During the tumultuous reign of Mary I, Claire and Jamie meet. A Scottish Laird and a French ambassador’s daughter would be the perfect match, they think. But, her parents have other plans in the form of one Earl of Oxenford, Francis Randall. Jamie and Claire’s relationship betrays her betrothal to the Earl, and risks her reputation, virtue, and her own family to be together.
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Preview
Lallybroch, Late September 1757
“James Murray, ye slow down right now! I dinna want tae be cleaning up yer scratches again!” Ellen Murray hollered at her wild son.
It was nearing the end of harvest, all the crops tucked safely away for now and a chill settled in the bones of the estate’s inhabitants. It was likely the last day outside before winter cooped them up inside every day. The clearances and famines had long passed for the time being, but they could still feel their lingering touch over a decade later. But still, they had survived the worst of it. They always had. The long line of Murrays could attest to that.
James flung his body like a ragdoll on the gravel of the expansive courtyard by the manor house and shrieked in delight. He was currently fending off a ‘filthy Sassenach’ and claiming freedom for his country with just the flimsy stick in his hand. It was the truth, though the adults often muttered it was just stories of ‘the faeries and make-believe’. He would defend his mam and home against the lobsterbacks for it was his duty as would-be Laird of Lallybroch.
I also believe that someone's behaviour and attitude when you meet them in person and look them straight in the eyes speak volumes much more than an image or video we see on our screens. Do you think Sam had the demeanor of a Bachelor? Even if he's an actor?
Spot on Anon. I was fortunate enough to be in the same room with Sam for hours, watching his demeanour, his manner, his eyes and to feel his energy. I've got an uncanny skill at reading people, and situations. It is one of my God-given gifts. I'm aware that statement comes across as slightly arrogant but there's no other way I can really put it. Sorry. Lol.
I'd love to meet Cait too so that I can suss her true self out. I'll know what she's all about instantly.
I won't bore you with details about Sam because I've already given a detailed description of my analysis and of his personality in my Melboune Hublander posts.
What I will reiterate, though, is that it was as clear as day (to me), that he is not a fuckboy bachelor. Nope. No way, Jose. It was just as clear that he was not Gay. That, I am certain of 😉. He gave off major straight, sensible hard-working vibes. Working with great purpose. As I stated in my original analysis, if he isn't with Cait, he is certainly in a relationship. I felt that strongly.
I’ve met both Sam and Caitriona, one on one, seen them together, close, not on set. I saw him look for her, hurriedly climbing the wooden stairs to reach her. There’s absolutely no doubt, he’s in a committed relationship and that relationship is with Caitriona Balfe. Even as an actor, his playboy, single ‘player’ image is a dismal failure. He lacks the emotional push to make it sustainable.
Addendum: When Sam entered the bistro venue, he was bombarded with female fans, eager to meet half of the magnificent duo. Rather than socialize with them, he asked where Caitriona was ….the crowd said ‘upstairs’ and he made a beeline for his partner, his woman, his wife.
Now they say is S the one who can't stand her...lol lol...and they SEE love and afecttion in Tait....
Si la gente puede escribir jajaja sin reirse también puede escribir lo que quieran porque ellos pueden parecer idiotas y actuar como idiotas, pero no te dejes engañar, es que son realmente idiotas🤡
If people can write lol without laughing they can also write whatever they want because they can look like idiots and act like idiots, but don't be fooled, they are really idiots🤡
Hello. I'm in the bar & restaurant industry on the west coast, and I wanted to say I've known Ashley for years in our industry. That woman is one of the hardest working in the business. She pretty much singlehandedly brought Jagermeister into the cocktail world in the US, has created inclusive events for bartenders across the US & Europe, and also created award winning campaigns for the brand. She told me she has been getting the rudest DMs since announcing her role and it pisses me off (thank God she is not on tumblr). social media isn't all real, it's marketing. People let you see what they want you to see.
Hello... thanks for your message. i don't doubt she works hard, but I do have doubts she can put a good marketing strategy together to bring the brand beyond the fandom of S or OL for that matter.
Your comparison with the Jägermeister brand is flawed in my opinion as that is a 90 year old established brand opposed to a just 4 year old brand that hasn't got much established beyond the OL fandom, appealing mostly to his most ardent fans, while the majority doesn't really care about it.
