#historical idealism

[eldritch-bf]

Work and work alone banishes religious doubt and gives certainty of one’s status among the saved.

— The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism //Max Weber

[historical-fashion-polls]

submitted by @edwardian-girl-next-door 🤍💙

[jade-len]

i adore how mxtx sorta flipped the idea on the whole top/bottom thing with svsss, and just BL relationships in general.

making bingqiu very open to switching, not making the "bottom" super feminine and actually leaning more to the handsome side compared to the "top", how luo binghe is manipulative sensitive and cries easily, etc. one of the main themes in svsss is literally about sexuality (and possibly even about gender roles).

as a queer asian man myself, i absolutely despise the "yaoi archetype" and it was one of the reasons why i avoided consuming BL media. hell, years ago when i first saw heavens official blessing, i mentally groaned and went, "ugh, let me guess, the bottom is super feminine and innocent, while the top is masculine and experienced." of course, that's not the case now, but it's disappointing how that thought was there purely because of the god awful way fetish-y media portrays homosexual people and couples. because, believe it or not, we are not assigned male/female typical gender roles just because one likes to top/bottom (and even then, it's not even like that! some people have preferences, sure, but it's not so strictly "i'm top/bottom")

so, while i absolutely LOVE the english novel designs (especially luo binghe's cute curly hair, gongyi xiao, etc, and personally believe a lot of the takes from the western artist on the designs are an improvement), i am greatly saddened by people subconsciously assigning shen qingqiu as someone more delicate and feminine and luo binghe as someone super masculine and muscly. like, if you're going to have luo binghe depicted as the western design (i believe this stems from binghe being applied to more western ideals for men, and, admittedly, i actually really love his design), at least don't make shen qingqiu feminine and delicate? don't have his appearance play into the stupid yaoi thing?

i get that people have different takes on svsss, especially how the western version depicts it. but, people just... seem to very over exaggerate the top/bottom roles when it comes to bingqiu (again, these two are, canonically, VERY open to switching).

it's weird, it's uncomfortable, and it comes across as, "so, who wears the pants in the relationship?"

so, can we please have more canonically handsome shen qingqiu? canonically beautiful and pretty boy luo binghe (they literallly state that binghe looks EXACTLY like his mom, su xiyan! while a more handsome woman, is still very beautiful!! plus it is stated several times that binghe is slim, and that shang qinghua made him that way!) or at the very least, a BL couple who actually look like normal people (ok thats a little hard considering binghe is literally supposed to be perfect) and not just a stupid fetishized version of themselves.

and no, i'm not saying that queer men shouldn't be feminine or men who are feminine shouldn't be in a relationship with guys who are masculine, etc.

TLDR: please stop twinkifying shen qingqiu and going against what mxtx defied for us queer men (the stupid yaoi roles). and for the love of whoever you believe in, do NOT think that i hate the english design or people's personal interpretation of characters, i just hate the subconscious assigning of gender roles to bingqiu and how media portrays and fetishizes LGBTQ+ relationships in general.

edit: also i love teardrew's (check them out on twitter!) interpretation of shang qinghua. while i do really like the the eng novel design's tiny scared hamster vibes, teardrew's version just radiates "up to no good, paranoid but suspicious looking bitch" rat man and i love it so so so much. i'm not gonna repost their art bc i don't know how they feel about that but perhaps you can search up "svsss designs" on here, you'll see it pop up eventually lol.

edit 2 (1/16): i just saw someone reblog a post (that im pretty sure was referring to this one because, well, if you saw it i think it'd be a little clear kahxj) that was about how bingqiu switching and completely eschewing traditional top/bottom dynamics was a fandom idea or smth? so now i'm wondering, since i swear i remember that they were open to switching, but it's just that sqq preferred to bottom and/or was just a little too lazy to top. plus, sqq is a pretty unreliable narrator who says he doesn't want something one moment and then he does. how could he say no to bingbing? esp if he seems to wanna try bottoming too. perhaps i'm mixing things up though, idk? so if anyone can find that passage that says he only and strictly wants to bottom or whatever please show me! but i think the point of this post still stands haha (i wanted to ask about it, actually, but when i clicked on the og post's user it turned out that they blocked me ? so that was a little surprising oops. hey if ur somehow reading this, im... sorry for making you want to block me bc of this post? akdhxjj)

