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[butwhyhavethey]

[butwhyhavethey]

Lurking about, #justunderbutlerthings

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[butwhyhavethey]

[butwhyhavethey]

Since @likehandlingroses posted the Australian S1 promo and @da-scenes put it on my dash, I am blaming you both for the fact that, rather than coming up with new content for my NANO pieces, my brain instead spent the day pondering whether DA would work better as a serious crime drama (something I’m no good at writing) or one of those ridiculous things where everyone dies except the murder and yet people STILL can’t figure out who done it (which I am also no good at writing); cackling like a loon at both notions; and spitting out bitlets like this:

Inspector Thompson, Sr.*: So, Thomas, Miss O’Brien. The entire household has been murdered, one after the other, in a mysterious fashion. No one is left…except you two.

O’Brien: That’s true, inspector.

Thomas: *inching imperceptibly toward a closet*

Inspector Thompson, Sr.: That means you two must be very relieved to have avoided the merciless attention of whatever roving lunatic was responsible!

O’Brien: … … We are, Inspector.

Thomas: *stops inching toward the closet and inches back* Very much so.

Inspector Thompson, Sr.: I know things look grim, but I promise it’s just a matter of time. We will see justice is done!

O’Brien: That’s a such a relief, Inspector. Her poor Ladyship…

Thomas: Begging your pardon, Inspector, but have you found Mr. Bates’s body yet? Only he was the only other staff member unaccounted for, and if he’s not dead…

Inspector Thompson, Sr.: Yes. Yeeeeeeeeeessss…. Mr. Bates. A very suspicious character. New to the house, you say?

O’Brien: Quite new, Inspector. Claimed to have been with His Lordship during the war, but it had been years. A good conman might have been able to pull the wool over His Lordship’s eyes.

Inspector Thompson, Sr.: Yes indeed. Well, we’ve searched the entire house. Oh! Except the boiler room. Suppose the blighter could be hiding there…

Thomas: Oh, that’s not likely, Inspector. Mr. Bates was terrified of fire. Know that for fact.

O’Brien: He used to be careful not to get too close to the fire place when it was lit, or candles. Wouldn’t even go in the kitchen because of the stoves.

Thomas: And I heard him say once he had nightmares about being thrown in a boiler furnace and dying.

Inspector Thompson, Sr.: Really?

O’Brien: *sniff* Silly fear, really. You couldn’t fit a person in a boiler.

Thomas: Indeed, you’d have to cut him up first. And then there’d be a bloody hatchet or cleaver or something and you can’t just make one of those vanish.

Inspector Thompson: Indeed you can not! I’d have found it in a heartbeat, if such a thing existed. Ah well, we’ll go back to the office and continue the search from there. Don’t you fret. We always get our man. In the meantime, you two will stay here and look after the house until the new heir is found, won’t you?

O’Brien & Thomas: *beatific smiles* Of course, Inspector.

–

…I hope you both feel appropriately guilty for having unleashed this on the world.

*older relation to Inspector Thompson from Gosford Park. Just as incompetent, and also played by Stephen Fry

[butwhyhavethey]

Downton Abbey DVD Commentaries → S2E1 (Julian Fellowes, Gareth Neame, and Liz Trubridge)

[1:07:40]

Gareth: I think Rob had a huge amount of story to tell in this episode, I mean really, a massive journey to go on in these few scenes to say that he is so completely lost because of the trauma of this war situation that he’s prepared to…

Liz: Do this.

Gareth: …do what he’s about to do. I think he does it really well.

Liz: Oh, I think he’s brilliant with it, yeah. He was very affected by going in those trenches.

[butwhyhavethey]

“I wish I could dance like that.”

Downton Abbey Episode 1.02

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Downton Abbey (2019) dir. Michael Engler

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I was wondering if anybody has taken the Myers-Briggs (MBTI) Personality Test. I know that Thomas Barrow is generally a love him or hate him character in the Downton Abbey fandom and I just wonder if there is a certain personality type that is more inclined to like and understand Thomas than others. If you know your personality type please feel free to comment on or reblog this post with your type. This is for research purposes and because I find it fascinating. I personally am an INTP and if you know what that is, you'll know that this is a very INTP thing to do! While you're at it, feel free to tell me what personality type you think Thomas Barrow is-I always have a hard time placing him. Or you could tell me what type you think Rob James-Collier is. I personally think he's a textbook ENFP.

If you haven't taken this personality test, you can take it here : https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test

I know there are a lot of skeptics of this test, but I found it to be extremely accurate in my case and it helped me understand why I am the way I am. It's also just great fun!

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Nancy (2019) - behind the scenes

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This might be one of the most brilliant and hilarious Thomas fics ever written! You NEED to read this!

🍊Marmalade is Not the Only Fruit 🍊

Fandom/pairing/characters: Downton Abbey, Richard Ellis/Thomas Barrow. Also starring Lady Edith, Laura Edmunds, Lytton Strachey, and Mr. Spratt, with Oscar Wilde in a supporting role.

Summary: Thomas and Richard discover a mutual love of reading, but when Richard recommends Thomas a racy novel to hint at his romantic interest in him, chaos descends. Thomas is forced to look to an unlikely ally for help, and when that makes matters worse, he does what he does best: he comes up with a ‘fool proof’ plan of his own.

Notes: Written for @barris-week-2022. Epistolary, 7k words, rated E. Based on the deleted Richard/Thomas scene from the first film and my obsession with Richard liking marmalade. 

Read it here. 

[butwhyhavethey]

Favorite interview.

Rob James-Collier || Sunday Brunch

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I love him.

“It took us four months to shoot this whole side storyline where he meets a unicorn. He’s out in the woods one day on a walk and he sees this enchanted beast. And he slowly builds up a relationship by feeding it. One day he puts some food 50 yards away, the next 25 yards away and so on until one day he’s petting this majestic creature. It was all about that relationship. What happens — it was quite tragic — the unicorn ended up getting murdered for its horn because as we all know it’s got magical properties. There was an evil queen who lives near Downton Abbey and she ground down the horn so she could live forever and be ethereal and beautiful. So we shot all that, and they fucking cut it out of series three because it wasn’t ‘relevant.’ You’ve got this beautiful segue about unicorns never being used. Thomas painted the creature, too! One whole wall of his room that you never see on the show is a unicorn wall. There was a lovely scene as well, it mimicked Ghost, where he was doing the pottery wheel, making the unicorn’s head to give to the unicorn. As a gift. The unicorn was pissed off. He thought it was his big break. He said, “They fucking cut me.” He put so much work into it. It was all behind the eyes. It was like Alec Guinness.”

— Rob James Collier on the Downton unicorn plot (X)  (via victoriafication)

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I have FINALLY found it! YES!

“I’m a baked bean, y'know.”

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The last one should be a meme. Somebody make this a meme. I would, but I don't know how.

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I love this so much. Thomas is a savage. Although, what actually happened might have been even more so. Thomas is a legend.

***

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Quick! What would somebody think was going on in this picture if they had no context given to them and no idea who any of these characters were? Ideas?

This is just for fun!