And dare I say you lost me at her 'singlehandedly' bringing it into the cocktails world.... sorry, that sounds rather naive for a long term global established brand. As well as all these 'awards', nice but that doesn't establish a brand in an already saturated market.
And that is exactly where my reserve comes from. I do see no strategy. Influencers on IG are just a very small part of a marketing strategy. It all begins with the story, a website where you do not get redirected as fast as possible to the distributor website to buy. Why would i buy???? Tell me, that is what the customer is looking for.
And with that, you can use Google Analytics, the most used and must have tool for marketing nowadays on the web. There is where you learn to adapt you strategy. Know the demography of your clients, study the search keywords and adapt your website text to improve your Google ranks. As most of your clients will come from Google, not via IG. IG is a next tool to use but you first have to have your basis. It is a science and brands who do not see it are at loss.
How did I know so quickly how long Jägermeister has been on the market? Google, instantly told me as it is on the website. Any idea in how many countries Jägermeister is sold? See the website. Any idea in how many countries SS is sold...... where would I go to know? Tell me!
See those simple things are wrong with it, people will not find things easily, and when they ever find the website they wont be convinced this is what they need to buy when they get redirected instantly. So it isn't as much about Ashley, and i surely regret she's getting rude DMs. It's about getting the basis of the marketing strategy in place and work from there. Mixing cocktails in bars and influencers on IG, and all the random videos out there on different accounts, where a number of them is not the correct place to advertise (I mean SH's followers in majority are there for his work, not his booze. The endlessly way of advertising his booze at nausea to people that are not interested in it has turned more and more people off and done him no good).
You can all look away from that, and make your excuses for it, or call me a hater or a negative person. It doesn't change the facts we see.
And finally about social media, it is one of the small tools of marketing, again Google Analytics, Google Adds, Search words are a much bigger part. But when you use IG professionally, don't show how you get piss drunk with friends when you're selling alcohol. I don't see that on Matt Neal's account as ambassador of Uncle Nearest, nor on Chiefmabooboo or Stefvillain just to name a few. I truly think you should be aware what you put on your professional account. If you want to show how piss drunk you got with your bestie, do it on a personal account, not on your professional one!
Oh and no, I'm not soliciting to get on his marketing team, I prefer to use my skills for my passion and that is nowhere near the alcohol industry.
So hope you get why I have my reservation and doubts.
Before another of you maga idiots claims this is a lie… research a little harder.
a 1940 census document which lists Mary as being both the wife of Frederick Trump as well as a naturalized citizen, despite the fact that she was not granted citizenship until 1942. That document, which has an “X” next to her name indicating that she was the one providing the census with her family’s information, has the letters “Na” entered in the citizenship status box, indicating “naturalized”
This right in, via Deux Moi, and for the life of me I cannot understand why, unless some lost soul wants to shed some light again on The Shire:
This is a very old pic of a very old theatre date (Deux Moi Anon is American, hence the spelling, tomato/tomahto, LOL). But why now? Why after a salvo of speculations, via carefully directed Anons, about a possible theatre date in London around March 27, so well within the timeframe of Deux Moi's question (https://www.tumblr.com/sgiandubh/746058659808837632/funny-how-blatant-adverse-evidence-panic-and?source=share)? And why with that OLD theatre pic to 'substantiate' it?
No shipper in their right mind would have posted such a thing and I think we can be sure none of us did. But since it's out there, whodunit?
Games are being played, but never without a reason. I think it's too early to speculate fruitfully, so I am just taking note of this and let the dots further connect. Let's ask ourselves who is interested to have Them associated again in the gossip media? And yes, why. I might have thoughts about the why, but you know how annoyingly not funny I am about these.
Gracias a ti, siempre. 😘😘😘❤️
[Later edit]: this is the original Brooklyn Anon sent to @bat-cat-reader almost two years ago, on April 21, 2022: https://www.tumblr.com/bat-cat-reader/682089958191808512/hi-bat-i-was-at-the-sunday-3pm-show-of-cyrano-de?source=share
@bat-cat-reader's Anon curiously used the UK spelling. Plot thickens.
Every year to celebrate the festive period, the Victoria & Albert Museum of London commissions a designer to create a Christmas tree for the Museum’s Grand Entrance.
