aesthetic for @mathemaphia
the glide of a fountain pen across paper
wanting to understand the world and your place in it
an organized desk, everything in its place
finding satisfaction in the precision of mathematics
a freshly steeped cup of tea with fragrant steam
your favorite tea mug set out on your desk
splotches of ink on your hands, worn like badges of honor
always hungry for knowledge, eager to know more about everything
books that make you contemplate your own existence
novels by kafka by your bed
using math as a lens through which to decipher the world and its rules
gazing out the window on long car rides
language textbooks - french, german, korean - stacked by your desk
finding order and patterns in the world
a contemplative soul, mulling over big philosophical ideas
pages filled with long strings of calculations
muttering verb conjugations as you work on memorization
wanting everyone to see beauty in math the way you do, even though it’s considered a frightening subject
researching your favorite authors
studying language, shaping your mouth around unfamiliar words
textbooks filled with highlighted texts, doodles, annotations and coffee/tea stains from late night study sessions
dry roses on your desks, bookshelves and in random books which you open and discover several pressed flowers
using old cracked teacups as candle stick holders
textbooks being the only books you're not afraid to dogear
dozens of messy to-do lists, scratching the finished tasks and choosing to ignore the remaining ones because you're too busy celebrating your accomplishments
panic because you still have to do the remaining ones
finally taking a breath cuz ur to do list is completely scratched out and you can sleep peacefully
nvm you stayed up all night reading
"The most scary part of TMA is the blanket episode- The most scary part of TMA is Jane Prentiss - The most scary part of TMA is the Not! Them creatures -"
Wrong! The most scary part of TMA when you're watching for the first time and realize far too deep in that you really should be have been trying to remember peoples names.
swearing heavily while solving questions; going for a walk and ending up contemplating how i’m ever going to crack my entrance exam while sipping diet coke; blasting instrumentals on speaker to out-noise the construction work going on right outside my window; breathing heavily after a swim, gazing up at the sky that looks like an erin hanson painting; singing all izz well in my morning shower and crying along to give me some sunshine in my evening one; closing the blinds in the afternoon because this is summer, the sun takes a toll on my skin and sunscreen takes a toll on my wallet; missing offline classes; the only thing about my new textbooks that makes me happy is their smell; subsisting on cold coffee and indori poha; by the way, what does a social life look like?
Anatomy is so fun I wish I could just spend hours studying only anatomy.
It takes that long, anyway.
i feel like a person again. i feel real as i taste the salt on my skin after a run. i feel the bitter winter current seeping through my bones. i feel the soft kiss of my quilt at every point it touches on my body as it embraces me in the cold, i see the cranberry and amber hues of the sunrise every morning as i wake to chase the sun, and i smell the fragrant aroma of the garlic cloves as they sizzle in olive oil in my pan while i cook dinner for my family. winter i love you.
Muslim Dark Academia Things:
Being torn between the black hijab and the slightly less black hijab
Islamic architecture being so beautiful it found its way unto western countries
Islamic. Art.
Learning arabic calligraphy.
Staying up late, hearing athan (call for prayer) and going "holy shit its already fajr (sunrise prayer) ?????"
Not being able to sleep after Fajr (sun rise prayer) and going into a wiki search rabbit hole
Wanting to sleep after fajr (sun rise prayer) but reading one chapter and then the suns already out there and the birds have the audacity to chirp chirp ughh
Not everyone gets an Assalamu Alaikum (peace and blessing be upon you) because some people just don't deserve wishing them peace
Everyone gets a hey tho
Petting kittens because its sunnah (the prophet used to do it, and its preferable that we do although not an obligation) and you get hasanat (at least you try to convince yourself that's why)
Always having pocket change for charity cause you never know
Tiny but elaborate copies of the qur'an in case you get five minutes of silence
Being at peace 24/7 because God's mercy is bestowed upon all
No more peace your paper is late
Reading nawader (little stories from the middle ages! Like Kaleela Wa Dimna)
Mourning the library of baghdad, that had so many books that when it was destroyed the river turned black with ink
mourning the library of Alexandria
Having a favourite mo'athen (one who calls for prayer) or quare'a (one who recites Quran)
Messy Arabic notes. Studying nahw (arabic grammar.) Arabic prose.
Khalil Jabran (mostly known as Khalil Gibran) and people who pronounce his name correctly (no problem of you cant tho!)
