I’ve been writing a WIP that revolves around a pregnancy since june and I still have no idea. I’ve heard and seen so many answers from they can’t breastfeed bc of their low body fat to actually they do breastfeed to actually they use their kurus
That is a good question! Actually whole fandom now struggles to answer that since we've got some new info about na'vi birthing process in the script for ATWOW.
WARNING! So everything I'm going to tell is yet not been proven to be canon!!!! But since before that we didn't have almost any information at all... It's up to you to use it or not. (and sorry it took me so long to get to the point 😅😅)
Firstly a little about na'vi gestation period and birth. It is not stated how long it takes, but we know that it is split into trimesters and na'vi actually "give birth" in the end of the second trimester! They give birth to a translucent chrysalis called "tsalnu".
And for the third trimester mother nourish her baby with kuru. And when times comes for the baby to "hatch" that is when the na'vi are born.
Neytiri, Jake and baby Neteyam
(there's supposed to be my thoughts on chrysalis thing but then I thought it wasn't important for the topic so, if you wanna hear it then ask me)
Kuru nourishing
I saw people hating on this concept since kuru is supposed to be an extention of the neutral system, how can it transport nutrients and vitamins through it? These questions started even earlier, when we discovered that reef na'vi can extend their time being underwater by connecting to the sea creatures and plants that can transport oxygen through tsaheylu. But how? Well, apparently it has veins.
Avatar the way of water: the visual dictionary
I'm gonna talk more about possible similarities between na'vi and other animals especially tulkun in the way how they reproduce but later in other questions.
So, when tsaheylu is made, it not only connects two creatures neural systems but circulatory too. I have a headcanon explanation of how it works but it's weird lol. So, do you remember this sticky wet sound kuru sometimes made when connecting/disconnecting? Well, what if, when connected, kuru produces some kind of liquid that is similar to something like blood plasma? And that's when nutrient transportation starts? (and now I'm thinking that it can also keep this fragile organ clean and protected from harsh disconnecting that could rip off poor tendrils). I have some questions on how circulatory system works in that case, like maybe Pandoran animals only has one blood type or it somehow separates inside, but we just don't know. That is a question for the speculative biologists out there!
Now, for the everything I said above, I need some proves on can you consider it canon or not. Your word, Mr. Cameron.
So, he never said anything about chrysalis, but kuru nourishing is pretty much a real thing I suppose. But what happens when the baby is out of it's tsalnu?
Breastfeeding
I haven't heard anything about them not able to breastfeed due to their low body fat, but my immediate thought was... Why do they have breasts then? 😅 Alright, maybe it has a different purpose, but NIPPLES? For what reason? So I'd rather think that maybe their bodies produce hormones somehow differently than assumed that they have breasts but are not able to feed with them.
We even know that they "nurse their infants for up to four months"! So the answer is clear.
Avatar wiki fandom: na'vi species
Summing this all up!
So the answer for your question is:
- na'vi women give birth at the end of the second trimester and nourish their baby (inside a pod) with their kuru until it's ready to born.
- after birth they breastfeed a newborn for up to four months. ☺️
Sooo my friend was struggling with na'vi stripes so I made this whole tutorial so you won't struggle anymore like he was! Excuse me for my english mistakes
Let's start!
Shape
Examples:
Arrangement
Examples:
Thickness and frequency
Summary!
Important!
All the described rules are not axiomatic, and the structure of the stripes is very flexible and unpredictable. This tutorial isn’t intended to drive the authors of the OCs in the frame, but only to help those who have problems with this topic
Interesting Facts
Let's finish this short tutorial with a few facts about Na'vi stripes that you need to know:
- The pattern of stripes is independent of genetics. That is to say, nothing, not the shape, not the location, not the thickness, not the frequency is dependent on the parent. It's absolute randomness, just like fingerprints
- The stripes don't have to be perfectly symmetrical
- They can likely change with age as the skin renews itself, but not significantly (examples: Neytiri in the first and second movies; Kiri, who supposedly has stripes identical to Grace's but slightly different)
- The type of stripes on the face aren’t entirely dependent on the stripes on the body. The face, for example, may have frequent stripes, while the body stripes are rare. (Should we expect a tutorial for body stripes?)
- The rough type appears to be the most common, especially among male characters
- The sharp type comes next, but is more common in females (from what I've noticed)
- The watercolor type only appeared in The Way of Water, so we haven’t seen these characters in the first movie, however this type is also valid