Follow Your Passion: A Seamless Tumblr Journey
Hey so if spider makes it through everything and all that what’s the plan
Like are we just gonna have an elderly man one day chillin with his still-young little siblings on the beach until one of them smacks him for a snide ass comment and breaks him in half?
Thinking about the Sully kids not realizing Spider was gonna stop growing until one day he's barely above their hips
Like angst cause he's human and vulnerable and there's so many lines in the sand
but also fucking hilarious cause this tiny motherfucker will throw himself from trees to tackle his brother and will fully try to yeet a grown ass Na'vi
What do you think the sullys family reaction to spiders torture would, be I honestly don’t think they’re going to address it in avatar three but I wanted to hear your opinion on it? (make it as dark as you want👹)
Hey!!
I do love a good dark angst 😈 but I def read this wrong and wrote the wrong headcanons lmao so sorry for the wait
I’m doing this in headcanon format for simplicity, N$FW/darker content below the cut.
TW: (All implied, nothing explicit) underage, violence, torture, S harassment/possible implied SA (depends on how you read it, tag is to be safe), humiliation, blood, starvation, isolation, emotional manipulation, abuse
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Spider didn't meant to tell them, he fully intended on taking it all to the grave unless something might help them in the war. But that was it - he wanted to move on
When he gets back, Jake and Neytiri scare him
He tries not to let them but he keeps thinking that Quaritch is back and he didn't get home whenever they come up behind him. Out of the corner of his eye they don't look like the people he wanted to be his parents. They don't even look like friends
They're kinder though, Jake especially, and slowly he feels himself being brought in
He won't ruin it with some stupid trauma response
He flinches away from them and can't sleep near them but sometimes Jake rubs his head or Neytiri will run her fingers over his shoulders when she passes. He swallows down the anxious nausea and relishes in it.
He. Can't. Ruin. it
He wears a shirt now and loose shorts that offer more coverage than his loincloth. He keeps a knife on a beaded belt over the shorts in an awkward combination of fashions and keeps his hair loose so it can't be grabbed so easy. The dreads are gone and so are his stripes but he thinks it's okay, he's just growing up. No one needs to worry.
He thinks he's done well at hiding it but it seems he underestimated the couple drastically.
Kiri ends up being the one to approach him
The family whispers about what to do, how to help, or if they can. They spent the first couple months mourning their own losses and caring for Neteyam but Spider hasn't gotten better. Tired of the indecision, Kiri slips out of their marui and stalks after her best friend
He's with Rotxo on the beach, drooping and tired but relaxed with the other boy. They've been spending more time together and he seems more comfortable around the Metkayina lately.
They don't look like his Dad, like the recoms that claimed him, and Rotxo would never hurt him. None of them would, they're safe.
He snaps awake when Kiri lands a gentle hand on his shoulder. He jerks closer to Rotxo who supports him but urges him closer to his sister.
"Sorry, sorry..can we talk?" Rotxo gives him a look and Kiri holds out her hand so...yeah. Spider stands and she leads him to the treeline
She sits him down with their feet in the sand and leans her head on his shoulder. She's playing mean and she knows it, knows she's his weakness and always has been. His stomach twists and he knows she's going to get what she wants.
"What happened?"
He bites his lip, brows pinched, and tries not to give anything away. "Was tired, it was a long day. Ro helped me with his ilu."
"You know that's not what I meant." He shrivels and leans his head into her hair. She smells salty and sand clings to her messy waves but she's always been his person.
"I...they're monsters, Kiri. Monsters. I...They hurt me." His voice cracks and his head is in her hands, dipping their foreheads to meet. "I just want this to stop..." He was fine. He was.
But she holds him and he finally breaks.
She listens while he chokes on the tears, telling her how his back hurts with the healing injuries she didn't know were there. He cries over the wrong feeling of fabric clothes but he doesn't feel safe without them. She wraps him up in her arms and they lay there. The stars are out now but they don't move and he doesn't realize that, suspiciously, no one comes looking. No one ever does.
