#kaona sato

[mxadrian779]

I haven't scanned anything in a while; these were just taken by my tablet camera. I've been able to do little else than work on my fanfiction and OCs. Here is a WIP of my little transgirl, Kaona, all grown up! On the left, she's somewhere in her thirties, maybe forties; on the right, supposed to be in her eighties. She's naturally a waterbender, but identifies strongly with Air Nomad culture, too.

[chennasato]

{DeviantART link}

When my son daughter came out as trans, I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t really know what it was. I’ve known many homosexual and bisexual people, but something like being another gender was a concept beyond me. I thought it was just a phase, something perhaps all little boys must go through to reinforce their identity. Sometimes I still hold out, waiting to see if it’ll be "over.”

Regardless, Kaona is my child, and I support her in whatever she needs and whatever she feels is right.

My husband, Ashiva, however ......

[mxadrian779]

I'm *trying* to get off my Sims addiction and back into my fanfiction addiction LOL I finally scanned in some things...

1) My concept of middle-age or sixties Asami (from my series with her granddaughter, Kaona).

2) Finally scanned in and assembled some character refs of Avatar Liu (my OC) and his crew.

3) Also tested the colouring I set for them...not sure yet. Decided against Manisha having tattoos because I believe a part of bringing the Air Nomads into the new century means a certain sect of airbenders will not be tattooed--something about not wanting to hold themselves apart from the rest of the world.

4) Unfinished ref of a potential new character. I wanted to make her design, but character-wise, I dunno. I don't know her name, her traits, or where she would fit in. I do know she has a twin brother who looks and dresses exactly like her (maybe trans, maybe just a fanboy).

[mxadrian779]

I made up some headshots for the Sato family tree. Korra and Asami had daughter Chenna; Chenna married childhood friend Gappy (who later took the name Ashiva when he was inducted into the Air Nation). They in turn had Yasuko, a punky earthbender who is exactly like her mother...which often worries Chenna; Kaona, a meek (but never slow to stand up for herself) trans waterbender; and Ryu, an airbender named for Ashiva's late brother. This family tree will be redone when I reline the headshots. Oh, and the two at the bottom? Adult Kaona and airbending mate, (unnamed).

[mxadrian779]

The Sato family tree, now with colour and cheap shading! I really didn’t care to colour in any part of their outfits; most of them will likely change, anyway. The important colours were their hair, skin, and eyes.

So, Korra+Asami is canon. Chenna, their daughter, was created back in 2014 and is my beloved OC. She married childhood friend Ashiva, formerly known as Gappy. Together, they had Yasuko, a punky earthbender who eerily reminds Chenna of herself; Kaona, a transgirl waterbender who prefers to keep to herself; and Ryu, a bouncing-off-the-walls curious airbender, named for Ashiva’s late brother. Ryu’s design is kind of terrible; I’m really not attached to him, so I didn’t care that much. If someone can think of a better design for him, go for it (and let me know)!

Also, yay, I finally solidified my design for the Korrasami betrothal necklace~

(Headshots created thanks to basically tracing studying models from PoseManiacs.com)

Links, if you want to check out more about the family characters:

RE: Chenna and Ashiva: shewhowalkswiththee.deviantart… RE: Kaona: shewhowalkswiththee.deviantart…

*can also find things about Kaona on this blog (things I hadn’t posted to DA). Just search the “Kaona” tag, or maybe “transgirl” or something.

RE: Chenna's Crew: shewhowalkswiththee.deviantart… RE: Chenna & parents: shewhowalkswiththee.deviantart… RE: Family trauma (death warning): shewhowalkswiththee.deviantart…

[mxadrian779]

Avatar Liu: Info Document

Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender; The Legend of Korra.

Time: about 100-150 years after Korra.

Past Lives:

Wan

[...]

[...]

Yanesha: transgender, asexual, polyamourous; was one of few Avatars to energybend; was first transgender Avatar; trainers included prince of Northern Water Tribe, princess of Fire Nation, and an Earth Kingdom rogue; also first (and only) to have multiple partners. (In the old days, the teachers of the Avatar were specially selected, and were expected to be of highest pedigree, usually male royalty. Yanesha's fire and water trainers were royalty of their nations, but the first handpicked earth trainer did not work well with the Avatar, and they ended up finding a rogue to teach them—which was frowned upon in history, and especially caused conflict between the Earth Kingdom monarchy and the Avatar).

