#the plantagenet student au

[five-miles-over]

Tom Hiddleston Characters Masterlist

updated January 26, 2024

Multiple Character Headcanons/Listicles

• Tom Hiddleston Characters as Desserts

• How Tom Hiddleston Characters Would Spend the Winter Holidays 

• Tom Hiddleston Characters: How They Act When They Have a Crush (on You)

• Tom Hiddleston Characters on Their Wedding Day (to You)

• Tom Hiddleston Characters: How They Would Propose (to You)

• Tom Hiddleston Characters Celebrating the New Year (With You)

Bill Hazeldine from Suburban Shootout

• She’s a Lady and I am Just a Boy: On the first day of taking ‘Fundamentals of Shakespeare’ at university, Bill Hazeldine finds himself developing a serious crush on you, his drama professor.

• Champagne for My Real Friends, Real Pain for My Sham Friends: A first-year medical student at the University of Surrey, you move into a uni house and meet your new flatmates Bill Hazeldine and Rory Slippery (College AU, crossover with Rory Slippery from Fortysomething)

Caius Marcius Coriolanus from Coriolanus

I’ve Decided, I Will Not Let Your Shadow Separate From Me: After being elected the consul, Coriolanus receives many things - sleepless nights, pointless riots from the lower-class citizens, and you, his new personal slave. While the sleep deprivation and the noise from the plebeians annoy him to no end, he finds himself obsessed with you. (Yandere)

The One That I Desire: A general must always be in control, according to General Caius Marcius Coriolanus . But there often comes a time when even the most powerful general falls to temptation. And for Coriolanus, that temptation is you.

Henry V/Prince Hal from The Hollow Crown

• Fairytale:  While riding upon your horse in the woods, you come across a stranger with a silver tongue and golden curls. And he calls himself “Hal”. (Basically a meet-cute with fluff.)

• You Will Be Mine : The prince of England quickly becomes obsessed with you, a servant brought to his chambers to serve him breakfast. And there is nothing that will stop him from claiming you as his. (Yandere)

• First Time In London: Three days into your new life in London, you find yourself in a café after one of the dreariest mornings ever. Standing behind you in line is none other than Henry Plantagenet, a handsome gentleman with a zest for life and a romantic outlook that feels too good to be real. (Modern AU)

Jonathan Pine from The Night Manager

•So Much More: While holidaying in Switzerland at the Hotel Meister, you find yourself constantly being stood up by each and everyone you meet. And each time, the night manager Jonathan Pine is there to comfort you after delivering the bad news. But it’s really just part of the job…right?

• The Forbidden Room: Part One, Part Two : During a late night alone in the lobby of the Hotel Meister, you - a student at the University of Zurich - meet the charming night manager Mr.Jonathan Pine. And what starts out as simply two strangers getting to know each other turns into something more when Pine shows you a secret part of the hotel.

• My Dearest Diamond : After nearly two years of working for MI-6, Jonathan tried to get in touch with you, the girl who stole his heart when he worked at Hotel Meister. For three weeks, the two of you rekindled your love via handwritten letters, until you booked a five-day trip to London to see him.

As he prepares to make this holiday special for you, Jonathan reflects on his relationship with you…and carries out one last errand before you land.

Robert Laing from High-Rise

• Being Married to Robert Laing would Include...

Loki of Asgard from the Marvel Cinematic Universe

• Heaven Help the Fool Who Falls in Love: You, a lady-in-waiting of Asgard’s Queen Frigga, and Prince Loki have been inseparable for years. What started with a mere look becomes something more precious. (Fluff)

• A Better King: While shopping with Thor in Mumbai (to kill time while Tony Stark is busy with a meeting), Loki learns about the “king” of Bollywood…and decides that he himself could be a better king.

• Take All of Me: Loki takes great delight in “ruining” his innocent, shy girlfriend for the first time (corruption kink, smut)

• Dandelions: Having heard stories about the Norse god of mischief, you find yourself falling in love with Loki despite having never met him. Out of devotion, you prepare offerings that you think he would like, and find ways to express the way you feel. Little do you know that your feelings are not unrequited.

• Beauty is Where You Find It: A journalist for a New York magazine in September of 2012, you come across the opportunity to do an interview from an icon in the fashion industry. Your subject? A rising supermodel from Wimbledon with icy blue eyes and jet-black curls named Loki Laufeyson.

• They’ll Call Your Crimes a Work of Art: A journalist for a small magazine in New York, you’ve been assigned to write a piece about the recent attacks led by Loki. So, you have a look at Loki himself to get your own perspective.

• Little Darling: Living with the God of Mischief in London comes with finding many surprises, and one of those surprises happens to be a four-year-old named Tom Hiddleston.

THE PHANTOM OF ASGARD (THOR: THE DARK WORLD LOKI X READER)

Rumors say that a phantom haunts the darkest hall in the royal palace of Asgard, but is he truly as dangerous as the people of Asgard claim he is?

Part One

Part Two

FOR ALL TIME, IT WAS ALWAYS YOU (TVA LOKI X WIFE!READER)

Imagine waking up in an alternate reality where you and Loki are a newlywed couple living in the suburbs...and everything seems a little too good to be true. (inspired by Wandavision)

Part One

Part Two: Mrs. Laufeyson

Part Three: Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm

Part Four: Kitty Makes Three

THE AGE OF LOKI (LOKI X READER X PROFESSOR HIDDLESTON)

For his second year teaching at Oxford’s English department, Professor Hiddleston hires you to be his first-ever teaching assistant. One night while working late, he shows you the newest addition to his poetry class’s syllabus: the Lokasenna, a poem centered on the Norse god of mischief…and accidentally summons the trickster god himself.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

IF YOU LET ME, I CAN MAKE ANOTHER WORLD FOR US (LOKI x POWERFUL!READER)

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Jaguar Villain Hiddleston from the Good to Be Bad Campaign

• All I Worship and Adore: For a long time, Tom has admired you, an innocent woman, from afar...until one day, he makes his affections known to you. And this time, he won’t take no for an answer (Yandere)

• Your Remedy - He may be one of the most powerful and feared man in London, a terrifying villain to the outside world, but when you’re sick with a cold, your paramour Thomas spends the entire evening by your side taking care of you.

