gotham-ruaidh

[gotham-ruaidh]

the playground - new from the Modern Glasgow AU

Modern Glasgow AU: Chronological order || Publication Order [AO3]

(set about 9 years after Jamie and Claire’s wedding)

--

“But Mama – ”

Claire set the knit cap – a gift from Murtagh and Tante Suzette last Christmas – a bit more snugly around four-year-old William Fraser’s ears. “No buts. It’s cold today. You don’t want to get sick again like a few months back, do you?”

William sighed theatrically. “No. That wasnae fun at all.”

Claire patted her son’s shoulders. “Go have fun with your sisters. I’ll be right here.”

She watched William dart across the playground to the slide, where five-year-old Brianna and six-year-old Faith were already patiently waiting for their turn. Brianna waved, and Claire, smiling, waved back.

It was a bright but uncharacteristically cold day for early April – even in Glasgow, where like most of Scotland the weather could drastically shift in an instant. But it was the first full day of the half term school holiday – and Claire had worked very hard to rearrange her shifts at the hospital so that she, too, had a holiday this week. It felt odd to be at the park at nine o’clock on a Monday morning – but in a good way.

Her mobile phone buzzed – and glancing down, she smiled. A selfie of Jamie with fourteen-year-old Fergus, grinning in front of a long row of printing machines. Fergus could barely sleep the night before, so excited to accompany Jamie on a routine visit to the publishing house’s printing facilities. Not only would they check the progress of printing the second edition of the spy thriller that had become quite a runaway bestseller – thrilling nobody more than the author, their dear friend, Jamie’s client Ned Gowan – but they would meet the man himself at the facility. Having finally been deemed old enough to read one of Ned’s books – which he had inhaled cover to cover in the span of two days – it was no wonder that Fergus could barely contain himself. A good start to his half term, indeed.

Have fun! Love you she tapped in reply. Smile widening as Jamie sent back a string of heart emojis.

 She tucked the phone in her purse and picked up her coffee, which had finally cooled enough to sip.

Brianna had already made her way down the slide, and moved on to the swings – not bothering to wait for her brother and sister.

“And good morning to you!”

Claire turned and waved to the other side of the bench. “Hello! So happy you could drop by on your way in.”

Dr. Geillis Duncan stooped for a quick hug and plopped down beside Claire. “At least no scheduled surgeries today – though I’m on call for the A&E. Who knows what kind of disasters people may get into when they’re out of school this week.”

Claire smiled into her coffee. “Nothing you can’t handle.”

Geillis adjusted her sunglasses. “Let’s see – I count one, two, three wee Frasers. Did they have you up at the crack of dawn?”

“They did.”

“Probably not the way you wanted to start your week off.”

“Honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Geillis looked over at her friend. “But you’re on holiday. Time to relax.”

“I want to spend every moment I can with them, Geillis. Especially when they’re still so small. I try to do the same with Fergus, but he’s a lot more self-sufficient. Which is wonderful, but…well. It’s not the same.”

Now Faith was at the bottom of the slide, waiting for William at the top. Knit cap already loose atop his wild hair.

“There was a period where Jamie and I thought we wouldn’t be able to have a family of our own,” Claire continued, softly. “So now that we have them…”

“And your parents died when you were so wee. I get it.”

Claire sighed. “I need to spend more time with them, Geillie. I love my job. I love the hospital, I love doing surgeries. I love helping my patients.”

“But…”

“But I love my family more. My children, and my husband, and the life we’ve worked so, so hard to build together.”

Geillis fished around in her massive handbag. “So, are you thinking of cutting back a bit?”

“I am. I can’t keep this pace. It’s not fair to Jamie when I’m asking him to step in so much, he’s got his own demanding career. And Murtagh and Suzette are so wonderful to us, and William and Bree will be in full-time school soon, but still.” She pursed her lips.

Geillis produced a packet of tissues, and handed one over to Claire.

“I’ll support you in whatever you decide to do, Claire. Everybody at the hospital knows how much you love your family. And it certainly helps that your kids are all cute as buttons. Not to mention that husband of yours…”

Claire blew her nose, from the cold and from emotion. “Don’t you start on that again. I told you before, I won’t answer any of your questions about our private life.”

Geillis shook her head, smiling. “Three bairns in three years…you and the lad were certainly busy. Is it really true that you met on an aeroplane, took one look at each other, and that was that?”

William made it to the bottom of the slide, and hugged Faith, and together they walked to the monkey bars. Claire smiled, thumb touching her wedding ring. Tasting Jamie’s kiss that morning, slow in the predawn quiet of their bed, his hand wrapped around her bare hip.

She blinked. “I got off the plane with him that night, moved in, and we married a month later. The boarding passes are framed on the wall of our bedroom.”

Geillis sighed. “And I consider myself lucky if a man will look twice at me in the pub.”

“What happened to Greg?”

“Haven’t texted Mr. Edgars in a while. Not since he said I was too wild for him.”

“Call him. Have a nice quiet evening. You’d be surprised.”

Brianna shrieked – and Claire’s heart leapt. But all was well, Bree had made it to the top of the monkey bars and was waving madly.

