Customary ( Noa X Human! Reader ) Series. **UPDATED 7/8/2024**

Genuinly because there are some valid criticism to be made on the Avatar movie(s) but almost all critics that I see discussing Avatar are super redundant and surface level. Especially the ones that bring up the 'hair sex' or 'RDA are actually the good guys and Jake Sully chose blue 😼 over humanity' Like UGHHHHHH I can totally recommend a break down on the poor taste of James Cameron music on Avatar (super recommend, made by a passionate and competent guy)! That's to say I love Avatar hehe, I just love break grounds on anything involving the media, positive or not 😚

ahh I feel like I've made a bunch of rant-y posts this week, sorry about that y'all, but I've got one just one more to slap down real quick 😅

This video came up in my YouTube recommendations, and while it makes some interesting points, I fundamentally disagree with the assertion that "Avatar's story wasn't very good because it wasn't complex enough".

Here's the thing: The good/bad scale and the simple/complex scale are SEPARATE. A story does not need to be super complex to be good. A good story can be complex, certainly! But it doesn't need to be. A simple straightforward story can still be a good story. And so it is with Avatar, in my opinion.

Same with the character criticisms. Sometimes we just don't need to know every minute detail of a character's life for the character to work within their story, we just need to know the parts that are relevant. Selfridge, for example...do you really think we needed to have part of the runtime set aside to flesh out every little detail of what led him to become a greedy corporate middle manager? Would that tangent really have inherently enhanced the story being told here? Or would it just have taken time away from the intended focus, that being the wonder of Pandora and Jake's journey?

More complex does not automatically equal better. A good story is one that is told well: the audience can follow what happens, they resonate with the emotional beats, there are no gaping holes or inconsistencies in the plot or worldbuilding, characters grow and change in a believable way. And that can be done in complex stories AND in simple stories!! Just because your story doesn't have a gazillion wild plot twists and intricate 10-page biographies justifying every decision every named character makes doesn't mean it can't be well-executed enjoyable story!

Avatar's story is not a bad one. It's simple, sure, predicable even—and if that's a turn-off for you, hey, that's totally fair—but it's executed very well. No, we don't know how Quaritch became head of RDA security, we don't know how Norm came to be part of the Avatar program, we don't know what inspired Grace to become a botanist...because we simply do not need to. Those details just aren't all that relevant to the core story being told. Could they make for interesting trivia? Sure. But is it needed to understand the heart of the movie? The message? The story? Not really, no. In fact, depending on how it's implemented, adding extraneous details like that could actively bog the story down.

Simple movies can be good. Simple movies can be bad.

Complex movies can be good. Complex movies can be bad.

"It's too simple" is, therefore, a rather silly criticism. Totally valid as a personal opinion! But kinda meaningless as an analytical criticism.

I DID IT!

For those of you who don't know, I have been devoting much of my time in the past year to writing my debut fantasy novel. I'm happy to say that a few days ago I finished the completed first draft!!! 179,000 words/405 pages later, I finally got to print my book out and see it for the first time🥹😭

There is still a long way to go until this baby is ready to be published, but I couldn't be more grateful and proud to be at this point. I've known that I want to be an author since I was in second grade, but for many years, I was too afraid that I wouldn't be good enough to even try. It was actually posting my fanfiction online that eventually gave me the confidence to chase after my dreams. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone who has supported me on here! It may have seemed like just a simple comment or two on silly fanfiction, but it had a greater impact than you could have realized🥹💛

I will try to keep you all updated on the progress concerning my novel, 'Project Music Box', as I go.

And don't worry, I'm still writing fanfiction when I have time

do people have no shame anymore?

Avatar Masterlist

JC Avatar Universe fanfiction - constantly updating (*- longer fics)

I write for Neteyam, Tsu'tey, Ao'nung, open to writing for Lo'ak, Jake

Neteyam:

*All For You - Neteyam x Ta’unui ! reader / enemies to lovers! - pt. 1 | pt. 2

when Quaritch attacks the Ta’unui water clan, Y/N flees to the Metkayina clan for safety. She develops feelings for Neteyam but the tensions grow when Y/N finds out that Neteyam is the son of Jake Sully - the man she hates.

*Be Mine - Neteyam x Metkayina ! reader / fake dating!

the one, where neteyam pretends to court the reader to avoid all of the nagging from his parents and a group of admirers. of course, it doesn’t take long for her to fall for him too

Human Stuff - Neteyam x Human ! reader (afab) / period cramps  

the one, where a confused na’vi teenager tries to comfort his human friend while she’s on her period

Your lips, my lips, apocalypse - Neteyam x Omatikaya ! reader

when y/n hangs out with the women at the lab and decides to put on lipstick to feel pretty, her friends start to make fun of her. but not neteyam, he thinks she looks cute

*And I cried when you first said, "Oel ngati kameie" - Neteyam x Metkayina ! reader / forbidden love!

despite her father’s wariness of the sully’s and their ‘demon-blood,’ y/n can’t help but feel drawn to neteyam. as the two of them bond over their similar experiences of parental pressure, he finds himself falling in love with her

*Second Chances - Neteyam x Omatikaya ! reader / love triangle!

y/n and lo'ak were destined to be together, or so she thought... after moving to awa'atlu with the sully's, lo'ak starts to fall for a certain metkayina girl, leaving y/n completely heartbroken. it is unexpected when neteyam, who has been secretly harboring feelings for her, decides to tend to her wounds. can y/n reciprocate his love?