When they finally stand, they don't go home. She leads him to the med tents still set up from the battle and sits him on the bed. Silently, she removes his shirt and gingerly applies salve to the stripes reaching around his body. Her tears land on his shoulders and his own on his thighs but he's not humiliated like he was before.
"..are there more?" He shifts, nods, and she does the same process to his thighs. Those aren't as bad, mostly from rough handling and straps but she continues her quiet ministrations none the less. Finally, she finishes, and they go home
He hasn't slept well in weeks, tossing and turning and afraid but she nudges him into the pile of her brothers and drapes herself on top. Lo'ak blinks wearily at him but Neteyam just wraps an arm around his clothed chest and pulls him tight. Lo'ak and Kiri have a silent conversation and soon he's the center of a very cozy pile of limbs and heat
His brothers flank him on either side, Tuk joining between himself and Lo'ak halfway through the night, and Kiri curled at his head with her head cushioned on Neteyams chest
It's the first good sleep he has since he got home
The peace is ruined come morning though
He's the last one to wake, Tuk mysteriously is missing, and the family is sitting around bowls of food. Kiri looks at him, shaky, and gestures him to her.
They sit there, Spider holding a bowl of his favorite stew, and no once speaks. He curses himself internally, not wanting to break.
Jake breaks the silence, "Spider, kid, I, ah, think we need to talk about what happened. Kiri said you're hurt and you haven't been acting right. I know, I do, that the humans are cruel. I know we didn't come but Sullys stick together. You're family now..." He swallows, guilty and nervous, " please talk to us."
He denies it, tries to stop it, but Neytiri steps in. Her voice is low and calm, like she uses on Tuk, but there's an anger in her eyes when she scans his shoulders.
"Ma Spider, tell us what they did. Your brothers and sister may leave if you wish, but you are safe. Tell me what I avenge."
He grips Lo'aks hand and Kiri's, head low, and breaks.
He tells them about the whipping, the starvation. He tells them about the machine that splayed him open and how he didn't give them up. He talks about choking on his blood and watching his memories, about Quaritch saying he sees him. How traveling with him was so much better than base until it wasn't. He tells them about walking to the shower with eyes on him, about being gawked at and hungry eyes. How he was left alone for a week and a half with his songcord and fear. What happened when they found it. Quaritch humming his song and making him bleed.
When he's done, Jake reaches for him and he flinches back harshly into Lo'ak. His brother, to his credit, just bundles him up and holds him tight with his ears drawn back in warning. Kiri has a hand on his back and Neteyam slips between them and the adults. He doesn't give them details, just the gist, but he feels lighter.
His family does not.
Jake spends the next days with Tonowari and Norm. Rage is filling every inch of him but he sits at the table and plans
He uses the information given to try and figure out how to fix it. It won't happen again, he'll destroy them, but he doesn't know how he'll get his son back to the way he was
He blames himself and brews. He feels weak and raw and can't process how badly he's failed. Norm, of all people, tries to tell him its not his fault but he doesn't think he'll ever not hate himself for leaving a child to be tortured
Spider wasn't his yet and his kids weren't safe. He knows that, but he knows no one came for him and Tommy either
He never thought he would be that person - he thought he would be better
He hates that his kids know
He hates that they were there and know what happened. That they know how he failed their best friend
He's afraid to interact with Spider, he's scared to scare him ultimately. But he also needs Spider to trust him. He and Neytiri are trying to figure out how to ask him if they can adopt him through a claiming ceremony, but right now he still jumps if they touch him
Toruk Makto knows he did the right thing. Jake Sully will never forgive himself or humanity for the lines they cross.
Neytiri is an active threat to humanity
She never trusted Spider, never felt safe with him, but she couldn't hate him
She left him and she'll always carry that, but children are precious and a Na'vi warrior would never hurt an enemy child
Na'vi don't hurt their children. They don't leave them or starve them or beat them. She already hated Quaritch but she hates him more now
But its the forced Tsaheylu that haunts her
Spider would never have that bond. That's what she thought, but the one time he does he is mocked and hurt.
