Dark Academia - Blog Posts
He whom love touches not walks in darkness.
Heartless by Marissa Meyer
☆☆☆☆☆
An absolute must read.
"Long before she was the terror of wonderland, the infamous Queen of Hearts, she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love."
This novel brings readers excitement and illicit romance between two star crossed lovers.
The protagonist, Katherine, is the daughter of a noble and only wants to open a bakery to share her love of pastries with the folks of wonderland. But fate has other plans when she is suddenly told of the foolish King's desire to marry her.
I found this novel to be painfully beautiful because as the reader we already know that she is going to marry the king. We know how the story ends. We know and yet we hope stubbornly that she will succeed in her quest to follow her dreams by opening a bakery and be with the one she loves. And when she ultimately fails we can't be surprised; we knew this was coming.
I give this book 5 stars because I will be crying over this book 'till the end of time.
Writing Notes & References
Alchemy ⚜ Antidote to Anxiety ⚜ Attachment ⚜ Autopsy
Art: Elements ⚜ Principles ⚜ Photographs ⚜ Watercolour
Bruises ⚜ Caffeine ⚜ Color Blindness ⚜ Cruise Ships
Children ⚜ Children's Dialogue ⚜ Childhood Bilingualism
Dangerousness ⚜ Drowning ⚜ Dystopia ⚜ Dystopian World
Culture ⚜ Culture Shock ⚜ Ethnocentrism & Cultural Relativism
Emotions: Anger ⚜ Fear ⚜ Happiness ⚜ Sadness
Emotional Intelligence ⚜ Genius (Giftedness) ⚜ Quirks
Facial Expressions ⚜ Laughter & Humour ⚜ Swearing & Taboo
Fantasy Creatures ⚜ Fantasy World Building
Generations ⚜ Literary & Character Tropes
Fight Scenes ⚜ Kill Adverbs
Food: Cooking Basics ⚜ Herbs & Spices ⚜ Sauces ⚜ Wine-tasting ⚜ Aphrodisiacs ⚜ List of Aphrodisiacs ⚜ Food History ⚜ Cocktails ⚜ Literary & Hollywood Cocktails ⚜ Liqueurs
Genre: Crime ⚜ Horror ⚜ Fantasy ⚜ Speculative Biology
Hate ⚜ Love ⚜ Kinds of Love ⚜ The Physiology of Love
How to Write: Food ⚜ Colours ⚜ Drunkenness
Jargon ⚜ Logical Fallacies ⚜ Memory ⚜ Memoir
Magic: Magic System ⚜ 10 Uncommon ⚜ How to Choose
Moon: Part 1 2 ⚜ Related Words
Mystical Items & Objects ⚜ Talisman ⚜ Relics ⚜ Poison
Pain ⚜ Pain & Violence ⚜ Poison Ivy & Poison Oak
Realistic Injuries 1 2 ⚜ Rejection ⚜ Structural Issues ⚜ Villains
Symbolism: Colors ⚜ Food ⚜ Numbers ⚜ Storms
Thinking ⚜ Thinking Styles ⚜ Thought Distortions
Terms of Endearment ⚜ Ways of Saying "No" ⚜ Yoga
Compilations: Plot ⚜ Character ⚜ Worldbuilding ⚜ For Poets ⚜ Tips & Advice
all posts are queued. will update this every few weeks/months. send questions or requests here.
Here’s a playlist of my favorite Russian music for y’all who want to get a taste of another culture and try something new and beautiful
What if we unexpectedly kissed on the stage while performing King Lear before I confessed to the crime you'd committed and went to jail comparing our story to Romeo and Juliette?... Jk.. Unless?..
Oliver, the dysfunctional bisexual
Oh, look, it’s Henry Winter.
Donna Tartt really just left her only female character (okay there's Judy but Judy's just background noise) underdeveloped and gave the gay character the most miserable ending and we're all okay with it? How come?
Am I the only one that kinda hoped that Richard would realise he was in love with Francis and they would come together at the end? I know that was very unlikely, but his 'love' for Camilla always seemed so superficial, and i liked Francis a whole lot better than her, tbh. Anyway, poor Francis
Oh, Francis, my precious baby, you deserved better
Francis Abernathy really had to hit on every single guy in his clique only to hook up with Charles high on weed during his friends funeral whom he had killed.
Really Francis there are plenty of good guys you could fuck
Watching How To Get Away With Murder and reading The Secret History at the same time is such a surreal experience. I've already started to get the characters from the book confused with the characters from the show
Richard Papen is so stupid
His shady friends were like “Hey let’s go for a ride in the night” after they had confided in him that they’d MURDERED someone and didn’t plan on going to jail for it and he was one of the two people that knew about it and Richard was like “yeah sure why not what can POSSIBLY go wrong”
When people talk about dark academia movies they always mention Kill Your Darlings or The Dead Poets Society - i. e. films about men asserting themselves through art and homoerotic subtext between friends.
