#since my previous post seems to not be showing up; welcome to the sapphic shipping pain normalcy to the uninitiated

[touchoffleece]

In hindsight

G Witch was so gay I forgot Bandai's track record of "just good friends" with it's franchises.

[calamity-bean]

Harlots 1.04 reactions

So, I LOVED THIS EPISODE. Tensions are rising all around, yes, in subtle and overt ways alike, and there are definitely many things being set up to go HORRIBLY WRONG, yes, but I loved it. And look how precious Lucy looks with her hair all up in curls!

What’s the etiquette about how long I have to wait before screaming about this ep publicly, btw? Or posting caps or gifs of it? ‘Cause, like, I don’t wanna spoil anything for anyone, but uh. I’ve got a lot of feelings. I will always tag #harlots spoilers on things from the most recent ep, but it’s difficult to know when things are considered fair game when it’s airing on different schedules and platforms internationally.

For now, spoilers below the cut. In which I offer unexpectedly Deep Thoughts™ about that final scene and ramble about my favorite bits — namely:

VIOLET + AMELIA + THE FEAST IN HELL

“There’s a story, about a feast in Hell...”

Oh my god, I am slain. I love these two. And oysters! Feeding each other oysters, for goodness’ sake. Would clams have been too on the nose, you think?

Then again, maybe those were clams. I don’t know how to tell shellfish apart. But I do know a beautiful blossoming sapphic romance when I see one, and I’m so glad that this one was not destined to be only subtext. And yes, Violet definitely moved a bit fast there — one wonders if women loving women is even a concept that exists in Amelia’s brain, sheltered as she is — but I can’t wait to see how Amelia reacts later on and where they do or do not go from here.

It’s also just lovely to see Amelia getting some independence from her mother. I feel for her, because one can plainly tell that she truly loves her mother and is devoted to her, so even though Florence is not a fave of mine, I sympathize with Amelia’s love. And with Florence’s love for Amelia in turn. Not to mention that I’m much more intrigued by Florence as of this episode than I was previously, given the revelation about her past!

HARRIET LENNOX DIDO, QUEEN OF CARTHAGE

Let’s just say that I, like Lord Repton, am impressed by Harriet’s performance here. I mean. Damn. I’ve been calling Nancy the dominatrix of my heart, but Harriet seems cut from the same cloth. I was pretty weak for her bossiness, I gotta say.

I really love Harriet, and although I sympathize with her initial resistance to taking this step and don’t want her to do anything she doesn’t want to, I have to agree that harloting stands her a better chance of earning enough money to buy her children’s freedom than simply being a kitchen maid did. That scene where she goes to see her kids and Benjamin sends them inside — HEARTBREAKING.

Honestly, fuck Ben Lennox and his pouty little face. My heart just, like, aches thinking of how much Harriet misses her kiddos, and I thought it was well-done and in-character that the thing that made her actually consider harloting in the first place was hearing about Kitty’s child.

And then we come to the end of the episode and holy SHIT:

I THOUGHT I WAS IMAGINING THE WEIRD SEXUAL TENSION BETWEEN CHARLOTTE AND HAXBY.

I WAS NOT.

I was ... not imagining it. 

Look — I already loved Edward Hogg from his roles in Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and Taboo, so I suppose I’ve been trying to convince myself that the way he and Charlotte kept ... flirt-bickering in previous eps was just me projecting my feelings for him onto their interactions. Inflating his character’s importance in my head, y’know? I occasionally allowed myself to play with the idea that something like this would happen (despite more seriously shipping Charlotte with Marney), but I didn’t think it actually would!

Not that this is honestly a good turn of events, mind. A bit of frantic hate-sex up against a wall is not going to make Charlotte and Haxby actually like each other, and now more than ever, I suspect that this little war between them is going to end badly for them both. Probably worse for Haxby, considering he’s not, y’know, a main series protagonist. But I always foresaw this feud creating big problems for Charlotte somewhere down the line, and now it has even more potential than ever for very big problems indeed. For the nonce, though? To be honest, for the nonce, I can’t help but simply grin about my boy getting quality hate fucked. Didn’t really look like Mr. Haxby is the world’s most talented lover, so far as finesse goes, but at least he’s passionate!

More seriously, it’s a fascinating turn of events for both of them, from a characterization perspective. Fun to see Haxby both literally and metaphorically so much less buttoned-up than usual, yes, dropping his priggish, holier-than-thou attitude so readily, but the real point of interest is, of course, Charlotte. A major theme throughout this episode is that she is losing control. Despite what she says in her handjob lesson to Lucy about how men and their dicks are the easiest things in the world to manage, Charlotte is losing her grip on Howard, and she’s losing her grip on herself when it comes to Marney.

So, fucking Haxby? Was about regaining control. It was about her being upset and angry and set aside and disregarded and betrayed by both Howard and her own feelings, and then here comes this jerk who always acts so superior to her, so it’s about literally grabbing this jackass by the dick and regaining control in the way that Charlotte is used to controlling men. Even snooty Haxby can’t resist her, yeah? It was an impulsive and bitter and aggressive act, but in the moment, at least, I think it gave her back a sense of power.

The consequences ... I’m not sure what the consequences will be. She could leverage it against Haxby, or he could leverage it against her. As much as I like the idea that they could possibly overcome their differences, I doubt it will suddenly be sunshine and kittens between them now, let’s just say that.

Other Things:

Lucy catching the eyes of Lords Fallon & Osborne? NOT GOOD, Y'ALL. NOT HEARTENED BY THIS TURN OF EVENTS.

I feel so protective of Lucy, I am so afraid for her. This poor girl has already been through way too much and I just ... want to fight anyone who would dare harm her. Just having to be a harlot is obviously traumatic enough for her, not to mention her time at the Reptons; plleeeease don’t throw her to the mercy of the likes of Fallon and Osborne, too...

Holy shit, it’s Lydia without her makeup and wig! I scarcely recognized her. She looks so normal!

Emily and Charles ... Charles and Emily. I kind of love their relationship? I don’t know. He’s a fool for sure, and she can be a bit of a fool, too, and it’s almost endearing to see him try to stand up to Mama, but mostly it just makes me cringe. Emily’s not among my favorites, but I don’t wish any ill on her, and I hope she manages to escape at some point now that she’s starting to glimpse below the Quigley house’s gilded surface.

Since Emily’s so wrapped up in the Quigley side of the narrative, though, dare I suspect that one of her big roles in the narrative might be to stumble upon some information regarding the kidnappings...?

Good for Marie-Louise for jumping ship, though. She’s a businesswoman. Sees an opportunity, seizes it. I like her.

We’re four eps in and I’m only now figuring out what the heck Josef Altin’s character, like, is. (i.e., He’s also a sex worker.) Up till now he was just spying and loitering sneakily and I didn’t quite know what his deal was. I still do not, however, know his name. I’m sure they said it, but I didn’t catch it. Altin’s not listed on the show’s IMDb, for some reason (neither is Ed Hogg??), so I can’t even check there. I’ve just been calling him Pyp. I suspect that even if I do manage to pick up his name, I will continue to call him Pyp.

Anyway, the point of that tangent is that I really liked the outfit he was wearing for the masquerade.

Lord and Lady Repton continue to be the strangest humans, and I cringe a little thinking of what Marney must be putting up with in their employ. Marney, if they invite you out for hunting, fucking run.

Anyway, if y’all need me, I’ll be lowkey screaming inside about this episode till next week. You are always welcome to come scream your thoughts at me!