Anonymous Asked:

In your setting, are Philip and Richard genuinely in love, or is it more of a mutually beneficial arrangement with some real feelings mixed in? Richard always seems to be the one who shows affection first — I’m so curious what Philip would be like when he actually takes the lead…

Ask from November 23, 2025 on Tumblr

Good question! I tend to portray Rich initiating or being the more active one while Philip pouts about it because individually I think it's cute and hot, but my general thoughts on them are that overall, they do care deeply for each other. It's just that expressing it is...complicated. I feel like I wouldn’t say it’s “mutually beneficial” because honestly their feelings for each other are VERY INCONVENIENT but, they deal with it anyway XD

I try to convey the Dynamic i have for them in my drawings and comics and I enjoy leaving some things more ambiguous etc, but I thought I'd take the opportunity of this ask to write out my specific thoughts and analysis here, referencing various works of mine that contextualize my point. (Very long post! please enjoy hehe)

Philip’s Deal

My Philip has affection for Richard, having had some puppy love as a child that later became reciprocated as he grew older. But he feels troubled by this because of both period-typical homophobia, feeling “preyed” on, the guilt of being into it lowkey.

Alongside also being like “I have a job [and a wife] so idrc about that right now.” This, alongside his general life and political goals, leads him to really want to be the one in control of all his relationships. His feelings for Richard thus have to be sublimated into his ability to assert his identity as an ideal Medieval Man(TM) in all areas of his life. Which for him, involves remaining “Sacral” and emphasizing morality and christian purity and elevated station, more than necessarily chivalric deeds. In regards to Richard, this involves a certain amount of "playing hard to get," or acting "nonchalant" about it, as the kids say these days. This ranges from cute shy behaviors to being calculatedly flattering or insulting as a way to seemingly preserve his sense of superiority.

He feels most confident and comfortable openly showing affection when he feels securely in charge and can take the role of the calculating Generous Host* (like in “In Exchange for Honor,” and in this comic). He gets a HUGE kick out of sticking it to Henry during the late 1180s era, since it involves Richard’s submission and loyalty for a time .

He however is insecure when reminded of being outclassed in terms of wealth, physical/military strength, charisma, seniority, etc, as seen in this bonus comic. In “Dear to Me,” set after Henry’s death, he flips out over being treated “like a woman,” (aka: a *gasp* inferior), which is partially a manifestation of fears over his influence on Richard slipping.

(This is my hc of why he was so angry on Messina, where Richard openly flaunted his wealth and power in defiance of his Lord—I want to do a comic more about that…)

In my sexual headcanon portrayal of them they have a back and forth dynamic where Philip tries to discipline Richard into "knowing his place" as a vassal who obeys and loves him as superior. Part of that involves him enjoying being Desired and Pursued as a Sacral object, but also he likes the taboo thrill of getting sexually overpowered and "defiled," in contrast to that sacrality. This is because it’s purer to be the object than the pursuer.

However this is an EXTREMELY Mortifying thing to Admit to himself, as exemplified here in “Lucretia,” so he spends a lot of exhausting mind games to work around this. Many of which involve saying hurtful things to Richard, and putting the onus of sin and aggressive deviancy on him, like in the amazing Logic of that “topping is gayer than bottoming” post, and in these comics (1,2).

Richard’s Deal

Richard plays along with this game because he enjoys the chase, and is a little sympathetic to why Philip is Like That. In my portrayal by the time he's older he’s less super conflicted about his medieval homosexuality as much as he’s acknowledged its a Thing and thus found ways to keep that Privacy on Major Lockdown and have strictly maintained Work vs Life Separation. Because of this he just doesnt feel guilty or weird about his desires as long as it's during the designated Times (he can take time later to be penitent about it ..."a problem for later Richard" situation i guess.) This is as opposed to Philip who argues that “the bed IS the kingdom!” and has a hard time unmasking the political persona in personal settings.

Richard also has a bit of a pragmatic sense of, “eh this is probably as good as it’s going to get, let’s make the most of it” regarding their relationship, and thus is frustrated when Philip doesn’t fully indulge when they do have moments of privacy together. He puts up for it bc well he’s not going to turn down the Augustussy but the pushback and constant faux-rejection DOES sting. Being assigned Predator is hot but also their lack of good communication about the expectations functions as a barrier between their being more emotionally intimate. Richard, experienced with Dealing with Shit from his own family, is not impressed by Philip trying to pull a “hungry falcons” maneuver on him (withholding love and affection in order to maintain a dogfed loyalty) and WILL call that bluff, resulting the occasions when Philip ends up being forced to be the Pursuer…I haven’t actually depicted this yet but it sure is something i have Thought of!

In general, Richard wants to be loved and have camaraderie, and has a bit of a romantic and expressive heart (you can’t take the southern partygirl out of him…). But he also is cautious to maintain his independence, and has a lot of pride in his personal glory and accomplishments. He’ll do homage and symbolic submissions to be strategic, but he certainly has no intention of being completely subservient to anyone, and that’s something he actively resists in any relationship.

Religion

Obviously this is a huge element in shaping their personal views, and the transgression of sacrality is both a tension point but also something sexy, as in this “Blasphemy” comic. As far as their views go I would say Richard is more concerned with the “chivalric” aka doing Holy Works and redeeming through his talents at war, and being faithful with the sacraments, etc, despite his personal “bad habits.” In contrast, Philip feels a much more direct relationship to his person as a sacral object, so is inclined to be a bit more distant and austere in affection. Richard is also probably more used to general platonic homosocial affection amongst like, knights and soldiers and of a troubadour persuasion, so his threshold of what’s acceptable to express while still staying within a Christian morality is a lot higher.

Character Development, etc

It’s important to note that I do think of them as changing over time as well, especially during and post crusade. Richard’s attempts at private compartmentalization collapse during and after the crusade, hence his penance on Messina before his marriage. I see him as becoming more and more distant and leaning more into his identity as a knight and crafting his public legendary image. Philip, after the Ingeborg incident, by necessity ends up learning to separate his personal and private personas better, and is more adept at it by the time of John’s reign.

In Conclusion:

So…are they in love? Do they love each other? In “The Holy Cephalaphore” I wrote Philip as having much to complain about Richard, angry at him, but ultimately still recalling the intimacy they shared and mourning him. Richard ends that comic still holding his grudge, but the strength of his grudge is because of the earlier closeness. So in my depiction I do try to show it a love but it's one that is complicated by the conflicting political and personal agendas as well as personal pride.

I think Philip has love for Richard because he’s the one person who actively is able to push him around who he also grudgingly respects. In his life, after the deaths of the old guard nobility, Philip strategically chose to surround himself governmentally with “lesser men” who relied on him, who he could control and influence. That was Philip’s ideal relationship with most humanity, but I like to think that the people who stuck with him, who forced him to grow and adapt strategically , were also those who surprised and challenged him—Richard being pushy while he lived, and his first wife, Isabella of Hainault, who outwitted him when he tried to send her away. (Re: Agnes of Merania—my headanon is that she was the opposite of them, she tried her very best to be the most compliant, “ideal” woman he wanted, but was not ultimately able to hold onto him). I do think that when Roger of Howden mentions loving Richard “like his own soul,” it means that he found something to admire in that.

And as for Richard, I think he appreciated being the one to see through Philip’s personality and get through the performance at something true. Knowing and seeing him grow from a boy to a cunning figure and understanding how to push his buttons, but also appreciating the company when they had if. And of course, appreciating getting some love and affection that he was certainly was a little starved of.

Bonus:

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