#harlots on Hulu

[madamedreadful]

Harlots 2017-2019

[meerawrites]

Dear people of the queer fandom hellsite, cosplaying my original character: The Vampire Audrey to Toronto Fan Expo day four! If you see me, say Bonjour/Bonsoir!

[queerquaintrelle]

Period Drama Appreciation Week 2024: Day 2 - Favourite Character(s)

The lead cast of Harlots on Hulu.

[princelydisaster]

I have the inexorable urge to rant about a character I’m obsessed with that much of the fandom hates

Anyway fuck it.

I understand that a lot of people dislike Charles Quigley (for good reason) but I keep getting burned by finding fanfics and posts tagged with the character that only feature him to make fun of him or something

Honestly if you are writing a fanfic in the Harlots ‘verse and don’t want to include him, there is no shame in writing him out. (Or any other character for that matter.)

Have a throwaway line where someone says he went to visit a friend for a month or something.

That could also introduce things like more tension because Lydia might be more stressed / worried about having her precious baby mid 30s boy out of the house. Maybe she’s more prone to lashing out. Maybe she’s distracted and her rivals like Margaret get more bold about taking action against her.

It introduces a lot of interesting things that could work for a number of fanfic plots.

…Okay that’s it for people who don’t want to include him in fanfics, I’m gonna discuss things I think could be explored in fanfic below.

Note that because this show has a lot of interconnected characters I also talk a lot about Lydia, Emily, and Nancy for some reason.

TW: discussions of abusive relationships, incest, sex trafficking, kidnapping, murder (stuff that’s in the show)

I’ve seen someone say before that Charles is one of the few straight male characters on the show who’s important because of his part in fleshing out female characters via relationships.

I can see that. I think the nature of the show means that he as a man - a passive one at that - wouldn’t get a lot of screen time.

The point about him being important relationship wise is really interesting. Tbh, the early-mid season 1 interactions between Emily and Lydia remind me of the trope of a dad running to chase away his daughter’s boyfriend with a shotgun.

There’s that gender flipped part where women aren’t usually given as much sexual agency in tv/film etc, but also I like that it’s not played off as a kinda quirky “overprotective” parent thing, but the show recognizes how toxic this dynamic is.

You can argue in the gun toting dad example it’s sometimes bc the daughter is underage, but still, there’s often that undercurrent of a parent being threatened by their child getting a romantic partner and “replacing” them.

This is a big part of the Lydia and Charles relationship imo. I would characterize it as a nuanced depiction of an emotionally abusive relationship with elements of covert / emotional incest.

Emotionally abusive because she tends to manipulate him - isolate him from others, like potential partners.

When she feels he “replaced” her by choosing Emily - she immediately replaces him with Charlotte, a surrogate daughter.

Note: covert incest is not actual, literal incest. I do Not think their relationship has an actual sexual / romantic component to it. (but idk if you think that would be interesting to explore in a fanfic, go right ahead.)

I’m referring to unhealthy parent/child relationships where the child is expected to take on a role similar to the parent’s spouse. Such as where the parent expects the child to comfort them emotionally (even from a young age), or to prioritize their relationship over other forms of relationships, like friendships or dating other people.

I can definitely see that, especially with Lydia’s line to Rasselas in season 2 after he talks about losing his partner to an unknown disease. He says something like “I lost my precious boy”.

And she says, “so did I”.

This is due to Lydia being self centered as fuck, sure, but remember how she reacted to Charles nearly dying of an OD because of Emily? She was nowhere near this mopey about it.

(Ofc she had to make sure he was safe but once he was in stable condition she immediately struck.)

In that case at least she could react with violence and use Emily to boost her own standing.

In the case of Charles moving out to live with her, she’s kinda screwed, her old methods of dealing with a situation by attacking others to her own benefit don’t work.

It’s not really actionable. She can’t just go after Emily at the moment.

Lydia is finally stuck having to deal with the idea that her son - who she’s made part of her identity, especially if it means she can say she’s a Good Mother so she’s winning at Patriarchy - maybe chose someone else over her. Or doesn’t want to be close to her anymore.

