#jack lively

[harlots-source]

Harriet’s House Appreciation Week, November 15- 21, 2021

Rules:

All fan content is welcome! Art, gifsets, edits, moodboards, playlists, metas, discussions, fic, ficlets, drabbles, podfics, vids, etc. welcomed and encouraged!

The fan content has to focus on one (or more!) of the members of Harriet’s House (list is below) or an OC you’ve created that works at Harriet’s House in either Season 2 or 3 (or in the future!)

You may include other Harlots characters in your creations- for example, a Harriet x Isabella fanwork- as long as the focus is on one of the members of Harriet’s house (list below)

Please tag this blog ( @harlots-week ) somewhere in your tumblr posts, so that they can be reblogged here. You can also use the tag #harriet’s house appreciation week

If you are writing fic, please post them to Harriet’s House Appreciation Week on AO3. If you are writing a drabble (anything under 100 words) please post it to the Harlots Drabbles Collection as well. The prompt for drabbles is any of the prompts below and you can post them on any day!

Prompts:

Favorite House member

Backstories

Dreams

Success

Mothers

Lovers

Harriott Lewis (the historical inspiration for Harriet Lennox)

Words to Live by

Survival

Desires

Power

Identity

Members of Harriet’s House:

Harriet Lennox 

Limehouse Nell

Emily Lacey 

Cherry Dorrington

Rani Balakrishnan

Noah Webster

Jack Lively

Charles Quigley

Maggie Lennox

Joseph Lennox 

Unnamed house members of Season 3 (can be OCs)

*graphic credit, Autostraddle

[selkiewife]

Soft

All her life, she said she would never bend. She stood up straight, as if there were a spine of steel hidden beneath her stays. She was cool and collected, as if she were carved from a block of ice. She has been the perfect wife, the perfect brothel worker, the perfect bawd…

But now, Jack Lively touches her softly, drapes his strong arms around her, and brings his lips to hers.

All these years, she has managed to keep a layer of frost around her heart.

Now, in this frigid London winter, she fears she is beginning to thaw.

[incorrect-harlots]

Harriet: I’m a mature and responsible team leader. I’m not childish.

Jack: You’ve just built a blanket fort in the middle of the room.

Harriet: The blanket fort might inherently seem to be a bit childish but it could serve a higher purpose you haven’t even considered.

Jack: And what is this higher purpose supposed to be? *lifts up the blankets*

Rani: *high-pitched screaming*

[harlots-source]

HARRIET'S HOUSE APPRECIATION WEEK: Oh, what's a house anyway? It's the people.

Rules and Prompts

[selkiewife]

Harlots Season 3 ep 2- stray thoughts

*There are spoilers, duh

Incoherent shouting

*bangs on table* I love Nancy Birch so much. Like all she has to do is come onscreen and I’m happy.

Charlotte Wells is such a Gryffindor and I am thinking of sorting all the Harlots characters into HP houses and making moodboards for them. Please send me messages with which houses you think everyone is in. I have definite opinions already but I’m open to suggestions. 

Also Charlotte Wells is a bad bitch and we stan.

Unpopular Opinion Time

Okay this might be an unpopular opinion but I am honestly LOVING this season of Harlots. That does not mean that I do not miss Violet, Amelia, Scanwell, Hunt, Limehouse NELL ( 😔 ), and Prince Rasselas like hell. Because I absolutely do. I’m still holding out hope that they will turn up just like SPOILER!!! Margaret will eventually. There were actually a few times I thought they were GOING to... like when Fredo was looking for boys and when Lydia Quigley didn’t have anywhere to go and then they didn’t. ughhh. But I am ALSO very interested in all the new characters and plot lines. 

I like the Pincher brothers and the ridiculous amount of drama they’ve created and I love how it has changed the dynamic a bit and has essentially made all of these women characters BAND TOGETHER against them- like even Emily (who I love don’t get me wrong) who seems to be solidly in the Pincher camp is STILL always standing up for her fellow women- like when she berates Isaac on more than one occasion of his treatment of Margaret. I think Alfie’s portrayal of Isaac is awesome and it makes me want to know more about him. I’ve seen some people complain that the character reminds them of second season Theon but that’s not a problem for me because that’s basically when I became fascinated by Theon and what was going on inside his head so, yeah. 

I like Jack Lively! A new character this week! He’s William North’s new boxing star and I think his story will also be very interesting- I loved him in Harriet’s house, always polite but serving his cutting “friendly reminders” in Latin. He can rock right out. I think he had a definite thing for Harriet and I am here for that. ALSO William North is back in town!

