I Can’t Help But Wonder What The Secret History Would Have Been Like To Read Had I Not Immediately

I would love to make a film adaptation of The Secret History that starts really aesthetic, with beautiful shots and dramatic lighting, mood music and wonderful sets. But after the murder of bunny and after their lives start to go down hill it slowly becomes less and less beautiful and much harsher, much more realistic and graphic and ugly, until it ends up extremely simple, no grand angles or romantic lighting, just the horror of what’s happening and what they’ve done. The costumes and makeup would also go from eccentric and beautiful (perfect makeup, suites that are far too neat and shoes too clean, perfect hair, aesthetic™️ dark circles) to how they actually look (unshaven, bad skin from constantly drinking and smoking and doing drugs, fancy clothes that need to see the hot side of an iron, hair that desperately needs brushing, etc). This would happen to bunny sooner though, in line with the whole arc leading to his death. The only person who might not get this treatment is Camila since I feel she was romanticized the entire time and always a version altered through Richard’s Male Gaze™️, never truly known. Hell, she might get even more romanticized, idk. and yes, it would look both excruciatingly 80s and weirdly Victorian. Anyways I put too much though into this, Goodnight. 

((((((And yes Judy Poovey would look absolutely ROCKIN at all times)))))

My favourite used bookstore is opening again and I am hyped. Really want to read The Brothers Karamazov this winter, because winter is Dostoyevsky season apparently, but I refuse to buy it new when I might find a lovely old edition for a third of the price.

Whether or not the author is dead, the book is a dead thing.

Mortimer J. Adler, How To Read A Book

Who has a ‘morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs’? Couldn’t be me, a person who started a dark academia blog.

Romantic Science Summer

Why do I have to fall in love with teas which aren’t available in my area?

we all think we’re camilla macaulay when we’re really judy poovey

I am full of poetry now. Rot and poetry. Rotten poetry. 

- Ernest Hemingway, The Snows of Kilimanjaro

(not my pictures)

how to learn new content and never forget it

save this for your next academic year and finals, and it’ll save your grades and time.

1. whenever you read a paragraph with new content, close the book/look away and ask yourself: “what have i just learned?” explaining the concept to yourself right away and asking follow-up questions will change the way you retain new material forever.

2. at first, it’ll be daunting, and it’ll be pretty hard to actually bring yourself to do this. trust me, it’ll be worth it - as this is scientifically proven one of the most effective study techniques.

3. to try this out, set yourself a timer for how long you estimate learning a concept might take. now take away 20% from that estimate. you won’t be able to reach this goal with basic highlighting and re-reading techniques - but with active recall, you will.

4. once you’ve understood the concept, use spaced repetition systems like anki flashcards to force yourself to retrieve this information in a set period of time. this way, your brain will always be reminded of this concept before it could possibly forget it.

5. teach it to others as much as you can. as with the old wisdom “see one, do one, teach one”, one of the only guarantees you’ve really gotten something is when you can effectively teach it.

hope these are helpful for you!!

more content like this on my instagram, @softmedstudent

In 2021 I will not be Richard-Papening myself over mysterious and sexy snobs I will BECOME the mysterious and sexy snob