Thirsty Ear Recordings

The Temptation of Saint Anthony (Studio Cast Recording)

Inradio 5 Morningwatch 2004

Thirsty Ear Presents: Blue Series Sampler (Thirsty Ear)

Poetry on Record: 98 Poets Read Their Work, 1888-2006 Box Set Shout! Factory (2006)

More Than Posthuman-Rise of the Mojosexual Cotillion Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber, TruGROID

The Dogs Are Parading David Holmes Universal

Life Forum Gerald Clayton Concord Jazz

Tributary Tales Gerald Clayton

Tomorrow Comes The Harvest Jeff Mills Tony Allen Decca Records

Humanist Rob Marshall Ignition Records

Songwriter

Mckay Stephanie McKay Universal Music

Contemporary Dance (text & music)

Movin' Spirits Dance Co.

Kick The Boot, Raise the Dust An' Fly; A Recipe for Buckin (chor: Marlies Yearby, co-authors: Sekou Sundiata, Laurie Carlos, music: Craig Harris ) Performance Space 122, Maison des arts de Créteil (France)

Totin' Business & Carryin' Bones (chor. Marlies Yearby), Performance Space 122, Maison des arts de Créteil (France)

The Beautiful (chor: Marlies Yearby, co-author:Laurie Carlos), Judson Church, Tribeca Performing Arts Center

Of Urban Intimacies (chor: Marlies Yearby), Lincoln Center Serious Fun!, Central Park Summerstage, National Tour

That Was Like This/ This Was Like That(chor: Marlies Yearby, music: Grisha Coleman), Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Central Park Summerstage, National Tour

Anita Gonzalez

Yanga, (chor: Anita Gonzalez, music: Cooper-Moore, composer), Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Montclair State College

Jane Comfort & Co.

Asphalt (dir/chor: Jane Comfort; vocal score: Toshi Reagon, music: DJ Spooky, David Pleasant, Foosh, dramaturgy: Morgan Jenness, costumes: Liz Prince, lighting design: David Ferri ), Joyce Theater, National Tour

Urban Bush Women

Soul Deep (chor: Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, composer: David Murray), Walker Arts Center, National Tour

Shelter (chor: Jawole Willo Jo Zollar, music: Junior Gabbu Wedderburn) International Tour

Hair Stories (chor: Jawole Willa jo Zollar) BAM Theater/Esplanade Theater (Singapore) Hong Kong Arts Festival

Jubilation! Dance Co.

Sweet In The Morning (chor: Kevin Iega Jeff)

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Shelter (chor: Jawole Willo Jo Zollar, music: Junior Gabbu Wedderburn) City Center, International Tour

Uptown (chor: Matthew Rushing) Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Four Corners (chor: Ronald K. Brown) Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater 2014

Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble (Ailey II)

Seeds (chor: Kevin Iega Jeff) Aaron Davis Hall, Apollo Theater, National Tour

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Theater

The Artificial Nigger (chor: Bill T. Jones) Arnie Zane Bill T. Jones Dance Co; music: Daniel Bernard Roumain National Tour

Roberta Garrison Co.

Certo! (chor: Roberta Garrison, music: Mathew Garrison) Scuola di Danza Mimma Testa in Trastevere (Rome, Italy) Teatro de natal infantil Raffaelly Beligni (Naples, Italy)

M'Zawa Dance Co.

Seeking Pyramidic Balance/Flipmode (chor: Maia Claire Garrison) 651 Arts

Robert Moses Kin

Helen (chor: Robert Moses) Yerba Buena Performing Arts Center

Nevabawarldapece (chor: Robert Moses) Yerba Buena Performing Arts Center

Topaz Arts Dance

Dreamfield (chor: Paz Tanjuaquio) Hudson River Park NY

Actor

Theater

Rux studied acting at the Hagen Institute (under Uta Hagen); the Luleå National Theatre School (Luleå, Sweden) and at the National Theater of Ghana (Accra). Rux has appeared in several theater projects, most notably originating the title role in the folk opera production of The Temptation of St. Anthony, based on the Gustave Flaubert novel, directed by Robert Wilson with book, libretto and music by Bernice Johnson Reagon and costumes by Geoffrey Holder. The production debuted as part of the Ruhr Triennale festival in Duisburg Germany with subsequent performances at the Greek Theater in Siracusa, Italy; the Festival di Peralada in Peralada, Spain; the Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria in Santander, Spain; Sadler's Wells in London, Great Britain; the Teatro Piccinni in Bari, Italy; the Het Muziektheater in Amsterdam, Netherlands; the Teatro Arriaga in Bilbao and the Teatro Espanol in Madrid, Spain. The opera made its American premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music / BAM Next Wave Festival in October 2004 and official "world premiere" at the Paris Opera, becoming the first all-African-American opera to perform on its stage since the inauguration of the Académie Nationale de Musique - Théâtre de l'Opéra. Combining both his dramatic training and dance movement into his performance, Rux's performance was described by the American press as having "phenomenal charisma and supreme physical expressiveness...(achieving) a near-iconic power, equally evoking El Greco's saints in extremis and images of civil rights protesters besieged by fire hoses." Rux has also appeared in several plays and performance works for theater, as well as in his own work.

