Your personal Tumblr journey starts here
This is how I view Rotxo in my writing, he needs some focus
So first things first, physically, Rotxo is short for a na'vi
Poor boy is the na'vi equivalent of a human 5'8" - he's not really that short but also, he will be bullied relentlessly
However, he is b u i l t
He's bulky and puts on muscle easily. (Though he has a little bit of a dad bod cause as he should - like as close as fat muscular as a na'vi body can be lmao)
He keeps the sides of his head shaved and the top in a half braided, half curly look that reaches about his mid-shoulder blades
Google says na'vi are 10' so he's like ,,, 9'6"? short king
Partially why he relishes having a human mate cause like ,, he can't talk shit
He wears an obscene amount of beads and jewelry - he is the oldest brother of his 8 siblings (poor boy has three older sisters and three younger, he is one of two boys in the whole house) and they don't mess around in decorating their big brother
Onto personality, he's a big softie
But he's aggressively protective of his family - something he got from growing up with Ronal as his third mom
He grew up prepared to be Ao'nungs right hand, but he didn't always have the drive to be a warrior
He liked the idea but never felt connected to it. It was just a part of the future he was meant to reach
it wasn't until he was pulling desperately at a bomb on Payakans fin and watching Lo'ak sob over his bleeding brother that he realized why he was going to be a warrior
He always mentally attributes his finding reason in his training to Lo'ak and his strength
So he starts training and learning to fight with a newfound passion
Having always been Ao'nungs right hand, its his plan to follow at his side once he's chief and protect their people
Family is the most important thing in their culture and Tonowari has been such a prominent figure in his life that it's his goal to live and die for them
...he needs some help with the self-love and valuing his worth too man
It's part of how he and Spider bond
He's made a majority of his life around Ao'nung and being there for the clan that he forgot to care about himself or really learn about himself as his own person
He finds out he likes cooking while trying to figure out how to not poison Spider after an unfortunate courting accident
He and Lo'ak bond by combining fighting styles and their culture
It's the culture that also helps him bond with Kiri, a surprise to everyone except Spider who knew they'd get on from the start
However, his favorite hobby is fishing - which he gets teased for relentlessly
For all his mischief and jokes, he's an old man at heart
He 100% can and will disappear become he was just vibing out on the water for hours and lost track of time
During which he also attempts to bring home little gifts constantly
He gets it from his little siblings but he's the type to bring you a rock he found and say it was pretty and reminded him of you
So all of his friends have jars of shells, rocks, flowers, etc that he finds for them
However, he also has a habit of collecting strays
He just takes shit home
An octopus was the worst until he showed up two orphaned ash boys that never left
Spider is passionate that its why he fell for him and very smugly holds up that he has a solid argument
But honestly Rotxo just cannot stand someone being alone
He grew up surrounded by so much love and so many people he cared for that the thought of someone being alone when he could fix it makes him feel sick
He is fucking terrified of crabs tho
Tsireya hung one from his loincloth when they were children and ah...things got pinched
Ao'nung used it to torture him growing up and now the one thing he struggle to accept as Ewya's are crabs
Honestly crustaceans in general
He hates them
Learning Spider could eat them was a blessing and a curse
Cause one, easy food to find and two, he gets to see them die (sorry Ewya) but that also means he has to help catch crabs for his family
As teens, it wasn't horrible. But by the time they are grown with 4 kids, it's actually his nightmare
He is a practical joker
He brings it out in Ao'nung too and they can rival Lo'ak and Spider for the amount of mischief they get into
Though theirs is normally innocent and not death or war inducing
The worst thing they ever did was sink a fishing ship - Lo'ak and Spider got kidnapped, they're doing fine
Constantly torn between big brother instinct and little brother instinct
He's the big brother but also,,, 3 big sisters feels like he should have a pass
He isn't as close to them as he'd like
The oldest two are mated to other water clans and the oldest still home is distant, they don't get on super well, but he was close with all three when he was a child
Well, they played a lot.
