ok this will make it into my writing but just watched a bunch of clips & some things i’m obsessed with about michaela:
1) the subtle jut of her jaw—her jawline is incredible & the way it puts some emphasis on her lower lip. kudos to the makeup department for making her lips look incredible too jesus christ i had to rewind to absorb what was being said. i trust hannah dodd to convey this—fran just fumbling over words as she stares at michaela’s mouth.
2) the smirks & head tilts - she likes to tease as a way to ease tension, to make people laugh, but also as a guilty pleasure of witnessing people act outside the norms. i already imagined a frustrated francesca, “do not do that.”
head tilt, smirk growing, “do what?”
fran, knowing michaela is now doing it more to get a rise out of her, “that! i am simply stating i do not wish to partake, so i will not be pressured.”
“of course. you may make your own choices.”
“but you look— you do this thing, a look— i— it is not fair.”
“what is unfair about my face?”
“it makes me wish to act improperly—”
“how improper?” a full smile.
“that is not what i meant, & you know it!” fran is flushed down to her chest & michaela is delighted.
this alone is why i’m team switch but sometimes bratty bossy bottom michaela.
3) she prefers to sit on floors when working through something. my headcanon: growing up, as francesca describes similar feeings, michaela felt wrong & anxious. in her travels, i feel like she met a woman who taught her how to meditate. “sometimes, if you feel that there are destabilizing forces around you, you just need to feel grounded to gather yourself. a few deep breaths, slower & kinder thoughts, just feeling rooted in something.”
so when fran tried to match a suitor with michaela, she sought time to be alone (also like francesca seeking time alone to escape a ball or too many people discussing things that feel foreign to her), fran found her sitting on the floor beside a proper couch. when fran lost her temper at michaela’s suggestion of a celebration for john’s life, later she finds michaela sitting on the floor, surrounded by items that must have been john’s or reminded her of him (mind you, this was also after she heard francesca crying with her mother “i have nothing,” as if michaela was taking inventory of what she had, even what she could offer francesca).
4) michaela buried her own sorrow & loss bc she wished to respect francesca’s mourning. bc john knew she was gay. i think other than the women she had been in relations with and the queers in paris and america (wherever there is distance from high society), john was the only one to see her & not just let her stay, but invite her to stay. she is chaotic & social bc she has made her life to appear hyper social as an excuse to move quickly amongst people to entertain, put forth excitement & appeal so that they don’t look deeper, so they might not notice where she is so different from the rest of society.
masali makes incredible acting choices with michaela, & i need the lesbophobic racists to make a quieter exit from the fandom so i may enjoy masali & hannah absolutely ruin me & any hope for a love life in the future bc the bar is set too high.