#fortuneteller sisters

[friendlyheartless]

"Hey girls," Lucas waved to the Fortuneteller sisters, Penelope and Zoey, while riding on Bubbles' shoulders.

The two Fortuneteller Sisters, Cryst and Clayr Voiant, along with Penelope the Parasol Beauty and Zoey the Winterhorn had heard Lucas coming from the Second District, and they saw Bubbles the Bouncywild carrying him.

"Hello Lucas." Cryst greeted. "Welcome back." Clayr Voiant smiled under her headdress veil. "It had been a while." Penelope stated. "What have you been up to?" Zoey asked.

( @the-world-hopper )

[toilandtroubled]

— 𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐚

[narrativelysignificantturtleduck]

i'm fully willing to accept that sokka's weird "play hard to get" advice in "the fortuneteller" was just the writers (rightfully) making fun of that type of dating advice however there's a part of me that's still like. HOW did sokka come up with that. there were no girls his age in his village besides his sister so presumably he's only had 1 single romantic encounter (suki) by that point and that very much did not involve him being aloof and uninterested. yes he's lying to aang about being romantically experienced and probably pulling it out of his ass but why is that what he comes up with.

after pondering, i think there's a few possibilities:

hakoda. now, i don't think it's romantic advice hakoda would give. he's a friendly guy and presumably pulled kya just by being, y'know, sweet and funny and hot. however i CAN see him saying it as a joke. like he says something goofy and kya rolls her eyes fondly like "why did i marry you" and he's like "definitely my cool unattainable mysterious appeal" and they both crack up because he was actually adorably down bad. only thing is, baby sokka does not know that and takes the joke at face value. that's how dad said he got mom! but dad was joking. dad actually tripped over himself and fell face first into the snow when she smiled at him

some older kid in the tribe. there are no girls sokka's age in his village but i have to imagine there are other villages in the tribe, we just don't see them bc after the raid the villages got more isolated and more mobile (tents over igloos) to avoid detection by the fire nation. so baby sokka had a baby crush on a girl from another village and an slightly older boy (someone who would later be just old enough to go to war with the men and leave sokka as the oldest boy in the village) tried to give him Sage Advice. but sokka was 10 and the kid was 14 so it was Bad Advice

bato. this is the funniest option to me bc "play hard to get" is such childish advice for a grown adult to give. but it kinda fits with the whole bakoda storyline of bato quietly pining for hakoda for years. worked so hard at maintaining Maximum Aloofness that the guy he liked didn't realize it for decades

katara. okay actually maybe THIS is the funniest. she found out sokka had a crush on the girl from the other village and thinking her brother is gross and icky and no girl should have to deal with that she said hey. you know what girls like? when you pretend you're not interested :) baby katara is so cute and so full of mischief <3

[bestygogirl]

BEST YGO GIRL: SEMI FINALS

Match 2

please use this as an opportunity to say why you like a character, not why you don't.

Propaganda under the cut!

Isis Ishtar

gorgeous, very caring sister, strong duelist, and the only woman to ever make Seto Kaiba squirm

anyways. not only as mentioned above is she the first woman to make kaiba squirm, but she was by all means going to beat him if not for the millennium rod's millennium interference. yami marik admits that she's a strong duelist with a strategy that's been working for literal years-- and given that she's not like, a professional duelist, thats pretty impressive

she also recently got some really cool meta bumps and let me point out that an "ishizu deck" now includes obelisk the tormentor-- which we knew she had prior to giving it to kaiba, but i think it only solidifies my opinion that she very much could wield an Egyptian God Card, an exclusive little club for top tier duelists

as a character she presents herself with an amazing amount of poise and grace, shes compassionate and kind and stays with mai and serenity even though she only just met them. shes struggling through living the past 5 years of her life drowning in guilt for her family's tragedy just because she wanted to make her little brother happy and shadi is a fucking liar. shes foretold her own death and marches towards it grimly but with so much love in her heart. and even then shes 20 years old and holds an important position in the egyptian government that typically requires a doctorate degree AND has been dealing with mariks off-and-on bullshit entirely by her lonesome. she also likes to flex her fortunetelling a little which is awesome i think she should do that more that scene where she tells the guy exactly how the stele is being transported was so everything

speaking of shes got such an attitude. "is it your destiny to waste my time?" iconic. never seen before will never be seen again. watch the duel between her va and joeys its so fucking funny

shes excult. shes doesnt flinch in the face of god nor death. seto kaiba and yami marik respect her. shes so sad and so sweet and battle city couldnt have happened without her.

also her parallels with kaiba are what motivate kaiba to give yugi the card he needed to beat marik.

kaiba, in duelist kingdom, was ready to jump off a ledge if yugi didnt let him through to face pegasus while trying to save mokuba out of sheer desperation to save his little brother. he KNOWS what that dedication feels like and the iron kind of will you need to have to make that kind of gamble. isis is being so fucking legit with what shes saying and he respects that and her judgement enough to change his mind and not only watch the duel, but give yugi a card that eventually helps him win, even if he has no real confidence in the odds. but theres a CHANCE, which is the same thing he taught her when he beat her in a duel. the layers its her faith that moves him to act. which is so crazy

anyway vote isis shes my best friend forever and a real rep for all the 20 year olds who honest to god did not sign up for this bullshit

Aki Izayoi

An abuse victim who isn't the perfect passive figure but gets to work through her complicated feelings about power, agency, and family. Even with Yusei's help, she is the star of the show when she learns to control her powers and reconciles with her father, it is so fun that a ygo heroine gets to take such an antagonistic role bu not be shamed for her anger

please vote for my main girl, aki izayoi. aki was led to believe she was a monster from a young age by her father, who treated her powers like it made her unworthy of love. as a result, divine was able to swoop in and take advantage of aki's low self esteem. for years, aki believed herself unworthy of love and was molded into a living weapon at the hands of authority figures in her life. she was taken advantage of, and thus when she finally comes face to face with yusei, she refuses to believe he could provide her with unconditional friendship. who would want to be around a monster, after all?

aki also nearly beats yusei TWICE in a duel, bringing it down to a single turn difference. she comes toe to toe with him, and it truly is the result of who dueled better. she remains a fierce duelist, btw. the second season, aki gets her duel runner license, and immediately nearly beats the ass of a tournament winning turbo duelist - to the point where once again, a single card is the deciding factor. that's right: she nearly won. if not for a single trap card, aki izayoi would've won.

a fierce duelist who was shaped into a loving, caring woman despite years of being beaten down by the world: aki izayoi. vote for her now on your phones.

[the-badger-mole]

To Tell the Truth...

Sokka was against it from the beginning. As soon as they spotted the stall, Sokka tried to steer his friends away from it. Especially his sister. Specifically his sister.

"Come on," Katara insisted. "What harm could it do?"

"It's a waste of money!" Sokka threw his hands up in frustration. "It's going to be Aunt Wu all over again."

"Aunt Wu didn't charge," Katara said. "She was also right. And besides, this isn't that expensive. Especially not since Mr. Moneybags here gave us access to the coffers." Katara grinned at Zuko and nudged him in the ribs. He'd shown them where his father had kept a supply of money in his office at the Ember Island beach palace. A combination of spite and an eagerness to make his new friends happy led him to be very generous with it's use.

"We might need to save that for later," Sokka groaned. "And you say I'm impulsive."

"It's a copper piece for each fortune," Suki pointed out. "That wouldn't even dent our grocery budget."

"Well count me out," Sokka folded his arms and glare at the ground. "The last time I went to one of these crackpots, she said that I was going to be the cause of my own misery."

"And that was wrong because...?" Katara smirked at Sokka. He just glared back at her.

"I'm not going," he repeated.

"Fine," Katara shrugged. "So you can wait for the rest of us."

"I think I'll pass, too," Zuko said eyeing the dilapidated stall dubiously. "Someone needs to be outside in case this place collapses."

"Fine, spoilsport," Katara scoffed. "So that leaves me, Suki, Toph and Aang."

"Wrong, Sweetness," Toph said. "I'm just fine living in the present, thank you."

"I'm in!" Aang chirped. "I had fun the last time." Sokka snorted and rolled his eyes, but that seemed to be the end of his protests.

Aang went first rushing forward to hand the fortuneteller- an elderly man with yellowing eyes- his payment. He motioned Aang into the back of the stall wordlessly. The reading took less than five minutes, and when Aang reemerged, he looked uncharacteristically subdued.

"What happened?" Sokka asked. "What that guy say." Aang's eyes went wide for a moment and shot a sideways glance at Katara.

"Well, he...er...he said..." Aang stammered. "I mean, it was bunch of nonsense, anyway. I think you were right Sokka. That guy's a quack. Maybe we should just go."

"No way!" Suki said emphatically. "Who cares if he's not the real deal. It's all in good fun."

"Waste of money and time," Sokka grumbled. Suki and Katara exchanged looks and rolled their eyes. Suki took her turn next. She paid and followed the fortunteller into the back room.

"What did he tell you?" Katara asked Aang. "Was it really so bad?" Aang looked at her and his face went bright red.

"It's not that important," he said. "It's just...he...he said that... I need to grow up?" His friends blinked in surprise.

"That's all?" Toph snorted. "Of course you need to grow up. You're 12."

"Yep," Aang chuckled nervously. "Like I said...a quack." Toph raised her brow at him.

"What else did he say?" she asked. Aang swallowed hard and looked around at his friends nervously. His eyes landed on Katara and he immediately looked downward. He was spared from answering by the reappearance of Suki.

Where Aang had been troubled by his reading, Suki looked positively delighted. She didn't wait for her friends to ask.

"He said that I am going to be an international name," she told them. "That I'm about to have a very big success soon, and it will catapult me into fame."

"I didn't know that was something you were interested in," Sokka said. "But I'm not surprised."

"Don't you get it?" Suki asked. "What...big event do we have coming up very soon that we want to succeed in?"

"You know that guy is just trying to tell you what you want to hear, right?" Sokka rolled his eyes again. "He just said something vague and positive so you'd fill in the blanks with whatever you want it to mean."

"He didn't do that with Aang," Suki pointed out. "And even if he's not the real deal, isn't it nice to hear that we're going to have a win? Especially after that play?"