• SFW Alphabet - Jaguar Villain!Tom Hiddleston

YOU'RE NEVER LEAVING (JAGUAR!HIDDLESTON X READER)

You, a budding journalist, have the opportunity of a lifetime to interview the feared and revered Mr. Hiddleston, the CEO of Imperial Pharmaceuticals, Britain’s leading drug manufacturing company. What happens when a few mistakes lead you into the jaws of the wolf, working for the man himself?

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Miscellaneous Hiddleston AUs

• AU: Tom Hiddleston as the Prince of Scotland

• Lessons from the Viscount (Viscount!Hiddleston x Reader, Reader x William Buxton, Reader x John Plumptre): As a debutante in the Regency era, you attend your first etiquette class, along with the other boys and girls of London’s upper crust. Heading the class is the charismatic Viscount Hiddleston, rumored to be a former Shakespearean actor who returned to London to look after his familal estate. And it isn’t long before he takes a liking to you.

[themalhambird]

fic prompt: student AU: Richard's first time babysitting baby Hal?

Richard groans and swears under his breath as banging on the front door rouses him from his sleep. He’s only just drifted off, having spent the last forty-eight hours awake and on a coffee-fuelled painting spree. But the banging continues, so he climbs off his bed and stumbles down to the front door, rubbing his eyes before unlocking it.

“Richard,” Henry says, fist raised in mid-knock. “Can you have Hal for an hour?”

Richard blinks at him. “Anne’s gone to Prague,” he says slowly.

“What?” irritation flashes across Henry’s face. “I know Anne’s gone home for a bit, I don’t see-“ his eyes narrow. “Have you been drinking?”

“What? No.” Richard rubs his eyes again. “Look- come in,” he says, stepping back, and Henry steps over the threshold, though he doesn’t move any further down the hall. He’s got Hal in a baby carrier, fast asleep and all cute in his baby-grow, and Richard smiles down at him, fondly if a little absent mindedly. “What’s the matter?” he asks, looking back up at Henry, who-it dawns on Richard- is looking more than a little stressed.

“Can you please take Hal for an hour?” he demands again. “Mary’s in the middle of lectures and this fucking group project I’m meant to be doing- I’m late for a meeting as it is because no one bothered to ask me before they all agreed now would be more convenient-“

“But- Anne’s not here,” Richard says again, much more awake and suddenly panicking. “I can’t- Harry, you wouldn’t let me look after your goldfish when we were nine, I can’t look after your baby— “

“Of course you can!” Henry snaps. “He seems to like you more than he likes me anyway half the time just- an hour, at the most! All you have to do is keep him alive and in one peace so will you please just- “

“Fine, fine.” Henry’s yelling is giving Richard a headache, and Hal is stirring a little, tiny face screwing up in mild displeasure. “I’ll look after him.”

“Thank you!” Henry says, more annoyance than gratitude in his tone, but Richard can’t be bothered to pick him on it. He bends down and picks up Hal’s carrier instead, and Henry’s gone again before Richard’s even locked the door.

“Well alright then,” Richard says- somewhat bewildered- to Hal, who seems to be settling back down, rather than waking up, which is good, because Richard has no idea what to with an awake baby without other people’s supervision. “How about you come and have a little nap with Uncle Richard then, hm?”

He carries Hal upstairs, rescues him out of his carrier, and cuddles him against his chest as he lays back down on his bed. He doesn’t go back to sleep- he’s worried about accidently squishing his nephew/cousin-something-times-removed if he drifts off and rolls over, but it’s nice, to have the baby sleeping on him. Restful. He idly strokes Hal’s soft little patch of dark hair. “Aren’t you precious, hm?” he coos. “Precious little baby, all fast asleep…”

 Twenty minutes later, Hal is crying.

He woke up on Richard’s chest and the unfamiliar room, and the absence of either his mum or his dad, clearly freaked him out so now he’s crying like the world is ending, and Richard is frantically dancing round the room and hugging him tight, hoping that the bouncing will calm him down like it sometimes does when Henry and Mary are around. “Please?” he says to Hal, grabbing his phone from his desk and firing off a quick text to Mary. Hal crying, what do I do??????

He flings the phone back down and moves his hand back to support Hal’s head. “C’mon Hal,” he says. “It’s uncle Richard, you like Uncle Richard…”

His phone buzzes. Richard grabs it again. Mary’s replied.  why is Hal with u?

Harry at a meeting Richard sends back. Hal was napping and now crying

And then, a horrible thought occurring to him: is it food time??? i can’t feed him i don’t have breasts

“Please stop crying,” he begs Hal again, and then- lighting on something- reaches back and yanks first the butterfly clip and then the hair band out of his hair.

It falls around his face, tumbling over his shoulders in auburn waves, and Hal falls silent mid squawk, staring in fascination. Richard smiles tentatively. “You like Uncle Richard’s hair, don’t you?” he coaxes. “C’mon Hally. Remember how much fun you have-“ a little hand reaches up and grabs a fistful, yanking hard, “- pulling Uncle Richard’s hair?” Richard finishes with a wince, as his phone buzzes again, a reply from Mary lighting up the screen.

Shouldn’t be hungry yet I can leave class tho and come get him

Don’t worry, Richard texts back, eyes watering as Hal attempts to wrest his hair from his skull. Found a distraction. He swipes through to add a photo and takes a quick selfie to send through to Mary.

Mary replies with a quick x, and Richard elects not to distract her further. Instead, he casts about for a way to get Hal to relinquish his hold on Richard’s hair without bursting in to tears again. “You’re probably too small for paints,” he tells Hal. “Aren’t you? I don’t know, I don’t remember being a baby.” He steps over towards the bookshelves. “No picture books. Lots of books about pictures but I don’t think that’s the same thing.” He presses a kiss to Hal’s head, and Hal laughs and promptly smacks Richard’s cheek. He’s surprisingly forceful for something so little- though at least, temporarily, he’s let go of Richard’s hair. Richard shakes his head, trying to get his hair out of his face without having to loosen his grip on Hal. “…I have flour in the kitchen,” Richard says thoughtfully. “We could go and do some drawing in the flour?” Hal, of course, doesn’t have a clue what he’s saying, but he babbles in a manner Richard thinks sounds rather happy and decides to take that as agreement. He carries Hal back downstairs, and then stops rather abruptly at the foot of the stairs. He looks down at Hal. “…are you even old enough to draw?” he asks. “I don’t think you can clap yet, can you? What can you do with your hands?”

