#the secret history aesthetic
Henry smiled. “Why, looking for new ferns.”
Donna Tartt, The Secret History
what do you mean, i can’t just daydream until the end of my days about highly aesthetic and perfectly detailed written stories and be the mysterious forgotten character who secretly becomes part of the story?
lifestyles and aesthetics are different things. lifestyles are toxic, aesthetics are not.
examples:
lolita aesthetic: pink plaid skirts, cherry cola, dewy grass, picnics under the bright blue sky.
lolita lifestyle: taken advantage of by an old man, being manipulated, pedophiles, daddy issues, lifelong trust issues.
dark academia aesthetic: tweed blazers with elbow patches, winding forest paths, gothic architecture at your university, books scattered and random loose leaf pages.
dark academia lifestyle: drugs of all sorts, always sleep deprived and not in the fun way, obsession and destruction, mistrust, toxic relationships, living in fear.
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it is okay to like the lolita aesthetic, the pink skirts and holding a plastic red cherry under the baby blue sky; it is not okay to think the only way to live up to it is to be with a man old enough to be your father.
it is okay to like the aesthetic of “the secret history”, the studying in the library with piles of books around you and plush divans; it is not okay to think you achieve this by murdering a classmate, doing drugs, smoking cigarettes, being obsessed with your studies so that they ruin your life.
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so many aesthetics, like the lolita aesthetic or dark academia aesthetic, get a bad reputation because people associate them with the toxic lifestyle, but liking the aesthetic is simply finding what is visually pleasing to you. act as pretentious as you please, but don’t put others down in the process. like schoolgirl fashion, but don’t do it to attract kinky old men.
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this is what you find visually pleasing vs. toxicity.
well shit i’ve been gone for a long time. i have a girlfriend now (yes homo) so here are some date ideas.
- museum dates!!
- have a bacchanal together
- a coffeehouse, but not starbucks. you need dimly lit, low-ceilings, stray cat roaming around vibes
- i mean…. museum dates ;)
- trying to break the record for running through the Louvre (source: The Dreamers, 2004)
- bake tiramisu and sip on the rum you put in it while you wait for it to bake until you’re both tipsy and running into each other in the small kitchen
- b a c c h a n a l
- get drunk on a rooftop and stare at the stars
- go to the dark back corner of a library (bonus if it’s the university library) and study on the rigid floor with a mass of papers spread all around the both of you
- bacchanals
have you done something homoerotic for valentine’s day ? what’s that i hear ? if you don’t have the opportunity, have you at least vicariously done something homoerotic ? no ? go read some oscar wilde and come back when you can say yes to these.
Me: I can’t talk right now, I’m doing hot girl shit.
Me: *Accidentally killing a farmer while in the midst of Dionysian revelry with my friends because our charismatic classics teacher told us that Bacchanals are fun and cool*
Want to feel like a dark academic while relaxing? Here are a few ways to practice self-care in a dark academia way:
- Read Dracula/Frankenstein/anything by Edgar Allen Poe on a stormy night while wrapped up in a blanket with a warm drink.
- Recite Shakespearean monologues to your pets.
- Read The Picture of Dorian Gray out loud to your plants.
- Brew your favorite tea for yourself.
- Fling yourself onto a divan (make it homoerotic as possible).
- Take a bath with rose petals with some Hozier songs playing in the background.
- Read the Odyssey on the beach.
- Go out into nature and read some of Keats’s poems.
- Listen to classical music while making crafts.
- Watch a historical documentary.
- Knit a neutral-colored cardigan or sweater.
- Pick some mushrooms in a forest, if you see some college kids in Dionysian madness, mind your business.
If I saw a group of pretentious-looking but very attractive nerds wrongly conjugating Greek verbs, I would simply not join their Dionysian murder cult. RIP to Richard Papen but I’m different.
Ok yes, I support eating the rich but… Have you ever considered guillotining them instead? Think about it. Guillotines are way more dramatic and aesthetic. Besides, guillotines have that 1700s France feel and they give off great dark academia vibes.
Imagine dying of CONSUMPTION.
My brain: Don’t glorify Henry Winter, Camilla Macaulay or Francis Abernathy. They are deeply flawed and they literally killed two people without remorse.
My heart: I LOVE CAMILLA, FRANCIS AND HENRY SO MUCH!!! I WANT TO BE EXACTLY LIKE THEM!!!!
Which dark academia character are you based on your zodiac sign?
Aries: John Keating from Dead Poets Society
Taurus: Oliver Marks from If We Were Villains
Gemini: Julian Morrow from The Secret History
Cancer: Basil Hallward from The Picture of Dorian Gray
Leo: Lucien Carr from Kill Your Darlings
Virgo: James Farrow from If We Were Villains
Libra: Wren from If We Were Villains
Scorpio: Allen Ginsberg from Kill Your Darlings
Sagittaurus: Judy Poovey from The Secret History :P
Capricorn: Henry Winter from The Secret History
Aquarius: Camilla Macaulay from The Secret History
Pisces: Francis Abernathy from The Secret History
Challenge:
Right now, yes I mean RIGHT NOW, fling yourself onto the nearest piece of furniture as a tribute to Oscar Wilde.
you can never be overdressed or overeducated
- Oscar Wilde
Me at the convenience store wearing a tweed suit while drinking tea and reading the iliad
I’m tryna become one of Donna Tartt’s characters. I mean I’m already gay and my life is already in a downward spiral, so now I just need is the aesthetic™…
I love my hedonistic lifestyle that will ultimately lead to my tragic downfall :)
I am just a pitiful whisper of the most disgusting stories.
Macaulay’s apartment
Henry Winter
- “The secret history”
Francis Abernathy
- “The secret history”
Charles Macaulay,
- “The secret history”
“Be a poem”
