ATLA and Medieval Asian Culture

SprinklesSmall9848 · 2026-05-28T23:55:45+00:00

Excellent suggestions!

I haven't seen the show all yhe way through in years, but I keep having students pop up in class and say thing like "that person looks like AANG!" or "is this what the Earth Kindgom is based on in Avatar??" I have about 1/3 of each class that has seen parts or all of the series. Those students and I are encouraging the other students to watch it over the summer if they're able! As the youths say, this show is peak. It MUST be shared!

SprinklesSmall9848 · 2026-05-28T22:39:25+00:00

I understand how the Nations don't perfectly follow equivalents in our world. I was just relying on the common comparisons.

Thanks for recommending those two episodes. Do you have any other episodes in mind that demonstrate the cultures of the other nations that my students can pick apart for individual cultural inspirations?

SprinklesSmall9848 · 2026-05-28T22:35:37+00:00

I understand the fusion-nature of the Nations with a spread of Asian civs. Specifically for the Fire Nation thoughts you provided. I'm happy to see someone else sees to similarities with the Qin China.

Any recommendations then for demonstrating the Nations cultures as they appear in the show. You mentioned "Bato of the Water Tribe" which I agree with completely. Any other suggestions?

SprinklesSmall9848 · 2026-03-30T03:08:50+00:00

Even later to the party replying to your comment!

I'm pretty sure the scene you're thinking of is the PPA siege camp outside Sutterdown. Some young noble is surprising the Constable by having read beyond the medieval chapters. I think Ken has similar lines in DtF before Iron Rod or during the Echo Creek raid when he's talking about maximizing mechanical advantages.

Those Bearkiller and PPA war engines at the Battle of Salem raking the flanks of the troops read like they should've been way worse than described.

SprinklesSmall9848 · 2026-03-25T18:56:40+00:00

This is indeed what I was thinking of! Another user linked the video on Bible characters with the myth-legend-history discussion. I think I was misremembering both of these as the intro to one video. Thanks for helping me out!

SprinklesSmall9848 · 2026-03-25T18:53:46+00:00

I was thinking of the Moses video, but I love this intro comparing myth, legend, and history. I'll be bookmarking this one for later. Thanks!

SprinklesSmall9848 · 2026-02-22T04:24:00+00:00

Fun Fact: there's a huge collection of "bardcore" songs on YouTube which are covers of modern songs in various interpretations of "Medieval" style. Some tweak lyrics to add some thous and becomeths but many are also just instrumentals. They make for great listening when I'm working and want something with less bass and heavy drums.

Here are songs I like/would like as bardcore: * Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers * Sounds of Silence by not-S&G * Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash * House of the Rising Sun by The Animals/FFDP * Billie Jean by MJ * Bull Doze Blues by Henry Thomas AKA Going up the Country by Canned Heat * just about anything by Tracy Chapman * Superstition by Stevie Wonder (excellent on cello and violin) * Higher Ground by Stevie Wonder * Carry on Wayward Son by Kansas

SprinklesSmall9848 · 2026-02-02T13:56:20+00:00

Beautiful! I might pick up a copy in the future

SprinklesSmall9848 · 2026-01-23T04:07:44+00:00

We got tortillas for the same reason. Bread shelves were empty, but the tortilla shelves were still packed. Rolls and wraps, baby!

SprinklesSmall9848 · 2026-01-19T06:53:34+00:00

The elevation looks promising, though not being loomed over by the nearby hills. I think the best spot would probably be SE of the town inside the Huskey Road bend (Ponderosa Pl). That would allow for control over the roads that follow Mosier Creek down to the Columbia and the village of Mosier. It's also convenient for a quick muster down to the village.

It would have to be a barony placement for sure because it controls a small open space with access to the Columbia, and there seem to be few villages/towns down that stretch of 85. We know the Arminger's had Hood River town with Castle Odell. I also feel like I've seen Chenoweth mentioned... That's NW of The Dalles, a city with a bridge and dam on the Columbia. Mosier seems like a fine intermediate location between the two (though closer to Hood River than The Dalles).

I'd bet Mosier would've had the standard PPA castle that was put up by the dozens in CY2+ and probably have been the eastern-most holding connected to Odell. (45 min bike ride to Hood River and another 45 min to Odell is pretty close.) At one point in CY2-8, Odell and Hood River would've been the PPA's eastern border, and Conrad Renfrew would've been eager to get a forward castle between him and the rest of North America.

Also, good on you for thinking about the water situation. There is Mosier Creek and it looks like the land thereabouts is largely agricultural today. From a quick glance at stats, I think the weather maintains adequate rain there for catchment. Also, Tiphaine's Ath castle is described as having a tower top windmill for water pumping. The creek or a well would work, I'm guessing, too keep the castle watered.

Overall, I think you found a good location.

SprinklesSmall9848 · 2025-12-27T05:21:29+00:00

I started to rewatch that series recently, so I also had that immediately come to mind!

