#also featuring: brian fraser

[sgiandubh]

Hola, hola! Pregunta de novata asombrada: De veras se casó con ese señor? Habláis de certificado de matrimonio que alguien se molestó en buscar? OMG...

Dear Novata Asombrada Anon,

En cuanto a todos mis anónimos hispanos, espero que no te importe que te contestaré en inglés, como muestra de cortesía hacia la gran mayoría de mis lectores. Gracias y aquí vamos con la traducción de tu pregunta. Y, para que no se me olvide, ¡bienvenida!

Hello, hello! Question from a shocked newbie: Did she really marry that man? Are you talking about a marriage certificate that someone bothered to look for? OMG…

Good morning and thank you for asking - you are not the only one today, it would seem. This question is making the rounds again (why?) and let's call this a (fortunate?) coincidence. The Marriage Certificate (MC) was the equivalent of the Great Christian Schism between Rome and Byzantium, in this fandom, mind you. Depending on your own take on the S&C Saga, it has been dreaded, expected, announced with great confidence and actively researched by fans, who simply took advantage of a very relaxed and transparent UK legislation, allowing for basically everyone to order a certified copy by email or snail mail, for a small fee.

The first fan aggressively trumpeting it online was (correct me if I am wrong) an ex-shipper who now goes by the handle of @brian-in-finance, also known as BIF, also known as Kidneystone. In her pedantic and arrogant little voice, she made a point of honor in dissecting absolutely every single detail of that dutifully certified piece of paper issued by the British General Register Office (GRO). A second, short-lived account, @hurleyburly, ordered the same paper and posted it on Tumblr, this time pudically hiding some details under a makeshift post-it. The usual fandom fortunetellers thought the handwriting on that 'post-it' was eerily similar to S's own, but we'll leave it at this. Although, I have to immediately add, I would not discount this possibility. A third prominent shipper account, @boyneriver-fraser, ordered it and made pathetic public amends over her previous shipping stance. Some others imitated them and received the exact same paper, followed by a seemingly endless trail of wrath, confusion and wailings.

People were understandably shocked, hurt and in definite anger over this. Many disembarked the ship, considering they had been either blind/idiot or cynically fooled by our Dynamic Duo, eager to sell the show. Speculation went rife. Some even tried to go the extra mile and believe they found out even more inconsistencies. I shall not speak on their behalf, simply because I was not here at the time and had no idea These Two will become such an (often invading) point of interest in my own life.

But irrespective of any inconsistencies, this paper legally exists. As such, it has legal effects that cannot and should not be discounted. I have always maintained it, as a professional. Likewise, I have consistently explained the Ibiza episode might be anything you could think of, from a romantic (?) picnic on a parking lot with a bird featuring a strange toupee (as per C's tweeted chirp), to a non legally binding handfasting ceremony (remember, LOL, 'some things are just for' Them). I have explained very early after my arrival why I do not think a Spanish marriage was in the cards. This is my final word about that #CarparkIbiza fanfic:

[Link: https://www.tumblr.com/sgiandubh/723029524897529856/i-have-asked-a-few-very-popular-bloggers-this?source=share - July 16, 2023]

More clearly put, national Spanish legislation requires the two foreign citizens to be residents in Spain, if they want to get married there. British consulates do not perform marriage ceremonies, either. And cross-border marriage rules in Europe, at the time applicable to a not yet Brexited UK, would have mandatorily required a transcription of the marriage papers in Britain. This is not the USA, where you can just go to Vegas, have your knot tied by an Elvis lookalike and divorce the next (hungover) morning. Or go to Tijuana and do what Sophia Loren and Carlo Ponti did in 1957, to great (bigamous) scandal. Rules are different. Rules exist, as stupid and cold as they might look. And one more time - they have tangible consequences.

At this point in time, you might logically ask yourself why I am still here. Is it because of the feeling of power and self-importance, as some nasty Anons remind me every single day? Is it because of the formidable people I have met in here? Yes, it is also because of them, but not only because of them, of course. And as far as any feeling of power and self-importance go, let's just say it's ridiculous to think so.

The reason I am still here is both simple and complicated to understand: a paper, even certified, does not a marriage make. Mark me, Anon: there is nothing (I repeat: nothing) normal about this one. There are secrets and lies and inconsistencies and gaslighting galore. The shippers know it. The Antis/Mordor know it. The Fencers know it. And every single one of these broad factions apparently has ample supplies of popcorn. And, as far as we go, champagne bottles stashed, plus a firm decision to have a Global Lollapalooza on the Internet the day this awkward situation would come to an end.

I have tried to answer your very legitimate question the best I could. I do not believe in sugarcoating or hiding anything. What I do believe in, is the power of critical thinking and the ability to coldly analyze facts, even if they do not encourage fantasy. You would be surprised of the things that do not click, in that official Narrative. Important things, not speculation. My blog primarily deals in this kind of stuff: things that do not click and paint a very different story than the one officially being peddled around.

And now, dear Shocked Newbie Anon, you are free to disembark, if you think I am still lying to you (what for, may I ask? just to receive every single day violent garbage into my Inbox?). But if you choose to stay with us, the tea is always brewing, somewhere. And mind you, it's often the finest Oolong you could find, because I honestly believe that we have the most formidable and unexpected assortment of witty minds and strong characters, in here.

[maximumwobblerbanditdonut]

‘Outlander’ Prequel Series ‘Blood of My Blood’ Sets August Premiere Date

By Selome Hailu

“Outlander: Blood of My Blood” will premiere on Starz on August 8 followed by weekly drops on Fridays.

The series is a prequel to “Outlander,” which premiered on Starz in 2014 and has run for seven seasons with an eighth season incoming. “Blood of My Blood” will feature a new cast and characters, while also giving origin stories to characters from the original series and new points of view on some of the original’s events.

The prequel follows two main couples: Julia Moriston (Hermione Corfield) and Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine) as well as Ellen MacKenzie (Harriet Slater) and Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy), the parents of Claire Randall (Caitríona Balfe) and Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), the leading couple of “Outlander.” Per the official logline, the new series “brings viewers from the war-torn battlefields of WWI to the sweeping Highlands of 18th century Scotland, promising two new love stories filled with loyalty, passion and desire, as the young couples defy the forces that seek to tear them apart.”

The cast of “Outlander: Blood of My Blood” also includes Tony Curran as Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, Séamus McLean Ross as Colum MacKenzie, Sam Retford as Dougal MacKenzie, Rory Alexander as Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser, and Conor MacNeill as Ned Gowan.

Outlander: Blood of my Blood” is developed by Matthew B. Roberts, who serves as showrunner and executive producer. Ronald D. Moore, Maril Davis and Jim Kohlberg also executive produce. The series hails from Sony Pictures Television.

See the new teaser art of the lead couples.

Posted 16th April 2025

[byneddiedingo]

Christopher Gable and Twiggy in The Boy Friend (Ken Russell, 1971)

Cast: Twiggy, Christopher Gable, Max Adrian, Bryan Pringle, Murray Melvin, Moyra Fraser, Georgina Hale, Sally Bryant, Vladek Sheybal, Tommy Tune, Brian Murphy, Graham Armitage, Antonia Ellis, Caryl Little, Glenda Jackson. Screenplay: Ken Russell, based on a musical play by Sandy Wilson. Cinematography: David Watkin. Production design: Tony Walton. Costume design: Shirley Russell. Music: Peter Maxwell Davies; songs: Sandy Wilson, Nacio Herb Brown, Arthur Freed. 

Nothing succeeds like excess. That seems to have been Ken Russell's motto, well displayed in The Boy Friend. As I watched it, I thought the first parody of Busby Berkeley's kaleidoscopic production numbers for Warner Bros. musicals was brilliant. The second was entertaining. The third was ... well, maybe the law of diminishing returns had set in. The original stage musical was a campy sendup of the kind of musical comedies that P.G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton, and Jerome Kern used to create for the Princess Theatre and later in the 1920s: tuneful light romances with silly plots. But for the movie, Russell superadds a campy sendup of the backstage movie musicals of the 1930s, borrowing plot and even dialogue from 42nd Street (Lloyd Bacon, 1933), hence the Berkeley parodies. I first saw The Boy Friend around the time of its first release, and enjoyed it. But watching it again now, I found myself looking at the clock after the first hour and a half passed. The version I had seen in the theater was the one MGM had cut by 25 minutes; the restored version runs an exhausting two hours and 17 minutes. That said, there is much to enjoy about Russell's movie, especially the vividly colored production design by Tony Walton and costumes by Shirley Russell (the director's wife). The presence of the great Tommy Tune in the cast is also a plus. The Sandy Wilson songs are pleasantly hummable, and the interpolation of two songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed that were featured in Singin' in the Rain (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1952) is nice. But a little camp goes a long way, and piling camp on camp can be tiresome, especially if the camp is done the way Russell does it: with a smirk rather than a wink.     

[renee-writer]

Frank Chapter 94

AO3

“Henry Brian Fraser, may you be as strong of a man as your grandsires were.” Jamie cradles him. Claire, resting beside him, smiles.

 

“You don’t mind his name then?”

 

“Not at all. It is perfect. Suits him. The first that has your features should be honored with your father’s name,”  the baby’s eyes drift shut, “Thank the Saints Geillis was here to see him safely into the world.”

 

“Yes, though I am sure myself and Jenny could have handled it.”

 

“Aye. She was relieved at not having to.”

 

“I said as much to Geillis,” she moves, adjusting as she prepares to tell him what she found out, “while I labored, no, right before after she examined Simon…”

 

 

“Can she help him?”

 

“She believes so. She has more medical knowledge than I do.”

 

She waits a beat. His eyes, dim in the candle light, grow large. “More?”

 

“Yes, she is also from the future, 1967.”

 

He doesn’t say anything for a moment. Head bowed, he examines the baby’s features, seeing himself in the shape of his eyes.

 

“That is… That you would both be. It seems…”

 

 

“Yes that is were I am too. She came through as an accident as well. Found her medical knowledge helpful and decided to stay. That her other passion was history helped the decision too.”

 

“I am shocked but glad. You have someone here that understands. Someone you can speak to about things I cannot fathom. You ken I will always be here to listen but…”

 

“I do. Thank you. That is right. With her advanced knowledge she can help Simon and others too. Maybe falling through wasn’t an accident, not to God. Maybe we were meant to be here.”

 

He adjusts his son to draw his mama closer. “I know you are.”

 

“I am.” She lays her head on his shoulder.

[denimbex1986]

'Cillian Murphy delivers a powerhouse performance in Christopher Nolan‘s acclaimed biopic “Oppenheimer.” As J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, Murphy cuts a striking figure in his suit and hat with his piercing blue eyes staring out through IMAX screens and into the souls of cinema-goers.

The movie is Nolan’s first-ever biopic and explores how Oppenheimer went from a troubled, homesick student at Cambridge University to the leader of the Manhattan Project and the creator of the atomic bomb, which was later dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Murphy’s Oppenheimer is a supremely intelligent man with political leanings and a brain that could consume anyone in the room with him. But he’s also a troubled man, burdened by the weight of what he is trying to achieve and aware that his creation will change the world — and not necessarily for the better. It’s a complex role and Murphy soars in it.

As such, Murphy finds himself at the top of our list of predicted Best Actor Oscar nominees for next year’s Academy Awards. We think that he will be nominated alongside Leonardo DiCaprio (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), Bradley Cooper (“Maestro”), Colman Domingo (“Rustin”), and Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”). This would be Murphy’s first-ever Oscar bid but we think he will go one better than a simple nomination. We think he’ll win on his first try. Here are five reasons why that could happen.

1. Murphy has the support of critics

It’s important to have the support of critics. Sometimes, actors have the support of critics for their performance but not necessarily for the film itself (think Brendan Fraser and “The Whale” or Rami Malek and “Bohemian Rhapsody”). But critics love both Murphy’s performance and Nolan’s movie itself.

Brian Lowry (CNN) wrote: “A Nolan favorite featured in several of his films, Murphy delivers a career-topping performance. Oppenheimer became haunted by the morality of what he had midwifed, and his messy personal life and affairs coexisted with his beautiful mind – a duality the actor conveys in a way that overshadows the bigger names in supporting roles.”

Christian Holub (Entertainment Weekly) explained: “Cillian Murphy rises to the challenge with an absolutely absorbing performance… The actor has proved his leading-man bona fides elsewhere (most recently in the long-running Netflix crime series ‘Peaky Blinders’) and finally brings that side of his skillset home to Nolan. No question, the close-ups on Murphy’s face as Oppenheimer thinks through the 20th century’s thorniest problems are as compelling as the film’s atomic explosions, and as deserving of the biggest screen possible.”

And Dan Jolin (Empire) observed: “At the film’s pulsing nucleus is Murphy as Oppenheimer, and he is compelling throughout. Given the movie’s hefty import, you’d have expected him to infuse every ounce of his talent into this performance, and that is certainly evident from his every moment on screen.”

2. Murphy stars in a biopic

This is the obvious one. Academy voters LOVE biopics. Six out of the last 10 Best Actor winners have won for playing real-life people in biopics, including Will Smith for “King Richard” in 2022, Rami Malek for “Bohemian Rhapsody” in 2019, and DiCaprio for “The Revenant” in 2016. Moreover, voters particularly love actors who take on major historical figures who left a great impact on the world. Daniel Day-Lewis won for playing Abraham Lincoln in 2013 for “Lincoln.” Eddie Redmayne won for playing Stephen Hawking in 2015 for “The Theory of Everything.” And Gary Oldman won for playing Winston Churchill in 2018 for “Darkest Hour.” These are titanic historical figures who shaped the world we live in today. Murphy as Oppenheimer would fit in right alongside that crowd.

