#conversation: delphine st. clair

[varden-lefebvre]

@delphine--stclair Event: Fight Club 2025 - During the women's rounds.

Well, witnessing Giordana's fight felt a little bit like he'd just committed a crime.

With a glass of cognac in hand and a grimace firmly painting his weathered features, Varden sought out an all-too-familiar face amongst the French crowd in an attempt to cleanse his fucking palate. Often, she proved a safe haven when he didn't particularly enjoy the idea of company, and as was a surprise to none, tonight was one of those occasions. Varden's own fight wasn't any kind of looming anxiety—it was only ever going to go one way, and they all knew that—but some of the match ups for the other French fighters concerned him.

Taking a sip from his own glass, he extended a coupe of champagne in the direction of the blonde as soon as she was in earshot. A sight for sore eyes, as always.

"Not overly attached to Olivier, are we?"

[lararutherford]

@delphine--stclair Location: The Kingdom Hotel, Westminster. Dated: 10/9/24.

God, the hotel was beautiful. Truly, a league above anything her father could ever create in almost every manner. And as she glanced around the marble room, a sadness that had set itself deep in her soul, that had never fucking left it since he'd left her, once again clawed its way to the surface. She'd never see him smiling at the table to the left of the bar, his table, again. That was a tragedy still unpunished.

The blonde, unsurprisingly flanked by her entourage, caught her attention quickly. Lara hadn't brought company tonight, but to expect St. Clair to do the same would've been unreasonable given current circumstances. Perhaps, the gesture would put the woman at ease with regards to her motives. There were no manipulative tactics at play here. Nothing ulterior, hostile or malicious. At least, not toward the St. Clairs...

She gestured at the bottle of champagne between them. Help yourself.

The Rutherford was eager to get down to business, and end this exchange before she had to endure too much time in the woman's company. It was not the kind of meeting that called for idle chitchat. Yet, she couldn't help herself. It wouldn't ease the anguish, because deep down, she already knew the answer, but...just one question.

"Is Laurent awake yet?"

[yvesdemetz]

"You know we're not weak. I know we're not weak. That doesn't mean we don't look it. One can argue appearing as such when we're not is a tactical advantage, but it doesn't feel like much of one right now, does it?"

When she questioned how badly he was hurt, the Frenchman merely shrugged an offering of indifference with his good arm. Enough that he regretted giving up the needle more than usual, but not enough that he couldn't do his fucking job. He would manage. Yves took another purposeful drag on his cigarette as he mulled over a response. What they needed to do was obvious. How they would go about it, on the other hand, was the million euro question nobody had managed to find an answer for...

"He needs to go. They were never this organised under his father, and without him, if there's not a power struggle to replace him, we could at least make the most of the disarray during the aftermath. Vorshevsky is the problem."

Delphine felt her eyes close as she absorbed the news from Yves. "Putain." She said, using the french phrase for 'fuck'. A sigh escaped from her lips and she shook her head from side to side.

"Of course it was them," she spat, disgusted. "Fucking rats. You squash one and 100 more pop up in their place." Laurent could be a total pain in the ass, but he was respected by some of their people and he knew how to get certain shit done. Both he and Varden were invaluable, Varden, for her, especially. "The fucking audacity...taking his ring. What a message that sends."

She took the cigarette from Yves and waited for him to light it before taking a long drag, letting the smoke out slowly, savoring the burning in her chest.

"You're not wrong, but I resent the term 'weak'." She admitted, admonishing him just a bit and raising an eyebrow. "If there is one thing we are not, it is weak. They've simply forgotten just how strong we actually are." She said, taking another drag from her cigarette.

"How badly are you hurt?" She asked, leaning forward a bit. "Our next move needs to be calculated. And public. Just as public as what they did to our people."

[renard-julien]

For: @delphine-st-clair Dated: April 3rd, 2023.

None of them had spoken to Oliver, because he didn't want to be found.

Julien could hardly blame him for that.

If losing his wife proved to push him to the point of incapacitated, however, then it would be the woman sat before him who would have to step up to the plate in the absence of a leader. Perhaps permanently, if the cards happened to line up that way. A conversation for another day, though, undoubtedly...

Paris needed strong leadership in moments like these, but when he'd heard Laure had been injured, albeit minor when compared to some, he'd made the short journey to London without hesitation. Partly to be with his children whilst their mother was recovering. Partly because not one of them could begin to comprehend the implications this would have moving forward, and he was not about to leave them to fend for themselves. Particularly not Delphine.

Not only had the Organization just been dealt a blow bigger than anything it had suffered since its inception, she had lost family.

The last St. Clair in the business. It was a thought suffocating to all of them, and yet he could scarcely imagine how much it must've struck her.

"You should be in Paris. You're not safe here."

[konstantinvorshevsky]

@delphine-st-clair​​ Dated: 20/1/23.

So little set him on edge these days. When he walked into the meeting, however, sans security who waited at the door, as promised, the Russian realised this was different.

It was hard to recall a time where opening a potentially civil line of communication between the two sides would’ve seemed a realistic feat. That in itself was a testament to how much this had been bothering him, he supposed. The both of them. The French were notoriously emotional, and if it hadn’t been for the rationality he begrudgingly appreciated in their newly minted leader, he wouldn’t have even tried. Yet here they stood. Meeting in absolute secrecy; the logical requirement of terminating a shared problem surpassing once insuperable, very mutual hatred. 

The man paused a moment, his glare as cold and heavy as always. 

“It would appear that for once, we share a common enemy, Ms. St. Clair.”

[laurent--stpierre]

“Red is truly your colour, Delphine.”

