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Dark Academia 3 - de vestibus agamus - the conversation continues

840 replies

highlandcoo · 02/10/2024 22:17

Hello again to everyone from the last thread, and welcome to anyone who enjoys talking about this aesthetic .. and if you have photos to share even better!

Now that the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness is upon us, it might be time to start considering our autumn and winter wardrobes.

Last year as well as discussing leather lace-up boots, vintage handbags, antique brooches and many other desirable items, we pondered how to successfully pursue a DA aesthetic at work, at the theatre and generally out and about (without straying into Carry On Librarian territory, as one PP memorably commented) Grin
I learned about the Wrong Shoe Concept, and the Third Thing Rule .. every day is a school day!

However DA is much more than clothes, and we also shared our favourite childhood books .. memories of robins leading us through gates into secret gardens, the fiery red-haired independence of Anne of Green Gables, and our longing to go to boarding school, get into scrapes and partake in midnight feasts.

Thanks to our erudite posters, we learned about romantic Scottish history exploits recorded in 18th century documents, and considered the injustice of male family members being able to lock up women whose emotions became inconvenient, as well as discussing many inspiring women both in RL and in film.

And we debated the most DA place we've ever visited .. Oxford and Edinburgh featured strongly; in fact there was a suggestion that a perfect place for our DA AGM would be The Witchery in Edinburgh ..

If curling up in a wing-backed chair in front of a log fire, with candles flickering, sipping tea from a china mug while reading Pride and Prejudice or A Room of One's Own sounds appealing, this thread might be for you. Or if you just like the clothes, that works too.

OP posts:
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Notsosecrethistory · 21/09/2025 11:32

What are we reading? I'm just about to start reading Babel, and wondered what was on everyone's bedside* at the moment...

*with regards to books, ha!

evtheria · 21/09/2025 14:20

Just finished the new Slough House, and am continuing to read John Wyndham’s works. I only read The Day of the Triffids for the first time this summer, really enjoyed it and have hunted down more in the Penguin collection.

@NotsosecrethistoryWill be interested to hear what you think of Babel. I read that and Yellowface, and will borrow Katabasis when it’s free at the library, but I’m not sure I’m as blown away by her writing as her overall achievements (she seems a real powerhouse!).

Notsosecrethistory · 21/09/2025 14:26

@evtheria as an author they seem to be really marmite! I'm excited though, I love a chunky book... but I am on a course, so I need to wrap up the academia before I can get into the DA reading!

applecatchers36 · 21/09/2025 17:07

The Glass House by Eve Chase it's a family historical mystery hoping to finish in next few days..

weareallcats · 21/09/2025 17:38

I enjoyed Babel, but didn’t like Yellowface - very different vibes!

I’m making my way through Robert Aickman’s stories and enjoying them.

IlovetoKnitandRead · 23/09/2025 17:09

Babel for me too! I dislike Yellowface also. I am enjoying Babel so far but have read Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid in-between as it was a library book that I had reserved. Really enjoyed it.

Arraminta · 23/09/2025 17:32

Greetings. I'm just starting The Silence Factory by Bridget Collins and I'm already totally beguiled. She writes the most perfect dark academic-esque novels. I absolutely loved The Binding and The Betrayals by her too. Her books are written to be read by midnight candlelight in a stone cottage on the moors.

IlovetoKnitandRead · 04/10/2025 23:11

The wind is howling here. I have been reading Babel today and also watching A Discovery of Witches while knitting a brown wool and mohair sleeveless top. All very 'dark academia,'

Notsosecrethistory · 05/10/2025 10:16

IlovetoKnitandRead · 04/10/2025 23:11

The wind is howling here. I have been reading Babel today and also watching A Discovery of Witches while knitting a brown wool and mohair sleeveless top. All very 'dark academia,'

Are you me? 😂
Actually, I can't knit... but the rest is accurate!

IlovetoKnitandRead · 05/10/2025 16:21

Really enjoying A Discovery of Witches, we watched the first season years ago but have only just got Sky again so can watch all three now. Not sure about Babel yet. I am getting annoyed by Robin and I still don't really understand the silver bars ( I am up to the start of his second year now.

weareallcats · 05/10/2025 17:45

IlovetoKnitandRead · 05/10/2025 16:21

Really enjoying A Discovery of Witches, we watched the first season years ago but have only just got Sky again so can watch all three now. Not sure about Babel yet. I am getting annoyed by Robin and I still don't really understand the silver bars ( I am up to the start of his second year now.