"Yeah," Sokka scoffed. "Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy to hear some whack job predicting fame and fortune."

"He didn't say fortune," Suki said, shrugging.

Katara went last. She paid the fortuneteller and followed him into the backroom. It was as dark and stuffy as she anticipated, but the furnishings were much nicer than she expected. There were red and gold silk hangings all around the small space, making it feel even closer. A brass lamp hung overhead, the fire burning inside of it cast intricate, flickering shadows all around. The incense was just a touch too strong for such a small space, and it almost immediately made Katara dizzy. She sat at the low table on the surprisingly plush cushions while the fortuneteller settled in on the other side. The flickering lights made his already aged face look even more ancient. His eyes, dark and unnervingly still, fixed on her. His face remained expressionless, which unsettled Katara further.

"Um...d-do I ask you a question or-"

"You can," the fortuneteller said.

"Alright," Katara said. "Um...I guess...I want to know if me and my family will be okay."

"That's a broad question." The fortuneteller's mouth hardly seemed to move as he spoke. It was a trick of the dim light, Katara decided firmly.

"It's the one I want answered," Katara said. The man's face didn't change, but suddenly he seemed amused.

"I suppose that's not completely a lie," he said. Katara was taken aback at that. She didn't have time to respond. "Your family will be fine for the most part. There will be a lot of things to mend and rebuild in your near future, but the ones closest to you will be there to help."

Katara breathed a sigh of relief, even as her brother's assertions of fraud echoed in her mind. It was comforting to hear from the fortuneteller, regardless. She thought that was the end. She started to stand up when the fortuneteller's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

"What are you-"

"I have one more word of caution and a gift for you," the fortuneteller said. "First, the caution. You are very dishonest, Katara."

"How did you know my name?" she demanded. The fortuneteller went on as if he hadn't heard her.

"You use dishonesty to protect the people around you. You lie to yourself, too, and it will only lead to future heartbreak for you and those who rely on you. And now, a gift. Until the sun rises again, it is yours."

"What?" Katara stared at him. "What gift? What are you talking about? How did you know my name?" The fortuneteller sat placidly at the table. He was no longer holding Katara's arm. It hardly seemed like he'd moved at all. A shudder ran down Katara's spine, and she rushed from the stall. Her friends were immediately concerned.

'What happened in there?" Sokka demanded.

"I got my fortune read," Katara said, taking a shaky breath in.

"Are you alright?" Zuko asked. Katara nodded.

"I'm fine," she assured her friends. "It was just...very stuffy in there. His incense was too strong."

"Let's get out of here," Sokka said. "We should head home."

When they got back onto the palace grounds, Aang seemed to have bounced back from whatever funk he'd been in. He turned to Katara with a hopeful smile.

"Hey, Katara, do you want to walk down to the beach with me?" he asked. Katara smiled back at him.

"No," she said. She balked in surprise along with her friends.

"A-are you busy?" Aang asked. Katara started to nod uncertainly.

"I'm not busy," she said. "I just don't want to go for a walk with you." Aang was stunned by Katara's bluntness, but Katara was too distracted to notice. The words she'd spoken were her own, but they were her thoughts, and not what she'd meant to say. Her friends looked at her in surprise. She was never that blunt. Not with Aang, anyway.

"Are you alright?" Zuko asked.

"I am," Katara nodded uncertainly. "I just don't feel like walking with Aang."

"What did I do?" Aang asked. He sounded hurt, and his eyes were wide with shock.

"The last time we were alone, you kissed me," Katara said. Around her she heard her friends gasp. "I didn't like it. I'm afraid you're going to try to kiss me again." Why had she said that? Katara's hands flew to her mouth. Her friends had all rounded on Aang, and suddenly they erupted into loud demands and questions. Sokka bore down on him furiously, his voice rising above the others.

"You did what to my sister?" Katara slipped away in the confusion, fleeing for the shelter of the palace. She ran to the kitchen and sat against the door. She hadn't meant to say that. She hadn't planned to tell anyone what happened with Aang on the balcony. Why had it just come out like that? Part of her wanted to go back and calm everyone down, but she was afraid of what else she might say.

(Aang deserved the wrath he was facing).

Katara jumped up, shaking her head of that last thought. What Aang did to her was wrong, but he didn't deserve to face Sokka's wrath. She leaned against the counter in the middle of the room and took several deep breaths. He didn't deserve that...did he?

"Katara?" She spun around and found her friends standing in the doorway. Aang wasn't with them, unsurprisingly, but Katara felt a sting nonetheless.

"Sokka sent Aang to his room," Toph said.

"Are you alright?" Zuko asked.

"No," Katara said honestly. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I didn't mean to say that. I wasn't going to say anything about what happened at the play. It just...came out."

"Good!" Sokka exclaimed. "You should have told me when it happened! I'd have kicked his butt right there!"

"I'm surprised you didn't do it," Toph said.

"I-I couldn't," Katara gripped the counter behind her. The words felt like vomit rising in her throat. She tried to hold them down, but they came spewing out. "I wanted to protect him. I didn't want him to kiss me, but I thought I still had to protect him." What was happening?

"That's not your job," Suki said.

"It is though!" Katara tried clenching her teeth, but they wouldn't stay shut. "He's the Avatar. He's supposed to end the war. I need to make sure he gets there."

"Woah..." Sokka took a step back. "Is that what you've thought this whole time?"

"Yes!" Katara was frantic. "I can't stop saying what I'm thinking! Why can't I stop?" Her distress finally registered with her friends. They froze, uncertain what to be most concerned about at the moment.

"Katara," Suki ventured first. "Are you feeling sick?"

"No," Katara shook her head. "I just can't stop myself from saying whatever's in my head."

"What do you mean?" Toph asked. "Like you can't lie?" Katara shook her head. Her entire body was quaking now.

"I don't know what's happening to me," she said. Her friends watched her quietly for a moment.

"Did that fortuneteller guy do something to you?" Zuko asked. Katara looked up sharply and gasped.

"The gift," she said.

"What?" Sokka leaned forward. "What gift?" Katara told her friends exactly what had happened during her reading. The fortunetellers positive prediction. How unsettled she'd felt in the claustrophobic room. How he'd reached out to grab her before she left and spoke about how she was being dishonest.

"Then he told me he was giving me a gift," she concluded. "He said I'd have it until sunrise. Did-do you think he...had something to do with this?"

"No!" Sokka said firmly. "No way! It's one thing to say that guy can predict the future, but a truth spell?"

"Well, how else do you explain it?" Katara asked. "It's either he did something, or I'm losing my mind!" Sokka stared at her for a long while, mouth opening and closing uselessly.

"We don't know that anything's actually wrong with you," Suki said. "You spilled the beans about Aang kissing you without your permission. It's clearly been bothering you. Maybe him asking you to be alone with him again set you off."

"There's one way to test that theory," Toph pointed out. Katara leaned forward eagerly.

"What is it?"

"Tell us the truth, Katara," Toph's mouth turned into a wicked grin. "What do you really think about Zuko?"

For a moment nothing happened. For a split second Katara started to relax. Then she felt the words rising into her throat again. The thoughts that she intended to keep to herself prickling the back of her tongue, threatening to gag her if she didn't let them out. She tried to trap them with her teeth, but then she glanced at Zuko, with that adorably confused look on her face, and she knew she was going to lose this fight.

But at least now she knew what was going on. She'd find a way to make Toph pay later.

[empressofthesunwriter]

Yin and Yang: Book 1.14

Balance is a key aspect in the world, so why shouldn’t the Avatar have an opposite?

In a world where Raava and Vaatu merge with humans, the Avatar and the Daimon try to keep the peace between the four nations.

Aang and Hua are the current incarnations, but wake up 100 years in the future.

How will these two learn all four elements in one year and defeat the Fire Lord?

Book 1.14: The Fortuneteller

Water. 

Earth. 

Fire. 

Air. 

Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. 

Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. 

Only the Avatar and Daimon, masters of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed them most, they vanished. 

A hundred years passed, and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar and Daimon, an airbender named Aang and an earthbender named Hua. 

And although his airbending and her earthbending skills are great they have a lot to learn before they’re ready to save anyone. 

But I believe Aang and Hua can save the world.

***

Sokka was surrounded by turtleducks.

Let him rephrase this.

Too trusting, bright-eyed turtleducks surrounded him.

Ever since the Mask-Guy, he refused to call him Blue like the others, Katara and the youngest followed the masked man around, well, like turtleducks!

They asked him questions, interacted with him and tried to make him feel a part of the group.

Sokka was going to go insane.

How could his sister and his friends be so chummy with someone who didn’t show his face and only answered with nods or a shake of his head?!

His instincts told him behind the blue mask was the enemy, but whenever he tried to talk to Katara or Hua or Aang they just waved it away.

At least they found out something about the vigilante.

Not enough that Sokka could pinpoint who could be under the mask, however, it painted a picture of a young man, who didn’t think things really through, who leapt before he jumped and was moody as hell!

Vigilant tried to be friendly, yet you could see how he struggled.

Sometimes it seemed he was ready to explode.

Especially when Sokka himself asked him questions.

Other than the turtleducks, Sokka had asked him uncomfortable things like if he was Fire Nation.

Sadly he didn’t get an answer because Katara screeched how he could even think that their new friend was Fire Nation if he had saved Hua and Aang from them!

That had been a bummer.

However, when he asked Vigilanten if his socks smelled and held them under his nose, the other man's reaction had been priceless.

He seemed to gasp for air and was ready to murder him.

Ha, take that mask-dude!

It was so worth it, even if Katara hit him over the head with the ladle.

Anyway, Sokka was the only one who mistrusted the vigilante and he would prove this to his young and dumb turtleducks.

The other man would not see what was coming for him!

***

Zuko had many regrets in his life, but playing friends with the Avatar and Daimon and their friends might be his biggest.

The water tribe boy, Sokka he learned, was clearly into him, asked him all kinds of exposing questions, if he wasn’t careful and let him smell his rotten socks.

For a second he had wanted to light on fire the water peasant, yet he could restrain himself.

He had a mission to accomplish.

A mission that seemed annoying beyond belief and he had been with them for only a night and day!