It had suited Margaux’s corpse pretty well, too, now he thought about it.

“You know, as this is about the only event I can get away with staring without getting punched in the dick, people are showing disappointingly little skin,” he said, taking the empty spot beside her at the bar. Even though she was not the reason he would find such amusement in the night, Laurent was more than happy to entertain himself until that time came. Especially as he wasn’t lying. She did look good. “Thanks for picking up the slack. Tits out for Jesus, and all that.” As he took a sip of his drink, he gestured to the bartender for another. “What are you having?”

@delphine-st-clair​

[konstantinvorshevsky]

"I don't see your name on the list, Ms. St. Clair. I'm sure Lara would have welcomed you showing the floor how it's done." The man's tone was unapologetically mocking. Hell would freeze over before she bloodied her manicure when she had an army of loyal drones to do the dirty work for her... "Then again, I suppose it's a truly French pastime to look down upon those more competent than oneself."

Fight club: After 1st fight.

"Mon dieu," Delphine muttered under her breath, talking to no one in particular "This is just as entertaining as watching paint dry," she reached for her clutch to take out her cigarettes, shaking one out of the pack and putting it between her lips.

"The next one better actually have at least some finesse or I'm going to have to be much more fucked up to get through the evening." And she'd planned on being very fucked up to deal with present company.

[aurelieparra]

@delphine-st-clair​

“Well if it isn’t Woman of the Year,” she greeted the familiar blonde with a warm embrace, grin reaching from ear to ear. Delphine hadn’t been hard to find, despite the expansive location; the French boss had been keeping tabs on her date all night, and he never seemed to be too far behind. Certainly something to pry into once congratulations were out of the way. Aurélie handed the woman a flute of champagne, before clinking her own glass with hers. “Unexpected, given our company here, but not undeserved. No award could beat seeing the look on Lara Rutherford’s face, though. I’m going to thank you for that personally.”

[gstqaobc]

CBC NEWS The Royal Fascinator Feb. 7, 2020 Hello, royal watchers and all those intrigued by what’s going on inside the House of Windsor. This is your biweekly dose of royal news and analysis. Reading this online? Sign up here to get this delivered to your inbox. Janet Davison Janet Davison Royal Expert

Who will step up for Meghan and Harry?

(Lefteris Pitarakis/The Associated Press)

It was a striking image that day in June of 2012 — just six people on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, sending a signal widely interpreted to foreshadow a slimmed-down future for the House of Windsor.

It was the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee marking her 60 years as monarch, and joining her on the balcony were her eldest son and heir, Prince Charles; his wife, Camilla; Charles’s two sons, Princes William and Harry; and William’s wife, Kate. (The Queen’s husband, Prince Philip, was in hospital at the time and it would be four years before Harry met his wife, Meghan.)

Charles has long been thought to favour a core group of senior family members to carry the House of Windsor forward in the next reign.

But Harry and Meghan’s departure from the upper echelons of the family leaves a big hole in that plan.

"I think [Charles] envisaged having Harry as part of that,” Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, said via email.

Seward said that along with William and Kate, Charles saw his sister, Princess Anne, and his brother, Prince Edward, as part of the plan.

Harry’s departure “really blows a hole into Charles’s well-thought-out plan for a slimmed-down monarchy based on the core family,” royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith

told Vanity Fair

.

Even though Harry is now down to sixth in the line of succession, he would still have been expected to carry out more senior duties for several years because numbers three, four and five in the succession (William and Kate’s young children, George, Charlotte and Louis) are up to two decades away from being active royals.

“So Charles and William have been counting on Harry to be, in effect, third in line to the throne and that’s all out the window, too,” said Bedell Smith.

Harry and Meghan have been staying out of sight for the past couple of weeks and are thought to be on Vancouver Island, where they were over Christmas before making their seismic departure announcement.

In the meantime in the U.K., it’s been royal business as usual for everyone from the Queen on down. Elizabeth was out and about twice this week —

and reminisced about her father and his corgis

— as her regular winter stay at her Sandringham estate, north of London, draws to a close.

Charles and Camilla were at a reception for the British Asian Trust and other engagements. William, who has a new role as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and Kate were at the British version of the Oscars and did a day trip to Wales.

Observers have been trying to figure out whether there’s any evidence of Harry and Meghan’s departure affecting what other senior members of the family are doing.

But in many ways, that seems to be a stretch — at least for now.

“As official engagements are usually fixed some months in advance and Harry and Meghan’s official departure is not until the spring, I don’t think we have yet seen much direct evidence,” Seward said.

“The crux will come on family occasions and none are scheduled in the immediate future. The future of Harry’s military appointments is obviously under consideration and will be announced as soon as it is decided.”

Still, it all leaves many open questions about how other members of the family may step up their roles. One person seen by many as likely to gain more prominence is Edward’s wife, Sophie, the Countess of Wessex.

“I think Sophie will take on a lot more royal duties and patronages,” said Seward.

And then there are Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, daughters of Prince Andrew, who has stepped down from public duties in the wake of fallout from his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and a disastrous BBC interview related to that.

“I am not sure about Beatrice and Eugenie,” Seward said. “Before all this happened, I know Andrew was keen for them both to have royal roles, but Charles was not.”

