Dark Academia is a popular internet subculture and aesthetic centered around higher education, classical literature, arts, and a moody or gothic visual style. Emerging primarily on platforms like Tumblr and TikTok, it romanticizes the pursuit of knowledge, often featuring motifs like tweed blazers, candlelit libraries, and fountain pens. In meme culture, Dark Academia is frequently used to satirize the intense, often performative nature of being a tragic scholar or to highlight the existential exhaustion that comes with academic obsession. It serves as both a genuine aesthetic appreciation and a self-deprecating look at the romanticization of intellectual stress and ancient mysteries.