—

Okay yeah I have talked about the relationships a lot but I could also talk about Charles himself.

Again, he’s a very passive character in a show about very active - or even aggressive - women.

I think his scenes in the show serve an important role of providing some levity or respite from the more intense drama (ie kidnapping, psychological torment, etc). It kinda breaks things up so you can fully digest how awful the other scenes are.

Not to say that he’s a totally innocent guy.

He’s still a shitty person, very self centered and privileged and willing to take advantage of others for his own desires.

I feel like sometimes I’m tipping the scales in his favor too much, as Charles is a morally grey character who likes to think he’s a good guy, but… it’s much easier for him to continue being awful or allow others to suffer for his benefit.

I think there’s a lot of interesting stuff at play with him, the ways Lydia’s parenting makes him see her as a role model and also a negative role model.

He starts off wanting to follow in her footsteps, to impress her. When Lydia starts intimidating Margaret for Emily coming to her, he backs up Lydia by remarking that Emily’s pretty bangable.

(Which is… kinda a stupid thing to add, but it still has an effect on Margaret, which is what they want.)

But once Charles starts to get into what it really means for Lydia to be a bawd - and him by extension - he doesn’t want to continue in the same way.

It’s not just, maybe he can keep Lydia from lashing out at the girls, or maybe if she does he can help them out by sneaking them food.

Once Emily nearly kills him via OD to escape, he doesn’t feel like going after her. Maybe he has a realization from that near death experience. Maybe he’s just too passive to want revenge. Maybe he knows that if he tried to get revenge Lydia would just take it to an eye for an eye levels of intense.

Maybe you could argue that he’s got some kind of guilt around what he did to Emily.

He seemed to almost have a moment of self awareness when (iirc) he told her he’d want to move out some place without Lydia, where she wouldn’t have to have sex with anyone… except him. Oops.

I think the relationship with Emily - because she’s a lot more pro active than he is, and she’s willing to talk back to him despite the power he has over her - forces him to realize his role in things.

And the development with the whole kidnapping people and giving them over to sadistic cultists to murder thing gets him firmly off Lydia’s side.

(Well, that and the line where iirc Nancy says something like “you can’t be on everyone’s side”.)

I think also there’s a lot that could be said about Nancy’s role in nudging him in the direction of a redemption arc in season. Maybe more like pushing him, idk.

Nancy is one of the only people who’s really patient enough to help Emily, even when she lashes out because she feels vulnerable.

She’s one of the first people who really treats Charles as an adult now that I think of it. Like even when Emily rocks the boat, she still plays into his childish side to keep his favor.

I think it’s largely because he’s the exact kind of guy Nancy is used to seeing - a rich dude who wants a dominant woman to take care of him and guide him - and the added history with his mother helps.

You could also argue that while Lydia fits patriarchal ideas of the ideal mother - being nurturing (unless you piss her off), delicate, feminine, lacking her own romance / sex life in lieu of caring for her child (usually) - Nancy is more like the reverse of all these traits, but she actually cares for and guides the people she takes under her wing.

When Emily lashes out at people she thinks are condescending to her, Lydia just doubles down on punishing her, but Nancy gives her the benefit of the doubt and offers her aid.

Was this post a Trojan horse for Nancy birch?? Maybe??

I think that the contrast is also interesting, with Nancy lacking all the conventionally feminine things that make Lydia appear to be a good person on the surface, but actually nurturing and wanting people to grow and providing good coping mechanisms and a shoulder to cry on. Often at the expense of herself.

(So basically Lydia is cloth mother and Nancy is wire mother? Yeah)

I realize I went way off the mark here but I think there’s a lot of potential in exploring the relationship between Charles and Nancy too.

Like he’s more used to seeing women who try to fit into social roles men place on them (whore, virgin, mother, crone etc archetypes) so seeing a goth butch lesbian who tells him to get his shit together… kinda breaks his brain.

It’s a really interesting dynamic I wish we saw more of.

