livedinfantasy

My favorite part about writing is that first spark of an idea. It can happen at any time, for any reason. The idea for the Opalite music video crash landed into my imagination when I was doing promo for The Life of a Showgirl. I was a guest on one of my favorite shows, The Graham Norton Show. For those of you who aren’t familiar, it’s a UK late night show where Graham Norton (the insanely charismatic and lovable host) invites a random group of actors, entertainers, musicians, etc to be on his show and we all sit there and chat like it’s a dinner party. They even serve wine. Anyway. I remember thinking I got ridiculously lucky with the group I was paired with. Cillian Murphy, Domhnall Gleeson, Greta Lee, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Lewis Capaldi. All people whose work I’ve admired from afar. When we were all talking during the broadcast, Domhnall made a light hearted joke about wanting to be in one of my music videos. He’s Irish! He was joking! Except that in that moment during the interview, I was instantly struck with an *idea*. And so a week later he received an email script I’d written for the Opalite video, where he was playing the starring role. I had this thought that it would be wild if all of our fellow guests on the Graham Norton show that night, including Graham himself, could be a part of it too. Like a school group project but for adults and it isn’t mandatory. To my delight, everyone from the show made the effort to time travel back to the 90’s with us and help with this video. You might even recognize some friendly faces from The Eras Tour. I got to work with one of my favorite people in the world, Rodrigo Prieto, again! I had more fun than I ever imagined - Made new friends, metaphors, and fashion choices. It was an absolute thrill to create this story and these characters. Shot on film. The Opalite video is out now on Spotify & Apple Music. 

A Dark Academic Dinner Party:

- Hold it in the late evening if you can

- Leave some time after eating to converse in a comfortable area (i.e. not the dining table)

- Have some low mood lighting, but don’t turn your space into a cave

- I recommend lighting some pillar candles, incorporating one scented one with them (I associate dark academia with woody, musky or smoky scents rather than the floral or fruit kind)

- Discuss macabre mysteries! History facts you find interesting! Divert your conversation away from gossip

- Make cocktails (or mocktails) for your guests

- Debates are always fun, make sure they don’t get too impassioned

- Play soft jazz, classical, piano or violin music lightly in the background (I like Agnes Obel, Joep Beving, Lambert, Debussy & Abel Korzeniowski)

- Swap the bowl of Cheez-Its for olives, samphire or canapés

- Wear a good shirt & jacket, or a smart dress (if you want to go even further, create a dress code)

- If you wear makeup, wear dark colours, maybe even a dark lip I dare say!

- Have good posture! Display your host confidence!

- Make witty jokes in conversation

Dark Academia in Warm Countries or the Summer

- brown or cream coloured flowy dresses

- chess matches in the public gardens

- boater hats!

- linen button shirts

- archery? rowing?

- spending time outside looking at pretty buildings

- lacy socks

- braces (suspenders)

- gold-rimmed circular sunglasses

- sketching the view outside one‘s window in a little brown booklet

- waistcoats!

- sheltering oneself from the sun by visiting museums & art galleries

- picnics! outdoor reading!

- always brown oxfords

- victorian style lemonade in an ornate glass carafe

"One must always be careful of books," said Tessa, "and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us".

❝𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐋𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐘 𝐀𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐂—𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐒 𝐁𝐘 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐀 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐄❞

“i am catastrophically in love with you.”

you know i love a london boy

i enjoy walking camden market in the afternoon

he likes my american smile, like a child when our eyes meet

„If no one in the entire world cared about you, did you really exist at all?“

“The first of December was a wintry day indeed to them, for a bitter wind blew, snow fell fast, and the year seemed getting ready for its death.”

"Your hand is cold, mine burns like fire. How blind you are, Nastenka!"

~ Fyodor Dostoevsky, White Nights