#atla interactive story

[procrastinatingwriting]

There they go,

Two little fire hazards playing pai sho

Zuko tries to make a bold move

Azula plays and her brother's doomed

"That's not fair, you can't do this"!

Says the dum-dum, but she clearly did

"It's not my fault that you're so bad."

And Zuko stomped, very clearly mad.

When practicing katas Azula's mind is clear

When Zuko tries he can only fear

Their father's voice after his serious gaze

Zuko is scolded, Azula is praised.

Azula is said to have a lot of luck

She doesn't see it, but she does want

She's good at bending and receives some praise

But what Zuko has she can only chase.

Two little fire hazards, playing tag

Zuko is happy but Azula's mad

For what or why she doesn't know

But when she strikes her brother knows.

"What's your problem? That's not the game!"

He yells at her when the ducks she maims

"Well, your game's boring so I made a change.

The one who fires more will win this stage."

Mother soon finds out why her lilies are burnt

Azula gets grounded and Zuko gets scolded

She doesn't understand, and it isn't fair

She burnt so much, but her heart is still mad.

Deep in thought she thinks to herself

[cienie-isengardu]

Zuko and Azula in "The Beach"

Lately I think a lot about "The Beach" episode [x], especially about this small detail of great teamwork Zuko and Azula have during the game.

Zuko is looking ahead, directly facing their rivals (who had the control of the ball at this moment) but his body is clearly lowered to the ground, left hand most likely touching the ground, legs bent and widely spaced - a clear contrast to Mai standing near and how he stood before on two separate occasions

which is why I think Zuko willingly create an opportunity for Azula, so she could jump higher - something she definitely used to their team’s advantage. If Azula simply jumped on her brother’s back when he wasn’t expecting it or wasn’t ready, he would probably just fall face down from the impact but as the scene shows, he had no such problem nor was angry about it in the following scenes.

During the game sequences there was no dialogue shown between our protagonists, so it is hard to determine if Azula in advance called Zuko to give her a “lift” or Zuko offered on his own, or did they were that much in sync they just acted without thinking. Regardless I like this few seconds long interaction, because for me it implies how they trusted each other despite all the rivalry and bitterness from previous episodes. Like Zuko trusted Azula won’t use that moment to hurt/humiliate him by overuse of force, the same as Azula trusted in Zuko’s strength and that he won’t mess up by losing his balance. It is a small thing but no less sweet to see them working well together when fighting for the same goal - what reminds me a bit their teamwork from the previous season finale.

Interestingly, it was also the second time Zuko assisted Azula in scoring against their rivals while not scoring himself any point on screen. The first time happened almost right at the beggining of the game (second from total five sequences)

while each girl have the solo sequence of winning a point:

Azula's first attack,

later Ty Lee landing on the net

and Mai kicking the ball (and presumably scoring)

while Zuko’s two actions are shared only with his younger sister while there is no sense of competition between the siblings, something contrasting a lot with some previous and later episodes.

Azula is bossy and competitive through most of the episode and her brother lets her be that without a complaint. Azula and Zuko get along pretty well and A) do not argue (with the exception of the campfire scene and then they argue not even for the whole scene itself) and B) don't get on each nerves the way they do in the palace, with Ozai's presence looming in the back of their mind. I absolutely adore this episode, as it humanizes all our Fire Nation characters by showing them as teenagers outside the war zone but also giving us a bit of insight into what Azula and Zuko could be if Ozai didn't pit them against each other. And they could be a great team!

[hawkogurl]

[shopcat]

i've decided if some sort of theoretical atla animated film about the earth avatar has to be set in the modern verse it should either be like INCREDIBLY different from ours to stop things from being ... bad. and that the spirit world influences have really ramped up so that it still feels like magical realism or w/e. but alternatively it would just be really good if it wasn't set in like the 2020s but very obviously the 70s-90s that would be awesome for me personally

[slyandthefamilybook]

Wolf 359 may not be horror but it is without a doubt the best example I've seen of how to pace a build-up and disseminate a mystery

[p2ii]

too bad both Tenma and atlas are too obsessed with they own respective fathers/sons they could've been such a powerful duo tbh

[evienyx]

Fractures, Chapter Thirty-Seven: Piandao Interlude II

'A lesson in defining, and one in redefining, as well.'

- - -

I know, I know, it took a while. In my defense, a lot of shit happened. Whatever. This thing is 19.2k words, and is the last interlude of Book 1, so I hope you enjoy! Also, this means we'll be doing another interlude poll soon, so be prepared for that with either chapter 38 or 39, I'm sure.

The notes include a vague explanation as to my whereabouts, and then me rambling for a hot sec about the way Caldera works in this story.

Either way, I hope you enjoy!

[marchlione]

.

[the-badger-mole]

The way how Mai is described in the AITA , there are people in the world that are really like that?

There are worse people, tbh. Admittedly, a lot of them aren't as self-aware as Mai.

