#Fraser Report

[tiger-balm]

"[do you] need to have ego to know that you belong?" "I think its inner confidence, i wouldnt call it ego. it's through work and effort that you feel confident in yourself and your abilities. you want to play with swag but you don't have to be the coolest guy ever"

[themonsterunderthebed]

obsessed with this GQ brendan fraser interview

[guyrcook]

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[menlove]

queer paul tome pt 1: everything not related to john

okay i've been saying i'd make this post forever and it's uh. long. so i decided to split it up into four parts so i can get this first bit out and let it stop haunting me and so it's not 50 miles long.

feel free to add your own if it's not here or shoot me an ask and i'll add it :)

disclaimer: i'm not definitively saying sir paul mccartney is queer. i mean i really firmly think he is but it's all just speculation. also, if he is, there's obviously a reason he's not out about it & he deserves to have his privacy respected. i just personally find the dominant narrative in the fandom & even in larger spaces that poor pining queer john was in love with tragically heterosexual paul completely unconvincing and neeeeeed to be insane for a minute here

if this pisses u off u can simply scroll on by i do not need an essay in my notes. make your own post if you disagree.

(paul doing this for whatever reason in beverly hills, 1974- also the same trip he saw john on bc sure i guess)

this doesn't include lyrics as the main argument bc i saw a post ages ago basically saying there's nothing outside of them and lowkey i took that as a challenge because there's SO much outside of his lyrics that point to him being queer.

that being SAID, this is going to be split into four posts: not john related (most important and thus first bc there's so much documented about mclennon & john being queer, but not paul by himself), john related, paul's relationships w other men (these ones aren't all like... concrete and that's why they aren't included here but w all the context that'll come before it his relationships to certain men are..... interesting), and finally lyrics last bc some of them you genuinely can't just ignore

part 2- john related part 3- other men part 4- lyrics (those will have links once i actually make them)

also, i'm sure people have made similar posts before- i haven't seen them (other than this one an anon sent while i was writing this up which is sooo interesting but does have a lot of dead links) but if you have one you want to share feel free!

time to get into it. i'm avoiding homework by doing this.

(sidenote: not including instances of him just flirting w men bc body language can be read a lot of different ways- but if y'all wanna add any i know they're a dime a dozen like w george m., mal, random reporters, robert fraser, etc)

1- "Just kidding, Linda..."

REPORTER: You're a very, very good looking man. PAUL: [sits up straighter, making a sort of campy gesture towards the crowd, turning into a point] Get that boy's name. [Drops his hand, smiling and leaning his cheek on his hand.] Just kidding, Linda. REPORTER: [unintelligible] PAUL: What? REPORTER: I said- do you have a secret, looking so nice for fifty years? PAUL: [grins, resting his chin on his hand again and batting his eyelashes] Yes, it's the drugs, you know.

(originally posted on here by @northernsongspeels who hasn't been active in a while) this one is so crazy to me. he's so obviously flirting with that man and he's apologizing to linda for flirting with that man. like it's a conversation they've had before.

2- "Yes, boys."

this video (originally posted by @ilovedig here)

PAUL: Yes, I think the main difference is that when you are that age- which I'm sure you remember, Tom- TOM: It's back there in the dim distant past, yes. PAUL: When you're that age, that's the kind of thing to do. I mean, what you're doing is you're going 'round and you're basically looking for girls or whatever turns you on and stuff. So, uh, yeah, I- TOM: Well- well could you give me the alternatives to girls? Are there others? LINDA: [scoffs] PAUL: Yes, boys. TOM: Oh! No.

3- "He's so good looking."

Paul McCartney first read the name and saw the photo (for weeks there was just one crazy photo of Elvis available in Britain) during a free period at Liverpool Institute. Again, it was a friend with the NME, and there was an advert for Heartbreak Hotel. "I thought, 'He's so good looking,'" Paul says, "he just looked perfect." Mark Lewisohn, All These Years Vol. 1 Tune In, sourced from the Anthology TV series by Lewisohn.

4- "A Nice Person Girl"

this fun little interview... (originally posted by @amoralto idk why the archive.org capture of it looks funky but the audio is still there) take it w a grain of salt bc it can also just read as a homophobic joke but like.

August 22nd, 1966 (Warwick Hotel, New York): As DJ “Cousin Brucie” Morrow conducts brief interviews with each of the Beatles, one by one, he asks Paul to settle the rumours that have been circulating in the press about the status of his relationship with Jane Asher. MORROW: Moving over here to Paul – someone just handed me a card. I guess this is… [focusing] Last year, when you were on my microphone here— PAUL: Ask me something about Rick Sklar. MORROW: Rick Sklar? That’s my boss. JOHN: Ask Paul about Rick Sklar. MORROW: Uh, Paul, last year when you were on my microphone, I think somebody – one of your staff – announced an engagement of you and Jane. PAUL: Uh… MORROW: Do you remember that? It was announced on the air. And then I remember we said something on the air and then thousands of people from the street went, “Oh.” What is it with you and Jane now? How – what is your relationship? Are you planning a marriage, planning an engagement, are you just boyfriend and girlfriend, what is it? Tell us the whole thing. JOHN: [mutters; inaudible] PAUL: Uh. We’re just queer, that’s the scene. [uproarious laughter in background] That’s the scene. Well I mean, I couldn’t say that on the air live, you know. JOHN: No, you’ll get into trouble for it. PAUL: No, the thing is, Cousin Bruce – um, we haven’t got plans to marry yet, you know. That’s the point. And that business about somebody saying we were engaged, nobody actually said it. It was just another one of those things where someone says, “Are they engaged?” and they said, “Well, whatever it is… [muttering]” “Yes, folks, they’re engaged!” And it wasn’t true. MORROW: Well, I’m sure there are a lot of girls who are very happy with this. What would you look for, in a girl? Say you did eventually want to settle down, what would you want to – what kind of girl would you like? What would you – what would you like in a gal you wanted to marry eventually, bring home to Mommy? PAUL: Uh… Female hormones. MORROW: Female. What’ll you go for, any – what, blonde, brunette, what? PAUL: Uh, you know, anything. Anything. Girls. It doesn’t matter if they’re blonde, brunette, or anything, as long as they’ve got it. MORROW: Would you want a nice person – what? A beautiful nice person girl. PAUL: Yeah, you know. A nice person girl. (transcription directly from @amoralto, bold mine)

and again this one COULD just be a lil homophobic joke but idk man his tone here is very different and the fact that he says he couldn't say that on air & john says he'll get in trouble is just. interesting. it's Interesting.

5- "A 26 year old queer never to get married."

Half an hour later it was very quiet, except for a few sobs, and then we decided that we had to see him just once more. We opened the gates and walked slowly in. Someone rang the doorbell. Waited, no one came, rang again. Rang again. Paul answered. We just stood there. God what do we say? "Yes, what do you want?" he said, as if we'd just come to borrow sugar. C. ran out. Someone asked if it was tomorrow, and he said, "Tomorrow." It went quiet again. "What's this - Heartbreak Hotel? What do you think I am a 26 year old queer never to get married? Oh, stick around kids!" We just looked at each other. Oh God, Paul, what have we done now. All we wanted to do was stand there and talk awhile. What was the point in shouting at us like that? We stood there, tears falling but there was no sound. "Apple Scruffs Come to Dinner" by Andrew Bailey, 1970 (x), bold mine

again, like the last one, this one is very... i think he was absolutely being homophobic here, but it's a very telling outburst. like he's yelling this harsh enough to make these girls cry.

6- Harry Harrison's "gorgeous tan"

moving onto this wild quote from many years from now by barry miles about george's older brother (bold mine):

"George Harrison’s elder brother Harry had been to Christmas Island and arrived back with a gorgeous tan in his army uniform and we thought, My God, he’s been made a man of. You used to see this quite regularly, people would be made a man of."

7- gender neutral language

let's get into some interesting gender neutral language he uses. now, would this be Particularly compelling with a modern celebrity? not really. but most people his age really don't talk gender neutrally unless it's to be vague On Purpose. like this bit from many years from now, where before this he'd been using exclusively "girl" and "she/her" pronouns talking about hookups, it suddenly shifts to very purposefully vague (bold mine):

With a lot of those people I met and related to, albeit for a short time, I've mercifully forgotten them and I don't really remember what went on, thank goodness. There may have been a few drinks involved and I was a little merry and, you know, you slip back to someone's flat... My main feeling really is one of relief. You do feel like some of it was outrageous. But I'm glad to have had a slightly outrageous period in my life, as long as it didn't hurt anybody, because I'd always felt maybe my character was too careful. I think the great thing was I never had any deep, dark secrets. That's what the papers wanted. They wanted me to be hiding a little Miss Whiplash somewhere, and for the flat to be in my name. But it was never that. It was always a one-night stand with whoever was around and wanted to party.

