for most of history, anonymous was a woman

21 / love learning languages and art of any kind

[lanadelraylee]

Rob in High Fidelity (2019)

she is so outfit inspo i want to be her and be with her

[darkmacademia]

Visit Original Link

‘nfwmb’ by hozier except he’s a siren singing out to you beyond the crashing waves in the dead of night, drawing you in until you eventually dive underwater and dissolve into the ocean. (headphones recommended) (youtube)

[chaandajaan-moved]

what do you think dark academia could look like in Asia, both visually and academically? also, here's a bad pick up line: are you rice? cos you get me up in the morning

Firstly, bad pickup lines are literally my thing so thankyou.

so I can only really speak to south Asia but i hope there something in there for everyone. 

sliced fruits and tea while you study

takings rikshaws to class

bleached white uniforms and polished shoes

studying on the roof on a sunny day listening to the street noises

street food with friends

fountain pens and perfect handwriting

late nights studying without coffee

studying through repetition and reading

teachers who point with their middle finger

full bookshelves of textbooks and class readings full annotated

hanging out with local stray cats

[caappuccino]

as a pretentious Bengali, please allow me to add

richly annotated books of the poems of Tagore

exchanging political ideas with friends over cigarettes

a big book that’s falling apart that you carry anyway

taking breaks from studying to watch old black and white movies by Satyajit Ray

protesting in university campuses

waking up late on a Sunday to the smell of food cooking after a long night of studying

spending afternoons buying second hand books

absorbed in reading on an old tram in Old Calcutta

words can change the world

[yeahboiislay-deactivated2021030]

Hey! Pretentious Pakistani here:

Listening to Noor Jahan on your grandad’s radio from the 70′s

Reading Faiz Ahmed Faiz while sitting on a charpai that’s on the roof 

Drinking Chai in a white cotton shalwar kameez 

Secretly smoking at the Quaid’s Mazar

Attending a political rally or sit-in

Digging through your great-aunt’s storage to find a copy of the Pakistan Declaration in perfect condition.

reading Keat’s while balancing yourself on your brother’s motorcycle while he weaves through Karachi’s traffic, trying to get you to university on time.

‘Borrowing’ your grandma’s pillazo pants and Granddad’s shirt from the 70′s and then ‘borrowing’ their Volkswagen beetle

[bauliya]

pretentious delhiite mwah

talking politics in tiny khan market cafés

colonial era architecture that’s beautiful yet crumbling. classrooms with high ceilings that barely fit every student.

natraj pencils

‘borrowing’ notes from classmates, from seniors, from a friend you knew four years ago

chai and sutta from hole in the wall establishments next to metro stations. finding your meaning in life while sitting on an unravelling charpai.

crying on the metro. finding out your friend has been arrested on the metro. checking university entrances on the metro. wildly scrabbling through notes the morning before an exam on the metro.

steaming momos that scald your tongue.

[eatingoutmen]

gotta a love a sarcastic & idiotic bisexual man who absolutely cannot stfu but is also smart as hell.

[language-sanctuary]

Books Recs Written by Mexican Women

Here’s a continuation to this post about Hispanic Dark Academia Book Recs because I have to produce the content I want to see, I guess, and if I don’t talk about Mexican literature who the hell will. With PDFs included in both languages that took me so long to find. 

The Houseguest by Amparo Dávila: Amparo Dávila was one of Mexico’s best writers of the 20th century, and won the Xavier Villaurrutia, one of the countries biggest and most important literature annual prizes. Her writing style can be compared to Shirley Jackson’s, whom I also love. I personally recommend reading The Houseguest/El huésped, which is one of my favorite stories ever and is a horror story. The version in Spanish can be found here. 

The Body Where I Was Born by Guadalupe Nettel: Tells the intimate story about a girl who was born with vision defect and how she navigates living in Latin America in the 70s. A very acclaimed novel about identity. 

Historia de Mariquita by Guadalupe Dueñas: I couldn’t find a translation of this one, but most people that follow this blog know or are studying Spanish, so here’s the link for the short story in Spanish. 

Hurricane Season or Temporada de Huracanes by Fernanda Melchor: Also considered one of the country’s best book from the last decade, that explores violence and sexism in México centered around a supernatural event from a female perspective. Here’s the PDF in Spanish. 

Recollections of Things to Come or Los recuerdos del porvenir by Elena Garro: There was a controversy a few years back when a book about Elena Garro was re-edited and published and she was introduced as “Octavio Paz’s wife”, who was also another very important Mexican writer (as a personal note, I think his literature should be read and is very significant to Mexican identity, but it also very sexist, so be prepared for that). The outrage caused by the diminishment of this woman’s accomplishments caused a resurgence of Mexican books written by women. I really really recommend her. Here’s the PDF in Spanish. 

[xaoca]

L’ Amour de Pierrot, 1920 by Salvador Dalí

[maybankslover]

from now on this is what I'll be adding to my fics

[a-disaster-piece]

David Rylance (Brett Tucker): How do you define sex? Cordelia Cupp (Uzo Aduba): I define it as the thing I enjoy more than talking about real estate, and less than looking at birds.

