Yuuka Of Fuji

I've been very bored lately at the library... Yes... I inter at the library... And so... this is my P.O.B. ... I saw the new design for the Avatar characters and I thought, "Hey! It's about time I update the new Yuuka's look. And besides! Angela said to start drawing girls instead right?" I haven't, in fact, drawn girls lately... The Yuuka for "Guardian Angel" looks like a guy anyway... She wanted e to draw more feminine looking girls... So I did. For those who didn't know, Yuuka is my OC for Avatar: the Last Airbender.

This is my own take on Fire Nation Nobility wardrobe, incorporating my own knowledge on Asian clothing and adding in my own designs. (I'm going to post the front view of the outfit and it's many layers later. In Ancient Asian cultures, the more layers for clothes you can afford to wear, the richer you are.) Based on what I saw in Avatar, Fire Nation nobility don't really wear so fashionable clothes. The girls pretty much wear what the guys do, but with skirts instead of pants.

And another thing about the Fire Nation is that they always wear their hair up somehow, never really loosely tie it down, always neatly gathering it up into a bun or a ponytail. ( Or in Ty Lee's case, a braid that is tied high near the top of her head.) So, kind of a homage to her rebelliousness, Yuuka in this picture wears her hair down and a loose braid. Her hair has grown much since I last drew her ( having shoulder length hair).

I'm still deciding on how her hair WOULD look like if it was up neatly. With that much hair, you can do a lot of things with it...

For those who can't read the characters at the top right corner, it says " Fuji no Yuuka". "Fuji" is her lastname and also the name of her archipelego ( or a cluster of Islands that makes up a country), a Fire Nation commonwealth. the Kanji used means " Peerless" or "Without Equal". Her name is a common Japanese Girl name that would usually mean "superior flower" or "gentle flower" . But in this case, "Yuu" means " Courage" or "Bravery". "Ka" or "Hana" means "Flower". So putting it together, her name means, " The Courageous Flower of No Equal".

Her first name "Yuuka" reflects a lot on her personality, being a courageous, responsible and just girl who is not afriad to fight for what she believes in.

As for her last name "Fuji" , the Archipelego of Fuji originally was an independant Firebending Kingdom of it's own until about two hundred years ago. It is known for its powerful benders, courageous warriors, neutralilty, natural surroundings and, most importantly, delicious apples. (Yes... I had to incorporate the apples... I love Fuji Apples...) With a strong sense of pride, the people named the small nation "Fuji". About two hundred years before the series, the Fire Nation insisted in uniting the Firebending Nations into one, so that their "kind" can live together without differenciating between Mainlanders and Islanders. After about seventy years of negotiation, Fuji finally became a commomwealth of the Fire Nation. So the royal family become nobility within the Fire Court. But even now, there are still those who consider Yuuka and her people Islanders or "Wanna-be" Fire Nation, thinking them inferior to the mainlanders.

In order to secure the alliance between the Fire Natioin and Fuji, eight years ago, Ozai, along with Yuuka's father, Prime Minister Yamato, arranged a marriage between Yuuka and Zuko. But ever since Zuko was banished, the engagement was broken, thus beginning to severe the ties between the Fire Nation and Fuji. Furious and disrespected, Fuji and Newly restored King Yamato, developed a secret organization that aid the Fire Nation's enemies, inclduing the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes.