Ekko Asking: "can We Just Pretend Like It's The First Time?"

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Do u think neteyam was forced to dislike spider because of neytiris influence?

Ooohhhhhhh that's such a good question and my weirdo ass is so grateful you asked 🤭

*cracks knuckles* Let's begin

Alright! Let's go all the way back to the very beginning of ATWOW to the few cut scenes we saw of the young Sully children and Spider playing. Now obviously we're immediately clued in on the fact that Neytiri does not like how close Spider is with her children, but she nor Jake doesn't seem to do anything about it as the kids are known by both movie canon and comic canon that they hang out with Spider all the time. They consider him their brother!

But there's something that is not explicitly talked about but subtly shown between the children play with Spider as young children (specifically shown that Neteyam was playing with him) to sometime shortly after Neteyam passed his Iknimaya, and then the beginning of the main events taking place in A2: Neteyam does not interact with Spider like he used to.

And I think that roughly two to three year gap of Neteyam becoming (the youngest) warrior amongst his clan and certified member of the Omatikaya that held a huge moment coming from Neytiri to Neteyam about Spider that changed everything. Now, Neteyam as well as his siblings were probably raised with the stories of Neytiri's youth and the final battle defeating the humans, that's completely normal, but Neteyam seems to be very close to his mother and with that comes privileges of spending more time her and hearing her stories.

Neteyam was incredibly accomplished for a Na'vi his age: a full fledge hunter/warrior (the youngest in his clan to do so), full member of his clan, youngest warrior to take down a Sturmbeest. He had an impressive resume for a fifteen year old, to the point that Ao'nung and his friends already knew who Neteyam was because of his accomplishments. So–

*Anon raises hand* Is there a point coming soon or should I take my question elsewhere?

Yes! Sorry, I'm ranting...

Long story short, I personally believe that Neteyam wasn't just trying to solely live up to his Father's name and accomplishments but actually wanted to live up to his Mother's accomplishments as well, hoping to impress her more than anything. He was her little shadow, engaged in everything she did and questioned about her youth at every chance he had, and in doing so Neteyam also began to adapt his Mother's thinking pattern and the way she carries herself around certain people.

I think Neteyam began to distance himself from all humans around the time he began to train for his Iknimaya as his Mother mentors him like she did his Father. Neteyam doesn't seem close with any humans, he kept his distance from Norm and Max when they came to Awa'atlu, and he rarely talks to or interacts with Spider. I don't think Neteyam hates humans to the degree Neytiri does, but he saw his Mother's discomfort when he hung around humans with his siblings and purposely distanced himself in order to help his Mother and dedicate himself more towards his family.

And in that time, Neytiri shared his distaste for Spider. And Neteyam being the dutiful son he is, he wanted to please his Mother, so he put space between himself and all humans. Unfortunately that includes Spider.

Now, do I think Neteyam hates humans? No, I just think he doesn't know what to do around or with humans since known of them are like Spider, they have remained aliens to Neteyam.

Do I think Neteyam hates Spider? Absolutely not! If anything, I know Neteyam still cares for Spider because he was easily convinced to go rescue him on the ship by Lo'ak; Spider was Neteyam's friend for many years, he doesn't hate him. I believe Neteyam was confused on how he truly felt about humans, especially Spider. No internal monologues from Neytiri or outwardly spoken remarks from his siblings – no Neteyam was still discovering his own voice and opinions... He was just afraid what would happen if they didn't align with his Mother's.

They are everything to me♡

Atwow side of TikTok is VERY different from here. For example, they heavily loathe Spider. You cannot say a single good thing about him or defend him on there or you'll be torn to pieces in the comments by people who enjoy bullying a child, regardless of said child being fictional or not.

To those "fans" in particular: Do you honestly think what he did was bad? Sparing an unforgivable man's life? Plenty of heroes do that in media, and those are usually ADULTS.

You have to remember: Spider is not from Earth. He was born and raised on Pandora. He only knows balance, peace, and serenity. He's never once ever dealt with Reddit and the 10 Best Satisfying Revenge Stories that we have here on Earth. All he knows is Eywa and the balance of life.

From what I understand, Spider saw that Neteyam was dead and as a teenager, probably wanted this terrible night to be over. No more death. He saw Quaritch, still alive, and remembered this man protected him and saved him from literal TORTURE.

And besides that, Eywa is a protector of balance. I theorize that with Neteyam already dead, Quaritch needed to live to regain that balance. Eywa is not done yet with Quaritch, and I'm intrigued to see what she has in store for him. To be clear, I'm not defending Quaritch. I don't like Quaritch. He's unforgivable in my eyes.

But Spider? Fuck yes, I'm defending him because he is still a CHILD.