3. Murphy fully committed to the role

Murphy’s silhouette in the role of Oppenheimer is one of the most striking cinematic images of the year — and his co-stars have recently revealed that his behind-the-scenes efforts helped to contribute to that. Emily Blunt, who plays his on-screen wife Kitty, claimed that Murphy ate only one almond a day in preparation for the role. While Murphy’s exact diet hasn’t yet been disclosed, Murphy did say this to The New York Times: “I love acting with my body, and Oppenheimer had a very distinct physicality and silhouette, which I wanted to get right. I had to lose quite a bit of weight, and we worked with the costume and tailoring; he was very slim, almost emaciated, existed on martinis and cigarettes.” That shows a clear dedication to the role. Murphy also explained that he learned 3000 words of Dutch over one weekend for the role, too: “You break it down and say, ‘Alright, we need to work on this today.’ I used to set aside, ‘I’ll work on this for a week and I’ll work on that for a week.'”

Voters will appreciate this level of commitment to the role, as they have done before with past roles. They nominated Cooper in 2019 for learning how to sing and play guitar for his role in “A Star is Born.” They nominated Day-Lewis the year before that for learning how to sew and make dresses for “Phantom Thread.” They gave DiCaprio the win in 2016 for his extreme physical efforts for “The Revenant” and Matthew McConaughey won in 2014 for his weight loss for “Dallas Buyers Club.” And that’s not to mention Murphy’s accent for the role. There are too many performances to list that have included a stunning accent that has helped to lead to an Oscar nomination. Murphy could be next.

4. Murphy fits the bill of past stars who have won on their first try

Winning on your first try isn’t an easy achievement but it has been done before. Malek did it for “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Casey Affleck did it for “Manchester by the Sea.” Redmayne did it for “The Theory of Everything.” Murphy fits in with those guys — he’s a respected actor who has been around the block more than most realize and who audiences admire (this is particularly true of Murphy — he is cherished by “Peaky Blinders” fans). Then, all of those performers made a splash in dramatic roles that feel like their first lead roles in major movies and they steal the entire show. People came away talking about Malek when they watched “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Redmayne was the talk of the town after his performance in “The Theory of Everything.” And Murphy is the same. This wouldn’t be a gesture nomination. It’s a major piece of work that the academy might not be able to look away from.

5. It’s an easy way to reward a film they love

...Given the strength of competition this year, it feels like we could be in for one of those years where three, four, or five films are handed one, two, or three Oscars each rather than one picture winning seven, eight, or nine awards. That means that some films will be snubbed in certain areas. Now, “Oppenheimer” will likely garner a hell of a lot of Oscar nominations, including bids for Best Picture, Best Director for Nolan, Best Actor for Murphy, Best Supporting Actress for Blunt, Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr, Best Adapted Screenplay, and a bunch of below-the-line nominations, too.

It remains to be seen how other films will be received but voters might want to give Best Picture to something else...

So, suddenly, 10, 11, 12, or 13 nominations could actually turn into zero wins.

But voters will want to reward “Oppenheimer” in some capacity and the obvious way to do that looks like Best Actor. It’s a powerful performance from a beloved actor breaking out in his first major leading role, it’s a film that is built entirely around Murphy’s central performance, and Murphy is the biggest takeaway from the film. In this early stage, it looks like “Oppenheimer” could be this year’s “Lincoln.” “Lincoln” was well-respected by the academy, earning the most Oscar nominations that year (12), including bids for Best Picture and Best Director for Steven Spielberg. However, the movie only won two Oscars — Best Actor for Day-Lewis and Best Production Design...'

[culttvblog]

What's on my Laptop

Possibly a strange title but this post is simply a run-down of shows of which I currently have episodes in a file on my laptop, either waiting to be seen or waiting to be blogged about. They have all been available online recently and I have downloaded them. Among other things the purpose of this post is to celebrate that I can still find new stuff uploaded and shows I haven't seen yet!

I posted a few weeks ago about Second Verdict, the 1976 series in which DCSs Barlow and Watts reprise their fictional police roles to reconsider historical mysteries. I also have the 1973 Jack the Ripper series, in which they also consider this mystery in their fictional personae. Jack the Ripper isn't one of my enthusiasms, but I have read reviews saying that this is possibly the best account of the state of the evidence at the time but can't guarantee that it's still up to date fifty years later. I also don't tend to do historical series, but I do like the reconstructions of the Victorian characters giving their evidence in this.

Strangers (1978 to 1982) is a crime drama series which I was slightly too young to see at the time, although I remember watching The Professionals with my dad. It's another case of one character having an incredibly long career across several series, in the form of Detective Sergeant George Bulman, who first appeared in The XYY Man (1976 to 1977). This was a series about a man with the XYY syndrome (which was then thought to cause criminal tendencies) who was a cat burglar but finds after leaving prison that his services are in demand with both the criminal fraternity and the Secret Service. It's been a while since I've seen it, but The XYY Man is a show that I've been meaning to blog about for ages and is in my permanent collection. Bulman then appeared throughout Strangers, where he is something of a maverick. The premise is that he is part of a team drafted to Manchester to investigate crimes that have defeated the local force. To be frank I'm finding the episodes inconsistent, possibly because it was written by a number of writers, although I will certainly be keeping some of them, which is a sign I don't think they're rubbish. Bulman then appeared in Bulman (1985 to 1987) which is about his life after retiring from the force. You very nearly had the first series in the series of posts I did on Birmingham on tV because it is set very close to here. The show accurately describes the emotions and difficulties in his life, so is far from an easy watch. All three of these series are complex, quality dramas.

You will be getting a blog post about this so I won't say that much at this point. Saturday Live (1985 to 1987, and changed its name to Friday Night Live in 1988) is of course not to be confused with the US series Saturday Night Live (1776 to the present). I've avoided its various revivals and specials because this show is like mainlining the eighties. It's a comedy and music show, featuring among others, Ben Elton, Harry Enfield, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, The Joan Collins Fanclub, Tracey Ullman, Craig Charles, Adrian Edmondson and Rik Mayall. They also had American comedians in as guests to do stand up: I've never heard of any of them but there is literally no rubbish in this show. It's the absolute best of the comedy of the time and it's great.

I have a few episodes but have only watched one so far of Bugs (1995 to 1999), which was a conscious effort by the BBC to make a 1990s Avengers, featuring a team of tech experts facing the technological threats of the time. If Saturday Live is like mainlining the eighties, this is like mainlining the nineties. It had input from Brian Clemens and features my long-term pash Jesse Birdsall, swoon.

I have never got on very well with Armchair Thriller (1978 to 1980): I do actually think this might be me because as far as I can see every online review raves about this highly eclectic series. It may also be that having read the novel form of Antonia Fraser's Quiet as a Nun while staying at Ampleforth Abbey in my misspent youth I was always going to be disappointed by an adaptation. At present I have High Tide (1980) and have seen and enjoyed the first episode. Leaving the actual subject matter aside, I think it's a story of the sort where a misunderstood but flawed character sets out on a pilgrimage to solve a mystery in his life which has usually involved an injustice.

Just to include one non-TV item I have found a number of the Mexican Lucha Libre films starring legendary luchador enmascarado El Santo (Rodolfo Guzman Huerta, 1917 to 1984) with English subtitles on the Internet Archive. I had wanted to see them for ages, having read about them but was handicapped by not speaking a word of Spanish and most of them only being available in questionable region 1 DVD form with doubt whether they've even got subtitles. I am delighted to say that having seen some of them, I love these films. I have no cultural understanding of Lucha Libre at all so can only say that I frankly prefer him in wrestling gear for the whole film because the mask makes wearing street clothes look weird. They're a wonderful, weird world where his superhuman powers are definitely more than those of a wrestler but he still stops for a match in the middle.

Oh, alright, I know you want to end with Stephen Fry's dance moves on Saturday Live...

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[legends-of-time]

The Strength of a High and Noble Hill (Outlander)

Chapter 2: Fist Months

Masterlist

Brian lives in this house for a few months along with Claire, Fergus, and Murtagh, who Claire refers to as being Brian's father's godfather, and servants before meeting his father.

Brian happily engages with his new, strange family. He greatly enjoys pulling on Murtagh's beard whenever it's in range causing the man to grumble and call him a "Diabhal beag", whatever that means. Despite his annoyance, Murtagh is happy with Brian as the new addition and, to his glee, enjoys lifting Brian high in the air much to his mother's displeasure.

Fergus is a lot of fun too. Not only does he play with Brian despite him being much smaller, but he also reads to him and talks to him in French. He says he's trying to teach Brian though Claire keeps telling him that Brian can't speak yet and doesn't know what any of them are saying. Oh, honey...

Brian is constantly trying to make his mother smile. He can see she seems saddened and distressed, particularly after she had returned from visiting the King (probably the French one considering how much the language is spoken around them along with English and that's another thing, it didn't take Brian long to work out that this is back in the past at some point, before the revolution based on people's dress and they way they talk though there's something different about their mother) and Brian has been doing his level best to make her smile and cheer her up. He can't do much as a baby but he can try his best and is pleased to say he's been quite successful.

——

Things change when Brian meets his father. He can't tell much from where he lies in his cradle as the man leans over but Brian can see his father is tall, large and broad. His hair is more of a red ginger and his eyes are dark blue and slanted. Brian takes in these features seriously as he had headed his mother say he had gained those features from his father.

August 1744

"Ah, there's the wee lad." He says softly. His Scottish accent is different from his mother's English one. The man that must be Brian's father, reaches down and picks him up in his arms. He frowns in concern. "He's a wee small. Dinna ken tha' he would be."

"He was early." Claire says. Brian is in his father's arms in a tilted position making it easy for him to see Claire. "But he's been strong and healthy, eating and moving well."

"Brian Ian Fraser." His father murmurs.

Brian can see that while there's a warmth between them, there's an awkward and tense air around them.

Jamie sighs. "I'm sorry I weren't there. Fer the birth. I almost lost ye and I weren't there."

Claire's face softens. "It's alright. I'm just thankful that the two of you are well."

"Will he be fine fer the trip back te Scotland?" His father questions, gazing at Brian, who stares back at him.

"I'm sure he will be. He still sleeps mostly and is the calmest baby I have ever seen." Claire reassures. "Nothing like the horrors I have witnessed with Jenny's brood."

"Let us hope he dinna inherit my sea sickness."

Brian ignores his parents as they talk and instead stares at his father's beard that he'd noticed. It's a different colour from Murtagh's brown one obviously but looks just as pullable. So he leans forward and... tugs.

Jamie lets out a cry of pain, muttering, "Diabhal beag," while Claire laughs at his face.

"Yes, I should've warned you," she says through her laughter, "he has a fascination with beards."

"Aye." Jamie grumbles. He pouts at his son but Brian simply smiles back, happy to have made his parents smile.

——

A/N: Diabhal beag = little devil

Please leave comments on how you're enjoying this story and what you think.

[crowdvscritic]

round up // NOVEMBER 23 + DECEMBER 23 + JANUARY 24: CROWD vs. CRITIC vs. CHRISTMAS!

November and December push me to the limit—how many movies can I fit in before the end of the calendar year? In 2023 (plus a few bonus days), the answer was more than 130 new releases. And who wants to skip all of their favorite Christmas movies? Because I extend my holiday viewing into January, I fit in almost 90 this year, adding a few more to my all-time must-watch list. Once the Oscar noms were announced, I was already back to my usual shenanigans and had watched my 400th unique movie on Turner Classic Movies. Whether these statistics are cool or pathetic (erm, don’t tell me), I’m grateful for the slowness of Dump-uary and the depth that comes with thinking about the same Oscar-nominated films for several weeks. (Too bad we need to revisit Melissa Villaseñor’s Oscars snub song from SNL.)

To help sum up these three packed months, I’m resurrecting Crowd vs. Critic vs. Christmas: five crowd-pleasers, five critic picks, and five Christmas treats. Who says you can’t make these holiday recommendations part of your February entertainment?

Holiday Crowd-Pleasers

1. SNL Round Up

Studio 8H is making up for lost time after those strikes: 

“Question Quest” (4906 with Emma Stone)

“Beep Beep” (4907 with Adam Driver) - #SoMidwest

“Weekend Update: Chloe Fineman’s Save the Last Dance Holiday Gift” (4907)

“Tiny A** Bag” (4907)

“Christmas Awards Cold Open” (4908 with Kate McKinnon)

"North Pole News: Killer Whale Attack” (4908)

“ABBA Christmas” (4908)

“Yankee Swap” (4908)

“Please Don't Destroy - Roast” (4910 with Dakota Johnson) - As one who still has yet to understand the appeal of the PDD guys, this resonated with me

“The Barry Gibb Talk Show: 2024 Election” (4910)

“Weekend Update: A Guy Named Ethan on the 2024 Oscars Snubs” (4910) - I am...probably only a few years away from turning into Ethan?

2. Triple Feature - Big City Crime Thrillers: No Way Out (1987) + Cop Land (1997) + Widows (2018)

The stars aligned on all of these! In No Way Out (Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8/10), Kevin Costner is assigned to investigate the murder of his secret lover (Sean Young) in Washington D.C. The twist? The person who assigned him the case was also her lover, Secretary of Defense Gene Hackman. In Cop Land (9/10 // 7.5/10), Sylvester Stallone sheriffs a New Jersey town that houses a corrupt batch of New York City cops (including Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, and Robert Patrick) that Robert De Niro is investigating. In Widows (8.5/10 // 8.5/10), Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, and Michelle Rodriguez are completing the heist that killed their husbands (including Liam Neeson) in a corrupt Chicago run by Robert Duvall, Colin Farrell, Brian Tyree Henry, and Daniel Kaluuya. All are twisty, gritty, and thrilling.