Nerves Talking - Neteyam x Crybaby ! reader / misscommunication

after spending months teaching his little sister’s friend how to hunt, neteyam is surprised by the lack of her progress. later on, he discovers then that she is just too nervous to be around him because of her not-so-small crush

Tunutu (Crush) - Neteyam x Omatikaya ! reader / childhood friends to lovers

although neteyam had never reciprocated her feelings, choosing him was always an easy decision for y/n, one of those she could make in a heartbeat. so when another man tries to win her affections, neteyam suddenly becomes aware of what he has been missing out on

*Chosen by Eywa - Neteyam x Omatikaya ! reader / series (complete)

eywa makes no mistakes... in the midst of his preparation to become the future olo'eyktan, neteyam is told to be with a chosen mate. guided by the signs of eywa, tsahik picks y/n, a woman orphaned by the war, whose heart already belongs to another. y/n's whole world begins to crumble, as she is forced into the loveless bond. will neteyam and y/n be able to overcome the odds and find their true happiness?

Tsu'tey:

Child of Our Own - Tsu'tey x Omatikaya ! reader

seeing his friends already awaiting their firstborns, tsu'tey begins to yearn for a baby of his own, but he is too shy to tell you about it

Unrequited Love - Tsu’tey x Omatikaya ! reader / smut

you had been in love with tsu'tey for as long as you could remember. so when you see his heart break again at the loss of another mate, you offer him comfort, expecting nothing in return

Unrequited - Tsu’tey x Omatikaya ! reader / series (complete)

based on Unrequited Love: y/n had been in love with tsu'tey since they were kids, watching him get his heart broken over and over, until he became hardened. on one particular night, she offers him intimacy with no expectations in return, which sparks up a complex relationship between them. they grapple with guilt, unrequited love, and newfound intimacy, as y/n and tsu'tey navigate the depths of their feelings for each other

Captain Save a Hoe - Tsu'tey x Avatar ! reader

grumpy tsu’tey having to take care of a clumsy avatar!reader, and eventually warming up to her

Let Me Hear My Child - Tsu'tey x Pregnant ! reader / headcanons

tsu'tey's reaction to finding out his mate is pregnant

You'll be a great dad - Tsu'tey x Pregnant ! reader / Tsu'tey x Jake

tsu'tey is overwhelmed with anxiety and fear upon hearing the news of his mate's pregnancy and becoming a father, but like a good friend, jake is there to calm him down

Can't wait to meet you - Tsu'tey x Pregnant ! reader

pregnant!reader having to reassure tsu'tey that he will be a great father, despite his fears

Just Married - Tsu'tey x Female ! mate

when you stepped into the public eye for the first time after your mating, tsu'tey couldn't contain the overflowing affection he held for you. but because you felt insecure about the way you were being perceived by the clan, tsu'tey decided to prove you otherwise

Ao'nung:

Heaven in Hiding - Ao'nung x Metkayina ! reader / secret dating!

ao'nung and you have been hiding your relationship for some time now but there comes a moment when you want more than that

Thinking out loud about avatar (my opinions/analyses/theories):

sully kids watching jake's old diary logs

neteyam taking the move to awa'atlu the best out of the sully's

jake cringing at "my husband was toruk makto" bc of his own insecurities

jake and quaritch making up

-- let me know, if you want to be added to my taglist ♡ 

Alma Cortez: the epitome of colonization and assimilation culture

Alma was never a misled teacher. She wasn’t manipulated by Mercer, she wasn’t his victim, she did not have good intentions. She was the CO-FOUNDER of TAP. Including TAP-Con1.

This is a deep dive I’ve been wanting to do for a while, and I’ve finally been able to gather all my ideas and put them together. I know I’m late to the party, but I have a lot to say, especially because of the tendency of this fandom to judge Alma in a very biased way and to ignore important traits of her character just because they’re “uncomfortable”. Even among other people who dislike Alma, I have never seen some topics discussed and I want to change that, because I feel they are fundamental in understanding both her character and the role she plays in the story. Now, that isn’t to say I think people shouldn’t find Alma’s character interesting or entertaining; if you defend her and genuinely sympathize with her, however… this is not the place for you. I am the biggest and proudest Alma hater, so do with that what you will. I’ve seen too many people defend her actions, or try to tone down/change objective things in the game that are even explicitly spelled out for the audience. So, here I am.

Alma always knew exactly what she was doing. She knew what she wanted and what she was willing to do to achieve it. She wanted her school, no matter the cost (as she says quite literally in the game). It's true, she didn't know that Mercer was going to massacre the Sarentu. But she was still willing to take students for her school without theirs or their parents' consent. Let me elaborate.

In the flashback while she's going to the Sarentu moot with Mercer, this is how the conversation goes:

Alma: We're just talking to them, do we need this many soldiers?

Mercer: This is our last chance.* They're too primitive to understand what we can do for their children.

Alma: It's for the children.

Mercer: Exactly. Just think what we can achieve. Finally.

Alma (nodding): We're helping them. They'll see it... in time.

And THIS exactly is what sums up the person that she is. She may not have predicted Mercer’s massacre, but she still went to the moot with the purpose of taking those children no matter what. Because the core of what she believes is this: humans are superior and therefore need to impose their better ways of life on the lesser and uncivilized Na'vi; these people are too stupid to understand anyway, so it’s acceptable for humans to steal their children and forcefully assimilate them in the culture of their oppressors because they’re superior anyway. One day, years after they kidnapped their kids, the Na'vi’s primitive minds will come to understand that and recognize humans as superior, and thanks to their now successfully-brainwashed children, they will get to subjugate them as well.

