Avatar Costuming: Mo’at

Hello! I just wanted to come on here and share one of my favorite looks from the Avatar film: Mo’at’s shawl.

I absolutely love how Mo’at’s shawl looks like a cross between an iridescent leaf and an insect’s wing. It’s so creative and beautiful ✨

Almost all of the Na’vi clothing is made from the things around them; plants, animals, trees, and other items from the earth. So I am curious to know what Mo’at’s shawl is supposed to be made out of so that it fits within the Pandoran universe. I do not recall seeing any insects large enough to create such a draping shawl, nor were we as viewers introduced to any flora that resembles her shawl. The piece moves and flows like thin fabric, however, being that the Na’vi are so weary of “Sky People”, I doubt it is fabric received through human-Na’vi trade.

If there is one thing that I wish was included on the directors extended cut of the movie dvd, I wish the costume designer could have had a segment in the extra bits explaining the costumes and what the material is supposed to represent or be made from.

Creating A Na’vi Name

When it comes to names, meaning plays a huge role for me. My parents felt the same way when they named me and my siblings as each of our names have their own distinct meanings, and mine specifically does a great job at mildly defining me as a person and what I like.

My real name has the meaning of heaven, sky, moon, or celestial, depending on which culture you take the meaning from. When I discovered this, I thought it was really interesting because one of the things I love the most is the moon and space. Back in high school science classes, I always did the best on the units about stars and planets while practically failing all the other units. Back then, trying to look up if life on other planets was real was an everyday occurrence for me. And to this very day, you’d be hard-pressed to pull me away from a window when there is a clear night sky and the moon is visible.

It could be a coincidence that I love these things and my name means sky/moon/celestial, but I feel like names are funny like that. They are tethered to us and their meanings play a distinct role in who we are.

I wanted to choose a Na’vi name for one reason: I’m literally Avatar trash and I just simply wanted one lol. But since there are no actual living Na’vi, it’s not like someone can bestow a name upon me after being accepted into a clan. So I had to choose one for myself. I only chose a first name since a full Na’vi name includes the names of both parents.

It’s one thing to just choose a name because it sounds nice, but I wanted more than that. I wanted this name to feel more like an extension of me and less like an alter ego or fake persona. Pretty much just like my real name is an extension of me. So, I decidedd to take the meaning of my birth name combined with my love for the night sky and have decided on the name Oare’yawne. Beloved Moon.

[Oh-ahr-eh | Yau-neh]

I love this meaning. I love the sound of it. I love the way it’s spelled. I love the way it looks written down. And it still feels like me.

Kaltxì. Oe lu Oare’yawne. You can call me Oare. 💙💜🤍

Where Are The Avatar Quizzes?

I must admit…I’m kinda sad the Avatar movie website got rid of all the fun quizzes they used to have 😒

A general movie quiz, a character quiz, a Na’vi tribe quiz. Why’d they ever get rid of those? This franchise is already only feeding us crumbs. Give us some fun to hold us over. I’m the weirdo that retakes quizzes just to see if my results will change lol

I’m a Na’vi! (pt. 2)

When your braids go perfectly with the Pandora filter 😜💙

And no I didn’t get braids just so it can look better with this filter lol.

I literally love this filter so much. I’ve been searching online about Na’vi/Avatar cosplays and I’ve seen both really good and really bad ones. I’ve been trying to slowly narrow down the different websites that I can buy supplies from in order to do a proper cosplay. I have an idea of which outfit from the film I would like to try and recreate. I also have some original ideas of my own as well.

If ever I get the time and materials, this will be the first (and probably only) place I post my cosplay. It won’t be happening any time soon, but wish me luck!

~ Na’vi Dreamer ~

Neytiri Should Have Been Toruk Makto

I HAVE BEEN SCREAMING THIS WITH MY WHOLE CHEST EVER SINCE I REWATCHED THE MOVIE!

Not only is this completely plausible and would make perfect sense with Neytiri’s character/personality alignment, it also would have helped dismantle the “white savior” complex this movie unfortunately suffers from.

I can honestly see all three of them being Toruk Makto.

Jake: because of his sheer stupidity and his desperation to be accepted among the Na’vi. Rationality was never his strong suit. Rash, absolutely. But never rational.

Neytiri: because of her warrior spirit and desire to save her people. We know from the deleted scenes in the extended edition that she would never have become the Tsahìk anyway because she chose Jake over Tsutey, and honestly?? It was obvious she had no desire to be the next Tsahìk anyway. She was a fighter and her love for her land and her people definitely could have driven her to seek out the Toruk in order to become the next Toruk Makto.

Tsutey: because homie was born a fighter and a leader. He will do whatever it takes to protect his home, his land, and his people. I mean, did you see the way he leapt into a helicopter for head-on combat while they were shooting guns and throwing grenades??? Tsutey has NO FEAR. Which is what unfortunately led to his death, but I think this is proof that he also could have been the Toruk Makto even if it was only for a short while. And quite honestly, if Tsutey was going to die, I would have much rathe him died being the Toruk Makto. Honorable, justifiable, and would have made perfect sense.

