jaketiri

[jaketiri]

Kiri (+ Lesbian Pride) Icons

[jaketiri]

MY LIFE THROUGH SACRIFICE: I MISS YOU, I MISS YOU, I LOVE YOU

for @womenofpandoraweek day 3: life & death

Avatar (2009) | Thirst, Marina Yuszczuk | Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) | “Water,” golda may | The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina, Zoraida Córdova

[jaketiri]

Women of Pandora week 2024

Day 4: memories

A slightly older Tuk singing her songcord. She just reached the sharp splinter signifying Neteyam's death.

@womenofpandoraweek

[jaketiri]

Women of Pandora week 2024

Day 1: "My heart is shaped by my home"

I always imagined Neytiri to have the hardest time adjusting to the family's new home on the reef. The kids had each other and their new friends, even Jake found a sort of mentor figure in Tonowari, but Neytiri? Not only did she have to bury a son there, but it doesn't even seem like she really found any connection to the Metkayina or discovered any love for the reef. She's a forest Na'vi through and through and will probably be the last member of the family to truly adopt the way of the water, if at all.

@womenofpandoraweek

[jaketiri]

It was not until Kiri was a toddler, nearly five years of age, that Neytiri had realized another difference between her and other Na’vi children—her teeth were short and dull. At only a few months older than Kiri, Neteyam’s canine teeth were much longer, poking out between his teeth and doing their best to look intimidating whenever he opened his mouth in a playful hiss. When Neytiri brought it up with Jake, he tilted his head to the side and called out to their daughter, who ran towards them with a bounce in her step. Instantly, he reached out to grab at her with a playful roar, causing their daughter to laugh as she flailed about and hiss at him before running away back towards her siblings. Jake rubbed at his side where Kiri had been able to kick him and nodded his head. “You’re right. I hadn’t even noticed. Her teeth—they’re more human than Na’vi.”

written for day one of @womenofpandoraweek

[jaketiri]

How could something so beautiful hurt so much? - WoP

Summary: When the new stars—ships—fell from the sky, they sent waves and waves of fire. Unending tides that turned all in their path to ash. It happened so fast. So quick. So soon.

Relationships: Kiri & Eywa (platonic)

Word Count: 652

Notes: This is for day 2: fire / leadership of @womenofpandoraweek's Women of Pandora Week 2024!

I'm so sad that I wasn't able to make it on the first day but at least I got to this one. I'm also posting this on extremely shitty hotel wifi so maybe the fact that I'm even here is a miracle lol.

When the new stars—ships—fell from the sky, they sent waves and waves of fire. Unending tides that turned all in their path to ash. It happened so fast. So quick. So soon.

Kiri’s flying when it happens, a privilege that then she’s only recently gained. It’s not stopped her before; however, it still gives the flight a certain freedom to it. It’s the first step into finally completing her rites of passage. Something that, while she would never admit outwardly, brought a sense of pride in herself.  

Atan—Kiri’s ikran, named for her colors—and Kiri soar along the clouds, above the forest canopy. As they fly, Kiri listens to the way the forest breathes life below them. The sound of pa’li traveling in groups, the distant cries of palulukans, the quiet whistle of the wind blowing through the trees; it’s all that forms the gentle tune that blankets their flight.

Kiri lays back, allowing Atan to take control of the flight. She relaxes to the sounds of her home. The sweet lullaby that still guides her to sleep in the night. She should be heading back soon, the thought graces her mind as she opens her eyes.

The sky has already turned dark with only the stars lighting it. Though, this time has always been her favorite to fly at. Kiri is so rarely ever allowed to be out at this time, much less alone.

But that’s when she sees it. The new stars falling from the sky. Bolting up from Atan, Kiri’s eyes lock onto the ships.

For a moment, Kiri’s heart stops beating, her breath stills, and time seems frozen. In what must be less than a few seconds, they begin landing. The descent barely a few seconds.

It looks like day as they start. Giant beams of light shine down. At first, it’s beautiful as terrible of a thought as that is. Kiri can almost admire the way the fire shines so brightly that it turns blue; but that’s where the beauty ends. For the moment they touch the forest, Eywa screams.

