Tag: outlander

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Fun Fact: masseter

masseter

Anatomy def: One of four pairs of muscles of mastication; masseters close the lower jaw during chewing or gritting the teeth.

Outlander def: Muscles of intense energy, activated by agony, frustration, aggression, torment, trauma, or anger! Etc., etc., etc.

Learn about masseter muscles, mandible, and mastication in Anatomy Lesson #26, “Jamie’s Chin – Manly Mentus.”

Read about Jamie and his clenched jaw (and Clair’s) from Dragonfly in Amber book:

“Jamie,” I said, into the folds of his plaid. “I’m going back with you.” He started back, staring down at me. “The hell you are!” he said. “I am.” I felt very calm, with no trace of doubt. “I can make a kilt of my arisaid; there are enough young boys with the army that I can pass for one. You’ve said yourself it will all be confusion. No one will notice.”

“No!” he said. “No, Claire!” His jaw was clenched, and he was glaring at me with a mixture of anger and horror. “If you’re not afraid, I’m not either,” I said, firming my own jaw. “It will … be over quickly. You said so.” My chin was beginning to quiver, despite my determination. “Jamie—I won’t … I can’t … I bloody won’t live without you, and that’s all!”

See Jamie’s contracted masseter and clenched jaws reveal his fierce warrior side as he heads into battle against the redcoats (Starz episode 210, Prestonpans). Mayhap his sword and dirk will meet up with Captain Black Jack? No, not this time, Jamie, but soon!!!!

A deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

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Fun Fact: cicatrix

cicatrix

Anatomy def: Connective tissue remnants marking a healed sore or wound.

Outlander def: Horrific marks wielded by a lash with such fury as to permanently mar the beautiful back of a Scottish warrior!

Learn about cicatrices and how they form in Anatomy Lesson #37, ““Outlander Owies, Part 3 – Mars and Scars!”

Read about scars throughout Diana’s books. This great example from Dragonfly in Amber book showcases BJR’s handiwork!

The soap bubbles ran down across the wet, gleaming curves of his shoulders, and my hands followed them, spreading the slickness so that my fingers seemed to float on the surface of his skin. He was big, I thought. Near him so much, I tended to forget his size, until I saw him suddenly from a distance, towering among smaller men, and I would be struck anew by his grace and the beauty of his body. But he sat now with his knees nearly underneath his chin, and his shoulders filled the tub from one side to the other. He leaned forward slightly to assist my ministrations, exposing the hideous scars on his back. The thick red welts of Jack Randall’s Christmas gift lay heavily over the thin white lines of the earlier floggings.

See these sad cicatrices as Jamie sheds his shirt for cousin Jared, in Starz, episode 201, Through A Glass Darkly. Laying eyes on that battered back, Jared now regrets doubting Jamie’s loyalty to Scotland!

A deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

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Fun Fact: patella

These canna be small potatoes! Nope, it’s the patella!

ep-208-patella

Patella pa·tel·la,

sing. n patella; pl. n patellae

From Latin patina meaning shallow dish

First use: late 16th century

Anatomy def: The kneecap or kneepan; a shallow, conical-shaped bone which articulates with the femur and covers the knee joint.

Outlander def: Knee porn! “nuf said!

Learn about patella and knee joint by reading Anatomy Lesson #7, “Jamie’s Thighs or Ode to Joy!”

Read about the knees in Dragonfly in Amber. Quoting one of many great examples:

Jamie laced his hands together, elbows braced on his knees, and rested his chin on his linked knuckles. “This wilna be like France,” he said quietly. “Fighting there, ye risk no more than your life in battle. Here …” He hesitated, then went on. “Jenny, this is treason. If it goes wrong, those that follow the Stuarts are like to end on a scaffold.

Herself even specifies the knee cap. Again, from Dragonfly in Amber, Claire describes this sad scene:

”Mother Hildegarde wrapped her in a length of white satin,” I said, looking down at my fists, clenched in my lap. “Her eyes were closed. She hadn’t any lashes yet, but her eyes were slanted. I said they were like yours, but they said all babies’ eyes are like that.” Ten fingers, and ten toes. No nails, but the gleam of tiny joints, kneecaps and fingerbones like opals, like the jeweled bones of the earth itself. Remember man, that thou art dust.…

See a great patella on a handsome fella in Starz episode 208, The Fox’s Lair. Claire canna keep her hands off Jamie’s knee <G>!

A deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist