wherethesunrise

[wherethesunrise]

[wherethesunrise]

spiritually I'm living in the timeline where both Megamind and Galavant got the recognition and critical acclaim that they deserved

[wherethesunrise]

I can't stop thinking how totally whipped Magnus Chase is for Alex Fierro. That boy legitimately loves her for than I thought possible for someone to love another person. Literally, every time Alex pays a second of attention to him or gives him vaguely resembling a compliment Magnus literally melts into puddles of sparkles and rainbows I'm so weak!

[wherethesunrise]

anyone please ask your crush out like this

[wherethesunrise]

Sophie’s Dark Academia Rec List

In honour of my favourite genre, have a very personal, very subjective recommendations list!

-        The Secret History (Donna Tartt)

The obvious choice, a classic. In my personal opinion, it’s not perfect and there are better dark academia books out there, but it has massively shaped the genre and therefore deserves recognition. Also, the aesthetic is on point! Read if you want to get a feel for the genre or if you’re simply curious.

-        If We Were Villains (M. L. Rio)

Basically a newer, better The Secret History?? Plenty of similarities, minus certain problematic bits that were present in TSH. Amazing prose, incredible characters, absolutely worth the read. A prime example of dark academia! Read if you love Shakespeare and college settings and compelling characters and drama and just beautiful writing!

-        Black Chalk (Christopher J. Yates)

Also a fairly good example of the genre, but tragically underhyped. Darker than, for example, If We Were Villains. Set at Oxford! Will mess with your head. The characters are not necessarily likeable, but interesting. The writing is fairly complex. Read for a dark academia thriller which takes the unreliable narrator to an impressive new extreme (in a good way!)

-        Truly Devious (Maureen Johnson)

A rare YA dark academia book! Read for murder and mystery and a beautiful boarding school setting as well as a really likeable main character! Due to its nature less dark and somewhat less mature than most of the other books on this list, but if you’re looking for more of a quick and fun dark academia read, this is the one for you!

In a similar vain: The Vanishing Stair (Maureen Johnson)

Cannot actually vouch for this as I haven’t read it yet, but it’s the sequel to Truly Devious and I have heard good things.

-        The Secret Place (Tana French)

MASSIVELY underappreciated dark academia with (gasp) supernatural elements?! The most beautiful prose and funniest dialogue you will ever see. Incredible characters. Again, amazing boarding school setting and close group of female friends! (They will break your heart). Also murder. Also half of the story being told from a detective’s PoV. Read if you value good literature. Just. Read it.

-        The Likeness (Tana French)

Actually, maybe I was kidding before, maybe this book is the most underappreciated dark academia book out there? Either way, it’s my favourite. Within dark academia and within ALL OF THE BOOKS. This is it. The perfect novel. Characters that own my hearts to this day. Writing so beautiful that it had me sobbing uncontrollably on several occasions. The university it is set in is Trinity College Dublin. (Cue me being bitter that I don’t go there every single day for the rest of my life.) Very intriguing mystery, too. Hilarious dialogue. All the emotions. All the heartbreak. Just… I love it so much, okay? <3

-        The Lying Game (Ruth Ware)

Good, very good. Set in a boarding school near the ocean, but unfortunately, only the past tense story line is and we don’t get to see too much of it. Very interesting characters. Much heavier on the dark than the academia. Read if you’re looking for more of a classic murder mystery/thriller and are not too focussed on the academia. Also read for an interesting group of female friends.

-        The Basic Eight (Daniel Handler)

Very promising, but wasn’t my cup of tea at all. The setting is an American High School on the West Coast. The murder isn’t that much of a mystery. I’m mentioning it here because I know that other people love this book, even though I really didn’t. I would say don’t read, but see for yourself, I suppose.

-        The Lessons (Naomi Alderman)

Yes, okay, an interesting one. Set at Oxford, which was amazing. Interesting characters with interesting dynamics. I read it quickly and was quite entertained. But there were certain problematic bits (regarding LGBTQ+ representation and mental illness), so you’ve been warned. Not my fave, but I mostly enjoyed it while reading it.

