#I'll be cut off from the entire world and she'll expect me to be happy

[sadfraudfrogs]

I currently need to throw my phone into a river because if my mum looks through my phone I'm fucked

[overlyimmersed]

Nightmares and Daydreams

A Gravity Falls AU.

Hi @verysorrytobother​ Stanticore anon, revealing my true identity to share this with you! I wasn’t sure how a post this long would go over as an ask, so I decided to do it this way. I hope this is ok.

I’ve been working on this for a while and I hope it goes over well enough. The artwork took me the most time.

As a car crash victim is slowly dying, her mental self panics in the mindscape. She's offered a deal to save her life. Let the game begin.

(Content warnings: Blood. Descriptions of serious injuries.)

"What..." she whispered to herself, staring at the other in disbelief.

"Yep!" he confirms, in a high-pitched, grating, inappropriately upbeat tone, "Dead as a doornail, kid!- Well technically you still have a few more seconds till you brain totally ceases to function. Better make up your mind while you still have one!"

She's still staring dumbly at him. How can he be this nonchalant about it?! A half second ago she was sitting in the front seat of the family truck, a totally routine trip to the store- she never liked trucks but her dad's a carpenter so they need the hauling space. At least it's a pretty shade of blue- and the next she's here, laying face down in a black void with this prick this- this...All Seeing Eye? He's like the Illuminati symbol, but with arms and legs and a top hat. Caution sign yellow and talking to her- or at her. Bill. Freaking. Cipher. Every time he 'speaks' he flashes with light- no mouth so does it really count as speaking? More like his voice is being projected right into her mind- ... And he's telling her that she freakin died! Can't he see how messed up this is?! Can't he sympathize at all!? Then again, it's Bill. She ought to know better.

She ought to know better. She's seen this show a hundred times, she knows nothing good comes from dealing with Cipher. But she doesn't have time to be careful, she doesn't have the luxury of weighing options.

"Tick-tock, Car Wreck!" The obnoxious voice insists again, forcing her out of her stupor, his outstretched hand now alight with blue fire.

Her face scrunches up in a loud cringe, eyes screwed shut and teeth bared, and she swings her hand till it lands solidly in his. Crazed cackling resounds as the deal is struck, but it falls to simple soundtrack as her senses try to sort out what's going on.

She'd expected the blue fire to burn, or at least feel like something, but it didn't. Instead her entire being is flung into a...whirl? Free fall? Something that makes her stomach jump into her throat, and gives her vertigo.

The sensation stops suddenly, only to be replaced by a cacophony of new perceptions. She isn't sure which strikes her first, the sounds or the smell. Shrieks of agony and terror make up the next track of this bizarre playlist, punctuated by the reek of burnt hair. When her eyes fly open to try and make sense of it all, they have no luck. The sight that meets her is a sky of surreal, swirling, bastardized ribbons of every hue, like being inside a filthy bubble. Floating strewn about the space are pockmarked asteroids, and little else.

"So what'd ya think?" The grating voice rejoins the discord, drawing her shell-shocked gaze. "Home-sweet-home, huh? Well don't worry, you won't be here for very long. A deal's a deal, Car Wreck." With that que, and a snap of his fingers, she's falling again. This time untethered and unaccompanied. It takes her a moment to realize the scream ripping though the void is coming from her own throat. Once it hits her, so does something else, and the world goes black.

She wakes some time later, maybe moments maybe days. She has no way of knowing. She pushes herself onto her hands and knees, groggy and disoriented. It takes her a moment to notice the texture under her hands and focus her vision on it. It's grass. She sits up and looks around. "oh..." she says to herself, taking in the scenery. It's lovely, a grassy, sun soaked field. The sky made of churning colors like the last place she'd been, but they're pastel and much prettier. A warm breeze brushes past her face and she takes a deep breath of it, it smells sweet and warm, heavy with the scent of growing things, and for the first time since this started she finds some peace. Peace which is quickly shattered by a familiar, grating voice.

She jumps and whirls around so quick she falls onto her butt. There, floating just inches from where her head had been, is Bill. Laughing at her of course.

"Whoops! Didn't mean to scare you there, Car Wreck!" he claims, moving through the air to look around, then turning back around to look at her. "So how do you like the new digs?"

There's a beat of silence where she just stares at him again, but quickly she shakes off the shock and tries to respond. "Uh...It's nice." She lets her eyes roam around for a second, before returning to Bill, "Where are we?"

"This is the Realm of Daydreams! Your new HQ!" he answers, floating around behind her and making a grand gesture with his arms.

She turns her head to follow him, "Daydreams? HQ?"

"Yep! This is where you'll hang out when you're not puppeting your little pawns." He turns around to look at the scenery more himself. "Kinda dull if you ask me. Maybe you can do something about that!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh you know, some pillars of anguish, an alter of unholy fire, maybe a blood fountain or a couple of-" he gestures with each suggestion, like a landscaper creating a vision, until she cuts him off.

"No I mean," she finally pushes herself to a stand, teetering a little till she finds her balance. "Pawns?"

He turns back to her, "Oh yeah, which ones do you want anyway?" he waits a beat for an answer, but she just stares back at him, clearly not following. "Ugh, our deal?"

He hadn't really told her what the deal was, just mentioned a game and a second chance. "Uhh, I don't think you-"

"Oh right, you flesh bags need everything explained to you." he groans, rolling his eye, "Alright, here's the deal. We're gonna play a little game," he holds out his hand and a little hologram like projection appears showing an aerial view of a town. "and the people of this hick town are gonna be the pieces." ten little blue stick figures appear in the center of town, each with a little symbol above it's head. "If you win, you rejoin the land of the living!" a little magenta stick figure pops into existence next to the others and they all do a little happy dance. "If I win..." suddenly the whole projection goes up in flames, and she jerks her head back instinctively, "You burn with rest of those worthless mortals!" He bursts into a fit of maniacal laughter, which actually gives her some times to recover.

