#outlander 5x4

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MY NEW AESTHETIC: JAMIE STARING AT CLAIRE STARING AT A BABY

[indynerdgirl]

Anybody else notice in today's episode that Roger got off his horse just like Jamie does???

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jamie & his girls: jenny, faith, bree, and claire

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started from the bottom, now we’re here

*in the woods*

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Outlander Moments of Impact: I Have No Life, But You

To be attracted to someone is often merely the submission of the senses; and even more often than not, it’s outside of our control. We are drawn to whom we are drawn. There’s no formula.

To love someone is a choice. To choose to stay, to choose them over and over and over; to choose them when you hate them, when they’ve betrayed you. To wrap your life into their arms and decide on them regardless of what will follow.

Jamie and Claire Fraser’s love story is about as unconventional as it gets. 

Some might claim it’s over-the-top...that it lacks realism. And not simply because of the time travel involved, but because of the events surrounding their love; who could endure all of that suffering let alone love the person on the other side of survival? 

The Frasers have been through hell and high water this much is sure. Yet it is the tender moments when they confess their love that gives this relationship a truth that allows it to transcend from page, screen and directly into our hearts. 

A scene that exemplifies this in a pure, simple, yet lovely way is in 5x4 “The Company We Keep” when Jamie and Claire share their love, their doubts, their desires in the forest. And they choose each other again. 

Let’s break down this scene for some context, shall we?

The tension of the day melting away by the firelight, the Frasers finally have a moment of reprieve. Basking in a rare occurrence of fun, they dance. 

Taking her hand, Jamie spins Claire with adorable delight. They have lost so much; to watch them enjoy life is nothing short of wonderful. 

Claire beams, glows, is alight with love. Laughing with glee, unable to contain her joy, she watches Jamie dance for the first time. She just loves him loves him loves him. 

Drawing close to each other, arm in arm, the walk away together from the party escaping the crowd.

Sweetly, Claire confesses, “I didn’t know you could dance like that.” Even to this day, she continues to learn things about Jamie; she relishes discovering him. 

Unable to contain their unbridled happiness, they giggle the whole way. Teenagers once again, they savor every second in soft, warm affection. 

Taking her hand, Jamie twirls Claire again, before tucking her into himself. He wants her always close to him. 

They go further and further into the isolated woods. Bursting out in a chuckle Claire questions, “Where are you taking me?” Jamie chirps, “Away from prying eyes.” I want you alone. I want time with you, just you and me. 

Claire flirting, “Well, I should warn you: my husband’s as jealous as he is handsome.” 

Continuing to play, sneaking out from under his arm, Claire states, “And you should know, I can knock you off your feet, sir.” Seeing her wobbling, Jamie jokes, “You can’t even walk in a straight line.”

Humorously, Claire inquires, “Can you recite the alphabet backwards?” Throwing it right back, Jamie responds, “I expect so. English or Greek?” It is almost as if these two have just met and are exploring one another; their humor mingling with their desire. 

Conceding, “Oh, well, never mind. If you can recite either of those forwards, then you’re in better condition than I.” Claire captures Jamie’s waist, kissing him. 

Walking away from her, the mood shifts ever so slightly to something more serious at hand. Tentatively, “There’s a…a question I want to ask you.”

Eyes still twinkling from him, “What?”

Pausing for just a second, face shining, Jamie asks, “Do you want wee Bonnie? Do you want to keep her?”

Approaching Claire he continues, “We have a big house. And I’ve seen you wi’ her, Sassenach. I’ve seen how you would’ve looked with Bree. And I thought, maybe this might be the last chance for us to raise a bairn together.” Jamie’s face is full of emotion: loss from having missed out on Bree, desire for every experience with Claire, and hope for their future hand in hand. He wants to offer Claire the world. He would lay it at her feet that she would lack no good thing.

Silently listening until now, Claire knows she must inquire, “What would you think if she stayed?” She understands well what this conversation means to her husband, but she also knows that there is another couple who have suffered the loss of a child, and they have the opportunity to give them one. 

Not understanding yet, Jamie presses, “Here? In Brownsville?”

Taking Jamie’s hand, “It’s been suggested. Lucinda’s taken a liking to her And I think she needs our wee Bonnie more than anyone. She’d be in good hands.”

Practically, Jamie agrees, explaining it would be a blessing to the Brown’s estate. But then he adds, “I have no life, but you, Claire.” He sees she is his world. Everything he is, he desires, culminate in the woman standing before him. She is it. 