A project like TAP isn’t the basis for cultural exchange, it’s the basis for cultural erasure and the assimilation of Indigenous children. TAP was LITERALLY a residential school. If you think there could ever be a “good intention” behind this, then you are a despicable human being. Alma knows this. She simply hides it behind a self-righteous facade of generosity and allyship. I don’t care that she genuinely believes that this is a way to help the Na'vi: it doesn’t change the “human-superiority” complex of her beliefs, it doesn’t change the fact that she literally made a fucking residential school. It is literally called “residential” in-game, and it can’t be interpreted differently. This is what “residential school” means. Alma was raised on Earth, where Indigenous people still exist, where residential schools literally already existed. Where do you think they got their inspiration from? It was always intentional. Remember that Mercer and Alma started working together for a reason. They shared a dream, and that dream was always going to be built on the blood and the stolen freedom of Indigenous Na'vi and their children. There was never a single half good intention about this project. This is literally a story about childen surviving residential school and reclaiming their Indigenous culture. The game doesn’t want you to sympathize with the colonizers who did this. The point of the story is for you to empathize with the Indigenous survivors of genocide and colonization.

Believing that you are doing something good — when you are actually doing tremendous harm — only because of your self-righteous superiority complex and actually doing something good are not the same thing. And the fact that Alma believes that by doing this she is actually helping the Na'vi makes her a even worse person. Can’t you see the danger of such mindset, the arrogance, the superiority? It is even more disgusting to me. At least a person like Mercer is honest: he’s horrible, hates the Na'vi and he’s proud of it. Alma, however, tries to hide it in a pathetic and disgusting attempt at feeling morally superior to people like him, tricking herself and the others around her into believing she’s actually a decent person, while her only goal is to achieve the recognition she thinks rightfully belongs to her and simultaneously erase her so-called “guilt”.

If she actually cared about the Sarentu children like people claim she did, she would have not left them in cryo for 16 years. She could have gone back to check if they were alive at any point during that time. She chose not to. She robbed them of their entire lives for the sole reason that she was too hypocritical to face her actions and failure, because that’s what this really is about. She never actually believed she did something wrong, her only shame came from the fact that she didn’t get the recognition she always strived for.

And even once she was forced to go rescue them, she still continued to lie to them and made them believe they had been abandoned by their clan. She kept the lie up when she could at least have told them that the Sarentu were dead. When they relocated to the Clouded Forest, she made them believe the Kame'tire were untrustworthy. She could have just said nothing, but no, she had to reinforce the lies to make herself look better, to pose as the Sarentu’s sole guide once again.

That woman had absolutely no shame for what she did and only admitted the truth once she was forced to do so. Even when she goes back to wake up the Sarentu, we can find out in a note that her priority is still TAP. “TAP is just a tomb for our dead dreams. Or maybe not. Just maybe.” Still, after almost two decades in which she could have, you know, self-analyzed a bit? she says loud and clear that she dgaf about the kids (she never even mentions them), like she’s proved over and over again, but only about her little colonialist assimilation project.

Later, if it wasn't for Anufi recognizing her, she never would have told the truth. Again, the only thing she ever does for the Sarentu — that is, simply informing them of the truth they were owed — she does because she is forced to do so by external forces. Even the only actual good thing she does in general, creating the Resistance, she does after TAP is gone, not because she realizes she’s done something bad, that she’s part of something evil and wants to separate herself from it, but because, again, she is forced to. If it wasn’t for the Omatikaya and the other clans rebelling, if it wasn’t that humans lost Pandora, she would have never left TAP. Not much of a resistance on her side then, right? She may have founded it — again, after she was forced by the circumstances, not because she was moved by authentic and sincere motives, and she’s able to do so only by lying about her project and actions — but it was the other members that made it a Resistance, not her.

* also notice Mercer saying “this is our last chance”. Interesting, right? I wonder why they were unable to find willing students. In Alma’s videolog we find at TAP-Con1 she says: “We’ve gone as far as we can with the Kame'tire. […] We just have to make them see what benefits it could bring to the Na'vi, to share cultures and outlooks. We have so much to teach each other. So much to give to the Na'vi. […] (about the Sarentu) I’m so excited to meet them and welcome the children to our school.”

We just have to make them see what benefits it could bring to the Na'vi. We have so much to teach each other. So much to give to the Na'vi. And here it goes again, the reason why she was never a good person. At first she tries to make it look like their intent is actually exchanging cultures between equals, but then immediately states her true ideology: it’s the humans who can help the primitive Na'vi, not the other way around. This idea that superior sophisticated societies need to share their “wonders” and teach their ways to the lesser, primitive uncivilized (Indigenous) people is beyond disgusting. Again, this is NOT cultural exchange. Because beyond that, I guarantee you there is absolutely NOTHING the Na'vi would have gained from interacting with their colonizers like that. Like Aha'ri said, “why would the Na'vi want to have alliances with you?”. We just have to make them, Alma also says. The Na'vi are never taken into consideration as actual intelligent people with their own will, they are never meant to be part of the conversation: they are too stupid, so we just have to force our culture onto them. But it’s okay!! We’re the superior and civilized ones so we’re actually doing them a favor.

I’m so excited to meet them and welcome the children to our school. Once again, the Na'vi’s will doesn’t matter. She doesn’t say nor imply anything about actually having a discussion with them. The Kame'tire said no, but they just HAVE to have their school, so they’re gonna “welcome the children” one way or another. From the note I mentioned earlier: We all had to make sacrifices. Some... they made the ultimate sacrifice. But the science, the progress. Yeah, we did what we thought was right to make TAP a reality. She admits very clearly (and very casually) that she doesn’t give a flying fuck about the lives she and Mercer purposefully destroyed. It was a sacrifice she (and Mercer) decided had the authority to make for “the science and the progress”. Even decades after the massacre, this is what the lives of the Sarentu still are in her eyes: a necessary and justifiable sacrifice. Alma always knew this. Not in the back of her mind, not subconsciously. Stealing the children was something she was always willing to do, because in her mind it’s a good thing, in her mind they have the right to do it. And that makes her abhorrent.