Film/Television

Radio

Carl Hancock Rux was the host and artistic programming director of the WBAI radio show, Live from The Nuyorican Poets Cafe; contributing correspondent for XM radio's The Bob Edwards Show and frequent guest host on WNYC as well as NPR and co-wrote and performed in the national touring production of NPR Presents Water±, directed by Kenny Leon.

Performance Art Exhibitions/Curator

The Whitney Museum "Beat Culture and the New America, 1950-1965"

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum "Carrie Mae Weems: Live"

Thread Waxing Space "Sacred Music"

The Foundry Theater "Roundtable on Hope"

The Kitchen "Sapphire: Black Wings & Blind Angels"

Harlem Stage "We Da People Cabaret"

The New School "Comrades and Lovers" Glenn Ligon

Mass MoCA "Until" Nick Cave

Kennedy Center/Spoleto Festival "Grace Notes"; Carrie Mae Weems

Grace Farms "Past Tense"; Carrie Mae Weems

Selected Directorial Credits

"Chapter & Verse" by Carl Hancock Rux /Dixon Place; Nuyorican Poets Cafe

"Mycenaean" by Carl Hancock Rux CalArts/BAM Next Wave Festival

"Third Ward" by Tish Benson/Nuyorican Poets Cafe

"Girl Group" by Tish Benson, Latasha Nevada Diggs, Sarah Jones/Aaron Davis Hall

"Stranger On Earth" by Carl Hancock Rux/ Live Arts; Harlem Stage

"Poesia Negra" by Carl Hancock Rux /RedCat; Lincoln Center; Aaron Davis Hall; BAM Next Wave. *"Who 'Dat Who Killed Better Days Jones?" by (Various Artists)/ Aaron Davis Hall

"blu" by Virginia Grise/ New York Theatre Workshop

"Welcome to Wandaland" by Ifa Bayeza/ Rights & Reasons Theater/Brown University

"String Theory" by Ifa Bayeza/ Rights & Reasons Theater, Brown University

"Bunky Johnson Out of The Shadows" by Ifa Bayeza/Shadows on the Teche

Academia

Rux is formally the Head of the MFA Writing for Performance Program at the California Institute of Arts and has taught and or been an artist in residence at Brown University, Hollins University, UMass at Amhurst, Duke University, Stanford University, University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin at Madison, and Eugene Lang New School for Drama, among others.

He has mentored award-winning writers including recipients of the Yale Drama Prize, Whiting Writers Award, Princess Grace Award, and BBC African Performance Playwriting Award.

Personal life

Rux's great uncle, Rev. Marcellus Carlyle Rux (January 8, 1882 - January 5, 1948) was a graduate of Virginia Union University, and principal of The Keysville Mission Industrial School (later changed to The Bluestone Harmony Academic and Industrial School), a private school founded in 1898 by several African-American Baptist churches in Keysville Virginia at a time when education for African-Americans was scarce to non-existent. For about 50 years the school had the largest enrollment of any black boarding school in the east and sent a large number of graduates on to college. For the first five years, Marcellus Carlyle Rux was a teacher in the institution. Such was the record he made that he was promoted to the principalship in 1917. Under his administration, the school reached its highest enrollment and had its greatest period of prosperity. The post-Civil war school was one of the first of its kind in the nation and was permanently closed in 1950. The school's still existent structure once featured a girl's and boy's dormitory and President's dwelling and is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Marcellus Carlyle Rux is listed in History of the American Negro and his Institutions.

Rux's younger brother is a New York City Public School Teacher and his cousin a New York City middle school principal. Rux's older brother died of AIDS-related complications.

Rux's home, a Victorian Brownstone in the Fort Greene Brooklyn section of New York City, has been photographed by Stefani Georgani and frequently featured in home decor magazines and coffee table books internationally, including Elle Decor UK.

Activism

Rux joined New Yorkers Against Fracking, organized by singer Natalie Merchant, calling for a fracking ban on natural gas drilling using hydraulic fracturing. A concert featuring Rux, Merchant, actors Mark Ruffalo and Melissa Leo and musicians Joan Osborne, Tracy Bonham, Toshi Reagon, Citizen Cope, Meshell Ndegeocello and numerous others was held in Albany, N.Y., and resulted in public protests.

Rux was a co-producer (through a partnership between MAPP International and Harlem Stage) and curator of WeDaPeoples Cabaret, an annual event regarding citizens without borders in a globally interdependent world. A longtime resident and homeowner in Fort Greene Brooklyn, Carl Rux worked with the Fort Greene association and New York philanthropist Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel to erect a cultural medallion at the Carlton Avenue home where novelist Richard Wright lived and penned his seminal work, Native Son. Rux is a member of Take Back the Night, a foundation seeking to end sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual abuse and all other forms of sexual violence.

