#obviously sophie is supposed to be a bad actress

[buzzmcnab]

[ID: 5 gifs from Leverage of Sophie Devereaux performing as Lady Macbeth on a small stage in a dress that looks vaguely Elizabethan and a plastic crown. The set is a single painted backdrop of the inside of a castle.

1: Sophie crosses the stage waving the outer layer of her skirt around. She says, "Come! You spirits that tend on mortal thoughts!"

2: The camera moves behind her, and she slowly crumbles to the floor. The audience is nearly empty and looks extremely bored. She says, "Unsex me here!"

3: Now seen from the front, Sophie continues her descent to the floor, gesturing to the crown on her head and to her feet as she says, "And fill me from the crown to the toe!"

4: Standing again, Sophie sweeps her arm across her body. She starts to say "That no..." then forgets her line and stops.

5: She starts the line over, and sweeps her arm across her body again, saying "That no–" The line cuts off.

END ID]

LEVERAGE APPRECIATION WEEK

SOPHIE - DAY 6 - FAVORITE SCENE

the raven himself is hoarse

[flurry-of-beaus-pop-pop]

Why is Sophie keep choosing Renee's side over and over? I know a lot of people love her character but I don't she might be an awesome character in the comics but for me I haven't seen an adaptation of her who I liked now the actress is awesome. Also Ryan probably feels alone now do you know if Marquis ever cared about her deep done or was using it? I'm asking because I can feel 100% where she's coming from.

Sophie hasn't chosen Renee's side "over and over again". She's literally taken Renee's side ONCE and in my opinion, had a pretty good reason to do so.

Yes, Sophie slept with Renee, and yes, because of the fact that Ryan is being blackmailed by Renee, Ryan has every right to be upset about that, but it was definitely not a situation of "Sophie choosing Renee's side over Ryan's". Sophie was mad and upset that someone she cares about deeply seemingly doesn't trust her, got drunk, and made a decision, a bad one, yes, but not one that had any malicious intent behind it.

As for Sophie (AND LUKE, because you keep sending around this same message conveniently leaving out that Luke also took Renee's side) siding with Renee, what else were they supposed to do? The simple, obviously, is to take Ryan's side, but in that moment, Ryan didn't have a plan and she didn't know how to stop Mary. Renee on the other hand, has some pretty compelling first hand experience with this exact situation so I can understand why in this situation Sophie and Luke were more compelled to side with the person that actually has a plan.

I also don't think that Ryan feels alone AT ALL. For one, she still has Luke, and for two she definitely still has Sophie. Like, I don't know how old you are, but people don't just stop being there for you because you're mad at each other. Yes, Ryan and Sophie are riding the struggle bus right now, but they're also very much still there for each other and we saw that on several occasions in last night's episode whether it was Sophie offering to talk things out with Ryan even though they were both mad at each other or the moment they shared before Ryan went to handle Mary.

As for Marquis, yes, I think that at some point, in some way, Marquis cared for Ryan. He seemed to be... relatively stable up until the point where he killed Pyg, and then that incident triggered something within him which has lead to the Marquis we're seeing now. But I do think that pre-dinner party Marquis did genuinely care for Ryan on some level.

Ultimately though, if you dislike a character so much that you have to go around to every blog that regularly engages in the batwoman/wildmoore tag to talk about how much you dislike Sophie, someone who is arguably extremely likeable and justified in everything she has done (yes, even sleeping with Renee as much as I hated it), it might be time to find another show to watch.

[miss-mouse]

By Sea and Sand

Sophie has it all planned out. After all spending a quiet day on the beach shouldn't present too many interruptions, right? But maybe she has jinxed herself because by the sea and sand nothing ever goes as planned.

After adding yet another layer of suntan lotion, Sophie stretches out on the blanket, then eyes the script sticking out of her bag, before she sighs and pulls out the tome. It is her excuse for spending the whole day on the beach after all. Because, despite the fact that the city where she has chosen to spend her holiday is small - at least compared to where she lives - it still has far too many temptations, ideal for procrastination… Especially when she should be focusing on learning her role for the upcoming play and not on shopping.

Although, she thinks as she watches a man diving into the waves to catch a Frisbee thrown by a kid, the beach does come with its own versions of temptation. She shakes her head, because no matter what else she might do – she does not go after men who are obviously already involved with someone else and this guy looks very taken. Unfortunately, whispers that same nagging voice, but she shuts it down firmly.

The family had shown up about thirty minutes ago. The kids, who appear to be the same age, (if she had to guess she would say that they are twins) had wasted little time in dragging the man towards the waves, making the woman laugh when he turned around and chased them instead.

An hour later, she has to start over on the same page for the fourth time. Despite her every intention (and promises to herself about the next time being the last time) she hasn’t managed to read nearly as much as she had hoped for. Her attention has wandered far too often, making her read the same lines more than once. She would like to blame it on anything else, but it is pretty much her own doing – too distracted by surreptitiously watching him.

Right now, he is in the ocean (again) tossing one of the kids into the water, based on the peals of laughter it sounds like it’s the girl, and when the woman yells something about being careful, he turns to salute her.  For one absurdly long second Sophie wishes for a pair of binoculars, to get a better view of the water running down his body, before she shoves the thought away, angry with herself for not being able to push him out of her mind.

Taken, she tells herself sternly. Everything points to him being taken, and therefore off limits – now focus - or you will end up looking like a fool when you begin rehearsals next week.

Bending her head, she focuses on the page again and for once, her brain complies. In less than two paragraphs, she is sucked into the world playing out on the pages before her, until she feels a spatter of water on her shoulder, which startles her out of the scene where Romeo is hanging off Juliet’s balcony.

”What’cha reading?”

Looking up from her manuscript Sophie meets the eyes of a young girl. Blinking, she realizes that it’s one half of the twins, whose father she has spent far too much time watching.

“It’s a script.”

The girl’s eyes widen at this.

“Like a movie? Are you an actress?”

“Not a movie, no.”

“That’s not an answer,” is the canny reply from the girl, and Sophie chuckles.

“It’s a play,” she concedes, then lifts up the tome to show the girl the front of it; enjoying the way her mouth forms the words emblazed on the paper before her eyes widen again and she plops down on the sand next to Sophie with a giddy sound, uncaring about the sand going everywhere.

After discreetly brushing the sand off the pages, Sophie sits up. The girl is busy tracing lines in the sand with her finger, while sending the occasional longing look towards the booklet now resting in Sophie’s lap.

“We were supposed to see that last year, but we couldn’t go…”

The kid looks so mournful, that Sophie instantly feels bad for her, even though she has no idea why they could not go – or even where they had been supposed to go. The suddenly uncontrollable urge to soothe, is the only possible explanation for the words coming out of her mouth in the next second.

“Maybe you get a chance to come see it this time?”

In the back of her mind, she calls herself an idiot for making such a foolish suggestion, considering that not only is the premiere way off, it is also a vastly different version than Shakespeare’s original play. And while The Playhouse is a respectable theater it is not Broadway. The kid, however, nods enthusiastically, her expression clearing for a second, before she bites her lip, looking deep in thought.

“It depends on dad though…”

“Ria?”

Both of them look up at the sound of the firm voice and every ounce of control Sophie has, goes into not sucking in a quick breath at the sight that meets her eyes. Because oh dear god and bloody hell… at a distance she had thought him handsome, but with only a few meters between them, he is … striking, she thinks.

Sun-kissed skin, broad shoulders and a compact upper body (with a few scars that seem to work in his favor rather than take away from how solid he looks), droplets of water creeping down his abdomen into already wet shorts that reveal well-muscled thighs. On her second pass, she spies an earring glimmering amongst the long hair tousled by the ocean and curled by the warmth, before her eyes are caught by his, which makes the rest of the world fade around them.

The heat in them is … intense to say the least, and she can’t stop the shiver that rushes down her spine at the slow way his gaze travels over her. Despite the voice hollering at the back of her mind that she should have more self-control than this, she still feels her body respond embarrassingly fast to what she reads in his eyes, when their gazes clash again.

In the next second several things happen at once. A beach ball lands in the sand between them, which makes her blink in surprise and rather efficiently breaks their eye contact. A heartbeat later, two dogs appear from somewhere to the right of Sophie, both of them tackling the man to the sand, which makes the girl jump to her feet.

At first, Sophie thinks it must be out of fright, especially considering one of the dogs is as big as a small horse and the other one looks a lot closer to a wolf than a dog. However, all the kid does is whirl around, once again sending a spray of sand raining over Sophie (and her script) and then, with a deafening shout of “DADDY!”, run in the direction of where the dogs came from.

Daddy? Is all she manages to think before the other kid comes racing by her as well, which - for the third time in the span of minutes - sends sand flying everywhere. He doesn’t react to the man lying in the sand being mauled by the dogs either, too busy echoing his sister’s exuberant shout. This time drops of water, hitting both her and the still open playbook, accompany the sand, which makes her curse, then hurry to brush it off before it leaves too many stains behind.