If I, someone born on Earth, were in Spider's place, I would've done A LOT worse, and it would've been intentional if I had been put through the same amount of pain and trauma he was put through. I would've been the quote below:

“A child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth” - African Proverb

Spider is nothing like that. If he were born on Earth, maybe he would've been, but he was born on Pandora. He loves his friends, the Na'vi, and was very clearly distressed whenever the Na'vi, his friends, and their homes were under threat. He begged and pleaded for the Recoms to spare the Ta'unui Clan and their village once they started to kill their ilu and set fire to their homes.

If he were anything like the proverb, I wouldn't blame him for going after all the adults who wronged him. Clan leaders, Na'vi, humans, Hell, especially his foster family. Every single one of those adults failed him, and here's a link to another post that highlights that. So yeah, if he wanted to go after them, I'd probably cheer him on.

I can't fathom hating Spider and defending Neytiri all in the same breath. You're allowed to defend both because both characters went through traumatic stuff (it's not a competition), and both characters had their reasons when it came to their choices.

Another note: I better not hear that these same "fans" decided to go after Jack Champion for his portrayal of Spider or I will lose my fucking mind. It's ACTING.

For baker!Reader, I'm just imagining Tim hiding the fact he found where Y/N was.

Erasing all evidence that he found Reader. Making sure Barbara can't see that he found them and purposely makes sure the recognition software doesn't pick up Y/N. But he still watches. Still searches. Even starts planning on going to Europe and 'end up' in Paris.

Only for one of the other's to grow suspicious and take Tim's back up phone he's suddenly using more frequently. Revealing that Tim damn well knew where their missing sibling ran off to. Tim is dragged off his bed and through the halls, probably by Dick. Dick screaming and hollering "How could you not tell us!" and "We're all so worried and you're keeping secrets?!?!"

Only for Tim to start shouting back about how none of them deserved the Reader. How he didn't deserve them, either. How it'd be unfair to drag them back and ruin their life. Again!

"Y/N is happy! They're happy- and it's because we're not in their life anymore! We'll ruin them if we drag them back! I knew you'd over react! And I knew you'd want to make a mad dash over and tear apart everything they built for themselves, not even caring if it hurts Y/N!!! You're too focused on your guilt that you still don't see them as a person! Just a way to force things to go back to how they were. Because you think Y/N will be happy to do so if you just pay attention this time! That's not how people react- nor is it how they think!"

Tim being the only Yandere there that's aware that dragging the Reader back could make it easy to hate the Bat Family. Mind you, he's still planning on how to bring the Reader back; just trying to get it to be of their own free will. Or, at least, with the understanding that things have changed on a larger scale and it's less to do with guilt (only for Tim at the moment) and more to do with how he actually wants to get to know his sibling now.

Tim’s Secret, and the Night Everything Fell Apart

The Batcave was dark, silent except for the rhythmic clicking of keys. Screens flickered low blue light over Tim’s face, eyes red from too many sleepless nights, too many tabs open.

And in the corner of the screen—minimized, encrypted, and hidden behind five layers of false protocols—was a livestream of a quaint little Parisian bakery.

You stood behind the counter, apron dusted with flour, cheeks flushed from the heat of the ovens. Smiling. Talking to customers. Alive. Happy.

Tim watched you every night.

He’d found you six months ago. A lucky glimpse on a tourist’s Instagram, face nearly turned from the camera. The bakery’s name blurred in the background. But he had known it was you.

His fingers had trembled on the keyboard that night.

He’d disabled every facial recognition alert. Set up firewalls Barbara wouldn’t notice. Even rerouted signals so no GPS pings would appear. He had a second phone now. One that only ever showed you.

He hadn’t told anyone. Not Bruce. Not Dick. Not even Alfred.

They didn’t deserve it.

But Tim still watched.

He knew your morning routine. The way you'd open the shop with headphones in, humming along to music. The way you’d place tiny chocolate hearts on your cakes—like the ones you used to make back at the Manor, the ones they never appreciated.

And he planned. He planned carefully. If he ever ran into you, it would be accidental. Casual. Maybe at a café across the street. Maybe he'd ask for a menu, pretending not to know who you were.

Maybe you'd talk. Maybe you'd smile at him again. Maybe you’d forgive him.

But his plan shattered the moment Dick burst into his room.

“WHERE IS SHE?!”

Tim blinked, sitting up too slowly. His backup phone was gone—ripped right off the desk while he had been in the shower minutes ago.

Dick stood there, shaking with rage, backup phone gripped in his hand.

“You knew, Tim. You knew where she was this whole damn time?!”

Tim’s heart dropped. He lunged for the phone. “Give that back!”

But Dick shoved him back, dragging him out of his room by the collar.

"BRUCE!" Dick shouted, voice booming through the halls. "JASON! DAMIAN! Get down here—Tim KNEW! He knew where Y/N is!"

