What If Spider Was Spider-Man?

thinking about that one au I made back in sept 2024 where mo’at adopts spider (part 1 here)

NOW I’m thinking of the sully kids’ roles here… been being torn between caring and play-insulting his friend or.. respecting his uncle????????? And TRUST Kiri is definitely abusing the uncle privileges now.

Jake: where the hell were you? You were gone for the entire day— kiri: I was out— Jake: since dawn?! Kiri: well, I was with uncle spider, you said to bring a trustworthy elder with you! Jake: I meant people like Norm! Or Max! Kiri: *blows raspberries whilst walking away*

SPIDER is using his “respect your elders/ uncle” card EVERYTIME on lo’ak whenever possible. He wouldn’t do that to tuk, though. Also finds it funny with neteyam confused on either calling him uncle spider or spider???

now that I think of it more.. more family gatherings of Mo’at, Spider, and Neytiri. Someone (I don’t remember and I can’t find their repost) said that it would be hard for neytiri to get used to it since now she’s the elder sister, and not the youngest baby.. and I think YES.

it’d be hard for neytiri to get used to it— maybe it even strains their already fragile relationship MORE but sometimes big sister instincts set in. At some point she starts… big sistering spider.

I’m imagining a family dinner with the sullies + Mo’at and spider where they all are eating together, and neytiri notices spiders smaller bowl.

Mo’at, having gotten used to the smaller portions the boy always took always accepted it since Sky people have notoriously smaller stomachs than them. Neytiri, who most of her time catering to her family and not spending as much as she used to with her mother and spider is … odded out.

spider had always eaten with them, not always ofcourse, just the average once in awhile. And it was only for a short time as he never overstayed his welcome and she never really cared to see how much he was really eating. But now? After months of family bonding days brought on by mo’at (which was always painfully awkward between spider and neytiri)? Yeah, that isn’t gonna slide. That’s too little.

she rips off a bit of the meat from her bowl and throws it into spiders.

Jake freezes, wondering if he accidentally sniffed some pandoran weed in the air or is actually seeing what he’s seeing. Spider also freezes but quickly goes back to eating after glancing up to an unbothered Neytiri too busy digging into her own food. Mo’at simply smiles from where she sits. The rest of the sully children just view it as an average dinner.

(◡‿◡✿)

(ʘ‿ʘ✿) “what you say ‘bout me”

(ʘ‿ʘ)ノ✿ “hold my flower”

he was too busy swallowing tears to make a joke this time around

This is an absolute religious experience that I was not prepared for

rdj + tom

Imagine Spider having the gift to commune with the spirits of the dead, Na'vi, and humans. Spirits are everywhere in the forest (more appeared after the great battle) — watching him practice his archery, guiding him back to Hell's Gate in the dark, and whispering stories to him. Some are peaceful and content, while others are restless, especially those who died violently or don't know they're even dead.

Naturally, Spider keeps this to himself because he's afraid of being further ostracized. Instead, he decides to see this gift as a good thing because at least he has friends to talk to. He doesn't care if Lo'ak thinks he's weird for talking to himself or staring off into space. Spider sees fallen Na’vi warriors from the past, human researchers and soldiers who died on Pandora, and even little children who perished when the Tree of Souls was destroyed. They sometimes speak to him, asking for his company or to listen to their stories.

Maybe it's not healthy to spend hours alone with just the dead for company, maybe it's not normal that he prefers sleeping outside in the company of spirits then with the living back at Hell's Gate, and maybe he made a mistake venturing off alone to live in isolation because he's found more belonging with the dead then with the living.

I had this idea of Tonowari and Ronal keeping Spider as a "ward" to keep a close eye on him, only to realize that something inside him has shattered.

Tonowari and Ronal make the deliberate decision to take Spider in as a sort of ward, not out of kindness, but to keep a close eye on the human and ensure he doesn’t burn down their village or is left to his own devices to cause trouble. Jake practically falls over himself agreeing to the arrangement, which leaves Tonowari somewhat baffled by how quickly he relinquishes the boy into their care.

But the real shock comes once Spider is living in their home, constantly under their watch. With the boy in such close proximity, day and night, Tonowari and his family see firsthand how traumatized he is. There are dark circles under his eyes, his skin is a sickly shade of pale, he flinches at the slightest raised hand, barely speaks, often stares into nothing, and eats next to nothing.

Tonowari has Spider shadow either himself or Ronal to keep him close and occupied, but the boy moves like a wraith, so quiet that they often have to glance over their shoulders just to confirm he’s still there. It’s… concerning. Human or not, aren’t children supposed to be loud, energetic, and full of life? From what Jake told them, Spider was always underfoot and excitable, eager to prove himself. What happened to this child to make him a shadow of his former self?

Against Tonowari’s better judgment, his heart fills with pain for the child. He was not the boy’s father, and the boy was not even of his people. But Tonowari had seen enough in this world to know a broken spirit. This was not a child who needed discipline or containment or judgment. This was a child who needed healing.

That night, Tonowari spoke to Ronal outside, his voice low but firm. “He does not need to be watched. He needs to be cared for. He needs to be taught to live again.” Ronal was quiet for a long time before she gave a small hum of affirmation. “Then we begin tomorrow.”

Basically, it's Tonowari and his family finding out about Souder's time with the RDA and being so disgusted and horrified that Spider goes from being a "ward" to a possible future adopted son. Maybe? Spider doesn't quite trust authority or paternal figures and is so used to taking care of himself that he's suspicious of Tonowari and Ronal's sudden change of heart towards him. Even worse, he's bottling up his grief over losing Neteyam because he feels that the cursed son of Quaritch doesn't deserve to mourn.