Preoccupied with saving her script, she doesn’t notice the wet nose until it brushes over her thigh, followed by a tongue. The noise she makes is at least a squeak and, if she is honest, it is probably a lot closer to a squeal. Looking to the side, she realizes it is the wolf-like creature; and pushing on it is just as effective as if she had tried pushing her car. There is a little frizzle of something, and while she has never been afraid of dogs, regardless of their sizes, the enthusiastic way it is licking away at her skin admittedly makes her more than a little nervous.

There is a sharp two-toned whistle and immediately the tongue disappears. Following the dog with her eyes, she looks up and meets the blue eyes of the man who might not be the kids’ dad after all. He is on his knees, scratching the wolf-dog behind the ears, murmuring something to the beast that she doesn’t catch, before their gazes lock again.

There is a hunger flashing in his eyes, and without a reason to control herself, she holds his gaze while she stretches her legs. His gaze sharpens even further and without thought, she rubs her thighs together, which makes him suck in a harsh breath.

Another sharp whistle pulls his gaze away from her, and she blinks feeling beyond stunned as the rest of the world comes rushing back. She can’t remember the last time she has responded this way to a man. There is yet another of those whistles and the other dog, the one that is the size of a small horse, who is lying docilely next to him, stretches lazily, then trots off to the right. They both watch it go, before he looks at her again, sending her a soft smile.

“I’m sorry …”

“Sophie.” Her first name, the one she seldom uses – especially with virtual strangers - tumbles out before she can stop herself, and when he sends her a warm smile, correcting her mistake is the furthest thing from her mind.

“… Sophie.” The way he says her name (it startles her a little at how intimate it feels) wakes the storm of butterflies she thought long dead. Butterflies that immediately decide to take up residence in her stomach. He stands, trying to brush some of the sand off his body - her eyes follow every pass of his hands - before he shrugs with a grin, then steps closer. “You mind if I sit down?”

“Only if you tell me your name?”

“Just my name, are you sure you don’t want anything else as well?”

A raised eyebrow accompanies his words, along with a smirk, which sends the butterflies on another whirlwind tour, and she smirks back.

“Your name is enough…” She looks him up and down slowly, before meeting his eyes again, the heat flaring in them echoes deep in her. “For now.”

He chuckles then, a sound that warms her blood to the point of boiling, as he moves to sit down opposite from her and on his knees again. A move that gives her an excellent view of his broad shoulders and muscular thighs, and she sends the sun, which has already put enough color in her cheeks to hide her blush a kind thought. Once he is settled into a comfortable position, he holds out his hand for her to shake.

“It’s nice to meet you, Sophie, I’m Eliot.”

She takes his hand and when she looks up to meet his eyes, the world around them, yet again, seems to fade to the point of being non-existent. His palm is warm against hers, his thumb feels a little callused when it strokes over her skin, the touch immediately makes her wonder how his fingers will feel on other parts of her body. The thought of it sends another spike of arousal racing through her veins and she shivers again.

A wet nose pushing at their still joined hands breaks the moment, which makes him chuckle.  His thumb sweeps over her skin again and despite being a grown woman, used to flirting, used to attention and bloody well used to the combination of the two, she still feels color rise in her cheeks at the crooked smile he sends her, before he slowly pulls his hand away.

“And this beast,” he tugs affectionately at one of the ears, before scratching behind it. “… who usually has better manners…” a mock glare at the dog accompanies the words and if a dog can look unimpressed, this one surely does, which makes her giggle, “is Akela.”

Akela? The unusual name rings a bell, but it takes her a moment to figure out why.

“From the Jungle Book,” she realizes, then smiles when Eliot scratches the back of his neck with a sheepish smile.

“Yeah.” He shrugs. “It was their idea,” he waves an arm in the direction of where the kids had run off. “Although I usually blame their dad, considering he’s the one who read them the damn book in the first place.”

“Well, he…?” She looks questioningly at Eliot who nods with a quick grin. “… he certainly looks very wise.”

Whether he knows she is talking about him or not, Akela turns his head to look at her. His eyes are almost the same striking blue as his owner and when he tilts his head to study her, she chuckles.

Reaching out, she intends to scratch him behind the ear like she had just seen Eliot do, but Akela pushes her hand away and the next thing she knows he is burrowing her nose in the middle of her cleavage, which again makes her squeak.

“No! Akela!”

She is not exactly sure how it happens, but before she can do more than blink the dog is gone. Instead, she finds herself reclining on the sand with Eliot on top of her.

The world immediately narrows to just the two of them and to the sensations washing over her. His fingers flexing against her hips. He smells faintly of coconut, but behind it… The scent of him, skin warmed by the sun, makes her mouth water quicker than if she has eaten one of those sour drops she used to love as a child. His blue eyes turns almost onyx, and against her thigh, she feels him harden.

There is a voice screaming in the back of her mind, about this being a public beach, that anybody can see them, to push him off of her. Moving her hands from where they are currently clenched in her blanket, she means to do just that, but the instant they come into contact with his warm skin, her hands develop a mind of their own. Because she finds herself running her fingertips all over his broad shoulders instead, tracing a scar she finds near his left collarbone, before moving around to his back.

He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, then shifts his body a little, presumably to move off of her. She grips his shoulders tighter in response, as an odd mix of surprise and desperation race through her and his eyes pop back open. The heat burning in them, makes her lick her lips before she is even aware of doing it, and he groans. Something races through his eyes, far too quick for her to follow before he exhales slowly, then bends his head and kisses her.

At the first sweep of his tongue against her lips, she whimpers. At the second, she deepens the kiss, moaning at the taste of him. When his tongue curls around hers, her thighs fall open purely on instinct, and she shifts, in a subconscious attempt to get him closer to where she is suddenly aching.

His fingers flex on her hips again - one of them tangles in the string of her bikini-bottom - and he mumbles something against her lips. Dimly she registers it’s her name interspersed with a curse or two, before he pulls away, sitting back up in a swift move that leaves her feeling more than a little dizzy.

Suddenly feeling both exposed and uncomfortably aware of the fact that she barely knows this man, Sophie sits up slowly. Reaching for her over-sized beach bag, she grabs her T-shirt off the top of it and tug it on, then pulls her legs under her.

The silence between them feels both awkward and loaded, and in her head, Sophie scrambles furiously for something to say. Looking around for a potential topic, she notices Akela. The dog is lying nearby, with his front paws resting on the edge of the blanket, head in the direction of where the children had run off to. As she watches him, he lifts his head a little, ears twitching in every direction, before he relaxes again.

It should be all kinds of impossible, she thinks, but the expression on his face as he lays his head back on his front paws looks positively smug.

“I uhm…” At the husky note in his voice, her attention veers sharply back to Eliot and he clears his throat before he continues. “I know that this is really ass-backwards, but would you like to have dinner with me?”

“Yes.” She is not sure which one of them is most surprised at her quick answer, but the smile he sends her is pleased and crooked and completely distracts her from any embarrassment she feels at her quick reply. “I’d love to.”

“Great.”

He sends her another one of those smiles and while there is a voice in the back of her mind that tries to remind her that she is definitely not looking for something serious, she shrugs it off. It is just the one dinner after all – it's not like it has to be anything more than that, right?

* * *

Months later, as she watches the movers handle her antique dresser, she feels Eliot's arms encircle her waist, pulling her close against him.

"So is this the ‘more’ that dinner wasn't leading to?" he murmurs in her ear. She can hear the smile in his voice and a smile stretch across her lips in response.

“No,” She turns around in his arms, and kisses him  - leaving them both breathless - before she pulls back to look in his eyes. “It’s just the beginning.”

[alrightsnaps]

honestly, i don’t understand why we’re being painted as villains for wishing the pr was better for our two leads and a poster of them instead of a love triangle sh1t? it makes me sad because i feel like people see us as ungrateful when i don’t think we are? i also personally follow lots of kathony stans and haven’t seen them bullying any cast member. just being frustrated with the lack of kate and anthony pr (same for simone and jonny pr) which is fair imo??? i am obviously glad other cast members are getting the recognition they deserve but i, for sure, wish the leads had more space in the pr, i mean they’re the main characters of this season ffs???? i think people have a right to complain and criticize the lack of content. AND yes, some people might care only about kathony and want to see more of them and what about it? isn’t romantic love just as important as family in the show? and i understand netflix might want to keep “secret” who anthony ends up with but they keep mentioning kate is the “viscount’s love interest” lmao so like i just don’t see the point in doing that. as a white girl, i can’t understand if this pr is racist or not as it is not my place to comment but i certainly wish simone was the main focus along with jonny.

The whole fandom is being incredibly hypocritical. They're having a field day now because they can use Charithra as an excuse to paint us as the bad guys for calling out their faves being given all the promo.