After a second of shocked staring, she blinks a few times then puts on as neutral an expression as she can. "Ok. So what are the rules?"

"Simple!" he answers, cutting off his laughter "We can't directly manipulate each other's pawns, and we can't interfere with the other's powers."

"That's it?"

"Yep. Everything else is fair game"

"Ok...What are my powers?"

"Same as mine! Except you don't have to wait till someone falls asleep to get in their head."

"I see..." her eyes wander to the ground as she contemplates the information, and her hand reaches for the longest of her three necklaces to idly play with the spiked pendant. "So you can talk to them in dreams, and I can talk to them in daydreams."

"Bingo!"

She scrunches her nose a little, thinking of a few ways that could end up being annoying. "Alright, anything else I need to know?"

"Hmm, nope! That just about covers it. All that's left is to pick our pawns, I'll even let you go first!" And with that ten, glowing, blue symbols appear between them. She looks them over carefully, she knows who each symbol corresponds to- supposing the cartoon from her world is accurate. She considers the six-fingered hand, if she takes him out of Bill's control from the start that derails his whole plan as she knows it. But, then she'll have no clue what's up to at all, at least by letting Bill have the pawns she's familiar with she has a chance at guessing his moves. She reaches forward and touches the shooting star, it turns magenta and floats to hover closer to her.

"Interesting." Bill comments, though his tone doesn't sound very interested, as he makes a simple motion with his eye and the six-fingered hand settles beside him. She chooses the fish looking symbol next, and Bill's second choice in the pine tree. They go back and forth till they have five symbols each, Bill having the the six-fingered hand, the pine tree, the llama, the stitched heart, and the pentagram. While she has the shooting star, the fish, the bag of ice, the spectacles, and the question mark.

"Welp, that settles that. Nice picks you made there, lets hope they work out for ya, Car Wreck"

"Could you not call me that?" though it hardly sounds like a request.

"And what else should I call you?" Bill asks, collecting his symbols into one hand and placing the other on his...hip?

"How about my name? It's Maranwe."

"But Car Wreck fits you so much better! Just take a look!" he quips, snapping a full-length mirror into existence. Maranwe turns to look and gasps in horror. Bill breaks out into more cackling, "Well my work here is done! I'll let you get cleaned up, see ya around Car Wreck!" And with that he fades from existence.

Maranwe just stares, even as Bill disappears from 'her' realm, she can only stare at her destroyed refection. Her hair is messy- and she almost laughs that that's what her brain zeros in on first-, It's also dirty, some of the mess is actual dirt but several spots are matted with half-dry blood. Her face is in a similar condition, smeared with dirt and blood but she can see the wounds there. Scrapes and still oozing cuts, bruises forming on one cheek bone and under her eyes. Her nose isn't quite right...broken probably. Her vision skims over her whole body for a second, making note of similar injuries where tears in her clothes reveal them. It's not as bad as she would expect a car crash victim to look- "except for that" Her mind screams suddenly while all her mouth can do is gasp, as her attention lands dizzyingly on her neck. It's...purple, but also red? There's no spilled blood but it still looks ugly, and the worst part is the...bump. It's not hard to figure out that it's a misaligned bone. Without the pain to tell her she never would have noticed, her neck is broken. Very broken. How is she holding her head up right... Probably because this isn't actually a physical body. She wonders if this is what killed her, or if there's something inside, something she can't see, that did the trick.

Whatever it is, she can't be seen like this. And she really really doesn't want to look like this for her own sake. Bill said she could 'clean herself up'? How exactly... She thinks about how Bill's powers tend to work and tries to concentrate on a cleaner, less beat up mental image of herself. She lifts her hand to her cheek and grazes her finger tips across it, a trail of sparkles follow the touch and the skin underneath returns to normal. She relaxes a little, watching the disaster wipe off her face like cheap make-up. She keeps the image in her mind and closes her eyes, cupping her hands in front of herself and imagining the sparkles pooling in them. Then she splashes the sparkles over he face, like a girl in a face wash commercial, and imagines the glittering dust washing over her entire body, cleaning away the mess and injuries. And when she opens her eyes, that's exactly what's happened. Her reflection shows her whole and unwounded, even her clothes are fixed.

The next thing she does is smooth her hair down, mostly an instinct since it's still messy, and the sparkles trail after her hands, tidying the strands as if she'd just brushed them. She watches her reflection's mouth quirk up a little in a small smirk. So she can just change what she looks like by imagining it? That figures, this is a place of daydreams that's kind of how they work. She knows exactly what to do with this, she's known since she was a kid what she's change if she could. She places the backs of her hands next to her ears and flicks up, sparkles spray up with the motion and her normal human ears, turn to wolf ears the fur the same chocolate brown as her hair. Her smirk blooms into a full blown smile, and she tilts her head to get a better look at them, watching them move as she tests them. It's like they're real! Next is the tail of course, it's mostly brown, with some silver down the top and a black tip. Then she looks down, and taps the toe of each of her shoes against the ground in turn, as she does they become the compressed paws of her own design.

