Finally got my hands on the Way of Water Visual Dictionary! Oh, the songcord detail shots. Songcord detail shots my beloved.
It's interesting to me that the order of beads from closed end to loose end seems... inconsistent, although I suspect this is a mistake, not a feature. Lo'ak's seems reversed from Ronal's and Neteyam's, as the bead representing the sawtute arrival is very close to the closed end, which seems to be the more recent end on the other two we can establish chronology for (which makes more sense, since I think you'd need to leave the end loose to add more cordage as you go along).
Ronal's is weirdly short compared to the other adults' (Jake DNI, see below), but considering how close Tsireya's birth is to the recent end - that being, the last bead - despite being like sixteen years ago or whatever, that may be an indication that she has higher standards than average for what makes it into her way to begin with.
Jake's is also short compared to Neytiri's and Tonowari's, but I think he may or may not be recording events from his life pre-Pandora within it - or if he is, he may only be doing it in broad strokes.
There's a common theme of spirals/twists in the spacers between the event beads, especially in the Omatikaya aywaytelem - they're also present in the Metkayina aywaytelem, but there are more straight lines of cord as well. The way the cord itself is woven is just as decorative and beautiful, and probably meaningful, as the major beads; something to keep in mind when making my own.
Spacing between large beads, which I can only assume are event beads, is inconsistent, maybe indicating how much time passed between them? Or maybe indicating when a "chorus" happens, and you don't put a "chorus" between each verse?
Ao'nung's waytelem begins with a charm right at the start, without a "tail" above it, which the others don't seem to have - seems like an optional thing, since it's not a common theme with the Metkayina compared to the Omatikaya.
Spider does have a waytelem!!!! I really wish I could find a shot in the movie that shows the whole thing clearly, but I just can't seem to :\ Fucked up that everybody else's is shown in its entirety, even if not given a detail shot, except his.
In that vein, worth noting that Norm, despite carrying and wearing a lot of Olangi and Omatikaya garb and accessories, does not appear to have a waytelem - it's clear from that that Spider considers himself part of the People where Norm still considers himself human at the core.