Lifespan: 155 years

[...]

[...]

Yangchen

Kuruk

Kyoshi

Roku

Aang

Korra: Lifespan: 38 years. Wed Asami Sato, had daughter Chenna [father: Bolin]. Chenna wed Ashiva, had three children: Yasuko, Kaona, Ryu. Yasuko had one daughter, Kaona had twin sons.

Batakh: Lifespan: ~80 years. Wed Mako's daughter Juna, had one daughter.

*Liu Lang: Lifespan: in progress. Weds Beifong. Descendant[s] unknown.

What happened since Korra: Korra wed Asami, and they had daughter Chenna (with help from Bolin). Because of her gay parents, Chenna was bullied, she retaliated, and grew up a bit aggressive. Korra was assassinated when Chenna was 11; she fell into depression, and her relationship with mother Asami became very strained. Much later, they grow closer, there's stuff going on in the world, they and a few others find and aid the next Avatar, Batakh, a young boy born into a well-to-do Emerald States (new name for Earth Kingdom) family. Chenna ends up with an old childhood friend, they have three kids: earthbender Yasuko, waterbender Kaona, and airbender Ryu (named for his father's late brother). Kaona, born male, starts coming into her feminine identity when she's eight years old; her identity is challenged and subsequently strengthened when she's twelve and starts a new school with gendered uniforms. Her older sister, Yasuko, is fast at her side, extremely protective and defensive. When Kaona is sixteen, grandmother Asami gifts her the betrothal necklace Korra had proposed with. Jealousy rips apart their close sisterly bond, as elder sister Yasuko believes she is the rightful inheritor of the Sato heirloom. It'll take years for them to heal the rift between them. Yasuko marries and has one daughter; Kaona marries a female airbender, and they have twin sons; baby brother Ryu's future is uncertain.

Much later, the next Avatar is born, Liu-yin Lang, into a large lower-middle-class Fire Nation family. Liu-yin was told of her Avatar status when she was sixteen, but the world didn't need her yet. The family, who's very close and protective, kept her until she was about 21, at which point she started some firebending training. Liu-yin grew frustrated with the slow pace, and left home two years later to join the Fire Navy. Liu-yin was always a tomboy, but when she finally gets away from her family and experiences freedom, something changes. When enlisting in the navy and asked for the recruit's name, Liu-yin starts to give the full name, but stops after "Liu." When asked for the gender, after a breath, Liu responds "male," and begins his transition. He serves a year in the navy and masters firebending and melee arts, sometimes under special tutelage of the Fire Nation prince, knew Liu's identity and watched over him in the military (and possibly may later come out as a transwoman, inspired by Liu). Liu leaves the military after a year, and sets out after the other three elements.

{Special note: every elemental leg of the journey will present a new trans character and identity. In Fire, we meet Liu, who is a transman, and the Fire Nation prince, who may be either genderfluid or a transwoman; in Air, we meet the Yaneshans, who are essentially agender; in Water, we find transwoman Kaona tending to transgender youth, and we meet Liu's waterbending teacher, whose gender presentation is slightly unusual; in Earth, we meet a nonbinary entertainer}

~Air: Liu meets up with the Yaneshans, an ancient transgender tribe named for the first transgender Avatar, Yanesha; historically, the Yaneshans were strictly Air Nation, and were extinguished in Sozin's war; centuries later, they were reborn with the help of Kaona, (trans) granddaughter of Avatar Korra, and became a multiracial society. The Yaneshans seek the highest spiritual enlightenment, and thus strive to live beyond gender, which they see as another earthly attachment.

Air proves very tricky, especially with an eccentric instructor like Manisha. She proves a valuable trainer, however, and is revealed to be a direct descendant of the original airbender family (Rohan's descendant).

Despite air being an ally element to Liu's native fire, he has a very hard time learning to airbend. After studying him, Manisha realises his problem: "You have to relinquish control." She notices the tense, forceful way Liu tries to airbend, and concludes that he's too focused on trying to harness power and control over airbending. "You're a control freak, just like every other firebender. But air isn't something to control." Liu: "So, I let it control me?" Manisha: "No. Stop thinking like a firebender. Air isn't about control—it's about freedom. Guide the air like it's your friend, not your subordinate. Loosen up. Free yourself, and let the airbending follow." Manisha might pull some airbending tricks, miniature tornadoes and such, to ruffle Liu's feathers in an attempt to loosen him up.

