may i ask where i’m demonizing dark academia, anon? i’ve stated multiple times that i get why people like it. (hell, i’m braving a black turtleneck and plaid pants in this equatorial temperature because i like it). all i’m asking for those who are in the DA community is to think critically of their glorification of that aesthetic and the concept of western academia. of course that there are blogs doing so - but the GENERAL culture of DA? this kind of critical thinking is not widespread.

i try my best to boost those voices, but arguably the field that i’m most familiar with is the postcolonial type of criticism (as i was born & grew up in a previously colonized country) - and so sometimes i feel like it’s not my place. but i recognize that it’s not the case - i’m just boosting their voices! - so i will try, in all honesty, to boost more marginalized voices that aren’t related to my own experience.

your notes can still be useful if they:

* are rushed * feature bad handwriting * are one only colour * feature exactly zero calligraphy * are written with a 50c biro * are the furtherest thing from ‘aesthetic’ you have ever seen.

still worried? don’t be! I made a chart for you!

it is honestly that simple. yup!

look, studyblr-in-general, I honestly love you. some of the tips I have gotten on studying, note-taking, and just surviving uni itself have been invaluable. I don’t use printables myself (...mmmmostly because my printer is as dead as doorbats) but those are also top-notch. BUT. but the concentration on fancy calligraphy, brand-name pens, and aesthetics is an issue that we need to deal with.

look, if you have the time, energy, and inclination to make your notes pretty as heck, go ahead and do it! I’m not saying stop if that’s your jam. if elaborate notes help you, by all means, keep making them! however, the fact that when someone says ‘studyblr’, the first thing the average person thinks of is ‘pretty notes’ is, you know. a thing. pretty notes have their place. but in academia, useful notes are more important by a million miles.

and there are people who look at these pages upon pages of beautiful aesthetic notes and just...despair. there are people who have mental illnesses that would never allow them to take those kind of notes, because they’re trying to reach an impossible aesthetic ideal. or would write said notes over and over and over because they’re not “good enough”. or those who have enough trouble concentrating on what the lecturer is saying without worrying about how to tart up their notes. or those whose hands shake so badly from anxiety (or otherwise) that attractive lettering is right out.

this is a problem. it’s not the majority of people -- I don’t think -- but it exists, and it’s still a really valid problem that I think we should address. at the end of the day, I think we as an academic community need to stress that good notes are way more important to have than pretty ones. like, when I say I’m starting an Ugly Notes Revolution, I’m not saying it to belittle anyone who makes aesthetic notes, I’m saying it because I honestly think it needs to be done.