Here's a wip fic based on this where Spider befriends a curious little Symbiote and tries to navigate through life being the host to an alien parasite.
"You are restless," Tshaheyl's voice curled through his mind, an amused hum laced with concern. Spider exhaled through his nose. "Yeah, well, can you blame me?" he muttered, weaving between the thick tree roots. "You make me look like a lunatic."
Tshaheyl giggled, the sound vibrating through his skull like a pleased purr. "I do no such thing. You talk to me. They do not hear me. It is not my fault you have a weak excuse for subtlety, Little Spider."
Spider scowled. "Don't Little Spider me," he grumbled, reaching a clearing bathed in soft bioluminescent light. He crouched beside a stream, cupping water in his hands to peer into his reflection. The coolness was a relief against the heat of his frustration and annoyance.
Tshaheyl’s presence curled around him like an affectionate shadow, tendrils of warmth pulsing through his chest like a warm blanket. She was inside him, a part of him, and that meant she felt everything he did. The mental exhaustion. The frustration. The loneliness that had settled in his bones long before she arrived.
"You are worried about them," she mused, her tone shifting into something softer. "These...Sullys. You worry they will fear you."
Spider let out a slow breath, watching the water ripple beneath his reflection. "They're suspicious," he admitted. "Lo'ak especially. I think he caught me talking to you earlier, and Kiri's been staring at me."
Tshaheyl was quiet for a moment before replying, "You do not trust them? You will not tell them about me? You gave me a name and a home, and still you will not tell them. Why is that, Little Spider?"
Spider frowned, rubbing a hand through his hair. "It’s not about trust. It’s about safety. If they knew about you, they'd freak out. Neytiri would—" He stopped himself, jaw tightening. He didn’t want to think about her reaction. Neytiri barely tolerated him as it was. If she found out he was bonded to some strange, sentient parasite that thrived off consuming living things, she’d probably kill him on the spot.
I've been thinking it might be Jake who brings up the idea of adopting Spider, but Neytiri flat-out refuses. The whole adoption debacle becomes a major source of conflict between them, on top of the fact that Quaritch is still alive and Spider is now breathing Pandora’s air (if the leaked scripts are correct). Neytiri would see this as a danger to her family, because humans would inevitably come after Spider to unlock the secret behind how he's surviving the toxic atmosphere. That would put her children, and especially Kiri, at risk if it's confirmed she's the reason behind it.
Jake, being Jake, would want to protect Spider. But Neytiri would begin to feel resentful and unheard by her own mate, possibly even going so far as to take matters into her own hands, only for Kiri to stop her. That confrontation would spark a huge family argument that ends with Neytiri having had enough of Jake constantly choosing Spider over her. She either leaves to lead the Ash Na’vi after Varang's defeat or distances herself from Jake and the family until he comes to his senses.
This is all just my personal theory, but honestly, I think it would be better for everyone if Jake didn’t go through with the adoption, or if he does, Spider refuses without even flinching. Jake’s never truly cared before, so why now? Things are way too tense. Neytiri is grieving, traumatized, and not in the right headspace to be asked to accept or care for a child she's hated for most of his life. From her perspective, it would feel like a slap in the face, like Jake is trying to replace Neteyam.
She might even feel betrayed by Kiri for giving Spider the ability to breathe Pandora’s air, especially if she believes Kiri acted without understanding the danger. Grief has a way of tearing open old wounds and making people lash out at those they love the most. Whatever happens, it’s going to get ugly before it gets better. And Jake might face real backlash, both in-universe and from fans of Neytiri, for not respecting Neytiri’s boundaries. I can already smell the “Divorce AU” fanfics now, with Neytiri breaking the mating bond (if that’s even possible) and ending up with some OC beefy Recom or Na’vi warrior. I jest, of course, but you never know.
Personally, I want Spider to grow beyond the Sullys and refuse Jake’s offer to adopt him, not because he’s bitter, but because he finally realizes his worth isn’t defined by whether the Sullys accept him. I want Neytiri to finally have some peace in her life without constantly being forced to swallow her pain for Jake's comfort, and maybe even receive some healing of the mind.
Zoe Saldana has repeatedly alluded to Neytiri and Jake having some kind of conflict in Avatar 3, and the stuff we heard about in the cinemacon teaser gave us further details. Attendees described a scene of Jake telling Neytiri "we can't live like this, we can't live in hate." From the dialogue and Saldana's hints, it sounds like their conflict will center on Neytiri becoming more and more consumed by anger and vengeance due to her grief over Neteyam while Jake tries to talk her down.