—

There’s a lot more I could say, and maybe will say at a later date, but I’m getting kinda tired of writing this post. I tried to focus on the stuff that was touched on in canon + my own interpretation of it. Or different ones you could run with.

If you got this far… thank you for reading! I give you a sugar pig (whatever that is) for your efforts

[sesamepancakes]

anyone know where i can find screencaps of the tv show harlots.

[charmantevamp]

How dare you do this to me! 😤 /j my TBR & TBW are both more than adequate 😆 oh well 🤷‍♀️

Definitely not mentioning the fact I tore through the Hamilton & Grant biographies by Ron Chernow because I got bored in American history class and didn’t think the teacher was teaching adequately enough. Also read 2/3 of what Thomas Jefferson ever wrote cause I got bored one time. Then I wrote a thesis in response tearing apart the racism etc.

In exchange I am recommending these.

Whores of yore

A handy guide to 18th century slang

Further historical context for Audrey

*coughs* You all should join me in my insanity, thanks.

[aubreyplazawife]

Missing Bridgerton?

{the buccaneers has a great lesbian couple!}

assuming you have rewatched bridgerton & queen charlotte many times and need a show to fill the gap i highly suggest the buccaneers it is my favorite and a must see!

i just started harlots and i’m already hooked plus Hannah Dodd & Nicola Coughlan are in it! i watched reign forever ago and loved it. haven’t watched sanditon yet but there is a mlm couple.

a few not pictured recs i haven’t seen yet: my lady jane, the great, the empress, belgravia, the white princess, blood sex and royalty

[agrippinaes]

PERIOD DRAMA APPRECIATION WEEK 2023 day 3: favourite costume design harlots (2017-2019)

[renaissancefailmarriage]

>watching a period drama set in an 18th century brothel

>scene of a constable raid on said brothel

>guy comes out of a room naked with a tricorne over his crotch, yells WHO DARES INTERFERE WITH AN ENGLISHMAN’S RIGHT TO GO WHORING

>i scream in delight at seeing arthur kirkland himself depicted so faithfully

[princelythirsts]

for my blorbos -

I agree with your previous tags that Josiah Hunt would be really into how organized the library system is.

I see him as an introvert so I think he’d also like that a lot of restaurants and cafes give the option for mobile orders or using a kiosk to order so he can save up his social battery, and he won’t forget to tip that way either.

I don’t think filters will take my post out of tags if I don’t mention something dirty in tags right?

I’m once again risking Tumblr’s wrath to say I think Charles Quigley would be into hentai, especially the cheesy / fluffy kinds. Like yeah this isn’t a huge revelation or stretch by any means but he really was born in the wrong generation. :pensive:

Also I think he’d like cat cafes as a concept. I headcanon that he would’ve wanted a pet as a kid but Lydia would say no for multiple reasons, so he’d like the idea of being able to go somewhere and get a snack and some coffee and hang out with a bunch of cats without having to adopt one himself.

for self shippers whose f/o is from a historical* setting - what modern thing do you think that your f/o would actually like if they tried it?

(aside from obvious stuff like women getting the right to vote)

*I’m counting history inspired fantasy and historical sci fi like retrofuturism stuff too!

[brainwormsdepository]

It’s You, Nancy

Pairing: Nancy Birch x Lady!Reader

Warnings: None

You watched Nancy through your drawing room window while she paced outside your door as she usually did, building up her courage to knock. It wasn’t fair to her, you knew, but you did so like the flush that colored her cheeks after she spent so long working herself up. The two of you had a rather unusual budding friendship. She’d come by every so often, usually once a week, for tea and conversation. If she had any problems you had both the capital and space to help. In exchange, she gave you the most honest and frank company you’d ever had. No masks, just people. It helped that the view was nice too—Nancy was a handsome woman. After a few more minutes of watching, you felt she had worried herself enough and opened the door yourself.

“If you keep it up, you’ll have to stay the night.”

Nancy swung her head around, eyes wide and surprised. Before she could even question or protest, you continued. “You’ve been pacing outside this door long enough. Come inside.”

