#tudors ot3 verse reference

[mihrsuri]

Tell us what the TV show trailer is like?

EEEE. This is THE BEST.

Season One

All happy endings have a beginning. To get to the heart of the ever after you have to go back to the once upon a time…

This is a henry voiceover - you flash between their statue, the three crowns, a baby in a cradle in a beautiful field of flowers and trees - lit by a spring sunrise - all soft gold and pinks. And then you go to Henry, saying he wants a divorce, KOA falling to the ground, Bessie Blount with Henry and then an image of Thomas on a ship with small!Gregory looking at the English shore, Anne in France.

“I need a son” - Henry, talking to Wolsey. “And the Queen can no longer give me one”

Thomas, waking from a nightmare.

Anne, reading City of Ladies and discussing it.

End tagline ‘the journey to a golden world starts with a choice’

I’m now imagining promo posters with different characters and it’s like:

Anne. ‘The Queen is the most powerful piece on the chessboard’ and ‘Loving Mother. Beloved Queen. Political Genius’ oh also ‘she’s the intellectual powerhouse’ (Anne is wearing her crown and sitting on her throne, smiling dangerously)

Wolsey’s is actually essentially the same as it is for our Tudors (The Cardinal With A Lover).

Thomas Cromwell. ‘Proof That Fairy Tales Are True’ ‘The Commoner Who Became A King’ ‘He’s sleeping with the King…and with the Queen.’ (The first one is genuinely shot like a fairy tale ending disney movie and the second is one of the sexy shots with the three of them in bed, Thomas in the middle).

Henry. ‘Can The King Conquer His Own Demons?’ And listen there’s definitely a Taylor Swift song involved I know it.

[herawell]

DeLorean (Tudors OT3)?

So I wasn't able to come up with a historical era AU for this prompt, but I wrote a fic that I've been wanting to write for a while in the OT3 verse. Below the cut for references to sexual assault and violence.

In retrospect, after the sharp horror of that night has faded somewhat and Mary has had some time to breathe, to think, there had been no real need for the Earl of Essex to confide in her about Norwich. Father was only a quarter day’s ride from the palace; by lunchtime the next day, he would have been there and all of Mary’s fears about him not believing her and thinking her complicit would have been allayed. In Cromwell’s shoes, Mary is not sure she would have had it in her to humble herself before someone who until very recently had despised her, reveal her darkest secrets to someone who only had to wait a mere twelve hours for that relief. It perplexes her, his reasoning, but she is doubly grateful nonetheless.

She doesn’t ask him why; she knows that if that single night was an ordeal for her, half a decade must have been next to hell on earth for him, and whatever else, she would never wish this kind of pain on anyone else. She is left to sort out the puzzle for herself, and it’s not until nearly two years later, when she holds Cat in her arms, that she knows not only that she would kill to keep her safe, but she would also lay down every last bit of pride if it meant Cat’s comfort, and she thinks she can begin to understand her parents’ secret husband. It warms her (and shames her) how he had considered her a daughter, even when she had seen him as an enemy, and it’s not until more than fifteen years later, when Philippa comes back to them with broken wrists and sunken cheeks, and that Mary realizes that she would not trade what Seymour did to her, not if it means she knows how to comfort Pippa and how to save her from despair, not until then that she fully knows how her second father had felt that night, and she knows she would not trade Thomas Cromwell for the world.

[mihrsuri]

One day I will get good enough at drawing people to draw the dance rehearsal scene in my head from the OT3 verse Tudors TV show but just know VOLTA. (I do need to imagine it out with three people though)

BUT just know these things:

James Frain, curls all messy and pushing them out of his face. He’s wearing a t-shirt and tights/leggings (think these) and is laughing with Natalie Dormer who is doing a dance stretch. Jonathan Rhys Meyers has his arms slung around both of them and has thrown his head back laughing.

