Latest Posts by metalleach - Page 4
I have a theory about what Henry whispered in Camilla's ear before he killed himself.
Among other things, in the first lesson with Julian, he recounts a story about Tiberius:
Think, for example of Tiberius, the ugly stepson, trying to live up to the command of his stepfather Augustus. Think of the tremendous, impossible strain he must have undergone, following in the footsteps of a saviour, a god. The people hated him. No matter how hard he tried he was never good enough, could never be rid of the hateful self, and finally the floodgates broke. He was swept away on his perversions and he died, old and mad, lost in the pleasure gardens of Capri: not even happy there, as one might hope, but miserable. Before he died he wrote a letter home to the Senate. "May all the Gods and Goddesses visit me with more utter destruction than I feel I am daily suffering."
And that is what I think he whispered to Camilla, seeing as the story of Tiberius kind of mirrors Henry's.
I LOVE YOU CAMILLA!!
Little sketch of little friend
Henry Winter
a small little thought about bunny corcoran because i'm thinking about him right now. i know there's a handful of bunny lovers on this app (myself included), but i find it devastating that, in a way, every interpretation of his character is only that—an interpretation. we will never know who bunny really was because he himself doesn't even know.
there's a line in the book that's really stuck with me, where richard states how the less you know bunny, the more you feel like you do. and that perfectly explains the kind of person bunny is. he doesn't have a defined identity, and so much of him is repressed. he has lived his life the way he thinks he should, not the way he wants. he was never given the choice to pick what he wanted.
that's why he's attached so much of his identity to henry. down to wearing the same glasses he does and changing his major. he wants to be Someone so badly, even if that someone isn't him.
and a moment of silence for women in Donna Tartt novels
camilla feeling like a deer during the bacchanal and henry accidentally killing a deer is what im thinking about today
Camilla Macaulay
The Observer
The following art contains spoilers from the book.
i don't know if i've ever seen someone with a take like this, so i might as well share.
i've seen many people ignoring charles's character taking a turn for the worse and instead choosing to only focus on book 1, the "good" charles. contrary to popular opinion, i think that charles's major crash out and descent into madness in book 2 is what MADE his character interesting. and it shouldn't be thrown away.
book 1 charles was certainly a sweetheart and i much prefer his friendly caring nature than his vengeful and resentful self in book 2. however, i believe that his shift in personality is what made him memorable. it made him stand out. it gave him the complexity every other character in tsh has.
i believe charles wasn't always a horrible person – it's very evident he had some good in him. but his vices ruined his, and his sister's, life. and that's very sad and tragic. i can't help but feel bad for him. i don't think his actions should ever be excused, but it was very sad to witness him deteriorate in such a pathetic way. such a dramatic downfall. it was like a night-and-day difference. i can't help but mourn the person he was, the person he could've been.
with this book especially it's very important to differentiate Liking Someone and Liking Someone's Character. i (of course) don't like charles as a person in book 2. but do i love his character? yes. he's very very intriguing, and, when it comes to fiction, being a bad person isn't a good excuse not to analyse their character (this should apply to pretty much every character in this book 😭). i would love to do a whole character deep dive on him one day.
in a way, i think the downfall of his character has some interesting parallels with bunny's character going downhill too. with both of them, their ugliest sides came out at their lowest points. and in both cases, henry was partially at fault. but that's a post for another day.
who is this DIVAAAA
Francis Abernathy
The Pupils
The cult
Their own respective pieces will follow, containing spoilers from the book.
Really powerful to me that truly Richard is closer to every Greek student besides Camilla despite his fixation on her—and in the end, the thing he has most in common with her is that they both were in love with Henry
The Greek class 🏛️
Henry: We got crossed, performed an ancient rite, and killed a guy.
Richard: Ok but did y’all fuck?
My small analysis about The Secret History, and the way it seems to fall in the absurdism:
Through the whole book, we have these little details, characters and else that break the classic (and very structured) rules of writing. In literature, it is known that every character and every interaction is forced to have a weight on the narrative, however, in the book we find characters that are there or things that happen just because. The person following Bunny and Henry on their trip, or the character that lied about seeing something the day of Bunny's murder.
Now, this is only in the way the book is structured, however, if we look closely, we find the perfect example of why this falls in the absurdism. You see, Camus was a firm believer that things don't have to happen for a reason, that nothing matters because at the end, we all are going to die, and that it doesn't matter what we do.
