Our Men Do Not Belong To Us, Warsan Shire

The Ultimate Dark Academia Book Recommendation Guide Ever

The title of this post is clickbait. I, unfortunately, have not read every book ever. Not all of these books are particularly “dark” either. However, these are my recommendations for your dark academia fix. The quality of each of these books varies. I have limited this list to books that are directly linked to the world of academia and/or which have a vaguely academic setting.

Dark Academia staples:

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

Dead Poets Society by Nancy H. Kleinbaum

Vita Nostra by Maryna Dyachenko

Dark academia litfic or contemporary:

Bunny by Mona Awad

The Idiot by Elif Batuman

These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever

White Ivy by Susie Yang

The Cloisters by Katy Hays

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

Black Chalk by Christopher J. Yates

Attribution by Linda Moore

Dark academia thrillers or horror:

In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Serritella

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

They Never Learn by Layne Fargo

The It Girl by Ruth Ware

Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian

Dark academia fantasy/sci-fi:

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Vicious by V.E. Schwab

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

The Betrayals by Bridget Collins

Dark academia romance:

Gothikana by RuNyx

Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake

Dark academia YA or MG:

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

Crave by Tracy Wolff

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Dark academia miscellaneous:

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou

Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip

(Inconvenient) Sentient Object Generator

1d12 Objects

Rusty old sword

Large orb (at least 10” diameter, we’re talking 15lbs minimum.)

Flimsy walking stick

Literal brain-in-a-jar

Dented helmet

Cannon, or other large weapon meant to be on a vessel

Rug

A left boot (the right boot is nowhere to be found.)

Multi-volume encyclopedia

Anvil

Globe

A single crossbow bolt.

1d6 Sources of Sentience (and Wants)

Mad-science/alchemical experiment gone wrong; trapped own consciousness in this object. Wants to return to their lab so they can have you attempt to reverse the procedure.

Cursed into this form by a witch or other entity as punishment for wrongdoings. Wants to find the entity and reverse the curse

Born this way, comes from a lineage of sentient objects. Wants to be owned/wielded by a powerful person.

Mad-science/alchemical experiment gone wrong; was a henchman transformed into this object by their master. Wants revenge.

Magically transformed themself into this form as a way of achieving immortality. Wants a new, young, living body to inhabit.

Was once an inanimate object brought to life by a mage. Has now outlived that mage and wants to find a way to resurrect them.

1d6 Powers - how does the object communicate its wants and exert its will?

Compulsion/possession: the object can force a person who is touching it to perform an action. What can a person do to prevent themself from being compelled?

Telepathy: the object can send telepathic messages in a short range. Are the messages targeted, or does everyone around it hear them?

Limited mobility: the object can move on its own, though not quickly. How does it move? (Does it roll, waddle, float?)

Charm/influence: the object can make a person believe that its wills are the best course of action. What types of people are most susceptible to its wiles?

Speech: the object can speak out loud in one or more languages. Does it know when to keep its mouth shut?

Telekinesis: the object can move inanimate objects, but not itself. What are its limits? (Size? Range? Material? Form?)

this is literally me

the aftg fandom dragging usc's underdeveloped no screentime corpse around for 10 years and making an entire new book in fanfiction and fanon to the point where the literal author decides to do smth about it is so funny sorry

Random Faction Builder

How many pies do they have their proverbial fingers in? (1d10)

1-4. They are tightly focused on their singular area of influence. Roll once on the following table. 5-6. Roll twice on the following table. The first result is the field they openly deal in, or what those who know them mostly know them for. The second result is the field they are secretly trying to infiltrate or influence. 7. They serve as a mediary between two spheres, or between certain groups within two spheres. Roll twice on the following table. 8. Roll three times on the following table. The first two results are the fields they openly deal in, or what those who know them mostly know them for. The third result is the field they are secretly trying to infiltrate or influence. 9. They’re jugglers, jacks of all trades. Roll three times on the following table for areas they regularly deal in, plus one time for a field they have their sights on breaking into. 10. They’re everywhere. Roll once on the following table for the one circle they can’t show their faces in anymore.