8/9/10- the "binary" (ft. a bit of john)

this infamous quote from the lyrics in his section on "hello goodbye" (bold mine) (x):

I'm attracted to the binary. I state that quite casually, but I think there’s actually a lot more to it than my just saying, ‘I’m attracted to the binary.’ Once you get down to the scientific biological level, in my core, I probably am the binary. All of us are probably more binary than we might realise.

context being that when he says "the binary" he means duality. there's a lot of interesting stuff going on in this article, though there's some more john related stuff i'll add here too bc it's super fascinating (sorry, easier to go here than the john section!):

‘Hello, Goodbye’ shows off a binary that we took great advantage of in The Beatles. With regard to John Lennon and myself, the great attraction we had for each other was that we each had a bit the other didn’t have. John could be quite cynical. I was his opposite, in that respect. [...] I think there definitely was a sort of ‘hello, goodbye’ about John and myself. But we loved it. We loved it because John could contribute his caustic wit and I could contribute something more upbeat. Not always, we each did what the other one did from time to time. But if you had to break it down – and though it is a bit crude to say so – there was a binary tension at the heart of our songwriting together.

11- big guys at the gym

onto something more lighthearted and also just ridiculous (x):

"If I'm in a gym and all the big guys have got big weights and they're doing all the big stuff, at the end I do a headstand," he said. "And they come over to me [and say], 'That's pretty impressive man.'" ["78-year-old Paul McCartney’s fitness routine includes headstands and yoga with Alec Baldwin" by Cory Stieg]

12- gay dreams

this infamous quote which i have a bit of a different take on that i'll expand on in a sec (bold mine)

My view is that these things are there whether you want them or not, in your interior. You don’t call up dreams, they happen, often the exact opposite of what you want. You can be heterosexual and be having a homosexual dream and wake up, and think, “Shit, am I gay?” I like that you don’t have control over it. But there is some control – it is you dreaming, it is your mind it’s all happening in. In a way my equation would be that my computer is fully loaded by now. Maybe in younger people there’s a little bit of loading to go, but mine’s loaded pretty much, so what I try and do is allow it to print out unbeknown to me. And I’m interested to hear what it’s got in there. (interview by Karen Wright for Luigi's Alcove, 2000) (x)

a lot of people use this to point to him being oblivious, which i do get, but i want to focus more on the line "it is you dreaming, it is your mind it's all happening in". like he seems interested and fascinated by the revelations we have in our dreams- hardly repressed or scared.

13- royston ellis' "break me in easy"

we've all been over the royston ellis poem and i don't want to just retype out everything that's already on this post so go check out @eppysboys' post on the royston ellis poem!

but tl;dr a bisexual friend of theirs in liverpool, royston ellis, wrote this poem called "Break Me In Easy":

Easy, easy, break me in easy. Sure I’m big time, cock-sure and brash, but easy, easy, break me in easy. Sure they’ve been others, I know the way…

which is about gay sex. he also told the boys that 1 in every 5 men was gay and paul worried that it might be him (this was back in 1960). he still remembered it line for line by 2006 which is just insane. all the sources for those are over on the linked post.

14- woody pecker

originally posted by @didwemeetsomewherebefore here (links to my blog bc the wayback machine was not cooperating right but as long as it stays up you can find the original here!)

PAUL & DONOVAN: How to suck a lollypopper, Sitting on a woodypecker, Dancing in the double-decker shoe, I don’t know, So, how do you do? PAUL: I don't know how you do it, Lordy, knows I try But every time I try to do it, My whole darn tongue gets ti(r)ed

this one is just so sillyyyyy and cute but it's just so full of innuendo like sucking on a lollypop and sitting on a woody pecker and your tongue getting tied (tired?) when you try to suck the uh lollypop. giggling his way through it with one of his boy best friends donovan too.

15- "i heard he was gay"

this fun little quote from body count by francie schwartz:

When the rotation of bike, gun, and other diversions left me alone with Billy, his first words were, "You went with Paul McCartney, didn’t you?" "I bet you just love it when people ask you about your father, don't you?" He was surprised, he half-frowned. "No, really, what's Paul like? I heard he was gay." "He might have gone that way, but he didn't. He really didn't dig fucking all that much, if that's any kind of an answer."

note here though that francie is a notoriously unreliable source on paul. she hates him and honestly makes some pretty homophobic digs at him & others pretty frequently. so it is interesting that she denies he's gay, but says he might have gone that way. given how short of a time they were together and how weird their relationship was, i wouldn't really expect him to be open about that with her- still, she noticed something there too.

16- homosexual handbook

paul was mentioned in the homosexual handbook by angelo d'arcangelo in 1968 under a list of famous homosexuals. it's very tongue in cheek and says this "may just be wishful thinking on (my) part"

and obviously not proof as the book takes a very playful and unserious tone. he does provide this little disclaimer though, which i think is interesting:

Some of the men on this list are self-acknowledged homosexuals. Some are not. All of them are generally thought to be gay. However, as many family men and notorious womanizers appear on these pages, we must—rather than question their forays into either or both sexes—congratulate them on their obvious virility.

because once again like... WHERE are these rumors about paul being gay? because the rest of this list, as far as i can tell (ngl i did not do a deep read there) are men who have/had gay rumors about them or were gay. this comes up more in the john post as well, but i seriously need to know just how many rumors there were about him being gay.

17- "the female hordes"

It was always obvious Brian was gay and we could talk to him about gay things, but he would never come out with, 'Hello, Paul, you’re looking nice today.' I was quite obviously un-gay, due to my hunting of the female hordes, and I think we all must have given the same impression. There had been a suggestion since that John had some homosexual thing with Brian, but I personally doubt it. All the intimate moments we shared were always about girls. (from Anthology)

i know putting one of his "un-gay" quotes here is counter intuitive but listen i have genuinely never heard a gayer thing come out of a man's mouth than "hunting of the female hordes" it sends me to fucking mars every time i read it. that's the most closeted shit i've ever read in my entire life. it sounds like what a gay man would say trying to come up with something a straight man would say. and i think paul's bi, he just desperately wants me to think he's never gotten pussy a day in his damn life with this quote.

as a side-note, "all the intimate moments we shared were always about girls". now what do you mean by that man..... like shared as in verbally told stories? or do you mean it was always about the girls when you guys were...... intimate? because those are two really different things and i need to know what the hell that's supposed to mean

18/19- this poor man just wants to flirt with and kiss men can we let him

okay tumblr has nerfed me and won't let me add any more videos from tumblr but there's a video of drunk paul almost kissing ringo jokingly. posted by @stewy here and as long as it's up you can reblog it here- thank u for the contribution to my red stringing lmfao

pringo for once thank god but. i don't even have anything to say except to point and think of a slur. drunk as hell flirting with your best friend what's better than that.

and then this whole interaction between paul & elton john where they kiss on the mouth

and i could so buy that this is a straight man and gay man just being comfortable together except well see above and see the other posts but also paul's very much adapting a softer, "campier" tone around him and calling him babe/darling in a very, again, gay way. not as in he's gay For elton john lmfao but this is how to old gay friends would greet each other do you see what i mean do you understand me......

anyway that's the end of part 1 join me next time (whenever the fuck i decide to avoid doing homework again um) this man has sucked a dick i'm so sure of this. (not really don't sue me for libel paul love ya)

[probablyasocialecologist]

In the misty forests of British Columbia, the fuzzy leaves and pointed husks of beaked hazelnuts (Corylus cornuta) can cover the floors of entire valleys. This wild plant, whose seedlings proliferate after a fire, served as a vital food source of many of the region’s Indigenous people, who tended it with prescribed burns. Despite this, the Western ideology that dominates Canadian laws has often considered Indigenous people’s impact on some of this land to be trivial, and so discounts their land rights. Now, a genetic analysis of these hazelnuts published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests Indigenous people of British Columbia actively cultivated this crop, deliberately transporting beaked hazelnuts across nearly 800 kilometers to cultivate the nutritious and reliable food source in new regions. The trees’ modern diversity and widespread coverage is a result of these ancient efforts, the researchers report. The findings could bolster First Nations tribes’ legal claims to their traditional lands. The research “provides just a really solid case study in how nondomesticated plants … are manipulated and used in many of the same ways that domesticated plants are,” says environmental archaeologist John Marston of Boston University, who was not involved with the study. “We just don’t have a lot of good examples of that going back into deep time.” Oral histories and traditions surrounding the beaked hazelnuts abound in the Kalapuya, Skokomish, Nlaka’pamux, and Gitxsan communities of British Columbia. Chelsey Geralda Armstrong of Simon Fraser University and colleagues wondered whether the plants’ genes echoed those stories. “We wanted to see if there was a genetic signature of that on the landscape,” she says. “We found that there absolutely is.”