[olivieblake]

Hi! So I don’t think I saw this in your FAQ so I’m going to ask. Is commissioning artists to draw your characters something you are comfortable with/allowed? For example, I’ve been wanting some fan art of some of my favorite ships from your books but unfortunately I have zero artistic talent so I’ve been debating about commissioning some from insta/tumblr artists. Specifically I’m thinking about one from Atlas and MOD, but maybe some other ones throughout next year I’m not sure yet. If I were to get it done and they posted it I would be sure to have them include a line of “characters belong to Olivie Blake”. However, I’m not sure if this is allowed or not since these characters belong to you so I don’t know how that works with like paying someone to draw them with copyright but also with your comfort with it. But yeah anyway your thoughts or like how would you feel about that. If you’re not comfortable with it or it’s not allowed that’s 100% okay and I won’t commission any! I just wanted to ask so I know. Anyway thanks-hope you have a great holiday season with your family🥰

I do need to update my faq (im thinking a google doc I can edit is probably a better bet than wrestling with tumblr formatting) but this is not something I’ve been asked before! my answer is go for it. fanfic copyright rules apply, meaning it has to be explicitly for personal enjoyment and not commercial gain (you commissioning from the artist is for your personal use, the artist then selling it publicly is commercial gain) but I come from a place of fandom and I stand by its laws and customs

[procrastinatingwriting]

The Pond

Three little girls were playing by the pond

Dancing moves of fire and singing little songs

One is a princess whose fire burn bright blue

The other is an artist who for adventure longs

The last is always bored while having certain gloom.

"Tell us, darling princess, what has bitten you today?"

Asked the little artist without letting her mood sway

"Aren't you a rude prick" said the other "can't you see she is upset?"

"I fail to see her wrong" the princess answered "I just can't make my fire set."

You see, despite the good intentions they just couldn't understand

None of them were burdened by what the princess's fire held

And though it warmed her deeply to know by them she was well loved

The crevices in her heart couldn't mend with childish bonds.

The children, though, didn't know any better

And so it didn't break their resolve to try

To make their dear friend laugh

They played any game in the matter.

From catching each other in races

To climbing the peak of a tree

In hiding by the castle's spaces

They stole the royal sweets.

Azula munched happily, as also did her friends

But then hastily cleansed the evidence

When the in corridors echoed steps.

But it was just prince Zuko

Coming in to fetch some tea

There was naught to be afraid of

[malewifespike]

Sorry like sorry I just finished reading a series and. Now I have to let it consume me for a while. Sorry

[nicofms]

* — 𝙁𝙊𝙍 : @viverevinceres

📍 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎

" no , dude , that's definitely not how that happened . " nico laughs at the faint memory of what had happened last night , which atlas was trying to recall to him . " i might've been completely gone but i highly doubt i willingly offered to do that . " truth is , what the male was telling him was most likely true . once he has more than a couple drinks in his system , whatever he did next was completely unpredictable .

[punkcherries]

decided to pick the dragon prince back up . i dont kno how i didnt realize how "atla but western fantasy and with some gay people" it was till now

[lackadaisycats]

Why does Mitzi put up with Rocky? Aside from desperation. Before things fell apart Rocky was with the Lackadaisy for over a year, and given his chaotic nature, it’s surprising he was never kicked out. I feel most people in Mitzi’s position would have fired Rocky but she never did. Despite sinking further into the abyss as the story progresses she does appear to be sympathetic to Rocky, is there any truth to this? And what did Atlas think, did he hate Rocky or was he curious about the crazy cat?

It's fair to say she has more sympathy and patience for him than his previous string of employers, which in turn has probably made him all the more determined to keep his spot there. Like a distant in-law, Atlas wouldn't have cared much to think about or interact meaningfully with Rocky. The band (and its issues) were Mitzi's side of the family, so to speak.

[probablyasocialecologist]

In place of blanks on the map, we’re now able to see highly cultivated landscapes with massive infrastructure stretching back to the early centuries BCE. Road networks, terraces, ceremonial earthworks, planned residential neighbourhoods, and regional settlement systems ordered into patterns of geometrical precision can be traced across Amazonia, from Brazil to Bolivia, as far as the eastern foothills of the Andes. In certain parts of Amazonia, the forest itself turns out to be a product of past human interaction with the soil. Over time, this generated the rich ‘anthropogenic’ earths called terra preta de índio (‘black earth of the Indians’), with levels of fertility far in excess of ordinary tropical soils. Scientists now believe that between 10,000 and 20,000 large-scale sites remain to be discovered across Amazonia. Similarly startling finds are emerging from Southeast Asia, and we might reasonably expect them from the forested parts of the African continent too. Of course, the same procedures are changing our picture of tropical landscapes that did witness the rise and fall of great kingdoms, and even empires. Archaeologists now believe that in the year 500 CE, between 10 and 15 million people lived in the Maya lowlands of Yucatán and northern Guatemala. For comparison, the Atlas offers a figure of just 2 million for all of Mexico in the same era, including the Indigenous cities of the Altiplano (at least some of which, we now know, were organised not as empires or even kingdoms, but fiercely autonomous republics, long before the Spanish conquest). It is easy, encouraged by works such as the Atlas, to imagine ancient history as a chequerboard of kingdoms and empires. But it is also very misleading. Ancient polities in the Maya lowlands and Southeast Asia had porous boundaries, constantly shifting, and open to contestation. Authority waned with distance from the centre. Warfare and tribute were largely seasonal affairs, after which coercive power shrank back behind the walls of the capital. As the archaeologist Monica Smith points out, only the most naive historian would assume that the claims inscribed on imperial monuments are a simple reflection of political reality on the ground. Of course ancient rulers loved to present themselves as ‘sovereigns of the four quarters’, ‘masters of the known world’, and so on. Yet no ancient world emperor could even have imagined powers of surveillance, such as those now enjoyed by any minor dictator or oligarch. On a global scale, we are witnessing a revolution in our understanding of ancient demography. To ignore it, these days, is to indulge in a cruel sort of intellectual prank, by which the genocide of Indigenous populations – a direct consequence of the planetary revolt against freedom, in the past 500 years – is naturalised as a perennial absence of people. Nor can we just assume that if we want to understand the prospects for our modern world, the only ‘big’ stories worth telling are those of empire.

5 July 2024