Hal reaches up and grabs at Richard’s hair again.

‘Apart from that.” Richard says. He carries Hal into the front room and sits down on the sofa, plonking Hal on his knee. He pulls a funny face, and Hal giggles. He pulls another funny face, and Hal giggles some more. “You’re supposed to engage with babies. Or something. According to the parenting books I filched off your dad when we’d only just found out that you were in your mummy’s tummy.” Richard says. He wishes he had a picture book. Or Anne. He’d like to play peek-a-boo, Hal likes that game, but Hal can only just sit up by himself and Richard is scared that if he puts Hal down, he might hurt himself. He could always go back into the carrier, but it seems a bit mean to trap him in that. “I could tell you a story,” he suggests. “How about that? Once upon a time, there was a village called…the village, and there weren’t any people in the village, it was just a village of doggies, and…”

By the time the doorbell rings around an hour later, Richard’s throat is dry and his voice is crackling, and Hal remains enthralled by the nonsense Richard is telling him despite the fact that Richard cannot recall anything about the story beyond the last few sentences he just told. Richard pauses and gets up to get the door, opening it to reveal a stressed looking Mary.

“I’m so sorry,” she says, coming in as Richard steps out of her way. Hal immediately leans out of Richard’s arms to reach for her and Mary takes him, cuddling him and giving him a kiss on the head. “Henry should’ve just told them he couldn’t come to the stupid meeting- he sent me a message to let me know you had Hal about ten minutes after you did—”

“It’s alright, Mary, I don’t mind. Hal’s a darling.” Richard assures her, as the darling in question reaches up to try and pull his mother’s hair out of its bun.

“Still.”

“Do you want a cup of tea?” Richard asks, because Mary looks like she needs one.

“Yes please,” she replies, and follows Richard into the kitchen. “Are you alright? You look done in- and you’re in your pyjamas, were you sleeping before—?” Richard glances down at himself, surprised. He had forgotten that he’d changed.

“I, ah, may have pulled a couple of all-nighters,” he says. “Anne hasn’t been here I haven’t really been sleeping, and I had some work I got into the swing of doing.”

“I’m sorry, I’ll take Hal home now- “

“There’s no need to rush, I liked having him.” Richard yawns behind his hand and opens three wrong cupboards before finding the teabags. “You know Anne and I said we were happy to babysit, and we meant it. I mean, a little more warning next time, but Hal and I were good, weren’t we Hal?”

Hal babbles. Mary smiles. Richard makes tea, and Mary sits Hal back down in his carrier so that they can drink it together.

Richard is fast asleep on the sofa before either of them have finished a cup.

[turkisherlockian]

A Touch From The Past - The Rainbow 🌈 - Request [Benedict Cumberbatch AU - Teacher x Soulmate Student Reader] (Part Two)

The professor could not wait for the drama class to start. To see her again. To remember where he saw her. His mind was forcing him to remember, he knew when he had someting on his mind he would have trouble focusing on one another. He had to know.

There were some students who took the class because they loved theatre, but it was compulsory for the rest. They seperated into opposite-sex couples as they were asked, Professor Cumberbatch was going to decide which one of them could play Richard Plantagenet and Anne Neville from Shakespeare's "Richard III".

He was on the stage with the playscript in his hands. The students were seated with their partners and his eyes found Y/N's quickly, but his stare only lasted for 3 seconds as he warned himself. He was there to teach.

Being a professional, he managed to focus on educating without any distraction, however he couldn't wait to go home because his head started to ache.

"As you all must know, we're going to perform Anne Neville's story by Shakespeare's Richard III. I believe all of you read the book and not only the script before memorising your lines," he said sarcastically and made his students smile, as always. "But I would like to remind you about her story before we get started."

He took a deep breath, "She is the widow of Prince Edward of Lancaster, whom Richard helped kill."

One of the students raised her hand and asked, "How could she love him after all he's done?"

The professor smiled, "She is the only person to follow her father-in-law Henry VI’s coffin to burial and to mourn him. Suddenly courted by Richard at the height of her grief, she is taken off her guard but finds herself unable to resist his performance as a lover. Despite her quite genuine hatred and mourning, she ends up completely seduced by him. Though this ends up making her Queen, it does not bring her happiness, which she blames on her having cursed Richard’s future wife before taking on that role. Richard’s bad dreams keep her awake at night, and she does not sleep well. She is soon perfectly aware that Richard does not care for her, and grows certain that he will kill her. She grows ill and dies, very likely poisoned by him. Anne is a weak and passive woman, though she attempts to be a good aunt to the various children of her husband’s brothers. Her ghost comes to haunt Richard the night before the battle of Bosworth and to bless Richard’s opponent Richmond."

Y/N felt blessed, he was so enthusiastic! She fell for him once again.

A boy raised his hand now, "But that's not what actually happened, right? I've read that he loved her and she died due to the plague of the time. Can we say that Shakespeare didn't really like the royalties at all?"

"This is where poetry and the benefits of technology takes place. We're lucky to be able to judge his work and compare it to the history." He was happy that some of the students were actually interested in this class.

"Kings are the slaves of history," he quoted Tolstoy with a smile and continued, "Let's get started."

He watched them all and helped them with their lines, but none of them was good enough. He knew they needed to practise but they didn't have much time. While watching them, his mind was also pondering if it would be Y/N's turn before the class ended. He shaked his head slightly and didn't notice that he was tapping his foot.

And it was her turn, now. There were 5 minutes left and he stood up when she came on the stage with her partner.

Y/N was actually good, but his partner was terrible. He just wasn't her match, and it seemed like they didn't even know each other much.

He clapped his hands to draw attention to himself, "You are talking as if someone's forcing you to say it. You're a wicked man, with your own reasons; and you try to seduce her. And you don't need a stage-kiss if you both are okay with it..?" It sounded like a question and Y/N would never say no to anything he suggests. They both nodded and he stepped aside to let them play again.

