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writingstoraes · 10 months

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say cheese 📸

pairing: charles leclerc/fem!photographer!reader

type: instagram imagine, social media au

notes: lucky me this made it out of my drafts 🎉 lmk what you guys think! also if anyone wants to be part of my permanent taglist, pls lmk hehe

about: fans absolutely adore the way you are able to capture charles in photos (plus what's a little harm with an accidental post that made its way to your account)

scuderiaferrari

liked by charloslover, finemidnight, arthurleclerc, and 782,221 others

scuderiaferrari Outtakes from Montreal 🍁

lightningleclerc I FEEL BLESSED

forzaforeva Congratulations, Charles! Amazed by the amount of work you put in every race weekend. Hoping for good results next GP 💪

livelovecarlos whoever took the last photo needs a raise actually

lecssaint i think y/n took this photo! but true lol she photographs charles so well its crazy

scuderiaferrari

liked by mercdefender, lewham, c2buddy, and 561,223 others

scuderiaferrari Mode: push 🏎️

vettelegend Such a good picture! Good luck, Charles! ❤️

lestappenfilmz ferrari's photographer in love with charles' eyes just as much as i am

f1thusiast y/n please speak into the mic

ssainzluvr carlos version where?????

scuderiaferrari Just posted! We'd never leave a driver behind 🤗 lecssssainz who the fuck are you tryin to fool

scuderiaferrari

liked by ferrariswift, pumasports, monacoprince, and 893,331 others

scuderiaferrari Charles clad in his special colors ❤️🤍

alonstroll The photographer working overtime so the Ferrari admins can distract us once again from the terrible strategy lol

popstarz LOOOVE THIS GIVE Y/N A RAISE IMMEDIATELY

finelineleclerc real when charles doesnt post i head over to her account just to get crumbs pls

ynfilms

liked by charles_leclerc, joris__trouche, lovers1989, and 56,445 others

ynfilms back in monaco 🌊

charles_leclerc Props for taking the second picture, not thrilled on diving a fourth time if ever you didn't 😁

landonando THE FIRST PICTURE??? I CANT BREATHE???

eudeleclerc he's definitely carved by god himself like

charmleclerc thank you for your service, queen 🙏

moneqazques came back here after all the y/n hype on twitter, what a legend

ynfilms

liked by monegasquez, swiftfeld, loveleclerc, and 67,221 others

ynfilms hard at work; improving day by day.

charles_leclerc Ah so that's why there was a click sound behind me yesterday

ynfilms just doing my job, charlie 🙏

forzaforeva the il predestinato is il predestinato-ing

schumangels Love this ❤️

ynfilms

liked by charles_leclerc, pascale_leclerc, scuderiaferrari, and 45,667 others

ynfilms out and about in barcelona 🏔️

lecs1655 queen providing our delusional asses we thank you, really

sainzchamp Charles and his pista god what a combo

ynfilms

liked by sainzhero, hamilchamp, leclove, and 23,445 others

ynfilms love you to the moon and saturn :)

landonando MAM???? WERE YOU SUPPOSED TO POST THIS

oconsgirl HELLO???SJSNJJ

grandprizcx im fucking crying so much for soft launches?????

ricciardos My best guess is this wasn't supposed to be posted in this account....

lecshamilt0n posting a picture of charles so boyfriend-y and so intimate to a taylor swift lyric is just so sick!!!

charles_leclerc

liked by carlossainz55, maxverstappen, pierregasly, and 1,230,778 others

charles_leclerc I always thought I was just a fan of cameras, turns out, I loved smiling in photos when you're the one behind the lenses. I do not know the first thing about photography, but I do know every picture of you I have deserves to be treasured.

The day you took your first picture of me was the same day you captured my heart. It's been yours ever since.

tagged: yourusername and ynfilms

carlossainz55 Does this mean Y/N will stop being my photographer at Ferrari

charles_leclerc Yeah cause she's my girlfriend yourusername no carlos, don't listen to him

charlosfan god no wonder she captures charles so well??? cause they have each other's hearts???

gaslysgirl Did not think going on Instagram will only remind me how loveless my life really is but ok

sainznorris FINALLY MY PARENTS

yourusername you know what i'm kinda glad i forgot to switch accounts and posted that on my work photography ig (hehe love you, baby)

charles_leclerc More glad than you cause I finally get to show you off pierregasly You put the cheesy in say cheese mate

yourusername

liked by charles_leclerc, franciscagomes, pierregasly, and 567,212 others

yourusername i was about to quit photography as a whole when i got accepted as a photographer for ferrari. who knew accepting this job when i was on the brink of losing what i was passionate about would only be the reason why i wake up every day doing what i love and living my best life.

bonus: i met the love of my life while doing it 🤍 it was later that i realized i don't just love taking pictures in general, i adored who i was taking photos of.

took a while before we shared with the world what we meant to each other, but the answer to why i capture charles so well — i take photos from my heart, which incidentally, belongs to him.

reputationcl who's cutting onions whhy are there tears in my eyes

sainzoperator THIS SOME SWEET ASS SHIT I CANT TAKE IT

lovingscuderia sleeping on a highway doesnt sound like a bad idea

danielricciardo EVERYONE RUN! The ants are here...

-----------

tagging: @slytherheign, @honethatty12

notes: this took like 2 hours lolol lmk what u guys think <3 hopefully i can finish all my wip's and get to the requests hehe thank you for reading :D

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moonhoures · 6 months

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Merciless

🕷️ kinktober — day 5: bondage 🕸️

pairing: hyunjin (stray kids) + reader (g/n)

genre: non-idol!au, smut, the tiniest amount of fluff

warnings: 18+, minors do not interact, explicit smut, established relationship, bdsm dynamic, bondage (rope & mouth gag), pet names: ‘honey’, ‘good boy’, ‘baby’, ‘pretty boy’, ‘my love’ (all for hyunjin), oral (m receiving), brief handjob, mentions of spit/drool (lots of it), ball fondling, mild edging, cum swallowing

word count: ~1.7k

synopsis: your boyfriend looks the prettiest when he’s tied down

a/n: this is v short and a teeny bit 🤏🏻 out of my comfort zone since i’m not used to writing bdsm-themed stuff, but i hope it’s still enjoyable for you guys 🫶🏻

posted: october 5, 2023

kinktober masterlist

It’s unfair. A downright act of injustice for him to look as beautiful as he does in this moment. Long, raven-colored hair perfectly tousled, strands delicately fallen over his forehead and in front of his eyes, some of the ends catching on his eyelashes. His sculpted face tinted was with natural blush and his glimmering eyes shined in the dim light from your lamp in the corner of the room. His body looked like a statue chiseled from the finest piece of rock by the most-talented of sculptors. Though, you had the bigger hand in his posing tonight.

Hyunjin sat naked in the black iron-framed chair before you, his arms expertly tied down to each arm of the chair with a rope made of safe (but intriguing) material. The cords wrapped around his muscles and wrists, holding him down, but you left just enough room to keep his circulation intact. The same cords were coiled around his upper body, intertwining up and over his chest and shoulders, anchoring him to the seat. Even his calves were tied to the legs of the chair, giving him no way of escaping on his own. He was completely and utterly at your mercy, whenever you decided to give it to him, but it wouldn’t be any time soon.

His chest was flushed, light red marks appearing over the skin from his previous orgasm and the chafing of the rope. It was uncomfortable, but it wasn’t unendurable. He breathed heavily through his nose, nostrils flaring with every intake and outtake of oxygen. His eyes were fluttering closed. His orgasm had only just started to subside, but you were already wanting to give him another.

His eyelids shot back open when he felt your fingertips graze his knee. The hairs on his leg stood up and goosebumps prickled from the skin of his thighs. His eyes had a hint of nervousness in them when they met your own.

“What? Too soon?” you patronized him, an eerie smile creeping in from the corner of your lips. You found his deer-in-headlights expression very cute, “Oh, come on, honey, I know you’ve got another one in you. Don’t you?”

He didn’t bother attempting to respond. It was futile. With the gag in his mouth, even the loudest of words he could muster wouldn’t be comprehensible. The best he could do was shake his head, but that was no good. You had already decided his fate for him.

“Hm, I thought so.”

You sunk down onto your knees in front of him. There was a sparkle to your eyes as you watched him watch you. His fringe swayed in front of his dark, lust-clouded eyes, making him look like a model. His beauty was astonishing. You would never tire of looking at him, you thought. And he only got prettier when he was like this, tied up just for you. It wasn’t fair. It was selfish of you to keep his beauty all to yourself, but that’s what made having him like this so special. You knew you were the only one to ever behold such a sight.

“Don’t give me those eyes,” your voice sounded like honey when you spoke. Your fingernails traced aimless lines up and down his exposed thighs, leaving pale marks in their wake. They came to a stop right at his pelvis, briefly leaving his skin before you took his half-flaccid dick in your grasp. You looked up at him again, seeing anticipation in his eyes now, “You know you want it.”

I do, he thought to himself.

“You want my mouth. My tongue. You want me to choke on your cock, don’t you?”

Yes.

“You want to stuff my mouth full until I gag?”

God, Yes!

“You want to cum down my throat?”

Fuck, just do it already.

“Huh, Hyunjin? Answer me, honey.”

Despite the humiliation he felt, he tried his best to do what you asked. But his reply came out in muffled nonsense. The spit from his attempt seeped into the fabric you used to gag him, and created a wet spot on the corners of his mouth.

“Good boy,” you praised him.

His heart beat quickened as he watched you lean forward and press fluttering kisses along his thighs. They trailed upwards, until you were at the base of his cock. He was still a little soft, but nothing you couldn’t deal with. You kissed him all over, up to his tip. Your lips puckered, peppering small smooches against his slit. You let spit bubble up and drip down his shaft—lots of it.

Hyunjin loved messy blowjobs.

He didn’t tell you that, but you could just tell. There was a glint of excitement that settled in his gaze as his eyes trained on your every move. His breathing pattern picked up in pace, and his fingers twitched, having nothing to grab onto.

“You’ll be good for me, right? You’ll let me suck your cock, and you won’t cum until I tell you to.”

He nodded furiously, pathetic little ‘mhm’s being eaten up by the fabric between his lips. You smiled, eyes returning to his hardening shaft in your hand. You opened your mouth and sucked in his tip, loving the way he filled your mouth as you went further down. When you got as far as you could go, you hummed, and a small whimper sounded from Hyunjin’s throat.

You pulled your mouth almost completely off, then took him in again, and repeated that a few times, slowly. His erection leaned a little to the left naturally, so your right cheek bubbled with the tip of his cock pressing into it. The sight made his head spin.

Soft gagging noises filled the room as you took him in deeply again, his tip touching the back of your throat. It was uncomfortable for you, and it was getting harder to breathe, but you didn’t care about that. You cared about having him on the brink of a raging orgasm. So you added your hands to the mix, using one of them to massage his balls. He let out a whine, like a sad puppy, and his eyes closed for just a moment before opening to watch you again. He couldn’t help it; he needed to watch you torment him.

You made eye contact with him while you sucked him off and fondled him. You made sure to let your drool pool up at the corners of your mouth and drip down his cock. Once you had enough of his balls, you started to pump the bottom of his length, using your drool as lube. His arms and legs were flexing with unbridled energy; he was itching to get out of his restraints. He wanted to touch you. He wanted to caress your face. He wanted to feel your spit all over his hands as he pumped his cum into your mouth. He wanted to hold your head down his cock until your nose brushed his pubes. He needed it. But he couldn’t have it, and it was killing him.

“You’re doing so well, Jinnie. Just a little longer.”