Jason was the first down, yanking out an earbud. “He what?”

Damian’s boots slammed down the stairs, face dark with something unreadable. Bruce emerged from the study, all calm tension and silence.

“Explain,” Bruce said sharply.

But Dick didn’t wait. He shoved Tim in front of them all, shoving the phone into Bruce’s chest. The livestream was paused, frozen on your smiling face in the bakery.

Tim yanked away from Dick’s grip, chest heaving.

“I had to hide it!” he snapped. “Because look at you! You’re all doing it again! Treating Y/N like she’s an object you’re entitled to just because you missed her!”

“We could’ve gone to her—” Jason began.

“Exactly!” Tim yelled. “You would’ve rushed to her! Torn through her life like a wrecking ball and expected her to just be okay with it! That’s what you always do!”

The room fell deadly silent.

Tim’s voice cracked now, raw and real: “Y/N is happy. She’s finally living without trying to earn love that should’ve been given to her. She’s smiling. She has friends. She has a life. And you—we—we’d destroy that if we tried to drag her back.”

Damian's fists were clenched. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry…”

“Sorry? You called her a cockroach,” Tim spat, eyes blazing. “You all laughed when she tried to bake for us. You all left her out and then acted surprised when she vanished.”

Bruce looked like stone, unmoving—but his fingers tightened around the phone.

Tim turned slowly, bitter exhaustion in every word now.

“You want to find her because you feel guilty. I want to find her because I miss her. Because I want to know her again. Not the version we ignored. The real her. But dragging her back here would kill everything she built.”

He looked at the screen. At your smile.

“I’m not ready to do that to her. Not again.”

They all stood there, stunned. Guilty. Silent.

And none of them—not a single one of them—could argue with what he said.

Not because they disagreed.

But because it was true.

“You hear that sound Tsireya?”

“What sound?”

“The sound…of Aonung shutting the hell up. It’s amazing.”

Giggles “Truly~”

.

Not my best work , but I felt the need to push “Spider and Tsireya besties” agenda and post this :) their friendship would just WORK ok

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(My commissions are OPEN! DM for details🤭)

(DO NOT repost my artwork on any platform, with or without credit. I DO NOT give my consent to do so.)

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

I feel like the group came together slowly through coincidences.

Like I can see Philip, Penelope, and Michel meeting in college. Philip and Penelope bonded over running away from their families and Michael took them under his wing (or rather Penelope and Philip often brought his drunk as home).

Simon and Gareth knew each other through Lady Danbury and Simon took Gareth under his wing as they bonded over shitty fathers.

Kate and Sophie meet in high school where Kate notices how bad things are for her underclassman friend and Kate's family takes her in.

The small groups come together to form the large group gradually. Kate and Sophie would meet Michael, Philip, and Penelope when they take Edwina to move her stuff into her dorm room, where Michael is the RA and Philip and Penelope are there with him. Kate gets their numbers and keeps in contact with them to make sure her baby sister is okay, but gradually their chat shifts to more casual conversation and soon they are meeting for drinks along with Sophie.

Simon and Kate actually meet when Lady Danbury sets the two up on a blind date (or rather tricked them into). The two end up realizing neither is interested in dating but like the other as a friend. So they keep in contact as well and Simon joins Kate and the others on their pub nights.

Gareth meets everyone when Simon asks Michael, Philip, and Penelope to look out for him at school. Lucy is the last to join and only because Gareth spotted her moving in by herself and his "shitty family life" sense tingle. He messages the group that night.

Gareth: I have found the eighth member for our group!

Sophie: Please stop making us sound like a cult.

Michael: Sophie's right. Our group only drinks the finest whiskey, not koolaid!

Penelope: Sometimes I think we should have left him on the doorstep of that church.

Philip: He'd have seduced the nuns.

Simon: Better than when we had to bail him out of jail that one time.

Yeah, that's how I picture it, they start with small groups then those groups mix and expand.

Penelope met Phillip and Michael when the university she went to decided since she graduated a year early to make their room a coed one in hopes she'll feel more comfortable rooming with an RA. Michael was ecstatic to gain a new little freshman and immediately adopted her into their friend group. Penelope and Phillip sometimes wonder how they are more responsible than their RA who they dragged back to the dorms more than once while he was drunk off his ass. Phillip and Penelope really bonded when they researched poisonous plants together for one of Penelope's stories.

Kate and Sophie met in high school where they became pretty good friends. Sophie stayed at the Sharma's a lot to get away from her stepmother and when Araminta kicks Sophie out Mary immediately demands for Kate to bring her home to the Sharmas.

When Edwina started college Kate met up with her sister's RA to ask if he could once in a while update her on her baby sister. She was surprised when she was handed three phone numbers.

"Those are Phillip and Penelope's numbers on their as well," Michael said. "Trust me you want their numbers too."

