Hey Love 🌛 What Are The Must-have And Basics For Dark Academia Fashion For A Trans Boy? Thank You

Dark Academia Style Inspiration

wholesome student life things that we should collectively start romancizing

waking up and being genuinely thrilled to go to class because today is THAT CLASS you love so much you’d like it to never end

coffee breaks with friends, chatting and joking about this particularly hard essay and the prof’s mannerism

coffee breaks on your own, as you absent-mindedly watch the people around you, while thinking about what you’re working on

finding this book you’ve been dying to read for so long, and borrowing it from the library

the feeling of excitement that goes through you whenever you remember The Book is in your backpack

understanding everything during demanding classes and being genuinely interested in the subject

buying a New Special Pen and taking colorful notes that look super pretty

not being able to shut up about your school projects (no your friends dont really care about the intricate details of what you’re working on, they don’t even have the same major as you, but they’re happy to hear you rant with such a burning passion)

actually doing the extra reading and having your curiosity so piqued by what you’re reading that you go on and on and suddenly its 1am and what happened

printing the project you’ve spent so much time and energy on and feeling the paper’s warmth

actually submitting that project without feeling awful about it because you know you did your best and aren’t responsible for what happens next

when you finally finish this Super Hard And Important Essay at like 3am, open the window and feel the cold night air on your burning cheeks and everything is dark and quiet and you can see the moon and you’re at peace with everything for a few minutes

when this professor you admire says you did a great job and/or that you’re talented!!!!

realizing two concepts that seemed so far away from each other and that you discovered in wildly different contexts are actually interlinked, then Realizing™ things and linking concepts/works/articles to each other at the speed of light & being super excited about it

being so deeply immersed in your work that you didn’t realize two hours have passed

finding the Perfect Spot at the library

that Pure Joy moment when you FINALLY understand that super obscure sentence/text

when you feel anxious because you’re not done with your homework & the deadline is super tight & your friend tells you they aren’t done yet either

same but with an even more intense relief feeling when you realize you both haven’t even started yet

when the professor starts a new reasoning and you can predict what the next idea/the final conclusion will be

when the professor mention your favorite novel/author/fictional character in class and you feel like your internal screech of joy could shatter glass

the Academic Salt™ that has you like 👀👀

when the professor tears apart an author or scholar you hate and you’re like YES I WANT BLOOD GIVE ME BLOOD

when you learn that Cool New Fact that makes you reconsider your whole life

leaving the library after a long productive day and feeling like nothing is real but experiencing everything more intensely

leaving the library at night after a long study session and everybody has left already and its just you and the long neon-lit corridors then stepping outside and smelling the crisp night wind

feel free to add your own!!!

Helpful Books To Learn Languages

French

50 Ways To Improve Your French

Barron’s French Idioms

Learn French: The Fast And Fun Way (This book has tons of great worksheets and everything. It’s great for learning French!)

2,001 Most Useful French Words

Say It Right in French: The Easy Way to Pronounce Correctly 

Streetwise French

Berlitz Hide This French Phrase Book

Italian

50 Ways To Improve Your Italian

Berlitz Self-Teacher Italian (Personally, I don’t really care for these types of books, mainly because I don’t the things you learn in the first few chapters. Unless you have a base in the language, I don’t think this book will work for you.)

Learn Italian: The Fast And Fun Way (This book has tons of great worksheets and everything. It’s great for learning Italian!)

Barron’s Italian Idioms 

Easy Italian Phrase Book: 770 Basic Phrases for Everyday Use 

Correct Your Italian Blunders

Spanish

50 Ways To Improve Your Spanish

Correct Your Spanish Blunders 

Just Enough Spanish

Dirty Spanish - Warning: This is really vulgar.

Barron’s Complete Spanish Grammar Review 

Making Out in Spanish (I think this title is great. I’ve never read this book, but if you’re looking for slang/everyday Spanish, this seems like a pretty good book.)

Ven Conmigo! Grammar and Vocabulary Workbook: Level 1 (This is the actual workbook I use in my Spanish 1 class. It is great and I love it. If you want to teach yourself Spanish, I highly recommend getting a workbook like this.)

Hide This Spanish Book (This has a lot for a small book. Mainly just some basic phrases, along with some that are more vulgar.)

Hide This Spanish Book for Lovers (The title speaks for itself…)  

Mierda! The Real Spanish You Were Never Taught In School

Say It Right In Spanish

German

50 Ways To Improve Your German

Dirty German - Warning: This is really vulgar.