I'd really love to see their reactions if during their ship's season all they got was Simone, Anthony and Luke T or Sophie's actress doing photoshoots and promo, getting crumbs from the leading actors and then not even a poster with the two leads but one of a love triangle. Polins had a s01 b-plot where Colin was in love with another girl and the entire fanbase on twitter lost it and never missed a chance to post their misogynistic, venomous takes about it. Am I supposed to believe these people would shut up and take it?

But now they're pretending to be angels of good will preaching about being nice, because I guess it's my responsibility if a grownass woman of 35 is going through stan accounts and might be hurt by my opinions (yes, I have heard that from polin stans) because I obviously never tag actors to send hate. And neither do any kathony stans without being called out for it.

By the way this latest take of theirs that Netflix is trying to keep it quiet who Anthony ends up with is just hilarious, the season lead was announced a YEAR ago and they're acting as if this is a Poireau mystery and romances/romcoms have ever kept the main couple secret lmao

[awanderingcanadian]

A Royal Crisis!

This is a photo I took when I attended this Royal Wedding. Well okay, I was not actually IN the church with Oprah, but I was obviously very close to the couple as they went by. Of course, now that I know it was a fake wedding, it will be the last royal wedding I attend!

I have an interesting relationship with the Monarchy: Diana was only a year older than me, and I watched what seemed like a fairy tale story unfold. My mother has always loved the Queen, (often reminiscing about Princess Elizabeth’s efforts during WW2), and I’ve always had a soft spot for William and Harry because of what happened with their mother. Then there’s the rest: Randy Andy, Charles...and Phil the Greek. I met Edward and Sophie in a First Nations community. They were lovely, approachable and had very little security with them. I think perhraps that the monarchy maybe serves a purpose in England, (they sure are a big tourist draw...myself included), but I don’t know that we still need them in Canada. With that little piece of background, here’s my take on the past week, both good and bad.

We were living in Scotland when Harry & Meghan’s relationship got serious. Craig and I both said, “well, this will be interesting,” and we meant it on so many levels. The following thoughts are not in any order apart from how they came out of my addled brain. First off, I’m sure there is truth in Meghan and Harry’s interview: I’m sure there is racism, (although it may not be realized...kind of like NY Governor Cuomo truly believing he’s done nothing wrong). There are more than a few things I question though...

How would Harry be able to prepare her for royal life when he’s never known anything different so how does he really know what she needs to learn? After the disaster of Diana, it seemed like the Royal machine figured out they DID have to prepare new members and did an admirable job with Kate MIddleton, (so we know it CAN be done): why didn’t they do the same with Meghan? Was it because there was hardly any chance she would have to be Queen, was it because she refused to take part, or was it a racist move? Did anyone in the Royal Family look at their unintentional bias before she entered the family, or did they assume because the Commonwealth includes people of colour, it would all be fine? Subjects are different than personal friends and family members, just saying.

Meghan...how could she NOT know or have done the research around the institution she was marrying into? Come on now. And to answer her rhetorical question about how long they were supposed to maintain their silence: that answer is easy...forever. That’s the deal. Royals don’t air personal dirty laundry in public. Every comment made ends up on the front pages of the papers. I may have an issue with my in-laws, but my complaints stay within my circle of trust, partly because I think that’s how it should be, and partly because there would be no media interest in my situation. In going public, Meghan has burned every bridge in spectacular fashion.

There’s an interesting article in The Economist, if you’re so inclined to read it.

https://www.economist.com/britain/2021/03/08/prince-harry-and-meghan-markle-take-on-the-firm

As for Archie and his title: the ‘rules’ say that he will only have a title if his grandparent, (or parent), is the ruling monarch: that would be Charles. So Archie would become a Prince when, (if...and that’s another story), Charles becomes King. Until then he would probably just be an Earl.

Let’s address the security situation: the Canadian Government, (therefore the Canadian taxpayer), picked up the security tab until the end of March, 2020. After that, I’m sure security would have continued, but the invoice would have to go elsewhere, either to the Royal institution or to Harry directly. My guess is that by that time he had been cut off, (that’s what happens when you leave your job), so Harry would be left footing the bill, however, if they wanted to pay, they could still have had security here. Here in Canada, we’re flexible that way. Saanich is absolutely not dangerous, but I do agree that once their address was known, it was a security hazard from crazy people, (and every country has them). However, I can’t go along with the idea that  LA/Santa Barbara , (or frankly most places in the U.S.), are safer than Saanich. Feel free to compare crime/assault/murder statistics at your leisure.

As for the people who can’t empathize with them because they’re staying in their $14 million USD home, I actually don’t begrudge that. After all, he was raised in palaces, and she was a successful actress. They HAVE come down a ways in the world, (by their standards).

Returning to racism, let’s be clear: they did not flee to the U.S. because it’s any less a racist country than the U.K. Even the much discussed Charlie Hebdo cartoon, (see below), is based on one of the many recent publicly racist incidents that have taken place in the U.S. since Meghan and Harry moved there. Canada is certainly less overtly racist towards African Americans than the U.S., however, we too have racism. They moved there because 1) Meghan knew the system, 2) Meghan had a support system there, (when her in-laws were being mean, she had no support system in England), and 3) because her mom is there. There’s the added perk that her work is there, especially now if they have to support themselves. However, I think that Americans are lapping up this interview because it makes America look good: they love to save people, (just ignore the refugees at the southern border, and the shame of the food bank line ups mere weeks into the pandemic), this makes them feel good. After 4 years of having an international black eye, they need a ‘win.’

What will happen from here? Who knows, but I’m sure Randy Andy is happy to be knocked off of the front pages. His dalliances with underage girls, (on which the Royals have been silent), have netted his withdrawal from public life, and thus far, that’s been the only consequence. I’ve been fascinated watching William and Kate work to present a carefully managed image, with William whenever possible, walking beside a person of colour, and Kate wearing the anti-bullying colour pink. However, I have to say today, (Mother’s Day in the U.K.), I was completely turned off by the Cambridge’s social media accounts releasing cards made by George. Charlotte, and even Louis for “Granny Diana”. I don’t like it when children are used to advance political agendas. The fact that Kate went along with it tells me that the Royal Family is in full blown crisis mode.

In my opinion there are faults on all sides here. I think the Royal Family are the clear winners of Dysfunctional Family Feud. I’ve attached just a few of the memes and cartoons circulating from both ‘sides.’

This last one serves as a reminder, that things are not always what they seem.

[filmreviewonline]

Downton Abbey Movie - Stars on real royals visiting and more to come…

New Post has been published on https://www.filmreviewonline.com/2019/09/21/downton-abbey-movie-stars-on-real-royals-visiting-and-more-to-come/

Downton Abbey Movie - Stars on real royals visiting and more to come…

The Downton Abbey Movie had a press conference with stars Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern and Allen Leech. This was yesterday on the day of the official USA theatrical release September 20th, 2019.

The movie, which is directed by Michael Engler from a script by series creator Julian Fellowes, had a budget of just $13 million. This former television period series has already earned $12.2 million overseas. That includes $7.5 million in the UK alone. At the time of the press conference US previews had also taken $4.3 million. Now the first weekend predictions have been revised to at least $30million. And we have to remember that is amazing given it is against Rambo Last Blood and Ad Astra! All this is good for the fans as surely more movies might follow?

All this put Hugh, Elizabeth and Allen in a happy mood as you can see from our summary of the press conference’s light hearted chat. Here the talk about revisiting characters, real royals visiting and the prospect of more to come…

What are things that you would like audience members to walk away from this movie?

Downton Abbey movie – Actors Hugh Bonneville and Michelle Dockery on the set © 2019 Focus Features, photo by Jaap Buitendijk

Elizabeth McGovern: Entertained. Reassured.

Allen Leech: Happy. And we want them to walk away as well. We don’t want them to, you know, die in the theaters…

Elizabeth: And then come back again!

Hugh Bonneville: It is to escape from the hassles of our current world. It’s pretty nice and it’s a nice place to go. And you sort of know you’re going to be looked after, because I think the characters in Downton Abbey look out for each other in some way, shape, or form.

I don’t think we need to apologize for that. It’s just pure escapism. And so it’s a nice place to be for a couple of hours.

Period Pieces

Downton Abbey movie – Lady Mary Talbot (Michelle Dockery) and Cora Crawley (Elizabeth McGovern) © 2019 Focus Features, photo by Jaap Buitendijk

Curvy Critic: [Elizabeth], you were nominated for best supporting actress in Ragtime. And you’ve been doing Downton Abbey for ten years. What is it about period pieces that makes you intrigued as an actress?

Elizabeth: I seem to end up in period pieces quite a bit. But the fact is, I really don’t care about that. I’m really drawn to great stories and great characters. And the fact that they happen to be in that period is irrelevant to me.

I really hope that they spring out to a modern audience as if they are not in the period. And that what’s kind of remarkable is that people in that period are just like we are today. Things really don’t change all that much.

But of course we might be completely wrong!