The tears were brimming in his eyes now, creating sparkles in the corners. You felt your heart become mush at the sight. Despite your act right now, you had the biggest soft spot for your boyfriend. Because at the end of the day, that’s all this was: an act. As soon as he decided he had as much as he could take. As soon as the safeword left his mouth. You would praise him and give him the most comforting hug you could manage to give him. You would rub his skin where the ropes held him after you took them off, and he would thank you for treating him so well. You both would get the sexual gratification you wanted, and you would both be happy.

“Where do you want to cum, baby? My mouth? My face?”

His eyes widened and his brows upturned at the first option, so you repeated it. He nodded his head vigorously.

“Okay, pretty boy,” you held his eye contact like you had him under hypnosis. He wasn’t even watching your ministrations anymore, his eyes solely existed to look into yours in that moment. He wondered what he looked like in his current state. You always told him he looked beautiful, but he wanted to see it for himself. He needed to remember to ask you next time to bring a mirror.

“Cum.”

Hyunjin’s eyelid twitched and the flood gates sprung open. Just like that, at the uttering of the word, ropes of his seed jetted onto your tongue. You had taken his tip back into your mouth just in the nick of time, and as he continued to cum, you sunk yourself further down his length. You went as far as you could, but with his semen filling your throat, you could only do so much.

You swallowed it all, holding back a cough as you let the bottom half of his shaft out of your mouth. The fat tip sat on your tongue for a moment, poking your right cheek again. Your tongue laved his malleable skin, feeling the faint veins in it. The salty, creamy essence was vaguely left in your mouth as he fell out of it with a wet ‘pop’. Rugged breaths and humidity clouded you as you felt your face growing warm.

Hyunjin was absolutely spent, his eyelids growing heavy. He was exhausted, and he only had two orgasms so far. He watched, in shock, as you reached for the gag in his mouth, wet to the touch from his saliva. You pulled it out from between his lips, and you took a second to admire the puffiness and redness in his lips. The faintest pink lines at the corners of his mouth made you smile. Gorgeous.

“Ready to use that pretty cock of yours, my love?”

He wasn’t. If you fucked him now he would be so sensitive. He would go insane. But a big part of him wanted to feel your insides so badly that he couldn’t think straight. Lust was the only thing that stayed consistent in his head, and it plagued his every thought. It plagued his lips as he spoke the first and only word that came to mind.

“Yes.”

— taglist #1

@jaylaxies @xiaoting999 @kookthief @zaddywilk @wonrangwoo @pedriswrld @ikykleeknowww @odisdad @abby-grace @jungwonloveer @pinklemonadeflav @celestialplatinum @luvkpopp @nlklstan @kisses4denji @jenos-eye-smiles @a-l-i-y-a @channiesprincess @bekah931215 @mrsdacherry @heerinnie @fairygirl18 @cinnikoi @im-ur-calico-cat @unlikelysublimekryptonite

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bli-o · 2 months

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ITAFUSHI NATION IM HAVING AN EPIPHANY LISTEN TO ME

ok so my wonderful partner @mawce444 pointed out that Will Wood’s Against The Kitchen Floor is a really good fit for Yuji and i agreed but while listening in the shower(where my brain comes up with most things) i realized it’s honestly really fitting for Megumi and then i realized it really fits both of them and then i realized it’s like a perfect duet for the two and puts the parallels between them I’ve been admiring into words perfectly. These characters are known as the Sunshine x Raincloud duo but honestly my favorite thing about them is the fact that despite being polar opposites on a surface they are fundamentally similar.

On with my ramblings about jjk characters being will wood songs under the cut—

I could go on about these lyrics for ages but I’ll give you some of my favorite outtakes. Listen to the song and see for yourself as well.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I promise, I’m doing my best. I just haven’t learned how to be human as you are yet.”

Ok, starting out with one of my favorites. This from Yuji’s perspective reminds me of how all throughout the series curses and humans alike have referred to Yuji as “Sukuna’s vessel” and denied him the right to be anything more than that. It’s also similar to Megumi’s closed off and secretive personality which only people like Yuji and Nobara have managed to crack open. I really. Really. Like the idea of him saying this to yuji in a duet cuz like… this is headcanon and projection talking, but megumi being one of the few to not only see Yuji as himself but wishing he could be as open and vulnerable—in a way more human—than him,,., this targeted me specifically oh my god

“I still don’t know who you are, I only know that I’m still lonely; that morbid sort where even company can’t cure me and the more you reassure the less I trust.”

this!!! this!!! perfect blend of yuji feeling isolated due to being a vessel and megumi’s isolation because of his closed off personality distant or lost family. Well. His family’s like entirely gone now + his only remaining father figure so like even more so now.

“I’m catatonic in your arms, crying ‘How did I cause so much harm?’ I’m down pounding my head against the kitchen floor, apologizing for my life and ever entering yours.”

IM!!! Its over for me itafushi nation. leave me. go on without me. Its literally. Perfect imagery of the shibuya incident and chapter 251. Yuji blaming himself for the deaths of the people in shibuya. Megumi blaming himself for the deaths of his only remaining family??? chat im through. don’t think i forgot about you yuji “don’t you dare tell fushiguro” itadori!!!! i know you still have a guilt complex bc you think megumi will regret having saved you.

“Don’t say ‘I’m sorry, but this can’t go on’, I know you’ve got scars of your own, but hide my knives before you go, I’ll either live or die alone.”

honestly??? feels like the parallel scenes between 251 and Yuji and Todo’s in shibuya. And the “I’ll either live or die alone” because of yuji and megumi’s respective isolations???? oh my god

I’ve gotten through the most major parallels time to move on to the more individual lyrics???

“I’ve lived more lives than enough; I havent died quite as much, but I’m not a real person, just the shit you cant make up, and…”

yuji’s lives before and after entering the jujutsu world??? the quite literal amount of times he’s died??? his role as an inhuman “vessel” or “time-bomb” or “half-curse monster”???? ugh. ugggggh. my son….

“I keep a locket with a picture on the back of my head, oh, monkey-wrench my side-view mirrors, ghost my friends.”

Megumi??? not being vulnerable and never revealing much about himself, even to the people who care about him, instead choosing to suffer alone???

ok yall. I’ve removed most of the worms from my brain with this post but you really just gotta listen to it yourself. More will wood-jjk parallels include:

Laplace’s Angel-Mahito

Outliars and Hyppocrates-Sukuna(especially in regards to yuji)

The Main Character - Gojo(Kinda? i’d have to explain.)

not to mention suburbia overture putting an au idea in my head,,,, i’ll hold my tongue because ive never kept my word on completing any large-scale writing project before but the itch to remove more of the worms from my brain is there,,,,

Anyways thank you guys for listening to my deranged ramblings. Here’s a gold star for helping with my brain eating amoeba treatment⭐️

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dduane · 1 year

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...Sometimes it'd really help me if I could remember WTH was supposed to be going on in an image.

Brief background: I'm currently in the slow process of going through the last five years' worth of assorted renders for the Ebooks Direct, Young Wizards and Middle Kingdoms websites, with an eye to throwing out files that are unneeded duplicates, procedural backups (for when I'm in the middle of making a series of changes and want to make sure that the previous version is preserved in case I screw up somehow) or are no longer needed because they've been replaced by newer/better versions. Not to mention imposing a new classification system on their filenames so I can find stuff without extensive rummaging.

From the last five years alone, there are some thirty thousand of these files piled up. [moan] ...So all this is going to take a fair amount of my [sarcasm] copious free time. [/sarcasm]

Anyway, the re-rendered "outtake" image above (full size version here) comes off one or another of the numerous "Not Your Usual Royal Family" renders of the Five. I'm assuming I was testing costume changes, as Segnbora's hair is not styled in her usual pre-War bob, and Sunspark's dress is new. (And misbehaving pretty egregiously, in that despite having been "animated" with Daz's dForce technology to lie down correctly on the ground, some parts of it are nonetheless stubbornly defying gravity. [eyeroll]) ...Meanwhile, I'm left assuming that Hasai's just told some joke that only one of the humans-or-others in the marriage understands.

—And once again I'm left trying to think of ways to get his eyes to look the way I see them in my head without having to go through much insanely time-consuming "we'll-fix-it-in-post" work. ...Ah well. I knew the job was dangerous when I took it.

#Middle Kingdoms meta #Hasai #Segnbora #Freelorn #Herewiss #Sunspark #meanwhile #Segnbora's hair needs its own timeline #...#My Brains Hurt

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stoopid-turtle · 9 months

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My Turtle Origin Story

Hi. I'm a rando on the internet. I make stuff up for fun and giggles. Nothing I say is real. Everything is fake. I'm fake. I bet you're fake. Fakity fake-fake.

Here's the intro post for this whole thing.

That being said, I got into The Untamed after reading MDZS last year. I'd never watched a c-drama before, though my wife and I have watched some k-dramas and j-dramas before. I was fascinated by a BL adaption in a country where gay relationships are censored.

I'm a nerd at heart, so I wanted to learn more about just...what this was about. How did this get made? Was it just for $$$? Did the people behind it take it seriously or was it a big joke? A cash-grab on a wildly popular web-novel? How was it received? How on earth was it discussed when the main relationship is a gay romance?

So I started watching the behind the scenes footage (bts) and interviews. And reading a bunch. And watching more. And reading more. Basically, I immersed myself into the swamp trying to figure this whole thing out.

My big fear going in was that there'd be a bunch of no-homo stuff in the bts. That nobody took it seriously. That the male actors were icked out by the minimal amount of subtext they did.

So I found it refreshing from the start to see that wasn't the vibe behind the scenes. Honestly, it reminded me a lot like the vibe with Xena. Back in the 1990s, an explicit lesbian couple just wasn't a thing on TV. The network wouldn't allow it.

So the show got as close as they possibly could with what ended up being referred to as "subtext". Xena went way further than The Untamed (Xena and Gabrielle are canon soulmates who have multiple kisses and swear a life commitment to each other). But behind the scenes was a cast and crew who genuinely wanted to show as much of the romance as possible. Who wanted to push the envelope as far as they could go. After a couple seasons, with the actresses' chemistry, they knew it was an epic love story, and they treated it as such.

Were there jokes? Yeah. The actresses had a running joke of flubbing a scene by saying "Now come here for a cuddle". There's a fantastic outtake of Lucy Lawless jokingly going in for a kiss at the end of a scene. But it wasn't a mocking atmosphere. It was sincerely felt and experienced, and it meant a lot to little gay me to see that in Xena. It felt similar to see the same spirit in the Untamed background. Much like Xena (the show) included an episode where she commissions Sappho to write a love poem for Gabrielle, The Untamed snuck in little hints with chickens and historical gay erotica. They took it as far as they feasibly could without the two male leads actually physically interacting much. (I'm putting aside the whole mess where they tried to make WQ a love interest)

There was an immediate difference between Xena and the Untamed behind the scenes, though. The actresses in Xena were close friends. They attended each other's wedding. Had great chemistry. But nobody ever thought they were a real couple, for various reasons. There is 0 chance they are or were ever a couple. Even with all the gay jokes behind the scenes, it's obvious.

As soon as I started looking up TU bts, Youtube started recommending this mysterious bjyx stuff to me.

"Aha!" I thought. "Is this what they call 'fanservice'?"

(I'm sorry. I know I'm not funny)

Okay, so I've been in fandom before with fictional characters. I've always been aware of real-person fiction and had mixed feelings about it. I've also known that some bands do gay fanservice and that BL live-action stuff often comes with fanservice. I'd never really seen it, though.