I LOVE the story of the molly house and Elizabeth and Fredo. I LOVE Fredo and his beginning friendship with Lucy. I also want to know way more about Elizabeth and I loved how she had that silk merchant (or I think I’ll have to rewatch to get the story there- was he more of a pirate?) just wrapped around her fingers. Also I LOVED the whole cover story about how they are selling fine suits and the word play with that scene and how so many things were going on at once with the stealing the Pinchers’ money caper. 

Checking in with the regulars:

Harriet! Harriet has had such an incredible arc and she is such a survivor and I love seeing her as the bawd of her own establishment now and doing well enough that she is able to take all the Wells girls in- Not sure where her kids are but I’ve headcanoned that Amelia and Violet are babysitting them. 

LYDIA QUIGLEY got out of Bedlam and it was glorious. Love the woman singing while they were running the hell out of there. God I am always taken in by the haunting singing on Harlots...

Cherry. I love her so much. Everyone must love and protect Cherry. ALSO CHERRY WAS FUCKING RHYMING. Has this show always rhymed? I need to do a rewatch soon. I’ll report back. I love that she and Nancy seem to have a real understanding and affection for each other. That warmed my heart. By the way I need all future condoms to come with Cherry’s little bows on them. That was fantastic. 

Charlotte taking down Isaac with the same wording he used against her was spectacular and I really loved it. I loved that Isabella was in on it and was able to use her power in this way- and damn she looked like she was having so much fun doing it. 

Shipping stuff:

Okay... THAT KISS between Charlotte and Isabella. Obviously they’ve gotten to a place where they are friends/lovers/business associates and that is fine. But I think this kiss raised the stakes in their relationship. It seemed to come from a place of pure romantic love or at least romantic longing. Especially when you consider when it happens- which is right after Charlotte is talking about how being “in love” is beyond their wildest dreams. Isabella had a moment there when Charlotte was saying that her daughter was rich beyond all their dreams when I think she realized how much she loves Charlotte. And I think that kiss was Isabella’s answer to Charlotte’s assertion that love was beyond them. Charlotte is a restless soul who craves freedom and love- she’s cleaver and got great survival instincts but I think at her core, she wants love and happiness and freedom. She was so wistful when she was describing how they should be happy for Sophia, who is free to love who she wants. It was like she truly believed that love was beyond someone like her. And I think Isabella was basically saying “no girl, let me show you how not beyond you that kind of love is,” when she kissed her. 

I also began shipping Nancy and Isabella this episode which surprises absolutely no one. What would their ship name be? Lady Dom? Fitzbirch? Nancy seems so attuned to Isabella and it would be WILD to see these two women together. This may be time to mention to people who have come to my blog for Harlots and don’t know me from my GOT stuff- I am a poly shipper, multi shipper, ship and let ship, will not argue about ships blog!

Which brings me to, Isaac and Charlotte. So this is definitely a toxic ship but I’m here for it. Why? I love both of the actors and they DO have chemistry. I don’t care what anyone says. Alfie and Jessica are the type of actors who have chemistry with anyone honestly. They could both individually have chemistry with a bowl of soup (see what I did there theonsas?) so don’t come at me with “they have no chemistry.” I realize that it’s a completely unhealthy train wreck and I won’t defend it, but like, I can’t help that I enjoy watching it- so I’ll just have to ask y’all to have pity on my useless bisexual heart. 

Questions: 

Why did Isaac think that Charlotte wanted to sleep with him after BURNING HER HOUSE DOWN? Like is he that stupidly arrogant about her wanting him? I guess so. Personally, my paranoia just wouldn’t gel with that. I would be sure she’d be doing it to trick me... Then again, I guess I can’t blame him. If Charlotte Wells acted like she wanted to sleep with me I would totally let her do it even if I thought she was only doing it to steal my money... 

I think that we could still possibly see Amelia and Violet. Do you think I am being delusional? I’m trying to think about past seasons of Harlots and if it took awhile to catch up with certain characters- I think Rasselas didn’t show up until half way through last season right? Or was it the very end? 

[selkiewife]

Thoughts on Harlots 3x06 

*spoilers below*

I think this show has finally broke me.

Jack Lively sold into fucking slavery? 

Maggie leaving Nancy again and telling every single person that BREATHES that Nancy was the one who shot Isaac... Again, Mags:

LYDIA AND MAGS HAVING A MOMENT OF TENDERNESS ???

Stray Thoughts:

I’m worried about the Harriet and Jack Lively arc. It was so brutal because he was poised to be successful and happy in love and then in a SECOND it is all literally “snatched” away from him. His whole life became a nightmare in one moment. It was heartbreaking. I worry though, since there are only two more episodes, it will not be enough time to do this story justice. I kind of wanted to see more exploration of Harriet actually running her brothel and I feel like that story has been too peripheral as it is. I don’t know what their plans are, but at the moment I am feeling disappointed and actually very depressed about the turn in that story. I don’t know- what do you all think?

