Hello!! I’ve Been Trying To Find Pakistani/Pashtun Owned Dark Academia Accounts Because There Are Really

Dark Academia Gift Ideas!

I was looking for some dark academia gift idea lists, but couldn’t find any, so i’ve compiled my own list of affordable gifts for a anyone who loves the DA aesthetic! Feel free to reblog to add to the list! :)

• notebooks with cute designs (Paperblanks make beautiful ones, but are on the more expensive side)

• a fountain pen

• DIY or shop-bought quill

• accessories such as scarves, socks or jewellery (cute scarves and jewellery can be found in second hand shops or on etsy)

• vintage/antique knick-knacks like tins, spectacles, drinking glasses, ornaments etc

• books! I recommend looking in charity/second hand shops for cheap books

• candles or incense or accessories like candle holders etc

• a tea set, or part of a tea set (teapot, cup and saucer)

Reza Rahimi | رضا رحیمی لسکو (Iranian, b. 1979) – Painting, 2014

south asian dark academia

Reading The Kite Runner, and came across this:

“I remember something Baba said about Pashtuns once. We may be hardheaded, and i know we’re far too proud, but, in the hour of need, believe me there’s no one you’d rather have at your side than a Pushtun” 

So accurate it hurts

“Be patient where you sit in the dark, the dawn is coming.”

Maulana Rumi

“یوه ژبه هیڅ کله بس نده — One language is never enough.”

— Pashto Proverb 

things to include in a letter to your overseas pen-pal

that one sticker you were saving

pressed flowers from a walk around your neighborhood

book quotes that made you laugh

paint swatches of colors that remind you of them

the local time of sunrise and sunset 

poems and movie quotes

meaningful song lyrics

polaroids of your desk space, or the view out of your window

cutouts of sheet music you used to play

phrases in your native language with translations

magazine cutouts

pages of old books folded into a small envelope

a secret about your hometown

newspaper clippings from the day of writing

coins from your country 

maps or drawings of your city

recounts of strangers you saw

teabag of your favorite tea

colorful stamps

dark academia critics

dark academia is like one of my favourite aesthetics however there are certain things/issues that bother me about this whole aesthetic

1. where is the diversity?

have you ever come across any dark academia posts that included any people of color. everywhere I go, all I see is elite white kids. I would die to see japanese/korean/indian /pakistani/ african/ middle eastern dark academia students often wearing their ethnic attires and embracing their cultures.

2. eat the rich

I know the whole theme about dark academia is ivy league/ rich elite students but imagine middle class dark academia srudents who are not necessarily clad in expensive attires rather wearing clothes bought from the thrift stores studying on scholarships, who own second hand books and antique/vintage items from some local flee markets or thrift stores.

3. fuck that Greek philosophy

not that I hate Greek philosophy but all dark academia posts do talk about is western art/architechture/ mythologies / history and philosophy etc. I would love to read and discuss persian poetry and history , south asian mythologies, japanese/Arabic/korean calligraphy, Muslim world's art and architecture.

4. what's up with that nerd shit.

why are dark academia students always protrayed as nerds, reserve, quiet, hates to have a social life, perfectionist who can't afford to get any grades lower than As etc like even the best students have their ups and downs, what matters is the passion and the will to do better. It's okay to have a life outside books, to have romantic dates, to prank, to hangout with yout friends, to skip classes, to be unorganized...its more realistic.

Dark Academia for Brown People

 Most people, when they think of dark academia is books (that’s the whole point) and ancient languages such as Latin or Ancient Greek. I’m here to tell you that you all are SLEEPING on brown culture. Love that is conveyed in the languages of Persian and Urdu (my native language) crosses borders. Sure, Shakespeare and Sappho wrote great pieces of literature but the stories and poems of Rumi, Manto, Hafez and Iqbal have a special place in my heart. 

Some of my favourites are:- (all are translated)

Sit at my grave with wine and a minstrel in a trance, so your smell will raise me from the dead.

HAFEZ

My lover’s sadness lit a fire in my heart that burned my chest, there was a fire in his house that burned the nest.

HAFEZ

O the day turned night, what a shame, a gazelle of kindness a lion became, my partner and lover grew tired of my words and prayers too.

RUMI

These are my personal favourites. I can always make a longer post if you all want.

Female poets deserve a whole other post.

As someone who goes to an English-Medium school, we are always taught to converse in English, see the language as a part of yourself but deny a place to Urdu. As I grow older, I have come to appreciate my identity and so should all my fellow brown people. Take pride in your mother tongue.

Arabic dark academia consists of drinking black Arabic coffee while listening to um Kalthoum and learning about constellations.

Light Arabic academia is wearing white loose conservative clothing, sipping sweet mint tea, and humming 'ahwak' to oneself in a sunny garden.