"That's insane..." she laughs to herself. She's actually turning herself into something else, her own made up alien species. And she just can! With the big changes out of the way she works out the details; pupil shape, fang length, and straightens out a few asymmetries and insecurities she's always had about her body- after all why not? When she's done, she can't help admiring herself a little, turning this way and that in front of the mirror, her perfect image of herself. Well- almost perfect. She snaps her fingers and in the same dusting of glitter, her shirt changes. What was before a loose grey t-shirt with the word "nope" written across it in cursive, as been replaced by a cropped sweater, banded in 3 colors; white at the top, then light blue, then dark blue. She lifts it to look at the crop top under neither, it's just plain white. She decides she doesn't like it that way, so it changes to a cropped version of the t-shirt she'd had before. With that taken care of she lifts her arm so the over-sized sleeve falls down and she can see her forearm, which is covered by a light blue arm warmer with white lace around the edges. Perfect. At least for now. She can change later if she decides she doesn't like the arm warmers.

She giggles to herself, invigorated by the makeover and the sense of control she has now. She turns from the mirror and skips a few feet across the grass, the symbols she'd chosen follow her, floating loosely like beads suspended in gel. She laughs a little as she watches them, and idly reaches for her necklace again, but this time her hand just meets the soft knit of her sweater. She'd forgotten to add them into this new look, so she just wills them into place; three different necklaces of three different lengths. Her hand finds the middle length first, the pendant is designed to spin so she plays with it while her mind starts to wander. She starts thinking of plans for winning this game, what she might say to each other 'pawns' and who to use where and how, even letter her thoughts wonder about the new life she'll have. Cipher's hologram suggested she'll stay in Gravity Falls, which would be cool but what about-

The sound of screeching tires and twisting metal cuts her thoughts off clean and she whips around to find the source of the noise, but her fear turns to confusion when she sees...nothing. She stands stock still, her mind running over only vague impressions of thoughts relating to what she just heard, until another loud sound whips her back around. This time she actually sees something, like a huge firework in the pastel oil-slick sky, accompanied by Bill's obnoxious voice echoing through the space.

"Let the game begin!"

[toujoursmiraculous]

Thoughts and Reactions to Truth!

Just going to go straight into it because this episode is huge! I really like how at the end of a season and the beginning of another, we see the same scene that leads us out of one and into another. Gabriel fixes the Miraculous and ohhh poor Dusuu thought it was all a dream, being in evil hands. So in a way, the Miraculous being damaged may have been a blessing for her. Dx Too bad it couldn't have been fixed after Marinette got it back :/ But at least Nooroo isn't alone right? Legit only positive I can get from this. ;-; Tikki and her little hats omg it's so cuuuute! I wonder if she makes her little clothes, too awww But the other Kwami's are almost like siblings to Tikki if you think about it. Now Tikki has to share things with them all as they cause chaos all around when she's so used to her quiet life alone with Marinette. Even for a Kwami, that must be hard to adjust to.

Okay so it's almost Prince Ali's birthday that Paris is going to celebrate. Interesting! I'd really like to see him back and a storyline with that. :O Marinette holding something, clearly, that the girls can't see over video chat. Talking to what appears to be herself, reacting to what someone's saying from different sides of her room. Camera flashes going off. And then her phone getting yeeted at her all on a video call with her friends when she's supposed to be alone...considering they're all going to have Kwami's and learn some things later as they become heroes, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if they think back to this scene someday! OH WAIT spoiler for the upcoming episode Gang of Secrets!!! Fair warning. What if this episode with the plushies she said she's going to make, is one of if not the reason they go over and are looking around her room? Because she's been acting sus and they want to know what's going on. Especially after what happens later in the episode with Luka. Okay, back to the episode itself. Her friends observation: You're acting way weirder than normal.... IS ADRIEN AT YOUR PLACE?! I mean, fair point. xD But the thing is, whenever Marinette tends to act weirder or say/do things that Alya and the girls don't understand, it's almost always connected to her being Ladybug/Guardian. Even Lila. If she wasn't Ladybug and dealt with her so much as her, she wouldn't know a lot of things that made her not trust Lila to begin with. So Marinette has to overcompensate to try to hide everything or can't explain her thoughts or feelings about certain situations, so Alya always just assumes her behavior has something to do with Adrien. It really sucks but at the same time, what else is she going to think?

These Kwami are a lot of trouble. xD Now she's even more frazzled, so she calls Luka Adrien. More than once. I've done this where I call my siblings the wrong name more of than I'd like so I can't fault her for it. Her mind's probably a mess, poor girl. Dx "I'm sorry it's just that I cheated on you!" BIG OOF. But this gives me Kim Possible vibes when Ron assumed Kim didn't want him anymore and told her he was cheating on her when he meant to say he was cheating to be on the football team so he could be more worthy of her when he thought she wanted to "trade up" her boyfriend. Our poor Marinette! So frazzled she can't remember when her dates are, when they've been rescheduled. She can't remember her patrols with Chat Noir which are really important. She's getting to the point where it's going to be a wonder she can even function. Dx "But Marinette and I are such a big fan of his" wow this sure hits different. The way they kept quizzing each other to finish the sentence with Jagged Stone trivia was pretty cute. Luka having her finish the line with "Kiss me" that she screamed to the entire theater made me choke on my cake. "Well, if that's what you want." Smooth. "I think, yes. I want to." But you know, it gets interrupted by an akuma attack of course because that's just the way things work! :D And wouldn't you know it, it's Mr. Pigeon. AGAIN. Totally worth interrupting the moment lol Ladybug can't pick and choose, however, so here comes the sequence where she's constantly running off and he starts doubting her. Notice the parallel when Marinette started to like Luka after Adrien could never show up to things? Now Marinette's having trouble showing up and Luka's having issues with it. The second Chat Noir started to sneak up on Ladybug, we all knew he was going to get flipped. But it's so adorable and funny at the same time I love it x333 And that whole scene there of Ladynoir. Obviously it's a Lukanette-centered episode but the Ladynoir in this episode! So good! And you know, it's interesting. First time we see Adrien this episode is for FIVE whole seconds! And the way it abruptly cut off as he opened the car door... yeah you know what, Lies is going to be Adrien's POV or something of this same day. It has to be. He has 2 total scenes one of them is 5 seconds and the other one is 2 seconds. Crazy. We got about 7 seconds of Adrien's face today woo! But ugh here's where we get hurt Luka ;-; "A girl, who as always, isn't here." Ouch. The fact that if Marinette said she loved Adrien still, he'd understand and he'd get it is so sweet, and so sad that it's not even because of that, it's because she's Ladybug and the Guardian and she can't say a thing about it to him at all, that he can't accept. It's the one thing he couldn't deal with that's the issue and that really sucks. AND THIS MOMENT RIGHT HERE HAD ME GASPING AND HURTING FOR LUKA. IT'S THE MOMENT HIS HEART BROKE