In 2017 visitors of the museum were welcomed by The Singing Tree designed by Es Devlin and conceived specially for the V&A. It is brought to life via machine learning and has thousands of illuminated words collected from the public. Visitors were invited to contribute their own word over the Christmas period to the Singing Tree.
In the video below set designer Es Devlin talks about her inspiration for ‘The Singing Tree’, a unique audio-visual Christmas tree.
The Singing Tree has been created in collaboration with video designer Luke Halls, creative technologist Ross Goodwin, creative studio Sunshine and music & sound collective Res.Lab. With thanks to Lizzie Props Ltd with Michael Whiteley for fabrication, PRG UK for the projection equipment and Yamaha for the sound system. Powered by disguise.
here we go. the BIGGEST receipt of all. at that moment he was not afraid. he didn’t dare not talk about the woman of his life in an important speech. he didn’t talk about another co-star, he could have. but he talked about her. caitríona mary balfe. oh god, they take my breath away. what this man feels for this woman is touchable, so strong. thank you for your courage to show this to the world in this moment, sam. i feel the love.
I have been adding support for this couple since the beginning. It is an absolute shame and a disgrace as to what has been done to this couple who fell in love and married. Sam has maintain the burden of being managed and manipulated as "Single Sam" along with the crazy women that lust after him. I admire him and his love for his wife, Catriona Mary Balfe Heughan.
@odessa-2 inspired me with her note today and a reminder of the post Oliver Jeffers shared on Instagram on 3 January 2021
(side note: I have a feeling this is a completely random date and has nothing to do with anything other than Caitríona being at the time, as many people believe, already heavily pregnant with this child, whose birth wasn't announced until August, but I could be wrong.
Is there anything that you associate with this date?).
*** *** ***
My body reacts nervously to any event involving Caitríona and Oliver Jeffers.
Maybe it's some kind of PTSD, I'll explain in more detail below.
*** *** ***
Anyway, my first reaction to the news in fandom over the weekend about the New York Times article was quite nervous.
😅
In October, […] the visual artist and author Oliver Jeffers, 46, hosted a candlelit dinner for a group of Irish and Northern Irish artists and friends.
Caitríona was also present at the dinner to celebrate the launch of Oliver's latest book, 'Begin Again'.
Caitríona/Oliver, that combination doesn't sound right to me, it means smoke and mirrors and supporting the narrative.
Luckily I was wrong this time.
*** *** ***
2021.
Oliver Jeffers at Caitríona's 'wedding', sitting in the fireplace recess in a white suit, accompanied by a stone dog.
There was no better place for him than the soot-blackened fireplace?
There was no other suit than white for a friend's wedding?
There was no better companion for this wedding than a stone dog?
❓
Smoke and mirrors. As dense as a spider's web, a web of connections, dependencies and interests.
*** *** ***
July 2022.
Oliver Jeffers invites Caitríona to take part in the 'Our Place' festival he is organising.
Here they are in conversation with Kathy Clugston in Belfast on 2 July 2022 ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Caitríona is sitting on the stage, tense.
Excuse me. I don't mean to be rude, but she looked like she was getting dressed for the event in the dark.
And when you watch the whole thing, you realise that, surprisingly, she wasn't at all comfortable on stage. She didn't have much to say except for her personal memories.
She didn't have any general thoughts, any wider perspective than her own.
You could see her lack of confidence and fear in her body language, the unspoken part of communication.
Sadness, stress and depression.
So what does she say?
What does Caitríona say?
The fandom has been buzzing for years about the fact that Caitríona never referred to 🧛🏻♂️ as her husband.
So now Caitríona, sitting uncomfortably next to Oliver Jeffers, raised her right hand in an embarrassed laugh.
Well, her husband used to say, wait, what did he used to say?
Oh yes, he used to say that a strong personality keeps their accent.
I mean, the most interesting thing is what happens after that.
Because the most surprising thing is what she starts talking about after she calls her 'husband'.
Within a couple of sentences she starts talking about Sam, you know, the one she works with.
And "Sam, who I work with, for the last three months he's been saying, 'What's up with you, you're really Irish all of a sudden'".
And then she talks about her 'only son'.
A brilliantly acted scene (if it weren't for all the nervous laughing and tensing up).
💁🏻♀️
You ask, how do we know which 'husband' was in the festival audience?
