#Stag's silly hat theory

[stagkingswife]

This may sound a bit silly, and I apologize if you've gotten this kind of ask before (please feel free to tell me to look for it or link posts if you want; no need for any answer even, there's no pressure), but I think unrecorded deities have been reaching out to me. I'm a bit nervous to reach back because I'm not sure how to verify who they are effectively. I also typically ask the deities I worship for protection, but I feel like that wouldn't be very respectful if the unrecorded deities truly are reaching out, you know? I want to be considerate of the fact that they, themselves, are also deities. Do you have any advice on what I can do to verify them? Do you know of ways to protect myself that wouldn't be seen as disrespectful? If you're unsure, it's totally ok. I appreciate any and all advice you may have, as I've never really encountered this before.

Regardless if you choose to answer, thank you for being here! I love your blog, and whenever I see your posts on my dash, it brings me a smile. Thank you, and take care! c:

Vetting unrecorded entities is very different from vetting recorded ones in my experience, but you can still do it! I've found it to be a much slower, longer process, that you really have to be patient and dedicated for. It's much more about getting to know the entity for who they are as an individual than it is about checking them against known facts. So be prepared to be in for the long haul!

I've written about my methods of vetting entities, both unrecorded and recorded in a couple of places. I have sort of an intro to my process of vetting an unrecorded entity here, it lays out the idea of checking the entity against themselves and looking for internal consistency. I combine this method of getting to know you questions with my note taking methods: Part 1 and Part 2 respectively. By having good notes I can establish that consistency and look for contradictions. Does the entity say something in one visit, and then contradict it the next time I encounter them? To me that's not a reason to cut off contact, but it is something to ask them about. Maybe it's a complicated thing for that entity, maybe there's a story, maybe they're reveling truths bit by bit as they come to trust me. There's a chance they may have lied to me, and I can ask them why. I'm very willing to hear explanations when I'm getting to know a new spirit, and for things to change as I get to know them. Sometimes they are remembering things about themselves as they are telling it to me. This doesn't apply to an unrecorded entity who is a regular spirit who has just never been written down, like a local nature spirit, or an individual one of the Fair Folk, but I've found that working with the really truly ancient spirits that maybe haven't interacted with a human in very long time can be a bit like talking to someone with dementia. I was started working on returning the Forgotten Ones in the same year that I lost my Pop-Pop to Parkinsons, and communicating to them in the begin was a lot like talking to him at the end. They knew who they were, loosely, but the details were foggy and vague, and would sometimes change a bit from visit to visit, like my Pop-Pop remembering my Nona was the most beautiful girl in the world, but not what her name was.

As for asking for protection I'm going to ask you this. Do you think it's disrespectful to ask the recorded entities and deities that you have relationships with for protection? If asking for blessings and protection is part of your normal way of interacting with a recorded deity I think it would be more disrespectful to an unrecorded one if you treated them differently. I don't really have too much to do with recorded deities anymore, but when I did I always made a point to treat them and the Forgotten Ones the same. It was important to me to show both the Forgotten Ones and the recorded deities that they were equal to me, and that the Forgotten Ones weren't different, lesser, or other in any way because of their unrecorded-ness. They were all just spirits in silly hats.

Personally, to be perfectly frank, I don't like relying on outside forces for protection. I've never been one to ask a deity or spirit for protection, it's too reliant on the benevolence of an external being, which could be revoked if a relationship ever soured. So while I think you could ask an unrecorded deity for it, I wouldn't personally recommend it. I would instead recommend coming up with a self reliant method of protection. I prefer wards on my living space and personal shields built into enchanted jewelry for when I leave my warded space, but there are other methods of protection spells out there. You could probably tweak my "Retreat Into Your Shell" Spell to be more general protection, it's sort of geared at emotional protection as designed, if you wanted to! Would just need to swap the herbs and then design your sigil/symbol for what you want.

[neonsblanketfort]

I adore Silly Hat Theory

Me: I practice secular witchcraft

Also me: in a long-term agreement with the planet Mercury

I'm legitimately unsure if that is a contradiction.

[rosecoloredtarot]

What is the latest belief or thing you added to your faith?

Faith specifically? That godhood is a title bestowed or earned, not an intrinsic aspect of an entity. This is a slight expansion of Stag's "spirits in silly hats" theory.