Honors, awards, and grants

Rux was featured in Interview Magazine's "One To Watch" and New York Times Magazine's "Thirty Under Thirty". His essay Eminem: The New White Negro was selected for Da Capo's Best Music Writing 2004. Rux's radio documentary "Walt Whitman: Songs of Myself" was awarded the New York Press Club Journalism award for Entertainment News.

[imagining-harrypotter]

Dating Sirius Black Would Include

Request: (Anonymous) Have you done a Sirius dating a Slytherin would include? If not could you write one please? Thank you! Xxx

Sirius Black x Slytherin reader

MASTERLIST

Meeting Sirius because you were friends with Regulus

And he’d always joke about how close you and Reg were

But secretly you’d had a crush on him since you met him

“Y/L/N, you should probably avoid the fifth floor today.”

“I’m not even going to ask, but thanks for the heads up Black.”

Being the reason why Regulus and Sirius are better brothers to each other

Every time you saw Sirius with one of the older Gryffindor girls your heart would drop to your stomach

So you tried dating other guys to get over him but it never worked

No one was as amazing as he was

Him coming to you to talk about how bad his life at home was because he wasn’t sure the boys would understand

You liked him for different reasons that every other girl in his year level did

They loved how outgoing, funny and confident he was

But you had seen him at his most vulnerable, and you still loved him

Then one night when you were up at the Astronomy tower talking about how he and Reg wanted to run away from home when he kissed you

“So I guess we should probably talk about what happened last night?” You’d ask him the next day

“Why talk when we can make out some more?”

James being so oblivious was so surprised when he found out you were dating

But Remus and Peter being like fuckin finally

Cheesy pick up lines even though you were already dating

Him grabbing your butt ALL the time

And you running your hands through his hair

Him giving you piggy back rides to class

And Reg being really happy for the two of you

Him telling you about Remus being a werewolf and them being Animagi

When you were sad he’d morph into his dog form to make you smile

SO MUCH SARCASM

Making sure that he always felt wanted because you knew he never got any of that at home

Him not wanting you to be an Animagi to help Remus because it’s too dangerous

He’d get jealous so easily so he would always have his arm slung around your shoulders or be holding your hand

He made sure everyone knew that you were his

You’d always be wearing one of his tops

And his leather jackets

Making sure you got back to your dorm safely by checking up on you on the Marauders map

LIP BITING

Him telling you he loves you every minute of every day

James confessing to you he never though Sirius would find someone to settle down with but based on how much Sirius gushes over how much he loves you, him knowing your the one for him

“Babe I’m thirsty”

“Go get yourself some water I’m trying to study here”

“But baaaaaaaby, I’m tired”

And then getting him a glass of water because you can’t say no to his puppy dog eyes

You and Lily having girls nights during full moons

When he graduates you’ve still got two years of school left and you hate every minute that you're apart

But trusting each other 100000% to be faithful

Constantly sending an owl back and forth with love letters

And keeping every one of them

Your mum thinking he was extremely charming but your dad being skeptical of how much older he is than you

His parents actually liking you because you were a Slytherin

Him not believing in marriage because everyone of his family members has married for money/status

But when he saw James and Lily dancing at their wedding he knew that he wanted to marry you

And seeing you holding Harry for the first time helped him realise that he wanted kids with you too

Getting married in the backyard of James and Lily’s house with James as his best man and Lily as your maid of honour

Having twin boys whose middle names are James and Remus

[fortheloveofbenyandtom]

Crimson wave got me feeling weird today...

For the sake of my life and the people I’ll be mentioning in this post I’m going to call them by other names.

This was my thoughts throughout today:

Woke up to a weird dream about a coworker. We’ll call home James.

In dream: talking to James and Lisa. Lisa and James were putting together a photo book for something idk (I work in a photo lab)

Me: “that looks good babe - I mean James”

James “Lisa knows we’ve been banging on the reg”

Me: I woke up “wtf”

Do I like James?

Am I attracted to James?

Idk. I’ve never seen him like that

Fast forward to me getting to work

Omg I’m walking past James.

He knows about the dream

Omg

Wait. No he can’t know about a dream. He can’t read minds.

Can he?

But do I like him

Idk

Damn period killing me with this horny shit

Ok clocked in let’s see who’s working with me today

Oh shit. Dean. Of all days I gotta work with dean

This is gonna be bad, he’s so flirty with me. All the time.

I’m not into dean. At least in my normal brain I’m not but what is my period brain gonna do

He walks in “hey Steph!” *wink*

FUCK

I’m dead. I’m literally dead

It gets a little busy so I’m ok - so far

Ok cramps from hell

Lets go behind the desk for a bit and “hide”

Someone rubbing my back would be so nice right now.

I would just love to lay down in someone lap. And they can play with my hair. Rub my back. Tell me I’m gonna be ok. Bc I felt like I was dying.

