no thoughts, just... thinking about the way Ekko looks at Powder...
I'm sorry, we as a society do not talk about the fact that in order to maintain his playboy billionaire status Bruce Wayne had to sleep with a lot of people,, a lot, of people in order to maintain that.
And I'm not shaming him for that, get your hot girl summer brucie hell yea, but what I will say is can you imagine,,,
How hilarious it would be that when eventually Batman's identity gets revealed- it's not the reaction he was expecting.
‘‘Oh my god. Oh my god, Bruce Wayne Bruce Wayne the the bimbo Sexy billionaire boy. He is the stoic hard-ass Batman. There's no way-”that's not the reaction. The reaction is
“holy fucking shit I've slept with Batman”
Three quarters of that city and beyond is sat in front of their TVs, their radios, their phones,, I don't care. They're sitting there, agape going ‘I have slept with the Dark Knight. I have seen Gotham's Bat naked on his knees-‘
bruce wouldn’t be able to look the justice league nor his kids in the eyes for weeks after the reveal, solely due to the gossip channels or smth
so i was rewatching "the boys are back in town", and i realized that its never explained how butch got this giant slug monster. at first i thought that maybe he just found it crawling around somewhere, since townsville is known for their monster attacks.
my second thought was that he kept it in his pocket with him and it grew in size with butch. this is actually very possible when you remember that brick uses a massive oven mitt in the same episode.
but those are both pretty lame in my opinion. so i thought, if butch's main ingredient is SNAILS, what if he just... produced it? what if that was one of his unique powers, to make slug creatures out of his sweat or oils or something and then do whatever he wants with them. maybe he throws them at people like snowballs, or sneaks them into boomer's someone's food as a prank. i just think itd be cool and would make him stand out a bit more against his brothers :3
I know Neytiri and Spider's relationship has been talked about to death already, but there's one important aspect of it everyone seems to overlook that I want to write down all my thoughts about: Kiri's role.
(Just FYI The High Ground comics are explicitly confirmed to be canon by Avatar's creative team, so please don't try to tell me something's not true because it happened in the comics)
With everything Neytiri has been through, it's understandable that she'd feel uncomfortable with Quaritch's son spending so much time around her children to the point where he starts calling them his "siblings." Contrary to what I've heard others say, Neytiri does not have a "blind hatred" towards Spider. She doesn't want him to be hurt or killed, she just wants him to stay away from her family and mind his own business. From her perspective, an "invader" is acting like he's entitled to being around her family and claiming them as his own, the same family that has been hurt so badly by other "invaders." This perceived entitlement coupled with the fact that he's the son of the guy who thought he was entitled to destroy her homeland is what gives her such strong feelings about Spider compared to the other Na'vi-allied humans.
But is Spider's behavior towards Neytiri's family really entitlement like Neytiri thinks or is it something else? Let's look at why Spider does the things he does:
Why does Spider spend so much time with the Sully kids? Kiri and Lo'ak invite him. From what we see in the movie and the comics, Kiri and Lo'ak don't seem to have any friends before meeting Tsireya and Rotxo, which means Spider is not just their best friend, but their only friend. There is nothing about Spider, Kiri, and Lo'ak's dynamic that implies Spider is the only one seeking them out. They mutually seek each others' company because they all feel like outcasts among their respective species.
Why does Spider call the Sully kids his siblings? Kiri started calling him her brother first. In vol 1 of THG, Kiri tells Spider he's like another brother to her. Shortly after this is when Spider starts referring to the Sully kids as his family. Since Spider has no biological family and a bad relationship with his foster family, it's understandable he would latch onto the people who actually care for him and explicitly say they feel like he's their family member.
Why does Spider insert himself into the Omaticaya? Kiri insists he joins them. in Vol 1 of THG, Spider is present for a Na'vi celebration and Neytiri asks him to leave because he's not a part of their family. Spider is perfectly okay with this and he starts to excuse himself, but Kiri stops him and insists he stay because he is a part of their family. Later, in Vol 2 of THG, the Sullies and the Omaticaya are evacuating to High Camp while Spider's foster family and most of the other humans choose to surrender to the RDA. Spider is initially upset and begs Jake to come with them, but after Jake scolds him, Spider accepts the adults' choice and willingly stays in Hell's Gate, waiting to surrender to the RDA. Kiri, on the other hand, insists Spider come with them to High Camp and goes back for him. This results in Kiri, Lo'ak, and Tuk getting captured by Spider's foster dad and Spider needing to rescue them. In both of these instances, when Spider is told he's unwelcome somewhere, he is okay with it and backs off, but Kiri is the one who fights for him to stay. The only instance where Spider insists he has a right to stay of his own volition is when Jake asks him to turn himself into the RDA soldiers hunting them after Spider helped the Sully kids escape his foster father. Since the RDA likely would've imprisoned, tortured, or even killed Spider for helping the valuable hostages escape, Spider's insistence he stay with the Sullies is completely understandable.
Why does Spider paint himself blue and emulate the Na'vi lifestyle? Kiri again. The only time we see Spider applying his stripes on screen, Kiri is right there helping him. From this we can assume that Kiri and possibly also Lo'ak regularly help Spider apply his stripes since he wouldn't be able to paint his back without help. And while we don't have exact information on when Spider started wearing a loincloth and behaving like a Na'vi, I think we can safely assume Kiri and her siblings are the ones who encouraged this behavior.
After analyzing the origins of what Neytiri perceives as "entitlement," it becomes clear it's not really entitlement at all. Spider never does something he has not been "invited" to do by Kiri or Lo'ak. Spider is not trying to cross any boundaries and he's not trying to hurt anyone; he's just a lonely orphan who has latched onto the only people who show him real care.
From Spider's perspective, Neytiri hates him for no reason other than his dad. In actuality, Neytiri's strong feelings aren't just about who is dad is, but moreso about the way he behaves on top of who his dad is. Neytiri doesn't have a "blind hatred" for him like Spider believes, but she has a deep trauma-rooted discomfort with his proximity to her family in the context of his heritage, and this discomfort makes her lash out at him. But of course Spider doesn't understand this because he's A. a teenage boy with limited emotional intelligence and B. has no reason to think there's anything wrong with his behavior because Kiri and Lo'ak encourage it so enthusiastically. With Spider's limited understanding, it makes sense that he chalks up Neytiri's behavior as "she hates me!"
So we have these two wildly different perspectives. Neytiri views Spider as an entitled invader and she doesn't understand why he can't just leave her family alone, and Spider views Neytiri as a cruel woman who judges him for his heritage and he can't understand why she can't just let him hang out with his "siblings" in peace. When these two different perspectives clash, it gets ugly, and leads to scenes like the time Neytiri lunged at Spider (to attack him? shake him? it's unclear) and Spider yelling at Neytiri and blaming her for his situation (which is really Quaritch's fault for making his postpartum mother fight).
Then we have Kiri's perspective. Kiri loves her mother and her best friend, but doesn't seem to understand why her mom doesn't want her best friend around and she also doesn't seem to understand why her best friend thinks her mom hates him. In vol 1 of THG, she even tells Spider that Neytiri loves him. Ironically, even though Kiri clearly wants her mom and her best friend to get along, she is inadvertently the source of most of their issues. In all the instances where Spider's behavior makes Neytiri upset, we can trace the behavior back to Kiri as outlined in the bullet points above. The more Kiri pushes for Spider to stay close, the more it triggers Neytiri trauma, the more Neytiri lashes out Spider, the more Spider thinks she hates him, and the closer Kiri gets to Spider to comfort him and try and prove him wrong. It's a vicious cycle.
And just to be clear, I'm not trying to say Kiri is at fault for Neytiri and Spider's relationship. Kiri and Spider are just kids with little understanding of the trauma Neytiri has been through. They just know they enjoy spending time with each other, and neither of them fully understand why it makes Neytiri so upset. Neytiri, on the other hand, is not a kid... she is not responsible for her trauma and for her negative feelings towards Spider, but she is responsible for her behavior towards him.
The one thing I don't understand is why neither Neytiri nor Jake nipped Kiri's behavior in the bud before it got to the point where it is now. If Kiri keeps calling Spider her brother and insisting he stay for family celebrations, and it's obviously very upsetting to Neytiri, why did neither of her parents sit her down and let her know its inappropriate? Spider was clearly okay with being left out of the events. If they'd talked about it with Kiri, they would've avoided all that strife in the first place. Hell, Spider wouldn't even be around them anymore because he would've surrendered to the RDA and lived in Bridgehead if not for Kiri insisting he come with them!
And actually, why didn't they stop the kids from spending so much time together in the first place? Neytiri was telling Jake she didn't like Spider around her kids since they were very little. Why did they continue to let them play together if it made her so uncomfortable? Was Jake letting it happen behind her back? Were the kids sneaking away to play with Spider? Did Neytiri let it happen because she thought they would grow out of it or something? At that age, parents have a lot of control over their kids lives, and I don't understand why Neytiri didn't just redirect her kids to play with anyone other than Spider if it upset her so much. In THG, Neytiri threatened to ban Spider from seeing Kiri, but she did it way too late. The kids were teenagers at that point and already saw each other as family, so if she tried to separate them they would've just snuck out and seen each other anyway. If Neytiri is okay with putting a "ban" on Spider, why did she wait until they were teens and much more difficult to control to do so?