There’s a still from this dance they use for promo - JRM in the middle as Henry, James as Thomas and Natalie as Anne on opposite sides but close - lips almost touching as Henry has his lips bent to Thomas’ neck. This does in fact break the fandom.

The choreographer being like ‘so much of the early-mid Tudor dances have some element of romance in them to me- but the Volta is so sexy and so intimate - working with James, Jon and Natalie I wanted to emphasise the sensuality and their chemistry - which is off the charts!’

The other big dance scenes are one at the end of…season three and then also one between Anne and Thomas pre OT3 getting together. Where they don’t touch at all but it’s SO HOT

@herawell @uncheckedaggression

[mihrsuri]

How old was Thomas Cromwell when he married Liz Wykes and had Gregory? Did Liz ever know about Norwich?

(with the caveat that I have done some handwavey magic math to make this work and also that I’m still figuring out this part of the backstory).

He was fifteen, she was sixteen and it was very much a whirlwind love and first sight thing going on (I really do know though that if Liz had lived it would have been one of those beautiful loving marriages) - partly they were able to be married because (a) Thomas got befriended by the son of a Florentine Banker (prominent) and (b) Liz’s parents saw he was bright/promising etc and (c) Liz was entirely capable of just Getting Married Regardless (Liz very much was the one to kiss him/equivalent of going ‘is anyone going to put a ring on the hot boy with dark curls?’ and not waiting for an answer.

I think he told her the story, maybe because he got triggered by something. Maybe before they married because he felt he was too tainted to be married and she was like ‘FUCK THAT FUCK HIM I’LL KILL HIM MYSELF’

(In universe historically it’s not known if she knew - mostly because Thomas’ first marriage is kind of not a huge topic of study - pre reveal mostly people focused on his career in England rather than Florence because that’s when the records really start - so they know he was in Florence in the household of [probably a Medici] and they know he was married and had three children but there’s very little else).

(Maya’s work may in fact include having found that Liz Wykes could both read and write - possibly in at least two languages - because there’s a record somewhere of her having signed contracts/replied to a letter and that letter/some of Thomas and Gregory’s papers is where we get a sense of her but they were both very private about their feelings).

[mihrsuri]

We sat down with Rupert Graves post Season Three of The Tudors (warning - this discussion will contain huge spoilers for the entire season, particularly the finale).

(Or an in universe Tudors OT3 verse version of The Tudors TV show actor interview. Ellie belongs to @nocompromise-noregrets <3)

So, Norwich is really gone?

Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person!

I was particularly taken by the way the show uses the historical reports that a range of emotions apparently played across his face as the axe fell to say that he realised exactly how much the monarchs valued Thomas Cromwell?

It was such a bloody good way to frame it as a narrative - so much of his [Norwich’s] self image is tied up in being the smartest person in the room and to have his utter unravelling end with that realisation that he’d never understood at all - it’s fantastic to play as an actor, because you get to just utterly take apart the character. It was also personally just fantastic to see this odious fucker getting what he deserved, to understand just how disgusting and small he is.

I was going to ask you about that, about how it was playing someone who is a monster with a handsome face and charm?

So not just as a father, though that was a huge part of it, but as a human being? It was horrifying - as an actor I don’t feel like I need to justify a characters actions - and here especially, because ultimately my Norwich is a fictionalised version of a real historical person or even to understand it but I did have to ‘get him’ to make it work - I made a lot of visits to Welles Hall - they were fantastic.

A lot of guidance?

Absolutely! Ellie (Dr Eleanor Richardson, Chief Archivist and the discoverer of the Norwich Papers) and Ahmed (Dr Ahmed Rushton-Bridges, historian and author of ‘John Norwich: A Biography’) gave me a tour and an understanding of his diaries - it wasn’t a pleasant subject but they did an incredible job. And it gave me more of a sense of him, especially as a younger man with that sense of entitlement.

Did you visit his town house?

