bel | 22

it’s SUCH an interesting concept, and i love it so much. id love to hear more of your thoughts on how the story would take shape. and, as a fun food for thought—is it a situation where canon!spider is mind swapped, where he can no longer breathe pandoran air (assuming this is after afaa) in the body of someone who never earned eywas favor? or is he taken there body and soul? and, further fun question—does au!spider take canon!spiders place in the canon universe? meaning, so long as canon spider presides in the alternate universe, his other self would live in canon? i imagine kiri just looking at au spider and knowing something is off. to take it a step further, do you think that spider would even be redeemable?

so so sorry for word vomiting incomprehensibly in your ask box, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that specific au of yours since you first posted it and i offered you my kidney in exchange for it being written (offer still stands, btw)

You know what? Sure, maybe I'll write a short one shot if I ever get the motivation. Imma add it to my ever-growing list of wips lmao, though I promise nothing. (You can keep your kidney, though.)

Now onto the ask:

I imagine that Eywa just kind of seperated the mind of canon!Spider from his body and overrode AU!Spider with it. His original body is kind of like a driverless avatar in that regard, perfectly functional but with no one home. Just went to sleep one day and never woke up from the POV of everyone else.

You can, uhm- imagine the angst for the OG universe in that regard.

AU!Spider meanwhile is just not there. Eywa buried him deep, deep down under canon Spider's mind, perhaps trapping him in his own memories or something, to keep him dormant. That way he would not interfere with anything his other self would do in his body. And yeah- Spider unfortunately is unable to breathe the air once more. But that is his SMALLEST problem considering all the other bs the poor kid has to deal with now T-T

The first thing Spider does upon understanding what happened is trying to gain his old friend's trust. And oh man, it's an ordeal. Jake and Neytiri have been dead for years by now, killed shortly after Tuk's birth in a skirmish. The youngest Sully is barely able to remember her own parents' faces, basically having grown up as the RDA's pet.

By the time Spider comes in, most of the fight would have been beaten out of them already. They're subjected to cruel experiments and tests by the researchers, made to entertain RDA soldiers, showcased like animals and prizes alike.... It's just a shitty situation all around.

He meets Tuk first by complete accident. He's been invited to some party celebrating a recent victory and didn't really have an excuse not to come. Celebrating an RDA achievement makes him feel sick to his stomach which already doesn't make for the best setup. But when he sees Tuk? Teeny tiny baby Tuk? Pushed around by grown adults taunting her? Nah, he loses his shit. Just straight up yelling and cussing from the top of his lungs about what the FUCK they are all thinking!? That isa CHILD and you are HURTING her! Back the hell off or he'll MAKE you, understood!?

Poor Tuk has no idea how to react. AU!Spider so far has been mostly apathetic to them- not that it made him less cruel. She's scared shitless watching him yell and rage like that even if its not directed at her. Everyone there backs off shocked about the sudden outbursts- Spider looked so much like his father when mad. When he turns around to ask if Tuk's fine she starts to cry. Begging him not to hurt her and that she's sorry for whatever she'd done to anger him like that.

He stares at her with a face of stone, then he just shuts down and walks away without another word.

The RDA explains it away with their star boy finally getting his rebellious phase. It was bound to happen sooner or later! Him defending Tuk is explained away with the kid being annoyed at them. We all know how teens are, he was probably just moody and didn't wanna wait his turn or something. Mhmpf, he did show he has some real fire in him, though. Colonel Quaritch (rest his soul) would be so proud of his son. And hey, those Sullies kids are getting kind of boring anyway-- sure, it was fun when they still put up a fight and all...but that's drained out of them now. And since the boy seems to have such an intrest...

His birthday is coming up soon. They'd make for some real good propaganda material together ontop of the boy finally being able to train being a leader. It's only natural he'll step in his father's footsteps; better get him used to being in charge now! Especially with some lives that are so expendable it won't even matter if he accidentally damages them or something.