I know the "real" answer is because James Cameron wants ✨DRAMA✨ but I'm wondering if there's an in-universe explanation cause it just doesn't make sense to me. I guess the most realistic answer is that Jake let it happen knowing full well Neytiri didn't like it, but he let it slide anyway because he didn't want to say no to the kids. Jake had two choices. He could've A. honored Neytiri's wishes and separated the children before they bonded or B. sat down with Neytiri and let her know Spider is here to stay and that she can't lash out at him. Either choice would've resulted in a much better outcome for everyone involved, but then again, it would've had a lot less drama so I understand why the writers didn't have that happen instead. Actually, now that I'm typing it out, it is pretty in character for Jake to ignore a giant problem right in front of him and hope it'll go away on it's own (that's how we lost Hometree, Eytukan, and Neteyam rip). I guess we're going to see this situation blow up in Jake's face in Avatar 3, just like his other ignore-the-problem-and-hope-it-goes-away situations did. I just hope that this situation will have a better outcome for everyone involved.
It just frustrates me because I feel like all this could've been resolved years ago if Jake and Neytiri had sat Kiri and Spider down and had a discussion about boundaries, but there's too much bad blood between Neytiri and Spider for an easy resolution now...
Anyways, if you made it this far, thanks for reading, didn't mean to turn this into a whole essay lol. Please share your thoughts with me if you have any!
Forever loving the children of villains. How they are defined not of their own actions but that of their parents and have to fight tooth and nail to prove otherwise. He didn't choose who his father was but his actions define him as a hero. Forever loving this core character.
thinking about how Spider had nothing to claim as his own again
there is nothing that Spider can call his own.
his siblings, his parents, the sully family, the forest, hellsgate, base camp, the forest, Pandora, his name, his culture, his identity, his language, his very life. he has no claim over any of it. he can barely hold any claim to himself.
he as nothing.
he cannot, in any way, claim any of these things, not without resistance or hostility.
because he is not allowed to have things. because he's human, an unwanted wild child, a stray, a reminder. because he's the demon son of Miles Quaritch, who must pay for his sins. whatever the reasons, he is denied a connection to them. he dirties it. he is undeserving of it. he is alien to it.
and while in some way or another, he does continue to partake in these things, stay within these places, and such, it's not without comment or resistance. he isn't supposed to. and just cause he's resilient enough of a kid to do so, to power through it all, it doesn't mean he should have to.
he has known nothing else, yet he is denied a place or claim to almost any aspect of his life.
Jake and Neytiri reject him, to varying degrees, not allowing him to even truly be able to claim the kids he considers his siblings, the kids he would move mountains for, as his own. he does claim them, but he can't do so openly and confidently.
same with the village and The People. Spider would lie his life down for them. for their safety. he has done so. but he, like with his siblings, is barely allowed to claim them as his people, and he isn't really given a space amongst them.
many strip him of most, if not all, of his claim to his identity. it is "odd" and "wrong" and "inappropriate" of him to act Na'vi and partake in the culture. to have a complex relationship with being human, with other humans, with Na'vi and the Sullys and their treatment of him, with both the idea of his father and the actual man himself.
he doesn't even have a true place to call home or parents for 16 years! Jake and Neytiri, Norm, other scientists, were all out adopting kids and giving them loving homes, and he…. got the McCoskers? who didn't like him and abused/neglected him? he got to be a stray?
he got to watch all the other kids with their families. he got to know they liked going home at night and felt safe and loved. but he got none of it.
and then Q rolls around, and genuinely gives 2 shits about him, but he isn't allowed to hold a shred of love for him-no matter the sea of hate and hurt it drowns in. he isn't allowed just this one thing. he couldn't even talk about him, couldn't get support, like any orphan should be able to get, prior to him coming back. but now he can't even have him. he can't even save his dad without being overly hated and punished for saving Quartich, many can't even understand the difference, cause it doesn't matter to them.
that's not fair, he's just a kid.
and the most interesting aspect of this, which was really the point of this entire post, is that it spreads to the audience, and that's actually where we see this trend most prevalently. because while it is mostly hinted at in the movie and comics, a good portion fo this movies fandom and audience are the quickest to question, deny, and even argue over what Spider holds claim to.
every aspect of his life is torn apart by the audience. his behavior and connection to Na'vi culture is inappropriate. he doesn't deserve to call the Sully's family or the forest home. he isn't allowed to like, let alone love, his dad. many don't even think he deserves to live.
when did we forget this was a child born and grown on pandora, around the na'vi, and that he is deserving of a life and a culture and a home and a family?
(this post is cross posted and extended from Twitter. so anyone who follows me on both sites might recognize this.)
The fact that a huge portion of Spider fans sympathise with him because they had similar family experiences in life is low-key making me feel kinda weird about people who hate him. Like let us recap the events real quick-
Like why do you hate a kid who did more to keep the Na’vi safe than Jake through the entire movie? “They’re after us” ok? This is not just about you dumbass it’s a whole-ass war, the RDA will still want to find the rest of your tribe because they want to ERADICATE your people 😐 the fact that it took him MONTHS to realise that running will not save anyone is 😬 (though I can get behind it bc family and all)
How is it that a goddamn 16 year old was the one who carried the good guy team??? 😐😐😐 he saved tribes from getting murdered, like literally, Tonowari said that no one had died, WONDER WHY???? DO Y’ALL THINK QUARITCH WAS NICE OUTTA NOWHERE???
And then he sunk a ship. HE SUNK A SHIP BY HIMSELF????
AND THEN HE INDIRECTLY SAVED KIRIS AND JAKE’S LIFE????
“He backstabbed them” I know you’re not blaming him for it when Neytiri exists 🧍 bestie outright REFUSED to help a literal child and didn’t bat an eye when he got captured. I can get behind her putting a knife to his throat in a rush of emotion but to very clearly ABANDON him? Fuck off. If her active decision to leave him behind didn’t turn into the reef Na’vi’s literal saving grace I’d be hating on her so actively.
“He saved his homocidal dad after he promised to murder his family” first of all the Sullys NEVER adopted him and it’s made abundantly clear. You sound like a gaslighter when you use that rhetoric. 😐📸
And secondly — HELL YEAH HE DID???? I would too if I was him and so would you and so would we all because Miles is the first grown up who GAVE A SHIT. MILES GENUINELY CARED. “It’s morally wrong” NO CAP 😀😀😀 NO ONE SAYS IT WAS RIGHT BUT THE KID HAD A SPLIT SECOND TO MAKE A DECISION AND HE CHOSE NOT TO BE A MURDERER.
You know what else is morally wrong tbw? Neglecting a child for 16 years.
“B-but they had no obligation to take care of a human kid—” cry me a fucking river 😐 what they want or not doesn’t fucking matter when we are talking about the mental health of an actual living breathing being. They ALL (the scientists, the Sullys and even the mf McKoskers or whatever the hell their last name is) were morally obligated to give that kid the best they could to ensure that he wouldn’t turn out like his father BECAUSE THEY’RE ADULTS.
The fact that their collective neglect DIDN’T blow up in their face is a pure miracle. Thant kid had every right to turn evil and burn the village that rejected him to feel it’s warmth but he DID NOT. In fact he is so goddamn kind and compassionate that he sees good even in a piece of shit monster like Quaritch.
It’s mind-blowing when we consider the lack of parental love and guidance throughout his life.
☝️ THIS is the kid you’re hating on???? Bc it’s starting to look suspiciously toxic 👀💅
Pay my boy some respect. He was a literal hero and y’all act like the Omatekaya, ignoring whatever good he might do and then point fingers at him when he does something morally questionable LIKE ITS NOT JAKES FAULT??? LIKE THE REST OF THE ADULTS ARE NOT AT FAULT TOO??
Neglect makes people vulnerable. Vulnerable enough for an asshole to swoop in and manipulate them and it is only thanks to Spider’s unyielding loyalty and heart that neither Ardmore, nor Miles had pulled anything out of him in MONTHS of captivity. They had NO idea where Jake or Omatekaya were until Norm fucked it all up with his trackable ship.
Listen I love all the blorbos, but the parents dug their own grave so to speak. You fumble the bag repeatedly and then get surprised when it flies into your face? 🤨
Anyway, I’m out. Might delete this later idk.
Is there a fanfic about it?! Can someone make a fanfic about this please!!!
sometimes I go a little crazy and imagine the complex grief Neteyam would have gone through had Spider died in place of him.
the grief that comes with losing your best friend and big brother—
because that's what he was. long ago, when you were little kids, and he still was now, even though you pushed him away, the bond never died, you just abandoned it, and it would be hard, but if you walked up to him he would have taken you back in a heartbeat, arms wide and open and warm, burying his own hurt to keep you close. and you know that. you know he would have, but you never did. you never went back, because it would sting, it would press on old wounds, and it would have upset your parents and your clan and... and you weren't brave enough for that.