It was obvious that Y/N studied the character very well and he could see tears forming in her eyes. The young man did try to do better, but it just wasn't his thing. Professor Cumberbatch had this desire to show his students how to do it and he turned to them. "I need you all to watch, now. I'm afraid I'll ask those who want to take part to perform again tomorrow. We're running out of time and we need to be quick. Now..." He turned to Y/N, and blinked a few times when he realized that he had to kiss her. It could cause him to get distracted again, but he had to do it.

He knelt in front of her after taking the knife from the young man, and Y/N could swear that the look in his eyes changed. He raised one of his shoulders because Richard III was misshapen, his eyes were darker now and he tilted his head to the side. "Take up the knife, or take up me."

Y/N who played Lady Anne didn't say anything, and managed to tear up. He was going to kiss her. He was going to kiss her. He was going to kiss her. That was the only thing on her mind now.

He stood up slowly and kissed her. It only lasted for 5 seconds but it felt like forever to them. They didn't see blurry images or memories now, they saw each other. Benedict saw her smiling, crying, laughing, glancing at him, looking at her ring, in a wedding dress, in a rush, in his bed, naked...

Y/N saw him holding her hand at the beach, driving with his sunglasses on, coming home with grocery bags in his hands, holding her, dancing with her, touching her, hugging her, kissing her..

A rush,

A glance,

A touch,

A dance...

It was like thunderstorms at first, but they both knew that after a thunderstorm, comes a rainbow.

She was supposed to pull back and leave him there, but before she could - not that she could at that moment - the bell ringed and the professor forced himself to stop kissing her and she walked away from him.

He kept stuttering while saying his final words to the students who were jealous and muttering to each other about how real that kiss looked. Thankfully, they left quickly.

They were alone on the stage, now. None of them spoke, and Y/N just knew it was her mind toying with her. She went too far, she shouldn't have loved him that much. As tears formed in her eyes for real now, she tried not to look at him and leave the stage but his velvet voice stopped her. "You were pretty good, actually."

She couldn't dare to look at him as she thanked him quietly, and attempted to leave but he spoke once again. "You had them too, didn't you? Did you feel it?" She looked up at him. He couldn't be talking about what she saw, could he?

He walked towards her and turned her to himself by holding her arms gently, "The electricity when our hands touched, a flood of memories that were brought back to our minds-- please tell me you had them too."

He sounded like he was begging her, because otherwise, he would lose her mind. What was it, did he fall in love with her? He knew he could have considering that she was the only thing in his mind all day, which was very unprofessional...

"I did," she spoke excitedly, "I saw you but I thought it was because I lo--"

He kept quiet, waiting for her to finish her sentence but she couldn't. Tears were rolling down her reddened cheeks. "We were married." He spoke quietly and held her face in his hands. "I never thought I would believe in things like that, but I think we are soulmates." He looked into her eyes and felt an overwhelmingly nice feeling in his chest. She seemed like a fairy to him and he suddenly needed to kiss her again. So badly.

"We were together in another life..." Y/N spoke in amazement, "I can say it then."

The professor wiped her tears off her red, hot cheeks, she closed her eyes and finally said it.

"I love you."

He kissed her passionately and all he saw was darkness now. He knew she was the one. They were under each other's spell now... She loved him, and he loved her back. Once again, and forever.

They were smiling when they pulled back, and they spent the rest of the day with getting to know each other.

---

Info source: https://www.playshakespeare.com/richard-iii/characters/lady-anne

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! ❤️ @inner-thoughtsofnelia

[feuillesmortes]

loveless birds now flock as winter friends by @richardgloucesters (Richard III x Anne Neville, Modern AU)

Some say that spring is the season of rebirth and new life. For Anne Neville and Richard Plantagenet, law students at Oxford University and lifelong friends, it is early December which finally brings them together.

[leonorplantagenet]

modern AU | Leonor Plantagenet + Alfonso VIII of Castile

When Henry Plantagenet, 2nd Earl Curtmantle, declares bankruptcy and his affair with housemaid Rosamund Clifford is made public, his marriage to the free-spirited, headstrong Aliénor, a wealthy French-born heiress, becomes terminally strained. A painful and mediatic divorce ensues, exacerbated by malicious speculations and salacious gossip about their sons – especially overindulgent John and proud Richard, whose sexual orientation is put under scrutiny by the media after his wife, Basque socialite Berengaria Jiménez, reveals they have been living separate lives for years, without providing an heir for the Plantagenet earldom.

After her favourite sister Maud marries Bavarian entrepreneur Heinrich Löwe and her younger sister Joanna relocates to the U.S. to pursue a modelling career, Henry and Aliénor’s second daughter Eleanor leaves England for Spain, where she hopes to avoid the scandal surrounding her family and her parents’ furious love-hate relationship. In Madrid Eleanor comes to enjoy a reserved and low-profile existence as Leonor, a French literature student, sharing a flat with fellow student Sancha and freelance photographer Estefanía.

Leonor’s life changes when Estefanía introduces her to Alfonso Ivrea, an handsome photojournalist who is trying to get over the breakup with his unfaithful ex-girlfriend Raquel and to prove to his uncle Fernando that he is able to be in charge of the Retrato, the renowned monthly journal his grandfather Alfonso founded and his late father Sancho led.

Even if their precarious existences threaten to crumble, Leonor and Alfonso slowly fall in love and find in each other a place to call home and to protect…

Yeah, I know. I am hopeless. But I’m also back after a very brief hiatus!

I see modern AUs about other historical figures I love, like Elizabeth of York and Henry Tudor, and I just wanted my babies to have their modern adaptation too. So here it is! Enjoy! 

(P.S. Some feedback would make me überhappy!)

In case you have questions: just ask! The names I used belong to (more or less) historical people who were linked to Alfonso VIII and Leonor Plantagenet.

Fancast (always the same ones, I am afraid):

Oscar Isaac as Alfonso Ivrea (Alfonso VIII of Castile)

Ece Çeşmioğlu as Eleanor Plantagenet

[withinycu-arch]

Plantagenet Modern AU-

The Adelin family were relative newcomers on the organized crime scene of Liverpool after the head of the family Henry Adelin died a power struggle erupted between his daughter Matilda and Matilda’s cousin, Stephen. Eventually Matilda was forced to flee to France and had a turbulent affair with Geoffrey Plantagenet the heir to one of France’s deadliest crime families. 