The idea that humanity could hurt anyone with such a sacred thing, let alone a child of their own species, brings her to enough rage to burn down all of Bridgehead, innocents be damned
She hated humanity but now she has a human she loves. Spider is hers now, Jake brought him in after the battle and claimed him as theirs. He's hers
They'll burn for touching him
He's hurt in ways warriors rarely ever reach and so she snaps
She's already a merciless fighter but it's tenfold now. She will leave no survivors when sky-people come and she will see their blood pay the debt they owe
But for now, for now she takes care of her little ones. She helps Neteyam heal his arm. She teaches Lo'ak how to fight, helps Tuk get faster so she will survive, and helps Kiri become a healer to rival her mother. Spider is still learning to relax with the adults but she's his silent protector and soon he lets her heal his back.
She wraps his injuries and holds him when he's weak. He's small in her arms and she curses anyone who would lay a hand on things so precious
Rage fills her but she spends the time waiting to strike with her children and helping them heal like she never did
Neteyam won't let this happen again
He spends his time with Ao'nung and Rotxo
They're the next generation and he won't let things get so bad when its their turn
A part of him will always resent his parents for what they did. He loves and respects them more than words offer but he almost died saving his little brothers and they're still hurt so damn bad
He gave them everything he had and it wasn't enough
So he plans
He combines Omaticaya and Metkayina fighting styles. He compares defense, strategies, and discusses how they'll work together
He, Ao'nung, and Rotxo spend hours fighting and wrestling, training themselves to be strong
They'll be leaders one day and they won't be loosing their friends again
Part of him is haunted by the cruelty though
He idolizes his dad and can't imagine how the people he came from could be so cruel and make him
But he understands his mothers hatred now
And he thinks he knows it too. They took her sister and now his brother.
He's never hated someone before but he thinks he hates Miles Quaritch.
His mother just might have to fight him to deliver the killing blow
Lo'ak is protective
Anyone looks at Spider the wrong way and he's ready with a fist to the nose
He was the one that went back for Spider
He was the one that ran into the ship
Spider is his brother and best friend, his family is stepping in now but it's his job to be there
Older or not, Spider isn't as strong as them. His skin rips and his body exhausts so much easier than theirs does. He wasn't there before but he has to be now
Anyone who thinks about messing with Spider needs to go through him
His body itches with energy, with the need to do something but there's nothing for a 14 year old to do
So he just stays nearby
He distracts Spider, surrounds him with the friends they've made, and keeps him safe
He takes him on ilu rides and to visit Payakan. He introduces him to the plants around the coast and shows him the reefs with Tsireya.
He honestly becomes a menace, it's cute but Spider has to try and dodge him to get alone time
But he's a little brother and he does what little brothers do
He pesters. It annoys Spider to no end but, honestly, he doesn't think he would stop him if he could
Kiri tries to heal him.
She can't fix things but she resolves to be by his side
She spends the evenings with him just talking and laughing, he tells her things no one else gets to know and things feel a little bit normal in a twisted sort of way
They lean on each other through the healing and hurt. They coach each other through the feelings as best they can. They're best friends and always have been
She won't let that change
She wraps his wounds and learns how to ease the pain from her mother
She spends hours with Ronal and Tsireya to learn how the ocean fixes hurts and shares how the forest does the same
Its her self proclaimed job to make sure his injuries heal but so does his mind
Tsaheylu is sacred and so she talks to him about Ewya, his father, and the fear he still has
It is on him to get through it in the end but she staples herself to his side to make sure he doesn't do it alone
She makes Neteyam help too but honestly her brothers are stupid so its on her to be the support
Overtime, she and Tsireya gather together a collection to make Spider more Na'vi-esque clothes that offer him the coverage he wants
They try to make him feel like Spider again, braiding his hair, covering the bruises and scars, and painting his arms in new stripes to look more akin to their own.