Hugh: We actually had a historical advisor who was the sort of continuum of that or made sure that these standards were maintained. And there was sort of a house start, wasn’t there, that was established very early on. The women wouldn’t cross their legs and the men wouldn’t put their hands in their pockets. It was simple as that.

And I suppose that did lend it to certain if not grace, then a certain look to the thing.

Revisiting characters

Clarissa Camacho (with Queen Bee Latina): How does it feel to revisit characters that were untouched for almost four years?

Downton Abbey movie – Tom Branson (Allen Leech) © 2019 Focus Features, photo by Jaap Buitendijk

Allen: I think when we read the script, we all had a certain level of trepidation going in. The funny thing is, the minute you start reading the script and then when you start getting into your costume, you realize actually that it’s almost muscle memory.

So it was a really happy discovery for me that it didn’t take a huge amount to get back to being Tom Branson at all.

Elizabeth: You don’t have to think about all those things that you think about when you’re just creating the character to begin with. How do they talk? How do they walk? How do they sit? And since it’s so deeply in our bones, you can just play it. You can just be it.

Perhaps go to a deeper more confident place for that reason. So it’s a luxury because it doesn’t happen very often that you get a chance to revisit a character that has just settled in your bones for years without you even thinking about it.

Reignited

Downton Abbey movie – Producer Gareth Neame, writer and producer Julian Fellowes and actor Michelle Dockery on the set © 2019 Focus Features, photo by Jaap Buitendijk

Karen: What was the atmosphere like when y’all reignited on the set? 

Hugh: I think really the moment that sticks in my mind is when we joined together for the read through.

Now obviously we had six of these events in the past. But there had been a gap of three years. And it was a small miracle that Gareth Neymar, executive producer, had managed to get all of us around the table again.

I do remember looking around the table at this big square, this big old square table that was erected around the studio. And basically having sort of a wry grin on my face. Sort of I can’t believe that we’re here again.

Elizabeth: I feel like we all quietly grew in confidence a little bit in the best way. Like when somebody is quietly more confident, they’re just more fun and more relaxed. I feel like across the board, you could apply that to every member of the cast.

I think that pervaded the atmosphere when we were making the movie. There was a kind of quiet, peaceful confidence that wasn’t brash or arrogant. It was just kind of there.

Play a different Downton character?

Moderator: If each of you had the opportunity to play a different Downton Abbey character for an episode, who would you want to play?

Allen: I don’t think I could play it half as well. But I would love just to be Thomas Barrow for a day. An early Thomas Barrow. Like evil, smoking, have the conniving Thomas Barrow. 

Hugh: I think I would like to play Lady Mary. Because then you can shag a Turkish diplomat, have incredible sex, and then you don’t have to see them for breakfast!

Elizabeth: I cannot follow that answer!

Downton Abbey movie – Lady Hexham (Laura Carmichael), Lady Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern) and Lady Mary Talbot (Michelle Dockery) © 2019 Focus Features, photo by Liam Daniel

Personal habits

Al Siran Hifo (with Entertainment Voice): Have personal habits changed after embodying these people from another world for so many years?

Elizabeth: It’s made me appreciate the freedoms that we enjoy as women and the power that we enjoy as women, which I might have taken for granted otherwise.

I am so happy at the end of the day to come back to 2019 and know that I can vote, I can control my own money, I can control my own destiny. And we’ve come a long way, baby. 

Hugh: I think just the common courtesies that everybody in the estate is used to expressing. I think they aren’t bad things to hold onto now.

Tough times

Melissa (with Dandelion Women): I went through a tough time. My father passed and my mom and I binge watch for a couple of months. So you guys really helped us through a tough time.

Allen:  Oh, thank you.

Elizabeth: We hear stories like that sometimes. And I can’t tell you genuinely how much it means to us. Because sometimes in the world of show business, you get just so sick of the bullshit.

Favorite line

Melissa:[Did] you guys if you had a favorite line or scene from this movie?

Hugh: I think we all immediately go for one of Maggie’s lines.

Elizabeth: Yeah. We all want Maggie’s lines. Let’s not mince words.

UK and US fans

Angela (with Front Row Features):  What are the differences that you’ve noticed between fans in the UK and fans in the US of Downton Abbey?

Allen: Rob James-Collier summed it up brilliantly when he said in the US, fans will cross roads and risk being knocked down to tell you they love your show. [LAUGHTER].

And in the UK, people will cross roads and risk being run down just to tell you they don’t watch it. Which is very true.

Yeah. So the enthusiasm and the excitement that we experience from American audiences is so refreshing.

Elizabeth: You’re much more comfortable with your emotions.

Downton Abbey Movie – BTS: Allen Leech and Michelle Dockery on the set © 2019 Focus Features, photo by Jaap Buitendijk

Royals

Have you guys had a chance to meet the royals? Are they fans?

Hugh: I don’t know if they’ve seen the movie. But we had a dry run of the film plot, because the duchess of Cambridge came to visit the set.

Allen: Kate Middleton.

Hugh: Kate Middleton, Yes.

So she came to the set in our final season at Ealing. And that was a great day.

She was due to stay for an hour or so. Her detectives were checking their watch. She was there for about three hours. She was having such a good time looking around the wardrobe bus and learning how everything worked.

We also had a couple of visits from the Countess of Wessex. Sophie Wessex came a couple of times incognito. There was one occasion when we were filming outside Oxford I think it was at a house that Winston Churchill for sort of war plans during the war.

We knew that a dignitary was coming to visit sort of by coincidence. Argentinean ambassadors and her entourage were coming to be escorted by the Duchess of Wessex.

Unfortunately, my good lady screen wife didn’t really take all this on board and thought she had met the blonde haired lady in the supermarket recently.

Elizabeth: No. I thought she was an extra wardrobe person that had come on. [I] didn’t recognize her.

Hugh: Okay. So that was Sofie Wessex. Yeah. Just so you know for next time. Member of the royal family.

No wonder she found us so weird when you said, can you sew this part of my dress please!

The dinner scene with Molesley and the ballroom scene. You guys had to have had some moments where you cracked up and they had to like redo the take. You had to. Especially the scene with Molesley.

Hugh: Well, normally those dining room scenes, we can’t wait to get out, because they take a long time, those dining room scenes, for sort of obvious reasons.

That’s the one time that we actually just wanted to stay in the room and see them there, because take after take, he was just sublime.

Downton Abbey movie – Lady Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern) and Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) © 2019 Focus Features, photo by Jaap Buitendijk

Allen: It was a lovely moment where Maggie saw him do it for the first time. And she just turned. And there was a bit of applause. And she just turned and went, well, that’s delicious. [LAUGHTER]. And I think it’s a lovely way of describing that moment. Because he’s such a comic genius.

The ballroom was fun. Because obviously I sat on the sidelines and watched these guys do their job. And every so often myself and Imelda Staunton, we would go in and we would give our judging scores. And Dancing With The Stars. We would go in and everyone would line up and then we would walk up and down. And then we go, you guys were the best this time. Well done. And so everyone got to win at different stages. Except for the king and queen. Now that wasn’t Gerald and James’ fault.

Elizabeth: They sucked.

Allen: They sucked. [LAUGHTER]. For royalty, they really couldn’t dance.

Hugh: Over the years, Elizabeth and I have had quite a few dances in the TV show.

Diana Scrivener who is our choreographer has always been very patient, because we often may start at the bottom of the class, but she gives us incentives. It will go little badges each way. And we finally ended up with gold. We were very excited. We got a gold star.

The end?

Do you feel like this is really the end?

Hugh: I think realistically, it’s certainly the end for us in terms of the TV show. Of course there could be, because let’s not forget that the central character is the house. And the house is still standing and will be standing in another 100 years. So absolutely.

Knowing a little bit of the history of Lord and Lady Carnavron’s family, the current earl who lives there, his grandfather was quite a character. And if those walls could talk in the 1960s, that was one heck of a party house. So some fascinating shenanigans would have gone on over the years.

So of course, I think they absolutely could do spinoffs in that way.

In terms of our section of the history, I think if you can just persuade all your friends to go and see the movie, then maybe we’ll do another one.

Allen: Yeah, absolutely. If the appetite is there…

Downton Abbey Movie – Cinematographer Ben Smithard, director Michael Engler and producer Gareth Neame watch the drone technician film the house on the set © 2019 Focus Features, photo by Liam Daniel

Selena Hughes: Since everything is wrapping up, what will you take with you? What’s going to be in your Downton Abbey heart?

Allen: I had a very poignant moment with Hugh actually. We snuck in at the New York premier. And we stood at the back of the theater for the last 20 minutes of the movie.

For me, I’ll take this incredible journey that we had over ten years. And the amazing family I have.

[kateofthecanals]

A Woman’s Worth, According to “Game of Thrones”

The other day I thought to myself, is there a single female character on GoT who has not at some point been encouraged, both on a Watsonian and Doylist level, to resort to violence and/or sex in order to solve all her problems?