3. Godzilla Minus One (2023)

Oh no, there goes Tokyo—but at least it’s going to a spectacle as fun and well-crafted as this one. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7/10

4. Double Feature - ‘90s Matt Damon Dramas: School Ties (1992) + The Rainmaker (1997)

Because Matt Damon has always been good! Though he’s not always been the good guy: In School Ties (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10), Brendan Fraser must hide his Jewish identity to survive at a prep school in the ‘50s, and bullies like Damon are who he’s most afraid of. In The Rainmaker (9/10 // 8.5/10), Damon is the good guy as a baby-faced lawyer who wants to protect Claire Danes, Teresa Wright, and Mary Kay Place from villains like slick lawyer Jon Voight. Here’s hoping Damon has another coming-of-age movie (as a teacher) and legal thriller in his future.

5. The Jerk (1979)

Not every moment of this movie would fly if made today, but Steve Martin’s episodic adventures in his first journey away from home gave me some of my biggest laughs in months. Crowd: 9.5/10 // Critic: 8/10

More Holiday Crowd-Pleasers: Three Men and a Little Lady (1990) reminds us how much fun it is to let three charismatic movie stars (Ted Danson, Steve Guttenberg, and Tom Selleck) cook // The Mrs. Doubtfire National Tour is fluffy fun // Maggie Moore(s) (2023) is a true crime story that makes me wish Tina Fey and Jon Hamm could become the new Myrna Loy and William Powell // Quiz Lady (2023) lets Will Ferrell live out his Alex Trebek dreams // John Mulaney in Concert Tour is making me count down till his next special is released to get memes about his grandfather, his bus driver, and his son // Reacher Season 2 is the perfect action show to watch with my dad // I’m not sure if Man of the Year (2006) was prescient about the future of politics or if it just understood human nature well enough to anticipate the populist movement and election fraud conversations we’re having today, but this Robin-Williams-as-Jon-Stewart comedy is underrated // The real-world implications of V for Vendetta (2005) are…confusing, but this literary-inspired adventure is still thrilling // Desperado (1995) is an over-the-top, shoot-'em-up Western

Holiday Critic Picks

1. The Best of 2023

2023: a year of products, greed, put-upon employees, and artificial intelligence—and not just in the actors’ and writers’ strikes! It was also a great year for movies, which is why I couldn’t narrow down my list to just 10. Read my top 10 picks for 2023 movies, as well as 28 honorable mentions at ZekeFilm, and then check out the accompanying list on Letterboxd.

I also dug deeper into some of the films mentioned in my Best of 2023 in these reviews:

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes - ZekeFilm review

Maestro - ZekeFilm review

Priscilla -  ZekeFilm review, KMOV review, Do You Like Apples discussion, updated Letterboxd Sofia Coppola rankings

2. Double Feature - New Baseball Documentaries: It Ain’t Over (2022) + The League (2023)

I am not a Yankees fan, so who would have guessed that the Yogi Berra documentary It Ain’t Over (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8.5/10) would make me cry? And my baseball history knowledge always has room for improvement, so The League (8/10 // 9/10) is a phenomenal fix to many of my blind spots. Both are now inducted in my Baseball Movie Hall of Fame.

3. Triple Billing - Come From Away + Tina: The Tina Turner Musical + Funny Girl National Tours

Looking for a true story turned into an excellent musical? Try Come From Away, which captures the chaos of flights rerouted on 9/11 with the pathos you expect (and the comedy you don’t). Or try Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, which is one of the best—if not the best—jukebox musical I’ve seen because the songs are integrated into the story instead of just as a musical revue of a a well-known career. Or catch Funny Girl, which captures comedienne Fanny Brice’s life with the help of a powerhouse singer channeling Barbra Streisand’s powers. Better yet, I recommend not skipping any of them when they come to town if you can swing it.

4. Happiness Falls by Angie Kim (2023)

What do you do when your dad goes missing in the middle of a global pandemic and the only one who was with him when he disappeared is your non-verbal brother? That’s the central mystery of Angie Kim’s latest novel. Instead of an edge-of-your-seat-thriller, it’s a story that propels us forward with the questions that plague its characters.

5. Hollywood Victory: The Movies, Stars, and Stories of World War II by Christian Blauvelt (2021)

The Turner Classic Movies Library has yet to miss. Hollywood Victory doesn’t just provide an in-depth overview of Hollywood from 1933 to 1945. It’s an exploration of Hollywood’s inextricable relationship with American politics, its contributions that helped the Allies win the war, and a unusual but informative lens of movies and the war itself. It’s also a long set of additions to my watchlist—of the 260+ films referenced, I’ve only seen a quarter. Thank goodness for TCM and a DVR with unlimited space!

More Holiday Critic Picks: American Symphony, Chevalier, Fallen Leaves, Freud’s Last Session, and Master Gardener were all films in consideration for my Best of 2023 // Wes Anderson’s Roald Dahl short film adaptations Poison, The Rat Catcher, The Swan, and The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023) are bite-sized, beautifully manicured delights // Debbie Reynolds paves the way the way for Kathy Bates’s Titanic role with her charismatic starring piece in the musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) // Barbara Stanwyck is wonderful as always in the melodrama All I Desire (1953) // Hail the Conquering Hero (1944) is filled with some of Preston Sturges’s most fun mixups and hijinks

Holiday Treats

1. Ken The EP by Ryan Gosling and Mark Ronson

I don’t care if these are barely Christmas songs—let’s give Ryan Gosling seasonal updates of “I’m Just Ken” for all of 2024!

2. Mixed Nuts (1994)

Hot take: Steve Martin has not been in enough rom-coms. A kookier—but nonetheless delightful—brand of Nora Ephron stars Martin and Rita Wilson as co-workers at a crisis hotline who are clearly meant for each other. If only they—and Madeline Kahn, Juliette Lewis, Adam Sandler, Liev Schreiber, and Garry Shandling— could get out of their own way. Crowd: 7.5/10 // Critic: 6.5/10  

3. Fitzwilly (1967)

Christmas Ocean’s Eleven! Dick Van Dyke is as charming as ever and the vibes are as ‘60s as ever as he tries to pull off a heist at Gimbels on Christmas Eve. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8/10

4. Metropolitan (1990)

Before Chris Eigeman was Jason Stiles on Gilmore Girls, he was essentially playing the same character in Whit Stillman’s comedy riff on The Great Gatsby. A young, bougie group is attempting to survive debutante season (also the Christmas season), debating the pros and cons of wealth and falling in and out of romance. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 9/10

5. The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944)

Hollywood Victory informed me I’m not the only who can’t believe this was allowed to play for audiences in 1944! Betty Hutton marries a soldier on a whim, but the next morning she can’t remember which one. Her BFF with an unrequited crush (Eddie Bracken) is the only one who can help her figure out who her husband—and the father of her child—is before the scandal gets out and destroys her reputation. Because this is a Preston Sturges feature, it’s actually a hilarious quest. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9/10

More Christmas Treats: Klaus (2019) is a hidden gem on Netflix // Okay, the ick factor in Susan Slept Here (1954) is real, but Dick Powell and Debbie Reynolds are just so darn charming! // 8-Bit Christmas (2021) is a better-than-it-needed-to-be update of A Christmas Story featuring a Nintendo instead of a BB gun // How did I never see Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) all the way through before this year? Once I realized I’d missed some scenes in my umpteen cable watches over the years, it shot up on my John Hughes rankings // Pocketful of Miracles (1961) is a delightful Cinderella tale that proves Bette Davis always had it 

Also this Holiday Season…

I reviewed even more new movies, including Next Goal Wins (ZekeFilm), The Marvels (KMOV), and the new Mean Girls musical (ZekeFilm)

The St. Louis Film Critics Association nominated and voted on our Best of 2023 films. You can see every winner and every film we nominated on Letterboxd, and you can read my summary of how I voted here on Crowd vs. Critic. Keep scrolling if you’re on the home page to my last post, or read it here.

Photo credits: Funny Girl, Happiness Falls, Hollywood Victory. All others IMDb.com. 

[celtic-cd-releases]

https://www.isabeloliart.com/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100049547137104

https://isabeloliart.bandcamp.com/

https://open.spotify.com/album/1gXYBdkq35XvJcsCTJMAde

[takemeawaytocamelot]

Bashful Beauchamp - Teenage AU

Finally! We got to see Jamie over for dinner with Claire and Lambert. Now we get to see Claire meeting the Fraser clan! How will she do? Will they treat her kindly? Read on to find out! 

Shout out to @diversemediums for helping me edit this and @outlandishchridhe for helping me with a new title!

Catch up on Jamie’s dinner in Flustered Fraser

Jamie had worn his kilt when he’d come to dinner with me and my uncle. Now it’s my turn to impress his family. So I’m standing in front of my wardrobe, trying to decide what a sensible English girl would wear. Uncle Lamb is in the living room, waiting for me to dress so we can leave.

I have my red dress, a black dress, and a blue dress all laid out on my small bed.

“Uncle Lamb!” I cry, my voice sounding frantic to my own ears.

After a moment, I hear him come down the hall to my room. He knocks and walks in.

“What is it, Claire Bear?”

“I’m having a girl moment,” I tell him. “I don’t know what to wear!”

Uncle Lamb takes a long, deep breath and looks at what I have.

“Wear the blue one.”

“Should I put on makeup?”

“No, darling,” he says with a soft smile. “Your Scot likes you the way you are.”

I nod and put the other dresses away.

“Thanks Uncle Lamb.”

“Your parents would be proud of you.”

I stare at him in shock. He never talks about my parents and I rarely ask. It’s still painful for both of us.

“You think so?”

“Maybe not proud of you getting caught snogging in the cupboard, but yes. Your Scot seems to be a very kind young man.”

“Thanks,” I say softly, trying to keep from crying.

I’m not wearing makeup, but crying will flush my face and my nose will start running.

Lamb leaves and I dress quickly. I decide to pin my hair back, but leave most of it down. I’ll keep it from falling in front of my face, but the curl was too nice to hide away. I grab my coat and walk out to where Lamb waits. We follow the directions Jamie texted me until we reach Lallybroch, the Fraser estate.

It’s a cute house, I think, and it looks old. But it’s a fully functional farm and it looks well used. Jamie is waiting for me on the front steps, which he descends when he sees us pull up.

“Ye made it! I was worriet,” he says, beaming at me.

“We did. Uncle Lamb only had to turn around once.”

We stare at each other awkwardly before Lamb clears his throat.

“Aye! Sorry. Would ye like to come in for a moment, Mr. Lamb?”

“If it isn’t too much trouble. I won’t stay long,” he says when I give him a pleading look. “But I’d like to meet your parents.”

Jamie hops nimbly up the stairs and holds the door open. As I walk past him, he grabs my hand and squeezes it briefly before leading us further into the house. His home is incredible. Everything looks like it belongs in a museum, but it’s all obviously in use.

“My God!” Lamb squeaks behind me. “Is that an eighteenth century pistol?”

“Aye,” Jamie says. “We’ve kept a few artifacts o’er the years. Perhaps ye and Miss Beauchamp should come back out here and let Da show ye around. He loves to talk about the Fraser history.”

Uncle Lamb stares longingly at the pistol before getting a hold of himself.

“Perhaps we shall.”

Jamie stops by a doorway and motions us inside.

“I’ll introduce ye to Mam and go find Da.”

I come around the corner and see exactly where Jamie gets his looks. The woman, who’s pregnant belly is huge, is a mirror image of him. She struggles a little to sit up and Jamie rushes to her side.

“Careful, Mam. Ye’ve yer appointment in a few days.”

“I ken that, love. But I need to get a good look at this lass ye canna stop talkin’ about.”

The tips of Jamie’s ears turn deep red and he hastily looks at the floor.

“Mam, this is Claire Beauchamp and her Uncle Lambert. Miss Beauchamp, Mr. Lambert, this is my mother, Ellen Fraser.”

Ellen puts her hand out to shake and, after a moment, Lamb steps forward to greet her.

“Lovely to meet you, Mrs. Fraser.”

“I’m sorry I canna get up just now. Gettin’ down the stairs is hard enough and Brian, my husband, would be verra cross wi’ me if I strained myself.”

“Of course, of course.”

Ellen’s beautiful eyes turn to me.

“Come here into light, love. Let me see ye.”

I do as she asks and she smiles.

“I think Jamie’s got the right of it,” she says sweetly. “You are verra beautiful indeed. Just as he described.”

“Mam!”

“Hush, lad. Take yer lass to the kitchen to meet Jenny and Willie, please. I’d like to speak wi’ Mr. Lambert for a bit. And call yer Da, please love.”

Jamie offers his arm to me and I take it, casting a worried glance over to my uncle. As we weave through the halls, Jamie pulls out his cell phone and punches a number.

“Da? Mam’s in the sittin’ room wi’ Claire’s uncle. She’s askin’ for ye.” He’s quiet for a moment. “Aye. I’m takin’ her to meet Jenny and Willie.”

He slips the phone back into his pocket and turns to me.

“I’m glad ye’re here, Claire.”

“Me too.”

“I ken you’re probably a wee bit scairt. But ye dinna need to fear anyone here, especially when I’m wi’ ye.”

I shake my head.

“I’m not scared.”

He smiled and cups my cheek in his broad hand.

“Everything ye think and feel is written across yer face, mo nighean donn. It’s okay. No one will question your bravery in coming.”

He licks his lips and looks around quickly before leaning in to kiss me. I’m rather proud that I haven’t bitten him (on accident at least) in some time. We don’t let it go too long, not with my uncle and his mother only a few feet away.