Another spring wedding

One thing that is sure for Beatrice — she has a confirmed wedding date and venue. Buckingham Palace said this morning she and fiancé Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi will marry May 29 at the Chapel Royal at St. James’s Palace in central London. The Queen will host a reception just up the road, in the gardens behind Buckingham Palace. After a flurry of royal weddings in Windsor over the past couple of years, this promises to be a lower-profile, smaller and more intimate affair — perhaps not surprising given the controversy surrounding Beatrice’s father, Andrew. St. James’s Palace does, however, have a rich royal history. Other weddings that have taken place there include that of Queen Victoria in 1840. It’s also been the scene of several christenings, including Beatrice herself in December 1988, and more recently Prince George in 2013 and Prince Louis in 2018. Andrew and the FBI — what's going on? Prince Andrew was the focus of more attention recently after the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York told a news conference held outside Epstein’s former mansion that Andrew had given “zero co-operation” to the inquiry into the convicted sex offender.Immediately after that, sources close to Andrew were reported as saying he was angry and “bewildered” by the claims he had been unco-operative, and that he hadn’t received any request to speak to the FBI.A lawyer for a victim of Epstein also urged Andrew to co-operate with the FBI.Seward said until an approach is made by the FBI through official channels, “nothing will happen.”“This doesn’t lessen the potential wrong, but he can’t answer anything until his lawyers are contacted, and then they don’t have to answer straight away,” Seward said. “I think he will help the investigation, but has probably been advised to wait until such time as all the necessary evidence as to where he was and what he was doing has been gathered.”Andrew has said he did not see or suspect any sex crimes during the time he spent with Epstein. He has also denied any inappropriate relations with a woman who has said she was forced to have sex with him three times between 1999 and 2002. Andrew has said he has no recollection of meeting her..

Royal angst — beyond the House of WindsorOther royal families have also seen their share of controversy and high-profile headlines in the last little while.The public prosecutor in Luxembourg has launched a probe after reports of physical violence toward staff who work for the tiny European country’s royal family.It was only the latest headline there, coming about a week after Grand Duke Henri issued a statement to defend his wife, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, against allegations of a “hostile working environment” at the palace.“Why attack a woman? A woman who speaks up for other women? A woman who is not even being given the right to defend herself?” Henri said in his statement.Next door, in Belgium, former King Albert II admitted he fathered a child during an extramarital affair half a century ago.The acknowledgement came after a court-ordered DNA test found that the 85-year-old, who abdicated in 2013, is Delphine Boël’s biological father.Boël had been engaged in a longstanding court fight to prove that she is his biological daughter.

Royally quotable

"Yet in 2020, and not for the first time in the last few years, we find ourselves talking again about the need to do more to ensure diversity in the sector and in the awards process – [a lack of diversity] simply cannot be right in this day and age."

—  Prince William

speaks during the British Academy Film Awards

.

Fans of the Netflix drama The Crown will have to content themselves with just five seasons, rather than the six everyone had been expecting. Creator Peter Morgan had said he’d planned on six seasons of the show focusing on Queen Elizabeth’s reign, but the other day he nixed that idea and said five seems like the “perfect time and place to stop.�� The way the series is going, that should take viewers up to around the year 2000. Given some of the higher-profile royal controversies of late, perhaps it’s understandable why Morgan is content to stop at that point. “I think there’s concerns the closer you get to the present day, in terms of how much dramatic licence can you ethically take about events that are unfolding,” said Toronto-based royal historian and author Carolyn Harris. “And also, the show would become more controversial if it was speaking about events that are in many ways still unfolding at this time, and imagining conversations behind palace doors.” Season 5 will see another actor take on the role of Elizabeth. Imelda Staunton, who’d long been rumoured for the part, will follow Claire Foy (seasons 1 and 2) and Olivia Colman (seasons 3 and 4).

Royal reads

1. A century before Harry and Meghan, an Italian noble family

sought refuge in B.C. — and stayed

. [CBC]

2. The RCMP and U.K. security officials are

discussing how best to protect Harry and Meghan

while they are in Canada, and who will ultimately pay for their security. [CBC]

3. Harry

lost a press complaint

he filed against a newspaper over a story it published about photos of African wildlife he has posted on Instagram. [BBC]

4. To mark the 200th anniversary of King George III’s death, his

massive collection of military maps

has been made available online, offering insight into global conflicts from the 16th to 18th centuries. Also going back in time,

a vest worn by Charles I at his execution

is going on display.  [The Guardian, BBC]  

Cheers!

I’m always happy to hear from you. Send your ideas, comments, feedback and notes to

royalfascinator@cbc.ca

. Problems with the newsletter? Please let me know about any typos, errors or glitches.

GOOD MORNING ALL, I THOUGHT I WOULD SHARE THE MOST RECENT NEWSLETTER. I HAVENT HAD A CHANCE TO READ IT YET BECAUSE I WANTED TO GETBIT OUT TO THOSE WHO DONT HAVE IT OR KNOW ABOUT IT. GSTQAOBC 🇨🇦🇬🇧🇦🇺🇳🇿  💜💜💜🙏🏻🙏🏻PG🙏🏻🙏🏻💜💜💜

[mobscene-london]

BASIC INFORMATION:

NAME: Revati Sharma. AGE: 33. PLACE OF BIRTH: Birmingham, United Kingdom. AFFILIATION: Neutral. The Rutherford Family (former)  OCCUPATION: Bar Owner. Assassin (former)   FACE CLAIM: Deepika Padukone. AVAILABILITY: TAKEN.

      BIOGRAPHY:

Revati had grown up in an area of Birmingham of which ‘rough’ was far too kind a word for. Those she called friends were only company due to a lack of other options, not because they cared about her. Most were the kind of people that it was safer to appease than disappoint, and so the easily influenced teenager often did what they asked without question. It was better to have even them than be alone.

Killing a man was different, though.