I’m honestly at a loss to think of a single female character, past or present, where this hasn’t been the case. Obviously the example frequently referenced around here is Sansa. Here is a young woman who, as written by George R.R. Martin, possesses a keen intellect but also a fair amount of naivete... because, like, both those aspects can exist at the same time. She is not a warrior like her sister, and she is not a seductress like Cersei, and yet she’s managed to survive through FIVE books without having to resort either to violence or sexual manipulation and has relied instead on her intellect and the traditionally feminine pursuits she has been brought up to cultivate. This is something D&D apparently cannot conceive of (even though it’s literally been written out for them in black and white). In their minds, a woman cannot be “strong” unless she’s got blood on her hands and/or a sexually available body. They literally cannot wrap their tiny brains around the concept of nuanced women. Even those who do possess martial prowess, like Brienne, Arya, and Asha, are reduced to shallow stereotypes and have had all their unique qualities stripped away in favor of this almost cartoonish thirst for blood.

D&D have made it quite clear over 7 seasons (yes, the first 4 included) that a woman in this universe is only “worthy” if she is willing to kill people and/or have sex. They cannot possibly serve any other purpose and still be of use to D&D’s narrative. Just look...

Sansa: Revenge Murder. She had been advised in the past, by both Cersei and Littlefinger, to use sex to get want she wants, but then she ended up getting raped. So maybe that “counts” in D&D’s eyes? After all, she did get her all-important “first kill” out of it... That, according to both D&D and Sophie, was what her “entire arc was leading to.”

Arya: Murder. She’s basically a homicidal maniac at this point, and it’s framed not only as a good thing, but “badass”. We’re supposed to be cheering as this lost, damaged child repeatedly stabs people with a cold smirk on her face.

Brienne: Murder. Absolutely no qualms about it either. Shanking dudes is just another day at the office for her! The epic moral dilemma that defines book-Brienne (”no chance, and no choice”) simply does not exist here.

Dany: Murder/Sex/Nudity. The Holy Trifecta! No wonder D&D love her so much! She’ll get naked and jump into bed AND murder entire cities all before Noon! We have seen Dany “struggle” at times with the dilemma of using violence in order to find peace, but in the end, the solution is always the same: YES OF COURSE YOU SHOULD USE VIOLENCE! Never once has she been like, “you know what, the loss is too much of a burden on my conscience, Imma sit this one out” without that being framed as a “wrong” decision. Because we need CGI dragons and massive casualties in order for her to be seen as “strong” and “competent”, dammit! We also need to see dem tittays!!!!

Cersei: Murder & Sex. Another D&D darling, obviously. In the books, Cersei is clearly off her rocker, makes bad decisions constantly, and literally no one likes her. (She’s basically show-Littlefinger.) And yet, on the show, her poor decisions and wisdom are treated as “correct”. When she tells Sansa that love is a sham or that she needs to use her vajayjay to get what she wants in this world, these things are framed as legitimately good advice. Cersei is basically this show’s moral compass. In D&D’s eyes, Cersei is the only character who is playing the game correctly. She is the only one who gets it right. “Kill or be killed, fuck or get fucked.” There is literally nothing else in between these two extremes.

Melisandre: Murder & Sex. Okay, so Mel hasn’t murdered anyone directly, but she’s had her hand in quite a few homicides. She’s utterly willing to see people die to get what she wants, and she’ll happily throw her titties at them along the way. Nevermind that book-Mel honestly believes that everything she’s doing is for the Greater Good, and nevermind that book-Mel doesn’t need to be nude every 5 seconds to get her point across... show-Mel is simply an evil enchantress, period. Oh, but then something horrible happened in Season 6 -- we found out that (a) she’s actually 3,000 years old ewwwwww!! and (b) she finally realized her “powers” aren’t all that reliable and came to regret all the murderin’ she’d done. She basically had her “worth” stripped from her twofold. Also, Carice Van Houten turned 40. And so guess who we BARELY saw in Season 7? Yeah, D&D literally made her LEAVE THE CONTINENT since she’s no longer of use to them.

Yara: Murder & Sex/Queer-Baiting. Yeah, another fun thing about D&D&Co is that they assume all female warriors are lesbians. They outright said as much about Brienne, and with Yara they just went ahead and showed it, and called it “representation” lmao. Even though Asha Greyjoy probably has the most healthy hetero sex life in ASOIAF. Sexuality in Yara’s case is even worse because she is also used in D&D’s massively disturbing depictions/endorsements of toxic masculinity. Her advice to her own brother, who was sexually mutilated, to either “get over it or kill yourself” (all while she’s groping a sex slave IN FRONT OF HIM) was actually framed as GOOD ADVICE. This was already apparent in the narrative but then D&D themselves confirmed it in the ITE!!!

Missandei: Nudity. Here’s a female character who is actually allowed to have a brain, but even then she is constantly undermined by the far superior intellect of Saint Tyrion. But it doesn’t really matter either way, because Missandei’s true purpose on the show is to look hot.

Olenna: Murder. Lady Tyrell is far too old to be sexy, so naturally she has to be out for blood at all times, and advising other people to murder as well (”Be a dragon!!!”).

Ellaria/Sand Snakes: Murder & Nudity/Sex. We can just go ahead and lump all these together. In addition to being the poster children for D&D’s insistence that all females, including sisters, must be catty to each other at all times, they are, of course, overly-sexualized and obsessed with Revenge™. It wasn’t enough that Ellaria was canonically bisexual, but D&D felt that her appeals for peace in the books were literally unworthy of proper adaptation. “We reconceived the role to make it worthy of the actor’s talents.” For them, Ellaria doesn’t deserve to even exist unless she’s vowing bloody vengeance on literally everyone for Oberyn’s death... including Oberyn’s own family(???). And the Sand Snakes? Well, one of y’all better get nekkid to keep it interesting! Who cares if the term “bad pussy” is apocryphal to this universe???

Margaery: Sex. From the moment Marg first popped up on screen, her titties popped out. She’s been a sexual character from the beginning and has repeatedly used sex as a tool for manipulation. She’s the protege that Cersei’s been looking for! Nevermind that, in the books, Marg, like Sansa, actually uses her wits to scheme and manipulate instead of her vagina. Luckily for D&D, they had room to age up Marg just enough that we could see her naked IMMEDIATELY, and once she traded in her low-cut dresses for Silent Sister gowns, guess what happened to her?

Myrcella: Neither, #RIP. Though, to be “fair”, they did re-cast the role with an older actress so that she could wear skimpier dresses and get groped by Trystane...

Gilly: ????? I mean, she’s just been reduced to Sam’s nagging girlfriend at this point. She did offer him sex (5 minutes after almost being raped) but she hasn’t threatened to murder anyone YET... But she’s also dumb as a post, so I guess D&D keep her around to make Sam look smarter?

Lyanna Mormont: Faux-Feminism! Lyanna is too young to be sexy or physically intimidating, so obviously the only other options for her are to re-affirm Sansa's idiocy (”Lyanna Mormont wouldn’t have been dumb enough to write that letter, so age is no excuse!”) and to further the faux-feminism agenda where crucial, life-preserving activities like knitting are ridiculed simply because they are “girl things”.

Meera: Murder. Honestly Meera was unusual in that she didn’t seem to possess the thirst for blood that the rest of the weapons-capable women on GoT did, nor any overt sexuality. But it’s okay, cuz D&D found other ways to undermine her! Like having her almost raped (a rite of passage for all true GoT Ladies I guess), and her constantly squabbling with Osha was a given according to the unwritten rule that if there’s more than one woman in the same scene at any time, they HAVE to be catty to each other, NO EXCEPTIONS!!! Anyway, without anyone left to kill or any way to be sexually available to Bran, she’s useless and no longer on the show. I’m sure we’ll find out next season that she was raped and murdered on her way back to the Neck (which Bran will have no reaction to).

The Waif: Murder. Just pure, unadulterated, completely incomprehensible murder. Did we ever really find out WHY she was so pathologically out to get Arya, other than the above-mentioned Rule of Cattiness?? Like, gods forbid she be an ACTUAL mentor to Arya...

Shireen: Neither, #RIP. Shireen was #tooprecioustoopure for this world, and that was entirely the point, wasn’t it? Nobody that sweet, kind, smart [shudder], and innocent [double-shudder] has any place in Weissteroff. She was only there for the maximum #feels when she was ruthlessly (and inexplicably) murdered and then immediately forgotten about once she served her purpose.

Selyse: Murder. She kind of suffered the same treatment as Lysa, in that her sexuality was used against her and she basically turned to murder to compensate for what she lacked.

