I heard that Edward IV and Elizabeth Widvile were known to be very beautiful. Were there any reports on their appearance at the time?
anon 😂
But yes, contemporaries and post contemporaries in the 16th century were pretty much unanimous in praising their appearance. I'll list some of the ones I could find:
Elizabeth:
'The most beautiful woman in England' ('la plus belle fille d'Engleterre') - Jean de Waurin
'Her very great beauty' ('sa tres grande beaute') - Jean de Waurin
"Her beauty of person and charm of manner" - Dominic Mancini
"None of such constant womanhood, wisdom and beauty" - Hearne's Fragment; its author was one of Edward IV's servants
"A daughter of prodigious beauty' - 1469 Continuator of Monstrelet's Chronicle
"Both faire, of a good favor, moderate of stature, well made and very wise" - Thomas More
Edward IV:
"The beauty of your personage it hath pleased Almighty God to send you" - James Strangways, Speaker of the Commons in Parliament
"The king is a handsome upstanding man" - Gabriel Tretzel, travels of Leo of Rozmital
"A handsome prince and had style" - Oliver De La Marche
"In the flower of his age, tall of stature, elegant of person" - Croyland Chronicle
"One of the handsomest knights of his kingdom" - 1469 Continuator of Monstrelet's Chronicle
"A handsome and worthy prince" - Pietro Alipranto
‘...Tall and strapping as the king’ - John Paston, Paston Letters
"He was young and more handsome than any man then alive" - Philippe de Commynes
"A man so vigorous and handsome that he might have been made for the pleasures of the flesh" - Philippe de Commynes
"The handsomest prince my eyes ever beheld" and "I don't remember ever having seen a man more handsome than he was" - Philippe de Commynes
"A very handsome prince" - Louis XI, from the Memoirs of Commynes
"He being a person of most elegant appearance, and remarkable beyond all others for the attractions of his person" - the Croyland Chronicle, referencing Edward a few months before he died
"He seized any opportunity that the occasion offered of revealing his fine stature more protractedly and more evidently to onlookers" - Dominic Mancini, writing shortly after his death
"He was a goodly personage and very princely to behold...of visage lovely, of body mighty, strong and cleanly made; howbeit in his latter days, with an over liberal diet, somewhat corpulent, but nevertheless noy uncomely" - Thomas More
Etc.
I'm tagging @edwardslovelyelizabeth because I think you got a similar ask?
I hope this answers your question, anon! I don't generally pay a lot of attention to the physical appearance of historical figures (I find it pretty irrelevant), but in this case, it ultimately does play a role in both Edward IV and Elizabeth's historiographies for better and for worse, and seems to have actually been a personal prop of Edward's kingship, so I don't mind discussing it :)
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charlie specifically told wenjie to get rid of the parts of his brain in charge of empathy, but wenjie is a HOBBYIST medical surgeon at best and she sure did successfully do brain surgery on him but i think the only thing she took was the emotional regulation parts bc 2-bit seems to dislike unclear instruction (making him similar to how we understand AI, but his instruction-taking comes from a genuine biological source rather than a synthetic one) and wants things to be neat and tidy meanwhile charlie is at all times a hair-trigger away from an emotional meltdown and i just
i listen to the way he talks in the waiver recording and wonder about what he was like at full power. obnoxious, toxic, sure. but also like... obviously a huge romantic. and that part doesn't go away.
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Merthur and ‘The Good Side’ Headcanon
Headcanon very inspired by Troye Sivan’s The Good Side.
Merlin thinks he is the lucky one in their relationship.
Merlin, seeing the betrayal and hurt in Arthur’s eyes and his death caused by his mistakes, thought he was the lucky one to be able to be by Arthur’s side this long, to have Arthur’s love, trust, forgiveness and final moment, despite lying to him for ten years.
Time goes by, and Merlin lives. Yes, he is lonely. He loses half of his soul and nothing can fill the empty half of his heart. But occasionally, he falls in and out of little loves, experiencing very common relationships he can’t have when being Merlin the Emrys. It might not be the greatest legendary love that he has for Arthur. But It is so normal yet beautiful, and he knew that Arthur, always burdened by the king’s duties, could not love someone so ‘normally’ like this.
He travels and wonders the ever-changing world, seeing its beauty as it rots and blooms again and again, while Arthur has to lay in Avalon, only to be awakened when destiny calls, not having a chance to experience the world without burdens. Arthur lived and died as destiny commanded, but Merlin lives and lives and lives. Immortality was a curse but is now a blessing. He gets to change, to grow, to be so many things yet will always be Merlin. And when Arthur is back, the world will be even more beautiful.
Despite all odds, he thinks he gets the good side of things.
Arthur thinks otherwise.
Arthur, seeing the hurt and complete misery state of Merlin as he confessed his magic and losing Arthur, thought he was lucky to get to live ten years with his best friend with blissful ignorance and being held so lovingly as he died. Meanwhile, Merlin carried, and will continue to carry, the weight of destiny for him for perhaps eternity.
Unlike Merlin, Arthur rests. After all the mess, he is at peace. He won his battle, forgave everyone, and finally let go of everything. He expected himself to die at war or with a heavy crown chained to his head, slowly, lonely and painfully. But he was one of the lucky bastards that got to die in the arms of the person that loved him most. He died as Arthur Pendragon, not being reduced to one of the faceless corpses in the battlefield or just some vague figure in a history book. Fate ripped away Merlin’s mortal and sentenced him to thousand years of wonder and mourning, but Arthur was granted a slumber, gratefully unaware of the pain of losing half of his soul.
And when he wakes up, Merlin is waiting for him, and no matter what mess destiny throws at him, he will never be alone. He is the luckiest man because his other side of the same coin is always there for him to be fiercely loved and love him back. So, why would he fear missing out on anything when he already possessed the most legendary love one could have asked for? Merlin and his stupid smile, sassy jokes and silly stories will be there to fill him in.
No matter what, he will never lose himself because Merlin will always be there. The world might be ever-changing, but he will always be home.
Despite all odds, he thinks he gets the good side of things.
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