Kiri had always felt her. Always knew of her presence. Her breathing. Her heartbeat. But never had Kiri felt the pain that now radiates through her own mind and body.

Tears well in her eyes as the burning engulfs her. Kiri gasps and pants for air, trying anything for the pain to stop. She claws her nails into Atan’s reigns.

Eywa’s screams fade out into the background as Kiri loses herself to the pain. With each new ship that lands, the burning worsens. Every moment she feels an opening, an end to the searing that feels embedded in her bones, it only continues.

Suddenly, they’re falling. Tumbling closer and closer to the ground. If Kiri could think in the moment, she would probably thank her love of heights for making sure they don’t immediately crash.

The fire glows, even from afar. It dances in Kiri’s eyes as she’s transfixed on the flames. With tears now streaming down her face, she can’t seem to find the will within her to look away and take control of the flight.

The ground inches closer and closer. They’re about to fly into the trees and under the canopy when Atan flares out her wings. Her legs scrap against the branches and leaves, undoubtedly leaving some sort of mark on her.

Atan glides down to a rock formation, her worry for Kiri evident through the bond. She quickly lands, safely, something Kiri would usually thank Eywa for.

Sliding off Atan, Kiri falls to her knees beside the other, her tears dripping down her face still, as she watches her home burn down from afar. She listens to the cries in the distance. Creatures caught in the flame but not killed. Her heart hurts, her mind stings, and her body in flame.

How could something so beautiful hurt so much?

[jaketiri]

How could they heal from such a loss? They were all broken, lost, away from their home. The forest was theirs. It was theirs, not the Sky People’s. There could be no healing until the Sky People were gone. That much Tuktirey knew.

Tuktirey couldn’t say a thing.

Instead, she pressed her face into her brother's stomach and wept. She wept with everything she felt, all that she couldn’t form into words, wept until she couldn’t find any tears left within her. She wept as the fire within her stomach grew.

for day two of @womenofpandoraweek

[jaketiri]

In July 2023, Women of Pandora Week had been held in celebration of the wonderful women (and girls) of the Avatar universe. While this fandom has waned off in the past year, we hope that some interest in this event hasn't left!

Women of Pandora Week encourages everyone to create content of any kind revolving around the ladies of the Avatar universe. This could be art, edits, gifsets, moodboards, web weavings, handmade jewelry, playlists, fanfics, headcanons, even a PowerPoint about your favorite female character! Anything you’d like—we want to generate more content for this fandom!

If you would like to see another Women of Pandora Week this year, please answer the interest check linked below!

[jaketiri]

Happy Women of Pandora Month! Celebrate the women (and girls) of the Avatar series all month long!

Create any fanwork featuring and inspired by a female character during the month of December! This could be art, edits, gifsets, moodboards, web weavings, handmade jewelry, playlists, fanfics, headcanons, hell even a PowerPoint about your favorite female character if that’s what you want to do! There's no prompt and no pressure. Anything and everything you can think of is welcomed!

Remember to use the tag #womenofpandoramonth or tag this blog directly so that your posts can be found. Any fanfiction posted can be submitted to this collection on AO3.

[jaketiri]

Free Palestine Reading List

Haymarket Books: Free Ebooks for a Free Palestine!

Verso Books: Solidarity with Palestine: Free Resources and Further Reading

OR Books: THE FREE PALESTINE READING LIST

City Lights Books: Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear by Mosab Abu Toha

[jaketiri]

When you’re talking about the new avatar frontiers of Pandora trailer on Twitter, but human sympathisers infest the quote retweets and whine about how sad it is that you can’t play as the humans (they want to satiate their white supremacist, colonisation fantasies):

[jaketiri]

random ass color study

im blue da ba dee da ba daa

[jaketiri]

"Let’s get it done"

twi || FA || inkblot || DA

[jaketiri]

I love toxic romance as much as the next bitch but tbh it can't hold a candle to toxic sibling relationships where there's rage, yes, and maybe even hate, but love too, and you can't escape it and you can't embrace it so what's left? No one will ever know you like they know you, and no one will ever be able to hurt you like they can. This hole in your side and you can either stand by them even though what they've become turns your stomach or you can try to leave them behind but it doesn't matter how far you run because they'll always be your sibling. They'll always have a piece of you. You were born knowing them.