Still, what I could see in the videos wasn't THAT fanservice-y. A lot of bickering. Singing. Fighting. Lewd jokes. Making faces at each other. Completely nonsensical conversations. Not a lot of, like, handholding or kissing stuff like I'd expect from fanservice.

At the same time, the videos seemed to make wild leaps sometimes in showing that these two - GG and DD - were a thing. Much like the Xena actresses joked with each other about their characters being a couple, GG and DD and others joked about WWX and LWJ being a couple. Sometimes the videos seemed to conflate moments like that--clear jokes--with actual coupleness.

So I kinda dismissed them at first. I mean, it's part of fandom. Some people get into it. Not for me.

But I was still interested in the actors. I wondered how they got the roles. What they thought of them. What they thought about the gay elements.

So, again, reading and whatnot.

It's impossible to read about this stuff without coming across bjyx and turtles. That's where most of the background is discussed in English, honestly. So I read that. Usually kinda putting aside whatever they were trying to imply. Just trying to figure out more about the political situation. The vibe of the actors.

But as I watched and read, these bjyx candies

just

kept

coming.

Some easily dismissed. Some kinda compelling if you squint. Some that required some thought.

I watched a bunch of DD's other stuff (I guess my bias is for him? I adored DD from the start). Took note of his, um, clear lack of interest in women. I mean, yeah, as an idol, I'm sure he didn't want to cause a scandal by acting too familiar. But he seemed even more standoffish than that warranted. It was often commented on by...well, everybody around him.

And then I hit a bts scene that left me gawking. I said I wouldn't link the bts, so I'll just describe this scene. I've only come across it twice in two different bts compilations with slightly different translations, but the gist is the same.

GG and DD are in Cloud Recesses clothes. They're on a brightly lit green screen stage. The camera is shaky and the sound isn't super-great. (I've watched this so many times, I don't even need to look at the video to write down the interaction. I have it memorized)

DD: So flirty. (The translator notes that he's using northern slang here and I think that it came across differently to GG than he intended)

GG: *sarcastic thumbs up as if to say, "Um, rude, but ok"*

DD: You don't like it? *a moment* So beautiful. (the translator notes that this literally means "fairy-like")

GG: *a little swoon. then he stops* No, this word doesn't fit.

DD: Why doesn't it fit?

GG: It just doesn't fit WWX.

DD: I'm not talking about WWX. I'm talking about XZ.

GG: *shy smile with adorable nose crinkle*

DD: So beautiful.

Okay, I was floored. There went my whole, "joking about the role" ambiguity. DD was just straight-up flirting and GG was just straight-up accepting and enjoying it.

That kinda rearranged my brain.

Okay, so they were flirting with each other. But fanservice, right? Maybe the bts were staged?

So I read some more about the context of the releases and the boys' reactions to some of those releases. And I read more about what CP fanservice typically entails (shared endorsements, overt physical interaction, an abrupt ending when promo was done).

None of these matched up with what I was watching.

But still.

Like, seriously?

A huge TV hit based on a BL series, and the main leads are actually dating? That's...that's a story. That's the plot for a book. It's not something that really happens. Come on, now.

Then I came across the other candy that left me gawking. Old cow eats young grass.

I'm not gonna link. If you know, you know.

That's not even fanservice. That's just a couple bickering with each other.

Once I turned that corner, looking at the array of candies...even with the ones I don't take seriously, it just became...well, there's this thing about preponderance of evidence at a certain point. It doesn't mean any one candy is absolutely true. But it definitely indicates a more general truth. BJYXSZD

This is all fiction, though, and I'm a stoopid turtle.

Onward to the next post: Consuming Candies Pt 1: DD and GG are le Gay

#bjyx #yizhan #clowning around #i'm so long-winded #don't listen to me #i yammer on abt Xena of all things

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thepeanutbutterwizard · 10 months

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How have they kept Odalia from catching on that they’re friends? Also, have you considered doing omakes for this AU of moments like this that don’t fit well in the main story? No pressure or anything, just curious.

Well things are better between Amity and the twins to start off, and their help makes a fair amount of difference.

In cannon the strain in their relationship seemed to stem from the pressure Amity was feeling causing her to resent that they can get away with their pranks and stuff, her trying to get them in trouble for once, them retaliating against her, her telling on them for their retaliation, and rinse and repeat with their parents either not noticing or not caring about that cycle.

But since Amity has a reason to rebel as well, she's less invested in actually keeping to Odalia's standards, and doesn't want to try and expose how Ed and Em aren't living up to them.

Ed and Em were thrilled to learn their little Mittens was sneaking around behind Odalias back, passing notes to Luz through library books, volunteering to tutor Willow after school back before she transferred to the Plant track, and have been very willing to help Amity sneak around Odalia, and she helps them as well.

Another, rather surprising...ally isn't the right word for Boscha, but she does actually help cover for Amity, even though she kind of hates her guts (feelings mutual).

I'm going to be expanding on the world building a bit in HS au, and something I'm going to be doing is showing how magic isn't meant to be neatly compartmentalized into nine different categories. Magic is supposed to be Wild.

I mentioned in DoaF that Luz has a lot of classes that overlap with Willow and Amity, but only has a general class (like history or math) with Gus, and that's bc Abominations and Potions have a lot of overlap, as do Plants and Potions.

Boschas parents in HS run a Potions company that makes different types of serums made specifically to be used on Abominations, to help Abominationists get their goo to the right consistency or texture or level of stability that they need for their job or whatever it is they need to do.

Their company is partnered with Blight Industries as a supplier for these very useful serums, and since their company is a fair bit smaller than the Blights, Boschas parents are super insistent that she maintain a good relationship with Amity so they don't risk losing that contract.

So even though Boscha would rather give up Grudgby forever than help the S1-Hexsquad, she and Amity actually have to work together to trick their parents into thinking they're still best friends. So they'll help cover for each other out of self preservation.

All that plus Eda applying the skills learned after decades of being a career criminal to help means Odalia is currently none the wiser, and is more invested in chasing Amity around with a bottle of hair dye than in who she's hanging out with at school.

And I actually have been considering posting outtakes and scrapped ideas for HS au and DoaF! Bc I have quite a few of them already, including a version of Eda finding the kids from Eda's perspective instead of Luz's I wrote when I was writing Chap 2.

Since I'm still hammering things out for later down the line (I have an overall plan with a few major plot beats I'm settled on, and ideas for how everything else is gonna go, but I only have up through the S1 events and a little into S2 of HS au concretely planned out) I'm going to hold off on posting any of those until I get things settled a bit more, since I don't want to put something out as a scrapped idea, only for me to get a new idea that means I can incorporate that scrapped idea, but now I've spoiled it and told everyone I'm not using it.

#the owl house #owl house #toh #half sibling au #the owl house au #owl house au #toh au

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anamoon63 · 1 year

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Well, I've run out of pictures of Appaloosa Plains and Sunlit Tides, and I'll need a little more time to build the next episodes of Time Traveler and The Cho Brothers, as both require new sets and characters that I want to work on calmly, so, in the meantime, I'll keep posting some random pictures of my sims and gameplay, outtakes and stuff, like these (unedited) pictures I took of Sunset Valley:

I'm also sharing these photos of Lucky Palms, again no filters and no editing:

It turns out that in December I got a new gaming laptop, so I copied my entire Sims 3 game with all my saves and cc there. It wasn't that complicated, just a little hassle at the beginning to get the game to detect the graphics card, because you know, you have to edit the Graphic Cards document and all that. But the game installed easy (thanks Steam) and started working properly right away. :)

Then I started copying all my current game (saves, cc and mods) from my PC to the laptop. That did take longer, maybe around three days or so, but it was worth it, because the game runs beautifully, no lag, no problems, and after almost a month of playing, I haven't had any issues.

So far, I haven't had any problems with Windows 11 either, everything works fine with it, in fact, I like it, it's quite light and pretty. :P

The Sunset Valley and Lucky Palms photos here were taken in my newly installed game. I haven't messed with the Nvidia Settings yet, but I will very soon to see if I can improve them a bit, as I don't use programs like Reshade, or Gshade or anything like that, just my photo editor. For now, this is just with the graphics settings in the game menu, all the options at maximum, still zero lag, neither in game, nor in CAS (the latter thanks in great part to Lazy Duchess' Smooth Patch, I can't thank them enough for this!)

So, the new computer arrived just in time, because my PC hardly keeps running anymore, sometimes it shuts itself off and refuses to turn on again, but now I can send it to the workshop to do the upgrades I've been wanting to do for months, without having to stop playing my game. ❤️😊

Something else I want to share with you this year are my Sims 4 pictures. Yes, I started playing it again last October, after two long years of not touching it, or was it three? 🤔I don't remember, I stopped playing it since before the pandemic, you go figure, thing is I decided to give it another chance, but I'll tell you about that in a later post. Please, brace yourselves cause I have a considerable amount of Sims 4 pictures to share with you, I hope you like them! 😉

(Of course, this doesn't mean I will leave The Sims 3. I will never ever quit The Sims 3! 😍)

P.S. Sorry for the wall of text.

#the sims 3 #sims 3 gameplay #ts3 gameplay #sims 3 simblr #sims 3 stories #los sims de ana #anamoon63 sims

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septembersghost · 1 year

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hi!! so i’ve been lurking on your blog for a minute and i love how much you love elvis!! it’s super sweet and interesting to me and you’ve inspired me to start learning about him, but i just have no idea where to start. there are like 20,000 albums on spotify 💀 so i was wondering if you could help me out by recommending certain songs/albums you really love/think are essential as a starting point? and i’d love to know if there are any specific books or documentaries you think are really good too. thank you so much!!!

hi!!! anon this is so lovely and kind of you. 🥺 and you're welcome here any time, whether that's to lurk and peruse or to say hello! it's extraordinarily touching that anyone ever looks at my silly posts, or if they can inspire you to listen or learn more in any way (about anything!, but it warms my heart with elvis particularly...he deserves it). i know his discography is staggering and very hard to navigate because of the way it's laid out and the amount of albums/compilations/live recordings/sessions there are.

there's honestly not a wrong place to start, but the obvious is his first self-titled record with RCA in 1956, he's just this young, enthusiastic talent and all pure potential. my beloved is the 1969 album from elvis in memphis, you can hear the passion and invigoration he was feeling creating that music in that time and space. it has a sister album with back in memphis. there are honestly gems across so many records for various reasons, it makes it difficult to narrow down! if starting with compilations/overviews is easier (and sometimes it is!), there's the #1s (this was the first album of his i had, long ago!), the essentials, or if i can dream (which is long but has a lot of great cuts). a bunch of songs will overlap between these because they're the Iconic Tracks, i secretly cherish some of the lesser known music even more, but the famous songs are well-known for a reason! i also really love the compilations they did with the london philharmonic - they added the orchestrations over the original tracks, but the arrangements are so beautiful and full and (to me) highlight his vocals rather than overwhelming them, and i just know he would've loved to perform them in such a lush way. if i can dream (they reused this title, but i cannot blame them. that song is so important, i could wax on about it forever), the wonder of you. if you want a feeling of his live electricity, it has to be the recording of the '68 special, and/or that's the way it is. i have to mention how great thou art, gospel music was particularly dear to him and this album won him his first grammy (his only grammy awards were all in the sacred category). it's interesting too because they split the album into an "a" side, with slower hymns, and a "b" side, with uptempo songs, which is the same concept they utilized on something for everybody, "a" side ballads, "b" sides rock and roll. also i would be remiss not to mention the movie soundtrack (i am linking the deluxe for Reasons!!!), it's not all elvis himself, but the other performances, from austin and from modern day artists, are a really fun experience and speak to the way his music still resonates and can feel really timeless. there's still so much i'm leaving off of this, but i know it's a LOT to sort through.