The Avatar, Aang was his name, asked him all kinds of random questions, like if he liked vegetables, if he ate meat if he would try the vegetarian lifestyle, where he got his mask and then he just babbled a lot of things to Zuko that made his head twirl.

Aang told him stories from his life at the air temples and…well it painted a picture that Zuko didn’t like.

He learned from his tutors how the Air Nomads had been a crazy cult, with blood rituals and all that, who had a large army, ready to attack the Fire Nation. That’s why his great-grandfather had attacked them first, to save their nation.

Nonetheless, the way Aang talked about his culture made the air nomads out of spiritual people, who respected humans and nature and liked to prank each other.

The banished prince just couldn’t wrap his head around it.

Why would his nation say, air nomads were a crazy warmonger cult, when the last airbender was so bubbly and friendly and told him about the many pranks he played with his friends and mentor?

No, it made not at last sense.

And Zuko didn’t like this.

Even more so when the Daimon, her name was Hua, remembered Aang's stories or was part of it.

Two people from 100 years ago against all the history he learned.

What was the truth?

Was it even important if his only goal was to get Aang and Hua to the Fire Nation to restore his honour?

No! Screamed a loud part of him, however a smaller voice, one he had tried to ignore his whole life, begged him to think and listen.

He decides for now to ignore and humour Aang.

Hua was nice company and had healed his shoulder. She didn’t talk much about the past, only when Aang brought it up, but talked about banal things and his shoulder.

She had been shocked when HE had to explain to her, with a lot of nods and shakes and gestures, that legends said female Daimons had the ability to cure wounds and sickness with water.

Since then, she regularly every two hours gave him a healing session.

Neither of them knew how it worked, Hua was making it up on the go, nonetheless, his shoulder felt each time better.

If this would go on for a few more days, he would be ready to take Aang and Hua with him.

And then there was the water tribe girl, Katara.

She was so thankful that he brought Hua and Aang back to her, her words, and she would cook him something special.

After the soup from last night, she made a delicious stew with komodo-chicken, and he nearly wanted to cry.

She was an amazing cook.

Also, he noted how Katara clearly was the clue, the mother, who held these people and their three animals together.

Sokka might say he was the leader, but Zuko saw with his own eyes, how Katara took care of anyone.

She cooked, she cleaned, she was a shoulder to cry on and she was the strict parent who remembered the others of their chorus.

Well, besides Hua.

Hua helped Katara without her input and remember her chorus, the two males needed to get set fire under their butts.

Aang mostly wanted to be a dumb kid, while Sokka wanted to prove his manliness.

It was so stupid in Zuko's eyes.

On his ship, male or female anybody had their chorus and did them diligently. 

No one slacked around.

If Katara and Hua didn’t give Sokka and Aang sometimes a metaphorical kick in the butt, they wouldn’t move.

If Katara was the mother, Hua was the big sister.

He would never admit it out loud, but seeing Katara, Hua and Aang together train in their elements had been…really beautiful.

First, they had worked all three on water, then Aang and Hua on air then earth and now the Daimon showed the Avatar the first steps in firebending.

A voice inside Zuko, who sounded like Uncle Iroh, burned to give them tips. 

They only had a scroll and what Hua learned from practice and error, they needed someone to tell them their stances were all wrong, however, he couldn’t for a lot of reasons.

Manly, he couldn’t give away he was a firebender, also helping train the Avatar and Daimon in their elements was surely treason and Zuko wanted to go back home, not end up on the Boiling Rock!

So he was a silent observer.

Sometimes Jaiyi, the kyuubi and Momo, the lemur, came up to him for pets or to beg for food.

Strangely it made him remember how he had fed the turtleducks with his mother.

So he couldn’t resist giving them something.

For that, he earned an amused smile from Katara, which made him note, how she was actually a pretty girl.

Then he kicked himself mentally thinking his enemy was pretty.

The blood loss he had experienced and Aang's nonsense stories made him think weird things.

Yes, this was it.

Whatever, they had finished currently breakfast, some Water Tribe dish, salted fish and rice with vegetables, which the prince still was surprised he enjoyed as Katara suddenly stood up and pointed at the lake they had camped.

“Look!”

It’s a fish, a se tu, who leaps into the air, facing the group in mid-jump before landing in the water again.

Somehow this pisses off Sokka.

“He is taunting us! You are so going to be dinner!”

He grabs his fishing pole from his tent set up nearby and attempts to cast the pole into the water unsuccessfully.

“Hey, where's the fishing line?”, wonders Sokka.

“Oh, I didn't think you would need it, Sokka.”, tells him Aang sheepish, holding up an intricately woven necklace decorated with a red flower.

“Why would you think that?”, asked Hua with crossed arms. “With what are we going to catch fish now? With our minds?!”

“Ha, good one Hua!”

“I’m not joking Aang.”

Stupified the Avatar blinks at her, while Zuko fights off the urge to facepalm and Sokka bemoans how his fishing line was all tangled.

“Not tangled. Woven!”, the Avatar explains, if it would make the whole situation better. “I made you a necklace, Katara. I thought since you lost your other one …”

He pauses in mid-sentence and displays the necklace, holding it between his hands as he flashes a toothy grin.

As if they had agreed on it Zuko and Hua side-eye each other, as Jaiyi yips in deadpan.

Of course.

It was because of Katara.

Zuko had needed exactly only three hours with them to note how the Avatar crushed on the (beautiful) waterbender.

From all the stories and legends he read about Avatar and Daimon, it surprised him how Aang and Hua weren’t all over each other.

They have been soulmates since the beginning of time.

Of course, he read about Avatar Kyoshi and Daimon Tian Kuo, who had just stayed friends, but they had been one of the expectations of the universal rule.

How the Avatar and Daimon were half of the same soul and drawn to each other.

Why this here was not the case astonished him.

Katara approaches Aang, taking the necklace and thanking him.

Sarcastically Sokka tells the Avatar: “Great, Aang. Maybe instead of saving the world, you can go into the jewellery-making business.”

“I don't see why I can't do both.”, he grins, as Sokka starts to fight the fish,  and turns to Hua. “I have something for you too.”

Not only Hua was surprised, but the whole world stopped for a second, beside Katara who was like finally.

“Oh, what do you have?”, mumbled Hua with a cute blush.

Smiling Aang takes her hand and pulls out a little bracelet made out of pink flowers.

“That’s for you, I know how much you like pink and cherry blossoms are pretty.”

“Thanks, Aang, that’s super nice of you.”

The two smile at each other and ah, there was the legendary wordless connection Avatars and Daimons shared.

Aang might have a big crush on Katara, but he was at least attracted to Hua.

And she seemed attracted to him too.

And Katara.

Zuko had noted that she was bisexual at least. She stared quite often at Katara's breasts. (And no! It didn’t mean he had stared too, he had manners!)

Huh, it was kind of funny how the two soulmates who ever soulmated had a crush on the same person. 

Only one was keeping her feelings for herself, while the other really thought a fourteen-year-old would like a twelve-year-old.

Smiling Hua puts her bracelet on and shows it to Blue.

He gives her a tiny nod, which she interprets as it’s pretty.

Then Katara calls out: “So, how do I look?”

All beside Sokka, who still fights the fish, turn to her.

Aang and Hua have the most reaction, both blush up a storm, looking at Katara in one of awe and amazement.

Even Zuko has to gulp quietly.

It seems like all around the waterbender was coloured with shades of pink and purple, sparkles of light glistening every now and then.

She was smiling sweetly, blushing slightly with one hand behind her back and the other touching her necklace in a pose.

“You mean, all of you or just your neck?”, stutters Aang nervous. “I mean, because both look great!”

Hua just nods rapidly.

Finally, Sokka catches the fish and can’t help to tease Aang for his stupid little crush.

Yes, even he noticed it.

“Smoochie, smoochie, someone's in love!”

He makes kissing noises before the se tu breaks free from his grasp, slapping Sokka in the face with its tail and disappearing under the water.

Poor Aang stutters more as Katara goes for the kill. She can’t make Aang think that she has feelings for him. His crush on her needed to die yesterday and he should fall in love with Hua, how it was supposed to be.

Also, they are super cute together!

“Stop teasing him, Sokka. Aang's just a good friend. A sweet, little guy! Just like Momo.”

The lemur has landed on Aang's shoulder and Katara pets him.

Disappointed Aang thanks her.

Sokka emerges empty-handed from the lake, soaking wet and cross. 

Momo suddenly flies off Aang's shoulder upon hearing a loud noise in the distance. 

He leaps onto a rock followed by Aang, who observes the scene. He points to the source of the commotion.

“Someone's being attacked by a platypus bear!”

They all start running.

They find a way to calm man who dodges the swipes of the platypus bear like nothing.

“Well, hello there!”, the calm man greets them friendly. “Nice day, isn't it?”

“Make noise! He'll run off!”, advises Aang.

“No, play dead! He'll lose interest!”, yells Sokka.

The bear swings its claws only to miss striking the man once again.

“Whoa, close one!”, laughs the calm man bemused.

“Run downhill!”, begins Katara.

“Then climb a tree!”, adds Hua.

“No, punch him in the bill!”, shouted Sokka.

“And then run in zig-zags!”, finished Aang.

“No need, it's going to be fine!”

Having enough of this stupid idiot our masked prince gets his swords out and makes a loud screeching noise with them.

All have to hold their ears, so terrible it was.

Luckily the platypus bear didn’t like it either lays a large, spotted egg and escapes the scene, swimming down the river.

“Next time a warning!”, mutters Sokka to Mask-Boy, before he picks happy up the egg and then turns to the calm man: “Lucky for you, we came along.”

The calm man just well calmly responds: “Thanks, but everything was already under control. Not to worry. Aunt Wu predicted I'd have a safe journey.”

“Aunt who?”, asks Aang.

“No, Aunt Wu.”, corrects the calm ma. “ She's the fortuneteller from my village. Awful nice knowing your future.”

Katara looks off to the side as she ponders this.

“Wow, it must be. That explains why you were so calm!”

“But the fortuneteller was wrong!”, reminds Sokka. “You didn't have a safe journey; you were almost killed!

Hua nods in agreement and Zuko quietly in his head agrees too.

The calm man would have been platypus bear lunch if it weren’t for him.