They’d all been a bunch of half-arsed gangsters—they thought they had to be to survive—but committing murder seemed a stretch, even by their standards. Especially when they were expecting her to do it for them…

Even when she was young, she had the kind of personality that drew people to her; the smile that could light up a room, her most famous trait of all. In a neighbourhood that was notoriously unkind, she was the exception, and nobody could quite figure out why. That was why they used her the way they did. Revati distracted shopkeepers who thought she was far too kind and innocent to do anything wrong, whilst her friends lined their pockets with whatever they could get their hands on. She was the only one that could sweet talk parents into thinking they were behaving, and so they made her. She was also the only one who could get close to creeps, and slip God only knows what into their drinks.

“He likes young girls,” they told her, and she believed them. “So, let him take you home, and then make sure this goes in his vodka.”

And that was what separated her from the rest of the people who shared her chosen ‘profession’.

Revati couldn’t just murder for the sake of it; although given her previous financial position, she didn’t really have much choice in passing up the kind of money people offered as her reputation grew. She would only take a life if she knew the person had done wrong. Hurt innocent people in some way. It made it easy. Like she was helping, even if deep down she knew that she was going about it in the wrong way. Whilst it often clashed with the ideals of those who sought to employ her, she didn’t care, because as far as she was concerned, they could always find someone else. She did not work for anyone’s ego.

Accidental overdose was her MO, and the people that she was tasked to dispose of were usually so shady, it wasn’t suspicious. But, when it was, no one would have ever suspected her. That was the beauty of it all. Revati was as meticulous with her clean-up as she was the least likely personality to be involved with such crimes.

Naturally, it didn’t take long for people to take notice of the services she’d been offering. And when the Rutherfords heard about the charming young lady who could lure just about any man to his death, their operation in Birmingham scooped her up, pushed her onto a plane, and offered her the opportunity of a lifetime. Porto Velho. America.

Working under Adrian had proved to be as much a pleasure as it was a relief, but it didn’t dismiss the frank reality that The Rutherfords were analogous to the very people she would have ordinarily agreed to assassinate—cozying up to them seemed hypocritical enough to warrant a second thought. She had never known money; especially not the kind she’d been exposed to in their presence. Even when she had taken cash for her services back home in England, it was only ever small amounts.

In PV they’d tried to tempt her away from her one golden rule: bad people only.

She refused to be bought.

Whilst working for Adrian had been a huge part of her role in PV, it was absolutely not the only thing she’d focused on.

Bartending, gaining business experience, building a resume; making herself look better on paper. It had mattered. Though her Rutherford associates would joke about her being part-time, it was clear to Revati that she didn’t want to commit murder for the rest of her life. It was through a pursuit of normality, working an ordinary job, that she found hope in a future beyond that which she had always been—a criminal. Her time at The Empire would eternally be significant to her despite how poorly her years in America came to an end.

Her parents weren’t wrong in calling their beta a fool. Having feelings for a best friend was testy, but it was another form of idiocy to have them for Lara Rutherford’s man. Despite years of attempting to move on from her fondness—including a genuine try after his engagement—when the wedding of the century became a public failure, and the blow too heavy to bear for her best friend, Revati embarrassed even herself. When Amir escaped the pain in America for England, she followed. She reasoned that it was a long time coming; that she didn’t want to become the ‘French killer’ Adrian had trained her to be. That her partner would understand. That her time as an assassin was over. That money was too corrupting.

Fair excuses but excuses all the same.

In the naivety freedom, she returned to her home country having said little-to-no goodbyes. Ignorant of very real information against her person that exists, Revati’s homecoming was immediately tamed by her family’s remarks on her pride. Despite her role as a consoling best friend, she instantly started working on her own business; an achievement that couldn’t be taken away from her. Pursuing that which she knew, grateful to have insanely wealthy acquaintances since her time in PV, she opened a bar in prime London real estate.

Ironic to her personal views, The Spin Room, is for the politically inclined. It’s a common stop for politicians in London, obliging the long time criminal to converse with MPs on the daily. As a Brummie, especially as a once-poor British-Indian one, she can’t refute that her opinion on the government has always been negative. Her keen position on taking their money, versus the publics, continues to waver though as she interacts with them more often.

Supporting them silently might be her only hope as her nightmare has reappeared—the Rutherfords. With the criminal underworld back in London, Revati is appallingly aware that her history will do her no favors as her city is consumed by a shadow of corruption and death. She worries about the people most important to her, and herself, because she knows that she’ll jump back into the fray if it means keeping them safe.

At the end of the day, she understands, there really is no escaping the mob scene.   

    SOCIAL CONNECTIONS:

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Amir Dawar (boyfriend) Dev Daryani (ex-boyfriend) FAMILY: Neel, Saffi, Mitali Ghale (cousins), Leela Sharma (mother, unplayable), Ajay Sharma (father, unplayable) CONNECTIONS:

Delphine St. Clair: Lambeth Commandant. One would be an utter moron to miff a literal St. Clair, so it’s more than fair to say Revati isn’t looking to bother, but Lambeth was her home. It was no secret that the constituency is riddled with crime, but she isn’t keen on seeing it worsen with the French touch.

Tory MPs Silas Agreste, Cassandra Acton, and Spencer Berkeley: Patrons. Considering Revati could choke the Birmingham Labour MPs for their incompetence in her hometown, she’s inclined to think the Tories have backbone. Like the invisible hand of the government, feeding their quality of life as citizens, she might find it in herself to give them things to ‘drink’ on.

Adrian Castillo: Former boss. In spite of being a chilling member of the Rutherford Family faction, time with Adrian had been a gift. What regrets she has about not communicating her leave with him are gone with the wind over the stress of having him and his assassins in the city. She doesn’t want Adrian as an enemy, but he might be after everything that has happened. 