the '68 comeback special (the file labeled "disc 1" should be the full performance itself, the other two are outtakes/other versions of the session and such!) is a must. there's also a documentary upcoming from producer/director steve binder (who also published a book on the special) in may! the documentary/concert that's the way it is from 1970 is so good and highlights not only his skill as a performer but a lot of his personality, and 1972's elvis on tour is fun too! there's an HBO documentary from 2018 called the searcher that i personally thought was beautifully done and presented. i know there's tons of stuff out there and it's as confusing to parse through as the music, and the books are even harder to navigate. the ones considered the most comprehensive are peter guralnick's the last train to memphis and careless love, they're more scholarly/journalistic than personal. the personal memoirs can all be very tricky and subjective (as other anons and i have discussed recently), though i know a lot of people enjoyed his friend jerry schilling's book me and a guy named elvis (i have read many bits and pieces of it, a bad habit of mine with books recently, but need to read it properly!). elvis: the legend is SO gorgeous and officially released from graceland, so it doesn't delve into the harder struggles or gossipy stuff, it traces his career/music/accomplishments, but that's what i love to learn about and prioritize in many ways. also, on instagram, walking in memphis is a fan page, but she shares really nice stories and photographs that delve into his humanity and character (there are many fan accounts, and good ones!, but hers might be my favorite that i've found). if anyone else has recommendations they'd like to add to this, please do!!!

i don't know if this helps, there are likely better people to ask than me and i'm honored you'd trust me to try. 😭 i hope it does give you a beginning, if you want any more information/clarification, please feel free to come back! this brightened my day (well, night! so you are a star!), thank you again for being so sweet and sending this to me. 💖💖💖

edit: elvis is back!, from the comments <3

also this is how i feel every time anyone asks me about him:

#i shouldn't publish this at 12:30 am but i am going to anyway #anon you are so <3 <3 <3 #anonymous #letterbox #elvis presley #i was a dreamer #me: this is a fairly decent overview i think?#also me: none of these albums include never been to spain which invalidates the entire endeavor!#apologies to aus specifically since that's his jam

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soggytapeworm · 7 days

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ICIMI done!! (and other info)

alrightttttt icimi polls have finished posting!! next I’m gonna move onto some outtakes (the ones from icid). just so you guys know, I won’t be doing any obscure songs as polls. THIS INCLUDES: jamface, strange thick, chocolate Jesus, will wood and the land pirates (prince ali DOES hit though), you are love, stereosexuals, etc.

Sorry if you wanted those.

after outtakes from ICID, I’ll probsbly do fregoli vs. alma mater (as a single vs. single), then normal album, then self-ish, then eial

No. I won’t be doing lives. They’re just kinda gonna be a pain in the ass, plus it’s the same but live version. also won’t be doing remasters, as they’re still the same song and it will still be a pain in the ass

also, my format thing didn’t include the titles of the posts and what the fuck they mean, so.. the round is basically the phase, if that makes sense. round 1 is all of the songs, round 2 is all of the songs that won in the round 1 polls, round 3 is all of the songs that won in the round 2 polls, and it goes on until one wins. the battle is basically numbering how many polls there are for each album. and the thing in the middle is the album (if it’s not an album, it’ll just be smth different. I’ll figure it out.) for instrumentals, especially in ch&t, I won’t be including the fun facts for all of them.. the bfb one was just one I knew. and I WILL be including the ch&t instrumentals in the polls, even though they’ll probably all get out pretty quickly, though I hope rhumba of death makes it to round 2 (don’t let me influence you guys)

if there’s an odd amount of songs, I’ll figure it out. I’ll probsbly jsut do a 3-way poll, tho.

And I’m in the car for a few hours, so if these aren’t done in a few hours from now I’ll be continuing a later day.. I am NOT about to overwork myself for tumblr guys, sorry. still love y’all tho /p

So that’s kinda it. I know it’s kind of a lot (yes. this is intended as a reference.) but if there’s any more questions, ask.

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tellthemeerkatsitsfine · 23 days

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Further update in the running thread of “I Like Vinay Joshi, the Radio X producer, even though early on the frequent interference from radio producers annoyed me, and I realized it was because fundamentally they were trying to mould the comedy chat into a radio show and I just want it to be a comedy show, but since Vin took over I’ve found it less annoying, I mean obviously he’s still moulding things into proper radio because that’s his job, but he also tends to be slower to shut down the comedy riffs and lets it unfold a bit more naturally, plus his own interjections tend to be a lot funnier than ones from other people, and every once in a while he’ll make a comedy reference that makes me think the reason it works so well with him is he is also inclined toward comedy and can see where they’re going with something more easily” – I have a further update in that running thread: He just made a reference to Simon Amstell’s stand-up that went over even John’s head, even though John Robins has mentioned several times being a fan of the sitcom Grandma’s House, so you’d think he’d know that. Also, I wouldn’t have had to actually hear John Robins say he really likes the sitcom Grandma’s House, I could have just assumed that based on everything else about John Robins. But in the episode I'm listening to now, John did not pick up on Vin's fairly subtle dig at Amstell’s penchant for confusing drugs-based stand-up stories, a reference that I appreciated because despite also being a fan of Grandma’s House and most of Amstell’s stand-up, I also find the drug stories annoying.

Anyway, I’m down to thirty episodes left in the Radio X years. I think I’ll get to episode 240, then do the audiobook, then do episodes 241-264, which will be all that’s left. Though the number 264 is misleading because there have been so many bonus episodes, I think there are about 320 episodes in the XFM/Radio X years in total.

And then I guess there will be the BBC years, which is relevant to this post because there will be no more Producer Vin. I have also seen those years described as having “the edges smoothed out”, I’m not sure how that’ll work given that them on Radio X already is comedy with the edges smoothed out, given Ofcom rules. I mean it’s fine, I don’t actually need to hear a comedian say the word “cunt” to be funny, and it frequently is funny to hear them come up with creative alternatives to swear words in the moment. And as some of John’s stand-up has shown, it’s possible that there might be a nice balance somewhere between “not allowed to actually say the word ‘sex’ so they have to imply it in the vaguest possible sense and skirt way around the issue if they want to talk about it, usually best to just avoid any story that references sex entirely”, and “telling me in graphic detail about your bodily fluids being inside a specific other person whose name I know and whose face I see on TV”. The amount of edginess I like lies somewhere between those two things. But I definitely don’t listen to them on Radio X and think I wish this could have its edges smoothed out.

And I don't understand the format of the BBC episodes. It seems like they put out highlights of one radio show, and then do a separate episode with outtakes? I think. I don't like that as much. I know the Radio X episodes have been chopped up into highlights from the full radio show (which I already don't like, I liked having those episodes of the Howard/Richardson show that are the entire thing with only news and songs removed), but at least I think they're in chronological order and basically follow what happened in the show. I don't want to hear random other bits totally out of context. Which I think might be entirely whatever they're doing now, but that's 300 episodes away so I don't need to figure that out yet.

Also, here’s a thing that I think will probably be fine but I don’t really want it to come up – I broadly agree with John Robins on most political things that I’ve heard him mention, they’re supposed to avoid giving too clear political opinions on the radio show so it’s not like I know all the details, but obviously political issues affect everything so sometimes it comes out. I admire his genuine love of the tax system, for one thing. I like how difficult he found it to adhere to the “no explicitly stating your political views” when he was furious the day after the Brexit vote. There are some instances when he’ll say something and I’ll think I disagree with the specifics of that point, but it’s always about specifics, not a difference in broad value issues. Which is fine with me, because contrary to what people say about leftists, I can like people just fine if we don’t agree on every single point of every single issue. As long as I think they’re basically on side with the broad value things like whether poor people deserve to live and racism and misogyny are bad (it’s just that that shockingly low bar is too high for a shocking number of people). And he seems basically fine.

Except on one thing, which I try to ignore every time be brings it up, which is how much he admire police. And I know it’s not like he’s thinking “I hate racialized and mentally ill people and I’m glad cops hurt them.” It’s related to his overall weirdly rigid obsession with following rules to the letter. And every once in a while, while going on about how great cops are, he will throw in a caveat of “And of course sometimes they get it wrong or there are corrupt ones and of course we should get rid of those.” But mostly I just try to ignore it when he talks about that. And given this, I’m not sure I want to hear what John Robins has to say during the summer of 2020, when the widespread horrifying issues with policing were all over international news to the point where it would be hard not to mention them. I’m just not totally sure if I want to hear what John Robins had to say during that, because my mental health is being held together by too few threads for me to risk losing my ability to enjoy listening to John Robins.

Anyway, I’m sure I’ll get one episode into the BBC 5 Live era and say “actually this is exactly the same as before and it’s fine”. Which brings me to my next point, which is that apparently the RSS feed is deleting old ones! I swear I opened their BBC show on my podcast app just a couple of weeks ago, to make sure it was all there, and it went back to episode 1. Now I’ve gone back to look again, and they start at episode 24. I got on my laptop and went to the websites I normally use for downloading like Podbean, and it was the same everywhere. It’s not some issue with my mobile app, the whole feed’s cut the first 23 episodes.

Luckily I found that they’re all still available on the BBC Sounds website, so I immediately downloaded the first 23. That took too long, because I’m not as good as I’d like to be with this sort of thing, so I manually downloaded each one with Jdownloader, then converted them from mp4 to mp3 in a different program (I’m almost sure there’s a way to get Jdownloader to just download audio only, but I’ve never bothered to work it out), then had to name them all with the dates and episode numbers and titles. I’m now worried that they’re going to delete more old episodes, so I’d really like to just download all of the BBC episodes, and for that matter wouldn’t mind doing the XFM/Radio X episodes, because this weekend has reminded me that sometimes things disappear from RSS feeds, and also I just wouldn’t mind having all those as mp3s, will make it easier to cut out clips and stuff.

So I’ve spent several hours today trying to learn how to use the various programs that allow you to automate downloading a whole podcast, but my understanding of tech things is, I think, about 1.5 levels too low to be able to actually do it. I’m pretty good at data hoarding but as soon as I have to start messing around in the Command Prompt I get confused. It would take forever to do it all manually though, so I’ll see if I can figure it out. In the meantime – and now I finally come to the actual purpose of this post – if anyone knows how to do that, or just has mp3s of John Robins + Elis James podcasts, please let me know.

This post started out complaining about annoying Simon Amstell routines and has come a long way around since then. I've let this radio show consume my entire daily routine and I don't like change. But it will be fine.

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b4-the-ink-is-dry · 8 months

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g’day, grommets 🫶🏼

for all the emotions and angst i write, there’s almost certainly the same amount of unintentional shitposting in those same fics. hence, all (shit)posts are either taken directly from, or are outtakes of, my wips.

though this sideblog is made purely for fun (my main is over at @inkquillery), i am very aware i have a bad habit of going on unintentional hiatuses for my longfics, so this is also kind of a way for readers to know i’m still working on fics despite lack of updates, and/or to check out fics that i’m writing but haven’t yet published. questions, theories and concerns about said fics, published or not-yet-published, are also very welcome!

a (not yet entirely comprehensive) guide to the works the following shitposts call home:

fandom: fairy tail

like a page with a golden word (puts my heart to the test)

~ moodboard & summary ~ lucy & brandish & dimaria shenanigans ~ tumblr tag(s): fairy tail; like a page au ~

hey lucy (i remember your name)

~ moodboard & summary ~ lumen histoire ~ ghost!lucy ~ little shit!lucy ~ team natsu as a family ~ honourable mention: lucy & gray siblingship ~ tumblr tag(s): fairy tail; hey lucy au ~

stars around scars

~ moodboard & summary ~ toh!lucy ~ lucy & erza sisterhood ~ lucy & lisanna brotp ft. shared coping mechanism of misplaced humour ~ edolas ~ tumblr tag(s): fairy tail; stars around scars au ~

fandom: agents of shield

your lie in april

~ moodboard & summary ~ teenage!skye ~ jemma & skye & leo & trip friendship ~ bad girl shenanigans™ ~ matt murdock & skye siblingship ~ tumblr tag(s): aos; ylia au ~

fandom: encanto

a place further than the universe

~ moodboard & summary ~ bio!mamápepa ~ teenage shenanigans ft. mirabel living her best life ~ tumblr tag(s): disney encanto; apfttu au ~

#fairy tail #like a page au #hey lucy au #stars around scars au #agents of shield #ylia au #disney encanto #apfttu au

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pleasantlyinsincere · 2 years

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Older, long-ish article about and with quotes from Mal’s diary and manuscript. Maybe gives a small impression of what to expect.