I did. I will say it’s a beautiful space now in theory but the atmosphere in the actual rooms makes your blood run cold, that’s the best way I can put it - they’ve been blessed and cleansed and a thousand and one things but something haunts that place. But it did give me something to draw on, both James and I.

[James Frain who plays Thomas Cromwell, Duke of Essex in the Show] He visited as well?

Yeah actually. We both found it very hard going honestly but we both felt it was very important that we went - for different reasons for playing these people. Afterwards we went and had a cry together - did that a few times throughout the season and then tried to keep it light. My method was that to play this we actually needed to have that trust with each other - to both be able to be safe.

Also shout out to that scene with Norwich and King Henry - though I don’t suppose you could tell us what Henry whispered in his ear?

Johnny (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and I have agreed to take that one to the grave [laughs]. No, it was done in silence and so you only see Henry’s back for a reason - it was actually specifically Jon’s suggestion that the absence of words and faces actually works better for the menace and for this being a ‘historical rumour’ we use in the show [historical note: King Henry VIII did indeed visit The Tower shortly before the Earl was executed but the rumour that he did so to meet with Norwich is simply a rumour] - it also adds to the mystery!

Did you know there were people swooning over your character and the chemistry you and James Frain had?

I know a lot of people don’t know the history - I don’t blame them for that, it’s not something you’re going to cover in school in detail and it’s pretty recent but, no to answer this once and for all - it’s not meant to be sexy. Or if it is it’s meant to make you think about, well, the discomfort of how predators don’t look like predators - they are charismatic, they can be good looking and smart and present themselves like an ex lover - which Norwich genuinely believes and doesn’t make it any more wrong or repulsive.

It is meant to make you look back and see just how uncomfortable Cromwell is, how predatory it is - I know there were people who got it and I’m glad we didn’t…we didn’t present it through Norwich’s narrative. His narrative is there, but it’s not the one the show actually has, I don’t think.

And of course in lots of ways it makes sense that people swooned over Norwich - it’s how he was seen in the world before everything came out! The people who try to defend him after that though, that disgusts me.

I have to say you and Jeremy Irons Norfolk do have a fascinating something going on…

We joked that it was very much a ‘worst recognises worst’ situation but yes, there’s something there - a mutual respect and ‘only one I’m fond of in this world’ which I don’t think either of them expected. So yes, that was absolutely deliberate!

[mihrsuri]

JOAN.

Dauphine of France. Princess of Scotland. Princess of Albion. Queen Regnant of Scotland. Queen of England. The Half Breed Heathens Whore Of A Wife. My Darling Wise Thistle. Little Wise Eyed. Jeanne.

Though Joan’s father died not six months after her birth his love for her was remarked upon - indeed it was said that he could hardly bear to be apart from her. His death was something her mother Mary never recovered from despite two subsequent marriages and the reminder of him in her black haired and grey eyed daughter seems to have been a mixture of grief and solace to her. Joan proved to be a serious child - interested in books, archery and riding but with a keen talent for music she was included in and educated in rulership from a young age, particularly by her paternal grandmother who remarked that she saw ‘very much of Marguerite of Navarre in her’ she was excellent at politics, at rulership and in her concern and interest in the lives of all her people but she was not warm and nor did she have the charisma and ability to draw the eye of her mother, something that drew unfavourable comparisons. Her marriage was made out of pragmatism on her part and no one was more surprised than Joan when it turned into love.

(inspired in part by this edit by @emilykaldwen (ABBY MY BELOVED))

[mihrsuri]

Thinking about the Tudors OT3 kids marriages

It’s actually very much a thing that while they do arrange marriages Anne, Henry and Thomas very much give their children a choice within that/want them to be able to at least be able to be happy with their spouse, if not in love. Partly this can happen because England is in the position of being courted for alliances in this verse, partly because they have nine children (including Mary in this) - including five boys.

