Blissful Escapism

Guys, this is really important. Until now, Google collected your data, but did not attach your name to it. Now, they can, and will. This new thing they’re doing will allow them to collect your data across searches, your email, Youtube, Maps, Google+, and all their affiliates, and build a complete profile of YOU.

If that doesn’t bother you, maybe this will: they own and can sell all that data, including anything you create and send (artists and writers, take note).

There is a way you can opt out of this ridiculousness. It’s described in the link, but if you’re still not sure about it, please ask me and I’ll guide you through how to turn all this off.

Yes, his hair is perfect. And the whole open shirt collar business works really well. But part of why this scene makes him seem so beautiful is the lighting. 

This show is notoriously sketchy with lighting with the excuse that natural and candle light just isn’t very bright and they want to make it seem true to the time. 

Except that doesn’t fly with me because our eyes capture light quite differently than cameras do. We can perceive a great deal more in near darkness than a camera can approximate. But here, in this scene, they’ve got a nice, soft light hitting his face from below so we can see his eyes (extremely important how he uses his eyes in these early scenes) and the light from above on his hair. It’s not realistic lighting at all and it works beautifully.

It’s been exactly a year ago today that several of us had the good fortune to meet up in Seattle for ECCC.  I will go to my grave being grateful for the opportunity to get to know so many of you.  It means a lot to have community in one’s life and I never truly realized how much until I became part of this one.  I think most of us bonded over the fact that we still aren’t sure what the hell we’re doing fanning over a couple of actors that we’ve (at best) met a few times and for whom we’re nothing but a nameless, faceless group of women.  We bonded over our disbelief at how poorly ECCC was organized… how fucking hot it was in that hotel ballroom as we were inexpertly shuffled from one line to the next for hours… and how disappointed we were that we had to spend all damn day in line for the expensive photos and autographs we purchased and didn’t get a chance to also peek at Jason Momoa in the flesh when he was just down the hall.  (But maybe my memories are colored by the fact that I was dying of bubonic plague and higher than a kite on Robitussin while spending 10 hours schlepping the duplicate DollFrasers from @outlanderedandoverhere in a little trunk until I could deliver it to Cait – or the fact that I think I swooned from how great Sam smells.  Not that @chrismosstree would know… ;-)  )

Our “Shipper Fiesta” was the highlight, though.  Many thanks to @ourrubygirl for organizing the event and successfully wrangling so many giddy women through a restaurant order.  Thanks to whomever it was who identified Sam standing at the window in the hotel opposite the restaurant and insisted we call/wave/whatever AND GOT HIM TO WAVE BACK.  Thanks to whichever of you decided we needed to have a photo to mark the occasion, and to develop a contact list so we could stay in touch.

But maybe best of all was falling down (half drunk) laughing on a Seattle sidewalk after hearing @chrismosstree say the funniest/dirtiest thing I think I’ve ever heard, or listening in rapt horror as @houseofjoy1766 recounted a terrifying episode of Little House on the Prairie that none of us believed was real until we could get to a wifi hotspot and check YouTube.  (Sidebar:  Holy shit did that show jump the shark.)

So… happy ECCC-versary to all of the above, plus: @supertam87, @major-side-eye, @sileas84, @c2bend, @ninaf, @buffaleen, @pentwhistle, @mommydog, @grateful123, @rainmanjdog, @glasshalfull, and anyone else who I’ve forgotten and/or who tumblr won’t let me tag properly.

Sam and Cait call each other partner in crime. It just dawned on me how fitting it is.

I’d been travelling during new year’s but following proceedings. I haven’t commented at all as I was gathering my thoughts. I was coming to terms with this engagement before GG and wrote a piece which I planned to post after the confirmation. It was meant to be a fair criticism of Cait (and Sam indirectly) and now that I re-read it, it was more or less that. But my feelings have changed. The confirmation, how it was done and what followed have added resentment to my feelings but also understanding of the ordeal.

Maybe I’m going through the anger phase which is clouding my judgment. I don’t know. However, I’m gonna put it down anyway for my own catharsis.

I don’t think there should be any argument now about how Sam and Cait’s words don’t match their actions. It’s this mystery, push and pull that got shippers in so deep. This is a community of intelligent people, and intelligent people ask questions and seek answers. Maybe shippers are too smart for their own good.

So here’s how I’m making sense of this whole fuckery. There’s no way it can be pretty but it’s uglier than I’d thought it would be. It doesn’t explain everything. But I’m going with it anyway.

Sam and Cait have amazing on and off screen chemistry. They are good friends. They hit it right off. Those are canons. Starz, Sony and they themselves realised they had struck gold. So they’re using that chemistry to sell the show and increase their own popularity, to great effect.

They flirted up a storm in person and on SM, fooling everyone including fans and media, and maybe even a part of themselves, in 2014-2015. It was the heyday, the honeymoon, until shippers, a wave of shippers emerged and became a powerful voice in the fandom.

Things got so out of hand to the point that a serious denial was needed. They had personal lives to live and SamCait as a couple had eclipsed the show. Hence the IFH. However, a complete distancing wouldn’t do. The show and their own Q scores or what not depended on SM buzz especially during Droughtlander. 