1d6 Circles of Influence:

1. Government/Politics/Law Enforcement 2. Religion/Faith/Cults 3. Crime/Black Market/Underworld 4. Guilds/Trades/Organized Labor 5. Business/Merchants/Corporations 6. Knowledge/Information/Research

Now, roll 4d6 and assign one die to each of the following attributes, then look at the total on the last table:

Group Size

1. Just a few people devoted to a cause. 2. Enough people that it’s hard to get them all in a meeting together, but not enough people to really split into multiple sub-groups. 3. Enough people to crew a large vessel 4. A pretty big group, church congregation sized. 5. Enough people to populate a neighborhood. 6. If this entire group mobilized it would be a full-scale army.

Financial Power

1. Broke. It’d be a dream just to break even. 2. Surviving. They can get what they need, but can’t afford to expand or to have a large unforeseen expense. 3. Middling. Can use money to further their agenda but must be selective about doing so. 4. Comfortable. This group can afford to make investments. 5. Well-off. Their investments are paying off. 6. Rolling in it. They can solve most problems by throwing money at them.

Age of Faction

1. Brand new. This faction hasn’t existed long enough to have done anything of note. 2. Recent. This faction is probably still made up mostly of founding members, but has had time to make a name for itself. 3. Established. People remember this faction being founded. It may have some original members, but if it does they are old. 4. Pretty Old. This group was established before the oldest currently living generation was born, but in the lifetime of their parents or grandparents. 5. Old. This group was founded hundreds of years ago and has played a roll in many historical events. 6. Ancient. This group may predate the current civilization, and is seen all throughout history books.

Expertise

1. Bumbling. This group is incompetent and lacks basic knowledge. 2. Shoddy. They know just enough to get themselves into trouble. 3. Mediocre. There are no experts in this group but they have meaningful skills. 4. Competent. This group employs some actual experts but still has real gaps in their abilities. 5. Highly skilled. They may not be the absolute best in the business but this group can use skill to address most challenges. 6. Only the Best. This group has a reputation for their expertise.

Total - Overall Faction Influence

4-8  Nobodies. Who even are these losers? 9-12  Small fish in a big pond. This faction has an impact on certain individuals or niches, but are still unimportant enough that none of the big players pay them any mind 13-16  Up and Coming. Enough influence that they need to be careful not to upset the highest tier factions lest they get squashed. 17-20  The big leagues. This faction has a great deal of power but is not infallible. 21-24  Powerhouses. If there is only one faction at this level, they are functionally in charge of the society. If there are multiple factions at this level, their conflicts and machinations can have devastating fallout for ordinary people.

All For The Game (Original Series Soundtrack) Songs from Season One of Netflix’s All For The Game ▸ run boy run · woodkid ∟ “Don’t worry about me. I’ll go for a run or something.” ▸ monster · colours ∟ Kevin dug Andrew’s medicine out of his pocket and handed the bottle over. He and Wymack watched as Andrew tipped a pill into his hand and swallowed it dry. ▸ everybody gets high · MISSIO ∟ Neil could feel the drugs eating through his system. His heart pounded harder than the bass did, shaking him apart from the inside out. ▸ watch me · jaden ∟ None of the Foxes expected to win that night, as they were opening the season against their longtime rivals Breckenridge. ▸ bury a friend · billie eilish ∟ “If he didn’t have his pills on him, how did he overdose?” “Not by choice,” Andrew said. “My theory says Riko won this round.” Neil stared at him. “You don’t really think Riko did this.” “I think the timing’s too convenient for it to be an accident,” Andrew said.

go here and let me know what your short term top artists from spotify (within the last 4 weeks) are in the tags!

Detail of Antonio Canova’s Psyche Revived by the Kiss of Love (1789).

why do all the words sound heavier in my native language?

—  @metamorphesque, Yoojin Grace Wuertz (Mother Tongue), Still Dancing: An Interview With Ilya Kaminsky (by Garth Greenwell), Jhumpa Lahiri (Translating Myself and Others), @lifeinpoetry

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tanger 🥹