So last year I started my journey, maybe not on the crooked path, but next to it? within eyeline of it? Idk, I started seeking out The Witchfather. And things went really well, we have a good relationship going, I've expanded my craft significantly in just the 6 months since I made my pact (that sounds WAY more serious than it is, right now I have a year and a day deal going with him, we will reassess on my birthday). I also went into this relationship relatively blind to literature and prevailing ideas surrounding him. I wanted to get to know each other before I started researching him in depth.

As the weeks and months passed, I started to realize he was rather limited in power relative to what I thought a god should be able to do. Most of what we did together was tied to the forest behind my house, and his ability to act outside of my property was minimal. I have since come to the conclusion he is the spirit of that forest, not The Witchfather (capital T capital W, big daddy God [which I'm sure is a cultural Christian expectation anyway]) that I thought he was. He was simply MY witchfather. He only became a deity because I decided he was one, and from what I can tell, he does not give two shits if he is considered a god or not. He simply is a Guy who answered when I called out. I am the one who put that crown on his head, and he wears it indifferently.

So I think a lot of what makes godhood is how we as people/worshippers/whatever you wanna call us treat the entities concerned. Aphrodite is not the goddess of love, sex and beauty because of any inherent quality she possesses, the ancients just gave her that domain and she ran with it (and she's doing a wonderful job as far as I'm concerned).

This whole change in philosophy was super freeing with regard to my idea of faith and devotion. It takes the pressure off of my ideas of divinity. It is easier to approach someone when you think of them as "just some guy with a fancy title" god instead of "behold my radiance, look upon me and weep" god.

Thanks for the ask! It was nice to actually write this all out and get it to be coherent.

[ebaeschnbliah]

SHERLOCK  BBC  -  THE  LIST  OF  THOUGHTS  &  IDEAS

________________________________________________________________

Revised and updated version and under the cut .... because it's a bit longish. :)))

July 2017 _______________________________________________________

THE RETURN OF BASKERVILLE  .......  Baskerville revisited in S4

HENRY KNIGHT  .......  The story of a very interesting character and a mirror for Sherlock

THE RAINBOW CROWN  .......  The vitruvian man, the rainbow crown and Sherlock's ‘I love you’

THE GOVERNOR AND HIS WIFE  .......  The first task of Sherrinford - Reichenbach all over ... with a touch of TBB

DAVID DAVID DAVID  .......  A comparison of the three David's in Sherlock BBC

FIVE FUNNY STORIES  ....... The stories Sherlock mentions at the wedding in TSOT and their  possible connection to each series of Sherlock BBC

THE ONE IN THE COCKPIT  ....... About pilots and drivers, flying and driving, aeroplanes and cabs, queens and serial killers

MOVIE WATCHING IN MYCROFTS HOME CINEMA  ....... The movie Mycroft watches at the beginning of TFP and the manipulated part of it

A COFFIN FOR LOVE  ....... The third task of Sherrinford - Sherlock and love

A SMASHED GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE  ....... Screen caps of the falling glass of champagne in TSOT

WHEN SHERLOCK LIES DRUGGED IN A CAB  ....... Musings about the strange parts of the PILOT

COVERED IN BLUE  .......  Blue from the end in TFP to the beginning in ASIP

June 2017 ______________________________________________________

THE THREE GARRIDEBS OF SHERRINFORD  .......  The second task of Sherrinford. Who are the three Garridebs?

ONE OF A KIND  .......  Sherlock is Eurus - what an image reveals

SHADOWS ON THE WALL  .......  Musings on the shadows in Faith's memory who are almost going to kiss (TLD)

ANOTHER SIGN OF THREE ?  ....... Sherlock, John, Mary - different facettes of one character

JIM'S SONGS  .......  Are the songs mirrors for Sherlock's own past?

THE NOTE IN THE BOOKCASE  .......  A piece of lost information

FATHERS AND SONS  .......  David Welsborough and Major Barrymore

A DOG BARKS IN THE NIGHT  .......  When John wakes from his nightmare in ASIP

ELLA THOMPSON  .......  The changeable therapist

May 2017 _______________________________________________________

TWO TIMES CHARLES  .......  Carl Powers and Charlie Welsborough

THE IMPORTANCE OF LITTLE THINGS  ....... Boomerang, hairpin and hairband - are they connected?