Here comes dean. Smiling at me and shit. Looking like a fucking snack. What’s wrong with me today!???

“What’s wrong Steph?”

“I don’t feel good”

“What’s wrong, your knee?”

“No”

“Your heal?” (He is naming all the stuff he knows normally bothers me)

“No”

“Family?”

“No”

“Money??”

“No, dean it’s a medical problem”

“Oh. Can I help?”

HE FUCKING LOOKS ME UP AND DOWN WHEN HE SAID THAT SHIT??

YALL READ FANFICTION BITCH!

y’all KNOW EXACTLY WERE MY MIND WENT

“What do you think you can do to help?”

Did I mention he keeps liking his lips??

“Idk, what do you want me to do?”

I THINK HES FUCKIN WITH ME AT THIS POINT!

He’s a little younger than me so I have a problem with being attracted to him. So I’m like I can’t be attracted to him. But, damn soME SHIT WENT THROUGH MY MIND

y’all KNOW

YOU FUCKIN KNOW

Ahhhhh.

I needed Lisa to talk too but damnit I was the only girl in today. This ain’t gonna be good.

So it’s at this point where I realize I’m hella touch deprived ok. And I just want.... stuff

I put my head in my hands and just look at the desk. Today’s the day I die and idk this was how I was gonna go

Dean still looking at me hella conserned and confused

“You can’t do anything. It’s ok”

“Are you sure? I want to help you”

Steph you need to walk away from this boy.

You even notice how pretty his eyes are

Shit. He keeps licking his lips too

This is NOT GOOD

I literally had to keep reminding myself to breathe

I need some water bc apparANTLY IM THIRSTY AS HELL

“You let me know if I can help, ok?”

He walks away

It’s nice to see him leave ;)

Really Steph?? I need to stop.

Ok. He’s only here till 6 you’ll be fine.

He still flirty with me and telling me I’ll be ok. And “whatever it is it will pass”

Did I mention he’s got an accent??

He’s got a really pretty middle eastern accent. And he keeps teaching me how to say stuff in Arabic. I tried to teach him some German.

He’s adorable and I have a problem.

I HAVE A PROBLEM. SHIT!

He’s younger than me (not by a ton, but enough to where idk if it’s ok) When dose the age gap get creepy?? - maybe asking for a friend.

He leaves for the nite “have a good nite Steph”

“You too dean!”

Did I mention I need help yet?

Ok. Bob’s here. He’s like a little brother.

And a quite nite commenced.

So that’s all true. It all happened. And I’m still touch deprived.

[blackkudos]

Carl Hancock Rux

Carl Hancock Rux  (born March 24, 1975) is an American poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, actor, director, singer/ songwriter. He is the author of several books including the Village Voice Literary Prize winning collection of poetry, "Pagan Operetta" , the novel Asphalt (novel) and the OBIE award-winning play Talk. Rux's essay "The New White Negro" was selected for Best American Music Writing 2004. Rux is also a singer/songwriter with four CDs to his credit, as well as a frequent collaborator in the fields of dance, theater, film, and contemporary art . Notable collaborators include Nona Hendryx, Toshi Reagon, Bill T. Jones, Ronald K. Brown, Nick Cave, Anne Bogart, Robert Wilson, Kenny Leon, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Jonathan Demme, Stanley Nelson Jr., Carrie Mae Weems, Glenn Ligon and others. His archives are housed at the Billy Rose Theater Division of the New York Public Library, the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution as well as the Film and Video/Theater and Dance Library of the California Institute of the Arts. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Doris Duke Awards for New Works, the Doris Duke Charitable Fund, the New York Foundation for the Arts Prize, the Bessie Schonberg (New York Dance and Performance Awards, informally known as the Bessie Awards) and the Alpert Award in the Arts.

Early life

Born Carl Stephen Hancock in Harlem, New York, Rux's biological mother (Carol Jean Hancock) suffered from chronic mental illness, diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic and institutionalized shortly after the birth of his older brother. Born the result of an illegitimate pregnancy while his mother was under the care of a New York City operated psychiatric institution, the identity of Rux's biological father is unknown. Rux was placed under the guardianship of his maternal grandmother, Geneva Hancock (née Rux), until her death of cirrhosis of the liver due to alcoholism. At four years of age he entered the New York City foster care system where he remained until he was eventually placed under the legal guardianship of his great uncle (grandmother's brother) James Henry Rux and his wife Arsula (née Cottrell) and raised in the Highbridge section of the Bronx. Rux attended PS 73, Roberto Clemente Junior High School and received a scholarship to the Horace Mann School, an independent Ivy college preparatory school in the Riverdale section of the Bronx before transferring to the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts where he studied visual art. Exposed to jazz music by his legal guardians, including the work of Oscar Brown Jr., John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln, Rux eventually double majored in music/voice, as well as sang with the Boys Choir of Harlem. He also became a member of the Harlem Writers Workshop, a summer journalism training program for inner city youth founded by African-American journalists, sponsored by Columbia University and The Xerox Corporation. At the age of 15, Rux was legally adopted by his guardians and his surname changed to Rux. Upon graduation from high school he entered Columbia College where he studied in the Creative Writing Program; took private acting classes at both HB studios, Gertrude Jeanette's Hadley Players as well as privately with actor Robert Earl Jones (father of actor James Earl Jones). Rux continued his studies at Columbia University, American University of Paris as well as the University of Ghana at Legon.

