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The Whiteness of Dark Academia

I love the dark academia genre. Its honestly so cool, in fact, the WIP I’m gonna start after writing my current fantasy is a thriller based on Shakespeare! So let’s talk about a huge issues in the genre: the whiteness

To preface, white characters will always exist, and they should. Just like any other race, treat them as equals. The ‘whiteness’ here isn’t the issue, but the fact that it doesn’t allow space for diverse stories. Or most importantly, people don’t have the mindset to think about stories from different views.  For example:

Languages

Dark Academia is a genre which greatly appreciates the the study of language. Especially ancient ones, like Latin and Greek, or other other languages like French and Italian. Do you notice the trend? It’s all Western. These languages are beautiful, but if you have to know, the most ancient languages are from the East. Sumerian & Sanskrit might not be spoken to modern day but they’re still very nuanced. Tamil is the longest surviving language in history, dating back to 5,000 years and still spoken to this minute. Arabic,Chinese,Egyptian. There are so many languages, so why do we only look at the Western ones?

People:

Dark Academia’s color scheme  generally contains of dark tones. And honestly, who fits Dark Academia more than people who quite literally have the same tones in their skin? (I’m not saying me, but I am). Most depictions of dark academia shows, able-bodied,white males in their early 20s. It could so easily be about a black grandmother  with a sinister secret from her childhood at an all-girls school in the 50s.

Why is it like this?

toxic positivity

the writing community is a great place. Thankfully, unlike many other online communities there aren’t many harmfully negative comments or beliefs. But, that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. The community is positive. A little too positive. 90% of things on here is sugar-coated, and having a different opinion could make you a villain. Which directly leads me to my next point ->

Cancel culture.

Cancel culture.

cancel culture is extremely harmful and toxic. I guess it’s a natural part of the internet. But I find the usage of the word ‘problematic’ well, problematic. Ofc, there are some authors who shouldn’t be supported (JKR), but I find people using the smallest details in stories as offensive and life-threatening. Also, people need to learn to accept apologies and move on. They did something bad?

Okay, it’s wrong . They apologized? Okay, fine, let’s see what they do next. They don’t repeat the mistake and tread more carefully? THEN LET IT GO.

Don’t dwell on it for long, it’s wrong.

Finally, let’s end on a closer note, to my next point:

Too Sensitive.

Everyone on here is too sensitive. It might seem rude, but I genuinely mean it. People whine and make the biggest deal out of the simplest of things. Take a second, breathe. Every single thing is closely entwined, and you can’t expect everything to be neat and perfect. That’s not how it works.

bonus! I love ur wip posts, I need more😩

conclusion

*I,Z,A are my MC initials*

I’ll go first,

I: I’m not like the other girls, I trip over thin air and i’m so qUirKy🤪

-It’s cause my father gave me a curse which causes me to faint every three minutes & everyone hates me cause I’m illegitimate 🥰😍

Z: I’m not like the other girls, I don’t wear pink🤪

-It’s cause I’m an emo assassin who’s being hunted down for her race🥰🥳

A: I’m not like the other girls cause I don’t know how beautiful I am, but I still hate my looks🤪

I once quoted Virgil:

“If I cannot move heaven, I will raise hell”

‘I’m not the like the other girls’

and not

You (Rosalind) have accepted the offer. At night, around 2:00 am, you sneak out. Escaping the strict wardens of the Athena temple, you throw the letter into the river.

You take a deep breath, not looking back and quickly jogging back to the Temple.

But.

Something happens.

A sound. A strange sound of a choking being. You slowly crane your neck.

Behind you, along the banks behind the Athena river, you spot a masked man. With deep black vines framing his eyes and bloodied fangs. He draws closer, the scent of dead rats getting stronger.

On his arm, a symbol burns. A long,sharp tooth blinded by rings.

The New Cult.

Before you can run, he takes his blade to your neck .

Now you have three options:

I : You hit him in his ‘weak spot’ and try to push him down the river

II : You shimmy down/away and attempt to run.

When I tell you Percy Jackson was my childhood, I’m not lying. He’s perfect. Not perfect as in , beautiful hair, best attitude, makes no mistakes. Perfect in a human way. In a mortal way. To have a caring & kind, but most importantly LOYAL friend/lover by your side is EVERY person’s dream. And Percy was truly that. Sour but still with a kind heart. So, Happy Birthday Percy Jackson, The TV Show better do Percy & his story right.