Walda: Neither, #RIP. This one still infuriates me. In the books, Walda, although described to be rather overweight, still manages to enjoy a very healthy sex life with a husband not known for expressing more than a pointed stare. In fact, she’s so into it that even Roose Fucking Bolton finds it (and her) charming!! NONE of this made it into the show. No, instead, we have Ramsay making tasteless fat jokes (”OMG HOW DO YOU EVEN FIND HER VAGINA?!??!”) because lulz fat women enjoying sex don’t be ridiculous!! Ultimately she’s just there to be laughed at and then killed off for plot. Imagine if D&D were actually as progressive as they think they are and used this as an opportunity to depict and endorse body positivity on their Emmy Award-winning prestige drama watched by millions of people around the world..... NAAAAHHHH MORE FAT JOKES PLEASE!!!

Those are just some of the more recent crop of female characters, but this applies to past ones as well...

Catelyn: Murder. Poor Cat couldn’t even have a book-canon sex scene because no woman over the age of 40 is allowed to be naked on-screen (see: Melisandre) unless it’s for comedic effect or to deliberately make us cringe. So, that’s when D&D decided they had to amp up the Thirst for Vengeance quotient on her! Even though Cat was a POV character, and Robb’s entire war was seen through her eyes, they never allowed her any sort of meaningful introspection, either about the war or her family. Like Sansa, it was more important to highlight all the “mean” things she did to the Heroes of the story (”Maybe if I had loved Jon, this war wouldn’t have happened!!”) and retool the timeline so that she looks as dumb as possible (letting Jaime go before she ever found out about Bran & Rickon). The Red Wedding couldn’t have come sooner, amirite??

Lysa: Murder & Sex. Here’s an example of an “older” woman’s sex life being played for laughs. She was never meant to be taken seriously as a sexual being, so let’s make her wedding night with Littlefinger as outrageously ridiculous as possible. Yes, I know, it was presented this way in the books as well, but the difference is, we had way more backstory on Lysa and so it came off as more sad and pathetic than just outright comical. She was also the one who poisoned Jon Arryn, thereby kicking off the WoT5K, but that (extremely crucial mystery that hung in the air for 5 books and 4 seasons) has since been rendered meaningless because “Robert’s Rebellion was built on a lie”...

Shae: Sex/Nudity. And here’s a classic example of D&D seemingly making a GOOD decision to “improve” a character but having it ultimately blow up in their faces. Having Shae be a confidante/protector of sorts for Sansa ALMOST worked. It certainly gave her something to do than have sex with Tyrion constantly. But in the end, that just made Shae look all the more like a shitperson when she threw Sansa under the bus at Tyrion’s trial. It was an actual betrayal, as opposed to a calculated maneuver by someone who ultimately never gave a shit about Sansa OR Tyrion. It ultimately made Shae look even WORSE than her book-counterpart, imo. Book-Shae was just doing her job; show-Shae actively fucked over 2 people she seemed to genuinely care about. It was a more nuanced character, but at the end of the day, they did it to serve Tyrion. It probably never even occurred to them that someone couldn’t genuinely love him (and those who don’t pay for it dearly; see: Sansa), and it was out of the question to make Saint Tyrion look like a FOOL for deluding himself into thinking a prostitute loved him. So she had to be the real deal, and her murder by Tyrion had to be 100% justified.

Osha: Murder & Sex/Nudity. It wasn’t enough for Osha to become a surrogate mother to Bran and Rickon; mothers are SO BORING after all. And it wasn’t enough that she was a wildling woman capable of killing a man a hundred different ways. Best throw in some gratuitous nude scenes just because. As far as D&D are concerned, the only way she can kill a man is by fucking him first. It works the first time, but when she tries the same ruse with Ramsay, she is killed for it. I mean, OF COURSE. The Great Ramsay Sue would never fall for such a thing, pffft!

Ygritte: Murder & Sex. She was already a little firecracker in the books, but leave it to D&D to give her the Cersei treatment by basically blackmailing Jon into sleeping with her. Some could argue dub-con for the books, but the show was outright non-con. But because she’s a hot lady and he’s a dude, it’s not looked at or framed that way at all. Instead we’re made to think “JACKPOT, JON! woooot!”

Talisa: Sex. When the “not like the other girls” trope goes too far, you get Talisa. Yes, she was presented as a strong, smart, capable woman, but in the context that they put her in, it didn’t make sense. Because D&D don’t know how to write a female character like this within the context of ASOIAF. And the re-working of this arc in Robb’s plot went from “doing it for honor” to “doing it for dat bootay!!” So, of course, it wasn’t enough that she was “not like the other girls”; it was CRUCIAL that we got to see her naked too, lest she be taken TOO seriously...!

Ros: Sex/Nudity. Like, literally, that was her one and only function. There’s that well-known rumor that she was killed off in the show because the actress didn’t wanna do any more nude scenes, but she has denied this was the case, but who knows, really? Knowing D&D as we do, would we REALLY be surprised if the rumor was true? I mean, why else would they get rid of her? If she was still game to throw her rack around and perform pornologues, why would they willingly give that up??

Karsi: Murder. This gal has the distinction of proving D&D’s claim that no one would have cared about Jeyne Poole utterly wrong, null, and void. Karsi had a cumulative screen time of about 10 minutes total, and I remember watching the live-tweets come in during “Hardhome” and people, including myself, being really excited by her character almost immediately. But surely there had to be a catch -- ah yes, The Worst Crime In Westeros: being a mother. That was her ultimate undoing. Of course, we learned soon after the episode that the character was originally written to be a man, but it was changed to a woman because OBVIOUSLY only a woman -- only a mother -- would be THAT opposed to killing children, even undead ones.

Maggy The Frog: Sex. Well, kinda... Look, fact is, Maggy the Frog was supposed to be some old, gross witch, and D&D turned her into a Burning Man groupie.

That about covers it, I think, feel free to add more if I’ve forgotten anyone. But basically you can see the pattern here loud and clear. It amazes me that so-called feminists who watch the show religiously haven’t picked up on this... or, if they have, don’t seem to have a problem with it??

[reflectingiridescent]

Oh yeah sure, my pleasure - it'll just be a bit long. So I think this is best tracked alongside the show with Eliot’s background clear in mind.

At the end of s1 we kind of have the version of Sophie we’re given refuted in a very intense way when she cons the team (and there’s also a nod to how Nate is clearly into her but also always kind of knew she had it in her). So that primes us…

For the first episode of s2 where we get that very small peek into what her birth accent is (when she breaks that guy’s nose in Nate’s apartment because he’s come to kill Nate). Like I’m not super well-versed in accents so someone can come in and provide more specific accent info if they want (she says like two whole sentences in it). But it’s supposed to signal that she’s def from a lower socio-economic background than the accent she uses as Sophie.

S2 continues and we get confirmation that, yeah, Sophie is actually an alias. So at this point all established character details about her are in question. But she does feel some dissonance with that and goes off to find herself in Europe and Central Asia.

S3 happens and we get Charlotte Prentiss, which was her stage name but also becomes somewhat of a royal identity (and she used the Lost Heir con to establish it, 7 years of work). Notable perhaps that the only alias she’s shown to hold comparatively long is Annie Kroy, which is who she decides to be at the beginning of s2 after the broken nose goon has seen her face (and heard her real voice) already. Also if we use the timeline suggested by The Frame-Up Job, we know that Sophie began grifting around the age of 19. Maybe 20. So maybe her acting and grifting careers are working alongside each other. They are established by the show to be very similar because grifting is acting with people who don’t know you are.

So in typical Leverage fashion, Sophie’s superpower is also very personally taxing for her. She’s able to become these roles to the extent that it pulls her apart from the inside out. Every single other grifter we see on the show blows through a job and then disappears into the wind. Sophie’s really the only one in the series who we see will establish something for years, over and over again. It’s part of her identity issue. It’s also what gives her these identities she can whip out sometimes without Hardison establishing it for her. Which means she’s totally capable of establishing a princess-type of persona that gets people to do stuff for her (because they want to do things for her - she makes that point over and over again too, that she doesn't make anyone do anything - she just helps them access their greed and desires and they just...do it themselves).

That brings us to her past which she blocks out and rarely mentions. When it comes up, it’s clearly very painful for her because she’s done some bad stuff that she doesn’t condone anymore. But also she more than anyone keeps secret her ties to her birth identity.

So all of this is pointing to how she’s kind of an extreme version of the girl who comes to LA to be a Hollywood actress...which is what she kind of is in s1. She’s kind of running from something and wants to rise above her station. Marilyn Monroe-esque origins vs what she becomes.

The Grave Danger Job! That lovely speech to Parker about how if you lose someone, you might put up walls. But you’re only living if you’re finding and interacting with people who make you tear down those walls. It’s Sophie, talking to Parker about Hardison, so like okay this is most obviously taken in the context of romantic love. But the loss in question for Parker is familial, and Sophie and Parker have a familial type of relationship (YMMV, she never calls Sophie her mom the way Hardison does but like, that's how I read it). And Parker is THE FIRST PERSON TO TRUST SOPHIE AGAIN AFTER THE BETRAYAL. They literally jump off a roof together and Sophie is harnessed but Parker is not. Contrast what Parker’s ready to do to Tara when she thinks Tara’s betrayed them. I’m gonna say Sophie understands something about familial loss. Which is a good 1 to 1 reading of family loss —> gain of team family. William loss —> Nate is also an available reading but I argue the former fits better with Parker.

