thing is, for a lot of these paintings it wasn’t “after” lily elbe’s transition. there was no after to it. the one op posted was painted in 1928. this was 2 years before lily legally changed her name and began undergoing revolutionary gender affirming procedures. unfortunately she died due to complications of an experimental uterine transplant in 1931.
up until that point, during the day lily continued to dress in masculine clothing and even attended galleries showing gottlieb’s paintings of her. which was kind of iconic. she got to stand in a room full of people who were marveling her beauty, not knowing she was right next to them. it must have been such a cute little secret for them as a couple.
here’s gerda and lilly together
not to mention that for most people there is no real “after” to a transition. especially for these trans historical figures who had to balance identity and safety at all times.
i think having a wife paint these portraits must have felt really amazing for lily. to be able to see herself through the eyes of someone who loved her. i’m very much seconding op on the getting teary eyed.
here are some of my favorite gottleib lily paintings
In light of the no.1 trending topic on this site, I'd like to inform youse that Kitty Kendall, one of the survivors who bravely spoke out against Neil Gaiman and accused him of rape in 2025, has said here and here that if you are looking to support her and other survivors, you can make a donation to OurVOICE (the counselling service Kendall herself used) or your local rape crisis centre. If you can't make a donation, you can help to ensure people do not forget what Kendall and other survivors have gone through and continue to go through as they pursue legal action, and that Gaiman has already spent a lot of money in the attempt to sue these women for speaking out.
AMSHA: Captain Sisko seems like a very nice man, Jules.
RICHARD: Not like the captain of the transport that brought us here. I've never met a ruder, more abrasive man in my life. I tell you, when I used to run shuttles, I never would have tolerated that kind of behaviour toward my passengers.
BASHIR: Dad, you're talking to me now. You were a third class steward for all of six months.
RICHARD: That's right, and I was required to have daily contact with the passengers. And you can bet that if I even looked at them the wrong way, I would've been discharged on the spot.
I was looking at the transcript for “Doctor Bashir, I Presume” and landed on this line. I have seen others comment on the significance of Richard Bashir holding this job, and the racial and class-based dimensions to this kind of service work (in opposition to Julian being a doctor, which is apparently still a prestigious, high-status position even in a world without money). But what really interests me is the question of how much that dynamic influenced Julian Bashir’s behaviour, and the ways he’s at once very contemptuous of authority he doesn’t respect (lashing out in ways Richard was not permitted to as a steward), but also sees himself as beholden to authority he’s accepted (he’s always very respectful of Sisko, but see also how insistent he is about accepting the consequences for hiding his augmentations from Starfleet).
His frustrated arrogance, his awareness of how smart and capable he is combined with an awareness of the necessity of toeing the line, the potential disruptiveness and destructiveness of that arrogance, can of course be directly chalked up to the genetic enhancements and his associated status in society, but I wonder how much of his response to that status is informed by seeing how his father was treated and expected to behave in turn, in that position and in general. For all that he holds his father’s career failures in contempt (a contempt that he inherited from Richard himself, of course), I wonder how much those experiences inform how he contextualizes the kind of hyperscrutiny that he himself is under.
obsessed with people who stan side characters it’s so funny like you’ll see them talk endlessly about count gobbledegook IV and then you go to wikipedia and find out they’ve been in five episodes total across a 300 episode series
also every person calling the main characters of heated rivalry "two white gays" owes every bisexual and/or Asian person on this app the equivalent of twenty US dollars in whatever their local currency is. get those wallets OUT
I don't know if I smiled more at the line 'Don't first-name me, Doctor, unless you mean it,' or 'You may be the only partner I've ever considered, Julian.'
People are way too mean to Jake Sisko about his outfits :(( his fuckass outfits are one of the best parts of the whole show. Seeing non starfleet federation citizens. Seeing futuristic fashion. Having fun with colours and patterns. Seeing his fashion sense change from a child to an adult. He has more fashion sense than any of the muted militarised "something you could find in abercrombie and fitch" ass outfits of modern trek shows. Where is your zest for life, where is your idealism? Only Quark has more drip.
Hey, hello, hi, if I could just squirm in here and-
Ah, thank you, yes, I have something to add about Jake Sisko's outfits, especially as he grew older in the series, and why it was actually really beautiful and meaningful in context of the time it was airing.
We gotta pop backwards to the 60's and the civil rights movement for a bit, but bear with me here. There was within the civil rights movement a Black separatist/return to Africa movement as well, and while it never quite got its legs under it, some of their leaders and ideas became very influential within the broader movement. Their argument that Americans of African descent shouldn't be expected to unilaterally conform to Euro-centric cultural standards resonated with many, even if the idea of moving en masse to Africa did not. So instead, they brought Africa to America, in a mix of various African traditions because so many black Americans had no way of knowing where their ancestors came from. Out of this we got things like the holiday Kwanzaa and, important to this discussion: Afrocentric fashion.
Afrocentric traditions and fashion grew in popularity in America throughout the 70's and 80's as people started connecting more openly with their roots. The bold colors, geometric patterns and unusual (to America) silhouettes were very distinctive, and unique to an African American reclaiming of heritage.
Now, finally, let's talk about Star Trek again. TOS was revolutionary in its time for showing black people in positions of prestige and respect, to give credit where it's due, and of course TNG had Geordi as a main character with lots of screen time and character development. But they all wear uniforms primarily, the same that everyone else wears. Jake was a black HUMAN CIVILIAN. We seem him in standard fashion (and later see Benjamin in some too), and what did 1990's America see Jake wearing?
Look at those necklines, look at those colors and patterns and shapes. It's futuristic yes, but it is Afrocentric futurism fashion, specifically. DS9, in the 90's, showed us a black family of the far future and said "they did not assimilate, their heritage is still visible, it endures, it is distinct, and it is beautiful."
This was no accident. Avery Brooks was (and is) very involved in the preservation and uplifting of African-American culture, and specifically requested that Benjamin (when out of uniform) and Jake wear more African ethnic inspired clothing as the show went on.
So yeah... Everybody be nice about Jake's clothes >:C
The quilt!!! The Good Luck quilt !!!! just there on instagram with 60 likes on it!!!!!!!!! oh man i was looking SO HARD. i've started to do a guide to all the good luck symbols that were on it but my quest is basically over!! The edges of it aren't clear, but this is basically everything we DON'T see in the film! oh man, I feel lightheaded.
My initial, pre-this-post thoughts
Now - their meanings as far as i can tell, a collage from different pictures and a small restoration of some missing pieces
2087
prguitarman
turnnoffyourmind
areudirty
dailybridgerton