—but you couldn't call him that.
he was different than you. a human. a demon. an outcast. quietly removed from you and your home and the forest and your family and your siblings and your clan and even the other humans.
because he was different.
he was unloved by your people. and now a foreign stranger in your new home. they hold no love or memory or any sympathy for him that went past basic compassion and sadness for a child, if even that. he was nothing to them. they did not know he was good. that he was kind. that he was strong. that he would have done anything for his siblings, even you, with all your faults. they did not know.
and you're the perfect eldest child in their eyes, not a boy who would have curled up in the protection of that human boy's arms in an instant if you weren't afraid of being judged. they don't know the conflict that lives in your heart and mind. they don't understand you the way he did, even in his silent watch over you, for all those years you wouldn't call him brother, but he still loved you like one. they don't understand anything about you and what you keep under your facade of a young warrior, eldest son of the Sully's, mature and wise for your age. they don't know that you needed him, you just didn't know how to get him back.
and now no one around you— not even your siblings who will long hold a degree of animosity towards you, no matter how small or subconscious, for all the years they watched you ditch them in favor of duties and push Spider away instead of being their brother, making them a quartet and not a quintet, forcing that awkward tension on them that they'll always have to remember —understands your loss.
not your parents or your new clan, not even your old one will. not your friends or your siblings. not even you.
none of them will understand that he mattered to you. that under the illusion of not needing him or wanting him or considering him family like your siblings did. of seeing him as your mother did, a demon who belonged with his own kind. or passively letting him float in and out of your life because you had bigger, better, more important duties to fulfill, and settling on in or out was too hard. or that when you saw him play and goof off and mess around with your siblings, you wanted to join. or that this entire time in this new home, with things ever so slightly getting better with Lo'ak, you wished he was there too, so maybe things would finally be good.
the friend, the brother, the protector, the shield, the warm smile and golden hair and barking laugh and ever beckoning hand, begging you to join him on an adventure you once knew, is dead. he is dead and gone, and with him died every chance you might have had to fix it. and you will live with your guilt for life, and the fear that comes when you don't have your big brother to look out for you anymore.
and no one understands his grief. he is alone in it. he will feel like a stranger, overstepping a boundary he placed. and he is scared because his big brother is gone. everything he has to face, he has to face scared and alone.
he will be shut out of his siblings grief, just out of how their relationship with one another and Spider was, because their bond is too strained, and he missed out on so much time with them and with Spider and them as a whole. he doesn't fit with their grief.
his parents will want to support him and love him, but Spider mattered very little to them. they were the reason Neteyam pulled away to begin with. Spider wasn't his brother in their minds. they could never support him the way he needed.
the Metkayina, no matter their love or care or sympathy for Neteyam, can't help either.
he is alone. living with his grief. with his regrets. with his pain. it's overwhelming and all consuming. and he will continue to try and act like everything is fine, because he doesn't know what else to do.
they make me fucking insane
ATLA! Avatar au ramblings, cause I need them out of my skull:
[Disclaimer: this is basically just Avatar, but if there were benders. there are no rules. god is dead. I wear his crown. we go by my rules now, even if they break atla canon. canon is a suggestion now]
each clean tends to be made up of benders from two of the elements, people from the clan can carry both traits, even if one is dormant.
for example, the Omatikaya are made up of earth and airbenders. both Mo'at and Eytukan were airbenders, yet their daughter Neytiri was an earth bender, and Sylwanin was also an air bender.
Humans are rarely benders, at least compared to the Na'vi, as the destruction of Earth led to the loss of benders, but when they are benders, they have only been fire benders. this includes avatars. the RDA specifically targets and recruits fire benders.
Fire benders are rare on Pandora. very few clans produce fire benders. and with the destruction the humans and the RDA have caused, fire benders are almost taboo, especially in the forest clans that faced the brunt of their efforts.
Jake is a fire bender, he is heavily disconnected from the idea of spirit, fluidity, or nature within his bending. it gets better as he lives with the Omatikaya, but old habits die hard, so he'll ways be a messy fire user, and his fighting style is messy, MMA like, the reckless assault of a soldier and not an art. he doesn't truly incorporate his bending into his day to day life either, it's like a gun to him, not a part of his spirit and being.
Neytiri is an earth bender (and in my world, they can bend plants, because fuck you). while she is known for her combat on Ikran back, she is just as deadly in face to face combat, as she is a heavily offensive fighter, and she will punch you in the throat with a dagger she pulled from the earth. but in a more casual day to day, she uses it to get around the forest, to weave and craft, to cook even. she makes something solid like stone and wood look as fluid as air, and something as delicate as plant life look deadly and jagged. and as a healer she uses it not only to cultivate and refine healing plants, and even bone bend.
a fire bender and an earth bender, have 3 kids:
Neteyam is an earth bender, he presented quite young, maybe 5 or 7, and he takes after his mommy, with the added aggression of Jake's fire bending attitude. he inherited less of his mother's likeness to plant bending, but can magma bend extremely well for his age, keeping that same fluidity. but as much of his life is taken up by combat and training, he's also a crafter and has plenty of little siblings bringing him rocks and asking him to make them beads, so he's also doing a lot of that. (he has attempted to bend a tree fort into existence and fell through it and on his ass, trust, I was there)
Tuk is an air bender. she's only presented around 7, and only in little gusts, so she hasn't cultivated an exact style, she can only really play with little gusts of air, or go gliding about on her glider, but only when a sibling is with her, in case she falls. she's also just an agile little thing.
Lo'ak (for angst value) doesn't present for a long while, he makes it to nearly 13 before presenting, and he ends up being a fire bender.... which did not help his self image, in any manner. not only is he the demon blooded son, the one that never lives up to Jake and Neteyam, who looks like a freak, but now he's a fire bender too? just shoot him now.
Kiri, the child of Grace, who was not a bender, and Eywa, is an air bender (she's already Pandora Jesus, I'm not putting her through being the Avatar as well). she presented at 5, it never seemed like a big thing to her. Neytiri found her floating and that was that. she is heavily connected to her spirit, so she can astral project, and her world, which makes her very hyper sensitive to her surroundings. she uses her air bending to carry stuff, be more spry (in the comics she tends to fall behind her siblings, even Spider, who is much smaller than her. her air bending gives her the leg up to help her keep up). even after she gains an ikran, she tends to go gliding or just. floating. for funsies.
that leaves my son, my baby boy, Spider:
I'm making him the fucking avatar because I can.
[more bullshit below, this is just very long and I'd feel bad posting this behemoth and clogging people's feeds]
he is Eywa's first Sky child, her golden boy, and he is the bridge between humans and Na'vi— he is Na'vi in all but body, and human in all but soul —so she knows if anyone can soothe the tensions ripping her world apart, it will be him.
he starts out as a fire bender.
no one is shocked, even though he gave off his first sparks as a toddler. his parents had both been fire benders— Quaritch had mastered combustion, and Paz was known to give off smoke when pissed —this gets him even more ostracized than he was in canon from the get go. no one wants much to do with the fire bending son of Quaritch. no one can truly trust him, even as a child.
who's to say when he will become the wildfire everyone assumes he will become? who's to say he's not dangerous, even as a child? especially without the help of a fire bending master to aid him (could Jake do it? yes. do I think Jake would commit to that long term? absolutely not).
despite this, the Sully kids are his siblings, from the moment they meet. he's their big brother, watching out for them, promising his flames as their shield, forever and ever. no one will ever hurt them. that they don't need to be scared of him, because he'd burn himself to a crisp before burning them. and his will is so strong, he's never accidentally burned them like he has others. his spirit knows better. it's strong enough to render the heat to nothing.
so the second Spider can leave the confines of Hellsgate and go out into Eywa's jungle, he is more than pleased to do so. he isn't judged there. the animals don't flinch away from him or stare at him like they're seeing secrets from the future.
he bends in secret, first with fire, just dancing a flame over his hands, slowly gaining trust in himself and his control, and developing his own style of bending, one similar to the airbenders of the clan, as that's the closest thing he has to go off of.
and if he has dreams of Toruk like creatures, showing him the art of fire, when he falls asleep in the grassy clearings of Eywa's world, he won't question it.
and when he hears whispers of 'try it' when he thinks of attempting to bend a different element, even just pretending, child's play, he listens, because he trusts the soft voice in his ear.
he bends air first. while not rare, those who bend air are considered special, connect to the spirit of Eywa. it's a sign. well, it would be had anyone paid enough mind to the boy to see it.
air bending comes naturally. he'd been watching those around him air bend for years. he'd mimicked their movements while playing with his siblings. it feels right. like it was what he was destined for (Eywa just needed time to manipulate his soul). it keeps him alive in the jungle, not only cause it allows him to take riskier paths and such, but also because it allows him without an exopack.
earth comes next. again. he'd watched earth benders for years. longed to manipulate the forest like them. to create instead of destroy. wanted to heal instead of heal. wanted to use brute forced over his flames, because his flames were looked at with fear, while the other boys trained their bending and were cheered on. he can work plants as if it was as easy as breathing. weaving them together into forts and hide outs and supplies.
water is last, and seeing as it's the opposite of his birth element, he has no mentor, and not even a faint clue on how it works, it is his weakest. but he has an affinity for healing, even if it only works on little cuts and scrapes, maybe a bruise if he's lucky.
by twelve he is mostly living on his own in the woods. it's near impossible to keep him in the compound anymore. he's not interested.
no one has any idea what he is. Spider can't even fully believe it himself and all's down spirals of thinking he's giving into his human greed, somehow (don't blame him, he's just a little guy, a dumb little guy who doesn't know maths, and grew up around people who all but hated him. let him have a dumb dumb complex).
the only people who have a slight idea are his siblings; he bends too much on instinct. he reached out to catch his siblings, shifting the ground beneath them just a tad, or shooting a vine around their ankle or using a swift puff of wind to stop their descent. he heals small cuts while thumbing over them, rolling a little bead of water on the broken or bruised skin. he brings them up into elaborate tree forts.
his siblings only keep from saying something because of the look of pure terror he gets on his face when he catches himself.
as time goes on, he becomes more open with them. by 15 it's common knowledge amongst them who and what Spider is, but he still won't let them tell the clan. but he has Kiri and Neteyam to help him with his air and earth bending, as they can regurgitate their own lessons back to him, which makes him stronger over all, even if he continues to use his own methods.