Claire waved back, heart still stuttering. “That one will keep me on my toes.”

“Probably no different than her da at that age.”

That caused a smile. “So Murtagh tells me. And loves reminding Jamie, too.”

Geillis shouldered her bag. “Right. I’m off then. See you in a few days.”

Claire rose for a quick hug. “Thanks for coming by. It’ll work out with you and Greg.”

Geillis smiled. “And it’ll work out wi’ you and the hospital. Whatever you need, I’ll help you.”

“Thanks. Hopefully it’s not too mad today.”

And at that moment, Geillis’ phone buzzed. She glanced down at the screen.

“Famous last words. Hug all the bairns for me, will you?”

Claire nodded, and Geillis turned down the street, phone at her shoulder, already taking the accident details from the A&E physician.

Her own phone buzzed – another selfie, this time of Jamie with Fergus and Ned.

Knowing that, with a life and heart so full of love, anything truly was possible.

[gotham-ruaidh]

“Jamie felt such a rush of fury that he would have gone after the man and dragged him back, could he have left Claire’s side. He’d left—just left her, the bastard! Alone, helpless! “May the devil eat your soul and salt it well first, you whore!” he shouted in Gàidhlig after the vanished surgeon. Overcome by fright and the sheer rage of helplessness, he dropped to his knees beside his wife and pounded a fist blindly on the ground. “Did you just … call him a … whore?” The whispered words made him open his eyes. “Sassenach!””

— Jamie and Claire, Written In My Own Heart’s Blood

[gotham-ruaidh]

"It's amazing that they're able to make a comprehensible (and usually very good) show, using no more than 20 percent of the book version of the story." - Diana Gabaldon

Well, Diana, sweetie...it's not that amazing, when you think about it...

[gotham-ruaidh]

John comes to visit Claire and honestly you guys he looks so dashing esp with that eyepatch.

well done sir, pirate life suits you.

[gotham-ruaidh]

I so love how one of the strongest themes in 7x16 "A Hundred Thousand Angels" is the love that parents have for their children.

Brian meets his granddaughter, Brianna. And speaks of his love for his wife, Ellen.

Jamie and Claire spoke about Faith, and Brianna.

Brianna - with Jem and Mandy - found Roger. And Buck, their ancestor.

William goes to both of his fathers - Jamie, and Lord John - for help.

Of course we learn from Frances about the love that her mother held for her and Jane.

Ian and Rachel discover they are to be parents.

At its core, of course Outlander is about the love that Jamie and Claire have for each other.

But by this stage of their story - it's also about the bonds of love they have for their extended family. For the family that has come to be, because of their love for each other.

[gotham-ruaidh]

In 7x16, Brian meets Brianna.

I so love this exchange.

Especially how Brianna brings up how much she can tell that Brian loved his late wife...and how it resonates with her because of how much her parents love each other.

Jamie loves Claire in the way that Brian loved Ellen.

Excuse me while I weep.

[gotham-ruaidh]

Jamie + William go on a commando raid to save Jane i love this

Jamie covering his face...

Dude cover your hair you're so obvious

[gotham-ruaidh]

Let's please all acknowledge that Lord John is so much better at being the "other husband" than Frank Randall ever was

He refers to her as Mistress Fraser. Out of respect for her, and for Jamie.

Something that Frank never did, could never do, would never do.

[gotham-ruaidh]

dO YOU THINK THAT WHEN I DIE THAT I'LL SEE HER? OH MY GOD MATT ROBERTS AND TONI GRAPHIA WHY DID YOU GO WHERE DIANA NEVER DARED TO?!?? I LOVE THIS SO DAMN MUCH

AND JAMIE COMFORTS CLAIRE BY TALKING ABOUT MURTAGH I'M SORRY GUYS I'M DEAD AND GONE

[gotham-ruaidh]

have you been here all night?

where else would i be?

oh melt my heart, jamie fraser

[gotham-ruaidh]

this passage is one of my favorite Jamie and Claire conversations in all of the books. more than anything else it shows how much they love and understand each other. how thrilling to see this so wonderfully adapted in 7x16 "A Hundred Thousand Angels"!

“Sassenach? Are ye all right?” A segment of the darkness on the floor moved suddenly and resolved itself into a Jamie-shaped shadow.

“Yes. Are you?”

That got me the breath of a laugh.

“I’ll do, Sassenach,” he said softly, and I heard the rustle of his movement as he got his feet under him. “I’m glad ye feel well enough to ask. D’ye need water?”

“Er . . . rather the opposite, really,” I said.

“Oh? Oh.” He stooped, a pale blur in his shirt, to reach under the bed. “D’ye need help?”

“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have waked you up,” I said, a little testily. “I didn’t think I could wait for Mrs. Macken or Dottie, though.” He snorted a little and got me under the arms, lifting me into a sitting position.

“Now, then,” he murmured. “It’s no like ye’ve not done this—and a good many worse things—for me.”

While this was true, it didn’t make matters easier.

“You can let go now,” I said.

“Perhaps leave the room?”