EXPLOSIVE - IT'S MORE ME  .......  A metaphorical reading of ASIB and Irene Adler

MAGIC AT SPEEDY'S  .......  The 'vanishing' mirror behind Mycroft and 'endless mirroring'

MRS. WENCESLAS  .......  Good king Wenceslas and a Chrismas song

April 2017 _______________________________________________________

SOME MUSINGS ON DAMP COATS .......  Faith's coat - a possible connection to the pink lady from ASIP?

STALKING THE DEERSTALKER  .......   The silly hat throughout the series (used as a port key to change levels in the Mind-Palace?)

THINGS COMING IN PAIRS ....... It started with the kidneys - but didn't end there

SHERLOCK, THE STAG AND THE SKULL ....... Colors & symbolism in TAB

THE REICHENBACH FALL TIME CONUNDRUM ....... Time and daylight

I DON'T WANT TO KNOW HOW  ....... Asking for an explanation

A . N . Y . O . N . E  .......  One word throughout the story 

ABOUT DETECTIVES AND DOGS  ....... A name and its history

March 2017 _____________________________________________________

AN INCANDESCENT MIND BEING USED ....... Genius, brother, prisoner (Sherlock = Eurus)

UNDER THE SIGN OF FOUR .......  A.G.R.A.  Alex, Gabriel, Rosamund & Ajay - Who are they?

ADDITIONS to UTSOF  .......  A.G.R.A.  and the 4 assassins from TRF

LITTLE ROSIE - THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM  .......  An interpretation

PLAYING WITH COLORS AND THOUGHTS  .......  Not the common color code

ONE  -  TWO  -  THREE  .......  Three players, three bombs

AROUND THE PATIENCE GRENADE  .......  What images are telling

WHEN THERE'S NOTHING TO SEE THROUGH ....... Touching the glass that isn't there

VIVIAN NORBURY  .......  Who is the person who almost outsmarted them all?

February 2017 ___________________________________________________

A E R O P L A N E S  .......  The importance of aeroplanes throughout the story

A STRANGE PERSPECTIVE  .......  Eurus cell - shot in different angles

THE ROADS WE WALK  ....... From 'headless nuns' to sisters turned into 'ghost stories'

THE BLOOD CARPET .......  Like a puddle of blood on the floor

ON THE ROLL OF A DICE  ....... Mary's hiatus in TST - really neat?

DEATH & CHESS & MANY CASES  .......  About the appearance of death in each episode

FOUR STAGES & FOUR CASES    ADDITIONS  .......  Stages inside stages

TALKING ABOUT THE FINAL PROBLEM  .......  Steven Moffat, BFI Screening Q&A  01 2017

AJAY - SHERLOCK - JIM  .......  Characters with similarities

OH HAVE YOU  HAD SEX  ....... How I reed that scene

A STUDY IN MIRRORING  .......  Eurus/Sherlock vs. Eurus/Jim

SAVING JOHN WATSON .......  From the PILOT & ASIP to TLD

January 2017 ____________________________________________________

THE FIVE HOSTAGES  ....... Connections between TGG & TFP 

FIVE YEARS AGO WHEN IT WAS CHRISTMAS ...... Eurus, Jim & Sherlock

YELLOWBEARD'S HAIRBAND  .......  Eurus, Victor & Sherlock - Symbolism

THE SYMBOLISM OF EXPLODING BOMBS  .......  221b hit by explosions - TGG and TFP

RIGHT UP YOUR STRASSE  .......  DI Lestrade using german language

HOLMES FAMILY PICTURES  .......  Mycrofts manipulated movie from TFP

IT'S AN EXPERIMENT  .......  More thoughts about the PILOT theory (EEMP)

THE FINAL PROBLEM  .......  First impression - symbolism and subtext

A DETECTIVE LYING DOWN  .......  Throughout the whole story

SHERLOCK is ANYONE  ....... Sherlock fighting his demon(s) - drug addiction

THE STAGE IS SET (once again) .......  Possible startingpoints for EEMP

WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED ON JANUARY 15th  .......  A PILOT verse theory (EEMP)

HE'S STILL NOT MOVING  .......  The bloodhound and John

THE APPLETREE ON THE GREEN WALL  ......  Apples and roses - symbolism

ON THE TRESHOLD OF SAMARRA  .......  Sherlock will be epic

JUST LOOK - HOW BEAUTIFUL  .......  Mirrors of the special kind - buildings mirrored in car roofs