18 November 2024

[exuberantocean]

Thinking about Benton Fraser and how he strives to represent what, as an ideal, a officer of the law should be and how not only is he punished for it but treated as a freak by his fellow officers (in two countries) for that.

And how now, decades after the show aired, we talk about there being no good cops. Not because there aren't people who become cops with the best of intentions. Probably many do. But the system is so corrupt that, if you start as one of the "good ones" either become corrupted yourself, you leave, or you are pushed out (every once and a while there's articles of good cops getting pushed out or punished somehow for reporting corruption). And how Fraser being pushed out to Chicago for exposing corruption in the RMCP tracks with this.

[asunsetgrace16]

✧ 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗗 ⎥ 𝗙𝗠45

Pairing: Fraser Minten x fem!reader

Warnings: sad sad sad, swearing

Summary: Fraser gets traded, and it's a sad day for the Marlies

Notes: So this is sad. I'm sad. everyone is sad. apologies in advance.

masterlist⎥ navigation

Word Count: 716

Fraser’s ringing phone interrupts the sounds of Criminal Minds playing on the hotel tv. He’s already set up in his hotel room and is taking the chance to lounge before the game. It’s different being alone, with Grebs being traded to Philly in the morning and leaving Fraser without a roommate. 

The caller ID says GM Treliving, which Fraser finds strange. He saw the news of some Toronto trades but was putting it out of his mind as best he could. It was hard enough having to say goodbye to Grebs already this morning and ship him off to Lehigh Valley. 

His palms are sweating as he slides to answer the call, “Hello.”

“Hi Fraser. How are you?”

“Good, I guess. We are in Providence today.”

“Yes, that’s what this is about. Earlier today we traded for Brandon Carlo on the Bruins. I just finished ironing out the details with Sweeny, and we packaged you as part of the return. I want to thank you for everything you’ve done as a Leaf, and wish you the best of luck in Boston. I gave Sweeny your number, so he should be calling you shortly. Thank you again, Fraser.”

“Ok…thanks. Bye.” He replies, hanging up in a daze. Traded. He’s been traded. And the Marlies play Providence tonight. What are the goddamn odds? 

Fraser should be going to find his coaches, his teammates, but he picks up the phone and dials your number instead. His fingers anxiously tap on his knee as the call rings. 

“Hi baby, what’s up? You don’t usually call this close to a game.”

The sound of your voice brings him to tears, and he chokes out, “I was traded. To Boston.”

The line is silent for a second as you get your bearings. “Oh honey, I’m sorry. I wish I could be there. Is there anything I can do?”

“Um…I’m just trying to wrap my head around it. I kinda feel like I should’ve expected this since Treliving got Laughton today too, so between him and JT, there wasn’t really a spot for me any time soon,” Fraser says, voice wavering and thick with emotion, “Can you go over to my place amd pack some stuff?”

“Yeah of course. I will come down as soon as I can. Let me know where to ship things.Are you going to play for Providence tonight?” you ask.

“Mhmm. I don’t know if I’ll play. I don’t even know.”

“Ok. Let me know if anything changes, alright? And Fraser?”

“Yeah?”

“Two years. Two years until I’m done with school. We got this. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

The silence of his room is deafening. Absent-mindedly Fraser throws his suitcase on Grebs’ –the other bed, shoving clothes and dress shoes and toiletries back inside. He grabs his suit and garment bag from the closet and triple checks that he has everything. He wipes at his face, having forgotten that he was crying when his hands come away wet. Standing alone in a Rhode Island hotel room, wearing Marlies gear and wishing for you, Fraser cries. 

Hockey’s a business, and Fraser knows that. But secretly, tucked away deep down inside, he had hoped that he meant more to the Leafs, at least enough that they would keep him despite being one of few true trade chips. He zips up his suitcase, throws a charger in his backpack and goes to find his coaches. Down the hall to the left, last door. He knocks and waits. Fraser knows his face is red and puffy, obvious that he’s been crying. His coach isn’t surprised to see him, and opens the door wider for Fraser to enter. There are handshakes and more thank you’s and good luck’s, pats on the back and comforting squeezes. 

Fraser gets the call from Sweeny back in his room, exchanging pleasantries before being told to report to Providence. He shoots a text to the group chat and goes next door to Denis’s room. The next round of goodbyes is even harder, even more emotional. Everyone is supportive, lightning the mood with good-natured chirps about Fraser being the enemy now that he’s a Bruin. His step is a little lighter when he walks out of the hotel doors, Uber ordered and on to the next chapter.

[sgiandubh]

On sightings

It's that blessed time of the year, with eggnog and spice galore?

Anons are never unemployed for long, because - as I always say - the idiots' mother is always pregnant.

To counter Park Anon, perhaps, another casual fan (relevant later) posted a sighting on another one of those FB behemoth fan groups that come with a LOT of small print barking around ('BE KIND! NO BULLYING! NO SPAM! NO ADS!'). That particular group is obviously Spanish/Latino based and that is sort of relevant, in the geopolitics of this fandom:

Anyways, here goes. The woman had no fucking idea of Claire Fraser's civilian name, but was ashamed to admit to it - so long for accuracy, dude:

Her sister is also a member of the group, but curiously enough nobody asked her anything, even if she was there and could have given her own feedback on the whole event. And she did not offer any, even when her next of kin was clawed around by the patrolling Stans Brigade. Perhaps because she's only been a member of the group since December 15, 2024 (her sister, the OG informer, was active in there since August 30 2024, only)?

Anyways, all the obsessive tropes seem to have been thoroughly checked, in that comment thread.

Blonde Bambino? ✅

Tracula? ✅✅- you know that one was coming, right?

The Wookey Hole Caves is an amusement park in Somerset - oh, how convenient:

C might have went with Blonde Bambino and retinue for the Winter Wonderland show - it does make sense.

An easy daytrip from London, too. But it had to be Somerset, for some reason - where C has established no footprint since 2019 and something she never mentions in fan events (even though Tracula's relatives do live in that area - plot thickens). Where no other sighting had been reported since at least the Italian guy taking a fan pic with C, circa 2019-2020 (help me on this one, veterans 😘?).

What stroke me as odd wasn't even the lack of pictures. It would have been very easy to sneak one, since the OG informer's nephew was riding along Blonde Bambino on an age appropriate ride - but hey, let's not nitpick on that one, after all Park Anon didn't have any, either. Also, the OG informer is unsure about Caitriona's name, but knows exactly how old Blonde Bambino is? What about that 'almost 4" - did C casually throw some pebbles along the narrative track, like Hansel in that fairy tale? Isn't Blonde Bambino supposed to be 3 years, 4 months old? How is that 'almost 4'? Was the OG informer using her own deductive skills, based on a ride Verboten sign?

The carousel the Blonde Bambino could not supposedly ride on is this one. It is situated indoors, in the park's Penny Arcade zone, at The Mill (https://www.wookey.co.uk/things-to-do/):

What stroke me as odd is that both the OG Informer and the Riding Toddler's mum are inexplicably elusive about any specific details. I was not expecting a deposition transcript, for sure, but at least a couple of those details that bring warmth, humanity and plausibility to a story. You know, like Park Anon's little girl having a tantrum because she didn't want to go home:

[Source: https://www.tumblr.com/sgiandubh/751391542332325888/i-always-read-the-comments-on-sams-posts-because]

Nothing of the sort, here. But if anything, what gave me pause the most is this tiny little tidbit the sanctimonious people across the street do not want you to see:

You read that right. The Perfect Stay-At-Home Dad couldn't be arsed to watch 'his' son on a ride, in an amusement park where things can and do happen. The One Who Always Babysits, even when his 'wife' is clubbing around with her Praetorian Guard (credit given accordingly 😉) in London, knowing perfectly well C has a full time nanny for 'Baba', looked completely disconnected from the scène de genre. So much so, that the OG Informer had nothing else to report.

