The reason it reminds you of a Renaissance paintings is because of how the people’s gestures and gazes direct your eye between each other and ultimately toward the central motif of the Beib getting choked.
thatderp
It’s also the colour scheme and the lighting. The deep red and the pale greens, the lighting so dark that some figures are obscured but the others stand out with brighter lighting. Even the circular pattern in the back references halos or other decorative features meant to draw attention. 10/10 good Renaissance art.
And I enjoy the subject matter too.
oh-imprettyboy
And some of the hoodies and T shirts look like robes at first glance…?
Kittens sleep together in order to conserve body heat. Interestingly enough, most cat species only need to do cuddle for body heat in the first 4 days of their life since their bodies do not possess the capability to keep themselves heated. After the first 4 days, cuddling is seen more as a social activity used to express affection rather than for practical purposes.
I can see why you might think this given these kinds of complexions:
are the ones we see for the most important/main characters of Fire Nation descent
but don’t let the paleness fool you, especially when Airbenders and Earthbenders can be just as pale
every cultural detail we observe for the Fire Nation departs from an Asian or non-white point of origin
and let me clarify that by saying:
every cultural detail we observe within the Avatar universe departs from an Asian or non-white point of origin.
are there twentieth-century “Western” influences such as jazz and art deco in Korra, yes definitely, but they are translated through the Asian or Northern American Indian culture that grounds the fictional universe and has grounded the fictional universe since its inception
anyway, while the Earth Kingdom more obviously represents China, with a mix of Korean and Mongolian cultures, the Fire Nation seems to be a more ambiguous mix
most people leap to say the Fire Nation represents Japanese culture, and in a way it most certainly does, but there’s more to it
Though you can chose fashion, cuisine, musical instruments, calligraphy, or any other number of material cultures as examples, I think architecture best illustrates the kind of cultural influence that went into the crafting of this fictional culture…
so you have obviously Japanese architecture:
The Fire Sage Temple on The Crescent Island, for instance
or both the old and new Fire Nation Royal Palaces:
the stacked look of the different floors, the ornamentation at the corners…it recalls Japanese temple architecture from several different periods
the nobility seem to build their mansions in a similar style, as we see with Master Piandao:
as you can see with this second example, Piandao has a Japanese style garden, complete with a Fire Nation-stylized torii gate, a bamboo forest, a rock garden, etcetera
yet that’s not where things end! The Fire Nation has several ancient cultures embedded within the mainstream Japanese-inspired culture of the larger islands
akin to Japan, it is an archipelago
again, akin to Japan, there are many peoples and cultures inhabiting the different islands
for instance, the older Fire Sage style seems more akin to South East Asian architecture, perhaps inspired by the pagoda of Thailand or Burma:
it’s no mistake the statue in the background there resembles a Buddha which Thai and Burmese practitioners of Buddhism cover with small leaves of real gold
diversity in the Fire Nation doesn’t end here, however!
remember the Sun Warriors? The first Firebenders to live in peace with nature and the Dragons? The ones who first learned the forms of Firebending from the Dragons?
their people and garb and architecture were inspired by ancient Southern Native American cultures, such as the Aztec or Maya
Obviously, whichever Fire Nation culture you observe, and from whichever perspective you approach it, you will see that there is nothing “white” or “European” about the Fire Nation cultures!
You will find this for every culture introduced in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Again, every point of departure for the cultural influence in this universe is non-white.
While the process of modernization that took place in order to make The Legend of Korra recognizably analogous to the ‘20’s culture of our world - which was dominated by Western, global, hegemonic popular culture - certainly incorporates a fair share of Western cultural practices, these practices are steeped within the pervasive Asian/non-white cultural background established in the original series. Hence, we hear jazz licks and upbeat swing articulated on erhu and other East Asian instruments, we see skyscrapers topped with temple-style architecture and Satomobiles with windows that appear like Japanese shoji.
one last bit: it’s important to recall that with the origin story of Avatar Wan we discover all human cultures in this world derived from the same place:
though there were dozens of Lion Turtles, each guarding a different people with different customs, this foundation could not be more evidently Asian in its mythos
all Avatar cultures developed from this starting point, the human world carried atop the shell of a giant turtle, the World Turtle or Cosmic Turtle which is a myth in India, China, and certain Native North American Indian cultures.
in short, this show did its homework too many times to count. oh and none of the cultural influence is white.
pop vinyl is like, taco bell in demolition man. it won the vinyl toy wars, in that, through brute force and basic nerd culture appeal (”nerds” are about the easiest crowd of people to appease and market to), it soundly crushed the entire vinyl figurine scene circa 2011, 2012 and now is the sole vinyl toy company left standing.
I didn’t even realize that there were other companies making that crap. But it makes sense why there only had to be one as you have to get the licensing to appeal to these heathens
They were really like, 3d illustrations, alot of companies popping up to do limited runs of a gr8 illustrator’s designs in like 2003-2008….