I know that everyone probably thinks I give Mags way too hard a time and I do. But what people probably don’t know is that Mags is my second favorite character after Nance. I am fucking fascinated by this mess of a woman. I mean, in this season alone she has reached near Theon levels of disaster in the way she literally makes every bad situation ten times worse. I don’t know what it is, but that just DOES IT FOR ME. Plus she has the best laugh on the show- even though we haven’t heard it in like two seasons (I was watching Season 1 earlier and I sometimes wish Harlots was just Mags and Nance laughing and drinking together- with Nance of course leaving every now and then to go lash some cull in the next room and then come back to Mags like, “anyway where was I?”) I feel like Mags finally heard what her family was telling her about how much destruction she has caused and she was trying to make it right by leaving and taking the blame for Isaac’s death. It reminded me of Mags’ apology to Charlotte last season. Mags breaks my heart because she is similar to Lydia in that she is a product of her environment- she is so much better than her mother was and Lydia was- but because they were so horrendous, that is still not good. But she constantly strives to break the cycle of abuse and almost gets there. I think that is why Lydia and Margaret’s scene was so full of mutual understanding, it was like Mags understood that she had become like Lydia to her girls. 

Speaking of Lydia. I haven’t talked enough about her but she wins all the awards for introspection this episode. But it makes complete sense because she just witnessed two deaths- Charlotte’s and Mrs. May. I think both of these deaths made her think about the way she, herself, wants to die. She wants to die like Charlotte, holding Kate’s hand. She does not want to go out like Mrs. May, hated and despised. So I think that what she feels for Kate is very true. She wants to be a true mother to her and protect her- but she is not going to change completely. She’s just going to try to be good to this one person in her life. Lydia continues to be a fascinating character to watch and learn more about.

Harlots fam I have not forgotten about wanting to sort the Harlots characters into Hogwarts houses and I still intend to do that after the 3rd season ends. But Cherry has thrown me for a loop since I originally had her in Slytherin. I still want her there because, I am a Slytherin myself and I want all the cool people in my house obviously. But damn, she was getting all Hufflpuffy when she revealed her “goals” of having a cull that didn’t want her to piss on her shoes and also to find someone “to love her true.” But the reason I originally had her in Slytherin is how cunning she is and how she is loyal to herself and her own survival first and foremost (and who can blame her?) and she’s so resourceful- selling condoms one day, flowers for Charlotte’s funeral the next. Anyway, send me your thoughts...

There continues to be a lot of parallel filming between Kate and Charlotte- like the way she was fucking the prince against that tree paralleling Charlotte and Isaac for example. Kate is another one- I originally thought she was a Hufflepuff because of her sweet loyalty to Lydia but now I’m thinking she is solidly in the Slytherin house... 

Okay I think I shall check out from this post since it is devolving into Harry Potter... but wait!

I forgot to talk about Nancy! She broke my heart this episode again. I loved the scene between her and Isabella. I think it is so interesting that she has these firmly held beliefs about murder and how it is a cowardly act. I really respect her for thinking that even though I myself identified more with what Lady Isabella was saying. I also thought it was very beautiful that Nancy was able to open up to Lady Isabella when she never opens up to anyone. Also can I just say- the scene were Nance is standing behind Lady Isabella- they already look like a power couple haha.

But holy shit when she said goodbye to Margaret! 💔 💔  When Margaret said “You’ve been my whole life, Nancy Birch.” Y’all my heart broke as hard as when Nancy said, “I love your ma, you silly cunt,” last season. I understand why she didn’t, but damn I would have run after Margaret. Though I was proud of Nancy for not doing that. But... ughhh. That can’t be the end can it?? 

And then Nance’s scene with Fanny- oh! And can we just talk about how Fanny practically smothered her cull so that baby Kitty wouldn’t see her mum tupping someone haha. That was some much needed humor since things have gotten so ridiculously depressing on this show. But anyway, Nance’s scene with Fanny- I loved it. I loved that they will join forces to run the house. Now, am I the only one who would like this house to be a Discipline House? They were super popular in those days, and so far, Nancy is the only dominatrix we’ve come across. Can you just imagine- Nance teaching Fanny and Lucy how to be dominatrices? Lucy would be SO magnificent at this- she already loves torturing her clients... and there were a lot of courtesans that specialized in it. And after watching this episode and considering other scenes of Fanny’s- I think she would be an amazing domme as well!  GIVE ME THIS SUBPLOT YOU COWARDS.