Susan Gray/Millie Harcourt

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Pairing
Pairing: Susan Gray/Millie Harcourt
Alternative name(s):
Gender category: F/F, femslash
Fandom: The Bletchley Circle
Canonical?: No
Prevalence: Popular
Archives:
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Susan Gray/Millie Harcourt is a femslash pairing in The Bletchley Circle fandom. Their canon relationship is of estranged closed friends by the time of the main events in season one. Before The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco aired, this was the main pairing in the wider fandom.

Canon

Susan and Millie worked together at Bletchley Park and seemed to become very close during this time, making plans to travel the world after the war ended. However, after leaving Bletchley Park, while Millie went on to travel the world, Susan never joined her. Instead Susan married Timothy and settled down with children. This caused a rift between the two women that was still present when Susan reached out to Millie in 1952.

After Susan noticed a pattern (and a gap) in the murders that were happening in London, and the police dismissed her concerns, Susan sought out Millie for help. After a tense meeting, Millie convinces Susan they need Jean and Lucy on board as well. As they solve the case as a team, Millie and Susan begin to rekindle some elements of their friendship. However, due to the trauma Susan experiences from the events of the first season, she pulls away from the group in subsequent episodes, finally leaving midway through season two, albeit on somewhat more amicable terms than their previous parting.

Fandom

Some fans felt that the tension and bitterness between Susan and Millie when they met up in 1952 seemed more intense than might be expected from a friendship falling apart, especially as it was unclear whether Susan and Millie knew each other pre-Bletchley. Millie's dismissive reaction to Susan saying she would like Timothy, Susan's husband, was a particular scene people pointed at.

Later, in the San Francisco spin-off, when Millie says that not all of her relationships have been with men, fans of the Susan/Millie pairing headcanoned that one of the women being referenced was Susan during the pairs’ time together at Bletchley Park.

Fans of the ship found a lot of angst potential in the idea that the pair were romantically involved and eventually Susan ended the relationship under the societal pressure for heteronormativity.

Many works for the pairing tend to either be set at Bletchley Park or during the original season's timeline. There are few works based on Susan following Millie to the US and rekindling their relationship. This is likely due to the Millie/Jean pairing growing in popularity during the San Francisco spin off.

Fan Commentary

While I do like Susan and her husband. I want to know what the deal is with her and Millie, Cause all of their scenes/interactions scream exes

[1]

Common Tropes and Fanon

Example Fanworks


Fanfic

  • Clerical Work by Kivrin. They said, afterwards, that they’d done clerical work at Bletchley. They said that they were friends. Both were a little bit true.
  • If You Wait by ithinkyourewonderful. It's the 1960s and the world is changing... And somehow that change is conspiring to bring Susan Gray and Millie Harcourt back into each other's orbits by way of Susan's daughter Claire.
  • At Rest by fallingvoices. The war and what comes next.

Fanart

Fanvids

Other Fanworks

Meta

Archives and Communities

Other Fannish Resources

References

  1. ^ sapphos-daydreams post, Tumblr. 21 March 2022. (14 December 2023) (Archived-14 December 2023)