The affair resulted in a son who Matilda named after her father, Henry. The child proved something of an olive branch as she was able to use the baby to get back in Stephen’s good graces who began grooming him to take over after his passing. And despite their affair ending Geoffrey also contributed to the boy’s future. 

The boy Henry while an apt student proved headstrong, violent and with a temper that matched the red hair he inherited from his father. Despite the warnings from his mother, father and everyone else he become involved with Eleanor Aquitaine. While Eleanor’s father had been tied to organized crime she had gone for a more legitimate career in French politics. The resulting marriage was scandalous and tabloid fodder for both France and Britain as Eleanor was still married when she and Henry began their affair. 

The marriage produced four sons in total- Henry, Richard, Geoffrey and John. Henry eventually splintered away from the family, finding fame as a professional soccer player. Despite ostensibly being the golden child Eleanor favored Richard and their father spoiled John. Maybe that’s why Geoffrey and his brother Henry grew so close they were each other’s family. 

When Henry decided to work with police to bring down his father’s criminal empire Geoffrey supported him even if it caused a riff in the family at first. Richard and Eleanor later offered to help, likely hoping to save their own reputations and absolve them of their involvement. Though in the end they never had to follow through as the younger Henry died in a car crash after a heated argument with his brother Richard. 

Geoffrey has never really recovered from his brother’s death nor forgiven his family though he hasn’t yet cut them off or distanced himself from their illegal activities. He hasn’t yet decided if he’s going to continue what his brother started.

[themalhambird]

The ot3, "We can't keep going on like this?"

“So you are hiding something.” Anne thins her lips and glares at her husbands. Richard also glares at Robert and stamps his foot. 

“Robert-!”

“Richard, the game’s up.” Robert sighs exasperatedly. “Frankly, we should have just told her in the first place, which I said at the time, if you recall-”

“Tell me what?” Anne is dangerously close to shouting. It’s not that she thinks it’s anything major major, because Robert is silently laughing and trying to look as though he isn’t, but her boys have been sneaking about an awful lot lately, and it’s getting on her nerves not knowing why- especially because Richard keeps looking guilty, and her birthday is too far away for it to be anything involving surprise parties.

“Richard,” Robert gestures for him to go ahead, and Richard glares. 

“Fine.” he huffs. “Wait here.”

He stalks out the room. Anne folds her arms and glares at Robert. “Tell me.”

“You’ll have to wait and see!”

“Robert Aubrey de Vere-”

“Annie, relax. It’s nothing bad, Richard just got himself in to one of his overly anxious knots again and forgot that you’re as wrapped around his little finger as he’s wrapped around yours.” 

Some of the tension drains from Anne’s shoulders. The door opens and Richard reappears, looking decidedly more nervous than when he left and cuddling-

“Richard,” Anne says carefully, staring. “Is that a dog?”

“It’s Mathe,” Richard says defensively. 

“Yes,” Robert clarifies, not even attempting to hide his amusement anymore. “It’s a dog. Well, puppy.”

“You brought a puppy?” Anne says incredulously. 

“I know you don’t want pets-”

“So you went out and brought one behind my back!”

“I found him!” Richard wails, hugging the dog more tightly. “Someone just left him in a box in the alley we  use as a shortcut back from- and it was torrential rain and he was cold and he was all by himself and he was crying and I couldn’t just leave him and you were at Mary’s for the long weekend and I was going to take him to a shelter before you got back but I-”

“Got a bit attached,” Robert says drily.” Thought you might not notice if we hid him in one of the spare rooms and took him out for walks when you weren’t looking.” 

Anne, always a sucker for a sob story, melts a bit and walks over to Richard, looking at the little creature in his arms. He’s small and, admittedly, very sweet looking- sleek white fur and a lovely long face that he’s currently twisting upwards to try and lick at Richard, scrambling a little against Richard’s tight hold. Anne smiles a little, and reaches out her hand to pet him. Almost immediately, the puppy is twisting to nose and lick at her, and she giggles at his wet nose and rough tongue. 

“Hello,” she coos, “Hello Mathe…”

“I know you don’t want pets,” Richard says again anxiously.

“I didn’t say I didn’t want one,” Anne reminds him, “I said now isn’t a good time. We haven’t officially graduated, we have no idea what we’ll be doing or where we’ll be living in September...” she steps in closer and scratches Mathe’s head. 

“I could always take him to uncle Edmund’s,” Richard says miserably, and Anne looks up at him.

“I can’t believe you managed hid a dog from me for nearly two weeks.” she says.

“Sorry.”

Anne smiles and raises herself up on tiptoe, kissing his cheek. “You’re a sweetheart,” she says. “Come on, let’s go turn a laptop on and do some research. If we’re going to keep him, we’re going to do it properly.” 

Richard beams. 

“And no, he can’t sleep on the bed with us,” Anne adds, and Richard’s beam dims a little but it’s still brilliant. 

“I love you,” he says. 

“I love you to, you moron. Yes, yes,” she adds as Robert pointedly clears his throat. “I love you too, you slightly less of a moron, now make yourself useful for once and go get a computer.”

“love you Robert!” Richard agrees, and then hunches down to kiss the top of Mathe’s head. “Love you Mathe.”

Mathe licks his human’s face and barks so that his human knows that he loves him back.

[themalhambird]

fic prompts: Mary asks Anne to be her bridesmaid, Anne cries (from happiness).

The Nosebag is a small café down the alley-like Saint Michael’s Street, on the floor just above an equally tiny Thai restaurant. Richard would like it, Anne thinks, if she could ever drag him away from the swankiness of Valerie Patisserie or Paul’s to the eclectic mix of cakes, jacket potatoes, home made lasagne, and salad bowls. The cushions on the benches by each table are faded and shabby, but the pale wooden floors have been polished till they gleam. And, Anne thinks, licking caramel off her fingers, the millionaire shortbread is to die for. “Hey!” Mary arrives, her bag hanging over her arm and balancing a lasagne and a pile of salad on a tray. She’s smiling, though she’s looking a little pale and tired. But happy, radiantly happy. There’s an engagement ring flashing on her finger. The diamond on it is huge. “Henry’s dad,” Mary explains, noticing the direction of her friend’s gaze as she sits down. “It, well, it was Henry’s mother’s.” 

