Hey...

If you’re interested here’s the Milanote I made while planning this painting! You can see what ideas made it in and how well if so. It’s pretty much just my train of thought.

I was trying a faster art style and the coloring was kinda inspired by Rafa and Misu’s backstory in The Search Part 2. But you know, they’re not all Water Tribe so it’s less blue.

"'Tayagum'" the man responded "'Of the Orca Islands, after my cousin. My parents are Angtan and Taganak.'" (DOY 130).

I found two of these names in a book called Ancient Aleut Personal Names by Knut Bergsland:

The Aleuts have a distinct culture from the Inuit, the main inspiration for the Water Tribe, even though they are geographically close to one another. Kavik is from the Northern Water Tribe and has references to Inuit culture in his character (his name origin for example), and upon meeting Tayagum he notices that the two of them have different bending styles which hints at some separation. And of course, the Orca Islands potentially being based on the Aleutian Islands is helped by the fact that they're both islands.

Anyways, while reading about Aleut culture, I found a lot of elements that I don't think the ATLA universe has pulled inspiration from before, like their hunting headgear. There are three kinds: short and open-crown visors for beginner hunters, long and open-crown visors for experienced hunters (this is what I drew Tayagum in), and long and closed-crown hats for chiefs and high-ranking members. They are made of bentwood and customized with paint, ivory, beads, feathers, and more. My main source was aleutnativeart.com, check it out! These two pictures are from there: (I looked at loads for inspiration though)

Of course, I ATLA-ified Tayagum's visor. He has a turtle seal on his because regular seals don't exist in-universe. He also has Tui and La painted on his. Now that I'm explaining the design elements, I'm wondering why I didn't put an orca...

I thought of this almost two years ago actually! I wrote it in my notes app while not paying attention to a lecture (as you do when the prof confirms it’ll be recorded anyway). I intended to reveal it alongside the complete project, but I’d be lying if I said I’m amazing at finishing things… Just in case, I still want to interact with the fandom at least a little so here we are. 

As we all know, we were robbed of we didn’t get any official art of the new characters in the Yangchen novels (except Kavik). So the first step is character designs! Well, for me step 0 is to learn how to draw better, but we’ll get back to that. I have most of my research done already in sexy Milanotes, but I have a lot of detailed ideas which wouldn’t show up if I tried to draw now. I’m practicing anatomy really hard at the moment, I swear! 

Anyways, I’ll shut up about that, here’s what you actually clicked read more for, and it’s totally open for discussion if you’d change anyone around, I’m very interested:

A is for Avatar, obviously. Also, the Ace is either the most or least powerful card in the game which I think sums up Yangchen’s two moods throughout the books very well.

2 is for Nujian because I think he’s her closest companion. The book went out of its way to establish him as a proper character like all the people, so don’t start with me!

3 is for Jetsun. She was the most heavily involved in Yangchen’s childhood and Yangchen refers to her as her sister. I'm kind of unclear on whether or not all air nomads are "siblings," but hopefully we can agree there was a closeness here that wasn't there with anyone else in the Western Air Temple. I also think it’s canon as of the end of Legacy that Jetsun knows Yangchen better than anyone else. The way the book ends, and my personal belief as well, is that Kavik will catch up soon after. They've only known each other for like a year and they spent most of it apart in between the novels.

4 is for Jujinta. Yeah, Jujinta. I have (what I think is) a really good reason for Kavik to be at 7, calm down. If I'm sticking to closeness to the Avatar, then Yangchen’s team has to come next. Jujinta can't be next to Kavik, they’d strangle each other. Also Jujinta is obsessed with Yangchen anyways, so it's not THAT hard to believe. Those are the main reasons, but here’s a bonus one: 4 is an unlucky number in some Asian countries because it’s associated with death, and Jujinta killed his brother which is heavily influencing his life’s path and presumably his behavior. Is that a stretch? 

5 is for Tayagum. He’s in between Jujinta and Akuudan. Since Akuudan was the nicest to Kavik in the second book, they can be next to each other. I don’t have any other strong reasons for having him here, but he has the best Milanote! I did so much research for his design. I fell down a rabbit hole of a culture I don’t think ATLA has pulled a lot of inspiration from?

6 is for Akuudan. Uhh, see above. I don’t have much to work with here. Did you know that Rise of Kyoshi had 442 pages and Shadow of Kyoshi had 341. In comparison Dawn of Yangchen had 324 and Legacy of Yangchen 322. I yearn for those extra 140 pages ;-; …

7 is for Kavik! He's in the middle (7/14)! I'm putting him here because he's in the middle of the conflict in both books and his decisions are huge turning points! Why did Unanimity get released into Bin Er? Because of our boy! How did Yangchen learn Thapa’s signal and use that info to beat Chaisee? Because of our boy! Also, this way, he’s not only next to the team, but he’s also right below his “perfect” brother!

So, the first 7 are close to the Avatar (literally) and the second 7 are threats against the Avatar (aside from Yingsu, but she only switched sides because her alternative was death, so I stand by the ones I prioritized as Yangchen’s companions above; choices had to be made).

8 is for Kalyaan. He has more bending and political prowess than his baby brother. Also, he has 8 fingers!

9 is for Yingsu. She’s a combustion bender and was under the Zongdu’s authority for the attacks on Bin Er. I’d put her below Thapa because she did eventually turn.

10 is for Thapa. At the beginning of Legacy, he’s shown to be a wild card because he goes rogue. Threatening. After that he’s under Chaisee’s complete control. Also threatening. There was something about him having the most powerful blasts of the three combustion benders, but I think Yingsu recharged the fastest. You could make an argument that one of those is more advantageous than the other too, but I’ll stick to my original reasoning.

J is for Ayunerak. She's high ranking in the White Lotus who have a ton of political influence in this era. It's implied that they started the Platinum Affair in the first place (I don't think it's explicitly said)? She has spies everywhere. Every location mentioned across the books had some connection to the organization. She’s also a powerful waterbender who put Kavik through a valuable stealth bootcamp in between the events of the two novels.

Q is for Chaisee. The mastermind of the whole plot in both books. I'd put her at king but:

K is for Feishan. I was struggling picking a 14th character, but I guess he's significant enough. He's kind of stupid for thinking he’s on the same playing ground as Yangchen and Chaisee. However, he did figure out what the other nation leaders were doing in the Platinum Affair, killed General Nong, captured Tayagum and Akuudan (and crew?), and closed his borders, so he’s not exactly someone to be sneezed at. Also King is his actual title so…

And last, and definitely least: The Joker is Henshe. Because he thinks he's a genius mastermind, but he actually got super played. Ha, loser. RIP though.

This was inspired by a Peter Rabbit themed deck I have!