Tommy and Mihrimah came about because essentially, I read an account that Francis I had proposed an Ottoman match at one point and I thought that in a world in which Mihrimah is (a) actually the youngest of her family (b) England is the one being courted for alliances and (c) Ottoman influence in Europe it would make sense for Henry to look somewhere different for a bride for his oldest son. Tommy might actually have been betrothed to Mary Queen of Scots if she’d been born earlier/something else fell out (I have to figure out MQOS)

I saw a post by @theladyelizabeth about ‘how Elizabeth could have been married to Robert if her father had lived longer’ that was great and she mentioned maybe if Henry and Anne had had multiple children and I think that’s what does it - Elizabeth does have betrothal offers (in this case she’s always been considered legitimate - I have to figure out the offers and how they fall through but I think possibly France/Spain/Denmark/Portugal?) and and her journey re marrying at all/marrying Robert is a whole other post.

George was betrothed to the fictional second daughter of Marguerite of Navarre (Madeleine) pretty early on - partly because of Anne’s love of France and also her friendship/admiration for Marguerite.

Liam’s entire betrothal adventure is a whole other post as well.

Margaret was betrothed to the Crown Prince of Denmark pretty early - it turned out they fell in love/liked each other but I think maybe also there was a consideration of an Italian match?

Owen too was betrothed pretty early to Infanta Sofia (who is a fictional granddaughter of Queen Juana I of Spain)

Edmund being betrothed to a Persian noblewoman was another ‘oooh what if’ because of the increased ties to the Ottoman world by the time he and his sister were born.

There were actually several/many offers for Pippa pre [redacted] (the story of how an ambassador nearly died for what he said about her is also a whole other post).

[mihrsuri]

Some Behind The Scenes Of The Fictional Tudors OT3 Verse Tudors TV Show:

@nocompromise-noregrets Ellie meeting Rupert Graves alongside thee Norwich Expert to give him a tour of Welles Hall. (This is made into one of the special features and also contains much of the ‘no one hates John Norwich like his actor’ content)

James, Natalie and JRM get to go and see the actual chest and contents that Maya found and it’s so emotional, especially because some of this are things the public does not get to see.

So in this world the Duchess of Cambridge is a bisexual Persian Jewish woman and she also wears the ring that the triad had made out of their engagement ring and gave to their oldest son to give to his wife and it’s been passed down ever since. So they get to talk to her and to see it up close and also the private garden that Henry had built for Thomas and Anne and then later their children - the garden that the current royal family uses.

Imaging Sophie Turner and whoever is playing Robert Dudley (I should work that out) going to visit an intact Kennilworth Castle aka Elizabeth and Robert’s other main residence.

[mihrsuri]

This is the basic vibe of the garden Henry builds for Thomas (and Anne) when he mentioned he missed the ones in Florence.

from this hotel/villa

[mihrsuri]

I was attempting to find a headcast for OT3 verse Liz Cromwell and I think this actress from Medici is the closest I’ve found so far (OT3 Verse Liz: long long honey blonde hair, grey eyes, a lot of mischief/very lively and witty, intelligent but feral/stabby.

[mihrsuri]

Inspired by @nocompromise-noregrets some more Tudors OT3 Verse in universe fandom content. @herawell

Is anyone seeing the, you know 👀👀 between Norwich and Cromwell???

John Norwich wants to explore Cromwell carnally

Thank you @restorationkingsleftbuttock for that reply I am kissing you on the mouth.

iamastrawberry

I think he already did. Which is some glorious tension in the dynamic - but they just have Vibes Of Ex Something(s) - enemies, lovers - enemy lovers? Consider:

Norwich’s line in the promo to Thomas ‘you ruined any trace of me’ and just The Emotions In That Delivery! Rupert Graves the things you do to me!

That look that James Frain has Cromwell when he sees Norwich - it’s so intense and he’s so so still in it, there’s definitely a history there.

Let alone Norwich’s recognition and…possessiveness I want to call it? It’s definitely also intense - like he’d found something/someone precious to him that he thought he’d lost forever.