“It’s gorgeous!” 

“I know!” Mary exclaims, beaming. “Henry nearly cried when his dad said he could have it…I think he thought his dad had already given it to his girlfriend or something-“ 

“Henry’s father has a girlfriend?” Anne asks curiously. 

Mary winces. “Girlfriend…secretary he keeps having kids with …I suppose it’s the same difference when you’re one of the richest businessmen in Britain. Anyway!” she stabs her lasagne with her fork. “…is it really bad that this is my breakfast?” she asks “I was gonna have a florentine but this just smelled so good...”

 “Well, you’re eating for two,” Anne says easily. “Built in excuse to eat whatever you like, when you like really.” Mary laughs. 

“Tell that to my sister. She’s already fussing about the difficulties of wedding dress shopping when we don’t know what size I’m going to be in six months’ time. I’m thinking, ditch her and my mother, steal Richard off you and make him come around all the dress shops with me.”

 “He would love that,” Anne says sincerely. “He spends more time gazing in wedding dress shop windows then I do and we-“ she breaks off, blushing. Mary shoves a forkful of lasagne in her mouth. 

“You what?” she asks, face lighting up even more brightly. “Are you guys going to get married too???” 

Anne reaches for her coffee. “I don’t know,” she says. “It’s…It’s complicated, we have a Robert to think about. I think, actually, that Richard just wants to a wear a pretty white dress.” She sips her drink

. “But you said you wanted to talk about something,” she says, “Is everything okay, are you and Henry doing alright? I know Richard’s told Henry, that if there’s anything you two need, anything at all…” 

“Actually,” Mary says, sounding a little hesitant. “There is something, if it’s not too much of an imposition. I was wondering, would you be my maid of honour? Well, my only bridesmaid really, There’s no one else I really want.”

 A large smile spreads across Anne’s face even as her eyes start to prickle. “You mean it?” she asks.

 “Really?” she reaches across the table to Mary even as she reaches out to take her hand with a squeeze. 

“Really!” Mary says with a laugh. “Oh Anne, I know you’ll have exams and things to worry about, but-“

 “Oh, hang the exams,” Anne says with a laugh, wiping at her eyes. “I would be honoured.”

 “It’s just, my mother, and my sister are being….wonderfully supportive, with the baby and everything, but…I love Henry, Anne. I don’t think that they understand that I’m marrying Henry because I love him. Not because I’m pregnant with his child. If I didn’t love him, I wouldn’t be marrying him, baby or not, and I want the wedding to be about the fact that I love Henry, not about the fact I’m pregnant…will you help me?” 

“Of course,” Anne says, brimming with happiness. “Of course I will!”

[themalhambird]

for the prompt meme: richard/anne, "tell me something happy."

“Something happy?” Richard repeats, stroking Anne’s hair.

“Uh-huh.” Anne fidgets, trying to settle comfortably against her toast-rack of a boyfriend, their legs stretched out together on Richard’s raincoat as they shelter beneath the branches of some large, ancient tree. His are so much longer than hers. It really isn’t fair. “It will be good for you.”

Richard smiles and presses a kiss to the top of her head. “You came out for a picnic with me.”

“Mmmmm.” She tilts her head upwards and tries to kiss the him back. It doesn’t quite work- his chin isn’t pointy enough.  “Something happy about Harry.”

“Urgh.”

“Come on. If we’re all going to be living together next year, you need to be able to find the positives or you’re going to go insane.”

“Not all,” Richard says. “Robert’s graduating, he’s going to be all the way off in London-“

“Richard, happy!”

“Sorry.”  Richard nuzzles the top of her hair and considers. “I suppose he’s not all bad. He’s been great about, well, about keeping an eye on me, making sure I don’t- do anything stupid, which- I wouldn’t have even been allowed to come to uni if he hadn’t agreed to do that…I mean, he’s. Not so great about the whole me, you, Robert thing-“

“Happy thing!”

Richard kisses the top of her head again. “When my dad was…when he was ill, I uh. Uncle John and Henry and Liz and Pippa stayed with us a lot, Uncle John helped mum out and…I...” He swallows and blushes, hiding his face in her hair. “Do you promise not to laugh at me?”

“Of course.”

“Actually, maybe give me a second to come up with something else.”

“No, come on!”  Anne twists around in his arms, looking up at him. She stretches up and pecks his cheek. “I mean, obviously you don’t have to but…”

“I used to wet the bed a lot,” Richard mutters, blushing. “I would- I’d get nightmares about- all sorts of things, and.”

“You were a kid and your dad was really ill,” Anne says softly, “It’s not surprising, really. That you had bad dreams or anything but…what does wetting the bed have to do with Henry?”

Richard shrugs. “He used to help me change the sheets so I didn’t have to bother my mum,”  he says. “And he didn’t, he didn’t make fun of me  or anything, we didn’t even really talk about it- he didn’t even get mad that I kept waking him up at three in the morning or whatever…” he breaks off with a curse.

“What?” Anne asks, concerned, “What is it?”

“The time we went to the beach and uncle Edmund let us bury him in sand and we gave him a mermaid tail.” Richard raises his eyes to the heavens. “totally could have told you about that if I’d remembered five minutes ago, but noooooo, I had to go and tell you about the other thing-“

Anne leans up and kisses him again. “I’m glad you did,” she says. “I’m glad you trust me enough to talk about nightmares and what your father being ill was like for you- I don’t want you ever to be too embarrassed to tell me stuff, okay?”

Richard smiles. “Okay,” he says, and kisses her back. Anne sighs with satisfaction, and settles back against him, watching as the rain continues to fall outside their own little bubble.

“Now,” she commands. “Tell me about turning your uncle Edmund in to a mermaid and please, please tell me that your Aunt or someone took pictures….”

[themalhambird]

if you're still taking them, “i’m trying my best and it’s not good enough. it’s never good enough.” - Mary and Richard in the student AU?

“You know your mother doesn’t mean it.”