Arabic poetry
Arabic poetry
Arabic poetry
Reading Shakespeare critically
"With every hardship comes ease"
"The best amongst you are those who own knowledge and share it"
Kohl just because
Reading about the golden age of islam and wishing you lived there
Knowing that your race, gender, colour, language, religion wouldn't have stopped you from learning back then because islam is a religion of equality
Having so many badass women to look up to
That bellowing abaya/bisht/dishdasha/khimar (middle eastern clothing? It's real hard to explain/desctibe these guys but they're very very loose for dramatic effect and modesty) that is just sooo pretty and mysterious
Arriving at your masjid just on time for prayer
The imam (one who leads prayer) asking people to "fill the gaps and straighten the lones"
That one sheikh that gives beautiful lectures/sermons and makes you want to learn even more
That other sheikh that tells you stories so elaborately you forget who you are
THE SHEIKH THAT IS BOTH OF THESE BEAUTIFUL SOULS
Going to harems with your fellow sisters
Smiling at people and complimenting them because its sadakah (charity you get rewarded for) and because it low key makes you happy
Knowing every little thing is rewarded
Reading from all your copies of the qur'an so that none of them feels lonely
Buying a lavish prayer matt because why not
"The prophet had a cat, mom, its sunnah" (sunnah means things the prophet did that we get good deeds to do)
I'll post a part 2 when anything comes to mind <3
Feel free to add more! In fact I would be over the moon if you do!
Gift ideas for arabic academia?
Thats really sweet of you!
Arabic calligraphy equipment
Silk/satin headscarves (esp for the curlyheads!)
Ornate silver rings
Their favourite diwan (poetry collection revolving around a certain topic/ aesthetic) for their favourite poet
Jewellery
Qahwa (or gahwa or ahwa) sets
Tea sets with arabic calligraphy decroations on them
A sword if youre rich (i demand one too, as it was i who guided you into buying one)
Pretty silk slippers
koḥl asmad and a pretty makḥala
Henna and equipment
Classics (the hardcovers with ornate gold shit we love them)
A tapestry
Nawader collection
Bake them something you know they love (not necessarily arabic da but you can make it so)
Oud/bokhour
Qithara/mizwad/any traditional instrument they prefer
Big earrings/bracelets/head jewllery thingy but i forgot its name
Dancing outfit ;)
Persian rugs/carpets
That's all i can think about atm! Feel free to add more <3
I'm a little upset at the lack of stem in dark academia, so here's my list of aesthetic science things, STEM ACADEMIA (dark edition)
• relating a little too much to the mad scientist trope (and telling everyone "no, no I would never do anything like that, I just want to help people" but like imagine if we could resurrect people)
• rereading Frankenstein every year, specifically in the month of october
• "why is STEAM a thing?? Art? who that?"
• minoring in classics because you still like mythology and history and reading
• finding the science in art (why things make you feel a certain way, how they do that, what effect they've had on health and medicine) and finding the art in science (isn't it incredible that dna knows how to tell plant cells to break down chlorophyll and this makes the gorgeous fall colors)
• reading every book that mentions at all a scientist or has a character who is interested in stem (they are few and far between)
• enjoying the structure of math and engineering but thriving off the chaos that is science
• where are the mad scientist women? I need this
• people being surprised when you tell them you're majoring in something "really science-y" after being an absolute bookworm and musician all throughout your childhood and having to defend what your heart desires (no? just me?)
• CARDIGANS are peak stem culture
• "why aren't you a doctor? why aren't you going to med school? why are you doing insert reasonable science degree here and not becoming a doctor? don't you want to help people?"
• wanting to go into genetics but wanting to go into botany but wanting to go into theoretical physics but wanting to go into astronomy but wanting to go into geology but wanting to go into chemical engineering but wanting to go into astrophysics but wanting to go into wildlife biology
• for some reason having a huge obsession with morals, ethics, and philosophy
• watching true crime just for the forensic bits
• watching mythbusters as a kid
• LISTENING TO TCHAIKOVSKY, BEETHOVEN, BACH, AND MOZART those are the stem classical musicians change my mind
• doing all your homework and frying your brain then getting to read a simple book that really refreshes you
• you had the astronomy and archaeology obsession as a kid
• listening to synth wave instrumentals
• MITOCHONDRIA IS THE POWERHOUSE OF THE CELL
• when people tell you that one cool science fact they learned and you try your hardest to encourage them but girl that wasn't even close to being correct
• ScienceDirect and PubMed are your go-to databases
• having lots of intrusive, existential thoughts that sometimes suffocate you, because you know better than most how much dark dna there is or how small we really are in the universe or knowing how much math explains and how little room there is for free will or thinking about how we are made up of mostly four types of atoms
• reading science or math textbooks for fun
• reading the fountainhead by ayn rand when you were way too young and didn't understand it but now parts of it emerge from the depths of your memory and you are struck by the power
• watching marvel and x-men and jurassic park just because
• reading sci-fi because it's the closest thing to real science in literature
• knowing a little too much about radiation poisoning and how to really dissolve a body in chemicals
• wearing white to make up for how little your professors make you wear lab coats
(sorry, I don't know that much about technology and I'm a literal grandpa when it comes to using it myself)
fill your soul with stars
Quick time lapse of me studying the femoral triangle ^