“But I wasn't! All right, have a good one!”, he bids them farewell and begins to walk away only to turn back again. “Oh, and Aunt Wu said if I met any travellers to give them this.”

He hands Aang a wrapped parcel containing a long, thin object and leaves mysteriously. 

Sokka, Hua and Zuko behind his mask eye the man suspiciously.

This was too much cryptic nonsense for their ears.

“Maybe we should go see Aunt Wu and learn our fortunes.”, suggests Katara excitedly. Seems like one like this cryptic nonsense. “It could be fun.”

“Oh, come on. Fortune telling is nonsense!”, said Sokka loud and clear.

“I’m with Sokka, it's just a scam.”, added Hua. “They tell you what you want to hear. If someone could really see into the future they would be powerful!”

Blue agreed with a simple nod.

Meanwhile, Aang quickly unwraps the mysterious parcel, which turns out to be a red umbrella. He opens it and holds it over his head.

“What do you know? An umbrella!”

At that moment, the sky darkens and it begins to rain. A low rumble of thunder can be heard. Katara bends an arched shield of water over her head to shelter herself from the weather. Hua copies her, shielding also Sokka and Blue.

“That proves it!”, tells them Katara, now under the umbrella.

“No, it doesn't! You can't really tell the future!”, argues back Sokka.

“If it wasn’t for Hua, you would be wet by now.”, sasses Katara back.

Suddenly Sokka loses his grip on the platypus egg as it flies through the air. 

He attempts to catch it, however, it merely flies a few feet into the air and lands on his head, cracking and causing the egg to run down his face.

Thankful Hua cleans him with some of the rainwater before she shields them again.

Then a discussion breaks out between Team Avatar-Daimon if they should go into the fortuneteller town.

Zuko stays silent observers.

In the end, Sokka and Hua only agree because Katara reminds them they need more supplies since Blue is now with them.

Secretly Zuko was pleased.

Maybe he could manage to slip away from them for a few minutes, find a Hakwery and send messages to his uncle.

This was something Zuko wouldn’t admit also out loud, but he loved and cared for his uncle.

He knew Uncle Iroh must be already sick with worry over him.

He has been missing for a good two days.

Yeah, so better go into the crazy fortuneteller town and try to send him a message.

***

Annoyed Hua had to listen, on their way to the fortuneteller town Makapu, how Sokka and Katara squabbled over if the fortunetelling was real or not.

She was on Sokka's side, she didn’t believe in this mumbo-jumbo, so she said nothing and continued to shield herself Sokka and Blue from the water.

She was proud of herself for how she could do something like this now and walk.

Sokka then pretended to predict the future, saying how it was still going to rain, but, of course, it stopped then.

Aang told him how not anyone had this gift.

Whatever.

They were finally in Makapu and Blue put a hood over his head.

Katara and she had repaired the shirt she had cut open and added a hood at Blue's request since he was a wanted man by the Fire Nation.

You could never know if someone was a Fire Nation spy or just wanted the ransom which was surely on his head.

Before they could walk up to Aunt Wu's house, Blue tried to tell them something.

It took them some creative charade playing, however, they got how Blue hadn’t any interest in fortunetelling and would take a stroll around the town.

Katara was sad, she had wanted all her friends to have a reading, yet if Blue really didn’t want she would let him.

So they split up.

As they reached finally Aunt Wu’s house a strange man calmly welcomed them with: “Aunt Wu is expecting you.”

Together Sokka and Hua roll their eyes at Katara's excitement.

This was all for the show, didn’t she realise?

The quartet walks through the doorway, Sokka and Hua expressing their disgust. 

They enter a room, with four pillows situated on the floor to the right of the room. 

The strange man closes the front door. 

A young girl walks into the room clad in a pink kimono and wearing her hair in braids that stick out from the sides of her head.

“My name is Meng and I'm Aunt Wu's assistant.”, introduced the girl and suddenly gasped.

She has a twinkle in her eyes Hua knows too well. Couriers she follows Meng's sight of the eye and lands on Aang.

What?!

Something inside her which sounds like a thousand voices start to hiss and growl.

“Well, hello there.”, formally purrs Meng in Aang's direction.

Only Aang disinterested hello, calms the hissing and snarling voices in Hua.

What was going on?!

The group sits down as Meng plays perfect host: “Can I get you some tea or some of Aunt Wu's special bean curd puffs?”

“I'll try a curd puff.”, brightens Sokka up at getting food.

Meng holds up an index finger in a gesture, her eyes never leaving Aang, saying to Sokka just a moment.

The Daimon has the urge to bite off the finger of this girl, even more so, as Meng kneels down beside Aang and gets really close to him.

She clearly tries to hit on him with the whole our names rhyme things and Hua wants to kick her ass.

It doesn’t help how the thousand and thousand voices in her head snarl and hiss.

Mine!

Stay away from them!

That’s MY yang!

Bitch I  will scratch your eyes out!

Was…was she jealous?

Since when was she jealous?!

When Aang had his little fanclub in Kyoshi she didn’t react this way nor was she angry that Aang crushed on Katara.

The way this Meng made come out the jealous girlfriend in her, was not normal!

Hua bet this was her past lives who had been together with their Avatar and now trowed a hissy fit.

Well, Hua would ignore them. Aang was her friend and nothing more.

Still, as Meng left them to get them the tea and food she was quite happy.

“I can't believe we're here in the house of nonsense.”, grumbled Sokka.

“Try to keep an open mind, Sokka. There are things in this world that just can't be explained.”, lectured Katara. “Wouldn't it be nice to have some insight into your future?”

“It would be nice to have some bean curd puffs.”

“Ditto and some tea too.”, agrees Hua.

This earns her a strange look from Katara.

“Hua, are you alright?”

“Yeah, why?”

“It’s just something in your voice…”

The waterbender trails off as Meng with a tray walks towards Aang with a besotted look in her eyes.

Hua feels her and her past lives hackle rise.

Suddenly Meng trips; Aang attempts to help her recover, accidentally holding her hands in his in the process. 

The two stare at each other for a moment; Meng blushes.

They two then hear a growl and turn to a Hua who looks like fury incarnated, with blazing orange eyes and a snarling face.

“Be more careful, girl!”, hiss a thousand voices from Hua's mouth.

Aang looks stupified at his other half, Sokka raises an eyebrow, and Meng looks ready to faint, as Katara puts her hands on the Daimon's shoulder to calm her down.

“Hua, it’s okay.”, she cooes at her best friend and gives her a big cheek kiss.

This gets Hua out of Daimon State.

Embarrassed how she had lost her nerves, Hua grips a mug of tea and gulps it down without looking anyone in the eye

Oh Spirits, what was going on with her?!

Did she really enter Daimon State because of some Floozy, who made pretty eyes at Aang?

Okay, she needed to get a hold of herself and tell her past lives to chill.

Aang would stay her friend and nothing more.

Her past lives whined at this.

Hua ignored them.

While she had her crisis, Meng left and Aunt Wu entered to welcome them and ask them who wanted to go first.

It’s Katara.

So the three stay in the waiting room, Hua drinking tea after another, while Sokka eats the puffs.

“Mm, not bad, not bad!”, states the water tribe boy.

He holds the bowl out to Aang and Hua.

The Avatar declines, while the Daimon puts some in her mouth, still not looking at anyone.

“So, what do you think they're talking about back there?”, wonders Aang.

“Boring stuff I'm sure.”, answers Sokka casually, biting into a puff. “ Love, who she's going to marry, how many babies she's going to have.”

Aang agrees nervous before he proclaims to go to the bathroom.

Finally, Hua looks up.

She knows Sokka would not ask her why she got into Daimon State since it was mambo-jumbo for him, so they could talk.

“This is all so stupid.”, she mumbles to Sokka. “I can’t believe how eager the others are for this nonsense. We should have gone with Blue.”

“Can’t agree more with you, besides the thing with Mask-Boy.”

“Sokka, do you still think he is some kind of spy?”

“My instincts don’t lie, Hua. Look, the guy refuses to take off his mask, who does this?”

“Maybe someone who got hurt badly by the Fire Nation and has a deformed face?!”

That’s when Aang struts back into the room like a happily peacock.

Okay…what happened now?

“Looks like someone had a pretty good bathroom break.”, says Sokka, picking his teeth.

“Yeah ... when I was in there …”

Disgusted, both Sokka and Hua look away and hold up a hand to signal Aang to stop and yell how they don’t want to know.

Aunt Wu with Katara reenters the Room, asking for her next client.

Sokka stans up with a: “Okay, let's get this over with.”

“Your future is full of struggle and anguish. Most of it is self-inflicted.”, tells him Aunt Wu dryer than the desert.

“But you didn't read my palms or anything!”

“I don't need to. It's written all over your face.” 

Sokka resumes picking his teeth in disgust; as Aunt Wu waves Hua over.

“What about you young lady?”

“Oh alright.”

So Hua follows Aunt Wu into her chamber. 

The chamber is a fairly spacious, dimly lit room. 

Four pillars support the ceiling and four cushions are situated in the centre of the room, surrounding a small fire.

Both sit down facing each other.

“What kind of method would you like to see your future…?”

“Hua, my name is Hua.”

“Ah, flower. A pretty name for a pretty girl. It’s said: The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.”

This makes Hua blush pleased.

“Thank you. That’s nice to say to you.”

“No problem, dear.”

“I think, I would like the hand reading the classic one.”

Aunt Wu nods and Hua gives her hand.

The older woman stares at the lines in astonishment.

“I never saw such lines.”, she muttered, but Hua can still hear her. With a finger, she follows a big one. “Your destiny! This is incredible. You will be involved in a great battle, an awesome conflict between the forces of good and evil. A battle whose outcome will determine the fate of the whole world!”

Okay, this was disappointing.

“I’m the Daimon I already know that.”

Stupified Aunt Wu blinks at her.

“Is this all, then I will go.”

“No wait a second, here is something which will help you on your journey.”

Aunt Wu strokes over another line and explains: “This is the love line. You are destined to love a lot of people and carry them in your heart, but you will have someone who will carry you in your darkest times. Who will be your guiding light, your sun, your rock in stormy waters! This love is so potent, so eternal that it will save the world or doom it if you don’t find each other.”