Jake and Neytiri only find out the night he was taken; when he gave his all to protect his baby siblings from the recoms, all fire benders, and exposed the level of power he held... and was subsequently taken for.
and then he gets adventures with his papa and the squad. that he is so so so so so happy about (kill him).
bonus info that doesn't fit into the vaguely timeline coherent ramblings above:
Spider is a healer by nature, it's in his heart and soul. so while he trains himself for combat, it's simply natural for him to want to fix things, to help people, to give himself and his power over if it means he can soothe one ache in his people. so Spider learns all of the healing arts he can. he develops his own even. refines bone and blood bending to heal people. uses the scientific understanding of things that he picked up as a human to make better medicines, etc.
speaking of blood/bonebending. my boy is going to snap at some point during his captivity and fuck some people up with that, because he knows the dogs of the RDA deserve it. perhaps it's after Neteyam's death that triggers it. or maybe the Tulkun hunt/attack on the Ta'unui. it's something, something that has him going in a carnage spree.
he will train with Mo'at and Ronal when they find out about him. Mo'at will knowingly pass him over — she knew early in he was special, but knew, in terms of his learning, the forest was not his place, for there was too much pain. but she would watch out for him as she had his whole life, in her own ways — while Ronal will become one of his footholds in life. a place where he will always feel like he can drift back to.
~~~
that's all I have for now. it's a shit ton. I have maladaptive daydreamed part this point, but I'll probably be back on my bullshit eventually. I'll have more on Q and the water tribe and what not.
I love Neytiri, as a character all her actions make sense. Does that mean she's always right? No. Did she make mistakes... maybe as much as Jake did but I'm not gonna get into details with that.
That beeing said, I do not think she's racist... but she need the nav'i equivalent of a therapist. So much happened to her and she needs help or she's gonna go crazy. It's not healthy to have such a problem with a litteral child, even he has a link to a horrible person that you hate.
no, neytiri is not a “racist bigot towards humans”. no, she was never a hypocrite for marrying jake but mistrusting spider.
she is completely unequivocally justified in hating humans. this inverse racism/bigotry isn’t a thing. humans took everything from her, they invaded and destroyed her land, bombed her home, killed half of her family and slaughtered her people. she has every damn right to loathe humans as a whole.
but jake? jake is the exception. he was personally mentored by her, he was taught the way of the na'vi and is officially part of the omatikaya. and when he betrayed her, he underwent impossible lengths to protect her and the people by becoming toruk makto and literally turning his back from his species forever. again: he is the exception. it was jake’s job to prove that he was different. it was NOT neytiri’s job to change her mind about humans.
and obviously she recognizes that not all of them are like that. but that doesn’t mean she has to like them. she tolerates the scientists’ presence but doesn’t interact with them. and why should she?
the reason she mistrusts spider (not full on despise him, like a lot of people think) is not that he’s human, but that he’s quaritch’s son. does he deserve it? no. is he innocent? of course. should he be blamed for his father’s sins? obviously not. but is neytiri’s position completely absurd and incomprehensible? absolutely not.
also: you are talking about the little girl that was excited about learning from humans, that was curious about them, that was one of grace’s students that loved her and viewed her as a mother. her hate doesn’t come from nothing. it began with immense loss and none of us have the right to judge her for that or say that her feelings are extreme.
This look like the kind of post that should have someone add on in a reblog... unfortunately that's not me.
Rebloging this in hope someone add on it.
his is such a stupid theory/headcanon but I just get the vibe for numerous reasons. Yes I know they’re four year olds and four year olds can do random things +most disorders like autism aren’t figured out until the kid is older. But screw it im projecting a tad being autistic myself so I’m putting it out there.
We all know the RRB definitely have PTSD so I’m not going to get into that one. I’m more gonna focus on autism and adhd.
Off the bat a big thing I can mention is stimming. The boys stim quite a bit. Mainly Butch and Boomer. And it’s usually triggered when they’re excited and can’t stay still or control said excitement. Biggest examples being The Boys Are Back In Town. Lots of stimming there.
Ways of speech and miswording. - People can stretch this to the boys being super young and that’s valid. It’s common in young kids. Show examples would be Bubble Boy, when Brick writes his graffiti. “BRIK WUZ HER”. But the main spots I’ve seen this happen is the comics. For example, CN Action Pack #6, Butch mixing up “invisible” with “invincible.” Certain ways they talk as well can be seen on the spectrum. Or at least that’s how I see it. Like when Brick mentions a bus to help their heist in CN Action Pack #4. Instead of Butch adding to the convo. he speaks on how much he likes buses and why. Or Brick stating he likes eggs randomly in CN Action Pack #6. Again kid stuff too, so see it how you like.
MANY examples here.
Distractions - Kid thing again but could be spectrum as well. The boys have sort attention spans and get bored super easily. An example here from CN Action Pack #1. Which also makes me think they would get distracted by their fixations a crazy amount.
Fixations - Ok this is cheating cuz I spotted this in Multiversus but since it’s Ruff media I’m adding it. The boys definitely fixate to specific things. Like Butch with his constant ticks and urge to fight, while Brick fixates on The Joker. Wanna see what I mean? Watch these two videos.
Brick - https://youtu.be/paA3XZ0-Feg?si=PTaho72oYo18ZTVS
Butch - https://youtu.be/s92Ksrdk5aw?si=JvOlCBrV5yUIgf
Sleep Issues - Also Multiversus but it’s something I found interesting. The boys HATE getting up early and constantly have the urge to sleep. Perhaps from sleep issues or staying up late being mischievous. This one hit personal for me. Wanna see for yourself? Check this video out.
Triggers - Comic based this time, and this can line up to PTSD a bit more. But autistic people including myself can and do have triggers so I’m adding this too. The boys have a huge trigger to the idea of being kissed. As shown in CN Action Pack #6, when the girls defeat them with cooties. The boys don’t even try to fight, and fly away in tears. I count this up to PTSD, but I can definitely see the boys getting overstimulated in their own ways.
Repetitive behaviors - I feel this one speaks for itself. If you watched any RRB episodes you’ll see what I mean.
Honestly I’m out of topics so imma end this here. If you disagree that’s cool, I just like exploring characters' heads.
I got lazy shading and the rest. I got inspired by a few ppg/rrb teen designs and combined a bit with my version. Hopefully i don't get compared at cuz I can get a bit sensitive when being compared 😓 but yeh they're fun to draw ig so expect some more stuff about them.
So I hate the 2016 reboot but some of the characters have potential, including Silico. He'd have been a good villain if given the chance or a better series.
So instead I've decided to rewrite him in my Au as the RowdyRuff boys new adopted parent after both HIM and Mojo abandon them, as I have a hard time seeing either truly take in the boys (plus if everyone and their mom can have the boys be adopted by miss Keane, or Miss Bellum, I can do the same)
basically what happened is that after Mojo is sent to prison and the boys have been left alone again, Silico (Mojo and Dick hardy's hidden benefactor) finds the boys and adopts them as his own. Figuring they can be useful to his plot (and deep down he does come to love the trio. But deeeep down).
He allows Mojo to sometimes looks over the boys to keep his scent clear but overall he's the father figure to the boys.
Individually he's closest to Brick, tends to scold Butch the most and has a soft spot for Boomer.
He's an adorable fella :))
These are two early concept arts of Jake and Neteyam's songcords, both of which feature the "unofficial adoption of Spider" as an important event. The creative team recently clarified that these are old concepts and shouldn't be considered canon, but the fact that they exist implies there was a time in the past where Spider would've been more like a part of the family rather than the stray he was in the final version. Even the old concept art of Neytiri's songcord features Spider's "adoption," implying a much more positive relationship between them than what they had in the movie.
I wonder what the older vision for Avatar 2 was like, and what other changes it underwent to become the final version we eventually saw on screen. I can imagine that if they were originally going to have Spider be closer to the Sullies, they must've changed it because of the decision to bring back Quaritch and have him undergo character development. The beginnings of Quaritch's future character development and the fact that he survived the final battle of A2 at all only occurred because he developed a relationship with Spider. If Spider was a part of the Sully family and had a healthy parental relationship to compare Quaritch to, I doubt he would've ever bonded with and subsequently saved him. Plus, if Neytiri "unofficially adopted" Spider, she probably wouldn't have threatened to kill him, which would've eliminated one of the most intense scenes in the movie. Ultimately, I understand the narrative reasoning behind making Spider the "stray" of the group and think it was the right choice, but I'm still curious to know what different ideas they had in mind for Spider when they made the old concept art.