On TAP-Con1

As I said at the beginning of this post, Alma was never a misled victim, she was TAP’s co-founder, and that obviously includes TAP-Con1. That means that she not only was aware of everything that was going on in that place, but that she was behind it. She was behind the children being kept in cages, washed with disinfectant, being left to sleep and live like prisoners. They were little children, the oldest being SIX, forced to be analyzed in laboratory (and gods know what else they did to them).

From an interaction at the lab of TAP-Con1, our Sarentu says: “Blood samples. Some of us cried everytime.” And Alma was behind it. And even if she wasn’t, she still allowed it. If you seriously think that she, the fucking co-founder, did not have any executive power over the project she literally made and she was just subjugated to Mercer’s will, you are fooling yourself. This is true for both TAP-Con1 and TAP.

“You didn’t do a thing to stop Mercer. The wounds he gave us, you gave as well.”

Nor explained the point so perfectly. She was behind the fear, the abuse, the torture just as much as Mercer and Harding were. Again, she was never just a teacher and the game spells it out for you very clearly. If you ignore this, it’s your choice or your willing lack of understanding.

Completely irredeemable

What I find even worse is that she never even tried to repent or earn the Sarentu’s forgiveness. She did absolutely NOTHING to earn back her place into their lives or into the Resistance. Not because there is something she could actually do to redeem herself. No, what I find irritating is the fact that she just assumed she was given a free pass for everything. At the end of the main game, she even has the audacity to think that she and the Sarentu can move forward together and “be a family again”. Except they never were one, they were never on the same side. It’s frustrating how she still refuses to see that. Another proof that she doesn’t hold herself accountable like she claims she does, she still does not see the damage she has done, she still does not see how wicked her actions and intentions always were. She still sees herself as a victim. But this is no excuse for the audience to consider her as such.

After her Avatar dies and she is forced to admit the truth about the Sarentu massacre, there is a side quest called “Penance” in which Alma, Ri'nela and the MC gather to bury it. You may think after her confession — which she made seem spontaneous but was actually forced by Anufi and Nor — Alma actually feels remorse like she claims she does; you may think she finally understands now the gravity of what she did to the Sarentu, that finally she will act honestly and be ready to face the consequences to her actions.

But no. Once again, her only focus is herself. Instead of humbly coming to the Sarentu, she whines about how she doesn’t feel comfortable in her own body (because she chose for years to deceive herself and most importantly the Sarentu with a fake mask of allyship). When the MC points out that the Avatar was never the real Alma, she still speaks as that mask was her true self, she still believes that she was actually one of them, one of the people she personally oppressed and colonized.

And Ri'nela is having none of it. “Did it make your sins easier to bear? Playing make believe?” This is exactly it. Alma posed as one of the Sarentu, actually tricking herself into believing she was one of them, because this way she didn’t have to face the person she really was all along. This way it was easier to pretend she was in the right, that she was manipulated by Mercer. But as I explained earlier, this doesn’t make her misled, this doesn’t make her a person with good intentions; it just makes her a hypocritical heinous human being.

This is why Alma is irredeemable. Not only because there’s no action good enough to repair the atrocities she was responsible for, but because she would actually had to feel genuine remorse to start a redemption arc. As she made abundantly clear through her words and actions, this is not the case. And I’ll even say this: a person like Alma is utterly incapable of feeling true remorse. There will always be a part of her that believes herself to be partly a victim, a person who just wanted the best but was ultimately misled. This is what I consider the worst, most loathsome and dangerous trait of her character.

On the Sky Breaker

This is why the Sky Breaker dlc left a sour aftertaste in my mouth. Spoilers if you haven’t played it yet.

After the valkyrie attack, when everyone is gathered to discuss what happened, Mokasa (why was he allowed to be there in the first place is a mystery) is bitching about the humans, and Sa'ney rightfully calls him out on his hypocrisy. At this point, Alma (again, why the fuck is she here?) intervenes and says:

“Does he not deserve the same as me? I share the same blame. But… I’ve been allowed to move forward.”

Does he not deserve the same as me? Yes, yes he does. That’s the point. I share the same blame. Do you, Alma? Do you really? Don’t get me wrong, I HATE Mokasa. Leading the RDA to the Sarentu, blaming Anufi, lying to his own clan for decades… I don’t think I need to explain. But it always got me thinking how people point the finger on Mokasa so naturally but don’t give Alma the same treatment. Let’s examine them a bit.

Again, there’s no need for me to explain why everything Mokasa did was horrible and unjustifiable. But let’s take a look at why he did it. He says it in the main game: “it was their children or ours”. As cruel and horrible that sounds (because it is), it’s also true. It’s clear Mokasa was aware of the humans’ intentions from the beginning: he knew they were gonna steal Na'vi children regardless and he ensured those children wouldn’t be Kame'tire. Was he right? Of course not!! There is NO excuse for what he did. He should have warned Anufi and the Sarentu, he should have not torn apart his clan to hide his secret… but it’s still a completely different motive. Alma is a human and an oppressor who wanted to steal children for her own personal ambition; Mokasa, an Indigenous man part of the oppressed category, did evil and inexcusable things because he thought that was the only way to protect his clan and their children from their colonizers. The outcome, the goal even, is the same: the sacrifice of the Sarentu and their children. Yet what drives Mokasa and Alma to commit this atrocity cannot be judged equally. Not really the same, is it?

But I’ve been allowed to move forward. Have you, Alma? HAVE YOU? Who exactly has allowed you to move forward? The Resistance? But why should they ever have a say in this? Yes, they felt betrayed too in a way, obviously. But they’re not the ones whose lives were ruined at her hands. The only ones who get to have a say in this are the Sarentu. Didn’t seem to me that they forgave her; they only made clear they wanted and needed to go their own way. They very clearly separated themselves from her. So, it looks like to me that Alma simply assumed she was given a free pass for everything even though she didn’t do a single thing to repent for her actions.