[jaketiri]

Posting here the difference between Spider's mask cause i'm tired of ppl saying he didn't changed it.

Tracked one, much thin, no RDA logo.

Untracked one, bulkier, RDA logo on the chin.

[jaketiri]

Henlo fellas neytiri for y’all

[jaketiri]

I feel the film redirecting Neytiri’s anger toward Spider instead of Jake made her seem less justified since he’s a kid and def played into a lot of stereotypes (plus her relationship with Ronal adding up to her being one of the “simple angry natives” She deserves to angry due to her tramma but the way it was displayed was disappointing

I can see where youre coming from, but I funamentally dont agree:

he’s a kid

Neytiri targeted Spider strategically to intimidate Quaritch into freeing Kiri. Not only that, Neytiri knew (somehow) that the two Miles were related as father and son, so Spider being sacrificed as a "son for a son" was the trade of magnitude that Quaritch needed to realize the consequences of bluffing (disowning and discarding Spider as a human casualty that happened to be his child).

Although I doubt Quartich knew how Neteyam died in all that chaos, he probably understood the magnitude of her "son for a son" comment by inferring she'd lost her son and would risk a heavfty bloodpayment to avenge him and save the rest of her children (of whom she didnt seem to consider Spider one of) and also put him in a vulnerable position by freeing him up.

Spider is a kid yes but so was Kiri, Tuk'tirey, and Neteyam, all of whom were targeted as prisoners of war, and the last of whom died as a casualty of war. War causes excessive suffering, trauma, and death, but fire begets fire and sometimes sacrifices have to be made. To Neytiri, sacrificing Spider was something she was willing to pay for the price of not losing Kiri or anyone else and having Jake in better position to capture him so she could escape with the kids. She knew how much it would take for Quaritch to let Kiri go, so she got equal with the stakes of the tradeoff.

Also, Neytiri is a warrior who is probably trained and used to the cruelties of war at this point, but shes still a person, so shes complex. We saw how happy she was until the humans returned, we saw how much grief and agony she was put through, and we saw her grapple with the war refugee status she and her family were in, again. She had to be convinced by Jake to leave Neteyam's body to finish the RDA off because she is a loving person and mother as much as she is a ruthless and dedicated warrior and she had to internally struggle with those parts of herself. But I feel that Neytiri was constantly dragged along by events that led to enormous personal losses, so we saw her take her own course of action when the buildup of her trauma required her to make a morally grey descision. We got to see Neytiri be complex in a way thats morally grey.

She did not target Spider because he was a vulnerable child anymore than her enemy did to intimidate a surrender. But I personally believe her "son for a son" comment made the ultimatum she directed very personal as she felt need to not only save her living children but avenge her dead child in the form of sacrifice. Neytiri made a descision that made her complex and just made sense for what shes been through and what she stands for.

[...] and def played into a lot of stereotypes (plus her relationship with Ronal adding up to her being one of the “simple angry natives” She deserves to angry due to her tramma but the way it was displayed was disappointing

I agree that the immediate feud between her and Ronal was a very poor writing choice by white people (mostly white men) who seem to think portraying two Indigenous-coded women literally catfighting upon meeting had zero implications about Indigenous people and women in general lol. But I disagree (as a Black person, tho not Indigenous, so keep that in mind) that Neytiri's character arc exhibited stereotypes of a "simple angry native" because the rage that led her to sacrifice Spider was not just simple anger at all and actually very complex decision making from complex motivations.

We saw Neytiri endure major, consequtive traumas throughout A1 and A2. She watched it all happen before her eyes and she had little to no onscreen time to process any of it. It seemed she was dragged along by the plot and passive to the decisions it required from her. We finally got to see her fury and rage unleashed in a slaughtering at the sinking ship battle, and while she had blood on her mind in vengence, it was not senseless and random; she was doing what any warrior, mother, and would-be Tsahìk would to "protect the people", this time NOT from anyones swaying or orders, or by the demands of plot progression.