There are a few more dark academia books on my shelves, which I unfortunately cannot include on this list, as I haven’t read them yet. One of them is “The Lake of Dead Languages” by Carol Goodman. Another is “Brideshead Revisited” by Evelyn Waugh. Might edit this post later to add these and more. xx

UPDATE!! (With slightly longer descriptions this time, because people are actually reading this? Reblogging even? Wow!) 

-        The Lake of Dead Languages (Carol Goodman)

THE ALL-FEMALE DARK ACADEMIA NOVEL WE ALL NEED AND DESERVE…?? The setting is A++. An all-female boarding school in the Adirondack Mountains in New York! There is a lake that features so heavily in the story, it basically counts as a main character. Told from the PoV of a teacher who used to go to the school. There are two close groups of female friends, one in the present timeline, one in the past. Both have dark, dark secrets and both fit the dark academia genre so well! Also, heavy focus on Latin rather than Ancient Greek, which I have all the love for. This one is a gem, so give it a chance!

-        Brideshead Revisited (Evelyn Waugh)

An actual classic, as in… first published in 1945. And it reads like it. The beginning came with beautiful vibes! Our young boy Charles starting his time at Oxford, meeting a lot of pretentious people, including one Lord Sebastian Flyte, who Charles is suspiciously fascinated by. Sebastian is the biggest dork to ever dork, carries around with him an actual teddy bear named Aloysius, the absolute madmen?? But it’s all downhill from there, with alcoholism and war and depressing times… And Oxford only really features in the first half or less.

-        People Like Us (Dana Mele)

Another rare YA dark academia!! Features a group of Mean Girls who one day, when out at night to go swimming, find one of their classmates floating dead in the lake. Which is an excellent dark academia set-up, let’s be honest. Also, sapphic girls, incredible sapphic girls with really complex relationships! Bi main character! A fun and quick read, much like “Truly Devious”. More descriptions of the beautiful boarding school buildings would have been welcome, but at least we got a few! Anyway, go forth and enjoy this little beauty.

-        Party Girls Die in Pearls (Plum Sykes)

Umm… I barely even comprehend this book’s existence? Has a prime dark academia set-up with a murdered girl in Oxford, but I still somehow DNF’d it after about 20 pages?! The main character’s name is Ursula Flowerbutton, and if you think that’s quirky and funny… good for you, you might actually enjoy this book. But you’ll also have to endure descriptions of clothes, oh, so many descriptions of clothes! And for anything unique to Oxford that might make the book fun because only those who know will know… you’ll get a footnote. So actually, everyone will know, with zero effort. Definitely not for me, but if you want to read a glossy magazine style dark academia, knock yourself out, friend!

-        The Night Climbers (Ivo Stourton)

Breath-taking! A piece of beauty! Set at Cambridge (and the campus features heavily!), a main character reminiscent of Richard Papen, an intriguing group of new friends that he would do anything to belong with. Including… climbing the buildings of Cambridge at night? Without proper equipment, just with his hands and feet?? Honestly, out of the books on this list, this one is the closest in style and maturity and characterisation to The Secret History! The writing is absolutely gorgeous, the plot fascinating. And it’s dark academia that features a non-violent crime, which works surprisingly well. All in all: A STUNNER THAT FANS OF THE SECRET HISTORY SHOULD CHECK OUT!!

-        As I Descended (Robyn Talley)

A queer, sapphic Macbeth retelling?? Also a rare YA dark academia with strong supernatural elements?! The representation is on point, with two hispanic main characters, wlw, mlm and one of the girls in the main couple being disabled! The boarding school setting is also on point (and uniquely different as the school building is actually a former plantation in Virginia). This book is so different and so spooky! It wasn’t perfect and some say the retelling didn’t work 100% (I, personally, felt that the plot slowed down a bit), but the atmosphere is amazing and the characters are pretty cool, too!

Not to worry, my quest to find and read as many DA books as possible isn’t over. So this list might be updates again some time in the future! :)

[wherethesunrise]

(instagram: myfairesttreasure)

[wherethesunrise]

If you feel like you’ve seen this alread, that’s normal. This list of recommendation has been previously posted on my first account @praestantias which has been deleted for some reasons. So here I am, reposting it. 

