Now that I think about it, Norm would be even more upset over Spider's murder because the "film" showed his association with Jake and his lack of parental care towards Spider. He adopted all those kids, but not the lone human orphan? He's more upset that his name is also being smeared and blames Jake for "ruining" his reputation amongst the other resistance groups, rants that Jake should have been a damn man and taken Spider in instead of pushing the kid off on his colleagues.
This sparks a horrible argument between the two friends, with lots of blame and finger-pointing, then Norm blaming Jake for every bad thing that's happened ever since he came onto this planet, that if he hadn't lied to the Na'vi, then maybe Grace would still be alive, and NONE of this would be happening! Everything is all his fault!!! Yeah, the two avatars brawl and end up destroying half the lab equipment. The alliance between Hell's Gate and High Camp is pushed to the edge.
Uhhhh yep! Yep I can see that. Yikes.
Ngl I think the fact that the RDA is still a threat does a lot of heavy lifting in keeping the Resistance together. They can't exactly afford to break up with Quaritch breathing down their necks, now can they? But that doesn't mean they work together as good as they once did.
Norm and Max are both too much of a coward to actually confront their own parts in Spider's childhood; meanwhile Jake is rightfully angry at getting blamed for everything. And while he certainly isn't inoccent he won't just take this type of slander laying down. Everyone is just watching this whole thing go down asking if their Toruk Makto and the Dreamwalkers are truly as trustworthy as they thought they were...
The RDA is eating this up. All the cracks that are starting to show only help them further their goal. Any sign of feeling bad or being affected by the smear campaign is just further proof of guilt. The whole of earth learns to hate Norm and Max and those scientists not only for betraying them but also for abusing an innocent child. They were obviously rotten to the core no doubt. Who can be suprised??? Look at those weirdos! They'd rather adopt alien children and bang alien women than care for an innocent baby of their OWN species! Everyone knew that Sully was a sick freak- but to think those scientists too were like this???? How disgusting!!!!!
1. He knows how to play piano, hes actuay quite good but nobody really knows. Hes a decent singer too
2. Norm has dyspraxia and a week into avatar driving he fell over and smashed a load of equipment, after that Grace moved his chair as far away from anything fragile as she possibly could and still bring it up months later. Norm was so embarrassed about it and hates how clumsy he is.
3. He had an eyebrow slit and an eyebrow peircing as a teenager but took them out to look more professional
4. When he was a kid he really really liked bugs, he had a book with all the different types of bug in it and he would go into his garden and identify all the species
5. When he gets really exited he literally starts jumping and dancing around, most people find it cute or funny but Grace always tells him to recollect himself so the avatar programme gets taken seriously
6. Falls asleep in the lab almost every night, he usually gets woken up by the cleaners coming in after hes fallen asleep on his notepad. Once he had the words printed onto his forehead and some military guys made fun of him.
7. Norm has a sleeper build and doesnt realise how strong he is sometimes because people play him down so much
8. Hes a really heavy sleeper and he sprawles put over the entire bed, the amounts of times trudy has been pushed off the bed and then wouldn't talk to him the next morning cant be counted
9. He really loves fireflies by owl city
10. Him and max kissed once then never talked about it again.
Hey everyone! So it's been a while, life is insane. But I wanted to tell y'all that I'm getting back in to writing. It's a slow process but I'm excited to show you what I've made! I know on the poll it said that you guys wanted something Avatar but not in the Papa Patel au. While I am working on those this just sprung to mine and I wrote it literally in like one day, lol. But either way I hope you enjoy it!
Banners by: Kodaswrld
“Uncle Max,” Lo’ak’s curious voice rang out from the humming and droning of the usual machines.
Max was snapped out of his focus by the squaky voice of the young Navi boy. His deep brown eyes moved from the formulas that decorated his screen to the children who were in the lab.
Today hadn’t been anything exciting, at least by Max’s standards. There were no raids for any resources, no sight of the RDA, and, thankfully, not too much wrangling of children. The kids had decided that today would be a lab day. Much to the annoyance of Neytiri, but Jake couldn't have been happier. As if meant the two would finally get some alone time.
There was already a bet going around with the scientists that Jake would be getting the woman pregnant in the next month at least. If Jake had gone into the Air Force instead of the Marines, his callsign would definitely be Horndog.
"Yea buddy?"
