This is a long post. Buckle up.
Recently I've been thinking a lot about how the dark academia aesthetic, whilst rich in aspects such as literature, music, and material beauty, is lacking in things such as activities.
So I've compiled a list of activities that I would personally deem as befitting the dark academia aesthetic (please do add to this list, as it's far from complete).
Sports:
Rowing (it's in literally every dark academic approved movie.)
Fencing
Tennis
Cricket
Croquet
Rugby (contrary to popular belief, women, men, and everyone in between can play this sport. It's not just for the boys.)
Polo
Equestrian sports
+ Figure/ice skating
+ Running (sprinting is handy for catching your lover when they fling themselves from a tower or something, and long distance is great for running alongside carriages that you want to rob.)
+ Boxing
+ Javelin, discus, wrestling covered in oil, think ancient Grecian Olympics.
+ Archery (how could I have forgotten.)
+ Ballet, ballroom dancing, traditional dances
+ Climbing
+ Snooker/Pool (either professionally or just for fun.)
Or, if you prefer the Oscar Wilde approach, no sports at all. That's cool too.
Games:
Chess (of course)
Backgammon
Cards (rummy, poker, blackjack, speed, whist, any game really, maybe with the exception of snap.)
Cluedo (I think it's 'Clue' in America. Don't argue with me, it counts as dark academia. It's got murder in it.)
+ Scrabble
Crafts:
Knitting (I knit socks, scarves, and am attempting a jumper. I find that it's far easier to knit your own jumper, scarf, socks, or whatever than hunting for one suitably 'aesthetically pleasing'.)
Embroidery (monogrammed handkerchiefs and shirts are so in.)
Weaving (sweet mother, I cannot-)
Making lace
Gardening
Cooking (not sure if this counts as a craft, but I'll throw it in just in case.)
Sewing (making clothes for yourself through sewing is a great way to make sure that your clothes fit perfectly, and are styled the way you want them to be. With practise, it becomes easier, and is definitely a useful skill to have.)
+ Calligraphy
+ Painting, of course. (release your inner Basil.
Outings:
Museums
Art galleries
Places of historical interests (in the UK, this might be more easily accessible with things like the National Trust. If you visit often, it might be useful to invest in a membership card with English Heritage (England), Cadw (Wales), or a National Trust card. I have a Cadw card, and I've found that it's accepted all over the UK, in the same way an entrance card specific to whichever country you're in would be too. I hope that makes sense.)
Public executions
Pubs
+ Go to a Café and sketch the people around you (I hear that charcoal or graphite is preferable here.)
Parks
Gardens
Churches, quaker meeting houses, graveyards, synagogues (sometimes the only places that are quiet are places of worship, and a lot of the time, they will be very welcoming in letting people in just to sit and think. Just remember to be respectful: don't insult people for their faith; don't scorn the place of worship; respect people buried in graveyards; don't take pictures, tempting as it may be, just to be on the safe side.)
The theatre
The opera
Concerts (classical music or otherwise)
Social events (memorial services, tours of your local university, open days, anything. It's an opportunity to learn, and spark intrigue because of your darkly mysterious and alluring demeanour.)
Things to do when you're bored.
Writing essays (it's really nerdy, but I find writing essays really interesting if they're on a topic I'm passionate about. It doesn't have to be an intellectual masterpiece, it could be 'The Top Ten Sexiest Classical Writers' for all I care. Just make it fun. Plus it's always an added bonus to that pile of messy papers that aesthetify your desk.)
Research (as above.)
Daydream about how you could have prevented the burning of the Library of Alexandria
Plan a murder / heist. Thoroughly.
Read something light (Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes, Wilkie Collins or Colin Dexter novels are really good for relaxing. Murder mysteries are always good for winding down a little, whilst still keeping an active mind, so I would recommend those, but really, read whatever you want.)
Dress up
Read aloud
Perform a play alone (or to a pet, if you have one)
If you play an instrument, play through all of the pieces in your repertoire
More daydreaming
Take baths
Fake your death (by murder, of course)
Draw or paint something (no, it doesn't have to be good. Just do it to relax. See what kind of things you can create, like designing Frankenstein's monster)
Write a narrative piece
Watch a movie. A whole movie. Just sit down and watch a movie, no getting up and walking around, no flicking back and forth, no checking your phone. Just enjoy a movie without distractions.
Watch every single 'Greek Gods as vines' video on YouTube and count it as studying.
+ Listen to some classical music! I have a post on getting into classicl here:
Congratulations! You made it through!
Please, add to this list. I really want this to be expanded on, as I'm interested to see whether or not I've missed things, and if people agree.
RIP to the opportunities we missed because of shyness and low self esteem.
