#dark atla

[lorddoom01]

Saw someone mention the new Boston Dynamics' robot was introduced like a Souls boss. Was not expecting it to come out so creepy.

[captainkirkk]

Concept: Veils are more widely worn in the ATLA universe for a variety of reasons

Zuko and Toph enjoy travelling together and their favourite disguise in the earth kingdom is: Strong earthbending noble escorting her shy, reclusive older brother.

People thought the Bei Fongs had one (1) daughter who was tiny, blind and fragile - until suddenly she was the avatar's earth bending master, so the public have accept that they know nothing about the Bei Fongs. Who's the say they DIDNT have another child that they carefully hid away? Especially considering THIS child is dressed in neutral browns and muted golds with a veil obscuring his face. And sometimes people catch a glimpse of gold eyes or scar tissue through the gauzy fabric. It makes sense that the Bei Fongs would hide away a child born of an affair with a firebender.

Toph loves playing the part of escort. She gets to boss him about, and drag him all around the best restaurants, and order an outrageous amount of food for him. It's nice having people default to speaking to HER as the authority figure, after spending so much time in the presence of the Avatar and the Fire Lord.

And Zuko gets to be anonymous. He's not the Fire Lord when he puts that veil on, he's a reclusive and fragile noble who no one looks to to make decisions. He gets to switch his brain off and let Toph drag him around and speak for him. It's freeing.

Also: please imagine the look on the Bei Fongs faces when they hear that everyone thinks they have a secret hidden firebending son who's galavanting around with their run away daughter. They'd be HORRIFIED. Toph knows this and RELISHES in it.

[linuseer]

I'm tired of people defining Aang as this boring little vanilla guy. Aang helped Katara destroy a factory. He participated in Toph's scams. He shrugged off Katara's theft of the waterbending scroll and heartily laughed at her jokes about it. He was delighted by the Painted Lady ruse. He mastered airbending at twelve and the avatar state at thirteen. He snooped around the old ship after Katara said it was booby trapped and dared her to follow and stepped up to take the blame when it went badly and then surrendered himself to protect the village because he knew he could hand everyone on that ship their asses and escape. He outright lied to two communities that had been bickering for a century to get them to stop. He egged on Katara when she decided to throw hands with Pakku. He wants to ride every big animal in the world ("they don't like being ridden but that's what makes it fun" -unhinged take). He has sick burns for everyone which are doubly funny because they're almost always unintended as such. He threw a clandestine dance party in the nation that banned dancing and thought he was dead and wanted him dead. Before that he corrected and argued with teachers, beat a bully without lifting a finger and then brought his teenage friends to pose as his parents. The whole Bonzu Pippipadaleopsicopolis the Third thing. The being idiots with Sokka in Ba Sing Se thing with the bowing and the busboys disguises. He rightfully asked "what's cosmic power compared to a girl". Let's add all the badass stuff he does as a bender and as the Avatar up to and including energybending and the conversation with Koh the Face Stealer. That time in The Chase when he finished the fur trail and then decided to just sit down, sleep deprived, to wait and face whoever it was chasing them. Aang is one of the funniest and coolest characters I've ever seen and he deserves more respect. Absolutely unhinged kid with immense powers and the world is lucky he's goofy and has a good heart.

[chiptrillino-art]

In the Spirit World, roughly 400 years ago.

When you are just a little blue guy. But the greater gods found a liking in you. And then you ended up as chewtoy for Koh.

Spirit shenanegans at their finest.

[belle-keys]

The Ultimate Dark Academia Book Recommendation Guide Ever

The title of this post is clickbait. I, unfortunately, have not read every book ever. Not all of these books are particularly “dark” either. However, these are my recommendations for your dark academia fix. The quality of each of these books varies. I have limited this list to books that are directly linked to the world of academia and/or which have a vaguely academic setting.

Dark Academia staples:

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

Dead Poets Society by Nancy H. Kleinbaum

Vita Nostra by Maryna Dyachenko

Dark academia litfic or contemporary:

Bunny by Mona Awad

The Idiot by Elif Batuman

These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever

White Ivy by Susie Yang

The Cloisters by Katy Hays

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

Black Chalk by Christopher J. Yates

Attribution by Linda Moore

Dark academia thrillers or horror:

In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Serritella

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

They Never Learn by Layne Fargo

The It Girl by Ruth Ware

Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian

Dark academia fantasy/sci-fi:

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Vicious by V.E. Schwab

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

The Betrayals by Bridget Collins

Dark academia romance:

Gothikana by RuNyx

Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake

Dark academia YA or MG:

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

Crave by Tracy Wolff

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Dark academia miscellaneous:

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou

Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip

[cyrankaa]

[chiptrillino]

Trick or treat !

halloween is over... sorry but uhhh -looks through the candy-

found a treat!

[harbingersecho]

"zuzu, you didn't tell your friends about me? i'm hurt."

[comradekatara]

mai and sokka teen detectives 🔎

[kindaorangey]

im a blue-eyed katara and sokka denier but this came to me in a vision and has been haunting me ever since

[feral-jackdaw]

ATLA and LOK did an excellent job with the goths and emos actually

[torpublishinggroup]

This advertisement is for The Atlas Complex—the heart-shattering finale to the dark academia series that began with Olivie Blake’s NYT bestselling The Atlas Six. 

WHAT’S IT ABOUT

An explosive return to the library leaves the six Alexandrians vulnerable to the lethal terms of their recruitment.

Knowledge Is Carnage

Old alliances fracture as those who remain within the archives wrestle with the ethics of their astronomical abilities. Elsewhere, an unlikely pair from the Society partner up to influence politics on a global stage while the outside world mobilizes to destroy them all. And as for the Society’s Caretaker, Atlas Blakely… He may yet succeed in his world-breaking plan. 

Destiny Is a Choice

It all comes down to this: The Society recruits must decide what and who they're willing to betray and destroy for limitless power. 

Power Is Taken

[mugentakeda]

kataang redraw 🩵🧡

[escapismsworld]

Atlas and the burden of having to support the weight of the celestial globe on his shoulders.

[daughterofchaosstuff]

~Avatar The Last Airbender (Book II: Earth)

[belle-keys]

Power is taken. Official character artwork by Little Chmura for The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake, the final installment in The Atlas trilogy published by TOR Books.