❛One Is Loved, Because One Is Loved. No Reason Is Needed For Loving❜ ∼ Fatima, The Alchemist

A Beginner’s Guide to Dark Academia

tips for the baby aesthete’s out there

academia

actually study! study the things you love, the things you like, the things you know nothing about — the pursuit of knowledge lasts a lifetime, and there is so much to learn

visit your professor’s office hours! it always helps to make yourself known to your teachers (i’ve been given grade bumps and had great conversations with my university lecturers)

avoid and check yourself for the pretension that can often accompany academia — it hurts no one to be kind and mindful

delve into the realm of philosophy (for starters: metaphysics, epistemology, aesthetics) it will broaden your mind

stay late at your university library studying (if you can do so safely, preferably with a friend). university campuses feel magical in the evening

style

wear darker, muted colours

plaid coats, pants, or skirts

button-up shirts (Peter Pan collars are a bonus)

turtlenecks

tie your hair with a bow

accessorise! a vintage watch adds sophistication to any outfit. try wearing it with a ring or three

practice good posture — standing tall creates an air of elegance, confidence, and if paired with the right amount of nonchalance, mystery

media

films

dead poets society

cracks

the dreamers

thoroughbreds

breathless (à bout de souffle)

cléo from 5 to 7 (cléo de 5 à 7)

handsome devil

tv shows

gilmore girls

chilling adventures of sabrina

black mirror

the good place

the politician

books

the secret history

the picture of dorian gray

the goldfinch

the line of beauty

persuasion

the collected poems of oscar wilde 

ovid’s metamorphoses

music

listen to classical music as you sleep/read/study

you can check out this dark academia playlist for inspiration

aesthetic activities (think of this as a little checklist to get you underway as a fledgling aesthete)

make yourself tea in pretty teacups (you can find plenty in secondhand stores!)

light candles in your bedroom, and read by candlelight 

dry flowers for your room/desk

explore secondhand bookstores for old, pretty editions of novels you may or may not have heard of

give handwritten letters to your lovers/friends/yourself

wake up before the sun rises to watch dawn break

brood during a thunderstorm, and write extravagant, flowery poetry on parchment

join a secret society

exist in the real, with your books and art, and your turtlenecks and plaid coats, as a mystery. social media can give too much of you away

host an unceasing bacchanal for you and your pals

I hope this serves as a nice little guide for some of you wanting to get more into the aesthetic! There’s no real right or wrong way to go about it, these are just my suggestions from my own experience and perception of and within the community. 

Enjoy, 

Juniper x

~ Ocean Vuong, On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous

Simone Weil, “Detachment” (trans. Emma Craufurd), Simone Weil: An Anthology

[Text ID: “Love is not consolation, it is light.”]

Pauline’s book recs : a MASTERPOST (I)

Shit, it’s 2020 and I’ve updated this Behemoth again.There’s both old and new in here. If you’re having problems with links overlapping, it is most likely the app/dashboard glitching—try the permalink version, and everything should work out, even on mobile. And of course, HAVE FUN.

Also: I had to split this one in two otherwise the links just poof, disappear.  Part two is here.

Ressources : where to find books online?

CLASSICAL LITERATURE (ANTIQUITY+) Where should I start? The fundamental works Where should I start? The mythology-oriented works Where should I start? Mythology, but make it non-greek Where should I start? Slavic mythology especially Where should I start? The translation edition A very touristic overview of Ancient Greek literature Different texts for Antigone Different texts for Elektra Different texts and translations for The Odyssey

CLASSIC [? who cares] BOOKS (ALL ERAS) First things first : a few favourites And works in translation : a few more favourites That’s a bit personal, but my “mind-changing” books A very touristic overview of literature reading Where should I start? My first classics Modern classics Reading women : a few favourites ; wait, much more Reading men : a few favourites Children literature : a few favourites ; more Where should I start? English and US literature Where should I start?  Italian literature ; more Where should I start? German and Austrian literature Where should I start? Russian literature Where should I start? Irish literature I’m terribly unknowledgeable about—Japanese literature Where should I start? Renaissance literature Where should I start? French literature for intermediate level Where should I start? French Medieval literature Where should I start? Victorian literature Where should I start? Contemporary literature Diving into the Arthurian legend Reading classics to children Children literature for adults (?) A bit of myth, a bit of fairy tale Short-length classics ; more here ; more here Short stories One last thing: books I don’t want to check out

POETRY First things first : a few favourites Second things second : a bunch of recs Where should I start? Poetry Quickly, the poets of happiness Learning French? Easy French poetry Lesbian French poetry Russian poetry : a few favourites Narrative poems ; much more Mystic poems Poems about separation Poems about love Poems about happiness Poems about exile Poems about poetry

DRAMA First things first : a few favourites

NON-FICTION First things first : a few favourites ; more recent On translation ; on poetry and music translation On literary analysis and adaptation On first-level literary analysis and French movements On biographies and diaries ; more here ; and more? On writing theory and another one On art history On reader-response theory On feminism (it’s old) On love, quite a bit Very lacking, but on female history On witches On Sufism Literary interviews Essays

YEARLY SUMMARY Best of 2019: all of it Best of 2018 : Prose Summary of 2018 Best of 2017 : Fiction Best of 2017 : Poetry Best of 2016 : Fiction Best of 2016 : Poetry 2016 Summer reading list 2015 - 2016 awaited releases Best of 2015 : Fiction Best of 2015 : Poetry

and click here for thematic lists

“Lovers are patient and know that the moon needs time to become full.”

—

Pulp Fiction (1994), dir. Quentin Tarantino