[Manisha: "The beautiful thing about airbending is that it's always there. You can put mittens on a firebender, put a waterbender in the middle of the desert, suspend an earthbender in the sky—but an airbender is never vulnerable. If you have air to breathe, you have air to bend."]

~~ Family:

mother, firebender (age 49)

father, nonbender (age 52)

-Liu, Avatar, age 24-

brother, nonbender (age 19)

brother, firebender (age 17)

sister, nonbender (age 14)

sister, firebender (age 8)

A year or two into his journey, Liu returns home for a visit. His family knew nothing about his identity, and takes it hard:

- mother is distraught; "I know she is not a boy; I gave birth to a girl."

- mother starts to come around when her family, and Liu in particular, is mocked by a snide acquaintance:

While on a family outing, mother runs into a particularly snobbish busybody, who, upon meeting Liu, proceeds to put down the mother and family (exact circumstances unclear). She runs down the list of the mother's children, from the rambunctious sons to the energetic "wild" youngest daughter to Liu. Citing Liu's other sister, the woman scoffs,

"Well, at least you still have one normal (or other adjective) child." Liu instinctively rises to his feet to challenge her, growling, "What did you just say?" His mother rushes to pull him back down to his seat, chides him—then rises herself to challenge the woman and defend her family—the Avatar in particular.

- father is shocked, but tries to keep to himself. will save it for a private conversation later.

- brothers (~17, 19) don't especially care. They're off doing their own things anyway.

- youngest (~8) sister asks what happened to his hair, hears "I cut it off," accepts it, and runs off.

- younger sister (~14) takes it hardest, feeling like Liu, with whom she was closest, abandoned and betrayed her:

"You were the big sister I could always look up to. It's like I don't even know who you are now...or what you are."

"We used to be sisters. We had each other. Now you're just like one of those idiots" (pointing to rambunctious brothers)

~Water: Liu wasn't really looking for a waterbending teacher at the moment; he just found himself checking out a surfing competition and caught his favourite athlete enhancing his surfing with waterbending. (Location: Northern Water Tribe?? Maybe an area in the northern Fire Nation?)

"Hey. You were pretty badass out there on the waves. Think you can teach me some of that?"

"Thanks." The waterbender stops to size up Liu. "No can do. You're a firebender."

Liu gives a smug look. "Yeah, I'm a firebender...and an airbender..."

Realisation mixed with awe flickers on his face. "You're the Avatar?!"

Liu winks. "Damn straight."

Liu ends up subtly flirting and subtly threatening to report him to the competition heads for cheating if he doesn't agree to train him.

Names: (Kalal, Halona, Hania Honani, Honon, Huyana, Howakhan ["Hoaqan"], Bisahalani ["Halani"], Cetanwakuwa ["Wakuwa"], Cha'tima, Chaska, Chavatangawunua [short rainbow], Cheveyo, Chesmu, Chogan, Chu'a, Ciqala, Chunta [cheating], Dasan, Dichali, Achak, Ahanu, Akando, Alona, Angeni, Annawan, Aquene, Avonaco)

~Earth: Liu's arrival to the Emerald States is well-received, with a banquet thrown in his honour by the Beifong family. Amidst the celebration and the revelry, Liu can't take his eyes off of an elegant Emerald woman in the crowd. He sidles up to her and asks her to dance, and she hesitantly accepts. He later learns that she is a member of the Beifong family, an ancient Emerald family and powerful ally to the Avatar. Liu becomes determined to have her teach him earthbending, but her parents forbid it, citing racial and social conflict (something about the fact that Liu is Fire Nation and lower-middle class, ignoring the fact that he's the Avatar). They decide to cultivate a friendship anyway, and the Beifong woman shows him some moves. Meanwhile, a widespread war had been growing behind the scenes, and now comes to the stage. Liu suddenly finds himself overwhelmed with enemies, and he, Beifong, and the waterbender are forced into hiding. The earthbender cuts her hair and sheds her extravagance; Liu cuts and restyles his hair ("I feel so bald now." "What do you mean? You only cut off an inch in the back!"), and changes the spelling of his name to Lu; the waterbender ties back his hair and finds an outfit nearly identical to his last.