Man, I would've loved to be a fly on the wall in the writer's room for those years when they were hashing out the script! I wonder what other things changed over the course of the development, like how did they decide to kill off Neteyam, and how did they decide to make Kiri the way she is. I'd also love to know how they reached the decision to turn the events of "The High Ground" into a comic series and how they decided to split "The Way of Water" and "Fire and Ash" into two separate movies. I remember watching an interview with James Cameron where he discussed how difficult it was to split TWOW and FAA into two movies. If I'm remembering correctly, he said one of the big challenges was some important character moment for Spider that they had to shuffle around to get the narrative to flow. I wonder what that moment is and how they decided to put it in FAA rather than TWOW.
I don't know if any older drafts of the A2 script exist, but if they do I'd love to get my hands on them one day and read through to see all the little changes and different ideas they had.
Am I the only one who noticed how legit FERAL the RRB are in some of the Multiversus lines? Me and my buddy @sketchoco got so many clips of them with dog noises it’s not funny. Got Butch growling and whining multiple times, one Brick bark, and Boomer barking multiple times lmao.
Coincidence? Probably. But I still find it funny.
I made a photo montage of my version of the Rowdyruffboys.
In this AU they were adopted by a super villain doctor Doom type. With a whole kingdom and everything.
They also have new name they use as civilians.
Brick = Sevan Viktor Vasily
In this AU he's a great cook and his adopted mother taught him chess. He's close to both his parents and take the role of the older sibbling more seriously. He's the cold but caring type, he show his love through action and not words.
Butch = Boris Jegor Valent
His adopted father made him start practising sport and music to focus all his energy. He also made him start hiking to clear his head when he's mad. He's the most reckless of the three but also the most adventurous.
Boomer = Alexei Vladimir Rodion
The more empathetic one. When his adopted parents realised that they managed to make sure he knew thos talent was valuable. Among the three of them he's the one who understands other people the most.
another greens
I'm tired of the powerpunk girls. Maybe it's because I see them everywhere when I look for ppg or rrb content but I'm sick of them.
And it hurts because I use to like them a lot but now I can't stand them anymore.
To be honest evem if the rrb are male version of the ppg, they should have completly new powers unique to them.
It'll make it more interesting...
I need fanfic or headcanon where the boys have unique and interesting powers.
I hate how Multiversus seems to canonize Brick having ice powers (yea yea I know they’re just different skins for the Girls), but ice powers should only be Blossom’s!
And no he should not have fire power unique to him either, all 3 girls already have fire powers 🔥
Spider is with the Sully's in Awatulu, he's trying to adapt but it's proving harder than with the Omaticaya.
More Tsireya and Lo'ak being lovey dovey together
Lo'ak processing the death of his brother as well as he can while refusing to truly open up with his family
Kiri sneaking away to connect to Eywa because she's not allowed to anymore.
Tuk getting closer to Spider after neteyam's death as a way to cope with the lost of her brother
A flashback so we can see how Neteyam and Spider relationship was before they grew apart
Maybe a scene or two where Spider and Neytiri interract alone
Like hust one or two scene where they are alone for only a few moments and the atmosphere is uncomfortable
Jake trying to be a dad to Spider and Spider not knowing how to react
Aonung and Lo'ak actualy becoming friends
The fandom invalidating Spider Sully because he's human and Neytiri is struggling with her feelings for her adopted son.
Canon: he's a Sully. Always has been and always will be
Spider from James Camerons Avatar moodboard
Neteyam was probably never going to be the olo'eyktan of the Omatikaya. I know this is treated basically as canon in the fandom, but we have no evidence whatsoever – neither in the movies or other sources – that he was the olo'eyktan-in-training. His desire of becoming a great warrior and the pressure he felt did not come from the fact that he was the next chief, but from the fact that he was the firstborn son of Toruk Makto and a legendary warrior in his clan.
On the other hand, in the Visual Dictionary Kiri is explicitly described as wearing garb that resemble that of a tsakarem. It’s a very specific detail to include, and to me it indicates that she was meant to succeed her mother as tsakarem after Mo'at had passed the role of tsahìk on to Neytiri.
We also know from Mo'at/Silwanin/Neytiri that, at least in the Omatikaya clan, the role of the tsahìk seems to be hereditary. The tsahìk and olo'eyktan usually become a mated pair (like it also would have been with Jake and Neytiri in the future had they not moved to the Metkayina before she could succeed Mo'at), so it makes only sense to assume that Kiri was going to become tsahìk and lead the Omatikaya alongside her future mate, but that Neteyam was never destined for that role to begin with.
I think we can also assume a similar thing for the Metkayina. In the Visual Dictionary, Tsireya is said to be the tskarem, but with Ao'nung it’s not suggested that he will be the next chief.
I could be wrong, of course, this is only speculation and traditions can change. We have also seen in AFoP that there are different dynamics between olo'eyktan and tsahìk in different clans, like Nesim and Minang who are sisters and Ka'nat and Etuwa who are father and daughter (although she did inherit the role from her mother).
Anyway this was just a reflection on a really popular headcanon that is treated like actual canon by the fandom, very much like many others “facts” that were actually just completely made up by the fans or have no actual proof in canon.
To be honest all option are possible.
The least dramatic one would be that one of the sully figure it out. Preferably, Lo’ak or Kiri. The most dramatic would be that Spider tell them AFTER they discover Quaritch is alive.
We could even have one thing were the whole movie happen, and there’s an evolution between Neytiri and Spider’s relationship and at the end of the movie we could think that they relationship is getting kinda good.
But then Spider feel guilty and confess to saving Quaritch at the very end of the movie.
One of the things I'm most excited to see in Avatar 3 is how the Sullies will learn that Spider saved the life of Quaritch.
Personally, I believe that Spider will tell them himself. I'm just not sure whether he'll confess before or after they learn Quaritch is alive. If he tells them before, I think the Sullies would be a bit more forgiving since they'll have time to process and accept that Quaritch survived, but if he keeps it a secret until after they'll be more likely to react badly since they'll still be struggling with the shock that Quaritch is still out there.
I don't think Quaritch will tell them himself because he'd be afraid of them, specifically Neytiri, reacting badly and possibly hurting Spider. However, I could see a scenario where Quaritch is trying to talk Spider into coming with him and Spider refuses, so then Quaritch tells one of the Sullies how he's still alive in an effort to make Spider feel like the Sullies hate him now and he has no choice but to qo with Quaritch.
There's also a possibility that both Spider and Quaritch will keep their mouths shut and one of the Sullies will guess what he did, but I feel like this one is less likely to happen since the family was so distracted with rescuing each other from drowning that they didn't pay much attention to Spider disappearing for awhile.
But this is all just my two cents on it, I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks!
imagine having a war criminal psychopathic genocidal baby killer who met you three months ago for a dad and he's still a better parent then people who knew you since you were a baby
I was watching the deleted/original cut of the scene with Neytiri holding Spider hostage which — first off, incredible scene by the way like holy shit — but it made me think about how perfectly it served for Neytiri’s character.
Someone might’ve already talked about this already, but what I don’t think a lot of people realize is that this scene serves as the payoff for earlier Neytiri-related scenes as well as a starting point for her arc going forward.
If you haven’t watched the scene, here, it’s a far more impactful version of an already hard hitting scene and I’m going to treat it as what “really” happened in the story for the sake of analysis.
The first moment I’m focusing on is this one where Neytiri goes to pick up her bow after killing a few RDA grunts, only to find that the bow is now broken and unusable.
There’s a running theme in these two movies that I’ve seen people point out and that’s how Neytiri keeps losing things that are precious to her, whether they be people, places, or objects.
In the first movie, she loses a lot including but not limited to the Hometree, the Tree of Voices, her older sister, Tsu’tey, her Ikran, and her father. When her father dies, he grants her the Ceremonial Bow and that’s what she ends up using to fight in all subsequent battles.
In the second movie, she thankfully doesn’t lose as much, but she’s still forced to leave her home and her first born son is killed in the heat of battle, rough times all around.
You’ll note that I didn’t include losing her precious bow on the list of things she lost and that’s because she didn’t lose the bow, she broke it.
All the other losses I’ve described are caused by the RDA, but this one isn’t. Instead of her bow being broken by another grunt in the heat of the battle, she’s the one who breaks it by swinging it haphazardly at her enemies.
I may not know all that much about archery or making weapons, but I’m almost certain that bows aren’t designed to be used like that, which is why her bow broke the way that it did.
And it cannot be understated how important this bow must be to Neytiri. I mentioned before that it was given to her by her late father, making it an important connection to her family already, but it’s also made from the wood of Hometree. So not only is it a connection to her family, it’s a connection to her people and the home that was stolen from them.
All that and she still broke it, not because she didn’t cherish the bow, but because she just couldn’t control her anger enough to handle it properly.
And that’s what I feel Neytiri’s fatal flaw is, as well as what her arc will be primarily focusing on in the upcoming movies — Neytiri’s anger and hatred leads to blind rage, and she becomes liable to hurt those she cares about.
For the record, I am not making the claim that Neytiri’s flaw is that she gets angry. Being outraged by death and destruction, hating those who bring about injustice, these aren’t flaws and aren’t things she should be vilified for. What is a flaw is how she uses her anger, or rather how it uses her.