ACTION MAN & GINGERBREADMAN  .......  Burned to a crisp - parallels

WHERE IT BEGAN - WHERE IT ENDS  .......  Carl Powers & Charlie Welsborough

THE MASKS ARE CRUMBLING DOWN  .......  Sherlock's facade is falling

PORKY PIGS AND LOTS OF BLOOD  .......  Dead pigs throughout the series

NORBURY  .......  The yellow face in TST

AMMO STRIKES AGAIN  .......  Parallels and the Urban Dictionary

December 2016 __________________________________________________

WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED ON JANUARY 15th ... (first post of it but Tumblr 'ate' it - restored in January)

THE STAGE IS SET - THE CURTAIN RISES ... (first post of it but Tumblr 'ate' it - restored in January)

THE BAFTA CYMRU MONTAGE  .......  A very special kind of montage 

TPLOSH or TILOSH  .......  Somtimes silly thoughts arise ... or maybe not?

November 2016 __________________________________________________

A DOCTOR IN HIS NATURAL MILIEU  .......  Two surgeries and their very different lightning

PRETTY GRIM FAIRY TALES  .......  Following the trace of media

A MIRROR HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT - EDITED  ......  More parallels between Sherlock & Mary

A MIRROR HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT  .......  Parallels between Sherlock & Mary

READING INFORMATION  .......  Sherlock and Magnusson reading people - a comparison

SOME COURTROOM DEDUCTIONS  .......  Courtrooms and Hearing rooms

A LITTLE GIRL, BLOND WITH BRAIDED HAIR  .......  The traces of hair, hats and pigtails in Sherlock BBC

DRESS MEETS BELL  .......  The doorbell of 221b and Mrs. Hudson's dress

October 2016 ____________________________________________________

THE EMPTY HOUSES  .......  Three different Empty Houses in Sherlock BBC

UNDERGROUND NETWORKS INVISIBLE ENEMIES  .......  Cults, agents, terrorists in TEH & TAB

A SHADOW OF MASSIVE PROPORTIONS  .......  Magnusson & Mycroft - another comparison

THIS DOESN'T MAKE SENSE .......  'Impossible' cases - in TEH and TAB

THE EMPY HEARSE - THE EMPY HOUSE  .......  The Reichenfach Fall - a comparison between Sherlock BBC and ACD canon

THE GAME IS AFOOT  .......  Shoes, feet and footprints throughout Sherlock BBC

I'M ALWAYS THERE FOR YOU  .......  Mycroft & Moriarty - another comparison

MOUTH LIKE A CRIMSON WOUND  .......  The trace of lipstick throughout Sherlock BBC

BOOMERANG  .......  The boomerang-effect, backfiring, the back of heads and blunt instuments

IT'S YOU MAJOR SHOLTO  ....... A perfect Sherlock mirror

September 2016 _________________________________________________

THE ONES AND THE OTHER ONES  .......  Musings about the different tenor of episodes - are the middle episodes revealing the Holmes family history?

MYCROFT AND MAGNUSSON  .......  A dark comparison

STRANGE SIMILARITIES  (edited list here) .......  ASIB revisited in HLV - recurring motivs and situations

THE BOND AIR CONUNDRUM  .......  From the rehearsal to the cancelled 'Flight of the Dead'

NEAT - DON'T YOU THINK  .......  Reichenbach and Bond Air under the lens - not as neat as one would think

CONNIE KENNY AND RAOUL  .......  Mirrors for Mycroft, Sherlock and John?

August 2016 ____________________________________________________

OH! IT'S CHRISTMAS!  .......  In each series of Sherlock BBC it is Christmas at some point

PLAYING WITH MIRRORS .......  Ricoletti, Carmichael and Sholto  

DREAMS ARE TRICKY  .......  The 'Bride' is aiming at a bakery

THREE TIMES JIM  .......  Three times Jim brings Sherlock back from the verge of death

LIFTING THE MASK  .......  Extended Mind Palace Theorie - a possible version

MARY MARY QUITE CONTRARY  .......  Different faces of Mary Morstan

JOHN - MARY - SHERLOCK  .......  Comparison of the three shootings - John/Hope  Mary/Sherlock  Sherlock/Magnusson

JOHN MOVES HIS ARM  .......  A closer look at Magnussons assassination

COMING BACK - GOING BACK  .......  Sherlock coming back from death to go deeper

July 2016 _______________________________________________________

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL  .......  Dark Mycroft and his possible motives 

OF KINGS AND QUEENS  .......  Who is the 'King' in Sherlock BBC?