[orphanblackzone]

Orphan Black was no TV Themyscira, having been brought to life like most things in show business: with two guys at the helm and a smattering of women populating a more traditional sea of men. Sure, it told the story of a sisterhood of clones upon that life-altering realization, but for all the representation happening in front of the camera thanks to Tatiana Maslany‘s riveting work, there was only one woman director ever in the series’ history, and the writers’ room was largely men until season five. But in creating a series about a sisterhood like no other, Orphan Black‘s men developed a space for the women that worked on it to bring their own stories and ideas and visions to life, and to make a more diversely characterized and nuanced show with women at the front of it.

Orphan Black, over the course of its five seasons, has told the story of a series of clones who’ve recently come to the realization that they are part of a shady science experiment with dire consequences. Through the plight of deadbeat Sarah, science genius Cosima, soccer mom Alison, angry vigilante Helena, and self-aware boss Rachel (and so many more, all played deftly by Maslany and her clone double, Kathryn Alexandre), the myriad shades of femininity and female personhood are put on display to tell a story of bodily autonomy, the struggles of women, nature vs. nurture, and so much more—all wrapped up in a thrilling sci-fi conspiracy package.

“There’s been such a fire in all of our bellies to tell a story that means something and is actually saying something.” – Tatiana Maslany

And by making space for the women in their orbit, series co-creators Graeme Manson and John Fawcett ostensibly became feminist allies, allowing their women equal space in the conversation and creation of the series’ stories and ideas. The rising tide that lifted these women’s boats. So we knew, in honor of the series’ end, that we had to lift up these women’s voices the same way Orphan Black lifted up its female fans.

Because, as Maslany put it, “Women deserve basic rights and ownership of our bodies, and the show has always been about that. Whether it was aware of it or not, it was always about that.”

“The future is female!” P.T. Westmoreland asserts, subverting a phrase of empowerment into one of pure villainy in the hands of religiously fanatical sciencecult Neolution’s leader. It is a phrase he utters often throughout the series’ fifth and final season, a nod to the show’s feminist leanings. Coupled with its link to the science at the heart of the show, it’s a phrase that becomes all the more sinister. Much like Henrietta Lacks in real life, the clones’ biology is used to advance science in an unprecedented manner, with no say or consent on the matter. And out of science, a story is born.

While all the science you see on Orphan Black is “based on things actually going on in the world today and throughout history,” the series molds it to their advantage to “build a creative and exciting narrative … We have always used the science to buttress other kinds of commentaries,” explained Cosima Herter, a science and story consultant on the series. “Like the assumptions we make about how and why we value (and legislate) particular kinds of bodies more than others, or the role of biotechnology and bioengineering in our lives, or why we accept some kinds of technologies and technological interventions and not others … the kinds of assumptions so many of us seem to make about hierarchies of life. We can use the science to mobilize questions about who benefits, who is harmed, and what kinds of gendered and class related beliefs are actually deeply written into those kinds of techno-science.”

In many ways, Orphan Black would be nothing without Herter—not to be confused with her clone namesake: the scientific backbone of the sestras’ plight, PhD student Cosima Niehaus. “Real Cosima helps us with the science and the larger picture of where the science fits into society and the themes that we might be working with that we’re not even aware of—that’s a big part of the process,” explained Graeme Manson.

Herter’s been that big a part of the process since before day one, as a friend of Manson’s with whom he would wax philosophical about science and its power in storytelling. And it is clear in talking to Herter that hers is a voice instrumental to the larger themes that drive the larger story, or—as she dubs it—”The Conversation” the show is having with its audience.

“When Graeme first came to me with the idea, he and I’d already spent a lot of time discussing all the different ways one could conceive of what a clone is—not simply a human clone, but all the ways clones occur naturally in other organisms,” Herter told us. “We spoke about literal clones, allegorical clones, the ways we could draw metaphor from the idea of clones, etc. At the time I was struggling through my Masters degree, and preparing to go on to work on a PhD. So many of the ideas that Graeme, as a writer, was trying to explore were ideas and issues I had long been interested in and was already working on during my time in academia.”

Maslany added, “I think Cosima’s got such an incredible perspective on [the show’s themes] in terms of the science.”

“We spoke about literal clones, allegorical clones, the ways we could draw metaphor from the idea of clones…” – Cosima Herter

Though she didn’t foresee a place for herself in the series beyond those initial chats, after the series was picked up Herter was given a title—several, in fact, both as a Science and Story Consultant—and quickly moved beyond “simply checking the facts of the ‘hard’ science.” Though as she asserts, “certainly this is an essential part of what I do.” Still, for Herter, the focus of her time was far bigger than that: “I spent much of my time researching and bringing timely issues and ideas in the biological sciences to the table that could be spun into an interesting and active narrative.”

But for all its science, Orphan Black is also about power: who has it, who controls it, how do you get it, and what does it look like in the hands of a woman. And it was something that evolved as the series went on, doubling down as fan reaction and critical—and academic! and scientific!—dissection continued.

“Within all of us there is Juliet and there is Lady Macbeth,” explained director Helen Shaver (helmer of the episodes “Ipsa Scientia Potestas Est,” “Certain Agony of the Battlefield,” and “Ease for Idle Millionaires”). “All aspects of humanity are within each of us. Character is our choice of which aspects we move from, that we act from. And I don’t mean acting as in theatrical, I mean as in we take action from certain aspects of ourselves. And so if you took all the clones, really, where each of the women individually are complete, but together they are also one woman, which is literally what they are—they are Tatiana Maslany. This woman contains all of these characters, as all women contain all of these aspects. And circumstance and choice bring us in our individual lives to what aspects we live from and make our journey from.”