My theory is that they were lovers in Italy in the period between Liz Cromwell dying and Thomas returning to England and while John had always wondered what might have been, had thought he’d lost Thomas forever for whatever reason (maybe John’s work for the Duke of Norfolk? It seems like there’s going to be a conflict there?) and Thomas had thought it was temporary!

THE DELICIOUS ANGST AND WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEENS !!!! I need 50K on my desk by next week.

Cannot wait for next season to confirm all my theories but in the mean time I HAVE SO MANY IDEAS

daemonara

[mihrsuri]

Do you ever look at an AU project and think ‘okay this has gotten out of hand and also does anyone want to give me a crash course in 16th/17th century Italian/French politics, specifically in Ferrera and Florence and also I am going to give at least two popes Some Headaches’*

*In some ways less headaches than actual history but also in many ways more

(This is about how I have Robert and Elizabeth’s youngest child marrying a Duke of Ferrera but upon rereading I realised that that Dukedom was absorbed by the Papal States + the last Duke didn’t have any children - which I can probably just change by giving him a kid when I think about it but it’s also about how Duchess Renee probably does have a better time of it in this universe).

[mihrsuri]

A List Of Tudors OT3 Verse Villains/Antagonists by how much respect you should have for their Goal Setting as inspired by @emilykaldwen

Duke of Norfolk. Listen he is smart, he knows what he wants and he’s very nearly going to get it. May character twist his way into not being a villain after all.

Earl Of Norwich: smart, absolutely knows what he wants, makes pretentious ancient roman/greek analogies to everything, looks like Rupert Graves, would slay except you know…All That.

Lionel Grey. Thinks he’s a historical romance hero, actually a [redacted]. Pathetic. I award him no points.

Thomas Seymour. I hate this man. Fail. Fail on so many levels. Loser.

Henry Percy. UGH. I mean I guess man is dedicated to his main focus in life - being ‘in love’ with a girl he asked out once for his entire life after that.

Bridget Grey. Failed girl boss. Admittedly very clear about her goals but also Sucks At Actually Getting Them and when she tries to plot is a flop. 16th century pick me.

Hugh (Restoration King). Points for being a wife guy, minus several billion for being a bigoted authoritarian. Spoils his kids.

Abdication (1930s) Analogue King. Also a pick me (they won’t). Tbh his wife does most of the villain shit he just sits there like a pathetic wet cat man having Angst and Issues. Sulks about it.

Abdication Kings Wife. Honestly yeah she’s a racist would be war criminal but also her family was Not It and doing all the above was just how you get your parents to maybe like you sometimes and she does mostly do it well. Mostly. For a given value therein.

[mihrsuri]

Some More Fictional Universe Discord Content

@nocompromise-noregrets

Ellie - just a warning that you will probably want to strangle Armada (i had to take five minutes to scream) but she gets smacked down and also I CANNOT EVEN.

Armada: no really WHAT IS THE KARLIENE REYNOLDS SONG??

i had a name before him/i took it back/but his brand upon me/will never wash away/in the light of the sun and stars/i thought i might be holy moonlight/instead of tainted ground/an eagle collar about my neck.

RestorationistKingsLeftButtock: I DON’T KNOW BUT I HATE IT [one fear dot gif] because Thomas has been associated with the moon so much (Henry’s poetry, Anne’s - the motifs in their possessions) and Norwich’s personal coat of arms is an eagle owl.

TransCrozier: SHIT SHIT SHIT FUCK. FUCK. I am going to go and lay in the DIRT. AND EAT IT. Waiting is unbearable.

RestorationistKingsLeftButtock: Okay the watch party is over in #show-watch - it will contain spoilers, live reactions and memes. And PANICK.