MORE THAN JUST A TWIN  .......  Who could be 'Sherrinford' - a speculation

AM I SENSING A PATTERN THERE  .......  The antagonists of each episode in Sherlock BBC

June 2016 ______________________________________________________

THE BUS STOP SCENE  .......  A Harry Potter connection?

AT THE REICHENBACH FALLS  .......  About Moriarty's motives to kill himself

THE GREAT GAME  .......  Carl Power's shoes starting the Great Game and even more shoes at setlock

A STUDY IN SHERLOCK  .......  Pictures from each episode and setlock

A STUDY IN JOHN  ......  Pictures from each episode and setlock

May 2016 _______________________________________________________

ABOUT AGENTS AND EX-AGENTS  .......  The CIA agents of ASIB vs. Mary

April 2016 _______________________________________________________

IT'S NEVER TWINS ... UNLESS IT IS  .......  Mummy Holmes - the secret twin?

March 2016 _____________________________________________________

THE RUG-PULL EXPERIMENT  .......  Dark Mycroft - the secret puppet master? 

VICTORIAN GHOST STORIES  .......  Thoughts about Mark Gatiss's statement

MAGIC IN SHERLOCK BBC  .......  Real magicians involved in Sherlock BBC

January 2016 ____________________________________________________

WHAT MADE HIM LIKE THIS  .......  Hints at Sherlock's past in Sherlock BBC 

THE MYSTERIOUS CULT  .......  The disguised women in the crypt

THE CARMICHAEL CASE I  .......  Connections to THOB

THE CARMICHAEL CASE II  .......  Thoughts about different mirrors    

________________________________________________________________

About EMP and EEMP

________________________________________________________________

Extended Mind-Palace Theorie - Starting point at the CAM Tower shooting

Extraordinary Extended Mind-Palace Theorie - Starting point any time before the CAM Tower shooting

EMP-Masterpost ....... Collected works of the fabulous EMP-Group

Reasons for EEMP  (24.11.2016) .... About the possibility of an extended Mind-Palace going further back than CAM Tower.

A possible EEMP-Structure  (30.08.2016) ....  First post about the possibility of EEMP

________________________________________________________________

SHERLOCK HOLMES ADAPTATIONS & OTHER STUFF

________________________________________________________________

SCHWANENSEE  .......  Tatort Münster - Thiel & Boerne (a lot of Sherlock-like visuals)

SHERLOCK HOLMES (2010)  .......  Octopus, dinosour & dragon combined with a deadly feud between brothers (Sherlock vs. Mycroft)

YOU CAN'T KILL AN IDEA  .......  'V for Vendetta' in Sherlock BBC (an Underground full of explosives ready to blow up parliament)

NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN  .......  'V for Vendetta' in Sherlock BBC

SHERLOCK HOLMES IN NEW YORK  .......  Roger Moore as Sherlock Holmes (Moriarty, bank robbery, tons of gold, tunnels, Irene Adler)

WILLIAM SHERLOCK SCOTT HOLMES  .......  Excerpt from 'SH in New York'

YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES - THE PYRAMIDE OF FEAR  .......  How Sherlock Holmes and John Watson met at school and their very first case (AU)

JUST A MAGIC TRICK  .......  The magic trick in 'Sherlock jr.' the silent movie

SHERLOCK JUNIOR  .......  Silent movie with Buster Keaton (solving a crime while dreaming of it)

. 

THE GOLDEN YEARS - TV Series with Christopher Lee as Sherlock Holmes

THE LEADING LADY  -  Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson on a Viennese adventure with bombs, anarchists, 'Die Fledermaus' (the bat), Dr. Freud and Irene Adler

'Undercover in Eastern Europe'     

'Un Ballo in Maschera'      

'Digging for gems'      

'Detective, doctores and trains'

THE INCIDENT AT VICTORIA FALLS  -  Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Waton on an African adventure with hidden treasures, secret twins, elephants and rainbows

.

NEW RUSSIAN HOLMES - Igor Petrenko, Andrei Panin ... by Andrey Kavun

EPISODE ONE:   BAKER STREET 221b

EPISODE TWO:   ROCK, PAPER, SISSORS

EPISODE THREE:  CLOWNS

.