“No shit,” Mary throws Richard a filthy look as he continues to paint. “I mean I love her, and I know she loves me, but ever since I got pregnant...” she sighs and rests a hand on her stomach. The kettle comes to a boil on the stove with a shrill whistle and Richard sticks the end of his paintbrush through his ponytail as he sets about making himself coffee and  Mary a ginger tea. “And I know my grades have slipped a bit, I’m spending half my time throwing up before I even get to class...” she sighs. “I mean, maybe she’s right. Maybe I ought to drop out.  At least until the baby comes-”

“You think university is going to be any easier with an actual tiny person about to look after?” Richard asks, placing her tea down in front of her. “Mary, your grades have slipped a bit. That just means you’re at the lower end of a first rather than pushing nineties”

“But, I know mum thinks this is- not a waste of time, exactly,” Mary says. “It’s just- I had a plan, and doing this degree was part of that plan, and the plan didn’t involve having babies with anyone until I was at least twenty seven, and now that plan is out the window mum thinks that my degree might as well go to. Drop out. Marry Henry, raise the baby while he finishes his degree...his dad would support us financially, so would my mum.”

“Henry could always drop out and look after the baby while you finish your degree,” Richard says mildly. “Seeing as how you like your degree way better than he likes his. Alternatively, neither of you drop out, you settle for your eighty fives, and I keep making you ginger tea  every half hour of every day until the morning sickness stops if that’s what’s going to help you, and then we look at whatever challenges come next, and we deal. We’re all here for you, Mary- me, Anne, Robert, we’ll help in any way we can to get you through to graduation. And so will Henry. He loves you so damn much.”

“He’s been great,” Mary agrees, wiping at her eyes. “I just it’s. I know it’s silly, but I feel like I’ve let myself down, somehow. Now that everything isn’t going the way I thought it would and- and I love the baby so much already, but I...I didn’t want it. Not now, and I...”

“Do you want a hug?”

“I’d love a hug,”

Richard rounds the table and crouches by his chair, wrapping his arms around her, and she leans in to him. “You know, if you need to drop out, it isn’t the end of the world?” Richard says quietly, stroking her back. “but you need to do whatever the best thing for you is. Not for Henry, not for your mother, for you.”

She sniffs.

“And if you need to talk about feeling like a colossal failure- which you’re not, by the way, but I acknowledge that’s how you’re feeling even if it is bullshit, you’re incredible the way you’re handling this entire thing and I’m in awe of you- but Mary, look, my first year was a trainwreck and my a-levels were even worse so...” he trails off, not entirely sure where he’s going except trying to reassure her that however bad she thought things were, he’d still be the bigger screw up of the two of them. She seems to understand, though, because she squeezes him tight and sniffs again. 

“Thanks,” she sighs. “Can we change the subject? Can I have a look at your coursework? Tell me all about it.”

She gets to her feet and he follows, taking her round to look at the canvas he’d been working on. “I’m studying the pre-Raphaelites,” he explains to her. “I thought I’d try some Shakespeare scenes-”

“Is that- “

“Uncle Edmund,” Richard says, “As Polonius, yep...and I’m thinking about doing Uncle John as Lear- demanding, terrible parent, probably loosing it...”

[themalhambird]

“Can  you stay?”

John wants to say no. He wants to leave and bury himself in work, keep himself busy, try and work out how this happened and why this happened and if that fails, try to forget that this has happened. He’s no good at this- it ought to be Edmund sitting here, or better still, the boy’s mother…but Joan is dead, he remembers, and it hits him like a blow to the stomach every time, and he thinks about how- if remembering that hurts so much for him, how much worse it must be for Richard, and he wonders if that’s why, at least in part, the stupid, idiot boy tried to-

“Uncle?” Richard says, and he looks so small and lost and broken and John sighs, then smiles and takes the plastic seat by the hospital bed, and leans over to take Richard’s hand, squeezing his fingers, caressing his thumb over Richard’s knuckles, trying to ignore the white bandages around his nephew’s wrists and saying “Of course I’ll stay.”

[themalhambird]

“It will be fun, trust me.” Henry mimics Richard under his breath, pulling faces as he stands against the wall and watches the party going on around him. “It will be fun, Henry, you know what fun is-“ Fun, by Richard’s standards, appears to mean  no  proper lights and  unnecessarily loud music and a crush of sweaty bodies and Henry doesn’t know how Richard roped him in to coming- or why Richard even bothered to rope him in to coming, if he was just going to take off the second they got here. He should never have agreed to this- or at the very least, he ought to have unagreed the second he caught Richard putting cherry flavoured lip-gloss on in preparation- any event that involved Richard and cherry flavoured lip-gloss was an event he might have known he would loathe with every fibre of his being. And he would just leave, except he can’t see Richard, and he doesn’t want to leave without letting his cousin know, and  he doesn’t recognise anyone else so that he can tell them to tell Richard that he’s gone. And then he wonders if his cousin would really even care, if anyone would care if he just wasn’t here and –

“Harry!” Someone shouts, and Henry knows that shout, Henry has grown up running towards that shout whenever it came. He turns, feeling a wave of relief crashing down on him as he turns and sees Mary elbowing her way towards him. She looks stunning, he notices- not that she ever doesn’t look stunning, but tonight she’s especially so in a short green dress that shows off her legs and clings to her-

“Harry, God, thank god you’re here, someone said you were I’ve been trying to find you for like, half an hour-“ Mary yells over the music, grabbing his arm, and Henry is suddenly thankful it’s so dark because he’s sure he’s blushing as he grins at her and it occurs to him, suddenly, that this might be the perfect time and place, if he offers to go get her a drink, and then he could- “Harry, Dickon’s in the bathroom, he’s- I think you should come-“

She’s tugging him off before he fully understands what’s happening, through the crowds and up the stairs. The music is still loud enough that the landing shakes, but not so loud Harry can’t hear the retching and Mary tugs him through the door and the bathroom light is on which is unfortunate because it means Henry can see his cousin wrapped around the toilet, one shoe missing- there’s sick everywhere, Richard’s hair is half hanging in to the toilet bowl, for fuck’s sake-

“How much have you had?” Henry demands, clapping a hand over his mouth and nose to shield himself from the smell. Richard groans and sits- or falls- back, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He manages, clumsily, to pull himself up on the sink, to turn on the tap and wash his hands, wash his face.

“I feel like shit,” he slurs.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Mary says, hands twisting anxiously as she stands next to Henry. “You should take him home,” she whispers to Henry, and  Richard whirls around, plastering a grin across his face as he sways.