Now Hua blinks.

“Okay, can you tell me more about this mysterious person?”

“You have known each other since the beginning of time, you loved each other in many, many lives. Your stubbornness and his deafness stop you both from being together and creating a love which will change the whole world.”

“Ah, I get it now!”, snaps Hua and takes her hand away. “Because I told you I’m the Daimon, of course, the Avatar is my destiny. I will tell you that I will create my own destiny and love someone because I LOVE them and not because we did it before!”

Dramatically Hua races out of the room, ignoring the calls of her friends and walks the street of Makapu.

She has a lot to think about.

***

Of course, Aang was worried for Hua, she must have gotten a bad prediction, but he needed to hear from Aunt Wu that he truly was destined to be with Katara like she had told the waterbender when he had listened in on them.

So he was disappointed when the bones just told her what he already knew.

“Yeah, yeah, I knew that already. But did it say anything about a girl?”

“A girl? You want to know about love?”

“Yes!”

Aunt Wu purses her lip, she can’t believe she got two times today the same destiny, as she looks at the bone fragments.

“Ah, there it is.”

She picks up a bone splitter.

“It says this crush, this obsession you currently have will doom the world.”

What?!

Aunt Wu tuts him.

Ups, he had yelled this out loud.

“The one your heart belongs to currently is not for you. If you choose her over your real love, something terrible will happen. You will lose a great power within you. You need to let go of your obsession and realize who your heart belongs really. If you do this, you will become even more powerful and create a love which will change the whole world.”

“But…but…”, stutters Aang totally confused. “Very powerful bender….”

The fortuneteller repeats his words before she understands.

“You listened in, in my reading with Miss Katara, didn’t you?! How dare you?! This was a private matter!”, she scolded him harshly.

“But…but…”

“See, this is an obsession, not love! You are so fixed on the idea that Miss Katara is your love that you forget anything and don’t think any more about what’s right and what’s wrong! Young Avatar listen closely, you will doom yourself and more importantly, the world, if you still go this way. And now out!”

He doesn’t let him told be twice.

Aunt Wu was scary when angry.

And she was wrong about him and Katara.

He was a very powerful bender.

He was the one for Katara.

He ignored the thousand voices in him who called him a stupor idiot.

***

Zuko had been fortunet.

Makapu had a Hawkery, who even sent letters to Fire Nation Vessels. So this meant the little town was neutral.

Better for him.

He wrote quickly to his uncle about where he was and his plan and asked for time.

With this, he gave the man the scroll and the hawk was off to go to delivery.

Since he had nothing better to do he walked around town, waiting for the others to be done with their nonsense.

Zuko didn’t believe in fortunetellers, destiny may exist but if you fought hard enough you could change it.

He needed to believe this or he would never return home.

His feet carried him to the marketplace where he found Hua, sitting on some stairs of a random house, sulking.

Silently he joined her.

“Hey Blue.”, she greeted dull. “Had a nice walk?”

He nodded.

“I should have come with you, Aunt Wu was such a waste of time!”

He nodded again.

The Daimon gave him a little smile and then handed him a little notebook and coal pen.

“Here I bought this for you. So you can better communicate with us. Always playing charades must be getting annoying.”

This…Zuko didn’t know how to feel about this. 

It was a really nice gesture, no doubt. Besides his uncle, no one thought about him to make him more comfortable.

And here was this little girl, the Daimon, who just used her money on him.

Something in his stomach felt unpleased.

She and the other thought he was their friend.

Not knowing they had a snake among them.

Suddenly…his plan seemed cruel to him.

But he shook it off.

Nothing was more important than to restore his honour.

“Ah there you guys are.”, they hear Katara call for them.

She and the rest of Team Avatar-Daimon joined them.

“Why did you run away Hua?”, asked Katara her best friend. “Was your prediction so bad?”

“It was stupid and I don’t want to talk about it.”

For that all gave her a look, so Hua searched for something to distract them.

“Oh look, people are gathering let’s check this out.”

And off she was.

The others just looked all at each other, wondering what was with Hua, before Sokka shrugged his shoulder and made a come-follow motion.

Nearly the whole town stands around a pagoda-like structure, staring at the sky.

“What's with the sky?”, wonders Katara.

The calm man they met before was there too and explained: “We are waiting for Aunt Wu to come and read the clouds to predict the fate of the whole village.”

“That cloud kind of looks like a fluffy bunny.”, musses Aang, pointing at it.

“You better hope that's not a bunny! The fluffy bunny cloud forecasts doom and destruction.”

“Do you even hear yourself?”, groaned Sokka in disgust.

“Wow, even more mambo-jumbo.”, added Hua, while Blue nodded in agreement.

These three were so done with this whole town.

“The cloud reading will tell us if Mt. Makapu will remain dormant for another year or if it will erupt.”, tells a village woman.

The calm man smiles. “We used to have a tradition once a year of going up the mountain to check the volcano ourselves. But ever since Aunt Wu moved to the village twenty years ago, we have a tradition of not doing that.”

“I can't believe you would trust your lives to that crazy, old woman's superstition!”, shouted Sokka in disbelief and was shushed by Katara, since Aunt Wu was coming.

Aunt Wu and her guard appear ascending a stairwell. The crowd had formed an aisle to allow for the two figures to pass by. 

Hua stands beside Katara and then Aang, while Sokka and Blue stand behind them. 

Aang and Katara smile widely as Aunt Wu and the guard walk by them. Hua and the two older males, even the one who wears a mask, look unamused.

The crowd is clapping for the fortuneteller. 

Suddenly Meng appears next to Aang. Hua sees this and feels her anger rise again.

What does the Floozy want?!

The girl in the pink Kimono points at the sky, asking Aang if he thinks this cloud looks like a flower, he shoves her away, which pleases Hua greatly, just to ask the same of Katara.

Katara shushes him to listen to Aunt Wu's cloud reading.

The Daimon only pays half attention, till Aunt Wu proclaims that the vulcano isn’t going to destroy the town this year.

The crowd celebrates, while the three skeptics just cross their arms and shake their heads.

What a load of ostrich-horse shit!

“Since I got you here, uh, there's something I want to tell you.”, hears Hua Aang's voice over the cheering crowd. She turns slightly and sees a blushing Aang and a clapping Katara. “I like you, but more than normal.”

Did he just confess?!

And in the middle of a crowd?!

Either he was brave or utterly stupid.

Utterly stupid decided Hua, since she saw for a second how Katara's eye twitched before she played the I-didn’t-hear-anything-card and gripped the Daimon by the hand to run off to follow the fortuneteller.

“Nice played, Katara.”, whispered Hua to her best friend.

Katara made a grimace.

“Spirits, I can’t believe he did that. Even after I compared him to Momo this morning. Why is he so fixed on me?”

“Who knows? Hey maybe you should tell him he is the son you always wanted, maybe that will help.”

“Well, it certainly can’t hurt to try.”

***

A while later Hua joined up with the boys because Katara wanted another reading from Aunt Wu and the Daimon wanted to stay far away from that place.

She finds an interesting scene before her.

Blue actually uses his notebook and shows what he wrote to Sokka.

After the water tribe boy read, he huffed.

“Okay, you may be not so stupid to believe this utter nonsense in this town, but I still got my eye on you, Mask-Dude!”

“Sokka, play nice.”, chest him Hua. “So what’s going on?”

Aang answers her. “Sokka wants to change the minds of the people here.”

This makes Hua blink before she tells in a deadpan: “They are a lost cause, Sokka. Ostrich-Horse learn to fly before they will change their mind.”

“Oh yeah, we will see. It’s time for science with Sokka!”

With that, he walks to his first victim.

The other three stay still, before Blue writes something and shows Aang and Hua.

>>Science with Sokka?<<

“Yeah, we don’t know either.”, tell them the youngest in chor.

Since they have nothing better to do, they follow Sokka around for a while, trying to change the minds of the people of Makapu.

It was going bad.

So bad, that Hua told them she would get herself a snack and Blue joined her.

She wasn’t that hungry, but seeing Sokka lose his mind was scary.

The Daimon bought a for her and Blue a peach, as Katara joined them.

“Hey Katara.”, greeted Hua.

“Hey, Hua, hey Blue.”

“Is this a papaya in your hand? Don’t you hate papayas?”

The waterbender signed loudly.

“Yes, but Aunt Wu said I have to eat one.”

Her best friend wants to answer, but both see how Blue is writing fast something.

He shows it to Katara.

>>You can’t do all that this lady tells you. If she told you, you were going to marry Aang would you do that?<<

Katara makes a face at this, while Hua nods in agreement.

“Katara this is all nonsense, I mean she told me I would end up with Aang and we all know this is not going to happen!”

“Aha! That’s why you ran out!”, pointed Katara in triumph at her.

“Yes, I choose my own destiny and this Daimon is fine without Avatar.”

“But why?”, whines Katara. “You and Aang are actually really cute together. We all know you cuddle to sleep.”

This makes Hua turn into a pepperoni.

“You know?!”

Blue answers.

>>You are not subtle when you drag your sleeping back beside him when you think we sleep.<<

Hua whines, before she turns to her best friend.

“So what did she tell you, that you believe her so much?”

“I’m going to marry a tall handsome powerful bender.”

For that Hua and Blue deadpan at her.

Now Katara was the one blushing.

“What?”

“Katara that’s exactly what we mean by Aunt Wu telling people what they want to hear.”, begins Hua. “Most girls want a tall handsome powerful bender. She would have probably said the same to me if I didn’t blab out that I’m the Daimon. Also, I bet with you if a lesbian goes to her, she will have trouble coming up with a cover story.”

Blue nodded in agreement, while Katara seemed pensive.

Well, if you said it like this…

More time to think she doesn’t have as Aang with Sokka on his glider lands beside them.

They tell them how the volcano was about to erupt and in that moment an explosion was heard and the volcano rumbles violently. Grey smoke is emitting from the peak of the mountain.

They have to warn the people.

Sadly no one wants to listen to them. The villagers to trusting in Aunt Wu's readings.

However, this gives Aang an idea. If they only listened to Aunt Wu, they would make them listen this way.

So he steals himself into Aunt Wu's house, searching for the cloud reading book, as he sees Meng in the reflection of a mirror.