GRANADA HOLMES - Jeremy Brett, David Burke, Edward Hardwicke

VALIANT SHERLOCK HOLMES  .......  The Eligible Bachelor - Granada Version (recurring nightmare, ghosts from the past, facing demons)

OMNE IGNOTUM PRO MAGNIFICO  .......  What happens when mysteries get explained (The Redheaded League - Granada Version)

CHISWICK .......  Connections to 'The Six Napoleons'  Granada and ACD

OH ... IT ISN'T 3G ... IT IS 3G  .......  'Three Garridebs' vs. 'Three Gables'

LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI  .......  'The Three Gables'  in Sherlock BBC

.

HERCULE POIROT - David Suchet

DEATH IN THE CLOUDS .......  Detour to Agatha Christie's Poirot (eyes with clocks in it)

ABOUT SMOKE AND MIRRORS  .......  Poirots 'The big four' in Sherlock BBC (when a big terror network turns out to consist only of one man - who is an actor)

.

VARIOUS SERIES:

THE MYSTERIOUS BELLYBUTTON  .......  House MD 'No reason' references (investigating inside the head)

A BABY IN 221b BAKER STREET  .......  Episode with Ron Howard 1954-55 (Tony .... is it a girl's or a boy's name?)

.

ROBERT BALDWIN ROSS  .......  The man who loved Oscara Wilde

IT WAS WORTH MANY WOUNDS  .......  Poem by mrspencil

THE SACRED BAND OF THEBES  .......  Gay warriors in ancient Greek

NORTH GOWER STREET & HS2  .......  'Baker Sreet' and HighSpeed 2

IT'S FORTUNATE THAT I'M NOT A CRIMINAL  .......  Canon reference

.

[margsld]

Outlander Epi 3.02 Recap

Surrender your link to a decent Barber for 6 years....

This week’s cracking episode is written by Anne Kenney.  It jumps between the two centuries quite a bit, so stick with me.

With Jamie back from Culloden and red coats on the prowl, Jamie’s having to hide in a cave. Local gossipers assure the red coat patrols that Red Jamie is in the area and also a weird guy going by the name of the Dun Bonnet. (The Dun Bonnet is a real tale of a Jacobite who hid his flaming red hair under a hat as a way of ye olde camouflage.)  It doesn’t work quite so well with our hero as you’ll soon find out watching this episode.

Lallybroch is always a symbol of home and there is nothing more domestic than seeing the kids playing outside the house.  Fergus, Rabbie McNab and wee Jamie Murray are heading to the Doo Cot (Dove Housing facility) to try to locate a pistol that Ian Murray had stashed there after Culloden.  The boys find it and as boys do, boast about their wartime frivolities and other boyish bullshite.  Redcoats take that opportunity to arrive for a quick raid so they hustle the gun back to its hiding position and go to see what’s amiss at the house. Captain Samual Lewis of his Majesty’s 10th Dragoons says he’s looking for Ian’s brother-in-law aka Jamie Fraser, aka Red Jamie, aka Dun Bonnet, aka not here, we swear it. They threaten to hang anyone who harbours a traitor.  He also offers a reward but they all plead ignorance.  Fergus winds up the nearest nasty red coat Corporal McGregor, as they whisk Ian Murray away under arrest.  That’s not ominous at all, is it?

Speaking of looking for needles in a haystack, we then catch up with the human haystack of red hair, the Dun Bonnet himself.  He’s a graduate of Catniss Everdeen’s school of Archery and makes short work of a big stag that he’s nicknamed Frank for some reason.

Arriving back at Lallybroch with his kill, he mistakens Jenny for dream Claire.  Jenny scolds him for being creepy.  Amen sister, grab some scissors ay?  He dumps the enormous carcass for butchering, a symbol of his current level of happy as Jenny carries on telling him the daily news; Ian’s been arrested again, Mrs McNab needs servicing etc.  Fergus wants to butcher the deer then the whole red coat garrison but we all know that won’t work.  Kids!  Jamie is intent on making venison steaks and continues his mute party of one.  Frustrating sibling moment.

Claire is having her own party of one back in Boston.  She is fantasising about a giant fuzzy peach and practising her yoga breathing skills so as not to wake a hard working Frank.  She is so thoughtful.