You turned on your heel and made your way toward the drawing room, knowing full well Nancy would follow. It was only a matter of seconds before you heard the click of the door closing behind you and the sound of her plodding footsteps along the corridor floor. Tea was already set and waiting as you took a seat beside the table. Nancy lingered in the doorway a moment more, face flushed from ears to neck just as you liked. She nervously clenched her hands around her flogging rod, once, twice, then three times before joining you.

“You’re more restless than usual. Is something wrong?”

“No,” Nancy answered quickly, pursing her lips. She looked back at you, expression uncertain. “Maybe.” She relented.

“You can tell me anything, Nance.” You reassured, “there’s nothing you can say that will make me think less of you.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Did you sell a young girl to Quigley?”

“What? No! Never!” Nancy shouted, appalled.

“Then I think we’re sorted. So, what troubles you?” You picked up your cup and saucer and sipped daintily at your tea. Nancy, for her part, seemed to be partially eased, though admittedly not by much. She took a deep breath and exhaled shakily.

“You keep a journal…”

Ah, yes. That was another game of yours.

“I would barely classify it as such. It’s mostly poems at this point.”

You’d been purposefully leaving it out on the table for her. You’d find excuses to disappear into another room for a while, giving her time alone with temptation. And look she did, the journal always slightly shifted from where you had left it. Not that she would have known how precisely you kept track. But that wasn’t what mattered. What mattered was that Nancy had a brain and you did little to hide your affections in written word. Many of those poems yearned for her. She knew, just as you wanted her to and there she was ready to confront you over it.

“Yea, well, I read some of it. I know I shouldn’t ‘uv,” she rushed to say, “but I didn’t realize what it was—at first, that is.”

“I’m not upset. If I was that protective of it, the journal wouldn’t leave my bedroom.”

“Maybe… maybe you should be then.” She said quietly. You felt your cheeks warm at her words.

“That bad?” you tried to joke, suddenly and horribly vulnerable.

“No! You write beautifully. It’s just that… unless you’re writing from the perspective of a man,” her voice lowered and her eyes searched for house staff, “you seem to harbor affection for… the womanly.” She grimaced at her own fumbled choice of words.

“My staff already knows, Nance. And they’re paid too well for any of them to care.” You drank deep from your tea, equally relieved and tense. Had she not figured it out? “Is that all you wished to say?”

“Oh… well, yeah.” Okay. Maybe she didn’t know.

“Does it bother you? My affection for women?” Nancy shook her head at that, a small laugh passing through her lips.

“No, I don’t think—“ Nancy cut herself off and assessed her words for a moment. She sheepishly looked back at you. “Not really in a position to judge.”

“We’re kindred spirits, you and I. Most of those poems are about one woman, if you can believe it. She has me quite bewitched.”

“I know the feelin’,” Nancy admitted, eyes distant in thought.

“She has beautiful dark hair, if a bit unkempt.” You smiled, looking at her. “But her eyes, Nance, the most striking blue I’ve ever seen. She makes the sea look green with envy.”

Nancy dipped her head before standing up suddenly. She rapped her knuckles against the table twice and swallowed hard. “I think I should be on my way,” she said, looking rather crestfallen.

“Wait.” You followed her motion and before she could step away, took her hand in yours and reached up with the other to gently cup her face.

“She’s you, Nancy, don’t you understand? I left the journal out for you to read because I wanted you to know.” Nancy kept still, searching your eyes with a look of disbelief etched onto her face. “May I kiss you?” Nancy didn’t answer, didn’t budge—just stood as if she had been caught in the gaze of Medusa herself. You leaned forward, giving her time to respond, to pull away or turn her head but nothing came. Cautiously, you pressed your lips to hers and felt the warmth of her mouth against yours. She exhaled into you as you deepened the kiss, taking her lower lip between yours before, finally, she reciprocated. She tasted of sweat and alcohol, but you didn’t mind. How could you? It was Nancy, after all.