Career

Working as a Social Work Trainer while moonlighting as a writer of film and music criticism, Rux became a founding member of Hezekiah Walker's Love Fellowship gospel choir and later found himself influenced by the Lower East Side poetry and experimental theater scene, collaborating with poets Miguel Algarin, Bob Holman, Jayne Cortez, Sekou Sundiata, Ntozake Shange; experimental musicians David Murray, Mal Waldron, Butch Morris, Craig Harris, Jeanne Lee, Leroy Jenkins as well as experimental theater artists Laurie Carlos, Robbie McCauley, Ruth Maleczech, Lee Breuer, Reza Abdoh and others. He is one of several poets (including Paul Beatty, Tracie Morris, Dael Orlandersmith, Willie Perdomo, Kevin Powell, Maggie Estep, Reg E. Gaines, Edwin Torres and Saul Williams) to emerge from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, most of whom were included in the poetry anthology Aloud, Voices From the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, winner of the 1994 American Book Award. His first book of poetry, Pagan Operetta, received the Village Voice Literary prize and was featured on the weekly's cover story: "Eight Writers on the Verge of (Impacting) the Literary Landscape". Rux is the author of the novel Asphalt and the author of several plays. His first play, Song of Sad Young Men (written in response to his older brother's death from AIDS), was directed by Trazana Beverly and starred actor Isaiah Washington. The play received eleven AUDELCO nominations. His most notable play is the OBIE Award-winning Talk, first produced at the Joseph Papp Public Theater in 2002. Directed by Marion McClinton and starring actor Anthony Mackie, the play won seven OBIE awards. Rux is also a recording artist, first featured on Reg E. Gaines CD Sweeper Don't Clean My Streets (Polygram). As a musician, his work is known to encompass an eclectic mixture of blues, rock, vintage R&B, classical music, futuristic pop, soul, poetry, folk, psychedelic music and jazz. His debut CD, Cornbread, Cognac & Collard Green Revolution (unreleased) was produced by Nona Hendryx and Mark Batson, featuring musicians Craig Harris, Ronnie Drayton and Lonnie Plaxico. His CD Rux Revue was recorded and produced in Los Angeles by the Dust Brothers, Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf. Rux recorded a follow up album, Apothecary Rx, (selected by French writer Phillippe Robert for his 2008 publication "Great Black Music": an exhaustive tribute of 110 albums including 1954's "Lady Sings The Blues" by Billie Holiday, the work of Jazz artists Oliver Nelson, Max Roach, John Coltrane, rhythm and blues artists Otis Redding, Ike & Tina Turner, Curtis Mayfield, George Clinton; as well as individual impressions of Fela Kuti, Jimi Hendrix, and Mos Def.) His fourth studio CD, Good Bread Alley, was released by Thirsty Ear Records, and his fifth "Homeostasis" (CD Baby) was released in May 2013. Rux has written and performed (or contributed music) to a proportionate number of dance companies including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company; Jane Comfort & Co. and Ronald K. Brown's "Evidence" among others.

Literature

Books by author

Elmina Blues (poetry) 1995

Pagan Operetta (poetry/Short Fiction/SemioText) 1998

Asphalt (novel/Simon & Schuster) 2004

Talk (drama/TCG Press) 2002

Literary fiction

Asphalt (novel) (Atria, Simon & Schuster) 2004

The Exalted (novel) forthcoming

Selected plays

Song of Sad Young Men

Talk

Geneva Cottrell, Waiting for the Dog to Die

Smoke, Lilies and Jade

Song of Sad Young Men

Chapter & Verse

Pipe

Pork Dream in the American House of Image

Not the Flesh of Others

Singing In the Womb of Angels

Better Dayz Jones (Harlem Stage)

"Stranger On Earth" (Harlem Stage)

The (No) Black Male Show

Mycenaean

Asphalt (directed by Talvin Wilkes)

Etudes for the Sleep of Other Sleepers (directed by Laurie Carlos)

Steel Hammer (co-written by Will Power, Kia Corthran and Regina Taylor for the SITI company, directed by Anne Bogart).