Baby Bree is learning to roll over like a good puppy while Claire catches up on her bible, The Globe.  Ireland has become a republic, free of British rule.  This is a nice nod to Caitriona being Irish and also a kick that Scotland still hasn’t reached this milestone, aka Culloden failed reminder.  Frank, wrapped in just a towel( interrupted showering by a dodgy boiler ) comes to see his clever daughter playing puppy and the three have a sweet family moment.  Claire is turned on by his nudie run and wishes that towel didn’t just accidentally fall to the floor on his way to fix the boiler.  Didn’t we all.  Just a week peek at that lilly white butt, cmon!

Skulking is Jamies new skill and he tip-toes through the woods to his hidey-hole when Fergus drops in for a cuppa and wee chat about how to use this silly pistol. Fergus is deluded that he can protect all of Lallybroch with it and Milord is not happy.  Fergus accuses him of being a coward and Jamie tells him no more fighting.  To keep an eye on things, Jamie pops into check out the ledgers at Lallybroch and Mary McNab hopes this is cave-speak for “Lets go on a date” but they are sidetracked when Jamie hears Jenny screaming from the house.  Dinna fash, the latest bairn is coming early. 

The wee neds, Fergus, Rabbie and wee Jamie spot a messenger of death - a Raven and go and get the pistol to dispatch it back to a Game of Thrones set.  Completely forgetting all reason and the fact that nearby red coats have ears, they shoot the bird.  Jamie is so cross it makes him actually speak and Mary pops in as she so annoyingly does this whole episode to announce the baby is fine and takes the gun.  She scolds them for what is probably the millionth time.

Jenny loves seeing a baby in Jamie’s arms and it reminds her he is practically a virgin again.  She downloads the Lallybroch Tinder app and creates him a profile under the handle Cave-dwelling Dun Bonnet.  Red coats arrive of course, to search for the weapon in the house.  Jamie has the baby and quickly hides in a spare room. Yes, its odd they didn’t check that room but testosterone. They question Jenny, still in her post-birth glow and tear the room apart.  She lies to them about the baby dying when it’s missing from the room and they demand to see the body.  Mary who is channelling a missing Murtagh or McGyver, pops up again to save the day and hands the pistol over, confessing it was her dead husband’s and she was killing the blasted Raven.  Happy they had the pistol at last, the red coats leave.  Jamie returns the baby to his mum with a big sad face again.  (Fun Fact: Laura O’Donnelly used her own newborn in this scene so that is why the breastfeeding is so real!)  Nice touch.  Jamie is finding all this red coat business a bit of an annoyance and Jenny says this new Captain won’t give up till he’s hanging from a noose.   

Claire is still on the high speed train to Hornsville and decides she misses her husband. Which one, Claire?  Hmmmm?  She wakes Frank who, like a good M16 agent is ready 24/7 for action but misses her ambiguous husband reference and dutifully lets her ride his pony.  Sharing is caring. Giddyup Claire.

The Redcoats finally return Ian Murray back to Lallybroch like a sack of spuds and he ignores their repeated requests to turn over Jamie and tedious threats of getting his whole family by saying “It’s been a lovely visit gentlemen” and heads inside to meet his new son. 

Fergus watching on, decides to take matters into his own hands (no pun intended but it works for me, if it works for you) leads them on a wild goose chase tour of Lallybroch estate.  He confronts them and taunts them that he’s far superior to them and the music turns ominious and most know bad things are coming next.  They chase him and he taunts them continuously.  Jamie is checking his traps and hears them but can’t reveal his position to help. He quietly pleads for Fergus to stop taunting and watches the next bit unfold in horror with the rest of us.  *hides behind cushions/hands/whisky glass  The red coats corner Fergus and Mr Meany Pants McGregor, hell bent on blood lust, lops off Fergus’s tiny left hand.  Its excruciatingly real to watch and we are all glad not to have lived through those times.

The red coats leave Fergus alone to bleed out and Jamie swoops down to stem the blood flow with a torniquay belt, just like Claire showed him many times.  Just for fun.  Or maybe not.  I digress. 

He whisks poor Fergus back to Lallybroch where Jenny praises him for saving him.  He feels guilty though and loses his shit, ugly crying all over Jenny like there’s no tomorrow. 