Spider, meanwhile, is just reeling from that party. It's one thing to see Tuk so scared-- it's another to know he is the reason for it. And to think ontop that none of his friends remember him, that he's truly alone in all of this??? He nearly cries himself to sleep that night, asking Eywa why she did this. Why did she take him from his home and thrust him into this nightmare of a life? What has he done to deserve this?

So when he wakes up the next day to his beaten up, equally scared, and just tired looking friends on a doorstep with a card talking about him "enjoying his new gift".... yk what? Fuck it. Spider is too tired for this shit.

He still ushers them in ofcourse. None of them really trust him despite Tuk having told them of what happened. Spider has to take a good long while to just look at them.

They're dressed in shabby RDA-issued uniforms. There are bags under Kiri's eyes, her hair cut into choppy strands as though she did it herself. None of them wear braids or jewellery; bruises decorate their bodies. Lo'ak has scars he definitely did not have in his world from needles puncturing his skin. They're holding Tuk between them in a protective manner. Obviously trying their best to shield her against perceived danger.

And Neteyam- shit, Spider's eyes linger the most on Neteyam. He's alive-- but most certainly not well. Even less so than the rest of his siblings, who already aren't doing great. He's thinner than he should be and smaller too- stunted by the horrible environment. His eyes are dead. He doesn't even look angry anymore, just-- just resigned to his fate by now. Spider finds it impossible to look away from him. The only reason he did so was his small, too-weak voice saying, "Please don't hurt my siblings."

Enter: The LONG process of Spider trying to convince them he's on their side.

And with long, I mean it takes ages.

It starts small. Spider brings them food to eat- enough to keep them healthy and then some. The RDA never truly cared for their well-being or nutritional needs along as they stayed alive. All of their growths are stunted- Neteyam's just got it the worst. Spider makes sure to fatten them up accordingly, as well as making sure their injuries are looked after.

He never yells at them or raises a hand. He doesn't give them any orders. When Tuk got bold and requested him to perhabs allow her some sweets, Spider did so without a second thought. He was almost eager to see her eat more. When he catches Kiri praying to Eywa (something she's explicitly forbidden from doing) he doesn't tattle on her or even react. No, he instead sits beside her and joins. Talking about the Great Mother with equal reverence. He praises Neteyam for how he's looking after his siblings, offers Lo'ak to get him beads and jewellery, and the supplies he'd need to care for his hair.

At first the Sullies think it's a trick. Some horrible game he's playing to gain their trust before pulling the rug out under them. All of them get ready for it, for his kindness to switch back to the old and well-known cruelty they are all used to. But it doesn't happen.

This human, this demon, is genuinely concerned for them. He looks sick to his stomach whenever they try to pry an order out of him. He hates their obedience and submission his kind forced them into. He takes care of them and makes sure they are fine. Let's them sleep in real beds and gives them comfy clothes and treats them like people.

Perhaps that is why one day, after he is finally certain to have gained their trust for real, he sat them down to tell them everything. And they believe him. Kiri by now knows that something was up for ages- Spider's explanation is believable. He wants to run away with them, try to find leftovers of a resistance if there are any. He tells Kiri of her powers from his world, talks about lush forests and freedom and reefs. Says he wants the same for them. Says he hopes if he saves this world that he can finally return to his own.

It's kind and it's good and it's horrible all in one, because now they cannot help but feel jealous. Why did those other versions of them get to live all that? Why did the other Tuk get to know their parents? Why did the other Lo'ak get to meet the love of his life? Why did the other Kiri get to discover her own powers? Why did the other Neteyam get to fight?

Why did the other versions of them get a Spider that was so kind and good to them, while their version was so cruel the Great Mother had to replace him?

........

Kiri says it first. It's night, Spider has long gone to bed. They are curled up in his corner, a bunch of beds hastily shoved in so they wouldn't have to sleep on the floor. It's cramped- but it's fine. If they whisper, Spider won't even hear.

"I'm not letting him leave," she tells them. "Those- Those other us... they got so much already. I'm not letting him return to them; they owe us that."

Neteyam nods. "I don't wanna lose him either. But.. don't you think its cruel? To keep him from his own world like that? How would you even prevent it, if the Great Mother herself caused it?"