First published in The Sunday Times Magazine, 20 March 2005

By Mark Edmonds

Exclusive: WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM THEIR FRIEND

One man devoted himself to running the daily lives of The Beatles. So why do his diaries, seen here for the first time, strike a sad note?

HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE The Beatles were his life. He was their mate, driver, skivvy - even co-musician. Mal Evan's diaries, seen here for the first time, reveal the everyday secrets of pop's greatest band.

Mal Evans began the 1960's as a Post Office engineer in Liverpool. By the end of the decade, he'd appeared in three out of the five Beatles films and was an occasional musician on their albums. It was Mal playing the organ on Rubber Soul, Mal who sounded the alarm clock in A Day in The Life. On Abbey Road, it was Mal, not Maxwell, who banged the silver hammer.

Part of the Beatles' small but exceptionally protective inner sanctum, Mal was one of just two witnesses at Paul McCartney's first wedding. Among the hundreds of claimants to the threadbare title "fifth Beatle", he was arguably the most deserving. Wherever the Beatles went, Mal would never be far behind.

In the 10 years he spent as their road manager, Mal was blessed with a greater insight than most into the group's spectacular rise, their domination of pop in the middle years, and their painful implosion in a welter of recriminations. Throughout the decade, he kept a series of diaries and wrote an unpublished autobiography; all of this had remained unseen, part of an archive that went missing when Mal himself died in bizarre circumstances in 1976.

For many years, an ever-growing number of Beatles historians have regarded the Mal Evans archive at the Holy Grail. Last year, rumors surfaces that it had turned up in a suitcase in a Sydney street market (not true) and that it contained outtakes of unreleased Beatle songs (ditto).The reality is rather more prosaic: 10 years after Mal's death, Yoko Ono was told about a trunk full of his effects that had been found by a temp clearing out files in the basement of a New York publisher; she arranged for them to be shipped back to his family in London. Among those effects were his diaries, which his widow, Lily, kept for years in an attic at her home.

Together with the photographs on these pages, most of them taken by Mal himself, they amount to a fascinating collection: the unwitting historic recollections of a Forrest Gump of a man, who by sheer good fortune ended up in the right place at the right time.

The story, inevitably, begins in Liverpool. A keen rock'n'roll fan, Mal would while away what he called his "extended lunchtimes" at the Cavern Club before putting in a brief appearance at the Post Office and then heading off to his house in Hillside Road, Mossley Hill.

In 1961 he had married a local girl, Lily, whom he had met at a funfair at New Brighton. Their first child, Gary, was born in the same year. Mal's life was settled, mundane and ordinary; nobody could have predicted that the bizarre twists and turns of his life in the next 15 years would lead to his premature and avoidable death at the hands of the police in California.

At the Cavern, Mal was soon noticed by the Beatles, who had a lunchtime residency at the club. George Harrison felt that Mal, at 6ft 3in, would make an ideal bouncer. He was also of an exceptionally gentle disposition, and Harrison was canny enough to realize that this too would be useful in the years ahead.

In the first few pages of his 1963 Post Office Engineering Union-issue diary, which includes information about Ohm's law and Post Office pay rates, he reflects upon his good fortune. Looking back on the previous year, he writes: "1962 a wonderful year... Could I wish for more beautiful wife, Gary, house, car... guess I was born with a silver canteen of cutlery in my mouth. Wanted a part time job for a long time - now bouncing... Lost tooth in 1962."

With this, Mal sets the tone. We soon find he is more the Pooter than the Pepys. As The Beatles' road manager - and trusted implicitly by all four - he is presented with an "access all areas" ticket to one of the best parties of the century. Yet somehow he never quite realizes it.

The year 1963 is crucial for The Beatles, ergo for Mal. At the start of the year it is becoming clear that working with them, particular on tour, is a more engaging diversion for him than family life in Mossley Hill. The band, now managed by Brian Epstein, are beginning to realize their potential. Mal drives them to London for one of their early BBC appearances (see panel [end of the article]), and later they make the most of the capital.

January 21, 1963: "Lads went shopping. Paul and George bought slacks. George a shirt in Regent St. This was before the Sat Club recording and we lost them for a while. Back to Lower Regent Studios for recording talent spot. Met Patsy Ann Noble, Rog Whittaker, Gary Marshall, a really good show. Also on the bill was a Birkenhead singer. At about 8.15 the boys went to Brian's room in the Mayfair for a Daily Mail interview. I parked the gear and joined them later... We left London at about 10 o'clock, stopping at 'Fortes' on M1 for large dinner - bought by the Beatles - and so homeward bound. Met a lot of fog... suddenly after leaving M1 short time windscreen cracked with a terrible bang. Had to break hole in windscreen to see... Stopped for tea at transport cafe... and arrived home at about five o'clock. I was up at 7.45 but lads laid in till about five that night. Lucky devils. They were on that night at the Cavern as fresh as ever with no after effects. The Beatles certainly have gone up in my estimation. They are all great blokes with a sense of humor and giving one the feeling they are a real team."

For much of the early 1960's, touring became Mal's life. Against the wishes of Lily, left at home with Gary, Mal gave up his job at the Post Office in order to be at the Beatles' beck and call full time, clocking up industrial levels of mileage driving from Liverpool to London. He was also expected to attend to almost every personal whim. John Lennon, who had a predilection for enigmatic silences, would punctuate these with murmured requests such as "socks, Mal" - at which point Mal would scoot off to Marks and Spencer to fetch six pairs in navy cotton.

By the spring of that year, Beatlemania was under way, Mal and Neil Aspinall, another old friend from Liverpool, accompanied the Beatles on all of their tours, making up what was an astonishing pared-down entourage. Aspinall still runs the Beatles' Apple organization.

The Beatle' first European tour began in Paris in January 1964. The ever-loyal Mal was on hand, this time accompanied by Lily and their young son. Mal writes about a "big punch-up" with photographers in Paris. In the manuscript of his unpublished book he recalls that this was "the only fight I got involved in on behalf of the Beatles" - although he was terrified when he and the band were nearly beaten up by Ferdinand Marcos's thugs in Manilla in 1966.

To mark the news in 1964 that the Beatles had reached number 1 in the US for the first time, Mal writes that Epstein threw a party at the hotel. Some journalists then hired prostitutes to provide a lesbian show for the Beatles in the room next to Epstein's. "It was a little unnerving to have these ladies performing before our eyes with each othe in one room, with Brian and more staid members of the press in the adjoining living room. I guess celebrations caters to everybody's different tastes."

With Beatlemania in full swing, Mal seems strangely oblivious: there is no sense in any of the diaries that he is working for the most famous, most successful pop stars of the time. But odd, intimate little moments are recorded:

March 18, 1964: "Had plastic cups in top pocket - milk poured in by George. John says after sarnies, 'Mal, you are my favorite animal.'"

****

After two further exhausting years on the road, the Beatles were ready to give up touring: the whole tiresome process had ceased to be of interest to the group. The Beatles, and Mal, for that matter, were just worn out.

But now there was a larger role for Mal as a studio "fixer": as the music became more complicated, he was dealing with an increasingly outlandish inventory of instruments and equipment, and he sometimes contributed as a musician. More than any other year so far, 1967 presented Mal and the Beatles with undremt-of possibilities: it was the year of satin tunics, Carnaby Street and Sgt. Pepper; the band was its creative, cohesive peak. On a more mundane level, Paul found himself without a housekeeper at his house at St. John's Wood - so Mal moved in with him. Mal writes of this time fondly, but complains of Paul's dog, Martha, fouling the beds.

Within a few months, Mal had moved his family - his second child, Julie, had been born in 1966 - from Liverpool to Sunbury-on-Thames, about equidistant from Paul's house and the homes of the other three in the Surrey stockbroker belt - another indication of how he'd let the band take over his life. Mal was also beginning to enjoy some of the more illicit aspects of the mid-1960s rock'n'roll lifestyle.

January 1, 1967: "Well, diary - hope it will be a great 1967. Have not slept... Friday night's recording session and journey to Liverpool. Late afternoon went over to the McCartney's in Wirral, and had dinner with them. Paul and Jane [Asher, McCartney's then girlfriend] had traveled up for the New Year - also Martha. Fan belt broke."

January 19 and 20, 1967: "Ended up smashed in the Bag O' Nails with Paul and Neil. quite a number of people attached themselves, oh that it would happen to me - freak out time baby for Mal.

"Eventually I spewed but this is because of an omlette I reckon. I was just nowhere, floating around. Slept till 5pm. Flowers arrived for George for his anniversary tomorrow. Made up yesterday with new number I'm counting on it and ringing alarm [he is referring to A Day in The Life, Sgt. Pepper's closing opus]. So George came back to flat for tea tonight, that is before we went home. He was in bedroom reading International Times, I was asleep on bed, very bad mannered. Left for home with Neil driving.. On M6, starter jammed. 10/- to free it. Hertz van still no comfort... I spent some time in the rest room."

Mal's diary describes the recording of the Sgt. Pepper album in some detail, referring to the song "Fixing a Hole" as "where the rain comes in". But there were soon signs that he is beginning to feel a little hard done by.

The rest of 1967 was as busy for Mal as it was for the Beatles: the overblown, complicated Sgt. Pepper was time-consuming. As soon as it was was completed, Mal flew with Paul to LA to see Jane Asher who was touring with the Old Vic company. The three took a trip to the Rockies and returned to LA by private jet. Mal took up the story: "We left Denver in Frank Sinatra's Lear Jet, which he very kindly loaned us. A beautiful job with dark black leather upholstery and, to our delight, a well stocked bar."

When they arrived, they went to Michelle and John Phillip's [of the Mamas and the Papas] house and Brian Wilson [of the Beach Boys] came round. Mal writes of joining in on guitar for a rendition of On Top of Old Smokey with Paul and Wilson. Mal, however, was not impressed by Wilson's avant-guarde tendencies; at the time he was putting together the Smile album. "Brian then put a dampener on the spontaneity of the whole affair by walking in with a tray of water-filled glasses, trying to arrange it into some sort of session." Mal wasn't keen on glass harmonicas - he would have preferred Elvis.

When they returned in April 1967, the Beatles began work on what was to become the ill-fated Magical Mystery Tour project. The band, with Paul taking an increasingly dominant role, was showing signs of stress. Mal wrote "I would get requests from the four of them to do six different things at one time and it was always a case of relying on instinct and experience in awarding priorities. They used to be right sods for the first few days until they realized that everything was going smoothly and they could get into the routine of recording...Then I would find time between numerous cups of tea and salad sandwiches and baked beans on toast to listen to the recording in the control room."