So which one is it? Was it T, was it someone else from the Praetorian Guard? Does it really, really matter?

All this carefully calibrated story surely made me think about one of the times I lied to a very nice bungalow B&B landlady, somewhere on the coast of the Peloponnese. When our electricity blew out in the middle of the (cold, February) night, I had to call her and explain 'me and my husband' were about to die frozen in her idyllic little orange orchard. My 'husband' was my best gay friend (currently posted somewhere in the Middle East, LOL) and we were very much plastered with excellent wine, which we happily continued to imbibe after the incident was solved. Bless her heart, she did ask me the next time I went there (with Someone, 😱) how was my 'husband' doing. I shamelessly told her we got divorced, in the meanwhile. She smirked and mumbled something like 'eh, diplomats'. LOL.

Double standards are, as always, prosperous across the street. Other than that, may I just add the most recent reviews of the park are ahem, mixed, at best?

Especially, perhaps, this particular review, written by a mom of a three-years old little girl:

[Source: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g635922-d213489-Reviews-Wookey_Hole_Caves-Wookey_Hole_Somerset_England.html]

I find the management's answer extraordinarily enlightening. They know they have a problem with it. They offer settlement outside of the saloon, perhaps a batch of free tickets and hefty discounts thrown in for good measure. LOL, really LOL.

Hence my question, Your Honor: was it even C? Why would she do that, when she could have easily went to Eurodisney in Paris or any other fabulous London seasonal attraction, of which I am sure there are many? This, by all accounts, sounds more like a sad, rushed and tacky improvisation - again, why? Why on Earth do that to 'Baba'? Why?

Make it make sense, please, because right now it surely doesn't.

I rest my case.

[bcacstuff]

🚨 [This story contains major spoilers from the season seven finale of Outlander, “A Hundred Thousand Angels.”] 🚨

In seven seasons of Outlander, Claire (Caitríona Balfe) and Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) have endured enough trauma to last multiple lifetimes. While they have always found their way back to each other and the family they’ve created together across centuries, Claire and Jamie, now in middle age, are perhaps more aware than ever about what they stand to lose.

“Jamie is very much aware of his mortality. He’s talked about it multiple seasons, about his nine lives, and he’s right at the end of them,” Heughan tells The Hollywood Reporter in a joint interview with Balfe about the season seven ending. “He didn’t want to be involved in this [Revolutionary War], but his choice now is that he has to be involved to protect those he loves. I think [Jamie and Claire] are aware that they can’t exist without each other and they’d rather not. So what does that mean for the future? I think if one loses the other, then I don’t know if there’s much hope for them.”

Despite that bleak outlook, Claire and Jamie have reason to be hopeful heading into the eighth and final season of the fantasy historical drama. In the season seven finale, as Claire recovers from being shot again and undergoing a life-saving surgery at the hands of Denzell (Joey Phillips), she and Jamie discover that their first daughter Faith, who they believed died in childbirth, had actually survived and was the mother of their new ward Fanny Pocock (Florie Wilkinson) and her late sister Jane (Silvia Presente), who Jamie and his biological son William (Charles Vandervaart) were tragically unable to save from captivity just days earlier.

That shocking cliffhanger — which was not in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander novels — sets up the final 10 episodes, which Balfe and Heughan have already finished filming. Given that the show has remained a constant in their lives for 11 years, the actors, who both became producers during the fifth season, admit they are still in the early stages of grieving that loss and figuring out how to fill that new void.

“I’m reading a lot, I’m writing a bit, I’m watching so many movies at the moment — all of these things that I just didn’t have time to do,” Balfe says. “I feel like as an actor, when you’re working, you’re on output mode all the time, and it’s so important to feed your soul as well. I want to take my time, wait and do things that really mean something to me.”

Below, the actors behind one of the most beloved TV couples of all time open up to THR about the evolution of their onscreen and offscreen relationships, how they chose to play the key moments from the latest chapter of Claire and Jamie’s love story — and the one genre they would love to collaborate on in the future.

***

Having played Claire and Jamie for over a decade, what new layers were you able to find in the playing of these characters in the seventh season?

SAM HEUGHAN Jamie’s gone from being this tempestuous, impetuous highland warrior with very little responsibility to becoming a laird, and now he’s responsible for not just his men in battle, but everyone on Fraser’s Ridge. He’s essentially a landlord or a clansman. But what I think is really interesting as well is that over the past couple of seasons — but this one in particular — Jamie realizes what he’s got to lose. I think now he realizes he can’t have a life without Claire; he knows that life isn’t worth living without her. I guess being more fragile is what’s interesting about him, which I think comes with old age as well. He’s not as hotheaded, he’s definitely more experienced, and with age comes perhaps more insight into mortality.

CAITRÍONA BALFE Seasons five and six were such a huge shift in who Claire was. Going through the attack and then the ether storyline, it wasn’t like [she became] two different people, but Claire’s whole structure and her coping mechanisms had to change. In season seven, it was this tentative rebuilding of who she was, which was really interesting because I feel like up until that point, there was a lot of compartmentalization — she would do things, but it was put away in a box and she wouldn’t really deal with it. In season seven, there was a maturity to her, but it came with this new layer of vulnerability, especially the beginning of the second part. I think it just made everything much more porous and much more fragile.

As you’ve played these characters from their earlier adult years into middle age, how have you found ways to deepen the palpable sense of intimacy and chemistry between them?

BALFE One of the things that Sam and I were very interested in working out and exploring was this difference in intimacy. People talk about the passion of Claire and Jamie, and that is always a through line, but it can’t feel like those first throes of lust. You want to find something that has more depth, more maturity and more nuance. So we didn’t want to be chasing something that we had done in season one; we didn’t want to be always trying to replicate that. We wanted to find new ways of doing it — and we did.

We had those conversations for most of the sex scenes, and we had chats with the writers about how to find those intimate moments when they’re in conversation and when we see them working out issues in their marriage. It was really important to us to develop that as the seasons went on because sometimes, there’s a call from the fans, and they want to see those sex scenes, and they want the passion. And we want to give you that, but we want to give it to you in a more honest way.

HEUGHAN I think you’re absolutely right. Over the years, they’ve both had to accept each other and their failings, and all these things that have happened either together or separately. And it can’t be like season one because XYZ has happened, so therefore, who’s this character? Who’s this person in front of you now? If anything, they’ve become more understanding of each other, and I think that comes with just playing these characters over time when they’ve been assaulted and lost and found each other again.

BALFE There was a vulnerability to them in the beginning because everything was so new and they didn’t know if they could trust each other. As we were in the mid-seasons, it felt like they had really come into their own — and there was a strength. In the later seasons, there was this new and very different vulnerability. With the precariousness of life that they were experiencing, there was this whole new set of fears and vulnerabilities that came up. That wasn’t something that I expected or imagined would happen, but it naturally happened that way.

Lord John Grey (David Berry), left. Starz

Caitríona, grief is already a tricky emotion to play, but you had the added challenge of having to make the audience believe, even if for a little bit, that Claire had really lost Jamie in episode 10. How did you want to play the different stages of her grief?

BALFE It was really tough, because I feel like there is that sense of, “Does anyone really believe that Jamie Fraser is dead?” But you have to go for it. I had just lost my dad, so the last thing I wanted to do was go into work and feel these feelings. It was not my favorite couple of weeks at work. I worked really hard with the writers to craft a bit of a journey, and there was that [line] that I held on to as well: “I would know [if he died]. I would feel it.” She feels betrayed by herself because she feels like it should feel differently. So there’s the anger and the disbelief that comes with what it feels like when you can’t even trust your own emotions.

And then, of course, the added implication of Lord John Grey [David Berry] was a curveball. (Laughs) David Berry was an amazing scene partner in those scenes. To do intimate scenes with somebody other than Sam — usually all my stuff is with him, so it was like an added unknown territory. But what was also good was we approached it in a very different way to how Sam and I approached things. Sam and I have this shorthand — it’s very organic, and we don’t have to plan out things as much — whereas David likes to [plan]. I’m glad he did because I was quite lost about how we were going to achieve it, but I think in the end it worked quite well.

Claire’s grief-stricken hook-up with John — during which they were both picturing Jamie — has to be one of the most shocking moments of the series. How did you justify Claire’s actions in that moment for yourself?