“Isn’t that how we got into this mess, Mr. Fraser,” I ask quietly, smiling up at him.

“Aye. But I havena kissed ye in several days. I need to be sure ye dinna forget me.”

Taking his arm again, I lean on him a little while we walk. In the kitchen, a few people bustle around, one of them very obviously related to Jamie.

“Jenny, Willie, I’d like ye to meet my girlfriend Claire Beauchamp.”

Two faces turn to look at me and I take a step back, into Jamie’s body. The one I knew was related to Jamie is as tall and broad as he is. The other is a bit shorter than her brothers, but I can see a bit of them both in her face. She doesn’t have Ellen’s bright red curls, but rather seems to take after her father with dark, straight hair.

“H-hello,” I say, taking a deep breath and hoping my hair isn’t sticking out funny.

“Ooohhh,” says Willie.

I’m surprised that his voice is so much deeper than Jamie’s.

“This is her, then?” Jenny asks.

“Aye,” Jamie says, giving my hand a squeeze. “Be nice to her, aye?”

“Of course we will, mo bhràthair!” Willie says. “You’ve never brought a girl home before!”

Not knowing what else to do, I stay quiet.

“It’s lovely to meet ye, Claire,” Jenny says, giving me a polite smile. “Ye’ll have to excuse me. I’ve got to help finish gettin’ our dinner ready.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” I offer, needing to do something.

“Oh! Weel,” Jenny looks around the kitchen. “If ye wouldna mind cleaning the lettuce and preparing the salad, I’d appreciate it.”

I smile and wash my hands before getting to work. Jamie stares at me for a moment before joining me.

“I don’t mind at all. I do most of the cooking at home. Uncle Lamb almost burned our flat down trying to boil water.”

Jenny, Willie, and Jamie all laugh.

“Willie’s no’ verra good wi’ the cooking either,” Jenny says. “Claims it’s women’s work. But I taught Jamie better before Willie could corrupt him. My wee brother is a fair hand when he wants to be.”

“I’m no’ your wee brother anymore, Janet. I’m taller than you.”

“Aye,” Jenny says, pulling a tray of rolls from the oven. “But I’m still older than ye.”

We subside into giggles as Jenny and Jamie exchange good-natured insults. I always hate being an orphan. Not only because I no longer have my mum and dad around, but because I’ll never have siblings. I’ll never have a sister upset with me for borrowing her clothes or a brother to scare off boyfriends. But instead of allowing myself to drown in the sadness, I decide to enjoy the family Jamie invited me to join.

“Claire?”

I stop laughing, hearing my Uncle’s voice.

“Uncle Lamb? I’m in the kitchen with the others.”

My hands are full of veggies to put in the salad, or I would go out to him. Lamb finds his way into the kitchen and smiles at me.

“Ah, I should have known I’d find you elbow deep in something. I’m popping off now. Call me when you’re ready to come home. No later than nine.”

“Yes, Uncle.”

A strange expression comes across his face, something I don’t recognize. He walks around the large wooden table in the middle of the kitchen and hugs me.

“Have fun, lovie,” he whispers in my ear.

My breath catches when he uses that word. He told me, when I was younger, that ‘lovie’ was what my mother had always called me, something she’d picked up from her own mother. Whenever he used it, he did so to include my parents in my life.

“Thanks Uncle Lamb.”

He straightens up and looks Jamie in the eye.

“You take care of her.”

“Yessir.”

Then my Uncle is gone. Jenny and Willie go about their duties, getting dinner ready. Jamie and I keep nudging each other while we prepare the salad.

“Alright you two,” Jenny says with a smirk. “Go on and take that out to the table. Mam and Da should be ready by now.”

I follow Jamie out to the dining room but we both stop when we hear quiet voices.

“Dinna fash, my love. I’m doing everything the doctor said.”

“I ken that, mo nighean ruaidh.”

I don’t eavesdrop on people. It’s rude and intrusive. But I can’t help but peek around Jamie to see what he’s staring at. Brian is sitting in a chair beside his wife, one hand caressing her stomach while the other is rubbing her shoulder.

“If I got through gi’ing birth to that giant ye call a son, this one will turn out fine. Just have faith.”

Brian takes a deep breath and kisses his wife’s cheek.

“Ye better keep fighting, then. Ye’ve been a Fraser long enough to be as stubborn as the rest of us.”

“Aye, and so I have. I promise I’ll keep fighting for me and for our bairn.”

Jamie takes a step back, out of sight and takes a long breath. I follow him, waiting for him to pull himself together. I know how worried he is about his mother, he’s told me more than once. But this isn’t the time or place for him to talk about it, so he goes into the room and I follow.

“Ah! James Fraser!” Ellen scolds, her eyes wide and mouth tight. “Tell me ye didna force this sweet lass into workin’ in the kitchen!”

“No, Mrs. Fraser,” I smile at her. “I offered. I hate just standing around. But Jenny’s kicked us out, so I expect there’s not much more to do.”

“Aye, probably not. Come here and sit so we can talk. Your Uncle is a very lively man.”

I sit down in the seat to her left, Jamie taking the empty one beside me.

“Yes, he’s quite a character, my Uncle.”

“I want ye to ken ye have an open invitation to join us for dinner at any time,” Ellen says. “And I suspect your Uncle will also want a grand tour of the estate.”

I can’t help but roll my eyes.

“He’s an anthropology professor, so he’s a little obsessed with historical artifacts.”

“A little?” says Brian before Ellen swats him.

Before I can say anything else, Jenny, Willie, and another woman I wasn’t introduced to, come out with dinner.

Unlike the dinner with my Uncle, the Fraser family doesn’t interrogate me. Rather, they seem more interested in telling the most embarrassing stories about Jamie. His face is flushed red all through the meal.

“No!” I say as everyone sits back in their chairs after dessert. “That’s not how it happened at all!”

“Weel that’s what he told us,” Ellen said. “He said it was the worst presentation he’s ever given.”

I shake my head at Jamie in disbelief.

“Not at all. I think it was the best of the whole group. And I thought that before he asked me out.”

The table chuckles and Jamie gives me a small smile.

“Claire, darling,” Ellen says gently. “Ye should call yer uncle soon, I dinna want ye to be late for curfew.”

I glance down at my watch and gasp. Talking with the Frasers had completely distracted me from watching the time.

“Excuse me. This has been a lovely evening.”

I get up and move away from the table, calling my Uncle as I did.

“I was about to call you,” he answers after the second ring. “Ready to come home?”

“Yes,” I say. “It’s been great fun. They said I could come back any time.”

“I’m sure you’ll tell me all about it on the ride home. I’ll be there soon.”

I hang up and turn to see Jamie waiting for me.

“They like ye,” he says quietly.

“I like them too.”

“I think Mam wants to adopt ye. But I’m glad ye got to meet everyone.”

Jamie steps forward and wraps me in a warm, solid hug. He smells clean and a little of the outdoors.

“My Uncle is on his way. I should go and make my goodbyes before he gets here.”

Jamie takes my hand and leads me back to the dining room where Willie is beginning to gather plates.

“My Uncle will be here soon,” I tell everyone. “This has been… This has been absolutely wonderful. Thank you so much for having me over.”

Ellen, hands folded over her belly, gives me a sweet smile.

“It’s been a pleasure to meet ye, Claire. I meant what I said. Ye can come back any time ye like. We’d love to have ye again.”

“I’d like that very much.”

Jamie walks with me to the front door where we can watch the drive. The rest of the family decided to give us these few minutes, which I appreciated.

“Are ye alright, a nighean?”

“Yes, I’m okay. It’s just… It’s hard, sometimes. I’ve never had a family like this.”

“Aye, I ken it must be difficult.”

I shrug.

“But it’s beautiful. You’ve got such a lovely family, Jamie. It’s wonderful to see.”

“I hope ye take Mam up on her invitation. Willie will go back to uni soon, but I’d like to have ye back.”

“I’ll talk to my Uncle.”

Lights draw my attention and I see my Uncle’s car pulling down the long drive.

“Do I get a kiss goodnight?” I ask, biting my bottom lip.

He smiles and leans down to do as I asked, his mouth still tasting strongly of the dark chocolate from dessert. Our kiss comes to a slow, happy end just as my Uncle gets out of the car. Jamie presses his lips to my ear.

“I forgot to tell ye how beautiful ye looked tonight, Sassenach. Took my breath away when I saw ye.”

“Like you took my breath in your kilt.”

Uncle Lamb knocks on the door. Jamie opens it and gives me a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank ye for a lovely evening, Miss Beauchamp,” he says, giving me that same bow he had when he’d come to dinner at my flat.

“Thank you, Mister Fraser,” I say, offering a slight curtsey.

I follow my Uncle out to his car and collapse into the front seat.

“Did you have a good time then, Claire Bear?”

I sigh, smiling as I wave back at Jamie.

“Uncle Lamb… I think I’m in love.”

[imagineclaireandjamie]

How about Brianna is Brian after all - look like Jamie, behave like Jamie, proud of his mother, respects her … like his father - everything Frank´s not + at the end Brian had some suspicion, he is not Frank´s, of course. F didn´t die and Claire is forced by circumstances to reveal the truth about Jamie. How would those two men react? (Please be mad at Frank for the manipulation and psychical terror against Claire. I would really love to read Jamie (or his son) to smash Frank´s face for his behav

Note from Mod WTT

This is Part 1 of 4!

“Love, you need to calm down.” My mother cajoled in a failing attempt to abate my sudden fury.

“No, Mum, this is one time when I cannot calm down. All this time–” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, trying to not let my anger out on her. “Why?”

“Why did I wait this long to tell you, or why did I not fight Frank on his request?”

“Both. I need to understand why you didn’t even try to go back. Why you left in the first place. Christ, Mum! Does my father have any idea about me? Did you keep me a secret from him before you left him? Am I just as much of a secret as he was to me?”

She crossed the room, grabbing a glass of Scotch before making her way to the couch and gesturing for me to take a seat as well. I refused and began pacing the room.

“He knew about you before even I did,” Mum said looking down into her glass.

“How–?” I started but was stopped with a gesture.

“If you want me to tell you this, you will ask questions later, understood?”

I nodded in agreement.

“Jamie kept track of things most men wouldn’t spare a single thought for, he was always thinking and observing those around him. In part, I think that’s what made him such a good hunter and leader. He knew what was coming and could think quick on his feet to find a solution.” She took a large swallow from the Scotch, swirling the last finger of liquid around nervously.

“You have to understand, that what I’m telling you didn’t take place in the world or country you know. I explained to you earlier that your father is from another time–I had gone back in time–and met him. This world held so many more dangers for everyone: famine, starvation, war, death, even the common cold would kill an entire family given the chance. Nothing was safe in Scotland, especially during the uprising.

Jamie and I… we had been trying to convince Charles Stuart to give up the foolish notion of an uprising, and in the process became the biggest outlaws to the English Crown. When the battle of Culloden was upon us, Jamie knew he was going to die, either by the sword and canon or at the end of an executioner’s noose. I swore to him that I would follow and that he was my home. I didn’t want to leave him or this life I had grown to love more dearly than anything in the world.”

Her eyes stared out unblinkingly, seeing a place, a time that only she could see. As she stared, the middle and ring fingers of her right hand rubbed back and forth over the odd ‘J’ shaped scar in her palm.

“When he told me that you were there, this miracle I hadn’t dared to dream of being real, he wanted to keep us safe. So I foolishly listened and went back.” Her eyes locked with mine, as her hand covered and squeezed mine. “I don’t regret a second of this life that I’ve lived because I’ve had you.”

“But you let… you let Frank pretend to raise me.”

“No, he loved you!”

“NO! He loved the idea of me. I always wondered how I looked the way I did, I chalked it up to latent genetics on yours or fa–Frank’s side. But that didn’t explain the sneers he’d give when he thought I wasn’t looking or the scoffing I heard when he thought I was asleep. Now that you’re telling me I have another father, one that I apparently am the spitting image of,” I protested pulling my hand free and gesturing to myself. “It all makes sense. Did you know that I thought I had a recurring nightmare for years, Mum?”

She shook her head, her hand reaching back out for me. I shook her off and stood up abruptly. “I thought this was a nightmare, a figment of my childish mind because I was the one who didn’t look like they belonged. It always was the same, Frank saying, ‘I’m trying but I can’t love you, you’re too much like him. Your mother can’t expect me to love something I can’t create.’ Then walking away. Now I understand I was hearing him talk to me while I was just on the edges of sleep, but had my eyes closed. This man whom you spent seventeen years beside hated me because I reminded him of someone. Someone he held with so much contempt he couldn’t see beyond the father for the sake of an innocent child.”

“Brian–”

“No, Mum. You don’t get to defend him anymore. He’s dead and along with him any understanding I may have of why he truly hated me and never let you see it.”

My anger spent and body shaking with adrenaline, I finally sat down next to my mother. She pulled me to her chest, letting me shake with a pent up emotion that hadn’t been used before: overwhelming sadness.

“Shh love, shh.” She cooed softly rocking me as best she could back and forth. “You’ll always be my little boy. I’ve loved you with my whole heart from the day you were born, I’m sorry that I’m not enough. A father is something every man needs, and darling, if I could I would turn back time and flee to your relatives. I never would have left to spare you from this pain, even if it meant I may not have survived.”

“What?” I sobbed, pulling back in alarm.

She smiled weakly and nodded. “The day you were born I nearly died from blood loss. Your birth was not the easiest, nor was your sister’s. I nearly died then as well, and probably should have. Only by some miracle did I survive long enough to conceive again and have you, my precious boy.”