The Exalted (directed by Anne Bogart)

NPR Presents WATER ± (co-written by Arthur Yorinks, directed by Kenny Leon)

Selected essays

"Eminem: The New White Negro"

"Dream Work and the Mimesis of Carrie Mae Weems"

"Belief and the Invisible Playwright"

"In Memoriam: Ruby Dee (1922–2014)"

"Up From The Mississippi Delta"

"Democratic Vistas of Space and Light"

"A Rage In Harlem"

Selected anthologies

Experiments in a Jazz Aesthetic: Art, Activism, Academia, and the Austin Project University of Texas Press

Soul: Black Power, Politics, and Pleasure NYU Press

Heights of the Marvelous NYU Press

Juncture: 25 Very Good Stories and 12 Excellent Drawings Soft Skull Press

Da Capo Best Music Writing 2004: The Year's Finest Writing on Rock, Hip-hop, Jazz, Pop, Country, and More, DeCapo Press

Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam, Counterpoint Press

Humana Festival 2014: The Complete Plays, Playscripts, Incorporated

Action: The Nuyorican Poets Cafe Theatre, Simon & Schuster

Bum Rush the Page: A Def Poetry Jam, Three Rivers Press

The African American Male, Writing, and Difference: A Polycentric Approach to African American Literature, Criticism, and History, State University of New York Press

Meditations and Ascensions: Black Writers on Writing, Third World Press

Plays from the Boom Box Galaxy: Theater from the Hip-hop Generation, Theatre Communications Group

Bad Behavior, Random House

Verse: An Introduction to Prosody , John Wiley & Sons Press

Significations of Blackness: American Cinema and the Idea of a Black Film, UMI Press

So Much Things to Say: 100 Poets from the First Ten Years of the Calabash International Literary Festival, Akashic Books

Black Men In Their Own Words, Crown Publishers

Bulletproof Diva, Knopf Doubleday

Race Manners: Navigating the Minefield Between Black and White Americans, Skyhorse Publishing

In Their Company: Portraits of American Playwrights, Umbrage Press

Listen Again: a Momentary History of Pop Music, Duke University Press

Journalism

Rux has been published as a contributing writer in numerous journals, catalogues, anthologies, and magazines including Interview magazine, Essence magazine, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, aRude Magazine, Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art (founded by fellow art critics Okwui Enwezor, Chika Okeke-Agulu and Salah Hassan) and American Theater Magazine.

Libretti

Makandal (music by Yosvaney Terry, stage design and costumes by Edouard Duval Carrie, directed by Lars Jan) Harlem Stage

Blackamoor Angel (music by Deidre Murray; directed by Karin Coonrod) Bard Spiegeltent/Joseph Papp Public Theater

Kingmaker (music by Toshi Reagon) BRIC Arts Media

Perfect Beauty" (music by Tamar Muskal)

Music

Solo albums

Cornbread, Cognac, Collard Green Revolution (unreleased/1997)

Rux Revue Sony/550 Music (1999)

Apothecary Rx Giant Step (2004)

Good Bread Alley Thirsty Ear (2006)

Homeostasis CD Baby (2013)

Singles

"Miguel" (Sony) 1999

"Wasted Seed" (Sony) 1999

"Fall Down" (Sony) 1999

"No Black Male Show" (Sony) 1999

"Good Bread Alley" (Thirsty Ear) 2006

"Thadius Star" (Thirsty Ear) 2006

"Living Room" (Thirsty Ear) 2006

"Disrupted Dreams" (Giant Step) 2010

"Eleven More Days" (Giant Step) 2010

"I Got A Name" (Giant Step) 2010

"Living Room" (Kevin Shields Remix) (Mercury) 2013

12-inch singles

"Lamentations (You, Son)" Giant Step Records 2001

Collaborations

Sweeper Don't Clean My Streets Reg E. Gaines Polygram (1995)

Eargasms Vol. 1 (1996)

70 Years Coming R. L. Burnside Bongload/Acid Blues Records (1998)

Our Souls Have Grown Deep Like the Rivers: Black Poets Read Their Works, Rhino (2000)

Bow Down to the Exit Sign David Holmes Go! Beat (2000)

Love Each Other Yukihiro Fukutomi Sony/ Japan (2001)

Optometry DJ Spooky Thirsty Ear Recordings (2002)

The Temptation of Saint Anthony (Studio Cast Recording) (2004)

Inradio 5 Morningwatch 2004

Thirsty Ear Presents: Blue Series Sampler (Thirsty Ear) 2006

Poetry on Record: 98 Poets Read Their Work, 1888-2006 Box Set Shout! Factory (2006)

More Than Posthuman-Rise of the Mojosexual Cotillion Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber, TruGROID (2006)

The Dogs Are Parading David Holmes Universal (2010)

Life Forum Gerald Clayton Concord Jazz (2013)

Tributary Tales Gerald Clayton 2017

Songwriter

Mckay Stephanie McKay Universal Music 2003

Contemporary Dance (text & music)

Movin' Sprits Dance Co.