I have conflicted feelings about Mokasa’s so-called redemption, and I’m not sure what were the game’s intentions regarding him as opposed to Alma. But what is certain is that Alma deserved to pay the consequences for her actions. Mokasa was rightfully banished from the clan. I know the same can’t be done for Alma, but ignoring her is not enough. She deserves to be punished for what she did. I don’t how, honestly (not implying physical torture or anything here guys, dw). Yes, Nor killed her Avatar and I think that was absolutely necessary. But what Nor did (and he 100% had every right) was revealing the real Alma, it was stripping her from the possibility to keep deceiving everyone, especially the Sarentu; it was not, however, the consequence she needs to face. I really hope they will somehow deal with this in the future.

This is what I think of her. I may never hated a character more and I wish she died in the neurosect. There is absolutely no excuse for this woman. There’s no sympathizing with her. I did not villanize her, I did not exaggerate her actions or make her look worse than what she actually is. If people still refuse to see it, I think that says a lot about them.

I want to conclude saying this: I do think Alma is a beautifully written character, and it was surprising how well the game handled such delicate themes, how it showed different affects of colonization and assimilation culture on the children without passing one of them as more rightful. Because at the end of the day this is what the story is about, and the fans ignore this too often: this is a metaphor for residential schools and their survivors. It’s a story about resistance and reconnection. You cannot forget this when you judge characters like Nor, or Teylan, or Alma. Again, you are not meant to defend her. It is not her story. It is the Sarentu’s story. And it is meant to parallel the real stories from which this one was inspired. Always remember that.

Kiri the Dove and Spider

I've fallen ill with sudden temperature, so that's the final piece so sorry💦

— 𝑨𝑽𝑨𝑻𝑨𝑹 𝑴𝑨𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑳𝑰𝑺𝑻

✮ 𝙟𝙖𝙠𝙚

— [oneshots]

. . . coming soon!

— [drabbles]

gimme sugar, lover

↳ neytiri's his first love, but you're his forever...he swears.

✮ 𝙣𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙮𝙖𝙢

— [oneshots]

the hearts that bind us | 7.6k

↳ in which you, a quiet healer in the tribe, have the biggest crush on the upcoming leader. sometimes you think the feelings could be mutual. until one night in the glowing forest shatters that.

— [drabbles]

invisible threads | one ✦ two ✦ three

↳ a series of drabbles and deleted scenes from the hearts that bind us, presented in no specific order.

spirit sister

↳ the one where you suffer a great loss and neteyam’s there to ease the pain. 

my love

↳ the one where neteyam screws up and he notices the distance between you.

like blood despite water

↳ the one where you witness a tragedy and the sully's are there for you.

all mine

↳ the one where you and neteyam are a sure thing.

like a diamond under pressure

↳ the one where you're breaking and neteyam picks up the pieces.

warm hands

↳ the one where neteyam is shackled by appearances, but you couldn’t care less.

by the grace [make no mistake]

↳ the one where neteyam is too blinded by duty to realize what he has right in front of him.

by the grace [make no mistake] ii

↳ the one where neteyam is dangerously close the losing; but maybe you two are meant to be.

✮ 𝙡𝙤'𝙖𝙠

— [oneshots]

in full bloom | 10.2k

↳ in which lo'ak is the black sheep in the family, clinging to honor by a precarious thread. you are the well-loved songstress in the tribe. he should resent you for being everything he's not, but his fickle heart can't bring him to do so.

— [drabbles]

everything is blue | part one ✦ part two

↳ the one where lo'ak misunderstands your friendship with his older brother.

one of us is dead

↳ the one where lo'ak makes a grave mistake.

yellow

↳ the one where you and lo'ak are too stupid to be in love.

under the moonlight, we kindle

↳ the one where you and lo'ak are words apart, but not a thing can come between you.

wilting flowers

↳ the one where you can't help but want lo'ak even though he's in love with someone else.

✮ 𝙠𝙞𝙧𝙞

— [oneshots]

. . . coming soon!

— [drabbles]

. . . coming soon!

✮ 𝙖𝙤'𝙣𝙪𝙣𝙜

— [oneshots]

pull of the tides | 7.1k

↳ you are a warrior of very few words, yet oftentimes your gaze betrays you. this widens the rift between you and the eldest sully, but will seeking refuge with the metkayina soothe the burn? especially when the alleviation comes in the form of a certain ocean boy? 

— [drabbles]

bashful creatures

↳ the one where you’re shy and ao’nung’s got a crush.

i wanna be yours

↳ the one where you're madly in love but ao'nung doesn't want a thing to do with you.

✮ 𝙩𝙨𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙮𝙖

— [oneshots]

. . . coming soon!

— [drabbles]

. . . coming soon!

✮ 𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙭𝙤

— [oneshots]

. . . coming soon!

— [drabbles]

. . . coming soon!

neng © 2023

Kiri the Dove and her "Spider"

as a young girl Kiri claimed that cursed child Miles was in fact a golden spider from her adoptive mother's tales

Alma Cortez: the epitome of colonization and assimilation culture

Alma was never a misled teacher. She wasn’t manipulated by Mercer, she wasn’t his victim, she did not have good intentions. She was the CO-FOUNDER of TAP. Including TAP-Con1.

This is a deep dive I’ve been wanting to do for a while, and I’ve finally been able to gather all my ideas and put them together. I know I’m late to the party, but I have a lot to say, especially because of the tendency of this fandom to judge Alma in a very biased way and to ignore important traits of her character just because they’re “uncomfortable”. Even among other people who dislike Alma, I have never seen some topics discussed and I want to change that, because I feel they are fundamental in understanding both her character and the role she plays in the story. Now, that isn’t to say I think people shouldn’t find Alma’s character interesting or entertaining; if you defend her and genuinely sympathize with her, however… this is not the place for you. I am the biggest and proudest Alma hater, so do with that what you will. I’ve seen too many people defend her actions, or try to tone down/change objective things in the game that are even explicitly spelled out for the audience. So, here I am.