His mothers are both very doting parents and very loving, but for some reason there was always a disconnect with his directly older sister
The other two are still friendly and loving when they visit, just not as common in his life anymore while she is just ... separate. She hasn't been herself in years
It makes him the acting oldest and he takes that very seriously
He has three little sisters and then the youngest of the family is another boy, all of which are a decent amount younger than him
It wasn't planned that way but he likes having the gap between them, it gives him enough distance to care for them but enough closeness to enjoy them still
They're as much the bane of his existence as they are the joy of it
He will boast about them relentlessly while also trying to drown one because 8 kids was simply 7 too many
Tuk loves the littles though and so he spends a lot of time babysitting with Spider or Neteyam - the two that really get the big brother thing in the two ways he normally expresses it
All in all, he is a big family-loving, lowkey gym buff, softie that needs to learn to love himself
But, until he does, he has a small army prepared to do it for him
I need to keep expanding on this but I needed these thoughts out. Rotxo really hasn't gotten the development he deserves and I can't wait to see how he gets fleshed out
Anyway
Rotxo has identity issues and has a crisis when the Sully kids show up
They're different. They aren't of their people and they're weird - they have extra fingers, tufts of hair over their eyes, their skin is dark, their eyes the wrong size, their tails too thin - he could go on
Yet they're so proud
There's a sense of purpose in them, they aren't quite kids like he, Ao'nung, or Tsireya are.
It scares the hell out of him
He lashes out at Lo'ak and Kiri, goes for their weaknesses when Ao'nung does
He wants them to leave, take their war with them, and let his family stay safe and tucked away on their beaches
They don't, clearly, and yet he comes to care for them
They're freaks but they're his freaks
Tsireya coming home with blood on her hands, teary cheeks, and Lo'ak in her arms terrifies him. However much he grew up that day he thinks she did double
Ao'nung is suddenly fast tracking his apprenticeship as Olo'eyktan
And he's left behind
Spider comes with the worst day of his life thus far
He once would have gutted anyone who said he would accept a sky person in his home but so much has changed and he can't bring himself to do anything without Ao'nung there to lead him
So he throws himself into his training, wanting to stop what happened to him and his friends from ever happening here
If what happened in the forests happened here he thinks it would kill him
Then Jake convinces Tonowari to let them use a gun
Tonowari - the man who is practically a second father to him after growing up between his children, who hated this war more than anyone he knew, who barely let them use offensive moves before their 15th year - is scared for them
He's awful with a gun
Metkayina kids don't get to carry a gun, it's not allowed to be their primary weapon, it's only for emergencies, but he saw what happened to Neteyam and he needs to know how to use it
He's off in the woods along their beaches trying to practice. Training was over hours ago but he doesn't take to it like the older kids (he and Ao'nung are the youngest learning right now - they strong armed their way in and he thinks it broke Tonowari a little bit inside)
Every shot is just a little off, he can't get the target quite right
Metyakina are spear wielders, their weapons bring them close to their enemies and they use their strength to bring them down. Bows are a necessity but archers are few in the specialty: it's just not what they do
The gun is heavy in his hands, hard to balance and kicks back every time he tries to shoot
Why the hell a weapon bites the user he has no fucking clue -
"Brace your back foot. You're leaning too much, it's not a harpoon."
...
Rotxo will swear for the decades to come that he did not jump, fuck you-
Then the little sky-person is there
He met Spider when they brought him home
The boy was pale, thin beyond what he suspected was natural if the slight sway to his stance had anything to say. He was mottled in bruises and striped with scars but there was a feral strength in the kids eyes
He stuck close to the Sully kids, blended right into the little pack they made up
The other kids flanked him at nearly all times. He never saw the blonde alone and they seemed happy that way. The kid was haunted but he guesses they all are now
They didn't talk much. Lo'ak threatened him with raw fear in his eye that if he and Ao'nung even tried an ounce of what they did to him then peace talks and found friendships be damned, he'd make them regret it
Spider would hang out with them, but he didn't talk much. Most of the others still resented him. They feared him or hated him and Rotxo suspects he knew that
That said, he doesn't know what to do when Spider walks up and forces his gun down to his level
He moves his hands, steps back and adjusts his stance, then steps back with an approving nod.
"Alright. Aim a little lower, you aren't in the green. Shoot, it'll be better."
He hits the target in the neck, then the tree behind it. The gut the third time.
"Uh..thanks."