Once they'd completed the recording, Mal, Neil and their families were whisked off to Greece by the Beatles at George Harrison's expense. They spent a month under sunny skies on a wooden yacht in the Aegean. But their return. however, darker clouds were forming on the horizon. Before the summer was out, Epstein was dead after an overdose. Without his guiding hand, the Beatles plunged into the chaotic Magical Mystery Tour project. As ever, Mal was a crucial element, organizing the coach tour that formed the centerpiece of the film, recruiting actors and extras, then flying to Nice with Paul to film the Fool on the Hill sequence.

According to Mal, this trip, as did many, took place on an impulse; without luggage or papers. Paul sailed through immigration with no passport, but they were refused entry to the hotel restaurant because they didn't look the part. They headed off to a nightclub. "We had dinner in my room... The only money we had between us had been spent on clothes, on the understanding that money was to be forwarded from England by the Beatles office. After the first round of drinks... we arranged with the manager for us to get credit."

The next day, Mal and Paul returned to the club. "We took advantage of our credit standing, as money had still not arrived from England. News about Paul's visit to the club the previous night had spread, and the place was jammed. Now Paul, being a generous sort of person, had built up quite a bar bill, when the real manager of the club arrived demanding that we pay immediately. On explaining who Paul was and what happened, he answered, "You either pay the bill, or I call the police!" It certainly looked like we were getting thrown in jail. It was ironical, sitting in a club with a millionaire, unable to pay the bill." Eventually the hotel manager agreed to cover the money.

Paul and Mal returned to London, where Paul was to edit the film. But it was panned by the critics when televised that Christmas.

****

The year 1968 saw the genesis of Apple, the groups tour to Rishikesh in the Himalayas at the invitation of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi - and increasing tensions.

By the time the band arrives in India, Mal is already there, having carried out a recce a few days earlier. Ringo demands a doctor as soon as he gets off the plane. From Mal's memoir from February: "'Mal, my arm is killing me, please take me to a doctor right away.' So off we go looking for one, our driver leaving [sic] us to a dead end in the middle of a field, soon to be filled with press cars as they blindly follow us; so we explain to them that it's only Ringo's innoculation giving him trouble. When we arrived at the hospital, I tried to get immediate treatment for him, to be told curtly by the Indian doctor, 'He is not a special case and will have to wait his turn', so off we go to pay a private doctor ten rupees for the priviledge of hearing him say it will be all right."

The Beatles, accompanied by an entourage that included Mia Farrow, Donovan and the Beach Boy, Mike Love, write half a dozen songs in India, most of which are to end up on the White Album they release later that year. Mal's diary comments favorably on the sense of Karma that seemed to have settled on them. "It is hard to believe that a week has already passed. I suppose the peace of mind and the serenity one achieves through meditation makes the time fly." He even enjoyed the food, unlike Ringo, who famously turned up with a case of baked beans.

But the tranquility does not last, "Suddenly... excitement.. Ringo wants to leave... Maureen can't stand the flies any longer." Mal himself spent a month in India, before returning to London to help the others with the White Album sessions.

Later in the year, Mal travels to New York with George. They go to visit Bob Dylan and the Band, who are rehearsing at Big Pink, the Band's upstate retreat.

November 28, 1968: "Up at 10.30 to Woodstock... To Bob [Dylan] for Thanksgiving. Meet Levon [Helm] of the band, he is drummer, plays great guitar. Around the table after turkey, cranberry sauce, etc... & also Pecan pie. Bob, George, Rich, Happy, Levon... around the guitars while many children play; Sarah [Dylan] great - turkey sandwich and beer. To Richard [Manuel] & Garth's [Hudson] home for farm sessions - home to bed."

At this point, Mal's 1968 diary comes to an end; it has been an action packed year with two hit singles and a sprawling double album - but the Beatles are no longer a cohesive unit.

In the midst of a miserably cold winter, the band and Mal set off for Twickenham studios, where they are to start work on the project that is to become Let It Be, a filmed record of the Beatles at work. Already there is discord, and in front of the cameras they begin to disintegrate; from Mal we also get the first murmurings of real discontent.

January 13, 1969: "Paul is really cutting down on the Apple staff members. I was elevated to office boy [Mal had briefly been made MD of Apple] and I feel very hurt and sad inside - only big boys don't cry. Why I should feel hurt and reason for writing this is ego... I thought I was different from other people in my relationship with the Beatles and being loved by them and treated so nice, I felt like one of the family. Seems I fetch and carry. I find it difficult to live on the £38 I take home each week and would love to be like their other friends who buy fantastic homes and have all the alterations done by them, and are still going to ask for a rise. I always tell myself - look, everybody wants to take from, be satisfied, try to give and you will receive. After all this time I have about £70 to my name, but was content and happy. Loving them as I do, nothing is too much trouble, because I want to serve them.

"Feel a bit better now - EGO?"

The Let it Be film is to feature the Beatles in what is to become their last public performance, on the rooftop of the Apple office in London's Saville Row. Squabbles put to one side, the band, accompanied by Billy Preston on keyboards, are clearly enjoying themselves. Mal is unusually perky too.

January 24, 1969: "Skiffling 'Maggie May'; Beatles really playing together. Atmosphere is lovely in the studio - everyone seems so much happier than of recent times."

January 27: "Today we had the engineer to look at the roof of No.3. 5lbs sq. in is all it will take weight wise. Needs scaffolding to make platform. Getting helicopter for shot of roof. Should get good shot of crowds in street, who knows, police might try to stop us. Asked Alistair [Taylor, Apple office manager] to get toasted sandwich machine."

January 29: "Show on the roof of Apple. Four policemen kept at bay for 40minutes while the show goes on."

With the Beatles in free fall, Mal busies himself with jobs for other Apple artists and fetching and carrying for individual Beatles. Throughout the 1960's he and Paul had an affinity, and in March 1969, Mall was one of just two witnesses at Paul's wedding to Linda Eastman in London. The same day, George Harrison's home is raided for drugs.

March 13: "Big drama, last night about 7:30pm Pattie rang the office from home for George to say '8or 10 policemen including Sergeant Pilcher had arrived with search warrants looking for cannabis'. George went home with Derek and lawyer, and was released on £200 bail each. "

Mal, meanwhile, has financial worries.

April 24: "Had to tell George - 'I'm broke'. Really miserable and down because i'm in the red, and the bills are coming in, poor old Lil suffers as i don't want to get a rise. Not really true don't want to ask for a rise, fellows are having a pretty tough time as it is."

The Beatles record their last album, Abbey Road, in the summer of that year. Mal's diaries note that four alternative titles were mooted before the band settled on a title that celebrated the home of EMI studios. "titles suggested: Four In The Bar; All Good Children Go To Heaven; Turn Ups; Inclinations." Mal helps with John's Instant Karma, but he is finding Paul distant.

The next year, 1970, sees the Beatles continuing with their solo projects. The band is no longer recording together.

January 27: "Seem to be losing Paul - really got the stick from him today."

February 4: "To bed at 4:30am to rise at 7:45 to help get the children dressed... Lil had a driving lesson at 8am, then driving test at 9am which she passed. Bed after a couple of hours. Feel a cold coming on again. Walk into office late afternoon to meet Ringo go to shake he says ' Give us a cuddle then' its worth a million pounds that is and feel really recharged. George & Steve bass & guitar. Nanette. Ringo Drums."

February 5: "Bed this morning late.Up at 1 to phone. Conversation with Paul, something like this: 'Malcolm Evans' 'Yeah Paul' 'I've got the EMI [Abbey Road studio] over this weekend - I would like you to pick up some gear from the house' 'great man, that's lovely. session at EMI?' 'Yes but I don't want any one there to make me tea, I have the family, wife and kids there.' "

Mal clearly took Paul's distance to heart. There was now no group to look after. Mal continued to work with John, Ringo and George on their solo efforts and with the small stable of Apple musicians he had helped to build up. But for him, the adventure was pretty much over. When the Beatles broke up, there was a very strong chance that he would to.

Mal remained an employee of Apple until 1974, when he moved to LA, ostensibly to work as a record producer. He left Lily and the children the same year, moving in with Fran Hughes, whom he had met at the Record Plant studios in Los Angeles. The split from Lily had depressed Mal, and it was clear that he continued to miss the family, long after he walked out on them. Neither his family, nor the Beatles, his second family, were now close. "The times I had with him were brilliant. He was an extraordinary person," says his son, Gary, "But from the moment he met the Beatles to the moment he died, he wanted to live two parallel lives. He would have lived six months in the States and six months here, if he'd been able to get away with it."

On the morning of January 5, 1976, exactly two years after Mal had walked out, Lily took a phone call from Neil Aspinall. He told her that Mal had been shot in LA. "I immediately thought he'd been shot in a bank," says Lily, "I had to wake up the kids and tell them. I didn't know he was so low. He must have been missing the kids, depressed."

Mal had been killed by an officer of the Los Angeles Police Department, who had been called to a disturbance at his home in LA after it had been reported that he had been brandishing a weapon, which may or may not have been an air rifle. Fran had called the police. Gary believes he was drinking heavily and may have been on cocaine at the time. "It was all part of the rock'n'roll, '70s lifestyle." Gary added that he thinks his father may have been behaving like that in the knowledge that even if he was unwilling to end his own life, the LA police would show no such hesitation.

George arranged for Mal's family to receive £5000 in his death; he had no pension and he had not kept up his life-assurance premiums. Lily and Gary have met Paul twice to discuss the ownership of some Beatles lyrics Mal had tidied up, which she wanted to sell. Paul appears to have reached generous out-of-court settlements with her. Over the years, the Mal Evans archive has dwindled as Lily has been forced to sell other parts of it piecemeal.

As she looks back on the 1960s, Lily regrets the amount of time Mal gave up for the Beatles, but has fond memories; she and the children adored the huge fireworks parties that Ringo organized at his homes in Weybridge and Ascot. For Gary, who was 14 when his father died, memories of the 1960s are bittersweet. "The Greek holiday was wonderful. there were good times interspersed among the 'Where is he's?'

"I'd go to school on the Monday, and the teacher would say, 'What did you do at the weekend?' I'd say, 'I went round to John Lennon's house'. I thought that was normal. Sometimes I found it all a bit much. I'd be picked up from school by my dad in John Lennon's psychedelic Rolls-Royce. He'd be wearing a cowboy hat, surrounded by kids. I'd think, 'I don't need this'."

Ultimately, Gary remains disappointed about the fact that the Beatles did not make proper provision for his father or his family. When Mal left, Lily had to return to work to pay the mortgage and keep the children going. "It was very tight," Gary recalls. "We were on free school meals. It's very galling when you look back at what my dad's imput into that band and we ended up like that." We asked Sir Paul McCartney to comment, but a spokesperson said he was "unavailable".

It's difficult to properly evaluate Mal's contribution to the Beatles, but for a long period he was regarded as indispensable. He was trusted, universally liked, and desperately loyal: his diaries give away no indiscretions, though he certainly would have been party to them. Even Lily acknowledges that, "he would have had a few flings." But none of that bothered her: she always seemed more concerned that he was "too nice for his own good" and that the band would treat him "like a dishcloth".

If he had followed her advise and remained a Post Office engineer in Mossley Hill, he would have missed out on Sgt. Pepper, the Beatles in India and his meetings with Elvis, his hero. And his passing, too, in the sprawling suburbs of Los Angeles, might also have turned out to be just a little less rock'n'roll.