I also believe Spider is going to be a huge point of contention between Neytiri and Jake. In Avatar 2 Neytiri threatened to kill Spider to avenge Neteyam (it wasn't just to save Kiri, it was also partially motivated by revenge, remember she said "a son for a son" not "your son for my daughter") but later Jake embraced Spider while his internal monologue also said "a son for a son," implying that he wants to "take Spider under his wing" as the late Jon landau described their relationship. Clearly, Jake and Neytiri have very incompatible views on how to handle Spider that will only get worse whenever they learn about him saving Quaritch. Plus, there is also a scene from the leaked script where Neytiri and Jake are arguing and Neytiri says "if it's so dangerous, we should just kill him" and Jake freaks out. It's unclear because only a fragment of the script was visible, but it seems very likely they were talking about Spider since the previous page had the infamous leak about Spider, and I can't think of any other characters who would make Neytiri and Jake react so differently.
With all this in mind, how do you think this is going to effect Neytiri's relationship with Kiri? Out of all her kids, Kiri is the most humanoid. If what the old script said was true about Neytiri harboring some "secret shame" about having mixed kids, Kiri would probably be heavily effected by that. Plus, Kiri is the closest with Spider. If Neytiri continues to take out her anger and grief on Spider, Kiri isn't going to be very happy about it.
Me personally, I think Jake and Neytiri are going to try to keep their disagreements, especially ones about Spider, private from the kids to avoid upsetting them, but eventually, Neytiri is going to lash out at Spider for something and it's going to damage her relationship with Kiri. Just like what I predict with Neytiri and Jake, Neytiri and Kiri will go through a rough patch, but ultimately I think James Cameron will give them a happy ending and they'll make up, and since Jake and Kiri seem adamant on keeping Spider around, making up is going to involve Neytiri and Spider reaching some kind of peace with each other.
But that's just my guess, I want to hear what other fans think 🤔
I'm leaning more toward a Dark!Spider. Dark meaning: He's not evil, not misguided, and certainly not living up to everyone’s negative expectations just because he’s the son of a war criminal. This version of Spider is abrasive, sharp, calculating, merciless, and utterly unforgiving. The way the adults around him treated him taught him early on to rely on no one but himself. He grew up bitter and cynical, far too mature for his age, self-trained, self-taught, and sustained only by Eywa and the wilds of Pandora. He's even prepared in secret for the inevitable day Neytiri or Jake might decide to "get rid" of him to appease Quaritch’s victims. When that time comes, he’ll be ready.
This Spider is a mouthy little shit with a blade as sharp as his tongue, cutting others down with cruel, pointed words, a talent he picked up from Neytiri herself. Her past insults from his childhood were his first lessons in pain. He's learned from her coldness and backs up every word with skill. Fast, vicious, and precise, he knows how to leave deep cuts. Both literal and emotional. He moves like the Crannogmen from Game of Thrones, with total mastery of Pandora’s brutal terrain. He’s not evil. Just a hurt, traumatized kid using pain as armor.
Spider even calls himself the Forest Demon or just The Demon, wearing the insult like a crown, a warning, a defense. If that’s what they see, then that’s what he’ll be. And he lives up to it by terrorizing RDA soldiers without hesitation, without mercy, without guilt. Spider is everything the adults built him up to be and more. They will simply have to put up with it.
We got our first official look Peylak, olo’eyktan of the Wind Traders who are known as the Tlalim clan!!
I don't know where I'm going with this, but I wanted to try my hand at sci-fi/horror and came up with the idea of Eywa having enough and blessing Spider with the ability to turn humans into living plants or trees so that their bodies will restore what was destroyed by their bombs and fire. Spider keeps his power secret so that he'll have an easier time fulfilling Eywa's will without disruption or judgment. So far, he's doing a damn good job and with each successful death, grows stronger.
Here's just a teeny piece of what I have so far.
The first body wasn’t the worst.
Jake had seen enough death to be numb to it. But the more they found, the more that numbness cracked, replaced by something he'd forgotten.
Fear.
One soldier was still standing, his posture too rigid, too unnatural. His skin had gone pale, his veins blackened with something that pulsed beneath the surface like twisting roots. Thin green tendrils had erupted from his fingertips, curling toward the sunlight as if reaching for something unseen. His mouth was open in a frozen scream, but no sound would ever escape. His eyes, once human, had been overtaken by blooming petals as if the forest itself had bloomed through him.
Another body lay sprawled nearby, its flesh cracked open. Vines coiled through its ribcage, wrapping around the exposed bone, flowers sprouting where there should have been blood. A grotesque, living sculpture.
A warning.
Neytiri covered her mouth, her ears pinned back in horror. “This is not the work of Eywa,” she whispered, voice shaking.
Their happy moments
twi || FA || inkblot || DA
“Son of Adam… your heart is mine!”
Here she is, it’s a bit in your face but hey I feel like that’s the energy for Varang. Maneater vibes 😇
Wheeee another one 👀...
They showed footage of Avatar Fire and Ash at Cinemacon and I wasn’t there 💔
Reblog if you’re part of it.