From here, of course ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Smoke and mirrors. As dense as a spider's web, a web of connections, dependencies and interests.
*** *** ***
Incidentally, I am keen to compare Caitríona's pictures with her 'husband' with those of her real-life friends:
*** *** ***
That's why when I saw the 'NYT' article about Caitríona and Oliver Jeffers, my stomach tightened.
This time, however, I couldn't have been more wrong.
🙃🙃🙃
… because Caitríona's handbag was on the floor, near her feet, as someone on 'X' pointed out.
Which means that the professional purse-holder had been given the evening off on the day of this dinner.
Can one feel more relieved?
❓
I ate my breakfast in peace and quiet.
*** *** ***
Source 1:
Starting at 36:29 is the short clip I quoted above.
Source 2:
The author and illustrator Oliver Jeffers invited friends to toast his new book at a dinner in a former textile mill.
*** *** ***
Voilà. Enjoy, @lovehimloveherstuff
(Although reading what I've written here probably has nothing to do with 'enjoying'.
I am so sorry.)
Hi bcacstuff. Just wanted to mention a few things here. Been following Sam Heughan for a while, and was in Edinburgh for the Clanlands in New Zealand book event on the 5th of November.
As someone else posted on Twitter or on another blog (don’t remember well), the event in Edinburgh left me a bit disappointed. Although there were some funny moments, I could notice there was something definitely off about Sam and Graham, and it seemed that they actually didn’t want to be there (Sam was looking down many times). Their connection and interaction with the audience was practically null. I also have to say the host, Eleanor Morton, lacked charisma and didn’t really know how to conduct the interviews. This was completely the opposite to the first event I saw of them, for the book Clanlands Almanac, in November of 2021 in London. They both were funny, witty and you could see they enjoyed themselves. The host, Edith Bowman, was fantastic.
Regarding the book Clanlands in New Zealand, I still haven’t started reading it yet because I’m still going through the previous ones, Clanlands Almanac and the one about Sam Heughan himself, Waypoints. However, seeing and reading the excerpts of the new book about New Zealand added here in some posts, I feel displeased about its content. This is supposed to be a book about New Zealand, but then we have Sam telling his dating stories and how drunk he was. He comes across as a 43-year-old desperate man, following the barmaid, then the yoga teacher, and trying to show everyone how attractive he is to women. And then the story of the shish kebab in his bed linen…Quite unattractive getting so drunk at that age and thinking it’s funny. He sounds ridiculous.
I also have to say this is the best blog about SH. I also used to read P. one at the beginning of this year, but I stopped doing it as this person basically is trying all the time to confirm and assure Sam is seriously dating x woman just because there was a rumour Sam saw/had a coffee with whoever woman, all with no proof of him being with whatever woman P. insists to link him to. She always does this annoying thing they do in the US (merging two names of a couple), for example, when SH was said to be with KE (samrina). Seriously??? And she does it with every single woman.
Oh, and she has “sources” everywhere, which they can confirm everything she writes. Sure 😂
I also left that blog because I could see she doesn’t accept opinions different than hers, and she’s quite rude and unpleasant when directing those opinions.
Bcastuff, you are the voice of truth and common sense. Keep the good work.
Thanks Anon for all the lovely words, really appreciate it. As for that other blog... yeah, well... we all know what you just concluded. Reading there takes a big bag of salt and a strong stomach from time to time... 🫣
I've seen both the Edinburgh and the London event on video. Must say London was better, I agree Eleanor Morton disappointed me, I really expected more from her. And yes, Sam was very reserved for as much as I saw. In London it was better, but still Sam seems to be distracted, tried to be funny but Graham's stories seem to be more fun.
I don't think the excerpts I posted are representative for the whole book, I hope at least not. I don't have the book myself, and given the amount of booze involved, I wont buy it. I already had the same with the former CL books, too much booze stories. But okay, that's just a personal thing. I simply don't think drunk stories are funny. And as a businessman selling liquors, I don't think it's a good image he's putting out there this way.
I do got some more excerpts sent to me, which I will post in the future. Don't want to post too much as many still are waiting for their book. but there are better stories in it as well. Like the one about the Ta Moko, and Graham's wedding f.i.
I also think Graham writes the most parts about the history and information about NZ.
Again thank you for reading my blog, as well as for sharing your experience on the book event 🧡
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