BALFE I suffer from a real need for things to be logical, which drives the writers crazy, because for me to be able to play it, I need to be able to understand the journey. I think in the final edit, things are quite cut up and it’s not as linear as how we played it. But I think it was great that David and I found a linear journey into it so we could understand that [moment], because it’s also two people who are drunk.

When you’re drunk, there isn’t always logic, but there has to be those moments of, how do you get from A to B? How do these two people who aren’t sexually attracted to each other, who don’t have a history together, go from being alone, drunk and in pain to then being together? So it was finding that shared pain, that shared anger. Lord John was almost needing this kind of consolation in the beginning, and then it’s just the anger and the passion — and it had to come out in some way. So that’s how it happened.

But I think that morning after scene — that gorgeous story that Lord John had and the insight into his life — is so much more intimate than the stuff before. The intimacy the next morning is where you really see these two people form this bond that isn’t sexual, but it’s a friendship and a deep understanding of each other, which I thought was quite beautiful.

In episode 12, Jamie makes his feelings about Claire and John’s entanglement clear in a long, heated sequence where Jamie and Claire are working through their own emotions in real time. How did you each approach that fight?

BALFE Well, Sam had COVID. Do you remember? (Laughs)

HEUGHAN Yeah! It was certainly very challenging. In some ways, it was [shot] like a play, but I think we shot one direction, then I came down with COVID. I think quite some time later we shot the rest of it, and we shot it in two sections because it moves all around the house. I suppose [that sequence shows] why this couple are still together. They manage to work through it, to hear each other and to communicate despite Jamie’s stubbornness, anger and jealousy.

BALFE But neither are wrong, really. This was a situation that is so unusual and unique, so it’s totally understandable why Jamie would be so upset and angry, but it’s also totally understandable why Claire would defend herself. I think what’s great is you get this tension of these two people who ultimately love each other so much, but they’re going to stand their ground. I think both Sam and I relish when we do get to do scenes like this. There’s certain days when you’re on a show and you’re just sitting at a table and somebody’s passing somebody coffee, and it doesn’t necessarily feel like the most rewarding acting day. But when you get big scenes like this, you really feel like you have to work hard, give it your all, and make it work.

Sam, do you think Jamie could ever bring himself to forgive John?

HEUGHAN I think what Jamie did [to John upon learning what happened] — is it justifiable? No, from [the viewers’] point of view. But for Jamie, probably. But what he did to him is horrific and certainly has broken their bond. John Grey comes back and does justify it, and I think we hope that they will become friends again, but I think it’d be a lot for them to get over. Jamie is going to have to admit his wrongdoing, and I think that’s probably the hardest thing for Jamie to do. It’s certainly put a rift in that relationship, and I’m sure for Claire and John Grey as well, it’s also a pretty weird situation. (Laughs)

In episode 15, Claire gets shot in the battlefield and Jamie desperately searches for any kind of way to save her. Sam, how did you want to play Jamie’s inner turmoil?

HEUGHAN Jamie has always been in control in situations, and I thought it was really interesting in the script that he loses it and he’s lashing out. I think the only other time where we’ve seen him like that is when he lost Murtaugh at the Battle of Alamance. I think that moment was close because Murtaugh was his godfather, a father figure to him, but this is even bigger. It’s like, “How do you react in that moment when your universe has just imploded?” I didn’t want to plan it; I just wanted to go for it and see what happens. I think what’s cool about the writing and the space I got in the performance was that he’s not Jamie. He’s out of control, and he’s pleading with everyone, with God. He knows he’s on the edge of losing his entire universe.

How did you react, then, to Jamie’s decision to write his notice of resignation using Claire’s blood on the back of one of his soldiers?

HEUGHAN Look, it’s a really hard one to get your head around. It’s a book moment, and even in discussing the practicality of that [moment], we were talking about “What is the way to write on this guy’s back?” and we realized it’s actually very difficult. But I think it’s just sheer desperation; it’s a moment where he’s completely at a loss. I think he can’t work out how to get his message through to these people, and he just goes for the nearest thing. It’s a really dark idea. It’s amazing that after eight seasons — well, seven at this point — that these characters still surprised us as actors, and there’s so many times we’ve had these book moments where I’m like, “Jamie wouldn’t do that. Jamie knows better.” And then, I’m like, “OK, let’s see what happens.” And actually, you get this really dramatic moment which is shocking, and I think that’s what makes Outlander perhaps still resonate.

Caitríona, on the flip side, what was it like for you to play the aftermath of Claire getting shot?

BALFE It was very funny because they were very concerned about how comfortable I would be lying down for that long, and I was like, “Guys, I’m going to be lying down. It’s going to be very comfortable!” But they made a prosthetic for my stomach so they could do the operation. Look, I’ve never been shot. You can watch things, but sometimes we joke about it, like, “Am I just playing my version of what I’ve seen other actors do in movies?” (Laughs.) But you have to trust the director and everything that’s going on in the scene and go with it. I’m not going to lie: I don’t mind playing sick and half-dying. (Laughs.) You get to let other people do all the hard work, and you just get to lie there and moan a bit. But the set was amazing. When you have all of those things around — and Sam was incredible in those scenes — it makes your job very easy.

After they’re unable to save Jane in the finale, William has a heated confrontation with Jamie about William’s late birth mother, and William ends the conversation with the line, “I will never call you father.” The hurt on Jamie’s face is obvious, but what is going through Jamie’s mind in that scene?

HEUGHAN Jamie’s never been able to be a father to William, and I think he’s always wanted to be — from a distance. Here’s a moment where Jamie doesn’t really know how to be a father. He’s been a father to other people. He’s got so many surrogate sons — from Fergus to a bunch of people that he’s brought into this extended family that he’s got — but with William, it’s a really tough one. I think it’s great because you can see Jamie and his son are very similar; they both have that fire in them. And without giving away spoilers, it’s definitely something that plays out a lot [going forward].

But it’s also interesting because he is John Grey’s son in a lot of ways. He’s been brought up by John Grey, and that adds another dimension to that trio’s relationship. Jamie has all this pride, hurt and longing that he could be [Jamie’s] father, and also jealousy that John has been his father but also thankful [at the same time]. Certainly, it’s going to be a tough one for [Jamie and William] to both overcome their pride.

Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) and his biological son William (Charles Vandervaart). Starz

In the final scene, Claire overhears Fanny singing “I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside,” a 19th-century song Claire sang to her and Jamie’s first daughter, Faith. After learning that Fanny and Jane’s mother was also named Faith, Claire now believes that Faith wasn’t actually stillborn and had somehow lived to have children of her own. How does that set up their journey in the final season?

HEUGHAN It’s a huge moment for them to find out that their daughter potentially lived, and now they have this grandchild in their life. It’s a great cliffhanger — one that I think book and non-book fans are going to be surprised by. I think it was beautifully done with the song. It’s interesting because even playing [Faith’s death] way back in season two, we played the truth of it; we had no idea ourselves. So it was a shock for us as actors reading it and learning about it, as it was for the characters. I think the thought process for Jamie is, “How is it possible?” The elation, the happiness that, actually, it could be possible. And then, who is this young girl in front of us right now?

BALFE I just love it when you are given a scene and you read it, and it’s like, “Ooh, that’s really good.” But in the playing of it, when the hairs on your arms are standing up, it’s pretty brilliant. Florrie is so amazing. Every time we have a scene with her, you’re just so blown away by how brilliant she is. It’s such an interesting cliffhanger because it just opens up this whole other world of questions, which leads us so brilliantly into the next season. I think for Claire, it’s like her heart stops, her heart breaks and her heart sings — all at the same time.

You’ve seen each other through just about everything in the 11 years that you’ve worked together. Looking back, how has your working relationship evolved over time, and what do you think has stayed the same?

HEUGHAN (Laughs) That’s a cool question!

BALFE Well, I think our childish sense of humor has stayed the same.

HEUGHAN I was going to say our humor, silliness. When we’re in the shit and it’s a tough day, or we’re in the dark and it’s cold, we’ve always had each other. I’m very fortunate to have spent so much time with such an amazing person and also managed to laugh a lot as well. But what’s changed, Cait?

BALFE I think when we first started, the job was our lives. We lived it, breathed it. Our schedules were so insane. We really didn’t do much of anything else. I think as we’ve gotten older, our lives have gotten so much busier and you have obviously a wealth of experience to fall back on with your character. So it’s not that we’re not as invested as much, but the show isn’t just the only thing going on. I think, in that way, maybe our approach to things is slightly different. Would you agree, Sam, or no?

