You know what, I want a fic where ikran racing is like a super big thing (think like the Pandoran version of derbies and all that) and is a big part of the culture. Nobody knows what to do with Spider who, being a human, doesn't really stand much of a chance but still seems intent on participating, so they just make him the clan ikran groomer to keep him out of trouble. Enter Neteyam, his best friend Lo'ak's older brother who's on the fast-track to take their father's place as ikran racing champion---or at least he was. Recently he's been having major trouble and things aren't looking good.
Imagine over the next few months Spider, who has like a shit-ton of knowledge about ikrans due to the fact that he's been the caretaker of pretty much all of them since he was knee-high to a grasshopper, helps Neteyam in secret to fix whatever's happening meanwhile they sort of fall in love even though they really shouldn't (for various reasons). Think of all of the themes that could be explored! Think of the angst! Neteyam strikes me as a brooder, so think of all the brooding!
And what's even better? This could also work for all you locorro people out there. Picture, if you will, a Lo'ak who's stuck in the shadow of his father (the greatest ikran racer known to Na'vi) and Neteyam, who seems to be following in the footsteps of their father's greatness. Desperate to prove himself, he comes to Spider for help (let's just say he and his ikran don't really. . . vibe) and Spider agrees despite all of his misgivings and fast-forward through a whole training/bonding/falling in love and finding themselves montage and boom!
How would either of these end? Idk. But man do I want this and if I don't get it I may just have to take matters into my own hands. (For some reason I just dig chill ikran caretaker Spider and high-strung, works himself to the bone to achieve perfection Neteyam or desperate to prove himself despite the fact that both him and his ikran are a mess Lo'ak.)
HOLY FUCK this is my favorite ask of all time. Alright that's it new tag folks: the people need this fic we are begging for it (please explore I have gone back and tagged appropriately).
Hey buddy hey fam I am a huge huge Star Wars fan and you are gonna come in here with your fucking Anakin Skywalker podracing au fic and think I'm not gonna sniff that shit out instantly? Ur crazy dog.
-Spider is like, THE guy for the Omaticaya's ikran care. It's tradition that if you want to participate in ikran racing then you care for ikran for a year before you complete your iknimaya, but Spider has been doing this shit for years longer than anyone else.
-He's like an expert all of them love him, he's like the Hiccup of the Omaticaya he knows all their weak spots, their favorite foods, things they're allergic too, plants that bother them, their favorite places to be scratched: kid could probably ride everyone's ikran even without a rider, but only a select few people have noticed.
-Toruk Makto is the most famous ikran racer because motherfucker rides a toruk. He doesn't participate on toruk anymore after a big legendary competition, and the only person that rivals him is his equally legendary wife (who's better than him it's just toruk that makes Jake better lol)
-Neytiri is as good as she is because unlike a lot of other ikran riders, she does all the care for her ikran alone. It is something she has instilled in her family, but, they are busy. Busy running and leading their clan. So sometimes, Spider steps in. But still the amount of time they dedicate to their ikran compared to others means it's hard not to notice Spider's expertise
-I love the idea of Neytiri being like "yeah no one but me or Spider can touch my ikran, hands off"
-it's a slow build but that equal passion is their connection
-OBSESSED with the idea of the Neteyam and Spider version (getting too many asks about them, we gotta make a ship name poll lol), my bad if I focused heavily on that I might reblog later with the locorro one.
-Neteyam and his ikran bonded but have they bonded. He NEEDS to live up to the level of precision and skill that his parents have with their ikran. Hell, flying is how his parents fell in love! They go on date nights once a week still to fly together, bonded through their love of the sky. He just can't figure out how to translate his thoughts into actions through his ikran. His too wired and anxious all the time, and his ikran's thoughts are always a mile a minute.
-He knows Neytiri only trusts ONE other person to care for her ikran, and that person doesn't have anything to lose either so he goes to Spider and begs him to keep this a secret and to help.
-Without tsaheylu, Spider's bonds with the ikran are formed through a building of trust, care, empathy, and affection through actions. If Neteyam wants to build a bond and he can't trust his mind or his ikran's mind; maybe he can trust actions.
-Oops the bond is formed between Spider and Neteyam too, they slipped and fell into trust, care, and empathy born of actions!
-Neteyam like "how do my parents fall in love flying, flying is stupid and stressful and scary" and then Spider's wrapping his hands around his waist to encourage him to make his movements lighter and he's like 😳
-the jeytiri parallels i'll kill myself frfr
-Lo'ak is still in his year of ikran care pre iknimaya, so he's just around and bitching all the time in the background about how annoying Neteyam is and how perfect he is and Spider is like 😶 yeah he's so perfect 🤭 he's so annoying.
-Kiri has her ikran but would rather die than race, she feels it's inhumane to make the ikran race without asking them first. So she's just bitching the entire time, moping around Neteyam like "why do we have to race, who would even want to?" and Neteyam just REALIZES Spider does.
-He becomes determined to help him be able to race as well. I haven't decided how yet...
Anyways this is how it goes when Spider can:
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sometimes I randomly think about the time a girl posted in this girls only Facebook group I’m in telling everyone how she broke up with her boyfriend and he lied saying that he lost the spare key she gave him, only to then break into her apartment when she wasn’t home and steal the cat they’d adopted while they were together, but then he denied having done this and she didn’t really have proof that he took the cat since he wouldn’t let her come into his place and look for it. And then another girl saw this post and knew her ex-boyfriend, and she was like “girl. I used to hook up with your mans back in xxxx and I still have his number. If you want, I’ll hit him up and get him to invite me back to his place and see if your cat’s there.” And the OP was like “bet.”
So this woman hit up homie dog, asked him out for drinks, went home with him, slept with him, and then woke up in the middle of the night and TOOK THE CAT. Like she had only said that she would confirm if the cat was there but then she took it upon herself to steal this woman’s cat back. Like she full on Trojan horsed this man and then hit up homegirl like “I got the goods. Where you wanna meet.” And then the two of them posted a photo of them together with the cat to the group.
And I just think women supporting women is so beautiful.
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One of my biggest nitpicks in fiction concerns the feeding of babies. Mothers dying during/shortly after childbirth or the baby being separated form the mother shortly after birth is pretty common in fiction. It is/was also common enough in real life, which is why I think a lot of writers/readers don't think too hard about this. however. Historically, the only reason the vast majority of babies survived being separated from their mother was because there was at least one other woman around to breastfeed them. Before modern formula, yes, people did use other substitutes, but they were rarely, if ever, nutritionally sufficient.
Newborns can't eat adult food. They can't really survive on animal milk. If your story takes place in a world before/without formula, a baby separated from its mother is going to either be nursed by someone else, or starve.
It doesn't have to be a huge plot point, but idk at least don't explicitly describe the situation as excluding the possibility of a wetnurse. "The father or the great grandmother or the neighbor man or the older sibling took and raised the baby completely alone in a cave for a year." Nope. That baby is dead I'm sorry. "The baby was kidnapped shortly after birth by a wizard and hidden away in a secret tower" um quick question was the wizard lactating? "The mother refused to see or touch her child after birth so the baby was left to the care of the ailing grandfather" the grandfather who made the necessary arrangements with women in the neighborhood, right? right? OR THAT GREAT OFFENDER "A newborn baby was left on the doorstep and they brought it in and took care of it no issues" What Are You Going to Feed That Baby. Hello?
Like. It's not impossible, but arrangements are going to have to be made. There are some logistics.
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