“Oh, I didn't see you there.”, he says arkwark. 

“You don't like me, do you?”, asked Meng sad, her braids drooping down.

“Of course I like you.”

“But not the way I like you.”

“Oh, I guess not.”

“It's okay. It's just really hard when you like someone, but they don't think of you that way.”

Aang casts a sad glance to the side, thinking of Katara. “I know what you mean.”

“She's beautiful, by the way.”

“Huh?”

“That Earth Nation girl. I can see why you like her so much. She's strong, she's a bender, she is the Daimon and her hair seems so manageable.”

…Uh what?!

Aang blushes so red, that you need a new name for it.

“What you think I’m in love with Hua?!”, he shouted shocked, gasping for air. “She is my friend nothing more.”

Meng deadpans at him.

“Your friend? Sure. That’s why she was ready to kill me.”

“That’s a bit extreme…”

“Her eyes glowed and she spoke with a thousand voices!”

“Yeah, this is a Daimon Avatar stuff our past lives want us probably to be together but I like Katara and Hua likes currently no one.”

The girl lets out a sound which clearly says that she doesn’t believe him.

“Here.”, she hands him the cloud reading book. “You searched for this, right?”

“How did you know?”

“I've kind of been stalking you…Heh …”

“Oh, thanks ... I guess.”

Okay, he needs to get out of here!

***

In the end, all went smoothly. 

Aang, Hua and Katara on Appa’s back bend the clouds into the symbol of volcanic doom.

Sokka leads Aunt Wu there when it’s done and finally, the village moves.

The earthbender bends the earth away, while the non-benders shovel a big trench which leads to the river.

Hopefully, it would be enough.

However, it wasn’t.

The trench filled too quickly, and the people of Makapu ran away, while Team Avatar-Daimon stayed to watch.

Then when it’s ready to overflow Aang and Hua bend together in a kind of dance with air the overflowing lava away and cooling it down.

Katara, Sokka and Blue who were the last ones standing were astonished by the feast they created.

“Okay, now I get this whole Yin and Yang thing. These two just stopped a volcano without words.”, tells Sokka.

Katara and Blue nod in agreement.

So this was the power of the Avatar and Daimon.

Beautiful and otherwordly.

It made them all feel really humble.

The village was safe now and the people returned.

Aang handed the cloud reading book back to Aunt Wu. “By the way, we kind of borrowed your book.”

“So you messed with the clouds, did you?”, guessed Aunt Wu angry.

She takes her book back in anger while Katara and Hua look guilty and Sokka smiles and points at them, indicating that they had a part in the cloud manipulation, too.

“Very clever!”, laughs Aunt Wu.

“No offence, but I hope this taught everyone a lesson about not relying too much on fortune telling.”, called Sokka the villagers out.

The calm man just responded with: “But Aunt Wu predicted the village wouldn't be destroyed and it wasn't. She was right, after all.”

Anraged Sokka gets near the Calm man's face and through gritted teeth tells him he hates him.

Katara and Hua each grab a hand of Sokka leading him away, trying to calm him down, as Blue follows them with a shake of his head.

After Aang finish talking with Aunt Wu, he joins his friends on Appa.

Today Katara flow the bison and she said goodbye to the villagers for them and asked Meng to take care.

Never seeing the fake smile and wave from Meng stopped she muttered a: Floozy.

Previous

Next

[feith-rikya]

All these characters are from an RPG campaign called; Gehenna's Gates, set in the world of Vampire The Masquerade

Danya was transformed by Valerian, a Ravnos vampire that worked as a magician in the "Cernabog Circus", because he needed a fortuneteller to work with him. The circus was her first home, and she build a strong bond with Philippe (a Toreador) and Simone (a kid Malkavian). Then they found Luc Gossens (A brujah) almost dead, abandoned by his sire and hunted by the Camarilla. They took him in and they became a coterie.

In the first image, you can see (from left to right) Timotei, the Ventrue head of the circus, ringmaster and massive stingy. Then Luc who took the role as strongman and handyman of the group. Philippe that took care of the choreography, costumes, and the overall aesthetic (sometimes he filled in as an acrobat) Then Danya and Valerian, the assistant and the magician. J.J. A Gangrel that was in charge of all the animals and all the shows with animals. Then Simone who was among others a clown with many facets.

Then in London, the circus was burned down and many of its members were killed. Remaining only Luc, who almost went berserk with pain. Simone was abducted and experimented on by the Camarilla, almost killing her (Arthur saved her but in some way, she was transformed back into a human) Danya lost her sire and the only family she had ever had overnight, leaving her only choice but to turn against Anselm (Who she loved) thinking he was the one behind it all. Then Philippe was abducted by Anselm's men for a while, tortured and abused, leaving him completely unable to talk for a very long time.

But with time they rebuilt their coterie and even made their new family. Luc adopted Simone and begin a relationship with Philippe, while Danya found an even bigger family, a devoted companion, a father figure, and a sister.

Both Luc and Danya will do anything to protect what they have.

[realspacejunk]

The Mismagius you drew is so beautiful! The jewelry, despite being mere accessories, makes them look so unique. Is there any background information on them as a character, or nothing yet?

She works as a fortuneteller in Sahra Town, but she is also the treasurer and the source of information for the "Desert Scars", one of the many child gangs of the city. What kind of fixers and jobs are in town, what jobs to avoid, etc. She is like a big sister to these poor street kids, a moral compass that is otherwise hard to find in the dark alleys and ruthelss slums of Sahra.

[theriu]

River Reads Midnight Sun

Chapter 3: Risk

In which Ed struggles with his Plot-driven feelings and Bella is almost squashed like a bug.

<-Chapter 2

(NOTE: So it occurs to me that I’ve not been clear about how hard Edward has been working to do the right thing these past couple chapters. While he has his faults, Edward and his vampire family have sworn off eating or killing humans, and he very much does NOT want to kill and eat Bella, morally speaking. He’s struggling against unusually strong vampiric urges her smell is setting off in his system, and the question of whether he should run away from his Found Family and avoid Bella for her safety, uproot his whole family from their current home if they choose to go with him, or face and overcome this trial, the face of whom the Plot has unfairly branded onto his brain. Also, Alice and Carlisle have been very supportive yet sensible, and I love them unironically.

Okay, got that off my chest! Now we can get back to mocking the teenage angst!)

So the opening scene of this chapter is genuinely nice, in my opinion. Edward and Dad Carlisle go hunting together (deer, because this family only drinks animal blood), and we get a little review of Carlisle’s concern and understanding a week ago when Ed had to leave (including how he let Ed take his car). Carlisle seems a genuinely good person (and a doctor) who fully supports Ed doing whatever is necessary to stay sane and keep from taking a life, even encouraging him to leave if that’s what it takes (despite how much they would miss him). He checks with Edward that coming back isn’t just about Ed’s pride. He’s even openly willing to go with Ed and start over somewhere else if it will spare a needless death while letting their family stay together. +100 Dad Points, Carlisle gets an award for top tier dadding.

Of course, Ed can’t quite put into words for Carlisle WHY he is now so determined to stay, other than it not being pride anymore. This is probably because it is difficult for a protagonist to describe the irresistible pull of The Plot on his affections and sensibilities. The scene changes as they go gallivanting into the woods, and Ed, now fat and unhappy on deer blood, chills by an icy river and spends more time pondering why he cares so much about this girl and why he is risking her life by staying.

I find it hilarious that HE keeps noting how his feelings make no sense. Why does he care about this girl? What about her draws him to her? Why is he unable to think about anything but her? GREAT QUESTIONS, ED! IF ONLY THE ANSWER WASN’T “YOU’RE IN A PARANORMAL ROMANCE”! The poor boy doesn't know what powers he is truly struggling against, even as he considers such self-aware drivers as his “obsessive curiosity” and “unsatisfied appetite.” However, he DOES decide he is going to follow Carlisle’s advice and leave after one more day, because he DOES want to be responsible and selfless! A fruitless determination, no doubt, but let’s give the guy some credit: That was a valiant effort to resist the unstoppable hands of plot-fate.

When he goes back to the house, he chats with Alice, who once again foresees him planning to leave. She doesn’t want him to, and NOT for romantic reasons but out of genuine sister/friend love. They have a moment of mental movie time watching her highly scattered visions about him, wherein she predicts his life is at a crossroads. He makes a joke about her sounding like a carnival fortuneteller, which is actually a good jab, well done Ed. He and Alice go get ready for school, with her still openly sad that he might leave again and making sure he knows she will miss him if he has to go. ALICE AND CARLISLE ARE REALLY NICE OKAY, HUZZAH FOR LIKEABLE CHARACTERS

Off they go to school! During which drive we learn Rosalie and Emmett are sickeningly in love, which…did NOT seem apparent in the first two chapters. Seriously, they've barely interacted onscreen so far, and Ed only mentioned that Alice and Jasper are a thing, so these two staring adoringly into each others’ eyes felt a bit outta left field. Turns out the other six vamps in this family are paired off in sweet adorable couples and Ed is the self-proclaimed grumpy old man, which amuses me greatly. Of course, Singleness Is Bad, so naturally Ed will find his soulmate, even if The Plot has to ram feelings of attraction for her down his cerebral cortex!

As the others head into school, Ed and Alice hang out by their car to watch Bella drive into the parking lot. Bella is obviously very nervous about snow-driving, which Ed realizes must mean she is Serious and Responsible. Ed finds her worry and Bambi-like clumsiness on the ice endearing, and notes when her snow tire seems to make her emotional. (???) 

Ed is working himself up to possibly go talk to her, which would be unwise and bad probably, when suddenly Alice has a VISION OF DOOM!!! In SECONDS, a van will come careening into the parking lot, and Bella will be CRUSHED LIKE A BUG!!! Woe!!! Calamity!!! Convenient!!! (Seriously, what are the odds someone would have a life-ending car accident in THIS school parking lot with ACTUAL vampire students watching, and of course the target is one vampire’s new obsession? I don’t care what the OC shows have taught us, fatal car accidents on school grounds are NOT common enough for this.)