“I’m fine,” he says, “Don’t need to go home, ‘m fine-“

“You’re covered in your own vomit, you’re clearly not fine,” Henry snaps. “Come on, we’re going home and you’re going to bed. It’s –“ he checks his watch, “-only just gone ten o’clock Jesus Christ Richard, thank God you’ve handed in your essay already-“

Richard flinches. He looks at Henry briefly, miserably, guiltily, then at the tiled wall behind the bathtub.

“Richard,” Henry repeats. “You’ve handed your essay in.”

Richard says nothing.

“But you’ve finished it,” Henry presses.

Richard makes no response, and Henry takes a deep breath which he regrets the instant the smell of sick hits him in a fresh wave. “Richard, tell me you’ve at least started it. Tell me that you’ve started the essay that is due in at nine o’clock tomorrow morning.” Richard says nothing, and Henry loses patience. “We’re going home,” he says “I’m calling a cab, I’m putting you to bed-“ there’s nothing he can do about the essay. Richard’s in no state to do it, and Henry can’t- won’t- do it for him, so Richard will just  have to fail, and let that be a lesson to him. He seizes Richard by the wrist, fingers closing around the thin white scar,  then glances around the bathroom.

“Whose house is this anyway?” he asks.

Mary coughs apologetically. “It’s mine,” he says. “Me and my, uh, flatmates, it’s, it’s our partly.”

Henry closes his eyes briefly. “I’ll come back and help clean up,” he says grimly.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to-“

“I’m coming back to help clean up,” Henry repeats, opening his eyes and staring into  hers. Mary nods, looking back at him just as intensely.

“Okay. Thanks,” she says. “Just- make sure he’s okay, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Henry says. “Come on you-“

“It’s all wrong,” Richard whispers, sitting down abruptly on the edge of the bathtub. “Th’essay. Submitted it before we came out, I told you, but it’s useless, I’m useless-“

“Never mind about the essay.”  Henry says. He wraps his other arm around Richard’s waist and hauling him to his feet. Richard lurches to find his balance again as Henry says “We’re going. Mary, goodnight, I’m so sorry you’ve had to deal with this-“

“It’s alright. I-” Mary begins, as Richard suddenly decides to talk loudly over her,

“Anne’s,” he declares, “Wanna go Anne’s, Harry take me to Anne-“

Henry looks at Mary. Mary looks back and shrugs helplessly- she, apparently, doesn’t know who or what Anne’s means either, so Henry goes for  the easiest option which is to tell Richard that they’ll go on the morning. Richard slumps against him. “Anne makes everything better,” he mutters, and allows himself to be led outside to wait for the taxi. “Anne makes it alright,”

“Does she,” Henry says flatly, unwilling to enquire seriously about this Anne person lest he wake up tomorrow morning thinking that she’s a real person only to discover that she’s a by-product of Richard’s getting absolutely hammered. Or a character from a book. It wouldn’t be the first time his cousin’s made up imaginary friends for himself, and Henry, at the end of a wasted evening, isn’t in the mood to indulge him. The cab comes, they get in. Henry pays the driver, takes Richard inside, and dumps him in his bedroom where he leaves him to pass out.

(Ten minutes later, on his way back out to Mary’s, he goes back into Richard’s room and covers him up with his duvet, making sure he’s safely tucked up before leaving again.)

[themalhambird]

Give me a scenario or/and a line of dialogue set in one of my AUs, and I’ll write you a fic for it.

Claws, Fangs, and Opulent Cravats (RobertxRichardxAnne, vampire/human/werewolf au)

the Plantagenet Student AU 

the Puppet King AU

 Richard Suffers TM. 

the Superhero AU

Also AUs that I haven’t really written anything much for yet but have been talking about with friends:

Mermaid AU  (mermaid!Richard, human Henry)

Bohemian Shenanigans (Anne and Mary live, Henry defeats Richard in battle summer 1399, Richard and Anne escape prison and flee to Bohemia autumn-winter 1399)

World War 1 AU (Richard x Anne, Henry x Mary, Richard x Henry)

[themalhambird]

Random happy thought (I know, yes, I do have them sometimes): Richard and Aumerle falling in love at the same time as Hotspur and Kate.

Um, yes please. OMG, modern au where planning Kate and Harry’s wedding together is what makes Richard and Edward realise they’re in love. (well, Richard, anyway, Ned’s been hopelessly pining for years)

Like, I know it doesn’t exactly fit within the parameters of same time but consider: Anne dies (sorry Anne) and Richard is a complete and utter mess and seeing as he’s not king of England, has absolutely no reason to pull himself together. Henry and Edward and Kate all check in with him reguarly to try and get him back on his feet, but Edward’s the one who sticks around to make sure he stays on his feet once he’s back up (because, y’know, hopeless pining) 

Anyway, fast forward a couple of years and Kate and Hotspur are getting married, and Kate asks her cousin Richard for help with the organising because it’s somehow spiralling in to this big Society event and Richard  basically IS society  (much to his uncles’ displeasure, turning his back on Plantagenet Industries at 21 when he was supposed to become the CEO was the best thing Richard ever did for himself; he enjoys phenomenal success as an art critic with his own gallery, he dabbles well in poetry, and he collaborates with a group of friends (BBG and Isabelle, probably) on a plays for an annual charity event which always go really, really well. Anyway...) Kate gets Richard to help with the organising and Richard gets Edward to help him help her, and there are probably all sorts of disasters and somewhere in the middle of it all Richard is just like....I love this man, I have for the longest time, how am I only just realising it?

Meanwhile Hotspur and Kate go on picnics and contemplate eloping to Gretna Green for a ten minuets ceremony in jeans and t-shirts . Hotspur’s pretty sure his old collage friend Douglas would let them crash at his house while they hid from the Ire of their Families, failing that Kate says her pseudo-uncle Owain Glendowr would let them ride out the storm in his literal Castle in the depths of Wales so long as they promised not to scare off the fairies or laugh at his map coat.

(Also, something Bad happens to Kate’s Wedding Dress. Richard gives her the one Anne wore for theirs in a poignant movement that future lit students will analyse to be representative of his finally moving on.)

(Also, Kate and Hotspur get in to a food fight at their wedding dinner, it is EPIC)