#yangchen and kyo are both SWEATING

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Kavik: Nooooo, she didn't! Rangi: She did! She stuck me in the ground and pranced off to do spirits no what! Kavik: Ugh, they really don't appreciate us do they? Rangi: She thinks I can't handle it! I'm her bodyguard, and a lieutenant in the military! I can do anything! But what I can't do is guard a body that's not there! And, she keeps losing pieces of it! I won't have a body to guard at this rate! Kavik: Does she have trouble sleeping too? Rangi: Sleeping. Eating. Functioning! Everything! I have to have Jinpa keep an eye on her for me! But she doesn't listen to him! Kavik: At least she listens to you sometimes! Yangchen doesn't like being told what to do. It's sooooo hard to convince her to do anything! I have to beg her to sleep! She's like a toddler! Rangi: They're both overgrown toddlers! Ugh, they are just the worst I tell you! Kavik: I know! E-especially when they get too-ahem- friendly. *starts to blush* Rangi, blushing too: I don't really mind them taking the lead tbh, just not when my face is busted up! Kavik, blushing harder: I just don't want it to be in the middle of an assembly! Rangi: Same! Kinda, we- Yangchen and Kyoshi, barging in:

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Headcanon Court: Kyoshi is a (not so) Mini-Yangchen

(aka "Kyoshi is a shiny Yangchen")

Hear ye hear ye! Headcanon court is now in session~!

I've come to you all to present my case, that Kyoshi......looks like a Tall, dark, freckled Yangchen.....and maybe might be related to her on top of that. 030

"Silly, you've been talking about this idea for awhile-" And I'm going to keep talking about it~! Because this lil' brain worm won't worm away TT0TT

No spoilers for Yangchen's novels (the hoops I had to jump through to keep it vague enough....man TT0TT), but obvie spoilers about Kyoshi's.

Maybe it's a crackpot theory/headcanon! But it's MY crackpot theory/headcanon and I bid you all to hear me out with what (little and circumstantial) evidence I have! <(˘ ˘ ˘)>

First off, they both are described as pretty. c(◕ヮ◕n ) (THIS IS IMPORTANT I SWEAR! It's not simp behavior I swear!)

While Kyoshi seems to have a poor idea of herself, she is called pretty/beautiful by multiple people, including: A drunken sailor, Jianzhu, Rangi, and Yun.

Yangchen is called pretty by Kavik (DoY), and by extension Kyoshi.

....ON A COMPLETELY UNRELATED NOTE (it's not) Kyoshi's mom/Jesa has been called pretty and beautiful by Kyoshi and the same drunken sailor.

*cough* On the note of Jesa. Let's talk about how similar she is with her daughter. 030

Apparently, Kyoshi and Jesa look A LOT alike. To the point they could be sisters (possibly because Kyoshi is darker skinned and maybe has different hair/eye color to her mom.....maybe)

We know they both have the same freckles.

Now why didn't the FoC see the resemblance with Kyoshi? Tbh, besides Lao Ge, they were under the impression that Jesa/Hark didn't have any kids so they might've waved the similarities away.

Lao Ge probs saw the resemblance and just....waited for a dramatic reveal (he's quirky like that, plus he's the only one who worked with them before Kyoshi was born, the other three joined after Jesa dropped Kyo off). Of course, there is the line in SoK where "People could resemble each other. No one’s face was as unique as they thought it was." Which SHOULD throw a wrench into my theory/headcanon but boo to that! Sometimes there IS a resemblance for a reason, like Kyoshi/Jesa or Rangi/Hei-Ran (or Zoryu/Chaeryu)...it's because they ARE related! TT0TT. But that same line could explain why Kirima/Lek/Wong didn't clock Kyoshi at first.

"Ok Silly, now when are you going to bring Yangchen back up?" I'm getting there I'm getting there~! Now that we've established that Kyoshi and Jesa both look VERY similar, you know. Family resemblance an all~! ;D

Let's talk about the time Kyoshi mistook Yangchen FOR her mother/Jesa! :D

Man, Yangchen must REALLY look like Jesa for Kyoshi to be freaking out like this. Like she didn't even register the lack of freckles that's how similar they looked!

Like, they REALLY drive home how similar Jesa and Yangchen look. Like REALLY REALLY drive it home. The only other person they drive it home as hard as this is Hei-Ran/Rangi, and it's because they are mother/daughter. After that it's Jesa/Kyoshi for the SAME reason. (and then after that it's pros Zoryu/Chaeryu because they are brothers).

AND THUS!