Jake spells it out pretty cleanly in a scene that happened a while ago. When Tonowari told Jake and Neytiri about the destruction the RDA was causing to the nearby villages, they immediately connect it back to Quaritch. Neytiri describes how they have to finish off Quaritch — “we have to hunt this demon, trap him, kill him” — and this is what Jake says in response to that idea:
He’s not dismissing the idea of doing something, he’s just cautioning her on how they go about doing it. That’s the crux of Neytiri’s most prevalent flaw, it isn’t her becoming angered at the injustice she and her people face, it’s her not being smart about how she acts on it.
The last two moments I’d like to draw attention to are the one where one of Quartich’s lackey calls Neytiri a “wild animal” and the one where she actually acts like one.
For the record, Lyle and Quaritch are in the wrong for likening Neytiri to an animal and dehumanizing her in the process, especially when the reason they insulted her was because she was acting violent in the video where she was protecting her husband. However, it’s undeniable that during the fight on the Sea Dragon, Neytiri is the most violent and rage filled we’ve ever seen her.
It’s particularly noticeable right before she realizes she broke her bow, which is definitely not a coincidence I’ll tell you that much.
She screams in the guys face and stabs him over and over and over again, after which she gets up and starts growling, searching for anything else that moves. It’s not a stretch to say that, in this moment, she’s acting almost like a bloodthirsty animal hungry for vengeance, not too dissimilar from the wild animal the recoms painted her as.
And all of this, her accidentally breaking her father’s bow, being asked to be smart about it all, acting like a wild animal, it all comes to a head in the moment where she uses Spider’s life as leverage to save Kiri’s. It starts off good when she makes Quaritch let Kiri go, but when Kiri is freed from Quaritch’s grasp and she can turn her attention to the man himself…
…she puts the blade back against Spider’s neck and utters those infamous lines:
I’ve seen a lot of people comment on how “powerful” of a scene this is, and while I agree that it’s a powerful storytelling moment and extremely important to Neytiri’s character, I think a lot of people miss the fact that this isn’t an admirable moment of a mother’s rage, but a scary and dark moment where Neytiri is about to fall to Quaritch’s lows.
Because if Neytiri had actually gone through with this decision, then she would’ve done the same thing to her family that she did with her bow — destroy it. What’s important to note about Neytiri’s hatred towards Spider is that; while it’s understandable considering all the trauma she went through at the hands of his father and the RDA, she’s the only one in her family that feels this way towards him.
For one thing, Spider is both Lo’ak and Kiri’s best friend and they know how much Spider hates being Quaritch’s son, there’s no way that they’d just accept Neytiri after she killed their best friend. We don’t get much development on Spider’s relationship with Tuk or Neteyam, but we see Spider protect Tuk, tease Neteyam, and cry during Neteyam’s death, so they must be friends on some level.
And finally Jake. Admittedly, Jake is pretty lukewarm towards Spider throughout the entire movie, but I’d argue that’s him keeping a respectful distance because of him wanting to side with his wife and not any malice Jake genuinely holds towards Spider himself. We even see him checking over Spider at the end of the movie like he does with Lo’ak and Neteyam.
As much as Jake unconditionally loves Neytiri, I cannot see a world where he’s able to look at her the same way if she killed an innocent child.
And I do mean innocent, because at this point in time Spider’s only “crimes” are being human(not his choice) and being Quaritch’s son(also not his choice). Even if Neytiri’s feelings towards him are understandable and valid, her actions at this point are not justifiable and Jake knows it.
That’s not even mentioning how she hisses at Kiri during this scene, she’s not acting with her family’s best interest in mind, she’s acting on pure rage.
If she had gone through with it and killed Spider, Kiri and Lo’ak would hate her, Tuk wouldn’t be able to look at her the same way again, and Jake probably would’ve left her. She truly did come a hair’s width away from destroying something precious to her once again.
Now let’s talk about Spider for a minute because he’s crucial to all of this, as Neytiri’s hatred for humans extends to her hatred of him.
We already know that, to the Na’vi, “I see you” is considered a respectful greeting, but it’s also a show of great understanding between two people; it’s why Jake’s two pivotal emotional moments at the end of the movies are him telling a loved one “I see you,” it’s because he’s come to understand them as a person beyond what he initially thought.
In contrast, Neytiri does not see Spider, her eyes are shut. Instead of seeing Spider as a person, all she sees is just another human who ought to be with his own kind, a demon. And this is honestly fine, Neytiri isn’t Spider’s mother or caretaker so she’s not obligated to try and understand him as anything deeper than her enemies child and her own children’s best friend.
However, because Neytiri refuses to see Spider as anything other than another human, she lets this hatred for him and his heritage fester until she feels comfortable to threaten his life and see him as a means to an end. And that, no matter how much one may argue it’s understandable from her perspective, leads to dire consequences.
Namely, Spider’s choice to save Quaritch.
Now, before anyone yells at me let me clarify — I am not saying that Neytiri is responsible for Spider’s choice, nor is she responsible for any harm Quaritch will cause in the upcoming movies. However, it’s undeniable that her actions influenced Spider’s decision, whether directly or indirectly.
When Neytiri threatened Spider’s life, Quaritch initially plays off the fact that he’s technically not his son, citing that they aren’t even the same species. But when Neytiri pushes even further, he breaks and shows that he does actually care about Spider, willing to let go of his hostage in order to protect him.
This is big for Spider as his only major desire is to have a family, specifically a parental figure who genuinely cared about him as he is. I’d even go as far as to say that this moment probably proved to Spider that Quaritch cares about him as more than just a mean’s to an end. He’d already helped Quaritch bond with an Ikran and find the Sully family(against his will), he had nothing else to offer but Quaritch still wanted him alive.
This, along with the months they spent together, are what pushed Spider to make his decision at the end of the movie, a decision he was explicitly conflicted about.
And this came about from Neytiri’s decision. I know a lot of people would argue that Neytiri had to do this because it was the only way to save her daughter, and I’ll agree that there weren’t many options for her. But this wasn’t a tactical move she was making, she wasn’t bluffing or putting on a show to force Quaritch’s hand, she was explicitly going to kill Spider just to make Quaritch hurt in the same way she was hurting.
Also, if we want to nitpick we could also say that the months Quaritch and Spider spent together also came about as a result of her actions. When they’re running away from the Recoms, Spider is the only one who falls to the ground and Neytiri doesn’t even think to try and go get him.
“B-But there’s no way Neytiri would’ve been able to save him and get away! She has her own children to worry about!” I hear you typing in the notes of this post, and to that I say you’ve got a point.
However, the fact that Neytiri doesn’t even consider going down to rescue him, doesn’t look over the branch and hesitate before making the difficult decision to prioritize Kiri and feel bad about it later shows that her reasoning is solidly NOT rooted in him being one of her kids or not.
She doesn’t even try, and because of that Quaritch and Spider end up forming the basis for a solid bond.
TLDR; Neytiri’s fatal flaw is that she allows her anger and hatred to cloud her better judgment and control her, leading to a destructive attitude that can ultimately hurt the people she loves and make things worse for her.
At this point, I’m pretty sure everyone has heard at least a little bit about the next movie, Avatar Fire and Ash. I’ve seen people theorizing that the fire tribe will be joining forces with the RDA, that they don’t believe in Eywa, and that Neytiri will have to infiltrate the tribe in order to rescue her children.
I’m not certain whether any of this is true, but what I am certain of is that — if these concept arts hold water by the time the movie is released — then the fire tribe we’ll be encountering in the third movie is going to be an extremely violent community, likely one that puts emphasis on anger and hatred.
And if the rumors are true and Neytiri really is going to be infiltrating them, then Neytiri’s flaws might be able to inform what narrative role the Ash People and Varaang in particular will have in the third movie.
I’ve already explained how in depth how her flaw is how she allows her anger to take control of her and close her vision; she’s volatile like lava and burns hot like fire, becoming liable to burn everything and everyone around her.
From that perspective, she seems more suited to be a fire Na’vi rather than a forest or reef one, no? The choice to take us to a volcanic, fire steeped region isn’t just James Cameron checking off the boxes like “oh we did forest and water, fire next!” its him taking us to a we might find uncomfortably befitting of our worst traits.
And that’s basically what I think Neytiri will have to face upon encountering the Ash People — they are the embodiment of all her flaws put on display.
Varaang specifically may work as her narrative foil, a literal funhouse version of her at her worst(from my perspective the concept art of Varaang actually looks a lot like Neytiri, so that’s interesting).
I also think it’s important to note that Neytiri is absolutely going to find out that Spider saved Quaritch in the third movie, or at least it’s incredibly likely if the Ash People really will be working with Quaritch. That means that her hatred for him and her need for revenge will come back into play, this isn’t over.
But this time things will be different, because in between Neytiri learning of Spider’s betrayal she will also get especially close to the Ash People and find that she is uncomfortably similar to them at her worst. Before she does something she might regret, Neytiri will be forced to ask herself some important questions:
Is revenge really worth it? Is this the kind of person she wants to be? If Jake wasn’t there that night, would she have the blood of a child on her hands? Will she hurt other people she loves because of her anger?
