You recently answered an anon's ask about what Spider's life would be like if he stayed with the Mangkwan and in your answer you said something about him trying to connect with and "soften" the Mangkwan kids and the adults disliking it. I think that sounds pretty realistic, but it also gave me an idea: what about the opposite?
Imagine some low-ranking Mangkwan who's eager to raise their status and has a kid around Spider's age. I could totally see this parent pushing their kid to be friends with Spider in the hope that it would catch Quaritch's (and by extension, Varang's) attention and give them a chance to get closer to the most powerful people in the clan. Even funnier if its a girl and the crazy parent starts trying to push a romance angle, which neither their child nor Spider is thrilled about. Maybe Spider and the kid would actually end up bonding anyway over complaining about how awful their respective parents are.
Oooo totally love this! A Mangkwan teenager tasked with getting close to Spider (and therefore Varang and Quaritch) to gain influence and status for their parents…
Boy or girl, they’d try hard to fulfil their parents’ wishes. They had to succeed, or face the consequences of the Mangkwan’s brutal discipline.
But after a while it’s clear that Spider is no pushover. He’s kindhearted and selfless, but test him at your own peril. He’ll give as good as he’s got, unafraid to throw the first punch if pushed into something he doesn’t believe in.
The Mangkwan teenager soon realises that this task won’t be as easy as they thought. But they have to keep trying.
When Spider finds out their true motivations, everything clicks into place. Spider could have reacted with violence and anger, but instead he shows compassion.
Over time, they form a close bond. One forged in shared pressure and mutual parental issues. The teenager keeps up the rouse to their parents as best they can, while internally terrified they’ll find out everything so far has been in vain.
In return, Spider occasionally name drops the family to Varang and Quaritch, casually praising them when appropriate and tactical, tossing their name in for small promotions in leadership or resource allocation.
Then Spider gets his chance to escape. And somehow, the Mangkwan teenager is the only thing standing in his way. If they choose, they could sound the alarm and alert the clan of Spider’s escape attempt. Or they could… simply turn away. Knowing the consequences. Knowing they’d bring shame to their family for not being able to stop it.