“I-I almost killed you? How can I even…mother no! No, do not wish that sacrificing your life would be fair payment for me to have my father.”

“Brian,” she said cupping my face. “You did have a father, at least in show. I can understand your need for answers and explanations, I’m honestly shocked you believe my tale, since no one else ever has. I wish Frank would have been a father to you and I wish desperately that Jamie could see you and know you. He would love you with more than he has to give if that were possible.”

“Why if? Do you not think you could go back, or maybe I can’t? Didn’t I technically make the trip once?” I questioned, calculating how fast I could get both of us to Scotland.

“Darling,” Mum said shaking her head. “He’s dead. He died on Culloden Moor, which is something not even I can change or fix if we went back this second.”

“Are you sure he’s dead?”

“Why would I have stayed here this long if I wasn’t sure he was? I could easily have taken you back when you were a child, when times were slightly more favourable.” Tears filled her eyes again as she spoke. My heart lurched.

“Would you be mad if I wanted to try and find him? Either way, a trip to Scotland would be more beneficial to get away from all the Boston holds. The funeral yesterday proves my point. You need, no, we need a place where we can find peace and maybe, someone who needs us as well.”

[maximumwobblerbanditdonut]

THE LA SCREENINGS 2025

The LA Screenings are an annual television market held in Los Angeles, attracting international buyers and sellers of television content. In 2025, the LA Screenings took place at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel from May 15-17.

The event showcases a variety of content from independent companies to major studios, with a focus on both international and domestic markets.

SONY hosted international buyers from around the world on its lot, this time on Sunday May 18, for preview looks at upcoming series.

This year, Sony’s slate comprised American Hostage, Outlander: Blood of My Blood, Lord of the Flies, Playing Gracie Darling, The Lady and Titanic Sinks Tonight, with more announcements understood to be forthcoming.

Outlander: Blood of My Blood has been gaining traction for some time, and in the U.S. is set to launch on August 8 on newly-solo Starz. The Outlander prequel spinoff follows romances between Julia Moriston (Hermione Corfield) and Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine), and Ellen MacKenzie (Harriet Slater) and Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy), centering on the parallel love stories set in two different time periods.

The description at the LA Screenings above ⬆️ states that the show is American, and targeted at American Outlander fans audiences. STARZ is an American television network known for series like "Outlander" now wants to focusing on "Blood of My Blood," Season 1, following the end of the original series - Outlander. Although these shows feature in 18th-century Scotland, cast of British actors and in some cases from foreign countries, they cater to American Outlander fans.

It’s important to note the production may feature American actors, the cast varies. For example, specific seasons like Season 7 of "Outlander," which depicts the American Independence War or in different locations such as Outlander Season 2, which was filmed in Prague, Czech Republic, However, the primary filming locations remain in Scotland. Similarly, "Blood of My Blood" Season 1 is set in the Scottish Highlands was also filmed in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

"Outlander" and "Blood of My Blood" are two different STARZ television series, despite both being set in Scotland they feature different casts. "Outlander" is based on the novels by Diana Gabaldon and has been adapted for television by producers and screenwriters Ron D. Moore and Matthew Roberts. In contrast, "Blood of My Blood" is a spin-off series created by the same producers of "Outlander," but it is not based on any previously written novels. The addition of the word "Outlander" in the title "Blood of My Blood" serves as a marketing strategy to attract viewers of the original series.

The four main actors from Blood of My Blood show (three English and one Scottish actor) were present at the LA Screening in 2025 at the invitation of Sony Pictures. The new series will not include former Outlander cast members but will introduce a new generation of actors portraying the younger versions of the characters from the original series.

Supposedly, SONY will assist in promoting the series, similar to their Outlander support to sell the 10 episodes of "Blood of My Blood" to potential buyers shortly. There's nothing better for a producer than a spin-off when they're not ready to say goodbye to the original show 🙄

Posted 21st May 2025

[lordjohngreyreadingnook]

Lord John AU Event Master List

A very special thank you to all of the writers, artists, and readers who helped make the Lord John AU Event a success! All good things must come to an end, and the body of Lord John fanworks has grown immensely during this event.

Because Pan is still a geek, here’s an infographic with some of our stats. 

Below the cut, you’ll find a masterlist of all of the art and fics submitted for the event. Most of the fics can be found in the AO3 Collection, and all titles in the master list below are links to the original work posting (AO3 or Tumblr).

Here’s how we did!

Master List Below!

Art Links

“E-girl Claire and her boyfriend John” by @deanwinchesterangelfucker

“Gender-swapped, established relationship John and Jamie” by @deanwinchesterangelfucker

Fic Links

Title: extra credit Author: @iihappydaysii Rating: E Ship: Brian/John AU Category: High School Word Count: 2,532 Summary:  Brian Randall (Jamie Fraser's gay son, of course) needs to get his grade up in his trig class taught by who other than his father's friend, John Grey.

Title: Die for this Kingdom Author: @mistresspandorawritesthings Rating: M Ship: Jamie/John AU Category: Mob Word Count: 45,255 Summary:  All Jamie “Fortnight” Fraser wants is to provide a good, safe life for his family in Chicago. But with tragedies keeping him tangled in his uncle’s deadly schemes and one tenacious—and handsome—police officer determined to bring him in, Fortnight Fraser has a choice to make. Bend to Dougal’s will… or burn it all to the ground.

Title: Remember Hawaii Author: @mistresspandorawritesthings Rating: E Ship: Hector/John AU Category: Semi-Modern Word Count: 5,119 Summary:  The chances of John Grey unexpectedly seeing Hector Dalrymple in a group of Marines was always small but never zero. In the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii is tiny. What are the odds they'd both be there at the same time?

Title: Tasting Sunshine Author: @andhopethatsoon Rating: E Ship: John/Stephan AU Category: Supernatural/Fantasy Word Count: 6,421 Summary:  Every fae and their godmother knows that you DON'T eat the oranges from THOSE trees or you will summon the Summer King who will demand your heart’s desire in return.

Title: At Operator’s Discretion Author: @mistresspandorawritesthings Rating: E Ship: Jamie/John AU Category: Assassins Word Count: 6,210 Summary:  John Grey is an operator specializing in surveillance and termination--that is, spying and murder. He keeps all this a secret from his husband, Alex Malcolm, for Alex's protection. But when a contract comes in for one James Fraser, Grey's life gets all kinds of complicated.

Title: Theatre Masks Author: @faeriesfanficblog Rating: G Ship: Jamie/John AU Category: Modern Word Count: 1,238 Summary:  A modern AU. Jamie Fraser is an autistic playwriter attending a theatre premiere with his husband Lord John Grey.

Title: The Wild Hunt Author: @mistresspandorawritesthings Rating: E Ship: Jamie/John/Tom AU Category: Supernatural/Fantasy Word Count: 8,033 Summary:  The Sorcerer is rumored to be the only being able to influence the Wild Hunt, the same Wild Hunt hell-bent on destroying the world to get to John Grey. But the Sorcerer's aid comes with stipulations.

Title: The Right Tool for the Job Author: @iihappydaysii & @mistresspandorawritesthings Rating: E Ship: Jamie/John AU Category: Modern Word Count: 5,825 Summary:  Jamie makes an embarrassing emergency call after a sexual mishap, and John Grey is the paramedic who shows up to help.

Title: gotta listen when the devil’s calling Author: @narastories Rating: E Ship: BJR/Jamie/John AU Category: Modern Word Count: 6,105 Summary:  John wasn't looking forward to his birthday. Aberdeen was cold and bloody far away. This year they also got a surprise travel companion last minute and John is convinced, it couldn't get any worse. But perhaps, it's not so bad after all.

Title: Off the Only Path I Knew (WIP) Author: @jesuisprest747 Rating: M Ship: Jamie/John AU Category: College/University Word Count: 8,920 Summary: Nothing about University is going as Jamie Fraser planned. He misses his family and friends back home, and the friends he's made at University don't feel quite right. Under pressure from his father, he is studying business instead of his true passion - Classics and Literature. To top it all off, his roommate barely speaks to him. A story about friendship, love, and following your heart.

Title: And Say We’ll Never Part Author: @mistresspandorawritesthings Rating: E Ship: Hector/John AU Category: Semi-Modern Word Count: 6,872 Summary: The war has been over for months, and the Allied forces are slowly demobilizing. With the help of his friend and battle buddy Harry Quarry, newly-discharged John Grey ensures that Hector has a home waiting for him.

Title: Lemon Drop Author: @mistresspandorawritesthings Rating: E Ship: Hal/John/Percy AU Category: Modern Word Count: 6,335 Summary:  Weeks into their mother's engagement, John and Hal still haven't been formally introduced to their soon-to-be step-brother. So Hal suggests they take matters into their own hands. And if it turns out Percy is up for a little fun... all the better.

Title: A Pocketful of Posies Author: @levisqueaks Rating: M Ship: Brian/John (end game); Jamie/John  AU Category: Modern Word Count: 3,483 Summary:  Jamie breaks up with John a mere week before his wedding to a girl John knew nothing about. 20 years later, John finally gets a little bit of closure.

Title: London Calling - Come out of the Cupboard Author: @angstosaur  Rating: E Ship: Claire/Jamie/John AU Category: Semi-modern Word Count: 24,337 Summary:  Setting – Bloomsbury, London, early 1980’s John is a newly qualified solicitor and is working in Holborn. When he was studying law in London his mother insisted he stay in her apartment in Bloomsbury. He agreed as long as he could share with his old school friend, Claire Beauchamp. Claire has just finished at medical school and has a post as a junior doctor at a large London Hospital. They’re just good friends. That’s all. Really. After all, John is gay. Then, Jamie Fraser enters their lives and suddenly all that was taken for granted is called into question.

Title: John Grey’s Anatomy (WIP) Author: @jesuisprest747​ Rating: E Ship: Claire/Jamie/John AU Category: Modern medical Word Count: 25,452 Summary:  When John Grey decided to move to America in early 2020 to escape his past and make a new start at Boston Memorial Hospital, he only wished to work hard at his anesthesiology fellowship and heal his broken heart. Little did he know that he would soon meet two people who would change his life forever, against the background of the world's first global pandemic in over a hundred years.

Title: Blood Bound (WIP) Author: @mistresspandorawritesthings​ Rating: E Ship: Jamie/John; Jenny/Minnie AU Category: Supernatural/fantasy Word Count: 2,862 Summary:  Jamie Fraser grew up with the knowledge of the unholy evil that walks the earth. For more generations than his father could count, Fraser women have been the lone soldiers charged with keeping the evil things at bay. But when one wrong move on a haunted bog in Ireland transforms Jamie into the very thing he was taught to help his sister eradicate, he's forced to reevaluate everything he thought he knew about monsters.

Title: Love is a three-edged sword (WIP) Author: @angstosaur  Rating: M Ship: Claire/Jamie/John AU Category: Authurian Word Count: 74,668 Summary: An Arthurian themed AU featuring characters from Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series of books and the Lord John Grey stories. The enduring love triangle of Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot retold with a different twist. Expect canon to be used and abused, mythology to be woven in as desired and for there to be scenes of an explicit nature.T his is neither Outlander nor Arthurian legend as you may know it, or accept it, but it’s a story that called to me many months ago and I shall endeavour to write it. The characters are fictional and I’ve put them in an indeterminate time, so there will be less historical accuracy than my previous long story.

[mysticalhearth]