These questions are ones she likely never wanted to ask herself, but they’re necessary because she’s starting right in the face of people who didn’t.
Hopefully, she finds that the answer is no.
Pair: Tsu'tey x Child y/n x Child spider
Warning: Sad, jake being a bad parent, tsu'tey being the peer we all love. Neytiri being a sweetheart.
Note: I had a previous version, but I wanted to make this one from scratch. But if you want to read more about "bad dad jake" HERE. I hope you like it a lot, I really enjoyed making this oneshot.
Request: (anonymous) Idk if your the one who did Jake having a daughter from a one night stand thing and him and her having a strain relationship , I was thinking if Tsu'tey is alive and him seeing her and Spider being literally outcast and kinda neglected by the humans for one reayor another he kinda adopted both of them as his own ( and proybe bit petty for Jake being the way he is he do things better) Like reader just call Jake Jake and not dad but have a good relationship with their half siblings ( they call Tsu'tey dad and he may be rough he dose care about his kids )
Avatar masterlist | Part 1, Part 2 , Part 3
If there was one thing tsu'tey liked to do in the afternoons, it was to go hunting alone. Walking through the jungle, with his bow and enjoying the silence that the jungle provided. He was very comfortable in various branches and bushes, the austrapede was right before his eyes, standing still while eating grass. Just as he was about to shoot, he saw the animal raise its head in alertness and run away. At the same time, he heard a noise coming from his feet. Looking down, he found a small creature. Little Y/N. He relaxed his shoulders, and lowered his bow. Watching as the girl was still literally sitting on he feet with a fruit. The girl was moving the fruit up and down and tapping it on the ground in order to break it.
"y/n" tsu'tey speaks softly, watching as the little girl looks up to see her favorite person. "Tsu…look!!!" speaks the little girl, lifting the fruit in the air. Tsu'tey laughs a little, and kneels down so that he can be at the same height as the little girl. The girl gets up from the ground, and automatically approaches the na'vi. Showing her the fruit. " I want….hunger" y/n speaks, in a very basic na'vi language. The poor thing was trying to learn to speak na'vi and English at the same time. Tsu'tey takes the fruit in her hands, the fruit was very big for a little girl. "What are you doing here alone?" asks tsu'tey stroking the little girl's hands, noticing that she had some scratches and her clothes were all dirty. Out of nowhere, a noise calls her attention…looking up to some bushes ahead. Tsu'tey takes the girl by the arm. Hugging her in order to protect her. "Y/N!!! LOOK…I FOUND MORE!!!" shouts spider, running to the direction where the girl was. Tsu'tey's heart calmed down, as he saw the other human child passing by in the village.
The child run, and bumped into tsu'tey's arm which had them reached out for the child to hug him. "spider…what are you doing here?" asks Tsutey, he knew that spider spoke the na'vi language better and was more extroverted than y/n. "We were hungry and went out hunting" says spider, playfully gesturing with his wooden bow, which tsu'tey had given him as a gift a couple of months ago. "you guys are hungry…wow" says tsu'tey, watching as y/n settles more on his chest. Tsu'tey noticed that spider was also dirty and his tired little face was showing. "Are you tired?" asks tsu'tey, wiping some of spider's hair. They both nod their heads. "How about we go to my hut and I help you cut this fruit?" says Tsutey, the children got happy and started jumping up and down. Tsu'tey stood up and began to guide both little ones home. He didn't have to worry much, both children knew the way very well.
It was not the first time tsu'tey had encountered these two human children. Left alone in the jungle, without parental supervision. This made him uncomfortable and annoyed him. He knew that spider was the son of the man who had hurt his clan, his planet. And he also knew that Y/N was the daughter of jake, well…of the human version of jake. He knew the whole story, neytiri had told him. At first it all seemed strange to him, but with time he could understand. What he couldn't understand was why jakesully didn't love you and always rejected you in some way. Y/n was still his daughter…whatever it was. But apparently he didn't understand this, which caused the man to care much more about the young children. They were both 5 years old, and he could not stop worrying about the welfare of both children. At first it was difficult for him to get close to the two children, but he got used to it.
"Ok…sit over there…and I'll help you cut that fruit" says tsu'tey watching the children running around the hut. Laughing and playing as they sat down where tsu'tey had ordered them to. The man reached for a container of water and a cloth. He had to clean the children up a bit, it pained him to see them so careless. He sat down next to spider, while y/n sat on his lap. "Tsu…I want a giant piece" says spider, yelling a little. Tsu'tey tapped him on the glass of his mask. "Spider…don't scream…I'm right here beside you" says tsu'tey laughing as he watched the boy get up to start playing with some toys tsu'tey had. He made some wooden toys for when they would visit him at his home. "Let's see…you know what you have to do. Hold your breath, pull up your mask and put the fruit in your mouth" says tsu'tey handing a piece to y/n. She was sitting on his lap all this time, quietly.
After the children eat their fruit, he cleans the children. Cleaning their hands, face, combing some of their hair. He even put some beads in their hair, according to him to make them look more of the clan. "How about if I make you some new clothes?" said tsu'tey. The children were so happy, spider grabbed y/n's hand, inviting her to play with him. Tsu'tey enjoyed the view, watching the children play and run around the hut. This felt so good, he always wanted a family. It all seemed so far from reality…he had gotten the idea that he was never going to find his mate. And that he would never have a family. So he enjoyed these moments with the children. After a fun afternoon for him, he decided to take the children to their respective homes. That was the ugly place which humans called 'laboratory'. Tsu'tey had the children carried in his arms, spider was on his neck holding his head, while y/n was on his left arm. The child was holding a little flower she had found on the road. "Y/N!!!" a somewhat loud voice was heard from the distance, tsu'tey watched as jake approached him. The man approached tsu'tey, and tried to take y/n in his arms. But the little girl clung to tsu'tey's arms. "Come here…we have to go home. Where had you gone?" asks jake, his tone of voice sounding annoyed. "They were in the jungle…both children" says tsu'tey holding both children tighter. "I think they ran away from me and…" jake started to give an explanation.
"There is no excuse…you have to be more aware of them. If you don't want y/n, at least watch out for their safety," tsu'tey says even more annoyed. Jake remains silent, he knew his friend was right. Jake did love you, but he didn't have the same connection he had with his children. He was never there during your pregnancy, or in your first years of life. So to him…y/n was just another child. Tsu'tey carefully handed both children to jake. "Take them to a safe place…please" tsu'tey talks, while releasing the little ones. They didn't want to get away from him. Spider was whining and y/n was starting to cry. Tsu'tey gave him a little kiss on the crown of his head and said goodbye to the children. Watching as jake tried to soothe them. It broke his heart, how he wished he could stay with them. But how could that be possible? He could pick up spider, he had no one. But y/n? She had her father…he couldn't go and ask her…that would never happen.
That same week, the children continued to hang out in their hut. Playing and spending all day with him. He practically had two new little tails. He would feed them, which was a difficult task because of the oxygen masks. He also taught them what they needed to know to survive in Pandora. And he gave them lots of love…who would have thought that a man like tsu'tey could be so loving. He combed and cared for his children. He liked to think of them as his…his little babies. Everyone in the clan was surprised to see tsu'tey with two human children, treating them as if they were his own. They talked and said comments but he didn't care. Someone had to take care of these two orphans and he was doing it. While jake and norm were in their own worlds…neytiri noticed tsu'tey's new behavior toward the human children.
Unlike jake, neytiri cared about you. She always tried to take care of you, when you were in the family hut. After all, you were half-sister to her children. It was the middle of the day…and she was sitting in the hut, looking after and watching her young children play. And in that group was y/n…playing with lo'ak. She watched as the little girl ran up, screaming. "'Dad…daddy!!!'" says y/n. Running toward the entrance, neytiri turns around expecting to see her mate. But she was surprised to see tsu'tey standing in the doorframe. The man had a basket full of vegetables, and was kneeling down waiting for the little girl's hug. The girl hugs him with all her heart, as he lifts her into the air, settling her in his arms. Walking to where neytiri was. "Hello…neytiri. I brought something for the family" says tsu'tey, he seemed to be very happy. "Thank you…I am grateful" says neytiri, accepting the basket and watching as her friend sat down next to her. All the children went to greet them, he lovingly greeted them one by one.
Neytiri appreciated the treatment and love tsu'tey had for her children. That's how it should be…after all he was practically her brother. After greeting all the children, Y/n hugged tsu'tey again and settled on her lap. "my pretty flower…how are you? Have you eaten?" asks tsu'tey, adjusting the girl's hair. "Yes… neyney gave me a nice meal" says the little girl lifting up her dirty shirt to show her stomach. Both adults laugh, neytiri reaches over and touches the little girl's stomach tickling it. She liked that nickname the little y/n had given her, neyney….sounded so adorable. "That sounds perfect…look I brought you something?" says Tsutey, pulling something out of a little pouch on his waist. Neteyam had come over, sitting right next to you on tsu'tey's lap. "Is that clothes?" asks the little neteyam, squeezing his sister. "yes, it's for y/n…it's just like kiri's" says tsu'tey, untangling the clothes. Stretching it out to show it to everyone, neytiri was surprised. It was small, but it was very beautiful. With feathers, and very delicate stones.