[clove-pinks]

In the reblogs of the 1847 men's fashion poll someone quipped, "Very Low Waisted Men’s Fashion Quarterly," and I'm reminded of this—

[starwikia]

suicide cw

look i have been in this area before mentally. it sucks and i wouldn’t wish this on anyone. but, and this is going to sound callous, but i don’t feel any sympathy for james somerton. even if i hope he’s like. not dead. But thats all the amount of goodwill im willing to give him. The more i think about this really, the more angry i am. 

ngl this entire situation is another example of how white people weaponize their mental illness to avoid consequences. Im seeing it in real time.

this man has a continuous habit of using self-harm as a get-out-of-jail-for-free card. in both of his apologies, he has worded his supposed attempts in ways that were clearly meant to guilt people who displayed his plagiarism and overall horrendous history of racism and misogyny. i say supposed because, while i’m not saying those are lies and this would he such a fucked up thing to lie about that i don’t want to think he has, unfortunately, it’s been proven again and again that his word can’t be trusted, as he’s known to lie to try get out of consequences. Hes a proven liar. him lying about this is actually the best case scenario, because no one should go through this entire situation, wouldnt wish this on anyone, but you can only do this so often before people stop sympathizing with you. is this callous? Yeah, but like. I’m actually fucking angry he cant straight up take no as an answer. that this is how he reacts realizing he cant be one of the Cool Kidz™️ on youtube anymore. he acts like he DESERVES a career, like its not a privilege hes lost due to his own actions.

He lied about apologizing and forgiving people, he lied about giving the money to hbomberguy to give to ppl he ripped off (yknow, instead of doing it himself), he lied about the jessie gender situation and rewrote the narrative to make it so he isnt the bad guy, and hes the victim all along actually!

you can’t tell me that supposed last message of his isn’t meant to be a 13 reasons why esq attempt to deflect the blame “look i’m going to kill myself and it’s all YOUR PEOPLES FAULT for not letting me achieve my DREAM of being filmmaker IN PEACE!!! I just wanted Nick’s (the guy who I have thrown under the bus again and again) portfolio up!! Im just being a good friend dont you all FEEL BAD” he refuses to take ANY ACCOUNTABILITY of any of his actions and he IS STILL trying to shove the blame over to other people again.

it’s also pretty ironic people are like “uhhh well hbomber’s fans harassed him!!!” like hbomber outright told people NOT to HARASS JAMES!!! ALSO acting as if james doesn’t have a very real documented history of STRAIGHT UP sending his fans to harass and threaten smaller creators, more notably women, trans, and bipoc creators. especially after he’s stolen typically very personal anecdotes so he could profit from them. so why can he do it but the second people are like “hey this guys an actual piece of shit.” and he can’t handle it suddenly people are trying to white knight his shit? like no he doesn’t get that. he doesn’t get that at all just because he couldn’t handle the consequences of his actions. 

what? were supposed to stay quiet about a man profiting off of other minorities because he wanted to be the spokesman for all gay people? people tried to solve this on a smaller, more private scales for YEARS and he kept doing it. it was clear that the giant public video was the ONLY way to get people to notice. HE WOULDVE GOTTEN AWAY WITH STEALING 87 FUCKING THOUSANDS WORTH OF DOLLARS. HE CANT HANDLE THE FACT HE CANT GET AWAY WITH IT. 