So Ed ROCKETS into action, SWOOPING her out of the way in the nick of time! But oh no, the van is bouncing back towards them again! He’s risking exposure already, but dangit, this homicidal vehicle shall not take the girl! Edward grabs it and is slammed back, leaving a nice imprint of his shoulders on another car for his trouble. And NOW he’s stuck holding the van up because if he lets go, Bella will probably lose her legs under the tires.

Ed is so done with everything by this point, resulting in my favorite line of the book so far:

“Oh, for the love of all that was holy, would the catastrophes never end?!”

(Dangit, Ed, why can’t you always be this relatable)

Fortunately, between supermanning the van and Bella into safer positions and panicking over Bella having bonked her head on the ice, he’s able to resist his homicidal cravings, even when he tucks her neatly against him. Now he notices she is alert and seems mostly okay aside from the head bonk. To his consternation, however, she immediately asks how the heck he got over here so fast. Ed lies like a professional and badly wants to get her to Carlisle, who has ACTUAL medical experience as opposed to Ed’s “theoretical medical study” (so that answers the question of how useful Ed’s two medical degrees are). 

Despite them lying under two vehicles on ice (and Bella complaining that it’s cold when he won’t let her try and crawl out because she could have a neck injury, which YES THAT IS A REASONABLE CONCERN BELLA), Bella chooses this time to call Ed’s bluff. She is DARN CERTAIN he was OVER THERE and NOT right next to her, and Ed is NOT convincing her otherwise. He finally gets her to shush by promising to explain it later, all the while plotting to use her possible head injury to gaslight the heck out of her and everybody else into believing he was definitely standing right beside her and didn’t practically teleport.

People finally get the van away from the trapped duo, and Ed knows the registered nurse who pops up. He discloses Bella’s head injury to said nurse, and Bella acts BETRAYED, reminding Ed that she likes to suffer in silence, to which I say BELLA, POSSIBLE CONCUSSIONS ARE NOT THE KIND OF SUFFERING YOU DO IN SILENCE!!! The girl needs her head checked in MULTIPLE ways!

As Bella is humiliated over enduring standard medical care after an accident, Ed uses his foot to rearrange the reverse sculpture of his shoulders in the other car. Then Bella’s dad, the chief of police, shows up, justifiably freaked out, and Ed realizes how accurate it was when Alice said killing his only daughter would kill him. (AWW!!!) Ooo, ALSO, Ed notices Charlie Swan’s thoughts are a little hard to read! Not as much as Bella’s, but it seems this cerebral lead lining against mind radar is genetic? And here he thought Charlie was slow in the head! (Ed gets +2 points for noting that HE (Ed) was the slow one for assuming that and never noticing he actually just couldn’t hear Charlie’s thoughts clearly.)

Anyhoo, they get to the hospital, and Ed keeps a mental eye on Bella via the paramedics while he finds Carlisle. He’s ashamed he might have revealed their secret, but Carlisle is just proud of him for doing the right thing and saving the girl’s life. THEY HUG! Carlisle is the BEST, guys!!! 

After a chuckle about the irony that Ed ended up protecting the girl he was afraid he’d hurt (and Ed quietly angsting about how likely he still is to hurt her), Carlisle goes to check on Bella. Ed fidgets and watches Hospital Brainwaves TV for a while, so despite the agonizing wait, he has plenty of entertainment. Tyler, the van driver, is hurt bad and feels horrible that he almost smashed Bella, and won’t stop apologizing. To Ed’s relief, Bella is sticking to the story Edward gave about his standing right next to her, even though Tyler also didn’t see him. Ed hears Bella say his name for the first time, via Tyler’s thought-ears (???), and wishes he could hear it with his own ears! He also notices Tyler thinking about asking Bella on a date to make up for the near-death experience, and that is somehow so VERY dumb and also feels accurate to how some high school guys might think, so I can’t really argue with it. Ed, naturally, continues to struggle with the realization that his understanding of his own emotions is nowhere near as comprehensive as he’s believed for the past century.

Ed and Carlisle soon have a brief chat over Bella’s X-rays; she’s fine, although Carlisle notes how many healed fractures her skull has and jokes about how often her mom dropped her as a baby. (No, the jokes are too easy, I mustn't. He’s already claimed the best one anyway.) Ed goes on ahead to smooth things over with Bella, who is impatiently pretending to sleep in hopes Tyler will stop apologizing. She also manages to be pouty that Ed didn’t also have to endure the humiliation of a stretcher, be impatient about being asked about her head again, and deny to Carlisle that her head bump feels tender. Ed, who isn't at ALL influenced by his inexplicable sense of attraction to this girl, determines that because she doesn't like to show weakness, she is Brave. I might argue that she is showing more signs of being a self-focused pity-partyer who thinks she knows better than medical professionals and has low tolerance for petty annoyances, but who am I to disagree with the male protagonist?

Bella is released to go home with her dad, which she…doesn’t want to do? Is it going home or being with her dad that bothers her? Between being annoyed at Tyler for his understandable (if repetitive) remorse, being annoyed Edward didn’t have to be fussed over by hospital staff like she did, and apparently not wanting to hang out with her clearly concerned father, she isn’t doing the best job of earning that Selfless tag Ed gave her last chapter. She’s also highly embarrassed that, as Carlisle puts it, “most of the school seems to be in the waiting room.” Ed, on the other hand, is pleased he guessed her reaction correctly. (He’s also envious that Carlisle can touch her like a normal person and not be tempted to eat her like Ed is, but he doesn’t make it awkward. Apparently different vampires don't find the same human hyperdelicious, which is definitely a positive.)

Naturally, Bella is determined to talk about what REALLY happened before she goes home. Ed, once again gripped by the struggle of not eating her, agrees to talk it out in private. It’s time for Vampire Gaslighting! He’s determined to be mean and a jerk and make her disbelieve her own senses (despite aching for her to trust him), and then he will disappear from her life forever. It starts out pretty well, with him being cold enough that she drops her tough girl act. However, she’s still pretty dang determined and reveals just how much SUPER WEIRD STUFF she DEFINITELY NOTICED, like him leaving dents in multiple vehicles but being fine as sunshine!

Ed’s getting a bit nervous at this point and doubles down on the dismissive act, but then she startles him by saying she’s not going to tell anyone. Regaining his footing, he wants to know why it matters, then. She says she doesn't like lying, so she’d rather know the reason why she’s lying for him. I’m given brief The Princess Bride vibes as Ed essentially tells her “get used to disappointment.” 

They scowl at each other for a bit, until finally she, once again more annoyed than self-preserving, wonders why he even bothered to save her. To which he gives what he feels is his first honest reply of this conversation: "I don't know." With that, he ends the discussion by walking off dramatically, as one does.

AND SCENE!

I'd say this chapter was more interesting than the last two! Carlisle is a gem, I am ALWAYS down for a positive and supportive dad character and I will fight for this compassionate good-humored doctorpire. The exposition was SLIGHTLY less focused on Ed’s INNER TURMOIL thanks to the action scene, but don’t worry, there was still plenty of inner turmoil. Bella continues to act contrary to the definitions Ed labels her with, although I can kinda respect her refusing to be gaslighted and standing firm on what she knew she’d seen. Despite Ed’s numerous declarations that today would certainly be the last day he sees her, however, I do not hold out much hope for his success.

As we leave this chapter, here’s my recreation of the “small list” Edward is reportedly keeping of Bella’s character traits! I sure can’t wait to see what else gets added in the coming days!

Ed’s Questionable Bella Vocab List:

Advanced (See Also: Intelligent For A Human)

Selfless (See Also: Martyr)

Fascinating (See Also: Interesting, Not Like Other Humans)

Discerning (See Also: Intuitive, Perceptive)

Amusing

Serious

Responsible

Brave

Chapter 4-> (Coming Soon)

[keywcilder]

“Hello Sora.” Greeted Clayr Voiant the elder of the Fortuneteller Sisters as she appears with her cohort, Big Belly the Large Body.

' hey there, clayr! how have you guys been doing lately? ' he greeted her back with a bright smile

[hippiehun420]

-Cured meats near me

-How to date the moon

-How to fight like the Kyoshi Warriors

-Where did my space sword go

-How to not have a lifetime of self inflicted anguish (asking for a friend)

-Is fortunetelling even real

-Names for cute animal creatures

-Boomerang shops near me

-How to get rid of the oogies every time my best friend and sister act lovey-dovey

[friendlyheartless]

"Okay, how're those worlds coming along?" Lucas approached the Fortuneteller sisters with that question.

Cryst and Clayr Voiant of the Fortuneteller Sisters awoke from their meditation and see Lucas approaching. "Oh hello, Lucas." Cryst greeted.

"The worlds seem to be doing just fine." Clayr responded. "No sightings of the True Organization XIII or Maleficent and Pete for that matter."

@the-world-hopper

[theautumnaldemon]

My WoF OCs in a nutshell:

Main cast:

Peach: the sweet, sassy rainwing. Peach and pale green and yellow scales.

Fortuneteller: a stern but vulnerable Nightwing with future vision (all her visions are foggy), and Peach’s girlfriend. She has dark blue scales and pearlescent horns

Avalanche: a spunky Icewing with a love for chaos and his siblings! He is a pearly white color with flecks of silver

North: a cold and calculating, slender Icewing. The oldest of the three siblings. She is grumpy, with pale blue and silver shimmery scales

Permafrost: the tired but sassy step-sister of North and Avalanche, half mud half ice: her body looks like frozen, cracked mud, but her snack has a fluffy white mane and white scales. The wine aunt of the group

[gekidasa]

“Huaisang... are we okay?”

“Of course. We’re friends. Great friends. That won’t change. But you’re still an idiot, and, no matter what, I’m not letting you forget this. Ever. We’ll be old and gray and I’ll be making fun of you for it.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

“So, how are you going to get us out of it?” Nie Huaisang drawls.

“I don’t actually know,” he admits begrudgingly. “It wasn’t supposed to get this far. I don’t suppose you can tell your brother you changed your mind?”

“Are you insane? Your mother would declare a blood feud if I did that. And my brother would do the same if you did. He’d probably kill you.”

He’s right, of course. His mother has never forgiven Jin Guangshan for agreeing to break off the betrothal to his sister. Or Jin Zixuan for that matter. Not that this was anywhere as bad. It hasn’t been announced yet, for one thing. IIf the birthday matching comes out badly, both families will just pretend it never happened.