PoppyMcGee: THE OPENING. THE OPENING. SHIT FUCK FUCK. Let me break this down.

the entire scene with john and thomas is horrific just horrific. the threat the menace that bruise he left.

and then thomas ripping off all the sheets and covers on his bed and that part with trying to scrub his skin i just…god that’s awful. James Frain you owe me for emotional damages.

how he knew to cover up the self harm scars and the bruises like WHAT DOES THIS MEAN (we know about his father but the scars are…that’s something else).

Armada: it must have been a really bad breakup like that is some bad blood (sorry for the taylor swift) between them to send thomas into that spiral.

TransCrozier: respectfully this is not ‘a bad breakup’ reaction and that is not someone reacting to a bad breakup related guilt. that is an abuser. Norwich is an abuser/was abusive. The way he so clearly used ‘you ruined any trace of me Antonius - when did you gain the notion that you could so ruin that which I own’ that is not romantic.

Armada: Like, I love you Rhi but no - it’s maybe not the healthiest but they were both younger then - Thomas was still early twenties and you don’t make the best decisions then and he’d come off an abusive childhood in the 16th century, I think what we are seeing is a breakdown about how he regrets how it ended/how he ended it specifically (also side note James is so pretty when he cries!)

RestorationistKingsLeftButtock:……OH SHIT ANNE. ANNE. ANNE.

PoppyMcGee: look i am not an Annewell shipper but the way she absolutely takes care of him - gives him the choice every step of the way! Tells him what she’s doing!

TransCrozier: I am a Triad OTPer as we all know (I just find Cromwich interesting as a multishipper) by now etc and just, THE LOVE. THE LOVE. THE WAY ANNE made sure to ask Thomas what coverings he didn’t want. Also I am soft for bathing scenes.

RestorationistKingsLeftButtock: AGREED RHI. AGREED SO HARD.

Armada: UGH ANNE DO WE HAVE TO SEE HER SO MUCH [Edit: I’m sorry I know the server doesn’t allow character hate but i just don’t like her or Cromannery. Or it’s not that i don’t like her but i don’t like her with Thomas].

Poppy McGee:….yeah i agree with you Essie - I want Anne to be the cool lesbian of my heart that she should be but i do love her taking care of thomas.

Armada: that bit was sweet but yeah, what poppy said. She doesn’t need men and she’s much worse for them! But what’s going on now.

RestorationistKingsLeftButtock:

“I was ten years old, my mother not long dead and my father was in need of funds and drink. Lord Norwich, as he was then offered him silver under a disguise so my father would not extort more funds out of him. I came into his household and thought myself landed somewhere better. He branded and bedded me for the first time that same day - I cut it out of me the day I took my chance and fled - five years almost to the day after.”

……I am going to be sick. I am going to be sick.

TransCrozier:

“I am but a tainted thing - he has been on and in every part of me - I could not speak of the shame, though I should have done - I should have never let you, let either of you think I was worthy of you, Your Majesty. I am so sorry.”

THOMAS BLAMES HIMSELF. HE STILL BLAMES HIMSELF I AM GOING TO RESURRECT NORWICH AND KILL HIM AGAIN MYSELF AND THEN REPEAT IT AGAIN.

RestorationistKingsLeftButtock: ANNE YOUR RESPONSE I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU. NATALIE DORMER YOU GORGEOUS GORGEOUS HUMAN BEING.

TransCrozier: AMINA YOU ARE SO CORRECT. Queen Anne you perfect glorious woman I am once again AT YOUR FEET.

RestorationistKingsLeftButtock: hi @everyone i checked the history from several reputable sources (see here, here and here) and this is real. the show did not make it up - it’s just a recent discovery. Which i did not know about :(.

TransCrozier: neither did I i went in because RUPERT and then kind of fell into adoration - like obviously we all know triad is endgame because duh, history but i knew nothing else.

PoppyMcGee: I didn’t want to believe it :(. But I checked and it’s true :(. It’s fucking true. Norwich did that and he has no remorse.

