Me When The Plot Is About A Man Becoming An Unwilling Parent And Learning The Horrors And Joys Of Fatherhood

Me when the plot is about a man becoming an unwilling parent and learning the horrors and joys of fatherhood

Will you show a fragment of the second part of the Common Enemy comic? I can't wait to see it!

I am almost done sketching the whole thing, I only have one page left to sketch! After I finish, I'm going to take a little break and then I'll get to work on lineart and coloring.

Here's a sneak peak of Spider's confession 👀👀👀

How do you think everyone will react when they learn what Spider did? (you can answer in the context of my comic or in the context of the canon universe)

Update on Common Enemy: Avatar fancomic part 2

I'm almost done sketching out the whole thing! I've completed 12/15 so only 3 pages left before I can finally start working on line-art and coloring. I am planning to take a break from drawing once I finish sketching all 15 pages, but I believe I'm on track to finish part 2 and have it posted sometime in mid-July. I'll keep you guys posted as I make progress.

Sometimes when I sketch I get carried away and add unnecessary details that don't fit with the mood of the story. Here are two little "bloopers" that I already know I'm gonna have to cut from the final draft of the comic:

I should draw Lo'ak more. I love drawing his goofy wide-set eyes lol.

As I've been working on this, I've also discovered there's potential for an interesting dynamic between Lo'ak and Quaritch that I haven't thought about before. As far as Quaritch is concerned, Lo'ak is just Jake Sully 2.0, while Lo'ak himself doesn't believe he's anything like the "legendary Toruk Makto." Lo'ak would be weirded out by Quaritch making some irritated comment of him being "just like your daddy 🙄" because he doesn't think he can live up to Jake. He doesn't realize the reason Jake is so hard on him is 'cause Jake is scared Lo'ak will make similar mistakes that he did because he IS so much like him. And Quaritch on the other hand can see how much Spider cares about Lo'ak and can relate it back to how he and Jake used to have an amicable relationship. Quaritch would be scared of Lo'ak "turning" on Spider the way Jake "turned" on him... especially knowing that the Sullies won't be thrilled when they find out why he's still alive.

I don't have the time to explore that in this comic, but maybe I could write something about it one day 🤔

"Like a person who would not hesitate to try and chase a car on foot."

Harding whenever she sees the Sarentu trying to escape in a car:

I was looking at this and I wonder where her scars came from. She’s isn’t one of the good guys but doesn’t stop her from looking so good 😍

I really want to know what everyone’s story was for acting the way they do. Is money that worth it? I mean like, I love money too but damn… I don’t love money THAT much. Geez guys.

Omg I love you for drawing this 😂😂😂

Custody-Quaritch would absolutely have a baby monitor and a #1 Dad mug, and I love how he's completely unphased by a younger, healthier version of himself storming into the room. I wonder how Custody-Q would react if he saw how poorly BiTTW-Q treats his Spider...

A long overdue second part of a very different Spiderverse…💙🕷️🕸️

Why do the Quaritch’s know about it? No clue…not important… 🤣

Spider C from Blood is Thicker Than Water by @cyren-myadd is at higher risk of an ass whippin’ while Spider G from Custody by @ao3gobi17 is more concerned with getting in trouble for the hole in the ceiling… 😆

I have so much fanart to catch up on…

"the whole reason the way of water flopped so badly"

"flopped"

uhhhh op I don't know how to tell you this, but Avatar: The Way of Water made $2.3 billion. It's the 3rd highest grossing film of all time to date. It helped saved movie theaters from going out of business post-covid.

I get what you're saying about the "hardass military dad" trope being overused, I really do, but it certainly did not cause ATWOW to flop.

Anyways, this post made me want to go on a tangent about Jake's parenting skills, so feel free to ignore the rest of this:

Jake being a shitty dad was the point. He was supposed to realize he was being a shitty dad. When Lo'ak came to save him when he was drowning in the ship, he tried to go into hardass military dad mode and told Lo'ak to leave him behind, but Lo'ak didn't, and helped him out using the Way of Water. Then Jake had that moment where he finally said "I see you" to Lo'ak, which is the moment he realizes he's been treating his son wrong and needs to do better.

Cinema Therapy has a wonderful video where a licensed therapist breaks down Jake's hardass parenting style, and I highly recommend. You can watch it here.

If Jake started out as a good dad, sure, that would've been nice and all, but then there's no room for character development. By starting Jake off as a shitty dad, we'll get to see him realize exactly what he's doing that's shitty and work to change it. Personally, I think showing a dad putting in the work to become good sets a better example for audiences than a dad who just starts off as good and doesn't have to change anything. I enjoy the positive father figures in all the other movies and shows you listed, but a dad who realizes he's fucked up with his kids and needs to make it right is a lot more realistic. And yes, you're right that Jake being a hardass dad is a pretty overdone trope, but that will make it all the more satisfying when he improves, and shows all the hardass dads in the real world that there's another way to parent.

And to respond to what you had in the tags: Same thing with the Spider situation. Spider's my favorite character, and i wish he could've been accepted and loved by Jake and Neytiri from the getgo. It sucks he's in such a shitty situation, but unfortunately, it's necessary for the character development and plot that he starts out in a shitty situation. Spider being the "stray" was what caused no one to attempt to rescue him, which led to the sullies leaving the forest, and led to the seeds of Quaritch's character development. Yes, it sucks that Spider's in such a shitty situation, but it's gonna be that much more satisfying when he finally makes it to a happy situation where he's loved and cared for.

Shitty characters and shitty situations create conflict, and conflict is what drives an interesting plot. A story with perfect characters and perfect situations is going to create a narrative that's anything but perfect.

Okay I swear to God I hope the directors of avatar (the alien movie) sees this post somehow but the whole reason the way of water flopped so badly is cause it was written over 10 years ago. So I like avatar. I thought it was a cool concept and good characters and overall a solid action movie. But the characterisation is just a dacade old man. It's really outdated. It instantly turned me off when Jake was seen to be a 'hardass' to his kids, and having them call him Sir, and have Neytiri taking kind of a secondary role as the 'peacekeeper' parent who goes 'but your dad loves you, he just wants you safe' bullshit trope that's just really not what this generation is looking for rn.

Emotionally mature parents is what's on topic rn. Dad's that step up and know what they're doing and don't have the 2000s 'military hardass emotionally distant' bullcrap. Just look at all the other movies and shows with family themes that did really fucking well. The Last of Us. Ultraman: Rising. Nimona. Even Maleficent, which I think is one of the earliest movies of this trope that's well known. They did well for a reason. You can't make Jake Sully a bad father and think the current audience will dig it. All of his kids, one way or another felt the pressure of living up to their dad's expectations, and im sure, whether he really loves them. And I assure you for all intents and purposes it felt like Neteyam died thinking he wasnt enough. You can't have those 'your dad loves you but he just doesn't know how to show it' bullshit anymore and expect the audience to like or even relate to that character cause a lot of us don't take that shit anymore from our own parents. A lot of millennials are actively trying to be present and good parents to their kids. So yeah. The way Jake Sully, and to a certain extent, Neytiri were characterised is probably one of the biggest reasons this entire movie flopped. It could have been great. But it isn't. And I kind of hate it actually.

My point is: if there's gonna be a third movie, the best bet to make sure it doesn't follow the way of waters footsteps is to overhaul a lot of the characterisation and plot. See what the audience wants rn, and what they audience relates to. It was clear the writing to that movie was old as balls and gen z or gen alpha don't take that shit man. Give us good parents