A Quick Concept Sketch I Made For A Big Canvas Painting I'll Do In The Near Future

beauty is terror your beauty never really scared me

Why we should stop comparing The Secret History and If We Were Villains

I've seen people putting the two books together as pillars of dark academia countless times, often trying to explain why their favourite one is the best and it is useless. The two books are incredibly different and you will inevitably be disappointed in one of the two if you read them with the same intentions.

The Secret History is a reversed mystery novel: from the very first lines, we know who died, how, and who killed him. The questions we are left with are "Why did they do that?", and "Will they get away with that?" The book is fundamentally psychological, it's a character-driven book, which explains why such a long part is dedicated to establishing them, their relationships, while the actual murder is surprisingly short.

If We Were Villains, on the other hand, is a more traditional detective novel, though it doesn't totally fit the standard. It's a whodunit, and when we start the book, we know who got arrested but the mystery throughout the novel follows four questions: "Who died?", "Who did it?", "Why did they do it?" and "Why did Oliver get arrested?" We are trying to solve the murder at the same time as the detective. It's a plot-driven novel, and although the characters are very important, they are all defined by one quality and one flaw during the first act (the characterisation in this book is amazing, I'm probably gonna make a post about it).

Obviously, if you read TSH and IWWV with the same expectations, one of them is going to bore you. However, if you consider their differences, they are both excellent books in their genre. If they do have some common elements (a group of students that's almost sectarian, and murder), saying that IWWV plagiarized TSH sounds pretty ridiculous to me. IWWV is a love letter to Shakespeare and the madness in his characters, TSH is a critic of elitism in academic spaces. And they both deserve praise, if only people would stop comparing them.

The Secret History: A Theories Guide

Richard Papen: The Master of Illusion

#1 Charles is Innocent: Fucking Damnit!

#2 Okay I Lied, Charles Isn't Innocent

Julian Morrow: ''Honesty Is A Dangerous Virtue''

Henry Winter Wasn't In A Car Accident.

What Led To Henry Winters Death

Bunny Corcoran: Neglect In Plain Sight

When the Hare knows the Devil is out Hunting. [Bunny Analysis]

Francis Is The Worst Character (And Why You Should Think So Too) ^Character Analysis^

The Mountain Lion: It Isn't A Theory

The Secret History's Dream Sequences.

Why The Books Called ''The Secret History''

The Secret History Isn't purposely Queer. (Richard Is Still Gay though, Here's Why!) ^Extras^ If you have a theory or take or whatever the fuck—comment down bellow! If it's intriguing enough I will see if I can either 1) Disprove it or 2) Prove your theory without a shadow of a doubt (Obviously the commenter will be credited!) [ Links will be added as I post ]

Found this reference and had to draw my favourite unhealthy couple

TSH drawings form the ancient vault!! really wanna do a redraw but bunny and henry in italy was a MUST

Sometimes I feel like the only one that ships Hnery and Richard. I was riding that ship to the very end...despite everything 😩 And I mean EVERYTHING.

We have all spoken at length about how toxic and awful the Greek class is. So here are some sweet moments where they’re actually quite cute:

- Francis putting a blanket over Richard when he falls asleep on the couch

- Charles not ignoring animals in need: rescuing a dog about to be put down and then taking in a stray cat

- Camilla proceeding to be very good to said dog. Then both twins being devastated when it died.

- Bunny writing an “I’m sorry” note to Richard then putting it with a book and mints in his mail box

- Henry taking care of Richard after he almost freezes to death, literally being so gentle and good the whole time. (I get you could argue this was part of the psychotic master plan, but this sequence is still so soft)

- “Forgive me, for all the things I did, but mostly for the ones I did not.“

- The boys being genuinely worried about Camilla when she cut her foot and all freaking out and then helping her and talking so kindly to her

- Bunny getting described as generally very patient and nice to his chihuahua-like girlfriend and calling her “sweetie” and “honey” and wanting eight kids with her, four boys and four girls. (uh, this is before he went crazy)

- Charles and Richard musing about the Greek class all living at the farmhouse together

- Henry winking at Camilla when she did a good job reading

- Bunny genuinely being able to make Henry laugh, like by triple spacing his essay

- Distressed Richard asking Camilla to tell him a story, and her talking about the only memory of her father and how she and Charles, as babies, used to squabble over a tape measurer

- The twins hosting dinner at their apartment every Sunday even though they didn’t have much.

pls can someone find out who made this I need to credit them

I think I'll forever be a Henry Winter apologist...

Winterpapen owns my heart