But I never hear about Mona Lisa Smile. It is a movie that just exudes da vibes + it has complex female characters in an academic setting + and it discusses the inherent mysoginy of the time.
Really, it is a wonderful movie and you're all sleeping on it
I know dark academia, cottagecore and whatnot are very appealing aesthetics, but what if I'm too disorganized, poor and sleep-deprived to maintain them? Can we just create "shithole aesthetic" or something like that?
Do you ever have to suppress the urge to get up put on your nicest clothes apply dark lipstick cast a glance at yourself in the mirror then decidedly grab your purse and just go?
"I am always jealous. I am ALWAYS jealous. No matter how much I have. I am always wanting more. I can't be filled. I can't be enough. I can't get everything. I want more. I want more. And I have so much love, blessings, accomplishments, money, talent----more than I deserve for free and I still chase for more. I still scoff at other's happiness. I still wish for their failures. I pray for their downfall. I want to see them get beautifully destroyed, just because I don't want to see them succeed. I still want what they have even if in reality, I don't need it, I want it so they can't have it. I am so petty, so mean, so ill. No wonder no one likes me. I am filled with so much hate and despair and spite that I could never ever have enough"
~one of my unfinished novels. <3
I am gonna take a break from TSH. Although it was because of that I started this blog. I have been very burned out with that book. I cleaned out my drafts. For the past three years of hyper-fixation made me learn about so many things. I have changed my opinions so much since I made my first post and it made me realise how you not only mature in age but also in your ideas about certain topics and characters.
It won't probably be my final post about TSH, I want to return to it a few years later to see it in a retrospective lens opposed to the rose-tinted one I wore when I completed the book for the first time.
My current thoughts on the characters;
Henry: loved him at first and I love him still. But for different reasons. I loved him when I first read the book because I was too in love with his character to realise the type of person he was. Even agreeing on his terrible decisions (ex: killing Bunny, bacchanal, etc...) but now I love him because he is so unhinged and terrible like the many morally grey/evil characters we all love.
Richard: for some reason I thought he was a good person who got wrapped in all this shit and wasn't bad. Now I think Richard is equally responsible for the tragedy by not reporting a murder and by being an actual accomplice to murder.
Camilla: my thoughts on her have changed the least. At first I used to think she was just the nicest of them. And then it changed to--- she is hiding a secret dark side or more layers we don't get to see.
Francis: I thought he was also the nicest, next to Camilla because he doesn't take any problematic actions. But it is his inability to take actions of his own that makes him bad. Although I still think he is underrated and often misunderstood
Charles: I couldn't stand Charles at first. And I can't just justify everything he did cuz he is terrible. It's just he is often used as a scapegoat to make Henry look better which I hate. He's a menace yes, but so is Henry!!!!!
Julian: I don't have a lot to say cuz we rarely see him. All I can say is he is not the mastermind of the whole story. He's a John Keating gone wrong example.
Bunny: my thoughts on Bunny have changed the most. From HATING him to feeling sympathy and even bad for him. I still won't agree he is somehow the best person out there, cuz he is definitely not. Bunny is hated to an extent that he doesn't deserve. And ounce and for all, he didn't deserve to die (I take back what I said about him in the past)
Judy: ounce a queen 👑 always a queen 👑
So this is it. Thanks TSH for being the bane and reason for my existence since the pandemic.
~ 🕊️
Funny enough the only two people I would be friends with (or interact with) in TSH if I was in the book are-----Bunny and Richard.
I am sorry as much as the others are more interesting. They are also TERRIFYING.
Bunny is an asshole, but I have met and been friends with so many assholes and even Judy likes him, he's the least problematic in the grand scheme of things.
And Richard is basic in a way he will never admit he is, he has his bad moments but he's still not that out of touch.
Do I adore Camilla? Yes. Would I talk to her? Nope, she would scare me. I won't be anywhere near Henry. I'll observe Francis from afar and I'll have a small talk ounce with Charles just cuz he looks like a friendly person. And that's it.
TSH but after Bunny's death, the rest of the gang start receiving mysterious messages about their secrets.
Like the twins are sleeping together, they killed the farmer, Richard isn't rich, Francis and Charles have a thing, they tried to escape jail by going to South America, Richard knew about the farmer but kept quiet, Henry and Camilla are secretly involved, Henry tried to kill Bunny with poison mushrooms, Henry and Julian's little kiss, Julian knew about the bacchanal etc.
At first they got these messages, they kept it to themselves. Finding letters and notes in their bags, pockets and books. They kept it to themselves until they went to Bunny's funeral.
And there one of Bunny's nephews runs to them and gives Henry a note addressed to them in a familiar handwriting.
"Did you think you got me buried under the snow? That you got rid of me? I am not gone bitches, I am still here, and I know everything.