Do you ever feel like you are never going to find the right person? Like love is not going to be a subplot in your life’s movie? If so then I feel you. For the past two days I've beating myself over not being pretty enough, or not having enough experience compared to my friends and family. I am 19 years old and have never had my first kiss. Never been in any type of relationship either. Most of the time it does not bother me, but there are moments out of the blue that just hit me. Im reminded of my shyness and my awkward tendencies and I berate myself. No one is unloveable except Hitler and the like but this isn't the post for that. Love is so complicated. My biggest fear is being alone. Ironic because I isolate myself from everyone I'm close with because I also fear rejection. How do some people my age have everything figured out? I don't comprehend how people can be so open with others. This is a very depressing first post but I just wanted to let you know that if you feel the same way, you are not alone. I hope you don't feel this way, but if you do, I pray that it passes quickly. Stay Beautiful loves.
I am desperately romantic when life has given me no reason to be and that, I think, is the definition of hope.
c.r.w. (via my-writemind)
these violent delights have violent ends, and in their triumph die; like fire and powder, which, as they kiss, consume.
— William Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet.
I think a lot about how we as a culture have turned “forever” into the only acceptable definition of success.
Like… if you open a coffee shop and run it for a while and it makes you happy but then stuff gets too expensive and stressful and you want to do something else so you close it, it’s a “failed” business. If you write a book or two, then decide that you don’t actually want to keep doing that, you’re a “failed” writer. If you marry someone, and that marriage is good for a while, and then stops working and you get divorced, it’s a “failed” marriage.
The only acceptable “win condition” is “you keep doing that thing forever”. A friendship that lasts for a few years but then its time is done and you move on is considered less valuable or not a “real” friendship. A hobby that you do for a while and then are done with is a “phase” - or, alternatively, a “pity” that you don’t do that thing any more. A fandom is “dying” because people have had a lot of fun with it but are now moving on to other things.
I just think that something can be good, and also end, and that thing was still good. And it’s okay to be sad that it ended, too. But the idea that anything that ends is automatically less than this hypothetical eternal state of success… I don’t think that’s doing us any good at all.
I feel so left out. I don’t know why, but I feel as though people don’t actually like me. So I slowly distance myself from people and eventually I have no friends.
— Heather Havrilesky, from “How to Be a Person in the World”
types of academia pt. 2
art: paint dried at the cuffs of your favorite jacket, ink smudged hands, your notebooks are just sketchbooks for your class doodles with notes crammed in between the drawings, sudden revelations, wanting to create something meaningful with your own two hands, thinking of pygmalion during your sculpting class, reading a book and coming across that one sentence that sparks the inspiration for your next piece, afternoons on a soft green hill sketching, the scent of jasmine on the breeze, the music blaring in your headphones is all you can hear or feel as you work through the night, laying under the starlight
writer: the sound of a pen against parchment, the glow of a computer screen in a dark room, the sound of a clock ticking away the hours, reading with a hunger that will only be satisfied once you can give shape to your own words, empty notebooks, notebooks full of poetry, forgotten ideas that were not written down, your notes app is full of poetry, rainy days full of time spent typing away, living every experience in its rawest fork because you know you can write about it later, “write what you know” so you try to know everything, dreaming through your characters eyes, you and the moon have become good friends after nights spent writing under her light and reading your prose out loud
romantic: sketches of your love in a sketchbook that’s falling apart, singing to the moon at night, reciting sonnets alone in the woods, linen and silk, bathed in golden light, wax seals on love letters, pressed flowers in a journal, wanting to catch the stars and put them in the eyes of the one you love, the sweet scent of roses, ivy crawling up a cobblestone wall, a garden full of statues and plants that flint silver in the moonlight, sweet milk tea, daydreaming in a meadow
sci-fi: stargazing is a personality trait, deteriorating copies of sci-fu novels, coffee stained science magazines, a cork board full of conspiracies, squinting at the sky in search of life, believing there’s something more, tangled headphones, leather-bound dream journal, fog filled nights, psychoanalyzing, sticky note with the names of different theories scribbled on it that you need to research later, scrolling through wikipedia pages under your blanket when you should be sleeping, walkie talkies, a head full of wonder
urban: city lights blazing like stars, briskly walking down streets through the crisp air, drizzle fogging your glasses, hands in the pockets of a frayed coat, the overt dichotomy of light and dark, shadows in alleys and buzzing neon signs, dim bars and lit apartment windows, a small book shop crammed between a starbucks and bank, going to a vintage movie theater at the center of the city, mornings spent at the museum that’s free before noon, nights snuggled up in a blanket in your small, overpriced apartment as you read a book near the window and watch the city breathe
pt. 1
Susan Sontag - “Death Kit”
“if no art makes you feel anything, make your own art and feel something” is too raw of a line to have come from a jenna marbles video of her painting a rainbow/polka dot seahorse saying “it’s seahorse time” on a denim jacket