## . . . M3SS¥ D1VID3RS ★

You don’t exist to please other people. You don’t exist to fit in a mold. You exist for yourself, and no one else.

Don’t you dare lose that magic in your heart young sprite. Don’t ever stop running barefoot in the fields, climbing trees, reading old fairy stories, don’t lost that childhood whimsy and innocence, and ease of belief! Don’t let yourself be so clouded in the mechanics and machinery that is every day life that you lose that wild spirit and wonderful wicked mischievousness. Don’t lose your spontaneity and sense of adventure. One day when your old and your body fails you, it will be the sparkle in your eye, and the grin on your face, knowing you didn’t live just a life, you lived the most wild and extravagant one of all.

As you write, you will naturally improve. Do not wait until you think you are good enough to start. You are always good enough to start improving.

favorite video essays:

Why the Shining is terrifying

Why Perfect Blue is Terrifying

The VVitch explained

What makes a movie scary?

Decolonizing Games

Everything ACTUALLY wrong with Silent Hill 2: Revelation

The naked Lady that changed the rules of art

Rogue One vs Star Wars: the fault in our Star Wars

Sandra Bullock & the White Savior trope

Why the costumes in Little Women did NOT deserve an oscar

Why the music in the live action disney remakes is worse than you thought

Coco's feel-good oppression

Disney Princess: reality through fantasy

Pan's Labyrinth: the disobedient fairytale

The mythology of Princess Mononoke

teenagers have figured out that you can fake a positive covid test and get out of school using lemon juice and the newspapers sending me push notifications about this seem to expect my reaction to be “oh no those horrible youths” when it is in fact “lmao based af”

Sylvia Plath

“Communicate. That’s the biggest and best first thing you can ever do. Whether it be with a teacher, sibling, friend, parent or even a counselor. Being able to communicate is the first step to your life getting better. It doesn’t have to be even talking; it can be a letter or email or text…let people know what’s going on in your life, your thoughts and emotions. People can and will help you, you just need to search them out. Oh and one last thing, never EVER let someone bring you down. You’re you, and you is always good enough. Never stray from who you are because you never know who will come along and want and love “you”.”

— - Marc M. (Brampton, ON, Canada)

Dark Academia is a complex aesthetic... Let's all think of as many sub genres of DA as we can. A lot come to mind, right? In this post I've tried to narrow some down. Hope you enjoy :) (& perhaps you might find the sub genre of DA that best suits you) ~ THE 1940s ACADEMIC~ These folks don't necessarily have a passion for ancient history or the classics… instead, they spend their time researching The Great War as thoroughly as possible. They wear brick red lipstick no matter the occasion. If you look around their home, you may find a collection of portable typewriters, or perhaps an envelope filled with old photographs of their parents or forgotton acquaintances. Their go-to wardrobe colour is either a rich brown or an army green. Cigars are their best friends, just like their idol, the newly elected prime minister, Winston Churchill. ~THE GOTHIC POET~ This person has as many candles as they do hairs on their head. True to their name, they spend hours writing elaborate lines of poetry, usually not bothering to change out of their lacy night gown, with ruffled cuffs and puffy sleeves. They are confident, flamboyant, & a sucker for Pre-Raphelite paintings. While their friend, «1940s Academic» happily taps their foot along to The Andrews Sisters, they prefer to stare at themselves dramatically in their looking glass, blasting Mozart until their stained glass windows begin to tremble. ~THE GENTLE FLORIST~ (Light Academia) A typical «Gentle Florist» will wake on rainy spring mornings & peacefully pour themselves a steaming cup of mint tea. They spend their evenings with a light read, accompanied by their cat & the warm glow of their vintage floor lamp. If they are religious, they like to help out with charity events at their place of worship. If they are not, they happily volunteer wherever they are needed on weekends. They like to have lunch with their friend «Gothic Poet» although their re-enactments of Romeo & Juliet can get tiresome after a while. Their wardrobe colours are dark greens, browns, tans & creamy whites. ~THE MAD WRITER~ (Chaotic Academia) A strong black coffee always helps to wake this academic up in the morning. They stumble out of bed late after an intense night of scribbling out ideas for plots and characters. They seem to fixate on the prospect of murder, which their secret lover, «Gentle Florist», finds slightly suspicious. Their room is littered with paper. Is that a receipt or an important writer's note lying beside the antique camera? We might just never know. They hate most people, especially crying babies on the train. They are brutally cold & sarcastic, but people can't stop falling for them. Their wardrobe colours are black, blood red, cold white & the occasional navy blue. ~THE VICTORIAN EXPLORER~ (Rachel Maksy has a great Victorian Treehouse vidéo which is a perfect example of this aesthetic) Picture a vast room, its surfaces clad with antique brass artefacts. Things like old gramophones, flashlights, clocks, globes & magnifying glasses. There are maps pinned on every wall, & old atlases in foreign languages amongst yellowed illustrations of the English coastlines. Now picture the person who inhabits this room. They love old hats & sunglasses. Perhaps they have tan lines on their arms from when they were out searching for islands in Micronesia. People say this person & «Mad Writer » had a mysterious past, but neither of them ever mention it. Their favourite wardrobe piece is their trademark, a pair of antique boots, perfect for exploring various types of terrain. ~THE INQUISITIVE MYCOLOGIST~ (Cottagecore X Dark Academia) This academic is obsessed with nature, but prefers to live in urban areas. They draw illustrations in the margins of their schoolbooks/ work notes of mushrooms & leaves & will often spend hours in the local library with their potential love interest, « Victorian Explorer », poring over mycology textbooks. Their favourite wardrobe item is of course their dark brown oxfords, with the laces replaced with red ribbons.

for those who do not love their education deeply

you are not 'spoilt'

you are not 'wasting' anything or anyone's time

the educational system is awful & you have every right to speak out against it

a teacher must teach you, but they must also entertain and encourage you. if they do not, that is out of your control

most dark academics are making the best of a bad situation

your mental health matters more than grades

not every subject will thrill & excite you. not enjoying literature, poetry or art doesn't make you a 'fake' academic

you can enjoy a subject without studying it & you have every right to say you enjoy it

barely passing or failing a course is not the end of the world. you will get better, whether that means continuing the course or dropping it for your true passion

sometimes you're not good at something, even if you love it. don't sacrifice your mental & physical health to pass a course that you find impossible, but let yourself enjoy it if you can

remember your worth is not in your grades.

Quick reminder that although what is happening in Ukraine is inhumane , but so is the occupation of palestine, the refugee crisis in syria or the famine in yemen. these trajadies dont just stop bc it's no longer profitable to be concerned by them.

so while you fight for ukraine, don't stop fighting for the other things just because it isn't trending

keep fighting. stay aware.