He goes through stripes of each of his friends families, mimicking their patterns in little ways for them to lay their claim
She isn't the most affectionate person but for him, she finds herself making it happen
She loves him so for now, being there will have to be enough
Tuk is just a kid, she doesn't know what's happening
Spider is. . .different and she's smart enough to know it's bad
But her family won't tell her what happened or what's wrong
Spider just looks sad and her family are acting weird, but he's getting better
It's slow, but she's gonna help and it'll be faster
So she brings him toys and climbs on him, drags him deeper into the sleep pile each night and offers him the treats she steals from the cookfire
While her siblings get breathing lessons, she brings him to the tidepools and makes him weave shells into her hair
She does all the little things that her family do for her to make her feel better and thinks, quite proudly, she's making him better
Everyone gets sick sometimes, sometimes it's just in someone's head. Besides, Spider always is sicker than her brothers and sister - she just has to be persistent
He'll get better. She's sure of it.
Tuk was the one who realized that Spider didn't have a songcord
He had been around for a while at this point, having become a constant around the time Kiri learned to walk. She doesn't understand why her Mama hates him and says to stay away - Lo'ak and Kiri like him a lot and they have more fun chasing him then Neteyam! Neteyam is too fast and Spider is her size.
He's nice and lets her climb him and carries her even though her big siblings say she's getting too big - which, if Spider can carry her she is most certainly not too big - and plays her games while the others go to their training or apprenticeships
Sometimes he even brings her feathers and pretty things for her hair!
So yeah, when she gets to have her ceremony and holds her songcord for the first time, she's beyond concerned to find out that Spider doesn't have one
While they’re little, the cords hang in their hut until they're old enough to decide what to do with them. As it is, Lo'ak wants to braid his in his hair and Neteyam wants to put it on his bow like his mother. But there's a gap, one thats probably accidental, and she knows Spider should have his there
So she makes it her mission to be the best little sister ever and make one for him
After-all, if no one else is gonna do it then she, a craft master, is most certainly qualified
Grandmother makes most of the cords in the early stages so she inconspicuously asks for the twine to start it and how to make a bead. She asks why she needs it and Tuk tells her it's for her mother. Grandmother looks hopeful at that and gives it to her easily so Tuk knows she agrees with her. It's not till years later that she'll realize that Grandmother thought her mother had a realization...or another pregnancy. But she likes to think the first.
But...making beads is harder than she thought
She uses bone she found near the cooking fires - which, gross, Spider better like it - but whittling it is hard with only sharp pieces of the bone and rocks she found
The bead she makes is jagged and not very round and she almost cut herself a dozen times cause it's sharper than it looks but finally she has something that resembles the first beads on her cord. The knots are easier and she adds it to the start with pride. She adds a little of his blue paint cause it's his and that way it starts with him and her. Right as it should.
But even her cord has more than one bead.
Making this one was hard but Spider is her big brother and she can do it - besides, the look on her siblings faces when she presents his gift will be worth it.
So she starts wandering the outskirts of high camp with the cord on her belt. While she searches, she hums the first chords she can add. A happy little tune with a dramatic flourish; perfect so he remembers her when he sings it.
However, finding anything of use near the camp is proving futile. Nothing she finds is strong enough for a bead and the feathers are muddy and gross.
With her fathers determination, she sneaks past the bushes lining camp and into the forest
She makes it approximately 5 feet before Neteyam scoops her up.
Neteyam groans and Tuk finds herself propped up on chest, legs locked around his hips. She whines and squirms but unfortunately Neteyam is a seasoned big brother and there's no success in her attempted escape.
"Tuktuk, what do you think you're doing? You know you're not allowed outside of camp." The look on his face is disappointed and her tummy twists at the sight, but she has a good reason!