Les Misérables

Les Misérables - 10th Anniversary: The Dream Cast In Concert - October, 1995 (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (SD) CAST: Colm Wilkinson (Jean Valjean), Philip Quast (Javert), Ruthie Henshall (Fantine), Judy Kuhn (Cosette), Michael Ball (Marius), Lea Salonga (Éponine), Michael Maguire (Enjolras), Alun Armstrong (Thénardier), Jenny Galloway (Madame Thénardier), Adam Searles (Gavroche), Hannah Chick (Little Cosette), Paul F Monaghan (The Bishop), Anthony Crivello (Grantaire), David Bardsley (Combeferre), Matt Cammelle (Feuilly), Jérôme Pradon (Courfeyrac), Peter Polycarpou (Jean Prouvaire), Darryl Knock (Joly), Mike Sterling (Lesgles), Nick Holder (Brujon), Tony Timberlake (Babet), Stephen Matthews (Claquesous), Keith Burns (Montparnasse), Michael McCarthy (Factory Foreman), Jackie Marks (Factory Girl), Gareth Snook (Bamatabois), Andy Reiss (Pimp), Peter Polycarpou (Labourer), Glyn Kerslake (Constables), Beverly Klein (Old Woman), Christopher Howard (Loud Hailer), Halcro Johnston (Farmer), Adrian Beaumont, Alasdair Harvey, Alistair Robins, Allan Hardman, Annette Yeo, Cameron Stewart, Charles Shirvell, Christopher Coleman, Claire Machin, Claudia Bradley, Cliff Brayshaw, Craig Schulman, Danny Coll, David Alder, David Arneil, David Delve, David Malek, David Shannon, Egill Olaffson, Ellen Jackson, Fenton Gray, Gerard Leighton-Duffy, Glenn Carter, Grania Renihan, Gyula Vikidál, Hadrian Delacey, Helen Hobson, Henk Poort, Irene Warren, James Barron, James Head, Jan Ježek, Jeff Leyton, Jerzy Jeszke, Joanne Redman, Jody Crosier, John Barr, John Owen-Jones, Julia Howson, Julia Worsley, Krzysztof Stasierowicz, Kurt Ravn, Linda-Mae Brewer, Lynden Edwards, Mario Frangoulis, Mark Turnbull, Mark White, Martin George, Martin Scott Warden, Matthew Gould, Matthew White, Michael Burgess, Michael Cantwell, Myra Sands, Neil Couperthwaite, Nicholas Pound, Nicola Sloane, Norma Atallah, Paul Baker, Paula Simpson, Peter Ledbury, Phil Cavill, Philip Cox, Rebecca Storm, Rebecca Thornhill, Reinhard Brussmann, Richard Burman, Rob Guest, Robert Marien, Sara West, Sarah Hay, Steve Balsamo, Susie Fenwick, Takeshi Kaga, Tommy Körberg, Tricia Deighton, Øystein Wiik NOTES: Features key performers from the original Broadway and London casts like Colm Wilkinson, Phillip Quast and Lea Salonga. Includes the encore performance featuring 17 Valjeans from various productions. Les Misérables - 25th Anniversary Concert Live At The O2 - October 3, 2010 (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Alfie Boe (Jean Valjean), Norm Lewis (Javert), Lea Salonga (Fantine), Katie Hall (Cosette), Nick Jonas (Marius), Samantha Barks (Éponine), Ramin Karimloo (Enjolras), Matt Lucas (Thénardier), Jenny Galloway (Madame Thénardier), Robert Madge (Gavroche), Mia Jenkins (Little Cosette), Earl Carpenter (The Bishop), Hadley Fraser (Grantaire), Jonathan Williams (Combeferre), Owain Williams (Feuilly), Killian Donnelly (Courfeyrac), Alistair Brammer (Jean Prouvaire), Jamie Muscato (Joly), Edward Baruwa (Lesgles), Phil Snowden (Brujon), Stephen Tate (Babet), Tony Timberlake (Claquesous), Keith Burns (Montparnasse), Jeff Nicholson (Factory Foreman), Grainne Renihan (Factory Girl), Valda Aviks (Crone), Cameron Blakely (Bamatabois), Peter Polycarpou (Pimp) Les Misérables - Asia Tour - June 2, 2016 (Highlights) FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Simon Gleeson (Jean Valjean), Earl Carpenter (Javert), Patrice Tipoki (Fantine), Emily Langridge (Cosette), Paul Wilkins (Marius), Kerrie Anne Greenland (Éponine), Chris Durling (Enjolras), David McDonald (Thénardier), Jennifer Butt (Madame Thénardier), Austyn Myers (Gavroche), Rachel Schier (Little Cosette) NOTES: On My Own, Upon These Stones, Bring Him Home and two angles of the same One Day More Les Misérables - Dallas - August 2, 2014 (SJ Bernly's master) FORMAT:  VOB (no smalls) (SD) CAST: Nehal Joshi (Jean Valjean), Edward Watts (Javert), Allison Blackwell (Fantine), Dorcas Leung (Cosette), Justin Keyes (Marius), Elizabeth Judd (Éponine), John Campione (Enjolras), Steven Michael Walters (Thénardier), Christia Mantzke (Madame Thénardier) NOTES: A great capture of Dallas Theatre Center’s inventively staged production of Les Miserables. The much-talked about production did not disappoint; the modernized visuals create many new layers to the show, and make you think about events and characters in a whole new way. Nehal, Allison, Justin, and Christia were probably my favorites, but the entire cast is so talented, it’s difficult to choose any as standouts. A very nice capture overall. There are a couple quick dropouts in act one, but no major blackouts. There is one head that can be seen occasionally, but it only blocks a small portion of the stage and only affects the action for about 20-30 seconds of the entire show. It’s filmed in 16:9, with a mix of wides, mediums, and close-ups. The sound is excellent as usual. Includes curtain call and playbill scans. Les Misérables - Duisburg - 1996 (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (SD) CAST: Jerzy Jeszke (Jean Valjean), Hardy Rudolz (Javert), Cornelia Drese (Fantine), Deborah Dutcher (Cosette), Felix Martin (Marius), Sanni Luis (Éponine), Martin Berger (Enjolras), Tom Zahner (Thénardier), Anne Welte (Madame Thénardier), Willi Welp (The Bishop) Les Misérables - Dutch Revival - Spring, 2008 FORMAT:  MP4 (SD) CAST: René van Kooten (Jean Valjean), Wim van den Driessche (Javert), Nurlaila Karim (Fantine), Suzan Seegers (Cosette), Jamai Loman (Marius), Céline Purcell (Éponine), Freek Bartels (Enjolras), Gerben Grimmius (u/s Thénardier), Marjolein Algera (Madame Thénardier) NOTES: Complete show, Amateur capture A, Double dvd Les Misérables - Fifth National Tour - October 5, 2018 (hitmewithyourbethshot's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Nick Cartell (Jean Valjean), Josh Davis (Javert), Mary Kate Moore (Fantine), Jillian Butler (Cosette), Joshua Grosso (Marius), Paige Smallwood (Éponine), Matt Shingledecker (Enjolras), J Anthony Crane (Thénardier), Allison Guinn (Madame Thénardier), Sam Middleton (Gavroche), Cate Elefante (u/s Little Cosette), Matt Moisey (Grantaire), Monte J Howell (Combeferre), Tim Quartier (s/w Feuilly), Christopher Viljoen (Courfeyrac), Patrick Rooney (Jean Prouvaire), Gabriel Sidney Brown (Joly), Andrew Maughan (Lesgles), Felipe Barbosa Bombonato (Babet), John Ambrosino (Claquesous), Steve Czarnecki (Factory Foreman), Ashley Dawn Mortensen (Factory Girl), John Ambrosino (Bamatabois) Les Misérables - First Broadway Revival - November 11, 2006 FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Victor Hawks (u/s Jean Valjean), Norm Lewis (Javert), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Fantine), Ali Ewoldt (Cosette), Adam Jacobs (Marius), Celia Keenan-Bolger (Éponine), Aaron Lazar (Enjolras), Gary Beach (Thénardier), Jenny Galloway (Madame Thénardier), Jacob Levine (Gavroche), Drew Sarich (Grantaire) NOTES: A nice capture here of Victor as Valjean. The capture is a little on the dark side, but still enjoyable. Les Misérables - First Broadway Revival - February 17, 2007 FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Alexander Gemignani (Jean Valjean), Norm Lewis (Javert), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Fantine), Ali Ewoldt (Cosette), Adam Jacobs (Marius), Celia Keenan-Bolger (Éponine), Drew Sarich (u/s Enjolras), Gary Beach (Thénardier), Jenny Galloway (Madame Thénardier), Jacob Levine (Gavroche) NOTES: A really nice video of the first broadway revival. Widescreen. Cleaned up nicely in remastering. And it has Sarich. Les Misérables - First Broadway Revival - May 12, 2007 (Matinee) (jstarz's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Alexander Gemignani (Jean Valjean), Drew Sarich (u/s Javert), Lea Salonga (Fantine), Ali Ewoldt (Cosette), Adam Jacobs (Marius), Mandy Bruno (Éponine), Max von Essen (Enjolras), Gary Beach (Thénardier), Ann Harada (Madame Thénardier), Stephen Trafton (u/s Grantaire) NOTES: Filmed in widescreen (though encoded in 4:3, so there are bars at the top and bottom of the screen), this is a nice capture of some of the new cast members. Drew and Ann give great performances in their roles. The second disc also includes the first 15 minutes of the February 24, 2007 Evening show, filmed from the rear right orchestra. Les Misérables - First Broadway Revival - June 1, 2007 FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Alexander Gemignani (Jean Valjean), Ben Davis (Javert), Lea Salonga (Fantine), Ali Ewoldt (Cosette), Adam Jacobs (Marius), Marissa McGowan (Éponine), Max von Essen (Enjolras), Gary Beach (Thénardier), Ann Harada (Madame Thénardier) Les Misérables - First Broadway Revival - August 24, 2007 FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Drew Sarich (Jean Valjean), Robert Hunt (Javert), Nikki Renée Daniels (u/s Fantine), Ali Ewoldt (Cosette), Adam Jacobs (Marius), Megan McGinnis (Éponine), Max von Essen (Enjolras), Chip Zien (Thénardier), Becca Ayers (u/s Madame Thénardier), Brian D'Addario (Gavroche) NOTES: Some nice closeups/mediums. A nice capture of the new cast. Capture can be dark at times, but mostly in the darker scenes. Includes a technical difficulty when the Barricades first come out, the show is stopped and includes the announcement.. A- Les Misérables - Fourth UK & Ireland Tour - January, 2019 (House-Cam's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Killian Donnelly (Jean Valjean), Nic Greenshields (Javert), Katie Hall (Fantine), Bronwen Hanson (Cosette), Harry Apps (Marius), Tegan Bannister (Éponine), Will Richardson (Enjolras), Martin Ball (Thénardier), Sophie-Louise Dann (Madame Thénardier) Les Misérables - Hollywood Bowl - August 9, 2008 FORMAT:  WMV (HD) CAST: J Mark McVey (Jean Valjean), Brian Stokes Mitchell (Javert), Melora Hardin (Fantine), Michele Maika (Cosette), John Lloyd Young (Marius), Lea Michele (Éponine), Tom Lowe (Enjolras), Sage Ryan (Gavroche) NOTES: J. Mark McVey, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Lea Michele, Melora Hardin, John Lloyd Young, Michele Maika, Michael McCormick, Tom Lowe, Ruth Williamson. Juni's master filmed in widescreen and can be a little shakey at times in tight zooms. Nice to see the audience version compared to the Proshot one. A- Les Misérables - Japan - 1997

FORMAT: video |  TRADER'S NOTES: Looking for a replacement link CAST: Yuichiro Yamaguchi (Jean Valjean), Mayo Kawasaki (Javert), Hiromi Iwasaki (Fantine), Yu Hayami (Cosette), Kazukata Ishii (Marius), Minako Honda (Éponine), Kojiro Oka (Enjolras), Yukio Yamagata (Thénardier), Bibari Maeda (Madame Thénardier) NOTES: Yamaguchi’s first of fourteen year as Valjean. Les Misérables - Madrid - 1993 (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Pedro Ruy Blas (Jean Valjean), Miguel del Arco (Javert), Gema Castaño (Fantine), Luisa Torres (Cosette), Carlos Marín (Marius), Margarita Marbán (Éponine), Enrique R del Portal (Enjolras), Francisco La Hoz (Thénardier), Connie Philip (Madame Thénardier) Les Misérables - Madrid Revival - July 14, 2011 (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Gerónimo Rauch (Jean Valjean), David Ordinas (Javert), Virginia Carmona (Fantine), Talía del Val (Cosette), Guido Balzaretti (Marius), Lydia Fairén (Éponine), Daniel Diges (Enjolras), Enrique R del Portal (Thénardier) NOTES: Multi-Camera proshot Les Misérables - Netherlands - 1991/1992 (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  VOB (no smalls) (SD) CAST: Henk Poort (Jean Valjean), Ernst Daniël Smid (Javert), Pia Douwes (Fantine), Marika Lansen (u/s Cosette), Danny de Munk (Marius), Vera Mann (Éponine), Uwe Kröger (u/s Enjolras), Filip Bolluyt (u/s Thénardier), Simone Kleinsma (Madame Thénardier), Maya Hakvoort, Peter de Smet NOTES: This video starts with the Les Mis flag and the last scene is a close-up. Les Misérables - Paris - 1991 FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Robert Marien (Jean Valjean), Patrick Rocca (Javert), Marie Zamora (Cosette), Jérôme Pradon (Marius), Stéphanie Martin (Éponine), Julien Combey (Enjolras), Laurent Gendron (Thénardier), Marie-France Roussel (Madame Thénardier) NOTES: Act 1 + finale of act 2. This is 100% NOT Louise Pitre playing Fantine Les Misérables - Second Broadway Revival - March 1, 2014 (Preview) (Highlights) (where is your red schaaaf's master) FORMAT:  MOV (HD) CAST: Ramin Karimloo (Jean Valjean), Will Swenson (Javert), Caissie Levy (Fantine), Samantha Hill (Cosette), Andy Mientus (Marius), Nikki M James (Éponine), Kyle Scatliffe (Enjolras), Cliff Saunders (Thénardier), Keala Settle (Madame Thénardier), Gaten Matarazzo (Gavroche) NOTES: First preview. It includes most of the show. Loud excited audience. Blind shot from stage right third row, with no zooms. Keala Settle sprained her ankle at some point between The Robbery and One Day More, resulting in her not being in One Day More and using a cane during Wedding Chorale/Beggars at the Feast. Les Misérables - Second Broadway Revival - March 8, 2014 (Preview) (SunsetBlvd79's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (SD) CAST: Ramin Karimloo (Jean Valjean), Will Swenson (Javert), Caissie Levy (Fantine), Samantha Hill (Cosette), Andy Mientus (Marius), Nikki M James (Éponine), Kyle Scatliffe (Enjolras), Cliff Saunders (Thénardier), Keala Settle (Madame Thénardier), Joshua Colley (Gavroche) NOTES: Audience was full of excitement! The last 20 seconds are missing from the very end due to battery issues Les Misérables - Second Broadway Revival - August 21, 2014 (SJ Bernly's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Nathaniel Hackmann (u/s Jean Valjean), Earl Carpenter (Javert), Caissie Levy (Fantine), Samantha Hill (Cosette), Andy Mientus (Marius), Nikki M James (Éponine), Kyle Scatliffe (Enjolras), Cliff Saunders (Thénardier), Keala Settle (Madame Thénardier), Joshua Colley (Gavroche), Mia Sinclair Jenness (Little Cosette), Angeli Negron (Young Éponine), Adam Monley (The Bishop) NOTES: A fantastic capture of this lavish production. It’s refreshing to see different faces in the lead roles, and both Nathaniel and Earl carry the show well. Nathaniel’s vocals are powerful and he has a great rapport with Caissie and Samantha. A lovely capture overall with no obstruction. Look Down is mostly blacked out and there are a couple quick dropouts during The Bishop scene and Lovely Ladies, but the show is otherwise fully intact. There is also some washout in high contrast wide shots. It’s filmed in 16:9, with a mix of wides, mediums, and close-ups. The sound is excellent. Includes curtain call and playbill scans. Les Misérables - Second Broadway Revival - July 1, 2015 FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Ramin Karimloo (Jean Valjean), John Rapson (u/s Javert), Erika Henningsen (Fantine), Melissa Mitchell (u/s Cosette), Chris McCarrell (Marius), Brennyn Lark (Éponine), Wallace Smith (Enjolras), Gavin Lee (Thénardier), Rachel Izen (Madame Thénardier), Sam Chuck (Gavroche), Joe Spieldenner (Grantaire), Weston Wells Olson (s/w Combeferre) NOTES: Act I begins at "The Runaway Cart" and nearly complete Act II. Some obstructions, but audio is quite good. Rapson's last Javert. Les Misérables - Spanish Tour - December 21, 2013 (House-Cam's master)

FORMAT: video CAST: Nicholas Martinelli (Jean Valjean), Ignasi Vidal (Javert), Elena Medina (Fantine), Talía del Val (Cosette), Guido Balzeratti (Marius), Lydia Fairén (Éponine), Manu Pilas (u/s Enjolras), Armando Pita (Thénardier), Eva Digo (Madame Thénardier), Samuel Gomez (Grantaire) Les Misérables - Tecklenburg - 2006 (1) (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (SD) CAST: Chris Murray (Jean Valjean), Marc Clear (Javert), Jana Werner (Fantine), Barbara Köhler (Éponine) NOTES: Different from the other video of this production; multicam proshot. Definitely a different performance too.  