- Kisses, B"
Henry Winter will ALSO tell you to look at wild ferns, and then push you off a cliff while you are looking for said ferns 🌿
Henry Winter will ask you for calculations about poison mushrooms and then try to frame you for killing HIS best friend
Richard missed a bullet, literally, when Henry killed himself. Or he was gonna get framed and into the prison because of Henry.
That's why he always made Richard do his errands at first, he was trying to collect fake evidence.
I want to see a TSH pov but from
✨ Julian's Version ✨
Julian knew about the bacchanal yes but he clearly had no idea that the farmer and Bunny were killed by the others, that's why he left immediately cuz he couldn't deal with the truth and the responsibility. Throughout the book he is confused about where all his students are and what they are doing, why they are acting like that. I just want to see him spiral as he figures things out. To see what they have become. Because of him.
(also I am just interested in Julian, like what was his deal? What was he doing all day? The book didn't have enough Julian. I wanted to know him better)
The way Richard thought all the guys---Henry, Bunny, Charles and Francis (who actually was) were gay in one way or another. Except for Camilla, she can't be sapphic, cuz that'll ruin his fantasy of her..... No wonder he was disappointed about the bacchanal, he missed the orgy he dreamed of 😂😂😂😂
Julian: where's Bunny?
Richard: doing stuff
Julian: where's Henry?
Richard: trying to stop Bunny from doing stuff
Julian: where is Charles?
Richard: trying to stop Henry from stopping Bunny from doing stuff
Julian: Camilla?
Richard: trying to stop Charles from stopping Henry from stopping Bunny from doing stuff
Julian, sighs: let me guess Francis is stopping Camilla?
Richard: no, he got tired of all this, drank a lot of vodka and took a nap
Julian: then why pray are you here?
Richard: I am trying to stop you from stopping Camilla from stopping Charles, from stopping Henry from stopping Bunny from doing stuff.
Julian: I can't believe I pay the college for shit like this....
The reason Bunny gets a shit load of hate despite him being the only one who is NOT an accomplice to murder is because of one simple thing:
His personality.
That is the reason we can't feel bad for him. We as a society have considered Homophobia and sexism one of the worst things you can ever do. Which is true.
Murder is justified in certain situations, especially when it's in a fictional universe/story, not saying Bunny's death was justified, but we can excuse murder----even the law excuses murder at times. It's something grey and understandable in certain situations. We have liked; even loved characters who have killed others simply because it is in a fictional story.
The reason we draw the line at Bunny's behaviour is because, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism/Misogyny as well other forms of discrimination are NEVER excusable. When someone says a slur, you can't excuse that by comparing them in terms of morality with other characters. In modern society, we don't accept slurs and derogatory remarks.
Maybe in the 90's and 2000's when the book was new and fresh, people might not have cared about Bunny's behaviour much, maybe they even sympathize with him and loved him, because it was a DIFFERENT TIME back then. We cannot tolerate things like that anymore and it makes people harder to sympathize with Bunny.
Other than all that, Bunny is annoying a lot of the time. He is not the loveable goof he thinks he is. He scams his friends. He is cocky and arrogant. He is dumb and condescending. He says the worst things at wrong times. He puts people down. He pokes fun at others weaknesses. And the more you see of him the worse he gets. Even to the point you wish he dies.......
And he does. It's in his death that Bunny is more humanized, as most people are, in death.
And it is SOOO frustrating because he is the sanest person in the entire class. The most normal and least indoctrinated in those beliefs.
Bunny Corcoran is a character I wanted to like. But he kept getting on my nerves and I found others more interesting than him. And after reading the book several times I can appreciate him more. Although I don't agree with so many theories about him being a "good" person.
Bunny doesn't need to be good. He doesn't need anyone defending him. He doesn't need excuses for his personality. He is annoying, sometimes endearing; he makes your blood boil and he's still gone too soon. His death is a tragedy. He wanted to live. Forever.
Bunny is Bunny
You love, you hate him, or you don't care about him
His existence is necessary for the story and it's time we don't fight about if he was an angel or the devil
He was a person. A deeply flawed, complex person. And we should appreciate him just for that.
~🕯️🕊️🐇
*TSH memes from incorrect quotes generator part 2*
____________________________________
Richard : Looking left cause you don’t treat me right
Francis : Looking right because you left
Charles : Looking up cause you let me down
Camilla: Looking down cause you fucked up
Henry: What is wrong with you guys
____________________________________
Henry : Favorite horror movie?
Richard : It
Charles : Saw
Camilla: Annabelle
Francis: High School Musical. after watching it I spent all my middle school years terrified that the entire school would start singing something and I’d be the only one who didn’t know the lyrics
____________________________________
Richard : Imagine if someone handed you a box full of all the items you have lost throughout your life
Francis : Self-esteem, haven't seen you in years!
Charles : Oh wow, my childhood innocence! Thank you for finding this!
Camilla: I knew I lost that potential somewhere!
Henry: My moral code, is that you?
Richard :
Richard : I was just gonna show you this cool trunk my mother left me but do you guys need a hug?
_________________________________________