Say It Right In German: The Easy Way to Pronounce Correctly

Easy Way to Enlarge Your German Vocabulary

Barron’s German Idioms

The Tell-Tale Heart - If you want to read in German, this seems like a pretty good book to get. 

German-English Visual Dictionary

Scheisse!: The Real German You Were Never Taught In School - I love all these books. They have them in every language (The title means “Shit”). Although it doesn’t have the pronunciations, its still pretty great for the vocabulary it has. It’s a bit vulgar though, but not too bad.

Portuguese 

Just Enough Portuguese: How to Get by and Be Easily Understood

Portuguese Verb and Essentials of Grammar

Berlitz Portuguese Phrase Books & Dictionary

51 Portuguese Idioms - Speak Like a Brazilian 

Arabic

Arabic-English Visual Dictionary

The Arabic Alphabet: How to Read and Write It

First 100 Words In Arabic

Learn Arabic: The Fast and Fun Way

Making Out In Arabic  

Instant Arabic!

Japanese

Berlitz Concise Dictionary

Essential Kanji: 2,000 Basic Japanese Characters

Colloquial Kansai Japanese: The Dialects and Culture of the Kansai Region

Speak Japanese Today 

Making Out In Japanese - I just bought this book, and it seems pretty great. 

More Making Out In Japanese 

Korean

Say It Right In Korean 

Korean Made Easy

Instant Korean

First 100 Words In Korean

Making Out In Korean

More Making Out In Korean

Korean For Travelers - I think this might only be a Nook book, which kind of sucks.

Dirty Korean -  Warning: This is really vulgar.  

Basic Korean: Workbook

Intermediate Korean: Workbook - I’m not sure if this is worth getting because of the price, but it seems like a helpful book

Korean At A Glance

Teach Me Everyday Korean

Chinese

Making Out In Chinese (I think this title is great. I’ve never read this book, but if you’re looking for slang/everyday Chinese, this seems like a pretty good book.)

Mandarin Chinese - English Visual Dictionary

Survival Chinese 

Get Talking Chinese - This book is so great. It’s kind of like a children’s book, but for learning basic Chinese, it’s great.

Hide This Mandarin Chinese Phrase Book 

Instant Chinese!

Polish

Say It In Polish 

Berlitz Polish Concise Dictionary

Berlitz Polish Phrasebook and Dictionary

Polish: An Essential Grammar

Russian

Learn Russian: The Fast and Fun Way

Say It Right In Russian

Russian Vocabulary

Dermo!: The Real Russian Tolstoy Never Used

Russian At A Glance

Just Enough Russian

General Language Books

Barron’s 501 Verbs (comes in French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Latin, Japanese, Hebrew, Arabic, English and German)

Note: I love Berlitz and Barron books for learning languages. Most are just reference books for verbs, grammar, or basic phrases instead of textbooks. But once you have a base in the language, they help you improve so much. I highly recommend buying any Berlitz or Barron language books. I love the 50 Ways To Improve Your books. They are the best grammar/vocab/correction language books ever. I use the Spanish one to help teach myself Spanish, and I absolutely love it. And it isn’t very expensive either!

dark/light academia style board

|| photo creds to @etherealacademia

let me know if the other photos are yours or if you know who’s they are, i never want to seem like i’m stealing credit :)

dark academia tips:

listen to Mozart while drinking black coffee

wear big cashmere sweaters

being secretly in love with your best friend

look at the moon, sitting on the balcony

smoking while watching black and white old films

spend the evening in the library

read Odyssey and discuss it with your friends

have a large black coat

recite poems, sitting in a room lit by candles

always have a book with yourself

wear a lot of silver jewelry

know someone's secret

Dark Academia // Style inspiration

𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐀𝐂𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐀 / 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌

my top Dark Academia movies

Mona Lisa Smile (2003) - rated age 12A

I’ve seen this pop up a few times under Dark Academia films, it probably fits Light Academia a bit better but to be honest I think it works with both. This movie tells the story of a very conservative all girls private school in the 1950s, and the non-conformist teacher (Julia Roberts) who teaches the girls art history. she teaches them the beauty of art and an appreciation outside of the text book - as well as a very interesting feminist lesson which gives one a lot to think about. 

“not all who wonder are aimless. especially not those who seek truth beyond tradition, beyond definition, beyond the image”

Kill Your Darlings (2013) - rated age 15

this is based on a true story about Allen Ginsberg (Daniel Radcliffe), a timid student who meets the charismatic and adventurous Lucien Carr (Dane DeHaan) and has his life transformed by him. dripping with romance, poetry, and murder, it’s unsurprising that this movie is a cult classic of Dark Academia.