Hating how elitist and eurocentric the dark academia community became, I would truly appreciate that you leave some recommendation of book written by people of color, for I noticed that I am guilty of the eurocentric part, but I am really want to educate myself and read more non-white books. 

Thank you for your suggestions!

[wherethesunrise]

anyone else feel like youtube is getting too fucking comfy w/ the multiple ads before every fuckin video?? 

[wherethesunrise]

Zodiac Signs as “The Secret History” characters:

(That’s a list made by me, a girl who loves The Secret History and is kinda into astrology. Also, that’s just for fun. Feel free to tell me if it suits or not💕)

Richard Papen: Taurus, Cancer

Henry Winter: Virgo, Capricorn

Camilla Macaulay: Libra, Leo

Charles Macaulay: Pisces, Sagittarius

Bunny Corcoran: Gemini, Aries

Francis Abernathy: Aquarius, Scorpio

#the secret history #dark academia #francis abernathy #richard papen #charles macaulay #camilla macaulay #bunny corcoran #henry winter #zodiac #zodiac signs #sun sign #aesthetic #cottagecore #donna tartt #astrology #birth chart #aries #taurus #gemini #cancer #leo #virgo #libra #scorpio #sagittarius #capricorn #aquarius #fandom #lgbt #queer

[wherethesunrise]

"And you wish to be a poet; and you wish to be a lover"

Virginia Woolf

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the scene in dead poets society where todd says "i can take care of myself just fine" and neil goes "no" and todd is taken aback and says "what do you mean, no?" and neil smiles and says "no" softly

[wherethesunrise]

baz in carry on: snow if you hurt this dragon i will literally fucking rip your head off

baz in wayward son: and for my next trick, i will steal a pet cat and drink it

[wherethesunrise]

Signs as Good Omens characters:

-Aries: Brian

-Taurus: Famine

-Gemini: Pepper

-Cancer: Death

-Leo: Crowley

-Virgo: War

-Libra: Azraphale

-Scorpio: Pollution

-Sagittarius:Adam

-Capricorn: Newton

-Aquarius: Anathema

-Pisces: Wensleydale

#crowley #azraphale #good omens #astrology #fire signs #water signs #air signs #earth signs #so yeet #yeehaw #okay i’m gonna stop

[wherethesunrise]

why is this world so rotten

Funny how sex is an irresistible human urge when a man rapes a woman but when a woman gets pregnant and wants an abortion she should have been smarter and thought twice before having sex if she didn’t want a child

[wherethesunrise]

Earlier today

Kat, Dom, Mel and Emily: *Annunce a fourth season of Wynonna Earp*

Me: *Bursts into the room* I CAME AS SOON AS I HEARD

#wynonna earp #fight for wynonna #waverly earp #earpers #nicole haught #tim rozon #melanie scrofano #dominique provost #katherine barrell #emily andras

[wherethesunrise]

Hogwarts houses headcanons

Ravenclaws: Sarcastic and ironic little pieces of trash.

Hufflepuffs: Memes addicts.

Slytherins: They wrote (and are still writing) something like an encyclopedia for insults, from the funniest to the meanest.

Gryffindors: They let first years discover the reason they should never insult a Ravenclaw by convincing them to go and insult them. idk why it seems real to me

#hogwarts #ravenclaw #hufflepuff #slytherin #gryffindor #harry potter #ron weasley #ginny weasley #draco malfoy #romione #harmione #fandom #jk rowling #ships #otp #headcanon #jokes #humor #funny #fandom tag #houses

[wherethesunrise]

okay but adam silvera and becky albertalli are literally out here redefining what the meaning of a happy ending is. i wholeheartedly believe in the power of the ending to what if it’s us and even though it wasn’t what I expected of the ending, there has been no point where I have been disappointed. arthur and ben’s “ending” is not even an end… they have so many roads and avenues they could possibly go down and that feels so much more real to me than any traditional happy ending. they have no idea what’s coming for them or where they stand really, but that’s what life is and it’s beautiful