What to do? All three parties–the show, Sam and Cait– needed the flirty banter but not the speculation that comes with it. Enter Skipper as distraction. And once Shitner and sidekick got wind of the situation they were all too eager to help. They probably didn’t realise their ulterior motives and Nazi methods at the time. But well.

I don’t know about Sam but Cait obviously does have an SO all along. Thanks to the queen anti troll, details about Tony McGill emerged quickly. Thanks to the fakeness of Skipper, shippers considered him pretty much the same thing. Until now.

Cait has to get married eventually. She probably hates that Aussie gossip to the bone as the woman must have ruined her plans on how she was going to do this reveal. Maybe she didn’t plan to do it during GG at all. It’s not important now.

The problem is, actions have consequences. The name McGill was first leaked by his friend, an ex-reporter in Dec 2014. That means Cait must’ve started dating him before. This timeline puts her behaviour with Sam in 2014-2015 highly questionable. I wasn’t in the fandom but I know SDCC 2015 to be a milestone in shipper history. I fully believe the shipper who saw Sam and Cait kissing near the escalator. How they were with each other at panels and interviews were seen not just by fans but also media and industry people. That’s why now Cait has to fudge her dating timeline to 2 years.

Fudging it won’t work for fans who have followed closely. But it doesn’t matter as the media would buy it. At least even KDS bought it. It also gives them the option to say Sam and Cait were together in 2015 but broke up, if push comes to shove.

It’s Murder on the Orient Express. Everyone had a hand. Even shippers. As I mentioned before, shippers are probably too smart for their own good. Oddities were quickly pointed out and analysed. I remember clearly how the concept of Q scores were explained by those in the industry and it applied nicely to how every time shit hit the fan, cute selfies and banters followed. However, what we have failed to do is to see the motives clearly without the romantic filter. We thought they were rebellions on the part of Sam and Cait. Turns out it was damage control, and damage control only.

Now that Tony and Cait are People official, Sam and Cait are free to banter and flirt to their hearts’ content. And we have seen the beginning of it already. They may be more careful with their words, but they will keep going.

Cait harping on #bestfans contributed to my conclusion here. She knows she’s losing fans somewhere and overcompensating. And I can even explain the cold behaviour between Tony and her at events this way: They avoid showing PDA because while his presence is needed, they don’t want loved up visuals of him and Cait in mainstream media. They don’t want the image of real life Frank blasted to the international audience on TV at Golden Globes. Being the meek and obedient type, he played it cool but he’s no actor and ended up looking like he was afraid of even looking at his fiancé. Cait was sheepish about her ring (and even chose to downplay it with a bigger bling on the other hand), and mortified by a potential engagement question because of all the baggage, not privacy which is sounding funnier by the minute.

What I’ve described here does not preclude some sort of romantic involvement between Sam and Cait at some point. Human beings are weak and fluid, and they have shown that they’re very capable of making bad decisions just like everyone else. I don’t think they’re bad people. I think if I ever meet them I’d probably find them nice and normal, but they’re also in a cutthroat industry where they’re trying desperately to succeed after years of struggling. Unfortunately, shippers, the exact group of fans who have been such a big part of their success, are now collateral damage.

As an aside, I think my perception of her engagement ring sums up my own fantasied idea of her. I was really surprised that it was so conventional. For someone who have donned the most exquisite designer gear for years, I’d thought she’d at least go to a boutique jeweller to have it custom made. Or vintage from an auction. Or do away with a diamond completely. This is just like her choice of man. Of course she’s free to choose. I’ve no business with it. I chose to see her through rose coloured glasses so I admit my own hand in this. 

I’m part of the Murder on the Orient Express. However, it does not excuse their own behaviour one bit. Like me, they have to take responsibility but I won’t be seeing it.

Regarding Caitriona and Tony I want to say two things though.

1. Tony might be guilty because he’s a participant of this whole mess, but he hasn’t done anything particularly wrong or insulted any fans either directly or indirectly. But here in Tumblr he is being belittled by many people so that they can vent their frustration. That’s a shame too. And that is also a hand.

Actually to me the elephant in the room is what the real deal is between Sam and Cait. Anyone with eyes can see their magic, fans and those around them included. Maybe they don’t see it that way or afraid to see it that way, but It’s because of this magic that we have gotten so invested and rooted for them so hard. Actually talking about their connection is the saddest part for me seeing how things have come to.

Talking about elephants, in Chinese there’s a saying “the blinds touch the elephant”. Some touch the trunk, others the tusk, the ear or the tail. Everyone ends up having a very different idea of what an elephant looks like. It’s like this situation here. Everyone sees a part of the story but no one has the whole picture. 

Also agree Sam and Caitriona are magic together no one can say otherwise. But for some reason she didn’t go down that road she choose Tony. She knows both men very well she must have her reasons. I have to believe she knows what’s best for herself. For what it’s worth I think the Caitriona/Tony relationship will always be under pressure while she is working with Sam on Outlander.

You are TRASH: Jamieclaire_fraser on IG

If you are not capable of writing, just post photos. Loser.