Alma always knew exactly what she was doing. She knew what she wanted and what she was willing to do to achieve it. She wanted her school, no matter the cost (as she says quite literally in the game). It's true, she didn't know that Mercer was going to massacre the Sarentu. But she was still willing to take students for her school without theirs or their parents' consent. Let me elaborate.

In the flashback while she's going to the Sarentu moot with Mercer, this is how the conversation goes:

Alma: We're just talking to them, do we need this many soldiers?

Mercer: This is our last chance.* They're too primitive to understand what we can do for their children.

Alma: It's for the children.

Mercer: Exactly. Just think what we can achieve. Finally.

Alma (nodding): We're helping them. They'll see it... in time.

And THIS exactly is what sums up the person that she is. She may not have predicted Mercer’s massacre, but she still went to the moot with the purpose of taking those children no matter what. Because the core of what she believes is this: humans are superior and therefore need to impose their better ways of life on the lesser and uncivilized Na'vi; these people are too stupid to understand anyway, so it’s acceptable for humans to steal their children and forcefully assimilate them in the culture of their oppressors because they’re superior anyway. One day, years after they kidnapped their kids, the Na'vi’s primitive minds will come to understand that and recognize humans as superior, and thanks to their now successfully-brainwashed children, they will get to subjugate them as well.

A project like TAP isn’t the basis for cultural exchange, it’s the basis for cultural erasure and the assimilation of Indigenous children. TAP was LITERALLY a residential school. If you think there could ever be a “good intention” behind this, then you are a despicable human being. Alma knows this. She simply hides it behind a self-righteous facade of generosity and allyship. I don’t care that she genuinely believes that this is a way to help the Na'vi: it doesn’t change the “human-superiority” complex of her beliefs, it doesn’t change the fact that she literally made a fucking residential school. It is literally called “residential” in-game, and it can’t be interpreted differently. This is what “residential school” means. Alma was raised on Earth, where Indigenous people still exist, where residential schools literally already existed. Where do you think they got their inspiration from? It was always intentional. Remember that Mercer and Alma started working together for a reason. They shared a dream, and that dream was always going to be built on the blood and the stolen freedom of Indigenous Na'vi and their children. There was never a single half good intention about this project. This is literally a story about childen surviving residential school and reclaiming their Indigenous culture. The game doesn’t want you to sympathize with the colonizers who did this. The point of the story is for you to empathize with the Indigenous survivors of genocide and colonization.

Believing that you are doing something good — when you are actually doing tremendous harm — only because of your self-righteous superiority complex and actually doing something good are not the same thing. And the fact that Alma believes that by doing this she is actually helping the Na'vi makes her a even worse person. Can’t you see the danger of such mindset, the arrogance, the superiority? It is even more disgusting to me. At least a person like Mercer is honest: he’s horrible, hates the Na'vi and he’s proud of it. Alma, however, tries to hide it in a pathetic and disgusting attempt at feeling morally superior to people like him, tricking herself and the others around her into believing she’s actually a decent person, while her only goal is to achieve the recognition she thinks rightfully belongs to her and simultaneously erase her so-called “guilt”.

If she actually cared about the Sarentu children like people claim she did, she would have not left them in cryo for 16 years. She could have gone back to check if they were alive at any point during that time. She chose not to. She robbed them of their entire lives for the sole reason that she was too hypocritical to face her actions and failure, because that’s what this really is about. She never actually believed she did something wrong, her only shame came from the fact that she didn’t get the recognition she always strived for.

And even once she was forced to go rescue them, she still continued to lie to them and made them believe they had been abandoned by their clan. She kept the lie up when she could at least have told them that the Sarentu were dead. When they relocated to the Clouded Forest, she made them believe the Kame'tire were untrustworthy. She could have just said nothing, but no, she had to reinforce the lies to make herself look better, to pose as the Sarentu’s sole guide once again.

That woman had absolutely no shame for what she did and only admitted the truth once she was forced to do so. Even when she goes back to wake up the Sarentu, we can find out in a note that her priority is still TAP. “TAP is just a tomb for our dead dreams. Or maybe not. Just maybe.” Still, after almost two decades in which she could have, you know, self-analyzed a bit? she says loud and clear that she dgaf about the kids (she never even mentions them), like she’s proved over and over again, but only about her little colonialist assimilation project.

Later, if it wasn't for Anufi recognizing her, she never would have told the truth. Again, the only thing she ever does for the Sarentu — that is, simply informing them of the truth they were owed — she does because she is forced to do so by external forces. Even the only actual good thing she does in general, creating the Resistance, she does after TAP is gone, not because she realizes she’s done something bad, that she’s part of something evil and wants to separate herself from it, but because, again, she is forced to. If it wasn’t for the Omatikaya and the other clans rebelling, if it wasn’t that humans lost Pandora, she would have never left TAP. Not much of a resistance on her side then, right? She may have founded it — again, after she was forced by the circumstances, not because she was moved by authentic and sincere motives, and she’s able to do so only by lying about her project and actions — but it was the other members that made it a Resistance, not her.

* also notice Mercer saying “this is our last chance”. Interesting, right? I wonder why they were unable to find willing students. In Alma’s videolog we find at TAP-Con1 she says: “We’ve gone as far as we can with the Kame'tire. […] We just have to make them see what benefits it could bring to the Na'vi, to share cultures and outlooks. We have so much to teach each other. So much to give to the Na'vi. […] (about the Sarentu) I’m so excited to meet them and welcome the children to our school.”