[farminglesbian]

uzo aduba as cordelia cupp, the residence (2025)

[mephostophilis]

what if we went to a party and it was at the white house and there was a murder and kylie minogue was there (the residence is a fun show)

[wwillywonka]

how am i supposed to be normal

[bakerstreet221blog]

Ilustraciones Sidney Paget e imágenes de Sherlock Holmes Granada

[onsuchsmallthingstheworldturns]

[snookersneek]

Can you do Foreign Academia? Like International Relation student type thing. I think it'd be pretty cool.

It sounds very cool.

Learning to enjoy your own company. Going abroad often makes you realise how you're the most important person in your life.

Taking the time to learn at least a few phrases from the languages of countries you visit, maybe taking intensive language courses while you're there.

Keeping a diary about the language and culture. You're bound to make some cultural mistakes, so keeping a diary of them will help you learn!

Buying a book as soon as you arrive in a new country, to work your way through and translate, helping you learn the language.

Writing letters to numerous penpals all over the world.

The satisfaction of seeing the stamps in your passport.

Keeping a map on your wall of the places you've visited.

Reading books on language and anthropology. Learning how to see the world through different lenses, and gaining a deeper understanding of cultures around the world.

Collecting copies of one book from around the world. For example, buying a copy of Dracula in the native language of every country you visit.

Being sad to leave home, but also itching to explore new places and meet new people.

[softiespoken]

when reality feels off

- leaving the theater after watching a movie

- looking up from reading a book and realizing where you are

- any place that’s open 24 hours (bonus: going to said place in the early hours and hearing both “good evening” and “good morning”)

- playgrounds at night

- arriving for an early morning flight and seeing a deserted airport with most of the shops closed

- dead malls with decor that hasn’t changed since the 90s

- motels of any kind

- stopping at a gas station at night in the middle of nowhere while on a road trip

- grocery stores in small towns

- places meant for children’s birthday parties (especially if you went there as a kid and are now older)

- little doors and attics in your house

[snookersneek]

Some (imo) dark academia book recommendations that are a little lesser-known than The Secret History:

Perfume by Patrick Süskind

Set in mid 18th century France, a man who has an extraordinary sense of smell sets out to create the most beautiful, angelic, otherworldly scent. He resorts to killing to achieve this dream.

The Bartimäus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud

An over-ambitious young magician summons a demon. However, he makes a mistake, and the demon finds out his name.

The Charioteer by Mary Renault

This book broke my queer little heart. It's the 1940s, Britain is war stricken, and Laurie Odell (an injured corporal in hospital) falls in love with an orderly. Then an old mentor from his days at school appears, and draws him into a community of gay men. Laurie has to choose between the perfect friendship with Andrew and the pleasures offered by being openly gay in a community.

Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver

Wealthy landowner, historian, and occupant of Wake's End in Suffolk, Edmund Stearne lives a secluded lifestyle in a Gothic mansion during the Edwardian era. Upon uncovering a medieval painting in a graveyard, he develops and obsession, spiralling further and further into madness, haunted by whatever was let loose by discovery of the painting. The obsession ends with the most heinous crime of all: murder.

[snookersneek]

Hello! I was just wondering, what are some Scholarly Academia things? (The Aesthetics Wiki describes it well, “ impeccable notes in class. leather bound bags crammed with textbooks and pens. lots of coffee with scones, and even more late nights. a wide vocabulary (that people constantly comment on). lives in the library.”) Thank you, your blog is awesome!

Hey, I'm so sorry if you posted this ask a while ago.

If it's still relevant I would recommend:

Generally research anything you're even remotely interested in. Seriously. If it's just a passing comment made by a teacher or lecturer, something referenced in a book or a YouTube video, anything.

Look up things you don't understand. I have a Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, and it comes in really handy. Not saying you need to spend money on a book or anything, but if you come across a phrase or reference to mythology or anything generally obscure, it's always worth looking it up.

Read. I don't care what, just read. It's incredible how much obscure knowledge you can gain by just reading.

Try learning a new language. I know it's difficult, but once you get to a stage where you understand how a language works it can be really fun to learn new words and phrases. It keeps your brain working and is great for developing empathy. Also it generally just comes in handy. Personally, I would encourage anyone to learn Welsh. It's a beautiful language, and unfortunately it's dying out, because of the lack of funding given to our culture and its preservation.

If you're currently in education, make the most of it. Especially if you're currently studying a wide range of subjects. Try not to take on too much work (I say, as I currently do six A-Levels) but learning things is such a blessing, especially if you get to learn them for free. Take advantage of every opportunity given to you.

I would always recommend having reference books and encyclopedias. Yes, I know that we have the Internet. I use Wikipedia as much as any other person. But can anything really beat looking up a word in the dictionary, then in an encyclopedia, and falling down a research rabbit hole, making notes in margins and filling sheets of paper? I think not.

Lastly: enjoy learning. Try make even the most dull tasks exciting (like setting the scene for studying, putting on an 18th century style shirt and lighting candles to pretend you're some eccentric genius who just so happens to be studying for a biology test they have the next day). Go the extra mile when you're interested in something. Try not to fall into the trap of not taking part in or enjoying academics because your friends don't. Realise that there's always more to learn, and that there's a wealth of interesting things for you to discover.

Hope this (kind of?) answered your question. Stay safe (and Happy New Year!) :)