Les Misérables - Third UK (25th Anniversary) Tour - June 20, 2010 (thewho's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: John Owen-Jones (Jean Valjean), Earl Carpenter (Javert), Madalena Alberto (Fantine), Katie Hall (Cosette), Luke Kempner (u/s Marius), Rosalind James (Éponine), Jon Robyns (Enjolras), Ashley Artus (Thénardier), Lynne Wilmott (Madame Thénardier), Jordi Clark (Gavroche), David Lawrence (The Bishop), Adam Linstead (Grantaire), David Covey (Combeferre), Owain Williams (Feuilly), Christopher Jacobsen (Courfeyrac), Rhidian Marc (Joly), David Lawrence (Lesgles), Carl Mullaney (Claquesous), Carl Mullaney (Bamatabois) NOTES: Act 1 starts at At The End of the Day, Act 2 starts at Drink with me. okay quality though blurry and shaky throughout. Les Misérables - Third UK (25th Anniversary) Tour - September 17, 2010 (thewho's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Christopher Jacobsen (u/s Jean Valjean), Earl Carpenter (Javert), Madalena Alberto (Fantine), Katie Hall (Cosette), Gareth Gates (Marius), Rosalind James (Éponine), Jon Robyns (Enjolras), Ashley Artus (Thénardier), Lynne Wilmott (Madame Thénardier), David Lawrence (The Bishop), Adam Linstead (Grantaire), David Covey (Combeferre), Owain Williams (Feuilly), Peter Manchester (u/s Courfeyrac), Jamie Muscato (Jean Prouvaire), Rhidian Marc (Joly), David Lawrence (Lesgles), Luke Kempner (Montparnasse) NOTES: Barbican Center Theatre, London. First time in history two same productions of a major musical played in the same city. Les Misérables - West End - May 9, 1987 (House-Cam's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (SD) CAST: Martin Smith (u/s Jean Valjean), Clive Carter (Javert), Kathleen Rowe McAllen (Fantine), Jacinta Mulcahy (Cosette), Maurice Clarke (u/s Marius), Jayne Draper (Éponine), Martin George (Enjolras), David Delve (Thénardier), Myra Sand (Madame Thénardier), Cameron Stewart (u/s Grantaire) NOTES: Commonly mistaken as December 28, 1988! Martin Smith was part of the West End cast for 6 months starting December 1986, and the non-circulated first-generation DVD labels the date as 1987/05/09. Les Misérables - West End - December 28, 1991 (House-Cam's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Stig Rossen (Jean Valjean), Paul Leonard (Javert), Jenna Russell (Fantine), Sarah Jane Hassell (Cosette), Daryll Winslow (Marius), Meredith Braun (Éponine), Mike Sterling (u/s Enjolras), David Hampshire (u/s The Bishop), Amanda Dainty (u/s Factory Girl) NOTES: Black and white. Audio is nice and clear. A more rare color version does exist. (Proof: https://youtu.be/KI_KHnLwk_k) Les Misérables - West End - May 6, 2006 FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Tim Godwin (u/s Jean Valjean), Cornell John (Javert), Kerry Ellis (Fantine), Julia Möller (Cosette), Hayden Tee (Marius), AJ Callaghan (u/s Éponine), Nolan Dark (u/s Enjolras), Barry James (Thénardier), Tracie Bennett (Madame Thénardier) NOTES: Taper’s comments: Amanda and Nolan are better than the principles and Tim sounds uncannily like JOJ (Home Counties accent not-withstanding). He first understudied in 1999, when JOJ was the principal, which may explain the similarity. About half of the Chain Gang song missing and filming starts in earnest during Valjean on parole. Other parts missed because of ushers include several random one-second cover-ups, part of the wedding and about half of Finale. Heads in the way sometimes block the action on the lower right of the stage, but they are shot around well. Vantage point provides some interesting views such as of Fantine during Lovely Ladies. Wonderful performances from the entire cast but especially then soon-to-be-Elphaba Kerry Ellis. Les Misérables - West End - September 19, 2013 FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Daniel Koek (Jean Valjean), James Gant (u/s Javert), Na-Young Jeon (Fantine), Samantha Dorsey (Cosette), Rob Houchen (Marius), Carrie Hope Fletcher (Éponine), Anton Zetterholm (Enjolras), Cameron Blakely (Thénardier), Wendy Ferguson (Madame Thénardier), Ilan Galkoff (Gavroche), Caoimhe Judd (Little Cosette) Les Misérables - West End - June 14, 2014 FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Daniel Koek (Jean Valjean), Tam Mutu (Javert), Na-Young Jeon (Fantine), Samantha Dorsey (Cosette), Dougie Carter (Marius), Carrie Hope Fletcher (Éponine), Anton Zetterholm (Enjolras), Cameron Blakely (Thénardier), Wendy Ferguson (Madame Thénardier), Carl Mullaney (Grantaire) NOTES: Final performance of the 2013/14 cast Les Misérables - West End - July 9, 2015 (Highlights) (musicalmania123's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Peter Lockyer (Jean Valjean), Jeremy Secomb (Javert), Rachelle Ann Go (Fantine), Zoe Doano (Cosette), Rob Houchen (Marius), Carrie Hope Fletcher (Éponine), Bradley Jaden (Enjolras), Phil Daniels (Thénardier), Katy Secombe (Madame Thénardier) NOTES: Highlights only. Most of Act 1 and first 20 minutes of Act 2. Les Misérables - West End - May, 2011 FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Jonathan Williams (u/s Jean Valjean), Norm Lewis (Javert), Rebecca Seale (Fantine), AJ Callaghan (u/s Cosette), Gareth Gates (Marius), Samantha Barks (Éponine), Killian Donnelly (Enjolras), Martin Ball (Thénardier), Katy Secombe (Madame Thénardier) Les Misérables - West End - Spring, 2013 FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Chris Holland (u/s Jean Valjean), Tam Mutu (Javert), AJ Callaghan (u/s Fantine), Samantha Dorsey (Cosette), Jamie Ward (Marius), Danielle Hope (Éponine), Christopher Jacobsen (Enjolras), Cameron Blakely (Thénardier), Vicky Entwistle (Madame Thénardier) NOTES: Please make sure your copy isn't September 19, 2013!

[freddyfreebat]

Luca Guadagnino on Creating His HBO Series, Trump’s America, and Why He’s Remaking ‘Scarface’

by Brent Lang

Luca Guadagnino, the Oscar-nominated auteur behind “Call Me By Your Name,” is taking his swooning, lyrical style to the small-screen with “We Are Who We Are,” an immersive and deeply moving coming-of-age story.

The HBO-Sky series, which debuts this September, follow two teenagers, Fraser (Jack Dylan Grazer) and Caitlin (Jordan Kristine Seamón), who live on a military base in Italy. It explores their burgeoning friendship — Fraser is artistic, shy, and volatile, while Caitlin is more outgoing, but also dealing with her own nagging insecurities. The series, Guadagnino’s first for TV, also grapples with issues of sexuality and gender identity. He directed all eight episodes of “We Are Who We Are,” and says he purposely set the show in the midst of the 2016 U.S. presidential election as a way to comment on the political tumult unleashed by Donald Trump’s victory.

Guadagnino spoke to Variety shortly after the first trailer for “We Are Who We Are” was released.

How would you describe “We Are Who We Are”? Is it a TV series, a longer narrative feature, a miniseries?

I feel like on the one hand that this is a new film of mine. It feels like a movie to me, but I enjoyed the episodic-ness of the story. This is a series and it depends on how it clicks with an audience if we will see these people again. I have sort of a penchant for bringing back to life characters that I love. I truly love all the characters in this show. The greatness of doing TV is that if there’s a good outcome, this can come back, which would be beautiful to me.

What inspired the project?

Lorenzo Mieli [ed. note: who produced the show for The Apartment along with Mario Gianani for Wildside, both Fremantle companies] and Paolo Giordano and Francesca Manieri had developed a concept about the life of teenagers today vis-à-vis gender fluidity in American suburbia. When they talked to me about it, the first thing I said was I’m less interested in the topic as a sort of starting point. I’m more interested in the behavior of these people. I think in order not to be generic why don’t we set this in a micro-America, a place that can work as the part for the whole. I proposed the military world. I had a very wonderful conversation once many, many years ago with Amy Adams — you get to have these meetings with these great actors as one of the privileges of this work — and she told me that she spent part of her upbringing in Vicenza, in a military base in Italy. From synapses connecting to each other, I had this image in my mind.

Because this is a series, I said to Lorenzo, “If this goes well, next time they can move to another base. They can be in Japan or Africa or anywhere.”

In the show, the characters refer to the military base as ‘America’ despite the fact that it is in the middle of Italy. That geographic dichotomy seems to mirror the way that many of the characters feel a kind of emotional displacement or discomfort. Did you view the setting as a larger metaphor?

I always feel displaced. I never feel in the right place as a person. I do believe that despite every action we can take to claim the nature of our identity, eventually the human condition is that we are always trying to reclaim an emotional state of belonging. This show is about the kids not knowing who they are, not knowing what they are, and feeling displaced. Of course, there’s a transitional element of being a teenager that is specific to that age. It’s said that when you’re grown up, you know more about yourself, but truthfully all of these characters feel lost.

Fraser and Caitlin are both 14. That strikes me as an interesting age, because you’re definitely developing a stronger sense of identity, and yet you’re still wholly dependent on your parents.  Why did you want to focus on characters at that particular age?

If I remember when I was 14, I was deeply, deeply unsatisfied by my incapacity to understand how to put in action the big plan I had for myself in my mind. I knew what I wanted, but I didn’t know how to get it. Eventually I even realized that I didn’t completely know what I wanted. I love this age, because you have grand ambitions and at the same time you have no means to fulfill those ambitions. You have only curiosity, only craving, only the capacity for experimentation. Every day seems to be a fight between life and death. That’s something beautiful about that age.

When the trailer for “We Are Who We Are” dropped, there were a lot of comparisons online to “Call Me By Your Name.” Both works are set in Italy and involve younger men. Do you see a commonality?

I will never complain about people’s laziness, but that sounds very lazy. “Call Me By Your Name” is about the past seen through the prism of a cinematic narrative and this is about the here and now. This is about the bodies and souls of now. I think they are so different.

Why did you decide to set the show during the 2016 presidential election?

The effects of the 2016 election are still being felt right here, right now. The seismic shift throughout America and the world of what it meant that Obama’s presidency was followed by Trump’s presidency and how people did not see it coming, are still being grappled with. It has to be said, that just as [Silvio] Berlusconi was the autobiography of Italy, Trump can also be seen as a sad chapter in the autobiography of the United States.

We are dealing with a kind of populism that springs from the plutocrats. It is shaping the world while at the same time a phalanx of youth is shaking the world as well and not taking that bitter medicine.

“We Are Who We Are” has a fair amount of full-frontal male nudity. That’s rare in American films and television shows. Why do you think that’s the case?

I always felt embarrassed when I saw in films the camera strategically not showing something. I also think that to show nudity — male, female — if it’s in the context of something that makes sense, is a way to liberate the eye. HBO has been wonderful in endorsing my choices. They could have felt provocative or radical, but I saw them as organic. By the way, there is nudity in general in my movies. That’s part of living. We are naked part of the day and part of the day we are dressed up. I always think I should pay respect to that condition of being human. Sometimes we’re naked, so why not?

You have about a half-dozen projects listed as in development on your IMDB. What’s behind that?

I am a relentless workaholic. I’m someone who has never tried any drugs, because I’m too scared for my own health. But I feel like when I was born, I fell on a “Scarface” mountain of cocaine, because I work 13 hours a day.

Are you working on a sequel to “Call Me By Your Name”?