HEUGHAN Yeah. It’s not sustainable to be all-consumed by something for that long, but in some ways, perhaps having a bit more space or a life outside of it, it also influences the work itself. We’ve just both grown over time, and I guess it’s depressing but also an amazing opportunity that we’ve got to live with these characters for so long.

What would it take, then, for the two of you to work together again? Maybe in a more modern story without wigs or period costumes?

BALFE I’d love to do a comedy with Sam.

HEUGHAN Yeah, that would be a lot of fun. And as you said, yeah, no wig. Well, actually —

BALFE The wigs would be alright. No corset for me.

HEUGHAN I’d wear a corset, so maybe there’s the comedy right there.

BALFE I’ll wear your wig. There you go!

***

All seven seasons of Outlander are now streaming on Starz.

[scotianostra]

On 12th of June the year 1300 The Scots beat an English army at Dillecarew field near Lindores in Fife.

This little known battle happened when John, "The Red" Comyn was Governor/Guardian of Scotland. ,The "Battle of Dillecarew" or "Battle of the Forth" was a major engagement in the Scottish Wars of Independence One of the reasons it is not more well known is the fact John Comyn was at the head of the Scottish army.

In response to the defeats, Longshanks sent a "great army" to Fife and laid waste to all before them.

Comyn sent Sir John Fraser "the Patriot" with 4000 men to their rear and on June 12th met the English Army, Fraser had Sir William Wallace at his side and the Scots made short work of the English army, killing the English General Sir John Siward.

Details are sketchy, but reports say 3000 English were killed, and 500 taken prisoner the Scots lost not above 300, amongst the Scottish dead was Sir John Seton. Sir John Balfour, Sheriff of Fife was wounded.

Simon Fraser doesn't get the recognition he deserves, he was, more than capable General and fought with Comyn and Wallace three years later at Roslin. He was captured in 1306 and died the same way Sir William Wallace did, his head joined Wallace's on a pike on London Bridge.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

A new report by a team of UBC scientists has B.C. politicians and First Nations weighing in after it proposed relocating some residents and farms in Abbotsford, B.C.'s Sumas Prairie, to allow the area to be turned back into a lake. The report's lead author says that a "managed retreat" is necessary because climate modelling shows the area will continue to experience further catastrophic flooding, akin to the devastation the Fraser Valley experienced in 2021. "The lake wants to come back, so bringing the lake back is fairly simple," Tara Martin told CBC Radio's The Current. "The harder thing is moving infrastructure and people out of the way," she said. Much of the Sumas Prairie was once a shallow, freshwater lake until the B.C. government drained it in the 1920s, converting it into agricultural land for settlers and displacing the Sumas First Nation. Martin, with UBC's Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, says with further flooding on the horizon, it makes better economic sense to reflood the plain rather than rebuild dikes to manage water flows.

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @newsfromstolenland

[guyrcook]

DIGITAL Strategies to Boost Your Online Presence!

Want to take your online presence to the next level? In this video, I will dive into the top digital strategies to help you boost your online visibility, drive more traffic to your website, and establish a strong online reputation. From SEO optimization to content marketing, I cover it all. Whether you’re a small business owner, content creator, or marketer, this video is packed with actionable…

[hesbuckcompton-baby]

Damage Gets Done - SAS: Rogue Heroes x OC - Chapter 14

Masterlist | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13

AO3

Summary: After some less-than-welcome command changes, Diana receives a much needed visit from an old friend

Warnings: None

Word Count: 3.4k

Tags: @20th-centu-fairy-girl @6thofapril1917 @dcyllom @footprintsinthesxnd @regseekings @roseszirnheld @hellofanidea

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

July, 1943

Jaspreet Nadar

Cairo, Egypt

Dear Jaspreet

I know I've said it before, but thank you again for watching the flat while I'm away. Buying one in the middle of all this certainly wasn't the best idea I've ever had, but I suppose I just like knowing it's there. I'm also aware that my collection of belongings over there is rather sparse and eclectic - when I was robbing the old man it became something of a hit-and-run situation, and my instincts got the better of me. Feel free to ignore all the taxidermy fish.

Apparently I’m still in the will. I assume it’s some weak attempt at trying to make me forgive him, but that’s not happening. If by some miracle I manage to outlive him, I shall certainly enjoy taking the money.

We're somewhere along the Suez at the moment - not far from home, really. Certainly the closest I'll be for a long while now. Not sure how I'll like Europe - I imagine I'll be cold for the most part.

Little to report back on 'you know who'. He keeps brawling with one of the new recruits, not sure what that's about.

I think often and deeply on what might become of me once this is all over.

Write back soon, or I probably won't receive it for quite some time.

Diana

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

The smell of salt filled the air on the banks of the Suez, and Diana could taste it on her tongue as she thumbed the corner of her book, foot dangling over the edge of the wall as her toe brushed against the surface of the water. Withers had been sitting beside her a moment ago, a half-eaten pile of dog treats left in the grass as proof of his disappearance. Fraser must be around here somewhere, then.

To whom could she admit being frightened? The anxiety had tugged at the back of her mind for weeks, the promise of advancing to Europe always lingering on the horizon. Simply by being here, these men had gone further than she ever had. Even now, she was little more than a stone's throw away from the place of her birth in the grand scale of things. She'd only flown once, and it had been the worst night of her life. The ocean seemed the stopping point of her entire world, the thought of sailing away from here to foreign shores secretly terrifying, as if she were an ancient explorer charting the unknown.

Diana Fayed never seemed afraid. But until now, she had always been home.

The others wouldn't understand.

"Come on! You English fucker!"

Her serenity and contemplation swiftly dashed, Diana looked up from her book with a sigh, squinting as she glanced behind her. There was no need to search for the source of the noise. It had scarcely ceased for the last week.

"Look you Scotch cunt, I like a row as much as anyone else-"

"Mornin'," She chirped, thumping her book absent-mindedly against her thigh as she walked past the developing brawl without so much as a glance.

"'Eya, duck," Kershaw grinned, slinging an arm around her shoulder as she stopped beside him. He chuckled along at the sight before them. Diana stared blankly, unimpressed. She glanced over as Dave shook hands with Riley, her brow arching in question. "Bets. Want in?"

She snorted loudly. "Tryna get me in trouble? Nah, you're alright."

"Well, it's not like he'll find out," He shrugged, digging his knuckles against her shoulder in a teasing sort of way. In the month-or-so since Diana had accidentally let slip about kissing Reg, Dave had been little shy of insufferable. She supposed it would have been naive to expect anything else.

"What's this even about at this point?" She sighed.

Pat shrugged. "… You?"

Dave and Diana both turned simultaneously. "What." She asked flatly.

"Well, I mean, it's just a guess. But the whole thing only started after McDiarmid hit on you in that bar back in Cairo."

Her eyes narrowed, gaze slowly returning to the two men in front of them, who were currently being pulled apart to stop them from biting each other's throats out.

"Is that what that was? I just… assumed he was high on something."

Dave let out a bark of laughter, the arm he'd slung around her shoulder tugging her slightly closer. "I wouldn't rule it out!" Diana chuckled, poking an elbow into his side.

"Right, we're running late," She declared, wrapping a hand around one of his fingers and giving it a tug, his arm sliding off her shoulder.

He snorted. "When's that mattered?"

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

As the men filed casually into the tent for their briefing, Diana wandered up to Paddy's desk, passing the major without a second glance as she approached and began to wordlessly flip through the files he'd left lying on the table. For as long as she could remember, her father's house had always been littered with military files, left open in the afternoon sun for any prying eye to read. The word 'classified' had never meant much to her.

"Afternoon," Paddy stated pointedly.

Diana hummed, turning the page. "Hey."

"Would ya put that down?" He pressed.

"Almost done."

He stepped closer, arms folded across his chest. "You're not allowed to read those… Maybe y'are, I dunno. What rank are you even s'posed to be?"

She shrugged. "Dunno, I don't pay attention," With a sigh, she tossed the file back onto the desk with a soft thud. "Not like I have anyone to tell all these military secrets to anyway. You think I'd hang around with you lot if I had other friends?"