RestorationistKingsLeftButtock: also fyi to several people who I’ve had to talk to about this - no ten was very much considered a child in the 16th century. Even fifteen was not ‘fully adult’ as such. This is rape and child sexual abuse and if you spout any more denial about that I will ban you.

TransCrozier: AMINA I AM KISSING YOU ON THE MOUTH. Also the fact that Anne volunteers to tell Henry, reassures Thomas that he won’t be angry just destroyed me all over again. CANNOT WAIT FOR THE POST SHOW CONTENT TO DESTROY ME AGAIN. ALSO HENRY’S REACTION.

Armada: …okay whatever. Sorry for having opinions i guess. can i even just say that even if it is abusive the triad is equally abusive.

[mihrsuri]

OT3 verse Henry does have to have a conversation with (almost all - maybe not the three youngest) his kids about the Nonsense he got up to 1534-36 and it’s honestly just like It’s What He Deserves.

Elizabeth, thinking that she was the cause of him treating her mother and other dad so cruelly, that if she’d been a boy he wouldn’t have done (also I’m pretty sure she is Angry)

Tommy who feels like he should be more like Henry often - like that he’s not living up the expectations of a 16th century heir to the throne (which is a good thing sweetheart!) and that he cannot allow himself to be less than understanding and forgiving and not angry getting to hear that it’s a good thing that you aren’t like me in many ways actually.

George who is…listen, Henry is like “George you were the most wonderful miracle in the world - you are my son, you will always be my son, my prince’ because it’s true. George was a test that Henry passed that he only realised afterwards was a test.

Liam whose early mistakes Henry understands a lot more (which to be clear, it was in the lines of ‘had a crush on two ladies at once, didn’t tell them about each other and decided to be with them both’ rather than anything else) than his other parents.

Meg. OH MY GOSH MEG MY KNIGHT. Meg is actually the hardest because Meg, they have such a sense of Justice And Fairness and she looks up to her father the king and he has to explain that sometimes, sometimes he’s not great.

Owen is just like: Never Do That Again Or I Will Kill You (serious). He is like twelve.

[mihrsuri]

For @herawell specifically - some of my headcanons re OT3 verse Henry’s past relationships with men pre Thomas.

This man does not in fact have any problem with the fact that he’s attracted to men and women. I really knew that from the first - there’s a line that Wolsey thinks in Rewrite The Stars 2.0 about how yes obviously Sodomites Are Evil Sinners but not people who love those of the same sex or both and that was really where Henry landed as soon as he realised I kind of just wanted to write him having zero angst about it like yes, the Lord is obviously fine with me here.

The scene I’m not writing is actually Henry’s threesome with two sex workers who later on are like ‘…WAIT WAS THAT HIS MAJESTY AND WAS HE INTO SLEEPING WITH HIS QUEEN AND HIS LORD CHANCELLOR AND WATCHING THEM…taking that one to our grave because No One Will Believe It But Holy Shit��� (Henry is like I Am Not Acknowledging My Desires At This Stage which makes it awkward as fuck also this was when he was with Jane. I think. It would contain a realistic depiction of 16th century sex work but I cannot actually write it because Trauma Brain but the headcanon is there).

Henry and Will Compton were friends who had sex with each.

People actually did not know, mostly because Henry was also really into women/he was actually faithful to Catherine for like, at least a while/it just seemed implausible to people

No really he and Will just kind of slept together as friends it was cool.

Whatever The Fuck Charles Had No Idea Thing was going on there as well (I actually don’t tend to see OT3 verse Henry as being into Charles and Charles has absolutely no conscious idea he’s into Henry but yeah, that dynamic).

His male lovers tend to be honestly, he has some as a younger man very much in the vibe of ‘goes to masked orgy’ because uh, yeah. So no one really clocks it - like sure this man enjoys sex (I’m drawing from TV Henry a bit/a lot here) but no one thinks he also enjoys it with men.

I’d say the encounter(s) in 1534-6 are just…It’s Not Great At All.