I enjoyed ADOW except the casting of Matthew (who I really dislike as a character anyway, without him also being a bit of a weedy weak chin). I much prefer the women in the book/show in general though.

weareallcats · 05/10/2025 17:47

Oh yes, and the silver in Babel is certainly not the most exciting magical concept in literature but, if I recall correctly, the reader learns more about it as Robin and his gang do.

Notsosecrethistory · 05/10/2025 21:08

I am only just starting Babel - I got influenced (ha!) and read Alchemised first. On it now though...

Roastiesarethebestbit · 05/10/2025 22:57

I’ve come to join you for both fashion and literary inspiration.

weareallcats · 06/10/2025 08:32

Notsosecrethistory · 05/10/2025 21:08

I am only just starting Babel - I got influenced (ha!) and read Alchemised first. On it now though...

Was Alchemised any good? It sounds promising.

I’ve just started Ghost Story by Peter Straub - it’s oddly compelling, even though I don’t usually go for books by and about men.

weareallcats · 06/10/2025 08:32

Roastiesarethebestbit · 05/10/2025 22:57

I’ve come to join you for both fashion and literary inspiration.

Hello!

RunSlowTalkFast · 15/10/2025 15:41

I keep considering reading Babel but I'm not great with fantasy/magic stuff. I prefer my dark academia books to be more thriller/murder mystery genre. Currently reading In My Dreams I Hold a Knife.

In other news I just bought some tan corduroy trousers from Vinted. Looking forward to their arrival!

RunSlowTalkFast · 15/10/2025 15:44

Also working my way through In These Hallowed Halls: A Dark Academia Anthology.

weareallcats · 15/10/2025 18:32

RunSlowTalkFast · 15/10/2025 15:41

I keep considering reading Babel but I'm not great with fantasy/magic stuff. I prefer my dark academia books to be more thriller/murder mystery genre. Currently reading In My Dreams I Hold a Knife.

In other news I just bought some tan corduroy trousers from Vinted. Looking forward to their arrival!

The magic is fairly low key - it is closer to magic realism than all out fantasy - it is more of an alternative past with the discovery of a science/technology that can be accessed by anyone with a particular ability in language. It is much more about society, power, racism and sexism on the whole.

weareallcats · 15/10/2025 18:35

I am reading Withered Hill, which is not really DA (folk horror), but I am really enjoying it.

RunSlowTalkFast · 16/10/2025 16:08

weareallcats · 15/10/2025 18:35

I am reading Withered Hill, which is not really DA (folk horror), but I am really enjoying it.

Just looked this one up, sounds good! Are you enjoying it?

weareallcats · 16/10/2025 19:16

RunSlowTalkFast · 16/10/2025 16:08

Just looked this one up, sounds good! Are you enjoying it?

Yes, really enjoying it. It is quite an easy read, despite some of the content, and is a page turner.

TressiliansStone · 19/10/2025 16:46

I'm still in non-fiction with the Life and Letters of Maria Edgeworth, a family friend of Boulton.

In 1822 Maria was staying with the Baillie sisters – Agnes and Joanna the novelist – and wrote to her sister Lucy.

Agnes took to heart a kitten, who was very fond of her. This kitten, the first night she slept in her room, on wakening in the morning looked up from the hearth at Agnes, who was lying awake, but with her eyes half-shut, and marked all puss's motions; after looking some instants, puss jumped up on the bed, crept softly forward and put her paw, with its glove on, upon one of Miss Baillie's eyelids and pushed it gently up; Miss Baillie looked at her fixedly, and puss, as if satisfied that her eyes were there and safe, went back to her station on the hearth and never troubled herself more about the matter.

Notsosecrethistory · 22/10/2025 19:36

@weareallcats I don't know what to make of Alchemised! I enjoyed it in a vacuum, but there's lots of chat about it - a HP fan fic, glorifying SA (I don't really think it was glorified, but it is included as part of a narrative between two characters, so avoid if that is a triggering topic, along with many other content warnings) so it is not without controversy, but there is a lot of magic and world-building, which I found to be well written.