THE MASLANY FACTOR

The breadth of the show has always been embodied in the multi-adjective-able performance of its star, Tatiana Maslany. Within each clone, a different facet of femininity is explored and challenged, with its effect on the self and society transmuted by the clone in which it was embodied. (The possibilities are endless! As is the number of clones in the experiment, it seems.) No wonder the praise for Maslany from her colleagues, to say nothing of critics, has been unending, poignant, and comprehensive when discussed in the context of this piece and every other story about the series before and after it.

It’s not just because she’s passionate — it’s because she backs it up and is allowed to bring it.

“Tatiana is incredibly intelligent, curious, and conscientious woman,” noted Herter. “And she really does her research too! If there were ever anything related to the science that was unclear to her, we would talk it through so that she felt confident she understood what she needed to embody those ideas. But—and let’s be clear about this—while she and I would have many conversations about some of the hard technical aspects of some of the science, she is brilliant and hardworking and that extends to her learning much of these things on her own and bringing ideas to the table herself. Certainly we’d talk, and I did my best to give her all the information she needed and introduce certain concepts she wasn’t familiar with, but she also helped me learn through different ideas as well. The teaching and learning went both ways.”

So, too, is Maslany quick to compliment the myriad women with whom she worked. Because it’s true: behind her clone façade is a cavalcade of women who’ve helped bring the series to life. In addition to someone like Kathryn Alexandre—Maslany’s clone double who actually started out as an audition reader before even being considered for the part—there were the immeasurable additions of actresses like Skyler Wexler (Kira), Maria Doyle Kennedy (Mrs S.), Evelyne Brochu (Delphine), Rosemary Dunsmore (Susan Duncan), and Kyra Harper (Virginia Coady); there were producers and writers like Kerry Appleyard, Claire Welland, Mackenzie Donaldson, Andrea Boyd, Renée St. Cyr, Jenn Engels, Aubrey Nealon, Anika Johnson, Alexandra Mircheff, and many many more members of the production team (and beyond) who helped create and shape these characters with their input, teamwork, and existence in the fold.

But it wasn’t always that way.

CARVING OUT A SPACE FOR ITS (MANY) OTHER WOMEN

It’s important to remember: Orphan Black didn’t have to operate the way it did. Most other shows on air don’t, frankly, and up until this point in pop culture, no one would’ve questioned it or batted an eye. “It would have been easy for them to really stick to their guns,” explained Alexandre, who was critical in helping Maslany shape the clones in multi-clone scenes. “I know especially the last season, it felt like they were really taking extra measures to change the scripts based on what they were hearing from the women who work on the show.”

“We didn’t have that many female writers on the show [at first],” explained Donaldson, an integral member of the Orphan Black team who started as Manson and Fawcett’s assistant before ending her tenure on the series as a co-producer. “Season five we had the most we’d ever had before, but if Graeme and John hadn’t been open to hearing from myself, from Tat, and the other women that are producing their show for them or starring in it, I don’t think that the story wouldn’t have been told exactly as well as it was.”

And Donaldson’s talents and rise through the Orphan Black machine are indicative of how, when women are treated as equals by their male colleagues, they can not only survive but thrive in this environment. Donaldson’s talents could have easily gone unnoticed had things gone a different way. But, as she put it, “the coolest thing about John and Graeme is that they are so open to the best ideas coming from whoever. So even though I was their assistant that year, if I had a story idea or an opinion about wardrobe or casting, they were always open to hearing it. And they really let the best ideas come to the surface no matter where they came from.”

“Within all of us there is Juliet and there is Lady Macbeth—all aspects of humanity are within each of us. Character is our choice of which aspects we move from, that we act from.” – Helen Shaver

Where some sets can be filled with ego, Manson and Fawcett permitted none, allowing the women to assert their place and their authority over the topic of the story they were telling. “John and Graeme really populated their show with a lot of strong females voices that really wanted to say something,” said Maslany. “To their credit, they were really open to hearing notes and adapting things to what we were feeling, what we were thinking. Especially this last season with the election happening and the world kind of imploding on itself. There’s been such a fire in all of our bellies to tell a story that means something and is actually saying something.”

Added Maslany, “It really felt like it was a joint effort on all of our parts.”

A group effort that strengthened not only the way the women’s stories were told, but also how they were shown on screening, giving rise to a new look at female power. And for all the positive ways in which the series lifted up women, it may surprise you to know that there was only ONE female director on the series the entire time: Helen Shaver.

THE FEMALE GAZE

Helen Shaver, in only three episodes, left a huge mark on the series’ approach to the female gaze, and its vitalness to telling stories—especially those about power. Filming some of the most iconic, character-defining moments for Cosima, Rachel, and Helena, Shaver’s presence looms large in several conversations about the show (particularly with Maslany). And it felt equally as thrilling for Shaver. It may not feel radical to some, but for women who so frequently have to fight for equity in these situations, Manson and Fawcett’s treatment of them as equals from the jump (and without patting themselves on the back for it) provided a more level playing field than most.

“They totally gave me my head, in terms of, ‘okay, come back with your ideas,'” explained Shaver.

This was vitally important to one scene in particular: a tense and commanding sex scene, between Rachel Duncan and her then-monitor/security dude Paul Dierden, that ultimately wasn’t about sex at all. While most sex scenes are informed by their relation to male pleasure, Shaver knew this was about so much more for Rachel and the scene itself: it was about female-dominant sex where control and her selfish pleasure is the only objective.

