Nobody

A tie to my birthday and also the birthday we shared of my MV OC and fanchild of Mothzilla: Princess Mothra Astra.

Go see here!

Anyways, here's the guardian's halloween designs :D

This criticism has been something I've always felt pretty blasé about; as in, I personally see no issue with their designs (love them in fact) but I can see why some people don't like them and I've never been bothered by fanmade redesigns (I find some to be rather cool actually).

However, since the release of TWOW, I've been rolling my eyes at this "critique" (nitpick imo) as well as redesigns because the movie actually provides a non-humanoid race of alien people: the Tulkun. In the film, as well as supplementary material, the Tulkun are described as being a group of people with their own culture, language, belief system, art, music, poetry and law. Sure, they're a whaling metaphor, but as opposed to portraying them as really smart whales, they're actually a native community of people.

Yet, let the people who watched the movie – fandom or otherwise – tell it, and they're just really smart big fish the Metkayina bonded with 😭 people talk about Payakan like he's a wild animal Lo'ak tamed and not a person he befriended, I've even seen fanwork where they humanize Avatar and have Payakan be a pet he adopts or a feral animal he tames and not a guy he forms a friendship with. I remember reading a oneshot where the writer claimed Lo'ak named him and I was like? No, Payakan introduced himself to him!

People claim that Ronal losing Ro'a is some sort of parallel to Neytiri losing Seze, but – not to downplay Seze's death btw – based on Ro'a being an actual person and a familial bond to Ronal, wouldn't it be more of a parallel to Neytiri losing Sylwanin? You know, her actual sister? Or her son Neteyam? It's like saying a character losing their pet hamster is the same as a another character losing their twin sister. 💀

Idk, I just wonder if the people who claim the na'vi look "too human" would have actually empathized with them if they looked more alien and less humanoid, because if the Tulkun are anything to go by, it was a great decision to anthropomorphize them because people would have dehumanized them if they hadn't been (at least, more than they already do). Audiences seem to struggle to empathize with or humanize characters that don't look anthropomorphic in any way.

Sorry for this long ass yap session 😭 this is just something that has bothered me for a while and I needed to get it off my chest.

@bl00dh0rs3 I really liked your tag additions, but wanted to specifically talk about the last three points you made because I agree wholeheartedly and it's something I've wanted to talk about since forever and you just out a battery in my back lol.

I usually hate saying we're in an era of anti-intellectualism because it sounds so deeply pretentious that people dont take it seriously, but the fact of the matter is that people don't want to think about anything or take anything seriously anymore. This bleeding into circles like Avatar is most infuriating because Avatar and franchises like it require you to take it seriously due to its themes, messaging, and plot points.

That isn't to say you can't meme, joke or have fun, of course not! However, when I resposted this opinion piece onto the Avatar subreddit, one of the first responses I got was "they're fictional, so it doesn't matter", but it does matter, if it didn't matter I wouldn't be talking about it? Or the many other times I posted there and received responses such as "holy yap" or "it's not that deep" or whatever, it's like they really don't want to think at all over there.

I assume it's due to the pandemic and an attempt to recuperate from it, as well as the social and political pendulum swinging more right, but nobody wants to be sincere about their discussions on anything anymore, everything has to be surface level now because even the most puddle deep analysis of literally anything receives waves of backlash. I suppose it's more fun to just be a nasty, mean spirited contrarian than to sincerely engage with a piece of media, but it makes discussions surrounding a lot of the things I like (such as Avatar) so deeply boring.

It's easier to reduce the Tulkun to whales and nothing more because then you don't have to acknowledge the horrifying reality of an indigenous population of people being hunted like livestock, and you can instead just have your fun free willy story of a young boy befriending a sea creature! It's easier to ignore Avatar's social commentary – no matter how surface level and on the nose – and just focus on something more mundane like the logistics of na'vi tails or whatever because then you don't have to talk about the real life issues it tackles. Being reductive and dismissive is more fun that actively engaging, which is sadly why people lean into it more.

“The arrow must come out, Qotho.”

“Yes, Great Rider,” Mirri Maz Duur answered, touching her bruised face. “And your breast must be washed and sewn, lest the wound fester.”

“Do it, then,” Khal Drogo commanded.

“Great Rider,” the woman said, “my tools and potions are inside the god’s house, where the healing powers are strongest.”

“I will carry you, blood of my blood,” Haggo offered.

Khal Drogo waved him away. “I need no man’s help,” he said, in a voice proud and hard. He stood, unaided, towering over them all. A fresh wave of blood ran down his breast, from where Ogo’s arakh had cut off his nipple. Dany moved quickly to his side. “I am no man,” she whispered, “so you may lean on me.” Drogo put a huge hand on her shoulder. She took some of his weight as they walked toward the great mud temple.