But also really guys, did you notice his eyes are different now? Almost like a blue diamond look or something.

Luka trying to fight it, trying to tell Hawk Moth that the truth needs to be willingly told, not forced. But stupid Hawk Moth's able to get him to hold on anyway and gets akumatized. But not before he told Marinette to run. Which was such an awwww moment. x33 I mean, this is definitely getting a bit close to Chat Blanc territory if you ask me. New transformation music is pretty good! I like it. Also can we just appreciate that instead of trying to track down Marinette to get the truth from her, he's instead asking all her friends and family, pretty much any source besides her? AND ROSE'S RESPONSE "Marinette has no secrets because she's the most honest girl in the world!" She thinks so highly of her and it's just so beautiful. Nobody would blame her for these secrets if they only knew either. But awwwwww I love this scene!! And here's the big reveal! (no not that one) Jagged Stone is Luka and Juleka's father. 😮

Thomas today tweeted that Luka and Juleka are twins. Which would have to be fairly obvious after this reveal. There's no way that Jagged, who says he'd be a lame dad and left because he wasn't cut out for it, would have Luka with Anarka, then stay long enough to also have Juleka. I also totally forgot that in the French version, Jagged has an American accent when he speaks. XDD Just the fact that even WITH his truth powers, he asked his mother TWICE who his father was. Both times she said Jagged Stone. He still didn't believe it until he went to Jagged himself omg. This poor poor boy. Luka: 😱*gasp* Marinette: 😲 *gasp* Adrien: 😮 WHY IS THIS SO FUNNY OMG. LIKE I'M WATCHING A TELENOVELA OR SOMETHING. THEY EVEN ZOOMED IN ON THEIR REACTIONS I CAN'T And then Luka just yeets his dad because he wasn't ever there for him. I honestly did not expect Luka having dad issues to ever be a thing in this show, even though I knew he wasn't around. So like... when everything's worked out with Marinette and Adrien in the end, will Luka and Adrien end up becoming friends and bonding over things, like the whole daddy issues thing...? Are we really supposed to believe she has no feelings for Chat Noir? I mean really, look at this.

"I can't imagine what your daily life must look like" ... is she really actually being the one to bring up something about his secret identity? With that face? 😲

Their flirty banter that at this point I don't even think they realize it is, and those soft looks I just... My top ship is Ladynoir and I was not expecting any significant moments of theirs but I got it anyway. Just watching their scenes, I kept going "See, this is why they're meant for each other." My heart is happy despite all the Luka pain! It's helping me cope with it, okay? "When you're ready, I'll be here for you, Marinette." Awww so they're telling us Lukanette is on hold here. Not a guarantee, but at least on hold. He's an option for her later. So now the Adrienette vs. Lukanette for S4 we heard about awhile back makes sense now. Later on this season, probably when things calm down and she gets the hang of things, she'll be in a better position to be with someone. And by then, Adrien will probably realize and understand his feelings for Marinette. So then she'll be in a position to choose between them. Now we know where Luka gets his ability to turn emotions into great songs. That's adorable! Father-son bonding! Gabriel needs to take notes when a man who was never in his son's life as more than his idol has the ability to try to be there, but Gabriel can't. Ugh our poor Marinette, probably thinking she's going to be alone for a very long time just because of a supervillain. That's so wrong she has to feel like this. If you notice, Hawk Moth's akumatizations help people patch up relationships so much of the time as a weird unexpected result of an akuma attack. And yet, he does nothing but hurt Marinette and at times Adrien, the most when he akumatizes people. He makes me so angry! But I'm too tired for a rant about that. At least the Kwami hugs at the end helped a teeny bit anyway! c:

[wolfy2109]

Tokka Week 2020: Family💖💖

(just another one-shot)

It's been months since I've seen her, I left thinking it'll be a matter of weeks. The councils of both the tribes had agreed and even I didn't anticipate a resistance. I wondered from time to time how she felt when she got to know that I'll be kept longer and was in a civil war of sorts again,if she'll show up in her metal armour again. The thought of how that armour clings tightly around her upper body was enough to make a grown man day dream. He thought about how soft her cheeks and lips were,all he wanted to was kiss her, passionately. He thought about holding his baby girl in his arms and kissing her forehead,she was the brightest child in the world according to him. He hoped Toph hadn't been too hard on her.

