New Dark Academia Aesthetics
Now, I probably have no business proposing new academias for the dark academia community/aesthetic, given how new I am to both tumblr and dark academia as a whole. But I did my research after having the term "dark academia" thrown around me for over a year.
Dark Academia definition "An aesthetic and/or style (lifestyle even)that revolves around classic literature, self discovery, and a passion for knowledge and learning." That's a pretty broad definition that makes it really hard to see where the dark part comes in, because that just sounds like academia as a whole. Those who take their education seriously are academics, so what the heck is the dark part? I noticed a great of dark academia revolves around murder, gothic architecture, and tragedy. Found the dark part.
I went through the entire wiki of dark academia and summarized the parts that most pertained to me or that I felt comfortable incorporating/admitting to. Through the research I discovered, dark academia is essentially a community of very serious students modeling themselves after elitists but without the problematic elitism (I'm sure there are some in the community who are total snobs but I have not encountered any yet myself - I don't think they are that common).
There are Aesthetics and Subcategories, the subcategories have their own aesthetics involved but also have like, specific activities that accommodate that subcategory. I went through all of them and found many that resonate on some small level with me (I never find myself in communities, this is normal for me - I am the quintessential outsider) but I found the need for three more!
I'd like to propose, 3 currently unestablished, subcategories of dark academia.
Art - mostly vases, statues, and amphorae
Speeches and intense discourse
Animals (not necessarily vegan, you can be a meat eater and be a Druid academic)
Dirt under your nails (fingers and toes)
Celtic/folk music/nature sounds
Books over 300-pages long
Collecting souvenirs of every trip taken/place visited
Leather and/or fur (not excluding vegans, faux leather and faux fur welcome)
Recording events with "Great, Dark, Last, or First" of year (example: The Great Wind of 1930, the Dark Winter of 2020)
Right now they're each more of an aesthetic than a subcategory, but I'm still working on them. I'm really more these three than any other, but I do feel a strong pull to Art Academia, Chaotic Academia, and the aesthetics of History, Halloweencore, and Medieval Goth. đ¤ˇââď¸
I'm an academic mess above all else.