We just have to make them see what benefits it could bring to the Na'vi. We have so much to teach each other. So much to give to the Na'vi. And here it goes again, the reason why she was never a good person. At first she tries to make it look like their intent is actually exchanging cultures between equals, but then immediately states her true ideology: it’s the humans who can help the primitive Na'vi, not the other way around. This idea that superior sophisticated societies need to share their “wonders” and teach their ways to the lesser, primitive uncivilized (Indigenous) people is beyond disgusting. Again, this is NOT cultural exchange. Because beyond that, I guarantee you there is absolutely NOTHING the Na'vi would have gained from interacting with their colonizers like that. Like Aha'ri said, “why would the Na'vi want to have alliances with you?”. We just have to make them, Alma also says. The Na'vi are never taken into consideration as actual intelligent people with their own will, they are never meant to be part of the conversation: they are too stupid, so we just have to force our culture onto them. But it’s okay!! We’re the superior and civilized ones so we’re actually doing them a favor.

I’m so excited to meet them and welcome the children to our school. Once again, the Na'vi’s will doesn’t matter. She doesn’t say nor imply anything about actually having a discussion with them. The Kame'tire said no, but they just HAVE to have their school, so they’re gonna “welcome the children” one way or another. From the note I mentioned earlier: We all had to make sacrifices. Some... they made the ultimate sacrifice. But the science, the progress. Yeah, we did what we thought was right to make TAP a reality. She admits very clearly (and very casually) that she doesn’t give a flying fuck about the lives she and Mercer purposefully destroyed. It was a sacrifice she (and Mercer) decided had the authority to make for “the science and the progress”. Even decades after the massacre, this is what the lives of the Sarentu still are in her eyes: a necessary and justifiable sacrifice. Alma always knew this. Not in the back of her mind, not subconsciously. Stealing the children was something she was always willing to do, because in her mind it’s a good thing, in her mind they have the right to do it. And that makes her abhorrent.

On TAP-Con1

As I said at the beginning of this post, Alma was never a misled victim, she was TAP’s co-founder, and that obviously includes TAP-Con1. That means that she not only was aware of everything that was going on in that place, but that she was behind it. She was behind the children being kept in cages, washed with disinfectant, being left to sleep and live like prisoners. They were little children, the oldest being SIX, forced to be analyzed in laboratory (and gods know what else they did to them).

From an interaction at the lab of TAP-Con1, our Sarentu says: “Blood samples. Some of us cried everytime.” And Alma was behind it. And even if she wasn’t, she still allowed it. If you seriously think that she, the fucking co-founder, did not have any executive power over the project she literally made and she was just subjugated to Mercer’s will, you are fooling yourself. This is true for both TAP-Con1 and TAP.

“You didn’t do a thing to stop Mercer. The wounds he gave us, you gave as well.”

Nor explained the point so perfectly. She was behind the fear, the abuse, the torture just as much as Mercer and Harding were. Again, she was never just a teacher and the game spells it out for you very clearly. If you ignore this, it’s your choice or your willing lack of understanding.

Completely irredeemable

What I find even worse is that she never even tried to repent or earn the Sarentu’s forgiveness. She did absolutely NOTHING to earn back her place into their lives or into the Resistance. Not because there is something she could actually do to redeem herself. No, what I find irritating is the fact that she just assumed she was given a free pass for everything. At the end of the main game, she even has the audacity to think that she and the Sarentu can move forward together and “be a family again”. Except they never were one, they were never on the same side. It’s frustrating how she still refuses to see that. Another proof that she doesn’t hold herself accountable like she claims she does, she still does not see the damage she has done, she still does not see how wicked her actions and intentions always were. She still sees herself as a victim. But this is no excuse for the audience to consider her as such.

After her Avatar dies and she is forced to admit the truth about the Sarentu massacre, there is a side quest called “Penance” in which Alma, Ri'nela and the MC gather to bury it. You may think after her confession — which she made seem spontaneous but was actually forced by Anufi and Nor — Alma actually feels remorse like she claims she does; you may think she finally understands now the gravity of what she did to the Sarentu, that finally she will act honestly and be ready to face the consequences to her actions.

But no. Once again, her only focus is herself. Instead of humbly coming to the Sarentu, she whines about how she doesn’t feel comfortable in her own body (because she chose for years to deceive herself and most importantly the Sarentu with a fake mask of allyship). When the MC points out that the Avatar was never the real Alma, she still speaks as that mask was her true self, she still believes that she was actually one of them, one of the people she personally oppressed and colonized.

And Ri'nela is having none of it. “Did it make your sins easier to bear? Playing make believe?” This is exactly it. Alma posed as one of the Sarentu, actually tricking herself into believing she was one of them, because this way she didn’t have to face the person she really was all along. This way it was easier to pretend she was in the right, that she was manipulated by Mercer. But as I explained earlier, this doesn’t make her misled, this doesn’t make her a person with good intentions; it just makes her a hypocritical heinous human being.

This is why Alma is irredeemable. Not only because there’s no action good enough to repair the atrocities she was responsible for, but because she would actually had to feel genuine remorse to start a redemption arc. As she made abundantly clear through her words and actions, this is not the case. And I’ll even say this: a person like Alma is utterly incapable of feeling true remorse. There will always be a part of her that believes herself to be partly a victim, a person who just wanted the best but was ultimately misled. This is what I consider the worst, most loathsome and dangerous trait of her character.

On the Sky Breaker

This is why the Sky Breaker dlc left a sour aftertaste in my mouth. Spoilers if you haven’t played it yet.

After the valkyrie attack, when everyone is gathered to discuss what happened, Mokasa (why was he allowed to be there in the first place is a mystery) is bitching about the humans, and Sa'ney rightfully calls him out on his hypocrisy. At this point, Alma (again, why the fuck is she here?) intervenes and says:

“Does he not deserve the same as me? I share the same blame. But… I’ve been allowed to move forward.”