am i supposed to feel bad for the guy who basically threatened a trans woman with the police? i don’t care what anyone says, it’s so fucking obvious that he threatened jessie by implying he was getting the police involved in their conflict. what am i supposed to act like that didn’t happen? are we supposed to pretend like he didn’t glorify nazi’s and outright said that gay people made up a good chunk of the nazis? That he didnt say america joined ww2 bc they were jealous of the NAZIS. WHAT WOULD POSSESS YOU TO FUCKING SAY THAT. but then? He gives women (not even women most of the time, he misgenders nonbinary ppl constantly) shit for writing mlm. are we supposed to act like he doesn’t straight-up sees himself superior and better than people of color and steals their works to put himself on a pedestal? Are we supposed to act like he didnt spit on our elders by saying “only the boring gays survived aids” like man! Fuck you! He BLANTANTLY MAKES UP HISTORY TO PUT HIMSELF ON A PEDESTAL!! HE ACTIVELY TRIED TO REWRITE LGBT HISTORY TO SUIT HIS FUCKED UP NARRATIVES!

yes this sucks ! no one deserves this but no one should be making him a martyr. Thats what he fucking WANTS! He wants to be immortalized as a victim!! (again, supposedly, it was reported hes alive but its not confirmed).

The shit he got isnt near the amount of fucking callous behavior hes done again and again. Again, to drill this point, EVEN IF HE DIDNT CALL THE POLICE HE THREATENED A TRANS WOMAN INTO THINKING HE DID!!! The fact he tried to use a head injury to justify years of the outright ghoulish shit fucking astounds me. Why the fuck did anyone in his life thought it was a good idea to let him TRY to come back. in the end, he had options. he didn’t need to try to make a comeback. HE DIDNT NEED TO FUCKING LIE OR IGNORE THE SHIT HE WAS CALLED OUT ON the reality is, he wanted to come back thinking he could shove it under the rug, was told that no dude, you’re not allowed to be a youtuber anymore. you’re done. you need to move on and went full nuclear. it’s not on anyone’s hands but his own. HES BEEN DOING THIS TO HIMSELF!! But nah man we cant call his shit out bc hell may or may not kill himself. Fuck the other minorities who have the same issues but worse and sometimes BECAUSE of him. This is going to SUCKKKK so bad when other ppl, specifically white gays, are going to weaponize this shit to get away with their stuff.

[daguerreotyping]

Daguerreotype of a gentleman with a serious expression and a fantastically unserious furry top hat, c. 1850s

[formulatrash]

haven't been this fucking insanely furious at Williams since they fired Damon Hill halfway through 1996

[icarusbetide]

ides of march is closing out and i am once again begging writers and artists to consider utilizing classical themes or parallels and/or roman mythology in amrev projects. y'all are so talented it's insane.

art of them wearing togas? the founding fathers' wet dream. these men didn't stop thinking about the roman empire. literally their roman empire.

fanfic of them with heavy parallels to classical heroes or duos? once again, canon. they went around calling each other "caesar", "colossus", "cattaline" and writing under roman pseudonyms for christ's sake.

[resplendentoutfit]

Edwardian Fashion: The S-Bend Silhouette

The curious S-shape figure of the Edwardian woman was achieved by wearing an undergarment invented by a physician in the later part of the 19th century and marketed as a "health corset". The S-bend or straight-front corset sat lower on the body and was characterized by a rounded, forward leaning torso with hips pushed back. It was thought that because this new corset, unlike the Victorian styles, alleviated pressure on the abdomen and internal organs, that it promoted a healthier posture. Unlike many fashion trends in history, it would take several years for the S-bend to become a fashion statement unrelated to health concerns, reaching the height of its popularity between 1904-1905. It was coloquely referred to as the "pouter pigeon" silhouette.

S-bend corset • V & A, London | The look achieved.

Fashion illustrations tended to exaggerate the S-bend silhouette. It's likely that many women achieved a less severe shape while still maintaining a fashionable appearance.