*sigh* if only…

I’m a Na’vi!

Instagram has a filter called “Pandora”. And while it’s definitely way too glam and the butterflies are kind of inaccurate, I’m having fun with it. This is probably the closest I’m ever going to get to a cosplay so I’m enjoying it for now.

If you get bombarded with more pictures of me with this filter, please don’t unfollow 😂💙

Life goal checklist: Na’vi cosplay

Another Avatar Rant Because I’m Tired of Being Tired.

I just read another article about how the Avatar sequels have been delayed *insert large number of times here* and I had to stop reading because I found myself getting upset…again lol.

I am sooooo impatient! I’m tired of waiting, as I’m sure many fans are.

Like, did y’all know the Avatar sequels were announced in 2010 and the original release dates for Avatar 2 and 3 was supposed to be December 2014 and 2015?? THAT’S how many time the release dates have been pushed back. 2014 was already 5 years after the original which is long enough for a sequel (in my eyes), anyway).

I’m glad that James Cameron only wants to present the best of his work for these sequels, but I will be honest and say that I have moments where I’m just losing steam. I’m tired of holding onto hope that we will actually see these sequels. Thinking of Avatar as a standalone movie is what keeps me in the fandom because I’ll be honest again: some of the news that has been released about these films don’t sound appealing to me. Such as:

  1. Quaritch being the villain of all four sequels. Why? He died. Keep him dead. And having the same villain for FIVE movies? James Cameron better be really creative because that will get old. Fast.
  2. Avatar 2 taking place A WHOLE DECADE after the first film. I’m sure this was done because it’s actually been over a decade since the first film anyway, but yikes. Time jumps have never been my favorite when it comes to stories.
  3. The story will allegedly focus largely on Jake and Neytiri’s three children who are all extremely young. Yea….can’t say that sparks my interest. Like, at all.

I know the December 2022 date is apparently the definite release date, but at this point, how many definite release dates have we gotten??

I’m just tired. I’m tired of hoping. I’m tired of waiting. I’m tired of being strung along because that’s all it is at this point, being strung along. So from this moment forward, in my mind, Avatar is a standalone movie until the next one hits theaters…if it ever even does.

I will no longer be reading any updates, news releases, or viewing any Avatar concept art. These movies should have been released ages ago.

A part of me even thinks that the new storyline allegedly focusing on Jake’s and Neytiri’s kids is because a large portion of the audience for this movie will most likely not be the same people who loved it back in 2009. We’ve all grown up and you can’t really find any fandom geeks like myself still involved in the fandom.

Even the forums that used to be full of life with thousands of members interacting every day, all hours of the day, are practically dead. If you visit them, you’ll get the same few people who have held on all this time. I was a silent lurker in two forums since 2014 and can attest that those two are practically dead and I see the same three to five names every time I log in.

So maybe this film is for the new generation. Generation Z.

Idk, I’m just rambling at this point because I’M FRUSTRATED! 😭

Release these daggon movies and stop playing with us!!

Why Quaritch Returning For All The Avatar Sequels Makes No Sense (a small rant)

I might just be ranting into the void here, but am I the only one annoyed that Quaritch will be returning for the Avatar sequels? All. Four. Of. Them.

He’s not the only one supposedly returning from the dead but I’m sticking to only talking about Quaritch here.

The actor, S. Lang, did his job well as I absolutely hated the character of Quaritch. I mean, we weren’t actually supposed to like him. He was a villain. A villain with the age-old reason for being a villain: Greed. Greed that then turns into genocide. You know, like real life.

He served his purpose for the first movie and I personally feel like he is not needed anymore. There are only so many ways you can present the trigger happy, money hungry human who sees indigenous people as “savages” for a compelling story. And I, for one, am not interested in seeing him be the main antagonist again or team up with any other antagonists the future stories might have. And if I’m being 1000% honest, I don’t want to see him grow a heart and do the ol’ switcheroo either, fighting for “the good guys” now.

The main reason I don’t want him in any sequels is because he’s supposed to be dead. Heart not beating. Brain no longer functioning. DEAD. Homie got shot by Neytiri with not one, but three arrows. One to the heart and two to other areas of his chest.

At the beginning of the movie, Quaritch himself made a huge whoopdidoo about the Na’vi using arrows tipped in poison that stops the heart in only a matter of seconds. And I quote:

“They’re fond of arrows dipped in a neurotoxin that will stop your heart in ONE MINUTE.”

Once again, this man was shot with THREE of these. And I’m supposed to believe that he somehow survived??? Or am I supposed to believe that of all times to not use a poison tipped arrow, Neytiri chose not to use poison tips during an all-out war??

And even if she didn’t use a poison tip, she still shot him in the heart at least once. So, it just makes no sense to me. And I am personally not find of characters being brought back to life when they are supposed to be dead and we actually saw them die on screen.

Leave the crazy man dead. Throw his whole character away. He’s served his purpose and is no longer needed. Get a different villain.

You want to bring somebody back from the dead? Bring back Tsu’tey.