#fitz had a daughter in his 50s who looks suspiciously like him

[spectrum-color]

We all as a fandom talk about Fitz’s trust issues and difficulty letting people get close to him, but Beloved manages to fly under the radar despite the fact that he only told one person his first name for the entire 50 year span of the story

[nellygwyn]

Harlots Season 2, Episode 1 & 2, thoughts

I watched the first two episodes of Harlots Season 2 and the main thought going through my mind is ‘AAAAA EVERYTHING HAPPENS SO MUCH” but here are a list of more specific and lucid thoughts. SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT: 

Episode 1

Characters we don’t seem to have anymore: Marie-Louise (she’s left, leaving Mags £50 out of pocket), Betsy, Daniel Marney. There are a plethora of new characters, though, 

Justice Josiah Hunt is a REALLY interesting new character to me. He genuinely thinks he is doing good and occasionally, he had periods of sympathy and reason (re: when he spoke to Lydia Quigley about the violated, mutilated body of a girl found a few nights earlier). However, in the next breath, he is having Violet branded and potentially transported for stealing a tiny amount of money from a notorious drunkard. @marieduplessis and I were discussing that he may be based on Henry Fielding who was not completely devoid of true morality, but he certainly was no saint. 

Speaking of both Lydia and Violet, the episode begins with them both being thrown in jail. Violet is to be transported, though Amelia is intervening for her, and Lydia faces the House of Correction if she fails to pay her fine. However, Mags and Nancy were accidentally present during Lydia’s sentencing and Mags declared she was a kidnapper and responsible for many rapes.....so now she and Nancy are trying to prove their accusation to send Lydia to the gallows. Lydia, meanwhile, contacts all her “friends” (I say this loosely considering the only reason she has them in her grasp is because she blackmails them with their own secrets) in the aristocracy to help get her out of her predicament. This is where Lady Isabella Fitzwilliam, as well as Lord Fallon, come in. I liked this touch as bawds often had friends in high places to bail them out. 

Violet’s storyline thus far is reminding me of Moll Flanders, though in Moll’s case, she was sent to the gallows for her petty theft. 

I LOVE Charlotte and Lady Fitz’s budding relationship. It wasn’t much in this episode, which is fine, I think Lady Fitz should remain a background character, but their conversation was cool. I think Lady Fitz likes her a lot. And I do actually think Lady Fitz is heavily based on Georgiana Cavendish, because not only is she potentially going to be sapphic, but she has major issues with gambling. 

Lady Fitz has very specific problems of her own, mostly concerning the fact her brother (her CREEPY brother, so I hope this doesn’t turn into an incest storyline) holds the purse strings on her own fortune. Also, Liv Tyler’s English accent is really good. She lives here with her husband and kids now so that probably explains it. I can hardly tell she isn’t British. 

I HATE that Mags and Will have broken up. I’m tender about break ups right now anyway, but I also feel it was a little bit....ooc for Mags to be so jealous of Harriet. Harriet and Will, of course, have no sort of romance at all but Mags seemed to believe they did which didn’t seem Very Her. She’s too confident in herself??? Of course, this was a last straw for Will; he has been maligned by Mags before. I hope they get back together. Poor little Jacob didn’t want his dad to go. 

EMILY LACEY AND CHARLIE!!!! Emily seems to want to testify against Lydia but she wants to keep it from Charlie. God, they have such a cool relationship. They just love to have fun. I thought it was hilarious, too, when they came across Lydia’s dildo in her private things. 

I love Charlotte Wells so much. I have such a strong affinity to her, especially now that she’s really going it alone. She’s so iconic. Makes me tres emosh to see her on screen, I feel like I’m being represented. 

Lucy is still around and I’m excited to see how her storyline progresses. She doesn’t feature super heavily in episode 1, though I do have to comment on two things. 1) I loved her conversation with Will, where she said “I know you didn’t fuck Harriet” and he said “Coarseness doesn’t look well on you,” which is true as I think a lot of Lucy’s bravado is a front. 2) She’s started wearing sackback dresses now which is AMAZING. Love these new fashion choices. 

MAJOR SPOILER: Lord Fallon (and the Spartans, presumably) murdered Kitty. Took her to Ranelagh Pleasure Gardens instead of taking Lucy, probably raped her (which is so sad considering what she told Lucy about how she lost her virginity in the first place), and then dumped her dead body on Mags’ doorstop for Fanny to find. I am DISGUSTED. 

“Historical advisor: Hallie Rubenhold“ DOUBT 

Episode 2

Opening the episode with Mags sewing up Kitty’s slit throat was so.....powerful. What a symbol of all the sex workers who did die and do die at the hands of clients in brutal, degrading ways.  

Fanny is so angry and I feel it. She’s even starting to see through Armitage’s façade of being nice to her but not very kind to other women. When he told her that Kitty was just another dead street girl, her lividness was palpable. I hope she gets some justice, Kitty was like a sister to her. 

Amelia helping Violet is sweet, of course, but I don’t know how I feel about her suggestion to Josiah Hunt, that Violet should work for him instead of facing slavery in the Colonies. I know Amelia means Violet to become Josiah’s maid, rather than a slave, which is infinitely better but........Don’t Trust Like That (especially since, if Violet tries to leave Hunt’s employ, she’s just gonna be sent right back to prison). Amelia means so much good though. I love her. She uses Christianity the right way.

Lydia’s out of jail, since Charlotte came to pay her fine, and she’s not impressed by Charlie and Emily’s behaviour in her house whilst she was locked up. In this scene, she calls Charlotte her true heir. I wonder how furious she’s going to be when she finds out that Charlotte is actually working to bring her down, in the same way everyone else is.

“She was guilty.....of being poor. The worst crime you can commit!” 

“There’s no evidence strong enough to condemn a white wig. And none too weak to hang a whore”

To be honest, I am loving this growing class consciousness!!!!

I hate Lord Fallon, I hate Lydia Quigley, I hate all their rich friends who love murder and kidnap and rape. I hate them all!

Nancy, poor Nancy...her anger at Kitty’s death leads her to go up against the law and in return, she faces a public whipping. I think this is one of the worst punishments, other than being tied to the pillory post, in 18th century England.

I think Lucy is suspicious of Lord Fallon, at least a little bit so I’m not sure EXACTLY why she’s trying to catch him as a keeper. Maybe she thinks his money outweighs his creepiness, especially since she sends the money he gives her as a kind of deposit to Kitty’s daughter. 

There’s a lovely scene near the end of the episode where Florence and Amelia take some soup with Mags, Fanny and Lucy at Mags’ house. Florence makes a comment about Kitty’s “ungodly gash” (meaning her slit throat) and everyone, including Florence, starts to laugh at the unplanned double entendre. Was so lovely.

So, we know Lydia is a creep and has some kind of hold over anywhere who comes under her spell but I genuinely hope Charlotte doesn’t become tied up in the web. I know she’s planning to take her down but Lydia still seems to be running rings around her.....maybe Charlotte feels wanted and needed for the first time in her life. Which I get. But Do! Not! Trust! Lydia! Quigley! 

Emily is starting up her “House of Exotics.” Harriet is her first girl, I think she’s going to have a new character, Cherry Dorrington, in there too (who is a little person). Plus, there is a new black sex worker, but I don’t know her name yet, so I reckon she will also be living there. How exciting! I hope we get a few more women who aren’t white and/or able-bodied because of this. 

For anyone wondering: here is where I watched Episode 1, and here is where I watched Episode 2.