“It really wasn’t until I was involved in Orphan Black and the broader conversation it created … that I really started to realize how ingrained in our culture these kind of gender roles are.” – Kathryn Alexandre

“They’d written that in the script—it said that she pushes him back on the bed and gets on top of him,” explained Shaver. “And I said, ‘let me play with this for a little while, because pushing somebody on the bed and sitting on top of them, well, whatever. It’s not radical.'”

The dynamics of the scene had to change from the description on the page, both in location and execution, because simply having Rachel straddle Paul was not enough to imply what’s really going on for the character. “For me, it became like, ‘What does Rachel want? Rachel doesn’t care—she is doing nothing for Paul’s pleasure. This is all about her. He is an instrument.’ So how do we show that? How do we visualize that he is chattel to her?” said Shaver, whose inspiration came from a maybe the least sexy place imaginable: the dentist.

“I had just been to the dentist, and to me the dentist is the worst,” she continued. “The idea of somebody sticking their hand and a machine in my mouth is like, what?! No. At the same time the idea of looking a gift horse in the mouth and how you examine the horse’s mouth popped into my mind and I thought, ‘Okay, all right, in here is something.’ So I started working on this image of her opening his mouth and putting her hand in and not allowing him to touch her. All of those aspects. I just started playing with all those ideas, and brought them to Graeme, and then to Tat, and they both were excited by the concept. And so that scene evolved, which I think is remarkable. I think it’s a really cool thing.”

And for Maslany, it gave her a deeper understanding of the character. “I think that was what was so cool about opening up that side of Rachel and seeing her dom: In that sex scene with Paul, we see a side of this character that I’d never seen, that I’d never explored, and doing it with Helen, again … thank God I got to do it with her because she just understood it and was really willing to go to a deeper place than just sex and sexiness. It was about power dynamics and pleasure as power and it was really exciting to do and very vulnerable making and very empowering at the same time.”

Shaver’s understanding of the women on the show didn’t end with the clones, however. And it fundamentally changed the way the actors thought about themselves in a scene. “She’s so great,” added Kennedy, who complimented her ability to hone in on a essence or—when need be—distract an actor from themselves in particular. “She said, ‘it’s about feeling thoughts rather than thinking feelings.’ And I just thought that was such a perfect way to describe it, and I really held onto that and kept it with me ever since.”

HOW IT’S CHANGED THEM AND THE FUTURE

I sometimes have a hard time writing about Orphan Black. It’s a challenge to find a way to synthesize what the show is and means to me as a woman and a fan. So, too, do the women who worked on it in front of and behind the scenes. Throughout several conversations with myriad women who’ve worked on the series, the point remained the same—Orphan Black was lightning in a bottle, an opportunity for women to create a thrilling, allegorical story ushered in by two very supportive allies in co-creators Graeme Manson and John Fawcett. The duo took chances not just on their story, but on hiring women who were passionate about the work, giving them the opportunity to contribute, thrive, and grow within the parameters of the show…but also in themselves.

“I think that I was kind of naïve to how women were represented in media before my involvement with the show,” explained Alexandre. “It’s kind of so ingrained in us, the stereotypes of how women have been portrayed, and because you’re so accustomed to seeing it, I never really thought about it in a broader sense and how that representation has affected my view of traditionally male and traditionally female roles and all of that. It really wasn’t until I was involved in Orphan Black and the broader conversation it created—about how it opened up all of those questions and the commentary on how these female characters were kind of challenging the norm—that I really started to realize how ingrained in our culture these kind of gender roles are, and how we represent both genders in media, and how that affects people’s development and views of the world and all of that. It’s played a bigger part in how I read scripts or look at other roles that are offered to me and think about projects that I’m creating myself and making sure that we’re moving forward in that discussion as opposed to falling back into these accepted boxes that we put female characters into. It was a really, really special thing.”

“Being a woman working with a woman is very different than being a woman working with a man. It’s like there’s a truth shared by women, children, and artists that men will never know.” – Helen Shaver

Through being allies, listening, engaging, collaborating, and taking a chance on the women that made up the series, Orphan Black created a family—not just among the cast but also its fans, one as diverse and multi-faceted as the series itself.

“It really was this microcosm for opening up my mind to the bigger issue that we have with portrayal in media—and even talking to fans,” Alexandre said.

“I’m not saying that we were by any means perfect, but we were trying to work towards something that was always interesting and provocative,” added Kennedy. “And that left some kind of residue of just a thought, even.”

“Being a woman working with a woman is very different than being a woman working with a man. It’s like there’s a truth shared by women, children, and artists that men will never know,” Shaver stated, matter of factly. “I mean certainly men who are artists are in touch with their feminine side, and so on and so forth, but there is just a place that [we] found—didn’t find, but just exists for us—that was a great place to work.”

“I’m so nervous about the next show I’m gonna work on—everyone has told me, ‘You don’t always get a cast and crew like this. You don’t always get a show like this. You don’t always get a group of women like this that are such serious fighters behind the scenes to make sure that we’re steering our show in the right direction, to represent women properly on screen.’ I’m gonna take all those lessons I’ve learned and try to emulate them no matter where I go,” explained Donaldson.

“I don’t think I’ll ever really process how much that means to me,” admitted Maslany. “It’s just, it’s just beyond. It’s beyond. It’ll be very hard to follow this feeling of collaboratively telling stories that meant something to us. It will be hard to follow it up.”

[varden-lefebvre]

@delphine-st-clair​ Dated: 16/12/22.

An investment opportunity. 

That was his excuse for taking up her lunchtime with a visit to one of the admittedly nicer areas of the borough. It was a far cry from a business decision, though, and her opinion the property was more important than simple reassurance. It was harder to keep up the façade as they toured what was quite blatantly an expansive home. 