“I love first times, I want my entire life to be composed of them”

Call Me By Your Name (2017) - rated age 15 

it surprises me that this movie doesn’t come up more when people discuss Dark Academia in media. the story follows 17-year-old Elio (Timothée Chalamet) who is spending the summer with his parents in their Italian villa. Oliver (Armie Hammer), the charming American is working with Elio’s father. in the beautiful Italian summer, Elio finds himself falling for Oliver. the cinematography is breathtaking, and the film captures Dark Academia in the summer wonderfully.

“if there is pain, nurse it. and if there is a flame, don’t snuff it out. don’t be brutal with it. we rip out so much of ourselves to be cured of things faster that we go bankrupt by the age of thirty and have less to offer each time we start with someone new. But to make yourself feel nothing so as not to feel anything - what a waste!”

Dead Poets Society (1989) - rated age PG

because would this post be accurate without mentioning this cult classic? 

this movie is often associated with the birth of the Dark Academia aesthetic, alongside the works of Donna Tartt and Edgar Allen Poe. 

the movie tells the story of the prestigious and strict all boys boarding school and the radical, inspirational new English teacher - Mr Keating ( the late Robin Williams). He teaches the boys the importance of romance, beauty, poetry and love, as he encourages them to think for themselves and discover their own identities.

“but only in their dreams can men be truly free. Twas always thus, and always thus will be”

Cracks (2009) - rated age 15

this film is beautifully made and very dark - it shows a group of young girls (probably meant to be around 15? but it’s hard to tell) who have the beautiful, charming and inspiring teacher Miss G (Eva Green). But when a new spanish student joins from overseas, Miss G becomes obsessed with her and jealousy flares up in the other girls. 

visually speaking, this film is stunning - set on the coast of England it perfectly captures youthful innocence.

disclaimer: although you never see any assault that is violent, this movie does insinuate and depict a sexual relationship between a teacher and student of which the student is not consenting of. there is a scene where, whilst the young girl is unconscious, her teacher removes her top and takes advantage of her. nothing is “violent”, and the camera cuts before you really see anything, however; it is worth being aware of this should you be upset by this type of depiction.

“the most important thing in life is desire”

The History Boys (2006) - rated age 15

oh the love I have for this movie

the story follows a group of rough edged boys who are brilliantly intelligent and wish to study history at Oxford and Cambridge. Two teachers with opposing view points on how the education system should be run are trying to prep the boys for the biggest moment of their lives. 

I adore this film - the cast is wonderful, including; Richard Griffiths (Harry Potter) Dominic Cooper (Mamma Mia), James Corden (just… all of British culture??) Stephen Campbell Moore (Goodbye Christopher Robin) and many other familiar faces. 

the story shows personal growth, how cruel boys can be, coming to terms with ones sexuality, and hard work

“history is a commentary on the various and continuing incapabilities of men”

Whiplash (2014) - rated age 15

a masterpiece. the story follows Andrew (Miles Teller), attending one of the worlds greatest music schools and intent on becoming the next greatest drummer. when he gets the opportunity to play in the schools most prestigious band, he finally thinks he has made it. However, the band in mentored by the infamous Terrence Fletcher (J. K. Simmons) who uses unconventional teaching methods to push Andrew to the brink - in the hope that there he shall find success. 

this movie is so intense you will not breathe throughout. It tackles the question of “how far is too far?”. If a teacher sees potential, they should push a student to achieve that potential, but when have they pushed too far, and what are you willing to sacrifice to achieve what you want?

“I’d rather die drunk, broke at 34 and have people at a dinner table talk about me than live to be rich and sober at 90, and nobody remember who I was”

Black Swan (2010) - rated age 15

Black Swan follows the story of Nina (Natalie Portman), a ballerina, who has got the opportunity to dance the lead role in Swan Lake. the movie watches her mentally unravel as obsession with perfection and the pressure to be the best unpicks her mental state. 

visually stunning and mentally haunting, this psychological thriller will leave you utterly speechless and terrified.

“you could be brilliant, but you’re a coward”

The Devil Wears Prada (2006) - rated age PG

this is a bit of an unconventional Dark Academia movie, but I do think it fits in a more lighthearted way. 

the story follows Andy (Anne Hathaway), a young aspiring journalist, who becomes an assistant to one of the biggest fashion magazine editors, the ruthless and cynical Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). the movie shows perseverance and determination, whilst showing the darker side of the fashion industry.

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous Andrea. Everybody wants this life. Everybody wants to be us”

this took so long please don’t let it flop 

dark academic people be like: omg ma fit is fantastic

peep my crooked posture cus i’m wearing my backpack on only one shoulder