Kate soon found out why. Phillip and Penelope were much more reliable on answering her texts. But she did like all three of them and it wasn't long before their conversations became more casual and friendly. (Edwina was so thankful for this. The trio really did her a solid when they kept their updates very basic, and they were quiet about her new relationship until she was ready to tell Kate. They really knew how to manage overprotective family members.)

It's not long until Phillip and Penelope lose a bet and now has to get a tattoo. Michael texts Kate. Your friend Sophie is a tattoo artist right?

Sophie, who was saving up to open up her own shop after she finished her apprenticeship, agreed to take them. Kate went with to the appointment because she was curious which tattoos Michael would choose for Phillip and Penelope.

Phillip ended up with a row of flower on his lower back. Sophie didn't say anything when she noticed some scars that would be covered by the design. Meanwhile Penelope got a quill pen dripping ink on her back left shoulder.

"A pen for Pen." Michael grinned.

"And a tramp stamp for Phillip," Penelope giggled as Phillip flipped Michael off.

"Oh well, Phillip will just have to get a whole garden on his back now," Michael said, not at all sorry.

"We're leaving you on the church steps next time," Phillip threatened.

After that the two groups started hanging out on a regular basis.

Simon and Gareth have known each other practically since Gareth was born mainly due to the fact they are the only relatives that Lady Danbury likes. They form a brotherly bond and Simon takes Gareth under his wing.

When Lady Danbury and Mary reconnected as friends she brought Simon along in hopes that maybe she can get a little matchmaking in.

Kate and Sophie like Simon and figure he would get along with the trio too, so they invite him out with them. They're right and the group adds one more person to their group.

Penelope accidentally outs him as the Duke of Hastings though because she remembers his name from her time as a rich kid. (That's ok, he was about to out himself anyway when he ordered one of the most expensive drinks in the bar and didn't even bat an eye at the price.) This is also the night where Kate and Sophie learn that Michael and Phillip also came from old money, but they were allowed more freedoms because they were considered the spares so they're rarely ever home. Penelope admits she grew up in high society, but her family was new money, and she hasn't been back since she left for university.

When Gareth starts university it's the same one that the trio graduated from. Simon asks Phillip and Penelope if they can show his little cousin around. Michael pretends to take offense when Kate says to him that Gareth already has Simon for a bad influence, he doesn't need Michael too.

Speaking of bad influences guess who Simon took to Sophie's shop to get a tattoo for his 18th birthday. Yup, it's Gareth. Sophie took this one out of her normal hours so the rest of the group cold meet him too. They liked him and adopted him into the group.

Lucy was the last to join. The university accidently made another coed room again this time with Gareth and Lucy. Gareth's shitty home life senses started tingling and by the end of the week he was ready to drag her to meet the group.

Gareth: Guess what!

Kate: Sophie and or Michael got arrested again? Did Penelope make another businessman cry after giving him a verbal lashing?

Sophie: THAT WAS ONE TIME!

Penelope: HE DESERVED IT! THE PRINTER BOYS NEEDED A RAISE!

Gareth: No but someone better share those stories later. I have found our eighth member! Now we'll be evened out! Four boys and four girls!

Phillip: Gareth, you have to stop making us sound like a cult.

Michael: I agree! We only drink the finest of drinks.

Simon: On my dime.

Kate: Your fancy people tastes won't let us go somewhere in our price range.

Sophie: And we're not forcing Michael to hang out at his own club on his days off.

Penelope: We should, he might start acting right if he's in his own club. At least we won't have to worry about him seducing nuns.

Michael: Hey I resent that!

Phillip: Too bad.

Gareth: GUYS! Her name is Lucy, she's coming out with us tonight. She's read all of this over my shoulder and I'm adding her to the chat now.

Lucy: Um, hi?

I’m obsessed with the fact that Penelope is convinced that Colin sees her the way everyone else does and that their friendship on his side has been pity, while in reality he holds her in the highest respect, values her opinion above anyone else’s, thinks of her as often if not more than his own family, seeks her out at social events because he enjoys her company so much, is sincerely surprised and hurt when she accuses him of being embarrassed by her, and thinks she’s joking when she calls herself a spinster, because he sees her in a light that no one else does, one that he doesn’t even fully understand, but he sees her

4 Page short Comic

OCs:

Baby Zoa from @furiouspersonakitten <3

My OC Nanira

Movie Characters:

Tonowari

Ronal

I hope you like the little beginning of the story from Kittys and my Sisters! 🥰💜 It took me forever (and its just a sketch, for more I had no time and energy) but I am happy I pushed it through.

Also it was the first time for me drawing Tonowari x.x it was hard I hope I got him recognizable. I tried my very best. 🥺💜

I am excited to hear what you think about it. :3