“Perhaps not,” he said, still mildly, but with a tone indicating that his mind was made up on the subject. “If I let go, ye’ll fall on your face, and ye ken that perfectly well, so stop talkin’ and be about your business now, aye?”

It took some time—anything that put pressure on my abdomen, including the act of urinating, hurt remarkably—but the business was accomplished and I was eased back down onto the pillow, gasping. Jamie bent and picked up the chamber pot, clearly intending to hurl the contents out the window in customary Edinburgh fashion.

“No, wait!” I said. “Keep that ’til morning.”

He paused.

“What for?” he asked cautiously. Clearly he suspected I might still be unhinged from fever and be contemplating some grossly irrational use of the pot’s contents, but he didn’t like to say so, in case I had something logical, if bizarre, in mind. I would have laughed, but it hurt too much.

“I need to check, once there’s light, to be sure there’s no blood,” I said. “My right kidney’s very sore; I want to be sure there’s no damage.”

“Ah.” He set the utensil down carefully and, to my surprise, opened the door and glided out, moving soft-footed as a hunting fox. I heard one squeak as he stepped on a stair tread, but nothing more until a glow betokened his return with a candlestick.

“Have a look, then,” he said, picking up the pot again and bringing it to me. “I kent ye’d just fret about it did ye have to wait for daybreak.”

He sounded resigned, but this small thoughtfulness brought me close to tears. He heard the catch in my breathing and leaned close, alarmed, bringing the light up to my face.

“Are ye all right, Sassenach? Is it bad, then?”

“No,” I said, and wiped my eyes hastily on a corner of the sheet. “No—it—it’s fine. I just —oh, Jamie, I love you!”

-- Written In My Own Heart's Blood

[gotham-ruaidh]

In 7x16 William goes to both of his fathers, asking them to help in the best way they can.

He goes to Lord John for some diplomacy.

When that doesn't work, he goes to Jamie Fraser for a commando raid.

That he is asking them to help a whore who killed a man, does not matter. For both of William's fathers love him dearly.

Though, to quote his sister in "Go Tell The Bees That I Am Gone":

“Poor William. He’s such a good guy, but my God! How does anyone that young manage to have such a complicated life?"

[gotham-ruaidh]

how wonderful it was to see this scene in 7x16 "A Hundred Thousand Angels", with dialogue straight from the page!

“I’ve . . . decided . . . not to die,” she said, in a voice little more than a whisper.

“Oh. Good.” He was afraid to touch her, for fear of hurting her, but couldn’t bear not to.

He laid a hand as lightly as he could over hers, finding it cool in spite of the heat trapped in the small attic.

“I could, you know.” She closed one eye and looked accusingly at him with the other. “I want to; this is . . . bloody horrible.”

“I know,” he whispered, and brought her hand to his lips. Her bones were frail, and she hadn’t the strength to squeeze his hand; her fingers lay limp in his.

She closed her eyes and breathed audibly for a little.

“Do you know why?” she said suddenly, opening her eyes.

“No.” He’d thought of making some jesting remark about her needing to write down her receipt for making ether, but her tone was dead serious, and he didn’t.

“Because,” she said, and stopped with a small grimace that squeezed his heart.

“Because,” she said through clenched teeth, “I know what it felt . . . like when I . . . thought you were dead, and—” A small gasp for breath, and her eyes locked on his. “And I wouldn’t do that to you.”

-- Written In My Own Heart's Blood

[gotham-ruaidh]

hahaha John calls Claire "my dear" and Jamie gets all snippy about it lulz Claire brings all the milkshakes to the yard

[gotham-ruaidh]

Eight pints. That’s how much blood she said a human body had. It must vary some, though; clearly a man his size had more than a woman of hers...

He wished he might give her some of his blood; he had plenty. She’d said it was possible, but not in this time. Something to do with things in the blood that mightn’t match.

-- Written In My Own Heart's Blood

-----

Eight pints. That's how much you told me the body has.

Wish I could give you some of mine - I've plenty. You said it was possible...not in this time. Something to do with things in the blood might not match.

Surely our blood would flow one into the other. My blood kens yours like its own.

Blood of my blood, Sassenach. That's what we said. And it is the truth.

-- Jamie to Claire, 7x16 "A Hundred Thousand Angels"

-----

I adore how Matt B. Roberts and Toni Graphia adapted this scene, where Jamie sits beside Claire's bedside, watching her sleep. Praying. Talking to her so gently.

They so beautifully transposed Jamie's inner thoughts into words he quietly says to Claire.

And then they added to - elevated - the source material. About how Jamie knows, believes, that his and Claire's blood would freely flow into each other. His would sustain hers.

This is the essence of Jamie. And his love for Claire.

[gotham-ruaidh]

So when the 07x16 title card came up - we saw the mom and daughters in a meadow - I did wonder if it was Claire, in some kind of dream state while she heals, picturing Faith, Brianna, and William.

I wasn't too far off!

[gotham-ruaidh]

OK EVERYONE

OUTLANDER IS MAKING CANON THE FAITH LIVES THEORY THAT HAS BEEN KICKING AROUND THE INTERNET FOR 20+ YEARS

AND I AM

SO

HERE

FOR

IT