The faintest of smirks tugged at Paddy's lip, the kind that would have been unnoticeable had she not known him for so long, and he tilted his head towards the rows of chairs, which were now mostly occupied, gesturing for her to sit. Having run out of reasons to protest, Diana obliged, taking the empty seat next to Dave as she scratched at the scar on her arm. A lasting reminder of their last airfield raid and the bullet fragment she'd taken as penance, the skin pulled taught and itched when it got hot - which, out here, was always. Reg was sat behind her, legs outstretched beneath her chair. Reaching out with her foot, she knocked her heel against the toe of his boot and felt him softly kick her back. She resisted the urge to smile.

As Paddy began to speak, any attempt at authority from the man seeming farcical to her, Diana rubbed a hand across the back of her neck, uneven tufts of hair brushing her skin. Each time her hair had begun to grow back in the months since that first chop, she'd pruned it back with a vengeance, cutting slightly shorter each time until she more closely resembled one of those old silent film stars, chic in a way that was simultaneously boyish. Last week she'd gotten drunk and debated the merits of shaving her head. That had struck her as a bit much.

"Yeah, well sardines live in the ocean by Sardinia, Paddy. Looks a lot like a map of Sicily to me, lad," The swell of laughter alerted her to the fact that she'd stopped paying attention, glancing up at the map with a squint.

"Looks like a pig's head," She pointed out flatly, rummaging in her pocket for a cigarette. Finding two, she held one out over her shoulder without sparing Reg a glance, and felt him pluck it from her grip with a muttered 'thanks'.

"That is exactly right - Capo Murro di Porco," Paddy affirmed, and Diana found herself resisting the urge to cringe every time he spoke. She never thought she'd miss the old, infuriating Paddy, who bickered with her like a child and shot gazelles when he got pissed. Then again, there were many things about their time in the desert she was beginning to miss.

David Stirling, you dumb fucking bastard.

Kershaw held up a light, their shoulders bumping together as she leant towards it, a white plume of smoke rising from the tip of her cigarette.

"Whatcha thinkin'?" He uttered.

"Whole thing seems like a plan to get us killed," Diana whispered with a shrug.

"… Same as usual, then?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Because!" Paddy's pitch rose to a yell, quieting the muttering that had begun to fill the tent. Diana and Kershaw leant back in their seats. "Our next mission is utter fucking madness. So we will require the services of mad men."

"Thank you, boss," McDiarmid's distinctive tone rang out from somewhere behind her. "And on that note - I would love to go home, by the way, Sergeant Happy-Face."

"I'll put you on a boat myself, mate," Reg barked back from his seat. Diana rolled her eyes, shooting Dave a glare as she noticed him slip some cash into Riley's hand.

"What?" He shrugged.

"Fuck's sake."

The bickering was rising in volume all over again, the atmosphere growing more tense by the second. She didn't have to turn around to know precisely what Reg was doing - she knew his brow was pinched the way it always did when he was roused to anger, knew his knuckles were clenched and whitened, his shoulders squared and perpetually prepared to throw a punch.

"You're like a wee kettle, boilin' with anger!"

"Shut your mouth!"

A low groan escaped her as the men behind her bolted to their feet, jostling her chair as they fought to restrain Reg and Jock, to keep them from attempting to tear each other's throats out for the second time that afternoon. If she'd slept better the night before, Diana might have been more inclined to tolerate their quarrelling. But as things stood, it was all rather intolerable, the beginnings of a headache blooming in her temple.

With a grunt, she pushed herself to stand, arms swinging casually at her sides as she strolled towards Paddy's desk, arching a brow as she seized his revolver. He tilted his head with a slight nod. Pausing a moment to check the chamber was loaded, Diana tilted the barrel up towards the ceiling, a deafening bang flooding the tent as she pulled the trigger. In an instant, the uproar had ceased, the room falling still. Diana stared up at the smoking hole in the canvas, plucking her cigarette from her lips, a cloud of smoke flooding her nostrils as she inhaled.

"Right then," She muttered, dropping the pistol with a clatter on the table. "Carry on."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

A lawn table sat wonky in the uneven grass at the water's edge, Diana's foot against the crossbeam keeping it from rocking. She tossed a date into her mouth, squinting against the sunlight as it glinted on the water's still surface.

Another fucking Stirling.

It was bad enough that she'd lost the first one - a tolerable one, one she'd actually liked, although it may not have always appeared that way. Now here came another, wanting salutes and order and respect like some fucking toff. Like her father. Like every officer that had ever come into her house and looked down on her for as long as she could fucking remember.

Perhaps she was sulking. She could have gone off with Dave or Pat or Johnny. Or Reg. But instead, she was sitting here, watching a cargo ship trundle past, its bow splitting the blue and sending ripples splashing up against the wall at her feet.

She'd never been allowed to sulk in her youth, back when it was still a quaint folly for children afraid of not getting their way. It was unproductive, and that was one thing her father had never abided by. Any time spent sitting around was time that could have been spent on something more important.

Diana found she rather enjoyed sulking.

Her brow furrowed as she bit down on another date, the honey she'd slathered them with sliding smoothly down her throat as she swallowed, overpowering sweetness a balm against her discontent. The sound of a car pulling up somewhere behind her did not disturb her trance, the hum of engines almost constant and entirely unremarkable in camp.

"Oi!"

She paused, her mind taking a moment to recognise the familiar voice. But once it had, she swivelled in her seat, a grin displacing her irritated scowl as she bolted to her feet, a bubble of laughter escaping her.

Jaspreet's red-painted lips were parted in a grin, bright eyes hidden beneath sunglasses, heels wobbling slightly in the uncut grass. Her dress draped over her shoulders, hanging shapelessly around her in a style that was almost twenty years out of date, but suited her just as well as everything else always seemed to, half-covered by a painted silk robe that rippled with each movement and pooled in the crooks of her elbows as she held out her arms for an embrace. "Holy shit," Diana chuckled, going for a hug without hesitation, squeezing with her forearms to avoid ruining Jaspreet's clothes with the honey that stickied her hands.

"You got my letter?" She asked, eyes squeezed tightly shut, the thick scent of jasmine flowers filling her senses as she breathed in.

"Didn't trust the post to get my reply to you in time," Jaspreet grinned. "Thought I'd be better off coming myself."

"Ah, the joys of unemployment," Diana teased. "C'mon," As she turned back towards the table, she seemed to notice for the first time that there had been two chairs all along, as if even in her irritated search for solitude a part of her had never wanted to be alone. Jaspreet sat down opposite her, painted nails plucking a date from the bowl and tossing it into her mouth. She had sat with her back to the sun, and as she noticed Diana's squint, she took off her sunglasses and slotted them onto her face without a word. There was a silent communication between them as Diana leant forward to receive them, the tinted lenses an appreciated shield against the glare.

"So," Jaspreet began, pausing to lick a smear of honey from her fingertip. "How is it?"

Her chest heaved as she sucked in a long, sharp breath, nodding slowly. "Uh… Yeah… Yunno, you expect - hanging around with a bunch of unwashed men in the desert - that they're gonna smell, but it still surprises you. I mean it is just so-"

"Diana."

She hesitated, brow raised over the rim of her glasses. "… Mhm?"

"You know that's not what I meant."

Diana leant forward, shoving a handful of dates into her mouth all at once. "Oh, God, we don't need to talk about Reg," She shook her head, speaking around the food. "If you tell me you drove all the way here to talk about that, I'm throwing you in the canal."

"I'm just not sure it's a good idea to get all weird about some random guy when you're supposed to be focusing on - y'know - not dying. And he's fucking English at that. At least tell me he's not blonde."

"… Well-"

"You're so predictable," Jaspreet scoffed.

"No- look- it's not weird. We've been doing crazy shit for best part of two years by now, a bit of snogging isn't gonna be the final straw that sends us all for a fucking loop."

"I'm just saying - historically, you haven't handled this kind of thing… all that amazingly."

"You're just saying that 'cause you hated Andrew."

"Damn right."

"Would it help if I said I visited him in the hospital and kinda-sorta lightly tortured him?"

"You fucking what?"

"Doesn't matter," Diana waved a hand dismissively. "You haven't told me about you."

Jaspreet frowned, brow pinched.

"C'mon," Diana urged.

"Fine! Fine!" She threw up a hand in surrender. "I'm fine! … I've got this charity ball thing I'm supposed to be running tomorrow night, raising money for The Red Cross. So it'll be boring but it's for a good cause."

"Aw. You little philanthropist."