It all began in asia, namely Japan, with post-war period like, resin kaiju and other figurines which were a huge collectable hit toward the 90s, 00s because of the sentiment and nostalgia attached to them
But things really started happening around the turn of the millenium, in hongkong, with Toy2R, who in 2001 launch the Qee (like keychain, get it?) and in Japan with Medicom Toy’s Bearbrick as a sort of nostalgic throwback to this style of toy - who, thanks to labels like Bathing Ape, it gained traction among the urban aesthetic and fashion cliques across the ocean in like, Sanfrancisco, Los angeles and new york. So suddenly in north america, in cutting edge urban fashion stores, these Qees and bearbricks started showing up. And in these cases, they started getting fashion label exclusives made, establishing their in vogue status in the west
Hot on the heels of this trend, american companies sprung up to do their own take on the bearbrick, which is when kid robot enters the scene and takes it to the next step and introduced the munny and dunny, blank customs and had up and coming artists use it as a template for limited run collections. And it got insanely popular and helped launch it into a fan scene
By 2008, “designer toys” and custom vinyl was hitting it huge, it was massively popular as an underground art scene thing. It was around this time that I discovered it while i was in newyork, on and off again visiting and periodically living with my girlfriend as a shit head 18 year old at the time lmao.
Anyway, this landed kid robot deep in the illustration and by extension, comic book scene, especially as they started doing limited run license productions like the Simpsons and Marvel comics. The simpsons series was a huge hit, appealing to nerds everywhere rather than artist types. Eventually they started showing up in comic conventions, namely SDCC in san diego
and then this is where Funko enters the scene, a basic toy company that in 2005 had been sold to a nightclub manager keen to monetize the fuck out of it. Funko were already producing licensed bobbleheads under the “Funko Force” and other collectable for nerd properties alongside other venders at comic cons.
Which puts Funko in the same space as Kid Robot and independent venders showcasing their personal vinyl toy projects at the height of vinyl toy popularity in 2009, 2010. Funko saw this trend and in 2010 decided they should launch their own brand of vinyl toys like the Dunny, called Funko Force 2.0
It debuted at San diego comic con 2010. I saw it with my own eyes. I didnt care because i never gave a shit about capeshit when i went to comic con lmfao. At the time there were soooo many half assed attempts to ape the vinyl toy fad from a number of collectable companies, that it never leaped out at me. Even Disney attempted to do it.
I was too busy getting the Kid Robot SDCC 2010 Exclusive shit, still the king of the roost and still generally doing creative shit with the medium.
Kid Robot at the time were collaborating with Yo Gabba Gabba
I was a fool not to notice what was happening, really.
Funko Force 2.0
It was a huge hit.
They quickly released and doubled down on the next step of their Line of toys: Pop!
Funko shot for licenses over independent artist collections and it just kept printing money. Demand was mega high. Stores and vendors that started putting out blind boxes from KR and other companies threw that out in favour of the more successful and lucrative Pop!
in a matter of years, the vinyl toy scene got hyper saturated by Pop! and licensed vinyl collectables that we have now arrived to this:
The designer toy scene exhausted itself and all that remains really, in this wasteland of creativity, is Funko Pop! and it’s derivatives.
I have some friends who were producing independent designer toys in 2010 and interest in their work sloped off heavily because the whole vinyl toy scene was now hijacked and defined by banal consumer nerd culture. Anybody past the year 2010, who would be getting their first impressions of vinyl, were seeing Pop! and it really turned them off of it unless they really only care for Pop!’s products and nothing else besides. So anyone still getting vinyl are really only going for Pop! And my artist friends, they are still salty over it lmao
Purina tidy cats lightweight litter has caused serious health issues in cats. They include wheezing, bloody nose, bloody urine and respiratory problems. If you are currently using this product, please keep a close eye on your feline’s health. Please consider avoiding purchasing this product if possible as it is not worth the risk.
This isn’t the first time a Purina product has been reported to adversely affect pets, we posted earlier this year that Beneful is facing a class action lawsuit for the death of 4,000 dogs.
As parents of furchildren, we need to be more aware of the food and products we give our babies and not be blinded by big budget campaigns and advertisements from giant pet brands. They may claim to have our pets’ best interests at heart but that is not always the case.
Actually gonna reblog this to my main blog because this should get more exposure
lunar-lavender
Be careful, pet owners, this is not a hoax. Some of the Amazon reviews are painful and sickening to read, this stuff is so damaging to pets. Don’t buy it, don’t let others buy it.
The latest trailer for Pokémon Sun & Moon has been released by The Pokémon Company. This trailer reveals a lot of new Pokémon and features in the game. First they reveal Alola Forms. These are new variations of classic Pokémon. Exeggutor is Grass/Dragon with the ability Frisk
Vulpix and Ninetales are Ice and Ice/Fairy with the ability Snow Cloak
Sandshrew and Sandslash are Ice/Steel with the ability Snow Cloak
There are new Pokémon.; First is Oricorio with four different forms, Fire/Flying, Electric/Flying, Psychic/Flying and Ghost/Flying. Its ability is Dancer which copies dance moves.
Minior is Rock/Flying with the ability Shields Down
Yungoos’ evolution is called Gumshoos.
Two new Pokémon are Formantis and its evolution Lurantis. They have the abilities Leaf Guard and the new move Solar Blade
Mudsdale’s pre-evolution is the Ground-type Mudbray with Own Tempo and Stamina
i dont get how exeggutor is also a dragon type but…is this not tumblr’s impact from those pokemon variations/cross breeding t trend some artists had going awhile back.
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