Does he not deserve the same as me? Yes, yes he does. That’s the point. I share the same blame. Do you, Alma? Do you really? Don’t get me wrong, I HATE Mokasa. Leading the RDA to the Sarentu, blaming Anufi, lying to his own clan for decades… I don’t think I need to explain. But it always got me thinking how people point the finger on Mokasa so naturally but don’t give Alma the same treatment. Let’s examine them a bit.

Again, there’s no need for me to explain why everything Mokasa did was horrible and unjustifiable. But let’s take a look at why he did it. He says it in the main game: “it was their children or ours”. As cruel and horrible that sounds (because it is), it’s also true. It’s clear Mokasa was aware of the humans’ intentions from the beginning: he knew they were gonna steal Na'vi children regardless and he ensured those children wouldn’t be Kame'tire. Was he right? Of course not!! There is NO excuse for what he did. He should have warned Anufi and the Sarentu, he should have not torn apart his clan to hide his secret… but it’s still a completely different motive. Alma is a human and an oppressor who wanted to steal children for her own personal ambition; Mokasa, an Indigenous man part of the oppressed category, did evil and inexcusable things because he thought that was the only way to protect his clan and their children from their colonizers. The outcome, the goal even, is the same: the sacrifice of the Sarentu and their children. Yet what drives Mokasa and Alma to commit this atrocity cannot be judged equally. Not really the same, is it?

But I’ve been allowed to move forward. Have you, Alma? HAVE YOU? Who exactly has allowed you to move forward? The Resistance? But why should they ever have a say in this? Yes, they felt betrayed too in a way, obviously. But they’re not the ones whose lives were ruined at her hands. The only ones who get to have a say in this are the Sarentu. Didn’t seem to me that they forgave her; they only made clear they wanted and needed to go their own way. They very clearly separated themselves from her. So, it looks like to me that Alma simply assumed she was given a free pass for everything even though she didn’t do a single thing to repent for her actions.

I have conflicted feelings about Mokasa’s so-called redemption, and I’m not sure what were the game’s intentions regarding him as opposed to Alma. But what is certain is that Alma deserved to pay the consequences for her actions. Mokasa was rightfully banished from the clan. I know the same can’t be done for Alma, but ignoring her is not enough. She deserves to be punished for what she did. I don’t how, honestly (not implying physical torture or anything here guys, dw). Yes, Nor killed her Avatar and I think that was absolutely necessary. But what Nor did (and he 100% had every right) was revealing the real Alma, it was stripping her from the possibility to keep deceiving everyone, especially the Sarentu; it was not, however, the consequence she needs to face. I really hope they will somehow deal with this in the future.

This is what I think of her. I may never hated a character more and I wish she died in the neurosect. There is absolutely no excuse for this woman. There’s no sympathizing with her. I did not villanize her, I did not exaggerate her actions or make her look worse than what she actually is. If people still refuse to see it, I think that says a lot about them.

I want to conclude saying this: I do think Alma is a beautifully written character, and it was surprising how well the game handled such delicate themes, how it showed different affects of colonization and assimilation culture on the children without passing one of them as more rightful. Because at the end of the day this is what the story is about, and the fans ignore this too often: this is a metaphor for residential schools and their survivors. It’s a story about resistance and reconnection. You cannot forget this when you judge characters like Nor, or Teylan, or Alma. Again, you are not meant to defend her. It is not her story. It is the Sarentu’s story. And it is meant to parallel the real stories from which this one was inspired. Always remember that.

wow can't wait!

Progress Report! Please check it out!

Hi guys, I recently asked people to vote on what they'd like as Free Folk on my Patreon, and they asked for public Progress Reports!

So, the progress report is available to all if you join for free on my patreon! It's free! There's content in there, even if you don't want to pay! Honestly, I'd love it if you joined!

Just uh, fyi; spoilers will be inside. Especially since ima just post the Progress Report as you've always been there.

Speaking of...

Some background information:

I rewrote everything.

There were glaring issues with the old demo, like not meeting any ROs, and it'd already be past 300k words.

Still being a lil shit, and it being past 300k words.

Having not killed a man, and it being past 300k words.

NOT EVEN GETTING KISSES OR HUGS, AND IT BEING PAST 300k WORDS!

Shame!

Shame on the author!

Puts best face on.

Puts on nice song.

Well, I listened.

The lack of interactivity, the exposition, the blah blah blah...

I tried addressing those issues, hard. I also tried addressing issues with the narrative itself. Issues with the ROs (a majority of which we never even met yet!)

Everything. This isn't a small rewrite, something that changes things here and there.

I'm even calling this the "Great Reset". Cause I reset everything. Changed almost everything.

Now?

I love this version. I love working on this version. I can see the road ahead, when previously I was unable to.

I'm so confident in this version that I put Todd Howard, and played Sweet Little Lies.

Cause I'll be hanged if I'm lying. And I'm not.

The changes I've put in, the effort I've put in, the progress I've made in these last two months.

Now, I ease you into KaE for the first 100k words. You choose whether to be raised as a Prince, Princess, or Squire and experience the politics, the characters, the living breathing world of KaE that sows the seeds of the issues that'll cause the chaos in the world you'll face later on. I've introduced new coding features that make it simpler for you and me, and it feels more immersive than before. I want us to reach the academy within 300k words. I just feel happy to be writing again. It's my real calling, and it feels good to do it.

Anyways, enough of that. Please, take some time out of your day to look at the latest of what's upcoming.

Patreon

Progress Report: January III | Kingdoms and Empires

Get more from Kingdoms and Empires on Patreon

The progress for the public release is 83k words out of 100k. We're almost there for the public release!!!

Thank you for reading!!!