Max looked towards his semi-adopted nephew, whose gaze seemed fixed upon him. Even at the age of 6, Lo’ak was a tall boy. The top of his head reached up past Max’s shoulder, and soon, he would be getting his growth spurt. The man inwardly wondered how tall the boy would be. He was sprouting up faster than any weed, and it seemed that he soon would be taller than Jake. Oh, Max hoped he was alive to see Jake’s face when that happened. Seeing his friend, have to look up towards his youngest son.
Oh…it was gonna be hilarious.
Kiri was sitting on one of the rails that lined the facility. A tablet was perched on her lap as she was watching videos from Grace. Max's heart always softened when he saw just how enthralled the young girl was when seeing videos of her mother. Seeing just how much Kiri was like Grace always made tears burn in his eyes, and his throat choke up. If only Grace were here, she could see just how amazing her daughter was.
Neteyam wasn't far either. The oldest boy had been fiddling with some twine-like material since he had gotten there. When Max had questioned him hours ago, Neteyam sheepishly admitted that his weaving wasn't that good and that he needed to practice more. The young boy had stated how he thought that the lab would be the best place away from their home, as it was quieter.
It was an obvious lie, but Max didn't say a word.
He hated that even at such a young age, Neteyam seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. By the great mother herself, Max truly needed to talk to Jake and Neytiri about putting so much pressure on the boy. He was only 7, and if it wasn't for the Navi's grand genetics, Max would bet that the boy would be getting grey hairs already! So whenever the boy came to the lab for some relaxation time, Max never stopped him. He wanted him to be a kid for as long as possible.
The children were born during a war. Giving them the gift of keeping their innocence for as long as possible was the least the man could do.
The last individual of this quartet was his son, Spider. Who had taken up his favorite spot, the chair right next to Max. At this point, everyone in the lab knew that if there was a seat next to Max when he was working, it was Spider's seat. No matter if it was day or night, Spider always had a seat right next to his papa. It was a subtle way for both of them to show their love. For Max, it was a way to show Spider that no matter when or where, he always had a spot next to Max's side. With Spider, it was a show of how no matter how much he craved the life of the navi, he would always see Max as his father.
It was a love that Max wouldn't trade for the world.
However, the peace was soon disrupted as Lo'ak asked a very surprising question.
“If Spider’s dad is Quaritch, and you’re his papa. Does that mean you and Quaritch were married?”
…huh….
Max was stunned by the inquiry. He and Quaritch…married? He had never wanted to hurl so quickly in his life. Yes, he may be attracted to both genders, but he definitely wasn't attracted to people who tried to murder a whole civilization and killed his friends. He may have bad taste in partners, but it wasn't that bad!
Mouth open in shock and eyes slightly wide, Max couldn't even seem to form words. The question was really not what he had been expecting. But it did make sense in a way, at least to Lo'ak.
It was reasonable for a child of Lo’aks’ age to think something like this, considering how his family’s own situation was, but just asking so out of the blue shocked the poor man. It even seemed to stun his siblings as well. Kiri, Spider, and Neteyam's heads quickly snapped over to look at Lo'ak with similar horrified expressions.
Max stood there, trying to remember how to breathe, as he tried to assemble his thoughts to give a reasonable answer for the poor kid. But it seemed the other children were already ready with their own.
"No!" Spider's voice cut through the awkward silence. “Papa deserves someone nice and gentle. Quaritch is mean and gross!" His son said quite passionately.
Kiri nodded in agreement. Her small face pinched in disgust at the mere thought of a connection between the two. Her uncle deserved someone who made him feel happy, and most certainly, the evil sky man didn’t. He had hurt hometree! Had hurt so many of the people that Max helped every day. Surely he deserved someone better than Quaritch.
"Plus, Quaritch is ugly and dead. I don't think Max would like us a lot since mom and dad killed his muntxatan," she said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Guys, Max adopted Spider," Neteyam said. His tone was taking on one much older than he truly was. "Its like how Mom and Dad made Kiri our sister skxawng," he put his weaving down.
Lo'ak's ears flattened and cheeks burned in embarrassment at the abrupt response. His tail gently curled around his ankle, his eyebrows furrowed as his question wasn't really answered.
"But Mom and Dad were married!" he said with a squack. "It makes sense! If he's your papa and Quaritch was your dad, wouldn't they be married? Don't you have to be married to adopt? Uncle Max is also married, and he adopted to!" he looked to Max for a bit of help. The poor boy's large eyes had already perfected the kicked puppy look.
At this point, Max's brain finally decided to actually work, and he gave a surprised laugh. Slightly startling the children, as none of them really had expected that. The laughter only got more intense as Max realized just how hilarious this really was. It took some time before he was able to get his bearings back.