Later, when he gains back some grumpiness, he visits Fergus to remind him that there is something left to fight for.  Fergus sees his old Milord back and hope has returned to Lallybroch again.  Fergus is relieved by the promise Jamie made him in Paris that if he ever lost a hand in his service, then Jamie would provide for him for the rest of his life.  He has in one swipe become a man of leisure.

Meanwhile....

Frank and Claire are busy entertaining Jerry and Millie from next door.  They introduce them to the delights of Eton Mess and how to kill a bottle.  This show is so brutal. Poor bottle.  RIP Wine.  After, Claire is in the mood for much more than a nightcap and entices Frank to the carpet before the fire.  Frank isn’t one for being swept up in the moment and questions Claire mid-thrust as to why she isn’t looking at him.  He cruelly stops before Claire can get to orgasm and he tells her “When i’m with you, i’m with you but you are with him”.  Like that’s such a bad thing Frank!  Not the best end to a fun night. Silly relationship etiquette.

Ian explains the downside of losing a limb to Jamie.  He tells Jamie the pain of losing a part of you that’s lost. Claire was his heart.  Jamie realises that he’ll never get over Claire like Ian and Fergus will never get their limbs back. Jamie also notices the slashed Fraser crest which was a result of a recent red coat raid.  He knows they will never stop wanting him as he’ll never stop wanting Claire.

At first Jenny is not happy with Jamie’s idea to turn himself in but they are all tired of the red coat dangers and his lack of grooming.  With the thought of having the reward to help them survive, de-stink the house and Jamie in a nicer prison not hung, they agree to go ahead with the set up.  Sounds easy, right?

Mrs McNab has an itch to scratch before Jamie gets sent to Ardsmuir resort and turns up to give Jamie his last supper in the cave.  And by supper she means a good hair cut and shave - Hallelujah, Angels sing!!!  He pops down the stream to wash and comes back to find her in her shift and he’s no dummy when it comes to women in shifts and presumes that Jenny set this up.  Mary rejects his theory and says she wants a hot scot in her cot and it’ll maybe see him through a few years in prison.  Everyone knows you don’t get sex in prison, right?  Jamie confesses it’s been a while between drinks and she’s gentle about it, mopping up his tear for his long gone wife.  Must be emotional having women throwing themselves at you all the time.  Plus everyone looks shaggable by cavelight. 

Claire decides it’s time to do something more to make her feel whole.  She missed lancing festering boils and so decided to become a surgeon.  She arrives for her first day in Anatomy class and of course scores a chauvinistic, racist lecturer who declares having her and a negro make them very modern.  Other students arrive and give her the cold shoulder like she just gave Season 8 spoilers to Game of Thrones.  In walks the ‘negro’ and he takes a seat beside Claire.  He introduces himself as Joe Abernethy and they instantly connect.  I love him already too.

Bree has decided to help her parents marriage by sending cryptic messages through her toy bunny but likes to mix things up, by hiding said bunny first.  Agent Frank is all over this new kid-code but Claire just chalks it up to childhood and goes to bed.  The camera pans back and to my horror we see they are now sleeping in single beds.  Flatmates.  Ugh.  Ring the marriage-is-dead alarm. Oh boy.  Goodnight indeed.

Jamie arrives at Lallybroch and pretends he has arrived home.  The red coats leap out of hiding and he pretends to be furious and shocked with Jenny.  Jenny’s heart breaks visibly, as do ours as she plays along, receiving her reward money.  Jamie is chucked in the prison cart like sack of dirty laundry.  Which he is because, Cave dwelling is not for the fainthearted and Lynx commercials.

Claire is out walking and comes across a busking piper piping a familiar Scottish tune and she can’t walk past without giving him some money.  I could have sworn she mumbled something about “giving him more if he was wearing a kilt” but I could be wrong.

The end.

[stagkingswife]

Silly hats! Silly hats!

When I first started worshiping unrecorded entities I had to grapple with the whole “Are these gods? Why are they gods?” question. I ended up coming to the conclusion that they were gods because I was worshiping them like gods. God wasn’t linked to “power” for me, nor was there anything else intrinsic that I could find to diferentiate between my unrecorded god, recorded gods, and the other spirits that I worked with, expect for the kind of relationship that I had with them. So I decided that for me “god” was a title, a name tag, a silly hat, that I put on some spirits and not others because I interacted with them a certain way.

Me: I practice secular witchcraft

Also me: in a long-term agreement with the planet Mercury

I'm legitimately unsure if that is a contradiction.