Because: Kyoshi looks like Jesa. And Jesa looks like Yangchen. This means, Kyoshi looks like Yangchen! (shiny variant because diff skin tone+freckles, Kyoshi's eye color seem to change with the wind jfdsaklfj sometimes it's a very grey-green, and in LoK it's more akin to Air Nomad grey)

Now for a sloppy/quick edits to drive the point home:

(I didn't edit Kyo's eyes for the last one, like I said, her eye color changes with the wind....tho tbh this eye color matches her statue from Book 1)

"Ok ok, you think they look alike! What's this about being related?"

I know I made a joke that it'd be funnier if Kyoshi was more closely related to Aang, just to make him sweat a little (could've sworn I made a different joke about it being funnier if Kyo was more closely related to Aang than Yangchen but I can't find it jklfjaslkf). But realistically, after all of this, I can see her being more closely related to Yangchen. And I think it fits better narratively for both characters.

Throughout her Novels, Kyoshi's had to deal with the pains of family, her own blood family. How she'd been wronged and left abandoned. And if it wasn't dealing with the sins/shadow of her family, she had to deal with the sins/shadow of Kuruk.

It's a complex that was burrowed deep within her. Unsure how to understand familial ties.

The theme of family follows Kyoshi, even if she's not actively thinking about it. From her own issues with her own blood parents in RoK, to the clusterfuck that is the Fire Nation in SoK (that can probs be best summed up by Nyahitha here):

Family is a big theme in Kyoshi's novels. Found family and/or Blood family. Just...family. Yangchen's novels also has a theme of family, specifically relating to Yangchen and Kavik's siblings and their dynamics (tbh Yee really likes family themes, because it's something that also comes up in his Genie Lo novels. Specifically about her parents in Epic Crush and her "sisterhood" with Yunie and Gyuan Yin in Iron Will). Key thing is the sibling part, esp with Yangchen involving sisterhood.

With Kyoshi it feels like a complex and one that needs resolution. And Yangchen is, ironically enough, the one that gives it to her at the end of SoK. (which also is a great thing/end cap for Yangchen's arc but that goes into spoiler territory so we'll leave it at "trust me bro, if you know you know ;D").

Yangchen comforting Kyoshi comes full circle for both their arcs (tho Yangchen's is retroactively made, cause her novels came later). And if Yangchen was actually related to Kyoshi, it would just drive the point home even farther imo.

Because, how fucking tragic and juicy would it be for the Avatar that Kyoshi looked up to.... The one she used as a template to become a better Avatar. Wasn't only not perfect like she thought she was, but was also her own flesh and blood? Esp after all the betrayal and drama her own blood had caused her up to that point.

Kyoshi still hasn't processed that Yangchen is the real reason her world is miserable and fucked. Yes it was because of Kuruk's neglect and death, but if he didn't neglect some of his duties then the world would've been MORE fucked. Yes Szeto made it harder on Yangchen. But it was Yangchen's own actions and thoughts and desires that led her to siding with humans over spirits. She had to clean up Szeto's mess with the humans, but Szeto didn't tell her how to handle the spirits.

Yangchen's actions DIRECTLY hurt Kuruk and Kyoshi (this isn't to blame Yangchen, love the lady, every Avatar makes mistakes, we love them. But even Yangchen fully takes responsibility for that).

And like I said earlier, if Yangchen was also her own flesh and blood and not just a previous reincarnation, it's an added blow. Kyoshi was once again hurt by her own family.

Echoing back to that passage in RoK....except here, Kyoshi can make that amend. She can forgive Yangchen (there's no forgiveness resolution per se in the book, Kyoshi is more preoccupied with the fact she still feels a bit lost than she is blaming Yangchen for her woes but that's like a HUGE step for Kyo :'D).

But seeking closure with Yangchen would also heal the burden she's had from Jesa. Heal the scars left by her parents and her losing Kelsang. Even more directly than just another "Air Nomad" hugging her.

Plus, I just think it'd be cool if Yangchen was her great-aunt or great-great-Aunt and everyone was freaking out over it jkfljdsa;lfj (below is roughly what the family tree would look like, not sure how old Yangchen's mom was so I put Yangchen in two spots because it could go either way depending on the ages):

"That means Yangchen had an actual sibling" yeah but she didn't know about it, duuuuuuuuh. She only saw Jetsun as her sibling and she was realistically probably her cousin like 5 times removed. :'D "But if Jetsun/Yangchen might be related, could that mean it's actually Jetsun and Yangchen's shared lineage they could be descended from? Not just Yangchen?" Yeah that could work too. But I think it's more fun to call Yangchen Auntie so (great-)great-Aunt it is for me! 8U

Anyway.

Tldr: Kyoshi looks like her mom Jesa. Jesa looks like Yangchen. Thus Yangchen and Kyoshi look like each other. Maybe they are actually related by blood and that would be cool because it would heal Kyoshi generational trauma or something something family themes in the book~!

Court adjourned! :'D