Mainromanoff - Anna

dark academia movies + books:

this post is from my personal tbr and to watch lists so i haven’t seen and read everything on this list but most are talked about in the dark academia community, it’ll help you understand the aesthetic better/immerse yourself in it. also some of the movies are absolute rubbish but they’re nice to laugh at so :) enjoy 

movies:

loving vincent (2017)

only lovers left alive (2013)

the dreamers (2003)

mary shelley (2017)

wilde (1997)

wuthering heights (1992)

the beguiled (2017)

picnic at hanging rock (1975)

another country (1984)

the riot club (2014)

the oxford murders (2008)

kill your darlings (2013)

dead poets society (1989)

stoker (2013)

the talented mr. ripley (1999)

little women (2019)

portrait of a lady on fire (2019)

the goldfinch (2019)

maurice (1987)

the picture of dorian gray (do Not watch the 2009 one, it is very cursed)

books:

paradise lost by john milton 

if we were villains by m. l. rio

the secret history by donna tartt

the goldfinch by donna tartt

the little friend by donna tartt 

the picture of dorian gray by oscar wilde

the strange case of dr jekyll and mr hyde by robert louis stevenson 

killing commendatore by haruki murakami

the bell jar by sylvia plath 

ariel by sylvia plath 

the book of disquiet by fernando pessoa 

inferno by dante 

who killed mr. chippendale by mel glenn

and then there were none by agatha christie 

the winter of our discontent by john steinback 

the lake of dead languages by carol goodman

wuthering heights by emily brontë

the master and margarita by mikhail bulgakov 

brideshead revisited by evelyn waugh 

the song of achilles by madeline miller 

circe by madeline miller 

a separate peace by john knowles 

the well of loneliness by radclyffe hall 

maurice by e. m. forster 

among the bohemians by virginia nicholson 

jonathan strange and mr norrell by susanna clarke 

the greek myths by robert graves*

the twelve olympians by charles seltman*

mythos by stephen fry*

heroes by stephen fry*

the count of monte cristo by alexandre dumas 

the magicians trilogy by lev grossman 

ninth house by leigh bardugo 

interview with the vampire by anne rice 

the talented mr. ripley by partricia highsmith 

lords and ladies by sir terry pratchett 

memoirs of hadrian by marguerite yourcenar 

spqr: a history of ancient rome by mary beard*

homosexuality and civilisation by louis crompton*

house of leaves by mark z. danielewski 

the iliad by homer

odyssey by homer

metamorphoses by ovid

the oresteia by aeschylus

*these books are more like research sources

if you want more specific lists like gothic books, mystery books, magic/fantasy related, etc. let me know!

Crap. Yet again, I forgot to seize the day.

Chunky flakes

this is unfair. it’s always, “hi, how are you?” and never, “you have bewitched me, body and soul, and i love, i love, i love you. and wish from this day forth never to be parted from you” :(

hi just a reminder this was the decade that lemony snicket wrote ‘I will love you as misfortune loves orphans, as fire loves innocence and as justice loves to sit and watch everything go wrong’ and I think it is the greatest love poem in existence

photo: @jjj_.in on instagram

push yourself to get up before the rest of the world - start with 7am, then 6am, then 5:30am. go to the nearest hill with a big coat and a scarf and watch the sun rise.

push yourself to fall asleep earlier - start with 11pm, then 10pm, then 9pm. wake up in the morning feeling re-energized and comfortable.

get into the habit of cooking yourself a beautiful breakfast. fry tomatoes and mushrooms in real butter and garlic, fry an egg, slice up a fresh avocado and squirt way too much lemon on it. sit and eat it and do nothing else.

stretch. start by reaching for the sky as hard as you can, then trying to touch your toes. roll your head. stretch your fingers. stretch everything.

buy a 1L water bottle. start with pushing yourself to drink the whole thing in a day, then try drinking it twice.

buy a beautiful diary and a beautiful black pen. write down everything you do, including dinner dates, appointments, assignments, coffees, what you need to do that day. no detail is too small.

strip your bed of your sheets and empty your underwear draw into the washing machine. put a massive scoop of scented fabric softener in there and wash. make your bed in full.

organise your room. fold all your clothes (and bag what you don’t want), clean your mirror, your laptop, vacuum the floor. light a beautiful candle.

have a luxurious shower with your favourite music playing. wash your hair, scrub your body, brush your teeth. lather your whole body in moisturiser, get familiar with the part between your toes, your inner thighs, the back of your neck.

push yourself to go for a walk. take your headphones, go to the beach and walk. smile at strangers walking the other way and be surprised how many smile back. bring your dog and observe the dog’s behaviour. realise you can learn from your dog.

message old friends with personal jokes. reminisce. suggest a catch up soon, even if you don’t follow through. push yourself to follow through.

think long and hard about what interests you. crime? sex? boarding school? long-forgotten romance etiquette? find a book about it and read it. there is a book about literally everything.

become the person you would ideally fall in love with. let cars merge into your lane when driving. pay double for parking tickets and leave a second one in the machine. stick your tongue out at babies. compliment people on their cute clothes. challenge yourself to not ridicule anyone for a whole day. then two. then a week. walk with a straight posture. look people in the eye. ask people about their story. talk to acquaintances so they become friends.

lie in the sunshine. daydream about the life you would lead if failure wasn’t a thing. open your eyes. take small steps to make it happen for you.

ethereal things to stay alive for

flowers blooming

hugging someone after a long time

wandering in bookstores

late night talks

listening to vinyl records

walking through forests

the smell of rain

dancing late at night

fairy lights

seeing jellyfish

listening to nature in the morning

flower meadows