"I needed better bead stuff, the stuff in camp is yucky or is too hard." She whines but it isn't until he responds that she realizes her mistake.
"Bead supplies? Tuk what do you need bead supplies for?"
And so the surprise is busted
But...maybe she could get help
"..Spider doesn't have a songcord. I have one, you have one, Lo' has one, and Kiri has one...but he doesn't...so I'm making it. But I only have one bead."
And Neteyam doesn't know how to respond to that
Spider has been around since he could walk, they were together while Jake and Neytiri visited Kiri in her incubator, he realistically should have several beads by now. His chord should have his birth, his family, his first bow, the feather of his first kill...but Spider isn't Na'vi. He's not of the People...but it's Spider
Mom really wouldn't like it
But...it's Spider
And so he finds himself snatching Kiri's arm while she leaves her lessons. Covering her mouth when she shrieks and Tuk grabs her leg. Which, he doesn't really know why she did that, but it's Tuk. He pulls her between the huts while the other kids move on and mumbles his apology.
"Tuk, 'Teyam, what in Ewya's name are you doing?" She hisses, ears bent back, and eyes narrow. Her tail swishes angrily behind her and Neteyam realizes belatedly he could have done this better.
"We need your help. It-It's for Spider, we're making him a songcord. Tuk made him a bead but...we need help making more. You work with Grandmother, can you help us?"
And if Neteyam knows anything, its his sisters weakness for their oldest friend.
It's a long pause while she processes but soon, she relaxes, and he feels the tension leave his shoulders. Her tail slows and she takes a deep breath before she replies; "..fine. But if we do this, we all do this. Get Lo'ak and meet me behind Grandmothers. Quietly. She's out with Mother but I don't want to explain this before its done...you know Mom will be pissed, right?"
And Neteyam does...damn he does, but he nods.
With determination, they're off.
And so that is how he finds himself in a clumsy circle with his siblings surrounding him. Bone and wood are in the center of their circle, small paints with them, and a jumble of small blades. Kiri has seen Grandmother do this before and so she leads them through making their beads with a different ease than Tuk found by herself
Tuk spends the time weaving feathers into the bottom of the chord and adding bits of paint to the finished beads. They make a bags worth, albeit a small bag, for Spider too. He'll need more. Their beads by no means look to par with their own but they try their best. Each painting and carving with as much patience as they can muster.
It takes them the rest of the day but soon they have a small pile ready. Kiri takes the pieces and spends the next day tying the knots and attaching them as secure as a 10 year old can.
It's time consuming but in a few days of work between apprenticeships, meals, and whatever else may keep them within sight of the adults, they have a songcord
Its messier than theirs and small, the knots aren't as tight and the symbolism in it is meager. They wanted to keep it happy but without parents to record his beginnings, its small knots of Spider growing up in basecamp with the first beads being the familial bead they each made of themselves. They added feathers from some of their favorite varieties to the bottom and, in place of training memories, added times he won a game or did something cool. It's different but so is their brother.
They decide to present it to him together, since it was something they all made. Normally he would have a ceremony for it but they decide that his could be them.
They steal him away in the evening, right before it's time for him to head back to camp. They want him alone so the adults can ruin the moment; while some of the younger adults have accepted Spider into their ranks, they don't know how the older warriors would respond.
Tuk is the one who catches him and pulls him into the treeline. They settle into the clearing where they usually play and, anxiously, they give Tuk the cord. She walks forward and nervously holds it out. The older trio sit in nervous silence as they wait for Spider to respond.
"I...guys what is this?" Spiders face is bright red and they'd worry if it weren't for the smile trying to win over his face.
"It..its your cord, Bro. Tuk said you don't have one so...we made it." Lo'ak responds first and scoots closer, Tuk at his side. "I-I made the first one and then I got the feathers and the pretty rocks on the bottom. Kiri and 'teyam and Lo' made most of the beads but I helped paint 'em. The bag has more for later cause Kiri knows how to knot 'em in. And...And we made the song too.." Tuk grins, nervous but clearly excited. She turns and runs to her sister who begins to hum
Kiri closes her eyes, humming softly the little song her siblings made for him. Spiders grinning at this point, 12 years old and teary eyed. He scoots closer and pulls the siblings into a hug as she finishes.