"She'll find a way!" Lo'ak insists in turn. "He's the first person who was ever good to us. Just see how attached Tuk has become-- we need to keep him. I.. I couldn't bear it, to know him and to have to return to our version of him. He's so desperate for us to be doing fine, surely he will not protest if we just explain?"

the angst of spider seeing his friends in such a terrible position and immediately doing everything he can to correct that is *chefs kiss*. their response to being treated like actual living breathing beings worthy of decency and hesitancy to trust the human boy whose behavior suddenly changed? everything i could have hoped for and more. i will say yandere sully siblings was not where i expected the idea to go, but it makes so much sense for those versions of the characters, which i love. i wonder if/when canon!spider returns to his universe and AU!spider is back in his own body that kiri straight up forces him to become canon!spider, in a fucked up kind of way and not a natural redemption kind of way.

on first impression, i found it unsatisfying, bordering on a disappointment . and that’s not to say there weren’t positives! id actually like to go see it again to see how these critiques hold up. ill always be down to return to pandora. but after sitting on it for a day, here are the things that most bothered me:

spoilers below ‼️

* body language masterlist

* a translator that doesn’t eat ass like google translate does

* a reverse dictionary for when ur brain freezes

* 550 words to say instead of fuckin said

* 638 character traits for when ur brain freezes again

* some more body language help

first of all you are too sweet and ily. second of all, now i can only think about how each of my favorite fictional men would react to finding bird shit on their car, so i hope you're okay with me taking you on this journey with me. i have thoughts on levi ackerman and satoru gojo with this too but i know you love eddie so... <3

hear me out, because eddie doesn't notice. he's been parking under a tree on your street, and you keep telling him that birds are going to shit on his car, and he keeps claiming, "another day of no shit!" with a shit-eating grin (pun intended). he gets all smug every single day that he thinks he's proven you wrong, until randomly you notice a very dried, very old bird-shit stain on the rear passenger side.

and you point it out, finally getting to be the smug one, going, "told you so."

and he gets dramatic, gasping and going to slap his palm over it to hide it like, "shit? what shit?"

(you have to grab his wrist violently to prevent his damn palm from coming in contact with the shit. if looks could kill, eddie munson would be dead on the pavement from the glare you shoot at him disapprovingly.)

and despite taking your time to bask in the glory of finally proving his stubborn self wrong, you definitely end up helping him try to clean the shit off his car. the two of you go back to your house, and you properly wash the van (he just wanted an excuse to convince you to wear a bathing suit - it doesn't work). you pay special attention to the spot marked in white, being gentle with your scrubbing, whereas eddie is a bit... rougher.

inevitably, the shit has left a massive patch in his paint job, and his violent scrubbing has definitely left behind some scratches.

"you're an idiot," is all you could deadpan, staring at the ugly spot on his van now.

"it's fine."

"you're going to cry about this next week, aren't you?"

"possibly."

one thing leads to another, and for some unknown reason, you get roped into eddie's grand solution: painting over the spot on his van. not just matching the original paint, though - a mini-mural, that he insists on the two of you collaborating on. a flaming D20 that eddie had neatly outlined, and you had filled in with your own shaking hand. it's an entire ordeal of tangled limbs to try and work faster, swiping paint on each other's faces (and asses. specifically, eddie's handprints on the ass of your jeans), arguing over which shades of orange and yellow to use on the flames. you doubt it'll last despite the sealant he coats it with, and your artistic skills hardly match his, but it doesn't matter. eddie makes you sign your name next to his like it's a goddamn masterpiece to be hung in the louvre instead of a random patch on his van that's going to end up with more bird shit on it within a week because he still refuses to change where he parks.

and the next week, he's already got more paints and sketch ideas, enlisting your help with painting over a dent that he swears has a scratch in it too, and he swears the two of you have to make to be less of an eyesore.

1.) the fact that you remembered me AND that i love eddie?? made my whole week.

2.) you wrote a blurb about eddie reacting to birds shitting on his car based off a dumb joke i made?? i love it. im kissing u with tongue.