By the time he reached the door step,his every muscle was torn from tiredness,his head hurt from the long hours of sleepless travel(troubles in the ship). But his heart was so full of happiness,his mind full of thoughts and activities to do with both of his girls. He knocked the door and one of his known servants opened the door, thankfully. "Bo, it's so good to see you. Can you get some guys to put all this luggage in my room?" Sokka said,he was the kind of guy who treated servants with more respect than anyone,water tribe had engrained these values of compassion for one and all in him well enough. However,Bo didn't match his enthusiasm,he looked rather flustered, uncomfortable. He didn't meet his eyes when he answered "Sure sir,welcome back. I'll get right at it. ". Sokka was a chief,a strategist and a warrior he knew damn well that something was going on,he raised an eyebrow at Bo,to which Bo replied "did the news reach you?". Sokka worriedly replied "what news?. Is Toph okay?. Is she gone for another dangerous case?. Is Lin-" ,he was then cut off by a "nothing, she's just in an important meeting and will be late,your daughter will be in the study as of now,you can meet her."

Bo then rushed off and Sokka knew something was off but he didn't care,he was seeing Lin after 6 months,he entered the study and saw her dedicatedly reading some book on the history of earth kingdom,when she looked at him,her eyes sparked up with excitement. She ran to him and hugged him,he picked her up. "You're getting bigger,young chief" he told Lin. She giggled and gave him the biggest kiss on the cheek. They spent the entire afternoon talking about how he had fought cleverly and bravely and stopped a civil war and how Lin had aced the basics of earth bending forms. They were laughing like two six year olds,one of them was and well the other was, let's just say not six at all.

Nonetheless they talked like equals,like a true father and daughter duo. They both were fascinated with each other's stories,proud of their achievements and blissful to be back together again. Sokka told Lin that she didn't have to go to any class today, she'll be home spending "quality time" with her father and Lin was more than pleased with this offer.

Sokka went to take a bath after his lunch with Lin and found the two servants who were supposed to bring his luggage up to his room chatting. "I don't know how it's going to be like when he finds out. He has no idea." .The other servant replied "only a matter of time before it all blows up in her face,the nasty attitude,the bringing a guy in the house a week after he left.". Sokka couldn't believe what he had just heard,his body was paralyzed. He felt like he could no longer function. When he had gotten together with Toph he knew it was real,she made him the happiest man on the planet,their comfort with each other was unparalleled. He had been gone longer and she too,why didn't she wait this time. He was no Kanto,he was Sokka,her long time friend,her colleague,her family. He immediately stopped the thoughts from going any further and consuming him. He believed in her and her love. After his bath,his distress had still not eased.

As much as he didn't want to involve Lin in this he had to. Reassuring and horrible thoughts kept gushing his mind,the thoughts had reached the brim of his mind. He went to Lin,she was in her room playing with some of the toys he had got from his home,her fascination with them lit up her face. She was the most adorable child he had ever seen and also the smartest,he took great pride in raising her.

Sokka taught her how to use some of the toys and after five matches of Pai-sho which he deliberately let her win,Lin was tired. Sokka sat next to her,he didn't want to involve her in this and get to know how insecure her father is being right now but he had no other choice. "Lin,has some man been coming home lately?." ,he asked. His tone was a semi-friendly one but it masked fear,a lot of it, nervousness and denial to believe anything other than no. "Yeah,there has been. He has been coming every week since you've left. He is amazing,he brings me these amazing gummies and-", before Lin could complete,Sokka got up and told her to go and play with some of her friends for a while,he had some work to do. Before Lin could stop him and cling to him,he stormed out of the room.

There was no servant in his sight or he would have beaten the truth out of them. His mind was now an utter mess ,"how could she?.We were so happy,we didn't give it the name of a marriage but we were one happy family. She couldn't. She wouldn't have. Maybe it was Aang,maybe he's in town. Maybe it's the servant who reads her notices and letters. It can't be, I trust her and her love for me." ,all these thoughts were enough for him to stop mid-way and rub his forehead that was still aching from the lack of sleep. He was angry at her,who was this man after all?. He was angry at himself,how can his trust in her be so fickle.

He entered his room,their room. And he saw her. Face turned the other side. She was in her armour but something seemed wierd. She wasn't standing in the attention position she had mastered,she looked fragile. He never thought a day would come when she looked…….weak. "Toph" his voice was full of emotions for a second his mind had forgotten all about this other man,his voice was soft, calming and on the verge of cracking. They both were always on duty,they spent months like these often,Toph would go off and Sokka would stay with Lin and vice versa. But every time they saw each other after their period of separation,they spent the whole night talking, hugging, being happy that they were safe, mocking each other and what not. These memories calmed Sokka down.

He heard a gasp,he could see that she had lifted one hand and probably put it at her mouth?,her face was facing the other side. "Wouldn't you turn around?" He asked her. It was obvious now,he was crying. He heard a muffled sob. "I'm sorry Sokka, I don't know what to do, I'm happy to see you, I am, I really am but I don't know how to say this to you",her voice was cracking after every five words. Sokka's heart sank,so there is another man,he thought. He took a step back,he felt devastated,angry, miserable, heart broken and it wasn't long before he would've started shouting at her,he couldn't handle it.

He did everything right,he loved her right,if she didn't want him home,she could have sent a letter. Hawkie was always here to deliver anyway. "Look me in the eye and say it,Toph.",his voice asserted dominance,she had only heard him talk like this on battle fields to the people who answer to him. But it was not only dominance,his voice sounded like he was repressing anger and pain,a lot of it. So he knew,she thought. She hated his reaction,as scared as she was,she didn't expect THIS.