Kick The Boot, Raise the Dust An' Fly; A Recipe for Buckin (chor: Marlies Yearby, co-authors: Sekou Sundiata, Laurie Carlos, music: Craig Harris ) Performance Space 122, Maison des arts de Créteil (France)

Totin' Business & Carryin' Bones (chor. Marlies Yearby), Performance Space 122, Maison des arts de Créteil (France)

The Beautiful (chor: Marlies Yearby, co-author:Laurie Carlos), Judson Church, Tribeca Performing Arts Center

Of Urban Intimacies (chor: Marlies Yearby), Lincoln Center Serious Fun!, Central Park Summerstage, National Tour

That Was Like This/ This Was Like That(chor: Marlies Yearby, music: Grisha Coleman), Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Central Park Summerstage, National Tour

Anita Gonzalez

Yanga, (chor: Anita Gonzalez, music: Cooper-Moore, composer), Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Montclair State College

Jane Comfort & Co.

Asphalt (dir/chor:Jane Comfort; vocal score: Toshi Reagon, music: DJ Spooky, David Pleasant, Foosh, dramaturgy:Morgan Jenness, costumes: Liz Prince, lighting design: David Ferri ), Joyce Theater, National Tour

Urban Bush Women

Soul Deep (chor: Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, composer: David Murray), Walker Arts Center, National Tour

Shelter (chor: Jawole Willo Jo Zollar, music: Junior Gabbu Wedderburn) International Tour

Hair Stories (chor: Jawole Willa jo Zollar) BAM Theater/Esplanade Theater (Singapore) Hong Kong Arts Festival

Jubilation! Dance Co.

Sweet In The Morning (chor: Kevin Iega Jeff)

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Shelter (chor: Jawole Willo Jo Zollar, music: Junior Gabbu Wedderburn) City Center, International Tour

Uptown (chor: Matthew Rushing) Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Four Corners (chor: Ronald K. Brown) Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater 2014

Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble (Ailey II)

Seeds (chor: Kevin Iega Jeff) Aaron Davis Hall, Apollo Theater, National Tour

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Theater

The Artificial Nigger (chor: Bill T. Jones) Arnie Zane Bill T. Jones Dance Co; music: Daniel Bernard Roumain National Tour

Roberta Garrison Co.

Certo! (chor: Roberta Garrison, music: Mathew Garrison) Scuola di Danza Mimma Testa in Trastevere (Rome, Italy) Teatro de natal infantil Raffaelly Beligni (Naples, Italy)

M'Zawa Dance Co.

Seeking Pyramidic Balance/Flipmode (chor: Maia Claire Garrison) 651 Arts

Robert Moses Kin

Helen (chor: Robert Moses) Yerba Buena Performing Arts Center

Nevabawarldapece (chor: Robert Moses) Yerba Buena Performing Arts Center

Topaz Arts Dance

Dreamfield (chor: Paz Tanjuaquio) Hudson River Park NY

Actor

Theater

Rux studied acting at the Hagen Institute (under Uta Hagen); the Luleå National Theatre School (Luleå, Sweden) and at the National Theater of Ghana (Accra). Rux has appeared in several theater projects, most notably originating the title role in the folk opera production of The Temptation of St. Anthony, based on the Gustave Flaubert novel, directed by Robert Wilson with book, libretto and music by Bernice Johnson Reagon and costumes by Geoffrey Holder. The production debuted as part of the RuhrTriennale festival in Duisburg Germany with subsequent performances at the Greek Theater in Siracusa, Italy; the Festival di Peralada in Peralada, Spain; the Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria in Santander, Spain; Sadler's Wells in London, Great Britain; the Teatro Piccinni in Bari, Italy; the Het Muziektheater in Amsterdam, Netherlands; the Teatro Arriaga in Bilbao and the Teatro Espanol in Madrid, Spain. The opera made its American premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music / BAM Next Wave Festival in October 2004 and official "world premiere" at the Paris Opera, becoming the first all African American opera to perform on its stage since the inauguration of the Académie Nationale de Musique - Théâtre de l'Opéra. Combining both his dramatic training and dance movement into his performance, Rux's performance was described as having "phenomenal charisma and supreme physical expressiveness" and achieving "a near-iconic power, equally evoking El Greco's saints in extremis and images of civil rights protesters besieged by fire hoses." Rux has also appeared in several plays and performance works for theater, as well as in his own work.

Film/Television

Radio

Carl Hancock Rux was the host and artistic programming director of the WBAI radio show, Live from The Nuyorican Poets Cafe; contributing correspondent for XM radio's The Bob Edwards Show and frequent guest host on WNYC as well as NPR and co-wrote and performed in the national touring production of NPR Presents Water±, directed by Kenny Leon.