Sophie and Parker are used as foils for each other quite a bit (Parker is so much herself that the world struggles to accept her, while Sophie is pretty universally acceptable but loses herself in the process and does eventually need to decide on some morals to hold herself to), but the fact that it's specifically Sophie who is able to connect with Parker on this specific topic...I think points to Sophie having had a similar experience. Likely before she got into grifting because that would track with how young Parker was with her loss.

Eliot was in a lot of ways trying to leave his home life. And Sophie might have been doing that...but also maybe her home left her. Or she lost it.

Every single person on the Leverage crew is failed by the system somehow. Crime is the way they take back control, because that's how you even the playing field. We're never explicitly told how Sophie is failed by the system, but her need for control (and how it interacts with Nate's own need for control) is one of the reasons it takes them so long to establish a relationship.

Two more episodes important to this: s5’s The Low Low Price Job where she’s very quick to chime in on how they can’t close down the Walmart equivalent because of all the jobs it provides and how the town depends on it. This is, admittedly, a weaker point of mine because she’s lived in the US long enough; for sure she understands. But also Eliot episodes are generally used to paint a contrast between Eliot and Sophie (or more accurately, use Sophie as a foil to better understand Eliot - think of The Tap-Out Job, The Studio Job...), so any point of similarity is something to pay attention to.

And my personal favorite The Corkscrew Job: “Wine’s just another way of saying ‘I’m better, I belong.’ And that’s my business.” Which Sophie wouldn't need to be so good at if she'd just been born into that kind of thing.

So that’s how I draw my conclusion that while Eliot comes from a lower class background, tries to raise his station with the military, and holds his background with still a certain amount of pride; Sophie comes from a lower class background, raises her station by acting and conning her way into aliases who do have access/relationships with people who have access, and just refuses to engage with that part of her past unless she absolutely has to.

So that's like, understandable, but I know not being proud of where you come from is...not always the coolest thing, especially from an American POV which is gonna be the audience Leverage is written for as well as the majority of its viewers. Because like, rags to riches! Cinderella! Anti-heroes who make heel-face turns toward good! Hard work = rewards!

So the last thing I'll suggest in regards to this ^ as far as insight on why Sophie makes this particular choice is that we read this through a gendered lens as well! And Sophie and Eliot do break some gender norms. Eliot has a lot of female-coded traits (cooks, good with kids, etc), and while Sophie is established as pretty firmly femme (though she will generally choose a blazer and pants over a dress in later seasons), one of the reasons why her betrayal is felt so deeply in s1 is that we don't expect the femme mom character to do that. We're familiar with the femme fatale. We're a little less familiar with one who's at least at first enabling her alcoholic love interest while investing in the growth of individual team members.

Eliot's story is of a cowboy with a blue collar background who falls into government-sanctioned morally bad territory and pulls himself out of it, not seeking forgiveness but just committed to repenting forever. We love that story. We respect that story. And Sophie...is not Cinderella. Because Cinderella involves a deus ex machina in a way. But this is Leverage. There is no magic, and people are not handed things they do not work for...unless they are born very rich, which Cinderella is not.

No, Sophie's story is Pygmalion. She's My Fair Lady. And we make fun of Audrey Hepburn's character when she first comes on screen.

We're hard-wired to respect Eliot's background. We would not respect Sophie's. But if Sophie were a man, we'd respect it a hell of a lot more. Sophie's a master storyteller. She knows that.

Eliot Spencer and Sophie Devereaux in The Tap Out Job

This scene is an intimate glimpse into Eliot's inner life, and it's also one of my favorite interactions between him and Sophie. She comes to him in concern, well-versed in her role as the one who, to quote Hardison in The Two Live Crew Job, "makes sure we're all okay." It's emotional labor that she does with a lot of skill and care, but for once it's not needed here. Eliot's got it handled.

More self-aware and emotionally intelligent than the typical bruiser character, Eliot has never shied away from doing his own internal work. He still has his jagged edges and blind spots, but not in this. When it comes to his relationship with violence, Eliot has found his equilibrium. He couldn't have been a member of this team, if he hadn't. Couldn't have let himself care for them—and them for him—if he'd thought he was a ticking time bomb. Couldn't be the protector if just being around him put them in danger from his own demons.

So Eliot here, basically saying, "It's okay, Sophie, I can deal with this," is telling nothing but the truth. He's not avoiding the issue or acting macho. He's taken a sober look at what this would cost him both physically and psychologically, and he knows that he can pay the price. He's got safeguards and coping mechanisms in place. Sophie's still not happy about it—it's a heavy thing, what they're asking Eliot to do—but she takes him at his word. And so do we. It's what makes the con during the fight so effective, not just against the mark, but also the viewers.

[christinamirabilis]

Question thingy cos I’m procrastinating going to bed which I will be heavily regretting at 7:30 when I have to get up for class but yolo

Spotify, SoundCloud, or Pandora?  I don’t really use any of them tbh, like, I like to have all of my music in iTunes/on my phone - but if I ever stream music it’s actually normally on YouTube.

is your room messy or clean?  Right now it’s very messy, I was supposed to clean it days ago but I’m lazy.

what color are your eyes?  Blue.

do you like your name? why?  I’ve always been indifferent to it - or, really, it’s that depersonalised feel where I tell people my name is Christina and I answer to Christina but when I start to think about it, say it out loud slowly and mindfully, it feels like a foreign object in my mouth.  So I try not to do that because that’s uncomfortable as fuck.  But anyway, yeah, indifferent, but ever since I learned about Christina Mirabilis and how much she has come to mean to me, it’s better, like, it feels like fate I guess.  If such a thing exists, which is another thing I am ambivalent about.

what is your relationship status?  extremely single so if anyone wants to take one for the team and date me, that would be swell.

describe your personality in 3 words or less?  neurotic, means well.

what color hair do you have?  purple

what kind of car do you drive? colour?  sadly I do not have a car, but I do have a scooter, it’s silver.

where do you shop?  like, as in where do I buy my groceries?  Haha lmao but honestly this is so vague.  Bitch I’m poor and fat, I shop anywhere where I can find something that doesn’t look completely hideous and that my card won’t get declined trying to buy.

how would you describe your style?  see above.  Would like to dress way cooler than I do but lack of money, and - more importantly, since thrift shops are a thing when you’re skinny - being fat.

favorite social media account? Tumblr I guess, even though it’s often incredibly frustrating, because Facebook is a shitstain on the fabric of humanity and I don’t have Twitter and rarely use Instagram.

what size bed do you have?  double.

any siblings?  little sister, she’s 25, lives in Melbourne.

if you can live anywhere in the world where would it be? why?  somewhere that is perpetually warm, where I can speak the language well enough to practice as a clinical psychologist, but still in a big city - I’m thinking either Sydney or Queensland, or California.  South of France would be fucking lit too, I guess I know enough French that I could become fluent with total immersion.  Anyway, I just want to be warm year-round, seasonal depression always kicks my ass, I fucking loathe being cold.

favorite snapchat filter?  fuck man I don’t know, I don’t remember the last time I used a snapchat filter.

favorite makeup brand(s)  depends on which type of makeup, I have different favourite brands for different products.  But, generally, cheap, I guess.  Although my two favourite makeup items are an eyeshadow that I got from Topshop, and a Makeup Revolution highlight.

how many times a week do you shower?  most days.

favorite tv show?  that is a really difficult question, I have so many favourites.  Right now it’s Game of Thrones, obviously.  But I think Dollhouse is possibly my all-time favourite TV show.  And right now I’m watching Vikings, which I’m fucking loving, just finished the second season.  Although HONESTLY I don’t give a fuck about Princess Aslaug, when the fuck are Ragnar and Lagertha gonna get back together because Lagertha is my fucking bae.

shoe size?  normally 7 or 8 in NZ sizes, or 38EU.

how tall are you?  5′2″ of pure queer fury.

sandals or sneakers?  docs.

do you go to the gym?  lmao.

describe your dream date?  I’ve done this before but basically - luxury version with the girl I’m in love with involves long extended holiday wandering around the Mediterranean and just having lazy days of eating and napping and swimming and having sex and exploring and shopping. Other than that, I just really love to go to an outdoor bar on a warm summer’s afternoon and have sangria or margaritas or wine and antipasto or tapas, and just chill and chat, and maybe have a sneaky cigarette.  just, like, yeah.  perfect.

how much money do you have in your wallet at the moment?  none, I don’t carry cash most of the time.

what color socks are you wearing?  grey with black polka dots, with a rabbit on each, they used to have pom poms on them for the rabbit’s tale but they’ve long since disintegrated.

how many pillows do you sleep with?  I sleep on one pillow but I have another one on the other side of my bed.

do you have a job? what do you do?  I am a supervisor in a bookstore.

how many friends do you have?  I don’t know off the top of my head, I’m not inclined to sit here and count them.

whats the worst thing you have ever done?  taken my pain out on my own body rather than directing my anger at the people who hurt me.

whats your favorite candle scent?  I don’t know but Sophie got me this Limoncello-scented one from Bath and Body Works in Vancouver but it’s humungous and heavy as fuck so she couldn’t afford to send it to me but I hope maybe when she eventually comes back she’ll bring it with her because I think that would be my favourite scent.