"Thank you, thank you-" He cuts himself off laughing, the others joining in. There they stay until eclipse is waning over their heads and time is up.
Spider braids the cord into his hair and it's with him when Quaritch catches him. They don't know its significance to take if from him but he clings to it in his cell, humming the song to himself as he waits for help thats not coming.
I want to expand on this later but the kids are the ones who make Spider his song cord
Listen they're buddies
Rotxo has no clue what the hell he's supposed to do with this little demon when he shows up after Three Brothers Rock but he keeps showing up and he's actually kind of cool
He's like Lo'ak but slightly calmer?? He'll dive headfirst off the cliffs but he'll also sunbathe for 3 hours and that's the energy he needs
At first, their relationship is sorta tense; Lo'ak gave them a run for their money the first time they tried the mean girl routine but a few still try to pick on Spider
Seeing his siblings band around him and he himself attempt to bite and claw his way out of it is sort of his introduction to the group
(aka that's when he realizes they're cool, Kiri dragged Spider with them about a half hour after they got settled)
Meanwhile Spider lowkey thinks Rotxo is a little bitch tbh, it takes until Rotxo punches a guy for him to separate him from Ao'nung at all
Once they start actually talking its game over
Rotxo falls first but Spider falls harder
Spider grew up with absolutely 0 belief that anyone would ever be romantically interested in him and so he never really paid that stuff any mind
So when Rotxo tentatively offers him a courting gift, he has literally no clue why everyone is freaking out cause they're just bros???
But Kiri insists on braiding the little beads into the front of his hair and Rotxo damn near goes down when he sees his gift accepted
Listen he acts all big and tough but he's a big damn softie
Homie is a marshmallow
His next gift was a pair of woven gloves that honestly are absolute crap cause Na'vi don't normally need them but Jake may have quietly dropped that it could help Spider with riding
because yes, Jake is in on it and dammit he needs to make up for the lost Dad time
Spider thinks they're the shit and starts trying to make more pairs. At first, Rotxo thinks his weren't good enough until an even shittier pair ends up on his Marui in the morning
Kiri eventually sits Spider down to be like ",,, you know how na'vi courting is...right??"
But he thinks she is trying to get him to notice his feelings for Rotxo (which she is) and court him (she groaned so loud the birds flew away)
So they both start attempting to court the other, not realizing that the other already is
It isn't until Tsireya sits them down 3 months in and sounds it out for them that they realize anything
At that point though they just settle into a courtship filled with competition
Cause now someone needs to win
Gifts, lessons, help, etc fly between them to everyone's amusement and frustration
Eventually, Rotxo gets a little too confident and gets him a blend of herbs from Ronal that is not human safe and that's when they finally have to call it quits (Spider is adamant that almost killing your boyfriend means he won)
Rotxo is the second person that Spider tells what happened to him in his captivity
(Kiri was the first, they spent hours one night lamenting everything that happened with their feet in the water)
Unlike Kiri, Rotxo had no idea what the sky people are capable of
It's he who finally gets Spider to tell the Sullys, Tonowari, and Norm what happened
Rotxo trains him with Neteyam to get Spider's strength back up, trying to help him regain his abilities from before and feel capable again
Spider never really got real lessons on much of anything, it was all that Neteyam and Lo'ak taught him after Jakes lessons or the few times he snuck with them on a hunt
So his fighting style is a weird mix of instinct, forest techniques, and the military skills he picked up in Bridgehead
Rotxo thinks its hot lowkey but Ao'nung and Tonowari decide he needs real training
(Especially if he's gonna be a part of their clan someday)
Thoughts??? I have many