#birchwells

[sinnersandsapphics-edits]

1x07 / 3x05

[selkiewife]

You've been my whole life, Nancy Birch.

For Harlots Pride Fest || Prompt: Birchwells

[harlots-source]

Harlots Pride Fest Original Post

[rosereveal]

harlots week 2020 | angst 

I’m no more a sinner than any man here I’m no less a saint than the priest at God’s ear

[julie-slamdrews]

Harlots Fic Appreciation Week: Share a fic that inspired you

I saved this square until last because I didn’t want to choose just one fic and then I decided I wouldn’t. Every fic I read, in this fandom and across fandom generally, inspires me. It inspires me even if it’s about characters that aren’t my favourites or contains a kink that I don’t share or isn’t written in a style that I personally enjoy. It inspires me because putting your writing out into the world is terrifying, you worry that it isn’t good enough, that nobody will want to read it. But every person who pushes through that fear helps to keep the fandom going (along with the people who read them, and the people who create moodboards and gifsets and other art that I don’t even know the names for, and the people who share headcanons and meta and keep the discourse going long after the thing we’re all in love with has left the screen).

So with that in mind, here’s a selection of fic that I love which I haven’t had a chance to share yet during @harlots-week. There’s still a lot that I’ve missed out, and I did consider just leaving a link to the Harlots archive, but that felt ever so slightly like cheating even though it would be very much in the spirit of this post. 

Charlotte/Caroline Howard

what a lady shouldn't by Heather

Charlotte/Isabella

if i'd told you (you would have stayed) by thewritermakingdreamsreality

Charlotte gen/multiple ships

Before the Mourning by @selkiewife

Masks by pierrette

Nancy/Margaret

All I Have by @catherinecat143

Promised Me Heaven by aldiara

Nancy/Isabella

freedom among the ashes by sapphicish

Settling on the Farm & Fun in the Barn by @neuroharlot

Swagger by @hailbabel

Whisper by hailbabel

[neuroharlot]

Last Chance to Say I Love You

Ok - so I have felt terribly sad today and after re-watching Harlots S2, E7, I felt profound pain in Maggie and Nancy’s parting kiss. It’s been on my mind all day... So here’s my take on that scene. I really wish the series had explored their past more, there is obviously so much between them!

Margaret Wells sat with legs splayed in the dingy, damp cell. She held her head in her hands, her elbows propped on her knees. She sighed with a kind of resigned sorrow and contemplated her life as she headed ever closer to her demise by hanging. Her whole posture reeked of defeat. A solitary tear rolled down her cheek as she thought of the dear ones she would leave behind. She had not been the best mother, and she had been a shoddy lover. She had also been a dreadful friend. Nancy lingered in her mind. The guilt of the thought of Nancy consumed her. 

In her final moments, it was not her girls, or Jacob, or Will that plagued her mind, but her most secretly treasured companion. They had grown up together, comforted each other in the dead of night, cold and sore from the forceful culls at Quigley’s bawdy house. Their pale, naked skin had touched as they shared one bed between them. They would often take turns to stroke each other’s hair and sing soft melodies to one another. Margaret reminisced. Tears rolled more freely now, the bitter saltiness tainting her lips. She remembered the nights she was inconsolable, fearful of her future; the nights when her belly swelled and pulsed with Charlotte’s tiny shifting body. She would rest her head on Nancy’s bare shoulder, inhaling the spicy, peppery scent of her hair and her neck, and she would feel contained… safe… protected…

 A harsh rattle of keys disturbed Margaret from her reverie. She looked towards the sound to see Nancy at the gate. She was dressed from head to toe in black, not unusual for Nancy, but she seemed to represent the mourning and the loss that would inevitably come. The guard opened the gate and Nancy tentatively stepped in.

 “Oh, Mags…” she whispered, her voice breaking. She looked down to hide her face, which was contorting with intense emotional anguish.

 Margaret stood, straightened her skirts, and walked towards Nancy. She took hold of both of Nancy’s slender hands and held them tightly. She leaned into Nancy’s familiar spicy scent, resting her forehead against hers. Nancy stiffened, trying to suppress the flood of tears that threatened to escape in huge heaving sobs.

 “Nance…” Margaret sighed, closing her eyes. “I’m so sorry Nancy.”

 “Whatcha sorry for ya silly mare?” Nancy replied, but her usual plucky spark had all but dissolved.

 “I never showed you enough love, Nance. And now I’m about to leave you again.”

 Nancy shook her head sternly, as if scolding herself for losing her cool. “I’m always the one left behind,” she choked. “You’ve been my world, Maggie.”

 Margaret softly cupped Nancy’s cheeks and looked into her dark blue eyes. She planted a gentle kiss on her forehead. The affection broke Nancy. She gasped desperately as heavy, colossal sobs left her body. Her whole fragile frame shook with each cry. Nancy wailed aloud into Margaret’s ample chest.

 “Come now,” Maggie cooed, but she could not prevent her own whimpers of agony from escaping her lips.

 Even in this devastating moment, Margaret had started to forget that she had only moments left before she made her way to the noose in the basement to breathe her final breath. Nancy had always had that effect on her. When they were together, the outer world vanished.

 Nancy took a deep breath and firmly kissed Maggie’s lips. The shared saltiness of tears spoke the unspeakable. Margaret pushed her fingers through Nancy’s raven hair and held her close, kissing her back as if it was the last time she would ever kiss another soul.

 Nancy so wanted to tell Maggie that she loved her; always had and always will. Instead, she whispered weakly “Goodbye little Maggie Mud Pie.” and turned on her heel, refusing to look back.

 Margaret could feel Nancy’s musky scent lingering around her face even after the sound of her bootheels were but a distant echo. “Goodbye Nancy Face Ache,” she whispered, almost inaudibly. “I love you.”

[sinnersandsapphics-edits]

HARLOTS - 1x02

[sinnersandsapphics-edits]

HARLOTS - 1x03

   “His wife says he got lusty for me on his deathbed."

   “Filthy dog. His prick was stiff before the rest of him.”