Henry (and I would say Camilla and maybe even Francis) follows this idea after the bacchanal. It is the result of the bacchanal.
The murder, which is a mere concept that fall in the category of terror by humans, is an act of destruction, one of the worst transgressions (if not considered the worse one). Death is only allowed if it happens because of some sort of destiny, divinity or deity, death is a transgression for humans, the thin line. When they murdered the farmer, they crossed this line, clearly, the main strenght in this, is Henry.
When he's the main responsable of this death, he crossed the line. And then, he got away with it. So, this bringed in him the idea that, actually, nothing matters. Nothing matters because he alredy killed someone, and nothing changed. He still got up, got to study, got to live as he wants.
He described that he often felt like life was meaningless and bland, but after killing someone, he noticed that life is actually meaningless, yet, this as well means he could do whatever he wished.
That's why he could kill Bunny, that's why he decided he wanted to be closer to Camilla, play around with poisoning. Henry realized that if life was empty on its own, he could do as he pleased, because there's nothing stopping him.
found tsh roleplayers on twitter from 2014 on a random night. i felt like discovering a treasure chest...
this is my favorite one so far. i still think about this tweet every day.
My favorite Charles quote ˚.🎀༘⋆
" Don't say 'fuck' anymore, " said Henry, in a quiet but ominous voice. " Fuck? What's the matter, Henry? You never heard that word before? isn't that what you do to my sister every night?"
now Charles you know damn well...
I would just like to remind everyone that Bunny owns a pink bathing suit with flowers on it.
The image is just very silly to me
would you rather kiss camilla oir have henry wunter shoot himself earlier in the book
now i know who this is.
kiss camilla :3!!
foaming at the mouth at the realization that the climax of The Secret History started with Henry "kidnapping" Camilla like the Trojan War started because of Paris "kidnapping" Helen
The Secret History
“But how,” said Charles, who was close to tears, “how can you possibly justify cold-blooded murder?’ Henry lit a cigarette. “I prefer to think of it,” he had said, “as redistribution of matter.”
The way I'm obsessed with this group, ugh!!!
Digital Illustration, 2025
Gorchart
THE SNOW in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation.
instagram | bluesky | patreon
Okay imagine this. Henry Winter lives til his sixties, he’s a professor, and try to imagine him doing administrative nonsense. Like. Just the idea of him updating grades on canvas or coming up with an AI use policy. Or him even having a iPhone?? Literally an insane idea. A good thing he killed himself
foaming at the mouth at the realization that the climax of The Secret History started with Henry "kidnapping" Camilla like the Trojan War started because of Paris "kidnapping" Helen
having now actually read the secret history i think it is baffling that this is the book that started the dark academia trend. you guys aren't doing this right at all. the tweed isn't the important part and those motherfuckers barely study. i haven't seen one dark academia influencer mutilate a guy with an axe during a bacchanal.
herbert west is the worst valentine in the world
i dont care that it’s a week later . i like this loser .
ok now ignore that this is the worst thing ive made with my editing powers ♥️im not a wizard
also i would like to imagine that having Herbert West as your valentine would quite literally be horrific and make you never want to celebrate the day again . or any days of your life in fact if this man were real i would kill myself
It’s funny how Richard’s involvement with their little cult was always almost accidental and because he was just “there”.
Richard talking to them for the first time in the library? He was just there, and helped them with the homework.
Henry telling him what they had done? Richard just happened to be there when Henry came back early from the trip, and when Francis showed up to Henry’s apartment and he heard them argue.
Francis kissing him? He was just there.
Them killing bunny? Again, he happened to be there but he shouldn’t have.
It was always like he was “there”, sort of like a prop that should be used in certain scenes but definitely shouldn’t sneak in into more important scenes.
Just like Judy was always “there” anytime he needed her for convenience. I don’t think Richard actually ever made it truly to the group.
The group treated him with as much intimacy and as much distance as Julian treated them.
i love camilla😭😭
i think camilla is a drawer. like she gets bored and doodles in the margins, she draws flowers the most
tb to when i turned a jellycat bunny…into bunny corcoran! he was a little christmas gift for my bestie ♡ so super fun & hand stitched. (yes the heart says b+h. cough)