The Frenchman tended to keep logical decisions and emotional ones in very separate boxes. In this instance however, they overlapped; enough so that he wasn’t sure which angle to lead with. At this point in their relationship, they were practically already living together in every way but on paper. Logical. A part of him knew how important a step having a place that was theirs, a shared decision, would be, though. How much he wanted it for them. Emotional. Varden hadn’t much liked the idea of settling down in London, but maybe that was just because he hadn’t ever imagined being lucky enough to meet somebody like her. Someone who’d make him want to.

“I want a garden for an aviary...”

Maybe this was actually the most worthy investment of all. Them.

“I was trying to keep this ambiguous, but that worked out a lot better in my head.”

[lararutherford]

@delphine-st-clair​ Dated: 3/5/23. Location: The Empire Hotel.

What the French had done was unforgivable. 

They mourned the loss of a leader whilst glossing over the fact she would’ve still been with them if they hadn’t shit the bed quite so publicly. It might’ve been the Russians who had started the shooting, the ones who’d hung the near-dead Commandant like a butchered animal for all to see, but it was her men who had escalated the situation to the point where the Vorshevskys felt cornered enough to snap. And now he was gone.

It wasn’t the time or the place. Konstantin deserved everything coming his way, but in that moment, the French had been no better than their enemy; arrogant, reckless, and irrational. All for a few lower level Russian brutes. Was it worth it?

The Rutherford had grieved so intensely in the weeks that’d followed, now she didn’t feel much of anything at all. Anger was the only thing that scratched the numbed surface, and when her eyes met the blonde from across the room, it peaked so brutally, she’d almost turned on her heels and left. Lara would do whatever it took to make sure the Russians paid for what they’d taken. But so would she.

All that was stopping her from calling Medea was that she needed the French for this.

And they needed her, too. Delphine knew it.

“I have terms.”

[yvesdemetz]

@delphine-st-clair​ Dated: Between Hasan and Emilia’s first and second date.

“Why is she adamant on still holding back? What has playing civilised gained us?”

The frustration had peaked. Finally. The Frenchman had mastered holding it together in the wake of his brother’s death because to do anything else would’ve been a path of no return. His family deserved a better man. But now there was less hurt, less agony to ground him...all he felt was anger. This time it was Varden’s sister. Last time it had been Daniel. Who the fuck would the Russians put their hands on next? The French had royally fucked up with Mikhail and he’d bloodied his hands personally making sure one of their own had paid the price. But it wasn’t enough. 

There were few he respected more than the woman before him, and she knew it.

It wasn’t disrespect. It wasn’t insolence.

Yves was asking for permission.

“Let me fight fire with fire.”

[varden-lefebvre]

For a while, he'd wondered if she wouldn't stop by at all.

Of course, the Frenchman couldn't have begrudged her absence, even if he would've been disappointed not to check in on her. The attack on their people had been bold. The perpetrators behind it, obvious. With Oliver still in Porto Velho, Delphine was sole decision maker in London, and thus, suffered all the weight of deciding how to proceed bearing down on her. Prioritising was important.

Perhaps that was why seeing her looking right back at him as he acknowledged someone at his door had taken him by surprise. Enough to draw a genuine smile that'd been uncharacteristically rare since he'd awoken.

"It's good to see you, too, Delphi." And that was the truth. Any other day he might've teased her back, but on this one, Varden didn't have it in him when he'd so nearly been robbed of the opportunity to see her at all.

After a moment attempting to gauge her intent, he nudged his head in the direction of the chair beside his bed in silent, hopeful invitation. Maybe she had no intention of sticking around, maybe she didn't have the time, but when it came to the people he cared about—the woman before him settling somewhere near the top of the list—Varden would take every opportunity. Because he had learnt long ago how quick they could slip through his fingers when he didn't...

"You look exhausted. Talk to me," he said softly, shifting slightly in his bed in an attempt to face her more comfortably. "How are you holding up?"

Where: Hospital Who: @varden-lefebvre

Delphine had been on high alert since the attack on her people. She'd been sending out feelers, hoping that they would come back to her with answers. The who was clear-- The Russians. But who specifically was what she wanted to know. She didn't normally like to get her own hands dirty, but she could make an exception for the asshole or assholes who perpetrated this act that put so many of her people in the hospital. That is, until she made them pay in a way much worse than that later on. But it would do for now.

It had taken her a moment to come see Varden. They were close and when she'd heard from Yves that he was awake and talking, unlike Laurent, she'd been immensely relieved. She didn't stay away because she didn't care he'd made it through, but because she cared so much that her heart hurt to think about it. He was one of the only people she could let her guard down for and almost losing that type of friendship had rattled her, truth be told.

As she walked through the hallways, guards at her back, she pulled her coat around herself and crossed her arms, poking a head into his room before stepping in completely.

For a moment she simply stared at him, her eyes taking in the scene before her. "You're so lucky you're not dead," she said, only a hint of a smile settled on her features. She wasn't the touchy feely, emotional type.

[yvesdemetz]

@delphine-st-clair​

It was hard to imagine where one should start. A bottle of scotch between old friends seemed reasonable, though. Yves had barely been in London a day, yet seeking her out took immediate priority when there was so much he wanted to discuss before jumping into the shit hole of a city head first. He placed the bottle down on the table, tossing a pack of cigarettes next to it as he waited for her to source some glasses. It seemed likely it’d be a long night.

Yves smiled, almost, as he took a seat. The easy comfortability her company afforded would not be shared with others, the Frenchman was sure.

A good job he wasn’t here to make friends, then…

“Who’s the weakest link?”