"Oh, I'm sorry Sokka. It's all my fault,if it hurts you so much get out of here, I've done all this once and I'll do it a second time.",she turned around in fury. Sokka scoffed and was about to say something when he saw it.

Was it a baby bump?. He hadn't seen her in the nine months when she was pregnant with Lin but here she was, standing with one hand on her stomach and the other on her back. She continued in fury "do you know how it was like for me?. A week after you left I found out about THIS. But I thought it wouldn't be as hard for me because now you were here,you would look after our child,Sokka!!". She sat on the bed side and tried to continue screaming when Sokka came down at his knees and touched the baby bump. He kissed it,his touch was so gentle, she had missed it so much. Toph breathed sharply,the gesture came as a surprise to her. "What are you doing?" She said. "Why didn't you tell me Toph, I would've-" he was cut off by Toph,"come right away? That's why. I didn't want to put you in a situation where you had to choose between your duties and your family. Whether or not you would have liked this,you would've been effected by it. You were at war for crying out loud. I was so scared for you,so worried about you-". Sokka shut her up with a kiss that was filled with longing and love and an apology?. She thought. They both leaned in, losing themselves completely in this,cheeks wet from tears and eyes shut close. This moment lasted forever,they took moments off where Sokka stroked her hair and she kissed his hand.

They were then interrupted by a coughing sound and when they pulled away,Sokka saw a man at the door,he carried a small bag and had spectacles. "Sokka,this is my doctor. He makes sure of my health,my mom and dad send him in every 4-5 days because of their paranoia." Sokka kissed her nose and whispered "I'm sorry" in her ear. Before she could ask him for what,he bombarded the doctor with questions "is the child going to be healthy?. Is Toph fine?. Why is her bump still so small?. When is it going to kick?. Will it be a bender or a non bender,does it know that it doesn't matter?. Is it a boy or a girl?.". He spent hours getting filled up on her pregnancy months that he had not been a part of from the doctor, Toph just lay on the bed smiling and grinning. Occasionally saying things like "Meathead STOP,YOU ARE EMBARRASSING!!" and laughing at his replies that went like "then what are you?".

She adored him with all her heart,she finally was with the right man,this one would stick around,this one pushes her to be a better parent everyday,this one means the world to her. Her mind was at so much ease,sometime after the doctor left and Sokka had kissed her and hugged her and jumped around her in excitement and love and also explained what he had thought was going on and got scolded for it,Lin peeked through the door. She thought she was hiding properly but both Sokka and Toph knew she was here. "Lin!!!! Why didn't you tell me?!. You're getting a sister or a brother." Sokka exclaimed,"I'm sorry, I thought you already knew" Lin sounded overly apologetic. "No,no sweetie, it's fine,dad's here,come sit with us". He picked her up and placed her near Toph's belly.

There they were,three of them looking like a real family. No marriage,not even Sokka's biological child but he didn't care,Lin was hers and so was Toph. There was another baby coming and they were a perfect family. They spent the evening getting ready for a fancy dinner at Toph's favorite restaurant(cravings you know),Sokka kept obsessing about just how beautiful Toph was and she kept touching him whenever she could,brushing hands,nose rubs,hugs. Pregnancy had made her soft,she thought. No,it was Sokka,he always makes her this way and she loves it. As Sokka carried Lin on his shoulders,Toph brushed her hair with her hand. Sokka looked at her face with love and adoration, excitement for this new chapter of their lives and she knew he was looking. She even blushed a little. God,how Sokka loved making her blush. "Gonna stare at me all night meathead or are we ever gonna leave?." She smirked and they all went to have dinner. And so just an overly happy family at an overly expensive restaurant with an overly protective man who glared at every man who looked at his woman and kid who looked at his daughter enjoyed their meal in peace or their idea of peace.

[dukereviewstv]

Duke Reviews TV: Smallville 1x09 Rogue

Hi, Everyone, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews Tv Where We Are Continuing Our Look At Smallville By Talking About Episode 9 Of Season 1, Rogue

This Episode Sees Clark's Secret Being Discovered By Sam Phelan, A Corrupt Metropolis Cop Who Decides To Blackmail Clark, Meanwhile, Lex Works With An Old Flame, Victoria Hardwick (Played By Model Kelly Brook) To Take Over Their Parents Companies...

So, Let's Watch Rogue To See How It All Goes Down...

The Episode Starts At A Gala In Metropolis, Where Clark Is With His Buddy Lex To See Museum's Latest Aquirement, A Jeweled Armor That Was Worn By Alexander The Great...

But It Turns Out That Clark Wasn't The Only One Lex Invited To The Gala As Lana Is There Too With Whitney (Who's Playing The Role Of A Professional Wallflower Tonight Instead Of A Quarterback) Inviting Clark To Their Table, Lana, Lana Goes Off To Rip Aunt Nell Away From The Jewelry Exhibit...

Why? It's Not Like She's A Kleptomaniac Or A Thief Or Something, Oh, Wait...

Going Outside For Air, Clark Runs Into Lex Who Thinks He's Running Away From Lana Which Leads Him To Say That If He Isn't Going To Get Lana If He Keeps Running Away From Whitney, Which Is True But Clark Doesn't See Whitney As His Enemy....

Which Leads Lex To Remind Clark About The Phrase "Keep Your Friends, Close But Your Enemies Closer" But As The 2 Boys Talk They're Interrupted By An Old Flame Of Lex's, Victoria Hardwick Who Lex Would Rather Talk To So He Tells Clark That They'll Chat Later...