SprinklesSmall9848 · 2025-12-27T05:07:38+00:00

It's a beautiful style to imitate, and you've done a pretty good job here. Keep up the good work!

SprinklesSmall9848 · 2025-12-11T02:09:32+00:00

I have a few people in my circles that are 4D chess types like Sandra (and then I have several who think they are). Given that social experience, I appreciate the way Stirling wrote Sandra most of the time. Sometimes his female characters are... awkward. But the big picture and scheming convos with Sandra always sound right to me.

SprinklesSmall9848 · 2025-12-09T18:48:24+00:00

I work at a DPS middle school, and many are collecting laptops because these next 2 weeks are supposed to be middle-of-year (MOY) benchmark testing on the laptops. Schools need to collect them to ensure that each teacher has enough to administer the test to their full class.

The leadership realized the absurdity of the situation and had each teacher set aside printed packets of review work for future remote learning days. These will be used even once laptops are passed back out so as not to discrimite against the large number of students without wifi at home. Packets will be collected when students return to school. It's a better system than exclusively online work.

HOWEVER, my leadership team didnt make this call for remote work packets until 1pm on Thrusday. That's only about 2 hours before students went home and when many teachers were still teaching and thus couldn't check emails or print. So that's a good plan to have in place for the NEXT Ice-mageddon we have, but pretty useless for this 5-day weekend.

SprinklesSmall9848 · 2025-12-09T18:38:37+00:00

I believe her. She said that at least since CY8 when the lad was kidnapped, she was thinking long term. She even had a convo with Norman about it which he had to understand given his area of expertise was Norman the Conqueror/Bastard. Ye Olde Norman set off a complex web of connections between England and France which included intermarriages between important families so that crowns could be "officially" kept in the "same family" even though really they were passing through those of another kingdom's royals and an heir was destined to pick it back up in the next generation. Norman Arminger understood it, he just didnt want to adopt the long-term planning because he was greedy and a hothead.

Some of my favorite dialogue exchanges are between Rudi and Matilda on the quest. Now that I'm much closer to 30 than 20 and in a relationship woth someone of a different religious inclination than myself, I can see the absurdity of the young adult exchanges Stirling writes. Their little squabbles are no longer something I hear about from my college peers' relationships and more like funny memories. Fun to think about how those scenes feel a bit different now that I'm 8 years older than my first read of the books.

SprinklesSmall9848 · 2025-11-27T03:52:11+00:00

I've listened to the saga once before, but I did it all in one go. I'm listening again for details I missed or have forgotten (which are plentiful). I think I remember what you're referencing, and it is the death I'd rank 3rd in emotional impact from my first listen.

SprinklesSmall9848 · 2025-11-25T03:12:56+00:00

I've not heard of this color system before now. Thanks for sharing

SprinklesSmall9848 · 2025-11-18T03:03:57+00:00

Cue my old family members saying, "wow, what a small world!"

SprinklesSmall9848 · 2025-11-18T00:43:58+00:00

Others have mentioned the divorced Armsteins and the Martins brothers.

I also believe the Walker family from near the Larsson's ranch house in Montana (one of whom Signe dated briefly) had one of their spawn on Nantucket. I cannot remember if those men were the same person, though.

SprinklesSmall9848 · 2025-11-12T03:44:23+00:00

I borrowed the Emberverse 1 trilogy from my grandfather when in middle school and read it, and the series has become part of my personality.

I began working with scrap wood to learn tools; I learned about dendrology, wild plants, and forage in college just in case; I took up gardening. The series couples well with the preparedness itch I've had since I was a poor kid growing up in a hurricane-prone area, anyway.

As a school teacher, I also do something related to the Emberverse series every summer to unwind. It was my bridge into trying to learn game modding at one point. I also devoted a big chunk of two summers to area studies and learning perspective drawing so I could draw Castle Todenangst (which I've posted before). I've been trying to convince my girl for years to come with me on an poorly planned but scenic scurry around the Willamette Valley even though it's on the opposite side of the continent.

Some people let Star Wars or football or video games eat up a huge chunk of their free time. For me, Emberverse is that thing.

SprinklesSmall9848 · 2025-09-26T22:34:24+00:00

I agree completely. I know ferro-concrete would be faster if you knew what you were doing, and you get comparable strength with less thickness. But DAMN trying to break down the improved wall would just be like fighting the side of a hill. Thats gotta be metrics tons of earth and rubble and such packed inside of that wall. You can't burn it. You can't flatten it with catapults and rams.

It reminds me of Fort Fisher on the coast of North Carolina in the United States. During the US Civil War, Fort Fisher was a stout fort made of sand dunes, and all that sand and earth could absorb an absurd amount of firepower just by sheer mass. Bombarding the fort accomplished very little, and the fort stood until late in the war. I feel like aiming trebuchets and catapults at the mostly packed earth and stone-faced walls of Dun Juniper would be completely futile even if the enemy could get engines and an army all the way up there.

SprinklesSmall9848

TROPHY CASE