Curator/performance & art exhibitions

The Whitney Museum "Beat Culture and the New America, 1950-1965"

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum "Carrie Mae Weems: Live"

Thread Waxing Space "Sacred Music"

The Foundry Theater "Roundtable on Hope"

The Kitchen "Sapphire: Black Wings & Blind Angels"

Harlem Stage "We Da People Cabaret"

The New School "Glenn Ligon " Comrades and Lovers"

Mass MoCA "Nick Cave: Until"

Academia

Rux has mentored thousands of award-winning writers including recipients of the Yale Drama Prize, Whiting Writers Award, Princess Grace Award, and BBC African Performance Playwriting Award. Rux is formally the Head of the MFA Writing for Performance Program at the California Institute of Arts and has taught and or been an artist in residence at Brown University, Hollins University, UMass at Amhurst, Duke University, Stanford University, University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin at Madison, and Eugene Lang New School for Drama, among others.

Personal life

Rux's great uncle, Rev. Marcellus Carlyle Rux (January 8, 1882 - January 5, 1948) was a graduate of Virginia Union University, and principal of The Keysville Mission Industrial School (later changed to The Bluestone Harmony Academic and Industrial School), a private school founded in 1898 by several African-American Baptist churches in Keysville Virginia at a time when education for African-Americans was scarce to non-existent. For about 50 years the school had the largest enrollment of any black boarding school in the east and sent a large number of graduates on to college. For the first five years, Marcellus Carlyle Rux was a teacher in the institution. Such was the record he made that he was promoted to the principalship in 1917. Under his administration, the school reached its highest enrollment and had its greatest period of prosperity. The post-Civil war school was one of the first of its kind in the nation and was permanently closed in 1950. The school's still existent structure once featured a girl's and boy's dormitory and President's dwelling and is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Marcellus Carlyle Rux is listed in History of the American Negro and his Institutions.

Rux's younger brother is a New York City Public School Teacher and his cousin a New York City middle school principal. Rux's older brother died of AIDS-related complications.

Rux was briefly engaged to marry a childhood sweetheart, and later, dated singer/songwriter Morley while both artists were signed to Sony Music. He has also been associated with television actress Deborah Joy Winans and aspiring actress, E'Dena Hines, the adopted step-granddaughter of Academy Award winning actor Morgan Freeman, who was brutally murdered by her ex-boyfriend, in Manhattan in the summer of 2015 In 2011 Rux married his longtime partner in a private ceremony in the Tribeca loft of a close friend.

Rux's home, a Victorian Brownstone in the Fort Greene Brooklyn section of New York City, has been photographed by Stefani Georgani and frequently featured in home decor magazines and coffee table books internationally, including Elle Decor UK.

Activism

Rux joined New Yorkers Against Fracking, organized by singer Natalie Merchant, calling for a fracking ban on natural gas drilling using hydraulic fracturing. A concert featuring Rux, Merchant, actors Mark Ruffalo and Melissa Leo and musicians Joan Osborne, Tracy Bonham, Toshi Reagon, Citizen Cope, Meshell Ndegeocello and numerous others was held in Albany and resulted in public protests. Subsequently, New York Governor Mario Cuomo banned hydraulic fracking. New York follows Vermont as the only other U.S. state to ban fracking, joining such economic superpowers as France and Bulgaria. Rux was a co-producer ( through a partnership between MAPP International and Harlem Stage) and curator of WeDaPeoples Cabaret, an annual event regarding citizens without borders in a globally interdependent world. A longtime resident and homeowner in Fort Greene Brooklyn, Carl Rux worked with the Fort Greene association and New York philanthropist Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel to erect a cultural medallion at the Carlton Avenue home where novelist Richard Wright lived and penned his seminal work, Native Son. Rux is a member of Take Back the Night, a foundation seeking to end sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual abuse and all other forms of sexual violence.

Awards/grants/honors

Alpert Award in the Arts

OBIE Award

Bessie Schönburg Award

New York Foundation for the Arts Prize

CINE Golden Eagle Award (television documentary)

MNSWA Urban Griot Award (poetry)

Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX) 10 Arts & Artists in Progress Award

New York Press Club Journalism Award for Entertainment News

Brooklyn Borough Hall City Council Black-American Achievement Award

Kitchen Theater Artist Award

Fresh Poet Prize

African Diasporic Artist in Residence (Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami)

National Endowment for the Arts Playwright in Residence Fellow

New York Foundation for the Arts Gregory Millard Fellow

Rockefeller Map Grant

Rockefeller Multi-Arts Production Fund

Creative Capital Fund

Creative Capital Multi-Arts Production Fund

Creative Capital Artists Initiative Grant

Doris Duke Awards for New Works

Doris Duke Charitable Fund

National Endowment for the Arts Grant

New York State Council on the Arts Grant

Mary Flagler Cary Foundation

Time Out Top 10 Plays Citation (Theater)

DeCapo’s Best Music Writing (Essay)

New York Times "Thirty Artists under Thirty (Most Likely to Influence Culture)"

New York Times Best Alternative Music

Vibe Magazine "Ones to Watch"

Village Voice Literary Prize

Interview Magazine Artists Award

Hermitage Artist Fellow

United States Artist Fellowship (shortlist)

Isadora Duncan Award/Outstanding Text and Dance (nominated)

Yale University Hayden Artist in Residence

Wikipedia