3 favourite boy names?  I don’t know, honestly, I don’t often think about boy names, I guess cos I’m fucking gay as shit so boys never cross my mind in any capacity.  But I like Elliott.  But I also like that name for a girl so idk,

3 favourite girl names?  I have heaps but the first three that spring to mind are Anneke, Rhiannon, and Sinead.

favorite actor?  don’t know tbh.  Probably Harrison Ford as Han Solo, cos he’s my son.

favorite actress?  a hard choice but Emilia Clarke is the one I crush on the hardest so yeah idk.

who is your celebrity crush?  who ISN’T?  I swear I’m in love with half the women in music and film.  Emilia Clarke is a big one, obviously, but also at the moment I’m crushing mega hard on Tash Sultana.

favorite movie?  I don’t know, I’ll just say Amélie because that film never fails to cheer me up.

do you read a lot? what’s your favourite book?  I do read a lot, and I have no fucking idea.

money or brains?  In a partner?  Brains, I guess, although that’s very subjective, given Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences - I guess it depends on what you value.  I, personally, value emotional intelligence.

do you have a nickname? what is it?  Stina.

how many times have you been to the hospital?  Uhhh.  I don’t know off the top of my head, and I probably can’t count accurately because there are a few admissions that I just straight up don’t remember.  At least 10 times, I would say.

top 10 favourite songs?  nah, that’s too hard.

do you take any medications daily?  yeah, I take sertraline (anti-depressant), prazosin (alpha-blocker - for PTSD), and birth control (for PCOS).  I also take magnesium and vitamin D because they’re both fucking lifesaving tbh.

what is your skin type? (oily, dry, etc)  I don’t know.  All I know is that it never fucking does what I want it to.

what is your biggest fear?  The people I love dying, especially my close family.

how many kids do you want?  more than one but no more than three.

whats your go to hair style?  down.  I always wear it down.  I have a pretty large side-undercut, so.

what type of house do you live in? (big, small, etc)  The house itself is really big, it’s an old villa, but it’s divided into two flats, we’re on the bottom floor.  It isn’t huge, we have a tiny lounge, a slightly-larger-than-average kitchen, and average-sized bathroom/laundry - but our rooms are all fucking humungous.

who is your role model?  my therapist, my old high school guidance counsellor, my friends.

what was the last compliment you received?  Owen said my hair looked good today.

what was the last text you sent?  it was a really long Facebook message to the girl I’m currently talking to, we’re going on a date on Thursday, I’m excited.

how old were you when you found out santa wasn’t real?  Idk, I figured it out pretty young, I was a bright kid.  Maybe five or six?

what is your dream car?  I don’t really know.  I like 70s muscle cars but honestly at the end of the day any car is a good car.  Plus, practically-speaking, I would like something that is kind on the environment, an electric car or a hybrid.

opinion on smoking?  I think that it is something people do when they need something to alleviate a distressing situation.  It’s no secret that smoking is more prevalent among the poor and the mentally ill, as well as those with high-stress jobs.  I am an ex-smoker who relapses one or two times a year, the last time I had a cigarette was early April.  I sometimes start smoking again when I am not doing well emotionally or if I’m really stressed (eg during exams).  And I don’t like it, it makes me feel tired, it makes my throat phlegmy, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth and it makes me stink of smoke, and it is fucking expensive, but it meets a need.  So my opinion is that I don’t like smoking, but sometimes it has a hold on me that I can’t resist, and I have the utmost compassion for anyone who smokes.

do you go to college?  yeah, I’m in my last year of my undergrad.

what is your dream job?  clinical child and youth psychologist.

would you rather live in rural areas or the suburbs?  inner-city suburbs - far out enough to still live in a free-standing house with a garden, but close enough that I can walk to the city, or be there after a short bus trip. That’s the situation I live in at the moment and it’s perfect.

do you take shampoo and conditioner bottles from hotels?  No, because I’m a snob and only like to use my own shampoo and conditioner.  But I don’t see anything wrong with it, since you’re paying for them.  Taking appliances and dressing gowns and towels, however, is not acceptable in my opinion.

do you have freckles?  Not really.

do you smile for pictures?  Sometimes but I hate having my photo taken so it always looks strained.

how many pictures do you have on your phone?  Not that many at the moment, I just did a big dump of photos onto my laptop, I like to do that from time to time so my iCloud doesn’t run out of space.

have you ever peed in the woods?  yeah, and on the side of the road, and once behind Sophie’s house when her flatmate was taking a really fucking long time in the shower and I desperately needed to pee.

do you still watch cartoons?  nah, but only cos they’re not my cup of tea, absolutely no hate.

do you prefer chicken nuggets from Wendy’s or McDonalds?  I’m a vegetarian.

Favorite dipping sauce?  see above.

what do you wear to bed?  pyjama pants and an old t-shirt.

have you ever won a spelling bee?  no, they’re not a thing in New Zealand, but if they were I would have fucking cleaned up - not to blow my own horn or anything but I am a freakishly good speller.  It’s kind of a not terribly useful skill though, and doesn’t say anything about my level of intelligence.  Just like my weird propensity for memorising numbers, even if I haven’t used them in 10 or 15 years (like my NCEA student number, and the mobile number for the cellphone I lost when I was 14).

what are your hobbies?  netflix, napping, and memeing.

can you draw?  nope, not even a little bit.

do you play an instrument?  yeah I play the violin, and I can also play piano, and I’m a decent choral singer, and I was once an okay percussionist, and I am a below-average guitarist, and an abysmal flute player.  But those last three were self-taught so yeah.

what was the last concert you saw?  The Veils BUT I’m going to see Sigur Rós on Friday and I am dying of excitement.

tea or coffee?  peppermint tea.

Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts?  Dunkin Donuts, but not for the coffee, I just really like donuts.  Plus we don’t have Dunkin Donuts in Wellington so it’s a huge novelty for me when I get to have them, I’m almost as excited about getting Dunkin Donuts when I fly into Auckland on Friday as I am about seeing my favourite band live haha.

do you want to get married?  Yes.

what is your crush’s first and last initial?  I don’t currently have a crush.

are you going to change your last name when you get married?  No but I will consider hyphenating if that’s something my wife wants to do.

what color looks best on you?  black I guess.

do you miss anyone right now?  I kinda miss Soph but these days I’m just starting to, like, I don’t know.  Adjust.  Which is nice.  Realising that the way things worked out is for the best, because otherwise I would have been in for a lot of misery.  Even though Sophie is a wonderful person whom I love and care about a huge amount.  Apart from that, I miss being close to Nic, because she is like a sister to me, and I wish that we lived near each other so we could support one another.

do you sleep with your door open or closed?  Closed.

do you believe in ghosts?  No, but I could be convinced to change my mind with enough evidence.

what is your biggest pet peeve?  People with bad manners, it is really not that fucking hard to say “please” and “thank you”?  I mean, I’m talking in a work context here pretty much, customers can be so fucking rude.  And the rude ones are all, without a single exception, baby boomers.  So... yeah.

last person you called?  Owen.

favorite ice cream flavour?  I’m not really an ice cream person but I really like Ben and Jerry’s chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, that’s another thing I’m super looking forward to when I go to Auckland.  If it seems like I’m obsessed with food, it’s because I am - but I am especially obsessed with getting all of the bread and sugar I can into myself in the next week because next week I’m starting the keto diet and I’m dying a little inside just thinking about it, I really fucking love sugar and bread.

regular oreos or golden oreos?  regular.

chocolate or rainbow sprinkles?  rainbow.

what shirt are you wearing?  t-shirt with very thin stripes.

what is your phone background?  beyoncé in the formation video.

are you outgoing or shy?  depends on the context, but mostly shy.

do you like it when people play with your hair?  yeah.

do you like your neighbors?  I don’t know them but they seem nice in passing.

do you wash your face? at night? in the morning?  always.

have you ever been high?  yes.

have you ever been drunk?  yes.

last thing you ate?  cheesecake.

favorite lyrics right now?  eh.

summer or winter?  SUMMER.

day or night?  Idk I like both, it depends.

dark, milk, or white chocolate?  milk.

favorite month?  January.

what is your zodiac sign?  Aries but I don’t believe in that shit.

who was the last person you cried in front of?  Either my therapist or Owen and Autumn, I can’t remember.  Possibly both, I went through a stage of pretty much constantly crying a couple of weeks back lmao.