Meanwhile, Outside Of The Gala, We Meet Detective Sam Phelan, A Corrupt Cop Who's Hassling Some Hood To Get Him Information From Internal Affairs, Telling The Guy He Has 24 Hours To Do So. Going Out For Air Like He Said, Clark Sees A Bus Go Out Of Control As The Driver Has A Heart Attack...

(Start At 3:16)

The Next Day, Clark Helps His Dad And Mom With What I Believe To Be A Tractor Engine While He Tells Both Of His Parents About What Happened With The Bus Which His Mom Is Proud Of Him But His Dad Again Worries If Somebody Saw Him...

Meanwhile In Metropolis, Phelan Blackmails A Security Guard To Give Him Pictures Of The Museum Gala To Find Out The Mystery Of Who The Person Who Stopped The Bus Was Only For Him To Discover That He Knows Lex Luthor...

Back In Smallville, We Cut To The Luthor Mansion To That Lex Brought Victoria Back To Smallville Where She Tells Lex The Real Reason That She Looked Him Up...

(Start At 2:41)

Meanwhile, At The Torch, Principal Kwan Is Having A Problem With The Way The Torch Is Being Run To The Point That He Fires Chloe And Suspends All Issues Until A New Editor Can Be Found...

What The Hell Is Going On With This Town? Someone Tells The Truth About What's Going On And Parents Get Get All Stir Crazy! I'll Tell You What The Real Truth Is...

Lana Promises Chloe She'll Talk With Kwan, But Chloe Doesn't Have Much Hope...

Arriving In Smallville, Phelan Runs Into Lex At The Beanery As He Tells Lex That He's Looking For A Witness To The Bus Accident Who Just So Happens To Be Clark. But Not Happy Phelan's In Town, Lex Tells Phelan He Has No Clue Who He Is...

Which Forces Phelan To Find Clark On His Own, Which Unfortunately He Does, By DROPPING THE TRACTOR ENGINE ON HIM!...

(Start At 2:13, End At 3:34)

Telling His Parents About Phelan, They Maybe A Little Upset But They're Not Mad At Him As Jonathan Just Tells Clark To Leave Phelan To Them, Later That Night, Lex Drops By The Loft To Talk With Clark About Being Involved In A Police Investigation And That Phelan Came To Talk With Him Which Led Lex To Discover The Investigation Was Already Ended...

Warning Clark To Be Careful Of Phelan , He Tells Clark About His History With Him, Saying That He's Not Only A Dirty Cop But The Type Of Cop That Does Whatever It Takes To Get The Job Done And If He Has Something On Clark, He'll Use It...

Visiting Phelan At The Beanery, He Tells That All He Wants Is Clark's Help To Further His Cause, To Which Jonathan Tells Him No, This Puts Phelan To The Point Of Blackmail Stating That If He Doesn't, Clark's Life Will Be Under The Microscope Which Pisses Off Jonathan....

(Start At 3:45)

Meanwhile At The Torch, Lana Comes In With Good News And Bad News, The Good News Is The Paper's Reopened, The Bad News Is That Kwan Chose Her To Be The New Editor, Which Causes Chloe To Blow Her Chips Despite Telling Her That It Was The Only Way To Get Kwan To Reopen The Paper And Until They Could Come Up With A Better Plan She Thought Maybe Chloe Could Ghostwrite...

Which Is A Good Plan To Point Clark Thinks It's A Good Idea, Which Causes Chloe To Completely Freak Out Because "You'd Always Side With Lana" No, It's Called You Don't Have A Leg To Stand On Chloe (Hell, You Don't Have A Leg To Stand On In Real Life Right Now) And It's Better Than Nothing (Like King Julian From Madagascar) So, Shut Up! You're So Annoying!

Confronting Clark At The Beanery, Phelan Tells Him To Get In His Car, But Clark Tells Him No To Which Pushes Phelan Him More Saying In His Own Way That He'll Hurt His Family If He Doesn't Get In The Car...

Later That Evening, Lex Has Dinner With Victoria, Who Asks Lex If He's Considered Their Proposal To Which Lex Says That He Didn't Even Have To Go Over It As He Knows Their Real Plan Which Is To...

No, Nothing That Diabolical, But...

(Start At 2:17)

Meanwhile In Metropolis, Phelan Wants Clark To Do What He Asked That Other Guy To Do: Steal His File From Internal Affairs, Which Is In A Safe On The Fifth Floor And Says That If He Does This He'll Never Bother Him Again And So, Clark Goes Into The Apartment To Get The Safe, However...

(Start At 2:07)

See Ya In 25 To Life, Pal!...

Coming In Late Last Night, Clark Tells His Parents That He Was Working At The Torch Which Leads Jonathan To Ask If Phelan Has Contacted Him To Which Clark Tells Him That They Shouldn't Worry As He Thinks That Phelan Is Out Of Their Lives Forever...

But Then Sheriff Ethan Arrives To Search The Kent Farm On Tip From Metropolis PD Where In The Garage They Find A Dead Body In The Barn And A Gun In Jonathan's Car Which Forces Them To Arrest Jonathan For Suspicion Of Murder.

Knowing That Phelan Is Behind This, Clark Tries To Stop Them From Arresting His Father To Which Jonathan Tells Him To Just Be Strong...

Confronted By Phelan, He Tells Clark That He Expected Him To Double Cross Him And That A Person With His Job Comes Up Not Only One Back Up Plan But 10...

(Start At 2:34, End At 3:17)

Talking With Lana At The Torch, About How Feels Like He's Complicating His Parents Lives, She Tells Him Not To Blame Himself For What's Going On With His Dad As She Tells Clark About A Time She Tried Running Away To Metropolis Only To Be Found By Nell, Who She Asked If She Regretted Adopting Her To Which Nell Said That It Was The Best Thing She Ever Did...