I call it a second chapter, a new chapter, a part two or something like that. I love those characters. I love those actors. The legacy of the movie and its reception made me feel I should continue walking the path with everybody. I’ve come up with a story and hopefully we will be able to put it on the page soon.

You’re also attached to a remake of “Scarface.” What attracted you to that project?

People claim that I do only remakes [ed. note: Guadagnino previously remade “Suspiria” and his film “A Bigger Splash” was inspired by “La Piscine”] , but the truth of the matter is cinema has been remaking itself throughout its existence. It’s not because it’s a lazy way of not being able to find original stories. It’s alway about looking at what certain stories say about our times. The first “Scarface” from Howard Hawks was all about the prohibition era. Fifty years later, Oliver Stone and Brian De Palma make their version, which is so different from the Hawks film. Both can stand on the shelf as two wonderful pieces of sculpture. Hopefully ours, forty-plus years later, will be another worthy reflection on a character who is a paradigm for our own compulsions for excess and ambition. I think my version will be very timely.

What have you been watching during lockdown?

I watched again “Comizi d’amore” (Love Meetings) by Pasolini. I saw a great movie called “The Vast of Night,” and I watched for the second or third time “Doctor Sleep,” which is a movie I admire greatly.

[isitgintimeyet]

Road To The Aisles

AO3

Previous

So with a bit of powering through the block, here is the penultimate chapter. Thanks for sticking with this story and all your  comments, likes and reblogs are much appreciated.

Thanks to @mo-nighean-rouge @wickedgoodbooks @happytoobserve for their support with the story

Chapter 24: An Enduring Commitment

Ever mine, ever thine, ever ours.

Letter from Beethoven to his Immortal Beloved. (Also used in Sex and the City)

Claire, in that blissful state between sleeping and wakefulness, rolled over and stretched out, her hand automatically reaching for the hard body next to her. The unaccustomed coolness of the empty sheets quickly pulled her fully awake. She lay still for a moment, content to savour the anticipation of the day ahead, triggering a small flutter of butterflies in her stomach.

Propping her back against the pillows, she could hear a flurry of activity outside the bedroom. A familiar low voice spoke, too softly for her to make out the words. The reply, however, came through loud and clear, in scolding tones.

“Unca Jamie, I said no! Mam has told me I’ve tae look after Auntie Claire taeday. Mam says ye canna see her, no’ even a wee keek. Mam says ye’re like a rat up a drainpipe given half a chance. So ye need tae go away… right now.”

There was a small knock on the door and Wee Jamie’s head peeped around the door.

“Are ye awake, Care Bear?” He ran in and perched on the end of the bed before she had a chance to answer.

“I had tae tell Unca Jamie tae go away jes’ now.”

Claire smiled. “I heard.”

“Weel, he canna be seein’ ye ‘til the kirk, Mam says ‘tis bad luck. Why?”

“I don’t really know. Maybe people are scared the groom will see the bride and suddenly change his mind?”

Wee Jamie scooted up the bed and snuggled into Claire. “Unca Jamie wouldna change his mind, no’ about ye, Auntie.”

“Aw, thank you. So you protect me from your uncle today, then.”

“Aye, I will,” he gave a big sigh. “I’ve an awfa lot of jobs tae do taeday, ye ken. And mam told me tae ask ye what ye want fer breakfast. Mam thought a couple o’ boiled eggs wi’ soldiers might do ye.”

“But,” he added conspiratorially. “Ye could always have toast wi’ chocolate spread… I can help ye eat it.”

“Boiled eggs sound great.”

Wee Jamie pulled a face in disgust as he climbed from the bed. “I’ll go tell Mam. She says tae stay here fer breakfast, ‘cos ye ken what Unca Jamie’s like… a rat—“

“I know,” Claire laughed.  “Thank you, Jamie. You go and tell your mum what a big help you are to me. And tell Uncle Jamie to behave himself… or else.”

***********

Feeling guilty at the prospect of being served breakfast in bed, Claire quickly dressed in leggings and an old university sweatshirt of Jamie’s. She opened the large mahogany wardrobe and gazed at her wedding dress hanging there, now free of its protective covering. The kaleidoscope of butterflies resumed their fluttering in her stomach. Six hours to go…

“Claire, can I come in?”

Rushing to the door, Claire let Jenny in. She placed a plate with two boiled eggs, and an army of toast soldiers on the small side table together with a large mug of coffee.

Claire smiled appreciatively. “Thanks so much. I’m not sure how much I can eat though. My stomach is flip flopping all over the place.”

“Ye’d best try and eat something. It’ll be a long time ‘till we have the dinner and we canna be having ye passing out at the altar.”

Jenny moved over to the open wardrobe. “So this is it?” She asked, recalling much cherished memories of another wedding gown at Lallybroch nine years before.

Bringing her thoughts back to the present bride, she continued with genuine emotion in her voice. “Oh, it’s jes’ lovely. Ye’ll look beautiful in it.”

She sat on the bed as Claire half heartedly dipped a soldier into one of the eggs. “How are ye feeling? Ma brother canna stop still, he’s fidgeting about the place and keeps trying tae see ye, of course. I’ve ordered him tae take William fer a nice long walk. They both need tae burn off some energy and it’s a grand day outside.”

“Like I said, my stomach is in knots, but in a good way… does that make sense? I just want it to be three o’clock, yet, on the other hand I don’t want the day to go too quickly.”

“Aye, I ken what ye mean. I was jes’ the same maself. I wanted tae be able tae remember every minute. But Da, now, he was sae nervous, he couldna stop shaking. He fair sprinted down the aisle. I had tae hold him back and try tae enjoy the moment.”

Jenny stood up. “Ah, weel, I’ll go and make sure Jamie goes fer a walk. Then ye can come down fer a bit, if ye’d like. I dinna want ye to feel ye’re in isolation up here.”

Claire took a swig of coffee. “Thanks, Jenny.”

“Nae bother.”

“Not just for this… or today… but for everything.”

"I always wanted a sister, as well as my clot-heid of a brother. It’s taken Jamie some time, but I now really feel like I’ve got one. We're family."

Jenny fumbled in the pocket of her skirt and pulled out an old leather box. “Claire, I ken Jamie has given ye our mam’s pearls, but I have the matching earrings here. If ye like, ye could wear them today… fer the ‘something borrowed’.”  

She opened the box and passed them to Claire. “I mean, ye dinna have tae.” She quickly added. “I willna mind if ye already have others tae wear.”

Claire wiped her hands on her leggings before taking the box. “Jenny, they’re lovely. Of course I’ll wear them. I don’t know what to say… thank you so much.

“I’d best away now.  I’ll let ye know when the coast is clear.”

Jenny bent down and gave Claire a big hug. Claire didn’t speak, but hugged Jenny even tighter before letting go. She wiped her eyes as Jenny left the room.

As soon as Jenny closed the door, Claire could hear footsteps rushing away along the landing.

“James Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Fraser, I ken what ye’re up tae, creeping ‘round here.” Jenny called out sternly.

“I was only going tae see if Claire wanted tae say hello tae William. She hasna seen the bairn this morning.” Jamie sounded very sheepish.

“G’on fer yer walk and dinna be mithering Claire. It’ll all be worth it this afternoon, when ye see her coming down the aisle.”

Claire felt a shiver of excitement up and down her spine at those words. She glanced at the clock. Only five and a half hours to go…

********

Wee Jamie loudly announced outside her bedroom door when it was safe for Claire to venture downstairs. He gallantly accompanied her into the kitchen and insisted on standing guard at the back door, despite numerous protestations that it wasn’t really necessary.

Claire poured a coffee and settled herself at the kitchen table to await the arrival of Geillis. The kitchen, the heart of Fraser-Murray family life, was unusually quiet, the only sound being Wee Jamie singing a song to himself, featuring lyrics clearly about a variety of toilet habits.

Growing up, this quietness had been the norm but now, ever since meeting Jamie, she relished the noisy mealtimes around this table, with several generations coming together to share food and whisky (adults only), conversation and laughter…and love.

The scrape of a chair against the stone tiled floor roused Claire from her thoughts. A warm hand reached across to lightly rest on her upturned palm.

“Ye were miles away there, lass. Ye’re no’ having second thoughts about our Jamie?” Brian asked, a broad smile on his face.

Claire returned the smile. “No, I was just thinking about mealtimes here, around this table. So different to my life growing up.”

“Different, aye. But fer the better, I hope?”

“Yes, of course. It’s so nice to feel part of something, you know?”

“Aye, I do. I can tell ye, the first time Jamie brought ye tae Lallybroch and we sat around here, I looked at ye and I kent ye belonged. No’ jes’ wi’ Jamie, but here wi’ all of us. He may have been a fool about some things, but no’ about ye.”

“I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”

Brian released her hand for a moment before placing a small coin in her palm.

“Silver sixpence fer yer shoe… if ye’d like. Ye dinna have tae use it.”

“Of course, I’d like to.” She studied the coin for a moment. “You know Jenny has lent me Ellen’s pearl earrings… for the something borrowed.”

“Aye, she said she would. Ye ken, ma Ellen woulda loved ye. And ye remind me of her in many ways. No’ jes’ in looks. Her hair was red like our Jamie’s, and her eyes werena amber, but they were as warm and sparkling as yers are now. And she always had a calm, practical nature—like yers.” Brian’s voice began to crack. “And love, always so much love.”

“Aye,” he repeated. “She woulda loved ye. We went tae tell her yesterday, Jamie and I, we paid a visit tae the kirk yard. Left her some flowers. She always loved this time of year, ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’ as the poet says, and tae ken her wee Sawny is getting married now, here…weel—“

A panicked yell came from the back door. “Auntie, there’s a car here, but I dinna think it’s Unca Jamie.”

“Oh, ‘tis alright,” he continued with a loud relieved sigh, ‘‘Tis only yer friend, G.”

“I think that’s my cue for us to go and start getting ready.” She moved around to Brian and gave him a hug. “I’ll see you in church, then.”

***********

Jamie shifted uncomfortably on the hard wooden pew. Despite the chill of the late October day, he was suddenly very hot. William, held tightly in his arms, seemed to sense his father’s nervousness and pouted before starting to grizzle, quietly at first, then building up to a loud wail.

Isobel, in her wedding role as baby minder for the ceremony, was positioned in the pew behind Jamie and Ian. “Hush,” she crooned softly as she tickled William under the chin.

Distracted from his woes, William grinned at his aunt and then amused himself by grabbing his father’s curls with both hands and babbling.

“Dadadada.”

Jamie’s heart filled with pride as he gazed at his son, clad in a little white shirt, Fraser tartan trews and matching waistcoat.

Ian nudged Jamie gently. “There’s nae doubt who his Da is. How ye doing?”

Jamie licked his lips and tried to swallow. “Fine,” he croaked. “A wee bit nervous but… shouldn’t she be here by now?”

“It’s a bride's prerogative tae be late. It’s only ten minutes. Yer sister kept me waiting for nigh on twenty, remember?”

Jamie smiled at the memory of how worried Ian had been, convinced that Jenny had changed her mind and was, at that moment, somewhere on the road to Glasgow. He had no doubts about Claire, he knew that she was on her way, but the waiting was excruciating.

Suddenly the atmosphere in the church changed. The organ music which had been playing quietly in the background ceased. The priest strolled down the side aisle and halted in front of Jamie and Ian.

“They’re here,” the priest whispered and indicated for the congregation to rise.

As the organ sounded with the opening bars of Händel’s ‘Largo’, Jamie stood and passed William to Isobel, wiping his hands, now damp with sweat, on his kilt. He tried to keep his eyes fixed on the altar, unsure if he was allowed to turn around. Ian had no such concern and craned around to watch before, smiling broadly, he clapped Jamie on the back.

Unable to contain himself any longer, Jamie swivelled around to watch the procession down the aisle. Wee Jamie led the way, carrying a small velvet cushion with a piece of Fraser tartan laid on top. Jamie knew that the two white gold wedding rings were nestled inside that fabric. His nephew’s face was a mask of concentration, only breaking into a smile when he spied first his mother, clutching Maggie to stop her toppling off the pew, and then his father and uncle.

Geillis brought up the rear, her bronze satin gown complimenting her strawberry blond hair, caught up at one side by an ornate pearl comb. The simplicity of the dress, with its cowl neckline, ensured that the congregation’s main focus was where it should be… with Claire.

Jamie caught his breath as he looked at Claire. The late autumn sunlight streaming through the church windows caught the highlights of auburn and gold in her hair, falling in loose curls onto her shoulders, the only adornment a simple pearl headband matching her necklace and earrings. In her hands she carried a bouquet of creamy peony roses and pale orange tinged ranunculus with autumn berries, seed pods and leaves, tied together with a bronze ribbon.

He felt tears prick his eyes as he recognised how Claire had lovingly included his mother in their wedding, wearing Ellen’s necklace and earrings and carrying peony roses, his mother’s favourite.

As she drew closer, he could see the detail on her dress, enhancing the creamy whiteness of her shoulders and neck. She was never less than beautiful to him, but here, now, he knew she was all he ever needed…  companion, confidante, wife, lover. She stopped alongside him and flashed him a warm, yet nervous, smile. His heart was so full, it felt like it would burst.

As Jamie and Claire said the familiar words of the traditional wedding service, repeated by millions of couples over hundreds of years, each vow, each promise felt, to them, fresh and unique, a covenant for the two of them alone. In front of their family and friends, they made their commitment to each other, their love clear in every word they spoke.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife.” The priest intoned the final authoritative words.

“Dadadada,” yelled William at the top of his voice, clapping his hands.

The air of solemnity immediately lifted throughout the guests. With applause, cheers and much laughter, Mr. and Mrs. Fraser shared their first kiss as husband and wife.