Wiping away some tears, he finally looked back toward the young Sully. Gently ruffling his braids as he looked at him with familial warmth.
"No, Lo'ak, I wasn't married to Quaritch," he said with a chuckle. Eyes looking over to Spider as he saw his son give a sigh of relief. Wow…ok, he saw where Spider thought his taste in people was at. Rude.
Lo'aks embarrassment only seemed to get worse. His eyes looked down, and Max could tell he was internally berating himself for asking what he thought was a stupid question. But Max quickly put his hand on the young Navi's shoulders.
"Hey, don't be embarrassed. Honestly, that was a really good question," he said with a grin. "You thought critically. its ok to be wrong sometimes, guys. We all make mistakes with certain things. Its better that Lo'ak asked me instead of just assuming."
Looking at the kids, all of them seemed to give a quiet nod at that. Lo'ak perked up slightly with the small praise of at least being brave enough to ask the question. Looking at the kids, he gave a small chuckle before continuing.
"Neteyam is right, though. I did adopt Spider, but I see what your mind did, Lo'ak. Most of the people you know who have adopted children were married. But I adopted Spider by myself since I wanted to take care of him," he looked towards Spider for a second before he went back to speaking. It seemed as if all the kids were enraptured with Max's answer.
"You don't need to be married to adopt. It is helpful since you have the support of another adult. But when I adopted Spider, I had a lot of friends who would help out. Like your mom and dad, and your uncle Norm. People get married when they love each other so, so much. It makes people happy a lot of the time. But not being married doesn't mean I can't adopt. Does that make sense to you guys?"
There was a beat of silence as Max finished up his explanation. His heart was beating a bit faster as he could tell each of the kids was processing the information thoroughly. Neteyam seemed to already understand the mechanics of everything. The boy was always good with logistical things, no matter the subject. Spider looked relieved but also concerned. For what, Max didn't know. Kiri and Loak, though, seemed to be just processing the information.
"Yeah," Lo'ak said quietly. Kiri nodded with him while Neteyam seemed to be focusing on his weaving.
But Spider didn't respond. A bit of worry bloomed in Max as it seemed as if his son didn't hear him.
"Spider?" he said gently. Trying to get his son's attention. "You ok?" he questioned. A bit concerned and confused. They were always transparent about who Spider's birth family was. But maybe having it all laid out in front of him was overwhelming to the boy.
After a minute, Spider finally spoke.
"So if you got married, you'd be even happier! Guys who should marry my papa!"
All the kids' eyes widened, and grins as large as the Cheshire cats grew on their faces. All of them now talking at once about who would be the best spouse for Max. The discussion became heated as each one of them seemed to have people ready on the fly.
Had they talked about this before?
Pinching the bridge of his nose, the scientist could already tell they weren't going to drop this mission so easily. He definitely wasn't going to be getting any work done for the foreseeable future.
Oh Eywa no….Maybe he should have just said they were divorced…
For some reason, Max and Norm are THE chosen parents for Spider in other fanfics, and I find it hilarious.
Spider is sick? Norm.
Spider did something stupid? Your turn, Max.
Spider isn't back yet, and Max and Norm are worried sick but won't show it, so when they talk with Jake next time, they go for Parent mode.
Or:
Spider is hiding something. Max and Norm look at each other:
Max: Your turn.
Norm: *sighs and has a one to one talk with Spider.*
I don't say Norm and Max are the perfect Parents (fiction wise) because these two have no fucking idea how to handle a kid, even after all these years of parenting.
In most cases, people tend to use solely Norm for the parental part (leaving Max completely out of the parenting/raising Spider in fanfics). And I get that. Norm is better known as a character, and I honestly see him more being softer with children. He's just like that.
And you know, not relevant to what I wrote above- but, isn't it weird how none of the lab people ever formed some kind of parental connection to Spider when they raised him since he was a BABY in canon???