Day dress • Wool crepe/silk taffeta • 1902-04 • FIDM Museum

Sources:

• FIDM Museum

• Fashion History Timeline (fit.nyc)

• Julia Bennet (juliabennet.com)

[cockroachesunite]

Mr ‘will jump overboard without a thought to rescue people’ meets the arctic

[53v3nfrn5]

John Everett Millais: ‘The Death of Ophelia’ (1852)

[chiropteracupola]

[lying on the floor eating my phone] does anyone. does anyone want to suggest me some people to put in my silly little pokeverse.

[hychlorions]

well anyway this was supposed to be susato in the style of baro't saya/filipiniana popular in the 1880s around when dgs took place

[transsexualprophet]

skill issue

[blueshistorysims]

Late July 1925, London, England

“I’d like to go back to Scotland,” Montgomery mused, combing his fingers through Samira’s hair as she laid her head on his bare chest. “Fuckin’ tired of England. I’m ready to go home.”

Samira nodded. “Always wanted to go to Scotland. See the Highlands. That’s where you’re from, right?”

“Aye. North Perthshire, was born near the clan seat before me family moved to Edinburgh when I was ten.” He swallowed. “Would ya like to come with me?”

Samira was quiet. “Leave London society and be a housewife?”

He frowned, sitting as she slipped behind him. “I’d never force ya to do anything ya dinna want to.”

“I know that. …I don’t mind being your mistress—oh, don’t make that face. It’s what I am. Your mistress.”

“Mistress to who?”

“You’re still in love with Edeline.” It wasn’t an accusation. It was a fact. “And I know you’re in love with Byron—even if he doesn’t realize it… or return it. I know you’re not ready to be married again, but I know you love me as well. And I’m content to be your mistress in the meanwhile.”

Montgomery sighed, closing his eyes. “Sometimes I think I’m the most selfish man in the world. I dinna deserve any of this.”

Samira hugged his body tighter. “You’re speaking nonsense. I don’t fuck selfish people. They always focus on themselves and not their lover. You certainly do not.”

He snorted at her bluntness. “...I feel guilty so often. What’d Edeline think of me?”

“Well, would you have acted on your attraction to Byron if she lived?”

“I wasn’t aware I was attracted to him until we met again. Perhaps I’d ‘ve found him attractive but never acted on it. I dinna ken.”

“Then why should you feel guilty?”

“He’s still me brother-in-law.”

“Men marry their dead brother’s wives all the time.”

“That’s different.”

“Is it?”

“I miss her so much,” he whispered. That wasn’t a confession you were supposed to tell your lover. “I was… lost when she died. I dinda know what to do, what the point of livin’ was. …On the first anniversary of her death, I was in Greece, had spent the day in the ruins of the Temple of Poseidon in Sounion. Standin’ on the cliffs, overlooking the ocean… considered jumpin’ off. To be with her. End me misery. In the end, I was uh too much of fuckin’ coward to do it, so I walked back to me hotel room and drank ‘til I passed out. It wasn’t the first time I’d considered suicide. Or the last.” He sighed, sniffling. “I’ve never told anyone that. I’m just… so afraid of bein’ alone.”

Samira rubbed his back gently as he bowed his head, near tears. “You’re not alone. You have your family, friends who care about you, patients who rely on you. And of course, you have me. I have you in my claws, you’re not getting away from me anytime soon,” she added, chuckling. 

Montgomery pulled her into his lap and buried his face in her neck. “I love ya,” he whispered. 

She nodded. “...I’m going to India after Byron and Eleora’s wedding. I think my parents would actually like you considering you hate England, hate the empire, and support the independence of your own nation. You’re everything they would want in a husband for me, except that you’re white and Christian.”

He chuckled.

“I want to show you the real India—you haven’t lived until you’ve tried my Ājī’s Basundi.”

“If ya’ll have me, mo ghràdh.”

[gambitandrogues]

chat I need your most gut wrenching heartbreaking book recs. for science.