I think the worst anti-indigenous stereotype of the movie, had Neytiri not been shown to sacrifice Spider, would be that Indigenous ppl are never justified in their expressions of trauma against their oppressors. We saw no full blooded Na'vi character make descisions of their own voalition in expression against RDA plundering because Jake was always there to be the more "level headed" mediator and reorient their "reactions". It was frustrating to see the known white savior character seem to have just as much unearned authority as before even if it was in a mediating position. So when Neytiri made a strategic descision to use Spider as bait against Quaritch to free his hold on Kiri—something Jake would have likely never done nor fully accepted—we saw a Na'vi woman use her own voalition to express her rage against her oppressors and those in debt to her people in a strategic way that furthered their self defense as a people, which beings me to my next point:

I'd argue that Neytiri's descision to use Spider as bait and sacrifice wasnt just about her own vengence. The magnitude of her losses and who she is as an Omatikaya warrior woman meant Soider's sacrifice would be a collective a loss against the RDA since Neteyam's death was a collective loss against her family, the Omatikaya, and even Eywa (after the Collective losses of A1 and the events prior, like Sylwanin's murder).

Its as likely as not that Neytiri knew Quaritich killed Neteyam. She decided that, regardless, he has to pay as the leader of the RDA force that was directly responsible for the war and assassin fleets brought to all her families multiple times. The fact that a sprayed RDA bullet killed Neteyam and not directly Quaritch meant that there was a collective blame to be placed on the entire RDA for his death and the continued assault and massacres of Na'vi peoples and Eywa. Spider's sacrifice would have reverberated across the RDA as a collective attack since he served as both a valuable resource and a legal liability to the RDA (think of negative PR they would have if news got back to Earth that a human childs death occured on a Colonal's watch), as well as a personal attack on Quaritch whom likely would have made his son's loss personal to the RDA, too (whether in allegience to them or not. We'll see!).

Ofc it would look bad to the humans for a Na'vi to kill their kin, and could easily be spun against them since its not wrong to put ur species first, nor wrong to find child death irredeemable. But the stereotype of the "simple angry native" comes from their propaganda and privileges since they benefit from Na'vi oppression, not from the actions of the Na'vi in response to their oppression in the context of it. One human child sacrificed in a hostage standoff in lieu of a genocide of thousands of Na'vi children, their families (familial flora and fauna too), and their sacred sites is not comparable to a corperation's military forces using genocide and war to protect plundered assets for money and market domination because the collective messages against the people affected by the losses are completely different. Neytiri's sacrifice of Spider is a message of collective and spiritual venegence and self defense, and the RDA and RECOM fleet's massacring and plundering are messages of of violent supremacy and greed. Total opposites between the oppressor and the oppressed.

TLDR: Neytiri is a complex character saturated with trauma and, at her breaking point, was fueled by vengence into morally grey territory. Her on-screen slaughtering of RDA forces was an extention of the rage and vengence she felt when she used Spider as bait and sacrifice. She was only morally "questionable" to the extent of what sacrifices could be "allowed" in war/defense, and IMO, it made sense for her to use Spider in the heat of the moment as bait to call Quaritch on his bluff to release Kiri and get better position to defeat him and get the kids to safety.

It was important to see an Indigenous-coded character use her own voalition against the white savior's sway to express anger at oppessors and add layers to her character. In avenging the death of her firstborn and the protection of her family, her people, her home, and Eywa against settler colonial genocide, morally depraved, capitalist destruction, and assault on the spiritual harmony and autonomy of Na'vi nations, Neytiri targeted the human boy she felt little kin with in a strategic way. Quartich's son proved to be a liability anyway and Neytiri knew she could exploit that liability through his sacrifice, which proved to expose the vulnerabilities of the oppressor enough to free her family and ring a message to the RDA that the losses she endured were personal and collectively felt.

I feel that Neytiri as a warrior, a mother, and an indigenous woman (in her own universe at least) was justified in her actions toward Spider, and her abscence from the film in dialouge and emotional expression (other than crying and screaming in agony from direct assaults) are what contribute to anti-indigenous sterotypes about Native Women's lack of complexity and Indigenous ppl's automous decisions against their oppressors, NOT her descision to act on her trauma.