" My,my,my!!!" y/n speak, raising her arms so she could take her clothes. "Kiri…why don't you help your sister change" neytiri says, while kiri took y/n's hand. Behind the two of them, there was neteyam. "We have to put a bracelet on her" shouts the boy, both adults laugh. Tsu'tey was surprised at how attached the children were to y/n, even neytiri. So the problem was…jake. "She calls you dad," neytiri says, not mincing words. As she looked at what was in the basket. "She just calls 'jake' to her father…" neytiri was about to keep talking, when tsu'tey interrupts her. "Neytiri… being a parent is something you earn. And I think I have done an excellent job with those children." Tsu'tey says, he was proud of his words, for he knew they were true. "I know… and I am very proud of you. I'm aware that my partner doesn't give her the attention that child needs… so you've earned that title," the woman speaks. They both stand in silence for a while.
"I think I would be a better father to her? And also for the boy?" speaks tsu'tey, neytiri now looks at him with concern. She didn't know what to tell him now, this was a difficult situation. "You mean…you want to adopt them?" asks neytiri, she wanted to be sure she had listened well. "Yes, I want them to be my children. I will take complete care of them and Jake won't have to worry about anything…they will be in good hands."
Neytiri knows deep down that this is for the best. Although it was hard to believe, tsu'tey had accepted the presence of those human children. Maybe he felt sorry for them, since they spent all day alone. If Y/N was not with neytiri, she was alone with spider doing what things. She knew tsu'tey would be an excellent father, and she would support him. "I'll talk to jake…but I'm not promising anything" says neytiri, seeing how on tsu'tey's face a big smile was drawn. "She will still come and she will be with her brothers…I just want her to be safe" tsu'tey tries to convince neytiri. The woman puts a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Calm down…I will do what I can" neytiri speaks. They both looked up, when they heard the children approaching. Y/N had the na'vi clothes that tsu'tey had made for him. She also had a few accessories that her siblings had put on her. Y/N runs to neytiri, wrapping her small arms around her neck. "Let me see…you look very pretty. Do you like it?" says neytiri, arranging several pieces of the outfit. "Yessssss!!!" shouts the excited little girl. "Mom…did you see that I put my bracelet on y/n…it looks better on her" says neteyam, arranging more of the piece on her sister's arm.
"They did a great job," tsu'tey says. Neytiri fixes the girl's hair, while her brothers play with her. "Hey…how do you say?" orders neytiri looking at you with a serious look. "Thank you" y/n gets shy, while thanking tsu'tey. The latter reaches over and caresses a cheek of the little one. He could already feel the excitement, hopefully jake would accept. He felt grateful to know that someone cared for her, neytiri was doing a great job in taking care of her. And if he kept the little girl, he would bring y/n every day to spend time with her. He could tell they had a nice relationship. After a while, the man said goodbye to everyone, neytiri told him that she was going to stay with y/n and not to worry. He had to go to the lab to look for spider. He had also prepared an outfit for his little boy.
When he got to the lab, he knocked on the door. Norm let spider out, the man took good care of him. But not well enough, children need to be given love and time. And these people weren't doing that. He waited patiently for his boy to come out. According to Norm, Spider was asleep and he had to get him up. After about 5 minutes, the little boy came out, sleepy. Tsu'tey carries him, and the little boy hugs him. "I brought you a surprise," says tsu'tey, lowering the boy to the ground. As he pulled out a bundle, in which his new outfit was wrapped. Spider was so happy, tsu'tey's eyes lit up at the sight of the little boy's face. So excited, for such a simple gesture. Spider took the gift and ran inside the lab to change. "Wait for me here!!!" shouts the boy tsu'tey laughs and sits down on the metal stairs to wait for the boy. He is convinced that it was a good idea to create their own na'vi clothing, this way they will be cleaner and feel more comfortable.
The day happened just as he had planned it. If everything went well…Jake would agree to let him stay and take care of y/n. If he was a smart man he would agree to let him stay and take care of them. If he was a smart man he would agree right away. Tsu'tey began to clear away the mess he had in his hut. There were a few toys that the children had left in the morning, he was so happy. After a while, he heard someone enter his hut, "Hello…" tsu'tey spoke, noticing that it was Jake who had arrived. He quickly interrupts him. "You think you can just go to neytiri and ask her for me to give y/n to you. That's not how it works" says jake, he was a bit annoyed. This put tsu'tey on alert, how dare he complain to him if he didn't even want to and didn't even pay attention to y/n. "Are you listening to yourself… I'm the one who takes care of those children. I'm the one who feeds them, takes care of them and watches over them. You don't even pay attention to y/n" tsu'tey raises his voice, he is so upset. He wanted to hit this man right now, but he was controlling himself. Just then, neytiri arrives at the hut. She was agitated and you could see her worried face.
"Norm lost the children!!!" says neytiri worriedly. The woman had taken y/n to the lab in the afternoon. She handed her over to Norm, since y/n couldn't sleep all night in the hut, the oxygen wouldn't last long. But couple of minutes later, lo'ak came running to his mother saying that when he went to play with his sister and didn't find her and that norm was looking for her. And that with her was spider. Neytiri quickly tried to explain everything to the men in front of her, she felt that she had interrupted something that was about to end very badly. Hearing that spider and y/n were lost, he quickly ran, pushing jake aside and going to the lab area. Neytiri didn't even look at Jake and took off after his friend. Jake followed some time later.
Tsu'tey arrived at the lab upset, norm was in his avatar body holding a flashlight. Tsu'tey grabbed norm's shoulders, he had to tell him where the children were. "No…they said they were going to play nearby, they said something about some flowers" norm spoke quickly, tsu'tey could be quite an intimidating man. As soon as norm mentioned flowers, tsu'tey knew where both children are. He relaxed a little, but not at all, the road to that place could be quite dangerous at night. Tsu'tey started walking, ignoring some complaints from jake and some questions from neytiri. They decided to follow the man without any protests. The path was quite close, it was a place where tsu'tey used to take the children to play. A nice meadow that had a lot of flowers, bright. It was a beautiful place, but it could be a bit dangerous for two five year olds.
Arriving at the meadow tsu'tey saw two small figures in the dark, he approached slowly accompanied by jake, neytiri and norm. "And what are you two doing here?" speaks tsu'tey with a calm and sweet voice. Causing both children to look up, running a little towards the man. Tsu'tey wrapped his arms around them, sighing with relief. "I thought something serious happened to you guys…you shouldn't be here at night" says tsu'tey, looking annoyed at the children. "We're sorry!!!" says both children, holding hands. Jake walks over to where the children are, carrying them. "Well…we have to go" says jake, neytiri stood next to tsu'tey…she knew he was upset. She took his hand and gave it a squeeze. "I tried…but he's kind of stubborn" neytiri speaks. "He doesn't know how to take care of them…. y/n. He…" tsu'tey turns away from neytiri and starts walking home.
He could feel several tears running down his cheeks. He felt anger and insufficient… he only wanted the best for these children. He himself felt strange, to feel compassion and affection for human children. He arrived at his hut, and quickly lay down in his hammock. He had to get used to the idea that he could never have his own family, that he would never be able to take enough care of these children, because they did not belong to him and although he did not like the idea, they already had their own parents. He settled down, trying to relieve himself of his feelings. He almost got his sleep, but finally after a long time he was able to sleep. The night passed quickly, and as usual he got up early. Wiping his face, not noticing anything else around him.
Out of nowhere he felt someone moving something in his hut. Turning his eyes slowly, he saw a spider looking in the basket where the toys were. Then he saw y/n sitting down, she was playing with one of the wooden ikran. He couldn't believe it, what was going on? Why were the kids here so early in the morning? "Norm said he'll bring you an oxygen capsule later…so the kids can sleep in there" speaks jake…he was on the other side of the hut. Sitting on the floor. Tsu'tey is surprised, and pulls back. "What?" tsu'tey was surprised, he didn't understand what was going on. ""You're so right….I'm a bad father to Y/N"" speaks jake. Both men talk, and begin to set the record straight. Jake knew that he wasn't the best thing for Y/N, and that he neglected her too much.
He had talked to neytiri at night, she talked to him. That it was best for Y/N to be with tsu'tey. Jake had been thinking about it all night, it was the best thing to do. Besides, he wouldn't be far from her…besides, his daughter didn't call him father. To her, her father was the man in front of him the one who had taken care of her for the last two years. Like Y/N, Jake talked to Norm…he told him that Spider should go with Tsu'tey, that he was the best thing for these children. Jake said goodbye to both children, and walked away without looking back. Although he didn't want to admit it, it hurt him a little to admit that he was a bad father and that it was too late now.
Left alone with both children, tsu'tey sits still stunned by the situation. He could not believe it, eywa had heard his prayers. His heart wanted to burst out of his chest, he was so happy. The little girl approaches her father, and hands him the toy. She had a cute smile on her face. "You know you will stay with me…I-I will be your daddy" says tsu'tey, taking the hand of spider, who had come closer. Both children nodded their heads. "I promise I will take care of you…I promise" both children hug their new father tightly. Even though they always knew…that he was their father.
ps. Thank you for leaving your request, I know it took me a long time to reply. I have had some problems with my laptop, but I will be answering them this week little by little. But don't think I have forgotten you.