Does anyone else think that Max Patel has a way darker past than ewe are led to believe? Can you honestly and with all certainty tell me that this man isn’t holding onto the memories of a secret life before joining up with the RDA? I think not. While Max is indeed quite a friendly character (My fiancé went as far as to say he has “Brown Dad Energy” - Apparently, I have the same vibes 🤨), he just triggers something in the back of my head that just says “This man is hiding something from his past”
So this post is what I believe this mysterious path to be:
- Born and raised in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, Max was born to an engineer father and a neuroscientist mother. He quickly developed a passion for science, specifically neuroscience. From the time he was a child to a teenager, he was fascinated -borderline obsessed- with the human brain
- In the background, however, Max’s father was struggling to make ends meet. Don’t get me wrong he had integrity but it was harder and harder to ignore the gangs of thieves that wanted his expertise. You see, Max’s father was the engineer that developed the technology that allows for the Valkyrie to fly. This also means that Max’s father knew enough about the Valkyrie to supply these gangs with the whereabouts of smuggler’s spaces, to stash contraband and the like.
- Eventually, the gangs left Max’s father alone but not before setting there sights on another target. At this point in time, Research about Pandora and the ability Tsayhelu was just reaching the population and by extension, the criminal elements. This made every warlord, cartel leader and triad boss extremely giddy. With the ability to look into the minds of others, so much could be done to further their goals. Blackmail, espionage, interrogation - the list could go on, but these where the main ones.
- The gangs knew that they could lean on a more impressionable Max and get him to assist in developing the technology to make Tsayhelu work for them and their activities. It wasn’t hard - Max was smart but socially stunted, so when a group of peers took interest in him, he leapt at the opportunity.
- Eventually, Max realised that this gang wasn’t actually looking to be his friend. However, by that time it too late. Max had become an expert in Interrogation, combat and had developed the first prototype of the All Seeing Eye (The device used on Spider while captive by the RDA). Max had even made a name for himself as ‘The Dread Doctor’ (I’m sure with something like the All Seeing Eye at your disposal, you can guess why that title was appropriate)
- Soon enough, Max couldn’t handle the amount of deaths caused by his A.S.E. prototype & the amount he has caused on behalf of the gang. At this point in his life, Max had already met Grace Augustine. Grace was looking to headhunt his mother for the mission to Pandora, but she declined citing a need to remain and take care of her family.
- Grace had offered a way out for Max & not long after Max was accepted into University, the RDA shut down the gang and ‘destroyed’ Max’s prototype to prevent it from getting into anyone else’s hands. Within no time Max was away and studying to join Dr Augustine when she would journey to Pandora.
Obviously there is more to talk about with this backstory, but these are the broad strokes and im sure that people who read this have much better ideas to improve this idea. I hope you all liked this because it was a miracle that I remembered to write this, in all honesty. My procrastination has reached all new levels as we come closer to my Uni Exams.
Yours faithfully,
A nursing student with very misplaced priorities in life
Part 1, Part2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8
When max officially took in Miles he knew that it would come with its own challenges. But babies weren’t too hard to take care of. I mean how hard could it really be?
First years:
🪐 Max needed to know how people could take care of kids for a living for they were true saints. Kids are a nightmare!
🪐 From the very beginning Miles was an energetic kid.
🪐 From babbling to grabbing everything he sees, Miles loved to interact with the world around him.
🪐 At first it was cute to watch. How he once grabbed Max’s glasses when he tried to kiss the boy goodnight.
🪐 But now, the boy could take anything without being noticed.
🪐 It was oddly impressive but freaky.
🪐 Miles also had an insatiable appetite
🪐 For his small frame he ate a LOT of food. The boy’s hunger never seemed to cease.
🪐 Luckily baby formula wasn’t too hard to procure, making sure it was the right chemical compound and asking Norm to do a favor for him so he had enough formula for any occasion.
🪐 Also the little dude is surrounded by scientists so you know he is up to date with literally EVERY vaccine, vitamin supplement, etc.
🪐 Max is making sure he never gets sick.
🪐 Miles’s immune system may be stronger than some adults from how insistent Max was
🪐 For his usually happy nature Miles was a terror to put to sleep
🪐 In the beginning he would fall right to sleep no problem, but as the days turned to weeks he got fussy.
🪐 Then, almost every night, the poor thing would scream his heart out.
🪐 He could go for hours and Max swears that one night he did it from dusk till dawn.
🪐 It was getting so bad that other scientists began to complain and Max had a fear that if he didn’t find a way to get the boy to stop crying they would take him away
🪐 It took a lot of trial and error but finally Max figured how to get the boy to sleep.
🪐He sang to him
🪐It was an old song, one his mother used to hum when the screaming couple in the next apartment got too loud. Or when nightmares plagued his mind and fears claws gripped him tightly
🪐 It was a song passed down from generation to generation, a song that spoke of love and loss. On how, no matter where Miles was, Max would be there to protect him. He would be the father that Miles needed