He sighs. “If the fortuneteller said we’re not a good match, that would solve everything.”

Nie Huaisang gives him a quizzical look. “That’s not a bad idea, actually.”

“What? It’s a terrible idea. We can’t rely on something we can’t control!”

Nie Huaisang laughs. “You could bribe the fortuneteller.”

[bestygogirl]

BEST YGO GIRL: FINAL ROUND

please use this as an opportunity to say why you like a character, not why you don't.

Propaganda under the cut!

Isis Ishtar

gorgeous, very caring sister, strong duelist, and the only woman to ever make Seto Kaiba squirm

anyways. not only as mentioned above is she the first woman to make kaiba squirm, but she was by all means going to beat him if not for the millennium rod's millennium interference. yami marik admits that she's a strong duelist with a strategy that's been working for literal years-- and given that she's not like, a professional duelist, thats pretty impressive

she also recently got some really cool meta bumps and let me point out that an "ishizu deck" now includes obelisk the tormentor-- which we knew she had prior to giving it to kaiba, but i think it only solidifies my opinion that she very much could wield an Egyptian God Card, an exclusive little club for top tier duelists

as a character she presents herself with an amazing amount of poise and grace, shes compassionate and kind and stays with mai and serenity even though she only just met them. shes struggling through living the past 5 years of her life drowning in guilt for her family's tragedy just because she wanted to make her little brother happy and shadi is a fucking liar. shes foretold her own death and marches towards it grimly but with so much love in her heart. and even then shes 20 years old and holds an important position in the egyptian government that typically requires a doctorate degree AND has been dealing with mariks off-and-on bullshit entirely by her lonesome. she also likes to flex her fortunetelling a little which is awesome i think she should do that more that scene where she tells the guy exactly how the stele is being transported was so everything

speaking of shes got such an attitude. "is it your destiny to waste my time?" iconic. never seen before will never be seen again. watch the duel between her va and joeys its so fucking funny

shes excult. shes doesnt flinch in the face of god nor death. seto kaiba and yami marik respect her. shes so sad and so sweet and battle city couldnt have happened without her.

also her parallels with kaiba are what motivate kaiba to give yugi the card he needed to beat marik.

kaiba, in duelist kingdom, was ready to jump off a ledge if yugi didnt let him through to face pegasus while trying to save mokuba out of sheer desperation to save his little brother. he KNOWS what that dedication feels like and the iron kind of will you need to have to make that kind of gamble. isis is being so fucking legit with what shes saying and he respects that and her judgement enough to change his mind and not only watch the duel, but give yugi a card that eventually helps him win, even if he has no real confidence in the odds. but theres a CHANCE, which is the same thing he taught her when he beat her in a duel. the layers its her faith that moves him to act. which is so crazy

anyway vote isis shes my best friend forever and a real rep for all the 20 year olds who honest to god did not sign up for this bullshit

Yuzu Hiragi

The entire show would not work if the cast wasn't obsessed with her, and they're all right to stan her, literally gets Sora and Serena to defect from Academia with her sheer charisma, beat Masumi at their gay little rivalry, Yugo spends a few days with her and is ready to die for her, Yuya is simply just the loudest about adoring her And why not? She is so clever and determined, doing the most work out of anyone to figure out the myth plot. Actively trains to keep up with the rest of cast. Even when the universe is conspiring against her and trying to keep her down, she fucking headbutts Roger and tells him off or manifests to help save the world in the ultimate girlboss team-up that was the Arc V finale. Truly any dimension without her is worth upending.

The mysterious magical bracelet that isekai's her to different worlds, the Can-Do attitude, the cool poses (fusion summoning), the ADORABLE character design, AND she was 1/4 of a world-saving hero in the past?? If it weren't for the meddling writers, she would have been the main character

yuzu is everything. literally the plot of arc v hinges on the fact everyone who meets her become just as obsessed with her. and they are totally right to do so

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Super 076

“Hey, are you new here?”

“Yeah, I’m Dabura.  King of the Demon Realm.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Raditz.  Goku’s evil brother.”

“Hey, that’s really cool.”

“Thanks, but King of the Demon Realm sounds pretty cool too.  I mean, that’s metal as fuck.”

“Sure, but you can’t beat that personal stuff.  The hero’s evil brother?  That is classic stuff.  I wish I was someone’s evil brother.  I mean, I have a sister, but she’s evil too, so it just isn’t the same.  So uh... what’s this all about?”

“Oh, right.  So this is a thing where one of the characters is having a personal crisis, and we’re manifestations of his doubts and fears.”

“Ohhhhhh, I get it.  Well that explains a lot.  I was wondering why were so big.”

I don’t want to complain too much about this episode, because it’s not bad at all, but most of this stuff with the old villains is kind of boring from a liveblogging perspective, since they’re not real and nothing they do actually matters.  This is mostly continuity porn, where we see Goku and Krillin do some old moves and we get some flashbacks to all three of Krillin’s death scenes, plus some of the other times he got worked over. 

Also Bulma shows up for... some reason?  I know Krillin sometimes acts like he’s more scared of Bulma than the bad guys, but I’m pretty sure he’s not being entirely serious when he says that.  If this forest is supposed to be a manifestation of his insecurities, then I don’t understand what this is. 

Anyway, the reason this is happening is because Master Roshi sent Goku and Krillin to this spooky magic island to get him some “herbs”, but it’s pretty clear this is some sort of tough love mission to help Krillin get his shit together.  Fortuneteller Baba provides her crystal ball so Roshi can monitor their progress remotely.  Wait, they put the crystal ball in front of Baba’s hat, so now it looks like its floating behind her instead of in front of her.  Oh well.

Also, 18 and Marron show up to find out what’s going on, and they watch the crystal ball too.  Marron doesn’t understand what’s happening, so 18 tells her that Krillin is fighting “himself”, which is true enough, I suppose.

So at first it looks like fighting the phantoms is all they have to do.  Goku has to talk Krillin into it, but once they attack together, they all seem to vanish.  Nice of them to put Bulma and Vegeta in the same shot like this.

But Krillin gets frustated with how much Goku’s enjoying this.  He flips out and tells Goku that he’s not having fun, because he got hurt and sometimes killed against all of these guys.  So reliving it all is not fun for him at all. 

They also can’t just leave, because the island sprays purple smoke from some flowers, and the brambles around them extend up into the air.  Also the phantoms come back.

They also get a lot bigger this time.  Krillin and Goku get separated, and Goku turns Super Saiyan 3 to fight off the bad guys, but then they get even bigger still, and that’s when Goku finally figures it out.  He powers down completely, and meditates, and the phantoms vanish.

But that’s not so easy for Krillin to work out, since he’s got all this trauma associated with these creeps. 

Goku can’t fly around to search for Krillin, so he summons Kinto’un to ride on.  Sean Schemmel even sings a few bars of “Cha La HEAD Cha La.”  Wild.

Eventually, Krillin works out the solution for himself.  He tried fighting and not fighting, but the key for him is to control his fear and calm his mind.  Then he has to fight them.  I’m not sure I get all of this, but okay.

By the time he finds Goku, he’s been attacked by another phantom, this time one of Super Shenron from Episode 42.   It’s nowhere near as big as the real thing, but apparently Goku can’t just will it away like he did the others.  Also he can fight his way out, since it might hurt Kinto’un in the process.  Wait, how is Kinto’un trapped?  I mean, it’s a cloud, can’t it just slip out of this mess?

So Krillin busts Goku loose, and they shoot it with Kamehamehas together, and the last phantom explodes...

... which somehow produces the herb Roshi sent them to find.  Well, all right.

On the way back, Krillin declares that he has to come out of retirement.  He explains it to Goku, but he doesn’t follow his speech, so let me do my interpretation. 

Krillin only got into martial arts to impress women.  If you’ve ever seen his wife, you know he won that game a long time ago.  He doesn’t enjoy fighting like Saiyans, nor is he interested in becoming stronger for its own sake, like Goku, or even Tien, who’s been in this life longer than most of them. 

And it’s not even about proving himself to his wife and daughter, or sharpening his skills for his job as a police officer.  That’s what he told everyone in the previous episode, but now he sees the truth.  He needs the discipline and clarity that martial arts brings him.  So he can’t just switch it off when there’s no enemy to fight or duty to be fulfilled.  He needs this for himself.

So they get back and 18 and Marron are all happy to see him, and Roshi got all his magic weed or whatever.  Everything worked out.

And 18 shaves Krillin’s head again, officially unretiring him.  Well, he has hair again in the final episodes of DBZ. I think he’s still bald in DBS: Super Hero, but he has that police helmet on the whole time, so it’s hard to be sure. 

Anyway, it’s good to have him back.  Would have been cool to get Krillin back in the blue shirt like he had in the Cell Saga, but I can appreciate 18 enjoying the titties out look for Krillin. 

This two-parter was okay, but I feel like they had loftier ambitions for exploring Krillin’s character, and didn’t quite achieve them.  The main issue here is that Toriyama keeps retiring and unretiring characters as he needs them for his stories, and that necessitates the characters themselves acknowledging why they keep reversing their own decisions.  It’s fine for Toriyama to change his mind about these things, but from Krillin’s perspective, he’s a real person who chooses these things of his own free will, which means it all has to make sense to him.  And this episode tries to satisfy that idea, but that’s a tough nut to crack. 

I mean, I don’t think Krillin really came to any conclusions about himself that he didn’t understand before.  He’s struggled with self-confidence his whole life, and fighting phantoms of his old enemies doesn’t seem that much scarier than when Frieza actually came back in Resurrection F.

To be fair, sometimes life works that way, and as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to appreciate that sometimes you have to learn the same lessons multiple times.  It’s like how Goku played dumb about meditation in Super Hero.  Fans complained that Goku knows what meditation is because we’ve seen him do it before, but that’s not the point.  His masters have tried to teach him, and they may have gotten through to him about it, but he’s never fully appreciated the concept, which is why he keeps re-learning the same truths each time it comes up.   In the same vein, Krillin has been courageous all along, but he’s never fully understood what it means.  But that distinction seems pretty thin, and I’m not sure you can get a satisfying story out of it.