****

EXCERTS FROM MAL'S DIARIES:

January 20, 1963: Mal drives the Beatles to London

Picked up George at about 10.45 then picked up John, Paul & Ringo... George bought me dinner at Whitchurch and took over the driving up to about 20 miles before the M1... My only wish was for better headlights on the van otherwise admirable to drive, and I could not have wished for better company. They [The Beatles] made me feel at home with them at once. After steady 70-75 miles down the M1, entered London via Finchley... The boys seemed to know their way and... took us to the door of EMI house. There we met Kenny Lynch, Jess Conrad & Carol Deene all nice people.

January 4, 1967: Recording Penny Lane

Traveled to London left about 11am. Lil's back acting up a little again. Recording "Penny Lane" but Paul and John still not satisfied so will do voices again tomorrow. Went to Bag O' Nails about 3.45 after session. Cyn, Terry and Stan. Jane came to studio in her car. Had fish and chips in studio. Joss sticks burning a plenty tonight, really do get to like the smell.

January 27, 1967: Sgt. Pepper

Started writing song with Paul upstairs in his room, he on piano. What can one say about today - ah yes! Four Tops concert at Albert Hall. Beatles get screams they get the clap. Off to Bag after gig. Did a lot more of "where the rain comes in". Hope people like it. Started Sergeant Pepper.

February 1, 1967:

"Sergeant Pepper" sounds good. Paul tells me that I will get royalties on the song - great news, now perhaps a new home.

February 2, 1967:

Recording voices on Captain [sic] Pepper. All six of us doing the chorus in the middle, worked until about midnight. Bag took Cynthia [Lennon]. Bed about 5.30pm after no sleep. Ugh! Cleaning lady Mrs. Turner. Cor!!! Had to go to doctor in 6 George Street. Bought Ringo some undies for his visit to the Doctor.

March 30, 1967:

Played cow bell on Ringo's number [With a Little Help From My Friends]. Paul asked after who played that great cow bell...

February 17, 1968: In India and recording The White Album

The press really tried kicking down the gates into the Ashram - the Indian people on the Ashram called me halfway through, but as soon as an Indian reporter told me "no bloody foreigner is going to stop me in my own country" I cooled it.

February 23, 1968:

The Beatles all met Maharishi on his cottage roof... off to the beach after lunch, well its not really the beach but the bank of the Ganges... Jane still not well although the other minor complaints have been 'faith healed', and Ringo had a dead rat in drawer.

July 9, 1968:

Oobledee [Ob La Di, Ob La Da] goes well and Eric Clapton plays [sic] a visit... Off to pub for toasted cheese sarnies, later Paul went to the pub with George, Neil and Pete for a pint. John and George guitars - Ringo drums for new version of 'Revolution'. Put up slide for kids and filmed Julie on it.

September 13, 1968:

Heard today that the police arrived at EMI to bust us after we had left. On further enquiries this did not appear to have happened - wouldn't matter anyway, what would they find?

March 12, 1969: Paul and Linda's Wedding

Paul and Linda got married this morning at Marylebone registry office, due to at 9.45 but Mike's train from Birmingham was delayed... When Peter Brown and myself passed the registry office at about 9.15 there were only a few photographers and ardent fans standing in the rain, but when we left at 11.30am or perhaps it was 11.15am we were mobbed by a crowd of about 1000. Heather [Linda's daughter] was carried out by a policeman and Ray of the hire car company... Back at home, they did a couple of TVs and then went to the local church to be "BLESSED". Off to the Ritz Piccadilly for a wedding lunch, where we were joined by Neil and Sue. Escargot for moi; TV interview in the Ritz and deliver Paul and Linda McCartney to home and feet up by the fire.

August 8, 1969 (Accompanied by drawing of Abbey Road album cover photo)

Up at 8.30am, arriving at 9.45am. Ringo first at 10.15 with the others arriving just after eleven. Policeman gets quite excited at a few people, and Ian missed the picture. George, (??) and I go to Regents Park Zoo and meditate in the sun. To Krishna temple for lunch and studio for 3pm. Yoko, John and Ringo went to Paul and Linda's for lunch. It was very nice.

#mal evans #the beatles #the bit about Ringo giving him a hug is my fav

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seasonsofeverlark · 2 years

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Burn Index

Author: @jhsgf82

Prompt: Katniss attends a fall festival benefiting the local fire department. There she meets a hot firefighter (Peeta, of course), and things heat up between them. Smut could happen, up to you! Just make sure they fall for each other. ;) [submitted by @jhsgf82]

Rating: T

Summary: Prim drags Katniss to a fall festival benefitting the local firefighters. There Katniss officially meets a cute firefighter who went to school with her sister. Katniss realizes two things after meeting him, that she’s attracted to him and that she’s noticed him all along. Is he interested, too? Could something happen between them, even though he’s four years younger than Katniss and Prim seems to be crushing on him?

Author’s Note: Yep, I totally claimed my own prompt. Not even sorry, lol, because I really enjoyed writing it. This is Part I of II (or III). Should I later post on AO3, I may add a chapter or outtake and bump up to M. ____________

“It’s for charity,” Katniss sarcastically quotes her sister, Primrose. “Blah, blah, blah…”

Not like Katniss doesn’t care about charity; she does, particularly after growing up poor, even experiencing a period of time when her family came dangerously close to the poverty line. But a fall festival? To benefit the firefighters?

Sure, first responders are important, but why do they need an entire festival dedicated to earning funds?‒she’s pretty sure there’ve only been a handful of fires this entire year. And moreover, why does she have to attend?

But Prim thinks it’ll be fun, and so she agrees to go. She’d do just about anything for Prim.

——

On a breezy autumn afternoon, Prim and Katniss head to the festival. Prim has worn her hair down and is dressed in a cute sweater dress and boots, which are probably going to be killing her feet in about twenty minutes, while Katniss has opted for her usual casual look and is wearing a green flannel button-up, skinny jeans, and her hunting boots with her hair tied back in its signature braid.

Prim is all giddy about seeing the firefighters, hence why she’s dressed up (most likely), though Katniss doesn’t get it. Not all firefighters are hot. In fact, most aren’t‒it’s merely a stereotype, or very poor double-entendre. Although, from the way Prim talks, they’ll all be walking around shirtless, or otherwise exploited at this festival.

Upon arrival, they survey the setting‒their local fairgrounds, which is actually just a big field where drunken revelry happens several times per year‒and rather than debauchery, Katniss finds the typical festival atmosphere, a wholesome family fun kind of environment. The place is decked out with rows of booths, brightly colored (mostly in autumn hues), handmaid signs, and lots and lots of people.

Great, a crowd. Katniss despises crowds above most things.

She didn’t even know this many people lived in their small district; however, a festival never fails to bring people out of the woodwork and demonstrate just how many persons can be crammed into a small 18-mile radius town, let alone an acre field.

The music kicks up just then, a jaunty, country rhythm, and Prim’s head whips over to a small wooden square on the grass where people are dancing. “Ohh!” she squeals, and Katniss imagines she’s hoping some local hottie will ask her to dance.

Of course, there aren’t too many hotties in District 12, or maybe Katniss simply hasn’t been looking for one.

Oh well, at least it smells good around here, she thinks. Katniss’s senses have always been finely-attuned, and she swears she sniffs delectable pastries wafting on the wind. Now, eating massive amounts of baked goods, that’s something she could get onboard with‒and festivals usually have good foods.

Prim interrupts her hungry thoughts. “I think Gale is here somewhere,” says Prim. Gale Hawthorne, their cousin, is one of D12’s firefighters. Prim turns her head in different directions. “He’s running a public safety booth or something. Figures he’d have a boring‒oh my god!” shrieks Prim all of a sudden. “Look who it is!”

“Who?”

“Peeta Mellark.” Prim points off into the distance, and Katniss follows her finger to where a broad-shouldered, blond man is assisting in setting up what looks to be a face painting booth.

Peeta Mellark. Katniss knows him, or at least, of him; she’s seen him around, though she’s never really paid much attention.

She is now, though.

Katniss’s eyes can’t help but wander Peeta Mellark’s frame. He’s strong, and definitely one of the best-looking guys in town, by far.

“Oh my god,” murmurs Prim, covering her mouth with both hands. “I had such a crush on him back in high school!”

That’s right; he went to school with Prim, which would make him four years younger than Katniss‒which means she shouldn’t be eyeing him up like a fall festival snack…

“I still kick myself for not working up the courage to ask him to the Harvest festival dance before Madge did, ugh.”

That’s right; he briefly dated Madge Undersee, the mayor’s daughter. No, they were just friends, corrects Katniss in her head. Perhaps she’s been paying more attention than she realized…

“Let’s go say hello!” pipes Prim. And Katniss nods.

Reluctantly, Katniss trails behind her sister, her palms suddenly sweaty. She unceremoniously wipes them on the front of her jeans. When they approach, Peeta’s bent over the booth, and it takes some effort on Katniss’s part to refrain from ogling the rippling muscles of his back and his well-rounded backside, though she is able to admire.

Damn, she must be more hard-up than she thought. Why is it only now she’s so keenly aware of her lack of boyfriend over the past three years?

Peeta glances up and over his shoulder, and he does a double-take. He immediately straightens up and puts on a wide smile. Peeta is wearing his blue firefighter shirt with the D12 Fire Dept. emblem on his left pec.

“Hey, Peeta!” Prim waves.

“Primrose Everdeen!” exclaims Peeta jovially, his bright blue eyes twinkling. Katniss notices his eyes darting toward her, then refocusing on Prim. “Is that really you?”

“It is.” Prim nods and smiles. “And no need to stand on ceremony, Peeta. You can call me Prim.”

Katniss envies her sister a bit, how she can be crushing on someone and talk so freely with them.

“Prim, it is.” Peeta smiles brightly.

“And this is my sister, Katniss.”

“I know,” blurts out Peeta. “I mean, I, uh…” Peeta’s face goes red as the fire engine; he shoves his hands into his back pockets, and suddenly, he can’t seem to look at anyone or anything except his shoes. “I’ve seen her around with you. Not that I’ve kept track,” he assures. “Oh, and of course, Gale’s mentioned his cousin.”

Peeta manages to raise his eyes, and he and Katniss simply stare at one another for a moment.

Prim clears her throat. “Soo, it’s nice to see you, Peeta,” she shoots Katniss a little smirk.

“Nice to see you, too, Prim. It’s been a while.”

“It has. You know, I had a feeling you’d become a firefighter, Peeta,” says Prim.

“Really? How?”

“Because of how you handled that Home Ec. fire.”

“Oh, right,” Peeta says, recalling.

“You were great. You stayed completely calm, and you knew exactly what to do. Even the teacher panicked, but no, you got the fire extinguisher and put it right out. You were the school’s hero that day!”

“Aw, I wouldn’t say that,” says Peeta, shuffling his feet and rubbing the back of his neck.

“I would.” Prim turns to Katniss. “He was soo impressive, Katniss.” She nudges her. “He put out the fire, then went right back to the assignment as if nothing happened! Didn’t even phase him. Like, okay, now that that’s done, let’s bake!” Prim giggles, and Peeta chuckles along with her.

“Well, I couldn’t let my cake fall.” They share another laugh, and Katniss can’t help thinking, rather enviously again, how good these two would be together. “Of course, the fire department had to come and check it out, so they had to evacuate us, and I never got to finish my cake.”

“Aww, yeah,” mopes Prim. “But I bet it would have been delicious.”

“Oh, shucks, Prim.” He grins winningly, and they smile at one another. Katniss feels out of place with all this reminiscing, but when he looks over at her and flashes her a smile that’s just so genuinely sweet with the right touch of shyness, unexpected warmth rushes through her.

“What’s up, Blondie?” They all turn at the sound of a loud female voice.

Johanna Mason. Oh great.