"You are such a bitch," Jaspreet chuckled, earning a hearty laugh from Diana. They tittered gradually to quiet, the ghost of her laugh still etched in Jaspreet's smile as she nodded. "But, y'know. I have plans. They're not concrete or anything, but I have them."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," She took a deep breath. "I'm not gonna stay here. Once the war's over, I mean - I'm gonna leave Cairo."

Diana said nothing for a moment, lips pressed tightly together. "Mhm… Yeah, yeah - no, that sounds good… You know where you're gonna go?"

"I was thinking Italy… or Greece, or- somewhere with history, y'know? When I was a kid, my father was financing an archeological dig somewhere outside the city, so he'd take me to visit. I loved just watching them work; just this idea that we were standing on something ancient and important. Might even go back to university and finish a degree this time."

She couldn't pinpoint precisely when, but at some point, listening to Jaspreet, she had begun to smile.

"Good for you. Seriously."

"You think?"

"Absolutely. To see through all this shit and figure out what you want beyond it, I think that's great," Diana nodded, picking absent-mindedly at her fingernails as her gaze fell to her lap.

"… Hey," Jaspreet urged, and the table wobbled on the uneven ground as she reached across it, seizing one of Diana's hands in her own. "You'll get there."

She forced a smile. The prospect of Jaspreet leaving Cairo had knocked the wind out of her for a moment, but frankly, it had been naive even to think it a problem. It was naive to expect she'd live long enough to come back here to see her at all. For some people, the future seemed a given. Hers wasn't. She wasn't sure she'd last the week.

With a somewhat bitter chuckle, she nodded, squeezing her hand affectionately. "You are… much too good to be stuck in one place."

"Right back atcha."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

As the car pulled away, Diana caught Jaspreet's eye in the rearview mirror, offering a limp wave and one final grin of farewell. Hands planted on her hips, she watched the car until it disappeared from sight, and something inside her seemed to deflate, shoulders drooping as she let out a heavy sigh. She scraped a hand through her curls, tugging them out of her face and turning on her heel towards the tents, passing her weight tiredly from foot to foot as she walked.

Reg was coming the other way, weaving between the guylines, a steaming cup of coffee in each hand. The smile that creased her cheek was involuntary, but so slight as to be hardly noticeable. He noticed.

"Hey," She stopped, pausing to give her scar another scratch.

"Was just coming to-… There." Reg nodded, pushing one of the mugs into her hands.

"Oh. Thanks," Diana smiled, taking a sip and wincing as she felt the liquid scald her tongue. "Shit," She hissed, clicking her fingers and jabbing a finger at him as another thought suddenly entered her mind. "Hey. Stop all that weird shit with McDiarmid, 'kay?"

He groaned, rolling his eyes. "He's a prick."

"So are you, I don't give a shit. It's annoying and it's loud and it's giving me a fucking headache… And Pat says you're only pissed at him 'cause he hit on me so- I dunno about that, but knock it off anyway."

Reg's mouth opened and shut like an outraged fish. "I- No- That's- Right, yeah, fine."

"Right, good talk," She cracked a grin, nudging his shoulder as she brushed past, continuing her stride. Lifting the mug to her lips, she took another sip, the temperature slightly more bearable. Yet she winced all the same.

"Oi," Diana called. Reg had begun to walk away in the opposite direction, pausing his stride to look back at her. "Did you make this?"

"Nah."

"It tastes like shit."

He frowned down at his own cup, tentatively slurping a mouthful. He grimaced. "Fuck me."

A laugh escaped her at his look of disgust. "Yeah… D'you wanna find a beer?"

Reg nodded, hesitating so as not to look quite so eager.

"Alright. Yeah."

[acourtofthought]

"Lucien is a horrible person"

Lucien has always been one of my favorite characters" - Sarah J Mass

"Sarah doesn't like Lucien"

"My <3" - Sarah under a Tumblr post featuring a Lucien collage.

"Lucien is pathetic"

"So Sarah has said that Lucien was originally based on Sam Heughans Jamie Fraser" Sarah's TV crush who she then goes on to thank in her acknowledgments

"Sarah forgot about Lucien"

In the most recent book Sarah writes Lucien as setting his sights on the main villain, has Az pissed off because he has to ask Lucien for help keeping an eye on Spring, connects Lucien to the mask, has Lucien knock Cassian from his rage with a single word using a HL's dominance, has Nesta softening towards him, has Cassian's heart strain for him, has Feyre send him to check on Nesta's progress to report back to her, has Feyre and Rhys standing by him at Starfall, while also having Lucien's reports being given to Rhys in private.

Anti's hating on Lucien isn't going to make him go away, not when he's Sarah's creation, not when the IC heavily leans on him for information only he can provide, and not when she's personally had nothing but good to say of him, when she crafted him based off someone she herself crushed on. From where I stand, Sarah's just getting started with our Lord of Foxes, Flame and Light.

[temperadamente]

BEATLES BOOKS OR RELATED (INTERNET ARCHIVE)

DO NOT REBLOG, just like or save the link. Keep knowledge accessible.

Lennon Remembers (Jann Wenner) The Art & Music of John Lennon (Peter Doggett) John Lennon: one day at a time: a personal biography of the seventies (Anthony Fawcett) The Beatles Unseen (Mark Hayward) The Unseen Beatles (Bob Whitaker) Groovy Bob: the life and times of Robert Fraser (Harriet Vyner) The Beatles: untold tales (Howard A De Witt) The best of fellas: the story of Bob Wooler, Liverpool's first DJ (Leigh Spencer) The Beatles - after the break-up: in their own words (David Bennahum) Paperback writers: the history of the Beatles in print (Bill Harry)

The ultimate Beatles encyclopedia (Bill Harry) Each one believing: Paul McCartney on stage, off stage, and backstage (Paul McCartney) John Lennon & Paul McCartney: their magic and their music (Bruce Glassman) The Cavern: the most famous club in the world, the story of the Cavern Club (Leigh Spencer) The Encyclopedia of Beatles people (Bill Harry) Come together: John Lennon in his time (Jon Wiener) The Beatles (Robert Freeman) The Beatles (David Haugen) The Beatles in Liverpool: the stories, the scene, and the path to stardom (Leigh Spencer) Rock 'n' roll times: the style and spirit of the early Beatles and their first fans (Jurgen Vollmer)

Linda McCartney (Danny Fields) Hit Parader Magazine (May 1975) I read the news today, oh boy: the short and gilded life of Tara Browne, the man who inspired The Beatles' greatest song (Paul Howard)

McCartney: yesterday and today (Ray Coleman) Paul McCartney in His Own Words (Paul McCartney) Paul McCartney Now & Then (Tony Barrow) Lennon Revealed (Larry Kane) Paul McCartney: paintings (Paul McCartney) John Lennon: summer of 1980 (Yoko Ono) The Penguin John Lennon (John Lennon)

Postcards from the boys (Ringo Starr) Listen to These Pictures: photographs of John Lennon (Bob Gruen) The John Lennon Family (Fumiya Saimaru) John Lennon: the New York Years (Bob Gruen) In my life: John Lennon remembered (Kevin Howlett) The Beatles Files (Andy Davis) The cutting edge: the story of the Beatles' hairdresser who defined an era (Leslie Cavendish) The Beatles: now and then (Harry Benson) The Beatles: unseen archives (Tim Hill) Dear Mr. Fantasy: diary of a decade (Ethan A Russell)

John Lennon (Dezo Hoffmann) A twist of Lennon (Cynthia Lennon) The John Lennon Letters (John Lennon) Imagine this: growing up with my brother, John Lennon (Julia Lennon) John Lennon: in my life (Pete Shotton) The last days of John Lennon: a personal memoir (Fred Seaman) Lennon and McCartney: together alone: a critical discography of their solo work (John Blaney)

This post is part of a list of books available on a private drive. If you are interested, please contact me exclusively via twitter/X: @mahgikarp

Any errors, report.

[thetruthwilloutsworld]

Instagram outlander_starz

The cast of Outlander: #BloodOfMyBlood reporting in live to announce... that's an official wrap on Season 1!

ft. Hermione Corfield (@hermionecorfield) who plays Julia Morison, Jeremy Irvine (@jeremy.irvine) who plays Henry Beauchamp, Harriet Slater (@_harrietslater) who plays Ellen MacKenzie, Jamie Roy (@jamie.roy_) who plays Brian Fraser, Rory Alexander (@r_o_r_ee) who plays Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser, and Tony Curran (@tonycurran) who plays Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat.

Posted 19 July 2024