“But if you wanted another child, I thought that perhaps I might give ye one. One that you wouldn’t have to suffer carrying.” He seeks that she miss out on nothing with him. Yet he also wants her to bear no more pain than she already has.

Overwhelmed, Claire’s eyes fill with passion. She struggles, searching to even find the words. Who this man is to her. 

Claire leans into Jamie, affirming, “Please know, that if it’s at all possible, I love you even more for wanting to take the chance.”

“And I also regret that we were never parents together.” Claire is making sure Jamie knows that she feels exactly as he does. Despite being able to raise Bree, she missed him every second and felt his absence with every breath. 

Yet Claire is nothing if not honest, so she claims, “But, regret, isn’t reason enough.” Jamie’s face falls ever so slightly as he grasps the truth of Claire’s words. 

Sensing his masked disappointment, his grief, Claire professes with every fibre of her being, “l love our life.”

“I love our home together.”  Slowly, she is healing the wounds of his heart with the balm of her professed love, her choice of him regardless of the cost.  

“But, would we even be the best home for her? And then there’s our obituary.” Even in their desire, Claire practically recognizes their reality: danger follows them. 

Holding her hand, Jamie brings it to his lips and kisses it. All these gestures continually show Claire she’s not alone anymore in the world anymore. They aren’t alone. 

“I am grateful for every day we have.” You and I: we are enough. Every second we have is enough. You are more than enough for me, Jamie.

With that sparkle in his eye that only Claire can give, Jamie agrees, “As am I.” And they kiss.

Throwing her arms around him, squeezing him tight, tears flow down her cheeks. Claire holds fast to Jamie. She can embrace him and he is really there. 

And then, for a brief glorious moment, they linger in each other’s atmosphere. 

When Jamie and Claire made the decision for her to go back through the stones, and back in time and space, they did so for her child: Bree. Claire would have gladly died with Jamie that fateful day ...if not for their Bree. 

They made the sacrifice so that their flesh and blood could live and the legacy of their love would walk the earth. 

Despite the fact that she knew her life and the life of her child would be spared at Culloden, Claire also knew well that a piece her heart would perish with Jamie. Something that could never be replaced. Something that no amount of time exists to fix. 


When Jamie released the most precious and dear person on earth to him to sustain their lives, he did so prepared to die, prepare to not have to go on living without them. Yet, he survived. 

The chasm between Jamie and Claire was tangible to all around them, even if it remained unspoken. You can burn the clothing, you can force yourself to never utter their name, but you cannot erase their fingerprints on your heart. And they both had to choose to go on every day for twenty years silently calling through the skies for their lost one. 

But on this night in the woods, the same setting where their love sparked, the home they once lost has been restored. Their daughter is alive. She is well. She is with them. They are both alive. They are well. They are together. 

Confessing and claiming their love yet again they affirm: you are my home and you always will be. You are the lean-to that keeps out the rain. You are what gives me life. And that is enough. 

Despite it all, they would make the same choice again and again and again. 

“Then kiss me, Claire," he whispered, “And know that you are more to me than life, and I have no regret.” 

“I do know this: even now, after all the pain, and death, and heartbreak that followed, I still would make the same choice.”

[ecampbellsoup]

hello!!! just wondering how you're preparing yourself for Jamie dancing and bowing to Claire!! I'm leaning into it and spiraling about how soft and in love they are to anyone who'll listen 🥺

hello there!

firstly, i see you with your new icon of the adorable frasers about to dance; i see you. 👀

secondly, “i’m leaning into it and spiraling about how soft and in love they are…” ok, but this gets it on all kinds of levels. v soft. v in love. v precious. v adorable. 

and lastly, how am i preparing meself? i am definitely not ready. if the scene is half as cute as the stills, we are all goners. i mean just look at them:

LOOK AT HOW cute JAMIE’S WEE JIG IS! reminds me of when murtagh danced to help find jamie 😭

LOOK AT CLAIRE’S GLEE WHEN JAMIE TAKES HER HAND! reminds me of their time at lallybroch when life was simple and free.

LOOK AT HIM BOWING TO HER. reminds me of when he bowed low to her at their wedding and before the battle of prestonpans. 

…ARE YE KIDDING ME?

also, we have never seen jamie and claire dance. i will absolutely melt away into oblivion if they give us a fraser dance; give me slow, sweet closeness and I WILL LOSE IT. give us all the fraser feels. 

bring it 5x4. 

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CUDDLY FRASERS LIVING THEIR BEST LIFE

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JAMIE KISSING CLAIRE’S FOREHEAD LIKE IT’S HIS JOB. SO TENDER. SUCH LOVE. MUCH PASSION.