“Hey, Jo. Just finishing up with the booth here.” Peeta looks between Katniss, Prim, and Johanna. “This is my colleague Johanna Mason.”

“Your colleague,” Johanna says, mockingly deepening her voice in imitation of Peeta.

Peeta scoffs. “And this is…” He makes to introduce Katniss first, faintly touching her arm in the process (she shivers a little at his touch), but then Johanna cuts in.

“Oh, I know Brainless, here; we were in most of the same classes all through high school.”

Ugh, how mortifying.

Katniss shudders at the memories from high school she’s worked hard to repress. Not like Johanna was awful, or the worst one, but she was tough to take sometimes.

“Brainless?” questions Peeta.

“Just an affectionate nickname I had for her in school.”

“You two were friends?”

“Not really,” they both say in unison.

“Oh. Well, you really shouldn’t call Katniss that, friend or not, Jo. It’s not very nice,” he says.

“Listen to Mr. Boy Scout here. Well, I’m not very nice.”

“Oh, I beg to differ. I’ve seen your soft underbelly.”

“Is that a sexual remark, Mellark? Because you wish.” Peeta chortles. “You’re hot in a…sweet kind of way.”

“Uh…thanks? I guess.”

“Psshh, come off it, Blondie. Don’t get offended. You know I prefer ‘em tall, dark, and brooding…like Brainless’s cousin over there.” Johanna motions toward the booth Gale is standing behind, the public safety one. “Even if he is quiet and a little dull.”

“Gale’s not so bad,” defends Peeta. “And as for Katniss, I think she’s very smart, and clever.” He beams at her, and Katniss gives him a faint smile.

“Mhm,” Johanna eyes Katniss and Peeta up. “And I’ll bet it’s only her mind you’re interested in, right?”

“Jo!” Peeta turns bright red. He looks to Katniss, shaking his head. “Ignore her. She, uh, delights in tormenting me. She’s like the annoying big sister I never had.”

“I know about those!” chimes in Prim, nudging Katniss and snickering.

“Primrose,” Katniss warns.

“Sorry. You know I love you and all, but you can be a little mother hen-ish.”

Katniss rolls her eyes.

“Anyway,” says Peeta with a little laugh, apparently deciding to change the subject before they all end up fighting. “Have you met Katniss’s sister Prim, Jo? She was in my class.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve seen the little Everdeen around. Hi there.” Prim throws up a static wave at Johanna, and Jo presses her lips together in amusement.

Prim turns to Peeta, then, and asks, “So, is there, um, going to be…” She twiddles her fingers, her cheeks pinkening, “a…calendar coming out this year?” “No, not this year,” Peeta tells her. “They did away with it. Decided to go with the fall festival instead.”

“And I still don’t get it!” Johanna shrugs. “What was so wrong with the calendar?”

“I dunno,” replies Peeta. “Guess they wanted to go for a more…wholesome concept.” He tosses Katniss a wink, and she feels her cheeks boiling.

“Wholesome?” Jo snorts. “So, hold some kittens while shirtless,” she snarks.

“We did that before, remember?” He smirks.

“Oh yeah,“ says Jo. Katniss can’t help wondering if one of these calendars is still floating around somewhere. “Well, it’s a damn shame,” the sassy female firefighter further complains. “I had a pose all worked out for my page, too.”

“Oh, I just bet you did!” laughs Peeta.

Prim changes the subject, starting up a conversation with Johanna about…something, but Katniss has largely tuned-out, for several reasons. For one, she’s picturing a shirtless Peeta holding kittens‒and she doesn’t even like cats! And two, she’s noticing how Peeta keeps shooting her little glances. It’s causing a hot, tingling sensation to course through her body.

“Ahem!” Prim clears her throat loudly, and both Katniss and Peeta snap to attention and focus on her.

“What’s that?” mutters Katniss, chancing another quick glance at Peeta.

“Oh, well, I was just saying that I thought I might wander around by myself for a bit, and I thought you might like to walk around with Peeta.”

“What?” Katniss’s lips part in surprise. She thought Prim liked Peeta, so why is she suggesting she go walk around with him?

“That’s a great idea,” exclaims Johanna, turning to Peeta. “Blondie, your booth is being covered right now, so why don’t you go show Brain-Katniss around the fair.”

“Uh, I…” Peeta hems and haws a moment. “Sure, I’d love to. If…if it’s okay with you, Katniss.”

Katniss doesn’t know how to respond; she looks helplessly to Prim, who suddenly says, “Hey, Johanna, why don’t we go see what my cousin Gale is up to!” Johanna readily agrees.

Well, Katniss has already learned that Johanna has a thing for Gale, but why does she suspect she and Prim somehow worked out some kind of plot right under hers and Peeta’s noses? Before she can ponder if further, Prim and Johanna have ditched them.

“Well, guess it’s just you and me,” says Peeta, shyly glimpsing her from beneath his golden eyelashes.

“Guess so,” she mutters, fidgeting with her braid.

“So, uh, will you do me the honor of accompanying me around the festival?”

“Like a date?” she stupidly asks.

Peeta smiles. “If you want it to be.”

Katniss opens and closes her mouth several times, but nothing comes out. Seconds later, his lips part as if he’s about to speak up, but then she manages to blurt out, “Okay.”

“Okay? You’ll allow it?”

She nods. “I’ll allow it.”

Peeta’s smile grows even wider, and he holds out his arm to her. “It’s a date, then.”

Shyly, Katniss links arms with the young, blond firefighter, which she can’t believe she’s doing because she only likes it when her family touches her. However, for some reason, she doesn’t mind touching Peeta, or having him touch her. Actually, she enjoys the feel of his solid bicep beneath her fingers and the warmth of his closeness‒these are feelings she thinks she could easily get used to.

#everlark #everlark fanfiction #autumn #autumn 2021 #jhsgf82 #submission #prompt

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pollyna · 2 years

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00Q masterlist (series)

apparently the other post was starting to be a lil too long or my pc decided to crash idk, i didn't want to loose hours of work so i decied to create another one just for the series. i'm probably going to do the same think with other fic if i should trip on the same problem, but no worries the master post has everything linked in!

Same warning of the master post, with spoilers or other thing i marked in.

The masterlist: here.

Series.

she's an atom bomb by LuckyDiceKirby: 2 works (both rated T), complete, 4,1k. genderswap!00Q? YES SIR. me and the author thirsting a lil on fem!Q and fem!James? Also true.

Five Times Q... by Diminua: 2 works (both not rated), not complete, 4,7k

Five times Q does something + that one time where Bond is around and the world spins in the opposite direction

The Eight Types of Kissing by a_xmasmurder: 9 works (6 G rated, 3 T rated), complete, 6,9k. There are eight kisses described by the Kama Sutra: 1. Nimitaka 2. Sphuritaka 3. Ghaditaka 4. Samachumbana 5. Thiryak 6. Uddrandha 7. Avapeeditha 8. Aakrishta And a bonus: Dhyutham - they kiss a lot and Q is always a lil suprised. didn't know kama sutra had a section about kissing too, so you'll learn something new!

To A New and Shiny Place by Peapods: 3 works (2 rated R, 1 rated M), not completed (the third work has 1/2 chapters), 9,6k.

Mission series! Q around the world with James, for good and bad.

Portraits of Citrus by Fishwrites: 3 works (1 NR and 2 G rated), not complete, 10k Future outtakes from a verse that bjo & I are currently working on and will be posting very soon. For now, please enjoy these domestic and fluff studies! :) - i'm weak for future!fic and their art is marvelous. Prowl by professorfangirl (lizeckhart): 3 works (2 M rated, 1 E) , not complete, 12k. James likes to take what he wants but he always asks before and Q wants to touch and put as much distance as he can between his past and his present (or maybe he needs to get James to understand that). The third work contains: trauma recovery, PTSD, references to rape, childhood trauma. They are discussed but not very graphically.

The Merits of Emotional Education by infinite_wonders: 2 works (both rated T), not completed, 15,3k)

Someone should really teach Bond how to be a normal human begin lol

take me home by poseidon: 2 works (both not rated), not complete, 16,4k.

life isnt fair and, sometimes, falling in love means coming home before actually begin at home. And, sometimes, things need to be slow for everyone's sake.

(side bill/M that will shatter your heart.)

runaway by harlequindreaming (wordstruck): 2 works (both M rated), complete, 21,3k. The quartermaster shows up to Bond's mission, and Bond knows the stakes have been raised. And after things go to hell, comes the storm. - rouge!Q and rouge!Bond. First one i read of this kind and i loved it. Q avenges them both and doesn't stop until he doesn't avenge every single wrong thing MI6 did to James. Complicity by freakylemurcat: 4 works (3 rated E, 1 rated M), complete, 35,4k. little plot, but it's there, mostly porn and all about Q's cardigan. the author wrote they should have called the series "cardigan chronicles" and they're not wrong lol but it's funny and Q has a beard at a point! Everyone else is there too. Heart = Target by QueenMegaera: 3 works (2 M rated, 1 T rated), not complete, 37,6k. It starts almost as a game: some mutual flirting, just for fun. But how can you tell when it's getting out of hand? And when is it too late to stop the ball rolling? - mostly pre-slash but verrrry good. Q knows how to endle himself! Yours, J by swtalmnd: 4 works (2 E rated, 2 G rated), complete, 43,1k. Bond sends letters. Q is vexed. Q-branch starts a betting pool. There are an appalling amount of sweets. Also, 002 is a bit of an arse. - the first fic is the principal one, the other three are little coda ficlet. James writes (loves) letters to Q because he's that old okay Quartermaster! and everyone in the Q-branch wait to know who'll win the betting pool. Sweet, fluff and slow burn kinda of fic.

Project monster by swtalmnd: 7 works (3 E rated, 3 G rated, 1 T rated), not complete, 52,1 k.

What if there really were monsters in the shadows? What if James Bond was one of them?

I would have liked a little more about monsters but honestly is pretty great in this way! and yes Q wins the round of the mosterfuck in this one lol Colin is a sweetheart and Andy is absolutly the best monster pet ever lived

Work and Play by Beginte: 18 works (15 rated T, 3 rated E), not complete, 60,7k. A collection of interconnected but non-chronological 00Q stories, all set in the same 'verse. Mostly a wildly self-indulgent outlet for my very many headcanons. - hands down the best Q's characterization i have read so far. I love this series so so much, it has everything and more. There isn't a fic i like more than another. just a small bound of 18 fic of joy. Traceability by Milaryn : 6 works (5 rated T, 1 rated M), complete, 73,2k. Traceability: the ability to chronologically interrelate uniquely identifiable entities in a way that is verifiable Trace: (v) to find or discover by investigation; (n) a mark, object or other indication of the existence or passing of something -- [ a post-Skyfall James Bond and Q-centric series ] In which James Bond continues his work as a Double-O agent with a new reckless streak and Q is ever the voice in his earpiece, the supplier of his equipment and an anchor back to MI6. This is a series of interconnected stories on the development of Bond and Q's relationship - as individuals and professionals who take note of and fixate on each other after the Silva incident, who grow close to each other in increments

until they eventually become a very important feature in each other's lives. Duty - and soon after, trust - is what binds them. Love, possibly, comes after. - did i read 73k of pre-slash and it was perfect, beautiful and made me cry somewhere between the 50 and the 60k? yes i did. and so you should.

#james bond #Q #james bond x q #00Q #otp: a big bloody ship #otp: just one thing i need #ff (series) masterlist #skyfall #SPECTRE #au #from 1k to 100k (for now)#all major warning are marked in my comment section #on going adding #if a link doesn't work please tell me so i can fix it

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