One night while sheltering in an Emerald town, Liu awakens in a trance and wanders to the edge of the Emerald continent. His eyes start to glow as the same light envelops him, and he disappears. He awakens fully to find himself sitting under the banyan-grove tree in the foggy swamp. Before him, visions of his past lives stand in the mist. When Liu rubs his eyes and clears his vision, they fade away. He thinks he's hallucinating, until a deep chanting echoes throughout the swamp. The Avatar follows the chanting to the edge of the swamp, which he discovers has been sitting atop a lion-turtle for centuries. He decides to consult the ancient creature for advice about the war. The lion-turtle is clearly distressed about the continuing human greed and violence, especially in this technologically-advanced age. It easily remembers when its swamp was attacked and its spiritual energy harvested and corrupted. The lion-turtle decides that the human race must be punished, and it vows to withdraw the elements and close the spirit portals. Liu panics and begs the lion-turtle to reconsider its decision, claiming the elements and the spirits have lived with the humans for millennia; "you can't just take them away!" 'Why not? Humankind has no use for them anymore.'

~~ Shortly after meeting the Beifong girl, another character comes into Liu's picture. Quan is a thirtysomething, lithe, tan-skinned person with curly black hair and grey-green eyes who goes by "they" pronouns. They're mostly masculine-presenting, wear makeup, and have a sort of flamboyant, theatrical quality. Attracted to women. They're a local celebrity known for their androgyny, which they happily flaunt and capitalise upon (which irks Liu). Quan knows they're considered a public novelty, and they thrive on that while also using it to make a statement. Liu is mistrustful of Quan, considering them an impostor of sorts.

Quan: "Some people are women, some are men. I happen to be both." They see themselves as a performer in more ways than one, likening gender to a performance in and of itself. And, "sometimes it's not about being a man or a woman. It's about being you, and 'you' doesn't always fit into one of those two little boxes."

Liu: "You know, our struggles are real. There's a serious problem out there for people like me. The world doesn't have room for pretenders."

Quan: "Who's pretending? Who I am is as real as who you are. You couldn't conform to what you were assigned, and neither could I." and "People already see me as a freak show. I figure I might as well have some fun with it." When the tension between Liu and Quan reaches a boiling point: "You know what? I've had it. Avatar or not, if you can't respect me, then I'm done."

~~ Liu will tackle toxic masculinity. He refuses to prove his masculinity in ridiculous ways, i.e, through violence ("sometimes, being a man means knowing when to walk away from a fight"), vulgarity ("how does being disgusting make you a man?; "big deal, my younger sister can belch better than that"; might also tackle objectification of women). Liu is a refined breed, despite being surrounded by crude older brothers. He sometimes started to doubt his own masculine identity when he compared himself with his brothers.

~~ Western transgender concept and terminology does not exist in their world. At the time of Korra's granddaughter, Kaona, there was little awareness, and no terminology. At the time of Liu, it is slightly better known, usually not directly referenced, but when it is, it is called crossgender (derived from the concept of being spiritually aligned to one gender or the other, and, just as one crosses into the Spirit World, one may cross into the other gender; the Yaneshans, a transgender tribe with strong Air Nomad roots, throw out the concept of gender altogether, and find the crossgender concept insulting and spiritually incorrect because, as the Air Nomads teach, ultimate enlightenment and spirituality can only be attained by shedding all earthly attachments, including gender)

[mxadrian779]

Some scraps of scene ideas for my transgirl, Kaona.

...

Korra's grandchildren: Ryu: x Kaona: x + 4 Yasuko: x + 6 --- Kaona officially claims her gender when she's ten, siblings are six and twelve Kaona gets a life-changing haircut, age eleven. Year of depression ensues... Kaona starts her new school by sneaking in with a girl's uniform at age twelve, siblings are eight and fourteen Kaona secures her identity, and, though a pacifist, she openly defies anyone to tell her different, age twelve At age fifteen or sixteen, her mother, Chenna, gifts her the Sato family heirloom: the betrothal necklace Korra had made for Asami. Yasuko, age seventeen or eighteen, becomes very jealous, and the two sisters have a falling out, until Kaona explains the incredible personal significance of the necklace and their grandmother, Korra.