Going To See His Dad In Jail...

(Clark) Now I Know How Barry Allen Feels...

He Tells Jonathan About Last Night With Phelan Saying That He Didn't Have A Choice Saying That He Was Trying To Protect Them And When Phelan Came Back When Jonathan Was Arrested He Wanted To Kill Phelan But He Didn't. This Leads Jonathan To Tell His Son That While He's One To Know About Losing His Temper, Clark But Clark Can't Afford To Lose His Temper Or His Anger Because Once He Crosses That Line, There's No Going Back...

(Clark) Yeah, But What If? And This Is A One In A Million Scenario, Dad Some Crazy Madman Who Looks Like A Clown Ties A Nuke Detonator To The Heart Of The Person I Love Who's Carrying My Unborn Child And Forces Me To Kill Her By Using, Oh, I Don't Know Let's Call It Fear Gas That Has Kryptonite In It So It'll Affect Me And Once Said Person Is Dead, The Entire City Blows Up?...

(Jonathan) Then Fine, You Have My Permission To Kill That Person...

Years Later...

Running Into Lex, He Knows That His Father Is Innocent And Offers To Get Jonathan The Best Lawyers In The State, But Clark Tells Him That He Doesn't Think Any Lawyer Is Going To Be Able To Help Him Which Leads Lex To Believe That It's Phelan Doing This Which Leads Lex To Ask What Phelan Has On Him? To Which Clark Tells Him To Stay Out Of It...

But Saying That He Doesn't Stand A Chance If He Takes On Phelan By Himself Clark Tells Him That Phelan Told That He Has Secrets Which Lex Admits He Does But The One Thing He Doesn't Want To See Is Clark And His Family Get Hurt By Phelan But Clark Refuses Saying That He Needs To This On His Own...

That Night, Clark Is Confronted By Phelan In The Barn As He Tells Him That After Last Night, Phelan Has Internal Affairs Poking Their Noses Where They Don't Belong So He Wants Clark's Help To Pull One Last Job But Clark Says Fine, Tell The Whole World About Me I Just Don't Give A Damn Anymore Which Leads Phelan To Tell Him To Think About His Parents...

(Start At 4:00)

Getting In The Car With Phelan They're Tailed By Lex As They Head To The Museum Where Phelan Decides That Instead Of Picking Up His Internal Affairs Records, He Wants To Pick Up His Retirement Package By Stealing Alexander The Great's Breastplate By Shutting Down The Security System And Faking A Bomb Threat To Get The Guards Outside...

With Lex Outside, He Notices The Guards Coming Out Of The Building To Check Out The "Bomb" Which Turns Out To Be Just A Damn Clock!

So, With The Breastplate In Hand And Bag, Clark Tosses It Outside To The Guards And Lex..

(Start At 3:27, End At 4:27)

I Wouldn't Be Shocked If That Happened After Clark Left...

But It Didn't Instead We Get A Shootout With Phelan Getting Shot By The Cops, But When Lex Asks Phelan What He Had On Clark, All He Tells Him Before He Dies Is "Go To Hell, Luthor"...

So, With Phelan Dead, The Charges Against Jonathan Are Dropped As The Kents Wonder What Will Happen When The Next Phelan Shows Up?...

Yeah, It'll Be Sooner Than You Think, Guys, Sooner Than You Think...

Meanwhile At School, Lana Prints A Story Within Kwan's Criteria That Manages To Piss Him Off, Believing Lana Only Wrote It To Get Chloe Re-Hired Lana Tells Kwan She Did It Because Chloe Was Born For This Job...

To Which Kwan Says That He Admires Her Passion, But Her Reporting Lacks Accuracy In Which Chloe Enters To Say That She'll Work On It So, Yeah Kwan Gives Chloe Back Her Job On The Condition That She Doesn't Print What She Can't Prove...

With Chloe Apologizing For Flipping Out On Lana Saying That When She Butted In On The Newspaper, She Thought That Lana Was Trying To Cut Clark Out Of Her Life As It's The Only They Do Together, Which Is A Dumb Excuse...

Yeah, Rational Is The Last Thing I'd Peg You For Right Now, Chloe...

But Saying She Wants To Be Friends With Her, Lana Tells Chloe That If There's Something Going On With Her And Clark, She Doesn't Want To Stand In The Way Of That But Chloe Just Tells Lana That There's Nothing Between Her And Clark And They're Just Good Friends...

Later That Night At The Luthor Mansion, Lex Goes Over Footage From Phelan's Attempt To Rob The Breastplate But All He Sees Is A Black Blur Which He Pauses To See Nothing!

And That's Rogue And It's Okay...

Don't Get Me Wrong, It Seems Like A Good Episode But It's Just Not One Of My Favorites And I Admit Freely That When I Look Back At The Series I Don't Watch It Despite The Story Being Okay And The Regular Characters Being All Right I Just Don't Like Phelan As A Character And Unfortunately We're Not Done With Him On, No He Didn't Survive Being Shot By The Museum's Security Guards But He Does Appear In A Flashback In An Upcoming Episode Called Zero Which Goes Over An Incident In Lex's Past At Place Called Club Zero Which Has Been Mentioned Before This Episode By Roger Nixon In The 4th Episode Of This Season, X-Ray But Even If I Don't Like This Episode I'm Not Going To Stop Anyone Else From Liking This Episode So I Say See It...

Till Next Time, This Is Duke, Signing Off...