When she pulled away, it was with a hopeful, if shy, smile and a delightfully pink blush painted across her cheeks. “If you must go, I only ask that you don’t stay away long,” you whispered. Nancy dipped her head bashfully and nodded before strolling out of your home and into the afternoon heat. As you watched her leave from the window, you noted that her back never looked so straight.

[meerawrites]

Convenient how lenient the world is to brothers whose acclaim would be shame for their sisters or their mothers. / Wear your heart on your cheek, but never on up your sleeve, unless you want to taste defeat.

Audrey’s - coat of arms.

Audrey color pallet edit by @420sadnoodles.💞

Be curious not judgemental - whores of yore.

Further reading.

[queerquaintrelle]

Period Drama Appreciation Week 2024: Day 1 - Favourite TV show(s)

Harlots on Hulu (2017 - 2019).

TURN: Washington's Spies (2014 - 2017).

[princelydisaster]

I will preface this by saying I haven’t watched Harlots season 3 in a while and I’m not a fan of it (aside from a couple characters)

content warning - mentions of homophobia, sex work, sexual exploitation

that said, I didn’t like a lot of the story decisions and writing that season but I really wish Elizabeth Harvey got fleshed out more

I am picking up what they were putting down with her - adding another angle to the different approaches to marriage, the discourse on how many characters choose not to get married even to men they’re in loving relationships with because it means a loss of freedoms - by making her a kind of dangerous bride who takes away her husbands’ freedoms by giving him her debts

I just wish that maybe there was another layer of nuance or something there … or idk, maybe I wish she had more screen time to develop as a character

additionally I think they could’ve gone more into the topic of her being an ally and starting a Molly house with her gay son as a way to provide a safe place for men who desire other men

like she’s definitely not perfect by any means and I love messy women on Harlots but I wish they addressed the dangerous aspect of their scheme(?) where they set up a super popular house and then run when their debts are discovered. Isn’t that arguably more dangerous for their clients, when they get busted for something else and then ditch, leaving everyone else in a place that’s being investigated?

Additionally there’s also the aspect of Fredo working under his mother’s employ and what that entails - since he kinda occupies the Charlotte / Charles spot (as a bawd’s oldest child) after they both leave the show.

Like, certainly she cares for her son, but would she be as enthusiastic about starting her own Molly house if it weren’t so profitable? The taboo / illegality of men having sex with men at the time meant they could charge double what other brothels were charging…

When did he start working for her in that way? Was it voluntary, or due to their poverty? If he wasn’t into men, would they be running some other scheme for money?

I just wish the show had characters question some of the more flawed aspects of her other than the whole marriage-debt no take-backs thing

(And I feel like I’m sugar coating things but in hindsight, it is a bit morally grey to employ your own child as a sex worker. Even if they’re an adult and seem fine with it now.

Admittedly I have 0 real life sex work experience. but still, I just feel like even in ideal conditions where the person starts as an adult and chooses that job voluntarily, there’s still the aspect of transforming your relationship from that of a parent and child to that of a boss and an employee.

But knowing the canon and the Harveys’ history of debts… they most definitely did not start this under “ideal conditions” or any kind, they were most likely making tough decisions and scraping by.

I wish they had a conversation about this or something - as the whole line about her wanting a safe space is the only thing I can remember right now)

[meerawrites]

You're welcome. Charlotte Wells was early inspiration for my oc, Audrey, so. *shrugs* Also besides Lestat de Lioncourt, yeah, I read IWTV —QOTD at 14. I watched harlots on hulu a bit too young and picked up GRRM ASOIAF a bit too young. But Lestat and Charlotte were some of my first adult "they're so me!" Bi representation.

let's see...

@musicboxmemories is cool, @enchi-elm is cool, @selkiewifeis cool and last but not least, @timeguardiansis cool!

@musicboxmemories

@enchi-elm

@selkiewife

@timeguardians

[stargirlshojo]

need more gritty dirty messy period pieces that don’t just show you how the rich people live

harlots has

-prostitution

-cross dressing

-gay people

-hot women

-a few hot men

-lesbians

-colorblind casting (that inspired bridgertons colorblind casting!!)

-beautiful costuming

k thanks watch it bye