Fraser Family

Today marks one year since I was lucky enough to get to join @imagineclaireandjamie as a mod.

To celebrate (and because, for some reason I haven’t done so already) I’m creating this master post of all my Imagine fics (and I’m planning to update this list regularly, might only be once a month or so but, we’ll see).

Multi-installment fics/AUs

Collision Course (brewing a sequel fic): Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight, Part Nine, Part Ten, Epilogue

Fergus Through the Stones a.k.a. The Tagalong (in progress): Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight, Part Nine

Homecoming: Part One, Part Two, Part Three

Love in Other Words (complete but brewing some appendices): Part One, Part Two

Mac Ruaidh (in progress): Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight A & B

Murtagh on the Ridge AU (in progress): *listed in chronological order

Claire’s return; first Christmas after Claire’s return; Bree’s arrival; Jem’s birth; a skunk on the ridge

Photographs (in progress): Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five

Truth and Love (complete): Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four

A Visit to Virginia (complete; CLOSED): Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six

Wounded Pride (complete): Part One, Part Two; Appendix 1

One Shots:

The Beardsley Baby

Built for a Family

Can’t Do It for Her

A Chance Encounter

A Chance Meeting with Mistress Duncan

Coming Clean

A Dangerous Truth

Deliverance

An Evening with the Doctor (part of Mod Gotham’s Modern Glasgow AU)

His Brown-Haired Lass

Jamie’s Errand

Just a Dream

Kilt Alternative

A Living Token

The Messenger

One for Each Spoon

The Other Shoe

A Painting and a Necklace

Print Shop Reunions

Rounds

The Shifting Truth

To Sway a Heart

The Trollop and a Damned Fool

Visiting Culloden

And I’m sure that a lot of people will jump in the “but he’s so busy and he needs a break” train. No. He’s busy living his dream and making a shit ton of money from it. He’s busy with a steady TV job and making a feature. He’s busy globe trotting and using his girlfriend as a geo tag. He’s busy asking people to buy and join and watch and support. A lot of people work a lot harder than Sam Heughan and don’t make near the money he does, not get any of the perks. There is not one iota of me that feels sorry for him.

Sorry, but this situation is shady AF on Sam’s part and if you think it’s not you’re kidding yourself.

And yes, she can see herself there. But the church is in Scotland. She wishes that it was in Ireland, but no… it’s Scotland. Where they truly, truly met. 

Where they stared at Lochs and instagrammed pics and ate cupcakes and walked up hills and played lovers and touched standing stones and drank wine in smoky pubs and fell in love.

This is spurred by recent comments and the fact that I’ve seen like 100 gifsets of Jamie making out with Mary, but literally none of Claire having what is essentially emotionless sex with Frank. Frank, who is her first husband. Frank, who she has had sex with before. Frank, who Jamie sent her and their unborn child back to so they could live in safety. I get the dislike for Frank and I share it—I created Icy Road gifs, remember? I hate that Clare is stuck in the 1900s with him and I can’t wait for him to kick the bucket. I’m buying champagne for Sunday. It was perfectly OK for Jamie to take whatever he needed in a sexual encounter with Mary. I just know people will bend over backwards to justify Geneva, because Jamie can do no wrong. Anyways, I honestly want to know why the general opinion seems to be that it’s not OK for Claire to do the same with Frank, or why it’s especially not OK if she’s just trying to be in the moment and not necessarily thinking of Jamie throughout, as Caitriona mentioned in the Elle interview. To be honest, I don’t really care what she was thinking about. I personally think she couldn’t stop thinking about Jamie even though she tried really hard to, but who cares? She could be thinking about Jamie, kittens, the bird she stared at in 3x01, where she could get the best deal on twin beds, or Colum’s ass from 1x03. We know she was longing for Jamie, the scene where she masturbates proves that. So does the bagpipes scene, which really broke my heart. Caitriona nailed every step of Claire’s progression in 3x02.

There just seems to be a double standard here. We saw a woman own her sexuality and take whatever pleasure she needed—that same desire for human connection that Jamie longs for. And sorry not sorry, but the first sex scene was hot and that was all because of the realism Caitriona adds to those scenes. I didn’t really even notice who was under her. I always find it interesting that the show is praised for how it depicts Claire’s sexuality, yet fans almost want to shame her whenever she owns it. 

Claire was desperately trying to make her situation of incredible loneliness and ultimate futility work in 3x02. Claire’s journey may not be filled with physical strife like Jamie’s, but it’s just as agonizing and heartbreaking. She’s a shadow of herself as well. Through Bree, she lives with a daily physical reminder of her dead husband and everything she left behind. Claire is also in a prison, it’s just, as the producers said, “one that’s well-decorated.” Jamie is not the only one who has made sacrifices here. Claire has made some as well. She’s fulfilling the promise she made to Jamie. We know from 2x13 that the secrets Claire is harboring prevent her from having a close relationship with her daughter. To me, that is incredibly sad. That’s a sacrifice. Yet it’s rarely acknowledged and she rarely gets credit for it. Instead people describe her as cold and unlikeable—whether she’s with Jamie or not. Claire’s existence is not merely to tell Jamie’s story.